Blackberry looses $1 Billion in the last quarter

BlackBerry said on Friday that it lost $965 million on sales of $1.6 billion during its fiscal second quarter.

The loss mainly reflected a $934 million write-down of a growing inventory of unwanted BlackBerry Z10 phones, the devices that the company had hoped would restore its fortunes, as well as $72 million in charges related largely to layoffs.

The $1.6 billion in revenue during the three-month period that ended Aug. 31 was well below the $3 billion analysts had anticipated and reflected a 49 percent drop from the first quarter, illustrating the rapidity of the company’s decline. 

While BlackBerry said that 5.9 million BlackBerry phones were sold to customers during the quarter, a large percentage of them came from inventory that had been shipped to wholesalers and carriers earlier. During the last quarter, BlackBerry shipped just 3.7 million phones. Most of them, the company said, were from an older model line that it now plans to phase out.  

In a brief statement included with the financial report, Thorsten Heins, the company’s chief executive, said that the company remains strong despite a widespread perception to the contrary.

“We understand how some of the activities we are going through create uncertainty, but we remain a financially strong company with $2.6 billion in cash and no debt,” Mr. Heins said. “We are focused on our targeted markets, and are committed to completing our transition quickly in order to establish a more focused and efficient company.”

Mr. Heins boasted about the company’s cash position, but Friday’s results showed that it declined by $500 million during the last quarter.

The dismal results capped a week of turmoil for the once-preeminent smartphone maker. Last week, BlackBerry warned investors about the worst of the bad news that was to come, including the inventory write-down related to the BlackBerry 10 phones.

The write-down was seen by many analysts and investors as the final confirmation that the company’s turnaround plan had failed, prompting an immediate drop in BlackBerry’s shares last Friday.

Over the weekend, BlackBerry’s directors accepted a conditional, nonbinding bid from Fairfax Financial Holdings, the company’s largest shareholder, to take the company private. That letter of intent, announced Monday, proposes to pay $9 a share for BlackBerry, valuing the company at $4.7 billion.

But there remained widespread uncertainty that Fairfax would complete a deal on Nov. 4, the date it has set to finish its due diligence. Fairfax, an insurance and investment company in Toronto, appears to be bringing nothing to the transaction beyond the 10 percent of BlackBerry it now holds. And the company has been economical with information about how the transaction would be financed, particularly the names of other investors it hopes will bring some $1 billion to the deal.

As a result, BlackBerry’s shares have been trading under the $9 price proposed by Fairfax. Trading on Nasdaq closed at $7.95 on Thursday.

Fairfax has not responded to requests for comment. But in an interview with The Globe and Mail

, a Toronto newspaper, Prem Watsa, the chairman and chief executive of Fairfax, said that he has so many potential partners that the bidding group will be oversubscribed. Although again declining to name any potential members of the group, Mr. Watsa said the deal will be completed.

“Our offer is a definite offer,” Mr. Watsa told the newspaper. “We wouldn’t put our name to a deal with the board of directors of BlackBerry if it wasn’t a good offer.”

To avoid allegations of a conflict of interest, Mr. Watsa stepped down from BlackBerry’s board in August when the company announced a strategic review that could include a sale.

If Fairfax walks away on Nov. 4, it will not incur any penalty. But if BlackBerry accepts another bid before then, it will have to pay Mr. Watsa’s company $157 million. Several analysts, however, are skeptical that any other group is interested in buying BlackBerry for more than $9 a share. 

with the Blackberry Messenger currently available for android phones the future looks bleak for the Canadian company which is set to cut 4,500 jobs. We all are waiting to see if the fiarfax deal pulls through and what the company has in its secret bag of ideas to revamp the steady sinking company.

Ten Dead and Dozens feared trapped inside collapsed Multi Storey Building in India

A multi-story building collapsed in India's financial capital of Mumbai early Friday, sending rescuers racing to reach dozens of people feared trapped in the rubble.
At least ten persons died and seven people have been so far pulled alive from the building and rushed to hospital, said Alok Awasthi, local commander of the National Disaster Response Force.
"Approximately 80 to 90 people are believed to be left behind in the building and trapped,

The five-story residential building collapsed just after 6 a.m. near Dockyard Road in the city's southeast.
It was the latest of several Mumbai building collapses this year. At least 72 people died in April when an illegally constructed building fell down, and a few weeks later a section of a hospital crumbled, injuring at least eight.  In June, at least 10 people, including five children, died in when a three-story building collapsed.
Across India, building collapses have become relatively common. Massive demand for housing around India's fast-growing cities combined with pervasive corruption often result in builders cutting corners by using substandard materials or adding unauthorized floors

Barcelona's Lionel Messi and father accused of €4m tax fraud in Spain

Argentina's Lionel Messi  and his father deny the accusations, saying the deals were done by Messi’s former agent without their knowledge.

Argentina and Barcelona footballer Lionel Messi and his father will appear in court on Friday to face charges of tax fraud.
Messi and and his father, Jorge, are accused of evading €4.2m (£3.4m) in tax on earnings made from endorsements from his principal sponsors – Adidas, PepsiCo and Proctor & Gamble – and a number of other companies.
The prosecution alleges that they set up shell companies in Uruguay and Belize to avoid paying tax in Spain. Both men deny the charges, saying the deals were done by Messi's former agent without their knowledge. The alleged crimes took place between 2007 and 2009.
Messi, voted world player of the year four times, and his father will be questioned in a closed session in a court in Gava, Barcelona – the wealthy neighborhood in which Messi has a home.
The pair this year paid back €5m (£4.2m) to the Spanish state, but this has not prevented the prosecution; with the country in financial crisis, the government has cracked down on tax evasion. The hearing on Friday will determine whether the court will pursue them for alleged tax evasion.
The allegations are a serious blow to Messi's golden image. He came to Barcelona as a young boy, and has grown up through the Catalan team's youth system, earning him the love of his fans.
He has a reputation as an honest player, rarely exhibiting the exaggerated diving and histrionics often associated with the Spanish game.

Messi, who earns around €16m a year just from his contract with Barcelona, is widely considered the best footballer in the world, on a par with his idol Diego Maradona.
It is an increasingly common practice for leading footballers to set up image rights companies in low-tax countries, through which they are paid their additional sponsorship salaries, thus avoiding the duty they might pay at home.
Messi and his father deny these charges, saying in a statement: "We have always fulfilled our tax obligations following the advice of our tax consultants who will take care of clarifying this situation."
CULLED FROM THE DAILY TELEGRAPH

Al- Shabab Islamist gunmen hold hostages in Kenya siege, 68 dead, hundreds Wounded

 
 Terror and fear has engulfed Kenyans and the world as a whole when a popular Shopping Mall in the Capital was taken over by armed gunmen on Saturday, they arrived the scene asking the Muslims within the mall to leave before going ahead to shoot the other who were left behind. this as at 7pm today Sunday 22nd of September 2013 have 68 people confirmed dead among who include Nephew to President Kenyatta and his fiancee, also mentioned to be on the list of dead is a Ghanian Professor name yet to be ascertained by People Digest, close 200 people with women and children included came injured with various level gunshot wounds and have choked up the health facilities in Kenya.

Kenya's president, vowing to stand firm against Somali militants, was cautious about the outcome, saying chances of the attackers being "neutralised" were "as good ... as we can hope for".
"We will punish the masterminds swiftly and painfully," he said. In addition to the dead, more than 175 people were wounded in an attack that began around the middle of the day on Saturday, when the mall was heaving with customers.
Officials did not say how many hostages were being held, although one Kenyan television station cited a figure of 30. Trapped individuals emerged, dwindling as the day went on.
The focus of attention on Sunday was the mall's branch of Nakumatt supermarket, one of Kenya's biggest chains. A Red Cross volunteer said nine more bodies were taken out of the store late on Sunday, which the Red Cross said raised the toll to 68.

Volunteers said they believed more corpses were still inside, unreachable for now.
British Prime Minister David Cameron, confirming three Britons were dead, said: "We should prepare ourselves for further bad news." U.S. President Barack Obama called Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta to offer condolences and support.

 The spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations whom has claimed the responsibilities for the attacks said that his group had nothing to fear: "Where will Uhuru Kenyatta get the power with which he threatened us?" said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab.  

Moyes Confused as Manchester United Looses 4-1 to Machester City FC

Moyes' first meeting with City since his appointment as United boss ended in a 4-1 defeat at the Etihad Stadium.
The Scot, who never won a Merseyside derby against Liverpool at Anfield in 11 years with Everton, said: "Every manager has bad days and bad results and I'm no different.
Two goals from Sergio Aguero and one each from Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri gave City a 4-0 lead at the Etihad before Wayne Rooney's late consolation.
After the Match Moyes said "We didn't start the game well," said Moyes. "I'm disappointed we didn't perform because there was no reason for us not to after a good result in midweek.
"We were second to things in the first half especially, seemed to be a yard behind and we never seemed to get to the pitch of the game right from the off, which was disappointing because that's what we set out to do.
"It is one game. There are plenty more to come and plenty of time to fix it."
United were without Robin van Persie, who had a groin injury - but Moyes was delighted with the performance in defeat of goalscorer Rooney.

Arsenal Tops EPL table; wooping Stokes 3-1

Match facts
Arsenal (4-3-2-1): Szczesny 6; Sagna 7, Mertesacker 7, Koscielny 7, Gibbs 7; Flamini 8, Wilshere 6 (Monreal 73), Ramsey 7; Gnabry 5 (Ryo 73), Ozil 8 (Arteta 81); Giroud 6.
Subs not used: Vermaelen, Viviano, Bendtner, Jenkinson
Stoke (4-3-2-1): Begovic 5; Cameron 6, Shawcross 6, Huth 6, Pieters  5 (Palacios 67); Wilson 6, N'Zonzi 6, Adam 6 (Ireland 59, 5); Walters 5, Arnautovic 6; Jones 6 (Pennant 75).
Subs not used: Whelan, Crouch, Etherington, Crouch, Sorensen

Referee: Mike Dean
Man of the match: Ozil
Goals scored by:
Arsenal:  Ramsey, Per Mertesacker, Giroud
Stokes: Geoff Cameron.

Today 22nd September 2013 Arsenal did more than expected by their fans as they saw to the crushing of Stokes City at home.
Towering headers from Per Mertesacker and Bacary Sagna did the damage, together with what has become the obligatory goal from Aaron Ramsey, runaway top scorer with his seventh goal in eight Arsenal games this season.
To complete the confusion, Stoke produced a beautifully worked goal from open play featuring a defense-splitting pass, a sweet volley and clinical first-time finish by right-back Geoff Cameron.
One man who cannot be left out at present is Ramsey, who opened the scoring in the fifth minute. Asmir Begovic tamely pushed out Ozil’s free-kick and Ramsey beat Jon Walters to the spillage. He is in splendid form and brimming with confidence.
Ramsey’s goal was equalised by Geoff Cameron. Steven Nzonzi clipped a pass to Marko Arnautovic who steered a volley onto the post and right-back Cameron arrived unexpectedly to sweep the rebound into the net. 
Just after the hour, Ozil was played through into the right side of the penalty area by a knockdown from Jack Wilshere, but Begovic saved the German's low, angled drive.
At the other end, Szczesny showed he was still alert to push away a 20-yard shot from Marc Wilson.
Arsenal made sure of the three points and top-spot in the Premier League when, on 72 minutes, Ozil's deep free-kick was headed back over Begovic and into the far corner by defender Sagna.
All eyes on Ozil the "Assist machine" we believe Arsenal fans have a lot more to cheer this season, which has started off very well for Arsene Wenger 
 

Angela Merkel Wins Third Term in Germanys just concluded elections

Angela Merkel's conservatives won a resounding victory in Sunday's general election, sharply increasing their share of the vote by some eight points to around 42 percent and putting her on track for a third term.

 That result, which would be the strongest result for the conservatives since 1990, could be enough to give Merkel an absolute majority on her own. There are predictions that her conservatives could have a slim absolute majority of four seats in parliament. But the final outcome is still unclear.
She may have to form an alliance with the rival center-left Social Democrats. Her junior coalition partner, the pro-business Free Democratic Party, saw its support slump so dramatically that it may not make the five percent threshold needed for parliamentary representation.
"We will do everything to ensure that the next four years will be successful ones for Germany," a beaming Merkel told ecstatic supporters. "We will now wait for the election outcome, it's too early to say how we will proceed. We will discuss all this tomorrow in our leadership meetings. But we can already celebrate today because we did great."  SPD rival, Peer Steinbrück, told supporters: "The ball is in Frau Merkel's court, she has to find herself a majority."
An alliance with the SPD, a so-called "grand coalition" of the two biggest parties, would be a repeat of the right-left alliance with which she governed in her first term from 2005 until 2009.
Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Union party and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, were at 42.1 percent, up sharply from 33.8 percent in 2009,
Analyst projections showed a similar result with the conservatives at 42.3 percent.
"This is the FDP's bitterest defeat in decades," said Christian Lindner, a senior member of the party leadership.

ARD had the FDP at 4.7 percent, while ZDF had them at 4.5 percent, a disastrous result for the party, a traditional kingmaker in German politics, which has been in parliament continually since 1949.
The SPD was at around 25.8 percent, according to ARD, up slightly from 23.0 percent in 2009. The Greens were at 8.1, compared with 10.7 percent in 2009.
In a significant development, the anti-euro Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which was formed in February and calls for an "orderly dismantling of the euro zone," came close to five percent. The ARD had them at 4.9 percent and the ZDF at 4.8 percent.

SUPER EAGLES PLAY "WALIAS OF ETHOPIA" IN CRUCIAL WORLD CUP PLAY-OFF

Throughout 2013, Super Eagles fans have had both reasons to be confident with the Super Eagles.

Before long,Stephen Keshi added the finishing touches to the Super Eagles and the side blossomed. Victories over Cote d’Ivoire, Mali and—finally, emphatically—Burkina Faso, placed Nigeria at the top of the tree once again and chanelled us all with the confidence of continental champions.

Since that joyous occasion in Johannesburg, however, reasons for pessimism have crept back into the side’s archives.

The side have, at times, looked to be lacking a creative spark; the strikers were, for a time, toothless and ineffective; once again the federation and the authorities brought the national game into disrepute following the bonus scandal that threatened to derail the Confederations Cup in Brazil.

A easy World Cup qualifying group was also navigated with little elegance,  with progression only guaranteed once Malawi were dispatched on the final match day.

That performance and that result, allowed us to forget, for a moment, the failings of the campaign up to that point. My advice, following success against the Flames(malawi), was to “for this week at least, wear your Nigerian shirt with pride, pop your collar like Cantona, walk with chest out-puffed, remind the world who Africa’s champions are.
    ”The evidence of the recent Cup of Nations suggests that Nigeria should be able to overcome their World Cup qualification rivals. The record books will forever say that the Super Eagles truly kicked off their illustrious Afcon campaign with that 2-0 victory over the Walia Antelopes in Rustenburg; would many bet against similar superiority this time around?against similar superiority this time around?

I would say, however, breathing cautiously upon your dreams, that we should be wary, very wary about the prospect of taking on Ethiopia. Underestimate these regal greats of the continental game and that ‘Champions of Africa’ title may be feeling fairly hollow as we miss out on Brazil next summer.
   Definately,the Super eagles would not dissapoint the fan loving Nigerians...Significantly,Stephen Keshi has promised to take the game as a world cup final.The first leg takes of in ethopia on October 13th.

MORINHO BACKS HIS SQUAD AFTER LOSS TO BASEL - Coach Dan

New signing Samuel Eto'o started and Demba Ba was a second-half substitute, while Fernando Torres failed to make the bench as midfielder Oscar scored.
Mourinho claimed responsibility for the defeat and he promised to work hard with the team.

Cameroon striker Eto'o made his home debut after joining from Russian side Anzhi Makhachkala, but did not test Basel goalkeeper Yann Sommer until injury time at Stamford Bridge.

Fellow forward Ba was introduced before Basel's second goal as the Blues searched for a winner, while £50m signing Torres was not named in Mourinho's match day

squad.

Chelsea dominated possession in the opening hour against Basel, but created few goal scoring opportunities apart from Oscar's opener.

They were punished by the Swiss champions as impressive winger Mohamed Salah leveled with a curling shot before skipper Marco Streller headed in a late winner.

Basel's victory ends a run of 29 Champions’ League group games without defeat for Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho believes the Blues will have to beat Basel in the return fixture on 26 November to "compensate" for their home defeat.

"We lost three points that we must get somewhere," said the Portuguese. "We must get them, in Basel, or Schalke, or Bucharest, or all of them or some of them.

"Normally you have to win the matches at home and get a few points away. Now we must win six points at home, Schalke and Steaua, but we have also to win points away.

Basically, the objective of finishing in the top two in the group phase and to go to the next stage of the Champions League is an objective that is not lost - far from it.

Welcome to Opinion central - Griffin

I don’t know how ethical it is to start a post with the phrase ‘I am not so brilliant’ but if there were guidelines that frowned at such a thing I wouldn’t really care. I’m not much of a rule breaker if you look at it in the normal school of thought but I tend to do things more flexibly than most other people while being as morally and ethically upright as possible. Like for example, starting this post with the aforementioned phrase breaks no law in the blogosphere so why won’t I give it a try, I might as well start a trend without knowing it.

Guess it’s too late for that now…..

The frame work of social discourse is one which I believe has very few limitations if you think about it critically (well, if you lived in a place like North Korea I wouldn’t recommend you entertaining such a thought). We simply discuss and think stuff through, hoping to achieve some form of new enlightenment or maybe even possibly, nirvana (don’t do drugs kids). In seeking opinions and initiative while interacting with peers and different people from various walks of life it is possible that the answers we seek to the uncountable questions of life might slip through our fingers, hence it is important for some form of documentation. They might vary from the conventional to the unconventional, choose your pick, I pick this one. The blog or the internet, the limitless space created by people like you and I to rant, proffer solutions or present problems….some other folks just prefer to apply it to less noble causes (big ups to Media Takeout and TMZ), but I like several other people see it as a big opportunity to probably/if possibly keep mankind on the right track, to remind us that maybe we still can save liberalism from the free fall it currently is experiencing now (not sure if that statement actually qualifies as an admission).

If you see a pattern in my train of thought please acknowledge by double clicking on the page (no, it doesn’t do much actually, I’m just fooling with you).

So in my own little way I’m hoping I can ask key questions through this medium, present possible solutions with your help and most importantly have fun while trying to ginger our collective cyber consciousness into developing ways to moving society forward one step at a time ( right click on the page if you think it is impossible).

On a weekly basis on people’s digest (I hope I can do that)I will strive to give you an interesting and unique perspective on topical societal issues that we discuss and observe. We don’t have to agree on how we see things but we can always have a better understanding of these issues when we listen to others regardless of if they are right or wrong.

It is undoubted that opinion will vary and a subject or particular set of issues will create debate (which is good). A single minded society is a rarity (which I find hard to imagine), usually that is only observed in extreme situations. Discourse will always be present in a civil and developing society as a form of both evolving thought process and recreational stimulus therefore I encourage readers to not only read my posts but to also engage me in discourse where they find disagreements.

As diverse as society is, this section will be dedicated to touch as much facets of it as possible, where expert views are required they shall be sought in order to create the much needed depth which will provide a better understanding on issues in focus.

Maybe we’ll kick up a movement, maybe we won’t, but this is definitely an exercise not in futility. This is thought and reasoning and I challenge you to pose these pressing or not so pressing issues and questions in your social gatherings and meetings.

Once again I emphasise that we cannot all agree, but we can in civil manner develop an avenue to proffer points of compromise and avenues of solutions. That should be the objective as well as a road map to achieving our common goals. I am merely here to facilitate, don’t forget, I am not so brilliant. Just stay on this page fr more from Griffin

Thomas Bach Elected New IOC President

Thomas Bach was Yesterday Elected the president of International Olympic Committee (IOC), a 59-year-old German becoming the first Olympic gold medalist to become president, he beat his five male rivals bidding to succeed Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years of being in charge,
During his acceptance speech he said;

“I know what the enormous responsibilities are of being an IOC president but I am very happy,” he said after the announcement.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart. You, my friends and colleagues, have placed in me an overwhelming sign of trust.
“I also have enormous respect for my fellow candidates and I will work with you. I will put into practise what my motto was during the campaign: ‘unity in diversity’.”
Bach, a lawyer by profession, is the ultimate insider having been a member since 1991 and has been vice-president three times while also heading up the Judicial Commission.
He has also been one of the leaders in fighting doping, calling for athletes to be suspended for four years instead of the two-year ban in place at the moment.