UNITED KINGDOM

Major cities are getting a bad rap for the disproportionately high greenhouse gases they emit even though their per capita emissions are often a fraction of the national average, a new report said on Monday.

The United States has told NATO allies it will back Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next head of the alliance, NATO diplomats and a U.S. source said on Saturday.

An exodus of expertise from the natural resources sector following the collapse in commodities prices mean banks and industry could face a shortage of seasoned professionals when demand eventually recovers.

The European Union on Friday pledged more than $100 billion in new loans to the International Monetary Fund to bail out countries in the global recession and urged the G20 economic powers to help double its funding.

European Union leaders agreed on Friday to provide 75 billion euros ($103 billion) in new loans to the International Monetary Fund as part of a G20 effort to boost the lender's firepower for fighting global recession.

By Huw Jones

General Electric Co's hefty finance arm expects to be profitable this year even though the economy may drive its profit down, nearer to $2 billion to $2.5 billion than to a $5 billion figure it gave in December, a top GE executive said on Thursday.

Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd launched a service allowing its customers to buy or rent movies and TV series to download to their mobile phones.

The Internet could provide an early warning system for environmental damage, imitating an online watchdog that gives alerts about outbreaks of disease, scientists said on Thursday.

Royal Bank of Scotland and Citigroup have canceled orders for private jets for top executives in the wake of the financial crash and a public backlash over corporate perks, French planemaker Dassault Aviation said on Thursday.

The U.S. dollar steadied on Thursday after suffering its biggest daily plunge since 1985, while Asian government bonds rallied on a large-scale plan by the Federal Reserve to buy long-dated U.S. Treasuries, reviving a practice not used in decades.

The U.S. dollar nursed big losses on Thursday and Asian government bonds rallied after the Federal Reserve vowed to buy long-dated U.S. Treasuries, reviving a practice not used in decades to revive an ailing economy.

To spearhead its push into Internet services, Nokia put users in charge when it opened in 2007 the networking site Mosh, which lets people post anything they want.

On March 18 A defiant Sudanese president rallied Arab supporters in Darfur by saying no war crimes court or the U.N. Security Council can touch even an eyelash on him even though an international order for his arrest has been issued.

Nine in 10 people expect their Internet service providers to offer open and unrestricted access to the Web, a survey showed on Wednesday. The survey, commissioned by Google, Yahoo and Web telephone company Skype, came as the European Parliament and EU states hold talks on a joint deal to reform the bloc's telecoms rules to boost competition.

The Vatican Wednesday defended Pope Benedict's opposition to the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS as activists, doctors and politicians criticized it as unrealistic, unscientific and dangerous.

German carmaker Opel and its U.S. parent General Motors have, to the knowledge of the German government, sufficient financing to see them through into April, a junior economy minister said on Wednesday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Wednesday as investors awaited decisions from the Federal Reserve's two-day policy setting meeting.

World share prices rose on Wednesday, while European government debt fell with forecast-beating U.S. housing data prompting more optimism among investors after the last week's rally.

What a difference a year makes.

Kenya has slashed its visa cost for UK nationals by 50%, from US$50 (£35) to US$25 (£18); fees will be waived completely for children under 16.