Britain's economy recorded its fastest annual growth since 2007 last year despite a bigger-than-expected slowdown in the final three months of 2014, giving a mixed message just 100 days before Britons go to the polls.
Europe
EU agrees $2 billion euros for Ukraine, to consider more
EU finance ministers agreed on Tuesday to loan Ukraine 1.8 billion euros ($2.0 billion) to help save it from bankruptcy, leaving open the option of increasing aid at a later stage.
S&P downgrades Russia's sovereign credit rating to 'junk'
Ratings agency S&P cut Russia's sovereign credit rating to junk status on Monday, bringing it below investment grade for the first time in a decade.
Oil tankers in the front line of Libya's two-government struggle
Oil shippers face higher costs and the possible loss of insurance cover on Libyan voyages, caught in a struggle between the rival governments there and threatened by air attacks.
Euro zone ready to work with Syriza, says Greece's problems remain
Euro zone finance ministers said they were ready to work with the new anti-bailout government Greek government, but warned the country that its deep economic problems had not changed because of an election, the chairman of the ministers said on Monday.
Latest News
European shares fell and borrowing costs for the euro zone's most indebted states rose on Monday as the leftist Syriza party looked set to take on Greece's international lenders after a crushing victory in early elections.
Italy is considering setting up a state-backed "bad bank" to help clean up its banking sector, Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.
Oil prices declined on Monday, with U.S. crude falling close to a nearly six-year low, as Saudi Arabia's new King Salman moved to assuage fears of an unstable transition and any policy change in the world's largest oil exporter.
After the surprises from central banks which rocked markets at the start of the year, the U.S. Federal Reserve will be watched as closely as ever this week to see that it doesn't stray from its own policy path.
Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann said Greece, where an anti-bailout party looks set to win a snap election, would continue to need aid and would only get this by sticking to agreements, adding he hoped the new government would not make promises the country could not afford.
Europe's oil majors will strike a sober note in their fourth-quarter results and investors will focus on companies' plans to maintain cherished dividends and their strategies to cope with the oil prices collapse that caught many unawares.
The president of Goldman Sachs has urged Britain to stay within the European Union, warning, ahead of a May general election, that an exit would put the capital's status as a major financial center at risk.
The owner of British Airways has made a third takeover approach to Aer Lingus (AERL.I), offering to pay 2.50 euros per share, or around 1.3 billion euros in total for the Irish airline, Sky News reported on Saturday.
Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann, an unabashed critic of the European Central Bank's quantitative easing (QE), told a German newspaper on Sunday he had doubts about the effectiveness of the ECB bond-buying plan.
