Microsoft may still face EU fine
Microsoft’s offer to allow rivals access to its software blueprint may not be enough to prevent European Union action, the EU has warned.
The EU has threatened to fine the group 2m euros (£1.4m; $2
Entries by ceadmin
Google censors itself for China
Leading internet search company Google has agreed to censor some of its services in China in order to satisfy Beijing’s restrictions on free speech.
Google hopes the new web address for China will boost its access to one of the world’s largest internet markets.
The company says the decision to censor content was hard, but says it has more influence if it is present in China
Daimler ‘acts over Iraq bribes’
DaimlerChrysler has suspended at least six managers over bribery allegations linked to the UN oil-for-food programme in Iraq, the Financial Times says.
Quoting “people close to the carmaker”, the paper said between six and nine senior managers had been suspended after an internal investigation.
A report published last year listed the carmaker among more than 2,000 firms said to have paid Iraqi kickbacks
Serb telecoms crackdown escalates
Serbian authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Sreten Karic, the brother of a tycoon whose Mobtel mobile phone company is under investigation.
Sreten Karic had failed to report to police for questioning, Serbia’s B92 news website reported. He is accused of fraud and tax evasion
FSA fines insurer over endowments
Insurer Guardian Assurance and its associated company Guardian Linked Life have been fined $1 million (£750,000) for mishandling endowment complaints.
It is the fourth time that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) has fined an insurance company for not dealing with complaints properly.
The FSA said Guardian’s complaints procedure had “serious systemic flaws”
Stock watchdog investigates IBM
The US stockmarket watchdog SEC will investigate computer services firm IBM over one of its earnings reports and its stock options scheme.
The move gives the SEC the right to see internal IBM e-mails, documents and to interview company executives.
IBM said it was co-operating with the investigation, but in after-hours trading its share price fell 1
Wal-Mart must pay workers $172m
The world’s largest retailer, Wal-Mart, has been ordered to pay $172m (£99m) in compensation to workers who were refused lunch breaks.
A California court found Wal-Mart broke a state law requiring employers to give staff an unpaid 30-minute lunch break if they worked more than six hours.
More than 100,000 Wal-Mart employees in California will be eligible for compensation
Microsoft may face daily EU fine
The European Commission has threatened to fine Microsoft up to 2m euros (£1.36m; $2.4m) a day until it gives rivals more access to its systems
Retrial for Mannesmann bonus case
A German court has ordered the retrial of Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann and five other ex-members of engineering giant Mannesmann’s board.
An original trial last year cleared the six over their roles in approving bonuses relating to Vodafone’s acquisition of Mannesmann in 2000.
They were accused of paying executives bonuses worth around 60m euros ($71m)
Alaska authorities sue oil giants
Oil firms ExxonMobil and BP are being sued by local authorities in Alaska who accuse them of holding back gas.
The authorities want to build a gas pipeline to rival one proposed by the firms, who they say have hampered their attempts at getting a deal.
BP and ExxonMobil want a pipeline to take gas from Alaska to mainland US, where prices are near record levels