Business

At least 54 people died today when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a gas station near a mosque in Musayyib, about 60 km south of the Iraqi capital. Some 80 people are reported to have been injured. Witnesses said a fuel tanker was slowly approaching the pumps at the station when the attacker ran towards it and detonated explosives strapped to his body. Police said the resulting huge blast destroyed a nearby apartment complex and damaged the mosque and some small businesses. The gas station was located near the city-center. Iraqi gas stat

U.S. retail chain stores Kroger’s, Walgreens and five other food and drugstore chains have filed a lawsuit against the world’s largest credit card company, Visa International Inc. The federal lawsuit claims the company practices fee fixing on transactions, and with restricting competition among member banks. The retail merchants claim that Visa acts in collusion with its member banks to fix transaction fees taken as a percentage of each retail sale. The suit was filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, and seeks unspecified dama

A building being prepared for demolition collapsed this morning in New York's Upper West Side around 9 a.m. EDT. Five people are known to be injured from the accident, as well as one rescue worker who was injured in the aftermath. None of the injuries were life-threatening. The building was a supermarket, which was being taken down to make room for a high-rise building, something that residents took issue with. The roof, front wall, and scaffolding all fell to the ground, as stated by Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta. Soon after the inci

First Active has become the first financial institution to offer 100% mortgages in the Republic of Ireland. The bank previously offered 100% financing to professionals in finance and medicine, but is now to offer this product to anyone who can afford to meet the repayments. The development is a huge boost for first time home buyers who have been struggling to get on the Irish property market in recent years due to the rapid increase in house prices. A typical first time buyer in Dublin with 92% financing would normally have to put down a depos

The tree said to have sheltered the Tolpuddle Martyrs when they met in an attempt to form one of the world's first trade unions has been dated for the first time. The Sycamore Tree is still alive and is under the care of the National Trust in the village of Tolpuddle, Dorset, UK. The Trust calculates that the tree is around 320 years old meaning that it would have been 150 years old when the Martyrs met in 1834. The story of the Tolpuddle Martyrs is important to many trade unionists in the UK and across the globe. An annual festival is organis

Reacting to the suicide bombing yesterday in a Netanya mall, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) entered the city of Tulkarem. The city has been governed by the Palestinian Authority (PA), since March 22nd this year. In addition, a general closure was ordered on the occupied territories of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The closure will hold until the assessment of the situation changes, according to the IDF. The IDF ordered a curfew on Tulkarem at the beginning of the operation, at 2:30 a.m. (+3 UTC), Palestinians reported. Soldiers announced

Bernard Ebbers, founder and former CEO of telecommunications giant WorldCom, now MCI, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in the corporate accounting fraud totaling US$11 billion. The once-powerful company plunged into bankruptcy in July 2002. The sentence was handed down by Manhattan federal court Judge Barbara S. Jones. Mr. Ebbers, who is 63, asked for a lenient sentence due to his failing health and a heart condition, and because of his philanthropy. Prosecutors pushed for a life sentence, and said the sentencing "should pro

Local Law enforcement officials acting on behalf of the European Commission raided offices of Intel and several computer makers this morning, a spokesman for the EU said. He did not specify which countries or which other firms were involved. However, a spokesman for Intel Germany, Hans-Jürgen Werner, said that Intel's offices in Munich and Swindon were among those searched. It emerged on Wednesday 13th, that raids also took place at Intel's facility in County Kildare, Ireland in relation to the firms anti-competitive business practices. Intel

Canadian TD Financial Group has come to a deal with the regional U.S. bank, Hudson United Bancorp, to buy Hudson for US$1.9 billion. The new addition will be folding into itsMaine-based TD Banknorth, which is 51% owned by TD Financial. The acquisition will bring in 204 new branches and increase TD's footprint to New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. In total this will give TD 590 branches, 751 banking machines and more than US$26-billion in deposits across eight northeastern states. Hudson specialises in commercial real estate, c

Since 1822, the Fulton Fish Market on South Street in Lower Manhattan has been operating virtually unchanged and surrounded by the ever-changing NYC. It is expected to be relocated to a new $85 million, 400,000-square-foot facility at Hunts Point in The Bronx beginning this week. Originally set for January, the move was delayed until this month to allow time to add more safety and security items at the new facility. Some restaurant food buyers expressed concern that a move to the new facility will raise fishmonger prices. Fish stall owners a

Today The Walt Disney Company issued a joint statement with business partners Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold to the media, as a show of reunion between the two camps after nearly three years of hostility. Roy E. Disney, son of company co-founder Roy O. Disney and nephew of the company namesake Walt Disney, had resigned from his job as chairman of Feature Animation at the company after experiencing difficulty with the company's board of directors, many of whom were biased towards company CEO Michael Eisner's view of what direction the company

The Icelandic investment firm Baugur has decided to withdraw from the Somerfield bid because of legal action against some of it's core employees including its CEO, Jón Ásgeir Jónsson, and chief of board, Haukur Loftsson. Baugur Group will also sell each share it owns in Somerfield. Baugur Group had previously made EUR1.5 billion bid as had been covered on Wikinews. Baugur makes a US$1,8 billion bid for Somerfield Baugur used to own 5.5% of Somerfield's shares, but they will be sold to the Iranian businessman Roberts Tchenguiz for 190 pence p