European Union leaders argued on Thursday over the right balance between budget austerity and reviving lost growth at the first summit for two years in which the euro zone debt crisis did not eclipse all else. After their finance ministers gave provisional approval to a second bailout for Greece, and a flood of cheap European

A decision to boost the euro zone's bailout capacity could be taken by euro zone finance ministers at an informal meeting in Copenhagen on March 30-31, euro zone officials said at a summit on Thursday. The euro zone is considering combining the remaining 250 billion euros in its temporary EFSF bailout fund and the 500

Titan, Greece's biggest cement producer, posted an 89% drop in 2011 net profit on Thursday and forecast further declines this year after the collapse of the building industry in its recession-hit home market. The company, which recently celebrated its 100-year anniversary, said it will not distribute a dividend for the first time in 58 years.

France's Alstom Transport has won a 515 mln euro ($689 mln) contract to expand the Athens subway, along with Greek construction company J&P Avax and Italy's Ghella Spa, which specialises in tunnelling. "We are trying to accelerate these big projects, and one example is this contract," Transport Minister Makis Voridis told reporters. Greece's construction sector

Greece has taken all the legal action needed to secure a second bailout from the euro zone countries, Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker said on Thursday, opening the door to the first tranche to be paid out by March 20 if more conditions are met. The money can be paid out only after the completion of

Facebook has unveiled new ways for businesses to reach its 845 million users directly across all devices, including mobile, as it races toward a multibillion dollar IPO. With new "Premium on Facebook" ads, marketers can expand their reach on the social network by paying for a video, a coupon or other message to appear on

Microsoft released an incomplete version of Windows 8 for the public to download and try out on Wednesday, looking to rev up excitement for the slick, new-look operating system that it hopes will restore its fading tech supremacy. Windows 8, as the first Microsoft operating system compatible with low-power microprocessors designed by ARM Holdings Plc,

France's data protection watchdog has cast doubt on the legality and fairness of Google's new privacy policy, which it said breached European laws. The CNIL regulator told Google in a letter dated Feb. 27 it would lead a European-wide investigation of the web search giant's latest policy and would send it questions by mid-March. Google

Asian shares fell on Thursday as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke put the brakes on a recent rally by curbing optimism about the strength of the U.S. economic recovery, but without signalling any further monetary easing to stimulate growth. Chinese official and private-sector factory data also reminded investors of the fragile state of the global