Wednesday newspaper round-up: Microsoft, ITV, Rio Tinto

29th Jul 2009 06:16

Microsoft and Yahoo are on the brink of sealing an online alliance that could create a more formidable rival to Google in the search business.The deal had yet to be formally concluded late on Tuesday but the major terms had been agreed in principle and, according to one person close to the discussions, an agreement could be announced on Wednesday, the FT reports.Simon Fox, the chief executive of HMV, has emerged as the leading candidate to become chief executive of ITV. He is one of up to four men on a final shortlist being considered by the board of the UK's largest commercial broadcaster. The others include John Cresswell, currently the chief operating officer of ITV, and Tony Ball, the former chief executive of British Sky Broadcasting. Pascal Cagni, the French head of Apple in Europe, has also been mentioned as a candidate, the FT writes.Stern Hu, the Rio Tinto iron ore sales executive who has been detained in China on suspicion of stealing state secrets for almost four weeks, worked for a state-run Chinese company before he was forced to quit over his involvement in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations, it has emerged. The arrest of Mr Hu, who is aged in his fifties, has deeply strained diplomatic relations between close trading partners Australia and China, the Telegraph reports.The UK tax authorities launched a fresh crackdown on savers with offshore accounts yesterday in an attempt to recoup hundreds of millions of pounds in unpaid revenue. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) began its first assault two years ago when it raised £400m by chasing savers who had failed to pay tax on offshore accounts held with five leading UK banks. It has now widened the net to examine people who have accounts with a further 300 UK and foreign-owned banks, the Times reports.BP intensified a global cost-cutting drive yesterday, unveiling plans to slash an extra $1bn (£600m) in overheads this year as it struggles to maintain its dividend payout to shareholders in the face of plunging profits, the Times reports.Provident Financial, the doorstep lender that offers cash-strapped households emergency loans, drew criticism from charities yesterday as it reported a 3.5% rise in profits. Barnardo's, the children's charity, accused Provident of driving poor families into "worrying levels of debt" and called for an inquiry into doorstep lending practices, the Times reports. John Kingman, the Treasury mandarin who last year took charge of the body managing the taxpayer's stakes in Britain's banks, is to step down. Kingman, chief executive of UK Financial Investments, made his surprise announcement alongside the appointment of Sir David Cooksey as chairman of the body, the Telegraph writes.Seven current and former executives of Airbus and its parent company EADS, including Noël Forgeard, former EADS co-chief executive, should be fined for alleged insider share dealing offences according to a provisional report prepared for the French financial markets regulator. The 381-page report has recommended a total of €12.3m in fines, including €5.45m against Forgeard and €3.6m against John Leahy, Airbus's chief commercial officer, the FT reports.Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the Abu Dhabi sheikh who owns Manchester City Football Club and made roughly £1.5bn investing in Barclays shares during the banking crisis, has turned to space travel by agreeing to acquire 32% of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic for $280m (£170m), the Telegraph reports.The Independent and three other national newspapers have signed a deal with the BBC, which will provide online news videos to commercial rivals for the first time, as it moves to head off potential cuts to the licence fee. The BBC's videos went live on The Independent's website yesterday as well as on The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and the Daily Mail, the Independent reports.