Germany targets coal plants to reach 2020 climate goals

Germany's cabinet on Wednesday agreed plans to cut CO2 emissions by up to 78 million tonnes by 2020, pushing operators to shut some coal-fired plants, to help Europe's biggest economy meet bold targets to fight climate change, government sources said.


Bill would cap Russian engines on U.S. satellite launches

A compromise defense policy bill in Congress would bar the purchase of more Russian-made rocket engines to launch U.S. military satellites, clearing the way for competitive bids for 14 future launches, senior congressional aides said on Tuesday.

New U.S. oil and gas well November permits tumble nearly 40 percent

Plunging oil prices sparked a drop of almost 40 percent in new well permits issued across the United States in November, in a sudden pause in the growth of the U.S. shale oil and gas boom that started around 2007.

Worried about broader fallout, Japan moves to contain air bag crisis

Japan's auto recall enforcement division, whose 16 members work from a cramped office on the eighth floor of the transport ministry building in Tokyo, only found out about safety issues with Takata Corp air bags in late-2008 - more than three years after the company says it first learned of problems.


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Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) has sold a 1.6-billion-pound ($2.50 billion) portfolio of Irish mortgages to Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and CarVal, a private equity group, the Financial Times newspaper reported.
IBM is enjoying a wave of major technology outsourcing deals from European customers in the fourth quarter and the new contract signings are not over yet, an executive for the computer services giant said in an interview.
A key House panel has delayed a hearing on the Federal Communications Commission's efforts to write new Internet traffic rules aimed at assuring "net neutrality."
Eight days after a massive cyber attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, the Hollywood studio was still struggling to restore some systems on Tuesday evening as investigators combed for evidence to identify the culprit.
Iranian hackers have infiltrated some of the world's top energy, transport and infrastructure companies over the past two years in a campaign that could allow them to eventually cause physical damage, according to U.S. cyber security firm Cylance.
The founders of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (BABA.N) and Tencent Holdings Ltd (0700.HK) were among a consortium of investors who purchased stakes in Ping An Insurance Group Co of China Ltd (2318.HK) (601318.SS) in a HK$36.5 billion ($4.7 billion) deal on Sunday, in one of the largest Hong Kong share offerings of the year.
Japanese drugmaker Otsuka Holdings Co Ltd plans to buy U.S.-based Avanir Pharmaceuticals Inc for about $3.5 billion to expand its neurologic drug portfolio ahead of an expiration of a key drug patent.
Germany's auto market will return to growth for the first time in three years in 2014 and may expand further next year, the VDA industry association said on Tuesday.
U.S. online sales grew a smaller than expected 8 percent on Cyber Monday after web promotions before and during the Thanksgiving weekend robbed business from what has traditionally been the busiest day of the year for Internet shopping.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd agreed to sell its fibre optics operations to U.S. specialty glass maker Corning Inc, exiting another non-core business to focus on shoring up underperforming key areas like smartphones.