Europe's debt
crisis could tip the world economy into
recession and a bigger firewall is urgently
needed to keep the damage from spreading, the
International Monetary Fund said on Tuesday.
The IMF
chopped its estimate for 2012 global growth
to 3.3 percent from 4 percent just three
months ago and warned it could drop as low
as 1.3 percent if Europe lets the crisis
fester for much longer. For 2013, it
predicted growth of 3.9 percent.
"The
epicenter of the danger is Europe but the
rest of the world is increasingly
affected," IMF chief economist Olivier
Blanchard said at a news conference.
"There is an even greater danger, namely
that the European crisis intensifies, and
in this case the world could be plunged
into another recession."
The USS Abraham Lincoln led the
group through the Strait of Hormuz
Archive Photo / U.S. Navy
Britain,
America and France delivered a
pointed signal to Iran, sending
six warships led by a 100,000
ton aircraft carrier through the
highly sensitive waters of the
Strait of Hormuz. This
deployment defied explicit
Iranian threats to close the
waterway.
Ashton and Netanyahu in
2011
Photo / Israeli GPO, Getty
EU foreign
policy chief Catherine
Ashton is set to
arrive in Israel on
Tuesday for talks,
just a day after the
EU decided to ratchet
up sanctions against
Iran, and a day before
Israeli and
Palestinian officials
are expected to meet
for a fifth time in
Amman.
The Amman
talks are expected
to go a long way
toward determining
whether this
particular channel
of direct
negotiations will
continue. The
Palestinians have
said that Jan. 26
is the deadline by
which Israel –
according to the
Quartet framework
– must present its
comprehensive
proposals on
border and
security issues