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China's parliament passed a landmark bill on property rights on Friday as its annual session closed after two weeks of deliberations on issues which have ranged from green growth and corporate taxes to bear bile. The National People's Congress was widely expected to approve the property-rights and corporate income-tax law bills and the 2007 budget at a session from 0200 GMT, ending a 12-day meeti.. more

The last bottle of HP sauce to be made in Britain has rolled off the company's production line. Production of the iconic brown condiment, which carries an image of Britain's Houses of Parliament, ended at the company's factory in Aston, Birmingham, on Friday morning, marking the end of 108 years of sauce-making at the site. Parent company Heinz will now move production to the Netherlands, with t.. more

EU ministers agreed on Thursday that mobile phone operators should be obliged to offer consumers a capped roaming rate in addition to a regulated wholesale price, the German presidency said on Thursday. But Britain maintained its opposition to a proposal that would switch customers automatically to the regulated rate from their existing one and said it had broad support from some countries. "All.. more

Yahoo Inc. said on Friday it plans to launch a Chinese language version of its popular photo-sharing site Flickr.com this year to tap demand from Chinese digital photo enthusiasts. The development comes as Sunnyvale, California-headquartered Yahoo tries to localize and expand its services -- such as bookmark-sharing site Del.icio.us, Yahoo Mail and Yahoo Groups -- that center on user-generated co.. more

Workers at Airbus plants in France, Germany and Spain staged strikes and protests Friday, maintaining a united front against a restructuring plan the troubled aircraft maker said would slash 10,000 jobs across Europe. Thousands joined Friday's protests at Airbus facilities around the continent, following a similar movement last week by at least 12,000 workers. The actions hit a company reeling f.. more

European shares dipped on Friday with banks under pressure on worries about the U.S. economy, but M&A talk boosted stocks including consumer products maker Unilever and oil and gas group Repsol. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index ended 0.07 percent lower at 1,454.9, below the day's high of 1,462.1 but above a low of 1,447.2. Earlier, stocks trimmed losses after U.S. core consumer prices, exc.. more

Takafumi Horie, who rattled corporate Japan with his celebrity lifestyle and brash takeover bids, was found guilty and sentenced to two years and six months in jail Friday for his role in a securities fraud at his former company Livedoor. The sentence handed down by the Tokyo District Court was a harsh contrast with punishments typically meted out to Japanese executives convicted of white-collar .. more