Bailout

Madrid street after police cleared protesters, 14 Nov 2012 (photo: Roee Ruttenberg)

WATCH: Spanish protesters join European demonstrations against austerity

Madrid, Spain – Thousands of demonstrators took the streets of nearly a dozen Spanish cities on Wednesday, protesting against government plans to cut spending in ways they say unfairly target the poor and working classes. WATCH Roee Ruttenberg reporting from Madrid.

By Roee Ruttenberg November 14, 2012

Spanish demonstrators outside of the Madrid City Hall protest government austerity measures, July 19, 2012 (photo: Roee Ruttenberg)

Thousands protest austerity measures in Spain

Madrid – In Spain on Thursday, yields on the country’s five-year bond reached a 16-year record high as the Conservative government tried to convince investors and European finance ministers that Spain can properly handle its budgetary crisis. The news came as tens of thousands of protestors took the streets in some 80 cities across the…

By Roee Ruttenberg July 19, 2012

Banks in Cyprus send confusing message of crisis as the country assumes the rotating EU Presidency (photo: Leonid Mamchenkov/flickrcc)

Cyprus assumes EU Presidency amid bank crisis

Nicosia – The small eastern Meditteranean nation of Cyprus has taken over the six-month presidency of the Council of Europe just days after two of its three largest banks asked for assistance. The lanes have all been freshly painted, the flowers have been freshly planted, and the flags have been freshly flown. Yes, the Cypriot…

By Roee Ruttenberg July 1, 2012

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Leaders of Europe's biggest economies met in Rome in a further bid to save the continent's shared currency, the Euro (photo: EnvironmentBlog)

Heads of Europe’s biggest economies meet in Rome

Rome, Italy — Leaders from Germany, France, Spain and Italy meet in rare 4-way meeting to try to reach consensus on Euro crisis plan ahead of critical summit in Brussels. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, easily the biggest fan of the Euro currency among those who attended the so-called “Mini-EU Summit” alongside her on Friday –…

By Roee Ruttenberg June 22, 2012

Letter from Lisbon: Portuguese voters elect new government

Vote comes amid greatest economic crisis in three decades, and represents a shift to the political right LISBON – They say: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But if it IS broke, fix it. And fix it fast. One of the fundamental ideas behind democracy is that if the government is doing a bad…

By Roee Ruttenberg June 5, 2011

Learning lessons from Portugal’s elections

What do politics in Lisbon teach us about fixing the problems in the Middle East? The Middle East has always fascinated me. And like many others, it has always frustrated me. My first university degree was in political science, of which the foundation is the belief that there is a science – yes, science –…

By Roee Ruttenberg June 4, 2011