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Underwater pumping operations began Sunday to remove some of the 500,000 gallons of fuel aboard the Costa Concordia, officials said, one month after the cruise ship ran aground off Tuscany. 

German bunds fell, underperforming most of their euro-area peers, after Greek lawmakers approved spending cuts demanded by European finance chiefs, reducing investor appetite for the safest assets. Italian 10-year bonds advanced for the fifth time in six days and Portuguese yields reached an 11-week low as Greece’s vote curbed the risk of contagion to the region’s most-indebted nations. 

«C’è molto interesse per l’Italia e per il mercato italiano una volta che l’economia si consoliderà nel suo miglioramento, ma già oggi» ha dichiarato il presidente del Consiglio Mario Monti al termine della sua
visita nella sede di Bloomberg dove ha incontrato il gotha finanziario ed economico americano  fra cui anche George Soros.

In the wake of earlier cuts and budgets, the era of Monti government-inspired ministerial austerity has officially begun. The first targets are the Prime Minister’s Office and the ministry of the economy, both of which are under the premier’s direct control. Civil servants will no longer be allowed to accept gifts worth more than €150 while staff at Palazzo Chigi and the treasury ministry will have to forgo entertainment expenses.