January 13, 2012
Beowulf, First Reserve sign on for Caribbean pipeline
The Eastern Caribbean Gas Pipeline project has acquired two new majority owners — Beowulf Energy LLC (Beowulf) out of New York and First Reserve Energy Infrastructure Fund (FREIF), which has offices in Greenwich, Houston, Hong Kong and London.…
January 12, 2012
Energy costs push German inflation rate up to 2.3%
Rising energy prices pushed German inflation up to 2.3% in 2011, according to official figures from Destatis. The inflation rate compares with 1.1% in 2010 and 0.4% in 2009. It was the highest annual figure since 2008, when inflation was 2.6%. It…
January 12, 2012
China inflation rate little changed at 4.1% in December
China's rate of inflation was little changed in December, despite government efforts to rein in prices. Consumer prices rose 4.1% from the same month last year, the National Bureau of Statistics said. That is down from 4.2% in November. For the…
January 12, 2012
RBS to cut 3,500 jobs in investment bank shake-up
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has said it will cut a further 3,500 jobs, with most of them to happen this year. The cuts are part of a reorganisation and shrinkage of its investment bank. The losses, which will be split between its UK and…
January 11, 2012
Web domains to get major overhaul with custom names
Applications will soon open for new top-level domains in the biggest change to the system in over two decades. From Thursday it will be possible to register almost any word as a web address suffix. Familiar endings like .com and .org could…
January 11, 2012
IRS comes up $385 billion short
The IRS has collected $4.4 billion from two programs that allowed tax evaders hiding money in offshore accounts to come clean and said it will launch a similar initiative this year. The two voluntary disclosure programs, launched in 2009 and 2011,…
January 11, 2012
Intel Medfield chip on Motorola and Lenovo smartphones
Intel's new processor designed for mobile devices will be used by Motorola Mobility and Lenovo in upcoming Android-based smartphones. The Medfield chip is designed to help Intel make headway in a sector dominated by processors based on designs by…
January 11, 2012
Nissan-Renault alliance in sales record in tough year
The Renault-Nissan partnership's global vehicle sales increased 10% last year to a record high. Deliveries by the two car companies and their Russian partner AvtoVaz rose to 8.03 million vehicles, up from 7.28 million in 2010. Renault-Nissan chief…
January 11, 2012
Fannie Mae CEO to resign
Fannie Mae CEO Michael Williams plans to resign, the government-controlled mortgage giant said Tuesday. Williams, who took over as president and CEO of the troubled company in 2009, will continue as CEO until Fannie Mae's board names a successor.…
January 10, 2012
China export growth slows on weak demand from Europe
Growth in China's exports slowed in December because of sluggish demand from the US and Europe. Exports rose by 13.4% from a year earlier, the customs agency said, down from 13.8% in November. Import growth also slowed, rising 11.8% compared with…