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Ireland's government moved on Monday to quash speculation it would be forced to seek a second EU-IMF bailout and said it would make a tentative return to international debt markets in the final quarter of next year.

The euro slipped and world stocks were stuck on Monday with fears of a Greek debt default undimmed and U.S. and UK market holidays keeping many investors on the sidelines.

The idea that a Greek debt restructuring could be carried out in an orderly way is a fairytale, European Central Bank board member Lorenzo Bini Smaghi said in an interview published on Monday.

European Union and IMF officials are expected to deliver their verdict this week on Greece's faltering drive to bring its budget deficit under control, but ordinary Greeks have warned that their patience is running thin.

European and IMF officials are expected to deliver their verdict this week on Greece's faltering drive to bring its budget deficit under control, but ordinary Greeks have warned that their patience is running thin.

Faced with a legal and media onslaught, Dominique Strauss-Kahn is pulling together a crack team of investigators, former spies and media advisers to fight back against charges he sexually assaulted a hotel chambermaid.

Ireland may have to ask for another loan from the European Union and International Monetary Fund because it will struggle to return to debt markets to raise funds next year, a government minister said on Sunday.

Greece's hopes of averting default dimmed on Saturday as fears grew the country may have missed fiscal targets set by its lenders while euro zone policymakers bickered on how to respond to the deepening crisis.

Greece has missed all fiscal targets agreed under its bailout plan, a mission from an international inspection team found, putting further funding for Athens at risk, according to a German magazine.

Gold futures advanced on Friday as deepening concern over Greece debt default spurred demand for the metal as a safe haven investment.

Pushing Mexico’s bid for IMF chief, Luis Moreno, president of the Inter-American Development Bank told Reuters on Thursday that next IMF chief deserves to be from Latin America.

Stocks fell on Thursday following a rise in weekly jobless claims that added to concerns about an impending economic slowdown, while Goldman Sachs lowered its forecast for the S&P 500 index.

The G8 summit of industrialized nation’s leaders this week could transform the Middle East economies with financial efforts to win back investors' confidence.

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday said that any decision on who should head the International Monetary Fund should be made through democratic consultation.

India is talking with other emerging nations to build support for a common candidate for a developing economy to be the next head of the International Monetary Fund, with Mexico's Central bank chief being a possibility, said two government sources, reported Reuters.

Christine Lagarde is an unconventional but highly successful French politician.

The next chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will likely be one of two candidates, France Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (who has officially announced her interest in the job) and Mexico’s central bank governor Agustin Carstens, who is also lobbying for the sought-after position.

Two French women are filing official complaints against a government minister they accused of sexual harassment, a report said.

Gold rose to a record high for the third consecutive session on Wednesday as deepening concern over Europe's sovereign debt crisis spurred demand for the metal as a safe haven investment.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced on Wednesday that she will be seeking to lead the International Monetary Fund.

Top emerging economies joined forces to slam Europe's obsolete grip on the IMF's top job, even as France's finance minister appeared to strengthen her lead in the race to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou efforts to impose more austerity measures on his already-beleaguered nation struck a roadblock when key government figures said they would not back any further spending cuts or tax hikes.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's DNA was found on the clothes of a New York maid who accused the former IMF chief for sexual assault.

Investigators have found matching DNA of former IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn with the clothes of the hotel maid who accused him of attempted rape.

Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suffered a heart attack and underwent an operation in Texas on Monday.

A poll conducted after former IMF chief Strauss-Kahn was arrested in New York on attempted rape charges which he denies, shows Nicolas Sarkozy losing by a sizeable margin to either of the likely left-wing challengers -- Francois Hollande or Martine Aubry, reported Reuters.

Aren't you at all curious about who's behind this lynching by media scam? This is an all-out, no-holds-barred, steel-cage, take-down. The big boys save that kind of action for the worst offenders, that is, for the insiders who have broken Omerta or wandered off the reservation. Even Bernie Madoff was allowed to stay in his $7 million Park Avenue penthouse.

According to reports in the French website Atlantico.fr, DNA samples taken in the sexual assault charge confirmed traces of his sperm on a dress worn by the hotel chambermaid who was allegedly raped by the former boss of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

A small group of French activists have organized an Internet campaign to send roses to the woman who has accused former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn of attempting to rape her in New York.