PORTUGAL

Greece's prime minister won the backing of his Cabinet Wednesday to hold a referendum on a 130 billion euro bailout package but will find the stunned euro zone leaders who engineered the deal last week harder to convince.

Standard Chartered Plc said on Wednesday that operating profit before tax in the first nine months grew at a double-digit rate, helped by a strong showing in markets including Hong Kong and putting it in line for a ninth straight year of record earnings.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou fought off a barrage of criticism to win the backing of his Cabinet Wednesday to push ahead with a speedy referendum on the European debt bailout deal.

The Greek government faced possible collapse on Tuesday as ruling party lawmakers demanded Prime Minister George Papandreou resign for throwing the nation's euro membership into jeopardy with a shock call for a referendum.

Apple will release the iPhone 4S in 15 more countries starting Nov. 11, including Poland, Greece and Hong Kong.

Apple has announced the availability of the iPhone 4S in Hong Kong, South Korea and 13 additional countries beginning Nov. 11.

Gold prices fell 1.5 percent Tuesday as Chinese manufacturing slowed more than expected and Greece blindsided markets with plans for a referendum on whether to accept another bailout.

Here is the list of the nominees for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d’Or World Player of the Year.

Gold prices fell 1.4 percent Monday as the bankruptcy of a broker-dealer heavily invested in European sovereign debt drove investors to the safety of the dollar.

The bankruptcy of New York-based MF Global Holdings brought the European debt crisis to New York, wiping out a respected firm and tarnishing the reputation of a former Goldman Sachs CEO.

In early April, Jon Corzine was in a tough spot. MF Global, the company he had run for the previous year, was about to post a fourth-quarter loss, marking its fourth successive fiscal year of red ink.

Confidence was highest in India for a seventh straight quarter but India's reading fell 5 points from the second quarter and Saudi Arabia was catching up.

If one buys into reactions of global markets, including the New York Stock Exchange and Dow Jones Industrials Average, they could go to sleep at night with little concern that the Eurozone financial crisis is a ticking time bomb, just waiting to explode with global implications that ripple back to the U.S.

Sarkozy compared Greece’s problems to Lehman Brothers collapse in 2008.

The head of Europe's bailout fund said Friday he does not expect to reach a conclusive deal with Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing but expects the surplus-rich country to continue buying bonds issued by the fund.

The head of Europe's bailout fund said Friday he does not expect to reach a conclusive deal with Chinese leaders during a visit to Beijing but expects the surplus-rich country to continue buying bonds issued by the fund.

In 14 lines engraved on a plaque on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, Emma Lazarus (1849-1887) captured the belief in the American Dream that has defined the United States' self-image for more than a century and moved millions of immigrants to seek refuge here.

Euro zone leaders struck a last-minute deal to limit the damage from the currency bloc's debt crisis early on Thursday but are still far from finalizing plans to slash Greece's debt burden and strengthen their rescue fund.

European leaders roundly hailed all the agreements.

Europe's banks were told to cut dividends and bonuses to help them find 106 billion euros ($146 billion) to shore up their capital, and agreed to halve the value of their Greek government debt.

There has been a preliminary agreement to recapitalize European banks.