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Updated: 35 min 5 sec ago

Amnesty: EU states guilty of racism, homophobia

1 hour 39 min ago
Most EU countries abuse the rights of migrants and ethnic minorities, while others are not doing enough to combat homophobia, Amnesty International has said.

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Delay austerity and increase investment, IMF warns UK

1 hour 47 min ago
The UK should delay plans to push through further austerity measures worth £10 billion (€12 billion), the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday.

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[Focus] Youth unemployment: huge gulf between Germany and Greece

1 hour 51 min ago
Germany is helping youngsters from Spain, Portugal and Greece to find jobs, as regional statistics show 17 times more unemployed young Greeks compared to Germans.

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[Ticker] Paris court to question IMF chief Lagarde

2 hours 25 min ago
IMF chief Christine Lagarde is Thursday appearing for questioning at a court in Paris in a criminal probe into whether public funds were misused when she served as France's finance minister. She took a case of French tycoon Bernard Tapie to an arbitration panel, who awarded the businessman €420 million.    

[Ticker] Millions of Italians unable to afford heating: Report

2 hours 26 min ago
Italy's national statistics agency ISTAT on Wednesday published its Annual Report 2013 saying 8.6 million Italians are in such “serious economic difficulty” that they have stopped basic expenditure, such as buying meat or heating their homes. Among the 18-24 aged, 89 percent are financially reliant on their parents.    

[Ticker] Germany supports putting Hezbollah on EU terror list

2 hours 27 min ago
Germany will back a British request to blacklist Hezbollah following the terrorist attack in Burgas, Bulgaria last summer, Reuters reports. "Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle supports listing at least the military wing of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in the EU," a German diplomatic source said.    

[Ticker] Vending machines reject new €5 notes

2 hours 29 min ago
The new €5 note is reportedly being rejected by many vending machines with old software. In an experiment in 10 cities, Italian daily La Repubblica found that, in 90% of cases, the notes were returned to the customer. Similar problems have also been reported in Germany, Belgium and Portugal.    

[Ticker] Norway says UN should consider Magnitsky sanctions

2 hours 30 min ago
Norwegian foreign minister Barth Eide has in a letter to Norwegian MPs indicated the UN Security Council should consider sanctions on Russian officials linked to the alleged murder of whistleblower accountant Magnitsky. He described the case as "symbolic" of a wider trend in Russia, including its crackdown on foreign-funded NGOs.    

Victims of violence set for EU-wide protection

22 May, 2013 - 21:24
Battered women and other victims of violence will be afforded greater EU-wide protection after a vote by euro-deputies in Strasbourg on Wednesday.    

EU leaders see progress on lifting bank secrecy

22 May, 2013 - 21:22
EU leaders in Brussels for a summit on tax evasion hailed new political "momentum," but agreed few concrete measures.

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[Ticker] EU warns Georgia on trial of former PM

22 May, 2013 - 20:00
EU enlargement chief Fuele and foreign policy head Ashton have told Georgia they expect to see a "fair, transparent and independent" trial after the arrest of former PM Merabishvili and former health minister Chiaberashvili on charges of embezzlement and abuse of office, in events recalling Ukraine's crackdown on opposition leaders.    

[Ticker] EU leaders keep one-commissioner-per-country system

22 May, 2013 - 19:53
EU leaders have agreed to keep the old EU set-up of one commissioner per country (with the EU Council and EU foreign policy chief posts included in the total). The Lisbon Treaty said the number should fall to two thirds of EU states, unless there is a "unanimous" decision otherwise.    

[Ticker] EU to send 110 experts to Libyan border

22 May, 2013 - 19:52
EU countries are to send up to 110 civilian experts to help post-war Libya to manage its land and sea borders. The mission, agreed on Wednesday, is to last two years with a budget of €30mn in its first year and will be led by Finnish customs chief Antti Hartikainen.    

[Ticker] Iceland to halt EU bid pending referendum

22 May, 2013 - 19:52
Iceland's new ruling coalition has put its EU accession bid on ice pending a referendum. Its incoming PM Daviv Gunnlaugsson told press on Wednesday: "The government intends to halt negotiations between Iceland and the European Union. We will not hold further negotiations with the European Union without prior referendum."    

[Ticker] EU welcomes Syria peace conference idea

22 May, 2013 - 19:37
European Union leaders Wednesday welcomed a US-Russian initiative to hold an international peace conference on Syria in Geneva as soon as possible. The current EU arms embargo on Syria expires on 1 June and requires unanimous support of all 27 member states to be extended in its present form.    

EU summit backs shale gas 'revolution'

22 May, 2013 - 19:12
EU leaders have said shale gas could make a big contribution to lower energy costs, pushing aside environmental concerns.

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[Ticker] German government in bid to soften austerity image

22 May, 2013 - 15:56
Germany is starting a series of conferences and bilateral programmes with Spain, Portugal and Greece to help them with youth employment schemes. "It would be a quite desirable side effect" if the move also helped improve Germany's austerity-driven image at EU level, finance minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Wednesday.    

[Ticker] Parliament demands ECB oversight

22 May, 2013 - 15:35
MEPs Wednesday demanded guarantees that the European Central Bank's supervisory arm will be directly accountable to the European Parliament. Although the Parliament does not have co-decision powers on the ECB regulation, it is withholding its support for parallel reforms to the European Banking Authority    

[Ticker] MEPs oppose Czech opt-out from human rights charter

22 May, 2013 - 14:39
The European Parliament has called on member states to reject a request by the Czech government for an exemption from the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The proposal was rejected by 572 votes to 80.    

[Ticker] Lost EU tax revenue totals four times education spending

22 May, 2013 - 13:32
"Every year the EU loses revenue totalling a breathtaking €1 trillion as a result of tax fraud", European Parliament Martin Schulz told EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Wednesday. "That’s €2000 per year for every EU citizen, four times as much as per capita EU spending on education," he said.