• VIDEO: Empty shops rate hits 14%

One in every seven shops on the UK's High Streets stood empty at the end of 2011.

  • AUDIO: 'We should stop using the word bonus'

Labour leader Ed Miliband, who has called for a tax on bankers' bonuses, is to lead a House of Commons vote on the issue. Peter Hahn, of the Cass Business School, and John Cridland, of the CBI, discuss whether executive pay is falling.

  • VIDEO: Merger will create mining giant

News of a merger between mining firm Xstrata and commodities trader Glencore has been met with a mixed reception by investors.

  • VIDEO: Thousands in Greece go on strike

Public transport and ports have ground to a halt in Greece as two of the country's largest public-sector unions strike in protest at continuing austerity.

  • VIDEO: My Bottom Line: Wol Kolade

Isis Equity Partners managing director, Wol Kolade, says banks need to offer small and medium-sized companies more credit to help fund advance customer orders, so they can grow and play a role in wider economic recovery.

  • Shire's shot in the arm fails to rouse FTSE

While the market retreated to a darkened room as the interminable Greek debt talks dragged on, drug-maker Shire was on perkier form.

  • FTSE 100: Miners drag on blue-chips as traders eye Greece

Xstrata was amongst the sharpest fallers on a weaker benchmark index after its merger with Glencore received a mixed reaction.

  • Debt crisis and Greek debt talks: live

US Federal Reserve chairman repeats his vow to 'take every available step' to shield America from the eurozone debt crisis as Greek political leaders prepare for crucial crunch talks to avoid a debt default.

  • Bumi shareholders confident of ousting Nat Rothschild as CEO

Shareholders owning almost one-third of Indonesian coal group Bumi are confident that they will oust Nat Rothschild as its chief executive, although they still regard him as a partner.

  • Wolfson losses widen as consumers cut spending

Beleaguered British chipmaker Wolfson Microelectronics saw losses widen in the fourth quarter as consumers reined in spending on expensive hi-fis and televisions.

  • FTSE flat as Greece progress spurs late bounce

LONDON (Reuters) - The blue-chip index closed flat on Tuesday after staging a late recovery on talk that Greece was making progress towards securing a bailout deal and avert a messy default.

  • Glencore-Xstrata deal meets shareholder opposition

LONDON (Reuters) - At least two top 10 shareholders in miner Xstrata plan to vote against a takeover by commodities trader Glencore, threatening the creation of a powerhouse spanning mining, agriculture and trading.

  • Greece drafts bailout text for parties as talks inch forward

ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's government is preparing a document with a list of painful reforms needed to clinch a new financing package, a government official said on Tuesday, moving Athens one step closer to a deal needed to avoid a chaotic debt default.

  • BP squares up for oil spill lawsuits

LONDON (Reuters) - BP ratcheted up the rhetoric around multi-billion dollar claims from the Gulf oil spill by warning it would "vigorously" contest lawsuits over one of the world's worst environmental disasters.

  • "Prove critics wrong" under-fire RBS boss tells staff

LONDON (Reuters) - The boss of majority state-owned Royal Bank of Scotland urged his staff to "prove the critics wrong" and continue a clean-up that has cost 38 billion pounds in the past three years.

  • Gold not a reliable inflation hedge - study

LONDON (Reuters) - Gold prices have been too volatile to play a reliable role as a hedge against inflation, a study of financial assets over the past 112 years showed on Tuesday.

  • UBS warns of poor Q1 as investment bank struggles

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss bank UBS predicted further weakness in investment banking after a restructuring of the business failed to prevent an earnings hit from the euro zone debt crisis and worries about the global economy.

  • Swiss central banker a euro crisis Nostradamus?

ZURICH (Reuters) - Nearly two decades ago, the man now likely to become the head of Switzerland's central bank foresaw the neighbouring euro zone's troubles in a doctoral thesis, saying the likes of Ireland, Italy and Greece would not be able to control their debt.

  • LME forced to consider fee hike backlash

LONDON (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) will review reaction to a controversial new trading fee at the end of this month, it said on Tuesday, after widespread shareholder complaints about not being better consulted ahead of the decision.

  • World watches as China economic leaders take stage

LONDON (Reuters) - A new guessing game is about to begin: will China's incoming generation of leaders show more courage than the current incumbents in tackling deep economic imbalances that threaten to bring growth to a sudden stop?