Eric Reguly

Spain lags rest of Europe's renaissance

Housing bust, rising jobless rates are holding back recovery while other big economies in euro zone are clearly on the mend

Barclays, HSBC start a return to health

Good news on bad loans provided more evidence that the worst of the recession is over for HSBC Holdings PLC and Barclays PLC , two of Britain's - and Europe's - biggest and healthiest banks.

Banks

Big bank 'living wills' gain traction in G20

Orderly bankruptcy plans could forestall panic

ENERGY / GAZPROM'S MAN IN HOUSTON

There's not much in John Hattenberger's corner office on the 25th floor of the Bank of America tower to indicate that he's Gazprom's man in America's oil and gas capital.

ECONOMY

A TALL ORDER FOR THE G20 Fighting fatigue in the battle to fix the ailing economy, world financial authorities get together in Scotland to make good on this fall's promises in Pittsburgh

Oligarch's IPO attempt plods on

Oleg Deripaska's Rusal stock sale fighting headwinds as the final details slowly emerge

Beyond the Berlin Wall

In Czechoslaovakia, the human network made the message go viral

In 1989, there was no text messaging or Twitter. But that didn't stop resistence members from quickly spreading the word

'Luxury shame' pinches Versace

Versace is perhaps best known for redefining the plunging neckline with a famous green dress cut to the belly button, as worn by Jennifer Lopez in 2000. But far from the red carpet, the Italian fashion house is gaining more notoriety for its plunging profit. Yesterday, Gianni Versace SpA announced it would cut 350 jobs worldwide, one-quarter of the company's work force.

The 'Mickey Mouse' mastermind: Canadian charged in plot against Danish newspaper

A former Pakistani cadet and medical student who got Canadian citizenship then settled in Chicago, Tahawar Hussain Rana was known as an immigration consultant and abattoir operator.

The big whack: Currency collapse drives McDonald's out of Iceland

Icelanders like Jon Ogmundsson have endured many hardships in the last year, including soaring inflation, rising unemployment and a banking crisis so serious the country nearly declared bankruptcy.

Reguly in Europe

ING breakup a sign of things to come

Many of Europe's bailed-out banks will be forced to undergo radical restructurings to reduce their risk exposure

HOSPITALITY BECKONS

Canadian duo David Mongeau adn Piers Talalla are calling the bottom of the European luxury hotels market

How the wounded Celtic Tiger plans to regain its stripes

The Celtic Tiger resembles more of a wounded alley cat these days. The growl's gone, but it's still full of fight.

Eric Reguly

Berlusconi's winning streak runs out as Italy rules its PM is no longer above the law

For most of his political career Silvio Berlusconi has faced allegations and charges of tax fraud, corruption, illegally financing political parties, false accounting and bribery. The Italian Prime Minister has used cunning, stalling and immunity laws to dodge them all and go on to win three elections.

Nuclear ambitions unite leaders against Iran

Tehran's clandestine plans give U.S. rare chance to organize international support

Duchess of York's undercover film draws Turkey's ire

Reports say Turkish government has requested Britain's help in extraditing and charging the Duchess

Fiat delays North American production plans

Announcement now expected in November, suggesting governments are negotiating hard to secure pieces of Chrysler or Fiat output

Robin Hood in the regulator's office

Adair Turner, head of Britain's Financial Services Authority, promotes Tobin's tax on bankers' deal making to fill public purse

Afghanistan counts its votes and its casualties

The bombing deaths of dozens of people and vote rigging allegations mar the country's presidential election

Romanian plant expands Pepsi's European footprint

PepsiAmericas is investing $150-million (U.S.) in what will be Europe's largest bottling factory, officials said yesterday. The factory will be located west of Bucharest and will cover 30,000 square metres. It will open on Sept. 1, a news release said. PepsiAmericas in 2007 took over Quadrant-Amroq Bottling QAB, a Pepsi producer and distributor in Romania. QAB Romania owns two production units in Bucharest and one in Covasna, in central Romania. PepsiCo Inc. announced earlier this month it reached an agreement to take over its two largest U.S. Pepsi bottlers, Pepsi Bottling Group and PepsiAmericas, in a $7.8-billion cash and stock deal. PAS (NYSE) fell 9 cents to $28.14.