EUROPEAN UNION

Media conglomerate Vivendi, the Paris-based parent of Universal Music Group, officially sought approval from the European Union to purchase London-based EMI Group's recorded-music business, the European Commission announced Monday on its website.

French media group Vivendi's Universal Music is seeking EU regulatory approval to buy British record label EMI's recorded music unit for $1.9 billion to boost its worldwide market share, the European Commission said on its website on Monday.

Inspectors are expected to spend two days in the country, but with tensions running high between Iran and Israel, Western diplomats have played down any hopes of a major breakthrough at the meeting.

Crude oil prices jumped in European trade Monday after Iran said it halted oil exports to the UK and France in reply to the European Union's economic sanctions over its disputed nuclear program.

Inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in Tehran on Monday for talks on the disputed nuclear program of Iran, a day after the Islamic country responded defiantly to tightened EU sanctions by halting oil sales to British and French companies.

For some observers, Greece can seem like a small problem in a distant land, incapable of affecting U.S. investors. But in the financial crisis era, that is most certainly not the case.

Eurozone finance ministers meet Monday to resolve all the issues surrounding the 130 billion euros ($170 billion) bailout package for Greece. The question remains what will happen to Greece without this rescue package.

Iran has ceased oil exports to the UK and France in reply to European Union's decision to ban purchases of Iranian crude that were planned to begin in July.

Eurozone finance ministers expected to approve second bailout for Greece to draw line under months of turmoil that has shaken the currency bloc.

In Myanmar's new war on drugs, meet the weapon of mass destruction: the weed-whacker. It has dramatically accelerated a campaign to eradicate opium poppies.

Eurozone finance ministers are expected to formally endorse Greece's second bailout package on Monday. The final deal to funnel a rescue package worth 130 billion euros ($170.9 billion) is an important lifeline to the debt-hit country, for without it, Greece will default on a 14.5-billion-euro bond redemption due on March 20.

Markets jumped Monday as policy easing by China and prospects for Greece to clinch a second bailout fund buoyed investor appetite for riskier assets, sending U.S. crude up nearly $2 a barrel and Asian shares up nearly 1 percent.

The European Central Bank would support the euro zone boosting its firewall by combining what remains in its temporary bailout facility with its permanent fund, ECB board member Joerg Asmussen was cited as saying by a German business daily.

U.N. nuclear inspectors headed to Iran Sunday for talks aimed at getting Tehran to start addressing their mounting concerns that it may be seeking to develop atomic bombs.

The revelations this week that Google, Twitter, and other popular Internet companies have been taking liberties with customer data have prompted criticism by privacy advocates and lawmakers, along with apologies by the companies.

Iran would not wait for the European Union oil embargo to start on July 1. In a stern retaliatory move, Tehran announced on Sunday it will stop selling crude to French and British oil companies.

Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday.

Iran has halted sales of crude oil to British and French companies, the oil ministry said Sunday. Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped, representative Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the Islamic Republic's ministry of petroleum Web site.

Apple has asked EU anti-trust regulators to step in and settle a technology patent dispute between the company and Motorola Mobility, according to Motorola Mobility.

The government of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is emerging as a rare supplier of diesel to Syria, potentially helping the government of the Middle Eastern country's Bashar al-Assad fuel its military in the midst of a bloody crackdown on civilian protests and undermining Western sanctions.

Italy's central bank governor urged the government on Saturday to rapidly implement planned reforms and take further steps to support the Eurozone's third-biggest economy, which he said would shrink by about 1.5 percent this year.