Greek business is awakening from a coma; the long-forgotten sound of drills and hammers can be heard on Athens construction sites again while customers queue calmly at banks to deposit cash rather than to withdraw it in panic. Nevertheless, the government's declaration that an economic recovery is underway seems premature, with the hard numbers signalling

– IMF says euro zone blocked early Greek debt restructuring – Euro zone says IMF did not urge such a policy at the time  – IMF, ECB stakeholders fret about damaged reputation in Troika If the Troika that handles bailouts of distressed euro zone countries were a soccer team, it would probably be looking for a

– Government says ERT a case of "incredible waste" – ERT staff protest, other stations stop shows in solidarity  – Junior coalition parties say they were not consulted Greece announced the closure of its state broadcaster out of the blue on Tuesday, one of the most drastic measures yet in its struggle to shore up

Asian shares hit fresh 2013 lows and Japanese stocks had another volatile session on Wednesday, extending a broad rout in global equities, as the lack of new steps from the Bank of Japan to quell tumult in the domestic bond market and lingering fears of a softening of U.S. stimulus unnerved investors. European stock markets

Turkish riot police fought running battles with pockets of protesters overnight, clearing the central Istanbul square that has been the focus of nearly two weeks of protests against Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan. By dawn, Taksim Square, strewn with wreckage from bulldozed barricades, was largely deserted and taxis crossed it for the first time since the

Turkish riot police fired water cannon and teargas at hundreds of protesters in Istanbul's Taksim Square on Tuesday, Reuters witnesses said, entering the square for the first time since demonstrations against plans to develop a park there turned violent. The police move came after Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan agreed to meet protest leaders, whose peaceful

French air traffic controllers walked off the job at the start of a three-day strike on Tuesday, grounding hundreds of flights across the country in a Europe-wide protest against European Union plans to liberalise civil airspace. One in two flights to airports serving Paris, Lyon, Nice, Marseille, Toulouse and Bordeaux were cancelled, France's DGAC civil

Sony Corp on Monday priced its latest PlayStation 4 console $100 lower than the new Xbox One by rival Microsoft Corp as competition for gamers' pockets intensifies ahead of the year-end holidays and gift-giving season. Sony said it would sell the latest PlayStation model for $399 late in the year shortly after Microsoft announced a