The Bank of England has said that the collapse of debt-laden companies bought by private-equity groups in the boom years before the crash “pose a risk to the stability of the financial systems” as refinancing looms, writes The Guardian. The paper says that the next phase of the UK’s six-year financial and economic crisis may be triggered.

According to The Independent, mining firm BHP Billiton is facing a corruption inquiry on speculation that it allegedly provided ‘inducements, hospitality and gifts’ to Chinese officials at the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2008. The paper says that BHP could be hit with a multimillion-dollar fine.

Telecoms giant Vodafone has ended its long-running sponsorship deal with McLaren worth $75m a year following last year’s Bahrain Grand Prix which went ahead in spite of violent anti-government protests, writes The Times. The Chief Commercial Officer of Vodafone, Morten Lundal, was quoted as saying that the company has “less need for this kind of exposure in future”.

The Telegraph reports that MEPs have rejected European Union spending cuts and demanded an extra £14bn in spending from national governments this year, an additional £1.7bn for British taxpayers.

According to The Telegraph, Qatar is in talks to spend up to £10bn on infrastructure projects in the UK by setting up a fund to invest in road, rail and energy schemes. The paper says that discussions with ministers are at a “very early stage”.