U.S., Russia at odds on who is blocking U.N. probe of suspected chemical attack in Syria

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U.S. regulators probe fires in 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee

LED lights are shown on a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee during the first media preview day at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show in Chicago, Illinois February 8, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Frank Polich

DETROIT | Fri Aug 23, 2013 10:55am EDT

DETROIT (Reuters) - U.S. regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into three consumer reports that sun visors in 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs caught fire, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Friday.

Grand Cherokee is one of the best-selling models made by Chrysler Group LLC, a unit of Italy's Fiat SpA (FIA.MI).

A preliminary investigation will determine whether a recall of the vehicles is necessary for about 146,000 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs in the United States from the 2012 model year.

Three Grand Cherokee drivers said they noticed a burning odor and smoke coming from the sun visor while the SUVs were in motion.

This was followed by flames from the sun visor area, which only intensified when customers rolled down windows, NHTSA said. The fires continued to burn after the Grand Cherokee SUVs were shut off, the safety regulator said.

All three incidents occurred in the past four months, NHTSA records show.

In one incident, the fire spread to the passenger seat when the sun visor fell onto it, NHTSA said.

Chrysler said in a statement it will cooperate with safety regulators, and that its engineers are also investigating this issue.

Two months ago, Chrysler relented and agreed to recall 2.7 million older Jeep models after initially fighting a recall request from NHTSA in a dispute over crash protection for the fuel tanks.

The recall affected Jeep Grand Cherokee SUVs from model years 1993 to 2004 and Jeep Liberty SUVs from 2002 to 2007.

While Chrysler stood by its assertion that the vehicles are not defective, the automaker acknowledged consumer concerns about the safety of the vehicles, which have fuel tanks situated behind the rear axle, where they can be more vulnerable, NHTSA said, to fires after rear-end collisions.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; editing by Matthew Lewis)

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China to probe IBM, Oracle, EMC for security concerns: paper

A worker is pictured behind a logo at the IBM stand on the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover February 26, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz

SHANGHAI | Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:49am EDT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Public Security and a cabinet-level research centre are preparing to investigate IBM Corp, Oracle Corp and EMC Corp over security issues, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Friday.

The report follows revelations by former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden of widespread surveillance, including a program known as PRISM, by the National Security Agency and his assertion that the agency hacked into critical network infrastructure at universities in China and in Hong Kong.

Documents leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has had access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies, including Facebook and Google, under a government program known as Prism.

"At present, thanks to their technological superiority, many of our core information technology systems are basically dominated by foreign hardware and software firms, but the Prism scandal implies security problems," the newspaper quoted an anonymous source as saying.

China's Ministry of Public Security declined to comment on the reported probe, and the State Council's Development Research Centre, one of the groups reportedly involved, told Reuters they were not carrying out such an investigation.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which oversees China's IT industry, said it could not confirm anything because of the matter's sensitivity. Another MIIT official told Reuters they were unaware of the reported probe.

IBM said in an emailed statement to Reuters that the company was unable to comment. Oracle and EMC were not immediately available for comment.

China, repeatedly accused by the United States of hacking, was given considerable ammunition by Snowden's allegations, which Beijing has used to point the finger at Washington for hypocrisy.

Chinese regulators and the police have begun a series of investigations in recent weeks into how foreign and domestic companies do business in the world's second-biggest economy.

"The Prism scandal certainly provides ample material for real concern," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based market intelligence firm Marbridge Consulting.

"What the scandal has done is make it increasingly difficult to ascertain what is being done out of legitimate concern and what may be being done for any sort of political reasons," said Natkin.

(Reporting by Pete Sweeney in Shanghai and Paul Carsten in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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China to probe IBM, Oracle, EMC for security concerns: paper

A worker is pictured behind a logo at the IBM stand on the CeBIT computer fair in Hanover February 26, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Tobias Schwarz

SHANGHAI | Fri Aug 16, 2013 7:49am EDT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China's Ministry of Public Security and a cabinet-level research centre are preparing to investigate IBM Corp, Oracle Corp and EMC Corp over security issues, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Friday.

The report follows revelations by former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden of widespread surveillance, including a program known as PRISM, by the National Security Agency and his assertion that the agency hacked into critical network infrastructure at universities in China and in Hong Kong.

Documents leaked by Snowden revealed that the NSA has had access to vast amounts of Internet data such as emails, chat rooms and video from large companies, including Facebook and Google, under a government program known as Prism.

"At present, thanks to their technological superiority, many of our core information technology systems are basically dominated by foreign hardware and software firms, but the Prism scandal implies security problems," the newspaper quoted an anonymous source as saying.

China's Ministry of Public Security declined to comment on the reported probe, and the State Council's Development Research Centre, one of the groups reportedly involved, told Reuters they were not carrying out such an investigation.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), which oversees China's IT industry, said it could not confirm anything because of the matter's sensitivity. Another MIIT official told Reuters they were unaware of the reported probe.

IBM said in an emailed statement to Reuters that the company was unable to comment. Oracle and EMC were not immediately available for comment.

China, repeatedly accused by the United States of hacking, was given considerable ammunition by Snowden's allegations, which Beijing has used to point the finger at Washington for hypocrisy.

Chinese regulators and the police have begun a series of investigations in recent weeks into how foreign and domestic companies do business in the world's second-biggest economy.

"The Prism scandal certainly provides ample material for real concern," said Mark Natkin, managing director of Beijing-based market intelligence firm Marbridge Consulting.

"What the scandal has done is make it increasingly difficult to ascertain what is being done out of legitimate concern and what may be being done for any sort of political reasons," said Natkin.

(Reporting by Pete Sweeney in Shanghai and Paul Carsten in Beijing; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Probe opened as Air India Boeing Dreamliner oven overheats midair

An Air India Airlines Boeing 787 dreamliner takes part in a flying display during the 50th Paris Air Show at the Le Bourget airport near Paris, June 14, 2013 file photo.

Credit: Reuters/Pascal Rossignol

NEW DELHI | Fri Jul 26, 2013 5:19am EDT

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An oven in a Boeing Co (BA.N) Dreamliner operated by Air India AIN.UL overheated during a domestic flight this week causing smoke but did not interrupt services, the state-run Indian carrier said, adding an investigation has begun.

India's aviation regulator said it was examining the incident and had sought a report from Air India.

The incident follows a fire earlier this month on a parked Ethiopian Airlines-owned 787 Dreamliner and caused extensive damage to the plane. The entire global fleet of Dreamliners was grounded for three months earlier this year due to separate battery-related problems.

Separately, Japan's ANA Holdings Inc 9202.T, which operates the world's biggest fleet of Dreamliners, said on Friday it found damage to the battery wiring on two 787 locator beacons.

The overheating of the oven during a July 24 flight from New Delhi to Kolkata did not cause a fire, an Air India spokesman said, adding they were in touch with Boeing over the issue.

"Even if there is a minor incident, it is always referred to investigation," the Air India spokesman said.

Boeing said in a statement it was aware of the issue and was working with Air India.

"Prima facie we feel that it's something to do with the oven, not with the machine (plane) as such," Arun Mishra, who heads India's civil aviation regulator, said over phone, but added he can comment further only after getting the investigation report.

Air India, which is the only Indian carrier so far to operate Dreamliner planes, has seven of the jets and has orders for 20 more.

(Reporting by Devidutta Tripathy; Editing by Matt Driskill)

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GM fires several employees after probe into Tavera recall

DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co fired several employees after an internal probe into a recent recall of its Chevrolet Tavera sport-utility vehicle in India uncovered "violations of company policy," the U.S. automaker said on Friday.

"We take these matters very seriously and hold our leaders and employees to high standards," GM said in a statement. "When those standards are not met, we will take the appropriate action to hold employees accountable."

GM declined to provide more details.

Automotive News reported that Sam Winegarden, GM's vice president for global engine engineering, was dismissed this week along with about 10 other GM powertrain employees in the United States and India.

Earlier this week, GM recalled 114,000 Tavera SUVs built between 2005 and 2013. GM earlier halted production and sale of the Tavera BS3 and Tavera BS4 models.

GM said it took the actions to address issues relating to emissions standards and other regulatory specifications. India's Economic Times newspaper reported that GM told the Indian government that its engineers manipulated emissions tests to comply with government standards.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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