G-20 ministers discuss deepening crisis

Finance ministers from the Group of 20 industrialized and developing economies are meeting near London on Saturday to discuss a common approach on how to tackle the global economic crisis. The London G-20 summit on April 2 was initially going to focus on financial markets and regulation, but the deepening crisis around the world has highlighted the need for a broader economic package. This plan includes everything from stimulus packages to uneven interest rates, said Mark Malloch-Brown, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s envoy to the summit.

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Sarkozy puts government on line over NATO

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France will put his government on the line over his decision to bring the country back into NATO’s integrated military command, more than 40 years after it walked out. French lawmakers will vote Tuesday on whether to support Sarkozy’s move, which he announced officially on Wednesday

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Germany’s Solution to Big Auto’s Woes: Scrap That Clunker!

Amid the gruesome headlines generated by the world’s auto industry these days, it almost read like a typo: new car registrations in Germany rose 21% year-on-year in February, the country’s Association of the Automotive Industry announced March 3. This, though, was no error. The 278,000 cars put on the road, crowed Matthias Wissmann, VDA’s president, amounted to “the highest level of sales in the month of February for ten years.” Why the splurge German drivers have latched onto a juicy new deal

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Pope admits mistakes over Holocaust-denying bishop

The Pope has admitted making mistakes over the lifting of the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying bishop. In a letter to church leaders, parts of which have been published on a popular Catholic blog, Pope Benedict XVI says the church should have been aware of the views of Bishop Richard Williamson. Williamson, an Englishman, hit the headlines partly because the pope lifted his long-standing excommunication, along with that of three other members of the ultra-conservative Society of St

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Major deadly attacks at schools

A shooting rampage by a 17-year-old former student that has left at least 10 dead at a school in Winnenden, Germany is the latest in a series of attacks in education institutions. Here some of the major incidents. September 23, 2008: Seinajoki University of Applied Sciences, Kauhajoki, Finland.

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NATO plots Afghan-Pakistan strategy

NATO countries must create a comprehensive approach to oust al Qaeda, the Taliban and other extremists from Afghanistan and Pakistan, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said Tuesday after a meeting with NATO members. “The imperative of a comprehensive approach with a strong civilian and diplomatic effort is necessary because we know there is no purely military solution to either Afghanistan or Pakistan,” Biden told reporters at a news conference after the sessions at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

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German Company Seeking Bailout Is Tied to Auschwitz

Germany’s Nazi past continues to unsettle its present. Privileged clans and mighty industries alike have subjected themselves to public scrutiny and painful mea culpas over activities and associations before and during World War II. But the latest controversy links the poisoned mementos of Auschwitz to the ongoing global financial crisis in a still unraveling tale of leveraged buyouts, corporate hubris and financial humiliation.

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