Wednesday newspaper round-up: J Sainsbury, Oil exploration, Bob Diamond...

J Sainsbury has overtaken Asda as Britain's second-largest supermarket, seven years after it lost the position.Industry figures yesterday revealed that a strong Christmas performance by the London-based grocer enabled it to overtake its Leeds rival, capping a dismal 2010 for Asda. Sainsbury's share of customers' grocery spending rose from 16.3% to 16.6% during the four weeks to December 26, according to Kantar Worldpanel, the industry researcher. Asda's share dipped from 16.6% to 16.5%, the Times reports.Tesco is looking to launch in Vietnam in a move that would extend the grocery giant's global empire to 15 countries. Such a rollout would underline the world's third largest retailer's relentless push to grow its international business. This is expected to be a key area of focus for Philip Clarke, Tesco's chief executive designate, who is stepping up from his current role as international and IT director when Sir Terry Leahy retires in March, the Independent reports.Jeremy Hunt must act carefully to avoid legal challenge to his role in regulating News Corp's proposed bid for British Sky Broadcasting, after his department sent Rupert Murdoch's company a key document, lawyers said. Three competition experts on Tuesday said the culture secretary's move could give News Corp the ability to offer pre-emptive "remedies" that would cut out the need for a full public interest investigation of the proposed bid by the Competition Commission. News Corp pursued this tactic when the European Commission was considering the bid, which was eventually passed unconditionally, the FT reports.Sweeping changes to laws governing the American oil industry are essential to prevent a repeat of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, according to a presidential report on the accident. In its final 306-page submission, the national commission into the accident and subsequent oil spill last year has found that it occurred because of multiple failures by BP, Transocean and Halliburton, as well as a failure to properly regulate the industry properly on the part of the US Government, the Times reports.Companies from oil majors like BP and Exxon to minnow explorers will all have to pay more for insurance, spill prevention, better equipment and more thorough safety standards under new recommendations by the Oil Spill Commission, the Telegraph adds.Affluent parts of London and the South East are bucking the downward trend for house prices, in part because buyers seeking bargain family homes are pushing prices up. Winkworth, an estate agent selling properties in the capital and towns such as Winchester, Bath and Exeter, said the average asking price of its properties rose from £494,000 to £532,000 between August and November last year. In London, the average price rose from £518,000 to £551,000, the Times reports.The London Stock Exchange has revealed that the catastrophic failure of its Turquoise trading platform on November 2 was due to human error rather than sabotage. When Turquoise, which allows City institutions to trade in equities off the main market, failed, the LSE initiated a furious search for the individual or individuals whose suspected "human error" had led to the market outage. At the time, there was even dark talk about possible sabotage by rivals, the Times reports.Bob Diamond, Barclays' chief executive, has told a committeee of MPs that badly-run banks should not be bailed out by taxpayers. "It is not acceptable for taxpayers to bail out banks," Mr Diamond said during questioning by the Treasury Select Committee. He added that "badly managed" banks should be allowed to fail. Barclays is not too big to fail, said Mr Diamond, who took over as chief executive of the bank 11 days ago, the Telegraph reports.The time for "remorse and apology" by banks over their role in the financial crisis should end, Barclays' chief executive said, during rancorous exchanges with MPs over bankers' bonuses. Under gruelling questioning by a parliamentary committee, Bob Diamond acknowledged the public anger towards bankers over pay and said he wished he could "make the issue of bonuses go away," the FT adds.Terra Firma is attempting an appeal over its failed lawsuit against investment bank Citigroup over the buy-out of music major EMI. It is understood that Guy Hands' investment firm will challenge the technical aspects of how the trial was conducted and not the verdict itself. Terra Firma has filed in the US for leave to appeal, the Telegraph reports.