POLITICS

The FTSE 100 index edged lower on Tuesday on fresh tensions in the Middle East and as lower copper prices saw miners turn in another weak start.

Drax Group Plc, which owns Europe's largest coal fired power station, said on Tuesday its first half earnings had more than tripled

Nationwide, the world's biggest building society, is set to merge with rival Portman

High-level talks to jump start negotiations on a global trade agreement won't be possible until the end of the year or early next year, European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Monday.

China's mainland manufacturers plan to raise their export prices by 70 percent within the next year, according to China supplier survey.

Oil dropped $1 on Monday as OPEC looked set to keep pumping at high rates to ensure world consumers were well supplied despite a 20 percent fall in prices since mid July.

Motorists who unwittingly buy poorly maintained second hand cars are paying out 238 million pounds a year to have their new purchases fixed

The board of Dutch retailer Ahold is divided over whether the group should spin off key parts of its operation

Warplane maker Irkut said it would list shares in London only after the formation of the United Aviation Company, a holding company planned by the Russian government

Unilever may have to pay up to 400 million euros (273 million pounds) compensation to former preferred shareholders after a court investigation

Northern Irish broadcaster Ulster Television Plc, which has been in merger talks with Scottish based media company SMG Plc, said it had outperformed rivals during its first half.

The top U.S. trade negotiator said on Sunday before meeting a group of developing nations the United States was committed to a successful outcome of current world trade talks.

Anglo Danish security services firm Group 4 Securicor reported half year core earnings close to market expectations on Monday

Associated British Foods Plc, the refiner of Silver Spoon sugar and owner of Primark stores, warned its second half earnings will fall

Factory gate inflation slowed more than expected in August and firms' raw material costs dropped at their sharpest monthly rate in 1-1/2 years, official data showed on Monday.

In a suspected terrorist attack, 37 people were killed and over 150 injured when three high-intensity bombs exploded, including one near a mosque in Malegaon town in Nasik district, Maharashtra.

Holidaymakers are suffering a 9 billion pound summer holiday hangover after racking up that amount of debt to finance their fun in the sun

The FTSE 100 fell on Monday, led by mining and oil stocks as commodity and oil prices dropped.

Housebuilder Bovis Homes Group Plc reported an 18 percent rise in first half profit on Monday and kept its expectations for the year unchanged

Mobile phone operator Vodafone Group Plc confirmed on Monday its plan to enter the cut throat fixed line broadband Internet market

The top U.S. trade negotiator said on Sunday before meeting a group of developing nations the United States was committed to a successful outcome of current world trade talks.

OPEC member Algeria unveiled long-awaited amendments to a reform of its hydrocarbon sector on Saturday that limit foreign participation in exploration and production and impose a windfall tax on surplus profits.

The grass is always greener on the other side in China: foreign companies want to tap the country's 1.3 billion consumers while some Chinese firms are desperate to escape the cut-throat competition at home.

U.S. mortgage lending data show sharp growth in the use of higher-priced non-prime mortgages for home purchases in 2005 over 2004, and even steeper gains in the incidence of such loans among blacks and Hispanics, a Federal Reserve study showed on Friday.

Pension schemes were given an extra two months to comply with new age discrimination rules on Friday after the industry and employers voiced concerns over the timetable for implementation.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), Britain's competition watchdog, has been heavily criticised by an appeals tribunal for a ban it imposed on the London Metal Exchange extending trading hours.

An improving political climate, and the potential for major mineral discoveries, has reawakened interest in Africa among Australian mining companies that have traditionally rated the continent too risky.

Japanese Finance Minister Sadakazu Tanigaki said on Friday that G7 financial heads would discuss exchange rates when they meet in Singapore on September 16, but he declined to say if the yen would be at the center of those talks.

New U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is trying to depersonalize the Fed by making its decision-making more democratic and easier to understand, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.