Tuesday newspaper round-up: Saudi Arabia, Russian, Services

27th Aug 2013 07:00

Saudi Arabia has secretly offered Russia a sweeping deal to control the global oil market and safeguard Russia's gas contracts, if the Kremlin backs away from the Assad regime in Syria. The revelations come amid high tension in the Middle East, with US, British, and French warship poised for missile strikes in Syria. Iran has threatened to retaliate, The Daily Telegraph writes.Brazil's emergency intervention to shore up the real has already begun to unravel, prompting fears of fresh capital flight unless the government takes more radical action. Investors appear to have been shaken by warnings from US Federal Reserve governors that the bank will not back away from monetary tightening because of emerging market woes, according to The Daily Telegraph.Telefónica appears to have sealed its deal to buy KPN's German mobile unit, E-Plus, after winning approval from major KPN shareholder Carlos Slim by raising the value of its offer from €8.1bn to €8.55bn. The agreement wraps up one chapter of a complicated three-way saga that has unfolded this summer between KPN, Telefónica, and Mr Slim's telecoms group América Móvil, the FT says. An attempt by Donald Tusk to strengthen his position at the head of Poland's ruling Civic Platform party has backfired, leaving the Polish premier gravely weakened when he has already lost support because of the lacklustre economy, the FT explains. Business volumes and boardroom confidence are picking up in services industries ranging from accounting and law to hotels and leisure, according to the latest quarterly services snapshot from the CBI. Adding to the sense of an economy in recovery, the EEF, the manufacturers' organisation, has reported that the lending drought suffered by small businesses appears to be easing, The Times reports. Russia slashed its economic growth forecast yesterday after suffering its worst second quarter since the peak of the financial crisis. The rouble fell to a four-year low after the Russian Economic Ministry cut its growth forecast for this year to 1.8% from 2.4%, and for next year from 3.7% to 2.8% to 3.2%, according to The Times.AstraZeneca, the UK's second-largest drug maker, has taken a further step towards boosting its pipeline of new cancer treatments by agreeing to buy privately-owned US biotech company Amplimmune for up to $500 million (£320.9m). The deal came the day after US rival Amgen unveiled the $10.4 billion acquisition of Onyx Pharmaceuticals, which also specialises in cancer drugs, The Scotsman says. AB