As we reach the end of a miserable 2009, signs continue to mount across the globe that the world economy is stirring back to life. The U.S. finally returned to growth in the third quarter, with its strongest showing in two years, India posted inspiring 7.9% growth and the results out of tiny Taiwan, one of the economies slammed the hardest by the global recession, were so impressive one economist beamed that the island "got its groove on." Stock ...

The economic recession may be ending but the independent film industry's shakeout continues to roll, as we were recently reminded by Disney's October decision to gut its Miramax division, cutting staff by more than 70%. It won't be the last to fall under the knife, industry insiders predict, pointing to Universal's Focus Features as the next likely victim. "Very few people think Focus is going to survive," says one industry executive who asked not to be named. It's ...

Are you furious? If not, you should be. The giant financial institutions that make up Wall Street have been bailed out, thanks to trillions of dollars of our money, and are on track to hand out record-breaking multibillion-dollar bonuses while millions of regular folks are hurting. Even outside the gilded halls of Wall Street, there's no shortage of good cheer: many economists say the Great Recession has ended, and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke keeps seeing "green shoots" in ...

Sun Microsystems on Tuesday announced plans to slash 3,000 jobs over the next year, putting the move down to the delay in getting European Commission clearance for its agreed $7bn acquisition by Oracle. The latest in a string of job cuts from the struggling US maker of servers and other equipment for corporate data centres followed recent complaints from Oracle that the review in Brussels was hurting Sun's business. Larry Ellison, Oracle's chief executive officer, said last month that Sun ...

As the chairwoman of South Korea's Hyundai group, Jeong-eun Hyun faces business challenges few other executives can imagine. Subsidiary Hyundai Asan has led efforts to build economic ties between the North and South, so Hyun is not only managing a multinational through a recession but also through global tensions over the North's nuclear program. Hyundai Asan has invested $272 million in North Korea, in projects like the Kaesong Industrial Park and tours to Mount Kumgang. Hyun traveled to North Korea ...

Technologies that let employees work remotely have given rise to a growing phenomenon -- virtual internships. Businesses are realizing that commonplace Internet technologies like email, instant messaging -- which can also enable video chats -- and social media can be used to free interns from the confines of the office. For students, new graduates and career switchers looking to work in a different industry, working as an intern can be a valuable way of gaining work experience, and the flexibility ...

The United States is fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but there are thousands of troops caught-up in a very different battle and President Barack Obama is promising to win it. Obama says he will reverse U.S. law and military tradition to assure a place in the armed forces for gay and lesbian personnel. "We should not be punishing patriotic Americans who have stepped forward to serve this country," he said over the weekend. "We should be celebrating their willingness ...

Google on Thursday declared the worst of the recession over and paved the way for a return to heavy spending on expansion as it reported a surprisingly strong 8 per cent jump in net revenues in its latest quarter. The optimism reflected what the company said was an across-the-board recovery in online advertising, with even the struggling financial services sector showing a return to growth. While search engine advertising has held up better than most other forms of online ...

Economic reform arrived at Mexico's electrical utility on Saturday night wearing black body armor, crash helmets and ski masks. Flabbergasted workers arriving for early morning shifts on Sunday found thousands of Federal police deployed to enforce a government decree shutting down the company. A special edition of the government gazette decreed that because of inefficiency and unacceptable losses, the state-run utility that provides power to 25 million people in the heart of Mexico had ceased to exist. Its ...

A spate of suicides at France Telecom has put the spotlight on workplace stress and the devastating impact it can have on employees. There have been 24 suicides and 13 attempted suicides among France Telecom employees since the beginning of 2008. Labor unions blame restructuring and poor working conditions for creating a climate of stress. Last week a 51-year old father of two jumped to his death from a bridge. He was reported to have left a ...