WPP said it had hired Laurent Ezekiel from its French rival Publicis to be its chief marketing and growth officer, tasked with helping new boss Mark Read steer the world's biggest advertising group back to growth.

* Shares down as much as 20 percent (Adds new Sports Direct statement)

Huawei's relations with British authorities hit a low last month when a top official walked out of a meeting with the Chinese company over its perceived failure to fix security holes in its products, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.

* Bids due before Christmas - sources (Adds BMO declines to comment, shares)

Airbus has launched a strategic review to outline changes under incoming chief executive Guillaume Faury as it faces industrial challenges and prepares for overdue modernisation, industry sources said.

The partners in the Russian-owned Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project have already invested more than 6 billion euros ($6.8 billion), RIA news quoted Mario Mehren, the chairman of Germany's Wintershall company, as saying on Thursday.

A British government letter to Nissan two years ago offering reassurances about Brexit, which helped secure a major investment from the Japanese carmaker, is still considered too sensitive to release, a Reuters freedom of information request revealed.

* Nigeria also suing JPMorgan over transfers for same deal (Adds detail)

* Timetable change "unrelated" to Sainsbury's-Asda litigation

Britain's Sports Direct has offered a 40 million-pound ($51 million) loan to Debenhams , the struggling department store group in which it holds a near 30 percent stake, according to a letter from Mike Ashley published by the Daily Telegraph.