Sony hacking highlights challenge to CEO Hirai's 'One Sony' vision

Leaked emails reveal a cultural gulf between Japan's Sony Corp and Hollywood subsidiary Sony Pictures Entertainment, highlighting the challenge of CEO Kazuo Hirai to turn around the money-losing company under the slogan One Sony.


Amazon workers strike in Germany as Christmas orders peak

Some staff at Amazon warehouses in Germany started a new three-day strike on Monday to press their demands for better pay and conditions as the online retailer races to ensure Christmas orders are delivered on time.

China says U.S. appropriations bill violates rules, sends bad signal

China is unhappy with the U.S. spending bill passed by the House of Representatives last week, saying it contains discriminatory clauses that violate the rules of fair trade and "send the wrong signal".

Oil hits new five-year low before rallying to $63

Brent crude oil hit a fresh five-year low close to $60 a barrel on Monday after producer group OPEC restated its determination not to cut output despite a global fuel glut, but the North Sea benchmark later rallied to around $63.


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French hotel operator Accor announced a strategic alliance with China Lodging Group on Sunday to create a major new player in the fast-growing Chinese domestic travel and hospitality market.
Technip (TECF.PA) has ruled out making an offer for seismic surveys specialist CGG (GEPH.PA) after talks with the company failed to produce an agreement, the French oil services group said on Sunday.
Pet supply retailer PetSmart Inc succumbed to calls from some shareholders for a sale on Sunday with an agreement to be bought by a private equity consortium led by BC Partners Ltd for $8.7 billion, in the largest leveraged buyout of the year.
The court order that banned Chinese mobile maker Xiaomi from selling its phones in India has halted its breakneck expansion into the world's fastest growing major smartphone market and could be just the start of a string of patent challenges.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande urged Ukrainian leader Petro Poroshenko on Sunday to press ahead with reforms to facilitate an economic recovery and access to foreign aid.
The European Union's vaunted investment plan, due to be formally blessed by the bloc's 28 leaders at a summit this week, may be a day late and several euros short to revitalize a stagnant economy.
Oil producers group OPEC can ride out a slump in oil prices and keep output unchanged, its head said on Sunday, arguing market weakness did not reflect supply and demand fundamentals and could have been driven by speculators.
The U.S. Federal Reserve would give the clearest signal next week that its easy money stance is ending if, as some expect, it drops its two-year long pledge to keep interest rates close to zero for a "considerable time".
For the past 18 months, Americans from Albany to Oregon have voiced growing alarm over the rising number of oil-laden freight trains coursing through their cities, a trend they fear is endangering public safety.
The U.S. Senate on Saturday passed a $1.1 trillion spending bill that lifts the threat of a government shutdown as Congress attempts to wrap up a two-year legislative session marked by bitter partisanship and few major accomplishments.