– Every year of decade except 2008 was among 10 warmest on record – Extremes worsening, greenhouse gas emissions rising The world suffered unprecedented climate extremes in the decade to 2010, from heatwaves in Europe and droughts in Australia to floods in Pakistan, against a backdrop of global warming, a United Nations report said on Wednesday.

Three years into an unresolved euro zone crisis, Reuters polls show a marked split on the future depending on whether forecasters are based inside or outside the currency bloc. What sort of institution those who are regularly canvassed work for also appears to be a factor. In last week's Reuters poll of bond market strategists

A political crisis in Portugal threatened to overshadow a meeting of EU leaders in Berlin on Wednesday at which Chancellor Angela Merkel had hoped to rebrand herself as a defender of Europe's jobless in the run-up to a German election. Merkel, whose insistence on spending cuts in return for aid during the euro crisis has

The European Commission is seeking to cut state aid to airports that serve more than 5 million passengers a year in an effort to encourage competition. The regulator, which also plans to cut subsidies to low-cost airlines adding flights or routes, said the draft rules would ensure a level playing field for the industry, which

Ecuador has found a hidden microphone inside its London embassy, where WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is living, and will disclose on Wednesday who controls the device, its foreign minister said. Ricardo Patino said the microphone was found inside the office of the Ecuadorean ambassador to the United Kingdom, Ana Alban, at the time of a

A degree of stability has hit the market in the wake of the volatility of last week, but this may be short lived with important US unemployment data due out later in the week. There are rumours in the market that, should there be stronger than forecast unemployment data, the Federal Reserve may decide to

Greece cannot meet targets on reforming its public sector but expects to reach agreement with its foreign lenders on all other issues by Monday's Eurogroup meeting, finance ministry officials said on Wednesday. Greece's EU and IMF lenders, unhappy with the progress it has made in reforming its bloated public sector, have given Athens a three-day