Indonesia and Australia have launched a A$30m project to fight deforestation in Sumatra as part of efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions and boost a planned forest-carbon trading scheme. The project, to target Sumatra’s Jambi province that has suffered rapid deforestation, is the second joint venture between the neighbouring countries keen to learn how to save forests by giving local communities incentives to keep the trees standing. Indonesia, like Brazil, is on the front line of efforts to curb deforestation that is a major contributor to mankind’s greenhouse gas emissions that scientists blame for heating up the planet. Australia and Indonesia are major supporters of a UN- backed scheme that could potentially channel billions of dollars to developing nations that preserve and enhance their forests. Called reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD), developing countries would earn money from carbon credits sourced from forest preservation projects by selling them to rich nations that must meet mandated emission reduction targets. The UN hopes the scheme will start from 2013 as part of a broader climate pact to succeed the existing Kyoto Protocol. Under the Sumatra Forest Carbon Partnership, the money will be used to develop a project that will address the causes of deforestation in Jambi and to help rehabilitate deforested or degraded land. Jambi, covering an area larger than the Netherlands, has lost more than two-thirds of its forests to illegal loggers, slash-and-burn farming as well as palm oil and pulp plantations. Fires are common, releasing large amounts of greenhouse […]

After months of opposition from regulators and rivals, AT&T late on Monday dropped its controversial $39bn takeover bid for T-Mobile USA, the company said. The FCC, which was against the takeover since it was announced in March, said that the bid would reduce competition and choice, and increase prices for consumers. AT&T announced it will now have to take a $4bn charge for dropping the offer, of which a $3bn breakup fee will go to T-Mobile’s parent company Deutsche Telecom. In addition, AT&T said it plans to enter into a roaming agreement with T-Mobile.

The Securities and Exchange Commission late on Sunday filed securities fraud charges against six former Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) executives. The SEC court filing showed that executives had claimed that their company’s exposure from 2007 to 2008 was between $2bn and $6bn, when it was actually as high as $244bn. Those alleged of fraud include former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd, vice president of Single Family Mortgage, Thomas Lund, and chief risk officer Enrico Dallavecchia. The names for Freddie Mac executives include CEO Richard Syron, Vice President Patricia Cook, and Single Family Guarantee Vice President, Donald Bisenius.  

Online games producer Zynga late on Thursday managed to raise $1bn in its initial public offering after it priced shares at the top end of a preliminary $8.50 to $10 market range. The creator of games including “FarmVille” and “CityVille” sold 100 million shares of Class A common stock at $10 a share in the IPO. The initial share price gives the group a valuation of an estimated $7bn. Zynga’s offering is the largest by a US internet company since Google’s IPO raised $1.9bn in 2004, Bloomberg data showed.

Brazilian federal prosecutors late on Wednesday sued US-based Chevron and rig operator Transocean for $10.6bn in damages following environmental harm alleged to have been caused by an oil leakage in early November. Prosecutors also asked the court to force the companies to shut down operations at the Frade field in Brazil until the case is resolved. The Frade field site, where the spill occurred, is Chevron’s biggest capital investment. “During an investigation, the attorney general’s office found that Chevron and Transocean were not capable of controlling the damage from a spill of 3,000 barrels of oil, proving a lack of environmental planning and management,” a prosecutors’ statement said.