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Friday, May 5, 2006

Australian Prime Minister John Howard and federal industry minister Ian MacDonald today announced that the federal government would be providing Ford Australia with a AU$52.5 million (US$40.4 million) “financial assistance package”. Additional assistance will also be provided by the Victorian state government.

According to Mr Howard, the injection will secure Ford’s manufacturing operations in Australia “for the long term”.

From the package, AU$40 million will be used for the design and manufacture of Ford’s next model Falcon and Territory vehicles, which will be built in Australia.

Despite being given a major facelift in 2002 and another in 2005, the Falcon’s bodyshell dates back to 1998. The current Falcon will need to serve the company until at least 2007 when the new model is anticipated. In the meantime, it will face stiff competition from the completely new Holden Commodore (the Falcon’s major competitor) which will be released in the second half of this year.

The additional AU$12.5 million will be spent on the development of a light commercial vehicle platform, which will be built overseas and marketed to around 80 countries. Mr Howard said that the light commercial project would involve construction of a research and development centre, which will become the base for R&D projects in the region.

Mr MacFarlane said that the research facility was exciting for Australia and that it would put the Australian automotive in the spotlight.

“The funding has helped Ford Australia secure the largest automotive R&D project ever undertaken in Australia which is equally exciting news for local Ford employees and Australian component producers” he said.

“The project will see Ford Australia become a centre for automotive design and engineering excellence in the Asia Pacific region which will bring spin-off benefits for the broader industry,”

“This opportunity will put both Ford Australia, and the Australian automotive and components sectors on the world map as far as our automotive design and engineering capabilities are concerned.” Mr MacFarlane said.

Mr Howard claims that the projects will create 273 jobs and secure the future of the “iconic” Ford Falcon, which has been built in Australia since 1960.

The financial package is conditional upon Ford Australia giving the Australian automotive component industry an opportunity to supply components for the vehicles produced by the two projects.

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Former Indonesian President Suharto, 86, is in a Jakarta hospital in critical condition. Doctors say he is suffering heart problems. Chad Bouchard reports from Jakarta.

The former president was admitted to a hospital on Friday with swelling throughout his body. Doctors say Mr. Suharto’s heart has become too weak to pump blood properly, and his kidneys are deteriorating.

Andi Mallarangeng, spokesman for current president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, says the president visited Mr. Suharto in the hospital Saturday and found him too weak to talk.

“He was conscious, he was not in a coma in that sense, he was conscious, but he was very weak,” he said. “The presidential doctors informed the president that President Suharto is in [a] critical situation.”

Suharto ruled Indonesia for 32 years, stepping down after widespread demonstrations and rioting during the Asian economic crisis of 1998.

He has since lived quietly in an upscale district of central Jakarta.

The anti-corruption organization Transparency International says Mr. Suharto embezzled more from Indonesia than any other modern leader, an estimated $15 billion to $35 billion. Mr. Suharto has steadfastly denied such accusations.

Monday, March 15, 2010

The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) arrested two men in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India on Sunday for plotting to set the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd. (ONGC) office on fire and attack a mall and a market. They were arrested on information given by lndian intelligence agencies. The pair was arrested on Saturday, produced in court on Sunday and have been remanded to police custody till 18 March. Police have seized several maps from them.

The men, who are brothers-in-law, have been identified as Abdul Latif Rashid aka Guddu (29) and Riyaz Ali Imtiaz aka Rehan (23), and were arrested in Trombay while allegedly conducting reconnaissance of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) following a tip-off by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), according to police reports. The Esplanade metropolitan magistrate sent the pair to police custody till March 18 and charged them under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

ATS chief K.P. Raghuvanshi said Adbul and Riyaz had identified three targets in the city; the Thakkar Mall in Borivali (West), the ONGC office and the Mangaldas Market, located at the busy Crawford Market. The suspects had conducted reconnaissance of the Nhava-Sheva area of the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in south-east Mumbai, an ATS official said. “The two were preparing to set one of the ONGC establishments in the city on fire following instructions from someone called ‘Uncle’,” an ATS officer said adding “we are probing if the directions had come from across the border”.

IB had intercepted suspicious phone calls, between the two suspects and a ‘Chacha’ (uncle) in Karachi and the ATS had put them under surveillance. They were arrested after the suspicions were confirmed and backed by solid evidence. Rehan worked as a salesman at the Thakkar Mall, which already had been surveyed by the duo and were awaiting further instructions, according to police. ATS officials did not clarify whether the two were actually going to carry out attacks or were just drawing maps and conducting reconnaissance, being a part of a greater chain of command.

“I have more information about the people arrested, but I will not reveal it at this point as their accomplices, who are still at large, may benefit from it, ” said Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil. He refused to tell if there was a connection between these suspects and the Pune blast last month which killed seventeen people. The Home ministry of India described these arrests as significant, saying that the conspiracy was part of the “Karachi Project” .

The so-called Karachi project was revealed by David Headley, a Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorist arrested in US. It is supposedly a collaboration between Lashkar-e-Toiba and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency involving recruitment of serving and retired Pakistani army officers and fugitive terrorists from India to carry out suicide attacks in India.

Monday, September 7, 2015

The US economy added 173,000 jobs in August, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday. The unemployment rate fell from 5.3 to 5.1 percent, the lowest since April 2008.

Although August job gains were lower than most economists forecast, job growth numbers for June and July were revised upwards by a combined 44,000. Average job gains over the past three months stand at 221,000, compared to March-May’s 189,000 monthly average. Over the past twelve months, job growth has averaged 247,000 per month.

Average hourly earnings rose 0.3 percent, or 8 cents, marking the largest increase in earnings in seven months. Hourly earnings had risen by 6 cents in July. Wages have risen by 2.2 percent over the past year.

Job growth in August was primarily concentrated in the health care and social assistance, financial activities, and professional and business services sectors. Those three areas of the economy added a combined 108,000 jobs. Food service and drinking places employment increased by 26,000 over the month, and other economic sectors saw employment hold steady. Manufacturing, on the other hand, saw employment decline by 17,000 in August. A stronger dollar and worldwide economic weakness make US exports less desirable, leading to a flattening in manufacturing employment so far this year after steadily rising in the early years of the US economic recovery.

The solid overall job gains led analysts to slightly raise expectations for a decision by the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates this month. Investors raised the likelihood of a September rate increase from 26 percent before the jobs report to 30 percent, and stocks dropped by over one percent on Friday. “The payrolls data is certainly good enough to allow for a Fed rate hike in September,” said Deutsche Bank’s head of currency strategy, Alan Ruskin. “The big question is still whether financial market volatility will scupper the plans.”

“This is the first time the market has looked at a Fed meeting and really has no idea what the Fed is going to do,” said Mark Kepner, a New Jersey equity trader with Themis Trading. “Right now you’re looking at the overall uncertainty and that’s what’s hanging on the market. I don’t think this number in and of itself changes how somebody’s going to vote.”

Thursday, May 31, 2007

According to The Japan Times, the 20-year-old Japanese delegate Riyo Mori was crowned as the 56th Miss Universe, in a ceremony held at Mexico City on May 28 .

Riyo, the new Miss Universe titleholder, is from Shizuoka, Japan. She had stayed in Canada to study ballet while in high-school.After Riyo returned to her country, she became to an instructor of a dance school.

Riyo Mori achieved the brilliant feat of winning this beauty contest as Japanese after 48 years’ absence.Incidentally, preceded runner-up is Kurara Chibana.

Monday, July 3, 2006

New Jersey —Numerous non-essential state services have ceased operation indefinitely from July 1. These include road work, the New Jersey Lottery, and the Motor Vehicle Commission, with Atlantic City casinos and racetracks (which require state monitoring) and public beaches and parks closing from July 5.

As a result of Article VIII, Section II, paragraph 2 of the New Jersey State Constitution, the state is required to determine all debts for “as far as can be ascertained or reasonably foreseen” and provide for them in a single budget act. As the 2005-2006 Fiscal Year for the state ended with June 31 and the 2006-2007 budget has not passed the state is blocked from expending any money, also by VIII, II, 2. The current ascertainment shows the state ending up in the red by 4.5 billion USD.

The main cause of the problem is a furious deadlock between the Democratic majority is the New Jersey General Assembly, the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature, which is given the power of starting the budget, and the Democratic Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine. The main concern is Corzine’s plan to raise taxes, such as the sales tax. The Assembly majority dislikes this and some in the New Jersey Senate, which has the power to block the budget, also disagree with his measure.

Originally the racetracks were to close with the state lottery, however a court order has kept them running past the 4th. The casinos attempted to get a similar exemption, but that was definitively rejected by the New Jersey Supreme Court. “Critical” services like the New Jersey State Police, the state’s prisons, and hospitals will continue to operate without funding. All non-essential employees of the state were given leave from July 1 on.

All 12 casinos in Atlantic City locked their doors for the first time in the 28-year history of legalized gambling in New Jersey. Casino inspectors, who are state employees, are no longer working. While the casino floor is shut down, many casinos have remained open for hotel, restaurant, and entertainment business.

Members of both houses of the Legislature have been kept in the capital, Trenton, to help a speedy passage.

A similar situation occurred in Minnesota exactly one year ago as the Legislature failed to pass the budget before they were forced to adjourn by a hard-wired date in the state constitution.

Friday, February 26, 2010

Thailand’s Supreme Court today ruled that the family of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra be stripped of 46.3 billion baht (US$1.4 billion) in frozen assets, more than half of a contested $2.3 billion fortune. According to the court, the seized assets were illegally gained while Thaksin was Prime Minister; specifically, his familial involvement and connections with Shin Corporation.

In a statement released by the court, the judges said that Thaksin had adjusted government policies to favor telecommunications businesses, including Shin Corporation, a large telecommunications company owned by Thaksin, and his family, and sold to a Singapore investment firm in 2006. Additionally, Thaksin was alleged to have deposited shares held in Shin Corporation with family members whilst in office – a move to avoid, under Thai law, illegally holding any company stock while Prime Minister. Additionally, he was found to have unfairly promoted a $127 million loan to Burma – benefiting a satellite communications firm controlled by his family.

In a response from an undisclosed location outside Thailand, Thaksin contested the ruling, claiming the case was politically motivated and that, “the court was used to get rid of a politician.” In his remarks, he said that he came by his wealth legally, and he would continue his fight against both the ruling and the party that ousted him in 2008. In Thailand, Thaksin’s red-shirted supporters publicly opposed the verdict; although, no significant disturbances have been reported despite government warnings over the possibility violence. Instead, protesters say they plan a mass demonstration against the ruling sometime in March.