澳洲新闻 (ABC新闻快递) 2010-03-13（在线收听）

A report on the collapse of Lehman Brothers has found it disguised its financial position four weeks before filing for bankruptcy. The collapse of the American investment bank in September helped trigger the global financial crisis. Now a court-appointed examiner has criticized senior executives and auditor Ernst & Young for the serious lapses that they caused.

British Airways cabin crew have announced strikes as talks between the airline and unions over pay and conditions break down. The company says it'll try to run as many services as possible despite the strikes which will run for three days from March 20th and another four days from 27th.

And there's been mixed economic data from the US. The latest retail figures show a surprise rise in sales in February. But optimism on US markets was dampened by weak consumer sentiment. Wall Street ended the week relatively flat. European shares closed at their highest level in almost two months despite that mixed data from the US.

In Asia, Japan's Nikkei hit its highest close in seven weeks on Friday as exporters gain on speculation that the yen will weaken. And the local market closed marginally higher with modest gains across the board.

And that's ABC Business News