Turkey will support petrol sales by Turkish companies to Iran, Energy Minister Taner Yildiz told Reuters on Wednesday, despite U.S. sanctions that aim to squeeze the Islamic Republic's fuel imports. The pledge came ahead of an expected resumption of talks next month between world powers and Tehran on the Iranian nuclear programme, which Washington suspects

The German government said on Wednesday it will scrutinise Google's promise to respect privacy requests by letting people opt out of its "Street View" mapping system and that it would be ready to intervene if necessary. In a country wary of surveillance due to the Nazis' Gestapo and East Germany's Stasi secret police, the response

Seven countries that emerged from old Yugoslavia plan a joint lotto game, the first common project among nations that were embroiled in war in the 1990s, a Bosnian lottery official said on Wednesday. The idea dates back nearly a decade but serious talks began only last year. Lingering tension between the former Yugoslav republics or

Global stocks plunged while U.S. government debt yields fell to record lows on Wednesday as disappointing Chinese economic data added to a gloomy outlook voiced on Tuesday by the U.S. Federal Reserve. The dollar, viewed as a safe-haven currency, gained against a basket of major currencies as investors pared their exposure to risky assets. However,

The Bank of England left the door open on Wednesday for more monetary easing, cutting its forecast for UK economic growth and predicting that inflation would fall well below its 2% target in two years. A day after the Federal Reserve downgraded its outlook for the United States, the BoE's quarterly Inflation Report — the

India may temporarily shut down BlackBerry services if New Delhi's concerns about security are not addressed in a meeting between the government and mobile phone operators on Thursday, government sources said. The latest ultimatum for Blackberry maker Research In Motion comes a day after the Canadian company agreed to hand over user codes that would

British display screen maker Plastic Logic has scrapped the launch of its long-awaited e-reader QUE, which had been seen as a potential challenger to the hugely popular Kindle from Amazon. The firm said it had decided to focus on developing a new, second-generation e-reader instead of the QUE after accepting that the market for electronic

Turkey has delayed implementation of fiscal reforms and may loosen their parameters, its industry minister said, potentially putting at risk medium-term goals for cutting its budget deficit and public debt. Targets for economic growth of 5% of GDP and a 1% budget deficit within 10 years were liable to change, Nihat Ergun was reported as

Britain's top shares fell early on Wednesday, with banks and commodity-linked stocks leading a broad-based retreat after measures by the U.S. Federal Reserve to bolster its economy failed to provide much reassurance. By 0745 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was down 63.23 points, or 1.2% at 5,313.18, having shed 0.6% to 5,376.41 on Tuesday. London's