Friday newspaper round-up: Greece, Russia, BG Group

IMF chief Christine Lagarde admitted she could not “preclude” a Greek exit, after four months of tortuous bail-out talks that have failed to get both sides closer to a deal to release aid to the country. – Daily Telegraph

Newly built military training camps close to the Ukrainian border have become launch-pads for Russia to wage covert war against its neighbour, according to an authoritative report that uses satellite imagery and hundreds of photographs posted by soldiers on the internet. – The Times

Regulators in Australia, Brazil and the EU are set to examine Shell’s £55bn bid for BG Group but China’s unpredictable commerce ministry will prove the toughest as it focuses on its LNG supply. – Financial Times

Peter Cruddas, the spread-betting tycoon and former Conservative party co-treasurer, inched closer to a £1bn flotation of his business CMC Markets after reporting a surge in profits and customer numbers. Mr Cruddas is expected to sell a substantial chunk of his 90% stake in the business, while keeping majority control. There are no plans to raise fresh capital in the float, which is still at least six months away. Goldman Sachs, which owns the other 10 per cent, is expected to hang on to its shares. – The Times

ITV has backed away from a deal to buy the US production firm behind Marco Polo and the BBC’s War and Peace adaptation. The British TV giant has been splurging on acquisitions that take it further into the production market, allowing it to make programmes and sell their rights around the world. Earlier this year it entered talks to buy the TV division of The Weinstein Company, the giant US film studio behind The King’s Speech. The reported price tag for the arm, which makes Netflix series Marco Polo, was £630m if the company had performed well after having been integrated into ITV.- The Daily Mail

The growing scandal over corruption at Fifa threatens to entangle Nike, the US sportswear company that is a sponsor of the Brazilian national football squad, and other multinational sponsors of the game in Latin America. US prosecutors alleged a company controlled by Brazilian businessman José Hawilla, helped secure a landmark $160m, 10-year sponsorship deal in 1996 between an unnamed sportswear company and the country’s football federation by paying bribes. – The Financial Times