Saudi Aramco Says Four Killed, 12 Injured in Fire at Ras Tanura Terminal

(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Aramco, the world's largest
state-owned oil company, said four workers were killed in a fire
at the Ras Tanura North Product Terminal.

The fire on July 19 at Ras Tanura in the Eastern Province,
near the Persian Gulf, also injured 12 other workers, the
Dhahran, Saudi Arabia-based company said on its Web site.


Read more at Bloomberg Energy News

Barclays may have lost big in Bear fund-WSJ

(Reuters) - Bear Stearns said on Tuesday that assets in the fund are at
this point essentially worthless.




The Journal said Barclays was reviewing its options for
recovering the $400 million, citing arbitration, a negotiated
settlement or litigation as possible strategies.


Read more at Reuters.com Bonds News

Mandelson mulls EU golden share against takeovers

(Reuters) - The EU should consider creating a 'golden share' system to protect strategic sectors from takeover by foreign state-controlled investment funds, Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson was quoted as saying in a Saturday newspaper.

In an interview with Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore, the European Union's top trade official said the EU had to strike a balance between maintaining free movement of capital and protecting itself from wealthy so-called sovereign funds.


Read more at Reuters Africa

RBS-led group launches 71 bln euro ABN takeover

(Reuters) - A consortium led by Royal Bank of Scotland said on Friday it had formally launched its 71.1 billion euro bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO as it attempts to beat rival suitor Barclays to the biggest ever bank takeover.

The consortium, which also includes Spain's Santander and Belgian-Dutch group Fortis, said the initial offer period would run from July 23 until October 5.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Zimbabwe paves way for nationalising private firms

(Reuters) - Zimbabwe's government has set up a state company to seize control of private local and foreign firms that President Robert Mugabe's administration says are engaging in "economic sabotage" in a bid to end his rule.

Mugabe threatened last month to seize private companies for "dirty tricks", including hiking prices and cutting output, which he says are part of a Western-backed "regime-change" agenda led by Zimbabwe's former colonial master Britain.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Earnings misses, subprime woes punish Wall Street

(Reuters) - U.S. stocks tumbled on Friday, battered by disappointing results from such bellwethers as Caterpillar and Google, and more signals that fallout from the risky subprime mortgage market may spread.

The day's losses were big enough to drag the major indexes into negative territory for the week, snapping a three week streak of gains for the Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq.


Read more at Reuters Africa