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Spain's largest bank Santander will cut 3,000 jobs following its planned merger with its Banesto subsidiary, Cinco Dias reported on Friday, citing sources from unions and close to the bank.

Already struggling at home with weak revenues and tough new capital and leverage requirements, investment banks are now also facing a slump in their once most promising business - emerging markets.

Global investors are betting Washington will overcome its budget deadlock despite an apparently serious setback. Republican lawmakers rejected a proposal on Thursday by their leader, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, designed to extract concessions from President Barack Obama.

China’s economic data is no longer the main driver for financial markets in the Asian region as global economic events take precedence over regional concerns, Chris Tinker, Equity Strategist at Libra Investment told CNBC.

Before becoming PIMCO CEO and co-CIO, El-Erian held top posts at the International Monetary Fund and the Harvard Management Company. He's also a prolific writer, including as a guest blogger for CNBC.com.

President Obama has said the U.S. has a supply of natural gas to last nearly 100 years. But it turns out geologists and other researchers disagree on that supply figure, which has huge implications for America's energy policy.

U.S. energy producers' ability to pull natural gas from shale may have contributed to a price-dampening oversupply for now, but it’s also triggering tens of billions of dollars in capital investments.

The U.S. natural gas boom has kicked off a gold rush among companies trying to cash in on minimizing the industry’s environmental footprint.

Natural gas's real potential for economic impact lies in the vast reservoirs of shale gas that are newly accessible through hydraulic fracturing.

Amid cries for energy independence, fracking has become crucial to taking advantage of previously untapped resources. Take a closer look at hydraulic fracturing, and why the technology has become so important and controversial.

Environmental issues aside,  the economics of natural gas may have already dethroned coal as the nation's key source of electrical power.

Natural gas has often taken a backseat to crude oil in the Texas energy business, but the advent of fracking shale gas has given it star billing in the Lone Star State — and the nation.

The natural gas industry may be hurting from rock-bottom prices now but if allowed to fully exploit the shale-gas boom, there may be few losers and many winners in the years to come.

It's almost impossible to overestimate the importance of fracking to the natural gas industry and the nation. It's also difficult to understate the controversy surrounding the environmental issues.  Our special report, "Who's Winning the Natural Gas Game?," addresses both

Other countries have invested billions in alternative fuels, from Brazil's government-sponsored soybean-ethanol push to France's headlong expansion of nuclear power after the oil shocks of the 1970s. Should the U.S. do the same?