BEIRUT: Lebanon Military Investigative Judge Fadi Sawan requested Monday the death penalty for 32 suspects allegedly involved clashes in Tripoli.
Sawan accused the 32 men of forming an “armed gang” with the intention of killing and intimidating people and undermining the authority of the state.
He referred the case to the military tribunal for trial.
BEIRUT: Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea warned Monday against obstructing the presidential election and urged all parties to attend Parliament’s session to vote for a new head of state.
“The other side [March 8] is determined to obstruct the session and no side has the right to use the right [to boycott a Parliament session] randomly,” Geagea, a presidential candidate, said speaking from his residence in Maarab.
More to follow...
BEIRUT: Taxi and truck drivers held a protest Monday demanding the government increase their social security benefits and enact the national transportation plan, as Lebanon braces for more protests this week.
The protesters drove slowly from Dora Highway and Cola roundabout to Riad Solh Square where they held a sit-in, causing heavy traffic on the Beirut highway.
Dozens of drivers gathered at several meeting points to kick off the protest around 11 a.m.
Fuel truck drivers along with bus drivers also took part in the protest called for by the Unions of Land Transportation to pressure the government to meet their long-standing demands.
Meanwhile, employees at the Rafik Hariri International Airport announced they would take part in the nationwide strike planned by the Union Coordination Committee, which represents teachers and civil servants.
The protesters will also hold a protest in Beirut to demand Parliament pass a controversial draft law to raise their salaries.
Lawmakers have been unable to approve and pass the proposal in light of disagreements over means to finance the proposal which is estimated to cost the treasury some $1.6 billion.
Private and public school teachers have warned they would boycott correcting final examinations to escalate the protest and further pressure MPs to pass the draft law.
TOKYO -- Panasonic has returned to profit from deep losses the previous fiscal year on the back of a weak yen. It is forecasting a 16 percent increase in profit for the coming fiscal year.
Panasonic Corp. reported Monday 120.4 billion yen ($1.2 billion) in profit for the fiscal year through March 2014, a reversal from a 754.3 billion yen loss the previous fiscal year.
Panasonic has been restructuring its sprawling operations to become more profitable. For the fiscal year through March 2012, it lost 772 billion yen, one of the biggest losses ever for a Japanese company.
Sales for the fiscal year ended March 2014 improved 6 percent to 7.737 trillion yen ($75.85 billion).
A weak yen is a boon for Japanese exporters by boosting the value of overseas earnings.
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The high-stakes battle between the world's largest smartphone makers is scheduled to wrap up this week after a monthlong trial that has pulled the curtain back on just how very cutthroat the competition is between Apple and Samsung.
Closing arguments in the patent-infringement case are scheduled to begin Monday, with the two tech giants accusing each other, once again, of ripping off designs and features. At stake: $2 billion if Samsung loses, a few hundred million if Apple loses.
Teams of attorneys on both sides have spent the month trying to poke holes in obscure and bureaucratic patent legal claims, while keeping the eight jurors engaged. Drawing the most attention in the courtroom and the media are insider emails and meeting presentations documenting the frustration each company faced as they competed for market share.
Less than a year after Apple unveiled its iPhone in 2007 combining a web browser, music player and phone in one swipeable device, Samsung officials noted they were quickly losing customers.
"While Traditional OEMs are busy fighting each other in the Feature phone space Apple is busy making the category obsolete," said one confidential briefing presentation. "What makes the iphone unique is software (applications) and services, beautiful hardware is just a bonus"
But Samsung fought back, using Google's Android system, offering less expensive smartphones with larger screens.
"Consumers want what we don't have," said a 2013 Apple presentation a few years later, noting that the low-priced, easy-to-view competition was surging ahead.
Both have studied each other's marketing as well.
In 2009, Samsung designers examined step by step why iPhones were known to be easier to use than Samsung, finding their own offerings weren't friendly and lacked emotion and charm.
When Samsung aired a Super Bowl ad in 2013, Apple marketing head Phil Schiller had praise for the competition.
"It's pretty good and I can't help but think 'these guys are feeling it' (like an athlete who can't miss because they are in a zone) while we struggle to nail a compelling brief on iPhone," he wrote in an email. "That's sad because we have much better products."
Throughout the three years of litigation, Samsung's market share has grown. One of every three smartphones sold last year was a Samsung, now the market leader. Apple, with a typically higher price, was second, with about 15 percent of the global market.
Although it's impossible to predict what a jury will do, two years ago a federal jury found Samsung was infringing on Apple patents. Samsung was ordered to pay about $900 million, but it is has appealed the judgment and has been allowed to continue selling products using the technology.
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Follow Martha Mendoza on Twitter @mendozamartha
BEIJING -- Sohu.com Inc., which operates one of China's most popular Web portals, said Monday it lost $79 million in the latest quarter due to higher expenses as its games and mobile businesses expanded.
The loss for the three months ending March 31, equal to $2.05 per share, compared with a $23 million profit for the same period a year earlier.
The Beijing-based company cited higher promotion and compensation costs as its mobile business and Changyou games unit expanded.
Total revenues for the quarter rose 19 percent to $365 million. Online advertising was up 51 percent at $175 million.
Companies such as Sohu that prospered in the desktop computer-based Internet era are racing to roll out mobile services as Chinese Web surfers shift to going online using smart phones and tablet computers.
Sohu operates online media, search, gaming, community and mobile services.
In the first quarter, its mobile video traffic surpassed PC-based traffic, according to Chairman Charles Zhang.
"With the accelerated migration to mobile internet, I am pleased to report that Sohu Group's portfolio of mobile properties is gaining great traction," Zhang said in a statement.
Sohu's mobile search traffic rose 24 percent, according to Xiaochuan Wang, chief executive of its Sogou search unit.
For the current quarter, Sohu forecast total revenues between $397 million and $411 million and a loss of between $48 million and $52 million.
BEIJING -- The International Monetary Fund has raised its economic growth outlook for China this year by 0.3 percentage points to 7.5 percent and said Beijing needs to make more progress on promised reforms.
Monday's forecast might help reassure investors who worry China's economy is slowing so abruptly that growth might fall short of the ruling Communist Party's target of 7.5 percent this year.
The IMF said Beijing needs to make more progress in rebalancing the economy toward self-sustaining growth based on domestic consumption and away from reliance on investment.
"There are some burgeoning signs that consumption is set to play a larger role in the economy and efforts to cool down credit growth, raise the cost of capital, and dampen investment growth should continue," the IMF said in a report.
