European businesses slow to go online: study

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European businesses are not doing enough to use the internet to grow their customer base and promote products, Belgian database and marketing firm Email-Brokers said after studying 13 million websites.
Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands have the highest proportion of companies online but even in these countries 40 percent of business have no internet presence, it found.
The European Commission has estimated that companies which exploit the full potential of the internet create, on average, more than twice as many jobs.
"It is one of the ways to create employment and economic growth and it is not Star Trek, it exists today," Email-Brokers head William Vande Wiele said.
Britain and Liechtenstein were the most advanced in terms of e-commerce - defined as being able to process orders and payments, with 16 percent and 17 percent, respectively, of business sites offering it, compared with 6 percent in Belgium and 9 percent in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands.
Vande Wiele said many corporate websites were badly designed, and did not provide basics such as adequate contact information or company details.
In Belgium, 91 percent of all corporate websites did not meet such basic standards, compared with about 20 percent in Luxembourg and France, the study concluded.
"Sites which do not comply with such minimum standards do not inspire confidence and before buying something online a user will need a minimum level of confidence," Vande Wiele said.
Many websites are not kept up to date, the study also found, with more than 80 percent of business sites in Belgium, Greece, Italy and Spain not updated for more than a year.

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Target to match some rivals' online prices year-round

(Reuters) - Target Corp said on Tuesday it will match on a year-round basis the prices found on the websites of key rivals Amazon.com Inc, Best Buy Co Inc, Wal-Mart Stores Inc and Toys R Us, its latest tactic to hold onto shoppers focused on price.
The move extends an online price-matching program that Target introduced over the holiday season and which was supposed to last only from November 1 to December 16. It also comes after Target last week reported flat sales growth in December at stores open at least a year.
"I think this is largely symbolic, it's akin to removing the Kindle from their stores," said Wells Fargo analyst Matt Nemer, referring to Target's decision to stop selling Amazon's tablet devices last year.
In November, Chief Executive Gregg Steinhafel said Target was not seeing a lot of price-match activity in its stores.
"It's not likely to have a huge impact on financials or customer behavior," said Nemer, who noted that customers are not likely to go to Target's guest services desk for a refund for just a small difference in price.
Also, much of what Target sells, such as apparel and accessories, is exclusive to the store, so there would be no comparable prices from competitors.
But Target will now also match prices year-round from its own website in its stores.
Nemer called that "a really important step," saying it removes confusion for customers who sometimes see different prices for products such as televisions in stores and online.
While shopping online has grown rapidly in recent years, it still represents a small fraction of overall shopping in the United States. Target's policy of matching online prices differs from policies at several chains, which match only printed advertised prices for items sold at stores.
Target said that throughout the year it will match the price when a customer buys an eligible item at one of its stores and finds the same item at a lower price in the following week's Target circular or in a local competitor's printed ad. It will also match the price if the customer finds the same item at a lower price within a week on Target's website or the websites of Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy and Toys R Us.
Amazon says it offers competitive prices and does not offer price matching when an item's price drops after a customer buys it, with the exception of televisions. Walmart matches the prices of print ads from competitors and said it has no plans to change its policy. Walmart also says it checks the prices of 30,000 items at competing chains each week to make sure it has the lowest prices.
Best Buy matches the price from a local competitor's store, a local Best Buy store or its own web site. Toys R Us matches in-store prices and certain online prices.
Shares of Target were down 60 cents at $60.70 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Ethiopia Dec inflation falls yr/yr, at lowest for 2012

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopian inflation dropped in December to 12.9 percent year-on-year, its lowest rate of 2012, official data showed on Wednesday.
The government had targeted single-digit inflation in 2012, something it now hopes to achieve this year.
Inflation, which has been billed by the IMF as the country's biggest economic challenge, peaked at 36.3 percent last February, and has steadily declined due to rising agricultural output and government subsidies on a number of food items.
Last month's year-on-year inflation fell to 12.9 percent from 15.6 percent in November, according to the Central Statistics Agency.
It said the consumer price index actually fell 0.7 percent month-on-month in December after a 0.5 percent drop in November.
The agency said food price inflation fell to 11.8 percent year-on-year in December, down from 13.4 percent in November. The non-food inflation rate also dropped to 14.6 percent in December from 19.4 percent the previous month.
The International Monetary Fund has said inflation is the biggest challenge facing policymakers in the Horn of Africa country, which has however registered one of the world's highest economic growth rates for the last few years.
Ethiopia's economy is expected to maintain a growth rate of 11 percent in 2012/2013, the seventh consecutive fiscal year of growth, according to senior officials.
High coffee earnings in the past few years have boosted the economy of Africa's biggest coffee producer, as have rising gold, oil seed and livestock exports.

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Sudan says secures $1.5 bln loan from China as it battles currency slide

ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Sudan has secured a $1.5 billion loan guaranteed by Chinese state oil firm China National Petroleum Corp, its finance minister said, throwing a lifeline to the African country battling its worst economic crisis for decades.
Sudanese Finance Minister Ali Mahmoud said the loan, agreed on December 31, would come from a Chinese bank, which he declined to identify. It comes at a crucial time for Sudan which has been unable to stop a slide in its currency since losing three-quarters of its oil production when South Sudan seceded in 2011.
Oil was the main revenue source for the budget and for dollars needed to buy basic food imports such as wheat and sugar.
China is the country's biggest trading partner apart from Gulf Arab oil producers and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), which was not immediately available to comment, is the biggest investor in the oil industry in Sudan and South Sudan.
Sudan has avoided an "Arab spring" revolution that toppled the rulers of Egypt, Tunisia and Libya but annual inflation running at 46.5 percent in November has sparked small protests against the government.
"The $1.5 billion loan will be used to bridge the fiscal gap and enhance our balance of payments," Mahmoud told Reuters in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
He said the loan would help stabilise the Sudanese pound which has more than halved in value on the key black market since southern secession in July 2011.
In July, Sudan devalued the official dollar exchange rate to around 4.4 pounds to end a differential with the black market rate. But the pound fell further, to 7 pounds to the dollar in December on the black market, which has become the reference for import firms as the central bank struggles to supply dollars.
CHINA INTEREST
China has stayed out of recent tensions between both African countries which came close to war in April. But Beijing has an interest in Sudan overcoming its crisis given that it has been the biggest buyer of South Sudanese oil which has to be exported through Sudan.
Landlocked South Sudan shut down its output of 350,000 barrels a day a year ago after failing to agree with Sudan over export fees. Both countries now plan to resume cross-border flows but need to secure their disputed border first.
CNPC is also helping Sudan to boost its own oil production, last estimated by the oil ministry at almost 140,000 bpd, but the output only serves domestic consumption.
An oil industry source said CNPC, China's biggest oil and gas producer, had done some exploration work in Sudan's Red Sea but had not found it promising in terms of reserves.
Sudan has been expanding exports of minerals and agriculture products to offset the loss of oil revenues. It has forecast it would sell $2.5 billion worth of gold last year, up from $1.5 billion in 2011. China is also a big player in the gold industry.
"With most of our oil exports gone, we are enhancing agricultural products exports. This year we are expecting to export edible oil and will cut imports of sugar by half," Mahmoud said.
Last year, Sudan opened a new sugar factory, funded by Gulf countries, to lower its dependency on imports. But analysts are sceptical the country will be able to expand its agricultural exports soon due to mismanagement, outdated technology and corruption. Much of Sudan's food needs come from abroad.
Mahmoud spoke after the signing ceremony for a $45 million loan for Sudan from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), a pan-Arab fund based in Abu Dhabi. Since 1997 the fund has granted Sudan $650 million in total, including the latest loan.

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Obama aide presses Republicans to accept more tax revenues

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Congress should accept in the next round of deficit-reduction talks that revenue from taxes must be raised further if it expects President Barack Obama to sign off on a deal, the president's top economic adviser, Gene Sperling, said in an interview.
The White House and Congress are trying to reach an agreement that would delay planned austerity measures and keep funding the government, while at the same time cutting the budget deficit over the long term.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has ruled out raising revenues as part of any deal, but Sperling said a significant chunk must come from higher taxes.
"The president is not suggesting that in this next round of deficit reduction it all be on revenues," Sperling said in an interview taped on Tuesday with Reuters TV's "Impact Players."
"He's just suggesting that we continue to do it in a balanced way so that our overall agreement really is about two dollars in spending cuts for every dollar in revenue."
Republicans and Democrats reached a deal last week to soften an austerity package scheduled to kick in at the beginning of the year that may have pushed the economy back into recession.
However the deal only postponed by two months some of the harshest measures: across-the-board spending cuts in areas like defense and education. Also, a temporary budget measure expires in March and failure to extend it could mean another government shutdown like brief ones in 1995 and 1996.
Some Republicans are insisting deficit-reduction talks now be linked to a debate over granting the Treasury authority to borrow more money.
On December 31, the Treasury hit the $16.4 trillion limit on the amount of borrowing that is authorized by Congress, and the United States will default on its debt within a few months unless the debt ceiling is raised.
Sperling lashed out at Republicans for using the debt limit as a bargaining chip.
"We can fight, we can argue, but neither of us should put a gun to the country's head," Sperling said in the interview with Reuters' Robert Wolf, who advises Obama as a member of the president's jobs council and is a former CEO of UBS Americas.
AN ODD PRACTICE
The United States has the odd practice of authorizing government borrowing in a two-stage process, with Congress first drafting plans to spend more than it raises in tax revenues.
Then, typically every few years, lawmakers raise the debt ceiling to accommodate annual deficits.
Obama has said flatly that he will not negotiate over the debt ceiling, arguing that Congress must pay the bills for spending it has already approved.
Last week, the government allowed taxes to rise on most workers by allowing a two-year payroll tax holiday to expire. And in a substantial compromise by Republicans, the deal also raised income tax rates on the wealthiest Americans while keeping them steady for households making less than $450,000 a year.
The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, deficit- reduction group, believes that deal will lower the deficit and come pretty close to stabilizing the debt burden over the next ten years, although not in the longer term.
Sperling sketched out the broad outline of a possible deficit-reduction deal that would involve higher taxes along with spending cuts on social welfare programs, including the federal health insurance program for the elderly and the Social Security pension plan. In Washington these programs are called "entitlements."
Sperling pointed out that Republicans have already expressed willingness to allow taxes to rise on wealthy Americans by eliminating exemptions rather than by raising rates.
"There certainly is significant room for more revenues that are related to things that Republicans have agreed to or proposed," said Sperling, who is the director of Obama's National Economic Council.
He noted that Obama already has floated the idea of reducing the ability of rich people to write off mortgage interest payments from their tax bills.
"That's the type of thing that could be paired with very serious entitlement reform to have the next step of deficit reduction," Sperling said.

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LB Rolando McClain bonds out of Ala. jail

DECATUR, Ala. (AP) — Authorities say Oakland Raiders linebacker and former University of Alabama standout Rolando McClain has bonded out of jail on charges of violating rules on car window tint and trying to lie to police about his identity.
Authorities at the Decatur City Jail in Alabama say the 23-year-old McClain was pulled over Tuesday because of the tint violation. When McClain was asked to sign a ticket, police say he provided a false name.
Officials say McClain was taken into custody and posted $1,000 bond.
McClain had been sentenced to jail time on an assault charge. He was accused of firing a gun next to a man's head in 2011, also in Decatur. Those charges were later dismissed.
McClain served a two-game suspension this season for conduct detrimental to the Raiders. The team had no comment on his latest arrest.

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George scores 29 to lead Pacers over Heat 87-77

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Paul George made no attempt to downplay the importance of his matchup with LeBron James.
"It's a chance to for me to see where I'm at, going against one of the best, if not, the best in the league," George said. "Another challenge to myself to go at LeBron. I definitely wanted to battle him."
George rose to the occasion with 29 points and 11 rebounds, and the Pacers held Miami to a season-low point total in an 87-77 win over the Heat on Tuesday night.
George has moved from shooting guard to small forward and has become a primary scoring option with Danny Granger, Indiana's leading scorer last season, out all season because of a left knee injury.
Indiana's 22-year-old forward has earned James' respect for the way he has handled his new responsibilities.
"I see him playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of opportunities," James said. "The simple fact that Danny Granger is hurt has created this opportunity for him to show what he can do. He's doing everything. He was a good player last year, but we weren't able to see it because he wasn't a featured player."
David West added 14 points and 11 rebounds, and Lance Stephenson chipped in with 13 points for the Pacers (21-14), who have won 11 of their last 14 games.
Dwyane Wade scored 30 points and James had 22 points and 10 rebounds for Miami (23-10), which still has the best record in the Eastern Conference. It was the first time the teams had met since Miami beat the Pacers in six games in the conference semifinals last year.
The Pacers outrebounded the Heat 55-36 to help make up for 36 percent shooting.
"That was a big emphasis tonight," George said. "Miami is a team that, for as good as they are, they struggle with rebounding. We knew that coming in. We knew that we had to get the boards. And we're bigger. We're a big team."
George had gone 8 for 29 in his previous two games, but he broke out of his slump by making 12 of 27 shots against Miami.
Miami entered the game leading the NBA in field goal percentage, while Indiana led the league in field goal percentage defense. The matchup resulted in the Heat scoring only 35 points in the second half, their lowest-scoring half of the season.
"Offensively, we did not have a very fluid game on that side of the court," Miami coach Erik Spoelstra said. "I'll have to take care of that tomorrow."
Indiana led 38-28 in the second quarter before the Heat rallied late in the half. Wade hit a 3-pointer to cut Indiana's lead to 38-37, and a putback by James gave the Heat the lead. The teams were tied at 42 at halftime. Wade scored 23 points in the first half, including 16 in the second quarter.
The Heat found their offensive flow in the early minutes of the second half. A 3-pointer by Mario Chalmers gave the Heat a 51-44 lead and caused the Pacers to call a timeout, but Indiana rallied. Stephenson found West in the corner for a 3-pointer, then Stephenson made a 3-pointer to give the Pacers a 55-53 lead.
George made consecutive 3-pointers to make it 67-57 at the end of the quarter. The Pacers made 5 of 8 from 3-point range in the period. Miami scored just 15 points on 7-for-18 shooting in the third and Wade went scoreless.
George opened the fourth with a jumper over James to expand Indiana's lead to 12, and Ian Mahinmi's putback bumped it to 14.
Another 3 by George made it 77-60 with about 8 minutes to go, and the Pacers remained comfortably ahead the rest of the way.
Wade scored just seven points on 1-for-4 shooting in the second half. George said Stephenson deserved credit for bothering Wade.
"He made it hard for him in the second half," George said. "Everybody was locked in to his drive and tried to contest all his shots."
The Pacers were subdued in the locker room after the game, perhaps a sign that they have come to expect such victories.
"We can't overreact to this," West said. "We're just happy to get a win. That's a good basketball team."
Notes: Vogel said Granger's recovery from his left knee injury is on schedule, meaning he should be ready to play in about a month. ... The Pacers led 20-19 at the end of the first quarter, despite shooting just 28 percent. ... Wade was fouled on a 3-pointer in the second quarter and made all three free throws. ... West's 3-pointer was just his third of the season and the 39th of his 10-year career. ... Indiana won its eighth straight at home.

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Bucks beat Suns 108-99 in Boylan's first game

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brandon Jennings glanced over and expected to see coach Scott Skiles on the end of the Milwaukee Bucks' bench. Instead, he saw Jim Boylan sitting in Skiles' old spot.
Jennings scored 29 points and the Bucks gave Boylan a win in his first game as coach with a 108-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night.
"I'm just hooping," Jennings said. "It was weird looking on the end of the bench and he wasn't there. I'm sure I'll get over it soon. Jim's been here for four years. It'll be good sooner or later."
The Bucks parted ways with Skiles on Monday in what was called a mutual decision, and the Bucks tapped Skiles' top assistant Boylan as a replacement.
"I almost called Jim 'Scott' at one point," Jennings said. "But, hey, it's a business. I understand now. I've seen a lot."
Milwaukee's new head coach said before the game his top priority would be to get the Bucks playing well again after losing four consecutive games.
The Suns were a perfect opponent, playing poorly in the last few weeks with nine losses in the previous 10 games overall to go with a nine-game losing streak on the road.
"We can't play 40 minutes, 42 minutes or 38-minute games where we play pretty good and give ourselves an opportunity and then let it deteriorate away over a four- or five-minute period," Phoenix coach Alvin Gentry said. "That's kind of how our season has gone, really. We've just got to find a way to get better. The season is slipping away."
This is the second time Boylan has succeeded Skiles midseason. He took over the Chicago Bulls when Skiles was fired on Christmas Eve in 2007.
"I've been down this road before," Boylan said. "I won my first game against the Bucks when I was in Chicago, and it felt great. Feels great right now, too."
Jennings, who before the game said he was frustrated that he learned of the coaching change from Skiles himself instead of someone from the Bucks organization, made 9 of 15 shots and had nine assists.
"The main thing is I wasn't thinking," he said. "I was just, you know, taking whatever the defense gave me. I was able to find guys. Guys were making shots tonight."
Goran Dragic scored 21 points and Jared Dudley added 18 for Phoenix.
Larry Sanders had 10 points, eight rebounds, six blocks and three steals for Milwaukee. The Suns scored only 10 points in the paint in the second half as Sanders dominated defensively.
"Everything went down again," Marcin Gortat said of the second half. "Brandon Jennings, he just took it over, he started shooting 3s. We couldn't stop him."
The Bucks won despite an off-night from leading scorer Monta Ellis, who missed 14 of 19 shots and committed five turnovers. Ellis finished with 13 points after coming in with a 19.4 average.
Boylan made a couple of significant changes in his first game at the helm, inserting forward Ersan Ilyasova into the starting lineup and giving more minutes to rookie forward John Henson, the team's first-round draft pick.
Ilyasova had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists in 26 minutes. Henson had 12 points and 11 rebounds in 19 minutes.
"I like the way that looks right now," Boylan said of playing Henson and Ilyasova.
Milwaukee took control with a 12-3 run that spanned the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarters. Beno Udrih had four points in the spurt and hit a 17-foot jumper with 8 minutes left to give the Bucks a 90-79 lead.
Phoenix pulled to 95-91 on a pair of free throws by Dragic with 3:49 left, but Henson scored on a dunk and Mike Dunleavy made a driving layup to extend the Milwaukee lead to 99-91 with 2:45 remaining. Phoenix never seriously threatened the rest of the game.
The Bucks used a 13-0 run, keyed by a pair of 3-pointers from Jennings and four points from Ilyasova, to open a 71-66 lead with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
Luis Scola's baseline jumper tied it at 71, but Ellis drove the lane for a basket that gave Milwaukee the lead for good, 73-71, with 3:34 left in the third.
Notes: Bucks GM John Hammond said before the game he and the team were talking about a contract extension. ... The ball stopped motionless at the back of the Phoenix rim — not stuck — with 9:24 to go in the second quarter, prompting wide grins from the Suns bench. Milwaukee won the ensuing jump ball. ... The teams meet again Jan. 17 in Phoenix.

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Nationals convince LaRoche to extend Washington stay

(Reuters) - The Washington Nationals finally persuaded Adam LaRoche to put pen to paper on Tuesday after spending the first half of the off-season courting their lead slugger.
The free agent inked a two-year deal worth $24 million with an option for a third season, adding solidity to an improving Nationals team and rewarding the franchise for their patience.
The 33-year-old had earlier declined to re-sign with the Nationals as he sought out a three-year deal but the first baseman eventually opted to return to a team where he has spent the last two seasons.
"We were patient with Adam and his representatives," Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo told the team's website (washingtonnationals.mlb.com).
"At the end of the day, I think we both agreed (Washington) was the best place for Adam to be."
Last season, LaRoche was instrumental in helping lead the Nationals to their first post-season berth since the team relocated from Montreal in 2004.
He hit .271 and led the team with 33 home runs and 100 RBIs as Washington (98-64) captured the National League East Division with the best overall MLB record.
Washington were beaten 3-2 in the best-of-five NL Division Series by the St Louis Cardinals, giving up four runs in the top of the ninth inning to fall 9-7 in the series decider.

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Cowboys release defensive coordinator Ryan

(Reuters) - The Dallas Cowboys released fiery defensive coordinator Rob Ryan on Tuesday after another disappointing season that saw them miss the playoffs.
Ryan, the twin brother of New York Jets coach Rex Ryan, had spent the last two seasons with the Cowboys where his demonstrative demeanor made him a colorful figure on the sidelines.
The Dallas defense did not show enough improvement, however, as they struggled with injuries and finished last in the NFL in interceptions.
Demanding owner Jerry Jones promised changes after the team finished 8-8 for the second consecutive year. The Cowboys have not reached the post-season since 2009.
"At this time, the decision has been made to move forward in a different direction philosophically on defense," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said in a statement.
"I have an immense amount of respect for Rob as a person and as a football coach and I wish him and his family the very best.

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