Toshiba to book $2-$3 billion losses over accounting scandal

By Taro Fuse

TOKYO (Reuters) – Toshiba Corp expects to book charges of 300 billion to 400 billion yen ($ 2.4-3.2 billion) related to improper accounting, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday, as Japan’s biggest accounting scandal in years expands.

The charges include six years of overstated profits uncovered by an independent panel probing the electronics conglomerate’s accounting irregularities, as well as various writedowns, the people told Reuters.
It was not clear how much of that amount would be booked in the business year that ended in March of this year. Toshiba has been unable to close its books for the latest business year due to the scandal, and suspended its year-end dividend payout.

A Toshiba spokesman declined to comment.

The company will file its earnings in late August, the sources said.

Toshiba’s stock price has sunk 27 percent since early April on Japan’s biggest accounting scandal since camera maker Olympus admitted in 2011 that it used M&A deals to conceal investment losses.

The third-party panel, appointed by Toshiba after the accounting irregularities emerged, has found 170 billion yen in overstated profits, the sources said. This is far above the 54.8 billion yen the company initially disclosed in June.

In addition to a charge on the overstated profits, the sources said, Toshiba is expected to post writedowns on the value of chipmaking facilities and on deferred tax assets, or credits that can be used to reduce future tax bills.

Toshiba, which has 1.2 trillion yen in capital, is considering the sale of unused facilities, cross-shareholdings and non-core businesses to shore up its capital, the sources said.


(Additional reporting by Reiji Murai; Writing by Taiga Uranaka; Editing by William Mallard and Edmund Klamann)

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Rubio Calls for Overhaul of Higher Ed System

Senator and Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio is pushing for an overhaul of the US higher education system, arguing that colleges are operating as “cartels” and are not meeting student needs.

“We do not need timid tweaks to the old system. We need a holistic overhaul,” Rubio said in a policy speech in Chicago. “We need to change how we provide degrees, how those degrees are accessed, how much that access costs, how those costs are paid, and even how those payments are determined.”

The speech was given not only as an effort by Rubio to describe his campaign platform, as one of 14 Republicans hoping to be the representative of the Republican party in the 2016 presidential election, but also as an opportunity to clarify the central theme of his candidacy: shaping America’s future through globalization, automation, and rapid technological change, writes James Oliphant for Reuters.

Rubio’s remarks were “very much an effort to win the support of middle class, moderate Americans who play a key role in general elections,” said Jesse Rhodes, a professor of political science at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Rubio believes that middle-class America has been harmed as a result of the economic downturn.  In order to remedy that, he would like to see the creation of a child tax credit he considers to be pro-family in addition to subsidies that would benefit minimum-wage workers.  Lastly, he would like to see a new approach to higher education that focuses more strongly on teaching high-level skills that would allow students to compete in the global business environment upon graduation.

He went on to say that the current system is causing too many students to graduate with massive amounts of debt and degrees that do not lead to well-paying jobs. Rubio believes that those who need to make the most of the higher education system in the country, including single parents and working adults, are left with too few options due to their complicated schedules and limited budgets.

Instead, Rubio would like to see the creation of a higher education system that more easily allows low-cost institutions, possibly online, to compete with schools that are already established.

“There’s no question that accreditation needs to be reformed,” said Barmak Nassirian, policy director for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. “But the simplistic charge that it’s just a cartel, that it’s only interested in keeping insiders in and the outsiders out, that’s obviously too extreme.”

Rubio called for students to be allowed to repay their student loans based on their incomes after graduation.  He added that investors should be allowed to pay a student’s tuition in return for a portion of the individual’s income upon graduation.

In order to give students a complete picture of the results of their degree completion, he would like to see colleges be required to tell prospective students what they can expect to receive as a salary after graduation.

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Education News

FTC exploring Apple rules for streaming music rivals in App Store

By Diane Bartz and Julia Love


WASHINGTON/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – U.S. government antitrust regulators are looking into claims about whether Apple’s treatment of rival streaming music apps is illegal under antitrust law, according to three industry sources.

Apple recently launched a new music streaming service, Apple Music. It also provides the App Store platform for competing streaming services including Jango, Spotify, Rhapsody and others.

Apple takes a 30 percent cut of all in-app purchases for digital goods, such as music streaming subscriptions and games, sold on its platform.

While $ 9.99 has emerged as the going monthly rate for music subscriptions, including Apple’s, some streaming companies complain that Apple’s cut forces them to either charge more in the App Store than they do on other platforms or erode their profit margins.

The Federal Trade Commission is looking at the issue but has not begun a formal investigation, said the three industry sources, who requested anonymity. The agency has had meetings with multiple concerned parties, one source said. The agency meets with companies routinely, and a formal investigation may not materialize.
Antitrust lawyers interviewed by Reuters were divided on whether Apple’s policies had the makings of an antitrust violation.

A spokeswoman for Apple declined to comment. The FTC also declined to comment.

As all-you-can-eat music subscriptions become more popular among listeners, a wave of companies have rushed in to cater to the demand. Apple has long been a leader in digital music through its iTunes Store, but it has been a relatively late entrant to on-demand streaming.

Streaming services’ chief grievances with Apple stem from the company’s 30 percent cut. To avoid it, customers can sign up for a streaming service through their Web browser, but the streaming industry sources argue that many consumers do not realize that is an option.

Tyler Goldman, CEO for North America of the music streaming company Deezer, said the bite that Apple takes out of his company’s $ 9.99 U.S. subscription fee leaves little for Deezer.

“The margin in music is quite small, and the App Store diminishes the margin.”

“It will be an issue for the industry going forward. You can either raise your prices and not be competitive with Apple’s price, or you can have no margin,” he said, adding that he was unaware of whether Deezer has talked to the FTC.

Two of the industry sources say that the antitrust concerns focus on restrictions in the App Store. These include a prohibition on advertising in the app that the company is on other platforms, a ban on marketing in the app that consumers can also buy directly from the company’s website, and a ban on linking to a company’s website from within the app. These restrictions apply to all apps, not just music streaming apps.
Although Google also offers a music subscription service and charges a 30 percent transaction fee in its app store, its policies for app sales have drawn less ire from rival streaming services. Industry sources say the company places fewer restrictions on those transactions.

Although Apple dominates the digital music business primarily through iTunes, its share of the global smartphone market is relatively small. Google’s Android operating system accounts for 78.9 percent, with Apple’s iOS system clocking in at 17.9 percent, according to research firm Gartner based on sales in the first quarter of 2015.

Antitrust lawyers knowledgeable about the tech industry were split on whether Apple’s policies violated antitrust law. Apple is free to charge whatever fee it likes for transactions in the App Store, some argue, and companies do not have to sell their goods there.

It is legal to have a monopoly but it is not legal for monopolies to use their clout to hurt competitors, said Jeffrey Jacobovitz of the law firm Arnall Golden Gregory.

Apple’s critics may be seeking to convince the FTC to use Section Five of the FTC Act, which prohibits “unfair or deceptive acts or practices,” to pursue Apple, he said.

Since the Justice Department’s successful prosecution of Apple for colluding with publishers to push up the prices of ebooks, the FTC may be inclined to take a closer look at Apple’s involvement in the music business, said Jacobovitz.

Another antitrust lawyer dismissed most of the concerns as companies complaining about actions that were undoubtedly aggressive, but still legal.

“They’re (Apple) tough business people,” said the lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.


(Editing by Stephen R. Trousdale and Diane Craft)

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Billionaire CEOs Play Down Impact of Chinese Market Volatility Business Travel

Business Travel

Business travel is probably the oldest form of travel known to man and perhaps the single most influential reason behind the development of the travel industry. A few millennia ago traders and sea farers undertook arduous journeys across the seven seas and the five continents in the name of commerce. Today company executives undertake the same journeys, sometimes even visiting the same cities in the name of corporate travel.

With the globalization of international trade and emerging markets, business travel has grown exponentially. Following the post Second World War era and the expansion of trade and commerce many corporate organizations looked towards expanding their horizons and spreading beyond their homelands. This concept is not entirely new, for example the colonial eras preceding the 20th century saw certain European companies expanding into Asia, Australia and Africa. Following this phenomenon and the emerging markets in Asia and Latin America fuelled the growth of business travel.

Especially with the current lull in the global economy, increasing inflation, high oil prices and the specter of terrorism leisure travel has seen a decrease. However, by stark contrast business travel has been increasing rapidly. Many attribute this to North American companies outsourcing production to emerging Asian players such as China, Vietnam and Thailand. Also the booming economies of India and China have made it the place to be as far as trade and commerce is concerned.

With a number of factors fuelling the growth of business travel, many airlines, hotels and other travel related service providers have been quick to explore this vibrant market segment. Business travelers are mostly affluent and demand a certain level of sophistication. They also require tools to facilitate their business transactions such as meeting and conferencing facilities, the latest communications technology and most importantly a serene environment at the hotel they chose to stay in.

For business travellers to treading all around the world, Langham Hotels offer a luxurious gateway. Langham International, a reputed luxury hotel chain offers great comforts to business travelers from around the world at its numerous properties.

Naveen Marasinghe is an Online Marketing Executive at eMarketingEye which is a search engine marketing company that offers integrated Internet marketing services and specializes in serving the online travel and hospitality industry.

As titans of tech and media descended on Sun Valley for the annual Allen and Company conference, business leaders played down the significance of the ongoing market meltdown in China.

FOX News

Supreme Court Dues Case Could Affect Teachers Unions

Earlier last week, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear a case against the California Teachers Association in an effort to decide whether teachers and other public employees will be required to pay fees to unions in order to be represented.

If the plaintiffs in the Friedrichs v. CTA case come out successful, the financial strength of the CTA and other public employee unions could be threatened, as all union dues would become voluntary.

The lawsuit, filed by ten teachers in California and the conservative teachers group Christian Educators Association International, argues that their First Amendment rights are in violation by requiring mandatory fees, reports John Fensterwald in The Huffington Post.  Plaintiff and teacher Rebecca Friedrichs says it is not about getting something for nothing, but instead having the choice not to support an organization they disagree with.

“This case is about the right of individuals to decide for themselves whether to join and pay dues to an organization that purports to speak on their behalf,” Terry Pell, president of the Center for Individual Rights, which brought the case on behalf of the teachers, said in a statement Tuesday. “We are seeking the end of compulsory union dues across the nation on the basis of the free speech rights guaranteed by the First Amendment.”

According to Connor Wolf for The Daily Caller, the lawsuit began when Friedrichs discovered members of the California Teachers Association (CTA) received benefits at a cost to their students.  However, when she tried to leave the union, she found that she would be required to continue to pay into it.  “Unions, like any group, should have to earn members,” she added.

The plaintiffs are seeking an overturn of the Court’s ruling from the 1977 Abood v. Detroit Board of Education case, which allowed states to require public employees to decline to join a union in order to avoid “agency” or “fair-share” fees.  Those fees go toward covering the local union’s costs concerning negotiations of workplace conditions, pay and benefits, while another portion goes to the CTA and the National Education Association to cover expenses associated with lobbying in Sacramento and Washington, DC.

In a joint statement with the presidents of the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, CTA President Eric Heins said, “We are disappointed that at a time when big corporations and the wealthy few are rewriting the rules in their favor, knocking American families and our entire economy off balance, the Supreme Court has chosen to take a case that threatens the fundamental promise of America – that if you work hard and play by the rules you should be able to provide for your family and live a decent life.”

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Education News

Bill Cosby Admits To Drugging Woman He Wanted To Have Sex With

More than 25 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years. The comedian has never been criminally charged and has vehemently denied wrongdoing.

However, court documents, dating back to 2005, stem from a civil lawsuit filed by Andrea Constand -- one of the dozens of women who have publicly accused the comedian of sexual assault prove otherwise.

In a sworn deposition, Cosby answered questions from Constand's attorney, Dolores Troiani.

"When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" Troiani asked.

"Yes," Cosby replied.

 

"Did you ever give any of those young women the Quaaludes without their knowledge?" Troiani asked.

Cosby's attorney objected and told him not to answer the question.

While Cosby admitted that he acquired seven prescriptions of Quaaludes with the intent to give the sedatives to young women he wanted to have sex with, he has not admitted to actually drugging any of his accusers.

He did say he gave drugs to "other people," but his lawyers objected before Cosby could respond and name whom he gave them to.

According to the AP, at least two of the women admitted they willingly took drugs given to them by Cosby.

Samsung Elec second quarter profit below forecast after S6 supply shortage

SEOUL (Reuters) – Tech giant Samsung Electronics Co Ltd <005930.KS> on Tuesday said April-June earnings will likely miss expectations, deflating hopes for a rapid return to strong growth after supply shortages plagued its latest smartphone launch.

Operating profit for the second quarter likely fell 4 percent from a year earlier to 6.9 trillion won ($ 6.13 billion, the world’s top smartphone maker said in a regulatory filing, compared with a 7.2 trillion won profit average forecast from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 39 analysts. Revenue for the quarter is likely 48 trillion won, the company said.

The result would be the highest quarterly profit since the second quarter of 2014. Samsung did not offer any details for its estimates and will disclose detailed results in late July.

But even though the South Korean firm’s annual profit is expected to rebound this year from the three-year low set in 2014, the firm’s stock price has languished amid doubts about sales of the new Galaxy S6 smartphones.

Some analysts believe supply shortages that have plagued the curved-screen S6 edge model capped sales during the quarter, even though Samsung has said it expects the combined sales for the flat-screen and curved-screen S6 models to set a new sales record for the company.

The S6 edge shortages may have cost Samsung an opportunity to boost sales before Apple Inc’s <AAPL.O> new iPhones launch around September. The company says it has since resolved the issue by adding capacity.

Currency volatility for some emerging countries and soft economic conditions in major economies like China and Europe also likely weighed on sales, analysts say.

The company’s chips division likely remained the top earner, analysts say, as sales growth for the system chips business is seen making up for the drop in DRAM chip prices for personal computers.


(Reporting by Se Young Lee; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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French, German presidents tried to influence World Cup votes: Blatter in paper

BERLIN (Reuters) – The embattled president of FIFA, the governing body for world soccer, told a German newspaper the presidents of France and Germany tried to exert political pressure before the World Cup was awarded to Russia and Qatar.

Sepp Blatter has become entangled in a corruption investigation of the sport’s governing body, which involves the decision to hold the World Cup in the two countries. Blatter has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but he has retained an attorney.

In a story published on Sunday, the newspaper Welt am Sonntag quoted Blatter as saying: “Before the World Cup was awarded to Russia and Qatar, there were two political interventions.

“Mr (Nicolas) Sarkozy and (Christian) Wulff tried to influence their voting representatives. Therefore, we now have a World Cup in Qatar. The people who decided this should also take responsibility,” he added.

No one was immediately available at Sarkozy’s office or Wulff’s office to comment. Welt am Sonntag reported, however, that Wulff had denied trying to influence the vote in his book.

In May, Swiss authorities arrested seven FIFA officials as part of an investigation into a global bribery scandal. The U.S. Department of Justice has now asked that Switzerland extradite the seven to the United States.

Also in May, U.S. prosecutors announced they had indicted nine current and former FIFA officials and five sports marketing businessmen in connection with a corruption investigation.
Welt am Sonntag quoted Blatter as saying the German football federation, DFB, had “received a recommendation (from Wulff) that Germany should vote for Qatar for economic interests”.
FIFA said Blatter was correctly quoted.

Europe soccer chief Michel Platini has repeatedly said that nobody had asked him to vote for Qatar.

“Neither Sarkozy nor anyone,” he told the newspaper L’Equipe a year ago. However, the head of UEFA also said that he and Sarkozy had a lunch with Qataris.

“It’s true that, when I was invited for a lunch in private with the president and I found myself with Qataris, I understood that there was a subliminal message. But I’ve never been asked to vote for them,” Platini told L’Equipe.

Blatter announced on June 2 he would step down as FIFA’s president after an election that is likely to happen this year or early next.

Blatter also told the paper he needed a “recovery phase” and said he was limiting his travel plans because of the investigation.

“I won’t take any travel risks until everything has been cleared up,” he said.

He did, however, say he would go to Moscow at the end of July for the draw on the qualification games for the 2018 World Cup are held. “I will go there,” he said.

A U.S.-based layer said last week Blatter would not travel to Canada for Sunday’s final of the women’s World Cup for personal reasons. Reuters was unable to determine why Blatter had decided not to attend the final in Vancouver.

Some lawyers with experience in international criminal cases have said Blatter would be ill-advised to travel after the U.S. indictments were announced.

Blatter said he did not mind criticism but “tirades of hate hurt”.

“I am now here to fight. Not for myself but for FIFA … I am afraid that they want to destroy FIFA … A work that I helped create,” he was quoted as saying.

(Additional reporting by Brian Homewood in Zurich and Gregory Blachier in Paris; Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Larry King)

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SRN News » Sports

UNIR1™ News reports- Mainstream media has announced that the massive amounts of debates over the Confederate Flag have effected the entertainment industry.

Nearly a week after Warner Bros. announced it would no longer sanction the manufacturing of "Dukes of Hazzard" merchandise featuring the flag, TV Land announced it's pulling reruns of the 1980s’ TV series featuring John Schneider and Tom Wopat as Bo and Luke Duke in fictional Hazzard County, Georgia.

In a statement to mainstream sources,

 

"the network confirmed Wednesday that the show had been "removed" from its schedule, while declining to comment further."

TV Land's decision comes amid a growing national debate over the use of the Confederate flag, which was painted on the roof of The General Lee, the orange Dodge Charger driven by the Duke boys.

One of the show's stars, Ben Jones, who played Cooter Davenport, has come out in support of the flag.

"That flag on top of The General Lee made a statement that the values of the rural south were the values of courage and family and good times,"

 

Earlier this week, actress Aunjanue Ellis, known for her work in "Ray," "The Help," and "NCIS LA," announced that she had created a coalition to ban production in her home state of Mississippi until the confederate flag emblem is removed from the state's flag. Calling the state flag "a blatant symbol of oppression and inequality," Ellis also announced at a press conference that she was moving her film company, Miss Myrtis Films, to Louisiana until the flag has been changed.

Mainstream News Source: TV Land Pulls 'Dukes of Hazzard' Reruns - ABC News

China and Japan show hints of healing, rest of Asia still struggling

By Ian Chua

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Growth in China’s services sector picked up in June while big Japanese companies planned to ramp up spending at the fastest pace in a decade, offering hope that prospects are improving for Asia’s largest economies despite sluggish factory growth.

Wednesday’s data fueled expectations that the wobbly global economy may start leveling out in the second half of the year, but the outlook remains murky, with fears that Greece’s debt crisis could splinter the euro zone and worries about whether China can avoid a stock market crash keeping investors on edge.

Activity in China’s factory sector expanded slightly in June though not as much as expected, official surveys showed, suggesting the economy may be starting to slowly level out after a raft of support measures including interest rate cuts and more infrastructure spending.

Japanese factories barely expanded but a private report showed a strong pick-up in export orders, while a Bank of Japan survey showed a strong bounce in business confidence and spending plans, a welcome sign for premier Shinzo Abe’s economic revival strategy which has seen limited success in nudging firms to boost wages and investment.

“When you have two of the biggest economies in the world showing positive readings, that is encouraging. They also come on the back of some good readings out of the United States,” said Craig James, chief economist at CommSec in Sydney.

Yet reports from South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia provided a more sobering read that still pointed to challenging conditions for many economies in the region.

The unending uncertainty over Greece also dampened confidence, though Asian markets held up well on Wednesday.

Similar activity surveys are due from Europe and the United States later in the day.

Though Greece makes up only about 2 percent of the euro zone economy, fears of contagion to other weak EU members could overshadow recent signs that businesses are in better shape.

In the U.S., the ISM factory PMI is expected to accelerate, reinforcing views the Federal Reserve could start raising interest rates in September, though a healthier U.S. economy is not giving as big a boost to Asia’s exports as in the past.

H2 BOUNCE OR DEJU VU ALL OVER AGAIN?
To be sure, Asian exporters and global policymakers have made the same bad calls over and over again in past years, betting that advanced economies will recover strongly, but sustained turnarounds have repeatedly proved elusive.

China’s official manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for June came in at 50.2, unchanged from May, while the services PMI climbed to 53.8 from 53.2 in May, above the 50 level that is supposed to separate growth from contraction.

“It basically highlights there is some degree of stabilization happening and it’s very much in line with what the authorities want to see,” CommSec’s James added.

Analysts at ANZ, though, suspect softness in the manufacturing sector would require more policy easing.
“Looking ahead, as real interest rates faced by Chinese companies remain elevated, we see that further monetary easing is still highly needed,” Liu Li-Gang and Zhou Hao at ANZ wrote in a research note.
On Saturday, China’s central bank cut lending rates for the fourth time since November and trimmed the amount of cash that some banks must hold as reserves. The dual central bank action was the first since the height of the global financial crisis in late 2008.

In contrast, conditions in export-reliant South Korea continued to deteriorate, with exports falling for a sixth straight month in June and manufacturing activity shrinking at the fastest pace in nearly three years.
Adding to the country’s woeful performance is the outbreak of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome since late May, which has prompted some analysts to trim their economic growth forecast for the year and pushed the government to announce a $ 13 billion fiscal stimulus package last week.

Analysts at Barclays were more upbeat.

“We see some silver linings that could pave the way for Korean exports to stabilize in Q3,” they wrote in a note to clients, citing a strong rise in U.S. consumer confidence and signs that its shipments to China appeared to be bottoming.

Much might depend on whether China tames its volatile share market, which has plunged 20 percent from its peaks in early June, and whether its housing market can take a stronger turn in the second half of the year.
While home sales and prices have picked up in the biggest Chinese cities, investment remains weak with high local government debt levels and bureaucratic delays thwarting Beijing’s efforts to get big infrastructure projects off the ground.

(Additional reporting by Kevin Yao in BEIJING, Leika Kihara and Tetsushi Kajimoto in TOKYO, Christine Kim in SEOUL; Editing by Kim Coghill)

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