GERMANY

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads for a summit of world leaders this week having strengthened his president's hand by rolling out key pieces of a U.S. financial rescue plan.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner heads for a summit of world leaders this week having strengthened his president's hand by rolling out key pieces of a U.S. financial rescue plan.

President Barack Obama headed to Europe on Tuesday with a hefty agenda for tackling the economic crisis and seeking support for his new Afghanistan strategy on a trip that will test his global leadership.

Stocks fell sharply on Monday as the Obama administration raised the specter of bankruptcy for U.S. automakers General Motors and Chrysler and Spain had to rescue regional savings bank CCM.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a sharply lower open on Monday as the Obama administration threatened bankruptcy for two major U.S. automakers and Spain had to rescue regional savings bank CCM.

Thousands of people marched in Britain, France, Germany and Italy on Saturday to protest about the economic crisis and urge world leaders to act on poverty, jobs and climate change at a G20 summit next week.

Japan edged closer to deflation, highlighting a threat to the world economy before next week's G20 summit where Europe and the United States may clash over stimulus plans, but seek common ground on regulating the financial system.

Japan slipped to the brink of deflation and inflation in Europe slid closer to zero, underlining a threat to the world economy before next week's G20 summit which is supposed to produce a cure for the crisis.

Japan's Toshiba Corp and Sharp Corp said on Friday they are considering working together in the solar power business amid growing demand for cleaner energy, sending their shares higher.

Wall Street faces curbs on risk taking and the prospect of lower profits under sweeping U.S. proposals to prevent a repeat of the credit crisis.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday called for broad reforms to curb risk taking on Wall Street, including a new regulator to oversee the entire financial system in a bid to restrain behavior that led to the worst credit crisis since the 1930s.

Online social network Xing plans to more than double its number of members in German-speaking markets in the coming years as it expands in Europe and creates new jobs.

Social network MySpace and British telecoms provider BT will be among the first companies to offer a new type of Web domain for their users to manage their contact details live online.

Germany's cabinet agreed on Wednesday on a law authorizing the blocking of Internet pages containing child pornography to make it harder for criminals to profit from distributing the material.

Less than a year after rolling out what it called a free global jukebox, Last.fm is now doing away with free radio listening, except in the U.S, UK and Germany.

Social network MySpace and British telecoms provider BT will be among the first companies to offer a new type of Web domain for their users to manage their contact details live online.

German industrial company Siemens expects fiscal stimulus programs around the world to support sales of its green products, chief executive Peter Loescher told the Financial Times newspaper.

The default of Lehman Brothers bank shows communication at clearing houses could be improved, a report from a pan-EU market watchdog said on Monday.

The United States has told NATO allies it will back Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next head of the alliance, NATO diplomats and a U.S. source said on Saturday.

German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said on Saturday he was talking to potential investors in troubled German carmaker Opel, rejecting a media report saying there was not yet any serious bidder.

European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide 75 billion euros ($103 billion) in new loans to the International Monetary Fund as part of a G20 effort to boost the lender's firepower for fighting global recession.