UNITED KINGDOM

The Sri Lankan government has decided to get rid of the Tamil version of its national anthem, local media reports say. The country anthem will only be sung in the majority Sinhala language at all Government events, while the Tamil version will not be played. In a move that could anger the Tamilians worldwide, President Mahinda Rajapaksa's cabinet has reportedly approved the decree last week. Tamil leaders have threatened to boycott the anthem all together.

UK’s trade deficit widened in October due to a sharp increase in imports, the Office for National Statistics said on Thursday.

UK factory orders continued to rise in December and the manufacturers expect the output growth to be robust in the next three months due to strengthening demand at home and abroad.

Scandal-prone supermodel Naomi Campbell was among the twelve leading figures of the British Fashion industry honored at the 2010 British Fashion Awards held on Tuesday at the prestigious Savoy Hotel and Theatre in London. The Special Recognition Award was presented to Naomi Campbell.

Ford Motor Company and Azure Dynamics have begun shipping the first Ford Transit Connect Electrics to early customers in North America and to the United Kingdom for a demonstration project.

Europe, US will turn up to witness royal wedding in London but there will be no blessings from France, Skyscanner, a leading travel search site, said in a statement.

The tourism industry in the United Kingdom seems to be in a “never give up” mood. After losing the bid to host FIFA 2018 to Russia, the country now eyes wealthy travelers by offering fairytale holidays in Britain’s castles, stately homes and theatres.

Russia won the bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2018 and the tourism industry in United Kingdom has expressed disappointment as it had expected to tap its potential as a tourist destination had it won the bid to host the international tournament

Iran has delivered the first consignment of locally produced raw uranium making its nuclear program self-sufficient, the country's top nuclear boss said on Sunday. The announcement came just a day before the Islamic republic is to resume the stalled nuclear talks with Germany and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on Monday and Tuesday in Geneva.

Europe's biggest tour operator TUI Travel reported a full-year pretax loss, blaming weaker trading in the UK, mainly due to increased winter losses resulting from capacity-led volume reductions. However, underlying pretax profit rose 4 percent on good turnaround progress.

Federal prosecutors have indicted six people in a $32 million Internet collections scam that has snared 80 lawyers in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Alabama and Georgia.

Berlusconi in Italy laughed it away, while Ahmadinejad in Tehran yet again blamed the United States. The Russians refused to comment and Indians breathed a sigh of relief. WikiLeaks, the whistle-blower website, revealed the vigor of US espionage, leaking out more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables. The first batch of the documents leaked mentioned Saudi Arabia and other Arab states' desire to attack Iran, highly sensitive information on world leaders and US military strategy across the Worl...

UK newspaper publisher Daily Mail and General Trust reported a 10 percent rise in its full-year underlying operating profit driven by cost-cutting in UK consumer media and continuing strength in its business-to-business operations.

UK economy grew in the third quarter, boosted mainly by a strong increase in exports of goods and services.

Minutes of the November 2-3 Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

UK's Intermediate Capital reported a rise in assets under management and pretax profit for the first half ended Sept. 30. The group attributed the rise in profit to lower impairment charges, a stronger investment portfolio and a growing fund management franchise.

Al Qaeda's recent Cargo-bomb plots which were foiled by the Saudi intelligence cost them just $4200, according the group's propaganda magazine. The Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) detailed the plot it called Operation Hemorrhage in its latest edition of the Inspire magazine.

Majority of Afghan population from the conflict-mired Helmand and Kandahar province never knew of the 9/11 attacks in New York, a new study suggested on Saturday.

Full-text of speech by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke at the sixth European Central Bank Central Banking Conference, in Frankfurt, Germany , on Nov. 19, 2010.

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Inc, on Thursday predicted Google’s smartphone operating system Android will beat the iPhone operating system in both quantity and quality.

UK factory orders rose more than expected in November, but the manufacturers expect the output growth to slow in the next three months.