Mickelson struggles from the start again (From York Press) - The Press in York
Mickelson struggles from the start again
7:30pm Thursday 14th June 2012 in National Sport News © Press Association 2011
Phil Mickelson struggled from the off for a second straight year at the US Open as his opening drive was lost high up in the branches of a tree.
Mickelson began by losing a ball in the water last year, and his hopes of winning a US Open title took another early hit as he was made to make the long walk back to the tee. The Olympic Club is tough enough without that happening and, although he made birdie with his second ball, the left-hander started with three successive bogeys and was soon four over par.
Mickelson was playing with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson and while Woods impressed with his ball-striking again to be level par after 12 holes, Masters champion Watson was another really struggling as he slipped to five over and eight behind the early leader, fellow American Jason Bohn.
Bohn, twice a winner on the PGA Tour and with a round of 58 to his name on the Canadian circuit, birdied the first, seventh and 11th in a dream start to only his second US Open.
That put him one ahead of another qualifier, Michael Thompson, and Spain's Dubai Desert Classic winner Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
Scot Marc Warren - playing in his first major at the age of 31 - kicked off with a birdie on the 449-yard ninth and remained part of the group on one under after seven holes.
Dubliner Padraig Harrington was alongside him, but then ran up a double bogey seven at the monstrous 670-yard 16th, the longest hole in major history.
Harrington did hit straight back with his third birdie of the day, however, and at level par was on the same mark as not only Woods, but also England's Robert Rock.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood were among the later starters, with organisers having decided to put the world's top three in the same group for the second year running.
Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years in prison - Reuters
HOUSTON |
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former billionaire Allen Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in prison on Thursday for running a $7 billion scheme in which he stole money from his investors to finance an extravagant lifestyle in the Caribbean.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner said Stanford's actions were among the most "egregious criminal frauds," and investors who lost money said Stanford's crimes were worse than those of Bernard Madoff, another Ponzi schemer.
In March, a jury convicted Stanford of 13 charges including fraud and conspiracy for selling certificates of deposit from his bank in Antigua to thousands of investors in the United States and Latin America. He had already spent some of those proceeds on yachts, girlfriends, sponsorship of a cricket tournament and other accoutrements of a high-rolling life.
Stanford denied committing fraud or running a Ponzi scheme and, in a statement that went on for 40 minutes, he blamed the U.S. government for ruining a business he said had enough assets to repay its depositors. "They destroyed it and turned it to nothing," he said.
Stanford insisted: "I am not a thief."
Prosecutor William Stellmach told the judge: "This is a man utterly without remorse. He treated his victims like roadkill."
One of the victims, Angela Shaw, said Stanford preyed on retired teachers, veterans and refinery workers - unlike Madoff, who targeted the wealthy.
"He stole more than millions. He stole our lives as we knew them," Shaw said.
Madoff pleaded guilty in March 2009 to running a Ponzi scheme and is serving a 150-year sentence. A third major Ponzi schemer, Minnesota businessman Tom Petters, is serving a 50-year prison term for a $3.65 billion scheme.
Attorneys who have followed the Stanford case said the judge was justified in handing him such a long sentence.
"The number can easily be justified by the size of the money involved in the fraud, the lack of remorse, no acceptance of responsibility, impact on the victims and financial institutions," said Wendell Odom, a Houston-based attorney. "But when you think about 110 years and know that is a life sentence, it is very sobering."
Philip Hilder, a former federal prosecutor and criminal defense attorney in Houston, said Hittner likely just followed the federal sentencing guidelines.
"While it is exorbitant, the judge sentenced to what the guidelines called for," Hilder said.
During a six-week trial earlier this year, jurors heard how Stanford International Bank in Antigua issued certificates of deposit with above market interest rates that were peddled by an army of highly incentivized brokers. Customers in the United States and Latin America were promised a safe, highly liquid investment, but Stanford invested the money in real estate, and private equity companies.
He also spent the funds building a lavish lifestyle for himself and his estranged wife, children and girlfriends. He owned yachts, mansions in Florida and the Caribbean and spent millions of dollars promoting the sport of cricket by sponsoring international tournaments from his base on Antigua.
In a memo to the court last week, prosecutors said Stanford used the firm's private jets to fly a tailor from Bergdorf Goodman in New York to Antigua to take his measurements and to fly in koi for his pond on the island of St. Croix, prosecutors said.
Hittner told the packed hearing that he had personally read each one of the 350 letters written by defrauded investors detailing the impact on their lives.
"I owed it to each writer to consider them," the judge said.
Defense attorney Ali Fazel told reporters he was worried the judge would give Stanford, 62, the full 230 years sought by prosecutors, but nonetheless described the sentence as harsh. "It will be tough on him," said Fazel, adding that the sentence would be appealed.
Stanford's attorneys had asked for a sentence of about three years, the same amount of time he has been in federal custody.
Stanford will remain in a federal detention center in Houston for the next 30 to 60 days while the Bureau of Prisons decides where he will serve his sentence.
After court adjourned, Stanford's mother, Sammi Stanford, said she had been prepared for a sentence that will keep her son in prison for the rest of his life. "I didn't expect anything different."
(Reporting by Anna Driver and Eileen O'Grady; editing by Gunna Dickson)
Budget bill vote marathon passes halfway mark - CBC
Weary MPs on both sides of the House of Commons stuck to their guns as a marathon voting session over the Harper government's budget bill entered its second evening Thursday.
MPs rose again and again in the House of Commons, working slowly and methodically through an exhaustive list of amendments to bill C-38. Voting, which began just before 1 a.m. ET, is expected to continue through the evening and end early Friday morning.
A proposal from Opposition House Leader Nathan Cullen to break for question period in the afternoon was rejected by Conservatives.
MPs are voting on 871 amendments that have been bundled into about 159 groups to speed the voting.
Throughout Thursday morning, the Commons voted down amendments that would have removed the parts of the bill changing environmental regulations, one of the most contentious aspects of the omnibus legislation. The NDP caucus – particularly its back rows – appeared to be making a point of rising slowly to vote, one by exhausted one.
Cullen told reporters their slow pace was deliberate for the environmental clauses in particular, criticizing Conservative backbenchers for not having the courage of their convictions to break ranks.
"You steel your resolve a bit to know that people appreciate when the country is being bullied, when our Parliament is being bullied, there's someone who's going to push back, and that's essentially what's been happening the last several hours," Cullen said.
"If we had simply allowed the government to pass this bill without any inconvenience at all, the lesson they would have taken away, and Canadians would have taken away, is that Parliament is less important than it really is," the NDP house leader added.
But Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the government is determined to pass the bill to implement its budget.
"I think most Canadians, quite frankly, want us to move ahead with our economic agenda ... and that this is not a time for gamesmanship," Flaherty told reporters in the Commons foyer early Thursday afternoon. "We’ll do whatever we have to do today and tonight and in the early hours of tomorrow morning to get it done."
The Conservative caucus has been open about its strategy of dividing into small teams according to their seat placement, with "columns" of MPs exiting the chamber to eat, shower, nap or take short walks while a critical mass of government MPs remain to ensure each amendment fails.
Discipline in the ranks
Cullen suggested Government Whip Gordon O'Connor, a retired general, was keeping his troops on a short leash. He thinks Tories sometimes don't vote when a quick head count suggests they've got sufficient numbers to win easily, speeding up the count.
Manitoba Conservative MP Rod Bruinooge had a visit from his family Thursday morning in the lobby adjacent to the Commons, where breakfast was served. This photo he circulated on Twitter shows them posing with Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who was also on a break. (Twitter)
When there's a "shift change" of these break-taking MPs, confusion has occasionally ensued over who's present to vote. MPs have to be in their seats when the "question is put" (the amendment is read from the Speaker's chair), and latecomers' votes are not supposed to be counted.
Liberal MP Marc Garneau told reporters Thursday morning that even though the opposition had lost all the votes so far, it was accomplishing its goal — even if the votes so far occurred while most Canadians slept.
"I'm getting the sense that Canadians realize that the government has abused its power. It did not need to do this. It is making profound changes in many areas to this country, and, yes, it has a majority, but it didn't need to bundle them all into one law and just sort of ram it through," Garneau said in the foyer of the House of Commons.
Asked whether the overnight session was like being trapped in a space capsule, the former astronaut replied it was actually an "open and breezy" social environment inside the House chamber.
Cullen also revealed some lighter moments, including Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird's gift of a sash and tiara to NDP Deputy Leader Libby Davies, "which was nice," he said.
"But then you step away from those moments and you realize what you just voted on and what the government just rammed through," Cullen said. "Those moments sober you up real quick."
A brief controversy erupted when Prime Minister Stephen Harper re-entered the Commons after a break just before 8:30 a.m. ET and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May suggested he didn't arrive in time to have his vote counted. Harper insisted he had, supported by an intervention from Government Whip Gordon O'Connor, who is seated immediately behind Harper. The Speaker took him at his word, in accordance with Commons rules.
Coffee, closed eyes and candy
Observers overnight noticed MPs napping, or at least "resting their eyes" in their seats as others rose to vote. MPs are allowed only water in the Commons, but some MPs rose to complain about one who brought in coffee, which is against the rules.
Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae and Quebec Liberal MP Justin Trudeau confessed on Twitter that they'd snuck in candy.
Early Thursday afternoon reports from MPs on Twitter suggest that seven NDP MPs have not missed a single vote. Three Liberal MPs are also said not to have slept.
In another brief burst of excitement, one amendment was defeated on a voice vote mid-Thursday morning, sparing MPs that particular round of rising in their places. Opposition MPs farther back in the chamber claimed not to have heard when it was their turn to yell in favour of a recorded standing vote, in a ritual repeated before every vote.
In a voice vote, MPs remain seated and yell yea or nay when prompted by the Speaker.
If the opposition does win a vote, it may be only a minor inconvenience for the government, which could circle back and reinstate the original clause or clauses in future legislation.
Any victory would have symbolic value and surely energize the battle-weary opposition. But the exact consequences would depend on which vote the government lost, and whether the government chooses to see that defeat as a matter of confidence.
The final Commons vote on the budget bill as a whole is expected after its final stage of debate, early next week.
Cullen described its future passage through the Conservative-dominated Senate as similar to a "hot knife through butter."
Toll on Commons staff
The extended voting is taking its toll on Commons staff, who must be present through to the end, working overtime through rotating shifts.
One clerk was heard briefly on an inadvertently open microphone early Thursday morning saying she was going home because she needed to sleep.
While this voting marathon is testing current MPs, it is not unprecedented. In 1999, the House of Commons endured a record 43 hours of voting on 471 Reform Party amendments to the then-Liberal government's legislation to implement the Nisga'a treaty.
Some highlights so far
- Sorting out the 871 motions into 159 groupings and reading them into the record along with a series of theatrical but otherwise meaningless voice votes chewed up four hours Wednesday night before the recorded votes even commenced.
- The first vote, at 12:59 a.m., took just over seven minutes to complete, with each MP rising and sitting again at their seat. The Conservatives prevailed 150-133.
- Thursday morning, a quick burst of song broke through the steady hum of background chatter as MPs serenaded New Democrat MP Hong Mai with "Happy Birthday." The Quebec MP turns 39 Thursday — at least in the real world off Parliament Hill. Inside the Commons, the calendar continues to read June 13 as Wednesday won't officially end for MPs until the last vote is counted and the House adjourned.
- At the current pace, voting is expected to wrap up in the wee hours of Friday morning. By the time that happens, clerks in the House of Commons will have recited almost 50,000 names in a repetitive roll call.
Mobile users, follow the live blog here.
Cassano thrilled to share in EURO carnival - UEFA
In a season in which his career almost came to a sudden and premature end, Italy striker Antonio Cassano is thrilled to be contesting a UEFA European Championship he once thought beyond him, telling UEFA.com: "I want to make the most of it."
Antonio Cassano has come a long way in eight months. In October last year, while flying back from a Serie A match against AS Roma, the AC Milan striker suffered an ischemic stroke. He was subsequently told he would have to undergo heart surgery and that his career might be over, so to find himself returning to the Rossoneri lineup in April and subsequently earning a place in Cesare Prandelli's UEFA EURO 2012 squad is not something he took for granted.
"I'll tell you the truth – at first I thought I would quit football for good," Cassano told UEFA.com. "Then, slowly but surely, I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I hoped until the very end that I would make it to this EURO. It came true and now I want to really make the most of it. I'm going to give it everything I've got."
As Italy's top scorer with six goals during their unbeaten qualification campaign, Cassano has become a key player in a side committed to a more free-flowing brand of football, and 'Fant'Antonio' believes he is flourishing under Prandelli's tutelage. The Azzurri coach stuck by the former AS Bari and Real Madrid CF forward through the dark days, insisting he would wait as late as possible to give him every chance of coming to Poland and Ukraine.
"I like Prandelli a lot both as a coach and a person," said the 29-year-old. "He loves talking to you; he explains everything. He's a very well-prepared and well-organised coach and right from the start he made me feel a very important part of the team. When the person who is in charge places such great trust in you, it boosts your confidence and you always try to give your best."
Cassano gave his all for the 65 minutes he was allocated against Spain, coming close with a shot across goal in the first half, but with Antonio Di Natale coming on for Mario Balotelli and scoring, will the Cassano-Balotelli partnership be broken up Afor the match against Croatia? "The hierarchy is not decided in the press or anywhere else," said Cassano. "It's decided by the coach. Against Spain we played well, but the whole team did. Me, Mario, 'Totò' [Di Natale], even [Sebastian] Giovinco when he came on.
"We have five strikers who are important to the cause. Whoever plays must play well. Hierarchies mean nothing. Obviously, I always want to play for as many minutes as possible. But the coach is the one who decides and he is very good at seeing who is in good condition and who isn't."
With nine international goals, 30 Italy caps to his name and his 30th birthday less than a month away, Cassano is one of the elder statesmen of the side, but playing for Italy clearly remains a huge honour for the man who made his Azzurri debut in 2003 and whose wife and son were spotted in the crowd in Gdansk sporting Italy shirts and cheering him on.
"If I'm more mature now, it's because I'm [nearly] 30, but I still feel like a child inside," he said. "It's normal that things that happen to you along the way, like what happened to me at the end of October, leave a little mark, but they also really make you appreciate what's important in life."
For now, though, what is most important to Cassano is Thursday's Group C test against Croatia. Indeed, despite his recent travails, it is clear that the Milan striker has lost none of his competitive edge. "The match against Croatia is crucial for us, and it is for them too. We must try to find a way to win and continue the good work we started against Spain. After that match, we have realised we can take on anyone and go all the way."
CORRECTED-US Treasury raises $245 mln from preferred stock sale - Reuters UK
(Corrects number of shares sold in 10th paragraph)
By Shankar Ramakrishnan
NEW YORK, June 14 (IFR) - The US Treasury said it raised $245 million from the sale of preferred stock in seven financial institutions that it acquired during the financial crisis of 2007-2008.
The government has now recovered $264 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Programme (TARP) through repayments, dividends, interest, and other income, the Treasury said in a statement late Wednesday. That compares to the $245 billion initially invested.
The latest preferred stock sale, conducted through joint bookrunners and auction agents Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Sandler O' Neill, priced through a modified Dutch auction that ended on June 13.
The stock sold was securities the Treasury held in TaylorCapital Group, Ameris Bancorp, First Defiance Financial Corp, Farmers Capital Bank, LNB Bancorp, First Capital Bancorp, and United Bancorp.
All the preferred stock was priced above the minimum bid price.
For instance, Taylor Capital Group's 104,823 shares were priced at $893.50 per share versus the minimum price of $737, raising $92 million in net proceeds.
Ameris Bancorp's 52,000 shares were priced at $930.60 per share versus the $763.5 minimum price, garnering $48 million in net proceeds.
First Defiance Financial Corp's 37,000 shares priced at $962.66 per share versus $912 to raise $35 million; Farmers Capital Bank Corp's 30,000 shares priced at $739.89 versus $671.25 to raise $22 million in net proceeds); and LNB Bancorp's 25,223 shares priced at $869.17 versus $744.50 to raise $22 million proceeds).
United Bancorp's 20,600 shares were priced at $825.50 versus a $706.25 minimum price raising $17 million.
About 10,958 shares in First Capital Bancorp were offered with a minimum bid price of $819.25 and sold at $920.11, raising $10 million.
The aggregate net proceeds to Treasury from the seven offerings of $245 million was 15% above the minimum prices set for the auctions.
The prices reflected a liquidation amount per share of $1,000 for the preferred stock of each institution. At settlement, winning bidders will be required to pay the clearing price for the preferred stock plus accrued and unpaid dividends on the preferred stock from and including May 15 2012.
The stock had a current dividend rate of 5% which steps up to 9% after February 2014.
The TARP's bank programs have already earned a significant profit for taxpayers, said the Treasury.
The auctions are part of the strategy the Treasury outlined last month for winding down its remaining TARP bank investments in a way that protects taxpayer interests, promotes financial stability, and preserves the strength of the nation's community banks.
Treasury intends to use a combination of repayments, restructurings, and sales to manage and recover those remaining investments. Treasury intends to announce additional CPP preferred stock auctions in the coming weeks.
"We're pleased with the results of today's auction, which enabled these community banks to replace temporary government support with new private capital, and keeps us on track to earn a positive return for taxpayers from TARP's bank programs in excess of US$20bn," said Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Timothy G Massad.
The closing is expected to occur on or about June 19.
Merrill Lynch, and Sandler O'Neill were auction agents and joint bookrunning managers for the offerings. (Reporting by Shankar Ramakrishnan)
Barlow tops 2012 celebrity dad poll (From Bournemouth Echo) - Daily Echo
Barlow tops 2012 celebrity dad poll
7:02pm Thursday 14th June 2012 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2011
Gary Barlow really is top of the pops - after being named celebrity dad of the year.
The Take That star, who is also number one in the singles chart, collected the prize ahead of the birth of his fourth child.
He pipped reigning champion Peter Andre to the title, which is officially called the Premier Inn Celebrity Dad Of The Year 2012.
It comes just days after he organised the Queen's spectacular Diamond Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace and his track Sing, written for the jubilee, is the current chart-topper.
It is the first time Gary has won the accolade and earlier this year he posted a message on Twitter telling Andre to "stand aside".
Gary, 41, was chosen in a public vote. The X Factor panellist said winning the award felt "amazing".
"I've been waiting for it for a long time," he said. "My kids are really excited and I don't think they can quite believe it. Being a dad is a really important part of my life and it means a lot to have won this award."
Barlow already has children Daniel, Emily, Daisy and his wife Dawn is expecting another girl.
Also in the running for this year's award were rapper Jay-Z, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and Prime Minister David Cameron, who recently left his daughter at a country pub by mistake. The award is supposed the ability to balance public life with the demands of parenting.
Disarray in Sangh Parivar - Deccan Herald
Ex-RSS chief Sudarshan eulogises Jinnah commitment
The ideological disarray and divide appear to be evident not only in the BJP but also in the extended Sangh Parivar.
While the political arm — the BJP — is already reeling under repeated mutinies, the mother organisation — the RSS — seems to be on the crossroads with former RSS chief S Sudarshan on Tuesday asserting that Pakistan founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah was committed to an undivided India. The shocker from Sudarshan, who paved the way for Mohan Bhagwat on March 21 this year, has raised eyebrows within the Nagpur outfit, let alone the BJP.
On being asked if he regarded Jinnah as secular, the former RSS head said in Nagpur: “Jinnah had many facets. He was once associated with Lokmanya Tilak and was totally committed to an undivided India.
“When Gandhiji started the Khilafat movement, Jinnah had opposed it, saying that if the Caliph i
n Turkey had been dethroned, what had India got to do with that. At that time, nobody listened to him, which saddened him. So he quit the Congress and left for England. After returning in 1927, the Britons brainwashed him and prompted him to put forth the demand for a separate state of Pakistan for Muslims.”
Sudarshan said had Gandhiji been adamant, Partition would not have taken place. “But he was not for it because Nehru was his weakness.”
On whether the Sangh had taken a tough stand during his leadership when L K Advani made the “Jinnah is secular” comment, Sudarshan said he had given clarifications on the matter. Asked if he was satisfied with the clarification, he answered in the affirmative.
Misinterpretation
RSS leader Ram Madhav on Tuesday said the former RSS chief’s views were misinterpreted and what Sudarshan had meant was that at one point of time, Jinnah had supported an undivided India.
Madhav said Sudarshan had also spoken about how Jinnah had been one of the main causes of Partition.
Meanwhile, shaken by Shourie’s description of BJP president Rajnath Singh as “Alice in Blunderland” and the blistering public criticism of its “rudderless functioning”, the party on Tuesday asked Shourie to explain his conduct.
After contemplating an immediate suspension of Shourie, the party sought to revise its views and thought it fit to wait until Shourie submitted his written explanation.
Shourie on Tuesday night said he would give a clarification, and that his ties with the party had not snapped. “If there is any ambiguity and the party president and others have asked for clarification, I will clarify. There is no problem,” Shourie told reporters. The BJP Parliamentary Board is likely to meet this week to decide on Shourie’s fate, according to sources.
In a no-holds-barred attack on the party president and senior leader L K Advani, Shourie on Monday demanded the sacking of the entire top rung of the party. “They behave like Humpty-Dumpty. The BJP, under their charge, has become a ‘kati patang,’” he said and called for handing over the reins of the party to regional satraps.
RSS view
Meanwhile, Rajnath Singh on Tuesday met Bhagwat to discuss the issue. The Sangh has not completely rejected Shourie’s criticism and has in fact expressed its agreement with some of his bold propositions.
RSS national executive member Ram Madhav said it was for the BJP to take control of the situation. Asked about the RSS’s role in the BJP, he said “some of our friends are there” and that they would look after the best interest of the organisation.
UPDATE 2-RIM shares drop after minor board shuffle - Reuters UK
* Dattels is a senior partner at major private equity firm
* Former Telefonica exec not standing for re-election
* New CEO Heins was paid $10.2 mln in last fiscal year
* Shares drop more than 4 pct to near $10 (Adds comment from RIM's chairman; updates share price move)
TORONTO, June 14 (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion fell 2.5 percent on Thursday after the struggling BlackBerry maker named a financier to replace a telecom executive on its board, disappointing investors looking for more sweeping changes.
The company, whose share price has tumbled alongside its once-dominant share of the smartphone market, also said it paid its new CEO more than $10 million in the company's last fiscal year and gave him hundreds of thousands of stock options to take the top job in January.
It also revealed millions of dollars in payments to former co-CEO Jim Balsillie, when he parted ways with RIM.
"There may be some tough questions asked or some shareholder backlash if the change at the top is just this," said Sameet Kanade, an analyst at Northern Securities, referring to the announcements, made in a filing ahead of RIM's annual meeting next month.
Kanade said the filing suggested the company was making little progress toward the broad changes investors are seeking.
RIM has lost favor as the email-centric BlackBerry falls behind in a fast-changing smartphone market now dominated by Apple Inc's iPhone and devices using Google Inc's Android software.
Still, the nomination of financier Timothy Dattels to the board could indicate RIM is more seriously considering going private, or mulling a leveraged buyout for the company.
Dattels, a senior partner at private equity firm TPG Capital LP, previously served as Goldman Sachs' head of investment banking for Asia excluding Japan.
He replaces Antonio Viana-Baptista, a former Telefonica SA executive who had been a RIM director since September 2009. RIM said Viana-Baptista opted out so he could spend more time in his role as CEO of Credit Suisse in Iberia.
RIM is proposing the re-election of the remainder of its board at an annual meeting on July 10. It said it would look to add one or more new board members in the current fiscal year.
RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares closed 2.5 percent lower at $10.40 on Thursday. The stock has lost more than 70 percent of its value over the past year.
COMPENSATION ISSUES
The company said Thorsten Heins, who was promoted to chief executive earlier this year, received total compensation of $10.2 million in fiscal 2012, which ended late in March. He received an award of 400,000 restricted stock units, which vest over a three-year period, for taking the top job.
"It didn't excite anyone," Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod, said of the filing. "I think the money aspect is a factor" in the stock decline, he said.
A year ago, RIM narrowly avoided a vote of confidence on its management when an investor withdrew a motion to split the CEO and chairman roles after the company promised to study the issue. The roles were shared at the time by Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
Some watchers were hoping for more agitation this year.
"It would be nice to see an activist make a play but they would have to believe that it could be fixed and they don't," said Eric Jackson, a fund manager at Ironfire Capital.
Lazaridis and Balsillie stepped down from their roles in January, though Lazaridis remains an influential member of the board, serving as vice-chairman. When Heins took over as CEO in January, board member Barbara Stymiest became chairwoman.
"Over the past six months, the board and Thorsten have been proactively working together to introduce significant changes in the company as we move towards the launch of our next generation BlackBerry platform," said Stymiest in a statement.
"We are actively exploring new partnerships and other opportunities to extend the reach of BlackBerry and enhance long-term value for all RIM stakeholders," she added.
In its filing, RIM said Balsillie was paid $4.8 million in relation to his resignation, while Lazaridis was paid more than $850,000. Both had agreed to cut their base salary to $1 in their last days in the top job.
Balsillie's stock options, which he will be able to access quicker since he left the board in March, takes the total value of his entitlements to $7.9 million. Lazaridis would receive entitlements totaling $3.9 million should he leave the board, and would retain an office, company car and driver.
The smartphone maker, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, has warned it expects to post an operating loss in the quarter just ended. Those numbers are due to be released on June 28.
That latest warning follows a stream of lowered earnings forecasts, product delays, writedowns and an embarrassing global network outage that left millions of people without email on their BlackBerry phones for several days.
A string of senior staff have left - including RIM's top salesman and chief lawyer last month - and it has hired bankers for a strategic review that could lead to an overhaul of its business model or less drastic moves such as partnerships and licensing deals. It has not ruled out a sale of the company. (Additional reporting by Euan Rocha and Jon Cook in Toronto; Editing by Frank McGurty)
Gerrard: We can beat the Swedes - Football
Published: 14 Jun 2012 - 19:49:19
Skipper Steven Gerrard is confident England will finally gain their first win over Sweden in a competitive match if they emulate the performance they gave in their Euro 2012 opener against France.
England have failed to overcome the Swedes in seven previous World Cup or European Championship encounters ahead of Tuesday's Group D clash in Kiev, but Gerrard is adamant that sequence should end, even allowing for the threat posed by Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Gerrard said: "I would think the same level of performance against France will be good enough to beat Sweden."
He went on: "I would say so with all due respect to Sweden who are a good, strong team, but they are not France.
"I think we can be a little bit more bold and a little bit more ambitious and get at the Swedes a little bit more.
"We are confident if we reach the same level of performance, it will be enough for a victory."
However, Gerrard warned: "Although we are confident, that's not to say we won't be trying to learn from the mistakes we made in the first game.
"We've analysed what we did right and wrong against France and we will be trying to improve on our performance as well.
"I'm really happy with the start we've made to the tournament. It was really solid and we've left ourselves a good platform to build on.
"The boys are confident we will be on four points after this next game and that will be a good start to this group."
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