Co-ordinating a European response amid a series of currency crises or exchange-rate rows would have been far trickier.

ECONOMIST: The gains outweigh the losses

Holbrooke's mission is in response to a series of rapid-fire Kremlin volleys begun by President Boris Yeltsin last week.

CNN: Holbrooke heads to Moscow

The latest fine is a record for a single company, imposed as what EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes calls "a reasonable response to a series of quite unreasonable actions".

BBC: Most home computers use Windows software