India to pick European fighters

28 April 2011 Last updated at 20:20 India accounts for 9% of global arms imports, according to one study India has shortlisted two European fighter jets, ruling out two US rivals for a key $11bn (£6.6bn) military contract.

The Indian defence ministry picked the pan-European Eurofighter and France-based Dessault's Rafale ahead of jets made by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

The US ambassador in India said the US was "deeply disappointed" by the news.

President Barack Obama had personally lobbied on behalf of the US defence contractors, as had European leaders.

"It is confirmed Eurofighter and Rafale have been selected and the remaining four are off," said the Indian defence ministry.

The other two companies to miss out were Sweden's Saab and the Russian makers of the MiG 35.

'Political setback'

The ambassador, Timothy Roemer, said: "We are reviewing the documents received from the government of India and are respectful of the procurement process."

He added that the US "looked forward to continuing to grow and develop our defence partnership with India".

However, some commentators suggested there could be some political fallout from the decision.

"The Americans will be very unhappy and people who have been backing the contract will say India has not sufficiently taken into account the political relationship with the US," said former Indian foreign secretary Kanwal Sibal.

"That is a political setback for relations."

Mr Roemer announced separately that he was resigning from his post for "personal, professional and family considerations".

Big spenders

A report published last month said that India had overtaken China to become the world's largest importer of arms.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said India accounted for 9% of all weapons imports between 2006 and 2010.

With a $32.5bn (£19.5bn) defence budget, India imports more than 70% of its arms.

The $11bn deal for 126 fighter jets is part of plan to spend $50bn over the next five years on modernising its armed forces.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

IMF warns European banks on funds

13 April 2011 Last updated at 15:07 GMT The IMF says global financial security has improved overall in the past half year Many European banks need bigger capital cushions to stop them being a risk to the global financial system and precipitating another crisis, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) says.

Such banks are "caught in a maelstrom of interlinked pressures" the IMF said.

The low levels of capital make some German banks, as well as weak Italian, Portuguese and Spanish savings banks, "vulnerable to further shocks".

But it said global financial stability had improved in the past half year.

The findings came in the IMF's Global Financial Stability Report.

"Remaining structural weaknesses and vulnerabilities in the euro area still pose significant downside risks if not addressed comprehensively," it said.

The IMF also warned of an impending funding challenge for banks and nations still grappling to come to terms with sovereign debt problems - "particularly in some vulnerable euro area countries".

'Wall of debt'

The IMF said that US banks built up capital in 2009, after regulators completed stress tests that revealed some large holes.

But European banks still need to raise a "significant amount of capital" to regain access to funding markets.

And, overall, banks globally face a $3.6tn (£2.2tn) "wall of maturing debt" coming due in the next two years, with banks in the Irish Republic and Germany facing particular pressures.

The IMF also said that, among advanced economies during 2011, Japan and the US faced the largest public debt pressures.

"While the United States and Japan continue to benefit from low current (borrowing) rates, both are very sensitive to a potential rise in funding costs," it said.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.

Five out of Man Utd European tie

Man Utd will be without five players for the trip to France
Manchester United will be without Anderson, Rio Ferdinand, Ryan Giggs, Jonny Evans and Michael Owen for their Champions League tie against Marseille.

Only Anderson played in Saturday's FA Cup victory over Crawley Town and the Brazilian was taken off at half-time.

Skipper Ferdinand has not played since injuring his calf before facing Wolves on 5 February, while fellow centre-back Evans has an ankle problem.

Giggs and Owen were in the squad which played Manchester City on 12 February.

But 31-year-old striker Owen is thought to have a groin injury.

Continuing problems in the heart of United's defence mean that Chris Smalling is likely to start alongside Nemanja Vidic for Wednesday's last-16 tie at the Stade Velodrome.

United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has also included Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio, despite the pair both coming off with injuries during the 1-0 win over Crawley at Old Trafford.

Youngsters Joshua King and Ryan Tunnicliffe have also been selected in the squad, along with Gabriel Obertan and Bebe.

Marseille qualified for the knockout stages second in Group F behind Chelsea, but are set to be without striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, who was injured last weekend.

Sir Alex Ferguson will address the media on Tuesday to explain the latest injury news for the five that did not make the trip to the south of France.

Manchester United squad: Van der Sar, Kuszczak, Lindegaard; Vidic, O'Shea, Brown, Rafael, Fabio, Evra, Smalling; Scholes, Gibson, Nani, Carrick, Fletcher, Bebe, Obertan, Tunnicliffe; Rooney, Berbatov, Hernandez, King.

View the original article here

This post was made using the Auto Blogging Software from WebMagnates.org This line will not appear when posts are made after activating the software to full version.