REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis
Actress playing the role of ancient priestesses carry the flame during the dress rehearsal for the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the site of ancient Olympia in Greece.
Crude prices fell early on Thursday. Concerns over a global glut took center stage after Russia and Iran said they were ready to raise oil production further, while inventories in the United States climbed slightly.
Turkey cut interest rates. Turkey's central bank cut a key interest rate at the debut meeting of its new governor in a move aimed at reassuring skittish investors but that disappointed the government.
Spain's left got a boost. Spanish anti-austerity party Podemos opened the door to running on a joint platform with a former communist movement if a follow-up national election is called, in a bid to become the country's biggest leftwing political force.
The EU may object to a US merger. European Union antitrust regulators are set to warn US oil industry services group Halliburton Co that its plan to buy Baker Hughes will hurt competition
France's right wing wants the
Europe is still struggling with Greece. Euro zone finance ministers are ready to hold an extraordinary meeting next week if negotiations on the review of the Greek reform program are concluded, a senior EU official said, commenting that talks remained difficult.
The Daily Mail won't buy Yahoo. The parent of Britain's Daily Mail said that it had not submitted a bid to acquire Yahoo Inc's core Internet business, but it was in talks with others who could potentially be interested in an acquisition.
VW's diesel scandal will cost it more than it thought. Volkswagen will raise its provisions to pay for an emissions cheating scandal to a double digit billion euros amount, from 6.7 billion euros at present, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The US is getting concerned about Brexit. US financial regulators are demanding regular updates from Wall Street banks about their contingency plans should Britain vote to leave the European Union.
The American housing market is buoyant. US home resales rebounded more than expected in March, suggesting the housing market recovery remained intact despite signs that economic growth probably stalled in the first quarter.