Business news with words department+difficult. 6 news.

Britain's defence policy is straining its armed forces The unprecedented and ongoing criticism of the UK government by military experts including five former defence chiefs, has reinforced concerns that relations between the armed forces and the government may be close to breaking point. Since 1997 the armed forces have found themselves squeezed between increasing foreign commitments on the one hand, and insufficient funding on the other, resulting in large cuts to all three services. The strains may well worsen. Since September 11th 2001 the UK's armed forces have found themselves committed in large numbers for sustained deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, as part of former prime minister Tony Blair's promise in 2002 that Britain would pay the "blood price" to maintain its special relationship with the US. However, the government has been consistently unwilling to pay the "cash price" for such an undertaking, with the percentage increases in the UK defence budget paltry compared with that of the US. Although direct comparisons are difficult, the disparity is clear: according to the US Defense Department, its budget increased by almost 50% between 2001 and 2007; in the same period, the UK's Ministry of Defence (MoD) saw average real annual increase of around 1%. ...

Picture this: You are head of a department and receive complaints about one of your best but most difficult employees.

While buying jewelry, whether at department or specialty stores, at craft fairs or on eBay, is quick and easy, selling it is often slow, difficult and confusing.

While buying jewelry, whether at department or specialty stores, at craft fairs or on eBay, is quick and easy, selling it is often slow, difficult and confusing.

WALL Street twisted its way through another difficult session yesterday, discouraged about the economy's prospects but still managing a higher finish after some concerns about the beleaguered financial sector lifted late in the session. Word shortly before the close that Citigroup Inc.'s board plans to meet in an emergency session over the weekend helped that stock and other financials pare sharp losses. yesterday's session ended a week made turbulent not only by bad news from the financial sector but also by spiking commodity prices and comments from the Federal Reserve that it might be less generous with interest rate cuts in the coming months. A highly anticipated Labor Department report showing employers added 166,000 jobs in October _ the most in five months and nearly double what analysts had been expecting _ didn't give stocks much of a lift a day after a sharp pullback as investors' unease about the financial sector seemed to blanket trading. Wall Street was clearly

The Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper's reopening remains stalled by Thomas Etheredge's income tax liens, jeopardizing the business's holiday plans. Negotiations continue with the Internal Revenue Service and Kansas Department of Revenue to settle about $325,000 in delinquent 2005 personal income taxes owed by Etheredge and his wife, Cheryl. Without a settlement of those tax liens against the Prairie Rose, its $1 million sale to rural Wichita ranchers Greg and JW Johnson can't close and the popular dinner theater can't reopen. "We have no choice but to kick back and wait and let the lawyers do their thing," JW Johnson said."... It's frustrating, and it gets a little difficult some days. "But I wake up every morning and think, 'Lord, let this be the day.' "