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• European shares hold near multi-year highs

  LONDON, Feb 4- European shares were flat to slightly higher early on Monday after a firm close on Wall Street in the previous session, although short-term gains looked stretched as major indexes hovered near multi-year highs.

• Air India flew Dreamliners after grounding order-official

  NEW DELHI, Feb 4- Air India flew some of its Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner aircraft even after U.S. regulators grounded the global fleet last month due to undiagnosed battery problems. Dreamliners operated by India's national carrier were flown to Mumbai for maintenance reasons, Arun Mishra, the head of India's civil aviation regulator, said on Monday.

• Germany Balks at Bailing Out Rich Russians

  

  When German officials said they would save the euro zone at all costs, the prospect of bailing out Russian oligarchs was not what they had in mind, the New York Times reports.

• As Oil Taxed, Greeks Go Back to Ancient Times

  

  Even in the leafy northern stretches of this city, home to luxury apartment buildings, mansions with swimming pools and tennis clubs, the smell of wood smoke lingers everywhere at night, the New York Times reports.

• UPDATE 1-Brent steadies above $116 on economic outlook, Middle East

  SINGAPORE, Feb 4- Brent crude steadied above $116 per barrel on Monday, holding near a more than four-month high, as data from top consumers China and the United States reinforced a view that the global economy was headed for a modest uptick this year.

• ANALYSIS-New miner wants in on the chummy global potash club

  NEW YORK, Feb 4- Potash miner Prospect Global Resources Inc won't open its first mine until at least 2015, but the American upstart is already upsetting the multibillion-dollar fertilizer industry where a few players control a crucial ingredient in the global food chain.

• PRECIOUS-Gold crawls up but economic recovery hopes limit gains

  *Spot gold neutral in $1,657.54- $1,681.70/ oz- technicals. Investors remain fairly optimistic in the U.S. recovery, which makes gold less attractive, even though recent data is rather a mixed bag, "said Chen Min, an analyst at Jinrui Futures in the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen."

• Brent steadies above $116 on economy hopes, Middle East worries

  SINGAPORE, Feb 4- Brent crude steadied above $116 per barrel on Monday, holding near a more than four-month high, as data from top consumers United States and China reinforced a view that the global economy was headed for a modest uptick this year.

• PRECIOUS-Gold slips as upbeat U.S. data trims safe-haven draw

  SINGAPORE, Feb 4- Gold ticked lower for a second session in three on Monday as a string of data pointing to a U.S. economy on the mend gave investors less reason to buy assets deemed as safe-haven. *Spot gold slipped $1.43 to $1,665.11 an ounce by 0056 GMT.

• Hong Kong shares may start the week higher

  HONG KONG, Feb 4- Hong Kong shares could start the week higher on Monday, tracking Wall Street gains last Friday after positive U.S. jobs data that solidified expectation of growth.

• GLOBAL MARKETS-Asian shares edge higher after US jobs, ISM

  TOKYO, Feb 4- Asian shares edged higher on Monday, buoyed by U.S. data which maintained expectations for a mild recovery and continued loose Federal Reserve monetary policy to support it, bolstered by solid manufacturing data from Europe and China.

• This Week, Watch What Central Bankers Say, Not Do

  

  Central banking is in a state of flux as policymakers from Tokyo to Washington ditch prevailing orthodoxies to try to grab a bigger share of a slow-growing global economic pie.

• China's Rancid Haze Puts Spotlight on Oil Giants

  

  The search for culprits behind the rancid haze enveloping China's capital has turned a spotlight on the country's two largest oil companies and their resistance to tougher fuel standards.

• Berlusconi Offers Big Tax Cuts in 'Last Great Battle'

  

  Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced his "last great electoral and political battle" on Sunday.

• BlackBerry Searching High and Low in India, Indonesia

  

  The company must chart a tough course: quickly launch cheaper handsets to woo lower-end subscribers while restoring its tattered brand among the countries' status-conscious.

• BlackBerry searching high and low in India, Indonesia

  NEW DELHI/ JAKARTA, Feb 4- Research in Motion Ltd must chart a tough course in its two key emerging markets of India and Indonesia: quickly launch cheaper handsets to woo lower-end subscribers while restoring its tattered brand among the countries' status-conscious.

• Centrica set to scrap plans to build new UK nuclear plants- FT

  Feb 3- Centrica Plc, owner of British Gas, is set to scrap plans to build nuclear power stations in Britain, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing one person familiar with the company's plans.

• Barclays Finance Director Lucas, Top Counsel to Retire

  Barclays said its finance director Chris Lucas and its top legal expert are to retire, adding to change at the top of the British bank as it struggles to put a series of scandals behind it.

• UPDATE 2-Berlusconi offers big tax cuts in "last great battle"

  ROME, Feb 3- Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi announced his "last great electoral and political battle" on Sunday with a sweeping promise to cut taxes and the cost of government if his center-right wins elections this month.

• UPDATE 1-Dutch want management of rescued bank held accountable

  AMSTERDAM, Feb 3- The Dutch finance minister said on Sunday he would look at whether those responsible for the mismanagement of SNS Reaal can be held accountable following last week's 10 billion euro rescue of the country's No. 4 bank.