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EU and IMF end informal Hungary debt talks   Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pursued an unorthodox economic policy The European Commission and the IMF have cut short informal aid talks with Hungary due to worries over the independence of its central bank. Hungary had been seeking a standby credit line of 15-20bn euros ($19.5bn, £12.6bn) in case it ran into trouble issuing new debt. In November its credit rating was downgraded to 'junk' status by Moody's. EU negotiators objected to a proposed law which they said would compromise the independence of the central bank. "Unfortunately we did not receive assurances concerning the intentions of the Hungarian government, (which went on) to push forward in parliament the vote on the law that could potentially undermine the independence of the central bank," said European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj. Bank governor Andras Simor has said the proposed bill amounts to a takeover of the...

Kevin Dai: Comsenz founder preferred programming to people Computer programming was like a native language for Kevin Dai, but when he started his company he had to work on his communication skills Every day millions of Chinese web users discuss life on bulletin boards and internet forums powered by Comsenz social networking software. Kevin Dai, now 30, founded Comsenz a decade ago when he was still at university in China. Comsenz caught the eye of US investors such as Google and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital, and in August last year one of China's biggest technology companies, Tencent, bought Comsenz. Reports suggest Tencent paid anything from $45m to $60m (approximately £29m-£38m). Kevin may now be an employee, but he's still committed to the company he founded. Teen talent He first showed a talent for programming - and making money - when he was a teenager at junior middle school in the 19...

Russia becomes WTO member after 18 years of talks   Russia has spent 18 years trying to gain access to the World Trade Organisation Russia has finally joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) at a ceremony in Switzerland on Friday, after 18 years negotiating its membership. The Swiss brokered a deal between Russia and Georgia earlier this year that removed the last obstacle to Russia's accession. Georgia had tried to block Russia's WTO entry since the two countries fought a short war in 2008. Russia was by far the biggest economy yet to join the global trade body. It is also the last member of the Group of 20 major economies to join, after China gained membership in 2001. Business environment The 153-member WTO provides a forum for international trade liberalisation agreements, which it polices - deciding when rules have been breached and when retaliatory trade sanctions can be imposed. The removal of trade barriers is likely to stimulate gre...