Germany's finance minister says the government will come close to balancing its budget next year as economic growth outpaces public spending.

Auto parts maker Johnson Controls is stepping away from its position as the debtor-in-possession lender during the bankruptcy process for battery maker A123 Systems in order to prevent delays.

President Barack Obama is warning congressional Republicans not to undo financial rules he signed two years ago and he's taking specific note of the work of a consumer agency created by the new law.

About 3,000 off-duty Spanish police officers demonstrated in Madrid on Saturday to protest the government's austerity measures, including the cancellation of their Christmas bonuses.

Moscow police on Saturday briefly detained several opposition leaders as well as a dozen other activists while they were protesting against the intensifying crackdown on Russian opposition.

Rep. Dan Lungren knows what it's like to have a big bull's eye plastered on his back.

Former Premier Silvio Berlusconi has responded to his tax fraud conviction with a full-out attack on the government of Mario Monti, warning his party might withdraw its support because of what he considers Monti's counterproductive fiscal reforms.

With much of the Eastern Seaboard in the path of a rare behemoth storm, governors in the nation's most densely populated corridor declared states of emergency and residents contemplated whether to heed dire warnings of torrential rain, high winds and up to 2 feet of snow.

Mitt Romney worked the early-vote crowd in Florida on Saturday, revving up chants of “10 more days” in the countdown to the election as President Barack Obama told supporters in tiny New Hampshire that “these four electoral votes right here could make the difference.”

One final jobs report before Election Day and the big storm threatening the East Coast loom large as President Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney head into the final full week of campaigning in a race polls show is extraordinarily close.