Siemens AG, Europe's largest engineering company, plans to cut 2,400 jobs at the German computer-services division and replace the unit's head as part of a plan to close unprofitable business units. The job cuts at Siemens Business Services, branded as SBS, will save €1.5 billion euros in two years, Siemens Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said this week.

The prices of crude oil and petrol/gasoline jumped and natural gas rose to an all-time high this week on forecasts that Tropical Storm Rita will develop into a hurricane and affect efforts to restore oil and gas production facilities in the Gulf of Mexico. 

The scale of offshoring in the financial services sector is set to virtually double by 2008, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers latest survey entitled Offshoring in the financial services industry: Risks and rewards.

The U.S. Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jointly announced the following new residential construction statistics for August 2005 this week:

·         Privately-owned housing units authorized by building permits in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,124,000. This is 2.2 percent (±0.8%) below the revised July rate of 2,171,000, but is 3.2 percent (±1.0%) above the August 2004 estimate of 2,058,000.

·         Privately-owned housing starts in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 2,009,000. This is 1.3 percent (±7.5%)* below the revised July estimate of 2,035,000 and is 0.8 percent (±6.0%)* below the August 2004 rate of 2,025,000.

·         Privately-owned housing completions in August were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1,860,000. This is 0.2 percent (±9.4%)* below the revised July estimate of 1,863,000 and is 2.6 percent (±9.5%)* below August 2004 rate of 1,909,000.

The Federal Open Market Committee of the US Federal Reserve the decided this week to raise its target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to 3-3/4 percent.

Equity, defined primarily as equality of opportunities among people, should be an integral part of a successful poverty reduction strategy anywhere in the developing world, says the World Bank's annual 2006 World Development Report, which was published in Washington on Tuesday.

The New York Times Company announced that it plans to undertake staff reductions that will affect approximately 500 employees, about four percent of its total workforce. It plans to begin the staff reductions in October and implement them over the course of the next six to nine months.

Heinz, the world's largest maker of tomato ketchup, on Tuesday signaled a "dramatic shift" away from slower growth markets by announcing plans to sell its frozen foods business in Europe, close plants and boost its presence in China and Russia.

·         The Company is  to focus on three categories where it has unique strengths - Ketchup, Condiments & Sauces, Meals & Snacks, and Infant Nutrition;

·         Heinz Europe to replicate the company's successful model of focused growth in North America and Australasia;

·         The Company is in discussion with investment banks regarding potential divestitures of non-core businesses.

Irish drugs firm Elan Corporation and US biotech firm Biogen Idec announced this week that in the coming weeks they expect the safety evaluation of TYSABRI (natalizumab) in Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis will be completed, and that they will submit a supplemental Biologics License Application for TYSABRI in multiple sclerosis (MS) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Digicel, the Caribbean mobile phone operator, chaired by Irish entrepreneur and Bank of Ireland Deputy Governor Denis O'Brien, preparing to launch services in Trinidad & Tobago has brought one of the world’s largest aircrafts, the AN 124-100 Antonov to Piarco Airport, Port of Spain, Trinidad as part of its efforts to build a state-of-the-art, world class, reliable and intelligent network set to transform the face of mobile telecommunications as Trinibagonians know it.

Hurricane Rita strengthened over the Gulf of Mexico as the week progressed, increasing fears  that it may become as powerful as Hurricane Katrina, which caused the most expensive disaster in US history, before making landfall in either Texas or Louisiana on Friday, the US National Hurricane Center said this week.

The International Monetary Fund says in its half-yearly World Economic Outlook, published today, that global expansion remains broadly on track, with global growth forecasts for 2005 and 2006 largely unchanged from the last World Economic Outlook, although risks are still slanted to the downside.

The leading industrial economies should reform their corporate tax systems by reducing taxes on capital to attract new investment if they are to overcome Asian countries’ advantage in labour costs, a study by a Canadian economic research institute said this week. The CD Howe Institute says while taxes in such countries as the US, the UK and Germany may appear low relative to the size of their economies, the structure of their tax regimes is a serious disincentive to capital investment.

Global warming could reduce harvests and plant growth, with a serious effect on farm productivity, scientists warned in an article in the journal Nature published this week.  The heat wave that parched Europe in 2003 caused the continent's grasslands and forests to release huge amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, climate experts have found.

Japanese electronics giant Sony, said this week that it will cut 10,000 jobs and forecast its first loss in more than a decade, after competitors such as Apple Computer, Matsushita Electric, Sharp and Samsung Electronics, overtook it in music players and televisions.

The European Union and the United States this week sought to resolve differences in the ongoing global free trade talks. Negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO) on the trade talks known as the Doha Round, could collapse, if progress is not made soon.

The US Conference Board announced that the U.S. leading index decreased 0.2 percent, the coincident index increased 0.2 percent and the lagging index decreased 0.1 percent in August, even before Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.  Hurricane Rita may make landfall on Friday on the US Gulf Coast, less than a month after Hurricane Katrina devastated the region and left more than 1,000 dead. Katrina caused insured losses that may reach $60 billion, making it the costliest US disaster.

Rita weakened to a Category 4 storm with winds of 150 mph as it moved across the Gulf of Mexico, heading toward Texas. Crude oil for October delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange, fell 0.4 percent to $66.55 a barrel after earlier rising as much as 2 percent.

The collective net worth of the 691 billionaires in the Forbes Magazine 2005 billionaire rankings, is $2.2 trillion, up $300 billion from the combined worth of the 587 people listed last year. Every region saw gains. The world's richest moguls now hail from 47 countries, including, for the first time, Kazakhstan, Poland, Ukraine and even Iceland. The newcomers include 69 Americans and 38 Europeans. More than half of them are entirely self-made.

BP Products North America Inc. will undertake corrective actions at the company's Texas City refinery as part of a settlement reached on Thursday with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

US Software giant Oracle Corp. met analyst expectations for its fiscal first-quarter earnings and the company said that it still expects a profit boost in the coming months from its recent acquisition of PeopleSoft Inc. and deal announced last week to acquire another longtime rival, Siebel Systems Inc.

The National U.S.-Arab Chamber of Commerce (NUSACC) released a special report this month on the 2006 outlook for U.S. merchandise exports to the Arab world. 2006 promises to be one of the strongest years ever for U.S.-Arab trade, with estimated sales of $37.9 billion -- an increase of more than 40 percent over projected levels for 2005.

Petrol/gasoline and crude oil prices fell Friday as Hurricane Rita, still as strong as Katrina, moved away from the principal US refining hub near Houston toward eastern Texas, where it may cause less damage to the oil industry when it moves across the area on Saturday.

Results must be delivered for every dollar of assistance to the developing countries, World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said on Thursday. Wolfowitz’s comments were made at a media conference marking the annual meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund this weekend.