Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) will tap investors for up to 2.5 billion euros next year to fill a capital deficit laid bare by recent stress tests and pay back state aid in a move bankers said would prepare the Italian lender for a likely takeover.

Hedge fund Elliott Associates may take legal action against pharmaceuticals company AbbVie Inc for scuttling a merger deal with Shire Plc.

Australian engineering firm UGL Ltd (UGL.AX) ended one fraught chapter and started another on Thursday as it finalised the years-long $1.1 billion sale of its DTZ property arm and revealed delays and cost blowouts at a power station project.

British supermarket operator J Sainsbury Plc's (SBRY.L) answer to discounters Aldi and Lidl was unveiled on Thursday, with the opening of its first Netto-branded store in northern England tasked to win over thrifty shoppers.

The chief executive of Quest Diagnostics Inc (DGX.N) said his company will stick to its core business of diagnostic testing and is not interested in acquiring a contract research organization (CRO), despite such a planned move by rival diagnostics firm LabCorp (LH.N).

General Electric Co's (GE.N) $16.9 billion purchase of the power assets of France's Alstom (ALSO.PA) is on pace for closing in the middle of next year after passing several steps, the head of GE's power business said on Wednesday.

Mexico would seek "hundreds of millions" of dollars in trade retaliation against the United States if Washington does not change meat labeling laws, a Mexican official said, as Mexico and Canada kept up pressure on the United States to act.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday he had discussed models of debt repayment to Russian state gas giant Gazprom with Russian President Vladimir Putin by telephone.

U.S. prosecutors have launched a money-laundering investigation into a member of Russian President Vladimir Putin's inner circle, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Australian employment rebounded in October to keep the jobless rate steady at 6.2 percent, though lingering concerns about the reliability of the data still led investors to sell the local dollar to four-year lows.

The Bank of England, once widely expected to start weaning Britain off near-zero interest rates this month, now looks set to signal no rise in borrowing costs until the middle of next year.

Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA.O) shares rose more than 7 percent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after the electric-car maker beat analysts' expectations for third-quarter results.

News Corp (NWSA.O), publisher of the Wall Street Journal, reported quarterly revenue and profit above estimates, helped by higher sales at its book publishing and online real estate businesses.

More than 300 companies, including PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N), AIG Inc (AIG.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), secured secret deals from Luxembourg to slash their tax bills, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reported, quoting leaked documents.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with both the S&P 500 and Dow advancing to records, after Republicans took control of the Senate, allaying fears of drawn-out runoffs and raising investor hopes for more business- and energy-friendly policies.

Wearable device maker Jawbone unveiled a set of new fitness trackers called "UP Move" and "UP3" that track details of workouts, hours slept and heart rate.

The newest Marvel superhero to reach the big screen does not have the rugged good looks of Iron Man, the muscular physique of Captain America or a cape and hammer like Thor.

Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz said on Tuesday it had transferred $1.45 billion to Russia's Gazprom, the first tranche of debt repayment required by an agreement that will see Moscow resume gas supplies to its ex-Soviet neighbor.

Japanese lawmakers are set to indefinitely postpone legalizing casinos as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose cabinet has been hit by a series of scandals, lacks the political leverage to pass a bill this year, sources directly involved in the process said.

Germany is set for days of transport chaos after a train drivers' union called a strike from Wednesday over pay and negotiating rights, threatening to disrupt this weekend's celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's e-commerce and mobile businesses surged in the September quarter, far outpacing its rivals' and glossing over weakening margins and decelerating earnings growth.

Talisman Energy Inc, the Canadian oil producer whose shares have fallen more than half in the past year, said on Tuesday it expects to meet its goal of selling $2 billion in assets by mid-2015 despite tumbling oil prices.

Australia's Transfield Services Ltd (TSE.AX), which runs the country's offshore refugee detention centers, said it won't negotiate with Spain's Ferrovial SA (FER.MC) over a $873.60 million takeover approach until it agrees not to buy its shares for three months.

Cheung Kong Holdings Ltd (0001.HK), owned by Asia's richest man Li Ka-shing, said it had agreed to buy stakes worth $2.02 billion in about 60 aircraft as part of the property firm's push into airplane leasing.

Canadian pension fund PSP Investments and its partners have agreed to buy the French operations of telecoms masts group TDF in a deal worth about 3.5 billion euros (4.40 billion US dollar), people familiar with the matter said.

AstraZeneca moved to strengthen its core oncology business on Tuesday with three deals designed to expand the British drugmaker's reach in treating tumors.

France and Germany have agreed that the banking sectors in each country should pay 15 billion euros ($19 billion) toward an EU fund designed to limit the fallout from a banking collapse, French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Tuesday.

The dollar and U.S. stock futures pushed higher on Wednesday after Republicans scored a sweeping victory in U.S. mid-term elections, while Asian shares wilted and oil prices extended losses after more soft economic data from China.

With Congressional election results so far confirming expectations, a Republican takeover of the U.S. Senate will likely deal investors a result that could have a direct effect on the energy sector and other slices of the equities market.

China has contributed over $120 million to fight the spread of the Ebola virus, but its billionaire tycoons - it has more than anywhere outside the United States - have, publicly at least, donated little to the cause, underscoring an immature culture of philanthropy in the world's second-biggest economy.