IBT Staff Reporter

The country's biggest pubs operator Punch Taverns said on Wednesday it had finished its financial year trading in line with expectations

Mobile phone operator Amena said on Wednesday it had reached a deal with The Phone House for the British firm to sell virtual mobile phone services in Spain.

Manufacturing output increased for a third consecutive month in July, official data showed on Wednesday, in a further sign of recovery in the sector.

Gallaher Group PLC, Britain's second largest tobacco company, said first half profit rose 17 percent as the company benefited from rising sales in eastern Europe.

A new lawsuit lodged against BP claims the oil giant manipulated crude oil prices by refusing to allow traders access to U.S. storage facilities

Consumer confidence tumbled to its weakest in at least 2 1/2 years in August after the Bank of England's surprise interest rate hike

Confectionery to DVDs retailer Woolworths Group Plc could be broken up under a takeover plan devised by Icelandic investor Baugur

Tobacco company Gallaher Group Plc posted a 4 percent rise in half year profits on Wednesday and forecast an improving second half

Apple Computer Inc. may soon launch a service that allows users to download feature length films, boosting its presence in the digital home

Shares edged down on Wednesday, with electrical goods retailer DSG International among the biggest losers after a muted trading update

DSG International Plc increased like for like sales 5 percent in the first 16 weeks of its financial year on strong demand for flat panel TVs

Faces furrowed with concentration and biceps bulging, Lorenzo Martire and Giovanni Zorn puffed their way up the narrow streets of this medieval town, rolling the 80kg oak wine barrel ahead of them.

Faces furrowed with concentration and biceps bulging, Lorenzo Martire and Giovanni Zorn puffed their way up the narrow streets of this medieval town, rolling the 80kg oak wine barrel ahead of them.

Vivendi's Universal Music has agreed to buy BMG Music Publishing for 1.63 billion euros (1.1 billion pounds) in a long-expected deal that makes the world's biggest seller of recorded music also the largest in music publishing.

Vivendi's Universal Music has agreed to buy BMG Music Publishing for 1.63 billion euros (1.1 billion pounds) in a long-expected deal that makes the world's biggest seller of recorded music also the largest in music publishing.

Intel Corp., the world's biggest maker of microchips, is expected to announce major job cuts on Tuesday as part of a plan to trim $1 billion in costs and regain its competitive edge, analysts and media reports said.

Microsoft Corp. announced on Tuesday U.S. prices for Windows Vista, the long-awaited new version of the operating system that sits on more than 90 percent of the world's PCs.

Sebastian from Germany is looking for a high definition (HD) television set, IT engineer Armin is after a media-centre computer, software developer Jens wants a digital photoframe, and Italian civil servant Anna a new phone.

An Indonesian who set up a militant Web site on behalf of the alleged mastermind of last year's deadly bombings in Bali was jailed for eight years on Tuesday.

In death as in life, iconic TV naturalist Steve Irwin captivated millions worldwide and clogged the Internet as fans from Guam to Glasgow reacted with disbelief to news The Crocodile Hunter was dead.

U.S. software firms SunGard Data Systems and Fiserv Inc top the list of suitors expected to submit bids for UK software company Misys by a deadline set for later this week, sources close to the matter said on Monday.

Sony Corp. said on Tuesday it would cut the price of its PlayStation 2 game console by about 19 percent to 16,000 yen ($138) in Japan as it gears up for the eagerly awaited launch in November of the PlayStation 3.

Self-regulation in food and beverage marketing is being exploited and is failing to curb childhood obesity, research by a global obesity taskforce presented on Tuesday has found.

Volkswagen AG intends to keep driving profit growth beyond the record 5.1 billion euros ($6.6 billion) before tax it has targeted for 2008, management told analysts on Monday.

Zee Tawasha is an unabashed Blackberry addict, constantly sending urgent e-mails to employees at 30 mobile phone stores he owns across California, Arizona and Nevada.

A proposed new IMF lending facility to avert crises in emerging market countries would only be available to those with strong performing economies, sustainable debt and transparent reporting systems, a draft of the proposal obtained by Reuters says.

He once cruised the nightspots of Tokyo in a Ferrari and enjoyed trips by private jet - now he prefers reading or meditating on a quiet mountainside while awaiting trial.

How much does terrorism affect stock prices?To find the answer, economists have parsed market reaction to events dating back to the 1915 sinking of the Lusitania, academics have studied how attacks on McDonald's restaurants have affected the company's stock price and researchers in Israel have chronicled what 13 years of suicide bombings did to stocks there.

Leaping past existing 3G cell phone technology, 4G Technology promises video, and data transmission as fast as broadband Internet connections.