The U.S. administration said Tuesday it was ending routine production of one-dollar coins in the face of consumer resistance despite a decades-old campaign to replace the paper bill with more durable metal.

Iran's parliament on Tuesday passed a bill for a free trade agreement with Syria in a show of support for President Bashar al-Assad's regime beset by protests and international pressure.

The bill provides for free trade between Iran and Syria within the next five years, according to Iranian state television.

Greece raised 1.625 billion euros ($2.14 billion) for six months at an increased interest rate of 4.95 percent on Tuesday, the Greek debt management agency said.

At the last such auction on November 8, Greece had paid a rate of 4.89 percent.

Do you take your champagne brut or rose? Around the world the French sparkling wine is still the ultimate festive drink, but these days it often comes in shades of golden pink to pomegranate.

First seen as a quirky variation on classic white bubbly -- even dismissed as a "woman's drink" -- rose champagne has grown into far more than a fad, with a market share that has been rising steadily for 10 years.

Eurozone banks deposited the biggest amount of overnight funds at the ECB for more than a year on Monday, official data showed on Tuesday in a signal of banks' wariness of lending to each other.

Banks put 346.36 billion euros ($446 billion) on deposit for 24 hours at the European Central Bank, the highest amount since June 2010.

Kuwait’s oil Minister Mohammad al-Baseeri said on Tuesday that OPEC will likely keep its official production quotas unchanged, while Iran’s oil minister Rostam Qasemi said that they would reach consensus over its latest output decision, in contrast to its last meeting which was hit by deep division among cartel members.

Qasemi had told reporters on arrival in Vienna, where the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries holds its production meeting on Wednesday, "Whatever the decision will be, it will be made all together."

Fast-growing Gulf carrier Etihad Airways says it is buying 10 more of Boeing's new 787-9 planes, making it the largest customer for that version of the aircraft.

Etihad said on Monday it is also ordering two Boeing 777 cargo planes.

A South Korean developer said Monday it would not alter the design of a twin-tower project despite complaints in the United States that it mimics the explosions at New York's World Trade Center in 2001.

The towers, one with 54 floors and the other with 60, are designed by Dutch architects MVRDV and will be built at the entrance to Seoul's redeveloped Yongsan business district by 2016.

The euro fell against other major currencies in Asia on Monday as investors awaited further details on measures to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis following an EU summit deal struck last week.

The euro bought $1.3340 and 103.57 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade, down from $1.3384 and 103.93 yen late Friday in New York, where the common European currency rose on the tentative fiscal pact struck by European Union leaders.

Oil weakened in Asian trade Monday as investors remained cautious despite European leaders announcing a deal aimed at saving the Eurozone, analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for January delivery, dropped 25 cents to $99.16 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for January delivery fell 39 cents to $108.23.