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Vodafone set to trump Liberty with $10 billion cash bid for Kabel: sources
FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone is discussing a bid of about $10 billion with Germany's No. 1 cable operator Kabel Deutschland and is confident its raised all-cash offer and absence of antitrust issues put it in a better position than rival Liberty Global, two sources familiar with its thinking said on Wednesday.

UK regulator to probe BSkyB over sports channel supply
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's telecom regulator said on Wednesday that it would launch an investigation into satellite TV firm BSkyB over the wholesale supply of its sports channels after a complaint by Sky's increasingly bitter rival BT.

China completes Internet, phone monitoring scheme for Tibet
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has completed a monitoring scheme in restive Tibet that requires all telephone and internet users to register under their real names, state media said on Wednesday, as part of a campaign to crack down on what officials describe as rumors.

Dozing prince a cult hero for disenchanted Czechs
PRAGUE (Reuters) - It was a moment of high drama: the Czech prime minister stood up in parliament to try to salvage a political career torpedoed by the arrest of an aide, and Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, sitting next to him, had dozed off.

Santander says does not need to make new bad debt provisions
SANTANDER, Spain (Reuters) - Spanish banking group Santander does not need additional provisions to meet new Bank of Spain rules on recognizing bad debt, Deputy Chairman Matias Rodriguez Inciarte said on Wednesday.

Brawn needs brains to avoid tyre trouble
LONDON (Reuters) - Mercedes principal Ross Brawn, a past master at finding Formula One loopholes, may need to pull another rabbit from his magician's hat on Thursday if his team are to escape potentially heavy sanctions.

A Minute With: Gemma Arterton on choosing roles, new challenges
NEW YORK (Reuters) - British actress Gemma Arterton does not need to worry about typecasting with roles ranging from a fairy tale character and literary heroines to MI6 agent Strawberry Fields in the 2008 James Bond film "Quantum of Solace."

Accused Cleveland kidnapper to appear at pre-trial hearing
CLEVELAND (Reuters) - A former Cleveland school-bus driver accused of holding three women captive in his home and torturing them for a decade is scheduled to appear in court for a pre-trial hearing on Wednesday.

EU fines Lundbeck, eight others 146 million euros for blocking cheaper drugs
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators fined nine drugmakers a total of 146 million euros ($195.5 million) on Wednesday for blocking the supply of cheaper medicines on the market, with a penalty of 94 million euros imposed on Denmark's Lundbeck.

IAAF denies prior knowledge of Italian Schwazer's doping
(Reuters) - The world athletics body (IAAF) on Wednesday denied that it had any prior knowledge or evidence of Italian 2008 Olympic race walk champion Alex Schwazer's doping practices before he was caught with a positive test last year.

Shares choppy, dollar steady as Fed meets
LONDON (Reuters) - European shares turned lower but major currencies and commodities stuck within recent ranges on Wednesday as investors awaited clarity on the U.S. Federal Reserve's next policy move.

Airbus wins A350 order from Air France-KLM
PARIS (Reuters) - Airbus sealed a long-awaited order for 25 A350-900 aircraft from Air France-KLM worth $7.2 billion at list prices after Rolls-Royce and the airline reached a deal over engine maintenance.

Suicide bomber, gunmen attack U.N. office in Somalia
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide bomber and several gunmen attacked a United Nations compound in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, police and witnesses said, in a strike that bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda-linked militants.

EU fines Lundbeck, 8 others 146 mln euros for blocking cheaper drugs
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators fined nine drugmakers a total of 146 million euros ($195.5 million) on Wednesday for blocking the supply of cheaper medicines on the market, with a penalty of 94 million euros imposed on Denmark's Lundbeck.

Afghan government irked over U.S. talks with Taliban
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai distanced himself from U.S. peace talks with Taliban insurgents that are likely to begin on Thursday, and, as a mark of displeasure, said the government was suspending negotiations with Washington over a troop agreement.

A Briton fights with Al Qaeda's offshoot in Syria
SALQIN, Syria (Reuters) - The moment the young fighter walks in, it's clear he's different. He has a grey robe, a scraggly beard and a gun holster - hallmarks of the rebels who control this part of the northwest. But he wears Adidas trainers. And his accent and swagger are pure London.

Suicide bomber, gunmen target U.N. office in Somali capital
MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide bomber and several gunmen attacked an office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, a senior police officer and a witness said.

FBI search for Jimmy Hoffa's body may last two more days
OAKLAND TOWNSHIP, Michigan (Reuters) - Investigators looking for the remains of former Teamsters boss Jimmy Hoffa in a suburban Detroit field could search the area for two more days, seeking evidence to prove an elderly mobster's claim the labor leader was buried alive on the property shortly after his 1975 disappearance.

'The Executioner' under microscope in trial of accused U.S. mobster Bulger
BOSTON (Reuters) - Attorneys for accused mob boss James "Whitey" Bulger will seek on Wednesday to paint star witness John "The Executioner" Martorano as a heartless killer whose testimony cannot be trusted in the trial of one of Boston's most feared men.

German cartel court takes on Porsche lawsuit: source
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German court has assigned an investor lawsuit seeking about 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion) in damages from Porsche SE to a court specializing on cartel matters, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters.