ICELAND

U.S. sellers of everything from cosmetics to cruises to car rentals were scrambling for options after a tower of ash from an Icelandic volcano turned much of Europe into a no-fly zone.

The videoconferencing industry is getting a boost in demand from the disruption to business travel across Europe caused by a volcano in Iceland, Cisco Systems said.

Worries about the impact of fraud charges against Goldman Sachs rattled stock markets on Monday, sending investors in search of less speculative currencies and boosted government bonds.

Asian stocks suffered their biggest loss in 10 weeks on Monday after U.S. regulators filed fraud charges against Goldman Sachs and China clamped down harder on property speculation, giving investors an excuse to take profits after markets had rallied to multi-month highs.

Asian stocks and commodities fell on Monday as fraud charges against Goldman Sachs, disappointing company earnings and a surprise drop in U.S. consumer sentiment gave investors an excuse to take profits from a recent rally to multi-month highs.

European officials said they hoped half of flights would operate across the continent on Monday as they sought to ease four days of airline paralysis caused by a sprawling ash cloud from an Icelandic volcano.

The International Monetary Fund and World Bank said on Sunday they expect to go ahead with meetings of global finance chiefs in Washington this week despite air travel disruptions caused by Iceland's volcanic ash.

Iceland's government expects the economy to turn a corner in the second half of 2010 but said risks remained significant and the flow of aid from the International Monetary Fund would be crucial.

Oil prices plunged on Friday after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charged Goldman Sachs with fraud in its marketing of certain subprime mortgage securities, amid a general sell-off in financial and commodity markets. The allegations against one of the biggest market makers in virtually every markets dampened speculation heading into the weekend. Much like the volcanic eruption in Iceland spewed a cloud of dust over northern Europe that grounded all air travel, the SEC charge cast a ...

Global shares edged off 16-month highs on Friday as an unexpected jump in U.S. jobless claims and persistent uncertainty over a solution to Greece's debt crisis tempered optimism over the global economic recovery.

Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Friday, with equities poised to reverse recent strong gains after Google's results, and ahead of General Electric and Bank of America earnings.

Iceland's former prime minister and central bank head and five other former officials acted with gross negligence in failing to prevent a banking collapse in 2008, an official investigation found on Monday.

After months of delays, the International Monetary Fund has reached agreement on a second review of Iceland's IMF loan program and tentatively scheduled a meeting of its board for April 16 to consider the issue.

Greece's borrowing costs hit a new high on Wednesday after the government said the country's banks had asked for billions of euros in support and euro zone states argued over the conditions of potential bailout loans.

The Australian dollar advanced again for the second day against the Greenback pushed on by gains in commodities.

WASHINGTON/CHICAGO/LONDON (Reuters ) - Francis Collins, who helped map the human genome, did not get around to having his own genes analyzed until last summer. And he was surprised by what he learned.

Iceland's economics minister said on Sunday he was hopeful that a review by the International Monetary Fund could be completed within weeks, potentially releasing crucial aid for the crisis-hit nation.

Iceland's economics minister said on Sunday he was hopeful that a review by the International Monetary Fund could be completed within weeks, potentially releasing key aid for the crisis-hit nation.

The Eyjafjallajökull volcano in southern Iceland erupted on Saturday night (20 March), resulting in what volcano photographer ómar Ragnarsson described as a small and shy fire column dance.

Most investors confuse money and currency, but they are not the same thing. Money is defined as a medium of exchange, a unit of account and a store of value.

Israel's Teva has won the battle for German generic drugmaker Ratiopharm, paying an enterprise value of 3.625 billion euros to fix the industry leader's weakness in the world's second-largest generics market.