Greece plans to invite investors next year to search for oil in three areas in the western part of the country, a government minister said on Thursday. The move accelerates debt-laden Greece's efforts to develop its potential hydrocarbon reserves as part of measures to overhaul its economy and lessen its dependence on energy imports. Athens

The European Union executive said it will draft plans for member states to coordinate a recapitalisation of banks, as regulators met to check the capital buffers of stressed lenders they had granted a clean bill of health in July. "We are now proposing member states to have a coordinated action to recapitalise banks and so

Outpourings of public grief and appreciation swept the globe on Thursday after the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs, who touched the daily lives of countless millions of people through the Macintosh computer, iPod, iPhone and iPad, died on Wednesday at age 56 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. He stepped down as

The European Central Bank sees "intensified" threats to the euro zone economy and will provide struggling banks with longer-term liquidity to ward off a new credit crunch, President Jean-Claude Trichet said on Thursday. The ECB earlier kept rates unchanged at 1.5% at its meeting in Berlin, the last for Trichet before he hands over to

Belgium warned France on Thursday that it was not willing to foot the whole bill for rescuing Dexia as the two states started talks to divide up the Franco-Belgian lender's assets. Dexia confirmed its board would meet in Paris on Saturday to vote on a break-up plan after Belgium and France pledged to guarantee its

Arsenal could cope financially and still compete for the Premier League title even without the financial boost of Champions League soccer, chief executive Ivan Gazidis said on Thursday. The London club, who sit 15th in the league having endured their worst start to a season in 58 years, are widely regarded as one of the

The Bank of England has launched a second round of quantitative easing to defend Britain's faltering economy against the euro zone debt crisis, pledging to buy 75 bln pounds of assets with new money in a dramatic move to stave off recession. Thursday's decision by the BoE to expand its asset purchase programme to a

Britain's financial regulator is examining Royal Bank of Scotland's portfolio of troubled commercial property loans, as the European debt crisis injects fresh volatility in property prices, industry sources said. The Financial Services Authority (FSA) wrote to the head of RBS's Global Restructuring Group (GRG), Derek Sach, last week after sending over officers to quiz staff,