"Bitcoin is slowly joining the big league of currencies. Germany has become the first country to accept the digital money - recognized in law and for tax purposes. Katie Pilbeam from RT's Venture Capital program explains." Continue reading →
"Key aspects of the bitcoin, a popular online currency, have been recognized for legal and tax purposes by Germany, newspapers reported Saturday. The recognition, which was laid out in a Finance Ministry response to a query from a member of parliament, means Germany recognizes the online currency as a 'currency unit' and 'private money,' reported the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung. Bitcoins have been a popular form of payment among netizens since 2009 although economists question their viability because they are backed by neither a government nor a central bank." Continue reading →
"The US is becoming increasingly concerned over virtual currencies, launching broad investigations into Bitcoin and the likes. The online currency has won official recognition with a US federal judge ruling it is real money. A Texas man, being tried for laundering billions of dollars using the Bitcoin system, challenged the court by saying bitcoins were virtual and couldn't be the basis for a fraud charge. He failed. RT's Peter Oliver went to meet those who have no doubt bitcoin has real value." Continue reading →
"Thousands of Spaniards in the depressed southern region of Andalusia are queueing up to play the role of slaves in film-maker Ridley Scott’s Biblical epic 'Exodus', hoping for a way out of unemployment. In a region with unemployment at 35 percent, the prospect of work as an extra with a daily wage of 80 euros ($107) has sparked a rush in Almeria where casting is being held for the story of Moses and the Jewish exodus to the promised land. Some 10,000 people turned up at a casting call in the city of Almeria, and another 5,000 in the nearby town of Pechina, one of the casting organisers said." Continue reading →
"The incident quickly touched a nerve in Greece, where the government is using increasingly tough methods to collect revenue under pressure from its international lenders to fix its finances. About 300 people, among them anti-bailout groups, marched to the cemetery where Kanaoutis’s funeral was held on Friday evening. After the service, dozens of youths pelted riot police with stones near the spot where he died. Protesters smashed the windows of a bus in the area and scrawled 'Murderers' in red paint on the windshield. 'Kanaoutis died because he didn’t have a ticket worth 1.20 euros ($1.59),' said the main opposition Syriza party in a statement." Continue reading →
"The no-spying agreement talks were announced as part of a progress report on an eight-point program proposed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in July with measures to better protect the privacy of German citizens. Despite the criticism of government surveillance programs, Merkel said people should not forget that intelligence agencies do important work to protect people in Germany as well as abroad. German information, for instance, can prevent attacks on U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, while American data in turn can be used to protect the lives of German soldiers, she said." Continue reading →
"Gibraltar, a 2.6 square mile (6.7 square kilometre) peninsula that is home to about 30,000 people, is a British territory to which Spain has long laid claim. This week the old argument resurfaced as Spanish officials toughened border inspections, slowing traffic to a crawl, and Spain’s foreign minister threatened a €50 ($67) charge on crossings, to the alarm of locals on both sides of the border. The measures were apparently in response to the Gibraltar government’s decision to sink spiked concrete blocks into the sea to fend off Spanish fishermen, whom it accuses of poaching Gibraltarian fish." Continue reading →
"A police marksman who had sex on duty with a woman while his loaded gun was in a holster around his ankles has been allowed to keep his job, it has emerged. The police watchdog condemned Gwent police’s handling of the case, saying it had omitted key details in a report. PC Shaun Jenkins was originally dismissed from the force over the incident in 2010 but reinstated on appeal. He used a police armed response vehicle to get a lift to the house where the woman was, and was inside for between 30 to 40 minutes during which time he said he continued to monitor the police radio." Continue reading →
"An internal Bundesbank document discovered by Der Spiegel states, in opposition to the comments by Germany's electioneering Chancellor Merkel, that Europe 'will certainly agree to a new aid program for Greece' by early 2014 at the latest. As Reuters reports, Frau Merkel has repeatedly played down suggestions Greece will require more aid (or debt relief) in light of German voters major skepticism over moar of their money being flushed into the Mediterranean. The document notes that the risks of the current aid package for Greece are 'extremely high' and that recent approval of the tranche payments were politically motivated." Continue reading →
"Riot police were dispatched on Saturday to put down a riot at Greece’s main migrant detention camp where detainees hurled stones at officers and set fire to their living quarters, authorities said. Television footage showed fires blazing at the Amygdaleza detention camp outside Athens, where some 1,200 mainly Asian migrants are kept under police guard. Amygdaleza is one of several detention camps set up since last year to assist in the repatriation of thousands of undocumented migrants. The police spokesman said rioting began when the detainees were told that their maximum stay in the camp would be extended to 18 months from a year previously." Continue reading →