What the other papers say this morning – 21 March 2014
FINANCIAL TIMES
Turkey blocks access to Twitter
Turkey blocked access to Twitter late last night, after Recep Tayyip Erdogan, prime minister, vowed to eradicate the social media site, which has been extensively used to spread corruption allegations against his government. “Twitter and so on, we will root them out,” Mr Erdogan told an election rally in the western city of Bursa, adding that he would take such a step “immediately” for national security reasons.
Revenue for UK films disappoint
Space thriller Gravity may have won seven Oscars, but British films last year recorded their lowest global box-office receipts since 2009. British-made films – including Gravity and tender comedy Philomena – grossed $4.1bn (£2.5bn) outside the UK in 2013, down from $5.3bn in the previous year, according to figures from the British Film Institute.
Symantec cuts boss as managers quit
Symantec, the antivirus software maker, has fired its chief executive Steve Bennett, after several senior managers quit the company as it suffers from declining revenue in an otherwise booming cyber security market. Its shares were halted in after-market trading as the company made clear that Mr Bennett, who became chief executive less than two years ago, had been “terminated” and would leave immediately.
THE TIMES
TUI Travel settles Spanish tax charge
The tour operator behind the Thomson and First Choice holiday brands has agreed not to contest a €50m (£41.7m) tax evasion case brought by the Spanish authorities. TUI Travel said that the case, which dates back to 2001-05, had concluded after it had agreed to pay a further €20m in interest and fines on top of the €30m in unpaid tax.
Lidl chief executive ousted
The chief executive of Lidl has been abruptly ousted over “unbridgeable” strategic differences after more than five years at the helm. No replacement was announced for Karl-Heinz Holland, who served on the board for 12 years.
The Daily Telegraph
World Cup boost for Nike profits
Sportswear giant Nike has reported a slight increase in profits for the third quarter, boosted by rising orders in the run-up to this summer’s football World Cup in Brazil. The US company’s profits rose three per cent to $685m (£415m) for the three months ended 28 February, compared with $662m in the same period in 2013, excluding discontinued operations.
EE apologises for network outage
British mobile operator EE has apologised to customers after an outage Wednesday last night prevented some of them from making calls, texting or using the internet for several hours.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
BlackBerry suffers White House blow
The White House is testing smartphones from Samsung and LG for use, a person familiar with the matter said, threatening one of the last and most high-profile strongholds of BlackBerry. The devices are in testing by the White House’s internal technology team and the White House Communications Agency, the person said.
Planes scour for debris from MH370
Search teams began scouring a remote section of the Indian Ocean for debris from the Malaysia Airlines flight a second day after satellites images pointed to new clues on the missing jetliner.