» AstraZeneca to cut 7,600 jobs
Written by : Kavindra Rani |  Published on : 04:48:00EST Sat, 28 Jul 2007

Anglo-Swedish drug maker AstraZeneca Plc said it will cut some 7,600 jobs as part of a major cost reduction plan. The company had announced in March that it planned to reduce its head count by 3,000, but on Thursday, as it came out with its second quarter financial results, it said it will cut a further 4,600 jobs.

» OFT approaches court seeking ruling on unfair bank charges
Written by : Kavindra Rani |  Published on : 04:45:00EST Sat, 28 Jul 2007

The U.K. competition watchdog the Office of Fair Trading has approached the High Court for a ruling on the overdraft charges levied by several major banks in the country.

» Citigroup's Smith Barney fined $50 million in 'market timing' trades
Written by : Paco Tyee |  Published on : 12:42:00EST Wed, 25 Jul 2007

Smith Barney, the brokerage unit of Citigroup Inc, is paying $50 million as fine for its failure to enforce its supervisory functions as its employees made nearly 250,000 short-term trades in mutual funds and variable annuity mutual fund sub-accounts at the expense of its shareholders.

» OLPC to launch mass production for $100 laptops
Written by : Paco Tyee |  Published on : 00:36:00EST Tue, 24 Jul 2007

The One Laptop per Child (OLPC) group has announced that it has given the green signal to hardware suppliers for the launch of mass production of the XO machines, known fondly as the $100 laptops, stating that the first laptops will be available by the end of October this year.

» eBay posts 50% rise in Q2 profit
Written by : Paul Robinson |  Published on : 03:03:00EST Fri, 20 Jul 2007

Online auctioneer eBay Inc said Wednesday its profit for the second quarter rose 50 per cent following substantial growth in auction and online payments business. For the quarter ended 30 June, the company had earnings of $375.8 million, or 27 cents a share, compared with $250 million, or 17 cents a share, of the corresponding previous year quarter.

» HP continues to be No 1 PC vendor globally
Written by : Paul Robinson |  Published on : 02:51:00EST Fri, 20 Jul 2007

Hewlett-Packard Company continued to be the No 1 PC supplier in the world during the second quarter of 2007, as global PC shipments grew 12 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year, research group IDC said Wednesday.

» IEA warns of energy oil supply crunch
Written by : Paco Tyee |  Published on : 09:06:00EST Tue, 10 Jul 2007

An oil supply crunch is looming large over the world with oil prices going up at unprecedented rates over the next five years, the International Energy Agency warned in its medium-term Oil Market Report Monday.

» Google to acquire online security firm Postini
Written by : Paco Tyee |  Published on : 09:03:01EST Tue, 10 Jul 2007

Google Inc. has agreed to buy Postini Inc., a closely-held security firm, for $625 million in cash. The acquisition helps the search firm to enhance its online applications offerings as Postini offers e-mail security solutions.

» European Central Bank retains interest rate at 4%
Written by : Archibald Freeman |  Published on : 11:51:00EST Thu, 05 Jul 2007

The European Central Bank Thursday decided to leave its benchmark interest rate at 4 per cent. However, the central bank, which sets rates for 13 countries in the European Union that use Euro as the currency, hinted the rates could go up as some European countries have been witnessing continued growth.

» Bank of England raises interest rates
Written by : Paco Tyee |  Published on : 11:03:00EST Thu, 05 Jul 2007

The Bank of England Thursday revised the base interest rates up by 0.25 per cent to 5.75 per cent. The bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to raise the rates to their highest level since March 2001. This is the fifth increase since August 2006.