AP - In the cutthroat world of fashion, a designer can quickly lose rising star status — a fact that Alessandra Facchinetti knows only too well.

AP - Human rights activists from China and Russia are considered front-runners to win the Nobel Peace Prize next week, while bettors are putting their money on an Italian, a Syrian or an Israeli for the literature award.

Reuters - Plagued by fears for the stability of the banking system, European leaders meet on Saturday for a summit French President Nicolas Sarkozy hopes will limit the damage caused by the worst financial crisis since the 1930s.

Reuters - The House of Representatives was poised to vote on a $700 billion bailout package for U.S. banks, under pressure from all sides as the effort to head off a spreading financial crisis hung in the balance.

AP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown made a raft of changes to the government Friday, bringing back some of the Labour Party's stalwarts in a comprehensive shake-up meant to sharpen focus on the economy.

AFP - US stocks rallied, taking European markets sharply higher Friday as hopes the US Congress will pass a multi-billion-dollar bank rescue package offset a much weaker-than-expected US employment report.

AP - Human rights activists from China and Russia are considered front-runners to win the Nobel Peace Prize next week, while bettors are putting their money on an Italian, a Syrian or an Israeli for the literature award.

Reuters - France warned that the global economy stood "on the edge of an abyss" on Friday as European leaders grappled to find a unified response to the traumatic conditions on financial markets.

AP - Judging from the glamorous parties and store openings in Paris this week, you would be forgiven for thinking the economy is thriving — prompting some observers to say the fashion industry is fiddling while Rome burns.

Reuters - General Motors Corp. (GM) Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson said on Thursday he expected U.S. and western European markets to stay weak in the first half of 2009.

Reuters - The chairman of euro zone finance ministers sided with Germany on Thursday in rejecting any need for a European rescue fund for distressed banks, but the Dutch government endorsed a similar idea.