On Wednesday a gay couple were ejected from the John Snow pub in Soho, London, for kissing. Follow all the kissing in public news and reaction – live 11am: When Jonathan Williams and James Bull went on their first date together, it is doubtful their hopes for the night involved ending up on the front page of a national newspaper (see Guardian), appearing on national radio (see Radio 5Live) and becoming social networking heroes (Twitter, Facebook). After enjoying a meal in Covent Garden, the couple had headed for the John Snow pub in Soho – supposedly the capital’s “gay village”. After sipping on the pub’s Samuel Smith cider, they tentatively locked lips for the first time. Young love was blossoming. But that young love was shattered when a man claiming to be the landlord asked them to refrain from their tender embraces. Williams and Bull declined, but were apprehended again by a female member of staff, who described their lip-locking as “obscene”. Williams took to Twitter to register his discontent, and an internet storm was born. Tonight over 400 people have committed to a ‘kiss-in’ at the John Snow, where the sage began. “Please remember THIS IS A LOVE REVOLUTION,” the Facebook event page reads. “Just lip balm, fresh breath, and kissing. it’s all about being fun and sexy.” Will you be kissing in a tavern tonight? Are you planning your own snogging event in defiance of prudish publicans? Share your plans below, and follow all the latest kissing news live. Gay rights Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
The latest developments from the courtroom as they happen, as the pathologists who conducted postmortems on Ian Tomlinson’s body continue their evidence 10.51am: Dr Nat Cary, the second pathologist to conduct a postmortem on Tomlinson’s body, has taken the witness stand . Cary was instructed by solicitors for Tomlinson’s family and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC). He has a very long list of qualifications (no room to repeat them here) and has been on the Home Office register of forensic pathologists for 18 years. He has a moustache, and is wearing a light pink shirt and a grey tie. He is being questioned by Alison Hewitt , counsel to the inquest. When Cary conducted his examination – on 9 April 2009 – more information as to the circumstances of Tomlinson’s death, including this video footage showing his encounter with PC Simon Harwood , were available. Cary: I suppose the most important information I had was that clearly Mr Tomlinson had been involved in police contact shortly before he collapsed. And I don’t think that was known to Dr Patel at the time he carried out his examination. Hewitt: Had you seen prior to your postmortem the piece of footage of that contact between Mr Tomlinson and PC Harwood? Cary: Yes, because I watch the television quite a lot. 10.36am: We heard on Tuesday that a sample of the fluid found in Tomlinson’s abdomen was inadvertently discarded . A juror had asked a question about this mix-up, to which Thornton has replied that Patel took the sample in case he was unable to obtain a blood sample from elsewhere. Patel was able to take another blood sample, rendering the fluid less important. As a result the sample, which we would all have liked to have, of the fluid in the abdomen was, according to Dr Patel, discarded. It was not needed. So when the issue arose later about the proportions of blood [and bodily] fluid, he went back to see if the sample was available, and it was not. 10.31am: Patel has had to postpone his evidence due to illness, again. He arrived at the hearing but was “not 100%” and has gone home. He is scheduled to reappear on Monday morning, judge Peter Thornton QC said. It is nothing to do with this hearing or any questions he has been asked. It is not a trivial thing, but it is something he has been suffering from some time which has re-occurred. 10.30am: Some slight delays here. Remember you can also follow proceedings via Twitter . 10.10am: A quick clarification. I said yesterday that Patel altered his description of the level of blood found in fluid in Tomlinon’s abdomen a year after his initial postmortem. Elsewhere I have explained the crucial importance of the “extent of blood” found in Tomlinson’s abdomen. To be clear, Patel did not alter his original notes. The new description of the fluid appeared, as we explained correctly on Wednesday , in his second, amended report. 9.58am: The thirteenth day of evidence in the Ian Tomlinson inquest is about to start. Dr Freddy Patel , the controversial pathologist who concluded Tomlinson died of a spontaneous arrhythmic heart attack at the G20 protests is expected to finish his testimony shortly. You can read his evidence over the last three days here , here and here . Next up will be Dr Nat Cary , the second pathologist to conduct a postmortem on Tomlinson’s body. The jury has heard how Cary (along with two other forensic pathologists) contradicted Patel’s findings, concluding instead that he died of internal bleeding in the abdomen. Ian Tomlinson Police G20 Protest London Dr Freddy Patel Paul Lewis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Comment by News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks that journalists ‘had paid police for information’ could result in an investigation by Scotland Yard Comments made by Rebekah Brooks – the chief executive of Rupert Murdoch’s News International – could trigger a criminal investigation by Scotland Yard, one of its most senior officers confirmed on Friday. Cressida Dick, an assistant commander at the Metropolitan Police, wrote to tell MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee that the force was examining whether police should begun a full inquiry. It follows Brooks’ statement to a Commons committee in 2003 that journalists “had paid police for information in the past” – which prompted a short enquiry by the Home Affairs Committee this year. The committee chairman Keith Vaz asked Brooks to explain her statement this year. She replied that: “If, in doing so, I gave the impression that I had knowledge of any specific cases, I can assure you that this was not my intention.” Friday’s letter from Assistant Commissioner Cressida Dick says police planned “to conduct a scoping exercise to establish whether there are now any grounds for beginning a criminal investigation”, following the 2003 comments. Rebekah Brooks was editor of the News of the World from May 2000 until January 2003, leaving the post for the editorship of the Sun newspaper three months before she appeared before the Culture, Media and Sport committee. She became chief executive of News International, the company behind Rupert Murdoch’s UK newspapers, in 2009. More to come … Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Squeeze into fancy gear and obsess over your route? I’d much rather trundle along, get lost occasionally and look at herons I was recently sat outside the Downgate pub in Hungerford, Berkshire, supping on a half of ale when three local men headed out to join me. After they checked I knew where I was (pretty much) and where I was going (vaguely), they commented on my bike, a green city bimbler, and my choice of cycle wear. “Respect to you,” they said. “You’ve got your socks tucked into your corduroy, you’re riding a bike like that. You’re not like those Lycra lunatics.” Adding a silent punctuation mark, a racer with all the gear sped past. Knowing glances were exchanged. This blog post isn’t meant as a dig at what I still think of as ‘proper’ cyclists. I greatly admire those with the kit, the speed and the fitness. But I am interested to hear from those who have attempted more, shall we say, amateur long-distance cycling. Here’s an example. Recently I had a few days off work I didn’t know what to do with, so I decided to cycle to Bristol to see a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. I ordered some maps via Sustrans and some panniers, both of which hadn’t turned up by the day of departure. I went anyway, with the aspiration of staying with friends and cheap B&Bs on my way. Details were liberatingly sketchy. The plan was to follow National Cycle Route 4 , which flirts with the Thames as far as Reading and then leads on the Kennet and Avon canal as far as Bath. Such obvious geographical markers would, I thought, ward against the chance of getting lost. Signage was, for the most part, impressive and comprehensive. There was the occasional issue whereby local ne’er-do-wells had removed or turned the sign, so that in one case I ended up in Virginia Water, the kind of deathless Middle England suburban location that will likely survive the next ice age. No matter. A quick chat with a friendly policeman put me back on track, and I was soon whizzing through Windsor park and rewarded with a breathtaking view of the seat of royalty, glimpsed over a huge field of deer. The monarchy are an anachronism, but they have lovely castles. As someone who cycles mainly to commute, it took me a while to forget that I didn’t have to be anywhere by a particular time. Speed can wait when you have herons to gawp at, canal boaters to talk to and ice cream to eat. Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Devizes and Bristol were all worthy rewards for the legwork put in. Even Reading had beer. I’ll admit to a degree of naivety on my trip. As probably the last person working for the Guardian to not own a smart phone, I had to rely on the old-fashioned and frankly outdated concept of talking to people. I didn’t bring a puncture repair kit or a spare inner tube. I had no plan for what to do if disaster struck, but I imagine it would have involved an expensive taxi ride. If it rained? Well, trousers get wet. It happens. But there’s surely a healthy middle ground between my incompetence and the near professionalism that represented most of the cyclists who passed me on my way. If you have a bike that works, stuff those trousers into those socks. Set off. See where you end up. Send a postcard. Post a comment. Ethical and green living Cycling Fitness Cycling holidays James Walsh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Squeeze into fancy gear and obsess over your route? I’d much rather trundle along, get lost occasionally and look at herons I was recently sat outside the Downgate pub in Hungerford, Berkshire, supping on a half of ale when three local men headed out to join me. After they checked I knew where I was (pretty much) and where I was going (vaguely), they commented on my bike, a green city bimbler, and my choice of cycle wear. “Respect to you,” they said. “You’ve got your socks tucked into your corduroy, you’re riding a bike like that. You’re not like those Lycra lunatics.” Adding a silent punctuation mark, a racer with all the gear sped past. Knowing glances were exchanged. This blog post isn’t meant as a dig at what I still think of as ‘proper’ cyclists. I greatly admire those with the kit, the speed and the fitness. But I am interested to hear from those who have attempted more, shall we say, amateur long-distance cycling. Here’s an example. Recently I had a few days off work I didn’t know what to do with, so I decided to cycle to Bristol to see a friend I hadn’t seen in a while. I ordered some maps via Sustrans and some panniers, both of which hadn’t turned up by the day of departure. I went anyway, with the aspiration of staying with friends and cheap B&Bs on my way. Details were liberatingly sketchy. The plan was to follow National Cycle Route 4 , which flirts with the Thames as far as Reading and then leads on the Kennet and Avon canal as far as Bath. Such obvious geographical markers would, I thought, ward against the chance of getting lost. Signage was, for the most part, impressive and comprehensive. There was the occasional issue whereby local ne’er-do-wells had removed or turned the sign, so that in one case I ended up in Virginia Water, the kind of deathless Middle England suburban location that will likely survive the next ice age. No matter. A quick chat with a friendly policeman put me back on track, and I was soon whizzing through Windsor park and rewarded with a breathtaking view of the seat of royalty, glimpsed over a huge field of deer. The monarchy are an anachronism, but they have lovely castles. As someone who cycles mainly to commute, it took me a while to forget that I didn’t have to be anywhere by a particular time. Speed can wait when you have herons to gawp at, canal boaters to talk to and ice cream to eat. Bath, Bradford-on-Avon, Devizes and Bristol were all worthy rewards for the legwork put in. Even Reading had beer. I’ll admit to a degree of naivety on my trip. As probably the last person working for the Guardian to not own a smart phone, I had to rely on the old-fashioned and frankly outdated concept of talking to people. I didn’t bring a puncture repair kit or a spare inner tube. I had no plan for what to do if disaster struck, but I imagine it would have involved an expensive taxi ride. If it rained? Well, trousers get wet. It happens. But there’s surely a healthy middle ground between my incompetence and the near professionalism that represented most of the cyclists who passed me on my way. If you have a bike that works, stuff those trousers into those socks. Set off. See where you end up. Send a postcard. Post a comment. Ethical and green living Cycling Fitness Cycling holidays James Walsh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
In Venezuela, China and India, drinkers can’t get enough Venezuela Venezuela produces some of the Caribbean’s best rum, but go to any bar, party or beach and you see that the national drink is imported Scotch whisky. Invariably served with lots of ice, it outsells other liquors by a ratio of about two to one, making Venezuela one of the world’s biggest markets. Ask Venezuelans why a tropical country in the midst of a socialist revolution should drink so much – more than 3m boxes a year – and the answer is simple: because we like it, and we can. It has been thus for decades since oil turned this corner of south America into a dysfunctional petro-state which can afford to import luxury cars – Ferraris and Hummers bounce over Caracas potholes – and other symbols of wealth and status. While the super-rich sip 18-year-old blends on yachts off Margarita island, the poor opt for cheaper brands, which you find passed around at family dinners, roadside bars and domino games. “Ever since I can remember whisky was the thing. Rum is for when you can’t afford the good stuff,” says Freddy Afanador, 62, the driver of a battered taxi. Tequila, vodka and gin are exotic curiosities that tend to gather dust on liquor-store shelves. President Hugo Chavez has assailed his compatriots’ taste for alcohol in general and imported Scotch in particular. “Is this the whisky revolution?” he once thundered. Whisky sales are growing fast across the region of Latin America, especially Brazil, making it one of the most important markets. Rory Carroll China For Yang Chen, the appeal is simple: “The smell of charcoal, smoke and fruit and strong flavour are enough to attract any man. Life goes very fast nowadays, and it is a great pleasure to sit down and enjoy a whisky slowly,” he observes. The 45-year-old executive is exactly the kind of customer the Scotch Whisky Association is wooing: he usually drinks Chivas Regal or Johnny Walker, but says he is always willing to try something new. The Chinese market for Scotch is worth £80m a year – around 2.5% of global sales – but the association predicts it will double in the next five years. Ministers recently signed a deal to improve legal protections for the brand. Jim Boyce, whose Beijing Boyce blog covers the capital’s drinks and bar scene, says that for many Chinese customers the appeal is “the cachet of spending big, trying something rare and showing your status. But I’ve been to tastings where people are really interested. You have people who appreciate baijiu [Chinese liquor]; it’s not a huge leap to learning about malts from different parts of Scotland.” Not everyone back home in the Highlands is happy about this growing thirst, however. “I’ve been in touch with aficionados in Scotland who are afraid China will get into it in a big way and buy everything up. Production is not that big,” Boyce says. Tania Branigan India In the hit 1984 ITV series Jewel in the Crown, set in the dying days of the British Raj, a minor maharani screams on tasting a single malt gifted to her by Charles Dance – she thinks he’s trying to poison her. Though the British introduced Indians to the drink, what passed for whisky in India until barely a decade ago was mostly locally-produced alchohol distilled from molasses – amber-coloured rum, actually. “There’s been a huge change since the early 2000s,” says whisky expert Sandeep Aurora. “Until then, the idea of whisky was one big blotch. People were ignorant about the different kinds of whisky. When I first introduced rare whiskies at appreciations, people would ask, ‘Are you sure it hasn’t gone bad after 30 years?’ Now there’s a very high understanding – people are fascinated by the depth and character of the drink, whether it’s rare, single malt or blended scotch whisky.” So much so that even the gender barrier has fallen. In the past, at parties women had to be content with pink and green cocktails – or a vodka, at best. No longer. And last month Aurora helped open India’s first women’s whisky club. “We already have 56 members, and 38 more want to join,” she says. Many of the new scotch connoisseurs, no doubt, are from the new rich created by the economic boom. Import of liquor is also easier now, though the tariffs remain very high. But as the recent experience of Outlook editor Vinod Mehta showed, all this high-value quaffing doesn’t go down well with the masses, still surviving on cheap molasses liquor. When Mehta recently wrote that he had drunk Blue Label whisky for the first time at writer Khushwant Singh’s 96th birthday, so many readers protested that he promised it would remain a “once-in-a-lifetime indulgence”. But for India’s elite, genuine and good whisky has now become a lifelong passion. Maseeh Rahman • How the world fell in love with whisky. Jon Henley reports Food & drink Whisky Venezuela India China Rory Carroll Maseeh Rahman Tania Branigan guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
The Heygate estate in Walworth, which was the backdrop for the Michael Caine film Harry Brown, is being redeveloped Demolition teams were set to move in on one of Britain’s best known housing estates. The dismantling of the sprawling Heygate estate in Walworth, south-east London was due to start on Friday. The Heygate estate is close to the Aylesbury estate, which Tony Blair visited hours after his 1997 election victory. In his first leadership speech he described the residents as the “forgotten people” and pledged to tackle social exclusion in the area. More recently, Heygate was the backdrop for the 2009 Michael Caine film Harry Brown . The destruction of the Heygate estate is part of a £1.5bn regeneration project in Elephant and Castle, an area widely considered as one of London’s eyesores. It aims to transform it into “a brand-new town centre” over the next 15 years. Southwark Council said the 98 units on the Rodney Road side of the estate will be “carefully and meticulously” dismantled within hours. This will be followed by further demolition in the next few weeks before some of the larger blocks are brought down in May. The entire estate, which is one of the largest in Europe, will be demolished in less than a year. Rob Deck, Lend Lease project director for Elephant and Castle, said: “The demolition of the Heygate estate is a major milestone in the scheme to rejuvenate Elephant and Castle. “This is one of the most significant regeneration projects in Europe and Lend Lease will be working in partnership with Southwark Council to transform this area of London into a vibrant place for people from all backgrounds to live, work and recreate.” The estate comprises six concrete blocks which, alongside smaller groups of maisonettes, stretch along several roads in Elephant and Castle. It was home to more than 3,000 people before residents were rehoused around the borough in 2008, leaving the site a virtual ghost town. Many residents were reported to be against the demolition, arguing that it was unnecessary as living conditions in the flats were still good. Now only 11 dwellings are occupied, mainly by leaseholders who are still negotiating leaving terms with the council. The enormous blocks were designed in the 1960s by architect Tim Tinker and construction was completed in the early 1970s. At the time, the buildings were futuristic and were designed to offer a utopian ideal where communal living provided a social hub for those who were first to benefit from the postwar welfare state. But Southwark Council says the estate has become increasingly expensive to maintain and heat and, in today’s standards, it is “no longer an ideal place for people to live”. Councillor Fiona Colley, who is a cabinet member for regeneration, said: “It’s hard to describe what a monumentally huge project the Heygate estate regeneration is. What comes next is what so many people in the borough are anticipating – the emergence of brand-new, warm, safe homes for all.” Housing Regeneration London Communities Local government Architecture guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Ante Gotovina accused over ‘ethnic cleansing’ of 90,000 Serbs in trial seen as an examination of Croatia’s Balkan war strategy Judges in The Hague will on Friday deliver their most important verdict on Croatia’s conduct in the war against the Serbs in the 1990s, ruling after a three-year criminal trial on whether Zagreb prosecuted a policy of terror and murder to drive out the large Serbian minority. A decade after he was indicted for the “ethnic cleansing” of at least 90,000 Serbs from Croatia in 1995, Ante Gotovina, a commander in the storming of Serbian strongholds that changed the course of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, is to learn his fate at the international war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. The verdict is keenly awaited in the Balkans, and with great nervousness in nowhere more so than Zagreb. The influential Roman Catholic church has been calling for prayers and fasting in the hope of an acquittal. Marches and “pilgrimages” have been organised. The Croatian prime minister, Jadranka Kosor, is urging “calm and dignity” as thousands of former fighters prepare to vent their spleen if Gotovina and two former fellow ex-commanders are found guilty. Huge screens were being erected in Zagreb on Thursday night to transmit the verdict live from The Hague. While it has focused mainly on Gotovina and his two fellow accused, the trial looms larger because it has provided the main opportunity to examine the strategy and conduct of the hardline nationalist leadership of Croatia during the war. The decisive political leaders such as president Franjo Tudjman, defence minister Gojko Šušak, and army chief Janko Bobetko all died before they could face trial. The Gotovina case has served as a substitute. A former French legionnaire who returned to Croatia when the war erupted in 1991, Gotovina commanded the central operations that won the war for Croatia in August 1995, retaking the strategic town of Knin in the Dalmatian hinterland that was – the seat of a four-year-old Serbian insurgency that left Croatia crippled and partitioned. He was indicted for war crimes in 2001. Tipped off by contacts in the Croatian government, he went on the run for four years until he was arrested in a Tenerife hotel at the end of 2005. For years the Croatian government had blocked attempts to locate him until it performed a u-turn to unlock negotiations on joining the European Union. Gotovina, along with Ivan Cermak, the Knin garrison commander, and Mladen Markac, a commander of police paramilitaries, faced nine counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for overseeing the alleged deportation of tens of thousands of Serbs through murder, the torching of homes, and the shelling of civilians. The prosecution claims the trio implemented a calculated policy of expulsion ordered by the Tudjman regime aimed at permanently ridding Croatia of the large Serbian minority community that had been resident there for centuries , the prosecution contended. The defence ridiculed the argument, calling it a web of conspiracy theories, and claimed that the Serbian mass exodus was orchestrated by Serbian authorities locally and in Belgrade. For many Croats, especially those on the right, Gotovina is a national hero. Catholic bishops this week denounced the tribunal, accusing it of deliberately confusing victim and aggressor. The prime minister described the August 2005 operations as part of “a just and liberating war.”. Operation Storm, which climaxed with the reconquest of Knin and the Serbian exodus, was prosecuted at lightning speed, highly successfully with strong US backing. It represented the denouement to the four-year war. A fortnight earlier at Srebrenica in Bosnia, the Serbs had committed the worst massacre of the Yugoslav wars, murdering almost 8,000 Muslim males. Following the Croatian rout of the Serbian rebels, the war was over, Croatia’s independence secured, and Bosnia’s fragile peace pact was struck three months later. After the victory, Croatian forces went on the rampage, torching the homes of elderly Serbs who had not fled. The prosecution argued that the trio were to blame for not preventing the murder of 324 civilians, and demanded a 27-year sentence for Gotovina, 23 years for Cermak and 17 years for Markac. Croatia Serbia Europe War crimes Ian Traynor guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Tokyo Electric Power ordered to pay ¥1m to families forced from their homes due to nuclear crisis after quake and tsunami Japan’s government has ordered the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to compensate tens of thousands of households forced to evacuate due to radiation leaks. As many as 50,000 households within 30km (19 miles) of the plant will be eligible for provisional damages, which have been set at ¥1m (£7,300) per family and ¥750,000 for single-person households. The bill will reach ¥50bn, the president of Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), Masataka Shimizu, told reporters. Additional compensation claims expected from farmers and fishermen who have had their livelihoods destroyed could see the total rise much higher. Tens of thousands of people were forced to leave last month after the government evacuated areas within 20km of the facility, where engineers are still confronted with huge amounts of radioactive water and overheating reactors. Earlier this week the government said it would expand the no-go zone to five communities further from the plant where radiation levels could pose a long-term threat to health. The firm has come under mounting pressure to compensate residents forced to move to evacuation centres around the country. With no end in sight to the crisis, government officials are unable to say when or if the residents will be able to return. Processing the payments is expected to take time given the geological spread of evacuees, but Japan’s trade ministry insisted the payments would be made “as soon as possible”. “There are around 150 evacuation centres, so it will take time until everyone gets their money,” the trade minister, Banri Kaieda, said. “But we want the company to support those people quickly.” Meanwhile, health officials have been advised to collect blood from the hundreds of plant workers operating in hazardous areas in case they require stem cell transplants due to exposure to dangerous levels of radiation. Writing in the medical research journal Lancet, Japanese experts said the blood samples would provide a source of stem cells that could be used to rebuild bone marrow in the event of accidental exposure. “The danger of a future accidental radiation exposure is not passed, since there has been a series of serious aftershocks even this April,” wrote Dr Shuichi Taniguchi, of Toranomon hospital in Tokyo, and Dr Tetsuya Tanimoto, of the Japanese Foundation for Cancer Research. Collecting blood from the workers would rule out the need to find matching donors, whose cells could be rejected, and minimise the chances of infection. Japan’s nuclear safety commission has so far resisted calls to harvest blood to avoid causing panic among the workers, the men claimed. On Thursday, police officers in protective suits, goggles and gloves, entered areas within 10km of the plant to recover the bodies of people who had been left where they died in last month’s earthquake and tsunami. By Friday, police said they had identified 10 bodies and were working to free them from the debris. There are thought to be as many as 1,000 bodies inside the zone. The agreement to pay compensation comes as speculation grows over Tepco’s future. The company is the most reviled in Japan, but the government appears to have concluded that it cannot be allowed to fail. The Nikkei business newspaper said the government was considering setting up a state-backed insurance fund to keep the firm afloat and enable it to pay damages. The government would pay the bill initially, with the utility expected to repay the sum over several years. Full nationalisation of the firm now appears unlikely. Tepco has lost more than three-quarters of its market value over the past five weeks and JP Morgan estimates it could be saddled with a compensation bill of up to ¥2tn in the current financial year. Bank of America-Merrill Lynch warned the total damages payout could soar to $130bn (£80bn) unless there is a quick end to the crisis. Other ideas being floated would cap Tepco’s liabilities at between ¥2tn to ¥3.8tn and spread the remaining costs among the state and other utilities. Japan disaster Japan Nuclear power Energy Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Credit ratings agency Moody’s warns Ireland may need to take further austerity measures The euro dropped against the dollar after credit ratings agency Moody’s delivered another negative verdict on Ireland on Friday morning. Moody’s cut Ireland’s rating by two notches to Baa3 and left the outlook negative. The agency said the country may need to take further austerity measures to meet its fiscal goals and that its financial position could suffer because of higher European Central Bank interest rates. “Should the intended fiscal consolidation goals not be met, a further rating downgrade would likely follow,” Moody’s warned. “Moreover, a further deterioration in the country’s economic outlook would also exert downward pressure on the rating.” The euro fell to a session low against the dollar this morning, down 0.2% to $1.4450. Gary Jenkins at Evolution Securities described the new rating as “possibly the most uncomfortable of places to be on the ratings scale – one false step from junk”. In contrast, Fitch affirmed its rating at BBB+ yesterday, took Ireland off its negative watch and assigned a negative outlook after the Irish banking stress tests which the agency described as credible, noting that the economy appeared to be nearing stabilisation. S&P rates Ireland BBB+ with a stable outlook. Global economy Economics Ratings agencies Financial sector Ireland Europe Europe Euro Currencies Euro Julia Kollewe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …