World's Largest Soccer Clubs Return 4 Billion EUR of Profit Annually

During the season of 2008-2009, the total revenue of twenty most profitable soccer clubs increased significantly and now amounts to nearly €4 billion. Real Madrid with €401.4 million in profit once again retained its place at the top. The club has been the top earning team of the Football Money League for the last five seasons.
The club’s financial matters were not affected by t...

By JAD MOUAWAD
Published: March 4, 2010

John Van Beekum for The New York Times
INDIANTOWN, Fla. — In former swamplands teeming with otters and wild hogs, one of the nation’s biggest utilities is running an experiment in the future of renewable power.
Across 500 acres north of West Palm...

By ERIC PFANNER
Published: March 2, 2010
PARIS — The British Broadcasting Corp. on Tuesday yielded to critics of its aggressive expansion, proposing sweeping cuts in spending on its Web site and other digital operations
The proposals were published in a strategic review, only weeks before a British election that could usher in a period of austerity. Members of the Conservative Party, which is expected to make electoral gains at the expense of the governing Labour Party, have called for the ...

By NIKI KITSANTONIS
Published: March 3, 2010
ATHENS — The Greek government Wednesday approved another round of tax increases and pay cuts for public employees as part of new austerity measures aimed at reducing the country’s huge budget deficit and defusing a debt crisis that has rattled the European Union and its common currency.
The raft of measures aims to generate €4.8 billion, or $6.54 billion, in revenue and savings this year, and comes just a month after another package of cuts w...

By ELISABETTA POVOLEDO
Published: March 1, 2010

MILAN — In an effort to heighten awareness about the contributions made by foreign workers to the Italian economy, the promoters of the first strike by immigrants in the country invited workers to stay home and to boycott shopping for one day.

Similar protests took place in other European countries on Monday (the initiative started in France and found supporters in Spain and Greece, as well). A comparable boycott, “A Day Without Immigran...

By NIKI KITSANTONIS
Published: March 1, 2010

ATHENS — The commissioner for monetary affairs at the European Union, Olli Rehn, said on Monday that austerity measures announced by the Greek government to stave off a mounting fiscal crisis were “in the right direction” but not adequate to reduce a bloated budget deficit by 4 percent this year and tackle a debt crisis threatening the euro zone.
After talks with government and central bank officials in Athens, Mr. Rehn reassured Greece of ...

By REUTERS
Published: March 1, 2010

TOKYO — Japan’s jobless rate fell below 5 percent in January for the first time in nearly a year and job availability rose, in a sign steady improvements in exports and output are spreading to other sectors of the economy.

But analysts expect the recovery in job conditions to remain slow in the coming months as companies are still far from operating at full capacity in the face of feeble domestic demand.

“Exports and industrial production have ...

By REUTERS
Published: March 1, 2010

HONG KONG — Asian shares rose for a third straight session on Tuesday, led by tech stocks, while the Australian dollar slid before what is expected to be a close decision by the central bank on whether to raise interest rates again.

Lower volatility in financial markets and upbeat comments from SanDisk, the biggest maker of NAND flash memory cards, lifted tech-heavy share markets like South Korea and Taiwan.

The euro remained under pressure, with d...