EUROPEAN UNION

The rally in global equities took a breather on Wednesday while the dollar hovered near its 2009 lows with two major central banks' policy meetings and key U.S. labor data looming.

One third of European Union citizens say they have never used the Internet, compared with 40 percent in 2007, an EU study showed on Tuesday.

The European Union (EU) said on Monday it'd levy 24% anti-dumping duty on China's steel and wire rod for a period of five years.

Microsoft has offered to let users choose their own browser and provide more interoperability information to third parties in a bid to resolve two antitrust cases, EU regulators said on Friday.

World stocks clung close to nine-month highs on Wednesday with some profit taking in Europe keeping a lid on further gains and cautious words from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke dampening sentiment.

Production of biodiesel in the European Union rose by more than 35 percent in 2008 and capacity will grow again this year although half the plants are idle due to poor demand, the EU producers group said on Wednesday.

The European Parliament elected ex-Polish Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek as its president on Tuesday, making him the first leader from a former Soviet bloc country to hold one of the top European Union posts.

The European Union plans to finalise a $100 billion trade pact with South Korea by the end of the year, the prime minister of EU president Sweden said on Monday.

European Union regulators unveiled draft plans on Wednesday to force short sellers of stocks to publicly disclose significant positions in a bid to crack down on those who abuse the market.

The European Central Bank siphoned off a record amount of overnight cash from overstuffed money markets on Tuesday, although banks continued to soak up the money it is simultaneously shovelling in over the longer term.

The European Central Bank kept euro zone interest rates at 1.0 percent on Thursday, bolstering expectations they will stay there well into next year, and said it would start buying bonds next week.

The European Central Bank left its main refinancing interest rate unchanged at a record low of 1.0 percent on Thursday, as expected by analysts.

Making a telephone call, sending a text message or reading emails on a mobile phone from across the European Union will cost less from Wednesday.

The European Union is expected to take a key step towards the Lisbon Treaty becoming law across the continent this week when Germany's highest court rules that the new treaty is broadly compatible with German's constitution.

The dollar recovered a little ground on Monday after falling late last week on a renewed call by China for a super-sovereign reserve currency, and stocks traded just below the top of recent ranges.

An unexpected jump in U.S. durable goods orders last month backed hopes the economy was healing, a prospect cautiously supported by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday.

An unexpected jump in U.S. durable goods orders last month backed hopes that the economy was healing, but news from the hard-hit housing market remained mixed.

Tensions in Iran have added to risks facing the world economy and underline the need for strengthening the global financial system, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Sunday.

There is no room for governments that have borrowed billions to fight the economic crisis to accumulate more debt, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Sunday.

A deal reached by European Union leaders broke a deadlock on bank supervision reform on Friday, overcoming British reservations, but leaving much detail still be worked out in practice.

European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to tighten financial supervision and create pan-European watchdogs to help prevent another global economic crisis.