23/08/2011 World Business Report

These are the day's top of business stories. While engineers head back

into Libya, but which companies are in the strongest position?

Is pure padding back into recession? Data on Tuesday

Scheduled us some clues. -- Europe. The price of gold soars above

$1,900 per round. The first time Libya's oil fields could be open

for business again soon. Oil executives are wondering which

firms and donations will be favoured by any new administration.

China has been defending its corner, saying its investments have

benefited both countries. On Monday, an official at the rubble oil firm

said that Russian and Chinese oil firms may lose out, after failing

to support the rebellion. Our correspondent has more.

One of the chief ways Libya raised money under Colonel Gaddafi was to

sell for foreign firms licences to scour its deserts for oil and gas.

The companies which promise to end over the bigger share of its

revenues won the bid. Companies produce the most oil from Libya.

Russian companies also bought themselves footholds in the country.

During the recent civil war, but the rebels and the Gaddafi family

promise to favour companies that supported their side. France and

Italy backed the rebels, Russia and China are posted. It would put

countries like Italy high up the ranks. Other European and American

countries as well. That is relative to those such as Russia and China,

whose governments have continued to speak out against NATO action and

action against Gaddafi. question is, what Western oil firms

be able to hold a post Gaddafi regime to its wartime promises? Why

shouldn't the Government do what it has done in the past and sell

exploration blocks to the highest bidder? It is more in there just to

see get the highest bidder. In a lot of ways, their exhortations to

the NATO forces with the promise of oil which this has worked. From the

standpoint, there is no bill need to carry through on that promise.

Before giving away more licences, Libya first has to restore its

existing oilfields to their pre-war production levels. Nobody knows how

long that will take. It could be years before Western governments

can try and call in favours from the side they backed.

Not only are our -- are our European countries burdened with

debt, there are now signs of economic slowdown. Lisson Grove

though to has been poor. A key economic report is due out this

morning. It is a good early indication of how private business

is daring. It reports across a range of industries. Expectations

are that it is not going to be a good number. Without going into

specifics, do you go along with that? I think the odds of the

recession had increased. This is mostly because of the lack of

political leadership we have seen. There is a chance that we are just

going through a soft patch. That is a result of the impact of the

tsunami, political crisis and the uncertainty that a lot of decision

makers are facing. It is not going to be a true reading of what is

actually happening, because it is not looking at what is happening at

the moment. His retrospective. is why what really matters the

stock tickers like me is what the next number will go bust. We are at

a crossroads into the outcome. There is still hope that the new

normal, in developed markets, sharing more equally growth around

the world, that a slowdown in the developed markets might help

develop the emerging markets. Inflationary pressure might fall.

One of the pressures that have shown falling can be airbrushed out.

There appears to be a view amongst some analysts that when this does

come through, we might see greater weakness in the manufacturing

sectors, with perhaps the service sector picking up some of the slack.

It does seem a bit unsustainable against that wider sovereign debt

crisis. The industrial sector is divided and segmented. Some of it

is going to do well based on income from emerging markets. I think it

is not as clear-cut as service bursars industrial. It is stocked

by stock MPs by piste. That probably explains some of the

uncertainty we have seen in the corporate sector. We will leave it

there for the moment. Let's take a look at another area

which has gathered a fair amount of interest. Cold. More specifically,

the price of gold. The nettle now stands above $1,900 an ounce.

Investors are hoping it could be a good store of value in a turbulent

time for other financial assets. We go to Asia now. His gold managing

to made -- called on to those gains at all? It is. It is holding above

the $1,900 level. At this stage, it is on course for its biggest

monthly rise in almost 30 years. The catalyst for the safe haven

metals are a number one, persistent worries about global economic

growth and fear of a worsening eurozone crisis. Analysts said that

the demand for gold was being driven by speculation that the US

Federal Reserve may announce new stimulus measures in a bid to boost

the flagging economy. Traders say it is not just on Saturday, but

also a real demand, particularly from the Asian economic giants,

China and India, and a strong appetite for the precious metal. It

is a knock on the Gold that is trading highly, also sold as well.

Its strongest since early May. Puttnam is at a three-year high. --

platinum. Most of the precious metals are moving higher. A good

news for precious metals. What about Foster's, is that good news

no-one is cheering about their full-year profits. They are down

nearly 9% for the full year. That is amid falling Australian beer

sales. Beer sales are down and meet the economic uncertainty as severe

weather conditions, including a cyclone and major flooding in the

country's North East. The bra says that the decline is slowing and the

police a pick-up in consumer confidence and a return to normal

weather conditions should return the sector to fight to moderate

growth. Due to these falling numbers, more cost-cutting measures

have been announced, including potential job cuts. These come in -

- comes amid a background that fosters rejected a $10 billion cash

takeover bid from another brawl. In other news, charges of sexual

assault against Dominique Strauss- Kahn are to be dropped. Prosecutors

say the testimony of the accuser is not convincing enough to present to

a jury. They asked a judge to dismiss all the charges. The case

forced Mr Strauss-Kahn to resign as the head of the IMF and wrecked his

chances of becoming a challenger in Francis presidential elections.

-- friends's. The CEO of Goldman Sachs has hired a high-profile

lawyer. The CEO has not been charged with anything as it

investigations continue into the firm's actions in the run-up to the

financial crisis. Boeing could be close to winning a

large order. Directors will vote on whether to order more jets. It will

be a welcome move for the company, which recently lost his exquisite

contract to supply American Airlines. All this has updated

For some more news from the UK: The Government has just ended a

consultation on gambling laws, which may have implications for

seaside arcade orders. They are set to make sweeping changes to

gambling laws, to make sure that the country's offers do not miss

out from revenue. Our correspondent has more.

Sea, sand and occasionally even son. Right along the coast, traditional

resorts have been offering the same attractions for decades. However at

the other end of the promenade, there are signs that this resort

has seen better days. It is all about the weather. If we do not

have the weather, people do not visit us. The summer months are

when businesses make money. This man keeps his amusement arcades

open all year round. That is becoming more and more difficult.

The overheads and running costs means we will go back to seasonal.

When we go back to seasonal, people will ask why to come to the coast?

The owners of amusement arcade say Government proposals to change how

they attacks could make it much tougher for them. Under the plans,

taxes will be placed by a machine taxes. Arcade owners say that would

lead to them paying out more to the Government. The impact would mean

more arcades closed. We have had 200 closed over the last three

years. There will be more. Some of us are on the edge. They are

members need help, not a new taxation system. The Government is

still deciding whether to go ahead with the plans. If they accept it,

there will be winners and losers. A Treasury spokesperson said they

believed a machine against duty will be fairer than the current

system, has tax will be directly linked to machine profits.

The headlines: Colonel Gaddafi's son has told the BBC that forces

loyal to his father are winning the battle for Tripoli. He appeared on

the streets to cite the International Criminal Court saying

he had been arrested. A reporter is in the Hague, and she says it has

been a setback for the court. issued the arrest warrants in June,

after gathering witnesses the statements. Now it appears, the

longer they evade capture, the harder it will be to get them to

the ICC. As fighting continues in and around the capital, President

Obama has praised the Libyan people for what he calls, their

extraordinary sacrifice. He also called for a peaceful, inclusive

and just transition of power. The UN has accused the Syrian

government of operating a shoot-to- kill policy against anti-government

protesters. The country's security forces are reported to have shot

dead a number of people. Prosecutors had asked a judge to

drop a sexual assault case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn. They told a