Switzerland: Greek minister slams Swiss over tax evasion
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis has taken a swipe at Switzerland for providing only limited information about wealthy tax evaders from cash-strapped Greece who are believed to have stashed billions of euros in Swiss banks. ‘Sometimes we know that someone has taken money away from Greece,’ he said ‘But we do not know in what city or which bank it is located in Switzerland.’ The finance minister, a key player in the Greek government as it struggles to reach an agreement with the European Union to finance its debt, said it was impossible to obtain such information from Swiss authorities. ‘We know too little to be able to locate the black money.’ But Varoufakis said the Greek government is working on a plan to allow tax evaders to voluntarily disclose their situation and invest their assets in Greece while paying a penalty of around 22 percent.
Sweden: Princess Madeleine gives birth to young prince
Princess Madeleine of Sweden has given birth to a baby boy just two days after the wedding of her brother Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist. The Swedish Royal Court announced the birth in a press release, saying that the new prince was born at Stockholm’s Danderyd Hospital at 13:45 on Monday 15 June 2015. Spokesperson Svante Lindqvist added that both the princess and her son were doing well. Head midwife Anna Stahl said later that the delivery was without complications but, although it was a normal birth, it felt special. The baby boy is now sixth in line to the Scandinavian country’s throne and Madeleine and US financier husband Chris O’Neill’s second child after the birth of Princess Leonore in New York last year. It was a busy few days for the Swedish royals, with Prince Carl Philip and Sofia Hellqvist tying the knot in a plush ceremony on Saturday.
Spain: Spanish thalidomide victims seek help from Pope Francis
‘We’re really happy,’ said Alejandro Romero, one of the 100 Spanish thalidomide victims who travelled to the Vatican to meet the pope. ‘He promised he would try to help. He’s the most important diplomat in the world, so maybe he can ring people that won’t speak to us on the phone.’ An estimated 3,000 Spaniards are believed to have suffered severe birth defects after their mothers took thalidomide, prescribed by Spanish doctors five decades ago to combat morning sickness during pregnancy. Unlike victims in many other countries in Europe, only two dozen victims in Spain have ever received any kind of compensation. Many of them were unable to meet the stringent criteria set out by the drug’s manufacturer, asking for the bottle of medication taken by their mother decades ago and, at times, the doctor’s prescription, in order to offer compensation. And unlike other governments in Europe, successive Spanish governments have refused to create a fund for victims.
Slovenia: Unconditional help to refugees
Ljubljana, 20 June - Although people are shocked by the photos of dead refugees at sea, they quickly forget about the pictures when they need to show some genuine solidarity, Delo says in Saturday's commentary Figures and Life Stories. What makes someone risk their life by crossing the Mediterranean in an overcrowded boat, the paper wonders while pointing out that while hearing about refugee counts and death tolls, one often tends to forget that each of them has a story to tell. Second thoughts about taking in refugees seem legitimate. So do concerns about security. And the fact that some actually are not fleeing from war but from poor economy and are thus not eligible for a status of a refugee, Delo points out. But maybe extreme poverty should also be included in the Geneva convention, the daily says, adding that a humane perspective on the matter surely recognises a deadly journey overseas in pursuit of a better life is reason enough to take someone in as a refugee.
