UNITED KINGDOM

Shire and Johnson & Johnson won the backing of Europe's highest court on Thursday in their battle for data exclusivity against a generic rival for Alzheimer's drug Reminyl, the court said.

French emissions exchange BlueNext has taken its first step toward a carbon trading platform in China with a deal to offer its clients a database of Chinese carbon-cutting projects, its chairman said on Thursday.

Shire Plc and Johnson & Johnson won the backing of Europe's highest court on Thursday in their battle for data exclusivity against a generic rival for Alzheimer's drug Reminyl, the court said.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday that it would buy privately held Arrow Group for $1.75 billion, clinching a long-expected deal by the U.S. generic drugmaker to expand internationally.

The official Apple iPhone 3.0 OS release time has not yet been confirmed by the company, but based on previous roll outs of the company, tech watchers are speculating the update will be out at 10am PST or 1pm EST.

British Airways is asking its staff to work for nothing or take unpaid leave in July, spokeswomen Kirsten Millard said on Tuesday. The airline offered workers to take between one week and one month of unpaid leave or unpaid work.

Watson Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Wednesday it will buy privately held Arrow Group for $1.75 billion, clinching a long-expected deal by the U.S. generic drugmaker to expand internationally.

The euro zone's unadjusted external trade surplus rose in April as exports showed signs of stabilising on a monthly basis and fell less than imports, though shipments sank more than a quarter from a year earlier.

The local market was caught by surprise yesterday following the release of the minutes to this month's Australian Reserve Bank meeting.

Barclays' board has recommended shareholders accept a $13.5 billion cash and shares offer from U.S. fund manager BlackRock for its Barclays Global Investors business, the British bank said on Tuesday.

Britain is to provide universal broadband access by 2012 and plans to use a tax to fund superfast connections, it said on Tuesday as it outlined its digital vision requiring the BBC to share some funding.

Britain aims to provide universal broadband access by 2012, it said Tuesday, as it outlined its vision for a digital future that will require the BBC to share its funding.

Britain aims to provide universal broadband access by 2012 to make the country more competitive, it said on Tuesday, as it outlined its vision for a digital future that could require money taken from the BBC.

Credit card consumers have difficulty finding details about their debt on statements, results of an international study show.

Australian Dollar: After gapping lower in early Monday morning trade yesterday the Aussie was unable to “fill the gap” back above 81 cents in Asia trading sideways for the majority of the session to enter early offshore trade around 0.8070.

Britain will lay out its funding plans for universal broadband coverage and endorse a move to allow closer co-operation between cash-strapped broadcasters when it unveils its vision for a digital future.

Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, posted a 4.3 percent rise in underlying first-quarter British sales, showing a pick up in growth from the previous quarter but still lagging its main rivals.

Whitbread, Britain's biggest hotel operator, said on Tuesday trading in the first quarter had been in line with its expectations with total group sales increasing by 2.5 percent.

Technical analyst Robert Prechter on Monday said he sees the United States losing its top AAA credit rating by the end of 2010, as he stuck by a deeply bearish outlook on the U.S. economy and stock market.

Iran's hardline Islamic Basij militiamen killed at least one person on Monday and wounded more when their building was attacked by demonstrators protesting an election they say was stolen by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

European planemaker Airbus took a step closer to winning government loans to develop its A350 jetliner on Monday, drawing an immediate response from U.S. rival Boeing which called the move illegal.