msnbc.com: World business

Plans approved for Disneyland in Shanghai

Wed, 4 Nov 2009 21:14:42 GMT

China's planning agency has approved plans for a Disney theme park in Shanghai, the Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday, a major step toward setting a deal for the long awaited project.

Move over New York, London is new No. 1

Mon, 2 Nov 2009 22:39:32 GMT

London has officially dethroned New York as the world's top financial center, according to an index released this month by the Geneva-based World Economic Forum.

Global wages falling this year, UN says

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 14:07:29 GMT

Global wages fell in the United States and some other wealthy nations in the second quarter of the year, raising questions about whether workers are sharing in any economic recovery.

Britain downsizes bailed-out banks

Tue, 3 Nov 2009 11:44:33 GMT

The U.K. moved to break up parts of bailed out financial institutions, highlighting a divide across the Atlantic over how to deal with the banks that were partially nationalized.

Hundreds of UK bank branches for sale

Sun, 1 Nov 2009 01:35:48 GMT

The Royal Bank of Scotland, Northern Rock, and Lloyds Banking Group are to sell off as many as 700 branches in exchange for public aid, a government official says.

BP fined record $87 million for refinery blast

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 19:36:33 GMT

The U.S. is issuing a record $87 million fine against oil giant BP for failing to correct safety hazards after a 2005 explosion killed 15 people at its Texas City refinery.

Ford: China's Geely preferred bidder for Volvo

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:09:49 GMT

Ford-owned Volvo Cars says China's Geely Group is the preferred bidder in the U.S. automaker's attempts to sell the Swedish unit.

Bonfires, fireworks, Guy Fawkes will never be ‘forgot’

Tue, 8 Sep 2009 21:30:06 GMT

Iceland says goodbye to the Big Mac

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 19:51:50 GMT

The Big Mac, long a symbol of globalization, has become the latest victim of this tiny island nation's overexposure to the world financial crisis.

BP earnings beat Wall Street forecasts

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:42:33 GMT

BP Plc beat third-quarter earnings forecasts by a big margin in a sign Chief Executive Tony Hayward's restructuring plans were delivering results.

ING says it will split itself in two

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:36:16 GMT

European services giant ING Groep NV will split itself in two, spinning off its insurance arm to simplify its business and issuing $11.3 billion in new shares to repay state bailout money.

A drywall between China and the U.S.

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:41:12 GMT

Top U.S. safety officials were meeting with Chinese counterparts to discuss complaints from American homeowners of illness and other damage from drywall imported from China.

EU approves millions in aid for dairy farmers

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 15:37:39 GMT

The European Union backed some $420 million in special aid for the dairy sector on Monday, hoping to quell a season of unrest in agriculture.

Nokia swings to surprise loss

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:38:36 GMT

Nokia shocked investors by taking a major writedown at its struggling networks unit and revealing a fall in its smartphone sales from the previous quarter.

China's super-rich bounce back from crisis

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:09:47 GMT

China's super-rich have bounced back from the financial crisis with a vengeance, and China now has more known dollar billionaires than any other country bar the United States.

China's decade? Don't bet on it

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:42:43 GMT

It is commonly predicted that some time in the next two decades China will overtake the United States to become the world's largest economy. But CFR.org's Steven Dunaway argues that there are at least three why China may stumble along the way.

NYT: Eastern Europe fears Russian dominance

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 08:28:28 GMT

With a new pipeline planned along the bed of the Baltic Sea, the Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is driving a wedge between Eastern and Western Europe.