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(Reuters) - Warren Buffett told investors on Saturday the Berkshire Hathaway board has identified his successor, easing some shareholder concern about the future of the company once the famed 81-year-old investor steps down as chief executive. Buffett did not disclose who the next CEO will be in his annual letter to Berkshire …

LONDON (Reuters) - Rupert Murdoch bid to grab back the huge audience his News Corp lost when it closed Britain's best-selling News of the World over a phone-hacking scandal with a new Sunday edition of his Sun tabloid filled with gossip, girls and celebrities. With a front page splashing on a female TV presenter's birthing …

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A solid U.S. candidate to head the World Bank would be good for the United States and the bank because the world's largest economy should be represented in top international bodies, outgoing President Robert Zoellick said on Saturday, while emphasizing he has no role in the selection process. ...

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece formally launched a bond swap offer to private holders of its bonds on Friday, setting in motion the largest-ever sovereign debt restructuring in the hope of getting its messy finances back on track. The swap is part of a second, 130-billion-euro rescue package to claw Greece back from the brink …

(Reuters) - Anyone looking for more evidence of a strengthening U.S. economic recovery need only consider conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway , where businesses ranging from railroads and electric utilities to furniture and candy stores are racking up record profits. Even though Berkshire's Warren Buffett says with emphasis …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A rally on Wall Street will be put to the test next week, with the S&P 500 at its highest level since before the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The broad index is up 8.6 percent for the year, closing at 1,365 on Friday. The S&P 500's close was the highest since June 6, 2008, a few months before …

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - As Kingfisher Airlines careens toward collapse, the Indian government finds itself between a rock and a hard place. The government, already weakened by a string of corruption scandals over the past year, will face further political heat if it tries to rescue a money-losing private carrier - especially …

(Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway's fourth-quarter profit fell sharply, in part on an underwriting loss in its reinsurance business related to life insurance, the company said on Saturday. Berkshire said it earned $3.05 billion, or $1,846 per Class A share, compared with earnings of $4.38 billion, or $2,656 per share a year …

MEXICO CITY, Reuters (Feb 25) - The United States did not openly call for a release of countries' strategic oil reserves during Group of 20 meetings this weekend, Group of 20 sources said on Saturday. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday the United States is considering a release from its strategic oil reserves …

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The world's major emerging economies on Saturday rejected the tradition that an American automatically is selected to head the World Bank and they will look at putting forward their own candidate for the open job. Finance chiefs from the BRICS group of emerging market powerhouses - Brazil, Russia, …

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Germany may not be ready to back an increase in the euro zone's bailout fund at a summit next week, delaying progress towards building up nearly $2 trillion in firepower to tackle fallout from Europe's sovereign debt crisis. Finance leaders from leading economies, meeting in Mexico City this weekend, …

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a probe into the ties between stock exchanges and certain electronic trading firms, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing people familiar with the matter. BATS Global Markets Inc, a U.S. exchange operator that is planning an initial public …

BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Interior Minister became the first member of her centre-right government to openly call for Greece to leave the euro zone in a magazine interview released on Saturday. Hans-Peter Friedrich, a leader of the conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) that is the sister …

SANTA MONICA, California (Reuters) - Silent movie romance "The Artist" on Saturday won four Independent Spirit Awards, the year's top honors among movies made outside Hollywood's major studios, including best film and director in a prelude to the Oscars. "The Artist," a black-and-white movie from French writer and director …

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A senior Japanese Finance Ministry official said the upward pressure on the yen was easing and he saw nothing strange in the currency's movements as it pulls away from record highs below 80 yen versus the dollar. The official, speaking after the first day of the weekend gathering of Group of 20 finance …

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A planned U.S. ban on banks trading for their own profit could hamper monetary policy and the ability of financial firms to manage risk unless foreign government debt is exempted, a top Citigroup executive said on Saturday. Manuel Medina-Mora warned that the so-called Volcker rule, which forms part …

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A meeting of BRICS major emerging countries discussed the selection process of the next head of the World Bank and emphasized it should be open to all countries, rejecting the tradition that the job automatically goes to an American, a senior BRIC official said on Saturday. The official, speaking …

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - The German government will decide whether to boost the European bailout fund in March and its parliament is very likely to support any decision for more resources, Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Saturday. Germany had pledged to review a proposal to beef up the European war chest to prevent …