Cyprus said on Thursday it would press ahead with plans to open the Mediterranean for oil exploration despite objections from its northern neighbour Turkey and estranged Turkish Cypriots. In a growing dispute which risks undermining peace talks on the ethnically divided island, Greek Cypriots said they would continue offshore research, and that they may extend
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The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has dismissed a demand on behalf of Turkey to reexamine its decision in the case of Demades v. Turkey, issued in April 2008, and has called on Ankara to pay 830,000 euros to the applicant for compensation plus interest, as well as 5,000 euros for court expenses, rendering
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The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 75 basis points on Thursday, its biggest ever move as inflation plummets and the euro zone economy sinks deeper into recession. The move takes the ECB's main refinancing rate to 2.50 percent, its lowest in nearly 2-1/2 years and marks the third cut in barely two months
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Growth in the global smartphone market slowed to 11.5 percent in the third quarter year on year, the slowest rate of growth since it started tracking smartphone sales, research firm Gartner said on Thursday. Some 36.5 million smartphones, or handsets with computer-like features such as email, were sold globally in the July-September quarter, Gartner said
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A new crop of video games is encouraging fans to ignore their parents' advice and play with their food. Fans slice, dice and feel the heat of the kitchen with a new crop of foodie games that includes Atari's "What's Cooking? With Jamie Oliver," Majesco's "Cooking Mama World Kitchen," Ubisoft's "Hell's Kitchen: The Video Game"
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Stock futures pointed to a broadly unchanged start on Wall Street on Thursday, breaking a two-day rally. Futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones industrial average and Nasdaq were virtually flat at 4:49 a.m. EST. Highlights: * Companies reporting earnings on Thursday include Novell Inc, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc and Williams-Sonoma Inc. *
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Falling investment and a weaker trade performance made the euro zone economy contract in the third quarter, data showed, confirming the bloc's first recession as the European Central Bank meets to discuss the size of a rate cut. The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, confirmed its earlier estimate that the economy of the 15 countries
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The Bank of England released the following statement on Thursday after the bank cut rates by 100 basis points to 2.0 pct. THE STATEMENT The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee today voted to reduce the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves by 1.0 percentage points to 2.0%. In the United Kingdom, business
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Falling investment and a weaker trade performance made the euro zone economy contract in the third quarter, data showed, confirming the bloc's first recession as the European Central Bank meets to discuss the size of a rate cut. The European Union's statistics office, Eurostat, confirmed its earlier estimate that the economy of the 15 countries
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President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled a 26 billion euro ($32.9 billion) stimulus plan for the faltering French economy on Thursday, targeting investment projects rather than directly aiding consumers. France is the latest European Union country to open state coffers to try to temper the sharp economic downturn and presidential officials said the measures would cost the
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