SHOWN THE DOOR: James O'Shea is the third `Los Angeles Times' editor to leave the newspaper since 2005, all of them departing after disagreements on budget
The Los Angeles Times fired its top editor after he rejected a management order to cut US$4 million from the newsroom budget, 14 months after his predecessor was also ousted in a budget dispute, the newspaper said.

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Three cars sold for more than US$1 million each at the premier US car auctions, with a one-of-a-kind 1963 Chevrolet Corvette from Italy's Pininfarina pulling in US$1.6 million, the auctioneer said on Sunday.

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Northern Rock PLC will issue government-guaranteed bonds to repay the tens of billions in emergency loans from the Bank of England, Britain's Treasury said yesterday in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

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DIGGING DEEPER: Australian company BHP may not make an offer for the London-based mining group before a Feb. 6 deadline
Rio Tinto Group, defending a hostile US$108 billion takeover bid from rival mining company BHP Billiton Ltd, had its biggest fall in more than 10 years in Sydney trading after BHP failed to make a new offer.

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After booming in recent years, China's own real estate market is finally beginning to feel the pinch from sagging demand and tighter controls.

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■ RETAIL

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