12-23-2015, 11:28 PM
Finland should never have signed up to the single currency union, according to its foreign minister. With the northernmost euro member now set to become the bloc’s weakest economy, the question of currency regime continues to resurface as Finland looks for explanations for its lost competitiveness. Timo Soini, who is also the leader of one of three members of the ruling coalition, the anti-immigration The Finns party, says the country could have resorted to devaluations had it not been for its euro membership.
Finland Should Never Have Joined Euro, Foreign Minister Says - Bloomberg Business
"Europe runs a current account surplus, they have a lower inflation differential than the U.S. that traditionally leads to a stronger currency, Jakobsen said. "I think Fed hikes lead to a weaker dollar – because the rest of the world has more U.S. dollars than the U.S. has. So when you increase the price of money, you have to take the price off the currency to create a new equilibrium. It's totally misunderstood and people don't get it right," Jakobsen said.
Oil at $100? 'Outrageous' forecasts for 2016 - Yahoo Finance
A town in Italy has imposed a temporary ban on the traditional way of pizza-making as a measure to curb soaring pollution. An edict issued by the mayor of San Vitaliano, just outside of Naples, bans the use of wood-fired stoves in bakeries and eateries including pizzerias unless their owners install special filters to reduce air pollution.
Italy: Town bans pizza-making over soaring pollution - BBC News
Generous to a fault, Frank would reward loyalty with thoughtful and expensive gifts – gold cigarette lighters were a particular favourite – he always made a show of having the very best and extravagantly dispensing his bounty. He was also meticulous about how he dressed, even training himself to sit in a certain position while sleeping on the Dorsey tour bus, so as to avoid creasing his suit. This habit of conspicuous grooming and gladhanding put him at the very centre of a good many rooms, acting the role of a (mostly) benevolent monarch, taking tributes from everyone and offering the olives from his martini to favoured courtiers.
BBC - Culture - Frank Sinatra at 100: Was Ol’ Blue Eyes really dangerous?
A 92-year-old widow from South Africa who wants to spend the “end of her days” with her only child in Britain is facing enforced removal from the UK even though she has heart problems, loss of sight in one eye and no family in her native land.
Widow faces deportation from UK despite being 92 and frail | UK news | The Guardian