BRUSSELS (AFP) ― The International Monetary Fund has offered to contribute 13 billion euros ($17.3 billion) so far to a second Greek bailout package, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said here Tuesday.That sum would come on top of 10 billion euros in IMF loan aid left over from an initial Greek rescue plan reached in May 2010, after eurozone finance ministers agreed to another rescue program worth 130 billion euros from public creditors.“The IMF has earmarked a possible sum of 13 billi

LILLE (AFP) -- French police detained former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn for questioning Tuesday over allegations he took part in orgies in Paris and Washington paid for by a pair of businessmen.The 62-year-old former Socialist minister, who until last year was seen as the frontrunner to r

PARIS (AP) — Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn will be questioned Tuesday by French police investigating a suspected hotel prostitution ring.Police in the northern French city of Lille are probing a suspected prostitution ring in France and neighboring Belgium that has implicated police and other officials.Police have questioned prostitutes who said they had sex with Strauss-Kahn during 2010 and 2011 at a luxury hotel in Paris, a restaurant in the French capital and also in Washington D.C.

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ― The European Central Bank said Monday that it made no purchases of government bonds last week as it put on hold its controversial program to lower borrowing costs for indebted countries.The purchases had already dwindled to a negligible 59 million euros ($78 million) the week before that.The bank has been buying bonds from other investors in the secondary market in an effort to push down borrowing costs, particularly for Italy and Spain, which are under pressure from th

BRUSSELS (AP) -- After more than 12 hours of talks, the countries that use to euro reached an agreement early Tuesday to hand Greece (euro) 130 billion ($170 billion) in extra bailout loans to save it from a potentially disastrous default next month, an European Union diplomat said.The euro surged a

MOSCOW (AFP) ― Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Monday that Russia had launched “unprecedented” steps to boost the army as he played up his strongman credentials ahead of March 4 presidential polls he is likely to win.“We have approved and are carrying out unprecedented programs to develop the armed forces and modernize Russia’s military defense complex,” Putin wrote in state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta as he bids for a third Kremlin term.In the next decade, Russia will acquire more than 400

LONDON (AP) ― A dozen European Union leaders, including British Prime Minister David Cameron and Italian Premier Mario Monti, called Monday for an open-markets strategy to stimulate growth and jolt the region out of its economic doldrums.The 12 leaders sent an open letter to EU leaders Herman van Rompuy and Jose Manuel Barroso as eurozone finance ministers met Monday to discuss a 130 billion euros ($170 billion) bailout for Greece in exchange for harsh austerity measures.Their intervention comes

TEHRAN (AP) ― Tehran is considering extending an oil embargo on France and Britain to other European countries, a semiofficial Iranian news agency reported Monday.The head of Iran’s state oil company Ahmad Qalehbani was quoted by Mehr as saying that the country would stop selling crude to nations who take action against Tehran.“If the hostile acts of some other European countries continue, oil exports to these countries will be cut,” he said.Iran announced the cut-offs to France and Britain on S

NEW YORK (AP) -- A grandson of the late Princess Grace of Monaco has been briefly hospitalized after a brawl in a New York City nightclub.Prince Pierre Casiraghi suffered cuts to his face during the brawl. Former nightclub owner Adam Hock was arraigned Sunday on charges of assaulting the prince and