Sunday, May 29, 2011

Fiat announced on Friday that it intends to purchase the six percent of automaker Chrysler that the US government currently owns, which would give the Italian company a 52 percent majority stake in Chrysler.

According to Fiat’s announcement, the company has told the US Treasury that it intends to use its option to buy the share in Chrysler held by the US government, a deal that will be finalized by June 10. If a price is not agreed on by that time, Fiat will pay the average of the estimates of two investment banks.

In 2009, Fiat bought a twenty percent stake in Chrysler, which had just exited bankruptcy, and has since increased its holding to 46 percent, expected to increase to 57% by the end of this year.

According to analyst Maryann Keller, the deal is a good one for both companies, as “[n]either one has the ability to compete alone in the kind of global environment that they face.” Analyst Rebecca Lindland said that the move will also benefit the companies by getting “them out from underneath any hint of government ownership and any of that negativity that went along with the bailout.”

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Washington, D.C. – The Environmental Protection Agency may have a new tool in its arsenal to fight global warming. The agency has submitted a proposal to the Obama administration which aims to list carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses as pollutants under the Clean Air Act.

The policy had previously been proposed to and rejected by the Bush administration, which said it was the wrong tool to be using. The proposal lists the negative effects of global warming, including longer and hotter heat waves, increased flooding, and the increased spread of diseases due to warmer weather.

EPA administrator Lisa Jackson has previously suggested declaring global warming a health threat, and that the agency could use the 1970 Clean Air Act to use to combat it.

Environmental groups applauded the finding, with the director of Clean Air Watch, Frank O’Donnell, calling it “a green-letter day for the environment.”

One of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce vice presidents, William L. Kovacs, said if the the proposal is put into effect that it “will be devastating to the economy.”

It is unclear whether the Obama administration will go along with the proposal. White House spokesman Ben LaBolt commented that “The president has made clear that to combat climate change, his strong preference is for Congress to pass energy security legislation that includes a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.” No specific timeline has been given for when a decision would be made.

An upcoming conference in Copenhagen, Denmark will focus on drawing up a new international global warming treaty, which the United States plans to attend, a clear reversal from the Bush administration’s non-participation in the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

Saturday, February 7, 2009

The United Nations has halted aid shipments to the Gaza Strip after Hamas’ Ministry of Social Affairs confiscated ten truck loads of flour and rice on Thursday. This is the second seizure of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) aid by the ministry, which polices the Gaza Strip for Hamas. On Tuesday, UNRWA said that blankets and food were seized at gun-point from a distribution center.

Hamas has acknowledged the seizure and called it a “mistake.”

According to Hamas spokesperson Fawzi Barhoum, Social Affairs Minister Ahmed al Kurd has ordered “the aid to be returned to the agency if it turns out it is indeed its property.”

Barhoum further asserted that neither Hamas nor UNRWA was present when the trucks were loaded and crossed the border at Kerem Shalom. He blamed the drivers for assuming that the supplies must have belonged to Hamas.

Barhoum also said that Hamas appreciates UNRWA’s work and does not like to see its relief work to stop.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, through a spokesperson, demanded that Hamas immediately return the food to UNRWA. Ban also called on Hamas “to refrain from interference with the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance in Gaza.”

Michèle Montas, the UN spokesperson, said that Ban “demands that Hamas immediately release the consignment of humanitarian goods it seized last night, in the second such incident this week, and to refrain from interference with the provision and distribution of humanitarian assistance.”

UNRWA said in a statement that aid will be halted until “the Agency is given credible assurances from the Hamas government in Gaza that there will be no repeat of these thefts.”

“They had been imported from Egypt for collection by UNRWA today,” the statement added. “The food was taken away by trucks contracted by the Ministry of Social Affairs. Two hundred metric tons of rice and 100 metric tons of flour were taken.”

Ban’s spokesperson, Montas, was asked whether UNRWA was favoring Fatah supporters over the rival Hamas. She ruled out that there was a political dimension to UN aid activities in Gaza.

“What we do is (to) give assistance to people who need it, regardless of their political affiliation,” said Montas.

According to the UN, the recent Israeli offensive killed 1,300 Palestinians, injured more than 5,300, and destroyed or damaged 21,000 homes amidst widespread damage to infrastructure. It says there is an urgent need for humanitarian aid, and cited Security Council calls for the unimpeded provision and distribution of such aid.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

On the back of new restrictions being imposed on eBay users in the United Kingdom requiring that sellers offer PayPal payments for all sales, eBay Australia is mandating that only PayPal payments will be acceptable as of June 17. PayPal is a wholly-owned subsidiary of eBay, and charges a 30¢ transaction fee, plus a commission between 1.1% for high volume traders, and 2.4% for low value or low volume traders. These higher costs will be passed onto buyers.

Cash payment on pick up will be the only other payment option, and it may only be offered in conjunction with PayPal.

eBay has brought in this restriction under the guise of improving customer protection, bolstering its “Paypal Buyer Protection” insurance programme to allow claims up to A$20,000 instead of the previous maximum of $3,000, however as of June 17 many of the items which would exceed $3,000 are no longer covered by the programme, such as services, vehicles, real estate and businesses.

eBay Trust and Safety director Alastair MacGibbon said this change was not in response to the once-off fund established in March to refund eBay buyers who lost their non-existent holiday accommodation packages from the Melbourne eBay seller Robert Kobis. Mr MacGibbon said “It is part of a much larger initiative”.

In addition to these measures, Paypal will be withholding funds from some sellers for 21 days

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has held discussion with eBay, but declined to comment. The Australian Consumers Association spokesman Christopher Zinn said the unique use of PayPal could give rise to competition issues, however if the costs charged stayed as they were, they had no further concerns.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

A father shot his two daughters and wife, then committed suicide yesterday in Erie, Western Pennsylvania according to police.

The Erie police responded to a call from the house at 11 a.m. on Saturday and found a 29-year-old man, a 27-year-old woman and two children, ages four and seven dead of gunshot wounds. A two-year old boy was hospitalised with minor injuries; he was reportedly shot in the ear.

A resident, Kevin Klino, who lives one block away from the crime scene and heads the Citizens Reunited Against Crime group told the Associated Press, “I was outside just leaving my house when I heard gunfire, four, five, or six shots… and seconds later, cop cars came flying by.” Klino was quick to talk to the police and informed the community that a gunman was not on the loose, rather, a suspected murder-suicide.

Klino also added, “This is an impoverished neighborhood with a lot of good people in it. People were just walking through the neighborhood stunned. It’s not even a tragedy, it’s worse than that… when you’ve got kids involved, it just numbs you, shocks you”

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Wind storms swept across a large part of Texas on Wednesday, leaving property damaged and many homes without power.

Downed lamposts and trees were reported in multiple locales. One media source reported overturned playground equipment in the city of Rockwall. Winds up to 40 miles-per-hour (mph) were reported over much of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Approximately 9,500 people within Tarrant and Dallas counties were without electrical power as late as Thursday afternoon.

Late Wednesday evening, the National Weather Service reported winds at Dallas Love Field up to 66 mph. The city of Edgewood recorded wind speeds up to 70 mph during the storm; three homes, two barns and two business buildings sustained damage. A home in Chandler was damaged when a tree was toppled during the storm (see photo at left).

Dust from as far away as west Texas covered vehicles and other property early Thursday morning in the eastern part of the state. A car wash manager in Tyler told media his business cleaned about three hundred cars on Thursday, busier than usual even for holiday season.

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