Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Qantas has begun legal action against the engine supplier Rolls-Royce following the explosion of an engine on one of the airline's Airbus A380s.It said the legal action was back-up in case a settlement could not be reached.Earlier, Australian air safety authorities said they had identified a serious manufacturing fault with some of Rolls-Royce's Trent 900 engines.Rolls-Royce said the Australian findings were "consistent with what we have said before".Qantas has resumed flying some of its A380 planes after grounding the fleet for safety checks following the incident on 4 November.
• The euro has risen in value after the European Central Bank (ECB) confirmed it would continue to purchase European government bonds.The confirmation was given by ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet, although he declined to give any further details.He also confirmed that the ECB would continue its support of struggling banks within the eurozone.The euro was up to $1.3145 from its earlier low of $1.3059.The main share indexes were also higher, with Germany's Dax adding 0.4%, France's Cac up 0.5%, and the UK's FTSE 100 advancing 1.3%.
• Soft drinks maker PepsiCo has said it is buying a 66% stake in Russian dairy and fruit juice maker Wimm-Bill-Dann for $3.8bn (£2.4bn).PepsiCo said it would also seek to buy the remaining shares in Wimm-Bill-Dann when the initial deal is completed.The deal is the biggest foreign investment in Russia outside the energy sector."Wimm-Bill-Dann is a terrific business with significant opportunities," said Zein Abdalla of PepsiCo Europe.
• Brazil's Congress has modified laws relating to the country's oil sector which could increase development of its offshore oil fields.The bill ensures that the state-run oil company Petrobras will have a 30% stake in any new joint exploration ventures in Brazil's offshore fields.Exploitation of the reserves could turn Brazil into a global energy exporter.President-elect Dilma Rousseff helped to draft the proposals while chief of staff in the current government.
• A presidential panel set up to help trim the US budget deficit has called for steep spending cuts and tax rises.The proposal would cut defence, social security and other spending, slashing a total of $4.1tn (£2.62tn) from the budget deficit by 2020.But analysts say the panel is unlikely to ratify the plan with a vote, calling into question whether the US Congress will act on its recommendations."The solution will be painful," the plan reads. "There is no easy way out."The US had a budget deficit of $1.3tn in the year to September, and critics have said the government should do more to narrow the gap

BBC Business News 2nd December 2010