http://www.earthtimes.org The Earth Times online newspaper, serving the planet with general news and current affairs that matter en-us PHP/4.4.4 http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293220,poland-want-to-cut-budget-deficit-by-reducing-pension-payments.html Warsaw - Poland wants to reduce its deficit by reducing payments to private pension funds while keeping that money in the state's social insurance company ZUS, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday. Under the proposal, private pension funds would recei... Finance,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:28:22 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293220,poland-want-to-cut-budget-deficit-by-reducing-pension-payments.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293213,imf-unfreezes-standby-loan-after-serbia-promises-spending-cuts.html Belgrade - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) will unfreeze funds from a 4-billion-dollar standby loan to Serbia, which in return must curb spending and reform its social care system, officials said Wednesday in Belgrade. The head of the IMF missi... Finance,General Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:52:22 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293213,imf-unfreezes-standby-loan-after-serbia-promises-spending-cuts.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293083,imf-recommends-iceland-keep-currency-controls.html Reykjavik - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recommended Iceland maintain currency controls for the time being in order to ensure a stable currency, according to a report released Tuesday. The Icelandic central bank published the 98-page rep... Finance,General Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:46:25 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/293083,imf-recommends-iceland-keep-currency-controls.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/292709,hong-kongs-best-known-war-reporter-fights-for-her-life-savings.html Hong Kong - The family of Hong Kong's most celebrated war correspondent Clare Hollingworth said Sunday they were taking bankruptcy proceedings against a public relations consultant who withdrew 200,00 US dollars of her savings. Legal papers were serv... Finance,General Sun, 01 Nov 2009 04:46:35 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/292709,hong-kongs-best-known-war-reporter-fights-for-her-life-savings.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/292196,norwegian-central-bank-raises-rate-to-150-per-cent.html Oslo - Norway's central bank on Wednesday raised its benchmark interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 1.50 per cent, citing slightly higher inflation and signs of economic recovery. Unemployment is considerably lower than previously projected. T... Finance,General Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:34:50 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/292196,norwegian-central-bank-raises-rate-to-150-per-cent.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291871,liechtenstein-reworks-tax-information-sharing-with-belgium-antigua.html Vaduz - The principality of Liechtenstein announced Monday that it had negotiated agreements on sharing tax information with Belgium and Antigua and Barbuda, part of an ongoing effort to meet openness standards demanded by other nations. Once signed,... Finance,General Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:37:48 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291871,liechtenstein-reworks-tax-information-sharing-with-belgium-antigua.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291825,estonia-may-need-deeper-budget-cuts-to-adopt-euro-says-imf.html Tallinn - The Baltic state of Estonia may need to make deeper-than-planned cuts to its public spending if it is to qualify for euro adoption in 2011, a representative of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Monday. Speaking at the conclusion of... Finance,General Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:25:38 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291825,estonia-may-need-deeper-budget-cuts-to-adopt-euro-says-imf.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291344,chinese-egyptian-arrested-in-hungary-over-fake-100-dollar-bills.html Budapest - Hundreds of fake US banknotes were seized after a Chinese citizen tried to deposit 60,000 dollars of the forged bills into a personal account, Hungarian police said Thursday. The suspect, who runs a store in the town of Siofok, 100 kilomet... Finance,General Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:04:42 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291344,chinese-egyptian-arrested-in-hungary-over-fake-100-dollar-bills.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291301,imf-mission-begins-reviewing-serbias-standby-loan-arrangement.html Belgrade - An International Monetary Fund (IMF) mission on Thursday began reviewing Serbia's economic policies, with two tranches of a 4-billion-dollar standby loan hinging on its verdict. The IMF and Serbia agreed to the two-year loan in March. The ... Finance,General Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:28:44 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291301,imf-mission-begins-reviewing-serbias-standby-loan-arrangement.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291295,imf-gives-belarus-700-million-dollars-praises-lukashenko.html Minsk - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) loaned Belarus 700 million dollars, with fund managers praising the planning skills of the country's authoritarian leader Aleksander Lukashenko, the Belapan news agency reported Thursday. The IMF credit w... Finance,General Thu, 22 Oct 2009 10:34:41 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291295,imf-gives-belarus-700-million-dollars-praises-lukashenko.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291273,banking-blunder-hands-out-belgian-bonanza.html Brussels - There were red faces in the Belgian Post Office on Thursday after a banking blunder handed out bonanza payments to some 50,000 unemployed people. The 40-million-euro (60-million-dollar) mistake came after the country's employment agency, C... Finance,General Thu, 22 Oct 2009 09:10:42 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291273,banking-blunder-hands-out-belgian-bonanza.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291181,brussels-seeks-end-to-eu-asylum-lottery.html Brussels - Officials in Brussels on Wednesday called for common and fairer asylum rules within the European Union in order to offer refugees a higher level of protection. The proposals put forward by the bloc's top justice official, Jacques Barrot, a... Finance,General Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:04:44 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291181,brussels-seeks-end-to-eu-asylum-lottery.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291139,spanish-premier-clears-first-budget-hurdle.html Madrid - Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Wednesday secured sufficient initial support for the government's 2010 budget despite heavy criticism of his economic policies. Zapatero heads a minority Socialist government which depen... Finance,General Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:16:42 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/291139,spanish-premier-clears-first-budget-hurdle.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290978,eu-postpones-agreement-on-details-of-financial-supervision.html Luxembourg - European Union finance ministers Tuesday reached a broad agreement on the creation of a common financial supervision watchdog, but postponed tricky discussions on the details until a December summit amid ongoing concerns in Britain. In... Finance,General Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:58:42 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290978,eu-postpones-agreement-on-details-of-financial-supervision.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290912,singapore-will-not-allow-fishing-expeditions-to-fight-tax-evasion.html Singapore - Singapore Law Minister K Shanmugam on Tuesday said the city-state would not allow unwarranted financial investigations in the fight against cross-border tax evasion, even after it had implemented the international standard on tax informat... Finance,General Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:22:39 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290912,singapore-will-not-allow-fishing-expeditions-to-fight-tax-evasion.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290812,europes-crisis-hit-middle-class-turning-to-red-cross--summary.html Geneva - Europe's middle-classes are among the groups who previously did not require humanitarian assistance but are now turning to the Red Cross for help, a study released Monday said. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent S... Finance,General Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:28:48 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290812,europes-crisis-hit-middle-class-turning-to-red-cross--summary.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290806,red-cross-europes-middle-class-hard-hit-by-economic-crisis.html Geneva - Europe's middle-class was among the groups who previously did not require humanitarian assistance now turning to the Red Cross for help, according to a study released Monday. The International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Soc... Finance,General Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:58:43 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290806,red-cross-europes-middle-class-hard-hit-by-economic-crisis.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290790,hungarian-bank-cuts-base-rate-to-lowest-level-in-three-years.html Budapest - Hungary's central bank lowered its base rate on Monday from 7.5 to 7 per cent, the lowest level in three years and the fourth 50-basis-point cut in as many months. The move, which was in line with market expectations, continues the Hungari... Finance,General Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:58:41 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290790,hungarian-bank-cuts-base-rate-to-lowest-level-in-three-years.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290786,sri-lanka-probes-arrested-us-stock-market-investor.html Colombo – Sri Lanka is investigating the dealings of a hedge-fund manager who was arrested in the United States to ascertain whether he financed a prominent front organization of Tamil rebels, the Central Bank said Monday. Sri Lanka-born multi-billio... Finance,General Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:46:46 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290786,sri-lanka-probes-arrested-us-stock-market-investor.html http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290757,austria-to-block-liechtenstein-eu-tax-transparency-deal.html Vienna - Austria will threatening to veto a tax cooperation deal due to be signed between Liechtenstein and the European Union, the finance ministry in Vienna said Monday. Along with Luxembourg, Austria is opposed to the deal with Liechtenstein - to ... Finance,General Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:10:45 GMT http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/290757,austria-to-block-liechtenstein-eu-tax-transparency-deal.html