Bric China summit seeks influence

14 April 2011 Last updated at 03:25 GMT By Martin Patience BBC News, Beijing India and China have a lot to talk about on the sidelines of the Bric summit The leaders of the so-called Bric nations are meeting in China for a day.

South Africa has become the fifth member of the Bric nations - which currently includes Brazil, Russia, India and China.

The summit is set to focus on reforms to the global financial system - they have 40% of the world's population and almost a fifth of the world's growth.

It is little wonder then that the so called Brics want a greater say in global affairs.

The organisation was formed as a counterweight to Western powers.

And ever since the global financial crisis, the influence of the Brics - particularly of China - has grown.

This summit is set to focus on economic issues such as rules governing international trade.

While the Bric nations have been driving global economic growth it is still unclear whether the organisation itself will become truly influential.

All the countries broadly support free trade and oppose protectionism.

Where they have similar interests - such as climate change - they have taken a united position.

But on many other issues the countries have found little to agree upon.

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Portugal seeks bail-out from EU

6 April 2011 Last updated at 21:28 GMT Jose Socrates: "We have reached the moment where the country is at too much risk"

Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said that he has asked the European Union for financial assistance.

Mr Socrates said the country was "at too much risk that it shouldn't be exposed to".

The government has long resisted asking for aid but last week admitted that it had missed its 2010 budget deficit target.

Portugal follows Greece and the Irish Republic in seeking a bail-out.

"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go but we have reached the moment," Mr Socrates said.

"Above all, it's in the national interest."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that Portugal's request would be processed "in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable".

He also reaffirmed his "confidence in Portugal's capacity to overcome the present difficulties, with the solidarity of its partners".

Borrowing costs

Mr Socrates did not say how much aid Portugal would ask for. Negotiations will now be underway and the BBC's business editor Robert Peston said rescue loans could amount to as much as 80bn euros ($115bn; £70bn).

Mr Socrates was speaking after Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said it was necessary to resort to financial aid from the EU.

Continue reading the main story Matthew Price Europe correspondent, BBC News

First Greece, then Ireland, now Portugal. But unlike the previous two bail-outs, this one does not seem to have provoked panic - either in the corridors of power here, nor on the markets.

The EU's top economic official Olli Rehn called the Portugese decision a "responsible move". The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso - himself Portugese - said the request would be processed as quickly as possible.

A team could be dispatched to Portugal in the coming days.

EU finance ministers hold a scheduled meeting in Hungary at the end of the week. Portugal will be top of the agenda.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank are both expected to be involved in the bail-out funding. The International Monetary Fund says it stands ready to help as well.

Earlier, the government raised about 1bn euros after tapping the financial markets in order to repay loans, but will have to pay a higher interest rate to lenders.

Portugal's cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority Socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.

Since then several rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt.

An informal meeting of European finance ministers had already been scheduled for Thursday in Budapest. Portugal was not originally on the agenda but is expected to be discussed.

The UK Treasury Minister Mark Hoban will attend. A source at the Treasury said that the bilateral loan the UK offered to the Irish Republic was "very much a special case" and a similar offer is "not on the table" for Portugal.

Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at IHS Global Insight, told the BBC that Portugal might organise "some sort of bridging loan" in the short term.

But he added: "The real big loan over several years will require a medium-term plan and I don't think that can be agreed until the new government comes into place."

Elections are likely to take place in a few months' time.

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Portugal seeks bail-out from EU

6 April 2011 Last updated at 21:28 GMT Jose Socrates: "We have reached the moment where the country is at too much risk"

Portugal's caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates has said that he has asked the European Union for financial assistance.

Mr Socrates said the country was "at too much risk that it shouldn't be exposed to".

The government has long resisted asking for aid but last week admitted that it had missed its 2010 budget deficit target.

Portugal follows Greece and the Irish Republic in seeking a bail-out.

"I always said asking for foreign aid would be the final way to go but we have reached the moment," Mr Socrates said.

"Above all, it's in the national interest."

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said in a statement that Portugal's request would be processed "in the swiftest possible manner, according to the rules applicable".

He also reaffirmed his "confidence in Portugal's capacity to overcome the present difficulties, with the solidarity of its partners".

Borrowing costs

Mr Socrates did not say how much aid Portugal would ask for. Negotiations will now be underway and the BBC's business editor Robert Peston said rescue loans could amount to as much as 80bn euros ($115bn; £70bn).

Mr Socrates was speaking after Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said it was necessary to resort to financial aid from the EU.

Continue reading the main story Matthew Price Europe correspondent, BBC News

First Greece, then Ireland, now Portugal. But unlike the previous two bail-outs, this one does not seem to have provoked panic - either in the corridors of power here, nor on the markets.

The EU's top economic official Olli Rehn called the Portugese decision a "responsible move". The President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso - himself Portugese - said the request would be processed as quickly as possible.

A team could be dispatched to Portugal in the coming days.

EU finance ministers hold a scheduled meeting in Hungary at the end of the week. Portugal will be top of the agenda.

The European Commission and the European Central Bank are both expected to be involved in the bail-out funding. The International Monetary Fund says it stands ready to help as well.

Earlier, the government raised about 1bn euros after tapping the financial markets in order to repay loans, but will have to pay a higher interest rate to lenders.

Portugal's cost of borrowing has risen sharply since the minority Socialist government resigned last month after its proposed tougher austerity measures were defeated in parliament.

Since then several rating agencies have downgraded the country's debt.

An informal meeting of European finance ministers had already been scheduled for Thursday in Budapest. Portugal was not originally on the agenda but is expected to be discussed.

The UK Treasury Minister Mark Hoban will attend. A source at the Treasury said that the bilateral loan the UK offered to the Irish Republic was "very much a special case" and a similar offer is "not on the table" for Portugal.

Jan Randolph, head of sovereign risk at IHS Global Insight, told the BBC that Portugal might organise "some sort of bridging loan" in the short term.

But he added: "The real big loan over several years will require a medium-term plan and I don't think that can be agreed until the new government comes into place."

Elections are likely to take place in a few months' time.

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Egypt seeks Mubarak assets freeze

21 February 2011 Last updated at 15:31 GMT Hosni Mubarak and his family are thought to have amassed a fortune during his years in power Egypt's top prosecutor has requested the freezing of the foreign assets of Hosni Mubarak, 10 days after the president stood down amid mass rallies.

Prosecutor General Abdel Magid Mahmud asked the Egyptian foreign minister to contact other nations on the issue.

He said the freeze would apply to Mr Mubarak, his wife, his two sons and two daughters-in-law.

Mr Mubarak is widely thought to have amassed a fortune during his nearly 30-year stay in power.

Many protesters and anti-corruption campaigners have been pressing prosecutors to open an investigation into the Mubarak family's assets, put at anywhere from $1bn to $70bn (£616m - £43bn).

However, Mr Mubarak's legal representative on Monday denied reports that the former president had grown wealthy while staying in office.

The representative said that "Hosni Mubarak has submitted his final financial statement to the concerned judicial bodies according to the law," according to Egypt's Mena news agency.

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Pakistan seeks Musharraf's arrest

12 February 2011 Last updated at 12:06 GMT Experts say that there is little prospect so far of Pervez Musharraf being indicted A Pakistani anti-terrorism court has issued an arrest warrant for former military ruler Pervez Musharraf over the assassination of opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007.

Prosecutors say he was aware of Taliban plans to target her but did not act to prevent her murder in Rawalpindi.

They accuse him of failing to provide adequate security for the former PM.

Mr Musharraf - who lives in self-imposed exile in London - denies the allegations.

His spokesman, Fawad Chaudhry, said Mr Musharraf had no intention of returning to Pakistan for the hearing.

"There is no basis for the case. This is a politically motivated court ruling and the [former] president has no intention of complying."

Ms Bhutto was killed while in a gun and suicide attack while travelling in an election motorcade in the city of Rawalpindi in December 2007.

She was twice prime minister of Pakistan, from 1988 to 1990, and from 1993 to 1996.

Questionnaire sent Benazir Bhutto's assassination sent shockwaves across Pakistan

On Saturday, prosecutors at the anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi said that any further progress in investigating Ms Bhutto's assassination was not possible without Mr Musharraf's presence.

They said they had tried repeatedly to contact Mr Musharraf over the case but he had refused to co-operate.

They added that he would be declared a wanted fugitive if he did not appear for the next hearing on 19 February.

A questionnaire was also sent to Mr Musharraf's London address, but had never been returned, the court said.

Last year, the Pakistani authorities arrested two senior police officers suspected of not giving adequate protection to Ms Bhutto at the time of her murder.

According to prosecutors, the two officials told investigators that on the orders of Mr Musharraf they removed a security detail for Ms Bhutto just before she departed the venue where she was speaking in Rawalpindi.

She was killed shortly afterwards.

Mr Musharraf denies all the allegations, describing them as politically-motivated.

He has not publicly commented on the issuing of the arrest warrant.

Mr Musharraf seized power in 1999 when, as chief of Pakistan's army, he ousted elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a coup. He resigned as president in 2008.

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VIDEO: DJ seeks out world's worst place to be gay

12 February 2011 Last updated at 10:08 GMT Help

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