News Headlines - 19 January 2012

▽Britain admits 'fake rock' plot to spy on Russians - The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/19/fake-rock-plot-spy-russians?newsfeed=true
Britain was behind a plot to spy on Russians with a device hidden in a fake plastic rock, a former key UK government official has admitted.
Jonathan Powell, former chief of staff to prime minister Tony Blair, admitted in a BBC documentary that allegations made by the Russians in 2006 - dismissed at the time - were in fact true.

▽Rescue Efforts Resume on Stricken Cruise Liner - New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/20/world/europe/costa-concordia-cruise-ship-recuse-efforts-resume-in-italy.html
Divers resumed rescue operations on Thursday aboard the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia a day after Italy’s environment minister warned that it could sink and the captain claimed he had slipped on deck and tumbled overboard, winding up in a lifeboat during the panicky passenger escape.

▽Sony Ericsson makes shock loss before ownership change - Reuters
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/19/sonyericsson-idINDEE80I00G20120119
Sony Ericsson on Thursday posted a shock loss due to tough competition, the global slowdown and restructuring, marring the final quarter before it is rolled into Japanese consumer giant Sony.

▽Kodak files for bankruptcy protection - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16625725
Eastman Kodak, the company that invented the hand-held camera, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
The move gives the company time to reorganise itself without facing its creditors, and Kodak said that it would mean business as normal for customers.

▽Darvish, Texas agree to $60M, 6-yr deadline deal - Houston Chronicle
http://www.chron.com/default/article/Darvish-Texas-agree-to-60M-6-yr-deadline-deal-2613024.php
Japan's best pitcher will play for the Texas Rangers, who scouted him for more than two years and then needed nearly every minute of a 30-day negotiating window before finalizing a $60 million, six-year contract Wednesday. It is a total investment of more than $111 million with a record posting fee.