LONDON (ShareCast) - Centrica has begun secret talks with EDF, the giant French utility, aimed at securing a £10bn "British-led solution" to the future of the country's nuclear power generator, British Energy, says the Sunday Telegraph.

Debenhams has held secret talks about mounting a takeover of the menswear chain Moss Bros, reports the Sunday Times.

Tens of thousands of British Airways staff are likely to miss out on their annual bonus following the disastrous opening of Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5, the Sunday Telegraph has learned.

The Sunday Times adds that British Airways’ 3,000 pilots will this week launch a scathing attack on Willie Walsh, the airline’s chief executive, accusing him of “arrogance” and urging top shareholders to force a change in management in the wake of the Terminal Five fiasco.

The Government is coming under mounting pressure to come clean over the level of losses Northern Rock is expected to make during the next four years of public ownership, according to the Independent on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) has warned the Government of the dangers in rushing through potentially ill-considered legislation in an effort to ensure there is no repeat of the "run" on Northern Rock, writes the Independent on Sunday.

The fashion entrepreneur Linda Bennett has become the latest in a string of British entrepreneurs to transfer the ownership of her business to avoid the rise in capital gains tax which came into effect last night, says the Sunday Telegraph.

Britain's woeful record in combating bribery and corruption is again in the spotlight after an OECD team arrived in London to examine why we are failing to bring prosecutions against UK firms accused of kickbacks and graft, reports the Independent on Sunday.

A tie-up between the Russian metals giants Rusal and Norilsk Nickel may be in jeopardy after signs that the feuding oligarchs with large stakes in Norilsk may have settled their differences, writes the Sunday Telegraph.

International Consolidated Minerals (ICM), the AIM-listed mining group, plans to invest $100m (£50m) in its flagship Peruvian mine over the next two years, and then sell up for more than $1bn, according to the Independent on Sunday.

The Bank of England's banknote printer, De La Rue, is accelerating plans to break itself up by shortlisting a handful of bidders for its £450m cash systems business, says the Sunday Telegraph.

A senior Sanofi-Aventis executive has warned that the pharmaceutical giant could move investment away from the UK if the NHS reduces the prices it pays for branded medicines, reports the Independent on Sunday.

The manufacturing investment firm Melrose is preparing to tap shareholders to raise £275m through a share placing to secure a takeover of FKI, the engineering group, writes the Sunday Telegraph.

Business is facing a £4.2bn tax hike thanks to the Budget as the British Chambers of Commerce prepares to publish a bleak diagnosis of the UK's financial health, according to the Independent on Sunday.

Mervyn Davies, chairman of Standard Chartered, has emerged as one of the key investors of a private equity fund that is looking to raise up to £500m, says the Sunday Telegraph.

Eat, the sandwich chain with 85 outlets, will be holding a beauty parade of corporate advisers next month to prepare for a sale which could value it up to £150m, writes the Independent on Sunday.

The property entrepreneur Gerald Ronson has amassed a £1 billion fund to take advantage of opportunities that could emerge as other companies run into trouble, reports the Sunday Times.

The bail-out of Bear Stearns and a $4bn (£2bn) fundraising by Lehman Brothers appear to have alleviated the immediate threat of a crisis among the big Wall Street banks, but analysts are concerned that an equally dangerous storm is brewing among thousands of the US's regional banks, according to the Independent on Sunday.

The Rolling Stones have rejected a call from EMI to extend talks with the music publisher. The Stones are deciding whether to switch labels, taking their back catalogue with them and ending a 31-year relationship, says the Sunday Times.

Luqman Arnold, the former UBS president who is calling for a break-up of the Swiss bank, is already getting backing from investors unhappy with the board, writes the Independent on Sunday.

All quoted companies will be forced to detail carbon emissions in their annual reports after the Government caved in to backbench pressure, reports the Independent on Sunday.

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