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• UPDATE 1-OCI to sell stake in Texas methanol plant through IPO Wednesday, 5 Jun 2013 | 4:20 AM ET

  CAIRO, June 5- Construction and fertiliser group OCI N.V. plans to sell a minority stake in a methanol and ammonia plant in the United States in an initial public offering in the second half of 2013, it said on Wednesday.

• Syria's chemical weapons programme was built to counter Israel Wednesday, 5 Jun 2013 | 4:10 AM ET

  AMSTERDAM/ AMMAN, June 5- Syria, defeated by Israel in three wars and afraid its arch enemy had gained a nuclear arsenal, began in earnest to build a covert chemical weapons programme three decades ago, aided by its neighbours, allies and European chemical wholesalers.

• Nikkei marks best 1-day rise in 3 weeks, Nomura rebounds Tuesday, 4 Jun 2013 | 2:53 AM ET

  TOKYO, June 4- Japan's Nikkei share average climbed more than 2 percent to mark its biggest one-day rise in three weeks on Tuesday, as investors scooped up battered stocks such as financials, which had fallen from recent peaks into bear market territory.

• Dutch airline excused from 'underwear bomber' suit Monday, 3 Jun 2013 | 4:52 PM ET

  NEW YORK, June 3- A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed claims against KLM Royal Dutch Airlines in a lawsuit holding it liable for injuries a New York man says he sustained while helping to stop the so-called "underwear bomber" from blowing up a plane in 2009..

• Frankfurt 'Blockupy' protesters clash with police for second day Saturday, 1 Jun 2013 | 11:17 AM ET

  *Frankfurt is home to European Central Bank, big commercial banks. FRANKFURT, June 1- German police used pepper spray and batons against anti-capitalist demonstrators from the Blockupy movement on Saturday during a second day of protests against Europe's austerity policies.

• Paris, Berlin look to shake up euro zone leadership Friday, 31 May 2013 | 10:03 AM ET

  *France, Germany open debate over Eurogroup president. BRUSSELS, May 31- France and Germany have thrown their weight behind creating a permanent president for economic policy in the euro zone, a role that would mark a fundamental overhaul of how the currency bloc is managed.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks rise, dollar falls, Treasury yields rise Thursday, 30 May 2013 | 4:33 PM ET

  *U.S. stocks rise, Treasuries prices slip. NEW YORK, May 30- U.S. stocks rose on Thursday after weaker-than-forecast economic data argued for continued bond buying by the Federal Reserve, while higher euro zone confidence aided European shares and the euro.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Wall Street, euro zone shares rise, dollar weaker Thursday, 30 May 2013 | 10:17 AM ET

  *MSCI Asia stocks ex- Japan at six-week low, Nikkei slumps. NEW YORK, May 30- U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday despite a rise in new U.S. jobless claims and improved euro zone confidence data lifted European shares and the euro after another five percent dive in Japan's Nikkei share index. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 23.81 points, or 0.69 percent, at 3,491.32.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Confidence data boosts European shares, dlr slips Thursday, 30 May 2013 | 8:03 AM ET

  *MSCI Asia stocks ex- Japan at six-week low, Nikkei slumps. LONDON, May 30- Improved euro zone confidence data gave a lift on Thursday to European shares and the euro, after another five percent dive in Japan's Nikkei share index highlighted global jitters over the future of U.S. stimulus measures.

• UPDATE 1-Crisis states lead way as euro zone's economic mood brightens Thursday, 30 May 2013 | 6:38 AM ET

  *Strong gains in Portugal, Italy; Spain more subdued. Economic morale in the 17 states that use the euro increased by 0.8 point to 89.4, the European Commission said. In Greece, the first euro zone state to be bailed out and heading for its sixth straight year of recession, sentiment climbed to a five-year high, while Portugal and Italy also recorded stronger readings.

• Shell under the skin, 10 years after crisis Wednesday, 29 May 2013 | 7:01 PM ET

  *Struggling with Nigeria, production downtime, Alaska record. LONDON, May 30- A decade ago, Royal Dutch/Shell's boss was fighting to close the gap between the truth about his company's oil and gas reserves and the much larger figure in its accounts.

• Energy traders to sniff out agricultural assets -ABN AMRO Wednesday, 29 May 2013 | 12:32 PM ET

  *ABN AMRO growing its global ags trade finance activity. LONDON, May 29- Oil traders are expected to invest more in agricultural assets, using their financial muscle to diversify their interests and position themselves to take advantage of the long term bull case for the farm sector, a senior ABN AMRO executive said.

• WRAPUP 2-EU shifts policy focus in quest for growth Wednesday, 29 May 2013 | 11:34 AM ET

  *EU gives France, Spain, Poland, Slovenia two more years for deficit cuts. *Italy, Hungary, Romania and Baltic states released from deficit watch.

• WRAPUP 1-EU shifts focus to economic reforms in quest for growth Wednesday, 29 May 2013 | 9:27 AM ET

  *EU gives France, Spain two more years for deficit cuts. *Netherlands, Slovenia, Poland also get more time. BRUSSELS, May 29- Euro zone countries must focus on reforming their labour and services markets and can slow the pace of debt-cutting, the European Commission said on Wednesday, marking a shift away from austerity.

• UPDATE 2-Euro zone private loans contract, pressuring ECB to act Wednesday, 29 May 2013 | 6:19 AM ET

  FRANKFURT, May 29- Loans to the euro zone's private sector contracted for the 12th month in a row in April, raising pressure on the European Central Bank to take fresh policy action to help lift the bloc out of recession.

• UPDATE 2-EU trade chief tells China he won't yield on solar panels Tuesday, 28 May 2013 | 11:05 AM ET

  *Brussels says China selling solar panels below cost. BRUSSELS, May 28- The European Union's trade chief bluntly told China on Tuesday it was wasting its time trying to put pressure on him to drop plans to impose punitive import duties on Chinese solar panels.

• UPDATE 2-EU duties on Chinese solar panels losing member state support Monday, 27 May 2013 | 10:14 AM ET

  *EU Commission accuses China of selling solar panels below cost. BRUSSELS, May 27- A majority of EU governments oppose a plan to impose hefty duties on solar panel imports from China, a survey of member states showed on Monday, undermining efforts by Brussels to pressure Beijing over its trade practices.

• UPDATE 1-Most EU states oppose Chinese solar panel duties -diplomats Monday, 27 May 2013 | 8:12 AM ET

  *EU Commission accuses China of dumping solar panels in Europe. BRUSSELS, May 27- A majority of EU governments oppose the European Commission's plans to levy prohibitive duties on solar panel imports from China, a survey of member states by Reuters showed on Monday, weakening Brussels' efforts to pressure Beijing.

• GRAINS-Soy, corn ease in light trade ahead of holiday weekend Friday, 24 May 2013 | 11:58 AM ET

  *Corn, wheat decline in profit-taking setback. CHICAGO, May 24- U.S. soybean futures slipped lower on Friday for the first time in seven sessions and corn eased after two days of gains as investors squared ahead the long Memorial Day holiday weekend.

• GRAINS-Soybeans edge lower ahead of Memorial Day holiday Friday, 24 May 2013 | 7:43 AM ET

  *Corn edges down, up 1 percent for the week. AMSTERDAM/ SYDNEY, May 24- Chicago Board of Trade soybeans edged lower ahead of a long U.S. weekend, following six sessions of gains, but were still up for the week as tight old-crop stocks and strong demand supported prices.