BRUSSELS, May 18- Critics ridiculed European Union bureaucrats on Saturday for taking time off fighting the euro zone's debt crisis to impose strict new rules on how restaurants serve olive oil. "If the European Union was logical and properly run, people wouldn't be so anti- Europe.
May 17- In the nearly five years since the worst financial crash since the Great Depression, the remedy for the world's economic doldrums has swung from full-on Keynesianism to unforgiving austerity and back.
LONDON, May 17- After months of speculation, Vodafone's Vittorio Colao will be under pressure next week to set out whether he may sell its prized stake in Verizon Wireless in what would be one of the biggest deals ever.
May 17- The 3.5 percent gross domestic product growth announced by Tokyo on Wednesday suggests that Japan may be the fastest-growing economy in the G7. All these events appear linked to the election of Shinzo Abe and the regime he has installed at the Bank of Japan.
*Spain, Italian yields extend fall after supply this week. *Spain to auction more bonds next week. LONDON, May 17- German Bunds hit one-week highs on Friday, with traders citing talk the European Central Bank was checking with some banks whether they were ready for a potential cut in its deposit rate to below zero.
Both Spain and Italy, which have taken turns at the forefront of the euro zone debt crisis in the past two years, have cashed in on investor appetite for higher-yielding assets this year, spurred by ultra-easy central bank policies.
BRUSSELS, May 16- The giant South Stream pipeline to transport natural gas from Russia to the European Union is a reality and is on schedule to be built by the end of 2015, the chief executive of the offshore section of the line said on Wednesday, rebutting widespread doubts that it will ever be built.
HOUSTON/ MILAN, May 16- A trio of hawkish regional Federal Reserve officials are calling for the U.S. central bank to stop buying mortgage-backed bonds, citing the recent improvement in the housing market.
MILAN, May 16- Italian carmaker Fiat SpA said on Thursday the idea of moving the group's legal headquarters to the United States is not on the agenda. " The statement referred to a Bloomberg report on Wednesday that cited people familiar with the matter as saying Fiat was considering moving its headquarters to the United States.
HOUSTON/ MILAN, May 16- A trio of hawkish regional Federal Reserve officials are calling for the U.S. central bank to stop buying mortgage-backed bonds, citing recent improvement in the housing market.
LONDON, May 16- German Bund futures jumped the most in six weeks on Thursday as weak data out of the United States cast doubt over the strength of the recovery in the world's largest economy. "The march higher in the Bund future was very much driven by the soft patch of U.S. data across the board," said David Schnautz, interest rate strategist at Commerzbank.