European finance ministers are considering making banks take bigger losses on Greek debt and have postponed a vital aid payment to Athens until mid-November, setting up a crunch point in the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis.
World stocks hit a fresh 15-month low on Tuesday and the dollar rose to a nine-month peak as fears over a major banking crisis in Europe mounted along with expectations Greece could soon default, accelerating a global economic slowdown.
As American student Amanda Knox's court appeal ends, exasperated residents of Perugia wish for a return to the days when the Italian town was known for chocolate, art and history rather a sex and drugs scene made notorious by the murder case.
World stocks hit a fresh 15-month low on Tuesday while the dollar neared a nine-month peak on growing doubts over Greece's ability to avert a default that would spark a major banking crisis in Europe and accelerate a global economic slowdown.
Euro zone finance ministers and officials were meeting on Monday to discuss the European Financial Stability Facility bailout fund and the economic situation in Greece.
The Greek debt crisis is getting worse rather than better, Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Monday as he urged European leaders to take clear and decisive action to avoid a banking meltdown.
Gold prices jumped Monday as growing pessimism over Europe's finance's drove investors out of stocks, the euro and industrial commodities and into the U.S. dollar and the yellow metal.
Gold prices climbed more than 2 percent Monday, its third daily gain in a row, as Greece's draft budget confirmed the widely held vew that default is inevitable offset.
Greece's admission that it will miss its deficit targets this year and next despite harsh new austerity measures sent stock markets reeling on Monday and raised new doubts over a planned second international bailout.
Greece will miss a deficit target set just months ago in a massive bailout package, according to government draft budget figures released on Sunday, showing that drastic steps taken to avert bankruptcy may not be enough.
Iran said on Saturday that Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was sentenced to death for rape, not for the crime of abandoning Islam.
Greece will most likely receive the next tranche of the EU/IMF bailout loan in October, Austria's Finance Minister Maria Fekter was quoted telling German newspaper Welt am Sonntag on Sunday.
Greece was expected to unveil its plan on Sunday to begin laying off state workers, the most contentious part of a reform package demanded by the EU and IMF to free up loans and stave off bankruptcy.
Greek officials held talks on Saturday with European Union and International Monetary Fund negotiators to free up urgently needed bailout loans, but the government and the lenders were reported to be at odds.
European Union (EU) plans to put a charge on carbon emissions from airlines are discriminatory and inconsistent with global laws, a meeting of a UN aviation body and non-EU member nations has agreed, an Indian government statement said on Friday.
European countries must act decisively to resolve the Eurozone debt crisis or risk having some member states forced out of the single currency, China's top newspaper said in a front-page commentary Saturday.
U.S. stocks concluded the third quarter on a bad note. For the quarter, the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 1,500.96 points, or 12.09 percent, its worst performance since the first quarter of 2009.
The rand fell against the dollar on Friday and looked set for its worst quarter in over two years as investors trim exposure to risk going into a weekend, remaining unconvinced that the euro region's debt crisis will be solved.
Although the global economy is struggling to avert a recession, we also know that central banks are working very hard to provide sufficient liquidity to ensure a smooth ride through year-end.
The imminent execution of an Iranian pastor, Youcef Nadarkhani, for the crime of apostasy (converting from Islam to Christianity) has prompted the wave of outrage and concern around the globe:
Gold prices gained steadily if modestly Friday as demand from India and bargain hunting offset a resumption of investor flight to dollar liquidity.
This year's Nobel Peace Prize -- to be announced in a week -- will be as interesting as the ones awarded to Barack Obama and Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee told Reuters Thursday.
