Kodak shares tumble 28% amid fears about its future
Shares in Eastman Kodak have fallen 28% on speculation the photography firm was preparing to file for bankruptcy protection in the US.
Shares dropped 18 cents to a record low of 47 cents on Wednesday.
The sell-off was triggered by a report in the Wall Street Journal alleging Kodak was preparing a Chapter 11 filing after struggling to sell key assets.
A Kodak spokesman said that the company did not comment on market rumour or speculation.
In November, Kodak said that it needed to raise cash in order to continue operating in 2012.
The company said it was going to explore selling or licensing around 1,100 of its digital imaging patents - roughly 10% of its total library.
However, according to the Wall Street Journal, Kodak has now started to look at a number of options to ensure its survival, including filing for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
It is also in talks with banks about raising $1bn (£640m) in financing to keep it afloat during Chapter 11 proceedings, the newspaper said, citing unnamed people familiar with the matter.
Kodak may file for Chapter 11 either this month or in early February, the WSJ claimed, adding that the company would continue to pay its bills and operate normally if went in bankruptcy protection.
It would also continue trying to find a buyer for the patents.
Kodak was one of the most famous global photography brands, but the company has been overtaken by rivals who reacted more quickly to the arrival of digital techniques.
The 131-year-old firm has been squeezed by weaker sales of consumer products and the heavy cost base of its operations and employees around the globe.
In the third quarter of 2011, the company reported a three-month loss of $222m, its ninth quarterly loss in three years.
However, despite the problems, Kodak does have assets that could point to a more viable future.
Analysts said the patents could fetch between $2bn and $3bn if the company can find the right buyer.
At the same time, the firm has been keen to stress that its inkjet printer and inks unit is performing well. Third-quarter sales rose by 44% from the same period a year earlier.
British Lawmakers Urge Ruling on Lethal Force Against Pirates
British lawmakers are urging the government to clearly define when lethal force can legally be used against pirates.
The request is part of a report released Thursday by parliament's foreign affairs committee, which welcomed the government's decision last year to permit armed guards on British ships in dangerous waters.
The committee says captains still need specific instructions on what they can do if threatened by pirates.
Britain says a limited number of its ships have been attacked but, piracy continues to threaten the country's economy through its banking, insurance and shipping industries.
The report says Somali pirates have been paid more than $300 million over the past four years, but little is known about where the extorted money ends up.
The legislators say multi-national naval operations have had limited impact on piracy.
The report says even when pirates are detained, about 90 percent are released without being charged.
The committee says the government should consider trying pirates captured on British vessels in a national court unless they are prosecuted by another country.
Britain will convene an international conference in London next month on the threat of piracy off the coast of Somalia, including in the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean.
LA Arson Suspect Charged, on Suicide Watch
Authorities have charged a German citizen with 37 counts of arson in connection with dozens of fires set across Los Angeles over the New Year's weekend.
Harry Burkhart made a brief court appearance on Wednesday, appearing disoriented at times.Burkhart is accused of going on a four-day arson rampage, setting more than 50 fires across the Los Angeles area that caused about $3 million in damage.
The judge ordered him to remain in jail on $2.85 million bail and that his passport be surrendered. The 24-year-old's arraignment was postponed until January 24.
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley says Burkhart deserves a long sentence for the terror he caused to the people of Los Angeles.
“Very simply the amount of harm he did to psyche of the citizens of these particular communities and all of Los Angeles county, I think it merits a life term. And the potential danger that he presented to certain individuals who were sleeping in their beds at night, who could have been unaware of the fires, hearing problems, didn't smell the smoke, no smoke detectors,was almost an act of attempted murder.''
Authorities said on Wednesday that Burkhart has been on suicide watch since his arrest on Monday.
Cooley says its believed that Burkhart actions were triggered by the arrest of his mother.
“A sense that this particular individual was set off by the incarceration of his mother, with whom he appears to be quite close, and he had latent anti-American views.”
The first of the blazes broke out Friday, the day after 53-year-old Dorothee Burkhart appeared in court. During his mother's hearing, Burkhart went off on an obscenity-laced rant against the United States.
Mr. Burkhart was arrested under an international warrant, and is facing 19 counts of fraud and embezzlement.
In her own court appearance on Tuesday, Ms. Burkhart asked why her son was not present, apparently unaware he had been arrested. She told the federal judge her son was mentally ill. She also speculated that the Nazis had discovered their address.
Prosecutors in his native Germany say Burkhart also is under investigation for suspected arson of his family's home in a town near Frankfurt .
Most of the arson attacks targeted cars parked either outside homes or in parking structures. No one was killed or seriously injured in the arson spree. Authorities are looking into whether other suspects were involved.
Britain’s Foreign Secretary Makes Historic Visit to Burma
British Foreign Secretary William Hague says he will press Burma to release its political prisoners during his first official visit to the southeast Asian country.
Hague's historic visit to Burma begins in the capital, Naypyidaw, where he will meet president Thein Sein. He is then scheduled to travel to Rangoon to meet with opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Before departing London, Hague said he is visiting the country to encourage the Burmese government to continue on its path of reform and to see what Britain can do to help the support this process.
But he said his country is particularly interested in seeing the release of all remaining political prisoners, free and fair by-elections and humanitarian access in conflict areas.
Hague is the first British foreign secretary to visit Burma in more than 50 years. In November, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the first top diplomat from a Western nation to respond to recent reforms by the Burmese government with a visit.
Western leaders have commended Burma's new government, which took over in March, for making steps toward a democratic reform. The new nominally civilian government also has modified election laws to enable longtime political prisoner and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to re-register her National League for Democracy as a political party and run in parliamentary by-elections due in April.
President Thein Sein, a former general, has surprised both the United States and the opposition with steps toward democracy and initiating dialogue with ethnic minorities. But many say a lot more needs to be done. Numerous governments and rights groups say Burma is still holding about 1,000 or more political prisoners who they say must be released and permitted to participate in the political process.
Philippines Landslide Kills 25, 100 Missing
Philippines officials say a landslide in a gold mining community on the southern island of Mindanao has killed at least 25 people and left more than 100 others buried under tons of rocks and mud.
Officials say the disaster struck before dawn Thursday near the town of Pantukan. Philippine soldiers are helping dig through the rubble, searching for survivors.
The area has been the site of previous landslides. But officials say miners and their families chose to stay even after they were warned of the risks.
Romney & Santorum Tied In Iowa Caucuses
Social conservative Rick Santorum and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney were tied for first place among Republican candidates in the Iowa caucuses, the first nominating contest of the 2012 presidential election.
Longtime front-runner Romney and a recent favorite, Santorum, have both won 25 percent of the votes. Anti-war advocate Ron Paul is slightly behind at 21 percent.
Santorum's campaign got off to a slow start, but surged in the month leading up to the Iowa caucus. He challenged his main opponent's electability in a post-caucus speech on Tuesday.
Santorum also used his speech to promote his tax code and blame the Obama administration for driving away jobs.
“So we eliminate the corporate tax on manufacturing so we can compete. We take the regulations, every regulation that's over $100 million, and we repeal all those regulations – repeal them all, and there's a lot of them. Under the Bush and Clinton administrations they averaged over 60 regulations over $100 million a year. This administration hit 150 last year. You want to know what is crushing business? This administration is crushing business.”
In a speech from Iowa's capital city, Des Moines, Romney congratulated Santorum and thanked Iowa voters for giving him and his opponents the chance to restore “the heart and soul” of the nation. He also pointed at U.S. President Barack Obama's failure to put Americans back to work.
“I will go to work to get American back to work by making America once again the most attractive place in the world for job creators, the innovators, the investors and jobs, the jobs will begin to flow like they have in the past. I'll keep our tax rates competitive, get regulators and regulations to see their jobs as to encourage enterprise, make sure we open up new markets for American goods, and finally take advantage of the energy resources we have here in oil and gas and coal and nuclear and renewables.”
After a poor showing, Texas governor Rick Perry said in a speech late Tuesday that he will head home to reconsider his presidential bid. He trailed former House speaker Newt Gingrich with about 10 percent of the votes.
“I've decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann vowed to stay in the race and compete in upcoming primaries, after claiming only about 5 percent of the votes.
Tuesday's caucus results in Iowa will most likely not reflect the eventual presidential nominees for either the Republicans. But the state's caucuses can push weak contenders out of the race, or propel stronger candidates to success in other states during the next several weeks.
Following the caucus on Tuesday, Paul, a U.S. representative from Texas, recapped some of the campaign themes that have distinguished him from his competitors.
He credited his success in Iowa above all to his strong anti-war stand and his desire for the United States to sharply curtail its international commitments.
” We certainly don't need NATO and the U.N. to tell us when to go to war. We have seen a great difference, the majority of the American people are behind us on this whole war effort. They're tired of the war, costs too much money, too many people get killed, too many people get sick. And, the majority, maybe 70 or 80 percent of the American people now are saying, Its time to get out of Afghanistan.”
Paul pledged to press the same issues in the New Hampshire primary election next week, including his call for greater protection of personal privacy, reform of the Federal Reserve system and a return to the gold standard.
Former House speak Newt Gingrich trailed in fourth place with about 13 percent of the vote. He addressed supporters at his Iowa campaign headquarters, stressing his opposition to Paul's anti-war ideas.
“The fact is, his views on foreign policy I think are stunningly dangerous for the survival of the United States. And I think it's a very simple question, which I would be glad, at the next debate, to ask Congressman Paul: If you have a terrorist who is prepared to put on a bomb and wear it as a vest, and walk into a grocery store, or a mall, or a bus, and blow themselves up, as long as they can kill you, why would you think, that if they can get access to a nuclear weapon, they wouldn't use it?”
Former U.S. ambassador Jon Huntsman came came in last with one percent of the vote. Huntsman has not campaigned in Iowa. He is pinning his hopes on a good showing in the New Hampshire state primary January 10.
The Democratic Party also held its caucuses. President Obama was unopposed for the party nomination but hosted a live web chat with supporters in Iowa Tuesday night.
He faces a difficult test to win another term in the November election. The nation's economy has recovered sluggishly from the 2007-2009 recession, leaving many voters questioning his leadership.
Iran nuclear crisis: Sanctions 'beginning to bite
The US has said threats by Iran to restrict Gulf shipping in the event of further sanctions shows international pressure is having an effect.
The State Department said sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear programme were starting to bite and that Iran was trying to create a distraction.
Iran has conducted 10 days of exercises near the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, test-firing several missiles.
Its currency is at a record low, but it has denied sanctions are to blame.
The UN Security Council has already passed four rounds of sanctions against Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment.
Highly enriched uranium can be processed into nuclear weapons, but Iran denies Western charges that it is trying to develop them.
Tehran says its programme is peaceful - it needs nuclear technology to generate electricity to meet growing domestic demand.
The US has also sanctioned dozens of Iranian government agencies, officials and businesses over the nuclear programme.
The government in Tehran has dismissed the latest measures announced in the wake of a critical IAEA report in November.
US President Barack Obama signed into law the US bill targeting Iran's central bank on Saturday. It enters into force in six months' time.
Since then, however, the Iranian national currency, the rial, has lost about 12% of its value - trading at about 17,200-18,000 rials to $1.
Earlier on Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called for "stricter sanctions" and urged EU countries to follow the US in freezing Iranian central bank assets and imposing an embargo on oil exports.
'Mock' exercises
Speaking to journalists, the State Department's Victoria Nuland said Tehran was feeling increasingly isolated because of the sanctions.
"Frankly we see these threats from Tehran as just increasing evidence that the international pressure is beginning to bite there and that they are feeling increasingly isolated and they are trying to divert the attention of their own public from the difficulties inside Iran, including the economic difficulties as a result of the sanctions," she said.
Meanwhile Pentagon spokesman George Little responded to Iranian warnings to keep an aircraft carrier out of the Gulf, saying the Navy was operating within international law and had no plans to pull warships out of the region.
Iran has been holding a series of naval exercises in the Gulf, and on Monday said it had successfully test-fired a surface-to-sea Qader cruise missile, a shorter range Nasr and later, a surface-to-surface Nour missile.
A medium-range surface-to-air missile was successfully launched on Sunday, Iranian media reported.
Iran has conducted 10 days of exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's traded oil passes.
Tehran said on Monday that "mock" exercises on shutting the strait had been carried out, although there was no intention of closing it.
The BBC's Iran correspondent James Reynolds says Iran is using the exercises to try to show that it owns the Gulf and has the military capability to defend against any threat to its dominance.
But, says our correspondent, few believe Iran would carry out its threat to shut the Strait of Hormuz as to do so would be considered too economically, politically and possibly militarily damaging for Tehran.
New Hamphire Next State to Hold Nominating Contest
Following the Iowa caucuses, the focus of the U.S. presidential campaign will shift to the next state to hold its nominating contest, the northeastern state of New Hampshire.
Polls show that former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney holds a commanding lead among Republicans in the January 10 contest, with more than 40 percent support, averaging 22 points ahead of his closest challenger, U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas.
Former House speaker Newt Gingrich places third.
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who was President Barack Obama's ambassador to China, campaigned in New Hampshire instead of Iowa. He places fourth in polls.
Texas Governor Rick Perry and U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann plan to bypass New Hampshire and instead focus on South Carolina, a southern state that holds its primary on January 21. Polls show their support in New Hampshire in the low single digits.
After New Hampshire and South Carolina, the next states to hold contests will be Florida on January 31 and Nevada on February 4.
And in early March, a number of states hold contests on what's called “Super Tuesday” to further narrow the field of hopefuls.
Japanese Prime Minister Vows Tax Reforms in 2012
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda says reforming the debt and disaster-stricken country's social security and tax system is the most important item on his 2012 legislative agenda.
Speaking at a news conference Wednesday marking the start of the new year, Prime Minister Noda said he will soon submit a proposal to parliament that would double the country's consumption, or sales, tax by 2015.
Growing public criticism of the tax hike proposal has already prompted nine members of Mr. Noda's Democratic Party of Japan to quit in protest. The DPJ says it is necessary to help pay for rising social security costs in the rapidly aging country.
Japan faces a historic level of debt as it continues to recover from last March's earthquake and tsunami — one of the costliest natural disasters in world history.
Mr. Noda promised that authorities would work to decontaminate the area surrounding the earthquake-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant. He also vowed that the recovery process would be more transparent to the Japanese public.
“The problem of the nuclear power plant in Fukushima is not only a concern for the residents of Fukushima but to all nations and people around the world. It is fundamental that we provide clear an correct information to the public.”
Last month, the government announced that the plant's nuclear reactors had achieved the stable condition of “cold shutdown” and were no longer leaking substantial amounts of radiation. But it could be years before residents can return to the area.
Prime Minister Noda also said Japan will continue to coordinate with regional powers following the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
“The Korean peninsula now faces a very different situation now that Kim Jong Il has passed away. But we will continue along the lines of what we decided last year to do, that is namely: gather more information, coordinate closely with the various nations involved and prepare fully for all possibilities.”
High Level US Diplomat Begins Asia Tour
Senior U.S. diplomat Kurt Campbell has arrived in China, the first stop on a four-day tour that will also take him to South Korea and Japan.
Campbell, the assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, made no comments on arrival at the airport in Beijing Tuesday, but the State Department had said earlier that he will discuss “a range of important bilateral, regional and global issues, including the latest developments related to North Korea.
The three Asian countries are also close neighbors of nuclear-armed North Korea.
Campbell is the highest-level U.S. official to visit the region since the death of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is due to visit China next week. His office announced early Wednesday that he will meet with Premier Wen Jiabao for talks that are expected to include North Korea's leadership transition after the death of its longtime leader Kim Jong Il.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency quoted the country's defense ministry Wednesday as saying that Washington and Seoul will soon sign a joint operational plan to counter potential North Korean provocations and will hold regular joint exercises.
The United States, China, South Korea and Japan together with Russia are parties in the stalled six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament.
Pyongyang walked away from the talks in April 2009, but signaled last year that it would like the talks to resume.
One of the obstacles to the resumption of the talks is the continuing tension between the two Koreas. The two countries came to the brink of war in 2010 after North Korea launched an artillery attack on the South Korean island. Seoul also accuses Pyongyang od torpedoing its warship Cheonan earlier that year.
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak expressed optimism Monday that this year could be a turning point in the North Korean nuclear dispute. He said that Seoul was ready to resume six-party talks and provide economic assistance to the North, if Pyongyang agrees to suspend its nuclear activities.