Japan pledged on Tuesday to buy euro zone bonds this month in a show of support for Europe's struggle with a seething debt crisis as Portugal wrestled to fend off market and peer pressure to seek a bailout. Portuguese Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said his country was doing everything it could to avoid
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The euro languished near a four-month low on Tuesday after a brief rally triggered by a Japanese plan to buy euro bonds, while Asian stocks drifted, fearful of Portugal becoming the next casualty of the euro zone's debt crisis. All eyes were on whether Lisbon would be able to raise funds in the debt market
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Archeologists have unearthed the oldest wine-making facility ever found, using biochemical techniques to identify a dry red vintage made about 6,000 years ago in what is now southern Armenia. The excavation paints a picture of a complex society where mourners tasted a special vintage made at a caveside cemetery, the researchers reported on Tuesday in
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China has arrested more than 4,000 people for violating intellectual property rights (IPR) since November and will enforce tougher punishments to combat the "rampant" problem, a senior government official said on Tuesday. Gao Feng, deputy director of the Ministry of Public Security's Economic Crimes Investigation Bureau, told a news conference that his agency had uncovered
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An Iranian human rights lawyer who has worked with Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi, has been jailed for 11 years for actions deemed "detrimental to national security," the activist's lawyer said on Monday. Nasrin Sotoudeh, who has worked to defend people accused of political crimes, was arrested in September and charged with undermining national
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China overshot its bank loan target in 2010 and finished the year with money growth still running too fast, underscoring the need for more decisive policy tightening to keep inflation in check. At the same time, a record $199 bln surge in foreign exchange reserves in the fourth quarter pushed China's stockpile, already the world's
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If there was any doubt that the global economy remains tightly intertwined, rising commodity prices should put it to rest. Both the U.S. unemployment rate and the amount of idle factory space are abnormally high, stark evidence that the economy is still well below its full potential. But price pressures are building in commodities despite
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel is paying a short visit to Cyprus on Tuesday, during which she will meet President of the Republic Demetris Christofias and the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Cyprus, Lisa Buttenheim. Merkel is expected to arrive at the Presidential Palace at 12.50 pm for a private meeting with President
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. * Seeks to claim some Republican turf, irks liberal base * Call for civil discourse could resonate after shooting ANALYSIS-By Matt Spetalnick, Reuters President Barack Obama's midterm shift to the centre is gaining momentum as he tries to strike a more business-friendly, deficit-conscious tone and steal some of the Republicans' thunder to boost his
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The average yield in a sale of 26-week Cyprus treasury bills jumped 50 basis points to 2.52% on Monday from the previous auction on December 15, with demand low, finance ministry data showed. The Ministry of Finance said it sold 116 mln euros worth of government paper, with yields ranging from 2.30 to 2.55%. The
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