Formula One: Ecclestone says F1 to be sold before year's end

The Formula One circus could be under new ownership by the end of the year, supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Tuesday. 

PHOTO: AFP

OCT 7, 20156:56 AM

[Kitzbuehel, AUSTRIA] The Formula One circus could be under new ownership by the end of the year, supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Tuesday.

Speaking by video at a sports summit in Kitzbuehel, Austria, organised by German football legend Franz Beckenbauer, Ecclestone was adamant a new owner would be found this year.

"Our shareholders are in a position at the moment where they have to lose some, or all, of their shares shortly," he said.

"That's the way things are set up for them. There has been a lot of interest, and I would say there are three parties at the moment. I'd be surprised if one of them doesn't buy very shortly."

The 84-year-old, who runs Formula One Management, the company that generates and manages F1's revenue, did not reveal the names of the interested parties.

F1 chief executive Ecclestone confirmed he would sell his own five per cent stake in the business as part of any deal, although he is likely to continue in his current role.

Back in June, the Financial Times claimed that American Stephen Ross, the owner of the Miami Dolphins NFL team, and Qatar Sports Investment (QSI) had both expressed an interest in buying a 35.5 per cent controlling interest in F1, currently held by CVC Capital Partners.

QSI, who also own French Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain, have been wooing the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which held its annual gala at the end of last year in the Qatari capital. Doha.

Although it remains extremely popular, F1 has seen falling audiences over the last year and a lack of genuine competition in races as the Mercedes stable have taken over from Red Bull in dominating the sport.

AFP

    
 

US: Internet stocks sink after EU court ruling on data

PHOTO: AFP

OCT 7, 20156:54 AM

[NEW YORK] Major US Internet company shares fell on Tuesday after the top EU court ruled in a case involving Facebook that an agreement on cross-Atlantic data transfers was invalid for privacy reasons.

But blue-chip stocks closed slightly higher, pulled up by a 7.7 per cent surge in DuPont over the sudden departure of its longtime chief executive Ellen Kullman.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 13.76 points (0.08 per cent) at 16,790.19.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 7.13 (0.36 per cent) to 1,979.92, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index lost 32.90 (0.69 per cent) at 4,748.36.

The Nasdaq sank on the back of Internet and health shares.

Facebook lost 1.3 per cent, Twitter 1.9 per cent and Amazon 1.1 per cent after the European Court of Justice invalidated the 15-year-old Safe Harbour agreement which allowed US Internet companies to move data on customers and consumers across the Atlantic for holding and use in US-based databanks.

The ruling could raise costs and operating difficulties for the data-dependent companies.

Google though did not appear harmed by the ruling, adding 0.6 per cent.

Health insurers also lost sharply amid worries the sector has pushed too far, valuation-wise.

UnitedHealth Group lost 3.0 per cent, Anthem 2.4 per cent, Aetna 3.7 per cent, and Cigna 2.1 per cent.

Michael James of Wedbush Securities said some of the fall on Tuesday spilled over from the 10.6 per cent plunge in Illumina, a biotech firm which said it would fall short of fourth-quarter revenue forecasts.

"The negative sentiment from that is carrying over to just about everything healthcare-related," he said.

The abrupt retirement of DuPont's chief executive, with no replacement named, came as the company slashed its profit outlook for the year.

Nevertheless investors bid up the shares sharply.

Bond prices rose. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury fell to 2.04 per cent from 2.06 per cent Monday, while the 30-year slipped 2.87 per cent from 2.90 percent. Bond prices and yields move inversely.

AFP

      

Brazilian bank employees go on strike

A woman walks past a bank branch with posters reading "Bank employees on strike" in Brasilia on Oct 6, 2015. The employees of Brazilian banks went on indefinite strike in demand of a wage increase of 16%. 

PHOTO: AFP

OCT 7, 20157:02 AM

[RIO DE JANEIRO] Brazilian bank employees went on strike on Tuesday to demand a 16 per cent pay rise and better working conditions, their union Contraf-CUT said.

The strike affected state and private bank outlets across the country and was announced as indefinite. Workers are also demanding a greater share of profits.

Contraf-CUT said the vote to strike took place Thursday after workers rejected an offer from the employers' association of a 5.5 per cent pay rise.

The Brazilian Banking Federation (Febraban) said clients could still make withdrawals, deposits and other basic transactions through online banking, phone apps and cash machines.

Last October, bank employees went out on strike for a week, demanding a 12.5 per cent rise in pay and settling for a 8.5 per cent hike.

Brazil's five main banks - the private Unibanco, Bradesco and Santander, and the state-owned Banco do Brasil and Caixa Economica Federal - saw 60.3 billion reais in profits (S$22 billion at the time). That was an 18.5 per cent rise over the previous year.

AFP

    
 

Dollar slightly slower as IMF cuts global growth forecast

The US dollar edged lower against other major currencies on Tuesday as the International Monetary Fund trimmed its global economic growth forecasts and the US trade deficit widened. 

PHOTO: AFP

OCT 7, 20156:50 AM

[NEW YORK] The US dollar edged lower against other major currencies on Tuesday as the International Monetary Fund trimmed its global economic growth forecasts and the US trade deficit widened.

At 2100 GMT, the dollar dropped to US$1.1271 versus the euro, US$1.5230 to the pound, and to 120.21 yen as the IMF said the slowdown in China and emerging markets generally would hold US growth to 2.6 per cent this year and 2.8 per cent in 2016.

Also pulling down the greenback was a jump in the US trade deficit in August as exports slumped.

"Signs that global weakness has caught up with the US economy kept the dollar in a funk," said Joe Manimbo at Western Union.

"Since Friday, the world's top economy has let loose underwhelming news on the job market and services growth, while the trade deficit exploded to its widest in five months, all of which point to cooler growth over the last quarter."

AFP

Britain to spur home ownership, says PM Cameron with eye on his legacy

British Prime Minister David Cameron will unveil plans on Wednesday to spur home ownership, striking at criticism that his Conservative government is failing growing numbers of Britons who are priced out of the housing market. 

PHOTO: AFP

OCT 7, 20157:20 AM

[MANCHESTER] British Prime Minister David Cameron will unveil plans on Wednesday to spur home ownership, striking at criticism that his Conservative government is failing growing numbers of Britons who are priced out of the housing market.

In a speech which could help shape his legacy as he begins his last five years in power, Mr Cameron will stake claim to the political centre ground and try to appeal particularly to young people, thousands of whom recently helped to elect left-winger Jeremy Corbyn to lead the main opposition Labour Party.

Mr Cameron, 48, has said he will step down by 2020 after his second term as prime minister and is increasingly interested in how he will be remembered.

In his speech to his party's annual conference, he will define his leadership as overseeing "the turnaround decade" and will reach out to the many younger Britons forced to live with their parents because they cannot afford to buy their own home.

"When a generation of hardworking men and women in their 20s and 30s are waking up each morning in their childhood bedrooms - that should be a wakeup call for us," Mr Cameron will say, according to excerpts from his speech. "We need a national crusade to get homes built."

He will say the government will amend planning policy to encourage developers to build affordable housing to meet heavy demand - part of the Conservatives' drive to shed their image as a party that only looks after the rich and privileged and to attract support from lower earners.

Home ownership has long been a totemic issue for the Conservative Party.

In 1975, then-Conservative leader Margaret Thatcher said she would transform Britain into a "home-owning democracy", a promise that helped her become prime minister in 1979. Her government then sold off large numbers of state-owned 'council houses' to their tenants, often at knockdown prices.

New Labour leader Corbyn has also promised to do more for people priced out of Britain's expensive housing market, where prices have risen by more than 50 per cent over the last decade.

He was elected Labour leader last month after tapping into a desire for change, particularly among some younger voters who face more difficulty in getting jobs and owning homes than their parents did.

At the Conservatives' conference in the northern English city of Manchester, government ministers have poached some of their Labour opponents' policies such as investing in new infrastructure and childcare programmes.

By targeting home building, they are pressing that campaign. "I believe that we can make this era - these 2010s - a defining decade for our country ... the turnaround decade," Mr Cameron will say.

"One which people will look back on and say: 'that's the time when the tide turned when people no longer felt the current going against them, but working with them.'"

REUTERS

    
 

UK high street prices fall harder, food prices down again: BRC

      

The fall in British shop prices picked up more speed in September, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday, underscoring the weak outlook for the country's zero inflation rate. 

PHOTO: REUTERS

OCT 7, 20157:17 AM

[LONDON] The fall in British shop prices picked up more speed in September, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday, underscoring the weak outlook for the country's zero inflation rate.

The BRC said shop prices in September were 1.9 per cent lower than a year earlier, a bigger fall than August's 1.4 per cent decline. Food prices fell 0.5 per cent having pushed up marginally in the previous two months.

"Within food retailing, there is still downward pressure on prices and this is expected to continue as supermarkets battle for the wallets of the Christmas shopper," Mike Watkins, head of retailer insight at survey compiler Nielsen, said. "On the high street, many non-food retailers are using strong, seasonal promotions to drive sales growth."

Non-food prices also fell more quickly, down by 2.9 per cent in September.

Britain's broader official measure of inflation, the consumer prices index, slipped back to zero in August.

The Bank of England, which is expected to keep interest rates at a record low this week, expects inflation to pick up next year.

REUTERS

      

Former UN General Assembly head arrested for bribery

A file picture dated Sept 24, 2013 shows president of the United Nations General Assembly Dr. John Ashe speaking at the 68th United Nations General Assembly in New York City, New York, USA. 

PHOTO: EPA

OCT 7, 20157:08 AM

[NEW YORK] A former president of the UN General Assembly, John Ashe, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with taking US$1.3 million in bribes from Chinese businessmen in a corruption scandal that stunned the world body.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said he was "shocked and deeply troubled" by the charges, which were unprecedented in the UN's 70-year history.

Ashe, who served as assembly president for a year from September 2013, allegedly took bribes in exchange for backing a proposed UN conference centre in Macau promoted by a wealthy Chinese developer Ng Lap Seng.

The 61-year-old former UN ambassador for Antigua and Barbuda was arrested at his home in Dobbs Ferry outside New York and three others were jailed in the wide-ranging scheme.

"If proven, today's charges will confirm that the cancer of corruption that plagues too many local and state governments infects the United Nations as well," US attorney Preet Bharara told a news conference.

Mr Bharara said the former UN assembly chief "sold himself and the global institution he led" for Rolexes, suits and a private basketball court all paid for by the wealthy Chinese developer.

The bribes allegedly were paid from 2011 to December 2014.

"Among other things, Ashe accepted over US$500,000" from Ng who was "seeking to build a multi-billion dollar, UN-sponsored conference center in Macau," the complaint said.

In exchange for these payments, Ashe submitted a request to Mr Ban "which claimed that there was a purported need to build the UN Macau Conference Centre."

Ng and others used the March 2012 letter from Ashe to promote the conference centre which was to house a "Global Business Incubator" to foster South-South cooperation in the private sector.

Ashe was the UN ambassador from Antigua and Barbuda when he wrote the letter.

Ng was arrested and jailed in New York last month for smuggling more than US$4.5 million in cash into the United States over a two-year period.

The complaint also cited Francis Lorenzo, a UN deputy ambassador from the Dominican Republic, Shiwei Yan, Jeff Yin and Heidi Hong Piao as conspiring in the corruption scheme. Yin was arrested along with Ng last month.

The five are accused of using a fake non-government organisation to carry out the bribery scheme. Lorenzo, the NGO's honorary president, was paid a US$20,000 salary.

ROLEXES, TAILORED SUITS, BMW

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said UN officials first learned of the charges when media reports surfaced on Tuesday and had not been contacted by the US authorities to help in the investigation.

"We've just learned of these very serious allegations this morning," said Dujarric.

"The secretary-general was shocked and deeply troubled to learn this morning of the allegations against John Ashe, which go to the heart of the integrity of the United Nations," he added.

Ashe received US$800,000 in bribes from Chinese businessmen to advance their interests at the United Nations and with the Antigua government including with the prime minister who received a cut of the bribe money, the documents said.

Ashe, who served as UN ambassador until November 2014, allegedly took payments to cover personal expenses such as family vacations and construction of a basketball court at his house.

Details of Ashe's luxurious lifestyle were listed in the documents including two Rolex watches worth US$54,000, a US$40,000-lease for a new BMW luxury car, expensive tailored suits from Hong Kong worth US$59,000 and Gucci purchases totalling more than US$5,000.

The US attorney said Ashe had "formed a corrupt alliance of business and government, converting the UN into a platform for profit."

The United Nations scheduled a news conference for 3pm (1900 GMT) by the current president of the General Assembly, Mogens Lykketoft of Denmark.

AFP

    
 

Obama 'confident' in TPP Pacific trade deal

US President Barack Obama speaks about the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement at the Agriculture Department in Washington, DC, on Oct 6, 2015. 

PHOTO: AFP

OCT 7, 20156:59 AM

[WASHINGTON] US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he was confident he could make a case for the ambitious TPP Pacific free-trade deal as he began pressing for its ratification by Congress.

A day after 12 countries reached agreement on the Trans-Pacific Partnership following grueling Atlanta negotiations, Mr Obama told agriculture and business leaders that the deal is good for them.

"I've said repeatedly that I would only sign an agreement and present an agreement to Congress if I could be absolutely certain that it was good for American workers and good for American businesses, good for American farmers and good for American ranchers, and good for American manufacturers," he said.

"We have met that standard in this agreement."

Although the details of the agreement will not likely be made public for weeks, congressional leaders have already expressed reservations over the TPP deal, which would fashion the world's largest free-trade zone "made for the 21st century".

Mr Obama stressed that Congress, the public and other stakeholders would all get to see the entire agreement before it goes to a vote in the Congress, expected to take at least three months.

Negotiated in secret, the TPP pact has some 30 chapters on issues from intellectual property protections to handling foreign investor disputes to enforcing labour rights, and a number of annex agreements on specific tariff cuts between specific countries.

"There's going to be a long, healthy process of discussion and consultation and debate before this ever comes to an actual vote," Mr Obama said.

"But I'm also confident that the case to be made for why this is good for America is sufficiently strong; that ultimately we're going to get this done, and it will be an enormous achievement for us to be able to make sure that 40 per cent of the world's economy is operating under rules that don't hurt us." "Under this agreement, we, rather than countries like China, are writing the rules for the global economy," he added.

AFP

    
 

The Real Face of the European Union (Video)

The Real Face of the European Union

The EU has been sold to Britain as our best hope for the future. But behind the scenes, has another, more unsettling agenda been unfolding? The European Economic Community (EEC) began for Britain as a free-trade agreement in 1972.

Today’s European Union is well on its way to becoming a federal superstate, complete with one currency, one legal system, one military, one police force – even its own national anthem.

In this shocking new documentary featuring EU insiders and commentators, independent author Phillip Day covers the history and goals of the European Union, as well as the disturbing, irrevocable implications this new government has for every British citizen.

Whether the viewer is for or against Britain’s participation, this film asks the troubling questions the mainstream media has refused to confront.

Watch the full documentary now

.

Terminal Democracy (Video)

Terminal Democracy

2013 

What if people were either so distracted or so disillusioned with the political process that they simply gave up on democracy?

Take a journey around the province of British Columbia to discover the currentcondition of our democracy, talk to the people involved in the process, and look at the real issues facing citizens in British Columbia.

Democracy is a form of government in which all eligible citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives.

Democracy allows eligible citizens to participate equally - either directly or through elected representatives - in the proposal, development, and creation of laws.

It encompasses social, economic and cultural conditions that enable the free and equal practice of political self-determination.