Thursday 06.00 BST. Japanese stocks fell sharply on Thursday afternoon, with the Nikkei 225 dropping as much as 6 per cent as the yen gained strongly against the US dollar.

... Off. � Markets tumble after unexpected China figures � China factory activity falls for first time in 7 months � Stop picking on UK companies - SSE � Head of Waitrose Mark Price refuses to meet me.

By Masayuki Kitano and Hideyuki Sano. SINGAPORE | Thu May 23, 2013 7:36am BST. SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Hawkish comments by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and weakness in China's factory activity rattled Asian markets on Thursday ...

Behind closed doors at the fund's Washington headquarters, Mr Osborne challenged Olivier Blanchard, IMF chief economist, about the Frenchman's comments that Britain was �playing with fire� over its austerity drive, setting up a battle over the impending IMF ...

File photo dated 21/07/11 of an SSE Training Centre in Perth as energy group SSE today said it will increase tariffs by 9% on average in a move impacting around 5 million electricity customers and 3.4 million gas customers.

The boss of Britain's biggest building society says a government scheme could make it even harder for first-time buyers to bag a home.

Up to 20 people are to lose their jobs at Britvic in Belfast, after the soft drinks company announced it was to close its factory.

The pound slammed into reverse on Wednesday as a sharp fall in high street sales dented hopes Britain is on the road to a steady recovery.

Full consent has been given for a 40MW farm off the north-west coast of Lewis - enough to power nearly 30,000 homes. Wave energy firm Aquamarine Power said it would begin installing its Oyster devices in the next few years, once grid infrastructure is put in ...

THIRTEEN top Irish beaches have lost their coveted Blue Flag status because of new tougher water quality standards. Also in this section.