For a few hedge funds, Greek debt is turning into one of the trades of the year. News that Athens – backed by euro zone ministers and the International Monetary Fund – will buy back some its own debt from private investors sets a floor under the price of its bonds, handing many who picked

Within minutes of euro zone finance ministers reaching a deal to cut Greece's debt late on Monday, commentators on Twitter were dismissing it as another exercise in "kicking the can down the road". To an extent that is true. Under the agreement, the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund will give Greece two more

The Greek government and financial markets were cheered on Tuesday by an agreement between euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund to reduce Greece's debt, paving the way for the release of urgently needed aid loans. The deal, clinched at the third attempt after weeks of wrangling, removes the biggest risk of a

Portugal's parliament gave final approval on Tuesday to a 2013 budget which promises a third year of recession and the biggest tax hikes in modern history to ensure international bailout terms are met. Lawmakers from the ruling Social Democrats and their junior coalition partners from the rightist CDS voted for the bill, ensuring passage thanks

German lawmakers are likely to approve the release of Greek aid immediately despite suspicions that talks on a debt write-down have just been delayed until after Germany's 2013 elections. Chancellor Angela Merkel's centre-right coalition and the opposition Social Democrats (SPD) said on Tuesday that the Greek deal agreed overnight would be put to the vote

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange accused "hard-right" U.S. politicians on Tuesday of pressing European credit card firms to block more than $50 million of donations to the website that published thousands of secret U.S. diplomatic cables. Assange, speaking to reporters at the Ecuadorean embassy in London where he took refuge in June to avoid extradition to

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras welcomed a debt deal agreed by lenders to unlock aid, promising sceptical Greeks a new dawn after months of haggling under the threat of bankruptcy. Worn down by political squabbling and repeated austerity cuts, many Greeks reacted to the deal with disdain while the Syriza opposition party called it a "half-baked

Russia has no plans to switch euro-denominated foreign exchange reserves into other currencies as Moscow believes the euro zone situation will improve, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday. Russia's central bank has the world's fourth-largest currency reserves, and as of January this year 42 percent were held in euros and 45 percent in U.S.

European shares edged higher on Tuesday after an agreement by international lenders to cut Greece's debt gave some short-term support to investor sentiment. Some traders had their doubts about details of the plan, though, among them Greece's ability to meet deficit-reduction targets. Concern persisted over the lack of comprehensive measures to tackle the euro zone