AP - Singapore's economy has skidded into a recession for the first time since 2001, the government said Friday, warning that it could contract by up to 1 percent next year as a global slowdown saps export demand.

AP - Germany will have to borrow an extra euro8 billion ($10 billion) next year, as it expects to spend more even while revenues slump, the parliamentary budget committee said Friday.

AP - The downturn in the euro-zone economy, particularly within the manufacturing sector, gathered pace in November amid mounting recession fears and the deepening financial crisis, a closely watched survey showed Friday.

AFP - Fears of a global recession intensified on Friday after US lawmakers dashed the auto industry's hopes of a rapid bailout and grim news on the jobs front continued to pile up.

Reuters - U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan officials said they were on alert for signs of deflation and grappling with how the central banks would keep it at bay as interest rates approach zero.

AFP - US President George W. Bush Friday headed to an Asia-Pacific summit in Peru to work on progress in dismantling North Korea's nuclear programs and seek a more united front on the global economic meltdown.

AP - The European Commission urged the 27 EU governments Friday to boost public spending and provide tax breaks to help industry overcome the accelerating economic slowdown that has already pushed several countries into a recession.

Reuters - Rhode Island and Michigan had the highest unemployment rates of all U.S. states in October, at 9.3 percent, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report showing that jobless rates rose across the country.

Reuters - Goldman Sachs on Friday lowered its U.S. growth forecast citing a fiscal policy stagnation, record increase in unemployment and a sharp decline in profits, deepening and extending the expected recession.

AP - The national average price for gasoline tumbled below $2 a gallon Friday, its lowest point in more than three years, yet the global economic contrast between then and now could not be more stark.

Reuters - Passage of a broad economic stimulus bill, including tax cuts, will be a top priority of the next Congress when it convenes in January, House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said on Friday.

AFP - US President George W. Bush signed into law a bill to extend unemployment benefits over the Christmas holiday period and major federal lenders will freeze home foreclosures until the New Year, officials said Friday.

Reuters - Research In Motion's high-end BlackBerry Bold smartphone is selling 'really well,' the company's co-CEO said on Thursday, even as an analyst warned RIM would not be immune from the slowing economy.

AP - Billionaire investor Warren Buffett says U.S. automakers need a new business model to better compete, whether it takes bankruptcy or a government bailout to achieve.

Reuters - U.S. households could cut spending on Christmas gifts by about 11.3 percent this year, the Conference Board said on Friday, as the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression erodes consumer wealth.

AFP - Fears of more mass job cuts from the global economic crisis grew on Friday as India warned half a million could go in its textile industry and automakers failed to clinch another bailout from Congress.

AFP - Fears of more mass job cuts from the global economic crisis grew Friday as India warned half a million could be lost in its textile industry and concerns mounted of a possible collapse of US automakers.

AP - The U.S. economy's weakness will stretch well into next year, a Federal Reserve official warned Friday.

AFP - US President George W. Bush headed Friday to Peru on his last scheduled foreign trip for a summit of Asia-Pacific leaders aimed at containing the damage of a spiralling global financial crisis.

AP - The dollar mostly fell Friday as stocks surged nearly 500 points on reports that President-elect Barack Obama plans to name New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary.

Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama is likely to name former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers as an economic adviser with the expectation that he will eventually be tapped for the Federal Reserve Board, The New York Times reported on Friday.

AP - Only four months after peaking at an unheard of $4.11 a gallon, the national average price for gasoline tumbled below $2 Friday, its lowest point in more than three years. Yet the global economic contrast between then and now could not be more stark.

AFP - President-elect Barack Obama is set to appoint New York Federal Reserve chief Timothy Geithner as his Treasury secretary to take charge of fixing the parlous economy, a report said Friday.

Politico - President-elect Barack Obama is expected to tap New York Federal Reserve President Timothy Geithner as Treasury secretary on Monday — or earlier, sources say.

AP - President-elect Barack Obama intends to name Timothy Geithner, president of the New York Federal Reserve, as his treasury secretary to confront the nation's intense economic turmoil, senior Democratic officials said Friday. The stock market soared on the news.

Reuters - Two more Broadway shows fell by the wayside this week but the head of an industry trade association said it was part of natural selection in a tough business rather than the result of the economic crisis.

Reuters - Three top U.S. comedians next week will bring variety shows to television and one, Rosie O'Donnell, believes the format could stage a comeback amid the slumping economy if families start gathering around TVs for cheap entertainment.

AFP - The economic team of US president-elect Barack Obama came into view as fears mounted on the global financial crisis and more mass job cuts loomed worldwide.

AFP - US President George W. Bush and Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday discussed the global economic crisis and efforts to speed the process of ending North Korea's nuclear programs, the White House said.