German engineering and technology giant Siemens on Wednesday named Ralf Thomas as its new chief financial officer, replacing Joe Kaeser, who became the group's new chief executive in August.

"At its meeting today, Siemens' Supervisory Board appointed Ralf Thomas CFO of Siemens AG," the company said in a statement.

Cash-strapped Belgium is seeking to reduce its debt mountain by selling its 10-percent stake in France's biggest bank, BNP Paribas, a press report said Wednesday.

According to business daily L'Echo, the government of Elio Di Rupo wants to cut debt from the current level of about one year's total economic output, with the BNP Paribas stake coming under consideration.

Syria's state-owned textile industry has lost 17.6 billion Syrian pounds ($88 million/65.7 million euros) since the country's uprising began 30 months ago, the online business magazine Syria Report said Tuesday.

Direct losses caused by theft and the destruction of equipment totaled 7.4 billion pounds, while losses to profit were estimated at 10.2 billion pounds, the magazine said, citing the General Organization for Textile Industries (GOTI).

British annual inflation fell to 2.7 percent in August from 2.8 percent in July, official data showed on Tuesday.

"The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) grew by 2.7 percent in the year to August 2013, down from 2.8 percent in July," the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

Dutch electronics giant Philips is to buy back 1.5 billion euros of shares, the company said Tuesday, also raising its targets for 2016.

The company, increasingly focused on healthcare, said it wanted to push ahead with its restructuring program, including through job cuts.

The British government earned £3.2 billion from the sale of 6.0 percent of part-nationalized Lloyds Banking Group, it announced on Tuesday.

The coalition government had on Monday launched plans to sell part of its stake in bailed-out LBG, marking the lender's first crucial step towards a return to the private sector.

Oil prices fell further in Asian trade Tuesday on receding fears of a disruption in Middle East supply after a U.S.-Russia deal to avert a Western military strike on Syria, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for delivery in October eased 83 cents to $105.76 in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude for November declined 47 cents to $109.60.

Life is good for America's super wealthy.

Forbes on Monday released its annual list of the top 400 richest Americans. While most of the top names and rankings didn't change from a year ago, the majority of the elite club's members saw their fortunes grow over the past year, helped by strong stock and real estate markets.

International donors pledged 1.8 billion euros ($2.4 billion) to war-torn Somalia on Monday, European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso said, at the end of a conference tasked with creating a "New Deal" for the country.

"We have commitments for 1.8 billion euros," Barroso said, about double what the European Union had hoped to raise at the one-day meeting in Brussels.

Asian markets rallied on Monday as fears over a military strike on Syria receded after the United States and Russia agreed a deal that will see the Assad regime give up its chemical weapons.

Trade remained cautious, however, ahead of a two-day meeting at the U.S. Federal Reserve where policymakers are expected to begin winding down the bank's stimulus program.