Business news for Sun, 23 Dec 2007. 406 news.

Danone and Wahaha Group have agreed to a legal ceasefire and return to "peace talks" for the resolution of one of the most high-profile disputes between a foreign company and a Chinese partner

Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto accused the government of failing to crush Islamic militants. Meanwhile, a suicide bombing of a military convoy killed five civilians and four soldiers in the troubled northwest.

The final weekend of the holiday shopping season will likely bring a sigh of relief from many retailers who feared sales would fall short of already diminished expectations.

The collapse of the plan to create a $75bn "superfund" is embarrassing to the US Treasury, which backed the scheme, but is not likely to have big implications for financial markets, analysts and former officials said

Roman Catholics have overtaken Anglicans in church attendance in Britain, with Tony Blair, the former prime minister, becoming the most high-profile convert to date

Almost half of the states may have to choose in the years ahead between their pension obligations and other public programs.

THE Australian dollar is tipped to rise above US90c in 2008 as the RBA raises interest rates and demand for the country's key resources stays strong, experts say.

Americans are falling behind on their credit-card payments at an alarming rate, sending...

AUSTRALIA'S third-largest shopping centre owner Stockland has sold its 50 per cent stake in three New Zealand shopping centres to AMP New Zealand for $322 million.

The al Qaeda prisoner at the center of a terror alert in Belgium denied allegations that supporters were preparing a jailbreak or attack.

After the partners of Bentel & Bentel Architects took "sticks of dynamite" to Frank's restaurant in Chelsea, they noticed a "kind of nobility" to the old Nabisco factory as steel piping stretched overhead and steel beams connected the floor to the ceiling. The architects saw potential for it to turn into Craftsteak, a restaurant owned by renowned chef Tom Colicchio.

Among them: The Yankees didn't want A-Rod, our love for the Wii was fading, and Amazon stock was living on borrowed time. Oh, really?

CHINA is proposing to raise its monthly individual income tax levy threshold from the current 1,600 yuan (US$217.69) to 2,000 yuan, according to a draft amendment to the law on individual income tax. The threshold increase is to help medium- and low-income earners hit by the recent price increases of some goods. Yesterday, the draft amendment was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, for deliberation. The amendment is expected to take effect from March 1. Finance Minister Xie Xuren told the legislative session that "raising the threshold of individual income tax collection from 1,600 yuan to 2,000 yuan means a reduction of 30 billion yuan in state revenue." The rise in the threshold would free 70 percent of income earners from paying income tax. The current threshold of 1,600 yuan exempts 50 percent of income earners from tax. Xie said: "The increase of individual income tax collection threshold is

IN the wake of escalating inflation, China pledged to draw up a series of measures, including more subsidies for farmers, to secure a stable supply of produce next year when Beijing hosts the Olympics. The message was delivered at the annual central rural work conference in the capital. The two-day conference, which ended yesterday, outlined the top priorities in the country's rural areas. Preventing shortages of farm produce and avoiding extreme fluctuations in price would be a top priority, a document released after the conference said. Huge rises in the price of grain, pork and cooking oil late in the year should have raised the income of farmers. However, it also lifted the nation's consumer price index to an 11-year high of 6.9 percent in November, well above the government-set three percent target. The central government has decided that "to prevent current price increases from becoming evident inflation" would be a primary task of the macroeconomic control in

Thai voters turned out at the polls in large numbers to express strong support for a return to democracy and for Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted former prime minister

Americans are falling behind on their credit card payments at an alarming rate, sending delinquencies and defaults surging by double-digit percentages in the last year and prompting warnings of worse to come.

Banks pull commodities traders out of retirement and double salary guarantees as they fight for business in one of the few booming areas in Wall Street