KIEV (March 12, 2010): Ukraine's new prime minister Mykola Azarov, declaring state coffers were empty, promised on Thursday to meet all obligations to the International Monetary Fund and push through a realistic 2010 budget. President Viktor Yanukovich has moved swiftly to consolidate power since his election last month to end years of dysfunctional government and economic backsliding under the leaders of the 2004 Orange Revolution.

SAO PAULO (March 12, 2010): Brazil's economic recovery gained traction in the last three months of 2009 as stronger consumer spending helped Latin America's largest economy resume a robust growth rate. Brazil's economy grew 2 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous three months, about in line with expectations of a 2.1 percent rise forecast by 16 analysts polled by Reuters. Estimates for growth ranged between 1.6 percent and 2.8 percent.

BEIJING (March 12, 2010): China's trade surplus should not be used as an argument in favour of letting the yuan appreciate, Commerce Minister Chen Deming said on Thursday. China has reduced its surplus to around 5 percent of GDP, and the surplus in the first two months of the year was half the size it was in the same period last year, Chen noted.

PARIS (March 12, 2010): France, Germany and the head of the eurogroup called for a ban on speculative trades involving high-risk financial instruments known as derivatives, in a letter released by France Thursday.

WASHINGTON (March 12, 2010): US President Barack Obama pressed China on Thursday to move to a "more market-oriented exchange rate" in a speech where he laid out a plan to boost US exports in the coming years. "As I've said before, China moving to a more market-oriented exchange rate would make an essential contribution to that global rebalancing effort," Obama said in the text of a speech.

WASHINGTON (March 12, 2010): President Barack Obama says doubling exports over the next five years will boost the economy by helping US companies sell their goods and services abroad and creating new jobs at home. In remarks prepared for delivery Thursday at the annual conference of the Export-Import Bank, Obama said 95 percent of the world's customers as well as the world's fastest-growing markets are outside US borders.

WASHINGTON (March 12, 2010): The number of US workers filing new applications for unemployment benefits fell slightly less than expected last week, hinting at a slow labour market recovery. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits slipped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 462,000 from 468,000 the prior week, the Labour Department said on Thursday. That was a touch less than market expectations for 460,000.

LONDON (March 12, 2010): Britain's top retailers expect trading to get tougher this year as taxes rise and public spending falls to bring down government debt, but are optimistic of coping after cutting costs and focusing on cheaper products. John Lewis, the employee-owned retailer that runs department stores and upmarket grocer Waitrose, underscored its confidence by paying out a bonus worth 15 percent of salary to its 70,000 staff, or "partners".

BEIJING (March 12, 2010): Chinese consumer inflation spurted to a 16-month high in February and a raft of economic data displayed broad-based strength, providing fresh arguments for policy tightening sooner rather than later. The pace of credit growth halved in February, as expected, but some economists said the central bank would probably not wait long before increasing banks' required reserves for a third time this year and perhaps even raising interest rates or resuming gradual appreciation in the yuan.

DUBAI (March 12, 2010): Shariah boards face increased scrutiny and criticism as high-profile corporate defaults and cautionary comments from respected scholars cast a harsh light on the fast growth of financial products touted as Islamic. Experts say rapid growth in the industry, which some estimates value at around $1 trillion, has put more pressure on scholars to sign off on increasingly complicated structures, wrapped in Shariah packaging.