WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
HAYWARD ACCUSED OF LYING TO US CONGRESS
Lawyers for plaintiffs suing for damages over the Deepwater Horizon disaster in 2010 have alleged that Tony Hayward, BP’s former chief executive, lied in a court statement and gave untruthful testimony to the US Congress when he testified about the spill. In a filing at the court in New Orleans that will hear the trial of BP and other companies involved in the accident, the plaintiffs’ lawyers said Mr Hayward “at best, has a unique view of the truth”.
PUB CLOSURES ACCELERATE IN SUBURBS
The suburbs are bearing the brunt as the number of pub closures rises across Britain. An average of 16 pubs a week closed their doors in the six months until the end of December last year, according to figures by the beer and pub pressure group the Campaign for Real Ale. This was up from an average of 14 closures a week in the first half of 2011.
DIAMONDBACK SETTLES INSIDER TRADING CASE
Diamondback became the first hedge fund to reach a settlement with federal prosecutors in connection with their probe of insider trading on Wall Street as it agreed to pay $9m (£5.8m) to resolve allegations it illegally profited from trading in shares of Dell and Nvidia.
TURKISH AIRLINES EYES LOT PURCHASE
Shares in Turkish Airlines (Turk Hava Yollari) rose on Monday after the group said it was looking at buying Lot, but some analysts said they saw little logic in a deal to take control of the lossmaking Polish flag-carrier. The Turkish flag-carrier said it had authorised its executive committee to carry out a “pre-examination of the privatisation process and investment potential of Lot”.
THE TIMES
LEGO’S SMALL SOLDIERS LEAD TOYS’ ADVANCE
Tablet computer toys, Nerf guns and above all Lego’s play for the nation’s pocket money meant that Britain’s toy industry succeeded where so many others failed last year and grew by three per cent. A sales slump in September and October was all but forgotten amid a busy Christmas, according to figures compiled by the toy industry analyst NPD. Helped by comparisons with last year’s snow-affected figures and an extra shopping day as Christmas Eve fell on a Saturday, sales rose 15 per cent in the week to Christmas Day.
LOSSES MAY FORCE CLOSURE OF BRITAIN’S BIGGEST COALMINE
The future of Britain’s biggest coal pit and its 800 miners rests on a review of the Daw Mill colliery set for the end of March.
The Daily Telegraph
NEWS INTERNATIONAL PLANNING TO LAUNCH SUNDAY EDITION OF SUN IN APRIL, CLAIMS MP TOM WATSON
Speculation that News International may introduce a Sunday edition of the Sun newspaper was rekindled today after Tom Watson MP cited a source saying the company was working towards an April launch.
SCOTTISH RENEWABLE ENERGY SET TO GET £7.6BN TO CONNECT TO GRID
Energy regulator Ofgem signalled it was likely to approve up to £7.6bn of infrastructure investment to connect new Scottish wind farms and other renewable power generators to the UK grid. Ofgem said yesterday it had fast-tracked proposals for infrastructure spending by energy companies ScottishPower and SSE and expected to make a final decision in April. The investment will be paid for through energy bills.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
T-MOBILE, AT&T SEEK APPROVAL OF SPECTRUM TRANSFER
T-Mobile USA and AT&T filed a request with the US Federal Communications Commission for approval of the transfer of $1bn in wireless airwaves AT&T promised as a result of the failure of its $39bn bid to take over its smaller rival. AT&T said it would turn over the airwaves, or spectrum, along with $3bn in cash to T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom AG after pulling out of the deal as opposition mounted from the FCC, Justice Department, state attorneys general and rival carriers.
INTEL TO BUY SOME QLOGIC NETWORKING ASSETS
Intel agreed to acquire QLogic’s InfiniBand business for $125m in cash, giving it networking technology for the growing and competitive supercomputer market.