By Jennifer Saba and Alexei Oreskovic. Mon May 20, 2013 3:07pm BST. (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said it is buying blogging service Tumblr for $1.1 billion (723.3 million pounds) cash, giving the struggling Internet pioneer a much-needed platform in social media ...

By Sudip Kar-Gupta. LONDON | Mon May 20, 2013 12:03pm BST. LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 steadied near its highest level in five-and-a-half years on Monday, helped by a rise in bank stocks, and most analysts expected further near-term gains.

Marks & Spencer has become the latest in a string of UK companies to face criticism from tax campaigners over the way it structures its online sales to Europe - with one describing its sales operation as similar to that of the internet retail giant Amazon.

Retail sales increased at their fastest pace since December 2009 in a surprisingly upbeat set of data from the British Retail Consortium helped by sales of electronic items.

Actavis, the US-based generic drugmaker, is to acquire Dublin-based rival Warner Chilcott for about $5bn, bringing an end to a recent series of merger talks around Actavis.