UNITED KINGDOM

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said world powers would have to take new action against Iran in the next few weeks if Tehran continues to reject Western proposals on its disputed nuclear programme.

India will narrow down the number of bidders by mid-2010 for its $11 billion fighter jet tender, a minister said, in a closely watched deal where diplomacy and strategic interests will play a big role.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown pleaded with voters on Saturday to renew their faith in his Labour Party, which is forecast to lose a looming election, and promised to heal the battered economy.

Schlumberger Ltd is in advanced talks to buy Smith International Inc, The Wall Street Journal said, in a move that would expand the oilfield services leader's arsenal as the weakened sector begins to recover.

Aksel Lund Svindal flashed down Whistler mountain to win the men's super-G Friday and deny American Bode Miller an elusive gold medal at the Winter Olympics as Norway stormed up the medals table.

Private equity firms are putting floatation candidates back in the box after receiving knock backs from angry fund managers, and will try again in a couple of years when they hope the market will be more receptive.

The Aussie dollar drifted lower in Asia yesterday pulling back from its opening levels near 90 cents before finding some support around 0.8950.

A thorny inflation clause and a shopping list of military gadgets dominated closing stages of talks to rescue the delayed A400M troop plane on Thursday as France held out the prospect of a deal next week.

Nearly all the major oil companies are looking across Europe for shale gas, an unconventional energy source that has transformed the U.S. energy market.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc said sales at its existing U.S. stores fell during the holiday quarter and forecast results for the current quarter that could miss Wall Street estimates.

The dollar edged close to a seven-month high against a basket of currencies on Thursday after minutes showed U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers had discussed strategies for withdrawing monetary stimulus.

Societe Generale expects results to recover in 2010 with lower bad risk write-downs after it rattled markets last month with a toxic asset warning.

The U.S. dollar rose against the euro on Thursday as poor growth prospects and Greece's fiscal deterioration hounded the euro zone single currency, while gold slid after the International Monetary Fund said it would sell more of its bullion holdings.

Britain's 19-year-old women's curling captain led her team to a victory over world champions China on Wednesday, setting up a same-day showdown with Sweden, the defending Olympic gold medalists.

H.J. Heinz Co raised its 2010 earnings forecast, helped by strength in emerging markets, while U.S. foodmaker Campbell Soup Co cut its sales forecast as frugal U.S. consumers shunned ready-to-eat soup.

A 0.5% rise in the December leading index report produced by Westpac had little influence on the Aussie dollar during yesterday's local session as it remained range bound between 0.9000 and 0.9025 for the majority of the day.

Israel's foreign minister said on Wednesday the use of the identities of foreign-born Israelis by a hit squad suspected of killing a Hamas militant in Dubai did not prove the Mossad spy agency assassinated him.

Expectations for defaults and losses in residential mortgage-backed securities continue to rise sharply in the United States, while tailing off in Britain, even as its economy has been slower to recover, a survey found.

Investors have not yet given up on the 11-month-old world markets recovery and there is little evidence so far this year of a retreat to safe-haven bunkers in the face of mini-shocks from Greek debts, China's monetary tightening and U.S. regulatory threats.

Asian shares leapt to a three-week high on Wednesday, powered by financial and resource shares after investors bought commodities on a weaker dollar, while Hong Kong shares shrugged off China's latest move to temper robust lending.

Belgian train drivers went on strike on Tuesday, a day after a rail crash that killed 18 people, increasing disruption to local and international services.