It was one of the signature deals of the boom.

A EUROPEAN Union agreement to ban Iranian oil imports boosted crude oil prices yesterday, but persistent worries about a eurozone debt crisis hobbled the single currency and European stocks.

THE new face of a woman who was mauled by a chimpanzee two years ago has been revealed in photos showing a startling transformation.

FBI agents raided three hedge funds in what one of the targets called a wide-ranging probe of insider trading in the financial industry.

OIL prices closed at their lowest level in two weeks yesterday, tumbling below $94 a barrel on doubts that a revamped financial bailout plan will be enough to avoid a protracted economic slump and revive dwindling US energy demand.

A hedge fund swindler who set off a national manhunt when he faked his suicide to avoid reporting to prison rode his scooter to a small-town police station in Massachusetts and turned himself in while talking to his mother on his cell phone.

Professional wrestler Chris Benoit strangled his wife and smothered his seven-year-old son before hanging himself in his weight room, near Atlanta, Georgia, a law enforcement official close to the investigation said.

Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking today announced that it has appointed a dedicated media finance person in the US and further appointments will be made in the near future.

Dance star Moby held an exhibition in his home town of Stamford, Connecticut, last week to showcase illustrated prints and clothing from his Little Idiot line.

US housing construction rose last month to the highest since January and the number of people continuing to collect jobless benefits fell to the lowest in two months, signs the economy is beginning to strengthen.

CONSUMER confidence in the US economy this month jumped the most for 12 years as the fighting in Iraq ended, energy costs fell and stock prices rose.

Senator Joe Lieberman has said he will run for US president in 2004, telling pupils and parents at his old school that he will always "put America first".

The murder case against Kennedy cousin Michael Skakel will proceed, a US judge ruled yesterday, despite credibility questions about a key witness who admitted to recent heroin use.