President Barack Obama takes on the bitter healthcare reform debate on Wednesday with a high-stakes speech to the U.S. Congress on his top domestic policy priority. Aides have promised Obama's nationally televised address will provide specifics about his vision for overhauling the $2.5 trillion U.S. healthcare system — although they said he will not offer
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Britain's recovery prospects were brightened by survey results on Wednesday which showed consumer morale jumped in August while employers took on more staff and price pressures eased. The Nationwide Consumer Confidence index rose to 63 in August from an upwardly-revised 61 in July. That was the highest since May 2008 and reflected Britons' more upbeat
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President Barack Obama said on Tuesday in a statement ahead of a G20 summit that the global economic leaders must set a path of sustainable growth while avoiding the "imbalances of the past."
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Emerging markets stocks hit a new year high on Tuesday, rising to levels last seen before the Lehman Brothers collapse, and world stocks headed firmly towards a new 2009 peak. Wall Street looked set for a robust after Labor Day holiday. but the dollar sank against a basket of major currencies, indicating greater risk appetite
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Oil at close to $70 means OPEC will almost certainly keep existing output cuts in place when it meets in Vienna on Wednesday, although it could seek to tighten compliance with existing targets, ministers and delegates said. "The market is in very good shape, very well supplied, the price is good for everybody, consumers and
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Economic recovery may come three months earlier than forecast, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, but policymakers warned it may not last if governments reversed stimulus programmes too early. "For the (global) economy, we have been saying for a year that the recovery will come in the first half of 2010. It might
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Oil prices rose above $69 a barrel on Tuesday as spot gold crossed a psychological threshold and ahead of an OPEC meeting analysts said would see more target compliance rhetoric but no change in output limits. NYMEX crude for October delivery stood at $69.86 a barrel by 1215 GMT, up $1.84 from Friday's close. There
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Britain will need to cut spending when the economy fully recovers, finance minister Alistair Darling said on Tuesday without spelling out where the axe would fall. Instead, Darling said there was still a role for targeted investment and said the "frontline" would get priority. Treasury officials said more detail would be forthcoming in the pre-budget
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Nokia Siemens Networks, the key equipment vendor to British operations of Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom, has most to lose in the merger of the two mobile networks, analysts said on Tuesday. Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom unveiled on Tuesday a plan to merge their British mobile units, looking to save 4 billion euros ($5.76
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Salaries for British government ministers will be cut by five percent and then frozen if the Conservatives win the next election, opposition leader David Cameron said on Tuesday. Subsidises for beer and food served in the bars and restaurants in parliament will also be off the menu if Cameron, as expected, wins a national election
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