(MENAFN - AFP) Data released last week showed Greece entered its sixth straight year of recession, but there is now cautious optimism about the economy's prospects although unemployment is still hitting record highs and consumers are squeezed by pay cuts and tax hikes.

On Tuesday, Greece's battered debt ratings received a rare upgrade from Fitch which noted "clear progress" ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Opera houses the world over are scrambling to pay tribute to Richard Wagner, the controversial German composer often referred to as Hitler's favourite, who would have turned 200 this year.

More has purportedly already been written about Wagner than any other artist and composer in history, but publishers are churning out countless new biographies, critical ...

(MENAFN - AFP) When your enemy is sworn to exterminate every one of you, can you -- should you -- try to cut a deal with him to at least save some lives knowing that others are doomed?

The question lies at the heart of a new documentary by Claude Lanzmann, author of "Shoah," the hugely-acclaimed tableau of the Holocaust.

"The Last of the Unjust," premiering at Cannes ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Art lovers, collectors and gallerists will gather on Thursday for Hong Kong's inaugural edition of Art Basel, sealing the city's status as an international art hub and Asia's leading art destination.

The four-day annual show is the world's premier art fair and has until now only been held in Switzerland and the United States each year. More than 2,000 international ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Slovenia on Saturday said it was confident its newly-adopted action plan would stabilise public finances and lead to an economic recovery, a day after international ratings agency Fitch downgraded the crisis-hit country by one notch.

"The consolidation of public finances will follow the objectives that have been clearly set. We will efficiently carry out ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Tens of thousands of people joined a union-organised march in Rome Saturday, protesting against the new coalition government's austerity measures.

The metal workers union FIOM said the rally was to demand "the right to jobs, training and health care".

"We cannot wait any longer," said FIOM secretary Maurizio Landini as Italy is mired in recession.

He ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Serbian police on Saturday arrested eight people suspected of embezzling some 12 million euros ($15 million) from the country's main pharmaceutical firm Galenika.

The eight, including a former Galenika manager, are suspected of misappropriating the money through fraudulent deals while buying raw materials for medicine and through illegal sales of medicine, ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Air Algerie planes were grounded for several hours on Saturday when the national carrier's pilots staged a wildcat strike over pay, officials in the North African country said.

Air Algerie said in a statement that the strike caused delays for the airline and other carriers that lasted a few hours until normal operations resumed in the afternoon, after negotiations ...

(MENAFN - AFP) The hunt for an HIV vaccine has gobbled up $8 billion in the past decade, and the failure of the most recent efficacy trial has delivered yet another setback to 26 years of efforts.

With the next attempts expected to be years away, top researchers now say there is a "void" or a "gap" in current clinical trial efforts to test whether a vaccine may be safe ...

(MENAFN - AFP) Americans have lined up in droves across the country to buy Powerball Lottery tickets in the hopes of winning the record $600 million jackpot, the largest in the 21-year history of the game.

Millions will be glued to their TV sets when the Powerball numbers are drawn in a live event broadcast just before 11:00 pm eastern time (0300 GMT Sunday). If there ...