The euro hit a fresh 11-year low versus the yen on Monday and was stuck near a 17-month low against the dollar after Standard & Poor's mass downgrade of euro zone countries late last week. News of the downgrade came as negotiations between Greece and private creditors on a debt swap deal broke down, raising
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Germany is optimistic about the outcome of a bond swap deal aimed at slashing Greece's towering debt pile, Germany's foreign minister said during a visit to Athens on Sunday which he said brought a message of solidarity. Pressure is mounting on Athens to complete a deal with private bondholders to cut its debt to more
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A Russian-owned cargo ship laden with ammunition evaded international sanctions and ended up in Syria, despite assurances given to the Cyprus government that it would return home or be directed to another port. Cypriot port officials had checked the vessel when it made an unscheduled stop for refuelling in rough seas late on Tuesday and
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. BY ATHANASIOS ORPHANIDES Government debt markets are about trust. Before the crisis, all eurozone governments enjoyed the benefit of their collective trustworthiness, co-operation and solidarity in the form of favourable financing conditions that contributed to the wellbeing of Europe. Investor trust in the eurozone has been badly shaken in the past two years. The
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Standard & Poor's is set to downgrade the credit ratings of several euro zone countries later on Friday, but not those of Germany and the Netherlands, a senior euro zone government source said. Another source confirmed "several" countries would be hit. French TV, citing a government source, said France's credit rating would be downgraded and
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Greece and its creditor banks, racing against the clock to reach an agreement to avert a disorderly bond default, packed up work without at deal on Friday but with more talks likely next week. Athens needs a bond swap, effectively seeing creditors voluntarily giving up a lot of their promised returns, to slash its debt
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When Italian construction group Perego was struggling back in 2008, a white knight flush with cash rode to its rescue. Unfortunately the "knight" was a powerful mafia organisation, the 'Ndrangheta, which went on to take control of the family-owned Lombardy business and tried to steer it on an expansion path, Italian justice authorities say. "Luckily
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The euro dipped on Friday and shares traded flat as an Italian bond sale failed to meet high expectations and Greece's debt swap deal hung in the balance, but markets welcomed trade figures pointing to resilience in the euro zone economy. Underpinned by a flood of three-year loans to banks from the European Central Bank,
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Enraged Chinese shoppers pelted Apple Inc's flagship Beijing store with eggs and shoving matches broke out with police on Friday when customers were told the store would not begin sales of the iPhone 4S as scheduled. Apple said later after the fracas at its store in Beijing's trendy Sanlitun district that it would halt all
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Hedge funds are positioning to profit from a plan to slash Greece's towering debt pile as Athens enters final talks that could sway the country's membership of the euro. York Capital, the $14 billion fund part-owned by Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse, New York-listed Och Ziff , and $10 billion-strong Marathon Asset Management are among
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