Greek public sector workers walked off the job on Wednesday in protest at new austerity measures and planned layoffs, disrupting local transport, grounding flights and shutting schools and tax offices. The 24-hour strike is the latest in a series of protests since September against a package of wage cuts and tax hikes demanded by Greece's
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President Francois Hollande must review France's pension system during his current 5-year mandate as a previous reform that drew mass street protests did not go far enough, Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici said on Wednesday. Asked if France needed a new pension reform by 2017, he told RTL radio: "It seems to me that we will
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World shares hit 17-month highs and the euro surged on Wednesday on hopes that U.S. politicians will reach a budget deal and that further monetary stimulus will come from Japan. European shares extended their recent rally in early trading with the FTSEurofirst 300 index near an 18-month high ahead of the German Ifo survey, which
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Hong Kong shares touched a 17-month high on Wednesday, buoyed by renewed hopes of a deal in the U.S. on spending cuts and tax hikes, but looming chart resistance could limit a market rally into the year's end. Weakness in property stocks, standout outperformers this year, dragged mainland markets into the red. A fourth monthly
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Swiss bank UBS was hit with a $1.5 bln fine on Wednesday, admitting to fraud, paying bribes to brokers and "pervasive" manipulation of global benchmark interest rates by dozens of staff in a deal with international authorities. The penalty agreed withju U.S., UK and Swiss regulators is more than three times the $450 million fine
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Scottish soccer club Rangers raised around 22.2 million pounds ($36.1 million) on its return to the stock market on Wednesday, funds which the club hopes will help to support a recovery after being demoted to the fourth tier in Scotland. Rangers, Scottish champions a record 54 times and one of the biggest names in British
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Budget carrier Pegasus Airlines turned its back on Boeing and placed its first order for 75 A320neo Airbus jetliners on Tuesday in a $7.5 bln deal hailed as Turkey's largest single plane order. Pegasus operates aircraft built by Airbus's arch-rival Boeing. It switched allegiance after what industry sources described as a bitterly fought price contest
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At the center of the rebel base where Luke Skywalker took off to destroy the Death Star and save his people from the clutches of Darth Vader, Guatemala is preparing for another momentous event: the end of an age for the Maya. Deep inside the Guatemalan rainforest stand the ruins of the Maya temples that
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The Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses III, whose death has puzzled historians for centuries, had his throat slit in a succession plot concocted by his wife and son, a new analysis suggests. New CT scans have revealed a deep and wide cut that was hidden by the bandages covering the throat of the mummified king, which could
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Barcelona secured the futures of leading players Lionel Messi, Xavi and Carles Puyol with renewed contracts on Tuesday. World Player of the Year Messi's deal has been extended by two years to June 30, 2018, which ties him until he is 31, the La Liga leaders said in a statement. The 34-year-old Puyol, the club's
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