No stopping Limitless at US cinemas
Sci-fi thriller Limitless has topped the North American film chart as box office takings continue to suffer compared with last year.
The film, starring Bradley Cooper as a writer who takes a pill to maximise his brain power, took $19m (£11.7m) in its first weekend, according to estimates.
Comedy Rango was second ahead of last week's number one, Battle: Los Angeles.
It is the fourth weekend running that overall box office takings have been down compared with last year.
Animated Western Rango, featuring the voice of Johnny Depp, took $15.3m (£9.4m) in its third weekend while alien invasion film Battle: Los Angeles took $14.6m (£9m).
The Lincoln Lawyer, a thriller starring Matthew McConaughey as a defence lawyer in a high-profile case, opened in fourth, with $13.4m (£8.3m).
Alien road trip film Paul, written by and starring British actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, opened in fifth, taking $13.2m (£8.1m).
Paul Dergarabedian, of box office tracker Hollywood.com, said: "The first quarter of 2011 has been one we'd like to forget with comparisons to last year making things tough, week after week."
Box office top five
- 1. Limitless - $19m
- 2. Rango - $15.3m
- 3. Battle: Los Angeles - $14.6m
- 4. The Lincoln Lawyer - $13.4m
- 5. Paul - $13.2m
Source: Hollywood.com
DJ Vybz Kartel and Manager Corey Todd " Still Friends"
Last week the ER reported there was a rumor that DJ Vybz Kartel and Manager Corey Todd, had parted ways. In a recent interview with the media Corey put those rumors to rest.
It was reported that Todd was venturing into a new business with Nite Time Entertainment and the Quad nightclub on his own, but he responded that "This is just a separate business venture. Vybz Kartel has other business ventures with other investors.
Corey also stated that he and Kartel are still friends and nothing have changed between them
Wyclef Jean, Pras And Lauryn Hill Reunite For Haiti
Wyclef Jean, Pras and Lauryn Hill reunited last week to show support for Haitian Presidential candidate and fellow musician, Michel Martelly.
Last week Thursday (March 17), Jimmy Rosemond, Wyclef and Pras hosted a concert featuring Busta Rhymes and The Fugees, including estranged group member, Lauryn Hill.
Wyclef Jean told allhiphop: “It’s a new era in Haiti and we are campaigning for change for good in my beloved country. I had to come home as a diaspora to make a difference.”
Re-elections for the office of President of the country took place this Sunday (March 20th), after the original November election results were scrapped, due to fraud, voting irregularities and violence at the polls.
Unfortunately, Wyclef Jean was shot and injured on the eve of the election. The Fugee star is now recovering from his injuries.
Wyclef Jean: “the bullet grazed me in my right hand”
Former Fugee Wyclef Jean yesterday opened up about being shot in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince over the weekend.
Clef who is in Haiti to support presidential candidate and fellow musician Michel Martelly, said the bullet grazed his hand as he stepped out of a car to make a call on his cellphone.
Wyclef told the associated press: “The way I can explain it is that the bullet grazed me in my right hand. I heard blow, blow, blow and I just looked at my hand.”
Jean was shot on Saturday night at approximately 11 PM in the city of Delma, just before the country’s general election. The Hip Hop veteran attempted to run for president, but called off his bid in September because he had not lived in the country in the run up to the election.
Clef was treated at a local hospital and released. The singer said he was taking antibiotics and recovering at an “undisclosed location” before going out to vote in Sunday’s presidential election.
Celebrities Raise Money for Japan Quake
Many celebrities are using their fame to aid victims of the recent Japan earthquake and tsunami. Katy Perry is donating proceeds from sales of tour merchandise to the Red Cross. In only 48 hours, Lady Gaga raised $250,000 by selling “We Pray for Japan” bracelets on her website. Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda is designing T-shirts that will benefit Music for Relief’s support efforts. And, Blink-182 is auctioning some of its rare band memorabilia, including handwritten lyric sheets and clothing the members wore in a music video. The sale is taking place on eBay to benefit the Red Cross.
Russia Gets Giant Boost from Rising Oil Prices
As much of the world reels from civil unrest and natural disasters, Russia is cashing in on high oil prices that may allow it eliminate its budget deficit in 2011.
Libya suspends oil exports. Political revolts put the Persian Gulf on edge. And Germany and Japan close one quarter of their nuclear reactors.
In today’s energy world, Russia seems to be the winner. Producing 11 percent of the world’s energy output, Russia is the world’s biggest energy exporter.
“This is a huge amount of energy - about five times more than Russia’s share of global GDP or population. This is the basic number,” said Leonid Grigoriev, who studies Russia’s energy economics at Moscow’s Higher School of Economics.
With prices expected to average over $100 a barrel this year, the oil bonanza is expected to erase Russia’s budget deficit this year.
This is timely for the Kremlin, which is handing out pay and pension raises as the nation starts an election cycle. The latest came Friday when President Dmitry Medvedev announced that salaries for soldiers will triple next January - just 10 weeks before election day.
Oil and gas pays for about 40 percent of Russia’s budget. Once prices rise over $27 a barrel, Russia’s Finance Ministry takes in 90 cents for each dollar.
”This is why the Russia depends so much on oil and on oil prices,” said Leonid Grigoriev. “And that’s why any turmoil in the world immediately brings money to the Ministry of Finance.”
Today, foreign currency reserves are growing at $100 million a week. By the end of March, Russia’s total reserves are to hit $500 billion - the world’s third largest, after China and Japan.
Now, economists are now raising Russia’s economic growth estimate for 2011 to five percent - the highest level since 2008, the year the economic crisis hit.
Higher oil earnings filter down to Russian consumers.
Last year, car sales and overseas travel jumped by one third. The equivalent of 10 percent of Russian took foreign vacations. Next year, Russia is to displace Germany as Europe’s largest car market. In February, Ford, GM and Volkwagen announced new joint ventures to produce more cars in Russia.
Russians spend now, because they are never certain about the future.
In one decade, the oil price gyrated wildly - from a low of $8 a barrel in 1998 to a peak of $147 in 2008.
Looking at the long term, analysts say Japan's nuclear crisis may benefit Russia by pushing the world energy pendulum away from nuclear toward natural gas. Germany imports almost half of its gas from Russia. Even before the crisis, Russia was investing to increase gas production by 50 percent over the next 20 years.
The downside is that high prices ease pressures to cut corruption, to diversify the economy and to lighten the hand of government on business.
Chris Weafer, chief strategist with Uralsib Capital, fears that the new flood of oil earnings is leading the Kremlin to slow its privatization program.
“We have seen it in the Gulf Arab countries. and we saw it in Russia in the last 10 years that as the oil price is rising governments talk about the need for reform and using the money wisely, but as the price goes up too high, the whole process slows down, people become complacent, they become lazy, they live the good life as it were, until the collapse comes,” he said. “And then then whole process starts again.”
In public opinion polls, corruption rivals food prices as the number one public complaint for Russians. According to Transparency International, Russia is the most corrupt of the Group of 20 major economies.
Last week in a speech in Moscow, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden clearly warned Russia that corruption scares away investors.
“No amount of government cheerleading or public relations or U.S. support or rebranding will bring wronged or nervous investors back to a market they perceive to have these shortcomings,” he said. “Only bold and genuine change.“
As Biden spoke, new economic data came in. Despite the oil price rises, despite the run up in the Russian stock markets, the country suffered a net loss in investment capital in February.
“Despite the stock market and despite the oil prices, people are still very skeptical that there is going to be material change in Russia,” said strategist Chris Weafer. “Right now, they are voting with their wire transfers."
Another cloud on Russia’s horizon is demographic. Over this decade, the Russian workforce is expected to shrink by 10 million people, or 15 percent.
Solutions are not popular: raising the retirement age, increasing immigration, and raising productivity through more foreign investment. And those measures will not be taken until after Russia’s presidential election - one year from now.
Tokyo Electric Power to pay farmers for radiation loss
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) will have to compensate farmers for losses caused by the nuclear radiation leaking from its power plants, Japan has said.
The firm will have to take responsibility, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano at a press conference.
Japan has banned all shipments of leaf vegetables, spinach and milk from the area around Fukushima.
The government has urged calm saying health risks are limited.
"Even if you eat contaminated vegetables several times, it will not harm your health at all," said Mr Edano.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), however, said the radiation impact was becoming more serious than first thought.
"It's safe to suppose that some contaminated produce got out of the contamination zone," said Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the WHO.
Mounting costs
Adding to Tepco's worries are the fears of contamination in the water.
High levels of radioactive iodine were detected in the water around the plant.
The government has urged some residents to stop drinking tap water.
All this is unfolding while Tepco continues to try and bring the nuclear power plant under control.
The cost of cleaning up the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as well as compensating victims is likely to be in the billions of dollars for Tepco, analysts said.
Japan's carmakers are getting set to restart production
Japanese car manufacturers are looking to restart production after their operations were disrupted by the deadly earthquake and tsunami.
Toyota Motors says it will announce plans to restart production on Tuesday. Production at Honda Motors and Mazda is scheduled to start later this week.
This comes after Nissan Motors resumed work at six of its factories on Monday.
However, analysts said that production will depend on the supply of parts.
They said the main task will be getting the supply chain to work at full capacity, without which company production numbers could be far less than before.
"A start in production does not automatically mean that they have started to work at full capacity," said Vivek Vaidya of Frost & Sullivan.
"They could be working at sub-optimal capacity" he added.
Assembling a car requires thousands of parts to be put together. These are provided by different suppliers.
"Each supplier has to be able to reach the levels before the devastation to reach the full production plan," said Mr Vaidya.
The reason behind a shortfall of parts is down to each company's efficiency plans.
Most of the parts are shipped to the manufacturers a short time ahead of the assembly line requirements, analysts said.
This means that most car factories have relatively low inventories, which can create shortages in supply.
Balancing act
As different vendors get back on track at a different pace, the supply of parts will also be inconsistent in the short to medium term, analysts said.
There might be an excessive supply of parts for one model of the car, while the other models might face a shortage.
According to analysts this will mean the manufacturers will have to make some tough choices.
"They will have to get the product mix correct," said Mr Vaidya.
"Getting that right will be a challenge," he added.
US & European Stocks Make Gains
U.S. stock market indexes made strong gains in Monday's trading.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 1.5 percent to end at 12,037. The S&P 500 moved up 1.5 percent to close at 1,298 while the NASDAQ jumped 1.8 percent to finish at 2,692.
European stock markets advanced strongly by the close of trading. London's Financial Times 100 index rose 1.2 percent to end at 5,786. The CAC-40 in Paris jumped 2.5 percent to finish the day's trading at 3,904 and the DAX in Frankfurt gained 2.3 percent to reach 6,816.
In Asia, Tokyo markets were closed Monday for a national holiday . Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.7 percent to end at 22,685.
The price of gold rose more than $8 to trade at $1,427.40 an ounce.
The dollar was higher against the yen but lost value compared to the euro.
World Bank: Five Years, $235 Billion for Japan Recovery
World Bank officials say it may take five years for Japan to recover from the recent earthquake and tsunami with costs running as high as $235 billion.
Monday's report from the bank says the damage may turn out to be the equivalent of 4 percent of the nation's economic output. The bank predicts that growth will pick up as reconstruction efforts accelerate.
Tokyo markets were closed Monday for a national holiday , but share prices declined most of last week. They rallied Friday after the G-7 group of industrialized nations pledged joint action to help Japan by pushing down the value of the yen.
Japan's economy is heavily dependent on exports, and the recent sharp rise in the yen hurts exports by making Japanese-produced products more expensive on world markets. The yen's value had been growing as speculators bought the currency, predicting it would gain as Japanese companies sold foreign assets and brought that money home to fund reconstruction.
In the meantime, Japanese companies are working to restart production at the many factories that closed right after the earthquake. Workers had to cope with damage some plants, shortages of power and parts, as well as transportation problems. Nissan says it can resume activities at five factories this week, while Toyota and some other companies still have a number of plants closed.
Some of the closed facilities produce parts used to assemble autos in other nations, and the parts shortage is causing production problems around the world.
U.S.-based General Motors, for example, is slowing or stopping production at some plants in the United States, Spain, Germany and South Korea.
Shortages of key Japanese-made electronic parts is also slowing production or raising prices at overseas factories that assemble electronic products.