The Group of Seven rich countries is concerned about Greece's debt problems

The Group of Seven rich countries is concerned about Greece’s debt problems, a Canadian official said on Friday, and hinted that there may be other countries that will also need help.Canada is this year’s chair of the G7.Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty would not discuss the substance of talks between G7 finance ministers and central bank governors early on Friday, but said his G7 partners were watching developments closely.

“We are concerned. We’re consulting closely with our international partners.”In addition to Canada, the G7 includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States.Echoing comments from other G7 officials, Flaherty told reporters that the G7 believed countries that are borrowing heavily need to rein in fiscal deficits. But he questioned if they could do that on their own.

“It’s necessary that, first of all, that the countries involved take the steps they need to take and be clear about that, that they’re going to take these steps toward fiscal restraint, fiscal responsibility,” he said.”They will need some help, in all likelihood, in order to manage the issue, as Greece did.”

Leaders of euro zone countries on Friday approved a deal by the European Union and International Monetary fund to provide an aid package to Greece, EU sources said. The aid package of 110 billion euros ($147 billion) is to be released to Greece over three years.The IMF board is to meet on Sunday to discuss its share of the rescue deal.Greece has promised to slash spending in return, measures which have provoked violent protests in Athens.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in remarks at the White House to highlight stronger-than-forecast U.S. April job growth, said he had discussed developments in the Greek debt situation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel by telephone.”We agreed on the importance of a strong policy response by the affected countries and a strong financial response from the international community,” Obama said.

“I made clear that the United States supports these efforts and will continue to cooperate with European authorities and the IMF during this critical period.”

GEITHNER TALKS WITH G7, U.S. REGULATORS

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also participated in the G7 call, but a Treasury spokesman had no immediate comment on the outcome.A U.S. Treasury official earlier had described the call as being “focused on European leaders updating the G7 finance ministers and central bank governors” on Greece’s debt woes.Geithner also held conference calls on Friday morning with the heads of two U.S. market regulators, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and with Federal Reserve officials.

The SEC and CFTC are investigating Thursday’s sudden stock market plunge, which some market sources say may have been caused by an errant trade by a large bank. An Obama administration official said the Treasury Department was closely monitoring the probe.The G7 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States. It has lost significance as the world puts more stress on the broader Group of 20 industrialized and emerging economies, but retains a role in issues like the European debt crisis.(Reuters)

President Barack Obama will seek to build momentum with China in his push for sanctions on Iran as world leaders assemble in Washington on Monday

Obama will hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao before hosting high-level delegations from nearly 50 countries for the opening of the global conference, where the focus will be on how to prevent nuclear terrorism.In the one-on-one meeting with Hu, Obama hopes to cement China’s commitment to help ratchet up pressure on Iran over its nuclear program after Beijing agreed to join serious talks about possible new U.N. sanctions on Tehran.

The two leaders will also try to nurture a thaw in Sino-U.S. relations after tensions spiked in recent months over a range of issues. Financial markets will be seeking further signs of China giving ground over its currency valuation.The Washington summit is the culmination of a hectic week of nuclear diplomacy for Obama and comes a year after he laid out a vision of a world free of atomic weapons.It follows close on the heels of Obama’s unveiling of a revamped U.S. nuclear doctrine limiting the use of atomic arms and the signing of a landmark post-Cold War treaty with Russia pledging to cut their nuclear arsenals by a third.

At home, Obama’s conservative critics say his arms-control strategy is naive and could compromise U.S. national security.Despite that, the two-day summit the biggest U.S.-hosted assembly of world leaders in six decades — will be a test of Obama’s ability to rally global action on his nuclear agenda.Speaking on the eve of the conference, Obama said he expected it to yield “enormous progress” toward the goal of locking down loose nuclear materials worldwide.

“We know that organizations like al Qaeda are in the process of trying to secure a nuclear weapon, a weapon of mass destruction that they have no compunction at using,” Obama told reporters, calling it the biggest threat to national security.A draft final communique shows leaders will pledge to work toward safeguarding all “vulnerable nuclear material” within four years and take steps to crack down on nuclear smuggling.

NOT ON AGENDA BUT ON SUMMITEERS’ MINDS

Iran and North Korea are not on the guest list or the summit agenda. But their nuclear standoffs with the West are sure to figure heavily in Obama’s talks with Hu and other leaders like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who will sit down with the U.S. president on Tuesday after the summit is over.With Obama pushing to get new sanctions in place against Iran within weeks, China — after months of delay — reluctantly agreed to join in crafting a U.N. resolution. But Obama has yet to completely overcome Beijing’s skepticism.

The West wants to deter what it sees as a covert drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, while Tehran says it has only peaceful intentions, focused on generation of electricity.The list of leaders in attendance will range from heads of state of traditional nuclear powers like Russia and France to nuclear-armed foes like India and neighboring Pakistan.

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani assured Obama in talks on Sunday his government has “appropriate safeguard” for its nuclear arsenal. Experts say Pakistan’s stockpile of weapons-grade material poses a high risk because of internal security threats from the Taliban and al Qaeda.

Missing will be Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who withdrew fearing Muslim leaders would use the summit as a forum to demand Israel give up its assumed nuclear arsenal.Still, nuclear-defiant Iran will be the summit’s sub-text.In Prague last week, Obama persuaded President Dmitry Medvedev to keep pressure on Iran, but the Russian leader made clear there remain limits to Moscow’s support for sanctions.

For its part, a defiant Iran has dismissed the summit’s chances for success “as long as some nuclear-armed countries … are constantly preoccupied with the idea of depriving other countries of the peaceful use of nuclear technology.”Hu’s decision to attend the summit is seen as part of a two-way effort to get relations back on track after months of bickering over China’s currency, its Internet censorship, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan and Obama’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Days after Beijing announced Hu’s participation, Washington said it would delay a decision scheduled for mid-April on whether to declare China a currency manipulator.China, meanwhile, has signaled it may be close to revaluing its yuan currency. In a pivotal congressional election year, the Obama administration has pressured Beijing to scrap its currency peg, saying it hurts U.S. business and jobs.(Reuters)

world celebrations for the new years

Taipei 101

PARIS jazzed up the Eiffel Tower with a multicolored, disco-style light display as the world basked in New Year’s festivities with hopes that 2010 and beyond will bring more peace and prosperity.From fireworks over Sydney’s famous bridge to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to “The Noughties” – a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for “zero” and evoking the word naughty.In New York City, hundreds of thousands of revelers gathered in chilly weather in Times Square to usher in the new decade. Organizers were preparing 3,000 pounds (1,360 kilograms) of confetti that will be scattered when the New Year’s Eve crystal ball drops at midnight.Fireworks were set off at about 6 p.m. and the gigantic ball was lowered into place in preparation for midnight. Many people wore conical party hats and 2010 glasses that blinked colorfully, and some were jumping up and down to keep warm – the National Weather Service said the temperature will be in the low 30s and forecast snow for around midnight.Las Vegas prepared to welcome some 315,000 revelers with fireworks from casino rooftops, a traffic-free Las Vegas Strip and toasts at nightclubs from celebrities including actress Eva Longoria and rapper 50 Cent.

Sydney Harbour

Even as some major stock market indexes rose in 2009, the financial downturn hit hard, sending many industrial economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out of their homes as foreclosures rose dramatically in some countries.”The year that is ending has been difficult for everybody. No continent, no country, no sector has been spared,” French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on national TV in a New Year’s Eve address. “Even if the tests are unfinished, 2010 will be a year of renewal,” he added.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned her people that the start of the new decade won’t herald immediate relief from the global economic ills. South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, was more ebullient, saying the World Cup is set to make 2010 the country’s most important year since the end of apartheid in 1994.At midnight in Rio de Janeiro, about 2 million people gathered along the 2.5-mile (4 kilometer) Copacabana beach to watch a huge fireworks display and listen to dozens of music acts and DJs.

The multitudes came mostly dressed in traditional white clothing, a nod to the Afro-Brazilian religion of Candomble but a custom followed by nearly everyone as it is thought to bring peace and good luck for the coming year.Officials said about 12,000 police were on duty during the New Year’s Eve party in and around Copacabana to provide security.Dressed in white and holding a glass of champagne in his hand, visitor Chad Bissonnette, 27, a nongovernmental group’s director from Washington, D.C., said, “This year was the toughest I’ve experienced – for the first time as an American I saw many friends lose jobs and businesses in my neighborhood close regularly.”

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd hailed events in 2009 like the inauguration of the United States’ first black president, and international attempts to grapple with climate change and the global financial crisis.”The great message from 2009 is that because we’ve been all in this together, we’ve all worked together,” Rudd said in a New Year’s message.Australia got the some of the festivities rolling, as Sydney draped its skies with explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue to the delight of more than 1 million New Year revelers near the harbor bridge.Concerns that global warming might raise sea levels and cause other environmental problems were on the minds of some as the year ended.

Venice revelers rang in the New Year with wet feet as high tide on its archipelago peaked just before midnight to flood low-lying parts of the city – including the St. Mark’s Square.The last year also offered its reminders of the decade’s fight against terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more recently, rising militant violence in Pakistan.Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain, in a statement Wednesday, suggested that terrorism book-ended the decade, with the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in the United States, and foiled plot by a Nigerian man to set off explosives on a U.S.-bound airliner on Christmas Eve.

“In late December we were reminded at this decade’s end, just as we were at its beginning, that there is a terrorist threat which puts our safety and security at risk and which requires us to take on al-Qaeda and the Taliban at the epicentre of global terrorism,” he said.

The American Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack on the resort island of Bali on New Year’s Eve, citing information from the island’s governor – though local security officials said they were unaware of a threat.In a more upbeat theme, the Eiffel Tower was decked out for its 120th anniversary year with hundreds of multicolored lights along its latticework. It was seemingly retro in style, but decidedly 21st century as it showered the Iron Lady in a light show billed as more energy-saving than its usual sparkling lights.

Police blocked off the Champs-Elysees to vehicle traffic as partygoers popped champagne, exchanged la bise – the traditional French cheek to cheek peck – or more amorous kisses to celebrate the New Year.Spain rang in the start of its six-month presidency of the European Union with a sound and light show illuminating Sol square in Madrid and images from the 27 member states projected onto the central post office building.Partiers braved the cold – and a shower from sparkling cava wine bottles – in traditional style by eating 12 grapes, one with each tolling of the city hall bell.Despite frigid temperatures, thousands gathered along the River Thames for fireworks were fired from the London Eye attraction just as Big Ben struck midnight – an hour after continental western Europe.

Europe and the Americas may have partied harder than Asia. Islamic countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan use a different calendar; China will mark the new year in February.Still, in Shanghai, some people paid 518 yuan ($75) to ring the bell at the Longhua Temple at midnight and wish for new-year luck. In Chinese, saying “518” sounds like the phrase “I want prosperity.”

Saudi Arabia is one of the few countries where New Year’s Eve is not celebrated publicly. Clerics in the ultraconservative country say Muslims can only observe their faith’s feasts of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. For them, any other occasions are considered innovations that Islam rejects.Unlike many Islamic countries where pigs are considered unclean, New Year’s in Austria just isn’t complete without a pig-shaped lucky charm – and stalls selling the little porkers did a good business Thursday. Some are made of marzipan or chocolate; others come in glass, wood, rubber or soap.

Herbert Nikitsch of the University of Vienna’s Institute of European Ethnology said the porcine phylactery may originate from the fact that pigs represented food and sustenance for farmers in preindustrial times.Some festivities went awry.In the Philippines, hundreds of people were injured by firecrackers and celebratory gunfire during the celebrations. Many Filipinos, largely influenced by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year’s celebrations drive away evil and misfortune – but some carry that belief to extremes.At Zojoji, one of Tokyo’s oldest and biggest Buddhist temples, thousands of worshippers released clear, helium-filled balloons to mark the new year. Nearby Tokyo Tower twinkled with white lights, while a large “2010” sign glowed from the center.

Tokyo’s Shibuya area, known as a magnet of youth culture, exploded with emotion at the stroke of midnight. Strangers embraced spontaneously as revelers jumped and sang.In Istanbul, Turkish authorities deployed some 2,000 police around Taksim Square to prevent pickpockets and the molestation of women that have marred New Year celebrations in the past. Some officers were under cover, disguised as street vendors or “even in Santa Claus dress,” Istanbul Gov. Muammer Guler said.In Stonehaven, on Scotland’s east coast, the fireballs festival – a tradition for a century and a half – saw in the New Year. The pagan festival is observed by marchers swinging large, flaming balls around their heads. The flames are believed to either ensure sunshine or banish harmful influences.In contrast to many galas worldwide, the Stonehaven Fireballs Association warned those attending not to wear their best clothes – because “there will be sparks flying along with smoke and even whisky.” (AP)