AFP - Fast asleep in the forests of the Rhodope mountains, this former miners' town, like a lot of other near-forgotten places in Bulgaria, is hoping for an EU financial kiss to waken from its slumber and start pulling in the tourists.

Reuters - The euro fell and shares and government bonds rallied on Thursday as the European Central Bank poured cold water on speculation of further aggressive interest rate hikes after raising them as expected.

AP - The European Union and Russia have started talks on a new cooperation deal on political and economic ties the EU hopes will redefine the way it imports much of its oil and gas from its key supplier.

Reuters - Serbia's new government will focus on quick entry into the European Union, strengthening the country's economy and keeping Kosovo as a part of Serbia, Prime Minister designate Mirko Cvetkovic said on Monday.

AFP - Britain's EU partners piled pressure on London Tuesday to improve its public finances, setting a deadline of the 2009-2010 budget year for cutting its deficit to EU norms, an official said.

AP - European Central Bank Governor Jean-Claude Trichet has warned that high inflation could linger in the euro-zone for 'some time.'

AP - The European Parliament on Friday called for tighter economic sanctions against President Robert Mugabe's government in Zimbabwe and urged the international community, including African nations, not to recognize his re-election.

AFP - International donors have pledged 1.2 billion euros (1.9 billion dollars) to help build Kosovo's battered economy, surpassing their target, the European Commission announced Friday.

AFP - Factories and refineries in the 15 nations sharing the euro ratcheted down production in May at the fastest rate in nearly 16 years amid growing economic headwinds, according to official EU data on Monday.

AFP - Slovakia, which adopts the euro in six months, is putting its money where its mouth is with a drive to help its long-neglected gypsy minority with the switch to the official EU currency.

AP - Israeli drugmaker Teva Pharmaceutical says it will buy rival generic drug company Barr Pharmaceuticals for more than $7 billion, in a move to expand its presence in U.S. and Eastern European markets.

AFP - The United States and European Union took aim at emerging economies at crucial WTO trade talks on Monday, warning them to open up their markets if the seven-year Doha Round is to succeed.

AFP - The European Commission condemned Bulgaria Wednesday for its failure to tackle corruption and bad management of EU funds and said it has frozen hundreds of millions of euros in aid money.

AFP - The pound briefly rebounded following the weak euro zone survey, before coming back under pressure on concerns about the outlook for the economy.

AFP - The European Commission proposed new measures Thursday for supervising credit rating agencies, which have been blamed for contributing to world financial turmoil.