Grammy Winners 2013: The Full List

The 55th annual Grammys are over, and unlike last year, a wide range of artists is heading home with hardware.
Adele stole the show in 2012, winning all six awards for which she was nominated. In 2013, Dan Auerbach and the Black Keys were the biggest winners, taking home four trophies. Skrillex claimed three, as did Gotye, Jay-Z and Kanye West.
Mumford & Sons won just two Grammys, but scored the biggest one of the night: Best Album for Babel. The group’s latest effort was also a major commercial success, moving 1.4 million copies in 2012, which made it the No. 4 best-selling album of the year.
“We had no idea about winning,” said lead singer Marcus Mumford to a group of reporters assembled at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. “So we didn’t write anything down.”

Plenty of top artists took home only one or two awards, spread across 81 categories. Among them: Fun., Brian Wilson, Paul McCartney and a host of others.
So, without further ado, here’s the full list of Grammy winners for 2013 (to see all the nominees, check out Grammy.com):
1. RECORD OF THE YEAR
Somebody That I Used To Know
Gotye Featuring Kimbra
Wally De Backer, producer; Wally De Backer & Francois Tetaz, engineers/mixers; William Bowden, mastering engineer
Track from: Making Mirrors
Label: Universal Republic
2. ALBUM OF THE YEAR
Babel
Mumford & Sons
Markus Dravs, producer; Robin Baynton & Ruadhri Cushnan, engineers/mixers; Bob Ludwig, mastering engineer
Label: Glassnote
3. SONG OF THE YEAR
We Are Young
Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess, songwriters (Fun.Featuring Janelle Monáe)
Track from: Some Nights
Label: Fueled By Ramen; Publishers: WB Music, FBR Music, Bearvon Music/Rough Art/Shira Lee Lawrence Rick Music/Way Above Music/Sony ATV Songs
4. BEST NEW ARTIST
Fun.
5. BEST POP SOLO PERFORMANCE
Set Fire To The Rain [Live]
Adele
Track from: Live At The Royal Albert Hall
Label: XL/Columbia
6. BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
Somebody That I Used To Know
Gotye Featuring Kimbra
Track from: Making Mirrors
Label: Universal Republic
7. BEST POP INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
Impressions
Chris Botti
Label: Columbia
8. BEST POP VOCAL ALBUM
Stronger
Kelly Clarkson
Label: RCA Records/19 Recordings LLC
9. BEST DANCE RECORDING
Bangarang
Skrillex Featuring Sirah
Skrillex, producer; Skrillex, mixer
Track from: Bangarang
Label: OWSLA/Big Beat/Atlantic
Also on Forbes: Skrillex: The $15 Million DJ
10. BEST DANCE/ELECTRONICA ALBUM
Bangarang
Skrillex
Label: OWSLA/Big Beat/Atlantic
11. BEST TRADITIONAL POP VOCAL ALBUM
Kisses On The Bottom
Paul McCartney
Label: Hear Music
12. BEST ROCK PERFORMANCE
Lonely Boy
The Black Keys
Track from: El Camino
Label: Nonesuch
ng Frank Ocean & The-Dream
Track from: Watch The Throne
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records, LLC
24. BEST RAP SONG
N****s In Paris
Shawn Carter, Mike Dean, Chauncey Hollis & Kanye West, songwriters (W.A. Donaldson, songwriter) (Jay-Z & Kanye West)
Track from: Watch The Throne
Label: Roc-A-Fella Records; Publishers: Hit-Boy Music/Very Good Beats, Hip Hop Since 1978, Dean’s List Productions, Unichappell Music
25. BEST RAP ALBUM
Take Care
Drake
Label: Cash Money Records
26. BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
Blown Away
Carrie Underwood
Track from: Blown Away
Label: 19 Recordings Limited/Arista Nashville
27. BEST COUNTRY DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
Pontoon
Little Big Town
Label: Capitol Records Nashville
28. BEST COUNTRY SONG
Blown Away
Josh Kear & Chris Tompkins, songwriters (Carrie Underwood)
Track from: Blown Away
Label: 19 Recordings Limited/Arista Nashville; Publishers: Global Dog Music/Lunalight Music, Big Loud Songs/Angel River Songs
29. BEST COUNTRY ALBUM
Uncaged
Zac Brown Band
Label: Southern Ground/Atlantic
30. BEST NEW AGE ALBUM
Echoes Of Love
Omar Akram
Label: Real Music
31. BEST IMPROVISED JAZZ SOLO
Hot House
Gary Burton & Chick Corea, soloists
Track from: Hot House
Label: Concord Jazz
32. BEST JAZZ VOCAL ALBUM
Radio Music Society
Esperanza Spalding
Label: Heads Up International
33. BEST JAZZ INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM
Unity Band
Pat Metheny Unity Band
Label: Nonesuch
34. BEST LARGE JAZZ ENSEMBLE ALBUM
Dear Diz (Every Day I Think Of You)
Arturo Sandoval
Label: Concord Jazz
35. BEST LATIN JAZZ ALBUM
¡Ritmo!
The Clare Fischer Latin Jazz Big Band
Label: Clare Fischer Productions/Clavo Records
36. BEST GOSPEL/CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC PERFORMANCE
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
Matt Redman
Track from: 10,000 Reasons
Label: sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records
37. BEST GOSPEL SONG
Go Get It
Erica Campbell, Tina Campbell & Warryn Campbell, songwriters (Mary Mary)
Label: Columbia; Publishers: EMI April Music, It’s Tea Tyme, That’s Plum Song, Wet Ink Red Music
38. BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC SONG (TIE)
10,000 Reasons (Bless The Lord)
Jonas Myrin & Matt Redman, songwriters (Matt Redman)
Track from: 10,000 Reasons
Label: sixstepsrecords/Sparrow Records; Publishers: Thankyou Music/sixsteps Music/worshiptogether.com Songs/Said And Done Music/Shout! Publishing
Your Presence Is Heaven
Israel Houghton & Micah Massey, songwriters (Israel & New Breed)
Track from: Jesus At The Center Live
Label: Integrity Music; Publishers: Integrity’s Praise! Music/Sound of the New Breed, Regenerate Music
39. BEST GOSPEL ALBUM
Gravity
Lecrae
Label: Reach Records
40. BEST CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN MUSIC ALBUM
Eye On It
TobyMac
Label: ForeFront Records
Come To The Well
Casting Crowns
Label: Beach Street/Reunion Records
41. BEST LATIN POP ALBUM
MTV Unplugged Deluxe Edition
Juanes
Label: Universal Music Latino
42. BEST LATIN ROCK, URBAN OR ALTERNATIVE ALBUM
Imaginaries
Quetzal
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
43. BEST REGIONAL MEXICAN MUSIC ALBUM (INCLUDING TEJANO)
Pecados Y Milagros
Lila Downs
Label: Sony Music
44. BEST TROPICAL LATIN ALBUM
Retro
Marlow Rosado Y La Riqueña
Label: Pink Chaos Productions
45. BEST AMERICANA ALBUM
Slipstream
Bonnie Raitt
Label: Redwing Records
46. BEST BLUEGRASS ALBUM
Nobody Knows You
Steep Canyon Rangers
47. BEST BLUES ALBUM
Locked Down
Dr. John
Label: Nonesuch
48. BEST FOLK ALBUM
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile
Label: Sony Classical
49. BEST REGIONAL ROOTS MUSIC ALBUM
The Band Courtbouillon
Wayne Toups, Steve Riley & Wilson Savoy
Label: Valcour Records
50. BEST REGGAE ALBUM
Rebirth
Jimmy Cliff
Label: UMe/Sunpower
51. BEST WORLD MUSIC ALBUM
The Living Room Sessions Part 1
Ravi Shankar
Label: East Meets West Music
52. BEST CHILDREN’S ALBUM
Can You Canoe?
The Okee Dokee Brothers
Label: Okee Dokee Music LLC
53. BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM
Society’s Child: My Autobiography
Janis Ian
Label: Audible, Inc.
54. BEST COMEDY ALBUM
Blow Your Pants Off
Jimmy Fallon
Label: Warner Bros. Records/LoudMouth Entertainment
55. BEST MUSICAL THEATER ALBUM
Once: A New Musical
Steve Kazee & Cristin Milioti, principal soloists; Steven Epstein & Martin Lowe, producers (Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova, composers/lyricists) (Original Broadway Cast With Steve Kazee, Cristin Milioti & Others)
Label: Masterworks
56. BEST COMPILATION SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA
Midnight In Paris
(Various Artists)
Label: Madison Gate Records, Inc.
57. BEST SCORE SOUNDTRACK FOR VISUAL MEDIA
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, composers
Label: Null/Madison Gate
58. BEST SONG WRITTEN FOR VISUAL MEDIA
Safe & Sound (From The Hunger Games)
T Bone Burnett, Taylor Swift, John Paul White & Joy Williams, songwriters
(Taylor Swift Featuring The Civil Wars)
Label: Big Machine Records/Universal Republic; Publishers: Sony ATV Tree Publishing, Taylor Swift Music, Sensibility Songs, Absurd Music, Shiny Happy Music, Baffle Music, Henry Burnett Music
59. BEST INSTRUMENTAL COMPOSITION
Mozart Goes Dancing
Chick Corea, composer (Chick Corea & Gary Burton)
Track from: Hot House
Label: Concord Jazz
60. BEST INSTRUMENTAL ARRANGEMENT
How About You
Gil Evans, arranger (Gil Evans Project)
Track from: Centennial – Newly Discovered Works Of Gil Evans
Label: ArtistShare
61. BEST INSTRUMENTAL ARRANGEMENT ACCOMPANYING VOCALIST(S)
City Of Roses
Thara Memory & Esperanza Spalding, arrangers (Esperanza Spalding)
Track from: Radio Music Society
Label: Heads Up International
62. BEST RECORDING PACKAGE
Biophilia
Michael Amzalag & Mathias Augustyniak, art directors (Björk)
Label: One Little Indian / Nonesuch
63. BEST BOXED OR SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION PACKAGE
Woody At 100: The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collection
Fritz Klaetke, art director (Woody Guthrie)
Label: Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
64. BEST ALBUM NOTES
Singular Genius: The Complete ABC Singles
Billy Vera, album notes writer (Ray Charles)
Label: Concord
65. BEST HISTORICAL ALBUM
The Smile Sessions (Deluxe Box Set)
Alan Boyd, Mark Linett, Brian Wilson & Dennis Wolfe, compilation producers; Mark Linett, mastering engineer (The Beach Boys)
Label: Capitol Records
66. BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, NON-CLASSICAL
The Goat Rodeo Sessions
Richard King, engineer; Richard King, mastering engineer (Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile)
Label: Sony Classical
67. PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, NON-CLASSICAL
Dan Auerbach
68. BEST REMIXED RECORDING, NON-CLASSICAL
Promises (Skrillex & Nero Remix)
Skrillex, remixer (Nero)
Joseph Ray, Skrillex & Daniel Stephens, remixers
Label: Cherry Tree/Interscope
69. BEST SURROUND SOUND ALBUM
Modern Cool
Jim Anderson, surround mix engineer; Darcy Proper, surround mastering engineer; Michael Friedman, surround producer (Patricia Barber)
Label: Premonition Records
70. BEST ENGINEERED ALBUM, CLASSICAL
Life & Breath – Choral Works By René Clausen
Tom Caulfield & John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Charles Bruffy & Kansas City Chorale)
Label: Chandos
71. PRODUCER OF THE YEAR, CLASSICAL
Blanton Alspaugh
72. BEST ORCHESTRAL PERFORMANCE
Adams: Harmonielehre & Short Ride In A Fast Machine
Michael Tilson Thomas, conductor (San Francisco Symphony)
Label: SFS Media
73. BEST OPERA RECORDING
Wagner: Der Ring Des Nibelungen
James Levine & Fabio Luisi, conductors; Hans-Peter König, Jay Hunter Morris, Bryn Terfel & Deborah Voigt; Jay David Saks, producer (The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra; The Metropolitan Opera Chorus)
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
74. BEST CHORAL PERFORMANCE
Life & Breath – Choral Works By René Clausen
Charles Bruffy, conductor (Matthew Gladden, Lindsey Lang, Rebecca Lloyd, Sarah Tannehill & Pamela Williamson; Kansas City Chorale)
Label: Chandos
75. BEST CHAMBER MUSIC/SMALL ENSEMBLE PERFORMANCE
Meanwhile
Eighth Blackbird
Label: Cedille Records
76. BEST CLASSICAL INSTRUMENTAL SOLO
Kurtág & Ligeti: Music For Viola
Kim Kashkashian
Label: ECM New Series
77. BEST CLASSICAL VOCAL SOLO
Poèmes
Renée Fleming (Alan Gilbert & Seiji Ozawa; Orchestre National De France & Orchestre Philharmonique De Radio France)
Label: Decca Records
78. BEST CLASSICAL COMPENDIUM
Penderecki: Fonogrammi; Horn Concerto; Partita; The Awakening Of Jacob; Anaklasis
Antoni Wit, conductor; Aleksandra Nagórko & Andrzej Sasin, producers
Label: Naxos
79. BEST CONTEMPORARY CLASSICAL COMPOSITION
Hartke, Stephen: Meanwhile – Incidental Music To Imaginary Puppet Plays
Stephen Hartke, composer (Eighth Blackbird)
Track from: Meanwhile
Label: Cedille Records
80. BEST SHORT FORM MUSIC VIDEO
We Found Love
Rihanna Featuring Calvin Harris
Melina Matsoukas, video director; Juliette Larthe, Ben Sullivan, Candice Ouaknine & Inga Veronique video producers
Label: Def Jam
81. BEST LONG FORM MUSIC VIDEO
Big Easy Express
Mumford & Sons, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros & Old Crow Medicine Show
Emmett Malloy, video director; Bryan Ling, Mike Luba & Tim Lynch, video producers
Label: S2BN Films

Source: www.forbes.com

Blizzard brings US northeast to a halt

NEW YORK – A ferocious snowstorm pummeled the northeastern United States for a second straight day Saturday, shutting down schools, severing power lines and forcing planes, cars and trains to come to a standstill.
The storm was forecast to bring the heaviest snow so far this winter along the New England coast, threatening power and transport links for tens of millions of people.
By late Friday, New York, one of the world's busiest air travel hubs, was cut off from the skies as snow and wind led airlines to suspend all operations at LaGuardia, Newark Liberty and John F. Kennedy International airports.
In Massachusetts alone, more than 255,000 homes and businesses were without power by late evening and the number was expected to rise, the Boston Herald reported.
A gust of 74 miles (119 kilometers) per hour winds was reported on Nantucket Island.
LaGuardia general manager Tom Bosco told NY1 television that the airport was "battling" the storm and would strive to remain open even after the airlines shut down for the night.
He estimated that if a foot (30 centimeters) of snow fell -- the worst-case scenario forecast for New York -- flights would resume "probably by mid-morning."
The heaviest impact of the storm was expected overnight in and around Boston, and Governor Deval Patrick temporarily ordered all normal traffic off Massachusetts roads, with the threat of up to a year in jail for violators.
"There are a number of exemptions for... emergency workers and the like. Please exercise caution and use common sense," Patrick said at his emergency center in Framingham.
In Connecticut, Governor Dannel Malloy issued a "ban on motor vehicle travel on limited access highways" to free up emergency services traffic and suspended commuter train service between New York and New Haven, Connecticut.
Rhode Island, where some of America's most exclusive summer homes are located, also instituted driving restrictions.
In addition to the road and air snarl-ups, the rail service Amtrak said trains from New York northbound and also southbound to the capital Washington were being suspended.
The storm came a little over three months after Hurricane Sandy devastated swathes of New York and New Jersey, killing 132 people and causing damage worth some $71.4 billion.
Snow began in light flurries across the region early Friday, but thickened and by Saturday was expected to leave depths of between half and one foot in New York and as much as two feet in Boston.
"In addition to the heavy snowfall, wind gusts of up to hurricane force are possible, especially near the coast," the National Weather Service warned. "This will result in blizzard conditions with drifting and blowing snow."
Travel at night "will be extremely hazardous, if not impossible," it added.
Among the more glamorous victims of the travel upsets was designer Marc Jacobs, who said he had to reschedule his two shows at New York Fashion Week due to storm-related "production problems."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who came under withering criticism for the city's flat-footed response to a blizzard in 2010, said residents should stock up with vital supplies and prepare for the worst.
"Stay off the city streets, stay out of your cars," he said at a news conference. "Staying off the streets will make it easier for city workers to clear the streets of snow."
New York's four zoos also announced they were closing for the duration of the storm.
"You can't take nature too lightly. Hopefully it won't be anything too drastic," Bloomberg said.
The good news was that the storm's peak was due as the weekend began, meaning far fewer people would be on the roads. Forecasters said the system should blow through on Saturday, with milder temperatures to follow.
Locals were comparing the coming storm to the ferocious blizzard of 1978, which killed 100 people and buried Boston in more than 27 inches (69 centimeters) of snow and Providence, Rhode Island in nearly 28 inches.
During that storm, people were forced to abandon cars stuck on highways and made their way around Boston on cross country skis and snowshoes.

Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

M7.1 quake strikes off Solomon Islands

HONIARA - A 7.1-magnitude earthquake hit off the Solomon Islands Friday, two days after an 8.0-magnitude quake sparked a tsunami, but there was no threat of widespread destructive waves this time, US agencies said.
The US Geological Survey said the quake struck at 10:12 pm (1112 GMT) near the Santa Cruz Islands, which are part of the Solomons, at a relatively shallow depth of nine kilometres (5.5 miles).
The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said "no destructive widespread tsunami threat exists based on historical earthquake and tsunami data".
"However, earthquakes of this size sometimes generate local tsunamis that can be destructive along coasts located within 100 kilometres of the earthquake epicentre," it added in a statement.
It was the latest strong aftershock to hit the area affected by Wednesday's tsunami, which killed 13 people with many more reported missing.
The aftershocks were hampering efforts to reach remote villages, up to 20 of which were through to have been swamped on Ndende island in the east of the island nation.
Some 6,000 people were thought to be homeless, the national disaster management office said.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Twitter Ranked Fastest Growing Social Platform In The World

Google and Facebook each should have acquired Twitter, but they did not. Now, GlobalWebIndex has the Twitter racehorse solidly in the lead. This is no neck-in-neck race. Twitter raced ahead when heads were turned. An incredible 21% of the global internet population now use Twitter actively on a monthly basis.
Every quarter, GlobalWebIndex produces a new report. This one: GWI.8 is for Q4 2012 and it shows that the number of active Twitter users grew 40% from Q2 2012 to Q4 2012. This is equal to 288 million monthly active users (claimed to have used or contribute to Twitter in the past month) across the 31 markets currently researched by GWI (representing nearly 90% of the global internet population aged 16 to 65). That marks a whopping growth rate in active users of 714% since July 2009.

 

Can you say, I mean tweet, Wow?
Hong Kong led the growth of active usage, but the USA grew a “staggering” 94 percent in second place. It was followed by Russia, China, Italy, and South Korea. You’ll have to visit the blog post to see the next 15 or so on their list. Impressive. Read the full post from Tom at GlobalWebIndex: Twitter Now The Fastest Growing Social Platform In The World.
The GWI analysts have identified three key reasons behind this growth for the U.S.:

• Mobile Devices: The US for many years was a mobile internet laggard, but in 2012 active mobile internet usage expanded from 37% to 43% of US internet users and tablet from 8% to 18%. Also as 31% of US mobile users are now on an iOS device, deep Twitter integration into iOS was a game changer (as reflected in the mobile growth above).

• Older Demographics: : Over-55s are the fastest growing demographic on Twitter! Active usage grew 116% between Q2 and Q4 2012 while active usage among 45-54s increased 81% in the same period. Twitter proved to be the fastest growing social platform in the latter demographic group. In an aging population, this represents tens of millions of well-healed users on Twitter.

This deserves the exclamation point the analysts placed in the first sentence. And you thought the over-55s were only buying iPhone 5s (based on that Samsung television commercial humor).

• Mass Media Integration: TV, films, radio, sports and advertising provided Twitter with an incredible level of exposure, and this is already translating into more users. This integration has provided people with reasons to use Twitter that go well beyond social.

If you want the full report, you can visit the GlobalWebIndex report page where you can purchase the Social Engagement Benchmark 2012 as well as other reports.

Source: www.forbes.com

78 bodies found 'executed' in Syria river

ALEPPO, Syria - The bodies of 78 young men, all executed with a single gunshot, were found Tuesday in a river in Aleppo city, adding to the grim list of massacres committed during Syria's 22-month conflict.
The gruesome discovery came ahead of a briefing by peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi to the UN Security Council on the uprising, which the United Nations says has left more than 60,000 people dead.
Abu Seif, a rebel fighter, said 78 bodies were retrieved from the Quweiq River and that 30 more were still in the waters but out of reach because of regime snipers.
"The regime threw them into the river so that they would arrive in an area under our control, so the people would think we killed them," he said.
But a security official accused "terrorists," the regime term for the rebels, of the killings, adding the victims were residents kidnapped from the opposition-held district of Bustan al-Qasr.
Their families had tried to negotiate their release before they were killed overnight, he said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the official SANA news agency said the jihadist Al-Nusra Front carried out the executions.
"Terrorist groups from Al-Nusra Front in Aleppo carried out a mass execution of dozens of abducted people and threw their bodies in the Quweiq River," the agency said.
Al-Nusra, which first gained notoriety for its suicide bombings in Syria, has evolved into a formidable fighting force leading attacks on battlefronts throughout the embattled country.
Its extremist tactics and suspected affiliation to the Al-Qaeda offshoot in Iraq have landed it on the US list of terrorist organisations.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights gave a toll of 65 bodies but warned the figure could rise significantly.
"They are in their 20s and were executed by a bullet to the head. Most of them had their hands tied behind their backs and were in civilian clothes," said the watchdog.
The scene on the banks of the Quweiq was grim, as muddied corpses are dredged out and hundreds of distressed people flocked around to see if they could spot among the bodies a father, a brother, a son or a husband.
"My brother disappeared weeks ago when he was crossing (through) the regime-held zone, and we don't know where he is or what has become of him," said Mohammed Abdel Aziz.
Volunteers helped place the bodies on a truck. They were then taken to a school where they were laid out and covered.
"We do not know who they are -- they were not carrying papers," a volunteer said as an AFP correspondent counted at least 15 bodies on one truck.
A number was placed next to each body and their faces were left uncovered to allow the identification by relatives at the school, where the nauseating stench of death lingered.
"There are those who drowned because the were shot in the legs or abdomen before being thrown into the water," said a nurse, noting some may have been killed up to three days ago.
Violence raged elsewhere in Aleppo province, where seven children were killed in air strikes on the town of Safireh, the Observatory said, giving a toll of 91 people killed across Syria on Tuesday.
And in Damascus a member of parliament was seriously injured when a explosive device strapped to his car exploded, the Observatory said.
The bloodshed came as rebels captured a vital bridge across the Euphrates River in Deir Ezzor city, largely severing an army supply route to Hasakeh province further north.
The nearby regime security headquarters and a smaller bridge were also captured, prompting retaliatory air strikes on the critical crossings.
"These gains in Deir Ezzor are very important because this strategic city is the gateway to a region rich in oil and gas resources," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.
"If the rebels continue to progress and gain control of what is left of military-held positions... it will be the first major city to fall into the hands of the rebels," said Abdel Rahman.
On the eve of a donors' conference in Kuwait, charity organisations pledged $182 million (136 million euros) for Syrians displaced at home or who have fled abroad.
US President Barack Obama announced an extra $155 million dollars to aid refugees fleeing what he said was "barbarism" propagated by the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Apple loses world's most valuable company crown

Apple shares extended their losses Friday, ending a miserable week for the California tech giant as it surrendered its position as the world's biggest company based on market value.

Apple ended down 2.36 percent at $439.88, giving it a market capitalization of $413 billion, while oil giant ExxonMobil rose 0.36 percent to $91.68 with a market cap of $418 billion to edge into first place.
Apple first overtook ExxonMobil in August 2011 as the most valuable company in the world based on the value of its stock.
A year later, Apple dethroned longtime rival Microsoft as the most valuable company in history based on the value of its stock at $622 billion.
But the company took a bruising this week after a gloomy forecast accompanying its record quarterly profit announcement prompted pessimism over the tech giant's slowing growth trajectory.
Apple's profit was $13.1 billion on revenue of $54.5 billion in the fiscal quarter that ended on December 29, with sales of iPhones and iPads setting quarterly highs.
But despite those figures, investors soured on Apple after it forecast that revenue for the current quarter would range from $41-43 billion and that it would have a gross margin of 37.5 to 39.5 percent, lower than expectations.
Analysts remained cautious about Apple, which had seen a meteoric rise last September to over $700 a share but slid 37 percent since then. The company shed some $60 billion on Thursday and around $10 billion more Friday.
Some express concern that Apple has lost its edge in innovation since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs, and is losing ground to rivals such as Samsung, which leads the mobile phone market, and to others using Google's Android operating system.
Jinho Cho at Mirae Asset Securities said Apple will likely increase carrier subsidies in 2013 and launch an "entry-level" iPhone to compete better in emerging markets.
"These moves by Apple should lead to stiffer competition for greater carrier subsidies among smartphone makers, thus driving down handset industry-wide operating margins," the analyst said.
Getting into smartphone price wars would break from Apple's long tradition of premium products aimed at the high end of the market and bite into profit made from each device sold.
"While we are incrementally more positive on the stock, we also mention that competition is increasing for the company," Colin Gillis at BGC Financial said in a research note.
"We see competitors are using price as a lever to get traction in the market. Apple may also run into difficulty posting both the volumes and maintaining its prices over the next several quarters."
Investors are also known for letting emotion influence stock trading decisions.
Late co-founder Jobs was a maestro at dazzling the world by over-delivering on innovations and blinding people to slips.
Since the death of Jobs last year, Apple has fallen short of high expectations for Siri artificial intelligence software for iPhones and smartphone mapping software so flawed that the company apologized.
Apple meanwhile released an update to an ongoing audit of working conditions at facilities in China.
"We're fixing problems and tackling issues that our entire industry faces, such as excessive work hours and underage labor," the report said.
"We're going deeper into the supply chain than any other company we know of, and we're reporting at a level of detail that is unparalleled in our industry."
Apple tracks work hours for more than a million workers across its supply chain and publishes results monthly at its website.
The company reported a 92 percent compliance rate with keeping work weeks to 60 hours or less last year, with the average number of hours worked in a week being less than 50.
Eight facilities were found to have bonded labor. Suppliers had to pay back $6.4 million in foreign contract worker fees and implement procedures to make sure the practice was stopped, Apple indicated.
Eleven facilities were found to have underage workers.
One supplier used dozens of underage workers backed with forged documents, prompting Apple to cut its business relationship and make the company send the children back to school and finance their educations, according to the report.

Source: www.ph.news.yahoo.com by Sophie Estienne | AFP News 

Russia backs nationwide 'anti-gay' bill

MOSCOW - Russia's parliament has given initial backing to a bill banning homosexual "propaganda" among children that could lead to gays being fined for demonstrating or kissing in public, a move condemned by the United States and rights groups.
The 388-1 vote in the first of three readings Friday came hours after police detained more than 20 mostly young opponents who were staging a "kiss-in" protest outside the building of the State Duma lower house.
The nationwide proposal is the latest in a rapid sequence of restrictive legislation voted through by parliament since President Vladimir Putin returned to power last year in the face of wide-scale protests.
The ruling party bill is based on local laws already passed in Putin's native city of Saint Petersburg and five other Russian regions, and aims to shield Russians aged up to 18 from what its authors view as dangerous ideas on freedoms spread by Western-backed advocates and social media.
"Just look at what is happening in Spain. Just look at what is happening in France! Of course we need this law," said ruling United Russia deputy Dmitry Sablin.
In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said: "We are deeply concerned by this draft legislation in Russia that severely restricts freedom of expression and assembly for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals and, indeed, for all Russians."
London-based group Amnesty International also condemned the proposed law, with David Diaz-Jogeix, deputy director of the Europe and Central Asia program, saying: "This law is an attack on the right to freedom of expression.
"There is no legal definition in the Russian law of what constitutes ‘propaganda of homosexuality' and the law could be interpreted very loosely.
"They are going to punish people for something which is perfectly legitimate -- expressing themselves, being themselves."
Outside the Duma Friday, a group of opponents embraced and kissed their same-sex partners in defiance of the bill's proposals, their third such action there in a week. Once again, police moved in to break up the protest.
Witnesses said officers detained 20 supporters and opponents of the bill as small scuffles broke out.
Homosexuality was only decriminalized in Russia after the end of the Soviet era and top officials continue to express homophobic views in public.
Russia's leaders repeatedly refer to gays in official language as "people of a non-traditional sexual orientation".
The Moscow authorities have broken up attempts to stage gay rights parades over the past seven years.
And a 2010 survey by the Levada Centre found that 74 percent of respondents thought homosexuality was either "immoral" or "mentally deficient".
The bill in its current form prohibits "the propaganda of homosexual behavior among minors" and sets out fines for violations of up to 5,000 rubles ($165) for individuals and up to 50,000 rubles for officials.
Legal entities such as businesses or schools would be fined up to 500,000 rubles ($16,500).
The introduction of a local law in Saint Petersburg last year led to a boycott of the former imperial capital by international gay rights groups while US pop star Madonna handed out pink ribbons at a concert in the city.
The authorities have issued a series of fines against couples who appeared in public kissing or holding hands.
United Russia has enough votes in the lower house to pass any piece of legislation on its own without consulting the other parties. But Communists and other lawmakers have also expressed sympathy with the draft.
Russian state television said members of Russia's gay and lesbian community would be invited to attend the key second hearing that is likely to be held within the next few weeks.
Draft laws move from the Duma to the upper house for a single reading before reaching Putin's desk.

Source: www.abs-cbnnews.com by Agence France-Presse

Facebook Graph Search Shows You 'Married People Who Like Prostitutes' And 'Employers Of People Who Like Racism'

When Facebook launched its social search engine “Graph Search” last week, I suggested that Facebook stalking would now be limited only by users’ creativity in coming up with search queries. Well, congratulations to Tom Scott who has won the creativity prize with his Tumblr, Actual Facebook Graph Searches. He’s posting and crowd-sourcing a series of searches that surface potentially embarrassing, hypocritical, threatening or unsavory information about Facebook users, such as:

• “Current employers of people who like Racism”
• “Spouses of married people who like [cheat-on-your-partner dating site] Ashley Madison”
• “Family members of people who live in China and like [the very very banned] Falun Gong”
• “Islamic men interested in men who live in Tehran, Iran”
• “People who like Focus on the Family [anti gay marriage] and Neil Patrick Harris [very gay and due to be married with kids]”
• “Single women who live nearby and who are interested in men and like Getting Drunk”
• “Mothers of Catholics from Italy who like Durex”

There is no private information unintentionally exposed here. It isn’t as Gizmodo quipped in a post last week that “people are now sharing horrible things about themselves thanks to Facebook Search.” They were already sharing these things. These are simply interesting juxtapositions of public information that was previously harder to access and display. For example, one could have gone to the public “Racism” page and looked at a list of everyone who liked it (hopefully ironically) and then looked through their profiles to figure out who their employers were, but it involved more steps. Facebook has simply done what any good tech company should do — remove those onerous steps and make it much easier to find out who’s racist, who’s cheating, who wants to get drunk tonight, or, perhaps best of all, all of the above.

The exposure of this information in this form isn’t a matter of private information being breached; instead it’s a matter of obscurity being reduced — a differentiation well explored by Woodrow Harzog and Evan Sellinger in The Atlantic. Increasingly, in this age of big data, better search tools, and ease of posting information, we’re encountering more and more often discomfort around the idea of public data being made more public, as a New York newspaper discovered when it put public information about who had guns into an interactive map. Lots of people shot off about that one, including lawmakers, leading the newspaper to take down the map.
Tumblr creator Tom Scott realizes the issue isn’t explicitly a privacy one.
“I’m not sure I’m making any deeper point about privacy: I think, at this point, we’re basically all just rubbernecking – myself included,” says Scott by email. “Facebook does have good privacy settings: but there are many, many people who don’t know how to use them!”

That is a problem, and one that Graph Search could potentially help solve by demonstrating to people how public much of their content really is if they haven’t fooled around with their privacy settings.
“People are confused about their settings. Facebook has changed them so many times. If you haven’t locked down your privacy settings before, you should do it now,” says consumer privacy expert Justin Brookman of the Center for Democracy and Technology. “There’s a lagging awareness as to whether information should be public in the first place. The positive result of all this, though, is that people are becoming less and less stupid about information sharing. We’re catching up and we’re getting better.”
Though some people, like Ryan Tate of Wired, will likely want to share more because of Graph, because it just became a much more useful vehicle for searching for information about venues, restaurants, and vacation spots.
Another problem with all this is the expectation we bring to the data. We’re looking at these results as if all of this information is accurate, and that’s almost certainly wrong.
“There’s the fact that Facebook ‘likes’ and profile settings aren’t necessarily accurate reflections of reality,” writes Will Oremus at Slate. As commenter Julie Popp remarked on my last Facebook article in a seemingly endless series about the downsides of ‘Liking’:

A common joke among the males (especially freshman year) in a group of friends was to hack each others’ Facebook accounts when they left their computer unattended. Then the hacker would “like” incredible amounts of things that were usually funny, opposite of the victim’s political views, really awful boy bands or romantic comedies. It was all in good jest.

It’s all fun and games until your friend’s photo winds up on Gizmodo’s front page

Source: www.forbes.com by Kashmir Hill

Algeria hostage crisis ends in bloodbath

IN AMENAS, Algeria - Algerian troops stormed a remote gas plant Saturday to end a hostage crisis that killed 23 foreigners and Algerians, seven of them executed by their Islamist captors in a final military assault.
Twenty-one hostages died during the siege that began when the Al-Qaeda-linked gunmen attacked the In Amenas facility deep in the Sahara desert at dawn on Wednesday, the interior ministry said.
Thirty-two kidnappers were also killed, and special forces were able to free "685 Algerian workers and 107 foreigners," it said.
Among the dead were an unknown number of foreigners -- including from Britain, France, Romania and the United States -- and many were still unaccounted for, including Japanese.
The kidnappers led by Algerian Mokhtar Belmokhtar, a former Al-Qaeda commander in North Africa, killed two people on a bus, a Briton and an Algerian, before taking hundreds of workers hostage when they overran the gas plant.
Belmokhtar's "Signatories in Blood" group had been demanding an end to French military intervention against jihadists in neighbouring Mali.
In Saturday's assault, "the Algerian army took out 11 terrorists, and the terrorist group killed seven foreign hostages," state television said, without giving a breakdown of their nationalities.
A security official who spoke to AFP as army helicopters overflew the plant gave the same death tolls, adding it was believed the foreigners were executed "in retaliation".
As experts began to clear the complex of bombs planted by the Islamists, residents of In Amenas breathed a collective sigh of relief.
"We went from a peaceful situation to a terror situation," said one resident who gave his name as Fouad.
"The plant could have exploded and taken out the town," said another.
Brahim Zaghdaoui said he was not surprised by the Algerian army's ruthless final assault.
"It was predictable that it would end like that," he said standing outside the town's hospital, where coffins were seen arriving in the morning.
Most of the hostages had been freed on Thursday when Algerian forces launched a rescue operation, which was widely condemned as hasty.
But French President Francois Hollande and US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta refused to blame Algeria.
The response by Algiers was "the most appropriate" given it was dealing with "coldly determined terrorists ready to kill their hostages," said Hollande.
Panetta added: "They are in the region, they understand the threat from terrorism... I think it's important that we continue to work with (Algiers) to develop a regional approach."
British Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said the crisis had been "brought to an end by a further assault by Algerian forces, which has resulted in further loss of life".
The deaths were "appalling and unacceptable and we must be clear that it is the terrorists who bear sole responsibility for it," he said.
The hostage-taking was the largest since the 2008 Mumbai attack, and the biggest by jihadists since hundreds were killed in a Moscow theatre in 2002 and at a school in the Russian town of Beslan in 2004, according to monitoring group IntelCenter.
Foreign Secretary William Hague said a total of six British nationals and one resident of the United Kingdom were either dead or unaccounted for.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan said he had received "severe information" about 10 of his country's nationals who were still missing.
The gunmen said on Friday that they were still holding "seven foreign hostages" -- three Belgians, two Americans, one Japanese and a Briton.
However, Brussels said it had no indication any of its nationals were being held.
Algeria was strongly criticised for launching Thursday's assault, which the kidnappers said had left dead 34 of the hostages and 15 of their own fighters.
Belmokhtar also wanted to exchange American hostages for the blind Egyptian sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman and Pakistani Aafia Siddiqui, jailed in the United States on charges of terrorist links.
At least one American had already been confirmed dead before Saturday's assault.
But the State Department said "the United States does not negotiate with terrorists".
France, which said on Saturday that 2,000 of the 2,500 troops it had pledged were now on the ground in Mali, said that no more of its citizens were being held.
President Hollande said French troops would stay in Mali as long as is needed "to defeat terrorism" in the West African country and its neighbours.
Algerian news agency APS quoted a government official as saying the kidnappers, who claimed to have come from Niger, were armed with machineguns, assault rifles, rocket launchers and missiles.
This was confirmed by an Algerian driver, Iba El Haza, who said the hostage-takers spoke in different Arabic dialects and perhaps also in English.
"From their accents I understood one was Egyptian, one Tunisian, another Algerian and one was speaking English or (another) foreign language," Haza told AFP after escaping on Thursday.
"The terrorists said: 'You have nothing to do with this, you are Algerians and Muslims. We won't keep you, we only want the foreigners.'"

Source: abs-cbnnews.com by Amal Belalloufi, Agence France-Presse

Samsung's Bendable Phone Could Break Apple's Innovation Hegemony

Gadget aficionados,  get used to the name ‘Youm.’  Youm is the name of a new technology developed by Samsung that incorporates organic light emitting diode (OLED) displays.
This technology produces displays that are flexible and bendable.  Samsung claims that the displays will be nearly unbreakable.
At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Samsung showed a prototype device incorporating Youm.  The screen on the device extended to the edge of the device so that if the device was put flat on a table with the cover on it, the edge would still display an incoming text or email. Samsung also brought in Microsoft (MSFT) to display a Windows Phone prototype incorporating Youm. One inference is that the first phone Samsung introduces using Youm will be a Windows Phone and not a phone based on Google (GOOG) Android.  It is conceivable that Nokia (NOK) may be close behind Samsung in incorporating similar technology.
Samsung is not the only one with OLED technology, but Samsung is believed to be the most advanced and closest to bringing flexible, bendable and unbreakable OLED screens in mass produced phones and tablets. There is even a rumor that Galaxy SIV, the upcoming successor to the popular Galaxy SIII, will include an OLED display.  We have no independent confirmation of this rumor.
Apple (AAPL) is believed to be far behind Samsung in OLED technology.
Ordinary LEDs were introduced in 1962.  The work that forms the basis of OLEDs was done in 1960, but widespread commercial applications of OLED technology have come to fruition only within the last two years.  DuPont (DD) has played a key role in the development of OLED technology.
Traditionally it has been difficult to mass produce OLEDs.  Further OLEDs structures are inherently unstable.  OLEDs were also limited by the life span of organic materials that transferred light.  For example historically materials used in blue OLEDs had a life span of 14,000 hours to half original brightness, compared to 40,000 hours for traditional LEDs.
Traditional OLEDs also suffered from color balance deficiencies.  Materials used for the blue color deteriorated more rapidly than the materials used for other colors.  Since most displays of today use only three colors red, green, and blue, this color imbalance issue has been a serious problem.  OLEDs have also suffered from screen burn in issues, not dissimilar to plasma displays.  Certain OLED materials also are damaged by prolonged exposure to sunlight.
Samsung appears to have overcome the foregoing problems.
Apple’s lag in this technology goes back to the days of Steve Jobs.  In 2010 at the Apple World Wide Developers Conference, Jobs touted Retina Display, which relies on traditional silicon LED technology.  Jobs said, “You can’t make an OLED display with this resolution, we think it is quite superior.”
Samsung’s advances in this technology have the potential to seriously hurt Apple as Samsung is believed to control up to 90% of the supply of OLED displays.  Samsung may choose not to supply Youm displays to Apple or in the alternate supply such displays to Apple at inflated prices.  Either way this is potentially a very negative development for Apple.

Source: www.forbes.com by Nigam Arora

Miss USA wins Miss Universe 2012

 
Miss Universe 2012 is the 61st Miss Universe pageant, and was held on December 19, 2012, at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States. Leila Lopes from Angola crowned her successor Olivia Culpo from USA.
Miss Philippines Janine Tugonon came in as first runner up in the Miss Universe pageant 2012, placing second to Miss USA.
Making up the Top 5 in the pageant held in Las Vegas, Nevada, were Venezuela, Brazil, Philippines, USA, Australia.
Fourth runner up was Ms. Brazil. Third and second runner up were Australia and Venezuela respectively.This is the seventh time in the history of the pageant that the home candidate won Miss Universe - and the sixth time for the USA to accomplish the feat.
Ms. China won the award for Best in National Costume, Miss Congeniality was Guatemala and Miss Photogenic winner was Kosovo.
89 countries and territories participated in this year's pageant and it will be broadcasted live in participant countries and territories by NBC, Telemundo & the international broadcasters.
What were the historical significance of this year's Miss Universe Pageant? Here are the list from en.wikepidea.org:

• USA won its eighth crown as Miss Universe.
• Australia placed for the fifth consecutive year.
• France placed for the fourth consecutive year.
• Kosovo placed for the second consecutive year.
• Brazil and Philippines placed in the Top 5 last year, the latter being the Top 5 for the third consecutive year.
• Poland last placed in 1989.
• Turkey last placed in 1990.
• Peru last placed in 2005.
• India last placed in 2007.
• Hungary last placed in 2008.
• Croatia last placed in 2009.
• This is the highest Venezuela has placed since Stefania Fernandez won in 2009.
• Russia and South Africa last placed in 2010.
• This is the first time since 2008 that the Top 5 finalists were composed of countries that had won Miss Universe before.
• At 5'5", Olivia Culpo is one of the shortest Miss Universes in the history of the pageant.

Newtown buries school massacre dead

NEWTOWN, Connecticut - Heart-rending funerals were held Monday for two six-year-old boys, as America began to say farewell to the 20 children slain in a school shooting that sparked calls for new gun laws.
The first burials, held under raw, wet skies, were of a pair of boys among those shot in Sandy Hook Elementary School, in Newtown, Connecticut. On Tuesday, the first of the girls, also aged six, is to be laid to rest.
In all, on Friday, the gunman slaughtered 20 children aged between six and seven, six adults working at the school and his own mother, before turning one of his arsenal of high-powered firearms on himself.
The family of one boy, Jack Pinto, gathered at a funeral home in a century-old building in the center of the Connecticut town. Some 20 children of different ages came, along with about two dozen adults.
Jack Wellman, an eighth-grader who helped coach wrestling at the school, said fellow school wrestlers placed their sports medals in the coffin of Jack, a keen wrestler.
"He was an excellent kid," Wellman said at a nearby deli afterwards.
Another participant came out in shock. "I just cannot describe it, it was sad. The message was just comforting," she said. "Our hearts are heavy."
All the schools in this prosperous and picturesque dormitory town were shut until at least Tuesday and the blood-spattered elementary school itself was to remain a closed crime scene indefinitely, authorities said.
"Healing is still going on," Newtown police Lieutenant George Sinko said.
In the nearby town of Ridgefield, reports of a suspicious person prompted the brief lockdown and deployment of police Monday at all schools, indicating the jitters in the United States in the wake of the killings.
For Newtown, a quiet suburban community where the 20-year-old killer lived with his well-off mother, the start of funerals was hardly likely to settle the nightmare of what happened last Friday.
But the crime, in which the murderer carried a high-powered, military style rifle and two handguns, may have spurred change in the political landscape regarding rules on weapons ownership.
In an indication of how widely the shock has been felt, the Senate held a moment's silence in Washington.
Late Sunday, President Barack Obama joined a vigil in Newtown and pledged to work for an end to mass shootings, which have now become a regular event in the United States -- with half-a-dozen massacres since Obama took office.
"These tragedies must end," Obama said, appearing to commit himself to a push for reform in his second White House term, possibly by urging the restoration of a federal ban on assault weapons like the one used in Newtown.
Earlier, Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California promised to introduce a bill to ban assault weapons on the very first day of the next Congress, January 3.
And on Monday, Senator Joe Lieberman called for a broad commission that could bring opponents on the issue together to discuss curbing gun deaths.
Each year, more than 31,000 Americans die from gunshots, most of them self-inflicted, but more than 11,000 in homicides -- five times as many as the death toll for US troops during an entire decade of conflict in Afghanistan.
"We've got to bring everybody to the table, including the gun manufacturers and the gun rights groups and the entertainment industry and just regular people," Lieberman, a Democrat-turned-independent, told Fox News.
But with gun ownership protected by the US constitution and firearms deeply ingrained in American culture, attempts to restrict access have long been seen as a vote-losing proposition.
Bit by bit, the full picture of the horror and heroism in the school, where the deranged shooter, Adam Lanza, sprayed bullets into two rooms, was starting to emerge.
The husband of Dawn Hochsprung, the slain school principal, said she had told others around her to hide. Then she "and at least one other teacher went out and actually tried to subdue the killer."
"I don't know where that comes from. Dawn was 5'2," he said.
"Dawn put herself in jeopardy and I have been angry about that, angry -- until just now, when I met two women that she told to go under shelter while she actually confronted the gunman."
One of the teachers, Janet Balmer, told CNN how the moment she heard gunshots she followed the lockdown routine that they'd recently practiced, then tried to act in front of her five-year-old charges as if all was well.
"We sat in the cubby away from the door so no one could see us, read them a story and talked to them," she said.
After agonizing minutes, police knocked at the door and told the children to leave -- and "cover their eyes" to avoid being exposed to the gore.
"At five, covering your eyes and walking isn't so easy. I just had them, you know, look towards the wall," Balmer said.
No information about a possible motive, or whether Lanza had any diagnosed mental condition, has emerged. He is believed to have first shot his mother in their house before going to the school.
Police remained tight-lipped, but said they are making progress. "We definitely are peeling that onion back, layer by layer," the state police spokesman said.
Newtown was the second deadliest school shooting in US history after the Virginia Tech massacre in 2007, in which South Korean student Seung-Hui Cho shot and killed 32 people and wounded 17 others before taking his own life.
In the previously most notorious recent incident, a 24-year-old, James Holmes, allegedly killed 12 people and wounded 58 others when he opened fire at a midnight screening of the latest Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado, in July.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

U.S. Refuses To Sign Treaty On Net Regulation; Fears Legally-Binding Rules In Future

 
The United States has said it will refuse to sign an updated communications treaty set to be ratified by the United Nations, because it veers too far into agreements to regulate the Internet.
For the last two weeks, delegates from more than 190 countries have been discussing the UN treaty at a conference for the International Telecommunications Union in Dubai. Countries such as Russia, China and Saudi Arabia have pushed for proposals that include allowing nations to regulate global Internet companies and online content that is perceived as being “spam.”
The treaty is not legally binding, and does not come into effect until January 2015, but Ambassador Terry Kramer, who headed the U.S. delegation Dubai, said it was important to make sure that countries did not eventually agree to a more binding set of global agreements that they could use to justify acts of censorship online.
“What we don’t want over time is a set of global agreements that people can point to and say this treaty gave us right to impose these rules on global operators,” Kramer said on a conference call Thursday. “It’s not binding, but you don’t want to allow something to happen that people can think is a binding term on a global environment.”
He added that it was also “too early to tell” if countries that eventually signed the treaty would treat global Internet companies like Google and Facebook any differently.
Click here for the latest draft of the treaty, which is still evolving and has yet to be ratified. The U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and several other nations disagree with several aspects of the draft, but most at issue is Article 3, which states: “Member States shall endeavour to ensure that authorized operating agencies cooperate in the establishment, operation and maintenance of the international network to provide a satisfactory quality of service.”
An older version of the treaty had said “recognized operating agencies” in the text, which referred to large, public providers of telecommunications services like AT&T. Changing that to “authorized” operating agencies opens the door for governments to say the treaty also refers to Internet companies like Google and private networks.
Represented governments are set to vote on the treaty on Friday.
“Lots of countries will abstain,” said Kramer. “But a lot of countries that are expressing points of view that are different, are newer and less experienced with the Internet, and penetration rates are low. Many are dealing with political issues. There are different mindsets to what the benefits of the Internet bring.”

Source: www.forbes.com

Obama tops Forbes 2012 power list

 

NEW YORK - When it comes to power, politics trumps business, according to a new Forbes ranking on Wednesday that found heads of state occupying six of the top 10 spots among the world's most powerful people, led by President Barack Obama.
The annual list selected what Forbes said were the world's 71 most-powerful people from among the roughly 7.1 billion global populace, based on factors ranging from wealth to global influence.
Obama was joined in the top 10 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Russian President Vladimir Putin, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud of Saudi Arabia and British Prime Minister David Cameron.
The list's highest-ranked businessman was Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates at No. 4. U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, both public officials, also made the top 10.
"This year's list reflects the changing of the guard in the world's two most powerful countries: the United States and China," Michael Noer, Forbes' executive editor, told Reuters in an email.
Noer noted that China's President Hu Jintao, last year's third most-powerful person, fell off the list as he is leaving power, and his successor, Xi Jinping, ranked ninth instead.
Both U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who have stated they will not be serving in Obama's second term, were not in this year's rankings.
While elected and appointed officials and business people made up the vast majority of Forbes' most powerful, Pope Benedict XVI placed fifth in the rankings.
Among the oddities was Joaquin Guzman Loera at No. 63.
Loera, far from a household name, is a billionaire nicknamed "El Chapo" who as head of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel is the world's most powerful drug trafficker, according to Forbes.
Age was also not a barrier, with two of the youngest and oldest of this year's most powerful -- 28-year-old Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and 81-year-old News Corp CEO Rupert Murdoch -- back-to-back at numbers 25 and 26, respectively.
Forbes noted that Zuckerberg fell out of last year's top 10 after Facebook's IPO disappointed. A gainer, meanwhile, was Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who moved up four spots to No. 18 despite being only halfway into her first term of office.
To create the rankings, which Forbes readily concedes bore a measure of subjectivity, editors graded candidates on four criteria for power and averaged the four grades:

-- Power over many people

-- Control over financial and other valuable resources

-- Power in multiple spheres or arenas

-- Active use of power

Some measures, such as power over many people, favored leaders such as the Pope, while the world's richest man -- Mexican telecom magnate Carlos Slim Hula, worth a reported $72 billion -- placed 11th on the strength of his wealth.
Others, such as New York's billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, scored high in all areas, placing him at No. 16.
Noer said that Elon Musk, one of the co-founders of Paypal and Tesla Motors, was "one of the more interesting newcomers" on the list due to his SpaceX company, a private space exploration venture.
"With NASA retiring the space shuttle fleet, private companies like SpaceX have been awarded huge contracts to do things like resupply the International Space Station. The commercialization of space is just beginning, but we expect it to be big business," Noer said.
Former President Bill Clinton placed 50th, with editors noting that by hitting the campaign trail for Obama, Clinton "cemented his status as a kingmaker", along with his nonpartisan Global Initiative raising more than $71 billion in commitments to fund charitable action worldwide.
Other high-ranking heads of state included French President Francois Hollande at No. 14, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at No. 19 and Iran's Grand Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei at No. 21.
Among businessmen in the top 20 were Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett at No. 15, Wal-Mart CEO Michael Duke at No. 17 and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin at No. 20.
The entire list can be found at www.forbes.com/power as well as the December 24 issue of the magazine.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Latest Local and World News: Beijing to allow visa-free transit trips

Latest Local and World News: Beijing to allow visa-free transit trips:   BEIJING - China will allow transit passengers from 45 countries including the US, Canada and all members of the EU to spend up...

Beijing to allow visa-free transit trips

 

BEIJING - China will allow transit passengers from 45 countries including the US, Canada and all members of the EU to spend up to 72 hours in Beijing without a visa from next month, city authorities said.
The move would "strongly spur the development of the tourism industry, speed up building of an international city (and) expand contacts with the rest of the world," the Beijing Tourism Administration said on its website.
The policy only applies to travellers in transit to a third country, and not for return flights to the capital, whose attractions include the vast Forbidden City.
Eligible nationalities include the United States, Canada, European Union countries, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, South Korea, Japan and the United Arab Emirates.
The city will "starting on January 1, 2013, implement a policy allowing foreigners from 45 countries with visas and plane tickets to a third country to transit through Beijing for 72 hours without a visa", the tourism body said.
But travellers would "face punishment" if they left the capital and lawbreakers would be banned for life, Gao Huada, deputy director of the city's exit-entry bureau, was quoted in the China Daily as saying on Thursday.
China's financial hub Shanghai already allows some foreigners in transit to visit the city for 48 hours, its government says on its website, including those from the US, some European countries, Japan, South Korea and Singapore.
Other travelers passing through the country are required to remain in the airport.
Beijing's airport is the second busiest in the world, having handled 47 million passengers in the first seven months of this year, according to the industry body Airports Council International.
Shanghai airport ranks 20th busiest with 26 million travellers during the same period.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Security Bank named PH bank of the year

MANILA, Philippines - Security Bank was named the 2012 Bank of the Year for the Philippines by The Banker magazine.
In giving the award, The Banker noted that Security Bank has become a competitive player in the local banking industry, after it acquired Premiere Development Bank. It also cited the bank's loan growth of 24%, as it focused on corporate and small-medium enterprise customers.
The magazine,  published by The Financial Times of London, also cited Security Bank's lead in the equity and debt capital markets, as it was involved in big-ticket deals such as the government's P323 billion bond swap and San Miguel Corp.'s P16 billion secondary offering.
"We are honored to have been bestowed this prestigious award as it now places us among the world’s most elite financial institutions. The Bank has always focused on
its core strengths that have allowed us to sustain a track record of strong financial and business performance," said Alberto Villarosa, President and CEO of Security Bank, in a statement.
In the third quarter of 2012, the bank posted a net income of P6.2 billion, a 55% increase from the same period last year. It had a return on equity (ROE) at 25%, outpacing the industry average of 12.14%
The Bank of the Year Awards is an annual event that promotes excellence in the global banking community by recognizing the top financial institutions in the world. Judges select only one bank from each country, making it the most sought-after award across the globe.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com

Nestle, Shell among 18 'green' firms awarded by DENR

MANILA, Philippines - Coca-Cola Bottlers Philippines, Nestle Philippines, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum and Holcim Philippines are among the 18 companies considered as the "most environmentally responsible" by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The DENR awarded the 18 firms with the Official Seal of Approval, which is valid for one year, in recognition of their efforts for incorporating green policies across their business operations to help protect the environment.
"The awardees were chosen because of their exemplary environmental performance and for going beyond mere compliance with existing environmental laws and regulations," Environment Secretary Ramon J. P. Paje said, in a statement.
The awards are given under the DENR's Philippine Environmental Partnership Program (PEPP) covers which covers public and private industrial and commercial establishments.
Paje said the PEPP recognizes these companies' policies on self-monitoring and self-regulation.
The 18 awardees have not faced a single complaint before the DENR's Pollution Adjudication Board in the past three years.
As a reward, the DENR will relax its rules on the submission requirements for reports, automatically extend the validity of permits and ease procedures in securing environmental compliance certificates for project expansion of the recipients under PEPP Track 1 category.
There are now a total of 57 PEPP Track 1 awardees since the program started in 2009.

The World's Highest-Paid Musicians 2012

 

 

Though he’s only 18 years old, Justin Bieber has had a year for the ages. The Canadian crooner released his third studio album, launched a world tour and continued investing in startups, adding to a portfolio that includes stakes in Spotify, Tinychat and others. All in all, he earned $55 million in 12 months.
“I do calls every week with my business manager and my lawyer,” Bieber told FORBES this spring as part of a cover story on his budding venture capital career. “Each week I’m learning something about my business and what I need to know for my career.”
But when it comes to the world’s highest-paid musicians, Bieber is a relative pauper, barely breaking the top ten.
Hip-hop superproducer Dr. Dre leads the pack this year with $110 million, thanks largely to his Beats headphone line. He collected $100 million pretax when handset maker HTC paid $300 million for a 51% stake in the company last year, at the beginning of our scoring period; he and his partners later bought back half of what they sold.
“The brands are so aligned, Dre and Beats, it’s just who he is,” says Kevin Liles, former president of Def Jam Recordings, who now manages acts ranging from Young Jeezy to Trey Songz. “If you look at the biggest earners, the guys have been doing it for 20 years … what’s happening now is people are really telling their truth.”
Dr. Dre leads a slew of pop stars, rock icons, rap moguls and country crooners, many of whom bank the bulk of their bucks outside the recording studio. Though some artists—Jay-Z and Diddy, for example—owe their success partly to business ventures like Dre’s, most of this year’s top 25 are on the list because of touring.
“The concert business had another solid year as both artists and concert promoters used more caution in trying to achieve their touring objectives,” says Gary Bongiovanni, editor of concert data purveyor Pollstar. “The good seats for major artists continue to be priced at a premium.”
This year’s list has a distinctly international flavor. Among the top five, only Dr. Dre hails from the United States. Pink Floyd rocker Roger Waters ranks second with $88 million, nearly all of it coming from his The Wall Live tour. According to Pollstar, he grossed $158 million on 63 shows in the first six months of 2012. Fellow Brit Elton John claims the third spot with $80 million, culled from over 100 shows in our scoring period.
Ireland’s U2 ranks fourth, pulling in $78 million on the tail end of the group’s record-breaking 360 tour—which grossed $736 million over three years. British boy band Take That rounds out the top five with $69 million, thanks to a wildly-popular reunion tour. The group grossed $61 million for eight dates at London’s Wembley Stadium alone, the biggest single-stadium stand recorded to that point, cashing in on dozens of additional dates around Europe as well.
“The enormous level of business Take That did in the U.K. and Europe was truly mind-boggling,” says Bongiovanni. “That’s especially true when you consider that in the U.S. they would only be a theater-level act.”
Our estimates are based on total earnings from May 2011 to May 2012—the amount of money an act makes from record sales, touring, endorsements, merchandise sales and other ventures before subtracting management fees, legal costs and taxes (which can gobble up the bulk of a big payday). The totals were compiled with the help of data from Pollstar, RIAA and others, as well as interviews with industry insiders including concert promoters, lawyers, managers, agents and, in some cases, the musicians themselves.
Other highlights on the list include Toby Keith, who tied Bieber for tenth with $55 million. With his Ford sponsorship now on its second decade and his I Love This Bar And Grill restaurant chain booming, Keith was the top earner among all country artists—unless you count crossover star Taylor Swift, who earned $57 million, same as Paul McCartney. Coldplay and Adele continue the British trend, claiming the 21st and 22nd slots with $37 million and $35 million, respectively. Eight of the top 25 acts hail from England or Ireland.
That success extends to Anglophiles as well: Jay-Z and Beyoncé, both close friends of Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin, combined to earn $78 million. The former Destiny’s Child diva is one of just eight ladies on the list, but Beyoncé’s song “Run The World (Girls)” still rings true—despite welcoming baby Blue Ivy earlier this year, she still out-earned her husband by $2 million.

Source: Forbes

Shamcey to host web coverage of Miss Universe

 

MANILA, Philippines – Beauty queen Shamcey Supsup is returning to the Miss Universe stage, this time as a host of the Internet coverage of this year's pageant.
Binibining Pilipinas Charities chairperson Stella Marquez-Araneta made the announcement on Tuesday afternoon, during the send-off ceremonies for this year's Miss Philippines-Universe, Janine Tugonon.
Araneta said Miss Universe viewers should expect more of Supsup on the Internet and she is hoping that her presence will also help Tugonon’s chances of taking home the crown.
“As Janine prepares to go to defend the Philippines in the Miss Universe, I ask you to please start voting for her because if she gets high votes, she will be one of the semi-finalists. I know that the Filipinos will vote and will make her win,” she said.
Araneta added that Supsup’s job involves interviewing this year's candidates for a behind-the-scenes look at the competition.
Meanwhile, Supsup only has good words for Tugonon as she prepares to compete in the international pageant.
“Ngayon pa lang, proud na kami sa narating mo. Proud na kami sa transformation mo. Proud na kami sa lahat ng efforts na binigay mo para lang ma-prove ang sarili mo sa lahat ng aspeto kaya doon pa lang, winner ka na. Pagdating mo doon, act like a winner because you’re already in the Filipinos’ eyes,” she said.
Miss Universe 2011 fourth runner-up Venus Raj also wished Tugonon well as she represents the Philippines in this year's beauty pageant.
“December 19, ito 'yung kumbagang pinaniniwalaan nating itinakdang date para sa iyo. Just pray. Iyon naman talaga ang kailangan natin. Napakaraming Pilipino ang magdadasal sa iyo. Napakraming Pilipino sa States na papalakpak at magpapalakas ng loob mo. Huwag kang mawawalan ng loob,” she said. - with a report from ANC.

Source: abs-cbnnews.com