
Germany's highest court on Saturday rejected a request by a group of academics to block the immediate release of Berlin's multi-billion-euro loan to debt-stricken Greece.

More immigrants from non-European Union countries are returning to their native lands this year with help from the Spanish government, a situation similar to 2009, when the number of immigrants forced to pack up and go doubled because of the economic crisis.

Brazil’s Bovespa stock index fell for a second day on Friday closing with the biggest weekly decline since February 2009, on concern that Europe’s debt crisis is worsening and rescue packages could have to be extended to Portugal and Spain.

Global stock markets closed sharply Friday amid investor fears that Greece's debt crisis could halt the global economic recovery.

Companies in the United States added 290,000 jobs in April, mostly in the private sector, the United States Department of Labor said Friday, a strong sign that the job market has begun recovering from last year's damaging recession.

Leaders of the 16 EU member states that use the Euro have approved a 110 billion Euro loan to Greece to prevent its debt crisis from spreading. European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said the Eurozone would do whatever it took to safeguard Greece's financial stability. In return for the three-year loan, Athens must cut public spending.

A default by Greece on its debt obligations is not and has never been an option, a spokeswoman for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday. A Greek “default is not on the table, has not been on the table” insisted IMF director of external relations Caroline Atkinson.

European Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet faced down pressure for new moves to shore up the weakest Eurozone countries, but kept options open even as he said Spain and Portugal were “not Greece”.

Chinese shares plunged to an eight-month low Thursday on persistent concerns over weak overseas markets and government measures to tighten credit and curb property speculation, dealers said.

Brazil’s Bovespa stock index plunged Thursday to a three-month low, extending its drop in the past month to 12%, and the Real tumbled as concern Europe’s debt crisis will spread prompted investors to sell higher-yielding assets.