When Romania's government cut salaries by a quarter in 1931, it collapsed and the country ran through 22 different cabinets in a decade and slid into dictatorship and war. Eight decades later, another government introduced a similar austerity measure under an International Monetary Fund-led bailout. It fell and parliament threw out its successor after just
More
A majority of Germans across the political spectrum support Chancellor Angela Merkel's insistence that the euro zone stick with tough austerity measures to reduce its heavy debt load, according to a poll published on Friday. The results of the Infratest Dimap survey, published in Die Welt newspaper, will provide political cover for Merkel as she
More
* Launches flagship Galaxy SIII smartphone model * 4.8 inch screen, to launch late May, go global June * Expects to outsell group's profit leader SII * To spend more on marketing Samsung Electronics unveiled a new top-of-the-range Galaxy smartphone in London on Thursday, updating the most direct rival to Apple's iPhone with a larger
More
Facebook Inc aims to raise about $10.6 billion in Silicon Valley's largest IPO, dwarfing the coming-out parties of tech companies like Google Inc and granting the world's largest social network a market value close to Amazon.com's. The eight-year-old social network that began as Mark Zuckerberg's Harvard dorm room project indicated an initial public offering price
More
Asian shares fell for a second straight day on Friday and industrial commodities such as oil and copper were on course for weekly losses as a run of lacklustre U.S. data stoked fresh concerns that the recovery in the world's biggest economy is faltering. The dollar held steady against the euro and the yen, but
More
Two polls released on Friday showed President Nicolas Sarkozy trimming Socialist Francois Hollande's lead for France's presidential runoff vote, the latest surveys to show the incumbent gaining ground after Wednesday's televised debate. A survey by pollster BVA showed Hollande taking 52.5 percent of the vote in Sunday's final round of the presidential election, down two
More
Suicide bombers killed 12 people and wounded 110 in attacks on a police post on the outskirts of the capital of Russia's Dagestan region, local investigators and law enforcement sources said on Friday. The attacks outside Makhachkala late on Thursday were the deadliest in months, undermining efforts by Russian security forces to contain an Islamist
More
British aero enginemaker Rolls-Royce said it was on course to deliver strong growth in 2012 profit as it continues to benefit from airlines' need for more fuel-efficient planes. Rolls, the world's second-largest maker of aircraft engines behind U.S. group General Electric, said on Friday it had made a good start to the year and reiterated
More
Struggling British entertainment retailer HMV forecast a worse than expected loss for the 2011/12 year, blaming a weak new release schedule in CDs and DVDs in its final quarter. But the 91-year-old retailer also said on Friday it was confident of returning to profit in the 2012/13 year, reflecting disruption to rival computer games retailer
More
State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland said it was on the path to recovery as it reported a better-than-expected first-quarter operating profit and a big reduction in its balance sheet. RBS, which is 82% owned by the UK government after being rescued during the 2008 financial crisis, on Friday reported a first quarter operating profit of
More