Jumaat, 26 Julai 2013

NST Online Business Times : latest

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NST Online Business Times : latest

Posted: 26 Jul 2013 05:24 PM PDT

NEW YORK: US stocks Friday rallied from intraday lows, picking up momentum after a dreary open and ending the day narrowly in the black.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.22 (0.02 per cent) to 15,558.83. The Dow sank as low as 15,405.16 earlier in the session.

The broad-based S&P 500 finished 1.40 (0.08 per cent) higher at 1,691.65, while the Nasdaq Composite Index put on 7.97 (0.22 per cent) at 3,613.16.

Analysts said volume was low as is typical for a Friday in late July. The day was fairly light in economic news and corporate earnings results.

Trade once again revealed the "resilience" of equity markets, said David Levy, a portfolio manager at Kenjol Capital Management.

"Buyers are buying the dip," Levy said, calling the dynamic a "very bullish" pattern.

Starbucks surged 7.6 per cent higher after earnings jumped 25 per cent on strong increases in comparable-store sales, including a 9 per cent rise in the US.

Online travel booking company Expedia plummeted 27.4 per cent after earnings of 64 cents per share lagged analyst expectations by 18 cents. Revenues also fell short of estimates.

Online game developer Activision Blizzard shot up 15.0 per cent after announcing a pair of transactions in which the company and an investor group led by the company's chief executive and co-chairman would purchase from Vivendi a total of more than US$8 billion worth of shares. Vivendi will no longer be the majority shareholder following the transactions.

Dow component Boeing dipped 1.0 per cent on news that Qatar Airways reportedly had grounded a 787 Dreamliner aircraft and All Nippon Airways had found minor damage on two emergency beacons on another 787.

Online bookseller Amazon reversed early losses and ended 2.8 per cent higher despite reporting a US$7 million quarterly loss. But revenues met expectations, leaping 22 per cent to US$15.7 billion.

Oil-services giant Halliburton jumped 3.7 per cent after announcing plans to hold a modified "Dutch auction" to repurchase up to US$3.3 billion in shares.

The announcement came as the Justice Department announced Halliburton agreed to plead guilty to destroying evidence related to the Deepwater Horizon oil-spill disaster. Halliburton said it would pay a US$200,000 fine in the settlement. - AFP

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Ariel Castro pleads guilty in Ohio abductions - USA TODAY

Posted: 26 Jul 2013 08:41 AM PDT

Ariel Castro, charged with the abduction of three women in Cleveland, pleaded guilty Friday in a deal with prosecutors that could spare him the death penalty.

The deal called for life in prison without the chance for parole plus 1,000 years. The judge in the case will hand down the final sentence on Aug. 1.

Castro, a former school bus driver who turned 53 earlier this month, pleaded guilty to 937 criminal counts, including kidnapping, rape and aggravated murder.

By accepting a plea deal, the three victims in the case -- Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight -- will not have to testify in court.

Castro appeared in court Friday morning shackled and wearing his orange prison jump suit, a full beard and glasses and looked around the courtroom.

As the hearing got underway, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Judge Michael Russo asked Castro if he got his glasses and whether they were OK. Castro replied: "Yes it is, your honor, thank you."

The judge asked Castro if he had read the plea agreement, discussed it with his lawyers, were aware of its contents and consented to its terms.

"I am fully aware," he replied.

Asked if he understood that there would be no trial, he answered, "I am aware of it."

He spoke clearly as he answered each of the judge's questions.

"My addiction to pornography and sexual addiction in general has taken a toll on my mind," he told the judge. "I would like to state I was a victim as a child and it just kept going."

When the judge told him he would be classified as a sexually violent predator, he said he understood, but disagreed with the classification that he is violent.

He also said that he told his lawyers when he was arrested that he would fully cooperate with the FBI and "tell them everything."

Castro pleaded guilty to abducting the three young women over an 11-year period, holding them hostage in his home and raping them repeatedly. He had pleaded not guilty at an earlier hearing.

The final decision on sentencing is up to Judge Russo. Judges often follow the terms of a plea deal, but are not bound by it. Trial was set for Aug. 5.

Castro was arrested May 6 after Berry escaped from her room and began shouting at the front door, alerting neighbors. Police then found the other two women inside the rundown, four-bedroom home.

The abductions extended over an 11 years period, beginning with Knight's kidnapping in 2002.

Berry has a 6-year-old daughter who was born inside the rundown, two-story home where she was held. DNA tests showed that Castro is the father.

The two aggravated murder charges stem from a single instance during the fourth pregnancy of Knight, who was the first woman to disappear. One aggravated murder charge alleges premeditation. The second alleges that the murder took place during a kidnapping.

The indictment covers the entire period of captivity, from the Aug. 22, 2002, disappearance of Knight to May 6, when Berry, missing since April 21, 2003, and her child escaped Castro's house and led police to Knight and Gina DeJesus, missing since April 2, 2004.

Weiner's wife Huma Abedin under scrutiny over two jobs - CBS News

Posted: 26 Jul 2013 07:54 AM PDT

Former Rep. Anthony Weiner's wife Huma Abedin -- already under the microscope because of her husband's lewd behavior -- is facing tough questions from a senator concerned about the nature of her employment at the State Department.

Abedin, a longtime aide to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, worked for a little under a year as a "special government employee" for the State Department. During that period in 2012, she was also working as a consultant for a private firm called Teneo, giving private investors information about the government.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, last month sent the State Department a letter inquiring about Abedin's two jobs.

It has been reported that Ms. Abedin earned approximately $135,000 from the State Department while receiving $355,000 in consulting income for representing outside clients, as she remained a Federal employee and a trusted advisor to Secretary Clinton," Grassley wrote. "This raises important questions about whether her dual role was adequately disclosed to government officials who may have provided her information without realizing that she was being paid by private investors to gather information."

Grassley asked the State Department and Abedin to respond to 17 questions, as well as a request for all documents relating to communications between the State Department and Teneo, or clients represented by Teneo. The State Department and Abedin responded, giving the specific dates of her employment and confirming that she read State Department ethics guidelines before becoming a "special government employee." They also explained that Abedin, as a State Department employee, "advised" Clinton and supervised the operations of her travel and schedule.

Nevertheless, Grassley said in a statement Friday that neither the State Department nor Abedin has handed over any of the documents he requested.

"The purpose of my inquiry is to shed light on whether the program is being used as intended, not just by Ms. Abedin, but more broadly, as well," he said. "The State Department and Ms. Abedin should be willing to show the documents involved in administering the program to demonstrate good stewardship of tax dollars and the public interest... Putting up a stone wall raises a lot more questions about how the program is being used than it answers."

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Jumaat, 26 Julai 2013