March 5 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on

the business pages of British newspapers. Reuters has not

verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

The Times

Smith & Nephew has opened the door to a possible

break-up amid activist pressure to consider a separation of the

FTSE 100 company's largest division.

Walgreens Boots Alliance ( WBA ), the owner of UK chemist

Boots, is in negotiations with New York-based Sycamore Partners

to agree to a takeover for $10 billion.

The Guardian

UK defence secretary John Healey will fly out to Washington

on Wednesday for a two-day trip during which he will meet his

counterpart Pete Hegseth after the Trump administration's

decision to halt all military aid to Ukraine.

Rachel Reeves has said UK companies and jobs will be

prioritised under the government's plans for a significant

increase in defence spending, with an aim to support "left

behind" industrial towns and the economy at large.

The Telegraph

Apple ( AAPL ) has filed a legal complaint that it hopes

will overturn a British government order to create a "back door"

in its most secure cloud storage systems.

An investor group backed by BlackRock ( BLK ) agreed to buy

a majority stake in the Hong Kong-based company that runs ports

along either side of the Panama Canal, giving a U.S. firm

control of key docks amid pressure from the White House to take

them from China.

Sky News

U.S. Vice President JD Vance denied on Tuesday disrespecting

Britain and France by describing a planned peacekeeping force in

Ukraine as 20,000 troops from some "random country that has not

fought a war in 30 or 40 years".

The International Anti-Corruption Co-ordination Centre

(IACCC) principally funded by the UK government is now

"exploring opportunities" to assist government and

law-enforcement agencies in Bangladesh with their efforts to

investigate allegations of grand corruption.

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)