The Group of Eight leading industrialized nations agreed to proposals to tackle tax avoidance and evasion that call for new laws to stop businesses from shifting profits across borders and urge greater transparency about company ownership.

LONDON - London shares closed higher on Tuesday as investors hoped the two-day Federal Reserve Board meeting will not spark too sharp a reduction in the Fed's stimulus programme to shore up the United States economy, dealers said.

The City grandee Baroness Hogg's high-flying banker daughter Charlotte has taken a �1m pay cut to become the new Bank of England Governor's top enforcer.

A call centre made famous by a BBC reality TV series has been fined �225,000 for harassing families with nuisance calls. The BBC has portrayed the company's millionaire boss 'Big Nev' Wilshire as a lovable rogue, a consumer champion and even a hero.

Liberty Global is structuring a bid for Germany's largest cable group that offers assets instead of cash in the hope of overcoming regulatory opposition to its proposed �7.5bn putative bid for Kabel Deutschland.