A man who took hostages in a bank robbery in Athens' port of Piraeus on Monday released some of them but still held four captive, police said. The bank robber fired shots in the air, police said, adding that no one had been injured. Negotiators were talking with him to convince him to free the
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The worst floods in decades could knock down Pakistan's economic growth for fiscal 2010/11 to between zero and 2%, Pakistani officials said on Monday, fuelling concern about the country's stability. The Asian Development Bank, assessing flood damage and Pakistan's needs along with the World Bank, said last week economic growth could be 3%. The finance
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Moody's Investors Service has downgraded Bahrain's local and foreign currency government bond ratings to A3 from A2, with a stable outlook, due to a gradual but significant rise in the breakeven oil price in the Bahraini budget over recent years. This, together with a relatively modest level of official financial assets, has led to a
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Cypriots living abroad have returned home for a five-day conference to discuss the latest developments in the Cyprus problem and be briefed on the issue by the island’s political and religious leadership. The 23rd Conference of the Executive Councils of the World Federation for Overseas Cypriots (POMAK) and of the International Coordinating Committee “Justice for
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Cyprus tennis star Marcos Baghdatis lost 2-0 set to Roger Federer, seeded second, in the semifinals of the Cincinnati Masters Tournament on Saturday and is out of the games with 360 points, which bring him closer to 16th worldwide. The next stop for Baghdatis, before the American Open, will be the New Heaven APT Tour
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European shares rose on Monday, with miners up on hopes that the election results in Australia would end plans for a new mining tax, while Old Mutual gained after HSBC said it was in talks to buy a stake in Nedbank. By 0704 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index of top shares was up 0.3%
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Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa discussed the yen and agreed to work closely in a phone conversation on Monday, but Kan did not ask the central bank to ease monetary policy further. The government's chief spokesman said the two did not touch on currency intervention either, disappointing markets
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German Bund futures opened lower on Monday as investors booked profits after last week's record highs and turned wary ahead of euro zone Purchasing Managers' Index data and Belgian debt supply this session. But Bund futures were well supported after rallying on Friday to an all-time peak for a third successive session as appetite for
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The U.S. dollar held steady on Monday, retaining most of the gains it made late last week when growing worries about the global economy prompted investors to park funds in the world's most liquid currency, while the Australian dollar slid on political uncertainty. The dollar index, a gauge of the greenback's performance against six major
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HSBC will buy up to 70% of South Africa's Nedbank, in a potential $6.8 bln deal that would give Europe's largest lender a presence in Africa's largest economy and a gateway to the fast-growing continent. HSBC and Anglo-South African insurer Old Mutual, which owns a controlling stake in Nedbank, said in separate statements on Monday
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