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Egypt's Islamist president gets to work

2012-06-25T16:18:00.000+01:00

By Edmund Blair and Marwa Awad | Reuters

CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamist Mohamed Mursi, Egypt's first freely elected president whose powers have been curbed by the military, toured his palatial new residence - where ousted leader Hosni Mubarak once lived - and began work on Monday to form a coalition government.

Declared winner on Sunday a week after a nail-biting run-off vote that pitted him against an ex-military officer, the Islamist faces the challenge of meeting sky-high expectations in a nation tired of turmoil while the economy is on the ropes.

But his campaign pledge to complete the revolution that toppled Mubarak last year but left the pillars of his rule intact will come up against the entrenched interests of the generals who have been in charge of the transition to democracy.

Shortly before the presidential vote, the newly elected Islamist-led parliament was dissolved by the army based on a court order and the generals issued a decree putting limits on the president's remit, which cuts into Mursi's powers to act, but exposing him to blame for any failures.

Further afield, his win has had an immediate impact beyond Egypt's borders, inspiring Islamists who have risen up against autocrats across the Middle East and swept to power in North Africa. Israelworries its peace deal with Egypt, never warm, will cool further. Palestinians in Gaza, however, are delighted.

Iran saw his election as an "Islamic awakening" - though Tehran and the Muslim Brotherhood follow different, often opposed forms of the faith. Its Fars news agency published an interview in which Mursi called for restoring severed ties to build strategic "balance". A Mursi aide said he gave the interview 10 days ago.

A security official said Mursi and his wife took a tour of their new home, once Mubarak's main residence - a dramatic change of fortunes for a former political prisoner whose group was pursued remorselessly during Mubarak's 30-year rule.

An aide said Mursi then went to the Defence Ministry for talks with the head of the military council Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi and the army-appointed Prime Minister Kamal al-Ganzouri for talks on steps towards forming a new government, a visit rich with symbolism about where real power lies.

As president, Mursi can appoint the cabinet. His aides say he has already reached out to politicians from outside the Brotherhood such as reformist Mohamed ElBaradei, who has yet to publicly respond. But legislative powers remain with the army while the parliament is dissolved, restricting his power to act.

One pressing concern - on which many Egyptians are likely to judge his performance - will to be to revive the economy. Monday's stock market rally, at least partly fuelled by relief that the vote and result passed off without violence, may encourage the new president, but he still has to prove to wary longer-term investors that Egypt is on the road to recovery.

Egyptian newspapers greeted Mursi's win over Ahmed Shafik, Mubarak's last prime minister, as a victory for the people, although many more liberal-minded Egyptians worry his conservative group will slowly whittle away at social freedoms.

"The revolution reaches the republican palace," wrote Al-Shorouk newspaper. Another, Al-Akhbar, quoted from Morsy's victory speech: "I am a servant of the people and an employee of the citizens". It is a sentiment widely spoken, this sense of, at last, perhaps having an Egyptian leader who can be "fired".

Celebrations in Cairo's Tahrir Square - theatre of the revolution that overthrew Mubarak - extended through the night. Some Brotherhood followers were still celebrating and a little surprised by their victory that broke a six-decade tradition of president's plucked from the military.

STREET PRESSURE

"It was a little surprising that the army acknowledged his win," said 40-year-old teacher Adel Mohamed who was in the square when the result was declared after a nail-biting week's wait since the vote. "The pressure from the street, from the revolution, will give Morsy strength to negotiate."

Those in Egypt and beyond who feared a win for Shafik might have spelled the end of the Arab Spring acknowledged a triumph for the popular will, and for the army which accepted it. From Syria's opposition came word that Cairo was again a "source of hope" for a people "facing a repressive war of annihilation".

But millions of Egyptians, and the Western powers, looked on with unease at the prospect of the long-suppressed Brotherhood making good on its dream of an Islamic state for the Arab world's biggest nation.

Israel has been particularly nervous, urging its neighbour to respect their peace deal. It worries that the Brotherhood's win will embolden Palestinian Islamists opposed to Israel.

"Darkness in Egypt," headlined Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he "respected" the result.

"Mursi's victory is most likely to strengthen the hand of Hamas in its fight against Israel because it will give it a moral boost," said political scientist Mustapha al-Sayyed, adding this could strain ties with Israel long used to the cool but steady relationship it had with Mubarak.

But the army, determined not to see its $1.3 billion in U.S. military aid a year jeopardised, will likely ensure ties are not undermined even if the relationship sours, diplomats say.

Pledging to uphold international treaties, in a gesture to Israel, Mursi said in his first televised address as president-elect that he would work with others to see the democratic revolution through.

"There is no room now for the language of confrontation," he said, a message addressed not just to the army but to the young, urban revolutionaries who launched last year's uprising only to see the Brotherhood dominate the political scene afterwards.

One of the most influential revolutionary youth groups greeted Mursi's win as a victory for last year's uprising.

"We have defeated the candidate of Mubarak's military state, the candidate of the corrupt 'deep state' that we are fed up with," said the April 6 Youth movement.

"Starting today we will work as one body for Egypt."

COMPROMISE

Western powers congratulated Mursi, who received a phone call from U.S. President Barack Obama, offering help.

The White House said in a statement: "The president underscored that the United States will continue to support Egypt's transition to democracy and stand by the Egyptian people as they fulfil the promise of their revolution."

Mursi may have little choice but to compromise with the army, and Brotherhood sources said a package of agreements discussed with generals last week could soon be announced.

The Brotherhood's political gains, first winning the biggest bloc in parliament and then running for president, had rattled the military. With the help of a Mubarak-era judiciary, the military council, SCAF, dissolved parliament on the eve of the presidential vote, then gave itself the legislative power.

Critics at home and in the West called it a "soft coup."

Senior Brotherhood officials say they have been negotiating in the past week to change some of that, though both sides deny any haggling over the result of the presidential vote itself.

"President Mursi and his team have been in talks with the military council to bring back the democratically elected parliament and other issues," Essam Haddad, a senior Brotherhood official, told Reuters on Monday.

Brotherhood sources told Reuters they hoped the army might allow a partial recall of parliament and other concessions in return for Mursi exercising his powers to name a government and presidential administration in ways the army approves of - notably by extending appointments across the political spectrum.

Military officials have confirmed discussions in the past few days but had no immediate comment on the latest talks.

Brotherhood officials have said they will press on with street protests to pressure the army but this, along with a number of other contentious issues including to whom and where Mursi swears his oath of office, could be settled soon.

The army wants Mursi sworn in on June 30, meeting a deadline it set itself for handing over Egypt to "civilian rule" - although the military's influence will go on long beyond that.

(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

Poll: Election winner won't impact economy much

2012-06-25T16:15:00.001+01:00

By CONNIE CASS |

WASHINGTON (AP) — When it comes to the economy, half of Americans in a new poll say it won't matter much whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney wins — even though the presidential candidates have staked their chances on which would be better at fixing the economic mess.

People are especially pessimistic about the future president's influence over jobs, according to the Associated Press-GfK poll. Asked how much impact the November winner will have on unemployment, 6 in 10 gave answers ranging from slim to none.

Yet the candidates, the polls and the pundits agree — the economy is the issue of 2012. Can either man convince voters that he would set things right?

James Gray of Snow Hill, N.C., is skeptical.

"It doesn't look to me like the economy or nothing gets better no matter who you've got up there," Gray said. "I don't know why it is."

A retired policeman, Gray plans to vote for Romney and thinks the Republican might win. But he doesn't have much hope that would improve things for people like him, living on a fixed income. "Every time you go to the grocery store the prices have gone up," he said.

Years of disappointing economic news following the 2007-2009 recession have deflated American optimism. And worries about financial troubles in Europe and congressional gridlock at home hang over the future. Two-thirds of people still describe the economy as poor. The same number — 31 percent — think unemployment will grow worse over the next year as predict it will ease up.

"Right now it's so bad," said Maria Fisher of Timber Pines, Fla. "I wish everything was better."

Fisher, a preschool teacher at the YMCA, favors Romney because he's a Republican and a successful businessman. She's ready "to give him the chance to fix all these problems." But she doubts there's much the president can do.

Lots of Obama supporters feel the same way.

"The office of the president as a single person doesn't have as much influence as we generally attribute to them," said Jeff Guertin, a mechanical engineer in Bedford, N.H., who backs Obama.

Guertin said a president is limited by Congress' willingness to go along with his ideas, as well as all sorts of other factors, including world events, that affect whether the U.S. economy grows or shrinks.

Despite the dominance of economic issues in the presidential race, Americans are evenly split over whether the man living in the White House in 2013 will bring significant change to the overall economy.

A majority of those surveyed — 55 percent — say the winner will have from "just some impact" to "no impact" on the nation's huge budget deficits.

Those with little confidence that the winner can fix things are also more pessimistic overall — just 32 percent of them think the economy will improve in the coming year. In contrast, among those who expect a substantial impact from the winner, almost half think the economy will get better.

Republicans are more likely than Democrats to predict that the winner's imprint will be felt: 58 percent say the election's outcome will affect the economy overall. Yet fewer than half of Republicans foresee much impact on joblessness.

Everett Hickman, an Obama supporter, said both campaigns overplay how much a president can do.

"The federal government has some influence over the economy," said Hickman, a retired radio news reporter living in Charlotte, N.C. "It doesn't have the kind of push-pull, click-clack control that some people seem to think, or pretend to think."

The Associated Press-GfK Poll was conducted June 14-18 by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,007 adults nationwide. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.0 percentage points.

___

Associated Press Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

yahoonews

Happy 30th birthday, Prince William! Here’s $14 million

2012-06-21T23:46:00.000+01:00

By Dylan Stableford, Yahoo! News | The Lookout – 8 hrs ago

Click image to see more photos. (Tom Hevezi/AP)

Prince William turned 30 on Thursday. And the Duke of Cambridge is getting a nice little 30th birthday gift: $14 million.

William is expected to inherit close to £10 million from this late mother's estate, according to the Daily Mail. Princess Diana, who was killed in a car accident in 1997, entrusted her estate—estimated to be worth more than £20 million—to William and his brother, Prince Harry.

[Slideshow: Prince William through the years]

William—who was 15 when his mother died—had the option of taking control of his half when he turned 30, the paper said.

According to ABC News, his share is worth upwards of $14 million--which makes that $10 check you get from your aunt every year on your birthday seem not-so-great all of the sudden.

William Arthur Philip Louis Windsor was born on June 21, 1982, at St. Mary's Hospital, Paddington, west London.

[Related: 30 birthday wishes for Prince William]

"At the tender age of 14," the Telegraph notes, "Prince William was said to announce he fancied Emma Bunton from the Spice Girls, replacing Pamela Anderson in his affections."

He married Kate Middleton, who turned 30 in January, in a quaint ceremony last year.

Wall Street suffers worst loss in three weeks

2012-06-21T23:40:00.000+01:00

Companies:Dow Jones Industrial Average ,CBOE INTERNET INDEX, NASDAQ Composite

By Angela Moon

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks posted the worst day in three weeks on Thursday on mounting evidence that slowing manufacturing growth worldwide threatened corporate profits.

Shares of energy and materials companies led declines as commodity prices fell. U.S. crude futures slipped below $80 a barrel for the first time since October and the S&P energy sector index (.GSPE) lost 4 percent. Investors said weak overseas demand was responsible for the decline in those industries.

Stocks' slide was accelerated by a bearish call from Goldman Sachs, which recommended clients build short positions in the broad S&P 500 index on expectations of more economic weakness.

"We are recommending a short position in the S&P 500 index with a target of 1,285," (roughly 5 percent below current levels), Goldman Sachs said in a note.

The investment bank cited the Philly Fed's mid-Atlantic factory index, which fell to minus 16.6 in June, an unexpected contraction in the region's factory activity.

Semiconductor stocks weighed on the Nasdaq after chipmaker Micron Technology Inc (MU) posted a net loss for the fourth straight quarter. Micron lost 7.8 percent to $5.65 and the PHLX semiconductor index (.SOX) dropped 4.1 percent.

Stocks had enjoyed a two-week run that brought the S&P up more than 7 percent on hopes for additional stimulus from the Federal Reserve.

Business activity across the euro zone shrank for a fifth straight month in June and Chinese manufacturing contracted, while weaker overseas demand slowed growth by U.S. factories.

"While we've seen only two of many regional manufacturing surveys for June, there is a clear deterioration taking place, with only the degree being the broad issue," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

The KBW Bank Index (.BKX) fell 2.3 percent amid expectations Moody's Investors Service would announce downgrades in the banking industry.

The Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) was down 251.35 points, or 1.96 percent, at 12,573.04. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (^GSPC) was down 30.19 points, or 2.23 percent, at 1,325.50. The Nasdaq Composite Index (^IXIC) was down 71.36 points, or 2.44 percent, at 2,859.09.

The day's decline was the worst since June 1 when the S&P 500 fell 2.5 percent.

"The market was extremely overbought coming into this week, and the news gave it an excuse to sell off," said Jeffrey Saut, chief investment strategist at Raymond James Financial in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Softening data globally lifted hopes of central bank action to support the economy. The U.S. Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday it would extend one monetary stimulus program and said it was ready to do more to help economic growth if necessary.

"Although yesterday's FOMC delivered easing as expected, with a dovish statement, positive risk sentiment ahead of the FOMC had already buoyed markets. And we now think, with incremental US monetary policy on hold, the market will need to confront a deteriorating growth picture near term," Goldman Sachs said.

U.S. home resales fell in May and the four-week moving average for new unemployment insurance claims rose last week to the highest level since early December.

Celgene Corp (CELG) slumped 11.5 percent to $59.45 after the company said it was withdrawing a European application for wider use of its big-selling Revlimid blood cancer drug.

Philip Morris International (PM) lost 3.3 percent to $85.62 after forecasting full-year earnings below Wall Street estimates, saying a strong dollar has hurt sales abroad.

After the bell, Moody's Investors Service cut the credit ratings of 15 of the world's biggest banks in a highly anticipated move that was part of a broad review of major financial institutions.

Among the moves, Moody's cut JPMorgan Chase & Co's (JPM.N) long-term senior debt to A2 from Aa3 and assigned it a negative outlook negative. It also cut Morgan Stanley's (MS.N) long-term senior unsecured debt to Baa1 from A2 and also assigned it a negative outlook.

Shares of JPMorgan added 1.4 percent to $36.00 and Morgan Stanley added 3.2 percent to $14.41 in extended trade.

About 7 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and Nasdaq, below last year's daily average of 7.84 billion.

(Reporting By Angela Moon; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Dan Grebler)

Scott Walker gets Honey Badger’d

2012-06-21T23:37:00.001+01:00

By Chris Moody, Yahoo! News | The Ticket – 4 hrs ago

Over at Misfit Politics, a website for young conservatives, Scott Walker fans put together their own "Honey Badger" parody spot to celebrate the Wisconsin governor's recent victory in the state's recall election.

The video is based on the 2011 "Honey Badger" viral sensation, which has been viewed more than 46 million times.

Wisconsin is, of course, known as the Badger State.

(Voice by Dan Joseph. Produced by Joe Schoffstall and Stephen Gutowski.)

Mitt Romney, Internet buzzkill: Why you won’t click on this article

2012-06-21T23:35:00.001+01:00

Put that buzzkill phrase in a headline and watch readers scram.

That’s according to Buzzfeed, the site that chronicles the vagaries of the viral web, where the news of the Romney reader curse was first reported. Many editors have shared their disappointment with the appetite for Romney stories, but Buzzfeed conducted an actual experiment.

The site ran two sets of posts about the early lives of President Obama and Mitt Romney, and promoted them in the same way. One was about their childhoods; the other showed them as young men. The Obama posts attracted vastly more attention, with more than 130,000 views in total. The Romney posts drew fewer than 20,000.

Even what Buzzfeed called “dreamy pictures” of Romney drew ho-hum numbers. Online readers simply don’t click on stories about Mitt Romney. They don’t click on images of Mitt Romney. And they don’t look at ads affixed to stories and images of Mitt Romney.

Chances are, in fact, that your eyes didn’t even take in the paragraph above this one because you were averting your eyes from the enervating name. Now: Adderall, Johnny Depp Divorce, Rihanna, Barack Obama. See, you’re back into reading.

Romney’s name should have the makings of decent traffic bait. He’s divisive, kind of. He’s handsome. And he’s a Mormon. The Web usually loves Mormonibilia. And, for the Angel Moroni’s sake, Mitt Romney might be the president of the United States one day! What’s not to read about?

For my money, Romney has one major shortcoming. He’s not Sarah Palin. Matt Lewis, who blogs atThe Daily Caller, told Buzzfeed that he misses the last election, "when merely mentioning the name Sarah Palin would give you an automatic spike in both traffic and buzz.”

Romney—by being white and male and that indeterminate white-makeuppy-male TV age—just doesn’t bring the leers and innuendo and you-go-girlism and scrutiny generated by all manner of Palin ephemera. Where Palin obsessives back in the day pored over historic photos of her body in an effort to prove that she wasn’t the real mother of her son Trig (she is; I studied), no such forensic effort has been visited on Romney. And indeed it’s clear why: He looks the same in every picture. Where Palin seemed radioactive, Romney is like a noble gas.

Romney’s supporters are saying slow and steady wins the race. That no one wants a candidate who’s too exciting. Others are saying he’s a stiff with no charisma. That guys like him die on the Twitter vine.

I don’t know. But I do know how they solve this problem in the music business. They “feat.” other artists—that is, they “feature them,” asking them to make guest appearances with them on records or TV shows. Norah Jones has a whole 2010 record called “Featuring Norah Jones,” which contains singles of her collaborations with everyone from the Foo Fighters to OutKast to Q-Tip to Ray Charles. It attracts listeners that might not want pure Jones.

This is something Romney should look into. Maybe he should choose a real marquee running mate, and his bill could be Romney feat. Palin. Or just Romney feat. Q-Tip.

After all, I did click on a “Mitt Romney” link recently. The story was Mitt Romney feat. Britney Spears, about how the pair have the same $50,000 car elevator. “Mitt and Brit,” the article called them. I like the sound of that.

Obama immigration plan—enough to energize disaffected Latino voters?

2012-06-18T22:59:00.001+01:00

President Barack Obama's decision to grant temporary legal status to as many as 800,000 young illegal immigrants was met with praise from Hispanic advocacy and civil rights organizations on Friday. The new rule "gives Latinos an added reason not only to support the president but to actually turn out and vote," said Brent Wilkes, the national executive director of the League of United Latin American Citizens. Obama's campaign must be hoping that this move will encourage Latinos—who have the lowest voter registration numbers of any major ethnic group in the United States, despite their growing demographic—to register and show up at the voting booth.

The president enjoys a big lead over Mitt Romney among Latinos, but he faces two hurdles in translating that sentiment into electoral turnout. One, registered voters must be enthusiastic enough to actually show up on Election Day, especially in swing states, and two, new Latino voters—people who just became citizens or citizens who recently turned 18—must be registered to vote.

The challenges of the latter are particularly apparent in the battleground state of Florida, where a whopping 638,000 Latinos are eligible to vote but are unregistered, according to a recent report by the liberal think tank Center for American Progress. That's several times the number of votes by which Obama beat John McCain in the state four years ago. It could be enough to sway the presidential election—but only if you can convince Latinos to register.

Nelly Medina, a 62-year-old Miami resident who canvasses new voters as a volunteer for the National Council of La Raza, says that hasn't been easy.

"The people don't want to vote," she says in Spanish. "There's a lot of apathy. The two candidates that there are, they don't like either of them … [politicians] don't come through on their promises."

Medina has helped 1,000 new voters register over the past few months, but for every person who wants to vote, there's a handful who say they're not interested.

And get-out-the-vote leaders say their groups are more underfunded than in election years past, meaning there are fewer people like Medina trying to convince people to vote in the first place.

Clarissa Martinez, La Raza's director of civic engagement, said the group has had to halve its goal of registering 180,000 new Latino voters nationwide. In Florida, the group's efforts were slowed considerably by a new law that said registration forms had to be turned in within 48 hours of being completed. (At least one registration group dropped its efforts entirely because of the law, though a judge enjoined it several months later.) Ben Monterroso, director of Mi Familia Vota, said his group has reached only 30 percent of its voter registration goal in Florida, though it is doing better in Nevada and some other states. "The goals that we have need to be reduced because obviously without having the resources we need, we aren't going to be able to accomplish the goals," Monterroso said.

"You have a perfect storm right now," Martinez says. Super PACs have flooded the airwaves with negative ads, which turn potential voters off, she says. "A lot of resources are going into negative ads, and at the end of the day the effect is to decrease participation, not increase participation." And new voters are not the only group that needs attention: The recession and foreclosure crisis have caused people to move around more than usual, meaning registration volunteers are also working to reregister existing voters, rather than focusing on signing up new voters.

"Part of the effort is to make sure we don't slide back. That we continue to add people to the rolls and that people who participated continue to participate," Martinez says.

The nonpartisan National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials estimates that 12.2 million Latinos will vote in November, which would make them 8.7 percent of the electorate. But the growth in the number of Latino voters isn't quite keeping pace with their population growth, and voter participation remains low compared to other racial and ethnic groups in America. In 2008, only about half of Latino Americans voted, compared to about 65 percent of white and black Americans.

Sylvia Manzano, project director for the Latino Decisions polling organization, says she listened in on focus groups with unregistered Latino voters in Texas and California over the past year that shed light on why the rolls stubbornly refuse to budge. People in the focus groups were informed about the presidential candidates and their opinions, but said they were turned off by the negative tenor of the debate and felt that it wouldn't make a difference in their quality of life which politician was in power. Several people brought up the standstill over the debt ceiling last summer, as well as ignored promises of immigration reform, to explain their aversion to politics.

"How do you bring people into the political process when they find politics itself so distasteful?" Manzano asks. "That's a high bar; that's a tough challenge."

Obama's immigration announcement could make a difference, however. A Latino Decisions poll of 775 registered Latino voters released Sunday found that half of those polled said the announcement made them more enthusiastic about Obama. That finding is key, since a majority of Latino voters said in previous polls that they were less enthusiastic about Obama today than in 2008. But the poll doesn't tell us anything about unregistered Latino voters, whose attitude toward the announcement remains a mystery. Manzano, however, thinks it could help Obama with them, as well.

"This is going to provide a boost to people who are registered voters and maybe were feeling unenthusiastic or left out of the conversation, and potentially to people who are unregistered as well," Manzano says.

Obama pick for Iraq ambassador withdraws after racy emails

2012-06-18T22:57:00.001+01:00

President Barack Obama's choice to be ambassador to Iraq has withdrawn from consideration for the post after a series of emails came to light detailing what critics called an improper relationship with a journalist during a previous tour in Baghdad.

Brett McGurk, who advised President George W. Bush on Iraq and helped negotiate the accord that paved the way for American troops to leave the war-torn country, pulled out just one day after senior Obama adviser David Plouffe pledged the White House's full support.

"No," Plouffe told CNN's "State of the Union" when asked whether the president would withdraw McGurk. "We've made this nomination, and we think he will ably serve as ambassador."

"We greatly appreciate Brett's years of service on behalf of the United States, to include tireless and effective leadership in Iraq from the height of the war to the moment our last troops left Iraq in December and through the challenging transition earlier this year," National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said in a statement emailed to reporters.

"He served in two administrations, and his commitment to the national interest and to the mission was always clear. He has proven himself to be a skilled diplomat willing to take on some of the toughest challenges at the toughest times in a difficult region," Vietor said. "While we regret to see Brett withdraw his candidacy there is no doubt that he will be called on again to serve the country."McGurk's nomination had faced serious opposition in the Senate, where Republican John McCain charged he lacked the necessary experience to lead the huge American embassy in Baghdad and six of the party's nine members on the Foreign Relations Committee wrote Obama urging him to drop the nomination.

The lawmakers said McGurk lacked the experience to run the country's largest embassy and cited "the public release of information detailing unprofessional conduct" that they said "demonstrates poor judgment and will affect the nominee's credibility in the country where he has been nominated to serve."

McGurk and Wall Street Journal reporter Gina Chon carried on an extramarital affair while both were in Baghdad, according to media reports citing emails posted on the website www.cryptome.org. The two are now married. Chon resigned from the Wall Street Journal last week. The newspaper said she broke internal rules by showing McGurk "certain unpublished articles."

Angela Merkel: She’s Got the Whole World, In Her Hands

2012-06-12T15:40:00.000+01:00

Merkel's stark vision of austerity has come under intense scrutiny and has been increasingly challenged as the euro zone falls deeper into recession. A restive populace, frustrated with budget cuts and rising unemployment, is fighting back, ousting former Merkel allies like France's Nicolas Sarkozy and electing government leaders that oppose harsh austerity measures.

On June 17, Greek voters will answer the question that has rattled global markets for months: will it stay or exit the 17-member euro zone?

Greece's problems are not endemic; Portugal and Ireland have received billion dollar bailouts and Spain announced over the weekend that its teetering banking sector would be injected with up to $125 billion in EU funds. Eurozone banks may be at risk of tipping the region into financial ruin but this crisis has already deeply impacted the lives of millions of Europeans since the crisis began two years ago. Unemployment in the euro zone was 11 percent in April, the highest it has been since 1995. Spain's labor market has experienced unprecedented losses and half of the nation's young adults cannot find work. The EU's debt crisis threatens not only Europe's economic future but the financial destiny of the U.S. and Asia too.

"Europe is really the single-biggest uncertainty hanging over the world economy and one country more than any other country has the power to kind of dispel that shadow and that's Germany," says Zanny Minton Beddoes, economics editor for The Economist. "[Merkel] is the single-most important person in terms of where the world economy is going in the next few months."

In the accompanying video, Minton Beddoes provides a blueprint for what she believes could be the solutions Merkel and her political partners need to embrace.

Merkel's austerity approach has broadened to include more growth initiatives over the past few months, Minton Beddoes notes; but the German Chancellor still insists that austerity will produce the desired results.

Instead, Minton Beddoes says Merkel should be encouraging the euro zone to create a banking union with euro-wide deposit insurance. She also recommends debt mutualization — or limited euro bonds — that would allow lagging countries like Greece and Italy to reduce their debt burdens and allow their economies to grow gradually.

On paper these ideas may sound like the right solutions, but convincing an intensely skeptical electorate that they're best for everyone may be the toughest challenge yet for Merkel.

"Will she have the political courage to put forward policies that aren't popular with a large chunk of her electorate?" asks Minton Beddoes. "In Germany, the sense of crisis is not imminent. There is still a prevailing sense in Germany that this is a crisis in southern Europe which a whole load of profligate people had coming to them."

Merkel has insisted that she does not want to break up the euro zone. "I have the will, the determination to keep Greece in the euro zone," she said in an interview with CNBC last month. "I think it would be good for Greece, it would be good for all of us."

Merkel's rhetoric may be resolute, but her mixed messages and indecision have allowed the euro zone to fall further into despair.

"She hasn't stepped up to the plate and taken on that position leading Europe forward," Minton Beddoes adds. Germany has "no sense" of a looming catastrophe and "what the costs would be if the euro falls apart."

Apple TV Is “Irrelevant,” Piecyk Says: iPhone Wars, iPad Sales Hold Keys to Firm’s Fate

2012-06-12T15:32:00.000+01:00

Apple's (AAPL) Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is set to start Monday in San Francisco with Tim Cook expected to take center stage at 1 pm EST for his first-ever WWDC keynote as CEO of the company.

Due to the level of secrecy maintained by Apple, which some consider the recipe for the company's success, there is always a tremendous amount of hype, anticipation and rumor-mongering about what new products may or may not be unveiled during the keynote presentation. One tech blog recently wrote:

"If Apple actually unveils everything we expect, WWDC 2012 will introduce 14 new Mac models, 12 updated Apple accessories, the release of Mac OS 10.8 "Mountain Lion," and the unveiling of iOS 6."

If that prediction is right, many Apple aficionados may be left salivating for more information about the iPhone 5 and the Apple TV. But it's really anybody's guess as to what new Apple products and upgrades will be announced, especially after Cook recently declared, the following at the D Conference hosted by All Things D:

"We're going to double down on secrecy on products, I'm serious."

"Maybe more secrecy means that they are going to shock us with some new aggressive product roll out," says Walter Piecyk, Apple analyst at BTIG Research, referring to the Apple TV or something that is not even on our radar.

However, he tells Aaron in the accompanying interview it is a much safer bet to expect a "refresh" on the Mac Books and software on Monday and the Apple TV in 2013.

Apple iPhone vs Apple TV

While the world is watching to see what "revolutionary" product Apple releases next, investors are more interested in the evolution of the iPhone and the iPad tablet, says Piecyk.

"The Apple TV is irrelevant in the grand scheme of things," Piecyk says. "I think what matters to investors is profit growth…. [and] the things driving profitability [are] the iPhone and the iPad."

iPhone sales currently account for 50% of Apple's revenues.

Smartphones account for just 34% of all global handset sales, which means emerging markets are a huge growth opportunity for the iPhone, says Piecyk. He also notes that a mobile phone will be much easier to sell in emerging markets compared to the next rendition of Apple TV, which could potentially cost upwards of $1,000.

Apple iPhone vs Samsung Galaxy S3

The iPhone faces major external competition too. And there is a serious battle brewing between Apple and Samsung.

Apple has sued Samsung to stop the U.S. release of Samsung's new Galaxy S3, which is set to go on sale June 21. Apple charges Samsung with patent infringement on two counts. The S3 already had a very successful debut across Europe and Australia at the end of May. (See: Samsung Launches iPhone-Killer In Europe and Now Facebook Wants To Make One)

But this suit may not come as a huge surprise after Steve Jobs told his biographer Walter Isaacson Apple planned to wage "thermonuclear war" against the Android phone. According to Isaacson, Jobs said:

"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong....

I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go thermonuclear war on this."

While iPhone sales are growing, it still trails behind Android when it comes to overall marketshare. According to Garnter, Android makes up 56% of the smartphone market versus Apple's 33%.

Apple's biggest Android competitor is Samsung (big surprise) which sold 38 million phones in the first quarter, reports Garnter. In the first quarter of this year, Apple sold 33 million iPhones, which is almost 100% more than the 17 million sold the previous year. Nokia trails behind in the number three spot, followed by Research in Motion.

Apple's attempt to ban the Galaxy s3 in the U.S. is not stopping stores like Best Buy (BBY) and carriersfrom taking presale orders for the latest Samsung phone. The Galaxy S3 will be the first phone to be available on all five network service providers here in the U.S, including AT&T (T) , T-Mobile, Sprint (S), U.S. Cellular (USM) and Verizon (VZ).

iPhone vs Telecom Operators: Why It Could Cost You

On another front, phone makers are facing pushback from cellular network operators. The telecom providers are vying to limit the amount of subsides given to consumers towards the purchase of a handset, which would make it more expensive to a new phone buy or upgrade.

"The operators are looking for a number of different ways to take back that profit," says Piecyk who dropped his rating on Apple stock to neutral on April 9 after discounting the risks posed by global operators. As The Daily Ticker reported in May (care of WSJ):

Carriers are adding or increasing upgrade fees for consumers who want to switch phones. AT&T (T) and Sprint (S) doubled their fee to $36, and Verizon (VZ) now charges $30.
Carriers are increasing monthly data subscription rates. All else being equal, this means customers will have less money to spend on new phones.
In Spain, two of the leading wireless companies--Telefonica (TEF) and Vodafone (VOD) --have stopped subsidizing handsets for new customers. Instead, they're focusing on retaining their existing customers, for whom they do offer subsidies. This will reduce their spending on device subsidies by 25%. (A third operator, Orange, still offers subsidies, and is trying to use this opportunity to gain share. Carriers the world over are watching closely).

Piecyk says this trend will also lead to "extending the upgrade cycle" and carriers "pushing new products like the Galaxy 3 or the next Windows 8 phone," which are priced considerably less than the iPhone.

The Future of Apple: Judging Tim Cook the CEO

Apple stock has jumped 50% since Cook to the helm at Apple in August 2011.

In that time, he's made a number of notable decisions, which were a distant glimmer under the management of Steve Jobs, including the announcement in March to offer shareholders a dividend.

But Piecyk says it is "a bit too early" to judge Cook just yet.

"It is one thing to [rollout] an iPhone 4s and an iPhone 5, which are more evolutionary," he says. "But if and when he comes out with a new Apple TV or and iPad that shrinks in size that is going to be more on him and people are going to judge him by the success of that product than past management."

Starbucks brews a few U.S. factory jobs

2012-06-12T15:29:00.000+01:00

Companies:Starbucks Corporation

RELATED QUOTES

Symbol	Price	Change
SBUX	52.76	-0.07

By Lisa Baertlein

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX) on Tuesday will debut the first products in a line of U.S.-made mugs and other merchandise that will be sold in its roughly 7,000 U.S. cafes to support domestic manufacturing and raise money for its Create Jobs for USA fund.

The move from the world's biggest coffee chain follows Chief Executive Howard Schultz's call to fellow executives to step up hiring and take a bigger role in the country's economic revival.

Domestic manufacturing, once a pillar of the economy, has been hard-hit by globalization. The industry now employs about 12 million people, down from a peak of nearly 20 million around 1980, according to data from the U.S. Department of Labor.

The new line of U.S.-made merchandise includes a 16-ounce acrylic tumbler made in Chicago, whole bean coffee that is blended, roasted and packaged in the United States and a 16-ounce ceramic mug made with domestically sourced raw materials at the American Mug & Stein factory in East Liverpool, Ohio.

That formerly struggling factory in what was once known as the pottery capital of the United States expanded its workforce from 14 to 22 after the Starbucks order, the coffee chain said.

While that does little to offset the jobs lost when Starbucks closed roughly 600 U.S. cafes during its ultimately successful turnaround in 2008 and 2009, the move signals growing corporate interest in bringing back U.S. factory jobs.

The company partnered with the Opportunity Finance Network, a group of private lenders, to start Create Jobs for USA late last year. Starbucks will make a donation to the fund for each U.S.-made product sold.

The U.S. employment market as a whole has been stumbling. In May, nonfarm payroll added only 69,000 jobs, the smallest gain in a year.

(Additional reporting by Scott Malone in Boston; Editing by Leslie Gevirtz)

yahoonews

Israel returns remains of Palestinian militants

2012-05-31T12:24:00.001+01:00

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The remains of 91 Palestinian militants whose attacks killed hundreds of Israelis were returned to the West Bank and Gaza on Thursday in a gesture Israel said it hoped could help revive peace efforts.

But there was no indication Palestinian leaders were ready to relax their demand that Israel stop all settlement-building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem before they would resume the suspended talks, or that Israel would relent.

The boxed remains of 80 militants were transferred to coffins draped in the Palestinian flag for burial in the West Bank ahead of a solemn ceremony at the official compound in Ramallah ofPalestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinians in the Gaza Strip waited at Israel's fortified Erez crossing for the handover of 11 bodies, some of them only partial remains.

The militants had been buried, some for decades, in a desolate Israeli military cemetery for "enemy combatants" in the occupied West Bank.

The dead include more than 20 suicide bombers who killed over 200 people in attacks in Israeli cities from 1995 to 2006, and who to many Israelis are no more than ruthless murderers.

But to Palestinians, they are honored martyrs of the cause.

"When we receive the remains of the symbols of the Palestinian cause, the symbols of resistance, we regain hope of achieving victory, in freeing the prisoners and in freeing Jerusalem," said Fawzi Barhoum, spokesman for the Islamist Hamas movement which rules Gaza and rejects Israel's right to exist.

Among the remains returning to Gaza is Reem al-Reashi, a Hamas suicide bomber who blew herself up at an Israeli army checkpoint in 2004, killing four soldiers. Her husband said parts of her body had already been buried. The rest was now on its way.

The handover came at a time of relative calm in Israeli-Palestinian relations. A mass hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails was peacefully resolved in mid-May through some concessions by Israel, and sporadic clashes along the Gaza border have abated in recent weeks.

"It is our hope that this humanitarian gesture will serve both as a confidence-building measure and help get the peace process back on track," said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"Israel is ready for the immediate resumption of peace talks without any preconditions whatsoever," he said.

In a speech on Tuesday, Netanyahu repeated his call on Abbas to "give peace a chance" by resuming unconditionally the direct negotiations that broke down in November 2010 over the issue of Israeli settlement expansion in occupied territory.

NOTORIOUS ATTACKS

Abbas on Thursday received German President Joachim Gauck, who was making his first trip to the region. They were due to hold a news conference later at which Gauck was expected to reinforce the Western view that a "two-state solution" creating a Palestinian state living in peace alongside Israel is the only viable path to lasting peace and is now more urgent than ever.

The Palestinians fear the spread of settlements will deny them a viable independent state envisaged by interim peace deals in the 1990s.

Netanyahu's domestic political coup on May 8, bringing the opposition Kadima party into his camp to create the largest governing majority coalition in Israeli history, has fuelled speculation a fresh peace initiative might be in the making.

But the threat of a nuclear-armed Iran and political instability in the Middle East are Netanyahu's main concerns, and he says those who believe a Middle East peace treaty would magically settle the highly turbulent region are deluded.

"Palestine today glorifies its heroes," said a presenter on Hamas's Al-Aqsa radio. "With the return of the remains of the heroes, some of whom blew themselves up for Palestine, we hope the spirit of resistance and the smell of gunpowder will return to the alleys and streets of villages and refugee camps."

For some Israelis, the handover opened old wounds, reviving memories of notorious, lethal attacks that shook their country to the core.

Among the remains returned were those of seven Palestinians who in 1975 landed by sea at night to seize the Savoy hotel in Tel Aviv, demanding the release of Palestinian prisoners.

The gunmen were killed in an Israeli commando raid the next morning. Eight hostages and three soldiers, including the commander of the commando unit, were also killed.

(Additional reporting by Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Maayan Lubell in Jerusalem, Editing by Jeffrey Heller and Mark Heinrich)

news.yahoo.com

Bedouins abduct 2 US tourists in Sinai

2012-05-31T12:19:00.000+01:00

Two US tourists have been kidnapped in Egypt's Sinai peninsula byBedouins protesting the arrest of one of their tribesmen on a drugs charge, a security official said on Thursday.

The tourists were abducted late on Wednesday near the resort of Dahab on the Red Sea, the official said, adding that talks were under way in a bid to secure their release.
The two men were driving near the Dahab resort when they were stopped by a group of Bedouins at a makeshift roadblock and taken to an unknown location, she said.
Several foreigners have been captured in Sinai in recent months by Bedouins demanding the release of tribesmen they feel have been unjustly detained. All have been freed within days.

Sinai, where most luxurious resorts are concentrated in Egypt, had long been marginalised under the regime of former strongman Hosni Mubarak and the security situation there has been highly sensitive since his ouster.

Several Bedouins were severely punished between 2004 and 2008 for attacks against resorts on the Red Sea.
The situation in Sinai has become more difficult due to the limited presence of the army, which now rules Egypt, following the demilitarisation of the area under the 1979 peace accord between the Arab nation and Israel.
The pipeline running through northern Sinai which supplies to Israel and Jordan has also faced several attacks in the past year.

news.yahoo.com

Apple Gears Up for New Products

2012-05-31T11:44:00.000+01:00

RANCHO PALOS VERDES, Calif.—Apple Inc. chief executive Tim Cook teed up big expectations for the world's largest technology company, saying in an interview that the company is preparing to release some "incredible" new products.

But, pressed about possibilities such as whether Apple would develop a smaller iPhone or a television, he gave no details, vowing to "double down" on product secrecy.

During his remarks during the Tuesday evening opening interview at the D: All Things Digital conference—his first appearance at the annual event—Mr. Cook stressed continuity with his predecessor, Steve Jobs, who handed him the reins in August. Mr. Jobs died in October.

Mr. Cook said that Apple would continue to innovate and hinted at big things ahead. "The juices are flowing," he said. "We have some incredible things coming out."

But the 51-year-old Apple veteran also provided a rare hint of how he is doing things differently than his predecessor Steve Jobs, whose legacy include a culture that prized secrecy.

He said Apple would be more transparent about issues related to social change, he added, including labor rights in China, where Apple has faced continue scrutiny.

Mr. Cook said he hoped more components for Apple products would be made in the U.S. Noting that iPhone's processor and glass covering are made in the U.S., he said: "We will do as many of these as we can."

He also said he spends less time on design and marketing than Mr. Jobs, who had a particular passion and reputation for micromanaging those functions.

The Apple leader had little to say about one issue the tech and media worlds are on pins and needles about: whether the technology company plans to build a television or create a new type of television content service.

Mr. Cook dodged the question as he has in the past, highlighting the growth of Apple's existing $99 Apple TV box. Mr. Cook called the device, which is still relatively a niche product, "an area of intense interest for us."

"We are going to keep pulling this string and see where it takes us," he said.

He said Apple would consider issues like whether the company could "control the key technology" in assessing whether to do more. But he also refused to address whether the company would do so.

When pressed about whether Apple would release different versions of the iPhone and iPad in different sizes, Mr. Cook said, "There is not a policy or commandment that thou shalt have one. If we find we can do more, great."

He did identify one priority—Siri the voice-response technology Apple delivered with its latest iPhone, which has received some criticism for not working consistently.

"There is more that it can do," Mr. Cook said. "I think you'll be really pleased with some things you will see over the coming months."

Mr. Cook told the audience to "stay tuned" on the question of whether Apple would strike a partnership with Facebook Inc., the social-networking juggernaut that still isn't integrated into the iPhone in a meaningful way. The relationship between the technology powerhouses is a topic of persistent gossip in Silicon Valley, particularly as Apple has struck such a deal with social service Twitter. "I think we can do more with them," he said.

Mr. Cook also addresses his frustration with the company's proliferating patent battles with Samsung Electronics Co. and other smartphone rivals. While defending Apple's action against other companies for copying what he regards as Apple's creative works, he reiterated his views it is unfair for Samsung and others to sue Apple for infringing patents that are considered essential to building phones compatible with industrywide technology standards.

Owners of so-called standards essential patents agree to license them on fair, reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms. "There is some of this that is maddening," Mr. Cook said.

The conference, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp.

finance.yahoo.com

Top 5 internal drives: The state of solid-state drives

2012-05-28T16:00:00.001+01:00

CNET editor Dong Ngo picks the best solid-state internal drives right now that are also reasonably priced.

by Dong Ngo May 25, 2012 5:00 AM PDT

The prices of solid-state drives are getting lower as there are more and more options on the market.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

No matter how big or small your computer is, there are at least one internal drive on the inside to host its operating system and programs. This drive, be it a regular hard drive or a solid-state drive (SSD), generally comes in one of the two standards, 2.5-inch (for laptops) or 3.5-inch ford desktops.

Most, if not all standard SSDs, however, come in the 2.5-inch design. This is because a 2.5-inch drive can fit in both laptop and desktop computers, while the 3.5-inch drives can only fit in desktops. Also, due to the fact that SSDs have no moving part, its capacities generally don't depend on the physical size of the drive.

Now if you have a computer with a hard drive, you definitely want to replace it with an SSD. This is the single upgrade that will bring a totally new life (performance, that is) to your computer. You can find out more on why that is here. And after that, you can also follow myhow-to post if you need help with the actual replacement.

The only question is, which SSD should you get. The truth is while not all SSDs are created equal, they are all so much faster than regular hard drives in terms of overall performance that the differences among them are only noticeable to those who have always used SSDs, of which even I can't claim to be one.

That said, if you have a tight budget, just pick one that offers the most capacity for the least money. But if you want to also get the best bang for your buck, I have here the list of top five SSDs on the market, all things (pricing included) considered.

This list will be updated on a regular basis as more drives are reviewed. Make sure you check at the bottom of this post for the list of drives that were previously on the top five list, too, since they are also excelent choices.

Without further ado, here are the new top-five SSDs that you would want to use as your computer's boot drive, with the most recently reviewed on top.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

RunCore Pro V 2.5-inch 7mm Ultra SSD
The Pro V 2.5-inch 7mm Ultra SSD is the second consumer-grade standard SSD from RunCore and is also the second on the market that comes in the new 7mm thickness, designed to fit in ultrabooks. The first is the 520 series from Intel. Like the Intel 420 series, the RunCore SSD doesn't work with just ultrabooks. The drive still uses the regular 2.5-inch standard's port design and will work with regular laptops and desktops. In fact it comes with a hard-drive bay converter to also fit in any 3.5-inch drive bay.

While the first SSD from RunCore, the Pro V Max , was a little pricey, the Pro V 7mm SSD costs just $1.50 per gigabyte per its suggested retail price. This means the street pricing will likely be even lower. In my testing, it was very fast, even slightly faster than the Intel 520 series.Read the full review of the RunCore Pro V 2.5-inch 7mm Ultra SSD.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Plextor M3
Despite what you might think from the name, the Plextor M3 is not exactly an upgrade to the M2 version that came out a while ago. In fact, in my testing, the new drive was slightly slower than the previous model. More than making up for this, however, the M3 comes with a much friendlier price tag, costing about $1.40 per gigabyte, compared with $1.80 per gigabyte for the M2.

Other than that, the new SSD, like all SATA 3-based SSDs, offers a great boost to the host computer's performance if you're moving from a regular hard drive. It also looks great and feels sturdy thanks to its aluminum casing. Read the full review of the Plextor M3 SSD.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

SanDisk Extreme SSD
There's nothing really extreme about the SanDisk Extreme. Instead the drive is very standard, both in terms of design (2.5-inch, 9.5 millimeters) and performance. The Extreme did manage to top the chart of recently reviewed SSDs in terms of boot time, with the host computer taking just 11 seconds to fully load Windows. This is still just a few seconds less than the other SSDS, though.

What makes the drive special is its pricing. The SanDisk Extreme is the first SSD I've reviewed that's quite attainable, with the 240GB version costing about $320 online. That's about $1.33 per gigabyte, one of the best values on the market. If you still feel that's expensive (which it still kind of is), you can opt for the 120GB version that costs just $149. Read the full review of the SanDisk Extreme SSD.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Intel SSD 520 Series
The Intel SSD 520 Series, on the other hand, is a one-of-a-kind internal drive--yet still standard. This is because it's the first in the new 7mm thickness designed for use in ultrabooks. To make the drive also work with standard laptops, which generally use a 9.5mm-thick internal drive, the 520 Series comes with a removable frame piece that adds another 2.5mm to its thickness. And what's more, Intel also includes a 3.5-inch drive bay adapter and all the necessary cables for the drive to work in a desktop computer.

The SSD is also special on the inside. In addition to the popular SandForce controller, it uses Intel's special firmware, version 400i, designed to boost its performance over other SSDs that use the same controller. And the drive indeed worked well in my testing. At its price of $350, the 240GB version is still a good deal considering all the accessories and the hard-drive cloning software the drive comes bundled with. Read the full review of the Intel SSD 520 Series.

(Credit: Dong Ngo/CNET)

Samsung 830 Series
This is a top-of-the-line SATA 3 SSD that's not just fast but also really sleek-looking. In fact, it's sad that it's so sleek-looking since it's an internal hard drive that will be hidden away inside a computer's chassis. The Samsung 830 Series also offers the ability to turn its provisioning features on or off on the fly, making it the most flexible SSD on the market.

The drive comes in many capacities, ranging from 64GB to 512GB, with the 512GB being the best deal at $670, for those who can afford it, since it offers the lowest cost per gigabyte currently available, just $1.31. Read the full review of the Samsung 830 Series.

Looking for specs and pricing? Compare these SSDs head-to-head.

Previously on the top list

So far this year, there following internal drives have also been on the top list. The fact that they are no longer of the top five doesn't mean they are no longer among the best on the market. That said, also consider them while making your purchase: OCZ Octane, Seagate Momentus XT (second generation), Crucial m4, OCZ Agility 3, and the Vertex 3.

news.cnet.com

Apple orders 4-inch iPhone screens, says report

2012-05-28T15:57:00.001+01:00

The company has been buying larger-sized screens from its Asian suppliers, according to the latest tipoff received by the Wall Street Journal.

by Lance Whitney May 16, 2012 5:06 AM PDT

Is the next iPhone due for a 4-inch screen?

(Credit: Apple)

Will the next iPhone actually sport a larger screen? A new report from the Wall Street Journal suggests it will.

Citing "people familiar with the situation," the Journal said today that Apple has been tapping into its suppliers for screens larger than the ones used in the current iPhone. The new screens are at least 4 inches, compared with the 3.5-inch displays used on the phone since its debut in 2007.

Assuming the sources are on the money, production of the screens could rev up next month, the Journal added. The most recent reports say Apple will unveil the next iPhone in early fall -- September or October. An October date would match up with the launch of the iPhone 4S last year.

A larger screen could be a sign that Apple is trying to play catch-up with its Android rivals, particularly Samsung. The Korean handset maker has enjoyed a huge surge in sales and market share over the past year, Most research reports now cite Samsung as the top smartphone and mobile phone maker around the world.

Apple is reportedly ordering screens from several manufacturers, say some of the Journal's sources. Those include LG, Sharp, and Japan Display, a new outfit formed by the Japanese government and three companies.

Samsung recently announced its new Galaxy S III phone, measuring a whopping 4.8 inches, one of the largest displays in the market. The company's Galaxy Note is being marketed as a phone. But at 5.3 inches, it's actually bigger than a lot of tablets.

The latest smartphones are increasingly inching up in screen size, making them look and feel like mini tablets.

The latest intel from the Journal follows other reports suggesting that the next iPhone will offer a larger screen.

However, Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Nobuo Kurahashi told the Journal that the move to a larger screen isn't necessarily a response by Apple to rival its rivals. Pointing out that the screen size wouldn't be the phone's defining feature, the analyst said that "the smartphone market has become diverse, but the iPhone still sets the agenda."

news.cnet.com

China looks to boost private-sector investment in banks

2012-05-28T14:24:00.000+01:00

China has opened up its banking system to private-sector investors, the latest move by Beijing aimed at underpinning economic growth.

Over the weekend, China said that private investors would have the same rights as state firms when trying to invest in domestic banks.

Despite China's strong economic growth, critics say expansion has been hampered by an inefficient banking sector.

China recently opened up other sectors such as energy and telecommunications.

The hope is that by attracting new foreign investment, China can stimulate a fresh and enduring phase of economic development.
Monopoly busting

The changes to the bank restrictions were announced by the China Banking Regulatory Commission, which was quoted as saying it wanted to boost lending and increase the efficiency and transparency of the banking market.

According to the new rules, private-sector investors will be allowed to purchase stakes in Chinese banks through a number of means including stock placements, new share subscriptions, equity transfers, and mergers and acquisitions.

The move comes after China's outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao said in April that the country needed to break up the monopoly of national banks, saying it was "too easy" for national banks to generate profits.

At the same time he complained that they were not lending enough.

One of the areas where China has seen problems has been in the way banks lend to small and medium-sized businesses.

This has seen an increase in the amount of illegal and non-sanctioned lending, a problem that policymakers have said they want to reduce.

Lazio captain arrested in match-fixing investigation

2012-05-28T14:21:00.003+01:00

The captain of Lazio has been arrested by police investigating claims of match-fixing.

Midfielder Stefano Mauri, 32, was held along with former Genoa midfielder Omar Milanetto, police said.

Juventus coach Antonio Conte, who just led the club to the Serie A title in his first season in charge, is among those being questioned by police.

Officers also visited Italy's pre-Euro 2012 training camp to question left-back Domenico Criscito, 25.

Police are searching more than 30 homes, including those of players, trainers and administrators of clubs in Serie A, Serie B and lower divisions.

Police said Conte was being investigated on suspicion of sporting fraud and fraudulent association over allegations concerning a match between his previous club Siena and Novara in April 2011.Five people were also arrested in Hungary on suspicion of being part of an illegal international betting ring.

However Conte's lawyer, Antonio De Rencis, said: "Conte's reaction is that of someone who is completely innocent and strongly determined to prove his total innocence."

Later on Monday Italian football federation vice president Demetrio Albertini announced that Cristico, a former Genoa and Juventus defender who is now at Zenit St Petersburg in Russia, would not be selected for Euro 2012 'in order to clear his name'.

"We are disappointed but we have to remain close to the player," Albertini said. "Arrests have been made today but until proven otherwise, we are talking about innocent people even though they are considered suspects.

"I know Domenico and he is incredulous. He is an extraordinary guy and he has already seen his lawyers this morning. It is a strange day for us.

"These are things that we would not like to have had to go through."

Monday's operation was part of a wider investigation which has already seen a number of arrests of current and former Italian players. In June last year, the Interior Ministry set up a special match-fixing task force in response to a number of high-profile cases.

Former Atalanta captain and Italy midfielder Cristiano Doni was banned for three-and-a-half years in August for his part in the 'Calcioscommesse' scandal involving Serie B matches last season. He was also arrested in December 2011 over match-fixing and betting allegations.

Atalanta, promoted from Serie B, were deducted six points in the top flight this season as a result of the scandal.

Former Lazio and Italy striker Giuseppe Signori was banned for five years and 15 other players were banned for between one and five years for their parts.

Mauri, who joined the Rome club from Udinese in 2006 and has 11 caps for Italy, made 16 league appearances last season as Lazio finished fourth in Serie A.

Milanetto, 36, signed for Serie B side Padova last summer after five years at Genoa and made 15 starts last season.

source:BBC

Station grabs SpaceX Dragon ship

2012-05-25T19:43:00.000+01:00

Dragon cargo ship attaches to the International Space Station

The California SpaceX company has seen its unmanned Dragon cargo ship attach successfully to the International Space Station (ISS).

Astronauts onboard the platform used its robotic arm to grasp the vehicle and attach it to a berthing port.

Dragon is the first commercial vessel to visit the space station.

It is also the first American ship to go to the orbiting laboratory since the US space agency (Nasa) retired its shuttles last year.

US astronaut Don Petit was inside the ISS at the controls of the Canadarm2.

He reached out with the robotic appendage and grabbed the Dragon capsule at 13:56 GMT (14:56 BST).

"Houston, looks like we got us a Dragon by the tail," he radioed to Nasa mission control in Texas.

The capture was met by applause from controllers, at the Nasa centre and at the SpaceX HQ in Hawthorne, California, where Dragon's flight is also being overseen.

Just under two hours later, Petit used the arm to position the Dragon under the ISS's Harmony connecting node. A good seal was confirmed at 16:02 GMT (17:02 BST).

The ISS crew will go inside the ship on Saturday to unload its stores.

The attachment of Dragon to the platform marks a significant milestone in the history of human spaceflight.

Traditionally, this field of endeavour has been the preserve of government-owned and operated vehicles.

But the US space agency (Nasa) is looking to save money that it can then re-invest in some of its other programmes far beyond Earth, at asteroids and at Mars.

It believes this can be achieved by contracting out the more routine tasks in low-Earth orbit to the private sector.

The SpaceX control room in Hawthorne, California, watches over the arm grab

To that end, it is providing seed funding of approximately $800m to SpaceX and another company, Orbital Sciences Corporation, to help them develop new rocket and cargo vehicles.

Orbital's rocket is called Antares, and its freighter is known as Cygnus. The pair should go into space together for the first time before the end of the year.

Once these companies have proved the performance of their systems, they will start to receive lucrative ISS re-supply payments.

For SpaceX, its contract is valued at $1.6bn (£1bn) and calls for a minimum of 12 Dragon cargo missions to the ISS.

But freight is just the start. The ferrying of crews to and from the ISS will be the next service Nasa buys in.

SpaceX wants this business as well, and is developing the safety and life-support equipment that would allow Dragon to double up as an astronaut taxi.

Vital statistics: How do the spacecraft compare?

Dragon capsule
Length: 5.2m
Diameter: 3.6m
Upmass: 6t
The capsule is re-usable
Cygnus capsule
Length: 6.7m
Diameter: 3m
Upmass: 2.7t
Cygnus is destroyed on re-entry
Falcon 9 launch vehicle
Design: Two stages
Mass: 334t
Thrust at lift-off: 5,000kN
Fuel: Liquid oxygen/kerosene
Antares launch vehicle
Design: Two stages
Mass: 240t
Thrust at lift-off: 3,000kN
Fuel: Liquid oxygen/kerosene

US cuts Pakistan aid over Osama Bin Laden doctor's sentence

2012-05-25T11:57:00.003+01:00

A United States Senate panel has cut $33m in aid to Pakistan in response to the jailing of a Pakistani doctor who helped US intelligence in the hunt for Osama Bin Laden.

The Senate Appropriations Committee has said it will cut US aid by $1m for each year of Dr Shakil Afridi's 33-year jail term.

"It's arbitrary, but the hope is that Pakistan will realise we are serious," said Senator Richard Durbin after the unanimous 30-0 vote by the Senate Appropriations Committee.

"It's outrageous that they (the Pakistanis) would say a man who helped us find Osama bin Laden is a traitor," said Mr Durbin, the Senate's number two Democrat.

The Senate Armed Services Committee later passed a measure that could lead to even deeper cuts in aid.

The sentencing of Dr Shakil Afridi for 33 years on treason charges added to US frustrations with Pakistan over what Washington sees as its reluctance to help combat Islamist militants fighting the Afghan government and the closure of supply routes to NATO troops in Afghanistan.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the jailing of the doctor "unjust and unwarranted" and vowed to continue to press the case with Islamabad.

"The United States does not believe there is any basis for holding Dr Afridi," she said.

Dr Afridi was accused of running a fake vaccination campaign, in which he collected DNA samples, that is believed to have helped the US intelligence agency track down Bin Laden in a Pakistani town last year.

The al-Qaeda leader was killed in the town of Abbottabad a year ago in a unilateral US special forces raid that heavily damaged ties between Pakistan and the US.

Since then, there have been growing calls in the US Congress to cut off some or all of US aid.

Senator John McCain, top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, said politicians had agreed to withhold certain military aid for Pakistan until the defence secretary certifies that Pakistan is not detaining people such as Dr Afridi.

"All of us are outraged at the imprisonment and sentencing of some 33 years - virtually a death sentence - to the doctor in Pakistan who was instrumental ... in the removal of Osama bin Laden," Mr McCain said, adding that Dr Afridi was innocent of any wrongdoing. "That has frankly outraged all of us."

The Senate Appropriations Committee's action docking Pakistan's aid came after a subcommittee earlier in the week slashed assistance to Islamabad and warned it would withhold even more cash if Pakistan does not reopen supply routes for NATO soldiers in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Pakistan has been one of the leading recipients of US foreign aid in recent years.

Even after the cuts voted this week it still would receive about $1bn in fiscal 2013, if the full Senate and House of Representatives approve.

rte.ie

Seafood companies to create 140 jobs in €15.5m investment

2012-05-25T11:44:00.002+01:00

A significant investment by 21 Irish seafood processing companies is expected to lead to the creation of over 140 jobs.

The €15.5m investment is supported by grants of €3.2m under a European Union scheme.

The small and medium enterprises involved are based in Wexford, Dublin, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Louth and Kerry.

The investment is expected to result in the creation of 142 jobs and a €44m increase in sales of seafood products by 2015.

Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine Simon Coveney said the companies involved represented the future of the seafood industry.

He said that the announcement demonstrated the confidence in the seafood sector as a high growth area of Ireland's economy.

Elsewhere, up to 40 new jobs are to be created by a medical diagnostics company in Co Tipperary.

Technopath, which is located in Ballina, Tipperary will today announce an investment of €3m, resulting in the new positions.

The company has been building up its export market to the US, Europe and Japan.

rte.ie

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US cuts Pakistan aid over Osama Bin Laden doctor's sentence

Seafood companies to create 140 jobs in €15.5m investment