Reuters – Former Prime Minister Tony Blair is to give a series of talks to bosses at Lansdowne Partners, said a source close to the secretive hedge fund that made millions from the credit crisis.

Blair, whose “light-touch” model of regulation of the financial industry was later criticised for helping cause the credit crunch, will give a small number of talks on geopolitics to executives of the firm, the source said.

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Telegraph.co.uk – Mayor Boris Johnson will welcome guests, thought to include Tony Blair, Elton John and Jemima Khan, who have paid up to £100,000-a-table to be at the event at the former Eurostar terminal at Waterloo.

Despite being dubbed Britain’s most extravagant party, the organisers said it will be more low key.

Arpad "Arki" Busson, the French financier and chairman of the dinner’s charity Absolute Return for Kids, said: "We have cut the costs of staging the event by two-thirds and there are two-thirds less luxury lots too. We have to be reflective and respecting of the times."

Whereas in past years, Prince, Elton John and Stevie Wonder have performed, this year the entertainment will be provided by the London Chamber Orchestra.

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TIANJIN, China (Reuters) – Abu Dhabi Investment House, a Gulf Arab bank, is planning a $1.5 billion (824 million pounds) private equity fund to invest in real estate and manufacturing in China with a local partner, a senior executive said on Sunday.

An agreement to launch the fund will be signed within two months, said Rashad Janahi, ADIH’s managing director.

The Gulf firm is eyeing China at a time when a raft of tightening measures have chilled its real estate market, with sluggish transactions and falling prices in major cities. For a related story, double-click on.

And China’s manufacturing sector, especially export-oriented and labour-intensive firms, are being hit hard by weakening demand from the United States as well as Europe.

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