UNITED KINGDOM

Nokia has again pushed back the launch of its gaming service N-gage due to delays in software testing, a spokesman said on Thursday, in the latest blow to the Internet services ambitions of the world's top cell phone maker.

Oil rose to a one-month high above $96 a barrel on Wednesday ahead of a U.S. government report expected to show crude inventories in the world's top consumer fell for a sixth straight week.

The dollar continued to firm against the sterling following weak UK economic data, rising to its highest level in 4-months at 1.9813. However, the greenback was slightly softer against the yen and euro following the weak Philadelphia Fed survey.

Three British residents held at the Guantanamo Bay prison camp for suspected terrorists arrived in Britain on Wednesday after more than four years in captivity and two were promptly arrested, police said.

In a bid to ease the effects of the credit crunch and high borrowing costs, the Bank of England has lent £10 billion to financial institutions and banks. Different borrowers bid for the cash in an auction.Those who bid at the minimum rate of 5.36% received 75% of the amount they requested. The total amount of money bid was £850 million over the £10 billion promised by the Bank.The average i...

The European Commission has received a complaint that a disputed levy on electronic gadgets to compensate for private copying of music distorts the EU's internal market, a top official at the bloc's executive said.

The British government deepened its involvement in Northern Rock on Tuesday, offering to guarantee more of the stricken mortgage bank's liabilities as it battles to find a private-sector buyer. Facing growing speculation it could be forced to nationalize the country's fifth-largest mortgage lender, the government extended its guarantees to include virtually all Northern Rock's se...

Ford Motor Co. is set to choose a frontrunner to buy European brands Jaguar and Land Rover around the end of this week as it moves towards a sale early in 2008, said a person close to the matter on Monday.

Asian share markets, already ragged after five months of turmoil, fell deeper on Monday as rising U.S. inflation and high oil prices fanned concerns the Federal Reserve may be unable to make deeper rate cuts to prevent a possible recession.

Top European central bankers expressed concern on Friday about the success of a concerted action plan to grease the wheels of seized-up money markets, as U.S. banking giant Citigroup faced fresh strife. One official said he was disappointed money market rates remained at 4.8 to 4.9 percent despite a planned liquidity injection by the world's major central banks.

Europe toned down a clash with the United States over 2020 climate goals on the final day of U.N. talks in Bali on Friday, raising hopes of a deal to start negotiations on a new global warming treaty.

Microsoft Corp said Wednesday it has acquired Multimap, one of Britain's top online mapping companies, for an undisclosed sum in attempt to offer better targeted advertising.

Corp. on Wednesday completed the acquisition of Multimap, one of U.K.'s top online mapping companies at undisclosed amount, in a move to boost its advertising business.

Close to one billion people will never receive a formal education because governments around the world are not living up to pledges to provide free primary schooling for all by 2015, aid groups said on Wednesday.

Forty people were killed and more than 125 wounded when three car bombs exploded in quick succession in the Shi'ite city of Amara in southern Iraq on Wednesday, police said.

BHP Billiton Plc/Ltd said on Wednesday it was considering possible next moves in its attempt to open takeover talks with rival mining house Rio Tinto, which has so far rebuffed its overtures.

The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) has told the Treasury Select Committee of MP’s that it expected the troubled mortgage lender, Northern Rock, to release a trading update this month before the end of its financial year.

The Brits, an annual showcase of the UK recording industry, announced on Tuesday that the 2008 lifetime achievement award is being given to Paul McCartney.

Web search site Ask.com is launching a feature that allows users to delete data on their search queries in an effort to bolster personal privacy while surfing the Internet.

Lloyds TSB said its underlying profits are on track to grow 11 percent this year but the British bank will take a 200 million pound ($405 million) hit from exposure to credit market problems.

The global real estate market needed the subprime crisis to avoid a bigger and more damagning bubble, experts say.