France's Lagardère (LAGA.PA) has joined the race to acquire a majority of Italy's airport retailer World Duty Free (WDF.MI), which belongs to the Benetton family, sources familiar with the situation said.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's underwhelming holiday quarter performance and an escalating war of words with a powerful Chinese industry regulator highlight two major risks to its seemingly fairy-tale ascent: politics and the shift to mobile commerce.

General Motors Co (GM.N) will suspend production at its St. Petersburg auto assembly plant in Russia from mid-March to mid-May and is raising prices for its products because of the weak and volatile Russian rouble, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

This week's visit to Athens by the head of the euro zone finance ministers' group will mark the start of Greece's negotiations on changing the conditions of its international bailout accord, the finance ministry said in a statement.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill on Thursday to approve the long-pending Keystone XL oil pipeline, despite the White House saying earlier in the day that President Barack Obama would veto the measure.

After years of giving investors the cold shoulder, Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is starting to warm up to Wall Street. The No. 1 U.S. online retailer was unusually forthcoming during its fourth-quarter earnings call on Thursday, saying it will break out results this year, for the first time, for its fast-growing cloud computing unit, Amazon Web Services.

The National Basketball Association and Tencent Holdings Ltd said Friday the Shenzhen-based Internet giant will be the only company in China to stream the league's online content.

Americans are more likely than ever to favor easing a ban on exporting crude oil, so long as it does not lead to higher gasoline prices that have recently sunk to near $2 a gallon, according to a new Reuters-IPSOS poll.

The Bank of Japan has put monetary policy on hold and found backing for its wait-and-see stance from advisors to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who worry more easing could send the yen to damagingly low levels, according to officials in the administration and central bank.

Senior Democrats in the House of Representatives said on Thursday they would insist President Barack Obama provide hard evidence that proposed free trade deals will boost median U.S. incomes, laying out tough terms to support his trade agenda.

Google Inc's (GOOGL.O) (GOOG.O) revenue grew 15 percent in the fourth quarter but fell short of Wall Street's target on declining online ad prices and unfavorable foreign exchange rates.

U.S. stocks enjoyed a late afternoon rally and closed higher on Thursday as an upturn in oil prices and a rally in Apple and Boeing shares helped offset some disappointing earnings and lingering questions over U.S. monetary policy.

With Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) having embarked on a big cost-cutting drive, industry experts are baffled why the "people's car" maker plans to spend millions of euros upgrading a money-losing luxury sedan.

New European Union sanctions against Russia could include further capital markets restrictions, making it harder for Russian companies to refinance themselves and possibly affecting Russian sovereign bonds, EU officials said on Wednesday.

For months now Federal Reserve policymakers have watched the economic turmoil overseas, from Ebola to Russia to the ongoing travails of the euro, and largely held their tongue.

China's factory growth likely inched up from a 1-1/2-year low in January, helped by a slight pick-up in momentum the previous month, but the bounce is not expected to last due to unsteady exports and slowing investment, a Reuters poll showed.

The bankruptcy of the operating unit of Caesars Entertainment Corp's will proceed in Chicago, a victory for the casino company's private equity backers over its hedge fund creditors who wanted the case in Delaware.

The London Stock Exchange Group Plc (LSE.L) plans to put Russell Investments up for sale in mid-February and hopes to fetch around $1.4 billion for the unit, two sources told Reuters Wednesday.

Lender BOC Hong Kong Holdings Ltd (2388.HK) is considering a sale of its $6 billion subsidiary Nanyang Commercial Bank (NCB) to stop cannibalising the China business of its parent, people familiar with the matter said.

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin said on Wednesday France wanted to facilitate talks between Greece's new leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the rest of the euro zone, and would meet his Greek counterpart in Paris on Monday.

Asian shares retreated on Thursday after the Federal Reserve unexpectedly lifted its view on the economy, signaling that the U.S. central bank remains firmly on track with plans to raise interest rates this year.

McDonald's Corp (MCD.N) said Chief Executive Don Thompson would retire at the end of February and be succeeded by Steve Easterbrook, the company's chief brand officer.

Leftist Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras threw down an open challenge to international creditors on Wednesday by halting privatisation plans agreed under the country's bailout deal, prompting a third day of heavy losses on financial markets.

U.S. stocks closed down on Wednesday, driven by a sharp decline in the S&P 500 energy sector, after the Federal Reserve said the domestic economy was growing at a solid pace, signaling it remains on track to raise interest rates later this year.

General Motors Co (GM.N) on Wednesday said it does not plan to extend a Jan. 31 deadline to file claims in its faulty ignition switch compensation program, rejecting pleas from two U.S. senators to extend the cutoff.

Buying art at Sotheby's (BID.N) will soon become more expensive as the top international auction house announced it is increasing its buyer's premium, the rates it charges a successful bidder.

Salix Pharmaceuticals Ltd said it would restate financial statements for all of 2013 and the first three quarters of 2014, adding to the drugmaker's list of woes.

First results from a human trial of an Ebola vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline show it is safe and generates an immune response, scientists said on Wednesday, but larger trials are needed to see if it protects and if a booster is needed.

The U.S. Air Force said on Wednesday it would use Boeing Co's commercial 747-8 airliner to replace its current fleet of two Air Force One presidential aircraft, one of the most visible symbols of the United States.

Facebook Inc's (FB.O) revenue grew 49 percent in the fourth quarter, as mobile advertising growth helped the world's largest Internet social network beat Wall Street's targets for earnings and sales.