UNITED KINGDOM

Britain's biggest insurer, Aviva Plc, is in talks to buy U.S. life insurer AmerUs Group Co, valued at about $2.3 billion, in a deal that would boost Aviva's undersized presence in the booming U.S. market.

Standard Life is set to price next week's market debut at the low end of its price range and at a discount to the UK insurance sector, even as markets claw back recent losses, investors and analysts said.

Britain's BAE Systems, Europe's largest defense company, ordered an audit of Airbus on Wednesday, pushing back its possible sale of a 20-percent stake in the European planemaker into September at the earliest.

South African telecommunications group Telkom SA, denied on Monday that talks concerning a possible takeover by British cell phone group Vodafone had taken place.

Britain's leading shares trekked higher on Friday, putting the FTSE 100 index on course for its biggest weekly gain in nearly eight months as miners and oil stocks charged higher.

Britain's FTSE 100 share index hit a 3-week high on Thursday, fired up by strong resources and bank stocks, although trading levels were modest ahead of a U.S. interest rate decision. Banks saw HSBC and Royal Bank of Scotland gain 1.1 percent, while Barclays put on 1.5 percent.

Takeover action spurred UK stocks higher on Wednesday, with music group EMI surging after rejecting a bid from Warner Music and steelmaker Corus rising on talk of a possible offer from Russia's Severstal.

A tip off by Virgin Atlantic Airways triggered an investigation into alleged airfare price-fixing by British Airways after it passed on information to Britain's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) about its arch rival, an industry source said on Saturday.

Britain's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the U.S. Department of Justice are investigating alleged cartel activity involving British Airways Plc (BA) and other airlines, BA said on Thursday.

It's every entrepreneur's dream to build a business out of nothing and make a fortune by selling it or floating it on the stock market. But what do you do if the new owners make a mess of it?

A global sell-off in stocks that started in May is not over and may only be just starting, Abhijit Chakrabortti, global equity strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., said on Tuesday.

The month-long slide in global stocks has wiped out at least $2 trillion in wealth, leaving investors few alternatives to preserve their holdings aside from bonds and money markets.

A group including Goldman Sachs agreed to buy Associated British Ports, Britain's largest ports group, for 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion) on Wednesday, the latest in a string of UK port takeovers.

Apple Computer Inc., maker of the ubiquitous iPod media player, was given an ultimatum on Monday to change the song download terms and conditions of its iTunes online download shop, having been found to have broken a local consumer protection law.

Leading UK shares closed higher on Friday but finished the week with a moderate loss as the market's recent choppy trading pattern, sparked by inflation and interest rate jitters, persisted.

Germany's major automakers reported mixed results in the sales of their cars in North America during May, with BWM and Volkswagen reporting solid gains while sales by Porsche dipped, the companies said Friday.

Britain's leading shares bounced into positive territory on Wednesday, reversing direction from initial losses as consolidation hopes in the utility sector boosted stocks such as International Power, while insurer Friends Provident, rose after an analyst upgrade and financials generally added support.

Microsoft Corp. launched on Tuesday a new version of its Windows Live Local online mapping service with real-time traffic reports and features to make it easier to share maps and information.

Insurer Royal & Sun Alliance is being sued in Britain for about $1 billion by General Motors, the U.S. auto giant, in a long-running dispute about personal injury claims linked to asbestos, the Daily Telegraph newspaper reported.

Mobile phone group Vodafone could sell its stake in its joint venture with Verizon Communications for about $48 billion (25 billion pounds) before the end of the month, according to the Observer newspaper.

British blue chips swung to a closing loss on Thursday and erased earlier gains, dragged lower by a drop in mobile phone giant Vodafone and losses on Wall Street.