Apple Inc wants to go to trial to defend itself against U.S. government allegations that it conspired with publishers to raise prices of electronic books, a lawyer for the Silicon Valley giant said in court on Wednesday. Two publishers took a similar stance in the first hearing in Manhattan federal court since the anti-trust
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The Popular Bank, the second biggest lender in Cyprus that needs to find more than a billion euros in fresh capital by June, wants to be considered eligible for cash that will be disbursed to Greek banks under that country's bailout programme, a senior source in the bank said on Wednesday. "We think there is
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Bolivia could strike 15 vessels linked to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines off its shipping register just weeks after IRISL found Bolivian replacements for their Maltese and Cypriot flags. IRISL, its many subsidiaries and their dozens of ships have drawn sanctions from the United States, United Nations and the European Union for their
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Asian shares and the euro traded in tight ranges on Thursday ahead of a Spanish bond sale seen as a key test of investors' risk appetite amid renewed concerns over the euro zone's debt crisis. European shares were also expecting a mixed start, with financial spreadbetters predicting that major European markets would open between down
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Hong Kong shares edged up to a three-week high on Thursday as a rally in China Life and other insurers on the back of stabilising premium incomes helped the benchmark stock index outperform its Asian peers. But gains were limited in thin trading volume as market participants cautiously eyed further developments in Europe, with a
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Sweden's central bank quashed expectations for early rate cuts on Wednesday, keeping interest rates unchanged and saying they were likely to remain that way for more than a year. It saw a glimmer of hope for economic growth that has taken hits from the debt crisis in the neighbouring euro zone. The central bank, the
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The European Commission said on Wednesday it expects Spain to take quick action to implement its stability law, with regional finances crucial to the country's fiscal strategy. "We also expect prompt implementation of the stability law that was recently approved by all the regions in Spain, and the regional dimension of public finances in Spain
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The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on Wednesday reported record profits and investments in the first quarter of 2012 and said it planned to create a 1 billion-euro fund to invest in North Africa and Jordan. The EBRD, set up by governments in 1991 to support the ex-Communist states of eastern Europe, is
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Greece's two major parties, which are backing the country's EU/IMF bailout, would win a narrow parliamentary majority if elections were held today, a poll showed on Wednesday, less than three weeks before a May 6 general election. The conservative New Democracy party and the Socialist PASOK party, would win between them 158 of the country's
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Germany aims to achieve a structurally balanced budget from 2014 and reduce its public debt to 73% of gross domestic product in 2016 from 82% this year, a government paper obtained by Reuters showed on Wednesday. "The cabinet agreed today the actualization of the German stability program … which will now be presented to the
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