Week in pictures

The Halifax announced the biggest one-month jump in house prices in more than six years today as fresh evidence emerged of the impact of record low interest rates on the property market. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty

Arun Sarin, departing chief executive of Vodafone, will leave the mobile phone company he has run for the past five years, with as much as £25m in his pocket. Read the article Photograph: Newscast/Jason Alden/Newscast

He will be replaced by his high-flying deputy Vittorio Colao, who currently runs Vodafone's European operations. Read the article Photograph: PR

A simmering row over strategy between BP and the billionaire local shareholders in the company's Russian joint venture, TNK-BP, has burst into the open. Read the article Photograph: Gabriel Szabo/Newscast

Firms bending new laws to raise the number of lucrative jackpot slot machines they operate face a clampdown by the Gambling Commission. Read the article Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty

Sir Philip Green, the retail billionaire, indicated he may move quickly to snap up struggling Moss Bros as he bought a 28.5% stake in the menswear retailer for £6. Photograph: Newcast

Demand for luxury handbags and shoes is still strong despite the tough economic conditions, Burberry reported. Read the article Photograph: Burberry Prorsum/EPA

Furnishings and fashion chain Laura Ashley has suffered a fall in sales as cash-strapped customers tightened their belts. Read the article Photograph: David Parry/Newscast

Flying in and out of the New York area has become an increasingly grim experience. The city's airports are chronically overstretched and it only takes a passing squall to create paralysis. But cash-strapped airlines are resisting change. Read the article Photograph: Beth A. Keiser/AP

The next scourge to afflict the global economy after soaring oil and food prices will be a surge in the cost of water brought on by growing scarcity, one of the world's biggest companies, General Electric, warned. Read the article Photograph: Pornchai Kittiwongsakul/AFP

Former CBI director general Lord Adair Turner is to take the helm of the City's watchdog as chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the Treasury confirmed. Read the article Photograph: David Gadd/Allstar