AP - The jobless rate in the 16 nations that use the euro surged to 9.2 percent in April, the highest level in almost a decade, the EU statistics office says.

AP - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown once promised he'd lead the world out of its economic crisis. Now he's fighting to save his job.

AP - European stock markets were mostly higher Thursday following two days of losses as investors awaited a press briefing from the head of the European Central Bank after it decided to keep interest rates on hold.

AP - The finance minister pulled back on Russia's aspirations for the ruble to emerge as a regional reserve currency in the near future, saying Saturday it would likely first happen in China.

Reuters - EU states began the final day of voting in a European Parliament election on Sunday which is expected to embarrass national governments struggling to combat the effects of the global economic crisis.

Reuters - European leaders pledged to steer the region through economic crisis after center-right parties tightened their grip on the European Parliament in an election that drew a record low turnout of voters.

AFP - German exports marked the biggest drop on record in April, official statistics showed on Tuesday, though analysts expect the historic slump in Europe's biggest economy to ease in coming months.

AP - Finance officials from the Group of Eight industrialized nations have agreed to ask the International Monetary Fund to study ways to unwind hefty stimulus packages once an economic recovery is certain.

AFP - The British economy is stabilising but growth will not return until the beginning of 2010, and then it will still be slow, the country's leading business lobby group said Monday.

AP - Leaders from Central Asia, China and Afghanistan join Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday at a summit that underscores Moscow's determination to maintain influence in its backyard and seek a stronger voice in global economic issues.

AP - The Kremlin's top economic adviser says Russia may put part of its currency reserves in bonds issued by Brazil, China and India.

AP - The Group of Eight industrialized nations began looking ahead to economic recovery on Saturday, as they considered how to unwind their massive stimulus policies while also warning it was too early to celebrate the end of the global crisis.

AFP - World powers pushed for sweeping financial reforms to prevent another crisis Thursday, with EU leaders set to join Washington in calling for tough new controls despite British reservations.

AFP - Britain won assurances at an EU summit that new pan-European financial authorities will not be able to force governments to make emergency bank bailouts, according to draft conclusions.

AFP - European nations need to find a 'credible exit strategy' for their public finances as the aid shelled out to shore up banks could reach 16.5 percent of GDP, an EU report warned Tuesday.

AP - European stock markets rose modestly Wednesday following gains in Asia as investors looked for direction from the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy statement due later in the day.

AP - The BBC says it will publish the salaries of its top executives, amid a clamor in Britain for more openness about how taxpayers' money is spent.

AP - The U.S. has announced a new drug policy for opium-rich Afghanistan, saying it was phasing out funding for eradication efforts and using the money for drug interdiction and alternate crop programs instead.

AP - The European Central Bank is expected to keep its key interest rate unchanged on Thursday and cautiously note some signs that the economy of the 16 countries that share the euro is stabilizing following unprecedented liquidity injections and big declines in the cost of borrowing.

AFP - Britain's recession-battered economy shrank at its fastest pace in more than 50 years during the first quarter of 2009 in the worst global slowdown in decades, revised official data showed on Tuesday.