Businessweek: EU confident of steady growth

For the complete report from Businessweek click on this link

EU confident of steady growth

The European Union remains upbeat about growth in 2008 despite concerns over repercussions from the U.S. subprime market crisis, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Friday. "There are some concerns about the possible impact of the subprime problems in the United States on our economy, but I want to underline (that) the fundamentals, the basic principles of the European economy remain sound," Barroso said. Barroso said the EU is not ready to revise growth projections at this time given "positive" economic trends, especially in eurozone exports and employment figures.

EU-Digest editorial: US Economy - Bush's "bandage economics" won't work - radical change is required

Bush's bandage economics won't work-radical change is required

President Bush, acknowledging the risk of recession, embraced about $145 billion worth of tax relief Friday to give the sagging economy a "shot in the arm. " Bush said such a growth package must also include tax incentives for business investment and quick tax relief for individuals. He said that to be effective, an economic stimulus package would need to roughly represent 1 percent of the gross domestic product - the value of all U.S. goods and services and the best measure of the country's economic standing. White House advisers say that, in current terms, 1 percent would amount to around $145 billion, which is along the lines of what private economists say should be sufficient to help give the economy a "short-term" boost.

Unfortunately regardless of how one views the specifics of the Bush plan, there is wide agreement among many economists that its purpose is a permanent change in the tax structure and that this will not create jobs and growth in the near or long term. President Bush's plan is also aimed at helping to shore up the what he calls "struggling stock markets". The problem is that the debt-laden US economy with a manufacturing base which is mainly outsourced, is no longer capable of providing its population with a adequate living standard which utilizes its own productive resources. Cutting interest rates also increases the danger of inflation.

The basic economic objective of any country should be to guarantee sufficient individual income to everyone. Governments should not need to be worried about, or cave in to the wishes of the stock markets. Stock markets, lets face it, are very similar to gambling casino's. They fuel on speculative games focusing on hedge, equity, and a variety of other funds. Of these, the so-called hedge funds are probably the most dangerous to any economy, because they are unregulated and account for more than one third of all stock trades. The hedge funds in the US represent approximately $2.5 trillion in assets and they pay their managers exorbitant salaries

The reasoning used by President Bush to promote his permanent tax cuts, tax relief and the financial deregulation for corporations and the wealthy is that these benefits will eventually trickle down to the general public and make the economy healthy again. "Tell me another story". The actual situation is quite different. The British Guardian wrote today, "The Fed is doing its best to give the impression that it is still in control of the US economy, but its reassurances are as hollow as that given by Herbert Hoover - on the weekend after Black Thursday in October 1929 - that the fundamentals of the economy were sound. If anybody is running economic policy, it is the big banks and investment houses on Wall Street.

The World's economic system needs a drastic overhaul. The control over the economic wellbeing of the world needs to be taken out of the hands of the private banking system and investment houses and returned to transparent democratically elected governments. This might appear to be a revolutionary solution, but it really means moving away from the idea of jobs to that of income. A world economy which is not burdened by interest bearing debt can provide a good income to just about anyone on the planet. Unfortunately the proposals by President Bush today can only increase the problems. Instead he should have proposed; the regulation of the financial industry, a return to the gold standard; a general amnesty of all personal debt for anyone earning less than $50.000; a total ban on unsecured personal credit; a national productivity fund in which every corporation puts a percentage of their pre-tax profits to provide a minimum income for the most needy; a universal health care program; and moving 60% of the military budget to education, research and development, including alternative energy resource development. Regardless of what the doom sayers, industry or financial establishment will say, this new approach would shift the present economic emphasis from a financier-banking controlled system to an economic democracy which will enable to energize the world economy through the forces of innovation, natural wealth and indigenous resources. The time for "bandage economics" has come and gone.

AFP: EU deputies slam Egypt over rights despite Cairo threats

For the complete report from the AFP click on this link

EU deputies slam Egypt over rights despite Cairo threats

European Union lawmakers adopted Thursday a resolution criticising Egypt's human rights record, as Cairo threatened to sever ties with the assembly and summoned EU ambassadors to complain. In a sparsely attended session, belying the importance of a public admonition that had turned into a diplomatic incident, 52 of the 59 deputies present voted in favour of the text, while the seven others abstained. Before the vote, which came at the end of a plenary week after many of the more than 780 deputies had already left Strasbourg, parliamentary leaders vowed not to cave in to Egyptian pressure. "The European Parliament is sovereign and decides what it wants to decide," Greens leader Daniel Cohn-Bendit told AFP in Strasbourg.

Eurobarometer - Latest report on European attitudes towards the issue of biodiversity

For the complete report from the EUROBAROMETER click on this link

Latest report on European attitudes towards the issue of biodiversity

Only a minority of respondents in all Member States disagreed that it was either our moral obligation to slow down the speed of biodiversity loss or that it would be important to halt the loss as it could cause a decrease in our well-being and the quality of life. Maltese and Greek interviewees, (85% and 84%, respectively), were the most likely to strongly agree that it was important to halt biodiversity loss simply because it was our moral obligation as stewards of nature. In almost all other Member States, a majority of respondents also strongly agreed with this statement, the exceptions being the Netherlands and Sweden, where slightly less than half of respondents strongly agreed that it was a moral obligation (47% and 48%, respectively). Respondents from Malta and Greece (80% and 78%, respectively), were also the most likely to strongly agree that it would be important to slow down the current speed of biodiversity loss because the levels of well being and the quality of life would deteriorate as a consequence of biodiversity loss. The Dutch respondents were again the least likely to strongly agree with this statement (30%).Biodiversity loss at a global level was considered to be more important than biodiversity loss at a national level. Almost seven out of 10 EU citizens thought that the decline and possible extinction of animal species, natural habitats and ecosystems were very serious global problems.

Telegraph.co.uk : Trains - Eurostar: getting the best deals

For the complete report from the Telegraph click on this link

Trains-Eurostar: getting the best deals

First, the good news. Competition from no-frills airlines means that the cheapest return tickets on Eurostar are now even lower than they were when the service first launched in 1994. Then you had to pay euro 127 on the London-Paris route. Now that fare has dropped to euro 78, only a couple of euros more than the old boat train used to cost. The less good news is that you may have to plan several months ahead, or be very flexible about when you travel, to make sure you get a return at such a good price.

Montreal Gazette: Quebecs Charest wants to increase European trade - by Kevin Dougherty

For the complete report from the Montreal Gazette click on this link

Charest wants to increase European trade - by Kevin Dougherty

Quebec has to seek a "new economic space," Premier Jean Charest said yesterday before flying to Paris for a mission that will also take him to London, the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, and Vancouver, where he will pitch his ideas to the other Canadian premiers. "I see it as significant for the future, the next 20 years in Quebec," he said of his goal to negotiate manpower mobility agreements with France, Ontario and through the Council of the Federation, the rest of Canada. Charest also wants "a nucleus" of the other provinces to buy into his plan for Canada-European free trade.

"The federal government has the power to sign treaties, but the issues that will be negotiated will fall in good part within areas of provincial jurisdiction," he told reporters after a two-day meeting with his Quebec Liberal caucus. "The European partners need to know that the provinces are part and parcel of this negotiation and that they are committed to making it happen," he said. "It is in our long-term interest to diversify towards other places," he added. "And that starts with Europe." In Paris today, Charest will meet French Prime Minister François Fillon to discuss progress toward an agreement he wants signed this year on the mobility of people between France and Quebec, which involves mutual recognition of diplomas and professional qualifications. "The future depends on our ability to attract the best minds in the world to our economy," the premier said. "If we're able to sign this agreement with France, we'll be the first in the world to conclude an agreement of this type."

American Chronicle: Markus Soder, Germany, Turkey, Europe, and the Apostate Free Masonic, Anglo-French Elite - by Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

For the complete report from the American Chronicle click on this link

Markus Soder, Germany, Turkey, Europe, and the Apostate Free Masonic, Anglo-French Elite - by Dr. Muhammad Shamsaddin Megalommatis

"Either Turkey decides to finally adhere to the European Union or not, the European Heritage and Culture have irreversibly got a distinct Turkish, Ottoman, and Islamic stamp. Erasing this is sheer Intellectual Terrorism. European Union policy makers must understand that True European History matters much more than Brussels' Butter Price Decision Making. There are many gullible European citizens who, misinformed by the Euro-'Masonic' mass media, fail to understand that a flat, unfair and unjustified European rejection of Turkey's candidacy simply means War. By this, we do not mean a war declaration from Turkey in the aftermath of a deliberate rejection; no, this will not happen. Simply, a flat, unfair and unjustified European rejection will trigger two developments that herald friction. 1. Direct, anti-European radicalization of the Muslim populations of Europe. 2) A European 'No' to Turkey means automatically that the European establishment despises the Turks and the other Muslims who already live in various European countries. It is as if the European elites say to these millions of Europeans: “we want you as cheap labor force, but as your culture is alien, we don't want you to contaminate us, and we keep you apart, in your little, filthy ghettos”. European politicians seem to forget that all these Muslim populations, particularly the Turks, know very well that European History without Islam simply does not exist – it refers only to pre-Islamic periods."

RNW: Belgium/Netherlands: Right-wing groups launch anti-Islamisation campaign - by Vanessa Mock

For the complete report from Radio Netherlands click on this link

Belgium ?Netherlands: Right-wing groups launch anti-Islamisation campaign - by Vanessa Mock

Far-right groups are calling for a ban on the building of new mosques as part of a new campaign to stop the spread of radical Islam in Europe. Belgium's far-right Vlaams Belang party teamed up with radical groups from Austria and Germany on Thursday to launch a Charter to 'fight the Islamisation of West-European cities'."We are not opposed to freedom of religion but we don't want Muslims to impose their way of life and traditions over here because much of it is not compatible with our way of life," Vlaams Belang's Filip Dewinter told Radio Netherlands Worldwide. "We can't accept head scarves in our schools, forced marriages and the ritual slaughter of animals." Aside from Austria's Freedom Party (FPö), there was a notable absence of other political heavyweights during the press conference in the Flemish city of Antwerp. A spokesman for Italy's Allianza Nazionale said he was unaware of the Charter, though his party too was looking at the issue of the new mosques. Dutch right-wing maverick politician Geert Wilders, who is currently producing a film about the danger of the Koran, also stayed away. But Mr Dewinter seems unruffled by the paltry political support: "This movement may be small today but I am convinced it will grow into something major." News of the Charter was greeted with dismay in Antwerp's Borgerhout, a multi-cultural neighbourhood counting over 90 nationalities. "It's pure provocation," shrugged Said El Fetri, a Moroccan shopkeeper. "I have Belgians, East Europeans, Jews and Muslims coming in and out of my shop, there are no problems with integration here." Standing next to his counter of Halal meat, he added: "I am a Muslim but that doesn't mean that I don't live by the rules of this country." However, another local shopkeeper, Mohammed, was gloomier: "I've lived here for almost 40 years. Me and my children are perfectly integrated but these kinds of campaigns worry me. In ten years' time, it won't be possible for us to live side by side like this anymore."

Note EU-Digest: Even though these kinds of provocative expressions and declarations by populist right wing groups, represented by Wilders, Dewinter and other like minded politicians are deplorable, they are acceptable within Europe's laws related to the freedom of expression. A possible way to combat these right wing movements is initially to call for massive peaceful demonstrations, in every major city of Europe. to support integration and multiculturalism . This, in addition to starting a well coordinated long term campaign of dialog on these issues at schools, universities, religious centers, in the press, and on TV and Radio. Best of all, the voters should make sure that these right-wing politicians are kept from winning in elections, by voting against them. Europe, on the other hand, should not allow any Grand Mufti to threaten Europeans about the risks involved if they allow people like Wilders or DeWinter to use or abuse the European Citizen's right of free speech. In that case we must remind these Muftis that in Europe we have a democratic society, where free speech and womens rights are paramount parts of the system and cover every citizen, including European Muslims.

Global Research: The Crashing U.S. Economy Held Hostage - by Richard Cook

For the complete report from Global Research click on this link

The Crashing U.S. Economy Held Hostage - by Richard Cook

Remember when the U.S. was the world’s greatest industrial democracy? Barely thirty years ago the output of our producing economy and the skills of our workforce led the world. What happened? It’s hard to believe that in the space of a generation our character and capabilities just collapsed as, for example, did our steel and automobile industries and our family farming. What then are the causes of the decline? Here’s how I would put it today: our economy is on an artificial life-support system, a barely-breathing hostage in a lunatic asylum. That asylum is the U.S. and world financial systems which are on the verge of collapse. The inmates are the world’s central bankers, along with most of the financial magnates big and small. The fact is that the economy of much of the world is in a decisive downward slide which the financiers cannot stop because the systems they operate are the primary cause. As often happens, the inmates rule the asylum. The problems aren’t confined to the U.S. Unemployment worldwide is increasing, debt is rampant, infrastructures are crumbling, and commodity prices are rising. In such an environment, crime, warfare, terrorism, and other forms of violence are endemic. Only the most naïve, self-centered, and deluded jingoist could describe such a scenario in terms of the freedom-loving Western democracies being besieged by the “bad guys.”

Rather what is happening highlights the growing failures of Western globalist finance whose impact on political stability has been so corrosive. As many responsible commentators are warning, we are likely to see major financial shocks within the next few months. The warnings are even coming from high-flying institutional players like the Bank of International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund. We may even be seeing the end of an era when the financiers ruled the world. At a certain point, governments or their military and bureaucratic establishments are likely to stop being passive spectators to the onrushing disorder. It is already happening in Russia and elsewhere. The countries that will be least able to master their own destiny are those like the U.S. where governments have been most passive to economic decomposition from actions of their financial sectors. The financiers are the ones who for the last generation have benefited most from economies marked by privatization, deregulation, and speculation, but that may be about to change. Whether the change will be constructive or catastrophic is yet to be seen.

Guardian: Germany's Merkel says strong euro has advantages

For the complete report from the Guardian click on this link

Germany's Merkel says strong euro has advantages

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that the high level of the euro reflected the strength of the European economy and has advantages as well as disadvantages. "The strong euro is a sign of the strength of Europe. It has advantages and disadvantages. The disadvantages are talked about all the time," Merkel told reporters at a news conference. "The question is whether we should try to change the euro rate without regard to price stability. The answer to that is a clear no."

Said Merkel: "The ECB, whose main priority is fighting inflation,is the only major bank in major industrialized countries currently contemplating the possibility of increasing interest rates, even as worries persist about the fallout from the U.S. subprime lending crisis. The ECB's price stability policy is supported by us," Merkel stressed. She pointed to Germany's "firm rule that the European Central Bank's independence should not be called into question by any political pressure."

EU-Digest comment: Mrs. Merkel is right on target. The ECB is doing a great job and the way to fight inflation is not to reduce interest rates. Europe does not need the economic disaster the US is experiencing.

Businessweek: Airbus Gains Altitude - by Carol Matlack

For the complete report from Businessweek click on this link

Airbus Gains Altitude - by Carol Matlack

It's been a long time since Airbus has had better news to deliver than Boeing BA. But on Jan. 16, as the U.S. jetmaker was acknowledging additional delays on its new 787 Dreamliner (BusinessWeek.com, 1/15/08), Airbus reported logging a record 1,341 orders and 453 airplane deliveries in 2007, while making better-than-expected progress on cost reductions. True, Airbus's 2007 order tally fell short of Boeing's 1,413 planes. But Boeing lagged slightly behind its European rival on aircraft deliveries, with 441. Perhaps the best news of all for the European aerospace giant was the 292 orders placed by airlines last year for the A350 wide-body jet, its planned answer to the 787 Dreamliner.

Medill Reports: Boeing's third 787 Dreamliner delay raises credibility issue

For the complete report from Medill Reports click on this link

Boeing's third 787 Dreamliner delay raises credibility issue

Boeing Co. announced a three-month production delay of its high-profile 787 Dreamliner jet, pushing the first flight date of the new commercial aircraft to late June and causing industry analysts to question the credibility of the aerospace giant's management. The announcement Wednesday by Chicago-based Boeing follows two 787 production delays announced last year and means the company won't begin delivering Dreamliners until 2009. Planes were originally scheduled to be delivered to airlines in May.Boeing officials emphasized that delay is due to supplier problems and not the 787's design and technologies. The plane would be the first commercial jet to be made mostly with lightweight composites, rather than aluminum.

NYT: Germany - Gay Muslims Pack a Dance Floor of Their Own - by NICHOLAS KULISH

For the complete report from the New York Times click on this link

Germany - Gay Muslims Pack a Dance Floor of Their Own - by NICHOLAS KULISH

Six men whirled faster and faster in the center of the nightclub, arms slung over one another’s shoulders, performing a traditional circle dance popular in Turkey and the Middle East. Nothing unusual given the German capital’s large Muslim population.But most of the people filling the dance floor on Saturday at the club SO36 in the Kreuzberg neighborhood were gay, lesbian or bisexual, and of Turkish or Arab background. They were there for the monthly club night known as Gayhane, an all-too-rare opportunity to merge their immigrant cultures and their sexual identities. European Muslims, so often portrayed one-dimensionally as rioters, honor killers or terrorists, live diverse lives, most of them trying to get by and to have a good time. That is more difficult if one is both Muslim and gay. “When you’re here, it’s as if you’re putting on a mask, leaving the everyday outside and just having fun,” said a 22-year-old Turkish man who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear that he would be ostracized or worse if his family found out about his sexual orientation.

One of the regular D.J.’s, Ipek Ipekcioglu, 35, said she got her start rather suddenly, when one of the founders of SO36 walked up to her and said: “You’re Turkish, right? You’re lesbian, right? Bring your cassettes and D.J.” Ms. Ipekcioglu spins everything from Turkish and Arabic music, to Greek, Balkan and Indian, a style she calls Eklektik BerlinIstan. She has been a full-time professional D.J. for six years and performs all over the world.

TopTechNews - Europe Goes for Microsoft's Jugular - by Jennifer LeCclair

For the complete report from Top TechNews click on this link

Europe Goes for Microsoft's Jugular - by Jennifer LeCclair

In one of the two EC antitrust investigations, Opera Software has complained that Microsoft illegally ties Internet Explorer to its Windows OS. The European Commission also cited antitrust allegations that Microsoft shackles other software products to its OS, including desktop search and Windows Live. This round of investigations falls under two separate categories of alleged infringements of European Commission Treaty rules. The first case deals with interoperability. The second relates to tying separate software products together. Specifically, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office have come under scrutiny. "Recent press reports suggested Microsoft reached a grand settlement with the European Commission, and we expected it to be quiet for a while. Then we look up and a new investigation is under way," said Keith Hylton, a professor of law at the Boston University School of Law. "I was surprised to see a new investigation so soon."

DW: Politicians Accuse Nokia of Abusing German, EU Subsidies -

For the complete report from the Deutsche Welle click on this link

Politicians Accuse Nokia of Abusing German, EU Subsidies -

After the world's largest cell phone producer announced it would close the doors on its plant in Bochum, German politicians say they will investigate whether Nokia took unfair advantage of state and EU subsidies. Jürgen Rüttgers, the premier of North Rhine-Westphalia, where Bochum is located, told public broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday, Jan. 16, that the Finnish company was a "locust which got money in Germany and then said without warning 'we are going to Romania' to maybe get more public funds there." He also said he would attempt to recover the 60 million euros ($89 million) in subsidies the state had paid the company. Nokia also received about 28 million euros from the federal government.

The Independent: Bloody reality bears no relation to the delusions of this President - Robert Fisk

For the complete report from the Independent Online click on this link

Bloody reality bears no relation to the delusions of this President - Robert Fisk

The President sat chummily beside the all-too-friendly monarch yesterday, enthroned in what looked suspiciously like the kind of casual blue cardigan he might wear on his own Texan ranch; he had even received a jangling gold "Order of Merit" – it looked a bit like the Lord Chancellor's chain, though it was not disclosed which particular merit earned Mr Bush this kingly reward. Could it be the hypocritical merit of supplying yet more billions worth of weapons to the Kingdom, to be used against the Saudi regime's imaginary enemies.

Over the past decade, the Gulf Arabs have squandered billions of their oil dollars on American weapons. The statistics tell their own story. In 1998 and 1999 alone, Gulf Arab military spending came to US$ 78bn. Between 1997 and 2005, the sheikhs of the United Arab Emirates – Mr Bush's hosts before he continued to Riyadh – signed arms contracts worth US$17bn with Western nations. Between 1991 and 1993 – when Iraq was the "enemy" – the US Military Training Mission was administering more than US$ 27bn in Saudi arms procurements and US$23bn in new US weapons acquisitions. By this time, the Saudis already possessed 72 American F-15 fighter-bombers and 114 British Tornados.

Note EU-Digest: Unfortunately several EU states are also playing along with this weapons sale charade in the Middle East. Unfortunately one day these weapons will be turned around and used against the countries which sold the weapons."

The Denver Post - Economic decline may have arrived in US, will Europe be next?

For the complete report from the Denver Post click on this link

Economic decline may have arrived in US, will Europe be next?

Signs that the U.S. economy is headed toward recession — or is already there — gathered steam Tuesday amid a maelstrom of reports that drove the Dow Jones industrial average down 277 points to a nine-month low. Retail sales plunged in December, Citigroup announced the biggest quarterly loss in its 196-year history and thousands more job cuts were revealed, rattling Wall Street and pushing the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note near a four-year low. Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan was quoted as saying the economy may already be in a downturn, and one analyst called it "almost indisputable now" that the economy contracted in December. Also, wholesale inflation for 2007 surged the most in 26 years, raising the viselike specter of consumer- crushing stagflation — a state in which the economy stagnates or contracts but prices continue to rise. Consumer spending, the critical bulwark that has kept the country out of recession, is showing signs of cracking. The Commerce Department reported that retail sales fell by 0.4 percent last month as consumers handed retailers their worst Christmas in five years. All the problems weighing on the economy could prompt consumers — who account for two-thirds of economic activity — to limit or even stop shopping.

U.S. policy-makers continue to defend the prospects for U.S. economic growth. Henry Paulson, secretary of the treasury, appears tireless in proclaiming the economy as "fundamentally sound." In this scenario, the 1.8 million sub-prime mortgages due to be reset this year and next, presumably to higher interest rates, merely present a problem in need of a refinancing solution. ("We do expect that the housing market turbulence will take some time to work through," Paulson averred last month, "and that there will be some penalty on our short-term economic growth.") But this short-term turbulence, which is feeling rather long-term, ignores the legions of non-subprime homeowners who fell into the habit of repackaging mountains of debt into interest-only lines of credit linked to appreciating house values, which, at least in pockets, have vaporized.

The first Post: EU-USA - Start of a beautiful friendship?- by Phillip Blond

For the complete report from The First Post click on this link

EU-USA - Start of a beautiful friendship?- by Phillip Blond

For the first time in several hundred years the West is on the losing side of history. This is the thesis of Edouard Balladur, the former French Prime Minister who in a recent essay argues that "history is starting to be made without the West and perhaps one day it will be made against it". The 78-year-old statesman believes that Western values are so threatened that the only way to defend global democracy and the rule of law is for the US and the EU to consider a real political, economic and cultural union. Like many he fears that the West is in cultural decline and unable to face the challenges that confront it. For Balladur, the West must undergo a revolution in thinking and come together and defend its common values in the face of unprecedented global threats.

Times Online: Russia says: "Britain behaving like colonial masters" - by Tony Halpin -

For the complete report from the Times Online click on this link

Russia says: "Britain behaving like colonial masters" - by Tony Halpin

Russia accused Britain today of behaving like an imperial master as the bitter row over the future of the British Council intensified. Sergei Lavrov, the Foreign Minister, said that Britain’s defiance of an order to close the council’s regional offices in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg smacked of “nostalgia for colonial times”. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that Russia was treating the council as a “hostage” in its conflict with Britain over President Putin’s refusal to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, the man wanted in London for the murder of the dissident former KGB officer Alexander Litvinenko.

France 24 - Saudi Arabia has 'nothing bad' against Iran says Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal

For the complete report from France24 click on this link

Saudi Arabia has 'nothing bad' against Iran says Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal

Bush, facing recession fears at home after prices surged to a record 100 dollars at the start of the year, raised the sensitive issue on the second day of a visit to OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia -- the world's largest oil producer. He said he planned to discuss with King Abdullah "the fact that oil prices are very high, which is tough on our economy. And that I would hope, as OPEC considers different production levels, that they understand that if their -- one of their biggest consumers' economy suffers -- it will mean less purchases, less oil and gas sold." OPEC is due to meet in Vienna on February 1 under pressure to calm prices after shrugging off calls to increase output at its last meeting in December. Saudi Arabia's Oil Minister Ali al-Nuaimi later announced: "We will raise production when the market justifies it, this is our policy." Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal gave a cool response to Bush's request, made in Jerusalem last week, that Arab countries "reach out" to Isreal to boost the revived Middle East peace talks. "I don't know what more outreach we can give to the Israelis," the minister told a press conference with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Faisal, speaking through an interpreter, also said Saudi Arabia had "nothing bad" against its powerful neighbour Iran. "Iran is a neighbouring country, an important country in the region. Naturally we have nothing bad against Iran." Tuesday's talks between Bush and Abdullah, which follow dinner talks on Monday, were being held at the king's ranch in Janadriyah outside Riyadh, where even the stables for his thoroughbred horses are air-conditioned.