Newspapers. 09-12-2013 | Politics Planned a

Russia is a long-standing ally of Iran, Syria's main backer and the United States' chief antagonist in the Middle East. Moscow built Iran's first nuclear power station and has supplied it with anti-aircraft defenses.

The remarks by Alexei Pushkov, head of the lower house of parliament's foreign affairs committee, appeared to be part of a drive to convince Washington to refrain from attacking Syria in retaliation for a poison gas attack in Damascus that killed hundreds of civilians.

Pushkov echoed Putin by saying Russia's initiative to have its ally Syria give up all its chemical weapons would succeed only if Washington and its allies rejected the use of force.

Outlining possible responses if Syria was attacked, Pushkov told the lower house, the State Duma: "This would include the expansion of defensive weapons deliveries to Iran, and discussing the possibility of reviewing our cooperation with the United States on Afghanistan."

He gave no details in his address to the chamber, which was expected to pass a resolution later on Wednesday echoing Putin's opposition to military strikes.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILES

The Russian business daily Kommersant said Putin and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani could agree a deal on supplying Tehran with Antey-2500 anti-aircraft missiles when they meet on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kyrgyzstan on Friday.

But Interfax news agency later quoted a military source as playing down expectations of such an agreement.

Russia scrapped a contract to supply Iran with S-300 surface-to-air missiles under Western pressure in 2010, and Iran later filed a $4-billion international arbitration suit against Russia in Geneva, but the two countries remain allies.

Russia provides a transit route for U.S. and NATO military cargo to Afghanistan, a facility that will become less important once most of the troops in the U.S.-led coalition leave in 2014.

Syria has accepted the Russian proposal to hand over chemical arms, but U.S. President Barack Obama said it was too early to tell if the initiative would succeed. He said he would keep military forces at the ready to strike if diplomacy fails.

Pushkov, who backs Putin but is not a policy maker, said that "the party of war in the United States will try to derail the Russian plan, and that has already begun ...

"The United States State Department has already been making skeptical statements.

Apple Inc's new plastic-backed iPhone 5C will sell for 4,488 yuan ($730) China, almost $200 more than the United States retail price of $549 and only 800 yuan ($130) less than its top-of-the-line sibling, the 5S.

The pricing of what was expected to be a cheap model aimed at growth markets such as China and India has not only stumped investors, but also Apple aficionados in China, a country of 1.4 billion people and the world's largest smartphone market.

"My original estimate of the 5C price was around 3,000 yuan, but more than 4,000 - I think for a budget version the price may be a little expensive. I don't think I can buy one," said Liu Donghai, a 25-year-old chemical engineer.

"If the 5S is around 5,000, then it's similar to the already-released 5 and 4S. I would accept this," he added.

Apple, whose market capitalization of $449 billion makes it the world's most valuable publicly traded company, unveiled the two new handsets at an event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, California, on Tuesday. For the first time, it held a launch event in Beijing hours later on Wednesday, a move seen as underscoring the importance of the Chinese market.

LACK OF BUZZ

New Apple product releases tend to generate a great deal of buzz, but the 5C's reception in China, where fans have been known to queue for days for new products, was lukewarm at best.

"The iPhone 5C is so expensive. Originally I absolutely planned to buy it, now the price makes me uncomfortable. Isn't it just an iPhone 5 with a plastic back?" said Sina Weibo user Shangzhiruixin.

The phrase "iPhone 5S" was the most popular search term on Sina Weibo, China's most widely used microblogging service, on Wednesday, while "iPhone 5C" did not appear on the top searches list. Other users questioned why anyone willing to fork out well over 4,000 yuan for a smartphone would not just pay a bit more for the premium 5S model.

But others believe that the 5C makes sense in an increasingly competitive smartphone market, where the cheaper the handsets the more bitter the fight for dominance.

Apple's share of the China smartphone market slipped to 5 percent in the second quarter, according to research firm Canalys, trailing not just Samsung but also the likes of Lenovo Group Ltd, ZTE Corp, Huawei Technologies and Xiaomi Technology. "Even though Apple has a lower end iPhone now, its price is still considered mid-end in China and not low-end," said Sandy Shen, a Shanghai-based analyst for Gartner.

It means a group of users can now press ahead with their claim for damages against the search giant.

Google had hoped to have the case dismissed, arguing that its "mistaken collection" of the data did not break wire-tapping laws.

Privacy experts called it a "landmark decision for internet privacy".

The lawyer representing the plaintiffs said that the case would now be resumed.

A Google spokesman said: "We are disappointed in the Ninth Circuit's decision and are considering our next steps."

It had hoped to put the issue behind it, arguing that it had no case to answer because such data was readily accessible to members of the public and therefore not subject to wire-tapping laws.

The US Court of Appeals in San Francisco disagreed.

Circuit judge Jay Bybee said: "Even if it is commonplace for members of the general public to connect to a neighbour's unencrypted wi-fi network, members of the public do not typically mistakenly intercept, store, and decode data transmitted by other devices on the network."

"The court made clear that federal privacy law applies to residential wi-fi networks," said Marc Rotenburg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

"Users should be protected when a company tries to capture data that travels between their laptop and their printer in their home." 'Inadvertent'

Between 2008 and 2010, Google collected data from unsecured wi-fi networks in 30 countries.

The data included emails, user names, passwords, images and documents.

Google has always claimed that the collection was inadvertent, following the mistaken inclusion of code, written by an unnamed Google engineer, in its Streetview software.

It later emerged that a senior manager was aware that data was being collected by Streetview cars.

Google has apologised and agree to destroy the data.

In the US it has paid $7m (£4.4m) in US fines to settle a case involving 38 states.

As well as agreeing to delete all the harvested data, Google was also required to launch an employee training programme about privacy and data use which it must continue for at least 10 years.

It must also run a public service advertising campaign to educate consumers about how to secure their information on wireless networks.

The German privacy regulator, which exposed the issue in the first place, imposed fine of 145,000 euros ($192,500, £121,000) on the firm in April.

It described the debacle as "one of the biggest known data protection violations in history".

By contrast, the UK privacy watchdog imposed no fine, but did order Google to destroy all the stored data.

More than a thousand people gathered Wednesday on a hot and hazy morning at the National September 11 Memorial plaza in Manhattan, for the annual reading of victims' names from both the 1993 and 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

Bagpipes and a youth choir ushered in the start of the solemn proceedings, held around two reflecting pools that stand in the footprint of the fallen twin towers.

"To my nephew Michael Joseph Mullin, we miss you and think of you every single day," said one of the 250 people chosen to read names. "You're gone but not forgotten," another woman said of her lost cousin.

In keeping with a tradition that began last year, no public officials spoke at the New York ceremony, though former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, his successor Michael Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, and other city and state leaders were in attendance.

In a memorial service at the Pentagon, President Barack Obama called on Americans to pray for those whose lives had been lost.

"Let us have the strength to face the threats that endure, different though they may be from 12 years ago, so that as long as there are those who would strike our citizens, we will stand vigilant and defend our nation," Obama said.

The morning after a speech in which he urged Americans to support his proposal to use military force against Syria, in retribution for President Bashar al-Assad's poison gas attack on his own people, Obama also reflected on the limits of force.

"Let us have the wisdom to know that, while force is at times necessary, force alone cannot build the world we seek," Obama said.

Americans observed moments of silence at 8:46 a.m. EDT, the time American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the North Tower and with a second pause at 9:03 a.m. when United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower.

Further moments of silence were observed at 9:37 a.m., when American Airlines Flight 77 hit the Pentagon; at 9:59 a.m. when the South Tower fell; at 10:03 a.m. when United Flight 93 hit the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania; and at 10:28 a.m., when the North Tower collapsed.

Nineteen hijackers died in the attacks, later claimed by Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, which led directly to the U.S. war in Afghanistan and indirectly to the invasion of Iraq.

Vodafone's 84.50 euro per share offer for Kabel Deutschland runs out at midnight, but it will lapse if holders of less than three quarters of the German company's shares agree to sell.

The British company, which last week agreed the sale of its share in U.S. operator Verizon Wireless for $130 billion, wants to buy Kabel Deutschland to offer more television and fixed-line services in Germany, its largest European mobile market.

Including shares already tendered, Vodafone held 19.88 percent of Kabel Deutschland's share capital by 1530 GMT (10.30 EDT) on September 10, Vodafone said in a statement on Wednesday. That compares with close to 12 percent last Friday.

In acquisitions, shareholders often wait until the deadline to tender their shares in case a last-minute rival bid emerges.

Vodafone also faces pressure from Kabel Deutschland's largest shareholder, U.S. activist investment fund manager Paul Singer, to raise its offer for the German firm but has shown no signs of budging.

During March/April - the time of year when marine floes are at their thickest - the radar spacecraft recorded just under 15,000 cu km of ice.

In its three years of full operations, Cryosat has witnessed a continuing shrinkage of winter ice volume.

It underlines, say scientists, the long-term decline of the floes. Thirty years ago, there were perhaps 30,000 cu km at the height of winter.

While there has been a great deal of attention focused of late on the falling extent (area) of sea ice in the Arctic, especially during summer months, researchers emphasise that it is volume that provides the most reliable assessment of the changes now underway in the northern polar region.

The provisional Cryosat data was presented here at Esa's Living Planet Symposium in Edinburgh, UK.

Prof Andy Shepherd, from Leeds University, said: "Now that we have three years of data, we can see that some parts of the ice pack have thinned more rapidly than others. At the end of winter, the ice was thinner than usual. Although this summer's extent will not get near its all-time satellite-era minimum set last year, the very thin winter floes going into the melt season could mean that the summer volume still gets very close to its record low," he told BBC News.

And Rachel Tilling, who is working through the data at University College London (UCL), added: "Cryosat will be able to confirm whether or not a minimum volume was reached this summer once the ice starts to refreeze in the Autumn." Cryosat was launched by the European Space Agency in 2010.

It is what is known as an altimetry mission, using advanced radar to measure the difference in height between the top of the marine ice and the top of the water in the cracks, or leads, that separate the floes.

From this number, scientists can, with a relatively simple calculation, work out the thickness of the ice. Multiplying by the area covered by ice gives a volume. "In terms of really understanding what is going on in the Arctic and trying to put the changes we see in the larger scale context - volume is the key part of the story," explained Prof Alan O'Neill, chairman of Esa's Earth Science Advisory Committee.

"If you just looked at ice area, for example, this could reflect simply the piling up of ice as a result of ocean currents and winds.

Faced with resistance in polls and Congress to the use of force against Syria, Obama said a Russian offer to pressure President Bashar al-Assad to place his government's chemical weapons under international control raised the chances of putting off the limited military strike that he is considering.

"Over the last few days, we've seen some encouraging signs," Obama said in televised speech from the White House that attempted to offer a clear case for why it is in Americans' interests to intervene in Syria's civil war.

Obama asked leaders in Congress to put off a vote on his request to authorize the use of military force to let diplomacy play out. He said U.S. Navy ships in the eastern Mediterranean and other forces in the region are in place and ready to respond should diplomacy fail.

The Russian initiative gave Obama some breathing space since it has been far from certain whether he would win a vote in Congress on attacking Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack last month that Washington has blamed on Assad's forces.

In a speech of only 16 minutes, Obama gave perhaps the most coherent expression of his Syria policy to date following weeks of muddled messages by his administration as opposition to a U.S. military strike mounted.

"If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons," said Obama. "As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them."

Under the threat of U.S. missile strikes and with roughly half of Syria controlled by rebels, the Assad government accepted the proposal from its ally Russia earlier on Tuesday.

"It's too early to tell whether this offer will succeed. And any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad's strongest allies," said Obama.

The development, reported by Syrian state television and Russia's Interfax news agency, came a day after the idea bubbled up in the wake of what appeared to be a gaffe by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

It quickly changed the debate in Washington from "Should the U.S. attack?" to "Is there a diplomatic way out of this mess?"

Syrian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Tuesday his country had agreed to the Russian proposal after what Interfax quoted him as calling "a very fruitful round of talks" with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday.

Details of such a transfer have yet to be worked out, such as where the arms would go, who would safeguard them and how the world could be sure Syria had handed over its entire stockpile of chemical weapons.

The United States, France, Great Britain and other nations suspect the Syrian government of using chemical weapons repeatedly in its two-year-old civil war -- including an August 21 incident that U.S. officials say killed more than 1,400 people. Syrian officials have blamed rebel forces.

Growing support

Despite the lack of details, the Russian idea was still gaining traction. On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed support for the concept. Tuesday, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said it would safeguard stability in the region. Syrian ally Iran welcomed the proposal, and Germany expressed interest.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said France would go to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday with a proposal for Syria to hand over its chemical weapons, but said France -- whose president has already expressed a willingness to punish Syria over its alleged use of the arms -- will not accept delays in the transfer.

"We need quick results," Fabius said.

European Union Foreign Affairs Secretary Catherine Ashton said she supported the French plan to bring the issue to the Security Council, saying the proposal "now needs to be fully worked up as quickly as possible."

Even Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, a proponent of a military strike on Syria, said the idea was worth exploring.

"I'm very, very skeptical," he told CNN's "New Day." "But the fact is, you can't pass up this opportunity -- if it is one." He said he is working with other senators to write an amendment to the administration's proposed use-of-force resolution that would allow for such a transfer and set out "guidelines, (a) reporting process and benchmarks that have to be met."

The special committee of the board, which is conducting the CEO search, and its advisers have been meeting with shareholders after Ballmer's surprise decision late last month to retire within a year, the sources said. It could name a CEO as soon as the end of this year, the sources said.

In one such meeting, Microsoft said it started with a list of about 40 people, including internal and external candidates, and has been narrowing it down, one of the sources said.

It wasn't clear whether the Microsoft board had reached out to any of the potential candidates suggested by investors or whether it was even considering them. The names of other candidates in the mix could not be learned.

Microsoft declined comment on Monday. Lawrie and Mulally could not be reached for comment. But last week, Mulally told Reuters that he was "absolutely focused on serving our Ford."

The sources requested their identity as well as those of the investors be kept anonymous because the discussions were private.

The search for a new chief executive of the world's largest software maker is one of the most closely watched developments in the technology sector this year.

Microsoft remains highly profitable, but it has struggled to gain traction in the mobile device business against rivals such as Apple Inc and Google Inc.

In July, the company unveiled a deep reorganization to transform into a "devices and services" leader, but has so far failed to convince investors that its strategy will work. In a sign that shareholders had already lost confidence in Ballmer, Microsoft's shares rose 7 percent after news of his planned retirement.

Last week, Microsoft said it would buy Nokia's phone business and license its patents for 5.44 billion euros ($7.1 billion). Shares of the software company fell as much as 6 percent as investors protested the acquisition of an underperforming and marginalized unit that made a $3 billion operating loss in 2012.

The move also brings Stephen Elop, who ran Microsoft's business software division before jumping ship in 2010, back to the company, positioned as another candidate to succeed Ballmer.

Microsoft Chairman and co-founder Bill Gates, who is still the company's largest shareholder with a 4.8 percent stake and is on the four-member special committee, will likely have a veto on the new CEO choice.

The company on Tuesday released the "OM-D E-M1", a mirrorless model Olympus says is the first of its kind to compete on quality with traditional single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras.

Olympus is now hoping the E-M1, priced for the pro market at 145,000 yen ($1,500) for the body alone, will help it boost mirrorless and SLR sales by 24 percent to 7.3 million units to allow its camera business to finally break even for the first time in four years.

The new model is the successor to Olympus's E-5, its last flagship SLR released in 2010. Executives are saying there are no current plans to develop more SLRs and the new camera likely signals the company's exit from a market that is dominated by Canon Inc and Nikon Corp.

The E-M1 illustrates Olympus's dedication to the mirrorless format, heralded at its inception as a happy marriage between the size of a compact camera and the picture quality of an SLR. But the format has so far failed to connect with consumers outside of Japan, with most seeing it as an awkward compromise.

Most consumers prefer smartphones for taking snaps when weight is an issue and opt for pricier SLRs when quality is a priority.

Research company IDC originally projected the mirrorless segment to grow 31 percent in 2013 and to more than triple by 2017. But dramatically poor sales earlier this year prompted the company to change its forecast to a 1.2 percent drop this year and expansion of just 24 percent by 2017.

Olympus admits that its overseas marketing has been lacking so far.

"This is the kind of product that we have to carefully explain to individual consumers. It's not just a point-and-shoot that you can leave out on the shop floor and it sells by itself," Olympus President Hiroyuki Sasa said at the product launch in Tokyo.

Tech bloggers who had been invited to test-drive the E-M1 in advance were effusive about the camera on Tuesday, praising its retro design, image quality and compatibility with all Olympus lenses, a first for the company's mirrorless models.

But some criticized the camera's sluggish autofocus, a fault that has plagued mirrorless models and disqualified it for sports photography, thus barring it from a chunk of the pro market that Olympus is attempting to capture.

Last year, the company's camera division lost 23.1 billion yen ($231.99 million) as compact camera sales shrank by a third and it shifted 6 percent fewer interchangeable lens camera sales, mostly mirrorless.

iPhone 5S: Apple’s due for its annual iPhone refresh, and that’s exactly what most analysts are anticipating Tuesday. No big changes are expected for the upgrade to the iPhone 5, which is likely to be called the iPhone 5S, in keeping with the company’s naming patterns. That’s not to say that phone won’t be appreciably better than its predecessor. Analysts think it will have a faster processor and a better camera than the iPhone 5. It might also come in a new color — gold.

One feature that could distinguish the new iPhone is the rumored inclusion of a fingerprint scanner in the home button, a move that could bring Apple a better reputation on the security and payments front. The Wall Street Journal reported that people familiar with the company’s plans say the phone will include the scanner and could prompt Google to follow suit in its Android operating system.

If the rumors for this version of the high-end iPhone aren’t enough for you, there is already some chatter about the next version. The Journal has also reported that the company is testing screens as big as six inches for its next iteration of the iPhone. If such a phone went to market, it would be among the largest on the market and only slightly smaller than the company’s iPad mini.

iPhone 5C: Analysts also expect that Apple may be prepared to release a less expensive version of its iPhone to appeal to more price-conscious consumers.

Analysts and reported industry “leaks” have indicated the company is doing so by making phones out of plastic rather than glass and aluminum. The tech press has nicknamed this new phone the “iPhone 5C.” Adding a bit of personality, the company is also expected to release the 5C with a variety of candy-colored backs, reminiscent of its iPod line and iMacs.

The iPhone 5C wouldn’t have the bells and whistles of the premium phone — and, analysts say, will probably run the current iPhone’s chip rather than any upgraded version — but would be a good way for Apple to move into the entry-level part of the market.