Swiss bank UBS's Chief Executive Oswald Gruebel resigned, shouldering the blame after its scandal-hit investment banking business lost 2.3 billion dollars in alleged rogue trading.
The Quartet of Middle East negotiators urged Israel and the Palestinians on Friday to resume peace talks within one month and aim for a deal by the end of 2012.
A US appeals court has ruled that Odyssey Marine Exploration must return the controversial ‘Black Swan’ treasure to Spain. The judgement upholds a prior ruling from a lower court but Odyssey said it would challenge the decision.
“The recapitalization of European banks is something that is ongoing, it is something that is already happening,” Commission spokesman Olivier Bailly told a regular briefing.
Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos was quoted by two newspapers as saying an orderly default with a 50% haircut for bondholders was one of three possible scenarios for resolving the heavily indebted euro zone nation's fiscal woes.
History's first sovereign default came in the 4th century BC, committed by 10 Greek municipalities. There was one creditor: the temple of Delos, Apollo's mythical birthplace.
Asian stocks have fallen on Friday, with some indexes driving towards their worst weekly losses since 2008. The Group of 20 nations said they were ready to preserve stability in the financial markets.
The International Monetary Fund re-activated this week a 571 billion dollars resource pool to ensure it has funds to help cover Europe's worsening sovereign-debt crisis. The IMF extended activation of its so-called New Arrangements to Borrow for a six-month period from October.
Australian beer giant Foster's has accepted an improved takeover worth 9.9 billion Aus dollars (10.2bn US dollars) from British-based brewer SABMiller, the pair announced on Wednesday.
Bowhead whales, the giants of the Arctic, are using the Northwest Passage to move across the top of the Americas. Skeletons, DNA samples and harpoon heads have all suggested that bowhead populations living on each side of the continent did meet and mingle.