Merkel’s visit to Canada shadowed by eurozone fears August 16, 2012 - 13:27 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - German leader Angela Merkel held talks with her Canadian counterpart on a first-ever bilateral visit shadowed by eurozone fears and Ottawa's refusal to wade into relief efforts. The delegation was all smiles as Prime Minister Stephen Harper whisked Merkel away to his lakeside retreat for an informal dinner ahead of talks on the debt crisis and efforts to reach an EU-Canada free trade pact. Merkel had arrived with five German business leaders who were to be joined by counterparts from five Canadian firms during a business luncheon Thursday, August 16 with Merkel and Harper. The two leaders "have a close, trusting relationship," a senior Merkel aide said. But they remain split on how to tackle the European debt crisis. While Germany has helped backstop struggling eurozone nations, Canada and the United States are the only G8 members to not contribute to a bailout stash through the International Monetary Fund. Ahead of Merkel's arrival, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said that Canada would not reconsider contributing to the fund to help ailing Greece, Spain and Italy, according to AFP. Partner news  Top stories The agent shot in self-defense in the incident, which occurred at Todashev's house, the law enforcement source said. Only three senators on the committee - Republican Ron Paul and Democrats Tom Udall and Chris Murphy - opposed the bill. If true, the exclusion of Rafsanjani and Mashaie would leave the presidential race dominated by hardline conservatives. Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer of the Oklahoma medical examiner's office, said 51 were confirmed dead.   Partner news |  Latest news Nissan to recall 841,000 vehicles worldwide  A bolt used in the steering wheel was not screwed on properly, but that there was no danger of sudden failure.Aleppo Armenian abducted by Islamists, given 3 months in jail The head of the Armenian General Benevolent Union office Hagop Mikaelyan was given jail term for supporting President Assad.Spotify, Netflix say no plans to launch BlackBerry 10 apps Both streaming services have ruled out catering to the mobile operating system, which runs on devices such as the Q10, Q5 and Z10.OSCE mission conducts monitoring of NKR-Azerbaijan contact line The monitoring passed in accordance with the agreed schedule; no violation of the cease-fire regime was noted. |
