News Headlines - 21 August 2012

▽BBC News - UK government borrows ￡600m in July as tax receipts dip

Borrowing to cover the gap between spending and revenue was ￡600m in July, the Office for National Statistics said. There was a surplus of ￡2.8bn in the same month a year earlier. The Treasury blamed disappointing corporation tax receipts.

▽NHS hospitals to open branches abroad to cash in on reputation - Evening Standard

London's world-famous hospitals are being encouraged to sell their services abroad by opening profit-making units in other countries. Historic names such as the Royal Marsden, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ are being targeted by the government to cash in on demand for NHS treatment overseas.

▽Apple Becomes Biggest Stock Ever - US Business News - CNBC

Apple entered the record books Monday, becoming the most valuable stock to have ever traded. Apple closed Monday at another historic high of $665.15, ending the day with a record market cap of $623.5 billion.

▽Apple, Samsung CEOs speak but fail to reach settlement | Apple - CNET News

The attempt to goad Apple and Samsung into settling at least some of their ongoing patent dispute has apparently been fruitless. Apple CEO Tim Cook and Samsung Chief Executive Officer Kwon Oh Hyun were asked by U.S. District Court Judge Lucy Koh to discuss possible resolutions of their patent litigation, which is nearly in jurors' hands. However, that conversation failed to break the deadlock between the two companies.

▽Japanese reporter killed in Syria - Telegraph

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had earlier reported that an unnamed Japanese female journalist had died in Aleppo, the scene of heavy fighting in recent days and weeks, and three other reporters were missing. Ms Yamamoto was killed at Suleiman al-Halabi, a district in the east of Syria's second city where troops and rebels were locked in clashes.