Archive for the ‘News’ Category

« Older Entries

Malaysia’s Maxis debuts at 9.2 percent above IPO

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

 Shares of Malaysia’s top mobile phone company Maxis Berhad jumped 9.2 percent on their return to the bourse Thursday following the biggest share sale ever in Southeast Asia.

Maxis, owned by Malaysian billionaire Ananda Krishnan, opened with a 46 sen (14 cents) gain above its initial public offering price of 5 ringgit ($1.48).

It marked the trading return of Maxis two years after it was taken private by tycoon Ananda — the world’s 62nd richest individual, according to Forbes. Its relisting followed a request by Prime Minister Najib Razak, who is seeking to bolster Malaysia’s capital markets.

The debut was at the higher end of analysts’ forecast of between 5 percent and 10 percent above the IPO price.

Maxis said earlier this month it raised 11.2 billion ringgit ($3.3 billion) in the sale of 2.25 billion shares, representing 30 percent of its total equity, in the largest such sale in the region.

The company is listing only its domestic operations — a move some analysts say made the IPO less attractive as it excluded its fast growing businesses in India and Indonesia.

Tags: ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Senate, House Democratic health bills compared

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

A comparison of the health care bills before Congress:

The Senate Democratic bill (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act):

WHO’S COVERED: About 94 percent of legal residents under age 65 — compared with 83 percent now. Government subsidies to help buy coverage start in 2014. Illegal immigrants would not receive assistance.

COST: Coverage provisions cost $849 billion over 10 years.

HOW IT’S PAID FOR: Fees on insurance companies, drugmakers, medical device manufacturers. Medicare payroll tax increased to 1.95 percent on income over $200,000 a year for individuals; $250,000 for couples. New 5 percent tax on elective cosmetic surgery. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Excise tax on insurance companies, keyed to premiums paid on health care plans costing more than $8,500 annually for individuals and $23,000 for families. Fees on employers whose workers receive government subsidies to help them pay premiums. Fines on people who fail to purchase coverage.

REQUIREMENTS FOR INDIVIDUALS: Almost everyone must get coverage through an employer, on their own or through a government plan. Exemptions for economic hardship. Those who are obligated to buy coverage and refuse to do so would pay a fine starting at $95 in 2014 and rising to $750

REQUIREMENTS FOR EMPLOYERS: Not required to offer coverage, but medium and large companies would pay a fee if the government ends up subsidizing employees’ coverage.

SUBSIDIES: Tax credits for individuals and families likely making up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, which computes to $88,200 for a family of four. Tax credits for small employers.

Tags: ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Jamie Foxx & Martin Lawrence Breathe Life Into ‘Sheneneh And Wanda’

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

Jamie Foxx and Martin Lawrence are heading to the big screen together for the first time.

The stand up comedians-turned-movie stars will star in a comedy based on two popular TV characters they each created in the 90s, Foxx’s ‘Wanda’ of “In Living Color” fame and Lawrence’s ‘Sheneneh’ of “Martin” fame, a source close to Foxxhole Productions confirmed to TV One Access.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Jamie Foxx

Reportedly, Screen Gems has acquired the rights to the film and the TV One Access source confirms that Foxx is also writing the screenplay.

During this year’s BET Awards hosted by Foxx, the duo performed a skit called “Skank Robbers” to overwhelmingly positive reviews from fans and critics alike. This feedback likely propelled the actors to make a movie about the two pseudo female characters.

Tags: , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Blackouts darken Brazil’s 2 largest cities

Wednesday, November 11th, 2009

A massive power failure blacked out Brazil’s two largest cities and other parts of Latin America’s biggest nation for more than two hours late Tuesday, leaving millions of people in the dark after a huge hydroelectric dam suddenly went offline. All of neighboring Paraguay also lost power, but for only about 20 minutes.

The huge Itaipu dam straddling the two nations’ border stopped producing 17,000 megawatts of power, resulting in outages in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo and at least several other big Brazilian cities, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobao said.

The cause of the failure had not been determined, but Lobao said strong storms uprooted trees near the Itaipu dam just before it went offline and could be to blame. Rio was the hardest hit city, he said.

At 12:37 a.m. Wednesday, the lights in Rio’s Copacabana neighborhood roared back to life, prompting cheers and thunderous car honking.

“It’s sad to see such a beautiful city with such a precarious infrastructure,” said Igor Fernandes, a shirtless 22-year-old law student peddling his bike down a dark Copacabana beach. “This shouldn’t happen in a city that is going to host the Olympic Games.”

Lobao said the hydro plant at the dam itself was working, but there were problems with the power lines that carry electricity across Brazil. Brazil uses almost all of the energy produced by the dam, and Paraguay consumes the rest.

In Paraguay, the national energy agency blamed the blackout on a short-circuit at an electrical station near Sao Paulo, saying that failure shut down the entire power grid supplied by Itaipu. All of Paraguay went dark for about 20 minutes, the country’s leading newspaper, ABC Color, reported.

The blackouts came three days after CBS’s “60 Minutes” news program reported that several past Brazilian power outages were caused by hackers. Brazilian officials had played down the report before the latest outages, and Lobao did not mention it.

Brazil’s official Agencia Brasil news agency said Tuesday’s outage started about 10:20 p.m. (1220 GMT), snarling streets in Rio, where traffic that is normally chaotic turned riotous. Cars, taxis and buses zoomed through dark intersections, honking to let their presence known as they zoomed through. Pedestrians scampered across avenues, and tourists scurried back to a handful of luxury beach hotels, the only buildings with light.

Tags: ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Animated films could impact Oscars

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

 As the buzz on a best-picture nom for “WALL-E” hit a fever pitch last year, one Pixar exec confided to me: “This is it. This is our last chance. After this year, we’re out of the awards game.”

Well, perhaps not.

The Oscar buzz this year couldn’t be higher for Pixar’s “Up,” not only for best animated category but for best picture, thanks to a warm Festival de Cannes playdate and a lucky-to-be-born late blessing of 10 best-picture noms.

A dual accolade would make history: The only instance of an animated movie being nominated for best film was “Beauty of the Beast” in 1991, long before the best animated feature category existed.

A double nomination also would create complications — and not only for Pixar execs who might have to shell out some extra coin on a broader campaign.

Pixar and director Pete Docter might hope that the best-picture momentum will carry it to a victory in the animation category. But for some voters, it could slice the other way, prompting them to choose something else in animation because they’ve already put “Up” high on their best picture ballot. (In that sense, “Up” would be unlucky to be nominated twice.)

The “Up” conundrum isn’t the only drama playing out this year. The animation race is more wide open than ever, thanks to a likely five slots, which are possible (though not mandated) if the Academy qualifies at least 16 animated releases. A whopping 20 films are said to have been submitted this year, a bounty that would nearly double the number of animated slots and essentially create the animation equivalent of the best-picture slot expansion.

That, in turn, could charge up more than a few dark horses. “There’s real anticipation this year because of the possibility we’re finally going to hit the magic number of 16, which would be a real bonus for many of the smaller pictures at the boxoffice and on DVD,” says Animation Magazine’s Ramin Zahed. “We say that every year, but this year there’s a real feeling it could happen.”

Tags: ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Duke Realty COO Robert Chapman resigns

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

 Duke Realty Corp. said Monday its chief operating officer will leave the company at the end of the year.

The company said Robert Chapman’s decision to resign was linked to an expected lower level of new property development and a primary focus on local leasing operations by the company.

Chapman joined the company in 1997.

Duke Realty owns and operates about 136 million square feet of industrial and office space in 20 cities.

Shares rose 66 cents, or 6 percent, to close earlier at $11.74.

Tags: ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

‘Precious’ Breaks Box Office Records In Limited Release

Monday, November 9th, 2009

Oscar hopeful “Precious: Based On The Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire” was a hit with audiences this weekend.

The gritty inner-city drama, executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry, made $1.8 million at 18 theaters in its first weekend of limited release, according to Variety.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Fall Movies 2009

The film scored an average of $100,000 per theater — reportedly a record.

By contrast, Jim Carrey’s “A Christmas Carol,” which won the weekend box office with $31 million, averaged around $8,600 per theater in 3683 locations.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Oprah Winfrey

As it eyes awards season, “Precious” has been a success with critics as well, earning an 87% rating on RottenTomatoes.com.

Copyright 2009 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Tags: , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Holiday airfares close to last year but climbing

Monday, November 9th, 2009

If holiday travelers on the same plane compare what they paid to fly, they’re likely to find quite a spread, depending on when they bought their tickets.

Fares for travel around the holidays have been rising since late summer. Christmas fares are now running 4 percent below a year ago, and the gap is likely to disappear soon.

Contrast that with a year ago, when the airlines essentially put the holiday travel season on sale. With the recession in full force, airlines used discounting to fill seats.

People who waited to book holiday fares last year saved money. This year, holding off could cost you.

Most carriers pushed through a $10 fare increase at the end of October. For the holidays, the big airlines added a $20 surcharge each way on popular travel days closest to Christmas and New Year’s.

Tom Parsons of BestFares.com compared holiday fares purchased on July 1 with the same itinerary booked on Nov 2. Several had risen 50 percent or more. Los Angeles to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., had more than doubled to $528.

Airlines have been shrinking to match a decrease in travel. With the supply of seats more in line with demand, carriers have been able to raise fares close to where they were last holiday season.

Average Thanksgiving fares are up 2 percent to $351, according to Bing Travel, the fare-watching Web site owned by Microsoft. The average Christmas fare is around $370 roundtrip, slightly below a year ago.

Thanksgiving fares “are up quite a bit even from where they were at the beginning of October,” said Joel Grus, who tracks fares for Bing Travel. He also thinks Christmas fares will soon be at last year’s levels.

Given the upward trend in fares, Grus says book now. Check on fares several times a day. Sometimes seats become available at a lower price.

Of course, the cheapest ticket is purchased with frequent flier miles. Airlines only make some seats on each flight available for purchase with frequent flier miles. Some are still available, but Randy Petersen, editor of InsideFlyer magazine, said they’re getting scarce because most holiday travelers started booking those as early as August.

“As we get closer, there are good airfare deals,” he said, “but there’s not a lot left in frequent flier miles.”

Tags: ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

Hollywood calls on Clooney for holiday movie cheer

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. And judging by what’s in theaters this holiday movie season, his name is George Clooney.

Disney’s release of the animated “A Christmas Carol” on Friday begins eight weeks of holiday moviegoing that brings a bag full of movies to theaters, from family friendly fare to Oscar hopefuls and this year, a lot of Clooney thrown in.

Absent from the silver screen are many other A-list stars audiences have come to expect over the holidays — Will Smith, Angelina Jolie, Adam Sandler and Reese Witherspoon.

“Instead you have teen vampires,” said Entertainment Weekly movie writer Dave Karger, referring to romance “The Twilight Saga: New Moon.”

“That’s the way things are going these days — the franchise films have become the star more than the A-list actor,” he said.

But that’s not yet the case with Clooney. He stars in comedy “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” voices the title role in animated family film “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and could earn an Oscar nomination as a corporate hatchet man in director Jason Reitman’s “Up In the Air.”

The other big name to watch is Meryl Streep. She also voices a role in “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and stars alongside Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in divorce comedy “It’s Complicated.”

If there’s any doubt the holidays — the second-biggest movie season of the year after the summer — are officially here, one need look no further than “A Christmas Carol,” which comes with a gift — 3D. Carrey takes on four roles in the animated movie — Scrooge, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Christmas Yet to Come — and nothing screams Christmas more than a retelling of this classic Dickens tale.

Tags: ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

China offers Africa more trade, investment

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

China is offering to abolish import duties on some commodities from Africa and make sure Chinese exports to the continent are safe as part of a package to boost already thriving economic ties, China’s commerce minister said in an article published Saturday.

The proposals outlined by Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming come ahead of a summit Sunday and Monday between Chinese and African leaders in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh. The meeting follows a landmark 2006 summit in Beijing that catapulted China’s hunt for oil, minerals and other raw materials in Africa and brought Africa Chinese investment in infrastructure and other projects.

Chinese investments in Africa totaled $7.8 billion as of last year while trade has rocketed 30 percent annually this decade, exceeding $100 billion last year, Chen said in an essay published in the state-run China Daily newspaper.

Among the new measures Chen proposed are exempting unspecified types of commodities from customs duties, setting up logistics centers in Africa and creating an inspection system to weed out trade in substandard consumer goods. China would also continue to build schools and hospitals, support malaria-prevention programs and improve farming methods in Africa, Chen said.

The proposals seem intended in part to blunt criticisms that rapidly growing economic ties were chiefly benefiting the Chinese side, with China reaping natural resources and cornering consumer markets while creating too few jobs for Africans. International aid watchdogs and good governance groups have likewise criticized Beijing for its loan policies in which few conditions are attached, thereby encouraging corruption.

“China has closely followed the development of Africa and sincerely wishes to make its contributions to the African people in developing their nations and creating a better life,” Chen said.

Tags: , ,
Posted in News | No Comments »

« Older Entries