Vivendi Starts Sale of Stake in Utility Unit
Date: 25 June 2002
By Suzanne Kapner
Suzanne Kapner
Vivendi Universal begins selling part of its controlling stake in its utility unit Vivendi Environnement, but doubts gather about planned sale of Italian pay television unit; company says it expects to raise 1.7 billion euros by selling up to 15.5 percent of Vivendi Environnement, majority-owned water and waste management company; investors are worried by potential unraveling of Vivendi Universal's agreement to sell Italian unit Telepiu to News Corp; Vivendi reached agreement to sell Telepiu two weeks ago for 1.5 billion euros to News Corp; photo of Vivendi executive Eric Licoys and News Corp's head Rupert Murdoch (M)
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Technology Briefing | Internet: S.E.C. Issues Warning On Fraud
Date: 26 June 2002
Securities and Exchange Commission reprimands 17-year-old Benjamin Snyder who posted fabricated article on Internet under name of journalist John Rega from Bloomberg News to try to inflate stock price of Viragen International Inc, drug company in which Snyder had invested; Snyder posted article on online investor message boards saying Viragen has been working on anthrax treatment called Vivox that has been approved by Food and Drug Administration (S)
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CNN Executive Issues Apology For Coverage
Date: 25 June 2002
By Jim Rutenberg
Jim Rutenberg
Eason Jordan, CNN's chief news executive, apologizes on behalf of network for giving more attention to statements of family of suicide bomber, Jihad Titi, than to parents of one of victims in its coverage of attack in Petah Tivka in late May (S)
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Prizes Given For Coverage Of Business
Date: 25 June 2002
By Kenneth N. Gilpin
Kenneth Gilpin
Gretchen Morgenson of New York Times and Rebecca Smith and John Emshwiller of Wall Street Journal are among winners of Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism; awards, which are administered by Anderson School at University of California at Los Angeles, honor print and broadcast journalists; among other winners are Paul E Steiger of Wall Street Journal, Duff Wilson and David Heath of Seattle Times, Jeffrey Meitrodt, Mark Schleifstein, Pamela Coyle and Ronette King of Times-Picayune, Janet Patton of Lexington Herald-Leader, David Henry and Nanette Byrnes of Business Week and Allan Dodds Frank and Lisa Slow of Cable News Network/CNNfn (M)
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Germans Fear Bombers May Attack 'Love Parade'
Date: 26 June 2002
By Steven Erlanger
Steven Erlanger
Tabloid news report raises fears that militant Muslims may be planning terrorist bombing at Berlin's annual Love Parade on July 13; police and festival officials say there are no plans to cancel festival, which brings together as many as million people in free-wheeling celebration (S)
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India to Ease Limits on Foreign Ownership in Media and Tea
Date: 26 June 2002
By Saritha Rai
Saritha Rai
India will relax restrictions on foreign ownership in print media and tea industries in effort to offset swelling current-account deficit; foreign owners could acquire stakes of up to 74 percent in technical journals and other nonnews publications, and up to 26 percent in newspapers and current-affairs periodicals; ban was imposed in 1955; editorial and management control would have to remain in Indian hands and in case of news publications, foreigners could not be largest shareholders; each deal and each foreign owner would have to obtain clearance from government; government also decides to allow 100 percent foreign direct ownership of tea plantations and other parts of tea industry (M)
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Kournikova Loses Match and Cool
Date: 25 June 2002
By Selena Roberts
Selena Roberts
Tatyana Panova defeats Anna Kournikova in first round of Wimbledon, prompting Kournikova to momentarily lash out at media in post-match interview with BBC; photo (M)
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World Briefing | Europe: Belarus: Journalists Sentenced
Date: 25 June 2002
By Sophia Kishkovsky (NYT)
Sophia NYT
Two journalists from opposition newspaper Pursuit in Belarus are found guilty of libeling President Aleksandr Lukashenko and sentenced to prison; Western officials and human rights groups have criticized Lukashenko for crackdown on press (S)
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World Briefing | Europe: Russia: Journalist's Appeal Turned Down
Date: 26 June 2002
By Sophia Kishkovsky (NYT)
Sophia NYT
Russian supreme court rejects appeal by jailed journalist Grigory Pasko and also turns down appeal by prosecutors to toughen his sentence; Pasko has served more than half of four-year sentence on treason conviction for gathering information for Japanese television on dumping of nuclear waste by Russia's Pacific Fleet (S)
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F.T.C. CHALLENGES CYTYC'S PURCHASE OF DIGENE
Date: 25 June 2002
By Bloomberg News
Bloomberg News
Federal Trade Commission challenges Cytyc Corp's planned $283 million purchase of medical-test rival Digene Corp, saying acquisition threatens competition; says it will seek to block purchase until administrative law judge considers agency's complaint (S)
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