PORTUGAL

The European Union (EU) cannot survive if it fails to solve the debt crisis plaguing the continent, warned EU president Herman Van Rompuy.

On Friday at the G20 summit, finance ministers of France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Britain issued a joint statement saying the holders of any existing euro zone government debt are safe from regulatory changes that would force them to take on additional losses.

The economy grew 0.4 percent in the Euroarea and the EU27 in the third quarter, a little lesser than expectations, according to a report by Eurostat.

Greece's budget problems are far from over, as its deficit is likely to have narrowed much less sharply than the Government had predicted, Capital Economics said in a note. Greece will now come under heavy pressure to implement an even more draconian fiscal squeeze, Ben May, a European economist with Capital Economics, said.

The world's rich countries need to extend initiatives to boost spending and support employment to fix a dire labor market that could threaten entire societies, the International Monetary Fund said on Monday.

Mozambique's capital Maputo got back to work on Friday after two days of rioting, triggered by a sharp hike in bread prices, which the government said left seven dead, 288 injured and millions of dollars of damage.

The European Central Bank extended its liquidity safety net for vulnerable euro zone banks into next year, delaying its exit from crisis measures for now as it urged caution about the economic recovery.

The European Central Bank held interest rates at a record low on Thursday and extended its liquidity safety-net in response to a lopsided recovery and worries about vulnerable banks.

The European Central Bank held interest rates at a record low on Thursday and is expected to keep its liquidity safety-net for banks in place as well amid a lopsided recovery and worries about vulnerable banks.

The European Central Bank is expected to extend its liquidity safety-net on Thursday, delaying its exit from crisis support as policymakers confront a lopsided euro zone recovery and vulnerable banks in perimeter countries.

European economic growth accelerated sharply in the second quarter of 2010 as Germany's best performance since reunification more than made up for the struggles of Spain, Ireland and recession-ravaged Greece.

Nationalized German lender Hypo Real Estate , which failed a pan-European stress test in July, expects to complete the planned move of around $270 billion of toxic assets into a bad bank during the fourth quarter.

Illegal drug use in Australia cost the nation $3.8 billion every year, says Professor Paul Wilson, an Australian criminologist.

And it was not Portugal banks which had pawned its gold to tide over the economic crisis. A few weeks ago when Portugal and Greece were facing severe financial crisis, a mysterious gold swap by undisclosed central banks with Bank for International Settlements had sparked rumours that Portugal and Greece banks were on the verge of collapse and they had pawned their gold.

Employment, it turns out, may not be such a laggard after all.

French financial holding firm Eurazeo said on Saturday it is in exclusive talks to sell its B&B Hotels chain to U.S. private equity firm the Carlyle Group.

Gold firmed in Europe on Thursday as some buyers were tempted back to the market by the precious metal's fall to three-month lows, while the weaker dollar also helped support prices. European investment remained lackluster as risk appetite sharpened, however, while the world's largest gold-backed exchange traded fund reported a hefty outflow on Wednesday.

Panic and fears over the future of US and European economies have become the best aphrodisiacs for gold, which has been in an uncertain zone for the past few weeks.

The global bullion market is now looking at Greece for a further boost to lift its spirit as officials from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) conduct a fiscal checkup required before the country gets its second loan instalment in mid-September.

There is good news for the economies in Europe as the European bank stress test passed off without much problems. However, this good news has become a pain for gold prices as the stability in EU economy is set to hit the yellow metal in the international market.

Euro zone member Slovakia will have strong reasons to reconsider its help to indebted euro group member Greece, the Eurogroup Chairman Jean-Claude Juncker was quoted as saying.