Reuters Business News Schedule at 0830 GMT/0430 AM ET

Editor: Sonya Hepinstall +44 20 7542 3479

Global Picture Desk: +65 6870 3775

Global Graphics Desk: +65 6870 3595

(All times GMT / ET)

Receive this schedule by email:

http://mediaexpress.reuters.com

TOP STORIES

Mood brightens after latest Greek offer to creditors

ATHENS - A new Greek offer for a cash-for-reforms deal lifted the mood ahead of an emergency summit in Brussels, as EU officials welcome the proposals as a "good basis for progress" to pull Athens back from the brink. (EUROZONE-GREECE/ (WRAPUP 2), expect by 1000 GMT/6 AM ET, by Karolina Tagaris and Angeliki Koutantou, 740 words)

+ See also:

- EUROZONE-GREECE/ELA, moved, 170 words

- EUROZONE-GREECE/STOCKS, moved, 100 words

Signs of last-minute Greece deal lift optimism

LONDON - Global stocks, the euro and peripheral euro zone bonds all rise, lifted by a wave of optimism that Greece and its international creditors will strike a last-minute deal that will see Athens avert default. (MARKETS-GLOBAL/ (WRAPUP 5), expect by 1230 GMT/8.30 AM ET, by Jamie McGeever, 715 words)

+ See also:

- MARKETS-OIL/ (UPDATE 5), moving shortly, by Ron Bousso, 430 words

ETE confirms $48 bln bid for reluctant Williams Co

Energy Transfer Equity LP confirm it has made a $48 billion unsolicited bid for natural gas pipeline company Williams Companies Inc, hours after Williams rejects the offer as significantly too low. (WILLIAMS DE-M&A/ (UPDATE 1), moved, 275 words)

Altice confirms has made offer for Bouygues Telecom

PARIS - European telecom group Altice confirms that it has made an offer to acquire France's Bouygues Telecom through its subsidiary Numericable-SFR. (BOUYGUES-M&A/ALTICE (UPDATE 2), moving shortly, by Leila Abboud, 640 words)

MARKETS

Italian, Spanish, Portuguese yields fall after new Greek proposal

LONDON - Italian, Spanish and Portuguese bond yields fall more than 10 basis points after the European Union welcomes a new offer by Greece on a reforms package that signalled 11th-hour concessions to avert default. (MARKETS-BONDS/EURO (UPDATE 1), moved, by Marius Zaharia, 365 words)

Russian assets rise on Greece, EU sanctions extension decision priced in

MOSCOW - Russia's assets rise, in line with other markets, on easing concerns about Greece's debt problems, and domestic monthly tax payments give the rouble additional support. (RUSSIA-MARKETS/, moved, 230 words)

ECONOMY

Greek drama nears final act, ending uncertain

LONDON - Euro zone leaders will attend an emergency summit on Monday, hoping to thrash out a plan with Athens to provide Greece with additional funds to prevent it defaulting on its debt -- but only if both sides play ball. (GLOBAL-ECONOMY/WEEKAHEAD, moved, by Jonathan Cable, 735 words)

EU keeps up pressure on Russia by extending economic sanctions

LUXEMBOURG - European Union foreign ministers extend economic sanctions on Russia until Jan. 31 on Monday, keeping up pressure on Moscow to help resolve the Ukraine conflict. (UKRAINE-RUSSIA/EU (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, 210 words)

Japan fiscal blueprint to propose flexible spending on annual basis

TOKYO - Japan's government will release a fiscal blueprint on Monday that will recommend taking a flexible approach to limiting state spending rather than setting a rigid cap on the annual increase to reduce the government's mountain of debt. (JAPAN-ECONOMY/FISCAL (UPDATE 2), moved, by Takaya Yamaguchi, 365 words)

+ See also:

- JAPAN-ECONOMY/BOJ-REPORT, moved, 260 words

Banks did not do enough to police FIFA transactions, says global agency

LONDON/ST. LOUIS - A global group of government anti-money-laundering agencies say that financial institutions have not done enough to police suspicious financial activity by officials at soccer's global governing body FIFA, and cautioned banks to step up scrutiny. (SOCCER-FIFA/BANKS (EXCLUSIVE, UPDATE 1), moved, by Mark Hosenball and Brett Wolf, 1,150 words)

COMPANIES

Sky up after report of rebuffed approach from Vivendi, Vodafone

LONDON - Shares in Sky rise 5 percent, topping the FTSE 100 leaderboard, after a media report said the Murdoch family had rebuffed two offers for their 39 percent stake in the pan-European pay-TV group. (SKY PLC-M&A/VIVENDI, moved, 275 words)

CVC and Temasek to buy $2 bln generic drugs firm Alvogen

LONDON - European private equity fund CVC and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek are to buy a controlling stake in the pharmaceutical firm Alvogen, its chairman and chief executive says. (ALVOGEN-M&A/CVC (EXCLUSIVE, UPDATE 1), moved, by Freya Berry, 460 words)

S.Africa's Remgro buys stake in Britain's Spire for $686 mln

JOHANNESBURG - South African investment house Remgro Ltd has offered 431.7 million pounds ($686 million) for almost a third of Britain's Spire Healthcare, it says. (SPIRE HEALTHCARE-M&A/REMGRO (UPDATE 1), moved, 140 words)

Chocolatier Ferrero offers to buy Thorntons for $178 million

Confectionier Ferrero, the maker of Nutella spread, has offered to buy Britain's Thorntons Plc for 112 million pounds ($178 million), a rare acquisition by the Italian group meant to help it better compete with foreign rivals. (THORNTONS-M&A/ (UPDATE 1), moving shortly, 300 words)

China Aircraft Leasing shareholders voice support after missing CEO quits

HONG KONG - The two biggest shareholders in China Aircraft Leasing Group Holding Ltd (CALC) says they have no plans to cut their stake in the firm after it revealed it was unable to contact its founder and chief executive, who resigned without explanation. (CNAIRCRAFT LEASE-STOCKS/ (UPDATE 3), moved, by Donny Kwok and Viola Zhou, 535 words)

AirAsia says aviation laws prevent it from consolidating associates' accounts

KUALA LUMPUR - AirAsia refutes a report that has said the airline is unwilling to consolidate the accounts of its foreign associates and be more transparent about its finances, saying it was prevented from doing so by aviation regulations. (MALAYSIA-AIRASIA/, moved, 300 words)

Apple bows to Taylor Swift on paying for all music streaming

Apple Inc reverses its policy and says it will now pay artists during free trials of its new Apple Music streaming service, after pop star Taylor Swift said she will hold back her latest hit album "1989" from the service. (MUSIC-TAYLORSWIFT/APPLE, moved, 255 words)