Meyshaun blog

Rebels push west as air strikes hit Gaddafi forces

Libya's ramshackle rebel army pushed west on Sunday to retake a series of towns from the forces of Muammar Gaddafi as they pulled back under pressure from Western air strikes.

Emboldened by the capture of the strategic town of Ajdabiyah with the help of foreign warplanes on Saturday, the rebels have within two days dramatically reversed military losses in their five-week insurgency and regained control of all the main oil terminals in eastern Libya, as far as the town of Bin Jawad.

Rebels said they now had their sights on the coastal town of Sirte, Gaddafi's hometown and an important military base about 150 km further along the coastal road.

A Reuters reporter in Sirte heard four blasts on Sunday night. It was unclear if they were in the town or its outskirts.

The reporter also saw a convoy of 20 military vehicles including truck-mounted anti-aircraft guns leaving Sirte and moving westwards toward Tripoli, along with dozens of civilian cars carrying families and stuffed with personal belongings.

"We want to go to Sirte today. I don't know if it will happen," said 25-year-old rebel fighter Marjai Agouri as he waited with a hundred others outside Bin Jawad with three multiple rocket launchers, six anti-aircraft guns and around a dozen pickup trucks mounted with machine guns.

The advance along Libya's Mediterranean coast by a poorly armed and uncoordinated force of volunteer rebels indicated that Western strikes under a U.N. no-fly zone were shifting the battlefield dynamics dramatically, in the east at least.

The rebels are now back in control of the main oil terminals in the east -- Es Sider, Ras Lanuf, Brega, Zueitina and Tobruk -- while Gaddafi appears to be retrenching in the west.

FIGHTING IN MISRATA

Nearer the capital, Gaddafi's forces fought rebels in the center of Misrata, Libya's third city, to try to consolidate his grip on western Libya. Misrata is the only western city still in rebel hands and has been sealed off for weeks.

A resident called Saadoun told Reuters by phone that at least eight people were killed and 24 wounded as Gaddafi's forces fired mortars while attacking Misrata from the west in a day of fighting.

Pro-Gaddafi snipers were also pinning down rebel forces but late on Sunday night the fighting died down.

A rebel called Mohammed told Reuters by phone that pro-Gaddafi forces controlled "only one small area, a couple of streets" in the western part of the city.

Residents told Reuters they were having to use wells to get water and that medicines were in short supply.

At least six blasts resonated in Tripoli on Sunday night, followed by long bursts of anti-aircraft fire by Libyan forces. Libyan television said there had been air strikes on the "civilian and military areas" in the capital.

On the diplomatic front, NATO agreed on Sunday to take full command of military operations in Libya after a week of heated negotiations, a diplomat and a NATO official said, as the United States seeks to scale back its military role in another Muslim country following operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Western air strikes had "eliminated" Gaddafi's ability to move his heavy weapons.

CONFERENCE

Gates also raised the possibility that Gaddafi's regime could splinter and said an international conference in London on Tuesday would discuss political strategies to help bring an end to Gaddafi's 41-year rule.

Any rebel advance on Sirte or especially Tripoli would raise questions about the justification for air strikes, conducted under a U.N. mandate to protect Libya's civilians, and any suggestion of a move to carry out the explicit wish of the United States, France, Britain and others that Gaddafi leave power.

Fighting in Tripoli could cause large numbers of casualties, including an increased risk of civilian casualties, said Daniel Keohane of the European Institute for Security Studies.

"If rebel forces were seen to be seeking revenge on Gaddafi supporters, it could cause huge political problems for the alliance," he said, "because the U.N. mandate to protect civilians should apply across the board."

While rebels have advanced almost unopposed to Bin Jawad, any fight over Sirte is likely to be tough because the town is psychologically and strategically important to Gaddafi.

Besides being his home town and that of many members of its Gaddadfa tribe, it houses well-armed and tightly knit army brigades. The civilian airport to the south of the town is also home to what appears to be a large military air base.

HASTY RETREAT

Further west, Gaddafi's forces appeared to have beaten a hasty retreat from the oil towns.

In Ras Lanuf, battle debris was scattered around the eastern gate, which had been hit by an air strike.

At least three military trucks were smoldering, and ammunition, plastic bags of rations and a tin bowl with a half-eaten meal lay scattered on the ground.

On the way into Ras Lanuf, a Reuters correspondent saw a bus loaded with government soldiers who had been taken prisoner, escorted by a pickup with a machine gun mounted on the back.

As foreign media passed, rebels chanted: "Sarkozy, Sarkozy, Sarkozy," a reference to the French president's early advocacy of a no-fly zone over Libya.

Libyan government spokesman Mussa Ibrahim told reporters in Tripoli that Gaddafi was personally "leading the battle" but appeared to suggest the leader might be moving around to keep his whereabouts a mystery.

"He has many offices, many places around Libya. I assure you he is leading the nation at this very moment and he is in continuous communication with everyone around the country."

Libyan state television was on Sunday broadcasting pop songs and images of palm trees, wheatfields and vast construction projects completed in Gaddafi's four decades in power.

Gaddafi himself has not been shown on television since he made a speech on Wednesday. His sons Khamis and Saif al-Islam -- who earlier in the conflict spoke regularly to foreign media -- have been out of sight even longer.

Internet social networks and some Arabic-language media reported that Khamis, commander of the elite 32nd brigade, had been killed by a disaffected air force pilot who, according to the reports, flew his plane into Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli.

There has been no confirmation and Libyan officials say such reports are part of a deliberate campaign of misinformation.

(Additional reporting by Alexander Dziadosz, Edmund Blair, Maria Golovnina, Michael Georgy, Ibon Villelabeitia, Tom Pfeiffer, Lamine Chikhi, Mariam Karouny, Joseph Nasr, Marie-Louise Gumuchian, David Brunnstrom and Arshad Mohammed; Writing by Ibon Villelabeitia; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

Hands-on: Samsung's Galaxy Tab 8.9 and 10.1 are slick but slow

">(Photo credit: CNET)

Samsung is taking the iPad seriously. So seriously, in fact, that in two weeks it completely redesigned two of its upcoming tablets to compete with Apples new, thinner, iPad 2. TheGalaxy Tab 8.9 and refreshed Galaxy Tab 10.1 are now slightly thinner than Apples tablet and will be sold at competitive prices when they hit North American shelves this summer. Now, the only question is what kind of experience they offer.

From cheap to sheek

I had the chance to spend some time with the Galaxy Tab family last week and came away mixed and confused. Because of its lightning fast redesigns, the working tablets on display were actually older, fatter models that resembled Samsungs initial Galaxy Tab 10.1 concept from back in February. They were lightweight and felt cheap, a lot like the sea of iPad knockoffs I tested out back at CES in January. It was a good move to change up the design. You arent going to beat Apple unless your product looks like its built well. Luckily, Samsungs newer designs were heavier (not too heavy), had a metal casing, and featured a nice rubberized grip material on the back, which looked good and should prevent a few accidental droppings. I was thoroughly disappointed with the old plastic design, but impressed by the feel of the new. Now we just have to see if Samsung can fit a working tablet into that sexy new case.

The 8.9 and 10.1 both have the same specs, running on a dual-core processor (we dont know which), a 1280800 pixel screen, a 3MP rear camera, a 2MP front-facing camera, HSPA+ high speed support for AT&T, and Android Honeycomb. Samsung claims both devices will have a 10 hour battery life and will have dual-speakers, something Apples tablet does not have.

A sluggish, modified Honeycomb

Now that Samsung has improved the hardware, Id ask them to make some adjustments to its implementation of Google Android. Samsung is the first company Ive seen that has changed the default design of Honeycomb. A rudimentary version of TouchWiz has been added on top of Honeycomb, changing the navigation buttons and adding a few new widgets to the operating system.

The new widgets are boxed and give Honeycomb a very newspaper grid-like feel. In the demo I saw, widgets for photos, the weather, Samsungs Social Hub, the date, and Internet bookmarks were readily available. Though much different in style than Samsungs Android phone widgets, these were still better than Googles rather sparse set of stock widgets.

Samsung has also done away with the techno-future weird look of the Back, Home, and Menu buttons, replacing them with more clear-cut icons. This is a welcomed change. Im not sure how much Tron Google was watching when it designed Honeycomb, but those buttons were hideous.

Finally, the biggest change Samsung has made is an OSX-like line of icons along the bottom of the tablet. Flicking your finger up on the bottom task bar brings this menu up for a few seconds. Unchangeable, this menu contains links to music, phone, calculator, PenMemo, World Clock, Calendar, and Task Manager apps. Oddly, many of these apps arent full screen, but also dont appear to be moveable. They simply pop up over the screen.will also be available on all its tablets.

Samsungs changes dont harm the experience from a design standpoint, but the 8.9 and 10.1 tablets ran sluggishly. Simple actions, like switching between homescreens, was not up to par with the snappiness of Apples iPad or even Motorolas Xoom or LGs Optimus Pad. One of the first things a potential customer looks at when trying out a product is how the experience feels. Samsung failed this test during the show. All of the 8.9 and 10.1 tablets seemed uniformly slow, even with few apps running or on a fresh reboot. Hopefully these performance issues are ironed out before release. If not, I cant see many choosing this over the competition, higher price or not.

Two tablets, one marketSamsung has potential here, if it can boost the performance of Honeycomb on its tablet. However, Im not so sure theres a market for both of these tablets. They both run the exact same hardware and arent much different in size. Honestly, its hard to tell them apart. Nevertheless, it may be a smart move for Samsung. The manufacturer now has Android devices of almost every size, from 3 inches to 10.1 inches. In the coming year, no matter which trends play out, Samsung will have a device in the fight. The only thing Samsung has to worry about is if 9.7 inches proves to be the only size anyone cares about.

Sprint blasts AT&T's bid to buy T-Mobile USA

Sprint Nextel urged regulators to block AT&T Inc's $39 billion bid to buy Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile USA, saying the merger would harm consumers.

"This transaction is fundamentally anti-competitive, and you can't fix that with merger conditions," Charles McKee, Sprint's vice president of government affairs, federal and state regulatory, told Reuters in a phone interview on Monday.

Sprint, the No. 3 U.S. mobile carrier, already faces tough competition from industry leaders AT&T and Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group Plc. Combined, AT&T and T-Mobile USA, the No. 4 U.S. operator, would leapfrog Verizon Wireless as the top carrier.

The deal would concentrate 80 percent of U.S. wireless contract customers in just two companies -- AT&T/T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

No. 2 U.S. mobile carrier AT&T, often criticized for dropped calls and slow connection speeds, said the merger would spur innovation and economic growth by improving quality and expanding service to 95 percent of the U.S. population.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission -- which aims to extend mobile broadband to virtually all Americans -- and Justice Department are expected to take at least a year to review the proposed merger, and impose significant conditions if they approve the deal.

"The U.S. wireless market is intensely competitive with five or more competitors in 18 of the top 20 markets," AT&T said in a statement on Monday.

The Justice Department typically takes a market-by-market look when assessing competitiveness in such mergers. But Sprint will push for a review on a national basis.

"Customers want to use their phones wherever they go," McKee said, adding that Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint are the only nationwide carriers.

Consumer and antitrust groups have also been critical of AT&T's proposed transaction.

Consumers Union argued that smaller, regional carriers rely on AT&T and Verizon to give their customers services such as data roaming. "This requires smaller competitors to negotiate agreements with these two telecom giants," the group said.

The public interest group Free Press called the merger "a train wreck" that would mean consumers would pay more.

Still, Robert W. Baird on Monday raised AT&T to "outperform," saying it is confident the proposed merger will be approved.

The brokerage also raised Leap Wireless International Inc and MetroPCS Communications Inc to "outperform" as the deal could spur Verizon or Sprint to pursue acquisitions of MetroPCS, Leap Wireless or US Cellular Corp.

On the New York Stock Exchange, AT&T closed up 1.8 percent, Sprint rose 2.1 percent, and Verizon advanced 1.2 percent. Leap finished 2.2 percent higher on Nasdaq and MetroPCS rose 1.6 percent on the NYSE.

(Reporting by Jasmin Melvin; Additional reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Richard Chang)

Pa. suit: 2 fired for sending Obama 'tar' e-mail

PITTSBURGH – Two people say a western Pennsylvania company violated their constitutional free speech rights by firing them after they forwarded an e-mail likening President Barack Obama to the "tar balls" washed ashore after the Gulf oil spill.

The lawsuit says Centers for Rehab Services contended the e-mail "contained political and discriminatory content." But Deborah Bonanno and James Sprung say they merely were expressing their feelings the nation's first black president and others were "dithering" as the spill worsened.

The center is affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. UPMC spokeswoman Susan Manko says it has a "zero-tolerance" policy barring creation or circulation of e-mails "that may be racially, sexually or otherwise offensive."

The plaintiffs' lawyer hasn't returned a phone message left Tuesday seeking comment.

U.S. "X Factor" to offer large record deal for winner

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) – Acerbic British music judge and entrepreneur Simon Cowell said on Monday that the winner of the first U.S. version of the television singing competition, "The X Factor," will receive a $5 million record deal.

The new talent show on Fox television will start auditions for solo artists and vocal groups aged 12 and above in Los Angeles on March 27 before hosting more auditions in Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, New Jersey and Seattle.

Cowell said the winner would receive a record deal with Syco, a joint venture between Sony Music and Cowell, and the same label tied to Scottish singer Susan Boyle.

"We are going to put our money where our mouths are with the $5 million recording contract. I'm doing this show in America because I genuinely believe we can find a superstar," Cowell said in a statement.

Britain's "The X Factor", which launched in 2004, won the talent show category at Britain's National Television Awards two weeks ago beating "Britain's Got Talent."

(Reporting by Christine Kearney, editing by Patricia Reaney)