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Britain's FTSE index 100 hits 2-month lows, Admiral slumps

Britain's top share index fell for a third straight session to a two-month low on Wednesday, with Admiral sinking after a downbeat trading update and Aviva slipping after outlining its turnaround targets. Car insurer Admiral slumped 3.3 percent after saying revenues fell in the first half of the year and there was no firm evidence of a return to growth in UK car insurance premiums. The company said it planned to launch its first ever bond of up to 200 million pounds ($340 million) to diversify its capital base and help prepare to meet Solvency II regulations in 2016. Oriel Securities repeated its "sell" rating on the stock, while Berenberg said a likely fall in margins was not reflected in current consensus earnings forecasts. "The market will be surprised that Admiral sees a need to raise debt. With the company forecasting falling margins and showing falling turnover, we believe these earnings forecasts will have to come down," Berenberg analyst Peter Elio

Fugitive Snowden asks to extend stay in Russia: lawyer

Former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden has asked Moscow to extend his asylum in Russia, his lawyer said on Wednesday. _0"> Russia granted Snowden a one-year visa in August 2013 despite the United States wanting Moscow to send him home to face criminal charges, including espionage, for disclosing secret U.S Internet and telephone surveillance programs. "We have carried out the procedure of getting temporary asylum. It expires on July 31," Interfax news agency quoted Snowden's Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, as saying. "Correspondingly, we have filed documents to extend his stay on the territory of Russia." Kucherena could not immediately be reached for comment independently and the Russian Federal Migration Service declined comment. Another lawyer for Snowden, whose precise whereabouts are a secret, said last month he expected Russia to extend the American's asylum beyond July. President Vladimir Putin's refusal to return

Fifty-three blindfolded bodies found in Iraq as political leaders bicker

Iraqi security forces found 53 corpses, blindfolded and handcuffed, south of Baghdad on Wednesday as Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders traded accusations over an Islamist insurgency raging in the country's Sunni provinces. Officials said dozens of bodies were discovered near the mainly Shi'ite Muslim village of Khamissiya, with bullets to the chest and head, the latest mass killing since Sunni insurgents swept through northern Iraq. "Fifty-three unidentified corpses were found, all of them blindfolded and handcuffed," Sadeq Madloul, governor of the mainly Shi'ite southern province of Babil, told reporters. He said the victims appeared to have been killed overnight after being brought by car to an area near the main highway running from Baghdad to the southern provinces, about 25 km (15 miles) southeast of the city of Hilla. The identity and sectarian affiliation of the dead people was not immediately clear, he said. Sunni militants have been carrying out att

UPDATE 3-American Apparel strikes deal with largest shareholders

Struggling apparel and accessories retailer American Apparel Inc said on Wednesday it has reached a deal with hedge fund Standard General LP and founder Dov Charney to remake its board and bolster its finances. As part of the deal, American Apparel gave Standard General, three seats on its seven-member and received a $25 million loan from the shareholder, which could help it tide over a rough financial patch. The retailer said five of its board members, including Charney, would step down and Standard General would nominate three new members, while the company and the shareholder would jointly pick the other two. Co-chairmen Allan Mayer and David Danziger would continue to lead the board, the company said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Charney was ousted from the company for alleged misuse of corporate funds and his role in disseminating nude photos of an ex-employee. He is currently under investigation and, as part of the deal, will not be allowed to

UPDATE 2-Shipping loan losses hit Norwegian bank DNB's earnings

Higher-than-expected loan losses in the shipping sector ate into DNB's second-quarter earnings, sending shares in Norway's largest bank down almost 5 percent on Thursday. Nordic banks made it through Europe's recent financial crisis relatively unscathed, but have suffered from their exposure to countries in the Baltic region and to a shipping sector which has struggled with overcapacity in recent years. DNB, one of the world's biggest lenders to the shipping sector, had been seeing a declining trend of souring loans in shipping, but the second quarter saw an unexpected uptick in losses for the sector. That took the shine off of what analysts said was otherwise a healthy quarter for the bank. DNB shares traded down 4.6 percent at 110.2 Norwegian crowns by 0851 GMT, underperforming the Oslo market as a whole which was 1.5 percent lower. The results dragged on DNB's Swedish banking peers which report earnings next week. Loan losses in the quarter reached 554 m

CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Qatar sells $443 mln of LSE shares at 1915p - source

Sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding has sold 260.1 million pounds ($442.6 million) worth of shares in London Stock Exchange Group (LSE), a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday, ahead of the LSE's impending $1.6 billion rights issue. Qatar sold the shares at 1,915 pence each as part of its portfolio management, the source said, adding that Qatar remained a supportive shareholder of the LSE. The disposal leaves Qatar with a stake of around 10.3 percent in the company. The LSE is planning a rights issue of new stock to help fund its $2.7 billion purchase of U.S. indexes and investment management business Russell Group, the LSE's largest-ever acquisition, which was announced in June. Qatar could use the money raised to fund the purchase of shares in the rights issue, to which it will be entitled because of its remaining shareholding, a further two sources close to the deal said. The sale represents around 5 percent of the LSE's outstanding shares. The price of

Fed's Yellen to deliver monetary policy report to Congress next week

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen will go before Congress next week to deliver the U.S. central bank's latest report on monetary policy, congressional officials said on Tuesday. Yellen will appear before the Senate Banking Committee at 10 a.m. EDT on July 15, the Senate committee said. She is scheduled to appear before the House Financial Services Committee at 10 a.m. the following day, a spokesman for the House committee confirmed. The Fed chief by law testifies twice a year to the two congressional panels. Her first visit as Fed chair came in February, and turned into a marathon, six-hour affair as lawmakers quizzed the new central bank chief on her plans. Her appearance next week comes as the Fed is far along in shutting down some of the main stimulus policies it used to combat the recession, and is planning its return to a more normal monetary policy. That includes an ongoing debate over when to increase interest rates and how to manage the possible reduction in the $4