UNITED KINGDOM

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, plans to launch a mobile online store to sell games, news and travel applications that its customers can buy on whatever model of phone they use.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said Monday the unemployment rate for the OECD area rose to 7.6% in March, 0.3 percentage point higher than the previous month and 2.0 percentage points higher than a year earlier.

French energy giant EDF (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) agreed to sell a stake in nuclear operator British Energy to Centrica (CNA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), striking a partnership with the gas group to build a new generation of nuclear power stations in the UK.

HSBC Holdings , Europe's biggest bank, said first-quarter profits were well ahead of last year, swelled by record results in its investment bank, but would have been down without accounting gains on its debt.

Britain's green job market is thriving despite tough economic times and mounting redundancies in other sectors, environmental recruiters said on Friday.

Long-haul trips could be made in spaceships instead of planes in 20 years' time if Virgin's efforts to commercialize space travel succeed, the president of Virgin Galactic told Reuters in an interview.

AT&T Inc is close to a $2.5 billion deal to acquire the bulk of Alltel Wireless assets being divested by Verizon Communications Inc , sources familiar with the situation said Friday.

Reactions to the stress test result for the 19 banks are rather calm. The Fed determined that 10 US banks must raise a total of $74.6B. In other words,9 of the biggest baAnks have enough capital to withstand a deeper recession.

Liberty Media Corp (LINTA.O) posted a decline in operating income and revenue on Friday as sales at its QVC shopping channel plunged in the U.S. and Britain due to a difficult retail environment.

Muslims living in European countries feel far more isolated than those living in the United States, according to a survey on coexistence, with a lack of access to education and jobs reinforcing a sense of ostracism.

The European Central Bank cut its main interest rate to a new record low on Thursday, and will buy up bonds for the first time in a bid to stem the euro zone's economic decline and shore up shaky markets.

The Bank of England left interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent for a second month running on Thursday and said it would increase the size of its asset purchase programme by 50 billion pounds.

The Bank of England said on Thursday it would increase the size of its asset purchase program by 50 billion pounds to 125 billion pounds, and left interest rates at a record low 0.5 percent for a second month.

When I die there will be a final waltz playing in my head, Oscar-winning French composer Maurice Jarre once said, according to several newspapers reporting his death in March.

A trio of top European banks showed bad debts are ratcheting up as economies worsen and unemployment rises, although investor optimism ahead of U.S. bank stress test results drove shares to year highs.

British bank Barclays Plc said first-quarter profit rose 15 percent as strong growth at its investment banking arm made up for a big jump in bad debts as economies worsen, sending its shares to a seven-month high.

Barclays Plc said its first quarter profit rose 15 percent from a year ago as strong growth at its investment bank arm made up for a big jump in bad debts.

Asian shares extended their rally Thursday as encouraging signs about the health of U.S. banks and the global economy bolstered riskier assets such as oil and hurt safe-havens such as the yen.

The volume of retail trade in March of the European Union’s 27 nation bloc (EU27) fell by 0.3% and the euro area (EA16) down by 0.6%. In February of this year, retail trade fell by 0.8% and 0.3% respectively, according to the European statistics.

Australian Dollar: In what has been a tumultuous 24 hour period the Aussie dollar survived an Asian sell off yesterday to an intraday low of 0.7335 to bounce back in dramatic fashion during offshore trade.

A Texan with H1N1 flu died earlier this week, state officials said, only the second death outside Mexico where the epidemic appeared to be waning.