Spain's "bad bank" will struggle to find buyers for swathes of empty land, unfinished housing projects and doubtful loans left over from a property crash, hindering Madrid's attempts to overcome the wider economic crisis. Real estate consultants predict that almost two-thirds of assets that the government's newly-created bad bank is due to take over from
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Cyprus's Finance Minister Vassos Shiarly said on Thursday he hoped international lenders would visit "very very soon" for a final round of talks on financial aid and conclude them before a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Nov. 12. Shiarly also told state radio that he believed comments attributed to German counterpart Wolfgang Schaeuble
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The Greek government on Wednesday predicted worse-than-expected recession in 2013 and downgraded a rare positive note in its budget, highlighting the toll of repeated rounds of austerity. The government more than halved its forecast for a budget surplus before debt interest payments are taken into account, dimming one of the few bright spots in a
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Euro zone finance ministers conferred on how to keep Greece afloat as negotiations between Athens and its foreign lenders neared conclusion over reforms the country must implement to receive fresh emergency loans. Greece needs to push through spending cuts and tax measures worth 13.5 billion euros ($17.5 billion) as well as a raft of economic
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Italian police have sequestered 21 money transfer bureaux as part of an investigation into a scheme to launder billions of euros from drugs and people trafficking. The tax police said on Tuesday they had sifted through 30 million money transfer operations carried out in 2010-2011 through 11 of Italy's major payment agencies, with an overall
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The best medical innovations for next year include an almond-size device that's implanted in the mouth to relieve severe headaches and a hand-held scanner resembling a blow dryer that detects skin cancer, the Cleveland Clinic said on Wednesday. The clinic's annual list of the best medical innovations for 2013 also includes new drugs to treat
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The European Union will lose Turkey if it doesn't grant it membership by 2023, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday. It was the first time Erdogan has given an indication of how long Ankara might continue down the path towards EU entry, and his comments came at a time of growing alienation between
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Walt Disney Co agreed to buy filmmaker George Lucas's Lucasfilm Ltd and its "Star Wars" franchise for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, a b lockbuster deal that includes the surprise promise of a new film in the series in 2015. The deal unites a boutique Northern California film studio that brought special effects into
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Asian shares rose as risk appetite recovered after European equities and the euro firmed overnight, and investors looked to coming U.S. and Chinese data for fresh clues on direction. Key currencies stayed in recent ranges on Wednesday, waiting for developments in Europe on efforts to solve the debt crisis and for the U.S. monthly jobs
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An overwhelming majority of Greek Socialist lawmakers have agreed to vote in favour of contested austerity reforms, party officials told Reuters on Tuesday, sharply increasing the odds of securing parliamentary approval for the measures. Near-bankrupt Greece needs to push through spending cuts and tax measures worth 13.5 bln euros ($17.52 bln) as well as a
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