Interesting
Jerusalem holds book fair
The Jerusalem Book Fair (until February 25) features about 1,200 publishers from more than 40 countries, with the Jerusalem Prize awarded to a writer whose work best expresses the freedom of the individual in society.
Winter of fashion content
London Fashion Week begins (until February 23), with designers showing their autumn and winter collections.
G20 finance summit
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 leading industrial nations begin a two-day meeting in Paris. Financial reforms and currency valuations are expected topics.
US science on show
The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science begins in Washington (until February 21). Nearly 1,000 scientists will present new research and developments.
Arab and African affairs
A three-day political and economic forum focusing on Arab and African economies is staged by the Crans Montana Forum in Brussels.
Farm issues aired
The UK National Farmers’ Union stages its two-day annual conference in Birmingham. The European Union’s common agricultural policy, farm-based renewable energy and bovine TB are among topics for discussion.
Gillard visits New Zealand
Julia Gillard, Australia’s prime minister, begins a two-day visit to New Zealand, where she will become the first foreign leader to address the country’s parliament. She will also hold talks with John Key, her counterpart.
The job: Hotel fashion director
‘There’s a lot of cross-pollination between the worlds of fashion and lifestyle and hotels ... You need to offer people something they never knew they needed’
magic
India’s ‘king of the good times’
During a whirlwind trip from Mumbai to New Zealand and back, Amy Kazmin hears the liquor magnate defend his lucrative market
Liquor always sells, when it stops selling sack the bosses
China’s railway chief dismissed
China’s minister of railways, Liu Zhijun, has been removed from the top position at the ministry and put under investigation for ‘severe disciplinary violations’
China calls for unity on reform of UN Security Council
Members of the United Nations should arrive at a broad consensus on the reform of the UN Security Council, rather than let "premature plans" harm the reform process, the Chinese foreign ministry said over the weekend. Earlier on the same day, India, Brazil, Germany and Japan - also known as the G4 nations - issued a joint statement stating that their proposal of enlarging the council was widely supported by UN member nations, China Daily reports.
What is the point of the UN?
Bangladesh investors, police clash over stocks slide
Hundreds of Bangladeshi small investors, angry at a new plunge in share prices, set fire to tyres and pelted police with bricks on Sunday outside the stock exchange and demanded the resignation of the finance minister, Reuters reports. Police with batons dispersed the protesters in pitched battles that snarled traffic for hours. The country's main Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index dived by more than 474.77 points or 7.27 per cent to 6052.41 on Sunday.
Freedom of expression
Push to end content providers' 'free lunch'
Mobile phone operators are stepping up their campaign to charge groups such as Google that are unleashing an explosion of data traffic on telecoms groups' networks
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Nokia's big bet
Alliances remain a second-best to mergers, where questions of who runs what, and how two divisions should co-operate, are easier to resolve cleanly
Time warner & AOL anyone?
Web firms aim to benefit from role in uprising
The US internet companies whose names became closely associated with the uprising in Egypt are hoping for spin-off benefits to their brands from the fall of President Hosni Mubarak – though some observers warn that the association could also backfire on them
U think?
TweetDeck set for US takeover deal
One of the most prominent companies in east London's Silicon Roundabout tech cluster is close to agreeing a $30m takeover deal
huh?
Gores Group chief enjoys deals with rival
Alec Gores often works together with younger brother Tom, another billionaire who owns Platinum Equity, in spite of the fierce competition in the world of private equity
who? what? how?
Fortress in talks over $1bn fund for China's elderly
Fortress Investment plans to raise about $1bn for a China fund that would invest in housing for the country's burgeoning population of elderly residents
There are enough bulidings in China. The problem is the average worker cannot afford them
Focus on Egypt land deal fortunes
Billions of dollars in Egyptian land deals over the past 20 years are coming under scrutiny amid a worldwide hunt for assets stashed away by Hosni Mubarak
Ha ha, pay for new C of Os
Greece mends relations with EU and IMF
A dispute over a scheme to cut public debt and promote economic growth by selling €50bn of state assets has highlighted growing opposition to structural reform
Shafted!
Exor shakes up management to expand abroad
Exor, the Agnelli family investment company, unveils a shake up in its management structure to help it expand into US and Asia
Jobs!
US game on for Sony Ericsson
The handset maker is betting that its new gaming phone will enable it to finally crack the lucrative market
sounds like an idea
Social networks or guessworks?
There are still precious few numbers to analyse and business models are no more proved than for dotcoms a decade ago
What have we got to lose? We need innovation
'Dry canal' latest twist in tangled tale of isthmus
Every few hours, on the causeway across Panama's Lake Gatun, a diesel engine comes into view, hauling wagonloads of containers stacked two high
What are u talking about?
China trade surplus shrinks after import surge
14 FEB 2011 08:04 GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's trade surplus fell to its lowest in nine months in January after imports surged, supporting the government's case ahead of a G20 meeting that it is doing enough to spur domestic demand without speeding up currency appreciation.
How?
Charging structure key to fairness for investors
Towers Watson believes the key to measuring whether a manager is good value for money is to examine how the alpha is split. At least two thirds of alpha should come back to the client
Define the alpha
European bond managers expect fall in inflows
Up to November last year bonds saw strong inflows for nearly two years, but this trend is reversing
Hold bonds - we are not out of the woods yet
Obama must lead on deficit cuts
Politically, a timid budget might well be wise for the president, but the US needs a plan for restoring its long-term fiscal balance, writes Clive Crook
Invade China! DOH!
How to bend history’s arc for the better
Egypt’s democratic transition is by no means a sure thing, given that the self-appointed midwife is the military
LOL!
Draghi can lead the eurozone out of danger
If the ECB succession turns into a long and bitter fight, it could trigger another damaging loss of confidence, writes Wolfgang Münchau
Who the hell is DRAGHI?
Arab rulers confront a new world
Hosni Mubarak’s grey era of a three decades-long state of emergency exposed the limits of economic reform, in a national security state with kleptocratic elites
What economic reform? The agenda was/ is (regional) stability at all cost
All-share deals betray shaky nerves
Spin from chief executives in all-share nil-premium mergers is that by combining two companies of equal size, they can create one with double the market capitalisation
Market theory
Lansley faces rough ride over NHS reform
Faced by the biggest shift in power and accountability in the 62-year history of the NHS, the rightwing think-tank Civitas has branded it all 'a risky business'
what does it all mean?
Beware the faith in miners behind LSE-Toronto
London market has habit of getting fixated on individual sectors, then pushing them out of scale in relation to the market overall. The results have been expensive
Characteristics of the London stock exchange
Barratt eyes London rental market move
The UK's largest housebuilder by volume is considering a move into London's lucrative market as it looks to hedge against the impact of restricted mortgage availability
GSK looks to academia for new drugs
The UK pharma group is cutting down on costly, yet often unproductive, in-house research to develop new medications
Good news for universities and research institutes and brainy students
China in talks over Panama Canal rival
Plan would link Colombia’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail – a move that Bogotá hopes will spur Washington to push for approval of a US-Colombia free-trade pac.t The mooted rail link is the latest example of China’s increasingly aggressive lending to the developing world.
& the Panama Canal?
UK to give £1bn to India in spite of cuts
A review of UK aid policy is to keep more than £1bn of help for India, in spite of the nuclear-armed state’s emergence as a world power with its own aid and space programme.Andrew Mitchell, international development secretary, told the Financial Times that British aid would remain flat at £280m a year until 2015 but shift to more investment in private enterprise.
Shouldn't it be the other way round? Or is India being bribed?
Obama to propose $1,100bn cuts plan
Barack Obama will propose slashing the country’s budget deficit by $1,100bn over the next decade, an administration official said, as the White House prepares to lay out its most restrained economic and fiscal policy agenda since the US president took office two years ago
ABOUT TIME!
Record number of Russian billionaires
Moscow’s oligarchs are bouncing back as an annual ranking of the country’s richest 500 published by Finans magazine boasts 114 dollar billionaires at the end of last year
wives, mistresses, girlfriends, daughters
Middle East buffeted by shockwaves
The events in Egypt embolden opposition movements in Algeria, Iran and Yemen and prompt Palestinian leaders to commit to long-delayed elections
Really?
Inflation fears lead investors to bet on rate rises
Financial markets are betting the UK will be the first to raise rates in June, followed by the European Central Bank in September and the US Federal Reserve in December
Mortgage bill up!
Ouattara threatens to extend cocoa ban
The move by the internationally recognised winner of Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election could push prices of the commodity higher
who buys cocoa? What is cocoa used for (apart from the obvious)
Finding love no bed of roses for Chinese men
14 FEB 2011 03:44 GMT
BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - Finding one's better half can be a tricky business in modern-day China, with hectic work schedules, nagging parents and a gender imbalance conspiring to make selecting a partner a nightmare for single men.
Import wives
Smartphone makers woo developers at trade
14 FEB 2011 05:28 GMT
BARCELONA (Reuters) - The shotgun marriage of Nokia and Microsoft's smartphone platforms puts software developers at center stage at the annual Mobile World Congress starting on Monday in Barcelona.
software developers = pay day
China to vet inward M&A deals for national security
12 FEB 2011 12:55 GMT
BEIJING, Feb 12 (Reuters) - China will launch a state-level investment review body to check that merger and acquisition deals struck by foreign firms in one of the world's fastest-growing economies do not endanger "national security," China's State Council, the cabinet, said on Saturday.
Windfall for politicians + brokers
South Africa commission recommends Wal-Mart deal approval
12 FEB 2011 08:21 GMT
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Competition Commission has recommended that retail group Wal-Mart's proposed acquisition of 51 percent of equity in Massmart be approved without conditions, the two companies said in a statement on Saturday.
Massmart, South Africa + Wal mart = interesting
The Jerusalem Book Fair (until February 25) features about 1,200 publishers from more than 40 countries, with the Jerusalem Prize awarded to a writer whose work best expresses the freedom of the individual in society.
Winter of fashion content
London Fashion Week begins (until February 23), with designers showing their autumn and winter collections.
G20 finance summit
Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 leading industrial nations begin a two-day meeting in Paris. Financial reforms and currency valuations are expected topics.
US science on show
The annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science begins in Washington (until February 21). Nearly 1,000 scientists will present new research and developments.
Arab and African affairs
A three-day political and economic forum focusing on Arab and African economies is staged by the Crans Montana Forum in Brussels.
Farm issues aired
The UK National Farmers’ Union stages its two-day annual conference in Birmingham. The European Union’s common agricultural policy, farm-based renewable energy and bovine TB are among topics for discussion.
Gillard visits New Zealand
Julia Gillard, Australia’s prime minister, begins a two-day visit to New Zealand, where she will become the first foreign leader to address the country’s parliament. She will also hold talks with John Key, her counterpart.
The job: Hotel fashion director
‘There’s a lot of cross-pollination between the worlds of fashion and lifestyle and hotels ... You need to offer people something they never knew they needed’
magic
India’s ‘king of the good times’
During a whirlwind trip from Mumbai to New Zealand and back, Amy Kazmin hears the liquor magnate defend his lucrative market
Liquor always sells, when it stops selling sack the bosses
China’s railway chief dismissed
China’s minister of railways, Liu Zhijun, has been removed from the top position at the ministry and put under investigation for ‘severe disciplinary violations’
China calls for unity on reform of UN Security Council
Members of the United Nations should arrive at a broad consensus on the reform of the UN Security Council, rather than let "premature plans" harm the reform process, the Chinese foreign ministry said over the weekend. Earlier on the same day, India, Brazil, Germany and Japan - also known as the G4 nations - issued a joint statement stating that their proposal of enlarging the council was widely supported by UN member nations, China Daily reports.
What is the point of the UN?
Bangladesh investors, police clash over stocks slide
Hundreds of Bangladeshi small investors, angry at a new plunge in share prices, set fire to tyres and pelted police with bricks on Sunday outside the stock exchange and demanded the resignation of the finance minister, Reuters reports. Police with batons dispersed the protesters in pitched battles that snarled traffic for hours. The country's main Dhaka Stock Exchange General Index dived by more than 474.77 points or 7.27 per cent to 6052.41 on Sunday.
Freedom of expression
Push to end content providers' 'free lunch'
Mobile phone operators are stepping up their campaign to charge groups such as Google that are unleashing an explosion of data traffic on telecoms groups' networks
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Nokia's big bet
Alliances remain a second-best to mergers, where questions of who runs what, and how two divisions should co-operate, are easier to resolve cleanly
Time warner & AOL anyone?
Web firms aim to benefit from role in uprising
The US internet companies whose names became closely associated with the uprising in Egypt are hoping for spin-off benefits to their brands from the fall of President Hosni Mubarak – though some observers warn that the association could also backfire on them
U think?
TweetDeck set for US takeover deal
One of the most prominent companies in east London's Silicon Roundabout tech cluster is close to agreeing a $30m takeover deal
huh?
Gores Group chief enjoys deals with rival
Alec Gores often works together with younger brother Tom, another billionaire who owns Platinum Equity, in spite of the fierce competition in the world of private equity
who? what? how?
Fortress in talks over $1bn fund for China's elderly
Fortress Investment plans to raise about $1bn for a China fund that would invest in housing for the country's burgeoning population of elderly residents
There are enough bulidings in China. The problem is the average worker cannot afford them
Focus on Egypt land deal fortunes
Billions of dollars in Egyptian land deals over the past 20 years are coming under scrutiny amid a worldwide hunt for assets stashed away by Hosni Mubarak
Ha ha, pay for new C of Os
Greece mends relations with EU and IMF
A dispute over a scheme to cut public debt and promote economic growth by selling €50bn of state assets has highlighted growing opposition to structural reform
Shafted!
Exor shakes up management to expand abroad
Exor, the Agnelli family investment company, unveils a shake up in its management structure to help it expand into US and Asia
Jobs!
US game on for Sony Ericsson
The handset maker is betting that its new gaming phone will enable it to finally crack the lucrative market
sounds like an idea
Social networks or guessworks?
There are still precious few numbers to analyse and business models are no more proved than for dotcoms a decade ago
What have we got to lose? We need innovation
'Dry canal' latest twist in tangled tale of isthmus
Every few hours, on the causeway across Panama's Lake Gatun, a diesel engine comes into view, hauling wagonloads of containers stacked two high
What are u talking about?
China trade surplus shrinks after import surge
14 FEB 2011 08:04 GMT
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's trade surplus fell to its lowest in nine months in January after imports surged, supporting the government's case ahead of a G20 meeting that it is doing enough to spur domestic demand without speeding up currency appreciation.
How?
Charging structure key to fairness for investors
Towers Watson believes the key to measuring whether a manager is good value for money is to examine how the alpha is split. At least two thirds of alpha should come back to the client
Define the alpha
European bond managers expect fall in inflows
Up to November last year bonds saw strong inflows for nearly two years, but this trend is reversing
Hold bonds - we are not out of the woods yet
Obama must lead on deficit cuts
Politically, a timid budget might well be wise for the president, but the US needs a plan for restoring its long-term fiscal balance, writes Clive Crook
Invade China! DOH!
How to bend history’s arc for the better
Egypt’s democratic transition is by no means a sure thing, given that the self-appointed midwife is the military
LOL!
Draghi can lead the eurozone out of danger
If the ECB succession turns into a long and bitter fight, it could trigger another damaging loss of confidence, writes Wolfgang Münchau
Who the hell is DRAGHI?
Arab rulers confront a new world
Hosni Mubarak’s grey era of a three decades-long state of emergency exposed the limits of economic reform, in a national security state with kleptocratic elites
What economic reform? The agenda was/ is (regional) stability at all cost
All-share deals betray shaky nerves
Spin from chief executives in all-share nil-premium mergers is that by combining two companies of equal size, they can create one with double the market capitalisation
Market theory
Lansley faces rough ride over NHS reform
Faced by the biggest shift in power and accountability in the 62-year history of the NHS, the rightwing think-tank Civitas has branded it all 'a risky business'
what does it all mean?
Beware the faith in miners behind LSE-Toronto
London market has habit of getting fixated on individual sectors, then pushing them out of scale in relation to the market overall. The results have been expensive
Characteristics of the London stock exchange
Barratt eyes London rental market move
The UK's largest housebuilder by volume is considering a move into London's lucrative market as it looks to hedge against the impact of restricted mortgage availability
GSK looks to academia for new drugs
The UK pharma group is cutting down on costly, yet often unproductive, in-house research to develop new medications
Good news for universities and research institutes and brainy students
China in talks over Panama Canal rival
Plan would link Colombia’s Atlantic and Pacific coasts by rail – a move that Bogotá hopes will spur Washington to push for approval of a US-Colombia free-trade pac.t The mooted rail link is the latest example of China’s increasingly aggressive lending to the developing world.
& the Panama Canal?
UK to give £1bn to India in spite of cuts
A review of UK aid policy is to keep more than £1bn of help for India, in spite of the nuclear-armed state’s emergence as a world power with its own aid and space programme.Andrew Mitchell, international development secretary, told the Financial Times that British aid would remain flat at £280m a year until 2015 but shift to more investment in private enterprise.
Shouldn't it be the other way round? Or is India being bribed?
Obama to propose $1,100bn cuts plan
Barack Obama will propose slashing the country’s budget deficit by $1,100bn over the next decade, an administration official said, as the White House prepares to lay out its most restrained economic and fiscal policy agenda since the US president took office two years ago
ABOUT TIME!
Record number of Russian billionaires
Moscow’s oligarchs are bouncing back as an annual ranking of the country’s richest 500 published by Finans magazine boasts 114 dollar billionaires at the end of last year
wives, mistresses, girlfriends, daughters
Middle East buffeted by shockwaves
The events in Egypt embolden opposition movements in Algeria, Iran and Yemen and prompt Palestinian leaders to commit to long-delayed elections
Really?
Inflation fears lead investors to bet on rate rises
Financial markets are betting the UK will be the first to raise rates in June, followed by the European Central Bank in September and the US Federal Reserve in December
Mortgage bill up!
Ouattara threatens to extend cocoa ban
The move by the internationally recognised winner of Ivory Coast’s disputed presidential election could push prices of the commodity higher
who buys cocoa? What is cocoa used for (apart from the obvious)
Finding love no bed of roses for Chinese men
14 FEB 2011 03:44 GMT
BEIJING (Reuters Life!) - Finding one's better half can be a tricky business in modern-day China, with hectic work schedules, nagging parents and a gender imbalance conspiring to make selecting a partner a nightmare for single men.
Import wives
Smartphone makers woo developers at trade
14 FEB 2011 05:28 GMT
BARCELONA (Reuters) - The shotgun marriage of Nokia and Microsoft's smartphone platforms puts software developers at center stage at the annual Mobile World Congress starting on Monday in Barcelona.
software developers = pay day
China to vet inward M&A deals for national security
12 FEB 2011 12:55 GMT
BEIJING, Feb 12 (Reuters) - China will launch a state-level investment review body to check that merger and acquisition deals struck by foreign firms in one of the world's fastest-growing economies do not endanger "national security," China's State Council, the cabinet, said on Saturday.
Windfall for politicians + brokers
South Africa commission recommends Wal-Mart deal approval
12 FEB 2011 08:21 GMT
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's Competition Commission has recommended that retail group Wal-Mart's proposed acquisition of 51 percent of equity in Massmart be approved without conditions, the two companies said in a statement on Saturday.
Massmart, South Africa + Wal mart = interesting
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