Germany and America were on a collision course on Tuesday night over the handling of Europe's debt crisis after Berlin savaged plans to boost the EU rescue fund as a "stupid idea" and told the White House to sort out its own mess before giving gratuitous advice to others. German finance minister Wolfgang Schauble said it would be a folly to boost the EU's bail-out machinery (EFSF) beyond its €440bn lending limit by deploying leverage to up to €2 trillion, perhaps by raising funds from the European Central Bank, the Telegraph reports.Labour leader Ed Miliband has risked charges of hypocrisy after denouncing City firms as asset strippers, predators and bad companies - even though the Labour Party's top donors are financiers. The veteran private equity boss Jon Moulton said: "This distinction between 'predators' and 'producers' is stereotyping to the point of stupidity," the Telegraph says.Google is set to invest millions of pounds in the UK technology sector after taking over a building in "Silicon Roundabout" in east London in a move to support start-ups in the area. The Californian search engine giant will today announce it has secured the lease to a seven-floor building in Old Street. After refurbishment, it will be opened next year, the Independent says.The head of Barclays' retail and business operations in Britain and Europe is leaving the bank, The Times has learnt. The departure of Deanna Oppenheimer ends a six-year stint at Barclays and comes as its retail and business division is under intense pressure to improve returns, the Times writes.Tens of thousands of customers making purchases on the websites of big brands including Ryanair, TheTrainline.com, Ticketmaster, National Express and Premier Inn, are signing up for a discount service that many do not realise will cost them £10 a month. Campaigners have called on the companies involved to stop working with the website offering the service because customers feel that they are being misled. Critics say that the scheme, called Shopper Discounts & Rewards (also known as Webloyalty), offers little that distinguishes it from other cashback or rewards websites that are free to join, according to the Times.The London Stock Exchange has succeeded in its attempt to take over LCH.Clearnet after the clearer's board favoured the UK bourse over Markit, the rival bidder. The deal, which must still be approved by LCH's 98 shareholders, marks a coup for Xavier Rolet, the chief executive of the LSE who took over from Dame Clara Furse in 2009, the Financial Times says.Boardroom bosses are being warned of shareholder concern about the ever-increasing size of their pay packets in an influential new code that requires bonuses to be "clawed back" in the event that performance targets are not met. In the first update for five years of its guidelines on pay, the Association of British Insurers spells out anxiety about pay deals handed out just to enable executives to keep up with their peers, reports the Guardian.Tesco beat rivals Asda, Morrisons and Sainsbury's in a snapshot price survey of 11 common family food items. Following its recent 'Big Price Drop' campaign, its products were on average £3 cheaper than the other big supermarkets. It's still more expensive than the booming budget chains Lidl and Aldi, however, the Daily Mail reports.
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