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

• Free-trade zones ease passage of counterfeit drugs
  A drug seizure in Dubai highlights how counterfeit drugs move in a global economy, and why they are so difficult to trace.
• 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.
• Danone faces labor dispute with Chinese partner
  Problems between the French food and beverage maker Groupe Danone and its Chinese partner, Wahaha, have deepened, with Wahaha's labor union saying it is suing Danone.
• Greenspan urges U.S. to help those facing foreclosure
  The former Fed chairman said that helping homeowners directly would create "a short-term fiscal problem" for the government, but that doing so would be more effective than solutions like freezing mortgage rates.
• On Facebook, scholars link up with data
  A team of researchers is using the Facebook habits of students to study how personal tastes, habits and values affect the formation of social relationships.
• Ingersoll-Rand to acquire Trane
  Ingersoll-Rand's offer of both cash and stock for Trane is an option available to strategic buyers but not to private equity firms.
• Mounting cost of paper raises book prices in China
  Voracious demand for books and a crackdown on small, polluting paper mills have caused a paper shortage in China.
• Credit crunch hits Centro Properties
  Centro Properties, an Australian company that is one of the largest owners of shopping malls in the United States, announced Monday that it was having trouble refinancing loans and might have to sell assets.
• Ford sale of Jaguar to Tata Motors is expected
  The luxury brand Jaguar is poised to join an Indian auto company that makes everything from tractor-trailers to full-size SUVs to the world's cheapest car.
• Retailers face ominous holiday sign: Sales of women's clothing fall
  From high-end dresses to bargain coats, spending on women's apparel dropped nearly 6 percent during the first half of the Christmas season in the United States, compared with the same period last year.
• WTO opens investigation of US farm subsidies
  The World Trade Organization opened an investigation Monday into whether the United States is violating international commerce rules that limit subsidies to American farmers.
• The Workplace: Tips for the tech-averse
  If mastering new technology is frustrating and scary, you may need to re-examine your approach. And if all else fails, keep in mind that asking for help is O.K.
• Ideeli sounds alert for discounted luxury items
  The Web site is partly shopping as sport, but it also speaks to the nervousness of retailers this holiday season.
• 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.
• Daimler gets order for hybrid-powered buses from New York City, Ottawa
  Daimler AG said Monday that it has received orders from New York City and from the Canadian capital, Ottawa, for a total of 1,052 diesel-electric hybrid-powered buses.
• 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 conc