Germany and France sought a new deal with Turkey to restore relations with the President Tayyip Erdogan, while the EU lawmakers called for suspension of Turkey's stalled EU bid.
The ECB forecasters predict the Euro zone's inflation to increase faster than earlier expected, with average headline inflation expectations for 2017 being raised to 1.6% from 1.4% estimated previously.
The US Congress averted the government shutdown, providing lawmakers with another week to work out federal spending through September 30, with issues like defense expenditures still unresolved.
Germany hopes for revival of frozen talks on a free trade deal between the United States and the European Union, said Angela Merkel.
Japan's PM Shinzo Abe asked Britain's PM Theresa May to secure a smooth Brexit allowing Japanese companies to continue working as the UK leaves the EU.
Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, urged the UN to take actions as the danger of a North Korean attack against South Korea and Japan is real.
Donald Trump criticized Saudi Arabia for not paying fair share, while the US was losing a lot of money in defending the kingdom.
Russian central bank reduced its main interest rate to 9.25% from 9.75% and pledged more cuts this year as inflation continues to fall.
US labor costs registered their biggest increase since 2007 in the Q1 as the labor market was close to full employment amid strong wage growth.
The US gross domestic product rose 0.7% year-over-year in the first quarter, the weakest pace in the last three years, preliminary report showed on Friday.
The Consumer Price Index in the Euro zone rose 1.9% in April, surpassing a 1.8% increase forecast, according to official preliminary data.
On Friday, 93% of the Goldman Sachs Group shareholders approved the bank's compensation executive plan at the company's annual meeting after the CEO Lloyd Blankfein's pay structure was simplified.
The ONS reported on Friday that the British economy expanded at a 0.3% rate in the Q1, compared to the preceding quarter's 0.7% rate, while analysts anticipated a 0.4% pace.
On Friday, Germany rejected calls to end the Turkey bid to join the EU, despite the European states' opinions that Turkey had already blocked the road to the EU after voting for Tayyip Erdogan to grant new powers.
The buyout firm Apollo reported its quarterly earnings on Friday, beating the market expectations amid strong gains supported by a stock market rally in private equity funds.
Apple is eager to stop paying royalties to the Qualcomm manufacturers for the 2017 quarterly sales made that resulted in Qualcomm's shares 4.3% drop to $50.91 ahead of the North American trading session.
The US oil refiner Phillips 66 posted strong quarterly results showing its profit surged 39% amid a $423M one-time gain from the petroleum coking venture consolidation.
On Friday, the Brazilian unions staged out nationwide protests over the President Michel Temer's attempts to cut social security benefits and ease labour law.
Tesla had to dismiss its executive Klaus Grohmann amid the conflict with the company's CEO Elon Musk as two officials were completely divided in opinion over the Grohmann firm strategy.
China's Court sentenced a former Baoshan Iron and Steel senior official Ai Baojun to 17 years in prison for graft and bribery as he amassed over $5.8M in assets by using his position.
Pope Francis intends to forge relations with the Islamic religious leaders during his visit to Cairo as the ancient Christian community of Egypt faces pressure from the IS insurgents.
James von Moltke is expected to become a new Deutsche Bank finance chief and replace its predecessor Marcus Schenck who will be named as the investment bank co-head.
On Friday, Honda Motor reported it forecast a 16.1% drop in its operating profit for the 2017 fiscal year amid stronger yen expected and company's pension plan changes.
Sony expressed its hopes on Friday over the operating profit to surge 73.2% in the fiscal year as the company recovered from the earthquake aftermaths that suspended its main plant in Japan.