Spain beset by bank crisis, recession, bond pressure

MADRID (Reuters) - Spain's borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on Thursday, after economic data confirmed the country is back in recession and reports of an outflow of deposits from nationalized Bankia hammered its share price.

Defiant Greek leftist refuses to back austerity

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's surging leftist leader predicted on Thursday his party would sweep next month's election and refused to stop demanding an end to "barbaric" austerity policies he said were bankrupting the nation.

Iran attack decision nears, Israeli elite locks down

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A private door opens from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office in central Jerusalem directly into a long, modestly furnished, half-paneled room decorated with modern paintings by Israeli artists and a copy of Israel's 1948 declaration of independence. It contains little more than a long wooden table, brown leather chairs and a single old-fashioned white projector screen.

Europe's banks on the brink

LONDON, May 17 (IFR) - The euro zone crisis was in full swing when Jean-Claude Trichet took the podium in Berlin last October 6 for his final press conference as president of the European Central Bank. Having helped create one of the longest periods of price stability in the history of central banking, Trichet was closing out his eight-year reign under siege.

Turkey says Israeli plane violates N.Cyprus airspace

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Turkey said on Thursday it had scrambled military jets to intercept an Israeli plane that violated northern Cypriot airspace this week, and demanded an explanation for the incursion.

Horrors of Srebrenica set out at Mladic trial

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - Prosecutors in the genocide trial of Serb general Ratko Mladic on Thursday described five days of terror in the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica in July 1995, when troops under his command massacred more than 7,000 unarmed Muslim boys and men.

Nigeria "robbers" accidentally blow up own bus

PORT HARCOURT (Reuters) - A suspected armed robber was killed when explosives his gang was transporting accidentally went off in the centre of Nigeria's main oil city of Port Harcourt on Thursday, police said.

Syria's Assad: Nations that sow chaos will suffer

AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Wednesday that countries trying to "sow chaos" in Syria could be infected with it themselves, an apparent warning to Arab Gulf nations that back the insurgency aimed at forcing him from power.

Israel becomes a target in Egypt's presidential vote

CAIRO (Reuters) - Israel has become a punchbag for politicians vying for votes in Egypt's presidential race, playing on popular antipathy in Egypt towards its neighbor, but the realities of office are likely to ensure a 33-year-old peace treaty is not jeopardized.

Sri Lanka president to free jailed rival this week-sources

COLOMBO (Reuters) - Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa will order the release of his ailing former army chief this week, sources close to the president said on Thursday, in a bid to quell criticism of the government and its human rights record.