News in brief

Morgan Crucible's ex-chief charged THE former chief executive of Morgan Crucible, Ian Norris, and three others have been charged in the US with attempting to obstruct a price-fixing probe into the carbon products industry.
Two of the four - not including Norris - agreed to plead guilty on some counts.
Possible penalties include fines and up to 10 years in prison. The charges were filed in Philadelphia. In 2002, Morgan Crucible (down 1p at 127p) paid [pounds sterling]7m fines to settle antitrust charges.
Capital on prowl CAPITAL Radio says it 'will be looking at acquisitions next year'. Its shares fell 221/2p to 4971/2p as six-month likefor-like radio revenues fell 3pc. ClassicFM's owner GWR said its underlying UK revenues are up 4pc.
Merger blueprint AIR France and KLM are poised to agree an 80:20 merger, but the role of potential partner Alitalia remains unclear.
Caudwell 'shopping' MOBILES tycoon John Caudwell, who this week sold his Phones4u retail chain to Vodafone for [pounds sterling]400m, is seeking an acquisition of up to [pounds sterling]1bn 'outside mobile and inside the UK'.
Crunch for Names LLOYD'S Names were told that the EU Commission plans to close its probe into whether UK law gave adequate supervision to the Lloyd's market. The European Parliament said the Commission must decide by November 15.
Gloom for insurers THE financial strength of UK insurers fell further in the past year, says credit agency Standard & Poor's. It downgraded over a dozen leading companies including the Prudential, Standard Life and Friends Provident. S&P expects the downward trend to slow in the next three years.
Amstrad's [pounds sterling]3.8m SIR Alan Sugar's Amstrad lost another [pounds sterling]6m on its em@iler home internet gadget last year, though sales doubled. Group profits were [pounds sterling]3.8m pretax, against [pounds sterling]1.8m losses. Dividends rose 0.7p to 3p. Amstrad fell 21/2p to 117p.
Dana gusher DANA Petroleum's UK, Russian and African fields trebled its first-half oil output. Net profits soared from [pounds sterling]1.3m to [pounds sterling]11m, cash flow from [pounds sterling]3.5m to [pounds sterling]18m. Dana fell 31/2p to 2361/2p.