Lithuania

NEW YORK/ REHOBOTH BEACH- Hurricane Sandy, one of the biggest storms ever to hit the United States, battered the densely populated East Coast on Monday, shutting down transportation, forcing evacuations in flood-prone areas and interrupting the presidential election campaign.

WASHINGTON- With one week left in the tight battle for the White House, it's all about the vital swing state of Ohio. MADRID/ ROME- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy kept financial markets guessing on Monday over whether he will seek a credit line from the euro zone's rescue fund but said he would do so ``when I think it is in the interests of Spain''.

"Promises that the new government will stop saving and start spending big-time are unrealistic," said Nerijus Maciulis, analyst at Swedbank. " Otherwise Lithuania will soon find itself in a situation similar to Greece. "

BERLIN-- There were cheers around Germany when Chancellor Angela Merkel announced last year, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, a swift end to nuclear power in favor of renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

VILNIUS, Lithuania-- Lithuanians have dealt a blow to the conservative government's vision of a nation that would become a regional energy powerhouse and a member of the euro. Instead, they voted Sunday for politicians likely to dump austerity and rejected a plan to build a nuclear plant that could have made the country a net energy exporter.

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia-- Andrej Plut has always thought he was fortunate to live in Slovenia, at one time the most prosperous of the former republics of Yugoslavia and a star among the eastern European states that joined the EU after the fall of communism.

All three parties promised radical policy changes, including increased wages and lower taxes, while the Social Democrats said that Lithuania should postpone introducing the euro until Europe could straighten out its current financial mess.

VILNIUS, Lithuania-- Opposition populists and leftists in crisis-worn Lithuania hinted they were prepared to form a government coalition after an exit poll late Sunday indicated their parties would take first and second place in the country's parliamentary elections.

VILNIUS, Lithuania-- An exit poll shows that Lithuania's ruling conservative coalition is poised to muster 25 percent of the vote in Sunday's parliamentary election and a populist party will finish first with nearly 20 percent.

VILNIUS, Lithuania-- Voting precincts have opened in Lithuania, with opposition leftists and populists expected to vie for victory over the unpopular conservative government that took over four years ago as the Baltic country slid into a deep recession.

VILNIUS, Oct 11- Lithuanian Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius hit out at centre-left opposition budget plans on Thursday, warning of danger to fiscal stability. But they also say they will adhere to a strict budget policy and keep to European Union rules on budget deficits, which set a limit for the fiscal gap of three percent of output.

OSLO, Oct 11- Nordic power prices could rise as much as 10 percent by the end of the decade as a clutch of new power lines will allow producers to sell their electricity into higher priced markets in continental Europe and Britain.

MOSCOW, Oct 4- Here are events and news stories that could move Russian markets on Thursday. MOSCOW- "Russia Calling" investment conference held by VTB Capital. MOSCOW- Briefing by Alexey Simanovsky, First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank of Russia.

"The dispute is connected with a 5- billion-litas overpayment for Gazprom gas, which was supplied to Lithuania under certain contracts," the Energy Ministry said in a statement, which was released as Lithuania heads to elections in two weeks.

VILNIUS, Lithuania-- Lithuania's government said Wednesday it planned to file a 1.45 billion claim against Russia's Gazprom, alleging that the world's largest natural gas company has hiked prices unfairly.

BRUSSELS, Oct 2- Europe's nuclear reactors need investment of 10- 25 billion euros, a draft European Commission report said, following a safety review designed to ensure a disaster like Japan's Fukushima cannot happen.

MOSCOW, Oct 2- Europe should cut taxes levied on gas deliveries rather than ask Russia's gas export monopoly to cut its prices, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

BRUSSELS, Oct 2- Europe's nuclear reactors need investment of 10- 25 billion euros, a draft European Commission report said, following a safety review designed to ensure a disaster like Japan's Fukushima cannot happen.

*Commission cannot force member states to apply recommendations. BRUSSELS, Oct 2- Europe's nuclear reactor fleet needs investment of 10 billion to 25 billion euros, a draft Commission report said, following a safety review designed to ensure there is never a repeat of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.