The Wall Steet Journal

Leaders of the Group of Eight major economies struggled to agree on next steps to calm Europe's debt crisis.

Europe has begun to prepare for a possible Greek exit from the euro zone ahead of elections next month that are fast becoming a referendum on the country's membership in the common currency.

Thanks to a devalued currency, the country has turned its trade deficit into a surplus and smoothed its recovery.

The Queensland government has withdrawn its support for a $8.86 billion coal port expansion in the northern part of the state, in a sign Australia's resources boom is losing steam.

President Obama met France's new president, François Hollande at the White House to address the European debt crisis, Iran and Afghanistan.

Jittery U.K. customers of one of Spain's biggest lenders pulled out funds on Friday, and bad debts held by Spanish banks rose to a 17-year high, underscoring the challenges facing the country's financial sector.

U.S. regulators closed a bank in Alabama, bringing the nationwide tally of bank failures to 24 for the year.

With the economy stalling and widespread fears of a sharp rise in defaults by local authorities, many municipalities are finding they need to do more to woo potential bond buyers.

President Barack Obama hosts world leaders this weekend at a pair of summits that represent the first test of how upheavals among major economies stand to influence global policies on issues from the Afghanistan war to national budgets.

Banco Santander's U.K. unit lost about $316 million of deposits on Friday as jittery customers worried about the lender's financial health.

Alexis Tsipras, head of Greece's radical left party, said in an interview with the Journal that there is little chance Europe will cut off funding to the country and if it does, Greece will repudiate its debts.

The U.K. is unlikely to need another dose of central bank stimulus unless "worrying" tensions in the euro zone threaten to plunge its economy back into a deep recession, a senior Bank of England official said.

New York's top financial regulator accused banks and insurers that sell homeowner policies to struggling borrowers of pushing them "over the foreclosure cliff."

Spain's government said 16 of the country's 17 regions are on track to meet this year's budget targets, a key part of its efforts to slash a towering budget deficit and ward off an international bailout.

The Senate confirmed Obama's two nominees to the Federal Reserve Board, filling the seven-member panel for the first time since April 2006.

Mongolia's parliament approved a new investment law Thursday that caps future foreign participation in certain strategic industries, reflecting a growing public push to keep profits from the mineral-rich nation's industries inside the country.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York postponed a planned auction of $1.67 billion of mortgage collateralized debt obligations from its Maiden Lane III portfolio.

Returning to a national currency after more than a decade of using the euro and having its money managed by the ECB would catapult Greece into a financial, legal and political no-man's land.

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits was essentially flat last week, suggesting that the recently volatile labor market is stabilizing.

Mexico's economy expanded 4.6% in the first quarter, growing above expectations on higher industrial output and agricultural production as well as continued strength in domestic demand.