Madrid, May 22 (EFE).- The 54,512 home sales recorded in Spain in this year's first quarter represent a decline of 21.5 percent from the same period in 2012, the Development Ministry said Wednesday. Foreigners were the buyers in 17 percent of the transactions. The decline in the first quarter reflects the impact in the sector of the end of the tax deduction for buying a primary residence and the increase in the levy on new home sales from 4 percent to 10 percent.

Pope Francis on Thursday called on world leaders to put an end to the "cult of money" and to do more to help the poor, warning that insecurity was rising in many regions of the world and the "joy of life" was diminishing in developed countries. "The worship of the golden calf of old has found a new and heartless image in the cult of money and the dictatorship of an economy which is faceless and lacking any truly human goal," Francis said in an address to ambassadors to the Vatican.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's government proposed a sweeping overhaul of the banking sector Wednesday to make credit cheaper and more available, a move desperately needed in a country where bank loans represent less than 20 per cent of GDP — one-tenth the level seen in the United States. The plan would encourage banks to compete and lend more, create incentives for mid-size companies to list shares on the stock market, and modify bankruptcy laws to make it easier for lenders to seize debtors' assets.

Beijing, Apr 26 (EFE).- "There are reasons to think the worst of the crisis has ended" and that Spain's economy may be poised to return to growth, a former Spanish secretary of state for the economy said here Friday before an audience including executives from China's major enterprises. The economy could enter a new phase late this year or early in 2014, Alfredo Pastor said during the presentation in Beijing of "Spain: A Land of Opportunities," a report from the Spanish Business Council for Competitiveness, or CEC.