Owners and players return to table but no closer to deal

(Reuters) - National Hockey League owners and players returned to the bargaining table on Wednesday in a late push to salvage a scaled down season but the two sides appear no closer to reaching a deal.
After negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) collapsed last Thursday amid angry rhetoric, talks resumed at a secret location with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and players union chief Donald Fehr, joined at the table by U.S. federal mediators, according to local media reports.
It marked the second time mediators have been brought in to try to jump start stalled negotiations that have now dragged on for nearly three months.
Owners locked out players on September 15 when the current CBA expired, plunging the league into its fourth work stoppage in 20 years.
Few details of the meeting have emerged other than there were no face-to-face negotiations, with mediators meeting both sides separately.
No new proposals were exchanged and there was no word on whether talks will continue.
The two parties returned to bargaining as pressure mounts to reach a deal or risk having the entire campaign wiped out like the 2004-05 season.
Bettman has said he cannot see the league playing less than a 48-game regular season schedule, and with 526 games, or more than 40 percent, of the season already canceled, time is quickly running out.
The two sides appear to have inched closer on the main sticking point of how to divide $3.3 billion in ice hockey related revenue.
The league is seeking an immediate 50-50 split while players, who will see their share chopped from 57 percent, want the cuts brought in gradually with a "make whole" provision in place to cover money that would be lost on current contracts.
Several other contentious items remain on the table, including the length of a new CBA and contract limits to drug testing and continued participation in the Winter Olympics.
While players and owners talk the losses continue to mount on both sides.
The NHL has said the lockout is costing it between $18-$20 million a day while players, with games canceled up to December 30, will miss six pay cheques.

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China's Huawei expects profit jump after reporting drop in 2011

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's No.2 telecom equipment maker, expects a 2012 profit gain after reporting a sharp drop a year ago, thanks to new projects and increased sales in high-end mobile phone markets such as Japan.
Net profit is expected to be around $2.4 billion, rotating and acting Chief Executive Officer Guo Ping said in a New Year message to employees on Friday. That would be a rise of 29 percent from 11.6 billion yuan ($1.86 billion) in 2011, based on his forecast.
Revenue is expected to exceed $35 billion, Guo said. In 2011, sales rose 11.7 percent to 203.9 billion yuan, or about $32 billion.
Privately held Huawei and its crosstown rival ZTE Corp have been expanding their footprint in the global telecom equipment and mobile phone sectors over the past few years.
While Huawei has boosted sales and gained market share in Europe, Africa and Asia, it ran into a few obstacles last year in other markets such as the United States and Australia due to national security and cyber espionage concerns.
Slower telecom spending stemming from a weak global economy and stiff competition in the increasingly crowded mobile phone sector have also weighed on the outlook of equipment providers and handset manufacturers.
"We should devote our limited energy to specific business objectives, and avoid the impulse to expand business blindly," Guo said. "Managers who expand business blindly must be held accountable."
Last October, ZTE, the world's fourth-biggest maker of mobile phones and No.5 telecom equipment maker, reported its biggest quarterly loss since it was listed due to narrowing margins, project delays and accounting changes in China.
Guo did not provide a breakdown of the revenue figures by business segment. Huawei is expected to announce audited figures in the next few months, although no date has been set yet.
Rival Ericsson has yet to report its full-year figures, so it is unclear whether the Chinese company had surpassed the Swedish giant as the top telecom equipment maker in the world.
Huawei was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army officer. Huawei has denied repeatedly any links with the Chinese military and says it is a purely commercial enterprise.
In a message to employees a year earlier, Ren said Huawei had initiated a system that allows top executives to take turns acting as chief executive, paving the way for a smooth management handover when Ren eventually retires. ($1 = 6.2303 Chinese yuan)

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Samsung, Nokia and others hit with fresh patent infringement lawsuit

InterDigital (IDCC) on Thursday filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Samsung (005930), Nokia (NOK), Huawei (002502), and ZTE (000063) for selling devices that allegedly infringe upon seven of its 3G and 4G wireless patents. The company has asked the ITC to block sales of the infringing products, which incorporate WCDMA, CDMA2000, LTE and Wi-Fi technologies. The ITC has 30 days to decide whether it will launch an investigation into the claims. InterDigital also filed a similar lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, seeking a permanent injunction and damages based on willful infringement.
[More from BGR: Samsung confirms plan to begin inching away from Android]
“Wireless technology continues to advance at tremendous speed based on the contributions that InterDigital and others have made to core connectivity technology,” said Lawrence F. Shay, President of InterDigital’s patent holding subsidiaries. “For InterDigital, that effort represents roughly one billion dollars of research and development involving hundreds of wireless engineers over decades. While the vast majority of our dozens of licensees recognize our contributions and choose to license our portfolio based on discussions alone, in some cases we’re forced to resort to legal action.”
[More from BGR: ‘iPhone 5S’ to reportedly launch by June with multiple color options and two different display sizes]
Earlier this week, Research In Motion (RIMM) extended its existing patent licensing agreement with the firm to cover 4G LTE technology, allowing RIM to use InterDigital’s patents in its upcoming BlackBerry 10 products. It was reported in 2011 that Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and Samsung were all looking into purchasing the company and its 8,800-patent portfolio, however no acquisition was ever completed.

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China Huawei espera aumento de ganancias tras caída en 2011

HONG KONG (Reuters) - La empresa china Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, la segunda empresa de equipos de telecomunicaciones más grande del mundo, espera un aumento de ganancias en el 2012 tras haber reportado una fuerte caída en el período anterior, gracias a nuevos proyectos e incrementos de ventas en mercados de teléfonos móviles de alta gama como Japón.
La utilidad neta alcanzaría los 2.400 millones de dólares, dijo el viernes el actual y rotativo presidente ejecutivo de la firma, Guo Ping, en un mensaje de Año Nuevo para los empleados. La cifra implicaría un aumento del 29 por ciento respecto a los 11.600 millones de yuanes (1.860 millones de dólares) del 2011, según su pronóstico.
Los ingresos excederían los 35.000 millones de dólares, indicó Guo. En el 2011, las ventas crecieron un 11,7 por ciento a 203.900 millones de yuanes, o alrededor de 32.000 millones de dólares.
Huawei y su vecina rival ZTE Corp han estado expandiendo su presencia en los sectores globales de equipamiento telefónico y teléfonos móviles en los últimos años.
Aunque Huawei ha aumentado sus ventas y ha ganado terreno de mercado en Europa, Africa y Asia, el último año se topó con algunos obstáculos en otros mercados como Estados Unidos y Australia, como consecuencia de preocupaciones en torno a la seguridad nacional y el espionaje cibernético.
El desacelerado gasto en telecomunicaciones derivado de una economía global débil y una feroz competencia en el cada vez más atestado sector de telefonía móvil también pesaron sobre las proyecciones de proveedores y fabricantes de equipamiento.
"Deberíamos dedicar nuestra energía limitada a objetivos comerciales específicos y evitar el impulso de expandir el negocio ciegamente", remarcó Guo.
En octubre pasado, ZTE, el cuarto fabricante de teléfonos móviles más importante del mundo y el quinto en el sector de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones, reportó su peor pérdida trimestral desde que empezó a cotizar en bolsa como consecuencia de márgenes más pequeños, retrasos en proyectos y cambios contables en China.
Guo no dio un detalle sobre los ingresos por segmento comercial. Huawei anunciaría sus cifras auditadas en los próximos meses, aunque todavía no hay fecha para eso.
Su rival Ericsson aún no ha reportado sus cifras anuales, con lo cual no está claro si la empresa china logró superar al gigante sueco como el principal fabricante de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones del mundo.

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Syrian rebels free 48 Iranians in prisoner swap

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian rebels on Wednesday freed 48 Iranians held captive since August in exchange for the release of more than 2,000 detainees in the first major prisoner swap of the country's civil war, officials said.
The exchange, which was brokered by Iran, Turkey and Qatar, came just days after Assad vowed to press ahead with the fight against rebels despite international pressure to end the bloodshed that has left more than 60,000 people dead.
Iran is one of Assad's main backers and the Iranians, who were seized outside Damascus in August, were a major bargaining chip for factions trying to bring down his regime.
The group of 48 men arrived at the Sheraton hotel in several vans escorted by Syrian security forces. Iran's ambassador in Damascus, Mohammad Riza Shibani and several Iranian clerics greeted each one with a white rose.
Rebels claimed the captives were linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, but Tehran has denied that, saying the men were pilgrims visiting Shiite religious sites in Syria.
Shibani said their release was a result of elaborate and "tough" negotiations, but he did not provide any other details of the deal. The Syrian government, which rarely gives details on security related matters, had no official comment and it was not clear what prompted the exchange.
"The conditions placed on the deal were difficult, but with much work ... we succeeded in securing this release," he said. "I hope such tragedies will not be repeated."
The rebels had threatened to kill the captives unless the Syrian regime halted military operations against the opposition.
A spokesman for a Turkish Islamic aid group that helped coordinate the release said the regime had agreed to release 2,130 people in exchange for the Iranians.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the swap, but expressed regret that many remain locked up by the Syrian government.
"Let's hope that they may be released as well and let's hope that the process is beneficial for all," Erdogan said during a visit to Niger.
He said the deal was brokered with the help of a Turkish and a Qatari aid organization, and added that Turkey had been talking with the rebels during the negotiations.
"The rebels had made some preliminary preparations for the release, but we did not know what the Syrian reaction would be," Erdogan said.
"In the end, it seems that they agreed," he said, adding that four Turks and "a number of Palestinians" were among the prisoners released by the Syrian government.
There were conflicting reports about how many of the prisoners in Syrian custody had been freed. Speaking in Istanbul, Umit Sonmez of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief said the 48 Iranians were handed over to aid workers soon after the Syrian regime let a group go.
Sonmez said the Syrian prisoners included "ordinary people or friends or relatives of the rebels."
"This is the largest prisoner exchange to date," Sonmez said. "We are pleased that people from all sides who were held and victimized have finally been freed."
Sonmez said the foundation coordinated the negotiations.
"Turkey and Qatar, who have influence over the rebels, spoke with the rebels. They also spoke with Iran. Iran for its part spoke with Syria."
Turkey's state-run agency Anadolu Agency also said a group of people, including women and children, held in the Syrian Interior Ministry building in Damascus had been released and were escorted onto buses. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
Bulent Yildirim, the head of the Turkish aid organization, told Anadolu in Damascus that 1,000 people have been released so far, including 74 women and a number of children between the ages of 13 and 15.
Some photographs released from the aid organization showed a group women lined up against a wall, apparently waiting to be released, inside a building. Most appeared to be hiding their faces from the camera. Another showed a group of men, their heads shaven, standing in a room.
The deal marks the first major prisoner swap since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011.
Regime forces and rebels have exchanged prisoners before, most arranged by mediators in the suburbs of Damascus and in northern Syria, but the numbers ranged from two to 20 prisoners. The Syrian Red Crescent also has arranged exchanges of bodies from both sides.
In a speech Sunday, Assad struck a defiant tone, ignoring international demands to step down and saying he is ready to talk — but only with those "who have not betrayed Syria."
He outlined his vision for a peace initiative that would keep him in power to oversee a national reconciliation conference, elections and a new government. But he also vowed to continue the battle "as long as there is one terrorist left," a term the government uses for rebels.
The opposition rejected his offer, which also drew harsh international criticism.
Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said countries like the United States and its Western allies that have called on Assad to step down since the start of the uprising have dismissed the president's initiative "before even having the time to translate it."
Al-Zoubi was speaking in Damascus late Tuesday after an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the proposal.
___
Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran and Barbara Surk in Beirut contributed to this story.

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Egypt's ultraconservative party chooses new leader

r that reads in Arabic, "the list of al-Nour …more
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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's largest ultraconservative Islamist party, which has emerged as a potent political force in the country, elected a new leader Wednesday after the previous head broke away to form his own political group following months of infighting.
Younis Makhyoun, a 58-year-old cleric and trained dentist, was selected in a consensus vote to lead the Salafi Al-Nour party, one of several religion-based parties to take root after the 2011 Egyptian uprising. His election marks the consolidation of power within the party of the religious clerics who co-founded Al-Nour and successfully faced down a challenge to separate the group's political and religious leadership.
The infighting could cost the Salafis in upcoming parliamentary elections as they compete with fellow Islamists for seats in the legislature and try to shape Egypt's future in a political struggle with secular-minded political groups.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is expected to set a date soon for the elections. His spokesman, Yasser Ali, told reporters Wednesday that preparations for the vote would begin Feb. 25.
In taking the reins of the party, Makhyoun immediately turned his sights Wednesday to the elections. He described the next parliament as "the most dangerous and the most important" in Egypt's history because its mission will be "to purify all laws from whatever violates Shariah," or Islamic law.
Makhyoun was a member of the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly that wrote Egypt's new constitution. The document deeply polarized Egyptians and sparked deadly street protests, but passed by a 64 percent "yes" vote in a referendum in which around 33 percent of voters participated.
Islamists perceive the constitution as the first step toward redefining Egypt's identity to conform to Islamic law.
"We want to liberate Egypt from slavery and submission," Makhyoun said Wednesday, while also trying to assuage fears of women and Christians by saying Shariah would "liberate even Western women from the West's moral decay."
Al-Nour was founded by a group of influential hardline Salafi clerics shortly after the 2011 Egyptian uprising that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak. Their single-minded dedication to applying Islamic law sets them apart from Egypt's strongest Islamist force, the Muslim Brotherhood, which shares many of the Salafi fundamentalist beliefs but also has a history of political pragmatism to achieve its ends.
Salafis follow the Wahhabi school of thought, which predominates in Saudi Arabia. They promote a strict interpretation of Islamic law which mandates segregation of the sexes, bans banks from charging interest and punishes theft by cutting off thieves' hands.
Al-Nour made a surprisingly strong showing in the country's first parliamentary elections last year, capturing 25 percent of the seats and trailing only the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's best-organized political force. Their success reflected years of grassroots organizing throughout the country, giving them a ready-made network of support when they entered politics.
That parliament was disbanded by a court order last year.
The party has been riven by internal feuds over the past year as it struggles to reconcile political maneuvering with religious ideology. It was not immediately clear how the power struggle would affect the Salafis' popularity at the polls.
Al-Nour's founder, Emad Abdel-Ghafour, broke away earlier this month to form a new party over disagreements tied to the role of a body of clerics in the group's politics.
Some of the divisions were also linked to concerns with the Brotherhood. Some Salafis fear the Brotherhood is too willing to compromise in pursuit of an Islamic state. During last year's parliamentary elections, Al-Nour split from an electoral alliance with the Brotherhood after complaining of the group's attempt to monopolize the alliance.

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Winter storm batters Mideast, 8 dead

    
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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The fiercest winter storm to hit the Mideast in years brought a rare foot of snow to Jordan on Wednesday, caused fatal accidents in Lebanon and the West Bank, and disrupted traffic on the Suez Canal in Egypt. At least eight people died across the region.
In Lebanon, the Red Cross said storm-related accidents killed six people over the past two days. Several drowned after slipping into rivers from flooded roads, one person froze to death and another died after his car went off a slippery road, according to George Kettaneh, Operations Director for the Lebanese Red Cross.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, a Palestinian official said two West Bank women drowned after their car was caught in a flash flood on Tuesday. Nablus Deputy Governor Annan Atirah said the women abandoned their vehicle after it got stuck on a flooded road, and their bodies were apparently swept away by surging waters. Their driver was hospitalized in critical condition.
In the Gaza Strip, civil defense spokesman Mohammed al-Haj Yousef said storms cut electricity to thousands of Palestinian homes and rescuers were sent to evacuate dozens of people.
Parts of Israel were bracing for snow a day after the military was forced to send helicopters and rubber dinghies to rescue residents stranded by floodwaters. In Jerusalem, streets were mostly empty as light snow began to stick Wednesday night. School was canceled for the next day because of the weather, which Israeli meteorologists said was the stormiest in a decade.
The unusual weather over the past few days hit vulnerable Syrian refugees living in tent camps very hard, particularly some 50,000 sheltering in the Zaatari camp in Jordan's northern desert. Torrential rains over four days have flooded some 200 tents and forced women and infants to evacuate in temperatures that dipped below freezing at night, whipping wind and lashing rain.
"It's been freezing cold and constant rain for the past four days," lamented Ahmad Tobara, 44, who evacuated his tent when its shafts submerged in flood water in Zaatari. A camp spokesman said that by Wednesday, some 1,500 refugees had been displaced within the camp and were now living in mobile homes normally used for schools.
Weather officials said winds exceeded 45 miles (70 kilometers) per hour and the rain left two feet (70 centimeters) of water on the streets.
The storm dumped at least a foot of snow on many parts of Jordan and was accompanied by lashing wind, lightning and thunder. It shut schools, stranded motorists and delayed international flights, Jordanian weatherman Mohammed Samawi said. The unusually heavy snowfall blocked streets in the capital Amman and isolated remote villages, prompting warnings from authorities for people to stay home as snow plows tried to reopen clogged roads. It forced at least 400 families to evacuate their homes and move to government shelters overnight.
Samawi called it the "fiercest storm to hit the Mideast in the month of January in at least 30 years."
The snowstorm followed four days of torrential rain, which caused flooding in many areas across the country.
In Lebanon, several days of winds and heavy rain along the coast and record snow in the mountains caused power outages across the country, blocked traffic and shut down mountain passes. Later Wednesday, snow is forecast at altitudes higher than 200 yards (meters), while rain that has already flooded suburbs of the capital, Beirut, should continue.
In Egypt, rare downpours, strong winds and low visibility disrupted Suez Canal operations over the past three days and also led to the closure of several ports. The number of ships moving through the Suez Canal had fallen by half because of poor visibility, the official MENA news agency reported. A canal official said that by Wednesday, operations had returned to normal. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.
MENA also reported that ports in the northern Mediterranean city of Alexandria and Dakhila were shut down, while cities in the Nile Delta suffered power outages and fishing stopped in cities like Damietta, northeast of Cairo.
MENA also reported 10 fishermen went missing after their boat capsized near Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean.
In Syria, where a civil war is raging, snow was piling up in and around the capital, Damascus. Officials said many villages in central Homs province and along the southern border with Israel have been cut off after heavy snowfall. Torrential rains are expected over the next three days with temperatures around freezing. Some 2.5 million people within Syria have been displaced in fighting that has stretched on for nearly two years now.

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Soccer-Italian Cup quarterfinal results

Jan 8 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the Italian Cup Quarterfinal first leg matches on Tuesday
Quarterfinal
Tuesday, January 8
Lazio - Catania 3-0 (halftime: 1-0)
Next Fixtures (GMT):
Wednesday, January 9
Juventus v AC Milan (1945)

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Italian Cup quarterfinal summaries

Jan 8 (Infostrada Sports) - Summaries from the Italian Cup Quarterfinal first leg matches on Tuesday
Lazio 3 Stefan Radu 30, Hernanes 61,90+1
Catania 0
Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 25,000
- - -
Next Fixtures (GMT):
Wednesday, January 9
Juventus v AC Milan (1945)

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Lowly Bradford stun Villa in League Cup first leg

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Fourth tier Bradford City continued their heroics with a 3-1 home victory over Premier League Aston Villa in the Capital One (League) Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday as the prospect of a shock Wembley final moved ever closer.
Bradford, who had already disposed of top flight Wigan Athletic and Arsenal, took the lead when Nahki Wells scored from close range in the first half before Rory McArdle doubled the advantage after the break.
Villa squandered several good chances with substitute Darren Bent guilty of arguably the worst miss, heading over an open goal in the second half before Andreas Weimann pulled a goal back late on for the visitors.
It proved to be a brief ray of light on a grim evening for Premier League strugglers Villa however, as Carl McHugh added gloss to the scoreline with two minutes remaining.
"You are playing against a class team, you need to be on your game," Bradford goalkeeper Matt Duke told Sky after a superb individual display.
"We've got an even bigger challenge ahead of us now."
The second leg at Villa Park takes place on Jan. 22. Chelsea host Swansea City in the first leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.
Teams from the bottom tier of English professional football playing in cup finals is almost unheard of but buoyant Bradford will fancy their chances such is youthful Villa's poor form at the moment.
SHIPPED GOALS
Villa manager Paul Lambert made four changes to the team which beat Ipswich in the FA Cup on Saturday with Christian Benteke, Weimann and Gabriel Agbonlahor spearheading the visitors' attack.
They began the brighter and should have taken the lead after 10 minutes when Benteke found himself unmarked in the penalty area but could only direct his header wide from four metres.
Villa had shipped 17 goals in their last four league games and their leaky defence was exposed again after 19 minutes when a deflected shot from Zavon Hines fell kindly for Wells who calmly sidefooted the ball into the back of the net.
The goal acted as a confidence boost to the hosts, eighth in League Two (fourth tier), who got the upper hand in midfield and created a series of half chances as Villa looked short on ideas.
The visitors' best chance arrived just before the break when Charles N'Zogbia beat his man on the right flank and pulled it back for Agbonlahor who rifled in a shot from close range that Bradford keeper Duke did well to beat away.
The Premier League side looked brighter after the break and Duke was called into action early on, producing a series of good saves to deny first N'Zogbia then Benteke and Agbonlahor.
Striker Bent was a second-half substitute for Agbonlahor and within minutes of coming on, he wasted the visitors' best chance when he headed over from five metres after Duke parried a shot from N'Zogbia.
Cash-strapped Bradford, last in the top flight in 2001, looked to have taken a decisive advantage when McArdle powered home a header from a Gary Jones cross but Villa kept a toe-hold in the tie when Austrian Weimann beat Duke to the ball and poked home.
Their celebrations were short-lived as McHugh rose powerfully in the area to head home Bradford's third.
"Set pieces are a vital part of the game and you've got to defend them and we certainly didn't do that," under pressure Lambert said.

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