In Monday's Europe papers

04 August 2008 06:00  [Source: ICIS news]

FINANCIAL TIMES

Front page

Indian temple stampede leaves 145 dead
At least 145 people, mostly women and children, were crushed to death under the feet of thousands of pilgrims in a stampede at a temple in northern India on Sunday, police said.

Japan close to declaring recession
Japan’s government may be forced to declare that the country has entered a technical recession, according to several economists, although any downturn is likely to be far shallower than previous contractions in 2001 and 1998.

Companies and markets

European companies braced for slowdown
Companies across Europe have begun to cut jobs, scale back production and reduce hiring to slash costs as they brace for a recession or sharp economic slowdown at the end of the year.

Imperial approached by China’s Sinopec
Sinopec has made an approach to Imperial Energy, the London-listed oil and gas explorer, which could derail takeover talks between the UK group and India’s ONGC.

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Front page

Taliban frustrates US efforts
The mounting toll inflicted by insurgents has refocused the attention of America's military commanders and its presidential contenders on the Afghan war.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn dies at 89
The Nobel Prize-winning author, whose literary struggles revealed the afflictions of Soviet Communism, died late on Sunday in Moscow.

Marketplace

Shipping costs start to crimp globalization
Cheap oil, the lubricant of inexpensive transportation links, may not return soon, upsetting the logic of diffuse global supply chains.Tenacity of

A second, far larger wave of US mortgage defaults is building
With the US economy struggling, homeowners with better credit are now falling behind on their payments in growing numbers and delinquencies among prime loans, which account for most of the $12,000b0n (€7,680bn) market, have doubled.

THE MOSCOW TIMES

Front page

Arguing US law with an interpreter
As the cross-examination stretched into the afternoon, expert witness Robert Blakey sat down in the witness stand and rubbed his white beard. The lead defense lawyer leaned in --his pink-and-black checkered tie swinging--and began reading another lengthy excerpt from a US Supreme Court case.

Nevzlin sentenced to life in prison
The Moscow City Court on Friday convicted former Yukos co-owner Leonid Nevzlin on several counts of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced him to life in prison, though the businessman was absent from the trial.

Business

Electricity firms cry foul over price cap
Power producers voiced alarm Friday after a government regulator clamped down on pricing by Mosenergo, the Moscow power generator controlled by Gazprom, in the country's first-ever competitive tender for electricity capacity.

Goldman Sachs buys Pokrovsky hills
Investment banking giant Goldman Sachs said Friday that it had bought Pokrovsky Hills, an elite townhouse neighborhood in northwest Moscow, from US insurance firm AIG and Deutsche Bank for an undisclosed sum. 

DER SPIEGEL

Front page

The rush to save Timbuktu's crumbling manuscripts
Fabled Timbuktu, once the site of the world's southernmost Islamic university, harbors thousands upon thousands of long-forgotten manuscripts. A dozen academic instutions from around the world are now working frantically to save and evaluate the crumbling documents.

Karadzic says fair trial impossible
Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic says he cannot get a fair trial at the war crimes tribunal because of a "media witch hunt." In a statement published Friday by the court, Karadzic also reiterates his claims that former US mediator Richard Holbrooke reneged on an immunity deal.

TURKISH DAILY

Front page

17 girls died in dormitory collapse 
A girl's dormitory in Konya's southern district Taskent collapsed after a suspected gas explosion early Friday morning, killing 17 girls and injuring at least 27 others. 

Wildfires rampage across Antalya
A forest fire that erupted late Thursday in Karabük village in Antalya's Manavgat district had still not been contained as the Turkish Daily News went to press Friday.

Business and finance

S&P revises outlook, currency forecasts raised 
As Turkey's Constitutional Court decided not to ban the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, credit rating agencies and investment banks started upgrading forecasts.

Foreign banks unwilling to provide loans
Foreign banks have become unwilling to provide loans to Turkey's business community due to the crisis in global markets as well as increasing political and economic risks in the country.

WARSAW BUSINESS JOURNAL

Front page

Ombudsman asks Defense Min for Iraq's cost and profits
The move comes after daily Rzeczpospolita revealed that Baghdad authorities wanted to buy equipment from Poland and for the country to take on economical protectorate over one of Iraq's provinces. The government, however, showed a lack of interest in the offer.

Finance Ministry to save money by cutting defense budget
Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski plans to cut the Defense Ministry's 2009 budget and withdraw from the obligation to spend 2% of GDP on financing the army. This idea was very strongly criticized by the opposition parties. "The army is not a place to save money," claimed opposition politicians.

By: Staff Reporter
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