Specialist banks cherry pick from lay-offs

LONDON (Reuters) - Small investment banks and brokerages in Europe are making the most of a hiring shutdown and cuts at bigger rivals, cherry picking staff frustrated by new pay rules and uncertainty over strategy. Those still in jobs are enquiring more than ever before about vacancies, headhunters say, and are far more open now to leaving for lesser known or smaller firms. "People are judging opportunities on their merits. They are more positive about smaller and independent firms nowadays - that conversation used to last 30 seconds before," said John Axworthy, a recruiter at Wheat Search. ...

Egyptians vote to pick president for first time

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptians began voting freely on Wednesday for the first time to pick their president in a wide open election that pits Islamists against men who served under deposed leader Hosni Mubarak. The contest is a novelty for a nation where elections during the 30-year rule of a man some called "Pharaoh" were thinly attended rigmaroles in which the result was a foregone conclusion. This time, many of Egypt's 50 million eligible voters were already queuing before polling stations opened at 8 a.m. ...

Teachers strike across Spain, protesting cuts

MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish teachers went on strike on Tuesday to protest against cuts in education spending that unions say will put 100,000 substitute teachers out of work but that the government says are needed to tackle the euro zone debt crisis. The central government has ordered Spain's 17 autonomous regions to cut 3 billion euros ($4 billion) from education spending this year, as part of a tough program to trim the public deficit to an EU-agreed level of 5.3 percent of gross domestic product. ...

Keep calm and tweet: Bulgarians turn to blogs for quake info

Twitter's ubiquitous "Keep calm and tweet on" poster caption acquired new meaning for quake-hit Bulgarians Tuesday.

Afghans back Chicago deal, warn West to keep promises

KABUL (Reuters) - People in Afghanistan were surprisingly optimistic on Tuesday about NATO's plan to pull combat troops out of their war-ravaged nation by the end of 2014, but warned Western leaders to stick to aid and security promises. A Chicago summit meeting of the 28-member bloc, attended also by Afghan President Hamid Karzai and other world leaders, endorsed an exit strategy on Monday that calls for handing control of Afghanistan to its own security forces by the middle of next year. ...