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Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Jurors set to get roadmap of Jackson civil trial

FILE - In this April 27, 2011 file photo, Katherine Jackson poses for a portrait in Calabasas, Calif. Opening statements are scheduled to begin Monday April 29, 2013, in Katherine Jackson?s lawsuit against concert giant AEG Live over her son Michael?s 2009 death. Katherine Jackson claims the company failed to properly investigate the doctor who was convicted in 2011 of involuntary manslaughter for the singer?s death, but the company denies all wrongdoing. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 28, 2005 file photo, Michael Jackson follows his mother, Katherine Jackson, as they arrive for court on the opening day of his child molestation trial at Santa Barbara County Superior Court in Santa Maria, Calif. Katherine Jackson is pursuing a lawsuit against AEG Live, the promoters of her son's planned comeback concerts, with opening statements in the case scheduled to begin on Monday, April 29, 2013. AEG denies any wrongdoing. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? The most complete account of Michael Jackson's final months is about to unfold in a cramped Los Angeles courtroom nearly four years after the pop superstar's death.

Lawyers for Jackson's mother will attempt to convince a jury that the company promoting the pop superstar's 2009 comeback concerts is responsible for his untimely death. The attorneys will try to prove that AEG Live hired and controlled the doctor convicted of involuntary manslaughter over Jackson's demise.

AEG Live denies any wrongdoing and contests that they hired the physician who for months was giving Jackson doses of a powerful anesthetic in the singer's bedroom to help him sleep.

Opening statements on Monday will provide a roadmap for a case that will delve into Jackson's addiction struggles and issues previously unexplored in court. Many of those in the singer's orbit ? family, famous friends, doctors and his teenage children ? may testify during the months-long trial.

Some of the stars listed on the witness list include Quincy Jones, Diana Ross, Lou Ferrigno and Spike Lee. Both of Jackson's ex-wives, Lisa Marie Presley and Debbie Rowe, are also listed as potential witnesses.

Katherine Jackson sued in September 2010, claiming AEG failed to properly investigate her son's doctor, Conrad Murray. All but one of her claims has been dismissed, but millions and possibly billions of dollars are at stake. The trial pits the family of a global superstar against AEG Live, a private company that as part of the Anschutz Entertainment Group has helped spark the revitalization of downtown Los Angeles with its venue, the Staples Center.

Unlike the 2011 trial that ended with Murray's conviction, the civil trial will explore the troubled finances of both men ? a situation that Katherine Jackson's attorneys say created a conflict of interest for Murray that AEG should have been aware of.

The Houston-based cardiologist was deeply in debt when he agreed to serve as Jackson's personal doctor for a series of 50 concerts in London dubbed "This Is It." The doctor had liens and owed back child support when he began working with Jackson, expecting a $150,000 a month salary. Jackson died of acute propofol intoxication before the contract was fully signed.

The trial is expected to include detailed testimony about other doctors' treatment of Jackson, a subject that was largely off-limits in the criminal case. Unlike Murray's trial, which was broadcast live, the civil case will play out without cameras in a courtroom with only 45 public seats.

AEG denies they hired Murray, and have contended he should be considered an independent contractor, a designation many hospitals deem surgeons and other physicians.

Katherine Jackson's attorneys, Brian Panish and Kevin Boyle, have repeatedly cited emails sent by top AEG executives referencing Murray's pay and his obligations to get Jackson to perform.

Marvin S. Putnam, an attorney for AEG who was not available to comment, has said the company could not have foreseen the circumstances that led to Murray's administration of propofol to Jackson as a sleep aide.

AEG has said in court filings that Jackson's family is seeking $40 billion in damages, but Panish denies that's the figure he's seeking.

"We've never asked for $40 billion," he said. "The jury is going to decide what the loss is."

The high figure, Panish said, is the company's attempt to "prejudice everybody against the Jacksons." He says the case isn't about money.

"It's about getting the truth," he said. "We'd like to get out all the evidence. The evidence is going to speak for itself that AEG had a lot of involvement and they completely deny responsibility."

Jackson's three children, Prince, Paris and Blanket are also listed as plaintiffs on the case.

Asked whether he and the Jacksons are concerned about the image of the "Thriller" singer that will emerge in court, Panish said the trial will show a different side of the superstar. "Mrs. Jackson and her grandchildren suffered a tremendous loss and AEG has never recognized that and continues to deny responsibility," he said. "The other side of the story hasn't been told."

A jury of six men and six women has been selected to decide the case.

Monday's remarks by Panish and Putnam will provide the jurors' their first true insight into the evidence they will likely hear, and once again pull back the veil of Michael Jackson's private life.

___

Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/mccartneyAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-04-29-Jackson-AEG%20Suit/id-975e5fabc4534c65b0fc1c6a0d7c373c

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Park Tag Wants To Make It Easier To Find Your Next Parking Space By Creating A Space-Swapping Community

Finding a parking space next to your favourite caf? is always a lottery but Park Tag wants to change all that. The startup, which is exhibiting at Disrupt NY's Startup Alley, wants to make parking social so it's easier to find your next space. The Park Tag app lets users invite their neighbours and colleagues to form a community of drivers who can help each other out by posting parking spaces.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/iJt4f2SxO6w/

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Bombing shifts Mass. Senate race before primaries

This panel of 2013 file photos show Democrat candidates for U.S. Senate, Reps. Stephen Lynch, left, and Edward Markey, right, vying for their party's nomination in the special April 30, 2013 primary. (AP Photos)

This panel of March 2013 file photos show Republican candidates for U.S. Senate, from left, Gabriel Gomez, Michael Sullivan, and Daniel WInslow, vying for their party's nomination in the special April 30, 2013 primary. (AP Photos)

BOSTON (AP) ? Even before the explosions, polling suggested that Massachusetts voters weren't excited about the looming special election to replace former U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

But in the days after bombs ripped through the Boston Marathon's crowded streets, politics were all but forgotten as authorities launched an unprecedented manhunt and a region grappled with terror. It didn't matter that competitive primary contests were 15 days away; everything was put on hold.

"There are things that are more important than campaigning and that horrific event was clearly one of them," said U.S. Rep. Ed Markey, who is competing against U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch for the Democratic nomination to replace Kerry, now the secretary of state.

After suspending political activities for roughly a week, the candidates have been forced to walk a delicate balance as they engage voters ahead of Tuesday's Republican and Democratic primaries. They have largely avoided the site of the attack out of sensitivity for victims, but some have tweaked campaign advertising to address the bombing, highlighted their national security credentials and tried to use the sudden focus on terrorism to shift the direction of the race.

"It completely changed the landscape," Lynch aide Scott Ferson said of the bombing.

Indeed, a campaign once dominated by debates about the environment, health care and women's rights has become more focused on enemy combatants, Miranda rights and counterterrorism agencies. Some candidates welcomed the shift.

On the Democratic side, Lynch has seized on national security in recent days to attack Markey, thought to be the front-runner. One of the most memorable moments in last week's Democratic debate, just a week after the bombing, focused on support for federal security efforts

"Unlike my colleague Mr. Markey, I've actually voted for the Department of Homeland Security appropriations bills," Lynch charged.

Markey responded: "He's taking a page right out of the Karl Rove swift boat playbook, and it's very sad, especially just one week after what just happened in Boston, Cambridge and Watertown."

Through Tuesday's primary election, Markey outspent Lynch on television advertising $1.7 million to $1.2 million, according to advertising figures obtained by The Associated Press. But only Lynch focused on the bombings in a television ad that blanketed the state last week, while Markey focused on traditional Democratic priorities such as women's reproductive rights.

"We hold in our hearts those we lost, but we will get through this together and work toward a brighter day," Lynch says in the campaign ad.

But Lynch was forced to distance himself last week from a so-called robo-call made on his behalf by the leader of an ironworkers' union, who mentions the bombings while encouraging voters to support someone who "understands the day-to-day problems facing working families." It was an awkward moment for the Lynch campaign, which called on the group to stop the calls.

But it's unclear how many people were paying attention.

"Whatever momentum this primary had ? and it didn't have a lot ? was totally exhausted by the bombing," Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin said.

Weeks before the blasts, Steve Koczela, president of MassINC Polling Group, found that more than 40 percent of likely Democratic voters and nearly 50 percent of likely Republican voters hadn't settled on a candidate.

"It just doesn't seem like ? even as of the last poll ? people were really paying attention to who was running," Koczela said. "There's room for any of the candidates to make a move."

On the Republican side in particular, the recent violence shifted the contours of the contest.

GOP candidate Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL, finished running the marathon minutes before the bombs exploded along the finish line, killing three and injuring more than 260.

Like other candidates, Gomez immediately pulled television ads off the air and suspended campaign activities. He said he was focused on being respectful as he eased back into campaigning the following weekend.

"We can't let the terrorists win and completely suspend what is fundamental right in the United States," Gomez said.

He charged that President Barack Obama's administration should have designated 19-year-old suspect Dzhohkar Tsarnaev an "enemy combatant" and tried him outside the traditional criminal justice system.

Another GOP candidate, Mike Sullivan, says the federal government should have denied Tsarnaev his Miranda rights, tried him as an enemy combatant and revoked his U.S. citizenship.

"Our first concern must always be preventing future terrorist acts against our people," said Sullivan, a former U.S. attorney whose campaign has been reminding people that he previously led the prosecution of shoe bomber Richard Reid.

Republican candidate Dan Winslow, a former judge and chief legal counsel under former Gov. Mitt Romney, said the entire GOP field has experience with national security.

"We've got a Navy SEAL, a former prosecutor and a former judge all in the field for Republicans," Winslow said. "I think we all have our own credentials. The key is, Who's got the better ideas? Who's got the better electability in June?"

The key may also be which candidate can get his supporters to get to the polls as the bombing continues to dominate attention in Massachusetts. State officials were already predicting a low turnout, likely less than 20 percent of eligible voters, even before the attack.

Wendy Becker, 45, of Newton, was among the thousands who visited the bomb site in Copley Square late last week. A registered voter, she said she didn't know the primaries were happening so soon.

"I didn't even know it was Tuesday and haven't cared," she said, noting that her little brother and brother-in-law ran in the marathon. She's been glued to the television coverage of the aftermath ever since.

The general election, featuring the primary winners, is scheduled for June 25.

___

Associated Press writer Steve LeBlanc contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2013-04-28-Massachusetts%20Senate-Bombing%20Impact/id-dbd6c86f551c4170ae39176ad23e9a0f

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Sunday, April 28, 2013

Iterations: How Six Technology Investors Size Up The Google Glass ...

Editor?s Note: Semil Shah is a contributor to TechCrunch. You can follow him on Twitter at @semil.

People won?t stop talking about Google Glass, and rightfully so. Ever since the epic parachute-hangout demo, the Valley has been buzzing about the future coming of what is arguably one of the biggest potential advancements in computer interfaces since the iPhone. Lately, the buzz has been bubbling as Google employees, early adopters (Scoble just posted his detailed review), tech bloggers, and contest winners have started to receive their glasses, combined with heavy, consumer-focused advertising, a dedicated fund pairing Google?s own venture arm with two of Sand Hill?s most storied venture capital firms. It?s gotten so much ink that new monikers have emerged, such as ?Glasshole,? and the phenomenon was hilariously lambasted in the latest installment of ?Jesus Christ, Silicon Valley,? a Tumblr devoted to over-the-top yet oftentimes valid tech-focused satire.

There?s so much to investigate with respect to Glass, so in this week?s ?Iterations? column, I?m just going to focus on the early-stage investment side. There?s no shortage of opinions here. My two cents is while Google is investing lots of dollars into a consumer-focused campaign, Glass will not initially be a device that the majority people will want, need, or be able to afford (unlike a cell phone), even when the price comes down. It will also be a very different type of interface. That said, it?s no matter, because the commercial applications for Glass are boundless: Imagine a bunch of kids on a school trip to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, able to press on Glass and learn more about the sea life they see in the tanks. Well, I don?t even know if that?s possible on a watery service, but regardless?instead, I emailed a handful of experienced technology investors I know well to briefly weigh on how they think of Glass as an interface to invest in and around. Below is a collection of the answers I received, edited briefly:

Bill Lee is a serial entrepreneur, currently working on a mobile app, Twist. He?s also a well-known angel investor and LP in the Valley, and also sat down with me ?In The Studio? earlier this year:

I?m skeptical that GG will get mass adoption. As someone that grew up with glasses, I couldn?t wait until I got LASIK/corrective eye surgery. I just can?t see myself wearing glasses again voluntarily (no disrespect to fashion icon NBA basketball players such as Lebron James wearing hipster glasses). While I don?t think there will be mass adoption, I do see several niche markets springing up. For example, people that really need glasses (elderly, jewelers, surgeons, etc.) should derive tremendous benefit from GG applications. I haven?t seen any GG pitches yet, but I expect to see several this year. As with all investments, I?d put more emphasis on finding the right team than needing to be the first in the space. If GG takes off, there should be ample room for a great team to innovate even if they aren?t first. ? Bill Lee

Matt Ocko is a partner with Data Collective and one of the most selective seed-stage technology investors in the Valley:

In five years, it?s not about Google Glass per se, which is a brave but still early evolutionary step, but how dependent everyday people will become on certain types of ubiquitous but non-intrusive tech. ?Specifically, tech that has to be amazingly powerful and sophisticated to achieve that very non-intrusiveness in the first place. A great example ? and I think, the more interesting story ? is speech recognition, which of necessity is a big part of Glass. Whether it?s in every car via a service arrangement with Apple and Google competing with each other to be the backend, or in lightweight smart earphones that can be left in for one or more days, or in Google Glass-like glasses, always-on listening with deep, smart taxonomies will be a fact of life ? i.e., near total adoption by the middle classes of the G7 and beyond.

As an investor, I am looking for companies that presume the success of this kind of technology, then look at how they can apply equally profound compute and algorithmic innovations to transform different industries. For example, what do certain medical practices look like when the EMR/EHR platform is listening in on doctors and nurses, and has something like IBM Watson behind it, watching for missed diagnoses (e.g., sepsis in a hospital), mis-medication, or even malpractice? What does CRM look like when a salesperson?s or customer service rep?s efficacy can be analyzed in real-time from their conversation with a customer? ?If the video appurtenance to GG?s ?speech recognition delivery platform? (my own biased view) turns out to be important, then machine vision becomes the next huge ubiquitous technology (where Google already has an early lead), and we ask questions like ?what does the advertising targeting chain look like when every product in a store is lit up under live video scrutiny by the analog of Google Goggles???I?m indifferent to whether other hardware makers develop their own products, but a) I think they have to, if they want to be part of the ?always listening? value chain, whether or not there is a screen attached (the GG incarnation) and b) I want them to, so that a ?thousand flowers bloom? and there is innovation and consumer choice that drives rapid adoption. ? Matt Ocko

Manu Kumar is a former entrepreneur and now microVC with K9 Ventures focusing on deeper technology investments, and about a year ago, hung out with me In the Studio to discuss mobile camera imaging:

While I was a student at Carnegie Mellon, there was a lot of work on ?wearable computing? back then. For instance, check out VuMan from 1997 and Navigator. I cite these to show that the concept of Google Glass as a wearable computer is nothing new. It?s been around for well over a decade. What has changed is that now the technology has become advanced enough to make it a *lot* smaller, *somewhat* less dorky, and by means of being connected, hugely more information-rich.

I believe that Google Glass will be a long-term platform. The initial consumer adoption will be by early adopters ? by a lot of us Silicon Valley geek-types who want to play with the tech. However, I suspect that the real adoption will come from more commercial applications ? people who need to work with their hands and can benefit from instant access to information. Police cars are equipped with computers to provide cops with access to information on the road. You can imagine a Google Glass app designed specifically for police, fire, EMS etc. Likewise in construction, maintenance, inspection, lots of tasks become orders of magnitude more efficient, when imagined with Glass as the underlying platform.

As you know, I?ve been spending a lot of time on computer vision, cameras, etc. Glass presents the first really usable Augmented Reality platform, because it?s the first time that you can get a true overlay on reality, without having to be walking with your phone/tablet in front of your face! ?I?ve already had conversation with some companies who are doing advance computer vision and augmented reality work where they could potentially do interesting things with Google Glass. However, since it?s been in such limited distribution so far, it won?t be until they get their hands on it and can evaluate what it?s capable of, before we can really talk more concretely about it. In other words, I?m very curious to see the potential of Glass as a platform for new products/companies, but don?t have enough information to act on it just yet. ? Manu Kumar

Albert Wenger?is a partner with Union Square Ventures:

I am quite optimistic about the long term potential of augmented reality. But I question whether now is the right time for a top down adoption strategy with a polished consumer product. It seems to me that we are at the hacker and early adopter stage instead. By going with an immediate mass market strategy and embracing celebrities I think Google is taking a very big gamble. Let?s keep in mind that the iPhone was far from the first smart phone. A lot of software and application tinkering had happened on Blackberries and other predecessors most of which had niche use cases. I often find myself saying to entrepreneurs that you ?can?t push on a string.? It may be a tired cliche but it seems highly relevant for consumer products. If people aren?t ready for it, no amount of hype or spending will make the product stick. The people who are ready now are the hackers and tinkerers. So why not embrace them instead? (reproduced from Albert?s blog, with permission). -Albert Wenger

Hemant Taneja is a partner with General Catalyst:

Seeing a device from your childhood science fiction novels become reality is one of the most exciting moments for any of us who work in tech. However, the commercial success of Google Glass relies on three crucial parts. First, consumers must love the hardware. The product has to be intuitive and function seamlessly with everyday activities. Second, Google must develop a high-quality API that allows developers the freedom to create top-notch software and fully leverage Glass? capabilities. Third, Google has to ensure that the best applications are discovered by users. All three of these areas are non-trivial and will take more time, and users should be prepared for the day when hype meets reality. Google Glass is an entirely new form factor, and thus there will be a longer uptake time than we have just saw the past two years with tablets. Given that dynamic, we are going to look for simple but effective applications that can can go mainstream as adoption of the Glass product increases with Google?s future iterations of the product. -Hemant Taneja

Rohit Sharma is a venture partner with True Ventures:

As an investor, the most exciting possibility about Google Glass is the behavior change it might produce. If Glass or other devices begin to connect and share meaningful information about consumers and their digitized presence, it opens up a massive new arena for applications. Another possibility is that Glass becomes the hub for multiple devices (FitBits, bloodchem sensors, watches, etc.) and becomes an additional app platform connected to but independent of smartphones/tablets. I don?t know if consumers will adopt it, that?s the biggest ?if? ? not the technology or the devices. There?s plenty of time for investing in a post-Glass reality if adoption happens. I haven?t seen any pitches yet but also haven?t been looking yet, as I?m much more interested in the behavior change it induces and provokes. -Rohit Sharma

General Catalyst Partners, SunBorne Energy, TuneIn, Sand9, GridCO Systems, SynapDx, Stripe, Humedica, CLEAResult Consulting, Jumptap, Virtual Instruments Corporation, Hunch (ebay), M-qube (verisign)

Hemant is a managing partner at General Catalyst Partners in its Palo Alto office. Hemant is also co-founder and Chairman of the Advanced Energy Economy. Prior to joining General Catalyst, Hemant founded a mobile software company that was acquired. He is a graduate of MIT.

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Rohit Sharma is the CEO at Syfto, Inc. Previously, he was a CEO at Vdopia Inc. and an investor with Mohr Davidow Ventures (www.mdv.com) focusing on companies in the areas of network computing, storage, and data communications technologies. Rohit has been a successful entrepreneur in the MDV ecosystem, creating the optical switching technology that led to the founding of ONI Systems in 1998. He served as ONI Systems EVP and CTO overseeing all aspects of technology development and strategy...

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Bill Lee was CEO and co-founder of Remarq, a Benchmark Capital-backed collaboration company. At Remarq, Bill guided the company in its development of a complete end-to-end Internet messaging and collaboration platform. Before its acquisition by Critical Path in March 2000, the company developed high-volume messaging platforms for sites such as eBay, Sun, Novell, and Amazon. The company raised over $43 million in venture and debt financing. Bill has been appointed by the Mayor of San Jose to the Redevelopment Committee...

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Albert combines over 10 years of entrepreneurial experience with an in-depth technology background. As an entrepreneur, he has founded or co-founded five companies, including a management consulting firm (in Germany), a hosted data analytics company, a technology subsidiary for Telebanc (now E*Tradebank), an early stage investment firm, and most recently (with his wife), DailyLit, a service for reading books by email or RSS. Albert also served as the president of del.icio.us through the company???s sale to Yahoo. His technology...

? Learn more K9 Ventures, CardMunch, Refocus Imaging, Inc., Twilio, iMeet, Inc., SneakerLabs, Inc., Octane Software, Netspoke, Laminar Software, Inc.

Manu is the founder and Chief Firestarter at K9 Ventures. Manu previously founded, grew and sold two successful ventures. He was the Founder, President and CEO of SneakerLabs, Inc. ??? a company which developed software and services for web-based customer interaction. After the successful acquisition of SneakerLabs (March 2000), Manu served as the Vice-President of Interactive Technologies for E.piphany. He then served as the Chairman and CEO of iMeet, Inc. ??? a provider of web-conferencing services. After the merger...

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Source: http://techcrunch.com/2013/04/28/iterations-how-six-technology-investors-size-up-the-google-glass-opportunity/

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Bangladesh building collapse deaths near 350

SAVAR, Bangladesh (AP) ? Police in Bangladesh took six people into custody in connection with the collapse of a shoddily-constructed building that killed at least 348 people, as rescue workers admitted Saturday that voices of survivors are getting weaker after four days of being pinned under the increasingly unstable rubble.

Still, in a boost for the rescuers, 29 survivors were pulled out Saturday, said army spokesman Shahinul Islam.

Most of the victims were crushed by massive blocks of concrete and mortar falling on them when the 8-story structure came down on Wednesday morning -- a time many of the garment factories in the building were packed with workers. It was the worst tragedy to hit Bangladesh's massive garment industry, and focused attention on the poor working conditions of the employees who toil for $38 a month to produce clothing for top international brands.

Among those arrested Saturday were two owners of a garment factory, who a Dhaka court ruled can be questioned by police for 12 days without charges being filed. Also detained are two government engineers and the wife of the building owner, who is on the run, in an attempt to force him to surrender. Late Saturday, police arrested another factory owner. Violent public protests continued sporadically in Dhaka and spread to the southeastern city of Chittagong where several vehicles were set on fire.

Working round-the-clock since Wednesday through heat and a thunderstorm, rescuers on Saturday finally reached the ground floor from the top of the mountainous rubble through 25 narrow holes they have drilled, said Brig. Gen. Ali Ahmed Khan, the head of the fire services.

"We are still getting response from survivors though they are becoming weaker slowly," he said, adding that rescue workers were now able to see cars that were parked at the ground level.

"The building is very vulnerable. Any time the floors could collapse. We are performing an impossible task, but we are glad that we are able to rescue so many survivors." He said the operations will continue overnight as chances fade of people surviving for a fifth day with possibly grievous injuries and the heat.

The building site was a hive of frenzied activity all day with soldiers, police and medical workers in lab coats working non-stop. Rescuers passed bottles of water and small cylinders of oxygen up a ladder leaning against the side of the building to be given to possible survivors inside.

They used bare hands and shovels, passing chunks of brick and concrete down a human chain away from the collapsed structure. On the ground, mixed in the debris were several pairs of pink cotton pants, a mud-covered navy blue sock and a pile of green uncut fabric.

Nearby, Abul Basar wept as he awaited news of his wife, who worked in one of the garment factories. "My son says that his mother will come back some day. She must return! " he cried.

Every once in a while a badly decomposed body would be brought out, covered in cloth and plastic, to a spot where ambulances were parked. Workers furiously sprayed air-fresheners on the bodies to cover the stench, leaving the air thick with the smell of death and cheap perfume.

The bodies were kept at a makeshift morgue at the nearby Adharchandra High School before being handed over to families. Many people milled around at the school, waving photos of their missing loved ones.

Junior local government minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak put the death toll at 348. Military spokesman Shahinul Islam said 2,429 survivors were accounted for, including 29 who were pulled out Saturday.

Junior Home Minister Shamsul Haque Tuku said police had arrested Bazlus Samad, managing director of New Wave Apparels Ltd., and Mahmudur Rahman Tapash, the company chairman. He told reporters that police had also detained the wife of Mohammed Sohel Rana, the owner of the collapsed Rana Plaza building, for questioning. The top three floors of the eight-story building were illegally constructed. Military spokesman Shahinul Islam said officials arrested Aminul Islam, chairman of Phantom Apparels Ltd., late Saturday in Dhaka.

Authorities are still searching for Rana, a local politician, who hasn't been seen publicly since the building collapsed. Negligence cases have been filed against him. Police in Bangladesh often detain relatives of missing suspects as a way to pressure them to surrender.

Dhaka police superintendent Habibur Rahman said Rana was a local leader of ruling Awami League's youth front. His arrest, and that of the factory owners, was ordered by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the Awami League leader.

Police said they detained for questioning two engineers working for the Savar municipality, Imtemam Hossain and Alam Ali. They did not say what role they played in approving the design of the building but it was clear that the arrests amounted to a widening crackdown. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

A garment manufacturers' group said the factories in the building employed 3,122 workers, but it was not clear how many were inside it when it collapsed.

Police say they ordered an evacuation of the building on Tuesday after cracks in Rana Plaza were found, but the factories ignored the order and were operating when it collapsed the next day. Video before the collapse shows cracks in walls, with apparent attempts at repair. It also shows columns missing chunks of concrete and police talking to building operators.

Officials said soon after the collapse that numerous construction regulations had been violated.

The disaster is the worst ever for the country's booming and powerful garment industry, surpassing a fire five months ago that killed 112 people and brought widespread pledges to improve worker-safety standards. Since then, very little has changed in Bangladesh, where low wages have made it a magnet for numerous global brands.

Bangladesh's garment industry was the third largest in the world in 2011, after China and Italy, having grown rapidly in the past decade. The country's minimum wage is the equivalent of about $38 a month.

Among the garment makers in the building were Phantom Apparels, Phantom Tac, Ether Tex, New Wave Style and New Wave Bottoms. Altogether, they produced several million shirts, pants and other garments a year.

The New Wave companies, according to their website, make clothing for several major North American and European retailers.

Britain's Primark acknowledged it was using a factory in Rana Plaza, but many other retailers distanced themselves from the disaster, saying they were not involved with the factories at the time of the collapse or had not recently ordered garments from them.

Wal-Mart said none of its clothing had been authorized to be made in the facility, but it is investigating whether there was any unauthorized production.

___

AP writers Chris Blake and Gillian Wong in Dhaka, Stephen Wright in Bangkok, Kay Johnson in Mumbai, Matthew Pennington in Washington and AP Retail Writer Anne D'Innocenzio in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bangladesh-building-collapse-death-toll-nears-350-134516592.html

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Dutch man arrested in Spain in connection with cyber attack

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A 35-year-old Dutch man has been arrested in Barcelona by Spanish police over last month's massive cyber attack which disrupted global internet services, the Dutch public prosecutor's office said on Saturday.

The man, who was identified by the Dutch public prosecutor only by the initials "S.K.", was arrested in connection with attacks on Spamhaus, the public prosecutor's office said, adding that the house where he was staying was also searched, and that the police seized computers and mobile phones.

Spamhaus, a London and Geneva-based non-profit group which helps weed out unsolicited "spam" messages for email providers, said last month it had been subjected to "distributed denial of service" or DDoS attacks on an unprecedented scale for more than a week.

"(S.K.) is suspected of unprecedented heavy attacks on the non-profit organization Spamhaus, where anti-spam databases are managed. These so-called DDoS attacks last month were also performed on Spamhaus partners in the United States, the Netherlands and Great Britain," the prosecutor's office said.

The man is expected to be expected to be handed over to the Dutch authorities, according to the statement.

Spamhaus publishes blacklists used by Internet service providers (ISPs) to weed out spam in email traffic.

The group is directly or indirectly responsible for filtering as much as 80 percent of daily spam messages, according to Cloudflare, a company that said it was helping Spamhaus mitigate the attack.

(Reporting by Sara Webb; Editing by Stephen Powell)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/dutch-man-arrested-spain-connection-cyber-attack-205011534.html

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Saturday, April 27, 2013

Boeing Dreamliner Flights Resume (Voice Of America)

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