Nairobi - Thousands of wildebeest huddle together in Kenya's Masai Mara national reserve, their gazes flicking nervously between the lush grasslands on the opposite bank of the Mara River and the crocodile-infested waters separating them from their meal.

Eventually the unlucky wildebeest at the front takes the plunge and the rest follow en-masse, churning up the muddy water and lashing out at snapping crocodile jaws with powerful hind legs.

From the number of four-by-fours packed with tourists cheering on the wildebeest - or the crocodiles - you would not think that Kenya's tourism industry was still in a slump. But appearances can deceive.

Cologne,

Oslo - Petrol stations operated by Norwegian energy group Statoil Hydro were to keep their original name Statoil, the group's chairman said Thursday, indicating it meant massive savings.

Statoil operates some 2,000 petrol stations in eight countries.

Retaining the Statoil name for the petrol stations was believed to save huge sums. Oslo-based consulting firm Det Norske Veritas (DNV) had estimated that rebranding the stations and creating a new logo would cost 1.9 billion kroner (325 million dollars).

Berlin - The German government reacted with fury Wednesday to an admission by federal bank KfW that it passed 300 million euros (420 million dollars) to Lehman Brothers only hours before the US bank failed.

The sum was part of a swap arrangement, said a KfW spokesman in Frankfurt. He said there had been a "technical" blunder.

Critics said a prudent bank would have held on to the money, knowing from Sunday news reports that Lehman was broke. Swaps are often programmed in advance into computers so that they happen without human intervention.

Brussels - Rock legend Mick Jagger has added a new job to his CV: advisor to the European Union.

On Wednesday, the Rolling Stones' lead singer joined the chief executive officers of Apple, EMI, eBay, Fiat, Louis Vuitton and other multinationals for a meeting in Brussels with the EU's competition commissioner Neelie Kroes.

Sir Mick and his partners were appointed as unpaid consultants to assist Kroes in improving the workings of Europe's online retailing market.

London - A potentially giant banking merger loomed in Britain Wednesday as top mortgage lender HBOS confirmed it was in "advanced talks" with Lloyds TSB, the country's fourth-biggest bank.

Confirmation of the merger talks, coming after days of HBOS shares being buffeted in the aftermath of the collapse of US bank Lehman Brothers, was met with surprise in London's financial district.

Analysts raised competition issues and said the move smacked of panic, as it emerged that the government and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) were backing the merger talks amid concerns over a possible run on HBOS - or Halifax Bank of Scotland.