MEXICO CITY ? Prosecutors announced Monday they have found another clandestine grave holding 10 bodies in the northern Mexico state of Durango, bringing to 14 the number of such burial sites found in the state this year.
Soldiers found the 10 bodies last week in a field on the outskirts of the state capital, also called Durango, said Raymundo Enriquez, the spokesman for the Durango state prosecutors’ office.
The total number of bodies believed related to drug gang violence found so far this year in clandestine graves in Durango now stands at 287, including the most recent discovery.
The sheer number of bodies overwhelmed the Durango forensic examiner’s storage facilities, forcing authorities to rent a refrigerated truck. Authorities have so far been able to identify only about two dozen of the bodies; most have been buried again in common graves, after no relatives claimed them.
Police in the city of Durango have offered no motives in the killings, but officials have said the killings are the result of an internal power struggle within the Sinaloa drug cartel, Mexico’s most powerful gang.
Also Monday, prosecutors say two mutilated bodies were found scattered in the plaza of a central Mexican town while a boy was killed around the same time in what police say may have been a related crime.
The Morelos state Attorney General’s Office said a young man’s torso was found early Monday on a basketball court in the town of Pueblo Viejo south of Mexico City. The rest of his body and the other victim’s remains were found Monday in the town’s plaza.
Authorities said they found a knife-carved message on the torso but didn’t reveal the content. Drug gangs often use grisly displays of violence to intimidate rival groups.
A news statement said the attack may be related to the fatal shooting of a 16-year-old boy also found early Monday morning.
Mexico’s tax service, which controls customs operations, also announced Monday that authorities had found 480 drums containing almost 100 metric tons of precursor chemicals used to make methamphetamines at the Pacific coast port of Lazaro Cardenas, in western Michoacan state.
The service said in a statement the chemical, methylamine, had arrived in a shipment from Shanghai. Its final destination, according to shipping documents, was the Guatemalan port of Puerto Quetzal.
The port is located in the home territory of the Knights Templar drug cartel, but the Sinaloa and Zetas cartels have been more active in Central America.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111220/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico
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NEW YORK?? It’s been 30 years since gasoline took such a big bite out of the family budget.
When the gifts from Grandma are unloaded and holiday travel is over, the typical American household will have spent $4,155 filling up this year, a record. That is 8.4 percent of what the median family takes in, the highest share since 1981.
Gas averaged more than $3.50 a gallon this year, another unfortunate record. And next year isn’t likely to bring relief.
In the past, high gas prices in the United States have gone hand-in-hand with economic good times, making them less damaging to family finances. Now prices are high despite slow economic growth and weak demand.
That’s because demand for crude oil is rising globally, especially in the developing nations of Asia and Latin America. But it puts the squeeze on the U.S., where unemployment is high and many people who have jobs aren’t getting raises.
The trap has caught Michael Reed of Charlotte, N.C. He hasn’t been able to find work since he lost his computer-support job in 2009. Now high gas prices are claiming more of what he has left. He and his wife won’t exchange gifts this Christmas.
“I try to drive as little as possible so it doesn’t take such a chunk out of my wallet,” he says.
In 1981, when the economy was sliding into recession and oil prices were high because of Middle East turmoil, gas ate up 8.8 percent of the typical family budget, says Fred Rozell of the Oil Price Information Service.
Over the past decade, gas has taken up 5.7 percent of the family budget. If families had spent only 5.7 percent this year, they would have saved $1,300.
For this year, gas should average $3.53 per gallon. That’s 76 cents more than last year. It’s 29 cents per gallon more than 2008, when gas last set an annual record, $3.24. That year, the price of oil hit a record in the summer but collapsed when the financial crisis struck in the fall.
Besides leaving families less money to eat out and go to the movies, high gas prices take a disproportionate toll on consumer confidence. People are more aware of small changes in gas prices because they drive past the signs all the time.
And a buck spent on gas has less bang in the economy than, say, a dollar spent at a restaurant. The U.S. is an oil-importing country, so many of the dollars spent on gas ultimately leave the country instead of being invested here in new ventures and jobs.
The Bottom Line: In role reversal, US on track to be an oil exporter
James Hamilton, an economics professor at the University of California, San Diego, who studies energy prices, estimates that high gasoline prices reduced economic growth by about 0.5 percent for the year ? a substantial hit for an economy only growing at an annual rate of about 2 percent.
Still, it could be worse. The U.S. economy is much more fuel-efficient than it was during the oil spikes of the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1980, for every $1,000 of economic output, 1.07 barrels of oil were consumed. By 2010, it took half that ? 0.53 barrels, says Judith Dwarkin, chief energy economist at ITG Investment Research.
Today, the U.S. uses almost no oil to generate electricity. The percentage of households using heating oil has fallen. And vehicles are less thirsty than ever ? 20 percent more fuel-efficient than they were in 1980.
Also, the low price of natural gas has kept heating and electricity costs down for the same households spending more on gas.
Relief from high gas prices is nowhere in sight, though. Ed Morse, head of commodities research at Citibank, expects oil to average $100 per barrel next year, which would eclipse 2011′s average of about $95 per barrel.
Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at OPIS, expects gasoline prices to approach $4 per gallon again next spring.
Drivers are keeping gas guzzlers in the driveway, combining trips and buying more efficient cars. Compared with the year before, American gas consumption has been down every week for more than nine months, according to MasterCard SpendingPulse, a spending survey.
But that only helps so much. Hunter Collins, a software support technician who lives in Richmond, Maine, commutes 40 miles each way to his job in Falmouth. He has started to carpool with a colleague and to take his wife’s more fuel-efficient car to work when it is his turn to drive.
It’s still not enough. He says he’s going to sell his beloved 8-cylinder Dodge Charger. “She’s my baby, but I’m going to have to switch to something more economical,” he says.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45727067/ns/business-oil_and_energy/
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From Parisian fashion shows to presidential powwows, Gaga was everywhere in 2011 — and MTV News followed her every step of the way.
By James Montgomery
Lady Gaga
Photo: Getty Images
As 2011 draws to a close, it’s difficult to look back over the past 12 months and not remember all the headlines made by one Lady Gaga.
Unlike some of her pop contemporaries, Gaga never seemed to take a day off. Hers was an unending, 365-day news cycle, a constant stream of tabloid speculation, Twitter missives, high-gloss fashion shoots, globe-spanning promotional appearances, red-carpet escapades, super-secret video projects, television specials and political stunts. On top of all that, she somehow also found time to release Born This Way, not only the year’s most anticipated album, but one of its most thought-provoking and forward-thinking too. At the end of the third year of her reign, it’s no longer a question of when she sleeps, but if she does at all.
So it’s little wonder that, as MTV News counts down our Top Newsmakers of 2011, Lady Gaga sits at #1. Bringing you every aspect of her every whim was practically a full-time job, one requiring its own team of tireless reporters, editors and producers (“MTV News: Special Gaga Unit”). And they were in overdrive from the very beginning of the year, when Gaga premiered the first Born This Way track at a Thierry Mugler fashion show in January, then followed that up by debuting the album’s title track and arriving at the Grammys “Born This Way” and “Judas”), both of which were prologue to the release of the BTW album itself, a massive, multi-pronged promotional masterstroke that saw her appear everywhere from “Oprah” to “Ellen” and partner with everyone from Amazon to Zynga. She also guest-edited several publications, premiered an in-depth documentary, “Inside the Outside,” live on MTV and greeted fans on the eve of BTW‘s debut in New York City.
In short, she was everywhere, and her hard work (and 99-cent Amazon pricing plan) paid off, as Born This Way sold 1.1 million copies in its first week, the most of any album since 50 Cent’s The Massacre in 2005. The album held on to #1 on the Billboard albums chart in its second week, too, making it one of the only releases this year to (temporarily) displace Adele’s 21 from the top spot.
Once her album was out, if anything, Gaga only ramped up her schedule, premiering even more music videos, announcing a photo book and opening the 2011 Video Music Awards as her alter ego, Jo Calderone. As 2011 entered the home stretch, she met with President Obama to discuss the bullying epidemic, announced she was already working on the follow-up to Born This Way and basked in the glow of her three Grammy nominations, including a nod for Album of the Year, and plotted a massive 2012 world tour.
And, with that last bit of news, she basically assured that she very well be next year’s Top Newsmaker too. Don’t worry, we’re already clearing our schedules.
Over the past 12 months, Gaga not only continued her rule as the most-famous person on the planet, she expanded her empire. Her fame was hard-earned, and she doesn’t show any signs of relinquishing it anytime soon. Because above all else, Gaga is our most tireless superstar.
MTV continues our Best of 2011 coverage by looking back at the biggest pop-culture stories of the year. As we count down the newsmakers that mattered to you most, also check out our Best Artists, Best Songs, Best MTV Live Performances and Best EDM Artists of 2011.
Related Videos
Related Photos
Related Artists
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676271/top-newsmaker-2011-lady-gaga.jhtml
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From Parisian fashion shows to presidential powwows, Gaga was everywhere in 2011 — and MTV News followed her every step of the way.
By James Montgomery
Lady Gaga
Photo: Getty Images
As 2011 draws to a close, it’s difficult to look back over the past 12 months and not remember all the headlines made by one Lady Gaga.
Unlike some of her pop contemporaries, Gaga never seemed to take a day off. Hers was an unending, 365-day news cycle, a constant stream of tabloid speculation, Twitter missives, high-gloss fashion shoots, globe-spanning promotional appearances, red-carpet escapades, super-secret video projects, television specials and political stunts. On top of all that, she somehow also found time to release Born This Way, not only the year’s most anticipated album, but one of its most thought-provoking and forward-thinking too. At the end of the third year of her reign, it’s no longer a question of when she sleeps, but if she does at all.
So it’s little wonder that, as MTV News counts down our Top Newsmakers of 2011, Lady Gaga sits at #1. Bringing you every aspect of her every whim was practically a full-time job, one requiring its own team of tireless reporters, editors and producers (“MTV News: Special Gaga Unit”). And they were in overdrive from the very beginning of the year, when Gaga premiered the first Born This Way track at a Thierry Mugler fashion show in January, then followed that up by debuting the album’s title track and arriving at the Grammys encased in a space-age egg (of course).
By the time the calendar read May, she had unveiled a pair of big-budget music videos (for “Born This Way” and “Judas”), both of which were prologue to the release of the BTW album itself, a massive, multi-pronged promotional masterstroke that saw her appear everywhere from “Oprah” to “Ellen” and partner with everyone from Amazon to Zynga. She also guest-edited several publications, premiered an in-depth documentary, “Inside the Outside,” live on MTV and greeted fans on the eve of BTW‘s debut in New York City.
In short, she was everywhere, and her hard work (and 99-cent Amazon pricing plan) paid off, as Born This Way sold 1.1 million copies in its first week, the most of any album since 50 Cent’s The Massacre in 2005. The album held on to #1 on the Billboard albums chart in its second week, too, making it one of the only releases this year to (temporarily) displace Adele’s 21 from the top spot.
Once her album was out, if anything, Gaga only ramped up her schedule, premiering even more music videos, announcing a photo book and opening the 2011 Video Music Awards as her alter ego, Jo Calderone. As 2011 entered the home stretch, she met with President Obama to discuss the bullying epidemic, announced she was already working on the follow-up to Born This Way and basked in the glow of her three Grammy nominations, including a nod for Album of the Year, and plotted a massive 2012 world tour.
And, with that last bit of news, she basically assured that she very well be next year’s Top Newsmaker too. Don’t worry, we’re already clearing our schedules.
Over the past 12 months, Gaga not only continued her rule as the most-famous person on the planet, she expanded her empire. Her fame was hard-earned, and she doesn’t show any signs of relinquishing it anytime soon. Because above all else, Gaga is our most tireless superstar.
MTV continues our Best of 2011 coverage by looking back at the biggest pop-culture stories of the year. As we count down the newsmakers that mattered to you most, also check out our Best Artists, Best Songs, Best MTV Live Performances and Best EDM Artists of 2011.
Related Videos
Related Photos
Related Artists
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676271/top-newsmaker-2011-lady-gaga.jhtml
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GREENSBORO, N.C. ? As the last U.S. troops withdrew from Iraq on Sunday, friends and family of the first and last American fighters killed in combat cherished their memories rather than dwelling on whether the war and their sacrifice was worth it.
Nearly 4,500 American fighters died before the last U.S. troops crossed the border into Kuwait. David Hickman, 23, of Greensboro was the last of those war casualties, killed in November by the kind of improvised bomb that was a signature weapon of this war.
“David Emanuel Hickman. Doesn’t that name just bring out a smile to your face?” said Logan Trainum, one of Hickman’s closest friends, at the funeral where the soldier was laid to rest after a ceremony in a Greensboro church packed with friends and family.
Trainum says he’s not spending time asking why Hickman died: “There aren’t enough facts available for me to have a defined opinion about things. I’m just sad, and pray that my best friend didn’t lay down his life for nothing.”
He’d rather remember who Hickman was: A cutup who liked to joke around with friends. A physical fitness fanatic who half-kiddingly called himself “Zeus” because he had a body that would make the gods jealous. A ferocious outside linebacker at Northeast Guilford High School who was the linchpin of a defense so complicated they had to scrap it after he graduated because no other teenager could figure it out.
Hickman was these things and more, a whole life scarcely glimpsed in the terse language of a Defense Department news release last month. Three paragraphs said Hickman died in Baghdad on Nov. 14, “of injuries suffered after encountering an improvised explosive device.”
He was more, too, than the man who bears the symbolic freight of being the last member of the U.S. military to die in a war launched in the political shadow of 9/11, which brought thousands of his fellow citizens out into the streets to oppose and support it. Eventually, the war largely faded from the public’s thoughts.
“There’s a lot of people, in my family included, they don’t know what’s going on in this world,” said Wes Needham, who coached linebackers at Northeast when David was a student. “They’re oblivious to it. I just sit and think about it, the courage that it takes to do what they do, especially when they’re all David’s age.”
And they were mostly young. According to an Associated Press analysis of casualty data, the average age of Americans who died in Iraq was 26. Nearly 1,300 were 22 or younger, but middle-aged people fought and died as well: some 511 were older than 35.
“I’ve trained a lot of kids. They go to college and you kind of lose track of them and forget them,” said Mike King of Greensboro Black Belt Academy, where Hickman trained in taekwondo for about eight years. “He was never like that. That smile and that laugh immediately come to mind.”
The pain is fresh for people who knew Hickman. But the years have not eased the anguish of those who lost loved ones in the war’s earliest days, when funerals were broadcast live on local television, before the country became numb to the casualty count.
Vicky Langley’s son, Marine Pvt. Jonathan Lee Gifford, was killed just two days into the war. More than eight years later she sits in her Decatur, Ill. home, surrounded by photographs of him and even a couple of paintings of him in his dress uniform that total strangers created and sent her.
She said she doesn’t concern herself with thoughts about the cost of the war and whether it was worth the life of her son and all the others who died.
“Only the Iraqi people can answer that,” she said.
She thinks of her son constantly. She recalls the first day of kindergarten and how she came home and “turned on every appliance I could (because) it was just so quiet without him.” She remembers how as a young man he would call her, without fail, when the first snow of the year started to fall. She still hears the knock at her door at 11 at night, and the chaplain telling her that her 30-year-old son had been killed in Iraq.
And she sees him in the 4-year-old daughter he left behind, who is now 12. Lexie Gifford’s thin frame and face are miniature versions of her father’s, her smile a replica of his. She has the same slow, I’ll-get-there-when-I-get-there walk. For a reason nobody understands, a while back started popping frozen French fries in her mouth just like her dad used to do.
As the last troops prepared to leave Iraq, Langley was getting ready.
“I’ll probably sit and cry,” said Langley, 58. “I’ll be happy for the ones you can be happy for and sad for the ones you are sad for.”
Langley’s life has been one catastrophe after another since her son died. The next year her husband died. Then months later, doctors told her the reason she was feeling poorly was that her kidneys had shut down. That was followed by a fall and a broken back. Today, as she waits for her name to come up on a list for a kidney transplant, she gets around the house she shares with her mother in a motorized scooter.
The one thing she doesn’t have, she said, is guilt. Though she talked her son out of enlisting in the military a couple times over the years, the reasons began and ended with concerns about the safety for her only child.
But after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, she knew there would be no talking him out of enlisting. Besides, she said, “If I was young enough I would have gone in, too.”
Even though the country’s mood was much different in 2009 when Hickman joined the Army, he had no doubts about his decision, Trainum said.
“When I talked with him on the phone a week before, he wasn’t unhappy about where he was or regretting being there at all,” Trainum said. “It was just going to work for him, and he was looking forward to getting his work done and getting home.”
Hickman, Gifford and the others left behind parents and spouses and children like Lexie, whose memories of her Marine father are what one might expect of a girl who was four when she last saw him.
“He popped out of a Christmas box,” she said, of the Christmas just before Gifford was deployed, when he hid inside a large box to surprise his daughter. “He was tall. He had brown hair. He was nice.”
The losses linger for people who saw the flag-draped coffins come home.
“I used to watch all the war stories on TV, you know,” said Needham, Hickman’s old coach. “But since this happened to David, I can’t watch that stuff anymore. I just think: That’s how he died.”
______
Associated Press news researcher Monika Mathur contributed to this report. Babwin reported from Decatur, Ill.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111218/ap_on_re_us/us_iraq_last_death
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A dispute over who would take the fall if something goes wrong inside struggling schools is delaying a federally funded turnaround effort that had already gotten off to a slow start.
As part of its application to secure school improvement grants, the city agreed to hand over operations to independent education organizations at 14 of its lowest-performing schools through a process called ?restart.? The Department of Education selected six nonprofits to take over the reins at those schools, awarding them more than $17 million altogether.
But four months since those groups have entered the schools and begun work, the money remains in the city coffers.
The sticking point is that city lawyers want the groups, known as educational partnership organizations, to cover their own legal costs?for any litigation?brought by teachers, principals, staff or students in the schools they?re working in.
The proposition is controversial because the groups are replacing an authority figure ? the superintendent ? who does not actually carry any of the liability costs. The DOE is effectively an insurance carrier for superintendents, so when a lawsuit challenges, for example, a teacher rating that the superintendent signed off on, the DOE bears the legal costs.
The EPOs said they assumed they would have the same protection against legal liability, known as indemnification, because the state?s regulations mandate that they adopt all of the roles and responsibilities of each school?s superintendent. But according to several EPO directors, the city?s initial contract language treats them like vendors providing services to the schools, not managing everything from hiring to budgeting to discipline.
?It?s been several months of frustration over what we see as a fairly straightforward issue,? said a program director from one of the EPOs. ?We feel we should be covered to the same extent that a superintendent would be covered in the case of a lawsuit.?
?You?re asking us to be superintendents in these schools and that?s a very complicated role to play,??added the director, who?wanted to remain anonymous because he wasn?t authorized to speak about the negotiations.
Doug Elmer, director of Diplomas Now,?which is working at Sheepshead Bay High School and Newtown High School, said the absence of signed contracts wouldn?t inhibit work being done in the schools. Diplomas Now has managed to stay afloat financially with money from the Investing in Inovation fund, Elmer said.?At both Sheepshead Bay and Newtown, they?ve added 9th grade academies, hired more than a dozen consultants and extended day schedules.
But Elmer acknowledged that the lack of a contract could soon have an effect.?Sheepshead Bay principal Reesa Levy has announced she is retiring at the end of the month and, as a restart school, the new EPO should have the authority to replace her. Without the contract in place, Elmer said, that role is still reserved for the current superintendent. Elmer said Diplomas Now is working closely with the current superintendent, Aimee Horowitz,?to evaluate candidates, but would prefer not to hire a new principal until the contract is in writing.
?We?d feel a little more comfortable if there?s a contract signed,? said Elmer.
Of the four federally mandated improvement strategies, the city pursued the restart model to be a relatively safe political bet earlier this year because it did not require immediate staff firings and therefore could be used without sign off from the unions.
DOE officials declined to comment about difficulties in implementing restart, but the roll out has drawn fire since it was first announced in August.
Ernest Logan, president of the Council of School Supervisors and Administrators, which represents principals, immediately expressed doubt about the plans, saying that the city was distancing itself from struggling schools at a time when it should be dedicating more energy to them.?Logan reiterated that sentiment?earlier this month in response to the city?s decision to close more than two dozen struggling schools:
The Bloomberg administration needs to take more responsibility, not less, for schools that are not doing well, rather than turning them over to private entities like EPOs or closing them and washing their hands of a deep-rooted problem that it has been unsuccessful in remedying.
The bumpy transition in the restart schools comes even as the DOE is supposed to submit plans to overhaul another 10 struggling schools to the state by the end of the month. Those plans will have to be approved by the state education department before they can be implemented.
Last month, New York State Board of Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch?indicated that she?s not happy with the city?s turnaround plan in at least one restart school. After visiting Automotive High School, a restart school that?she?referred?to as a ?warehouse? for needy students, Tisch said she had observed little evidence of improvement.
?These contracts haven?t been signed yet and the people aren?t in place,? Tisch told GothamSchools last month. ?I find it to be very troubling.?
?It was an obligation to get this money and I will not be happy to spend good money after bad,? Tisch said.
Source: http://gothamschools.org/2011/12/19/city-nonprofits-at-odds-over-legal-liability-at-14-restart-schools/
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TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japan scurried to prepare for the unexpected on Monday after news that Kim Jong-il, the leader of its unpredictable neighbor North Korea, had died of a heart attack.
“I’ve issued three orders, which are to strengthen our intelligence gathering capability, to cooperate with officials from the United States, South Korea and China, and to be prepared for the unexpected,” Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters.
“We cannot allow Kim’s death to harm peace and stability on the Korean peninsula.”
Ministers at a security meeting earlier on Monday reached no conclusion on whether to raise the level of alert for Japan’s military.
Still, the government faces a tense end to the year as Noda prepares to visit China and complete important policies for the domestic economy, which include the budget for the fiscal year from next April and tax increases to cover welfare spending.
“I ordered each division within the ministry to do their utmost in information gathering and in staying vigilant and watchful,” a Defense Ministry spokesman quoted Defense Minister Yasuo Ichikawa as saying.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura stressed the need to watch risks related to the succession. “At present, we have no confirmation on the successor but we’re closely watching. According to the North Korean announcement, they will accept people expressing condolences from December 20 to 27 and the funeral will be held on December 28 in Pyongyang,” he said.
Kim died of a heart attack on Saturday while travelling by train, state media reported on Monday, sparking immediate concern over who is in control of the reclusive state and its nuclear program.
Japan’s ties with North Korea, with which it has no diplomatic relations, have long been fraught due to Pyongyang’s bitterness over Japan’s 1910-1945 occupation of the Korean peninsula, Tokyo’s worries about North Korea’s missile and nuclear programs, and Japanese anger over the abduction of its citizens by North Korean agents decades ago.
ANXIOUS WAIT
Talks to normalize ties between Tokyo and Pyongyang have been halted for years with the issue of the Japanese abductees, an emotional subject in Japan, a major obstacle.
Kim Jong-un, the youngest son of Kim Jong-il, was named by North Korea’s official news agency KCNA as the “great successor” to his father. Little is known of Jong-un, who is believed to be in his late 20s and was appointed to senior political and military posts in 2010.
“Kim’s death could represent an opportunity as his stance was that the abduction issue had been resolved and there was no room for negotiation,” said Shigeo Iizuka, who heads a group of families of abductees and whose younger sister was taken to North Korea in 1978 when she was 22.
“However, there are still questions as to whether his successor will continue his father’s dictatorship or whether he will change the country for its own sake.”
The report of Kim’s death grabbed immediate headlines in Japan, where newspapers issued extra editions.
Some Tokyo residents said they were concerned about what would happen next inside the borders of their unpredictable neighbor.
“I am worried indeed. I am very interested in knowing how this will all turn out,” 73-year-old retiree Kosuke Yoshimasa told Reuters.
Another retiree, Michiko Matsuzaki, 68, sounded a note of cautious optimism. “I hope this will lead North Korea to become more democratic,” she said.
Japan, like others in the region, will be watching to see what stance Pyongyang adopts towards the outside world following Kim Jong-il’s death and whether Kim Jong-un can consolidate his power.
“At present, when they are trying to firm up their internal regime they are more likely to prioritize firming domestic stability rather than trying to boost tension with the outside,” said Tadashi Kimiya, a Tokyo University professor who specializes in Korean affairs.
“If the government cannot exercise control there will be confusion and instability,” he added.
Kimiya said he did not expect any sudden flood of refugees from North Korea headed for Japan, nor did he think Pyongyang’s military was likely to take aggressive action.
Security was tight at the Tokyo headquarters of the General Association of Korean Residents of Japan, Pyongyang’s de facto diplomatic mission in Japan, where a North Korean flag flew at half-mast.
Japan has about 400,000 permanent residents who are ethnic Koreans backing either Seoul or Pyongyang, many of them descendents of those brought to Japan as forced labor when the peninsula was a Japanese colony.
(Additional reporting by Elaine Lies and Stanley White; Writing by Linda Sieg; Editing by Michael Watson)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111219/wl_nm/us_korea_north_japan_spokesman
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Apple won a small battle against HTC and the Android operating system on Monday, but the legal war continues. The U.S. International Trade Commission, following a review last summer, announced it had determined device maker HTC is infringing an Apple patent for data detection technology and, beginning in April, HTC will be prevented from importing devices into the U.S. using that technique.
Apple is engaged in a worldwide war with HTC, Samsung and Motorola Mobility, and indirectly with Google, over aspects of Android-based devices that it says infringe its patents. The late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs had declared that the Android mobile operating system imitated the iPhone and the iPad, and he vowed to stop the competing platform.
‘Data Tapping Patent’
The six-member ITC, however, also determined that other patents cited by Apple were not infringed upon. Apple had originally claimed infringement of 10 patents. HTC has indicated that it will remove the offending technology from its phones. The ITC made clear that its order was not against all HTC Android devices.
The “data tapping patent” in question describes how phone numbers and related data are kept in an unstructured document, including e-mail, which allows programs such as a dialer to use that data.
Florian Mueller, whose Foss Patents blog covers technology-related patents, pointed out that Apple is also being countersued by HTC, Samsung and Motorola. He said that “there’s a race going on for the first decision of major disruptive impact,” adding that the 10 patents Apple initially selected were “clearly chosen for that purpose,” in that they were mostly operating system patents.
Mueller noted that “a knockout blow is a must-have, not merely a nice-to-have, when you’re embroiled in a race for leverage with a view to settlement negotiations.” He said the Cupertino, Calif.-based technology giant needs to prove more such “data tapping” patent infringements” or, alternatively, one or two fundamental patents for which there’s no visible workaround.”
‘Too Soon’ to Say
The worldwide legal war has seen ups and down for Apple and its targets. Earlier this month, for instance, Samsung recently overturned Apple’s attempt to ban sales via a preliminary injunction in Australia of its Android-based Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet. There is still a trial to go through next year, and Mueller has suggested that one of the Apple patents in question could affect every Android touchscreen device in Australia. In the legal struggle between Apple and Samsung alone, there are about 30 lawsuits in 10 countries.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, joked that, since HTC’s brand recognition “has been growing over time, this lawsuit might even help them over the long term” by bringing them publicity.
He said that it’s “too soon” to say if this and other anti-Android lawsuits are causing any second thoughts by potential consumer or business buyers, as they consider whether to buy an Android device.
Greengart noted that HTC is saying it can create a workaround that avoids infringements, so, “as long as there isn’t a full stop saying these phones can’t be sold, I don’t see this as being something potential purchasers are going to get worked up about.”
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20111220/bs_nf/81462
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