EU

The European Commission will propose giving Spain, France and several other euro zone states more time to cut their public deficits below the target limit of 3 percent of GDP, newspaper El Pais said on Saturday.

Russia plunged back into the disputes over energy with Ukraine and Belarus that have repeatedly disrupted oil and gas supplies to European Union countries, and it also termed EU energy policy as "uncivilized".

European Central Bank Governing Council member Jens Weidmann expects little progress toward a European fiscal union because there is little political will to relinquish national sovereignty, he was quoted as saying in an interview.

The European Union reached a landmark deal on Thursday to make the European Central Bank the bloc's top banking supervisor, giving EU leaders greater confidence that they are gaining the upper hand over the euro zone's debt crisis.

Serbia and its former Kosovo province began the joint control of two border crossings on Monday for the first time since a 1998-99 war, prodded by the European Union as a condition of opening membership talks with Serbia.

The European Union will look at ways on Monday to press Israel to ditch a plan to build settlements in a highly sensitive area of the occupied West Bank, but hold off on tough action soon despite international outrage over the decision.

Much has been written over the past year about the risks of a two-speed Europe in which the 17 euro zone countries move ahead more rapidly than the rest of the European Union.

European Union states struggled to agree on Tuesday on a common response to Israel's plans to expand settlements in the West Bank, highlighting the divisions within the bloc over how to tackle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Tuesday that European sanctions againstIsrael in response to its latest plans to build settlements on disputed land were not an option.

President Barack Obama signed a bill on Tuesday shielding U.S. airlines from paying for each ton of carbon their planes emit flying into and out of Europe, despite a recent move by Europe to suspend its proposed measure for one year.

The Greek government and financial markets were cheered on Tuesday by an agreement between euro zone finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund to reduce Greece's debt, paving the way for the release of urgently needed aid loans.

The European Commission submitted a new proposal on Monday for the European Union's 2013 budget, just days after the bloc's leaders failed to agree a separate long-term spending plan for 2014-2020.

European authorities will transfer 35 billion euros to Spain's state bank rescue fund on December 15 in exchange for massive layoffs at Spain's four nationalized banks, including state-rescued Bankia (BKIA.MC), El Pais newspaper reported on Sunday.

European Union leaders failed to reach agreement on Friday on a new seven-year budget for their troubled bloc, calling off talks in less than two days after most countries balked at far deeper spending cuts demanded by Britain and its allies.

The European Union on Friday called on Egypt's President Mohamed Mursi to respect the democratic process in his country after he issued a decree exempting all his decisions from legal challenge until a new parliament is elected.

The European Union may have won the Nobel Peace Prize this year, but to many EU leaders, officials, diplomats and even journalists, it can feel more like a torture chamber.

EU foreign ministers said on Monday they considered the new Syrian opposition to be "legitimate representatives" of the Syrian people, but stopped just short of according the full recognition granted by France.

Australia's parliament on Monday passed laws to ban the import and trade of illegally logged timber, joining the United States and European Union in clamping down on a global trade in stolen timber that Interpol says is worth about $30 billion a year.

Guinea-Bissau's caretaker President Manuel Serifo Nhamadjo may have one of the world's toughest jobs - leading a country where cocaine smuggling is out of control, the economy is in freefall and violence is the top means to political ends.

Austria's Deputy Chancellor has threatened that the country will veto a deal on the European Union's long-term budget if it does not get its rebate or if subsidies for agricultural development are cut.

Talks on the European Union's 2013 budget collapsed in acrimony on Friday, denting hopes of a swift deal later this month on the bigger issue of the bloc's long-term spending for 2014-2020.

The European Union risks undermining the credibility of its drive against national budget overshoots if it strips Hungary of structural funds as punishment for running an excessive deficit, a leader of the ruling Fidesz party said.

European Central Bank policymaker Klaas Knot has thrown his support behind German financeminister Wolfgang Schaeuble's call for a euro zone commissioner with power over European Union nations' budgets.

European Union governments imposed sanctions on Tuesday against major Iranian state companies in the oil and gas industry, and strengthened restrictions on the central bank, cranking up financial pressure over Tehran's nuclear program.

World finance leaders on Saturday endorsed a checklist of policy reforms aimed at pressuring Europe and the United States to tackle debt troubles that threaten to choke off global growth.

Software giant Microsoft is ready to introduce measures that would address the European Union's antitrust concerns about users' ability to chose between different browsers, European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said on Saturday.

European Union officials pushed on Saturday to accelerate moves to stem the bloc's long debt crisis as Italian premier Mario Monti warned that economic suffering was fuelling divisive nationalism on the continent.