AP - Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata PLC dropped its US$10 billion bid for British rival Lonmin PLC on Wednesday, saying the turmoil on the financial markets makes a takeover of the world's No. 3 platinum producer too risky.

AP - The European Central Bank is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady later Thursday as inflation fears outweigh the growing financial crisis.

AP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a raft of changes to the government Friday, bringing back some of the Labour Party's stalwarts in a comprehensive shake-up meant to sharpen focus on the economy.

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown will urge the early release of 12 billion pounds in funds committed to helping small business in Europe, when he meets with other European leaders Saturday.

AFP - European leaders have agreed to ask for the early release of 32 billion euros (25 billion pounds) in European funds to help small businesses weather the global finance crisis, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said.

AP - The European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank offered more than $60 billion to markets Monday to try to keep the financial sector flush with cash.

AP - Iceland's banks face a battle for survival Tuesday after government introduced emergency legislation to give itself sweeping new powers over its collapsing financial sector.

AP - The British government announced plans Wednesday to partially nationalize its major banks in a bid to restore economic stability.

AP - The United States on Thursday will push NATO allies to order their troops to target Afghanistan's thriving heroin trade in a bid to stem the flow of drug money to the widening insurgency against the troubled international military mission.

AFP - Lithuania's general election Sunday comes as storm clouds gather over the EU 'tiger' economy, with a long-running boom tailing off and grinding inflation hurting voters.

AP - Davey McKeever was down to his last bet slip of the night, crumpled in a sweaty fist, at the Shelbourne Park greyhound track. The remnants of McKeever's first unemployment check would rise or fall on the ironically named Nest Egg.

AP - If history is any guide, this year's Nobel economics prize will award the developers of economic theories that have had the time to take root, grow and prove resilient.

AP - Three of the largest British banks have announced plans to take up to $63 billion of government money to boost their balance sheets.

AFP - The European Commission has approved the government's a half-trillion-pound bank rescue plan intended to stabilise financial markets.

AP - Hungary's currency has crumbled. Stocks have plunged in Poland. Real estate prices have eroded by 40 percent in Estonia.

AFP - The European Commission will come up with proposals by the end of the year to help industry cope with slumping economic activity, according to draft conclusions of an EU summit on Thursday.

AP - Ukraine's feuding president and prime minister sought to calm fears Friday over the country's markets, which have been battered in the global financial meltdown, as negotiations continued for a multibillion dollar IMF rescue loan.

AP - After a decade of economic expansion, portents of a financial storm are gathering over Russia, from foundering banks to a Moscow skyline of idled construction cranes.

AP - Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko urged rival political forces Sunday to unite in the face of the global financial crisis and abandon plans for early parliamentary elections.

AP - Shares in ING Groep NV rebounded by 21 percent Monday after the Dutch government threw the bank and insurer a 10 billion euros ($13.4 billion) investment lifeline to strengthen its cash position and keep it from falling victim to the global financial crisis.

AFP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy proposed on Tuesday a meeting of EU leaders to prepare for a global summit next month on reforming the international financial system.

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown says the economic downturn will probably lead to a recession in the U.K.

AP - The president of the European Union Commission says unprecedented measures are needed to deal with the global financial meltdown.

AP - Construction cranes have stopped swinging and thousands of steel workers face layoffs as Ukraine braces for a severe economic downturn.

AFP - The 2012 London Olympics will help boost the British economy as it battles through current global economic chaos, the minister in charge of the games said in an interview Saturday.

AP - WASHINGTON AP) — Seeking to combat a spreading global financial crisis, the International Monetary Fund said Sunday it had reached a tentative agreement to provide Ukraine with $16.5 billion in loans over the next two years.

Reuters - Hungary has reached agreement with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union on a broad economic rescue package, including substantial financing, steadying its battered currency on Monday.

AP - Iceland's prime minister says his country needs about $6 billion in loans to recover from the financial meltdown.

AFP - The European Union confirmed on Wednesday that it was prepared to grant a 6.5 billion euro loan to Hungary, cautioning that the aid was linked to a 'strong commitment' by the Hungarian authorities to set up an adjustment programme.

AFP - Overall confidence in the European economy slumped in October to the lowest level since 1993 in the face of the worst financial crisis in generations, an EU survey signalled on Thursday.

AP - The euro dropped against the dollar on Friday after a report showed the U.S. economy contracting by a smaller margin than analysts had expected.