The Business Matrix: Monday 7 January 2013

Finance chiefs see clouds lifting

Britain's boardrooms are shrugging off fears of a triple-dip recession, according to leading financial chiefs. The professional services firm Deloitte's latest survey of chief financial officers representing quoted companies worth almost £700bn reveals optimism rising for the second quarter in a row as immediate threats such as a eurozone break-up recede.

Bio-fuel pollutant could kill 1,400

Bio-fuels could add to air pollution and cause almost 1,400 premature deaths a year in Europe by 2020, according to a new study. The report from Lancaster University also said trees grown to produce wood fuel released a chemical into the air that, when mixed with other air pollutants, could reduce farmers' crop yields.