TECHNOLOGY NEWS: LG ENTERS THE ROUND WITH THE G WATCH R, ITS LATEST ANDROID WEAR

It's been a busy few hours in the world of smartwatches, folks.



Keen to throw the spotlight on itself ahead of the big IFA consumer electronics trade show in Berlin next week, LG on Wednesday evening officially announced its round-faced G Watch R, which it teased earlier in the week.



Then, without warning, Samsung struts up, snatches the spotlight from LG and turns it determinedly upon itself with the announcement of the Gear S.



Hang around a bit and Sony might throw one into the mix.



G Watch R



LG's newest Android Wear smartwatch, which incorporates a stainless steel frame and comes with an interchangeable calf skin leather strap, goes up against Motorola's similarly shaped Moto 360 device, which is all set for a September 4 launch.



Diving straight in, the elegantly styled G Watch R sports a 1.3-inch Plastic OLED (aka P-OLED) 320 x 320 display, 4GB of storage, 512MB of RAM, and a 410mAh battery, with a 1.2 GHz Snapdragon 400 processor running the show.



Its maker promises clear viewing in bright sunlight from all angles, while its water-resistant properties mean it can handle depths of up to a meter for as long as 30 minutes.

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TECH NEWS: HOW IFA 2014 RESHAPED THE LANDSCAPE FOR WEARABLE TECH

Samsung Galaxy Gear S

Last week, Europe's biggest electronics show kicked off in Berlin, and to the surprise of absolutely no one, wearables took centerstage. Nearly all of the major manufacturers present, including Sony, Samsung, LG, Asus and Motorola debuted wearable gadgets. If you're a big company that makes smartphone and tablets whose name doesn't rhyme with Snapple, you've likely got a dog in this race, and there's a pretty good chance you were at the Messe convention center in Berlin last week to show it off.

With an Apple event looming in San Francisco tomorrow, it's important at this late stage to note the obvious: The state of wearable technology could be very different in a matter of a few days. It's never been a smart bet to underestimate Apple's aptitude for completely transforming an existing space. Of course, that assumes the company finally unveils the long rumored iWatch this week, and that the hypothetical gadget brings something to the table (beyond simple brand recognition) that has been thus far lacking in the numerous attempts at the space.

So, what do these latest attempts to keep no wrist bared and no eyes un-augmented with a brighter, textier reality tell us about the state of the burgeoning wearable industry at the beginning of fall 2014? Let's take at some of the proverbial digital trends from IFA to find out.

Watches

I know, right? That's some stellar reporting right there, Brian. No wonder you managed to score that cush Digital Trends column job with keen observations such as this. And while it's true that it doesn't take the cleverest of industry insights to have unlocked this one, it seems safe to say that the world of wearable manufacturers have mostly settled on the wrist as the next major battleground. Basic fitness wearables like the FitBit and Jawbone Up helped reopen the conversation about that bit of realty between our hands and forearms, while Pebble's wildly successful Kickstarter pushed proved that, at least so far as early adopters are concerned, the long-neglected world of wristwatches was primed for a comeback.

Sony SmartWatch 3
Like the smartphone before it, the smartwatch is less pioneering a wholly new space than it is an attempt to fold new technologies into an existing product. This path of less resistance makes a lot of sense, really. Convincing people to upgrade their existing watches — or, perhaps, return to a simpler era when people relied on such things for the time of day — is a much simpler task than getting them to don, say a pair of VR Googles. And let's face it, the wrist just feels inherently less ridiculous than smart rings and necklaces. It's like God gave us the perfect little platform with which to succumb to our screen obsessions.

Android Wear

Obviously a direct continuation of the last point, but it's fascinating to see just how quickly companies jumped on board with Google's wearable version of its mobile OS. It's easy to forget given the company's massive mobile success as of late, but Google had a fair bit of trouble out of the gate in the smartphone space. In fact, many pundits prematurely announced Android dead in the water in those early days. Chalk it up to existing partnerships, the eagerness for companies to dive into wearables before Apple, or maybe the success and relative robustness of the Android ecosystem, but Wear completely dominated IFA's wearable announcements this year.

Asus ZenWatch
Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony and Asus were all on board. In fact, Meta's M1 primarily made headlines this year on the strength of the fact that it wasn't rocking Wear. What Wear really brings to the table is a great software partner in Google and, most likely, the best chance any of the aforementioned companies have of truly competing with the iWatch, should there, you know, actually be an iWatch.

Style

I hate to say it, but this one is important. Aside from the Pebble Steel, how many smartwatches are there out there that the average person would actually wear on a daily basis? Not early adopters, but regular folk. You know, those people who've spent the last few weeks terrified that this 4Chan person was going to break into their iCloud and steal their vacation photos. Those folks have never owned a calculator watch and could never honestly see themselves caught in public with a pair of Google Glass. For them, you're going to need a smartwatch that doesn't just look like a smartphone attached to someone's wrist.

LG G Watch R
LG's G Watch R is possible the best example of this. The thing looks like a watch that can also receive tweets. In fact, most of the manufacturers are doing a better job these days producing smartwatches that look like things people would want to wear on their person. Unlike your smartphone, you can't just stash it away in your pocket — well, you can, but that would sort of defeat the purpose of buying a smartwatch in the first place, right? And really, a little bit of the effort that goes into making smartphones pretty should be applied to what is, essentially, a smart fashion accessory.

Size

Or maybe this one is, in fact, an anti-trend. Either way, one quick look at the Moto 360 on the wrist of a normal sized human demonstrates how much we need this one to go in the other direction. And it's not just a Motorola problem. Have you ever seen a Samsung Galaxy Gear in the wild? For these things to really catch on, we're going to need manufacturers to focus on smartwatches that don't include the creeping threat of carpal tunnel in their list of features.

Honorable mentions

A few minor, but intriguing developments to mention at the end here.

Sony Smartband Talk
There's the Samsung Gear S cellular connected smartwatch. The product fills a small, small, niche, but it's an interesting one: Do you really want to rely on your smartphone to drive your smartwatch? And more kudos to Samsung for the Gear VR. Maybe the Virtual Boy was ahead of its time after all. As for the Sony Smartband Talk — the marriage of fitness band and E Ink is one that makes a lot of sense, actually. It's not as imposing as one of those giant smartwatches, but there's still a built-in display for relevant information.


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INTEL REVEALS ‘MICA,’ A LUXURY SMART BRACELET WITH A 1.6-INCH TOUCHSCREEN

Intel continued its push into the wearables space Wednesday with the announcement of MICA, described by the company as "a feminine fashion accessory with communications capabilities." For the sake of of simplicity, let's call it a smart bracelet.

Conceived and designed in collaboration with New York City-based fashion house Opening Ceremony, MICA, which stands for 'My Intelligent Communication Accessory,' features a 1.6-inch curved sapphire glass touchscreen.

Intel hasn't offered up a great deal of information on its new product, though it confirms what you'd expect, that MICA will provide wearers with information such as messages, reminders and alerts, with the incorporation of a 3G radio doing away with the need for smartphone tethering. More features and functionality will be revealed "at a later date," the company said, so hopefully we'll learn more about it when it's officially introduced on September 7 at the Opening Ceremony Spring/Summer 2015 fashion show in New York City.

Design-wise, the smart bracelet comprises "semi-precious gems and watersnake skin," and will launch with two designs. The first will feature black watersnake skin, pearls from China, and lapis stones from Madagascar, while the second incorporates white watersnake skin, a tiger's eye gemstone from South Africa, and obsidian (volcanic glass) from Russia.

Related: Smart jewelry is proving wearable tech doesn't have to be hideous

Intel's new wearable tech will be available by the holidays at select Barneys and Opening Ceremony stores, though we're still awaiting pricing information. One thing's obvious, though – it won't come cheap.

While Intel made a name for itself in the PC chip business, it was slow to respond when the smartphone market took off. Eager to avoid repeating its mistake, the company is attempting to establish itself early on in the fast-expanding wearables space.

It's already partnered with 50 Cent's headphone company SMS Audio to launch the SMS Audio BioSport Headphones, which can monitor your heart rate, sync with fitness app RunKeeper, and keep you motivated throughout your workout.

While smartwatches (and Glass) gain most attention in the wearables market, an increasing number of tech companies are beginning to explore the potential of smart jewelry. Besides Intel's smart bracelet, recent additions to the market from other firms include smart pendants, brooches, and even rings.

[Source: Intel]

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WEARABLES DON’T JUST LET US COMPETE WITH STRANGERS, THEY LET US PEEP ON THEM TOO

These days, I think I'm mostly wearing a JawBone Up for the added self-esteem boost.

I haven't really had much trouble motivating myself to get to the gym as of late, or to take a walk around the city on a sunny day. But I'd be lying if I said I those steps didn't get a little spring in them upon reading that I'm apparently averaging 8,900 more steps a day than other male Up users in my general age range, or something along those lines.

It's a fun bit of data. And really, that's one of the most appealing elements of personal fitness trackers: the ability to, in a sense, compete against others, or at the very least, to compete against some abstract notion of the "average"person (more correctly, the average person who goes out their way to wear a fitness bad). It's a sense of motivation through gamification, and it speaks to an inherent sense of competitiveness bred into us through decades of after-school sports and standardized testing.

There's probably something worse than being average, but at the moment I can't come up with anything.

Our fitness trackers, are, well tracking us.
For obvious reasons, we tend to think on an individual level when thinking about personal fitness trackers —look, it's right there in the name. Every so often, however, we get a reminder that these device are also operating on a much more macro level. Think about it this way: That little wristband you're wearing to track your steps throughout the day? It's a data sponge. It literally exists with the sole purpose of collecting your personal information: how much you're moving, when you're moving, in some cases where you're going and, of course, how much you're sleeping.
JawBone saw a rather canny PR opportunity when an earthquake struck Northern California a week or so ago. The day after the vineyards and cellars of Napa County were rattled by the largest tremor in a quarter century, a graph made the cable news rounds showing a sudden jolt around 3:20, when JawBone wearers were suddenly roused from bed by that 6.0 quake. No major shock there of course, but what is interesting is the fact that 45 percent of those woken in the middle of the night never made it back to sleep, which seems to speak to the sort of primal fear we experience when the earth begins to move under us.

Again, this isn't groundbreaking stuff (sorry), but it speaks to some interesting possibilities for this sort of data. What can this kind of information teach us about ourselves when collected over a large population for a long period of time? The more precise the information becomes, the more insight we can gain over societal habits and health issues, broken into handy categories like location, gender and age range. It's easy to see how health organizations would be champing at the bit for that kind of data in an age of out-of-control obesity, diabetes and other controllable health risks.

While lauded by many, however, Jawbone's graph simultaneously presented a potential PR nightmare for JawBone. It shed some light on a fact that we were all aware of, but many just hadn't taken the time to really consider: Our fitness trackers, are, well tracking us. To put an even finer point on it, they're watching us while we sleep. We've had plenty of time to consider and bemoan the ramifications for such tracking when it comes to our smartphones, but fitness trackers are relatively new phenomenon. Unlike our phones, however, which also serve as our cameras, gaming devices and dating services, all fitness trackers are designed to do is track.

Last month, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer made mention of the phenomenon, calling for federal protection against what he called a potential "privacy nightmare"and calling FitBit out by name. Here's Chuck:

Personal fitness bracelets and the data they collect on your health, sleep, and location, should be just that —personal. The fact that private health data —rich enough to identify the user's gait —is being gathered by applications like Fitbit and can then be sold to third-parties without the user's consent is a true privacy nightmare.

45 percent of those woken in the middle of the night never made it back to sleep.
The Senator's concern is the same concern many have raised against personal information magnets like Facebook: the potential for selling or otherwise sharing deeply personal information with third-parties. I would add to that list the potential of less malicious accidental data breeches. Back in 2011, there was a kerfuffle when it was discovered that information being logged by FitBit users regarding the calories burned during sexual activity was discoverable through Google. The word "yeesh"comes to mind.
Facebook was also in hot water earlier this year when it purchased fitness tracking app Moves and decided to let the app share info with the social network. The shift in Terms of Service didn't really mince words:

We may share information, including personally identifying information, with our Affiliates (companies that are part of our corporate groups of companies, including but not limited to Facebook) to help provide, understand, and improve our Services.

For its part, Fitbit was quick to respond to Schumer's comments. (See? Exercise pays off.) The company insisted that it doesn't sell the data it collects and suggested that the Senator team up with the company to "work…on this important issue."

And this is sort of where we are right now. We're taking the first (tracked) steps into a world of wearables, where all of our data is potentially up for grabs. As scary as Facebooks and iPhones have been for privacy advocates, just imagine a near future when everything on our person is measuring something personal about us. Much like the recent earthquake, it's enough to make many lose sleep.

The answer, as always, is vigilance. Both for ourselves and the companies. We need to be hyper aware of what we're willing to give up, what companies intend to do with that information, and when the opportunity presents itself, flipping them the occasional middle finger.

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TECH NEWS: GARMIN’S DO-IT-ALL VÍVOSMART KEEPS TABS ON YOUR STEPS, SLEEP, BIKE, PHONE AND MORE

When we reviewed Garmin's original Vívofit fitness tracker, we were impressed with everything it did. We loved that way it automatically adjusted the daily step goals to encourage us to be more successful, and liked the way the "move bar" kept track of how long we'd been sitting, and let us know it us to get up and move. The only complaints we had were about what it didn't do: It didn't vibrate to cue us to move or wake us up in the morning, and the display didn't light up for viewing our stats at night.

Today, Garmin announced a newer, smarter version of its popular Vívofit fitness tracker that solves both of those problems and then some. The new fitness band, called the Vívosmart, does everything the first-generation Vívofit did and more. In addition to displaying the time and date, steps taken, distance traveled, and calories burned, the Vívosmart can receive and display smart notifications when paired with a compatible smartphone. Wearers can be alerted to incoming phone calls, text and email messages, and upcoming calendar events all on the wrist. More importantly, Garmin also added a vibration alarm and used an OLED touchscreen display that can be viewed anytime of the day or night. It also resists water to 5 atms, or about 50 meters.

Related: The best fitness trackers and tech to get you in shape

Like the original Vívofit, the Vívosmart will automatically sync with the Garmin Connect Mobile app and track heart rate when paired with a heart-rate monitor. It also tracks sleep and displays how long and how well a wearer rested. But from there the Vívosmart leaves the old sibling far behind. For cyclists, the Vívosmart can display bike speed when paired with the proper sensor. It also offers control over the music player on the connected smartphone. And for users who also own one of Garmin's Virb action cams, the Vívosmart can act as a remote control to start and stop video recording or to capture a still image. Which could come in pretty handy if the camera is mounted on the top of a helmet, or in some other hard-to-reach spot. The Vívosmart can even help with finding a misplaced smartphone. With a simply tap on the phone icon the Vívosmart will send a message to the phone and make it vibrate and ring to give up the phone's location.

We're hoping to review the Vívosmart soon, but from what we've seen it looks like Garmin has listened to user feedback and taken steps to make a good fitness-tracking band great.

The Garmin Vívosmart, which ships later this month come in two sizes and three colors (berry, blue, and black) will retail for $170, or $200 bundled with a heart rate monitor.

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TOP NEWS New U.N. rights boss warns of 'house of blood' in Iraq, Syria

GENEVA (Reuters) - The new U.N. human rights chief urged world powers to protect women and minorities targeted by Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, saying on Monday the fighters were trying to create a "house of blood".

Jordan's Zeid Ra'ad al Hussein, the first Muslim to hold the position, called for the international community to focus on ending the "increasingly conjoined" conflict in the two countries, and abuses in other hotspots from Ukraine to Gaza.

Islamic State's Sunni Muslim fighters have over-run large parts of Syria and Iraq since June, declaring a cross-border caliphate. The Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council last week agreed to send a team to investigate killings and other abuses carried out by the group on "an unimaginable scale". [ID:nL5N0R23C4]

Zeid, Jordan's former U.N. ambassador and a Jordanian prince, described Islamic State in his maiden speech to the Council as "takfiris" - people who justify killing others by branding them as apostates.

"Do they believe they are acting courageously? Barbarically slaughtering captives? ... They reveal only what a Takfiri state would look like, should this movement actually try to govern in the future, said Zeid who succeeds Navi Pillay in the Geneva hotseat.

"It would be a harsh, mean-spirited, house of blood, where no shade would be offered, nor shelter given, to any non-Takfiri in their midst," Zeid added.

He called on Iraq's new government and prime minister to consider joining the International Criminal Court (ICC) to ensure accountability for crimes committed there.

"In particular, dedicated efforts are urgently needed to protect religious and ethnic groups, children – who are at risk of forcible recruitment and sexual violence – and women, who have been the targets of severe restrictions," Zeid said.

"ONLY ANNIHILATION"

The Council has an independent investigation into war crimes by all sides in Syria, where more than 190,000 documented killings have occurred during the conflict that began in March 2011, according to a report by Pillay last month.[ID:L5N0QS28G]

"In the takfiri mind, as we have seen in Nigeria, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Kenya, Somalia, Mali, Libya, Syria and Iraq ... there is no love of neighbor - only annihilation to those Muslims, Christians, Jews and others, altogether the rest of humanity, who believe differently to them," Zeid said.

Zeid called for an end to Israel's seven-year blockade of the Gaza Strip and said Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank deserved to lead a normal life free of illegal settlements and what he called excessive use of force.

"On this point, I also note that Israelis have a right to live free and secure from indiscriminate rocket fire," he said, referring to rockets fired by militants in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

On Ukraine, he said "at least 3,000 people" have been killed since fighting began in April and called on the Kiev government, armed groups and neighboring states including Russia to protect civilians and ensure compliance with international law.

Italy's envoy Maurizio Enrico Serra, speaking on behalf of the European Union (EU), condemned what it called "the aggression by Russian armed forces on Ukrainian soil in clear contravention of international law".

Russia denies accusations by Kiev and the West that it has sent troops into eastern Ukraine to prop up a revolt by pro-Russian separatist rebels.

Zeid voiced alarm at ongoing threats against activists and prospective witnesses in Sri Lanka. The Council in March launched an inquiry into atrocities in the 26-year conflict between government forces and Tamil rebels that ended in 2009.

"I also deplore recent incitement and violence against the country's Muslim and Christian communities" he said.

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

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TOP NEWS India and Pakistan leaders lower cudgels as floods ravage Kashmir

SRINAGAR/MUZAFFARABAD (Reuters) - The prime ministers of India and Pakistan have offered to help each other in efforts to alleviate flood havoc in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir, lowering tension between the rival nations after weeks of army clashes and heated rhetoric.

Kashmir is divided by one of the world's deadliest and most heavily militarised borders. Both the Indian and Pakistani sides have been ravaged by floods that have killed at least 239 people as rivers burst their banks after heavy rain.

The disaster, which left large parts of Srinagar, the capital of Indian-administered Kashmir, deep in water, comes weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi canceled high-level peace talks and accused Pakistan of fighting a "proxy war".

The Hindu nationalist leader's tone was more conciliatory in a letter to his Pakistani counterpart on Sunday.

"It is a matter of great distress that the retreating monsoon rains have played havoc in many parts of our two countries," Modi wrote to Nawaz Sharif, according to excerpts released by his office.

"In this hour of need, I offer any assistance that you may need in the relief efforts that will be undertaken by the government of Pakistan. Our resources are at your disposal."

Pakistan's foreign ministry reciprocated, saying the government was "ready to help in whatever way possible to mitigate the suffering of the people affected by the floods" in Indian-controlled Kashmir.

It is unlikely either side will accept the other's offer of help, given the military sensitivities in the region, where hundreds of thousands of troops have faced off for decades.

Both prime ministers flew over their respective areas of Kashmir on Sunday to review the extent to the flooding.

At least 175 people have been killed by flash floods and landslides on the Indian side of the de facto border, while Pakistan's Kashmir State Disaster Management Authority said 64 deaths had so far been reported.

"Most deaths have been caused by houses collapsing, landslides and incidents of drowning," said Akram Sohail, the head of the organization. "Over 29,406 people have been affected in around 120 villages."

When he took office in May, Modi invited Sharif to Delhi in an unprecedented gesture that raised hopes of progress to resolve the nuclear armed countries' differences over Kashmir.

The mainly Muslim region, known for its natural beauty, was divided soon after independence from British rule and partition in 1947 created the separate states of India and Pakistan.

The two nations have fought three wars and came close to a fourth in 2001. Sometimes fatal skirmishes between the two armies are common along the Line of Control, as the de facto border is known.

In an apparent bid to thaw ties again, Pakistan last week sent 15 boxes of mangoes to Modi.

"They were delivered to the prime minister's office on Wednesday last week," said a spokesman for the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi. "He must have eaten some of them by now."

(Reporting by Fayaz Bukhari in SRINAGAR and Arqam Naqash in MUZAFFARABAD; Writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Douglas Busvine and Clarence Fernandez)

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TOP NEWS Google hosts meetings across Europe on privacy rights

PARIS (Reuters) - A panel appointed by search engine Google (GOOG.O) will hold the first of a series of meetings on Tuesday to debate the balance between privacy and the free flow of information after a May court ruling reinforced Europeans' "right to be forgotten".

The event in Madrid will be the first of seven meetings in European capitals, as the Internet giant struggles with thousands of requests a month to remove from its search results everything from serious criminal records, embarrassing photos, instances of online bullying and negative press stories.

By mid-July, Google, which holds more than 80 percent of Europe's search market, said it had received more than 90,000 requests and accepted more than half since the European Union's top court ruled they must remove results if the information was "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant".

Meanwhile data protection regulators from European countries, which are next set to meet on Sept. 15, are working on guidelines for the search engines, which also include Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Yahoo! (YHOO.O), to ensure that requests are handled consistently.

Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin, who heads France's privacy watchdog and the WP29 group of EU national data protection authorities, said on Friday she was sceptical about the Google initiative, which she described as part of a "PR war" on an issue that was important to the company's business strategy.

"Google is trying to set the terms of the debate," she said. "They want to be seen as being open and virtuous, but they handpicked the members of the council, will control who is in the audience, and what comes out of the meetings."

If a search engine declines a person's request, he or she has the right to appeal to the national data protection regulator. Some 90 such appeals have been filed in Britain, 70 in Spain, 20 in France and 13 in Ireland.

Some examples of link removals have become public because Google notified media outlets such as the BBC and Guardian when their stories were removed from search results. That prompted critics to charge that Europe's Internet was being scrubbed and the press censored.

SPIRIT OF THE RULING

The Wikimedia Foundation, which operates online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, set up a web page to post all the link removal notices it has received, as a form of protest that attracts attention to the very information someone wanted removed.

Regulators have said that such notifications undermine the spirit of the court ruling on online privacy, and are considering whether they should try and curb them.

The issue of notifications is one of the many that Google asked the advisory panel to consider, said Sylvie Kauffmann, one of its members and the editorial director of France's Le Monde newspaper.

"There are a seemingly infinite variety of cases coming in, so Google is struggling to apply the court decision," said Kauffmann in an interview.

"Google has asked us to formulate ideas to help them, and there is of course a public relations dimension to the exercise as well."

Kauffman added that Google would not pay panel members, beyond covering their travel expenses, and that the company had assured them they would have total independence.

Google asked French regulator Falque-Pierrotin via letter whether she or other regulators would take part in the meetings, but she declined, saying it would be inappropriate for a regulator with enforcement powers. She said some national regulators could send staff members to observe the proceedings.

A spokesperson for the Spanish regulator said it had no plans to attend the Madrid meeting.

The advisory council includes eight representatives from outside Google, including a former German justice minister and two academics, as well as Google's general counsel David Drummond and chairman Eric Schmidt.

Other members include Jimmy Wales, the Wikipedia founder and vocal critic of the "right to be forgotten", United Nations human rights official Frank La Rue, and Jose-Luis Pinar, who headed Spain's data protection regulator from 2002 to 2007.

After Madrid the council will meet in Rome on Wednesday, Paris on Sept. 25, Warsaw on Sept. 30, Berlin on Oct. 14, and London on Oct. 16, before concluding in Brussels on Nov. 4.

Google said it would stream the sessions online.

(Additional reporting by Julia Fioretti, Robert Hetz, and Conor Humphries; Editing by Will Waterman)

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TOP NEWS Turkey in missile talks with France after China disagreements: Erdogan

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was in talks with France on the purchase of a long-range missile defense system after disagreements with China, which was originally awarded the tender.

U.S. and NATO officials have said Turkish collaboration with China on the system could raise questions of compatibility of weaponry and of security.

Franco-Italian Eurosam, which is owned by Franco-Italian missile maker MBDA and France's Thales (TCFP.PA), came second in a tender last September, losing out to China Precision Machinery Import and Export Corp's (CPMIEC) $3.4 billion offer.

"Some disagreements have emerged with China on the issues of joint production and know-how during negotiations over the missile defense system," Erdogan told reporters as he returned from the NATO summit in Wales, private television channel NTV said on Sunday.

"Talks are continuing despite that but France, which is second on the list, has come up with new offers. Right now our talks with France are continuing. For us, joint production is very, very important," he said.

The comments were confirmed by Erdogan's office on Monday.

The choice of CPMIEC for the project irked Western allies as the company is under U.S. sanctions for violations of the Iran, North Korea and Syria Non-proliferation Act.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who told a defense industry forum last week that Russia and China were working hard to close a weapons technology gap with the United States, was in Ankara on Monday.

Last month, Turkey invited firms in the tender, including Eurosam and U.S.-listed Raytheon Co (RTN.N), the maker of Patriot missiles which came in third, to extend the validity of their bids, indicating Ankara was still considering alternative offers but stopped short of discussing problems with the Chinese deal.

In May, Turkish officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that China had not met the tender's conditions.

(Reporting by Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara and Humeyra Pamuk in Istanbul; Writing by Dasha Afanasieva; Editing by Daren Butler and Ralph Boulton)

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TOP NEWS Rescuers recover last body of five miners killed in Bosnia accident

SARAJEVO (Reuters) - Rescuers recovered late on Sunday the body of the last of five Bosnian miners who were killed after an earthquake triggered a collapse at the central Raspotocje mine and trapped 34 miners half a kilometer below the surface.

In the third such accident this year, a 3.5-magnitude earthquake on Thursday near the central Bosnian town of Zenica caused rocks in the mine to fracture explosively, sealing off the miners in an underground passage.

Twenty-nine miners were pulled out alive within the first 24 hours and the bodies of four of the dead were recovered on Saturday.

After digging for 80 hours through tight underground corridors filled with methane, emergency teams on Sunday night reached the body of the last miner who was buried under piles of earth, said mine manager Esad Civic.

A joint prayer for the five men and the burial will be held later on Monday in Zenica. A day of national mourning was declared in Bosnia's autonomous Bosniak-Croat Federation, where the mine is located.

Nuraga Duranovic, the Federation chief mining inspector, said the miners most probably suffocated from poisonous gases released in the air after the rock burst.

Sixteen people have been injured in previous accidents this year, and experts say that Raspotocje is the most dangerous of all Bosnia's coal mines because of frequent rock bursts caused by tremors at its deep underground pits. Thirty nine miners died in a rock burst at the mine in 1982.

Raspotocje produces coal for Bosnia's largest power utility,

EPBiH JPES.SJ, and employs 430 miners.

The mine had been among the best equipped in the region before the collapse of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, but was damaged by shelling in the Bosnian war and has not been substantially upgraded since.

In 2009, the Federation government merged seven coal mines, including Raspotocje, with EPBiH to supply its coal-fired plants, and the utility pledged to invest more than 200 million Bosnian marka ($135 million) over five years to improve working conditions.

It has so far spent 140 million marka, but Raspotocje has seen little of that.

Some of the miners who survived the Thursday's accident have said they would not return to work.

Civic said that management and trade union would request additional funding and investment from EPBiH to improve the work conditions and safety of miners at Raspotocje.

(This story has been refiled to removes extra characters in seventh paragraph)

(Reporting by Daria Sito-Sucic; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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TOP NEWS 'Shaky' Ukraine ceasefire holding, OSCE urges political solution

MARIUPOL/DONETSK Ukraine (Reuters) - A ceasefire struck between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists was largely holding on Monday in eastern Ukraine despite sporadic violations, but Europe's security watchdog said the sides must push for a political settlement.

The ceasefire, which took effect on Friday evening, is part of a peace plan intended to end a five-month conflict the United Nations' human rights envoy said had killed more than 3,000 people. It has also caused the sharpest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was due to visit on Monday the port of Mariupol, scene of fierce fighting before the ceasefire. The city, on the Sea of Azov, also saw the worst violation of the truce to date on Saturday night when government forces said they came under artillery attack by the rebels.

A woman was killed and four people injured in that shelling.

"Overall, the ceasefire held even though it is still shaky," said Ambassador Thomas Greminger of Switzerland, the current chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), adding the next days would be crucial.

Swiss President Didier Burkhalter said he was "not optimistic" about the ceasefire holding and said it was in any case not sufficient, adding: "The different actors must really push for a (political) breakthrough".

The two sides remain far apart on the future of eastern Ukraine, home to much of the country's heavy industry. At the weekend the rebels repeated they wanted independence for the region or union with Russia and would not accept rule by Kiev.

Both the rebels and the Ukrainian military insist they are strictly observing the ceasefire and blame their opponents for any violations.

"Ukrainian forces are observing the ceasefire regime but when they face a direct threat to their lives they fire back. But they are staying in the positions where they were at the moment the ceasefire was signed," military spokesman Andriy Lysneko told a news briefing in Kiev.

The Ukrainian military's press center listed five rebel violations of the ceasefire accord overnight into Monday, while the separatists accused government forces of preparing to storm a town near rebel-held Donetsk, the region's industrial hub.

A Reuters reporter heard renewed mortar fire in the vicinity of the airport north of Donetsk on Monday afternoon.

SANCTIONS

Kiev and its Western backers accuse Russia of sending troops across the border and arming the rebels, charges Moscow denies.

Lysenko said on Monday Ukraine had seen no sign of Russian troop movements over the border in the past 24 hours.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Moscow would respond to any new Western economic sanctions imposed over its role in Ukraine, adding it might target flights over Russia.

The European Union put Russia's top oil producers and pipeline operators Rosneft, Transneft and Gazprom Neft on its list of Russian state-owned firms that will not be allowed to raise capital or borrow on European markets, an EU diplomat said. EU sanctions, however, did not encompass the gas sector and in particular state-owned Gazprom, the world's biggest gas producer which is also the biggest gas supplier to Europe.

In general, the EU sanctions on raising money in the European Union for Russian companies will apply to firms that have turnover of more than 1 trillion rubles($26.95 billion) and half of that is generated from the sale or transport of oil, the diplomat said.

The sanctions will be agreed unless by 1300 GMT one of the EU governments objects to the deal that was reached by ambassadors of the 28 EU countries on Friday night. They will enter into force after being published in the official journal of the European Union, which could happen at midnight.

The handover of prisoners-of-war is part of the peace plan agreed last Friday. A rebel leader, Andrei Purgin, told Russia's Interfax news agency he expected a full exchange on Wednesday.

In rebel-held Donetsk, the largest city of eastern Ukraine with a pre-war population of about one million, authorities of the self-proclaimed "Donetsk people's republic" declared Monday a public holiday to mark the expulsion of "fascists" from the heavily industrialized, mainly Russian-speaking Donbass region.

The separatists have used the word "fascist" to denote the central government in Kiev since Poroshenko's predecessor Viktor Yanukovich, who came from eastern Ukraine and was backed by Mosocw, fled to Russia in February after months of anti-government protests in the Ukrainian capital.

Most residents of Donetsk blame Kiev for the conflict, after months of heavy bombardment of the city by government forces, but some had harsh words also for the separatists and few expected the current ceasefire to last.

"The ceasefire is not holding, that's clear from just the few days I have been back in the city," said Yevgenia, who has taken refuge with relatives in western Ukraine.

"We came back for warm clothes and are leaving right away. It's so sad to see the city empty, deserted, armed people with cars crossing at red traffic lights, kidnapping people or taking away their cars. What good can they build here?"

(Additional reporting by Pavel Polityuk in Kiev, Timothy Heritage in Moscow and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Gareth Jones; Editing by Ralph Boulton)

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TOP NEWS Yahoo, Ford among biggest premarket movers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) is one of the biggest movers in premarket trading on Monday, up 2.8 percent at $40.69 as the Nasdaq's most active name in anticipation of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd's (IPO-BABA.N) initial public offering.



Alibaba is seeking to raise more than $21 billion in its IPO, which could take place in as little as two weeks and would represent the largest ever technology debut in the United States. Yahoo is a favorite way for investors to play Alibaba, the massive Chinese e-commerce company, given Yahoo's stake in the company.



Separately, Ford Motor Co (F.N) is down 2.2 percent to $16.76 after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "overweight." The stock has come under pressure of late, with the premarket move indicating its fourth straight daily decline.



Morgan Stanley's call comes amid broader bearish views on the U.S. auto industry, which it cut to "cautious" from "in-line," saying that easy credit and leasing was pulling forward demand from the future. It is cutting its price target on Ford to $16 from $17 and is lowering its target on General Motors (GM.N) to $29 from $33.



Futures are on track for a modestly lower open on Monday, with investors finding few reasons to extend a long-running rally that has taken indexes to repeated records amid overseas concerns and few domestic catalysts.



Futures snapshot at 0748 EDT:



* S&P 500 e-minis ESc1 are falling 3.5 points, or 0.17 percent, with 94,128 contracts changing hands.



* Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQc1 are down 4 points, or 0.1 percent, in volume of 15,658 contracts.



* Dow e-minis 1YMc1 are down 32 points, or 0.19 percent, with 15,272 contracts changing hands



(Editing by Lisa Von Ahn and Chizu Nomiyama)

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TOP NEWS Somali Islamist rebels pledge allegiance to new leader

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Rebels of the Somali Islamist group al Shabaab have pledged allegiance to their new leader after his predecessor was killed and said their enemies would reap the "bitter fruits" of revenge after Ahmed Godane's killing, a spokesman said.

Al Shabaab confirmed that Godane was killed by a U.S. air strike in a raid last Monday and said Sheikh Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaida would replace him to head the group, which wants to impose its strict version of Islam on Somalia.

In a statement on Saturday, al Shabaab also reaffirmed its allegiance to al Qaeda and promised revenge for Godane's killing. The government, trying to rebuild a nation torn by more than two decades of conflict, has said it could face retaliation.

"We, the al Shabaab mujahideen (fighters), give allegiance to our new leader, Sheikh Ahmed Umar Abu Ubaida," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, spokesman for al Shabaab's military operations, said in a recorded statement.

He was speaking in an audio statement posted on Monday on two websites, radioalfurqaan.com and somalimemo.net. Both sites are well-known in Somalia for publishing news about militants.

"The mujahideen built by the martyred Sheikh Abu Zubayr (Godane) is a massive force that stands for the defense of Muslims, particularly in east Africa," he said, adding the fighters were "swords in the hands of our new leader".

"The enemies who have spread themselves onto the land will soon reap the bitter fruits they have sown," he said, in an apparent reference to the African peacekeeping force AMISOM which has deployed against al Shabaab in Somalia.

Al Shabaab has previously struck AMISOM nations on their home territory.

Under Godane, Al Shabaab gunmen carried out a dramatic attack on the upscale Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi last year, saying it was aimed at punishing Kenya for its troop contribution to AMISOM. That attack left 67 dead.

The Westgate strike was the most high profile in a series of attacks claimed by al Shabaab in Kenya in the past year.

In 2010, it claimed responsibility for bombings that killed dozens of people in sports bars in Uganda, another African country which has sent troops to Somalia.

"We urge all Muslims, wherever they are, to help the religion, help with your blood, money and prayers," Sheikh Abdiasis said.

Abu Ubaida comes from a branch of Somalia's Dir clan, whose homeland is in the country's south. Godane was also from the Dir clan, but a branch that came from the north of the country.

Al Shabaab's strongholds are in southern and central Somalia, where African forces with the Somali army launched a new offensive to retake territory.

The group, which emerged as a fighting force in 2006, lost control of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, to African forces in 2011 but has continued hit-and-run gun and bomb attacks in the capital and elsewhere.

(Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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TOP NEWS Electrolux takes on Whirlpool in U.S. with $3.3 billion GE Appliances buy

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden's Electrolux (ELUXb.ST) said on Monday it would double U.S. sales by paying $3.3 billion in cash for General Electric Co's appliances business in its biggest ever deal, giving it the scale to go head-to-head with larger rival Whirlpool (WHR.N).

GE's (GE.N) century-old household appliance business, which had $5.7 billion in 2013 revenue, could help the Swedish company expand beyond its core European market where growth has trailed that in North America.

Electrolux, the world's second-largest appliance maker by sales, will see its annual sales in North America more than double to over $10 billion, similar in size to Whirlpool's sales there. It also gets to keep the iconic GE Appliance's brands.

"I think it's a historic event for Electrolux. I'm very excited about it. I think the fit - the strategic fit, the industrial logic - is compelling," Electrolux Chief Executive Keith McLoughlin told Reuters.

While the price tag is higher than the $2.5 billion figure people familiar with the deal suggested to Reuters last week, analysts said the company was not overpaying. The deal includes GE's 48.4 percent stake in Mexican appliances maker Mabe.

Electrolux said the price was 7.0-7.3 times GE Appliance's estimated 2014 earnings before tax, interest, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), based on an enterprise value (including debt) of $3.45 billion, according to ThomsonReuters data.

Including expected annual cost savings of around $300 million, the multiple paid for GE would be much lower at around five times EBITDA, Electrolux Chief Financial Officer Tomas Eliasson told a conference call.

"If they manage to realize the synergies, it's clearly a good multiple," said Kepler Cheuvreux analyst Johan Eliason, adding the inclusion of the Mabe stake would strengthen Electrolux's position in Latin America on top of the clout it is gaining in North America.

"They're getting access to both North and South America in a very good way, and will become very strong in all of the Americas," Eliason said.

The deal will be financed by a bridge facility and the company plans a rights issue to raise about 25 percent of the price after the deal's expected closing next year, Electrolux said.

Investor (INVEb.ST), the investment company founded by Sweden's Wallenberg family and owner of 15.5 percent of Electrolux's capital, gave the deal and the right issue its stamp of approval.

"As the leading owner, with a long-term ownership horizon, we find Electrolux's acquisition of GE Appliances industrially attractive and fully support it," Investor Chief Executive Börje Ekholm said.

ELECTROLUX SHARES RISE

Electrolux shares were up 5.9 percent at 198.60 crowns at 1048 GMT, outperforming the wider Stockholm market (.OMXS30), giving the company a market capitalization of $8.7 billion.

General Electric Co. put the profitable but low-margin appliance business up for sale in 2008 but talks fizzled out as the global recession took hold. The unit is almost exclusively focused on the U.S. market and has lacked global scale.

GE said last month that it was evaluating strategic options for the home appliance business, including discussions with Electrolux.

Last year, GE Appliances - which sells refrigerators, cookers, air conditioners and water heaters and air conditioners under the GE Monogram, GE Cafe and Hotpoint brands - had sales of $5.7 billion, 90 percent of which were in North America, with EBITDA of $390 million, including the share of profit from Mabe.

Electrolux, which sells under brands such as Frigidaire, AEG and Zanussi as well as its own name, is the world's second-largest home appliance maker after Whirlpool, but has its strongest market position in Europe.

In 2013, western Europe accounted for 28 percent of group sales while North America represented 32 percent. Organic growth in North America was 7 percent while in Europe it was 0.4 percent.

Rival Whirlpool had revenues of $18.8 billion in 2013 against $22.5 billion for a combined Electrolux and GE Appliances.

Whirlpool has also been on the acquisition path, buying a 60 percent stake in Italian firm Indesit (IND.MI), which had revenues of 2.7 billion euros ($3.49 billion) in 2013. It has also agreed to buy Hefei Rongshida Sanyo Electric Co (600983.SS) which had 2013 revenues of around $850 million.

Deutsche Bank and SEB Corporate Finance were Electrolux's financial advisors on the deal, while Davis Polk & Wardwell was lead legal advisor. GE was advised by Goldman Sachs and law firm Sidley Austin LLP.

1 US dollar = 7.0980 Swedish crown)

(1 US dollar = 0.7730 euro)

(Additional reporting by Johannes Hellstrom and Sven Nordenstam; Editing by Matt Driskill and Susan Thomas)

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TOP NEWS Islamic State launch gunboat attack on river-side town

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Islamic State fighters attacked a riverside town north of Baghdad on Monday with gunboats and a car bomb, killing 17 people and wounding 54, a security source said.



The source said the attack on Dhuluiya, around 70 km (45 miles) from the capital, was carried out before dawn and continued for two hours before the militants were pushed back.



Among the dead in the attack, the largest of its kind in the area, were civilians and Iraqi forces. Most of the casualties were caused by the car bomb, which struck a market, the source said.



Dhuluiya is part of a belt of Sunni Muslim towns north of Baghdad where the hardline Sunni Muslim Islamic State has managed to wrestle some control, often aligning with local militia who distrust the Shi'ite-led government.



Islamic State fighters took advantage of the chaos in Iraq to muscle in and become the dominant force among Sunnis.



US President Barack Obama ordered air strikes in northern Iraq last month as Kurdish-controlled territory fell to the Islamic State and the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan looked in danger. These have since spread to central Iraq.



A tribal source near the Kurdish city of Kirkuk said Iraqi Air Force jets bombed two areas near the town of Hawijah, killing 14 civilians in Islamic State-controlled territory.



(Reporting by Oliver Holmes; Editing by Dominic Evans)

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TECHNOLOGY NEWS Apple courts fashionistas as smartwatch expectations mount

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc has invited top fashion editors and bloggers in unprecedented numbers to its Tuesday launch gala, further evidence that the iPhone maker is preparing to take the wraps off a smartwatch.

Apple is forging closer ties to the fashion world as it plots its foray into the fertile field of wearable technology, trying to win over a critical crowd that may prove crucial to the success of consumer gadgets worn around the body.

A smartwatch would represent Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook's first real new product since taking the baton from Steve Jobs. Several fashion media editors told Reuters they received invitations for the first time to an annual September product-launch, which they took as confirmation of a wristwatch in the wings.

"I assume it's because they are unveiling a wearable," said Lea Goldman, features and special projects director for Marie Claire magazine, a first-time invitee. "This suggests Apple is serious about tapping into the fashion world, which often sits on the sidelines."

Apple declined to comment.

The iPhone maker, known for its sleek aesthetic, has made overtures to the fashion press in the past. It typically opts to host a separate event in New York where editors meet the team and review products, two fashion editors say.

That courtship has grown more aggressive. Last month, the company hosted what it called a "first-of-its-kind event" at an Apple Store in New York to showcase fashion and retail apps to a group of style editors, according to an invitation seen by Reuters.

Fashion site Refinery29's health and science director Kelly Bourdet said the decision to include fashion editors on the invite-list is a "nod to the fashion crowd."

Apple seems poised to network with the who's who of the industry. In the past year or two, it has hired Patrick Pruniaux, former vice president of Tag Heuer's global sales and retail; Angela Ahrendts, former chief executive of Burberry Inc; and former Yves Saint Laurent CEO Paul Deneve joined as vice president of special projects.

It is not just Apple. From Google Inc to LG Electronics Inc and Intel Corp, technology companies are beginning to forge fashion ties. On Friday, Intel announced a tie-up with Fossil Group on wearable technology.

Sonny Vu, chief executive of Misfit Wearables, expects more tie-ups as tech companies ramp up the fashion quotient in smartwatches, given that the current crop of watches has received mixed reviews.

The challenge for technology companies is to make something "fashionable off the bat" that is not clunky, said Eric Wilson, fashion news director for InStyle Magazine.

He and other editors said they harbored high hopes for Apple and planned to monitor Tuesday's event.

"It confirms that they have a play in wearables and that they want to appeal to the fashion world, and not just technology consumers," said Lauren Indvik, editor in chief for Fashionista and another first-time invitee.

(Editing by Edwin Chan)

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POLITICS NEWS Latinos furious at Obama on immigration delay, vow more pressure

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hispanic lawmakers and immigration advocates harshly criticized President Barack Obama's decision to delay executive action on immigration and vowed to keep pressuring him to make bold changes.

Democratic Representatives Luis Gutierrez and Tony Cardenas on Sunday accused Obama of playing politics the day after the president said he would wait until after November's congressional elections to change policy on immigration.

The announcement marked a reversal for Obama, who publicly promised to act by the end of summer.

"Playing it safe might win an election," Gutierrez said on ABC's "This Week" program. "But it almost never leads to fairness, to justice and to good public policy that you can be proud of."

Senate Democrats at risk of losing their seats in the November elections pressed the White House to hold off an executive order.

Though many immigration advocates have been pushing hard for the White House to ease up on deportations of undocumented immigrations, wariness among the broader public began to build this summer, fueled by Republican accusations that executive actions would mark an overstepping of Obama's authority.

Democrats worry that an executive action could cause them to lose control of the Senate in November.

Gutierrez, a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a passionate advocate of immigration reform, said he had called Obama and White House officials after hearing the executive action would be delayed. He said he expects to meet with administration officials this week on the issue.

Cardenas, who is also part of the Hispanic Caucus, said of Obama: "we all are frustrated with him right now because he's taken way too long to take his executive actions."

"I don't like what the president's advisers may be telling him. I can only speculate that they've encouraged them to wait. I would prefer he do it now," Cardenas told the CNN's "State of the Union" program.

Immigrant advocacy groups also criticized the delay.

"The president's latest broken promise is another slap to the face of the Latino and immigrant community," Cristina Jimenez, managing director for United We Dream, said in a statement on Saturday.

United We Dream asked supporters on social media to use the hashtag, "#deporterinchief," to urge Obama to pull back from deporting undocumented immigrants.

The Senate last year passed a sweeping immigration bill that would have provided a path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants within the United States. But the bill stalled in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

Republican opponents of the Senate bill have labeled it "amnesty" for people who entered the country illegally.

Obama made clear in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" that he still planned to take action on immigration but said he would work to build support for such steps.

He said the surge of unaccompanied minors flooding across the southern border became a concern for many Americans and influenced the broader debate over immigration.

"And you know, the truth of the matter is that the politics did shift midsummer because of that problem," Obama said in the interview, which was taped Saturday and aired Sunday.

"I want to spend some time, even as we're getting all our ducks in a row for the executive action, I also want to make sure that the public understands why we're doing this, why it's the right thing for the American people, why it's the right thing for the American economy," he added.

(Additional reporting by Will Dunham and Emily Stephenson; Editing by Caren Bohan and Paul Simao)

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POLITICS NEWS Democrats to launch ad reminding voters of Christie bridge scandal

(Reuters) - The Democratic Party plans to launch a political ad on Monday marking the one-year anniversary of "Bridgegate" to remind voters of the scandal that ensnared top aides of Republican New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, a likely 2016 White House contender.

During four days last September, access lanes to the George Washington Bridge, the busiest span in the United States, were abruptly shut down by Christie allies, apparently to punish a Democratic mayor who declined to endorse the governor's re-election bid.

The lane closures, which transit authorities first tried to justify as part of a traffic study, caused massive delays for commuters, school buses and emergency vehicles in the borough of Fort Lee, New Jersey, and across the bridge in New York City.

Christie adamantly denied any knowledge of the scheme, and the prominent Republican has sought to distance himself from the scandal as he considers a possible run for the presidency.

The Democratic National Committee said it will seek to renew attention to the bridge lane closures by unveiling a 15-second mobile phone ad called "Gov. Chris Bridgegate Christie."

The ads will use "geo-targeting" to direct automated calls to voters living on either side of the bridge in northern New Jersey and across the East River in upper Manhattan.

"Gridlock," the ad begins, according to a transcript. "That's what happened one year ago in Fort Lee, when the Christie administration shut down lanes to the George Washington Bridge. But it's also what Chris Christie has brought to New Jersey — wrecking our economy and losing our trust."

Christie's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The traffic study initially cited by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey as the reason for the lane closures late proved a bogus explanation amid media probes.

In January, a trove of leaked emails indicated an official in Christie's administration along with one of his Port Authority appointees had ordered the shutdown as retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who refused to endorse Christie's re-election campaign.

Christie fired the aide and her supervisor, and the scandal led to the ouster of several Christie appointees at the Port Authority.

An investigation commissioned by Christie's office earlier this year and paid for by New Jersey taxpayers said neither the governor nor any current member of his staff were party to a lane shutdown plan. Separate state and federal probes also are under way.

(Reporting by Victoria Cavaliere; Editing by Steve Gorman and Eric Walsh)

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TECHNOLOGY NEWS Alibaba IPO legal fees dwarf Facebook's

(Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd disclosed on Friday that it would pay $15.8 million in legal fees to law firm Simpson Thacher and other attorneys who advised the Chinese e-commerce giant on its upcoming IPO, six times what Facebook paid its counsel two years ago.

Alibaba, which is seeking to raise as much as $21 billion in an IPO expected later this month, made the disclosure in a prospectus on Friday filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Chinese company, whose sales are larger than Amazon.com and eBay combined, has a complex structure and has frequently revised its prospectus. That has all increased legal fees, analysts said.

The legal fees for Alibaba's IPO rank the fourth highest in the past 10 years, according to IPO Vital Signs.

The 2013 IPO of Empire State Realty trust ranked the highest, with a whopping $32.8 million in estimated legal fees, while the IPO of Kinder Morgan in 2011 cost the pipeline company $17 million. The 2005 IPO of investment bank Lazard cost $16 million.

Facebook Inc.'s May 2012 IPO garnered $2.6 million in legal fees.

In addition to Simpson, Alibaba's New York-based law firm, its Chinese counsel, Fangda Partners, and Cayman Islands adviser Maples and Calder, will share the attorneys' fees, according to the filing.

It was not immediately clear how the firms would split the $15.8 million in fees, but Simpson likely will get the lion's share of the money.

Alibaba expects to price its initial public offering between $60 and $66 per American Depository Share, valuing the company at about $162.69 billion at the top end of the range and raising as much as $21.1 billion. [ID:nL3N0R64XR]

Simpson, a leading Wall Street law firm with strong corporate, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets practices, has advised on 76 IPOs over the past ten years, and its record fee before Alibaba was $15 million, for the 2007 IPO of private equity firm Blackstone, according to IPO Vital Signs.

Lawyers had expected Alibaba fees would be high even before Friday's disclosure.

Thomas Rice, a capital markets partner with law firm Baker & McKenzie in New York, said recently that Alibaba's prospectus is more than triple the length of an ordinary filing for a company that has a single line of business and limited geographies.

"Alibaba's listing company is a Cayman Islands company, although its operations and market is largely in China," said Rice. "Anytime you have one of these complex corporate structures to explain, that is something that adds to the mission."

Alibaba, founded by former English schoolteacher Jack Ma, will decide on its final price after a globe-spanning roadshow that will kick off in New York on Monday, and is expected to take in cities from Hong Kong to San Francisco.

Representatives of the law firms did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Editing by Alexia Garamfalvi and Peter Henderson)

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TECHNOLOGY Alibaba who? U.S. retail investors not that interested

(Reuters) - When Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding revealed plans earlier this year to go public on a U.S. stock exchange, financial advisers like Bob Mecca in Hoffman Estate, Illinois braced themselves for a wave of frantic calls from retail investors wanting to get in on the action.

Alibaba, which sells more than Amazon.com Inc and EBay Inc combined, could raise over $21 billion in its IPO. It is often described as technology's hottest initial public offering since Facebook Inc's 2012 debut, although initial pricing announced on Friday was less than many predicted.

Retail investors generally get only 10-20 percent of shares in big IPOs, and several advisers told Reuters they had expected a scramble from clients. But the phone has not been ringing off the hook.

"People are on Facebook, they know it, but no one has ever heard of Alibaba," said Mecca, who has $175 million in assets under management.

The number of client inquiries about the Alibaba IPO is around a quarter of what it was for Facebook at this stage of the process and about half of what it was for Twitter Inc, said Steve Quirk, senior vice president of the group serving active traders at discount broker TD Ameritrade Holding Corp.

Robert Christie, a spokesman for Alibaba, declined to comment, citing the company's pre-IPO quiet period.

Alibaba's decision to price its shares between $60 and $66 per American Depository Share is an indication that the company may not be too concerned about having a big U.S. retail investor base, since retail investors prefer stocks that cost much less per share. Alibaba could have raised the same amount of money by selling more shares at a lower price.

One consequence of retail investors sitting out the debut could be a muted first day of trade, rather than the "pop" many expect from a tech IPO.

"Because it is such a large deal and you aren't going to see a lot of retail investor interest, I do not think it's going to have a lot of momentum when it gets out of the gate," said Tom Taulli, an independent IPO expert.

Longer term, tepid U.S. retail interest could be a drawback for Alibaba. Individuals tend to hold stocks longer, providing stability to the share price, and they help diversify the shareholder base. Having too much concentration among a small number of institutional investors, for example, could make the company vulnerable to attacks by activists, IPO experts said.

"I think a strong retail base is much better for Alibaba," said Josef Schuster, founder of Chicago-based IPOX Schuster LLC, which helps create index funds for IPOs.

Still, retail interest could ramp up. Bargain hunters could take note of the lower-than-expected initial price and the company's pre-IPO roadshow, to promote the offering to fund managers, could spark wider interest.

The roadshow kicks off on Monday in New York and is expected to reach around the globe to London and Hong Kong. That will provide stronger evidence of institutional investor interest and indicate whether shares are likely to be priced in the initial range. Industry analysts had expected Alibaba to lock down a valuation of more than $200 billion, but the high end of the initial range would put it about $163 billion.

OTHER WAYS IN

Alibaba has some major, publicly traded investors, which give Alibaba fans other ways to get into the stock early. One UBS AG adviser said that some retail clients expecting to get shut out of the IPO have opted to buy shares of Japan's Softbank Corp, which has a 34.1 percent stake in Alibaba going into the IPO.

For the same reason, James Gambaccini, a Fairfax, Virginia-based independent financial adviser, said he has a few clients that have opted to invest in Yahoo Inc, which has a 22.4 percent stake in Alibaba. Softbank's and Yahoo's stakes will shrink from dilution in the IPO, and Yahoo will sell some shares, but both will remain major Alibaba shareholders.

But for the most part, Gambaccini said the demand for Alibaba shares has been lackluster, partially because many people have not heard of the company and some who know about it were wary of China, concerned by the potential for government interference, for example.

Alan Haft, a Newport, California-based adviser, has been trying to interest clients in Alibaba for months. But he said it has been an uphill battle.  

"It's clear to me that most people know very little about this company and just how enormous the IPO is likely going to be as well as how impactful this company is," Haft said.

(Reporting By Jessica Toonkel; Additional reporting by Olivia Oran, Lauren LaCapra and Liana Baker in New York; editing by Paritosh Bansal and Peter Henderson)

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TECHNOLOGY NEWS Showtime for Apple: Big phones, smart watches and high expectations

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - It has been four years since Apple Inc introduced a completely new gadget and the pressure is on for the world's largest tech company to wow at its "special event" in Cupertino, California, on Tuesday.

Apple has fed the high expectations, with promises by executives that the company's best product pipeline in 25 years is being readied inside its secretive facilities. That's a high bar for a company whose hits include the modern, graphic-based personal computer, the smartphone, the iPod and the tablet PC.

Those now ubiquitous gadgets were created under the innovative and famously meticulous eye of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who died in 2011. When Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook takes the stage on Tuesday, technology aficionados, investors and rivals will be watching closely to see whether Jobs' handpicked successor inherited the magic touch or whether Apple's winning streak is coming to an end.

"We think Apple's pipeline is finally going to satisfy those who have wondered if the company has any new products. The stock price has been rallying as investors are beginning to believe that Tim Cook all along was telling the truth that there is an incredible pipeline of products," said Michael Yoshikami, CEO of Destination Wealth Management.

In the last five years, the period beginning July 1 has been the most fruitful for holders of Apple shares, with an average price gain of about 22.5 percent, compared with 11 percent gains seen in the first half of the last five years.

Below are some of the key products and features to look out for at Apple's big event on Tuesday:

iWatch?: Rumors of an Apple smartwatch go back several years, but Tuesday may finally be showtime. The watch, which will reportedly have a flexible screen and come in two sizes, will track its wearer's health and fitness, double as an electronic wallet and of course, display messages.

The watch is not likely to go on sale until sometime in 2015 and Apple may not even reveal its price on Tuesday. But with rivals such as Google Inc and Samsung Electronics Co already entering the smartwatch market, tech-watchers are anxious for Apple to show its cards.

"The market has been waiting for Apple's product as the real category-defining product," said FBN Securities analyst Shebly Seyfari.

iPhone 6: Smartphones are Apple's bread-and-butter, representing more than half of its revenue, and the company is expected to introduce a pair of new models with bigger screens, a sleeker design and wireless payment capabilities. The iPhone 6 will be available with 5.5-inch or 4.7-inch screens, a step up from the current models' 4-inch screens. There is also speculation that some phones will boast extra-tough screens made from scratch-resistant sapphire material.

Mobile Wallet: Apple has reportedly struck deals with major credit card providers Visa Inc, MasterCard Inc and American Express Co. The partnerships, as well as a special communication chip within the new iPhone and smartwatch, would allow consumers to use their gadgets at stores to buy everything from coffee to blue jeans - changing the shopping experience and extending Apple's reach from the Web to real-world commerce.

Health: Apple's launch of the "HealthKit" data service earlier this year made it clear that it sees its products helping consumers manage personal health information. By incorporating the HealthKit service into the iPhone 6, and by packing its smartwatch with sensors capable of monitoring physical movements and heart rates, Apple could lay the groundwork for a broader push into mobile healthcare.

One More Thing? Apple's Jobs was famous for surprising fans with unexpected products at the end of his presentations. Could Cook preserve the tradition with a peek at a long-awaited Apple television, a rumored bigger iPad or a completely unexpected product?

(Reporting by Christina Farr, Alexei Oreskovic and Noel Randewich; Editing by Bernard Orr)

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