Also . . .

Royal Bank of Scotland agreed to acquire UST Corp. of Boston for $1.4 billion, or $32 a share, through its U.S. unit, Citizens Financial Group. The cash acquisition comes just weeks after Citizens agreed to buy the commercial loan business of Boston-based State Street Corp. for $350 million. A combined Citizens and UST would have $28 billion in assets. Citizens said it plans to close 30 branches, for a combined 370, and cut 800 jobs for a work force of about 8,000, to save about $80 million a year.

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The 15 members of the European Union agreed to begin negotiations with South American countries in the Mercosur group with a view to opening up trade between the two sides, French diplomats said. The EU agreed that the talks should begin on July 1, 2001.

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