Lone Star halts talks with DBS on KEB sale: report

(Reuters) - South Korean prosecutors said in December that the $1.2 billion acquisition was illegal because of flaws in the sale process.




Grayken said in translated Korean that DBS had approached Lone Star after talks for a $7.3 billion sale of KEB to top South Korean lender Kookmin Bank were terminated in November.


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BP slows Texas refinery output after glitch

(Reuters) - No BP officials were not immediately available to comment.




The Texas City refinery has a capacity to process 460,000 barrels of crude oil per day but has been running at just over half that level since a deadly explosion and damage from hurricanes crippled parts of the plant in 2005.


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More second-term blues for Bush on immigration

(Reuters) - The bipartisan immigration compromise unraveled in the
Senate on Thursday night in the face of opposition from the
left and right -- including many of Bush's fellow Republicans.




"An administration that practiced such effective message
control in its first term now looks completely impotent," said
Georgetown University political analyst Stephen Wayne. "They
are stuck in their tracks."


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US interest-rate rise could hurt consumer spending

(Reuters) - The surge in U.S. interest rates this week could spell higher costs for consumers, crimping their spending and cutting into economic growth.

Indeed, there is a sense globally that the days of low- cost loans and cheap money -- which fueled everything from consumer spending and investment strategies to company mergers -- may be over.


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