Ireland

By Lucy Meakin and Neal Armstrong

The advance in euro-area government bonds that pushed the 10-year yields of Ireland, Italy and Spain to record lows today is about to end, according to investors from BlueBay Asset Management LLP to BlackRock Inc.

BELGRADE - Minister without Portfolio in charge of European Integration Jadranka Joksimovic said Friday that Serbia is ready to press ahead with the reforms that are crucial for the opening of most important chapters in the EU accession talks, aimed to strengthen institutions and the rule of law.

Sxity-two percent of the EU voters are “not at all” or “not much” interested in the European Parliament elections in May, shows a survey of Ipsos-MORI.

It was conducted in April. A total of 8 833 people were polled in Belgium, Britain, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain and Sweden.

By Eleni Chrepa & Nikos Chrysoloras

The Greek government will bring social security costs for workers below the European Union average for the first time in July when it cuts contributions to the pension and health-care systems, Labor Minister Ioannis Vroutsis said.

NOVI SAD - The European Union has adopted a decision under which Novi Sad may become a European Capital of Culture in 2021 instead of in 2020 as previously planned, the Cultural Centre of Novi Sad said in a statement on Friday.

A EULEX press release on Thursday said the defendant was charged with inciting another to commit the murder of Kosovo police officer Triumf Riza alongside other offences.

Riza was shot dead in Pristina by a hitman suspected of working for Enver Sekiraqa in August 2007.

David Goodman & Nikos Chrysoloras

Greece’s planned bond-market return, heralded by lawmakers as evidence of renewed confidence in the nation, will also highlight the progress that’s needed before its rehabilitation is complete.

Irish President Michael D Higgins has arrived to the UK on the first official state visit by an Irish head of state, Tuesday.

The four-day trip, which comes three years after the Queen visited Ireland, includes an address to Parliament and a focus on the contribution Irish emigrants have made to UK life, The Guardian reports.

Euro-area banks face tougher scrutiny of how they measure the risk of losses on their assets, the European Union’s financial-services chief said.

Greek nongovernmental organization Praksis and the Hellenic Red Cross have inaugurated a new shelter in Patra aimed at providing relief to dozens of migrants sleeping on the streets of the western port city.

The project is funded in part by the governments of Norway, Ireland and Liechtenstein through the International Organization for Migration (IOM).