UNITED KINGDOM

U.S. software firms SunGard Data Systems and Fiserv Inc top the list of suitors expected to submit bids for UK software company Misys by a deadline set for later this week, sources close to the matter said on Monday.

Self-regulation in food and beverage marketing is being exploited and is failing to curb childhood obesity, research by a global obesity taskforce presented on Tuesday has found.

Britain's largest shares drifted down on low volumes led by Diageo and with sentiment hit by a survey showing a sharp decline in British consumer confidence and by buoyant sterling following strong house price data.

Signs that the world economy is at a turning point are being reflected by tentative evidence that bonds are moving back into favor after years as an unloved alternative to booming equities.

Anglo-Dutch consumer products group Unilever NV/Plc said on Monday it agreed to sell the bulk of its frozen foods business to private equity group Permira Funds for 1.725 billion euros ($2.2 billion).

Britain's FTSE 100 index edged higher on Friday, led by mining companies as metal prices firmed and by banks on bid talk surrounding the sector.

High-speed internet connections are on the incline in both the United States and Britain, according to industry experts.

Friendster Inc. said on Monday it received $10 million in new funding to expand abroad and help its pioneering social-networking site survive in a market dominated by younger successors who stole its thunder.

South African financial services company Alexander Forbes confirmed on Monday it has agreed to sell its international risk services unit to Lockton International Holdings for a £67.6 million ($127.5 million).

The Coca- Cola company said on Friday it will relocate its Africa Group office from Windsor, England to Johannesburg in South Africa starting in January next year, in a bid to increase business growth in Africa.

Palm Inc., handheld computer and phone maker, will unveil a new version of its Treo smart-phone next month, striving to revive sales amid tough competition.

A British city known for its concrete cows is set to become one of the most technologically advanced in Britain after it said it would to be the first UK town to boast a high-speed WiMax wireless broadband network.

British entrepreneur Richard Branson's latest venture into South Africa, Virgin Money said on Wednesday it has already issued over 50,000 credit-cards in the six weeks since its launch.

British newspapers are now giving away free as many DVDs as are being purchased in stores, revealing a stealth contributing factor to the decline of Hollywood's cash cow format.

Microsoft is launching its online ad platform dubbed AdCenter in the United Kingdom on Monday to handle all of the paid-search traffic on MSN Search and Windows Live.

YouTube, the popular online home video site, has an unexpected star - a septuagenarian British widower - whose soft-spoken, humble manner has won the hearts of users of the youth dominated Web site.

Airlines will cut 20 percent of flights departing London's Heathrow Airport on Monday following a directive by the airport's owner amid a growing dispute over how to handle tougher security measures.

The world's top money laundering watchdog on Friday called on countries to intensify measures to combat the financing of terrorism in the wake of the UK bomb plot and called Britain's efforts exemplary.

In the Darwinian evolution of electronic companions, first came the speaking doll, then the Tamagotchi virtual pet, then Sony's short-lived AIBO dog.

Can technology create a non-hijackable plane?By 2008, European researchers aim to bring that vision closer to reality through an ambitious security program to combat on-board threats in an industry left reeling this week by a security scare that raised the specter of September 11.

Internet gaming group BETonSPORTS, which removed its chief executive from his job following his detention in Texas last month on racketeering charges, said on Friday it was closing down the U.S. business, which drives the vast majority of the company's profits.