madrid - Workers hit by lower living standards and record high unemployment staged May Day protests across Europe on Wednesday, hoping to persuade euro zone governments of the case for easing austerity measures and boosting growth.Thousands of protesters marched in Madrid, snaking up the Gran Via ...

PARIS  - European auto sales plunged to the lowest point for 17 years in 2012, trade data showed on Wednesday, revealing the dire state of the sector despite the global strength of German automakers.The figures came only hours after French manufacturer Renault announced the latest job cuts and ...

KARACHI - A German buyer of the textile products has agreed to pay compensation to the victims of the Ali Enterprises fire tragedy as well as to work for structural changes to improve the system of labour protection in Pakistan. Being the major buyer of the Ali Enterprises’ producTS, the ...

LONDON  - European stock markets rebounded from early losses on Friday as investors mulled the impact of US jobs data amid growing concerns over the Federal Reserve’s bond-buying scheme, dealers said.Minutes from the Fed’s December policy meeting indicated overnight that the US ...

OSLO - While facing more and more critics within its own borders, the European Union on Monday ironically collects one of the world’s top honours, the Nobel Peace Prize, in a country stubbornly refusing to join its ranks.Norway is a tranquil, wealthy nation thanks to its abundant oil and gas ...

The question of “acquis diplomatique”, which is the realm of a collective European foreign policy making, and whether “there is a coherent European foreign and defence policy”, is a relevant one. If it wasn’t relevant a decade ago, it is becoming more and more relevant ...

MIRPUR (AJK) - Two European development agencies namely AFD of France and KFW of Germany are providing funds to the Pakistan Water and Power Development Authority for study and construction of four hydropower projects. These include the 35 megawatt -Harpo, 122 MW-Keyal, 40-MW Basho and 32 MW-Trappi ...

LONDON  - European equities fell on Friday, hit by a lack of rapid progress towards full EU banking union at a key summit, while traders remembered the 25th anniversary of the 1987 global stock market crash.At the closing in Europe, London’s FTSE 100 index of top companies fell 0.35 ...

ISLAMABAD  - Month-long workshops of European folk singing and dance will start here from May 2 to introduce the European music traditions for performing art lovers of twin cities.Ms Gina Rubik will conduct the workshops at Kuch Khaas, Centre for Arts, Culture and Dialogue with theoretical and ...

Around 28,000 Afghanis and 15,700 Pakistanis have applied for asylum in the European Union (EU) in 2011, the EU's statistical office said.A total of 301,000 people had applied for EU asylum, of whom 90 percent were new applicants and about 10 percent were repeat applicants, the Eurostat said ...

MOSCOW  - Gazprom's inability to pump extra gas to Europe during the big winter chill has cast clouds over the Russian giant's vision of becoming the world's fail-safe supplier of last resort.Analysts said the snag's emergence, during one of Europe's coldest spells on record, points to supply ...

BEIRUT  - Syria on Monday rebuffed as a “conspiracy” an Arab League call for President Bashar al-Assad to step down in favour of a unity government to calm a 10-month-old revolt in which thousands of Syrians have been killed.Lebanese Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour criticised the ...

Minsk is as close to Berlin as London is. Yet, an iron curtain separates the two capitals. In 2011, over a decade after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the nation of Belarus holds out as the last dictatorship in Europe. A former Index on Censorship award winner, journalist Natalia Radzina was smuggled ...

MADRID/BERLIN (Reuters) - European happiness with the death of Osama bin Laden was tempered on Wednesday by details showing he was unarmed when shot dead and qualms about whether torture of prisoners helped US forces track him down. Al Qaeda leader bin Laden was shot in the head in a US special ...

LONDON (AFP) - Gunfire between the two Koreas raised alarm on global markets already focused on Tuesday on widening debt strains and pressure for new direction in the eurozone three weeks before an EU summit. Shelling between North and South Korea, and the Irish-eurozone debt crisis, pushed up the ...

WASHINGTON (APP) - Several people involved in the plotting of terrorist attacks aimed at Europe have been identified and targeted, said Pakistans ambassador to the United States Hussain Haqqani. I think that several people who were involved in the plotting have been targeted, and the others are ...

BERLIN (AFP) Four-times European team champion Dimitrij Ovtcharov has tested positive for a banned drug and was suspended on Wednesday by Germanys Table-Tennis Federation (DTTB). According to the DTTB, the failed sample was taken at his home on August 23 and an analysis showed the presence of ...

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States said Thursday it was challenging some WTO findings over European subsidies to Airbus, in a transatlantic trade row over unfair state funding for commercial aircraft development. The US government appealed to the World Trade Organizations appellate body two ...

SINGAPORE (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Asia on Wednesday of potential spillovers from the European debt crisis, which is unfolding a decade after the region underwent its own financial turmoil. Adverse developments in Europe could disrupt global trade, with implications for ...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - European air traffic faced growing disruption Saturday as an ash cloud from an Iceland volcano threatened to close airports as far east as Spains Barcelona or Marseille in France, controllers warned. During the day, the area affected by volcanic ash is expected to extend from ...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - European air traffic has returned to normal after a week of chaos caused by an ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano which spread across the continent, the EUs transport commissioner said Friday. The news is encouraging. For the second day in a row we are expecting 28,000 flights in ...

MANCHESTER (AFP) Top seed Pi Hongyan booked her spot in the European Badminton Championships semi-finals here on Friday, but the Paris-based player looks set for a battle for the title from Danish rival Tine Rasmussen who also made the final four. Pis mobility, stamina, and sensible tactics ...

LONDON (AFP) - Global equities tumbled Friday as soaring state debts in Europe sent shivers through the markets for a second straight day and a jobs report provided a mixed picture of the US labour market. In Paris, the CAC 40 plunged by 3.40pc to finish at 3,563.76 while Frankfurts Dax fell 1.79pc ...

MADRID (AFP) Sevilla breathed new life into their Champions League ambitions with a 2-1 victory over fellow European hopefuls Valencia on Sunday with Alvaro Negredo grabbing both goals. It was a key game for Sevilla who had suffered a worrying slump since Christmas, losing three of their last ...

PARIS (AFP) - Tens of thousands of European travellers were stranded Sunday in rail stations, traffic jams and airports as heavy snow and ice caused massive disruption at the start of the Christmas holiday season. At least 19 people froze to death, mainly in Poland and mostly homeless people or ...

PARIS (AFP) Three years ago France beat Portugal in the World Cup semi-final - on Wednesday both could fail to even reach the 2010 finals as they take narrow leads into their play-off second leg clashes. France, champions in 1998, hold a 1-0 lead over the Republic of Ireland while Portugal hold ...

LONDON/HONG KONG (AFP) - Europe's main stock markets closed sharply lower on Monday, extending losses after another massive bailout for US insurer AIG and a huge cash call at bank giant HSBC spooked already nervous investors. In London, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares lost 5.33 percent, its ...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The eurozone shed a quarter of a million jobs in January, figures showed Friday, as eastern Europe was given a huge aid package and Russia warned its own finance crisis was far from over. Japan too confronted a deepening crisis, reporting a sharp slide in factory output, while ...

BERLIN (AFP) - New releases by young European directors kicked off the race for the Golden Bear top prize Friday at the 59th Berlin Film Festival. Francois Ozon of France, best-known for his erotic thriller "Swimming Pool" with Charlotte Rampling, entered the running with "Ricky", a magical ...

MOSCOW/KIEV (AFP) - Russian state energy giant Gazprom on Wednesday halted all supplies of natural gas bound for Europe through Ukraine, equivalent to around a fifth of the European Union's total gas consumption. Gazprom said in a statement that it had been forced to act because Ukraine was ...