* Which is more expensive: Yahoo’s war on Microsoft, or the war in Iraq?
* We’ve heard this (a lot of times) before, but TechCrunch reports that Google is in “final negotiations” to acquire Digg for around $200 million. Eric Eldon thinks it would be cheaper for Google to just build its own clone.
* Sovereign wealth funds may be looking for their next target. Lilla Zuill suggests the insurance sector.
* GE and Abu Dhabi team up for an $8 billion fund.
* Carlyle Group and China’s Xugong end their mutual courtship.
* Zero2IPO has released a slew of second-quarter numbers from the Chinese private equity market. Here are the data-laden press releases:
- VC fundraising: ChinaVC.doc
- PE fundraising: ChinaPE.doc
- IPOs: ChinaIPO.doc
- M&A: ChinaMA.doc
* There also is some new deal data from the Middle East North Africa (MENA) region.
* Lewis Black on our End of an Empire Sale: