Greek schools shut, hospitals worked with minimal staff and train and bus service ground to a halt on Thursday as unions held their first major strike since a new national unity government took power last month. Unions representing over half of Greece's 4 million-strong workforce called the general strike to protest new austerity measures that
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European shares slipped in early trade on Thursday, giving back a little of the strong gains in the previous session and as the market seeks further guidance from policymakers about their plans to help end the region's debt crisis. At 0806 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.3% at 978.77
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Top central banks around the world on Wednesday announced steps to prevent a credit crunch among banks in Europe that are struggling with the region's debt crisis, boosting global share prices and the euro. The U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the central banks of Canada, Britain, Japan and Switzerland said in a
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Oscar-nominee Tom Cruise has kicked off the rollout of the fourth installment of the "Mission Impossible" franchise with a limited "fan screening" in Japan ahead of its world premiere next week. Cruise, 49, returns as super agent Ethan Hunt saving the world yet again in "Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol" packed with stunts and action
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The former chief executive of disgraced Olympus Corp, Michael Woodford, launched a campaign on Thursday to oust the board of directors, reclaim his old job and bring in his own team to save the Japanese firm from a big accounting scandal. Woodford, who blew the whistle on accounting tricks at Olympus after he was sacked
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British American Tobacco became the second tobacco giant to launch legal action against Australian laws forcing tobacco products to be sold in drab, plain packaging from next year, following the lead of Philip Morris. The laws, cleared by parliament, are being watched closely by governments considering similar moves in Europe, Canada and New Zealand. They
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Cyprus unemployment rate reached 8.2% in October, compared to 7.9% in September, according to figures released on Wednesday by Eurostat. The Euro area unemployment rate recorded a historic high figure, reaching 10.3% compared to 10.2% in September. The EU27 unemployment rate was 9.8% compared to 9.7% in September. The unemployment rate for males in Cyprus
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The debt crisis in Europe is now fully systemic and will require a systemic response to resolve it, the president of European Council, which represents EU member states, said on Wednesday. "The trouble has become systemic. We are witnessing a full-blown confidence crisis," Herman Van Rompuy said in a speech to a conference of EU
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. DR. JIM LEONTIADES Cyprus International Institute of Management Countries in the Euro-zone which are in economic difficulties have been advised to follow (whether they like it or not) the German economic austerity model. This has been prescribed as a cure for the ills of the over-indebted countries of Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and now,
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. If Kikis Kazamias is having trouble getting austerity measures past the militant trade union leaders, then perhaps he should take a page out of Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s workbook, who has focused this week on two fundamental areas to stimulate the economy – credit easing, primarily for small companies, and infrastructure projects
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