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GM to start selling an all-electric Chevy in 2013

October 18th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Auto Loans
Diane Alter – AHN News Reporter

Detroit, MI, United States (AHN) – General Motors announced Wednesday that it would start selling its first all-electric Chevrolet small car in the United States starting in 2013. The electric concept will debut after the launch of the gasoline version in 2012.

The Chevrolet Spark EV minicar will compete with Nissan Motor’s Leaf, currently the only all-battery powered car available in the U.S. from a major auto maker.

GM did not provide additional information such as pricing or expected driving mileage on a full charge.

The verdict is still out about whether U.S. consumers are ready for all-electric vehicles. Charging stations and reliability remain top concerns.

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Oxfam warns about rising global food prices as one-sixth of all people go hungry

June 4th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment | Filed in Auto Loans
Linda Young – AHN News Writer

Washington, D.C., United States (AHN) – Oxfam warns that as global food prices continue to increase the resultant hardship caused to people who were already struggling to obtain adequate amounts of food is increasing demands for a major reform in global food prices.

When world food prices reached a new historic peak in January, it left over a billion people, or one-sixth of the world’s population, hungry and millions of people under threat of starvation, with the situation expected to worsen, Oxfam officials say.

Oxfam is calling on world leaders to act to improve the regulation of food markets. In addition, it is asking for investment in a global climate fund.

World food prices have more than doubled since 1990, but the incomes of the poor have not.

“Poor people in developing countries spend between 50-80% of their income on food, making higher prices, as well as unpredictable prices, a serious threat to their ability to eat – let alone continue spending on other basic needs such as health, or education,” Oxfam officials say in a statement posted on the website.

The key drivers of rising food prices are reduced production caused by bad weather that might be linked to climate change; export restrictions and panic buying mostly caused by weather related problems; increased demand for food and for biofuels, which removes land from food production; financial disruptions, including low interest rates, depreciation of the dollar and speculation in commodity markets; and increased oil prices that increased the costs of fertilizer for crops and transportation to get food to market or stores.

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Transportation workers sick-outs mar Trenton, N.J. school bus service

May 29th, 2011 by admin | 1 Comment | Filed in Auto Loans

Trenton, NJ, United States (AHN) – Trenton Public Schools officials are working to continue bus service for students after transportation workers started a sick-out late in the week.

As state budget wrangling continues, the district is moving ahead with plans to privatize its school bus service, contending it could save about $2 million.

About half (15) of the district’s 29 transportation workers reportedly called in sick Thursday, though the number was reduced to about a third (9) Friday according to a school official. The 29 are a part of 196 school employees who recently learned they would lose their jobs to reduce the district’s school budget.

A report in the Trentonian stated 300 to 400 students missed school due to the school bus situation.

“So each of the (seven) drivers had to make three different runs, but that only covers 21 schools. There are 36 schools. Some students have to go to special schools as far out as Neptune. It’s a terrible mess. Kids are calling on the phones, left to stay at home, no way to get to school. Their parents have to take a bus to work, so they drop their child off, counting on a school bus to take them to school. Often they’re not picked up,” a source told the paper.

A school official admitted as much in a letter posted on the district’s website and sent home with students.

“We are experiencing a job action among our bus drivers,” interim superintendent Raymond Broach wrote. “This is causing delays in the pickup and delivery of our students and in some cases, (we’re) not picking up at all.”

With the drivers losing their jobs anyway, they will likely not be punished for their actions and the district will call upon drivers from other companies it has deals with — Rick Bus Co. and Delaware Valley Bus Line — to cover the gap in service, according to a report on nj.com.

Trenton Public Schools may get $12 million in additional school funding due to a recent action by the state legislature, but will still seek an outside vendor for its school bus service.

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British ministers propose hiking motorway speed limit to 80 mph

May 11th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Auto Loans
Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British Transport Secretary Philip Hammond indicated that the government is ready to end the “war on the motorist” by hiking the motorway speed limit to 80 miles per hour from the current 70.

In preparation for the change, Hammond sought a more thorough cost benefit analysis of speed limits beyond safety issues. Safety concerns alone would lead most governments to lower the speed cap to 10 mph, Hammond said.

Among the other aspects of the issue is the cost of additional travel time with slower speed caps, particularly at a time when petrol prices continue to soar in the international market. Another is the frequent violation of the 70 mph speed limit, which caused the coalition government to spend a lot on purchases of speed cameras after the election.

According to data from the Department of Transport based on a 2009 research, 52 percent of British motorists drive beyond 70 mph on highways, of which 37 percent have 70 to 79 mph speeds.

However, the planned hike on speed limits could result in another rift by the Tory government with coalition partner, the Liberal Democrats. Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne, a LibDem, is against lifting the 70 mph ceiling because driving faster uses more fuel. A 10-mph difference from 70 to 80 speed would consume 10 to 20 percent more fuel.

Because of the recent oil price hikes, survey by AA found that 59 percent of 15,000 British drivers who participated in the poll are willing to slow down if it would save them some money. During the 2008 petrol price hike, average British motorist speed dropped to 69 mph from 70 mph, but the drivers’ speed went up once fuel prices decrease.

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Rafa continues mastery over Ferrer; Wozniacki stunned by Goerges

May 5th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Auto Loans
Jojo Doria – AHN Sports Contributor

Barcelona, Spain (AHN Sports) – Rafael Nadal dominates David Ferrer again in a tournament final to claim his sixth title in seven editions of the Barcelona Open with a straight-set triumph in the all-Spanish finale Sunday.

Top ranked Nadal, coming off a record seventh Monte Carlo Masters title last week at the expense of Ferrer, shook off some tentative moments in the match to post a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

Nadal lost early breaks in each set as he did in his semifinal clash with Croatian Ivan Dodig, but the super Spaniard always managed to bounce back.

In the second set, Nadal also lost serve twice that dropped him to 4-2 before battling back against compatriot Ferrer, who was aiming for a third title in 2011.

Nadal entered this event, having ruled it from 2005-09, including finals victories over Ferrer in 2008 and 2009, before sitting out last year’s edition.

With his his triumph over his good friend and training partner Ferrer, Nadal moved to 13-5 in their all-time meetings, including 5-0 in finals.

It also gave Nadal his 31st clay court title that moved him past Bjorn Borg and Manuel Orantes for third all-time in the Open Era. Guillermo Villas leads the list with 45 followed by Thomas Muster at second with 40.

Meanwhile in Stuttgart, Germany, top-ranked Dane Caroline Wozniacki’s bid for a fourth title of the year was dashed after getting stunned by crowd favorite Julia Goerges in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix finale Sunday.

The 22-year-old Goerges, who had lost both previous matches against Wozniacki, outplayed the world No.1 women’s player to post 7-6 (7-3), 6-3 triumph.

Goerges, set to break into the women’s top 20, also became the first German to win the tournament since Anke Huber in 1996.

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London Underground workers threaten to disrupt Tube service again in May, June

May 5th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Auto Loans
Vittorio Hernandez – AHN News

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – Another transportation headache looms for London Mayor Boris Johnson after underground workers in the city’s Tube announced Wednesday plans for a two-week strike.

Train drivers belonging to the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union called for job walkoffs from May 16 to June 13 because of the firing of two drivers.

The tube drivers will strike from nine to 24 hours daily from May 16 to May 20 and another 3 to 12 hours daily from June 13 to June 17.

The specific hours and dates of strikes are as follows:

  • 9:01 p.m. of May 16 to 11:59 a.m. of May 17
  • 12 noon of May 18 to 11:59 a.m. of May 19
  • 12 noon to 9 p.m. on May 20
  • 9:01 p.m. of June 13 to 11:59 a.m. of June 14
  • 12 noon of June 15 to 11:59 p.m. of June 16, and
  • 12 noon to 9 p.m. of June 17.

Drivers vote 2-1 in favor of industrial action because of the dismissal of Northern line driver Eamon Lynch and Bakerloo line driver Arwyn Thomas. The two filed unfair dismissal charges with an employment tribunal against the Tube.

When tube workers struck in November, Johnson called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to raise the legal threshold for holding an industrial action, but the coalition government has not acted on his request.

Existing laws allow a strike to be triggered if the job walkoff is approved by a simple majority of union members who actually cast a vote.

The mayor said it is wrong for a small minority of union members to hold a global city like London to ransom. Johnson pointed out that many union members do not vote at all in some strike ballots. He favored hiking the threshold to 50 percent approval by all union members who voted. The Chamber of British Industries pushed for a lower 40 percent threshold.

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Boston brooms: Garnett, Rondo deliver double-doubles, C’s sweep Knicks

April 25th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Auto Loans
AHN Sports Staff

New York, NY, United States (AHN Sports) – Kevin Garnett scored 26 points and hauled 10 boards to lead the Boston Celtics to a series-clinching 101-89 victory against the New York Knicks Sunday in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first-round series at Madison Square Garden.

Coming off a four-point effort in Game 3, Garnett bounced back in a big way, unleashing his old dominant self against the reeling Knicks.

Garnett shot 10-for-16 on the floor and knocked down all of his six free throws to give the Celtics their first playoff-series sweep of the Big 3 era.

All-Star guard Rajon Rondo dominated again the backcourt matchup as he chipped in 21 points, 12 dimes, and 5 boards in 41 minutes.

The Celtics showed their intention right away, racing to a 29-23 lead at the end of the first period.

Backup forward Glen Davis then opened up the second quarter with two straight baskets to ignite a 13-5 spurt on their way to taking a 17-point cushion at the break.

With good execution and solid team defense, the Celtics controlled the pace of the game into the third and seemed destined for another blowout victory at the Garden.

However, the Knicks pulled off a desperate run in the fourth behind a hot-shooting Carmelo Anthony, who finished with 32 points and 9 boards.

The Knicks even cut down the deficit to four points, 84-80 with over 7 minutes left to play, but the Celtics responded with better defense and big baskets down the stretch to pull away for good.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen combined for 27 points and Davis contributed 14 points off the bench.

Meanwhile, Amare Stoudemire chalked up 19 points and 12 boards, but the Knicks missed the leadership of guard Chauncey Billups, who went down in Game 1 and didn’t return.

Rebounding was again a key factor in the game as the Celtics grabbed 11 more boards than the Knicks. The Celtics also shot .494 from the field, while the Knicks settled for just .341 shooting.

The Celtics advanced to their fourth consecutive Conference semifinal appearance and will face either the Miami Heat or the Philadelphia 76ers next week.

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Lewis Hamilton pulls off Shanghai surprise, wins Chinese Grand Prix

April 17th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Auto Loans
Edward Lewis – AHN Sports Reporter

Shanghai, China (AHN Sports) – In the first true race of the season, McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton passed Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel with five laps to go to win Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai International Circuit.

After a pair of runaway wins this season, the late-race drama was a welcomed site between the two former Formula One champions.

Vettel was looking for three straight wins to start the season, but he couldn’t fend off Hamilton, who was running on fresher tires due to an additional stop.

Red Bull’s Mark Webber came all the way from 18th to finish third, but it was a case of from the outhouse to the penthouse for Hamilton, who had a pre-race fuel leak frantically reparied in the garage before pitlane closed.

Defending race winner Jenson Button finsihed fourth, ahead of Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Felipe Massa.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso placed seventh, ahead of Michael Schumacher, who last won this race in 2006 for his record 91 victories.

Gaining the final points of the race was Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and Sauber’s Kamui Kobayashi.

Tthree races into the season, Vettel leads the points with 68 points, ahead of Hamilton (47), Button (38) and Webber (37). The next race will be the Turkish Grand Prix on May 8.

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Mercedes-Benz recalls 136,000 vehicles over cruise control glitch

April 5th, 2011 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Auto Loans
Linda Young – AHN News Writer

Detroit, MI, United States (AHN) – Mercedes-Benz USA, LLC. is recalling more than 136,000 Mercedes-Benz M class SUVs because the brakes might not automatically disengage the cruise control.

The recall follows a preliminary investigation the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration began in December.

In a statement on the NHTSA website, officials said, “Difficulty or delay in disengaging cruise control can increase the risk of a crash.”

However, the NHTSA also said that drivers should still be able to end cruise control by pumping the brakes rather than applying consistent pressure, although the “level of force required may be unusually high.”

The recall involves 136,751 of the 2000-02 M Class and 2000-04 M-Class AMG manufactured from August 1999 to June 2004.

Dealers will make the necessary repairs free of charge with the safety recall slated to begin in September. Owners can contact Mercedes-Benz at 1-800-367-6372 or the NHTSA at 1-888-327-4236.

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