Syria: Shooting interrupts latest anti-government protest in Homs
Thousands gather in city after reports that security forces shot dead 17 citizens on Sunday
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Reuters
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 19 April 2011 01.23 BST
Article history
Syrians demonstrating after President Bashar al-Assad promised to lift emergency law. Photograph: Str/Reuters
Syrian forces fired shots at hundreds of protesters who had gathered overnight in Homs city in defiance of warning by the authorities to halt what they called an insurrection.
A member of the security police addressed the protesters at Clock Square through a loud speaker asking them to leave, and then the forces opened fire, said a human rights campaigner, who is in contact with protesters in the square.
Tear gas was also used. At least one protester was injured, the activist added. Two residents of Homs also said they heard the sound of gunfire coming from around the square.
Several hours earlier, Syrian state television broadcast an interior ministry statement that described the wave of unrest in Syria as an insurrection, pointing specifically to Homs as one of two cities where "armed groups belonging to Salafist organisations" were trying to terrorise the population.
Salafism is a strict form of Sunni Islam which many Arab governments equate with militant groups like al-Qaida.
President Bashar al-Assad announced on Saturday that he would end nearly half a century of emergency rule with legislation that should be in place by next week, but his pledge did little to appease protesters calling for political freedoms.
Rights campaigners say more than 200 people have been killed since the protests began.
Syrian authorities have intensified bans on independent media since protests challenging the authoritarian rule of Assad erupted more than a month ago.
No independent media is allowed into Homs or other cities witnessing unprecedented pro-democracy demonstrations. Several international journalists have been expelled or arrested.
Thousands demanded the overthrow of Assad on Monday at the funerals of 17 protesters killed in Homs, 165 km (100 miles) north of Damascus. Human rights campaigners said the 17 had been killed late on Sunday during protests against the death in custody of a tribal leader in Homs.
"From alleyway to alleyway, from house to house, we want to overthrow you, Bashar," the mourners chanted, according to a witness at the funeral.
Further north, in Jisr al-Shughour, 1,000 people called for "the overthrow of the regime", echoing the chants of protesters who overthrew leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, at the funeral of a man who they said had been killed by security forces.
Protests against the authoritarian rule of Assad's Baath Party erupted in the southern city of Deraa more than a month ago, and have spread across the country.
The government says Syria is the target of a conspiracy and authorities blame the violence on armed gangs and infiltrators supplied with weapons from Lebanon and Iraq. Opposition groups say there is no evidence of a conspiracy.
The interior ministry statement said Salafist groups were trying "to spread terror across Syria ... using the march of freedom and reform that was launched according to a timetable by President Assad in his guiding speech".
The demonstrations present the gravest challenge yet to Assad, who succeeded his late father Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000 after 30 years of rule.
Apr 18, 2011
Voting reform: 'yes' camp reeling as support collapses
A new Guardian/ICM poll on the alternative vote referendum shows 'no' campaign is 16 points ahead
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Julian Glover and Patrick Wintour
guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 April 2011 21.31 BST
The Labour leader Ed Miliband shared a platform with Lib Dem Vince Cable at a 'yes to AV' event in London yesterday. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Support for a change to the way MPs are elected is collapsing, according to the latest Guardian/ICM poll, sending shockwaves through the yes campaign advocating reform of the voting system.
The figures give the no camp a 16-point lead, wiping out a two-point lead for the yes camp in the equivalent Guardian/ICM poll in February.
Among people who say they are likely to vote in the nationwide referendum on the alternative vote on 5 May and have made up their minds, the poll shows 58% saying no and 42% saying yes.
Among all respondents, 44% back no and 33% yes, with 23% saying they don't know.
The findings prompted soul-searching among the yes campaigners over their tactics in the runup to the referendum. Some pointed to the fact that they were being outspent by the no campaign and facing a battle against its supporters in the rightwing press. However, there were no initial signs of panic or calls for a change in strategy.
The Guardian/ICM poll came on the day David Cameron cast aside political allegiances to join the former Labour home secretary Lord Reid to claim a change from first past the post would be a backward step for Britain. The prime minister said it would damage the chain of political accountability by making coalitions more likely. He dismissed the system as "obscure, unfair and expensive".
At the same time the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, shared a platform with the Liberal Democrat business secretary, Vince Cable, to argue the referendum is coming down to a choice of hope over fear. Miliband is not going to share a platform with Nick Clegg throughout the campaign.
The Guardian poll suggests opinion is hardening against the alternative vote.
A Guardian/ICM poll in December put the yes vote six points ahead, before adjusting for likely turnout. In February the two camps were neck and neck on the same measure, and now – again, before turnout is taken into account – the no vote is 11 points ahead. The poll, showing a much larger lead for the no campaign than in other polls, is the first for two months to use a random sample by telephone, rather than an online panel, and the results have been adjusted to take account of turnout.
Uniquely, the latest poll also includes a sample of voters from Northern Ireland, which is included in the UK-wide referendum. ICM posed the same question that will be asked in the referendum: "At present, the UK uses the first-past-the-post system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the alternative vote system be used instead?"
Pro-AV campaigners had hoped that people who wanted change would be more likely to turn out on polling day. Instead, once people are asked how likely they are to vote, the lead for the no camp increases.
A senior Lib Dem minister acknowledged the tightening in the race, pointing to the increasing propaganda coming out of the Murdoch press. He added that the campaign faced a strategic dilemma over how to fight the no campaign's negative tactics. The minister said: "You could end up looking like the no campaign and people will think it is a just a bunch of politicians arguing with one another, when we are offering a different kind of politics. You cannot have Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter getting down and dirty with Eric Pickles and Sayeeda Warsi."
There was also a further illustration of the toll the campaign is taking on cabinet relations when Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, lashed out at the Tory-led no campaign, saying he was "shocked that coalition partners could stoop to this level, dredging up stuff they knew was a downright lie".
He added that he had not had the courtesy of a reply from Warsi, the Tory co-chair, after asking her to name one country that had introduced expensive voting machines as part of the alternative vote. He also defended his decision to accuse her of employing goebbels like lies.
Ben Bradshaw, chairman of the Labour yes campaign, said: "I always thought it was going to be tough because of the unpopularity of Nick Clegg, and referendums are just difficult to win because the presumption is to vote no.
"We were also always going to be outspent, but I am still confident that when people look at the issues, a new politics, a fairer voting system and a more accountable system, we will win. When people look at who is lined up on either side of this argument they will vote yes.
"We have come under a lot of pressure in the yes campaign to go negative, but I think the strength of our campaign is that it is positive.
"It is fair to point out that the no campaign is a Tory campaign, funded by Tory money, but we must keep making the positive argument. We just have to keep banging on because there are still large numbers of people undecided."
Other senior yes figures said uncertainty about turnout rendered opinion polls unreliable and claimed improved campaigning recently would get the yes vote out on the day.
The Guardian poll shows three-quarters of Conservatives planning to vote will opt for no, as will a small majority of Labour supporters. Only Lib Dem voters are firmly in favour, with more than two-thirds saying they will vote yes.
The yes camp could still turn things around by winning over the 23% who say they are unsure how they will vote – but this figure includes many who say they may not turn out at all.
The poll also shows young people are more than twice as likely to favour AV as pensioners. But pensioners are more than twice as likely to vote as the young.
Cameron said at his press conference on Monday he would accept the referendum result. If he lost he would not allow diehard no campaigners in his party to block the reform by delaying the constituency boundary changes that must precede a change to the voting system.
One Tory MP, Eleanor Laing, said the legitimacy of a yes vote would be questioned if there was a derisory turnout. Cameron also insisted he did not "condone any personal attacks" on Clegg and pointed out that his own Conservative Yes Campaign literature did not feature any.
But Lord Reid seized on the inability of Clegg and Miliband to share a platform, claiming that it was the yes campaign's "biggest handicap".
The Guardian poll also shows Labour has regained a narrow poll lead over the Conservatives. The estimated national voting intentions put Labour on 37%, up one. The Conservatives are on 35%, down two, and the Lib Dems on 15%, down one, but still higher than in most online polls. Support for other parties was a combined 13%, a recent high in ICM polls.
ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,033 adults across the United Kingdom aged 18+ by telephone on 15-17 April 2011. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. Voting intention based on British sample of 1,003 people
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Julian Glover and Patrick Wintour
guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 April 2011 21.31 BST
The Labour leader Ed Miliband shared a platform with Lib Dem Vince Cable at a 'yes to AV' event in London yesterday. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA
Support for a change to the way MPs are elected is collapsing, according to the latest Guardian/ICM poll, sending shockwaves through the yes campaign advocating reform of the voting system.
The figures give the no camp a 16-point lead, wiping out a two-point lead for the yes camp in the equivalent Guardian/ICM poll in February.
Among people who say they are likely to vote in the nationwide referendum on the alternative vote on 5 May and have made up their minds, the poll shows 58% saying no and 42% saying yes.
Among all respondents, 44% back no and 33% yes, with 23% saying they don't know.
The findings prompted soul-searching among the yes campaigners over their tactics in the runup to the referendum. Some pointed to the fact that they were being outspent by the no campaign and facing a battle against its supporters in the rightwing press. However, there were no initial signs of panic or calls for a change in strategy.
The Guardian/ICM poll came on the day David Cameron cast aside political allegiances to join the former Labour home secretary Lord Reid to claim a change from first past the post would be a backward step for Britain. The prime minister said it would damage the chain of political accountability by making coalitions more likely. He dismissed the system as "obscure, unfair and expensive".
At the same time the Labour leader, Ed Miliband, shared a platform with the Liberal Democrat business secretary, Vince Cable, to argue the referendum is coming down to a choice of hope over fear. Miliband is not going to share a platform with Nick Clegg throughout the campaign.
The Guardian poll suggests opinion is hardening against the alternative vote.
A Guardian/ICM poll in December put the yes vote six points ahead, before adjusting for likely turnout. In February the two camps were neck and neck on the same measure, and now – again, before turnout is taken into account – the no vote is 11 points ahead. The poll, showing a much larger lead for the no campaign than in other polls, is the first for two months to use a random sample by telephone, rather than an online panel, and the results have been adjusted to take account of turnout.
Uniquely, the latest poll also includes a sample of voters from Northern Ireland, which is included in the UK-wide referendum. ICM posed the same question that will be asked in the referendum: "At present, the UK uses the first-past-the-post system to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Should the alternative vote system be used instead?"
Pro-AV campaigners had hoped that people who wanted change would be more likely to turn out on polling day. Instead, once people are asked how likely they are to vote, the lead for the no camp increases.
A senior Lib Dem minister acknowledged the tightening in the race, pointing to the increasing propaganda coming out of the Murdoch press. He added that the campaign faced a strategic dilemma over how to fight the no campaign's negative tactics. The minister said: "You could end up looking like the no campaign and people will think it is a just a bunch of politicians arguing with one another, when we are offering a different kind of politics. You cannot have Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter getting down and dirty with Eric Pickles and Sayeeda Warsi."
There was also a further illustration of the toll the campaign is taking on cabinet relations when Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, lashed out at the Tory-led no campaign, saying he was "shocked that coalition partners could stoop to this level, dredging up stuff they knew was a downright lie".
He added that he had not had the courtesy of a reply from Warsi, the Tory co-chair, after asking her to name one country that had introduced expensive voting machines as part of the alternative vote. He also defended his decision to accuse her of employing goebbels like lies.
Ben Bradshaw, chairman of the Labour yes campaign, said: "I always thought it was going to be tough because of the unpopularity of Nick Clegg, and referendums are just difficult to win because the presumption is to vote no.
"We were also always going to be outspent, but I am still confident that when people look at the issues, a new politics, a fairer voting system and a more accountable system, we will win. When people look at who is lined up on either side of this argument they will vote yes.
"We have come under a lot of pressure in the yes campaign to go negative, but I think the strength of our campaign is that it is positive.
"It is fair to point out that the no campaign is a Tory campaign, funded by Tory money, but we must keep making the positive argument. We just have to keep banging on because there are still large numbers of people undecided."
Other senior yes figures said uncertainty about turnout rendered opinion polls unreliable and claimed improved campaigning recently would get the yes vote out on the day.
The Guardian poll shows three-quarters of Conservatives planning to vote will opt for no, as will a small majority of Labour supporters. Only Lib Dem voters are firmly in favour, with more than two-thirds saying they will vote yes.
The yes camp could still turn things around by winning over the 23% who say they are unsure how they will vote – but this figure includes many who say they may not turn out at all.
The poll also shows young people are more than twice as likely to favour AV as pensioners. But pensioners are more than twice as likely to vote as the young.
Cameron said at his press conference on Monday he would accept the referendum result. If he lost he would not allow diehard no campaigners in his party to block the reform by delaying the constituency boundary changes that must precede a change to the voting system.
One Tory MP, Eleanor Laing, said the legitimacy of a yes vote would be questioned if there was a derisory turnout. Cameron also insisted he did not "condone any personal attacks" on Clegg and pointed out that his own Conservative Yes Campaign literature did not feature any.
But Lord Reid seized on the inability of Clegg and Miliband to share a platform, claiming that it was the yes campaign's "biggest handicap".
The Guardian poll also shows Labour has regained a narrow poll lead over the Conservatives. The estimated national voting intentions put Labour on 37%, up one. The Conservatives are on 35%, down two, and the Lib Dems on 15%, down one, but still higher than in most online polls. Support for other parties was a combined 13%, a recent high in ICM polls.
ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,033 adults across the United Kingdom aged 18+ by telephone on 15-17 April 2011. Interviews were conducted across the country and the results have been weighted to the profile of all adults. Voting intention based on British sample of 1,003 people
Internet-based attacks on critical systems rise
Most countries said they expected a cyber attack to disrupt energy supplies within the next two years
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Crime targets mobile and social
Oil and gas firms hit by hackers
Internet-based attacks on critical systems such as gas, power and water have increased around the world, a report suggests.
Security firm McAfee surveyed 200 IT executives working for utility companies in 14 countries.
Eight out of 10 said their networks had been targeted by hackers during the past year.
China was seen as the most likely source of attacks, followed by Russia and the United States.
The number of reported incidents was higher than in 2009 when just over half of those asked said they had fallen victim.
Denial of service
Most of the reported security breaches took the form of distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks.
These typically involve a network of computers, under the control of criminals, overwhelming a company's internet-connected systems.
While such incidents have the potential to impact websites and corporate networks, researchers said it was unlikely they were intended to cut off energy supplies.
However, there remained a possibility that DDOS attacks could do more harm in future, according to Stewart Baker, a former US national security advisor to President George W Bush and one of the report's authors.
"We asked what what the likelihood was of a major attack that causes significant outage.
"That is one that causes severe loss of services for at least 24 hours, loss of life or personal injury or failure of a company.
"Three quarters thought it would happen within the next two years," he said.
Stuxnet
Arguably the best known example of an internet-bourne threat disrupting an industrial system is the Stuxnet worm, which was discovered in 2010.
Analysis suggests that the malicious computer code was specifically designed to take control of machinery in either Iran's Bushehr or Natanz nuclear facilities.
Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility is thought to have been one of Stuxnet's intended targets
While it was known that the worm had spread more widely than its intended target, McAfee's research suggested the full extend of its reach.
Among those utility companies that had carried out a search for Stuxnet on their computer systems, 40% found traces of it.
"It probably didn't result in any obvious interference with the systems, because it wasn't designed to do that," said Mr Baker.
"But the fact that it spread so widely and could have done so if it had been differently designed is very, very troubling if you are worried about cyber attacks by hostile nations or extortion attempts by well organised criminal gangs."
Government help
Respondents were also questioned about how much involvement they had with their governments on tackling cyber security issues.
Japan came out on top, along with China and the United Arab Emirates, although the survey did not ask if that cooperation was voluntary or enforced.
The United Kingdom scored lowest of all those taking part in the study.
A Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC that the situation had improved dramatically since the launch of its National Security Strategy in October 2010.
The policy document recognises cyber attacks as one of the top four national security threats facing the country.
"We have recently launched an initiative with the private sector to help develop greater awareness of the threats and better protection for dealing with them," said the spokesman.
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
Crime targets mobile and social
Oil and gas firms hit by hackers
Internet-based attacks on critical systems such as gas, power and water have increased around the world, a report suggests.
Security firm McAfee surveyed 200 IT executives working for utility companies in 14 countries.
Eight out of 10 said their networks had been targeted by hackers during the past year.
China was seen as the most likely source of attacks, followed by Russia and the United States.
The number of reported incidents was higher than in 2009 when just over half of those asked said they had fallen victim.
Denial of service
Most of the reported security breaches took the form of distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks.
These typically involve a network of computers, under the control of criminals, overwhelming a company's internet-connected systems.
While such incidents have the potential to impact websites and corporate networks, researchers said it was unlikely they were intended to cut off energy supplies.
However, there remained a possibility that DDOS attacks could do more harm in future, according to Stewart Baker, a former US national security advisor to President George W Bush and one of the report's authors.
"We asked what what the likelihood was of a major attack that causes significant outage.
"That is one that causes severe loss of services for at least 24 hours, loss of life or personal injury or failure of a company.
"Three quarters thought it would happen within the next two years," he said.
Stuxnet
Arguably the best known example of an internet-bourne threat disrupting an industrial system is the Stuxnet worm, which was discovered in 2010.
Analysis suggests that the malicious computer code was specifically designed to take control of machinery in either Iran's Bushehr or Natanz nuclear facilities.
Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility is thought to have been one of Stuxnet's intended targets
While it was known that the worm had spread more widely than its intended target, McAfee's research suggested the full extend of its reach.
Among those utility companies that had carried out a search for Stuxnet on their computer systems, 40% found traces of it.
"It probably didn't result in any obvious interference with the systems, because it wasn't designed to do that," said Mr Baker.
"But the fact that it spread so widely and could have done so if it had been differently designed is very, very troubling if you are worried about cyber attacks by hostile nations or extortion attempts by well organised criminal gangs."
Government help
Respondents were also questioned about how much involvement they had with their governments on tackling cyber security issues.
Japan came out on top, along with China and the United Arab Emirates, although the survey did not ask if that cooperation was voluntary or enforced.
The United Kingdom scored lowest of all those taking part in the study.
A Cabinet Office spokesman told the BBC that the situation had improved dramatically since the launch of its National Security Strategy in October 2010.
The policy document recognises cyber attacks as one of the top four national security threats facing the country.
"We have recently launched an initiative with the private sector to help develop greater awareness of the threats and better protection for dealing with them," said the spokesman.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer vetoes 'birther' bill
Ms Brewer said the bill gave too much power to a top state election official
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
'Birther' bill passes in US state
US 'birther' officer found guilty
The governor of Arizona has vetoed a bill requiring presidential candidates to prove US citizenship in order to get on the state's election ballot.
Republican Jan Brewer said the bill would have allowed officials to judge who is eligible to run for office.
A lingering "birther" conspiracy theory asserts US President Barack Obama was not born in the US and is thus ineligible to hold the office.
But the bill's Republican backers insisted it was not aimed at Mr Obama.
The Arizona legislature was the first to pass such a law.
It would have allowed the state's top election official, the secretary of state, to determine whether candidates met citizenship requirements to hold the office of president.
"I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions," Ms Brewer said in a statement.
She was secretary of state until she became governor in 2009.
Mr Obama, seen here with his Kenyan father, was born in Hawaii and spent his youth there and in Indonesia
The US constitution requires the president be a "natural born citizen", a clause widely interpreted to mean born in the US or in some cases to US citizens abroad.
Mr Obama has released a certificate of live birth showing he was born in the US state of Hawaii, where officials vouch for its authenticity.
But the "birthers" claim Mr Obama was born in Kenya, his father's place of birth, or perhaps in Indonesia, where he spent several years as a child.
The bill would have required national political parties to submit affidavits affirming their presidential candidates are "natural born" citizens and to provide a "long form birth certificate" listing the name of the hospital and the attending physician.
If the candidate did not possess that document, the candidate could provide a baptismal or circumcision certificate, hospital birth record, mother's post-partum medical record or early census record.
"I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their 'early baptismal circumcision certificates' among other records to the Arizona secretary of state," Ms Brewer said.
The birther conspiracy has simmered at the fringes of American politics since before the 2008 presidential election, despite repeated assertions by Hawaiian officials that Mr Obama's birth certificate plainly states he was born in the US state.
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories
'Birther' bill passes in US state
US 'birther' officer found guilty
The governor of Arizona has vetoed a bill requiring presidential candidates to prove US citizenship in order to get on the state's election ballot.
Republican Jan Brewer said the bill would have allowed officials to judge who is eligible to run for office.
A lingering "birther" conspiracy theory asserts US President Barack Obama was not born in the US and is thus ineligible to hold the office.
But the bill's Republican backers insisted it was not aimed at Mr Obama.
The Arizona legislature was the first to pass such a law.
It would have allowed the state's top election official, the secretary of state, to determine whether candidates met citizenship requirements to hold the office of president.
"I do not support designating one person as the gatekeeper to the ballot for a candidate, which could lead to arbitrary or politically motivated decisions," Ms Brewer said in a statement.
She was secretary of state until she became governor in 2009.
Mr Obama, seen here with his Kenyan father, was born in Hawaii and spent his youth there and in Indonesia
The US constitution requires the president be a "natural born citizen", a clause widely interpreted to mean born in the US or in some cases to US citizens abroad.
Mr Obama has released a certificate of live birth showing he was born in the US state of Hawaii, where officials vouch for its authenticity.
But the "birthers" claim Mr Obama was born in Kenya, his father's place of birth, or perhaps in Indonesia, where he spent several years as a child.
The bill would have required national political parties to submit affidavits affirming their presidential candidates are "natural born" citizens and to provide a "long form birth certificate" listing the name of the hospital and the attending physician.
If the candidate did not possess that document, the candidate could provide a baptismal or circumcision certificate, hospital birth record, mother's post-partum medical record or early census record.
"I never imagined being presented with a bill that could require candidates for president of the greatest and most powerful nation on earth to submit their 'early baptismal circumcision certificates' among other records to the Arizona secretary of state," Ms Brewer said.
The birther conspiracy has simmered at the fringes of American politics since before the 2008 presidential election, despite repeated assertions by Hawaiian officials that Mr Obama's birth certificate plainly states he was born in the US state.
Libyan government promises aid workers access, UN says
Those evacuated from Misrata included some wounded in the fighting, such as this child
Continue reading the main story
Libya Crisis
Fearing massacre in Misrata
Letter on Libya: Full text
Layers of reality in Tripoli
Libya crisis mapped
The Libyan government has promised aid workers access to areas under its control, according to the UN.
UN officials say the agreement allows humanitarian workers to set themselves up in the capital, Tripoli, and to come and go freely into Libya.
Meanwhile, about 1,000 people who were evacuated from Misrata have arrived in the rebel base of Benghazi.
Pro-Gaddafi forces have been pounding the city for days and hundreds of people are thought to have been killed.
Those evacuated were brought out on a ship chartered by the aid agency, the International Organisation for Migration, which says thousands more are waiting to be rescued.
Rebel forces on Monday said they were making ground in Misrata, but that pro-Gaddafi forces were continuing to press the rebel-held town of Ajdabiya in the east.
'Vehicles and equipment'
The BBC's Barbara Plett says that the Libyan authorities have promised aid workers and their equipment access to all areas under their control.
But the besieged city of Misrata is not within their control - it is held by the rebels, she adds.
For aid workers to help the people there the fighting would have to stop but, according to the UN, the government has not committed itself to a ceasefire.
The city has been heavily bombarded by pro-Gaddafi forces in recent days, and is running short of basic food and medical supplies.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
We wanted to be able to take more people out but it was not possible”
Jeremy Haslam
IOM
The head of Nato in Libya, Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, said Col Gaddafi's forces had employed what he called underhand and immoral tactics in their seven-week drive to dislodge the rebels from the city.
"Inside the city it's a very difficult tough situation.
"Gaddafi forces have taken their uniforms off, they're hiding on rooftops of mosques, hospitals, schools, that's where their heavy equipment is positioned, near mosques, near schools, and they're shielding themselves with women and children.
"So when people ask me why aren't you doing something, well I'm not going to lower to his level. I'm not going to do the kind of warfare that he's doing. My job's to help the population," he said, in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
'Limited time'
Meanwhile, the Ionian Spirit arrived in the eastern city of Benghazi carrying nearly 1,000 foreign workers and wounded Libyans from the city of Misrata.
Some of those who reached Benghazi on Monday evening accused Col Gaddafi's forces of firing indiscriminately.
The IOM has said that thousands more people in Misrata were waiting to be rescued from what it described as an increasingly perilous situation.
"We wanted to be able to take more people out but it was not possible," said Jeremy Haslam, who led the IOM rescue mission.
"Although the exchange of fire subsided while we were boarding... we had a very limited time to get the migrants and Libyans on board the ship and then leave."
The UK has pledged to pay for the evacuation of 5,000 people from Misrata.
A rebel spokesman in Misrata told Reuters on Monday they had "made progress" in the city and were "controlling some areas surrounding Tripoli Street".
However, he said rebel fighters were facing snipers and troops armed with rocket-propelled grenades.
Despite last month's UN resolution authorising air strikes to protect civilians in Libya, rebels have been unable to retain territory during fighting along the coastal towns of eastern Libya.
Col Gaddafi is defying international pressure to step down despite the revolt against his 41-year rule that began in Benghazi in February.
Continue reading the main story
Libya Crisis
Fearing massacre in Misrata
Letter on Libya: Full text
Layers of reality in Tripoli
Libya crisis mapped
The Libyan government has promised aid workers access to areas under its control, according to the UN.
UN officials say the agreement allows humanitarian workers to set themselves up in the capital, Tripoli, and to come and go freely into Libya.
Meanwhile, about 1,000 people who were evacuated from Misrata have arrived in the rebel base of Benghazi.
Pro-Gaddafi forces have been pounding the city for days and hundreds of people are thought to have been killed.
Those evacuated were brought out on a ship chartered by the aid agency, the International Organisation for Migration, which says thousands more are waiting to be rescued.
Rebel forces on Monday said they were making ground in Misrata, but that pro-Gaddafi forces were continuing to press the rebel-held town of Ajdabiya in the east.
'Vehicles and equipment'
The BBC's Barbara Plett says that the Libyan authorities have promised aid workers and their equipment access to all areas under their control.
But the besieged city of Misrata is not within their control - it is held by the rebels, she adds.
For aid workers to help the people there the fighting would have to stop but, according to the UN, the government has not committed itself to a ceasefire.
The city has been heavily bombarded by pro-Gaddafi forces in recent days, and is running short of basic food and medical supplies.
Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote
We wanted to be able to take more people out but it was not possible”
Jeremy Haslam
IOM
The head of Nato in Libya, Lieutenant-General Charles Bouchard, said Col Gaddafi's forces had employed what he called underhand and immoral tactics in their seven-week drive to dislodge the rebels from the city.
"Inside the city it's a very difficult tough situation.
"Gaddafi forces have taken their uniforms off, they're hiding on rooftops of mosques, hospitals, schools, that's where their heavy equipment is positioned, near mosques, near schools, and they're shielding themselves with women and children.
"So when people ask me why aren't you doing something, well I'm not going to lower to his level. I'm not going to do the kind of warfare that he's doing. My job's to help the population," he said, in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
'Limited time'
Meanwhile, the Ionian Spirit arrived in the eastern city of Benghazi carrying nearly 1,000 foreign workers and wounded Libyans from the city of Misrata.
Some of those who reached Benghazi on Monday evening accused Col Gaddafi's forces of firing indiscriminately.
The IOM has said that thousands more people in Misrata were waiting to be rescued from what it described as an increasingly perilous situation.
"We wanted to be able to take more people out but it was not possible," said Jeremy Haslam, who led the IOM rescue mission.
"Although the exchange of fire subsided while we were boarding... we had a very limited time to get the migrants and Libyans on board the ship and then leave."
The UK has pledged to pay for the evacuation of 5,000 people from Misrata.
A rebel spokesman in Misrata told Reuters on Monday they had "made progress" in the city and were "controlling some areas surrounding Tripoli Street".
However, he said rebel fighters were facing snipers and troops armed with rocket-propelled grenades.
Despite last month's UN resolution authorising air strikes to protect civilians in Libya, rebels have been unable to retain territory during fighting along the coastal towns of eastern Libya.
Col Gaddafi is defying international pressure to step down despite the revolt against his 41-year rule that began in Benghazi in February.
Federal-Mogul bidders shy, deal uncertain: sources
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Apollo Global Management LLC
APO.N
$18.18
-0.32-1.73%
04/18/2011
Federal Mogul Corp
FDML.O
$25.17
+0.00+0.00%
04/18/2011
Blackstone Group LP
BX.N
$18.06
-0.52-2.80%
04/18/2011
By Soyoung Kim and Megan Davies
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:58pm EDT
(Reuters) - Private equity firms Apollo Global Management (APO.N) and the Carlyle Group CYL.UL are interested in buying Federal-Mogul Corp (FDML.O), but the recent run-up in the company's share price has made suitors skittish and a deal is far from certain, people familiar with the matter said.
Several other buyout firms including Bain Capital, Blackstone Group (BX.N) and Canada's Onex were initially interested in the U.S. auto parts supplier but are no longer pursuing it, all seven sources said. Strategic bidders such as Robert Bosch ROBG.UL declined to participate in the process, two of the sources said.
The sources declined to be named because details of the auction are not public.
Apollo and Carlyle submitted initial bids for Federal-Mogul at the end of March and remain in the auction for the company, owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, six of the sources said.
It is not clear if there is any other bidder for Federal-Mogul. The supplier, based in Southfield, Michigan, emerged from bankruptcy in December 2007 under the control of Icahn, who owns a 76 percent stake and is nonexecutive chairman of the board.
The private equity buyers are lukewarm over valuation and there is a good chance that the current process may not result in a transaction, all of the sources said.
Federal-Mogul confirmed last month that it had retained Lazard Ltd (LAZ.N) to review a potential sale of the company. Federal-Mogul shares have gained more than 6 percent, valuing the firm at nearly $2.5 billion, since Reuters first reported on March 7 that the company was exploring a sale.
More than one bank has offered financing at 5 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), two of the sources said, implying a sale price at more than 7 times EBITDA. Auto supplier assets generally sell for 5 to 6 times EBITDA and the financing level offered for Federal-Mogul has concerned potential buyers.
"I think it's already trading higher than the bidders want to pay, which is why people are so lukewarm," one source said.
Representatives for Federal-Mogul, Carlyle, Blackstone, Onex and Bain were not available to comment. Apollo declined comment.
GUN SHY
Private equity firms are starting to show renewed interest in the auto sector after having avoided it during the recession. The sector is showing signs of recovery despite higher oil prices and a slow rebound in consumer spending.
Still, buyout firms remain cautious about investments in that industry because of its cyclical nature and doubts over whether it has changed enough to sustain sales in weak economic environments.
Federal-Mogul has long term debt of about $2.8 billion, meaning a deal value including debt, or enterprise value, could exceed $5 billion.
While debt markets are recovering, the size of leveraged buyouts is typically in the $1 billion to $3 billion range, despite banks' willingness to provide capital for deals.
In 2005-2007, before the recession, a number of double-digit billion dollar deals were struck.
U.S.-targeted LBO activity in the first quarter of 2011 captured 6.1 percent of total U.S.-targeted M&A activity compared with 15 percent in the previous quarter, Thomson Reuters data shows. The $3 billion buyout of Emergency Medical Services (EMS.N) was among some of the larger deals.
Buyout firms have been outbid in auctions for companies by so-called strategic bidders, companies in the same sector as the target, which are flush with cash and can pay more as they can extract cost savings from merging assets.
In the case of Federal-Mogul, rival part makers have shown little interest, giving private equity an advantage.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim and Megan Davies)
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Euro zone crisis escalates on Greek debt fears
4:47pm EDT
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Stocks
Apollo Global Management LLC
APO.N
$18.18
-0.32-1.73%
04/18/2011
Federal Mogul Corp
FDML.O
$25.17
+0.00+0.00%
04/18/2011
Blackstone Group LP
BX.N
$18.06
-0.52-2.80%
04/18/2011
By Soyoung Kim and Megan Davies
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:58pm EDT
(Reuters) - Private equity firms Apollo Global Management (APO.N) and the Carlyle Group CYL.UL are interested in buying Federal-Mogul Corp (FDML.O), but the recent run-up in the company's share price has made suitors skittish and a deal is far from certain, people familiar with the matter said.
Several other buyout firms including Bain Capital, Blackstone Group (BX.N) and Canada's Onex were initially interested in the U.S. auto parts supplier but are no longer pursuing it, all seven sources said. Strategic bidders such as Robert Bosch ROBG.UL declined to participate in the process, two of the sources said.
The sources declined to be named because details of the auction are not public.
Apollo and Carlyle submitted initial bids for Federal-Mogul at the end of March and remain in the auction for the company, owned by billionaire investor Carl Icahn, six of the sources said.
It is not clear if there is any other bidder for Federal-Mogul. The supplier, based in Southfield, Michigan, emerged from bankruptcy in December 2007 under the control of Icahn, who owns a 76 percent stake and is nonexecutive chairman of the board.
The private equity buyers are lukewarm over valuation and there is a good chance that the current process may not result in a transaction, all of the sources said.
Federal-Mogul confirmed last month that it had retained Lazard Ltd (LAZ.N) to review a potential sale of the company. Federal-Mogul shares have gained more than 6 percent, valuing the firm at nearly $2.5 billion, since Reuters first reported on March 7 that the company was exploring a sale.
More than one bank has offered financing at 5 times earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), two of the sources said, implying a sale price at more than 7 times EBITDA. Auto supplier assets generally sell for 5 to 6 times EBITDA and the financing level offered for Federal-Mogul has concerned potential buyers.
"I think it's already trading higher than the bidders want to pay, which is why people are so lukewarm," one source said.
Representatives for Federal-Mogul, Carlyle, Blackstone, Onex and Bain were not available to comment. Apollo declined comment.
GUN SHY
Private equity firms are starting to show renewed interest in the auto sector after having avoided it during the recession. The sector is showing signs of recovery despite higher oil prices and a slow rebound in consumer spending.
Still, buyout firms remain cautious about investments in that industry because of its cyclical nature and doubts over whether it has changed enough to sustain sales in weak economic environments.
Federal-Mogul has long term debt of about $2.8 billion, meaning a deal value including debt, or enterprise value, could exceed $5 billion.
While debt markets are recovering, the size of leveraged buyouts is typically in the $1 billion to $3 billion range, despite banks' willingness to provide capital for deals.
In 2005-2007, before the recession, a number of double-digit billion dollar deals were struck.
U.S.-targeted LBO activity in the first quarter of 2011 captured 6.1 percent of total U.S.-targeted M&A activity compared with 15 percent in the previous quarter, Thomson Reuters data shows. The $3 billion buyout of Emergency Medical Services (EMS.N) was among some of the larger deals.
Buyout firms have been outbid in auctions for companies by so-called strategic bidders, companies in the same sector as the target, which are flush with cash and can pay more as they can extract cost savings from merging assets.
In the case of Federal-Mogul, rival part makers have shown little interest, giving private equity an advantage.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim and Megan Davies)
Wal-Mart to buy social media firm Kosmix
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UPDATE 3-Wal-Mart CEO pay fell last yr as profit missed goal
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Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O
$178.34
-1.67-0.93%
04/18/2011
Wal-Mart Stores Inc
WMT.N
$53.31
-0.24-0.45%
04/18/2011
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:25pm EDT
(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Monday it agreed to buy social media company Kosmix for an undisclosed sum, as the world's largest retailer aims to win over more tech-savvy shoppers.
Wal-Mart said Kosmix's founders and team will operate as part of a newly formed group called @WalmartLabs that will create technologies and businesses around shopping online or with smart phones.
"We are expanding our capabilities in today's rapidly growing social commerce environment," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Walmart's vice chairman. "Social networking and mobile applications are increasingly becoming a part of our customers' day-to-day lives globally, influencing how they think about shopping."
Earlier on Monday, Wal-Mart's chief executive Mike Duke said in a statement that his top priority for this year was to turn around same-store sales at its U.S. discount chain.
Kosmix's founders, who sold their first company Junglee to Amazon.com Inc in 1998, will continue to be based in California's Silicon Valley.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
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UPDATE 3-Wal-Mart CEO pay fell last yr as profit missed goal
3:25pm EDT
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Amazon.com Inc
AMZN.O
$178.34
-1.67-0.93%
04/18/2011
Wal-Mart Stores Inc
WMT.N
$53.31
-0.24-0.45%
04/18/2011
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:25pm EDT
(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc said on Monday it agreed to buy social media company Kosmix for an undisclosed sum, as the world's largest retailer aims to win over more tech-savvy shoppers.
Wal-Mart said Kosmix's founders and team will operate as part of a newly formed group called @WalmartLabs that will create technologies and businesses around shopping online or with smart phones.
"We are expanding our capabilities in today's rapidly growing social commerce environment," said Eduardo Castro-Wright, Walmart's vice chairman. "Social networking and mobile applications are increasingly becoming a part of our customers' day-to-day lives globally, influencing how they think about shopping."
Earlier on Monday, Wal-Mart's chief executive Mike Duke said in a statement that his top priority for this year was to turn around same-store sales at its U.S. discount chain.
Kosmix's founders, who sold their first company Junglee to Amazon.com Inc in 1998, will continue to be based in California's Silicon Valley.
(Reporting by Martinne Geller, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
Synthes confirms in deal talks with J&J
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Synthes Inc
SYST.VX
CHF146.50
+7.80+5.62%
10:30pm GMT+0700
Johnson & Johnson
JNJ.N
$60.46
-0.10-0.17%
04/18/2011
Medtronic Inc
MDT.N
$40.26
-0.79-1.92%
04/18/2011
By Katie Reid and Lewis Krauskopf
ZURICH/NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:49pm EDT
(Reuters) - Synthes Inc (SYST.VX) confirmed it was in merger talks with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) about a deal that would be J&J's largest-ever acquisition and reshape the medical devices industry.
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters over the weekend the preliminary talks valued the Swiss company at about $20 billion, although Synthes gave no valuation in its brief statement.
Buying Synthes would allow U.S. healthcare conglomerate J&J to further diversify, but a deal at $20 billion would be a premium of less than 9 percent to Synthes's closing market value on Friday, which some analysts said looked too low.
Synthes shares rose 5.6 percent on Monday, having gained 6.2 percent on Friday as talk circulated J&J or Medtronic Inc(MDT.N) could try to buy the company. J&J shares slipped 0.06 percent in afternoon trading amid weak U.S. stock markets.
"In response to market speculation, Synthes Inc confirms it is engaged in discussions with Johnson & Johnson about a potential business combination transaction," Synthes said in a statement.
Buying Synthes would be J&J's biggest acquisition, giving it a leading position in equipment to treat trauma. Synthes, which posted sales of $3.7 billion in 2010, makes nails, screws and plates to fix broken bones, as well as artificial spine discs.
A spokesman for J&J declined to comment.
Analysts at JP Morgan said an acquisition made sense financially for J&J.
"At the reported purchase price of $20 billion, we estimate a Synthes acquisition would be 3-4 percent accretive to J&J's 2012 GAAP earnings per share," the analysts said in a note.
CHAIRMAN IN DRIVING SEAT
Carla Baenziger, an analyst at Vontobel, said Synthes would double J&J's market share in spine work, while in trauma the U.S. company would become the clear market leader, creating potential antitrust problems.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs put the combined company's spine market share at 29 percent and its trauma share at 55 percent.
J&J's "device business clearly has taken some hits on the cardiovascular side and the ortho side, so this would be a way to rebuild it more quickly," said Tim Nelson, an analyst with Nuveen Asset Management.
Key to any deal will be Synthes Chairman Hansjoerg Wyss -- the second-richest person in Switzerland, with a net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes -- who holds 40 percent of Synthes directly and another 8 percent through family trusts.
Given that big holding, an acquisition would need his buy-in, said ZKB analyst Sibylle Bischofberger, who doubted a deal would come off.
"We would be surprised if Hansjoerg agreed to this as he is still putting his heart and soul into Synthes. But because he is 75 years old, he is maybe prepared to talk with Johnson & Johnson in order to find a good succession plan," she said.
There had previously been speculation J&J, which had cash and short-term investments of $27.7 billion at the end of 2010 and will report results on Tuesday, was interested in buying British orthopaedics company Smith & Nephew Plc (SN.L).
The shares in Smith & Nephew, which has a market value of around $10 billion, fell 3 percent.
CONSOLIDATION CRUNCH
The medical device sector has been consolidating as companies seek economies of scale and new business areas. Still, Jack Scannell of Sanford Bernstein doubted anyone would want to take on J&J with a counter-bid for Synthes.
"I don't see this being an auction. I think J&J and Synthes will decide whether it makes sense for them individually," he said.
The deal could signal more acquisitions in the medical device sector as companies try to bulk up during tough times.
Medical devices and diagnostics accounted for 40 percent of J&J's $61.6 billion in 2010 sales, but the business has been hit by competition and recalls in its hip and knee replacement unit.
J&J owns around 250 separate companies under its corporate umbrella. The group attempted to buy U.S. medical device maker Guidant, which specialized in cardiovascular products, several years ago, but was outbid by Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N).
J&J has also been beset by a wave of recalls of its consumer medicines and other products in the past year.
The healthcare sector has seen a string of international mergers as big companies look to plug gaps in their businesses, including the recent acquisition of U.S. biotech company Genzyme by France's Sanofi Aventis SA (SASY.PA) for more than $20 billion.
(Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London and Lewis Krauskopf in New York; editing by Jon Loades-Carter, Will Waterman, Dave Zimmerman and Andre Grenon)
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Synthes Inc
SYST.VX
CHF146.50
+7.80+5.62%
10:30pm GMT+0700
Johnson & Johnson
JNJ.N
$60.46
-0.10-0.17%
04/18/2011
Medtronic Inc
MDT.N
$40.26
-0.79-1.92%
04/18/2011
By Katie Reid and Lewis Krauskopf
ZURICH/NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 1:49pm EDT
(Reuters) - Synthes Inc (SYST.VX) confirmed it was in merger talks with Johnson & Johnson (JNJ.N) about a deal that would be J&J's largest-ever acquisition and reshape the medical devices industry.
A source familiar with the situation told Reuters over the weekend the preliminary talks valued the Swiss company at about $20 billion, although Synthes gave no valuation in its brief statement.
Buying Synthes would allow U.S. healthcare conglomerate J&J to further diversify, but a deal at $20 billion would be a premium of less than 9 percent to Synthes's closing market value on Friday, which some analysts said looked too low.
Synthes shares rose 5.6 percent on Monday, having gained 6.2 percent on Friday as talk circulated J&J or Medtronic Inc(MDT.N) could try to buy the company. J&J shares slipped 0.06 percent in afternoon trading amid weak U.S. stock markets.
"In response to market speculation, Synthes Inc confirms it is engaged in discussions with Johnson & Johnson about a potential business combination transaction," Synthes said in a statement.
Buying Synthes would be J&J's biggest acquisition, giving it a leading position in equipment to treat trauma. Synthes, which posted sales of $3.7 billion in 2010, makes nails, screws and plates to fix broken bones, as well as artificial spine discs.
A spokesman for J&J declined to comment.
Analysts at JP Morgan said an acquisition made sense financially for J&J.
"At the reported purchase price of $20 billion, we estimate a Synthes acquisition would be 3-4 percent accretive to J&J's 2012 GAAP earnings per share," the analysts said in a note.
CHAIRMAN IN DRIVING SEAT
Carla Baenziger, an analyst at Vontobel, said Synthes would double J&J's market share in spine work, while in trauma the U.S. company would become the clear market leader, creating potential antitrust problems.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs put the combined company's spine market share at 29 percent and its trauma share at 55 percent.
J&J's "device business clearly has taken some hits on the cardiovascular side and the ortho side, so this would be a way to rebuild it more quickly," said Tim Nelson, an analyst with Nuveen Asset Management.
Key to any deal will be Synthes Chairman Hansjoerg Wyss -- the second-richest person in Switzerland, with a net worth of $6.4 billion, according to Forbes -- who holds 40 percent of Synthes directly and another 8 percent through family trusts.
Given that big holding, an acquisition would need his buy-in, said ZKB analyst Sibylle Bischofberger, who doubted a deal would come off.
"We would be surprised if Hansjoerg agreed to this as he is still putting his heart and soul into Synthes. But because he is 75 years old, he is maybe prepared to talk with Johnson & Johnson in order to find a good succession plan," she said.
There had previously been speculation J&J, which had cash and short-term investments of $27.7 billion at the end of 2010 and will report results on Tuesday, was interested in buying British orthopaedics company Smith & Nephew Plc (SN.L).
The shares in Smith & Nephew, which has a market value of around $10 billion, fell 3 percent.
CONSOLIDATION CRUNCH
The medical device sector has been consolidating as companies seek economies of scale and new business areas. Still, Jack Scannell of Sanford Bernstein doubted anyone would want to take on J&J with a counter-bid for Synthes.
"I don't see this being an auction. I think J&J and Synthes will decide whether it makes sense for them individually," he said.
The deal could signal more acquisitions in the medical device sector as companies try to bulk up during tough times.
Medical devices and diagnostics accounted for 40 percent of J&J's $61.6 billion in 2010 sales, but the business has been hit by competition and recalls in its hip and knee replacement unit.
J&J owns around 250 separate companies under its corporate umbrella. The group attempted to buy U.S. medical device maker Guidant, which specialized in cardiovascular products, several years ago, but was outbid by Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N).
J&J has also been beset by a wave of recalls of its consumer medicines and other products in the past year.
The healthcare sector has seen a string of international mergers as big companies look to plug gaps in their businesses, including the recent acquisition of U.S. biotech company Genzyme by France's Sanofi Aventis SA (SASY.PA) for more than $20 billion.
(Additional reporting by Ben Hirschler in London and Lewis Krauskopf in New York; editing by Jon Loades-Carter, Will Waterman, Dave Zimmerman and Andre Grenon)
NYSE's CEO: rivals trying to disrupt, discredit us
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NYSE Euronext
NYX.N
$38.32
-0.69-1.77%
04/18/2011
Deutsche Boerse AG
DB1GN.DE
€52.86
-1.24-2.29%
04/18/2011
NASDAQ OMX Group Inc
NDAQ.O
$27.57
-0.64-2.27%
04/18/2011
By Jonathan Spicer and Phil Wahba
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:14pm EDT
(Reuters) - NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) CEO Duncan Niederauer accused competitors of trying to disrupt, distract and discredit his company, the latest jab in the increasingly bitter battle for control of the Big Board.
The head of the New York Stock Exchange's parent company on Monday defended his friendly merger agreement with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE), saying it -- and no other deal plan -- would create a "truly pan-European exchange."
Niederauer's comments come less than three weeks after rivals Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (ICE.N) made an unsolicited, higher bid to take over NYSE Euronext and split it between them.
"While other competitors in the landscape may be talking about ways to disrupt us, distract us, or to discredit us, we don't think dismantling our company, making it more regional, is the right strategy," Niederauer said at the Paris Europlace New York Financial Forum, hosted by the NYSE.
"Contrary to what you may have been hearing from others recently, it's our merger that creates a truly pan-European exchange," he said of the Deutsche Boerse deal.
The battle for the company that runs the iconic NYSE intensified a week ago, when its board unanimously rejected the $11.3 billion offer from Nasdaq and ICE as too risky and counter to its strategy, and restated its support for the $10.2 billion German tie-up.
Executives at the four exchanges have since turned to NYSE shareholders to convince them their respective plans are better. The two proposed deals face tough antitrust reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, complicating things for investors betting on which deal -- if any -- will prevail.
Niederauer would be CEO if Deutsche Boerse ends up acquiring NYSE Euronext and creating the world's largest exchange operator. He would very likely leave if cross-town rival Robert Greifeld of Nasdaq ultimately wins out.
Niederauer's comments, in a brief speech introducing another speaker at the conference, suggest the public relations campaign will ramp up.
Combining with Deutsche Boerse "puts us we think in a better position than any other exchange in the world to compete for clients, to serve clients and to really extend our global reach," he said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Phil Wahba, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Gunna Dickson and Tim Dobbyn)
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NYSE eyes big fee from Nasdaq before coming to table
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Deals wrap: Why does J&J want to buy Synthes?
Deals wrap: Glencore’s $12.1 billion IPO
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Global Deals Data 2011 Q1 »
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Financials »
Stocks
NYSE Euronext
NYX.N
$38.32
-0.69-1.77%
04/18/2011
Deutsche Boerse AG
DB1GN.DE
€52.86
-1.24-2.29%
04/18/2011
NASDAQ OMX Group Inc
NDAQ.O
$27.57
-0.64-2.27%
04/18/2011
By Jonathan Spicer and Phil Wahba
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:14pm EDT
(Reuters) - NYSE Euronext (NYX.N) CEO Duncan Niederauer accused competitors of trying to disrupt, distract and discredit his company, the latest jab in the increasingly bitter battle for control of the Big Board.
The head of the New York Stock Exchange's parent company on Monday defended his friendly merger agreement with Germany's Deutsche Boerse AG (DB1Gn.DE), saying it -- and no other deal plan -- would create a "truly pan-European exchange."
Niederauer's comments come less than three weeks after rivals Nasdaq OMX Group (NDAQ.O) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc (ICE.N) made an unsolicited, higher bid to take over NYSE Euronext and split it between them.
"While other competitors in the landscape may be talking about ways to disrupt us, distract us, or to discredit us, we don't think dismantling our company, making it more regional, is the right strategy," Niederauer said at the Paris Europlace New York Financial Forum, hosted by the NYSE.
"Contrary to what you may have been hearing from others recently, it's our merger that creates a truly pan-European exchange," he said of the Deutsche Boerse deal.
The battle for the company that runs the iconic NYSE intensified a week ago, when its board unanimously rejected the $11.3 billion offer from Nasdaq and ICE as too risky and counter to its strategy, and restated its support for the $10.2 billion German tie-up.
Executives at the four exchanges have since turned to NYSE shareholders to convince them their respective plans are better. The two proposed deals face tough antitrust reviews on both sides of the Atlantic, complicating things for investors betting on which deal -- if any -- will prevail.
Niederauer would be CEO if Deutsche Boerse ends up acquiring NYSE Euronext and creating the world's largest exchange operator. He would very likely leave if cross-town rival Robert Greifeld of Nasdaq ultimately wins out.
Niederauer's comments, in a brief speech introducing another speaker at the conference, suggest the public relations campaign will ramp up.
Combining with Deutsche Boerse "puts us we think in a better position than any other exchange in the world to compete for clients, to serve clients and to really extend our global reach," he said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Spicer and Phil Wahba, editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Gunna Dickson and Tim Dobbyn)
Japan woes force scrutiny of Apple's margins
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By Poornima Gupta
SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:35pm EDT
(Reuters) - Apple Inc may provide the first signs this week that the Japanese crisis is pressuring margins, clouding what should otherwise be another dazzling second quarter for the makers of the iPad and iPhone.
Wall Street has been afire with speculation of how a shortage of crucial components from Japan, which provides more than a 10th of global electronics components, might swell costs and constrain supply -- particularly of the marquee iPad 2 launched in March.
With Silicon Valley magician Steve Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, still sidelined indefinitely on medical leave, some analysts warn the Japanese disruption will shave points off Apple's gross margins for the rest of this year.
"The earnings are going to be really great. We are looking to see how they address the supply chain issues in Japan," said Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland. "They are getting the components, but at higher prices."
Apple could see its margins decline by 200-300 basis points in the June quarter, Sutherland said, adding the pressure could continue into the September quarter as well.
"They do have the margins to absorb it whereas a lot of their competitors don't," he said.
Investors are also curious to see whether the faster, thinner iPad 2 can outpace sales of the original, of about 1 million units in 30 days.
Analysts expect second-quarter earnings to showcase Apple's domination of the rapidly growing tablet market.
The main drivers of growth, apart from the iPad, include the ever-popular iPhone, which was also available on the Verizon network during the past quarter, and the refreshed MacBook Pro computer that began shipping in February.
Analysts are estimating sales of about 6 million iPads in the fiscal second quarter, alongside about 16 million iPhones and 3-4 million Macs.
But the biggest question for Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook and other executives on Wednesday would be how much Japan would affect sales for the rest of the year. Apple is a voracious consumer of touchscreen displays and flash memory, among other components most heavily affected by the Japanese tsunami.
Apple's weak spot in recent months has been gross margin. And Wall Street is forecasting a gross margin of just over 39 percent, down from 41.67 percent from the previous period.
Apple is famously conservative with its forecasts, but investors will pick apart executives' comments this week for their views on Japan, plus seek answers to persistent questions over Jobs' continued absence and his role now.
They would also seek any indications of timing for the return of Jobs, who had led Apple from near-bankruptcy to become the world's most valuable technology company.
TABLET MARKET UP FOR GRABS
The battle for bragging rights in the booming tablet computing market is heating up, bolstered by IDC's estimate that personal computer sales had fallen for the first time in two years because consumers were eschewing laptops.
People still line up outside Apple stores daily, hoping to lay their hands on the minuscule stocks of iPad 2 that make it onto shelves. The only one available at an Apple store in Silicon Valley on Sunday was the costly 64 GB version tethered to the Verizon network, for $829.
"The two things that will deliver the upside will be iPad and the Mac business," said Shaw Wu, analyst with Sterne Agee. "Even with the tough (supply) constraints, they are likely to beat on the iPad2."
But problems in the logistics chain would come at a time when a spate of products -- from Motorola Inc's Xoom to Samsung Electronic's Galaxy, both powered by Google Inc's Android software -- are gaining traction. Research in Motion's PlayBook, though poorly reviewed, hits store shelves on Tuesday with an existing corporate customer base.
Another area of concern is Apple's next iPhone, which it typically introduces in the summer. Some see that pushed to the fall, and investors will want clues on its timing.
Apple's shares have slipped since Nasdaq said early this month it would rebalance the Nasdaq 100, slashing Apple's out-sized weighting. They have fallen in six of the last nine sessions since, and are down nearly 8 percent after scaling a peak of $359.90 in February.
Still, Apple is in an enviable place with its well-designed products, market dominance, and its cash-rich and debt-free balance sheet. The stock -- which trades at roughly 18 times forward earnings, versus 19 times for Google and 10 times for Microsoft Corp -- is considered a must-have in any technology portfolio.
On Monday, shares of Apple touch panel supplier TPK rose 6 percent, reflecting investor optimism about prospects of Apple's iPads and iPhones.
Blowing away estimates has become commonplace for Apple, which is expected to report earnings of $5.35 a share on revenue of $23.3 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
According to StarMine SmartEstimates, which places more weight on timelier forecasts by top-rated analysts, Apple could report EPS 2.2 percent above Wall Street's average target.
"If people want growth and growth at a reasonable price, there's Apple," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis. "Apple is the best growth stock out there in the tech universe."
(Editing by Edwin Chan and Richard Chang)
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Japan »
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By Poornima Gupta
SAN FRANCISCO | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:35pm EDT
(Reuters) - Apple Inc may provide the first signs this week that the Japanese crisis is pressuring margins, clouding what should otherwise be another dazzling second quarter for the makers of the iPad and iPhone.
Wall Street has been afire with speculation of how a shortage of crucial components from Japan, which provides more than a 10th of global electronics components, might swell costs and constrain supply -- particularly of the marquee iPad 2 launched in March.
With Silicon Valley magician Steve Jobs, a pancreatic cancer survivor, still sidelined indefinitely on medical leave, some analysts warn the Japanese disruption will shave points off Apple's gross margins for the rest of this year.
"The earnings are going to be really great. We are looking to see how they address the supply chain issues in Japan," said Wedbush Securities analyst Scott Sutherland. "They are getting the components, but at higher prices."
Apple could see its margins decline by 200-300 basis points in the June quarter, Sutherland said, adding the pressure could continue into the September quarter as well.
"They do have the margins to absorb it whereas a lot of their competitors don't," he said.
Investors are also curious to see whether the faster, thinner iPad 2 can outpace sales of the original, of about 1 million units in 30 days.
Analysts expect second-quarter earnings to showcase Apple's domination of the rapidly growing tablet market.
The main drivers of growth, apart from the iPad, include the ever-popular iPhone, which was also available on the Verizon network during the past quarter, and the refreshed MacBook Pro computer that began shipping in February.
Analysts are estimating sales of about 6 million iPads in the fiscal second quarter, alongside about 16 million iPhones and 3-4 million Macs.
But the biggest question for Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook and other executives on Wednesday would be how much Japan would affect sales for the rest of the year. Apple is a voracious consumer of touchscreen displays and flash memory, among other components most heavily affected by the Japanese tsunami.
Apple's weak spot in recent months has been gross margin. And Wall Street is forecasting a gross margin of just over 39 percent, down from 41.67 percent from the previous period.
Apple is famously conservative with its forecasts, but investors will pick apart executives' comments this week for their views on Japan, plus seek answers to persistent questions over Jobs' continued absence and his role now.
They would also seek any indications of timing for the return of Jobs, who had led Apple from near-bankruptcy to become the world's most valuable technology company.
TABLET MARKET UP FOR GRABS
The battle for bragging rights in the booming tablet computing market is heating up, bolstered by IDC's estimate that personal computer sales had fallen for the first time in two years because consumers were eschewing laptops.
People still line up outside Apple stores daily, hoping to lay their hands on the minuscule stocks of iPad 2 that make it onto shelves. The only one available at an Apple store in Silicon Valley on Sunday was the costly 64 GB version tethered to the Verizon network, for $829.
"The two things that will deliver the upside will be iPad and the Mac business," said Shaw Wu, analyst with Sterne Agee. "Even with the tough (supply) constraints, they are likely to beat on the iPad2."
But problems in the logistics chain would come at a time when a spate of products -- from Motorola Inc's Xoom to Samsung Electronic's Galaxy, both powered by Google Inc's Android software -- are gaining traction. Research in Motion's PlayBook, though poorly reviewed, hits store shelves on Tuesday with an existing corporate customer base.
Another area of concern is Apple's next iPhone, which it typically introduces in the summer. Some see that pushed to the fall, and investors will want clues on its timing.
Apple's shares have slipped since Nasdaq said early this month it would rebalance the Nasdaq 100, slashing Apple's out-sized weighting. They have fallen in six of the last nine sessions since, and are down nearly 8 percent after scaling a peak of $359.90 in February.
Still, Apple is in an enviable place with its well-designed products, market dominance, and its cash-rich and debt-free balance sheet. The stock -- which trades at roughly 18 times forward earnings, versus 19 times for Google and 10 times for Microsoft Corp -- is considered a must-have in any technology portfolio.
On Monday, shares of Apple touch panel supplier TPK rose 6 percent, reflecting investor optimism about prospects of Apple's iPads and iPhones.
Blowing away estimates has become commonplace for Apple, which is expected to report earnings of $5.35 a share on revenue of $23.3 billion according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
According to StarMine SmartEstimates, which places more weight on timelier forecasts by top-rated analysts, Apple could report EPS 2.2 percent above Wall Street's average target.
"If people want growth and growth at a reasonable price, there's Apple," said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis. "Apple is the best growth stock out there in the tech universe."
(Editing by Edwin Chan and Richard Chang)
Toshiba 2010/11 net likely to beat forecast: Nikkei
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TOKYO | Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:56pm EDT
(Reuters) - Toshiba Corp is likely to post a forecast-beating 130 billion yen ($1.6 billion ) net profit for the 2010/11 business year that ended on March 31, boosted by robust sales of flash memory chips for smartphones and tablet PCs, the Nikkei business daily reported.
Toshiba has estimated a 100 billion yen profit for the latest business year, while a poll of 19 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S on average estimated a profit of 96.75 billion yen.
Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori said the company had not changed its forecast issued in January but will make an announcement if a revision is required.
Toshiba Chief Executive Norio Sasaki said earlier this month that net profit could exceed previous guidance.
The latest business year will mark Toshiba's first year in the black on a net basis in three years. It posted a 19.7 billion yen net loss in the previous year.
Sales were probably 6.4 trillion yen in 2010/11, up slightly from the prior year but below Toshiba's forecast of 6.6 trillion yen, due to damage at its factory in Iwate prefecture from the March 11 earthquake, the Nikkei said.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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TOKYO | Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:56pm EDT
(Reuters) - Toshiba Corp is likely to post a forecast-beating 130 billion yen ($1.6 billion ) net profit for the 2010/11 business year that ended on March 31, boosted by robust sales of flash memory chips for smartphones and tablet PCs, the Nikkei business daily reported.
Toshiba has estimated a 100 billion yen profit for the latest business year, while a poll of 19 analysts by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S on average estimated a profit of 96.75 billion yen.
Toshiba spokesman Keisuke Ohmori said the company had not changed its forecast issued in January but will make an announcement if a revision is required.
Toshiba Chief Executive Norio Sasaki said earlier this month that net profit could exceed previous guidance.
The latest business year will mark Toshiba's first year in the black on a net basis in three years. It posted a 19.7 billion yen net loss in the previous year.
Sales were probably 6.4 trillion yen in 2010/11, up slightly from the prior year but below Toshiba's forecast of 6.6 trillion yen, due to damage at its factory in Iwate prefecture from the March 11 earthquake, the Nikkei said.
(Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
Apple sues Samsung over Galaxy phones, tablets
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By Dan Levine and Miyoung Kim
SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:07pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL (Reuters)- Apple Inc has sued rival Samsung Electronics claiming that the South Korean firm's Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets "slavishly" copies the iPhone and iPad, according to court papers.
Samsung is one of the fastest growing smartphone makers and has also emerged as Apple's strongest competitor in the booming tablet market with models in three sizes, although it remains a distant second in the space.
Its Galaxy products use Google Inc's Android operating system, which directly competes with Apple's mobile software, the lawsuit said. However, Apple's claims against Samsung focus on Galaxy's design features, such as the look of its screen icons.
John Jackson, an analyst with CCS Insight, said Samsung is essentially Apple's only real tablet competitor at this stage.
"It's clear that they do not intend to let Apple run away with the category," Jackson said.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges Samsung violated Apple's patents and trademarks.
"This kind of blatant copying is wrong," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.
Samsung said in a statement on Tuesday that it would respond to the legal action "through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property."
"Samsung's development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success," it said.
To better compete with Apple, Samsung redesigned within weeks its new 10.1-inch tablet, first introduced in February, to make it the thinnest in the category after Apple set the trend with its iPad 2.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has criticised Samsung and other rivals in presentations of new products or technology debates. Analysts say the response by Samsung to this has been muted, partly because Apple was Samsung's second-biggest customer last year after Japan's Sony.
Apple brought in around 6.2 trillion won ($5.7 billion) of sales to Samsung in 2010 mainly by purchasing semiconductors, according to Samsung's annual report.
Samsung shares slipped about 1 percent in early Tuesday trade to their lowest level in one month, underperforming a 0.5 percent fall in the broader market. At 8:40 p.m. EDT, Samsung shares were down 0.7 percent at 861,000 won.
WEB OF LITIGATION
Apple is one participant in a web of litigation among phone makers and software firms over who owns the patents used in smartphones. For instance, Nokia has sued Apple, which in turn has sued handset maker HTC Corp.
Apple sues Samsung over Galaxy phones, tablets
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By Dan Levine and Miyoung Kim
SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:07pm EDT
U.S. International Trade Commission staff, at a hearing on Monday, recommended that HTC and Nokia shouldn't be found liable for infringing Apple's patents relating to smartphones, Bloomberg reported.
ITC staff act on behalf of the public and its recommendations are not binding.
In its lawsuit against Samsung, Apple noted that earlier versions of Samsung smart phones did not embody the same combination of Apple's designs.
"Even the icons in earlier versions of the Samsung smart phones looked different because they had a variety of shapes -- and did not appear as a field of square icons with rounded corners," the lawsuit said.
Apple is bringing 16 claims against Samsung, including unjust enrichment, trademark infringement and 10 patent claims.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al, 11-1846.
($1 = 1,088.500 Won)
(Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki in HELSINKI and Miyoung Kim in SEOUL; Editing by Richard Chang and Dhara Ranasinghe)
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Sony Corp
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¥2,402
-25.00-1.03%
8:42am GMT+0700
By Dan Levine and Miyoung Kim
SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:07pm EDT
SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL (Reuters)- Apple Inc has sued rival Samsung Electronics claiming that the South Korean firm's Galaxy line of mobile phones and tablets "slavishly" copies the iPhone and iPad, according to court papers.
Samsung is one of the fastest growing smartphone makers and has also emerged as Apple's strongest competitor in the booming tablet market with models in three sizes, although it remains a distant second in the space.
Its Galaxy products use Google Inc's Android operating system, which directly competes with Apple's mobile software, the lawsuit said. However, Apple's claims against Samsung focus on Galaxy's design features, such as the look of its screen icons.
John Jackson, an analyst with CCS Insight, said Samsung is essentially Apple's only real tablet competitor at this stage.
"It's clear that they do not intend to let Apple run away with the category," Jackson said.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday, alleges Samsung violated Apple's patents and trademarks.
"This kind of blatant copying is wrong," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.
Samsung said in a statement on Tuesday that it would respond to the legal action "through appropriate legal measures to protect our intellectual property."
"Samsung's development of core technologies and strengthening our intellectual property portfolio are keys to our continued success," it said.
To better compete with Apple, Samsung redesigned within weeks its new 10.1-inch tablet, first introduced in February, to make it the thinnest in the category after Apple set the trend with its iPad 2.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs has criticised Samsung and other rivals in presentations of new products or technology debates. Analysts say the response by Samsung to this has been muted, partly because Apple was Samsung's second-biggest customer last year after Japan's Sony.
Apple brought in around 6.2 trillion won ($5.7 billion) of sales to Samsung in 2010 mainly by purchasing semiconductors, according to Samsung's annual report.
Samsung shares slipped about 1 percent in early Tuesday trade to their lowest level in one month, underperforming a 0.5 percent fall in the broader market. At 8:40 p.m. EDT, Samsung shares were down 0.7 percent at 861,000 won.
WEB OF LITIGATION
Apple is one participant in a web of litigation among phone makers and software firms over who owns the patents used in smartphones. For instance, Nokia has sued Apple, which in turn has sued handset maker HTC Corp.
Apple sues Samsung over Galaxy phones, tablets
Share this
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LG Display flags sector recovery on steadier prices
1:25pm EDT
South Korean portals file competition complaint against Google
Fri, Apr 15 2011
Microsoft explains phone software update delay
Wed, Apr 13 2011
Zoom to make 3G phones with Qualcomm chips
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Tue, Apr 12 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Tech wrap: Apple sues Samsung over “slavish” copies
Washington Extra – Cattle prod
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Steve Jobs »
Stocks
HTC Corp
2498.TW
NT$1,200.00
-20.00-1.64%
8:42am GMT+0700
Nokia Oyj
NOK1V.HE
€5.86
-0.14-2.33%
10:29pm GMT+0700
Sony Corp
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¥2,402
-25.00-1.03%
8:42am GMT+0700
By Dan Levine and Miyoung Kim
SAN FRANCISCO/SEOUL | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:07pm EDT
U.S. International Trade Commission staff, at a hearing on Monday, recommended that HTC and Nokia shouldn't be found liable for infringing Apple's patents relating to smartphones, Bloomberg reported.
ITC staff act on behalf of the public and its recommendations are not binding.
In its lawsuit against Samsung, Apple noted that earlier versions of Samsung smart phones did not embody the same combination of Apple's designs.
"Even the icons in earlier versions of the Samsung smart phones looked different because they had a variety of shapes -- and did not appear as a field of square icons with rounded corners," the lawsuit said.
Apple is bringing 16 claims against Samsung, including unjust enrichment, trademark infringement and 10 patent claims.
The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc. v. Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. et al, 11-1846.
($1 = 1,088.500 Won)
(Additional reporting by Tarmo Virki in HELSINKI and Miyoung Kim in SEOUL; Editing by Richard Chang and Dhara Ranasinghe)
Top court hears Microsoft appeal on i4i patent
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By James Vicini
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:41pm EDT
(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.
An attorney for the world's largest software company argued that the court should reject the long-held requirement that a defendant in a patent infringement case must prove by clear and convincing evidence that a plaintiff's patent is invalid.
Thomas Hungar, an attorney for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, said a lower standard should be used, which could make some patents more vulnerable to legal challenge while promoting innovation and competition.
An Obama administration lawyer and Seth Waxman, an attorney for the Toronto-based i4i, said Congress has accepted the standard in effect for at least the past 28 years, that it was correct and that it was based on long-settled precedent.
The Supreme Court justices questioned all three attorneys closely and gave no clear indication during arguments of how they would rule. A decision is expected by the end of June.
The legal battle stemmed from a federal jury's award of $290 million to i4i after finding Microsoft had infringed its patent relating to text manipulation software in 2003 and 2007 versions of Word, Microsoft's word processing application.
A U.S. appeals court upheld the award and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld the validity of the i4i patent. Microsoft continued to dispute those decisions, but removed the contested features from its current software.
In appealing to the Supreme Court, Microsoft said it wanted a new trial.
After the arguments, Loudon Owen, i4i's chairman, expressed confidence his company will prevail. "We thought it went very well," he said.
"Microsoft did not present either policy or legal reasons that would justify any changes to the law, particularly the sweeping change they now apparently seek," Owen said.
Several justices asked about a Supreme Court precedent from 1934 that could cast doubt on Microsoft's argument. "What do we do?" Justice Elena Kagan asked. "One answer to that question is we go with our prior precedent."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also cited the 1934 ruling and asked whether Congress had ever introduced legislation to change the standard. Hungar replied it had not.
Justice Stephen Breyer asked whether the current system protected not only inventions that deserve protection, but also those that may not deserve it. "We're trying to get a better tool if possible to separate the sheep from the goats," he said.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked whether the dispute could have been resolved with different jury instructions.
The case was heard by eight of the nine Supreme Court members. Chief Justice John Roberts, who owns Microsoft stock, recused himself from the case. If the justices split by a 4-4 vote, then the ruling against Microsoft would be upheld.
The Supreme Court case is Microsoft Corp v. i4i Limited Partnership and Infrastructures for Information Inc, No. 10-290.
(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
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By James Vicini
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:41pm EDT
(Reuters) - Microsoft Corp urged the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to make it easier to challenge some patents as part of its appeal of a record $290 million jury verdict for infringing a small Canadian software firm's patent.
An attorney for the world's largest software company argued that the court should reject the long-held requirement that a defendant in a patent infringement case must prove by clear and convincing evidence that a plaintiff's patent is invalid.
Thomas Hungar, an attorney for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, said a lower standard should be used, which could make some patents more vulnerable to legal challenge while promoting innovation and competition.
An Obama administration lawyer and Seth Waxman, an attorney for the Toronto-based i4i, said Congress has accepted the standard in effect for at least the past 28 years, that it was correct and that it was based on long-settled precedent.
The Supreme Court justices questioned all three attorneys closely and gave no clear indication during arguments of how they would rule. A decision is expected by the end of June.
The legal battle stemmed from a federal jury's award of $290 million to i4i after finding Microsoft had infringed its patent relating to text manipulation software in 2003 and 2007 versions of Word, Microsoft's word processing application.
A U.S. appeals court upheld the award and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office upheld the validity of the i4i patent. Microsoft continued to dispute those decisions, but removed the contested features from its current software.
In appealing to the Supreme Court, Microsoft said it wanted a new trial.
After the arguments, Loudon Owen, i4i's chairman, expressed confidence his company will prevail. "We thought it went very well," he said.
"Microsoft did not present either policy or legal reasons that would justify any changes to the law, particularly the sweeping change they now apparently seek," Owen said.
Several justices asked about a Supreme Court precedent from 1934 that could cast doubt on Microsoft's argument. "What do we do?" Justice Elena Kagan asked. "One answer to that question is we go with our prior precedent."
Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg also cited the 1934 ruling and asked whether Congress had ever introduced legislation to change the standard. Hungar replied it had not.
Justice Stephen Breyer asked whether the current system protected not only inventions that deserve protection, but also those that may not deserve it. "We're trying to get a better tool if possible to separate the sheep from the goats," he said.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor asked whether the dispute could have been resolved with different jury instructions.
The case was heard by eight of the nine Supreme Court members. Chief Justice John Roberts, who owns Microsoft stock, recused himself from the case. If the justices split by a 4-4 vote, then the ruling against Microsoft would be upheld.
The Supreme Court case is Microsoft Corp v. i4i Limited Partnership and Infrastructures for Information Inc, No. 10-290.
(Additional reporting by Bill Rigby in Seattle; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)
Cantor calls S&P action "wakeup call" on debt limit
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WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:18pm EDT
(Reuters) - House of Representatives Republican leader Eric Cantor on Monday called the Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. credit outlook "a wake-up call" against those seeking to "blindly increase" the U.S. debt limit.
Cantor said the S&P action makes clear that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by "meaningful fiscal reforms that immediately reduce federal spending and stop our nation from digging itself further into debt."
(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro; editing by Doina Chiacu)
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Euro knocked by sovereign debt fears, yen shines
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Congress will raise debt limit: Geithner
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WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:18pm EDT
(Reuters) - House of Representatives Republican leader Eric Cantor on Monday called the Standard & Poor's downgrade of U.S. credit outlook "a wake-up call" against those seeking to "blindly increase" the U.S. debt limit.
Cantor said the S&P action makes clear that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by "meaningful fiscal reforms that immediately reduce federal spending and stop our nation from digging itself further into debt."
(Reporting by Thomas Ferraro; editing by Doina Chiacu)
U.S. says not trying to undermine Syrian government
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WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:41pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States is not working to undermine the Syrian government but is trying to support democratic goals as it does elsewhere in the world, the State Department said on Monday.
The comments came after The Washington Post reported that the State Department has secretly funded Syrian opposition groups, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
"Trying to promote a transformation to a more democratic process in this society is not undermining necessarily the existing government," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "needs to address the legitimate aspirations of his people," he said.
"No we are not working to undermine that government," Toner said in response to a question at a media briefing, adding the U.S. government was working to promote democratic processes in Syria and elsewhere in the world.
"The Syrian government perceives this kind of assistance as a threat," he said.
The diplomatic cables show that the State Department has funneled as much as $6 million since 2006 to a group of Syrian exiles to operate a London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, and finance activities inside Syria, the Post said.
(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
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WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:41pm EDT
(Reuters) - The United States is not working to undermine the Syrian government but is trying to support democratic goals as it does elsewhere in the world, the State Department said on Monday.
The comments came after The Washington Post reported that the State Department has secretly funded Syrian opposition groups, according to diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks.
"Trying to promote a transformation to a more democratic process in this society is not undermining necessarily the existing government," State Department spokesman Mark Toner said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad "needs to address the legitimate aspirations of his people," he said.
"No we are not working to undermine that government," Toner said in response to a question at a media briefing, adding the U.S. government was working to promote democratic processes in Syria and elsewhere in the world.
"The Syrian government perceives this kind of assistance as a threat," he said.
The diplomatic cables show that the State Department has funneled as much as $6 million since 2006 to a group of Syrian exiles to operate a London-based satellite channel, Barada TV, and finance activities inside Syria, the Post said.
(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
S&P report gives boost to Tea Party agenda
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UPDATE 2-White House, Congress under pressure from S&P move
7:03pm EDT
WRAPUP 3-US Republicans set 2012 budget battle with Obama
Fri, Apr 15 2011
Budget vote shows challenge for Boehner, Obama
Thu, Apr 14 2011
Obama sets deficit target, rips Republican plan
Wed, Apr 13 2011
Republicans may push debt talks to 11th hour
Tue, Apr 12 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Washington Extra – Cattle prod
S&P states the much-needed obvious on U.S. debt
Related Topics
Politics »
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:27pm EDT
(Reuters) - The powerful yet often criticized Tea Party movement found its fiscal conservatism strengthened on Monday when Standard & Poor's threatened to downgrade the U.S. credit rating.
S&P's move changing its outlook on the U.S. rating to negative from stable comes as Republicans and Democrats spar over how to slash the deficit and debate whether to raise the limits on U.S. credit.
The influential Wall Street rating agency changed its credit outlook for the United States citing a "material risk" that Washington may not agree on how to trim the massive U.S. deficit, projected to reach $1.4 trillion this year.
"It (the S&P report) is a vindication of the Tea Party and its stance that we're spending too much," said Republican Blake Farenthold, one of more than 50 members of the House of Representatives' Tea Party Caucus.
"The Tea Party isn't a bunch of radical crazies. They are everyday folks who have enough common sense to realize that we are on an unsustainable path of 'spend, spend, spend,'" Farenthold told Reuters.
The Tea Party helped make deficit reduction a top issue in last year's election, and, in doing so, helped Republicans win control of the House of Representatives from President Barack Obama's Democrats.
Under pressure from the Tea Party, Congress last week approved what was billed as a historic deal to cut U.S. spending this fiscal year by $38 billion. But Tea Partiers, who favored at least $100 billion in cuts, complained it wasn't nearly enough.
House Republican Leader Eric Cantor, who along with other high-ranking members of his party have drawn Tea Party fire, reiterated his call for any increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit to be accompanied by significant spending cuts.
"Today S&P sent a wake-up call to those in Washington asking Congress to blindly increase the debt limit," he said.
"As S&P made clear, getting spending and our deficit under control can no longer be put off for another day, which is why House Republicans will only move forward on the President's request to increase the debt limit if it is accompanied by serious reforms that immediately reduce federal spending."
The White House and Congress are now trying to find common ground on a fiscal 2012 budget along with more spending cuts in exchange for raising the U.S. debt limit by July 8.
'SIGNIFICANT CLOUT'
Ethan Siegal of The Washington Exchange, a private firm that tracks Washington for investors, said the Tea Party holds "significant clout within the House Republican caucus."
"The question is can the Tea Party wing of Republican House and the leadership in the Republican House, along with the leadership of the Democratic Senate and President Obama, all come to the middle to make a deal," Siegal said.
Republican Representative Ron Paul, a Tea Party favorite, said he did not think Congress will be able to take the fiscal steps needed to avoid a downgraded debt rating.
"They're not going to move toward an agreement, because they both agree to spend money," Paul told Reuters Insider, referring to Republicans and Democrats.
While the Tea Party has shaken up American politics, a recent survey found public support for the movement has waned.
But Mark Meckler of the Tea Party Patriots, one of the movement's leading groups, said polls still show that most Americans agree that spending needs to be cut.
Meckler said the S&P report "strengthens the hands of the majority of Americans who believe we are facing a financial crisis."
(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Deborah Charles)
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UPDATE 2-White House, Congress under pressure from S&P move
7:03pm EDT
WRAPUP 3-US Republicans set 2012 budget battle with Obama
Fri, Apr 15 2011
Budget vote shows challenge for Boehner, Obama
Thu, Apr 14 2011
Obama sets deficit target, rips Republican plan
Wed, Apr 13 2011
Republicans may push debt talks to 11th hour
Tue, Apr 12 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Washington Extra – Cattle prod
S&P states the much-needed obvious on U.S. debt
Related Topics
Politics »
By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 7:27pm EDT
(Reuters) - The powerful yet often criticized Tea Party movement found its fiscal conservatism strengthened on Monday when Standard & Poor's threatened to downgrade the U.S. credit rating.
S&P's move changing its outlook on the U.S. rating to negative from stable comes as Republicans and Democrats spar over how to slash the deficit and debate whether to raise the limits on U.S. credit.
The influential Wall Street rating agency changed its credit outlook for the United States citing a "material risk" that Washington may not agree on how to trim the massive U.S. deficit, projected to reach $1.4 trillion this year.
"It (the S&P report) is a vindication of the Tea Party and its stance that we're spending too much," said Republican Blake Farenthold, one of more than 50 members of the House of Representatives' Tea Party Caucus.
"The Tea Party isn't a bunch of radical crazies. They are everyday folks who have enough common sense to realize that we are on an unsustainable path of 'spend, spend, spend,'" Farenthold told Reuters.
The Tea Party helped make deficit reduction a top issue in last year's election, and, in doing so, helped Republicans win control of the House of Representatives from President Barack Obama's Democrats.
Under pressure from the Tea Party, Congress last week approved what was billed as a historic deal to cut U.S. spending this fiscal year by $38 billion. But Tea Partiers, who favored at least $100 billion in cuts, complained it wasn't nearly enough.
House Republican Leader Eric Cantor, who along with other high-ranking members of his party have drawn Tea Party fire, reiterated his call for any increase in the $14.3 trillion debt limit to be accompanied by significant spending cuts.
"Today S&P sent a wake-up call to those in Washington asking Congress to blindly increase the debt limit," he said.
"As S&P made clear, getting spending and our deficit under control can no longer be put off for another day, which is why House Republicans will only move forward on the President's request to increase the debt limit if it is accompanied by serious reforms that immediately reduce federal spending."
The White House and Congress are now trying to find common ground on a fiscal 2012 budget along with more spending cuts in exchange for raising the U.S. debt limit by July 8.
'SIGNIFICANT CLOUT'
Ethan Siegal of The Washington Exchange, a private firm that tracks Washington for investors, said the Tea Party holds "significant clout within the House Republican caucus."
"The question is can the Tea Party wing of Republican House and the leadership in the Republican House, along with the leadership of the Democratic Senate and President Obama, all come to the middle to make a deal," Siegal said.
Republican Representative Ron Paul, a Tea Party favorite, said he did not think Congress will be able to take the fiscal steps needed to avoid a downgraded debt rating.
"They're not going to move toward an agreement, because they both agree to spend money," Paul told Reuters Insider, referring to Republicans and Democrats.
While the Tea Party has shaken up American politics, a recent survey found public support for the movement has waned.
But Mark Meckler of the Tea Party Patriots, one of the movement's leading groups, said polls still show that most Americans agree that spending needs to be cut.
Meckler said the S&P report "strengthens the hands of the majority of Americans who believe we are facing a financial crisis."
(Additional reporting by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Deborah Charles)
White House and Congress under pressure from S&P move
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Analysis: Obama plays down S&P outlook change
6:40pm EDT
Analysis & Opinion
Washington Extra – Cattle prod
S&P states the much-needed obvious on U.S. debt
Related Topics
Politics »
By Jeff Mason and Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:20pm EDT
(Reuters) - Lawmakers and the White House seized on Standard & Poor's revised U.S. credit outlook on Monday as ammunition in their fierce deficit reduction debate, and showed no signs of moving toward a quick deal.
S&P's move -- changing its outlook on the U.S. rating to negative from stable -- pushes President Barack Obama and Republicans to agree on ways to slash the deficit or face the potential loss of Washington's coveted triple-A credit rating.
Stocks fell and policy makers fretted over the move, but neither Democrats nor Republicans signaled changes that would indicate a breakthrough on spending cuts in the near future.
"It drives home the fact that for all the talk in Washington, there is nothing on the table that is moving," said Sean West, a fiscal policy analyst for investors at the Eurasia Group, referring to the S&P announcement.
Obama and Republican congressional leaders have sparred for weeks over how to tackle the deficit, which is projected to hit $1.4 trillion this fiscal year.
Both sides have unveiled competing plans to bring deficits down to sustainable levels by the end of the decade, but they differ sharply on how to reach those goals. S&P zeroed in on these differences as a risk that Washington would not tackle long-term U.S. fiscal woes by 2013.
Obama says America's wealthy should pay a higher share of the tax burden and also proposes cuts in spending on both domestic programs and the military to help narrow the deficit.
"We've got to start making sure we're living within our means, both medium term and long term," the president told broadcaster WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, as part of a blitz of local television interviews he gave on Monday.
"There is a way of doing that where we cut about $2 trillion worth of spending, and we raise about $1 trillion worth of revenue, mainly from folks like myself who can afford to pay a little bit more, closing loopholes, making the tax system fairer," he said. Obama laid out these goals in a deficit speech last week.
Republicans are instead pushing for deeper spending cuts than those proposed by Obama and the Democrats, and advocate making permanent Bush-era tax cuts for American families earning more than $250,000 a year, which Obama opposes.
The White House said Vice President Joe Biden will lead a deficit reduction meeting with members of Congress on May 5, after they return from recess over Passover and Easter.
"I'm glad they put the warning out," said Joseph Antos, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
"I'm worried that the people who should understand this will have elections on their mind ... and may not want to do what I think is the right thing in the next few months."
The White House, which last week laid out its plan to slash the budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years, said the political process would outperform S&P's expectations.
"We simply believe that the prospects (for a deal) are better," said Jay Carney, Obama's spokesman.
"Any call for a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction, on fiscal reform, is a welcome one. And in that context, I think that (the S&P move) adds to what we believe is some momentum toward that end."
IMMEDIATE BATTLE
While S&P's action added urgency to the deficit debate, it also amplified a more immediate battle over whether Republicans will back Obama's call to raise the debt ceiling.
Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, called S&P's changed credit outlook "a wake-up call" against those seeking to "blindly increase" the U.S. debt limit.
He said the move made clear that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by "meaningful fiscal reforms that immediately reduce federal spending and stop our nation from digging itself further into debt."
U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said the threatened downgrade showed Democrats and Republicans must "demonstrate our commitment to reducing our deficit through shared responsibility."
Republicans unveiled a plan earlier this month to reduce deficits over the next 10 years by $4.4 trillion by cutting spending and overhauling government-run health programs for the poor and elderly. Democrats slammed the plan.
Polls show Americans are deeply worried about the state of the country's finances, which will be one of the driving issues in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.
Lawmakers backed by the conservative Tea Party movement, which helped Republicans take control of the House in last year's elections, said S&P's move was an endorsement of their budget-cutting platform.
"It is a vindication of the Tea Party and their stance that we are spending too much," said Republican Representative Blake Farenthold, a member of the House Tea Party Caucus.
The White House, however, pointed to Moody's Investors Service, S&P's main competitor, which said both sides' plans for deficit reduction represent a "potential change in the direction of fiscal policy (that) is credit positive for the U.S. federal government."
(Additional reporting by Alister Bull, Andy Sullivan, Thomas Ferraro, Susan Cornwell, Donna Smith, and Steve Holland; Editing by Deborah Charles and Jackie Frank))
inShare
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Analysis: Obama plays down S&P outlook change
6:40pm EDT
Analysis & Opinion
Washington Extra – Cattle prod
S&P states the much-needed obvious on U.S. debt
Related Topics
Politics »
By Jeff Mason and Kim Dixon
WASHINGTON | Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:20pm EDT
(Reuters) - Lawmakers and the White House seized on Standard & Poor's revised U.S. credit outlook on Monday as ammunition in their fierce deficit reduction debate, and showed no signs of moving toward a quick deal.
S&P's move -- changing its outlook on the U.S. rating to negative from stable -- pushes President Barack Obama and Republicans to agree on ways to slash the deficit or face the potential loss of Washington's coveted triple-A credit rating.
Stocks fell and policy makers fretted over the move, but neither Democrats nor Republicans signaled changes that would indicate a breakthrough on spending cuts in the near future.
"It drives home the fact that for all the talk in Washington, there is nothing on the table that is moving," said Sean West, a fiscal policy analyst for investors at the Eurasia Group, referring to the S&P announcement.
Obama and Republican congressional leaders have sparred for weeks over how to tackle the deficit, which is projected to hit $1.4 trillion this fiscal year.
Both sides have unveiled competing plans to bring deficits down to sustainable levels by the end of the decade, but they differ sharply on how to reach those goals. S&P zeroed in on these differences as a risk that Washington would not tackle long-term U.S. fiscal woes by 2013.
Obama says America's wealthy should pay a higher share of the tax burden and also proposes cuts in spending on both domestic programs and the military to help narrow the deficit.
"We've got to start making sure we're living within our means, both medium term and long term," the president told broadcaster WRAL in Raleigh, North Carolina, as part of a blitz of local television interviews he gave on Monday.
"There is a way of doing that where we cut about $2 trillion worth of spending, and we raise about $1 trillion worth of revenue, mainly from folks like myself who can afford to pay a little bit more, closing loopholes, making the tax system fairer," he said. Obama laid out these goals in a deficit speech last week.
Republicans are instead pushing for deeper spending cuts than those proposed by Obama and the Democrats, and advocate making permanent Bush-era tax cuts for American families earning more than $250,000 a year, which Obama opposes.
The White House said Vice President Joe Biden will lead a deficit reduction meeting with members of Congress on May 5, after they return from recess over Passover and Easter.
"I'm glad they put the warning out," said Joseph Antos, a scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
"I'm worried that the people who should understand this will have elections on their mind ... and may not want to do what I think is the right thing in the next few months."
The White House, which last week laid out its plan to slash the budget deficit by $4 trillion over 12 years, said the political process would outperform S&P's expectations.
"We simply believe that the prospects (for a deal) are better," said Jay Carney, Obama's spokesman.
"Any call for a bipartisan agreement on deficit reduction, on fiscal reform, is a welcome one. And in that context, I think that (the S&P move) adds to what we believe is some momentum toward that end."
IMMEDIATE BATTLE
While S&P's action added urgency to the deficit debate, it also amplified a more immediate battle over whether Republicans will back Obama's call to raise the debt ceiling.
Representative Eric Cantor, the No. 2 House Republican, called S&P's changed credit outlook "a wake-up call" against those seeking to "blindly increase" the U.S. debt limit.
He said the move made clear that any increase in the debt limit must be accompanied by "meaningful fiscal reforms that immediately reduce federal spending and stop our nation from digging itself further into debt."
U.S. House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said the threatened downgrade showed Democrats and Republicans must "demonstrate our commitment to reducing our deficit through shared responsibility."
Republicans unveiled a plan earlier this month to reduce deficits over the next 10 years by $4.4 trillion by cutting spending and overhauling government-run health programs for the poor and elderly. Democrats slammed the plan.
Polls show Americans are deeply worried about the state of the country's finances, which will be one of the driving issues in the 2012 presidential and congressional elections.
Lawmakers backed by the conservative Tea Party movement, which helped Republicans take control of the House in last year's elections, said S&P's move was an endorsement of their budget-cutting platform.
"It is a vindication of the Tea Party and their stance that we are spending too much," said Republican Representative Blake Farenthold, a member of the House Tea Party Caucus.
The White House, however, pointed to Moody's Investors Service, S&P's main competitor, which said both sides' plans for deficit reduction represent a "potential change in the direction of fiscal policy (that) is credit positive for the U.S. federal government."
(Additional reporting by Alister Bull, Andy Sullivan, Thomas Ferraro, Susan Cornwell, Donna Smith, and Steve Holland; Editing by Deborah Charles and Jackie Frank))
Cuban communists approve landmark econ reforms
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White House, Congress under pressure from S&P move
7:01pm EDT
Cuba congress embraces, refines Raul Castro reforms
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Cuba »
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:19pm EDT
(Reuters) - Cuba's Communist Party approved landmark economic reforms on Monday and voted for new leaders in a key party congress to chart Cuba's future, state-run media reported.
The Caribbean island's highest political body selected new First and Second Secretaries, its Central Committee and powerful Political Bureau, but the results would not be disclosed until Tuesday's closing session, Cuban television said.
The reforms represent the biggest changes to Cuba's struggling, Soviet-style economy in decades and are aimed at securing the future of socialism in one of the world's last communist states.
The congress' approval had been widely expected because some of the reforms, such as allowing more self-employment and leasing of state land to private farmers, are already in place.
The reforms include slashing more than a million government jobs over the next few years, cutting subsidies, encouraging more private initiative, giving more autonomy to state companies, encouraging more foreign investment and reducing state spending.
Under President Raul Castro's plan, which included more than 300 reforms, one of the trademark features of the paternalistic socialist system -- the universal monthly food ration -- will be gradually phased out for those who do not need it.
Castro said on Saturday the ration given all Cubans since 1963 had become an "unsupportable burden" for the cash-short government trying to rationalize its finances.
Cuba spends heavily on food imports, but hopes to increase food production by decentralizing agriculture and increasing the role of private farmers.
The reforms also include a widely hoped-for call for allowing Cubans to buy and sell homes for the first time in many years, although it remains to be seen whether restrictive regulations will accompany the change.
There is home ownership in Cuba, but at present houses can only be swapped, not sold, although under-the-table payments often are involved.
While President Castro wants to ease the state's grip on the economy, the reforms will not make it disappear. They call for a planned economy and keeping the country's principal means of production in state hands.
In the party leadership vote, President Castro was expected to replace older brother Fidel Castro as First Secretary, but the other posts will be closely watched for up-and-coming new party bosses to replace aging leaders.
The leadership issue has overshadowed the reforms since Raul Castro said in a speech on Saturday the government was considering limiting future leaders, including himself, to two five-year terms.
AGING LEADERSHIP
After taking power in the 1959 revolution he led, Fidel Castro, 84, ruled for 49 years before resigning the presidency in 2008. Raul Castro, 79, was his defense minister for all that time and replaced him as president.
A number of others in the leadership are in their 70s and 80s. The age issue is a concern because President Castro wants to ensure the survival of Cuban socialism after they are gone, but he admitted on Saturday they had done a poor job of grooming possible successors.
Fidel Castro gave his support for the reforms in a front page column in the Communist party newspaper Granma, saying he had listened in on meetings on Sunday and was impressed.
"The new generation is called to rectify and change without hesitation all that must be rectified and changed, and to continue demonstrating that socialism is also the art of making the impossible happen," he said.
He described "the impossible" as "building and bringing about the revolution of the poor, by the poor and for the poor, and defending it for half a century from the most powerful military power that ever existed," referring to the United States. This is a long-standing maxim of the nationalist Cuban Revolution.
Fidel Castro has not yet attended the congress. Foreign media have not been allowed in to the working sessions.
(Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Paul Simao)
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White House, Congress under pressure from S&P move
7:01pm EDT
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11:40am EDT
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8:50am EDT
Syria's Assad vows to lift emergency law by next week
Sat, Apr 16 2011
Cuba stages military parade ahead of key congress
Sat, Apr 16 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Geithner vs. Ryan on S&P’s debt warning
Default, debt ceilings and democracy
Related Topics
World »
Cuba »
By Jeff Franks
HAVANA | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:19pm EDT
(Reuters) - Cuba's Communist Party approved landmark economic reforms on Monday and voted for new leaders in a key party congress to chart Cuba's future, state-run media reported.
The Caribbean island's highest political body selected new First and Second Secretaries, its Central Committee and powerful Political Bureau, but the results would not be disclosed until Tuesday's closing session, Cuban television said.
The reforms represent the biggest changes to Cuba's struggling, Soviet-style economy in decades and are aimed at securing the future of socialism in one of the world's last communist states.
The congress' approval had been widely expected because some of the reforms, such as allowing more self-employment and leasing of state land to private farmers, are already in place.
The reforms include slashing more than a million government jobs over the next few years, cutting subsidies, encouraging more private initiative, giving more autonomy to state companies, encouraging more foreign investment and reducing state spending.
Under President Raul Castro's plan, which included more than 300 reforms, one of the trademark features of the paternalistic socialist system -- the universal monthly food ration -- will be gradually phased out for those who do not need it.
Castro said on Saturday the ration given all Cubans since 1963 had become an "unsupportable burden" for the cash-short government trying to rationalize its finances.
Cuba spends heavily on food imports, but hopes to increase food production by decentralizing agriculture and increasing the role of private farmers.
The reforms also include a widely hoped-for call for allowing Cubans to buy and sell homes for the first time in many years, although it remains to be seen whether restrictive regulations will accompany the change.
There is home ownership in Cuba, but at present houses can only be swapped, not sold, although under-the-table payments often are involved.
While President Castro wants to ease the state's grip on the economy, the reforms will not make it disappear. They call for a planned economy and keeping the country's principal means of production in state hands.
In the party leadership vote, President Castro was expected to replace older brother Fidel Castro as First Secretary, but the other posts will be closely watched for up-and-coming new party bosses to replace aging leaders.
The leadership issue has overshadowed the reforms since Raul Castro said in a speech on Saturday the government was considering limiting future leaders, including himself, to two five-year terms.
AGING LEADERSHIP
After taking power in the 1959 revolution he led, Fidel Castro, 84, ruled for 49 years before resigning the presidency in 2008. Raul Castro, 79, was his defense minister for all that time and replaced him as president.
A number of others in the leadership are in their 70s and 80s. The age issue is a concern because President Castro wants to ensure the survival of Cuban socialism after they are gone, but he admitted on Saturday they had done a poor job of grooming possible successors.
Fidel Castro gave his support for the reforms in a front page column in the Communist party newspaper Granma, saying he had listened in on meetings on Sunday and was impressed.
"The new generation is called to rectify and change without hesitation all that must be rectified and changed, and to continue demonstrating that socialism is also the art of making the impossible happen," he said.
He described "the impossible" as "building and bringing about the revolution of the poor, by the poor and for the poor, and defending it for half a century from the most powerful military power that ever existed," referring to the United States. This is a long-standing maxim of the nationalist Cuban Revolution.
Fidel Castro has not yet attended the congress. Foreign media have not been allowed in to the working sessions.
(Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Paul Simao)
West wants military, aid action to end Libya crisis
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By Michael Georgy
BENGHAZI, Libya | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:11pm EDT
(Reuters) - NATO may have to intensify attacks on government forces to break the military stalemate in Libya, while the United Nations pushes for a humanitarian presence to help civilians trapped in the conflict.
Both approaches, aimed at carrying out a U.N. Security Council mandate to protect Libyan civilians from attack by President Muammar Gaddafi's troops, will focus on the western city of Misrata, the only west Libyan city still in rebel hands.
Hundreds of people are thought to have been killed in the seven-week siege of the port city, where thousands of foreign migrant workers are stranded. A rebel spokesman said at least 31 people were killed in Misrata on Sunday and Monday by government shellfire and snipers.
Two months after the Libyan rebellion broke out in earnest, inspired by uprisings against autocratic rulers elsewhere in the Arab world, the insurgents control only the east of the country from their Benghazi stronghold, and part of Misrata.
NATO bombing has damaged Gaddafi's armor but not enough to break the stalemate, and the alliance may have no choice but to use naval gunfire or helicopters, analysts said -- the latter vulnerable to ground fire by Gaddafi's troops.
"There's more risks using helicopters as they are easier to shoot down, and it's a serious problem if you have casualties or people captured," said Daniel Keohane of the EU Institute for Security Studies think tank.
BOXED IN
The U.S., British and French leaders said last week they would not stop military action until Gaddafi quit.
"They've boxed themselves in by describing victory as Gaddafi leaving," said Keohane. "I don't think there's any way they can walk away now. There's a political imperative to carry on."
While NATO looked for a more effective way of attacking Gaddafi's forces despite limited resources, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on Monday in Benghazi she was extremely worried about the plight of civilians in Misrata.
"I very much hope the security situation will allow us to get into Misrata," she said. "No one has any sense of the depth and scale of what is happening there.
Before the rebellion, Misrata had a population of 300,000.
The European Union outlined a tentative plan on Monday to send European troops to Misrata to protect aid deliveries if requested by the United Nations, EU officials said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in Budapest, said Gaddafi's government had agreed to a humanitarian presence in the capital Tripoli. His spokesman Farhan Haq said this included an agreement on the entry of international humanitarian staff and equipment through the Tunisian border.
Details were scarce, and so far Libya has not agreed to a ceasefire to allow aid providers an opportunity to work.
Previously, NATO leaders had ruled out sending ground troops into Libya, but EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday "The 27 (EU members) have now adopted unanimously the concept of the operations" -- if the UN requested it.
Any EU mission could involve hundreds of military personnel securing transport of supplies directly to Libya, in particular Misrata, and helping to supply food and shelter to refugee camps on the Tunisian and Egyptian borders.
EU troops would not have a combat role, except to protect the humanitarian mission, but analysts say the arrival of the first Western troops since the Libyan crisis erupted would be significant.
A chartered ship evacuated nearly 1,000 foreign workers and wounded Libyans from Misrata on Monday, the second evacuation ship in the past few days. Rebels said they had gained ground in fighting in the Tripoli Street area despite government shelling.
"It is clear Gaddafi wants to wipe out Misrata. NATO's inaction is helping him carry out this plan. Are they waiting for a massacre to happen to realize that they need to change tactics?" rebel spokesman Abdelsalam told Reuters by telephone.
The Libyan government denies allegations that it is violating its people's human rights and says it is fighting gangs of al Qaeda militants.
Pro-Gaddafi forces have also kept up an offensive on the rebels' eastern frontline outpost of Ajdabiyah, from where the rebels hope to retake the oil port of Brega, 80 km to the west.
(Additional reporting by Ashraf Fahim in Benghazi, Mussab Al-Khairalla in Tripoli, Mariam Karoumy in Beirut, Sami Aboudi in Cairo, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Writing by Tim Pearce; Editing by Peter Graff)
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By Michael Georgy
BENGHAZI, Libya | Mon Apr 18, 2011 9:11pm EDT
(Reuters) - NATO may have to intensify attacks on government forces to break the military stalemate in Libya, while the United Nations pushes for a humanitarian presence to help civilians trapped in the conflict.
Both approaches, aimed at carrying out a U.N. Security Council mandate to protect Libyan civilians from attack by President Muammar Gaddafi's troops, will focus on the western city of Misrata, the only west Libyan city still in rebel hands.
Hundreds of people are thought to have been killed in the seven-week siege of the port city, where thousands of foreign migrant workers are stranded. A rebel spokesman said at least 31 people were killed in Misrata on Sunday and Monday by government shellfire and snipers.
Two months after the Libyan rebellion broke out in earnest, inspired by uprisings against autocratic rulers elsewhere in the Arab world, the insurgents control only the east of the country from their Benghazi stronghold, and part of Misrata.
NATO bombing has damaged Gaddafi's armor but not enough to break the stalemate, and the alliance may have no choice but to use naval gunfire or helicopters, analysts said -- the latter vulnerable to ground fire by Gaddafi's troops.
"There's more risks using helicopters as they are easier to shoot down, and it's a serious problem if you have casualties or people captured," said Daniel Keohane of the EU Institute for Security Studies think tank.
BOXED IN
The U.S., British and French leaders said last week they would not stop military action until Gaddafi quit.
"They've boxed themselves in by describing victory as Gaddafi leaving," said Keohane. "I don't think there's any way they can walk away now. There's a political imperative to carry on."
While NATO looked for a more effective way of attacking Gaddafi's forces despite limited resources, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said on Monday in Benghazi she was extremely worried about the plight of civilians in Misrata.
"I very much hope the security situation will allow us to get into Misrata," she said. "No one has any sense of the depth and scale of what is happening there.
Before the rebellion, Misrata had a population of 300,000.
The European Union outlined a tentative plan on Monday to send European troops to Misrata to protect aid deliveries if requested by the United Nations, EU officials said.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, in Budapest, said Gaddafi's government had agreed to a humanitarian presence in the capital Tripoli. His spokesman Farhan Haq said this included an agreement on the entry of international humanitarian staff and equipment through the Tunisian border.
Details were scarce, and so far Libya has not agreed to a ceasefire to allow aid providers an opportunity to work.
Previously, NATO leaders had ruled out sending ground troops into Libya, but EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said on Monday "The 27 (EU members) have now adopted unanimously the concept of the operations" -- if the UN requested it.
Any EU mission could involve hundreds of military personnel securing transport of supplies directly to Libya, in particular Misrata, and helping to supply food and shelter to refugee camps on the Tunisian and Egyptian borders.
EU troops would not have a combat role, except to protect the humanitarian mission, but analysts say the arrival of the first Western troops since the Libyan crisis erupted would be significant.
A chartered ship evacuated nearly 1,000 foreign workers and wounded Libyans from Misrata on Monday, the second evacuation ship in the past few days. Rebels said they had gained ground in fighting in the Tripoli Street area despite government shelling.
"It is clear Gaddafi wants to wipe out Misrata. NATO's inaction is helping him carry out this plan. Are they waiting for a massacre to happen to realize that they need to change tactics?" rebel spokesman Abdelsalam told Reuters by telephone.
The Libyan government denies allegations that it is violating its people's human rights and says it is fighting gangs of al Qaeda militants.
Pro-Gaddafi forces have also kept up an offensive on the rebels' eastern frontline outpost of Ajdabiyah, from where the rebels hope to retake the oil port of Brega, 80 km to the west.
(Additional reporting by Ashraf Fahim in Benghazi, Mussab Al-Khairalla in Tripoli, Mariam Karoumy in Beirut, Sami Aboudi in Cairo, Hamid Ould Ahmed in Algiers, Joseph Nasr in Berlin; Writing by Tim Pearce; Editing by Peter Graff)
Nigerian president urges unity after election riots
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Nigeria's Jonathan set for victory in presidential vote
Sun, Apr 17 2011
1 / 12
By Joe Brock
KANO, Nigeria | Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:03pm EDT
(Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for unity on Monday after deadly riots erupted in largely Muslim opposition strongholds over his election victory.
Churches, homes and shops were set ablaze and the Red Cross said many people were killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in the outburst of anger by supporters of Jonathan's northern rival, former army ruler Muhammadu Buhari.
"We must quickly move away from partisan battlegrounds," Jonathan said in his acceptance speech after being declared the winner with 57 percent of the vote to Buhari's 31 percent.
"Nobody's political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian," said Jonathan, the first president from the Niger Delta region which accounts for most of Nigeria's oil wealth.
Observers have called the poll the fairest in decades in Africa's most populous nation. But Buhari's supporters accuse the ruling party of rigging and rejected the results.
The results show how polarized the country of 150 million is, with Buhari, 68, sweeping the north and Jonathan, 53, winning the largely Christian south.
The Nigerian Red Cross said churches, mosques and homes had been burned in rioting across the north and many people had been killed, but it was impossible to give a toll for now. It said nearly 300 people had been injured and 15,000 displaced.
"In Kaduna we have seen dead bodies lying by the road," Red Cross official Umar Mairiga told Reuters. "Two thousand people have been displaced at one military camp alone."
Authorities in five states imposed curfews. Protesters set fire to the residence of Vice President Namadi Sambo in the town of Zaria. The body of a small boy shot in the chest by a stray bullet was brought to a police station.
"They have destroyed our cars and our houses. I had to run for my life and I am now in my neighbor's house," said Dora Ogbebor, a resident of Zaria whose origins are in the south.
Plumes of smoke rose into the air in parts of Kaduna as protesters set fire to barricades of tires. Security forces fired in the air and used teargas to disperse groups of youths shouting "We want Buhari, we want Buhari."
Police said the violence was political rather than ethnic or religious. Twelve years after the end of military rule, the army said it stood fully behind the government and democratic rule.
Buhari was yet to make any public statement on the violence despite appeals by foreign embassies that he call for calm.
ACCUSATION
The former general's Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) party said in a letter to the electoral commission that voters had been intimidated, ballot boxes stuffed in Jonathan's strongholds and computers set up to deprive it of votes.
"What is being exhibited to the world is not collated from polling units but from the state headquarters where a lot of manipulations, we believe, had taken place," the party said.
None of the opposition parties signed acceptance of final results issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission, an indication of potential legal challenges to come.
Nigeria has a history of rigged and violent elections but Saturday's vote was deemed by many Nigerians, and foreign observers, to have been a vast improvement on the past.
"Election day showed a generally peaceful and orderly process," said chief European Union election observer Alojz Peterle. EU observers said 2007 elections were not credible.
The independent Swift Count monitor group said the official results were right in line with what they would have expected based on their samples from a random selection of nearly 1,500 of the 120,000 polling stations across Nigeria.
The outright win for Jonathan could ease worries over potential disruptions to crude exports from Africa's biggest oil and gas industry -- far away from the disturbances in the north.
It could also lift local financial markets which had been unnerved by the prospect of a potential run-off. The All-Share Index closed up 2.3 percent to its highest in nearly a month.
"We will see a lot of investors come back to Nigeria," said Alan Cameron, London-based economist of stockbroker CSL.
The troubles in the north, on the fringes of the Sahara desert, are far from the oil-producing regions and heaving industrial centers of the south.
Members of Jonathan's family threw a party for thousands of supporters near his home village of Otuoke, attended by youths, traditional elders and dignitaries including a star from the local Nollywood film industry.
"The president is from this area so there is no way he will not make things happen for his people," said Peter Okoba, a former militant fighter who accepted a 2009 amnesty brokered by Jonathan to end Niger Delta unrest. "There's no way he can leave his people behind."
(For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ )
(Additional reporting by Mike Oboh in Kano, Sahabi Yahaya and Joe Bavier in Kaduna, Austin Ekeinde in Port Harcourt, Chijioke Ohuocha in Lagos, Joseph Penney in Yenagoa; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
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By Joe Brock
KANO, Nigeria | Mon Apr 18, 2011 6:03pm EDT
(Reuters) - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan appealed for unity on Monday after deadly riots erupted in largely Muslim opposition strongholds over his election victory.
Churches, homes and shops were set ablaze and the Red Cross said many people were killed, hundreds injured and thousands displaced in the outburst of anger by supporters of Jonathan's northern rival, former army ruler Muhammadu Buhari.
"We must quickly move away from partisan battlegrounds," Jonathan said in his acceptance speech after being declared the winner with 57 percent of the vote to Buhari's 31 percent.
"Nobody's political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian," said Jonathan, the first president from the Niger Delta region which accounts for most of Nigeria's oil wealth.
Observers have called the poll the fairest in decades in Africa's most populous nation. But Buhari's supporters accuse the ruling party of rigging and rejected the results.
The results show how polarized the country of 150 million is, with Buhari, 68, sweeping the north and Jonathan, 53, winning the largely Christian south.
The Nigerian Red Cross said churches, mosques and homes had been burned in rioting across the north and many people had been killed, but it was impossible to give a toll for now. It said nearly 300 people had been injured and 15,000 displaced.
"In Kaduna we have seen dead bodies lying by the road," Red Cross official Umar Mairiga told Reuters. "Two thousand people have been displaced at one military camp alone."
Authorities in five states imposed curfews. Protesters set fire to the residence of Vice President Namadi Sambo in the town of Zaria. The body of a small boy shot in the chest by a stray bullet was brought to a police station.
"They have destroyed our cars and our houses. I had to run for my life and I am now in my neighbor's house," said Dora Ogbebor, a resident of Zaria whose origins are in the south.
Plumes of smoke rose into the air in parts of Kaduna as protesters set fire to barricades of tires. Security forces fired in the air and used teargas to disperse groups of youths shouting "We want Buhari, we want Buhari."
Police said the violence was political rather than ethnic or religious. Twelve years after the end of military rule, the army said it stood fully behind the government and democratic rule.
Buhari was yet to make any public statement on the violence despite appeals by foreign embassies that he call for calm.
ACCUSATION
The former general's Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) party said in a letter to the electoral commission that voters had been intimidated, ballot boxes stuffed in Jonathan's strongholds and computers set up to deprive it of votes.
"What is being exhibited to the world is not collated from polling units but from the state headquarters where a lot of manipulations, we believe, had taken place," the party said.
None of the opposition parties signed acceptance of final results issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission, an indication of potential legal challenges to come.
Nigeria has a history of rigged and violent elections but Saturday's vote was deemed by many Nigerians, and foreign observers, to have been a vast improvement on the past.
"Election day showed a generally peaceful and orderly process," said chief European Union election observer Alojz Peterle. EU observers said 2007 elections were not credible.
The independent Swift Count monitor group said the official results were right in line with what they would have expected based on their samples from a random selection of nearly 1,500 of the 120,000 polling stations across Nigeria.
The outright win for Jonathan could ease worries over potential disruptions to crude exports from Africa's biggest oil and gas industry -- far away from the disturbances in the north.
It could also lift local financial markets which had been unnerved by the prospect of a potential run-off. The All-Share Index closed up 2.3 percent to its highest in nearly a month.
"We will see a lot of investors come back to Nigeria," said Alan Cameron, London-based economist of stockbroker CSL.
The troubles in the north, on the fringes of the Sahara desert, are far from the oil-producing regions and heaving industrial centers of the south.
Members of Jonathan's family threw a party for thousands of supporters near his home village of Otuoke, attended by youths, traditional elders and dignitaries including a star from the local Nollywood film industry.
"The president is from this area so there is no way he will not make things happen for his people," said Peter Okoba, a former militant fighter who accepted a 2009 amnesty brokered by Jonathan to end Niger Delta unrest. "There's no way he can leave his people behind."
(For more Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ )
(Additional reporting by Mike Oboh in Kano, Sahabi Yahaya and Joe Bavier in Kaduna, Austin Ekeinde in Port Harcourt, Chijioke Ohuocha in Lagos, Joseph Penney in Yenagoa; Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Matthew Tostevin)
Syrian forces fire at protesters, unrest intensifies
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Syrian forces fire at protesters in square-activist
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By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
AMMAN | Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:47pm EDT
(Reuters) - Syrian forces fired shots at hundreds of protesters who had gathered overnight in Homs city in defiance of warning by the authorities to halt what they called an insurrection, a rights campaigner said on Tuesday.
A member of the security police addressed the protesters at Clock Square through a loud speaker asking them to leave, and then the forces opened fire, said the human rights campaigner, who is in contact with protesters in the square.
Tear gas was also used. At least one protester was injured, the activist added. Two residents of Homs also said they heard the sound of gunfire coming from around the square.
Several hours earlier, Syrian state television broadcast an interior ministry statement that described the wave of unrest in Syria as an insurrection, pointing specifically to Homs as one of two cities where "armed groups belonging to Salafist organizations" were trying to terrorize the population.
Salafism is a strict form of Sunni Islam which many Arab governments equate with militant groups like al Qaeda.
President Bashar al-Assad announced on Saturday that he would end nearly half a century of emergency rule with legislation that should be in place by next week, but his pledge did little to appease protesters calling for political freedoms.
Rights campaigners say more than 200 people have been killed since the protests began.
Syrian authorities have intensified bans on independent media since protests challenging the authoritarian rule of Assad erupted more than a month ago.
No independent media is allowed into Homs or other cities witnessing unprecedented pro-democracy demonstrations. Several international journalists have been expelled or arrested.
Thousands demanded the overthrow of Assad on Monday at the funerals of 17 protesters killed in Homs, 165 km (100 miles) north of Damascus. Human rights campaigners said the 17 had been killed late on Sunday during protests against the death in custody of a tribal leader in Homs.
ALLEYWAY TO ALLEYWAY
"From alleyway to alleyway, from house to house, we want to overthrow you, Bashar," the mourners chanted, according to a witness at the funeral.
Further north, in Jisr al-Shughour, 1,000 people called for "the overthrow of the regime," echoing the chants of protesters who overthrew leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, at the funeral of a man who they said had been killed by security forces.
Protests against the authoritarian rule of Assad's Baath Party erupted in the southern city of Deraa more than a month ago, and have spread across the country.
The government says Syria is the target of a conspiracy and authorities blame the violence on armed gangs and infiltrators supplied with weapons from Lebanon and Iraq. Opposition groups say there is no evidence of a conspiracy.
The interior ministry statement said Salafist groups were trying "to spread terror across Syria ... using the march of freedom and reform that was launched according to a timetable by President Assad in his guiding speech."
The demonstrations present the gravest challenge yet to Assad, who succeeded his late father Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000 after 30 years of rule.
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Syrian forces fire at protesters in square-activist
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By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
AMMAN | Mon Apr 18, 2011 8:47pm EDT
(Reuters) - Syrian forces fired shots at hundreds of protesters who had gathered overnight in Homs city in defiance of warning by the authorities to halt what they called an insurrection, a rights campaigner said on Tuesday.
A member of the security police addressed the protesters at Clock Square through a loud speaker asking them to leave, and then the forces opened fire, said the human rights campaigner, who is in contact with protesters in the square.
Tear gas was also used. At least one protester was injured, the activist added. Two residents of Homs also said they heard the sound of gunfire coming from around the square.
Several hours earlier, Syrian state television broadcast an interior ministry statement that described the wave of unrest in Syria as an insurrection, pointing specifically to Homs as one of two cities where "armed groups belonging to Salafist organizations" were trying to terrorize the population.
Salafism is a strict form of Sunni Islam which many Arab governments equate with militant groups like al Qaeda.
President Bashar al-Assad announced on Saturday that he would end nearly half a century of emergency rule with legislation that should be in place by next week, but his pledge did little to appease protesters calling for political freedoms.
Rights campaigners say more than 200 people have been killed since the protests began.
Syrian authorities have intensified bans on independent media since protests challenging the authoritarian rule of Assad erupted more than a month ago.
No independent media is allowed into Homs or other cities witnessing unprecedented pro-democracy demonstrations. Several international journalists have been expelled or arrested.
Thousands demanded the overthrow of Assad on Monday at the funerals of 17 protesters killed in Homs, 165 km (100 miles) north of Damascus. Human rights campaigners said the 17 had been killed late on Sunday during protests against the death in custody of a tribal leader in Homs.
ALLEYWAY TO ALLEYWAY
"From alleyway to alleyway, from house to house, we want to overthrow you, Bashar," the mourners chanted, according to a witness at the funeral.
Further north, in Jisr al-Shughour, 1,000 people called for "the overthrow of the regime," echoing the chants of protesters who overthrew leaders in Egypt and Tunisia, at the funeral of a man who they said had been killed by security forces.
Protests against the authoritarian rule of Assad's Baath Party erupted in the southern city of Deraa more than a month ago, and have spread across the country.
The government says Syria is the target of a conspiracy and authorities blame the violence on armed gangs and infiltrators supplied with weapons from Lebanon and Iraq. Opposition groups say there is no evidence of a conspiracy.
The interior ministry statement said Salafist groups were trying "to spread terror across Syria ... using the march of freedom and reform that was launched according to a timetable by President Assad in his guiding speech."
The demonstrations present the gravest challenge yet to Assad, who succeeded his late father Hafez al-Assad, who died in 2000 after 30 years of rule.
DoubleLine says S&P warning "good" for US debt
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Wall Street falls on sovereign fears
7:31pm EDT
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DoubleLine's Gundlach: S&P warning 'good' for US debt
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Analysis & Opinion
10 things you need to know about S&P’s U.S. debt warning
Long Asia on the inflation blame game
By Jennifer Ablan
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:55pm EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. Treasury securities will perform well following Standard & Poor's downward revision of the credit outlook for the United States, DoubleLine Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Gundlach said on Monday.
Gundlach said Treasuries will be in high demand with major holders, who include foreign investors, as the U.S. economy will "soften substantially" with no monetary stimulus in the pipeline.
The S&P warning, which cited a risk that policymakers may not reach agreement on a plan to slash the huge federal budget deficit, is "good for Treasuries and bad for the economy and stocks," Gundlach told Reuters.
"The foreign holders are well aware of the deficit facts. So are domestic investors," said Gundlach, who oversees $9.8 billion at the Los Angeles-based firm.
"If the deficit problem is actually beginning to be addressed, then the fundamentals for Treasuries will get better. Not only will supply be lower, but raising taxes and cutting spending both detract from economic growth, keeping inflation under control," he said.
S&P revised its outlook on the United States' AAA credit rating to negative from stable, citing the country's deteriorating fiscal position. The shift reflects the rating agency's belief that there is a one in three chance that the U.S. credit rating could be downgraded within two years.
Mohamed El-Erian, the co-chief investment officer at PIMCO, told Reuters Insider television that the S&P warning reflects the United States' deteriorating standing in the global economy.
"The U.S. risks losing their AAA rating under our internal ratings," El-Erian said. He added that the $1.2 trillion fund will continue to avoid long-term U.S. Treasuries, particularly at these "low" yield levels. Benchmark 10-year yields fell to 3.37 percent, marking the lowest since March 24.
But Gundlach argues that Treasuries will become increasingly attractive and yields lower as the U.S. could likely weaken in the months to come.
Gundlach said Treasuries have been under selling pressure during the Federal Reserve's purchases of $600 billion in long-term Treasuries, as part of a second round of quantitative easing, known as QE2 "because QE2 is an inflationary policy."
He also said ending the stimulus and addressing the deficit are the opposite of inflationary policies.
"So addressing the deficit means that low Treasury yields make sense," he added.
All told, the S&P warning "should serve as an effective cattle prod in pushing the politicians toward a program of spending cuts and tax increases."
Gundlach said last week on an investor conference call: "By now it's getting relatively close to June 30 and it's about time for the markets to start discounting the end of QE2 and a weaker economy."
(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
inShare
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Wall Street falls on sovereign fears
7:31pm EDT
Euro knocked by sovereign debt fears, yen shines
7:24pm EDT
Stocks fall after S&P warning and bonds recover
5:26pm EDT
DoubleLine's Gundlach: S&P warning 'good' for US debt
11:39am EDT
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Analysis & Opinion
10 things you need to know about S&P’s U.S. debt warning
Long Asia on the inflation blame game
By Jennifer Ablan
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 2:55pm EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. Treasury securities will perform well following Standard & Poor's downward revision of the credit outlook for the United States, DoubleLine Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Gundlach said on Monday.
Gundlach said Treasuries will be in high demand with major holders, who include foreign investors, as the U.S. economy will "soften substantially" with no monetary stimulus in the pipeline.
The S&P warning, which cited a risk that policymakers may not reach agreement on a plan to slash the huge federal budget deficit, is "good for Treasuries and bad for the economy and stocks," Gundlach told Reuters.
"The foreign holders are well aware of the deficit facts. So are domestic investors," said Gundlach, who oversees $9.8 billion at the Los Angeles-based firm.
"If the deficit problem is actually beginning to be addressed, then the fundamentals for Treasuries will get better. Not only will supply be lower, but raising taxes and cutting spending both detract from economic growth, keeping inflation under control," he said.
S&P revised its outlook on the United States' AAA credit rating to negative from stable, citing the country's deteriorating fiscal position. The shift reflects the rating agency's belief that there is a one in three chance that the U.S. credit rating could be downgraded within two years.
Mohamed El-Erian, the co-chief investment officer at PIMCO, told Reuters Insider television that the S&P warning reflects the United States' deteriorating standing in the global economy.
"The U.S. risks losing their AAA rating under our internal ratings," El-Erian said. He added that the $1.2 trillion fund will continue to avoid long-term U.S. Treasuries, particularly at these "low" yield levels. Benchmark 10-year yields fell to 3.37 percent, marking the lowest since March 24.
But Gundlach argues that Treasuries will become increasingly attractive and yields lower as the U.S. could likely weaken in the months to come.
Gundlach said Treasuries have been under selling pressure during the Federal Reserve's purchases of $600 billion in long-term Treasuries, as part of a second round of quantitative easing, known as QE2 "because QE2 is an inflationary policy."
He also said ending the stimulus and addressing the deficit are the opposite of inflationary policies.
"So addressing the deficit means that low Treasury yields make sense," he added.
All told, the S&P warning "should serve as an effective cattle prod in pushing the politicians toward a program of spending cuts and tax increases."
Gundlach said last week on an investor conference call: "By now it's getting relatively close to June 30 and it's about time for the markets to start discounting the end of QE2 and a weaker economy."
(Reporting by Jennifer Ablan; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama )
Oil falls on S&P U.S. outlook revision, demand worry
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04/18/2011
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:44pm EDT
(Reuters) - Oil fell sharply on Monday after ratings agency S&P revised lower its U.S. credit outlook to negative and OPEC ministers said high crude prices could place a major strain on consumer countries' economies.
Although it affirmed the United States' "AAA" credit rating, Standard & Poor's said there was a risk policymakers may not reach agreement on how to address the country's long-term fiscal pressures.
"The U.S. debt situation got a reality check this morning from the move by S&P," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. "Only precious metals will be seen as attractive in the aftermath of the outlook downgrade."
OPEC ministers voiced their concerns at a meeting in Kuwait, where Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said the IEA already was, "seeing some indication of the slowdown in demand, and it's alarming."
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said a global economic recovery remained "patchy", while his Kuwaiti counterpart added that high oil prices threaten to become an economic burden for many big consuming countries.
Oil earlier felt pressure after Saudi Arabia on Sunday confirmed it had cut output by more than 800,000 barrels per day in March because of weak demand for its crude.
Brent crude for June fell $1.84 to settle at $121.61 a barrel, having slipped to a session low of $121.
U.S. crude for May fell $2.54 to settle at $107.12, after slipping as low as $106.54. The U.S. May crude contract expires on Tuesday.
U.S. equities fell more than 1 percent on sovereign debt fears on both sides of the Atlantic. .N
Equities and oil also felt pressure from another Chinese bank reserve hike over the weekend, the latest move to control inflation that could curb demand growth.
Most commodities fell, hit by S&P move and concerns over Chinese demand. One exception was gold -- seen as a store of value -- which shot to a record near $1,500 an ounce.
S&P said there is a 1-in-3 chance it could cut its long-term credit rating on the United States within two years.
"This new warning, this time from S&P, highlights the need for the U.S. to take better control of its fiscal destiny if it is to avoid higher borrowing costs and maintain its central role at the core of the global economy," Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive at Pimco, which oversees $1.2 trillion in assets, told Reuters.
WIDENING DEMAND CONCERNS
China's hike to banks' required reserves, the fourth this year, added to investor caution about economic growth.
Crude fell early last week after Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and other key forecasters warned high oil prices were eroding demand. It rebounded late in the week on encouraging U.S. economic data and a steep fall in U.S. gasoline inventories.
The euro posted its biggest one-day decline since November against the dollar as concerns increased that Greece will be forced to restructure its debt and as sentiment against aid grows in Europe.
A stronger dollar can pressure oil prices by making dollar-denominated crude more expensive for consumers using other currencies and by drawing investment to foreign exchange markets for better returns.
AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST SUPPLY THREATS
Lingering threats to Africa and Middle East oil supplies that helped spark prices to recent, 32-month peaks, remained.
Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombarded Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, Clashes broke out in Yemen and thousands demanded the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in escalating unrest.
Oil investors also eyed Nigeria, where rioting took place in northern cities after a contentious election, according to the Nigerian Red Cross.
(Additional reporting by Claire Milhench and Alex Lawler in London and Francis Kan in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson and David Gregorio)
inShare
1
Digg
Factbox
Factbox: Different ways of looking at the oil price
Fri, Apr 15 2011
Related News
Stocks fall after S&P warning and bonds recover
5:26pm EDT
Saudi slashes oil output, says market oversupplied
Sun, Apr 17 2011
Stocks, oil gain on better-than-expected data
Fri, Apr 15 2011
Oil up on rosier U.S. consumer sentiment, China
Fri, Apr 15 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Stock market waiting for a positive trigger
Five years from U.S. housing peak, still no bottom
Related Topics
Deals »
Global Deals Data 2011 Q1 »
Stocks
Goldman Sachs Group Inc
GS.N
$153.78
-1.35-0.87%
04/18/2011
By Robert Gibbons
NEW YORK | Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:44pm EDT
(Reuters) - Oil fell sharply on Monday after ratings agency S&P revised lower its U.S. credit outlook to negative and OPEC ministers said high crude prices could place a major strain on consumer countries' economies.
Although it affirmed the United States' "AAA" credit rating, Standard & Poor's said there was a risk policymakers may not reach agreement on how to address the country's long-term fiscal pressures.
"The U.S. debt situation got a reality check this morning from the move by S&P," said John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital in New York. "Only precious metals will be seen as attractive in the aftermath of the outlook downgrade."
OPEC ministers voiced their concerns at a meeting in Kuwait, where Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of the International Energy Agency, said the IEA already was, "seeing some indication of the slowdown in demand, and it's alarming."
Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said a global economic recovery remained "patchy", while his Kuwaiti counterpart added that high oil prices threaten to become an economic burden for many big consuming countries.
Oil earlier felt pressure after Saudi Arabia on Sunday confirmed it had cut output by more than 800,000 barrels per day in March because of weak demand for its crude.
Brent crude for June fell $1.84 to settle at $121.61 a barrel, having slipped to a session low of $121.
U.S. crude for May fell $2.54 to settle at $107.12, after slipping as low as $106.54. The U.S. May crude contract expires on Tuesday.
U.S. equities fell more than 1 percent on sovereign debt fears on both sides of the Atlantic. .N
Equities and oil also felt pressure from another Chinese bank reserve hike over the weekend, the latest move to control inflation that could curb demand growth.
Most commodities fell, hit by S&P move and concerns over Chinese demand. One exception was gold -- seen as a store of value -- which shot to a record near $1,500 an ounce.
S&P said there is a 1-in-3 chance it could cut its long-term credit rating on the United States within two years.
"This new warning, this time from S&P, highlights the need for the U.S. to take better control of its fiscal destiny if it is to avoid higher borrowing costs and maintain its central role at the core of the global economy," Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive at Pimco, which oversees $1.2 trillion in assets, told Reuters.
WIDENING DEMAND CONCERNS
China's hike to banks' required reserves, the fourth this year, added to investor caution about economic growth.
Crude fell early last week after Goldman Sachs (GS.N) and other key forecasters warned high oil prices were eroding demand. It rebounded late in the week on encouraging U.S. economic data and a steep fall in U.S. gasoline inventories.
The euro posted its biggest one-day decline since November against the dollar as concerns increased that Greece will be forced to restructure its debt and as sentiment against aid grows in Europe.
A stronger dollar can pressure oil prices by making dollar-denominated crude more expensive for consumers using other currencies and by drawing investment to foreign exchange markets for better returns.
AFRICA/MIDDLE EAST SUPPLY THREATS
Lingering threats to Africa and Middle East oil supplies that helped spark prices to recent, 32-month peaks, remained.
Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi bombarded Misrata, Libya's third-largest city, Clashes broke out in Yemen and thousands demanded the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in escalating unrest.
Oil investors also eyed Nigeria, where rioting took place in northern cities after a contentious election, according to the Nigerian Red Cross.
(Additional reporting by Claire Milhench and Alex Lawler in London and Francis Kan in Singapore; Editing by Dale Hudson and David Gregorio)
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