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Globally, the set top box market has been experiencing strong growth in unit shipments and revenues, with the former reaching 59.0 million units in 2003. Set top boxes have met with considerable success in Europe and North America, and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are now looking to repeat this success in other parts of the world.

Launched yesterday evening in Berlin, the EU's new MEDIA 2007 programme will provide a €755 million boost to Europe's film industry over the next seven years. Almost 65% of the total budget will help broader circulation of European works to other countries in Europe and worldwide.

Compared with developed countries, China has lagged far behind in the field of digital TV, yet it made rapid progress in 2005; altogether 4.13 million Chinese subscribed digital TV, increasing by over twofold compared to the previous year. Among them, 3.97 million were digital cable digital TV subscribers.

North American businesses need to know that the display of U.S. and industry-specific measurements alongside metric could be illegal in the European Union in less than three year's time.

MasterCard Incorporated today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2006. For the fourth quarter, the company reported net income of $41 million, or $0.30 per share. Excluding the impact of litigation settlements, net income for the quarter was $42 million, or $0.31 per share. Net revenues for the quarter were $839 million, a 17.2% increase versus the same period in 2005. Currency fluctuations (driven by the movement of the euro relative to the US dollar) contributed approximately 1.9% of the increase in revenues for the quarter.

In 2006 the European Investment Bank Group, the banking group promoting European objectives, continued its activities aimed at modernising the economies of the Member States and of the countries close to the Union.

The latest composite leading indicators (CLIs) suggest that continued economic expansion lies ahead in the OECD area. December 2006 data show improved performance in the CLI’s six month rate of change in Canada, the United States and Japan, but weakening performance in the Euro area. The spreads between short- and long-term interest rate are contributing negatively to the performance of the CLIs in all the major seven economies, while business confidence is contributing positively in the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom. The latest data for major OECD non-member economies point to strong growth in China, India and Brazil, but a weakening outlook for Russia.

The standardised unemployment rate for the OECD area remained at 5.8% in December 2006, the same as the previous month but 0.6 percentage point lower than a year earlier.

Identity theft remains a top concern for consumers although they are not taking immediate steps to prevent it, according to new data released today by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC). According to an NCPC survey conducted by Harris Interactive, identity theft and credit card fraud top the list of crimes about which adult Americans are extremely concerned.