Business news for Mon, 03 Dec 2007. 1318 news.

Gordon Brown has personally intervened to defend Britain's flexible labour market, amid warnings that the UK could be outvoted in Brussels in the biggest clash with Europe since he became prime minister

Swift Transportation Co., a Phoenix-based trucking giant, has been slapped for $36.5 million in damages in a lawsuit over a fatal traffic crash in Kansas.

European and UK bank lending rates hit levels not seen for several years as banks sought funds to cover their commitments for the start of 2008 amid a tightening credit squeeze

Several sellers have the MP3 player for about a 30 percent discount this week.

Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Monday he is confident there will soon be an agreement to help thousands of homeowners avoid mortgage defaults.

The UK Nectar loyalty card scheme founder will pocket ?161m ($332m) from selling its operating company to Aeroplan Income Fund, its Canadian rival

Suffolk Life, a weekly newspaper, announced in a letter to advertisers that it would cease coverage in the towns of Babylon, Huntington, Smithtown and in the western Islip area. David Willmott, the newspaper's publisher, cited "the brain drain" and that young journalists couldn't "afford to buy a home on Long Island." The Riverhead-based paper will still cover Brookhaven, Eastern Islip and the five East End towns, the Dec. 1 letter said. Willmott, who couldn't be reached for comment Monday, told advertisers that there would be "a smaller circulation base" in the affected areas of western Suffolk County.

Rumors have been circulating that the Rupert Murdoch-owned media company would be purchasing the business-oriented social network. It doesn't seem likely.

All commercial tenants at Memorial Airfield on the Gila River Reservation south of Chandler have been evicted by community officials and a developer who last year announced grandiose plans for an 11,000-acre development around the World War II-era facility appears to have abandoned the project.

(Crain's) -- The executive changes at Motorola Inc. continued Monday with departure of Padmasree Warrior, one of the phone maker's top executives and one of Chicago's top female technology leaders. Ms. Warrior was chief technology officer and one of the company's longest-serving senior executives, ...

Microchip Technology Inc. said Monday that it would buy back up to $1 billion worth of its common stock with proceeds of a planned debt offering.

Cancer services are to be overhauled in the UK as part of a five-year plan aimed at improving survival rates

Pre-Christmas sales figures offer evidence that PC makers could be set for a strong finish this year after falling prices have brought laptops within the reach of more shoppers

(AP) -- United Airlines said Monday mainline traffic fell 1.4 percent last month as the carrier, the nation's second largest, scaled back domestic capacity while boosting lucrative transoceanic service. November systemwide traffic fell 1.4 percent to 9 billion revenue passenger miles, from 9.13 ...

Carrier Access Corp. has reached a proposed settlement agreement with a major shareholder that would end legal wrangling started two years ago after the telecom equipment maker restated prior years' earnings. (CACS)

Calls for water conservation by Atlanta officials have not fallen upon deaf ears.

A test version of the forthcoming update to Windows XP is expanded to include MSDN and TechNet subscribers. The service pack is largely a collection of previously issued bug fixes and security updates.

Chairman Kevin Martin has been accused of suppressing and manipulating information during a meeting that sought tougher regulations on U.S. cable TV operators.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Monday after fresh data pointed to a weakening manufacturing sector and uncertainty surrounded emerging plans to shore up the mortgage market.

Cable giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable will not bid in an auction for a slice of the US airwaves.