PRESS DIGEST- Financial Times - Dec 16

Dec 16 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

* Areva receives offer for 10 pct stake in spun-off nuclear unit http://on.ft.com/2hqbHjI

* Jury orders Gilead to pay Merck $2.54 billion in damages in patent trial http://on.ft.com/2hqbkWt

* Facebook begins testing ways to flag fake news http://on.ft.com/2hqceT9

* Intesa Sanpaolo fined $235 mln over financial violations http://on.ft.com/2hqcvFF

Overview

- French nuclear group Aveva received a 500 million euro offer for a 10 percent stake in a in a new nuclear fuel company that will be split off from its parent. The company named is preparing to split off its uranium mining and nuclear fuel activities into NewCo.

- Gilead Sciences was ordered by a jury to pay a subsidiary of Merck & Co $2.54 billion in damages in a patent-infringement trial over two of Gilead's Hepatitis C drugs.

- Facebook is setting up a partnership with fact-checking organisations and will try out new ways to report and flag fake news this week to try to address the "worst of the worst" hoaxes spread by spammers.

- Italy' largest bank by market capitalisation Intesa Sanpaolo has been fined $235 million by U.S. regulators for violating anti-money laundering and bank secrecy laws.

(Compiled by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler)