Mark Brooks

Following action by other central banks around the world, the value of the euro has risen on the international currency markets in recent weeks.

The euro fell to $1.3525 in late trading Wednesday from $1.3584 late Tuesday.

By one measure, funds attracted cash at the fastest pace in 17 years.

The legislation reprises a plan offered last year that failed to advance.

Finance Minister Michael Noonan placed lawmakers on standby Wednesday night to pass an emergency bill authorizing the overnight liquidation of a government-owned "bad bank," the Irish Bank Resolution Corp.

Few treasury secretaries have attracted as much attention as Geithner, who has been praised for helping to prevent a second Great Depression, but criticized for being too sympathetic to Wall Street.

Benchmark crude for March delivery rose 10 cents to $96.74 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange in morning trading Wednesday. It dropped as low as $95.04 earlier.

On the eve of the two-day summit, which begins Thursday, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy said that "for the first time ever -- there will be a real terms cut compared to the current budget."

Crude supplies grew by 2.6 million barrels, or 0.7 percent, to 371.7 million barrels, which is 9.6 percent above year-ago levels, the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report.

Although Research in Motion CEO Thorsten Heins said the exact release date will depend on each wireless provider, he said the physical keyboard version, the BlackBerry Q10, will likely come out eight to 10 weeks after a carrier releases a model with only a touch screen, the BlackBerry Z10.

The elaborate scheme involved improving fake cardholders' credit scores, allowing the scammers to borrow more money that they never repaid, investigators said.

The decision by conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to declare ferry crews under civil mobilization came after their unions voted to extend the strike until early Friday.

Reports of stronger car sales have helped pushed prices for the metals up more than 1 percent this week. Both metals are used to make catalytic converters that filter car exhaust.

The credit rating agency gave high marks to mortgage-backed securities because it wanted to earn more business from the banks that issued the investments, the Justice Department alleges in charges filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

The euro rose to $1.3580 in afternoon trading from $1.3520.

But the 2013 Silicon Valley Index also finds that Hispanics and African Americans in the world's high-tech center became increasingly marginalized.

Benchmark oil for March delivery rose 67 cents to $96.84 a barrel in midday trading Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The automatic cuts, if they are allowed to proceed, could require widespread layoffs and indiscriminately affect defense programs and domestic spending accounts.

The Treasury Department auctioned $32 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.07 percent, down from 0.075 percent last week.

In other trading, corn also fell while soybeans rose.