Kingfisher Airlines pledges to ‘restore flights soon’

India's loss-making Kingfisher Airlines has told the aviation authorities that it hopes to restore flight schedules in the next five to seven days. On Tuesday, the company's top officials met aviation regulators to discuss plans to end the…

China cuts banks’ reserve requirements

China’s central bank cut the amount of cash that commercial lenders must hold as reserves yesterday for the second time in nearly three months, the latest step to shore up the slowing economy. The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) is on the course…

UK and France sign nuclear energy agreement

The UK has signed a deal with France to strengthen co-operation in the development of civil nuclear energy. The government said it reiterated the UK's commitment to nuclear energy "as part of a diversified energy mix". The coalition said the…

Positive economic data spark rally on Wall Street

A latest bunch of positive economic data sparked a rally on Wall Street on Thursday, pushing major indexes to fresh multi-year closing highs. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 123.13 points, or 0.96 percent, to 12,904.08, only about 100…

Canadian stocks rally on positive U.S. data

The Canadian stock market was higher on Thursday as positive U.S. economic data helped traders balance doubts as to whether Greece will get the bailout money needed to head off bankruptcy and the possibility of downgrades involving some of the…

US Congress backs payroll tax cut

The US Congress has voted in favour of extending a payroll tax cut until the end of 2012, ending months of debate. The bill now moves on to President Barack Obama, who has promised to sign it into law. The deal would extend a payroll tax cut the…

Fake US bonds worth trillions seized

Italian prosecutors say they have broken up an organised crime ring that was hiding trillions of dollars of fake US bonds. Worth $6 trillion, the bonds were found in three metal boxes in a warehouse in the Swiss city of Zurich. Italian authorities…

Asian shares up on recovery hopes amid positive US data

Asian markets have risen on hopes of a recovery in the US after the world's biggest economy reported better-than-expected jobs data. Japan's Nikkei 225 index rose 1.9%, South Korea's Kopsi gained 1.5% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index added 1%. On…

General Motors unveils record profits for 2011

US carmaker General Motors made record profits in 2011 but unveiled huge losses in its European operations. The firm made a profit of $7.6bn (£4.85bn) over the year, up 62% from 2010. However, it lost $700m in Europe, which includes its UK Vauxhall…

Patents: Apple wins over Motorola in ‘slide-to-unlock’ ruling

Apple has won a patent dispute against Motorola Mobility regarding a "slide-to-unlock" feature on smartphones. The judgement marks Apple's first patent victory over Motorola in any part of the world. Patent consultant Florian Mueller said the ruling…