Cowdery eyes Lloyds - today's papers

Clive Cowdery, the self-made insurance tycoon who gives away much of his wealth, is considering a surprise bid for the 630 bank branches being sold by Lloyds Banking Group.

The entrepreneur was among a handful of players to lodge first-round indicative bids for the assets by last week's deadline. A deal would see Cowdery become a force in British banking. READ MORE HERE...

Meanwhile, in the US, a week of high brinkmanship on Capitol Hill opened yesterday with neither side in the impasse over the US debt ceiling prepared to budge and with the US just days away from a potentially catastrophic default.

The White House called a temporary cessation of hostilities, with meetings that have been going on almost solidly for more than a week suspended over the weekend to allow tempers to cool.

But despite the hiatus, there was no sign from either the Republicans or Democrats that they were preparing to compromise. MORE...

Elsewhere, Greece's enormous debts are sustainable but on a "knife's edge," according to the International Monetary Fund. MORE...

Shares in News Corporation, the company owned by Australian billionaire Rupert Murdoch, have dropped by 7.6% to a two-year low.

Shares touched A$13.65, their lowest point on the Australian Stock Exchange since July 2009. They later recovered slightly, to stand 3.79% down at A$14.21. MORE...