News Headlines - 04 December 2011

▽Putin's United Russia party suffers poll setback - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16024938
Early returns from Russia's parliamentary polls point to a sharp drop in support for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party.

▽British embassy in Bahrain hit by mystery blast - Telegraph.co.uk
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/bahrain/8934318/British-embassy-in-Bahrain-hit-by-mystery-blast.html
Bahrain authorities said the British embassy in the Gulf state was targetted in a mysterious blast as a canister packed with explosives blew apart a minibus near the complex.

▽Nick Clegg vows to get tough on excessive executive pay - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/dec/04/nick-clegg-tough-excessive-executive-pay
Nick Clegg has committed the government to a crackdown on excessive executive pay, saying that austerity in the public sector had to be balanced by curbs on "irresponsible and unjustifiable" pay rises in the private sector.

▽Heineken buys 918 British pubs - BusinessWeek
http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RCBOD00.htm
Dutch brewer Heineken NV says it has purchased Galaxy Pub Estate, owner of 918 pubs in Britain, from Royal Bank of Scotland PLC for 412 million pounds ($646 million) in cash.

▽Giant pandas arrive in Edinburgh from China - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-16023328
Two giant pandas have arrived in Edinburgh, after a nine-hour journey from China.
The specially-chartered flight for Edinburgh Zoo's new residents, Tian Tian and Yang Guang, touched down just after 13:00.
The pair are the first giant pandas to live in the UK for 17 years.