Business News - AFP

LONDON (AFP) - The BBC has held talks with financial advisers about floating part of its commercial arm on the stock market, amid pressure over its market share and public subsidy, a report said Wednesday.

SINGAPORE (AFP) - The post-crisis world economy faces new risks from investment bubbles that risk plunging millions back into poverty, according to World Bank chief Robert Zoellick.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The International Monetary Fund announced Tuesday athat a lending scheme to aid countries hit hard by the financial crisis had grown to 600 billion dollars.

DUBLIN (AFP) - Recession-hit Ireland was severely disrupted by a one-day strike Tuesday as about 250,000 public sector workers protested at planned austerity cuts in next month's budget.

STRASBOURG (AFP) - The European Union's top executive on Tuesday refused to rule out a bloc-wide tax on its half-billion population, in remarks sure to raise eurosceptic hackles.

BERLIN (AFP) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday she was expecting a "comprehensive thank-you letter" from General Motors for huge loans to keep the auto maker's Opel unit afloat, which she said had now been repaid.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan posted a trade surplus for a ninth straight month in October as the world's number two economy slowly emerges from its deep slump thanks to recovery in the rest of Asia, according to the latest data.

MONTREAL (AFP) - Gold production will continue to fall, despite a brief boost in 2009 and soaring prices, as deposits are exhausted and new discoveries remain elusive, say miners.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Shoppers are expected to come out in force but cling a bit tighter to their wallets for the kickoff of the holiday gift-giving season this weekend, new surveys showed Tuesday.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Swedish luxury carmaker Koenigsegg said Tuesday it was giving up its bid to buy Saab Automobile from its US parent General Motors due to costly delays, plunging Saab's future into doubt.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Federal Reserve on Tuesday raised its outlook for US economic growth in 2010 to a range of 2.5 to 3.5 percent, and said the troubles in unemployment appeared to be near a peak.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US economic rebound in the third quarter was weaker than initially estimated, the Commerce Department said Tuesday in cutting its estimate to a 2.8 percent annual pace of expansion.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Hot social networking site Facebook said Tuesday it has introduced a dual-class stock structure but has no plans to go public for the moment.

LONDON (AFP) - The Bank of England admitted Tuesday it lent a total of 61.6 billion pounds to Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS in secret during last year's financial crisis, adding that the cash had been repaid.

BERN (AFP) - Swiss authorities said Tuesday they had informed more than 500 UBS clients suspected of having evaded taxes in the United States whether their data would be transmitted to US tax authorities.

LONDON (AFP) - Gold prices soared to a record 1,174 dollars an ounce here on Monday as a sliding US currency and worries about a possible spike to inflation increased demand for the "safe-haven" metal, traders said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A rush to cash in tax incentives helped boost sales of existing US homes 10.1 percent in October, according to data Monday showing fresh momentum for the sector at the heart of the economic crisis.

MADRID (AFP) - European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said Monday it was "premature" to declare the global financial crisis over, although the "freefall" in economic activity has been halted.

PARIS (AFP) - The French markets watchdog heard claims Monday that 17 current and former EADS aerospace executives saved themselves millions by exploiting insider knowledge of problems with the A380 superjumbo project.

LONDON (AFP) - Britain's political leaders clashed Monday at a key business conference over how to fix rocketing public debt and spark economic recovery, with an election looming next year.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50-percent biokerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using biofuel.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - European governments pulled back on Monday from a subsidy war feared by EU commission officials as US auto maker General Motors prepares severe job cuts in Europe.

NEW YORK (AFP) - The dollar came under fresh pressure Monday after comments suggesting US authorities may extend emergency stimulus measures, encouraging traders to move into riskier assets including gold.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices rose Monday as a weaker dollar helped boost demand for commodities.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Google is acquiring Web display advertising startup Teracent, the Internet giant announced on Monday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Airways said Tuesday it had delayed the delivery of 54 Airbus aircraft as part of spending cuts over the next three years aimed at returning the struggling airline to profitability.

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Indian federal investigators on Tuesday filed new charges against the founder of scandal-hit outsourcing giant Satyam in the nation's biggest case of corporate fraud, an official said.

MOSCOW (AFP) - The Russian central bank cut its main interest rate to a record low 9.0 percent on Tuesday to check a strengthening ruble that threatens to harm the major oil and gas producer's crucial exports.