Business - International Herald Tribune
Business news from The International Herald Tribune, the world's daily newspaper online.

• Sports groups clash with media over pictures
  As news organizations scramble to champion their rights to cover games and publish photographs, a coalition of 37 sports is seeking to protect its intellectual property rights in a fast- changing digital world.
• Faster chips are leaving programmers in their dust
  Newer computer chips with multiple processors require dauntingly complex software and programmers are having a hard time keeping up.
• Travel guidebooks expand online presence
  Outpaced by Web sites with user-generated content and recommendations, travel publications like Lonely Planet and Rough Guides are extending their brands to catch up.
• Google gets ready to rumble with Microsoft
  The growing confrontation promises to be an epic business battle.
• Chasm widens between rich and poor in U.S.
  The increase in incomes of the top 1 percent of Americans from 2003 to 2005 exceeded the total income of the poorest 20 percent, data from the Congressional Budget Office show.
• Retailers find a new way to advertise: It's in the bag
  From upscale emporiums to mid-price chains, U.S. retailers are engaged in a heated competition to make the most durable, fashionable shopping bags.
• From Switzerland, selling an over-sweetened world more chocolate
  Swiss chocolatiers, having long ago conquered markets in Europe and North America, are now aiming at the vast expanses of Russia, India and China.
• 2 bidders for Alitalia lay out turnaround plans
  Air One said it would completely renew Alitalia's fleet and add international destinations; Air France-KLM spoke of limited job cuts.
• Morgenson: When the SEC turns a blind eye to market mischief
  A new report indicates that in its battles against insider trading and market manipulation, the commission declines to use one of the sharpest tools in its arsenal: the internal audits conducted by the stock and options exchanges.
• Case lays bare the media's reliance on Iraqi journalists
  Bilal Hussein is an Iraqi photographer who had a hand in The Associated Press's 2005 Pulitzer Prize for photography before being jailed without charges by the U.S. military.
• Portugal seeks new image as 'West Coast of Europe'
  For the Portuguese, being brushed off, overlooked or misunderstood by larger European countries is an all-too-common occurrence. Now they are trying to do something about it.
• Boom times in the rural Midwestern U.S.
  Sky-high prices for corn, soybeans and wheat, and a jump in the value of farmland, have lifted the fortunes of farmers across the heartland.
• Paid in dollars, expats struggle to make a living
  Americans living abroad are finding it hard to economize in a world where the dollar isn't worth a €4 hill of beans.
• Craft capitalism: Just do it yourself
  An online industry prospers by matching handmade items with sellers, thus tapping into an old-style yearning for personal contact.
• Is the spending spree over in the U.S.?
  Floyd Norris on the declining rate of increase in imports and the still-strong growth in exports, indicating that American consumers may finally be showing some restraint.
• The woman behind the subprime bailout
  Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., spurred the U.S. government into action because she believes massive foreclosures would crush the economy.
• Siemens revokes appointment after reviewing files in bribery case
  The company canceled the appointment of Hannes Apitzsch as chief financial officer after looking at prosecutors' files.
• Zuma woos investors in bid for South African presidency
  Despite support from labor unions and the South African Communist Party, analysts expect Zuma to be investor-friendly.
• Central bankers worry whether plan will work
  Top European central bankers expressed concern on Friday about the success of a concerted action plan to grease the wheels of seized-up money markets, as U.S. banking giant Citigroup faced fresh strife.
• At the supermarket, shopping for better health
  These days we ask for more than mere sustenance from food. In more than 100 countries, ACNielsen scans data from checkout counters, conducts surveys and relies on consumer panels from 250,000 homes.
• New figures show prices rising on both side of Atlantic
  The bad inflation news reduces the scope of central banks to react to slowing economic growth and the effects of the credit crisis.
• Citigroup moves to rescue seven funds in crisis
  The bank's shares fell and Moody's rating service cut its debt and financial strength ratings as the company moved to bail out investment funds hit hard by the continuing crisis in housing-related debt.
• EU threatens to impose tariffs on steel from China
  The EU began an inquiry into whether Chinese exporters are selling flat-rolled steel below cost.
• Britain overtakes U.S. as largest donor to World Bank fund for poor countries.
  The United States lost its status as the largest donor to the World Bank's main fund for poor countries, the lender said Friday, as Britain pledged more in the latest funding round, which secured a record $25 billion in aid.
• Christmas tree growers in Denmark see a revival
  Danish growers, Europe's biggest Christmas tree exporters, are raising prices for the country's Nordmann firs as demand increases.
• Emerging-market billionaires turn to philanthropy
  The global wealth boom has created a new breed of billionaire in countries like Turkey, India, Mexico and Russia. Now, a number of them are using their wealth to bolster their standing and push for social changes.
• Economy holding up, reports find
  Government reports released Thursday showed surprising resilience in the broader economy, even as the financial system and the housing market continue to weaken.
• Alitalia bids well below market price
  Two offers for ailing Italian airline Alitalia are far below market price, with one bid of just one euro cent a share, a source close to sale talks said, sending shares into a tailspin that prompted their suspension.
• Survey finds diminished Japanese confidence in business conditions
  Confidence at major companies in Japan fell to its lowest in more than two years amid anxiety about the stronger yen and a possible U.S. slowdown.
• JetBlue sells stake to Lufthansa for $300 million
  Hoping to shore up its lagging finances, the discount carrier sold a 19 percent stake in its business to the second-largest airline in Europe.
• Foreign banks encounter cultural barrier in Vietnam
  Foreign financial institutions have found they must overcome the hurdles of a long-standing cultural preference for intra-community "phuongs" and a distrust of banks.