Reuters:

Europe's travel industry will be transformed in the next year or two as consumers increasingly seek the best deals online, the head of Germany's TUI, Europe's biggest travel firm, said on Thursday.

TUI Chairman Michael Frenzel said at a conference of the World Travel and Tourism Council that more and more travellers were bypassing airlines, travel agents and package tour operators to check prices through the Internet.

"This means that in one or two years the European industry will be completely changed," he said in a panel discussion about challenges facing the travel and tourism sector.

In preparation for prospective trips to Sweden and Italy this summer, we have been relying entirely on the Internet to book our flights, train tickets, car rentals and hotel accommodations. How did we ever survive before the Web and Frequent Flier Miles?

-Jen
5:14:54 PM    

Associated Press:

In a sign of the vitality of e-commerce, online merchants collectively broke even last year as sales surged 48 percent, providing a bright spot in an otherwise lackluster retail environment, according to an annual survey released Thursday.

5:08:26 PM    

The Straits Times:

The suicide bombings in Riyadh come at a time of mounting pressure for reforms in Saudi Arabia and will be seen as an acid test of the nation's commitment to the war against terrorism.

The conservative kingdom and its ageing rulers have been grappling with external and internal demands for reforms on all fronts.

These have heightened since Sept 11 investigations showed that 15 of the 19 hijackers hailed from their country.

Politicians in the United States have slammed the Saudi rulers for their autocratic rule while some institutions have demanded that their country be designated one of the world's most egregious violators of human rights and an exporter of extremist Islam.

5:01:34 PM    

Mercury News:

Siebel said in its proxy statement Wednesday that it will hold this year's annual shareholder meeting via Webcast, with all questions to be submitted in advance. Siebel is the first major company to hold an Internet-only shareholder meeting, although some smaller companies have done it.

4:29:20 PM    

Financial Times:

Yields on the US Treasury's long bond slid to another record low on Thursday as investors hedged against the possibility of deflation.

4:24:36 PM    

ZDNet:

IBM has developed a digital recording system for police squad cars that will capture sound and video from traffic stops and arrests.

Designed to replace the videotape-based systems used by about 40 percent of police agencies in the United States, the new system can incorporate data from radar guns and information on location determined by a global positioning system.

Talk about reality TV!

-Tim
1:46:22 PM