President Francois Hollande's new Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault got straight to work hiring a cabinet on his first day on the job Wednesday, vowing to get France back on its feet. More »France's new prime minister readies fresh cabinet
World stocks and the euro fell and borrowing rates for eurozone countries signalled alarm on Wednesday at new elections in Greece, prolonging agony for the eurozone. More »World markets take fright at Greek threat
The Bank of England on Wednesday cut its forecast for British growth and warned that the eurozone debt crisis was the biggest threat to the recovery, even if a credible solution is found. More »BoE cuts growth forecasts, warns on euro crisis
German authorities on Wednesday cleared out a group of protesters who have camped for months in front of the European Central Bank, ahead of huge anti-capitalism protests expected at the weekend. More »Long-running Frankfurt 'Occupy' camp cleared
The interest rate which Germany must pay to borrow money for 10 years fell to the lowest level ever in early trading on Wednesday, reflecting deep concern about the prospect of new Greek elections. More »German 10-year borrowing rate falls to record low
Convicted Liberian warlord Charles Taylor on Wednesday accused prosecutors of paying and intimidating witnesses as a UN court heard arguments ahead of his sentencing hearing in two weeks. More »Convicted warlord Taylor says prosecutors paid witnesses
The Basque separatist group ETA tried to pressure France and Spain to agree to direct negotiation with its leadership on Wednesday by announcing it had set up a delegation for talks. More »ETA announces team for 'talks with France and Spain'
The prospect of a second Greek election in less than two months stoked the eurozone crisis Wednesday even as France and Germany pledged support and help for growth. More »Second Greek poll stokes eurozone crisis
China Mobile, the world's biggest mobile operator by subscribers, said Wednesday the company is in talks with Apple to offer the popular iPhone to its users in the Asian nation. More »China Mobile in talks with Apple over iPhone
French energy giant Total said Wednesday it had plugged a gas leak under a North Sea platform that cost the firm hundreds of millions of dollars and threatened to trigger a major explosion. More »Energy giant Total says North Sea gas leak plugged
Italy posted on Wednesday a strong turnaround in its March trade balance, as the recession-hit eurozone member cut imports while it boosted exports. More »Recession-hit Italy posts March trade surplus
Moody's is set to 'significantly' downgrade 21 Spanish banks within a week, following a cut of credit ratings on Italian banks, the Spanish economic daily Expansion said on Wednesday. More »Moody's to downgrade 21 Spanish banks: report
India's rupee hit a record low against the dollar on Wednesday, dragged down by escalating fears over the eurozone debt crisis and weak domestic indicators, traders said. More »India's rupee hits record low against dollar
The trial of wartime Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic opened before a UN court Wednesday, where he faces charges for some of the worst atrocities committed in Europe since World War II. More »Bosnia war crimes trial of Mladic opens
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble stressed on Wednesday that it was not possible to re-negotiate an international aid plan for Greece. More »German minister rules out new talks on Greek aid
A group of Communist Party elders has issued a daring open letter calling for the removal of China's top security official, amid political upheaval ahead of a once-a-decade leadership transition. More »Communist elders urge removal of China police czar
Moscow police detained 23 people on Wednesday breaking up an eight-day occupy protest that sprung up on a scenic square following strongman Vladimir Putin's swearing in for a third Kremlin term. More »Moscow police detain 23 breaking up protest
A convoy of UN truce observers came under bomb attack in a Syrian town during a funeral procession in which a monitoring group said regime forces "massacred" 20 people. More »UN convoy attacked in Syria
A woman has died a day after armed men opened fire and threw explosives into a restaurant in the Kenyan port city of Mombasa, police said Wednesday. More »One dead in Kenya restaurant grenade attack: police
Organisers Wednesday vowed to fight for a Lady Gaga concert to go ahead in Indonesia, despite police refusing a permit and Islamic hardliners threatening "chaos" if she comes to the Muslim-majority nation. More »Indonesian organisers fight for Lady Gaga gig
Pakistan's cabinet is expected Wednesday to agree to the president attending talks on Afghanistan in Chicago and approve the lifting of a blockade on overland NATO supplies to its war-torn neighbour. More »Pakistan clears way for NATO summit, supply routes
Indonesian investigators have expressed hope that the recently recovered cockpit voice recorder from a Russian airliner that crashed into a mountain last week would help explain why the disaster occurred. More »Russian plane crash probe focuses on black box
The head of France's Total says the energy giant wants to expand in Australia's booming resources sector, but warns that a lack of manpower and lively competition could contain its ambitions. More »Total eyes more projects in booming Australia
General Motors has confirmed that it is pulling its advertising from Facebook after determining that paid ads had little impact on consumers. More »GM to pull ads from Facebook
At least two people were killed and 39 wounded in Colombia's capital when a bomb exploded in what President Juan Manuel Santos said was an assassination attempt against a former interior minister. More »Deadly bomb blast targets Colombian ex-minister