Reuters - Asian shares hit their highest level in more than five months on Wednesday and the euro hovered close to an 8-week high as investors kept hopes alive for an agreement on details of a new Greek bailout package despite further delays.

AP - Oil prices rose to near $99 a barrel Wednesday in Asia after an unexpected drop in U.S. crude supplies suggested demand is improving.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc Chairman Roy Bostock and three other directors will step down as the struggling company ploughs ahead with an internal overhaul, including discussions on dealing with its stakes in China's Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan.

AP - Gov. Jerry Brown's appointee to head the department that oversees banking, financial and consumer regulations in California led a trade association that fought against tighter lending restrictions before the subprime mortgage crisis exploded and was an executive with Washington Mutual when the now-failed bank was among the most aggressive marketers of loans to high-risk borrowers.

Reuters - Former Astronaut Janice E. Voss, one of the few women launched into space, has died of breast cancer in Arizona, her alma mater said on Tuesday.

AP - The Walt Disney Co. said Tuesday that its net income rose 12 percent in the final quarter of 2011, as a slimmer movie slate and upbeat theme park results helped the company top earnings forecasts even while revenue gains were less than expected.

AP - Greece's private creditors signaled progress late Tuesday on a debt-relief deal but crucial talks between Greek coalition leaders about forcing more austerity upon a hostile public were again postponed.

AP - BP PLC has raised its quarterly dividend by 14 percent after posting double-digit gains in profit and revenue in the last three months of 2011 despite further big payments to compensate for the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

AP - President Barack Obama called on Tuesday for millions of dollars in new funding to improve math and science education, an effort he said would be crucial to the nation's long-term success.

AP - A dam in southern Bulgaria burst Monday after days of heavy rain, sending an eight-foot-high (2.5-meter) torrent surging through a village along the Greek border. The disaster brought the region's toll from flooding to eight dead, 10 missing.