In Wednesday's Europe papers

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

FINANCIAL TIMES

Front page

China says 18 suspects trained abroad
A Chinese official said on Tuesday that police had arrested 18 members of a separatist terrorist group who had been trained outside China. The authorities meanwhile stepped up Olympics security following Monday’s deadly attack in a western Chinese city.

Beijing gags Olympic protests
Beijing trumpeted its decision to establish special protest zones for this month’s Olympics as a demonstration of the liberties enjoyed by citizens of China’s capital.

Companies and markets

Citigroup might reverse research split
Citigroup is working on a plan that would shift its equity research operations into its institutional securities business, reversing a reform implemented this decade amid regulatory scrutiny of Wall Street conflicts of interest.

Xstrata planning $9bn bid for Lonmin
Xstrata, the Swiss-based mining group, was on Tuesday night preparing an unsolicited takeover bid for Lonmin, a FTSE 100-listed platinum producer, in a deal likely to be worth about $9bn (€5.8bn).

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Front page

Iraqi army is willing, but not ready, to fight
Ahmed Mahmoud, a lieutenant in the Iraqi Army, lost one leg fighting the insurgency and says he would not quit his job even if he lost the other. He believes in his army.

Bush says North Korea must work to verify denuclearisation
President Bush says that the Korean peninsula offers a contrast between free and open societies like South Korea and repressive regimes like its neighbor to the north.

Marketplace

Sony buys out Bertelsmann for $900m(€585mm)
Sony and Bertelsmann said Tuesday that they would unravel their joint venture in music, ending a four-year partnership that has generated more dissonance than harmony.

Fed holds US interest rates steady, while easing concern over inflation
With jobs leaking from the economy month after month, Federal Reserve policy makers decided on Tuesday to keep the key interest rate they control at its current level of 2%.

THE MOSCOW TIMES

Front page

Prokhorov offers Potanin asset swap
Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group said Tuesday that it had agreed to sell 16.66% of Norilsk Nickel to Vladimir Potanin’s Interros in a $10bn (€6.4bn) cash-and-asset swap that would give Prokhorov control of Polyus Gold.

Hundreds pay their respects to Solzhenitsyn
Lying alone in the center of the marble hall, the great writer, his eyes closed and skin pale, looked almost diminutive. As strains of classical music issued softly from nearby speakers, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, framed by a military honor guard and a mountain of red and white roses, seemed at peace.

Business

Pirelli, state firm in $387.5m tire venture
Italy’s Pirelli and Russian Technologies said Tuesday that they would jointly invest €250m ($387.5m) into a new tire plant in Tolyatti that will supply tires to AvtoVAZ.

Work permit rules eased for managers
Foreign managers or specialists who fall under certain categories can now bypass migration quotas normally in place for foreign employees, a senior Federal Migration Service official said Tuesday. 

DER SPIEGEL

Front page

The fragmented future of world trade
The idea was to create a unified trade regime for the entire globe. But with WTO talks failing last week, the future of trade looks much more fragmented. Myriad bilateral agreements are on the horizon -- and bitter trade wars are likely.

Labor union chaos is Germany's future
Recent strikes in Germany prove what many experts have long been warning: Labor unions in the country are fragmenting. Mini-organizations representing specialized employees are making strikes more frequent and more complex than ever.

TURKISH DAILY

Front page

Yet Another death among newborns
As the number of the deaths of newborn babies increases at Ankara's Zekai Tahir Burak maternity hospital, the hospital said it is over-capacity and that it blames premature births for the deaths.

Intellectual, hawk and cool
For many in Ankara, Turkey's new top commander is one of the most intellectual generals within the military, something he proved during his tenure as land forces commander from 2006 to the present.

Business and finance

Central bank chiefs 'helpless' 
Recessions are threatening to crash over the world economy in waves, as one country after another turns down a year after the onset of the global credit crisis. 

Aygun Group focuses on investing in city hotels
The Aygun Group, which entered the tourism sector with the construction of a hotel similar in appearance to famous 20th century ship the Titanic, plans to expand into the field of urban hotels.

WARSAW BUSINESS JOURNAL

Front page

Ukraine confident it will keep Euro 2012
UEFA president Michel Platini has visited Kiev twice this year and warned the officials about the slow preparations.

Walesa ready to act as mediator in Belarussian politics
"If both sides agree and give a clear sign that they are waiting for my mediation, I will not hesitate: I can mediate," announced Walesa, adding that he would not have a problem to convince Lukashenko to hold round table talks in Belarus.

By: Staff Reporter
+44 20 8652 3214

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