France to sanction Google over privacy rules

France's data protection watchdog has said it will take action against US giant Google for failing to comply with national privacy guidelines.

The issue of data protection has gathered steam worldwide following revelations by Edward Snowden, a former contractor with the National Security Agency, that the US had a vast, secret programme called PRISM to monitor Internet users.

France's National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) said that Google had failed to comply with data protection guidelines within a three-month deadline and said it would begin a formal sanction procedure, under which the US giant could be fined up to 150,000 euros ($205,000).

CNIL had asked Google to inform web users in France on how it processes their personal data and to define exactly how long they can store the information.

It had also requested that the US giant obtain users' permission before storing cookies on their computers, referring to files that track netizens and allow companies to target them with tailored commercials.

In its response, Google made no mention of any challenge to CNIL's reasoning and maintained it respects European law.

US braces for possible government shutdown

US government is bracing for a possible shutdown, as Republicans and Democrats in Congress remain deadlocked on a budget to continue its funding.

Agencies have begun making contingency plans ahead of the 1 October deadline to pass a new funding resolution.

The Senate has passed a bill to fund the government until 15 November.

But House Republicans have said they refuse to approve the bill without a provision to strip funding from President Barack Obama's health law.

The Senate is controlled by Obama's Democratic party, while the Republicans hold the majority in the House of Representatives.

As a result, lawmakers are at a stalemate as the deadline approaches.

Government agencies have been selecting workers considered essential should funds stop flowing.

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon meets US regulators

JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon has met US regulators in a bid to resolve investigations into whether the US's largest bank misled investors.

According to the US Attorney General Eric Holder, he said  I did meet with representatives of JP Morgan but he did not disclose specific details.

JP Morgan is being investigated by several US agencies over the sale of investments which turned sour.

It is thought that any settlement could run into billions of dollars.

US media has reported that JP Morgan could agree to financial penalties of several billions of dollars to pay back investors and consumers who lost money through transactions relating to mortgage-backed securities.

Lionel Messi appears in Spanish court over tax fraud

Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi has appeared before a Spanish judge as part of a tax fraud investigation.

The 26-year-old Argentine, four times Fifa World Player of the Year, and his father Jorge Messi are accused of defrauding the authorities of more than 4m euros ($5.4m; £3.4m).

The two men were questioned separately at the court in Gava, near Barcelona.

Both father and son deny the allegations. The Messis' lawyer said he wanted to resolve the matter.

The footballer and his father are suspected of using companies abroad - in Belize and Uruguay - to sell the rights to use Lionel Messi's image, thereby circumventing tax obligations in Spain. The allegations date back to 2007-9.

The income related to Messi's image rights included contracts with Banco Sabadell, Danone, Adidas, Pepsi-Cola, Proctor and Gamble, and the Kuwait Food Company.

South African platinum miner Amplats hit by strike

A strike has begun at the world's biggest platinum miner, South Africa's Anglo American Platinum (Amplats).

Amplats said that less than 20% of staff arrived for work at its mining operations near the city of Rustenburg.

Members of the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) are protesting over Amplats' plan to cut 4,800 jobs.

The company wanted to cut 14,000 jobs, but abandoned that after objections from the government and unions.

Job cuts receive a lot of attention in South Africa, where unemployment is running at more than 25%.

The strike was planned to last 48 hours.

Speaking on South African radio, AMCU president Joseph Mathunjwa said: "We have to always be positive, but the ball is in management's court."

Last year, Amplats, which is 80% owned by Anglo American, reported a 6.33bn-rand ($710m; £452m) operating loss.

FG inaugurates boards of five parastatals

Federal Government of Nigeria has inaugurated the board of five parastatals.

The parastatals are the Consumer Protection Council; National Automotive Council; Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency; the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission; and Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority.

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Samuel Ortom, who inaugurated the boards, urged the members to discharge their duties with the greatest sense of responsibility.

He expressed optimism that their appointments would further enhance the overall mandate of the ministry in implementing the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said, “A careful look at the composition of the boards shows that most of the members are not only knowledgeable and highly experienced, but are also key players in their various fields in the public and private sectors of the economy.

NDIC threatens to withdraw insurance cover for MFBs

 Umaru Ibrahim

Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation has threatened to withdraw insurance cover from any microfinance bank that consistently fails to pay its premium.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive, NDIC, Umaru Ibrahim, made the threat when officials of the National Association of Microfinance Banks visited the corporation in Abuja.

He said the move might be adopted as part of punitive measures to discourage the practice whereby microfinance banks refused to pay premium.

Insurance premium is what the NDIC relies upon to settle depositors in case of bank distress.

Ibrahim said so far, N398m had been received from the sector as insurance premium, adding that about N44m was still being expected from about 100 MFBs.

He said the initiative that would have enabled the corporation to debit their accounts directly in case of default had not been accepted by majority of the operators in the sector.

Ibrahim also said the corporation, in collaboration with the law enforcement agencies, would soon begin the prosecution of fraudulent bank officials.