The 30-year agreement between Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) was formally signed by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin during a summit in Shanghai between the leaders of the two nations.

Russia has been keen to find an alternative energy market for its gas as it faces the possibility of European sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine and while no officially price has been given for the Russia-China deal, it is estimated to be worth over $400 billion.

Adjusted pre-tax profit for the year to the end of March was £461 million, up eight percent on the £428 million the company posted a year ago. Meanwhile, revenue rose by 17 percent to £2.33 billion.

Overall retail sales rose by 15 percent and contributed 70 percent of total revenue. While footfall remained weak, the number of customers buying goods, and their average spend, both increased.

Facing off with a screaming, unreasonable, irrational customer represents the ultimate test of any employee’s service skills.  It can take you to your breaking point if you’re not careful.  Staying grounded and above the fray requires you to find inner strength, and persevere beyond the initial difficulties.

Dealing with irate customers is one of the most pressure-packed experiences you will ever encounter on any job.  During every confrontation it is important to remember:

The US telecommunications firm plans to pay $48.5 billion in cash and stocks in order to gain access to DirecTV’s 40 million digital TV customers in the US and in Latin America. The deal would also give AT&T a new source of revenue beyond its traditional telecommunications business.

With nearly all 543 seats declared by the morning of May 17 the Bharatiya Janata party (BJP)'s victory in India's general election was secure as Narendra Modi arrived in New Delhi. The BJP announced that he would not formally take office until after Tuesday, however speculation as to the implications of this landslide for India's economy is already rife.

Modi faces overwhelming challenges on the economic front, though his victory comes at an auspicious time, with a background of world economic recovery and a strengthening currency

The country’s GDP rose 1.5 percent in the January-to-March period, against a revised 0.1 percent in the prior quarter. The figure, led by a rise of 2.1 percent in consumer spending, beats previous forecasts of 1.0 percent growth and came ahead of a sales tax increase introduced at the beginning of April. Capital spending by businesses also outperformed, rising by 4.9 percent, which was more than double analyst expectations.

The owner of the Currys and PC World brands, Dixons Retail, and mobile phone retailer Carphone Warehouse have announced they are to merge in a deal worth £3.8 billion. Dixons operates electronics and appliances stores mainly in the UK and Northern Europe, while Carphone Warehouse operates more than 2,000 cellphone stores across Europe. The all-share merger, brings together two of the UK's biggest retailers to create a company valued at more than £3 billion.

Established in 2007, when Severstal Group, one of Russia's most successful metals and resources corporations, decided to move into the gold market, Nordgold has since become recognised as one of the industry’s fastest-growing gold mining companies with operations based in West Africa, Kazakhstan and Russia.

“The company itself commenced operations in 1994 with only a small handful of employees, focusing at that time on electronic products, repairs on remote control system, lights and radios,” explains Marc Lamothe, Business Development Manager for Meglab. “When our President, Louis Valade, bought into the company in 2005, bringing with him some 30 years of mining experience, he quickly set about establishing a whole new electrical division within the company.