EU antitrust authorities delayed until January a decision on a proposed merger between Greek carriers Aegean Airlines <AGNr.AT> and privatised rival Olympic [OLY.UL], the EU's competition chief said on Thursday. Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia gave no specific reason for delaying the decision, which had been expected on Dec. 7. The Commission typically extends deadlines if

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Thursday said major world currencies were "roughly in alignment" and called on Group of 20 finance leaders to agree to "norms" on exchange rate policy. Laying out his agenda for this weekend's G20 meetings in South Korea , Geithner said in a Wall Street Journal interview he would seek

Switzerland and Germany have agreed the outlines of a deal to impose a withholding tax on German assets hidden in secret Swiss accounts and want to work out the details this month, a top official was quoted as saying. Michael Ambuehl, the top Swiss negotiator for international financial affairs, told Thursday's Swiss daily Tages-Anzeiger he

China's growth ebbed in the third quarter while inflation edged just a touch higher, showing that the world's second-largest economy was strong but far from overheating and suggesting that an interest rate rise this week may be enough for now. Coming a day ahead of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in South Korea, where

Bookmaker William Hill said it expected to report operating profit at the top end of analysts' expectations after a strong third-quarter helped by favourable football results and the later stages of the World Cup. The company, which has a high-street and an online presence, said net revenue grew 22%, with Internet revenue up 35% against

France faced another day of strikes and confrontation on its streets on Thursday as the government grappled to restore fuel supply with senators just a few days away from voting on pension reform. Trade unions, backed by public support, want President Nicolas Sarkozy and his conservative government to back down on the bill to raise

Several key oil and container ports in southern China were closed on Thursday ahead of Typhoon Megi, stopping bunker fuel deliveries and forcing tankers to evacuate to calmer waters, industry sources said. The typhoon, one of the biggest to threaten the South China coast in years, looked set to make landfall on Saturday east of

The dollar jumped on Thursday after U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner suggested major currencies were roughly in alignment, while stocks fell as investors digested data showing China's growth ebbed in the third quarter even as inflation edged higher. In an interview published in the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Geithner suggested that he saw no

Bob Guccione, who brought full frontal nudity to men's magazines and built a multimillion dollar publishing empire on the success of his flagship magazine, Penthouse, died on Wednesday, according to his family. He was 79. Guccione died in Plano, Texas, of cancer after a long illness, his family said in a statement e-mailed to Reuters.