PRESSURE PILED ON BP OVER SPILL - Very many people have an exposure to the BP's oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, as many pension funds are exposed to the shares. Yesterday the company's shares fell 17%, after the latest in a long line of efforts to deal with the leak failed. The US government has launched a criminal investigation.
Charles Stanley analyst Jeremy Batstone in London says BP, in an effort to shore up investor support, is stressing that it will pay a dividend. But the analyst said the company's future in the long-term depended on the ultimate cost of the clean-up of the spill.
Mr Batstone said it may be too early to talk about the long-term future of the company, though there were question marks over the future of chief executive Tony Hayward.
The analyst said that if the US judicial authorities became involved, the costs to BP could be wide-ranging and last for a very long time.
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SUICIDES PUT SPOTLIGHT ON CHINA CONDITIONS - There is a very disturbing story in China, where Taiwan- based Foxconn has operations. A number of workers at the company have committed suicide, focusing attention on working conditions there.
There have been 10 suicides at Foxconn in southern China. The company makes one of the world's most talked about pieces of consumer technology - the iPhone for Apple. It also manufactures for Dell.
Last night Apple's CEO Steve Jobs described the deaths as troubling, but said Foxconn did not operate a 'sweatshop'.
RTE's Margaret Ward, who is based in China, said Foxconn was the world's biggest contract electronics manufacturer, employing 420,000 people in southern China.
She said the suicides all involved very young migrant workers from China. Foxconn has sent in psychiatrists, and even monks, to try to get to grips with the problem. Foxconn says it will increase wages by 30%, but experts believe the problems are linked more to the style of working at such plants.
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CURRENCIES - The euro is worth $1.2221 and 83.06p sterling.
