The US government is seeking nearly $3 hundred billion in compensation from the tobacco industry for half a century of deception, that it claims has cost the lives of millions of Americans.

BERLIN (Reuters) - The German finance ministry has said that countries using the euro currency will together provide aid worth between 20 and 25 billion euros ($27.2 and $34 bilion ) for Greece, the German weekly magazine Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.

The number of American borrowers falling behind on their mortgage payments dropped sharply at the end of last year, a sign the foreclosure crisis is beginning to ebb.

A rural town of Markopoulos, 30 kilometers from Athens, has gone from a booming Olympic town to barely surviving in less than five years.

Regulators shut four banks from California to Florida on Friday, boosting to 20 the number of US bank failures this year following the 140 closures last year in the worst financial climate in decades.

Lufthansa has announced it had cancelled two-thirds of its flights from Monday to Thursday because they could be affected by a planned pilots' strike.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has backed away from his earlier comments for the aged pension to be raised to 70, arguing it may never become Liberal Party policy.

The Australian share market is expected to open slightly lower on Monday despite a small lift on United States markets on Friday.

AP - Christy Nameche moved with her family to Kendall County, Ill., in 2007, joining thousands of other hope-filled newcomers who made the county No. 1 in population growth in the nation that year.

The federal government is withdrawing its guarantee scheme for banks as it is no longer needed given the strength of the Australian financial system.