BBC journalists could strike over Christmas and the new year in their bitter dispute over pensions, it was revealed today as programmes continued to be disrupted amid a 48-hour walkout. Sources said that leaders of the National Union of Journalists will consider calling industrial action over the festive break unless there is a breakthrough in [...]

The European Union wants companies like Google and Facebook to give people more control over how their online habits are tracked, requirements that could hinder internet firms’ ability to target advertising. Internet companies, privacy activists and the EU’s executive commission are likely to fight over the specifics of the rules, which cut to the heart [...]

David Hodgkinson has today been appointed as interim chairman at AIB, subject to regulatory approval. Hodgkinson says his objective is to work closely with all AIB stakeholders to tackle the serious challenges which confront the bank. The Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan is welcoming the move, saying Hodgkinson’s leadership will be critical in enabling AIB [...]

The High Court has given the examiner appointed to Aer Arann further time to produce his report. It emerged last week that a UK transport and logistics company had agreed to invest up to €4m in the regional airline. It is understood the cash injection by Stobart should allow the airline to exit examinership.

Hopes for economic recovery in the US have taken a hit, after a fall in jobs for the fourth month in a row. Some 95,000 positions were lost in September, much worse than economists had expected. The fall was down to the public sector, where some temporary jobs were cut.

Regulators in the United States have closed two more banks that were in financial trouble. It brings the tally so far this year to 127. The latest failures are expected to cost the Federal Deposit’s Insurance Fund around €74m.

An Edinburgh-based oil explorer has found oil for the first time off the coast of Greenland, it was announced today. Cairn Energy – led by former Scottish rugby international and founder Bill Gammell – said it had discovered gas and two types of oil in drilling operations in the untapped Baffin Bay basin, although further [...]

A new way to cause mischief quickly spread through short-messaging service Twitter today before the site could fix the problem, as mysterious “tweets” of blocked-out text propagated themselves and caused popup windows to open. Shortly before 3pm Twitter said on its “safety” feed on the site that the attack has been “fully patched” and no [...]

Bank giant HSBC is within days of naming a new chairman amid speculation the post will be filled by City veteran Simon Robertson, it was reported today. Robertson, who is chairman of Rolls-Royce and a senior director at HSBC, could take the role on a temporary basis while the bank grooms former Goldman Sachs executive [...]