You are here: Home / Archives for World News

Chinese Firm Seeks Halt of iPad Sales in Shanghai – Asia Business News – CNBC

February 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Chinese Firm Seeks Halt of iPad Sales in Shanghai

A Chinese technology firm sought to halt the sale of Apple’s iPads across the affluent city of Shanghai, arguing at a local court hearing on Wednesday that the U.S. firm had infringed on its trademark.

Previous court rulings in favor of Proview Technology (Shenzhen) have covered specific retailers in smaller cities, but a Shanghai order, if imposed, would eat into one of Apple’s biggest markets in China.

Proview lawyers argued, at times emotionally, that an immediate halt of iPad sales be implemented in China’s commercial hub, which is the home to three of the country’s five Apple stores.

Apple defended its right to use the trademark in China and said Proview had no ability to produce or sell its own device under the same name.

“Proview has no product, no markets, no customers and no suppliers. It has nothing,” Hu Jinnan, a partner at Guangdong Shendadi law firm, which is representing Apple in the case, told [Continue reading in new window...]

Filed Under: China, Country, Economy, Rotating, United States, World News
February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Analysis & Opinion, Economy, World News

Robert McDowell: The U.N. Threat to Internet Freedom – WSJ.com

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

On Feb. 27, a diplomatic process will begin in Geneva that could result in a new treaty giving the United Nations unprecedented powers over the Internet. Dozens of countries, including Russia and China, are pushing hard to reach this goal by year’s end. As Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said last June, his goal and that of his allies is to establish “international control over the Internet” through the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a treaty-based organization under U.N. auspices.

If successful, these new regulatory proposals would upend the Internet’s flourishing regime, which has been in place since 1988. That year, delegates from 114 countries gathered in Australia to agree to a treaty that set the stage for dramatic liberalization of international telecommunications. This insulated the Internet from [Continue reading in new window...]

Filed Under: Analysis & Opinion, Economy, World News Tagged With:

How the U.S.-Iran Standoff Looks From Iran: Hossein Mousavian – Bloomberg

February 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The past six U.S. presidents have employed a policy of sanctions, containment and deterrence against Iran. Earlier in his tenure, President Barack Obamatried to change course by offering instead to engage, stressing“diplomacy without preconditions.” Two years later, however, the talk in Washington is of an inevitable coming war.

This is entirely the wrong direction for the U.S. to be taking. The consequences of a military strike on Iran would be catastrophic for the U.S., Iran and Israel.

Whether Iran should be able to build its nuclear program cannot be dealt with separately from the larger issue of the confrontational relationship that Iran and the U.S. have had since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. In his recent memoir, former International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said he doubted policy makers in Washington were ever truly interested in resolving the Iranian nuclear issue, but that they sought instead to achieve isolation and regime change in Iran.

Regardless of whether ElBaradei was right about that — and having sat at the other side of the table as an Iranian nuclear negotiator, it seemed that he was — it’s safe to say there won’t be a solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute as long as [Continue reading in new window…]

Filed Under: Analysis & Opinion, Rotating, United States, World Affairs, World News Tagged With: ,

Nuking our Nukes | Washington Free Beacon

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Nuking our Nukes

Lowest level of strategic review would leave Pentagon with fewer warheads than China

BY: Bill Gertz –

President Obama has ordered the Pentagon to consider cutting U.S. strategic nuclear forces to as low as 300 deployed warheads—below the number believed to be in China’s arsenal and far fewer than current Russian strategic warhead stocks.

Pentagon and military planners were asked to develop three force levels for the U.S. arsenal of deployed strategic nuclear warheads: a force of 1,100 to 1,000 warheads; a second scenario of between 700 and 800 warheads; and the lowest level of between 300 and 400 warheads.

A congressional official said no president in the past ever told the Pentagon to conduct a review based on specific numbers of warheads.

“In the past, the way it worked was, ‘tell me what the world is like and then tell me what the force should be,’” the official said. “That is not happening in this review.”

The plan for a radical cut in warheads is contained in a review of nuclear weapons ordered by the president in an August directive. The review called the Nuclear Posture Review Implementation Study is nearing completion and could be presented to the president as early as next month.

The plan has come under fire from senior military officers in charge of maintaining nuclear deterrence against Russia, China, and future nuclear rogue states. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Analysis & Opinion, China, Country, Featured, Politics, United States, World Affairs, World News Tagged With:

World Bank’s Zoellick to step down in June | Reuters

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Wednesday he will step down in June, raising questions as to whether the United States will for the first time throw open the job it has always claimed as its own.

“I’m honored to have led such a world class institution with so many talented and exceptional people,” Zoellick said in a statement announcing his plans. Earlier, he had met with the World Bank’s 25-member board to inform them of his decision.

Speculation has been rife in recent months over who might take the job when Zoellick departs. Possible U.S. candidates include Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former White House economic adviser Larry Summers.

Zoellick, a Republican, would potentially be a strong candidate for a senior position if [Continue reading in new window…]

Filed Under: Economy, World Affairs, World News Tagged With:

US, Europe Eye Risky, Unprecedented Penalty For Iran Over Pursuit Of Nuclear Weapons | Fox News

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON – The United States and Europe are considering unprecedented punishment against Iran that could immediately cripple the country’s financial lifeline. But it’s an extreme option in the banking world that would come with its own costs.

The Obama administration wants Iran evicted from SWIFT, an independent financial clearinghouse that is crucial to the country’s overseas oil sales. That would leapfrog the current slow-pressure campaign of sanctions aimed at persuading Iran to drop what the U.S. and its allies contend is a drive toward developing and building nuclear weapons. It also perhaps would buy time for the U.S. to persuade Israel not to launch a pre-emptive military strike on Iran this spring.

The last-resort financial effort suggests the U.S. and Europe are grasping for ways to show immediate results because economic sanctions have so far failed to force Iran back to nuclear talks.

But such a penalty could send oil prices soaring when many of the world’s economies are still frail. It also could hurt ordinary Iranians and undercut the reputation of SWIFT, a banking hub used by virtually every nation and corporation around the world. The organization’s full name is the Society for [Continue reading in new window…]

Filed Under: Country, EU, United States, World Affairs, World News Tagged With: , ,

My Way News – Iranian boats shadow US aircraft carrier in Gulf

February 14, 2012 By Leave a Comment

ABOARD THE USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (AP) – Iranian patrol boats and aircraft shadowed a U.S. aircraft carrier strike group as it transited the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.

The passage ended a Gulf mission that displayed Western naval power amid heightened tensions with Tehran, which has threatened to choke off vital oil shipping lanes.

But officers onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln said there were no incidents with Iranian forces and described the surveillance as routine measures by Tehran near the strategic strait, which is jointly controlled by Iran and Oman.

Although U.S. warships have passed through the strait for decades, the trip comes during an escalating showdown between Iran and the West over the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program. The last time an American carrier left the Gulf – the USS John C. Stennis in late December – Iran’s army chief warned the U.S. it should never return.

The Lincoln was the centerpiece of a flotilla that entered the Gulf last month along with [Continue reading in new window]

Filed Under: Country, United States, World News Tagged With: ,

Obama proposes $800 million in aid for Arab Spring | Reuters

February 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment

(Reuters) – The White House announced plans on Monday to help “Arab Spring” countries swept by revolutions with more than $800 million in economic aid, while maintaining U.S. military aid to Egypt.

In his annual budget message to Congress, President Barack Obama asked that military aid to Egypt be kept at the level of recent years — $1.3 billion — despite a crisis triggered by an Egyptian probe targeting American democracy activists.

The proposals are part of Obama’s budget request for fiscal year [Continue reading...]

Filed Under: Country, United States, World News Tagged With: ,
« Older Posts