1. Honda to resume Thai plant a month after flood-water drained


    But Honda remains confident about its investments in Thailand, Kobayashi added.The carmaker has said it would extend a production halt at its Thai auto factory until Oct. 21.

  2. Nikkei down on Europe worries, Olympus dives as CEO sacked


    * Softbank erases gains after iPhone order glitchBy Hideyuki Sano and Lisa TwaroniteTOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Nikkei stock average slipped from a one-month high on Friday, as weak earning results from JPMorgan Chase & Co highlighted worries that strains in the global banking system could hamper growth.Camera maker Olympus fired its British CEO over his management style, sending its shares plunging 18 percent in furious activity, while Suzuki Motor seesawed in volatile trade before ending flat as its spat with biggest shareholder Volkswagen intensified.The course of the market still largely depends on whether Europe can fix its spiralling debt and banking crisis with many players now looking to the Group of 20 financial policy makers’ meeting at the weekend.”After Slovakia voted for the bail-out package, the market is focusing on the fact that that alone won’t solve the problems. Unless you forcefully recapitalise banks, they won’t resume lending,” said Kakuya Kojoh, manager of securities department at Nissan Century Securities.Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s reminded investors that the region’s problems are far from over, downgrading the long-term credit rating of Spain late on Thursday by one notch to AA-minus from AA with a negative outlook, due to weak growth, tightening fiscal conditions and high private sector debt.Selling from European investors as well as profit-taking ahead of weekend pushed down share prices with concerns about banks’ exposure to euro zone debt still capping investors appetite.The Nikkei shed 0.9 percent to 8,747.96 in relatively thin trade, although it managed to stay above its 25-day moving average of 8,645. It hit a one-month high of 8,854 on Thursday.The broader Topix index declined 1.3 percent to 748.81.The Olympus news managed to drag on the overall market, and trade in the company shot up to nearly 20 times as much as its 30-day average.Former CEO Michael Woodford had told Reuters in May he would cut jobs to achieve his mid-term cost targets.”Investors appear to have sold futures after the Olympus news, although it’s clearly specific to one company and should not have a big long-term impact on the overall market,” said Koichi Ogawa, a chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.Suzuki Motor Corp ended down 3 points at 1,656 yen after it accused Volkswagen of breaching a partnership pact by withholding hybrid technology it promised to share, pushing their two-year-old alliance to the brink of disintegration.Softbank Corp erased early gains and dropped 2.7 percent to 2,478 yen, after the mobile phone operator temporarily stopped accepting contract applications when heavier-than-expected applications for the new iPhone caused system troubles. Apple Inc’s iPhone 4S went on sale in Japan and other countries on Friday.Rival KDDI Corp , which also started distributing the iPhone, rose 1.0 percent to 585,000 yen.Fast Retailing added 3.1 percent to 13,490 yen and was the fifth-heaviest traded issue by turnover, as it prepared to kick off a high-profile U.S. expansion by opening a new flagship store in Manhattan on Friday to anchor its push to rely less on its home market.JPMorgan Chase & Co was the biggest drag on the Dow Jones industrial average after the second-largest U.S. lender reported a drop in its third-quarter net profit, fanning worries that the U.S. growth will remain weak.Some 1.56 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main board, below Thursday’s total of 1.58 billion shares and last week’s daily average of 1.86 billion. Nearly seven shares declined for each one that advanced.

  3. Nikkei down on Europe worries, Olympus dives as CEO sacked


    * Softbank erases gains after iPhone order glitchBy Hideyuki Sano and Lisa TwaroniteTOKYO, Oct 14 (Reuters) - The Nikkei stock average slipped from a one-month high on Friday, as weak earning results from JPMorgan Chase & Co highlighted worries that strains in the global banking system could hamper growth.Camera maker Olympus fired its British CEO over his management style, sending its shares plunging 18 percent in furious activity, while Suzuki Motor seesawed in volatile trade before ending flat as its spat with biggest shareholder Volkswagen intensified.The course of the market still largely depends on whether Europe can fix its spiralling debt and banking crisis with many players now looking to the Group of 20 financial policy makers’ meeting at the weekend.”After Slovakia voted for the bail-out package, the market is focusing on the fact that that alone won’t solve the problems. Unless you forcefully recapitalise banks, they won’t resume lending,” said Kakuya Kojoh, manager of securities department at Nissan Century Securities.Ratings agency Standard and Poor’s reminded investors that the region’s problems are far from over, downgrading the long-term credit rating of Spain late on Thursday by one notch to AA-minus from AA with a negative outlook, due to weak growth, tightening fiscal conditions and high private sector debt.Selling from European investors as well as profit-taking ahead of weekend pushed down share prices with concerns about banks’ exposure to euro zone debt still capping investors appetite.The Nikkei shed 0.9 percent to 8,747.96 in relatively thin trade, although it managed to stay above its 25-day moving average of 8,645. It hit a one-month high of 8,854 on Thursday.The broader Topix index declined 1.3 percent to 748.81.The Olympus news managed to drag on the overall market, and trade in the company shot up to nearly 20 times as much as its 30-day average.Former CEO Michael Woodford had told Reuters in May he would cut jobs to achieve his mid-term cost targets.”Investors appear to have sold futures after the Olympus news, although it’s clearly specific to one company and should not have a big long-term impact on the overall market,” said Koichi Ogawa, a chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments.Suzuki Motor Corp ended down 3 points at 1,656 yen after it accused Volkswagen of breaching a partnership pact by withholding hybrid technology it promised to share, pushing their two-year-old alliance to the brink of disintegration.Softbank Corp erased early gains and dropped 2.7 percent to 2,478 yen, after the mobile phone operator temporarily stopped accepting contract applications when heavier-than-expected applications for the new iPhone caused system troubles. Apple Inc’s iPhone 4S went on sale in Japan and other countries on Friday.Rival KDDI Corp , which also started distributing the iPhone, rose 1.0 percent to 585,000 yen.Fast Retailing added 3.1 percent to 13,490 yen and was the fifth-heaviest traded issue by turnover, as it prepared to kick off a high-profile U.S. expansion by opening a new flagship store in Manhattan on Friday to anchor its push to rely less on its home market.JPMorgan Chase & Co was the biggest drag on the Dow Jones industrial average after the second-largest U.S. lender reported a drop in its third-quarter net profit, fanning worries that the U.S. growth will remain weak.Some 1.56 billion shares changed hands on the Tokyo Stock Exchange’s main board, below Thursday’s total of 1.58 billion shares and last week’s daily average of 1.86 billion. Nearly seven shares declined for each one that advanced.

  4. Hacker says was addicted to prying on celebrities


    “It started as curiosity and it turned into just being addicted to seeing behind the scenes of what was going on with these people you see on the big screen every day,” Chaney told Fox television affiliate WAWS in Jacksonville, Florida.”I was almost relieved months ago when they came in and took my computer…because I didn’t know how to stop,” he said.Chaney was charged on Wednesday with 26 counts of cyber-related crimes against Hollywood celebrities after an 11-month FBI probe dubbed “Operation Hackerazzi.”Victims included “Iron Man 2” star Johansson, whose topless photo was leaked online in September, and “Black Swan” actress Mila Kunis, who was seen in a bubble bath.Chaney said he couldn’t remember who or when he started hacking but said his activities just “snowballed”.”I deeply apologize,” he said. “I know what I did was probably one of the worst invasions of privacy someone could experience. I am not trying to escape what I did.”Chaney said he had no intention of selling the photos and information or releasing it to others, saying he had been approached by a third party but had given them nothing.”I wasn’t attempting to break into e-mails and get stuff to sell or purposefully put on the Internet…I never wanted to sell or release any images,” he said in the interview.Federal officials said on Wednesday that they had no information on whether Chaney profited from the hacking, but said the investigation, which identified more than 50 victims, remained open and others could be implicated.Chaney faces up to 121 years in jail if convicted on all counts.Investigators said there is no connection between Chaney and a hacking scandal involving one of the London newspapers owned by media giant News Corp.