Joe Miller
Business Reporter

That's it from us for the week. Come back at 06:00 on Monday for all the business headlines.

Image source, Getty Images

Vintage clothing has long been prized by the stylish and chic. But according to the Times today, vintage mobile phones are now sought after. Scarlett Johansson, Rihanna, Kate Beckinsale and others have been snapped holding clam shell phones or other "vintage" handsets. The article speculates that older phones don't hold much data, so are less vulnerable to embarrassing hacks.

Linda Yueh
Chief business correspondent

"ILO report: gender pay gap would disappear in half of surveyed countries, external if no discrimination; technically the 'unexplained' part of pay gap"

If your passwords are notoriously weak, take comfort in the fact that you're by no means alone. A huge cyberattack into the systems of Sony Entertainment appears to have revealed, external that the IT department its passwords in a folder called... you guessed it - "Password".

Anatole Kaletsky
Reuters columnist

"The shareholders of oil majors such as Exxon, Chevron, external, Shell, BP and Total could be among the biggest beneficiaries of the price slump, if it forces their corporate managements to abandon some of the bad habits they acquired in the 40-year oil boom ... In a competitive market the rational strategy for Western oil companies would be stop all exploration, while continuing to provide technology, geology and other profitable oilfield services."

Image source, Bloomberg

"We're heading for $60 for Brent. (There is) nothing to stop it," risk manager Tony Nunan tells Reuters. He's talking about the price of oil, which has fallen even further today. The chart above shows the decline of Brent crude this year from $115 per barrel to less than $70.

Image source, Getty Images

Third quarter growth in the Eurozone was confirmed at 0.2%. Capital Economics said the latest estimate revealed a "somewhat unbalanced picture" of growth. It highlighted the biggest quarterly rise in household spending since 2010, rising government spending, but a fall in investment for the second quarter in a row.

Simon Walker
Director General, Institute of Directors

"The news that Premier Foods could be forcing its suppliers into controversial 'pay-to-stay' arrangements is deeply disturbing... Premier need to consider their arrangements closely. We encourage them to think of the long-term damage they could be doing to their suppliers, their brands, and business in general."

Vince Cable
Business Secretary

"It's wrong for small firms to be charged, external to remain on supplier lists. I'm writing to CMA to express my concern on the issue."

Image source, Science Photo Library

All is not well on the exotic holiday islands of the Maldives. The government has declared a state of emergency after a fire at the capital's only water treatment plant led to a shortage of drinking water. India has sent five planes with water and two ships with parts to help fix the damaged plant. Scuffles have broken out in the capital Male over bottled water, according to the AFP news agency.

The FTSE 100 has held on to early gains and is still around 0.6% higher. Testing services firm Intertek Group is leading the FTSE higher, up 3.5%, after two banks upgraded their assessments of Intertek shares. Brent Crude has extended early losses, now down 45 cents at $69.19 a barrel.

Rory Cellan-Jones
Technology correspondent

"Interesting - @BuzzFeedUK on a hiring spree, external, @TomChivers joining from Telegraph, more specialists coming"

Image source, Science Photo Library

French fries, aka chips, are being airlifted to Japan, to fill a supply gap brought about by a dockworkers' dispute. The Japanese arm of McDonald's has been having problems since mid-November, AFP reports. Not only are the Japanese chip-deprived, but butter has been in short supply too.

World Service

The Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė (often called Lithuania's Iron Lady) - has told the BBC that Russia's cancellation of the South Stream pipeline is proof that Europe's stance over Ukraine is working, despite the unhappiness over the decision in several other EU states. In an interview with the BBC's Vishala Sri-Pathma, she also repeated an earlier assertion that Russia was displaying "features of a terrorist state".

Image source, AFP

Cast your minds back to the Scottish Referendum. The claim made by the pro-independence SNP was that Scotland's oil revenues would help the country to balance the books on its own. But as Buzzfeed reports, falling oil prices have now created a £20bn hole, external in their projections - which assumed oil would remain around $113 a barrel. Today, it's at $69.13.

Image source, AP

The last van rolled off the production line at GM's Opel plant in Bochum, Germany today. The factory has been running for 52 years and at its peak employed 22,000 staff. Around 300 staff will be retained to run a car parts unit.

There's coverage in the papers of the rush to meet the chancellor's deadline for changes to stamp duty. The Daily Express describes a manic 12 hours for estate agents - with one buyer moving quickly enough to save himself more than £1.4m. The Daily Mail says the changes sparked one of the busiest periods for estate agents in 25 years with an exchange on a £30m house in Surrey going through just 15 minutes before midnight on Wednesday.

Image source, ILO

The International Labour Organisation, external has released its Global Wage Report. Among the findings, the report showed that in rich nations, stagnant wages are due to companies retaining profits and not rewarding staff.

Linda Yueh
Chief business correspondent

"BOE survey finds that people expect inflation to slow, external: expectations of inflation over the coming year were 2.5% compared with 2.8% in August"

Talking of Berkeley, the firm says it made pre-tax profits of £305m in the six months to end of Oct, up 80% on the same period last year.