UNITED KINGDOM

NATO's secretary-general said on Wednesday he expected the alliance to provide more resources for training Afghan troops and police, but would not comment on exact troop numbers.

The dollar fell to a new 15-month low against major currencies on Wednesday, hurt by downbeat official views on the U.S. economy and bullish economic data from China that bolstered risk appetite.

Africa faces a surge in cancer deaths unless action is taken in the next decade to stem rising smoking levels in a continent where anti-tobacco laws remain rare, U.S. scientists said Wednesday.

The Australian Dollar opens steady against the greenback today at 0.9280. During local trade, the Aussie nudged a calendar-year high above US93 cents ahead of importer interest and profit taking which took the unit back down to 0.9270. Several major currencies have moved higher in recent days after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the U.S. Dollar was overvalued. An upbeat NAB business confidence survey also underpinned the local unit yesterday. During offshore trade, the Aussie moved b...

The Australian Dollar opens steady against the greenback today at 0.9280. During local trade, the Aussie nudged a calendar-year high above US93 cents ahead of importer interest and profit taking which took the unit back down to 0.9270.

The dollar bounced off a 15-month low on Tuesday and the euro dipped below $1.50 as investors paused to assess whether the global outlook justifies a recent rally in higher-yielding currencies and assets.

Extreme temperatures and heavy air pollution boost heart attack risk, according to a major new study.

Vodafone, the world's largest cellphone operator by revenue, has doubled its cost cutting target to 2 billion pounds ($3.33 billion) by 2012 to counter fierce competition in India and Europe.

Who wants to become the new singer for Aerosmith?

Junior bondholders are readying a lawsuit to challenge a restructuring deal for Greek mobile operator Wind Hellas that wipes out their investment, sources familiar with the process said.

Britain's top two banks, HSBC and Barclays , signaled bad debts may be past their peak, with HSBC declaring on Tuesday the first improvement for three years in losses on U.S. consumer credit.

GDP Sustainable, Says Survey; Key Target Set at Yahoo; UK Banks See Bottom

The world is closer to a peak in oil supply than International Energy Agency estimates admit, UK newspaper The Guardian reported in its Tuesday edition, citing an unidentified whistleblower at the IEA.

The dollar's trade-weighted index hovered near a 15-month low on Tuesday on the view U.S. interest rates will stay low, while sterling fell after Fitch said the UK was the major economy most at risk of losing its AAA rating.

Bailed-out British lender Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 5,000 jobs by the end of 2010 as it continues to overhaul its operations and integrate HBOS.

Bailed-out British lender Lloyds Banking Group is to cut a further 5,000 jobs by the end of 2010 as it continues to overhaul its operations and integrate HBOS.

Britain's top two banks, HSBC and Barclays, signaled bad debts may be past their peak, with HSBC declaring on Tuesday the first drop in U.S. consumer finance impairments for three years.

Europe's biggest bank HSBC Holdings Plc said its underlying third-quarter profits were significantly ahead of a year ago and losses on U.S. consumer loans had shown their first fall in three years.

Barclays Plc said strong investment banking helped limit a fall in profit in the third quarter and it expects bad debts to peak earlier than it had previously expected.

World stocks ticked higher on Tuesday as positive reports from UK banks kept the momentum with investors who chased risky assets in anticipation countries would keep monetary policy accommodative.

The Australian Dollar opens higher against the greenback today at 0.9285. Stronger than expected local housing finance data during the local session yesterday gave the currency a boost to an intraday high of 0.9241. Home loans grew by 5.1 per cent in September to 65,505 after 2 months of slowing demand in yet another signal to markets that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) may need to hike rates in the coming months. The RBA is known to be concerned about unimpeded price-growth in the resident...