A fire forced more than one hundred people from their homes late Thursday night as they risked being engulfed by the smoke from burning tires in the Bergsjn area of southern city Gothenburg.Fire halts train traffic at Stockholm Central (18 Nov 12)
Smoke warning for south Stockholm after blaze (1 Nov 12)
Swedish firefighters in fireplace video mix-up (1 Nov 12)
Emergency services were alerted to the fire around 10pm and sent more than 50 firefighters to the scene, reports the TT news agency.The fire took hold of three apartment buildings and an elderly care centre, before spreading down into an underground garage. There the burning tires on about 15 cars added to the thick smoke. The fire was put out by 1am Friday morning and several residents in the area were allowed to return, but about 20 apartments have been left uninhabitable, writes local paper Gteborgs-Posten.The cause of the fire has yet to be determined.TT/The Local/atFollow The Local on Twitter … Read More
A day after Walmart workers and their allies staged protests and rallies outside the company’s stores across the U.S., a fire erupted in a factory across the globe in Bangladesh, killing 112 workers who were trapped inside, where they sewed jeans and other apparel for the retail giant’s Faded Glory brand. Another 200 were injured in the fire. On Monday, the streets of Dhaka, the capital city, were filled with thousands of garment workers, who demanded justice.Continue Reading… … Read More
Dozens of truckers had to be taken to safety after a fire on a lorry in the Channel Tunnel.
The owner of a Bangladesh clothing factory where a fire killed 112 people has said he never realised it was supposed to have a special emergency exit.
Bangladeshi garment workers shout slogans as they hold black flags during a protest in Dhaka on November 28, 2012 following a deadly fire in a garment factory (AFP Photo)Three managers at a Bangladesh clothing factory have been arrested. They are accused of locking the doors and preventing workers from leaving the facilities during a massive fire that left over a hundred dead. … Read More
Mason (screen grab).
What’s a young CEO to do amid rumors that he may soon be relieved of his duties? Hunker down and lobby privately for an extended tenure? Or sit for a public interview on the subject of his imminent demise?
That was the question from Groupon CEO Andrew Mason faced this week, as gossip swirled that he would cancel a planned experience at Business Insider’s Ignition conference following AllThingsD’s dish suggesting management changes could be in the offing at the Chicago-based company.
In the end, Mr. Mason decided to attend as scheduled. The first question he faced from Henry Blodget: “Is the board going to fire you tomorrow?”
“Here’s a news flash, our stock is down 80 percent,” Mr. Mason answered. “It would be weird if the board wasn’t asking if I was the right guy to do the job.”
Maybe going forward with the interview was a savvy decision. If, as The Wall Street Journal reported last night, discussions about replacing Mr. Mason centered on the company’s need to do a better job communicating its successes, the chatter ahead of the conference only ensured that journalists far and wide would be hanging on his every word.
To that end, Mr. Mason presented as self-assured, acknowledging the company’s struggles—”When you’re creating a new category, there’s going to be bumps along the road” and taking in stride Mr. Blodget’s repeated prodding—”if I ever didn’t think I was the right person for the job, I’d be the first person to fire myself.”
It wasn’t until Mr. Blodget invoked his own reputational rise-and-fall to ask how Mr. Mason handled the criticism—”Does it suck?”—that the Groupon founder resorted to sarcasm: “No it’s awesome Henry, it’s the greatest thing of the world.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Mason took the moment in the spotlight as the opportunity to tout Groupon’s strong point, including 38 percent year-over-year growth in gross billings in North America, high volume of mobile transactions and never-ending search—including new forays into travel and shipping goods directly to people’s houses—for ways to make money. Mr. Mason admitted that Groupon’s international business was lagging–the result of a rapid expansion, but said it was all part of the long-term plan.
“There’s so much exciting stuff happening in the company, that tends to be what we’re focused on,” he said. “We’ve built up a resiliency to the external noise, because we know what’s in the best interest of our shareholders is not optimizing for three months from now, but optimizing for three years from now.”
Be that as it may, there’s a reason for the chatter about who will lead Groupon in the future. The stock, as Mr. Mason noted, has fallen precipitously since the company’s Novemeber 2011 IPO, and third-quarter earnings didn’t exactly make investors smile. Where Mr. Mason sees Groupon’s diversity of offerings as a strength, others might see a lack of focus. Last month brought news that the Securities and Exchange Commission is sniffing around the company again. The breakneck pace of Groupon’s growth—zero to 12,000 employees in four years—had made it a very different company than the quirky deals service Mr. Mason founded.
Mr. Mason didn’t actually say whether he expected the board to fire him. But he did take a subtle dig at the notion that the company needs an adult—someone such as Google’s Eric Schmidt—to help the rapidly growing startup mature.
“We’ve had plenty of professionals that we’ve brought into Groupon in various roles,” he said. “And we’ve seen the speed and at times, the chaos of Groupon, crush them as seasoned professionals.”
On the other hand, if seasoned pros can’t handle the chaos of Groupon, what makes Mr. Mason think that he can? … Read More
