AP - The EU Commission's president warned Wednesday that the European economy is getting worse and that EU leaders should hurry to approve a proposed stimulus program.

AP - Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor has opened a probe into the alleged investment fraud run by U.S. financier Bernard Madoff to determine if any persons or organizations in Spain were cooperating in the scheme, an official said Wednesday.

AP - State-controlled Norwegian oil company StatoilHydro ASA announced plans Wednesday to cut its 2009 costs by 1.5 billion kroner ($215 million) to adjust to weaker market conditions amid the world economic downturn and lower crude prices.

Investor's Business Daily - The Europeans are finally stepping up fiscal and monetary stimulus efforts, but it may be a case of too little, too late, economists say.

AP - Britain's government took new steps Wednesday to ease the impact of the financial crisis, seeking to loosen up tight credit markets by guaranteeing billions of pounds of bank loans to small businesses.

AP - Austrian steel maker Voestalpine AG will reduce working hours for about 10 percent of its 42,000 employees because of the global economic downturn, the company said Wednesday.

AP - Latvia's government and opposition politicians blamed each other Wednesday for rioting in the capital that left more than 40 people injured in the worst violence since the country split from the Soviet Union in 1991.

AP - Heated complaints from European leaders failed Wednesday to thaw the deep-rooted economic and political dispute between Russia and Ukraine that has blocked natural gas shipments to much of Europe in the dead of winter.

AP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown met Wednesday to discuss the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip and the world financial crisis.