US President Barack Obama has marked Earth Day by announcing a plan to permit offshore electricity generation from wind, waves and ocean currents.   The move will help to reduce carbon emissions and fight global warming, while creating jobs, said Obama.  He also said that wind could create as much as 20 percent of US electricity demand by 2030, and insisted that his plan for offshore energy would not damage the economy.  "As with so many clean energy investments, it's win-win," he said, predicting that offshore energy would create as many as 250,000 jobs.

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Lonmin plc, the world's third-biggest platinum producer, posted a 30 percent rise in second-quarter platinum sales, helped by processing a backlog, and completed a US$575 million debt refinancing package.

Lonmin plc, the world's third-biggest platinum producer, posted a 30 percent rise in second-quarter platinum sales, helped by processing a backlog, and completed a US$575 million debt refinancing package.

Lonmin plc, the world's third-biggest platinum producer, posted a 30 percent rise in second-quarter platinum sales, helped by processing a backlog, and completed a US$575 million debt refinancing package.

General Motors (GM) and Chrysler are to get additional loans and more time from the US treasury as the troubled carmakers work on plans to try and make themselves viable and stave off bankruptcy.   GM could get as much as $5 billion more in federal loans, while Chrysler could get $500 million as they race against government-imposed deadlines to restructure, according to a government report filed Tuesday.  A special inspector general on the auto industry and bank bailout programs says the money will be made available for working capital.

Carphone Warehouse, the UKÔÇÖs biggest mobile-phone retailer, has announced plans to separate its mobile phone business from its TalkTalk fixed line and broadband operations, creating two listed firms with Carphone founder Charles Dunstone set to be executive chairman for both. ┬á The separation would create two businesses with ÔÇ£distinct investment profiles and improved comparability with sector peers,ÔÇØ the company said in an e-mailed statement today.

Business software manufacturer Oracle has said it is in a deal to buy computer hardware and software maker Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion.   The deal comes a month after IBM abandoned its bid to buy Sun, and Oracle said the buy "transforms the IT industry, combining best-in-class enterprise software and mission-critical computing systems."   Although best known for its computer servers, Sun was also the developer of the Java programming language, and created the Solaris operating system.

The second season of the star-studded, multimillion-dollar Indian Premier League was moved to South Africa after concerns over security in India. The five-week tournament will feature many of the world's leading players who have been snapped up by eight franchises.   Moving the IPL show to South Africa could help boost its economy, which shrank in the last quarter of 2008 for the first time in ten years, and could be facing possible recession.

PepsiCo Inc., the worldÔÇÖs second- largest soft-drink maker, offered about $6 billion in cash and stock to buy out other shareholders of its two biggest bottlers to take greater control over product sales in North America. In 1999, PepsiCo followed Coca-ColaÔÇÖs lead by spinning off its capital-intensive bottling operations. PepsiCo and bigger rival Coca-Cola Co. sell beverage concentrate and syrup to licensed bottlers who add water and other ingredients, put the mixture in bottles and cans, and sell it.