UNITED KINGDOM

The world's rich lost a fifth of their wealth in 2008 and the number of people with fortunes of more than $1 million fell 15 percent as the financial crisis wiped out two years of growth, a study showed on Wednesday.

Iran's interior minister Sadeq Mahsouli accused the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of helping to fund rioters, the semi-official Fars News Agency reported on Wednesday.

The global population of high net worth individuals fell 14.5 last year along with the economy, according to a new report.

Iran's foreign minister said on Wednesday Tehran was reviewing whether to downgrade ties with Britain, which Iran has accused of interference in its disputed presidential election, the ISNA news agency reported.

Total emerged as Russia's favoured energy partner on Wednesday, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inviting the French major to take part in some of its largest gas projects after meeting its chief executive.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei declared on Wednesday that a disputed election result would stand, despite street protests that Iranian officials say Britain and the United States have incited.

The Australian Dollar opens higher on Wednesday at 0.7935 after a renewed bout of greenback weakness overnight as concerns swept offshore markets that the US Federal Reserve may hose down expectations of an interest rate increase this year in an attempt to lower borrowing costs.

A security crackdown appears to have quelled street rallies against Iran's disputed poll, but the leadership faced a new challenge on Wednesday from calls by reformist clerics for national mourning for dead protesters.

Four student unions said Tuesday they were planning to stage protests outside the British embassy in protest at London's alleged interference in Iranian affairs.

India's Tech Mahindra plans to absorb its new unit Mahindra Satyam to create a top-tier Indian outsourcing firm, the vice chairman of the two outsourcing firms said on Tuesday.

Thomson Reuters' plan to cancel its London Stock Exchange listing prompted a jump in its shares on Tuesday, but the rally was tempered by fears some large UK shareholders will have to cut or sell their stakes.

Wall Street was set to rise at the open on Tuesday, the day after the worst one-day loss in two months, as Moody's Investors Service said the U.S. government was not in danger of losing its top rating.

Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday that the U.S. government's triple-A credit rating was safe but added that it could be at risk if Washington were unable to bring its public debt back to a downward trajectory.

Moody's Investors Service said on Tuesday that the U.S. government's triple-A credit rating was safe but added that it could be at risk if Washington were unable to bring its public debt back to a downward trajectory.

Iranian authorities said they would teach a lesson to rioters held in the worst unrest to befall the country since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Information and news company Thomson Reuters announced Monday it plans to unify its dual listed company structure, listing shares only on the New York Stock Exchange and Toronto Stock Exchange.

Britain pledged 5 million pounds to Zimbabwe Monday but made clear more reforms were needed before it would start large-scale development aid to the shattered country.

Shares in Anglo American Plc jumped as much as 12 percent on Monday after rival Xstrata Plc sought talks about a merger of equals to better compete in a consolidating mining sector.

At first glance, Spotify isn't much different from other on-demand streaming music services. It includes roughly the same library of songs, pays the same per-stream licensing fees for music and contends with the same poor ad-sales environment.

A deal reached by European Union leaders broke a deadlock on bank supervision reform on Friday, overcoming British reservations, but leaving much detail still be worked out in practice.

Zimbabwean expatriates in London jeered Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai when he urged them to return home to help rebuild the country's ruined economy after a decade of crisis.