Payments totalling $9.5m (€6.9m) that prosecutors say belonged to Hollinger International shareholders went instead to media mogul Conrad Black and four other executives, a company memo showed.

In the greedy world of spam e-mail and electronic fraud, nothing is sacred - not even the death of Pope John Paul.

The US government has set a deadline of August 14 for many of the nation’s largest companies to submit sworn statements from their chief executive and chief financial officers guaranteeing the accuracy of recent financial reports, in an unprecedented move to help restore investor confidence.

Airbus has started production of its 555-seat superjumbo airliner that is scheduled to enter service in 2006 as the world’s largest passenger jet.

Abortion clinics in the US say they have received anthrax threats via Federal Express from anti-abortion rights groups.