Monti seeks German help on borrowing

Monti seeks German help on borrowing
S&P downgrades eurozone bail-out fund
Egypt asks IMF for $3.2bn standby facility
Legal flaws give free rein to super-Pacs
Ship disaster sparks safety rules rethink
Beijing appoints Wukan protest leader as official
Russian leaders make pro-democracy pledges
Nigerian president yields on fuel subsidy
Bitter hostility in Homs reflects Syrian divide
Iran’s Golden Globe win offers ‘ray of hope’

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 10:36 AM PST

Rome would push Berlin to realise it was in 'its own enlightened self-interest' to give fiscal weight to lowering costs of Italy and other nations

S&P downgrades eurozone bail-out fund

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 11:09 AM PST

EFSF credit rating is cut from AAA to AA+, potentially constraining its ability to contain the region's debt crisis

Egypt asks IMF for $3.2bn standby facility

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 11:29 AM PST

Cairo seeks assistance after a year of uncertainty and political turmoil drives away investors, leaving growing budget deficit

Legal flaws give free rein to super-Pacs

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 10:42 AM PST

When Stephen Colbert named his fellow comedian Jon Stewart as head of his "super-PAC", his joke highlighted how campaign finance rules are upending US politics

Ship disaster sparks safety rules rethink

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 12:07 PM PST

The International Maritime Organisation said it would 'seriously consider' the lessons from the Costa Concordia incident, which killed at least six people

Beijing appoints Wukan protest leader as official

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 08:32 AM PST

Lin Zuluan, who led months of sometimes violent protests, was named village party secretary in charge of preparing for village committee elections

Russian leaders make pro-democracy pledges

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 10:05 AM PST

Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev seek to appease protest movement as anti-Kremlin mood in urban centres shows little sign of abating

Nigerian president yields on fuel subsidy

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 12:30 PM PST

Nigerian unions call off a week-long strike as Goodluck Jonathan cuts petrol prices by 31 per cent and promises to investigate corruption

Bitter hostility in Homs reflects Syrian divide

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 09:53 AM PST

The industrial city was once the butt of jokes for the residents' supposedly unsophisticated ways, but is now one of the principal centres of conflict

Iran’s Golden Globe win offers ‘ray of hope’

Posted: 16 Jan 2012 10:11 AM PST

Film makers are hoping the Hollywood award for the Iranian work A Separation will help ease pressure on their industry by the Islamic regime