TORONTO (Reuters) – Canadian natives slowed traffic on a bridge crucial to U.S.-Canadian trade on Wednesday as aboriginals across the country staged a “National Day of Action” to protest their living conditions.
Hundreds of natives, some wearing colorful dress and banging drums, blocked an access road leading to the Ambassador Bridge, according to the Globe and Mail, slowing traffic on a major trade artery that connects Windsor, Ontario, with Detroit, Michigan.
Thousands of commercial trucks cross the bridge daily, carrying approximately 25 percent of the goods traded between the two countries, which form the world’s largest trading partnership.
Under the banner of “Idle No More,” native groups promised to hold a series of protests to draw Ottawa‘s attention to poor living conditions and high jobless rates facing many of Canada’s 1.2 million natives.
A native protest shut down a rail line that carries passenger and freight traffic west of Winnipeg in the western province of Manitoba, according to a spokesman for Canadian National Railway Co.
Native groups complain that Canada has ignored treaties signed with British settlers and explorers that they say granted native peoples significant rights over their territory.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed to pay more attention to the demands of First Nations groups in a meeting last week with aboriginal groups.
Ottawa spends about C$ 11 billion ($ 11.1 billion) a year on its aboriginal population, but living conditions for many are poor and some reserves have high rates of poverty, addiction, joblessness and suicide.
Native leaders also want Ottawa to rescind parts of recent budget legislation that they say reduces environmental protection for lakes and rivers.
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Wednesday it would not be “desirable” if the protest damaged the economy.
“This is not a time to have even more challenges to the Canadian economy,” he told reporters on Wednesday.
(Reporting By Russ Blinch, editing by Stacey Joyce)
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WATERLOO, Ont. – Call it BlackBerry Town, even if the name isn’t official.
In the lead up to the BlackBerry smartphone unveiling later this month, creator Research In Motion is turning its Waterloo, Ont., home base into a celebration of the device.
The company plans to decorate light poles in areas of Waterloo and neighbouring Kitchener with banners that promote its latest smartphone and thank the community for its support.
City councillors in Kitchener voted earlier this week to make an exception to rules that prevent corporations from using public property to advertise.
RIM says it is making plans for other events as well.
The company will hold skating rink parties at Kitchener City Hall and in Waterloo Town Square on Jan. 30 to coincide with the unveiling of its new BlackBerry devices.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – “American Idol” returns on Wednesday with the tantalizing promise of fame, fortune and feuds – and that’s just among the celebrity panel hired to find the next pop music sensation.
Singer Mariah Carey, rapper Nicki Minaj and country artist Keith Urban make their debut as judges when the TV talent contest begins its 12th season on Fox.
“All three judges are eminently qualified. It’s a good spectrum in terms of embracing hip-hop, country and pop,” HitFix.com music blogger Melinda Newman said.
“What everyone is going to be looking at, sadly, is how Mariah and Nicki Minaj get along, instead of focusing on the contestants,” she said.
Carey, with more than 200 million album sales, the outspoken Minaj, one of the most exciting voices in rap, and Urban are expected to revive interest in the contest. Last year average audiences dipped below 20 million, and “Idol” lost its eight-year crown as the most watched show on U.S. television to NBC’s “Sunday Night Football.”
The three newcomers replace departing judges Jennifer Lopez and Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler who quit last year after two seasons.
The new panel, rounded out by old hand record producer Randy Jackson, didn’t come cheap. Carey is reported to be earning approximately $ 18 million for the season, Minaj about $ 12 million and Urban $ 8 million.
But industry watchers say “Idol” needs more than big names to bring in audiences at a time of cutthroat competition from talent contests like “The Voice,” “The X Factor,” and “America’s Got Talent.”
“While shaking up the show can initially provide curiosity tune in, at the end of the day, the panel needs to click with each other and with fans,” Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd said.
“‘Idol’ used to have the playground all to itself. After four months of ‘The Voice’ and ‘ X Factor’ last fall, are audiences still going to be excited by ‘Idol’?” Hibberd asked.
The new season of “Idol” was making headlines in September, when video of Carey and Minaj arguing during early auditions was leaked online.
Minaj also was reported to have threatened to shoot Carey, who said in a TV interview last week that she had hired extra security while filming the show.
FOCUS ON CONTESTANTS
In a tense media appearance last week, the two divas claimed they had put their feud behind them, attributing the fight to passionate differences of opinion about the contestants auditioning for a chance to make it through to later rounds.
Newman said it would be a shame if the fight overshadows the show’s original mission of finding new talent, an achievement that could prove the biggest boost to “Idol” ratings.
“All these shows have become more about the contestants than the judges. It would be nice if ‘American Idol,’ as the one that started it all, got the focus back on the contestants.
“Ten years ago, people were really excited when they were voting for (‘Idol’ winners) Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood. There needs to be a powerhouse group of contestants who really capture people’s interest, and who you want to root for,” Newman said.
The new judges say that’s what they want too.
“When I watch these shows and someone says yes to a person who clearly doesn’t deserve it, it bothers me,” Minaj told TV reporters last week. “And I want to jump through the TV because I feel like, for the people who are talented, it kind of minimizes how talented they really are. So when I came on, I didn’t really have a problem with saying no, because I kind of felt like we’re looking for the best of the best.”
Aspiring rappers – never a group that has been embraced by “Idol” producers or fans – will get short shrift.
“I definitely don’t think a rapper should be in this competition … When I got involved in the competition, I specifically said, I hope they didn’t try to do that because I was on the show, because I think America loves that it’s an honest singing competition,” Minaj said.
“American Idol” kicks off on Wednesday on Fox with a two-hour premiere, followed by a one-hour show on Thursday. Fox is a unit of News Corp.
(Reporting By Jill Serjeant; Editing by Stacey Joyce)
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NEW YORK (AP) — A large study offers reassuring news for pregnant women: It’s safe to get a flu shot.
The research found no evidence that the vaccine increases the risk of losing a fetus, and may prevent some deaths. Getting the flu while pregnant makes fetal death more likely, the Norwegian research showed.
The flu vaccine has long been considered safe for pregnant women and their fetus. U.S. health officials began recommending flu shots for them more than five decades ago, following a higher death rate in pregnant women during a flu pandemic in the late 1950s.
But the study is perhaps the largest look at the safety and value of flu vaccination during pregnancy, experts say.
“This is the kind of information we need to provide our patients when discussing that flu vaccine is important for everyone, particularly for pregnant women,” said Dr. Geeta Swamy, a researcher who studies vaccines and pregnant women at Duke University Medical Center.
The study was released by the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday as the United States and Europe suffer through an early and intense flu season. A U.S. obstetricians group this week reminded members that it’s not too late for their pregnant patients to get vaccinated.
The new study was led by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. It tracked pregnancies in Norway in 2009 and 2010 during an international epidemic of a new swine flu strain.
Before 2009, pregnant women in Norway were not routinely advised to get flu shots. But during the pandemic, vaccinations against the new strain were recommended for those in their second or third trimester.
The study focused on more than 113,000 pregnancies. Of those, 492 ended in the death of the fetus. The researchers calculated that the risk of fetal death was nearly twice as high for women who weren’t vaccinated as it was in vaccinated mothers.
U.S. flu vaccination rates for pregnant women grew in the wake of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, from less than 15 percent to about 50 percent. But health officials say those rates need to be higher to protect newborns as well. Infants can’t be vaccinated until 6 months, but studies have shown they pick up some protection if their mothers got the annual shot, experts say.
Because some drugs and vaccines can be harmful to a fetus, there is a long-standing concern about giving any medicine to a pregnant woman, experts acknowledged. But this study should ease any worries about the flu shot, said Dr. Denise Jamieson of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The vaccine is safe,” she said.
___
Online:
Medical journal: http://www.nejm.org
Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News
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The ANA flight made an emergency landing at Takamatsu
Japan’s two main airlines have grounded their Boeing 787 Dreamliners after one was forced to make an emergency landing because of battery problems.
All Nippon Airways (ANA) grounded its fleet of 17 Dreamliners when its flight NH 692 from Yamaguchi Ube was forced to land shortly after take-off.
Japan Airlines followed suit, saying it would ground its fleet of seven 787s from 16 January until further notice.
This is the latest setback for Boeing and its problem-hit Dreamliner planes.
On Wall Street, shares in Boeing closed down more than 3% following the Japanese announcements on Wednesday.
In recent weeks, Dreamliners have suffered issues including fuel leaks, a cracked cockpit window, brake problems and an electrical fire.
Continue reading the main story
Analysis
There have been six separate safety incidents with Japanese-owned 787s in the last week and a half. But they are not all equal.
The incident today was by far the most serious. Smoke inside an aircraft while in-flight is always a serious matter. That’s why the plane was so quickly diverted, and probably why ANA and JAL have now ordered their fleets to be grounded.
It also looks like this incident may not be isolated. It appears very similar to an electrical fire on board a Japan Airlines 787 in the United States last week.
The source of that fire was the 787′s lithium Ion battery pack. All the way back in 2007, the US Federal Aviation Administration expressed concern about the installation of Lithium Ion batteries on board the 787 because of their known problem with so-called “thermal runaway”. It’s a problem that has caused mobile phones and laptop computers to catch fire in the past.
The 787 is not the only aircraft to use Lithium Ion battery packs. The Airbus A380 uses a smaller number. And the upcoming Airbus A350 will use a much larger number
“You’re nearing the tipping point where they need to regard this as a serious crisis,” said Richard Aboulafia, a senior analyst with the Teal Group in Fairfax, Virginia.
“This is going to change people’s perception of the aircraft if they don’t act quickly.”
Battery malfunction
On Wednesday, ANA’s flight NH 692 left Yamaguchi Ube in western Japan at 08:10 local time (23:10 GMT) and headed for Tokyo’s Haneda airport.
Earlier reports that smoke was seen in the cockpit were inaccurate, ANA said. The pilots saw a warning on their computer screen telling them there was smoke inside one of the electrical compartments, the airline said. The source of the smoke is not yet known.
The pilots also received a warning that there was a fault in the battery system. ANA said the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same type as the one involved in a fire on another Dreamliner at a US airport last week.
The ANA flight landed at Takamatsu airport at 08:47 on Wednesday after the pilot saw an error message in the cockpit.
“There was a battery alert in the cockpit and there was an odd smell detected in the cockpit and cabin, and [the pilot] decided to make an emergency landing,” said Osamu Shinobe, an ANA vice president, at a news conference.
ANA said that the 129 passengers and eight crew were evacuated, with a number of people sustaining minor injuries.
The Reuters news agency reported that five people were injured, while Bloomberg said that one person was sent to hospital. ANA officials were not immediately available to confirm the figures.
The BBC’s correspondent in Tokyo, Rupert Wingfield-Hayes, said that local television footage showed emergency chutes were deployed from the plane. There were also fire trucks on the runway.
Paul Lewis, a spokesman for Boeing, told the BBC that the planemaker was “aware of the diversion of a 787 operated by ANA to Takamatsu in western Japan”.
He added that Boeing “will be working with our customer and the appropriate regulatory agencies”.
Dreamliner’s technical problems Continue reading the main story
CLICKABLE
Fuel tanks
Electronics
Engines
Brakes
Cockpit
Fuel tanks
8 Jan 2013: Take-off aborted after about 150 litres of fuel spill from Japan Airlines Dreamliner in Boston
13 Jan: Same aircraft experiences another, separate fuel leak while undergoing tests in Tokyo
Electronics
4 Dec 2012: A United Airlines 787 makes emergency landing in New Orleans after electrical problems
13 Dec: Qatar Airways 787 grounded after electrical power distribution problems
17 Dec: United finds electrical problem in second aircraft
7 Jan 2013: Fire starts in lithium ion battery pack of Japan Airlines 787 in Boston
8 Jan: United Airlines also finds faulty wiring to battery
Engines
July 2012: Fan shaft on engine fails during runway tests at Charleston International Airport
11 Jan 2013: Oil leak found in engine of All Nippon Airways 787 flight
Brakes
9 Jan 2013: All Nippon Airways cancels flight when computer wrongly reports a brake problem
Cockpit
11 Jan 2013: Cockpit window on an All Nippon Airways Dreamliner cracks during a Japanese domestic flight. The plane lands safely with no injuries
15 Jan: Another Dreamliner operated by ANA makes an emergency landing at Takamatsu in Japan after a smoke alert goes off
Market Reaction
The concerns have spread beyond Japan, however, not least because the Dreamliner was seen as Boeing’s flagship new aeroplane and had attracted orders from many of the world’s biggest and best-known airlines.
The 787 is said to be one of the most fuel-efficient in the industry, and Boeing delivered 46 Dreamliners to customers in 2012.
Following Wednesday’s landing, India’s aviation regulator said it would review the Dreamliner’s safety and talk to parts makers.
The regulator said it was in contact with Boeing but as yet had no plans to ground the five Dreamliners that are currently being used by Air India.
Continue reading the main story
Dreamliners in use
Air India: 5
All Nippon Airways (Japan): 17
Ethiopian Airlines: 4
Japan Airlines: 7
LAN Airlines (Chile): 3
Lot Polish Airlines: 2
Qatar Airways: 5
United Airlines (US) 6
Total: 49
Source: Boeing
Australia’s Qantas Airways said its order for 15 Dreamliners remained on track. Its subsidiary Jetstar is due to take delivery of the first of its aircraft in the second half of this year.
United Airlines is the only US carrier currently flying Dreamliners, and the carrier said it was not taking any immediate action.
Closer look
Even before Wednesday’s emergency landing, Boeing was facing an inquiry by Japanese and US authorities over its Dreamliner issues.
Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration started a joint review with Boeing of the design, manufacturing and assembly of the Dreamliner.
On Tuesday, Japanese authorities said they would conduct an inquiry after two successive fuel leaks on a different 787 operated by Japan Airlines.
On 8 January, Japan Airlines reported that a fire broke out on a 787 shortly after it landed in Boston. There have also been reports of brake issues.
Inside the cockpit of the Dreamliner
“It is not abnormal for new aircraft to have some teething problems,” said Chris de Lavigne of Frost and Sullivan in Singapore.
“There were initial issues with the Airbus A380 as well. Look where it is today; it is flying successfully and everyone seems to be happy with it.”
However, he added that a lot would depend on the outcome of the two investigations.
“If it turns out to be a major issue and requires re-engineering to be done, then you may need to ground some of the planes or even the entire fleet.”
BBC News – Business
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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s legislature is expected to approve a long sought-after bill that would make it a crime to discriminate against people based on their gender or sexual orientation.
The bill was submitted Tuesday by Senator Ramon Luis Nieves of the Popular Democratic Party, which gained control of the Senate and House of Representatives after November’s general election.
The bill aims to protect people in the U.S. territory from being discriminated at work, in public places, and during transactions including renting or selling property.
“A human being’s dignity cannot be violated,” said Nieves, who was flanked by supporters including Pedro Peters Maldonado, a San Juan legislator who is Puerto Rico’s first openly gay elected official.
A similar proposal was approved by the House of Representatives in recent years, but was rejected by the Senate, which was then controlled by the pro-statehood New Progressive Party.
Human rights organizations have long demanded such a bill, saying that many gay, lesbian and transgender people in the conservative U.S. territory are at the mercy of homophobic attitudes. Most government departments already have their own anti-discriminatory policies, but human rights activists say they are often not enforced.
The bill comes a week after another legislator submitted a bill demanding that all partners, regardless of their sexual orientation or civil status, be covered by domestic violence laws.
Legislators are expected to debate both bills in upcoming weeks.
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Lindsay Lohan pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to three charges related to a June traffic accident that led a judge to revoke the troubled actress’ probation last month.
Lohan, 26, who did not attend the hearing, was arraigned on misdemeanor charges of reckless driving, lying to police and obstructing police when she said she was not behind the wheel of her sports car, which smashed into a truck in Santa Monica, California.
Lohan’s not guilty plea was entered in a Los Angeles court by her attorney.
The “Liz & Dick” actress is on probation for a 2011 jewelry theft and could be sent to jail if she is found to have violated the terms of her probation.
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Jane Godfrey, who will also preside over Lohan’s probation hearing, on Tuesday ordered the actress to attend a January 30 pretrial hearing. A date for Lohan’s probation hearing will be set at that time.
Lohan has been in and out of rehab and jail since a 2007 arrest for drunk driving and cocaine possession.
The former “Parent Trap” child star was arrested in New York on a misdemeanor assault charge on the same day that the Santa Monica car crash charges were filed.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office has not filed a criminal complaint in the assault case.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Stacey Joyce)
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LONDON (Reuters) – AstraZeneca‘s new chief executive stamped his authority on the struggling drugmaker on Tuesday by removing the heads of research and commercial operations in a management revamp designed to speed decision-making.
Pascal Soriot, who took the helm at Britain’s second-biggest pharmaceutical company in October, said the roles held by Martin Mackay and Tony Zook respectively had been eliminated and both men would leave the company at the end of January.
Instead, Soriot is creating three senior research and development (R&D) roles responsible for discovery and early stage development in small molecules, biologics and late-stage development.
On the commercial side, three positions will in future represent the different regions. A further senior role – to be filled at a later date – will oversee the global portfolio and product strategy, bridging the R&D and sales organizations.
The move effectively strips out a layer of senior management and means executives in charge of different divisions will have a seat at the executive top table – something Soriot hopes will reduce bureaucracy.
“This new senior executive team structure, that draws heavily from the leadership talent within the company, enables us to bring an even sharper management focus to key pipeline assets, key brands and key markets, and helps us further accelerate decision-making,” Soriot said.
The former Roche executive is striving to return AstraZeneca to health in the face of one of the industry’s steepest patent “cliffs” – when patents expire and drugs face generic competition.
He is expected to set out his ideas for the group when he presents full-year results on January 31, before delivering full details of an in-depth strategy review during a meeting for analysts and investors in March.
CLEARING THE DECKS
“He is clearing the decks,” said Navid Malik, an analyst at Cenkos Securities.
“But it is a surprise to see Mackay leaving. He was a one-time head of research at Pfizer, so he’s a heavy-hitter brought on board to solve problems and he hasn’t really had a lot of time to do that.”
Mackay jumped ship from Pfizer, the world’s biggest drugmaker, to AstraZeneca in May 2010.
Malik said AstraZeneca’s decision to give biologic products an equal ranking with traditional small molecule drugs in the R&D structure reflect a renewed focus on biotech treatments, which are increasingly seen as the future of modern medicine.
Soriot himself has extensive experience of the biologics side of the industry from his time at Roche, where he headed up its Genentech biotech unit.
His first decision on taking office was to suspend share buybacks, prompting immediate speculation that he will embark on more acquisitions to replace lost revenue. But he is also likely to re-focus both R&D and marketing operations in a bid to make the most of existing assets.
The company is not alone in facing big patent losses, but while rivals like GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi have now put the worst behind them, AstraZeneca still has the worst to come.
Its two biggest selling drugs – Nexium for stomach acid and the cholesterol fighter Crestor – will lose U.S. protection in 2014 and 2016.
Soriot’s new line-up for the key R&D functions will see Mene Pangalos take over as head of innovative medicines, with Bahija Jallal responsible for biologic drug development at the MedImmune unit, and Briggs Morrison heading up global medicines development.
(Additional Reporting by Karen Rebelo in Bangalore; Editing by Jane Merriman and David Cowell)
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NEW YORK (Reuters) – This earnings season, the U.S. technology industry is in an unusual position – dragging corporate America down, rather than lifting it up.
Wall Street expects the tech sector’s fourth-quarter earnings to be down 1.1 percent from a year ago, the first drop since the third quarter of 2009, even though overall S&P 500 profits are still forecast to show growth, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Chip companies are expected to be among the worst performers because of softer-than-expected personal computer sales. Weak overseas demand and worries about the U.S. fiscal crisis have also likely caused corporations to put off IT spending.
“The lack of economic growth we’ve seen in Europe, the deceleration of emerging markets – that has put a significant amount of pressure, particularly on technology,” said Omar Aguilar, chief investment officer for equities at Charles Schwab Corp, in San Francisco.
Tech stocks have struggled recently and further weakness could dent the bullish 2013 forecasts many strategists have for the U.S. stock market. But some investors and analysts say weak fourth-quarter numbers have already been baked into many tech stock prices and valuations are attractive.
Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch wrote in a note this week that tech stocks are undervalued by about 32 percent, more than any other sector, based on current forward price-to-earnings ratios. Every tech industry except IT services is trading well below historical levels, the note said.
Within tech, “you’re finding a lot of cash-rich companies trading at reasonably cheap multiples. So to value investors like us … it starts to seem intriguing,” said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago, whose firm owns Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp.
It is unusual for tech, the largest of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index’s 10 industry sectors and accounting for nearly 23 percent of earnings, to underperform. Tech has been in the top half of S&P sectors for the last four earnings periods and it has posted stronger profit growth than the overall market 83 percent of the time in the last 10 years, according to Thomson Reuters.
Apple Inc usually provides one of the biggest boosts to U.S. corporate earnings, but this time its December quarter profit is forecast to fall 3.8 percent year on year, compared with the S&P 500‘s overall 1.8 percent profit growth, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Apple has only missed analyst earnings expectations four times in the last 10 years, two of those in the most recent reporting periods, Thomson Reuters data showed. Its shares are down again this week after reports the company is ordering fewer components because of lower-than-expected demand for its iPhone5.
But even Apple stock, which fell below $ 500 a share on Monday for the first time since February, is looking more attractive to value investors, Kuby said.
INTEL FIRST
The bulk of technology companies do not start to report results until next week, but Intel is due out on Thursday.
Among tech’s sub-industries, 13 semiconductor companies are expected to report an aggregate 28.4 percent fall in quarterly profit and four semiconductor equipment makers are expected to see a 50.7 percent drop, Thomson Reuters data showed.
Texas Instruments Inc was among top chip companies that have warned on the fourth quarter, along with Applied Materials Inc.Texas Instruments, which last cut its profit target in December, cited restructuring charges. The stock closed on Tuesday at $ 32.28, off its $ 34.24 high in March.
Others warnings have come from Cisco Systems Inc, Hewlett Packard Co and Qualcomm Inc.
The S&P 500 tech sector rose 13.2 percent in 2012, about the same as the S&P 500‘s 13.4 percent gain, but tech stocks by at least one measure have been underperforming since September. The SPDR XLK technology fund ETF ended last quarter with a loss of 6.1 percent, while the S&P 500 was down just 1 percent.
“The S&P 500 peaked in mid-September, had a pullback and it’s already pretty close to that September high. Contrasting that, the XLK hasn’t even come close to getting back to where it was in September,” said Chris Burba, co-founder and chief technical strategist at miAnalysis Inc in New York.
(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Tiffany Wu and Andre Grenon)
Business News Headlines – Yahoo! News
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