Japanese airlines ground Dreamliners

Japan's two leading airlines grounded their fleets of Boeing 787s on Wednesday after one of the Dreamliner passenger jets made an emergency landing, the latest in a series of incidents to heighten safety concerns over a plane many see as the future of commercial aviation.

Shares in the Chicago-based Boeing Co. were down 4.4 percent in premarket trading on the news.

All Nippon Airways Co. said instruments aboard a domestic flight indicated a battery error, triggering emergency warnings to the pilots. Shigeru Takano, a senior safety official at the Civil Aviation Bureau, said a second warning light indicated smoke.

Wednesday's incident, described by a transport ministry official as "highly serious" - language used in international safety circles as indicating there could have been an accident -- is the latest in a line of mishaps -- fuel leaks, a battery fire, wiring problem, brake computer glitch and cracked cockpit window - to hit the world's first mainly carbon-composite airliner in recent days.

"I think you're nearing the tipping point where they need to regard this as a serious crisis," said Richard Aboulafia, a senior analyst with the Teal Group inFairfax, Virginia. "This is going to change people's perception of the aircraft if they don't act quickly."

ANA, which said the battery in the forward cargo hold was the same lithium-ion type as one involved in a fire on another Dreamliner at a U.S. airport last week, grounded all 17 of its 787s, and Japan Airlines Co suspended its 787 flights scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

The two airlines, which operate around half of the 50 Dreamliners delivered to date, said they would decide on Thursday whether to resume Dreamliner flights the following day.

COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW

The 787, which has a list price of $207 million, represents a leap in the way planes are designed and built, but the project has been plagued by cost overruns and years of delays. Some have suggested Boeing's rush to get planes built after those delays resulted in the recent problems, a charge the company strenuously denies.

Both the U.S.Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said they were monitoring the latest incident as part of a comprehensive review of the Dreamliner announced late last week.

ALARM TRIGGERED

ANA flight 692 left Yamaguchi in western Japan shortly after 8 a.m. local time (2300 GMT Tuesday) bound for Haneda Airport near Tokyo, a 65-minute flight. About 18 minutes into the flight, the plane descended and made an emergency landing 16 minutes later, according to flight-tracking website Flightaware.com.

A spokesman for Osaka airport authority said the plane landed at Takamatsu at 8:45 a.m. All 129 passengers and eight crew evacuated via the plane's inflatable chutes. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said five people were slightly injured.

At a news conference - where ANA's vice-president Osamu Shinobe bowed deeply in apology - the carrier said a battery in the forward cargo hold triggered emergency warnings to the pilots, who decided on the emergency action. "There was a battery alert in the cockpit and there was an odd smell detected in the cockpit and cabin, and (the pilot) decided to make an emergency landing," Shinobe said.

In a statement later, ANA said the main battery in the forward electrical equipment bay was discolored and there were signs of leakage.

Passengers leaving the flight told local TV there was an odor like burning plastic on the plane as soon as it took off. "There was a bad smell as soon as we started and before we made the emergency landing there was an announcement and the stewardess' voice was shaking, so I thought this was serious," one passenger toldTBS TV.

Another man told a local broadcaster: "There was a strong, burning smell, but the smoke appeared after they opened the emergency doors, after we landed."

Marc Birtel, a Boeing spokesman, told Reuters: "We've seen the reports, we're aware of the events and are working with our customer."

Robert Stallard, analyst at RBC Capital Markets, said lost revenue at the Japanese airlines could prompt compensation from Boeing. "What started as a series of relatively minor, isolated incidents now threatens to overhang Boeing until it can return confidence, and this looks to be a near-term challenge given the media's draw to all things 787," he said.

UNDER REVIEW

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Police locate mother of boy found on streets of West Englewood

Police have located the mother of a young boy who was found running down the sidewalk in the West Englewood neighborhood overnight. (Chicago Police Department / January 15, 2013)

Staff report

9:11 a.m. CST, January 15, 2013

Police have located the mother of a young boy who was found running down the sidewalk in the West Englewood neighborhood overnight.

Police issued an alert after someone called police shortly before 11:30 p.m. Monday and reported finding the boy in the 7200 block of South Hermitage Avenue, police said. The mother arrived at the Englewood police station this morning and was speaking with detectives, police said.

"The tears are flowing," a police official said.

The boy, believed to be about 3 or 4 years old, was evaluated at a hospital and released into the custody of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. He was not able to tell police what his name is or who his parents are, Chicago Police Department News Affairs Officer Ron Gaines said.

The boy was wearing a black down coat, a red Nike hooded sweatshirt and a black winter hat with the word "Obama" on it. He was also wearing black and white Adidas gym shoes and blue jeans inscribed with the words "D.J. Bottoms," police said.

It was unclear how long the boy had been outside, police said. But despite the bitter cold -- it was 19 degrees at Midway Airport at 11 p.m., according to the National Weather Service -- the boy was determined to be in good condition.

chicagobreaking@tribune.com

Twitter: @ChicagoBreaking

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Tata Consultancy says demand in U.S. strong across segments

MUMBAI/BANGALORE (Reuters) – India’s top software services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) said demand in the key U.S. market is strong across its business segments, with regional banks stepping up spending on technology.

The Mumbai-based company said on Monday that profit jumped 23 percent in the quarter ended December, beating analysts‘ expectations. TCS also gave an upbeat growth outlook, sending its shares up the most in more than eight months and prompting analyst upgrades on the stock.

Economic uncertainty in the United States had fuelled investor worry that clients may keep their IT budgets tight and postpone decision-making on technology spending.

“The U.S. is still a growth market,” Chief Financial Officer S Mahalingam told Reuters in an interview at his Mumbai office on Tuesday. “If it sneezes then we have got a big problem. (But) the demand is very good across all segments.”

The United States accounts for about half of TCS’ revenue, compared with more than 60 percent overall for India’s $ 100 billion outsourcing industry.

Banks, insurers and other financial services clients usually account for more than a third of the revenue at companies such as TCS’ rival Infosys Ltd , where better-than-expected results on Friday and an increased revenue outlook powered a 20 percent rise in its shares over two sessions.

“(The) U.S. economy has regional banks as well, and they are starting to spend. So there is growth,” Mahalingam said.

While Monday’s results prompted analysts from HSBC and CLSA to increase their ratings on TCS stock, some analysts said volume growth was not especially impressive.

Volumes, or billable hours, rose 1.25 percent on a sequential basis, while revenue in dollar terms increased 3.3 percent over the September quarter.

“The key disappointment was soft volume growth of 1.25 percent quarter-on-quarter. However, we remain assured by management’s optimistic outlook on FY14 growth,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note to clients.

(Editing by Tony Munroe and Ryan Woo)

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HMV’s future seen as handful of stores and website

LONDON (Reuters) – HMV, the 92-year-old British music retailer seeking protection from creditors, is unlikely to have much of a future beyond a rump of stores and the internet, if other recent retail failures are any guide.

After years of struggling as its core business of selling CDs and DVDs was hammered by competition from supermarkets like Tesco, online retailers like Amazon and download sites like Apple’s iTunes, HMV picked consultants Deloitte late on Monday to try to salvage some of its 239 British and Irish stores.

The decision, which puts 4,500 jobs at risk, is the latest blow to an industry which has seen a string of household names like Woolworths, MFI, JJB Sports and Comet fall by the wayside in a prolonged consumer downturn.

HMV, known for its Nipper the Dog trademark, will continue to trade while a purchaser is sought.

Chief Executive Trevor Moore, who only joined the firm in September, said on Tuesday he was confident it would emerge from the administration process in some form.

“We know that HMV is a well loved brand which has a high level of support amongst the public and we want to ensure that it remains on the high street,” he told reporters.

He had “a plan in mind” that would see the firm surviving with a stores presence along with a new digital and online offer, though he would not elaborate or say what the optimum size of the store estate should be.

SHAME

“It’s a shame, it’s been around so long. It’s like a bookstore – it’s nice to go and browse and feel them (CDs and DVDs), I’d miss it,” said Paul Wood, shopping at an HMV store in Canary Wharf, London.

However other shoppers, typifying HMV’s problems, said they were just looking before buying from cheaper outlets online.

Neil Saunders, managing director at retail consultancy Conlumino, said potential buyers could be interested in running the brand online or through some of its larger stores.

“I think it’s a good brand with a good emotional connection and I think someone will want it. And someone will be interested in acquiring a rump of stores because there are some that trade profitably within the group,” he told Reuters.

“A lot of the grocers have their own download services or mail order services so there could be interest from an existing player who just wants to use that name. Private equity may also see it as an opportunity.”

One that will not is U.S. private equity firm Apollo Global Management LLC. It holds some of HMV’s debt but ruled itself out of a takeover move on Monday.

The backing of suppliers – like music labels which look to HMV as one of the last major outposts for sales on shopping streets – has been crucial to the firm, and support remains.

“We are very supportive of them because they have been great trading partners,” said Universal Music, the world’s biggest music company.

But lenders and stakeholders were not prepared to strike another refinancing deal with HMV – whose 176 million pounds of debt as of October 27 dwarfs its market value of about 5 million.

“SEVERELY REDUCED”

“I think there is probably still some traction in having a presence on the high street but it would have to be severely reduced to be much more cost effective,” said Maureen Hilton at retail researchers Verdict. “There might be some attraction from investors if they can just pick which stores they have. Otherwise I think it will just become an online offer.”

Any residual presence online would see HMV following variety stores group Woolworths and rival entertainment group Zavvi.

Other collapsed retailers have managed to sell some stores, particularly to supermarket groups growing their convenience shopping businesses, though few have survived to trade under their own brands beyond a handful of outlets.

HMV, whose first store on London’s Oxford Street was opened by English composer Edward Elgar in 1921, grew to become a musical powerhouse, selling vinyl records, tapes and CDs to generations and had a hand in the Beatles’ big break, recommending the group’s demo record to publishers.

But it struggled to reinvent itself when its core markets went into decline, with expansion into live entertainment and books failing to change its fortunes and a recent push towards tablets and headphones coming too late.

In 2006 HMV’s board rejected an 842 million pounds bid from private equity firm Permira, saying it undervalued the group.

(Additional reporting by Kate Holton and Jonathan Cable; Editing by Mark Potter)

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Personal Best: Training Insights From Star Athletes

Of course elite athletes are naturally gifted. And of course they train hard and may have a phalanx of support staff — coaches, nutritionists, psychologists.

But they often have something else that gives them an edge: an insight, or even an epiphany, that vaults them from the middle of the pack to the podium.

I asked several star athletes about the single realization that made the difference for them. While every athlete’s tale is intensely personal, it turns out there are some common themes.

Stay Focused

Like many distance swimmers who spend endless hours in the pool, Natalie Coughlin, 30, used to daydream as she swam laps. She’d been a competitive swimmer for almost her entire life, and this was the way she — and many others — managed the boredom of practice.

But when she was in college, she realized that daydreaming was only a way to get in the miles; it was not allowing her to reach her potential. So she started to concentrate every moment of practice on what she was doing, staying focused and thinking about her technique.

“That’s when I really started improving,” she said. “The more I did it, the more success I had.”

In addition to her many victories, Ms. Coughlin won five medals in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, including a gold medal in the 100-meter backstroke.

Manage Your ‘Energy Pie’

In 1988, Steve Spence, then a 25-year-old self-coached distance runner, was admitted into the United States Long Distance Runner Olympic Development Program. It meant visiting David Martin, a physiologist at Georgia State University, several times a year for a battery of tests to measure Mr. Spence’s progress and to assess his diet.

During dinner at Dr. Martin’s favorite Chinese restaurant, he gave Mr. Spence some advice.

“There are always going to be runners who are faster than you,” he said. “There will always be runners more talented than you and runners who seem to be training harder than you. The key to beating them is to train harder and to learn how to most efficiently manage your energy pie.”

Energy pie? All the things that take time and energy — a job, hobbies, family, friends, and of course athletic training. “There is only so much room in the pie,” said Mr. Spence.

Dr. Martin’s advice was “a lecture on limiting distractions,” he added. “If I wanted to get to the next level, to be competitive on the world scene, I had to make running a priority.” So he quit graduate school and made running his profession. “I realized this is what I am doing for my job.”

It paid off. He came in third in the 1991 marathon world championships in Tokyo. He made the 1992 Olympic marathon team, coming in 12th in the race. Now he is head cross-country coach and assistant track coach at Shippensburg University in Pennsylvania. And he tells his teams to manage their energy pies.

Structure Your Training

Meredith Kessler was a natural athlete. In high school, she played field hockey and lacrosse. She was on the track team and the swimming team. She went to Syracuse University on a field hockey scholarship.

Then she began racing in Ironman triathlons, which require athletes to swim 2.4 miles, cycle 112 miles and then run a marathon (26.2 miles). Ms. Kessler loved it, but she was not winning any races. The former sports star was now in the middle of the pack.

But she also was working 60 hours a week at a San Francisco investment bank and trying to spend time with her husband and friends. Finally, six years ago, she asked Matt Dixon, a coach, if he could make her a better triathlete.

One thing that turned out to be crucial was to understand the principles of training. When she was coaching herself, Ms. Kessler did whatever she felt like, with no particular plan in mind. Mr. Dixon taught her that every workout has a purpose. One might focus on endurance, another on speed. And others, just as important, are for recovery.

“I had not won an Ironman until he put me on that structure,” said Ms. Kessler, 34. “That’s when I started winning.”

Another crucial change was to quit her job so she could devote herself to training. It took several years — she left banking only in April 2011 — but it made a huge difference. Now a professional athlete, with sponsors, she has won four Ironman championships and three 70.3 kilometer championships.

Ms. Kessler’s parents were mystified when she quit her job. She reminded them that they had always told her that it did not matter if she won. What mattered was that she did her best. She left the bank, she said, “to do my best.”

Take Risks

Helen Goodroad began competing as a figure skater when she was in fourth grade. Her dream was to be in the Olympics. She was athletic and graceful, but she did not really look like a figure skater. Ms. Goodroad grew to be 5 feet 11 inches.

“I was probably twice the size of any competitor,” she said. “I had to have custom-made skates starting when I was 10 years old.”

One day, when Helen was 17, a coach asked her to try a workout on an ergometer, a rowing machine. She was a natural — her power was phenomenal.

“He told me, ‘You could get a rowing scholarship to any school. You could go to the Olympics,’ ” said Ms. Goodroad. But that would mean giving up her dream, abandoning the sport she had devoted her life to and plunging into the unknown.

She decided to take the chance.

It was hard and she was terrified, but she got a rowing scholarship to Brown. In 1993, Ms. Goodroad was invited to train with the junior national team. Three years later, she made the under-23 national team, which won a world championship. (She rowed under her maiden name, Betancourt.)

It is so easy to stay in your comfort zone, Ms. Goodroad said. “But then you can get stale. You don’t go anywhere.” Leaving skating, leaving what she knew and loved, “helped me see that, ‘Wow, I could do a whole lot more than I ever thought I could.’ ”

Until this academic year, when she had a baby, Ms. Goodroad, who is 37, was a rowing coach at Princeton. She still runs to stay fit and plans to return to coaching.

The Other Guy Is Hurting Too

In 2006, when Brian Sell was racing in the United States Half Marathon Championships in Houston, he had a realization.

“I was neck-and-neck with two or three other guys with two miles to go,” he said. He started to doubt himself. What was he doing, struggling to keep up with men whose race times were better than his?

Suddenly, it came to him: Those other guys must be hurting as much as he was, or else they would not be staying with him — they would be pulling away.

“I made up my mind then to hang on, no matter what happened or how I was feeling,” said Mr. Sell. “Sure enough, in about half a mile, one guy dropped out and then another. I went on to win by 15 seconds or so, and every race since then, if a withering surge was thrown in, I made every effort to hang on to the guy surging.”

Mr. Sell made the 2008 Olympic marathon team and competed in the Beijing Olympics, where he came in 22nd. Now 33 years old, he is working as a scientist at Lancaster Laboratories in Pennsylvania.

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This post has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: January 15, 2013

An earlier version of this post misstated the year in which Steve Spence competed in the Olympic marathon, finishing 12th. It was 1992, not 2004. It also misidentified the institution at which he is a coach. It is Shippensburg University, not Shippensburg College.

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Emanuel says city pension funds should divest from gun makers

"We're going to divest of any investment in any gun manufacturer:" Mayor Rahm Emanuel. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune) / January 14, 2013)

By Katherine Skiba




Tribune reporter

9:01 a.m. CST, January 14, 2013

WASHINGTON -- Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Monday he was requesting all city pension funds to divest any investments they have in gun manufacturers.

"We're going to divest of any investment in any gun manufacturer," he said.

He said he would lead a charge of mayors across the country urging them to do the same.

Emanuel spoke at the Center for American Progress Action Fund and called for a comprehensive approach to gun control.

The divestment was one of the steps he embraced. It wasn't immediately clear how much, if any, city pension funds have invested in gun manufacturers, so it's possible the move could be symbolic.

The comments came as Chicago battles continued gun violence. Last year, homicides jumped 16 percent in Chicago to 506.

The Illinois General Assembly failed to pass an assault weapons ban in the recently concluded lame-duck session. Last month, a federal appeals court threw out the state's decades-old ban on concealed carrying of a weapon in public.

kskiba@tribune.com

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RIM says 15,000 BlackBerry 10 apps submitted in under two days

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Famed Hollywood movie house renamed TCL Chinese Theatre

(Reuters) – Hollywood’s landmark Grauman’s Chinese Theatre has a new name after a Chinese company purchased naming rights to the famous movie house and tourist destination.

The one-time site of the Academy awards will now be called the TCL Chinese Theatre following a 10-year deal with Chinese TV maker TCL Corp, its owners said on Friday.

Opened in 1927, the building had been named for Sid Grauman, a Hollywood showman who helped finance the theater’s construction. The theater hosted red-carpet premieres for “The Wizard of Oz” and other classic films and now is the site of about 40 movie premieres annually.

The landmark draws about 4 million viewers each year. It is fronted by an ornate Chinese pagoda and the hand and footprints of famous film stars captured in cement.

The deal with TCL will fund upgrades and preservation of the historic site, theater owners Elie Samaha and Donald Kushner said in a statement.

(Reporting By Lisa Richwine)

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Well: Calling All Cauliflower

At my house we eat cauliflower like popcorn. Using a simple recipe from Alice Waters, we slice it thin, toss in olive oil and salt, and roast. One head of cauliflower is never enough.

This week in Recipes for Health, Martha Rose Shulman takes us on a trip to Sicily, where cauliflower is a favorite food. She writes:

Every once in a while I revisit the cuisine of a particular part of the world (usually it is located somewhere in the Mediterranean). This week I landed in Sicily. I was nosing around my cookbooks for some cauliflower recipes and opened my friend and colleague Clifford A. Wright’s very first cookbook, “Cucina Paradiso: The Heavenly Food of Sicily.” The cuisine of this island is unique, with many Arab influences – lots of sweet spices, sweet and savory combinations, saffron, almonds and other nuts. Sicilians even have a signature couscous dish, a fish couscous they call Cuscusù.

Cauliflower is a favorite vegetable there, though the variety used most often is the light green cauliflower that we can find in some farmers’ markets in the United States. I adapted a couple of Mr. Wright’s pasta recipes, changing them mainly by reducing the amount of olive oil and anchovies enough to reduce the sodium and caloric values significantly without sacrificing the flavor and character of the dishes.

I didn’t just look to Sicily for recipes for this nutrient-rich cruciferous vegetable, but I didn’t stray very far. One recipe comes from Italy’s mainland, and another, a baked cauliflower frittata, is from its close neighbor Tunisia, fewer than 100 miles away across the Strait of Sicily.

Here are five new ways to cook with cauliflower.

Sicilian Pasta With Cauliflower: Raisins or currants and saffron introduce a sweet element into the savory and salty mix.

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Baked Ziti With Cauliflower: A delicious baked macaroni dish that has a lot more going for it nutritionally than mac and cheese.

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Cauliflower and Tuna Salad: Tuna adds a new element to a classic Italian antipasto of cauliflower and capers dressed with vinegar and olive oil.

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Tunisian Style Baked Cauliflower Frittata: A lighter and simpler version of an authentic Tunisian frittata.

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Sicilian Cauliflower and Black Olive Gratin: A simple gratin that is traditionally made with green cauliflower, but is equally delicious with the easier-to-obtain white variety.

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Japanese airline's grounded 787 leaks fuel in tests

The FAA stepped in Friday to assure the public that Boeing's new 787 "Dreamliner" is safe to fly. The AP spoke with Kevin Hiatt, Flight Safety Foundation CEO & President, who says mechanical issues with new aircrafts are not uncommon. (Jan. 11)

Reuters

9:22 a.m. CST, January 13, 2013

Tokyo—

Japan Airlines Co (JAL) said on Sunday that a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jet undergoing checks in Tokyo following a fuel leak at Boston airport last week had leaked fuel during tests earlier in the day.

An open valve on the aircraft caused fuel to leak from a nozzle on the left wing used to remove fuel, a company spokeswoman said. The jet is out of service after spilling about 40 gallons of fuel onto the airport taxiway in Boston due to a separate valve-related problem.

In Boston, a different valve on the plane opened, causing fuel to flow from the centre tank to the left main tank. When that tank filled up, it overflowed into a surge tank and out through a vent.

The causes of both the incidents are unknown, the JAL spokeswoman added.

There is no timetable for the plane to return to service.

On Friday, the U.S. government ordered a wide-ranging review of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner, citing concern over a fire and other problems, but insisted the passenger jet was still safe to fly.

JAL and local rival All Nippon Airways Co fly 24 of the 49 Dreamliners delivered to end-December.

(Reporting by James Topham; Editing by Jeremy Laurence and Catherine Evans)

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