Osborne in eurozone economy warning

Britain's prospects for economic recovery are being "killed off" by the crisis in the eurozone, Chancellor George Osborne has warned.

In a stark message to the leaders of the 17-nation single currency bloc, Mr Osborne said they were facing a "moment of truth" which could determine the future of the entire continent for years to come.

In some of his strongest comments to date, the Chancellor voiced his exasperation at the repeated failure of the eurozone nations to find a permanent solution to end the financial turmoil.

Writing in The Sunday Telegraph he said: "The lesson of the last two years is that treating the latest symptom does not cure the underlying conditions."

While there were signs a solution to the latest bout of uncertainty in the Spanish banking system was on the cards, Mr Osborne said it would not be enough to end the threat to the UK economy.

"Our recovery - already facing powerful headwinds from high oil prices and the debt burden left behind by the boom years - is being killed off by the crisis on our doorstep," he said.

"I know from talking to British businesses that our country is bursting with entrepreneurial spirit and exciting investment plans that are being held back because of uncertainty about the future. That's why a resolution of the eurozone crisis would do more than anything else to give our economy a boost."

He added: "The British Government is clear that it is strongly in Britain's interests for our biggest export market to succeed; the risks for us of a disorderly outcome are huge."

With the prospect of further turmoil in the wake of the of the forthcoming re-run of the Greek elections, the Chancellor called on the eurozone countries to take decisive action to end the instability. He said: "We are approaching a moment of truth for the eurozone. After more than two years of uncertainty, instability and slow growth, decisions taken over the next few months could determine the economic future of the whole European continent for the next decade and beyond."

He again underlined the need for greater fiscal integration - with more pooling of financial resources and the creation of a banking union - across the currency bloc, saying: "The solution in the eurozone doesn't have to be a full-blown United States of the Eurozone, but if it is to be successful it is likely to include most of the mechanisms that make other currencies work."

©Press Association

UK retail sales slide at fastest pace in 2 years in April

Retail sales fell at their fastest monthly pace in more than two years in April, after a record drop in fuel sales and a weather-related drop in clothing sales, official data showed on Wednesday.

The weak start into the second quarter highlights the ongoing weakness of the economy and may raise speculation about another cash boost from the Bank of England.

The Office for National Statistics said retail sales volumes fell 2.3 percent on the month - its biggest drop since January 2010 and more than twice as fast as forecast. The fall mo re than reversed an upwardly revised 2 percent rise in March.

On the year, sales fell 1.1 percent - confounding economists' forecasts for an annual rise of 1.0 percent.

The ONS said the monthly decline was driven by a record drop in fuel sales following panic buying of fuel in March that had resulted in petrol stations being unable to restock in time in April.

Record rainfall in April meanwhile depressed sales of clothing and footwear, which fell at its sharpest monthly pace since June 2008.

Business surveys had already indicated that the retailers struggled in April, though the CBI survey had also shown that retailers were more confident about the month ahead.

However, with inflation still outpacing meagre wage increases and the euro zone crisis still denting confidence, many Britons remain reluctant to increase spending.

Recent news from major retailers has painted a negative picture of the retail sector's performance.

Britain's biggest clothing retailer Marks & Spencer slashed its sales growth forecast on Tuesday, signalling it expects consumer spending to remain weak as the government focuses on cutting debt and the economy struggles to grow.

Last April record temperatures and an extra holiday for the Royal Wedding boosted retail sales but this year April was Britain's wettest since records began, which is likely to have weighed on this year's figures.

©Reuters 2012

Potential Olympic disease crisis has health officials on alert

©Reuters

'So I Won't Leave Debts for My Children': Man Commits Suicide to Protest Greek Economic Crisis

A 77-year-old Greek man took his life in Athens' central Syntagma Square early Wednesday, police said, in what appeared to be a protest against a deepening economic crisis that has coincided with a rising national suicide rate.

The man shot himself with a handgun several hundred meters from the entrance to the Greek parliament building in a grassy area to one side of the Greek capital's main square.

According to state-owned NET television, the man was a former pharmacist and left behind a suicide note, that appeared to liken Greece's current crisis to the deep poverty the country suffered during the World War II German occupation.

"I have no other way to react apart from finding a dignified end before I start sifting through garbage for food," the suicide note said according to NET.

Police spokesman Panagiotis Papapetropoulos said authorities weren't aware of a note. The police haven't disclosed the identity of the man or other details, pending notification of the next of kin.

"There was a suicide involving a 77-year-old man in Syntagma Square," Papapetropoulos said, adding that the police were investigating the incident.

Eyewitnesses said the man was in apparent despair over his financial debts, shouting just moments before killing himself: "So I won't leave debts for my children."

Following the shooting, groups of Athenians stopped by the point where the suicide took place in order to leave flowers and sympathy notes.

Government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis described the suicide as "a human tragedy" that took place under unknown conditions.

"We must all be calm and respect the real causes (of the suicide), which are not yet known," he said.

The suicide also evoked sympathetic responses from a series of Greek politicians who blamed the austerity for the incident.

Greece is now in its fifth year of a grinding economic recession made worse by successive waves of austerity measures the country has taken to meet the demands of its international creditors from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Those various austerity measures have led to steep cuts, in some cases more than 25%, in retiree pensions and other benefits. At the same time many Greeks are being squeezed by declining wages and higher taxes on everything from property to petrol.

"This was a symbolic suicide. If it hadn't happened here, in the square, in front of parliament, no one would notice," said one bystander, who declined to give his name but who heard the shots from across the square.

The social impact of the economic crisis has become increasingly apparent on the streets of Athens and other cities, while suicide rates have jumped. In one notable case last September, a Greek man in his 50s who was struggling with his debts attempted suicide in front of a bank branch in the northern city of Thessaloniki by setting himself on fire.

According to police data, the number of suicides in both 2010 and 2011 surpassed 600 each year, a 20% jump over the rate in 2009, the year before the start of the Greek debt crisis.