EU leaders failed to reach agreement as their summit ended early Thursday over who should get the top jobs to steer the 28-nation bloc over the next five years.
Mario Goetze scored a superb extra-time winner as Germany beat Argentina 1-0 to become the first European team to win a World Cup held in South America.
Gold prices zoomed this week to a four-month peak as investors sought shelter from weak eurozone data and fears of contagion from a bank's problems in Portugal, dealers said.
Japan's SoftBank and Deutsche Telekom of Germany have reached a basic agreement for a merger between their US affiliates Sprint and T-Mobile US, the business daily Nikkei reported.
Germany expelled the CIA station chief in Berlin over alleged spying by the United States which has refused to break its silence over the escalating row between the Western allies.
Rebel strongholds in eastern Ukraine braced for more fighting on Thursday as Western leaders piled pressure on Kiev to strike a truce with pro-Russian separatists.
Brazil's World Cup dream was smashed into oblivion Tuesday as majestic Germany ran riot to win an extraordinary semi-final 7-1, sending the hosts crashing to the worst defeat in their 100-year footballing history.
German authorities have arrested a suspected double-agent accused of spying for the US on a parliamentary panel investigating NSA surveillance, media reports said.
Brazil striker Neymar was ruled out of the remainder of the World Cup on Friday, dealing the hosts a crushing blow just hours after they battled through to a semi-final showdown with Germany.
Sarajevo on Saturday was to mark 100 years since the assassination that sparked World War I, an act that still deeply divides the people of the Balkans over the legacy of that fateful day.
Uruguay star Luis Suarez exited the World Cup in shame after being hit with the heaviest suspension in the tournament's history for biting an Italian opponent.
Running up new debt would be "the worst possible" thing to do, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Tuesday as a debate resurfaces over an easing of EU fiscal rules.
Ukraine pressed German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other Western allies on Monday to help settle a pro-Russian uprising that has raged on in the industrial east despite Kiev's unilateral ceasefire.
A 76-year-old Frenchman was convicted Wednesday of having kidnapped a German ex-doctor who had killed his daughter, but he avoided jail time as the court handed down a suspended sentence.
Western leaders said they stood united Thursday ahead of their first direct meetings with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, with President Barack Obama giving him a month to back down or face more sanctions.