The FINANCIAL -- World powers laid out on Wednesday a new package of proposals in crunch talks over Iran's nuclear programme which will be "of interest" to Tehran, a spokesman for the EU's foreign policy chief said.

The FINANCIAL -- Plans for a Greek euro exit "cannot be excluded," former prime minister Lucas Papademos said in an interview, warning that such a move could even affect countries outside the eurozone.

The FINANCIAL -- EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said Monday she was "deeply concerned" by violence in Lebanon involving pro- and anti-Syrian groups that has sparked concerns of wider conflict.

The FINANCIAL -- The European Union condemned a "brutal and terrible" attack claimed by Al-Qaeda in Yemen on Monday that saw a soldier blow himself up in the middle of an army battalion, killing 96 troops.

The FINANCIAL -- World powers hope Iran will agree to stop enriching uranium to 20 percent at this week's talks on Tehran's contested nuclear drive, a European diplomat said Monday.