Economy

Class of 2012: Young Spaniards launch startups
In a cramped office in downtown Madrid, five young architects who found themselves jobless in Spain's wrenching economic crisis sit almost elbow to ...
2 Greek officials quit after being charged
The head of Greece's privatization agency and the general secretary of the Finance Ministry have resigned after being charged with dereliction of duty ...
Thousands of Greeks protest planned gold mine
More than 10,000 people have taken to the streets of Greece's second largest city to protest a planned gold mine they see as an environmental risk.
German state employees win 5.6 percent raise
Some 800,000 employees of Germany's state governments have won a pay increase totaling 5.6 percent over two years. The pay deal for employees ...
Hedge fund manager charged in US captured in Italy
A fugitive German hedge fund manager was arrested Friday at an Italian art gallery on charges filed in Los Angeles that accuse him of orchestrating ...
Fitch downgrades Italy on election uncertainty
Fitch Ratings Agency on Friday downgraded Italy's credit rating to BBB+ from A- with a warning of a further downgrade, citing the uncertainty created ...
Payrolls shore up markets at end of historic week
Markets across Europe and Asia made decent gains Friday, bringing to an end what has been a historic week that was capped with the release of ...
Berlin's troubled airport gets new CEO
A hard-nosed manager with a history of overseeing corporate turnarounds was named Friday as the new CEO of Berlin's airports, putting him in charge ...
Chairman of struggling ThyssenKrupp steps down
Steel and elevator company ThyssenKrupp AG says its board chairman is stepping down. Seventy-year-old Gerhard Cromme will leave his post at the end ...
Polish plant accused of rotten meat in sausages
Polish inspectors on Friday halted meat processing at a plant in northern Poland after a television program alleged that it was adding rotten meat to ...
Norway's oil fund had 2nd best year in 2012
Norway's central bank says its oil fund enjoyed its second-best year in 2012 as it reaped the gains from rising share prices around the world.
German industrial production flat in January
Industrial production in Germany was flat in January, falling short of expectations for a small increase — but the previous month's figure was revised ...
Angry steel workers block Belgian-Dutch border
Hundreds of Belgian steel workers are blocking a busy border crossing between Belgium and the Netherlands to protest against planned job cuts by ...
SAS airline three-month loss down to $100 million
Scandinavian airline group SAS says it narrowed its net loss in the November-January period to 630 million kronor ($100 million) from 2.5 billion ...
A nation of shopkeepers? UK seeks to keep its soul
The small shopkeepers in Greenwich are running out of time. In the London borough that gave its name to Greenwich Mean Time, businesses like Lorraine ...
50 flights canceled amid strike at Cologne airport
Dozens of flights have been cancelled after security personnel walked off the job at Germany's Cologne airport in a wage dispute. Verdi union ...
Dublin Airport reopens after plane's wheel fails
Flights at Dublin Airport were temporarily suspended Thursday when a BinAir cargo plane's nose wheel collapsed after touching down, the second such ...
Draghi: Do more to promote jobs, growth
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is urging indebted governments to move beyond spending cuts and tax hikes and introduce reforms that ...
Italy protests Bridgestone tire plant closure
Italy's labor minister is criticizing a decision by the Bridgestone tire company to close a plant in southern Italy as "serious and without reason.
France calls on Europe to ease off austerity
France has called on fellow European nations to ease off on painful austerity policies to give the economy some breathing space and avoid social ...
Greece: Special units police site of gold clash
Residents of a northern Greek village clashed with authorities during protests against a Canadian company's plans to operate a gold mine in the area, ...
Lukoil chief wants level playing field for Arctic
Russia's second-largest oil company will push for legislation to allow independent producers to compete for the right to tap the rich energy reserves ...
Key quotes from ECB head Draghi's press briefing
At his monthly news conference following the European Central Bank's policy-setting meeting, President Mario Draghi on Thursday answered questions ...
S&P sees bailed-out Portugal's prospects improving
Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has revised its outlook on Portugal to stable from negative after concluding the bailed-out country will continue to ...
Mercedes February sales down 5.8 percent
Global sales of Mercedes-Benz cars dropped 5.8 percent in February compared with a year earlier as deliveries in China dropped sharply — at least in ...