Four people were killed and one was seriously injured in an explosion at an oil refinery in southwest Wales, the plant's owner Chevron Corp said on Friday. The blast occurred at the 220,000 barrel per day Pembroke refinery on Thursday. Chevron did not provide any details on the operational status of the refinery. Police said
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Firefighters battled a blaze raging through an arms depot on Friday, forcing a halt to oil pipeline flows from Russia's largest crude producer and causing 28,000 residents to be moved out of the area. The fire, the second at a munitions store in less than a week, injured at least 28 people, an Emergencies Ministry
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China must master cyber-warfare as the Internet emerges as a crucial battleground for opinion and intelligence, two military officers said on Friday, two days after Google revealed hacking attacks it said came from China. The researchers from the People's Liberation Army's Academy of Military Sciences did not mention Google's statement that hackers apparently based in
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* National Bank of Greece , EFG Eurobank , Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank downgraded * Ratings agency Moody's Investors Service cut the ratings of eight Greek banks on Friday following a downgrade of the country's sovereign rating further into junk territory earlier in the week. Moody's cut Greece's sovereign rating by three notches to Caa1
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A leftist group on Friday blockaded the Greek Finance Ministry, the scene of negotiations on the nation's latest financial rescue, hanging a huge banner covering five storeys of the building in central Athens. "Organise and fight for an overthrow — General Strike", read a banner draped by activists from the Communist-affiliated PAME, which advocates non-violent
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Senior euro zone officials have agreed in principle on a new international bailout of Greece that will give it more time to try to resolve its debt crisis, a source close to the talks said on Thursday. The Economic and Financial Committee of deputy ministers and senior officials of the 17-nation currency zone approved the
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Yiannakis Omirou, president of the socialist EDEK party, was elected president of the 56-seat House of Representatives on Thursday with the 28 votes of the main opposition Democratic Rally, his own EDEK, two from the European Party Evroko and Zacharias Koulias, MP for the coalition partner Democratic Party (DIKO). The outgoing president of the House,
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Greece agreed with its EU and IMF lenders to impose yet deeper austerity, a senior official said on Thursday, as unease grew in the ruling party that the government will try to speed the package through parliament undebated. Athens has signed up to 6.4 bln euros in new measures to cut its 2011 budget deficit
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The 17-nation euro zone should consider establishing a central finance ministry as it tightens coordination of national economic policies to fight crises, the head of the bloc's central bank said on Thursday. Jean-Claude Trichet, who was accepting the Charlemagne Prize, awarded for contributions to European unity, said the ministry might be created after a long
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Greece's largest toyseller Jumbo, that operates three stores in Cyprus, raised its full-year sales outlook, despite the country's recession, after sales in the eleven months to May were flat. The company said on Thursday it expects marginally positive revenue growth in the year ending June, having previously forecast a decline by as much as 1 percent.
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