Morning business round-up: Lagarde steps forward

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-13544104

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What made the business news in Asia and Europe this morning? Here's our daily business round-up:

Christine Lagarde finally made the announcement that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13541143" >she is putting herself forward as a candidate</a> to replace fellow Frenchman Dominique Strauss-Kahn as head of the IMF.

From one international organisation to another: <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13539694" >the OECD released its latest semi-annual economic outlook</a>, warning that there are many risks to the recovery still lurking out there.

One of those risks came from the fall-out from Japan's earthquake and tsunami, with the country confirming that <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13536196" >exports fell 12.5% in April</a>.

<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13529341" >Foreign investment into Europe</a> meanwhile picked up sharply last year, according to a separate report by accountants Ernst and Young, while <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13539652" >first-quarter growth in the UK</a> has been confirmed at a fairly anaemic 0.5%.

But there is a cloud on Europe's economic horizon - another Icelandic ash cloud that is - that has now <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13535054" >shut down Germany's airports</a>, threatening to ruin holiday plans and put a dampener on airline profits.

In the corporate world, the US government is to <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13536200" >sell off a small chunk of its 92% stake in AIG</a>, the enormous insurance company that would have bled to death in the financial crisis were it not for Washington's intervention.

<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13539547" >Cable & Wireless Communications has reported "good progress"</a> since its demerger, although results in the Caribbean were reportedly poor as its grip on the West Indies was prised open by competitors.

In Asia, <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13537128" >Sony has reported more hack attacks on its websites</a>, with a further 10,000 users' details being pinched.

Meanwhile, European companies complain that they are facing <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13538066" >increasingly unfair treatment in China</a>, and only expect things to get worse.