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A plainclothes policeman catches a woman during a police crackdown on prostitution in Quanzhou, Fujian province, October 29, 2011. China should remove criminal and administrative penalties against sex workers which often lead to serious police abuses, Human Rights Watch said in a report released on May 14, 2013. The abuses include torture, beatings, physical assaults, fines and arbitrary detentions of up to two years, as well as a failure to investigate crimes against sex workers by clients, bosses and state agents, according to the report. Prostitution is not permitted under Chinese law, although the industry has boomed since the country launched economic reforms in 1978. REUTERS/Stringer

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German finance minister says confident Italy will form effective government

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German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble presents a report on proposed benchmark figures for the 2014 federal budget during a news conference in Berlin March 13, 2013. REUTERS/Thomas Peter

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble presents a report on proposed benchmark figures for the 2014 federal budget during a news conference in Berlin March 13, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Thomas Peter

BERLIN | Thu Mar 14, 2013 10:09am EDT

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Thursday he was "very confident" Italy could form an effective government after a national election last month left no party with a parliamentary majority.

"I don't like the Italians being criticized for how they vote," he said at a Bloomberg event in Berlin, referring to criticism expressed by the German opposition Social Democrats' candidate for chancellor, Peer Steinbrueck.

An election last month left Italy in limbo with no political force holding enough seats to form a government, threatening prolonged instability and a renewal of the euro zone's financial crisis.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh, writing by Michelle Martin, editing by Gareth Jones)
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