Silvio Berlusconi U-turn keeps Italy's grand coalition afloat

Italy's grand coalition government looks certain to limp on after Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister who had brought it to the brink of collapse with a threat to withdraw his MPs, backed down at the last minute when it became clear that rebels from his own party would allow a confidence vote to pass.

Abe Says Japan’s Door Open to China Talks Amid Island Dispute

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would keep the door open to dialogue with China amid a lull in incursions by official Chinese ships into Japanese-controlled waters around a group of disputed islands.

G20 feeling less heat over 'currency wars': Canadian official

OTTAWA: Finance officials from the world's leading economies will be less focused on "currency wars" at meetings this week despite recent attention on Japan's aggressive monetary policy, according to a senior Canadian finance official on Tuesday.

Italy's Silvio Berlusconi slams Europe's 'lords of austerity'

ROME: Italy's Silvio Berlusconi on Saturday said Europe's "lords of austerity" had tried to get rid of him, speaking in apparent breach of rules for candidates to stay silent the day before elections.

UK credit rating threatened with S&P downgrade

George Osborne's economic credibility suffered a fresh blow on Thursday when Standard and Poor's became the third of the major credit ratings agency to put the UK's AAA rating on negative outlook.

Eurozone crisis: Troubles grow in Spanish banking rescue

MADRID: Spain seems condemned to pay for its own banking rescue after Germany flatly refused to let the eurozone's future bank supervisor do so, analysts say. That is bad news for Spain's soaring public debt.

Japan must do more to shrink public debt: IMF

Japan must do more to shrink its massive public debt, the International Monetary Fund said Wednesday, but added that the nation's disaster-hit economy was recovering well despite turmoil overseas.

Greece holds new talks on bond swap

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — The Greek government will hold a second day of talks Friday with representatives of private bondholders on a crucial debt relief deal, without which it could suffer a catastrophic bankruptcy that would send shockwaves through the global economy.