Sports minister Vitaly Mutkov said Tuesday that he was ready to step down, becoming the first top official to react to President Dmitry Medvedev’s call for resignations after the country’s lackluster showing at the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

“I will resign peacefully if this was directed at me,” Mutko said as he arrived at Sheremetyevo Airport from Vancouver, Interfax reported.

Medvedev said Monday that “fat cat” sports bureaucrats should quit or be fired because of the Vancouver fiasco. Russia, which will host the next Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, finished in 11th place with only three gold medals — its worst-ever Olympics performance.

But Mutko was quick to question the logic of his resignation. “I don’t know whether sports would score a victory because of that,” he said.

The minister also argued that his Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Ministry could not be blamed because it was too young. “The sports ministry was formed a year and a half ago and has really only been working for a year,” he said in televised comments.

Mutko and Russian Olympic Committee head Leonid Tyagachyov are close allies of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, and neither announced Tuesday that he had resigned.

Putin has not commented on the Olympic performance since saying last week that the country needed to learn a lesson from Vancouver.

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Prime Minister George Papandreou yesterday called on Greeks to “rally together” to stop the country from “going under” shortly before the European Union’s Commissioner for Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn, in Athens on an official visit, called on the government to take additional austerity measures to plug a gaping budget deficit.

During a televised Cabinet meeting, Papandreou appealed to all Greeks to back the government’s efforts to exit the crisis. “Otherwise, we risk losing the ability to determine our own fate,” Papandreou said, a clear reference to the risk of Brussels taking over Greek financial decision-making. The premier said the government already had the backing of a large section of the public. “I am touched that citizens are stopping me in the street and telling me they are ready to sacrifice a salary for the good of the country,” he said.

The reference to the salary touched a nerve among unionists, angered by speculation that a new raft of austerity measures might include the abolition of the so-called 14th salary – one of two additional annual salaries paid to civil servants and employees in the private sector. The leader of the civil servants’ union, Spyros Papaspyros, said the 14th salary was a right established in history and that attempts to cut it would “provoke reactions commensurate with its significance.”

The new raft of measures, expected to include a 2 percent increase to value-added tax, currently at 19 percent, a further increase in fuel tax and a new tax on luxury goods, is expected to be announced within days and certainly before Papandreou sets off for Berlin on Friday for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

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When you have heard many promises, and these promises weren’t kept, you’re bound to explode. This is what is happening in L’Aquila, Italy.

According to Corriere della Sera, the city destroyed by the April 6^th earthquake is still waiting for the many promises made by the government to become reality. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi had promised that all the L’Aquila inhabitants would be able to return to their homes before September. It is now February and the situation remains unchanged. Many citizens are still out of their homes and the city itself remains in bad conditions.

So, the residents of L’Aquila are now trying to react. In the last two weekends, thousands of citizens forced themselves into the “red zone” in L’Aquila city center, closed since the quake, to protest against the Italian government. Protesters, led by L’Aquila’s mayor, began a symbolic protest by hanging the keys of their abandoned homes in the town piazza. This protest has taken the name of “The protest of the keys.”

“The citizens express their rage. They’re frightened by the delays in construction and because almost nothing has been done,” said the mayor. “The removal of debris is the biggest problem. We’re alone, and we can’t remove debris without state help. It’s impossible to remove 4 tons of debris. And if the debris is still here, we can’t build a new city.”

During the peaceful protest there was also a protest against one RAI Italian TV crew. The L’Aquila inhabitants accused the journalists of only generating pro-government propaganda and ignoring the real problems of the city.

Although the government is bracing itself for more strikes and protests this week after announcing a set of austerity measures designed to knock the Greek economy back into shape, a new opinion poll indicates that some of the toughest steps proposed by Prime Minister George Papandreou are supported by a majority of the public.

A Public Issue survey for Sunday’s Kathimerini suggests that seven in 10 Greeks agree with Papandreou’s intention to cut the supplementary pay of public servants, to freeze hirings in the civil service and to rule out any pay hikes for bureaucrats for the time being.

PASOK is also likely to be encouraged by the fact that 60 percent of the 600 people questioned said that they think the Stability and Growth Program drawn up by the government and approved by the European Commission last week will have a positive outcome.

The opinion poll clearly indicates that most Greeks are very concerned about the state of the economy. Eight in 10 say they are worried by Greece’s high level of public debt. Greece aims to borrow 53 billion euros this year to meet payments, even though its debt is more than 300 billion euros.

With the public deficit soaring to 12.7 percent of gross domestic product as well, perhaps it is no surprise that 38 percent of respondents think that it is likely Greece will soon go bankrupt and that 52 percent believe the country will not be able to meet its financial commitments without some outside help.

Although some of the government’s measures to cut back on public spending appear to meet with public approval, other proposals put forward by Papandreou during a public address last week are not so popular.

Five in 10 Greeks disagree with plans to impose new taxes, six in 10 are against the idea of increasing the retirement age and seven in 10 oppose the move to increase the tax on fuel.

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Japan Airlines Corp. filed for bankruptcy Tuesday under the Corporate Rehabilitation Law in the biggest nonfinancial corporate failure in the postwar period, reports The Japan Times.

The country’s flagship carrier is expected to continue flying and honor tickets with government assurances for lifeline funds, while undergoing a three-year rehabilitation process that is expected to entail massive cuts in jobs and in unprofitable routes, both domestic and international.

The airline’s debts are estimated at ¥2.3 trillion.

JAL President Haruka Nishimatsu resigned to take responsibility for the airline’s failure.

“Today, the government, creditor banks, shareholders and Japanese people have given us a last chance (to reconstruct the company),” Nishimatsu said.

The government-backed Enterprise Turnaround Initiative Corp. of Japan will lead JAL’s restructuring, and Kyocera Corp. founder Kazuo Inamori will be the carrier’s new CEO.

ETIC officially declared it will resurrect JAL under court-supervised rehabilitation that will involve massive public funds.

“JAL plays a key role in our nation’s aviation network, which is a development base of our nation, so needed supports will be provided until it will be reconstructed,” transport minister Seiji Maehara said.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama also pledged the government’s help.

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President Dmitry Medvedev’s anti-drinking campaign got another boost Thursday when it emerged that the government has set itself the ambitious goal of reducing the country’s rampant alcohol consumption by more than half over the next decade.
National alcohol demand will be slashed in two phases, by 15 percent between 2010 and 2012 and by another 55 percent between 2013 and 2020, according to the government’s anti-alcohol strategy.

The 12-page document was signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Dec. 30 and published on the government’s web site the same day, yet it went largely unnoticed until being picked up by the national media this week.

Health advocates voiced doubt on whether the goal was realistic and if there was enough political will to solve the country’s drinking problem, pointing to the alcohol industry’s vested interests and widespread illegal vodka production and distribution.

While the strategy is in many respects vague, it does explicitly target the black market, saying the main hurtle to achieve its goal was to eliminate illegal alcohol during the second phase.

The document says per capita consumption of pure alcohol has almost doubled from 5.4 liters in the early 1990s to 10 liters in 2008. The authors say that if black market production is included, today’s per capita consumption of pure alcohol would be about 18 liters, more than double the 8.5 liters that are consumed in the United States.
The paper argues that the rise was possible because of a lack of a coherent government policy. They point to the fact that between 1914 and 1917 Russians consumed only 0.83 liters per capita.

During those years, a ban on alcohol introduced by Tsar Nicholas II was in force.

Russians’ infamous vodka-drinking habits are widely blamed for the country’s dismal health statistics. The average life expectancy for men at birth has only recently climbed over the 60-year threshold, and is still among the lowest in industrialized countries. Official data show that at least 2 million Russians are alcoholics and some 100,000 deaths annually are blamed on alcohol consumption.

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Miguel de Unamuno and José Ortega y Gasset, the best known Spanish intellectuals of the early half of this past century, and Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a leading reformer of the late Franco regime, became full, tenured professors at important universities at ages between 26 and 28. Juan Negrin, last head of government of the second Republic of Spain, received a Madrid medical chair at 30.

There is a Spanish tradition for these youthful successes. In 1792, Manuel Godoy was made prime minister of the Spanish kingdom at 25– he maintained his position at the helm of government almost continuously for 16 years. Francisco Franco, the Caudillo, was Europe’s youngest brigadier general at the age of 34. The present prime minister, J.L. Zapatero, began teaching law at 22. Today, at 50, he is almost a senior statesman. Coincidentally, Zapatero seized power from J.M. Aznar, who had become premier at 37. Felipe Gonzales, who as head of government governed Spain for many years, was elected leader of his Socialist party at 32.

But the record belongs to Gaspar de Guzmán y Acevedo, 1st Count-Duke of Olivares. In 1605, King Philip III appointed him Student Rector (head) of Salamanca University, then Spain’s foremost educational institution. The Count-Duke was only 17.

So much boldness in propelling very young persons may or may not be a lesson to today’s gerontocratic establishments.

The former Labour cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt today called for a secret ballot to settle the question of Gordon Brown’s leadership “once and for all”.

In a devastating blow to the prime minister, Hoon, who was Brown’s first chief whip after he took over at No 10, and Hewitt, the former health secretary, issued an email to Labour MPs to coincide with Brown’s first question time of general election year. Some MPs accused the pair of “treachery”.

Hoon told the Guardian that he felt he needed to act after a number of MPs approached him to air their concerns about Brown’s leadership. He insisted that he had had no prior discussion with members of the cabinet and talked to Hewitt because she had independently expressed similar views.

Speculation increased that this letter could force the prime minister into calling a general election earlier than the expected date of 6 May.

Eric Pickles, the Tory chairman, said: “We have a situation now where every day a Labour MP is turning on the prime minister. It’s irresponsible to have such a dysfunctional, faction-ridden Labour party running the country.”

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A fresh row between Russia and Ukraine over energy shipment fees – fast becoming something of a New Year’s tradition – has caused alarm in the European Union, as Moscow warned of possible oil supply cuts to central Europe.

On Monday (28 December), Slovakia – 97 percent dependent on Russian oil – held an emergency meeting of its security council, with Prime Minister Robert Fico saying the EU is at risk of disruptions in oil deliveries via the Druzhba oil pipeline from 1 January 2010.

“We first received information [about the Russian-Ukrainian dispute] during the Christmas holidays,” Mr Fico told journalists. He added that the Ukrainian request for higher transit fees was the core of the matter.

The European Commission later confirmed that Russian authorities had triggered an early warning mechanism – a system designed to ring alarm bells before taps are turned off – and gave notice of a possible disruption of crude oil supplies “in the coming days.”

“Several member states could be directly affected, notably Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic,” reads the commission internal note, seen by EUobserver.

The EU’s executive body has re-assured, however, that there is “no current threat to supplies to households or to businesses” as emergency oil stocks in the 27-nation bloc stand at comfortable level of 122 days of consumption.

Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic also report having sufficient reserves – 118, 94 and 101 days, respectively – figures well above the mandatory 90 days.

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Over 10,000 right-wing protesters gathered on Wednesday in Paris Square in Jerusalem near the Prime Minister’s residence to demonstrate against the temporary settlement freeze, writes Haaretz.

“When Netanyahu speaks of a settlement freeze he means a disengagement,” National Union MK Aryeh Eldad told the protesters.

Directly addressing Netanyahu, Eldad added: “Jews are not popsicles; you don’t freeze us so fast.”

Shomron Regional Council head Gershon Mesika said to demonstrators that the prime minister must cancel the “Anti-Zionist” order to freeze settlement construction.

“Bibi, remember that Israel has not forgiven those who have harmed us, as proven by looking at the near and the distant history,” Mesika said.

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