Obama offered Russia deal on Iran

President Barack Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s President in February suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defence system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long range weapons, American officials said on Monday.

The letter to President Dmitri A. Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration officials three weeks ago. It said the United States would not need to proceed with the interceptor system, which has been vehemently opposed by Russia since it was proposed by the Bush administration, if Iran halted any efforts to build nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

The officials who described the contents of the message requested anonymity because it has not been made public. While they said it did not offer a direct quid pro quo, the letter was intended to give Moscow incentive to join the US in a common front against Iran.

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Infosys acquires United Kingdom's Axon for £407 million

In the largest acquisition by an Indian technology services firm, Infosys Technologies Ltd made a £407.1 million, or Rs 3,269 crore, cash offer to acquire the UK-based Axon Group Plc.

If the deal goes through, it would not only expand the Indian company’s key SAP software and consulting capabilities, but also enhance its footprint in Europe, equipping India’s second largest IT services company to bid for larger, transformational outsourcing contracts.

The London Stock Exchange listed Axon reported a net profit of £20.2 million (Rs160 crore) on revenue of £204.5 million (Rs1,660 crore) for 2007. Axon, which has no debt on its books, provides consulting services to customers such as British Petroleum Plc. and Xerox Corp. that have chosen SAP AG’s business software as their company-wide platform.

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Fans line-up in Asia 2 days before new iPhone launch

Seeking to be one of the world's first to grab the new-generation iPhone, fanatical Apple fans around Asia are queuing up two days before its launch, undiscouraged by rain or freezing temperatures.


The July 11 launch will be the first chance for Asian consumers to own an iPhone, and related websites have been swamped with inquiries and early orders.

In Japan, one of the world's most advanced mobile markets, about 20 people were lined up outside Softbank Corp's flag ship mobile store in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, with a sign at the head of the queue reading "We Love iPhone".

"The big appeal (of the iPhone) is that this is an Apple product," said Hiroyuki Sano, a 24-year-old graduate student who early on Tuesday arrived in rainy Tokyo from Nagoya, 225 miles west of the capital, to be first in line.

He will turn 25 on Thursday while waiting to get his hands on the high-end version of the iPhone with 16 gigabytes of memory. Apple also offers an entry-level version with an 8 gigabyte memory.

"I've told my professor I was going to go buy an iPhone, and he gave me permission," said Sano, wearing a T-shirt with an Apple logo. "He is an Apple-lover too, and he sent me off cheerfully."

The long-anticipated 3G iPhone, which has faster Web links than its predecessor and supports third-party applications such as games and email, will debut in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand on Friday as part of the global launch in 22 countries.

The original iPhone was only available in the United States and Europe, and the next-generation model is expected to go on sale in 70 countries by the end of the year.

Shares of Apple gained 2.5 percent on Tuesday ahead of the launch. Softbank shares rose 1.9 percent on Wednesday.

Softbank, Japan's third-biggest mobile carrier, will start selling iPhones at its flagship store at 7 a.m. on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday) and expand sales nationwide at noon.

Targeting a far bigger market with its new iPhone, Apple slashed the handset price and is allowing carriers to subsidize the phone this time around, making it easier for users to bring home the device.

Research firm Enterbrain said 6.7 percent of 1,200 people it surveyed in Japan wanted to buy an iPhone immediately.

WORLD'S FIRST

Four New Zealanders with deck chairs, sleeping bags and a small tent started queuing on a chilly Tuesday night outside the Auckland shop of Vodafone, which will launch the iPhone at 12:01 a.m. Friday (1201 GMT Thursday), the first in the world.

"I'm really just doing it to be able to say that I'm the first one in the world with one of these phones," 22-year-old student Jonny Gladwell told the New Zealand Herald.

Vodafone, New Zealand's top mobile carrier, is selling the phone for as little as NZ$199 ($150) in the country if consumers sign up for a two-year contract. Demand for pricing details was so heavy it crashed Vodafone's New Zealand website on Tuesday.

In Hong Kong, Hutchison Telecom International was flooded by 60,000 online applications over the weekend from consumers who are hoping to grab one of just 500 phones on sale.

A number of the more desperate would-be users pleaded online they needed the iPhone to appease demanding wives or stressed it was their birthday, according to Hong Kong media.

The only woman in the Tokyo queue said she was securing places in line with her co-workers so that her company, Ubiquitous Entertainment Inc, can own iPhones and develop content for the device.

Despite the hype, analysts say Japan's 108 million mobile subscribers who are already frequent users of Web browsing and email on 3G networks might not be easily wowed by the iPhone.

Most of the people in the Tokyo queue told Reuters they plan to buy the device as their second cellphone.

"We can expect certain demand from core Apple fans and others, but there will be users who would hesitate about buying the iPhone because of the high monthly charges of some 8,000 yen," said Hironobu Sawake, a JPMorgan senior analyst in Tokyo.

"Even though there will be other features that are more attractive than ordinary phones, the fact that the iPhone does not offer some features that are available on most handsets could turn off some users too," he said.

International Energy Agency head urges "revolution" to fight oil crisis

An "energy revolution" to cut demand is necessary to combat the world's third energy crisis in 35 years, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said on Monday.

IEA Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said the current oil price shock was unique because demand has remained robust despite prices climbing to $135 a barrel two weeks ago.

In contrast, global consumption fell after the 1973 Arab oil embargo and the Iranian revolution of 1979 as countries turned to more energy efficient transportation and power plants.

"We are in a third energy crisis," he said during the Reuters Energy Summit.

"Our response should be an energy revolution. We have to change dramatically the demand side by efficiency and new technologies."

The IEA sees an increase in world oil demand this year as consumption in emerging economies outweighs a slowdown in the United States and Europe.

"In China, India the Middle East, demand is very, very robust. We haven't seen any indication that there is a slow down," he said.

In the IEA's outlook report last month, the adviser to 27 industrialized nations forecast global demand will rise by 1.03 million barrels per day.

But that is down significantly from its estimates a year ago due to the economic slowdown in the United States.

Tanaka has urged industrialized countries to speed up plans to boost automobile fuel efficiency standards, improve efficiency of power plants and take hard action on heat trapping greenhouse gases.

Even with these changes, he believed oil prices were likely to remain at historically high levels because of a variety of factors, including limited spare capacity and stock levels.

"Oil prices may not easily go back to the level of two, three years ago, probably that is very unlikely," he said.