Moody's upgraded the outlook for Lithuania's debt rating recently, but that means nothing to people like Lijandra Garniene. Sitting in a cramped one-room apartment in Vilnius, the mother of four, a former shop assistant in what was one of Europe's fastest-growing economies, remembers weeping in despair the first time she had to ask for a

The worldwide natural gas industry is complex – so complex that Moody's Investors Service classifies individual companies using six different categories. But a new report from the ratings agency sets out to untangle the complicated sector. "The natural gas industry is big, with 130 rated companies in 22 countries, and some $340 bln in debt,"

European equities edged higher in morning trade on Tuesday, supported by stronger mining shares, but persistent worries about fiscal problems in Greece, Spain and Portugal forced investors to stay cautious. At 0923 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares was up 0.4 percent at 983.21 points after falling to a low of 974.13

Gains in miners and banks helped lift Britain's top share index 0.2 percent early on Tuesday as concerns about Europe's fiscal problems eased somewhat, but investors stayed cautious and moves were muted. By 0843 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 12.04 points up at 5,104.37 after it closed up 0.6 percent on Monday lifted by gains

Swiss bank UBS posted its first quarterly net profit since Oswald Gruebel took the helm a year ago but clients withdrew far more money than forecast, signaling he may need more time to steady the ship. UBS, left damaged by the credit crisis and a bitter U.S. tax row, is struggling to secure the sustainable

Toyota Motor Corp said it is recalling nearly half a million of its flagship Prius and other hybrid cars for braking problems as it seeks to address criticism over the handling of its worst safety crisis. The world's largest automaker is under fire for two other recalls covering more than 8 million vehicles worldwide due

Google Inc has sent a cease and desist letter to the operators of a Chinese search website whose logo bears a close resemblance to its own. Goojje's home page is adorned with a Google-styled logo and the familiar paw print logo of China's top home-grown search engine, Baidu Inc. The website, whose name is a