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July 22 (Reuters) – Japanese electronics conglomerate Hitachi Ltd (6501.T) is likely to have achieved better-than-targeted earnings in the first quarter ended on June 30, the company’s chairman said.
Hitachi chairman Takashi Kawamura told Reuters at a forum of business lobby Nippon Keidanren that the better-than-expected earnings were due to demand for electronics components for cars, as well as semiconductor manufacturing equipment. (Reporting by Kentaro Hamada)
July 20 (Reuters) – Uncertainty over the outlook for exports of Japanese steel has increased slightly, partly due to a bulid-up of inventories in China, the head of Japan’s steel industry association said on Tuesday.
Eiji Hayashida, chairman of the Iron and Steel Federation of Japan, told a news conference that inventories of cars and other steel-using products have been rising in China since late June.
Hayashida is also president of JFE Steel Corp (5411.T), Japan’s second-largest steel maker. (Reporting by Yuko Inoue)
France, June 16 (Reuters) – At least nine people died and several were missing following violent rain storms near France’s Mediterranean coast, local officials said on Wednesday.
Most of the deaths occurred in or around the town of Draguignan, which was hit by flash floods on Tuesday, a spokesman for the local Var region said.
More than 350 mm (14 inches) of rain fell on the Var in just a few hours, triggering violent flooding.
French television showed some streets in the region clogged with overturned cars that had been swept away by the ragging waters. Government ministers were expected to tour the flood zones later in the day.
(Reporting by Jean-Francois Rosnoblet, writing by Crispian Balmer, editing by Michael Roddy)
June 13 (Reuters) – Audi reclaimed the Le Mans 24 Hours crown with a clean sweep at the Circuit de la Sarthe on Sunday with Timo Bernhard at the wheel of the first Audi R15 on the chequered flag.
The non-works Peugeot Oreca was fourth after the three official cars of the French manufacturer, who ended their German rivals’ five-year reign last year, were forced to retire by mechanical failures. (Writing in Paris by Jean-Paul Couret; Editing by Alan Baldwin To query or comment on this story e-mail sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)
Islamabad, May 15 (IANS) At least 33 labourers were abducted Saturday by unidentified miscreants while returning from work in Pakistan’s northwestern tribal region bordering Afghanistan, an official said.
The workers from the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) were abducted from their cars and pick-up vehicles in Kurram Agency when they were returning after putting up some electricity installations, Xinhua quoted the official as saying.
The miscreants set one of their vehicles on fire and took the workers to an undisclosed location. Police is on their trail, the official said.
Mumbai, May 13 (ANI): At least 15 fire engines and eight water tankers were rushed to douse out the fire that broke in the famous Heera Panna mall in Andheri, a Mumbai suburb on Thursday morning.
Uday Tatkare, the Deputy Fire officer, gave the details of the areas affected by the fire.
“The shopping mall has different shops but the fire is still there in the basement in that car storage and TV cabinet storage, so the cars also caught fire, but we have doused them, but the fire is still there in the TV cabinet storage,” said Tatkare.
“We are still trying to douse the fire there. There is too much smoke, it”s difficult,” he added.
Tatkare further said that 90 percent of rescue operation has been done in the fire that began around 4.20 a.m.
“In total, 15 fire engines have come here, we had also brought…as we had to rescue people. Ninety percent of the rescue operation has been done. The search operation is in process,” said Tatkare.
Two ambulances were also rushed to the spot, but there were no reports of any casualties.
The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained. (ANI)
London, May 11 (ANI): Formula One ace driver Lewis Hamilton has said that Monaco Grand Prix could be a disaster as back markers will cause a smash on Monte Carlo’s steel-lined streets.
Hamilton blasted the also-rans as dangerous in Spain on Sunday and says cars going six seconds a lap slower could cause a massive shunt.
“It could be a disaster. It’s just very difficult when there is such a big difference in speed,” The Sun quoted Hamilton, as saying.
“So far, fortunately, there have been no incidents and it”s been okay. But Monaco will be very tough,” he added.
Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button know how dangerous Monaco’s streets can be.
Hamilton smacked into the barriers in qualifying last year while Button was taken to hospital after a horrific 180mph shunt in 2003. (ANI)
London, May 10 (ANI): Cops in the UK have arrested a man who was trying to break into a prison after slipping into a Snoopy costume.
Jail workers were shocked when they found the Peanuts character waving a gun.
However, when the comic-strip beagle and his sidekick could not break down a staff door, they pelted prison officers”” cars with stones.
“It””s not every day you see a giant cartoon dog going on the rampage after trying to break into a prison,” the Sun quoted a prison service source, as saying.
The insider added: “They weren””t exactly inconspicuous – but it was taken seriously because they appeared to have a gun. They caused a real commotion and it was only later they were found to be armed with a water pistol.”
After the duo were collared by the police, it emerged that they had targeted the wrong jail.
Snoopy and his accomplice had tried to get into HMP Isle of Wight””s Albany site while the family member they wanted to free was banged up in the complex””s Camp Hill jail.
The source said: “They are very close together but this has got to rank as one of the worst attempted jail breaks ever.” (ANI)
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-il, has arrived in Beijing for talks with the Chinese government.
Chinese authorities cleared the main east-west thoroughfare in Beijing to make way for a motorcade carrying Mr Kim.
A convoy of more than 40 vehicles then sped past the ABC’s Beijing bureau.
The ABC was unable to see the man known in his own country as “the Dear Leader” because the cars in the motorcade had tinted windows.
As well as extensive security Mr Kim was accompanied by an ambulance.
The North Korean leader’s visit has not been acknowledged by the Chinese government nor by the local media.
The talks could include the subjects of nuclear disarmament and China’s significant economic contribution to North Korea.
Police in Geraldton are investigating a spate of burglaries on properties at Tarcoola and Beechlands.
Seven houses were broken into over the weekend with thieves targeting alcohol, cash and electronic items.
A number of cars in the area also had their windows smashed and valuables stolen.
Senior Sergeant Tony Mettam has urged people to take simple steps to avoid becoming the target of opportunistic thieves.
“People just aren’t learning here or anywhere else,” he said.
“If you leave your house open or you leave your window open because it’s a bit warm or whatever these badies are going to get in.”
He is urging residents not to become complacent about security.
“Motor vehicles in and around those areas are having gear stolen from them, so what I would ask Geraldton people to do is just to be more aware,” he said.
“Make things harder – lock your doors, take your handbag and you purse, your camera and your spear gun and all that out of your car so it’s not tempting.”
London, April 16(ANI): Kim Kadarshian and Cristiano Ronaldo were recently spotted kissing each other.
The pair started getting cosy while dining together.
“She and Ronaldo were kissing and very affectionate. They looked to be getting on really well, laughing the whole time,” the Sun quoted an onlooker as saying.
Later, she hopped in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes G-Wagon which followed Ronaldo”s Audi RS6.
Both cars headed to the Real Madrid star”s city mansion.
Kadarshian was seen leaving for the airport on the same car to catch a flight back home to America. (ANI)
A group representing Sydney cyclists says improved infrastructure on the city’s motorways could have saved the life of a Wollongong cyclist who was hit by a truck on Saturday.
David Williams, 37, died after a truck crashed into him and three other riders who were cycling on the M4′s breakdown lane near Penrith.
Workcover is investigating whether driver fatigue was a factor in the incident.
Andrew Dodds from Bike Sydney says the installation of a protective barrier could have saved the man’s life.
“The RTA has some great guidelines on cycling and what to build and they’re guidelines only so there’s no mandatory thing about it,” he said.
“So they recommend that if the traffic’s over something like $70,000 or $80,000 dollars and you have a certain number of cars – which obviously freeways would have – there should be a proper separated barrier there for cyclists.”
Around 30 cars rolled into Broken Hill yesterday, as part of the 2010 Crusin’ Along Car Rally.
The Rally is a fundraising drive for Cancer Care Western New South Wales – who are building a Lodge in Orange, for regional cancer patients undergoing radiotherapy treatment.
Fundraising Chairwoman, Jan Savage says while Broken Hill residents often seek treatment in Adelaide, there will soon be another option available to them.
“There was no accommodation and actually no radiotherapy facility available for a lot of the western area people,” she said.
“The accommodation and the cancer treatment centre, the bunkers, will be open in about 12 months time at the end of April, beginning of May 2011.”
The Rally will travel to White Cliffs tonight.
SHANGHAI, April 9 (Reuters) – China’s passenger car sales in March rose 63.2 percent from a year earlier to 1.26 million units, the official China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said on Friday.
That compared with 942,900 cars sold in February, up 55.3 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the official industry group.
China, the world’s largest auto market, has been a major bright spot for the global industry over the past year amid a steep global industrial downturn as government policy initiatives bolstered automobile demand. (Reporting by Fang Yan and Jacqueline Wong)
NEW DELHI, April 9 (Reuters) – Car sales in India rose an annual 20.1 percent in March, as customers advanced purchases ahead of price hikes due to new emission norms-related expenses and rising raw material costs, an industry body said on Friday.
Cyclical Consumer Goods
Domestic firms sold 155,600 cars in the month, compared with 129,585 units a year ago, data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) showed.
Sales of trucks and buses, a barometer of economic activity, rose 61.2 percent to 67,362 units in the month, SIAM said. (Reporting by Sanjeev Choudhary and Devidutta Tripathy; editing by Malini Menon)
The New South Wales Government is moving to make sure that cars that have been written off stay off the road.
The plan is aimed at stamping out a practice known as car ‘rebirthing’, where write-offs are repaired using stolen parts.
Transport Minister David Campbell says the ban on re-registering write-offs will help curb theft and protect drivers from unsafe repair jobs.
“Too many of these vehicles are doctored up in backyard chop shops and are dangerous when they are brought back on the road,” he said.
About 36,000 vehicles are written off in NSW every year. Fourteen-thousand of them are repaired and end up back on the road.
James McCall, from the Motor Traders’ Association says 60 per cent of those re-registered vehicles are dodgy.
“Some of these vehicles are death traps,” he said. “They endanger the lives of consumers in NSW.”
New South Wales is the first state to make the move. The Government says it’s reaching out to the other states and territories to get them on board to stamp out the problem nationwide.
“I expect that will lead to some criticism but i don’t apologise for it,” Mr Campbell said.
One group that stands to lose from the legislation is the insurance industry. Insurers will only be able to recoup money from selling the parts from write-offs, rather than the whole vehicle.
From August, write-offs will be crushed and entered onto a register.
WA Attorney-General Christian Porter says an oversight by the Government is to blame for an elderly crime victim not receiving thousands of dollars stolen from him.
Thieves broke into the home of 83-year-old Mervyn Fletcher in 2008 and stole between $50,000 and $80,000 from his safe.
The offenders were caught and convicted and three cars they bought with the stolen cash were seized.
The Government sold the cars at an auction and the profit was put into consolidated revenue.
Mr Porter has revealed the Government will make an ex gratia payment to Mr Fletcher to return some of the money taken from him.
But he will not say how much payment will be.
“The amount is likely to be modest to Mr Fletcher, representing cash that was seized and cars that were auctioned,” he said.
“That is likely to be a modest amount.
“Mr Fletcher should really be applying for criminal injuries compensation.”
Opposition MP Roger Cook says the ex gratia payment should include the consolidated revenue made by the Government from the sale of the cars.
“The Government should recompense Mervyn Fletcher for the amount of money that was stolen from him and then confiscated from the people who were convicted of the crime,” he said.
“Mervyn also deserves to receive the amount of money which was retrieved from the sale of the vehicles bought with the proceeds of the crime.”
There has been a change to the finish of this year’s Targa Tasmania with a new stage on the outskirts of Hobart.
Drivers will complete the event with a short circuit around the industrial estate at Cambridge Park, near the airport.
Event director Mark Perry says he is expecting a crowd of up to 12,000 for the new stage.
“Basically it doesn’t cause any road closures that will affect anybody, nobody lives there, so it is almost like a purpose built Targa stage that has no impact,” he said.
“For the crowd, they’ll have a great view where basically the cars will loop right around them and they’ll get to see all the flames and all the action in a very safe environment.”
Targa starts with the traditional pre-race event at George Town on April 27.
London, March 31 (ANI): Simon Cowell is set to gift his sweetheart Mezhgan Hussainy a 65,000-pound car on her birthday, it has emerged.
The music mogul, 50, and his fiancée, 36, are believed to have spent an hour looking at luxury models at a LA classic car showroom.
Mezhgan seemed particularly enamoured with a 1954 Jaguar XK convertible.
“Money is clearly no object but he”s considering buying her something that little bit special,” the Mirror quoted an insider, as saying.
The source added: “He”s obviously a big fan of cars but Mish is too.
“But Simon also has a wicked sense of humour and decided to present her with a mirror so they could both check their reflections. It”s a running joke between them.” (ANI)
London, Mar 31(ANI): Former Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton has said that the McLaren team needs to beef up their cars in the qualifying rounds for them to have a decent crack at this year’s title.
Hamilton believes that despite McLaren collecting 54 points from the opening two Grand Prix’s to sit second in the constructors’ championship, their weakness has been their qualifying rounds.
It had resulted in Hamilton and fellow team-mate Jenson Button starting fourth and eighth on the grid in the season-opener in Bahrain, and 11th and fourth in Melbourne.
“In both Bahrain and Australia we’ve felt more comfortable with our race pace than the pace we showed in qualifying. While that’s encouraging, it’s clear we need to improve our qualifying pace if we’re to have a regular shot at winning races,” The Daily Express quoted Hamilton, as saying.
“It’s all very well being quick in the race, but if you can’t make up places from your grid position, then your race is still going to be a struggle,” he added.
Hamilton further said that the team’s saving grace has been the performance of the car during a race.
“We can take home the positives: our car is fast, much faster than it was this time last year, and it seems to be reliable. Now we need to work on single-lap pace, the sooner the better,” he added. (ANI)
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