Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will unveil his next budget on March 21, he announced on Thursday.

US Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday launched his new podcast, "Being Biden," to share his behind-the-scenes view of life as number two in the world's biggest superpower.

Iran is "over a year or so" from getting a nuclear bomb, US President Barack Obama said in an interview on Thursday a week before visiting Israel, warning that the military option remained on the table.

US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew will travel to China next week for talks with China's new leadership on his first international trip since taking office, the Treasury Department said Thursday.

Europe's main stock markets closed higher on Thursday on upbeat news that Ireland could become the first eurozone nation to emerge from its bailout programme and a decline of US jobless claims for a third straight week, dealers said.

London shares closed higher on Thursday as investors took heart from news that Ireland could become the first eurozone nation to emerge from its bailout programme and US jobless claims declined for a third straight week, dealers said.

Europe's main stock markets rose on Thursday as investors took heart from news that Ireland could become the first eurozone nation to emerge from its bailout programme and US jobless claims declined for a third straight week, dealers said.

Europe's main stock markets rose on Thursday as investors took heart from news that Ireland could become the first eurozone nation to emerge from its bailout programme, dealers said.

As many as 28 percent of South African schoolgirls are HIV positive, according to figures from the country's health minister reported by local media on Thursday.

After nine months of stop-start negotiations, cash-strapped Cyprus is on the verge of securing an EU bailout but analysts say it will come at a hefty price.

The Gulf state of Qatar has started talks with the British government over an investment of up to £10 billion ($15 billion, 11.5 billion euros) in infrastructure projects, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

Japan, China and other nations that support shark fishing lost a bid to overturn a landmark deal that offers global trade protection for several species of the ocean's oldest predator.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has banned the insertion of "gagging clauses" in severance contracts for NHS staff, the Daily Mail reported on Thursday.

India's government is drawing up a major new welfare reform that would hand small plots of land to millions of homeless poor in the countryside, reports said on Thursday.

President Barack Obama entered the fray Wednesday on cyber attacks from China, saying some intrusions affecting US firms and infrastructure were "state sponsored."

European lawmakers on Wednesday approved plans for a radical overhaul of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) by capping subsidies and tying them to environmental concerns.

Canadian fund Fairfax Holdings has expressed interest in helping recapitalise Greece's leading lender, National Bank, the bank said on Wednesday.

Commerzbank shares plunged Wednesday after Germany's second-largest bank said it would carry out a 2.5-billion-euro ($3.3-billion) capital hike to pay back state bailouts received during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

Campaigners heaped pressure on David Cameron Wednesday over reports that he intends to drop plans for minimum alcohol pricing, even as the prime minister insisted the status quo has "got to change".

Commerzbank, Germany's second-biggest bank, said Wednesday that it will undertake a 2.5-billion-euro ($3.3-billion) capital hike to repay further chunks of a state bailout it received during the 2008-2009 financial crisis.