The Bulgarian parliament rejected on Friday the first no-confidence motion against the year-old centre-right government, which was accused by the opposition of failing to overhaul the ailing health care sector. The minority cabinet of Prime Minister Boiko Borisov backed by right-wing parties survived the challenge as expected, with 144 lawmakers voting against the motion and
More
Oil fell on Friday, erasing gains for the week, as the dollar strengthened on speculation the U.S. jobs market may have emerged from a soft patch, putting into question the urgency of further monetary stimulus. U.S. crude for November fell for a second day, shedding as much as 52 cents or 0.6% to $81.15 a
More
A popular Japanese cabinet minister apologised on Friday after a photo shoot she did in Japan's parliament building for the local edition of Vogue drew fire from opposition parties. Renho, a 42-year-old former TV presenter who is state minister for administrative reform, appears in the November edition of Vogue Nippon posing near a marble staircase
More
Hollywood star Johnny Depp took "show and tell" to a new level at a London school when he turned up in full pirate regalia after a fan wrote to him seeking help stage a "mutiny," according to media reports. Beatrice Delap, 9, wrote to Captain Jack Sparrow, Depp's character in the "Pirates of the Caribbean"
More
China's key stock index climbed 3.3% on Friday morning after the week-long National Day holiday, catching up with firmer global markets and as stronger commodities prices bolstered metals and mining issues. The Shanghai Composite Index was up 3.3% by the midday break at 2,742.8 in heavy volume as the benchmark vaulted past the 2,700 level
More
World finance leaders on Friday will try to soothe simmering currency tensions which threaten to drag on an economic recovery that is already too slow and uneven for their liking. The Group of 20 finance ministers scheduled a working breakfast on the sidelines of this weekend's IMF and World Bank twice-yearly meetings. The smaller G7
More
Apple Inc plans to begin making a new iPhone by the end of the year, and Verizon Wireless will begin selling them in early 2011, The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday. AT&T is the sole U.S. carrier for the popular smartphone, and investors and consumers alike have long speculated over when Apple will expand
More
Russia plans to pay Iran about $800 million to compensate for its failure to deliver S-300 missile systems, the head of state-controlled conglomerate Russian Technologies, Sergei Chemezov, said on Thursday. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev banned the delivery of the high-precision air defence missiles to Iran last month, saying that sending them would violate sanctions adopted
More
The European Central Bank will face scrutiny on Thursday over a spike in market interest rates, its plans to tackle banks' addiction to ECB funds, and any response to a growing global battle over currencies. All 79 economists in a Reuters poll predicted the ECB would leave interest rates at a record low of 1.0
More
Greece will shrink its budget deficit in line with EU/IMF targets this year despite an expected upward revision of last year's budget gap by Eurostat, the country's prime minister said on Thursday. "Despite the new revisions by Eurostat we will meet the targets we have set for the deficit this year and it will not
More