Italy represents a clear and present danger to the euro zone, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday. "What is happening in Italy is a warning to any country, any government, without a credible plan to deal with excessive debts and excessive deficits that you need a plan and you need to stick to
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– Euro zone growth seen at 0.5 pct in 2012 – Greek debt/GDP ratio seen at 198.3 pct in 2012 – Belgian debt/GDP seen rising above 100 pct in 2013 Euro zone economic growth will slow sharply next year as weak confidence undermines investment and consumption and tighter fiscal policies reduce domestic demand, the European
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The German government is not pursuing the idea of a smaller euro zone and its policies are focused on stabilising the currency bloc as a whole, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Thursday. The emailed statement from spokesman Steffen Seibert came in response to a Reuters story that said some German and French officials had
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Pheidias Pilides is the new chairman of the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KEVE), succeeding Manthos Mavromatis. Mavrommatis has completed two terms as chairman and cannot seek re-election to the post, according to KEVE charter. The new chairman was elected yesterday, at KEVE AGM. Pilides received 53 votes and his opponent Tony Antoniou received
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– Meta-analysis of 167 previous studies finds benefits and risks – Review fuels debate over whether eating less salt is healthy – Reducing salt cuts blood pressure, but does it save lives? Reducing salt in the diets of the general population may not have an overall positive health impact, according to a review of more
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– Best result since before 2008 financial crisis – "Blew every expectation away" – Sotheby's auctioneer – High prices for Still, Richter, Mitchell, Noland works The art auctions ended with a flourish on Wednesday as Sotheby's sold $316 million of contemporary and postwar art, the best result of two weeks of sales and led
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The head of the International Monetary Fund called on Thursday for political clarity in efforts to tackle the debt crisis that has gripped Italy, saying uncertainty around who would succeed Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was fuelling market volatility. Christine Lagarde was speaking during a visit to China, as Rome politicians were scrambling to find a
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Asian stocks fell around 3% on Thursday after soaring Italian borrowing costs stoked fears that the debt crisis in the euro zone's third biggest economy will overwhelm its financial defences, raising the risk of a break-up of the currency area. The euro was steady, after suffering its biggest daily drop in 15 months on Wednesday,
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A deal on forming a Greek national unity government collapsed as the country headed towards an economic abyss and revived early on Thursday the chances of former European Central Bank vice president Lucas Papademos heading the coalition. Prime Minister George Papandreou said he was handing over to a coalition that does not exist and then
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The U.S. military has handed over to the Iraqi government its 2nd largest Iraq base, a joint army and air force complex that housed some 36,000 American troops and contractors at the peak of the war, U.S. officials said. Joint Base Balad was returned to Iraqi control on Tuesday with the departure of the last
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