World important news by Stephine

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Oct 14

UPDATE 1-White Mountains Insurance to buy back more shares


Oct 14 - White Mountains Insurance Group said it will buy back up to 300,000 of its common shares in a “modified Dutch auction,” a process which allows shareholders to indicate how many shares they wish to sell and at what price within the range specified by the company.The Bermuda-based insurer said it would buy back shares at $385-$425 each in cash, and expects the offer to start on Oct 17.Last month, White Mountains said it bought back about 350,000 shares at or below $415 a share.Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has also adopted a share buyback program, an unprecedented move after months of investor complaints that the stock is undervalued.Shares of White Mountains Insurance closed at $411.12 on Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Posted 7 months ago

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Oct 13

UPDATE 1-Salvage of stricken ship off NZ resumes, owners apologise


* Ship owners apologise “without hesitation”By Gyles BeckfordWELLINGTON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Oil tanks on a stricken container ship threatening to break in half off the New Zealand coast have survived a pounding by heavy seas, salvage experts said on Thursday as the ship’s owners apologised for the large clumps of oil washed up on beaches.A second ship’s officer appeared in court in connection with the running aground of the Liberian-flagged Rena 12 nautical miles off Tauranga on the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island.Large splits have opened up down the middle of the hull of the 236-metre (775-foot) vessel, which has been stuck for eight days on the reef and has lost up to 300 tonnes of heavy, thick, toxic fuel.A salvage team was winched back on board the 47,230-tonne Rena and after an inspection reported the ship’s rear tanks, holding around 1,000 tonnes of fuel, were intact. The ship was carrying 1,700 tonnes of fuel.”The vessel again seems to have settled on the reef which is a good situation, so it’s not getting that working that would be opening those cracks,” salvage advisor Bruce Anderson told reporters.Swells had eased to around one metre from five metres the day before, raising hopes that pumping will resume.”This is not a simple process, there’s been a considerable amount of damage on the vessel and they need to assess that first of all it’s safe to operate and secondly that they can be operated,” Anderson said.Three tugs have been steadying the ship to keep it on the reef and stop the aft section breaking away and possibly sinking in water up to 90 metres deep.The ship’s owners, Greece-based Costamare Shipping Inc, said they were deeply sorry for the grounding and oil spill.”For us, one drop of oil in the water is one drop too much. It is therefore a matter of great regret that a ship associated with us should be the cause of so much anguish,” managing director Diamantis Manos said in a video statement.He said the company was working with authorities to find the cause and liability for the clean up. Property damage would be settled in accordance with international conventions.IN COURTThe ship’s second officer, responsible for navigation at the time the Rena struck the reef, appeared in court on Thursday on a charge of “operating a vessel in a manner causing unnecessary danger or risk”.The 37-year-old Philippine national was remanded without plea on bail. The ship’s captain appeared on the same charge and was also bailed on Wednesday. The charge carries a maximum fine of NZ$10,000 ($7,800) or 12 months in prison.More containers had fallen into heaving seas from the ship, which is listing at about 20 degrees. Eighty-eight of the 1,368 containers have been lost and authorities said one was carrying a hazardous substance which can explode on contact with water.Police patrolled to stop any looting of containers, but beaches were covered with deerskins, foam insulation, timber and hamburger meat patties.Tauranga, the country’s biggest export port, said it would suspend operations between 0800 and 1700 GMT to remove debris from inside the harbour and check shipping channels.Maritime NZ closed around 40 km (25 miles) of coast to cope with overwhelming numbers of people wanting to help in the clean-up.Crews numbering about 500 people, including soldiers, have been gathering clumps of oil, some as large as dinner trays. But hundreds of residents, some angry at the time taken to start a clean up, have joined in, ignoring warnings to stay away.”This is our place, these are our beaches, it’s natural we want to save them, never mind bureaucrats,” Jim Kohu told Reuters.More than 50 tonnes of oil have been recovered from long, golden beaches, a magnet for surfers. However, each high tide is washing more on the beaches, which experts have said could continue for weeks.

Posted 7 months ago

38 notes

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Oct 12

Obama to push Congress on parts of jobs plan: Geithner


In an interview with Bloomberg Television, Geithner said the action by Republicans to block the bill in a procedural vote would likely result in weaker U.S. growth and employment.”We’re going to do everything we can to maximize the chance that we get as much of this done as possible,” Geithner said. “And we should, because this bill includes things that have always had broad support among Democrats and Republicans, There’s just no reason why politics should stand in the way of doing something to help the economy now.”Asked about another bill passed by Senate on Tuesday aimed at punishing China for an undervalued currency, Geithner said he agreed with the bill’s objectives, but some parts of it would violate U.S. international trade obligations.”We are very supportive of the objectives of that bill, which is to try to make sure that there is a level playing field around the world … that countries can’t keep their currencies weak at the expense of American exporters,” Geithner said. “We have been pushing very, very hard to get China to move … they’re moving too slowly we want to see them move faster.”The Senate approved the bill by a 63-35 vote, but House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, who has the power to block the legislation, has said it would be a “dangerous” step.Should the bill advance, Geithner said Congress would need to address several provisions that are not consistent with U.S. international obligations.”On the fundamental issue, we have a serious economic problem with China which we’re working to address and we’re open to any effective way, consistent with our international obligations, to help us create more opportunities for U.S. exporters,” he said.Geithner also repeated his view that European policymakers will take the necessary steps to limit the fallout from the continent’s sovereign debt crisis, but added they must act more quickly and with more force and ensure European banks can continue to borrow and function.

Posted 7 months ago

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Oct 12

NASA’s space shuttle operations chief heading to Virgin


Moses oversaw space shuttle operations during the final three years of the program, which ended this summer.NASA is working on a heavy-lift rocket and capsule to fly astronauts to the moon, asteroids, Mars and other destinations beyond the International Space Station’s 225-mile-high orbit.”I’m more than onboard with NASA’s plan,” Moses told Reuters. “It’s just that the operations of that system were still eight to 10 years away. I couldn’t just push paper around and write requirements for the next 10 years so I’m going to take another shot at it here in the commercial sector.”As Virgin Galactic’s vice president of operations, Moses will set up and oversee the company’s commercial suborbital spaceflight services. Virgin’s first ship, called SpaceShipTwo, is undergoing flight tests at manufacturer Scaled Composites’ Mojave, California, base. A trial run beyond the atmosphere is expected next year.About 450 people have made reservations for the $200,000 ride, a five-minute suborbital hop that will expose passengers to weightlessness and a view of the planet that so far only about 500 people have had.”If this works and we get commercial, regular, routine spaceflight, even if it’s suborbital operations, that expands the number of people who are involved in the space program, the number of people who get to go up in orbit and see the Earth from above and that should hopefully seed the whole culture of the country and world to start changing our attitudes toward how important space is,” Moses said.Moses, 43, will be relocating from Houston to Mojave, then to Virgin Galactic’s commercial space base near Las Cruces, N.M, where a spaceport is under construction.

Posted 7 months ago

107 notes

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