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American Securities has completed its $38 per share tender offer for GenTek Inc. (Nasdaq: GETI), a Parsippany, N.J.-based maker of inorganic chemical products and valve actuation systems and components for automotive and heavy-duty engines. The acquisition is expected to close shortly, at a total value of approximately $673 million (including $262m of assumed debt and liabilities).

PRESS RELEASE
ASP GT Holding Corp. and ASP GT Acquisition Corp., wholly-owned subsidiaries of investment funds managed by American Securities LLC, a private equity firm, announced today the successful completion of the tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of GenTek Inc. ASP GT Holding Corp. intends to complete the acquisition of GenTek promptly.

The tender offer and withdrawal rights expired at 12:00 Midnight, New York City time, on Tuesday, October 27, 2009. The depositary for the tender offer has advised that, as of the expiration time, approximately 9,593,530 shares (including approximately 302,891 shares subject to guarantees of delivery) were validly tendered and not withdrawn, representing approximately 93% of all outstanding shares. All shares that were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn have been accepted for purchase. ASP GT Acquisition Corp. will promptly pay for such shares, at the offer price of $38.00 per share, net to the seller in cash, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes.

ASP GT Holding Corp. intends to effect a “short-form” merger under Delaware law and GenTek will become a direct, wholly-owned subsidiary of ASP GT Holding Corp. As a result of the merger, any shares of GenTek common stock not tendered will be cancelled and (except for shares held in the treasury of GenTek or by GenTek’s subsidiaries, ASP GT Holding Corp. or ASP GT Acquisition Corp., or shares for which appraisal rights are properly demanded) will be converted into the right to receive the same $38.00 in cash per share, without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes, that was paid in the tender offer.

Following the merger, GenTek common stock will cease to be traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

About American Securities LLC

Headquartered in New York with an office in Shanghai, American Securities LLC is a U.S. middle-market private equity firm that invests in market-leading companies in North America with annual revenues generally ranging between $100 million to $1 billion. Investments are funded from more than $6 billion of committed capital. The firm traces its roots to the family office founded in 1947 by William Rosenwald to invest and manage his share of his family’s Sears, Roebuck & Co. fortune. More information on American Securities LLC can be found at www.american-securities.com.

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EQT Partners has agreed to acquire Bulgarian cable television companies Eurocom and CableTel, at a combined enterprise value of more than €200 million. It plans to merge the companies and invest additional capital, alongside current CableTel shareholder Ron Finley.

PRESS RELEASE

The total enterprise value of the two transactions amounts to more than EUR 200 million, which sets the deal among the most significant transactions in the sector for 2009.

EQT V, a leading European private equity fund, has agreed to acquire Bulgaria’s two leading cable TV operators, Eurocom and CableTel. EQT V intends to merge the two entities, invest into the new company together with CableTel’s current shareholder Ron Finley and create a major player in the Bulgarian digital TV and broadband markets.

“We see great potential in the Bulgarian market as both digital TV and broadband are gaining ground fast. With our strong experience in the industry, we believe that by working together with the new company and its management we can drive both growth and technical innovation in the sector which today is fragmented”, says Piotr Czapski, Partner at EQT Partners, advisor to EQT V.

EQT has a strong track record of fostering growth and value creation in the more than 70 companies that it has invested in over the last 14 years. EQT has previously developed Swedish cable TV operators StjärnTV and Com Hem into leading local providers of digital TV, broadband and telephony – so called triple play. Currently, EQT owns a leading German cable TV operator Kabel BW which has recorded significant growth and successfully developed the triple play concept in Germany.

EQT V is acquiring 100% of the shares in Eurocom from US-based private equity house Warburg Pincus. At the same time, EQT V acquires 70% of the shares in CableTel from Gene Phillips. CableTel’s other shareholder Ron Finley will remain minority shareholder by rolling over his 30% shareholding in CableTel into the merged company and investing further equity.

The merged company will be the clear market leader in both Bulgaria and Macedonia with annual revenues of approximately EUR 70 million and some 0.5 million households connected to the network.

The Bulgarian cable TV market is fragmented and digital TV and broadband penetration rates are lower than in the European Union as a whole. EQT V intends, together with the new company’s management and other shareholders, to accelerate the move into digital TV, broadband and telephony services by continuously investing into and offering a broad range of new and competitive services in combination with superior customer service.

“To drive this development of both the merged company and the market as a whole investment is needed in the networks and the operations. With the support and financial backing from EQT V and their strong experience in the industry we will be extremely well positioned to not only benefit from the development but also being a driving force. For the customers of Eurocom and CableTel this means new and attractive services at very competitive prices and first-class customer care,” says Istvan Polony, CEO of Eurocom who will also become CEO of the combined company.

For at least two months after the merger announcement the two companies Eurocom and CableTel will continue operating as separate market entities and the services they offer now will be provided throughout this period. The operational integration of the two companies and the impact on customers in terms of new products and services will be announced separately. A merger between the two companies with one majority shareholder has been approved by the Bulgarian competition authorities.

ING Bank acted as financial advisor to EQT V in these transactions.

The transactions mark EQT V’s first and second investment in Central and Eastern Europe. Central and Eastern Europe is an important market for EQT and is covered by an advisory office opened in Warsaw, Poland, in 2008.

“While the ongoing global recession has slowed the activity in the whole private equity sector we continue to see very interesting and attractive opportunities in the Central and Eastern European economies. These investments are expected to be followed by further investments over the coming years”, continues Piotr Czapski.

About EQT

EQT is a group of leading private equity funds with operations in Northern Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, USA and Asia. EQT manages funds active within buy-outs, growth financing and infrastructure. EQT deploys a unique approach to investing, utilizing a vast network of industrialists to identify and develop companies. EQT’s model is based on clear corporate governance. The EQT funds mainly acquire or finance market leaders with considerable growth potential.

EQT acts as a catalyst for change in the companies that the funds invest in. The companies develop into market leading players through genuine and sustainable operational improvements. EQT has raised approximately EUR 13 billion in 12 funds, which have invested approximately EUR 7 billion in more than 70 companies. EQT owned companies employ more than 500,000 employees.

Since EQT Equity´s first acquisition in 1995, the average revenue growth in its portfolio companies has been 13% annually, the number of employees has increased by 12% annually and earnings by 20% annually. More than 90% of the historic value creation in the 31 fully exited companies is attributable to growth, strategic repositioning and increased earnings.

EQT Partners is advisor to all EQT funds and has more than 100 investment professionals with an extensive industrial and financial competence. EQT Partners has offices in Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Hong Kong, London, Munich, New York, Oslo, Shanghai, Stockholm, Warsaw and Zurich. EQT Partners Warsaw office covers the Central and Eastern Europe region.

About CableTel

CableTel is a new generation cable telecommunication operator. Founded in 1999 with the name CableTel Bulgaria, the company became a considerable player in the cable TV, telephony and internet services market after the entering of strategic international investors in 2003.

CableTel owns and operates the largest hybrid coaxial-optical cable network in Bulgaria reaching 23 cities. The company is also the undisputed cable market leader in Macedonia.

About Eurocom

Eurocom Cable Management Bulgaria is a telecommunication operator, which offers integrated communication home services – cable TV, digital TV, HDTV, Internet and telephony. The company owns the biggest optical – coaxial network in the country with 90% coverage in the capital and full coverage in Plovdiv and Pleven, as well as Gabrovo, Pazardjik and Kiustendil.

Eurocom is one of the co-organizers of the project Children Safe in Internet, which aims to inform parents and children about the rules for safety browsing on the Internet.

EQT V is part of EQT, a group of private equity funds that has raised approximately €13 billion in 12 funds. EQT Partners, acting as investment advisor to all EQT funds, has offices in Stockholm, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Hong Kong, Oslo, London, Munich, New York, Shanghai, Warsaw and Zurich. EQT funds realise their business concept by acquiring, financing and developing high-quality medium-sized companies in Northern and Eastern Europe, North America and Asia. EQT serves as an active owner and works in close cooperation with the management of the companies it acquires, to develop and implement value-enhancing strategies. In total EQT funds have invested in more than 70 companies.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com

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Activaero GmbH, a German developer of controlled breathing devices for inhaled therapeutic agents, has raised €10.7 million in Series A funding. BioMedPartners led the round, and was joined by VI Partners, Abalis Finance AG and Vesalius Biocapital. MedVenture Partners served as placement agent.

PRESS RELEASE

Activaero GmbH, the leading company in the field of controlled breathing technologies for inhaled therapeutic agents, announced today the closing of a Series A financing totalling € 10.7 Million ($16 million). The international consortium was led by BioMedPartners AG (advising BioMedInvest LP II) and included VI Partners AG, Abalis Finance AG and Vesalius Biocapital I SICAR S.A.. The transaction was advised by MedVenture Partners GmbH.

The financing enables the Company to further develop its proprietary inhalation devices and strengthen business development activities for Activaero’s leading controlled inhalation technologies.

“Securing venture capital support for Activaero is important for our strategy to further increase visibility and awareness within the pharmaceutical industry and provide superior products and technologies to our collaboration partners. Therefore, we are delighted to have closed this financing round with such a consortium of leading Life Sciences investors,” said Gerhard Scheuch, Chief Executive Officer of Activaero. “The development and commercialization of our products and technology is now securely funded going forward.”

“Activaero has an outstanding expertise and reputation in the field of controlled inhalation. We are convinced that the strength of the unique technology combined with the experience of the team makes Activaero a very attractive investment and we are glad to be able to support Activaero in its further development and commercialization stages,” commented Gerhard Ries, General Partner at BioMedPartners.

At the same time, Gerhard Ries of BioMedPartners, Arnd Kaltofen of VI Partners, Jean-Marie Luechinger of Abalis Finance, Christian Schneider of Vesalius Biocapital Partners and John Patton, founder of Nektar, have all joined Activaero’s Supervisory Board.

***

About Activaero GmbH
Activaero is the leading company in the field of controlled breathing technologies for inhaled therapeutic agents. With stand alone inhalation products and inhalation systems available for clinical trials and marketing partnerships, Activaero’s technologies allow for the most precise and efficient patient-tailored pulmonary delivery. Activaero currently has two products on the market, AKITA®, a patient-tailored controlled breathing system with a smartcard that records the patient dosing parameters, and Watchhaler™, a hand held delivery system tailored specifically to children. The Company also has available a range of technologies ideal for the controlled delivery of inhaled therapeutics in the clinical trial setting and tailored to specific partnerships (AKITA2®, LimiX™). Finally, Activaero works with partners on a consultancy basis in the development of ideal inhaled delivery systems and the logistics in clinical trials. Activaero’s technological approach has been validated repeatedly in the clinical setting. The Company is privately held and located in Gemünden (Wohra) and Munich in Germany and Dublin, Ohio in the USA.

About Abalis Finance AG
Abalis Finance AG is an independent Swiss Holding Company focused on financing market growth of successful companies in the field of Pharmaceuticals, Life Science and Med Tech The company takes participations but grants under certain circumstances credits as well. Along with the financial participation Abalis plays an active role in the companies it supports by sharing its knowledge. The management has the longstanding successful international experience in the development and marketing of originator as well as generic pharmaceuticals.
Abalis Finance AG also owns and operates Abalis Pharma AG which is active in the development, marketing and licensing of value added pharmaceutical product with a focus is on novel patentable solutions for solid dosage forms.

About BioMedPartners AG
BioMedPartners AG is a leading independent European venture capital firm, providing private equity and mezzanine financing to early- to mid-stage healthcare and Life Sciences companies. Since 2003, BioMedPartners has invested in more than 30 highly innovative companies, of which five have already either successfully completed an IPO (Arpida AG, Santhera Pharmaceuticals AG) or have been acquired by leading pharma companies (ESBATech AG, Glycart Biotechnology AG, Thommen Medical AG). Recently, BioMedPartners has announced the closing of its second BioMedInvest fund (BioMedInvest LP II) with a capital of around CHF 100 million. With more than CHF 250 million in capital under management and a strong team of experienced specialists and industry experts as well as an extensive scientific and financial network, BioMedPartners has established itself as one of the leading early-stage healthcare investors in Europe.

About Vesalius Biocapital Partners sàrl
Vesalius Biocapital Partners is a European venture capital firm that focuses on the creation and growth of pan-European early-stage life science companies. The managed Vesalius Biocapital funds invest in areas with a high unmet medical need and a significant profit potential: new therapeutics, cutting-edge medical devices, innovative drug delivery technologies and diagnostic tests and instruments with a high utility level. The expertise of the team ranges from extensive investment and exit experience to operational experience in general management, business development, product development, IP, and finance of start-ups and more mature life science companies. Furthermore, individual team members have in-depth technical insights and competitive scouting experience in the life science sector. For more information please see www.vesaliusbiocapital.com

About VI Partners AG
VI Partners is a Swiss venture capital firm that supports university spin-offs as well as other promising start-up companies with capital, coaching and networks. Via the current “Venture Incubator” fund VI Partners invests “smart money” to develop promising technology-based ideas for products and services into successful businesses. For additional information please visit: www.vipartners.ch

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Fortinet Inc., a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based network security provider, has set its IPO terms to 12 million common shares being offered at between $9 and $11 per share. It would have an initial market cap of approximately $708 million, were it to price at the high end of its range. 

The company plans to trade on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol FTNT, with Morgan Stanley, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank Securities serving as co-lead underwriters.

Fortinet has raised around $83 million in VC funding since 2002, from firms like Redpoint Ventures (15.2%) and Meritech Capital Partners (10.8%), Acorn Campus Ventures, DCM, Defta Partners and WI Harper Group. Last year the company earned $7.4 million on $211.8 million of revenue. www.fortinet.com

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WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) – Creditors to CCS Medical are hoping to reach agreement to bring the medical equipment supplier out of bankruptcy after a court rejected a plan backed by Highland Capital Management, a source said on Wednesday.

The plan to transfer the company’s ownership to creditors led by hedge funds of Highland Capital was rejected by Delaware Judge Christopher Sontchi last week for undervaluing the company.

The distributor of diabetes test strips and urological supplies had proposed transferring company ownership and $200 million in new debt to its first-lien lenders who were owed $350.3 million.

Second-lien secured lenders, who have claims of $112.8 million, opposed the plan which would have given them some cash or warrants for stock.

“The second-lien group hopes to work with the first-lien to effectively resolve this restructuring,” said the source close to the situation who declined to speak on the record because he was not authorized to do so.

Highland Capital, a hedge fund, is the largest holder of the company’s first- and second-lien debt, according to court documents.

Parties to the second-lien debt include Wachovia Bank as administrative agent, Bank of America (BAC.N) as syndication agent and JPMorgan Chase Bank (JPM.N) as documentation agent.

“The company is exploring all of its options,” said company spokesman Andy Brimmer.

At issue with the original plan was an analysis by financial advisors Goldman Sachs & Co, which valued the company at up to $286 million.

In rejecting the plan of reorganization, Sontchi questioned the methods used by Goldman.

“I really give in effect zero credence to the Goldman report,” Sontchi told a hearing last week. (Reporting by Thomas Hals; editing by Carol Bishopric)

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SYDNEY (Reuters) – Myer, Australia’s largest department store chain, raised A$2.2 billion ($2 billion) in the nation’s biggest IPO in two years, selling shares at the lower end of an indicative range, as institutional investors baulked at the rich valuation.

Myer said in a statement on Thursday its private equity owners TPG Capital and Blum Capital have sold out their entire stake in the IPO at A$4.10 each, confirming an earlier Reuters story based on sources with direct knowledge of the deal.

Myer’s IPO, the biggest Australian offer since the credit crisis hit, is seen as a litmus test for a flurry of other offers which are expected to come to market in the next few months.

Last week, outdoor-gear retailer Kathmandu launched a $349 million IPO while another retailer Ascendia is also planning a float next year. But Myer’s soft pricing would suggest difficult times for the gush of private equity offers.

“We think it’s too expensive,” said Richard Morris, investment manager at Constellation Capital Management, which decided not to buy shares in Myer.

“We’re conscious of the fact that department stores have been losing market share for a number of years…and also the fact that Myer are changing their strategy in terms of the shoppers they target,” he said, pointing to a move downmarket.

The IPO had been marketed in an indicative range of A$3.90-A$4.90 each. The offer price reflects price-to-earnings ratio of 15.1, Myer said in the statement.

Myer was priced cheaper than its main rival, David Jones (DJS.AX), which is trading at 17 times forecast earnings. UK department store Debenhams (DEB.L), also sold by TPG, is trading at 10.2 times forecast earnings while Japan’s Isetan Mitukoshi (3099.T) is trading at 17 times.

Myer will have about 581 million shares on issue, giving it a market value of about A$2.4 billion.

“Given the response from retail and institutional investors, and the preference expressed by investors…the TPG and Blum Capital investment company has decided to sell of its shares to satisfy some of the excess demand at the final price of A$4.10,” the statement added.

Myer, which will trade under the ticker MYR, is set to start trading on Monday.

Macquarie Capital (MQG.AX), Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) were joint lead managers to the offer.

TPG and Blum bought Myer for A$1.4 billion from Coles Group in 2006, and have spent more than A$370 million in updating logistics operations and renovating stores.

Myer has 65 stores across Australia, nearly double its upmarket rival David Jones’ 36 stores, and claims 3 million shoppers a week through its doors in a country of 21 million. ($1=A$1.11)

By Denny Thomas and Victoria Thieberger
(Additional reporting by Sonali Paul; editing by Mark Bendeich and Valerie Lee)

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HONG KONG (Reuters) – China Investment Corp (CIC), a near-$300 billion sovereign wealth fund, plans to invest $700 million in Hopu-backed Iron Mining International Ltd, a source told Reuters on Thursday.

The investment would be the Chinese fund’s second involvement this week in a Mongolian mining deal as it shifts its investment strategy to natural resources from financial institutions.

CIC’s [CIC.UL] investment in Iron Mining follows a $500 million deal with SouthGobi Energy Resources (SGQ.V) earlier this week.

The fund’s investments in Mongolian mining companies come after a recent change in Mongolian mining laws that have paved the way for foreign investment. Iron Mining International, part-owned by private equity firm Hopu and Singapore state investor Temasek [TEM.UL], plans to list shares in Hong Kong late this year or early next year, hoping to raise up to $1 billion.

CIC’s deal with Iron Mining International involves a $500 million convertible loan, with an option to increase the loan to $700 million, according to the Wall Street Journal.

CIC has asked Iron Mining, which owns and operates a Mongolian iron ore mine, to add partly-owned China International Capital Corp as an underwriter for the IPO, along with Credit Suisse, which was an early investor, the Journal reported.

Hopu, a China-focused private equity firm run by Fang Fenglei, chairman of Goldman Sachs’ (GS.N) securities joint venture in China, jointly invested $300 million with Temasek in International Mining, previously known as Lung Ming Investment Holdings Ltd.

Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) invested $120 million in the company at the time and private equity firm Clarity invested $20 million, according to the source, who was not authorised to speak publicly about the deal.

China’s robust economic growth and commercial property boom has made it the world’s largest iron ore buyer, consuming more than half its traded ore.

CIC, with more than $290 billion under management, has put more money into commodities, real estate and infrastructure to hedge against the risks of medium- and long-term inflation and a fall in major currencies.

Chairman Lou Jiwei said on Wednesday that CIC has invested about half its $110 billion in available funds, mainly in publicly traded assets, and has enjoyed “not bad” returns so far this year.

By Michael Flaherty and Farah Master
(Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

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The Android 2.0 news keeps on a comin’! According to HTC via Twitter, the Hero will be blessed with an Eclair software update although an exact release date has yet to be determined. All signs indicate HTC will forgo the 1.6 update and focus on getting the Sense UI tweaked for 2.0 and kicking on the Hero. First the DROID, now the Hero…what handset will be next to grab a little Eclair?

“The rumors are true! Hero will be getting an Eclair update. We ask for your patience as we update Sense for the fancy new Android OS.”

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Today’s headlines are all about the unveiling of the House health bill — expected later this morning.  

Finance Bill’s Fine Print May Cause Sticker Shock For Some Consumers
Proponents of the Senate Finance Committee’s health care bill say the legislation will limit the amount that lower- and middle-income people must pay for health insurance to a maximum of 12 percent of their incomes. But there’s a catch: The fine print shows that, over time, the premium costs could rise well beyond those caps. That’s because the cost of coverage would shift from a percentage of income to a percentage of the premium, no matter how high the premiums go (Kaiser Health News).

House Health-Care Reform Bill To Include Public Option
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will unveil a health-care reform bill on Thursday that includes a government insurance option and a historic expansion of Medicaid, although sticking points in the legislation involving abortion and immigration remain unresolved (The Washington Post).

House Health Compromise Has ‘Public Option’ With A Catch
Paving the way for a crucial vote on healthcare legislation in the next two weeks, House Democratic leaders plan to unveil a compromise bill today that would create a nationwide government-run insurance plan but omit what many liberals consider the key to cost control (Los Angeles Times).

Pelosi Hopes New Plan Is Poised To Pass
After months of contentious negotiating, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi prepared to unveil a retooled health care overhaul plan intended to bridge differences among Democrats and open a history-making floor debate on extending health insurance to nearly all Americans (The Associated Press/The Washington Post).

Pelosi Backs Off Having Set Rates For Public Option
Under pressure from moderate-to-conservative members of the House Democratic caucus, Speaker Nancy Pelosi has decided to propose a government-run insurance plan that would negotiate rates with doctors and hospitals, rather than using prices set by the government, aides said Wednesday (The New York Times).

Pelosi Chooses Healthcare Bill With Public Option Favored By Centrists
Speaker Nancy Pelosi is to unveil a health overhaul bill Thursday that includes the public health insurance option favored by her party’s centrists (The Hill).

House Health Debate Hits Crunch Time
During a recent closed-door Democratic Caucus meeting, the speaker interrupted Rep. Earl Pomeroy, one of three Democrats to vote against the bill on the Ways and Means Committee, as he stood to lodge a complaint about a potentially costly long-term care provision in the Senate package (Politico).

Most Liberals Can Live With Compromises
Speaker Nancy Pelosi will unveil a bill Thursday that falls short of the liberal vision of a public option — and the liberals, so far and somewhat surprisingly, are going along with that (Politico).

Reid’s Math: Liberal Fans Exceed Public-Plan Foes
Some of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s colleagues were surprised by his decision this week to include a government-run health-care plan in the Democrats’ bill. But the mathematics of the Senate suggest the motives for the Nevada Democrat’s gamble: While a handful of Democratic moderates don’t like the so-called public option, the liberals who support it easily outnumber them — and at least some of them warned Mr. Reid they would oppose a bill that didn’t include the option (The Wall Street Journal).

GOP Tells Businesses To Speak Up
Senate Republicans have grown frustrated with large and small business trade associations for not helping enough to oppose the Democratic healthcare overhaul (The Hill).

In China, Too, A Health-Care System In Disarray
Shen Baohou, 72, who once worked for a hydropower station in Sichuan province, has a serious heart problem, and he — and his children — are paying for it dearly (The Washington Post).

Shortage Of Vaccine Poses Political Test For Obama
The moment a novel strain of swine flu emerged in Mexico last spring, President Obama instructed his top advisers that his administration would not be caught flat-footed in the event of a deadly pandemic. Now, despite months of planning and preparation, a vaccine shortage is threatening to undermine public confidence in government, creating a very public test of Mr. Obama’s competence (The New York Times).

Sign up to receive this list of First Edition headlines via email. Check out all of Kaiser Health News’ email options including First Edition and Breaking News alerts on our Subscriptions page. 

Here is the original story I posted on AlArabiya.net about Emirates Airlines that I was forced to take down. Now that I am safely out of the country I wanted people to see what the story was all about. I removed the name of the first reporter upon her request since she still works at Al Arabiya and lives in Dubai.

Now, you’ll notice that we specifically did not point out the major conflict of interest in the last section and I didn’t use any of the quotes pointing out that because Maktoum is the head of the Aviation Authority that his airline therefore has carte blanche to do whatever it wants. I knew this would be crossing a “red line,” to highlight how incredibly ridiculous such a setup is. But the public should know if an airline is unsafe, if the authority charged with regulating airlines is unable to do so fairly and impartially. So, here you go, here’s the story that I was “made redundant” over. What do you think?

Pilots say airline puts commercial considerations before safety
Emirates airlines under fire for neglecting safety
DUBAI (Courtney C. Radsch)

Emirates Airlines came under fire Sunday after pilots complained it put commercial considerations ahead of safety and said that was the reason behind a near-fatal crash in Melbourne earlier this year, a charge the airline “strongly refuted.”

The unnamed pilots said they warned authorities three months before the incident about the problem of pilot fatigue and concern of inadequate crew rest facilities, Australia’s Sunday Herald Sun reported, citing documents obtained under United States Freedom of Information laws.

” Crews cannot get proper in-flight rest and suffer from fatigue and micro-sleep during the approach and landing phases on the Airbus A380 and on the A340-300 “ Australian paper quotes a pilot The pilots were also concerned about scheduling, working hours and their belief management was putting commercial considerations ahead of safety, the paper said. “Crews cannot get proper in-flight rest and suffer from fatigue and micro-sleep during the approach and landing phases on the Airbus A380 and on the A340-300,” the paper quoted the official complaint as saying. “There has been continuous pressure from the commercial department … flight safety is becoming increasingly impaired,” the complaint added. Emirates was hit hard by the financial crisis and recorded a loss of nearly a billion dollars last year. The airline ranks amongst the top ten in the world and has won several awards, including the largest airline in the Middle East.

Near-fatal crash ” The crew of EK 407 (Melbourne-Dubai, 20 March) were allocated a 24-hour layover in Melbourne – a sufficient time period to use the rest facilities provided “ Richard Vaughan Emirates airlines “strongly refuted” the report and questioned why none of the data it provided about the incident was reported in the article, which the airline blasted as “one-sided” and “based on statements from anonymous persons.” “The crew of EK 407 (Melbourne-Dubai, 20 March) were allocated a 24-hour layover in Melbourne – a sufficient time period to use the rest facilities provided,” Richard Vaughan, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President and Commercial Operations Worldwide, said in a statement released to Al Arabiya. “When it released its preliminary report on the event, the Australian Transport and Safety Bureau indicated it had not found any evidence to suggest fatigue was a causal factor,” Vaughan said, adding “Emirates reiterates its absolute commitment to safety.”

” Of course it’s a problem with safety “ Emirates Airline employee The incident in question happened in March when an Emirates jet narrowly escaped a fatal crash at Melbourne Airport after the captain, who had reportedly only slept for three-and-a-half hours over the past 24 hours, entered the wrong take-off weight into the plane’s computer. None of the crew or staff noticed the error and the plane, which was programmed to take off with 100 tons less than the actual weight on board, dragged its tail along the runway and almost failed to get airborne with 275 people on board. Upon returning to Dubai both pilots were handed letters of resignation and the airline said it had implemented new safety measures to stop something like that from happening again.

Pilots, crew fatigued ” The sad thing is that in the event of the worst happening it will be the fatigued pilots who will be in the dock, dead or alive, and not the people in management who dreamt up, approved and enforced the misguided policy “ Pilot According to the Australian paper, several complaints were lodged with the American regulator, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), three months before EK407 nearly crashed into a suburb. The FAA documents show that pilots complained to an Emirates’ senior vice president, Captain Ed Davidson, about fatigue. “I am very concerned that the commercial versus safety balance in this airline is tipping in the wrong direction,” a pilot was quoted as saying in the FAA document. “The sad thing is that in the event of the worst happening it will be the fatigued pilots who will be in the dock, dead or alive, and not the people in management who dreamt up, approved and enforced the misguided policy,” the pilot said. An Emirates Airline employee who requested anonymity because of concerns over job security told Al Arabiya that fatigue is problem with pilots and cabin crew, and that flight shifts are scheduled too close together. “We should take longer rests between such sectors, especially to Australia and New York and long shifts,” the employee told Al Arabiya, noting that crews often fly 14 continuous hours, such as on the Dubai-Sydney route, and the continue on another few hours to New Zealand. The employee added that the cabin crew also suffered from fatigue and are having more trouble than the flight decks. “Of course it’s a problem with safety,” the employee said.

Investigating No safety regulator, including Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA), is authorized to investigate the complaints as international rules prevent broad-ranging audits of foreign airlines. But a spokesman for CASA, Peter Gibson, told the paper Australia’s aviation authority had no concerns over Emirates safety and was satisfied with the airline’s response to pilot fatigue. The only organizations authorized to investigate the claims against the Dubai-based airline is the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and the United Arab Emirates’ General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). The chairman of the government-owned airline, Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed al-Maktoum, is also president of the CAA and on the board of the GCAA.

Earlier this year, the RIAA dumped its longterm anti-piracy partner MediaSentry and hired DtecNet instead. MediaSentry had lots of problems in terms of credibility, but it appears that DtecNet may be even worse. It recently came out with a report claiming that file sharing decreased massively after The Pirate Bay went down temporarily. Not surprisingly, this report is getting some press attention. The problem? The report appears to be based on a nearly comical misunderstanding of how BitTorrent works. TorrentFreak details numerous basic mistakes in the report, nearly all of which suggest the claims made by DtecNet have little, if anything, to do with reality. Considering that DtecNet is going to be leading the charge for the RIAA in any future lawsuits and various “three strikes” plans, the fact that it doesn’t seem to understand how BitTorrent works suggests problems ahead.

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Continuing the theme of financial types talking to each other about predictions and predictability, this ‘Tea with the Economist’ interview of Stephen Roach, Chairman, Morgan Stanley Asia by Economist New York Bureau Chief Mathew Birk, carries interesting lessons about the limits of prediction.

Birk commends Roach for being one of the few to have predicted the Credit Crunch problems, to which Roach demurs in saying he was “too early”. He then furthers his modesty in saying that the “breakage” in the financial system was “in excess of anything I envisioned.”

Self-deprecation in assessing one’s predictive abilities will endear anyone to me. Even Roach, who later in the interview burns this hard-won credibility by laying the blame for the credit crunch at the door of regulators, forgetting how hard financial institutions lobbied regulators for greater freedoms in the 1990s.

But I digress. The predictive issues the interview raises are as follows. Issue one: it’s not enough (as any stock short-seller will confirm) to get the direction of a future change right. One must get the timing right too. Issue two: it’s not enough to anticipate a change. One must be able to judge it’s impact. Getting either timing or impact wrong is effectively to have missed the future.

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Probability

On the latter topic — the problem of impact — Nassim Taleb is unrelenting, and he is right. Analysts routinely mix up probability and impact. They think that because an event has a low probability (‘it would be a 10-sigma event!’) it can be marginalized in the predictive number crunching. Of course, it can’t. The low-probability of a wildcard or black swan event is irrelevant because when it happens it will change the game, and that’s why, in every predictive situation of reasonable complexity and uncertainty, using statistical extrapolations (regressions and so on) to predict, is to dangerously paper over the cracks. It is precisely the cracks that businesses and policy makers need to worry about.

Determining the direction of change is hard enough. Assessing timing or extent of impact — a ‘total future impact index’ — is wickedly difficult. It’s a task not to be underestimated, and to simply extrapolate current trends (= assuming the trend’s timeline and impact stay the same as in the past) is the royal road to underestimating it.

This is the reason foresight for complex, uncertain, changing situations can only be grasped by NOT predicting (quantitatively or otherwise) but by exploring the limit-conditions of the plausible (What would happen if the timing of the change accelerated, or was significantly delayed? What if  the impact was 10x or one tenth of what we expect? And so on.)

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So the rumors about Nintendo releasing a new DSi with a bigger screen (we reported Monday and Tuesday) were true. Big N officially announced a new DSi in Tokyo today, the so-called DSi LL [JP]. It has a 4.2-inch screen, will be released on November 21 in Japan and is priced at $220. Buyers will initially be able to choose between brown, red and white versions.

You’ll get two pens with the handheld. One is thicker and 129.33mm long, the thinner model is 96mm long. There’ll also be three DSiWare games pre-installed (two brain-training games and a dictionary).

The DSi that’s currently on the market has a 3.25-inch screen (the DS Lite only had a 3-inch screen). Nintendo says the DSi LL is especially designed for a better Internet surfing experience. It’s 21.2mm thin, but it’s thicker than the current DSi (18.9mm) and way heavier (314g vs. 214g).

Nintendo Japan’s web site is in Japanese (obviously), but this page visualizes the difference in screen size between the “old” DSi and the LL (just hover your mouse across the screen).

Nintendo has yet to announce international sales plans.

Update:

Kotaku reports Europe gets the new DSi model in the first quarter of 2010. It’s going to be called DSi XL there. No word on a US release yet.

Update 2 (more pictures):

The Prime Minister hosted a reception at Downing Street last night in honour of the Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Families Association (SSAFA) Forces Help charity.

• Visit the SSAFA website
• Read the PM’s speech

During a speech at the reception Gordon Brown said that SSAFA could be more relevant today than it has been at any time in its 125 year history.

Mr Brown and his wife Sarah thanked SSAFA trustees and volunteers from around the UK for the help and support they provide for people who serve in the Armed Forces, or used to serve in the Armed forces, and their families.

The PM said:

“I know also the great work it’s doing in supporting mothers and their children in times of stress and difficulty and I know the great advice that is given to people and the friendship that is part of that.”

The Prime Minister also highlighted how SSAFA helps people in every part of the community:

“What you do, how you help the veterans, how you help the families, how you help everybody who’s involved is something that, as I said at the beginning, you should be incredibly proud of.”

The SSAFA has been operating since 1885 and has supported the families of UK servicemen and women on operations in Afghanistan and Iraq in recent years.

Via Michael Scott, we learn about how the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) tried to shut down a blog critical of the group using a trademark claim. While the AFT eventually backed down, after pretty much everyone made it clear that it had no chance to win a trademark claim against a site that was clearly criticizing it, Ron Coleman makes the point that trademark is the “tort of choice for censors.” I’d suggest that copyright isn’t far behind, but it’s really amazing how often trademark holders try to use trademark claims to censor any kind of speech they dislike about their mark. And even if the trademark claim has no chance of winning, it often doesn’t matter to those who simply can’t afford the time or the money to fight such claims.

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Square Enix just might be ready to reveal the North American release date for Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360, PS3) anytime in the near future now. A scr…

Having a map is essential for any new journey. But mapping the mind? What could this possibly be? The ones interested in taking full control over their thoughts and actions have surely found out about this revolutionary concept by now, because it is truly a concept that stands in the center of the latest brain structure and function discoveries. But let’s face the truth: the human brain has been slow to give up its secrets. Until recently the mechanisms that stand behind our thoughts, feelings and perceptions were impossible to examine directly, their true nature being possible to be observed only through their effects.

Luckily, at present, the latest imaging technique reveals the internal world of the mind in the same way X-rays reveal our bones. The information technology does not lose any time either, as the developers have already brought to light software applications that enable you to organize your learning habits and brainstorming sessions in accordance with the latest mind mapping concepts. FreeMind is an example of such an application. So, if you are passionate about this subject and you want to learn more about the FreeMind’s features and options, please read further.

The Looks

FreeMind has a user-friendly interface with a classical and rich-in-options menu. As expected, the File menu lets you open an exi… (read more)

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