September 21, 2003

Microsoft goes after Google CNN - Microsoft, which is trying to drive growth by investing in everything from small business software to video games, has quietly set its sights on a new industry -- searching the Web. Chairman Bill Gates, Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and a handful of other executives sat down in February to answer a question asked countless times before in the world's largest software maker's 28-year history. Should Microsoft build or buy? 2:27:12 PM

Saddam negotiating with US: press The Age, Australia - Ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein had been in secret negotiations with US forces in Iraq for the past nine days, a British tabloid newspaper said today. According to the Sunday Mirror report, Saddam was demanding safe passage to the former Soviet republic of Belarus in exchange for information on weapons of mass destruction and his bank accounts. US President George W Bush was being kept up to date on the talks by his national security adviser Condoleeza Rice who was coordinating negotiations led by US general Ricardo Sanchez, the Sunday Mirror said. Sanchez is the commander of US forces in Iraq. "A representative of Saddam in Western-style civilian clothes came to coalition people at Tikrit at sunset on September 12. He led them to a house where the security official was waiting," the Sunday Mirror quoted a senior Iraqi as saying. "The discussions are now going on under the direct authority of General Sanchez," the source said, according to the newspaper.   UPDATE: U.S. Military Denies British Newspaper Report of Deal with Saddam 10:57:13 AM

Muslim Army Chaplain Is Held in Investigation Washington Post, DC - A Muslim chaplain in the U.S. Army who ministers to alleged al Qaeda fighters held in the prison complex at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has been detained in an investigation into why he possessed classified documents about the detainees and their interrogators, government officials said. 9:50:29 AM

Keep an Eye On the Dividends Washington Post - Earlier this year, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), which is roughly tied with General Electric (GE) as the most valuable company measured by market cap in the world, declared the first dividend in its 28-year history. On Sept. 12, it doubled that dividend from 8 cents a year to 16 cents -- and I wouldn't be surprised if the figure went a good deal higher. 8:06:25 AM