U.S. stock futures edged higher Thursday after the government said that the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits dipped slightly last week.

The Labor Department said that first-time applications for unemployment dropped 6,000 to a seasonally adjusted 403,000. The number was in line with Wall Street's estimates, but still above the 375,000 claims a week that economists say signals a healthy jobs market.

South Korea's Hyundai Motor on Thursday unveiled a revamped and fuel-efficient version of its i30 compact car to better compete with European models such as Volkswagen's Golf.

Hyundai said it aims to sell 215,000 units of the i30 hatchback next year, including 25,000 at home and 190,000 abroad, as part of its push to secure a bigger share of the premium sub-compact car market.

Japan's Panasonic is to sharply scale down its money-losing television business and cut more than 1,000 jobs, Japanese media reported on Thursday.

The leading electronics manufacturer plans to cease production of plasma panels at its No. 3 plant in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, by March, according to Jiji Press, Kyodo News, the Yomiuri Shimbun and NHK.

The U.S. Embassy and the Lebanese Standards Institution (LIBNOR) on Wednesday celebrated the opening of the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Enquiry Point for Lebanon at the Metropolitan Hotel in Sin-el-Fil.

The Enquiry Point, a prerequisite for World Trade Organization (WTO) accession, increases transparency and global accessibility to Lebanese trade regulations and facilitates trade operations.

Italian authorities seized 245 million Euros ($338.5 million) fromUnicredit, Italy's largest bank, on suspicion of tax evasion in 2007 and 2008, judicial and Unicredit sources said on Wednesday.

According to the sources, executives from Unicredit, including former head Alessandro Profumo, and British bank Barclays are under investigation in an operation dubbed "Brontos".

Paris's Hotel Ritz, famed for generations as the city's highest-profile luxury hotel, said Tuesday it is to close for more than two years from next summer for an "unprecedented" renovation.

The move comes after the five-star hotel in central Paris, owned by billionaire Egyptian tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed, failed earlier this year to win France's coveted "palace" designation marking a top luxury destination.

Greek unions on Wednesday launched a two-day general strike in an all-out effort to block a new austerity bill that parliament must pass this week to forestall a state bankruptcy.

Most of the country's professional classes joined the walkout including civil servants, tax collectors, doctors, teachers, sailors and taxi owners while traders, petrol station operators and bakers also shut down their businesses in protest against the government's economic policies.

Global mining giant BHP Billiton reported a strong quarterly increase in its iron ore and petroleum production, but said copper output slumped.

The miner, which in August posted a near doubling of its full-year net profit to US$23.6 billion, also achieved record production in the September quarter at its New South Wales Energy Coal and Illawarra Coal operations.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych on Tuesday welcomes Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev for energy talks after Kiev opened a rift with the EU by jailing ex-prime minister Yulia Tymoshenko.

The two leaders are scheduled to meet in the Ukrainian leader's industrial power base of Donetsk for a summit on regional cooperation but energy is expected to top the agenda.

France vowed Tuesday to do everything in its power to keep its triple-A rating following a warning from Moody's, as markets fell after Germany dampened hopes that an EU summit will resolve the Eurozone crisis.

Paris shares tumbled by as much as 2.01 percent early Tuesday after the Moody's warning, following earlier falls on Asian markets amid concerns over the spreading impact of the Eurozone's debt woes.