Business

BRUSSELS - Wealthy European nations are moving closer toward swallowing a bitter pill: rescuing Greece from its overspending before its debts drag down the euro and stock markets all the way to Wall Street. Full Story »

• Video: Tackling tax evaders in Greece Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Highway funding and tax breaks for hiring workers figure prominently in a jobs-creation bill that Democrats and Republicans in the U.S. Senate hope will attract rare joint support in an election year, lawmakers said on Tuesday. Full Story »

• Video: Summers on the Economy, Jobs CNBC

ATHENS, Greece - A civil servants' strike grounded flights and shut down public services across Greece on Wednesday, as labor unions mounted their first major challenge to austerity measures in the debt-plagued country. Full Story »

BEIJING (Reuters) - China Investment Corp , the country's $300 billion sovereign wealth fund, has made its biggest U.S. equity bets in natural resources and financial stocks. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - As the anniversary of the passage of the U.S. economic stimulus plan looms and President Barack Obama presses for new jobs legislation, states and the government are assessing the impact the program has had on transportation. Full Story »

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Discovery Communications Inc. reported a rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday on the back of strong distribution revenue and advertising sales in its international TV business. Full Story »

ATHENS (Reuters) - A strike by Greek civil servants grounded flights and shut many state schools and offices on Wednesday, in the first big test of the government's resolve to tackle a debt crisis which has shaken the euro zone. Full Story »

TOPEKA, Kan. - A Kansas House committee considered a proposal Tuesday that would eliminate some seldom-used income tax credits and improve efficiency within the Department of Revenue. Full Story »

ATHENS (AFP) - Greece's government on Tuesday unveiled a hike in the average retirement age and called on striking civil servants to accept bonus cuts to pull the country out of an unprecedented financial crisis. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Americans backed off from holiday spending in January, but retail sales rose for a third month in a row compared with a year earlier, largely because of gas price hikes, according to figures released Wednesday by a key data service. Full Story »

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - Dozens of irate clients in the U.S. Virgin Islands are scrambling to recover at least $2.5 million from a missing real estate agent who is a mother of six. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose above $74 a barrel on Wednesday, bouncing from earlier losses, as the euro extended gains against the dollar on hopes for a bailout for Greece. Full Story »

• Slideshow: Oil Industry

TOKYO (AFP) - Honda, Japan's second-biggest carmaker after crisis-hit Toyota, Wednesday recalled more than 400,000 vehicles to fix airbags that it said can explode and spray out potentially deadly metal shards. Full Story »

• Video: Honda adds 400,000 cars to recall list AP