Ukraine security service raids state gas HQ

Ukraine’s Security Service launched a raid on the country’s state-run gas company Wednesday, searching for documents related to a gas deal with Russia, a spokesman for the company said. A group of about 30 gunmen wearing masks and carrying machine guns entered the offices of Naftogaz and took control of every floor of the company’s building in the capital of Kiev, Naftogaz spokesman Valentyn Zemlyansky said. Operatives from the security service then began a search for various company documents, including those pertaining to the Russia-Ukraine gas deal signed in January to end a weeks-long gas dispute, Zemlyansky told journalists, according to Russia’s Interfax news agency

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Germany considers Opel rescue plan

The German government is studying a proposal from Opel and its parent company, General Motors, to save the struggling carmaker with a huge cash injection and a cost-cutting plan. The proposal calls for GM to sell off a stake in its Opel unit, the core of its European operations, in order to win $4.18 billion (€3.3 billion) in government support from Germany and others in the region, said Andreas Kroemer, a spokesman for GM Europe.

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Blackwater founder, CEO resigns

Erik Prince, founder of the Blackwater Worldwide security firm, announced Monday he has resigned as head of the company, recently renamed Xe. Prince, in an e-mail to employees and independent contractors, said Danielle Esposito will become chief operating officer and executive vice president. Esposito has worked for the firm and its partners for nearly 10 years

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Turkish Airlines plane fell ‘vertically’ to ground

The Turkish Airlines plane that crashed this week in Amsterdam fell almost vertically to the ground, making only a short track in the muddy farmer’s field where it went down, Dutch investigators said Friday. That sudden drop indicates the aircraft did not have enough forward speed when it crashed, a spokesman for the Dutch Safety Board said, but the reasons for that are still unclear. It is too early to speculate on the cause of the crash, spokesman Fred Sanders told CNN.

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The Beleaguered Banks Get Ready for Their Big Test

Bank nationalization is the phrase on everyone’s lips at the moment — with Alan Greenspan, Chris Dodd and Paul Krugman among the leading lights of the unlikely coalition in favor of it, and members of the Obama Administration repeatedly denying that it’s in their plans. It’s a misleading debate, though, given that the U.S

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