World Business Briefing | Europe: Germany: BMW 2005 Profit Flat
Date: 10 March 2006
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Bayerische Motorenwerke AG reports flat profits for 2005 after posting record in 2004; net income was 2.24 billion euros ($2.67 billion); revenue for full year increased 5.2 percent to 46.7 billion euros; chief executive Helmut Panke comments (S)
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Google Acquisition Signals New Rivalry
Date: 10 March 2006
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Google Inc acquires Internet word processing software maker Upstartle; gains Writely software which allows users to compose documents on Web and share them with others; acquisition puts Google in direct competition with Microsoft's Word software; indicates plans to expand its reach into Microsoft products; financial terms of deal are not disclosed (S)
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World Business Briefing | Americas: Mexico: Slim Criticizes Central Bank
Date: 10 March 2006
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Carlos Slim Helú, the world's fourth-richest person, said Mexico's central bank had hurt the country's competitiveness. Mr. Slim, left, who controls Teléfonos de México and América Móvil, the country's dominant fixed-line and mobile phone companies, made the comments one day after Guillermo Ortiz, president of Mexico's central bank, said the two companies hurt the country's competitiveness through high rates. Mr. Slim said that the Bank of Mexico, by making low inflation its only goal, had pursued a tight monetary policy that had caused the peso to appreciate. ''This hurts our competitiveness, creates problems and restrains domestic consumption,'' Mr. Slim said.
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News Summary
Date: 11 March 2006
INTERNATIONAL A3-8 Victim in Torture Photos Tells of Prison Conditions Ali Shalal Qaissi, who two years ago was an anonymous prisoner at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, tells of his six-month stay there and the story behind the scandalous picture of him standing hooded atop a cardboard box and attached to electrical wires. A1 The American ambassador to Iraq is urging Iraq's political leaders to hold a conference to broker a grand coalition. A8 Payroll Bankrupts Palestinians The need to pay overdue and current salaries has left the Palestinian Authority ''bankrupt'' despite recent donations of about $70 million from international donors, the government's economic minister said. A6 American Hostage is Killed An American who was among four Christian activists kidnapped last year in Iraq has been killed, a State Department spokesman said. The F.B.I. verified that a body found Friday morning in Iraq was that of Tom Fox, 54. The spokesman said he had no information on the other three hostages. A8 U.N. Delays Human Rights Vote The United Nations extended its deadline for seeking approval of a new human rights council that is opposed by the United States but backed by rights groups and a majority of the 191 member states. A8 Pakistan Bans Deadly Passion Kite flying has been banned from a popular spring festival in Pakistan, after a spate of injuries and deaths from kite dueling, a popular game where kites are flown on a thin metal wire or a thick string, coated with glass or chemicals, to better attack opponent's kites. A7 NATIONAL A9-13, 16 Push for Lobbying Law Is Losing Momentum The drive for a tighter lobbying law, which just two months ago was a major priority on Capitol Hill, is losing momentum, a victim of shifting political interests, infighting among House Republicans and a growing sense among lawmakers of both parties that wholesale change may not be needed after all. A1 Port Deal Hinders Bush Agenda President Bush's inability to hold sway over his party on the Dubai port deal suggests that he faces trouble keeping Republicans together on his major policy initiatives this year, lawmakers and aides said. A10 Interior Secretary Resigns Post Gale A. Norton, who as interior secretary has been a key player in the Bush administration's efforts to exploit natural resources on federal lands, announced that she was resigning. A16 Ex-Aide Arrested for Stealing A former top White House aide was arrested in the Maryland suburbs on charges that he stole merchandise from a number of retailers, the police in Montgomery County, Md., said. The former aide, Claude A. Allen, 45, was President Bush's top domestic policy adviser until resigning last month. A11 Religion Journal A13 SCIENCE/HEALTH Spacecraft Orbits Mars The most sophisticated spacecraft ever sent to Mars slipped into orbit, while tense controllers monitored from Earth. A11 NEW YORK/REGION B1-6 Gotti Avoids Conviction As Jury Deadlocks Again For the second time in six months, after more than a dozen witnesses, including reformed mobsters, a Manhattan jury failed to reach a verdict in the case of John A. (Junior) Gotti, the son of the storied Mafia boss who shares his name. A1 Shakeup at Newark Airport The head of security at Newark Liberty International Airport, which has been plagued by screening lapses and poor morale, was removed from his position by the federal government. B1 SPORTSSATURDAY D1-6 With a Sigh, U.S. Advances Less than 24 hours after facing the humiliation of first-round elimination, the United States players approached their game with South Africa realistically. With Roger Clemens pitching, the United States beat the overmatched South Africa, 17-0, to advance to the second round of the World Baseball Classic. D6 ARTS B7-16 OBITUARIES C14 John Profumo England's secretary of war in the government of Harold Macmillan, who was forced to resign when his relationship with a young prostitute emerged, he was 91. C14 BUSINESS DAY C1-13 From Clubhouse to Boardroom Corporations are under pressure to appoint experienced and independent board members, but golf handicaps and club memberships still play a role. A1 Perils of Online Real Estate The growing popularity of real estate listings on the Internet has created an opportunity for unscrupulous sellers to try and resell dilapidated houses for inflated prices. A1 A Bid for London Exchange The London Stock Exchange, Europe's biggest stock market, rejected an informal $4.1 billion takeover bid from Nasdaq, but the exchange is considered an attractive target for a rich-enough bidder. C1 Business Digest C2 EDITORIAL A14-15 Editorials: About that rebellion; Ambien in the driver's seat; separate and unequal for Gypsies; how about a fresh helping of secrecy? Columns: Maureen Dowd, John Tierney. Bridge B12 Crossword B14 TV Listings B16 Weather D8
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NEWS SUMMARY
Date: 10 March 2006
INTERNATIONAL A3-12 Olmert Offers New Details Of Border Plans for Israel Ehud Olmert, Israel's acting prime minister, said that if he retained his post he would set the country's permanent borders by 2010 and they would most likely run near the West Bank separation barrier. A3 Security Council Considers Iran The Security Council is considering a statement listing failures by Iran to meet demands over its nuclear program, but making only passing mention of punishment. A6 U.S. Plans to Close Abu Ghraib The American military said that within the next several months it intended to relocate all its detainees from Abu Ghraib prison, the penal compound that became notorious after photographs were made public of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners there. A10 Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the United States would seek to avoid putting its forces in the middle of a civil war in Iraq, but stressed that America's goal was to prevent the violence from becoming a full-fledged sectarian conflict. A10 The Sunni-owned security company where about 50 employees were kidnapped on Wednesday was under investigation for allegedly collaborating with the insurgency, an Interior Ministry official said. A10 A federal jury found the contractor Custer Battles guilty of defrauding the United States by filing grossly inflated invoices for work done in Iraq in the year after the invasion. A10 China Criticizes Rights Report China, in response to a State Department report on human rights that said conditions in China were worsening, said that the American government should concentrate on improving its own rights record. A12 U.N. Revises Disaster Response The United Nations announced the creation of a $500 million fund that will be used to respond to disasters sooner. A8 NATIONAL A14-19 Political Pressure Forces Dubai Firm From Port Deal The state-owned Dubai company seeking to manage some terminal operations at six American ports dropped out of the deal, bowing to a political uproar in Congress and around the country. A1 Campus Reacts to Arrests Students and administrators at Birmingham-Southern College struggled to come to terms with the arrests of two sophomores in the burning of nine rural churches. A14 Child Care Changes Draw Fire A Bush administration plan to reorganize programs for low-income families has brought protests by service agencies around the country, which fear it signals a waning in the federal commitment to child care assistance for working mothers. A14 Plaintiffs Agree to Arbitration A second group of plaintiffs who say they were abused by priests in Boston has reached a settlement with the archdiocese. A16 Record Drought in Phoenix Phoenix knows all about dry weather, but as the city entered its 142nd day without rainfall -- setting another record -- the drought has taken a toll on plant and animal life. A1 Aging Citizens Less of a Burden The next few decades will see an explosion in the percentage of Americans over the age of 65, but the economic and social impact may be gentler than had been feared because of a significant drop in the percentage of older people with disabilities, a new federal study has concluded. A19 SCIENCE/HEALTH Saturn Moon May Support Life With newly discovered signs of liquid water on a little-known moon of Saturn has added it to the highly select group of places in the solar system that could plausibly support life. A17 NEW YORK/REGION B1-8 2 Police Officers Arrested In Brothel Bribery Scandal Two veteran police officers have been arrested on federal charges of accepting bribes and sexual favors in exchange for ignoring a brothel in Queens that took in more than $1 million a year, in the largest sex and bribes-for-protection scandal in the New York Police Department in nearly a decade. A1 Jail Makes Room for Retail New York City's Correction Department has decided to convert part of the Brooklyn House of Detention, a forbidding razor wire fortress, into retail shopping space. B1 Missing Girl Found in City A Jersey City teenager who vanished on her way to school on Monday turned up unharmed in New York City, and her story of abduction, confinement in a dark basement and sexual abuse -- told in cryptic text messages to her mother -- appeared to be false, the police said. B3 WEEKEND E1-28; E29-42 ESCAPES F1-12 SPORTSFRIDAY D1-7 Proud Conference's Rough Time There are 30 N.C.A.A. Division I men's basketball conferences better than the Southwestern Athletic Conference. There are none worse. No one is quite sure why the SWAC, a once proud conference of historically black colleges, is at the bottom of the rankings, if not the underside of March Madness. D1 OBITUARIES C14 Joseph Gardner A Manhattan real estate developer, known for identifying emerging neighborhoods, he was 78. C14 BUSINESS DAY C1-13 Amazon May Try Downloads Amazon.com is in talks with Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios and Warner Brothers to start a service that would allow consumers to download movies and TV shows for a fee, according to sources briefed on the discussions. C1 Tension Over Trade Deficits With the United States reporting yet another surge in its trade deficits with China and the rest of the world, economic tensions are rising again as Washington prepares for the long-delayed visit of President Hu Jintao late next month. C1 Effect of Dubai Decision DP World's decision to transfer a handful of American port terminals, rather than discouraging foreign investing in the United States, may actually have made it safer for foreigners by relieving some of the political pressure that was building up after the Middle Eastern firm's much-disputed acquisition of the ports. C1 Business Digest C2 EDITORIAL A20-21 Editorials: Our porous port protections; build the memorial first; but can it be bottled like Evian? Columns: Paul Krugman, Thomas L. Friedman. Crossword: E38 TV Listings: E28 Weather: D8
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News Analysis: Some fear a chill in foreign investment
Date: 10 March 2006
By Eduardo Porter
Eduardo Porter
NEW YORK — DP World's decision to transfer a handful of U.S. port terminals, rather than chilling interest in investing in the United States, may actually have made it safer for foreigners by relieving some of the political pressure that was building up against them.
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News Analysis: DP World and U.S. trade: A zero-sum game
Date: 10 March 2006
By Eduardo Porter
Eduardo Porter
DP World's decision yesterday to transfer a handful of American port terminals, rather than chilling interest in investing in the United States, may actually have made it safer for foreigners by relieving some of the political pressure that was building up against them.
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News Analysis: In Dubai's pullout from ports deal, a silver lining
Date: 10 March 2006
By Eduardo Porter
Eduardo Porter
NEW YORK — DP World's decision to transfer a handful of U.S. port terminals, rather than chilling interest in investing in the United States, may actually have made it safer for foreigners by relieving some of the political pressure that was building up against them.
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Judge Tries Compromise On Briefs Libby Is Seeking
Date: 11 March 2006
By Neil A. Lewis
Neil Lewis
Federal Judge Reggie B Walton rules that I Lewis Libby Jr is entitled to review limited amount of information from classified intelligence documents in order to defend himself against charges that he lied about his role in disclosing identity of CIA operative; rules that documents could be something like tables of contents of President's Daily Brief, and that Libby need not be given those highly classified documents as he had sought (M)
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Washington Post to Cut 80 Newsroom Jobs
Date: 11 March 2006
By Katharine Q. Seelye
Katharine Seelye
Washington Post is planning to cut 80 jobs, or 9 percent of its newsroom, over next year; follows trend of American newspapers in reducing editorial positions in response to sluggish advertising environment and declining circulation; will make cuts through buyouts and attrition as opposed to layoffs; newspaper wants its journalists to provide more material to other outlets besides its newsprint edition; employees say increasing demands are weighing on them; executive editor Leonard Downie Jr comments; photo (M)
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