EUROPEAN UNION

Search giant Google said it has revised its search algorithm to filter bad sites after a New York Times article exposed how an online merchant manipulated Google to get publicity for his website.

Economic growth in the euro zone slowed down in the third quarter, according to the first estimate by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Despite the recent frenetic declarations by Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero that Spain does not need a bailout, the bond markets strongly disagree with him as traders continue to unload Spanish (as well as Portuguese and Italian) bonds, driving up the financing costs for the nation’s lenders to all-time highs.

The force of political will binding together a seemingly crumbling euro zone is still strong, but the imperatives of domestic economic realignments could force members to an exit option, analysts have said; and the road out of the bloc doesn’t exactly look daunting.

Internet search company Google Inc on Tuesday said it has signed a deal with the European Patent Office (EPO) to use the company’s technology to translate patents into 29 European languages that will pave the way for a simplified European patent system.

The European Commission has decided to probe Google Inc. after complaints by search service providers about unfavourable treatment of their services in Google's search results along with an alleged preferential placement of Google's own services.

After enjoying nearly two decades of an unprecedented economic prosperity at home, many Irish are now seeking to leave for greener pastures elsewhere as the nation finds itself on the brink of an economic collapse.

Unemployment in the euro area rose marginally in October for the first time in 6 months, according to a report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Stocks fell, but finished significantly above intra-day lows, as the market recovered somewhat from early losses triggered by renewed fears that the euro zone debt crisis could spread beyond Ireland to Portugal and Spain.

Futures on major U.S. indices point to flat opening on Monday as the European Union’s 85 billion euro ($113 billion) financial assistance package for Ireland failed to boost investor sentiment.

Passengers traveling by water in the European Union countries will now be able to enjoy similar traveling rights as those who travel by air or rail, the European Commission said.

The European Union (EU) has lifted visa requirements for tourists from Taiwan under the EU visa-waiver program, and the move is expected to increase the number of arrivals from Taiwan by at least 30 percent.

While the process of relaxation of visa rules between Russia and European Union appears to be stuck in a limbo, one of Europe’s leading tour operator, Thomas Cook, joins hands with Russia’s Intourist to get a foothold in the Russian tourism market.

Stocks tumbled in a holiday-shortened session on worries over threats of war by North Korea and pervasive fears that the euro zone sovereign debt crisis may spread to Spain and Portugal. Apparently, traders saw little solace in what appears to be shaping up as a strong Black Friday on the retail front.

Standard & Poor’s said it cut its long-term sovereign credit rating on the Republic of Ireland to 'A' from 'AA-' and its short-term rating to 'A-1' from 'A-1+'.

Performance of the US dollar, Europe's periphery issues, inflation in developing world, consumption by developed ones, and of late, tensions in Korean peninsula- a lot of things are weighing on oil. The net result in recent weeks was positive for the greenback and therefore negative for oil. Still, the commodity is set to end this week with a positive note despite losing more than a dollar from its intra-week high by Friday. So, what is the trend? Where is oil heading?

The European Commission announced plans on Thursday to ban trading credits related to certain industrial gases from its Emissions Trading System (ETS) starting from 2013.

Precious metals and euro dropped on Friday as European periphery worries intensified, helping safe-haven interest into the US dollar. EUR/USD touched a fresh 2-month low.

The European Union is attempting to find alternate sources of rare earth mineral after China's exports of the mineral fell drastically last month.

Germany's argument for a policy to make private investors pick up part of the bill for any future bailouts won support from France as more European countries seem to require financial aid.

After nearly a 17-year long wait, Russia could finally be a member of the World Trade Organization by 2011, as it finally reached a deal with European Union, the last opposing member, on Wednesday.