THE Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted overwhelmingly yesterday for Hillary Clinton to become the next secretary of state, with lawmakers saying they were hopeful her leadership would mark a turn from warfare toward diplomacy.

The collapse of a major mining takeover brought the London market back to earth today after the record gain of the previous session.

British greetings card company Clinton Cards delivered a further gloomy message to shareholders today after the downturn in sales at its core business gathered pace.

Greetings card firm Clinton Cards said it had grown profits after benefiting from better trading at its Birthdays business.

Greetings card retailer Clinton Cards today warned on profits after its "most challenging" Christmas in years.

Michael Jackson will release his charity single later this month, according to his spokeswoman Ramone K Bain.

The biggest takeover of a UK company for five years and a rush of other bid activity drove the FTSE 100 Index beyond the 5300 barrier today.

Clinton Cards today became the latest retailer to warn on profits after sales fell and efforts to rejuvenate the Birthdays chain ran into trouble.

A former US national security adviser to President Clinton is under criminal investigation by the US Justice Department after documents disappeared while he was reviewing what should be turned over to the 9/11 commission.

THE White House came out fighting yesterday after claims it did not consider the threat of terrorism an “urgent” issue in the months before September 11.

US FEDERAL courts dealt a double blow to the Bush administration’s strategy in the war on terror yesterday, ruling that the US military cannot deny prisoners access to lawyers or the American courts by detaining them indefinitely.

A DAVY Stockbrokers sponsored $900 million hedge fund, listed on the Irish stock exchange, is being investigated by the US securities and exchange commission following allegations that the value of the fund reported to investors was inflated.

A CRISIS in housing for the elderly is looming, a social housing conference was told yesterday.

Al Gore has told Bill Clinton the Monica Lewinsky scandal was partly responsible for his election defeat.