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Northern Rock bidders told to improve offers: sources

Two suitors competing to rescue British bank Northern Rock have been told to improve their offers to beat the alternative of nationalization, sources familiar with the matter said. The Virgin consortium, though, has been picked as a front-runner, ahead of a rival in-house proposal led by the mortgage bank's current management team, the sources said.
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Scottish & Newcastle to close Berkshire Brewery

Scottish & Newcastle (S&N) today announced its plan to close its Berkshire Brewery near Reading by early 2010. The brewer said it would immediately begin consultation with employees at the site, who will be affected by the closure.
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Norwich Union International sales up 60%

Norwich Union International, the Dublin based offshore business of Aviva Plc has reported sales growth of 60 per cent in 2007, worth a total of £521 million.
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Government minister speaks against non-dom tax plans

Lord Digby Jones, the Trade and Industry Minister has said that Government plans to tax non-domiciles could damage London's top position in global finance, saying it could discourage top investors and business people from coming to the capital.
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Google's Android Prototypes Coming

Google's Android mobile operating system may be the face of the show at the world's biggest wireless fair next week as the firm expects many companies to demonstrate their prototype devices using its Android OS.
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Aviva sales up 25% in 2007

Aviva Plc has reported growth of 25 per cent in sales for the whole year 2007, worth £38,583 million, thanks to strong growth in North America and Asia. The group has also said it is positive of sales and profit growth in 2008.
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Tesco employees share £175 million payout

Tesco Plc has announced that it will be giving it's largest ever share payout of £175 million, to 51,000 of it's employees who are part of its Save As You Earn share scheme which allows Tesco employees to buy shares in the company at a discounted price.
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Euro slides after Trichet's growth comments

The euro declined to two-week lows versus the dollar on Thursday after European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said euro zone growth risks are to the downside, signaling lower interest rates this year.
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$1 million adds a letter S to an Internet address

A British travel company has paid 560,000 pounds ($1.1 mln) for the domain name cruises.co.uk, a price that is effectively $1 million just for the letter S since it already owns the address cruise.co.uk.
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Time Warner Cable Boost Earnings

Time Warner Inc., the world's largest media conglomerate, reported Wednesday fourth-quarter and full-year results which were roughly in line with Wall Street's expectations, as strong gains in cable television and from the sale of AOL's online access business in Europe.
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Kenya death toll hits 1,000, parties talk

The death toll from Kenya's post-election bloodletting has risen to 1,000, the Red Cross said on Tuesday, as political rivals began the toughest part of their negotiations so far. Fighting in west Kenya in recent days between rival ethnic gangs had increased the number of deaths, the Red Cross said.
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Trio set to make offers for Northern Rock

Billionaire Richard Branson, banker Luqman Arnold and an in-house management team are set to pitch formal offers for Britain's Northern Rock Plc on Monday, the government's deadline for bids. Branson has said his Virgin Group VA.UL will make an offer for the troubled bank ahead of the February 4 deadline, while Arnold's investment group Olivant and the in-house team have also said they will bid.
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Amazon Buys Audible for $300 Mil

Amazon.com said Thursday it will buy Audible, a digital audio books provider, for $11.50 a share as in move to expand the online retailer's audio downloads available to users.
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FSA warns risk of more financial crime in 2008

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has warned that more incidents of financial crime may come to light in 2008 and that resources could be diverted away from fighting financial crime, thanks to tighter economic conditions.
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U.S. tops new tech usage ranking

The United States, Sweden and Japan topped a new ranking that measures how well countries use telecommunications technologies - networks, cell phones and computers - to boost their social and economic prosperity.
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Al Gores TV Files For IPO Worth $100 Mil

Current Media Inc., a TV network and web site founded by U.S. Vice President Al Gore, filed papers for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock market worth as much as $100 million.
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U.S. Poised for Drop as Asia, Europe Stocks Tumble

European and Asian stock markets fell on Monday as worries continue about a possible U.S. recession that could affect other leading markets. Asia's losses were led by China's Shanghai composite Index which plummeted to close down more than 7 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was off 2 percent in early afternoon trading. U.S. stocks were set to open lower.

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