The euro rose against the dollar in Asian trade Monday after German chancellor Angela Merkel clinched her third term in a convincing election victory.

The euro bought $1.3529, up from $1.3524 in New York late Friday, while it also bought 134.15 yen compared with 134.36 yen.

Hard-up Italians have increasingly taken the place of immigrant seasonal laborers in the vineyards this harvest season -- and a new pilot project plans to increase the number even further.

In Oltrepo-Pavese, a wine region in northern Italy, the farmers' union Coldiretti has launched an initiative called the "Harvest of Solidarity."

Greece braced Sunday for a week of fresh strikes against planned job cuts, with civil servants announcing further protest action just as the country's international creditors launch a new audit.

Main public sector union ADEDY announced a two-day strike for Tuesday and Wednesday while teachers' union OLME and the union of municipal workers POE-OTA said they were planning a 48-hour strike Monday and Tuesday.

Pakistan's Prime Minister on Saturday announced a financial assistance package to empower youth and create employment opportunities in a nation struggling to find enough jobs for its swelling ranks of youngsters.

In a nationwide televised address, Nawaz Sharif announced six programs to help talented students and unemployed youngsters.

President Barack Obama on Saturday urged the US Congress to approve a budget to keep the government open after October 1, and raise the debt ceiling so the country can pay its bills.

Far-right Republicans in Congress want to take neither action in their attempt to defund a sweeping health care overhaul approved more than three years ago. Critics nicknamed the law "Obamacare," and Republicans have fought to repeal it since its passage.

British police have charged four men in connection with the theft of 1.3 million pounds ($2.1 million) from a Barclays Bank branch.

The men — aged between 26 and 47 — were arrested Friday and accused of installing a device on the bank's computer system made it possible to carry out the cyber theft.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi warned Saturday that communal violence and weak "rule of law" could scare off investors despite the country's rapid pace of political and economic reform.

The democracy icon told a business conference in Singapore that a stalemate in resolving protracted insurgencies, inter-ethnic conflicts and lack of robust laws posed the biggest challenges to development in the former pariah state.

Thousands of Bangladesh garment workers blocked roads and attacked factories outside the capital Dhaka on Saturday demanding a $100 minimum monthly wage.

The workers, many carrying sticks, walked off the job in dozens of garment factories, which make apparel for the world's top retailers such as Walmart, and protested for hours on highways in the major industrial areas of Gazipur, Mouchak and Ashulia.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden touted immigration reform and trade with Mexico during talks with President Enrique Pena Nieto in Mexico City on Friday, skirting a thorny spying scandal.

Visiting the southern neighbor four months after U.S. President Barack Obama, Biden sought to put the focus again on economic ties between the neighboring nations rather than security and the battle against drug cartels.

Unemployment rose in 18 U.S. states last month as many reported cutting jobs. Weaker hiring across states could add to worries about the tepid job market.

The Labor Department says unemployment rates fell in 17 state states and were unchanged in 15. Employers added jobs in 29 states, the fewest since March. And 20 states reported job losses, the most since March.