UNITED KINGDOM

Higher-than-expected profits from Barclays and Commerzbank failed to dispel concerns over the underlying health of Europe's top banks on Thursday.

World stocks eked out small gains with European shares staying flat on Thursday as investors eyed meetings of the European Central Bank and Bank of England later in the session and Friday's U.S. jobs data loomed large.

The services sector grew slightly more than expected in July, with new orders and employment rising in the latest month, according to an industry report released on Wednesday.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, often dubbed the Oracle of Omaha, has seen the future of fashion in the most unlikely of places, bearing a Made in China label better known for its cheap than chic.

Google is set to allow advertisers in Europe to use rivals' trademarks when bidding for online ads in a move that will prevent big brand owners from controlling which ads appear during users' searches.

More of Europe's top banks beat earnings forecasts on Wednesday, as bad debts shrank more than expected in the first half, outweighing a slowdown in investment banking, which was hit by sovereign debt fears.

French bank Societe Generale warned the economic recovery was still fragile, with moderate growth prospects in Europe, after it beat forecasts with an almost fourfold leap in second-quarter net profit.

French bank Societe Generale warned the economic recovery was still fragile, with moderate growth prospects in Europe, after it beat forecasts with an almost fourfold leap in second-quarter net profit.

Lloyds , Britain's biggest retail bank which was part-nationalized during the credit crisis, returned to profit in the first half of 2010 from a loss a year earlier after lower bad debt charges boosted earnings.

Drinking alcohol regularly may not be too bad for the health, at least for rheumatoid arthritis sufferers or those at high risk of acquiring the painful condition. A study by British researchers showed that non-drinkers were more prone to developing the debilitating condition than those who drank alcohol more than 10 days per month.

Proceeds from initial public offerings in July soared on a global basis, hitting their highest level since before the 2008 financial meltdown, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Lonely Planet, publisher of the popular travel guides, launched interactive e-books for the iPad on Monday for popular European destinations.

Asian stocks rose on Monday on strong corporate earnings and shrugged off news that Chinese manufacturing shrank in July amid investor hopes that the world's fastest growing major economy will expand strongly.

Six former BP employees sued by the oil major for breach of contract in Singapore have applied to the court to set aside a search order that had allowed BP's lawyers to seize their personal computers, mobile phones and thumb drives, court documents showed.

AT&T Inc and Verizon Wireless are planning a partnership to displace credit and debit cards by letting consumers pay with the contactless wave of a smartphone, Bloomberg News reported, citing three people with direct knowledge of the plan.

British finance minister George Osborne urged the country's banks in a newspaper interview to use strong first-half profits to boost business lending rather than pay large bonuses.

A new Australian study suggests that ADHD in adolescents might be linked to Western diets that tend to be high in refined sugar and sodium, total fat and saturated fat.

The international community is pressuring the Juba and Khartoum governments to speed up preparation for a vote on South Sudan's future - a decision that will be dominated by the fate of coveted oil resources -- but an expert on the African country criticizes the lack of understanding about Sudan.

China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, the fruit of three decades of rapid growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.

Asian stocks sagged on Friday as worries U.S. growth data may surprise on the downside and downbeat comments from a Federal Reserve official gave investors reason to book profits from a steady rally this month.

The Australian Dollar has opened around USD0.9000 this morning after trending higher in the early part of the European session.