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Armonk, NY, United States (AHN) – International Business Machines Corp. is bent on retaining its hold as the number two most valuable company in the world by expanding its $22.5-billion software business.

IBM Senior Vice President Steve Mills says the firm, which has sold its hardware business and shifted to software development, plans to spend $100 million to $300 million to buy mid-sized firms.

The expansion aims to add another $20 billion in annual revenues by 2015, which would mean that IBM must double or triple the pace of sales growth at companies it plans to buy.

IBM’s success in software development, according to the company’s chief technology officer, Dr. Jai Menon, is providing clients with solutions that are flexible to meet their needs such as computing power, storage and memory requirements.

Menon said the IT industry needs to come up with data-centric computers from the current processing-centric computers that could extract and find information in data to aid human cognition. He explained that would involve moving away from machines that compute to those that could extract information from large amounts of unstructured data.

Software accounted for 86.9 percent of IBM’s gross margins out of the $99.9 billion the IT company earned in sales last year.

Since 2006, IBM has purchased about 50 software companies in areas such as data analysis, e-commerce, supply-chain management and computer security.

IBM last week surpassed Microsoft as the second most valuable company after its market capitalization reached $214 billion.

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Athens, Greece (AHN) – Greece is teetering towards a default on its international loans, prompting Greek officials to seek the advice of European and International Monetary Fund officials to measures the financially challenged nation could do to speed up the release of its $11 billion anticipated aid.

The reply of European economic officials on Monday was that Athens must make deeper and faster budget cuts and economic reforms.

In the event of a Greek default, the ones to be hit hardest would be German banks Hypo Real Estate Holding and WestLB which jointly hold more than 50 percent of Greek debts held by Deutsche banks. Hypo has $12 billion (EUR 8.76 billion) and WestLB has $1.66 billion (EUR 1.21 billion).

In contrast Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank, the two largest lenders in Germany, hold only a total of $4.6 billion (EUR 3.35 billion) Greek debt.

A default would be the second burden for German taxpayers, who backed up Hypo and WestLB during the 2008 global financial crisis to prevent their collapse. Hypo and WestLB are now both state-owned banks.

Despite European leader’s attempt to convince the global markets that Greece and other eurozone nations hit by the debt contagion would not default, the markets are skeptical and hiked borrowing costs for governments and banks in the 17-nation one-currency zone.

To hold down interest rates pay by Italy, which was downgraded by Standard & Poor’s on Monday, and Spain, the European Central Bank purchased over $200 billion in government bonds.

The IMF mission head who visited Greece urged Athens on Monday to speed up its reforms. Although the bailout package previously released by the ECB and IMF to Greece was premised on reduction of state payroll and disposal of inefficient government-owned assets, the embattled Greek government has not delivered on its promise.

Fears of Greece having difficulty qualifying for another round of bailout caused major stock indices in Europe such as Germany’s DAX, France’s CAC and Euro Stoxx to close down by 3 percent on Monday.

The Dow Jones industrial average and S&P’s 500-stock index lost almost 1 percent on the same day.

With the growing fears of a default, Greek 10-year bonds are trading about 80 percent below face value.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Markets were closed in the U.S. Monday as the nation celebrated Labor Day. But trading in European markets and gold were not on holiday, one falling and one rising on debt concerns and global demand.

Gold pricing exceeded $1,900 an ounce Monday in London as concerns persisted about slowing economic growth worldwide. Europe’s debt worries also spurred renewed demand for the yellow metal.

Foreign markets and overseas gold reacted to the weak U.S. jobs report on Friday that showed that no jobs were added in August. Already jittery markets looked anywhere for any sign of improvement, which have been and continue to be hard to find.

Gold is enjoying an 11-year bull run. It is the precious metal’s longest running streak since the 1920′s. For the year, the yellow metal is up 33 percent, outshining global equities, commodities and U.S. Treasuries.

U.S. stock markets will open for trading as usual on Tuesday and markets anxiously await President Obama’s address on Thursday night about jobs.

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New York, NY, United States (AHN) – Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s announced on Monday that its president, Deven Sharma, will leave the company. He will be replaced beginning Sept. 12 by Douglas Petersen, chief operating officer of Citibank.

Sharma will leave the company amid the furor caused by S&P’s downgrade of the U.S. credit rating two weeks ago to AA+ from triple A because of the prolonged political debate over how to raise the country’s debt limit.

The downgrade caused investors to be jittery and led to declines in the global stock market. U.S. authorities criticized S&P for the credit downgrade and are investigating the rating agency.

Sharma, 55, will stay with S&P until the end of the year. He explained his decision to step down to pursue other opportunities, according to S&P’s parent company, McGraw-Hill. When Peterson takes over in mid September, Sharma will work on McGraw-Hill’s strategic review.

Sharma joined McGraw-Hill in 2002 and served as president of S&P since 2007. Last year, McGraw-Hill split the company into S&P and McGraw-Hill Financial.

S&P said despite the controversy created by Washington’s downgrade, the agency will continue to rate sovereign debts and companies. The ratings will be comparable, forward looking and transparent.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geither criticized S&P for poor judgment. He pointed out that S&P made a $2-trillion error in its initial debt forecast computations, which was partly the basis for the downgrade. S&P had admitted to the error.

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BRAZZAVILLE, Congo (IRIN) – Congolese authorities have taken steps to curb illegal fishing in their territorial waters to ensure the survival of fishery resources and boost food security.

The latest measure is a satellite surveillance system that monitors all the fishing boats operating in the country’s maritime waters.

“The Vessel Monitoring System allows us to conduct surveillance of all the fishing vessels in the sea without exception,” said Dieudonné Kiessiekiaoua, a fishing and aquaculture adviser in the Department of Fisheries.

Kiessiekiaoua said: “The Minister of Fisheries has a screen at his desk that allows him to follow, in real time, the movements of every ship. It’s a measure designed to combat illegal fishing, since we have to ensure sound management of the fish, which are the inheritance of all Congolese. We must safeguard them for future generations who will also turn to them for food.”

Illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing, Kiessiekiaoua said, has had repercussions for the lives of fishermen and all citizens. “When the fish are caught at an immature age, the whole chain is disturbed: the fishermen will not have any money to live decently with their families and it’s certain that there won’t be any more food on our tables,” he said.

The authorities put the VMS system in place with help from the international satellite data group Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS), based in Toulouse, France. The two signed an agreement in 2006, but the system became operational in February 2011.

Most of the boats plying Congolese waters come from China. Others are from the Netherlands and France.

The VMS results are already living up to expectations.

“The ships that used to fish in restricted zones, notably the six nautical miles that are designated a breeding ground, have been turned back thanks to the VMS system,” Kiessiekiaoua said. “They went toward the recommended fishing area as designated by the fishing law in force since 2000.”

Nature preservation and conservation organizations are not challenging the satellite system and have called for extra support for it.

“I don’t doubt the efficacy of the satellites but you have to have men on the ground to strengthen the surveillance,” said Arsène Guélélé of the NGO Action for the Environment and International Solidarity. “Five or six years ago, because of a lack of supervision, Chinese fishermen were even taking fish fry. If you start taking the fry, will anything else remain in the water?”

Other actions

A signatory to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, Congo banned the practice of fishing with explosives and the use of small-mesh nets in an effort to crack down on illegal catches.

Donatien Animiyo of the Fishermen’s Group of Mpila, said: “Explosive devices were widely used at the end of the civil war in’97. They destroy the ecosystem and prevent fish from reproducing. There was a time when fish were rare in the markets.

“It’s not enough for the authorities to put more laws in place. What’s important is that they are strictly enforced.”

Despite all the provisions, Congo is far from assuring its own food security. It continues to import foodstuffs, including fish.

Kiessiekiaoua said: “Since each Congolese consumes 25kg of fish per year, we have to produce 100,000MT. We are not currently producing this much and sometimes we have to resort to imports to make up for the deficit. We think that aquaculture, fish farming, and inland fisheries should be developed to fill this gap.”

Fisheries Minister Hellot Mampouya Matson said: “The fishing and aquaculture sector plays an important role in the Congolese economy, especially in terms of the contribution to food security, income-generation, job creation, and livelihoods.”

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– Provided by Integrated Regional Information Networks.

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Cincinnati, OH, United States (AHN) – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) announced today that Macy’s Inc., of Cincinnati, Ohio, has agreed to pay a civil penalty of $750,000. The penalty agreement (pdf) has been provisionally accepted by the Commission.

The settlement resolves CPSC staff allegations that Macy’s knowingly failed to report to CPSC immediately, as required by federal law, that it had sold children’s sweatshirts, sweaters and jackets with drawstrings at the neck between 2006 and 2010. Children’s upper outerwear with drawstrings, including sweatshirts, sweaters and jackets, poses a strangulation hazard to children that can result in serious injury or death.

The sweatshirts, sweaters and jackets that are the subject of the penalty agreement were sold by Macy’s and Macy’s-owned stores, including Bloomingdale’s, and Robinsons-May. CPSC staff alleges that Macy’s knowingly sold some garments after a recall had been negotiated, which the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 made illegal.

Federal law requires manufacturers, distributors and retailers to report to CPSC immediately (within 24 hours) after obtaining information reasonably supporting the conclusion that a product contains a defect which could create a substantial product hazard, creates an unreasonable risk of serious injury or death, or fails to comply with any consumer product safety rule or any other rule, regulation, standard or ban enforced by CPSC.

In 1996, CPSC issued drawstring guidelines to help prevent children from strangling on or getting entangled in the neck and waist drawstrings of upper outerwear, such as jackets and sweatshirts. In 2006, CPSC’s Office of Compliance announced that children’s upper outerwear with drawstrings at the hood or neck would be regarded as defective and presented a substantial risk of injury to young children.

Beginning in 2006, CPSC and the garments’ manufacturers and distributors announced recalls of the following children’s garments with drawstrings that were sold at Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Robinsons-May:

• Quiksilver Inc. Hide & Seek hooded sweatshirts;
• Jerry Leigh of California Inc. Harajuku Lovers Hooded Jackets;
• La Jolla Sport USA Inc. O’Neill children’s sweatshirts;
• Dysfunctional Clothing LLC children’s hooded sweatshirts;
• Macy’s Merchandising Group Inc. Epic Threads hooded sweatshirts and Greendog sweaters;
• C-MRK Inc. Ocean Current boys’ hooded sweatshirts;
• NTD Apparel Inc. Hello Kitty hooded sweatshirts;
• S. Rothschild & Co Inc. girls’ coats; and
• VF Contemporary Brands Inc. Splendid girls’ hooded jackets and vest sets

In agreeing to the settlement, Macy’s denies CPSC staff allegations that it knowingly violated the law.

Note: On June 29, 2011, the Commission approved a final rule that designates children’s upper outerwear in sizes 2T through 12 with neck or hood drawstrings, and children’s upper outerwear in sizes 2T through 16 with certain waist or bottom drawstrings, as substantial product hazards.

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Fort Calhoun, NE, United States (AHN) – The rising Missouri River flood water continues to threaten the two power plants in Nebraska. To assess the situation, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko visited the Fort Calhoun plant on Monday morning.

The Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station, located 20 miles north of Omaha, is one of the two nuclear plants in the state being monitored by the NRC because of the threats of inundation from the Missouri River.

The Fort Calhoun plant has been closed since April for refueling. Its parking lot is flooded, plant employees need to walk on a catwalk to reach the facility. An inflatable water-filled barrier that surrounds the plant was punctured by machinery on Sunday, but the plant operators assured residents that key areas of the facility are not in danger of submersion.

However, plant employees briefly switched to diesel backup generators to keep the nuclear fuel at the site cool because the flood water got too close to electrical transformers.

The other plant, Cooper Nuclear Station, is on higher ground and continues to operate. However, reports said the station is close to shutting down because flood water had reached critical levels.

Because of residents’ worry of a nuclear disaster, rumors about the true conditions of the two plants circulate in the state.

The rumors include an alleged two-mile radius no-fly zone declared by the Federal Aviation Administration on the air space around Fort Calhoun because of a radiation leak and the declaration of a Level 4 emergency at the facility.

The plant operators denied the reports.

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Asian stocks rose, with the regional benchmark index paring its loss for the month, on speculation Greece may be allowed to roll over some of its bonds, easing concern the nation’s sovereign debt crisis will spread across Europe, one of Asia’s biggest export markets.

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Workers at Standard Chartered Plc’s South Korean banking unit plan to go on strike today in the worst labor dispute involving foreign banks in the Asian nation in more than five years.

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