WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
CHINESE COMPANIES DEBATE LINKS WITH GOOGLE
A wave of Chinese businesses are reconsidering their ties with Google in the wake of the US internet company’s move to confront their government over internet censorship. The decision for companies like Sina, the web portal, or China Mobile, the telecoms operator, on whether to stay with Google as a search partner comes in a climate of rising political pressure as their government shows its displeasure with Google’s challenge.
GE PLANS FOR £99M OFFSHORE WIND TURBINE PLANT
General Electric says it will invest €110m (£99m) in building a UK offshore wind turbine manufacturing plant following Budget measures to boost private-sector investment in the industry.The move is a boost to government efforts to attract “green” manufacturing to the UK amid fears that much of the estimated £100bn investment needed to meet its renewable energy targets by 2020 would be spent buying equipment from overseas. The US conglomerate did not specify where the factory would be built, but said 1,900 jobs could be created if it went ahead.
BROWN UNDER PRESSURE TO KEEP DARLING AFTER ELECTION
Gordon Brown will come under heavy ministerial pressure to keep Alistair Darling as his chancellor if Labour clings to power at the election, as opinion polls continued to point towards a possible hung parliament. Darling’s Budget was viewed by many ministers and Labour MPs as a political success in spite of negative media coverage. They believe the low-key chancellor has become a valuable election weapon. Although the Conservatives derided Mr Darling’s statement as “empty”.
THE TIMES
TAXMAN ACCUSED OF DRIVING STRUGGLING FIRMS TO THE WALL
The taxman is forcing recession-hit businesses to the wall, critics said yesterday as Revenue and Customs was implicated in the collapse of the Jarvis engineering business and the Scottish airline Highland Airways.
BRITISH LAWYER JEFFREY TESLER FACES EXTRADITION TO US OVER CORRUPTION CHARGES
A British solicitor accused of paying $132m in bribes to Nigerian government officials to secure gas contracts on behalf of multinational energy firms should be extradited to the United States, a judge said yesterday. Jeffrey Tesler, 61, is wanted by authorities in Houston, Texas, where he faces prosecution on corruption and conspiracy charges that carry a maximum 55-year jail term. He denies all charges.
The Daily Telegraph
ARIA CAPITAL’S IRAJ PARVIZI IN HOSPITAL AFTER FSA ARREST
A millionaire Mayfair-based Iranian businessman arrested in connection with the Financial Service Authority’s largest ever insider trading investigation has yet to be questioned after being admitted to hospital.
BUDGET 2010: 10M FAMILIES HAVE LOST OUT IN LABOUR’S TAX CHANGES
Ten million middle-income households have lost out because of Gordon Brown’s repeated tax rises, a study has indicated. The richest households are up to 15 per cent worse off than they would have been without the successive tax changes Labour has introduced since 1997, while the poorest are more than 12 per cent better off. The analysis discloses how those on middle and higher
incomes have borne the brunt of Labour’s redistributive tax rises.
THE STREET JOURNAL
DE VILLEPIN TO LAUNCH NEW PARTY
Former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said he will launch a new center-right political party, a move that could split French conservatives and hurt President Nicolas Sarkozy’s chances of re-election. With the 2012 presidential election in sight, Mr. de Villepin said in a speech Thursday that he represented “an alternative” to Mr. Sarkozy, whose ruling conservative party was trounced in last week’s regional elections.
SOUTH AFRICA BEER WAR BREWS
A beer war is brewing in South Africa as Heineken NV steps up its campaign to challenge homegrown beer giant SABMiller PLC in sales to South Africa’s growing black middle class. The Dutch beer giant is investing in marketing by producing the new television talent show “Class Act”.