MBIA reports loss as slump deepens

MBIA Inc, the bond insurer that lost 87 percent of its market value in the past year, posted a net loss of $2.4 billion as the slump in mortgage securities deepened.

Man to lose 9 homes in meltdown

A California man who has defaulted on nine homes and expects banks to foreclose on all of them, forcing him into bankruptcy, says he now considers it a mistake to have invested in the real estate market.

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Special Supplement

'Moving ahead together'

Whirlwind visits by German ministers to China this year have thawed bilateral relations that took on a diplomatic chill in 2007.

German hi-tech, high culture event opens in Chongqing

Part of an ambitious multi-city, three-year campaign entitled "Germany and China - Moving Ahead Together", the cross-cultural festival moves to Chongqing today, hosted by the municipality in southwest China.

Business International

Stocks rise in European markets

European stocks rose for the first time in three days after earnings from Lafarge SA, Deutsche Boerse AG and British American Tobacco Plc beat analysts' estimates. US index futures and Asian shares retreated.

Sprint Nextel unveils wireless network venture

Sprint Nextel Corp is combining its planned high-speed wireless network with Clearwire Corp, creating a venture with funding from technology and cable companies.

Retailers feeling pinch

European retail sales declined 1.6 percent in March, the most since at least 1995 and twice as much as economists forecast, as soaring fuel and food costs sapped consumer spending.

How much is NYSE really worth?

What's the New York Stock Exchange worth these days without Euronext NV, the pan-European market that it bought last year to form NYSE Euronext? Not all that much, based on a comparison of market values.

IN BRIEF (Page 17)