Andreas Moleskis, Head of the Secretariat of the Cypriot EU Presidency, resigned on Wednesday over allegations of nepotism for a job appointment in Brussels. Moleskis was criticised by Auditor General Chrystalla Yiorkadji during a parliamentary watchdog committee hearing on Tuesday after the newspaper Politis suggested that the recruitment process had been rigged. It also alleged

The ghost of Lehman Brothers stalks European financial markets as central bankers warn a Greek debt default could trigger even worse turmoil than the collapse of the U.S. investment bank. But there are reasons to think the damage could be contained more easily. Investors are better prepared than they were for Lehman's bankruptcy in September

The Greek government will approve its new austerity package on Wednesday after it survived a confidence vote, clearing the first hurdle in a battle to secure emergency loans and avert the euro zone's first sovereign debt default. Prime Minister George Papandreou's reshuffled cabinet aims to get parliament approval for a package of spending cuts, tax

A passenger jet slammed into the ground and caught fire while trying to land on a foggy night in northwestern Russia, killing 44 people and leaving eight survivors badly hurt, officials said on Tuesday. Authorities quickly blamed the pilot for the deadliest crash in Russia since Polish President Lech Kaczyski's plane went down in April

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday she was optimistic the European Union would manage to resolve the Greek sovereign debt crisis but said Athens must press ahead with more austerity measures. Speaking in Warsaw hours before Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's cabinet faces a confidence vote in parliament, Merkel also reaffirmed Berlin's view that

Europe delays decision on Greece, presses Athens to act Expect to disburse money by mid-July, averting default Power workers strike; parliament debates austerity Euro zone finance ministers kept up intense pressure on Greece on Monday, saying it had to approve tougher austerity measures before a final decision is made on a further 12 bln euros

The European Central Bank like commercial lenders faces the risk of writing down the value of some of its assets due to the debt crisis gripping Greece and other euro zone members, Finland's finance ministry said on Monday. In a quarterly report on the prospects for Finland's economy, the ministry also said the financial crisis

Euro zone labour costs jumped in the first three months of 2011, driven mainly by higher costs in industry, European Union's statistics office data showed on Monday. Eurostat said total hourly labour costs in the 17 countries using the euro rose 2.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, up from 1.5% in the last three months