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GE engines on Boeing 777 need fix

Monday, 20. May 2013 von Superman

GE said the problem with with a gearbox inside 118 of the engines that were built between September 2012 to March 2013. The engine maker said there were two in-flight shutdowns of the engines due to gear separation within the gearbox, one on an Aeroflot flight in February, the other on an Air China flight on May 9.

In both cases, the aircraft were able to continue flying using the power in the other engine. But GE said there are 25 jets in service that have the suspect gearbox in both of their engines, and those jets will need to be grounded and fixed in the next five days to avoid the risk of both engines shutting down during a flight.

The other planes with the suspect gearbox only have them in one of their engines.

GE said early analysis of problem gearboxes has revealed a “material anomaly,” but it said its investigation is ongoing. It said more than 1,150 of the engines are in service, and that the gearboxes have a history of 15 years of high reliability over 40 million flight hours.

The news of the problem comes as Boeing works to fix a more serious problem with lithium batteries overheating that led to the grounding of its full fleet of 787 Dreamliners in January. It took months of investigation to come up with a fix to that problem, and Boeing and its airline customers are just now returning those planes to service.

United Airlines, the unit of , Fortune 500) that is the only U.S. carrier to have Dreamliners in its fleet, expects to return its 787s to service on May 20.

Shares of , Fortune 500) and , Fortune 500) were both lower in early trading Thursday.

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Post-Dispatch finalist for Gerald Loeb award

Friday, 17. May 2013 von Superman

A team of St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporters are finalists in the 2013 Gerald Loeb Awards for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism, the most prestigious honor in business journalism. 

Post-Dispatch reporters Tim Logan, Lisa Brown Jeremy Kohler, Tim Bryant and Steve Giegerich are finalists in the beat reporting category for “Roberts Brothers,” a package of five stories on the St. Louis real estate beat.

Among the submitted stories:

• An in-depth story that profiled the downfall of the massive real estate and broadcasting empire belonging to St. Louis developers and brothers Michael and Steve Roberts.

• An investigation into how taxpayers got stuck with the cleanup bill at the old Carondelet coke plant.

Other publications that are finalists in the Loeb’s beat reporting category are Bloomberg News, Reuters, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post.

The Loeb awards, established in 1957, are presented by UCLA Anderson School of Management. The late Gerald Loeb, a founding partner of E.F. Hutton, established the awards to to encourage business and finance reporting that informs and protects the private investor and the general public.

The awards will be announced in New York City on June 25. 

John Huey, former editor-in-chief at Time Inc., is the recipient of the Loeb’s 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Michael Williams, global enterprise editor at Reuters, will receive the Loeb’s 2013 Lawrence Minard Editor Award, named in memory of Laury Minard, founding editor of Forbes Global and a former Loeb Awards judge.

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Most Canadian sex assault victims have little faith in justice system, survey says

Monday, 06. May 2013 von Superman

HALIFAX—A majority of sexual assault victims have little to no confidence in the police, the courts or the criminal justice system, according to a new government survey that echoes what advocates have been saying for years.

The responses in the Justice Canada survey indicate that two-thirds of the men and women who took part had no faith in the justice system, the process of filing a complaint against their abuser and the prospect of seeing a conviction.

The majority of victims of both child and adult sexual abuse did not even bother filing a complaint with the police, fearing they would be blamed or wouldn’t be taken seriously, the document says.

More:Read the full document here.

“Survivors also often feel they are not believed and are somehow to blame,” says the report in The Victims of Crime Research Digest.

“There was a perception among some that while the survivor must cope with the traumatic experience, the accused is not punished.”

The report surveyed 207 sex abuse survivors at six sexual assault centres in mostly urban areas across Canada in 2009 and represented different demographic groups, including aboriginals in the North.

It found that the majority — including 70 per cent of the male participants — did not report the abuse to police because they feared they wouldn’t be believed or didn’t trust the justice system.

The Justice Department declined a request for an interview.

A spokeswoman for Justice Minister Rob Nicholson sent an email instead saying the federal government has implemented measures to reduce violence, such as strengthening sentences for those who commit child sexual offences. The email did not respond to specific questions about the survey.

Frontline workers have long said there are too many deterrents in the criminal justice system that discourage sexual assault victims from coming forward with complaints.

Hilla Kerner of the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women’s Shelter says the Justice Department findings are of no surprise.

“It’s just the same old, same old,” she said from her office.

“There is a general national failure of the criminal justice system to respond to women reporting on all forms of male violence against women — rape, battery, incest and prostitution.”

The document, which was released late in April, said 43 per cent of men and women in the sample from northern Canada had no confidence in the criminal justice system while 35 per cent of the female sample were not very confident in the court process.

Kerner said there are several failings in the justice system that result in many cases going unreported. She said police don’t do thorough enough investigations, victims are made to feel that the assault was their fault, prosecutors rarely take the cases to court and the conviction rate is low.

Her group, which receives about 1,200 calls a year, sampled a month’s worth of calls last year and saw that out of 113, only 17 women decided to file a complaint with the police. Of those, one case was tried and got a conviction.

“Whenever the Crown decides to drop charges, which is more often than not in sexual assault cases, they’re preventing this justice of holding men accountable,” she said.

“So every time women experience the failure of the criminal justice system, not only are they as individuals losing trust in getting justice from the system, other women are witnessing that too.”

The Justice report found that 55 women out of 114 reported their assault and that 22 of those went to trial, with convictions rendered in 18 of those.

The findings come as governments throughout Canada mark Sexual Assault Awareness Month and weeks after the suicide of a Halifax teenager whose family says the justice and education systems failed her at every turn.

Rehtaeh Parsons, 17, was taken off life-support last month following months of what her family said was online bullying linked to an alleged sexual assault.

Rehtaeh’s family says she was assaulted by several boys at a house party in 2011 and that digital images of the assault were passed around her school.

Her death sparked national outrage and prompted the Nova Scotia government to launch reviews of the RCMP’s original investigation into the case and the school board’s handling of the matter.

The police also reopened a criminal investigation into the alleged assault after receiving new information. Before that, the RCMP said they had concluded there wasn’t enough evidence to lay charges.

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Oil up again to near $95 ahead of US jobs data

Saturday, 04. May 2013 von Superman

The price of crude oil continued to rise Friday, a day after posting its biggest jump this year, as traders awaited the release of a closely watched U.S. employment report.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for June delivery was up 61 cents to $94.60 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price rose sharply on Thursday as the European Central Bank cut its key interest rate to a new low and U.S. unemployment benefit claims dropped. The Nymex contract rose $2.96, or 3.3 percent, to finish at $93.99 a barrel, the biggest one-day gain for crude since November.

“The recent rebound in crude oil prices is a result of more confidence in the global economy as ECB and Fed decisions to stimulate growth could bring a boost in oil demand for the second half of 2013,” said analysts at Sucden Financial Research in London.

Later Friday, the U.S. Labor Department will release its monthly employment report for April, which could show whether weak hiring in March was a temporary lull or a more significant trend No teletrack payday loans.

Oil prices have been weighed down in recent weeks by concern that growth _ and energy demand _ is waning, while supplies remain ample, particularly in the U.S.

Brent crude, which is used to set prices of oil from the North Sea used by many U.S. refiners, was up 65 cents to $103.50 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange:

_ Wholesale gasoline rose 0.82 cent to $2.7888 a gallon.

_ Heating oil added 1.55 cents to $2.871 a gallon.

_ Natural gas fell 3.4 cents to $3.991 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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Americans Spend Less on Finance as Suspicion Lingers: EcoPulse - Bloomberg

Friday, 26. April 2013 von Superman

Americans are allocating a smaller share of their spending to investment-related fees since the recession, a sign they are still wary of returning to financial markets even as stocks trade near record highs.

Spending on expenses including securities commissions, investment advice and custodial services totaled about $150.8 billion in February at a seasonally-adjusted annual rate, Commerce Department data show. That accounted for 1.3 percent of total personal consumption, matching the average since the 18- month recession ended in June 2009, compared with 1.6 percent in the 12 months before the downturn started. March figures are scheduled to be released April 29.

Toronto police arrest second armed bank robbery suspect

Wednesday, 24. April 2013 von Superman

Toronto police have a second suspect in custody following an alleged armed bank robbery and gunfight last week at TD Canada Trust.

On Thursday morning, just after midnight, the Hold Up Squad arrested Lenroy Jackson, 27, of Toronto, at his home.

“We discovered his whereabouts and search warrants were executed at his residence,” said Det. Sgt. Bill Seldon. “I don’t know if any armed robbery suspect comes willingly, but he came without incident.”

Two men allegedly robbed the branch at St. Clair Ave. W. and Mould Ave., armed with a semi-automatic handgun and made off with a small amount of cash.

Security footage showed an unarmed robber vaulting the bank’s counter free business cards. When he jumped back over the counter, he was unexpectedly attacked by a customer, Carl Fraser, 54, who was later shot in the abdomen. Another bullet hit a 22-year-old employee in the leg as she cowered on the ground.

On Monday, police arrested Andr

G-20 Draft Affirms Commitment to Avoid Competitive Devaluations - Bloomberg

Thursday, 18. April 2013 von Superman

The Group of 20 economies will affirm a commitment to avoid weakening their currencies to gain an advantage for their exports, according to a draft statement prepared for a meeting this week in Washington, Bloomberg BNA reported.

The draft statement, seen by a Bloomberg BNA reporter, maintains a pledge made in February in Moscow to

Georgia students organize school

Friday, 05. April 2013 von Superman

A high school in rural south Georgia is about to be shaken up.

Both the prom and homecoming dances held there have been segregated for 30 years. Blacks are not invited to the white kids’ prom and the same holds true for homecoming.

That’s about to change at Wilcox County High School, located in Rochelle, some 255 kilometres miles south of Atlanta.

While still having two separate dances, the school decided for the first time this year to elect only one Prom King and one Prom Queen.

Quanesha Wallace, who is black, was elected queen. The king was white.

But there was still a problem: She wasn’t invited to his dance.

Wallace was upset.

“I felt like there had to be a change because for me to be a black person and the king to be a white person, I felt like, you know why can’t we come together? Wallace told WSFA.com.

Fed up, senior students decided to organize an integrated prom on April 27, which is upsetting some people who think that the system was working fine, so why change?

The students behind the movement — Stephanie Sinnot, Mareshia Rucker, Keela Bloodworth and Wallace — can point to the fact that racial segregation was ruled unconstitutional in the United States since 1954.

After the school was integrated 30 years ago, the annual prom was ended.

Parents began sponsoring their own private dances to maintain the separate-but-equal status.

“We live in rural south Georgia, where not too many things change,” the students wrote on the school’s Facebook page.

“Well, as a group of adamant high school seniors, we want to make a difference in our community. For the first time in the history of our county, we plan to have an integrated prom.”

This integrated prom is not being celebrated fully.

Students say that some people are ripping down the posters posted at the school.

Last year police were called when a biracial student tried to attend an all-white prom. Police turned him away.

Some of the students said that it is “embarrassing” having segregated proms in this day and age.

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BlackBerry sells 1 million Z10 phones, posts surprise earnings

Friday, 29. March 2013 von Superman

) fiscal fourth quarter, which ended March 2, was a transitional one. The company finally launched its long-delayed BlackBerry 10 operating system in January, and rolled out the first phone to run on the new software a few weeks later.

That phone, the Z10, launched in February in Canada, the U.K. and the United Arab Emirates — only a few weeks before the end of the quarter. The Z10 went on sale in the United States at , Fortune 500) last Friday and hits , Fortune 500) stores today.

Overall, BlackBerry earned $94 million, or 18 cents per share, in the fourth quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a the company to lose 29 cents per share. The company said it was able to swing to a profit due to a cost-cutting initiative that began during the quarter, including making its supply chain more efficient. BlackBerry lost $118 million a year ago.

In prepared remarks, CEO Thorsten Heins credited “numerous changes at BlackBerry over the past year” with the company’s return to profitability.

Still, BlackBerry’s sales of $2.7 billion during the quarter disappointed. Wall Street analysts had expected the company to bring in $2.8 billion in revenue. The company shipped just 6 million smartphones in total, and its subscriber base fell to 76 million.

“To say it was a very challenging environment … would be the understatement of the year,” Heins added later, on a post-earnings conference call with analysts.

One analyst asked Heins how many of the 1 million Z10 phone shipments to stores have actually sold to customers. Heins put the figure “roughly” at two-thirds to three-quarters.

Investors knew BlackBerry’s fourth-quarter results wouldn’t say much about the success or failure of the newly launched Z10. For that, analysts will be looking to the company’s first-quarter results. BlackBerry said it expects to break even during the current quarter, despite raising its marketing spending by 50%. Wall Street analysts had been expecting a small loss.

On the conference call, Heins said BlackBerry 10 is the “beginning, certainly not the end” of the company’s turnaround. “Everybody at BlackBerry understands there is still more work to be done,” he added.

Specifically, Heins sees several areas for potential revenue growth: autos, healthcare, security, defense, enterprise, and licensing of BlackBerry 10.

“Our vision is to expand from being a smartphone company to being a leader in mobile computing,” Heins said.

Shares ended Thursday about 1% lower, at $14.45.

BlackBerry’s stock has enjoyed a strong comeback since the company said last year that BlackBerry 10 would finally be unveiled in January after long delays. Shares are up 91% over the past six months, but the stock has been extremely volatile.

That’s partly because many investors are still betting against BlackBerry. As of March 15, nearly one-third of shares were held by short-sellers who think that BlackBerry’s stock will fall. That’s a whopping percentage, and it has contributed to BlackBerry’s wild swings as “shorts” are occasionally forced to buy up shares in order to cover their positions.

Ultimately, investors will want to see more evidence that BlackBerry’s new phones can make a dent in what’s a highly competitive mobile market.

Devices made by Samsung and others that run on , Fortune 500) Android operating system have become popular. , Fortune 500)is, of course, still a significant player. And ) is also gunning for smartphone users with new Lumia phones that run on mobile software from , Fortune 500).

BlackBerry is hoping its new operating system will usher in a new era for the company. Meanwhile, another era is ending: Mike Lazaridis, who co-founded the company in 1984 and served as co-CEO until 2012, is stepping down from the board on May 1. Last week, Lazaridis announced he is starting a venture fund called Quantum Valley Investments.

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Cyprus limits ATM withdrawals to 100 euros per a day

Sunday, 24. March 2013 von Superman

NICOSIA, MARCH 24 (REUTERS)—The central bank in Cyprus imposed a 100-euros per day withdrawal limit at cash machines for all local banks on Sunday to avert a run on lenders.

A spokesman for second largest lender Cyprus Popular Bank , which had previously limited withdrawals to 260 euros, said the new measure began at 1 p no fax payday loans.m. (1100 GMT) and would remain in place until the bank reopens, scheduled for Tuesday, or until confirmation of continued emergency funding from the European Central Bank.

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