Business news for Mon, 17 Dec 2007 & with word groups. 9 news.

The compensation deal with the European Union over closure of the US internet gambling market is unlikely to reduce pressure for the US to relax its online gaming laws

AUSTRALIA'S competition watchdog said yesterday it had rejected a proposal led by Singapore Telecommunications Ltd to build a multi-billion-dollar high-speed broadband network in Australia. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission rejected the bid proposed by SingTel and eight other telecommunications groups, saying it did not have adequate audit mechanisms. "The undertaking gives the network owner a high degree of discretion in unilaterally determining non-price terms and conditions for the 15-year undertaking period, without independent regulatory review," ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel said. "We could not accept so much discretion from a gas, electricity or rail firm. Access seekers would not know where they stood." The regulator, however, said it was generally comfortable with the pricing structured offered by the so-called "G9" consortium, and that it was open to receiving a revised proposal. David Tudehope, chief executive of

Two US private equity funds are paying $436m to take over Landmark Aviation, one of the leading US operators of service bases for users of private jets, from Dubai Aerospace Enterprise

After notching a record $2.7 trillion of mergers and acquisitions worldwide in the first half of 2007, cooler heads — or at sentiments — are now prevailing. Nine percent of dealmakers are calling the M&A environment “excellent,” versus 49 percent in midyear, according to research from the Association for Corporate Growth and Thomson Financial. The groups’ biannual [...]

Reuters - About 50 large bond investors, including pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds and other managers, have banded together to lobby companies for better investment-grade bond contracts, The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

New jobs for some provicincial Communist leaders The 17th Congress of the ruling Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in October 2007 has been followed by a wide-ranging reshuffle of senior positions in provincial governments where future national leaders are being groomed. The changes confirm the ascendancy of the "princeling" party faction made up of sons of former high officials, many of whom are thought to be capable modernisers. China's president, Hu Jintao, has also been able to bring the sometimes wayward southern province of Guangdong under the control of one of his loyalists. These developments suggest that for the next several years Chinese elite politics is likely to remain centred on an alliance between princelings and Mr Hu's own power base, the so-called Communist Youth League (CYL) faction made up of officials who worked their way up in China's poorer western provinces. China's recent swathe of personnel changes has important policy implications. They represent the latest attempt by Mr Hu and Wen Jiabao, the premier, to further consolidate their hold on power, allowing them to pursue their political priorities more effectively. Since gaining power Mr Hu and Mr Wen have tried to place more emphasis on rural development and the plight of social groups that have failed to benefit from China's rapid economic growth. ...

The organizers of the National Trust Main Street Center are expecting a big crowd at its national conference in Philadelphia next spring, owing to the strength of Main Street groups in the area.

UK restaurant groups are expanding across the world, eating up their foreign rivals.

While consolidation among the large-cap mining groups has grabbed all the recent headlines, the junior miners on Aim have motored ahead relatively unnoticed.