Market nerves over euro strategy
World stock markets have fallen on fears that eurozone leaders are divided over how to tackle the debt crisis.
After a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Frankfurt, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was reported to have said that the two countries were at odds over a rescue plan.
London's FTSE 100 index fell 1.4% while German and French markets also fell.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso called on leaders to reach a deal.
Mr Barroso said there would be "a positive result if all maintained a sense of compromise".
Earlier, Asian markets had fallen, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng index down 1.8% and South Korea's Kospi ending 2.7% lower.
President Sarkozy had travelled to Germany for talks with Mrs Merkel, IMF director Christine Lagarde, outgoing European Central Bank chief Jean-Claude Trichet and other key officials.
He later returned to Paris, where his wife Carla Bruni had given birth to a baby girl.
The emergency talks were aiming to break the stalemate between Germany and France over how to increase the firepower of the eurozone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).
Earlier this month, the two countries said they had a plan to address the debt problem and would give further details by the end of October.
But doubts have set in as reports emerged that proposals for the EFSF was still being discussed.
EU leaders will hold a summit on Sunday.
The meeting had been scheduled for 17-18 October, but was delayed because more time was needed to finalise a plan to give money to Greece and bolster debt-laden banks.
Source-BBC
Libya's Col Muammar Gaddafi killed, say NTC officials
Libya's former leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has been killed after an assault on his home town of Sirte, officials from the transitional authorities have said.
Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam said fighters on the ground had told him they had seen Col Gaddafi's body.
Other officials also said he was killed during the assault on Sirte.
The claims have not yet been independently verified, and other reports said he was captured alive.
The colonel was toppled in August after 42 years in power. The International Criminal Court has been seeking his arrest.
Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday that hit two pro-Gaddafi vehicles near Sirte.
It was unclear whether the strikes were connected with the reports of Col Gaddafi's death.
Morgan Stanley reports $2.2bn third quarter profit
Morgan Stanley has reported a $2.2bn (£1.4bn) profit for the third quarter of the year.
The investment bank, the second-largest in the US, made the profit on revenues of $9.9bn.
But the profit was boosted by a $3.4bn gain on a revision to some of its assets, which involved estimating the value of some of the bank's holdings.
The results were also boosted by cost cuts and the bank's wealth management business.
Revenues at Morgan Stanley's wealth management group rose 5% from a year ago to $3.26bn.
The bank's chief executive, James Gorman, said: "Morgan Stanley effectively navigated turbulent markets while consolidating our market share gains with institutional clients and demonstrating resilience across the global wealth management business."
Amid concern about the amount big US banks could lose from the eurozone sovereign debt crisis, Morgan Stanley announced that it had a total exposure to Greece, the Irish Republic, Italy, Spain and Portugal of $5.7bn.
Following the release of the results, shares in Morgan Stanley rose more than 3% in early trading in New York, although they later fell back to end the session barely changed.
Morgan Stanley is the latest US bank to release its results this week.
On Tuesday, Goldman Sachs reported a $393m quarterly loss and Bank of America reported a $6.2bn profit.
On Monday, Citigroup reported a better-than-expected profit of $3.8bn, which was 74% up on the same period last year.
Source-BBC
Nestle raises 2011 sales outlook
The world's biggest food group, Nestle, has raised its sales growth outlook for the year after a better-than-expected performance in the first nine months.
Underlying sales from January to September rose 7.3% on a year ago, helped by higher prices and strong demand in emerging markets.
Nestle said it now expected in 2011 to "slightly over-perform" against its long-term organic growth range of 5-6%.
Nestle's brands include Nescafe, KitKat and Perrier water.
Sales in Europe over the first nine months grew by 3.8% and sales in the Americas grew by 5.6%.
However, emerging markets saw double-digit growth, with sales in Asia, Oceania and Africa rising by 11.7%.
Source-BBC
eBay reports 14% rise in profits
The internet auction site eBay has reported a 14% increase in third quarter profits.
Net income for the three months to the end of September came in at $491m (£311m), up from $432m in the same period last year.
EBay said the growth was driven by increased activity on its online marketplaces and greater use of its PayPal payments network.
But in after-hours trading in New York, the company's shares fell 5% to $31.45.
"Investors were assuming there would be upside surprise in earnings or the guidance," said Fred Moran, an analyst at the Benchmark Company.
"They maintained their full-year forecast essentially, which reflects a little caution around the global economy."
In his results statement, chief executive John Donahoe stressed the importance of the company's applications for mobile phones.
"Mobile commerce continues to accelerate as consumers change the way they shop and pay," he said.
"We are focused on enabling commerce, helping consumers shop anytime, anywhere, and being the commerce partner of choice for retailers of all sizes."
Libyan forces 'capture Gaddafi'
Commanders for Libya's transitional authorities say they have captured ousted leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
Unconfirmed reports say Col Gaddafi has been killed, and AFP obtained a mobile-phone image apparently showing his face covered in blood.
The reports came after transitional forces claimed control of Sirte, Col Gaddafi's birthplace.
The colonel was toppled in August after 42 years in power. The International Criminal Court is seeking his arrest.
Nato, which has been running a bombing campaign in Libya for months, said it carried out an air strike earlier on Thursday that hit two pro-Gaddafi vehicles near Sirte.
The head of the National Transitional Council (NTC) Mustafa Abdul Jalil is expected to give a national TV address soon.
Information Minister Mahmoud Shammam says fighters on the ground have told him that Col Gaddafi is dead.
'Don't shoot!'
Earlier, another NTC official told Reuters news agency: "He's captured. He's wounded in both legs."
"He's been taken away by ambulance."
AFP news agency quoted another NTC official, Mohamed Leith, as saying that Col Gaddafi had been captured in Sirte and was "seriously wounded" but still breathing.
A soldier who says he captured Muammar Gaddafi told the BBC the colonel had shouted: "Don't shoot!"
But NTC official Abdel Majid Mlegta told Reuters news agency that the former leader had been shot in the head and killed as he tried to flee.
Reuters also quoted another NTC commander, Abdul Hakim al-Jalil, as saying that Col Gaddafi's spokesman Moussa Ibrahim had been captured and the head of his armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr, had been killed.
None of the reports has been independently verified.
The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Tripoli says ships and cars have been sounding their horns in the capital and guns are being fired in celebration.
Earlier, NTC commanders in Sirte - about 360km (220 miles) east of Tripoli - said the city had been liberated.
There are no Gaddafi forces any more," Col Yunus al-Abdali told Reuters. "We are now chasing his fighters who are trying to run away."
There was no confirmation from the NTC leadership.
But fighters in Sirte celebrated by firing in the air, and chanting "Allah akbar" ("God is great").
Interim government forces had been facing heavy resistance from snipers in the city, and used heavy artillery during its offensive. Thousands of civilians have fled.
The NTC has also suffered heavy casualties in the town of Bani Walid, south-east of Tripoli, in recent weeks.
On Monday the NTC said it had captured 90% of the town, including the centre.
Clashes erupt at mass rally over Greece austerity bill
Rioters have clashed with other protesters in Athens where thousands of people are rallying outside parliament to condemn new cuts.
Scores of masked youths attacked a group from a communist-backed trade union with stones and petrol bombs, and police fired tear gas.
The trade unionists had been trying to maintain order during the rally.
A 48-hour general strike is under way in protest at austerity measures aimed at reducing Greece's crippling debt.
The Socialist-dominated parliament is expected to give final approval to a new austerity bill on Thursday, after giving it preliminary approval in a first vote late on Wednesday by a margin of 154-141 of the 300 deputies.
The bill, which includes tax hikes and pay cuts, is needed to secure EU and IMF bailout loans.
Civil servants, shopkeepers, dock workers, taxi drivers, doctors, lawyers, teachers, construction workers and others were all due to take part in the strike, which began on Wednesday.
Greek television footage showed masked rioters attacking trade unionists before the trade unionists counter-charge, AFP news agency reports.
On Wednesday, at least 40 people were injured in running battles in central Athens.
At least 35,000 protesters gathered on Syntagma Square, in front of parliament, on Thursday.
"There is no way that we will stop this battle until this government falls, which is one of our demands," the president of the hotel union, Nikos Papageorgiou, told Reuters news agency.
Irini Kyriakidou, a 53-year-old seamstress, said: "What I want to tell the government is that we won't let this pass so easily.
"We will fight so they do not put an end to labour contracts which will put us back a century."
The bill includes plans for further cuts to pensions and salaries and temporary lay-offs of 30,000 public sector workers.
Some of Prime Minister George Papandreou's ruling Socialist party deputies have threatened not to vote for some of the bill's articles.
With Greece unable to borrow long term on international bond markets to finance its debt, the EU and IMF have stepped in with two bailout packages.
Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos described the choice as between a "difficult situation and a catastrophe".
"We have to explain to all these indignant people who see their lives changing that what the country is experiencing is not the worst stage of the crisis," he said.
"It is an anguished and necessary effort to avoid the ultimate, deepest and harshest level of the crisis."
Greek haircut
There are fears that if the Greek government defaults on its debts, it will set off a chain reaction that could engulf banks and other highly indebted eurozone nations.
But the government is struggling to convince lenders that it is cutting effectively enough. Greece says it needs the next 8bn euros ($11bn; £7bn) of the first bailout agreed to last year or it will soon be unable to pay its bills.
The details of the second rescue plan have yet to be finalised. Banks have agreed to take a 21% loss, or "haircut", on their loans to Greece but there is growing pressure for them to accept higher losses.
European leaders and global finance chiefs are trying to work out a broader plan to tackle the eurozone's debt crisis ahead of a weekend summit in Brussels.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew to Germany late on Wednesday to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel and senior officials from the European Central Bank and IMF.
Neither leader gave any details about what had been discussed.
The two have disagreed about how Europe's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), can be leveraged from its current 440bn euros to a much higher value in order to bail out banks and struggling countries such as Italy and Spain, if needed.
Source-BBC
French President Sarkozy's 'joy' at daughter's birth
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has described the birth of his daughter as a "profound joy" but a "private" one.
His daughter with wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was born on Wednesday night at a Paris clinic.
Mr Sarkozy arrived at the La Muette clinic several hours after the birth. He had visited the clinic earlier in the day, but left to travel to Germany for talks on the eurozone debt crisis.
Mr Sarkozy already has three sons from two previous marriages.
Mr Sarkozy, who was on a scheduled visit to a waste-processing plant in western France when he made his comments, said the birth was a "very profound joy, a joy all the deeper because it is private".
He added both mother and baby were "doing very well". He added the baby's name would be revealed by his wife.
The first couple has decided not to officially announce the birth, but Mr Sarkozy reacted warmly when plant workers gave him gifts during the visit.
He was given a bib, a dieting book for his wife and a small oak tree to plant, Agence France-Presse news agency reports.
Mr Sarkozy married Italian-born Carla Bruni in 2008, becoming the first French leader to divorce and remarry while in office. She has become the only serving French first lady to have given birth.
Mexico fires nearly 1,000 police in Gulf state
Nearly 1,000 police officers were fired to weed out corruption from the violence-ravaged Gulf coast state of Veracruz, Mexican authorities said yesterday.
Veracruz police chief Arturo Bermudez said 980 state agents have been dismissed in the past couple of weeks after failing lie detector and other tests. Only 27 per cent in the 6,000-member force have taken the tests.
Yesterday’s announcement comes four days after Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Veracruz state had been turned over to the brutal Zetas drug cartel.
The state has seen a rise in drug crimes since mid-2011. Sixty-seven people have died in two recent mass killings apparently linked to the Sinaloa cartel targeting the Zetas cartel. Calderon has deployed troops and federal police to Veracruz.
Earlier yesterday, Mexican federal police said they detained the leader of a drug gang locked in a bloody battle for control of the Pacific resort city of Acapulco.
Christian Arturo Hernandez Tarin was detained in the central state of Mexico, the Public Safety Department said in a statement. Police said Tarin led a gang known as "the street sweeper”.
Hernandez's gang has been fighting against the local Independent Cartel of Acapulco for control of the coast city since the 2010 arrest of suspected Texas-born drug capo Edgar Valdez Villareal, known as "La Barbie”.
The department said both groups broke away from Valdez's organisation because they didn't like the group's new leader, sparking a wave of violence that has terrorised people in Acapulco.
Haiti PM and his gov’t installed in ceremony
Haiti's new prime minister and his Cabinet have taken office with the task of rebuilding the quake-devastated Haiti.
Garry Conille and his 16 ministers were inaugurated in a ceremony yesterday on the grounds of the National Palace.
Conille said Haitians have been suffering for "too long" under the tents and tarps that have served as makeshift shelters since last year's earthquake.
The government was installed five months after musician Michel Martelly was sworn in as president and two weeks after Conille was approved as prime minister.
Conille was an aide to Bill Clinton in the former US President's role as UN envoy to Haiti.
The delay in establishing a formal government has slowed reconstruction following the earthquake.