:00:13. > :00:19.Now for the latest financial news Hello and welcome to World Business
:00:19. > :00:22.Report. Greece, Spain, now Portugal again. Crisis talks in Lisbon as
:00:22. > :00:32.support for austerity crumbles - a new headache for leaders battling
:00:32. > :00:35.
:00:35. > :00:40.to save the Euro. China's largest foreign investment gets the Green
:00:40. > :00:43.light. But there is rising opposition to the deal in Canada.
:00:43. > :00:53.Brussels may give Universal the green light to take over EMI but
:00:53. > :00:54.
:00:54. > :00:57.only if it sells off some of its most treasured assets. As pressure
:00:57. > :01:02.mounts on Spain to request an economic rescue, a new front could
:01:02. > :01:05.be opening or re-opening, in the battle to save the euro. Portugal's
:01:05. > :01:08.government is under growing pressure to back down on its latest
:01:09. > :01:13.austerity plans, after some of the largest protests ever seen in the
:01:13. > :01:16.country. With even members of the two governing parties publicly
:01:16. > :01:19.opposing the plans, and the coalition apparently in disarray,
:01:19. > :01:29.Portugal's president has called a meeting of the Council of State for
:01:29. > :01:35.
:01:36. > :01:40.Friday afternoon and summoned the finance minister to attend. Last
:01:40. > :01:46.weekend, tens of thousands demonstrated around Portugal in the
:01:46. > :01:56.biggest protests since the general election last year. Social security
:01:56. > :01:56.
:01:56. > :02:00.in traditions are to rise to 18% of salaries. -- security contributions.
:02:00. > :02:07.The government says it will boost job creations but the changes are
:02:07. > :02:14.seen as unfair. TRANSLATION: I am revolted. That is why I have come
:02:14. > :02:18.here to fight as my parents did - for freedom. We have to show
:02:18. > :02:26.opposition. They are increasing everything and now, we're going to
:02:26. > :02:30.show them hour anger. The protests have been followed by strikes and
:02:30. > :02:36.state-controlled oil and gas companies and at ports. And these
:02:36. > :02:41.are central to the government policies. TRANSLATION: We are on
:02:41. > :02:45.strike because of the lack of dialogue from the government and
:02:45. > :02:55.its intention to apply new legislation where they intend to
:02:55. > :02:57.
:02:57. > :03:00.get rid of 50% of Port workers and replace them with unskilled workers.
:03:00. > :03:10.The Finance Minister hopes Portugal can make a gradual return to the
:03:10. > :03:12.
:03:12. > :03:20.debt markets. On Thursday, the government auctioned $2 billion of
:03:20. > :03:26.euro debts. It must be ready to stand on its own feet from next
:03:26. > :03:35.September but many doubt that is possible. I think the good results
:03:35. > :03:42.in the short-term, of the auction, art a positive sign but I did not
:03:42. > :03:45.guarantee a long-term return to the markets. It is an open issue.
:03:45. > :03:50.protests have added to the impression that support is
:03:50. > :03:56.dwindling even within the government. His senior advisers
:03:56. > :04:01.were called to a meeting on Friday. The finance minister was asked to
:04:01. > :04:06.attend. Adding to pressure, the protesters will say they will hold
:04:06. > :04:10.a vigil outside the presidential palace. A row is brewing over what
:04:10. > :04:13.would be China's biggest foreign takeover. Shareholders of Canadian
:04:13. > :04:23.oil and gas producer Nexen have approved a takeover by China
:04:23. > :04:26.
:04:26. > :04:34.National Offshore Oil Company, or C-NOOC. Not everybody is wild about
:04:34. > :04:39.the idea? Absolutely. The leader of Canada's opposition party has
:04:39. > :04:44.voiced concern about his potential deal, questioning how it would be
:04:44. > :04:50.in the country's interest to sell strategic assets to a foreign state
:04:50. > :05:00.company. But the owners do not agree with the politicians. They
:05:00. > :05:03.
:05:03. > :05:07.have voted in favour of the takeover. It is a 61% premium. Its
:05:07. > :05:14.stock, however, has weakened as public opposition appears to be
:05:14. > :05:24.growing. A survey revealing the his opposition to the deal. It could
:05:24. > :05:29.
:05:30. > :05:35.lead the government to turn it down. You have the Prime Minister of the
:05:36. > :05:45.country are reporting that Chinese investments are also losing support.
:05:46. > :05:46.
:05:46. > :05:52.The his discomfort with China making such a major investment. But
:05:52. > :05:59.some are promising the deal is attracted to Canada. Listing it
:05:59. > :06:02.share on the Toronto Stock Exchange. Mixed reactions. Today could be a
:06:02. > :06:04.big one for the global music industry. According to several
:06:04. > :06:09.reports, EU competition regulators will give the go-ahead for
:06:09. > :06:11.Universal's near $2 billion dollar takeover of rival EMI. But they are
:06:11. > :06:15.expected to demand heavy concessions to stop Universal -
:06:15. > :06:19.already number one in Europe- having too much power over the
:06:19. > :06:22.music business. According to the Wall Street Journal, Brussels will
:06:22. > :06:31.require Universal to sell off many of EMI's most treasured record
:06:31. > :06:35.labels and the accompanying global rights. That could see them walk
:06:35. > :06:45.away from the deal. Chris Cooke is Business Editor for CMU, which is a
:06:45. > :06:49.UK-based music business news service. We are expecting a major
:06:49. > :06:57.concessions given that universal starting point will be no
:06:57. > :07:03.concessions required - which was probably bluff. It could be up to
:07:03. > :07:11.60% of the assets within the European Union which would be a
:07:11. > :07:18.quarter or a third of EMI in its entirety. Is it worth their while?
:07:18. > :07:23.It is a debate. There was a little bit of a bluff from EMI saying they
:07:23. > :07:33.could walk away. That has seemed incredibly unlikely. Universal has
:07:33. > :07:38.worked and it would be embarrassing, with the apparent company going
:07:38. > :07:42.through some changes, will they make a loss? It seems to be enough
:07:42. > :07:48.interest to buying these bits of EMI that they probably will make
:07:48. > :07:58.back the money they have paid Citigroup to buy EMI in the first
:07:58. > :08:00.
:08:00. > :08:05.prize. Will it make universal too powerful? One of their main
:08:05. > :08:10.competitors, Warner Music an Independent record-company us,
:08:10. > :08:15.thinking in the digital space, if I have about a 30% market share, if
:08:15. > :08:20.they bought EMI in its entirety, that would have a 40% market share.
:08:20. > :08:25.What it means is that if you want to launch a digital service, you
:08:25. > :08:30.could almost not launch without its catalogue which gives them an
:08:30. > :08:37.incredibly strong hand at the negotiation table. They're already
:08:37. > :08:40.have a strong hand whether it would be stronger is debatable. A mega
:08:40. > :08:43.merger between commodities trading giant Glencore and miner Xstrata
:08:43. > :08:46.could be announced as early as today. According to press reports,
:08:46. > :08:50.the boards of both companies held last-minute meetings on Thursday to
:08:50. > :08:55.agree the terms of the $80 billion deal ahead of a deadline set by UK
:08:55. > :08:59.regulators of 7:00am London time on Monday. A Taiwanese firm has been
:08:59. > :09:02.fined half a billion dollars by a US judge for fixing the the price
:09:02. > :09:06.of liquid crystal screens. Two executives at AU Optronics were
:09:06. > :09:10.also given three year prison sentences. AU, which says it will
:09:10. > :09:16.appeal, was charged as part of a wider investigation into an alleged