IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Business International

Lawyers: BP broke law to get permit

BP Plc violated Texas's "revolving door" law in 2003 by hiring a state environmental engineer to work on the same air pollution permit he'd supervised as a regulator, lawyers suing the company claim.

Rio Tinto may sell $30b of assets

Rio Tinto Ltd, the world's third- largest mining company, will boost dividends 30 percent and has identified a possible $30 billion of asset sales as it battles an unsolicited takeover approach from BHP Billiton Ltd.

Discounts boost US holiday sales

Sales gained in the days after the US Thanksgiving holiday as retailers lured more customers with discounts even as individual shoppers spent less on average.

Aegon raises new business target on margins, volumes

Aegon NV, the largest Dutch insurer after ING Groep NV, raised its value of new business target, a gauge of future sales, by 14 percent on higher margins and volumes in the Americas, Europe and Asia.

IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Business International

Wheat prices rise to 11-week high

Wheat rose the most in 11 weeks on speculation that the dollar's decline will boost demand for US supplies of the grain.

Thanksgiving offers won't avert slowdown

Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Best Buy Co marked Thanksgiving yesterday with online promotions aimed at jumpstarting the holiday sales season. The websites are unlikely to provide the boost they did last year.

UK festive spending set to get a boost

Britons will spend between 2 and 3 percent more on Christmas gifts compared with last year, as low unemployment makes them confident about their finances, according to market research company Mintel.

Shell: Yamal gas could supply planet for decade

Royal Dutch Shell Plc and its partners said Russia's Yamal peninsula and Kara Sea may hold more than 30 trillion cubic meters of gas, enough to supply the world for a decade, in a plan presented in the Kremlin.