EUROPEAN UNION

The Chinese government has announced a slew of measures to combat rising commodity prices, including boosting agricultural production and stabilizing supply of products and fertilizers.

Italy has been asked by the European Union (EU) to pay up for an Elton John concert in Naples in 2009 after questions over the use of funds from the developmental aid granted for Campania.

As early as the 1980s, fault lines began to appear in Europe's economy and the global financial crisis tore them wide open. Now, Europe perhaps faces its greatest economic challenges since WWII.

President Barack Obama on Friday praised the steps Portugal Prime Minister Jose Socrates is taking to reduce his nation's budget deficit and debt.

The Central Asian nation of Turkmenistan has promised to supply natural gas for the proposed Nabucco pipeline -- a project that could allow European Union (EU) countries to rely less on Russian energy in the future.

The government of Ireland has stated that it will not raise the country's low corporation tax rate in exchange for a bailout from the European Union (EU), amidst speculation that France and Germany want the tax rate increased.

The Greek government submitted a revised 2011 budget to the Parliament on Thursday, pledging to prune deficit to 7.4 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP), ensuring substantial bailout fund will flow without hiccups from the IMF and the ECB.However, desperate measures to squeeze through the tough austerity net might still not keep the threat of an eventual debt restructuring out of the door, analysts have said.

Futures on the S&P 500 gained 11.80 points to 1,189.30, futures on the Dow Jones Industrial Average are up 87.00 points to 11,082.00 and Nasdaq100 futures are up 25.50 points to 2,122.50.

Ireland is “inching closer” to some kind of bailout package from the European Union (EU) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), according to Jan Randolph, director of sovereign risk at HIS Global Insight in London.

Registration of European passenger cars slumped by 16.6 percent in October against the numbers recorded in the corresponding period a year ago

The next tranche of aid for Greece will be delayed until January, after the data from the country is released, according to Austrian finance minister.

Ireland is open to talks with the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over a bailout program for its failed banks, EU Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn said after a Tuesday night meeting of eurozone finance ministers and officials in Brussels.

Stocks plunged on concerns that Ireland might need a bailout from the European Union/IMF and a slowdown in China may hurt its demand for commodities.

U.S. stocks are sliding on fears over inflation in Asia and the growing likelihood that Ireland’s battered economy may need a cash bailout from the European Union (EU).

The European Union (EU) cannot survive if it fails to solve the debt crisis plaguing the continent, warned EU president Herman Van Rompuy.

Annual inflation in the European Union rose during October, for both the euro area and the EU, according to a report by the Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union

Debt-stricken Greece announced on Monday its budget deficit will contract to 9.4 percent of the GDP this year and said the country has been able to manage a much greater pruning of its deficit than initially calculated, immediately after the European Union Statistical agency revised upwards the country's 2009 deficit to 15. 4 percent.

The euroarea reported a trade surplus for the month of September, according to a report by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union.

Japan will start free trade talks with the European Union next spring, alarmed by the head start made by its main manufacturing rival in Asia, South Korea, which signed a pact with the European bloc last month.

Ireland's grip on the slippery debt-mired track is giving way fast as bond yields widened to a level with Greece’s before Athens went broke and was bailed out, fueling speculation that the country could be soon looking for international financial assistance.

Aid to developing nations is not a major issue at the G-20 Summit, but at least one NGO says it should be.