February 10, 2012
The U.S. Air Force may buy as many as 18,000 iPad2s in what would be one of the military’s biggest orders of computer tablets, accelerating Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s inroads into the federal government.
The service’s Air Mobility Command plans to issue a request for proposals to buy between 63 and 18,000 “iPad 2, Brand Name or Equal devices” to lighten the load of flight crews, according to a notice...
February 10, 2012
Brewing in Africa is on a roll. With Americans spurning beer for spirits, British pubs closing at a rate of 16 a week and Russia slapping punitive taxes on ale, the $160bn industry is increasingly looking to sub-Saharan Africa.
SABMiller, which began its African adventures in earnest in the 1990s, is pouring $80m into a new brewery in Uganda, doubling the capacity of its Nile Breweries subsidiary. It also brings the ...
February 8, 2012
Brown University, the Ivy League school whose endowment grew to $2.5 billion last year, may boost voluntary tax payments to Providence, Rhode Island, after the city said it was nearing bankruptcy.
Governor Lincoln Chafee last week intervened to restart talks over the university’s so-called payments in lieu of taxes after Mayor Angel Taveras, 41, said Providence was about to run out of cash. While Brown is tax exempt, it has...
February 8, 2012
Much of the camera technology was invented in the United States, but US companies gave it all up.
When American companies move pieces of their operations overseas—often because manufacturing and labor costs are much cheaper—they run the risk of moving the expertise, innovation, and new growth opportunities just out of their reach as well.
Take Eastman Kodak, for example, the 120-year-old American company that filed for...
February 6, 2012
Just because he belongs to it himself does not make Newt Gingrich wrong when he grumbles that America is run by an out-of-touch elite. If you want evidence, the data can now be found in a book published this week by Charles Murray, the co-author in 1994 of “The Bell Curve”, which became controversial for positing a link between race and intelligence. That controversy should not deter you. “Coming Apart: The State of White...
February 3, 2012
Stocks rose after the U.S. economy added more jobs than expected last month, driving the Nasdaq Composite to an 11-year high and sending the Dow near its highest reading in nearly four years.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 135 points, or 1.1%, to 12838, just shy of the 12876 level reached in May 2008. The Standard & Poor's 500 index tacked on 16 points, or 1.2%, to 1342 and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index...
February 3, 2012
In a new round of seizures the US authorities have taken control of domain names belonging to several popular sports streaming sites including Firstrowsports.tv, Firstrowsports.com and Soccertvlive.net.
All affected sites now redirect to a notice from DOJ/ICE. In common with last year’s campaign, the new round of seizures appears to be part of another “Super Bowl Crackdown” targeting sites that link to unauthorized sports...
February 2, 2012
The US Senate has approved a bill seeking to ban insider trading by members of Congress.
Under current rules, lawmakers can trade stock unrestricted even though they may have specialist knowledge.
The bill, passed by a bipartisan 96-3 vote, would require them to file disclosures of trades within 30 days.
Congress is suffering from historically low approval ratings, prompting frank admissions that the bill is aimed at cleaning up...
February 2, 2012
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has a lot on his mind these days, from cutting the defense budget to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. But his biggest worry is the growing possibility that Israel will attack Iran over the next few months.
Panetta believes there is a strong likelihood that Israel will strike Iran in April, May or June — before Iran enters what Israelis described as a “zone of...
February 2, 2012
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the economy has shown signs of improvement while remaining vulnerable to shocks, and he called on lawmakers to reduce the long-term U.S. budget deficit.
“Fortunately, over the past few months, indicators of spending, production, and job-market activity have shown some signs of improvement,” Bernanke said today, according to prepared testimony to the House...
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