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Mr Letta said Italy would abide by EU budget pledges and but in reality he seems to have broken with the core demands of the EU fiscal compact.
Markets surged as optimism swept the country, with the Milan bourse up 2pc and yields on 10-year Italian bonds falling to 3.94pc, the lowest since 2010.
Yet it is unclear whether the European Central’s Banks bail-out pledge (OMT) to backstop Italy’s debt markets is still in place since it entails strict conditions that must be ratified by a vote in the German parliament. This has yet to be tested.
Mr Letta will visit German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, hoping to persuade her that the EU will lose the consent of the people unless it becomes an “engine of growth” once again.
While he is a passionate pro-European - and called for a “United States of Europe” in his speech - his anti-austerity drive takes the eurozone into uncharted waters.
It comes as France, too, appeared close to breaking ranks with German-imposed policy doctrines. A leaked version of French president Francois Hollande’s Socialist Party’s text openly attacked “German austerity” and the “egoistic intransigence of Mrs Merkel”.
While the text has since been toned down to the “liberal politics of the German Right”, the episode has stunned Berlin and threatens irreparable damage to the Franco-German relationship that anchors the EU Project.
The ground is also shifting in Brussels, where EU employment chief Laszlo Andor called on Monday for a radical change in EU crisis strategy. “If there is no growth, I don’t see how countries can cut their debt levels,” he told the Süddeutsche Zeitung.
In a direct attack on Berlin, he said the German practice of “wage dumping” within EMU to gain larger export surpluses “could not be justified”. The surplus states have to changes their policies as well as the crisis states. “Otherwise the currency union will break apart. Cohesion is already half lost,” he said.
Italy is trapped in a Japanese-style depression. The economy has already contracted by 6.9pc since 2008 and is expected to shrink another 1.3pc this year. By then the economy will have shrunk back to levels last seen in 1999.
Debt will reach 130pc of GDP in 2013, ever closer to the danger level for a nation with no sovereign currency or central bank. Italy pushed through drastic fiscal tightening of more than 3pc of GDP last year, even though the budget was already near primary surplus.
Critics say this has proved worse than useless, even on its own terms. The debt ratio jumped seven percentage points of GDP in a single year as recession eroded the tax base and pushed up unemployment.
RICHMOND, Va. — After a nonprofit’s plan to convert a former Manchester church into an overflow cold weather homeless shelter failed to materialize, a local developer already familiar with the area is making a move to secure the property.
Corinthian Construction’s Ben Adamson said he has placed the Community Bainbridge Baptist Church at 1101 Bainbridge St., along with two adjoining parcels, under contract.
The pending deal comes just as Commonwealth Catholic Charities lost its deal for the site. The nonprofit announced Friday that its agreement with Community Bainbridge Baptist Trust, who owns the site, had been terminated.
A pending special use permit application related to the proposal has also been voided.
“We simply could not accomplish the necessary steps to purchase the property within the time constraints of the existing agreement,” said Jay Brown, CCC’s division director of housing services, in a statement.
Adamson said he’s been attracted to the site for a while, given its proximity to properties he owns next door: The Brewer’s Cafe-anchored apartment development at 101 W. 12th St., and a two-story residential building at 1104 Porter St.
After an acting career that’s seen 50 Cent explore all the most dramatic, grimacing faces of the human condition—cancer, blindness, starring in a straight-to-DVD cop drama with Robert De Niro—he’ll return to where it all started (besides just rapping and leaving it at that) by once again playing himself in a movie. How...
WASHINGTON — A former senior Justice Department official admitted Tuesday that he did favors for clients of lobbyist Jack Abramoff while accepting free meals at upscale Washington restaurants and luxury-suite tickets to sports games paid for by Abramoff's former firm.
In court papers, Robert E. Coughlin II acknowledged using his position as a department official to help Abramoff's former firm, Greenberg Traurig, including campaigning on the firm's behalf to secure a $16.3 million grant for a Indian tribe to build a jail.
Coughlin, 36, also set up meetings with "friendly" Justice officials to discuss the grant and intentionally cut out a Democratic-leaning official who he assumed wouldn't be open to helping Abramoff's firm, the court records show.
Coughlin, who pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court to a felony conflict of interest charge, made the admissions as part of an agreement to cooperate with federal prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence. Prosecutors, who plan to seek four to six months in prison, declined to comment.
Lome - At least 30 people were injured in clashes with police during an opposition candlelight vigil against the government, sources close to the opposition said on Thursday.
The vigil late on Wednesday was called to "bury the regime" of President Faure Gnassingbe, whose March 4 re-election triggered opposition charges of voter fraud, the opposition said.
Police used tear gas after demonstrators detained a plainclothes policeman, witnesses said. At least 30 people were injured in ensuing scuffles, opposition officials said without giving further details.
There was no official confirmation on the number of injured.
In a statement, the ministry of security and civil protection said opposition protestors had blocked main roads and disrupted traffic.
"All forms of protest related to the results of the March 4 presidential poll are strictly banned," it said.
The opposition has organised several protests over the outcome of the election.
The body of a woman from Blackpool has been discovered on a beach in Cumbria.
Police have identified the body as Aileen Rourke, who was reported missing on Thursday November 8.
The 74-year-old was last seen at her home in the Lytham Road area of Blackpool before she disappeared.
Her body was discovered by members of the public on a beach at South Walney Nature Reserve on Walney Island, Barrow on November 16.
Police said her death is not being treated as suspicious and a file has been passed to the coroner.
It is not known what brought Aileen to the beach in Cumbria.
Speaking shortly after she was reported missing, her concerned family said her disappearance was "very much out of character".
A police spokesman said: "Our thoughts are with Aileen’s family and friends at this extremely sad and difficult time.
"Thank you to everyone who took the time to share our appeals."
A LOT has been said about Khairy Jamaluddin’s new bearded look. Probably too much – there was an actual back-and-forth on Twitter about whether it was more of a Captain America ‘do or a Walking Dead Rick Grimes style.
Love it or hate it, the new look doesn’t seem to have changed KJ one bit.
During an exclusive video interview with The Star’s R.AGE team for the latest episode of its Close Up series (which you can watch at fb.com/thestarRAGE), KJ is as straight-shooting as ever.
He tackles a variety of hot button issues head-on, from the Icerd (International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) controversy and the special position of the Malays to former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s new-found social media game.
But as much as he admits to being a bit of a “maverick politician”, there is certainly more than a sense of pragmatism about his approach to politics.
“I will still say things, but I will choose my platform carefully ... I know when and how to convey my message,” he says when asked about his initial rebellious streak against his party post-GE14.
calls for then Umno president Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to step down, and – perhaps the most spectacular of all – the #Lobakman episode.
“You can’t just have personal conviction without having the political guile to achieve it, and you certainly can’t present a political platform without believing in something,” he adds.
What he believes in, it seems, is the need for Barisan Nasional to get a new look of its own. Whether he has the political guile to achieve it, only time will tell.
R.AGE: As the results were coming in on May 9, what went through your mind?
KJ: I was very concerned that we have an orderly and smooth transition because although we emerged as losers that night, I wanted the country to come out as a winner. We wanted to demonstrate that Malaysia is not just a rapidly developing country economically, but also politically – we can handle a democratic change in...
I was happy because that night at around 1am, I went to Najib’s house and he told the few of us who were assembled that he was going to concede the next day. To me, that was a good outcome because we had lost and we had to give the keys to the new guys.
> Do you think Barisan Nasional is moving in the right direction?
Umno is being tempted to move away from working together with our traditional coalition partners because of this rise in Malay and Muslim political consciousness, so it’s expedient right now to work with PAS. You can’t blame those who promote that kind of co-operation because it’s yielding results right now.
But for me, looking at the long term, we should not discount the Chinese and Indian electorate forever because I feel that the more stable government is one that is supported by all Malaysians, regardless of ethnicity.
> You’ve said that you will represent the new Umno. What would that look like?
One that is more professional, progressive and attracts the right talent to preserve the kind of centrist party that I work towards. Obviously there are a lot of internal dynamics within every party, but I think people know that I represent this kind of thinking.
> After all that’s happened in your career, do you still remember why you decided to join politics?
I decided to join politics when I was five years old because I was interested in the way the world worked and I wanted to make it work better.
My obsession is to look at something and see how we can tweak, change or adjust it so that things work better for the outcome that you want, which is to help as many people as possible.
I am always obsessed with seeing how certain policies or programmes are not delivering the intended outcome.
> What would the Pakatan Harapan government score on a KJ report card?
A “D”. Not an “F”, because I think there’s certain things that they’ve tried to do, but certainly not even a “C” because their manifesto promises are largely unkept.
I look after finance in the shadow Cabinet and a lot of business people tell me that they’re not making investments not only because of global economic headwinds, but because of a lack of direction and clarity from the government.
Cost of living has not improved. Although it’s been nine months, there’s not even an indication of where Pakatan wants to take the country to make the burden of the cost of living lighter on people.
People can argue that Umno and PAS stoke racial and religious tension, but you can also argue that the Pakatan government has dropped the ball in responding to this discontent on the Malay ground.
They have been found wanting on a lot of things, not just the economy but also society. The level of confidence people have in the competency of ministers is highly variable. There are some ministers who obviously do well, and there are some who I think still need a lot of help.
> Which Pakatan ministers have impressed you so far?
I can see that the Transport Minister, Anthony Loke, is getting on with his work. I judge people based on their interaction in Parliament, so when Anthony or someone like (Communications and Multimedia Minister) Gobind Singh Deo answers questions, they do it very professionally and matter-of-factly, whereas some others...
> Let’s talk about something that’s close to your heart – children with special needs.
My second son is on the autism spectrum and I have a niece who lives with me and she has Down Syndrome so because of that, I am interested in policy issues that have to do with children’s special needs.
I have made it a big part of my political life to ensure that there is inclusive growth and development for everybody so that no child is left behind. I did that with the Paralympic athletes when I was at the Youth and Sports Ministry.
Every single Malaysian must fulfil their potential and I think we need to build an environment where everybody, including kids with special needs, can fulfil their potential.
> What are your thoughts about Icerd? Could it have been ratified with reservations?
It can be done, but it has to go through a lot of syndication with the public. We have to understand how the reservations work, how the review happens, whether it is time-bound – these are complex questions and unless you have a great understanding or widespread syndication with the public of what Icerd is, it will be ...
The Pakatan government dropped the ball by not syndicating it this time around. They could have built a case towards it slowly, but the public heard about it without softening the ground at all.
I gave fair warning to the government that this would happen, but they couldn’t care less and before even the first stakeholder consultation took place, multiple demonstrations had erupted across the country. It was too late, you know? They certainly screwed up rolling it out.
> Politics aside, do you think the special position of Malays is under threat in Malaysia?
I don’t think that the special position of Malays is under threat, but there is a pronounced concern that the issues that are sensitive for the Malay community have become fair game for many people.
There is a lot more rhetoric against Islam and the Malay agenda, and this is a very real concern among the Malay community.
> What do you think about Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s surge in popularity on social media?
As a politician, he is entitled to shore up his popularity. Every politician has to remain relevant and popular because at the end of the day, we run for office based on the number of people who like us and vote for us, so obviously he is trying to rebrand and reinvent himself.
It doesn’t take away the fact that he’s got a lot of court cases that he is still up against. For me, I look at a man who is desperately trying to save his legacy, and he has every right to do so as he is a politician just like any one of us.
But ultimately, I think he has got bigger issues at hand.
> “Khairy Jamaluddin, Prime Minister of Malaysia.” The thought must have crossed your mind at some point. What kind of prime minister would you be?
If I ever became prime minister, I certainly would like to be a prime minister for all Malaysians, including those who didn’t support or didn’t vote for me, because I think this place only works if you try to get the best of everyone.
If you are divisive in terms of ethnicity, religion and politics, you don’t get the best from the people. The political divide is so pronounced and deep that solutions are almost absent and looked down upon by both sides.
So, whoever becomes prime minister must try to unite this country somehow.
Click here to watch more episodes of Close Up by The Star's award-winning R.AGE team.
Cardale Jones of the Ohio State Buckeyes during Media Day for the College Football Playoff National Championship.
Two days before the first mega-ultra-this-time-it’s-for-real national championship game in college football history, they laid out a hundred yards of artificial turf and a set of high school stadium-sized bleachers, all of it inside a labyrinthine Dallas convention center named after a former Republican senator. Becaus...
So they charged $15 for parking and $17 for fan admission to those bleachers for a two-hour long College Football Playoff media day session that was front-loaded with clichés. And to at least a few people, the vague proximity to Tim Tebow made it totally worth it. This is college football we’re talking about, after all...
The Oregon wide receiver is named Darren Carrington; he had seven catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns in the Rose Bowl, and he might have been a major factor against Ohio State on Monday night had he not failed an NCAA-mandated random drug test (along with one other Oregon player, Ayele Forde). This led to a serie...
There’s something fitting about Oregon being here, a player in the first of these colossal bowls, which will be consummated inside Jerry Jones’ glimmering monument to excessive video boards. In the history of the sport, after all, no program has so successfully elevated itself through marketing in the way Oregon has; n...
Helfrich is such a low-key guy that his coaching staff never yells at anyone, and after the Ducks’ loss to Arizona earlier this season, all that touchy-feely millennial energy was seen as a liability. But not anymore. Helfrich is an Oregon kid, born and raised, and unlike with so many other coaches, you get the sense t...
There is a friendship between Helfrich and Ohio State coach Urban Meyer that appears legitimate, or at least as legitimate as it can get among college coaches. Much has been made this weekend of the fact that Meyer (an Ohio native, who shouted out his hometown of Ashtabula at a press conference Sunday morning) actually...
And really, is there any other explanation for Ohio State’s presence in this game other than coaching? The Buckeyes lost their starting quarterback, Braxton Miller, to injury before the season even began; they lost their backup quarterback, J.T. Barrett, during the Michigan game, and Meyer and offensive coordinator Tom...
Sure, that’s an exaggeration, but then, it’s Texas, and everything down here really does feel deliberately exaggerated. It’s possible that this game will see record ratings, in the same way the semifinals did; either way, this already feels like a huge leap forward for college football, a step up into a new stratospher...
OK, I get that we'll save a bunch of bucks not sending units all the way up to Fairbanks for this exercise, but I wonder if they factor in the cost of all that infrastructure and manpower going unused during that timeframe as well when they work out the numbers?
They must have been under pressure to show that they're prepared to cancel something directly related to the mission rather than something frilly and superfluous like Thunderbirds appearances. This affects real training and capabilities.
It seems like RED FLAG-AK and having agressors up there were Buzz Moseley's ideas. Having dealt with crap he thought was a good idea (CSAR transfer back to ACC after 3 years in AFSOC, after all, it's just a "patch change") maybe we should just dump it. He gave us deployed AF Bands after all.

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