HELSINKI (AFP) - A strike by 3,000 dockers that crippled Finland's foreign trade for more than two weeks is to end, after both sides accepted a compromise agreement, the national conciliator's office said on Friday.

BERLIN (AFP) - The German government sees aid to Greece from the International Monetary Fund as an option, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Friday.

LONDON (AFP) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown voiced "grave concern" Friday over fresh Israeli settlement building in east Jerusalem.

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - The Palestinian Authority welcomes a call by the Quartet of major players in the Middle East process for a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity, chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said on Friday.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Israel and the United States share a "strong and enduring" relationship despite recent tensions over planned new Jewish settlements, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday.