Former media mogul Conrad Black’s trial began with the judge questioning a man who lost money in the WorldCom debacle, a woman whose investments went sour and more than three dozen other prospective jurors.

AT Hollinger International’s 2003 annual meeting, Conrad Black tried to disarm critics who alleged that he and top executives enriched themselves at shareholders’ expense.

The Dow Jones industrial average reached a milestone today in Wall Street’s near seven-year recovery from corporate upheaval, economic recession and terrorism, briefly trading above its record high close of 11,722.98 set on January 14, 2000.

The conviction of former Enron chiefs in the US should be a stern warning to company directors in Ireland, the director of corporate enforcement said today.

ENRON was a "ticking time bomb" in its final months as top executives lied to the public about the billions of dollars in losses it faced, prosecutors said yesterday at the start of the trial of former chief executives Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skilling.

The richest man in Russia after Roman Abramovich today unveiled plans to float his steel giant on the London market with a mooted value of £6bn (€8.8bn).

Time magazine’s 2005 Person of the Year may not be a person after all.

Former WorldCom finance chief Scott Sullivan has today been sentenced to five years in prison for his high-ranking role in the largest accounting fraud in US history.

Bernard Ebbers, who as the once-swaggering chief of WorldCom oversaw the largest corporate fraud in US history, wept in court when a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

FORMER WorldCom Inc chairman Bernard Ebbers has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for orchestrating the largest accounting fraud in US history, an $11 billion (€8.9bn) scheme that drove his company into bankruptcy.

Bernard Ebbers, who as the once-swaggering chief of WorldCom oversaw the largest corporate fraud in US history, wept in court today when a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association has criticised new laws requiring company directors to sign a statement certifying that they have complied with tax, company law and other statutory requirements.

Former WorldCom chief Bernard Ebbers, convicted last month of orchestrating the €8bn accounting fraud that sank the company, has asked for a new trial, citing unfair rulings by the judge.

BERNARD EBBERS, who built WorldCom from a humble Mississippi long-distance firm into a telecommunications titan, is facing up to 85 years in jail after being convicted yesterday of engineering the colossal accounting fraud that sank the company.

Bernard Ebbers, who built WorldCom from a humble Mississippi company into a telecommunications titan, was convicted today of engineering the colossal accounting fraud that sank the company.

US-based telecoms group Verizon Communications today said it was buying MCI, the former collapsed WorldCom group, for $5.3bn (€4bn).

Bankrupt US telecoms firm MCI, formerly known as WorldCom, today restated its 2000 and 2001 financial results, reducing its combined pre-tax profits by $74.4bn (€61.02bn).

Former WorldCom chief executive Bernard Ebbers has been indicted on federal charges stemming from the multibillion dollar accounting scandal at the telecommunications giant.

Criminal charges are expected to be announced against former WorldCom chief executive Bernard Ebbers, a source familiar with the case said today.

Accounting group KPMG was criticised yesterday for its role in the WorldCom accounting scandal in the latest report by court-appointed examiner Richard Thornburgh.

Andrew Fastow, the chief architect of the shady deals that brought down Enron, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy in a deal that could take prosecutors to the top of the corporate ladder at the scandal-ridden company.

ANDREW FASTOW, the chief architect of the shady deals that brought down Enron, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy in a deal that could take prosecutors to the top of the corporate ladder at the scandal-ridden company.

Andrew Fastow, the chief architect of the shady deals that brought down Enron, pleaded guilty today to two counts of conspiracy in a deal that could take prosecutors to the top of the corporate ladder at the scandal-ridden company.

FROM a seven-year low to a 16-month high, Britain’s leading stocks have staged an impressive recovery.

HURRICANE ISABEL was able to shut down the federal government and the DC Metro system before it even made landfall yesterday afternoon, but the region’s telephone and internet providers had already dialled up their emergency reserves to weather out the storm.

GARDA anti-terrorism officers are investigating a hacking operation at an Irish call centre which saw 700 calls made to several Islamic countries, including Afghanistan.

A federal judge has approved a plan by telecoms group WorldCom to pay a record US$750m to settle fraud charges in its historic accounting scandal.

A US judge has approved a $750m (€662m) settlement between US regulators and WorldCom, saying a substantially heavier fine for a corporate accounting fraud scandal would “unfairly penalise” the company’s 50,000 employees.

A United States judge today approved a $750m (€662m) settlement between US regulators and WorldCom, saying a substantially heavier fine for a corporate accounting fraud scandal would “unfairly penalise” the company’s 50,000 employees.

US communications giant WorldCom said its general counsel and treasurer resigned after they were criticised in a report about the bankrupt company’s former management and lack of oversight.

ComReg has reduced the rate which eircom can charge other telecom companies per month to access the last mile of its telecoms network.

WorldCom Inc has agreed to pay investors a record $500m (€428.5m) to settle civil fraud charges over its $11bn (€9.42bn)-dollar accounting scandal, which was the biggest in US corporate history.

WORLDCOM has agreed to pay about $500 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission charges that the telephone company overstated profits

I DON’T want to sound too pessimistic, but ... How often is that classic introduction heard in the course of the day?

Viacom is to pay AOL $1.2 bn in cash for its 50% stake in Comedy Channel, which is jointly owned by the two companies.

WorldCom has announced its reorganisation plan, so that it can emerge from bankruptcy with $3.5bn to $4.5bn in debt.

After a tumultuous year on the stock market UK analysts are predicting better news for investors in 2003.

MOVES to make companies more accountable in the post Enron and WorldCom environment are “quite vicious” in their implications, a leading business analyst said yesterday.

Telecom company, WorldCom Inc, announced that it has consented to entering a permanent injunction that will resolve claims brought in the Securities and Exchange Commission's civil lawsuit regarding WorldCom's past accounting practices.

A US judge has approved a settlement between WorldCom and federal regulators that calls for an unspecified fine and continued government oversight of the telecommunications company.

The new chairman and chief executive of WorldCom, Michael Capellas, has promised to improve ethics at the scandal-plagued telecommunications company.

New York

Rudolph Giuliani is favourite to become the new boss of bankrupt telecommunications giant WorldCom, it was reported today.

Michael Capellas, who recently resigned from Hewlett Packard has been named as the new Chairman and CEO of WorldCom.