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[Jaeger Owner Explores Sale After Bid Approach]

Jaeger Owner Explores Sale After Bid Approach
from SBNation.com

The owner of the struggling British fashion label Jaeger is exploring a sale of the company just weeks before the high street's crucial Christmas trading period gets under way.

Better Capital, the investment firm which owns Jaeger, has decided to pursue takeover discussions with interested parties, and has asked advisers at AlixPartners to oversee the talks.

A person close to Better, which was founded by the private equity tycoon Jon Moulton, said that a formal auction was not planned but that it was responding to incoming interest from unnamed buyers.

Analysts expressed doubt that there was much value residing in the business given its current challenges.

The news comes just weeks after Better confirmed that Colin Henry, Jaeger's chief executive, had left the company, leaving it facing the most important sales period of the year without a permanent boss.

The decision to explore a sale of Jaeger also follows Better's decision last week to sell another of its troubled investments, the luxury yacht-maker Fairline.

Last Christmas Eve, City Link, the courier company then owned by Better Capital, collapsed into administration, prompting recriminations over its management and sparking calls from MPs as well as Mr Moulton for an overhaul of the UK's insolvency regime.

Mr Moulton engineered the takeover of Jaeger in 2012, acquiring much of its debt and the company's shares as it languished in administration, a move which dismayed its former owner, the retailer Harold Tilman.

Established in 1884, Jaeger is positioned as a premium British fashion brand, known for its contemporary menswear, womenswear and accessories.

[Instagram Overtakes Twitter With 400m Users]

Instagram Overtakes Twitter With 400m Users
from BBC News


Instagram is now bigger than Twitter after the number of monthly users increased by 100 million in just nine months.

The photo-sharing app - bought by Facebook for $1bn (£650m) in 2012 - is growing faster than analysts expected with 400 million regular users.

Rapid growth in countries such as Brazil and Japan is one of the main reasons for the soaring user numbers.

The social network is also playing an increasingly important role for brands, including Disney which posts movie trailers to the service.

By comparison Twitter - which competes for the same advertisers as Instagram - reported 304 million monthly active users in its most recent quarter, up just 12% year-on-year.

Instagram is currently trying to expand its advertising operations, offering brands 30-second video slots and Twitter campaign-style "marquee" adverts.

Adverts first started appearing on Instagram two years ago.

Facebook has not released Instagram's revenue figures, but one analyst estimates them at $600m (£390m) for 2015.

No Facebook branding appears on Instagram, which has a degree of independence from the world's biggest social network.

Since acquiring Instagram, Facebook has bought messaging service WhatsApp and virtual reality device maker Oculus VR.

[Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigns]

Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn resigns
from BBC News

Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn has resigned following the revelation that the firm manipulated US diesel car emissions tests.

Mr Winterkorn said he was "shocked" by recent events and that the firm needed a "fresh start".

He added that he was "not aware of any wrongdoing on my part" but was acting in the interest of the company.

VW has already said that it is setting aside â,¬6.5bn (£4.7bn) to cover the costs of the scandal.

The world's biggest carmaker admitted last week that it deceived US regulators in exhaust emissions tests by installing a device to give more positive results.

The company said later that it affected 11 million vehicles worldwide.

[RAF Intercepts Russian Jets Near UK Airspace]

RAF Intercepts Russian Jets Near UK Airspace
from Sky News

RAF Typhoon jets were scrambled to intercept two Russian 'Blackjack' aircraft, it has been revealed.

The Russian planes did not enter UK airspace but strayed near enough to the edge of international airspace to be in what is known as a "British area of interest".

A Ministry of Defence statement said: "RAF Quick Reaction Alert fighter aircraft scrambled from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland yesterday to meet two Russian aircraft.

"The Typhoon pilots visually identified the two Russian aircraft and escorted them whilst in the UK area of interest."

"They don't come into British airspace, the don't come into European airspace, but they come into what is called a British area of interest," he said.

"These are games, in effect. The Russians, strictly speaking, aren't doing anything illegal but it does annoy the Ministry of Defence and it does annoy Defence Secretary Michael Fallon."

The planes are not what we are used to seeing when these incidents have occurred in the past, he added.

[Ukraine's President Lauds Renewed Cease-Fire in the East]

Ukraine's President Lauds Renewed Cease-Fire in the East
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has lauded the renewed cease-fire in the east, saying that not a single Ukrainian soldier has died in fighting this week.

Quick facts: What you need to know about the Syria crisis
Syria's civil war is the worst humanitarian disaster of our time. The number of innocent civilians suffering -- more than 11 million people are displaced, thus far -- and the increasingly dire impact on neighboring countries can seem too overwhelming to understand.

See China's air pollution in real time
Researchers at Berkeley have used Google Maps and new data on China's air pollution to create a near real-time visualization of the country's air quality.

Facebook's WhatsApp hits 900 million users, aims for 1 billion
WhatsApp has reached 900 million monthly active users, cementing Facebook's dominance in mobile messaging.

Paralyzed man takes steps with robotic exoskeleton
It wasn't far -- mere yards -- but when Mark Pollock recently took his first steps in four years, it represented a major victory for scientists who work at the intersection of medical science and engineering.



Updated: 06/09/15

[Top 5 Coolest Gadgets Of IFA 2015]

Top 5 Coolest Gadgets Of IFA 2015
from Forbes

According to Federico Guerrini

Panasonic ‘Future Mirror’

Not only it can digitally enhance your face to show you how you would like with different makeups and detect your skin conditions and recommend how to improve it, but now includes features such as vital statistics check, magnifier and rear view of yourself.

A glow-in-the-dark smartphone

A $199 iPhone looking device with 13-MP camera, 5.2” display, 5-megapixel front camera for quality selfies and octa-core 1.3 GHz processor. But its distinctive feature is that luminescent glow that makes it easier to find it at night or inside your bag.

A PC in a stick

An ultra-miniature PC that turns any HDMI-enabled TV or monitor into a fully-functional Windows 10 PC (provided you add a keyboard and a mouse), and which can also be controlled remotely from a smartphone. It costs $129, and for that price you get 2GB of RAM, 2 USB ports, 32GB of storage, and a headphone jack. Unfortunately, it’s still unclear when it will go on sale.

Ultrasound images via a mobile app

Philips introduced at the IFA, Lumify, an app-based ultrasound solution that offers high-quality imaging on a compatible smart device. It is sold through a subscription model, and is intended mainly for healthcare professionals, but it has a consumer side. It could be used for instance by women waiting for a baby to take ultrasound images of the fetus and send them to the doctor.

360-degree pictures like you’ve never seen before

It can capture high-resolution spherical images of up to nearly 14 megapixels and it can can also record spherical video in full HD with a maximum recording time of 25 minutes. Images can then be shared on social networks or sent to Google Maps or Google Street View. It does not come cheap, the base sale price is $349, so if you’re thinking of just using it for group selfies, you might want to reconsider your ambitions.

[Ciudad Real Airport, a symbol of Spain’s economic boom and bust that folded three years ago after luring few users, is set to be purchased by Chinese investment company Tzaneen International -- for just 10,000 euros ($10,850).]

Spanish Ghost Airport May Be Sold for Less Than $11,000
Source: Bloomberg

Ciudad Real Airport, a symbol of Spain’s economic boom and bust that folded three years ago after luring few users, is set to be purchased by Chinese investment company Tzaneen International -- for just 10,000 euros ($10,850).

Tzaneen was awarded the asset at an auction held by a court in central Spain and plans to turn the so-called ghost airport into a European hub for Chinese companies, it said in an e-mail sent by local public relations firm Estudio de Comunicacion.

Spain granted approval in 2006 for the privately-owned airport with a 4,000-meter (2.5 mile) runway originally named after the famously deluded literary figure Don Quixote. Ciudad Real sought creditor protection in 2009 following the global slump and closed in 2012 after just four years of operation.

Tzaneen said Friday it also aims to buy additional land and invest in buildings and equipment as part of its cargo plan, taking total outlay to between 60 million and 100 million euros.

The airport was originally conceived as a freight base to help move perishable Spanish produce around Europe, as well as an overflow terminal for Madrid, and briefly hosted Ryanair Holdings Plc Flights in 2010.

Other bidders can still try to buy the facility, located in a sparsely populated area 125 miles south of the Spanish capital, if they make an offer of at least 28 million euros, or 70 percent of the airport’s estimated value, within 20 working days, Efe newswire reported.

[Five women who were accused of witchcraft have been beaten to death by dozens of people in India.]

Five Women Killed Over Witchcraft Claims
Source: Sky News.

Five women who were accused of witchcraft have been beaten to death by dozens of people in India.

The women were dragged out of their homes in Kinjia in the state of Jharkhand and hit with sticks and iron rods, police said.

Residents blamed them for a string of misfortunes and accidents in the village, including the death of an infant earlier in the week.

Police have arrested 50 people in connection with the attack and deployed officers at the scene to prevent further violence.

Chief Minister of the state Raghubar Das said: "In the age of knowledge, this incident is sorrowful. Society should ponder over it.”

From 2000 to 2012, around 2,100 people, mostly women, were killed in India on suspicion of practising witchcraft, according to the National Crime Records Bureau.

[The US economy added 215,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate held at a seven-year-low of 5.3%.]

US economy adds 215,000 jobs in July
Source: BBC News.

The US economy added 215,000 jobs in July, while the unemployment rate held at a seven-year-low of 5.3%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics said job gains came in retail trade, health care, professional and technical services, and financial activities.

The jobs figures are a seen as a significant gauge of the health of the economy.

Analysts said the figures meant a US interest rate rise in September remained a possibility.

Last month, the Federal Reserve upgraded its assessment of the labour market, saying it was continuing to "improve, with solid job gains and declining unemployment".

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: "With the Fed's decision on the timing of the first rate rise 'data dependent', today's report does nothing to discourage the belief that a September hike is very much on the table, albeit by no means a done deal."

He said that the new hiring figures "just missed" expectations of a 225,000 rise.

"Private sector payrolls grew by a solid 210,000, just shy of an expected 215,000 rise, led by service sector hiring alongside gains in the manufacturing and construction sectors," he added.

[The UK's data watchdog is "making enquiries" after Carphone Warehouse said the personal details of up to 2.4 million of its customers may have been accessed in a cyber-attack.]

Carphone Warehouse customer data breach investigated
Source: BBC News.

The UK's data watchdog is "making enquiries" after Carphone Warehouse said the personal details of up to 2.4 million of its customers may have been accessed in a cyber-attack.

The attack was discovered on Wednesday, and made public on Saturday.

The encrypted credit card details of up to 90,000 people may have been accessed, the mobile phone firm said.

The Information Commissioner's Office, which examines data breaches, confirmed it was aware of the incident.

Carphone Warehouse says the data could include names, addresses, dates of birth and bank details and it is contacting all those affected.

Carphone Warehouse said the "sophisticated" cyber-attack, which happened in the past two weeks, was stopped "straight away" after it was discovered on Wednesday afternoon.

The affected division of the company operates the websites OneStopPhoneShop.com, e2save.com and Mobiles.co.uk, and provides services to iD Mobile, TalkTalk Mobile, Talk Mobile and some Carphone Warehouse customers.

The retailer's owner, Dixons Carphone, has apologised for the attack and said additional security measures have been brought in. It has also taken the affected websites down.

What can those affected do?

- Notify your bank and credit card company, so they can monitor activity on your account
- Change your password for your online account
- Check your account for any suspicious or unexpected activity
- Be wary of anyone calling asking for personal information, bank details or passwords
- Visit Experian, Equifax or Noddle to check your credit rating to make sure no one has applied for credit in your name.

[The US Treasury Department says a redesigned $10 note will feature a woman, but who she will be has not been decided.]

US says woman will appear on new $10 note

The US Treasury Department says a redesigned $10 note will feature a woman, but who she will be has not been decided.

The new note will debut in 2020 to mark the 100th anniversary of the US Constitution's 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

The treasury will seek the public's input in the selection, looking for a "champion for our inclusive democracy".

Former US political leaders - all white men - currently headline US notes.

The woman who the Treasury Department ultimately selects will replace Alexander Hamilton, a key figure in the American Revolution and the first secretary of the US Treasury.

Hamilton began appearing on the $10 note in 1929. He along with diplomat and inventor Ben Franklin are the only non-presidents featured on current US notes.

Native American Sacagawea was briefly featured on US dollar coins

Women have been featured on US money before, but the notes and coins were not widely used. Most recently women's rights activist Susan B Anthony and Native American Sacagawea appeared on dollar coins, but both coins quickly went out circulation.

[Wild kangaroos tend to favour their left hands during common tasks like grooming and feeding, a study suggests.]

Most kangaroos are 'left-handed'

Wild kangaroos tend to favour their left hands during common tasks like grooming and feeding, a study suggests.

The researchers say this is the first demonstration of population-level "handedness" in a species other than humans, who are mostly right-handed.

The evidence comes from hours spent observing multiple species in the wild.

Two species of roo and one wallaby all showed the left-handed trend; some other marsupials, which walk on all fours, did not show the same bias.

The research, published in the journal Current Biology, was conducted by Russian scientists from St Petersburg

Senior author Dr Yegor Malashichev said there had been a "widespread notion" that handedness was a uniquely human phenomenon, until research in the last 10-20 years showed that asymmetry in behaviour and brain structure was surprisingly widespread.

But examples of left- or right-handedness tended to be specific to particular behaviours, and were not consistent across a population.

The animals were observed in the wild, in Tasmania and New South Wales

"As one of our reviewers pointed out, laterality is also obvious in how parrots hold their food or how your dog shakes hands," Ms Ingram said. "But these examples of lateralisation have not been proven at the population level."

[It has a reputation for disorganisation, maddening congestion, and being disrupted by monsoon-like downpours. And yet the Paris Air Show remains the signature event for the aerospace and defence industry.]

Paris Air Show goes green amid sluggish sales

It has a reputation for disorganisation, maddening congestion, and being disrupted by monsoon-like downpours. And yet the Paris Air Show remains the signature event for the aerospace and defence industry.

If you're in the market for a fighter jet, passenger plane, satellite, or drone, the biennial show - the 51st since 1909 - is the place to be. There'll be plenty to choose from.

As with previous shows, the news flow will be dominated by the big beasts of aerospace, Airbus and Boeing.

Planemakers like, if possible, to time their multi-billion-dollar orders to coincide with air shows. But such stage-management tends to be a decision for the customers, not the suppliers.

There has, though, been an uncharacteristic lack of pre-show hype this time.

Cowen & Co analyst Cai von Rumohr says the combined Boeing and Airbus order tally for civil aircraft by the end of the week could be below the average 387 seen in the past few years.

It's possible that airlines are pausing for breath. A rush to buy aircraft after the financial crisis means that Airbus and Boeing have record backlogs of almost 12,000 aircraft. Delivery slots for new planes are years in the future.

Boeing published its closely watched annual market forecast on Thursday, and expects airlines and freight firms to take delivery of 38,050 aircraft worth $5.6 trillion (£3.6tn) by 2034. Two out of every five newly built aircraft will feed Asia's booming travel market, Boeing said.

So, if Paris produces fewer orders than usual, it's a blip not a trend.

[YouTube is to launch a dedicated site and app for gaming in an attempt to take on Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch.]

YouTube to launch dedicated video gaming site and apps
Source: British Broadcasting Corporation News.

YouTube is to launch a dedicated site and app for gaming in an attempt to take on Amazon-owned streaming service Twitch.

Twitch allows gaming fans to watch and interact with live broadcasts of others playing games.

Google - which owns YouTube - is understood to have made a bid for Twitch last year, only to be beaten by Amazon's $970m (£620m) offer.

The search giant said the service would launch later this summer.

YouTube Gaming product manager Alan Joyce said: "On YouTube, gaming has spawned entirely new genres of videos, from let's plays, walkthroughs, and speedruns to cooking and music videos. Now, it's our turn to return the favour with something built just for gamers."

[Five of the world's largest banks are to pay fines totalling $5.7bn (£3.6bn) for charges including manipulating the foreign exchange market.]

Record fines for currency market fix
Source: British Broadcasting Corporation Economics News

Five of the world's largest banks are to pay fines totalling $5.7bn (£3.6bn) for charges including manipulating the foreign exchange market.

Four of the banks - JPMorgan, Barclays, Citigroup and RBS - have agreed to plead guilty to US criminal charges.

The fifth, UBS, will plead guilty to rigging benchmark interest rates.

Barclays was fined the most, $2.4bn, as it did not join other banks in November to settle investigations by UK, US and Swiss regulators.

Barclays is also sacking eight employees involved in the scheme.

US Attorney General Loretta Lynch said that "almost every day" for five years from 2007, currency traders used a private electronic chat room to manipulate exchange rates.

Their actions harmed "countless consumers, investors and institutions around the world", she said.

Separately, the Federal Reserve fined a sixth bank, Bank of America, $205m over foreign exchange-rigging. All the other banks were fined by both the Department of Justice and the Federal Reserve.

Regulators said that between 2008 and 2012, several traders formed a cartel and used chat rooms to manipulate prices in their favour.

One Barclays trader who was invited to join the cartel was told: "Mess up and sleep with one eye open at night."

Several strategies were used to manipulate prices and a common scheme was to influence prices around the daily fixing of currency levels.

A daily exchange rate fix is held to help businesses and investors value their multi-currency assets and liabilities.

[The main measure of UK inflation turned negative in April for the first time on record, with the rate falling to -0.1%.]

UK inflation rate turns negative
Source: BBC Economics

The main measure of UK inflation turned negative in April for the first time on record, with the rate falling to -0.1%.

It is the first time Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation has turned negative since 1960, based on comparable historic estimates, the Office for National Statistics said.

The biggest contribution to the fall came from a drop in air and sea fares.

Bank of England governor Mark Carney said he expected inflation to remain very low over the next few months.
But Mr Carney added that "over the course of the year, as we get towards the end, inflation should start to pick up towards our 2% target".

The latest inflation figures show that transport costs were 2.8% lower in April than the same time a year ago, while food was 3.0% cheaper.

Chancellor George Osborne said the inflation figure should not be mistaken for "damaging deflation".
He added that the lower cost of living - driven by last year's fall in oil prices - would be a welcome relief for family budgets, in an environment in which average wages were finally beginning to rise.

"Of course, we have to remain vigilant to deflationary risks and our system is well equipped to deal with them, should they arise," Mr Osborne added.

Shadow chancellor Chris Leslie said: "Any relief for households is welcome, but this month's figures reflect global trends and [that] doesn't change the reality that many are still struggling to pay the bills.

"The government must clearly guard against the risk that business investment might be deferred. We need stronger action now to raise productivity to deliver sustainable growth and rising living standards."

The latest inflation figure means that a basket of goods and services that cost £100 in April 2014 would have cost £99.90 in April this year.

The last time CPI inflation was negative, according to estimates by the ONS, was March 1960, when prices were 0.6% lower.

[Euro-parable]

Euro-parable
Source: The National Review

A twist on the news.

It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough. Everybody is in debt. Everybody lives on credit.

On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village. He stops at the local hotel and lays a â,¬100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.

The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the â,¬100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.

The butcher takes the â,¬100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.

The pig farmer takes the â,¬100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.

The guy at the Farmers’ Co-op takes the â,¬100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna.

The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him “services” on credit.

The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the â,¬100 note.

The hotel proprietor then places the â,¬100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.

At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the â,¬100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.

No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works!

[Oz National Park To Be Designed On Minecraft]

Oz National Park To Be Designed On Minecraft
One lucky student could see their Minecraft creation brought to life in Australia as part of an unusual competition.

Source: Sky News

Students are being asked to design Australia's next multimillion-dollar national park using the popular computer game Minecraft.

The winning submission will be brought to life using a fund of around £6m which has been set aside by the local government in Adelaide.

Entrants have been asked to incorporate spaces for activities like hiking and mountain bike trails, scenic vistas, and camp sites.

Designs must also account for the flora and fauna in the Adelaide and Mount Lofty Ranges.

Minecraft allows users to construct buildings and landscapes out of textured cubes in a 3D world.

Environment minister Ian Hunter said: "Whatever they create on the screen needs to be able to be translated into the real world.

"We'd like to see trails and other built features that are creative, practical, usable and sustainable, that complement the natural environment and the plants and animals living in it."

The finalists' flyover videos will be posted on YouTube. The competition closes on 12 June.

Entrants must use the basic version of Minecraft without any modifications or special texture packs.

[Source: BBC News]

Pound at five-year low against dollar on weak output
Source: BBC News

The pound has fallen to its lowest level against the dollar for nearly five years on weak UK industrial output figures and uncertainty over the outcome of the election.

Sterling fell as low as $1.4618 before recovering slightly in late trading.

Earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said UK industrial output figures rose by just 0.1% in February from January.

The small increase was below analysts' forecasts for a 0.3% gain.

Oil and gas production fell sharply, while the construction sector contracted by 0.9% in February, compared with forecasts for a rise of 2%.

The figures suggest the economy has slowed down this year, after a strong showing of 2.8% growth in 2014.

Manufacturing output showed the best growth within the industrial output measure, with a gain of 0.4% in February, bouncing back from its drop of 0.6% in January.

Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, said: "Clearly this all bodes ill for economic growth in the opening quarter of the year. It's now looking like the economy slowed, and possibly quite markedly, compared to the 0.6% expansion seen in the closing quarter of 2014.

"The trend should improve in March, however, according to survey data."

The ONS' industrial output data covers 14.6% of the UK economy.

The first official estimate of gross domestic product for the first quarter of the year will be released about a week before the general election.

[Source: Forbes]

Courier Industry: FedEx's Bid For TNT Will Create A More Competitive Market
Source: Forbes

US courier giant FedEx Corporation's bid for Dutch rival package delivery firm TNT Express N.V. to expand its European operation has sparked a boost in courier company shares. A joint statement on the FedEx website from both groups states that a "conditional agreement on a recommended all-cash public of €8.00 per ordinary TNT Express share" had been reached – a 33% premium on TNT's closing share price before the announcement came this April.

Coming two years after United Parcel Service (UPS) pulled out of a €5.2bn bid for the Dutch firm, both FedEx and TNT Express are confident that the deal should fly without much of a hitch. Alan Graf, FedEx's chief financial officer, speaking on an analysts call stated that he was "very confident" in regulatory approval being secured.

The news was certainly good news for the respective share prices: FedEx shares up 3.7% in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange on 7 April while TNT shares up c.30% in Europe. And, it represented a hefty 42% premium over the average volume-weighted price of TNT Express shares of €5.63 over the last three calendar months.

However, some industry pundits are warning that the takeover could fall foul of the European Union (EU) competition authorities, in the same way that UPS' €5.2bn Euro bid did two years ago. But Sumner-Rivers contends that the FedEx-TNT merger is "significantly less likely to spark fears of a monopoly in Europe."

Mr Sumner-Rivers commenting further says: "This merger will most likely succeed because FedEx and TNT are a shrewder fit than UPS and TNT were. They complement each other without overlapping significantly."

He adds: "UPS' primary goal in seeking to takeover TNT was to build on its already substantial European business, which would have resulted in the combined company holding an unassailable 30% of the European market. The FedEx TNT merger is far less likely to fall foul of EU competition authorities." Let's hope so. On a positive note here a FedEx-TNT tie up would command around 17%-18% of the market. That is a level below the 30% mark that could be a concern for the European regulators.

[Chinese takeover of Pirelli met with resignation in Italy]

Chinese takeover of Pirelli met with resignation in Italy
Source: Yahoo News

The takeover of tyre maker Pirelli by a Chinese firm sparked feelings of bitterness and resignation in Italy on Monday, as the cash-strapped country prepared to relinquish an iconic part of its industrial heritage.

Pirelli's largest shareholder Camfin said Sunday that it had signed a deal with ChemChina under which the state-owned chemical giant will buy into the world's fifth-biggest tyre manufacturer in a 7.4 billion-euro ($8.07 billion) deal.

It calls for ChemChina to eventually hold a controlling stake of at least 50.1 percent of the company renowned for its Formula One equipment and racy calendars.

Under the proposed terms, the company's headquarters and research centre would remain in Italy with current CEO Marco Tronchetti still in charge. Pirelli would eventually be split into two companies, one dedicated to high-end tyres, the other to industrial ones.

Tronchetti told employees in an internal note on Monday that the takeover was "a growth process which will take time, but in which I strongly believe and will engage in as both manager and shareholder."

ChemChina's bid "will allow us to take our growth strategy further with greater vigour," he said.

His optimism failed to rub off on Italy's main business leaders, most of whom appeared to accept that the eurozone's third largest economy, gasping for investment after the economic crisis, had little choice but to put up and shut up.

"Yesterday, one of the rare big Italian businesses changed owner," former centre-left premier Romani Prodi said.

"Today, industrial policy is made in Beijing.... (but) we're happy because before this even the Chinese didn't come to invest in the country," he said, calling on Italy to snap out of it and recover its own "strategic industrial policy."

[Greek and German leaders meet amid fears Athens may run out of money]

Greek and German leaders meet amid fears Athens may run out of money
Source: BBC Business

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel have struck conciliatory tones at their Berlin summit, but remained vague on how to prevent Athens from running out of money.

Mrs Merkel said she wanted to see the Greek economy grow.

Mr Tsipras said it was better to talk with each other than about each other.

Both countries have been at odds over Greece's efforts to renegotiate the terms of its international bailout.

"We want Greece to be strong economically, we want Greece to grow and above all we want Greece to to overcome its high unemployment," the German chancellor said at a press conference mid-way through talks, which are due to continue over a working dinner.

She said both countries approached the talks as partners in the EU as well as Nato, facing the same geopolitical challenges. "We both have a vested interest in building cooperation based on trust."

As one of 19 eurozone countries Germany was in no position to decide whether Greece's reform programme was appropriate or not, she said. An institutional framework to assess this was in place, she added.

Mr Tsipras noted that it was almost five years since the start of the Greek bailout, which required massive fiscal adjustments in his country. "It has not been a success story," he said citing a 25% loss in GDP and 60% youth unemployment.

Greek proposals so far

-A district of Athens on Monday
-Combat tax evasion
-Tackle corruption
-Commit not to roll back privatisations already introduced, but to review those not yet implemented
-Introduce collective bargaining, stopping short of raising the minimum wage immediately
-Tackle Greece's "humanitarian crisis" with housing guarantees and free medical care for the uninsured unemployed, with no overall public spending increase
-Reform public sector wages to avoid further wage cuts, without increasing overall wage bill
-Achieve pensions savings by consolidating funds and eliminating incentives for early retirement - not cutting payments
-Reduce the number of ministries from 16 to 10, cutting special advisers and fringe benefits for officials

[Indian PM Narendra Modi's government has unveiled a business-friendly budget aimed at attracting greater investment for the economy.]

India budget to boost investment
Source: British Broadcasting Cooperation

Indian PM Narendra Modi's government has unveiled a business-friendly budget aimed at attracting greater investment for the economy.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced an unprecedented corporate tax cut, in the government's first full budget.

But he also proposed major benefits for the poor, introducing a universal social security scheme.

India will grow at a rate of more than 8% during 2015-16, a key economic report said ahead of the budget.

The growth forecast follows the country's new way of calculating GDP which has caused some confusion.

Presenting the budget in parliament Mr Jaitley said the country was growing at a strong rate, inflation was down and foreign exchange reserves were high.

"We inherited a sentiment of doom and gloom. The investment community had almost written us off. We have come a long way since then," he said.

"We have turned around the economy, dramatically restoring macroeconomic stability and creating the conditions for sustainable poverty elimination, job creation, durable double digit economic growth."

Among the major announcements made by Mr Jaitley are:

1. Five "ultra mega" power projects of 4,000 megawatts (MW) will be built to ease the energy crisis
2. Spending on infrastructure will be raised by $11.3bn (£7.32bn) to boost growth
3. Creating a "universal social security" that would give poor Indians access to subsidised insurance and pensions
4. Implementation of a uniform countrywide goods and services tax (GST) by April 2016
5. Welfare money to be paid directly into people's bank accounts to eliminate corruption and wastage
6. Wealth tax to be abolished and replaced by a surcharge on the super rich
7. Corporate tax to be cut by 25% over next four years

Analysts say the government's challenge will be to balance its spending with the need for fiscal restraint.

Mr Jaitley said the government would achieve its goal of cutting the fiscal deficit to 4.1% of gross domestic product (GDP) for 2014-15 from 4.5% the year before.

[The owner of British Airways, International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), has confirmed a 265% rise in annual profits to £601m.]

BA Owner's Shares Soar On Profit Take-Off
Source: Sky News

The owner of British Airways, International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG), has confirmed a 265% rise in annual profits to £601m.

The company, which is currently aiming to bring Irish carrier Aer Lingus into its stable, said Spain's Iberia had returned to annual profit for the first time following a major restructuring.

British Airways' operating profit increased to £883m last year, which IAG said demonstrated progress on its long-term targets.

Its share price rose almost 5% when the FTSE 100 opened for business on news the company had upgraded its profit forecast for 2015 by over 20%.

It cited lower fuel costs and rising capacity for the move.

The upgrade is the latest in a series from IAG, which raised this year's forecast last October, buoyed by its exposure to strong demand for North Atlantic travel and Iberia's profitability.

IAG, which also owns low-cost Vueling in Spain, wants to add Aer Lingus to its portfolio but its approach is yet to get the backing of the Irish government which owns a 25% stake.

Unions are also cautious as the £1bn bid is set to result in back office job losses though IAG insists its plans will grow the business.

IAG chief executive Willie Walsh told Sky News: "The board and the management team of Aer Lingus recognise the value of that and have strongly supported our bid ...we remain excited about the prospect of Aer Lingus being part of IAG.

"We believe we can bring a lot of additional value to Aer Lingus so we'll wait to see what shareholders in Aer Lingus have to say."

Ryanair, which holds a 29% stake in Aer Lingus, is believed to support the offer as it remains under regulatory pressure to draw down its holding to just 5%.

Mr Walsh added that the IAG proposals would, in his view, "significantly accelerate" the growth opportunities Aer Lingus had identified for its business.

"I think the management team at Aer Lingus has done a very good job but they recognise that their plan has quite an element of risk and that that risk could be eliminated or significantly reduced as part of IAG", he said.

[HSBC has said 2014 was a "challenging year" after reporting a 17% drop in profit to $18.7bn (£12.2bn).]

HSBC blames 'challenging year' as profit falls 17%
Source: British Broadcasting Coorparation

HSBC has said 2014 was a "challenging year" after reporting a 17% drop in profit to $18.7bn (£12.2bn).

The bank blamed the negative effect of $2.4bn in fines and settlements and UK customer redress for the sharp fall.

The results follow allegations, which emerged earlier this month, that HSBC had helped people evade UK tax using hidden HSBC accounts in Geneva.

HSBC chief executive Stuart Gulliver saw his overall pay for the year fall to £7.6m from £8.03m in 2013.

HSBC's shares fell more than 5%, hitting their lowest level for two-and-a-half years, after it reported its fall in profit, which was larger than analysts had expected.

The drop in profitability was driven by $2.4bn in fines and customer compensation costs, largely connected to fines in connection with traders' attempted manipulation of foreign exchange rates and compensation for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance.

The bank has been streamlining its business in an attempt to boost earnings, and Mr Gulliver said it had now closed or sold 77 businesses and lost 50,000 jobs since he took the helm in 2011.

Fines and "redress" (in the main payments for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance) total £2.4bn. The bank has also raised significant concerns over Europe, saying that reform is "far less risky than going it alone".

The bank said restoration of trust in the industry "remains a significant challenge as further misdeeds are uncovered but it is a challenge we must meet successfully".

Investigation

The Financial Conduct Authority, HMRC, Swiss prosecutors and MPs on the Treasury Committee are looking into the allegations that HSBC helped people evade UK tax using hidden HSBC accounts in Geneva.

The former director of public prosecutions, Lord Ken Macdonald, has warned that HSBC has left itself open to criminal charges in the UK over the tax-dodging scandal.

[Amour]

Good morning,

Here is a quick and simple guide about the types of enchantments you can get, when enchanting various items.

Amour;

• Blast protection - Increased protection against explosions (Goes up to IV).
• Fire protection - Increased protection against fire (Goes up to IV).
• Projectile protection: Increased protection against arrows (Goes up to IV).
• Protection: Converts all taken damage, to armour damage (Goes up to IV).

Boots;

• Feather falling - Reduces damage taken from falling from heights (Goes up to IV).
• Frost Walker - Allows you to walk on water by turning it into ice.

Helmets;

• Aqua affinity - Increases the underwater mining speed  (Goes up to I).
• Respiration - Increases the time you can stay underwater (Goes up to III).

Swords;

• Bane of Arthropods - Extra damage against spiders, cave spiders and silverfish (Goes up to V).
• Fire aspect - Will set mobs on fire when struck (Goes up to II).
• Knockback - Knocks back mobs and players (Goes up to II).
• Looting - Killing a mob will give you a chance to receive extra loot (Goes up to III).
• Sharpness - Does extra damage to all mobs and players (Goes up to V).
• Smite - Extra damage to skeletons, zombies and zombie pigmen (Goes up to V).

Bows;

• Flame - Arrows will be lit on fire when shot, they'll also set mobs on fire (Goes up to I).
• Infinity - Will give an infinite amount of shots when you have 1 arrow in your inventory (Goes up to I).
• Power - Deals extra damage (Goes up to V).
• Punch - Knocks back mobs (Goes up to II).

Tools;

• Efficiency - Increases the speed at which resources are gathered (Goes up to V).
• Fortune - It can multiply the drops you get from blocks (Goes up to III).
• Silk touch - Mining anything with this enchant will drop the actual block instead of the resource  (Goes up to I).
• Unbreaking - Whenever you destroy a block, there's a chance the durability won't decrease (Goes up to III).
• Silk touch - Mining anything with this enchant will drop the actual block instead of the resource  (Goes up to I).
• Mending - Heals a tool when you use it for something that drops xp.

Hope you found this list helpful.

Hello!
So, I had an idea. Lets play a game where we make up a story. We are only allowed to post 1 word at a time and the story must make sense.

~ddude_stnom

I'll start: Once