PORTUGAL

Outside the US and UK - where today's no change decision from the Bank of England left interest rates near 33-year lows beneath inflation - emerging economies are also flirting with sub-zero real rates of interest, Japanese investment bank Nomura's London office notes.

A day after Germany rejected the proposal to establish a common market for eurozone sovereign bonds, EU Economics and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn called for a coordinated action to repair the damage of the debt crisis afflicting the region.

Heavy snow blanketed French skies on Wednesday resulting in fresh traffic disruptions for European travelers after last week’s transport shutdown even as storm lashed Portugal and Spain.

A war is now raging in Europe. On one side are the forces of the corporate state led by Germany and France; on the other are the forces of free-market capitalism led by Britain.

The proposed common sovereign bond for eurozone, if ever it materializes, will fall short of solving the region’s fiscal crisis, analysts have said.

German industrial production topped economists' expectations during October, a report by Destatis said, indicating the German economic recovery continues, contrary to fears of a slowdown.

The electric propulsion system of Nissan's all-electric car Leaf has been named among the 10 best engines for 2011 by Ward's AutoWorld magazine.

On an interview today with CNBC, famed investor and hedge fund manager Jim Rogers said some European countries should be allowed to go bankrupt so that they can restructure their debt without hurting other parties.

The euro currency might not survive the current sovereign debt crisis and may be in danger of collapse, according to Stephen Nickell, an economist at the independent Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) member and former Bank of England member.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is urging the European Union (EU) to expand the size of its rescue fund in the wake of weakening market performance in the euro zone’s peripheral members.

Despite a dovish Bernanke, EUR/USD's attempt to break above the upper limit of a downward channel from early November highs on the back of a weak non-farm payrolls data proved unsuccessful as debt-related worries of euro-zone continued to weigh on the single currency.

The crisis-hit peripheral countries have more of a 'solvency problem' than a liquidity problem and their public finances cannot be brought to order without leading to a deep and prolonged recession, as long as they are part of the eurozone, analysts have said.

A weaker-than-expected US jobs data on Friday forced investors to sell dollars and seek shelter in precious metals, helping silver and palladium post two-digit weekly rise and reach fresh multi-year highs in the week to December 3. An IB times study on gold and dollar index suggests investor interest to sell dollar for buying gold probably increased in the week.

Gold rose almost 2 percent on Friday, ending the week on $1,414 an ounce just a few dollars below the all-time record, as the dollar tumbled after disappointing jobs data cast doubt on the strength of the U.S. economic recovery.

Football fans needs not worry about securing visas ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia as Moscow is planning to scrap the requirement all together for match ticket-holders as well as footballers from the European Union.

Spot Gold jumped over $1400 per ounce in wholesale dealing on Friday in London, holding onto an earlier drop vs. the Euro as the single currency rose sharply on news of weaker than expected US jobs growth in November.

Nissan Motor Co.'s zero emission vehicle and the 100 percent electric car Nissan Leaf was awarded the title of European Car of the Year for 2011. Leaf, thus, becomes the first all-electric car to take the prestigious title.

With the current round of [US quantitative easing] set to end in June 2011, and our US economics team now forecasting strong US economic growth in 2011 and 2012, we expect US real interest rates to begin to rise into 2012, says a new bullion report from former investment-bank Goldman Sachs.

Russia and Qatar won the rights to host the FIFA World Cup finals for 2018 and 2022 respectively after FIFA's 22-member panel voted through a secret ballot at Zurich, Switzerland on Thursday.

The FIFA World Cup, the biggest tournament in soccer, will be headed to new regions as Russia won the 2018 bid on Thursday over rivals which included England and tiny emirate Qatar beat a group including the United States for the 2022 tournament.

The European Central Bank (ECB) left the benchmark rates unchanged for the 19th straight month, and said it would extend its longer-term liquidity tenders into the first quarter of 2011