The Guardian – Adam Gabbatt – New York Woman Visited By Police After Researching Pressure Cookers Online – 2 August 2013

Long Island resident said her web search history and ‘trying to learn how to cook lentils’ prompted a visit from authorities but police say search was prompted by tipoff paranoia

A quote : “The story later took on a different complexion when police finally explained that the investigation was prompted by searches a family member had made for pressure cooker bombs and backpacks made at his former workplace. The former employer, believing the searches to be suspicious, alerted police. Catalano said the family member was her husband.”

Read the whole article at : www.theguardian.com / link to original article

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The Guardian – Peter Beaumont – Tunisian Opposition Figures Killed With Same Gun – 27 July 2013

Mohammed Brahmi shot dead with weapon used to kill secular politician Chokri Belaid in Tunis six months ago

Mohammed Brahmi, the leftwing Tunisian opposition figure gunned down in front of his house on Thursday, was killed with the same weapon used to assassinate another secular politician in Tunis in February.

Read more at : www.theguardian.co.uk/ link to original article

The Guardian – Henry McDonald – Ireland’s Rage Over Anglo-Irish Rescue Revelations Is Justified – Enda Kenny – 25 June 2013

Irish prime minister promises inquiry after taped conversation reveals apparent attempt to mislead government into bailout.

Enda Kenny, the taoiseach, said: ‘I understand the rage and the anger of so many people who have been affected by all of this.’ Photograph: Art Widak/Demotix/Corbis.

Read the whole story at: www.guardian.co.uk/ link to original article

The Guardian – Henry McDonald – Ireland Secures Deal To Reduce Anglo Irish Bank Debt Repayments – 8 February 2013

Taoiseach says plan, which the ECB appears to back, will save €20bn over next decade and bolster global confidence in Ireland

Ireland has secured a deal from its European partners on crippling bank debt that will save it at least €1bn this year and €20bn over the next decade.

The Guardian – David Leigh – How The Vatican Built A Secret Property Empire Using Mussolini’s Millions – 23 January 2013

Papacy used offshore tax havens to create £500m international portfolio, featuring real estate in UK, France and Switzerland

Few passing London tourists would ever guess that the premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street, had anything to do with the pope. Nor indeed the nearby headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James’s Square and Pall Mall.

The Guardian – Ian Traynor And John Hooper – Monti Resignation Causes Fears Of Renewed Euro Turbulence – 11 December 2012

(Picture Mario Monti)

News sees Italy’s borrowing costs rise and share prices fall, and EU leaders worry about possible spillover into Spain

European leaders watched Italy with a mounting sense of alarm yesterday as renewed political turbulence threatened to end months of relative calm over the euro and spill over into Spain.

The Guardian – Letters : EU Knew Greece’s Figures Were Fiddled – 6 December 2012

Both the ruling of the EU general court, blocking an attempt by Bloomberg News to obtain European Central Bank files on how Greece hid the scale of its government debt, and your observation that “the ruling means European taxpayers … will not find out whether EU officials knew of irregularities in Greece’s national accounts before they became public in 2009” are surprising, to say the least (Facts on desperate attempt to hide extent of Greece’s debt stay secret, 30 November).

The Guardian – Josephine Moulds – Double Dip Recession Confirmed In Eurozone – 15 November 2012

Eurozone GDP fell by 0.1% in third quarter, plunging region into recession that economists fear could drag into next year

The nationwide general strike in central Madrid on Wednesday. Spain continues to drag on the eurozone’s economic growth. Photograph: Juan Medina/Reuters

The Guardian – Giles Tremlett – Spain And Italy Criticise Berlin Plan For EU To Police Budgets – 30 October 2012

Europe divided over German proposals for a ‘super commissioner’ who could punish nations with large deficits

Fresh tensions emerged between Germany and southern Europe as Spain and Italy criticised Berlin’s proposals for a European Union “super commissioner” with powers to police national budgets and punish those with large deficits.

“This is an idea, that considered on its own, I personally don’t like,” said Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy after meeting his Italian counterpart Mario Monti in Madrid.Monti claimed not to have read a Der Spiegel interview in which European Central Bank (ECB) president Mario Draghi threw his weight behind the super-commissioner idea, but nevertheless recalled that, in 2003, Germany has been one of the first countries to break EU deficit rules. “It doesn’t sound very good,” he added. “Markets could take this as a sign that current instruments do not work.”

The Guardian – Jonathan Watts And Virginia Lopez – Hugo Chávez Is Re-Elected In Venezuela – 8 October 2012

Venezuelan president retains power after 14 years in office, recording 54.5% of the vote against rival Henrique Capriles

Venezuela‘s Hugo Chávez has once again defied his doubters by winning a new term of office in the presidential election after what had been billed as the closest race of his political life.

To the euphoria of supporters in and around his campaign headquarters, the National Electoral Council announced on Sunday the president had secured 54.4% of the votes, while his rival Capriles was behind with 44.9%. Some votes were still to be counted, but the council said the result was not in doubt.