Sony PlayStation certificate sparks talk China may lift console ban

TOKYO/SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Sony Corp‘s PlayStation 3 has received a certification of quality from a Chinese safety standards body, sparking speculation that China will end a decade-old ban on home game consoles.

China has banned video game consoles since 2000, citing a need to protect the well-being of its young people. Some analysts cautioned against reading too much into Sony’s new certificate, noting the organization that gave it has no regulatory authority.

“The Ministry of Culture has the regulatory authority over the console segment and is the sole organization that can revoke the ban,” said Lisa Cosmas Hanson, managing partner of U.S.-based video games consultancy Niko Partners.

The China Quality Certification Centre website showed two models of the PlayStation 3, labeled “computer entertainment system” received approval this July. All products must pass the safety standard before they can be sold to Chinese consumers.

Sony confirmed that it had received certification but remained tightlipped about whether this heralded an imminent entry for the PlayStation into the world’s second-largest economy or whether the company needed further certificates.

“This does not mean that we have officially decided to enter Chinese market,” Sony spokeswoman Mai Hora said.

“We recognize that China is a promising market so we will continuously study the possibility.”

Representatives for China’s Ministry of Culture could not be reached for comment.

But there has also been some precedent that China authorities are taking a less hard-line attitude towards game consoles.

This year Lenovo Group launched Eedoo CT510, a motion sensing device that plays games similar in concept to Microsoft’s Kinect extension for the Xbox game console, by touting by Eedoo as an “exercise and entertainment machine”.

Although video game consoles are banned in China, online gaming and games on mobile devices are deeply entrenched — limiting the potential upside for Sony and rival game machine makers like Microsoft Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd.

“It obviously has a huge population, but gamers in China have different consumption habits,” said Piers Harding-Rolls, senior games analyst at IHS Screen Digest in London.

“A lot of established gamers will use non-dedicated devices they have used over many years.”

Game machine makers would also have to find ways to ensure that piracy did not cut into their income from games software and other content, Harding-Rolls added.

(Editing by Edwina Gibbs)

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

War Widow’s Lawsuit Says Nat Geo, Fox Depicted Dead Husband’s Body, Aired Family Photo

NEW YORK (TheWrap.com) – An Army staff sergeant‘s widow says in a lawsuit against National Geographic and Fox that a documentary from the companies depicted her husband’s dead body and showed a private family photo she believes was taken from his laptop after he died.

The suit seeks unspecified damages and to ban Nat Geo and Fox from using military family members’ images, names or likenesses for commercial purposes without their permission.

Nat Geo declined to comment.

Donnice Roberts, of Carthage, Texas, has two children with Staff Sergeant Kevin Casey Roberts. He was killed by an IED in 2008 during what was to be his last mission in Afghanistan, after two tours in Iraq. He enlisted two months after the September 11 2001 attacks, and received the Bronze Star and Purple Heart.

A year after he died, according to the lawsuit, she learned from another service member that he had seen a documentary called “Inside: Afghan ER” on the Armed Forces Network, broadcast in German, that depicted her husband’s dead body. It also featured a family photo from a trip to Disney World that she believes was taken from his laptop.

“Mrs. Roberts was very disturbed that her image, and more importantly, her children’s image would be broadcast around the world without their knowledge or permission,” the lawsuit said. “This is particularly true given the fanaticism associated with jihadist determined to kill Americans, including American women and children.”

“Moreover, Mrs. Roberts has fears and concerns that her minor children are depicted as the children of a warrior in the war on terror, which is fought by fanatic, radical individuals who have shown a propensity and desire to kill Americans, including women and children,” the lawsuit adds.

The lawsuit said the lawsuit was produced and distributed by the National Geographic Society and further promoted and distributed by Fox Cable Networks, Inc. and Fox Entertainment Group, Inc. through the cable network NatGeo and affiliated websites. The suit said it aired worldwide.

Roberts said when she contacted National Geographic Society seeking a copy of the photo, she was told she would need to sign a waiver. She refused.

(Pamela Chelin contributed to this story)

TV News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

WellPoint keeps outlook despite profit rise; shares off

(Reuters) – Health insurer WellPoint Inc reported forecast-beating third-quarter earnings on Wednesday, but investors were disappointed that the company did not raise its guidance and said the higher earnings had a weak underside.

Shares of WellPoint, the second-largest U.S. health insurer by market value, slumped more than 5 percent, even as the company’s chief financial officer tried to reassure investors over the outlook for the year.

The CFO, Wayne DeVeydt, told analysts on a conference call that the company’s decision not to increase its full-year forecast, despite what it described as strong results, stemmed from a simple desire to maintain a “conservative and cautious outlook.”

Analysts, however, remained unconvinced.

“Earnings per share beat consensus by 13 percent and was ‘favorable’ to management’s expectations,” said David Windley, an analyst at Jefferies & Company. “However, this benefit did not flow through to the year-end.”

Jason Gurda, of Leerink Swann, said the results were not as compelling as those of most WellPoint peers.

“Earnings were ahead of expectations, but it was largely due to a lower-than-expected tax rate and share count,” Gurda said. “On the operating side, they were largely in line with expectations; however, most of their peers came in well ahead this quarter.”

Net income rose 1.17 percent to $ 691.2 million, or $ 2.15 per share, helped by cost-cutting as well as a lower tax rate and share count. Excluding items, the company earned $ 2.09 a share, above the average estimate of $ 1.84 forecast by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

WellPoint’s effective income tax rate was 32.6 percent in the quarter, down from 34.6 percent a year ago.

The company repurchased 11.3 million shares during the third quarter. It said it bought back another 10.3 million shares during October.

Operating revenue topped $ 15.1 billion, little changed from a year ago. Premium revenue declined 1 percent, and the health benefit-to-expense ratio was 85.4 percent, up from 85.1 percent a year earlier.

WellPoint said enrollment totaled 33.5 million members at the end of September, down 2.5 percent from a year earlier.

Shares of WellPoint, which has a market value of about $ 19.9 billion, fell 5.3 percent to $ 57.94 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

WellPoint is currently being run by an interim chief executive, John Cannon, who took over following the abrupt resignation of Angela Braly in August. Cannon said it would be “inappropriate” to comment in detail on the company’s search for a new CEO, but he said the search could extend into the first quarter of 2013.

PREPARING FOR HEALTHCARE REFORM

Following the re-election of President Barack Obama on Tuesday, which puts Obama’s healthcare reform act on course to be fully implemented, WellPoint said it expects to spend an incremental $ 200 million to $ 300 million in 2013 to get ready.

The law aims to provide coverage for 16 million more Americans through privately run health insurance exchanges. It will expand eligibility for Medicaid, the government’s insurance program for the poor, to an additional 16 million people by raising limits on household income.

WellPoint said about half of its planned spending will go toward preparing for the exchanges, which are scheduled to be operational by January 1, 2014. The other half of the planned spending will cover, among other things, ensuring WellPoint it is able to provide coverage for so-called dual-eligibles, or some 9 million Americans who meet the criteria to receive both Medicaid and Medicare, the federal health insurance program for the elderly.

Care for dual-eligibles is moving to the private sector and could generate billions of dollars in profit for insurance companies.

The reforms, which will give insurers millions of new customers, also imposes conditions under which patients may not be denied coverage due to pre-existing conditions.

On the conference call, Cannon congratulated Obama on his re-election.

“We look forward to continue to work with his administration on ways to improve our nation’s healthcare system,” he said. “Clearly, the need to improve access to, and affordability of, healthcare remains a critical issue.”

The shifting health insurance market place, which is also characterized by a desire by government to curb reimbursement for Medicare and Medicaid, has spurred a number of deals in the sector as companies rush to gain scale and market share.

WellPoint in July announced a deal to buy rival Amerigroup Corp for $ 4.46 billion to focus on its Medicaid business. This was closely followed by Aetna announcing the $ 5.6 billion purchase of Coventry Health Care Inc.

(Additional reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore, Caroline Humer in New York and Debra Sherman in Chicago; Editing by John Wallace, Dan Grebler and Leslie Adler)

Seniors/Aging News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Oil falls to lowest level since July

The price of oil tumbled nearly 5 percent Wednesday, its biggest decline of the year, as traders shifted their focus back to the struggles of the global economy.

Benchmark oil fell $ 4.27 to finish at $ 84.44 per barrel in New York. It was the lowest price since July 10.

Hours after President Barack Obama won re-election, concerns about global economic growth re-emerged to dominate the oil market.

European leaders offered more warnings about the region’s economy, which has been saddled with a debt crisis for more than three years.

The European Union‘s executive arm predicted economic growth across the 27-country region would shrink 0.3 percent this year. In the 17 countries that use the euro, growth was expected to contract 0.4 percent. Unemployment is predicted to remain high into 2014.

That could further weaken oil demand in the region. According to the Energy Department, oil consumption in Europe fell to 14.1 million barrels per day in the third quarter from 14.7 million a year earlier.

In the U.S. the focus is turning to a package of tax increases and spending cuts known as the “fiscal cliff” that will take effect unless Congress acts by Jan. 1. Economists are warning of another recession if Congress and the Obama administration can’t strike a deal.

Meanwhile, the government reported another increase in supply last week, reminding traders that crude inventories are nearly 11 percent above year-ago levels while demand remains anemic.

“I think that right now, the economic uncertainty that has probably been a real dominant factor in the market in the past six months is still here,” Tradition Energy oil analyst Gene McGillian said.

He predicted that the price of benchmark oil would make small moves until there is a better idea of whether the U.S. will tackle its budget issues.

“I just don’t think you’re looking for a significant sell-off from these levels unless we see signs that the U.S. economy is really dropping back into recession And right now, that doesn’t seem like that’s in the cards,” he said.

Meanwhile, the national average price for gasoline remained at $ 3.46 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and the Oil Price Information Service. That’s nearly 36 cents less than it was a month ago but still about 6 cents higher than a year ago on this date.

Most analysts say motorists should continue to see prices drift lower through at least Thanksgiving.

In other trading, Brent crude fell $ 4.25, or 3.8 percent, to finish at $ 106.82 per barrel in London.

Other futures also fell in New York trading:

— Wholesale gasoline dropped 11 cents, or 4.1 percent, to end at $ 2.5889 per gallon.

— Heating oil dropped 9.08 cents, or 3 percent, to finish at $ 2.9621 per gallon.

— Natural gas dropped 3.9 cents to end at $ 3.578 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Business News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Officials: New mass graves found in Ivory Coast

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (AP) — Up to 10 new mass graves have been discovered near the site of a July attack on a camp for displaced people, officials said Tuesday, amid allegations that initial casualty totals were downplayed to mask killings carried out by the national army.

Rights groups claim summary executions were carried out by the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, known by its French acronym of FRCI. Last month, officials found six bodies in a well close to the former campsite in the western town of Duekoue.

Government, army and U.N. officials toured 10 more graves in the same area on Saturday, said Paul Mondouho, vice-mayor of Duekoue. He said the graves had first been identified by civilians, and that officials did not know the number of bodies they contained because they had not yet been properly exhumed.

“People were suspecting the presence of bodies in these graves because of the smell coming out of them and because of the shoes we saw nearby,” Mondouho said.

Prosecutor Noel Dje Enrike Yahau, who is based in the commercial capital of Abidjan, confirmed that multiple new graves had been discovered but could not provide details. U.N. officials and the local prosecutor in charge of investigating the suspected killings could not be reached Tuesday.

U.N. spokeswoman Sylvie van den Wildenberg confirmed that U.N. forces helped Ivorian authorities secure a perimeter around 10 wells “similar to the one in which six bodies were found,” and that “some of those wells are suspected mass graves.”

She stressed that Ivorian authorities were leading the investigation but that the U.N. was able to provide assistance.

Army spokesmen could not be reached Tuesday. The Justice Ministry has previously vowed to investigate the discovery of the initial grave.

On the morning of July 20, a mob descended on the U.N.-guarded Nahibly camp, which housed 4,500 people displaced by violence in Ivory Coast, burning most of the camp to the ground. Officials said at the time that six people were killed.

The attack was prompted by the shooting deaths of four men and one woman on the night of July 19, according to local officials and residents. In response a mob of some 300 people overran the camp on the morning of July 20 after the perpetrators of the shootings reportedly fled there.

The victims in the July 19 attack lived in a district dominated by the Malinke ethnic group, which largely supported President Alassane Ouattara in the disputed November 2010 election. The camp primarily housed members of the Guere ethnic group, which largely supported former President Laurent Gbagbo.

Gbagbo’s refusal to cede office despite losing the election to Ouattara sparked months of violence that claimed at least 3,000 lives.

Albert Koenders, the top U.N. envoy to Ivory Coast, said one week after the attack that U.N. security forces had been inside and outside the camp at the time but that no Ivorian security forces were present. He said the U.N. forces decided not to fire at a large group of people that were attacking the camp in order to avoid “a massacre.”

Several witnesses have said soldiers and traditional hunters, known as dozos, participated in the attack on the camp. Both military and dozo leaders have denied the claims, saying they had tried to protect the camp.

In a statement released Friday, the International Federation for Human Rights, known by its French acronym of FIDH, said it had information — including the preliminary results of autopsies — confirming that the six bodies found in October were men who had been summarily executed by the army.

“The disappearance of dozens of displaced persons after the attack, as well as confirmation of cases of summary and extra-judicial executions, suggest a much higher victim rate than the official figures report,” said the organization, which counts Ivorian civil society groups among its members.

Duekoue was one of the hardest-hit towns during the post-election violence. The U.N. has established that at least 505 people were killed in and around the town, including during a notorious March 2011 massacre that claimed hundreds of lives and was allegedly carried out by fighters loyal to Ouattara.

Duekoue residents belonging to ethnic groups that supported Gbagbo have long complained about abuses carried out by the FRCI, with some pointing to the direct involvement of the local commander, Kone Daouda. FIDH said in its statement that Daouda had been transferred following the discovery of the grave in October, and called for him to be interrogated over the matter.

The group also said two FRCI members were being “actively sought” after failing to return to their barracks on Oct. 16, noting that they are believed to have fled to neighboring Burkina Faso.

Africa News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

VCast Closing Reveals Hidden Danger of “App Stores”

If you bought a smartphone from Verizon Wireless in the last couple of years, you may have noticed that it came with not one, but two app markets: the Google Play store (formerly known as the Android Market), and VCast, or Verizon Apps. VCast debuted in 2010 as an alternative app market which supported Verizon carrier billing, back when Google Play did not, and sold apps on Blackberry smartphones as well.

Now Verizon is closing the doors on the Verizon Apps store, as it’s just informed app developers. Verizon customers aren’t scheduled to be notified until January of next year, but work is already in progress behind the scenes to remove Verizon Apps from millions of smartphones. Once it’s removed, it will have unpleasant — and completely avoidable — consequences for some of Verizon’s customers.

How app stores work

Before app stores existed, buying “computer software” online was very much a do-it-yourself experience.

First, you had to find the store, which was sometimes no easy feat. Then you had to download and install it yourself, often with no guarantee that it’d actually run on your hardware. Finally, whenever your app got an update you’d either have to go download and install it all over again, or else be interrupted by that specific app’s updater (sort of like how Java and Flash do even today).

App stores changed all that

But they did so at a cost: Nearly all apps bought through Google Play and the iPhone’s App Store are affected by DRM, or Digital Rights Management software. This ostensibly makes apps harder to pirate, by tying your apps to your app store account and keeping you from making copies of them. But it also means that at any time, the company which runs the app store can kill your apps that you already purchased.

This can be a good thing

When Google discovered the “mother of all Android malware” on Google Play, it was able to kill the infected apps even on people’s devices, and clean things up very quickly. But on the other hand, this can also mean people losing their apps with no warning or explanation, like in Martin Bekkelund’s report of a person who lost her entire Kindle account and everything on it.

What about in Verizon’s case?

According to Verizon, “Apps that require a monthly license check will no longer work” after the Verizon Apps store is killed. It goes on to explain which apps this includes, and gives a list that encompasses pretty much every way to pay for an app. Anything on that list that you bought from Verizon Apps, simply won’t work pretty soon. Even if some of yours still work, you won’t be able to redownload them if you delete them, or put them on a new phone that you buy … unless, of course, you’re a hacker and know common techniques to defeat Verizon’s DRM.

Some people, of course, have already faced this … such as if they had to change their legal name and abandon an app store account linked to it, to escape being stalked or for other reasons. In that case, say goodbye to everything that you’ve purchased.

Does it have to be this way?

Popular game and app bundles, like MacHeist and the Humble Indie Bundle, sell apps which are DRM-free and can be copied to any device which can run them. There’s even a Humble Android updater, to keep your smartphone games up to date. Meanwhile, Linux “package managers” worked like app stores years before Apple’s, but were (and still are) often run by nonprofit organizations with democratically elected governing boards.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Broadway takes a big hit from Superstorm Sandy

NEW YORK (AP) — Superstorm Sandy, which darkened Broadway for four days, predictably ravaged the box offices around Times Square, with shows losing more than $ 8.5 million from the previous week.

The Broadway League, the national trade association for the Broadway industry, released data Tuesday that showed, as expected, all shows took a hit. One of the hardest hurt was the Matthew Broderick musical “Nice Work If You Can Get It,” which lost $ 538,853.

Since the storm actually affected two weeks of data, the League estimates that grosses managed just $ 33.66 million for that period, a drastic fall from the same time frame last year, where the box offices earned $ 42.2 million. Attendance also plunged 19 percent from the 10-year average.

The storm, which struck last Monday, forced all 40 Broadway theaters to shutter the night before. All shows were up and running by Thursday night, but the damage had been done, though few expect the pain to last.

“It will come back to its former life, there’s no question about it. Broadway is New York and everyone celebrates the theater in this city,” said Barry Weissler, who has been producing work on Broadway since 1982. “It’s catch-up time.”

Most shows on Broadway have eight performances a week, but Sandy forced many, including “The Phantom of the Opera,” ”The Heiress,” ”Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” and “Chicago” to put on just six shows. “Glengarry Glen Ross” and “Evita” only managed five shows. Altogether, 48 individual performances were canceled.

Other shows that took a beating include “Wicked,” which lost $ 490,996, though it still managed to pull in $ 1,166,275. The least hurt was “Rock of Ages,” which lost just $ 59,209.

Sandy joins other recent shocks to have rocked Broadway finances, including the Sept. 11 attacks, which shuttered theaters for two days, and Hurricane Irene in 2011 that wiped away a weekend’s revenue.

“Storms will not stop us, the terrible tragedy of 9/11 will not stop us. Theater will continue. It’s one of the oldest art forms known to man and it will continue,” said Weissler, who together with his wife, Fran, has produced such shows as “Grease,” ”Chicago” and “Annie Get Your Gun.”

The League said that the losses from Hurricane Irene were actually larger than for Sandy. Not only were 66 individual performances scrapped for Irene, but the storm struck during the busy summer, not the slower fall.

But Sandy may have hurt off-Broadway theaters more. The SoHo Rep and The Bank Street Theater lost power and had some flooding, while many other downtown theaters lost power, including the MCC Theatre and SoHo Playhouse. The Canal Park Playhouse canceled all November and December performances.

The infectious drumming show “Blue Man Group” was quieted, the immersive, genre-bending show “Sleep No More” was stilled, and The Public Theater was shut down for almost a week. The lobby at its home at Astor Place is now a collection site for post-Sandy supplies.

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Early sales of Vivus’s diet pill disappoint, shares slide

(Reuters) – Vivus Inc reported lackluster initial sales of its weight-loss pill Qsymia as a lack of reimbursement coverage prompted concerns about the drug’s adoption and dragged down shares of diet-drug makers.

Shares of Vivus were down 24 percent at $ 11.38 on Tuesday afternoon on the Nasdaq after recovering from an earlier low of $ 11.00.

Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc‘s shares were down 6 percent at $ 7.51, while those of Orexigen Therapeutics Inc were off 5 percent at $ 4.99.

Arena’s diet pill Belviq is set to launch early next year and Orexigen is planning a re-submission of the marketing application for its competing product, Contrave.

Earlier this year, Belviq and Qsymia became the first new diet pills to receive marketing in 13 years as pressure mounts on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve obesity treatments for some two-thirds of Americans who are considered overweight or obese.

Vivus recorded $ 41,000 in Qsymia sales since its launch on September 17 through the end of the month. Analysts on average had expected about $ 310,000, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company’s chief commercial officer Mike Miller flagged concerns over the drug’s lack of insurance coverage and said “about 30 percent of patients chose not to fill after receiving a (Qsymia) prescription due to cash outlay.”

“The average retail price for the patient for 30 days or the recommended dose is approximately $ 160,” Miller said on a post-earnings call.

“Currently, we are seeing one out of five (patients) being covered by third-party insurance with an average co-pay of $ 62.”

Robert Hazlett of Roth Capital Partners, who maintained his “neutral” rating on the stock, said reimbursement was an obstacle, but given that the company is in the very early stages of selling the drug, it can overcome these hurdles over time.

A total of 656 Qsymia prescriptions were shipped from certified network pharmacies in September. That number rose to 5,560 through the week of October 26.

Cowen & Co analyst Simos Simeonidis also said insurers will slowly start reimbursing obesity drugs over the next few months, following the example set by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which has started reimbursing weight-loss counseling.

“We continue to believe that in order for Qsymia to become a blockbuster, Vivus needs the help of a big pharma partner,” Simeonidis said in a note to clients, highlighting the importance of a large sales force.

Vivus’s shares saw much investor love during the period leading up to Qsymia approval in July, but have slid 30 percent since European health regulators rejected the drug in October, citing the potential for heart risks and birth defects related to its long-term use.

The company plans to appeal the decision and expects a fresh verdict in the first half of 2013.

(Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)

Seniors/Aging News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Accounts merged after name mix-up

6 November 2012 Last updated at 08:06 ET

Tens of thousands of pounds ended up in the wrong savings account following a mix-up over two customers with the same name and date of birth.

Insurance company Prudential mistakenly merged the records of the two customers in March 2007.

The mix-up, which continued for more than three years, resulted in large amounts of retirement savings ending up in the wrong account.

Prudential UK has been fined £50,000 by the Information Commissioner.

“This case would be considered farcical were it not for the serious sums of money involved,” said Stephen Eckersley, the commissioner’s head of enforcement.

A spokesman for the Prudential said that the confused names of the two savings customers were “not uncommon”. He apologised and said that the customers had been compensated.

But he added that the problem originated from a mistake by one of the customer’s financial advisers.

Years of inaccuracy

The two customers, who have not been identified, shared the same first name, the same surname, and the same date of birth.

This led to their two accounts being mistakenly merged by Prudential. It was 42 months later that the confusion was eventually resolved.

In the meantime, Prudential was told about the mistake on several occasions, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said.

Continue reading the main story

Inaccurate information on a customer’s record can have a significant impact on someone’s life”

End Quote Stephen Eckersley Information Commissioner’s Office

This included a letter from one of the customers involved in the mix-up pointing out that he had not changed his address for 15 years, so there was clearly a problem.

Warning

The fine imposed by the ICO related to the failure of the company to investigate fully when alerted to the problem.

It is the first penalty handed out by the ICO which does not relate to data being lost by an organisation.

Previous fines charged to other businesses have resulted from the loss of disks or memory cards containing customers’ information.

“In this case two customer files were consistently confused and the company failed to remedy the situation despite being alerted to the problem on more than one occasion before it was finally resolved,” said Mr Eckersley, of the ICO.

“While data losses may make the headlines, most people will contact our office about inaccuracies and other issues relating to the misuse of their information.

“Inaccurate information on a customer’s record, particularly when the record relates to an individual’s financial affairs, can have a significant impact on someone’s life.

“We hope this penalty sends a message to all organisations, but particularly those in the financial sector, that adequate checks must be in place to ensure people’s records are accurate.”

Prudential has now improved training for staff and updated its customer records processes, the ICO said.

A spokesman for the insurance company said: “We regret that this incident occurred and was not resolved more quickly. The circumstances surrounding this case are unique.

“The accidental merging of the two customers’ details was not the result of system or process failures. It originally happened when the financial adviser of the first customer mistakenly provided the address of the second customer to us and requested that we change the first customer’s registered address.

“We co-operated openly and fully with the review and we accept the fine imposed.”

BBC News – Business

Read More..

Methane warnings ignored before NZ mine disaster

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A New Zealand coal mining company ignored 21 warnings that methane gas had accumulated to explosive levels before an underground explosion killed 29 workers two years ago, an investigation concluded.

The official report released Monday after 11 weeks of hearings on the disaster found broad safety problems in New Zealand workplaces and said the Pike River Coal company was exposing miners to unacceptable risks as it strove to meet financial targets.

“The company completely and utterly failed to protect its workers,” New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said Monday.

The country’s labor minister, Kate Wilkinson, resigned from her labor portfolio after the report’s release, saying she felt it was the honorable thing to do after the tragedy occurred on her watch. She plans to retain her remaining government responsibilities.

The Royal Commission report said New Zealand has a poor workplace safety record and its regulators failed to provide adequate oversight before the explosion.

At the time of the disaster, New Zealand had just two mine inspectors who were unable to keep up with their workload, the report said. Pike River was able to obtain a permit with no scrutiny of its initial health and safety plans and little ongoing scrutiny.

Key said he agrees with the report’s conclusion that there needs to be a philosophical shift in New Zealand from believing that companies are acting in the best interests of workers to a more proscriptive set of regulations that forces companies to do the right thing.

The commission’s report recommended a new agency be formed to focus solely on workplace health and safety problems. It also recommended a raft of measures to strengthen mine oversight.

Key said his government would consider the recommendations and hoped to implement most of them. He would not commit on forming a new agency. Workplace safety issues are currently one of the responsibilities of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment.

In the seven weeks before the explosion, the Pike River company received 21 warnings from mine workers that methane gas had built up to explosive levels below ground and another 27 warnings of dangerous levels, the report said. The warnings continued right up until the morning of the deadly explosion.

The company used unconventional methods to get rid of methane, the report said. Some workers even rigged their machines to bypass the methane sensors after the machines kept automatically shutting down — something they were designed to do when methane levels got too high.

The company made a “major error” by placing a ventilation fan underground instead of on the surface, the report found. The fan failed after the first of several explosions, effectively shutting down the entire ventilation system. The company was also using water jets to cut the coal face, a highly specialized technique than can release large amounts of methane.

The report did not definitively conclude what sparked the explosion itself, although it noted that a pump was switched on immediately before the explosion, raising the possibility it was triggered by an electrical arc.

The now-bankrupt Pike River Coal company is not defending itself against charges it committed nine labor violations related to the disaster. Former chief executive Peter Whittall has pleaded not guilty to 12 violations and his lawyers say he is being scapegoated.

An Australian contractor was fined last month for three safety violations after its methane detector was found to be faulty at the time of the explosion.

Australia / Antarctica News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..