A mega-trial harking back to the dark years of Spain's economic crisis kicks off Monday over the alleged fraudulent 2011 listing of financial giant Bankia, with former IMF leader Rodrigo Rato in the dock.

The Spanish state was forced to step in to prevent the bank's collapse and then to borrow 41 billion euros from the EU to keep Spain's banking sector afloat.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said he was "confident" Rome could avoid unprecedented EU sanctions over its big-spending budget, rejected by Brussels, following talks with European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker.

Rome's coalition government insists its 2019 budget will help kickstart growth in the eurozone's third largest economy and reduce debt, but the EU says the country risks "sleepwalking into instability" and increasing its already massive debt burden.

Doubts over fishing rights, a topic that endangered the Brexit talks, will have to be resolved well before the end of the post-divorce transition period, European leaders said Sunday.

The statement came after several EU member states voiced 11th-hour concerns about the draft deal that was approved on Sunday, particularly about their boats' access to British waters after March.

Nissan's former chairman Carlos Ghosn has denied allegations of financial misconduct, claiming he had no intention of making false reports, Japanese media said Sunday.

As the U.S. holiday shopping season kicked off Friday, retailers were looking to an unexpected savior to keep the tills humming: millennials.

Belgian authorities have impounded millions of euros worth of works by street artist Banksy after an exhibitor in Brussels realized they may not be insured, a lawyer said Friday.

The exhibitor, Strokar, informed the authorities that the 58 paintings, photos and silkscreens may not be covered if any were damaged or stolen, Strokar's lawyer Stanislas Eskenazi said.

The host of a fractious Asia-Pacific summit said Friday that "alternative" views on free trade and WTO rules prevented members agreeing a joint communique for the first time ever, five days after the U.S.-China trade row overshadowed the APEC meeting.

In a chairman's statement following last weekend's summit, Papua New Guinea prime minister Peter O'Neill said members had been unable to agree on sections concerning reform of the World Trade Organization, and also protectionism.

Retailers aren't just ushering the official start of the holiday season with the usual expanded hours and fat discounts on big TVs and toys.

They're offering new ways for shoppers to get deals online and in the store easier and faster in the age of instant gratification.

Nissan's disgraced former chairman Carlos Ghosn under-reported his income by a total of $71 million -- much more than initially suspected -- Japanese media reported Friday.

Frank Buhler, a leader of the protesters who have barricaded French highways over the past week, aims to color Paris in the movement's trademark yellow on Saturday when rural France takes its fight with President Emmanuel Macron to the capital.

The 53-year-old political activist has called on demonstrators to swarm Paris "on foot, horseback or by car" for the second round Saturday of a battle between centrist President Emmanuel Macron and rebels from the provinces.