On Tuesday, a panel reviewing auditing processes at scandal-hit Olympus Corp said it found no violation of accounting guidelines in the handoff to the Japanese arm of Ernst & Young ERNY.UL from the previous auditor in 2009.

The panel was established by Ernst & Young ShinNihon LLC for looking into criticisms of the auditing process that was raised in a separate investigation commissioned by Olympus into its $1.7 billion accounting scandal. The panel remarked, nevertheless, remarked that further examination was needed on whether there were any problems in the handling of the takeover from KPMG AZSA LLC.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks suffered a sixth straight day of losses as frustration over the euro zone’s debt crisis, coupled with weak Chinese factory data, to further dent investor sentiment.

With the leaders of France and Germany still at odds over a longer-term structural solution, a weak German bond sale sparked fears the debt crisis was even beginning to threaten Berlin.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

The poor demand for German government bonds showed that investors viewed investing in the euro zone as being too risky.

Debt problems plaguing Europe and the United States have pressured markets, knocking the S&P 500 down more than 7 percent over the last six sessions. World stocks hit their lowest in six weeks on Wednesday.

“A poor auction of German bonds added to recent worries that the risks from the debt mess are spreading to the core of the euro zone,” said WhatsTrading.com options strategist Frederick Ruffy.

All 10 S&P 500 sectors were negative, with financials among the biggest decliners over concerns about exposure to European debt. JPMorgan Chase & Co dropped 3.5 percent to $28.38 and Citigroup Inc lost 3.9 percent to $23.51.

The Dow Jones industrial average sank 236.17 points, or 2.05 percent, to 11,257.55 at the close. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 26.25 points, or 2.21 percent, to 1,161.79. The Nasdaq Composite Index lost 61.20 points, or 2.43 percent, to 2,460.08.

The chairman of Kingfisher Airlines, Vijay Mallaya, provided little to revive its finances after India’s No.2 carrier by market share reported its quarterly loss doubled.

On Tuesday, Mallaya said Kingfisher had not asked banks to “take a haircut” but was looking for ways for minimizing the interest paid on its debt of $.3 billion and enhancing working capital.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Investors have grown increasingly worried over the future of Kingfisher Airlines in a fast-growing but loss-making industry.

Kingfisher, named after its parent firm’s best-selling beer, cancelled scores of flights last week as it abruptly shut some routes. It has also been late paying salaries.

Mallya said the government should allow foreign airlines to buy stakes in Indian carriers, a move the authorities are reportedly considering.

Ravi Nedungadi, chief financial officer of UB Group, the airline’s parent, said it had been approached by strategic investors. An official with one of Kingfisher’s lenders said Mallya was talking to a potential strategic investor.

“We cancelled flights not because we could not afford to fly,” Mallaya said, adding the situation could have been handled better. “We cannot, as a private company, afford to fly on routes that are heavily loss-making. We are not in the same arena as the national carrier (Air India),” he said.

Syria has called for an emergency Arab summit for preventing being suspended by the Arab League, but the organization said it would meet opposition.

Decision of the Arab League to suspend Syria and impose sanctions over its violent crackdown on eight months of protests infuriated Damascus and triggered attacks on Saudi Arabian, French, and Turkish missions in Syria on Saturday night.

From news.yahoo.com:

The United States, France and Britain, which have all called on Assad to step aside and pressed for United Nations condemnation of Syria, praised the Arab League’s suspension of Damascus, which takes effect on Wednesday.

Syrian state television said the aim of its proposed summit would be to discuss the unrest and the “negative repercussions on the Arab situation.”

Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said on Sunday that League officials would meet representatives of Syrian opposition groups on Tuesday, but added that it was too soon for the Cairo-based body to consider recognising the Syrian opposition as the country’s legitimate authority.

Most foreign media have been banned by Syrian authorities from the country, making independent confirmations of reports difficult.

George Papandreou, the Prime Minister of Greece, has sealed a deal with the opposition on a crisis coalition to approve an international bailout.

The Greek PM, however, ensured that details remain thin despite an EU ultimatum for Athens to get serious about tackling its huge problems.

From news.yahoo.com:

With Greece due to run out of money in a few weeks, the European Union told its bickering parties to explain by Monday evening how they would form a unity government to enact the 130 billion euro (£111.7 billion) emergency funding package.

Papandreou, who sealed his fate last week with a disastrous attempt to call a referendum on the bailout, will stand down when the new government takes over, the office of the Greek president said.

“We have called for a national unity government and remain persuaded that it is the convincing way of restoring confidence and meeting the commitments,” European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told Reuters. “We need a convincing report on this by Finance Minister Venizelos tomorrow in the Eurogroup.”

The second-largest U.S. oil company, Chevron Corp, reported a larger-than-expected 36 percent rise in earnings on Friday.

The profits were attributed to oil price increases and improved refining along with global fuel demand.

From in.news.yahoo.com:

Oil company profits have been boosted by the jump in crude prices above $100 per barrel last quarter because of a growing need for energy worldwide as well as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa.

Chevron’s first-quarter profit rose to $6.2 billion, or $3.09 per share, from $4.6 billion, or $2.27 per share, a year earlier. That topped analysts’ average estimate of $3.00 per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue rose 23 percent to $58 billion.

That was despite a slip in oil and gas output of nearly 1 percent to 2.76 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Rising demand had boosted its first-quarter refining margins, despite the rise in oil prices, as per the California-based Chevron said earlier this month.

Metro, the free daily newspaper, is to expand its online presence with the launch of a major new website aimed at urban professionals.

The newspaper unveiled a major relaunch of its website, introducing more celebrity and real-life stories for increasing its appeal to readers and boost advertising revenue.

From Guardian.co.uk:

It will be updated four times a day with news featuring heavily in the morning, before giving way to quizzes and games at lunchtime, restaurant and bar recommendations in the afternoon and dating and gaming features overnight.

“The new site will work hand-in-hand with the newspaper and reflect its tone and style, with consistent, imaginative and creative linkage between the two,” said Doug Read, the executive director for Metro.

“We know our readers are responsive and this new site will encourage them to interact with the brand throughout the day, by commenting on stories, writing their own reports and sending their own pictures. We want them to shape the site.

“For our advertisers, it will provide additional opportunities to communicate with our urbanite readers.”

Metro has been a huge success since launching in London in 1999 as a free newspaper for morning commuters, hitting sales of paid-for papers and reaching a circulation of 1,010,866 copies last month.

The new site will be carrying the same mix of news and lifestyle features as the paper that distributes around 1 million copies nationally.

Reliance Communications and Bharti Airtel have announced plans to introduce third generation (3G) phone services in some selected circles in the country, including Jammu and Kashmir.

Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications was the first to announce that it was all set to launch the 3G service in Jammu and Kashmir, a sensitive border state that has more than four million mobile phone subscribers.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

Bharti Airtel, the largest operator, also announced the roll-out of these services in south Karnataka, including high-speed data services, internet access, broadband, Live TV, video-calling and a host of other multimedia applications.

Aditya Birla group company Idea Cellular also said it will be launching its 3G services in the 11 circles it has won the spectrum in the next few months.

‘Preparatory work for 3G rollout is on track, and Idea will, in the next few months, launch 3G services in the 11 service areas where it won the 3G spectrum,’ the company said in a statement.

Tata DoCoMo, among the private telecom companies and the state-run Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Ltd (MTNL) have already launched 3G services in the country.

These 3G services offer features such as video-calling, mobile TV, video streaming and applications access at superfast internet speeds on a wide variety of both mobile phones and personal computing devices.

‘Demonstrating 3G capabilities in Jammu is an integral part of our ‘Vision 2015′ plan of creating a ‘wirefree India’ built on the concept of ‘affordable 3G for all’ platform,’ said Atta-ul-Haque, circle head for Reliance Communications in Jammu and Kashmir.

Airtel said it will be extending 3G services in all the 23 circles across the country in partnership with other operators where it does not have its own licence, covering some 1,500 cities.

Sir Stuart Rose, who steps down as Chief Executive of Marks & Spencer at the end of next month, has been receiving rewards accumulating to 140% increase in salary and bonuses despite lackluster performance of the group.

The outgoing boss was able to scoop a bumper £4.3m in pay and bonuses last year, which is a whooping increase of nearly 140% on the previous 12 months.

From Guardian.co.uk:

Sir Stuart Rose, 61, was awarded a bonus of £2.8m in a year when M&S delivered a 5% increase in profits to £632m. The chain’s share price climbed 17% over its financial year – substantially less than the FTSE 100 gained in the same period.

Annual profits are still way below the £1bn recorded two years ago and the shares have slipped back 8% since the year-end in March. Rose did not earn a bonus in the previous year, when his salary and benefits totalled £1.8m. Other members of the M&S board were also rewarded with big bonuses. Together the five executive directors earned more than £12m, with clothing and homewares director Kate Bostock paid £2.5m and marketing director Steven Sharp receiving £2.3m.

Bostock’s basic salary of £549,000 was boosted with a bonus of £1.4m, a £255,000 cash “retention payment” and a £51,000 relocation allowance as well as a cash payment in lieu of pension contributions and nearly £40,000 of perks. The relocation payment was paid when Bostock took on homewares as well as clothing and needed to spend more time in the Paddington head office. An M&S spokeswoman said Bostock had moved “closer to London” from her home in Leicester.

Other members of the Marks & Spencer group were also rewarded with big bonuses despite the fact that annual profits were way below the £1bn recorded two years ago.

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