Venezuelans have been hit by a chronic toilet paper shortage, leading to empty supermarket shelves and long queues to snap up the remaining rolls. More »Venezuela Hit By Toilet Paper Shortage Crisis
The outgoing governor of the Bank of England has issued a warning over George Osborne's plan to boost the housing market. More »Sir Mervyn King Criticises Help To Buy Scheme
A former Google executive has accused the company of cheating the taxpayer out of hundreds of millions of pounds. More »Google Faces Fresh Claims On Tax Avoidance
LONDON (Reuters) - The single biggest risk to Britain's nascent economic recovery is continued eurozone weakness, the Bank of England's outgoing governor Mervyn King said in a television interview on Sunday. He called for a "credible medium term plan" to get the economy back on track and said automatic economic stabilizers should be allowed to work. He also predicted that North Sea oil output would recover in the next couple of years. King last week predicted that UK growth would be faster and inflation lower than expected three months earlier. ... More »BoE governor King warns of euro risk to British recovery
The trading of government bonds would be rendered uneconomic and pensioners would find their savings hit under proposals for a Europe-wide financial transactions tax, according to one of the financial sector's most influential trade bodies. More »Euro Tax 'To Decimate Pensions', Report Says
By William Schomberg LONDON (Reuters) - Bank of England Governor Mervyn King has urged successor Mark Carney not to bring to Britain his trademark policy of spelling out how long interest rates will remain low. King also said the bank could not be run as "a one-man show," a sign of concern at high expectations that the arrival of the Canadian will lead to a quick fix for Britain's slow economy. In an interview with Sky News television broadcast on Sunday, King praised Carney, saying Britain was fortunate to have him. ... More »BoE's King sends message to successor Carney
PARIS (Reuters) - France is in talks with the United States and Israel to buy intelligence-gathering drones to build up a modern fleet, Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Sunday. France's existing hardware is outdated and its military intervention in Mali this year has exposed its shortage of surveillance drones suitable for modern warfare. The United States provided French commanders with intelligence from its drones based in Niger. "We need this capacity in the short term. ... More »France in talks with U.S., Israel to buy drones - minister
By William James LONDON (Reuters) - An independent Scotland would have a vastly oversized financial sector that would leave it vulnerable to a Cyprus-style banking crisis, Britain's finance ministry says. Before a referendum due in September 2014 on whether Scotland should split from the United Kingdom, the British government is analyzing the impact of independence on Scotland, which has a population of about 5 million. ... More »Independent Scotland open to Cyprus-style bank risks, says Britain
Pakistan is set to become the fifth Asian country to use China's domestic satellite navigation system, which was launched as a rival to the US sat nav system. More »China Spreads Alternative To US GPS System
LONDON (Reuters) - Veteran rocker Rod Stewart scored his first British album chart number one in more than 30 years on Sunday with "Time", while the French electro outfit Daft Punk clung to the top of the singles chart, the Official Charts Company said. Stewart, sporting his trademark spiky blonde hairdo, told Reuters that the process of putting together his new autobiography had freed up what is normally a slow song writing process. "I've written some decent songs, but I've never considered myself a songwriter because it doesn't come naturally," he said. ... More »Rod Stewart tops UK album chart for first time in 34 years
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department's seizure of phone records for journalists at the Associated Press is hurting the agency's ability to gather news, the wire service's Chief Executive and President Gary Pruitt said on Sunday. "Officials that would normally talk to us and people we talk to in the normal course of news gathering are already saying to us that they're a little reluctant to talk to us," Pruitt said on CBS's "Face The Nation" program. "They fear that they will be monitored by the government. ... More »AP chief says phone probe makes news sources reluctant to talk
By Lamine Chikhi and Myra MacDonald ALGIERS (Reuters) - Three weeks after being rushed to hospital in Paris, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has disappeared from sight, leaving behind a country preparing for a successor who for the first time will come from a generation too young to have fought in Algeria's war of independence against France. In a country run with Soviet-style secrecy, nobody is sure how sick Bouteflika is. ... More »With president ailing, Algeria prepares for end of an era
By William James LONDON (Reuters) - The cost of protecting Scottish savers would prove difficult to bear if the country broke away from the rest of the UK, a study by Britain's finance ministry said on Monday. The findings come in the latest paper from the British government on how independence would impact the country. On Sunday the Treasury said an independent Scotland would have a huge financial sector relative to its economy, leaving it vulnerable to a Cyprus-style banking crisis. ... More »Breakaway Scotland to face high saver protection costs-UK study
By William James LONDON (Reuters) - Britain called upon its overseas territories to "get their house in order" over the sharing of tax information on Monday as the UK looks to lead a global fight against tax evasion ahead of a meeting of the world's wealthiest states. Britain is using its presidency of the Group of Eight (G8) leading economies, which holds its annual summit on June 17-18, to push for a global clampdown on complex arrangements used to disguise wealth and minimise tax payments. ... More »PM urges more action on tax from UK territories
By Belinda Goldsmith CANNES (Reuters) - Indian movie actors and a new wave of directors are on a mission at the Cannes film festival - to show that their industry, which turns 100 this year, is more than just Bollywood. The largest Indian contingent to date is on the French Riviera at the world's leading cinema showcase to promote the world's biggest film industry that makes over 1,000 films a year, compared with about 600 in Hollywood. ... More »Indian cinema on a mission at Cannes to dispel Bollywood image
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's bank rescue fund will aim to sell Hellenic Postbank and Proton by mid-July with big banks continuing to absorb small lenders as part of plans to revive the battered sector, the country's foreign lenders said in an inspection review. Greece is recapitalising its four big banks and winding down others deemed non-viable to improve the sector's capacity to fund the economy out of a deep six-year recession. Banks suffered heavy losses from debt writedowns and bad loans. ... More »Greece to sell Postbank, Proton in July, stress-test big banks
By Sonya Dowsett MADRID (Reuters) - Many duped savers at Spanish lender Bankia are shunning a state-supervised compensation scheme in favour of expensive lawsuits, prolonging a mis-selling scandal and complicating efforts to restore faith in the banking system. The disputes over mis-selling at Bankia and other nationalised banks have created a major headache for the government as it tries to take the next step in their rescue, imposing large losses on holders of junior debt. ... More »Bankia compensation qualms signal loss of faith in Spain's banks
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's board has approved a deal to buy blogging and social networking site Tumblr for $1.1 billion (724 million pounds) in cash, the Wall Street Journal cited people familiar with the matter as saying on Sunday. Such an acquisition would be Marissa Mayer's largest deal since taking the helm of the once-iconic Internet company in July 2012. Yahoo is keen on fast-growing Tumblr because its younger user base would bolster the older website's "cool factor," the technology blog AllThingsD cited the sources as saying. ... More »Yahoo's board approves Tumblr acquisition -WSJ
BERLIN (Reuters) - German Economy Minister Philipp Roesler said the European Commission made a "grave mistake" by agreeing to impose punitive import duties on solar panels from China and urged the Commission to work to prevent the eruption of a trade conflict. "It's a grave mistake," Roesler told Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday. He said China already warned the duties on solar panels would harm bilateral trade. "That shows: punitive import duties are the wrong instrument. ... More »German minister calls EU move on China solar 'grave mistake'
LIMA (Reuters) - President Ollanta Humala's approval rating fell 5 points to a six-month low of 46 percent, reflecting the unpopularity of his proposal to buy an oil refinery owned by Spain's Repsol and his support for Venezuela's new government, an Ipsos poll showed on Sunday. The nationwide poll was published by the newspaper El Comercio. Humala abandoned his idea of buying the Repsol oil refinery after business leaders complained it would hurt the private sector and put one of the country's main refineries in the hands of an inefficient state-run firm. ... More »Humala's approval rating in Peru slips to six-month low