IRVINE, Calif. – Business software maker Epicor Software Corp. said Thursday that its second-quarter loss narrowed as revenue climbed.

For the April-June quarter, Epicor's loss totaled $1 million, or 2 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.7 million, or 11 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

When excluding one-time items, Epicor earned 13 cents per share, which is what analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected.

Revenue rose 9 percent to $109.2 million, beating analyst estimates for $105.2 million. Much of the growth came in Epicor's smallest category — hardware and other revenue — which climbed to $8 no fax cash loans.2 million from $3.5 million. Meanwhile, maintenance revenue rose slightly to $47.5 million from $47.3 million, while consulting revenue rose to $34.3 million from $32.1 million.

The company forecast third-quarter adjusted earnings of 13 cents to 15 cents per share on revenue of $106 million to $108 million. Analysts expect adjusted earnings of 13 cents per share on $104 million in revenue.

Epicor 2Q loss narrows

Hot News: Greek PM to announce activation of EU/IMF aid - source

LONDON – Seeking to win a key ally outside Washington and a booming business partner to spur Britain's fragile economic recovery, David Cameron heads to India on Tuesday to lead his country's most brazen charm offensive in decades.

The prime minister is taking a 90-strong delegation for three days of summits and schmoozing, aimed at revitalizing relations between New Delhi and its former colonial ruler.

Five government ministers, about 50 leaders of some of Britain's largest companies, Olympic gold medalists and a host of academics will join Cameron in a rare — and hardly subtle — attempt at political courtship.

Britain's new government has placed India at the heart of its strategy on foreign relations, seeking increased trade with emerging economies to fuel British growth, and new political alliances to preserve London's clout on the world stage.

"This delegation is unprecedented in its scale and ambition," said Jo Johnson, a Conservative Party lawmaker who previously lived in New Dehli and is joining the trip. "The government has made a very clear statement of intent, that India is rising to the top of Britain's diplomatic priorities."

In his first legislative program, Cameron signaled Britain's plan to woo its neglected partner, pledging to craft a "new special relationship" with India. The phrasing is important: In Britain, the term "special relationship" has long referred to the close ties between London and Washington.

During visits to Bangalore and New Dehli, Cameron will hold talks with leading legislators, seal a round of trade deals and clink glasses with dozens of potential investors. Treasury chief George Osborne will take British executives to Mumbai for face-to-face talks with their Indian counterparts, aimed at kick-starting sluggish trade.

Britain was the 5th largest exporter to India in 2005, but has since fallen to 18th. Exports to India dropped from 4.12 billion pounds (US$6.4 billion) in 2008 to 2.9 billion (US$4.5 billion) in 2009.

"There is a belief that we haven't benefited as much from India's growth as we should have," said Johnson.

After a decade of foreign policy dominated by wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Cameron's government pledged to rebuild relations left "to wither or stagnate," as London focused on military missions rather than trade.

"From now on we will not neglect the wider world," Foreign Secretary William Hague, who will also travel to India, said in a major speech last month, criticizing former Prime Minister Gordon Brown's regime.

Cameron will arrive in India from Turkey, another emerging nation identified as a key future ally and potential trading partner.

His Conservative Party and the smaller Liberal Democrats formed a coalition to oust Brown's Labour Party following an inconclusive national election in May.

They found links with India had been dented after a 2009 visit by then-Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who offended his hosts by linking the Kashmir dispute to the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks instant payday loan. Miliband's informal style also bristled with senior Indian officials.

India's opposition BJP said at the time "there has been no bigger disaster than David Miliband's visit" in relations with an ally.

Cameron's schedule has an eye on repairing the damage.

Aside from lengthy talks with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, he'll hold meetings with Indian President Pratibha Patil, Vice President Hamid Ansari, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna and lay a wreath in honor of Mohandas Gandhi.

Lalit Mansingh, a former diplomat and India's ex-High Commissioner to Britain acknowledged Cameron's team has work to do.

When Tony Blair took office in 1997 there were hopes "there would be new dynamism in the relationship, but unfortunately in the last few years it has remained somewhat stagnant," Mansingh said.

Mansingh said Cameron's visit, which comes a week after his first trip to the White House, marks a "promising new beginning."

"He's coming with a large trade delegation and I think half of his Cabinet, so it does send a good signal, a strong signal that Britain wants a special relationship with India and I think we should all look forward to that," he said.

Still, Cameron has some thorny issues to address.

He'll need to explain the impact of Britain's planned immigration cap, which will cut the number of people from outside Europe who are able to live and work in the U.K. from next April. India's commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma has already warned the quota will likely hit Indian doctors, nurses and engineers seeking employment in the U.K.

British ministers must also discuss a review of aid spending which is likely to see the U.K. cut the 300 million pounds (US$464 million) it offers India each year, despite an overall rise in the development budget.

And then there's the competition: Some experts wonder whether Cameron will find his overtures to India overshadowed by larger rivals like the U.S. and Japan, who are equally aggressive suitors.

"There are a whole number of countries who recognize that India is a fast growing economy and is going to be an important ally — not just the U.K.," said Gareth Price, a member of a British government trade organization's Asia task force and an analyst at London's Chatham House think tank.

"On the Indian side, there's surprise and a sense of wait and see what all this means," he said. "What is a special relationship — and what is the U.K. bringing to the table?"

___

Associated Press Writer Muneeza Naqvi in New Delhi contributed to this report

UK's Cameron in India on mission to woo old ally

SAN FRANCISCO – IAC/InterActiveCorp, the Internet company run by billionaire Barry Diller that includes dating site Match.com and online city guide Citysearch, reports its second-quarter results on Wednesday before the market opens.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR: Investors will be looking for growth from IAC's main search business. This includes properties such as Citysearch and search engine Ask.com.

In the last quarter, the search unit comprised much of IAC's growth — a big change from 2009, when a slump in the online advertising market hampered the business for the majority of the year.

Investors will also be keeping an eye on IAC's Match business, which includes dating sites Match.com and Chemistry.com. Revenue in the segment has declined for several quarters since it sold Match Europe last June, but its number of paid Match subscribers has increased year-over-year for several quarters.

WHY IT MATTERS: Revenue reported by IAC's search business will help paint a picture of how the online advertising market is performing so far this year bad credit personal loan lenders.

Already this quarter, competitor Google Inc. reported growth in online ads, which stands to benefit Ask.com since it depends on Google for much of its search advertising revenue.

Yahoo Inc. also reported online advertising growth, though it was much less than Google's and the company also said that several major advertisers abruptly lowered their spending during the quarter.

WHAT'S EXPECTED: Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect an adjusted profit of 20 cents per share on $382.6 million in revenue.

LAST YEAR'S QUARTER: In the year-ago quarter, IAC earned $40.8 million, or 28 cents per share, on $340 million in revenue. Excluding special items, its profit totaled 7 cents per share.

Earnings Preview: IAC to report 2Q results

CHICAGO – Net income climbed 12 percent at McDonald's Corp. in the second quarter as customers around the globe gobbled up its cheap food and U.S. customers responded to its profitable frappes and other drinks on its hit McCafe menu.

The world's largest hamburger chain also got a boost from business in customers in China and Australia.

R.W. Baird analyst David Tarantino wrote in a research note that Friday's results showed "healthy" revenue growth but said investors have hoped for even higher figures. McDonald's shares dipped 50 cents to $70.90 in premarket trading Friday. Shares closed Thursday at $71.40.

McDonald's has outpaced many of its competitors in recent years, particularly in the U.S. where its value menu helped insulate it from much of the economic downturn that's hurt competitors.

For the three months that ended June 30, McDonald's earned $1.23 billion, or $1.13 per share. That's up from last year's net income of $1.09 billion, or 98 cents per share free 3-in-1 credit report.

Revenue climbed 5 percent to $5.95 billion. That's up from $5.65 billion last year.

Both figures topped Wall Street forecasts. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting McDonald's Corp. to earn $1.12 per share on revenue of $5.91 billion.

Meanwhile, sales at locations open at least a year climbed 4.8 percent during the quarter. The measure — an important figure that tracks restaurant performance — climbed 3.7 percent in the U.S. while rising 5.2 percent in Europe and 4.6 percent elsewhere around the globe.

In the U.S., where McDonald's has almost 14,000 of its more than 32,000 restaurants, operating income climbed 7 percent to $895.1 million. Revenue in the U.S. rose 2 percent to $2.08 billion.

McDonald's is based in Oak Brook, Ill.

McDonald's 2Q profit jumps 12 pct on rising sales

HONG KONG (Reuters) – The yen neared a 7-1/2-month high and Asian stocks slid on Thursday after comments by the head of the Federal Reserve added to concerns about the U.S. economy, causing investors to dump riskier assets ahead of European bank stress test results.

The conclusion of the European Union examination of banks&&9; financial strength is due on Friday and is expected to show generally positive results for Greece, Italy and Ireland and a few failures in Portugal and Spain.

However, if investors perceive the test results as credible, do not expect risk-taking to bounce back for long, given that Europe&&9;s fundamental backdrop remains relatively grim, especially with fiscal austerity the norm, U.S. fund managers and analysts said.

Ben Bernanke, the head of the Federal Reserve, said on Wednesday that policymakers expected U.S. growth to be sustained despite recent signs of softening. He described the outlook as "unusually uncertain" but gave no indication that specific actions to deal with it are imminent.

"Those who had expected more were disappointed after Bernanke only said the Fed stands ready to ease monetary policy further," said Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equity marketing at Nikko Cordial Securities in Tokyo.

Japan&&9;s Nikkei share average (.N225) fell 1 percent, on course for a fifth straight session of losses. The Nikkei has fallen 2.1 percent so far in July, underperforming the S&P 500 (.SPX), which is up 3.8 percent, and the FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTSE), which has risen 2.5 percent.

Short-term indicators pointed to oversold conditions, though persistent yen strength has dominated equity trading lately. As long as currency dealers keep aiming for 85 yen per dollar, Japanese equities could be under pressure.

The MSCI index of Asia Pacific stocks outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) slid 0.7 percent, with healthcare and technology stocks the main drags.

The tech sector was weighed down after South Korea&&9;s Hynix Semiconductor, the world&&9;s No. 2 memory chip maker, said DRAM prices would fall in the current quarter, even though shipments were expected to grow. Hynix shares (000660.KS) fell 4 percent.

CURRENCIES

The yen rose across the board, benefiting from the increased risk aversion in financial markets. The U.S. dollar fell 0.5 percent to 86.48 yen, closing in on the 7-1/2-month low hit last week of 86 free instant credit report.27 yen.

Japanese policymakers have been trying to talk the yen lower, fearing the country&&9;s exporters would be hurt. Deputy Finance Minister Motohisa Ikeda on Thursday said Japan wants to avoid excessive rises in the yen but market reaction was muted.

However, traders appeared intent on testing what many believe to be the line in the sand at 85 yen per dollar, beyond which they expect Japan would take action to defend.

The yen has already risen more than 7 percent against the dollar so far this year.

Long maturity U.S. Treasuries crept higher, pushing down the 10-year yield to 2.87 percent, not far from the 15-month low of 2.86 percent hit overnight. The 2-year yield was at a record low of 0.56 percent.

The U.S. dollar has steadily suffered over the past month after a stream of weak economic data spurred fears that its recovery may be stalling, with its short-term yield advantage against the euro disappearing.

The difference of the U.S. 2-year yield over same maturity euro zone paper was at 29 basis points at the beginning of June but now favors Europe by 17 basis points.

U.S. economic data due later on Thursday are expected to show persistent weakness in labor and housing markets -- sore points for investors that exacerbate a shift out of risky assets. Investors were also awaiting Bernanke&&9;s second day of testimony to Congress (starting at 1330 GMT).

"Bernanke is testifying again, and focus will be on whether he gives any extra hint of potential Fed action if the economy continues to soften. Lack of such suggestion on a day of poor data releases would further strain investors&&9; nerves," Dariusz Kowalczyk, senior economist with Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong, said in a note.

U.S. crude futures stood little changed at &&6;76.59 a barrel after dropping 1.3 percent on Wednesday on Bernanke&&9;s comments.

Gold prices fell 0.5 percent, bringing month-to-date losses to 4.5 percent. The metal was roughly &&6;10 away from a two month low hit on Tuesday and could mark a new low soon, with investors cutting gold positions to cover losses in other markets.

(Additional reporting by Aiko Hayashi in TOKYO)

(Editing by Kim Coghill)

Yen gains, Asian stocks slide on growing uncertainty

WASHINGTON – Two former Interior secretaries told Congress they did not anticipate an accident as large as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

But Gale Norton and Dirk Kempthorne say no one else did either — including members of Congress who are now blaming the Bush administration for failing to prevent the tragedy.

Kempthorne, who served as Interior secretary from 2006 to January 2009, while George W quick cash. Bush was president, said he did not recall being asked at his confirmation hearing or in later congressional testimony about major oil spills.

Kempthorne: No one anticipated large oil spill

Hot News: Technology Rivals Lobby to Break Microsoft’s Hold

BERLIN — A European plan to advise governments on software purchases has set off a lobbying battle this summer between the U.S. software giant Microsoft and its rivals Google, I.B.M., Red Hat and Oracle over a set of guidelines that could redefine the competitive landscape for proprietary and open-source software.

The focus is a document called the European Interoperability Framework, a recommendation by the European Commission that national, provincial and local governments in the 27-nation European Union will consult when buying software. Open-source software advocates including Google, International Business Machine, Oracle and Red Hat, through a lobbying group, are pushing for a strong endorsement of open-source platforms in the document.

The outcome of the debate has the potential to erode Microsoft’s significant public-sector market lead in Europe by encouraging governments to buy open-source software, which currently runs a tiny fraction of government systems. More broadly, the guidelines may influence whether more software in Europe and elsewhere becomes interoperable through the promotion of open standards, or whether it remains a patchwork of private, competing systems that requires a large organization to choose a supplier and stick with it.

The commission is planning to release its recommendation by the end of this year. European governments will spend $15.7 billion on software this year, 19 percent of all software that is purchased on the Continent, according to International Data Corp.

“Europe has the opportunity to become a world leader on this issue,” said Tom Rabon, an executive vice president for corporate affairs at Red Hat, which is based in North Carolina. The company sells open-source software to businesses and governments, including the city of Rotterdam, the Italian Justice Ministry and the French Education Ministry. “If they don’t take this opportunity, then Europe will become a follower,” he said.

Microsoft, which was required to license the confidential interoperability codes for its server software to competitors after losing a 10-year European antitrust suit, is opposing a blanket endorsement of open-source software in the E.U. document, saying it would limit choice because it could discourage public-sector clients from buying proprietary software.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Washington, still makes at least half of its revenue from its proprietary Windows operating system for computers and servers and from its Office desktop application suite, according to its most recent financial report.

“Interoperability is a big issue. It is something that could potentially unseat the status quo,” said Jan Duffy, a research director at International Data in London. “It is fair to say that a majority of the countries in Europe are beginning to explore open-source alternatives in the public sector as they look to potential cost savings.”

John Vassallo, a Microsoft vice president for E.U. legal and corporate affairs in Brussels, said Microsoft had taken significant steps after its European antitrust settlement to incorporate open-source products in its lineup. It has licensed thousands of pages of protocols for its server software, set up joint interoperability labs with two competitors, Sun and Novell, and started projects like Simple Cloud API, a joint effort with I.B.M. to develop common ways of storing documents and files in cloud computing.

“We are clearly in favor of a mix and having the choice of any software, open or mixed, whatever suits governments,” Mr. Vassallo said. “It’s not putting a particular preference in front of the buyers that will solve the issue of working across borders. It is the opposite, having more choice — then more technical solutions and innovation will be available.”

Google, I.B.M. and Oracle, which in January bought the open-source software pioneer Sun Microsystems, are the main supporters of Open Forum Europe, a group based in Brussels that has been lobbying for an explicit endorsement of open-source software fast cash without a hassle. Graham Taylor, the Open Forum Europe chief executive, says more than 90 percent of European governments end up buying proprietary software products because of inertia, lack of knowledge about open-source alternatives or the fear of switching to a new supplier.

Lobbying by Microsoft and other European companies that make proprietary software, like Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent, has also been formidable, Mr. Taylor said. Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent sell proprietary software to governments to, among other things, help run their internal agency telecommunication systems. About 50 companies, groups and individuals submitted comments to the commission on both sides of the issue.

“We are up against a very big, powerful lobby,” Mr. Taylor said. “The makers of proprietary software are protecting the standards that are already in existence. They are also, of course, trying to preserve their market positions.”

In Europe, the birthplace of the Linux open-source operating system and MySQL open-source database software, which is now owned by Oracle, open-source activists have been increasingly challenging local government administrators when they decide to renew software licenses for the products of Microsoft and other proprietary vendors.

In Bolzano, a city in northern Italy, a Linux users group in May challenged the provincial government’s decision to spend €2.2 million, or $2.8 million, over three years to renew and upgrade software licenses for 161 Microsoft servers and 4,000 desktop computers used to run the day-to-day business of local government.

“We are afraid the administration is getting trapped in this weird logic of software license updates and vendor lock-in,” said Daniele Gobbetti, 31, the president of the Linux Users Group in Bolzano.

The administration responded by inviting group members to discuss the issue in August, but so far it has not indicated that it is willing to reverse its decision.

Maros Sefcovic, the European commissioner for interinstitutional affairs and administration overseeing the purchasing recommendation, said the goal was to create an environment of interoperability that allows governments across the European Union to communicate effectively at low cost.

He said the recommendation was based on principles like “openness, ” and the document “promotes technological neutrality through the use of standards.” But he declined to comment on how the draft proposal specifically addressed the question of open-source versus proprietary software.

The latest draft of the commission’s recommendation, which is circulating among the 27 commissioners, has not been publicly disclosed. But according to a person with knowledge of the document, who was not authorized to speak for the commission, the draft treats the question of open-source versus proprietary software in neutral terms, leaving purchasing decisions, as before, up to individual governments.

On June 10, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, Neelie Kroes, conceded in a speech to a summit meeting organized by Open Forum Europe in Brussels that drafting the purchasing policy had “not been easy.”

In her previous job, as European competition commissioner, Mrs. Kroes concluded the commission’s 10-year antitrust case against Microsoft, requiring the company to pay €1.2 billion in fines and to license server protocols to competitors. In her speech, Mrs. Kroes spoke positively about a rule used in her native Netherlands that required governments to choose open-source software or justify buying proprietary products.

“Such a rule, as the default, would shield public authorities from the dangers of long-term lock-in,” Mrs. Kroes said at the time.

Technology Rivals Lobby to Break Microsoft’s Hold

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices gained slightly on Friday, keeping 10-year yields under 3%, after a report showed U.S. consumer prices fell 0.1% in June.

Yields on 10-year notes slipped 1 basis point to 2.99%. Bond yields move inversely to prices. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

Yields on 2-year notes were more volatile, recently falling 1 basis point to 0.60%, after touching a new record of 0.57% low this week.

S&P 500 (1 YEAR)

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Yields on 30-year bonds , which are often the most sensitive to inflation risks and expectations, declined 1 basis point to 3.98%, staying below the psychologically important 4% level.

The government report said core inflation, excluding food and energy, rose slightly more than some analysts expected but still remained historically low on a year-over-year basis, a trend more closely watched by policy makers Business Card Holders. Read more on CPI.

The Federal Reserve has said it expects inflation to remain benign. But a slowing rate of inflation, called disinflation, is a more problematic concern because it tends to stall economic growth. The Fed has few tools left to combat it since interest rates are already near zero.

The small increases in the CPI compared with a year ago speak to "the deflated inflation forecast the Fed has already espoused; so while friendly, this is more confirmation than new information per se," said strategists at CRT Capital Group.

Treasurys rallied strongly in the past two days as economic data came in weaker than economists anticipated and pointed to more of a slowdown in U.S. growth in the second half of the year.

Bond Report: Treasury yields stay near key lows after CPI

DÜSSELDORF — The former head of IKB Deutsche Industriebank became the first person in Germany to be convicted over the financial crisis and was given a 10-month suspended sentence Wednesday.

The Dusseldorf Regional Court convicted former chief executive officer Stefan Ortseifen of market manipulation. He was accused of misstating IKB’s risks regarding asset-backed securities tied to the U.S. mortgage market in a press release. Mr. Ortsfein had denied wrongdoing.

In addition to the suspended term, Mr. Ortseifen must pay a penalty of 100,000 euros, or $127,000, which will go to charities.

“It wasn’t our task to investigate the reasons for the financial crisis, the role of the banks or the rating agencies,” the presiding judge Brigitte Koppenhoefer said after delivering the verdict. “We simply had to look into whether Mr. Ortseifen violated criminal statutes by the acts he was charged with.”

Mr. Ortseifen faced claims he misled investors by playing down the effect of the U.S. subprime crisis no credit check payday loans. IKB received a bailout package 10 days after the July 20, 2007, press release. It subsequently got as much as 12 billion euros in guarantees from Germany’s bank-rescue fund.

The judge found that the press release was misleading, because it gave the impression that IKB’s exposure to subprime was minor.

Mr. Ortseifen’s lawyer Rainer Hamm had asked for an acquittal and said his client would appeal the conviction.

Prosecutor Nils Bussee had sought the 10-month suspended prison term and an “adequate” penalty.

At the opening of the case in March, Mr. Ortseifen blamed Deutsche Bank for causing IKB’s near-collapse in 2007. Deutsche Bank’s chief executive Josef Ackermann testified at the trial that IKB’s capital base was in peril before Deutsche Bank ended its credit line.

Bloomberg News

Subprime Crisis Leads to a Conviction in Gemany

LONDON (AFP) – The continuing oil leak caused by the April explosion of a Gulf of Mexico oil rig has cost BP 3.5 billion dollars (2.3 billion pounds), the oil giant said Monday.

The installation of a new cap to seal the massive leak, which began on Saturday, was "proceeding as planned", BP said in a statement.

"The cost of the response to date amounts to approximately 3.5 billion dollars, including the cost of the spill response, containment, relief well drilling, grants to the Gulf states, claims paid, and federal costs," it said.

By July 10, about 749,100 barrels of oil had been collected or flared by containment systems, it said.

Plans were meanwhile being developed "for additional containment capacity and flexibility that will ultimately increase capacity to 60,000-80,000 barrels per day" humidifiers.

Work on relief wells to intercept the original well continued, it said, with plans to "kill" the flow of gas and oil still on track for the first half of August.

"Although uncertainty still exists, the first half of August remains the current estimate of the most likely date by which the first relief well will be completed and kill operations performed," it said.

About 46,000 personnel, more than 6,400 vessels and dozens of aircraft were engaged in the response effort, BP said.

BP puts oil leak bill at £2.3 billion

WASHINGTON – Airlines will have to inspect the cockpit window heaters on 1,212 Boeing airliners and perhaps replace the windows under a safety order the Federal Aviation Administration said Friday it plans to issue next week.

The window heaters have been tied to dozens of incidents involving in-flight fires, smoke, open streams of electricity known as electrical arcing, and shattered windshields in Boeing planes. In many cases, pilots have made emergency landings.

The source of the problem was identified in 2004 as a simple loose screw that chafes power wires where they connect to heating wires in the windows.

The most recent incident was an emergency landing by a United Airlines Boeing 757 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia on May 16. A fire broke out near the captain's side of the window during the New York-to-Los Angeles flight. Pilots used a fire extinguisher to put out the flames, but they had to send for a second extinguisher after the fire reignited. The fire also shattered part of the window. Afterward, passengers said smoke had drifted from the cockpit into the cabin, and fire trucks, ambulances and other rescue equipment was waiting for the plane when it landed.

NTSB has been prodding FAA since 2004 to order airlines to replace cockpit windows on Boeing models in which incidents have occurred with a new window design that uses pins instead of screws. NTSB Chairman Deborah Hersman told The Associated Press last month that she was concerned the problem would lead to an accident.

The safety order, which FAA said will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, applies to some Boeing 757, 767 and 777 models. NTSB had urged that 747 planes also be included. FAA said it is considering a separate order for 747s, but didn't indicate when that might be.

The order also doesn't go as far as NTSB has recommended. Instead of requiring that all windows be replaced, the order tells airlines that beginning on Aug air conditioners. 17 they must inspect planes within 500 flight hours and, if evidence of damage is found, replace the windows. The order gives airlines a choice of installing windows of a similar design or the new design. Carriers that choose old design replacements must continue to inspect windows at regular intervals.

NTSB had urged that only the new designs be used for replacements.

FAA said it was aware of 11 cases of fires in the planes over the past 20 years. However, Boeing has said it is aware of 29 incidents involving fire or smoke over the past eight years.

A review by AP of NASA's Aviation Safety Reporting System — a confidential database to which pilots, flight attendants, airline mechanics and others voluntarily report safety concerns — and NTSB records found a dozen incidents since 2002 of arcing and shattered windows in addition to a similar number of incidents involving fire or smoke. The review included 747s as well as the other models.

FAA spokesman Les Dorr told AP last month that one reason the safety order was delayed was that the agency had received new information indicating that both the upper window terminals that connect wires to the heaters were a source of arcing. Previously, he said, the agency was aware of incidents involving only the lower two terminals.

FAA said it is considering issuing another safety order addressing the upper two terminals in 757 planes only.

American, Continental, Delta and United airlines told FAA in 2008 that they were opposed to the safety fix, which they said didn't address the root cause of the problem.

___

Online:

Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov

FAA tells airlines to fix cockpit window heaters

Hot News: US, Britain both seeking sustainable growth: Obama

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine&&9;s parliament on Thursday approved budget cuts bringing the deficit in line with the International Monetary Fund&&9;s requirements after brief resistance from the Communist allies of the government.

Reducing government spending is central to an austerity package which the IMF has insisted the former Soviet republic sign up to in exchange for a &&6;14.9 billion stand-by program later this month intended to stabilize the economy.

The Communists had first voted against the bill, but supported it in a second vote a few hours later.

The government has proposed cutting spending by more than &&6;2 billion to reduce deficit to 4.99 percent of gross domestic product from 5.3 percent by slashing funding for investment programs in sectors such as agriculture and coal mining.

The proposed cuts also affected the state-run pension fund and the Defense Ministry.

The IMF, which suspended Ukraine&&9;s &&6;16.4 billion program last year after the previous government reneged on promises of financial constraint, has urged Kiev to keep the consolidated budget deficit within 5.5 percent of GDP this year.

The consolidated figure includes subsidies to state energy firm Naftogaz, projected at up to one percent of GDP this year, that help maintain artificially low domestic energy prices kerosene heaters.

In a potentially painful move to raise prices, the parliament approved in the first reading the setting-up of a new government body that would regulate tariffs for utilities such as gas, heating, electricity and water.

The legislature, which has it was ready to work overtime to adopt measures needed for the IMF deal, also approved in the first reading a bill designed to strengthen the central bank&&9;s independence -- another issue pushed by the Fund.

However, the adoption of a new tax code, another important part of President Viktor Yanukovich&&9;s economic reform program, has been delayed until September.

The cost of insuring Ukrainian debt fell, with five-year credit default swaps, down to 605 basis points. That is 16 bps tighter than Wednesday&&9;s close, CDS monitor CMA DataVision said.

Ukraine&&9;s cash bonds also outperformed. Its portion of the JPMorgan EMBI Plus sovereign bond index tightened a massive 27 basis to 585 bps over U.S. Treasuries while the underlying index was 12 bps tighter.

(Additional reporting by Sujata Rao in London; Writing by Olzhas Auyezov; Editing by Ron Askew)

Ukraine parl't approves budget cuts for IMF deal

HTC released its preliminary second-quarter earnings on Tuesday. The Taiwanese handset maker posted $268 million in profits, a 33 percent increase over the year-ago period. That&&9;s the largest quarterly profit ever for the high-growth device manufacturer.

HTC is the largest purveyor of Windows mobile phones, as well as the leader in the Android segment. And it was Android that pushed HTC&&9;s sales through the roof in the second quarter with nearly 60 percent year-over-year revenue growth.

HTC sold 4.5 million devices in April. Analysts expect the company to sell about 20 million units this year. HTC sold 12 million units in 2009.

HTC&&9;s Early Mover Advantage

What sets HTC apart from other handset vendors that rely on Google&&9;s Android operating system to power their devices? Several characteristics, according to Michael Gartenberg, a partner at Altimeter Group.

"HTC got on board early. They&&9;ve had more than a decade of experience in the smartphone category. They built some of the first Windows smartphones; the first smartphones that were out on the market," Gartenberg said.

"HTC also quickly understood what some of the Android limitations were and built HTC Sense to overcome some of those limitations from a user-interface perspective. Learning the lessons that come from making smartphones for so long has certainly helped HTC."

An Android Leader

HTC has several Android hits on its hands, including the Droid Incredible on the Verizon Wireless network, the EVO 4G on the Sprint Nextel network, the Aria on AT&T, and, to a lesser extent, the Google Nexus One on T-Mobile infrared heaters.

Should other handset makers that have embraced Android expect similar profit increases for the second quarter? Probably not on the back of Android. HTC has had some of the hottest Android devices on the market, as well as Android diversity.

"HTC has sold Android devices in the U.S. and Europe. They&&9;ve sold phones at the high and low end of the spectrum. And they&&9;ve become synonymous in many ways with Android development and the leader of Android development," Gartenberg said. "It&&9;s no surprise that Android has done well for HTC. Other handset makers won&&9;t necessarily see the same pickup that HTC has had just because they are doing Android."

No &&9;Flash in the Pan&&9;

Next question: Has HTC cornered the market for cool Android phones? Not quite. Motorola sold plenty of Droids, and its successor, the Droid X, has been well received. The market is moving too quickly to declare that one company has cornered the market.

"What it comes down to is Android is not a flash in the pan. It&&9;s not a passing fad and we are going to see more and more of these devices coming to market," Gartenberg said. "But with so many coming to market, the question is how many of them are going to be able to stand out the way HTC&&9;s have?"

Android Powers HTC's Sales To Record Q2 Profit

WASHINGTON – Democrats controlling the House approved a plan Thursday to cut $7 billion from President Barack Obama's budget request for foreign aid and the operating budgets for Cabinet agencies.

Obama has already proposed an overall freeze in non-security agency accounts for the budget year that begins in October. At issue is the one-third of the federal budget that Congress passes each year through appropriations bills.

"It demands that we live within our means ... and works to eliminate waste and inefficiency in our spending," said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. "And it sets us on-course to balanced budgets in the future."

In fact, the Democratic plan requires just a little snip from the $1.1 trillion proposed by Obama for such accounts next year and would come after generous increases approved over the last two Democratic-dominated appropriations cycles. And it means that Democrats are putting off more difficult decisions involving rapidly growing benefit programs like Medicare.

Democrats are instead leaving such choices to Obama's fiscal commission, which is supposed to report a long-term budget plan by December. There's no guarantee that the commission will succeed, however paydayloan.

The measure was approved instead of a more comprehensive budget blueprint that would have forced Democrats to go on record in support of huge deficits.

Republicans blasted the move as an abdication of the core responsibilities of Congress — passing a budget plan that lays out a fiscal blueprint for the future.

"Facing a record deficit and a tidal wave of debt, House Democrats decided it was politically inconvenient to put forward a budget and account for their fiscal recklessness," said Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, top Republican on the Budget Committee. "With no priorities and no restraints, the spending, taxing and borrowing will continue unchecked for the coming fiscal year."

Adoption of the measure allows Democrats to call up the 12 annual appropriations bills. They are well behind schedule, however, and it's increasingly likely that in the poisonous political environment that most of the spending measures won't become law until after the midterm elections.

House approves $7 billion budget cut