LAGOS, Nigeria Pirates attacked an oil-services vessel before dawn Thursday off the coast of Nigeria and kidnapped two foreign workers, a private security official said.
MOSCOW In a commanding, czar-like performance, Vladimir Putin held a live televised question-and-answer session Thursday which indicated once again that he considers himself Russia's leader, even though he now holds its No. 2 position.
LONDON The pound slumped Thursday to a historic low against the euro and to its lowest level against the dollar in over six and a half years after further grim economic news fueled expectations that the Bank of England will slash interest rates later.
TOKYO Nomura Holdings Inc. will layoff up to 1,000 employees in London, less than three months after it bought big chunks of the global business of failed U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.
COPENHAGEN, Denmark Danish domestic airline Cimber Air said Thursday it has taken over key parts of bankrupt budget airline Sterling Airways A/S for an undisclosed amount.
LONDON Britain says it has delayed its decision on whether to build a third runway at London's Heathrow airport.
BRUSSELS, Belgium A sharp drop in investment forced the euro-zone economy to contract in the third quarter, the EU statistics agency Eurostat said Thursday.
LONDON Britain says it has delayed its decision on whether to build a third runway at London's Heathrow airport.
LONDON House prices in Britain fell at their fastest rate in 16 years during November, the country's biggest mortgage lender said Thursday, reinforcing market expectations that the Bank of England will later cut interest rates by at least another percentage point.
FRANKFURT, Germany Auto parts and tire maker Continental AG and ailing real estate lender Hypo Real Estate AG will be taken off Germany's benchmark DAX-30 Index later this month, Deutsche Boerse said. They will be replaced by Beiersdorf AG and Salzgitter AG on Dec. 22.
DES MOINES, Iowa The solution to a perennial problem of farming could be, well, perennials.
LONDON New car sales in Britain fell 37 percent in November compared to the same month in 2007, with total sales hovering just above 100,000, another sign the automotive sector is being hit hard by the financial crisis, an industry group said Thursday.
SHANGHAI, China The Chinese currency slipped Thursday against the U.S. dollar by the maximum amount allowed, the fourth day of such declines, raising questions about Beijing's commitment to a stronger yuan as U.S. and Chinese officials met to discuss a range of economic issues.
SHANGHAI, China Chinese private airline Okay Airways will suspend flights for one month, beginning in mid-December, a company spokesman said Thursday, amid reports the financially troubled carrier is embroiled in a dispute with its controlling shareholders.
BERLIN The euro was slightly lower against the dollar Friday as traders digested rate cuts by European central banks and looked ahead to U.S. jobs data for indications on the state of the American economy.
LONDON The Bank of England is widely expected to make another substantial cut in interest rates on Thursday, following an unexpectedly large reduction just a month ago, to ease the economic impact of the financial crisis.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden Sweden's central bank on Thursday cut its key interest rate by a record 1.75 percent to 2 percent to soften the fall in the economy triggered by the global financial crisis.
TOKYO Honda is cutting jobs in Great Britain and Japan because of plunging auto demand, Japan's second-biggest automaker said Thursday.
TOKYO Japanese stocks retreated Thursday, as fears about the U.S. economy and the fate of Detroit's struggling automakers reversed early gains.
DOUAI, France French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Thursday he plans to spend his way out of recession with a euro26 billion ($33 billion) stimulus plan designed to boost growth by 0.6 percentage points in 2009.
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands Royal Philips Electronics NV issued a profit warning Thursday, saying its markets are deteriorating and that it expects additional charges and write downs of euro1.2 billion ($1.51 billion) in the fourth quarter.
HANOI, Vietnam Vietnam's economic boom will continue to fade next year with growth slowing to 5 percent as the global downturn hits exports and foreign investment, the International Monetary Fund said Thursday.
HANOI, Vietnam Japan has frozen low-interest loans to Vietnam until it takes "meaningful" steps to eliminate corruption in public works programs, Tokyo's ambassador said Thursday.
GENEVA Credit Suisse Group said Thursday it is cutting 5,300 jobs - about 11 percent of its global work force - in a bid to reduce costs and take its business back into the black.
SHANGHAI, China Asian companies have been snapping up choice overseas assets, mainly in Europe, with mergers and acquisitions hitting a record $58 billion so far this year despite the financial crisis.
WASHINGTON With the economy sinking faster, employers are giving more Americans dreaded pink slips right before the holidays.
NEW YORK Pouty-lipped Bratz will stay on store shelves until after the holidays, but their fate after that - and that of their parent, MGA Entertainment Inc. - was uncertain Thursday after a federal court ruling banning MGA from making the saucy Barbie alternative.
HANOI, Vietnam Vietnam has announced a $1 billion stimulus plan as part of efforts to keep the economy growing amid the global downturn.
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina Argentina's lower house of congress approved a bill Wednesday authorizing the expropriation of the country's largest airline from its Spanish owners.
SOMERSET, Pa. The head of the nation's largest automaker took perhaps the most important car ride of his life Wednesday, traveling 500 miles, mostly over highway through four states, to Washington, D.C., where he will ask Congress for a second time to save his slumping company.
