WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
Qatar targets 10 per cent of Xstrata
Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund plans to buy at least 10 per cent of Xstrata as part of a long-held strategy to invest in Glencore, suggesting the Gulf state could provide crucial support to the pair’s $90bn merger deal. Several of Xstrata’s shareholders said they would oppose the deal unless Glencore improved its offer.
Guy Hands’ £20m for Terra Firma
Guy Hands, the financier, is ploughing £20m of his own money into his underperforming Terra Firma fund in an unusual move to retain his best dealmakers as revenues fall. Hands is using about a fifth of his estimated £93m personal wealth to guarantee large bonuses to top team members
Mittal urges ‘buy European’
Lakshmi Mittal has called on European political leaders to back a “buy European” industrial programme as part of an effort to boost the continent’s economy, as an alternative to austerity measures which he said were “not working”. “We need measures to encourage more purchases of European goods both to boost demand and to ensure any benefits are felt by European industry,” he said.
THE TIMES
Ofgem staffing boosts energy bills
Households are footing the bill for Ofgem’s 17 per cent increase in wages and other staff costs after the energy regulator went on a hiring spree last year. Ofgem spent £31.4 million in costs for full-time staff, working out at £1.25 for each British household.
Launch of streaming music chart
The advent of music subscription services such as Spotify has led to the creation of the first Official Streaming Chart. Though popular, streaming provides just 4.5 per cent of music industry revenues.
The Daily Telegraph
Worst civil servants to be sacked
Under-performing civil servants will be identified and fired under plans to rank all government officials in order of ability. David Cameron is growing increasingly impatient with institutional failures and ministers have privately complained about the “useless” advice they are regularly receiving from below-par officials.
Parents turning to charity shops
One in four families are turning to charity shops for clothing and toys for their children during the economic downturn – an increase of 50pc since 2007.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Monti Seeks Mediator Role in Europe
Prime Minister Mario Monti is jockeying to position Italy as a mediator between Germany and weaker eurozone economies, an effort aimed at broadening Europe’s decision-making beyond the traditional Franco-German axis.
Japan faces power shortfall
Japan faces potential power shortfalls as high as 18.7 per cent in the important manufacturing region around Osaka, a draft government report shows, adding to the debate over whether to bring any of the nation’s nuclear plants back online.