Business - Global Economy

LONDON - World stock markets fell Wednesday as investors worried about sovereign credit risks, particularly in Europe, in the wake of Greece's rating downgrade. Full Story »

ATHENS (AFP) - Greece revealed on Wednesday that it is working on radical action to reverse a deepening financial crisis which is straining eurozone cohesion and focusing market anxiety on emerging economies. Full Story »

THIMPHU (Reuters Life!) - Traders seeking a break from volatile global markets may want to head to Bhutan's bourse, where stocks are traded on just four computers -- when they have not crashed -- only twice a week. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Investors sought safety Tuesday as concerns about spiraling debt loads and disappointing corporate reports tarnished hopes for an economic recovery. Full Story »

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India insisted Wednesday there would be no global trade agreement so long as the rich nations refused to agree to deep cuts in their farm subsidies. Full Story »

TOKYO - Japan's government on Tuesday unveiled $81 billion of new stimulus spending to keep the world's second-biggest economy from lurching back into recession. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund announced Monday it would provide a 9.3-million-dollar lifeline to Samoa to help the country recover from a September earthquake and tsunami disaster. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A bubble has formed in commodities as "speculative fervor" returns to markets after the global financial crisis, veteran Wall Street economist Henry Kaufman said on Monday. Full Story »

BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Romanian President Traian Basescu narrowly won re-election but his leftist challenger alleged fraud and vowed to contest the result, extending a deadlock that has imperiled an IMF-led financial rescue deal. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - The director general of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy of France, has been named to a panel responsible for monitoring the principles governing the operation of the news and financial services agency Thomson Reuters, agency said Monday. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil fell toward $74 a barrel on Monday as low demand for crude oil in the wake of the economic downturn continued to pressure prices, outweighing last week's strong U.S. job report. Full Story »

(Bloomberg) -- Harvard Business School (Harvard Full-Time MBA Profile) Dean Jay Light, who oversaw the school during the global financial crisis that challenged business education and slashed the value of Harvard's endowment, will retire in June, after five years in the position. Full Story »

Dubai -- After Dubai announced in late November that the state-controlled investment firm Dubai World was seeking to reschedule payments on some $26 billion of debt, global markets went into a tailspin. While foreign bourses quickly rebounded, local shares have taken a pounding, and the credibility of Dubai's leadership has suffered serious damage. Yet lost in all the drama is the fact that Dubai is an important economic experiment in a strategically vital region. ... Full Story »

At first glance, banks seem to be recovering nicely from the financial crisis. But investors cheered by optimistic earnings reports could soon face a painful surprise. Full Story »

LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged Monday to axe 3.0 billion pounds from public spending in extra savings to help cut the nation's debt. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Treasury Department expects to recover all but 42 billion dollars of the 370 billion it has lent to troubled US companies since the financial crisis began last year, The New York Times reported. Full Story »

SEOUL (AFP) - Global trade this year is likely to fall by an "unprecedented" figure of more than 10 percent, the head of the World Trade Organisation said Monday. Full Story »

BEIJING - China's Goldwind Science & Technology Ltd. is one of the world's biggest makers of wind turbines — a cornerstone of the booming clean power business — but is unknown outside its home country. Full Story »