More than two-thirds of Cypriots have given the island's leftist president the thumbs-down in an opinion poll, putting the opposition firmly in the lead ahead of general elections in February. Most respondents believed right-wing opposition leader Nicos Anastasiades would win Cyprus' February 2013 presidential elections in a runoff against either of his opponents, according to
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Australia created the world's largest network of marine national parks on Friday, protecting an area of ocean the size of Western Europe in a move which will prevent oil and gas exploration and commercial fishing in the most sensitive areas. Environment Minister Tony Burke said the decision would protect 2.3 million square kilometers (888,035 square
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Major banks have announced some 160,000 job cuts since early last year and with more lay-offs to come as the industry restructures, many will leave the shrinking sector for good as redundancies outpace new hires by roughly two-to-one. A Reuters analysis of job cuts announced by 29 major banks showed the lay-offs were much bigger
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Uganda's parliamentary speaker said she wanted to pass as a "Christmas gift" for Ugandans an anti-gay law, which rights groups have criticized for its draconian penalties against homosexuals. The bill had initially proposed the death penalty for gays in the conservative east African country but still presents an array of jail terms for convicted homosexuals,
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South African police have arrested a 25-year-old man suspected of attempting to smuggle 220 diamonds out of the country in his digestive tract through Johannesburg's main airport. The Lebanese national bound for Dubai had swallowed $2.25 million worth of polished diamonds before he was stopped before a security checkpoint at Africa's biggest airport and then
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World equity markets fell for a seventh day on Thursday, hit by evidence that Europe's debt crisis has stalled economic growth and by persistent concern over the budget problems in the United States. Stock index futures pointed to a slight recovery on Wall Street later, though data on the jobs market, consumer price inflation and
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The head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, will cut short a visit to Asia to attend a crucial Eurogroup meeting in Brussels next week amid divisions with European leaders over how Greece can reduce its debts. "The managing director will participate in the eurogroup meeting on Nov. 20 as she usually does and
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President Demetris Christofias has made it clear that he is not raising any obstacles in efforts to reach an agreement with the Troika (European Commission, European Central Bank and IMF) on a bail out package for Cyprus. The President also said that neither the government nor the Troika have determined the real capital needs of
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Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) said on Wednesday it plans to buy tea store chain Teavana Holdings Inc (TEA.N) for $620 million, aiming to replicate the success it has had with its namesake coffee shops. Teavana has about 300 shopping mall stores that sell loose-leaf, exotic teas. In addition to opening stand-alone Teavana stores in the
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The European Commission imposed provisional duties on ceramic tableware and kitchenware imported from China on Thursday despite opposition from a majority of EU member states. Fourteen of the EU's 27 members voted against the planned measures at a meeting of trade specialists in October, a highly unusual move that left the Commission having to rethink
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