AP - Thousands of people have rallied across Russia to denounce the government's economic policy and demand more freedom in a new challenge to the Kremlin reflecting increasing disillusionment and a growing potential for protests.
AFP - Germany will agree to European countries providing bilateral assistance to debt-stricken Greece, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Saturday.
Reuters - German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said only the most extreme circumstances could justify a bailout of a European Union state from within the union, and any such aid would have to be delivered bilaterally.
AFP - EU financial services commissioner Michel Barnier sought on Friday to calm US fears of discrimination over European financial services reforms that would regulate hedge funds.
Reuters - The European Union's monetary affairs chief urged the bloc's leaders on Friday to agree a standby aid package for Greece next week but France and Germany struck different notes and the euro slid.
AP - The European Commission urged Germany and other eurozone governments Friday to put up a package of government-to-government loans to ease Greece's financial plight and end weeks of financial turmoil and speculation.
AFP - FTSE 100 shares were upbeat at the end of trade on Friday boosted by state-rescued bank Lloyds' forecast of a return to profit in 2010 after two years of losses.
AFP - Europe split over IMF intervention for debt-ridden Greece on Friday, upping pressure on national leaders to resolve crisis plans just days from a crunch EU summit.
AP - A former Spanish police chief convicted of embezzling the equivalent of euro10 million ($14 million) became a free man Friday after serving 15 years in prison, and immediately faced — and dodged — the question on many Spaniards' minds: where'd he stash the money?
AP - The wreckage of Spain's economic growth model stands neatly aligned on the roads leading out of Madrid — row after row of unsold houses, windows dark, for-sale signs out front.
AP - Spanish ministers approved Friday a wide-ranging 10-year reform plan designed to wean the economy off its dependence on construction and create broader, more sustainable growth as the country fights to climb out of recession.
AFP - Europe's main stock markets advanced on Friday, with London boosted by British state-rescued bank Lloyds' forecast of a return to profit in 2010 after two years of losses.
AP - German insurer Allianz SE expects its 2010 operating profit to be around last year's level of euro7.2 billion ($9.7 billion) as the global economy comes out of a long downturn.
AP - The European Union's finance executive called Friday for banks to pay into a fund that could be drawn upon in case of collapse, an effort to shield taxpayers from the fallout of future crises.
AP - The dollar climbed Friday as worries over who would provide aid for Greece and other debt-laden European countries sent investors scurrying for the safety of the U.S. currency.
AP - Greek unemployment rose to 10.3 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, the country's statistics agency said Thursday — the highest since 2005 and the largest jump in 11 years.
AP - Public sector debt in the United Kingdom climbed above 60 percent of GDP in February as government agencies borrowed another 12.4 billion pounds ($19 billion), the Office for National Statistics said Thursday.
AP - World stock markets fell Thursday and the euro weakened on concerns the European Union will not agree to give Greece concrete financial support, leaving it to potentially seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund.