FRANKFURT, July 23, 2008 (AFP) - An agreement has been reached guaranteeing jobs at an Airbus plant in the southern German city of Laupheim being sold to equipment maker Diehl, a Diehl spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.

MANILA, July 15, 2008 (AFP) - Money sent home by Filipinos working abroad rose 15.6 percent in May from a year earlier to 1.4 billion dollars, the Philippine central bank said Tuesday.

This brought inflows for the first five months of the year to 6.8 billion dollars, a 14.7 percent increase from the same period in 2007, the bank said in a statement.

LONDON, July 9, 2008 (AFP) - Nearly half of Britain's troops have regularly considered leaving the country's armed forces, a major survey published Wednesday by the defence ministry showed.

The research is likely to add fuel to accusations of military overstretch in Britain, which has 7,800 soldiers committed to Afghanistan and a further 4,000 stationed in Iraq.

LONDON, July 9, 2008 (AFP) - British homebuilders Bovis and Redrow on Wednesday said their workforces would soon be 40 percent below levels at the start of the year as jobs are slashed amid a downturn to the housing market.

LONDON, July 8, 2008 (AFP) - Home builder Persimmon said Tuesday that job cuts would eventually amount to about 1,100 since the start of the year as it battles a downturn to the housing market in Britain.

'The first six months of this year have undoubtedly been the most challenging period in Persimmon's recent history,' the group said in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.

MANILA, July 8, 2008 (AFP) - Many developing countries are paying higher salaries to their state employees than they can accord and stunting economic growth in the process, a study by the Asian Development Bank shows.

'The higher the relative government pay rates, the lesser the economic growth attained,' the study of 19 Asian, African and Latin American countries said.

LONDON, July 2, 2008 (AFP) - Home builder Taylor Wimpey fought for its survival on Wednesday as its share price tumbled by more than half after the group failed to secure a refinancing package, traders said.

Taylor Wimpey added that it planned to axe 900 jobs in Britain as it battles a downturn in the housing market.

LONDON, July 2, 2008 (AFP) - Home builder Taylor Wimpey faced collapse after its shares plunged by more than half on Wednesday, having failed to secure a refinancing package to help it weather a downturn to the British housing market, traders said.

KANO, July 1, 2008 (AFP) - Chronic electricity shortages are largely to blame for the loss of three million jobs and the closure of hundreds of factories in northern Nigeria?s commercial hub, local business leaders say.

LONDON, June 10, 2008 (AFP) - Britain's biggest retailer Tesco said Tuesday that first-quarter sales jumped by almost 14 percent despite an uncertain economic climate, but flagged a modest slowdown in its home market.

Group sales rose by 13.7 percent in the thirteen weeks to May 24, compared with the same period last year, Tesco said in a trading update.