Elections, Global Economy | featured news

Italy's new parliament met on Friday for the first time since last month's inconclusive election with no sign of a deal to end the stalemate and yield a government able to address the deep problems in the euro zone's third-largest economy.

French voters are choosing a new parliament Sunday that will determine how far Socialist President Francois Hollande can push for economic stimulus in France and around a debt-burdened, stagnant Europe.

The crushing defeat follows elections that rejected austerity policies in Greece, France and Italy, severely weakening Chancellor Merkel's hand at her first talks with FranCois Hollande, the new French President, in Berlin tomorrow (TUES).

Germany and the European Commission on Tuesday called on EU nations to stick to their promised budget cuts despite mounting voter discontent, but promised some new efforts to boost growth to alleviate economic hardship.

The economy may be king on the American campaign trail, but as President Obama sets out on his re-election bid and Mitt Romney tries to unseat him with a free-market-centered message, foreign policy is clearly creeping back into the mix.

Centre-left and protest parties score well in Italy's local elections amid widespread discontent with the government's austerity drive.

There has been a great deal of austerity-bashing -- that is to say Germany-bashing -- this French election season. Buoyed by his success in the first round, Socialist candidate Francois Hollande declared last Thursday: "It is not for Germany to decide for the rest of Europe." Vowing to reset Europe on a growth path, he said, "we're not just any country, we can change the situation."

Far-rightist Marine Le Pen threw France's presidential race wide open on Sunday by scoring nearly 20 percent in the first round - votes that may determine the runoff between Socialist favorite Francois Hollande and conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Portugal will elect a new government on Sunday which will lead the country through a period of deep austerity and recession after it received a 78-billion-euro ($114 billion) bailout from the European Union and IMF.