EUROPEAN UNION

With the call for a fresh round of snap elections to the Hellenic Parliament appearing closer by the hour, European central bankers are getting ready for the possibility Greece may depart the euro zone.

Athens and Paris have rebelled against Berlin-inspired austerity, but Dublin has taken the harsh medicine dutifully -- and, unlike its testy European peers, grimly borne budget cuts and tax hikes with minimal protest. That may be about to change.

Euro-zone paymaster Germany may be willing to consider additional measures to promote growth in Greece, but the Hellenic Republic must still carry out its previously agreed reforms, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said in an interview with Welt am Sonntag this weekend.

A new poll will have to be called if parties cannot reach a consensus by next Thursday, as the risk of Greece's exit from the euro looms closer.

Papoulias's office said the president will meet Venizelos on Saturday.

The Spanish government agreed Friday to an independent audit of the holdings of its banking sector, as requested by the European Union. It also said that banks would be required to set aside more cash in the face of losses from toxic loans, as the country's economy teeters from high unemployment and weak economic output, and also offered high-interest loans for weaker lenders.

A political deadlock would result in new snap elections sometime next month -- thereby creating even more anger and concern among Greece?s nervous lenders, particularly Germany.

Asian shares retreated Friday, spooked by JPMorgan's $2 billion loss from a failed hedging strategy, with investors warily watching political turmoil in the euro zone as they await new Chinese data for clues on its growth outlook.

?The moment of truth is approaching for everyone,? said Kouvelis.

The government is also permitting about 500 foreign observers, including 120 from the European Union, to monitor the elections.

Officials of India's drug regulator have been colluding with pharmaceutical firms to speed up approval procedures, allowing some drugs that are not permitted in other countries to go on sale, according to an 18-month investigation by lawmakers.

The price of U.S. imports fell 0.5 percent in April, a decrease driven by lower declining natural gas prices, while the price of U.S. exports rose 0.4 percent, according to a Department of Labor report Thursday.

Venizelos, the former finance minister, said he will ?explore all possibilities? in his quest to create an alliance with rival parties, including ND, Syriza and the Democratic Left.

Asian markets fell Thursday as weak exports data from China and concerns surrounding Greece and Spain dampened sentiments.

Spain stepped up efforts to save its troubled banks on Thursday with a plan to make them recognize huge losses from a property crash, but uncertainty over the final cost of a rescue hit the euro, Spanish debt and global stock markets.

German exports unexpectedly rose for the third straight month in March as demand from outside the euro zone offset weaker sales within the currency bloc, prompting economists to predict that Europe?s biggest economy will escape recession.

A Greek sovereign default has always been a talismanic scare for the euro stakeholders. It would put the common currency under the greatest pressure since its creation, and shake the foundations of the currency bloc.

If in any case MySpace lasts for the next 20 years, you can count on one group watching them do it -- The federal government. The social networking site will be kept a close eye on by the third-party observer for the duration of 20 years.

Tsipras has only three days to form a new unity government.

Samaras? party ?won? Sunday?s election, but with only about 18.9 percent of the total electorate, meaning he had to form an alliance with one or two other parties to create a viable new government.

Socialist Francois Hollande will lead France after Nicolas Sarkozy got ousted by voters fed up with austerity. In Greece, the far-left and far-right have made big gains. But it may not be time just yet to start worrying about the fate of the euro zone.