Nike, Starbucks and Ikea – the doors of India are now fully open to you.

Previously, under foreign direct investment (FDI) rules that limited single brand foreign ownership to 51%, foreign brands were required to partner with local investors.

Under the new rule passed by the government Tuesday, single-brand retailers like Marks & Spencer or Gucci  can own 100% of their operations in India, according to a circular released by the Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.

The move was the latest in the political battle over whether to crack open Asia’s third largest economy to greater foreign investment.

In November, the government had planned to relax restrictions that prevent large, multi-brand foreign retailers like Wal-Mart, Tesco and Carrefour, but the plan was scrapped after a populist backlash against the plan (see above photo) amid fears small retailers would be muscled out of business.

Rajan Bharti Mittal, managing director of Bharti Enterprises – which has a joint venture with Wal-Mart for “cash-and-carry” wholesale stores that sell to businesses – told reporters “this is a welcome move with a clear potential to lift the general mood in the economy.

“Increased investments by foreign single brand retailers will not only help improve consumer choice but also enhance competitiveness of Indian enterprises through access to global designs, technologies and management practices,” Mittal said.

Thursday’s move comes a little more than a week after India announced plans to further liberalize its stock market to foreign investors. Starting January 15, individual foreign investors will be able to buy as much as 5% of a company’s shares. Total shares owned by foreigners, however, will not be able to exceed 10% of a company’s capital, the Finance Ministry said.

Before only institutional investors and Indians living abroad were allowed to invest directly in local companies.

The Sensex, India’s benchmark index, fell 25% last year, making the bourse one of the world’s worst performing markets in 2011. While among the world’s fastest growing economies, India’s breakneck growth slowed in 2010, slipping to 6.9% in the quarter ending in September – its lowest growth rate in more than two years.

Beijing  — U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner met Chinese leaders on Wednesday with discussions expected to focus on cooperation between the world’s top two economies to bolster global growth as well as possible sanctions on Iranian oil exports.

Geithner held talks Wednesday with Vice President Xi Jinping — tipped to become China’s next president later this year— and Vice Premier Li Keqiang.

He was scheduled to meet Prime Minister Wen Jiabao later Wednesday.

Geithner met with his counterpart, Vice Premier Wang Qishan, on Tuesday night and pledged cooperation on global economic issues.

China and the United States “have a lot of issues to talk about in the areas of economy, finance, trade and investment,” Wang said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

While China has called on the United States to loosen export regulations, Washington has said that Chinese currency controls keep the yuan undervalued and give Chinese exporters an unfair advantage at a time when the global economy is suffering.

In Geithner’s meeting with Vice Presiden Xi on Wednesday morning, he emphasized the expansion of trade and investment with China.

“We are looking forward to exploring opportunities to expand our exports to China and to strengthen and deepen our cooperation with China on a broad range of economic and strategic issues we face around the world,” said Geithner. “On economic growth, financial stability around the world, on nonproliferation, we have what we view as a very strong cooperative relationship with your government and we are looking forward to building on that.”

Tensions between Tehran and Western powers over possible sanctions on Iranian oil were also expected to be on the agenda in Beijing.

Iran threatened in late December to block the Strait of Hormuz if sanctions were imposed on its oil exports. France, Britain and Germany have all proposed such sanctions to punish Iran for lack of cooperation on its nuclear program.

The strait is a critical shipping lane, through which 17 million barrels of oil passed per day in 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Agency.

China relies on imports for half of the oil it consumes, buying nearly one-third of Iran’s oil exports. Beijing has said that its imports have nothing to do with Tehran’s nuclear program and rejects new U.S sanctions on foreign financial institutions that conduct business with the Central Bank of Iran.

China, the world’s biggest energy consumer, has supported U.N. sanctions on Iran’s nuclear program, but says the decisions should be multilateral.

Wen is scheduled to visit the oil-rich regions of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar this coming weekend, China’s foreign ministry said Tuesday.

Despite the high-level meetings, experts say China is unlikely to budge on the most sensitive issues anytime soon, especially with Washington’s recent military strategy report that focuses on Beijing’s economic power as a potential threat to U.S. security.

“China wants to cooperate with the U.S., but one visit by Geithner is not going to make a huge difference,” said Zhao Kejin, a professor at Tsinghua University’s Institute of International Studies. “Currency, trade and Iran are huge issues that require more in-depth dialogue before we see results.”

After his meetings in China, Geithner will travel to Japan and hold talks with Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Finance Minister Jun Azumi on Thursday.

Michael Woodford, the former Olympus CEO who turned whistleblower on a $1.7 billion company cover-up after his October ouster, has abandoned his bid to retake the reins of the beleaguered firm.

He does, however, plan to file a lawsuit against his former employer for wrongful termination. “I will most definitely be suing Olympus,” Woodford said Friday at a press conference at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club in Tokyo.

The British executive, who spent 30 years with Olympus before he was named the first foreign president of the Japanese camera and medical instruments maker in April, said he is abandoning his proxy fight due to the stress on his family and the lack of support among Japanese institutional shareholders.

“The last 12 weeks have been the most emotionally demanding and challenging period in my entire life,” Woodford said in a statement Friday. “The brutal way I was dismissed as President on 14 October, and the subsequent lies and denials, have been traumatizing for all those around me, especially my family.”

Woodford was fired after he attempted to force out Chairman Tsuyoshi Kikukawa over exorbitant payments for mergers and acquisitions deals and fees. Kikukawa has since resigned, and a third-party panel analyzing the company books detailed how the company hid losses on bad investments from regulators and company shareholders dating back to the 1990s.

The scathing December 7 panel report that suggested the Japanese company “should remove its malignant cancer … the management was rotten to the core, and infected those around it.”
After the Woodford went to the press about the cover-up in October, the company’s shares were pounded — at one point, the company lost more than 75% of its share value.

“It´s been a frightening period for my wife, who has suffered a lot and every night still wakes screaming in a trance and it takes several minutes to calm her,” Woodford wrote. “I cannot put her through any more anguish.”

Woodford has led a very public campaign to get his former job back and has lobbied for the immediate resignation or the current Olympus board. “The fact that such a situation can exist despite the explicit findings of the third-party committee is depressing and totally disorientating to those looking in on Japan from the outside,” Woodford said.

Nigeria’s main trade union groups called Wednesday for a general strike and mass rallies beginning next week if a controversial government decision to take away fuel subsidies is not reversed.

Angry protests took place Tuesday after gas prices more than doubled following the subsidies’ removal Sunday, leading to the reported death of at least one person.

iReporters provide first glimpse of protests

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan and Cabinet ministers were meeting in the capital, Abuja, Wednesday to discuss their response to the crisis.

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trades Union Congress (TUC) urged the government to immediately restore the subsidies — or see the country grind to a halt starting January 9.

“We call on all Nigerians to participate actively in this movement to rescue our country. The emphasis is on peaceful protests, rallies and strikes while refusing to be intimidated,” the unions’ statement says.

It also calls on “the police, armed forces and other security agencies to reject orders that they turn their weapons on fellow Nigerians.”
The unions accused police of using “unprecedented force” against peaceful protests held this week, leading to harassment, intimidation and arrests.

Eyewitnesses told CNN the demonstrations have been largely peaceful. However, relatives of a man killed Tuesday during protests in Ilorin, Kwara state, plan to sue the police and federal government over his death, their lawyer told CNN.
Computer student Muyideen Mustafa, 23, was visiting his hometown of Ilorin when he was shot by police during a demonstration, according to attorney Abdullahi Abdullateef.

Mustafa was not among the protesters but had just “mingled” with the crowd when he was hit by a bullet, the lawyer said. He confirmed that images circulating on social media Tuesday of a blood-soaked man lying motionless on the ground showed Mustafa.

“His friends took the picture and posted it on Facebook. They wanted everyone to see what the police had done,” Abdullateef said. Mustafa, a Muslim, was buried Wednesday in Ilorin. An investigation into his death has been ordered.

Police have not yet responded to CNN’s request for a comment.

Are you there? Share photos, video

Reports of Mustafa’s death on social media have helped stoke public anger over the removal of fuel subsidies.

NLC leader Abdulwaheed Omar warned that all sectors of the economy would be paralyzed, beginning Monday, if the government did not act to head off the strike.

“We shall shut down all petrol stations, banks, markets and every business premises to achieve our goal,” he said. “This strike will be indefinite.”

The unions’ statement urges Nigerians to stock up on basic necessities, including food and water, ahead of the industrial action.

The cost of a liter of gasoline shot up from 65 naira (40¢) to at least 141 naira (86¢) almost overnight after the subsidies were removed Sunday.

Nigerians say this is the last straw in a country rich with oil reserves but with poor infrastructure, wide corruption and huge numbers of impoverished citizens.

Union leaders say Nigerian workers are already experiencing unnecessary hardship as a result of the move, which they say is also affecting the cost of transport, food, medicine, rent and school fees.

The government says it believes the removal of fuel subsidies will have a positive impact on the country’s economy. It argues the money saved will be used to invest elsewhere, such as in refineries.

Despite being one of Africa’s largest oil producers, Nigeria — a country of 167 million people — has no functioning refineries and has to import fuel.

Freelance journalist and CNN iReporter Eromo Egbejule, 21, joined a portion of a march from Lagos to the city of Ojota Wednesday.

“People were protesting because thanks to this policy, the cost of living has skyrocketed,” he said. “Everything is now double its price. Or triple. They were saying their minds.”

He saw banners with slogans such as “We want good governance, not good luck,” a play on the president’s name, and “Tunisia will be child’s play,” an apparent reference to the ouster of Tunisian President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali last year amid mass street protests.

Car tires were set alight and gas stations blockaded in some places Tuesday. Video footage showed black smoke rising above crowds of marchers carrying placards or chanting, many of them young men.

CNN iReporter Alex Omamuli, a 35-year-old civil service worker from Abuja, accused the government of using force to try to stifle legitimate protest.

“Please let the world know that we have a right to demonstrate peacefully but our government shot tear gas at innocent, peaceful protesters,” he said.

“We, the youths of Nigeria, won’t stop until this insensitive and wicked act is reversed.”

Another CNN iReporter, who asked to remain anonymous, took part in protests in Lagos, the country’s economic capital.

“The aim of the protest was to disrupt vehicular movement, shut down gas stations, and ask people to go back home,” he said. “The mood was one of anger and frustration towards the government for doing this on New Year’s Day.”

NEW YORK — After four leaderless months, Yahoo named Scott Thompson as its new CEO on Wednesday — choosing an outsider to take over the helm despite shareholders’ calls to sell the company.

Thompson was previously the president of PayPal, an eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500) subsidiary. His appointment, which becomes official January 9, follows the ouster of former CEO Carol Bartz — who was unceremoniously fired by the company’s board via phone in September.
Shares of Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) closed 3.1% lower Wednesday.

In a prepared statement, Thompson called Yahoo “an industry icon” with a “rich history.” Although that’s true, Yahoo has struggled mightily in recent years. The company gave up on search two years ago, a market that it once led. It is also losing ground with its other cash cow, display advertising, to new entrants to the market such as Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) and Facebook.

On a conference call following the announcement, journalists and analysts hammered Thompson on those points. He said he needs time on the job to develop strong answers.

“It’s too early for me to have any informed opinion as to the display space, what’s going on there and what’s happening next,” Thompson said on the call. “I have a lot to learn, and it’s still very early days … but down in that data we’re going to find ways to innovate and compete.”

Roy Bostock, chairman of Yahoo’s board of directors, was also on the call and jumped in to answer many of the hardball questions.

“What we’re doing at Yahoo, you can call it a turnaround, but it’s really building on strong assets,” Bostock said.

Will Yahoo sell itself? Despite Bostock’s insistence Yahoo can stand alone, the company’s weakness has attracted buyout interest from a long list of both private equity firms and tech titans. Reports in late October said Google was preparing a bid, in addition to Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500), which offered to buy Yahoo for more than $47 billion in 2008 and was turned down. Reports last month said Chinese Internet company Alibaba, of which Yahoo owns a stake, is preparing a takeover bid.

Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang and other board members have privately told four major private equity firms that the board would not support a takeover offer for the entire company, Fortune reported on Wednesday.

Several groups of activist shareholders had pushed Yahoo’s board to sell the company, but bringing in an outside CEO makes that possibility more remote.

An analyst on the conference call asked Thompson whether he “see[s] Yahoo as public or private” in the future.

Thompson got out half a word before Bostock jumped in: “We are a public company, with roughly a $20 billion market cap. We don’t see that changing right now.”

But earlier in the call, Bostock said Yahoo is “considering a wide range of business investments” and other options. He stressed several times during the call that “the primary focus will be on core business.”

That leaves Yahoo room to shed more of its vast product portfolio. It began winnowing in late 2010, killing off struggling services like its Buzz community news site and aging AltaVista search engine. Yahoo also thinned its blogs and sold off bookmarking service Delicious.

Thompson said his aim is “to return this business to one of the great iconic brands. I have a core belief that what happens in the next five years, and the next ten, is almost impossible to imagine.”

He closed the call by saying, “I’m genuinely excited to be here. I would not be here if I didn’t think the future of this brand could be spectacular.”

Yahoo chief financial officer Tim Morse had been serving as interim CEO, and he will return to his former position once Thompson takes the helm. Morse will also join the company’s board. To top of page

NEW YORK  — U.S. stocks clawed back from earlier losses to close mixed Wednesday amid renewed concerns about the debt crisis in Europe.

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) rose 22 points, or 0.2%, according to early tallies. The S&P 500 (SPX) edged up less than 1 point, while the Nasdaq (COMP) lost less than 1 point.
Stocks were supported by strong sales gains by the main U.S. automakers and a rise in November factory orders. But the tone was cautious as jitters surrounding Europe’s debt crisis resurfaced.

“We had a bit of economic news today, but I think it has more to do with European banks possibly needing more capital and general debt concerns in the eurozone,” said Anthony Conroy, head trader at BNY ConvergEx Group.
Shares of Italy’s UniCredit plunged on the Milan stock exchange after the bank announced a €7.5 billion offering of new shares. The offering drew lackluster demand despite a steep discount, according to local media reports.

European banks are facing new capital requirements this year and conditions in the wholesale funding market remain chilly.

The European Central Bank recently pumped nearly €500 billion into the banking sector, but much of that money appears to have been redeposited at the central bank. Banks have stashed a record €453.2 billion at the ECB’s deposit facility, according to data published Wednesday.

Shares of U.S. banks pared Tuesday’s gains, with Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500), Citigroup (C, Fortune 500) and JPMorgan (JPM, Fortune 500) all lower.

Meanwhile, reports that Spain might seek rescue funding also weighed on sentiment. But a spokeswoman for the Spanish government told CNN the reports were “a complete lie” and “radically false.”

On Tuesday, negotiators representing Greek bondholders said that progress had been made towards a deal to halve the nation’s debt load.
Europe: Still a huge pain for investors

European Union leaders hold their first summit of 2012 on Jan. 30. Political leaders hashed out a fiscal agreement in early December, but investors remain skeptical about how effective it will be.

“People still have half an eye on Europe,” said Joseph Saluzzi, co-head of equity trading at Themis Trading. “Everybody knows we’re just one headline away from another drop.”

Stocks staged a rally Tuesday on strong manufacturing reports from China, India and the United States.

World markets: European stocks closed lower. Britain’s FTSE 100 (UKX) lost 0.5%, while the DAX (DAX) in Germany shed 0.9% and France’s CAC 40 (CAC40) slid 1.6%.

Asian markets finished mixed. The Nikkei (N225) gained 1.2%, while the Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) fell 1.4% and the Hang Seng (HSI) lost 0.8%.

Companies: Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) named PayPal president Scott Thompson as its new CEO.

Ford (F, Fortune 500) shares rose after the automaker said sales rose 11% in December and were up 10% in 2011. Shares of crosstown rival GM (GM, Fortune 500) edged higher after it reported a sales increase of 4.5% in December and 13% for the year.

Eastman Kodak (EK, Fortune 500) shares dropped sharply Wednesday following a report that the company was preparing for a possible bankruptcy filing.
Caterpillar (CAT, Fortune 500) shares fell after the construction equipment manufacturer announced it will expand its research and development center in Wuxi, China.

Dunkin’ Brands (DNKN) shares climbed after the company announced it plans to double the number of its Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in the United States in the next 20 years. The chain currently operates about 7,000 restaurants nationwide.

Cabot Oil & Gas (COG) announced a 2-for-1 stock split, after its stock rallied 105% over the last year. The company also plans to increase its quarterly dividend 33%.

Economy: The Census Bureau said factory orders rose 1.8% in November, following a 0.2% decrease the month before. Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com were expecting an increase of 2.1%.

Currencies and commodities: The dollar rose against the euro and British pound and the Japanese yen.

Oil for February delivery fell 38 cents to $102.58 a barrel.

Gold futures for February delivery rose $12.70 to $1,613.20 an ounce.

Bonds: The price on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury fell, pushing the yield up to 1.97%.  To top of page

India announced plans to allow foreigners to invest directly in domestic companies listed in one of the world’s fastest growing economies.

The government “decided to allow qualified foreign investors to directly invest in Indian equity market in order to widen the class of investors, attract more foreign funds, and reduce market volatility and to deepen the Indian capital market,” according to a New Year’s Day statement from India’s Finance Ministry.

Before only institutional investors and Indians living abroad were allowed to invest directly in local companies. The move will allow individuals to buy as much as 5% of a company’s shares. Total shares owned by foreigners, however, will not be able to exceed 10% of a company’s capital, the ministry said. The new rules are expected to take effect January 15.

While among the world’s fastest growing economies, India’s breakneck growth slowed in 2010, slipping to 6.9% in the quarter ending in September – it’s lowest growth rate in more than two years.

India, the world’s most populated democracy, has been involved in a political tug-of-war in recent months over whether to drop prohibitive restrictions on foreign investment in its burgeoning domestic market. The government approved a plan in November to open its retail sector to mega-store foreign competitors such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour, only to backtrack days later after a populist backlash against the plan, fearing it would hurt small local stores.

The nation’s airline industry – hammered by rising fuel costs and the sagging rupee, which fell 16% against the dollar last year – has been in crisis, renewing calls to allow foreign airlines to invest in Indian carriers. At present foreign institutional investors are allowed to acquire up to 49% in Indian carriers but foreign airlines are banned from investing directly or indirectly in domestic carriers.

“This would be an important change because investment by foreign airlines brings with it all kinds of advantages, not least expertise in airline management and other synergies,” Tom Ballantyne, the chief correspondent with Oriental Aviation, recently told CNN. “At the moment, however, in this sort of economic climate, the airlines are having trouble attracting any sort of investment at all.”

Officials hope lowering investment barriers on Indian domestic companies will boost India’s appeal as a foreign investment destination. India received less than $20 billion in foreign direct investment in the first six months of 2011, while China attracted three times as much during the same time period.

The Sensex, India’s benchmark index, fell 25% last year, making the bourse one of the world’s worst performing markets in 2011, according to the Financial Times.

Hedge funds increased their bets against the euro to a record level in the last week of 2011, increasing pressure on the embattled European common currency as it enters the most testing year of its history.

Many hedge funds lost money betting against the euro for much of last year, as the currency remained unexpectedly strong despite the continent’s worsening financial crisis.

However, the euro suffered a poor November and December and ended the year as the worst performing major currency, dropping to a 10-year low against the yen and a one-year low against the US dollar.

This triggered a renewed surge in bets against the currency in the week ending December 27, according to data from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in the US, released late in the US on Friday.

The number of short positions in the euro — where investors benefit from a decline in prices — outweighed long positions by a record 127,900 contracts by December 27, up from 113,700 contracts the previous week. The value of the contracts is not disclosed.

When we see extreme short positions like this it normally means a short-term correction for the euro,” said Carole Laulhere, a strategist at Société Générale. “In the longer term the economic fundamentals are more important, but those are also weakening.”

The euro fell 0.2 per cent to $1.29 on Monday, despite a report that showed modest improvement in eurozone manufacturing data, supporting European stock markets. The currency shed 3.6 per cent against the dollar last month.

The CFTC data only capture a small part of positions in the euro market — one of the largest and most liquid in the world.

The euro-dollar exchange accounts for over a third of the world’s daily foreign currency trading, according to the Bank of England.

Yet the data illustrate a good part of the activity of US-based hedge funds and are considered a proxy for the investment industry’s views.

The euro’s resilience for much of 2011 baffled many analysts, and to the chagrin of funds that bet against the currency.

Some attributed it to several factors: inflows into “haven” German bonds; currency diversification by emerging market central banks away from the dollar; and capital repatriation by European banks retrenching from operations outside the region.

Analysts expect the euro to come under more sustained pressure in the first half of the year.

The single currency will fall to $1.28 by the second quarter of 2012, according to a median of 41 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

However, analysts still differ markedly on the euro’s direction, highlighting the dangers of shorting the currency.

While Nomura expects the euro to fall to $1.20 by the second half of the year, and Standard Chartered predicts $1.22, JPMorgan’s analysts predict the euro will recover to $1.34 and BNP Paribas’ to $1.35.

Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor, South Korea’s two biggest companies by market value, issued a rallying call to staff on Monday and warned of tougher business conditions for 2012 amid the global economic slowdown.

Exporters in Asia’s fourth-largest economy have fared relatively well during recent economic downturns on the back of the weaker won but they face increasing worries about slowing growth due to cooling demand for the country’s cars, electronic equipment and ships.

Samsung Electronics overtook Apple as the world’s largest smartphone maker in the third quarter, but its chips and flat panel businesses are suffering from steep price falls and its new businesses such as LED and solar cells appear to be making little headway. Widening losses from the liquid crystal display business has forced Samsung to buy Sony’s stake in their LCD joint venture.

The company, flagship of South Korea’s biggest conglomerate, is set to face stiffer competition in the fast-growing smartphone market as Nokia launches Windows-based smartphones while Motorola and LG Electronics attempt to win market share with new products.

Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Electronics, called for more openness and innovation in 2012, in spite of expectations that its sales for 2011 will surpass the record Won154.6tn ($133.7bn) in 2010.

“This year, the slowing economic growth is expected to persist while the ongoing uncertainties surrounding business conditions won’t likely be easily removed,” he said in a New Year speech to employees. “Samsung’s future hinges on new businesses, new products and new technologies. We should make our corporate culture more open, flexible and innovative.”

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors, which together form the world’s fifth-largest automaker by sales, will face intensifying competition from Japanese rivals as they recover from production losses caused by last year’s earthquake and tsunami in Japan and Thailand’s floods. Toyota last month forecast a 20 per cent jump in 2012 sales to a record 8.48m vehicles.

The combined group aims to boost global vehicle sales by 6 per cent this year to a combined 7m units, a target seen by analysts as conservative as the group has posted double-digit growth in recent years. Hyundai sold 6.6m vehicles in 2011, up 15 per cent from the previous year.

In a letter to staff, Chung Mong-koo, chairman of Hyundai Motor, stressed the importance of improving quality and brand value to continue expanding its market share while the global auto industry braces for slowing growth. “The auto industry in 2012 is expected to show slow growth and intense competition between companies,” he told employees. “We will strengthen quality management we have continuously pursued.”

Analysts expect South Korean companies to start feeling the chilling effects of the global economic slowdown. “It is hard to predict their performance, given many variables, but slowing growth is expected in terms of sales and operating profits amid cooling exports and sluggish domestic demand,” said Moon Jung-up at Daishin Securities.

South Korea’s export growth is expected to slow in 2012 to 6.7 per cent from 19.6 per cent in 2011, according to government forecasts.

London  — Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s e-mail may have been hacked by private investigators working for British newspapers when he was the country’s top finance official, the Independent newspaper reported Monday.

London’s Metropolitan Police launched an investigation in June into potential computer hacking on behalf of newspapers, after opening separate investigations earlier in the year into phone hacking and police bribery.

Authorities refused Monday to confirm they are investigating the potential hacking of Gordon Brown when he was chancellor under Tony Blair. Brown’s office did not immediately respond to CNN requests for comment.

But another former top government official said police had spoken to him about the possibility that both his government and personal computers were hacked.

Peter Hain, a former Northern Ireland secretary who has long been at the heart of the Labour Party, said police had talked to him about potential hacking between 2005 and 2007.

Much of the controversy around phone hacking has centered around the best-selling Sunday tabloid News of the World, which was shut down by proprietor James Murdoch in July in the face of the scandal.

The defunct newspaper’s parent company, News International, declined to comment on the Independent story. The Independent does not name the newspaper alleged to have employed the private detectives who targeted government ministers.

One person has been arrested in connection with the computer hacking investigation, known as Operation Tuleta. The suspect, a 52-year-old man, was detained in the city of Milton Keynes on November 24 and released on bail until March, police said.

Sixteen people have been arrested in connection with the phone-hacking probe, Operation Weeting, and eight people have been arrested in Operation Elvedon, the bribery probe — including two of the same people arrested over phone hacking.

The phone-hacking story, long a bugbear of a handful of high-profile celebrities, journalists and politicians, exploded into international prominence last summer with the revelation that people working for the News of the World illegally eavesdropped on the messages of a missing teenager who later turned out to have been murdered.

Two former editors of the News of the World, Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, have been arrested and released on bail.

Prime Minister David Cameron has been criticized for hiring Coulson after the editor resigned when subordinates pleaded guilty to phone hacking. Coulson maintains that he was not aware of the illegal activity.

The government set up an independent inquiry running alongside the police investigations, and parliament’s media committee has held hearings with witnesses including News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch.

His son James has been called twice as lawmakers try to determine how much he knew about phone hacking.

Police say notebooks belonging to a private investigator at the heart of the scandal contain the names of 5,800 potential victims.

The Independent says police have seized 20 computers in connection with the e-mail hacking probe, and say the machines suggest there could be as many computer-hacking victims as phone-hacking victims. It does not name the source of the claims.