UNITED KINGDOM

NBC Universal could be floated on the stock market if France's Vivendi decides to sell its 20 percent stake in the group majority-owned by General Electric Vivendi's chief executive said.

Eric Clapton has pulled out of this week's Rock and Roll Hall concert extravaganza in New York to have gallstones removed, organizers said on Monday.

BP Plc beat third-quarter earnings forecasts by a big margin in a sign Chief Executive Tony Hayward's restructuring plans were delivering results, with cost cuts ahead of targets and oil and gas output up strongly.

BP Plc beat third-quarter earnings forecasts by a big margin in a sign Chief Executive Tony Hayward's restructuring plans were delivering results, with cost cuts ahead of targets and oil and gas output up strongly.

The Australian Dollar opens lower on Tuesday at 0.9140 as the recent positive sentiment towards high-yielding currencies evaporated overnight as stocks and commodities both declined.

The Australian Dollar opens lower on Tuesday at 0.9140 as the recent positive sentiment towards high-yielding currencies evaporated overnight as stocks and commodities both declined. During Monday's domestic session the unit traded briefly beneath US92 cents as local equities began trade in the red. Australia's PPI (producer price index) at the final stage of production came in slightly below expectation at 0.1 per cent for the September quarter however the local unit was well supported and move...

Deciphering William Shakespeare plays in school essays apparently was not enough for two university students who have written a book of Twitter entries that summarize and satirize works of literature.

Barclays Plc bought the bank arm of British insurer Standard Life Plc for 226 million pounds ($369 million) on Monday, in a move to build up its UK mortgage and savings business.

Anglo American, pressured by investors after an abortive merger bid from rival Xstrata, could offload its zinc operations first in a fresh divestment drive that could raise $6 billion.

Dutch bancassurer ING Group NV will split in two, shrinking itself into a smaller Europe-focused bank, in the most striking example yet of the deep changes the EU wants to force on banks that received state aid.

Former Smiths' front man Morrisey was discharged from hospital in a much improved condition after staying overnight due to a collapse on stage in a concert in the U.K., medical officials said Sunday, according to CNN.com.

Barclays Plc bought the bank arm of British insurer Standard Life Plc for 226 million pounds ($369 million) on Monday, in a move to build up its UK mortgage and savings business.

Morrissey, the former singer in the British band The Smiths, left hospital Sunday after spending the night there as a precautionary measure after collapsing on stage, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Intelligence agencies estimate that it would probably take Iran a minimum of 18 months to develop a nuclear weapon if it chose to build one, Western diplomats and intelligence officials said.

European shares were little changed on Monday as a rise in pharma stocks offset weaker insurers, which were dragged down by ING (ING.AS), which fell after announcing its plan to split the company.

Britain's top shares edged up 0.2 percent by midday on Monday as energy firms and drugmakers gained ahead of third-quarter earnings this week, outpacing a decline in banks and life insurers.

The Australian Dollar opens marginally lower on Monday against the greenback at 0.9201. Last Friday saw another move towards US93 cents as investors sold the Japanese Yen to move into higher-yielding currencies, in what is commonly known as a carry trade. The local unit is nudging one-year highs against the Yen at 84.58. In offshore action the Aussie retreated beneath US92 cents after Wall Street fell 1 per cent, giving back the gains of the previous session and sapping the market's confidence...

(Corrects paragraph 4 to say inventory adjustments, rather than inventory building and drops reference to rates)

Shares in Japan and South Korea rose on Monday, with Seoul lifted by strong economic growth data, while the dollar slid after a Chinese article said Beijing should raise its euro and yen holdings in its reserves.

Police are following several lines of inquiry into the Lockerbie bombing focusing on possible accomplices of convicted former Libyan agent Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, Scottish authorities said on Sunday.

A team from the U.N. nuclear watchdog inspected a nuclear site in Iran on Sunday that has heightened Western fears of a covert program to develop atomic bombs, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported.