A general view of the Greek parliament during a vote on new austerity measures in Athens on November 7, 2012. The Greece parliament has adopted an 18.5-billion-euro (23.6-billion-US dollar) austerity package amid clashes between police and angry protesters in the capital Athens. On Wednesday, the Greek lawmakers voted for the bill that cuts pensions by up to 15%, reduces some wages by a third, and... 

Protesters hold a demonstration at the iconic Obelisk in Buenos Aires on November 8, 2012. Thousands of people have held demonstrations in Argentina to protest against the policies of President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner. The protests on Thursday night are said to be Argentina’s biggest anti-government demonstrations in more than a decade. Demonstrators in Argentina are infuriated by the rising... 

Reuters polls show that the global economy is expected to improve only slightly in 2013. New projections on unemployment in eurozone show that the jobless rate among member countries will hit a new peak at about 12 percent next year. The European Union’s autumn forecast on Wednesday said that unemployment would hit a new peak at 11.8 percent among the 17-nation EU in 2013 and go down slightly to... 

Riot police stand guard as demonstrators march in front of the Greek parliament in central Athens during protests against new austerity measures on November 6, 2012. Greek police have clashed with angry protesters in the capital city, Athens, as the country’s lawmakers begin debating new austerity measures. Clashes broke out outside the Greek parliament after tens of thousands of anti-austerity protesters... 

People walking by closed shops in Athens during the 24-hours general strike. Greeks have kicked off a new wave of strikes to protest against fresh austerity measures due to be presented by the government to the parliament. The work stoppage began on Monday as the metro in the capital Athens was shut and taxi drivers halted services. There was also a media blackout on Monday as journalists stopped working... 

A man looking for job opportunities on newspapers in a shop in Naples, Italy. Newly-released figures show that Italy’s economy will shrink further in 2012 and 2013 as the country’s recession continues to take its toll. Italy’s National Institute for Statistics (Istat) said on Monday that gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 2.3 percent due to a decrease in domestic demand. According... 

Thousands of people hold a demonstration outside the Portuguese parliament in the capital Lisbon on October 31, 2012. Thousands of people have gathered outside the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon to protest against the assembly’s approval of the government’s 2013 draft austerity budget. The demonstration was staged on Wednesday after the parliament approved the draft bill, which proposes substantial... 

Swiss banking giant UBS has announced plans to slash some 10,000 jobs worldwide. The largest bank in Switzerland, UBS AG, has announced plans to cut about 10,000 jobs worldwide, as the economic crisis in the European country continues to worsen. “This decision has been a difficult one, particularly in a business such as ours that is all about its people. Some reductions will result from natural... 

Two years ago, Greece missed the chance to extricate from the crisis with Russia’s help. Nowadays, Russian investments in the country grow and give air to breathe to economies of several regions of Greece, such as the north-east. Russian investors are especially attracted by cheap real estate, tourism and the property that they can buy from the state. “Greece should only give Russia the... 

People wait in line at a government employment office in the center of Madrid on September 4, 2012. Official data show that Spanish unemployment rate has exceeded 25 percent in the third quarter of 2012 as the country continues to grapple with economic woes. New figures released by Spain’s National Statistics Institute on Friday showed that the country’s unemployment rate climbed to 25.02 percent... 

American CEOs call the Congress to ‘stabilize the debt’ Chief executives of more than 80 major US corporations, including Aetna, Goldman Sachs, Macy’s and Boeing are joining forces to pressure Congress to bring down the federal deficit by raising taxes and cutting spending. ­The CEOs call on the policymakers to prepare a fiscal plan that would “stabilize the debt as a share of the... 

Standard & Poor’s (S&P) Ratings Services has downgraded the credit ratings for three French banks, including BNP Paribas, citing growing risks facing the banks from potential prolongation of the eurozone recession. “In our view, the economic risks, under which French banks operate, are increasing, leaving French banks moderately more exposed to the potential of a more protracted... 

When global freight transportation collapsed to record lows in July of this year most analysts wrote it off as an anomaly. In September, when one of the largest retail shipping companies in the world warned of weakening global economic conditions and announced they would slash thousands of jobs, financial markets barely even noticed. Last week, Google, the largest small business advertising platform... 

Provisional figures released by Greece’s national statistics authority have shown the country’s deficit and public debt for 2011 are worse than estimated. According to provisional data published by ELSTAT statistics agency on Monday, the 2011 deficit stood at 9.4 percent of gross domestic product and the public debt at 170.6 percent. “The revisions as regards the debt ratios are primarily... 

Youths have clashed with the Athens police force, pelting officers with stones and petrol bombs during an anti-austerity march. More than 40,000 have taken to the streets in Greece in a 24-hour strike against wage and pension cuts. Anti-austerity activists faced down police officers, throwing Molotov cocktails and rocks in the center of Athens. Police responded by firing teargas and stun grenades...