IMF proposes global bank tax plans

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=123931§ionid=3510213


The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has proposed new taxes on financial institutions to cover the costs of future potential bailouts, leaked documents show.

According to the IMF proposals circulated to the Group of 20 advanced and developing countries on Tuesday, the measures would see all institutions pay a bank levy as well as a further tax on profits and pay.

The IMF further explained that unrecovered costs of bank rescues in the most affected G20 states represent 4 to 5 percent of their GDP.

G20 finance ministers this weekend are to discuss the proposals that were meant to be kept confidential, but were leaked to the BBC.

Different governments have already offered several proposals aimed at covering the costs of future economic rescue packages.

British Finance Minister Alistair Darling welcomed the contents of the leaked IMF proposals on Tuesday.

"The recognition that banks should make a contribution to the society in which they operate is right," Darling said.

Meanwhile, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) said it had expected a tax or a levy.

“It appears it might be both. We must wait to see what is actually being proposed and how it will be calculated, but at first sight it appears wider than expected,” Angela Knight, the BBA chief executive, stated.

Guatemala plans to expand Russia relations

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=121346§ionid=351020706


Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom is on its way to Russia to expand bilateral relations with the former super power in a move unprecedented in the history of the two countries during the past 65 years.

"We regard the visit of Alvaro Colom to Russia as an historic event and we are certain that it will give a new boost to our bilateral relations," the Guatemalan Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti on Sunday.

"The Guatemalan economy is one of the leading economies in Central America. Besides, the country has free-trade agreements with the United States, Mexico and Canada. Russia could benefit from the opportunity to use our country as a foothold to promote its goods in the region," the ministry said.

Colom will meet with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev on Monday. He is reportedly planning to boost cooperation with Moscow in oil and gas, telecommunications, transport and tourism.

In earlier comments, the leftist president said it would be a mistake for Guatemala or other Latin American nations to ignore relations and cooperation with such an important partner as Russia.

China firm on suspending US ties

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119441§ionid=351020404


Amid strained China-US ties over Washington's sale of arms to Taiwan, China has urged the US to be cautious to prevent more damage.

"China demands that the US speak and act cautiously to avoid causing further damage to relations between the two countries," Huang Xueping, spokesman for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, said on Thursday.

He also noted that Beijing would not reverse its decision to suspend bilateral military plans with Washington.

"China's decision to suspend planned China-US military visits has not changed."

The tension between the two countries emerged after the US announced in January that it would sell $6.4 billion of arms to Taiwan.

The deal included Patriot missiles, Black Hawk helicopters and equipment for Taiwan's F-16 fleet.

China, which views Taiwan as part of its territory, reacted to Washington's move by imposing sanctions on US companies involved in the military agreement.

The Pentagon said earlier on Wednesday that Beijing also postponed several high-profile military exchanges with Washington.

A number of other issues such as US President Barack Obama's meeting with the exiled Tibetan leader, the Dalai Lama, and Google's claims of being targeted by cyber attacks in China have worsened ties between the two major powers.

Xueping's remarks, reported by the Xinhua news agency, indicates China has not put aside the public ire with Washington, despite allowing a US aircraft carrier to visit Hong Kong last week.

Venezuela raps US, UK over oil rows in S Atlantic

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=119060§ionid=351020704


Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has slammed the US and the UK for their 'oil hunger' that has sparked tensions over drilling plans near the Falklands or Las Malvinas.

"The English are desperate, the Yankees are desperate and here we have the biggest petroleum reserves in the world," Reuters quoted Chavez as speaking on a TV program on Friday about the latest rows between the UK and Argentina over Britain's plans to explore oil in the southern hemisphere.

"Give the Malvinas back to the Argentine people. Enough already with the empire," Chavez added, pledging support for Argentina's claim on the islands' energy reservoirs and sovereignty.

"When will England stop breaking international law? Return the Malvinas to Argentina," he went on to say, negating British Premier Gordon Brown's abiding by the "international law" comments on the Falklands/ Las Malvinas.

Earlier this week, Argentinean government formally objected to British-led drilling plans near the islands that lie around 500 kilometers off the coast of Argentina and almost 13,000 kilometers away from the UK.

Britain, however, deems the southern Atlantic archipelago as part of its sovereign territories, with Prime Minister Brown reportedly hinting at a possible confrontation in the event of a clash.

"We have made all the preparations that are necessary to make sure that the Falkland Islanders are properly protected," Brown was quoted by Reuters as telling a local radio Thursday, following reports of the deployment of extra warships in the area.

Britain won a war with Argentina over the islands in 1982 after the Argentines made an attempt to reclaim their South Atlantic Islands which the UK had seized in the 19th century.

Iran starts 20% uranium enrichment

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=118235&sectionid=351020104


Iran on Tuesday began enriching uranium to a level of 20 percent at its Natanz enrichment facility under the surveillance of inspectors from the UN nuclear watchdog.

The move comes after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tasked the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) with enriching uranium to 20 percent in order to meet the demands of the country's cancer patients.

Iran has earlier informed the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that it would start enriching uranium to 20 percent on Tuesday in the presence of the inspectors and observers from the agency.

Iran needs 120 kg (264 lb) of 20 percent-enriched uranium to fuel the Tehran research reactor, which produces medical isotopes for cancer patients and is soon to run out of fuel.

The Tehran research reactor, which produces 20 different kinds of radio-medicine for cancer patients, runs on 20 percent-enriched U-235.

The AEOI Director Ali-Akbar Salehi on Tuesday confirmed the beginning of uranium enrichment to 20 percent purity level at Natanz plant.

"The enrichment started on Tuesday in a separate cascade from the production line that enriches uranium in Natanz," Salehi told the Islamic Republic News Agency.

"We opened a new cascade, called S8, in Natanz which is more on a lab scale," he said.

The top nuclear official said that doors are still open for talks with Iran about nuclear fuel swap.

"The beginning of the enrichment is not tantamount to the end of interaction and negotiations on a UN-brokered proposal on fuel swap," he said.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran is still ready to continue cooperation if the negotiation parties act wisely and end wasting time," Salehi underlined

Syria summons foreign envoys over Israeli war rhetoric

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117879§ionid=351020206


Damascus summoned foreign envoys to Syria on Thursday to discuss Israel's recent military threats against the Arab country.

The meeting was hosted by the Syrian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and headed by Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmad Arnous, a Press TV correspondent reported.

"Israel is trying to drag Syria and the rest of the Middle East into other wars. The recent remarks by extremist Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman are part of an attempt by Tel Aviv to extract itself from big crises it is currently facing…Damascus is, however, fully prepared for any surprise from Israel," Arnous said during the meeting.

Earlier on Thursday, Israel's firebrand Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman had warned that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would lose the war and his power, should there be another military conflict between the two sides.

"When there is another war, you will not just lose it, but you and your family will lose power," he had said at a conference on Thursday.

The latest spat between the two neighbors emerged after Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned on Monday that if there is no peace agreement with Syria, "we might find ourselves in a forceful conflict that could lead to an all-out war."

Syria responded furiously, with Assad saying, "it seemed Israel is working towards a war", and Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem responding, "do not test the power of Syria since you know the war will move into your cities."

Barak predicts Syria war in absence of talks

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117645§ionid=351020202


Israeli Defense Minister says it is crucial to clinch a peace deal with Syria before too late, saying otherwise Tel Aviv could find itself at war with Damascus.

Addressing an annual gathering of senior army officers on Monday, Ehud Barak highlighted the significance of opening negotiations while Syria perceived Israel as being strong, the Jerusalem Post website reports.

Barak described the coming year as one of many challenges but expressed optimism about opportunities to make peace with Syria and the Palestinians.

"In the absence of a deal with Syria we could reach an armed conflict that could develop into a full-fledged war," he warned.

"As is in the Middle East, immediately after the war we will sit down and negotiate exactly what we have been talking about for the past 15 years."

Damascus and Tel Aviv remain at adds with each other over the Golan Heights, which Tel Aviv occupied during the six-day war of 1967 and later annexed, ignoring international opposition.

Syria, an outspoken critic of Israel, has preconditioned any peace negotiation with the Tel Aviv regime with a full withdrawal of Israeli troops from the strategic region.

Iran will deliver telling blow to global powers on Feb. 11

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=117545§ionid=351020101


Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the "global arrogance" on this year's anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.

"The Islamic Revolution opened a window to liberty for the human race, which was trapped in the dead ends of materialism," Ahmadinejad said during a cabinet meeting on Sunday.

"If the Islamic Revolution had not occurred, liberalism and Marxism would have crushed all human dignity in their power-seeking and money-grubbing claws. Nothing would have remained of human and spiritual principles," he added.

Ahmadinejad said that in the three decades of its history, the Islamic Revolution had inspired some great developments in the world.

The Iranian president made the remarks as the 31st anniversary of the Islamic Revolution approaches.

Iranians are expected to pour into the streets on February 11 to celebrate the occasion in public rallies across the country, as they have done annually over the past three decades.