World leaders aimed for a common target on Thursday of securing the economic recovery, but disagreed over how best to reach it. With two days to go before the Group of 20 summit convenes in Toronto, officials tried to downplay differences between the United States and Europe over how quickly to shift from crisis-fighting mode

Brazil meet Portugal in a mouth-watering finale to the World Cup group matches on Friday after holders Italy were knocked out in a humiliating defeat by tournament debutants Slovakia. The miserable display by Italy, four times world champions, followed the earlier shaming of 2006 losing finalists France, who like their European neighbours finished the first

A booby-trapped package exploded next to the office of the Greek minister in charge of the police force on Thursday, killing one of his aides, officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, which occured on the seventh floor of the ministry and caused serious damage to the office of Civil Protection Minister

The United States said world leaders must work to keep economic growth on track but Europe dug in its heels ahead of a G20 summit, insisting that now was the time to work on cutting costs. With the global economy tentatively emerging from its worst slump in decades, the Group of 20 nations head for

European policymakers dug in to defend budget austerity plans on Thursday ahead of a G20 summit set to pit calls for fiscal restraint against warnings that heavy cost-cutting threatens recovery. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said it was wrong to claim that budget austerity would cause stagnation while German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her

The question has puzzled leaders ranging from Henry Kissinger, said to have once asked who he should call to reach Europe, to Barack Obama. It has become all the more pertinent as the European Union tries to fill what is widely viewed as a leadership vacuum during the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis. Two leaders

The government is tackling the consequences of the global financial crisis in a balanced way, and now businessmen and wealthy people are called upon to contribute to the state's income and the promotion of social solidarity, Government Spokesman Stephanos Stephanou said on Wednesday. He added that those who react to the social solidarity measures of

The Electricity Authority of Cyprus (EAC) will decide by the end of July on its strategic partner for the terminal for liquefied natural gas, an EAC press release issued here on Wednesday said. The EAC said that negotiations with the most eligible candidates began on Monday in London. They had been selected in late May

Greece is likely to have no problems in securing a second aid tranche of a giant European Union and International Monetary Fund bailout, the country's representative at the IMF said on Wednesday. The debt-choked country agreed last month a 110 billion euro ($147.6 billion) pain-for-gain package with its euro zone partners and the IMF. It

British Prime Minister David Cameron and his deputy Nick Clegg wrote to six million public sector workers on Thursday asking for ideas on how to save money and tackle a record peacetime deficit. Chancellor George Osborne in his budget this week called for a 25 percent spending cut in all government departments except health and