UNITED KINGDOM

Media bigwig Rupert Murdoch will not be attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, which opens on Wednesday, as he attempts to negotiate the terms to buy British Sky Broadcasting Group with the U.K. Culture Secretary.

A report from OpenDNS shows that the social networking sites Facebook, MySpace and YouTube are among the most blocked and the most allowed websites.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's son who is considered as his successor has fled to Britain along with his family, US-based Arabic website Akhbar al-Arab reported.

UK-based water supplier United Utilities Group Plc said current trading is in line with the group's expectations of delivering a solid underlying financial performance for the year ending March 31.

(corrects figure in Jan. 23 story, 14th paragraph, to $22 trillion from $22 billion)

The debut bond from Europe's financial rescue fund attracted robust demand on Tuesday, in the latest sign of confidence the bloc is getting to grips with the debt crisis that has haunted it for over a year.

Consumer confidence rose more than expected in January to its highest level in eight months, helped by growing optimism about the economy and the jobs market, according to a private sector report released on Tuesday.

News Corp's new digital newspaper The Daily, designed for Apple's iPad, should launch in the next two weeks after some delays and will cost $0.99 per week, executive James Murdoch said on Tuesday.

Research by a UK-based independent property investment consultancy found that the property was considered a better investment than gold and shares for investors to invest their cash to make profit.

Half of bankers in Britain and the United States have received a higher bonus for 2010 than the year before, despite sluggish investment banking performances, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

Economy in the U.K. grew slower in the fourth quarter though it was above economists' forecasts, according to the latest report by the U.K. Statistical Department.

Stock index futures pointed to a weaker open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.1-0.2 percent.

Britain's water services group Severn Trent Plc said it expects exceptional charges of around 20 million pounds to 25 million pounds for the full year, mainly related to ongoing efficiency improvements and accelerated deprecation of assets.

McDonald's Corp plans to raise prices this year to help offset an expected rise in its grocery bill for the 10 commodities that account for around 75 percent of its food preparation costs.

Iran has hanged two men for their activities during the turmoil following President Ahmadinejad’s controversial election victory in 2009. Iran has now executed 64 people is just the past twenty-four days, or on average one person every nine hours.

Online retail sales in Europe are set to rise 18 percent to more than 200 billion euros ($271 billion) this year, outpacing growth at traditional shops as well as internet sales in the United States.

Near field communications (NFC) chips will be implemented in Visa credit and debit cards and used for touch and go technology at McDonald's in the U.K.

Gold continues to form a long consolidation pattern which has lasted basically for the final quarter of 2010, says Phil Smith in his chart analysis for Reuters' clients. [On] the possible topping [head-and-shoulders] pattern I've been looking at...we have now broken the neckline. Watch for a decisive break below this line. The target for this topping pattern is $1230.

The ten most “prosperous” nations on earth, according to Legatum’s system, are dominated by Europe. The top ten in order are Norway, Denmark, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden. Canada, Switzerland, Netherlands and the United States.

Britain's state-backed public broadcaster the BBC said Monday it would close 200 websites over the next two years in a drive to slash costs and reshape online content.

Nigeria wants U.N. backing for military intervention in Ivory Coast to prevent it slipping into a civil war that could destabilise the West African region, Foreign Minister Odein Ajumogobia said on Monday.