Oil pared gains to hold just above $38 a barrel on Wednesday after the International Energy Agency said fuel demand would contract more sharply than previously thought. Prices drew some support from U.S. data showing lower crude stocks and indications the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries was determined to limit supply. "The OPEC production
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British inflation will hit just 0.5 percent in two years as the economy shrinks rapidly over 2009, new Bank of England forecasts showed on Wednesday, opening the way for further interest rate cuts ahead. In its quarterly Inflation Report, the central bank predicted inflation well below the 2 percent target for the next 3 years
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Unemployment in Britain rose by 146,000 to 1.971 million in the three months to December, the highest level since 1997 but short of analyst forecasts that it would breach the two million figure. The ILO rate of unemployment was 6.3 percent, the highest since 1998 according to official figures released on Wednesday. Experts said the
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Investors voted with their feet against the newest U.S. bank bailout plan on Wednesday, knocking stocks lower, widening credit spreads and boosting safer-haven currencies. There was general concern that the $2 trillion plan, unveiled by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday, was not sufficiently clear in how it would cement the security of the
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Google Inc on Tuesday said it would use its software skills to help consumers track their home energy usage and thereby lower demand and the global warming emissions that come from producing electricity. The move is part of Google's effort to pump hundreds of millions of dollars into renewable energy, electricity-grid upgrades and other measures
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The number of connections on mobile phone networks has crossed the 4 billion mark worldwide, industry association GSMA said on Wednesday, forecasting further growth to 6 billion by 2013. The number of connections does not translate directly into the number of users, however, because in many mature markets, one user may have two mobile phones,
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With three victories in three games in the Round 3 of the Eurochallenge Top 16, Cypriot basketball team AEL is now almost certain to enter the Top 8. AEL beat Lokomotiv Rostov 87-69 in Russia and will be facing Spanish Cajasol in Limassol, Cyprus, on February 24, in Round 4 of the Eurochallenge Top 16.
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Chiefs of the biggest U.S. banks said they have not used government bailout money for executive compensation, dividends or lobbying and are taking cuts in pay, according to copies of congressional testimonies obtained by Reuters on Tuesday. The chief executives at Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Bank of America, Bank of New York Mellon, State
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Congressional negotiators and White House officials met behind closed doors late on Tuesday to try to work out disagreements over spending and tax cuts in an economic stimulus bill that could cost taxpayers around $800 billion. With President Barack Obama setting a weekend deadline for finishing the complex legislation — and lawmakers hoping to start
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Asian stocks fell, led by financials, and the U.S. dollar rose on Wednesday on scepticism about a new plan from Washington to heal the banking industry that could cost as much as $2 trillion. Details were in short supply about the U.S. Treasury's revamped rescue plan for financial institutions, sending disappointed investors searching for safety
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