Vodafone eyeing offer for C&W Worldwide February 13, 2012 Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile operator by revenue, said it was weighing an offer for Britain’s Cable & Wireless Worldwide, and its fixed-line network that could boost bandwidth for its Internet hungry customers. “Vodafone regularly reviews opportunities in the sector and confirms that it is in the very early stages of evaluating the merits of [...]
GREEKS PASS BILL AS ATHENS BURNS February 12, 2012 VIOLENT protesters stormed through central Athens last night setting fire to buildings as politicians passed a series of unpopular austerity measures. Cinemas, Starbucks cafés, banks and other commercial properties burned into the night, after up to 100,000 Greeks took to the streets. Inside parliament, a mammoth 10-hour debate culminated in support for the package of [...]
New Bumi cash call proposed February 12, 2012 THE NEWEST major investor in Bumi, the FTSE 250 miner, will use a visit to London this week to propose raising more cash to spend some $2bn (£1.27bn) on developing mining assets, City A.M. has learned. Samin Tan, the Indonesian tycoon who owns 23.8 per cent of Bumi through his mining company Borneo Lumbung, will [...]
Lansley’s NHS bill attacked February 12, 2012 EMBATTLED health secretary Andrew Lansley faced a barrage of criticism over his proposed NHS reforms yesterday, with a leading Liberal Democrat calling for him to step down in the near future. Deputy Lib Dem leader Simon Hughes said that Lansley should “move on” from his health role in the second half of the coalition’s parliamentary [...]
Everyone must learn to pay their way February 12, 2012 BRITAIN as a whole is spending much more than it raises in tax – that is why there is a massive budget deficit and the government is being forced to borrow so much. But what if the various parts of the UK were all independent countries, including the English regions? Looked at in this way, [...]
Peppa owner halts sale February 12, 2012 ENTERTAINMENT One, the listed media company, will announce this morning that it is ditching a sale of itself in favour of a major acquisition, City A.M. understands. The move concludes a strategic review for the owner of Peppa Pig and distributor of the Twilight movies, which the market had expected to end in a sale [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING February 12, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CHINA TELLS BANKS TO ROLL OVER LOANS China has instructed its banks to embark on a mammoth roll-over of loans to local governments, delaying the country’s reckoning with debts that have clouded its economic prospects. China’s stimulus response to the global financial crisis saddled its provinces and cities with Rmb10.7tn (£1.08tn) in debts [...]
Japan’s economy weakening February 12, 2012 Japan’s economy shrank 0.6 per cent in October-December from the previous quarter as a global economic slowdown, Thai floods and a strong yen dealt a blow to the economy just as it was emerging from a recession caused by last year’s devastating earthquake. The decline was bigger than economists’ median forecast for a 0.3 per [...]
Ireland keen to reduce its costs February 12, 2012 Ireland stands a good chance of persuading Europe to reduce the cost of its bank rescue through refinancing some €30bn (£25bn) worth of IOUs pumped into the former Anglo Irish Bank, the lender’s chairman Alan Dukes said yesterday. Dublin has been pursuing a months-long campaign to win approval to amend the terms of its €63bn [...]
Sainsbury’s calls for high street reform February 12, 2012 SAINSBURY’S chief executive Justin King will this week urge the UK to be “brave enough” to shrink its ailing high streets and convert empty stores into houses or even classrooms. King will call for a greater mix between “retail and other activities” to help make high streets “not just a poor second to out of [...]
