Europe Greeks go on strike ahead of Merkel visit

Ships remain docked at ports, hospitals operated on emergency staff and transport was disrupted on Wednesday [EPA]

Greek labour unions are staging a nationwide strike to protest against austerity policies imposed on the country by its foreign creditors, including Germany, whose chancellor, Angela Merkel, will visit Athens this week.
Schools and pharmacies were shut, ships remained docked at ports, hospitals operated on emergency staff and transport in Athens was disrupted on Wednesday due to the walkout called by private sector union, the General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), and its public sector counterpart, the Civil Servants' Confederation (ADEDY).
Thousands of striking workers, pensioners and the unemployed were expected to march to parliament around noon.
"This is our answer to the dead-end policies that have squeezed workers and made Greek people miserable," GSEE said in a statement. "We are striking and fighting to put an end to austerity".
Unions said their anti-austerity message was also aimed at Merkel, who is due to meet Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Athens on Friday. Germany has insisted on painful spending cuts and tax hikes in return for international loans.
GSEE and ADEDY have staged dozens of strikes since Greece's first bailout in 2010, saying the measures prescribed by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund have hit the poor and worsened its six-year recession.
But protests have largely fizzled out, with low turnout blamed on a growing mood of resignation and protest fatigue.
Income razed
Political analysts will be watching the turnout in Wednesday's street protests.
The disruption is expected to be most keenly felt in maritime transport such as the ferry services to and between the Greek islands and also on the railways.
Greeks have lost about a third of their disposable income since the debt crisis started and unemployment has soared, leaving more than a quarter of people without a job.
Samaras' coalition government has been basking in the glow of its latest deal with inspectors from the troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, clinched after nearly seven months of wrangling over issues such as deregulating the milk sector and pharmacies.
Athens is set to return to international bond markets for the first time since 2010 later this month, possibly as soon as this week, by selling a five-year bond to investors.
The government qualified for further rescue loans after it passed a reform law required by the lenders last month, but it saw its parliamentary majority reduced to just two seats after it had to expel one politician who failed to support it.
Days later, a scandal over the prosecution of far-right politicians helped the leftist opposition halt a rise in support for the government, a poll showed.

Inside Story Is Russia planning to destabilise Ukraine?

The events in the eastern city of Donetsk are the latest episode in the ongoing crisis in Ukraine provoking fears that Moscow could be orchestrating a second Crimea scenario in Ukraine's east.
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said his country is not destabilising Ukraine. In a piece in the Guardian newspaper, Lavrov accused the EU and US of pursuing what he called an unproductive and dangerous policy in the region.
In Washington, the US has warned that any move by Russia into eastern Ukraine would be a very serious escalation that could bring further sanctions.
So what is the future holding for Ukraine?

Deadly cave collapse at India temple

At least eight worshippers, including three young girls, have been killed after the wall of a cave leading to a popular Hindu temple in central India collapsed, police have said.

8 great hotel perks in the Caribbean

(CNN) -- The Caribbean is a big place.

At this posh property astride a crescent-shaped beach on Great Cruz Bay, guests who volunteer a few hours of their time can earn a $100 resort credit good at any of the hotel's facilities.

Through a program offered by the Friends of the Virgin Island National Park, interested guests are transported to the nearby park, where they help maintain trails and ruins or pick up debris on the beach.

In return they receive a $100 credit to play with back to the hotel.

Oxfam says world's rich threaten democracy

The world's elite have rigged laws in their own favour undermining democracy and creating a chasm of inequality across the globe, charity Oxfam said in advance of the annual get-together of the world's most powerful at Davos.
Inequality has run so out of control, that the 85 richest people on the planet "own the wealth of half the world's population," Oxfam said in an introduction to a new report on widening disparities between the rich and poor.

UN rescinds Iran's invite for Syria talks

The UN secretary-general has withdrawn his invitation to Iran to join this week's Syria peace talks, saying he is "deeply disappointed" by Iran's statements on Monday.
A spokesman for Ban Ki-moon announced the withdrawal less than 24 hours after Ban surprised the US and others by saying he had invited Syria's closest regional ally.

Mexico steps up efforts to fight war on drugs

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  Michoacan. December 29, 2013 Self defense groups in Michoacan. Manuel Mirel leader of auodefensas of Michoacan harangues people of Churumuco after his group has taken the town.
  

  Jerome Sessini/Magnum
  
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  Michoacan January 4, 2014. Self defence militias advancing through the streets of Paracuaro.
  

F1 Boss Ecclestone Faces Trial In Germany

Mr Ecclestone has consistently denied any wrongdoing

Bernie Ecclestone, the Formula One supremo, is expected to face formal charges over secret payments to a German banker when the sport changed hands nearly a decade ago.

Sky News can exclusively reveal that Mr Ecclestone is to be confronted with the biggest challenge in his five decades at the helm of the world's richest motorsport.

Fighting rages between Syrian rebels and ISIL

The rebel-on-rebel clashes that erupted last Friday killed more than 300 people, a monitoring group said [AFP]

 

Clashes have escalated between Syrian rebels and al-Qaeda-linked fighters in several towns of Syria’s north.
Opposition fighters on Wednesday stormed the town of al-Dana, a stronghold of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) in Idlib, as fighting continued in al-Bab and three other towns in Aleppo province, Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Aleppo said.

UN warns CAR on brink of catastrophe

About 10,000 people are seeking shelter at the airport near the capital Bangui. [Reuters]

 

UN officials are warning the Security Council that Central African Republic is on the brink of a catastrophe, with half the population made homeless since ethnic warfare broke out.