UNITED KINGDOM

Chancellor Gordon Brown suggested on Monday economic growth this year would turn out stronger than forecast in his budget a timely boost as he sets out his pitch to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Cyber scams are increasingly being committed by organized crime syndicates out to profit from sophisticated ruses rather than hackers keen to make an online name for themselves, according to a top U.S. official.

Wm Morrison Supermarkets' firsthalf results on Thursday will be a watershed, being the first time it shows the upside of its problematic acquisition of rival Safeway

Britons make the largest number of cash machine withdrawals throughout Europe, a report shows, almost all of them from free to use ATMs.

The FTSE 100 held steady on Friday, with banks gaining but heavyweight oils and miners led lower by commodity prices and with trading cautious ahead of U.S. CPI data.

John Liang Plc today announced that it had received a non binding proposal, and was now in takeover talks

This week seven leading mobile operators have united to create a new organization, known as the Next Generation Mobile Networks (NGMN) initiative

First time homebuyers are stretching their finances more than ever before to get a foot on the property ladder, a survey shows.

GUS, set to split into two FTSE 100 companies next month, reported a slight slowdown in growth at its credit information business

U.S. buyout giant Blackstone looked poised on Thursday to win a 1.7 billion pound takeover battle for United Biscuits

Strong sales of household goods and a penchant for home shopping helped retail sales rebound in August, suggesting last month's interest rate rise did not deter shoppers.

Shares in AWG jumped more than 11 percent on Thursday after the water company said it had received an approach that could lead to an offer being made for the 2.2 billion pound firm.

Retailer John Lewis Partnership on Thursday posted an 11 percent increase in group sales to 3.0 billion pounds

A new agreement was announced today between BP and Gazprom Marketing and Trading, the UK subsidiary of energy giant OAO Gazprom.

BT Group announced growth targets on Thursday for its Global Services business, which provides IT network services and is the former state monopoly's fastest growing division.

Europe's largest home improvement retailer Kingfisher on Thursday posted a smaller than expected fall in pretax profit and said its UK business should return to profit growth in the second half.

The country's largest insurer Aviva Plc said it would cut 4,000 jobs at its Norwich Union business and deliver annual cost savings of 250 million pounds in 2008.

The government is likely to announce an easing of air travel rules next week after security was tightened last month

Today it was announced that the British Government will be introducing legislation to ensure that the London Stock Exchange will continue to be governed by what Treasury Secretary Ed Balls described as a “light touch risk based regulatory regime.”

The FTSE was flat on Wednesday as a rise in retailers led by Next and Marks & Spencer failed to inspire and as a lacklustre performance from heavyweight mining and oil stocks weighed.

Film studio owner Pinewood Shepperton plc, famed for the James Bond and Harry Potter films, unveiled a joint venture to develop its business as it reported a big jump in first half profits.