MIDDLE EAST

Emirates to keep buying aircraft

Dubai - Emirates Airline's appetite for aircraft purchases will not cease, the airline's president Tim Clark told AFP Monday a day after the Dubai-based carrier ordered 200 planes from Boeing and Airb...

EUROPE

UK scraps £3,000 visa bond plan for 'high risk' Africans

Britain is scrapping a plan to force visitors from six "high risk" countries to pay a cash bond of £3,000 (about R48,000), the interior ministry said on Sunday.The government had been preparing to pi...

AMERICAS

Wealthy families hoarding cash, says Citi

A new survey of family offices by Citi finds that the wealthy are cash heavy  - meaning they may fall short of the investment returns they're expecting.Wealthy families have about 39 percent of t...

US launches new $100 banknote

Washington - The United States launches today (Tuesday 08 October) a new $100 bill that comes with, for the iconic greenback, a new touch of colour, as well as special features to foil counterfeiters....

AMERICAS

US Government shuts down

WASHINGTON - The U.S. government began its first partial shutdown in 17 years, idling as many as 800,000 federal employees, closing national parks and halting some services after Congress failed to br...

AMERICAS

BlackBerry posts $965m loss

Ottawa - BlackBerry said Friday that it lost $965m in the past quarter, confirming preliminary figures showing a rapidly eroding picture for the Canadian smartphone maker.The company, which had given ...

AMERICAS

BlackBerry is in a death spiral - analyst

Toronto - BlackBerry's plan to retreat from the consumer market in favour of its traditional strength serving businesses and governments is widely seen as a desperate move that industry watchers warn ...

AMERICAS

BlackBerry unveils the Z30 as its new flagship

Toronto - BlackBerry launched its new Z30 flagship smartphone on Wednesday, as it battles to win back market share despite uncertainty around its future.Once a pioneer in the smartphone arena, BlackBe...

EUROPE

Four in court over attempt to take control of bank computers

London - Four men have appeared in court over an alleged attempt to take control of computers at a Santander bank branch to steal millions of pounds.They were charged with conspiracy to steal after an...

ASIA PACIFIC

Toyota to sell first hydrogen fuel cell car in 2015

Though everyone thought we were decades away from this, Japanese automaker Toyota plans to unveil its first-ever commercially produced hydrogen fuel cell car in January in Las Vegas, and it will hit t...

AMERICAS

Apple unveils new iPhone 5s and 5c

Apple has unveiled two new iPhones: the 5S, which has a significantly faster processor and an extremely cool feature in the fingerprint sensor, and the budget 5C version.These are the phones the compa...

EUROPE

Samsung unveils a smartwatch

Berlin - Samsung has unveiled a highly anticipated digital wristwatch at least weeks ahead of a similar product expected from rival Apple. The so-called smartwatch is what some technology analysts bel...

AMERICAS

Microsoft to buy Nokia's mobile phone business unit

Microsoft has agreed a deal to buy Nokia's mobile phone business for 5.4bn euros ($7.2bn; £4.6bn).Nokia will also license its patents and mapping services to Microsoft. Nokia shares jumped 45% on new...

EUROPE

Vodafone says in talks on sale of Verizon Wireless stake

LONDON - Mobile phone giant Vodafone said on Thursday that it is in talks with US telecoms operator Verizon on a possible sale of its stake in Verizon Wireless said to be worth more than $100 billion....

EUROPE

European Central Bank is unlikely to keep its interest rates low

FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank is unlikely to keep its interest rates low for years, the head of the German Bundesbak said on Monday, but warned that the eurozone crisis is far from over."My as...

AMERICAS

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to retire within 12 months

Steve Ballmer has been CEO of Microsoft MSFT +8.18% since taking over from Bill Gates in January 2000, but his long tenure is drawing to a close.The tech giant said Friday that Ballmer has decided to ...

AMERICAS

Moody's considers downgrading top US banks

NEW YORK - Moody's has warned that it could cut the credit ratings of the six biggest US banks, saying the federal government may be less likely to bail them out if they got into trouble in the future...

EUROPE

UK banks to pay up to $2bn for mis-selling credit card protection

The U.K. banking regulator says it has reached a deal with 13 major banks and credit card issuers to compensate customers who were mis-sold credit card protection.The bill could be up to £1.3 billion...

EUROPE

Germany says Greece will need more support

London-Greece will need additional financial support from its European partners on top of existing bailouts worth 240 billion euros, a senior German politician said Tuesday.Speaking during an electi...

AMERICAS

Tesla says model S Sedan receives top U.S. crash rating

Los Angeles-Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA), the electric-car maker led by billionaire Elon Musk, said its flagship Model S sedan received the highest crash test ratings of any car tested by U.S. regulators.T...

AMERICAS

New iPhone to be revealed soon - report

New York - Apple is to unveil its next iPhone on 10 September, according to The Wall Street Journal blog AllThings D.The blog cited unnamed sources for its report. An Apple representative declined to...

AMERICAS

BlackBerry mulls selling itself

New York - Struggling smartphone maker BlackBerry said Monday it is examining "strategic alternatives," including the possibility of selling off the firm.The Canadian firm said it had formed a committ...

EUROPE

ECB cuts eurozone growth forecasts

FRANKFURT - Professional forecasters surveyed by the European Central Bank have again cut their eurozone growth forecasts for this year and next year, the ECB said yesterday. According to the ECB's q...

EUROPE

BP denies US allegations of fixing natural gas market

New York-US regulators have told BP to respond to allegations of natural gas market manipulation and threatened the firm with fines of close to $29m (£19m).BP has 30 days to respond, but said the all...

EUROPE

HSBC falls after earnings as Gulliver says markets slow

London-HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Europe's biggest bank, slid in London and Hong Kong trading after profit missed analysts' estimates and Chief Executive Officer Stuart Gulliver said fast-growing emerg...