Leaders from the BRICS group of emerging powers on Wednesday failed to launch a much-anticipated new development bank to rival Western-dominated institutions like the World Bank.

After holding talks in the port city of Durban, leaders from Brazil, Russia, India, China and hosts South Africa agreed in principle to create a joint infrastructure lender but said further talks were necessary to finalize the plan.

Spain revised its public deficit figure for 2012 higher on Wednesday to 6.98 percent of economic output from the 6.74 percent figure it posted last month, to comply with a request by the EU's statistics office regarding Madrid's calculations of tax refund claims.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government had promised the European Union that he would reduce Spain's public deficit to 6.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2012 from 9.4 percent of GDP the year before.

Australia's competition watchdog on Wednesday gave final approval for Qantas and Emirates to launch a "game-changing" global alliance, saying the tie-up will benefit passengers.

The decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, widely expected after a preliminary green light in December, allows the airlines to combine operations for five years.

"Superhuman" efforts are being made to reopen banks in Cyprus on Thursday, the central bank governor said, as protests and uncertainty over the island's top lender showed a huge bailout has not ended its troubles.

The comment, made by central bank governor Panicos Demetriades on Tuesday, came as hundreds of angry Bank of Cyprus workers demonstrated outside his office and thousands of students rallied against the EU-IMF rescue package.

The Jeep Cherokee is back, with a surprising design that could win some new buyers but lose some old fans.

The 2014 Cherokee midsize SUV makes its debut Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show. The remake is so radical that observers might not realize it's a Jeep.

Customers ordering a bowl of turkey chili at a St. Louis-area Panera Bread cafe can pay a penny, or $5, or $100. In other words, whatever they decide.

Three years after launching the first of five pay-what-you-want cafes, the suburban St. Louis-based chain on Wednesday is quietly beginning its latest charitable venture that takes the concept on a trial run to all 48 cafes in the St. Louis region.

The chairman of the Bank of Cyprus has resigned in the wake of an international bailout deal that hits the island's biggest lender, state media reported on Tuesday.

The Cyprus News Agency said the bank's chairman Andreas Artemis had tendered his resignation and it would go before the board later in the day.

The Spanish central bank forecast on Tuesday that the eurozone's fourth biggest economy will contract even more this year than in 2012, but would then benefit from "a modest rebound in 2014".

The Bank of Spain estimated that business activity would shrink by 1.5 percent in 2013, on the heels of a 1.37 percent contraction last year, and then expand by 0.6 percent in 2014.

The Nasdaq on Monday had the backing of U.S. regulators who approved the stock exchange's latest plan to compensate investors for the botched debut of Facebook shares last year.

Despite concerns expressed by some investors, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission endorsed Nasdaq's proposal to amend its rules to create a $62 million pool of cash to pay out claims related to the Facebook IPO, documents available online showed.

Germany is keen to boost its already substantial investment in Brazil ahead of the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Rio summer Olympics, the new president of the Brazil-Germany Chamber of Commerce said here Monday.

"There are many (German) companies, particularly small and medium-sized ones -- who see prospects for business in Brazil" despite the country's faltering economic growth (0.9 percent last year)," said Thomas Schmall, who has just been elected chamber president for a two-year term.