China
bans use of Microsoft's Windows 8 on government computers - (www.reuters.com) China has
banned government use of Windows 8, Microsoft Corp's
latest operating system, a blow to a U.S. technology company that has long
struggled with sales in the country. The Central Government Procurement Center
issued the ban on installing Windows 8 on Chinese government computers as
part of a notice on the use of energy-saving products, posted on its website
last week. The official Xinhua news agency said the ban was to ensure computer
security after Microsoft ended
support for its Windows XP operating system, which was widely used in China.
"We were surprised to learn about the reference to Windows 8 in this
notice," the company said in a statement. "Microsoft has been working
proactively with the Central Government Procurement Center and other government
agencies through the evaluation process to ensure that our products and
services meet all government procurement requirements." "We have been
and will continue to provide Windows 7 to government customers. At the same
time we are working on the Window 8 evaluation with relevant government
agencies," Microsoft said.
French
rail company orders 2,000 trains too wide for platforms – (www.reuters.com) Ah,
but they will all still get their month off in August and receive their bonus
checks!! ;-)
France's national rail company SNCF said on
Tuesday it had ordered 2,000 trains for an expanded regional network that are
too wide for many station platforms, entailing costly repairs. A spokesman for
the RFF national rail operator confirmed the error, first reported by satirical
weekly Canard Enchaine in its Wednesday edition. "We discovered the
problem a bit late, we recognise that and we accept responsibility on that
score," Christophe Piednoel told France Info
radio. Construction work
has already begun to reconfigure station platforms to give the new trains room
to pass through, but hundreds more remain to be fixed, he added. The mix-up
arose when the RFF transmitted faulty dimensions for its train platforms to the
SNCF, which was in charge of ordering trains as part of a broad modernisation
effort, the Canard Enchaine reported.
China
and Russia ink $400 billion gas deal - (www.usatoday.com) China
and Russia signed off on a huge gas deal worth as much as $400 billion
Wednesday that heralds a pivot east for Russian business amid ongoing tensions
with the West over Ukraine, though few details of the deal were made public. The
30-year gas-export contract, seen as a move by Russian President Vladimir Putin
to aggressively shift the country's commercial interests east amid mounting
sanctions from the United States and Europe, was signed as the Russian leader
has enjoyed a warm welcome in China, where the two countries have inked a raft
of agreements during his ongoing, two-day visit. The price China is paying for
Russia's gas was not disclosed but the value of the agreement is thought to be
somewhere near $400 billion. The deal, which will see Gazprom gas flow to China
from a pipeline in Siberia, was confirmed by China's state-owned China National
Petroleum Corporation.
German
Unease With ECB Simmers as Anti-Euro Party Gains - (www.bloomberg.com) Lawmakers from Chancellor Angela Merkel’s party
are criticizing European Central Bank policies as a German anti-euro party
gains support before elections across Europe this week. Misgivings by Finance
Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble about the ECB’s threat of unlimited bond-buying and
Merkel’s warning of “deceptive calm” in financial markets are the latest signs
that German policy makers and economists don’t want to discount the lingering
risk to taxpayers from the debt crisis. As polls suggest the anti-euro
Alternative for Germanymay win as much as 7 percent of the German vote
for the European Parliament on May 25, members of Merkel’s Christian Democratic
Union in the Bundestag, or lower house, questioned the underpinnings of ECB
President Mario Draghi’s pledge in July 2012 to do “whatever it takes” to save
the euro.
'We had no idea' about faulty switch: Car czar – (www.cnbc.com) Five
years after the Obama administration forced the country's largest automaker
into a government-backed bankruptcy, the man who led the charge said the auto
task force had no inkling of the ignition switch defect that caused millions of General
Motors vehicles
to be recalled. "We had no idea," said Steve Rattner, who served as
the lead adviser on the Presidential Task Force on the Auto Industry. "As
far as I know, none of the management people we were dealing with knew about
it, so we didn't know about it, nor could we have." Rattner's comments on
CNBC's "Squawk Box" come as critics of GM are questioning
how many of the automaker's executives knew about the issues involving faulty
ignition switches.
Former
Top China JPMorgan Banker Said to Be Arrested in Hong Kong - (www.nytimes.com)
Are there any GM cars that haven't been recalled? - (www.usatoday.com)
Are there any GM cars that haven't been recalled? - (www.usatoday.com)
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