It started with a secretive meeting of European policy makers on Friday and was confirmed on Monday when Standard & Poor’s downgraded Greece’s debt further into junk status: Europe’s sovereign debt crisis is back.
The timing couldn’t be worse. With mounting fears the global recovery has peaked, investors are on edge and following last week’s violent commodity sell-off, escalating risks on the east side of the Atlantic are surely the last thing markets need.
Tensions about Europe have been simmering for most of this year, but started to heat up again Friday when rumours spread that Greece was quitting the euro and reports surfaced that European Union finance ministers were meeting secretively to discuss the ongoing crisis.
“Needless to say, if Greece exited the euro and defaulted, the impact on the markets could be pretty big,” he said.
“Indeed, as time goes on, we expect fears of a Greek euro exit to increase. With worries about Spain also likely to resurface, the euro-zone debt crisis may be entering a new and more dangerous phase.”
Russia flexes nuclear muscle on Victory Day
Some 20,000 soldiers and Russia's most advanced missiles rumbled across Red Square on Monday in a parade marking victory in World War II and reinforcing the country's belief in its Soviet-era might.
A well-rehearsed 1,500-piece orchestra set the tone to the procession by booming out festive marches as President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin watched from a podium in front of Lenin's mausoleum.
Medvedev and Putin -- both being watched under a political microscope with presidential elections less than a year away -- sat side by side and exchanged a few comments as soldiers goose-stepped across the polished cobblestone.
Egyptians Plan March to Gaza Additional Anti Israel Actions
Israel celebrates Independence Day according to the Jewish Calendar but for the Arabs the anniversary is 15 May. The Al Ahram website reports that as part of the push for a more hostile approach to Israel that followed the overthrow of the Mubarak regime some Egyptian groups plan to march to "Palestine" under the slogan “Cairo’s liberation will not be complete without the liberation of Al-Quds [Jerusalem].”
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