PARIS/ROME (Reuters) - France and Germany, Europe's two central powers, clashed on Wednesday over whether the European Central Bank should intervene more forcefully to halt the euro zone's accelerating debt crisis after modest bond purchases failed to calm markets.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Global equity markets and the euro slid on Wednesday after the European Central Bank's buying of regional sovereign debt failed to stem a bond sell-off in the euro zone or to calm fears the debt crisis was spreading.

LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mervyn King lent his support on Wednesday to the government's austerity plan, which has come under increasing attack as the economy teeters on the brink of recession and unemployment soars.

LONDON, NOV 16 - Unemployment in Britain hit its highest in 15 years and the number of young people out of work soared to a record of more than 1 million, adding to pressure on the government to do more to support a faltering economy.

LONDON (Reuters) - After yet another rollercoaster session, the top share index ended a touch lower on Wednesday, as upbeat U.S. economic data proved a welcome distraction for investors gripped by concern over the UK economy and Europe's debt crisis.

(Reuters) Thousands of former MF Global Holdings Ltd customers may soon recover $520 million (329.4 million pounds) of cash held in their accounts at the bankrupt brokerage, and a U.S. futures regulator called for robust oversight to limit the potential for another collapse.

LONDON/ZURICH (Reuters) - Italian police have raided two properties and launched a fraud probe into ex-hedge fund manager Alberto Micalizzi, a researcher at Italy's Bocconi University, who ran hedge fund DD Growth Premium until its collapse during the credit crisis.

(Reuters) - Several major hedge funds and institutional investors piled in on stock of News Corp even as the company was reeling from a phone hacking scandal which hurt the stock in the third quarter.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp is preparing to take legal action, including possible criminal suits, against any executives found responsible for an accounting scandal engulfing the firm, according to an internal staff email.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The only immediate solution to the euro zone crisis is for the European Central Bank (ECB) to step in as the "ultimate backstop" because the bloc's rescue fund has failed to convince markets and EU treaty changes would take too long, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told Reuters on Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. consumer prices fell in October for the first time in four months, taking pressure off strapped households and giving the Federal Reserve more room to ease monetary policy if the economy falters.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England paved the way for another cash boost to shore up struggling Britain on Wednesday, slashing its growth and inflation forecasts as the euro zone crisis threatens to tip an economy that is haemorrhaging jobs into recession.

LONDON (Reuters) - Banks acting as primary dealers of Italian debt are growing uncomfortable with their obligation to buy at bond auctions as the euro zone crisis worsens, increasing the risk that Italy fails to raise enough cash to stay afloat .

DUBAI (Reuters) - A long-awaited French deal for Dassault to sell at least 60 Rafale warplanes to the United Arab Emirates hit a new snag on Wednesday when the Arab country's crown prince said proposed terms were "uncompetitive and unworkable."

LONDON (Reuters) - Job cuts at the world's 10 biggest investment banks are set to accelerate to a pace last seen in the 2008 crisis, a study said on Wednesday, with 2011 revenues forecast to drop 15 percent.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Euro zone inflation held at 3.0 percent for a second month in October, with economists saying it had likely peaked and would soon fall in a struggling economy, giving the European Central Bank room to cut interest rates and focus on growth.

DUBAI (Reuters) - A long-awaited French deal for Dassault to sell at least 60 Rafale warplanes to the United Arab Emirates appeared to hit a roadblock on Wednesday after the Arab country's crown prince said proposed terms were "uncompetitive and unworkable."

LONDON (Reuters) - Trading firms the London Stock Exchange and ICAP reported differing fortunes on Wednesday as the exchange posted first half profit up 48 percent while the broker's earnings fell 6 percent.

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Dominant pay-TV group BSkyB does not see the tough consumer environment hitting what it expects to be good profit and cash generation, and will consider returning cash to shareholders when appropriate.

LONDON (Reuters) - The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has launched a formal investigation into more than $1 billion (634.3 million pounds) of obscure payments and acquisitions made by Japan's Olympus Corp., a source familiar with the matter said.