Thousands of Islamists loyal to Egypt’s ousted president are defying a government warning to disband their marathon sit-in protest in Cairo. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Tag Archives: government
Samsung readies dual-mode 4G TDD/FDD LTE phones for China
Samsung Electronics is positioning itself to be one of the first handset vendors to tap into China’s upcoming market for 4G services by introducing new Galaxy S4 phones capable of operating on both FDD and TDD LTE networks. The South Korean company will bring FDD/TDD LTE dual-mode Galaxy S4 and Galaxy S4 mini phones to China once the country officially launches commercial 4G services, the company said on Thursday. Currently, most Western nations are deploying 4G networks using FDD LTE technology. But in China, the government has been heavily promoting the use of TDD LTE networks. The country’s largest carrier, China Mobile, with 740 million customers, has been building trial networks with the 4G standard.Local officials have said China will issue the 4G commercial licenses later this year. Research firm IDC expects that could be as soon as September. China is the world’s largest smartphone market, and Samsung reigns as the country’s top vendor with a 19 percent share, according to IDC. The research firm’s forecasts show that in 2014, a quarter of all smartphones shipped to China will be designed for 4G networks. By 2017, that figure will reach 50 percent Samsung’s dual mode phones will allow users to seamlessly roam over different LTE networks, the company said. The handset maker plans to launch other TDD-LTE devices in other markets in the third quarter.
Outside of China, TDD LTE networks are seeing growing adoption in certain nations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania.
In Australia, local carrier Optus will launch the FDD/TDD LTE dual-mode phones in a few weeks.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at PCWorld
NSA director heckled at hacker conference
The head of the U.S. National Security Agency defended the government’s much-criticized surveillance program against hecklers among a crowd of computer systems analysts Wednesday, but also had a challenge for them: If you don’t like it, lend your talent to build a better one.
Cambodia opposition says it welcomes talks with ruling party, but only after voting probe
Cambodia’s opposition is insisting that an independent committee to investigate allegations of cheating in the recent election be established before it holds talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling party on establishing a new government. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
UK state-rescued Lloyds Bank returns to profit
Britain’s state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group on Thursday announced a return to first-half net profits as the government looks to return the lender to the private sector. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Bahrain king expands measures for clampdown on 'terror'-linked protesters
Bahrain’s king has issued new decrees, giving authorities more powers to strip citizenship and block suspected funding channels in attempts to quell escalating anti-government violence in the Gulf nation. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Chinese Oil Billionaire's Union Energy Says 1st-Half Profit Soared
By Russell Flannery, Forbes Staff China’s energy business is largely under the purview of big government-controlled companies such as PetroChina, Cnooc and Sinopec. An oil company led by one of only a handful of private sector entrepreneurs to make a large fortune in the field reported a big jump in profit today. Hong Kong-listed United Energy Group’s net profit in the six months to June more than doubled to HK$525 million, or $67 million, from HK$214 million a year earlier, according to a company announcement. Earnings rose on increased production and higher oil prices, United said. Revenue climbed to HK$2.3 billion from HK$1.4 billion a year earlier. Union acquired the upstream operations of BP in Pakistan for $775 million in 2011, and has since increased its production there. Last October, it announced a “production cooperation agreement” with Chinese government-run China Development Bank for $5 billion, giving providing capital for additional acquisitions. Union’s chairman Zhang Hongwei ranked No. 825 on the 2013 Forbes Billionaires List with wealth of $1.85 billion. — Follow me on Twitter @rflannerychina …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Uruguay takes first step toward becoming first nation to legalize marijuana industry
Uruguay’s unprecedented plan to put the government at the center of a legal marijuana industry has made it halfway through congress, giving President Jose Mujica a long-sought victory in his effort to explore alternatives to the global war on drugs. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Thai king to leave hospital
Thailand’s frail king is expected to leave hospital and travel to his coastal palace on Thursday after almost four years as an in-patient, a government official said. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Pennsylvania police chief suspended after video profanities
A small-town police chief who appears in online videos using profanity and shooting automatic weapons has been suspended for 30 days without pay.
The borough council of Gilberton voted 5-1 at a meeting Wednesday night to suspend Chief Mark Kessler, saying he misused borough property. It said he used the weapons without permission.
Kessler has said he made the videos to draw attention to the erosion of the constitutional rights of free speech and to bear arms and he increasingly fears a government out of control.
He said after the meeting that he wouldn’t apologize for making the videos and didn’t regret having done so. He said he looked forward to getting back to work after the suspension.
Gun rights activists descended on the community of about 800 people, in Schuylkill County in eastern Pennsylvania’s anthracite coal country, to show support for Kessler, some carrying flags and displaying weapons.
In one video, Kessler criticizes U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s support of a United Nations treaty aimed at controlling the international arms trade, which some gun rights advocates fear could lead to restrictions on domestic weapons. Kessler then fires a weapon and screams, “Come and get it!”
Gilberton Mayor Mary Lou Hannon has said she found the language in the videos offensive and she understood that others did as well.
“I think it’s blackened our eye a little, but we are a strong community,” Hannon said after the meeting. “We will go on from here.”
Officials have said that Kessler bought the weapons with his own money and donated them to the police department, an action approved by the council. Kessler told PennLive.com on Wednesday that he also donated the ammunition used in the videos.
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox US News
China manufacturing activity increases in July: govt
China’s manufacturing activity unexpectedly strengthened in July, the government announced Thursday, amid rising concerns the world’s second-largest economy is weakening overall. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Australia's PNG asylum-seeker solution takes effect
The first asylum-seekers to be sent to Papua New Guinea under Australia’s hardline new boatpeople policy arrived Thursday, with the government declaring people-smugglers no longer have a product to sell. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
India's Finance Minister Vows Not To Overspend
By Kenneth Rapoza, Contributor
India’s Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said despite the tough outlook for government finances, and an election coming up, New Delhi has no plans to overspend to win the hearts and minds of the electorate. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
Uruguay Congress set to vote on marijuana legalization
Uruguay’s lower house is to vote on a controversial bill which for the first time would put a government in charge of production and distribution of legal marijuana. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Fox World News
Sen. Paul offers to bury the hatchet with Gov. Christie over a beer
The Kentucky senator tells Fox News that he wants to put an end to his growing feud with the New Jersey governor over their conflicting views on the NSA’s surveillance programs and government spending.
Report: France formally moves to ban Mercedes vehicles using contested refrigerant
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That didn’t take long. Shortly after a French administrative court gave the French government a ten-day window to reconsider its ban on registrations of Mercedes-Benz A-, B- and CLA-Class cars using the prohibited R134a refrigerant, the government cited an EU directive to formalize banning the sale of the cars. The country’s environmental ministry said that registrations “will remain forbidden in France as long as the company does not to conform to European regulations,” meaning so long as they do not use the approved R1234yf refrigerant.
Daimler had won the administrative court decision by challenging France’s application of a “safeguard” provision in which the EU allows a country to block sales of cars that would “seriously harm the environment.” In spite of Daimler’s victory, France has cited that very provision as basis for the continuation of the ban.
Daimler got permission from Germany’s KBA federal motor authority to keep selling cars with the coolant banned by EU politicians, and is using that national permission as the right to sell the cars throughout Europe. Meanwhile, above that battle, German politicians are asking the EU to let Mercedes sell the cars in France while the KBA does more testing, at the same time as the EU is threatening Germany with repercussions if it doesn’t bring the KBA and Daimler into line.
The German carmaker has said France’s “argument is absolutely incomprehensible” and has vowed more courtroom action. The three models comprise most of Mercedes’ business in France; more than 4,500 vehicles have been kept from being registered, 2,704 of which have already been sold.
France formally moves to ban Mercedes vehicles using contested refrigerant originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 31 Jul 2013 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog
US leads government demands for Twitter user data
Twitter revealed on Wednesday that government demands for information about users rose in the first half of this year, with US authorities accounting for more than three-quarters of the requests. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
NSA chief talks at hackers' conference in Vegas
The head of the U.S. National Security Agency defended the government’s much-criticized surveillance program against hecklers among a crowd of computer systems analysts Wednesday, but also had a challenge for them: If you don’t like it, lend your talent to build a better one. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Phys.org
Lessons We Can Learn From Frontline's Expose of Assisted Living
By Howard Gleckman, Contributor This week, the PBS program Frontline investigated care at the nation’s largest assisted living company— Corp. The program’s message was powerful—and highly controversial: Residents of some Emeritus facilities are dying as a result of poor care by insufficient and poorly trained staff and a lack of government regulation. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest
The Canary In The Coal Mine
The Obama administration’s decision to delay for one year the implementation of the mandatory insurance coverage provision for employers with more than 50 employees has given critics and pundits ample ammunition to levy charges of political capitulation and administrative incompetence. It may well evidence of either or both. More than that, it’s the proverbial canary in the coal mine as it sounds an early warning sign that employers of all shapes and sizes may eventually abandon the antiquated practice of linking health insurance coverage to the workplace – and government coercion will do little to stop it. …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Forbes Latest