What the other papers say this morning
FINANCIAL TIMES
Citi chief rejects calls for bank splits
Citigroup’s chief executive has knocked back the idea of big banks being split up after calls from people such as his predecessor Sandy Weill. Vikram Pandit said Citi, formed in Mr Weill’s time with mergers such as the acquisition of Travelers in 1998, had already gone back to the basics of banking, and aside from some global markets businesses had sold most of the units from that deal. The transformative Citi purchases helped end the Glass-Steagall separation of retail and investment banks in the US.
Handling of Jackson changes hands
Michael Jackson hits from Beat It to Billie Jean will for the first time be represented by the late singer’s publishing joint venture with Sony.
Footballers’ pay rises 1,500 per cent
Top footballers’ salaries increased 1,500 per cent from the creation of the Premier League in 1992 to 2010, according to a High Pay Centre report. Over the same period, average UK wages rose 186 per cent. The report says salaries now account for up to 70 per cent of a club’s turnover, compared with 48 per cent in 1997.
THE TIMES
Hunt sets broadband deadline
Jeremy Hunt has given telecoms companies three years to speed up the broadband network after pledging that Britain will have the fastest internet of any leading European country by the end of this parliament.
Drugs patent bonanza challenged
Novartis is taking the Indian government to the nation’s Supreme Court tomorrow in a landmark case that could affect the price of medicines for hundreds of millions.
The Daily Telegraph
Orange/T-Mobile in spectrum sale
Britain’s biggest mobile operator, Everything Everywhere, formed from the merger of Orange and T-Mobile, is in advanced talks to sell a chunk of airwaves to the country’s smallest operator, Three.
Murcia could request €700m
Spain’s Murcia region could request up to €700m (£550m) from the central government to keep it afloat, amid growing concern over the state of the region’s finances.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
China’s Gu may serve only 9 years
Gu Kailai, the wife of deposed party official Bo Xilai, could be released from prison within nine years on medical parole, legal experts say, despite being given a suspended death sentence for the murder of a British businessman.
Syria’s leader broke, says France
France plans to discuss with Russia ways to reduce funding to Bashar al-Assad’s regime, which is running out of cash, the French foreign minister said yesterday.