UNITED KINGDOM

Britain's recession-hit consumers would rather cut back on eating out and holidays than give up their broadband, mobile phone and pay-TV services, according to a new report from media regulator Ofcom.

The Australian Dollar opens little changed on Wednesday at 0.8440. In offshore trade the unit traded between a low of 0.8384 in early Europe and a high of 0.8450. In local economic data, retail sales fell 1.4 per cent for the month of June, but surged overall throughout the June quarter.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as Iran's president on Wednesday in a ceremony boycotted by reformist leaders and parliamentarians and marred by street protests over his victory.

Jarvis Cocker has written three songs for the upcoming film

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was sworn in as Iran's president Wednesday in a ceremony boycotted by reformist leaders and parliamentarians and marred by street protests over his victory.

Leading global automakers reported forecast-beating quarterly results on Tuesday, but continued to give cautious outlooks for the industry, which remains hard hit by weak demand and a lack of consumer credit.

With the Who inactive for the moment, Roger Daltrey is gearing up to launch his first solo tour of North America since 1985.

House shopping growing, Layoffs to grow, Consumer profit slides

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group sank to a 4 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) loss in the first half, battered by a surge in bad debts from its HBOS business, but the bank told investors it was through the worst.

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group sank to a 4 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) loss in the first half, battered by a surge in bad debts from its HBOS business, but the bank told investors it was through the worst.

Britain's Lloyds Banking Group sank to a 4 billion pounds ($6.8 billion) loss in the first-half of the year as it was hit by a surge in bad debts from the HBOS business it bought earlier this year.

Britain supports signing an economic pact between Syria and the European Union despite its concerns about human rights violations by Damascus, a British official said on Tuesday.

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will be sworn in as Iran's president on Wednesday after a disputed re-election that has exposed a deep schism in the clerical establishment.

Britain is aiming to replace short-haul aviation with high-speed rail travel and plans for such a network are well advanced, Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis told the Guardian newspaper.

Leading global automakers reported forecast-beating quarterly results on Tuesday, but continued to give cautious outlooks for the industry, which remains hard hit by weak demand and a lack of consumer credit.

Leading global automakers reported forecast-beating quarterly results on Tuesday, but continued to give cautious outlooks for the industry, which remains hard hit by weak demand and a lack of consumer credit.

Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered unveiled a surprise 1 billion pound ($1.7 billion) fundraising on Tuesday as it beat expectations with a record mid-year pretax profit.

Use of antidepressant drugs in the United States doubled between 1996 and 2005, probably because of a mix of factors, researchers reported on Monday.

A growing number of British teenagers are swapping sexually explicit images of themselves on mobile phones leaving them open to bullying and victimization by their peers, police and a children's charity said on Tuesday.

Prominent defeated presidential candidate Mehdi Karoubi on Tuesday vowed to keep up pressure on President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad whose re-election sparked off Iran's worst unrest since the Islamic Revolution of 1979.

Rob Newbiggin, a British boxer, has decided to undergo a sex change operation to become a woman.