Two Syria chemical weapons sites not yet inspected - BBC News

28 October 2013 Last updated at 11:45 ET

International chemical weapons inspectors say "security reasons" have prevented them from visiting two sites disclosed by the Syrian government.

In a statement, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said verification activities had been completed at 21 out of 23 sites.

"Efforts to ensure the conditions necessary for safe access to those sites will continue," it added.

On Sunday, Syria submitted to the OPCW a plan to destroy its chemical arsenal.

The Hague-based organisation said that it did so three days ahead of the 27 October deadline set by UN Security Council resolution 2118.

'Ceasefires needed'

Correspondents say the fact that inspectors have not been able to reach two of the 23 sites means that one of the first in a series of tight deadlines for the destruction or removal of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014 has been missed.

The OPCW has not said who was responsible for the security concerns, only that negotiations to ensure the conditions necessary for safe access to the two remaining sites will continue.

Officials say that ceasefires between government and rebel forces may be needed to reach them.

The OPCW's mission was set up following outrage at a chemical weapons attack on 21 August. Hundreds of people were killed when rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were fired at several suburbs of the capital, Damascus.

The United States and other Western powers blamed the attack on forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. But Mr Assad accused rebels of being behind it.

Sixty inspectors from the OPCW and UN have been in Syria since 1 October.

Under resolution 2118, Syria's chemical weapons production equipment must be destroyed by 1 November and stockpiles must be disposed of by mid-2014.

The organisation's work in Syria marks the first time the international chemical weapons watchdog - which won this year's Nobel Peace Prize - has been asked to oversee the destruction of a chemical arsenal during an armed conflict.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in the fighting that has ravaged Syria for two-and-a-half years, according to the UN.

A further two million people have fled Syria and some 4.5 million have been displaced internally.

Sochi 2014: Putin declares gay athletes welcome - BBC News

28 October 2013 Last updated at 14:31 ET

Russian President Vladimir Putin has insisted gay and lesbian athletes have nothing to fear at next year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Mr Putin told Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, that gay athletes - and supporters - would feel at ease.

Russia has been criticised over a new law banning "homosexual propaganda" towards people under 18.

But a proposed boycott of the Games has gained little momentum.

There was some suggestion that gay visitors might face prosecution in Russia, but Moscow says this will not happen.

"We will do everything to make sure that athletes, fans and guests feel comfortable at the Olympic Games regardless of their ethnicity, race or sexual orientation. I would like to underline that," Mr Putin told Mr Bach.

But gay rights groups have accused the IOC of not putting enough pressure on Russia, which has invested more in its Games than any previous Olympic host.

During his visit, Mr Bach made no public mention of the new law, focusing instead on Russia's preparations for the Olympics.

"We are fully confident that the Games will be on a magnificent level," he was quoted as saying by the Reuters news agency.

Asked about concerns that there might not be enough snow to host events in the Krasnaya Polyana mountains, near Sochi, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, said organisers have stored 700,000 cu. m (24.7m cu. ft) of snow as a contingency.

Vodka boycott

Under the homosexual propaganda law, passed earlier this year, private individuals promoting "non-traditional sexual relations" to minors face fines of up to 5,000 roubles (£100; $155) while officials risk paying 10 times that amount. Businesses and schools could be fined up to 500,000 roubles.

Activists in the West have been outraged at the measures, calling on athletes and countries to boycott the Games.

Gay bars in New York, London and elsewhere have boycotted Russian vodka.

But for many in Russia, where homosexuality was decriminalised in Russia in 1993, the law is much less controversial.

A recent poll found that nearly half of Russians believe that the gay and lesbian community should not enjoy the same rights as other citizens.

In August, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, spoke out in favour of the law at the World Championships in Moscow, but later said her comments concerning homosexuality had been "misunderstood".

Google launches Nexus 5 handset - BBC News

31 October 2013 Last updated at 14:58 ET By Mark Ward Technology correspondent, BBC News

Google has officially unveiled the latest incarnation of its flagship Nexus smartphone.

Made by LG, the handset is smaller, slimmer and lighter than the Nexus 4 but its 4.96in (126mm) touchscreen is bigger.

The Nexus 5 has been developed to show off the capabilities of the new version of the Android operating system.

Called Kitkat, the software has been designed to work well on both high-end smartphones and cheaper feature phones.

The alliance with Google has helped bolster LG's fortunes even though, according to statistics from Gartner, it is still a long way behind rivals Samsung and Apple.

In the April-to-June quarter, the consultancy indicated 3.8% of all smartphones sold were LG handsets putting the South Korean firm in third place.

By contrast, Apple accounted for 18.8% of all sales and Samsung 29.7%.

Memory cut

The specifications for the new phone were widely leaked before it was announced on the official Google blog.

The gadget shares some of the hardware from LG's G2 handset and can record and play back HD video at the full 1080p resolution. Its camera also has a rapid burst system that captures several photographs at the same time so owners can pick the best shot.

The handset is due to go on sale on 1 November in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and Korea.

"Nexus devices serve an important function for Google," said Ben Wood, head of research at analyst firm CCS Insight.

"The company collaborates closely with the chosen phone maker as it rolls out a new version of the Android operating system and this results in a 'vanilla' version of the software that acts as a reference platform for developers and tech enthusiasts."

Google said a base 16GB version of the device would cost $349 in the US (£299 in the UK), unlocked and without a contract. The 32GB version should cost $399 (£339 in the UK).

With Android Kitkat, Google said it had made the software use less memory so it could be used on handsets with much lower specifications than top end smartphones.

In addition, Google has begun moving some services off Android's core software and onto its app store. Many see this as a way for it to maintain more control over the security of the software and its associated applications.

Patent wars: Tech giants sue Samsung and Google - BBC News

1 November 2013 Last updated at 08:06 ET

A group of tech giants known as the Rockstar Consortium is suing Google, Samsung, HTC and others over alleged mobile phone patent infringements.

Rockstar, jointly owned by Apple, Microsoft, Blackberry, Ericsson and Sony, is targeting manufacturers of phones that run the rival Google Android operating system.

Rockstar spent $4.5bn (£2.8bn) buying thousands of Nortel patents after the telecoms giant went bankrupt in 2009.

Google lost out in the bidding war.

The Rockstar lawsuit claims Google has infringed seven patents relating to the way internet search terms match up with relevant advertising.

Dominance

The move is just the latest in a number of mobile device patent cases being fought across the world, as technology behemoths fight for dominance of the lucrative smartphone, tablet and games console markets.

Google's Android has been doing particularly well, largely thanks to the success of Samsung's Galaxy range of smartphones.

Android devices accounted for 81.3% of smartphone shipments in the third quarter of 2013, according to research firm Strategy Analytics, compared with 13.4% for Apple iOS and 4.1% for Windows Phone.

This week, Nokia, whose mobile devices division is being bought by Microsoft, won a patent victory over HTC that could see the Taiwanese company's HTC One smartphone being banned from import into the UK.

And earlier in October, Samsung offered to stop taking rivals to court over alleged patent infringements for a period of five years, after European Union authorities said the South Korean company's litigious actions were stifling competition.

Samsung faced a potential £11.3bn ($18.3bn) fine if found guilty of breaching European anti-trust laws.

Google's Motorola Mobility, which the search giant bought for $12.5bn, has also been accused of similar anti-competitive behaviour.

Samsung and Apple are currently slugging it out in the courts of more than 10 countries across Europe.

Cross-licensing

But some senior technology experts believes the legal conflict is bad for consumers.

In an interview with the BBC's Click programme to be broadcast on Saturday, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak says: "There are good things I see on Samsung phones that I wish were in my iPhone; I wish Apple would use them, and could use them, and I don't know if Samsung would stop us.

"I wish everybody just did a lot of cross-licensing and sharing the good technology; all our products would be better, we'd go further.

"I do kind of wish they were more compatible."

But the Rockstar Consortium's legal action suggests such a rapprochement in the global patent wars is still a long way off.

JP Morgan settles for $5.1bn with US housing regulator - BBC News

25 October 2013 Last updated at 17:48 ET

JP Morgan has reached a $5.1bn (£3.2bn) settlement with the US Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over charges it misled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the housing boom.

A separate settlement with the US Justice Department is expected to be announced soon.

"This is a significant step to address outstanding mortgage-related issues," the FHFA said in a statement.

It is the biggest settlement ever by a US bank.

In a statement JP Morgan said the settlement resolves the biggest case against the firm relating to mortgage-backed securities.

The bank added that the agreement relates to "approximately $33.8 billion of securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from JP Morgan, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual" from 2005 - 2007.

JP Morgan purchased Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual at the height of the financial crisis of 2008-2009, and has tried to argue that it should not be punished for mistakes made before those deals.

As part of the agreement with the FHFA, the bank will pay $4bn to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to settle claims that it violated US securities law.

It will pay the agencies an additional $1.1bn for misrepresenting the quality of single-family mortgages.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are the biggest mortgage lenders in the US. They received $187bn in US taxpayer aid to help them stay afloat during the financial collapse.

They have since repaid $146bn of the loan.

'Broader resolution'

JP Morgan has been under investigation for several months by US regulators.

The bank said that it hoped the settlement would be part of a "broader resolution" of the firm's housing bubble woes - a nod to an expected settlement with the US Justice Department that is also likely to run to several billions of dollars.

The firm reported a rare loss last quarter, having set aside an additional $9bn to help it deal with its mounting legal troubles.

JP Morgan has set aside a total of $23bn to help the bank work through its many investigations by regulators in the US and abroad.

Last month, the bank agreed to pay more than $1bn to help it end various investigations into its 2012 "London whale" trading debacle, which cost the bank more than $6bn and raised questions about its oversight procedures.

Internet child abuse 'clampdown' by new UK-US agency - BBC News

20 October 2013 Last updated at 05:21 ET

Criminals who trade in child abuse images are to be targeted in a new British-American task force.

Police Minister Damian Green will fly to the US later to formalise arrangements for the new body.

The agency will be co-chaired by Mr Green and US Attorney General Eric Holder.

Mr Green said: "Child abuse and exploitation online are not restricted by borders and our efforts to combat them should not be either."

Continue reading the main story

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This agreement will only strengthen our ability to crack down on this sickening crime."

End Quote Damian Green Police Minister

He went on: "British and American parents rightly expect us to do all we can to protect our children and that is why I want to agree to a much closer working relationship in this area.

"This agreement will only strengthen our ability to crack down on this sickening crime."

Mr Green will sign a memorandum of understanding between the two countries in the next few days.

The Sun on Sunday reported that as part of the trip Mr Green will meet senior figures within the FBI, Homeland Security and other law enforcement agencies.

Internet companies are also being called on to share information with their British counterparts.

Keeping children safe

The move follows the 22 July announcement from Prime Minister David Cameron that most households would have sexually explicit material blocked by the internet provider unless they chose to opt out.

Joanna Shields, UK business ambassador for Digital Industries and a former Google and Facebook executive, will be the industry lead for the project.

She told the Sun on Sunday: "The US-UK Taskforce will play a critical role in taking forward the Prime Minister's commitment to eradicating exploitative material from the internet and keeping our children safe online.

"I strongly believe that industry and government can successfully tackle this problem together.

"I look forward to working with the brightest minds in the industry to develop truly innovative and creative technical solutions that will help protect the most vulnerable in our society."

US generals forced to retire over Taliban attack - BBC News

30 September 2013 Last updated at 21:36 ET

The head of the US Marine Corps has ordered two generals to retire because they failed to defend Camp Bastion in Afghanistan from a Taliban attack.

Gen James Amos said Maj Gen Charles Gurganus and Maj Gen Gregg A Sturdevant "did not take adequate force protection measures" to stop the 2012 assault.

Two Marines died and eight other personnel were wounded.

The Taliban also destroyed six Marine Harrier fighter jets and badly damaged several others.

Fourteen of the 15 attackers were killed and one was captured. US Marines and UK Royal Air Force gunners were involved in the counter-attack.

In June, Gen Amos asked US Central Command to carry out an investigation and said he decided to take action against the two generals after reviewing the results of that inquiry.

Endorsing the inquiry's findings, Gen Amos wrote: "While I am mindful of the degree of difficulty the Marines in Afghanistan faced in accomplishing a demanding combat mission with a rapidly declining force, my duty requires me to remain true to the timeless axioms relating to command responsibility and accountability."

He added that Gen Gurganus bore "final accountability" for the lives and equipment under his command, and had made "an error in judgment" in underestimating the risk posed by the Taliban in the Bastion area of Helmand province.

Gen Amos said that Gen Sturdevant - who was in charge of Marine aviation in the region - "did not adequately assess the force protection situation".

Gen Amos asked both men to retire on Monday, speaking personally to Gen Gurganus at the Pentagon and by video conference to Gen Sturdevant, a Marine Corps official told Reuters news agency.

Both men agreed to the request, the official added.

Gen Amos also recommended to the Navy secretary that Gen Gurganus' nomination for promotion to the rank of Lieutenant General be rescinded and that Gen Sturdevant receive a letter of censure.

Correspondents say it is a rare public reprimand of senior US military officers.

Following the announcement, Gen Gurganus issued a brief statement saying he felt privileged to have served in the Marine Corps for 37 years.

"I will treasure that forever. I have complete trust and confidence in the leadership of our Corps and fully respect the decision of our commandant," he said.

Bastion is one of the biggest camps in Afghanistan with a perimeter of 37km (22 miles).