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Fri, 10th May -- The CEO of Turkish Airlines on May 9 dismissed the latest hullabaloo at the flag carrier, insisting that the company has not banned its flight attendants from wearing red lipstick and nail polish.

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Thu, 9th May -- Ahead of the parliamentary debate on the Slovenian government's draft reform programme due on May 9, Banka Slovenije Governor Marko Kranjec reiterated calls for Ljubljana to widen its focus from raising revenue to include privatisation and trimming public sector spending.

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Thu, 9th May -- In a reminder that the road ahead for Serbia and Kosovo remains rocky, the pair failed on May 8 to find an agreement on implementation of their deal to normalize relations, less than three weeks after the two sides were hailed for the breakthrough.

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Thu, 9th May -- The Turkish government intends to instigate a cap on the cost of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises, Economy Minister Zafer Caglayan said on May 8. The planned market intervention appears part of the drive to offer stimulus to wider economic growth, while trying to keep a lid on consumer credit growth.

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Thu, 9th May -- Pouring more cold water on Warsaw's dreams of forging energy independence by tapping its shale deposits, a second international prospector announced on May 8 that it is to up sticks and quit the country in the midst of regulatory and tax uncertainty, as well as poor test results. Canada's Talisman Energy said that it has agreed to sell out its stake in its Polish joint venture to partner San Leon Energy, in order to focus on other regions.

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Thu, 9th May -- Turkey is discussing a potential strategic partnership for the newly merged Borsa Istanbul with the London Stock Exchange and New York's Nasdaq, as Ankara mulls the next step in its bid to turn the country's economic capital into a global financial centre.

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Wed, 8th May -- In a further sign of just how hard Slovenia's struggle to avoid becoming the next Eurozone country to require a bailout is, the government was forced on May 7 to postpone a parliamentary vote on setting a cap on the budget deficit until later in the month.

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Wed, 8th May -- Russian energy companies Rosneft and Itera are reportedly in talks with the Armenian government over a possible acquisition of the country's largest chemicals plant, Nairit.

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Wed, 8th May -- Turkey's main stock market index hit a fresh high on May 7 the day after closing at a record high, on the back of continuing optimism over a second upgrade of the sovereign to investment grade, the Kurdish peace process, progress in renewing relations with Israel and the likelihood of another rate cut from the central bank.

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Wed, 8th May -- Illustrating the Czech utility's nervousness over its ability to pay for the CZK200-300bn (€7.7-11.6bn) nuclear expansion, CEZ said on May 7 the contract to build new reactors at its Temelin plant will provide the company with a four-year grace period during which it will be able to walk away.

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Wed, 8th May -- The Cengiz-Kolin-Limak consortium, which won a tender for two Turkish power grids late last year, has secured $2.5bn from several banks to finance the deal. With previous privatizations falling through due to funding problems, the deal illustrates the ongoing turnaround in prospects for Turkish infrastructure.

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Tue, 7th May -- Kazakh officials are putting heavy pressure on the consortium developing the giant Kashagan oilfield to finally start production in early July, while the international oil companies working at the field maintain the launch of commercial production before September or October is unrealistic.