Staff writer, Financial Director, Tuesday 6 January 2009 at 21:47:00

LETTER TO THE EDITOR Sir The Asset Based Finance Association (ABFA) disagrees with the viewpoint of Eric Anstee and his assertion last month that banks are withdrawing existing factoring arrangements...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc said on Tuesday it was dropping copy protection from songs sold on the Internet and debuted its slimmest 17-inch laptop yet, but with no dramatic products or master pitchman Steve Jobs, the company's final Macworld performance disappointed Wall Street.

LONDON (Reuters) - A string of retailers eased fears of a collapse in consumer spending over Christmas but warned on Tuesday that rising unemployment and plunging house prices would blight trading for months to come.

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. court upheld the 19 felony convictions of former Enron Corp President and Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling stemming from his role in the collapse of the energy trading company, but said he must be resentenced.

REYKJAVIK (Reuters) - Iceland said on Tuesday it was considering going to the European Court of Human Rights over Britain's use of anti-terrorism legislation to seize assets of Icelandic bank Landsbanki during the island's financial crisis.

BLAUBEUREN, Germany (Reuters) - German billionaire Adolf Merckle has committed suicide, in despair over the huge losses suffered by his business empire during the financial crisis, his family said on Tuesday.

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Dire economic data from the United States and Europe showed the world's two largest economies remain mired in recession, and Toyota said it would halt all production in Japan in response to plunging demand.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve and five other U.S. agencies will join a presidential corporate fraud task force that is being strengthened to focus on mortgage and securitization fraud cases, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index rose for the sixth session in a row on Tuesday, with mining stocks leading the way on firmer metal prices while drugmakers also gained after recent weakness.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Apple has agreed to start selling digital songs without copy protection software from its iTunes store along with over-the-air download songs for its popular iPhone, according to people familiar with its plans.

The planet Jupiter must have gained mass fast during its infancy, according to astronomers.

Dust with a similar composition to the Earth has been found swaddling six stars, suggesting rocky planets may be common

LONDON (Reuters) - The Bank of England looks set to cut interest rates by at least half a percentage point this week to their lowest level on record as it tries to prevent the economy sliding into a long and painful recession.

LONDON (Reuters) - Short selling of bank stocks will resume next week without a return to the extreme volatility which forced the government to intervene last year, but investors say the sector could stay under a cloud for some time yet.

LONDON (Reuters) - Sterling rose to a three-week high against a weakened euro on Tuesday, moving further away from parity to the single currency but held down against the dollar as data underlined the UK's economic vulnerability. The euro's losses mounted after it suffered a record one-day loss against the pound on Monday, with lower-than-expected inflation data firmed expectations speculation that the European Central Bank will cut rates later this month.

LONDON (Reuters) - Fund manager Standard Life Investments (SLI) said on Tuesday it had been appointed to run a 90 million pound UK equities mandate for the pension scheme of IT company Fujitsu Services.

LONDON (Reuters) - Following is a round-up of key small cap movers on the London stock market on Tuesday.

Hundreds of earthquakes rippling through the national park have prompted fears of dangerous steam explosions

Hundreds of earthquakes rippling through the national park have prompted fears of dangerous steam explosions

LONDON (Reuters) - British Airways said on Tuesday that trading conditions were broadly unchanged in December and maintained its guidance for the current financial year.