Europe News Headlines - Yahoo! News

BoE governor King warns of euro risk to British recovery

Sun, 19 May 2013 05:29:16 -0400

LONDON (Reuters) - The single biggest risk to Britain's nascent economic recovery is continued eurozone weakness, the Bank of England's outgoing governor Mervyn King said in a television interview on Sunday. He called for a "credible medium term plan" to get the economy back on track and said automatic economic stabilizers should be allowed to work. He also predicted that North Sea oil output would recover in the next couple of years. King last week predicted that UK growth would be faster and inflation lower than expected three months earlier. ...

Pope leads pep rally at Vatican, meets with Merkel

Sat, 18 May 2013 19:26:21 -0400

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis lamented that investment losses by banks trigger more alarm in the economic crisis than the struggle of people to feed their families, as he led a huge rally Saturday to invigorate the church's moral conscience, hours after he held talks at the Vatican about the economic crisis with Germany's leader.

French president signs gay marriage into law

Sat, 18 May 2013 15:16:43 -0400

PARIS (AP) — France will see its first gay weddings within days, after French President Francois Hollande signed a law Saturday authorizing marriage and adoption by same-sex couples and ending months of nationwide protests and wrenching debate.

Plane catches fire landing in Moscow; no injuries

Sat, 18 May 2013 13:45:25 -0400

MOSCOW (AP) — Part of an airliner carrying more than 130 people caught fire as it was landing in Moscow, and passengers evacuated the plane by jumping off one of its wings and shooting down an evacuation slide.

Russia's Karjakin wins Norway chess tournament

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:54:26 -0400

STAVANGER, Norway (AP) — Russia's Sergey Karjakin won the €100,000 ($130,000) Norway chess championship on Saturday after drawing against Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria.

Top officials call to overhaul euro institutions

Sat, 18 May 2013 03:09:29 -0400

BERLIN (AP) — Engineering a financial bailout for Cyprus in March was such a chaotic process that top European officials say it is time to rethink how the region manages its crisis — and who should be involved.

Glance: Europe's Key Institutions

Sat, 18 May 2013 03:10:57 -0400

Following the chaotic bailout of Cyprus, top European Union officials are saying it's time to rethink how the region manages its crisis — and who should be involved.

Union leads march in Rome calling for job creation

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:46:27 -0400

ROME (AP) — A union of Italian metal workers has led thousands of people in a march through the heart of Rome to press the new government for measures to spur job creation.

Merkel and Pope talk about a 'strong' Europe

Sat, 18 May 2013 12:01:41 -0400

VATICAN CITY (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mindful of the importance of Christian voters in September elections, met with Pope Francis on Saturday during a quick trip to Rome that focused on helping victims of Europe's economic crisis and emphasizing the continent's Christian roots.

Merkel and Francis talk about a 'strong' Europe

Sat, 18 May 2013 09:39:40 -0400

VATICAN CITY (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel, mindful of the weight of Christian voters in September elections, made a quick trip to Rome Saturday for a private meeting with Pope Francis, focusing on how Europe's struggling economy should be at the service of the people.

Woman describes Berlusconi's 'bunga bunga' parties

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:37:13 -0400

MILAN (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi's private disco featured not only aspiring showgirls performing striptease acts as sexy nuns and nurses, but one woman dressed up as President Barack Obama and a prominent Milan prosecutor whom the billionaire media mogul has accused of persecuting him, according to the first public sworn testimony by the Moroccan woman at the center of the scandal.

Government launches investigation into two Serco, G4S contracts

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:14:30 -0400

By Christine Murray LONDON (Reuters) - The government said on Friday it had hired a team of auditors to investigate whether it was overcharged on two contracts with outsourcing firms Serco and G4S. The Ministry of Justice said auditors from professional services firm PWC would examine two contracts signed in 2005 which together cost the department 107 million pounds in 2012/13 for electronic tagging and monitoring of offenders released from prison. ...

Morrison seals $306 million Ocado deal in online catch-up

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:21:02 -0400

By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) - British supermarket chain Wm Morrison is investing more than 200 million pounds in a 25-year deal with online grocer Ocado, seeking to catch up with rivals in home delivery and sending Ocado shares to a record high. Morrison, which trails Tesco, Wal-Mart's Asda and J Sainsbury in annual sales, has suffered falling profits and market share, partly due to its late entry into online grocery which is growing about 16 percent a year. Morrison and Ocado said their deal would not affect Ocado's arrangement with upmarket grocer Waitrose, due to run to 2020. ...

Greek strikes halt air travel

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:05:01 -0400

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Flights in Greece were halted for four hours Thursday as the country's two largest labor unions staged work stoppages to protest austerity measures and a government decision to cancel a teachers' strike.

Shares in Lloyds hit government break-even price

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:37:58 -0400

By Matt Scuffham LONDON (Reuters) - Shares in state-backed Lloyds Banking Group rose above the level which the government sees as its break-even price after its 20.5 billion pound rescue of the bank, raising hopes of a sale this year. Lloyds shares, the top performer in the FTSE-100 last year, rose 2.5 percent to reach 62.5 pence at 13:00 p.m. on Friday, their highest for over two years and passing the 61.2 pence break-even price. ...

Syria government supporters hack Financial Times

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:58:20 -0400

By Jim Finkle and Jennifer Saba (Reuters) - The Financial Times' website and Twitter feeds were hacked on Friday, renewing questions about whether the popular social media service has done enough to tighten security as cyber-attacks on the news media intensify. The Syrian Electronic Army, an online group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was behind the incident which followed a phishing attack on the company's email accounts, FT reported on its website. The attack is the latest in which hackers commandeered the Twitter account of a prominent news organization to push their ...

UK police announce new leads in missing girl case

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:21:26 -0400

LONDON (AP) — British police say they are investigating new leads in the case of Madeleine McCann, the Briton who disappeared six years ago in Portugal at the age of three.

Greece faces slow, jobless recovery next year

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:31:44 -0400

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece's deep, six-year recession is likely to end in 2014, but growth will be weak and unemployment will remain above 20 percent for another three years, the country's international debt inspectors said.

British police identify new leads in Madeleine McCann case

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:16:52 -0400

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Friday they had identified people they want to question about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the three-year-old who went missing in Portugal six years ago. Madeleine disappeared from her room at a holiday resort in the Algarve, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant, sparking a global manhunt and transfixing the world's media. ...

Fitch downgrades Slovenia amid banking concerns

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:00:10 -0400

LONDON (AP) — Fitch Ratings agency has downgraded Slovenia's credit grade by one notch, citing a weak economic outlook and a frail banking system.

French gay marriage law ruled constitutional

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:58:21 -0400

PARIS (AP) — France's constitutional council has rejected a challenge by conservative lawmakers to the country's new gay marriage law, saying the law was constitutional.

Official: 10 killed in explosion in Turkey

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:44:43 -0400

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — Officials say a container of fuel being smuggled into Turkey from Syria has exploded, killing 10 people.

EU to ban reusable olive oil bottles in eateries

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:04:38 -0400

BRUSSELS (AP) — The small glass bottle filled, and refilled, with golden olive oil has long been a staple on many restaurant tables across Europe. Now, the European Union is going to ban it.

Woman describes Berlusconi's bunga bunga fests

Fri, 17 May 2013 10:03:02 -0400

MILAN (AP) — Silvio Berlusconi's private disco featured women dressed not just as sexy nuns and nurses but also as President Barack Obama and a prominent Milan prosecutor the former Italian premier has accused of persecuting him.

Gay pride rally in Georgia derailed

Fri, 17 May 2013 09:55:18 -0400

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Thousands of anti-gay protesters, including Orthodox priests, occupied a central street in Georgia's capital Friday, with some threatening to lash with stinging nettles any participant in a gay pride parade which was to take place there.