Greece's prime minister designate will name a new crisis cabinet on Friday to roll out painful austerity measures and calm the political turmoil that has threatened to bankrupt Athens and force it out of the euro zone. Greece's two main parties agreed to make Lucas Papademos head of a new unity government on Thursday, ending
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Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker ruled out on Thursday the possibility of expelling any country from the euro zone, saying such a move is not possible under European treaties. "I exclude the hypothesis of expelling a country from the euro zone, in fact the treaty has no instrument which allows us to do that," Juncker told
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Asia Pacific countries pressed Europe on Thursday to act more forcefully to quell its debt crisis, setting the tone for a summit overshadowed by growing alarm over the fallout from euro-zone upheaval. U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other APEC finance ministers agreed to shore up their own economies against Europe's troubles, warning in a
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With Europe mired in crisis, President Barack Obama is launching a charm offensive to hitch the U.S. economy to growth opportunities in Asia that he hopes can help power the recovery he needs for re-election. Obama will host Asian leaders including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda in Honolulu this weekend
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The euro, U.S. stocks and crude oil rose on Thursday after an Italian debt auction went better than feared and news from Europe eased concerns over a potential euro zone break-up. European shares, however, ended slightly lower. Italy moved closer to a national unity government, following Greece's lead in seeking a respected veteran European technocrat
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel rejected on Thursday the idea that her government might favour a smaller euro zone, saying her only goal since the beginning of the debt crisis has been to stabilise the bloc in its current form. Reuters reported on Wednesday that some French and German officials were thinking about proceeding with closer
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Gas exporters meeting in Qatar next week are unlikely to come up with a plan to protect against a looming euro zone led demand drop which threatens to reverse any improvement in gas sales since Japan's nuclear crisis. They face the threat that the deepening euro zone crisis could drag industrial demand down again in
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Madonna's manager Guy Oseary has said the U.S. singer was "very upset" that a demo of her new song "Give Me All Your Love" had leaked onto the Internet. The song, which hit the web on Wednesday and has been listened to by fans around the world, is expected to be the debut track from
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Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday that stabilising the euro zone in its current form was the top priority for her government. "We only have one goal, that is to bring about a stabilisation of the euro zone in its current form," Merkel told reporters at a news conference with Romania's president in Berlin.
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Former European Central Bank vice-president Lucas Papademos will head Greece's new crisis coalition, the president's office said on Thursday, and will have to scramble to save the country from default and an exit from the euro zone. Here are analysts' comments on his appointment. CHRIS WILLIAMSON, CHIEF ECONOMIST AT MARKET RESEARCH FIRM MARKIT "I can't
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