General Motors profit falls 85%; England & Wales crime rate lowest in 33 years; Putin's Snowden moment

1 General Motors profit falls 85% (Bill Vlasic in The New York Times) General Motors, US' largest automaker, has reported that its net income in the first quarter fell about 85 percent, mostly because of costs associated with the recalls of millions of vehicles. And as part of its quarterly statement filed with federal regulators, GM also said that it faced a growing number of investigations into its handling of a defective ignition switch that led to the recall of 2.6 million cars.

In the filing, the company confirmed that it was being investigated by the Justice Department and revealed that another inquiry was being conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission — just as Toyota faced after it recalled millions of cars over complaints of unintended acceleration. GM also faces investigations by the House of Representatives, as well as by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. In its earnings statement, GM reported $125 million in net income in the quarter compared with $865 million during the same period a year earlier.

The company spent $1.3 billion in the quarter to pay for the recall of nearly seven million vehicles, including 2.6 million small cars recalled for defective ignition switches. GM also took a one-time charge of $419 million to account for currency devaluation in Venezuela. Mary T. Barra, GM’s chief executive, said the company’s operations were strong in the quarter, despite the continuing crisis over its decade-long failure to recall the Chevrolet Cobalt and other small cars for faulty switches that suddenly cut engine power and deactivated air bags.

GM sold 2.42 million vehicles during the quarter, a 2 percent increase from the 2.36 million it sold last year. The company’s market share in the US fell to 17 percent during the quarter from 17.7 percent in the same period last year. But executives said there was no indication that consumers were avoiding GM products because of its safety problems.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/25/business/general-motors-net-income-falls-85.html?_r=0

2 England & Wales crime rate lowest in 33 years (Alan Travis in The Guardian) The crime rate in England and Wales has fallen by an unexpected 15% to an estimated 7.5m offences, its lowest level since the official survey began 33 years ago. The fall is one of the biggest in the history of the authoritative Crime Survey of England and Wales, and was driven by a 22% fall in violent crime, a 25% fall in some types of household theft, a 15% fall in vandalism and a 10% fall in car crime.

The murder rate in England and Wales also showed a slight fall in 2013, down to 551, and is now nearly 50% below the 2001-02 peak of 1,047, which included many of the victims of Harold Shipman. The claim that England and Wales are now much safer than 20 years ago is reinforced by figures showing that even antisocial behaviour fell by 7% last year, extending a six-year decline. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the 15% fall in the overall rate meant that crime had fallen by 25% since 2007-08 and by 60% since its peak level in 1995.

However, the police recorded crime figures reveal a continued upward pressure in specific crimes thought to be related to economic hardship, particularly shoplifting, which rose by 6% across England and Wales last year. The detailed police recorded crime figures also report a 17% rise in sexual offences including a 20% rise in rape to 19,214, the highest level for a decade.

There is no consensus among criminologists about the key factors driving the sustained fall in crime. Earlier this week Cardiff University researchers highlighted the decline in binge drinking and rising alcohol prices as a factor, but competing theories include links to the state of the economy and the removal of lead in petrol.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/apr/24/crime-rate-england-wales-falls-lowest-level-33-years

3 Putin's Snowden moment (Khaleej Times) Edward Snowden, the US National Security contractor, took the media by surprise when he questioned Russian President Vladimir Putin on whether Moscow indulged in mass surveillance or not! There is nothing wrong as far as the query goes, but what made everybody sit up and take notice was the response from the Russian tsar. Putin confidently, and in a dismissive and snobbish tone, told his spy guest that there was no room for mass surveillance in Russia, and that the authorities concerned had to pass through a litmus test of laws to undertake any such an activity.

In other words, Kremlin sleuths and the KGB go strictly by the book and there’s no transgression of power. Few will take Putin’s claim at face value given the fact that it’s common knowledge that Russian eavesdropping operations around the world are lethal.

The debate is about what motivated the question and how Snowden got through to Putin when the Russian head of state was being interviewed on television. How was Snowden’s voice recognised and instantly video-linked? The manner in which Putin recognised Snowden and termed him as his counterpart at a time when he himself was heading the KGB makes it more than a mere coincidence.

Putin wasted no time in claiming that his country doesn’t have the kind of money or the infrastructure to store millions of emails and communication texts. Instead, what Russia does, according to Putin, is to pick the targets it wants ‘observed’. It should, therefore, come as no surprise that none from the Russian social media had the guts to contest Putin’s claim. Snowden’s call, apparently, was put through by those in power, despite a gentleman’s agreement that the NSA fugitive would not be part of any discourse as long as he remained the official guest of Kremlin.

The asylum episode has already taken its toll as both the countries now treat each other with suspicion and contempt. The Ukraine upheaval has simply iced that mistrust. It’s time Moscow puts behind the Snowden adventure and value its relationship with Washington on a preferential basis.

http://khaleejtimes.com/kt-article-display-1.asp?xfile=/data/editorial/2014/April/editorial_April49.xml&section=editorial