Portugal V Netherlands : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Report - Football Portugal V Netherlands : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Report - Football
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Portugal V Netherlands : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Report - Football

Portugal V Netherlands : UEFA Euro 2012 Match Report - Football

Published: 17 Jun 2012 - 22:01:30

No great escape for Dutch as Portugal go through
Portugal beat the Netherlands 2-1 on Sunday to set up a Euro 2012 quarter-final with the Czech Republic and condemn the Dutch to a first group-stage European Championship exit since 1980.
Needing to win by two clear goals to stand any hope of progressing, Holland took an early lead through Rafael van der Vaart but were undone by goals in each half from man of the match Cristiano Ronaldo.
From a Dutch perspective, the final score was rendered immaterial as Denmark's 2-1 loss to Germany in the other Group B match meant they would not have qualified for the last eight even in case of victory.
Portugal, for whom Ronaldo belatedly reproduced his Real Madrid form at this tournament, will compete for a semi-final place against the Czechs in Warsaw on Thursday.
Runners-up at the World Cup two years ago and top scorers in qualifying, the Netherlands leave Ukraine with their tails between their legs after three consecutive defeats.
Mindful of the pressing need for goals, Holland coach Bert van Marwijk handed starts to both Klaas-Jan Huntelaar and van der Vaart, who replaced captain Mark van Bommel and inherited the captain's armband from him.
Van der Vaart needed less than 11 minutes to vindicate his manager's decision, collecting a pass from Arjen Robben and shaping a delightful 25-yard shot inside the left-hand post to put Holland ahead.
However, if the Dutch thought they were in for a comfortable evening, Portugal quickly had them on their toes with a flurry of chances sparked by Ronaldo drifting inside and brushing the post with a low strike.
Dutch goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was allowed to shine on his 50th appearance, thwarting Helder Postiga following an errant back-pass by Gregory van der Wiel and then showing sharp reflexes to box away a Ronaldo header.
Holland failed to heed the warnings though, and in the 28th minute Ronaldo levelled, powering onto Joao Pereira's incisive, stabbed pass and clipping the ball past Stekelenburg from close range.
Strangely, scoring the opening goal seemed to have inhibited the Dutch, and they were cowed even further by Ronaldo's equaliser.
So often scorned for his international displays, Ronaldo was a man transformed, and after working Stekelenburg with an audacious dipping shot from 35 yards, he crashed a header narrowly wide from a corner.
Van Marwijk gambled in the second half, throwing on winger Ibrahim Afellay for left-back Jetro Willems, but still Portugal came, Nani spurning a good chance by firing at Stekelenburg after Ronaldo had rolled the ball across goal.
The Madrid man was not so forgiving when Nani returned the favour in the 74th minute, checking inside sharply to send van der Wiel sprawling and then calmly beating Stekelenburg at his near post.
Van der Vaart hit the post with a right-foot curler, but it was the only bright moment in what was a desperate second period for the Dutch, who saw Ronaldo wobble an upright in the final minute.


AFP

Related Portugal News



Modi needs to review style of working: RSS mouthpiece - in.news.yahoo.com

New Delhi, June 2 (IANS) In an apparent disapproval by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi's style of working, an article in the organisation's mouthpiece has indicated that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has several prime ministerial candidates.

It also disapproved of Modi's reported insistence on resignation of Sanjay Joshi from the BJP's national executive last week.

The article, which figures in the latest issue of Panchjanaya, said it was being felt that Modi needed to do a rethink about organisational capabilities.

"It seems Narendra Modi needs to review his style of working and organisational ability," it said.

The article assumes significance because its author Devendra Swaroop is a former editor of Panchjanaya and has access to views of the RSS insiders.

"The role of Narendra Modi in the Sanjay Joshi episode at BJP's national executive meeting in Mumbai is worth considering...why despite having faith in the Sangh, Modi could not control his unhappiness towards a fellow RSS functionary is a mystery. He made Joshi's presence a prestige issue and allowed the media to attack the BJP and the Sangh," the article said.

It also attacked Modi over media reports about Joshi changing his travel plans and boarding a plane instead of going by train after the Mumbai meeting as the train would have touched places in Gujarat.

"It allowed opponents of the BJP to speak against Modi," it said.

Modi apparently insisted that he would attend the conclave only if his bete noire Joshi resigned from the party's national executive and the party bowed to his demand.

In a dig at Modi's prime ministerial ambitions, it said that the BJP had several chief ministers and central leaders who were capable of being its prime ministerial candidates. But it said that the decision should be taken by the the parliamentary party after the party won the Lok Sabha election.

The article in the RSS mouthpiece slamming Modi's action at the BJP executive close to veteran BJP leader L.K. Advani launching an attack on party president Nitin Gadkari, saying "the mood within the party is not upbeat".

Advani said in his blog that people were angry with the Congress-led government but they were upset with the BJP too.



Islamists say win Egypt presidency; army holds power - Reuters

CAIRO | Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:19pm EDT

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood declared on Monday that its candidate Mohamed Morsy won the country's first free presidential race, beating Hosni Mubarak's last prime minister and ending six decades of rule by presidents plucked from the military.

But shortly before the final result the generals who have run the country since the overthrow of Mubarak issued new rules that made clear real power remains with the army.

"Mohamed Morsy is the first popularly elected civilian president of Egypt," the official website of Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party announced in a brief message.

Morsy in his first comments since the victory announcement promised at a news conference to be president for all Egyptians and said he would not "seek revenge or settle scores."

"Thanks be to God who has guided Egypt's people to the path of freedom and democracy, uniting the Egyptians to a better future," Morsy said.

The Brotherhood said Morsy won 52.5 percent of votes while Ahmed Shafik, an ex-military, secured 47.5 percent, Morsy campaign official Ahmed Abdel Atti told a news conference at the Brotherhood's party headquarters in Cairo. He added that these were initial results.

The figures were based on votes counted at 98 percent of the polling stations, he said. "Down, down with military rule," chanted some of those at the news conference announcing results.

At Shafik's campaign headquarters, Ahmed Sarhan said: "I do not accept this, I will not file wrong numbers." But another campaigner said: "I don't think we will make it." One woman campaigner at Shafik's headquarters was in tears.

LIMITED POWERS

A decree from the ruling military council, published as the count got under way on Sunday, spelled out only limited powers for the new head of state and reclaimed for itself the lawmaking prerogatives held by the Islamist-led parliament which the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) dissolved last week.

Liberal and Islamist opponents denounced a "military coup".

The council's "constitutional declaration", issued under powers it took for itself after pushing aside Mubarak to appease street protests 16 months ago, was a blow to democracy, said many who aired their grievances on social media, a favored weapon in the Arab Spring that ended Mubarak's 30-year rule.

"Grave setback for democracy and revolution," tweeted former U.N. diplomat and Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei.

"SCAF retains legislative power, strips president of any authority over army and solidifies its control," he said.

"The 'unconstitutional declaration' continues an outright military coup," tweeted Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a moderate Islamist knocked out in the first round of the presidential election last month. "We have a duty to confront it."

A Facebook page whose young activists helped launch the uprising mocked the army's order, noting Egypt would have a head of state with no control over his own armed forces: "It means the president is elected but has no power," one comment read.

DEADLINE

The order from Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, the chairman to the Supreme Council, indicated that the army, which also controls swathes of Egypt's economy, has no intention of handing substantial power now to its old adversary the Brotherhood.

"SCAF will carry legislative responsibilities ... until a new parliament is elected," the council's order said.

It raised a question of how, even if a civilian head of state is sworn in this week, Tantawi can claim to have met his own deadline of July 1 for relinquishing control - a deadline the armed forces' major patron and paymaster the United States had stressed in recent days it was expecting him to respect.

Washington and Egypt's European allies, also major providers of aid to the most populous Arab state, had voiced concern when Tantawi, backed by a judicial ruling from a court appointed under Mubarak, dissolved the parliament elected in January in which the Brotherhood and hardline Islamists had a big majority.

However, the Western powers - and many of Egypt's 82 million people - are also uneasy about the rise of Islamists in Cairo, as in other new democracies of the Arab Spring, notably Tunisia and Libya, and so are unlikely to sanction the generals for now.

The failure of the new parliament to agree a consensus body to draft a constitution - liberals accuse the Islamists of packing the panel with religious zealots - has left Egyptians picking their way from revolution to democracy through a legal maze while the generals control the map and change it at will.

Under the latest order, writing of the new constitution may pass to a body appointed by the SCAF - if a court rules against the contested panel nominated by the now defunct legislature.

Any new constitution would need approval in a referendum, with a new parliamentary election following. By a timetable contained in the decree, it would take another five months or so to complete the planned "transition to democracy".

However, the experience of the past year has left many Egyptians doubting that the military, and what they call the "deep state" stretching across big business, Mubarak-era judges, security officials and the army, will ever hand over control.

"SCAF isn't going to transfer any real power," Marc Lynch, a Middle East expert at George Washington University said on Twitter of the constitutional order. "Back to the beginning."

AWKWARD CHOICES

Turnout, only 46 percent in the first round, appeared to have been no higher for the run-off held over two days.

Many voters were dismayed by an unpalatable choice between a man seen as an heir to Mubarak and the nominee of a religious party committed to reversing liberal social traditions.

Some cast a ballot against both men in protest.

Shafik, 70, said he had heeded the lessons of the revolution and offered security and prosperity for all Egyptians. Morsy, 60, tried to widen his appeal beyond the Brotherhood's committed and disciplined base by pledging to preserve a pluralist democracy and finally end a history of military rule.

The Brotherhood has contested the army's power to dissolve parliament and warned of "dangerous days". But though some have compared events to those in Algeria 20 years, which ended in civil war between the military and Islamists, many doubt that the Brotherhood has an appetite for such violence at present.

(Additional reporting by Dina Zayed, Tom Pfeiffer, Edmund Blair, Alastair Macdonald and Samia Nakhoul in Cairo and Abdel Rahman Youssef in Alexandria; Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Samia Nakhoul)



RSS favours Kalam but NDA divided over its Presidential candidate, Sangma insists he is in the race - indiatoday.intoday.in

Full coverage: Presidential polls 2012Rashtriya Seva Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday came out in support of the candidature of A P J Abdul Kalam in the Presidential poll, saying he is apolitical and that it will be good if he is elected.

"It will be good if he (Kalam) is elected as President.

The comman man thinks that he is a nice man. While rest of the people have a political background, he does not. We can only give our opinion. But only lawmakers can elect the president," Bhagwat told reporters in Haridwar.

Bhagwat's remarks came on a day the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) deferred its decision on whether or not to contest the Presidential election as it was divided over opposing United Progressive Alliance (UPA) nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

While Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee has rooted for Kalam, the former Indian President is yet to announce whether he will contest.

The NDA failed to firm up a position on the Presidential poll as it was divided over opposing UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee and there was lack of clarity on extending support to P A Sangma.

With an intention of using the Presidential poll to rope in parties like AIADMK and BJD and possibly Trinamool Congress, the main opposition BJP-led alliance decided at a meeting in New Delhi that talks would be held with these parties to have a common candidate against Mukherjee.

At a two-hour meeting of the NDA which was skipped by Shiv Sena, JD-U leader Shivanand Tiwari is believed to have disfavoured a contest against Mukherjee because of his stature, reflecting a divide in the coalition.

BJP leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj were said to be of the opinion that there should be a contest but there was no consensus as to whether to support Sangma, who has been propped up by AIADMK and BJD, or Kalam, who is being pushed into the race by Trinamool Congress.

There was a strong view that supporting Sangma would help NDA win back AIADMK and BJD. However, to finetune this, talks should be held with leaders of these parties before any decision is reached, sources said.



Chris Brown Bar Brawl Update: W.i.P. Nightclub Shut Down! - Entertainment Online

It's been three days since the brutal Chris Brown bar brawl, but the W.i.P nightclub where the incident took place is still feeling the heat.

Both W.i.P. and Greenhouse nightclubs—located in the same building and jointly owned in Manhattan—were closed Saturday night just before midnight by members of the first Precinct, E! News has confirmed.

With rumors still flying over what went down between Breezy and Drake, are these two rivals to blame for the hotspots' latest troubles?

READ: Chris Brown Bar Brawl a "Brutal Attack," Says Singer's Rep; Drake Denies Involvement!

Not entirely, as the club had previous violations before the incident early Thursday morning.

"The managers of both establishments were present and informed of the directive per violations of the pre- existing Stipulation and Agreement order from March of 2011," the NYPD, Office of the Deputy Commissioner tells E! News. "It stipulated that the owners would agree to the closing by NYPD for up to 235 days if additional assaults and other violations of the agreement occurred. There were no incidents or arrests in connection with the closing."

Chris Brown and Drake were allegedly involved in a brutal bar brawl early Thursday morning. Drake has since maintained his innocence in the matter and denied any participation in the altercation. There are also numerous reports suggesting Brown has since contacted the police.

READ: Chris Brown Bar Brawl Aftermath—Did Singer Go to Police?

This isn't the first set of troubles for W.i.P in the bar brawl aftermath. On Friday, E! News confirmed that Jonathan Cantor, the nightclub's manager, was taken into custody by police on two outstanding warrants stemming from noise complaints at the hot spot.

Although the details of the incident are still unclear, an attorney for Ingrid Gutierrez, the 21-year-model who was at Chris Brown's table during the alternation, recently spoke with E! News and revealed his client's take on the incident.

As for nightclub's future? A rep for W.i.P. and Greenhouse tells E! News that "the venues are temporarily, not permanently, closed."

—Reporting by Vanessa McDonald 

GALLERY: Ouch! Injured Celebs



ForeignPolicy.com's RSS Feeds - Foreign Policy

RSS, which stands for "really simple syndication," is a fast and convenient way of keeping track of the latest and greatest news and views from your favorite Web sites.

Here's how it works: You set up an "RSS reader" (also known as an "aggregator") on your computer and then pick the sites you read regularly -- e.g. www.foreignpolicy.com. Most sites have an RSS feed that displays headlines and a short blurb that explains what the article is about, or in many cases, the full text of the article or blog post in question.

If you already have an RSS reader installed (or if you use on online tool such as Bloglines or Google Reader), simply start the software and add one or more of the feed addresses below:

Featured content (a digest of the day's best items from ForeignPolicy.com):

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Note: RSS feeds are also available for any given topic on ForeignPolicy.com, such as the United Nations, politics, or Iran. To find out if FP has a topic page on a given subject, type http://www.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/[the subject] in your browser, e.g. http://www.foreignpolicy.com/category/topic/india.="fp_red">



Kalam is RSS choice for Prez - Daily Pioneer

Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said that former President APJ Abdul Kalam is his nominee for the Presidential poll. Bhagwat was on an unannounced visit to the holy city for a day.

Even as after reaching Haridwar Bhagwat did express his willingness to have some ‘important talks’ with the saints in Haridwar, the agenda of these talks remained undisclosed and the RSS officer bearers were shrugging off the question saying only Bhagwat can reply to this question.

However, the present issue of Presidential poll did come up during the casual talks that the RSS chief held with local reporters. “The election of President in India has got a special process and only some selected people can cast their vote. However, according to me, former President APJ Abdul Kalam should contest election again. He is the best Presidential candidate,” Bhagwat said.

“Kalamji is a person with no political linkages and has got a mass support in the form of people who want him back as their President,” Bhagwat said, while answering a question about whether he supports the candidature of Pranab Mukherjee, as the Presidential candidate. “Former President APJ Adbul Kalam is my nominee for the Presidential poll,” Bhagwat said.

About the controversial issue of hydro-electric power projects on river Ganga, Bhagwat said the Central and the State Governments should formulate policies keeping in mind that Ganga is a holy river and needs to be preserved. “Crores of Indian consider Ganga as a goddess and also worship the river. The issue should not be politicised for personal benefits. The RSS wants the Governments to make policies keeping the importance of Ganga in mind,” Bhagwat added.

Meanwhile, Swami Ramanandacharya Rambha-dracharya, whom Bhagwat had come to meet in the former’s ashram said, “I also feel that Kalamji is the best candidate for the post of President. People have seen his tenure as a President once and want him back. He is definitely a far better candidate than Pranab Mukherjee, who is known as a Congressman.”

About the proposed Ganga Raksha programme to be organised in Delhi by Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati soon, Rambhadracharya said that the saint fraternity will support the programme only if Swami Swaroopanand keeps political parties and politicians away from the function.



Three contenders ... RSS reader apps - The Border Mail

YOU probably don't have time to visit all of your favourite sites and services every day. Thankfully RSS, or Really Simple Syndication, can bring them all to you. Many websites include an RSS feed, usually indicated by an orange and white icon. By clicking on the icon and subscribing to the RSS feed you can be automatically notified when new content is posted.

To subscribe to an RSS feed you'll need an RSS reader, which acts a little like an email client. You'll find basic RSS readers built into many web browsers and email clients. But if you're looking for extra bells and whistles, you'll find stand-alone RSS applications for desktops, smartphones and tablets, along with online RSS readers that run in a browser. Google Reader is an impressive online RSS reader and some RSS apps rely on Google Reader for managing your RSS subscriptions. If you regularly jump between desktop and mobile devices, you might find the browser-based Google Reader is best for you.

People often use RSS to keep track of when new blog posts, news stories, podcasts or video clips are published. Often the RSS feed only contains a snippet and a link to the original webpage. But RSS isn't just for news junkies. It can also let you subscribe to everything from television guides, weather forecasts and news bulletins to daily shopping deals and auction results.

In the past few years services such as Facebook and Twitter have started to usurp the role of RSS. But while social media services rise and fall, RSS is a universal standard that can't be controlled, censored or shut down. Another benefit is that you don't need to create an account or hand over your details to subscribe to an RSS feed, so you're not inundated with advertising and spam.

RSS readers were initially simple, text-based affairs that looked like email inboxes. But the rise of touchscreen tablets has spawned a new generation of slick RSS readers that look more like newspapers and draw on a range of news sources. Some RSS readers can also tap into your social media feeds, displaying them alongside your RSS feeds. Today we're looking at three slick RSS readers designed for Apple and Android gadgets.

Flipboard
iPhone
, iPad - free

flipboard.com
Reviewer's rating: 4.5/5

Flipboard draws news from a wide range of sources, but it also lets you tap into your Facebook, Twitter and Google Reader RSS feeds. Flipboard mimics the look of a newspaper, with editable sections such as news, sport and technology. You can change the publications from which they draw stories. Each section presents on a newspaper-style layout that mixes stories from different publications. You can swipe to turn pages, tap on a story to read it and then swipe to jump straight to the next story. The layout makes it easy to skim stories from a range of feeds. You can send stories to Facebook, Twitter or email. You can also save them to ''read it later'' services such as Instapaper, Pocket and Readability, but you can't access your saved lists from Flipboard.

MobileRSS
iPhone
, iPad - free ($2.99 Pro removes ads)
mobilerssapp.com
Reviewer's rating: 4/5

Lacking a fancy interface, MobileRSS is purely an RSS reader that is entirely dependent on Google Reader. The two-column display lists your feeds on the left. On the right are the six most recent stories in the selected feed and you can swipe down to see more. When reading a story you can swipe across directly to the next item. MobileRSS doesn't contain a categorised library of high-profile RSS feeds, although Google Reader does. You can send stories to a range of services, including Facebook, Twitter, Delicious, Pocket, Instapaper and Evernote, but you can't import feeds from social media or ''read it later'' services. Similar to Pulse, MobileRSS is better suited to people who want to scroll through a few important feeds rather than browse a wide range of news sources.

Pulse
iPhone, iPad, Android - free
pulse.me
Reviewer's rating: 3/5

Pulse presents your RSS feeds in rows, displaying four stories a feed. You can swipe across to see more stories or down to see more feeds. When reading a story you can swipe to jump to the next story. Pulse lets you add RSS feeds from its library as well social media feeds such as Facebook, Twitter, Google Reader, Reddit and Digg. You can save stories to services such as Instapaper, Pocket (formerly Read it Later) and Evernote. Strangely you can't save to Readability but you can read stories you've saved to Readability by other means. Pulse is great if you want to scroll through a few important feeds but if you're looking to browse a wide range of news sources for interesting stories then Flipboard might be more appealing to you.



GLOBAL MARKETS-Euro, shares jump in relief rally after Greek vote - Reuters UK

Mon Jun 18, 2012 3:40am BST

* Euro hits 1-month high around $1.2748

* MSCI Asia ex-Japan up 1.7 pct, Nikkei up 1.8 pct

* U.S. crude up 1 pct to $84.90 a barrel

* Gold down 0.3 pct, Treasury 10-yr yields rise to 1.65 pct

By Alex Richardson

SINGAPORE, June 18 (Reuters) - The euro jumped to a one-month high and Asian shares rose nearly 2 percent on Monday after Greece's election delivered a slim parliamentary majority to pro-bailout parties, a result seen as crucial to European leaders' efforts to hold the euro together.

U.S. stock index futures and riskier commodities such as crude oil and copper also rose, while gold fell after a rally last week, when investors had looked to bullion as a safe haven amid fears the election could trigger financial turmoil.

But analysts cautioned there were still plenty of hurdles ahead and the initial positive market reaction could prove to be short-lived.

"The question is whether there will be a sustained rebound as there's still so many things to sort out - the euro zone's fiscal problems and Spanish banks," said Masayuki Doshida, senior market analyst at Rakuten Securities in Tokyo.

Parties in Greece that broadly support the 130 billion euro EU/IMF bailout will begin forging a government on Monday. The parties, New Democracy and PASOK, would have a parliamentary majority.

Financial markets had feared a victory for SYRIZA, the radical leftists opposed to the austerity package of job, wage and pension cuts that are a condition of the bailout, without which Greece would be bankrupt.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan rose 1.7 percent and Tokyo's Nikkei share average jumped 1.8 percent. U.S. S&P 500 futures were trading around 0.4 percent higher.

"It's a temporary rally but we're seeing broad gains because the global situation has changed now that the prospect of a 'Drachmageddon' has disappeared," said Fumiyuki Nakanishi, general manager of investment and research at SMBC Friend Securities in Tokyo.

The euro was up around 0.4 percent at about $1.2685, having climbed as far as $1.2748, its highest level in a month. The U.S. dollar index eased 0.2 percent.

U.S. crude rose 1 percent to around $84.90 a barrel, Brent crude gained nearly $1 to above $98.50 and copper was 0.6 percent higher around $7,556 a tonne.

Safe-haven assets retreated, with gold down 0.3 percent around $1,623 an ounce and benchmark U.S. Treasury 10-year yields rising to around 1.65 percent from about 1.58 percent in last U.S. trade on Friday.

CRISIS NOT OVER

As well as cheering investors, the Greek election result should also come as a relief for world leaders who are due to kick off a G20 meeting in Mexico on Monday.

A statement from the Group of Seven major industrialised nations said it was in "all our interests" for Greece to remain in the euro zone while respecting its international bailout commitments.

But amid the relief, investors' focus was already returning to the many unresolved elements of Europe's deep-seated debt crisis, not to mention concerns over a faltering U.S. recovery and China's transition to a lower growth trajectory.

"We are back to guessing whether or not we will see a growth pact and eurobonds," said Westpac Bank foreign exchange strategists Robert Rennie and Sean Callow in a note. "We are back to guessing when China will come up with a fiscal package to help stabilise a sharply slowing Chinese economy."

Greece's economy remains in deep crisis after five years of recession, Spain has been pushed into seeking 100 billion euros from Europe to rescue its banks and Italy's poor growth prospects and high debt have put it in the bond markets' sights.

After reaching a euro-era high above 7 percent on Thursday, Spain's 10-year bond yield eased 6 basis points from its closing level to 6.90 percent on Friday, while Italian yields fell 15 bps to 6.01 percent.

"Short-covering is well and good but will long-term investors decide that the crisis is over and move back into peripheral countries' debt, or equities? We fear that is highly unlikely," said Sebastian Galy, strategist at Societe Generale in New York.

Galy said more political and structural change was needed to shore up the euro zone's financial system, and a growth plan was urgently required as well.

"The bottom line is that Europe still needs to agree on something that smells and feels a lot more like joint funding than anything that has been suggested so far." (Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney and Sophie Knight in Tokyo; Editing by Neil Fullick)



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