Union workers held a general 24 hour strike across Spain Thursday to protest austerity cuts, labor reforms, and its record 23 percent unemployment rate.
Unions brought Spain to a halt to protest heavy budget cuts by Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's three-month-old government, but the government vowed to press on with its tough austerity measures and labor reforms.
A general strike and looming deficit pushed Spanish bonds yields up Thursday, leading investors to question if the country will be the next weakest link in the euro zone.
In an announcement this week, Microsoft said the next version of the Kinect for Windows will be available at the end of May, with a 1.5 version of the software that works with it. The new Kinect for Windows 1.5 will come with a few new features, such as Kinect Studio, which will allow developers to record, playback and debug users' clips.
Manchester United is interested in Benfica's Axel Witsel, while speculation is mounting that offers will be made for both Eden Hazard and Javi Martinez.
Belt tightening in the board room and the living room, deep public budget cuts and anaemic bank lending may be setting Spain up for years of economic stagnation that could eventually force it to seek a bailout.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, previously reluctant to expand the size of euro zone bailout funds, agreed to support a €200 billion ($265 billion) increase of the firewall on Monday.
The GDP of Ireland for Q4 declined 0.2 percent, according to data released by the Central Statistics Office on Thursday, which meant that the country has officially returned to recession.
Euro zone growth is stabilizing at low levels, ECB policymaker Jose Manuel Gonzalez-Paramo said on Thursday, adding that the situation in the 17-country currency bloc nonetheless remains fragile.
The strike, called by the General Confederation of Portuguese Workers (CGTP), also resulted in some schools being closed and hospitals working with reduced staff
While negotiations for Benfica's Nicolas Gaitan are ongoing, United have handed trials to a trio of Brazilian teenagers, according to reports.
Asian shares gave back earlier gains Thursday after data showed China's factory activity shrank for a fifth successive month, underscoring concerns about a growth slowdown in the world's second largest economy.
Asian shares inched up Thursday but remained in ranges as investors waited for manufacturing data from China and the euro zone due during this session for more clues about the state of their economies.
Developments in the two weeks since the credit event confirmed that the world's first test of using credit default swaps as protection involving sovereign debt turned out fairly well. But broader concerns abound, such as the fragile Greek economy and what could be in store for fellow euro zone members Spain and Portugal.
Check out the lineup for Camp Bisco 2012!
Investors showed scant faith in Greece's ability to cut its colossal debt after an auction on Monday which handed insured holders of defaulted bonds a large payout.
In three short days, Apple has sold off more three million copies of its third-generation iPad, simply called the new iPad, the company said in a statement released Monday. The new iPad features a stunning new Retina Display, which is the best screen to ever grace a tablet, the speeds of 4G LTE connectivity, an improved 5-megapixel iSight rear camera, and a bigger battery to power 10 hours of life.
The European financial crisis has seemingly abated after Greece scored an orderly default on €100 billion ($132 billion) worth of its debt and the European Central Bank (ECB) injected banks with €530 billion in three-year loans.
Construction output in Europe fell in January, marking two months of declines fueled by Spain and Italy's troubled economies, the European Union's statistics office reported Monday.
Early bids at an auction to decide the payout due to Greek bondholders who are insured against default showed investors fear for the country's financial future even after a debt restructuring and aid packages.
Portugal will endure the second deepest recession in the eurozone in 2012-13, according to Capital Economics.
You can't blame investors for feeling a bit squeamish regarding deploying new money in the U.S. stock market these days, despite the Dow Jones Industrial Average's (DJIA) recent rise to 13,000. Where's the Dow headed in the next three months?
