UNITED KINGDOM

Spending on Internet advertising in Britain grew 4.6 percent in the first half of 2009, outperforming the wider ad sector, which slumped 17 percent, and making it the country's biggest ad medium ahead of TV.

The four cities bidding for the prize honor of hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics began three intensive days of lobbying on Tuesday with the Obama factor looming large ahead of Friday's vote by the IOC.

The following are planned mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, has finally sealed a deal to sell Apple's iPhone in Britain from 2010, it said on Tuesday -- a move that could spark a price war over the popular device.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will promise Tuesday to clean up British politics, get tough on crime and heal the economy, in a blizzard of policy moves aimed at avoiding a crushing election defeat next year.

Iran said on Tuesday it would refuse to discuss a newly declared nuclear plant at forthcoming international talks and cautioned Western powers it could curb cooperation further if they repeated past mistakes.

A teenage British girl died after receiving a cervical cancer vaccine made by GlaxoSmithKline, but a link between the death and the drug has not yet been established, health officials said on Monday.

Britain's leading share index was 0.4 percent weaker in mid-session trade on Tuesday, with weakness in commodity stocks outweighing gains in financials as investors booked profit after recent gains.

Asian shares rose on Tuesday as news of several multi-billion dollar takeover bids overseas boosted confidence in a global economic recovery, while the yen slid after Tokyo hinted currency intervention could be an option in some cases.

The Australian Dollar opens higher against the greenback on Tuesday at 0.8720.

Guido Westerwelle, who is widely expected to become foreign minister in the next German government, admonished a reporter who asked him a question in English on Monday, saying: We're in Germany here.

North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons if its national sovereignty were respected and it did not face a nuclear threat, the country's ambassador to Britain said Monday.

Michael Jackson's fans are ready to rock with him one last time, as next month's This Is It movie about the late pop star breaks records for advance ticket sales, the studio behind the film said on Monday.

Canada outperforms the United States in health outcomes but is well behind global leaders like Japan in overall health of its population, a Canadian report released on Monday showed.

Myer, Australia's largest department store chain, plans to raise up to $2 billion in a share offering that will test investor appetite for retail stocks and may encourage other IPOs in the sector.

After his efforts at diplomacy on the international stage last week, President Barack Obama faces some particularly daunting foreign policy decisions about the Afghan war, a nuclear Iran and an elusive Middle East peace.

Delegates at the start of marathon climate talks in Thailand on Monday were told to speed up painfully slow negotiations as they struggle to settle on the outline of a tougher pact to fight global warming.

Britain's FTSE 100 .FTSE index is seen opening 7 to 15 points, or as much as 0.3 percent lower on Monday, according to financial bookmakers, tracking weaker showings in Asia after falls on Wall Street on Friday, with investors nervously looking ahead to this week U.S. jobs report.

Donald Fisher, who co-founded Gap Inc with his wife Doris forty years ago, died on Sunday after a battle with cancer, the clothing retailer said.

The Australian Dollar opens marginally higher on Monday at 0.8675. The Aussie hit a high of 0.8713 during European trade on Friday night but moved lower after weak U.S. economic data raised concerns over the strength of the global recovery.

In the wee hours of the morning on Monday, September 14, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne was signing autographs after his band performed at upstate New York's All Tomorrow's Parties festival when a burly young fan approached him with a length of industrial strap. Coyne recognized it as one of his own, used for tying down equipment like the large cannons that shoot confetti into the crowd through...