startling
return to health of the American car maker General Motors. The company, which the US government had to rescue from collapse in 2009, turned its highest ever profit in 2011. But as our business reporter Mark Gregory explains, not everything is well with the company.
The big picture is General Motors has made a remarkable recovery from near collapse three years ago. The company spent months in bankruptcy and only survived thanks to a multi-billion dollar bailout from the US government. But last year, armed with lower labour costs and shorn of many of its debts, GM roared back to financial health. However, investors are still finding things to worry about: sales were flat in the all-important North American market towards the end of last year.
The European Commission has welcomed the Italian government's plan to make the Catholic Church there subject to
property tax
. The proposal could earn the state more than $1bn in much needed revenue. Here's Alan Johnston.
The new government's austerity programme has demanded sacrifices from many Italians, but at first the Catholic Church was
spared
. It continued to be free of tax on its huge amounts of property, not just its places of worship but also its buildings that house hotels, private clinics. The matter had even been taken up by the European Commission. It has been looking at whether the tax-exempt status of the Church's commercial properties
amounted to