(Reuters) - European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told euro zone governments on Friday to act fast to get their rescue fund up and running, expressing exasperation at their lack of progress in response to an escalating debt crisis. The ECB is under intense pressure to play a greater role in tackling the euro zone crisis. A Reuters poll of 50 bond strategists in Europe and the United States gave an even probability that it would eventually agree to print money.

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(Reuters) - The European Central Bank could soon bow to pressure to print money to prevent a further escalation of the euro zone's debt crisis, with respondents in a Reuters poll giving an even probability the ECB would adopt a policy of quantitative easing. The poll of 50 bond strategists across Europe and the United States conducted this week gave a median 48 percent probability that the ECB will be forced to conduct outright quantitative easing (QE).

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(Reuters) - It was a telling moment at the height of the Occupy Wall Street protests. John Paulson, the hedge-fund trader who famously made billions betting on the collapse of the housing market, was threatened by the demonstrators with a march on his Upper East Side home in New York last month. Paulson responded by putting out a press release that described his $28 billion, 120-person fund as an exemplar of the American Dream: "Instead of vilifying our most successful businesses, we should be supporting them and encouraging them to remain in New York City."

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(Reuters) - A unit from the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's organized crime division has joined an investigation into an accounting scam at Japan's disgraced Olympus Corp, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday, in a sign that the scandal could widen. Olympus, a world leader in diagnostic endoscopes, has admitted hiding losses for decades through improper accounting, but has yet to say how far this concealment went and what writedowns it will now need to take.

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(Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as concerns over rising yields on euro zone debt kept optimism over another round of improved U.S. economic data in check. Spanish bond yields hit 6.98 percent, their highest level since 1997, at a 10-year auction, while a French bond auction also saw high yields.

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(Reuters) - New claims for jobless benefits hit a seven-month low last week, while permits for future home construction rebounded strongly last month, bolstering views the economy was gaining traction. The improving economic picture was spoiled somewhat by other data on Thursday showing factory activity in the Mid-Atlantic region slowed this month on weak orders. However, employers hired more workers and increased working hours.

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(Reuters) - Greek police clashed with anti-austerity protesters and Italy announced sweeping reforms in response to a European debt crisis that on Thursday pushed borrowing costs for France and Spain sharply higher. More than 30,000 Greeks took to the streets of Athens in a protest rally that marked the first public test for a new national unity government that must impose painful spending cuts and tax rises if the country is to escape bankruptcy.

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(Reuters) - Stock picker Bill Miller, one of the mutual fund industry's biggest stars who has recently fallen on hard times, will retire from running his flagship portfolio at Legg Mason in April and hand full control to his fellow manager. Sam Peters will become the sole manager of the $2.8 billion Legg Mason Capital Management Value Trust fund and the Value Equity strategy, Legg Mason said in a statement on Thursday. He will also become chief investment officer for Legg Mason Capital Management.

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(Reuters) - The former CEO of Olympus Corp, whose revelations about irregular deals and payments exposed an accounting scandal at the camera and medical equipment maker, will return to Japan next week to meet police and authorities investigating the case. "I'll arrive on Wednesday afternoon," Michael Woodford told Reuters by telephone, adding he expected the Japanese authorities to ensure his safety while in the country.

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(Reuters) - stocks briefly turned higher then traded near flat on Wednesday, helped by gains in energy shares as U.S. oil prices surged. The Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.19 points at 12,095.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.26 points, or 0.02 percent, at 1,258.07. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 0.10 points, or 0.00 percent, at 2,686.30.

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