JOHANNESBURG, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - Thembi Motaung, a manager at a South African legal firm, faced a painful choice when she started to fall behind in meeting her hefty loan repayments on both her home and her car.

WASHINGTON, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - US consumer spending and incomes cooled in June after getting a boost a month earlier from a vast emergency economic stimulus, a government survey showed Monday.

The Commerce Department reported that consumer spending rose 0.6 percent in June while incomes rose a mild 0.1 percent, marking the weakest rise in incomes since April 2007.

MADRID, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - Spain received yet more bad news on its once-buoyant economy on Monday as the number of registered unemployed rose in July for the fourth straight month and consumer confidence hit a record low.

WASHINGTON, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - US consumer confidence showed slender gains in July but still reflected a 'grim' assessment of economic conditions, the Conference Board reported Tuesday.

The business research firm said its monthly index of consumer confidence edged up to 51.9 percent from a revised 51.0 in June, but cautioned against reading too much into the gain.

PARIS, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - French families, in the midst of the annual holiday ritual, are the gloomiest for 21 years about what their wages will buy, living standards and jobs, official data showed on Tuesday.

The great exodus from the cities to the beaches, mountains and countryside is a high point in French family life and family budgets.

ATHENS, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - Greeks are still clinging onto nearly 250 million euros (393 million dollars) in old drachmas six years after the currency was phased out to be replaced by the euro, the Bank of Greece said on Tuesday.

'People should start checking their mattresses,' the Bank's head cashier

PARIS, July 29, 2008 (AFP) - French consumers turned even gloomier in July when various measures of how they feel about living standards hit the lowest level since 1987, official data showed on Tuesday.

ROME, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - The Italian competition authority said on Monday it had imposed a 54,100-euro (85,000-dollar) fine on Irish low-cost airline Rynair for false fare advertising.

The authority cited an April 2007 advertisement on the Ryanair website offering flights starting at 10 euros, one way, taxes included to several foreign destinations.

FRANKFURT, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - German consumer confidence has plunged to a five-year low as oil-fuelled inflation 'demolished' hard-won gains in employment and wages in the biggest European economy, a leading survey showed on Monday.

FRANKFURT, July 28, 2008 (AFP) - German consumer confidence has fallen to its lowest level since June 2003, a leading survey showed on Monday, as the effects of increased employment and wages were 'demolished' by inflation.