(CNN Student News) — April 18, 2011
Download PDF maps related to today’s show:
• North Carolina
• Texas
• Blacksburg, Virginia
Transcript
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: A couple stories we first reported on Friday have developed and changed over the weekend, So today, CNN Student News is catching you up! I’m Carl Azuz. Let’s get this show started!
AZUZ: It was the kind of forecast we don’t like to hear: Predictions of tornadoes as cold air combined with warm air in a storm system sweeping across the Southeast. This map shows you who was in the path of the storms over the weekend. Several states were affected. More than 40 people were killed. At least 23 of those deaths were in North Carolina. Of the 100+ tornadoes seen during this storm, we don’t know yet how many of them touched down in North Carolina. But there’s no doubt the state was the hardest hit — a CNN meterologist described the effects as "epic." TJ Holmes from CNN Sunday Morning gives you a glimpse of the kind of damage these storms left behind.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Holy crap!
T.J. HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR: Transformers exploded. Cars tossed. Trees toppled. All made for a wild spring night in parts of the Southeast. In Alabama, there are reports of tornadoes touching down in at least six counties. This woman in Tuscaloosa ran into her hallway as the storm hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I got in the hallway I could hear this, I don’t know what kind of noise, a whizzing, crackling. It scared me.
HOLMES: In nearby Birmingham, heavy winds knocked down power lines and tore off roofs. Further south in Washington County, Alabama, a large tornado was reported on the ground. This house was flattened; tossed yards from its foundation. In Mississippi, folks are waking up to a state of emergency in 14 counties. A twister ripped through Interstate 20 in Clinton.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The funnel crowd dropped right there at the laundromat. And we were lucky we even got in the door. And it just crossed, went behind us and crossed I-20. In like five minutes, it was over.
HOLMES: Even blew over an 18-wheeler. It also ripped through local businesses and homes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: At first, we heard a lot of wind blowing and something sounded like a train, a whistle. Then, all of a sudden, we’ve seen like a black funnel cloud.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We saw people standing outside. We didn’t know why. So, we just decided to go and see, too, and we saw all this damage out here.
HOLMES: In the Atlanta area, a tornado watch was in effect for most of the night. Heavy rain and hail blasted several counties, fallen trees, pummeled homes. When this woman came to check on her parents after large tree uprooted and fell through their roof.
TABITHA OWENS, PARENTS’ HOME HIT BY TREE: I thought the Lord was looking after them because my daddy was right there next to that window and the tree barely missed him.
(END VIDEO)
AZUZ: Black Hawk helicopters. Boots on the ground from dozens of states. It sounds like a military operation. It’s what’s been assembled to battle Texas’ raging wildfires. Between Friday and Sunday, the size of the wildfires doubled. Hundreds of thousands of acres — that’s like a hundreds of thousands of football fields — have burned. And weather conditions aren’t helping: It’s been hot, dry and windy, and that does little but fan the flames.
Is This Legit?
STAN CASE, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Is This Legit? On the periodic table, the atomic symbol for uranium is Ur. Not legit! The symbol is simply "U" for this radioactive element.
Damaged Nuke Plant
AZUZ: Uranium is the element that fuels nuclear power plants. And when the machines that control the nuclear reactions break down, you could have a meltdown or a radiation leak — something very dangerous to humans, to the environment — something we’re seeing in Japan right now. The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was badly damaged after Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. Now, the company that owns it has an estimate of how long this will take to fix: six to nine months. Part of the plan: build concrete shells around the damaged reactors to keep radiation levels in check. And only when the area is decontaminated from radiation will the Japanese government let tens of thousands of people return to their homes in the area.
Honoring Victims
AZUZ: The fact that some of the events were canceled for rain didn’t stop people from remembering. Saturday was the fourth anniversary of the Virginia Tech shooting — the deadliest mass shooting in American history. Hundreds of people hit the pavement on the "run for remembrance." It’s one way the shooting victims were honored. People there observed a moment of silence, while some survivors of the event — and family members of the victims — attended a memorial service. It’s something Virginia Tech students say they’ll never forget.
JONATHAN GAINES, VIRGINIA TECH DOCTORAL STUDENT: It’s very symbolic of really, nothing stopping this community from remembering. Nothing is really going to stop us from remembering the 32 that we lost on that day.
CHRISTINE BINGHAM,VIRGINIA TECH SOPHOMORE: Everybody is remembering it. Everybody is kind of showing their respect, even Mother Nature
AZUZ: Our next story today: no bagged lunches. If it’s packed from home, you can’t bring it to a public elementary school in Chicago. The policy at Little Village Academy has been in place for years. The principal, who is authorized to make and maintain this rule, says it’s more healthy for kids to eat school food. And unless they have a medical condition, they’re not allowed to pack lunches from home. Not everyone agrees from this. Many students don’t like the policy. Critics say it should be up to parents — not the school — to decide what students eat. And the Chicago Tribune found that some students don’t eat lunch at all and that those who do, sometimes throw it away.
Blog Promo
AZUZ: This policy does provide extra dollars for the school’s lunch provider. But many of the students are on government-assisted meal plans, so for the most part, money is not the issue here. Where do you stand on this? Do you think you’d make healthier choices, if school food were the only food you could have for lunch? Our blog is open at CNNStudentNews.com!
Shoutout
TOMEKA JONES, CNN STUDENT NEWS: Time for the Shoutout! The difference between the price you pay and what the seller paid for something is called a what? Here we go! Is it red ink, markup, capital gain or deductible? You’ve got three seconds — GO! Markup is the best answer here. That’s your answer and that’s your Shoutout!
Beware of the $ale
AZUZ: Even when you get something on sale, you’re still usually paying for a store’s mark-up. It’s just a lower mark-up than what the store originally had. If it works, it helps the store stay in business, it saves you a few bucks, and everybody’s happy. In our continuing coverage of Financial Literacy Month, Ben Tinker meets us at the mall for a look at what influences us to buy.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
BEN TINKER, CNNMONEY.COM: Carl, what better place to talk about a really good sale, or maybe a really bad sale, than the mall. I’m here with Ryan Mack. Sales!
RYAN MACK, PRESIDENT, OPTIMUM CAPITAL MANAGEMENT: How’s it going?
TINKER: Tricky. Tricky, tricky things.
MACK: All day.
TINKER: When you see that sales sign you really want it. You feel like you’ve won something, almost.
MACK: Essentially, they try to fool you with the sale. They create the sale. They know most people don’t shop unless there is a sale. So essentially what they’ll do is they’ll go out and they’ll purchase a shirt for maybe $10. They’ll mark it up to $40, which is a 300% markup, and they’ll mark it down to $20. They are still making 100% profit off of it but because they are going to say a 50% off blowout sale to make individuals who only shop when there is a sale come running to the mall. So essentially, this is a strategy to make people spend more money.
TINKER: Sometimes you feel a little bit guilty. You’ll try on 8, 10 pairs of shoes . You feel like you should buy something from the salesperson, but not always.
MACK: You know what? By the time you’ve tried that pair of shoes on, or 5, or 6 pairs of shoes and that salesperson is going back and forth, you know what? You feel a little bit bad. You know what? "Maybe I should, I need to buy a pair of shoes right now."
TINKER: One other thing I want to ask you about is impulse control. Because, so many times we see something someone else has, no matter what it is, you want it.
MACK: I mean, this is what they do. They will purposefully understock that shoe. That’s selling out. "Where’s my 10 1/2 shoe?" and that item is gone, now you have more of an impulse inside of you that, "I have to be the first person in line to make sure I can get in line and have the privilege of paying $200 for that next pair of Air Jordan shoes."
TINKER: And they’re really drumming up the excitement. All right. Well, Carl, there you have it. Lots and lots of different ways stores are going to get you in the door. A sale might not always be a bad thing; it might not be the right thing, though, so you really just have to think about what works for you and your budget. Carl?
(END VIDEO)
Before We Go
AZUZ: Well, before we go today, it was one hot prize for a basketball fan. And all he had to do was keep his seat and know a bit of trivia. For 48 hours, dozens of Miami heat fans sat outside the arena in the hopes of outlasting all others. They were given food and bathroom breaks, but otherwise, they had to stay put. Complaints of stiff knees, back aches, temperatures in the high 80s, which are pretty typical for Miami this time of year: Those conditions kept things comfortless. And with 35 people still left after 48 hours, sponsors used trivia to narrow down the one winner.
Goodbye
AZUZ: In the end, it was a man named Ramon Perez arose a winner, taking home two lower-level tickets to all of the Heat’s home playoff games. A seat in the heat for a seat with the Heat made Perez a real stand-up guy. Hope you’ll stand for more headlines and hopefully more puns, when CNN Student News returns tomorrow. See ya then.
Originally Published On: www.cnn.com – Original Article Here
George Entwistle has been appointed director of BBC Vision, the division of the corporation that is responsible for commissioning, producing, scheduling and broadcasting all of its TV content.
His appointment follows the departure in January of Jana Bennett, who held the post since its creation in 2006.
Entwistle, who joined the corporation in 1989, has been acting director of BBC Vision for the last three months.
The former Newsnight editor said he was "genuinely honoured" by his new role.
"The BBC's television portfolio is of enormous importance to the creative and cultural life of the UK," he continued.
"At the heart of its success, BBC Vision Productions is responsible for some of the best television programmes we broadcast."
The Director of BBC Vision is responsible for BBC One, Two, Three, and Four, BBC One HD, BBC HD and BBC Films.
Mark Thompson, the BBC's director general, said he was "looking forward to working closely with him to ensure the BBC's television portfolio remains the envy of the broadcasting world".
Originally Published On: www.bbc.co.uk – Original Article Here
(CNN) — If you remember "Clippy" — that googly-eyed paper clip that once hopped out of the corner of the computer screen to "help" with Microsoft Office tasks — chances are you don’t remember him fondly.
Many Office users cringed when the Microsoft cartoon delivered cheerily obvious messages like: "It looks like you’re writing a letter."
"I know I’m writing a f-ing letter, you stupid paperclip," one hater wrote on a Facebook page dedicated to Clippy’s demise.
Well, like it or not, Clippy is back.
But there’s good news: You don’t have to deal with him if you don’t want to.
After killing off the cartoon paper clip, Microsoft decided to revive him (I guess it’s a him?) in limited fashion as part of a learn-how-to-use-Office game called "Ribbon Hero 2: Clippy’s Second Chance."
The game is just something you download to get better at using Office, if you want to. Clippy takes people through challenges in this game, but he doesn’t show up automatically in Word, PowerPoint or Microsoft’s other Office apps.
Part of the reason Office users got so annoyed at the paper clip in the past was that he would appear unexpectedly when they were trying to work. (And, really, who can work when a paper clip with eyes is staring at them?)
Microsoft’s description of "Ribbon Hero 2" is stirring chatter online:
"Yes, we turned Office into a game! If you’re going to spend time immersed in the inner workings of Office, by golly it should be fun.
"In Ribbon Hero 2, you’ll hop on board Clippy’s stolen time machine and explore different time periods. With each time period, you get to explore a new game board with challenges you must complete to get to the next level."
The Atlantic’s James Fallows has a hilarious take on that language:
"Here is a question I wish I could answer: Is this Microsoft tone genuinely corny-earnest, reflecting the kind of middle-school pep-rally sensibility that you can only imagine Apple hipsters sneering and snickering at (making you want to punch the hipsters) and Google engineers looking at in amazement?
"Or is it triple-backflip hipsterism itself, an Onionesque by-golly mockery of corniness? I suppose this is one of the enduring mysteries of life."
What’s more, there’s a video about Clippy’s return, too.
Clippy was a default part of early versions of Microsoft Office, starting with Office 97. In 2001, the company stopped having the cartoon show up by default in its software. Microsoft even created an ad campaign making fun of the paper clip, saying they were putting him out of work.
By 2007, the company had eliminated Clippy entirely.
What do you think of his return?
Originally Published On: www.cnn.com – Original Article Here
By Olivia Rondonuwu
JAKARTA, April 30 (Reuters) - China will speed up the
development of transport connections with Southeast Asia,
building roads, telecommunication and power links as it seeks to
boost trade, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Saturday.
Wen, speaking in Jakarta during a two-day visit to
Indonesia, said China would give financial support through
credit aid and investment, to provide for better exchange of
commodities, capital and people.
"In the next 10 years we will speed up the inauguration of
land transport routes between China and ASEAN," said Wen in a
speech in Jakarta, adding it will also provide funds for air and
sea transport. "Today we witness the rise of Asia."
He said China would unconditionally help underdeveloped
countries in the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN), which groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos,
Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and
Vietnam.
ASEAN has sought to highlight the potential for greater
connections between its frontier markets and Asia's biggest
economic power, with the group's foreign ministers heading on an
unconventional road trip in January from Thailand to China.
Indonesia is seeking $100 billion of private investment to
develop its own dilapidated infrastructure, seen as a hurdle to
attracting foreign firms and to gaining a sovereign investment
grade rating that would cut government borrowing costs and put
it on a par with BRIC nations such as China and Brazil.
Wen's schedule in Jakarta looked ambitious for a capital hit
by tropical downpours on Saturday that flooded roads and jammed
traffic. Bad roads in the archipelago cause delays adding to
costs and exacerbating inflation, while air and boat accidents
are all too common.
Wen promised Indonesia $9 billion worth of loans for
infrastructure on Friday, after meeting his Indonesian
counterpart, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
ASEAN's plan to link new and existing rail, road and sea
routes together with China and allow better travel within a free
trade area of 1.9 billion people is ambitious.
But analysts say there is huge trade potential between ASEAN
and China and better links could encourage Japan and South Korea
to forge a closer relationship with ASEAN. Japan has already
pledged more than $50 billion in infrastructure investment.
China, ASEAN's biggest trading partner, is seeking to double
trade with Indonesia and get access to resources from a country
that is a leading exporter of natural gas, palm oil and coal.
However, many Indonesian businesses are worried about a
flood of cheap Chinese goods and a widening trade deficit with
the Asian powerhouse. Yudhoyono asked for trade between the two
countries to be balanced.
"China's development will not disturb any countries and will
not be a threat to other countries," Wen said, according to a
translation of his speech obtained by Reuters, adding China's
foreign policy was free, independent and peaceful.
Southeast Asian countries have clashed with China over rival
claims over potentially oil- and gas-rich islands in the South
China Sea which is seen by China as its backyard, while many see
the United States as a buffer against a dominant China.
Earlier in his two-day visit, which followed a trip to
Malaysia, Wen sought to build trust and cultural links between
two countries historically suspicious of each other, telling
students at a Muslim university he had read the Koran.
(Additional reporting by Aditya Suharmoko; Writing by Neil
Chatterjee; Editing by Robert Birsel)
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here
* Renren to raise about $690 mln in IPO next Tuesday
* IPO would value company at $5 bln vs Facebook’s $70 bln
* Censorship, patents, accounting among Renren concerns
By Melanie Lee and Clare Baldwin
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK, April 29 (Reuters) – When Chinese social
networking site Renren goes public next week, investors will
likely ignore big risks the company faces, and be lured instead
by a combination of the words “China” and “social networking.”
Hot Chinese tech companies like Internet search engine
Baidu Inc (BIDU.O) and online video site Youku.com (YOKU.N)
have risen triple-digit percentages since their IPOs, whetting
investors’ appetites for such offerings.
And this is in a sector that is hot in the U.S. Facebook,
the biggest social network company in the world, has a market
value of somewhere around $70 billion, based on a share sale
currently being contemplated, making it worth more than
companies such as Boeing Co.[ID:nN27185713]
The demand for Renren shares was clear on Friday when the
company raised the expected price range of its IPO by 30
percent to $12 to $14 per share.
“Appetite to invest in China right now is so strong that
some investors are willing to ignore factors that they wouldn’t
in other markets,” said Mark Natkin, managing director of
Marbridge Consulting, a Beijing-based company that advises
investors on China’s Internet and telecommunications sectors.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Renren revised filing shows slower growth [ID:nN28228501]
Insider on Renren valuation link.reuters.com/zyk39r
Breakingviews column on Renren [ID:nLDE73H0EF]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^>
Renren’s IPO filings do raise a handful of very serious
questions.
For one thing, Renren doesn’t really seem sure how many
users it has. According to its April 27 revised IPO filing, the
Chinese Facebook clone’s monthly unique log-in user base grew
by only 5 million, or 19 percent, in the first quarter of 2011
– not the 7 million, or 29 percent, it reported in its first
filing only 12 days earlier.[ID:nN28228501]
Some investors and analysts brush off such red flags –
after all China is the biggest Internet market in the world and
it is growing rapidly. They justify their cavalier attitude by
saying that figures reported by Chinese companies should be
used for directional information and not as perfect
quantitative measurements.
Others say the opaque information is a big problem.
“If you can’t validate the numbers or the company proves it
doesn’t have a good handle on the numbers, then you’ve got to
be concerned,” said Gary Rieschel, founder of Qiming Venture
Partners, which is an investor in Renren rival Kaixin001.
Another possible risk for investors is the broad government
oversight that Renren, and other companies operating in China,
face.
Chinese authorities keep extremely close tabs on Internet
companies, arguing that this is necessary to maintain social
harmony. This led to a big bust up between Google Inc. (GOOG.O)
and the Chinese government last year that ended with Google
curtailing its operations in the country.
Renren says in the risk factors section of its IPO
prospectus that this means a prohibition against posting
content that, among other things, “impairs the national dignity
of China” or is “superstitious.”
The prospectus doesn’t mention the recent Middle Eastern
uprisings, which led to a crackdown on the use of certain words
on the Internet in China, but it does say Renren may not post
content that is “socially destabilizing.”
If Renren fails to comply, the company says that its
websites could be shut down. Clearly that could put it out of
business.
Whether a social network page posting is objectionable is
determined by the Chinese authorities. Renren is also required
to monitor advertisements on its websites, some of which are
subject to special government review before they are posted.
Renren must even guard against providing services that may
lead to its users finding themselves in “emotionally charged
situations.”
MATERIAL WEAKNESS
The company also said in its filings that while it hasn’t
conducted a comprehensive review, it found a “material
weakness” and a “significant deficiency” in its internal
financial controls: Renren doesn’t have enough people with
knowledge of U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. It
also lacks a formal policy for investing surplus cash and
managing its treasury functions.
That’s not unusual for Chinese IPO companies. Neither is
the fact that 87 percent of Renren’s leased floor area did not
have the proper title documents. But it all paints a picture of
a company that is far from risk free.
Still, it isn’t difficult to find people who will give it
the benefit of the doubt.
“Given the investors it has who have board seats and who
work closely with it, you would expect any major issues to have
turned up by now,” said Nick Einhorn, an analyst at
Connecticut-based IPO research and investment house Renaissance
Capital.
Renren’s investors include private equity firm General
Atlantic and venture capital firm DCM.
LAWSUIT
Renren may also face some heat over intellectual property
questions.
When social networking website Kaixin001.com started taking
off, Renren founder and CEO Joseph Chen launched a matching
site with a similar color scheme and layout under the name
Kaixin.com. Kaixin001.com won a lawsuit that ultimately
resulted in Chen changing the name of another of his social
networking sites to Renren, and merging Kaixin.com into
Renren.
Sources have told Reuters that Kaixin001 is also planning a
U.S. IPO.
Renren in its IPO filings also said that its social
networking platform may be subject to patent infringement
claims, and mentions Facebook as one of the potential
claimants.
Still, while Renren has posted losses in each of the past
two years, it could still be a dream growth stock. Its net
revenue grew more than fivefold to $76.54 million in 2010 from
$13.78 million in 2008.
But there will be some who, after reading the prospectus,
may wonder whether the risks outweigh the rewards.
(Reporting by Clare Baldwin in New York and Melanie Lee in
Shanghai, additional reporting by Alina Selyukh and Richard Lee
in New York. Editing by Dan Wilchins, Martin Howell)
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here
Washington (CNN) — The Federal Aviation Administration announced Friday that it had shuffled some key management jobs as it continues its review of the controversy over sleeping and inattentive controllers.
It also named four members to a review panel that will evaluate the FAA’s controller training programs to make sure new controllers are properly prepared. The panel will submit a report to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt this fall.
"We are continuing to do everything in our power to ensure that our nation’s aviation system remains the safest in the world," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. He called the changes "just the beginning of the process."
The controversy, which grew in recent weeks to include more than a half-dozen alleged sleeping or inattentive controllers, had already claimed a top FAA official, Henry "Hank" Krakowski, who resigned his post as head of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization.
It has also fired three air traffic controllers in Miami, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Seattle who were found to have slept on the job, and is continuing its review of other controllers.
In the changes announced Friday, the FAA said it is repositioning three veteran FAA managers to critical roles.
Walt Cochran will oversee terminal operations, where he will be responsible for FAA airport towers and regional radar facilities.
Chris Metts will oversee all of the FAA’s "en route" and oceanic operations. Glen Martin will become air traffic manager at the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center.
The FAA said it also is assessing key mid-level management positions "to ensure that both technical and leadership expectations are being met."
The members of the independent review panel are: Michael Barr, University of Southern California Aviation, Safety & Security program; Tim Brady, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University; Garth Koleszar, National Air Traffic Controllers Association; Michael New, United Airlines; and Julia Pounds, FAA.
Earlier this month, the FAA changed work schedules to allow controllers more time off between shifts, and Babbitt and controller union president Paul Rinaldi toured facilities to send a message to controllers about job expectations.
The FAA said it and union teams have so far visited facilities in and around 20 major U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Sacramento and Salt Lake City.
"The FAA’s focus is safety. These changes ensure that we have the right people in the right places to help us carry out our mission," Babbitt said in a statement Friday. "I am confident our top-to-bottom review is making our air traffic system even safer."
Originally Published On: www.cnn.com – Original Article Here
Story By: by NPR Staff
Robert Parsons sketches the new Coat of Arms for Kate Middleton’s family at the College of Arms in London. The Middleton Coat of Arms features three acorn sprigs â one for each of the Middletons’ children.
Once they are married, Kate and William will have a new coat of arms that blends elements from their individual coats of arms.
It’s much simpler than Prince William’s, which is the shield of the House of Windsor. That coat of arms has a harp, at least three lions, some fleur de lis and at the bottom, another lion, and then a unicorn.
“That’s what’s known as the supporters, where you have the lion and the unicorn supporting the shield,” Mr. Woodcock says.
And here’s the important part: Once Kate and William are married and she becomes a princess, their shields merge.
Then they will get a new shield, with all of his stuff on the left and her stuff on the right, and they lose the unicorn.
“So the lion will stay there holding up one side of the shield, and then they will have to think of some animal to replace the unicorn, something relating to her,” Mr. Woodcock explains.
So to recap, the way you get a coat of arms is first, be a subject of the British crown. Then prove your eminence and finally, give Thomas Woodcock a call.
Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag are producers for Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me! You can follow more of their adventures on their podcast, How To Do Everything.
Originally Published On: www.npr.org – Original Article Here
Superman intends to give up his US citizenship, a story in the new issue of Action Comics declares.
"I'm tired of having my actions construed as instruments of US policy," the character says in a story that sees him flying to a Tehran protest.
Adopted by an American family, Superman decides he is better-off serving the world.
Though he only talks about his plans to give up citizenship, the story has been criticised by commentators worldwide.
The superhero, originally from the fictional planet Krypton, does not clearly renounce his citizenship in the issue.
Action Comics co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio said: "Superman announces his intention to put a global focus on his never ending battle, but he remains, as always, committed to his adopted home and his roots as a Kansas farm boy from Smallville."
The disputed story sees the hero standing silently at the protest, wanting to show demonstrators that they are not alone.
Superman's announcement comes after accusations from Iran's government that he has caused an international incident, in the nine-page story written by David Goyer.
"'Truth, justice and the American way' – it's not enough anymore," Superman says, "The world is too small, too connected."
This is not the first time a comic character has distanced himself from US policy.
In the 1970s, Marvel Comics' Captain America swapped his identity for that of the character Nomad at the time of the Watergate scandal.
Originally Published On: www.bbc.co.uk – Original Article Here
Gulf Marketing Review, the leading resource for marketing in the region and a Mediaquest Corp. publication, will be hosting the GMR Marketing to Women Conference 2011 for the fifth consecutive year at The Address Hotel, Downtown Dubai, on May 31, 2011.
The conference will deconstruct conventional marketing wisdom to help unearth fresh insights, new attitudes and behaviour as part of a deeper drill into what women really need from brands.
The one-day conference will highlight emerging global trends by providing the latest tools and techniques to help marketers connect more deeply with one of the region’s most influential consumer bases: women. Promising exclusive research and packed with insights, thought-leadership and case studies, the conference aims to help regional and global brands communicate more effectively and create deeper, longer lasting relationships with the region’s female consumers.
Commenting on the 5th GMR Marketing to Women conference, co-CEO of Mediaquest Corp, Mr. Alexandre Hawari, said, “We are embarking on an exciting year for 2011 in terms of consumer trends and behaviour, and we are delighted to host this year’s conference for women for the fifth year in a row. This year’s conference promises to deliver unique insights with a different flavor through thorough research on what women really want in the region. The line-up of speakers we have this year, as always, will deliver intelligent and knowledgeable solutions, while offering creative ideas to help companies engage with their female consumers.”
This year’s conference will primarily focus on identifying female consumer trends and spending behaviour in the Middle East. The findings will assist companies and industries alike in targeting and positioning their brands focally and precisely by understanding female consumers’ relationship with their choice of brands.
Last year’s conference revealed astounding facts about women’s wealth worldwide and identified that, in the Middle East alone, women will control $383bn of the region’s wealth by next year. This places major implications on businesses and companies to target and generate this wealth into their businesses.
Distinguishing this year’s conference from previous years is the presentation of a detailed study which will showcase and highlight women’s attitudes, behaviours and their engagement with brands on a day-to-day basis. The study promises to give a unique insight and perspective into what women from all ages and socio economic backgrounds really want and need from a brand.
These results will be of benefit to senior managers, directors, business development managers, commercial and advertising managers, presidents, and CEOs for decision-making purposes when it comes to brand positioning and strengthening the consumer-brand relationship.
Originally Published On: www.ameinfo.com – Original Article Here
April 29 (Reuters) - Cumulus Media Inc (CMLS.O) on Friday
sold $610 million of senior notes in the 144a private placement
market, said IFR, a Thomson Reuters service.
JP Morgan, UBS, Macquarie Capital, RBC and ING were the
joint bookrunning managers for the sale.
BORROWER: CUMULUS MEDIA INC
AMT $610 MLN COUPON 7.75 PCT MATURITY 5/1/2019
TYPE SR NTS ISS PRICE 100 FIRST PAY 11/1/2011
MOODY'S B3 YIELD 7.75 PCT SETTLEMENT 5/13/2011
S&P CCC-PLUS SPREAD 483 BPS PAY FREQ SEMI-ANNUAL
FITCH N/A MORE THAN TREAS NON-CALLABLE 4 YRS*
*MAKE-WHOLE CALL 50 BPS
Originally Published On: www.reuters.com – Original Article Here