Falling sales in a weak home market have left British firms facing their worst cashflow situation since records began in 1992, a survey from the British Chamber of Commerce showed on Tuesday.

The European Commission opened an in-depth investigation on Friday into BHP Billiton's $170 billion unsolicited bid for rival miner Rio Tinto, with prices of iron ore already soaring.

J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting on Friday reduced its forecast for west European car sales in 2008 and 2009 and now expects falls of 4 percent and 1.3 percent respectively.

A petition to halt interest rate hikes in the euro zone notwithstanding, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet will in all likelihood boost interest rates when the policy makers meet Thursday.

The world's biggest central banks are pulling in opposite directions and it seems their efforts are only contributing to one thing: a weaker dollar.  Vote for your preferred central banker.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Wednesday that high oil prices, further home price declines and capital markets turmoil will prolong the American economy's slowdown.

UBS failed to address nagging concerns about further possible writedowns on Tuesday, dishing out instead a restructuring of top management and sending shares to a fresh 10-year low.

More and more U.S. investors are moving money across the pond, looking for opportunities within the European Union which  makes up 25 percent of the total global stock market capitalization of around $55 trillion.

Shifting focus to fast-growing Eastern Europe and shedding jobs in the mature Western European markets will ensure that the continent's second-largest bank meets its ambitious growth targets, UniCredit CEO Alessandro Profumo told "Squawk Box Europe" on Wednesday.

Euro zone services and manufacturing activity both fell unexpectedly into contraction in June, a key survey showed on Monday, although the weakness may not be pronounced enough to deter an ECB rate hike in July.

The Italian government approved a so-called "Robin Hood" tax on oil companies to fund aid for low-income households hit hard by increased food and energy prices.

Protests against surging fuel prices which have triggered fears of political instability and a global economic downturn expanded in Europe and Asia on Monday, and Colombian truckers said they would join the wave of strikes.

U.S. office supply retailers Staples' improved $2.65 billion bid for Corporate Express won the Dutch company's approval, Corporate Express CEO Peter Ventress told "Squawk Box Europe."

Tesco said its first quarter like-for-like sales excluding petrol in its core UK market rose 3.5 percent, slower than at the start of the year as clothing and furniture sales were hit by a consumer squeeze.

Spanish truck drivers smashed windscreens and Portuguese truckers blocked roads on Monday as protests over rocketing global fuel prices spread across Europe.