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| Mood in Iowa |
| Mitt Romney had a hard time selling his agenda to far right GOP supporters THE Iowa caucuses, in which a nation awaits the verdict of a handful of some of its least representative citizens, are not going to settle the race for the Republican nomination for president.
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| IT'S TIME TO SWITCH OFF |
| LET'S hear it for Volkswagen at the start of 2012. The German automaker has responded to demands from its works council by agreeing to stop the email server to its BlackBerry-using employees a half-hour after their shift ends... |
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 | Europe worries drag stocks, euro down NEW YORK SERVICE sector gains and better- than-expected jobs data in the United States failed to stem a rout in stocks and the euro on Thursday, as concerns about Europe's debt crisis lingered after a...
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| | DGCA asks Air India, Kingfisher for assurance on safety issues | | NEW DELHI/MUMBAI THE Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Thursday demanded assurances from Kingfisher Airlines and the budget arm of Air India that their financial problems would not affect safety.
The DGCA told the airlines to offer a timeline to put in place measures to tackle their financial problems, which it said were affecting maintenance, training and other operations that could compromise safety.
"There is a list of discrepancies," Bharat Bhushan, the director general of the agency, told reporters, referring to aircraft maintenance and other potential safety problems.
"Kingfisher, for example, we have told them to come back to us on Monday...within how many days they are going to complete certain specific things," Bhushan said.
Kingfisher said it was operating flights with "utmost safety". A spokesman for Air India also denied there were any safety issues with its budget carrier.
Bhushan said there was no threat that any carrier's licence would be cancelled, and he was confident that any problems would be resolved.
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| | France auctions bonds to raise $10.3bn, borrowing costs rise | | PARIS FRENCH borrowing costs rose slightly when the eurozone's second-largest economy sold debt for the first time this year on Thursday but demand was solid despite concerns the country could lose its AAA credit rating.
With a heavy schedule of debt redemptions in the first quarter, market fears about euro states' ability to fund their debts remains high.
France, which has a slowing economy and a presidential election looming in April, is seen by many to be at greater risk from ebbing investor confidence than regional powerhouse Germany.
France sold 7.96 billion euros ($10.3 billion) of 10- to 30-year bonds at the auction, at the top of its projected range, after receiving total bids for nearly 15 billion euros.
The yield on the benchmark October 2021 bond rose slightly to 3.29 percent to above the 3.18 percent fixed when it was last auctioned on December 1, but remained in line with yields in the secondary market of around 3.3 percent.
The 10-year spread over Bunds was a whisker higher after the auction at 143 basis points, remaining well below its euro-era high of more than 200 basis points reached in November.
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| | Global automakers target growth in India's SUV market | | NEW DELHI BIGGER is better for global automakers aggressively targeting growth in India's underdeveloped SUV market as the country's much-vaunted small car market stalls.
Ford Motor Co, Hyundai Motor Co and domestic leader Maruti Suzuki Ltd all unveiled new SUV models for the Indian market as part of over a dozen new rugged, full-powered SUVs at the Delhi Auto Expo.
India's once-booming small car market has slumped, dragging overall sales growth into the doldrums, as first-time buyers and customers requiring credit baulk at high interest rates and rising fuel and vehicle costs.
But sales of sport utility vehicles (SUVs), off-road capable cars and multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs), rare on India's roads just a decade ago, are bucking the trend, as car owners look to upgrade their driving experience.
"SUVs, MPVs are lifestyle products, and providing lifestyle products, choices, is exactly what India is moving towards," said Arvind Saxena, director of sales and marketing at Hyundai's India unit, on Thursday.
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