Hungary’s government said Tuesday there is no credible evidence so far that a group made up of Hungarians and other Europeans plotted to assassinate Bolivian President Evo Morales.

Hungary’s new prime minister said Sunday that the country’s economy would contract by as much as 6 percent this year, making new budget cutbacks and reforms necessary to keep the state budget in balance.

Several thousand people held anti-government protests in the Hungarian capital during a national holiday on Sunday, and police detained 35 people.

Beyond cloaking parts of Europe in winter’s icy grip, the two-week cutoff of Russian gas to Europe has exposed another chilling threat _ Russia’s strategic energy clout and the West’s limited options.

The operator of Hungary’s main airport says employees have gone on strike there and passengers may face delays.

The National Bank of Hungary reduced its key interest rate to 9.5 percent from 10 percent on Monday, its fourth half-percentage point cut in less than two months, as it seeks to shore up its ailing economy.

The Budapest Zoo says a 32-year-old female gorilla has undergone successful gynecological surgery, the first such operation in Hungary and rare even worldwide.

The International Monetary Fund is predicting a deepening slowdown in global growth in 2009, the organization’s director said Tuesday during a visit to Hungary.

Two suspects have been arrested in a double murder of the principal and a teacher at a Budapest school, police officials said Thursday.

From salami makers to fertilizer producers, industries in Eastern Europe are being forced to cut output as the shut-off in Russian gas supplies risks deepening the economic crisis already plaguing the region.