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World Business Quick Take

■ SOFTWARE
Microsoft facing ruling
Microsoft faces a decisive chapter in its epic battles with antitrust regulators today when Europe's second-highest court rules whether the software giant is guilty of abusing its crushing market share. In a bid to close the book on its struggles with competition authorities, Microsoft has asked the European Court of First Instance to annul a 2004 antitrust decision by the European Commission. After a five-year probe, the top European competition regulator hit Microsoft at the time with a record fine and ordered the company to make crucial concessions to rivals.

■ MALAYSIA
Palm oil exports booming
The value of palm oil exports is expected to reach a record high this year thanks to strong worldwide demand fuelled by the boom in biofuels, a report said yesterday. Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin told the Sunday Star that export values were up despite a fall in volume, to 8.9 million tonnes for the first half of this year compared to 9.3 million tonnes in the first half of last year. Chin said that revenue from exports of palm oil and related products hit 17.9 billion ringgit (US$5.15 billion) in the first half of this year.

■ OIL
Iraq to start deliveries
Iraq is to start this week delivering oil to Jordan at preferential rates under a delayed year-old agreement, the kingdom's transport minister said in an interview published yesterday. "The Iraqi side has informed the Jordanian authorities that it was ready to deliver shipments of crude oil from Kirkuk within three days because the circumstances are currently suitable," Saud Nessayrat told al-Dustour daily. The crude will be transported from Kirkuk with Iraqi authorities providing protection for the tanker trucks up to the border, Nessayrat said.
■ AUTOMOBILES
GM, union still face hurdles
General Motors Corp and the United Auto Workers made progress at the bargaining table but still faced significant hurdles and ended negotiations for the day without reaching an agreement. Negotiations ended around 9pm on Saturday, GM spokeswoman Katie McBride said. They were scheduled to resume midmorning yesterday. Some union subcommittees have wrapped up talks, but an agreement was not expected on Saturday because negotiators were still dealing with some key issues, according to a person who was briefed on the negotiations. Several local union officials said the talks were going well but the outstanding issue was retiree health care expenses.

■ INTERNET
S Asians paying high price
South Asia is paying a high price to access the Internet as service providers have been slow to deliver cheaper broadband connections, industry watchers said at the first South Asia Broadband Congress held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, earlier this month. The region has lagged behind in boarding the broadband bandwagon, observed Sanjay Gupta of India's Midas Communication Technology. Home users in Pakistan pay the most in the region, with annual broadband prices of US$2,660, followed by Bangladesh at US$2,066, according to LIRNEasia, a regional telecom think-tank. The same service costs US$242 in Sri Lanka, US$223 in India and US$112 in the Maldives, LIRNEasia researchers said.

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