'EVERY DOLLAR OR POUND': The trio, found guilty of fraud for conspiring with Enron's finance chief to steal US$7.3 million, asked if they could serve their terms in a British jail
A US federal judge on Friday sentenced the former British bankers dubbed the NatWest Three to 37 months in jail for fraud related to the scandal-ruined energy trading firm Enron.

[ FULL STORY ]

The Singapore Airshow saw more than US$13.4 billion in sales of aircraft and related equipment this week, thanks to a booming aviation market, organizers have said.

[ FULL STORY ]

A Microsoft executive on Friday sent workers an upbeat e-mail outlining a vision of how the software giant expects to take over Yahoo and merge the cultures and resources of the companies.

[ FULL STORY ]

Two US pension funds have sued Yahoo Inc and its board of directors, saying that the company breached its duties to shareholders in trying to thwart a takeover by Microsoft Corp.

[ FULL STORY ]

A federal judge said consumers may go ahead with a class action lawsuit against Microsoft Corp over the way it advertised computers loaded with Windows XP as capable of running the Vista operating system.

[ FULL STORY ]

DOWNSIZING: The world's largest media company also revealed that it spent US$125 million in cash to buy online ad firm Buy.at
Time Warner Inc said in its annual regulatory filing on Friday that it expects to cut more jobs in its magazine publishing division in the first quarter, resulting in US$10 million to US$20 million in expenses.

[ FULL STORY ]

A plan to bail out the struggling bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc could be announced tomorrow or Tuesday, CNBC reported on Friday, citing bankers working on the deal.

[ FULL STORY ]

FOREIGN EXCHANGE: With a gain of 3 percent so far this year, the NT dollar is the best performer among the 10 most-active Asian currencies outside Japan
The New Taiwan dollar led Asian currencies higher this week on speculation the region's central banks will allow faster gains to curb inflation.

[ FULL STORY ]

The dollar weakened on Friday, dragged down by expectations that the US Federal Reserve will have to cut interest rates sharply again next month to ward off recession in the world's biggest economy.

[ FULL STORY ]

FALLOUT: The MSCI Asia Pacific Index widened its loss for this year to 9 percent this week, with one banker warning of an impending `bloodbath' in debt markets
Asian stocks fell for the seventh time in eight weeks this year on concern widening credit-market losses and record crude oil prices will erode profits.

[ FULL STORY ]

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez on Friday called US$100 "a fair price" for barrel of oil, and said Venezuela and other OPEC-member nations would try to prevent the price from dropping below that level.

[ FULL STORY ]

US investors endured a holiday-shortened week that left stocks mainly static despite weak economic readings that weighed on Wall Street, as hopes of fresh interest rate cuts helped shore up sentiment.

[ FULL STORY ]

European stocks climbed for a second week, led by commodities producers and insurers, as rising metal prices and better-than-expected earnings outweighed concern the US may fall into a recession.

[ FULL STORY ]

■ ACQUISITIONS

[ FULL STORY ]