UNITED KINGDOM

The US Dollar lost considerable ground against the Pound and EURO early last week with both currencies breaking through the physiological resistance barriers of 1.70 and 1.44 respectively.

The Aussie dollar rallied momentarily following Friday's release of the RBA's quarterly statement on Monetary Policy spiking from 0.8395 to an intraday high around 0.8420.

Publicis struck a $530 million deal with Microsoft to buy the Razorfish ad agency and boost its position in digital communications, the world's third-largest communications group said on Sunday.

An Iranian court on Saturday charged a French woman, two Iranians working for the British and French embassies in Tehran and dozens of others with spying and aiding a Western plot to overthrow the system of clerical rule.

London is a wonderful place to visit whether you grew up in Europe or elsewhere. As soon as you enter the confines of the city, you realize that it is strikingly different from the rest of Europe.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton encouraged South Africa Friday to press for reform in Zimbabwe and said Washington would build closer ties with Pretoria after strains under the Bush administration.

Royal Bank of Scotland reported more losses on Friday as investment banking profits failed to offset bad debts, and the state-controlled lender warned of more poor results to come before a lasting recovery.

Oil edged down on Friday from a six-week high as markets looked to U.S. July employment data for clues on whether the United States could be emerging from recession.

Royal Bank of Scotland reported more losses on Friday as investment banking profits failed to offset bad debts and the state-owned lender warned of more poor results to come before its own and the economy's recovery.

Oil edged down on Friday from a six-week high as markets looked to upcoming U.S. July employment data for clues on whether the U.S. economy could be emerging from recession.

State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland posted a 1 billion-pound ($1.7 billion) net loss in the first-half on Thursday, as bad debts soared to 7.5 billion pounds, and warned of more poor results to come as its recovery would take time.

Abu Dhabi-owned energy company TAQA Bratani Ltd plans to boost North Sea oil and gas production by buying up mature oilfields and greatly increasing their efficiency, the head of the company's UK arm said on Thursday.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will push South Africa to use its influence with neighbor Zimbabwe, while also seeking closer ties with Pretoria after strained relations with the Bush administration.

A former Credit Suisse broker testified on Thursday that he and his former business partner lied to corporate clients and sent them incorrect information in emails to cover up investments in risky debt.

Jobs look up, Greenberg's fine, Blackstone's loss

British postal workers are to be balloted in September for a national strike and thousands of Royal Mail staff are to take part in industrial action against job cuts over the next three days, a union said on Thursday.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday she would press South Africa to use more of its influence to counter the negative effects of Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe.

The European Central Bank kept interest rates on hold at a record low on Thursday and said the euro zone economy would remain weak over the rest of the year, although the rate of contraction is slowing down.

Barclays Plc shareholders are expected to comfortably approve the British bank's sale of asset manager Barclays Global Investors to BlackRock when they vote on the $13.5 billion deal on Thursday.

The Bank of England took a far bigger step than expected to boost Britain's recession-hit economy on Thursday, stunning markets by expanding its quantitative easing plan to 175 billion pounds from 125 billion.

British bank Barclays on Thursday said an overwhelming majority of its shareholders had approved the sale of investment management unit BGI to US fund manager Blackrock.