WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
Google unveils search results rejig
Google is preparing the biggest overhaul of its search results in five years, in a change likely to draw more fire from rivals amid intensifying antitrust investigations into the company. The new service will present users with detailed information about more than 500m “real world” items rather than passing them on to another website to find an answer.
Shell warns on US gas bounce
Royal Dutch Shell expects US natural gas prices to double by 2015, rebounding strongly from the 10-year lows they have hit as a result of the shale gas boom as US domestic demand for the fuel grows.
HMRC faces quest for new tax chiefs
Four of the top five civil servants in Revenue & Customs are set to leave this summer in a spate of departures that will strip the department of its most experienced tax professionals. Three of the HMRC’s five commissioners are planning to retire. A fourth, Steve Lamey, director-general for benefits and credit, is leaving to work in the private sector.
THE TIMES
Builder reduces back office jobs
Britain’s largest contractor is to cut 650 jobs in response to the downturn in the building industry. Balfour Beatty, which helped to build Heathrow Terminal 5, is to reorganise its British construction services business into three divisions.
Preparing to dance in the Steel City
The British high-tech industry is set for a shot in the arm when a software business conceived in Silicon Valley but raised in Sheffield announces its intention to float on AIM today. It intends to raise £10m.
The Daily Telegraph
Britain exports pigs to China
Britain is sending thousands of pigs to China in a bid to boost exports and exploit Chinese people’s love of offal and pork.
Cost of bureaucracy on the rise
The cost of red tape has actually risen for businesses and some Whitehall departments have not scrapped a single regulation in the last 18 months. Regulation has cost companies an extra £18.5m since the start of 2011, even though ministers are meant to scrap one rule for every new one they introduce.
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
Skechers settles over false advert
Skechers USA will pay $50m to resolve federal and state allegations that it deceived the public by making unfounded claims that its “toning shoes” would help consumers tone muscles and lose weight.
GE Capital resumes paying dividend
For the first time in three years, General Electric will again be able to take cash out of its hulking finance arm. GE Capital, one of the country’s top lenders, will pay its parent GE a $475m quarterly dividend.