Bulgaria plans to spend up to 2 bln levs ($1.5 bln) on buying and maintaining military equipment by 2020, Defence Minister Anyo Angelov said on Thursday. Bulgaria — a NATO and European Union member — envisages buying fighter aircraft so it can secure its airspace within the alliance's integrated system for anti-missile defence. The ministry,

Citigroup said it had done nothing wrong after Greece launched a probe into market rumours about an imminent restructuring of the country's sovereign debt that had hit Greek bank stocks. Greek banks dropped 4.6% on Wednesday, with traders citing an email that said the country could restructure its debt as soon as this weekend, showing

Moody's Investors Service said it views the development of mortgage lending business in Russia as generally credit positive for the banks involved. “This lending provides the banks with a granular source of income, which is also stable, albeit low-yielding, and recurring," explained Olga Ulyanova, author of the report. "In addition, the credit quality of Russian

Royal bride-to-be Kate Middleton has visited the grave of Princess Diana, mother of her future husband Prince William, ahead of their wedding next week, Britain's Daily Mirror newspaper reported on Thursday. William took Kate to the resting place of Diana at the Althorp Estate, home of her family in central England, and laid flowers there,

The U.S. dollar slid to a three-year low against a basket of major currencies on Thursday, a move which could see it test record lows, while Asian stocks jumped as investors scrambled for higher-yielding assets, particularly in emerging markets. European stocks looked set to rise for the third straight session, following Asia higher, while S&P

Cyprus Tourism Organization has described as very important and a great honour the fact that Cyprus’ beaches have ranked among the best beaches on the “Trip Advisor” website. A CTO press release said that Ayia Napa’s beaches rank first and Protara’s beaches third among the beaches of whole Europe. During 2010, 54 beaches of Cyprus

Any form of Greek restructuring of its debt mountain would harm the country and could trigger contagion throughout the euro zone, ECB Governing Council member Athanasios Orphanides said in an interview. Orphanides also said mounting speculation in financial markets that Greece will have to renegotiate the terms of its public debt was damaging the euro

Those angling to dig their forks into a cake from Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding can order their own piece from a tiny bakery in Germany before it hits the royal plates on April 29th. Bakery Konditorei Viktoria in the southwestern town of Eberbach is working around the clock on their signature cake for