In troubled times, everybody needs good neighbors
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal has often been overshadowed by its bigger, brasher neighbor Spain on the Iberian peninsula.
The two countries’ history and culture are entwined as well as their commercial interests.
Portugal under the gun as borrowing costs rise
LISBON (Reuters) – Debt-ridden Portugal suffered another blow on Wednesday in its fight to avoid an international bailout when borrowing costs rose sharply in a government Treasury bill auction.
All the 500 million euros in 12-month T-bills on offer in the auction were sold. But yields rose to a euro lifetime record of 5.281 percent up from 4.813 percent two weeks ago, demonstrating sagging investor confidence in the Iberian nation now in the frontline of the euro zone debt crisis.
Portugal banks at risk unless public spending cut
LISBON, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Portugal’s central bank said on
Tuesday the country’s banks faced an “intolerable risk” unless
the government manages to bring its public spending under
control as it struggles to combat a debt crisis.
The Bank of Portugal report spelled out a tricky scenario
for the banks as concerns grew in markets over the nation’s
prospects of avoiding a bailout and thus becoming the next
domino to fall in the euro zone.
Economic crisis feeds Portuguese “saudade”
LISBON (Reuters) – As Portugal struggles through an economic crisis, a mood of “saudade” is gripping many of its people.
The sentiment is a national characteristic — a feeling of melancholy and resignation and a nostalgia for a past that always seems better than the present. “Saudade” is an essential element of fado, the mournful songs played in the bars of Lisbon’s Bairro Alto at night.
Malian, Cuban musicians take Buena Vista back to roots
LONDON (Reuters Life!) – Problems with passports scuppered producer Nick Gold’s first attempt to bring together Cuban and Malian musicians to record in Havana 14 years ago.
But the album that did emerge from sessions by the Cubans who had been left bereft became one of the music phenomenons of recent times — the Buena Vista Social Club.
Ahmadinejad under pressure inside and outside Iran
LONDON (Reuters) – Pressure mounted on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at home and abroad on Tuesday as his government’s disputes with the West deepened.
Veteran politician Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani criticised Ahmadinejad for failing to counter the impact of economic sanctions, the latest sign of division in Iran’s ruling elite.
Iranian leader faces criticism from inside and outside
LONDON (Reuters) – Pressure mounted on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at home and abroad on Tuesday as his government’s disputes with the West deepened.
Veteran politician Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani criticized Ahmadinejad for failing to counter the impact of economic sanctions, the latest sign of division in Iran’s ruling elite.
Bullfighting banned in Catalonia — So how will David Villa celebrate now?
Now that the Spanish region of Catalonia has banned bullfighting, what will happen to striker David’s Villa goal-scoring celebrations?
Villa struck a matador’s pose after he scored in Spain’s World Cup games in South Africa – you can see an example on FIFA’s official site here — raising eyebrows by some in Catalonia who viewed it as a gesture of support for the “fiesta nacional”.
Cocktails with Khmer Rouge killers
By Angus MacSwan
The sentencing of Khmer Rouge torturer Kaing Guek Eav this week and the forthcoming trial of former leader Khieu Samphan by a United Nations-backed court has brought renewed attention to their murderous rule of Cambodia in the 1970s — and a certain amount of satisfaction in the “international community” for its role in seeing justice done.
But there was a time when you could meet Khmer Rouge officials at cocktail parties in Phnom Penh, with the drinks provided by the United Nations.
Uruguayan passion for soccer helps make friends in distant places
Uruguay’s run to the last four of the World Cup is something of a fairytale, despite the Luis Suarez handball incident – the tiny nation with a glorious soccer history, their squad led by a scholarly coach and a dashing striker, battling on to write a new chapter as its bigger, more illustrious neighbours fall by the wayside.
I followed Uruguay for a while in this World Cup campaign but my link with them goes back a few years. I thought it worth sharing because if soccer is a sport that unites the world, the Uruguayans have played their part beyond the spotlight.
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