EC levels record $1.4B fine against Intel
BRUSSELS, May 13 (UPI) -- The European Commission Wednesday fined Intel a record $1.4 billion, saying the U.S. firm abused its dominance in the computer chip field to curb competition.
Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner in Brussels, said the penalty was justified against Intel because the world's largest chip maker skewed competition and denied consumers any choice, The New York Times reported.
Intel "used illegal anti-competitive practices to exclude its only competitor and reduce consumers' choice -- and the whole story is about consumers," Kroes said, adding that actions by the world's largest chip-maker "undermined innovation."
Kroes said Intel had a strategy aimed mainly at excluding Advanced Micro Devices by paying computer makers and retailers to postpone, cancel or avoid the rival's products entirely, the Times reported.
She ordered Intel to stop offering rebates to computer makers, a practice that helped Intel maintain its 80-percent market share and blocked AMD from increasing its 20-percent market share.
Giuliano Meroni, president of Advanced Micro Devices's European operations, said the decision would "shift the power from an abusive monopolist to computer makers, retailers and above all PC consumers."
Intel officials did not have an immediate comment, but antitrust experts told the Times the company was certain to would appeal both the fine and orders to change its business practices.
Pope lends support for Palestinian state
BETHLEHEM, West Bank, May 13 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI, during a daylong visit to the West Bank, lent support for an independent Palestinian state beside Israel Wednesday.
Speaking in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic leader also supported Palestinians' call for less restrictive movement in Israeli-occupied territories and quick distribution of reconstruction aid to Gaza, the Los Angeles Times reported.
"The Holy See supports the right of your people to a sovereign Palestinian homeland in the land of your forefathers, secure and at peace with its neighbors, within internationally recognized borders," Benedict said.
The pope urged Palestinians to resist using terrorism as a response to Israel's operation in Gaza during the winter, recommending instead to "let what you have experienced renew your determination to build peace."
"Even if at present that goal seems far from being realized, I urge you and all your people to keep alive the flame of hope ... that a way can be found of meeting the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians for peace and stability," the pope said with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas at his side.
Before Pope Benedict's remarks, Abbas criticized Israel's policies, the Times said.
"All types of oppression, tyranny and land expropriation are being exercised against all Arab citizens" in Palestinian territories, he said. "It is high time for this suffering to end."
Suicide bombing near U.S. base kills seven
KHOST, Afghanistan, May 13 (UPI) -- A suicide bomber targeting a U.S. base in Afghanistan killed seven people when he drove his vehicle near Camp Salerno entrance, the U.S. military said.
The dead were mostly Afghan citizens and authorities said they had no information about whether any Americans were among the casualties, CNN reported.
Camp Salerno is near Khost, where a six-hour attack Tuesday killed nine people and wounded 25 others.
U.S. military and local officials also reported fighting in Paktika province, where Taliban fighters attacked Afghan forces and U.S. troops joined the battle, CNN said. Officials said six Taliban militants and two civilians died.
Police: Mumbai suspect subdued with sticks
MUMBAI, May 13 (UPI) -- The sole living Mumbai terror attack suspect was overpowered by Indian police carrying bamboo sticks, witnesses testified.
Special Public Prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam said two police officers testified before a special court in Mumbai a handful of unarmed officers subdued and arrested the suspect, Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, after he had shot and killed a police inspector during last year's four-day terrorist siege of the city, CNN reported.
Kasab is charged with 86 counts, including waging war against India, murder and attempted murder, CNN said. Police say Kasab is one of 10 Pakistanis who carried out the slayings of 160 people during last November's terrorist assaults. He has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Prosecutors say Kasab was caught on video surveillance cameras in the act of stalking and killing people in Mumbai's main train station, and has also been charged with shooting people at a hospital, CNN said.
Stimulus program on schedule, Biden says
WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- The $787 billion economic stimulus package is on track, officials said, even though the U.S. federal government distributed less than 6 percent of the funds.
The Obama administration said about $45.6 billion has been pumped into the economy in the first three months of the program, mostly as help to states to cover Medicaid and unemployment benefits costs, one-time $250 checks to Social Security recipients and income tax cuts that began taking effect in the spring, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
The U.S. Transportation Department has spent $11 million on highway projects through the first of May.
The program's administration has challenged officials on the local, state and federal levels, the Times said. Some states grouse the money hasn't reached them while other states have yet to get their paperwork to Washington to get the funding rolling.
Vice President Joseph Biden said in a report scheduled for release this week that the program is "ahead of schedule in most" cases.
Biden told the Times the stimulus package was helping people cope with the recession, infusing money into the economy and creating a foundation for long-term objectives, such as construction of high-speed rail projects.
"We're 85 days into a two-year program here -- we're trying to get the money out as quickly as we can, but not too quickly, so we don't end up really screwing up here," Biden said. "Because we're talking about big dollars here, these are big numbers, this is unprecedented. And in 85 days we've gotten tens of billions of dollars out the door, and so far ... no real big problems, no real big glitches."
