Shareholders voting on $24.4b Dell buyout

DALLAS (AP) ― Dell Inc. is making a late push to win shareholder support for founder Michael Dell’s plan to take the slumping computer maker private, an indication that Thursday’s scheduled vote could be close. Supporters of the $24.4 billion buyout offer believe Dell Inc. stands a better chance of turning around if it can make long-term strategic decisions without worrying about meeting Wall Street’s quarter-to-quarter expectations. But some big investors have already signaled opposition to the

July 18, 2013

Microsoft presses U.S. on data request disclosures

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― Microsoft said Tuesday it had asked the U.S. government for permission to disclose details of how it handles national security data requests, citing “inaccuracies” in recent media reports.Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said the company had asked the U.S. attorney general “to personally take action to permit Microsoft and other companies to share publicly more complete information about how we handle national security requests for customer information.”“We believe the U.S

July 17, 2013

Google said to discuss own Web TV service with media companies

Google Inc., operator of the world’s most-popular search engine, has held discussions with media companies to introduce its own online-television service, people with knowledge of the matter said. The product would offer viewers television packages that bypass cable subscriptions, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. The talks, which also cover issues related to online piracy, are preliminary and nothing is imminent, the people said. Google is rolling ou

July 17, 2013

Bad weather complicates Coca-Cola’s soda struggles

NEW YORK (AP) ― Coca-Cola is struggling to sell more soda in the U.S., and it can’t seem to catch a break. The world’s largest beverage maker on Tuesday blamed a confluence of factors including unusually bad weather for its disappointing second-quarter results. It cited cold, wet conditions at home and flooding in parts of Europe for weak volume growth globally. Profit declined 4 percent. The temporary setbacks clouded the underlying challenge the company faces in North America and other develop

July 17, 2013

GM global sales rise in H1

DETROIT (AP) ― General Motors’ global sales grew almost 4 percent in the first half of the year, enough to fend off Volkswagen for second place and perhaps close the gap with sales leader Toyota. GM said Tuesday that it sold 4.85 million cars and trucks worldwide from January through June. That puts GM on pace for sales of around 9.7 million for the year. The Detroit automaker sold 9.3 million cars and trucks last year, about 450,000 less than Toyota Motor Corp. GM may have gained some ground on

July 17, 2013

China to avoid ‘wide fluctuations’ in economy: Li

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said the nation will seek to keep economic growth, employment and inflation within limits, avoiding “wide fluctuations,” without elaborating on what the government deems acceptable. China should also develop a “scientific macroeconomic policy framework” to offer markets “stable predictability,” Li told a forum of advisers and executives Tuesday, according to a summary of the event published on the government’s website. Li’s comments, the first made public since the Nat

July 17, 2013

Barclays, traders fined $487.9m by U.S. regulator

Barclays Plc and four former traders must pay a combined $487.9 million in fines and penalties, the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said in an order tied to an investigation of alleged manipulation of energy markets. The agency directed the company and traders to pay $453 million in civil penalties to the U.S. Treasury within 30 days, according to an order issued Tuesday. The London-based bank must also give up $34.9 million in profits, to be distributed to programs that help low-incom

July 17, 2013

Datsun leads Nissan’s emerging markets push

Nissan Motor Co. said its new entry level Datsun brand hatchback will help attract young buyers looking for their first car in emerging markets including India. With models such as the 1.2-liter five-door Go, Nissan is targeting younger customers in emerging markets, Trevor Mann, an executive vice president at Japan’s second-largest carmaker, said in an interview in a suburb of New Delhi Monday. “We’re moving strongly with Datsun in the emerging markets, the markets that have a significant amoun

July 16, 2013

Apple to probe Chinese iPhone death claim

BEIJING (AFP) ― Apple said Monday it would investigate claims that an iPhone electrocuted a Chinese woman who was making a call while charging the device. The case drew attention ― both sympathetic and sceptical ― after a woman in the western region of Xinjiang wrote about the death of her 23-year-old sister Ma Ailun on China’s popular microblog service Sina Weibo.“We will fully investigate and cooperate with authorities in this matter,” said Apple’s Beijing-based spokeswoman Carolyn Wu, offerin

July 16, 2013

ADB trims Asia growth forecasts

MANILA (AFP) ― China’s slowing economic growth is weakening momentum throughout the rest of Asia, the Asian Development Bank said Tuesday as it revised down its forecasts for the region.A day after Beijing released data showing its economic growth slowed for a second successive month in April-June, the ADB trimmed its outlook for developing Asia this year to 6.3 percent growth, from 6.6 percent.In the update to its annual Asian Development Outlook publication, first published in April, the bank

July 16, 2013

PCCW-Telstra venture stored phone data for FBI for over a decade

PCCW Ltd. and Telstra Corp., partners in an undersea cabling venture, stored phone and Internet data for the FBI and U.S. Justice Department under terms of a 2001 agreement with the agencies, Telstra said. The pact, signed by Richard Li’s PCCW after it formed its joint venture Reach with Telstra, requires the Australian company to store billing records for two years, according to a copy of the agreement posted online by news website Crikey, which first reported the deal Friday. The venture also

July 14, 2013

Fitch cuts France from top rating

PARIS (AFP) ― Ratings agency Fitch downgraded France from the top “AAA” credit rating on Friday, citing a heavier government debt load and poor prospects for growth.In slashing France’s rating to “AA +,” Fitch became the last of the big three credit raters to knock France off the top perch. Last year Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s already downgraded France from the “AAA” club.Fitch, which is part French owned, had warned in its previous appraisal that France had reached the very limit of being ab

July 14, 2013

Eurobank buys Greece’s postal bank

ATHENS (AFP) ― Eurobank, one of Greece’s biggest lenders, on Saturday acquired the country’s postal bank, one day after purchasing Proton Bank, the Greek financial stability fund said. “The Hellenic financial stability fund completed the competitive tender process for the sale of the Hellenic Postbank and decided to proceed with its sale to Eurobank,” the fund said in a statement.On Friday, Eurobank announced that the HFSF had approved its purchase of Proton Bank and that the final agreement was

July 14, 2013

Founder of U.S.-based Bose audio firm dies

BOSTON (AP) ― The founder and chairman of the Massachusetts-based audio technology company Bose Corp. has died. Amar Bose was 83.Bose’s death was announced Friday by company president Bob Maresca and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where Bose began his acoustics research and was on the faculty for more than 40 years. The cause of his death hasn’t been released.The company was founded by Bose in 1964. It’s based in the Boston suburb of Framingham and known for making radios and noise-c

July 14, 2013