In Friday's Europe papers

18 January 2008 06:00  [Source: ICIS news]

LONDON (ICIS news)--These were the top stories at 06:00 GMT in the following European newspapers’ online versions on Friday. ICIS has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. To go to the individual websites, click the links below:

FINANCIAL TIMES

Front page

Bond insurers spark new credit concerns
Fears that the credit crunch might be entering a traumatic new phase grew on Thursday as investors lost confidence in the insurers that guarantee payments on billions of dollars in bonds.

Asian stocks tumble as US outlook worsens
Asian stocks tumbled anew on Friday after the latest salvo of sour signals about the US economy pummelled Wall Street, sending the benchmark S&P 500 down 3% to a 15-month nadir.

Companies and markets

Merrill reports worst quarter in its history
Merrill Lynch on Thursday reported the worst quarter since it was founded nearly 100 years ago, saying it lost $9.8bn (€6.6bn) in the last three months of 2007 following more than $15bn in asset writedowns.

Overview: Equities fall as Philly Fed slumps
Financial markets recoiled on Thursday when a closely watched survey of regional US manufacturing activity moved into recession territory and US bond insurers faced the threat of losing their triple-A ratings.

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Front page

Frontier insurgency spills into a Pakistani city
For centuries, fighting and lawlessness have been part of the fabric of this frontier city. But in the past year, Pakistan's war with Islamic militants has spilled right into its alleys and bazaars, its forts and armories, killing policemen and soldiers and scaring its famously tough citizens.

US stocks plunge on grim outlook for economy
US stocks plunged on Thursday, falling a third straight day, as a drop in regional factory activity and a hefty loss at Merrill Lynch further clouded an increasingly dire view of the economy.

Marketplace

British prime minister reaches out for Chinese investment
Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain told China on Friday he was taking their relationship to a new level and that he wanted Britain to be the number one choice for Chinese trade and investment.

Merrill Lynch reports record loss after $16.7bn in write-downs
Merrill Lynch, a firm one-third the size of Citigroup, posted a similarly large fourth-quarter loss of $9.8bn (€6.6bn) Thursday, fueled by write-downs worth $16.7bn, more than double the firm's profits in 2006.

THE MOSCOW TIMES

Front page

Kellogg corners cereals market
Tony the Tiger would growl proudly. Kellogg, whose cartoon tiger is pictured on its Frosties cereal boxes, announced Thursday that it had purchased United Bakers Group, the country's biggest breakfast cereal maker, to take almost complete control of the local market.

British Council gives up the fight
The British Council gave up its fight to keep two of its Russian offices open Thursday, saying a "campaign of intimidation" by security services had forced it to suspend work in St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

Business

SABMiller offices searched in tax inquiry
SABMiller, the world's third-largest brewer, said its Moscow office had been searched by government officials investigating a tax case.

Ukraine clears final hurdle to WTO
The EU said Thursday that it had cleared the final hurdles in talks about Ukraine's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) after Kiev agreed to a deal on the duties it applies to exports.

DER SPIEGEL

Front page

Racing against the mullahs
Zohreh Vatankhah steps into the elevator on the fifth floor, takes it down to the ground floor, turns right and walks through a heavy steel door into the garage where her 2006 Toyota Corolla is parked. But this isn't your ordinary Toyota.

EU members lobby against 'harmful' climate plan
As the European Commission puts the finishing touches on a sweeping climate change policy package to be unveiled on 23 January, politicians and business leaders from the EU's richest member states are lobbying to revamp draft policies that they believe could harm them in Europe and abroad.

TURKISH DAILY

Front page

Hillary wins White House
While Turkey's state policy formally avoids a posture close to any of the US presidential hopefuls, Turkish diplomats and other high-level officials generally favor leading candidate Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton over her chief rival Senator Barack Obama in the race to capture the Democratic Party's ticket for the November elections.

Republican Mitt Romney beats McCain in Michigan primary
Mitt Romney scored a breakthrough win over rival John McCain in Michigan on Tuesday, reviving his struggling campaign and scrambling a chaotic Republican presidential race with no clear front-runner.

Business and finance

Dubai investors eye Turkey's privatizations
Dubai investors were informed of the investment opportunities in Turkey at a conference held in Dubai by EFG Istanbul Securities 15 January-16 January.

JPMorgan 'cautious' as profits fall
JPMorgan Chase, the third- biggest US bank, said profit fell 34%, more than analysts estimated, after $1.3bn (€884m) of writedowns for subprime-mortgage investments.

WARSAW BUSINESS JOURNAL

Front page

Petrolinvest hits the jackpot with Kazakh oil contracts
Petrolinvest is sitting on top of oil reserves of more than 1 billion barrels, according to a new report by Canadian oil consultancy McDaniel & Associates.

Companies begin to put their IPO's on hold
Seven companies which recently were cleared to go ahead with their IPO's decided to postpone their debuts following the recent bear run on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE).

By: Staff Reporter
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