Britain’s Osborne reaches deal on spending cuts
LONDON (Reuters) – British finance minister George Osborne completed talks on Sunday with government departments aimed at securing spending cuts worth 11.5 billion pounds ($17.70 billion)in 2015-16 to help reduce the country’s budget deficit, the Treas…
Geeks oust miners among Australia’s new rich as boom fades
SYDNEY (Reuters) – In a country synonymous with larger-than-life mining tycoons and Outback heroes, the geeks are quietly inheriting the earth.
Ambani bets on 4G broadband in India, but risks abound
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI (Reuters) – Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani hopes his multi-billion dollar bet on cheap high-speed wireless broadband could change the way nearly a billion of his countrymen use mobile devices from the way they do banking to watching crick…
Kuwait sheikh sues UBS for $21.4 million in Dubai court
DUBAI (Reuters) – A Kuwaiti sheikh is suing UBS AG for $21.4 million, alleging the Swiss bank failed to pay him for helping it become lead arranger on a $9 billion asset sale by the Kuwaiti telecommunications operator Zain, a Dubai court heard on Sunda…
Frenkel to return as Israel’s central bank chief
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Jacob Frenkel, an inflation hawk who was Bank of Israel governor in the 1990s, will be returning to the helm of the central bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Yair Lapid said on Sunday.
Virgin Mobile wins one of three Saudi virtual telecom licenses
DUBAI (Reuters) – Virgin Mobile Middle East & Africa (VMMEA) is one of three companies to win a virtual telecom license in Saudi Arabia, the industry regulator said on Sunday, in the latest step to liberalize the kingdom’s communications sector.
Yogurt: the new Pepsi challenge
BATAVIA, NEW YORK (Reuters) – PepsiCo Inc – best known for Pepsi-Cola and Frito-Lay chips – is taking its Muller yogurt brand nationwide expanding its portfolio of healthier foods at a time that U.S. consumers are increasingly shunning traditional soft…
ECB’s Asmussen calls for stronger European institutions
BERLIN (Reuters) – European Central Bank policymaker Joerg Asmussen said on Sunday that closer integration within Europe called for European Union institutions – in particular its parliament – to be strengthened to ensure democratic control and account…
UK’s Lloyds to ask for two-year extension on branches sale-report
LONDON (Reuters) – Lloyds Banking Group has asked the European competition authorities to give it an extra two years to sell the hundreds of branches it is required to dispose of as a condition for its state bail-out, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper sai…
UK’s Nationwide draws up plan to plug 1 billion capital hole-report
LONDON (Reuters) – Nationwide , Britain’s biggest customer-owned financial services group, is drawing up plans to raise at least 1 billion pounds ($1.5 billion) to fill a hole in its balance sheet, the Sunday Times said.
