Lamborghini Portfolio Will Grow With New Sportscars, SUV

Despite spending the better part of its history hawking just two different model lines, Lamborghini under Volkswagen Group’s care is looking to grow – and big time. Not only will the storied brand add a third, SUV range, but possibly with a flock of new sports cars that draw on the company’s heritage.

Thankfully, the long-rumored Lamborghini crossover to be unveiled at the Beijing show in a few weeks is much prettier and more credible than Bentley’s gaudy EXP 9 F. When the crossover hits the streets in 2016, Lamborghini will firmly establish the much ballyhooed third model range. Lamborghini has figured out that most of their buyers also own a SUV on top of their supercar, so why not give them a Lamborghini SUV to drive every day?

The powerplant for the 21st-century Rambo Lambo has long been rumored to be 550-580 hp 5.2-liter V-10, but more recent reports are pointing toward a high-power quad-turbocharged V-8, unlike its big brother from England with its thirsty 12-cylinder. No matter the engine, the Italian SUV will share its platform with the Bentley crossover, as well as the next-generation Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne, and Volkswagen Touareg.

Does the SUV deliver the kiss of death to the gorgeous Estoque sedan concept from the 2008 Paris Motor Show? Yes and no. Yes, because Lamborghini cannot simultaneously fund two all-new projects. No, because many design cues of the Estoque have been transferred to all-terrain model. So far, the SUV lacks a proper name, but in the past, MLC, Urus, and Deimos have all popped up as potential monikers for the four-wheel-drive Lambo.

At the Paris show this October, Lamobrghini will take unwrap the facelifted Gallardo, marking something close to the fifth or sixth update of the gracefully ageing sports car. A new model is to arrive in late 2013 or early 2014, assuming it gets board approval – a second-generation Gallardo and Audi R8 have yet to be confirmed by VW Group top brass. Like past Lamborghinis, the new Gallardo will eventually be offered as a coupe and spyder, and in at least one high-performance edition name Performante and Super Veloce, respectively. While the Aventador remains loyal to the V-12, its smaller stablemate will again boast a V-10.

Speaking of big, bad, butch bulls, the crazy Aventador J Concept from this year’s Geneva show is only a one-off, and the carbon-fiber intensive Sesto Elemento due next year is limited to just 20 units. Still a possibility, but far from being a live project, is a front-engined two-door sports car that would be a modern-age Espada, Jarama, or 400 GT.

Mid-term, Lamborghini – which is effectively an Audi subsidiary – will conceive all its sports cars in close cooperation with Porsche, employing VW Group’s new MSB-M architecture that is being developed by the boys from Stuttgart. The only remaining product-related link to Ingolstadt  will likely be the SUV.

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Cameron to take business leaders into Myanmar

British Prime Minister David Cameron will arrive in Myanmar Friday accompanied by a delegation of 10 business leaders -- a measure of how quickly the once reclusive Southeast Asian country is reengaging with the world both diplomatically and economically.

The delegation will be presented as "tourists" to circumvent restrictions imposed by European Union trade sanctions, according to Britain's Guardian newspaper.

"It is not a trade mission. We are going to Burma for reasons of geography and the recent elections, which led to a positive outcome," a source from the British government reportedly told the newspaper.

"The government policy on Burma is to discourage trade. That remains the case. Around ten members of the business delegation will come to Burma. They will have a cultural program. They will be like tourists."

The move is controversial since Britain still publicly backs EU sanctions which have held against the military-backed government since 1996. Cameron's visit is the first by a major Western leader since a 1962 coup began a half century of military rule.

Western firms, meanwhile, are vying to be among the first to do business in Myanmar once sanctions are lifted.

Competitors from China, India, Japan, Thailand and South Korea are already well entrenched, tapping resources such as oil and natural gas, as well as sizeable deposits of coal, nickel ore and gemstones. Myanmar also stands to be a substantial exporter of lumber and rice.

Cameron is currently touring Southeast Asia -- including Malaysia and Indonesia -- with a delegation of 35 business leaders from companies such as Shell, BAE Systems and the world's biggest miner, BHP Billiton.

The EU is due to meet on April 23 to discuss its common position on Myanmar, saying it was likely to send a "positive signal" when it reviews the measures later this month. Both Germany and Italy are pushing for the complete lifting of sanctions, but other EU members -- Britain included -- are likely to push for some sanctions to remain in place over Myanmar's political prisoners.

Human rights groups estimate that Myanmar holds 1,000 political prisoners including students, activists and monks. Last week, the human rights advocacy group Human Rights Watch called on the EU to be cautious over sanctions, matching Myanmar reform for reform rather than simply lifting sanctions wholesale.

While the U.S. has welcomed changes in Myanmar -- this month announcing it would for the first time in 21 years nominate a candidate to serve as U.S. ambassador to the country -- it also has urged caution as it seeks progress on more fronts including the resolution of ethnic violence.

Aung San Suu Kyi's opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) won 43 out of 45 parliamentary seats, representing about 5% of the total parliamentary seats, in elections on April 1.

Critics claim the election involved a relative handful of seats in a powerless parliament, amounting to little more than a token concession to the opposition and the international community, but Western countries viewed the result as a powerful message from Myanmar that it was seeking reform.

Sean Turnell, editor of the Burma Economic Watch and an associate professor in economics at Macquarie University in Sydney, told CNN that while Western corporations were keen to do business in Myanmar, he warned against taking too cynical a view on the lifting of sanctions.

"The desire for reform is quite genuine," Turnell said.

He said the big question would be to what extent Suu Kyi's election would translate into real reform and to what extent she would be given a free hand to draft new laws.

"The object of those that want sanctions lifted in the U.S. was to try to bolster the reformers in Myanmar and, in their words, 'put a bit of wind in their sails,'" Turnell said.

"The dilemma for the U.S. is how to best support them," he added.

Turnell said the issue of sanctions had gathered a new complexity in the light of the continuing conflict with the Kachin ethnic minority in the far north of the country.

Human Rights Watch says fighting between the Myanmar military and the Kachin Independence Army, one of the largest and most powerful ethnic armies, has escalated over the past two years. The conflict has led to widespread refugee displacement in Myanmar.

"Issues such as this are starting to divide people of goodwill," Turnell said. "There's an issue over what's moral and what is effective -- what do we hold our noses over and what do we stand firm on?"

Myanmar, also known as Burma, has been run by a military junta since 1962. Sanctions were placed on the country following the violent suppression of popular protests in 1988.

Since then, U.S. Congress has placed overlapping sanctions on the country at various times, resulting in differing restrictions, waiver provisions, expiration conditions, and reporting requirements.

Myanmar announced a series of reforms after elections in 2010 brought a civilian government with close ties to the military to power.

CNN

Police arrest two teenagers after anti-terror hotline hacked

The boys, aged 16 and 17, are being held in the West Midlands by detectives from the Police Central e-Crime Unit.

An organisation called Team Poison claimed to have carried out the cyber-attack in response to the alleged detention of innocent people on terrorism charges and the recent ruling to deport a number of terror suspects to the United States

The Daily Telegraph also understands that the group was angry at Government plans to introduce so-called snooping laws, allowing the authorities greater access to personal communications.

The group, which claims to have carried out a string of similar assaults on other organisations including Nato, launched a two day “phone bombing” exercise against the anti-terror hotline, jamming the network and preventing genuine callers from getting through.

It is understood Team Poison used readily available software to bombard the Scotland Yard phone line, but routed the activity through a computer server based in Malaysia in order to cover their tracks.

The hackers then claim to have exploited a “weakness” in the Scotland Yard’s phone system to eavesdrop and record a conversation between officials discussing the incident.

Recordings of the conversations were later posted on internet, suggesting an embarrassing lapse of security within Scotland Yard’s counter-terrorism unit.

Last night the Metropolitan Police insisted that their phone security had not been breached the integrity of the confidential anti-terror hotline remained intact.

In one recording, an alleged hacker, who has an American accent, is heard goading one of the hotline operatives about the phone-bombing exercise.

The caller, who claimed to be called Robert West, told the official:

“I got some terrorism for you here …. our philosophy is pretty simple, it’s knowledge is power.”

More worryingly for the security services however is the question of how hackers apparently managed to record a conversation between two officials within Scotland Yard discussing the incident.

One operative is heard telling another that the anti-terror hotline had been inundated with hundreds of calls from the hacking group.

In a recording posted on the internet he is heard to say: “We have been subjected to a barrage of calls from a group called Team Poison.

We have had about 700 calls over the last couple of nights. One of the conversations I had last night was leaked on YouTube.

"Everyone else calling was effectively shut out and could not through at all."

It is not clear how the group managed to listen in to the conversation, but one theory is that the receiving handset was compromised during the phone-bombing exercise.

One member of Team Poison allegedly claimed to have used a well established system of phone hacking known as Phreaking.

He said: “It was very easy, they were using an old phone system which was vulnerable to a private phreaking method that we discovered.

He added: “The guys at the Counter Terrorist Command are clowns, whilst listening in on them, all they do is socialise and joke around with other employees. But to be honest, they are the real terrorists, imprisoning innocent people without evidence and invading countries for their own benefit.”

Explaining what had motivated the attack, the alleged hacker claimed it was in response to Britain’s treatment of terror suspects.

He said: “We done it due to the recent events where the counter terrorist command and the UK court system have allowed the extradition of Babar Ahmad, Adel Abdel Bary (sic) and a few others – we also done it to due the new "snooping" laws where the GCHQ can "spy" on anyone and everyone.”

He added: “Our members come from all over the world, we have no religion, no race, we are not affiliated with any other groups, we believe in equality for all & were anarchists.”

It is the second time in a matter of months that hackers have gained access to private telephone conversations involving Scotland Yard personnel.

In February hackers from the group known as Anonymous released a recording of a conference call between the FBI and UK police in which they were discussing efforts to catch hackers.

Last night, Ailsa Beaton, Director of Information for the Metropolitan Police said: “We are confident the MPS communication systems have not been breached and remain, as they always have been, secure.

"We are satisfied that any recording would have been made via the receiving handset only and not from an attack on internal systems.

The public can remain confident in the ability to communicate in confidence and that the integrity of the Anti-Terrorist Hotline remains in place."

The Telegraph

Nissan Eases Child Seat Purchases with new Initiative

Purchase incentives usually involve a zero-percent interest rate, cash back after purchase or no-cost options, but Nissan is going another direction to target families with young children.

One of the problems a family that relies on child seats faces is finding a product that fits both their cars and child. For those of us without kids, it’s easy to assume that all seats fit all cars and kids, right? Wrong.

In fact, it can be a real hassle because there aren’t child seat salesmen that bring everything to your house, which is where Nissan’s “Snug Kids” program comes in. Essentially what the automaker did was assign a team of its engineers to do the research new, and often stressed, parents would otherwise struggle through.

Now there’s a chart that shows which seats work for your car and more importantly the options that fit in more than one.

It answers the questions that invariably pop into a parent’s mind when a stacked aisle in Wal Mart is staring them down: which one of these will keep my baby safe and me out of the massive item return line this weekend?

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Cuba and drugs debate to spice Americas Summit

Leaders from North and South America will mix perennial controversies over Cuba and the Falklands with trade tensions and a new look at the war on drugs at a weekend summit in Colombia.

The 33 nations at the Organization of American States' sixth Summit of the Americas in the seaside city of Cartagena are, however, unlikely to bring big changes on the major issues facing the hemisphere.

Although not quite the star act he was at the last OAS meeting in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama remains a focus for many Latin American leaders who hope he will pay them more heed if he wins a second term in November.

Many Latin American countries would like the United States to ease its policy of ostracizing Cuba and begin a debate on legalizing some drugs. But Obama, facing a tight re-election contest, is expected to maintain the U.S. hard line.

"Those are politically radioactive issues for Obama. There's no way he can fulfill Latin American expectations," said U.S.-based regional expert Michael Shifter.

Though the summit's official agenda ranges from technology to poverty reduction, Cuba was once again shaping into the No. 1 hot potato for those gathering in the Caribbean port city.

Cuba was kicked out of the OAS shortly after Fidel Castro's 1959 revolution, and efforts by Latin American allies to have it invited to Cartagena failed. Ecuador's leftist president, Rafael Correa, is boycotting the summit because of that.

"I hope this is the last summit without Cuba," said host and Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos. He has built good relations with the leftist ALBA bloc of Latin American nations, despite being a U.S. ally and a conservative politician.

Some Cuban dissidents were in Cartagena, however, to lobby against a softening toward the communist government in Havana.

FALKLANDS WOUNDS

This year's 30th anniversary of the war between Britain and Argentina over the remote Falklands archipelago, known in Argentina as the Malvinas Islands, rekindled bitter memories and is sure to resonate at the meeting.

Argentine President Cristina Fernandez has wide support in Latin America for her demand that Britain abandon its "colonial" occupation and negotiate sovereignty of the islands.

But London, which won the 1982 conflict that killed 650 Argentine and 255 British troops, refuses to consider that and has further irked Buenos Aires by exploring for oil there.

Though heads of state meet on Saturday and Sunday, two parallel events begin earlier: a social forum for non-government groups and a "CEO summit" for businessmen who will have a parade of high-profile visitors from Obama to Colombian singer Shakira.

Given Colombia's history of drug and guerrilla violence, 20,000 soldiers and police officers were deployed to guard the presidents. Marxist FARC rebels, driven back but still active, plotted to assassinate former U.S. leaders George W. Bush and Bill Clinton on previous visits to Cartagena.

Over the last decade, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has replaced Fidel Castro as the headline-grabber at regional conferences. Few have forgotten his 2006 speech to the United Nations calling Bush a "devil" and saying he could still smell sulfur at the podium.

Yet with Chavez undergoing radiation therapy after cancer surgery, it is unlikely he will be able to manage more than a quick, one-day visit to Cartagena.

DRUGS AND DONKEYS

Obama remains enormously popular among Latin Americans, especially in contrast to his predecessor Bush, who drew ferocious protests at one OAS summit in Argentina.

In a small town outside Cartagena, locals decked out dozens of donkeys in the red, white and blue of the U.S. flag.

"I've always liked him because he was an anti-establishment figure," said lawyer Silvio Carrasquilla, who helped organize the parade and also painted "Obama, welcome!" on his roof.

The most interesting debate in Cartagena may be over drugs.

There are growing calls from around the world for a fresh look at how to combat a violent, multibillion dollar illegal trade which decades of hardline policies against producers and consumers have failed to curb.

In South America, some believe decriminalizing the growing of coca - the raw ingredient for cocaine - would slash revenue for traffickers and encourage farmers to plant different crops.

"Colombia has suffered for years from this scourge. Organized crime has an ever greater hold on Central America," Santos said after arriving in Cartagena to check preparations.

"We need to take the bull by the horns and start a debate, just to see if there's a better alternative to attack it."

Another simmering issue will be how to deal with a glut of cash from rich nations that is flooding their increasingly strong economies.

Regional powerhouse Brazil has spoken of a "monetary tsunami," and President Dilma Rousseff raised concerns about this with Obama in Washington this week.

While the money flows show Latin America's new robustness during a time of global economic turbulence, they are also driving up currencies, hurting competitiveness and tempting some countries to take protectionist measures to slow imports.

Colombia hopes the Cartagena meeting will speed the implementation of a free trade pact with the United States. "I hope Presidents Santos and Obama announce a date," National Business Association head Luis Carlos Villegas told reporters.

(Additional reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta and Joaquin Sarmiento; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Doina Chiacu)
Reuters