Strong quake kills at least 20 in central Philippines

By Rosemarie Francisco

MANILA (Reuters) - A strong earthquake measuring 7.2 struck islands popular with tourists in the Philippines on Tuesday killing at least 20 people, some while praying in a centuries-old church, officials said.

Low-rise buildings collapsed on at least two islands and historic churches cracked and crumbled during the quake, which sparked panic, cut power and transport links and forced hospitals to evacuate patients.

Rey Balido, a spokesman for the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said at least 15 people died on the island of Cebu.

Residents ran from their homes in Cebu city, about 570 km (660 miles) southeast of the capital, Manila, and hospitals moved patients to open spaces as aftershocks rocked the city of about 870,000 people.

Balido said another four people were killed on nearby Bohol island, where the epicenter of the quake was located, and another on Siquijor island. Dozens were injured.

He said at least eight people who had been queuing with others for government aid payments in Cebu were hurt in a stampede caused by the quake.

There were no reports of any foreign tourists among the casualties.

Airline Cebu Pacific canceled flights to Cebu and Bohol due to the aftershocks and partial damage to airports. Ferry services were also suspended.

Transport Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya told Philippine radio that parts of the Tagbilaran port in Bohol had cracked and collapsed.

The Philippine volcanology agency reported at least 20 aftershocks after the initial quake, which was measured at a depth of about 56 km (35 miles).

No tsunami warnings were issued although Indonesia's Disaster Mitigation Agency put out a precautionary warning of possible high waves for an area stretching from North Sulawesi to parts of Papua. It did not order any evacuations.

Archbishop Leonardo Medroso of Tagbilaran city in Bohol said two people were killed by falling debris while they praying in a church in the town of Loon. The church is Bohol's biggest and dates back to 1753.

He said a church in Loboc town was also damaged. Both churches were designated historical treasures, he said. The belfry of the Baclayon church in Bohol province had also crumbled and its facade cracked.

"The damages, at least based on our initial assessment, are enormous," Medroso told Philippine television.

"The quake was really strong. I am 75 years old already, I have undergone so many earthquakes, but this is the strongest I have experienced," he said.

Television pictures showed that the belfry of the Basilica Minore del Sto. Niño de Cebu, which was also built in the 1700s, had collapsed.

Strong quakes are not uncommon in the central Philippines.

Tens of thousands of people were ordered from their homes when a tsunami warning was issued after an undersea quake in the region in September 2012.

One person was killed in that quake, which resulted in only minor damage and small waves in some areas.

(Additional reporting by Manuel Mogato and Erik dela Cruz in MANILA and Jonathan Thatcher in JAKARTA; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/four-killed-building-collapse-philippines-quake-disaster-agency-013956602.html
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Hard road to world domination for Chinese firms

Beijing (AFP) - In the global contest for business Chinese brands struggle to rival big Western and Japanese names, but some are now looking to reinvent their identities to overcome image and political hurdles.

The world's second largest economy does not have a single one of the world's top 100 brands, as compiled by marketing consultancy Interbrand.

And according to a survey by HD Trade Services, 94 percent of Americans are unable to name a single Chinese brand, with a third saying they would not buy one they knew to be Chinese.

"Brand China has many problems -- transparency, ethical practices, treatment of employees, the quality of the products," Richard Edelman, head of public relations giant Edelman told a World Economic Forum meeting in Dalian.

"And unfortunately the China reputation for companies is too much overshadowed by reputation of government."

Chinese phone security company NQ Mobile dealt with the problem by effectively presenting itself as an American firm.

It created an entirely new headquarters in the Lone Star state, listed on Wall Street, has an American co-CEO brought over from US banking giant Citigroup, and its English website proclaims: "Made in Dallas, Texas".

Henry Lin, the group's founder, told AFP: "All our employees in the US are American people... the consumer will feel it's a US company.

"We divided the global market in two parts, developing countries, for which the headquarters is Beijing... and developed countries, with a headquarters in Dallas.

"If you can be successful in the US, you would be successful in western Europe, Japan, Australia."

Others are simply buying foreign firms, as decades of inward investment into China begins to move in the other direction.

Last month a $7.1 billion takeover by Shuanghui International was agreed by shareholders of US pork giant Smithfield Foods, the biggest ever Chinese acquisition of a US company.

Chinese car manufacturer Geely bought out Sweden's Volvo, while its rival Chery created a new brand, Qoros, in partnership with an Israeli group.

Most symbolically, electronics group Lenovo took over the PC arm of venerable US computer firm IBM in 2005, and went on to become the world's biggest PC maker.

'Corporate suicide'

But others prefer to stick with their own name, such as the world's top fridge maker Haier, or telecoms giant Huawei -- which has been described as one of the world's most controversial companies.

It generates 67 percent of its sales from outside China, and last year was listed among the top five companies in the world for numbers of patents.

But despite marketing its flagship smartphone as the world's slimmest, it struggles to compete with South Korea's Samsung and Apple of the US -- and faces accusations that it could be a spy agency masquerading as a commercial enterprise.

The US Congress last year ordered Huawei be excluded from public contracts, and Australia has banned the firm from providing its broadband networks.

Huawei's vice president Scott Sykes told AFP such moves were down to protectionism and fear of China.

"We've been in business for 26 years, we operate in 140 countries... and there has never been a security issue of any kind, in all that time and all these places," he said.

"We were accused of the potential for doing that, but nobody has ever proved that.

"Our motivation is commercial, if we ever do anything on the behalf of the Chinese government that would be corporate suicide, we'll lose 70 percent of our revenues, it would be foolish."

He prefers to stress Huawei's research and development spending, and points out that many of the West's biggest companies themselves have their products assembled in vast factories in China.

"The difference is that our headquarters is in China... this is about trade protectionism, it's about fear and lack of trust of China."

Sykes, an American hired in 2011, is not the only foreigner recruited by Chinese firms to a high-profile role.

In September, electronics company Xiaomi hired Hugo Barra, a former Google vice-president in charge of its Android operating system, to help it develop.

When Apple founder Steve Jobs died, many Chinese media outlets pointed out that despite the occasional figure such as Alibaba's Jack Ma, the emergence of such a major entrepreneur in China was unlikely because of an educational system that discourages creativity and risk taking.

But for James McGregor, China president of the US strategy group APCO Worldwide, it is the domination of the state sector that stifles innovation the most.

"China's private sector can innovate," he said, pointing to WeChat, a messaging app for smartphones made by Chinese Internet giant Tencent.

With 400 million users, only 100 million of them in China, WeChat is the fifth most downloaded app in the world according to GlobalWebIndex -- even ahead of Twitter.

But it too has had its hitches.

Early this year, several media outlets said Tencent had for a time imposed worldwide censorship on certain words considered "sensitive" in China -- a charge denied by the company.

Nonetheless McGregor said: "It's a Chinese product, it's very efficient, it's getting worldwide because it's a brilliant product."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hard-road-world-domination-chinese-firms-041729316.html
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Apple scores new victory in patent battle with Samsung

The Obama administration has overturned a US trade panel?s ban on the sale of some older iPhones and iPads, reversing a ruling that had favored Samsung Electronics over Apple in their long-running patent battles.

The US International Trade Commission in June banned the import or sale of the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G distributed by AT&T, saying the devices infringed a patent owned by the South Korean electronics giant.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman yesterday vetoed the ban, saying his decision was in part based on its ?effect on competitive conditions in the US economy and the effect on US consumers.? He said Samsung could continue to pursue its case through the courts.

The Irish Times takes no responsibility for the content or availability of other websites.

Samsung said it was ?disappointed? at the lifting of the ban. ?The ITC?s decision correctly recognised that Samsung has been negotiating in good faith and that Apple remains unwilling to take a licence,? it said in a statement.

Apple welcomed the news and applauded the administration ?for standing up for innovation?. It added, ?Samsung was wrong to abuse the patent system in this way.?

The Apple products targeted by the ITC ban are more than a year old, though some models such as the iPhone 4 remain solid sellers. Apple sells more than 100 million iPhones annually, but it does not break down sales by models.

Apple and Samsung have been waging a global patent war since 2010, filing multiple lawsuits against each other over the design and functionality of their devices.

This ITC ban is specific to a Samsung patent on technology that allows devices to transmit multiple services simultaneously and correctly through 3G wireless technology.

Such patents are called ?standard essential patents? and they cover technology that must be used to comply with standards set by industry organisations.

The Obama administration has been pressing for most infringements of standard essential patents to be punished by monetary fines instead of sales injunctions.

Mr Froman yetserday said the ITC should thoroughly examine the public interest ramifications of its rulings in disputes over standard essential patents.

Designed to be a trade panel, the ITC has become a popular venue for patent lawsuits because it acts relatively quickly and can order import bans, which are more difficult to get from district courts.

While the ITC was created to ensure that US companies can compete fairly against imports, a number of foreign companies with US manufacturing plants have filed patent complaints with the agency. Samsung has a plant in Austin, Texas.

ITC cases can be appealed to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and from there to the Supreme Court.

Apple has a parallel complaint filed against Samsung at the ITC, accusing the South Korean company of copying the iPhone and iPad. An ITC judge in that case found that Samsung had violated four out of six patents listed in the complaint. A final decision is due in August.

Samsung makes phones that run on Google?s Android operating software, the market leader. Apple has also sued other Android phone makers including HTC Corp for patent infringement. (Reuters)

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/851/f/10847/s/2f8a5c93/sc/21/l/0L0Sirishtimes0N0Cbusiness0Csectors0Ctechnology0Capple0Escores0Enew0Evictory0Ein0Epatent0Ebattle0Ewith0Esamsung0E10B1484323/story01.htm

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Details of Boston carjacking victim's ordeal comes out in Globe interview

>> we will revisit this.

>>> chilling details surrounding the tsarnaev brothers alleged plot to attack the heart of new york city after causing so much damage in boston . according to city officials, the two marathon bombing suspects discussed driving to new york to detonate their remaining explosives in a spontaneous assault on times square . at the time, their arsenal included five pipe bombs and one pressure cooker bomb similar to the ones used in last monday's deadly attack. police say the younger brother had visited times square once last year but their plan fell apart after realizing the mercedes-benz car they hijacked did not have enough car to get to new york . a pre- miranda rights interrogation of 19-year-old dzhokhar tsarnaev it appears the younger brother has stopped answering questions about the bombing since he was read his rights on monday night and that has sparked a debate among lawmakers how the government should handle domestic terror cases.

>> we can't have, in a case like than, the judiciary deciding because it's on tv and it might look bad for them to allow the public safety exemption that is deemed legal by the united states supreme court that they would somehow intercede in this, it is confusing and it's horrible god awful policy and danger to the greater community and we have got to get to the bottom of this and we have got to fix it right now.

>> tsarnaev was reportedly questioned by investigators up to 16 hours over the course of two days and answering questions mostly in writing due to the severe injury to his neck.

>> jane harman , there would be some people that would look at the fact that the plot in times square was foiled because they didn't have enough gas in their tank to get down to new york as a sign -- as a good sign that this was half-baked plot. it actually scares me that guys -- this ill-prepared could be running around with bombs. it's the sort of thing you're not going to pick up chatter. you're not going to pick up any clues from overseas. this is a sort of a random violence that we should all really be child by even more so than if they had some contacts overseas.

>> i agree. mike hayden said the other day, the former director of the cia , that this is the new normal. in this case, i think we will learn that some mistakes were made. we should have been on these guys earlier than we were, but this type of thing, self-radicalized people, in this case, maybe this fellow misha had a lot to do with radicalizing these kids. self-radicalized people who go on the internet and you can find the recipe for building pressure cooker bombs or pipe bombs or other kinds of small weapons can maybe sometimes get lucky and pull it off in this country. they have to be right once. we have to be right 100% of the time but on something that mika said just before, joe, she said mike rogers , among other things, perhaps, are complaining that this fellow was mirandaized. a liberal named george will had an op-ed in "the washington post " yesterday talking about incarcerating the japanese during world war ii and made the point if we live by our values and we follow the rule of law, we do better and, in this case, i think when we look back on all of this, the way we handled the investigation and the prosecution of this fellow who for sure, i think based on the evidence we know who likely will be convicted, will be a model for the world and it will show people that we followed the rule of law here and that is what we have to do.

>> as congresswoman harmon is talking we are getting word that dzhokhar tsarnaev has been transported from beth israel hospital to prison. we are talking about his physical condition. apparently it's upgraded to the point they have taken him out of the hospital new and he has been moved to a prison in massachusetts. one of the people we haven't talked about a lot but we have heard about is this guy who was car-jacked a week ago. he is a 26-year-old chinese man in this black mercedes suv and come to boston to go to grad school and now working on a start-up. he lives in boston . he gets car-jacked around 11:00 last thursday night and taken on an interview with "the boston globe " a 90-minute ride. remember it was reported 30 minutes ? he says it's 90-minute ride. you have to talk about this key to these two brothers being caught. he said finally after this 90 minutes they realized they don't have enough gas to get to manhattan and pull up to a gas station and turns out it's cash only. so they have to go inside. one of the brothers has to go inside the gas station to pay. at that point, this guy who calls himself danny, didn't want to give his real name, makes a decision even though the other brother is in the back seat that is going to bolt. this is life and death . he unbuckles the seat belt and he said he ran in an angle that would be hard for the brother to shoot him. he runs across the street to another gas station and tells the attendant to call 911. he left his iphone in the car so it could be tracked and traced. it's a remarkable account if you have a chance to read "the boston globe " about two and a half hour interview where he gives a moment-by-moment recap and he is critical to these two guys being caught.

>> no doubt. that is when everything started unraveling for them and there was even the moment where his friend kept calling him up and he said if you speak in mandarin, i'm going to kill you right here. you get to the part where the brother was doing an english mandarin translation to tell him what to text back to his friend and the guy just kept his head and was responsible for these two terrorists being caught.

>> the reason the i phone was left in the car? the two brothers wanted to listen to music so he plugged in his iphone to the car.

>> oh, my lord!

>> so the phone was not on his body, it was plugged into the car.

>> runs across the street to a mob mobil station and they call 911.

>> it speaks to a new normal which congresswoman harman was touching on. i find your sentiment far more alarming than anything else. deval patrick , the governor, i thought handled it so well. he said the next day the young tsarnaev went to school and went to the gym and paertrtied with friends as if nothing had happen. going forward for law enforcement , how do you track this and what steps to prevent this from going forward? an e in the course challenge for law enforcement and intelligence officials going forward.

>> one of the tragedies, though, is president kennedy saw this. he said if someone wants to trade their life for mine, no way i can be protected. men with guns change history, whether it's sarajevo or memphis in 1968 . the day before, you broke in and you said this guy, these people are going to do than, everybody would go, come on, they could never pull this off, but they did.

>> jane?

>> yeah. the nypd has a lot of tools that other local police departments may have to learn about. of course, new york is a much bigger target and so is washington. perhaps than boston or someplace in the midwest. but they have a thousand intelligence officers . they have a huge police department . 35,000 people compared to 2,000 in boston . i think that's the number. obviously, a bigger population. but they can detect signs early. for example the older brother was thrown out of his mosque and there was behavior there they would pick up because they built trust with the muslim community . let's be clear that all would-be radicalized people are not muslim but nonetheless they can pick up signs and follow these people much more closely and they have thwarted a lot of plots. we have been successful more than we have failed in blocking plots against our country.

>> yes.

>> and these small bore plots, i know a lot of people were hurt but this is nothing like 9/11, are going to be in our future and if we have better intel in our local police departments, we're going to do better getting ahead of the curve, even with people like this who are substantially invisible.

>> jane harman , thank you so much. on monday, we will be marking six months since superstorm sandy devastated the eastern seaboard . we will be live from some of the hardest hit spots and see how they are recovering.

>>> coming up, mike florio will join us to break down the nfl draft .

>> thanks, willie.

>> trickalso chemical war fare in syria. richard haass weighs in on the significant developments in that conflict. chadwick boseman describes his role as the great jackie robinson .

>> great movie.

>> a new article "the atlantic" says changing technology means we may never run out of oil. james bennett is here to explain.

>> there you go!

>> the top stories coming up next and the political playbook.

>>> first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill?

>> good morning. it's a nice happy forecast for so many people in this country as we head to a nice, warm weekend for once. just about everywhere on the map. we are going to have some rain to deal with but first recap yesterday. one of the warmest days we have seen in montana, colorado through the central plains . it was beautiful. the last spot to warm up is minneapolis, north wards and up through the great lakes. that warm air coming your way this weekend. we do have a little bit of rain this morning. kansas city and st. louis that's going to head for louisville, nashville, memphis, little rock and tulsa during the day today so you need your umbrellas. tomorrow a lot of that rain will be in kentucky and tennessee. although it's warm, it will be, unfortunately, a little bit wet. here is your forecast into the weekend. starting with today, another great day from new york to boston to d.c. it is a little chilly in the northeast this morning but this afternoon, perfect. then the weekend forecast look at minneapolis. about time! 72 warm degrees! you're going to be the same temperature as atlanta because the southeast you're going to be dodging the raindrops all weekend long and maybe even a few thunderstorms mixed in too and wrap it up with your sunday forecast and notice kansas city , you deserve that after the spring you had. 74 and sunny beautiful degrees! overall, this is a thumb's up weekend. the only exception being the rain in the southeast. you're watching " morning joe ," brewed by starbucks.

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653381/s/2b35495f/l/0Lvideo0Bmsnbc0Bmsn0N0Cid0C51672911/story01.htm

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Olivia Wilde Talks Bringing 'The Rider And The Storm' To Tribeca

For the third time in four years, Olivia Wilde, with her partners David Darg and Bryn Mooser, has brought a short-form documentary to the Tribeca Film Festival, but this year, their project has a special significance to the city of New York. "The Rider and the Storm" tells the story of Timmy Brennan, an avid [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2013/04/26/olivia-wilde-tribeca/

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FAA orders inspection of Boeing 737 tail planes

(Reuters) - The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has ordered an inspection of more than 1,000 U.S.-registered Boeing 737 jets to examine the tail planes for a potentially faulty part, which it said could cause pilots to lose control of the aircraft if it failed.

The airworthiness directive (AD) issued by the FAA calls on airlines and other operators to replace tail plane fixing pins with improved pins following concerns over how their protective surface coating was applied.

"We are issuing this AD to prevent premature failure of the attach pins, which could cause reduced structural integrity of the horizontal stabilizer to fuselage attachment, resulting in loss of control of the airplane," the FAA said in the directive issued on Monday.

The airworthiness directive was posted on the website of Federal Register (http://link.reuters.com/pyb47t) and was first reported by the Wall Street Journal late on Sunday.

The FAA said the inspection was "prompted by reports of an incorrect procedure used to apply the wear and corrosion protective surface coating to attach pins of the horizontal stabilizer rear spar."

FAA said its directive affects 1,050 aircraft flown by U.S. carriers and may cost up to $10.1 million across the fleet, or up to $9,627 per aircraft.

The directive applies to models including 737-600, 737-700, 737-700C, 737-800, 737-900, and 737-900ER series aircraft.

Boeing could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside of regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore; Editing by Greg Mahlich)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/faa-orders-inspection-boeing-737-tail-planes-071555623--finance.html

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As U.S. talks up diplomacy, N. Korea takes hard line

TOKYO (AP) ? The United States and Japan opened the door Sunday to new nuclear talks with North Korea if the saber-rattling country lowered tensions and honored past agreements, even as it rejected South Korea's latest offer of dialogue as a "crafty trick."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters in Tokyo that North Korea would find "ready partners" in the United States if it began abandoning its nuclear program.

Japan's foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, also demanded a resolution to a dispute concerning Japanese citizens abducted decades ago by North Korean officials.

The diplomats seemed to point the way for a possible revival of the six-nation talks that have been suspended for four years.

China long pushed has for the process to resume without conditions. But the U.S. and allies South Korea and Japan fear rewarding North Korea for its belligerence and endless repetition of a cycle of tensions and failed talks that have prolonged the crisis.

Kerry's message of openness to diplomacy was clear, however unlikely the chances appeared that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's government would meet the American's conditions.

"I'm not going to be so stuck in the mud that an opportunity to actually get something done is flagrantly wasted because of a kind of predetermined stubbornness," he told U.S.-based journalists.

"You have to keep your mind open. But fundamentally, the concept is they're going to have to show some kind of good faith here so we're not going to around and around in the same-old, same-old," he said.

Tensions have run high on the Korean Peninsula for months, with North Korea testing a nuclear device and its intercontinental ballistic missile technology.

The reclusive communist state hasn't stopped there. It has issued almost daily threats that have included possible nuclear strikes against the United States. Analysts and foreign officials say that is still beyond the North Koreans' capability.

While many threats have been dismissed as bluster, U.S. and South Korean say they believe the North in the coming days may test a mid-range missile designed to reach as far as Guam, the U.S. territory in the Pacific where the Pentagon is deploying a land-based missile-defense system.

Japan is the last stop on a 10-day trip overseas for Kerry, who visited Seoul and Beijing as well in recent days.

In South Korea, he strongly warned North Korea not to launch a missile and he reaffirmed U.S. defense of its allies in the region. In China, he secured a public pledge from Beijing, the lone government with significant influence over North Korea, to rid the North of nuclear weapons.

Before returning to the United States, Kerry planned a speech Monday in Japan on the Obama administration's Asia policy.

So far, Republican lawmakers in the U.S. have largely backed the administration's efforts on North Korea.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., told CBS' "Face the Nation" that he was encouraged by Kerry's China visit and that he hoped "we can get the Chinese to care more about this issue.

U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona suggested on CNN's "State of the Union" that the U.S. make a counter-threat by using missile interceptors to hit any North Korean missile that is test-fired.

At each stop along his trip, Kerry stressed that the United States wanted a peaceful resolution of the North Korea situation six decades after a cease-fire ended the Korean War.

But North Korea on Sunday served a reminder of the difficult task ahead. Its Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea said the government had no intention of talking with Seoul unless the South abandons its confrontational posture, as the North called it.

Seoul had pressed North Korea to discuss restarting operations at a joint factory park on the border and President Park Geun-hye has stressed peace opportunities after taking power from her more hard-line predecessor, Lee Myung-bak. The presidency expressed regret with North Korea's rebuttal Sunday.

At a news conference in Tokyo, Kerry stressed that gaining China's commitment to a denuclearized North Korea was no small matter given its historically strong military and economic ties to North Korea.

But he refused to say what the Chinese were offering to do concretely to pressure the North into abiding by some of the conditions it agreed to in a 2005 deal that required it to abandon its nuclear program.

"They have to take some actions," Kerry said of North Korea. "How many or how much? I'd have to talk to folks back in Washington about that. But if the Chinese came to us and said, 'Look, here's what we have cooking,' I'm not going to tell you I'm shutting the door today to something that's logical and might have a chance of success."

In remarks to U.S. journalists, Kerry said that under the right circumstances, he even would consider making a grand overture to North Korea's leader, such as an offer of direct talks with the U.S.

"We're prepared to reach out," he said. Diplomacy, he added, required risk-taking and secrecy such as when President Richard Nixon engaged China in the 1970s or U.S. back-channel talks were able to end the Cuban missile crisis a decade earlier.

Given their proximity and decades of hostility and distrust, Japan and South Korea have the most to fear from the North's unpredictable actions.

Kerry clarified a statement he made Saturday in Beijing, when he told reporters the U.S. could scale back its missile-defense posture in the region if North Korea goes nuclear-free.

It appeared to be a sweetener to coax tougher action from a Chinese government which has eyed the increased U.S. military presence in its backyard warily, but which has done little over the years to snuff out funding and support for North Korea's weapons of mass destruction program.

Kerry said America's basic force posture wasn't up to debate. "There is no discussion that I know of to change that," he said.

But he said it was logical that additional missile-defense elements, deployed specifically in response to the Korean threat, could be reversed if that threat no longer existed.

"I was simply making an observation about the rationale for that particular deployment, which is to protect the United States' interests that are directly threatened by North Korea," he said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-talks-diplomacy-nkorea-takes-hard-line-160454630--politics.html

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