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There are thousands of music festivals around Europe every summer, but only one lays claim to being held at the highest altitude and that's the one in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, sometimes called the Davos of the music world. It gets that nickname in part from the quality of the musicianship. Argentine-born piano star Martha Argerich is a regular, and this year the big names have included Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin, British cellist Steven Isserlis and American violinist Joshua Bell. But the comparison has a deeper root. The three-week-long Verbier Festival, which runs from July until August 3, draws the moneyed elites and big corporate sponsors. George Clooney's smiling face is a fixture around the town as the brand ambassador for food giant Nestle's Nespresso coffee line, while Swiss private banker Julius Baer is another sponsor. Martin Engstroem - the Swedish artists' agent who founded the festival in 1994 and lost 1.2 million Swiss francs ($1.3 million)

Viacom Inc's unit, Paramount Pictures, said director and producer Michael Bay extended his first-look agreement with the studio by three years. _0"> The agreement with Bay's production company Platinum Dunes starts immediately and was expanded to include Bay Films, Paramount said. Bay has directed and produced films such as "Pearl Harbor," "Armageddon," and the "Transformers" series. (Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bangalore; Editing by Savio D'Souza )

Rock guitarist Dick Wagner, whose prolific session work graced the albums of such acts as Alice Cooper, Lou Reed, Kiss and Aerosmith during the 1970s, has died at age 71 in Arizona, his manager said on Thursday. The Michigan-bred musician, featured on scores of albums and hailed by fans as "the Maestro of Rock," suffered from a number of health problems in his later years, including two heart attacks and a stroke. He died on Wednesday at a hospital in Scottsdale, Arizona, succumbing to respiratory failure about two weeks after undergoing a cardiac procedure, his manager and business partner, Susan Michelson, told Reuters. Wagner began his rock career in the 1960s with the formation of an early Detroit-area band called the Bossmen. He gained wider notice after establishing the Frost, recording his first three Billboard-charted albums with that group. After moving to New York he formed another band, Ursa Major, whose original but short-lived lineup included Billy Joel on

Flying sharks chomping through New York City drew a record audience for Syfy's "Sharknado 2: The Second One," and became the most tweeted-about TV movie on social media, the U.S. cable network said on Thursday. _0"> "Sharknado 2," which aired on Wednesday and reunited leading stars Tara Reid and Ian Ziering from last year's campy hit "Sharknado," drew 3.9 million viewers to become Syfy's most-watched original movie. The network added that the film also attracted 1.6 million viewers in the 18-49 demographic that advertisers covet. On Twitter, Syfy, a unit of Comcast Corp's NBCUniversal, said "Sharknado 2" garnered 1 billion impressions across conversations on the micro-blogging site, and was also among the top trending topics of Wednesday evening. In the movie, an aerial shark attack causes large-scale destruction across Manhattan. It features numerous cameos including "Today" show hosts Matt Lauer and Al R

There are thousands of music festivals around Europe every summer, but only one lays claim to being held at the highest altitude and that's the one in the Swiss ski resort of Verbier, sometimes called the Davos of the music world. It gets that nickname in part from the quality of the musicianship. Argentine-born piano star Martha Argerich is a regular, and this year the big names have included Russian pianist Evgeny Kissin, British cellist Steven Isserlis and American violinist Joshua Bell. But the comparison has a deeper root. The three-week-long Verbier Festival, which runs from July until August 3, draws the moneyed elites and big corporate sponsors. George Clooney's smiling face is a fixture around the town as the brand ambassador for food giant Nestle's Nespresso coffee line, while Swiss private banker Julius Baer is another sponsor. Martin Engstroem - the Swedish artists' agent who founded the festival in 1994 and lost 1.2 million Swiss francs ($1.3 million)

The "Guardians of the Galaxy" stormed into the box office with a $11.2 million opening night, Walt Disney Co said on Friday, and could outperform expectations if it keeps drawing viewers with a new leading man, strong reviews and social media buzz. _0"> "Guardians," the newest franchise from the Disney-owned Marvel universe, follows a rogue band of misfits on an intergalactic space adventure. As the Guardians try to save the galaxy from a planet-destroying orb coveted by evil warlords, they may also "save the summer" for a slumping movie industry if the film exceeds expectations, said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak. "This is a movie that everyone has been waiting for," Dergarabedian said. Hollywood's summer box office has been in a funk, producing fewer blockbusters than usual and putting ticket sales 20 percent behind last year at $2.93 billion. Early projections for the "Guardians" opening weeke

Summer jobs: The very mention brings up memories of low pay, long hours and sweaty, clueless teenagers who don't really know what they're doing. Memories like that are still vivid for some of the nation's greatest achievers. Since last August, Reuters has been gathering the first-job stories of successful Americans, including sports legends, business titans and media superstars. This month, to coincide with the nation's monthly jobs report, we spoke to a few of them about those memorable summer jobs that got them started. JASON MRAZ, SINGER AND SONGWRITER First summer job: Fence builder "My dad was a fence contractor in Mechanicsville, Virginia, so my first paying gig was building fences. It involved a lot of digging holes, cleaning up construction sites and distributing lumber. It was for $5 an hour, which, at the time, was more than minimum wage." "It was hard manual labor, and I certainly would rather have been at the pool with my friends r

Those ubiquitous Angry Birds flew from the mobile screen to the toy store, hooked up with Hollywood, and are headed back to the digital world thanks to the telepod. That is toymaker Hasbro Inc's answer to merging the physical and digital worlds of children's play in what the industry calls "toys-to-life." And like another leading toy company, Walt Disney Co, they are finding fans among the fervent audiences for action and superhero films. Hasbro's Angry Bird telepods were a big attraction last weekend at San Diego's Comic-Con, an annual gathering of 130,000 comic and entertainment enthusiasts, with fans lining up to preview new Transformers-themed bird figurines containing miniscule codes that can be read by tablets. The Angry Birds Transformers telepods, featuring "Autobirds" and "Deceptihogs," is due out on October 15, spinning off the success of Paramount Pictures' June box office hit, "Transformers: Age of Extinction."

David Cassidy, the "Partridge Family" star and 1970s teen idol, will have to appear in a New York court to face a drunken driving charge after missing a proceeding related to his plea deal, apparently because he was playing a game of bocce nearby. Cassidy, 64, was charged last summer with driving while intoxicated. He was initially allowed to forego an in-person appearance at Schodack Town Court that is typically required in criminal cases because he lives in Florida and the court was told he was undergoing substance abuse treatment. Cassidy's lawyer, Lucas Mihuta, was set to sign an agreement that would have allowed Cassidy to enter a guilty plea on misdemeanor charges without being present. But at 11:09 a.m. on Wednesday, the New York Horse racing Association tweeted that Cassidy was at Saratoga Race Track, playing bocce with two horse trainers and an equine doctor.   Carmelo Laquidara, Rensselaer County chief assistant district attorney, said he heard about the t

Canadian band Magic! moved up one place to top the British singles charts on Sunday with their reggae-infused debut track "Rude", the Official Charts Company said. _0"> The single toppled Cheryl Cole's "Crazy Stupid Love" to take the number one spot, boosted by internet streaming which was added to the charts data last month alongside physical sales. In the albums chart, British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran continued his run at number one, topping the bill for a sixth week with "X", while Dolly Parton's "Blue Smoke - The Best Of" remained in second place. Eric Clapton & Friends were a new entry at number three with "The Breeze", a tribute to late U.S. singer-songwriter J.J. Cale. The album features contributions from a host of musicians including John Mayer, Tom Petty and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan ; editing by Keiron Henderson)

Canadian band Magic! moved up one place to top the British singles charts on Sunday with their reggae-infused debut track "Rude", the Official Charts Company said. _0"> The single toppled Cheryl Cole's "Crazy Stupid Love" to take the number one spot, boosted by internet streaming which was added to the charts data last month alongside physical sales. In the albums chart, British singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran continued his run at number one, topping the bill for a sixth week with "X", while Dolly Parton's "Blue Smoke - The Best Of" remained in second place. Eric Clapton & Friends were a new entry at number three with "The Breeze", a tribute to late U.S. singer-songwriter J.J. Cale. The album features contributions from a host of musicians including John Mayer, Tom Petty and Dire Straits' Mark Knopfler. (Reporting by Kylie MacLellan ; editing by Keiron Henderson)

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and actress Cheryl Hines married on Saturday evening at the Kennedy family compound at Hyannis, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, according to media reports and the designer of Hines’ wedding gown. _0"> The couple married under a tent before a cheering group of family and friends during the Kennedy family's annual reunion, according to People magazine. Kennedy, 60, is an environmental lawyer and son of the late U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. Hines, 48, is an actress and writer on the HBO series "Curb Your Enthusiasm." A fans’ website for Hines provided links to media accounts of the wedding, and the designer of her gown, Romona Keveza, announced the wedding on her company Facebook page on Saturday. Hines and Kennedy were introduced on a ski trip in Utah, and the marriage is her second and his third, according to People. (Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City; Editing by Paul Simao)

"Guardians of the Galaxy," Walt Disney Co's offbeat space adventure featuring extraterrestrial misfits and a talking raccoon, made $94 million in ticket sales this weekend, setting a record for an August film opening. The film's strong beginning, however, isn't likely to jumpstart a lackluster summer box office season. The 3D movie, which stars lesser-known characters in Disney's Marvel comic book universe, added $66.4 million from international markets, for a global debut of $160.4 million, Disney said on Sunday. "Guardians" outgunned last weekend's leader, the science-fiction thriller "Lucy" that collected another $18.3 million in sales at domestic theaters, according to estimates from Rentrak. "Lucy" stars Scarlett Johansson as a woman with a super-powered brain. "Get On Up," a biography of the soul singer James Brown, was third with $14 million in its first weekend in theaters. "Guardians" stars

The United States will announce nearly $1 billion in business deals, increase funding for peacekeeping and commit billions of dollars to expanding food and power programs in Africa during a summit this week, U.S. and development officials say. U.S. officials said the Aug. 4-6 summit in Washington of nearly 50 African leaders hopes to showcase U.S. interest in the fast-growing region through a series of government-private partnership deals to boost trade and investment. The spread of the deadly Ebola virus in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is also a reminder of the vast development needs that persist in some of the region's poorest countries, despite rapid their rapid economic growth and investment. Administration officials have played down questions over whether the summit is in response to China's growing presence in the region. Instead, they have emphasized that American interests go beyond Africa's oil and minerals, where China is focused. "You will see a ser

China has excluded U.S.-based Symantec Corp and Russia's Kaspersky Lab from a list of approved anti-virus software vendors, according to a Chinese media report suggesting Beijing is expanding efforts to limit use of foreign technology. The state-controlled People's Daily reported the news early Sunday on its English Twitter feed, saying that the government's procurement agency "has excluded Symantec & Kaspersky" from a list of security software suppliers. A second tweet said that government procurement office had approved the use five anti-virus software brands, all from China: Qihoo 360 Technology Co, Venustech, CAJinchen, Beijing Jiangmin and Rising. Officials with Symantec could not be reached for comment. Kaspersky spokesman Alejandro Arango said: "We are investigating and engaging in conversations with Chinese authorities about this matter. It is too premature to go into any additional details at this time." The report comes after Beijing

Boutique investment bank Evercore Partners Inc said on Sunday it plans to acquire the operating business of ISI International Strategy & Investment, an independent research-driven equity sales and agency trading firm. _0"> Evercore will also acquire about 40 percent interest in its Institutional Equities business that it does not already own. The combined business will be known as Evercore ISI Institutional Equities, Evercore said in a press release. Evercore will issue up to about 8 million share equivalents in the two transactions - worth about $401 million as of Friday's close - with almost 70 percent of the share equivalent consideration dependent on the financial performance of the combined business over the five years following closing. The transactions are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2014, and are subject to required regulatory approvals. Evercore shares closed down 8.1 percent at $50.13 on Friday. (Reporting by Angela Moon ; Editing by San

Just before Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd completed a deal to take control of media group Network18 Media & Investments Ltd in early July, two top editors stepped down. In farewell letters to staff, both mentioned press freedoms. Neither linked their decision to the change in ownership, but news of their resignation prompted heated debate over the significance of one of India's most powerful companies buying up some of the country's leading newsrooms. On July 7, the Independent Media Trust, of which Reliance is sole beneficiary, completed the acquisition of control of Network18, home to news channels CNN-IBN and CNBC-TV18, Forbes India and firstpost.com, among others. "Editorial independence and integrity have been articles of faith in (my) 26 years in journalism and maybe I am too old now to change!" wrote one of the two, Rajdeep Sardesai, who was editor-in-chief of IBN 18 News Network, including CNN-IBN, a respected English-language news chan

If Masayoshi Son, the billionaire founder and CEO of SoftBank Corp needs a fresh strategy to fend off a surprise French counterbid for a prized U.S. telecoms target, he could do worse than ask budding entrepreneurs at the SoftBank Academia. Here, some 300 or so aspiring leaders - split about evenly between company insiders and entrepreneurs from outside - brainstorm ideas and vie to catch Son's eye, with a chance he'll offer them a job or invest in their company, or even choose them as his "heir" to run Japan's second most valuable listed company. The Academia, set up by Son four years ago, meets once or twice a month in the 25th floor cafeteria of SoftBank's Tokyo headquarters. In what sounds like an episode from business-reality TV show "The Apprentice", the budding leaders play business-themed board games and compete with 5-minute business proposals that are judged by their peers. The winners get to meet Son; the losers hear, "You're

Toyota Motor Corp is hitching its future to green cars, investing billions of dollars in gasoline-electric hybrids and fuel-cell vehicles, but for now its record profit performance is being powered largely by a gas-guzzling U.S. market. In the United States, relatively cheap gasoline prices helped to spur brisk 9 percent growth in industry-wide light truck sales in the first half of the year, making that one of the fastest-growing major global market segments - accounting for about one-tenth of global vehicle sales. Toyota outperformed the overall U.S. market, moreover, with its fresh model line-up - the Highlander SUV was redesigned in February and the Tundra pick-up got a facelift last September - powering a 10 percent rise in its January-June U.S. light truck sales to nearly half a million vehicles. That success is feeding the nearly $40 billion cash pile that Toyota will tap for future green car investments. "The U.S. is one of the few bright spots contributing to year-o

Portugal's central bank said on Sunday it decided to rescue troubled lender Banco Espirito Santo in a 4.9 billion euro recapitalisation to be pumped into the healthy part of the bank that will be separated from its compromised assets. _0"> The money comes mostly from the country's international bailout, which had a 6.4 billion euro line available for bank recapitalisation, via a bank resolution fund set up by Portugal in 2012, Bank of Portugal Governor Carlos Costa said. Current shareholders in BES and holders of subordinated debt will be responsible for the risks in the "bad bank" mainly associated the crumbling business empire of the bank's founding Espirito Santo family. (Reporting By Andrei Khalip; Editing by Sandra Maler )

The European Commission said on Sunday that Portugal's planned 4.9 billion euro ($6.58 billion) rescue of Banco Espirito Santo (BES) was in line with EU state aid rules. _0"> "The adoption of this resolution measure is adequate to restore confidence in financial stability and to ensure the continuity of services and avoid potential adverse systemic effects," the Commission said in a statement. The Commission said a disorderly resolution of BES could have created a serious disturbance in the Portugues economy and that the creation of a temporary credit institution, holding deposits, senior debt and most of the assets, was a suitable remedy. To limit market distortions, the latter's new business would be limited, it said. ($1 = 0.7450 Euros) (Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop)

Australia's Treasury Wine Estates said on Monday it had received a revised conditional takeover bid from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP and Rhone Capital LLC and would grant the bidders access for due diligence. _0"> Treasury said KKR had raised its bid by 10.6 percent to A$5.20 per share from the A$4.70 it offered in April, now valuing the world's second-largest winemaker at A$3.38 billion ($3.15 billion). Treasury shares closed at A$4.95 on Friday. ($1 = 1.0747 Australian Dollars) (Reporting by Lincoln Feast ; Editing by Sandra Maler )

French telecoms firm Iliad will be hard-pressed to meet its goal of generating $2 billion in additional annual operating profit at T-Mobile US Inc by cutting costs and slashing prices if its takeover bid is accepted, analysts said. Iliad, which in recent years has shaken up the French mobile market with cheap subscriber plans, bid $15 billion last week for a 56.6 percent stake in T-Mobile, the No. 4 U.S. mobile operator. The Paris-based company, majority owned by billionaire founder Xavier Niel, said a merger would result in $10 billion in synergies and an additional $2 billion in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). It would hit those targets by running T-Mobile, majority owned by Deutsche Telekom AG, in an "Iliad-like" way, sources familiar with the takeover bid told Reuters. Even if successful in its takeover bid, Iliad faces significant obstacles in reaching those cost savings and negotiating better deals with U.S. cellul

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP has raised its bid for Australia's Treasury Wine Estates to $3.15 billion, the world's No.2 winemaker said on Monday, adding it would grant the private equity giant access for due diligence. Treasury said KKR and Rhone Capital LLC had raised their bid by 10.6 percent to A$5.20 per share from the A$4.70 offered in April. Treasury, which owns the Penfolds, Wolfblass and Beringer brands, rejected that bid as too low in May after KKR began approaching investors directly. "The board of TWE, together with its advisers, has concluded, based on the revised proposal, that it is in the interests of its shareholders to engage further with KKR and Rhone," Treasury said in a statement. It would allow the bidders to conduct "non-exclusive due diligence" subject to a confidentiality agreement. Treasury shares closed at A$4.95 on Friday. Treasury's shares have fallen from an all-time high of A$6.43 a year ago amid slashed earn

Portugal will spend 4.9 billion euros ($6.58 billion) to rescue its largest listed bank, testing the euro zone's resilience to another banking crisis just months after Lisbon exited an international bailout. The rescue of Banco Espirito Santo, which was unveiled after a frenzied weekend of discussions between Portuguese and European Union officials, comes after weeks of increasingly bad news about the financial state of the lender, particularly its exposure to a cascade of companies headed by its founding Espirito Santo family. Under the plan, Banco Espirito Santo, or BES, will be split into a "good bank", renamed Novo Banco, and a "bad bank", which will house BES's exposures to the troubled Espirito Santo business empire, which last week tipped the bank in to a record 3.6 billion euros loss. The bad bank's losses will be born by the bank's junior bondholders and shareholders, including the Espirito Santo family, which has a 20 percent stake, and

The following are the top stories in the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. _0"> Headlines France urges G20 to put issue of U.S. bank fines on agenda ( on.ft.com/1o4kgPh ) Private equity firms mull merger of older GSK, Sanofi brands ( on.ft.com/1oo8n5j ) Banco Espirito Santo to be split in 4.9 bln euro rescue ( on.ft.com/1skvDD1 ) London warned of big threat to jobs if UK quits EU ( on.ft.com/1qTkpHo ) Quindell's deal with UK roadside rescue business RAC stalls _0"> ( on.ft.com/1nijGao ) _1"> _2"> Overview _3"> _4"> France has gathered support of other European nations to challenge U.S. regulators on their right to levy heavy fines on foreign banks at a G20 meeting later this year, following the record fine imposed on BNP Paribas last month. _5"> _6"> Private equity firms, including KKR and Warburg Pincus, are mulling over a $10 billio

The following are the top stories on the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. _0"> The Times EX-M&S BOSS POISED FOR PEERAGE The former boss of Marks and Spencer is being lined up for a peerage. Stuart Rose, who chairs the online supermarket Ocado and the clothing brand Fat Face ( id="symbol_IPO-FFFL.L_0"> IPO-FFFL.L ), is expected to be ennobled by the Conservative party within days. MPC REBELS SET TO BREAK BANK CONSENSUS ON INTEREST RATES The Bank of England's longest consensus on interest rates could end this week when a minority of monetary policy committee members are expected to vote for a rate rise. The Guardian INEOS SIGNALS MOVE INTO FRACKING Ineos, the company at the centre of a dispute with unions at the Grangemouth plant in Scotland last year, is giving the strongest signal yet of its intention to move into the controversial area of fracking. The Tele

Portugal will spend 4.9 billion euros ($6.58 billion) to rescue its largest listed bank, testing the euro zone's resilience to another banking crisis just months after Lisbon exited an international bailout. The rescue of Banco Espirito Santo, which was unveiled after a frenzied weekend of discussions between Portuguese and European Union officials, comes after weeks of increasingly bad news about the financial state of the lender, particularly its exposure to a cascade of companies headed by its founding Espirito Santo family. Under the plan, Banco Espirito Santo, or BES, will be split into a "good bank", renamed Novo Banco, and a "bad bank", which will house BES's exposures to the troubled Espirito Santo business empire as well as its Angolan subsidiary. The bad bank's losses will be born by the bank's junior bondholders and shareholders, including the Espirito Santo family, which has a 20 percent stake, and French bank Credit Agricole which ow

Australia's Treasury Wine Estates is opening its books to Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP after the private equity giant hiked its takeover offer to $3.15 billion, raising the prospect of a bidding war for the world's No.2 winemaker. Treasury, which rejected a $2.9 billion unsolicited bid from KKR LLC in April, said the 10.6 percent rise in the offer price meant it was now "in the interests of shareholders to engage further." Asia's growing appetite for wine, the value of Treasury's Penfolds label and an ongoing restructuring are helping turn perceptions of the company's prospects around after a horror 2013 saw profits slump 38 percent in the six months to February. China's Bright Food Group Co Ltd, France's Pernod Ricard and the world's biggest wine maker, U.S.-based Constellation Brands Inc, have all been mooted as potential buyers of Treasury. "Absolutely there are (rival bidders), they've now kind of set a starting point

Fears of further declines on Wall Street kept Asian shares mostly on the defensive on Monday, with concerns over geopolitical tensions eclipsing U.S. data that argued against an earlier start to the Federal Reserve's rate-tightening cycle. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan managed to gain 0.4 percent, largely as Chinese shares continued to rally on signs that economy was regaining momentum after a spate of stimulus measures. But Japan's Nikkei average hit a one-week low and investors were cautious in most developed markets after the U.S. S&P 500 lost 2.7 percent last week, its biggest weekly decline in more than two years to hit two-month lows. European shares were expected to edge up slightly after their steep fall last week, with spreadbetters see France's CAC40 rising as much as 0.4 percent and Britain's FTSE up to 0.2 percent. European shares led the losses last week, with German shares falling 4.5 percent, pummelled by concer

Paul Parker, the former global head of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at Barclays Plc, has joined Goldman Sachs Group Inc as co-chairman of its mergers and acquisitions division, a spokesman for Goldman Sachs said on Sunday. _0"> Parker is one of the world's most accomplished M&A bankers, having recently advised Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc on its roughly $50 billion bid for Botox maker Allergan Inc and Comcast Corp on a $42 billion takeover of rival cable group Time Warner Cable Inc. Parker, a Lehman Brothers veteran who left Barclays in May, is expected to assume his new role in the next couple of weeks, the Goldman Sachs spokesman said, confirming an earlier report in the Financial Times. Jack Levy and Tim Ingrassia will continue in their roles as co-chairmen of mergers and acquisitions and share that title with Parker, who is expected to handle some of the investment bank's most important client relationships. Gene Sykes and Gregg Lemkau

Australian gaming mogul James Packer is taking another crack at the lucrative U.S. casino market, with his Crown Resorts Ltd buying a vacant site on the famous Las Vegas Strip. Crown has established a joint-venture resort company to develop the site with former Wynn Las Vegas president Andrew Pascal, with financial backing from U.S. private equity firm Oaktree Capital Management. "You can't be in the gaming industry and not have a special reverence for Las Vegas - that's where it all began," Packer said in a statement. "As we have built Crown Resorts into a thriving international company with successful casino ventures in Australia, Macau, and London, we've always kept our eye on Las Vegas." Packer scrapped plans to develop a $5 billion casino in Las Vegas with private equity partner York Capital Management in 2008 as the global financial crisis crunched the credit market, with Crown writing off A$44 million in the process. Crown also lost money on

These are some of the leading stories in Hong Kong newspapers on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy. _0"> SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST -- More foreign carmakers are expected to cut prices under pressure from anti-monopoly investigations by mainland regulators, with market forces expected to play a bigger role in pricing as competition intensifies. ( bit.ly/WVgkFg ) -- Seven patients who underwent medical procedures in Hong Kong in the first quarter of the year had surgical objects left inside their bodies, the most since 2010, according to new figures revealed by the Hospital Authority. The items included a 12 cm drainage tube left in a patient's abdomen and a 4.5 cm catheter tip left in a kidney. ( bit.ly/1tIsQFw ) -- The stock through train has already helped boost turnover and profitability at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, according to brokers. HKEx, which will report its results on Wednesday, is expected to chalk

Local government officials in China repeatedly warned a car parts factory that was rocked by a deadly blast over the weekend that high levels of dust could spark an explosion, the South China Morning Post newspaper reported on Monday. _0"> The blast at the Kunshan Zhongrong Metal Products Co Ltd factory in the city of Kunshan on Saturday killed at least 71 people and injured more than 180. A preliminary investigation suggested it was triggered when a flame was lit in a dust-filled room, the local government said at a news conference on Saturday, describing the incident as a serious safety breach. The company had ignored prior warnings about dust, an unidentified official at the Kunshan Administration of Work Safety told the newspaper. Neither Kunshan officials nor executives from Kunshan Zhongrong could be reached for comment. Based about an hour's drive from Shanghai, Kunshan Zhongrong polishes wheel hubs for automakers including General Motors Co . The blast is Chi