Using wood to create biofuels, rather than corn and sugar, could be the way to wean the world off oil without triggering a surge in the price of basic foodstuffs, according to one of the world's most powerful pension fund managers.
Ford, the world's No 3 car maker, was unexpectedly back in profit in the first three months of the year, confounding doubters who believed the weak US market would cause its turnaround plan to stall.
The television production company responsible for A Touch of Frost launched a multi-million pound lawsuit against the broadcaster ITV yesterday, claiming it was a victim of a sleight of hand over tariffs that was exploitative, anti-competitive and had cost it more than £2m in repeat fees.
RDF Media, which makes programmes including Wife Swap and Faking It, received a management buy-out proposal yesterday from a consortium that includes the company's executive directors.
The Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca posted what analysts considered to be disappointing first-quarter sales figures yesterday, but said that its full-year earnings growth was on track to meet expectations.
Autonomy, the corporate search software company, lost nearly 15 per cent of its value yesterday despite publishing first-quarter figures ahead of expectations showing revenues up 61 per cent and net profits up 50 per cent.
The hedge fund TCI has asked the British Government to impose trade sanctions on Japan, escalating its ongoing dispute with Tokyo over the electricity wholesaler J-Power.
Persimmon, one of the nation's top house housebuilders, has frozen all plans for future projects and warned that new homes built in the UK this year could drop by nearly a third due to the "unprecedented" mortgage famine.
One-third of North Sea oil production began grinding to a halt last night and will be sharply reduced for weeks after Ineos shut down the Grangemouth refinery in Scotland to prepare for a two-day strike this weekend.
