Anti-austerity strike closes Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was forced to close to visitors on Thursday due to a strike by unions opposed to what they see as the "austerity" policies of the French government. 

PHOTO: AFP

9 Apr7:46 PM

[PARIS] The Eiffel Tower was forced to close to visitors on Thursday due to a strike by unions opposed to what they see as the "austerity" policies of the French government.

"The Eiffel Tower will be closed until 6 pm (1600 GMT) and will re-open this evening. Ninety per cent of the staff...voted to go on strike to denounce the government's austerity policies," said union representative Stephane Dieu.

Signs have been placed at the bottom of the tower, one of the world's most visited tourist attractions, so that "tourists don't hang around for nothing," Dieu added.

The "Iron Lady" attracts around seven million visitors a year, of which nearly nine in 10 are foreign tourists.

The strike at the Eiffel Tower is part of wider industrial action called by four unions to protest against government cuts.

A separate strike at Radio France has stretched into its fourth week, prompting Prime Minister Manuel Valls to criticise an "intolerable, unbearable situation." In addition, air traffic controllers are on a two-day strike over their working conditions, forcing airlines to cancel around half their scheduled flights on Thursday.

AFP

    
 

Canadian planes carry out first strikes in Syria against ISIS

PUBLISHED ON APR 9, 2015 8:18 AM

A Canadian soldier standing on board a ship at Constanta harbour, Romania, on March 13, 2015. Canada carried out its first air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, expanding Ottawa's contribution to the US-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. -- PHOTO: AFP 

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada carried out its first air strikes in Syria on Wednesday, the military said, expanding Ottawa's contribution to the US-led coalition against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), after parliament approved a larger role in the conflict.

Two F-18s using precision-guided munitions struck an ISIS position near the Syrian city of Raqqa, before safely returning to base, the military announced.

The strike near Raqqa, an ISIS stronghold, war carried out with a group of 10 aircraft, including six US planes.

Canadian strikes had been limited to Iraqi territory, but at the end of March, Canadian lawmakers narrowly passed a measure to allow the country's aircraft to target ISIS targets in Syria.

Muddy Waters says it has short position on Noble Group

By

Angela Tanangelat@sph.com.sg

HOT on the heels of the blogger Iceberg Research, short-seller Muddy Waters has entered the foray, attacking Noble Group for its accounting policies despite the commodities group's rebuttals. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

9 Apr11:50 AM

HOT on the heels of the blogger Iceberg Research, short-seller Muddy Waters has entered the foray, attacking Noble Group for its accounting policies despite the commodities group's rebuttals.

"Muddy Waters is short Noble Group Limited,'' Muddy Waters said, adding that Noble has been free cash flow positive only four out of 20 years.

" - in other words, it literally generates positive free cash flow once every five years! According to Bloomberg, since 1997 Noble has raised from banks and markets net US$7.7 billion. Noble's debt is now almost four billion dollars. (A recent estimate, which Noble has not contested, is that due to repo-style transactions, Noble's intra-quarter debt is approximately $3 billion greater than reported),'' it said.

"We are really short Noble's management. With a company as complex and opaque as Noble, there is no way for investors to definitively answer certain key questions. It becomes a question of how much investors should trust Noble's management to be straight with them. Noble's management has adamantly insisted that its accounting is conservative, and by implication, is reflective of reality. We do not believe Noble's management.''

See who is talking about NOBLE GROUP

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30 days avg

HOT COMPANY

BG Group +4587% messages

Shell+618%
Burberry+318%
Standard Life+159%
Anglo Am.+123%
Sky plc+96%
InterContinental+66%
WPP+63%
Randgold+51%
Experian+48%
Shell+618%
Burberry+318%
Standard Life+159%
Anglo Am.+123%
Sky plc+96%
InterContinental+66%
WPP+63%
Randgold+51%
Experian+48%

At 11.33am, Noble is trading around S$0.865 each, down 4.5 cents, or almost 5 per cent. More than 62 million shares changed hands.

READ UPDATE: Noble completely rejects Muddy Waters' allegations

    
 

Noble Group shares dive on critical Muddy Waters report

Asian commodity trading giant Noble Group hit back Thursday after US short-seller Muddy Waters accused the firm of existing "solely to borrow and burn cash", in an attack that saw its shares dive. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

9 Apr7:26 PM

[HONG KONG] Asian commodity trading giant Noble Group hit back Thursday after US short-seller Muddy Waters accused the firm of existing "solely to borrow and burn cash", in an attack that saw its shares dive.

It follows earlier allegations of irregular accounting practices at the Hong Kong-based company.

"The management completely rejects the allegations," Noble said in a brief statement to the Singapore stock exchange - where the company is listed - responding to the Muddy Waters report.

The statement said the company was "studying the report in detail".

See who is talking about NOBLE GROUP

Last 30 days:

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30 days avg

HOT COMPANY

BG Group +4587% messages

Shell+618%
Burberry+318%
Standard Life+159%
Anglo Am.+123%
Sky plc+96%
InterContinental+66%
WPP+63%
Randgold+51%
Experian+48%
Shell+618%
Burberry+318%
Standard Life+159%
Anglo Am.+123%
Sky plc+96%
InterContinental+66%
WPP+63%
Randgold+51%
Experian+48%

Noble share prices tumbled on the Singapore Exchange, closing 5.5 per cent lower at 86 Singapore cents after falling by as much as 9.3 per cent following Muddy Waters' disclosure that it was taking a short position on the company.

Muddy Waters described Noble as "complex and opaque" in its report.

"It becomes a question of how much investors should trust Noble's management to be straight with them," it added.

A public relations officer for Noble said he could make no further comment when contacted by AFP.

Muddy Waters was also behind a 2012 attack on Singapore-based farm commodities supplier Olam.

Olam's shares prices tumbled after Muddy Waters alleged the company was in danger of insolvency.

But Olam weathered the storm after Singapore's powerful state investment agency Temasek Holdings backed the firm.

Last month Noble said it would sue one of its former analysts, whom it alleged damaged the company by spreading "false and misleading information".

It made the allegations in a writ filed to a Hong Kong court.

The legal action followed a series of reports by little-known Iceberg Research alleging irregular accounting practices at Noble, though the company did not elaborate on any link between the two in the court filing.

Iceberg said Noble understated its debts and alleged that profits were inflated.

Noble also refuted those claims.

"Iceberg are not the independent research house they claim to be. Their actions, and their timing, have been calculated primarily to inflict damage rather than to facilitate the distribution of research," Noble said in a statement last month.

AFP