OSLO (Reuters) - Norwegian oil firm Statoil and ExxonMobil have discovered a large natural gas deposit off the coast of Tanzania and added further resources to another nearby find, Statoil said in a statement on Thursday.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares slipped on Thursday as weak U.S. retail sales data raised fresh concerns about sluggish economic growth, while an Italian debt auction later in the day will test market confidence in whether Rome can avoid becoming the next victim of the euro zone crisis.

ROME/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti appealed to Italy's politicians on Wednesday to back his tough economic medicine to avoid Rome becoming the next victim of the euro debt crisis, after a bailout for Spain's banks failed to calm markets.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp's board of directors is close to a decision on who the U.S. oil and gas company's new independent chairman will be, a board member said on Tuesday.

(Reuters) - Yahoo Inc and CNBC have formed a content sharing partnership, the companies said on Wednesday.

(Reuters) - Bank of America Corp expects to reduce its long-term debt by about $40 billion in the second quarter, eliminating interest expense of $230 million per quarter going forward, Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It has become a familiar choreography for the Federal Reserve: Officials ease monetary policy, and the economy improves. Then conditions weaken, reviving debate about the need for further stimulus.

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares edged up and the euro was flat on Wednesday as worries over contagion from Spain's banking sector were heightened by a sharp rise in the country's borrowing costs.

VIENNA/ROME (Reuters) - Raising the stakes in Europe's debt crisis, Austria's finance minister said Italy may need a financial rescue because of its high borrowing costs, drawing a sharp denial on Tuesday from the Italian prime minister.

LONDON (Reuters) - Many more years of money printing from the world's big four central banks now looks destined to add to the $6 trillion already created since 2008 and may transform the relationship between the once fiercely-independent banks and governments.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Damages sought by E.ON AG from the enforced shutdown of nuclear power stations total 8 billion euros ($9.97 billion), a company spokesman said on Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Lonrho on Wednesday said it had sold its aviation business to British investment firm Rubicon allowing it to create Africa-focused low cost airline FastJet with EasyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou's easyGroup.