Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/175932724?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Saturday, December 17, 2011
Jury says verdict close in $1B Microsoft lawsuit
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2011 photo, Bill Gates arrives to testify at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Closing arguments are set Tuesday Dec. 13,2011 in a $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. Novell Inc. claims the software giant duped it into working on a new version of the WordPerfect writing program only to withdraw support months before Microsoft's Windows 95 was released. Novell claims it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1 billion loss. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart,File)
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2011 photo, Bill Gates arrives to testify at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Closing arguments are set Tuesday Dec. 13,2011 in a $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. Novell Inc. claims the software giant duped it into working on a new version of the WordPerfect writing program only to withdraw support months before Microsoft's Windows 95 was released. Novell claims it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1 billion loss. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart,File)
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Jurors have resumed deliberations in a Utah company's $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. and say they're close to a verdict.
Novell Inc. sued in 2004, claiming Microsoft duped it into developing a version of its WordPerfect writing program for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its own Word program.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified last month that Novell just couldn't deliver a compatible WordPerfect program in time for the rollout, and that Microsoft's own Word program was actually better.
Jurors said late Thursday they were making progress deciding whether Novell was entitled to damages. On Friday morning, they said they were close to finishing deliberations.
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Friday, December 16, 2011
It's a Boy for Fantasia Barrino!
Fantasia Barrino has been through quite the ordeal over the past year or so, but the former American Idol champion now has a reason to smile: she's a new mother!
The singer gave birth to a son named Dallas Xavier Barrino today. He was born in North Carolina and checked in at 7 lbs., 9 oz. and 21 inches long. Fantasia also has a 10-year old daughter from a previous relationship.
"I feel so blessed that my son Dallas Xavier was born healthy, and is a wonderful new addition to our family," the 27-year old tells People. "I thank all my fans for their well wishes and continued support."
Fantasia has not gone public with the identity of the new child's father, but it's been strongly reported that he's Barrino's long-time boyfriend, Antwaun Cook.
Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/12/its-a-boy-for-fantasia-barrino/
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Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Syria says "would like" to accept Arab deal (Reuters)
BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Syria said on Monday it "would like" to agree soon to an Arab League peace plan to end its eight-month crackdown on popular unrest, but rejected foreign interference and demanded the annulment of sanctions plus reinstatement in the regional bloc.
The conditions were set in a letter to the League by Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem, described by his spokesman as a "positive" response requiring an Arab League reply.
In Cairo, Arab League secretary general Nabil Elaraby said "the conditions contained new elements that we have not heard before." Arab foreign league ministers were studying the response.
Syria meanwhile has retaliated against northern neighbor Turkey for the sanctions imposed by its former friend, imposing a tariff of 30 percent on its imports and prohibitive duties on fuel and freight.
Turkey shrugged it off, saying "common sense" should tell Syria that its own people would suffer most.
In a display of muscle that could be intended to deter any idea of foreign military intervention in a crisis which has killed at least 4,000 people, the army staged a big exercise with missiles, rockets, tanks and helicopters.
Top generals watched the war games and state television made it the headline news story, even as the death toll mounted.
Five civilians were killed by security forces in Homs, the country's third largest city, according to the activist website Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Four died when troops fired on a funeral procession and
One man was shot at a hospital. A youth died of gunshot wounds sustained at the weekend.
In southern Deraa province, three members of the security forces were shot dead by army defectors in front of the Dael courthouse, the website said. The corpse of Ismail Aqla al-Amri, 35, was handed to back relatives in Deraa, a victim of state torture, it said, and dozens more arrests were reported.
SANCTIONS
Already hit by economic sanctions imposed by the United States and Europe, Syria was punished last month by neighboring states, with sanctions announced by the Arab League and imposed by Turkey, once President Bashar al-Assad's ally.
The Arab League's sanctions have yet to take effect. It has repeatedly extended deadlines for Damascus to agree to a peace plan that would see Arab monitors oversee its withdrawal of troops from towns. The latest expired on Sunday.
Foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdesi said Damascus was still looking at the Arab League plan.
"The protocol is intended to be signed soon," he said. "The Syrian government has responded positively ...I am optimistic, although I await the Arab League response first."
Syria says the Arab proposal to admit observers infringes its sovereignty, and has asked for clarification. It has stalled more than once and reneged on promises to rein in its forces.
SANA expressed regret mixed with defiance of sanctions.
"The Arab League sanctions ... have been a shock for every Syrian and Arab citizen ... as these sanctions came from sisterly countries," it said. "Syria will overcome those sanctions by virtue of its strategic location and the diversity of its production sectors," the state agency added.
Syria's Arab neighbors Iraq, Lebanon and Jordan have all said they would not join a trade sanctions campaign.
ROCKETS
In a reminder to outsiders of Syria's powerful, mainly Russian-supplied armed forces, state television and SANA showed top generals watching a live-fire exercise by missile units, mechanized brigades and aircraft, to test their capacity in "confronting any attack" on Syria.
It did not report the scale of the war games.
"General (Dawood Abdullah) Rajiha stressed that the armed forces, under the leadership of President Bashar al-Assad will remain loyal to the homeland and will defend the interests of the Syrian people," SANA said. Rajiha is Minister of Defence.
Makdesi, the foreign ministry spokesman, said the war games were a "routine" exercise and not intended to send any message.
The first cracks appeared in one of the pillars of Assad's regime at the weekend with the desertion of some members of the secret police to the ranks of a rebel "free army."
At least a dozen members of the secret police deserted from the Airforce Intelligence complex in Idlib city, 280 km (175 miles) northwest of Damascus, triggering a gunbattle with defectors in which 10 were killed or wounded on either side, activists said.
Opposition sources said a further 16 soldiers defected from units in Idlib on Sunday and a new group of defectors of similar size battled loyalist troops to the south, in the Josieh area on the border with Lebanon.
Assad's opponents estimate the strength of the rebel force at several thousand, mainly army recruits from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority. Members of Assad's minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, have a tight grip on the military and security apparatus.
SANA on Monday reported military funerals "with flowers and wreaths" for a further seven killed.
(Additional reporting by Khaled Yacoub Oweis in Amman and Erika Solomon in Beirut; Editing by Louise Ireland)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/wl_nm/us_syria
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Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Exclusive: EU thinks twice about Iran oil ban (Reuters)
NEW DELHI/LONDON (Reuters) ? The European Union is becoming skeptical about slapping sanctions on imports of Iranian oil, diplomats and traders say, as awareness grows that the embargo could damage its own economy without doing much to undercut to Iran's oil revenues.
Oil accounts for 50 percent of Iranian budget revenues, and those arguing for sanctions say they can deprive Tehran of billions of dollars and derail what the West sees as Iran's attempts to build a nuclear bomb.
But diplomats and oil industry insiders say Europe may calculate that even a small rise in oil prices as a result of an introduction of an EU-wide embargo would more than compensate Tehran for any losses from being obliged to re-route displaced supplies to Asia at discounted prices.
"Maybe the aim of sanctions is to help Italy, Spain and Greece to collapse and make the EU a smaller club," one trader joked.
The remark reflects the growing unease that EU sanctions would hit hardest some of the continent's weakest economies, because Iranian oil provides the highest share of their needs, not to mention the rest of the bloc.
"The likely increase in oil prices that would result from a ban would be felt by all (European) oil refiners, not just those that are big customers for Iranian oil," ratings agency Fitch said last week.
An oil industry source in Greece, which mostly relies on Iranian oil, said: "Greece can't be put with its back to the wall."
The threat to Iran's oil exports and fears about a possible military strike on its nuclear facilities have helped keep oil prices above $100 a barrel despite sluggish global growth and a gradual return of Libyan oil supplies.
Iran, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, has said it cannot rule out a self-imposed oil embargo to punish the West and on Sunday warned that oil prices could spike to $250 a barrel as a result of sanctions.
The United States has long banned Iranian oil imports and is now moving to ban dealings with the central bank of the Islamic Republic.
Supporters of sanctions say an EU ban would not amount to a supply disruption. Iranian oil displaced from Europe would flow to China, displacing existing sources of Chinese oil towards Europe. They say Beijing, as Iran's buyer of last resort, would then have the leverage to drive a hard bargain on prices.
However, calculations by U.S. research firms and traders show the discount could be as small as a couple of percentage points.
Sanctions critics say the regime of Iraqi former dictator Saddam Hussein was able to withstand sanctions for years.
SAUDI CONTINGENCY
"What's going to happen now is talks with the Saudis, Chinese, Koreans and Indians. Although the political will to impose the sanctions are there, they would only be effective if all the above players helped out -- not followed the sanctions but co-ordinated their response," said a Western diplomat.
Saudi Arabia, the only oil nation with spare capacity, faces a tough choice. Shipping more oil to Europe to replace lost Iranian barrels could mean ceding promising Asian markets to Iran, its political foe.
The Saudis have already started assessing the volume of Iranian supplies that go to their own big buyers.
"It is sort of a contingency plan to know to what extent they can fill the gap and minimize the impact on the market," the source familiar with the Saudi strategy said. "The Saudis want to know their options if something happens."
A source close to the Saudi oil industry in Europe also said Riyadh would consider raising supplies if Iranian oil was lost.
Saudi Arabia has already helped to substitute Iranian supplies once this year, when Tehran threatened to halt oil to India due to a payment dispute which followed U.S. pressure on New Delhi to reduce dealings with Iran.
This week, refiners in India, South Korea and Japan indicated they are reluctant to buy more Iranian crude, fearing that payments troubles could resurface again.
"To make sanctions effective, the Europeans would have to go to the Chinese to ask them not to take more oil," said a senior oil executive, who added that he did not expect sanctions to take place at least until the second quarter of 2012, when seasonal demand eases.
EU politicians have said a decision is unlikely before January at the earliest.
However, industry sources say China has repeatedly shown it is ready to absorb any incremental cheap supplies, especially given that Iran has offered no concession to China or any other buyers in negotiations underway for prices for 2012.
"Plants will be very happy to take more," said one source at China's Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner. "It's definitely good news to Chinese plants if that's the case."
(Additional reporting by Florence Tan in Singapore, Meeyoung Cho in Seoul, Osamu Tsukimori in Tokyo, Aizhu Chen in Beijing, Jessica Donati, Christopher Johnson, Zaida Espana, Ikuko Kurahone. Editing Richard Mably and Jane Baird)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111205/bs_nm/us_iran_oil
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JP Morgan arranges loan for SAP's SuccessFactors buy (Reuters)
BOSTON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) ? JPMorgan Chase & Co is arranging the 1-billion-euro ($1.34 billion) loan that SAP AG is taking on to help pay for its $3.4 billion takeover of SuccessFactors, SAP co-Chief Executive Bill McDermott told Reuters.
"The 1 billion will probably be paid down within about a year. That's how we usually like to do it," McDermott said in an interview on Sunday, a day after announcing the takeover.
The deal, in which SAP is paying a premium of 52 percent over Friday's closing price of SuccessFactors shares, is a major push into cloud-computing services for the German business software company.
McDermott also said the deal could help the company beat its 2015 revenues target of 20 billion euros by as much as 1 billion.
"We had cloud figured out in our 20 billion. We are now upping that 20 billion. It could easily go to 21 billion,"
he said.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle in Boston and Maria Sheahan in Frankfurt; Editing by Jan Paschal)
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