The Ticker

Hub to Istanbul flights

Boston will be more firmly connected to the global economy next May when Turkish Airlines begins offering the first nonstop service from Logan International Airport to Istanbul, Turkey, with connections to 236 global destinations, including cities in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa.

Turkish Airlines will use a 289-seat Airbus A330-300 aircraft on the route and will begin flying out of Boston five days a week starting May 12, 2014. The service will increase to daily flights on June 9, 2014.

Citigroup 
says Summers
a consultant

Larry Summers, the former Treasury secretary and Harvard University president, who is in the running to replace Ben S. Bernanke as Federal Reserve chairman, is a paid consultant for Citigroup Inc. Summers, 58, has worked for Citigroup since at least 2012, according to Danielle Romero-Apsilos, a spokeswoman for the New York-based lender. She declined to say how much compensation he receives from the bank, the third-biggest in the U.S. The Fed is one of the primary regulators of the nation's lenders.

THE SHUFFLE

• Rockland Trust announced Ian Brandon has joined the bank as first vice president in the commercial banking division serving the Boston and Metrowest areas. In his new position, he will develop and cultivate commercial relationships.

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Scion FR-S: Sporty ride
 at a great price

I loved the reaction I got to the 2013 Scion FR-S — is this a Porsche? Not quite, but this is a true sports car indeed.

I was quickly relieved to find the FR-S wasn't just a sports car lite made for kids fresh out of school looking for glitz with nothing under the hood to back it up. This is truly a high-performance car meant to be driven and a car that willingly returns the favor by being a blast to drive. As soon as the first exhaust note growls out, you know you've got a tiger by the tail.

The 2.0-liter 200-horsepower FR-S is born of a collaboration between independent Subaru and powerhouse Toyota. The Subaru boxer engine mated to a six-speed transmission is wrapped by aggressive styling, creating one very fun car to drive. The shark-like sweeping lines harken back to European sports cars of the '60s and '70s but with 2013 engineering.

The front and rear independent MacPherson struts with 17-inch alloy wheels turn this coupe into a quick, spirited and tight car to drive. The roadster handles crisply and stops confidently with precise steering and powerful ventilated brakes. Throw this nimble car into a turn, happily motor down the highway and it'll pay you back with immense feedback.

What is truly great about this hot little number is the little number — the price. As tested the FR-S will cost you just $26,166. The only upgrade that is available is the $635 stereo, so what you see is what you get with this rear-wheel-drive sportster. The FR-S is a little more than half the cost of the Porsche Boxster and a more powerful car than the Mazda Miata.

A race-inspired interior sports an extremely supportive seat and the thick, red stitched, leather-wrapped steering wheel moves the car with just a flick of the wrist. Even without the six-speed stick the car is powerful, quick and fast. A punch of the gas, downshift with the paddles and you go. There's no lag and when you drop it into sport mode, the shift points switch to aggressive gearing allowing you to wring out every RPM.

The clean dash has a speedometer, tach and gauges in plain view. The stereo was a bit cumbersome, but once I figured it out setting my stations and phone was not too hard. The interior is well-fitted and good-looking with cloth and mixed plastics. Aluminum trimming and accents finished the cockpit. Humorously, it has two "rear" seats that really are for stowing some gear, but my golf clubs had to ride in the passenger seat.

The FR-S returns a solid average of 28 mpg, rating at 25 in the city and 34 mpg on the highway. Although it's a twin mechanically to the Subaru BRS, it has different standard equipment so it cost about $1,000 less.

Compare this sports car to the Honda Civic Si, Hyundai Genesis and don't be afraid to sneak a peak at the Porsche and Nissan 370z to see how favorably it stacks up.

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Death at Pinehills spurs probe

The owner of Diaz Construction Co., whose worker was killed on a Plymouth job site Tuesday, said the Avon company tries to go "by the book" when it comes to safety.

But Leonel Diaz's company has been cited by the U.S. Occupational Safety & Health Administration for 19 safety violations totaling $46,000 in initial fines — 15 of which were deemed serious violations — since 2005, according to OSHA records.

OSHA is investigating the death of Jason Faria, a Diaz Construction employee who died at The Pinehills residential community in Plymouth, where the Mirabeau Inn & Spa is under development. The Fall River man was killed when a concrete form to which he was harnessed came loose and fell, according to Mike Fish, a partner at the project's general contractor, JK Scanlon Co.

Diaz Construction is a subcontractor on the project for whom Faria had worked for four years.

"Everything looked safe," Diaz told the Herald yesterday. "Nobody knows how it happened. We have a safety officer, and we try to do everything by the book. That's why he was tied up."

Faria would have turned 27 years old yesterday.

His stepfather, Mario Benjamin, said he was unaware of Diaz Construction's past safety violations.

"I work in construction, and a lot of companies do get fined," Benjamin said. "This is just a tough situation. What I know is he was tied up on his harness on a concrete form … and the form started to slip down, and he tried to unhook the harness to jump off, but he couldn't."

An OSHA spokesman confirmed the agency has launched an investigation. OSHA has fined Diaz Construction for safety violations on eight separate occasions after job site inspections that were planned or the result of complaints in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011, according to OSHA documents.

The violations ranged from issues with scaffolding, protruding steel, protective helmets and protecting employees from potentially hazardous loose rock or soil to daily excavation inspections, protecting employees from cave-ins, portable ladders, safety training, and eye and face protection, the documents state.

Diaz, who told the Herald that he wasn't on the job site when Faria died, said he was awaiting OSHA's report on the incident.

"The hard part is that we lost Jason," Diaz said. "Everybody feels sorry about that. He was a good worker, a nice kid. We're sorry for him and his family."

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Cambridge single-family fresh from makeover

This unassuming two-family in North Cambridge has been converted into an upscale single-family home.

Built in 1894, the 2,100-
square-foot three-bedroom home at 225 Rindge Ave. was recently renovated with new systems and wiring, higher ceilings, slate and wide-plank wood laminate floors, recessed lighting and all-new marble bathrooms. It's on the market for the just-reduced price of $839,900.

Geared for low maintenance, the home has new vinyl siding and a tankless water-heating system. And although there is no front yard, there is a fenced-in grass backyard.

The exterior has been nicely restyled with gray siding and white trim with plum-colored shutters. A small front porch leads into a foyer with brown slate floors and a cutout that opens up to the adjoining living room, which has 10-foot ceilings with white soffits, wood floors and recessed lighting.

Straight ahead from the foyer, through French doors, sits a sunny formal dining room with two windows, recessed lighting and slate floors. At the far end of this room, under a metal overhead fixture, is a granite-topped cutout leading into the kitchen.

The home's recessed-lit kitchen has white soffits, brown slate floors, 15 custom wood cabinets and granite counters and backsplash. There are Samsung, Kitchen Aid and Whirlpool stainless-steel appliances.

Off the kitchen is a half bath and at the end of a slate hallway, there's a laundry room with a full-size Whirlpool washer and dryer.

The home's three bedrooms are on the second floor, reached via a turning staircase. The master bedroom suite, with wood floors and two closets with built-ins, has a high-end bathroom with brown marble floors and walls around a tub and shower and a stylish double-sink vanity. There's a back porch leading from this bedroom.

There are two other bedrooms, one good for a children's room and a third that's nursery sized. There's a stylish, second full marble bathroom with tiled surround for a tub/shower and white sink vanity.

The home's finished basement has a slate-floored family room plus an adjoining home office. There's also a full ceramic-tiled bath here with a tub/shower and white sink vanity.

There's extra storage space in an unfinished area of the basement, along with the home's high-efficiency gas-fired heating and cooling system, as well as a Rinnai tankless water-heating system.

A driveway next to the house accommodates three vehicles.

Broker: Bremis Realty, brokers Brenda Bremis at 617-828-1872 and Stephen Bremis at 617-828-1070

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Obama says choices now will govern future economy

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says Washington's top priority must be to reverse trends like economic inequality, weakened middle-class security and global competition. He says Washington has lost focus on the economy.

In his weekly Internet and radio address, Obama is pressing economic ideas he's been promoting in an ongoing series of speeches. He wants better access to education, home ownership, health care and secure retirement.

He says that he'll listen to good ideas from either party but that Republicans are threatening to take the nation in the wrong direction.

In the Republican address, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor of Virginia says Republicans will focus this week on government abuse, such as intrusive regulations and red tape that he says threaten Americans' paychecks and civil liberties.

___

Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.gop.gov

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The Ticker

Initial jobless claims up

Initial jobless claims rose by 7,000 last week, according to the Labor Department, but the overall trend points to an improving job market.

New jobless claims rose to 343,000 last week after dropping by 22,000 the week before. The four-week average, which is seen as a less volatile number, fell by 1,250 to 345,250.

New unemployment applications indicate layoffs in the country.

More than 4.8 million Americans received unemployment benefits in the week that ended July 6, down nearly 20 percent from a year before. July unemployment numbers will be released on Aug. 2.

Starbucks profit rises on U.S. sales

Starbucks Corp. yesterday posted a bigger than expected jump in quarterly profit after new "Refresher" fruit beverages and seasonal Frappuccino iced drinks helped drive more visits to its shops in the United States, its top market. The world's biggest coffee chain also raised its full-year profit forecast, sending shares soaring almost 6 percent in after-hours trading.

Amazon reports $7 million loss

Amazon reported a loss of $7 million for the second quarter, or 2 cents per share for the three months through June.

Wall Street analysts had expected Amazon to earn 
5 cents per share in the second quarter.

The company reported sales of $15.7 billion, a 
22 percent increase from the same quarter last year. The growth in sales was just shy of analysts' expectations of $15.73 billion. Amazon shares dropped by almost 2 percent in after hours trading.

GM sales increase 3.9 percent

General Motors second-quarter sales rose 3.9 percent, signaling the largest U.S. automaker is poised for growth with one of the biggest waves of new models in its history.

While net income dropped on falling profit from the unit that includes India and southeast Asia, earnings excluding some items beat analysts' estimates. Revenue rose to $39.1 billion from $37.6 billion.

TODAY

• Samsung Electronics reports quarterly financial results.

THE SHUFFLE

• Seven Step RPO announced that Jason Berkowitz, above, has joined the company as vice president of client services. Berkowitz will maintain strategic client relationships, while further developing Seven Step's high-performing strategic directors and delivery teams across its Boston and Denver offices.
• Newton-Wellesley Hospital's board of trustees voted to approve the search committee's recommendation to name Kerry Watson as the next president of Newton-Wellesley Hospital. Watson will join Newton-Wellesley from the Duke University Health System in Durham, N.C., where he has been president of Duke Regional Hospital.

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Greece's rescue creditors clear new batch of loans

BERLIN — Greece's international creditors have cleared a 2.5 billion-euro ($3.3 billion) installment of bailout loans following the approval of new austerity measures by authorities in Athens.

European Commission spokesman Simon O'Connor said the decision was made by deputy finance ministers of the 17-country eurozone on Friday, pending some national approval procedures to be concluded Monday.

He added that Greece will also get a 1.5 billion-euro payout stemming from profits on bonds bought by the European Central Bank under a now-defunct bond-buying program.

Greece has approved new debt reduction measures, including thousands of public-sector job cuts, to meet the conditions that are part of its 240 billion-euro rescue package from its EU partners and the International Monetary Fund.

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Japan's All Nippon finds damaged 787 beacons

TOKYO — Japan's All Nippon Airways has found damage to wiring on two Boeing 787 locator beacons, a device suspected as the cause of a fire on an Ethiopian Airlines 787.

ANA spokesman Ryosei Nomura said Friday that Boeing Co., the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration and Japanese regulators had ordered checks of the beacons.

ANA has 20 of the jets dubbed the Dreamliner.

The transmitters, made by Honeywell International Inc., guide rescuers to aircraft in emergencies. They may be behind the Ethiopian Airlines fire that occurred July 12 at London's Heathrow Airport.

Dreamliner jets were grounded worldwide in January because of a separate set of problems with lithium ion batteries that caused overheating and fires.

Flights resumed four months later after the battery system was revamped.

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Vivendi sells Activision stake for $8.2 billion

PARIS — Vivendi SA is selling most of its majority stake in video game maker Activision Blizzard Inc. for $8.2 billion as the French conglomerate tries to strengthen its balance sheet.

In a statement Friday, Vivendi said that 429 million of its shares will be sold to Activision itself, which makes such games as "World of Warcraft." Another 172 million shares will be sold to a consortium of key investors including Activision's CEO Bobby Kotick and Co-chairman Brian Kelly.

With the sale, at $13.60 per share, Vivendi will reduce its holdings from 61.1 percent of Activision's common shares to 12 percent. The French company will continue to hold 83 million Activision shares after the sale, expected to close in September.

Vivendi has held a majority stake in Santa Monica, California-based Activision since 2008.

Vivendi , whose shares were up 1.35 percent to 16.20 euros in trading in Paris after the announcement, said in the statement that the sale "provides the group with greater financial flexibility and creates value for our shareholders."

Part of the cash will be used to strengthen the balance sheet and maintain its credit rating. Vivendi has been trying to restructure and sell off some businesses in its diverse conglomerate, and announced earlier this week that it's in talks to sell its stake in Maroc Telecom.

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Apple's smartphone market share slips

Apple's share of the global smartphone market fell during the second quarter to its lowest level in four years, according to data released Friday.

Apple took 13.1 percent of the worldwide market, according to ABI Research, down from 16.6 percent a year ago. That's the lowest level since the third quarter of 2009, two years after the launch of the first iPhone.

Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., sold 31.2 million iPhones in the April-to-June period, up from 26 million in the same period a year ago, the report said. But the company's sales growth isn't keeping pace with the overall smartphone market, which grew 52 percent from last year.

The No. 3 and No. 4 smartphone makers, LG Electronics of Korea and Lenovo Corp. of China, doubled their sales in the quarter, according to ABI research.

Samsung, the world's largest maker of smartphones, also saw a drop in market share.

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