President of the Republic Demetris Christofias appears on Monday before a Commission of Inquiry, set up by the Cabinet, to look into the circumstances that have led to a massive explosion at a naval base, which killed 13 people and injured dozens. This is the fifth day of the Commission’s public hearings concerning the deadly
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Italy's chaotic efforts to pass a new austerity plan already included disputed figures, policy U-turns and cabinet rows even before Silvio Berlusconi's latest brush with scandal added prostitutes and wiretaps to the mix. European partners have looked on increasingly aghast as the 74 year-old premier's stumbling centre-right government has squabbled over a promised series of
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Libyan forces failed to convince Muammar Gaddafi loyalists on Sunday to give up one of their last strongholds without a fight, raising the prospect of an assault on the town of Bani Walid. Outside the desert town, a National Transitional Council (NTC) negotiator said talks with tribal leaders were over. "As chief negotiator, I have
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Ukraine will appeal to the International Court if Russia does not offer a better deal on natural gas deliveries, and is not planning to merge its oil and gas firm Naftogaz with Russia's Gazprom, Ukraine's President said on Saturday. "We have faced a situation when Ukraine is loosing big money (on Russian gas)… If Russia
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Asian stocks fell and the euro slipped to a three-week low against the dollar on Monday as fears of renewed recession in the United States and sustained worries about the euro zone debt crisis prompted investors to sell riskier assets. European stocks were expected to drop too, with financial bookmakers calling the major indexes down
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Europe faces a string of political and legal tests this week that could hurt efforts to resolve its sovereign debt crisis and increase pressure for governments to try more radical solutions. A court ruling may reduce the freedom of the German government, the biggest contributor to the euro zone's bailout fund, to finance rescues of
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Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on Saturday ruled out snap elections and said his government would succeed in bringing Greece out of the crisis by the end of his term in 2013. Thousands of demonstrators returned to the central Athens for the first time after the summer to protest against unpopular austerity measures in exchange
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A downgrade of France's top-notch triple-A credit rating would cost the country 5 bln euros ($7.1 bln) per year, French Budget Minister Valerie Pecresse said on Saturday. Three major credit rating agencies have reiterated their top marks for Frence's government debt in the wake of speculation that the country could be next on the list
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Russia has invited members of Libya's interim government to Moscow to discuss the future of Russian energy contracts in the country stricken by six-months of civil war, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday. "We will discuss all of this," Lavrov told reporters after being asked about the fate of Russian oil contracts agreed with
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Greece may sell its stake in the country's biggest refiner, Hellenic Petroleum , earlier than originally planned, the country's environment minister said on Saturday. Greece has pledged to sell state assets in exchange for an 110 billion euro IMF/EU bailout. The debt-choked country aims at revenues of 50 billion euros from privatisations by 2015 and
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