WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
DNO AIMS TO SAVE KURDISH VENTURE
Shares in DNO International, the Norwegian oil company, plunged more than 45 per cent on Thursday as trading resumed in the stock for the first time since Kurdish authorities threatened to cancel its licence to export oil from Iraq. Helge Eide, chief executive of DNO, told the Financial Times that his firm was in talks with the Kurdish regional government in a bid to salvage its investment.
VODAFONE MAKES ADVANCES IN WEB SERVICE
Vodafone has underlined its determination to exploit fully the revenue potential of wireless internet by unveiling a new set of web-based services for mobile phones. The world’s largest mobile operator by sales on Thursday outlined services that will pitch it against companies such as Apple, Google and Nokia.
KROES WARNS EU STATES OVER ‘STEALING’ CAR JOBS
Europe’s competition chief on Thursday delivered a blunt warning to EU member states against “bribing” car companies in an attempt to “steal” jobs from other countries, saying such behaviour risked sparking a trade war. Neelie Kroes, competition commissioner, told an audience in New York that she was “examining carefully” Berlin’s conditions for the rescue of Opel.
KROES WARNS EU STATES OVER ‘STEALING’ CAR JOBS
Nintendo on Thursday announced the first price cut for its Wii games console following declining sales and price competition from Microsoft and Sony. The Japanese company said the price of the Wii would drop $50, or 20 per cent, to $199.99 in the US on Sunday. Its price is also being cut by 20 per cent in Japan to Y20,000 from October 1, and the same will apply in Europe from October 2.
THE TIMES
SARKOZY BACK-PEDALS OVER HIS DEMANDS FOR CAP ON BONUSES PAID TO BANKERS
President Sarkozy will back down today over his demands that bankers’ bonuses must be capped. Instead, the French President will merely insist that the issue of restructuring their pay be discussed among fellow world leaders at the G20 meeting starting in Pittsburgh.
DEFENCE COMPANIES PUSH GOVERNMENT FOR CONTRACTS
The defence industry is pushing the government to sign equipment contracts worth up to £20bn in the next few months, in an attempt to prevent the projects becoming a victim of cost-cutting. Industry insiders have told The Times that intense lobbying pressure is being brought to bear on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in the hope of deals being signed quickly.
The Daily Telegraph
SPAIN TIPS INTO DEPRESSION
Spain is sliding into a full-blown economic depression with unemployment approaching levels not seen since the Second Republic of the 1930s and little chance of recovery until well into the next decade, according to a clutch of reports over recent days.
MABEY & JOHNSON TO BE SENTENCED IN LANDMARK BRIBERY CASE
A British company that bribed foreign officials to win business contracts and breached United Nations (UN) sanctions in Iraq is due to be sentenced tomorrow in the first prosecution of its kind in the UK. Mabey & Johnson, which makes temporary bridges, plead guilty to overseas corruption charges and breaching UN sanctions in July and faces an unlimited fine when sentenced at Southwark Crown Court on Friday morning.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
RITE AID LOWERS ITS FISCAL-YEAR GUIDANCE
Rite Aid narrowed its fiscal second-quarter loss but lowered expectations for the full year, as the drugstore chain continued to struggle amid the recession. Sales of nonpharmacy items like food, beauty products and over-the-counter medicine fell in the quarter by 4.9% as consumers looked for deals.
BOEING STARTS REPAIRS ON 787
Workers at Boeing have begun fixing a flaw on the first 787 Dreamliner test aircraft in preparation for its long-delayed first flight later this year, a Boeing executive said Wednesday. Randy Tinseth, vice president for marketing at Boeing’s commercial airplane unit wrote in a blog post that modifications to reinforce areas where the plane’s wings join its body had recently begun.