Intercultural Business News

Tim Burton’s new film version of Alice in Wonderland will not be screened at Odeon cinemas in the UK, Irish Republic and Italy, the cinema chain says.

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

Microsoft and Yahoo! have won regulatory approval for their search partnership to challenge Google, the marker leader.

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

India is one of the top three countries where British companies can do better business than anywhere, indicating a revolution in the way 
Britain trades and invests with the world.

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

US investigations into the recall crisis at Toyota took a sharp turn last night as it emerged the Japanese motor giant hired former federal vehicle safety agents who may have been instrumental in preventing previous inquiries into the car company.

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

Greece has been cut off from the outside world for 24 hours as angry public sector workers brought the country’s airports, ferry terminals and overland border crossings to a standstill.

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