The German government believes that the eurozone would be able to cope with the exit of Greece if that proved to be necessary, Der Spiegel news magazine reported on Saturday, citing unnamed government sources.
Both German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German Minister of Finance Wolfgang Schaeuble believe the eurozone has implemented enough reforms since the height of the regional crisis in 2012 to make a potential Greek exit manageable, Der Spiegel reported.
“The danger of contagion is limited because Portugal and Ireland are considered rehabilitated,” the weekly news magazine quoted one government source as saying.
In addition, the European Stability Mechanism, the eurozone’s bailout fund, is an “effective” rescue mechanism and is now available, another source added. Major banks would be protected by the banking union.
It is still unclear how a eurozone member country could leave the euro and still remain in the EU, but Der Spiegel quoted a “high-ranking currency expert” as saying that “resourceful lawyers” would be able to clarify.
According to the report, the German government considers the exit of Greece almost unavoidable if the left-wing SYRIZA opposition party wins the Greek general election set for Jan. 25.
The election was called after lawmakers failed to elect a president last month. It puts Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ conservative New Democracy Party, which imposed unpopular budget cuts under Greece’s bailout deal, against opposition leader Alexis Tsipras’ SYRIZA, which wants to cancel austerity measures and a chunk of Greek debt.
Opinion polls show SYRIZA is holding a lead over New Democracy, although its margin has narrowed to about three percentage points in the run-up to the vote.
Schaeuble has said Greece must not stray from economic reform, and that a new government would be held to the pledges made by the current government.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained