HP gets into hot water over leaks
The lid has been blown over the case at software company Hewlett Packard whose directors and even some journalists became targets of "pretexting" — a scam where crooks use bits of personal information as a way to force their way into deposits of more valuable information.

Apart from Tom Perkins (former director at Hewlett Packard) whose phone calls monitored by a private investigation firm under the directions of his former employer, Hewlett Packard, attempts were also made to get the phone records of nine journalists as HP tried to find who was leaking information about the company's hardening attitude towards Carly Fiorina, its now former chief executive.

Obtaining information by impersonation is illegal in California, where HP is based, and the state attorney-general's office has said it believes crimes were committed in connection with the probe.

Though HP says it was not aware pretexting was being used by the firms it employed to conduct the investigation, its unlikely that its argument will save Patricia Dunn, the non-executive chairman.

In May this year Dunn revealed the findings of her probe to the HP board and George Keyworth, former science adviser to President Ronald Reagan, was implicated as the source of many of the leaks. Following the row, Keyworth and Perkins resigned.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is now looking into the case and the pressure is mounting on Dunn.
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EU may make concessions to help WTO talks
The European Union's trade commissioner, Peter Mandelson, has said that the European Union (EU) nations could offer improved customs rates to help restart the Doha Round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks. But he said EU will only do so if the United States takes the same stance, and if developing countries make greater concessions on their industrial goods and services markets.

Mandelson is on an official visit to Brazil having been invited to attend a special meeting of G-20 -- a group of developing nations with a special interest in agriculture.

Mandelson underlined the need to restart negotiations before the end of this year, after the U.S. legislative elections which could change the political landscape there.
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Oil prices dip
Singapore: Oil prices fell in Asian trading today as concerns over supplies eased with the expectation that OPEC ministers would not change their production targets during their meeting later in the day.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery fell 28 cents to US$65.97 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore.

The contract fell on Friday by US$1.07 to settle at US$66.25 a barrel — the lowest closing price since finishing at US$66.23 on April 6.
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