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Zynga (ZNGA), which allows people to play casino games like Poker online with digital money, has taken its first steps to start offering real money games in the U.S. as it looks to take advantage of sweeping changes to American gambling rules. The San Francisco-based maker of online social games like “Words with Friends” and “Farmville” filed an application this week with the Nevada Gaming Control Board for a gaming license in the state. Zynga’s shares, which have fallen some 75% over the last year, were up about 7% to $ 2.54 on the news. In a statement, Zynga said [...]

BERLIN Greece has scored the worst ranking of all 27 European Union nations in a global league table of perceived official corruption, falling below ex-communist Bulgaria as public anger about graft soars during the country’s crisis. The index on state sector corruption, published by anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) on Wednesday, also showed other struggling euro zone countries scoring poorly such as Italy which ranked below Romania. Releasing its annual corruption perceptions index, Berlin-based TI urged European and other governments to try much harder to turn promises of fighting graft into action in areas such as public tenders, political party [...]

President Barack Obama, reapplying his re-election campaign theme of protecting the middle class, heads to Pennsylvania on Friday suggesting that Republicans could spoil Christmas by driving the country over the “fiscal cliff.” The president’s road trip, visiting a factory that makes Tinkertoys, is infuriating Republicans, with House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner calling it a “victory lap” Thursday as he rejected Obama’s proposals to avoid the cliff, which is a combination of tax increases and spending cuts set to start taking effect in January. But Boehner confronts challenges not only from Democrats but increasingly from other Republicans, some of whom [...]

SAN FRANCISCO Groupon Inc. shares climbed more than 13%, to $ 3.53 a share Tuesday, after a New York-based hedge fund disclosed it had acquired a 9.9% stake in the online daily deals company. Late Monday, Tiger Global said in a regulatory filing that it has bought 65 million shares of Groupon’s stock around Nov. 9. On Nov. 8, Groupon reported disappointing quarterly results that shaved 29% off of its stock price. Groupon’s shares have risen 35% since hitting an all-time low of $ 2.60 a share on Nov. 12.

SAN FRANCISCO A U.S. judge said he would consider whether to preliminarily approve Facebook’s second attempt to settle allegations the social networking company violated privacy rights. Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg rejected a proposed class action settlement over Facebook’s ‘Sponsored Stories’ advertising feature. But at a hearing on Thursday in San Francisco federal court, Seeborg was much less critical of a revised proposal and promised a ruling “very shortly.” Five Facebook Inc members filed a lawsuit seeking class-action status against the social networking site, saying its Sponsored Stories feature violated California law by publicizing users’ “likes” of [...]

Mark Thompson reported to work as the New York Times Co chief executive on Monday, confronting challenges ranging from making the publisher less dependent on advertising to trimming costs and figuring out what to do with its pile of cash. Thompson is also dealing with questions pertaining to a series of scandals at the BBC, where he served as director-general from 2004 until September this year. George Entwistle, who succeeded Thompson at the British broadcaster, resigned on Saturday and two of its top news directors stepped aside on Monday. The BBC has come under fire for its handling of two [...]

LONDON UBS AG has brought back several employees who were put on leave when it unveiled a drastic pullback from fixed income last week, and more could follow, sources familiar with the situation said. The Swiss bank stopped dozens of traders from reaching their desks in London last Tuesday, when it unveiled an exit from most of its rates and bond trading businesses in a strategic overhaul that will lead to 10,000 global layoffs. The bankers were placed on special leave until further notice, while in the United States UBS fired several fixed-income employees by phone. UBS has already brought [...]

LONDON UBS AG has brought back several employees who were put on leave when it unveiled a drastic pullback from fixed income last week, and more could follow, sources familiar with the situation said. The Swiss bank stopped dozens of traders from reaching their desks in London last Tuesday, when it unveiled an exit from most of its rates and bond trading businesses in a strategic overhaul that will lead to 10,000 global layoffs. The bankers were placed on special leave until further notice, while in the United States UBS fired several fixed-income employees by phone. UBS has already brought [...]

TORONTO Long convinced the country’s housing boom would never end in a crash, Canadians have watched this autumn as a sharp slowdown in real estate spreads across the country, leaving would-be home buyers hopeful and sellers scared. “The power is in the hands of the buyer – that’s what I’m feeling,” said Andria Petrillo, 32, as she and her husband toured a quiet open house in the heart of Toronto, where crowds and chaos once reigned over weekend home showings. But like most people shopping for a new home, Petrillo has to sell her old one first. And that’s where [...]