10 things you need to know before European markets open

Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande are trying to broker peace in Ukraine. The German and French heads of government have flown to Kiev and Moscow to try and broker a peace. According to the Financial Times, it may be due to Washington's shifting strategy, and growing calls to arm the Ukrainian government.

The treasurer of Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff's political party is embroiled in Petrobras' crisis. The growing scandal engulfing Brazilian oil giant Petrobras hit the ruling Workers' Party close to home Thursday as treasurer Joao Vaccari Neto was detained over allegations of involvement in a multi-billion-dollar kickback scheme.

Here comes the US jobs report. It's the official report on how many jobs the US economy added in January. Economists are forecasting that 230,000 jobs were added, but at least some think it could be more than that.

RadioShack is bankrupt. In a release on Thursday evening, the electronics retailer disclosed that it has reached an agreement with hedge fund Standard General for the firm to purchase up to 2,400 of its stores. To facilitate this sale, the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in Delaware.

LinkedIn profits surged and share prices followed. LinkedIn reported its Q4 earnings Thursday afternoon, delivering a beat that sent the stock surging almost 8% after-hours. The company reported revenues of $643 million versus Wall Street expectations of $617 million, and revenue up 45%.

Asian markets are mixed. The Nikkei just closed up 0.82%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng is currently down 0.23%, and the Shanghai Composite Index is down 1.85%.

Twitter's revenue surged, but user growth missed expectations. In the fourth quarter, Twitter's revenue was $479 million, up 97% on a year-over-year basis, blowing away analyst expectations of $453.6 million. Twitter's usage remains challenged. Twitter had 288 million average monthly active users, which was short of 292 million, which was expected by analysts.

The US wants to restore ties with Cuba before April. The United States is pressing Cuba to allow the opening of its embassy in Havana by April, US officials told Reuters, despite the Communist island's demand that it first be removed from the US list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Frontier is buying more than $10 billion in Verizon assets. Frontier Communications Corp will buy Verizon Communications Inc's wireline operations in three US states for $10.54 billion in cash, the regional telephone operator said on Thursday.

News Corp revenue rose. News Corp, which publishes the New York Post, reported a 1.9 percent rise in quarterly revenue, helped by its book publishing and real estate businesses.