Cyprus agreed on a 10bn-euro bailout on Monday morning that does not include the controverial deposit tax, but will force big losses on deposits in the country’s two largest lenders, according to the Financial Times. The eleventh-hour deal came after a ‘stormy meeting’ of Eurozone finance ministers that lasted nearly 12 hours, the paper says.
A UN envoy has called for calm after visiting the Burmese city of Meikhtila, the seat of a bloody wave of fighting between Buddhists and Muslims that spread over the weekend into neighbouring communities. Burma’s president, Thein Sein, has declared a state of emergency in the region and deployed army troops to Meikhtila. But even as soldiers were able to impose order there after several days of anarchy that saw armed Buddhists torch the city’s Muslim quarters, unrest was reported in two other towns to the south. State television said mobs had burned down a mosque and 50 homes on Saturday in Yamethin, about 40 miles (64km) from Meikhtila, while another mosque and several buildings were set ablaze in Lewei, further south near the capital, Naypyitaw. The clashes have killed dozens of people and displaced 10,000. The government has put the total death toll at 32 and authorities say they have detained at least 35 people allegedly involved in arson and violence in the region. The Guardian.
The man known as Prisoner X, a dual Israeli-Australian national and reputed Israeli spy who died in a jail in Israel in 2010, was arrested after making a bungled and unauthorised bid to recruit a double agent with links to Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Australian newspapers have reported. The man, Ben Zygier, was arrested in early 2010 and held in secret on unspecified security charges. A judicial inquiry in Israel found Zygier, 34, hanged himself in a high-security jail cell.
Ben Zygier. Photograph: ABC TV Israel has refused to disclose details of the case, even denying a request for information from Australia’s department of foreign affairs and trade, and the case has been the subject of gag orders in Israel. The Guardian
Michael Dell, the founder of Dell who is planning a $24bn bid to take the computer maker private, could be forced out of his job as rival bids emerged ahead of the end of the 45-day “go-shop” period, according to The Times. The paper says that two new bids were received from private equity firm Blackstone and activist investor Carl Icahn.
According to The Telegraph, npower has said policies that exempt smaller suppliers from costs worth around £100 per household this year give its rivals an unfair advantage and are “distorting” the energy market.
French insurer Axa is to reduce its exposure to its domestic market of France on concerns that it is starting to become a “middle-of-the-pack” economy, held back by slow spending reforms and stringent tax policies, reports the Financial Times.
The Association of Convenience Stores has called for “meaningful policy change” to help Britain’s High Street “turn the tide” in its losing battles against out-of-town developments, The Telegraph reports.
The group will call for a shake-up on planning, business rates and parking at the first High Street Forum industry summit on Monday. The think-tank, Centre for Policy Studies, has blasted ministers for failing to introduce enough competition on the railways, saying that there are “a series of state-sponsored rail operator monopolies or ‘railopolies'”, according to The Independent.
The arrival of a gas tanker from Qatar has eased the pressure on the UK’s energy supplies, writes The Guardian. This follows reports last week that Britain only had enough gas in storage for two days of demand following the unseasonal cold weather as of late. Another shipment is due on Monday as well as two more later this week, the paper writes.
