UNITED KINGDOM

Asian stocks rose on Friday as investors tried to shake off weak economic data in the United States and Europe, but lingering caution about riskier assets supported the safe-haven yen.

The euro languished near one-year lows against the yen on Friday, while commodities and Asian stocks struggled in tepid trade as worries about Greece and the health of the world economy took hold.

The stock market ended down on Thursday as market participants were reminded of two key issues that hinder the global economic recovery.

Virgin said it will roll out 100 megabit-per-second broadband connections to homes in the UK.

The island of Madeira, hit by deadly flash floods last weekend, remains open to visitors, but walking trails are still being checked for safety.

From moviemaking to architecture, the shamed and banished CEOs of the 2008 credit crisis have opted for some unusual career paths, either by choice or necessity.

A killer whale viciously attacked and killed a trainer at SeaWorld park in Florida on Wednesday, but a marine biologist says the whale probably did it because it was bored as killer whales don't normally kill humans in the wild.

A killer whale viciously attacked and killed a trainer at Sea World park in Orlando, Florida, making it the third time this whale has killed a human in the past decade, yet Sea World has no plans in removing the whale from their show.

After agreeing to pump in 3.5 billion euros ($4.7 billion) to save the troubled Airbus A400M military plane project, the buyer nations have postponed a final deal.

Optimism over Fed Chairman Bernanke's comments on Wednesday faded as global markets sputtered over unsettled Greece woes.

Royal Bank of Scotland posted the largest 2009 loss of its European peers but shrank from record-breaking levels, despite a sharp jump in bad debts which it says may now have peaked.

World weather agencies have agreed to band together to improve climate data, officials said on Wednesday, as scientists work to repair recent damage done to the credibility of it's discipline.

The Australian Dollar opens marginally higher today at 0.8920. It was a quiet domestic session yesterday with only a 50 point range between 0.8880 and 0.8930.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke was the center focus for global market participants on Wednesday as he testified before the House Financial Services Committee about the state of the U.S. economy and the Fed's monetary policy.

HSBC has this week launched the 2 billion pound ($3.1 billion) sale of its UK rolling stock leasing company as it builds its balance sheet by shedding non-core assets.

Switzerland will ask parliament to turn a deal with Washington that got bank UBS off the hook in a tax evasion case into binding law, plugging a legal hole that is stopping Berne from honoring the agreement.

The only time the U.S. dollar ever took a serious shellacking in the marketplace, the wounds were almost entirely self-inflicted.

Europe and U.S. stock indices edged up cautiously ahead of Fed Chairman Bernanke's semi-annual testimony on monetary policy and the state of the economy at 10:00 am EST.

Asia shares fell on Wednesday as surprise declines in U.S. consumer confidence and German business sentiment fueled fears about the strength of the global economic recovery and boosted the safe-haven yen.

Critical infrastructure and other technology dependent on global positioning satellites are increasingly threatened by attack from widely available equipment, technology experts are warning.

The European Commission is considering complaints from three online companies regarding Google Inc's practices including its search rankings, the company said on Tuesday.