Ireland

As Italy sold 10-year bonds on Tuesday at a record-low yield of less than 2 percent, rates on similar-maturity Greek debt were spiraling toward 10 percent.

Compare that with 2011, when Greece’s troubles were grouped with Portugal, Ireland, Italy and Spain and Italian borrowing costs exceeded 7 percent.

Turkey’s spending for social benefits in 2013 rose to 13.8 percent of the GDP, according to a report from the Turkish Statistical Institute released Dec. 29.

Expenditures on social protection accounted for 219.9 billion Turkish Liras ($94.2 billion) in 2013, an increase of 12.5 percent from that of the previous year, the report said.

Three days after his visit to Athens was completed, European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Pierre Moscovici stated in Washington that the monitoring of Greece’s economy by its international creditors should become «lighter» and less «interventionist,» with inspectors visiting only twice a year.

The list assembled annually by the economic and financial magazine shows that Montenegro has fallen four places compared to 2013, although it is still ahead of a number of European Union member countries, such as Greece, which is in 51st place.

The European Parliament overwhelmingly backed the recognition of a Palestinian state "in principle" on Dec. 17, following a series of votes on the issue in EU nations that have enraged Israel.
     

France's upper house of parliament on Dec. 11 urged the government to recognize Palestine as a state, following a similar and highly symbolic vote in the lower house.
      

Starting from next year, several new airlines are starting flights from Rijeka to Germany, Britain, Lithuania and Latvia, in a bid to bring new development to the Kvarner region of northwest Croatia.

Irish nationalist leader Gerry Adams says Israel has barred him from making a planned visit to the Gaza Strip during a three-day tour of the region.

Adams says he was not given a reason for the Israeli decision preventing Friday's trip and adds that he is disappointed by it.

Wages in developed countries are flatlining and even falling in some places, holding down economic growth after the financial crisis and increasing the risk of deflation, the International Labour Organization said Friday.

Bulgaria has the sixth lowest overall taxes for medium-size companies in EU and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), shows the Paying Taxes 2015 survey of PriceWaterhouseCoopers among 189 economies worldwide.

The total tax rate in Bulgaria is 27%, which ranks it sixth after Croatia (18.8%), Luxembourg (20.2%), Cyprus (23.2%), Ireland (25.9%) and Denmark (26%).