Scrapping of scrappage worries VW

Volkswagen says it expects to post record sales again this year, but it has forecast that 2010 will be 'extremely difficult' as scrappage schemes worldwide are wound down.

The biggest European car maker said sales of it nine brands - which include Audi, Seat and Skoda - came to 531,000 vehicles last month, an increase of 19.1% from November 2008. But deliveries were 4.7% lower than in October.

In the 11 months from January to November, sales gained 2% from the same period last year to 5.85 million vehicles, which allowed VW to say it expected a 'slight rise in full-year deliveries' from the record 6.2 million in 2008.

VW sales director Detlef Wittig was quoted as saying that 'the coming year will be extremely difficult'. VW expected sales to continue rising in its biggest market, China, but also foresees 'a marked decline on the European market in particular', as sales have been boosted this year by government premiums to drivers who scrapped old cars

Son of late Abu Dhabi ruler put on trial

Abu Dhabi authorities have put on trial Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, a member of the ruling family caught on tape apparently torturing an Afghan business associate, the Financial Times can reveal.

Sheikh Issa, one of 19 sons of Sheikh Zayed, the founding father of the United Arab Emirates and Abu Dhabi's late ruler, is charged with causing harm and endangering life.

This unprecedented trial, held away from the public eye, will be seen as a barometer for the rule of law in Abu Dhabi, where the lines between the government and ruling families are blurred.

A former aide, Bassam Nabulsi, leaked a video this year that appeared to show Sheikh Issa brutally torturing an Afghan commodities trader, Mohammed Shah Poor, in 2004.

Mr Nabulsi, a US citizen, is suing for damages in a separate case in Texas, claiming Sheikh Issa had him tortured and imprisoned after he threatened to reveal the tapes' existence.

The graphic scenes - censored in the UAE - appear to show Sheikh Issa beating Mr Poor with nails, suffocating him by shoving sand in his mouth and driving a 4x4 vehicle over his body, helped by security guards.

In April the video was broadcast on US television, prompting politicians to question a nuclear cooperation agreement with the UAE .

In May, Abu Dhabi authorities detained Sheikh Issa , who does not hold a government position, and began a criminal investigation, saying "all persons are equal before the law". Despite concern about airing the ruling family's dirty linen, the government has pressed on with the trial.

A spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment while proceedings are in progress.

Cazenove Capital Acquires Thornhill

To extend its foot print in Scottish fund and wealth management industry

Cazenove Capital Management, the London-based privately owned, independent asset management house with GBP13 billion assets under management, has acquired Thornhill, an independent fund management company, reported the Financial Times.

Thornhill, with GBP600m assets under management, has offices in Edinburgh and London. It had previously acquired the private client division of Martin Currie Investment Management in Edinburgh.

Reportedly, Cazenove Capital, which has demerged from the broker of the same name five years ago intends to use the acquisition to foray into the Scottish fund and wealth management industry.

Andrew Ross, CEO of Cazenove, said that Thornhill had approached Cazenove to expand its business as the two firms serve to the same class of institutional and private clients. He said that he would only look to expand the merged business if he could find managers with a similar mindset, rather than embarking on a fresh hiring programme, reported the newspaper.

Airbus A400M starts long-awaited maiden flight

SEVILLE, Spain, Dec 11 (Reuters) - A new European military transport plane, the Airbus A400M, took to the skies on Friday in a boost to a 20 billion euro ($29.5 billion) project threatened by soaring costs after a two-year development delay.

British test pilot Ed Strongman and crew donned parachutes over red overalls to power up the propellor plane -- dubbed "grizzly" by test engineers after its burly appearance.

The A400M was commissioned by seven European NATO countries to support combat operations in rugged zones like Afghanistan or to assist in humanitarian relief operations.

The plane carries aloft its designers' hopes that the three-hour maiden flight will help to save Europe's biggest defence project from being grounded.

But an estimated 5 billion euro cost overrun has placed the plane's future in doubt, forcing Airbus to hold negotiations with buyers on the sidelines of the inaugural flight. (Reporting by Tim Hepher, Sabine Siebold; Editing by Tracy Rucinski)

Xoom.com Launches Money Transfer Service In South Korea

To provide immigrant communities with an alternative money transfer option

Xoom Corporation, an internet-based global money transfer company, has launched new service in South Korea. The launch supports Xoom.com's corporate initiative to provide immigrant communities with an alternative money transfer option.

Xoom.com's money transfer service allows customers to send money from any internet-enabled computer using a credit card or checking account to fund the transaction. The new service augments Xoom.com's existing global presence worldwide, including China, India, Philippines, UK, South Africa, Mexico, Brazil and other countries.

Iain Allison, vice president of Asian business development at Xoom.com, said: "Xoom.com offers Korean immigrants a convenient option for wiring money online. They can send money from their home computer directly to any bank account in South Korea. With Xoom.com, customers pay just $4.99 to send any amount and the funds reach the Korean bank in less than one business day."

Gruppo Bancario Credito Valtellinese Selects Thunderhead

To support communication requirements of its branch network and simplify integration of new acquisitions

Thunderhead, a provider of document automation and multi-channel communications solutions, said that Italy-based bank Gruppo Bancario Credito Valtelinese has selected the Thunderhead NOW platform to support the customer communication requirements of its branch network.

Credito Valtellinese said that on a year-by-year basis it mails approximately 50m pages and 10m envelopes. In the longer term, the bank plans to use Thunderhead NOW to improve and manage the quality of its batch-produced customer communications with personalized content, better visual design and tailored marketing messages.

The solution will also play a key role in supporting the customer communication requirements of new acquisitions by the group. Thunderhead NOW will be offered as an outsourced document-generation service to partner banks that are supported by Gruppo Credito Valtellinese through Bankadati Sistemi informatici, the IT business owned by the group.

Enrico Mazzoletti, director of IT Architecture, said: "We evaluated several solutions and Thunderhead was the only one that fully met our needs, which included ease of integration with our Microsoft .NET-based applications and the ability to change and manage document content without the need for programming."

Mauro Selvetti, CIO of Bankadati, said: "In recent years, we have integrated new acquisitions as well as provided outsourced IT services to our partner banks. This trend is set to continue and Thunderhead NOW will make integration much easier by enabling us to quickly and easily produce and manage documentation, contracts and correspondence for the customers of our seven existing banks and four specialized financial businesses, as well as newly acquired banks in the future."

Glen Manchester, CEO of Thunderhead, said: "We are delighted that Thunderhead NOW will not only enable Credito Valtellinese to enhance its customer communications and marketing but will also support the banking group as it pursues its strategy of growth through acquisition."

EU Urges IMF To Levy Global Tax On Financial Institutions

To prevent another global financial crisis

European Union (EU) has stepped up pressure on IMF to consider a global tax on financial transactions to avoid another economic crisis, reported Reuters citing a draft summit statement. The leaders of the bloc also emphasized the need for 'sound and effective' pay in the financial sector but did not support UK and France to tax bankers' bonuses.

The draft statement said: "Remuneration policies within the financial sector must promote sound and effective risk management and should contribute to preventing future crises in the economy."

"The European Council (of EU leaders) emphasises the importance of renewing the economic and social contract between financial institutions and the society they serve and of ensuring that the public benefits in good times and is protected from risk.

"The European Council encourages the IMF to consider the full range of options including insurance fees, resolution funds, contingent capital arrangements and a global financial transaction levy in its review."

Reportedly, Gordon Brown, prime minister of UK, called for imposing so-called 'Tobin tax' on financial transactions at G20 summit to discourage short-term speculation and channel the proceeds to fund future financial bailouts. However, the idea met with opposition from Timothy Geithner, treasury secretary of US, who said that it would dampen risky bank behaviour, reported the news agency.

Red Hat Makes Virtualization Protocol Open Source

Red Hat released to the open source community its SPICE protocol for virtual desktops.

SPICE, or Simple Protocol for Independent Computing Environment, is a core component in the Linux distributor's Enterprise Virtualization for Desktops product, which is currently in beta and is scheduled for general availability next year. Red Hat took possession of SPICE in the September 2008 acquisition of Qumranet.

The technology is designed for desktops that use remote servers for data processing. SPICE improves the user experience when rendering bandwidth-intensive applications, such as video or voice over IP.

"The SPICE protocol is designed to optimize performance by automatically adapting to the graphics and communications environment that it is running in, so vendors have a terrific opportunity to enhance it for their specific applications," Brian Stevens, chief technology officer at Red Hat, said released Wednesday.

As a Linux distributor, Red Hat's release of technology to the open source community is not unusual, given its close collaboration with the group on product development. In fact, the company in October with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking it to uphold a lower court's ruling that software isn't patentable.

Last month, Red Hatthe virtualization management field with the introduction of Enterprise Virtualization Manager for Servers. The centralized management system is aimed at IT shops virtualizing servers based on the KVM hypervisor built into Linux.

ICICI, Kotak Mahindra cut home loan rates

The largest private sector bank has joined the interest rate war in home loans, with a product that mimics arch rival HDFC’s special offer.

On Tuesday, Kotak Mahindra Bank has also announced a special home loan product for salaried customers starting from 7.99 per cent.

ICICI Bank’s new loan comes at a fixed rate of 8.25 per cent for the first two years, after which it reverts back to a floating rate. The offer reduced interest rates by 50-100 basis points for the first two years from the present applicable rates.
A senior ICICI Bank official told Financial Chronicle the cost of funds have been coming down for the bank, and this rate reduction in home loans was warranted. “When cost of funds comes down, banks rework rates. At ICICI Bank, we are constantly reviewing our rates and passing on benefits to the customers,” said the official.

The rate war in home loans was sparked off by the State Bank of India (SBI), which offered a loan with a fixed rate of interest of 8 per cent for the first year in February.

After more than a year of curtailing growth of its balance sheet, ICICI Bank now is seeking for a phase of well–rounded growth but with a lot of caution, where retail products such as home and car loans would be important growth drivers.

Mike Tyson Arrested After Allegedly Punching Photographer at LAX

Mike Tyson and a photographer made citizen's arrests of one another after getting into a scuffle Wednesday at Los Angeles International Airport, police say.

At 4:30 p.m., the former boxing champ, 43, was passing through LAX from Europe en route to Las Vegas when a celebrity photographer began taking his picture at the United Airlines terminal, Sgt. Jim Holcomb tells PEOPLE.

"The two men got into a scuffle, and it's alleged that Tyson hit the photographer once in the face with one hand, causing him to fall to the ground," Holcomb says. "The photographer sustained a laceration to the forehead, and was taken to a local hospital."

Officers arrived on the scene and detained Tyson, who was booked at a nearby LAPD station and held on $20,000 bail, according to police records. Documents also show that Tyson was released at 8:24 p.m.

Tyson was reportedly traveling with his wife and 10-month-old baby. The incident was first reported by Radaronline.com.

"Mr. Tyson did absolutely nothing wrong, he was the victim in this case," his attorney, Richard Schonfeld tells PEOPLE. "We look forward to vindicating him and pursuing his rights."

Source-people

Carrie Prejean Larry King

Carrie Prejean is so much frightened from the people that she even does not want to hear anybody’s voice on phone. Tuesday night, she was on the CNN with Larry King at his show “Larry King Live”, during interview she called Larry an inappropriate host when he took a call for her from a person wanted to ask a question from Prejean. She looked embarrassed when Larry himself asked her about the settlement with Miss California Pageant Organization. King asked Carrie to come clean why she had agreed on a deal with the pageant organizers after she had sued them for libel, slander and religious discrimination.

Source-news.puggal

Late Brittany Hollenbach Death

Late Brittany Hollenbach passed away this afternoon.

Road accidents are one of the biggest causes of death in the nation. Brittany Hollenbach was just 22 and a Richland High School Graduate.She was smart,loving, talented and a bright spirited beautiful young woman and was also very active in college. She attended the University of Washington. Tri-Delta is going to hold an event in her remembrance. Her friends and colleague sorority members have also dedicated a face book page to her name.

According to the initial reports Brittany Hollenbach was hanging around with four of her friends. Obviously the friends had plans of staying out till late in the night. It was little over 12:00 p.m. as she rushed to cross a road; a car hit her with full speed. She received cranial injuries which are thought to be difficult to treat as the brain swells after the impact, making it almost impossible to stop the internal bleeding. She was immediately shifted to the nearby Harborview Medical Center by the employees of Seattle Fire Department.

The car was later identified as a Honda Civic. The driver was also apprehended but was not found to be under the influence of any intoxication or to have impaired driving abilities due to any cause.

Birittany Hollenbach passed away this afternoon. Police is still investigating the event and we would keep you posted as the updated news become available.

Lady Antebellum is on the way up

Lady Antebellum says they are so busy these days they almost are oblivious to their rising popularity. In fact, they don't seem sure it's growing at all."It takes a long time for people to connect the dots," Charles Kelley said. "Sometimes something will happen and we will be able to tell a difference. People notice a little more every day. But we still have a long way to go."

He said this about two hours before Lady A won vocal group and single of the year awards at Wednesday's CMA Awards.

"Both of them took us by surprise," Hillary Scott said. "The three of us have dreamed about this our entire lives."

Each person plays an integral part of the group, they say, labeling Dave Haywood the brains, Charles Kelley the go-getter and Hillary Scott the heart.

"We would run this thing off the tracks if it wasn't for her," Kelley said.

While the band is ecstatic about the awards, it's a sure bet today that they're engrossed in finishing their new CD, which is due out in January. The debut single "Need You Now" is already top 5 on Billboard's country songs chart.

"We like to think our songwriting got better," Kelley said of the new CD. "We got to write with some of the biggest best songwriters in Nashville. We want people to go through ups and downs on our record."

— CINDY WATTS

Ingram's red-carpet run-in

Jack Ingram said his hands were still shaking after his meeting with Kris Kristofferson on the CMA red carpet.

"There's not a lot of guys that I react to like that," Ingram said. "If I really think about what Kristofferson has meant to me, I would tear up. He's why I'm in this business. That's not true. He's why I make music. I love the guy."

Tonight, however, is Ingram's big night in Nashville. He is playing the Ryman Auditorium with Gary Allan and the Eli Young Band. "It's going to be great," he said. "I've never played on that stage with my band behind me before with my fans in the audience. I'm looking forward to it."

Source-tennessean

Sunday CMA rehearsal Not-Quite-Liveblog: Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, and more!

From deep inside the ice-cold environs of Nashville’s Sommet Center, it’s the 2009 CMA Awards… and the Music Mix has your ticket to all the hot action!!

Did you like how I did that? “Ice-cold” environs and “hot” action? Yes, that is the kind of quality writing you will come to expect from me as I sit here inside this hockey arena and pirate wi-fi while watching country music’s best and brightest prepare for Wednesday’s show. Things are rolling right along on this first day of rehearsals: When I got here this morning, the white and red boards of the hockey rink were still visible, but they’ve been masked over the course of the afternoon; now the only way you’d know this is the home of the Nashville Predators is the giant saber-toothed tiger head hanging from the ceiling. Out of which, I am told, the Predators skate at the top of every game. Stay classy, Nashvegas!

Source-music-mix.ew

Rucker Becomes First African-American New Artist of the Year at CMAAs

Former lead singer for Hootie and the Blowfish and current solo artist Darius Rucker brought home the New Artist of the Year award at the 2009 CMAAs.

Heading into tonight’s 2009 Country Music Association Awards, only one African-American in the award show’s illustrious history had ever won a major individual award. However, solo artist Darius Rucker became the second African-American to win a major individual award in the history of the Country Music Association Awards and the first to ever capture the award for New Artist of the Year.

Rucker, who enjoyed plenty of notoriety within the music industry as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of Hootie and the Blowfish in the 1990s, was the recipient of the New Artist of the Year award due to the commercial success and critical acclaim of his debut country album, “Learn to Live.” His debut solo album as a country music performer featured three tracks that went on to become number one singles on the country music charts.

MSNBC is reporting that Rucker expressed a great deal of exhilaration in response to winning the New Artist of the Year award on Wednesday night. He expressed his gratitude during his acceptance speech by saying, “What a year! First of all, to the fans, thank y’all for accepting me. And I think most importantly, to country radio, you took a chance on a pop singer from Charleston, S.C. Thank you so much for that!”

Old World VS New World Wines

The Jamaica Pegasus Hotel hosted the 14th annual Wine, Spirits & Food festival which ended last Friday with a jam-packed ballroom of patrons tasting all types of goodies presented by the exhibitors.

New Wines on Display

Three varietals, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec will be sold on the local market.

National Meats and Food Distributors have thrown their hat into the wine distribution business and their first offering to the Jamaican marketplace does not disappoint. Marraso is an Argentinean wine brand which is a project of one of the largest wine-producing companies in Spain called Groupo Codorniu. These wines are from Mendoza, the largest wine-producing region in Argentina, where the highest quality Argentinean wines are produced. Three varietals, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec will be sold on the local market. While the Cab is great, I think my favourite is the Malbec; it is warm and elegant with sweet tannins, reminiscent of raspberry jam and hints of oak. With a fruity finish and a touch of smoky wood the Marraso Malbec is well balanced and persistent on the palate.

Wray and Nephew also had new wines from Italian producer Folonari, more on this when I conduct a formal tasting of these wines.

Source-jamaicaobserver

Cma Awards 2009 Winners Results

Cma Awards 2009 Winners Results, Taylor Swift was a big winner tonight at the 2009 Country Music Awards (CMA) to take home all four statues of glass for which it was nominated – including Artist of the Year.

“I will never forget this moment because at this point, all I wanted just happened to me,” said an emotional Taylor before inviting his band members on stage to share the spotlight with her.

The 19-year-country singer-old, also won Album of the Year for the Bold, Best Female Vocalist and Video of the Year for Love Story.

Here is the complete list of winners of the 2009 CMA Awards:

Source-apakistannews

How Old Is Reba Mcentire

A great American music artist named Reba Nell McEntire born in March 28,1955. She won Grammy Award for her singing.In the start of her music career she sang with her siblings in local shows on radio.She was a solo performer so once when she was performing at a rodeo in Oklahoma City, her performance caught the attention of a famous country artist Red Steagall. Red Steagall invited her to visit Nashville, Tennessee here she signed her life(s) first contract with a musical company Mercury Records in 1975.Her first solo album released in 1977 and under the same label she released five studio albums till 1983.

When she was singing with MCA Nashville her second MCA album, My Kind of Country (1984), was creatively in her control,It was a tremendous traditional sound which was producing two numbers in one “How Blue” and “Somebody Should Leave”.Its the break through of her success which brought her a series of great musical albums in 1980s and in 1990s.Since she has release 25 studio albums.The Recording Industry Association of America has been certified her 28 albums with Gold,Platinum and Multi Platinum in sales.

In the start of 1990s McEntire branched into film started with 1990s Tremors.she was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for her television sitcom Reba (2001 - 2007).Sometimes she has been referred to as “The Queen of Country”.She is a very famous singer and a person cant judge her popularity,she is a singer whose 41-million records in the United States and 50-million worldwide have been sold.She has been ranked seventh best -selling female artist in all generations.Her story of achievements not ends here she is also the second best-selling female country artist.

Source-news.puggal

Barbara Ann Mandrell

Barbara Ann Mandrell, American country singer, was born on 25th of December and belongs to a musical family in Houston, Texas. She started music at the age of five. At the age of 11, she played steel guitar in front of Chet Atkins and Joe Maphins at a music trade convention in Chicago and after that performance, Maphin invited her to perform as a regular featured performer in his Las Vegas nightclub show.
Barbara who is known as a best singer of 1970s-1980s is one of country music’s most successful female vocalist. She has honor to be the single female singer who has won the “Entertainer of the Year” award for twice.
“I Was Country When Country Wasn’t Cool” is the most famous number of her with “Till You’re Gone” and “One of a Kind Pair of Fools”. Mandrell received many industry awards and accolades during 1981 to 1983.
On September 11, 1984, she had a serious automobile accident and this was the time when she was at the peak of her popularity. On her accident, Redbook magazine responded with these words

Four Indians charged in US insider trading case

Four people of Indian origin are among those charged in America's largest ever insider trading case replete with all the elements of a classic television crime drama - wiretaps, clandestine cash handoffs and people with nicknames like "the Greek" and "the Octopussy".

As outlined by federal prosecutors in New York on Thursday, a trader known as "the Octopussy" is at the centre of the ring which included two Indians, Deep Shah, a Moody's Investors Service analyst, and Gautham Shankar, a former proprietary trader at Schottenfeld Group in New York.

In all, 14 traders, lawyers and hedge fund executives were charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Five of those defendants, including Shankar, have already pleaded guilty, while Shah is still at large.

Two other Indians, Anil Kumar and Rajiv Goel, were arrested last month along with Sri Lankan Tamil-origin billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, founder of the Galleon Group and hedge fund operator.

"When we announced our first arrests three weeks ago, I said this case should be a wake-up call for Wall Street," said US Attorney Preet Bharara Thursday. "Today the alarm bells have only grown louder."

In their investigation, authorities used sophisticated data mining and electronic surveillance tactics that are normally reserved for the pursuit of gangsters and drug traffickers.

Thursday's charges focus on a group of traders at the proprietary firm Incremental Capital. Zvi Goffer, the founder of that firm, who formerly worked at Galleon and Schottenfeld Group, allegedly organised a ring involving fellow Galleon and Schottenfeld trading colleagues and arranged to get tips on technology company deals through a lawyer from a major New York law firm.