Canada storm leaves more than 430,000 without electricity |
- Canada storm leaves more than 430,000 without electricity
- Bosses, build the connection gap — Guy Day
- Erdogan vows to fight groups that undermine Turkish government
- OPEC ministers see no 2014 glut amid signs of demand growth
- Artist in profile: Ella Eyre (VIDEO)
| Canada storm leaves more than 430,000 without electricity Posted: 22 Dec 2013 05:07 PM PST
More than 300 flights were cancelled at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, according to the airport's website, with dozens more scrapped in Ottawa and Montreal. Environment Canada said winds in the Toronto area may pick up to as much as 40 kilometres (25 miles) an hour after the storm left up to 30 millimetres (1.2 inches) of ice. The forecast for the Montreal area calls for as much as 30 centimetres (12 inches) of snow and ice pellets. In Toronto, Canada's biggest city, more than 250,000 Toronto Hydro customers are without power and as long as 72 hours may be required to restore service, the utility said in a statement on its website. All streetcar service in the city -- on what is traditionally one of the year's busiest shopping days -- has been suspended due to icy power lines, the Toronto Transit Commission said in a Twitter message. "This is truly one of the worst ice storms we've seen here in Ontario," Toronto Hydro Chief Executive Officer Anthony Haines said this morning at a press briefing. Toronto's East General and Sunnybrook hospitals are operating on emergency generators, as is the city's water- pumping system, Haines said. Replacing poles "The top priority now is the hospitals," Toronto Mayor Rob Ford said at a televised press conference this afternoon. Not only are winds expected to get stronger, which would bring down more power lines, but ice is building up on some transformers, which could trigger "catastrophic" equipment failures, Haines said. "It's not just a matter of going in and restoring the power lines," he said. "Now we're going to be replacing poles, replacing transformers at the top of some of these poles, so it's going to be a major event that is going to last days for us to be able to get the power back up." Ford said it's too early to declare a state of emergency. "If it gets really bad in the next 24 hours we could have a state of emergency but I don't want to say that right now," he said. "We're not in that situation quite yet." Fatal accidents Hydro One, another Ontario-based utility, said in a message on Twitter that about 141,000 customers are without power. About 46,000 Hydro-Quebec customers are without electricity, the Montreal-based company said on its website. Icy conditions may have played a role in at least three fatal accidents on Quebec roads, Canadian Press news agency reported. Further east, about 2,900 customers in the province of New Brunswick are without power, New Brunswick Power said. Air Canada, the country's biggest airline, said today it's waiving fees to allow passengers to change flights, space permitting, as the storms impact operations. Via Rail, the country's passenger rail operator, said it's not expecting any cancellations, though delays are likely. — Bloomberg  |
| Bosses, build the connection gap — Guy Day Posted: 22 Dec 2013 04:56 PM PST
Feedback from staff engagement surveys frequently suggests a "disconnect" with senior management and almost always points to internal communication as an area for improvement. Countless books have also been written by successful business leaders citing the correlation between understanding your people and inspiring them to higher performance. However, too much lip service is paid to this and achieving truly great results must come from a multi-channel strategy aimed at connecting with people. There are many ways senior management can bridge the connection gap, and it is not by sending more emails. Dispensing with your own office for a more open-plan work environment is symbolic, but only a start. Senior managers must be authentic and lead by example. Not practising what you preach creates immediate credibility issues with staff, and it is a long and difficult path back to restoring confidence in your leadership. Not every leader is the same and your internal brand should be appealing — you need to stand for something. As Ambition's Chief Executive, I talk passionately about our vision of building better futures with our clients, candidates, employees and shareholders. I believe our reputation is critical to success in recruitment and that we have a real role to play in improving people's professional lives. Your people have to know you believe in something and they want to see evidence of it in a leader's behaviour. Employees work hard for themselves and the company, but they also work hard for a boss who inspires them. The smaller things are arguably what can make the most difference. Regularly walking the floor or carving out time to call staff personally breaks down barriers and establishes bosses as more real and human. Being seen to make an effort that goes above and beyond is infinitely more powerful than any piece of mass communication, no matter how eloquently written. I have found personally handwritten notes recognising outstanding work to be immensely powerful, as is recognising anniversaries or promotions. This goes a long way, as does making the effort outside of the workplace and mixing with people socially. Some of the most effective leaders participate in company events such as charity runs to create empathy with employees and give people an opportunity to really understand they are not just as an authority figure. The best exponents are leaders who listen well and can remember the names of partners and children as well as employees' personal interests. Generation Y is also increasingly interested in work-life balance and want to see a CEO and their direct reports as setting the tone on this. With very busy executive responsibilities, this can be a tough task, but not an impossible one as long as you recognise that people are the organisation. No employee expects a boss to become their best friend — but what must be conveyed is that you care about the business and the people who make it work. — Today * Guy Day is Global Chief Executive of the Ambition Group ** This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online. |
| Erdogan vows to fight groups that undermine Turkish government Posted: 22 Dec 2013 04:45 PM PST
"You who hide within the state institutions should know that we will enter your den, search it and expose these organisations within the state," Erdogan said yesterday, according to the state-run Anatolia News Agency. Turkish police on Dec. 17 rounded up scores of suspects, including the sons of three ministers and the chief executive officer of Turkiye Halk Bankasi AS, in a graft probe that has shaken the government and roiled financial markets. The Borsa Istanbul National 100 Index has fallen 1.9 per cent in the past three trading sessions, and is down almost 11 per cent since the end of last year. It's declined 22 per cent since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke first discussed tapering the US's bond-buying programme on May 22. The lira weakened to 2.0916 against the dollar on December 20 in Istanbul, a record low on a closing basis. It fell to a record low against the euro on the same day. Police have said the inquiry targets organised graft, money laundering and gold smuggling. At least 60 police chiefs have been purged, sparking concerns of an escalating confrontation between Erdogan and his former political ally, US-based Islamic cleric Fethullah Gulen, who has a wide following in the police and judiciary departments. Erdogan said on December 21 in Ordu, northern Turkey, that he won't allow "a parallel structure within the state," after Gulen said he saw efforts to destroy his community. "There is an obvious treason here," Erdogan said. "We will settle this treason and this activity of spying through law and ballot box," he added, without identifying anyone. Turkey will hold municipal elections on March 30. Interior Minister Muammer Guler said he told Erdogan on the first day of the investigation that he was ready to resign and was waiting for the prime minister's decision, according to ANA. — Bloomberg |
| OPEC ministers see no 2014 glut amid signs of demand growth Posted: 22 Dec 2013 04:38 PM PST
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which provides about 40 per cent of the world's oil, won't need to cut production in 2014 because growth in demand can absorb the additional crude, the ministers from Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait said yesterday after a meeting of Arab oil exporters in Doha, Qatar. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude climbed to a two-month high on December 20 after a report showed the US economy expanded in the third quarter at a faster rate than previously estimated. WTI for February delivery rose 28 cents to US$99.32 (RM326.51) a barrel in New York. "Do you know why WTI traded near US$100 in the past few days? It's because the market is in fear of a shortage of oil and not in fear of oversupply," Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi told reporters. "The market reflects the situation." OPEC agreed when it last met on December 4 to keep its output target unchanged at 30 million barrels a day because the market is balanced, said al-Naimi, whose country is the group's largest producer. Commerzbank AG said in a December 10 report that OPEC would need to reduce output should Libyan and Iranian production return to the market. Forceful action OPEC "will have to cut or accept lower prices," Robin Mills, head of consulting at Manaar Energy Consulting and Project Management in Dubai, said by telephone today. "Even if Libya and Iran don't come back, OPEC will be under pressure." Exports from Libya plummeted this year as political strife and labour protests shut oil fields, refineries and ports. The North African nation will resort to force if necessary to reopen the ports, its minister Abdulbari al-Arusi told reporters yesterday. The shutdown has cut Libyan output to 250,000 barrels a day from 1.4 million barrels a day in March. Iran wants to raise output to 4 million barrels a day, the country's oil minister, Bijan Namdar Zanganeh, said at this month's OPEC meeting, after a Nov. 24 agreement on the country's nuclear program opened the door to an easing of economic sanctions. Iran pumped 2.65 million barrels a day in November, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Mustafa al-Shemali said the group doesn't need to change its target in the next six months as the market is expected to remain stable, "with no bumps," until OPEC meets next in June. No competition "There will be an increase in supply over the coming months, but there will be an increase in demand as well," he told reporters yesterday. "No one is competing with anyone in the market." Kuwait was OPEC's third-largest producer last month, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Iraq, second-biggest in the group, plans to increase production capacity next year and each year after that until it can pump 9 million barrels a day in 2020, the country's oil minister, Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi, said in an interview in Doha yesterday. "There is no need for any country among OPEC to cut output next year, as the increase in demand will absorb any increase in supply," he said. "Over the past three years OPEC was successful in stabilizing prices by keeping the market in balance, and this will continue." Shale scarecrow Saudi Oil Minister al-Naimi said the increase of oil production from shale in the US doesn't threaten OPEC or his country. "We welcome any new supply that will meet the world's energy needs whether it's gas or oil," al-Naimi told reporters. The additional supply from shale oil will help replace the 30 billion barrels of crude oil that the world produces every year, he said. "Replacing this amount of crude requires huge investments and as oil fields get older, producers need to drill new wells and every new well is more expensive than the previous," he said. US shale oil is poised to increase the country's crude production to 9.6 million barrels a day in 2016, a level it last reached in 1970, the US Energy Information Administration said December 16. "OPEC can meet demand for years to come, so don't make shale oil a scarecrow for OPEC and other producers," Kuwaiti Oil Minister Al-Shemali said. "The market has enough room for all of us." — Bloomberg |
| Artist in profile: Ella Eyre (VIDEO) Posted: 22 Dec 2013 04:27 PM PST
Who? Why the buzz? Among praise for that track, SoulBounce noted her "sexily raspy tones offset by the skewed, slowed down backing vocals and complemented by the soul-pop stylings of the Two Inch Punch's production," writing, "This is a glimpse of an artist hitting her stride and carrying the wait of expectation on her own shoulders, and, if this track is anything to go by, she sure is strong enough." Kick Kick Snare called "Deeper" "a track that I want playing in the background of every future breakup — or at least playing during that pre bathroom pep talk in the mirror. It's got this confidence to it. It's the epitome of girl power dressed in an LBD with a sneaky, wry smile." Praise has also rolled in for "Love Me Like You," another track from the EP hat was more recently posted online. HillyDilly wrote, "Ella Eyre is only 19 years old, but you could easily mistake her music for the work of some seasoned jazz artist who's been plugging away for the past decade; her music is just that refined. The Line of Best Fit said, "As ever..., it's Ella's silky smooth delivery that makes this jilted banger tick." What to listen to? Where to see? |
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