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Deutsche Telekom dials up a deal for T-Mobile
Deutsche Telekom seems to have dialled up a good deal with an agreement to sell its US mobile phone division T-Mobile for the equivalent of 27.5 billion euros. That money will be used to buy back shares and pay down debt. The buyer is AT&T, which will pick up around 34 million customers and become the largest mobile phone operator in the states. Its shares rose as did those of Deutsche Telekom in Frankfurt. The German company’s stock was up 11.3 percent, hitting a two-year high: Oliver Roth, a market strategist with Close Brothers Seydler Bank gave his assessment: “The financial markets welcome the decision of the Deutsche Telekom to get rid of the American branch simply because now they can concentrate on their first goal to get bigger in the multimedia-internet market and they get also a lot of money for their American branch and that is definitively a success.” Deutsche Telekom said that it now plans to focus on organic growth but the reduced debt will give it an advantage in bidding for European assets, for example in Poland and Serbia. As part of the deal, which now needs to approved by regulators, Deutsche Telekom will become an eight percent shareholder in AT&T. Copyright © 2011 euronews

European markets at close: 17.03.11
A roundup of the days markets data from euronews.net, brought to you as video on demand. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Gaddafi threat on interference
Government supporters have been out the streets of the Libyan capital in defiant mood, waving pictures in allegiance to Colonel Gaddafi. Meanwhile his latest pronouncements have been made on state television through a spokesman, a clear warning against military intervention in Libya. “The Security Council is not authorised according to the UN charter, to intervene in the internal affairs of any country. This is injustice. It’s a clear aggression and it’s uncalculated risk for its consequences in the Mediterranean and Europe. You will regret it if you take a step towards intervening in our internal affairs” To read : Libya: a timeline of international diplomacy Copyright © 2011 euronews

Lloyds back in profit, but Irish loan losses mount
Lloyds is the latest bank to announce that it took a big hit from bad loans in Ireland. The British lender said losses from loans not being repaid in Ireland rocketed to five billion euros from 3.4 billion euros in 2009. Lloyds, which is Britain’s second biggest bank and Europe’s fifth largest, returned to profit with pretax earnings last year of the equivalent of 2.5 billion euros. The part-nationalised lender’s results were better than those of loss-making Royal Bank of Scotland but paled in comparison to seven billion euros of profits at Barclays. Lloyds also said its profit margins will not improve this year and its shares fell. Lloyds is 41 percent owned by the UK government after being bailed out during the credit crisis when it was saddled with billions in losses from its takeover of troubled rival HBOS in 2008, a deal brokered by the previous Labour government. Copyright © 2011 euronews

Eyewitness says death toll could rise in Bahrain
The Bahrain police operation in the early hours of Thursday morning was caught on amateur film by a witness in the square. Journalist Ahmed Hazim told euronews what happened: “The riot police intervened at about three o’clock in the morning and blocked the entrances to the “Pearl” roundabout which is a sort of square. They started shooting using tear gas and rubber bullets. According to reports, three people were killed and dozens wounded. The death toll could rise. The protesters were removed from the square and several were arrested. The police cordoned off the area, stopping others from getting in.” Copyright © 2011 euronews

Belarus jails first of December protesters
In a fast-tracked one-day trial a Belarus court has sentenced an opposition activist to four years in a top-security jail for his part in an anti-government rally last December. Vasily Parfenkov is the first to be tried of a group of about 30 people arrested in a police crackdown, accused of taking part in mass disorder and an attack on a government building. Copyright © 2011 euronews

UN imposes ‘biting sanctions’ on Libya’s leadership
The UN Security Council has unanimously voted to impose sanctions on Libya’s regime following its bloody suppression of the uprising in the North African state. Measures include, an arms embargo, asset freeze and possible legal action against Libya’s leaders. The UK’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mark Lyall Grant said: ‘‘Today’s resolution demands an immediate end to violence and repression, full respect for human rights and international law and accountability for those responsible for the violence. It gives practical effect to those demands through travel bans, asset freezes and arms embargo and immediate referral to the international criminal court.’‘ Libya’s deputy UN ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi, one of the first Libyan diplomats to denounce the regime, insisted the move would help those fighting to end Gaddafi’s rule. ‘‘The regime in Tripoli has no longer any credibility. It goes without saying that this resolution represents moral support for our people who are resisting. It will help put an end to this fascist regime which is still in power in Tripoli.’‘ The US ambassador to the UN described the sanctions imposed on Gaddafi and his immediate entourage as ‘biting’. Talks on forming a transitional government in Libya were also reportedly underway. Copyright © 2011 euronews