U.S. President Barack Obama harshly criticized Republican opponents on Sunday as he began a West Coast fundraising tour, accusing them of "ideological pushback" at a time of national crisis. In a swing likely to net his campaign several million dollars, the Democratic president deployed a newly combative tone to fire up core supporters. "From the

European policymakers began working on new ways to stop fallout from Greece's near-bankruptcy from inflicting more damage on the world economy after stinging criticism for failing to stem the debt crisis. After a weekend of being told by the United States, China and other countries that they must get more aggressive in their crisis response,

The chief executive of Greece's largest lender, National Bank , said in a newspaper interview that Hellenic Postbank (TT Bank) and Piraeus Bank were among the limited merger options in the country. Troubled by sovereign debt downgrades, deposit outflows and rising loan losses in a deepening recession, Greek banks are exploring tie-ups to bolster their

Asian shares and the euro fell on Monday as investors reacted cautiously to reports that European leaders were working on new ways to stop the fallout from the euro zone sovereign debt crisis wreaking more damage on the world economy. Gold extended losses, after sliding a record $100 an ounce on Friday as safe haven

Crude oil futures see-sawed in volatile trading on Friday after dropping to six-week lows as the economic outlook remained gloomy. though some buying sparked by oversold conditions limited losses. On Thursday, oil slid more than 4% on recession fears the day after the U.S. Federal Reserved warned of significant risks facing the world's top economy.