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• UPDATE 3-Modelo deal parties working on DOJ concerns -source

  NEW YORK/ WASHINGTON- Feb 1- Anheuser-Busch InBev SA, Grupo Modelo and Constellation Brands Inc are discussing ways to address U.S. regulators' antitrust concerns over their mega-merger and expect to soon open settlement talks to avoid a trial, a source close to one of the companies said on Friday.

• Poland charges blue-chip builders' execs with cartel

  The European Commission this week said it was putting on hold transfers of money due to Poland for road projects, which could add up to about 5 billion euros, because it wants assurances the alleged fraud could not be repeated on other projects in Poland, the biggest recipient of European Union funds.

• Business events scheduled for the coming week

  WASHINGTON _ Commerce Department releases factory orders for December, 10 a.m. Eastern. BERLIN _ German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy meet for talks. WASHINGTON _ Institute for Supply Management releases its service sector index for January, 10 a.m..

• ANALYSIS-AB InBev could keep Mexico prize with brewery sale

  BRUSSELS, Feb 1- Anheuser-Busch InBev could salvage its plan to take full control of Grupo Modelo by keeping its sights on the lucrative market in Mexico and letting others brew Corona destined for the United States.

• UPDATE 1-Constellation attacks DOJ reasoning in move to block Modelo deal

  Feb 1- Constellation Brands Inc on Friday attacked the U.S. government's move to block Anheuser-Busch InBev's proposed $20.1 billion takeover of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo.

• UPDATE 2-Google moves closer to resolving EU investigation

  BRUSSELS, Feb 1- Google has offered to take specific steps to ally competition regulators' concerns about its business practices, in a major move towards ending a two-year investigation and avoiding billions of dollars in fines.

• UPDATE 1-Euro zone inflation nears ECB goal, joblessness at record

  BRUSSELS, Feb 1- Euro zone inflation fell more than expected in January in a sign that companies were cutting prices to entice shoppers at a time when joblessness remained at a record level at the end of 2012..

• UPDATE 1-EU antitrust regulator says received Google proposals

  *Google presents proposals to settle EU anti-competitive concerns. BRUSSELS, Feb 1- Google has presented detailed proposals to allay anti-competitive concerns about its business practices, the EU antitrust regulator said on Friday, in a move which brings the company a step closer to resolving a two-year investigation.

• EU antitrust regulator says received Google proposals

  BRUSSELS, Feb 1- Google has presented detailed proposals to allay anti-competitive concerns about its business practices, the EU antitrust regulator said on Friday, in a move which brings the company a step closer to resolving a two-year investigation.

• Reuters World News Highlights 1800 GMT, Feb 1

  BAMAKO/ TIMBUKTU, Mali- Human rights groups said on Friday a French-led offensive against Islamists in Mali had led to civilian deaths in airstrikes and ethnic reprisals by Malian troops, a day before President Francois Hollande was due to visit the country.

• EU Faces Up to China in Simmering Trade Row

  

  In September, the head of Europe's biggest employers' group presented a crystal horse sculpture to Wen Jiabao, the outgoing Chinese premier, at an EU-China business summit in Brussels. The Financial Times reports.

• Business events scheduled for Friday

  WASHINGTON _ Labor Department releases employment data for January, 8:30 a.m. Eastern. WASHINGTON _ Institute for Supply Management releases its manufacturing index for January, 10 a.m.. WASHINGTON _ Commerce Department releases construction spending for December, 10 a.m..

• Irish house prices halved since boom, Spain tumbles too

  *Property crashes in Spain, Ireland intensified crisis. A bursting of the property bubbles in Ireland, Spain and, to a lesser extent, Portugal not only erased years of economic growth but left banks with trillions of euros of bad loans and has pushed up unemployment to record levels.

• UPDATE 1-EU Commission wants restrictions on pesticides that can harm bees

  BRUSSELS, Jan 31- The European Commission said on Thursday it wanted EU member states restrict the use of pesticides linked to the decline of bees.

• EU Commission wants restrictions on pesticides that can harm bees

  BRUSSELS, Jan 31- The European Commission said on Thursday it was proposing that EU member states restrict the use of pesticides linked to the decline of bees.

• UPDATE 1-EU regulators charge J&J, Novartis over Dutch painkiller delay

  BRUSSELS, Jan 31- EU antitrust regulators stepped up their fight against companies blocking the market entry of cheaper generic medicines, with charges against Johnson& Johnson and Novartis over a pay-for-delay deal in the Netherlands.

• EU regulators charge J&J, Novartis over Dutch painkiller delay

  BRUSSELS, Jan 31- EU antitrust regulators charged pharmaceutical firms Johnson& Johnson and Novartis on Thursday over the delay of a generic competitor for painkiller fentanyl in the Dutch market.

• UPDATE 1-EU's Barnier says U.S. should respect Basel III

  BRUSSELS, Jan 31- The United States should implement Basel III bank capital rules in the same way as Europe does, at the beginning of 2014, the European Union official in charge of regulation said. "It is essential that the United States and Brasil and Russia apply the same rules that we decided together.

• ANALYSIS-Small island, big problem: how Cyprus troubles the euro zone

  BRUSSELS, Jan 31- Just when European leaders thought they were getting to grips with three years of economic turmoil, along came Cyprus, a seemingly small problem but one that cannot be ignored.

• UPDATE 2-EU Commission wants curbs on pesticides to protect bees

  BRUSSELS, Jan 31- The European Commission said on Thursday it wanted EU member states restrict the use of pesticides linked to the decline of bees. A report from the European Food Safety Authority earlier this month said three widely-used neonicotinoid pesticides, made by Switzerland's Syngenta and Germany's Bayer, posed an acute risk to honeybees.