AFP - An appeals court Tuesday gave former New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) chief Richard Grasso a total victory by dismissing all claims seeking reimbursement of a contested 100-million-dollar severance payout.

Reuters - A global sell-off knocked world shares to a five-month low on Thursday as surging oil fanned concerns about inflation and slowing growth, just hours ahead of an expected euro zone interest rate hike and a key U.S. jobs report.

Reuters - With the Dow sliding into a bear market on Wednesday, the dark days on Wall Street are far from over, amid record oil prices, struggling consumers and the never-ending credit crisis.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday that inflation was becoming the top economic focus of many countries around the world as oil and food prices take their toll.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp and Yahoo Inc have been holding separate talks with other potential media partners after their negotiations with each other broke down, sources familiar with the companies' thinking said on Wednesday.

AFP - Clothing-to-food retailer Marks and Spencer, regarded as a barometer of consumer sentiment in Britain, saw its share price dive by almost a quarter Wednesday after delivering a gloomy profits warning.

Reuters - U.S. private employers slashed 79,000 jobs in June while planned layoffs at U.S. firms rose nearly 50 percent above year-ago levels, according to data that may spell bad news for a government payrolls report this week.

Reuters - Fugitive former hedge fund manager Samuel Israel III surrendered to police in Massachusetts on Wednesday, ending a four-week manhunt after he faked his own death to avoid a 20-year prison sentence.

Reuters - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Wednesday that high oil prices, further home price declines and capital markets turmoil will prolong the American economy's slowdown, while Europe and the UK were also showing signs of slower growth.

Reuters - Stocks extended losses on Wednesday as the price of oil hit a record, exacerbating concerns about the toll that soaring oil is taking on the economy and corporate profits.

Reuters - Microsoft Corp is preparing a new bid for Yahoo Inc's search business and has approached other media companies about joining it in a deal that would effectively lead to Yahoo's breakup, the Wall Street Journal said.

Reuters - General Motors Corp will need to raise as much as $15 billion in cash to shore up liquidity and bankruptcy is "not impossible" if the U.S. auto market continues to slump, Merrill Lynch said.

AP - Wal-Mart stores in Arizona now stock Grand Canyon sweet onions while aisles in New York display state-grown eggplant, as the world's largest retailer says it has become the nation's largest buyer of locally grown fruits and vegetables.