The move is in response to the Disney studio’s plan to reduce the period in which it can be shown only in cinemas from the standard 17 weeks.

The plan would allow Disney to release the film on DVD at the end of May.

Odeon said it would “set a new benchmark, leading to a 12-week window becoming rapidly standard”.

Alice In Wonderland....Not Showing In AN Odeon Near You!

Cineworld cinemas will show the movie, however, after reaching an independent agreement with the Disney studio.

The Vue chain is also understood to have reached an agreement with Disney, details of which are due to be announced shortly.

Odeon’s decision will not affect the film’s Royal premiere on Thursday, which is coincidentally set to take place at the Odeon Leicester Square in central London.

Nor will it affect its plans to show the film in Spain, Germany, Portugal and Austria - territories where Disney intends to observe the normal DVD release window.

Starring Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland sees the novel’s heroine return as a teenager to the magical kingdom for more surreal adventures.

Read More>BBC News

Under the terms of the ten-year “Microhoo” partnership, Yahoo! will use Microsoft’s new Bing search engine technology on its own sites, while Yahoo! will act as the exclusive global sales force for the companies’ premium search advertisers.

The agreement between the struggling internet portal company and software group will run for ten years, giving them an opportunity to provide advertisers with a viable rival to Google’s money-making online advertising platform.

Could Microhoo Overtake Worldleading Google?

The deal was approved without restrictions by both the US Department of Justice and the European Commission. The companies said they plan to begin the partnership soon and have it completed by early 2012. Steve Ballmer, the Microsoft chief executive, said the regulatory approvals were an “exciting milestone”.

 The Bing search engine will process search requests and steer search-related advertisements on Yahoo! popular websites while Yahoo! will still control the user experience. Yahoo! is due to get 88 per cent of the revenue generated from the advertisements placed alongside the search results on its sites. Yahoo! has said it stands to gain about $500 million in annual operating income and $200 million in capital expenditure savings from the deal.

Carol Bartz, the Yahoo! chief executive, said: “This breakthrough search alliance means Yahoo! can focus even more on our own innovative search experience.”

Read More>Times Online

The business magazine Finans named the low-profile steel magnate Vladimir Lisin as the wealthiest of Russia’s 77 billionaires, worth $18.8bn (£12bn). In second place with $17.85bn was Mikhail Prokhorov, the metals and banking magnate who came top last year.

Roman Abramovich, the owner of Chelsea football club, was third. His wealth was put at $17bn. It is the first time that Abramovich has failed to make the top two in the Finans list, though the Russian magazine noted wryly that he was still wealthy enough to fund his Premier League team for the “next 100 years”.

Vladimir Lisin, Russias New Richest Man

Lisin, below, has appeared before in the top 10 on Russia’s rich lists, but this is the first time he has sprung to global prominence. The businessman owes his wealth to the Novolipetsk steel mill, one of the world’s largest. He also owns an electricity firm. Representatives at his industrial complex in Lipetsk, west Russia, declined to comment.

Born in 1956, Lisin got his first job in 1975 as a mechanic in a Soviet coalmine. He studied at Siberia’s Metallurgy Institute and took a job as a steelworker. In 1992 he joined a group of tenacious traders, the Trans-World Group, who won control of Russia’s steel and aluminium industry.

When the partners split in 2000, Lisin received 13% of the firm and later won a controlling share. Married with three children, he is a keen clay pigeon shooter and cigar smoker. He has a collection of rare 19th-century cast-iron equine sculptures from Kasli, a town in the middle Urals.

Read More>The Guardian

A new official report released today said India, Eastern Europe and other countries of Asia are set to become better places for British companies to make money than Western Europe.

The report by Leeds University Business School, commissioned by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), ranks the 52 countries offering the best opportunities for British companies before and after the ‘credit crunch’, and provides an intriguing insight into where UK PLC has been, and should be, investing time and resources to develop international business.

British Businesses Need To Look To Pstures New

Between 2005 and 2007, the countries offering the best opportunities were mostly Britain’s long-established trading partners: United States (1), Germany (2), France (3), Ireland (4), the Netherlands (5), Belgium (6), Spain (7), Italy (8), China (9) and Japan (10).

Five years later, the economic powerhouses of China, India and the US remain dominant, but beyond them the landscape is transformed, with the top ten countries increasingly dominated by the emerging economies of Eastern Europe, the Far East and Africa.

Between 2012 and 2014, the top ten is predicted to be: China (1), US (2), India (3), Libya (4), Ukraine (5); Russia (6), Romania (7), Korea (8), Mexico (9) and Singapore (10).

Just one western European country - Sweden - makes it into the top 20, while many of the UK’s biggest trading partners in the West slip dramatically, Germany (30), France (34), Ireland (42), the Netherlands (37), Belgium (44), Spain (47) and Italy (46).

Read More>Economic Times

Details of personnel links between Toyota and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were revealed as the Japanese car company pledged to be more open in its dealing with governments and customers. Meanwhile, President Obama has spoken on the controversy for the first time, telling all carmakers they risk damage to their brands if they do not handle safety recalls properly.

Will More Revelations Come Out Against Toyota?

Toyota has recalled 8.5 million-cars globally after reports of faulty accelerator pedals, dangerous floor mats and, latterly, defective brake systems on its flagship petrol-electric hybrid, the Prius.

In the US, Toyota is already under investigation and enduring a hail of criticism for its handling of the recalls, with allegations that defects in cars which stretch back over most of the last decade are responsible for 19 deaths and hundreds of injuries.

Read More>Times Online

Revolutionary songs blared through loudspeakers in central Athens and tens of thousands of strikers chanted “Traitors! Traitors!” in front of the Greek parliament as they protested against government austerity measures designed to cut the country’s budget deficit of 12.7 per cent to 2.7 per cent in three short years.

The moves, which will entail a hiring freeze in the public sector, a 10 per cent cut in supplementary pay and an increase in the retirement age are supposed to send a signal to the rest of the eurozone that Greece is intent on getting its house in order.

Will The Strike Action Change The Government Decisions?

But the leftist unions are determined to make a stand against the Socialist government of George Papandreou.
 
“I always considered myself a socialist, ” said Petros Georgakis, an IT expert for a government ministry who was chanting anti-government slogans close to Athens university, “now I feel disgust. The minimum wage is being eroded and we will be driven into poverty as a society to please the plutocrats and the people in Brussels.”

The public sector workers union ADEDY holds sway over some half a million workers and it is determined on Wednesday to show its power.

Read More>Times Online

The work, which coincides with the start of Panama’s dry season, is the latest phase in a $5.25 billion (£3.3 billion) project to widen the country’s famous canal — an expansion plan that could comprehensively reshape the flow of world trade and could even scupper Warren Buffett’s $34 billion “all-in” bet on American railways.

Work on deepening the Panama Canal begins amid more evidence of China’s roaring recovery from the global slump. Over the weekend, the closely watched Centre for Forecasting Science at the Chinese Academy of Sciences predicted that the country would return to double-digit rates of GDP growth this year. More critically for world trade, imports and exports are expected to grow by 19 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively.

Will Widening The Panama Canal Lower Import/Export Costs Worldwide?

These are precisely the sort of figures that have given new momentum to the Panama project — mooted a decade ago when Panama took possession of the canal from the United States. The aim is to increase vastly the canal’s capacity, in terms of both size and number of vessels. By doing so, shipping industry veterans say, it will re-establish the global importance of the isthmus.
The idea for an expansion began before China’s economic growth had truly begun to boom. The plans were drawn up in expectation of steady growth in Japanese exports to the United States and a rising tide of raw materials heading across the Pacific from Brazil.

Read More>Times Online

The breakthrough, which emerged from talks held in London, comes after international sanctions that had prevented India from buying civilian nuclear technology for 30 years were lifted in 2008.

Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, said: “This is a very, very significant advance, and I look forward to that text being signed off at a ministerial level before long.”

The countries declined to give further details, but officials said it would provide “major trade opportunities” for British businesses.

UK Will Now Be Able To Bid On New Power Plant Production In India

 
India is expected to increase the power it generates from nuclear sources 100-fold in the next 40 years and American Government offials estimate that deals worth at least $150 billion will be generated.

A British Government spokesman added: “Fifty years after building the world’s first commercially operated power station, the UK is still one of the market leaders in this sector. It’s an industry that earns the UK £700 million in overseas business every year and employs over 80,000 people across the nuclear supply chain.”

Read More>Times Online

Siemens’ CEO Peter Löscher said he wants to grow the market share for infrastructure technologies, such as water plants and power, from the current five percent to 10 percent by 2012.

The workforce will expand from 17.000 to 25.000, reports the Financial Times Deutschland. Löscher was quoted as saying the growth rates of India and other developing countries were remarkable, which is why Siemens needed to expand its presence.

Will Siemens Indian Arm Expand?

He added that every third Indian has no power connection, which is why the Indian government wants to add 150 gigawatts of power in the next seven years - the equivalent of the total power capacity in Germany.

Twenty percent of it is supposed to come from renewable energy sources - which is why Siemens will invest €70 million in the construction of a factory for wind turbines in India. Löscher, who is currently in New Delhi, said the first turbines are to be shipped in 2012.

Read More>Tech Eye

For years, freshly-harvested oysters have been checked for harmful toxins by means of the “mouse bioassay”, in which rodents are injected with digestive fluids from oysters.

The test, in which three mice are injected with concentrated oyster fluids, decrees that, if two of the mice have died within 24 hours, a temporary ban on local sales must be implemented.

Change In Testing Laws To Guarantee Survival Of Oyster Farms, & Mice

For five successive years, negative mice test results have resulted in sales bans in key oyster-producing locations, shutting down business during periods of high demand and forcing many farmers into bankruptcy.

But in a move that prompted widespread relief among farmers in Europe’s biggest oyster-producing country, the Ministry of Agriculture said safety would from now on be established through more advanced chemical tests.

“It is huge news. I am delighted because the political promises have finally been kept,” Olivier Laban, the president of the Arcachon oyster farmers’ association, said

Read More>The Guardian