Andhra home secretary arrested in Emaar case

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Hyderabad, Jan 30 : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Monday arrested Andhra Pradesh Home Secretary B.P.Acharya for alleged corruption in the Emaar-APIIC township case here.

Acharya was arrested by the CBI officials in the afternoon after they questioned him since morning at Dilkusha guest house, the camp office of the investigating agency.

The senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer was vice chairman and managing director of the Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (APIIC) when its equity was reduced in a joint venture with Dubai-based real estate major Emaar, causing huge losses to the state exchequer. Acharya is presently the principal secretary (home).

Acharya has been arrested on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust under various sections of Indian Penal Code and also under Prevention of Corruption Act, CBI sources said.

The CBI will present him in the special court dealing with the CBI cases. He is the fourth accused to be arrested in Emaar case and the second IAS official held on charges of corruption.

IAS official Y. Srilakshmi was last month arrested in an illegal mining case involving former Karnataka minister G. Janardhana Reddy.

Acharya, who was MD of APIIC between 2005 and 2009, allegedly colluded with Emaar and its Indian associates to bring down APIIC's equity in the Emaar Hills Township Private Ltd (EHTPL) from 26 percent to six percent.

EHTPL, the joint venture company of Emaar and APIIC, was formed to build a township at Gachibowli in Hyderabad. APPIC had allotted 535 acres prime land for the upscale township.

Acharya and others allegedly diluted APIIC's equity without approval from APIIC board.

The CBI Saturday arrested G.G.V. Vijay Raghav, Chief Financial Officer, EHTPL. Earlier, Sunil Reddy, a businessman and an aide of YSR Congress party chief Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy, was arrested.

Koneru Prasad, an industrialist, was arrested by the CBI in November last year. His Stylish Home, which acted as marketing agency of EHTPL, allegedly siphoned off huge money by selling villas to politicians, businessmen and film personalities at much higher rate than shown on paper.

Starbucks in deal with Tata to open cafes in India

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 Starbucks Corp said it will open its first outlets in Indiain August or September and plans to have 50 stores in operation by the end of the year in a joint venture deal with Tata Global Beverages.

The formal launch of the company's retail foray into India comes a year after it signed a deal with Tata Global to buy coffee from India and open retail outlets in the country.

Starbucks and Tata Global, part of the salt-to-software Tata conglomerate, said they had formed an equal joint venture to run cafes and develop business in India.

The joint venture, Tata Starbucks Ltd, will set up Starbucks outlets across the country, starting with New Delhi and Mumbai, the partners said.

Starbucks opted for a partnership even after the Indian government eliminated restrictions on foreign investment in the single-brand retail sector earlier this month.

Tata Coffee , a unit of Tata Global, said separately that it had signed a deal to supply coffee to the joint venture.

India is the world's fifth biggest coffee producer, but now exports 70-80 percent of production.

Western style cafes are popular with an increasingly urban population in India, where tea has traditionally been the beverage of choice.

The organized coffee market in India -- which reflects consumption mainly through cafes -- accounts for about $140 million of the country's annual coffee sales of about $667 million.

Starbucks has more than 5,500 coffee houses in more than 50 countries outside the United States, about half the number it has at home.

A cup of plain coffee typically costs about 10 rupees (about 22 U.S. cents) at a basic restaurant in India, compared with 60-80 rupees at Western-style cafes, which began sprouting up a decade ago.

However, Starbucks has tough competition in India. Cafe Coffee Day, India's largest coffee chain, has nearly 1,200 outlets and plans to open one cafe every third day.

It is followed by the Barista chain, with more than 200 cafes. Barista also has huge expansion plans.

UK coffee retailer Costa Coffee, which entered the market in 2008, has about 75 stores and plans to increase this four-fold over the next three years.

Nokia profits dive as new phones slow to take off

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HELSINKI  - Nokia Oyj reported a 73 percent fall in fourth-quarter earnings as sales of its new Windows Phones failed to dent the dominance of Apple Inc's iPhone or compensate for diving sales of its own old smartphones.

The world's largest cellphone maker by volume unveiled a year ago a major strategy shift to Microsoft Corp software for its smartphones in an attempt to challenge Apple and Google Inc's Android. But Apple's phones in particular have proved far more popular.

Apple reported earlier this week sales of 37 million iPhones for the December quarter. Nokia has sold over 1 million Windows 'Lumia' Phones, since its launch in mid-November.

"It is more than some were expecting, but it's not going to worry Apple or Google," said analyst Nick Dillon from research firm Ovum.

Nokia said it expected its phone business' underlying earnings to be around breakeven in the first quarter, well below analysts forecasts, with sales falling more than usual in the seasonally weaker quarter.

"The report highlights that the start of the Windows strategy is slow, and we have very little concrete data to predict its success at this point," said analyst Michael Schroder from FIM Securities.

"There are a lot of uncertainties. These are critical times for the future of the whole company. The next months will be extremely important".

SCALING UP

Ben Wood, head of research at mobile consultancy CCS Insight, compared Nokia to a late starter in a marathon, saying it needed to move fast: "The reality is that it's going to have to be an exceptionally fast marathon if it wants narrow the gap with its rivals".

To close the gap, Nokia will need to move quickly to push out the phone into more markets and with secure more partners.

Windows Phones have only been released in 15 markets so far, meaning Nokia has yet to take full advantage of its worldwide sales force -- a presence that could help boost sales fast.

In the United States, it has partnered with No. 4 U.S. carrier T-Mobile to enter the U.S. smartphone market, and has yet to break into two of the other largest smartphone markets in the world -- China and Japan. A ramp up in those countries could help Nokia close the gap with rivals.

Analysts said Nokia also needed to focus on marketing and sales channel to drive Lumia sales volumes.

"They need to market the hell out of it," said Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi. "Android is still an easy sale. Nokia needs to convince the sales people in stores to sell Nokia."

BETTER THAN FEARED

Nokia's fourth-quarter core earnings per share of 0.06 euro were better than the market's expectation for 0.04 euro. The results were boosted by a $250 million payment from Microsoft as part of the Windows Phone sales deal.

Shares in the Nokia were up 1 percent to 4.10 euros at 1526 GMT, regaining some ground lost over the past week following poor results from its suppliers.

Nokia proposed a 0.20 euro-per-share dividend for 2011, slightly more than expected.

The board put forward Risto Siilasmaa as its next chairman replacing long-time leader, Jorma Ollila, who steps down in May.

Nokia's quarterly net loss totalled 1.1 billion euros, or 0.29 euros per share, due to a 1.1 billion writedown for its digital mapping assets.

Microsoft has tried to enter the mobile industry for more than ten years, but with little success. Its market share is 1-2 percent. Canalys analyst Pete Cunningham said Microsoft's deal with Nokia was make or break for its ambitions in this sector.

"Nokia gives Microsoft a chance to enter the big stage. If they cannot make it work, arguably this is the end of the road," he said.

Will Apple launch much-awaited iPhone 5 in early 2012?

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Washington, Jan 26 : Technology giant Apple is planning to launch its iPhone 5 in early 2012, a report has claimed.

A report from 9 to 5 Mac, quoted an unnamed Foxconn employee, as saying that there are "various sample devices" for the next iPhone already floating around.

According to the blog, all the phones have a 4-inch or larger display, and are slightly longer and wider than current iPhones, The Washington Post reports.

The blog also revealed that the new iPhone5 would have a different form factor than the iPhone 4 and 4S.

In Apple's latest earnings call, the firm's chief executive Tim Cooksaid that Apple had some "amazing" products coming in the pipeline, but said he was unfazed by competitors' 4G and larger-screened phones.

Repeating that Apple had just announced the sale of 37 million iPhones, Cook said that it appeared that customers were already pleased with the phone.

How earth looked from the Jurassic age to more recent times

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London, Jan 26 : Researchers have now discovered how earth looked at various stages in its history - from the age of the dinosaurs to more recent times- and what would come into focus for alien astronomers.

Researchers from the Astrophysical Institute of the Canary Islandsand the Massachusetts Institute of Technology used cloud models to piece together Earth's appearance at several stages.

To help them they used landform models from paleogeologist Ron Blakely to give them a layout of the Earth over four different geologic time frames, the Daily Mail reported.

The researchers observed how the brightness of the planet would have varied over millions of years as the continents shifted.

Five hundred million years ago the landmasses were much closer together implying that there were much bigger areas of ocean than there are at present.

The shifting landmasses resulted in different cloud patterns and clouds reflect light the best, which would end up in differing levels of brightness when viewed from space.

According to their analysis, among other things, E.T. could most likely tell that our planet's surface is divided between oceans and continents, and learn a little bit about the dynamics of our weather systems.

"Maybe somebody's looking at us right now, finding out what our rotation rate is - that is, the length of our day," said Sara Seager, associate professor of physics and the Ellen Swallow Richards Associate Professor of Planetary Sciences at MIT.

One held for harassing girl on train

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Kokrajhar, Jan. 25: Moinul Islam, 34, of Sahapati in Hojai of Nagaon district was arrested today for harassing a girl on the Rajdhani Express.

The man was caught and later taken into custody by security forces at Kokrajhar railway station.

The Up Rajdhani Express was stranded for over half an hour after the incident.

Angry residents vandalised the station demanding that the culprit be handed over to them for punishment. The girl is a student in Delhi and was returning home to Kokrajhar.

According to the girl, the man who was travelling in the same compartment and on the opposite seat, started misbehaving from the start, which gradually increased as the night progressed.

When she complained to the ticket checker, she was rebuffed. She could change her seat only when a pantry boy offered to help around midnight.

The girl also called up her father in Kokrajhar who later went to the railway station and complained to the railway authorities for action.

The man was arrested by the CRPF at Kokrajhar station around 2.30pm today.

A mob gheraoed Kokrajhar police station demanding punishment to the culprit.

Village councils above parliament, says Anna

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New Delhi, Jan 26:Stating that gram sabhas (village councils) were above state assemblies and parliament, activist Anna HazareThursday called for legislation to empower local bodies and said people should be prepared for a "second freedom struggle" if thegovernment does not bring such a bill.

In his video message "Rebuilding Rebuplic" posted on YouTube by his team, Hazare said that gram sabhas were the highest structures in the country as they derived their strength directly from the people.

"Gram sabha is the highest system in the country. It is above Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha. Every voter is the master of the country, this they (the government) should understand. You (the people) have to come forward for a second freedom struggle," Hazare said.

He called upon the government to introduce a bill which will decentralise powers vested in central and state governments.

"Headless body in topless bar" killer denied parole

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NEW YORK - New York state authorities denied parole on Tuesday to the man convicted of the crime that generated one of the most famous headlines in U.S. journalism: the New York Post's "Headless body in topless bar."

The parole board denied early release for Charles Dingle, 53, convicted of the 1983 rampage in which he fatally shot the owner of a topless bar, took hostages, raped a woman and forced another to cut off the dead man's head in order to prevent police from linking the bullet to his gun.

Dingle, held in an upstate prison, has maintained his innocence despite numerous eyewitnesses and considerable physical evidence.

The headline, credited to Vincent Musetto, an editor and film critic who retired last year after 40 years at the Post, recalls a much more violent New York City than today's. There were nearly 2,000 murders in 1983 compared with 515 in 2011, according to police statistics.

It also helped cement the Post's reputation as the most colorful of New York City's tabloid newspapers, which maintain an intense newsstand rivalry even in a digital world.

The Daily News went with "Queens night of horror" to chronicle Dingle's crime. Newsday, the Long Island paper that published a New York City edition at the time, titled the story "A night of terror." For The New York Times, it was, "Owner of a bar shot to death; suspect is held."

Dingle's rejection Tuesday was his third failed request for parole.

The parole board of the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision on Tuesday noted Dingle's long prior criminal record, a "propensity for victimizing others," and at least 30 violations in prison including assaulting the staff.

"This continued poor behavior coupled with your disturbing criminal history makes your release incompatible with public safety and welfare," the three-person panel ruled. "To release you would so deprecate the serious nature of the instant offense and undermine respect for the law. Parole is denied."

In a 2010 interview with the Post, Dingle blamed the media frenzy for denying him a fair trial and faulted the parole board for asking him to "plead guilty and take responsibility for the crime."

"I can't do it because I didn't do it," he said.

Police told a very different story, based on accounts from people in the bar that night and the morning of April 14, 1983, including the victim's wife. One year later, a judge in a non-jury trial convicted him of second-degree murder, rape, kidnapping and robbery, sentencing him to 25 years to life in prison.

With the arrest happening on a Thursday morning, the Post had time to get the story in one of its afternoon editions. A front-page teaser headline read "Cops find headless body in topless bar -- Page 8."

By Friday morning, at least one of the editions carried the banner front-page headline "Headless body in topless bar," and a legend was born.

Musetto's work also provided the title for the book "Headless Body in Topless Bar: The Best Headlines from America's Favorite Newspaper."

U.S. Marine tells court he is sorry for Iraq killings

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CAMP PENDLETON, Calif  - A U.S. Marine sergeantaccused of leading a 2005 massacre of 24 civilians in Haditha, Iraq, expressed sorrow for the killings as he returned to military court on Tuesday to face sentencing.

Staff Sergeant Frank Wuterich, 31, pleaded guilty on Monday to a single count of dereliction of duty as part of a deal with military prosecutors in which more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter and aggravated assault were dismissed.

The plea deal, decried by a victim's relative as "an insult to all Iraqis," cut short Wuterich's court-martial and ended the final prosecution over killings that roiled the Marine Corps and drew international condemnation of American troops.

As part of his guilty plea, Wuterich accepted responsibility for providing negligent verbal instructions to the Marines under his command when he told them to "shoot first and ask questions later," which resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians.

Wuterich, in his pre-sentencing statement, added that when he gave that order, "the intent wasn't that they should shoot civilians. It was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy."

The squad leader, who was originally charged with murder in the case, said he realized that his name "will always be associated with a massacre, being a cold-blooded baby killer, an 'out-of-control monster.'"

But he insisted that he and his fellow Marines behaved honorably under extreme circumstances, and said he "never fired my weapon at any women or children that day."

In a final plea for leniency, his civilian defense lawyer, Neal Puckett, said his client "is not evil."

"He is decent and moral, and his integrity is unfaltering," Puckett said. "He knows that his Marine Corps career has come to an end."

FACES MAXIMUM THREE MONTH SENTENCE

Wuterich faces a maximum sentence of three months of confinement, forfeiture of two-thirds of his pay for three months and a reduction in rank when he is sentenced on Tuesday, a Camp Pendleton spokesman said. Any discharge process faced by Wuterich, a father of three girls, will be separate from his sentencing.

Word of the sentence sparked outrage in Iraq, where Ali Badr, a Haditha resident and relative of one of the victims, called it "an insult to all Iraqis" and "solid proof that the Americans don't respect human rights."

Wuterich was accused of being the ringleader in a series of November 19, 2005, shootings and grenade attacks that left two dozen civilians dead in Haditha, a city west of Baghdad that was then an insurgent hotspot.

The killings were portrayed by Iraqi witnesses and military prosecutors as a massacre of unarmed civilians -- men, women and children -- carried out by Marines in anger after a member of their unit was killed by a roadside bomb.

Defense lawyers argued the deaths resulted from a fast-moving combat situation in which the Marines believed they were under enemy fire.

In his statement on Tuesday, Wuterich, directed an apology to family members of those killed in Iraq, he said, "Words cannot express my sorrow for the loss of your loved ones." But he insisted civilians were not singled out for attack.

"The truth is, I don't believe anyone in my squad ... behaved in any way that was dishonorable or contrary to the highest ideals that we all live by as Marines," he said, reading calmly and deliberately. "But even with the best intentions, sometimes combat actions can cause tragic results."

Called to the stand as a character witness on Tuesday, Jeffrey Dinsmore, an intelligence officer with Wuterich's battalion, said "insurgent groups ... had complete control over the city (of Haditha) at the time" and the unit had received word that an ambush was likely.

He also said insurgents were known to commandeer homes as places to launch attacks and to deliberately use civilians as human shields.

Six out of the eight Marines originally accused in the case had their charges dismissed by military judges, and a seventh was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

Wuterich enlisted in the Marines after his 1998 graduation from high school, where he was an athletic honor-roll student and played with the marching band. He was serving his second tour of duty in Iraq when the Haditha incident occurred.

Megaupload founder joked about his 'hacker' past

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WELLINGTON, New Zealand  — Two years ago, Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom joked in emails with his new neighbors in New Zealand about his bad-boy reputation before telling them his criminal past was behind him and he was coming to the country with good intentions.

"I am a former hacker" who was once convicted of insider trading, he wrote, before going on to say "In all seriousness: My wife, two kids and myself love New Zealand and 'We come in peace.'"

Dotcom's emails came to light Wednesday, the same day a New Zealand judge denied him bail following his arrest on U.S. accusations of copyright infringement and a U.S. official confirmed the arrest of a fifth member of his company.

Judge David McNaughton in Auckland denied Dotcom bail pending a hearing Feb. 22 on his possible extradition to face trial in the United States, saying Dotcom poses a flight risk. Dotcom, 38, insists he is innocent and poses no flight risk.

New Zealand police arrested three other Megaupload employees last week on U.S. accusations they facilitated millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content, costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue. McNaughton is expected to make bail rulings on the three later this week or early next week.

In Washington, a U.S. Justice Department official said Dutch police have arrested a fifth suspect — software programmer Andrus Nomm, 32, a citizen of Estonia and a resident of both Turkey and Estonia. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the case is still pending.

In New Zealand, Dotcom's neighbor Kevin Crossley said Dotcom cut an imposing figure when he took a lease on the $24 million luxury mansion in their sleepy neighborhood of Coatesville, near Auckland. Crossley said he never met Dotcom, but he would see him zooming past in luxury cars when he went horse riding.

Dotcom sent emails to Crossley's wife France Komoroski and other neighbors, joking that "a criminal neighbor like me" could help them with insider stock tips and tax fraud. But then he turned serious.

"Fifteen years ago I was a hacker and 10 years ago I was convicted for insider trading," he wrote. "Hardly the kind of crimes you need to start a witch hunt for. Since then I have been a good boy, my criminal records have been cleared, and I created a successful Internet company that employs 100+ people."

Dotcom first developed a reputation as a computer hacker in his native Germany, where he was born Kim Schmitz.

Later, in 2002, he received a 20-month suspended sentence after being found guilty of manipulating stock prices to earn himself $1.1 million.

The flamboyant Dotcom also made headlines after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 when he offered a $10 million reward on his website for information leading to the capture of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

In New Zealand, Prime Minister John Key faced awkward questions Wednesday about how immigration officials could have granted Dotcom residency despite his prior convictions — and then the government could later turn down his application to buy the Coatesville mansion due to questions over his character prompted by those same convictions.

Key said Dotcom had disclosed his convictions in his immigration application but that enough time had elapsed to give him a clean slate. Key acknowleged it seemed inconsistent that the test for buying land would be higher than the test for residency.

"What I've asked my officials to do, is to go away and have a look, because there's clearly a potential anomoly there," Key told reporters Wednesday.

In all, U.S. authorities have charged seven men in the conspiracy case and are still seeking the arrest of the remaining two men.

Authorities in the U.S. are seeking to extradite the four men arrested in New Zealand and are also expected to seek Nomm's extradition.

Australian PM stumbles before angry protesters

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CANBERRA, Australia  — Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard stumbled and was caught by a security guard as riot police helped her force a path through a crowd of rowdy protestersfollowing a ceremony to mark Australia's national day Thursday.

Some 200 supporters of indigenous rights surrounded a Canberra restaurant and banged its windows while Gillard and opposition leader Tony Abbott were inside officiating at an award ceremony.

Around 50 police escorted the political leaders from a side door to a car. Gillard stumbled, losing a shoe. Her personal security guard wrapped his arms around her and supported her to the waiting car, shielding her from the angry crowd.

The protesters had been demonstrating for indigenous rights nearby at the so-called Aboriginal Tent Embassy, a ramshackle collection of tents and temporary shelters in the national capital that is a center point of protests against Australia Day.

Australia Day marks the arrival of the first fleet of British colonists in Sydney on Jan. 26, 1788. Many Aborigines call it Invasion Day because the land was settled without a treaty with traditional owners.

Abbott appeared to be the target of protesters, who chanted "shame" and "racist" outside the restaurant.

The Tent Embassy celebrated its 40th anniversary on Thursday. Abbott had earlier angered indigenous activists by saying it was time the embassy "moved on."

Gillard was unharmed and hosted another Australia Day function for foreign ambassadors at her official residence in Canberra later Thursday.

"The only thing that angers me is that it distracted from such a wonderful event," Gillard told reporters.

"I am made of pretty tough stuff and the police did a great job," she added.

'Agent Vinod' is complete Indian hero: Saif

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Mumbai, Jan 26 : Dismissing any similarities with fictional spy agent James Bond, Bollywood actor-producer Saif Ali Khan says his character in "Agent Vinod" is totally desi.

The much-awaited action-spy film, with Saif and his real life lady love Kareena Kapoor, is ready for release. And comparisons with the "James Bond" series are inevitable, says Saif.

"Any audience who comes to see the film will think that we have done an Indian James Bond. This is a very stupid thing to do because firstly, James Bond is a completely English character," he told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of the first poster of the movie.

"From the first scene of the film, you will realise that this is an Indian hero who is very different to the Bond character because we didn't want to make a copy of the Bond film," added Saif.

However, if "Agent Vinod" turns out to be a box office success, Saif might consider making sequels to it, a la the "James Bond" series, of which 22 films have been made so far. The 23rd is in the process of being made.

"If the film does well, it depends on the audience. If the picture becomes popular, then of course we will look forward to making a series," said Saif.

Directed by Sriram Raghavan, the action-loaded film is slated to release March 23.

Accused White House shooter pleads not guilty

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WASHINGTON ) - An Idaho man pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to attempting to assassinate President Barack Obama and to other criminal charges for allegedly shooting at the White House in November.

His attorney entered the not guilty plea on behalf of Oscar Ortega-Hernandez to a 17-count indictment that included charges of damaging the White House, illegal use of a firearm, assault with a dangerous weapon and interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition.

Obama and first lady Michelle Obama were in California at the time and no one was injured when Ortega-Hernandez allegedly opened fire at the executive mansion with a semi-automatic weapon on November 11. At least two bullets hit the outside of the building.

During a five-minute court hearing, Ortega-Hernandez never addressed the judge. His defense attorney, assistant federal public defender David Bos, said his client would be asserting his right to a speedy trial.

Ortega-Hernandez, 21, who faces up to life in prison if convicted, was arrested and has been held in custody since shortly after the shooting. Magistrate Judge Deborah Robinson ordered that he remain in custody.

A doctor has determined that Ortega-Hernandez, who has referred to himself as a modern day Jesus Christ and who allegedly has called Obama the devil, was mentally competent to stand trial.

The next hearing in the case was scheduled for February 10.

Boy sacrificed for hidden treasure in Andhra

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Hyderabad, Jan 26 :A 14-year-old boy was killed by a group of people in the belief that a human sacrifice would yield them a secret treasure in Andhra Pradesh's Nirmal town, police said Thursday.

The police Thursday recovered the body of Ganesh at Shyamgarh Fort on the outskirts of the town in Adilabad district, about 250 km from here.

One man, Raju, who reportedly sold the boy for Rs.20,000 to the treasure seekers, has been arrested while eight members of the gang which sacrificed him are yet untraced and on the run, police said.

The boy was sacrificed for the believed-to-be hidden treasure in the fort on Amavasya (new moon night) on the intervening night of Jan 24-25. He was buried in the same area and the police exhumed the body Thursday.

Ganesh was a Class 9 student at a private school, and was lured away with snacks by Raju, the boy's family members alleged.

On interrogating, Raju confessed to have sold the boy to a man named Prabhakar.

The angry relatives of the boy blockaded a road, demanding the police take immediate action against all accused.

According to locals, several people in the town and other areas in the district believe in hidden treasures and that a human sacrifice would reveal these.

Core suppliers savour bigger Apple pie

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Suppliers basked in the reflection of Apple's glowing results on Wednesday after the company's gold standard iPhones and iPads flew off the shelves over the holiday sales season.

Apple's forecast-beating fourth-quarter figures late on Tuesday helped it to beat Google's Android as the largest smartphoneplatform in the United States and to regain the world's largest smartphone maker spot from Samsung.

Apple's results were spearheaded by sales of the iPhone 4S, which is packed with technology from British chip designer ARM, said analystNick James at Numis.

Apple accounts for about 10 percent of ARM's technology revenues, and for about 35 percent of graphics and video chip designerImagination's technology revenues, he said.

"It means people are still driven by performance in terms of having the highest performance, highest functioning devices, and those tend to have quite a number of ARM-based chips in them."

"It is one of the key things that drove Imagination to come through to the next level," James added.

Shares in ARM jumped 4.2 percent, while shares in Imagination were 4.1 percent higher at 1030 GMT.

Analyst Didier Scemama at RBS said that although Apple was only one of many ARM customers -- the Cambridge-based company supplies virtually every smartphone and tablet with their cheap designs -- from a sentiment standpoint there has been a strong correlation between the two stocks.

"(Apple) should help the whole sector today, but especially Dialog Semiconductor and other suppliers," said a Frankfurt-based trader.

Shares in Dialog Semi were up 3.9 percent.

OVERTAKING SAMSUNG

Samsung became the world's largest smartphone maker in the third quarter, but analysts said the 37 million iPhones sold in the fourth quarter should easily beat Samsung's expected sales of around 30 million.

Samsung is due to report on Friday.

Research firm Kantar Worldpanel ComTech said Apple's share of the U.S. market doubled from a year ago to 44.9 percent in the October to December period, just beating the total for Android smartphones, which slipped to 44.8 percent from 50 percent.

"Overall, Apple sales are now growing at a faster rate than Android across the nine countries we cover," said Dominic Sunnebo, global consumer insight director at the research firm.

Apple's iPhone 4S also uses chips from Samsung Electronics, Qualcomm, Toshiba and a host of smaller semiconductor companies, including TriQuint, Skyworks Solutions and Avago Technologies Inc.

In stark contrast to Apple's success, sales of handset makers using Android, including Motorola Mobility, HTC and Sony Ericsson, have stumbled in the quarter.

SKorea staging artillery drills at border island

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SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea staged live-fire drills Thursday from a front-line island shelled by North Korea in 2010, in the first such exercise since North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died last month. The North called the maneuvers belligerent.

Marines at Yeonpyeong Island and nearby Baengnyeong Island fired artillery into waters near the disputed sea border during the two-hour-long drills, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said. North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency said later in the day that the South was "kicking up war fever" by simulating a pre-emptive strike.

Similar drills at Yeonpyeong in November 2010 triggered a North Korean artillery bombardment that killed four South Koreans.

The latest drills were routine exercises and there haven't been any suspicious activities by North Korea's military, the South Korean official said on condition of anonymity, citing department rules.

South Korea last held artillery drills at the front-line islands on Dec. 12, five days before Kim Jong Ildied of a heart attack, the official said.

Ties between the two Koreas remain frosty with North Korea vowing to retaliate against South Korea over its decision to bar all of its citizens, except for two private delegations, from visiting to pay respects after Kim's death.

The two sides are still technically at war because their conflict in the early 1950s ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty.

Tension between the countries sharply rose in 2010 in the wake of North Korea's shelling of Yeonpyeong and a deadly warship sinking blamed on Pyongyang. North Korea has flatly denied its involvement in the sinking that killed 46 sailors.

South Korean and U.S. troops regularly conduct joint military drills, drawing angry responses from North Korea, which consider them as a rehearsal for a northward invasion.

On Sunday, the KCNA blasted South Korea and the United States over reports they plan a large-scale amphibious drills in March. A KCNA dispatch said the planned drills showed the allies' "wild design to stifle (North Korea) by force of arms."