UNITED KINGDOM

Kraft Foods Inc will be grilled by British parliamentarians next week amid claims the U.S. group backtracked on plans to keep a Cadbury plant open.

A son of Ghanaian immigrants who was educated at Eton, Britain's most exclusive private school, parliamentary candidate Kwasi Kwarteng embodies both change and continuity in the Conservative Party.

British computer expert Peter Moore, held captive in Iraq for 2-1/2 years until his release in December, has said he was tortured and subjected to mock executions by a well-trained kidnap gang.

Europe's vanmakers have gone a long way toward meeting proposals to curb climate-warming emissions, but as debate on the 2016 targets kicks off big auto is seen digging its heels in over the last mile.

BP will pay $7 billion to Devon Energy for assets that will extend its reach into Brazil and bulk up its position in the Gulf of Mexico, as the world's top oil companies look to acquisitions to refill depleting reserves.

Investing in a high-speed Internet network would open up a new global trade route for Britain, boosting economic recovery and creating thousands of jobs, the opposition Conservative party said on Thursday.

China's insatiable demand for energy to power its economy has made it a serious contender in the fight for control over vast energy resources in its thinly populated and impoverished western backyard.

HSBC , Europe's biggest bank, said a theft of data by a former employee affected up to 24,000 Swiss client accounts, dealing a hefty blow to the reputation of its private bank.

Major shareholders in Prudential are warming to the British insurer's $35.5 billion bid for AIG's Asian business following meetings with chief executive Tidjane Thiam.

Taiwan will further scrutinize American International Group's stalled $2.2 billion sale of its Nan Shan Life unit, and may decide on its fate before the end of June.

British cable operator Virgin Media is testing a new technology to deliver ultrafast broadband over telegraph poles which could allow it to extend its reach to another 1 million homes.

JP Morgan's private bank has embarked on an international expansion in a bid to reduce its focus on the United States, expand its Europe footprint and join the battle to tap the ultra-wealthy in emerging markets.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner has written to the European Commission warning that plans to regulate hedge funds and private equity firms could cause tensions with Washington, the Financial Times reported.

Asian stocks fell on Thursday as investors worried strong loan growth and quickening inflation in China would spur Beijing to tighten monetary policy sooner than expected, while the yen rebounded against major currencies.

Yesterday's announcement of a steep decline in housing finance caught the market by surprise somewhat triggering a drop in the Aussie dollar to an intraday low of 0.9130.

With economic policy stimuli already at full tilt, no government wants an overvalued exchange rate to slay recovery, and the rival soft currency needs are producing some elaborate rhetorical jousting.

The stock market edged higher on Wednesday as stocks in the transportation and financial sectors made significant gains.

Novartis has taken an exclusive option to develop Transgene's cancer vaccine TG4010, but the deal fell short of investors' hopes, pulling the shares in the French biotechnology company down 12 percent.

American International Group could learn the fate of the stalled $2.2 billion sale of its Taiwan unit Nan Shan Life Insurance as early as Thursday.

The U.S. stock market is poised for a slightly lower opening after disappointing data from Germany and the U.K.

A distinct lack of momentum will drag on the rich world's economic recovery this year, according to the latest Reuters economic outlook in which economists largely bucked a recent trend of rising forecasts.