UK house prices fell in May by the most in at least 17 years as the scarcity of credit hit potentail buyers, Nationwide Building Society said.

Principal news stories from the Irish Independent, Irish Times, Irish Examiner, Financial Times and New York Times.

Global Food Crisis Summit: The conference next week in Rome (3-5 June) on world food security, offers a historic chance to re-launch the fight against hunger and poverty and boost agricultural production in developing countries, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said on Wednesday. President Nicolas Sarkozy of France will be among the European leaders who will be in attendance but despite the global boom in agriculture, all Europe will offer are pieties and some euros for the begging bowl of the developing countries. European politicians dancing to the tune of the powerful farm lobby, will not concede changes in the existing protections from an era of food mountains and wine lakes.

The Irish Companies Consolidation & Reform Bill, which is expected to become law within two years, provides for significant changes in company law, according to Dublin law firm William Fry.

The US filed suit on Wednesday against the European Union over tariffs on three kinds of popular high-tech products.

Eurozone inflation has returned to record levels signalled by German data published on Wednesday. In a period of sustained high oil and food prices, the likelihood of a cut in European Central Bank interest rates, in coming months, has further diminished.

A vacant home that won’t sell can drag down the price of nearby homes on the market — or even become a danger to the neighborhood. Terri offers a few tips on how to protect your house when there’s a vacant home nearby.

Markets news on stocks, currencies and oil.

Airbus, Europe’s commercial aircraft manufacturer, today said that orders for its A380 superjumbo may be one-third lower than previously forecast because of higher fuel costs and the slowdown in the world economy.

US orders for durable goods fell 0.5 percent in May, the US Commerce Department said Wednesday. Durables, which are manufactured goods designed to last at least three years, fell 0.3 percent in March, revised down from a previously estimated 0.1 percent increase.