Insurance giant American International Group is said to be in talks over a deal for all or part of its foreign unit, American Life Insurance Co. (Alico), with rival insurer MetLife.┬á  The two firms discussed a possible deal in March, but failed to reach any agreement. It is reported that discussions have been renewed due to improvements in market conditions.┬á Alico, which operates in fifty countries around the world and currently generates over half its revenue in Japan, could offer rival insurers an opportunity to quickly expand their operations overseas.

UK discount clothing retailer Primark has seen a 20% jump in sales for the current financial year, its parent company AB Foods reported.┬á  Sales in the 40 weeks to 20 June were boosted by increasing customer footfall in existing outlets, combined with expansion into Germany and Portugal earlier in the year, the company said. ┬á Primark, which already has a presence in Spain, has recently opened an additional Spanish outlet in Barcelona.

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Spanish communications group Telef├│nica will be the exclusive mobile phone network in the UK, Germany, Spain and Ireland for the Palm Pre, the new handset that is widely seen as the closest rival to Apple's iPhone.  Telef├│nica's O2 network will have initial exclusivity in the UK, Ireland and Germany, while Movistar will have an exclusive deal in Spain.  The Palm Pre, which is both a phone and mini computer, is expected to go on sale in the specified European countries in October, so that orders can maximised in the run-up to Christmas.

Spanish communications group Telef├│nica will be the exclusive mobile phone network in the UK, Germany, Spain and Ireland for the Palm Pre, the new handset that is widely seen as the closest rival to Apple's iPhone.  Telef├│nica's O2 network will have initial exclusivity in the UK, Ireland and Germany, while Movistar will have an exclusive deal in Spain.  The Palm Pre, which is both a phone and mini computer, is expected to go on sale in the specified European countries in October, so that orders can maximised in the run-up to Christmas.

PepsiCo and its partner Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) have announced plans to invest $1 billion in Russia over three years.  New York-based PepsiCo,┬áone of the world's largest food and beverage companies, has said that the investment is consistent with its strategy to expand in emerging markets. The money will take PepsiCo and PBGÔÇÖs cumulative investment in Russia to over $4 billion.

The chief of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Donald Kaberuka today outlined the impact he believes the Chinese economy has on growth in Africa.  Speaking at a World Trade Organisation meeting in Geneva, Kaberuka said that if ChinaÔÇÖs economy returned to double-digit growth, he would be ÔÇ£confidentÔÇØ of a significant boost to African growth, possibly to pre-crisis levels. According to Kaberuka, Africa could return to six per cent growth if ChinaÔÇÖs economy grew by double-digit percentage figures.

French utility firm GDF Suez and Algerian gas group Sonatrach, which is state-owned, will commence development of the Touat gas field in south-west Algeria, it was announced today.  Exploration and assessment of the site began in 2003 and work on production is now due to begin later this year, with the aim of commencing output in 2013.

Mining giant Rio Tinto has sold part of its Alcan packaging unit to US packaging producer Bemis for $1.2 billion.  UK-based Rio, the worldÔÇÖs third-largest mining company, sold the Food Americas division of its packaging arm for $1 billion in cash, plus an extra $200 million for stock. The sale is the latest in a series for Rio, which has been offloading assets and stock since its debt soared to $38.7 billion when it purchased Canadian aluminum group Alcan in 2007. The move comes after the firm raised $15.2 billion in a recent rights issue.

Leading global investment bank Nomura, which has its headquarters in Japan, announced today that it has launched operations in Saudi Arabia, making it the first Asian brokerage firm to break into the rapidly growing and lucrative market.  The announcement came after Nomura received a commencement letter from Saudi Arabia's Capital Market Authority (CMA), giving the firm permission to undertake a range of securities businesses in the Kingdom.