UPDATE 1-Fast Retailing, Toray in $4.6 bln supply deal

TOKYO, July 20 (Reuters) – Japan’s Fast Retailing (9983.T), operator of the Uniqlo casual clothing chain, said its procurement from textile maker Toray Industries (3402.T) would reach 400 billion yen ($4.6 billion) in the five years to 2015.

That will mark a 70 percent increase from the 240 billion yen in business during the previous five years of their partnership, which has helped Fast Retailing develop hit products and fuelled its global expansion.

Toray supplies Fast Retailing with textiles and has been working with the apparel giant on new fabrics, including the material used in its popular heat-trapping clothing.

Fast Retailing President Tadashi Yanai told a joint news conference he wants to strengthen their partnership as it accelerates a push into overseas markets, where it still gets less than 10 percent of its sales.

“I personally think in some countries we would like to do everything together from production to sales,” Yanai said. (Reporting by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by Michael Watson)

WSJ: Nokia searching for new CEO

Struggling to keep up with newer and more inventive rivals, number one phone maker Nokia is looking for a new CEO, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Monday.

While still the biggest phone maker in the world, Nokia has been losing market share in the growing smartphone segment. A March report from Canalys gave the company a 39 percent market share in the smartphone sector, down from 41 percent a year earlier in the face of competition from companies like Apple and Google. As a result, some analysts have been suggesting that a leadership shakeup might help reverse market share declines and stagnating revenue at the Finnish giant.

In June, Nokia warned that its second quarter earnings report, due out Thursday, would be lower than expected. It blamed competition at the high end of the market, a shift in product mix toward lower margin products and the depreciation of the euro.

Olli-Pekka Kallusvuo, president and CEO, has been with Nokia since 1980, when he joined as corporate counsel, according to his biography on the company web site. In 2006 he took over as CEO, replacing Jorma Ollila[cq]. He had a tough act to follow. Ollila was so beloved, that some people called for him to run for president of Finland.

Nokia declined to comment on the report. The Wall Street Journal cited unnamed people who said the company had launched a search for a new CEO.

Templeton cuts stake in Singapore’s Parkway to 4.97 pct

July 19 (Reuters) – U.S. fund manager Templeton, one of Parkway Holdings’ (PARM.SI) largest institutional shareholders, has cut its stake in the Singapore healthcare firm following a series of sales earlier this month.

Malaysian state investor Khazanah and Indian healthcare giant Fortis (FOHE.BO), which each own around 25 percent of Parkway, are currently tussling for control of the Singapore firm.

Templeton now owns 4.97 percent of Parkway, down from 5.04 percent previously, after selling about 357,000 shares between July 8 and July 14, Parkway said in a disclosure to the Singapore Exchange.

For a factbox on Parkway, please click [ID:nSGE6600DM]

(Reporting by Kevin Lim)

H&M says June same-store sales up 9 pct y/y

July 15 (Reuters) – Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST) reported on Thursday sales at its established stores rose 9 percent in June year-on-year.

Total sales were up 20 percent.

The figures compared with an average forecast for a drop of 9.6 percent at stores operating for more than one financial year and a 21 percent rise in total sales.

Kazakhstan cancels KazakhGold stake sale to Polyus

July 12 (Reuters) – Kazakhstan on Monday annulled the sale of shares in KazakhGold (KZGq.L) to Russia’s Polyus Gold (PLZL.MM), potentially putting in jeopardy the plans for a merger of the two groups to create a gold-mining giant.

“Due to newly discovered information regarding violations of the law on mineral resources during the purchase of the stake in KazakhGold by the Russian company Polyus Gold, the competent authority has cancelled the previously taken decisions to allow the sale of KazakhGold shares,” the Kazakh Industry Ministry said in a statement.

“For the same reason, there is a ban on the additional share issue by KazakhGold.” (Reporting by Masha Gordeeva; Writing by Toni Vorobyova; Editing by Maria Kiselyova)

Google’s China license problem remains unresolved

After five days of waiting, Google is still in the dark about whether the company’s operating license in China will be renewed.

As of Monday morning, Beijing time, the search engine giant had yet to hear back from the Chinese government regarding the license, said Jessica Powell, a Google spokeswoman.

The license, which is issued by the Chinese authorities, is necessary for Google to continue operating its China-based Web site, Google.cn. But tensions between the company and Chinese officials have put the license’s renewal in doubt.

In March, Google decided to stop censoring the results to its Google.cn search engine by shutting the site down. All internet traffic from the site was then redirected to Google’s uncensored Hong Kong search engine. The move quickly angered Chinese officials, who demanded that the company comply with Chinese laws that require companies to censor search results.

Now, with Google’s operating license up for renewal the company has decided to take a step back from its previous actions in a bid to comply with government demands. Last week, Google.cn was restored as a “landing page,” where users are given a link to the company’s Hong Kong page rather than automatically redirected to it.

Since Google’s license went up for renewal last Wednesday, the company’s web search services have also been partially blocked in China. Google Suggest, a feature that provides probable search terms when user types their query, continues to be blocked, Powell said.

UPDATE 1-Alcoa agrees new pact with union workers

June 25 (Reuters) – U.S. aluminium giant Alcoa Inc (AA.N) said it ratified a new four-year contract with the United Steelworkers union covering 5,400 employees at ten of its locations in the United States.

The company, one of the world’s largest aluminum producers, said on its website there would be no wage increases in 2010 and 2011 but all job classes will see their wages go up by 2.5 percent each in 2012 and 2013.

Also, the company’s healthcare program will see increased employee contributions, with price tags increasing every year.

The union contract covers all Alcoa workers in the U.S. under an umbrella deal. (Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Mike Nesbit)

H&M posts Q2 profit in line, misses May sales fcast

June 24 (Reuters) – Swedish fashion giant Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST) posted second-quarter pretax profit roughly in line with forecasts on Thursday while cold weather hit same-store sales in May.

Cyclical Consumer Goods

Pretax profit in the company’s second quarter — which runs from March to June — was 7.0 billion Swedish crowns ($905 million) versus a mean forecast of 7.1 billion in a Reuters poll of 20 analysts.

May sales in comparable units fell by 4.0 percent compared to the same month last year.

Braver Stern poaches mortgage team from Guggenheim

June 9 (Reuters) – U.S. mortgage-trading boutique Braver Stern Securities on Wednesday said it is opening a Chicago-area office with the hire of an executive and four mortgage salesmen from Guggenheim Securities.

Bonds | Global Markets

Braver also hired a trader from Guggenheim in New York for an ongoing expansion, it said in a statement.

The Chicago office will be led by David Connelly, who is also a 25-year veteran of now-defunct investment banking giant Bear Stearns. The four salesmen hired for Chicago, all of whom are also former Bear Stearns employees, are Brian Vanselow, JP Gagne, Kevin Smith and Mike Piper.

Braver said that in its New York expansion, Andy Lorimer has joined as a trader of collateralized debt and loan securities. (Reporting by Al Yoon)

Key Swiss report raps government over UBS crisis

May 31 (Reuters) – The Swiss government failed to take swift action to prevent a credit and tax crisis that endangered the survival of banking giant UBS (UBSN.VX)(UBS.N) in 2008-2009, a key parliamentary report said on Monday.

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The actions of UBS’ top management were not at the centre of the parliamentary inquiry. But the report called on financial regulator FINMA to find out to what extent UBS executives knew of the U.S. tax violations carried out at their bank.

FINMA said in a statement on Monday it would examine the conclusions of the report and state its position on the findings and recommendations by the end-2010 deadline. (Reporting by Lisa Jucca and Albert Schmieder; Editing by Hans Peters)

Romário may enter politics soon

London, May 18 (ANI): Brazil football legend Romário is all set to represent the Brazilian Socialist Party in the coming election of federal deputies.

“Known as ”Shorty” in international football circles, this diminutive football legend who rose from the slums of northern Rio to become a giant of Brazil”s ”beautiful game”. Now, the 5 feet 6inches former Barcelona and Brazil striker is pushing for a new, unexpected title: Romário MP,” reports The Guardian.

The third highest scorer in Brazil football”s history Romário is keen to become one of Brazil”s 513 federal deputies, the elections for which will be held in October.

“On the pitch, I was one of the best in my position,” the former PSV Eindhoven and Barcelona striker said last week during a visit to Brazil”s Congress with members of his Brazilian Socialist party (PSB).

“I will try to be one of the best here too,” he said about his innings in politics. (ANI)

‘Special One’ Mourinho verbally agrees to move to Real Madrid

London, May 18 (ANI): Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho is all set to join Spanish giant Real Madrid and has already submitted his players wish list.

According to Spanish media reports, Mourinho has reached a verbal agreement with Real Madrid to become their next manager.

The Special One’s representative, Jorge Mendes, has had talks with Real Madrid to thrash out a deal for Mourinho, where he also outlined the manager’s transfer targets, The Mirror reports.

The list includes Benfica’s in demand trio of Angel Di Maria, David Luiz, and left wingback Fabio Coentrao.

The former Chelsea boss will be in Madrid on Friday to prepare for Inter Milan’s Champions League final clash with Bayern Munich. (ANI)

Patient, doc knocked out by giant lamp during surgery

London, May 10 (ANI): It has emerged that a hospital patient woke up requiring more surgery than he bargained for after a giant lamp fell on him as he underwent surgery.

The patient was sedated at the time of the incident, but the surgery had to be halted as the surgeon performing the op also suffered concussion and had to receive treatment himself.

When the patient came round he found he needed even more treatment for a split lip and facial injuries.

Health chiefs have launched an urgent probe into why the 30lb lamp broke free as it was moved during the op, and all other lamps at Glan Clwyd Hospital in North Wales and neighbouring hospitals have been checked for similar faults.

“We are very sorry that this incident occurred and that one of our patients suffered an injury as a result,” the Sun quoted a spokesman as saying.

“The surgeon has since contacted the patient at home to explain what occurred and offered our sincere apologies.

“Investigations revealed that a screw had worked loose on the swivel bracket that holds the lamp,” he added.

The patient had the operation a week later. (ANI)

Giant airship can carry 1,000 pounds of payloads up to 20,000-ft above Earth

Washington, May 6 (ANI): A 235-foot prototype Bullet Airship, called The Bullet 580, can carry 1,000 pounds of payloads up to 20,000 feet above Earth.

The inflatable airship, which has a helium-filled tanker and an inner hull filled with ambient air, can fly heavy instruments to high altitudes and remote locations, or serve as an eye-in-the-sky. It will be inflated later this month, for the first time ever.

The airship, a pioneering technological innovation in a long time, will be used as a sky based platform to relay communications and to keep watch on oil spills, forest fires or even pirates at sea.

“We”re kind of like a truck in the sky that can have different types of payloads for different requirements,” Discovery News quoted Mike Lawson as saying. Lawson is the chief executive of Alabama-based E-Green Technologies.

“The bags expand as we go up in altitude,” said Lawson. “If you hit a hard landing with any of our airships, it”s just going to kind of bounce. (ANI)

Broncos baffled by ongoing Setu reports

Brisbane remains confused on Tuesday by reports it has lost damaging defender Lagi Setu to the Roosters.

Coach Ivan Henjak and chief executive Bruno Cullen were caught off guard by reports that Setu had been released to the Roosters.

“He might have signed with the Roosters,” said Henjak.

“But he’s starting in our team this weekend.

“What he does next year is between him and his manager, he’s off contract with us at the end of year.

“They (players) don’t have to tell you anything nowadays, do they?”

Henjak, who has enough on his plate with young giant Israel Folau expected to leave the club at the end of the season, said he had not spoken to Setu about a release.

“I told Lagi he is here for the season and as long as he deserves his spot, he’ll have his spot.

“I can’t be any fairer than that.”

Setu admits his manager is in talks with the Roosters.

“We’re in for a struggle and I know it’s not a time to leave, but I am off contract,” he said.

“I don’t worry about it. I’m trying to get a win for the boys and improve my performance.

“My manager is talking to the Roosters and whatever happens, happens.

“The coach has told me I’m playing this weekend.

“I don’t know much about me moving, I just know my manager is doing some stuff for me.”

Auckland-born Setu came to Brisbane from the Dragons in 2009 with a feared defensive reputation but his inconsistent form has prevented him from delivering on his promise.

A little motivation can improve eyesight

Washington, Apr 30 (ANI): Eyesight markedly improved when people were experimentally induced to believe that they could see especially well, a new study found.

Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer and her colleagues reported the finding in the April Psychological Science.

The boffins emphasize that such expectations actually enhanced visual clarity, rather than simply making volunteers more alert or motivated to focus on objects.

In the study, “20 men and women who saw a reversed eye chart — arranged so that letters became progressively larger further down the chart, with a giant “E” at the bottom — accurately reported more letters from the smallest two lines than they did when shown a traditional eye chart with the big letters on top. All volunteers had normal eyesight.

These results reflect people”s expectation, based on experience with standard eye charts, that letters are easy to see at the top and become increasingly difficult to distinguish on lower lines, the researchers suggest.

Participants who said they thought that they could improve their eyesight with practice displayed a bigger vision boost on the reversed chart than those who didn”t think improvement was possible, but only for the next-to-smallest line. Both groups did equally well at reading the smallest, topmost line”, reports Discovery News. (ANI)

Cyber attack targeted Google password system

Washington, Apr 20(ANI): The mysterious cyber attack against search engine giant Google last year reportedly included an attempt to hack a vital company-wide password system, which controls user access to most of Google’s web services, e-mail and business applications.

The program, code named Gaia, was attacked in a lightning raid, taking less than two days last December, CBS News quoted a source, saying.

However, Gmail users’ passwords do not appear to have been stolen, and the company quickly initiated security changes to its networks, the source added.

Gaia is intended to enable users and employees to sign in with their password just once to operate a range of services.

The new details seem likely to increase the debate about the security and privacy of vast computing systems such as Google’s, which store personal information of millions of individuals and businesses.

When news of the attack initially became public, it led to a row between Google and China, ultimately resulting in a decision by the company to reroute search queries to its Hong Kong site. (ANI)

Watching 3D TV can cause nausea

London, April 17 (ANI): Watching 3D films can cause nausea, according to a new health warning.

According to the warning, a 3D TV can cause people to suffer from vomiting and cramps.

Pregnant women, elders and children are the ones to suffer the most from the use of 3D TVs.

The notice, issued by Electronic giant Samsung, has also warned that 3D TV may cause fits in people suffering from epilepsy, reports The Daily Star.

Watching a 3D TV puts “unusual strain” on the body and it drastically disturbs the eyes and the brain with flashy images, says the report. (ANI)

Ex-Rio Tinto exec fined for inside trading

A former Rio Tinto executive has been convicted and fined $30,000 for insider trading.

UK-based John O’Reilly, 65, pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to buying 50,000 shares in Indophil Resources while knowing of an imminent takeover of the company by mining giant Xstrata.

He was a director of Lion Selection, which part-owned Indophil at the time of the offence in 2008, and made a $29,000 profit when the share price jumped after Xstrata’s acquisition.

O’Reilly was fined and released on an 18-month good behaviour bond.

Loved-up Brits prefer cuddle to sex!

More than half of British people in a relationship are more interested in a kiss and a cuddle on the sofa than passion between the sheets, a new research has shown.

The poll of 1,000 Britons, commissioned by healthcare giant Bayer, also showed it is men who are more than happy to smooch on a sofa rather than romp in the bedroom.

In the survey, sex was also judged to be less important to a successful relationship than commitment, companionship and a sense of humour.

Researchers of the study even blame the rise of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter for making people less intimate with each other.

The majority cited stress, tiredness and arguments as the main obstacles to intimacy with their partner.

“Lack of intimacy can endanger any relationship,” the Daily Express quoted Christine Webber, a sex and relationships expert, as saying.