LONDON (Reuters) – Commodities trader Glencore fought to save its $26 billion (16.69 billion pounds) bid for miner Xstrata on Wednesday after shareholder Qatar stunned the pair with a late demand for better terms, forcing them to push back the timing of the deal.

The Qatari intervention pushed the deal to the brink as it prompted a string of major shareholders to revisit their own concerns, such as soaring executive pay and fears that the combined entity would take on riskier business.

LONDON (Reuters) – Commodities trader Glencore (GLEN.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), scrambling to save its $26 billion bid for miner Xstrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), will need to sweeten the terms or put its long-desired deal at risk after key shareholder Qatar threatened to oppose the offer.

Qatar, which remained silent on its intentions for months as it built the second-largest stake in Xstrata, said in a surprise statement on Tuesday that it supported the principle of the deal but demanded an improvement in terms from 2.8 new Glencore shares for every Xstrata share to 3.25.

NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp took a major step in satisfying shareholders’ concerns for a more growth-focused business with a plan to separate its publishing and entertainment assets, but an uncertain management structure for the two proposed companies raises new questions about a succession plan at the family-controlled media empire.

Shareholders have been pressing News Corp to get rid of its troubled newspapers business after a phone hacking scandal tainted its British newspapers and forced the company to drop its proposed acquisition of pay-TV group BSkyB. The move would be a clear signal that the company is distancing itself from its newspaper roots.

NEW YORK/LONDON, June 26 (Reuters) – Rupert Murdoch’s News
Corp said it is considering splitting into two publicly
traded companies, sending its shares up 6 percent as investors
bet the troubled publishing business will be spun out of the
more lucrative entertainment arm.

Shareholders have been pushing for some time for News Corp
to get rid of its newspapers business, after a phone hacking
scandal hit Murdoch’s British newspapers and forced the company
to drop its proposed acquisition of pay-TV group BSkyB.

LONDON (Reuters) – Farmer, fireman, challenger extraordinaire and underwear model – Norway’s double Olympic sculling champion Olaf Tufte does not fit the bill of your average professional sportsman.

The 36-year-old complements his rowing training by dragging trees and sacks of grain across his farm and will enter his fifth Olympic Games in London without a win at any major event since success in Beijing in 2008.

LONDON, June 21 (Reuters) – Farmer, fireman, challenger
extraordinaire and underwear model – Norway’s double Olympic
sculling champion Olaf Tufte does not fit the bill of your
average professional sportsman.

The 36-year-old complements his rowing training by dragging
trees and sacks of grain across his farm and will enter his
fifth Olympic Games in London without a win at any major event
since success in Beijing in 2008.

LONDON (Reuters) – A slump in shares of British engineering group Invensys Plc as bid hopes faded did little to dampen the belief of some company watchers that the group was “in play” for the possible disposal of some or all of its businesses.

Responding to a report that said Invensys had received an approach from Emerson Electric Co, the UK group confirmed on Thursday it had received a “highly preliminary” approach from the U.S. company but said discussions had ended.

PARIS (Reuters) – WPP (WPP.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) boss Martin Sorrell struck a more conciliatory tone on Thursday, after shareholders voted against a multi-million pound pay award he had vigorously defended, saying he understood income inequality sparked strong feelings in a recession.

Sorrell became the latest executive to clash with investors over pay on Wednesday when 60 percent of shareholders rejected his 2011 pay package of 6.8 million pounds ($10.6 million) in a non-binding vote at an annual general meeting in Dublin.

PARIS (Reuters) – France Telecom (FTE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) would consider floating a stake in its market-leading British mobile joint venture Everything Everywhere as the tie-up finally starts to realize its potential, Finance Officer Gervais Pellissier said on Wednesday.

France Telecom’s (FTE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Orange joined forces with Deutsche Telekom’s (DTEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) T-Mobile in 2010 to become the biggest operator in the highly competitive market with more than 27 million customers. The group pledged 3.5 billion pounds ($5.4 billion) in cost savings largely by creating one network and taking down excess mobile towers to go from 28,000 to 18,000 sites.

LONDON, June 11 (Reuters) – Former British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown accused media tycoon Rupert Murdoch on Monday of
misleading a government-sponsored inquiry into press ethics with
incorrect testimony alleging Brown had threatened war against
Murdoch’s company.

“This conversation never took place. I am shocked and
surprised that it should be suggested,” Brown told the Leveson
inquiry. “This call did not happen. The threat was not made.”