archean prepossessing: November 2011

Monday, November 28, 2011

Group files war-crimes complaint against Calderon (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? Mexican activists lodged a war-crimes complaint Friday against President Felipe Calderon at the International Criminal Court, claiming his offensive against drug cartels has involved about 470 cases of human rights violations by the army or police.

Netzai Sandoval, a lawyer for the coalition behind the complaint, said Mexican drug lords have also committed crimes against humanity during the conflict, which has cost 35,000 to 40,000 lives since late 2006.

The complaint filed Friday at the court in the Netherlands also names Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

Calderon's administration has denied the accusations, saying it's an elected, democratic government fighting criminals and has established mechanisms to protect human rights.

On Friday, Mexico's Interior Department issued a statement saying "the public safety policy that has been implemented by no means constitutes an international crime." It said the government's actions "are aimed at stopping criminal organizations and protecting all citizens."

"The Mexican government is not at war, and there is no generalized or systematic attack against civilians, nor any government policy in that direction," the statement said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_international_court

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Smartphones: Biggest market now China, not US

Smartphones in third quarter sold in greater volumes in China (up 58 percent) than in the US (down 7 percent). US sales of smartphones could bounce back with release of iPhone 4S, at least temporarily.

It was bound to happen eventually. Smartphone sales in China for the third quarter of 2011 surpassed U.S. sales, making China the largest smartphone market by volume,?reports Strategy Analytics.

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The firm?s research found that smartphone shipments reached 23.9 million units in China during Q3, while the U.S. had 23.3 million units shipped.

Even more telling is how those sales compared to the past quarter: China grew 58 percent, while the U.S. fell 7 percent. Strategy Analytics notes that U.S. shipments were atypical for the quarter, since many consumers were waiting for the iPhone 4S, so the U.S. could still bounce back to the lead in coming quarters. But given China?s population of 1.3 billion, I suspect that it will soon be able to leap ahead of the U.S. in smartphone sales organically.

?China?s rapid growth has been driven by an increasing availability of smartphones in retail channels, aggressive subsidizing by operators of high-end models like the Apple iPhone, and an emerging wave of low-cost Android models from local Chinese brands such as ZTE,? said Strategy Analytics director Tom Kang in a statement today.

The firm says that Nokia leads China?s smartphone market with a share of 28 percent. HTC, on the other hand, leads the US market with 24 percent.