GERMANY

The euro fell against the dollar on Monday, weighed down by a lack of concrete progress on a financial aid package for debt-strapped Greece.

Euro zone finance ministers discussed the mechanics of a financial rescue for Greece on Monday but gave few details of their standby planning as Athens tries to fix its public finances alone.

The European Union's executive said on Monday it was ready to propose a framework that could be used to aid Greece, despite signs of continuing reluctance from France and Germany to make concrete commitments.

The U.S. stock market fell Monday on important policy developments from the U.S., euro zone, and China.

SolarWorld, Germany's top solar company, will see its margins drop this year as its premium price strategy comes under attack, hurting one of the last intact investment cases in the sector.

Airbus parent EADS has received no word of any changes to a contest to supply aerial refueling tankers to the United States, the head of Airbus Military said on Monday.

Euro zone finance ministers on Monday will look at how to give Greece financial aid should it ask for help, but there were signs France and Germany were holding out on making concrete commitments.

Finance ministers from countries using the euro hope to agree on Monday on a way of providing heavily indebted Greece with financial aid, despite French and German doubts that a deal will be reached.

Asian stocks fell from near seven-week highs on Monday as a currency spat between China and the United States and worries about sovereign debt combined to keep investors away from riskier assets.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said there was no reason for Euro zone finance ministers to make any decision on financial aid for debt-ridden Greece when they met on Monday.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who is criticized by media freedom groups, called on Saturday for regulation of the Internet and singled out a website that he said falsely reported the murder of one of his ministers.

Euro zone finance ministers are likely to agree on Monday on a mechanism for aiding Greece financially, if it is required, but will leave out any sums until Athens asks for them, an EU source said on Saturday.

A European Monetary Fund risks skewing the incentives of debt-ridden euro zone countries thereby endangering the stability of the euro, the head of Ifo think tank told Reuters in an interview.

The revelation that an ex-employee of HSBC Holdings Plc stole tens of thousands of its Swiss accounts is likely to give U.S. tax authorities fresh clues in their pursuit of wealthy tax cheats abroad.

Germany's Finance Ministry said on Saturday it was not aware of any agreement by euro zone members to bail out heavily indebted Greece, and the European Union's executive said no such deal had been concluded.

The euro zone has agreed a multi-billion euro bailout for heavily indebted Greece as part of a package to support the euro, the Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday.

Opel workers demanded reassurances that its European brand will not be disadvantaged at the expense of sister brand Chevrolet, after Opel lost responsibility for the Russian region to an Asian arm of General Motors.

In mid-January, a who's who of Wall Street gathered to hear Paul Volcker, the former Federal Reserve chairman whose role in the White House seemed at best unclear.

Europe's vanmakers have gone a long way toward meeting proposals to curb climate-warming emissions, but as debate on the 2016 targets kicks off big auto is seen digging its heels in over the last mile.

Plans by Carrefour, the world's No.2 retailer, to open its first cash-and-carry outlets in India are a sign of optimism in the country's $450 billion retail sector, but foreign investors and some officials want more -- an easing of the country's tough investment rules.

The Swedish parliament approved a resolution to recognize the 1915 mass killings of Armenians during the Ottoman empire as genocide.