Last-minute efforts to reach a settlement in Microsoft’s epic anti-trust battle with the European Union (EU) have broken down. As a result, the EU competition commissioner, Marion Monti, is expected to deliver a serious legal blow to Bill Gates’ software colossus in the next few days. The EU is expected to order Microsoft to undergo a series of anti-monopoly measures.
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/ 27 February 2004
The Pentagon has launched a criminal investigation into possible fraud at Halliburton, the oil services firm formerly run by the United States Vice-President, Dick Cheney. The inquiry centres on allegations of overcharging for importing fuel from Kuwait into Iraq by Halliburton subsidiary Kellogg Brown & Root (KBR).
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/ 12 January 2004
Officials are likely to recommend the creation of a state-run company to own and manage the Iraqi oil industry, shutting out foreign investment and countering, in part, allegations that the United States-led invasion of the country was merely an oil grab.
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/ 12 December 2003
The United States economy added 57 000 jobs during November but that figure was far fewer than expected, adding to fears that the upturn is failing to translate into significant employment growth. The jobless rate in the US fell from 6% to 5,9%, the lowest it has been since March. November was the fourth consecutive month of employment gains.
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/ 9 December 2003
Viacom is reportedly set to offload listed video-rental chain Blockbuster as the United States video market takes a knock. The media group has been looking for a way out of Blockbuster. The chain faces the threat of obsolescence as new technology such as video-on-demand becomes more widely used and the retail price of DVDs continues to fall.
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/ 31 October 2003
Halliburton, the oil services company formerly run by United States Vice-President Dick Cheney, this week reported soaring revenues from its contracts to help rebuild Iraq. The company said sales in the third quarter were 39% higher, at ,1-billion.
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/ 20 October 2003
Some of the biggest companies in corporate America last week kicked off the third-quarter earnings season and lifted hopes that the world’s largest economy may be entering a sustained recovery.
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/ 17 October 2003
Rupert Murdoch was caught this week in the storm gathering over executive pay when he was forced to scrap an options plan for senior News Corporation management.
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/ 19 September 2003
The US economy stumbled again this week with the release of crucial retail sales, consumer confidence and inflation data that were uniformly worse than analysts had expected. According to the US Commerce Department, retail sales rose by 0,6% in August, below Wall Street forecasts of 1,4%. In July retail sales grew at 1,3%.
The American recording industry is showing that it means business in its attempt to quash Internet piracy, with the first subpoenas issued to uncover the identities of consumers swapping songs online.