EUROPEAN HEADLINES
FT Europe – World Bank and IMF move to avert oil-led defaults. Talks over $4 billion Azerbaijan package. Potential for a series of fund bailouts.
WSJE – Fed keeps rate rise in play. Officials flag concern over global turbulence but want option open.
INYT – North Korea’s art powerhouse. The Angkor Panorama Museum in Siem Reap, Cambodia, houses a 360-degree panoramic portrait of Cambodian history that includes the construction of the huge temples at Angkor Wat. It took 63 North Korean artists from the Mansudae Art Studio in Pyongyang more than a year to complete.
BBC Europe –Migrant crisis: Dutch plan for return ferry to Turkey.Migrants and refugees arriving on the Greek islands would immediately be sent back by ferry to Turkey, under a Dutch plan aimed at solving the crisis. Under the proposal, Labour party leader Diederik Samsom says that in return the EU would offer to take in up to 250,000 refugees a year currently in Turkey.
FRANCE
Le Monde – French Justice Minister Taubira resigns. French Justice Minister Christiane. Taubira has resigned after trying to oppose the stripping of nationality in vain.
Les Echos – 700,000 more unemployed: Hollande’s failure. The number of unemployed people increased sharply in December, with 90,000 additional unemployed in 2015. More than one-in three French people say they are ready to create their own business.
GERMANY
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) – Brazil and Colombia act vigorously against the Zika virus. Dilma Rousseff sends 200,000 soldiers to the Northeast. Barack Obama calls for improved diagnosis.
Sueddeutsche Zeitung SZ) – DFB hushed-up evidence of corruption. The investigation into the awarding of the 2006 FIFA World Cup shows that the German Football Association held key documents indicating bribe payments under lock for years.
ITALY
La Repubblica – Tax authorities attack Google and ask for €300 million. The public prosecutor of Milan and the financial police revealed that the US giant Google avoided paying nearly €300 million to the Italian tax authorities between 2008 and 2013.
Il Sole 24 Ore – Banks: guarantees without any impact on debt. The government guarantee on the securitisation of bad debt will not have any impact on debt and deficit, according to the agreement passed with the EU, Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said.
POLAND
Gazeta Wyborcza – Will the Sejm reject the citizens’ voice? A citizens’ initiative “Secular school” collected 150,000 signatures under its project of parents or religious organisations paying for religion classes at school. They assert that PLN 1.35 billion that the State spends on religion classes could be used for other, better purposes.
SPAIN
El País – “The PP and the PSOE should not prevent any other party from ruling the country,” Felipe Gonzalez, former head of the government. “They will not be able to prevent the formation of a government if they can’t do it themselves. I want Spain to have a government. I would prefer it to be progressive and reformist.”
Expansión – Repsol records losses due to provisions of €2.9 billion. The oil company reported losses of €1.2 billion and cuts investments by 20%.
UK
The Times – Top investor turns on Google over tax “sham.” One of Google’s biggest British shareholders is calling for the company to pay “much more” tax in the UK.
The Guardian – British government makes U-turn over resettlement of Syrian children. Britain will take in unaccompanied Syrian refugee children who are already in Europe, under a new £10m scheme to be announced by the Home Office today.
