U.S. industry wary of EU action in tech goods spat (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. technology companies are worried a victory against European Union tariffs at the World Trade Organization last year may not yield the bonanza they expected because of the way the EU intends to implement the decision, industry representatives said on Wednesday.

"The solutions they offered for each of the products were very disappointing and left a lot of ambiguity where there could have been clarity," said John Neuffer, vice president for global policy at the Information Technology Industry Council.

"It left us asking a lot of questions about what was going to happen to these products when they hit the border."

The United States, Japan and Taiwan several years ago challenged EU tariffs on flat-panel computer displays, multi-function printers and television set-top boxes that they said violated the WTO's Information Technology Agreement, or ITA, which eliminated duties on certain tech goods.

A WTO panel broadly backed the three countries in a ruling last year that the EU decided not to appeal.

"We'll comply with this panel, the conclusions, but not more than that," Jean Luc Demarty, a top European trade official, told reporters during a visit to Washington on Tuesday with EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht.

"I know that there are some frustrations here and there. We continue the dialogue, but it will be full compliance by the deadline of the end of June," Demarty said.

U.S. trade officials estimated worldwide trade in the three products at $44 billion in 2009 and said the EU's 27 member states imported about $7 billion worth of that total.

David Weller, a partner with the WilmerHale law firm that has represented U.S. industry in the case, said there were two problems with how the European Commission proposes to comply.

The guidance the commission has provided EU member states gives customs officials a lot of discretion to decide how they are going to classify flat-panel displays and set-top boxes, "not giving any legal certainty that these products will actually get duty-free treatment," Weller said.

There is a similar problem with the guidance for multi-function printers, with the additional concern that the European Commission has decided a portion of them should face a 2.2 percent duty instead of zero, he said.

Neuffer said the industry hoped the EU would offer a better solution before the June 30 deadline for compliance. After that, it will be monitoring U.S. exports of the three products to the EU to see how they are treated by customs officials.

It is possible the United States will have to return to the WTO if it judges the EU is not complying with the panel ruling and no other solution can be reached, Weller said.

(Reporting by Doug Palmer; Editing by Peter Cooney)

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France 24 takes action over Syria hoax

Syria's ambassador to France Lamia Shakkour has threatened to sue the network.Syria's ambassador denies having made call to France 24 saying she was resigningFrance 24 alleges identity theft and impersonation related to the interviewFrance 24 commissioned an analysis that shows the two voices are differentResignation was also reported by Reuters, which cited Syrian Embassy as its source

Paris (CNN) -- A French television network said Thursday it has filed a complaint with the Paris public prosecutor alleging identity theft and impersonation related to an interview it broadcast Tuesday with a woman the network identified as Ambassador Lamia Shakkour, Syria's ambassador to France.

During the telephone interview, the woman said she was resigning her post because of the ongoing violence in Syria. "I cannot support the cycle of extreme violence ... ignore the young men, women and children who have died," she said.

Shortly afterward, Shakkour denied to CNN affiliate BFM-TV that she had made any such statement, alleging in an on-camera interview that she had been impersonated.

In its statement Thursday, France 24 said it had invited Shakkour to participate in its debate program. "This invitation was made via the embassy, which, when contacted by telephone and e-mail, provided a telephone number said to be that of the ambassador, together with a photograph of the ambassador," the network said in a statement.

"It was using this number that the exchange took place, in which the declaration of the ambassador's resignation was made. That resignation was then confirmed in a wire published by the Reuters press agency, quoting the Syrian Embassy as its source."

But France 24 said it "has no option but to take Ms. Shakkour's denials seriously." It said it had commissioned comparative analyses that show the voice on France 24 differs from the voice that later issued the denial broadcast on BFM TV.

"France 24 has no doubt that Ambassador Shakkour and the Embassy of the Syrian Arab Republic in France, who were swift to report the manipulation of which they, like France 24, appear to have been the victims, will give their total support to this complaint and collaborate fully in the ensuing investigations," the network said.

In her interview Tuesday night with BFM, Shakkour had threatened to sue the network. "I am filing a complaint to the French tribunal and also to the international tribunal, and there will probably be some measures against France 24," she said.

Shakkour accused the network of following an agenda. "It's part of a campaign of misinformation by France 24, since the beginning of March, in which it gives voice only to dissidents of Syria and it falsifies videos."

In an interview with CNN carried out Tuesday night, after the two dueling telephone interviews but before the BFM on-camera interview, France 24's deputy editorial director, Renee Kaplan, called the situation "very puzzling."

"She has been a guest on our network before," said Kaplan, who added that station personnel reached Shakkour on a cell phone number that she had answered in the past. Kaplan added, "We are confident that the person we addressed on air was she. There is no other reason to believe that anyone else would have answered on the number."

CNN

British footballer takes legal action on Twitter (AFP)

LONDON (AFP) – A British footballer is taking legal action to force Twitter to give the details of users who broke a gagging order granting him anonymity over an alleged affair, his lawyers have said.

The married player had earlier obtained an order from a judge banning publication of his identity over an alleged sexual relationship with a female contestant on the reality television show Big Brother.

"An application has been made to obtain limited information concerning the unlawful use of Twitter by a small number of individuals who may have breached a court order," his law firm, Schillings, said in a statement on Friday.

The player is not identified in the court documents.

A spokesman for US-based Twitter said: "We?re not able to comment."

Earlier this month a Twitter user published the names of several British celebrities who have allegedly obtained anonymised injunctions or so-called super-injunctions which prevent even the mention of the order itself.

A long-awaited judicial report on Friday said that the gagging orders should only be granted where strictly necessary and that media who may be silenced by such bans should also be informed beforehand.

But senior judge David Neuberger also urged lawmakers to think twice before using their right of unrestricted freedom of speech in parliament to undermine them.

On Thursday, a member of the House of Lords revealed that Fred Goodwin, the former boss of the bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland, had won an injunction banning publication of details of an alleged affair with a colleague.

The High Court subsequently quashed the anonymity order that had been protecting him.

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Action Drama Human Target

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Human Target is an action drama series that made its debut on television in the year 2009 and has gained popularity all over the world. It is based on the comic book series with the same name that were developed by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino for DC Comic. The program is based loosely on that. The series revolves around the life of Christopher Chance played by Mark Valley, who resides in San Francisco and works as a private contractor, a bodyguard and a security expert. He is hired to protect his high profile clients. He protects his clients in a very unique way by adopting his life and becoming an integrated part of their life, he acts like a human target for those who intend to murder his client. He workds with his business partner Winston portrayed by Chi McBride and has another coworker Guerrero played by Jackie Earle Haley who is his personal gunman. A former client Ilsa Pucci played by Indira Varma is Chance’s benefactor. A thief Ames played by Janet Montgomery who is a part of their team. Chance is a very secretive character and nobody in the series knows the reason why he puts his life on the line so often. The show has been a huge success and is watched by people around the globe.

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'Gang of Six' hopes to spur bipartisan action on deficit

By Bob Brown, AP

Senators Mark Warner, D-Va, left, and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, are urging action on the debt.

EnlargeCloseBy Bob Brown, AP

Senators Mark Warner, D-Va, left, and Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, are urging action on the debt.

The "Gang of Six," as they are known, is close to offering a deficit-reduction plan more specific than what Obama plans to talk about this week. It would be the only bipartisan plan in Congress, written by liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans.

The gang leaders, Democratic Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia and Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, outlined the need for major action Monday before the Rotary Club of Atlanta. Today, they'll be back in Washington for more private meetings.

"We hope this week to make the progress we need to close the deal," said Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate's assistant majority leader. He said a plan from three Democrats and three Republicans "could be a game-changer" that "might set the stage for some broad agreement."

ROMNEY: Explores '12 presidential run GOP HOPEFULS: Line up endorsements from Congress As Congress prepares to vote this week on $38.5 billion in spending cuts for 2011 that averted a partial government shutdown over the weekend, plans for trillion-dollar savings are proliferating:

•An 18-member bipartisan commission called in December for nearly $4 trillion in spending cuts and tax increases over the next decade. It included four of the Senate gang's members — Durbin, Kent Conrad, D-N.D., Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Mike Crapo, R-Idaho. The Bipartisan Policy Center think tank went further, calling for almost $6 trillion.

•Last week, Republicans who won control of the House in November produced an ambitious plan that they said would cut nearly $6 trillion in spending. The plan, written by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, calls for major cuts in Medicare and Medicaid, cuts taxes, and includes small reductions in defense spending.

•Obama's speech at George Washington University and the Gang of Six proposal soon thereafter will complete the picture, giving lawmakers a range of options for what would be the biggest deficit-slashing package in at least 14 years.

"Everybody's going to have some skin in the game," Warner said. "We don't need another commission. … We need to move forward."

The slide show he and Chambliss presented to the Rotarians Monday was intended to boost their case for action this year. Without action, they said, the national debt will be on a par with Greece by the end of the decade. Congress must vote to raise the government's debt ceiling by early July or risk an unprecedented default.

The Gang of Six approach is based on Obama's commission, which called for a mix of spending cuts and tax increases. Obama never endorsed the plan, and his proposed 2012 budget called for only $1.1 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. But White House press secretary Jay Carney said the president knows much more is required.

"The speech will once again demonstrate the president's seriousness about deficit reduction," Carney said.

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Southwest Has History of Triggering FAA Action

"Members of the National Transportation and Safety Board investigating the emergency landing of Southwest Airlines flight 812, carry a portion of the planes fuselage to a waiting vehicle on April 3 in Yuma, Ariz." /

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