Kuwaiti gets two years for insulting emir on Twitter

Kuwaiti gets two years for insulting emir on Twitter
KUWAIT (Reuters) - A Kuwaiti court sentenced a man to two years in prison for insulting the country's ruler on Twitter, a lawyer following the case said, as the Gulf Arab state cracks down on criticism of the authorities on social media.
According to the verdict on Sunday, published by online newspaper Alaan, a tweet written by Rashid Saleh al-Anzi in October "stabbed the rights and powers of the Emir" Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah.
Anzi, who has 5,700 Twitter followers, was expected to appeal, the lawyer, who asked not to be named, told Reuters.
Kuwait, a U.S. ally and major oil producer, has been taking a firmer line on politically sensitive comments aired on the Internet.
In June 2012, a man was sentenced to 10 years in prison after he was convicted of endangering state security by insulting the Prophet Mohammad and the Sunni Muslim rulers of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain on social media.
Two months later, authorities detained Sheikh Meshaal al-Malik Al-Sabah, a member of the ruling family, over remarks on Twitter in which he accused authorities of corruption and called for political reform, a rights activist said.
While public demonstrations about local issues are common in a state that allows the most dissent in the Gulf, Kuwait has avoided Arab Spring-style mass unrest that toppled three veteran Arab dictators last year.
But tensions have intensified between the hand-picked government, in which ruling family members hold the top posts, and the elected parliament and opposition groups.

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Samsung sees record-high 4Q profit

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co., the world's largest technology company by revenue, expects record earnings for the fourth quarter of 2012 as shoppers continued to snap up its smartphones and tablets.
The company said Tuesday its operating profit for the October-December quarter would be about 8.8 trillion won ($8.3 billion), up 89 percent from a year earlier and higher than expectations. It will release its full quarterly result including net profit at the end of this month.
The maker of Galaxy smartphones and tablets said fourth quarter revenue likely rose 18 percent from a year earlier to 56 trillion won.
Analysts said nearly 70 percent of the operating income for the quarter was likely generated by Samsung's mobile division that makes and sells smartphones and tablets.
Samsung's mobile business, which recently overtook Apple in smartphone sales and Nokia in mobile handsets, has driven Samsung's earnings growth in recent quarters. Samsung's quarterly operating profit has risen steadily since the final quarter of 2011, while rival mobile-phone makers such as Nokia, Research In Motion and HTC have experienced falling market share and profits.
Samsung shipped at least 60 million smartphones in the last quarter of 2012, according to analysts' estimates, about 10 percent growth from the previous quarter.
The launch in September of the Galaxy Note II, a giant smartphone with a 5.5-inch screen and a digital pen, helped Samsung retain its market dominance during the Christmas holiday season despite competition from Apple's iPhone 5, analysts said. Samsung's flagship Android device, the Galaxy S III, also sold strongly.
Jin Sung-hye, an analyst at KTB Securities, estimated Samsung shipped 15 million S III smartphones and 7 million of the Note II during the final three months of 2012. The surprise popularity of the Note II device prompted other handset makers to increase the screen size of their smartphones as consumers embrace a wider mobile-phone screen to watch videos.
Market watchers speculate that Samsung will introduce a new Galaxy S smartphone, likely to be named the Galaxy S IV, before the end of April. Samsung usually rolls out the latest iteration of its Android-based flagship smartphone before the end of the second quarter, taking advantage of the time when rivals are months away from introducing new smartphone models.
With the early rollouts of the new Galaxy S model and an update to the Note series later in the year, analysts predict Samsung will sell at least 300 million smartphones in 2013, widening its lead over Apple. Samsung's smartphone shipments likely surpassed 200 million for the first time in 2012.
The company plans to act more aggressively to increase its share of the tablet PC market this year, which is still dominated by Apple's iPad, its executives said in an October conference call. The release of mini tablets that are between the size of smartphones and standard tablets also opens up a new growth area for Samsung.
While the mobile phone division has replaced Samsung's semiconductor business as the biggest profit generator, robust demand for smartphones around the world is benefiting Samsung's semiconductor operation as well. The company is the world's largest supplier of TVs and memory chips.
Analysts said Samsung's semiconductor division fared better in the last quarter than the quarter before as higher Samsung phone sales and launches of new mobile products by its customers lifted demand for Samsung's mobile processors.
In the first quarter of this year, market watchers said the strengthening of the South Korean currency against the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen could hurt Samsung's component businesses, which is facing seasonally weak demand for TVs and display panels. But others predict Samsung will ship more smartphones than the previous quarter, which could outweigh lower TV and panel sales.
The South Korean company has been in global legal battles with Apple, one of its biggest clients, for nearly two years. Last month, Samsung dropped its bid to seek a sales ban against Apple's mobile products in Europe, saying it would like to protect consumer choice. Samsung, which is under investigations by the European Commission over its practice of licensing key mobile patents, is maintaining its lawsuits against the iPhone maker in other countries.
Shares of Samsung Electronics fell 1.3 percent in Seoul after earnings release. Samsung's shares, which gained 11 percent in the fourth quarter, hit a record high level earlier this month.
If Samsung's fourth quarter results are in line with Tuesday's guidance, the company will report 29 trillion won ($27.3 billion) operating profit on revenue of 201.1 trillion won ($189 billion) for 2012.

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World stocks down ahead of US corporate earnings

BANGKOK (AP) — World stock markets headed lower Tuesday as investors turned cautious before U.S. earnings season kicks off this week.
Investors will get a feel for corporate America's outlook as earnings reports start coming. Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. will unofficially launch the reporting season for the fourth quarter of 2012 on Tuesday after U.S. markets close.
Events during the quarter such as Superstorm Sandy, the presidential election, and worries about the narrowly avoided "fiscal cliff" could lead to some unexpected results.
European shares were lower ahead of the release of November unemployment data for the region.
"The contrast with Friday's improving US employment data is likely to be quite stark," said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.1 percent to 6,060.15. Germany's DAX shed 0.3 percent to 7,709.13. France's CAC-40 lost 0.1 percent to 3,699.55. Wall Street appeared headed for losses. Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.2 percent to 13,285 and S&P 500 futures lost 0.3 percent to 1,452.10.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index tumbled 0.9 percent to 10,508.06 as the yen crept upward against the U.S. dollar. The rebound in the yen led some investors to sell export shares that had surged as the currency weakened in recent weeks. Toyota Motor Corp. fell 2 percent while Mazda Motor Corp. plunged 5 percent. Nintendo Co. shed 3.1 percent.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9 percent to 23,111.19. South Korea's Kospi lost 0.7 percent to 1,997.94. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand fell, while Malaysia and the Philippines rose. Mainland Chinese shares were mixed.
Australia's S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.6 percent to 4,690.20. That came as the government announced the country's trade deficit widened in November and a report by the Australian Industry Group and the Housing Industry Association showed the country's construction industry slowing for the 31st consecutive month.
"Investors are taking a wait-and-see attitude," said Evan Lucas, strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, adding that many investors went for profits ahead of the release Wednesday of weekly jobless claims in the U.S. and the European Central Bank's rate-setting meeting Thursday.
"A lot of eyes are watching what will happen in Europe and America over the next couple of days," he said. Another closely watched development will be the Bank of England's monthly announcement on its key interest rate, due Thursday.
Major indexes surged last week after U.S. lawmakers passed a bill to avoid a combination of government spending cuts and tax increases that have come to be known as the fiscal cliff. The deal, however, remains incomplete. Politicians will face another deadline in two months to agree on more spending cuts.
"The looming budget battle in the US has also prompted some hesitancy to buy risk assets," said analysts at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong.
Among individual stocks, Agile Property Holdings Ltd. fell 6.5 percent after the Hong Kong developer said police charged its chairman with two counts of indecent assault. The company said the charges would not affect its business operations.
Benchmark crude for February delivery was down 13 cents to $93.06 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 10 cents to close at $93.19 a barrel on the Nymex on Monday.
In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3105 from $1.3112 in New York late Monday. The dollar fell to 87.42 yen from 87.84 yen.

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Futures dip ahead of start to US earnings season

NEW YORK (AP) — Stock futures are heading lower as the U.S. kicks off the first earnings season of 2013.
Dow Jones industrial futures are down 10 points to 13,297. The broader S&P futures have given up 1.8 points to 1,454. Nasdaq futures are down 2.25 points to 2,715.50.
Alcoa posts fourth quarter earnings after the markets close Tuesday and analysts that follow the company are looking for a profit of 6 cents per share. That would be a rebound for the aluminum producer, which lost $191 million, or 18 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
There is early pressure on markets from overseas.
The number of unemployed people in the European Union is now 18.8 million, the most ever. Almost 11 percent of people living in the 17-nation bloc don't have jobs.

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Judgment day for Bonds, Clemens, Sosa at Hall

NEW YORK (AP) — There's a chance the podium under the chandeliers in the gold-and-ivory-colored Vanderbilt Room of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel will go unused.
With the cloud of steroids shrouding the candidacies of Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and others, baseball writers may fail for the only the second time in more than four decades to elect anyone to the Hall of Fame, rendering a news conference unnecessary.
About 600 people are eligible to vote in the BBWAA election, all members of the organization for 10 consecutive years at any point. Results will be announced at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, with the focus on first-time eligibles that include Bonds, baseball's only seven-time Most Valuable Player, and Clemens, the only seven-time Cy Young Award winner.
Since 1965, the only years the writers didn't elect a candidate were when Yogi Berra topped the 1971 ballot at 67 percent and when Phil Niekro headed the 1996 ballot at 68 percent. Both were chosen the following years.
"It really would be a shame, especially since the other people going in this year are not among the living, which will make for a rather strange ceremony," said the San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser, president of the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
Three inductees were chosen last month by the 16-member panel considering individuals from the era before integration in 1946: Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert, umpire Hank O'Day and barehanded catcher Deacon White. They will be enshrined during a ceremony at Cooperstown on July 28.
Also on the ballot for the first time are Sammy Sosa and Mike Piazza, power hitters whose statistics have been questioned because of the Steroids Era, and Craig Biggio, 20th on the career list with 3,060 hits — all for the Houston Astros. Curt Schilling, 11-2 with a 2.23 ERA in postseason play, is another ballot rookie.
The Hall is prepared to hold a news conference Thursday with any electees. Or to not have one.
Biggio wasn't sure whether the controversy over this year's ballot would keep all candidates out.
"All I know is that for this organization I did everything they ever asked me to do and I'm proud about it, so hopefully, the writers feel strongly, they liked what they saw, and we'll see what happens," Biggio said on Nov. 28, the day the ballot was announced.
Jane Forbes Clark, the Hall's chairman, said last year she was not troubled by voters weighing how to evaluate players in the era of performance-enhancing drugs.
"I think the museum is very comfortable with the decisions that the baseball writers make," she said. "And so it's not a bad debate by any means."
Bonds has denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs and was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice for giving an evasive answer in 2003 to a grand jury investigating PEDs. Clemens was acquitted of perjury charges stemming from congressional testimony during which he denied using PEDs.
Sosa, who finished with 609 home runs, was among those who tested positive in MLB's 2003 anonymous survey, The New York Times reported in 2009. He told a congressional committee in 2005 that he never took illegal performance-enhancing drugs.
The BBWAA election rules say "voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played."
"Steroid or HGH use is cheating, plain and simple," ESPN.com's Wallace Matthews wrote. "And by definition, cheaters lack integrity, sportsmanship and character. Strike one, strike two, strike three."
Several holdovers from last year remain on the 37-player ballot, with top candidates including Jack Morris (67 percent), Jeff Bagwell (56 percent), Lee Smith (51 percent) and Tim Raines (49 percent).
When The Associated Press surveyed 112 eligible voters in late November, Bonds received 45 percent support among voters who expressed an opinion, Clemens 43 percent and Sosa 18 percent. The Baseball Think Factory website compiled votes by writers who made their opinions public and with 151 ballots had everyone falling short. Biggio was at 68 percent, followed by Morris (63), Bagwell (62), Raines (61), Piazza (59), Bonds (43) and Clemens (42).
Morris finished second last year when Barry Larkin was elected and is in his 14th and next-to-last year of eligibility. He could become the player with the highest-percentage of the vote who is not in the Hall, a mark currently held by Gil Hodges at 63 percent in 1983.
Several players who fell just short in the BBWAA balloting later were elected by either the Veterans Committee or Old-Timers' Committee: Nellie Fox (74.7 percent on the 1985 BBWAA ballot), Jim Bunning (74.2 percent in 1988), Orlando Cepeda (73.6 percent in 1994) and Frank Chance (72.5 percent in 1945).
Ace of three World Series winners, Morris finished with 254 victories and was the winningest pitcher of the 1980s. His 3.90 ERA, however, is higher than that of any Hall of Famer. Morris will be joined on next year's ballot by Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, both 300-game winners.
If no one is elected this year, there could be a logjam in 2014. Voters may select up to 10 players.
The only certainty is the Hall is pleased with the writers' process.
"While the BBWAA does the actual voting, it only does so at the request of the Hall of Fame," said the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin, the organization's past president. "If the Hall of Fame is troubled, certainly the Hall could make alternate arrangements."

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Source: RG3 to have surgery on torn knee ligament

WASHINGTON (AP) — A person familiar with the situation says Robert Griffin III will have surgery Wednesday to repair a torn ligament in his right knee.
The person said Griffin has a torn lateral collateral ligament and that the surgery will also determine whether he also has damaged the ACL.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Redskins have not announced the latest details of Griffin's injury.
Baylor coach Art Briles confirmed the same details in an interview with USA Today.
A torn LCL would require a rehabilitation period of several months, possibly extending into training camp and the start of next season. A torn ACL is a more severe injury, typically requiring nine to 12 months of recovery.
Griffin reinjured the knee in Sunday's playoff loss to Seattle.

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Redskins' RG3 to have knee surgery

WASHINGTON (AP) — Robert Griffin III is having surgery Wednesday on a torn ligament in his right knee — and to see if there's a second ligament that also needs to be repaired.
Baylor coach Art Briles confirmed to USA Today and The Associated Press on Tuesday night that the Washington Redskins rookie has a torn lateral collateral ligament. He said the surgery also will determine whether Griffin has damaged his ACL in that knee.
A person close to Griffin, speaking on condition of anonymity because the Redskins have not made an announcement, also confirmed the details surrounding Griffin's injury to the AP.
A torn LCL requires a rehabilitation period of several months, possibly extending into training camp and the start of next season. A torn ACL is a more severe injury, typically requiring nine to 12 months of recovery.
Griffin missed most of the 2009 season for Baylor after tearing his ACL in the same knee, getting injured on the game's opening drive against Northwestern State but not leaving until halftime. He recovered to win the Heisman Trophy two years later.
"RG3 will be good as new, though. I know that!" Briles said in a text message to the AP.
Griffin sprained the LCL last month against the Baltimore Ravens and missed one game. He returned wearing a bulky black brace and reinjured the knee at least twice in Sunday's playoff loss to the Seattle Seahawks, prompting a national debate over whether coach Mike Shanahan endangered his franchise player's career by not taking him out of the game sooner.
The Redskins said an MRI taken after the game was inconclusive, so Griffin flew to Florida on Tuesday for a more detailed examination conducted by orthopedist James Andrews. Andrews will perform the surgery Wednesday.

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