Britain

After a pho-hacking stir in Britain, News Corp is facing an investigation by US authorities for possible violation of the bribery laws. Employees of News of the World tabloid were accused of hacking into personal voicemail and paying bribes.

News Corp could face scrutiny in the United States if any of the allegations is found true and violate the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

That law makes it a crime for any company with U.S. ties to bribe foreign officials to obtain or retain business.

The stats from comScore showed that Canadians spend more time on the Internet and use social media including Facebook and YouTube than other nations. comScore says that Canada has the highest penetration of Internet access, with around 68% of Canadians routinely surfing online, against 62% in France and Britain. Percentage of Germans account for 60% while Americans make up 59%.

Most decelerating are Italians with only 36% of the population going online, notes comScore.

In a move to resume lending to businesses across the nation the heads of six major banks in the UK have united to form a dedicated taskforce. In a letter to Chancellor George Osborne, BBA Chairman Stephen Green outlined a series of proposals aimed at stimulating private-sector recovery.

"We, like you, believe there is a real need to make sure that viable businesses are able to obtain the finance they need to support the recovery of the UK economy," Green wrote.

On Thursday the International Monetary Fund upgraded its forecast for global growth in 2010 on the heels of robust growth in Asia and renewed U.S. private demand. Still, the fund warned that Europe's debt problems pose big risks.

2010 world output forecast was raised from 4.1% to 4.6% with IMF warning that sovereign debt risks in Europe could escalate and drag on the global economy.

A new study found that the price of Apple iPads is the highest in Britain and Europe being about ј higher than in the United States. Australia's CommSec iPad Index found big savings for Europeans traveling to Asia, the United States or even Down Under.

"In the UK, Germany, France and Italy an iPad costs 20-25 per cent more than in the U.S.," said Craig James, chief economist at the CommSec share trading division of Australia's Commonwealth Bank.

According to a recent report by a market research firm Simpson Carpenter the iPad will be of little success in the United Kingdom. The poll of British consumers showed they are not ready to pay £500 for one.

The researcher polled Britons on the streets who admired the the iPad's "cool", but few expressed their desire to pay as much.

As a standalone purchase it "occupies too much territory already covered by smartphones, PCs, laptops and traditional media".

This week UK lawmakers called for developing global regulation the cyber space which is believed to ensure best security of the European Internet.

Apart from creating global regulation a committee of parliament's upper chamber called for creating a common European-wide approach.

The absence of any worldwide regulation of the Internet results in a multiple abuses from small-scale theft and identity fraud to espionage and mass attacks that shut down a business or utility.

According to the speech of Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, Britain may join the euro currency system one day but it won’t be very soon.

"We already have a euro zone providing a single central bank, currency and monetary policy which one day I believe Britain will be part of. It's not going to be soon but we will do it," Mandelson said after delivering a speech on globalization in Paris.

Meantime, the opposition Conservatives has said they would never adopt the euro.