In Wednesday's Europe papers

14 May 2008 06:00  [Source: ICIS news]

Rain hampers China quake rescue efforts
Torrential rain and powerful aftershocks on Tuesday hampered efforts to rescue victims of the earthquake in the southwestern Sichuan province as the death toll passed 12,000 and Chinese officials warned that thousands more were still buried in rubble.

Bombs kill at least 60 in India’s Jaipur
Bomb blasts killed at least 60 people on Tuesday night in the northern city of Jaipur in India’s worst terrorist attack this year. In a carefully orchestrated attack, a series of at least five explosions tore through crowded markets at about 7.45pm, according to news reports.

Weak dollar and demand hit Nissan profits
Nissan said "absolutely scary" increases in the cost of steel and other raw materials as well as the stronger yen and flagging US market would result in a 30% fall in profits in the coming year, as it failed to give firm guidance on earnings in a new five-year business plan.

Hopes rise over Icahn’s Yahoo campaign
Yahoo’s shares jumped to their highest level since Microsoft abandoned its takeover offer as expectations rose on Tuesday that the internet company was about to come under renewed pressure to consider a deal.

'Almost nominee' status keeps Obama in limbo
The contest with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton not quite over and the one with Senator John McCain not quite under way, Senator Barack Obama is floating somewhere between the two major phases of his long campaign--a political limbo that brought him to this Republican hamlet on the night of a West Virginia primary he was expected to lose.

Earthquake death toll rises; China struggles to reach victims
The battle for survival here is as stark as anywhere in the earthquake zone. On Tuesday morning, Wang Guofei and his younger brother drove to look for their mother in the rugged southwestern county of Beichuan, where at least 5,000 people have died as a result of Monday's earthquake.

Icahn said to weigh Yahoo proxy fight
The Microsoft-Yahoo merger saga may not be over yet. Carl Icahn, the billionaire investor and activist shareholder, is considering a proxy fight for several seats on Yahoo's board in hopes of pushing the company to restart talks to sell itself to Microsoft, people who have held discussions with him said on Tuesday.

US Congress votes to stop stockpiling oil
The House and Senate demanded on Tuesday that President George W Bush halt the shipment of oil to the country's strategic petroleum reserve as long as oil prices remain high.

Front page

Economic team has hard job abroad
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin may have unveiled an overwhelmingly liberal-leaning economic team in his Cabinet on Monday, yet the government faces an uphill battle as it seeks to promote Russian business abroad in the face of widespread fear of overdependence on the country's politicized economy.

Without lights, Stockmann closes its doors
International department store chain Stockmann closed its flagship Moscow location until further notice Tuesday, after the property's landlord unexpectedly cut electricity as part of a worsening rental dispute, a Stockmann official said.

Shipyards to focus on energy vessels
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin urged his government on Tuesday to give Russia a modern fleet of ships for its flourishing energy sector and named his close ally, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, to manage the multibillion-dollar project.

Judge in BoNY case urges haste
The judge presiding over Russia’s $22.5bn (€14.6bn) lawsuit against the Bank of New York Mellon insisted on Tuesday that the case move toward a quick conclusion after more than a year of procedural delays.

China rushes to rescue trapped survivors
A father waits at the entrance to the Xianghe Elementary School. Soldiers stand in his way, not allowing him to get any closer to the building. A blue bus belonging to the police Special Forces has just driven past.

The media's mini-truths
Rudolf Augstein, the founding father of SPIEGEL, the magazine that I work for, once said that the good journalist is subject to no one -- only to his own prejudices and errors.

Bodrum's new villas fit for a king
A new chapter was added to the story of destruction of nature and history near the tourist resort of Bodrum on the Aegean coast with a contractor building a villa with a swimming pool over 3,500 year-old world-renowned tombs.

European spirit producers upset with Turkish ministers
The rapporteur of the European Alcoholic Drinks Producers Union, Nick Soper, who came to Turkey to hold talks with Finance Minister Kemal Unakıtan and Agriculture Minister Mehdi Eker on the high levels of tax the Turkish government imposes on alcoholic drinks was shocked at the indifference of Turkish officials, daily Hurriyet reported Sunday.

Global credit crunch also hits shipbuilding activity
The biggest shipbuilding boom in history collided with the largest credit-market losses ever, undermining forecasts for a plunge in freight rates. As much as $14bn (€9.1bn) in ship orders is threatened by cancellations and delays, equal to 94% of annual revenue at Hyundai Heavy Industries, the largest shipbuilder.

China's inflation rises to 8.5%
China's inflation rate rose to 8.5% in April, staying near 12-year highs, the government said yesterday, warning tougher measures were needed to handle the nation's most intractable economic problem.

Front page

Israelis to get a better look at Poland's Jewish history
President Lech Kaczynski met with Israeli President Simon Peres and PM Ehud Olmert yesterday. However, the most important talks may be with Education Minister Yuli Tamir.

Satellite internet could offer rural areas coverage
The internet coverage in Poland is out of range for 2 million households, but satellite operator SES Astra will launch a new service to solve this problem in 3-4 months. "We shall sell it with operators willing to supplement their offer for less urbanized areas," said Leszek Bujak of the Polish branch of SES Astra.

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