WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
MICROSOFT OPENS WINDOWS TO TOUCHSCREEN
Microsoft has laid out a wide-ranging plan to overhaul its Windows software platform, marking an attempt to stem the erosion of its core PC software business amid the rise of touchscreen computing popularised by Apple. Along with the first full touchscreen version of Windows, the world’s biggest software company on Tuesday showed off an array of other technology tools and online services to buttress its Windows system in the era of tablet computing.
MAN UTD TO LIMIT VOTING SHARES IN OFFERING
Manchester United is planning to raise up to two-thirds of a planned $1bn initial public offering in Singapore through non-voting preferences shares, keeping as much as 88 per cent of voting rights in the hands of the Glazer family, its American owners.
INTEL AND GOOGLE FORM ANDROID CHIP ALLIANCE
Intel has announced an alliance with Google for Android-based smartphones and tablets to be optimised for Intel’s chips, highlighting the fracturing of the US chipmaker’s decades-long relationship with Microsoft that spurred the adoption of the personal computer.
SASOL PLANS US GAS-TO-DIESEL PLANT
A plan to build the first plant in the US to convert natural gas into diesel fuel has been announced by Sasol of South Africa, in a bid to capitalise on the wide margin between the cost of cheap natural gas and expensive crude oil. Sasol hopes to build a plant that could cost up to $10bn on a site near Lake Charles in Louisiana, which could produce up to 96,000 barrels per day of diesel and naphtha.
THE TIMES
VODAFONE PAYS INDIAN TAX BILL UNDER PROTEST
Vodafone is challenging the Indian tax authorities after being forced to pay $830m “under protest” in a deal to buy a stake in a venture with Essar. Vodafone paid $5 billion to acquire a 33 per cent stake in its Indian mobile phone joint venture Vodafone-Essar, which was announced in March and is scheduled to complete on 27 February.
MILIBAND HECKLED AT CONFERENCE FOR ANTI-STRIKE COMMENTS
Ed Miliband was heckled today as he warned union bosses that it was a “mistake” to hold strike action over pensions. As he attempted to redefine his relationship with the union
bosses, Mr Miliband said it had been wrong for some teaching and civil service unions to walk out in June.
The Daily Telegraph
FORMER TCHENGUIZ LIEUTENANTS SET UP RED OAK CAPITAL PARTNERS
Aaron Brown, one of the businessmen arrested alongside property entrepreneur Robert Tchenguiz in a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) raid, has stepped down as a director of Tchenguiz’s main investment company R20. Mr Brown recently registered his own investment vehicle alongside former Tchenguiz lieutenant Mark Grunnell.
RUSSIAN COURT BANS FURTHER RAIDS ON BP OFFICES
The appeal court judgment means all evidence gathered in this month’s searches must remain sealed at BP’s offices, pending another hearing on 7 October. The raids were carried out by about 15 black-clad bailiffs, after minority shareholders in TNK-BP, the UK’s company joint-venture in Russia, obtained a court order in legal action against the oil major.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
DELL SETS $5 BILLION BUYBACK
Dell’s board approved a plan for the computer maker to buy back up to $5 billion in stock, or about 19 per cent of the company’s current market value, in addition to the $2.16 billion remaining from a prior authorization. chief financial officer Brian Gladden said the company’s moves to streamline and cut costs “have resulted in outstanding cash flow from operations”.
HOUSEHOLD INCOME FALLS, POVERTY RATE RISES
The income of the average American worker—long the envy of much of the world—has dropped for the third year in a row and is now roughly where it was in 1996, adjusted for inflation. The US poverty rate, meanwhile, has continued to rise. America’s median household income fell 2.3 per cent to $49,445, adjusted for inflation.