Actress Elizabeth Taylor's renowned collection of jewellery, works of art, fashion and memorabilia will be sold in a series of auctions starting in December, Christie's said on Wednesday. Taylor, one of the last great stars from Hollywood's heyday who was known as much for her beauty, love of diamonds, eight marriages and work as an
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. By Shavasb Bohdjalian The euro struggled near a record low against the Swiss franc and was stuck in tight ranges against the dollar, ahead of this week's decision by the Greek parliament on whether to back austerity reforms demanded by international lenders. Reports that as many as four PASOK deputies are considering not voting
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European shares pared gains on Wednesday as investors took profits after Greece's parliament passed the first of two key bills needed to secure the next tranche of bailout funds and avoid a near-term default. A second vote is due on Thursday on specific budget and privatisation measures and failure to pass the bill would stop
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* Stocks up, euro firm on vote, progress in bank talks * * Ratings agencies said to accept French rollover plan * Greece's parliament approved deeply unpopular austerity measures despite worsening violence on Wednesday, in a vote vital towards securing international funds and preventing the euro zone's first sovereign default. MPs approved a five-year package
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U.S. stocks opened higher on Wednesday after Greece's parliament passed an unpopular austerity plan critical to avoiding a debt default. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 39.47 points, or 0.32%, at 12,228.16. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 6.15 points, or 0.47%, at 1,302.82. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 5.85 points,
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Russia cut electricity supplies to Belarus on Wednesday over $43 mln in unpaid debts, upping pressure on President Alexander Lukashenko who is grappling with one of the worst economic crises of his 17-year rule. Russia's troubled western neighbour, struggling with a balance of payments crisis that has forced it to devalue its currency, ran up
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Hundreds of thousands of British teachers and civil servants will strike over pension reform on Thursday in the most serious challenge to the coalition government's austerity drive. Thousands of schools will close as teachers skip class and travellers face delays at ports and airports as immigration officials join the protest. Protests are becoming increasingly common
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Protesters using ladders broke into the first floor of an office building on Syntagma Square on Wednesday and attempted to set it on fire, witnesses reported. Some 30 protesters entered the building, which houses a branch of Greece's second largest lender Eurobank on the ground floor. They were driven out by riot police who were
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Syrian troops shot dead four villagers on Wednesday, an activist said, as authorities pressed on with a tank-led assault that has already driven thousands of refugees across the northwest border with Turkey. "The four died in random firing on the village of Rama from tank machineguns, which has become customary in these unjustified assaults. The
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Bank of America Corp settled nearly all of the claims related to the legacy Countrywide-issued first-lien residential mortgage-backed securitization (RMBS) repurchase exposure for $8.5 billion in cash The largest U.S. bank by assets said it intends to record an additional $5.5 billion provision to its representations and warranties liability for both Government-Sponsored Enterprises (GSE) and
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