Foreign buyers are swooping on deserted villages in Sicily to snap up homes for as little as 10,000 euros ($13,000), propping up a property market in freefall as Italy suffers its longest-ever recession.
India faces at least "a one-in-three" chance of losing its prized sovereign grade rating, global ratings agency Standard and Poor's has warned, in another blow to the scandal-tainted Congress government.
Mexico cut its 2013 growth forecast on Friday after the economy expanded less than expected in the first quarter due to slumping industrial production and near stagnant exports.
Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart on Friday accused the government of using the mining industry as an ATM, warning of an unhealthy reliance on the sector and unsustainable debt levels.
Greek school teachers early on Thursday abandoned plans to hold a strike during university entry exams after the government enacted an emergency decree to force them back to work.
President Francois Hollande's nagging headache to reboot the French economy has turned into a migraine as the economy slipped into its second recession in four years, fuelling speculation of an impending cabinet reshuffle.
Japan said Thursday that its economy grew again in the quarter to March, pointing to a recovery as Tokyo and its hand-picked central bank team set about stoking the world's third-largest economy.
New Zealand on Thursday bucked the international trend toward austerity budgets and lifted spending modestly, while still predicting its books will be back in the black within two years.
The maverick mayor of Osaka on Thursday offered to meet former "comfort women" to apologise for their suffering after causing an international storm when he said they served a "necessary" role in wartime.
Global mining giant BHP Billiton has outlined plans to slash capital spending by almost a fifth, with new chief executive Andrew Mackenzie warning the brakes could be applied even further.
The G7 top economies are set for a second day of talks aimed at spurring growth amid US-Europe divisions over the scale of austerity and renewed market focus on "currency wars".
Sri Lanka's central bank Friday cut benchmark lending rates by 50 basis points, saying the move was to designed to encourage growth amid sluggish economic activity this year.
Up against the wall in a drought-sparked energy crisis, Panama said Tuesday it would shut high schools and universities for three days, in a desperate bid to reduce power usage.
Billionaire Warren Buffett is praising the policies of both President Barack Obama and his predecessor George W. Bush for moving the US economy in the right direction.
Oil prices took a breather in Asian trade Friday as investors locked in profits after a strong rally following the European Central Bank's decision to cut interest rates.
South Korea on Thursday pledged about $270 million in financial aid for firms hit by the withdrawal from a joint industrial zone in North Korea that has fallen victim to military tensions.
Unemployment in Germany rose in April as companies become more cautious about hiring in face of the slowing economy, but the labour market nevertheless remains robust.
US electronic goods retail giant Best Buy confirmed Tuesday it was withdrawing from Europe, selling its stake in its joint venture launched with Carphone Warehouse Group.
An attack by French Socialists on Angela Merkel's drive for belt-tightening coincides with concessions by the German chancellor on austerity, but five months from elections she is loathe to trumpet her flexibility.
Italy's new Prime Minister Enrico Letta was set to unveil his coalition government's programme on Monday, under the watchful gaze of international markets and European partners.
