Friday Papers: Canadian government urged to block BHP's Potash bid - tips, comment and bids

(Updated with Telegraph share tip)

Financial Times

* Saskatchewan urged the Canadian government to block BHP Billiton’s $39 billion bid for PotashCorp on the grounds that the Australian miner had failed to show that the deal would benefit the prairie province.

* Temasek Holdings is to pay $400 million for a 14% stake in Odebrecht Óleo e Gas, a Brazilian oil industry services company.

* Diego Della Valle, the Italian owner of Tod’s, the luxury shoe brand, has increased his shareholding in Saks, the US luxury retailer, to just under 20%, and said he may seek board representation.

* The management of Polish coal miner Bodganka has rejected a $1.2 billion offer to buy the company from New World Resources, the Dutch-listed Czech hard coal company, citing differences over price.

* BBVA, Spain’s second-biggest listed bank, has confirmed it is among the potential bidders for a stake in Turkey’s Garanti Bank.

The Lex Column

* China: Forget quantity, feel the quality - A $65 billion trade surplus is evidence of nagging external imbalances.

* AT&T’s wrong number - Subscriber and revenue surge mask margin pressure.

* Eurozone governance - A Franco-German pact risks undermining the rescue’s efficacy.

* Credit Suisse - Triple whammy of falling revenue, high staff costs and deferred pay.