Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Friday lashed out at European Union laws aimed at liberalising the continent's energy market, saying they hinder investment and amount to uncivilised "robbery". Putin, speaking to an investor forum before talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, said the EU should consult Russia when drafting such important legislation. "Our companies,
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Two Egyptian opposition pages on the social network Facebook have been deleted from the Internet ahead of Egypt's parliamentary election on Sunday, web activists who run the pages said on Friday. The activists said they suspected the Egyptian government had a role in the pages' disappearance but offered no direct evidence. Egyptian interior and information
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Portugal denied on Friday a news report that it is under pressure from most euro zone countries and the European Central Bank to seek a bailout. "This news article is completely false, it has no foundation," said a government spokesman. Lisbon is preparing to pass an austere 2011 budget that it hopes can deliver tough
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North Korea said on Friday that impending military exercises by the South and the United States are pushing the region towards war, days after it launched its heaviest bombardment since the 1950-53 Korean War. South Korean media said President Lee Myung-bak would appoint a career military man as new defence minister after the current minister
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India will widen its probe into a multi-million dollar bribery scandal in the banking sector that has tarnished the image of Asia's third-largest economy, with a newspaper reporting on Friday more banks and financial institutions would be investigated. The scandal is putting to the test the ability of one of the world's fastest growing emerging
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Long known as feminine and demure, Indonesia's traditional kebaya is headed for a makeover at the hands of innovative designers. Growing demand for stylish yet still modest fashions in the world's most populous Islamic nation is helping power efforts to bring Islamic fashion into the modern age, a movement symbolised by changes to the iconic
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Australians enjoying the summer sunshine can now know when it's time to cover up and avoid potentially cancer-causing ultraviolet rays thanks to a new iPhone application. Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, with more than 1,850 people dying of it each year — more than the number killed
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Euro zone nations and its central bank are urging Portugal to apply for a financial bailout from a European rescue fund, Financial Times Deutschland reported on Friday. Without revealing its sources, the paper said a majority of euro zone countries and the European Central Bank were putting pressure on Portugal to follow Ireland and Greece
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Cyprus's Marfin Popular Bank's nine-month net profit tumbled by more than a third, it said on Thursday, as weak fixed-income markets and higher loan losses offset a rise in net interest. The bank, headquartered in Cyprus, said net profit for the first nine months fell by 36.8% to 90.9 mln euros from 143.9 mln a
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The Irish bailout has triggered a legal clause allowing the underwriters of Piraeus Bank's cash call to walk away, but the Greek bank said the deal was on track. The documents for the 800 mln euro rights issue include an exit trigger allowing banks to cancel their commitment to underwrite the cash call in case
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