Tyre maker Bridgestone pleads guilty to price-fixing
Tyre maker Bridgestone has pleaded guilty to price-fixing and agreed to pay a $425m (£255m) fine to the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
According to the charges, Bridgestone participated in raising the prices of anti-vibration rubber parts sold to car manufacturers.
Tokyo-based Bridgestone is the 26th firm to be caught in the DOJ probe into price-fixing in the car parts industry.
The investigation has so far levied more than $2bn in fines.
In a statement, Bridgestone said management "sincerely regret the actions that resulted in this plea agreement and that they did not discover these activities at an earlier date".
It also said it would take disciplinary action against certain employees and that some executives would forego bonuses in March.
In October 2011, Bridgestone pleaded guilty and paid a $28m fine for fixing the price of marine hoses, but the firm did not reveal that it had also been fixing the price of the anti-vibration rubber parts.
"The Antitrust Division will take a hard line when repeat offenders fail to disclose additional anti-competitive behaviour," said Brent Snyder, deputy assistant attorney general, in a statement.
The agreement is subject to court approval.
Bridgestone said as a result of the settlement, it will will record a special loss of 44.79bn yen ($7.4bn; £4.4bn) for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2013.
Source-BBC
Comcast buys rival Time Warner Cable for $45bn
Comcast has confirmed a deal to acquire Time Warner Cable for about $45bn (£27bn), creating a company that could control three-quarters of the US cable industry.
Comcast will pay about $159 per share for its rival in an all-stock deal.
The deal comes after Time Warner Cable rejected a $60bn bid from Charter Communications last month, calling their offer "grossly inadequate".
However, any merger is likely to face tight scrutiny from US regulators.
Time Warner Cable has been the subject of an eight-month takeover battle by smaller cable operator Charter Communications.
Comcast is the biggest cable television provider in the US and owns the NBC broadcast network, as well as the Universal film studio.
"The combination of Time Warner Cable and Comcast creates an exciting opportunity for our company, for our customers, and for our shareholders," said Comcast's chief executive Brian Roberts.
With 22 million of its own pay TV customers and Time Warner Cable's 11 million, the combined entity will end up with about 30 million subscribers when the deal is complete.
Comcast argues that as it and Time Warner Cable serve different markets, their combination will not reduce competition for consumers.
Comcast operates mainly in the northeast, including its home town of Philadelphia and Boston, Washington and Chicago.
Time Warner Cable's subscribers are centred around its New York headquarter, as well as Los Angeles, Dallas and Milwaukee.
In many of those areas, the new Comcast/Time Warner Cable group will face competition from rivals such as AT&T and Verizon.
However, Public Knowledge, a Washington-based consumer rights group, called on regulators to stop the deal.
It said the merger would give Comcast "unprecedented gatekeeper power in several important markets."
"An enlarged Comcast would be the bully in the schoolyard," it added.
The companies hope to make significant cost savings - of up to $1.5bn in annual costs over three years, with half of that coming in the first year.
In a statement admitting defeat, Charter said it had, "always maintained that our greatest opportunity to create value for shareholders is by executing our current business plan."
"We will continue to be disciplined in this and any other activity we pursue."
Source-BBC
U.S., Mexico to play friendly April 2
The U.S. soccer team will host Mexico in an exhibition game April 2 at Glendale, Ariz., as both nations prepare for the World Cup.
The game, announced Thursday, is not on a FIFA fixture date. That means Europe-based players are not likely to be available for the match.
Preparing for their seventh straight World Cup appearance, the Americans opened their 2014 schedule with a 2-0 win over South Korea on Feb. 1. The U.S. is planning home exhibition games for May 27, June 1 and June 7 before leaving for the tournament in Brazil.
At the World Cup, the U.S. has first-round games against Ghana on June 16, Portugal six days later and Germany on June 26. Mexico opens against Cameroon, before playing Brazil and Croatia.
Source-ESPN
Panama to Host Games Between Yankees, Marlins in March
The New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins will play a two-game series of exhibition games in Panama City next month, the clubs announced Thursday.
The two-game series will be the first Major League Baseball games played in Panama since 1947.
The March 15-16 games, which will be played at Panama City’s Rod Carew Stadium, will honour recently-retired Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera, considered by many to be the greatest relief pitcher in history.
“It is only fitting that one of our game’s greatest ambassadors, Mariano Rivera, could help us bring Major League Baseball back to his beloved Panama,” said Paul Archey, Senior Vice President, International Business Operations for Major League Baseball. “We look forward to partnering with the Marlins and the Yankees to deliver a groundbreaking sporting event to the fans of Panama, particularly the young fans who looked up to Mariano during his historic career.”
The Yankees have some history in Panama; in 1946, members of the team, led by manager Joe McCarthy, trained in Panama in the month of February and played against an all-star team from the Panamanian league.
The next year, the Yankees played the Brooklyn Dodgers in a series of exhibition games. That trip also featured stops in Cuba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico.
Panama, which has four players currently playing in MLB, will be the seventh country to host a game between Major League Baseball teams.
The Rod Carew Stadium opened in 1999.
Both teams will be staying at the Trump Ocean Club International Hotel & Tower in Panama.
“Our hotel will deliver a first-class experience for the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins during Major League Baseball’s Legend Series,” said Donald J Trump in a statement. “All of Panama stands behind the legendary Mariano Rivera, and we are honored to play a part in a sporting event that the people of Panama will remember forever.”
Source-CJ
CFU adopts integrity measures
Integrity in football is a concept spreading across the Caribbean. At least as far as the region’s governing football body is concerned.
The Caribbean Football Union (CFU) recently adopted integrity measures for all competitions, following in the football footsteps of the Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF).
“While it is sad that the game now requires these documents, I am at the same time proud to see that the CFU is helping to create the enabling environment for the game to be protected,” CFU President Gordon Derrick said in a statement.
The new measures include:
Players and referees signing an integrity declaration form
Players and referees will receive information about the threat of match fixing
Presentations will be given to players, referees and other officials outlining the procedure if approached about match fixing
The CFU maintains there have never been allegations of match fixing in any of its competitions.
Source-Cayman News
Four Windies players retained, five sold in IPL auction
Four West Indies cricketers have been retained to play for their respective franchises while another five have been purchased on the first day Wednesday of the 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) player auctions.
Dwayne Bravo has been retained by the Chennai Super Kings, Sunil Narine the Kolkata Knight riders, Kieron Pollard will continue to play for the Mumbai Indians while Chris Gayle has been retained by Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Sunrisers Hyderabad snapped up Darren Sammy, Dwayne Smith moves from Mumbai Indians to Chennai super kings (CSK), the Royal Challengers Bangalore bought Ravi Rampaul, Jason Holder has been recruited to play for Sunrisers Hyderabad while spinner Samuel Badree was a bargain buy for Chennai Super Kings.
Overall, Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthik were the biggest buys on day one of the auctions, sold for US$2.25 million and US$2.01 million respectively.
The auctions for the 7th edition of the IPL will resume on Thursday.
Souce-CMC
Guyana dismissed for 181 in Super50 semi
Guyana, winning the toss and batting against Barbados in the second semi-final of the NAGICO Super50 regional competition were dismissed for 181 in 48.4 overs at the Queen's Park Oval on Thursday.
Scores: Guyana 181 all out (48.4 overs) Narsingh Deonarine 58, Christopher Barnwell 37, Anthony Bramble 34, Veerasammy Permaul 19 (Fidel Edwards 4-16, Jason Holder 2-35).
Earlier rain interrupted play when Guyana was on 159 for 7 off 46 overs.
Source-CMC
Rowley awarded substantial damages by Trinidad High Court
The High Court Wednesday awarded Opposition Leader Dr. Keith Rowley TT$475,000 (One TT dollar = US$0.16 cents) in damages following remarks made by a former senator five years ago about a controversial land development project.
Former independent Senator Michael Annisette, who is also President of the Seamen and Waterfront Workers Union SWWU), had made reference to the so called “Landate Affair’ in and out of the Senate that involved allegations that materials were siphoned from the Scarborough Hospital project to a private housing project owned by Rowley’s wife.
Rowley, speaking to reporters after the High Court also ordered the former legislator to pay costs, said that he was satisfied with the ruling and that he was prepared to take anyone before the courts to clear his character.
Rowley said that the “Landate Affair” had been the subject of a Commission of Inquiry and other probes by the authority and on each occasion there had been no truth to the allegations made.
Last year, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan said that the Landate Affair was still the subject of a police investigation.
Attorney Faris Al-Wari told reporters that the judge in awarding the “highest award of damages in Trinidad and Tobago in the sum of 475,000 dollars and also legal costs in the sum of 160,000 dollars reflected that this attack (on Rowley) was at least as offensive as the most serious defamation in the cases considered by the court”..
Al -Wari said that the judge also noted that the “attack was a wide one which related to an improper relationship allegedly between a (businessman)…and misbehavior in public life”
Source: Caribbean 360
Haiti to register overseas nationals
Haiti is launching a programme to register its migrants who live without documentation abroad, including in the Dominican Republic, where thousands of people of Haitian origin are in danger of being left stateless by a court ruling.
Government workers will travel to remote corners of the Dominican Republic and the Turks and Caicos, which also has a large Haitian population, to register people of Haitian descent residing there without legal papers,
Baptiste Saint-Cyr, director of the country’s National Identification Office, told private Radio Metropole on Tuesday.
The US$2.5 million project begins next month and will be carried out in other countries where Haitian migrants live, Saint-Cyr said. Haitian immigrants will be identified with the help of neighbours.
The programme comes after a Dominican constitutional court last fall moved to revoke the citizenship of people of Haitian descent even if they were born in the Dominican Republic. The ruling aggravated already uneasy relations between the Caribbean neighbours, and it drew condemnation from human rights groups while spurring protests and boycotts in Haiti.
Advocacy groups fear the ruling renders people of Haitian descent stateless, but the Dominican government maintains they never had citizenship in the first place.
The two countries began closed-door discussions this year in an effort to stem tension over the ruling and other differences, with representatives from the UN, Caribbean Community, European Union and Venezuela serving as observers. The decision to document Haitians who live in the Dominican Republic emerged as one of several agreements from those talks.
Dominican officials have said the court ruling is irreversible but a resolution appears to be a possibility.
In front of the Permanent Council of the Organisation of American States in Washington last Friday, Haitian President Michel Martelly expressed hope that the meetings would yield a positive outcome.
“In the context of these negotiations, the Dominican Republic has adopted a series of commitments that should allow us to find a successful solution, something we firmly desire,” he said.
Dominican President Danilo Medina is supposed to submit a bill to his congress February 27 that would naturalize residents who are about to lose their nationality.
Source-Associated Press
Grenada to sign IMF letter of intent by month end
Economic Affairs Minister Oliver Joseph says the Grenada government will sign the Letter of Intent to implement the International Monetary Fund (IMF) backed home grown structural adjustment programme by the end of February even if trade unions fail to reach an agreement with regards to a three year wage freeze.
‘We are still trying to get an agreement with the union, a consensus for in best interest of all,” said Joseph.
The Technical and Allied Workers Union (TAWU) and the Public Workers Union (PWU), two of the unions that represent government workers are schedule to meet with their membership this week to discuss the matter.
Joseph said that while the Dr. Keith Mitchell government has given the assurance there would be no job losses as a result of retrenchment once the programme goes into effect, the promise can only be a reality if the unions accept the wage freeze.
“If the government was to go ahead and sign without an assurance from the union that there will be no increase in salaries for the period of the three year programme which commence officially as of January 1, 2014, then government will have to use the option of retrenching workers in order to reduce on Government monthly wage bill,” he said during Tuesday’s post Cabinet news conference.
“This is not a threat…we are not coercing anyone, what we are expressing is real facts,” said Education Minister Anthony Boatswain, who explained that if government don’t go through with the structural adjustment programme there would be some uneasiness with regards to the social and economic development of Grenada.
“If we don’t go through with the programme it will be total chaos. We will have a country to run with no money,” he said while explaining that once the letter of intent is sign with the IMF government will receive grants and other financial and technical support from institutions such as the Caribbean Development Bank, the European Union and the World Bank.”
Pleading for all the relevant stakeholders to join in the efforts to re-organise the island’s fiscal situation, Boatswain, a former finance minister, said that there was need for every too contribution towards solving the problem.
“This is a national issue, it’s not a polarize issue, it’s not a yellow or Green issue, its national issue that needs national attention,” he said.
Last week, President of the Grenada Trades Union Congress (TUC), Madonna Harford, raised issues with the manner in which the government was going ahead with the strategy.
“You freezing salaries for three years, the public worker above EC$3,000 (One EC Dollar = US$0.37 cents) would have to pay income tax. So no increase, income tax, then you have increases in user fees, properties etc, so in the long run the public sector worker would be at a serious disadvantage,” Harford said.
The trade union official admitted that while Grenada was not isolated from the impact of the global economic and financial crisis, “the fact remains that somehow…decisions that would have not been very good or wise decisions coming back to haunt us right now.”
Late last year, Prime Minister Mitchell told nationals that while the international community was willing to restructure the island’s debt, the country would have to make sacrifices.
Mitchell, whose New National Party (NNP) came to office in February last year, said Grenada was unable to pay its creditors and was seeking the assistance of the international community to restructure its debt.
Since then there have been several activities aimed at finding a solution to restructuring the debt that is estimated at more than two billion EC dollars (One EC Dollar = US$0.37 cents)
The government has appointed the London-based White Oak Advisory, which describes itself as an independent financial advisory firm providing specialist, high-level and impartial advice to governments and other clients on matters relating to sovereign finances and sovereign debt, to advise it.
Source: Caribbean360