Six major central banks said on Thursday they would make their web of currency swap arrangements permanent as a "prudent liquidity backstop" in case of future global financial strains. The Bank of Japan, U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the central banks of Canada and Switzerland will convert their
More
Syria has destroyed all of its declared chemical weapons production and mixing facilities, meeting a major deadline in an ambitious disarmament programme, the international chemical weapons watchdog said in a document seen by Reuters. The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said in the document its teams had inspected 21 out of 23 chemical
More
For the first time, scientists have found a planet beyond the solar system that not only is the same size as Earth, but has the same proportions of iron and rock, a key step in an ongoing quest to find potentially habitable sister worlds. The planet, known as Kepler-78b, circles a star that is slightly
More
A Troika mission (EC, ECB, IMF) continues on Thursday its second review of Cyprus’ implementation of a Memorandum of Agreement, the basis of an international bail-out, with discussions focusing on energy matters, semi-governmental organizations, closed professions, and national air carrier Cyprus Airways. A Technical Support Group appointed by the European Commission in the context of
More
A newly discovered species of humpback dolphin has been seen swimming off the northern Australia coast, an international team of scientists reported this week. All humpback dolphins have a characteristic hump just below the dorsal fin, but there are several distinct species in this family of marine mammals, the scientists found. While the Atlantic humpback
More
Facebook Inc posted strong growth in its mobile advertising business on Wednesday but rattled investors after saying that it did not plan to boost the frequency of ads shown to users. Shares of the world's No. 1 online social network soared as much as 15 percent in extended trading before suddenly falling to $47.40, down
More
The European Central Bank will provide more liquidity by the time cheap long-term loans it made in late 2011 and early 2012 expire, governing council member Ewald Nowotny told CNBC. "What is clear is there will be liquidity provision," he said in an interview aired on Thursday, declining to anticipate whether the ECB would do
More
Asian markets suffered a glancing blow on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy outlook was deemed less dovish than some had wagered on, lifting both bond yields and the dollar. The damage was mostly superficial with MSCI's index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan off just 0.6 percent. Shares in Shanghai lost 0.6 percent,
More
Reopening the ghost town of Varosha, whenever that occurs, presents a unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past and rebuild for a better future. Yet it comes with significant risks. Without careful planning, it could become just another unsustainable holiday complex in an already crowded Mediterranean tourism market, while cementing Famagusta as
More
Cyprus needs a new national banking strategy and stronger foundations to ensure further financial stability, an independent commission told the island’s president, just seven months after the sector reached the point of meltdown and sought an international bailout. President Nicos Anastasiades said he is committed to applying the suggestions of the four members of the
More