India’s PM Modi Makes Ramadan Call to Pakistan’s PM Nawaz Sharif 

In the latest gesture between the two nuclear-armed neighbors, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called his Pakistani counterpart Nawaz Sharif to greet him ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts this week.
During the conversation, which lasted for around five minutes, Mr. Modi announced the release of detained Pakistani fishermen as “an act of goodwill,” Mr. Sharif’s office said in a statement Tuesday evening.
The released Pakistani fishermen “will be able to be with their families to observe this blessed month,” Mr. Modi said on social networking site Twitter. Details on the number of fishermen to be released and the timing were not disclosed.
In response, Mr. Sharif said in a statement that the two nations should “forget their differences and talk of war, and move towards peace and tranquility.”
“Pakistan and India should co-exist peacefully as they are neighbors, and they should not let their bilateral differences become hurdles in that path,” the statement added.
Mr. Modi first extended an olive branch to Pakistan when he invited Mr. Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony after his election last year, but since then, the fragile ties have soured with inflammatory remarks from both sides.

Pakistan Seeks To Energize Naval Modernization

ISLAMABAD — Pakistan hopes to revive its naval modernization program through a warship construction deal with China that will also expand Pakistan's shipbuilding industry.
Chinese media reports have outlined a construction program involving six of eight S-20 variants of the Type-039A/Type-041 submarine under negotiation; four "Improved F-22P" frigates equipped with enhanced sensors and weaponry (possibly including the HQ-17 surface-to-air missile developed from the Russian Tor 1/SA-N-9); and six Type-022 Houbei stealth catamaran missile boats, to be built by Pakistan's state-owned shipbuilder Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KSEW).
The reports indicate Type-022 construction may be delayed by the ongoing Azmat fast attack craft building program, but also highlight a significant expansion of KSEW's facilities.
These include a foundry, fabrication facilities to cover all aspects of ship construction, berthing facilities, and two graving docks of 26,000 and 18,000 dead weight tons, spread over 71 acres.
A 7,881-ton ship lift transfer system will be completed next year.
KSEW will expand to occupy facilities vacated by the Navy as it transfers from Karachi to Ormara. The Pakistan Navy Dockyard, which is adjacent to KSEW, already has facilities upgraded by the French during construction of Agosta-90B submarines.
Pakistani officials would not comment on these reports. Repeated attempts to secure comment from the Ministry of Defence Production, KSEW, the Navy and federal politicians connected with defense decision-making bodies were turned away.
The program will follow a Sino-Pakistani agreement for six patrol vessels for Pakistan's Maritime Security Agency agreed to on June 10, with two built by KSEW.
Author, analyst and former Australian defense attache to Islamabad Brian Cloughley said the groundwork laid by the Agosta-90B program that included upgrades to PN Dockyard facilities and the training of some 1,000 civilian technicians greatly facilitated present plans.
However, Trevor Taylor, professorial research fellow, defense, industries and society, at the Royal United Services Institute highlighted the problems KSEW's construction and expansion plans could encounter.
"Experience from around the world shows that it is very easy to be optimistic about the difficulty of naval shipbuilding and the time taken to complete construction and systems integration," he said. "Plans for rapid expansion of warship production are unlikely to proceed on schedule. The coordinated and sustained application of extensive managerial and technical skills is required, and submarines especially have vital safety dimensions."
He highlights the importance of a sustainable program.
"The lesson from the UK and elsewhere is that, once a warship design and build capability is in place, it is best maintained and developed through a planned and steady drumbeat of programs, rather than a rapid expansion of activity for a limited period of years followed by a sudden drop-off in orders. Clearly this requires a consistent stance of support for the industry from political authorities."
Cloughley is optimistic, however, that the extensive Chinese help provided to Pakistan in warship construction, in addition to agreements made during Chinese President Xi Jinping's recent visit, "indicate that all types of cooperation will continue and expand."
He said this is related to the burgeoning Indo-US relationship, India's increasingly antagonistic anti-Pakistani rhetoric, and clearer Sino-Indian divisions that mean the Sino-Pakistan "axis of understanding has become more tangible."
Consequently, "KSEW can expect considerable input from such as [China Shipbuilding & Offshore International Co]. Money, certainly; but also, and perhaps of more importance, provision of expertise."
He said China's help will also further increase the number of skilled technicians as "there are many would-be technicians with great potential who cannot obtain training," which China is aware of "and has planned accordingly," with KSEW also running a training program.
Cloughley said the Chinese investment and involvement will ensure the program's sustainability.
"Given China's amazingly large financial commitment to cooperation with Pakistan, there is no doubt that Beijing will be calling the tune. And KSEW and many other establishments will be pleased to dance to it."
Though the naval expansion plan is impressive and will ensure future refit and modernization work, analyst Haris Kahn of the Pakistan Military Consortium think tank said with the decommissioning of Type-21 frigates it still only meets Pakistan's "minimum naval deterrence."
"The Navy needs close to 20 large surface vessels [frigates and heavy frigates]" of which at least three should be ships able to provide area air defense, as the "F-22P will not cut it and the need of longer-range SAM coverage is essential."
"Unfortunately, with the serious shortage of funds we have not even heard about anywhere else the Navy is looking to get these much-needed vessels," he added.
To meet its requirements for larger warships, Pakistan had hoped to acquire approximately six Perry-class frigates from the US, but Nilanthi Samaranayake, Indian Ocean analyst at the US-based CNA, a nonprofit research and analysis organization, said this route is now blocked "due to congressional obstacles."
However, Samaranayake still sees a need for such frigates to "support its counterpiracy and maritime security operations under combined maritime forces."
Cloughley cites Indian influence in Washington for their unavailability, but though Pakistan still desires more Perry-class frigates "on easy or gift terms ... the lure of Chinese ships combined with the massive [Chinese] investment program and Pakistan's increasing disenchantment with Washington would seem to militate against any movement [toward the US]," and Pakistan will certainly look to China in time.

Pakistan-India Relations On Slippery Slope

There is a strong perception in Pakistan that India’s present 
confrontational policy has been motivated by several internal and external factors. New Delhi appears to be deeply concerned by the agreement on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. It feels that this agreement will further strengthen strategic and economic ties between the two countries, and provide China with easy access to the Gulf of Oman and increase its footprint in South Asia, the Middle East and Central Asia. The corridor is also being perceived as a strategic encirclement of India by China in collusion with Pakistan. Notwithstanding this, Beijing has repeatedly assured India and the international community that it is essentially an economic project.
New Delhi is also disturbed by the significant improvement in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. It is making efforts at subverting them by sowing doubts in the minds of the Afghans through its lobbies, even though strengthening of Afghanistan-Pakistan relations does not imply that it is at the expense of any other country.
The BJP is allergic to Pakistan raising the issue of Kashmir at international and bilateral forums. This is an anathema to the party. One fails to comprehend why India thinks that Pakistan will abandon its political support for the Kashmir cause. If, however, India engages with Pakistan at the formal level, a way out can be found eventually.
There is genuine grievance in India regarding Pakistan’s failure to proceed against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage with Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi and other accomplices roaming about freely. Pakistan needs to address the matter seriously.
It is believed that the Modi government, having failed to show results on the economic front, is trying to deflect attention from its domestic challenges by adopting a confrontational policy towards Pakistan. Based on the reputation that Narendra Modi had built in Gujarat, the Indian people were hoping that he would bring about a qualitative change in their lives by improving India’s economy. There is no doubt that there has been progress in certain areas but expectations have fallen short in the economic sector. The Delhi elections were an indication of the people’s disappointment with the BJP. A more realistic check of the people’s mood would be the forthcoming elections in Bihar and other states.
The BJP’s current policy seems to be to keep Pakistan embroiled in such a way that its economy is adversely affected and it is unable to sustain the strategic parity that has existed over the years. It wants to draw Pakistan into an arms race at a time when its economy is entering a stabilisation phase and is poised to move into the growth paradigm. By keeping up the war hysteria, India is discouraging foreign and local investments and creating conditions wherein Pakistan is forced to spend more on defence.
Modi’s intention, apparently, is not to engage Pakistan in a major military conflict, as that will go against Indian interests of fast-tracking economic development in India. But what if the Lashkar-e-Taiba or India’s own extremist elements, taking advantage of the current hiatus, launch a terrorist attack anywhere in India or in Indian-held Kashmir? This will trigger a situation that could in all probability get out of control. In case India responds by invoking the Cold Start doctrine and launches a limited attack on Muridke or any of the locations of the Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), Pakistan will not sit idle. It will respond by launching a similar attack on Indian soil. In a worst-case scenario, the situation could escalate where Pakistan employs its tactical nuclear weapons. Apparently, other options for India in the event of a terrorist attack could include a naval blockade or a punitive air strike. All these are likely to result in stepping on the escalatory ladder with similar consequences. The most alarming aspect is that the two countries could unwittingly become hostage to militant and radical forces if they close all avenues of dialogue.
The international community will remain sceptical of Pakistan’s sincerity in engaging India unless we come out clean and abandon support for the JuD.
One is aware that the BJP government has no interest, at least as of now, in developing even trade and commercial relations with Pakistan. This perhaps, fits in with its policy of snubbing Pakistan. Besides, in the overall volume of foreign trade, the trade between India and Pakistan is inconsequential, as currently at the official level it constitutes a very small fraction of India’s global trade. Modi’s charm offensive at the global level and in Saarc countries, however, can be grounded if belligerence towards Pakistan were to get out of control. A hostile neighbourhood and a volatile border is not an ideal scenario for promotion of trade with other countries.
The establishment in Pakistan exercises overriding influence over foreign policy and is equally opposed to trade with India and has been the prime obstacle to granting it the MFN status. In essence, both countries perceive that political objectives trump any possibility of expansion of commercial or economic relations. Clearly, this is a short-sighted policy. The current level of trade between the two countries is not a true indicator of the potential that exists for its future growth. It is widely believed that trade opens up new channels of communication. Lobbies develop that contribute in bringing even inimical neighbours to shed their past. We have the classic example of the European Union. The recent model of China-India relations may be more apt. Economic and commercial relations between India and China are developing at a rapid pace despite an undercurrent of distrust, strategic rivalry and a running border dispute. The trade volume in 2014 crossed $71 billion and is on the rise. This is staggering considering that in 1977 it was only $1 billion. I am not overlooking the fact that the power equation and nature of the dispute between India and Pakistan is vastly different when compared with the one that exists between China and India. Yet the possibility and potential is there and has to be exploited to mutual benefit. Regrettably, in our region, countries look at neighbours with great suspicion. India is fearful of China to the point of paranoia; Pakistan views India as hegemonic and Afghanistan finds Pakistan domineering. This is preventing the region from exploiting its potential.

Millions Of Samsung Galaxy Phones May Be Vulnerable To Hackers

If you’re one of the millions of users of a Samsung Galaxy phone, you might be a potential target for a malicious hacker.
A report released today by NowSecure, a security firm located in Chicago, found that a glitch in Swift, the keyboard software used by default on all Samsung Galaxy devices could allow a remote attacker to compromise your phone.
This particular bug makes the phone vulnerable to what is known as a “man in the middle” attack. The Swift software consistently sends requests to a server, checking for updates. To someone with the right know how, though, it’s possible to impersonate Swift’s server and send through software that can be used to gain control of the device.
The main problem with this vulnerability is that there’s no real solution. The Swift keyboard is so integrated into Samsung’s software that it cannot be removed or disabled — even if it is switched out with a different keyboard app. Steering clear of unsecured Wi-Fi networks will make you less likely to be targeted, but it won’t render you invulnerable.
Swift runs with elevated permissions, giving it pretty much free rein around the phone. This means that a hacker that worms his way into it can also access the Galaxy’s microphone and camera, track the user’s location or listen to their calls. They can even install apps.
NowSecure claims to have made Samsung and Google’s Android team aware of this vulnerability in late 2014, and Samsung reportedly has made a patch available to network providers. It’s not clear, though, whether providers have pushed out the patch to users yet. Many networks have a record of being notoriously slow to push through updates and security patches, and NowSecure’s tests found a number of Galaxy phones on different carriers were still vulnerable as of Tuesday.
If you’re of a more technical bent, you may be interested in seeing the details of NowSecure’s report on their blog. If you’re of a less technical bent, you might want to check with your carrier and try to avoid insecure Wi-Fi networks.

Think Japanese Cars The Most Reliable? Think Again

After years of setting the standard for quality and reliability, Japanese brand autos have dropped below the industry average, according to a new report by J.D. Power and Associates.
The latest Initial Quality Study, which ranks brands based on consumer surveys after owning a vehicle for three months, shows the collective results of Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mitsubishi and Subaru are not keeping pace with the industry as a whole and the Korean auto brands, in particular.
"It's not that the Japanese models are all getting worse, but this shows they are not improving as fast as their competitors," said Renee Stephens, vice president of U.S. automotive quality at J.D. Power. "This is a clear shift in the quality landscape."
Leading the way in quality, according to J.D. Power, are the Korean auto brands. They improved their results by 11 percent compared to last year, easily ahead of the auto industry's overall rate of improvement, which was 3 percent.
Their relentless pursuit of eliminating problems is paying off, Stephens said.
"The Korean automakers are focused on getting it right from the design process up front all the way through to the plants and with finished models," she said.
The study validates the decision Hyundai and Kia made a few years ago to slow global expansion to ensure the quality of their vehicles did not slip. At the time, many in the industry openly asked if the Korean automakers were missing out on boosting sales by not adding more assembly plants around the world.
"Look at their plants around the world, especially in Korea, and you see they [are] very focused on quality," Stephens said.
As for the European and U.S. automakers, both improved about 3 percent year over year.
For the domestic automakers, the Ford and Lincoln brands both cut the number of problems reported in their vehicles. Meanwhile, the Chevrolet and Buick brands both placed within the top 11 brands and showed fewer problems per 100 vehicles than the industry average.
This report will have some asking if the Japanese automakers, who for years have been considered the gold standard for quality, have lost focus and are now slipping.
Stephens said the Japanese automakers are still improving, but have been hurt by the incorporation of infotainment and voice recognition systems in new models.
"They really falter in that area," she said. "Sixteen of the bottom 20 models when it comes to problems with voice recognition systems are Japanese brands." 

Fed leaves Interest Rates Unchanged -- For Now

Keeping a tight lid on its future intentions, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday held interest rates steady at zero and provided only faint clues about when the first hike in nine years might occur.
Adhering to market expectations, the Fed's Open Market Committee voted essentially to maintain the status quo that has prevailed since the U.S. central bank first went to zero rates in late-2008.
FOMC members deemed economic activity "expanding moderately" with various sectors seeing some activity. The language, though, was tempered and the various indicators the Fed uses to tip its hand on policy showed little movement.
Market participants were looking toward the rest of the committee's report, which included economic projections and the so-called dot plot that diagrams individual members' expectations for the future path of rate hikes.
The move comes as unemployment continues to drop but inflation shows almost no signs of getting to the Fed's target rate of 2 percent. The jobless rate has fallen to 5.5 percent but most inflation measures are moored in the 1 percent to 2 percent range, with low wage pressures, energy prices well below their year-ago levels and the gross domestic product in check.
Traders for months had been expecting the Fed to move at the June meeting. Now, the likelihood is for September at the earliest, with Chicago Mercantile Exchange trading indicating a higher probability in December.
The economy thus far has fallen well short of 3 percent growth expectations. GDP actually contracted 0.7 percent in the first quarter and, according to the Atlanta Fed, is likely to rise only about 1.9 percent in the second quarter.
That's created a dilemma for the Fed, which would like to normalize policy but fears disrupting a still-fragile recovery.

Refiners profit as US demand for gasoline soars

Oil supplies are abundant. America’s refiners are running the hardest in 10 years. So why isn’t the country awash in gasoline?

It’s all going up in smoke.

Back in January, the Energy Information Administration forecast Americans would burn 8.71 million barrels of gasoline a day in the first quarter. They actually used 100,000 more than that to drive a record 720.1 billion miles. That’s about 3,900 return trips to the sun.

The thirst for fuel in the U.S. and abroad has been greater than analysts, including the EIA and Energy Aspects Ltd., estimated. It’s pushed pump prices beyond forecasts and extended the good times for America’s refiners, which, thanks to the shale-drilling boom, are gorging on a type of crude easily refined into gasoline.

“The speed at which demand picked up surprised a lot of people, including even ourselves,” Robert Campbell, an analyst at Energy Aspects, a London consulting company, said by phone June 11. “We have been very positive on demand from the get-go and we were still a bit surprised by how quickly it came on.”

Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. rose by 16 percent in the past two months to $2.802 a gallon on June 16, near the highest since November, data compiled by Heathrow, Florida-based AAA show. The motoring group projected in May that average prices would range from $2.55 to $2.75 this summer.

More Driving

More drivers are taking road trips this summer and commuting to the office after the U.S. added 3.1 million jobs last year, the most since 1999.

Gasoline is still almost a dollar below year-ago levels as a flood of low-density oil drawn from shale formations with hydraulic fracturing makes producing fuel cheaper. Refiners used the lightest crude in March since April 1991. Lighter oil tends to yield more gasoline than heavy crude like the bitumen from Canada’s oil sands.

U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude sank 5 cents on Wednesday to settle at $59.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The grade is down 44 percent from a year ago.

Refining margins have widened so much that plants are delaying shutdowns and repairs until next year. The profit from turning three barrels of Light Louisiana Sweet crude into two of gasoline and one of diesel has averaged $15.53 a barrel this month, $4.18 more than a year ago.

Declining Supply

Inventories of gasoline have dropped 10.5 million barrels in the past five weeks, despite the increase in refining rates. There’s enough fuel to cover 23.1 days of demand, the lowest for this time of year since 2012, according to EIA data.

Gulf Coast plants used the most crude on record in the week ended June 2. Planned outages from June through August will be about 200,000 barrels a day less than the past two years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Motiva Enterprises LLC delayed repairs at its Port Arthur refinery, the biggest in the U.S., to the first quarter of next year. BP Plc’s Whiting complex in Indiana put off a maintenance turnaround until next year.

“It would behoove any refinery manager to defer maintenance,” Campbell of Energy Aspects said.

Refiners aren’t running at almost 95 percent of their capacity just to meet a surge in U.S. demand. Gasoline exports were up 9.2 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier.

Improving Economy

Adding to increasing fuel consumption are Americans returning to work and burning more gasoline during their daily commutes. So is the improving construction market, with new home sales in the U.S. rising more than projected in April, Philip Verleger, an energy consultant, said by phone on June 12.

Demand is increasing as drillers are retreating from U.S. oil fields in response to the collapse in crude prices in the second half of last year. The retrenchment is beginning to spur reductions in crude production that, along with higher consumption, may drive prices to as high as $80 a barrel by the end of the year, said Verleger, president of the economic consulting company PKVerleger LLC in Carbondale, Colorado.

Egypt Court Confirms Morsi's Death Sentence 

An Egyptian court today upheld a death sentence against ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi for plotting jailbreaks and attacks on police during the country's 2011 uprising.
The same court also sentenced Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, to life in prison on charges of spying for the Palestinian Hamas movement, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah and Iran.
In a separate trial in April, Morsi had previously been sentenced to 20 years in jail on charges of inciting violence against protesters in 2012 when he was president.
Then-army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi ousted Morsi in July 2013 after mass protests calling for an end to his divisive one-year rule.
Sisi has since overseen a sweeping crackdown on Morsi's supporters, with hundreds of Islamists killed and more than 40,000 in custody, according to Human Rights Watch.
Hundreds have also been sentenced to death after speedy mass trials described by the United Nations as "unprecedented in recent history".
The authorities designated Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood as a "terrorist group" in December 2013, accusing it of being behind violence that erupted after his ouster -- an accusation denied by the Islamist movement.

Tuesday's ruling upheld an initial verdict by the same court from May 16 sentencing Morsi and about 100 other defendants to death in the jailbreak case.
After the latest verdict was read, Morsi, dressed in a blue prison uniform, smiled, clenched his fists together and raised them in a sign of defiance.
The United States, European Union, and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon all expressed concerns over the initial verdict.
ESPIONAGE SENTENCES UPHELD
Ties between the United States and Egypt plummeted after Morsi's ouster, with Washington freezing its annual $1.3 billion in military aid to the country.
But relations have since improved and most of the aid was unblocked late last year.
Tuesday's ruling comes after the court consulted with Egypt's grand mufti, the official interpreter of Islamic law.
Judge Shaaban el-Shamy also confirmed the death sentences against the about 100 other defendants, including the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual guide Mohamed Badie and Qatar-based cleric Yusuf Qaradawi, who was tried in absentia.
In the espionage case, Shamy confirmed earlier death sentences against 16 defendants, though only three are in custody including Muslim Brotherhood financier Khairat al-Shater.
Badie and 15 others were also sentenced to life in prison in the spy case, while three others were given seven years.
They were convicted of spying on behalf of the international Muslim Brotherhood organisation and Hamas from 2005 to August 2013 "with the aim of perpetrating terror attacks in the country in order to spread chaos and topple the state".
All of Tuesday's verdicts can be appealed.
Sisi has defended rulings against his opponents, saying they are part of the judicial process and can be appealed.
But rights groups accuse Sisi's regime of being even more repressive than that of veteran strongman Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted in the popular uprising in 2011. 

Al-Qaeda Confirms Its Leader's Death In US Drone Strike

Al Qaeda has confirmed that its second-in-command, the chief of its powerful Yemeni branch, was killed in a US drone strike, in the heaviest blow to the jihadist network since the death of Osama bin Laden.
Already struggling with the rise of rival jihadists from the Islamic State group, Al Qaeda has suffered a series of setbacks in recent months with several commanders reported killed.
In a video statement, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) confirmed that Nasir al-Wuhayshi was dead.
Wuhayshi "was killed in a US drone attack that targeted him along with two other mujahedeen," who were also killed, said the statement read by prominent Al Qaeda militant Khaled Omar Batarfi and dated 15 June.
AQAP -- which was behind several plots against Western targets including the deadly attack on French magazine Charlie Hebdo in Paris earlier this year -- said it had named its military chief Qassem al-Rimi as its new leader.
US officials were earlier reported to have been reviewing intelligence to confirm that Wuhayshi was killed in a CIA drone strike on 9 June.
A local Yemeni official had told AFP that Wuhayshi was believed to have been killed in the raid in Al Qaeda-held Mukalla, in southeastern Yemen.
Another Yemeni official told AFP last week that a drone had fired four missiles at three Al Qaeda militants, including an unnamed "leading figure", near Mukalla port, killing them on the spot.
The US government had offered a $10 million reward for any information leading to Wuhayshi's capture or killing.
A former aide to bin Laden, Wuhayshi attended the group's Al-Farouk training camp in Afghanistan in the late 1990s.
He is said to have fled Afghanistan in 2002 to Iran, where he was arrested and handed over to Yemen.
He was held there without charge until he escaped by tunnelling his way out of prison with 22 others in February 2006.
In 2007, Wuhayshi was named head of AQAP, which Washington considers Al Qaeda's deadliest branch.
When Bin Laden was killed by US commandos in Pakistan in May 2011, Wuhayshi warned Washington not to fool itself that it spelt Al Qaeda's demise.
"What is coming is greater and worse, and what is awaiting you is more intense and harmful," he said.
As well as the Charlie Hebdo attacks that left 12 people dead, AQAP was also behind an attempt to blow up a US commercial airliner on Christmas Day 2009.
Washington has repeatedly targeted AQAP militants in drone strikes in Yemen and killed several commanders in recent months, including Nasser bin Ali al-Ansi, who appeared in the video claiming responsibility for the Charlie Hebdo attack.
AQAP has exploited months of fighting between loyalists of Yemen's exiled government and Iran-backed Huthi rebels to consolidate their grip on Hadramawt province and its capital Mukalla -- a city of more than 200,000.
Yemen's warring factions were in Geneva on Tuesday for a second day of UN-sponsored talks.
But the talks got off to a bad start when the rebels failed to show on the opening day, something they blamed on a Saudi-led coalition which has waged a deadly bombing campaign against them since March.
When they did finally arrive on Tuesday the rebels announced they would not talk with the exiled government delegation, which they said had no legitimacy, only with its Saudi backers.
While still a powerful and ruthless force, Al Qaeda has seen its role as the preeminent jihadist group challenged by the rise of IS, the extremist organisation that has seized control of large parts of Syria and Iraq.
Extremist groups from Egypt, Libya and elsewhere have sworn allegiance to IS and the two groups have clashed in various countries, most notably in Syria.
IS claimed its first attack in Yemen on March 20 -- multiple suicide bombings targeting Huthis at Shiite mosques in the capital Sanaa that killed 142 people and wounded more than 350.
A senior Al Qaeda-linked jihadist, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, was also reported killed in a US air strike in Libya this week but on Tuesday extremist group Ansar al-Sharia denied he had died.
The group named seven people it said were killed in the US strike in eastern Libya but said Belmokhtar, the mastermind of a 2013 siege of an Algerian gas plant in which 38 hostages were killed, was not among them.

Paul Walker's Estate Sues For Return Of More Vehicles Taken After Actor's Death

Paul Walker's estate has taken legal action against an acquaintance of the deceased actor for allegedly taking possession of a number of his vehicles within 24 hours of his death and then concealing the location of the vehicles in order to convert them for his own benefit.
Walker's estate filed suit against Richard Taylor on Thursday at the Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging that within 24 hours of the actor's death people associated with Taylor went to storage facilities that housed the actor's vehicles and removed them to locations unknown.The suit follows earlier action by Walker's estate against the estate of Roger W. Rodas, the man who was driving the car in the accident that claimed both their lives.
In the court filings, Taylor is identified as an acquaintance of Walker who would occasionally assist him with his automobile collection. It is said that Taylor would maintain the ownership records and registration certificates for Walker's extensive collection.
The suit alleges, that in March 2014 Taylor created a list titled "Paul Walker Current Car Inventory List" that was sent to the estate and purportedly identified all the cars owned by Walker at the time of his death. The list identified 31 cars owned entirely by Walker and one car jointly owned with Rodas. The estate alleges Taylor failed to include additional vehicles owned by Walker and had concealed their location for his own benefit.
A total of seven cars are identified as missing from the number owned by Walker, according to the suit, including a 2011 Porsche GT3 RS. The suit further alleges that Taylor has repeatedly failed to provide a number of original car registrations for the car already identified on the inventory list.
Walker's estate is suing for the return of the vehicles and certificates, or value of the vehicles if they cannot be delivered, along with to-be-determined compensatory damages.
A trial by jury was also demanded. 

Opening To Full House Recreated In Perverse Shot-For-Shot With Grand Theft Auto 5

This shot-for-shot recreation of the opening credits for Full House made entirely in Grand Theft Auto 5 is amazing in so many ways.
There's the fact that the team who put it together managed to capture the basic look of that well-known intro despite the lack of appropriate props or even, in some cases, characters.
Actually, that's what REALLY sends this video remake over the top. Don't have a set of adorable baby Olsens to use for your remake? No problem, just use Chester the Molester. Turns out he's pretty spot on for the role, in a creepy GTA way. Even better? Trevor Phillips as Bob Saget. The more you watch the remake, the more you realize how perfect it is.
Just as awesome are all of the liberties the team took with those scenes. Somehow they still manage to capture the golden glow of a classic TV show while filthing it up with guns, drugs and tons of inappropriate innuendo.

Taylor Swift Donates $15,000 To Firefighter Who Saved His Own Family

On Saturday, Texas volunteer firefighter Aaron Van Riper responded to a 911 call regarding a car crash when he made a heartbreaking discovery: The victims in the accident were his own wife, Amber, and his son; the boy has been released from the hospital and Van Riper's wife, Amber, remains there, per the local ABC affiliate.
The heartbreaking incident quickly gained national attention, and a friend of the family set up a GoFundMe account for the family's mounting medical bills. On Wednesday night, a donation for $15,000 was left for the family, which was signed "Taylor Swift." (Billboard has confirmed it's actually the singer).
There have been more than 2,000 separate donations so far, so it seems like Swift has helped jump-start a worthy new trend.

David Letterman’s ‘Late Show’ Clips Vanish From YouTube, CBS.com

David Letterman has disappeared without a trace.
The former host of CBS's "The Late Show" has seen all video clips of his career wiped from the late-night show's official YouTube page, as well as CBS.com. The house-cleaning came on Thursday.
"Now that the show has ended, these digital right‎s revert back to the show's copyright owner, Worldwide Pants," a CBS spokesperson told TheWrap.
A Worldwide Pants rep did not immediately return TheWrap's request for comment. However, the company told Buzzfeed yesterday: "As you might imagine, there is significant interest in the Worldwide Pants-owned content. We are currently considering a range of options."
When TheWrap called the Worldwide Pants office in New York City on Friday, there was no answer or voicemail set up. The Los Angeles office previously closed when Craig Ferguson handed the reins over to James Corden.
The new "Late Late Show" is not a Worldwide Pants production, nor is Stephen Colbert's version of "The Late Show," which premieres on Sep. 8.
Letterman's final "Late Show" taped and aired on May 20.

Obama: Sasha And Malia Work A Lot Harder Than I Did As A Kid

President Barack Obama admitted in a recent interview that he thinks his two teenage work harder than he did as a kid.
"The truth is the girls are wonderful," Obama told "Extra." "You know they work hard, they work a lot harder than I ever did when I was a kid."
"Most importantly, they're kind, they're respectful, they don't have an attitude," he said. "Partly because maybe my mother-in-law was here, you know we say we don't want to see any attitude out of them. And they've been terrific."
Obama added that his daughters still thought their dad was embarrassing.
Last summer, Malia Obama worked as a production assistant on Stephen Spielberg's show "Extant" on CBS.
Obama has joked about slacking off as a young man in the past and said that his schooling helped him shape up.
"My mother, my grandparents, they pushed me to excel. They pushed me to excel. They refused to let me make excuses," Obama said in 2011. "And they kept pushing me, especially on those rare occasions when I'd slack off or get into trouble. They weren't that rare actually."
He continued: "I'm so blessed that they kept pushing. I'm so lucky that my teachers kept pushing. Because education made all the difference in my life."

The Iowa Straw Poll Is No More

The Iowa straw poll—long an object of fascination for political reporters and presidential campaign strategists alike—has been canceled, according to the Des Moines Register's Jennifer Jacobs.
On Friday, the Iowa State Republican Party voted unanimously to end the poll, which has been a dubious predictor of which Republican is most likely to win the party's presidential nomination. Since 1979, the poll has correctly predicted the Republican nominee twice—Bob Dole, who tied with Phil Gramm in the 1995 poll, and George W. Bush in 1999.
Mitt Romney won the poll in 2007, which you could argue was a prescient pick; he ended up being the nominee the following cycle. In 2011, Rep. Michele Bachmann—a Tea Party favorite, but a candidate with little mainstream appeal—ended up winning the Iowa Straw Poll over Romney.
Unlike Republicans in the state, Iowa Democrats have not conducted a straw poll as part of their side of the Iowa caucuses.

House Deals Humiliating Blow To Obama In Trade Fight

Defying President Obama, House Democrats on Friday rallied to vote down legislation granting aid to workers displaced by trade, dealing a potentially fatal blow to the fast-track legislation that had been scheduled to hit the floor.
An overwhelming majority of Democrats voted to sink the package in the 126-302 vote despite an impassioned plea from the president, which he delivered in person during a rare morning visit to Capitol Hill. A majority of Republicans also opposed the bill.
The vote came minutes after a dramatic floor speech by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who rebuffed lobbying by Obama to vote against the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program.
Pelosi noted that Democrats have traditionally backed TAA, but sided with liberals in her conference who argued a vote against the program was the only way to stop fast-track.
“If TAA slows down the fast track, I’m prepared to vote against TAA," Pelosi said.
Other members of Pelosi's leadership team, including House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) and Reps. James Cyburn (S.C.) and Steve Israel (N.Y.), voted yes. 
On the GOP side, Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) cast a vote in favor of TAA. House Speakers cast floor votes on relatively rare occasions.
Only 40 Democrats backed TAA while 144 voted against it. On the GOP side, 158 Republicans voted "no" while 86 Republicans voted "yes."
"The world is watching this,” Ryan said during floor debate. “If we establish TPA, we are saying on a bipartisan basis, we want America to lead.”

The Dating Business: Love on the Rocks

Like bunnies, dating apps have shown a knack for proliferation.
With a young, increasingly busy and mobile audience, the allure of the dating app business can be intoxicating. And the market is big.
Dating sites in the U.S. are expected to make $1.17 billion and dating apps are expected to log $628.8 million this year, up from $1.08 billion for dating sites and $572 million for dating apps in 2014, according to IBISWorld.
Apple Inc.’s iTunes store has more than 500 apps that are available to join and have a critical mass of users. But the challenge is to woo those same users.
Fickle singles often browse for recreation or roam from site to site. As Brianne Huntsman, an undergraduate student at Stanford University, who has sampled three free dating apps, puts it: “I thought the grass would be greener elsewhere.”
And success—matching people in relationships—means they no longer need the service. At the same time, some dating apps are looking for hookups of their own.
Gay-dating app Grindr LLC recently hired investment bank Raine Group LLC to help it find a buyer, according to a person familiar with its finances.
More than 10 other dating companies were acquired in the past year, two by Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActive Corp., which already owns nearly 22% of the market through an amalgam of sites and apps that includes OkCupid, Match.com and Tinder.
“In terms of revenue, the online-dating industry has matured, but there are too many players and not a lot are generating sufficient revenue for these sites,” said Britanny Carter, analyst for research firm IBISWorld.
Some investors have been wary. They point to a constellation of challenges to growing the next dating app into a billion-dollar company: Although the stigma associated with dating apps is fading, people don’t tend to push their friends to join the latest hit dating app, satisfied customers leave and expanding into other cities essentially requires creating a new marketplace. Plus, there haven’t been many successful dating startup exits.
“There’s a large swath of angels/funds who categorically refuse to invest in the dating category in the same way that many refuse to invest in games, hardware, gambling,” writes Andrew Chen, a startup adviser and former venture capitalist in the San Francisco Bay Area. “It’s an uphill battle for dating apps to attract interest.”
Still, some entrepreneurs are getting help from venture capitalists, who have poured $148.8 million into the industry since early 2010, according to Dow Jones VentureSource.
Players in the market range from mass sites such as Match.com and eHarmony to those specializing in an array of niche interests and clientele: Grindr and Her for gays and lesbians; Ashley Madison for people seeking extramarital relations; and GlutenFree Singles.
Even major players are under pressure: Online-dating platform Zoosk Inc. withdrew its plans for an initial public offering last month after more than a year of delays. While Chief Executive Kelly Steckelberg said the company was profitable the first quarter of this year, 15% of Zoosk staff was laid off in January.
“Our decision to revisit taking Zoosk public at a later date is a result of being focused on profitability and sustainable growth to ensure Zoosk’s continued success,” Ms. Steckelberg said.
Grindr CEO Joel Simkhai declined to comment on whether the company is pursuing a sale, but said his service is profitable and is expanding. Mr. Simkhai said Grindr had 1.9 million daily active users in April, from 1.4 million in 2014.
“When it comes to being a business, dating apps have a really disturbing paradox. The better you are at matching people, the more quickly your customers evaporate,” said Patrick Chung, co-founder and partner at venture-capital firm Xfund.
To build a fruitful user base, most dating apps and sites are free to join. Marketing to attract those is what can be expensive.
“Customer acquisition in the dating industry is the most important, horrendous and difficult thing on the planet,” said Mikolaj Piskorski, professor of strategy and innovation at IMD business school in Switzerland.
With a couple of exceptions, such as Tinder and Grindr, few dating apps have gone viral. Zoosk, which has both free and paid features, spent $40.4 million on marketing during the first quarter of 2014 to acquire new members, for instance. Zoosk declined to disclose the amount it has spent on marketing this year. 

3 Space Station Astronauts Safely Return To Earth

DZHEZKAZGAN, Kazakhstan :: A three-person crew from the International Space Station landed safely in the steppes of Kazakhstan on Thursday after a longer-than-expected orbital stint.
NASA astronaut Terry Virts, Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency and Russia's Anton Shkaplerov returned to Earth after 199 days on the station, nearly a month longer than planned.
Their Soyuz capsule landed on schedule at 7:44 p.m. local time (1344 GMT; 9:44 a.m. EDT) about 145 kilometers (90 miles) southeast of the city of Dzhezkazgan.
After descending slowly under a striped parachute, the craft touched down softly under the sun-drenched steppe. Russian helicopters buzzing around the landing area quickly delivered search and rescue crews to help the astronauts get out of the capsule and quickly check their condition.
The mission's extension was caused by the failed launch of a Russian cargo ship in April.
The Soyuz rocket that failed in April is used to launch spacecraft carrying crews, so Russian space officials delayed the crew's return and further launches pending an investigation.
A Soyuz rocket successfully launched a satellite last week. Another Soyuz will launch a Progress cargo ship to the station in early July to be followed by the launch of a new crew later in the month.
The new crew will join Russians Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornienko, and NASA's Scott Kelly, who have remained in orbit.

Nintendo 3DS Becomes Eighth Nintendo System To Sell 15M In U.S.

Nintendo's 3DS line, which includes the 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and New 3DS XL, is now the eighth Nintendo system to sell at least 15 million units in the U.S., according to internal Nintendo sales figures the company announced this morning.
The latest iteration of the 3DS line, the New 3DS XL, helped the line's hardware sales increase by more than 50 percent in the first half of 2015, compared to the same period last year, according to Nintendo.
The New 3DS XL launched on Feb. 13. The original 3DS launched in 2011.
"While crossing 15 million units is certainly a significant milestone, we are equally excited about the new momentum we've created in 2015 thanks to new hardware and an unrivaled library of software," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of sales and marketing in a prepared statement. "With more great games on the way and a hardware system for every type of gamer, 2015 is shaping up to be one of the stronger years yet for Nintendo 3DS in the United States." 

The Best Laptop We Can Buy

It's getting harder to buy a bad laptop, but what separates a good laptop from a great one is how it balances power, efficiency, portability, and comfort. It should have a fantastic keyboard and trackpad

after all, those are the two biggest reasons you'd choose a laptop over a smartphone or tablet. Its display should be easy on the eyes, bright, and sharp enough that you aren't distracted by jagged edges and visible pixels. It should be powerful enough for most anything short of intensive video editing and advanced gaming. It should be easy to carry around from place to place, and it should be able to last all day without needing to be plugged in.

There are a lot of laptops that have some of those qualities, but if you're looking for a laptop that hits enough of those marks, the obvious choice turns out to be the right one.

Apple MacBook Air

The 13-inch MacBook Air is the laptop that hits the right balance between power, portability, battery life, and comfort. It's super sleek, so it can fit in nearly any bag, is light enough that it won't cause back issues from carrying it around all the time, and even the base model is powerful enough for the everyday tasks you might demand from a laptop (though many people would benefit from upgrading to 8GB of RAM).
None of this should really be a surprise — the MacBook Air has been the high-water mark for laptops for years and has been the choice of many professional and casual laptop users. Its screen isn't the highest resolution you can buy, but it's still bright and hits a good balance between size and usable screen real estate. Apple sells computers with better displays — the displays on the new MacBook and the MacBook Pro with Retina Display easily outclass the MacBook Air's screen — but they are either heavier, less powerful, or not as battery efficient as the Air.

Deciding between the MacBook Air and the MacBook Pro is not easy. A solid case could be made either way: the Retina Display on the Pro is a compelling option, plus the Pro is slightly more powerful. But it's heavier and more expensive than the Air. A comparably equipped MacBook Pro in terms of RAM and SSD storage (8GB RAM, 256GB SSD) will cost $200 more than the equivalent MacBook Air. If you're investing in a computer for the long haul, for example, something you're going to use for more than four years, the Pro could be worth that extra cost, as its higher-end display makes it slightly more future-proof. But for most people, the Air just barely edges it out thanks to its lower cost, lighter weight, and better battery life.
The Air's keyboard and trackpad are great, balancing comfort and accuracy better than any other. It can last over 10 hours away from an outlet, making it possible to leave your power plug at home and still get through a full day of work. And its all-aluminum chassis can take knocks and still keep going — if you've ever seen someone using a MacBook Air that's a few years old, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about.
As with any Apple computer, the MacBook Air runs OS X. But if you need a Windows computer, or you're just not a huge fan of the Macintosh operating system, you'll want to check out our next pick.

The Windows Pick

Dell XPS 13

Dell's XPS 13 is the closest you can get to a MacBook Air experience in the Windows world. It has a similar metal chassis, is thin and sleek, doesn't weigh a ton, and has a great keyboard to type on. The Dell's display is actually better than the Air's, whether you choose the standard non-touch version or spring for the higher-resolution touchscreen model.
The XPS 13 puts a 13-inch screen in a computer that has a smaller footprint than the MacBook Air, making it even more portable. It's no gaming machine, but even the lowest configurations have enough power for multitasking, browsing the web, working in Office, or watching high-definition video.
Right now, the XPS 13 runs Windows 8.1, but it will be upgradable to Windows 10 for free later this year. Windows 10 will bring a number of improvements over Windows 8.1, and it should make for an excellent operating system.
Where the XPS 13 falls short of the Air is with its trackpad and battery life. The trackpad is large but can be unpredictable, and scrolling is not nearly as smooth. While the Air can last 10 hours or more on battery, the XPS 13 will struggle to hit the eight-hour mark.
But neither of those are deal breakers the trackpad is about as good as you can get from a Windows computer and the battery life is fine, just not great. Most people will be very happy with the XPS 13's combination of portability, performance, keyboard, and display.

Gold Bulls Lose Key Ally as Diehard Coin Buyers Vanish in U.S.

 Finding bullish gold investors is getting a lot harder, even in a place where demand has been almost a given in recent years: precious-metal coins.

Customers who were buying even as gold began slumping in 2013 are now so scarce at the Bullion Trading LLC shop in New York that owner Isaac Kahan says sales in May tumbled 35 percent. Purchases of American Eagle gold coins from the U.S. Mint, the world’s largest, were the weakest for the month in eight years. And global coin demand this year probably will slump to the lowest since 2008, TD Securities Inc. predicts.

“Some of the coin buyers are the diehard believers in gold, and seeing them stay away from the market means their faith may have been shaken,” said Phil Streible, a senior market strategist at RJO Futures in Chicago who has been following prices for 15 years. “Demand for all kinds of physical gold products has taken a hit.”

Bullion prices have been trapped in a bear market the past two years as inflation concerns proved overblown and U.S. equities and the dollar rose to records. Holdings in exchange- traded products backed by gold are the smallest since 2009, and global jewelry demand has petered out. With coin buyers heading for the exits, there aren’t many places left to find a bull.

‘Complete Capitulation’

“What we are seeing is complete capitulation,” said Rob Haworth, a senior investment strategist in Seattle at U.S. Bank Wealth Management, which oversees about $128 billion and is underweight in commodities, including gold. “Physical demand is very weak, and that lends to our expectations of lower prices.”

That marks an abrupt about-face for gold after jumping to a record $1,921.17 an ounce in September 2011. Buyers were betting that U.S. interest rates near zero percent would erode the value of the dollar and accelerate inflation. Instead, the U.S. currency surged and inflation was muted as energy and food costs fell. Futures were down 0.5 percent this year at $1,178.50 on Thursday on the Comex in New York.

Coin lovers were among the most optimistic. When gold plunged 28 percent in 2013, they expected prices to rebound and started buying. U.S. Mint sales rose 14 percent that year as the metal presses worked overtime. Since then, futures are down 2 percent and Mint sales fell 39 percent last year.

Not everyone is bearish. Bank of America Corp. expects prices will average $1,248 this year, and climb to $1,338 in 2016. The bank doesn’t expect Fed policy makers will be “aggressive” when it comes to raising rates, which will help to support prices, analysts led by Michael Widmer reiterated in a May 30 report. HSBC Securities (USA) Inc. and Commerzbank AG are also forecasting gains.