A vote by European Union lawmakers to soften capital rules for banks that offload large amounts of bad loans is meeting resistance and could be ditched, officials said, in what would be a blow to Italian lenders profiting from the planned reform.

* Air Arabia falls in Dubai on Abraaj concerns (Updates throughout)

The creditors of Croatia's indebted food producer and retailer Agrokor will vote on a settlement deal on July 4, a local commercial court said on Thursday.

Saudi shares rose at the open on Thursday, while Dubai-listed Air Arabia tumbled after the carrier revealed it had an exposure of $336 million to embattled Dubai private equity firm Abraaj.

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South African construction firm Basil Read Holdings said on Wednesday it had applied to the Johannesburg Stock Exchange for the voluntary suspension of the listing of its shares after a key unit started business rescue proceedings.

European Union banks should reduce the stock of bad loans to a maximum of 5 percent of the loans they hold, Germany and France said in a joint document, recommending a ceiling that would force Italy and other EU countries to hasten offloading plans.

European Union banks should reduce the stock of bad loans to a maximum of 5 percent of the loans they hold, Germany and France said in a joint document, recommending a ceiling that would force Italy and other EU countries to hasten offloading plans.

A New York State judge on Tuesday ordered a former TCW Group Inc fund manager to hand over text messages sent to her friend around the same time that she had messaged about an alleged sexual encounter with her boss.

The European Central Bank could ditch a plan to impose new rules on all euro zone banks under its watch to reduce their bad loans, and could instead move towards a "case-by-case approach", the head of its supervisory body said on Tuesday.