BP Plc still does not know whether its "top kill" operation designed to plug the biggest oil spill in United States history will be successful and puts the cost of tackling the disaster so far at $930 million. "The top kill procedure has never before been attempted at these depths and its ultimate success is

Stock index futures pointed to a mixed start for Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasdaq trading flat to 0.3 percent lower by 0808 GMT (3:08 a.m. ET). Economic data set for release include the final reading of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan U.S. consumer sentiment survey at

The cost of protecting government debt against default in Greece and other peripheral euro zone sovereigns fell early on Friday in low volumes, according to Credit Default Swap monitor Markit. Five-year CDS on Greek government debt fell to 655 basis points, 27 bps tighter than on Thursday, Markit said. It means the cost falls to

Smokers in Cyprus consume more cigarettes per day than other Europeans, with the percentage of the smoking population standing at 32%. Ahead of the 2010 No Tobacco Day on May 31, the European Commission has published the results of a Eurobarometer survey, which shows that a strong majority of EU citizens support stronger tobacco control

Asian stocks rallied for a third straight day on Friday as China's pledge to remain invested in Europe lifted sentiment but the euro surrendered some of its gains after rebounding from near four-year lows the previous day. Higher yielding currencies like the Australian and New Zealand dollars surged on demand for riskier assets and the

Greek labour unions will strike in June to protest pension reform and are trying to mobilise workers across Europe to take joint action against austerity measures, the private sector union GSEE said on Thursday. Greek unions want the strike to coincide with the debate of the pension bill in parliament. It will be the fifth

Facebook is beefing up privacy protections on the world's most popular online social network, addressing mounting pressure to better secure personal data exchanged among its nearly 500 million members. The issue has come to a head in recent months amid concern that Facebook makes it possible for Internet stalkers, cyber criminals and even nosy neighbors

The euro rebounded on Thursday after China reaffirmed its long-term strategy of diversifying currency holdings away from the dollar and denied it was reviewing its holdings of euro sovereign bonds. Spain's minority socialist government won parliamentary backing for its austerity program by a single vote in a drive to cut its budget deficit and restore

Stock index futures pointed to a rise of about 2 percent at the open on Thursday after China denied a report it was reviewing its holdings in euro-zone sovereign bonds due to the region's debt crisis. The People's Bank of China said a Financial Times report that Beijing was concerned about its euro-zone exposure was