EUROPEAN UNION

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The International Atomic Energy Agency -- the United Nations' atomic watchdog -- said that Iran has started enriching uranium at a fortified underground site in Fordow, near the city of Qom.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is taking a tour of Latin America this week. He makes stops in Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba and Ecuador, but not Brazil.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Greece on Monday it would not be possible to give further aid without rapid progress on its second rescue package, including a voluntary write-down on Greek debt held by private creditors.

The German and French leaders meet on Monday to discuss ways to boost growth in euro zone states struggling to overcome the sovereign debt crisis and rising unemployment, and finalise a deal to increase fiscal coordination within the currency union.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said Sunday he would veto a European-wide financial transaction tax unless it was adopted globally, deepening a confrontation with European Union heavyweights France and Germany.

Counting container ships plying the high seas and air cargo takeoffs is one way to track the outlook for the global economy. Both measures point to weak growth in the months ahead but no severe storms.

Hungary is willing to discuss any issues at talks with the International Monetary Fund from which it wants to secure a funding deal, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Sunday.

Iran's underground uranium-enrichment facility will begin operations soon, a senior official was quoted by Iranian media on Sunday as saying, The move is likely to boost tension between the Islamic state and the West over Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

Joerg Asmussen, a European Central Bank executive board member, wants ECB policy makers to show unity when dealing with the public, according to a newspaper report released on Saturday.

ECB Executive Board member Joerg Asmussen wants European Central Bank policymakers to show unity when dealing with the public, according to a newspaper report released on Saturday.

Western powers this week readied a contingency plan to tap a record volume from emergency stockpiles to replace nearly all the Gulf oil that would be lost if Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, industry sources and diplomats told Reuters.

Iranian naval forces have reportedly completed a 10-day series of exercises near the Strait.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti warned the European Union on Friday not to let divisions over managing its debt crisis blow up into serious splits, and President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that a euro collapse could trigger instability.

American Airlines, US Airways, and United Continental have all joined Delta in adding a $3 surcharge to fares purchased in the United States for flights to Europe in response to the EU's new Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).

The husband of jailed former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko won political asylum in the Czech Republic Friday, as he and Tymoshenko's party said the government launched a criminal investigation against him, the Associated Press reported.

As the Iranian rial hits all-time lows against the United States dollar in the wake of imposed international sanctions, Iranians seek safer havens in more global currencies like gold, according to a leading economist at the National Commercial Bank in Saudi Arabia.

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Economic sanctions don't seem to deter a defiant Iran. In a move that would further escalate tensions in the Strait of Hormuz, Iran has announced its plans for more naval exercises in February.

On signs that the U.S. economy is back on track and tensions with Iran may lead to further disturbance in exports in the Middle East countries, crude oil futures headed for a weekly gain in New York. Futures of West Texas Intermediate have surged 3.4 percent this week.

A rating downgrade on Friday left Hungary's debt rated junk across the board, underscoring investors' doubts about the government's willingness to change its controversial policies in return for aid to stave off a financial crisis.