BRUSSELS — The EU says it has developed a set of options to help Greece overcome its deep financial crisis.Officials did not elaborate on the details of the plans, but said Saturday that the options would be presented next week to European economic and finance ministers.A possible deal involving...

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama sought Thursday to put some detail behind his lofty drive to double U.S. exports over the next five years, calling the effort imperative to putting people back to work. But doubts remain about how many net jobs his trade agenda will create — and how he will get...

WASHINGTON  — The Defense Department said Thursday that the cost to build the next-generation U.S. fighter jet has doubled since 2001, to as much as $113 million per jet. The bad news about the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Progam, delivered Thursday to Congress, was swiftly denounced by...

NEW YORK  — The dollar eased against the euro and the pound Thursday as Greece announced additional salary cuts and tax hikes to deal with its ballooning deficit, while China reported a jump in inflation. A steep rise in prices could force China to raise interest rates, which would slow one...

BRUSSELS — European car makers say vehicle production in 2009 was at the lowest level in 14 years. A Thursday report from auto makers' group ACEA says some 15.2 million cars, trucks, vans and buses were turned out in Europe last year, the lowest level since 1996. Car output was 13.4 million, down...

PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are leading a proposal that calls for mandatory reporting of all derivatives trading in Europe as a way of clamping down on the type of speculation that has undermined the euro in recent weeks as a result of the Greek debt...

BERLIN  — A leading German think-tank says it expects the country's economy — Europe's biggest — to contract in the first quarter because of an unusually harsh winter. The IfW group said Thursday that the economy should make up for the expected contraction in first-quarter gross domestic...

GENEVA  — Information on 24,000 HSBC customers with Swiss accounts has been stolen, the British bank said Thursday, potentially exposing large numbers of international clients to prosecution by tax authorities in their home countries. A former IT employee of Swiss subsidiary HSBC Private Bank...

FRANKFURT  — German carmaker BMW AG said Thursday its 2009 net income fell 36 percent to €210 million ($286 million) because of lower demand for its cars and motorcycles during the economic downturn as well as a higher tax rate. BMW, the world's biggest luxury car maker, said it earned €330...

FRANKFURT  — Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen AG says its 2009 net income declined 80 percent to €960 million ($1.3 billion), confirming its preliminary estimate released in February. The Wolfsburg-based carmaker earned €4.8 billion in net income in 2008. Revenue in 2009 was down nearly...