U.S. and euro zone data will help investors take the pulse of the global economy this week, but the crisis in Ukraine threatens to spoil any improvement.

• May 19, 2014

Germany and France are ready to agree more extensive sanctions against Russia if a planned presidential election in Ukraine on May 25 is foiled, Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Francois Hollande said on Saturday.

• May 10, 2014

The European Central Bank is ready to take action next month to boost the euro zone economy if updated inflation forecasts merit it, its president said on Thursday, warning outsiders not to pressure the bank into action.

• May 9, 2014

China's imports of major commodities rose strongly in April, although a rise in crude oil and copper imports was attributed to stockpiling as a rebound in manufacturing in the world's second-biggest economy remained modest.

• May 8, 2014

The European Central Bank will likely hold off policy action on Thursday, waiting for new forecasts from its staff in June before deciding whether to counter low inflation that ticked up last month.

• May 7, 2014

Holding drills on Ukraine's border and sending bombers to the edge of NATO airspace, Russia's newly reformed military is in just the kind of regional confrontation it was redesigned for, experts say.

• April 30, 2014

Ukrainian forces killed up to five pro-Moscow rebels on Thursday as they closed in on the separatists' military stronghold in the east and Russia launched army drills near the border in response, raising fears its troops would invade.

• April 24, 2014

President Barack Obama mounted a vigorous effort on Thursday to show his signature healthcare law is working and dismissed Republican critics who are using flaws in Obamacare to campaign for ousting Democrats from the U.S. Congress in November.

• April 18, 2014