Italy's former prime minister Romano Prodi on Saturday accused Germany of "egoism" over a massive sale of Italian bonds by Deutsche Bank and said Italy was in a far stronger economic position than Spain.

The former European Commission president also said that the high rates at which Italy is being forced to issue bonds because of market jitters meant that sweeping budget cuts approved earlier this month would be "in vain".

In a once-thriving village on the Pacific island of Niue, homes lie abandoned, their stucco-clad walls mildewed and crumbling as the jungle slowly reclaims them.

"These villages used to be bustling with people -- now you go there in the afternoon and there's no one," says the Niue Tourism Authority chairman Hima Douglas.

British pay-TV giant BSkyB offered its shareholders over £1.0 billion in payouts Friday as it moves on from a failed takeover bid and phone-hacking scandal involving Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

After posting bumper underlying annual profits, BSkyB said it planned a share buyback of £750 million ($1.22 billion, 857 million Euros) and dividend of £253 million -- moves seen as calming the waters after a recent share price collapse.

Crude prices fell on Friday, with the U.S. debt stalemate continuing to roil markets as a vote in the House of Representatives on a Republican debt plan was postponed.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in September, fell 52 cents to $96.92 a barrel.

A U.N. panel has approved more than $1 billion in compensation payments for victims of Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.

The U.N. Compensation Commission says the money will go to five companies and four government or international bodies. It did not disclose the identities of the claimants Thursday but said all are in Kuwait.

U.S. auto giant Ford said Thursday it would invest $1 billion to build a second vehicle assembly and engine plant in India as it ramps up production to exploit the country's burgeoning car market.

India has become a battleground for global car manufacturers such as Ford, GM and Toyota which hope to offset sluggish domestic sales by steering towards India and China, seeing huge potential in their billion-plus populations.

Top Lebanese banks have announced that they made good profits in the first six months of 2011 despite slow economic growth in Lebanon.

BankMed said in a statement Thursday that net profit for the first half of this year increased by 13% to reach $59.4 million compared to $52.6 million for the corresponding period last year.

Nineteen Lebanese business leaders representing different firms in Lebanon met at a lunch hosted by Mr. Yusuf Kan’an Country Manager of CCC (Consolidated Contractors Company), and Board Member of INJAZ Lebanon, at Eau de Vie Phoenicia for the purpose of supporting entrepreneurship among youth in Lebanon.

The meeting included Fadi Yarak, the general director of the Ministry of Education and member of INJAZ Lebanon’s Advisory Board, INJAZ Board of Directors Raymond Audi, Michel Fattal, Ronald Farra, Kamal Katra, Ramzi Abou Samah, Joseph Maalouf, and Melek al-Nimr.

The dollar steadied against the euro on Wednesday as investors paused for breath after the greenback had sunk to a three-week low point against the single currency on U.S. debt strains.

In London deals, the European single currency stood at $1.4495 after earlier striking $1.4536, the highest level since July 5. The euro had traded at $1.4509 late in New York on Tuesday.

Iraq's oil ministry has inked a preliminary pact with an Italian group for a refinery to produce 200,000 barrels per day of gasoline and diesel fuel for the domestic market, an official said.

"This is a six-month contract with the Karbala Refinery Corporation (KRC) during which the consortium must complete procedures ahead of starting the project," Ahmed Shamaa, Deputy Oil Minister in charge of refineries, said in a statement late Tuesday.