29/08/2012 World Business Report

played on Mars and beamed back to an audience of NASA scientists and

students. Now it is time for World Business

Report. The headlines: Budget airline

Ryanair is trying to take over Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus for

the third time. Will it succeed this time around? Music to the ears

of investors. One internet the flotation has kept his Malia. --

kept its value. Hong Kong regulator, the Securities

and Futures Commission, takes an staying young China to court over a

The European Commission is expected to make a decision on Ryanair's

third attempted to take over Aer Lingus. Ryanair, which already owns

a third % of the competing airline, may face opposition to the deal,

because it will potentially reduce competition. Aer Lingus has Arri

asked for the bid to be rejected, but Ryanair has asked a rival

airlines to consider providing competition, where the two Irish

carriers are the only providers. Will it get its way around this?

Ryanair's chief executive has never shied away from the unorthodox. But

this time he has taken an unprecedented step, asking

competitors like easyJet to challenge Ryanair with new services

between Ireland and the rest of Europe. He wants to mollify

European regulators who fear that if Ryanair were allowed to buy Aer

Lingus, it would monopolise the roots. So far the response has been

muted. British Airways may be interested in stepping up flights

between Dublin and London, but Ryanair is looking for competition

between its Irish destinations and destinations throughout Europe.

Effectively, it needs another airline to come in and make Dublin

its operating hub, to run services throughout the Continent. Few

airlines would be prepared to do that. They may see the scope for

doing some business in Dublin, but it is a market that is dominated by

Ryanair and Aer Lingus together. For somebody else to carve out a

niche in that market, and make money out of doing it, it is a

pretty tall order. Ryanair owns just under 30% of Aer Lingus

already, and is offering up a little over a billion dollars for

the rest of it. There are no fleets, Aer Lingus is all Airbus, Ryanair

is all bowling. -- bowling. What you see about this coming together?

It is very difficult to apply the Rhine model to Aer Lingus, because

they are like fish and fowl. European regulators will say in

three months' time whether Ryanair can buy out Aer Lingus. If they

refuse, Ryanair may decide to sell its current state. His problem will

then be a -- its problem will then be to find any other airline that

wants to buy it. A Hong Kong regulator is taking

Ernst and Young and Young to court. This is an unprecedented move.

It is a test case for the Hong Kong regulator and China, because the

secret seas and Futures Commission wants records related to stand it

water, which is a Chinese utility company, in 2009, to be released.

They are taking it to court to pry open these records. If it complies,

it could be in violation of China's state secrecy laws. The mainland's

Law says that a local company's records can be claimed as state

secrets. This is the first time that the Commission has taken such

legal action, and it is a test case, as to whether or not Beijing will

bend the rules on this fitted the issue. It is not known how long the

court case will last. Australia is planning to join the

European it union's carbon Emissions Trading Scheme.

Australia will be joining this carbon emissions trading plan from

the 2015. Australian companies will be able to purchase permits as a

way of offsetting their greenhouse gas emissions. Australia will also

be scrapping its carbon floor price of when it's at Emissions Trading

Scheme starts in about three years' time. -- when its. It is the first

major change to Australia's plan to price carbon. Businesses in the

country expressed concern. The EU's climate Commissioner praised it the

first global linking of the emissions trading system, saying

that it will build further momentum to establishing a robust

international carbon market. The internet Streaming Server as

Pandora will be releasing its latest results, after the bell in

New York. The company went public in June last year, and was valued

at $100 million. Unlike several other companies, its shares have

not sunk. The online music market has been surprisingly successful.

Most analystss expect pandora to swing into a profit in the second

quarter. This record shop in New York's hit

western village does not see the kind of traffic that it used to.

Step outside and you will know why. I generally get by music on ITN's.

I have got 8,000 songs on my iPod. I listen to old records.

Digital downloads will surpass physical music sales by the end of

this year. That is according to one research firm. But adding to the

words of CDs is the surge in streaming music online. -- the

worse. California-based pandora is a big part of that search, it

allows listeners to stream music of their choice, and am based on their

selections, users are then introduced to artists and they may

not have heard of. Pandora's model has found a following in the more

than 125 million users. It is the future of music. The record

industry has been eviscerated by piracy, and this is a legal form,

it is economic call for the user to consume music. Pandora has been

able to make money by selling advertising. But it also faces

stiff competition from another site, which launched a similar service in

June. Internet radio has been a hit, but his ability to make money has

not been proven. Pandora is yet to post a profit.

The Catalonia region of Spain has announced it will request a 5

billion euros rescue loan from the central government. The region,

which accounts for more than a fifth of Spanish economic outcome,

is the third in to do so this year. Spain has slipped deeper into

recession. The economy slipped 2.4 The G7 industrial countries have

called on oil producers to increase output, saying that higher prices

pose a substantial risks to the global economy. G7 finance

ministers also hinted they were ready to push for the release of

strategic oil reserves to prevent a tightening of the market.

A China has become the latest major Chinese company to report a steep

drop in first-half profits. It was because of the slowing economy.

Also heightened competition and the rising cost of fuel. It is one of

the three Chinese state owned airlines.

Markets today are fairly flat in Asia. All eyes on the US later

today. We will get the latest growth numbers of the world's

biggest economy. They are expected to see growth of 1.7%, most