Iceland to Appoint First Openly Gay Woman as PM

(NEWSER) - Iceland held fast to its independence as it rocketed to become one of the world's richest nations. But after a spectacular bust that decimated its currency and felled its government, the island nation has voted to join the EU. The accession plans are a victory for the country's new PM, Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, who is trying to stabilize the country after its entire banking system collapsed. While the EU is nearly certain to accept Iceland's membership, meeting the bloc's economic requirements will take at least 18 months. More»

PM Mark Rutte gives bad news to the queen

(AP) - The Dutch government, one of the most vocal critics of European countries failing to rein in their budgets, quit today after failing to agree on a plan to bring its own deficit in line with EU rules. Prime Minister Mark Rutte tendered the resignation of his entire Cabinet to Queen Beatrix, effective immediately, after Rutte informed her talks on a new austerity package collapsed over the weekend. Rutte is to debate with parliament tomorrow on whether and how his caretaker government can still improve the budget, and when to schedule new elections. No date was immediately announced, but opposition lawmakers called for a vote in late June. More»

Country's troubles likened to Greek crisis

(NEWSER) - In order to pay back $11.6 billion in debt, Portugal needs to re-enter capital markets next year—and as it stands, that's looking like a tall order. The deadline isn't until September 2013, but the International Monetary Fund could call on the country to release a financial plan a year in advance. And if it looks like Portugal will be incapable of accessing markets, the IMF could overhaul its bailout, the Wall Street Journal reports. More»

May also freeze central bank's assets

(NEWSER) - The European Union today rolled out its embargo of Iranian oil, adopting the measure as what Britain's foreign secretary called "an unprecedented set of sanctions" designed to crack down on the country's nascent nuclear program. Existing contracts for crude oil and petroleum will be honored until July, but all new contracts are embargoed effective immediately, the AP reports. The EU is also poised to freeze Iran's central bank's assets. The sanctions should cut deep, notes Reuters : The EU is Iran's biggest oil customer after China. More»

Letting its banks perish worked out for island nation

(NEWSER) - Don't look now, but Iceland's economy is growing. Tourism is up, the standard of living remains high, and unemployment is down to 7%. "For a country whose entire financial system collapsed, Iceland is doing remarkably well," the IMF's mission chief there tells the Washington Post . Why? In part because Iceland charted a unique course through the financial crisis: It let its big banks default and its currency collapse, and poured money into its economy and social safety net, raising taxes on the wealthy to do so. More»