EUROPEAN UNION

Joerg Asmussen, a European Central Bank executive board member, wants ECB policy makers to show unity when dealing with the public, according to a newspaper report released on Saturday.

ECB Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen wants European Central Bank policymakers to show unity when dealing with the public, according to a newspaper report released on Saturday.

Western powers this week readied a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles to replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, industry sources and diplomats told Reuters.

Iranian naval forces have reportedly completed a 10-day series of exercises near the Strait.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned the European Union on Friday not to let divisions over managing its debt crisis blow up into serious splits, and President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that a euro collapse could trigger instability.

American Airlines, US Airways, and United Continental have all joined Delta in adding a $3 surcharge to fares purchased in the United States for flights to Europe in response to the EU's new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The husband of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko won political asylum in the Czech Republic Friday, as he and Tymoshenko's party said the government launched a criminal investigation against him, the Associated Press reported.

As the Iranian rial hits all-time lows against the United States dollar in the wake of imposed international sanctions, Iranians seek safer havens in more global currencies like gold, according to a leading economist at the National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia.

Roma children are typically used by adult gang-masters to beg and pickpocket in teams

Economic sanctions don't seem to deter a defiant Iran. In a move that would further escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has announced its plans for more naval exercises in February.

On signs that the U.S. economy is back on track and tensions with Iran may lead to further disturbance in exports in the Middle East countries, crude oil futures headed for a weekly gain in New York. Futures of West Texas Intermediate have surged 3.4 percent this week.

A rating downgrade on Friday left Hungary's debt rated junk across the board, underscoring investors' doubts about the government's willingness to change its controversial policies in return for aid to stave off a financial crisis.

The new head of Europe's drugs watchdog said on Friday there was an acute need to tighten regulations on medical devices, adding to pressure for radical change in the wake of a global scandal over French-made breast implants.

European Central Bank policymaker Athanasios Orphanides called for Eurozone leaders to abandon plans to make private sector investors help reduce Greece's debts - a move likely to get little traction with the currency bloc's paymaster, Germany.

Stocks firmed on Friday on hopes that U.S. jobs data due later in the day will show a stronger outlook for the world's biggest economy, but the euro hit a 16-month low on worries over the region's economic health and further debt sales due next week.

Malawi in East Africa is one of the poorest nations on earth, with more than 50 percent of the population living in poverty.

After more than a month of posturing, Iran said it's ready to restart nuclear talks with the European Union, adding that Turkey would be the best place for a dialog.

China's airline companies are refusing to pay a new European Union carbon tax when traveling to airports on the continent.

A new decline in the value of the Euro could hit major U.S. technology exporters which dodged the bullet in the fourth quarter. Companies included HP, IBM, Oracl;e and Cisco Systems.

Major U.S. technology companies, which derive the majority of their revenue from abroad, with between 25 percent and 33 percent overall from Europe, have warned about potential fallout from the Eurozone crisis since last July.

Prior to Sein’s ascension, Burma was ruled by brutal military dictatorships for more than fifty years.