LIAT Axes Workers
More then 20 employees of LIAT’s cargo department have been made redundant, just over one year after the company launched the intra Caribbean service, affected employees have told OBSERVER Media.
Of the 28 employees who service the Cargo and Quick Pak Department, only three were spared the plight of redundancy, our source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.
Employees received their letters last week informing them that their services would no longer be required as of April 15, 2012. The Cargo and Quick Pak Department has been outsourced to the Barbados based Caribbean Airport Services.
The employees, some of whom have worked with the company for more than a decade, are expected to meet with their bargaining agent, the Antigua & Barbuda Workers Union, ABWU, today.
One of the employees, who spoke with the newspaper on condition that his name would not be revealed, took issue with the manner of the employees’ dismissal, describing it as “unfair.”
When contacted for a comment, LIAT’s Corporate Communication Manager Desmond Brown said, “I do not have a comment on this matter at this time.”
Antigua Observer
World stock markets slip on growth fears
Stocks have fallen on fears over the health of the global economy, after last week's weak US jobs data and persistent fears over the eurozone.
The US Dow Jones index fell 1.7%, its worst day so far this year.
Earlier, France's Cac 40 fell 3.1%, the UK's FTSE 100 and Germany's Dax lost about 2.5%.
Spanish bond yields hit a new high for this year as concerns have returned about Madrid's ability to repay its debts.
Banks were hit particularly hard, with Societe Generale down 6.2% and BNP Paribas 5.7% lower in French trading. In the UK, Barclays fell 5.9% while Lloyds lost 5%.
In Germany, Commerzbank ended the day down 5.9%.
Italian shares fell 5% on media reports the government was about to cut its growth forecast for this year.
And oil declined too. Brent crude fell $2.80 to just under $120 a barrel in London.
US growth
Figures released on Friday by the US Labor Department showed the smallest growth in employment in five months.
The US economy added 120,000 jobs during March, less than the 200,000 widely predicted by analysts.
Investors in Europe were given their first chance after the Easter break to react to Friday's disappointing US jobs data.
The figures raised fears about the strength of the recovery in the US economy.
"Opening losses for European stock markets this morning are suggestive of the heavy, negative overhang from last Friday's disappointing US payrolls report," said Jane Foley at Rabobank International.
Spanish bonds
Meanwhile, the interest rate on Spanish bonds traded in the secondary market continued to rise.
The yield on 10-year bonds hit 5.99%, up from 5.74% on Monday, indicating that investors are getting increasingly concerned about Spain's ability to repay its debts.
"They've managed to put a Band-Aid on the debt crisis, but there's really no solution," said investment portfolio manager Colleen Supran. "And Spain is a much bigger problem than Greece."
Spain makes up about 11% of the total output of the 17 countries that use the euro, while Greece accounts for 2%.
The Iberian nation has introduced a raft of tough austerity measures in recent weeks, partly in an attempt to calm investors' nerves and bring yields down.
Yields are now at their highest level since the beginning of this year, but are still below the 7% considered by markets to be unsustainable.
Also on Tuesday, the head of Spain's central bank, Miguel Angel Fernandez Ordonez, suggested the banking sector may need further support if the economy deteriorates.
"If the Spanish economy finally recovers, what has been done will be enough, but if the economy worsens more than expected, it will be necessary to continue increasing and improving capital as necessary in order to have solid entities," he said.
Investors in Europe also had an eye on Chinese data showing a rise in exports but a sharp fall in imports, while a report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also gave mixed messages.
It identified a "potential turning point in economic activity in the euro area and regained momentum in other major economies", particularly the US and Japan.
But the report also talked of "diverging" economies in Europe, with Germany and the UK showing a "positive change in momentum" but France and Italy displaying "continued sluggish activity".
Analysts noted general caution ahead of the first quarter reporting season in the US, beginning later on Tuesday with aluminium giant Alcoa
Market Data
Last Updated at 05:04 GMT
| Dow Jones | 12715.93 | Down | -213.66 | -1.65% |
| Nasdaq | 2991.22 | Down | -55.86 | -1.83% |
| FTSE 100 | 5595.55 | Down | -128.12 | -2.24% |
| Dax | 6606.43 | Down | -168.83 | -2.49% |
| Cac 40 | 3217.60 | Down | -102.21 | -3.08% |
| BBC Global 30 | 6016.55 | Down | -10.76 | -0.18% |
Japan stocks fall for seventh day amid global sell off
Japanese stocks have fallen for the seventh straight session as fresh fears over health of the global economy sparked a global sell-off.
The Nikkei 225 index fell 1% leading the drop in Asian stocks, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed 1.3%.
Worries over the eurozone debt crisis and the US economic recovery losing its steam hit shares of exporters.
Electronics maker Sony fell 5%, a day after the company doubled its forecast of an annual loss to $6.4bn (£4bn).
"Japan's consumer electronics industry is facing defeat," said Fujio Ando, senior managing director of Chibagin Asset Management.
"I don't think there is any guarantee that we will see the company return to black this year." he said.
'Carbon copy'
One of the biggest fears among the global investors has been that the eurozone debt crisis, which has hurt growth countries such as Greece, may spread to the region's bigger economies.
Those fears were fanned further on Tuesday after the interest rate on Spanish bonds traded in the secondary market rose further.
The yield on 10-year bonds hit 5.99%, up from 5.74% on Monday, indicating that investors are getting increasingly concerned about Spain's ability to repay its debts.
The fear is that if the crisis in Spain, which makes up about 11% of the total output of the 17 countries that use the euro, is not managed properly, it will have a negative impact on the region's growth and also hurt the global economic recovery.
On Tuesday, France's Cac 40 fell 3.1%, the UK's FTSE 100 and Germany's Dax lost about 2.5%.
Analysts warned that markets may fall even further amid a dip in investor morale.
"2012 is at risk of being a carbon copy of 2011, where equity markets began the year with a spring in their step before sentiment turned very bearish as the European sovereign debt crisis spiralled out of control", said Angus Campbell of Capital Spreads.
At the same time, a weaker-than-expected jobs data from the US has raised concerns about the recovery in the world's biggest economy.
Philippe Gijsels, head of research at BNP Paribas Fortis Global Markets, said the combination of these factors was prompting investors to take a cautious approach.
"Investors are in a risk-off mode, with the US job numbers and the situation around Spain becoming an excuse for the sell-off."
'Wild card'
Adding to investors concerns have been fears about a slowdown in China, the world's second-largest economy, and one of the main drivers of global growth in recent years.
China's export sector is one of the biggest contributors to its economic expansion. However, a slowdown in its key markets such as the US and eurozone has raised fears that Beijing may not be able to maintain its high pace of growth.
Analysts said that investors were being cautious ahead of China's growth data, which is scheduled to be released later this week.
"How much is China going to slow down, that is the big wild card," Hans Goetti, chief investment officer of Finaport told the BBC. "The first quarter growth could be even less than 7.5%."
Chinese premier Wen Jiabao has set a growth target of 7.5%, the lowest since 2004.
Obama pushes 'Buffett rule' tax rise plan
US President Barack Obama has renewed calls for a new tax on wealthy Americans as he seeks to define his position for the upcoming election.
Mr Obama called for the rich to pay a "fair share", ahead of a vote in the US Senate on the so-called "Buffett Rule".
The rule is named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has said he should pay a higher rate of tax than his secretary.
The Senate proposal puts a minimum 30% tax on earnings over $1m (£631,000).
While the US tax rate on top earners is 35%, many wealthy investors earn investment income, taxed at 15%, and pay an overall smaller percentage of their earnings in taxes.
Tax fairness?
At a speech at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, Mr Obama framed the Buffett rule in terms of fairness.
"Right now, the share of our national income flowing to the top 1% has climbed to levels last seen in the 1920s," Mr Obama said. "And yet those same people are also paying taxes at one of the lowest rates in 50 years."
Mr Obama also pitched his larger economic policy as a long-term benefit for the economy, saying investments in areas like education and research were not "made as part of some scheme to redistribute wealth from one group to another".
"They've been made by Democrats and Republicans for generations because they benefit all of us, and lead to strong, durable economic growth," Mr Obama said.
Mr Obama's campaign also used the Buffett-rule proposal on Tuesday to attack Mitt Romney, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, effectively confirming that the president is now firmly in general election mode.
"[Mr Romney] thinks millionaires and billionaires should keep paying lower tax rates than middle-class families," the campaign said in a statement. "In fact, Romney himself isn't paying his fair share."
Mr Romney released his taxes in January, showing he paid about 14% of his income for the past two years.
Campaign first?
Campaign staff for the former Massachusetts governor themselves criticised Mr Obama's economic policies on Tuesday.
Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said Mr Obama was the "first president in history to openly campaign for re-election on a platform of higher taxes". The proposal would increase taxes on small businesses, she argued.
Mr Romney's closest Republican rival Rick Santorum bowed out of his campaign on Tuesday, cementing the private equity tycoon's status as the man who will challenge Mr Obama in November.
A recent national poll suggests Mr Obama would win a general election against Mr Romney, by 51% to 44%, but Mr Romney was favoured slightly on economic issues.
Mr Obama's speech was part of a full-day trip to the crucial election state of Florida, which also included three fundraising events.
The Buffett-rule proposal is not expected to pass the House of Representatives and Congressional Republicans have dismissed it as a campaign stunt.
"It was designed for no other reason than politics — there is no economic rationale for it," Utah Republican Senator Orrin Hatch said in a statement. "I hope the president will stop the class warfare and start leading by putting out real proposals to bring down our debt."
A congressional committee on taxation estimates such a proposal would generate $46.7bn over 10 years. But Republicans counter that that is simply a tiny fraction of the US national deficit.
Apple's market value hits $600bn
Technology giant Apple has surpassed $600bn (£379bn) in value for the first time, affirming its position as the most valuable US firm in the world.
Apple shares reached a high of $644 on Tuesday, having only just crossed the $500 threshold back in February.
Apple's stock is up almost 60% since the start of the year.
It is another milestone for the iPhone maker, whose shares were worth as little as $3.19 in 1997 when it faced the possibility of bankruptcy.
Rival Microsoft is worth $260bn and in 1999, at the peak of the dotcom boom, reached $619bn in market capitalisation.
There has been some talk that there is another tech boom - and potential bust - under way.
On Monday, Facebook said it will pay $1bn to buy Instagram, the popular photo-sharing smartphone app, which has only 13 employees and was launched in October 2010.
Apple's resurgence
Apple's revival under Steve Jobs, who died last year, came about first in computers and then the iPod music player, which was followed by the iPhone and iPad.
Jobs co-founded Apple in Silicon Valley in the 1980s, but was fired towards the end of the decade.
He was asked to rejoin in 1997 and changed the company's product lines, culminating in the success of the iPhone and its tablet spin-off, the iPad.
In January, Apple reported record-breaking net profits for the last three months of 2011. At the end of last year, it revealed it had $97.6bn in cash.
In March, the tech giant under current chief executive Tim Cook said it will use its cash to start paying a dividend to shareholders and to buy back some of its shares.
It expects to use $45bn over the next three years.
Alcoa quarterly profits decline on aluminum prices
US aluminium giant Alcoa has said that its net profits fell from a year ago as the company kicked off US earnings season.
It made a net income in the first quarter of $94m (£59m), compared with $308m in the same period last year.
This was partly due to a 9% drop in the sale price of aluminium, said Alcoa, which is the world's largest producer of the metal.
But it is better than the previous quarter when Alcoa made a $191m loss.
Alcoa is the first member of the blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average to report quarterly earnings.
There was also 13% drop in the realised price of alumina, which is an oxidised form of aluminium of which Alcoa is also the world's largest refiner.
"Challenges remain in this economy, but we approach them better prepared than ever before," said Klaus Kleinfeld, Alcoa's chairman and chief executive officer.
Alcoa shares fell 2.9% earlier, before trading closed, amid steep global stock falls.
Polls Open in South Korea’s Crucial Parliamentary Elections
South Koreans are voting in closely-contested parliamentary elections, seen as a key test for President Lee Myung-bak.
Polls opened early Wednesday local time and will close 12 hours later. Voters are casting ballots to elect a new 300-member National Assembly.
Most of the legislators will be elected directly, with the rest chosen through proportional representation.
The results will have an impact on the December presidential vote. This is the first time in 20 years that the parliamentary and presidential election are taking place in the same year.
The competition is largely a two-way race between the ruling New Frontier Party and the opposition Democratic United Party.
Currently, the conservative ruling party has the majority in parliament, but polls show the party may not retain it. The opposition has accused the party of supporting the rich and privileged at the expense of ordinary South Koreans.
Elections for South Korea's 300-seat unicameral parliament are held every four years. The country has about 40 million eligible voters.
Clinton Questions Whether North Korea Wants Better Ties
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says North Korea's plans to launch a missile raises questions about its desires to improve ties with its neighbors and the United States.
Clinton said in a speech Tuesday at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland that just weeks ago, the North agreed to a moratorium on missile and nuclear tests.
Clinton said North Korean leaders view better relations with the outside world as a threat to the existence of their political system. She added that recent history strongly suggests that more provocation may follow a possible launch.
The secretary said a North Korean missile launch would be a serious violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions. She said the United States and its U.N. allies would pursue appropriate action.
The deputy director of North Korea's space program, Ryu Gum Chol, denies plans to test-fire a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. He told VOA that the rocket will launch a weather satellite into orbit to honor the 100th birthday of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung.
South Korean intelligence photographs also show that the North may be preparing what would be its third underground nuclear weapons test.
Clinton also said in Annapolis Tuesday that the United States and China are not on the brink of a new cold war in Asia.
She said a thriving China is good for America and a thriving America is good for China.
Lawyers for Florida Shooting Suspect Drop Out of Case
The lawyers for a white Hispanic man who shot an African-American teenager to death allegedly in self-defense have pulled out of the Florida case, saying they have lost contact with their client.
Attorneys Hal Uhrig and Craig Sonner said Tuesday they have not heard from George Zimmerman since Sunday despite repeated efforts to reach him.
The lawyers say Zimmerman contacted the special prosecutor's office directly without their knowledge, which attorneys advise their clients not to do.
They also say Zimmerman set up his own legal defense fund and spoke to conservative television commentator Sean Hannity, also without their knowledge.
Both attorneys say they can no longer represent a client who will not communicate with them. But they say they are concerned for Zimmerman's safety, saying he has “a bounty” on his head.
Late Tuesday, special prosecutor Angela Corey announced she will hold a news conference later this week to disclose new information in the case. It is up to Corey to decide whether to prosecute Zimmerman.
Zimmerman, a white man who led a neighborhood watch program in Sanford, Florida last month, shot and killed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, who is black.
Zimmmerman told police he acted in self-defense when Martin attacked him. He has not been arrested. Martin's family says the young man was unarmed and was confronted because of his race. They are demanding Zimmerman be charged with murder.
A recording of an emergency telephone call to police during their confrontation is inconclusive.
The case has ignited a debate about racial tensions in the United States. Martin supporters say the shooting shows how young black men are constantly threatened with violence, while Zimmerman supporters say race had nothing to do with the killing.
World Powers Criticize Syria for Defying Cease-Fire Plan
World powers have denounced Syria for failing to begin implementing a cease-fire deal proposed by U.N.-Arab League envoy for Syria, Kofi Annan.
White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday the U.S. had seen no evidence of a government pullback in Syria and that the international community would judge President Bashar al-Assad's government on its actions, not its words.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said in a statement that “the Syrian president lied to Kofi Annan.” The statement said that “not only has the firing of heavy weapons not ended…but what was presented as a withdrawal is in fact only a thinly disguised redeployement.”
Juppe said he would bring up the Syrian question at a meeting of foreign ministers of the Group of Eight major industrialized nations in Washington on Wednesday.
In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there is “no evidence so far that the Assad regime has any intention of adhering to any agreement it makes.”
The U.N. Security Council expressed “deep concern” about the level of commitment to a cease-fire the Syrian government has demonstrated so far.
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice, who holds the council presidency this month, said that if “Syria fails to fulfill its obligations, then the international community and the Security Council will have to decide whether to remain unified and take the next step.” She said “that would be to increase pressure on the Assad regime through collective action.”
Russia, an ally of the Syrian governmnet, also was politely critical. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said “Syria's efforts to implement the plan could have been more active and resolute.”