British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will hold talks on the economy with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin next Wednesday, after signs of tension emerged between the two EU heavyweights. A day before the Berlin meeting, Brown will also hold talks with visiting U.S. Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke, who is in London to give
More
Bleak economic data in Europe and a wave of profit warnings and job cuts worldwide renewed investors' fears on Thursday, strengthening the case for more government stimulus efforts and encouraging rate cuts. The European Commission earlier revealed that economic sentiment in the 15 countries using the euro in December plunged to an all-time low in
More
The Bank of England cut interest rates by half a percentage point on Thursday to a record low of 1.5 percent and is widely expected to cut again in February as it battles to prevent Britain from falling into a deep slump. British interest rates have now fallen by 3.5 percentage points since October as
More
Hundreds of thousands of people across the Balkans went without heating on Thursday, some hospitals closed and more factories were idle as the impact on the hardest-hit region in the Russia-Ukraine gas row grew. Around 100,000 households in Bosnia were left in the cold, about 80,000 people in Serbia's second largest city Novi Sad had
More
The United Nations may need to offer more help to the Cyprus peace process if it is to succeed, Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat was quoted as saying on Thursday. Talat, engaged in peace talks with Greek Cypriot leader Demetris Christofias since last September, appeared cautiously optimistic of progress in a newspaper interview. "We
More
HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, said on Thursday U.S. stocks were the best bets in 2009 due to the healthy profits some U.S. firms had made over the past two years, though a big sell-off was possible through March. U.S. stocks are expected to pick up following their plunge last year, as corporate profits were strong
More
World stocks and metal prices fell on Thursday after bleak data and poor corporate earnings stoked gloom about the economic outlook, while sterling eased against the dollar before the Bank of England's interest rate decision. Government bonds returned to favour as global stocks as measured by the MSCI world index shed 1.1 percent, with the
More
Bleak export data from Europe's biggest economy and a wave of profit warnings and job cuts soured investor sentiment on Thursday after an employment report suggested U.S. job losses in December could be the worst in almost 60 years. Germany said exports had fallen by an unprecedented 10.6 percent in November as demand for cars
More
European shares were down in early trade on Thursday, with heavyweight mining stocks taking most points off the index, after a record drop in German exports and weak U.S. jobless data rekindled economic worries. At 0915 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was down 0.6 percent at 872.27 points, having ended a
More
Britain's top share index fell 0.1 percent early on Thursday ahead of an expected rate cut from the Bank of England, as deepening gloom on the economic outlook hit broader sentiment and dented metal prices, knocking miners. Investors are keenly awaiting the decision from the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee which is widely expected to cut
More