MS, Yahoo still trying

Microsoft and Yahoo are still thrashing out the terms of a multi-billion dollar search and online advertising deal, reports The Telegraph.

Commentators have picked through both companies' earnings statements to find evidence of an imminent deal.

Yahoo chief executive, Carol Bartz, praised Microsoft's new search engine Bing and - in an obvious thawing of relations - highlighted the need to scale up on search, something that could be achieved by partnering with Microsoft.

Under mounting pressure to take a stand over the sale to foreigners of prized Canadian wireless technology, the federal government says it will consider intervening in the purchase of Nortel assets by a Swedish telecom giant, states TheStar.

Industry minister, Tony Clement, says he will vet the auction of Nortel Networks' assets to Ericsson for $1.13 billion to see if it fits with Canada's interests.

"The issue will come up as to whether this is a bid that is acceptable to the government of Canada under the Investment Canada rules," Clement says.

The initiative to create a biometric database with information on every Israeli citizen took a giant step forward when a special Knesset sub-committee approved the bill that would require every Israeli to carry a biometric identification card and passport from mid-2010, according to Haaretz.

The second and third parliamentary vote on the bill will be held in a special Knesset session during the summer recess.

The biometric documentation will contain chips with digitally stored images of the carrier and scans of their fingerprints.