BP launches $40bn lawsuit against Transocean – today’s papers

BP has lauched a $40bn (£24bn) lawsuit against Transocean, the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year.

On the first anniversary of the major oil spill, London-based BP also announced it is suing Cameron International for negligence, saying a blowout preventer made by Cameron failed to avert the catastrophe. MORE...

Official figures being published on Thursday will reveal whether the government hit its public borrowing forecasts for the last financial year. MORE...

Stock markets around the world continued the biggest rally of the year while gold reached another high. MORE...

The UK government's Budget tax hike on North Sea oil will lead to substantial cuts in investment and production in the industry, a new report has said. MORE...

British manufacturers are failing to compete against foreign rivals in the UK with potentially damaging repercussions for the recovery, Bank of England policy-makers have warned. MORE...

The Australian dollar rose to a record high against the US dollar as producer prices beat forecasts, indicating that inflation pressures are still strong. MORE...

Latest profits for the computer giant Apple beat hopes, including a higher-than-expected rise in iPhone sales. MORE...

Ten-year bunds fell for a third day as Asian stocks rose, sapping demand for the relative safety of government debt. MORE...

Chaucer is being swallowed up by an American rival in a deal that values the Lloyd's of London insurer at £313m. MORE...

Japanese stocks advanced for a second day after US companies including Apple Inc. (AAPL) reported increased profits and oil prices surged, signaling the global economic recovery is accelerating. MORE

Persistently high unemployment "could eventually result in discouragement and permanent withdrawal from the labour force", especially among younger and less skilled workers. MORE...

AIG has offloaded part of its troublesome insurance risk division to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway, relieving the company of a book of business that has cost it billions of dollars in recent months. MORE...

Most Britons think their local high street is worse than it was ten years ago and only 15% of people feel optimistic about the chances of economic recovery when walking around their shopping areas. MORE...