EUROPEAN UNION

India replaced China as the top purchaser of Iranian oil in the first quarter of 2012, and has been trading wheat and grains for fuel.

Adding to Mali’s insurmountable problems is the threat of civil war, prompted by an insurgency in the north by the minority Tuareg people.

Trade growth is expected to slow for a second year in 2012 amid severe downside risks that could push it even further below the 20-year average of 5.4 percent, the Geneva-based body forecast Thursday.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to visit Myanmar, also known as Burma, on Friday, making him the first Western head of state to set foot on its soil in more than half a century.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed unexpectedly in February as exports hit a record high, imports from China and other key suppliers declined and oil import volume fell to the lowest in 15 years, a government report showed on Thursday.

Iran has stopped oil exports to Germany and declared a ban on imports from 100 European Union companies in retaliation to the EU embargo on Iranian crude imports which will come into force in July, the Press TV has reported.

The delay in resolving the crisis situation of Italian nationals being detained and held hostages on Indian soil may have something to do with India's ruling coalition United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Chairperson Sonia Gandhi's Italian roots.

The snap general election is expected to test Greek resolve for punishing austerity measures, and gives the parties just 24 days to prepare.

After ending exports to Spain and Greece, Iran continued with its counter-sanctions against the European Union on Wednesday by cutting oil exports to Germany.

Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is expected to meet with President Karolos Papoulias later Wednesday to dissolve parliament and set a date for watershed elections, which are set to test Greek resolve for punishing austerity measures.

Prices of goods imported into the U.S. rose more than forecast in March, driven by higher prices in fuel and non-fuel sectors, a government report showed Wednesday.

Iranian minister for Information and Communications Technology, Reza Taghipour, denied news reports about the government's plan to block the Internet and deny millions of people access to the World Wide Web. However, despite the denial, there is no proof that Tehran has shelved its plans to establish a national network to replace the free Internet

Iran has stopped oil exports to Spain in retaliation to the European Union ban on Iranian crude imports that comes into force in July, the Mehr News Agency has reported, citing sources familiar with the situation.

Iran has enough funds to withstand a total embargo on its oil sales for two to three years, Iranian media quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as saying days before the resumption of talks with world powers on Tehran's nuclear program.

Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff said she used an official visit to President Obama to press her concern that monetary policy pursued by the U.S. and Europe was inhibiting Brazil's economic growth.

Former KGB chief Leonid Tibilov was named the president of South Ossetia, a breakaway republic within the nation of Georgia, on Sunday.

Millions of Internet users in Iran will be permanently denied access to the World Wide Web and cut off from popular social networking sites and email services, as the government has announced its plans to establish a national Intranet within five months.

The United States and its allies are pressing for an end to Iran's high-level uranium enrichment and the closure of a facility built deep under a mountain as talks on Tehran's nuclear standoff with the West resume this week.

Recent satellite images show that North Korea's preparations for the launch are moving forward, and the rocket will soon be built inside the already constructed launch tower.

The suicide of a 77-year-old pensioner outside of Greece's parliament has become a symbol of the nation's pain after an economic crisis brought on a host of austerity cuts and caused protests in Athens.

A pharmacist ought to be able to live comfortably on his pension. So for him to reach the point of suicide out of economic hardship means a lot. It shows how the social fabric is unraveling, an activist in Athens said.