Word: maying
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Iceland may cave in to the international pressure. The latest opinion polls suggest a softening of hostility toward the repayment scheme, with 53% of Icelanders against it, down from about 70% last month. This could reflect recent appeals by Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir, who is at loggerheads with the President and says the deal is essential for Iceland's recovery. But if Icelanders fall back on the Viking tradition of bold defiance and vote against the plan, this could be one long saga indeed...
...angrily to Grimsson's move, warning that Iceland's economic recovery and bid to join the E.U. would be doomed if it failed to meet its obligations. British Financial Services Minister Paul Myners even said the country risks becoming a pariah state. Both Britain and Holland hinted that they may block a $10 billion International Monetary Fund rescue package for the country, and Iceland's Scandinavian neighbors shelved a $2.6 billion loan they had promised Reykjavik. On top of all that, Fitch Ratings lowered Iceland's credit grade to junk status last week. (See the worst business deals...
...Other analysts say that Iceland's future may not be as imperiled as the British and Dutch suggest. "When you have a debtor who cannot repay immediately, what do you do? Do you beat Iceland to pieces? If you do, the chances of getting the money back goes down the drain," says Daniel Gros, director of the Centre for European Policy Studies in Brussels and a board member of the Central Bank of Iceland. "The U.K. and Netherlands may feel that it would be easier to be repaid if Iceland is in the E.U." (Read "Iceland's Urgent...
...while it may be ahead in the domestic p.r. game on Gaza thus far, the regime of the aging President Hosni Mubarak, who has held power for nearly three decades, is struggling to maintain legitimacy in the face of other domestic threats. Corruption, police brutality, a widening income gap and a recent spike in Muslim-Christian violence have added fuel to Egypt's disorganized but politically diverse opposition. And it may not be long before Gaza comes back to haunt...
...Indeed, public outrage may mean little for a regime that is not exactly dependent on a democratic mandate. "You are not talking about a Western society under a Western regime," says Hala Mustafa. "[Popularity] is not calculated this way in Egypt or in the Arab world in general. Popularity is not the element or the factor that could really influence the regime or push the regime to adopt this policy or that one." But for an already unpopular regime, an unpopular approach to Gaza may still be a step onto ever thinning...