A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Wikipedia founder to launch rival
One of the founders of Wikipedia is days away from launching a rival to the collaborative internet encyclopaedia, in an attempt to bring a more orderly approach to organising knowledge online.
Wikipedia - which is available to be written and edited by anyone online - is one of the most visible successes of mass collaboration on the web, with many of its 1.4 million articles appearing high in search results.
However, its openness has also drawn charges of unreliability and left it vulnerable to disputes between people with opposing views.- (Financial Times service)
Single property buyers drop - IFG
Single people are struggling to afford property as a result of increasing house prices and reduced loan offers, according to the latest IFG mortgage index.
The broker firm said that recent trends where it had seen business from single mortgage applicants increase at a faster rate than joint applicant business had now been reversed.
As lenders become less generous, following five interest rate rises by the European Central Bank (ECB) and property prices continue to climb, single people are dropping out of the mortgage market, IFG said.
DHL to buy 49% of air cargo firm
DHL, the express delivery arm of Deutsche Post, has agreed to buy a 49 per cent stake in US-owned Polar Air Cargo to strengthen its presence in the trans-Pacific parcel and freight markets.
The deal represents a challenge to UPS and FedEx, the US express delivery groups, which dominate the tightly regulated market between Asia and the US.- (Financial Times service)
Diamond firm in €1m licence deal
Conroy Diamonds & Gold is to expand its gold exploration interests through the acquisition of nine exploration licences in Finland for €1 million.
The directors of Conroy Diamonds & Gold, which is acquiring the licences from Trans-International Mineral Exploration, a subsidiary of Conroy plc, believe Finland has excellent prospects for gold and is under-explored by world standards.
The fee will be satisfied through the issue of 19.3 million new shares. Conroy will hold 18.26 per cent of the share capital of Conroy Diamonds & Gold following the transaction.
Dragon Oil well at production high
Exploration group Dragon Oil said production at the Cheleken Contract Area, offshore Turkmenistan, had reached a new daily peak of 25,471 barrels of oil per day (bpd). Average gross production for the period from July to date, was 21,113 bpd, up 14 per cent on the average achieved in the first half of the year.
Increase in construction jobs
Employment in construction firms was 2.7 per cent higher in August 2006 when compared to the same month a year earlier, the Central Statistics Office said yesterday. The monthly employment index rose to 113 in August 2006, from 110 in August 2005.
Mobile operator to invest up to €15m
The Hutchison Whampoa-owned mobile operator, 3, plans to invest between €10 million and €15 million in building its own chain of stores in the Republic. The company, which operates a third generation mobile network, intends opening 28 stores. It said yesterday that the move will create 200 jobs.
