In Friday's Europe papers

12 September 2008 06:30  [Source: ICIS news]

FINANCIAL TIMES

Front page

Lehman races to find buyer or investor
Lehman Brothers was in talks with potential buyers – including Bank of America – in a last-ditch attempt to stave off collapse after investors gave a thumbs-down to its survival plans.

Taxpayers face bill over energy initiative
Gordon Brown’s promise to raise £910m from energy companies to fund a national home-insulation drive will cost the industry substantially less than the headline figure because the cost can be knocked off their tax bill.

Companies and markets

Murdoch opens JCDecaux talks
Rupert Murdoch has begun exclusive talks with JCDecaux to exchange his eastern European billboard business for cash and a stake in the French outdoor advertising group, days after Russian authorities raided the division.

Emerging markets suffer as risk aversion rises
Financial markets endured further volatility as risk-aversion intensified amid persistent concerns about the outlook for the financial sector in general and Lehman Brothers in particular

INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE

Front page

Lehman said to be looking for a buyer as pressure builds
While the Treasury Department and Fed were working to broker an orderly sale, it was unclear whether the Fed would stand behind any deal.

Peace deal reached in Zimbabwe
The opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai emerged from power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe to say a deal had been struck, but did not provide details.

Marketplace

Foreign companies pushed to allow Chinese unions
The presence of state-certified labor unions at foreign-owned facilities in China could hinder business and increase costs.

Japan revises second-quarter GDP to show bigger contraction
The economy shrank by 0.7% in the April-June quarter, greater than the government’s initial estimates but less than what economists had been expecting.

THE MOSCOW TIMES

Front page

Medvedev promises liquidity injection
A concerted effort by President Dmitry Medvedev and other top officials to bolster nervy Russian markets failed to impress investors on Thursday, despite his pledge that the government would step in with extra funds to plug growing liquidity shortfalls.

Museum boasts Tskhinvali ‘War Trophies’
Vladimir Semchenko unloaded his latest booty on a table on Thursday at the Central Armed Forces Museum: a soldier’s helmet, canteen and flashlight, as well as a notebook with a Georgian flag on the cover. On the metal helmet someone had scratched “Georgia 10.08.08.” in Russian.

Business

Big names raise stake in LUKoil
LUKoil said on Thursday that shareholders Vagit Alekperov and Leonid Fedun recently increased their interest in the company, which fell more than 14% this week before news of the acquisition.

Market fall eases up on day 3
The MICEX Index sank to the lowest since January 2006, dropping 3.7% to 1,073.02 at the close in Moscow. The dollar-denominated RTS retreated 2.7% to 1,298.08. 

DER SPIEGEL

Front page

How dangerous is Al-Qaida?
After seven years, and a much-trumpeted war against terrorism, the organisation that toppled the World Trade Center has not been defeated. SPIEGEL ONLINE talks to seven experts about how much of a threat al-Qaida still poses.

Does ‘Islamic Democracy’ exist?
For over 1,300 years Muslims have been engaged in a search for a form of government that is right for them. There are parliaments and sometimes even political opposition groups in many Muslim countries, but as a general rule political decisions are based on agreements reached between tribal groups and families.

TURKISH DAILY

Front page

Turkish scientists seek to be 21th in CERN 
The global scientific community is closely observing the historical experiment by the European Organization for Nuclear Research, or CERN, which will probe into the depths of the basic principles of matter. Turkey has some 60 scientists participating at the CERN facility on the French-Swiss border, but the country is striving for full membership, which has advantages that will bring Turkey closer to the frontiers of particle physics and beyond.

Growth slumps to slowest in six years
Turkey’s economy grew at the slowest pace since the country emerged from a recession six years ago as higher interest rates and the threat of political instability hurt consumer spending.

Business and finance

Güney Kasaba, the greenest project in Uskumruköy
Houses in Oğuz İnşaat's Güney Kasaba project, located in Istanbul’s Uskumruköy district, range from 190,000 to 390,000 euros. A 165-square-meter, 3+1 duplex house will cost €190,000. One of the most distinguishing features of the project is that it has the largest amount of green areas in the region,” said Güney.

Üysen to become ‘tax champion’ through the sale of controversial Gaziantep land
The bar has been raised for the largest individual contribution to state coffers this year. On a single commercial real estate deal with a German developer worth nearly YTL 90m, businessman Nuri Üysen will owe YTL 25.7m in taxes.

WARSAW BUSINESS JOURNAL

Front page

Orlen to pay extra dividend from sales
PKN Orlen's disposal of Anwil and Polkmtel could put extra dividend in its shareholder's pockets

Russia doesn’t see Poland as a threat
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Warsaw on Thursday said that Russia hasn't changed its stance on the US missile defense system and cannot ignore the fact that the system will be located close to the Russian border.

By: Staff Reporter
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