Europe

• European Commission lukewarm to Microsoft pledge
  AP ( 22, 2008)
  BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Commission on Thursday cautiously welcomed Microsoft Corp.'s announcement it will make its file format for storing documents compatible with that of rivals but the latter termed the move insufficient and a delaying tactic.
   
  
• Audit: FBI didn't join harsh terror interrogations
  AP ( 20, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - A Justice Department audit of terror interrogations at three military bases overseas concluded Tuesday that FBI agents refused to participate when detainees were questioned under harsh and potentially illegal methods.
   
  
• US: Myanmar's storm response appalling
  AP ( 20, 2008)
  WASHINGTON (AP) - A senior U.S. diplomat said Tuesday that Myanmar's military-led government will be responsible for a second catastrophe if thousands of desperate cyclone survivors die because the junta continues to bar foreign aid and disaster workers.
   
  
• Carbon dioxide increases in 2007
  AP ( 20, 2008)
  WASHINGTOIN (AP) - The Energy Department reports that carbon dioxide emissions increased by 1.6 percent last year with most coming from residential and commercial energy use. Emissions from transportation and industrial sources were essentially flat, compared to 2006.
   
  
• Oil crosses $129 for first time, heads for $130
  AP ( 20, 2008)
  NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices spiked to a new trading high Tuesday, sweeping toward $130 a barrel as supply concerns intensified the momentum buying that has lifted crude deeper into record territory.
   
  
• Barclays unit reports $1.94 billion write-down
  AP ( 15, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - Barclays PLC reported a $1.94 billion write-down in the first quarter Thursday, but bucked a trend in the banking sector and did not announce a capital increase to shore up its balance sheet.
   
  
• Credit Agricole seeks $7.72 billion in new capital
  AP ( 15, 2008)
  PARIS (AP) - Credit Agricole said Thursday it plans to sell $7.72 billion worth of assets and named a new leader at its investment bank. The French bank, shaken by the global credit crisis, will also seek $9.1 billion in new capital.
   
  
• BT 4Q profit falls costs rise, customers flee
  AP ( 15, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - BT Group PLC, Britain's biggest telecommunications company, reported a 6.2 percent decline Thursday in its fourth quarter profit, as costs rose and it lost some wholesale customers to broadband services.
   
  
• SocGen 1Q net drops on exposure to US mortgages
  AP ( 13, 2008)
  PARIS (AP) - French bank Societe Generale SA said Tuesday that write-downs linked to the crisis in financial markets led to a 23 percent decline in first-quarter profits.
   
  
• HSBC profits up despite $3.2 billion write-down
  AP ( 12, 2008)
  LONDON (AP) - HSBC Holdings PLC said Monday that first-quarter profit was better than a year ago, despite a $3.2 billion write-down on subprime mortgage assets in the United States.
   
  
• Transportation workers strike in Italy
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  ROME (AP) - Transportation workers have walked off their jobs across Italy in a dispute over contracts.
   
  
• ArcelorMittal sues Esmark over aborted steel mill sale
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  BALTIMORE (AP) - ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, filed a lawsuit against steelmaker Esmark over the aborted sale of a steel mill near Baltimore.
   
  
• Diageo brews Irish Guinness overhaul
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  DUBLIN, Ireland (AP) - Guinness beer owner Diageo PLC rattled an Irish icon Friday, announcing plans to lay off more than half of its brewery workers, close two breweries and shift most beer production to a new, high-tech plant in the Dublin suburbs by 2013.
   
  
• German insurer Allianz 1Q net profit falls 65 percent
  AP ( 009, 2008)
  FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - German insurer Allianz SE said Friday first-quarter net profit fell 65 percent due to difficult market conditions as it wrote down $1.3 billion tied to the U.S. subprime crisis.