UNITED STATES

FTSE 100 opened flat on Thursday as further weakness in crude prices hit oil heavyweights, but strong earnings boosted supermarket group Morrison .

BP today announced that it had entered the final planning stage of a $3 billion investment in Canadian heavy crude oil processing at its Whiting Refinery in northwest Indiana.

Thailand's military coup leaders faced international calls for a swift return to democracy on Wednesday, after vowing to choose a new prime minister within two weeks to replace ousted Thaksin Shinawatra.

Lockheed Martin Corp.'s $276.5 billion F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program, the costliest U.S. arms acquisition project, may be set back by moves in Congress to slow initial production, a top company official said on Wednesday.

The United States government announced that it is teaming up with internet video leader, YouTube, in an effort to reach a broader audience with its anti-drug video campaign.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced on Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates agreed to adopt IATA Live Animals Regulations (LAR) for transporting live animals to and from the country.

Internet juggernaut Google Inc. gained search market-share over its rivals for the month of August, while its closest competitor Yahoo Inc. lost slight share, latest research indicates.

Ford Motor Co. will offer three buyout programs to U.S. salaried workers in an effort to cut 10,000 white-collar jobs by end of first quarter 2007, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday.

Morgan Stanley on Wednesday said quarterly earnings rose on strong trading and merger activity, as the largest U.S. investment bank continued its turnaround from a tumultuous 2005.

A U.S. business group urged China on Wednesday to suspend new regulations governing foreign media, saying they were a step backward in China's goal of building an information-based economy.

Microsoft Corp. said on Wednesday it would launch an HD DVD player for its Xbox 360 game console on November 22 in Japan for 20,790 yen ($177), matching rival Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 in high-definition DVD functions.

Underlying net mortgage lending rose by a record amount in August, British Bankers' Association data showed on Wednesday, in another sign the Bank of England's surprise rate hike last month has not deterred house buyers.

The FTSE 100 nosed up on Wednesday, weighed by heavyweight miners and by ex dividend stocks taking 1.4 points off the index but with Man rising.

As the International Monetary Fund embarks on a second round of reforms to give developing countries more say in the institution, the World Bank signalled on Wednesday that it was ready to go the same route.

Defense giant Boeing Co. has won a $2.1 billion contract to help the Department of Homeland Security beef up security along more than 7,500 miles of U.S. borders with Mexico and Canada, The Washington Post reported.

An agreement to boost the voting power of emerging nations in the International Monetary Fund is just the start of a difficult process, the IMF's head said on Wednesday, as the World Bank signaled it was ready to go the same route.

AT&T, the largest telecom company in the US, signed a multi-year teleconferencing service contract on Tuesday with Metavante, a banking and financial.

Former US trade representatives have urged the Department of Transportation to accept United Airlines' proposal to connect Washington D.C. and Beijing through direct commercial flights for the first time.

Hewlett-Packard Co. on Tuesday said it received a 10-year contract from the U.S. Army to provide personal computers and other computer peripherals.

The Thai baht staged its largest one-day fall in three years on Tuesday after Thai armed forces said they had taken control of Bangkok, which led to a broad-based decline in a number of Asian currencies.

India's leading consumer goods manufacturer, Videocon, is within an arm's length to acquiring South Korea's third largest electronics company, Daewoo Electronics, but certain riders attached by the ailing company relating to its takeover may persuade the Indian company to give it a second thought.