President Barack Obama tested his typing skills on Wednesday in an online chat with young people that covered the White House beer recipe, money in politics, and the war in Afghanistan. Obama has been courting students' votes on a two-day tour of colleges in the battleground states of Iowa, Colorado and Virginia, and his campaign
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Italy is expected to sell all it wants of a new 10-year bond at auction on Thursday, clearing the last hurdle of a busy refinancing week, as investors bet that a European Central Bank bond-buying plan will stabilise weaker euro zone members. The bond sale will be the first for Italian longer-term bonds after the
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France's Socialist government made a public show of unity with Germany on Wednesday with pledges to cooperate closely with Berlin on Europe, seeking to dampen talk that Paris was siding with southern European nations against austerity. Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Paris was determined to press ahead with Berlin on stronger economic governance in Europe
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* H1 hit by 114 mln losses in Greece * Bank of Cyprus chairman Theodoros Aristodemou announced on Wednesday he had resigned for health reasons. He is expected to be replaced by veteran banker Evdokimos Xenophontos. This follows the departure in summer of CEO Andreas Eliades, as losses in Greece have compounded the bank’s troubles,
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Miscommunication between a Spanish airline pilot and Dutch ground control caused a hijack scare on Wednesday that led the Netherlands to send F-16 fighters to intercept a plane. "There was never any danger. There was a lack of communication between the pilot and the tower and the airport has activated the security protocol," a spokeswoman
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Michael Schumacher is back in his Belgian 'living room' this weekend, ready to celebrate a 300th career grand prix at a Spa-Francorchamps circuit that has already given him so many great memories to treasure. Only one other driver, Schumacher's former Ferrari team mate Rubens Barrichello, has reached such a milestone in Formula One and the
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French industrialist Martin Bouygues has put his luxury yacht up for sale for 67.5 mln euros ($85 mln), slightly more than he paid two years ago, according to the website of business magazine Challenges. The 62.5-metre "Baton Rouge" was built by the Netherlands-based Icon Yachts and employs a crew of 16, according to Challenges. Fitted
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Investors have put their faith in the European Central Bank's ability to get on top of the euro zone debt crisis and even if detailed plans take longer to materialise than expected, the momentum in financial markets may prevent an immediate meltdown. After Spanish borrowing costs spiked in late July, pushing the country towards a
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A passenger plane flying from Malaga to Amsterdam which may have been hijacked landed at Schiphol airport on Wednesday afternoon, a spokesman for the Dutch military police told Reuters. All passengers were still on board and the plane has been surrounded by security forces, he added. A spokesperson for Spain's Vueling airline said the reports
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Greek political leaders have not yet found agreement on a package of austerity cuts for the next two years, a junior partner in Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's coalition said after the leaders huddled together on Wednesday to discuss the plan. Fotis Kouvelis, leader of the Democratic Left party, said he rejected plans for across-the-board cuts
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