Jackie Cooper: Ex-child star and Superman actor dies
Former US child star Jackie Cooper, who went on to work as a TV producer, film director and feature in four Superman movies, has died at the age of 88.
Cooper died in Santa Monica, California, on Tuesday of complications related to old age, his lawyer said.
Aged nine he became the youngest player to be nominated for an Oscar for best actor, for the 1931 film Skippy.
Late in his career he returned to the screen as the Daily Planet editor in Christopher Reeve's Superman films.
As a child, Cooper became a familiar face to many in Hal Roach's Our Gang series of short comedy films.
He went on to star in Skippy, an adaptation of a popular comic strip.
In one scene where he was required to cry, the director, his uncle Norman Taurog, pretended to have his dog shot off-set in order to bring on the tears - a ploy which worked.
Although the young Cooper did not in the end win the Academy Award for best actor, his uncle did take best director for that film.
Fifty years later, Cooper entitled his 1981 autobiography Please Don't Shoot My Dog.
He followed his success in Skippy with roles in films including the Champ, The Bowery and Treasure Island, and continued acting through his adolescence.
He served in the US Navy during World War II and returned to find his film career had waned, at which point he took to the stage in New York in a number of Broadway shows.
He went on to star in TV sit-coms and dramas, before turning his hand to directing and production.
His appearances as gruff Daily Planet editor Perry White in the Superman films brought him back to the big screen in the twilight of his career.
Born John Cooper in Los Angeles in 1922, he was married three times and had four children. Two sons survive him.
Swiss seize millions belonging to Duvalier
Switzerland Monday moved to seize more than US$6 million frozen in Swiss accounts belonging to former Haitian dictator Jean-Claude 'Baby Doc' Duvalier.
The finance department says it has initiated forfeiture proceedings before the Federal Administrative Court, 25 years after the funds were first frozen in Switzerland.
Duvalier, 59, who had been living in exile in France since he was ousted in 1986, made a surprise return to the French-speaking CARICOM country in January, sparking fears that his return would have disrupted the March 20 presidential and legislative council elections.
Duvalier has since been slapped with several charges including corruption, theft and misappropriation of funds that were allegedly committed during his 15-year rule.
The Swiss government recently drew up a special law to prevent Duvalier or members of his family from reclaiming the estimated 5.8 million Swiss francs (US$6.7 million).
The government says it will give the money to Haiti for use in aid projects if the court action is successful.
Haiti is seeking billions of dollars in aid following the January 12 earthquake last year that killed an estimated 300,000 people and left more than a million others homeless.
- CMC
Feds sue Deutsche Bank, alleging mortgage fraud
The federal government sued Deutsche Bank on Tuesday, saying the bank committed fraud and padded its pockets with undeserved income as it repeatedly lied in order to join a government programme that insured mortgages.
The lawsuit in US District Court in Manhattan seeks to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims that the government has had to pay when homeowners defaulted on their mortgages.
The lawsuit also asked for punitive damages.
The government said the bank profited from the resale of the risky mortgages, leaving the government to foot the bill. Mortgage insurance is issued by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).
The lawsuit said the bank carried out the fraud through its subsidiary, MortgageIT, which employed more than 2,000 people at branches in all 50 US states.
In a statement, Deutsche spokeswoman Reneé Calabro said the bank had received the complaint and was reviewing it.
"We believe the claims against MortgageIT and Deutsche Bank are unreasonable and unfair, and we intend to defend against the action vigorously," she said.
The lawsuit against Deutsche Bank seeks to recover more than US$386 million that the Department of Housing and Urban Development has paid out in FHA insurance claims and related costs arising out of MortgageIT's approval of more than 3,100 mortgages.
The suit alleges that Deutsche Bank and MortgageIT failed to comply with HUD rules and regulations regarding required quality control procedures, and then lied about their purported compliance.
The government said the quality control violations were egregious, including the failure to review all early payment defaults and to implement minimal quality control processes.
The lawsuit noted that MortgageIT hired an outside vendor, Tena Companies Inc, to conduct quality control reviews of closed FHA-insured loans in 2004, but then never read letters that Tena wrote identifying serious underwriting violations.
"Instead, MortgageIT employees stuffed the letters, unopened and unread, in a closet in MortgageIT's Manhattan headquarters," the lawsuit said.
- AP
US stocks wobble as earnings rally slows
AFTER two weeks of strong earnings pumped up the US markets, weak results from Pfizer and others deflated a broad earnings rally yesterday.
The world's largest drug maker posted lower-than-expected quarterly results yesterday, slowing a parade of positive corporate reports. Clorox, Molson Coors Brewing Co, and Beazer Homes also slipped after announcing weaker earnings.
That sent broad indexes such as the Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 lower. The Russell 2000, an index of small companies, lost 1.3 per cent.
The S&P 500 fell 4.60 points, or 0.3 per cent, to 1,356.62. The Nasdaq composite fell 22.46, or 0.8 per cent, at 2,841.62. The Dow Jones industrial average inched out a gain of 0.15 per cent to close at 12,807.51.
Randy Bateman, chief investment officer and president of Huntington Asset Advisors, said some kind of weakness was natural following a mostly positive earnings season. About 65 per cent of companies in the S&P 500 have reported their results, and earnings are up about 21 per cent from the same period last year, according to FactSet.
"We've had such a strong, hard run for the entirety of the year in the face of an awful lot of adversity", Bateman said. "Investors are going to sit back a little bit and say, 'How much more good news is out there?'"
Pfizer Inc fared worst in the Dow Jones industrial average yesterday, losing nearly three per cent after the company reduced its revenue forecast for 2011.
Clorox Co fell 3.6 per cent and Molson Coors Brewing Co fell nearly six per cent after each reported lower net income compared to the same period last year. The consumer goods maker and beverage company both blamed higher costs for raw materials for the decline.
Beazer Homes USA Inc slipped five per cent. The homebuilder reported a larger-than-expected loss because orders for new homes fell, reflecting continued weakness in the housing industry.
The losses came after a string of stronger-than-expected earnings reports pushed the broad stock market up two per cent this quarter. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 2.4 per cent last week alone.
"You get a nice move like that and you're bound to have a pullback," said Bill Stone, chief investment strategist at PNC Asset Management. Investors sold stocks based on their perceived riskiness, he said, with the stable companies in the Dow losing the least and smaller, riskier companies in the Russell 2000 declining the most.
Not every company had poor results. MetroPCS Communications Inc rose 10 per cent, the most of any company in the S&P 500, after it added a record number of subscribers in the first quarter. The company sells low-cost phone service, primarily in cities.
General Motors rose 2.5 per cent after its US car and truck sales jumped 26 per cent in April. Higher gas prices motivated consumers to buy more fuel-efficient vehicles.
Bond prices rose slightly. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note dipped to 3.26 from 3.28 per cent from late Monday.
Two stocks fell for every one that rose on the New York Stock Exchange. Consolidated volume came to 4.5 billion shares
GM sales jump 26% on small car sales gains
General Motors' US car and truck sales jumped 26 per cent in April as the economy continued to improve and higher gasone prices pushed buyers into more fuel-efficient vehicles.
The largest US car company sold 232,538 vehicles last month, led by a shift to small cars and crossover vehicles.
"Recently, rising fuel prices have led many to re-think their vehicle choice," said Don Johnson, GM's vice president of US sales.
GM, the first major automaker to report sales yesterday, is much better prepared for higher gas prices than in the past. It offers a wider selection of smaller vehicles. GM used to rely more on sales of pickup trucks and large SUV for profits. But sales of those vehicles would fall when pump prices spiked because they used more gasoline.
The company sold more than 25,000 Chevrolet Cruze compact cars in April, the best month for the car since its introduction in October.
Johnson said the Chevrolet Equinox and GMC Terrain crossovers also posted big sales increases in April as the shift toward smaller and more efficient vehicles accelerated from March. Crossovers look like sport utility vehicles, but are more fuel efficient because they are built on car platforms.
Compact cars made up nearly 15 per cent of US sales a year ago, but that rose to about 17 per cent in April, Johnson said.
He said GM hasn't seen its sales rise because of model shortages at Japan-based automakers. The company will increase production if needed.
Nissan Motor Co, Toyota Motor Corp and Honda Motor Co have been forced to cut production. That's because they are running low on parts made by factories disrupted by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Some auto dealers reported better sales in April because customers are expecting model shortages. Those car shoppers want to buy while the selection is good.
GM said the US consumers spent more in April and feel better about the economy. The company thinks the auto industry recovery will continue.
GM's April gains came despite lower incentives such as rebates and cheaper financing. GM incentives fell US$243 from March to April according to the automotive website Edmunds.com.
Total US incentive spending by automakers fell US$250 from the prior month.
"This is the clearest indication yet that automakers are gearing up for inventory shortages," Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analysis for Edmunds, said in a statement.
She said demand for new cars is growing as the economy recovers. However, buyers may decide to wait for deals to return, and that may not be until fall.
In April of last year, buyers eased up on purchases after Toyota dropped the record-high incentives it had offered the previous month.
Sales of GM's top-selling vehicle, the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck, fell 4.6 per cent in April.
Johnson said commercial truck purchases continued to increase. But sales of trucks for personal use dropped as people shifted to smaller vehicles due to higher gas prices.
Shares of GM rose 87 cents, or 2.7 per cent, to US$33.05 after it released sales figures yesterday. It was the first time the price rose above the initial public offering price of US$33 since April 6, when it hit US$33.28.
Analysts expect overall industry sales in the US to increase 19 per cent from April of last year.
Brits to stand trial for alleged air rage
TWO British nationals — whose alleged brawl on a Virgin Atlantic flight to Jamaica allegedly resulted in £25,000 worth of damage to the cabin of the aircraft — are to stand trial in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate's Court on Friday.
The trial date was set when the two Londoners, Jason Dixon and Danielle Bishop, appeared before Senior Magistrate Judith Pusey yesterday — a day after they were arrested and charged with malicious destruction of property, air rage disorderly conduct, among others.
Dixon and Bishop, who were denied landing privileges as a result of the incident, were remanded into police custody until the trial on Friday.
Yesterday, Bishop alleged that the fight started when a drunken Dixon attacked after she shunned his sexual advances.
She claimed that Dixon had been drinking from the start of the flight and at some point started to ask her personal questions, which she did not take kindly to. Dixon, she alleged, held onto her hand while using derogatory terms to describe what he wanted to do to her.
Bishop told the court further that she was only defending herself against Dixon whom she alleged had ripped her clothes and yanked out strands of her hair. The two never knew each other previously.
After the fight was broken up, it was realised that several cabins had been damaged. The two were arrested and charged Monday afternoon, shortly after disembarking the flight at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston.
Bishop had earlier yesterday pleaded guilty to the charges, but after hearing her explanation, Pusey rejected the plea and set the matter for trial.
Dixon, however, said that he was not guilty of the allegations against him and that he was defending himself against Bishop.
Source: jamaicaobserver
Human trafficking alive in T&T
Both the International Organisation on Migration (IOM) and the US Department of State have said that human trafficking is taking place in T&T. This is according to National Security Minister Brigadier John Sandy, who revealed this during his Senate presentation of the Trafficking In Persons Bill, 2011, yesterday. The legislation seeks to give effect to the United Nations Protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in people, especially women and children. Sandy said human trafficking was a rapidly growing global phenomenon “and it is currently the second most profitable criminal activity surpassed only by narcotics trafficking.”
He added: “Statistical and anecdotal data indicate that the offence of trafficking in people is evolving in Trinidad and Tobago. “The IOM and the US State Department of State both report that Trinidad and Tobago is a country of transit and destination and may well be a country of origin,” Sandy told legislators. Noting that there had also been international media reports of the crime taking place in T&T, Sandy said: “Initial in-house research appears to corroborate the findings of the IOM and the US Department of State, particularly with respect to Trinidad and Tobago as a transit and destination country.” He added that incidents of human trafficking in T&T were “for the purposes of sexual and labour exploitation’s and domestic servitude.” Sandy said IOM reports indicated that “in the last year, there were six cases of human trafficking, and in 2009, 11 such incidents.”
Sandy said if the reports were proven to be correct “this would reflect a disturbing and disheartening reality.” Sandy added: “Statistics regarding the number of cases cannot be substantiated as there is officially no central repository for such information.” He said because there was no offence as human trafficking in T&T, “no prosecutions for this specific crime are conducted.” He said T&T was now under international scrutiny because it lacked appropriate human trafficking legislation. Sandy said there were “too many entities” involved in the issue of human trafficking. He said those include, “hotels, motels, construction sites factories, massage parlous, recruitment agencies , taxi services and transportation companies.” He said operators of those services “must now be on the guard as closer scrutiny will be placed on them.”
The minister said police would be allowed to enter, search and seize articles, vehicles or property in their investigation of any human trafficking offence. Sandy said the bill was a clear signal that T&T was moving “to bring itself into compliance with minimum international standards pertaining to the crime of human trafficking, and that the Government is seeking to address the issue in its embryonic stages before it becomes a widespread criminal activity.” Sandy said two bodies would be legally establish to deal with aspects of the fight against human trafficking in T&T—the National Task Force Against Trafficking in Persons and Counter Trafficking Unit. He said the National Task Force would develop a national counter-trafficking plan for the prevention of trafficking in people.
Barbados pursuing CLICO rescue plan
Prime Minister of Barbados Fruendel Stuart says his administration is working to ensure that policyholders of the troubled local operations of Colonial Life Insurance Company (CLICO) get back their principal investments.
Stuart said on the state-owned Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation that his government was "quietly and unobtrusively" pursuing its own CLICO initiatives with a view to having "a fair and rational resolution" of the problem.
The local operations of CLICO have been affected by the financial problems plaguing the parent company, the cash-strapped regional conglomerate CL Financial, with the Trinidad and Tobago government pumping billions of dollars in a bid to keep the insurance company viable.
"We have had meetings with interesting parties on the CLICO issue and it is my view that the clouds are not nearly as dark as they might be thought to be," Stuart said last week.
The prime minister, who brushed aside critics of his style of leadership, also assured Barbadians that the high cost of living is being addressed by his administration, including plans to zero-rate some food items now subject to value added tax.
- CMC
Thor thunders to top of UK box office chart
Superhero movie Thor has stormed the UK and Ireland box office chart, taking pole position after its first weekend on release.
Kenneth Branagh's film took £3.1m in its opening weekend, making a further £2.3m from three days of previews.
Oscar winners Sir Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman star in the film about Marvel Comics' Norse god of thunder.
The fifth Fast and the Furious film, starring Vin Diesel, fell one place to two after topping the chart last week.
Fast Five - also known as The Fast and the Furious 5: Rio Heist - took £2.6m between Friday and Sunday, bringing its two-week takings to £11.2m.
Horror film Insidious was the second highest new entry at three with three-day takings of £1.4m.
Animated film Rio fell two places to four, while Russell Brand's Arthur remake fell two places to five after making its underwhelming debut last week.
Vin Diesel's Fast Five is biggest 2011 US opener to date
Vin Diesel film Fast Five has taken $86.2m (£51.9m) in its first three days, the biggest North American box office opener of the year so far.
The fifth movie in the street racing franchise pulled in bigger takings than early estimates, which had stood at $83.6m (£50.3m).
It easily beat the previous best opening set two weeks ago by animation Rio, which took $39.2m (£23.6m).
The film, featuring the voice of Anne Hathaway was at two this week.
It has now taken $103.6m (£65.2m) in its thee weeks since release.
The latest comedy offering from Tyler Perry, the critically-panned Madea's Big Happy Family, fell one place to three, taking $9.9m (£6m) million in its second weekend.
Depression-era romance Water for Elephants, starring Robert Pattinson and Oscar-winner Reese Witherspoon, also dropped one spot to four.
Other new releases failed to perform at the box office.
Disney's coming-of-age comedy drama Prom, starring a largely unknown group of actors as teenagers preparing for their high school prom, debuted at five.
Animated sequel Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil featuring the voices of Haydn Panettiere and Glenn Close opened at six with $4.1m.
Overall revenues stood at $155m (£93.5m), up 52% from the same weekend last year, when A Nightmare on Elm Street topped the chart, according to box office analyst Hollywood.com.
NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE
- 1. Fast Five - $86.2m
- 2. Rio - $39.2m
- 3. Madea's Big Happy Family - $9.9m
- 4. Water For Elephants - $9.3m
- 5. Prom - $4.7m
Source: Hollywood.com