Category
Business
Orange colour clash set for court
A row over the colour orange could hit the courts after mobile phone giant Orange launched action against a new mobile venture from Easyjet's founder.…
Lacroix label bought by US firm
Luxury goods group LVMH has sold its loss-making Christian Lacroix clothing label to a US investment group. The Paris-based firm has been shedding non…
Ban on forced retirement under 65
Employers will no longer be able to force workers to retire before 65, unless they can justify it. The government has announced that firms will be bar…
Ukraine trims privatisation check
Ukraine is to review "dozens" of state asset sales as the country's new administration tackles corruption. The figure announced by President Viktor Yu…
Wal-Mart to pay $14m in gun suit
The world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has agreed to pay a total of $14.5m (£7.74m) to settle a lawsuit over gun sales violations in California. The …
Ex-Boeing director gets jail term
An ex-chief financial officer at Boeing has received a four-month jail sentence and a fine of $250,000 (£131,961) for illegally hiring a top Air Force…
Insurance bosses plead guilty
Another three US insurance executives have pleaded guilty to fraud charges stemming from an ongoing investigation into industry malpractice. Two execu…
Saudi ministry to employ women
Women will be employed in Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry for the first time this year, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal has been reported as sa…
US bank 'loses' customer details
The Bank of America has revealed it has lost computer tapes containing account details of more than one million customers who are US federal employees…
Making your office work for you
Our mission to brighten up your working lives continues - and this time, we're taking a long hard look at your offices. Over the next few months, our …
Algeria hit by further gas riots
Algeria suffered a weekend of violent protests against government plans to raise gas prices, local press reports. Demonstrators in a number of regions…
Russia WTO talks 'make progress'
Talks on Russia's proposed membership of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) have been "making good progress" say those behind the negotiations. But th…
Turkey-Iran mobile deal 'at risk'
Turkey's investment in Iran's mobile industry looks set to be scrapped after its biggest mobile firm saw its investment there slashed by MPs. Iran's p…
Call to overhaul UK state pension
The UK pension system has been branded inadequate and too complex by a leading retirement think-tank. The Pensions Policy Institute (PPI) said replaci…
GM in crunch talks on Fiat future
Fiat will meet car giant General Motors (GM) on Tuesday in an attempt to reach agreement over the future of the Italian firm's loss-making auto group.…
Nigeria to boost cocoa production
The government of Nigeria is hoping to triple cocoa production over the next three years with the launch of an ambitious development programme. Agricu…
Salary scandal in Cameroon
Cameroon says widespread corruption in its finance ministry has cost it 1bn CFA francs ($2m; £1m) a month. About 500 officials are accused of either a…
Monsanto fined $1.5m for bribery
The US agrochemical giant Monsanto has agreed to pay a $1.5m (£799,000) fine for bribing an Indonesian official. Monsanto admitted one of its employee…
Firms pump billions into pensions
Employers have spent billions of pounds propping up their final salary pensions over the past year, research suggests. A survey of 280 schemes by Inco…
Bank payout to Pinochet victims
A US bank has said it will donate more than $8m to victims of former Chilean military ruler Augusto Pinochet's regime under a Madrid court settlement.…
Gold falls on IMF sale concerns
The price of gold has fallen after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said it will look at ways of using its gold reserves to provide debt relief. …
Go-ahead for Balkan oil pipeline
Albania, Bulgaria and Macedonia has given the go ahead for the construction of a $1.2bn oil pipeline that will pass through the Balkan peninsula. The …
US company admits Benin bribery
A US defence and telecommunications company has agreed to pay $28.5m after admitting bribery in the West African state of Benin. The Titan corporation…
Venezuela identifies 'idle' farms
Venezuelan authorities have identified more than 500 farms, including 56 large estates, as idle as it continues with its controversial land reform pol…
FBI agent colludes with analyst
A former FBI agent and an internet stock picker have been found guilty of using confidential US government information to manipulate stock prices. A N…
UK young top Euro earnings league
British children enjoy the highest average annual income in Europe - more than double that of Spanish or Italian youngsters, a report suggests. Childr…
Green reports shun supply chain
Nearly 20% more UK top 250 firms produced non-financial reports on social and environment issues than last year. But of the 145 companies reporting, 7…
Tsunami 'to hit Sri Lanka banks'
Sri Lanka's banks face hard times following December's tsunami disaster, officials have warned. The Sri Lanka Banks Association said the waves which k…
Ethiopia's crop production up 24%
Ethiopia produced 14.27 million tonnes of crops in 2004, 24% higher than in 2003 and 21% more than the average of the past five years, a report says. …
Soros group warns of Kazakh close
The Open Society Institute (OSI), financed by billionaire George Soros, has accused Kazakhstan officials of trying to close down its local office. A d…