Friday newspaper round-up: Libya. Moody's, Angry Birds...

11th Mar 2011 06:35

Muammer Gaddafi's superior military forces meant his "regime will prevail" in the longer term, the US director of national intelligence, James Clapper, said in comments that undermined a robust defence by Washington of its Libya policy.Mr Clapper said in testimony to Congress on Thursday that Colonel Gaddafi was relying on two of his brigades - which appeared to be "very, very loyal", "disciplined" and "robustly equipped with Russian equipment, artillery, tanks", the FT reports.Sir Fred Goodwin, the former chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, has obtained an injunction to stop publication of information about him. John Hemming, a Liberal Democrat MP, disclosed in the Commons that Sir Fred won a court order so far-reaching that the media could not even report that it had been obtained by a banker. The move is the latest clash between Parliament and the courts over the use of injunctions by the rich and famous to protect their privacy, the Times reports.A toxic cocktail of bad news sent global markets sharply lower yesterday. Shares tumbled as a downgrade of Spain's credit rating and the continued unrest in Libya and the Middle East conspired with weak figures on Chinese trade and American jobs to unnerve investors, the Times reports.Insurers should pay for a specialist police unit dedicated to fighting fraudulent car claims, an influential group of MPs will argue today. In a report into the surging cost of motor insurance, the Transport Select Committee will say that an industry-funded police team would help to combat the rise in so-called "crash for cash" and whiplash scams. The committee, which has been investigating the car market since October, will also call for greater clarity regarding "referral" payments. These charges, increasingly common in the motor market, include fees charged by "accident management" companies to pass on potential personal injury claims to lawyers, the Times reports.A multi-millionaire fraudster was facing up to 20 years in a US jail after admitting ripping off thousands of investors in Britain's biggest ''boiler room'' scam. Richard Pope, 53, funded a lifestyle of fast cars, yachts and private jets as his international gang pressurised pensioners over the phone into buying non-existent shares. His crime empire made over £100 million as more than 2,300 victims were bullied into handing over life savings, detectives believe. One victim alone lost more than £800,000, the Telegraph reports.Moody's has reignited the storm of controversy over the power of rating agencies after it downgraded Spain, and warned that the bank clean-up will cost vastly more that claimed. The move comes a day before a crucial summit of EMU leaders to thrash out a "grand deal" intended to create workable machinery for the euro and end the debt crisis once and for all. Moody's cut Spain's credit by one notch to Aa1 and said Madrid's estimates of €20bn (£17.2bn) of fresh capital needed to rebuild the banks and cajas is too low. "The overall cost is likely to be nearer €40bn to €50bn," rising to as much as €120bn in a "stressed scenario", the Telegraph reports.The creators of Angry Birds, the phenomenally successful iPhone game in which players catapult animated birds into hard hat-wearing pigs, has raised $42m (£26m) to expand overseas and create a new series of games. Rovio, the tiny Finnish company that created the game, has secured the cash injection from Accel Partners, the venture capital backers of Facebook, Groupon and Skype, the Telegraph reports.Perform Group, a UK digital sports media group backed by the Russian billionaire Len Blavatnik, is set to float in London at a valuation upwards of £500m. The group released an "intention to float" document yesterday, applying to list on the main market of the London Stock Exchange. Co-chief executive Oliver Slipper said the funds raised would back a global expansion drive. Perform hopes to complete the flotation before Easter. Its size would see the stock enter the FTSE 250 at the next index reshuffle, the Independent reports.GlaxoSmithKline will launch its first blockbuster drug for more than a decade after a new medicine for lupus was approved by US authorities. Benlysta, the first treatment for the auto-immune disease to become available for more than 50 years, has the potential to bring in more than $3bn in annual sales by 2015 for GSK and its partner Human Genome Sciences, analysts said. The EMEA, the European medicines regulator, is expected to approve it for sale later this year. Lupus, which causes the body to attack its own cells and tissues, is usually treated with steroids, which can have unwanted side effects, the Times reports.AOL is axing 900 staff as chief executive Tim Armstrong continues to restructure the company to focus on content production and integrates staff from last month's $315m acquisition of the Huffington Post. The job losses will affect 200 employees in the US deemed redundant in the wake of the Huffington Post purchase. In India, 400 jobs are to go, with a further 300 being outsourced to third-party groups, although they will continue to work on AOL projects. The employees in India mostly worked on customer and advertiser support, the FT reports.