| RBS takes prize for biggest takeover deal of the year
Another Edinburgh institution that found new owners was Radio Forth, with former owner Emap flogging it for £1.14bn as part of a sale of its consumer magazine and radio assets to German media group Bauer.In October, Cairn Energy, the Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer, announced a surprise sale of its Bangladeshi operations in a deal worth up to £34m, as part of its focus on its core exploration activities. Smaller Edinburgh firms also struck deals, with JRG Financial sold to the national Cavanagh Group for £5.3m. Sir David Murray sold his Apollo Metals arm to German giant ThyssemKrupp for an undisclosed fee.However, it was RBS that grabbed the takeover limelight in 2007. Apart from raking in £4.2bn from the sale of Southern Water to a joint venture between JP Morgan and Australian infrastructure fund Challenger, the bank saw off intense competition from Barclays in a six-month battle for the flagship takeover of 2007: the £49.1bn consortium buyout of Dutch bank ABN Amro by RBS, Santander and Fortis.The triumph by RBS chief executive Sir Fred Goodwin marked the world's biggest banking takeover, and easily the largest completed deal of the year.Sir Fred was accused of overpaying for ABN.
Wednesday, January 30
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The Night Commuters
Centuries later, the Christians that came with the colonialists shared that view. However, both groups are now finding the ceremonies can be helpful and are devoid of any religious meaning. This unorthodoxy is a direct result of the challenges associated with rehabilitating and reconciling not just the thousands of abductees, but an entire population. Hands are tied A horrible paradox exists for the citizens of northern Uganda and southern Sudan. If you're out collecting firewood or working in a field and you see an LRA gang pass by, what do you do? Many of these people have known children who were abducted. Possibly the child wasn't theirs, but a friend or family member's child. Do you alert the army? Do you ask the army to come kill your child, or do you hope they are simply passing through? The same question pervades the thinking of the Ugandan army.
American trims flights as pilots plan retirements
American Airlines is canceling dozens of flights in its February schedule as it faces potential retirements of more than 100 pilots, company and pilots union representatives said Wednesday.
American executives said the flight cancellations are unavoidable, necessitated by an early retirement option for senior pilots and a downturn in the stock market.
"We have decided to proactively cancel a number of flights so as to provide minimal disruptions to our customers' travel plans," American spokeswoman Tami McLallen said in a telephone interview.
"It's a very very small number of flights. And it's not about cost cutting; it's about retirements."
American's pilots, members of the 12,000-member Allied Pilots Association, said the flight cancellations are the result of over-aggressive cost cutting by management.
Partners Embrace Huge Opportunities in Software plus Services Era
Microsofts new online services beta enables partners to deliver more value to customers in the growing Software plus Services world. With Microsoft services like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and CRM 4.0, organizations big and small now have more choices in how they access and manage enterprise-class software from entirely Web-based, to entirely on premise solutions, and anywhere in between. Having a variety of solutions to choose from gives customers the mobility and flexibility they need to meet constantly evolving business needs. To meet this demand, Microsoft is moving towards a hybrid strategy of Software plus Services, the goal of which is to empower customers and partners with richer applications, more choices, and greater opportunity through a combination of on-premise software, partner-hosted software, and Microsoft-hosted software.
Hawks GM Tallon plans to make trades
Hendry has two assists with 14 penalty minutes and is a plus-4 in 20 games.
"He's earned a job here as far as I'm concerned," coach Denis Savard said. "He's a good skater. He recovers, he's strong and he keeps his game simple."
Hendry's steady play has earned him the respect of teammates.
"He came in here and played his first game this year," said Sopel, who is expected to miss the next two weeks with a broken bone in his left wrist. "When you get that opportunity you have to take advantage of it, and he's done that."
Ruutu rumblingsTuomo Ruutu's goal-less streak reached 32 games Sunday. The winger hasn't scored since Dec. 12 and has six goals in 60 games this season.
"It's shocking that he hasn't scored, because he goes to the net," Savard said.
Inflation figures make case for rates rise: analyst
There is further fuel for the Reserve Bank to raise interest rates this week, with an unofficial measure of inflation blowing out to well above the central bank's target range. The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute Monthly Inflation Gauge rose by 0.3 per cent in February, boosting underlying inflation to 4.1 per cent. TD Securities senior strategist Josh Williamson says inflationary pressures are running even hotter now than last month, when the Reserve Bank increased rates by 0.25 per cent. He says that will be weighing on board members' minds when they meet in Sydney tomorrow. "The Reserve Bank at the end of the day is going to have very little choice but to raise interest rates another 25 basis points," he said. And he says the central bank is likely to tighten monetary policy even further in the months ahead.
CNN.com users react to Kennedy backing Obama
With Kennedy backing the Illinois senator, many analysts asked the question: How will this change the course of the race for the Democratic presidential nomination? To many CNN.com readers, not much. To others, immensely. While some thought Kennedy comparing Obama to former President John F. Kennedy was inappropriate, others found it apt. On the Web site's Political Ticker, on commentator Jack Cafferty's blog and in I-Reports, CNN.com's users sounded off on what they believe the Kennedy nod will ultimately mean for Obama and Clinton. Some comments have been edited for length, grammar and punctuation: Francisco Rivera: "Since the death of Robert Kennedy the family no longer has any influence with the country. Ted has made many mistakes in his career that ruined his reputation as a reliable politician.
Steve Jobs vs. Teachers' Unions
Is Hillary Clinton's campaign really trying to pretend, through vigorous Webbery, that she didn't support the war? That's what Matt Yglesias claims.** If true, that's a bit different than simply stubbornly refusing to apologize for your support; it's trying to deny that you have anything to refuse to apologize for! And it's kind of pathetic. Hillary's had a long time to think about what she'd say in this situation. Not even her husband could get away with that much slickness. He managed to position himself for-and-against Iraq War I, but only because he didn't have to vote on it (and because the war was over and old news by the time he had to stand before the voters). ... P.S.: Yglesias regards Clinton's stance as "an insult to the intelligence of liberals everywhere." Note to Matt: True. But what if her target audience isn't "liberals everywhere" but ...
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