Smash Hit

News in brief

UKIP MEPs’ expenses probed | Take That’ s wedding song | Lack of drivers cancels First Capital Connect trains

General Motors drives Germany to despair

The decision to keep Opel and Vauxhall is good news for jobs in Britain but not for Germany

Strike ballot for British Airways crew

Insiders think BA is likely to try to stop any strikes by going to the courts, a tactic it has employed successfully in the past

Royal Mail strikes deliver for rival Rentokil

Extra custom resulting from the postal strike has meant that the compay has had to spend more to deal with the spike

BA to cut tenth of jobs after disastrous summer

Airline announces £292 million loss in six months to September as cost-cutting programme raises prospect of strike action

China targets US cars in dumping probe

Tit-for-tat trade row between the two economic giants deepens after America imposes large tariffs on steel pipes

British Airways reveals record loss of £292m

Airline makes worst first half loss since privatisation as it faces the High Court over staff contract changes

Cuts to go ahead but BA faces court challenge

Staff numbers on long haul flights will be reduced but Unite, the union, will test the changes in the High Court

Government takes control of East Coast rail

National Express faces a battle with the Department for Transport to keep its remaining franchises, C2C and East Anglia

BA industrial dispute heads to High Court

Cabin crew will 'unwillingly' work new rotas until case is heard in February but union refuses to rule out Christmas strikes

Toyota in profit after cost cuts and scrappage

The carmaker, which will save £180 million by leaving Formula One racing, is now looking to China for growth

Government takes over East Coast rail service

National Express will give up the London to Scotland line on November 13; Lord Adonis to seek a new operator next year

A quarter of Bmibaby staff to go in cutbacks

New company head Wolfgang Prock-Schauer announced two days after taking over that 158 of its 633 employees will go

Extra £150m of taxpayers’ money for FirstGroup

Britain’s biggest transport group is to receive a handout from the Government as the recession eats into passenger numbers

GM ‘toss of a coin’ decides fate of Vauxhall

Carmaker’s 4,500 British workers should be spared compulsory redundancy following the scrapping of the sale plan