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Downtown carts to be relocated

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 14 September 2013 | 18.40

Ramped-up construction at the former Filene's site will force the relocation of Downtown Crossing pushcart vendors next week.

The move to new locations will expand the reach of the 26-strong street retail program.

Seven vendors in front of the construction site of Millennium Partners' $630 million Millennium Tower project, which includes redevelopment of the adjacent Filene's building, will be moved from Washington Street and Shoppers Park.

"We've been working closely with the property owners and the vendors to identify temporary locations, and we've been able to offer each vendors two possible choices," said Rosemarie Sansone, president of the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District. "The locations are new to the program, and we are all eager to see how well they will work."

Those locations — Winter Street, Summer Street and two spots on Tremont Street — were chosen primarily for their heavy foot traffic.

Plans to move the vendors into the Washington Street pedestrian zone were shelved for safety reasons, according to Sansone.

Two more vendors, including the Lambert's produce and flower stand at the top of Summer Street, will be relocated in December as construction extends around the building.

The vendors will remain in their new locations until March, when the Downtown BID plans to start a new street vendor program that's expected to include permanent and mobile kiosks instead of the current pushcarts. A consulting firm working on the new program is set to make its recommendations to the BID and Boston Redevelopment Authority by mid-October.

Two pushcarts operated by Unique Boutique vendor Craig Caplan will move to Winter Street under the plans unveiled yesterday.

"I guess being moved now and remaining in business until the end of March is a good thing, and I sincerely hope they have something better to offer us next year," said Caplan, who hopes to continue as a street retailer under the new program.


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SJC upholds $20.6 million judgment vs. Toys ‘R’ Us

The Supreme Judicial Court upheld a $20.6 million award to the husband of a woman who died when the inflatable pool slide she was using collapsed.

A jury in 2001 awarded the money to Michael Aleo after it found the slide sold by Toys "R" Us did not comply with federal safety standards. Aleo's wife, Robin, 29, died after slamming her head onto the concrete pool deck at a relative's home in Andover in 2006.

The toy company appealed in May but the Supreme Judicial Court yesterday concluded "there was sufficient evidence," to support the verdict.

A Toys "R" Us spokeswoman declined comment.


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18th-century home unfolds like history lesson

This historic Natrick home built in 1740 has retained its 18th-century feel with original floors, fireplaces and woodwork and even an "Indian room" rumored to be a part of the Underground Railroad where runaway slaves were hidden by the staunchly abolitionist Stone family who lived there for many generations.

The six-bedroom house, with additions in 1770 and a wing added in the early 20th century, has 3,894 square feet of living space. In 1906, the property became the 40-acre Little Tree Farm nursery owned by Theodore Borst, whose wife, Sara Cone Bryant, was a famous fairy tale writer whose stories such as "The Little Red Hen" and "The Gingerbread Boy" are still in print.

The current owners replaced all the six-over-six windows in the home, refinished the wood floors, updated bathrooms and replaced the carpet in all the bedrooms within the past two years. The home at 159 Hartford St., which was converted back into a single family with an in-law/au pair wing, is on the market for $674,900.

There's an original stone wall in front of the home that still has horse hitches and a newly added fence. The white exterior has been replaced with vinyl siding but the original entryway is there and the all-new windows are six-over-six.

The foyer has original wide-pine floors and a restored staircase, where a so-called "Indian room" was uncovered, a space to protect people and supplies from raids. This crawl space was also reportedly used by the Stone family to hide runaway slaves.

The original part of the house and its 1770 addition has a living room with fir floors and a built-in hutch and a formal dining room with pine floors, both with timber ceilings and large wood-burning brick fireplaces.

Off the dining room is a kitchen that was redone 10 years ago with antique white cabinets and Uba Tuba granite counters. Appliances include black Kenmore electric stove and dishwasher and a three-year-old Samsung stainless-steel refrigerator. A separate cooking/dining room has an original cooking fireplace. Behind this area is a renovated full bathroom/laundry area with a one-piece Fiberglas shower.

A restored turning staircase leads to three bedrooms on the second floor off a hallway with its own fireplace. The master bedroom suite has a good-sized bedroom with wide pine floors, a large newly carpeted walk-in closet and a renovated en-suite bathroom with a pedestal sink, linoleum tile floors and a one-piece Fiberglas tub and shower. There are two other carpeted bedrooms on this floor with good-sized closets and a renovated second full bathroom.

Two other carpeted bedrooms sit under vaulted ceilings on the third floor. One is currently being used as a family room and the second as an exercise room. There's lots of storage space under the eaves on this floor.

The in-law/au pair wing added in the early 20th century was originally a separate legal apartment and has its own private entrance. It features a 1980s era kitchen, a living/sitting room and a renovated full bathroom on the first floor and stairs up to a carpeted bedroom on the second floor. It could be converted back into an apartment for added income.

The unfinished fieldstone basement has lots of additional storage space and holds the house's two oil-heating systems. There is no central air conditioning.

The house has a decent-sized side yard behind a driveway that holds eight vehicles, as well as a fenced-in back yard with old trees and a rock garden.


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Japan launches new, cheaper rocket

TOKYO — Japan successfully launched a new rocket Saturday that it hopes will be a cheaper and more efficient way of sending satellites into space.

The three-stage Epsilon lifted off from a space center on Japan's southern main island of Kyushu, following a two-week postponement. An earlier launch last month was aborted 19 seconds before a planned liftoff due to a computer glitch.

About an hour after the liftoff, its payload — the SPRINT-A, the first space telescope designed to observe other planets — was successfully put into orbit, said Mari Harada, a spokeswoman at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA.

The liftoff was broadcast live on television networks, with footage showing a white, pencil-shaped rocket shot into the sky from the launch pad after spurting gray smoke and orange flash.

The agency declared it was a success.

"It was so thrilled that I was almost speechless," JAXA President Naoki Okumura told a televised news conference. "The challenge we had to face makes the excitement even greater."

The Epsilon is the first new rocket design for Japan since the H2A was introduced in 2001. The H2A remains Japan's primary rocket but officials hope the Epsilon will lead to improvements in the more costly H2A program. Japan hopes to be more competitive in the international rocket-launching business.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the success of a genuinely homemade rocket was a fruit of Japan's expertise and technology in space development.

"It demonstrates Japanese space technology is highly reliable," he said in a statement. He added that the success would lead to a self-sustainable space transportation system, further space utilization and to help Japan's economic growth.

JAXA said the Epsilon costs about 3.8 billion yen ($40 million), one-third the cost of the H2A. The rocket is about 24 meters (80 feet) tall, half the size of the H2A, and can be assembled and readied for launch in just one week, one-sixth of the time required for the H2A.

The Epsilon rocket, which uses a solid-fuel propellant, is meant to expand the scope of space missions Japan hopes to perform. It also streamlines the launch process.

JAXA says the rocket's extensive use of computer technology means monitoring work that once required a full-staff control room can be done essentially on a single laptop.


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Chinese developer declared new richest tycoon

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 11 September 2013 | 18.39

BEIJING — A billionaire Chinese real estate developer who bought one of the biggest U.S. cinema chains last year has emerged as the country's new richest tycoon.

The Hurun Report, which follows China's wealthy, said Wednesday a surge in stock prices helped to boost the number of Chinese worth at least $1 billion by 64 to 315 this year, compared with none a decade ago. The top five saw their wealth double.

Wang Jianlin, whose Dalian Wanda Group Co. operates hotels, cinemas and department stores, was ranked No. 1 for the first time on Hurun's annual list of Chinese tycoons with a fortune of $22 billion. Last year's No. 1, beverage entrepreneur Zong Qinghou, was second with $18.7 billion.

Wang's company bought AMC cinemas last year for $2.6 billion in the biggest Chinese acquisition of a U.S. company to date.

The latest rankings reflected the rapid changes in China's economy and shifts in wealth from one industry to the next.

One in four of the 1,021 people on the Hurun Rich List made their money from real estate, which passed manufacturing to become this year's top source of wealth. Hurun said 559 of those on the list saw their wealth grow while 252 saw their fortunes shrink.

Real estate prices in China have soared, driven partly by a flood of government spending and bank lending in response to the 2008 global crisis. That is despite government curbs imposed on lending and purchases to cool housing costs.

The surge in asset prices has helped to widen a gulf between China's wealthy elite and the poor majority, fueling social tensions. China has more dollar billionaires than any other country except the United States.

No. 3 on the Hurun list was Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, founder of Tencent Inc., a popular provider of online games and entertainment, at $10.1 billion. He was followed by Wei Jianjun, chairman of Great Wall Motor Co., which has emerged as China's fastest-growing automaker on the strength of its popular SUVs, at $8.4 billion.

China's richest woman was Yang Huiyan at No. 5 with $8.3 billion. Yang, daughter of the founder of real estate developer Country Gardens, was ranked No. 1 in 2007 when she took over her father's stock holdings.


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Court boosts WCVB’s suit vs. streaming co.

A court decision ordering FilmOn X to stop streaming local TV broadcast signals over the Internet could have drastic implications for rival Aereo, which is being sued by Hearst-owned WCVB-TV for copyright infringement, and it could also set the stage for a Supreme Court case pitting established industry giants against innovators, one expert said.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., last week issued an injunction blocking FilmOn X from operating, prompting WCVB-TV to ask a judge to rule the injunction should also apply to New York City-based Aereo, which has an office in Boston and launched its service here last year.

Rutgers University law professor Michael Carrier said there is no difference between Aereo and FilmOn. Both use over-the-air antennae to capture TV broadcasts, and relay the signals over the Internet. The services have been gaining traction as a cheaper alternative to cable TV.

"It's similar in just about every relevant way," said Carrier.

Aereo has already won one legal battle against broadcasters, and unless FilmOn's appeal is successful, Carrier predicts the issue will end up before the Supreme Court because of the contradictory rulings — setting the stage for a showdown between traditional companies and industry innovators.

The most recent ruling also could mean a change in Aereo's plan to expand to 22 cities, including Washington, D.C., he said.

Aereo declined to comment other than to say it has no plans to modify its expansion plans. A Hearst spokesman deferred comment to the court filing.

"I think D.C. would be the one place Aereo would be most likely to cut back on," Carrier said.


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Plainridge wins town race, but Hard Rock falls

A proposed Plainville slots parlor approved by town voters passed by a wide margin yesterday, but West Springfield voters dashed Hard Rock's hopes for a casino in their city.

Meanwhile, a State House committee cleared the way for the full Legislature to vote on a gaming compact between Gov. Deval Patrick and the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe.

West Springfield residents by 55 percent rejected Hard Rock's $800 million plan for a casino at the Eastern States Exposition, a proposal that promised 3,000 full-time equivalent jobs and would have paid the city $40 million up front and at least $18 million a year.

"We had hoped for a different result, but the people of West Springfield have clearly spoken, and we respect that," said Tim Maland, president of Hard Rock Hotel and Casino New England. "We will continue to look for other opportunities in Massachusetts and New England," Maland added, although he said there was "nothing definitive." MGM, which was approved by Springfield voters, and Mohegan Sun, awaiting a Palmer vote, are competing for the western Massachusetts casino license.

Plainville residents approved by 76 percent Penn National Gaming's plan for a slots parlor at the Plainridge Racecourse, which would pay the town $1.5 million in property taxes annually, as well as $2.7 million annually for the first five years, with 400 full-time jobs.

"When you're at 8.4 percent unemployment, that's a huge shot in the arm," Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes said. Penn National is competing with Raynham Park for the state's sole slots license.


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The NSA machine: Too big for anyone to understand

WASHINGTON — The surveillance machine grew too big for anyone to understand.

The National Security Agency set it in motion in 2006 and the vast network of supercomputers, switches and wiretaps began gathering Americans' phone and Internet records by the millions, looking for signs of terrorism.

But every day, NSA analysts snooped on more American phone records than they were allowed to. Some officials searched databases of phone records without even realizing it. Others shared the results of their searches with people who weren't authorized to see them.

It took nearly three years before the government figured out that so much had gone wrong. It took even longer to figure out why.

Newly declassified documents released Tuesday tell a story of a surveillance apparatus so unwieldy and complex that nobody fully comprehended it, even as the government pointed it at the American people in the name of protecting them.

"There was no single person who had a complete technical understanding," government lawyers explained to a federal judge in 2009.

During a summer in which former NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden released America's surveillance secrets to the world, the Obama administration has repeatedly tried to reassure people that the NSA's powers were kept in check by Congress and the courts. The mistakes discovered in 2009 have been fixed, the president said, a reflection of that oversight.

But the documents from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court show that, in developing the world's most sophisticated surveillance network, even senior lawyers and officials weren't sure how the system worked and didn't understand what they were told.

"It appears there was never a complete understanding among the key personnel . regarding what each individual meant by the terminology," lawyers wrote in March 2009 as the scope of the problems came into focus.

As a result, the judges on the surveillance court, who rely on the NSA to explain the surveillance program, approved a program that was far more intrusive than they believed.

"Given the executive branch's responsibility for and expertise in determining how best to protect our national security, and in light of the scale of this bulk collection program, the court must rely heavily on the government to monitor this program," Judge Reggie B. Walton wrote in a 2009 order that found the NSA had repeatedly misrepresented its programs.

In Congress, meanwhile, only some lawmakers fully understand the programs they have repeatedly authorized and are supposed to be overseeing. For instance, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., one of the sponsors of the USA Patriot Act, has said he never intended it to be used to collect and store the phone records of every American.

And when Director of National Intelligence James Clapper was asked whether the government was doing that, he testified, "No." Yet Snowden's revelations, published in Britain's Guardian newspaper, show that is what happened.

There is no evidence in the new documents suggesting the NSA used its surveillance powers to spy on Americans for political purposes, a fear of many critics who recall the FBI's intrusive monitoring of civil rights leaders and anti-war protesters in the 1960s. Instead, the documents blame the years of government overreaching on technical mistakes, misunderstandings and lack of training.

From 2006 through early 2009, for instance, the NSA's computers reached into the database of phone records and compared them with thousands of others without "reasonable, articulable suspicion," the required legal standard.

By the time the problems were discovered, only about 10 percent of the 17,835 phone numbers on the government's watch list in early 2009 met the legal standard.

By then, Walton said he'd "lost confidence" in the NSA's ability to legally operate the program. He ordered a full review of the surveillance.

In its long report to the surveillance court in August 2009, the Obama administration blamed its mistakes on the complexity of the system and "a lack of shared understanding among the key stakeholders" about the scope of the surveillance.

"The documents released today are a testament to the government's strong commitment to detecting, correcting and reporting mistakes that occur in implementing technologically complex intelligence collection activities, and to continually improving its oversight and compliance processes," Clapper said in a statement Tuesday.

The surveillance court was satisfied by those improvements; it allowed the NSA to continue collecting phone records every day, a practice that continues today.

Now, the Obama administration is fending off lawsuits and a push in Congress to rein in the surveillance.

An unusual coalition of liberal Democrats and Republican civil libertarians has proposed several bills that would either scrap the phone surveillance entirely or require more oversight.

President Barack Obama has said he's open to more oversight but says the surveillance is essential to keep the country safe.

Obama and Clapper have said the changes made in 2009 resulted in tightened controls. American data is still collected but only seldom looked at, officials said. And it is kept on secure computer servers equipped with special software to protect it from analysts looking to illegally snoop.

"There are checks at multiple levels," NSA Deputy Director John Inglis told Congress in July. "There are checks in terms of what an individual might be doing at any moment in time."

The same checks that protect Americans' personal data were also supposed to protect the NSA's information. Yet Snowden, a 29-year-old contractor, managed to walk out with flash drives full of the nation's most highly classified documents.

The NSA is still trying to figure out, in such a complex system, exactly how Snowden defeated those checks.

"I think we can say that they failed," Inglis said. "But we don't yet know where."

___

Associated Press writers Stephan Braun, Adam Goldman, Kimberly Dozier, Eileen Sullivan, Ted Bridis, Jim Drinkard and Paul Elias in San Francisco contributed to this report.


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Apple's next big thing may be lower-priced iPhone

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 10 September 2013 | 18.38

SAN FRANCISCO — Apple's much-anticipated update to its line-up of iPhones may leave the impression that the technology pioneer's focus has shifted to making more affordable products than engineering innovative breakthroughs.

In keeping with its tight-lipped ways, Apple Inc. hasn't disclosed what's on the agenda for the coming-out party scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. PDT Tuesday at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters.

But this is the time of year that Apple typically shows off the latest generation of its iPhone, a device that has reshaped the way people use computers since its debut in 2007. Apple took the wraps off the iPhone 5, the current model, last September. The company has never waited longer than a year to update the iPhone, which has generated $88 billion in revenue during the past year.

Apple's timetable for rolling out products has vexed many investors who have watched the company's growth slow and profit margins decrease. Meanwhile, a bevy of smartphone makers, most of whom rely on Google Inc.'s free Android software, release wave after wave of devices that cost less than the iPhone. Those concerns are reflected in Apple's stock price, which has declined nearly 30 percent since peaking at $705.07 at about the same time the iPhone 5 went on sale last year. The Standard & Poor's 500 index has risen about 14 percent during the same stretch.

Even though Apple's market value of roughly $460 billion is more than any other company in the world, the deterioration in its stock price is escalating the pressure on CEO Tim Cook to prove he's the right leader to carry on the legacy of co-founder Steve Jobs. Since Cook became CEO two years ago, Apple has only pushed out new versions of products developed under Jobs, raising questions about whether the company's technological vision has become blurred under the new regime.

In public appearances, Cook has repeatedly said Apple is working on some exciting breakthroughs, but he hasn't revealed details. The company is believed to be working on a so-called "smartwatch" that would work like a wrist-bound smartphone. Samsung Electronics, one of Apple's biggest rivals, introduced its own $300 smartwatch called Gear last week, as did Sony and Qualcomm Inc. It's unclear whether a smartwatch will be on Apple's Tuesday agenda.

The company isn't expected to reveal the latest model of its tablet computer, the iPad, until later in the fall. Apple introduced a smaller, less expensive version of the iPad last year in response to the success of more compact and cheaper tablets running on the Android system.

This year's refresh of the iPhone line may address the growing popularity of cheaper Android phones. Based on leaks from suppliers, it appears Apple is poised to release a less elaborate and less expensive version of the iPhone in an attempt to appeal to consumers too frugal or too poor to pay for the high-end model that sells for more than $600 without a wireless contract.

If reports published in technology blogs and newspapers pan out, the stripped-down iPhone will be called the "5C" and be housed in plastic casing that will be offered in a variety of colors instead of an aluminum casing.

Apple declined to comment, but an invitation for Tuesday's event fed the multi-hued speculation swirling around the less expensive iPhone. The invitation was filled with colored bubbles and predicted, "This should brighten everyone's day."

If it introduces a cheaper iPhone, Apple might end production of the iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S that were released in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Those models have been sold at a discount to the iPhone 5, a factor that has lowered the average price Apple has fetched for its phones.

A new version of the high-end iPhone also is expected to be revealed Tuesday. The top-of-the-line model, expected to be dubbed the "5S," will be the first to be sold with Apple's revamped mobile software, iOS 7, already installed. The new system, which will automatically update apps installed on the device, can be downloaded on the iPhone 4 and later models, as well as on the tablets beginning with the iPad 2.

The redesigned software announced in June relies on simple graphical elements in neon and pastel colors. Gone is the effort to make the icons look like three-dimensional, embossed objects — a tactic known as "skeuomorphism," that was favored by Jobs. This will be the second iPhone model that Apple has released since Jobs' death in October 2011.

Besides running on iOS 7, the upgraded iPhone may include technology that enables its owner to unlock the device with a fingerprint instead of a four-digit code. There is also speculation that the high-end iPhone will be sold in a golden color to supplement the product line's more prosaic choice of black or white.

"One of the big questions is whether Apple is going to push the envelope on the iPhone or do they feel they have pretty much gone as far as they can go on the smartphone side of things?" said Gartner Inc. analyst Carolina Milanesi.

If there is a gold iPhone, it would be the latest sign of Apple's intensifying focus on China — a market where hundreds of millions of Internet-connected devices are expected to eventually to be sold as the standard of living improves in the world's most populous country. The color gold is considered to be a sign of good fortune in China.

A less expensive iPhone would also help Apple boost sales in China and other less-developed countries where people don't have as much disposable income as in the U.S. and Europe.

In an unusual move, Apple has invited media to another event in Beijing that will be held a few hours after the gathering at its headquarters is scheduled to adjourn. The Beijing event has fed speculation that Apple has lined up a deal to sell its new iPhones through China Mobile, the country's largest wireless carrier. It is an alliance that Cook has been openly courting. The Wall Street Journal last week cited anonymous people who said Apple is preparing to ship iPhones to China Mobile.

Although Apple still touts as iPhone as the best of its breed, the device has been losing some of its panache among consumers.

In the three months ending in June, Apple sold 31 million iPhones worldwide compared to 187 million Android phones made by the likes of Samsung, HTC and LG Electronics, according to the research firm International Data Corp. That left the iPhone with 13 percent of the global market, down from 17 percent at the same time last year. Android phones held a 79 percent share, up from 69 percent last year, according to IDC.


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USDA cracks down on Internet pet sales

WASHINGTON — The Agriculture Department is cracking down on dog breeders who sell puppies over the Internet with new regulations that will force them to apply for federal licenses.

The rules announced Tuesday would subject dog owners who breed more than four females and sell the puppies online, by mail or over the phone to the same oversight faced by wholesale animal breeders.

Many breeders who run their businesses online have skirted federal oversight by classifying themselves as retail pet stores, which are exempt from licensing requirements. Commercial pet stores aren't required to have licenses because buyers can see the animals before they buy them and decide whether they appear healthy and cared for. But that's not the case when buying over the Internet.

The idea behind the new rules, says USDA's Kevin Shea, is that either government inspectors or buyers see the animals with their own eyes before they are sold.

Shea, administrator of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, says the agency is responding to a 2010 USDA inspector general's report that uncovered grisly conditions at so-called "puppy mills" around the country. The report recommended that the department tighten the animal welfare laws — written more than four decades ago, long before the advent of the Internet — to cut down on unscrupulous breeders.

In addition to finding dirty, bug-infested conditions at many breeding facilities, inspectors cited numerous reports of buyers who received animals who were sick or dying.

The new rules, first proposed last year, would ensure that most people who sell pets over the Internet, by phone or mail order can no longer do so sight-unseen. Sellers either must open their doors to the public so buyers can see the animals before they purchase them, or obtain a license and be subject to inspections by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

The rules are targeted to dog breeders but could affect breeders of other animals too. The Agriculture Department estimates that up to 4,640 dog breeders could be affected by the rule, along with about 325 cat breeders and up to 75 rabbit breeders.

Small-size breeders have lobbied against the changes, saying the rules could regulate them out of business. USDA's Shea says the department set the minimum of four breeding females to ensure that those smaller sellers would be able to continue offering puppies.

"People who have generally been thought of as 'hobby breeders' continue to be exempt," Shea said.

Shea said the licenses will cost $750 or less and complying with the USDA regulations should only be expensive for breeders who aren't already ensuring their animals have adequate housing and medical care.

___

Find Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick


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Report: China takes passports from oil managers

BEIJING — Executives of Chinese oil giant PetroChina Ltd. have been told to hand in their passports as an anti-corruption investigation of the industry spreads, a newspaper said Tuesday.

Authorities say five current or former executives of state-owned PetroChina and its parent, China National Petroleum Corp. are suspected of "discipline violations," a term usually used to refer to corruption.

PetroChina managers at the level of division chiefs and above were ordered to hand in their passports, the Securities Daily said, citing unidentified sources in the company. Such a move often is intended to prevent potential suspects or witnesses from fleeing while investigators gather information.

"The PetroChina corruption case has expanded beyond the company," the newspaper said.

Phone calls to PetroChina's publicity and investor relations offices were not answered.

PetroChina, with some 550,000 employees, is Asia's biggest oil producer by volume and the world's second-most-valuable energy company by market capitalization, behind Exxon Mobil Corp.

On Monday, PetroChina denied a news report that one of its vice presidents and its chief accountant had been taken in for questioning by anti-corruption investigators.

Political analysts say the investigation appears to be part of efforts by China's new leadership under President Xi Jinping to tighten control over state-owned energy companies.

PetroChina's former chairman, Jiang Jiemin, was fired last week as head of the Cabinet body that oversees China's biggest state-owned companies, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

The commission's Communist Party secretary, Zhang Yi, visited rank-and-file PetroChina employees at two oilfields in China's northeast last week to affirm the ruling party's faith in their work, according to a SASAC statement.

The newspaper 21st Century Business Herald said Zhang's visit was an effort to "stabilize morale."


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Jaguar to create 1,700 new jobs in UK

LONDON — Jaguar Land Rover has announced a substantial new investment in Britain and the creation of 1,700 jobs.

The Indian-owned company plans to invest 1.5 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) to produce an advanced new car manufactures out of aluminum.

The announcement was made Tuesday at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany.

The move was hailed by unions and political leaders, with Prime Minister David Cameron calling the investment a major vote of confidence in the British economy.

The Indian company Tata purchased Jaguar Land Rover from Ford in 2008 and has successfully expanded the familiar brand into new markets.


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Breast milk pump born from desire for privacy

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 08 September 2013 | 18.39

Necessity is the mother of invention, they say. So when Susan Thompson found she needed time to pump breast milk when she returned to work five months after her son Keegan was born, she just reinvented the breast pump.

Thompson headed back to the lab at Johns Hopkins University in late 2011 to finish her Ph.D. thesis on cellular interactions in the heart. But she struggled to incorporate pumping milk several times a day into her work schedule.

"You need complete privacy, and it takes a long time, so I was very unhappy with the whole process," Thompson said.

She and her husband, an engineer, were on their way to a ski resort when they began discussing ways to mimic using her hand to pump milk. The best way, they decided, was to consider the way a blood-pressure cuff compresses when inflated. What emerged was the Gala Pump, a doughnut-sized device that can be worn inside the bra, allowing a woman to discreetly pump milk anytime, anywhere.

"We wanted to keep the technology as easy and cost-efficient as possible," Thompson said. "Instead of a vacuum-powered suction pump, we created a massaging-based compression pump."

Using $20,000 from competitions and grants, the couple developed a prototype and entered MassChallenge, the $1.3-million startup competition. In May, they learned their newly incorporated company, DS Labs, was among 128 finalists in a field of more than 1,200 applicants.

"It was challenging to leave Johns Hopkins and all the resources there," Thompson said. "But MassChallenge has helped connect me with mentors who have a wealth of knowledge."

Recently, Thompson received permission to test the patent-pending Gala on other nursing mothers. If all goes well, she hopes to get Food and Drug Administration clearance to sell it on the market for about $250 as the nation's only wearable breast pump.


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Options favor driver near end of leased low-mileage car

I leased a new Scion xD for 36 months, and the lease ends in November. The value of the vehicle at the beginning of the lease was listed as $16,700. The purchase option at the end of the lease is $10,296. My problem is that I currently have just 10,840 miles on the car and don't see any big trips in the future. Is there such a thing as a rebate on unused mileage? What are my options?

How about a round-trip vacation? Alaska to California to Florida to Maine and home. A nice long drive would use up some of those miles, but you'd still have miles to spare on the lease.

I'm not aware of any mileage rebates on unused lease miles for passenger cars, but you do have several viable options. My son Ryan, who sells cars for a Chrysler dealership, suggests that you call the leasing company to confirm the precise purchase option price. Then stop by a new-car dealership and ask them to appraise the vehicle to determine how much equity you have at this point. If you have positive equity in the vehicle — meaning it's worth more than the lease purchase price because of the low mileage — you could either sell or trade it to a new car dealer.

So, your options are to turn the vehicle in at the end of the lease, purchase the vehicle from the leasing company and keep it or sell it to a private party, or sell or trade the vehicle at a dealership. Compare your options and then make your decision. Buying and keeping the car would be the simplest answer, but the selling or trading at a dealership might make the most economic sense.

My boyfriend needs help with electrical issues on his 2006 Cadillac CTS.

When he turned on the wipers he lost the turn signals, hazards, headlight control and trunk release. Sometimes there is a "hood open" warning as well as a "door open" warning — but they are not open.

Electrical gremlins can be very difficult to pinpoint. In this case, start with a scan tool to identify any fault codes and then focus on the connections and grounds for those components, systems and modules involved. "Fretting" is a form of corrosion that appears like dark smudges or spots on the individual pins, and it can cause intermittent connections in connectors and terminals. Disassemble suspect connectors to clean and treat with dielectric grease to reseal the connection.

I have a 1991 Pontiac Sunbird LE with a 3.1-liter V6 engine and 62,000 miles in excellent condition. However, when I'm driving, the oil pressure gauge registers way above the high mark, which is shown as 80. When it's idling, it's about halfway back down. It uses no oil and appears to run well. Should I be concerned about the erroneous oil pressure reading? What's causing it?

Assuming you've driven the vehicle in this condition for a number of miles and nothing catastrophic has occurred, I suspect you're seeing an electrical issue with the oil pressure sending unit or possibly the oil pressure gauge itself. A quick test with the engine off is to find and disconnect the connector to the oil pressure sending unit on the front side of the engine. Turn the ignition switch on and watch the oil pressure gauge. It should move all the way in one direction.

Then ground the connection — the gauge should move all the way in the other direction. If the oil pressure gauge is the only instrument giving a false reading, chances are it's the sending unit.

The only mechanical issue that could generate extreme oil pressure would be a restriction on oil flow due to plugged oil passages for the cam bearings or valve gear. If it were a mechanical issue, I'd think you'd know by now.

Paul Brand is on vacation; this column was originally published on June 15, 2012. Paul Brand is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com.


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For home short-sellers, finally comes some good news

WASHINGTON — Policy changes by two of the biggest mortgage market players could open doors to home buys this fall by thousands hard-hit by the housing bust and who thought they'd have to wait for years before owning again.

Fannie Mae, the federally controlled mortgage investor, has come up with a "fix" designed to help the many consumers whose short sales were misidentified as foreclosures by credit bureaus. Under previous rules, short-sellers would have to wait for up to seven years before becoming eligible for a new mortgage. Under the revised plan, they may be able to qualify for a mortgage in as little as two years. 
Homeowners who are foreclosed upon often must still wait for up to seven years before becoming eligible again to finance a house through Fannie. Industry estimates suggest that more than 2 million short-sellers might be affected by inaccurate descriptions of their transactions.

Meanwhile, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has announced a new program allowing borrowers whose previous mortgage troubles were caused by "extenuating circumstances" beyond their control to obtain new mortgages in as little as a year after losing their homes instead of the current three years. They will need to show that their delinquency problem was caused by a 
20 percent or greater drop in income that continued for at least six months, and that they are now back to work, paying bills on time and earning enough to qualify for a new FHA-insured mortgage.

Fannie's policy change came after months of prodding by the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla), the National Consumer Reporting Association, the National Association of Realtors and Pam Marron, an outspoken Florida consumer advocate. They all sought fairer treatment of borrowers who had participated in short sales in recent years.

In a short sale, the lender approves the sale of a house to a new buyer but typically receives less than the balance owed. In a foreclosure, the bank takes title to the property and seeks to recover whatever it can through a resale. Though the two types of transactions are distinct and involve significantly different losses for banks, with foreclosures usually far more costly, credit bureaus have no special reporting code to ID short sales. As a result, say critics, millions of people who have undertaken short sales in recent years may have their transactions coded as foreclosures on their credit bureau reports.

That matters — a lot — because Fannie Mae and other major financing sources have mandated different waiting periods for new loans to borrowers who have completed short sales compared with borrowers who were foreclosed upon — in this case, two years versus seven. Under the new policy in effect Nov. 16, short-sellers who find that their transactions were miscoded on credit reports and are able to put 
20 percent down, should alert their loan officers and provide transaction documentation. The loan officer should advise Fannie about the coding error. Fannie will then run the loan application through its revised automated underwriting system.

Freddie Mac, the other government-administered mortgage investor, continues to require a four-year waiting period for short-sellers who cannot demonstrate "extenuating circumstances" as having caused their problems. If they can do so — documenting income reductions beyond their control that wrecked their credit — they may be able to qualify for a new Freddie Mac loan in two years.

FHA's policy change may prove to be an even more generous deal for some previous homeowners. Like Freddie Mac, FHA wants to see hard evidence of what economic events beyond the borrowers' control — loss of a job, serious illness or death of a wage earner, for example — led to the delinquency or loss of the house. Applicants must be able to show 12 months of solid credit behavior, participate in a housing counseling program and get through the agency's underwriting hoops. But unlike either Fannie or Freddie, if you qualify under FHA's revised rules, which are now in effect, and your lender approves, you might be able to buy a house with a new, low-down-payment mortgage in as little as a year.

It's worth checking out.


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Report: NSA can access most smartphone data

BERLIN — German news weekly Der Spiegel reports that the U.S. National Security Agency can access users' data on all major smartphones.

The magazine cites internal documents from the NSA and its British counterpart GCHQ in which the agencies describe setting up dedicated teams to crack protective measures on iPhones, BlackBerry and Android devices.

This data includes contacts, call lists, SMS traffic, notes and location data.

Der Spiegel says the documents don't indicate that the NSA is conducting mass surveillance of phone users but rather that these techniques are used to eavesdrop on specific individuals.

The article published Sunday doesn't say how the magazine obtained the documents. But one of its authors is Laura Poitras, an American filmmaker with close contacts to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.


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