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German, US and UK yields fell to all-time lows after Spanish Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said the future of the euro is at stake, driving demand for the safest government securities.

Spaniards alarmed by the dire state of their banks are squirreling money abroad at the fastest rate since records began, figures showed on Thursday, and the credit ratings of eight regions were cut.

Ireland was poised to announce a "yes" vote to a European budget discipline treaty on Friday, but the referendum result brings little respite to a euro zone tormented by doubts over Greece's future in the currency bloc and Spain's wobbly banks.

Concerns over a slowdown in the world's biggest economies hit world markets on Friday, with weak indicators out of China and Europe's financial turmoil unsettling investors ahead of a crucial U.S. jobs report.

The International Monetary Fund says it has not been asked by Spain for a bailout and has not begun preparing one.

The European Central Bank stepped up pressure on Thursday for a joint fund to guarantee bank deposits in the euro zone, saying Europe needed news tools to fight bank runs as the bloc's debt crisis drives investors to flee risk.

The former top media adviser to Prime Minister David Cameron was detained Wednesday on suspicion of perjury in the trial of a flamboyant ex-Scottish lawmaker — the latest case tied to allegations of wrongdoing by British tabloid newspapers.

Britain’s highest court ruled on Wednesday that the WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, should be deported to Sweden to face allegations of sexual abuse there.

A 5.8 magnitude tremor shook the Emilia Romagna region where a devastating quake struck less than 10 days ago.

Nineteen people, including 13 children, died Monday in a fire that raged through an upscale shopping mall in Doha, Qatar’s Interior Ministry said. The fire started late in the morning and centered on a children’s play area in the Villaggio Mall, a glittering collection of shops and indoor canals in Doha, the capital, frequented by expatriates in the oil-rich emirate. The ministry did not immediately provide the nationalities of those killed. Local news reports said no Qatari children were among the dead, and Reuters said four of the children who died in the fire were from Spain. French media reported that one French child died in the fire.