Nokia’s return to the smartphone market set in 2016, revealed CEO

Nokia’s return to the smartphone battle has already been set to come. Although most of this Finnish technology company was sold to Microsoft in a multi-million dollar deal which completed last year, there are still parts belong to the long-standing brand. In the Nokia’s return, the Giant will be focusing on designing and licensing only.

Nokia’s return: Watch out, competitors! The Giant is coming back

They are thinking of partnering with some different third parties to provide Nokia’s design and let those companies manufacture and launch final products, said CEO Rajeev Suri to German Publication, the “Manager Magazin”, when announcing Nokia’s return. Under an agreement with Microsoft, Nokia is not allowed to use its brand on phones until Q4 of 2016. So if everything goes right, the world-famous Nokia will come back to the smartphone market in 2016. “We will look for suitable partners,” says Suri. “Microsoft makes mobile phones. We would simply design them and then make the brand name available to license.”

Obama Weighs Moving US Troops Closer To Front Lines In Syria, Iraq

The changes would represent a significant escalation of the American role in Iraq and Syria.

Washington:  The president's most senior national security advisers have recommended measures that would move U.S. troops closer to the front lines in Iraq and Syria, officials said, a sign of mounting White House dissatisfaction with progress against the Islamic State and a renewed Pentagon push to expand military involvement in long-running conflicts overseas.

The debate over the proposed steps, which would for the first time position a limited number of Special Operations forces on the ground in Syria and put U.S. advisers closer to the firefights in Iraq, comes as Defense Secretary Ashton Carter presses the military to deliver new options for greater military involvement in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan.

The changes would represent a significant escalation of the American role in Iraq and Syria. They still require formal approval from President Barack Obama, who could make a decision as soon as this week and could decide not to make any changes to the current course, said U.S. officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the discussions are still ongoing. It's unclear how many additional troops would be required to implement the changes being considered by the president, but the number for now is likely to be relatively small, these officials said.

The recommendations came at Obama's request and reflect the president's and his top advisers' concern that the battle in Iraq and Syria is largely stalemated and in need of new ideas to generate momentum against Islamic State forces.

The list of options that went to the president was generated by field commanders and vetted by the president's top national security advisers, including Carter and Secretary of State John Kerry, in a series of meetings over the past few weeks.

More costly and ambitious measures, such as no-fly zones or buffer zones that would require tens of thousands of ground troops to effectively protect innocent civilians, did not receive the backing of any of Obama's top policy advisers. Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton has said that she favors a no-fly zone in Syria.

Senior U.S. officials, however, warned that such measures had the potential to put the United States in direct conflict with the Syrian regime and the Russian and Iranian forces backing it.

The recommendations delivered to Obama would not put U.S. forces in a direct combat role. But they reflect a major shift in mission for the Pentagon, where as recently as last year officials were focused on winding down U.S. wars and focusing on emerging threats such as China's military rise.

These latest deliberations come shortly after the president decided to keep U.S. troops in Afghanistan past 2016, ending his ambition to bring service members home before he leaves office.

Obama chose Carter for the Pentagon's top job - and dismissed his predecessor - because the president wanted a leader who could push the military to generate better and more creative options in the battle against the Islamic State. For Carter, that has meant negotiating the often conflicting demands of a president who views the threats emanating from places such as Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan as real but remains determined to keep American forces from being pulled too deeply into costly and intractable foreign conflicts.

The recommendations that went to Obama in a memo last week reflect the president's conflicting impulses. The proposal would put a small number of U.S. advisers on the ground in Syria for the first time since the United States began military operations against the Islamic State last year. The Pentagon has sent small Special Operations teams into Syria for lightning-quick missions several times since the war began in 2011. The newly proposed Special Operations forces would work with moderate Syrian Arab rebels and possibly some Kurdish groups, such as the People's Protection Units, or YPG, that have scored some recent victories against the Islamic State.

These groups, backed by American air power, are expected to mount a military offensive on Raqqa, the Islamic State's de facto capital in Syria, in the near future. The push against Raqqa, if it proves effective, would mark a significant setback for the Islamic State, U.S. officials said.

As for the Iraq side of the border, the president's top advisers have recommended embedding U.S. advisers at the brigade level for specific operations such as the attack to retake Ramadi, a key western Iraqi city that Islamic State forces seized this summer. Such a move would position U.S. troops, now largely assigned to training bases, closer to the front lines, where they could help Iraqi commanders plan and prosecute the day-to-day fight against the Islamic State in Ramadi.

In both Iraq and Syria, senior officials have also discussed more aggressively targeting Islamic State infrastructure to cripple the group financially. The Islamic State depends on the sale of oil and electricity inside Syria to pay for its military operations. A more aggressive air campaign, however, carries risks of increasing civilian casualties or making an already horrible humanitarian situation worse.

The president first asked for a broader set of options in Iraq and Syria in July when he made a rare visit to the Pentagon to meet with Carter and his top commanders. The meeting came two months after the fall of Ramadi - a time when the White House was more open to the expanded military force than it had been earlier in the campaign.

"What (the Islamic State) did . . . sent a shock through the system," said Shawn Brimley, a former White House and Pentagon official who is now executive vice president at the Center for a New American Security.

Following that meeting, Carter asked his generals to develop detailed options for Iraq and Syria, and they were forwarded to the president last week.

At the same time, top Pentagon officials were generating new plans for the White House to keep troops in Afghanistan beyond Obama's presidency. Earlier this month, Obama said 5,500 troops would stay in Afghanistan in 2017 to prosecute counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al-Qaida and the Islamic State, a major shift from his earlier vow to bring home virtually all American forces before he left office.

Pentagon officials say Carter has presented the White House with more-detailed proposals for responding to the Islamic State than his predecessor, Chuck Hagel.

"Philosophically, he's always been more forward-leaning about using the military," said a senior defense official who, like other officials, spoke on the condition of anonymity to comment on internal discussions.

A physicist who was focused largely on managing multibillion-dollar weapons programs, Carter was not responsible for planning combat operations during his previous Pentagon tours. The more active approach being pressed by Carter and his top commanders in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan carries risks.

The measures proposed by Carter could lead to greater American casualties. Last week, as part of an effort to work with local forces in Iraq, Carter approved a hostage rescue operation there that left one Delta Force soldier dead, the first combat casualty since troops returned to Iraq last year. Following the operation, Carter said he expected that U.S. troops would take part in more raids in the future.

Pentagon officials said Carter, like other senior aides, had been convinced of the need for new steps after setbacks such as the fall of Ramadi and the difficulties that U.S. Central Command has faced in finding suitable partners in Syria.

"He recognized that we've got to do something different," the senior defense official said.

The White House declined to comment on the options being considered by Obama.

The biggest problem facing Carter, and Obama, is that the increase in American military commitment would be unlikely to produce any major changes to the political situations in Iraq and Syria that have given rise to the Islamic Sate.

In Iraq, the United States is fighting the Islamic State alongside Shiite militias - some of which are backed by Iran. Just across the border in Syria, Iran-backed Shiite militias are fighting in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who is barrel-bombing civilians and battling the moderate rebel groups that the United States is supporting.

Obama has said that Assad, who depends on Iranian and Russian military backing for his regime's survival, must go for there to be any hope of peace.

"If what the White House wants is creative thinking, they need more of a magician than a secretary of defense," said Stephen Biddle, a professor at George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs and a frequent adviser to the military. "Our interests align with none of our allies in this conflict."

Russia's recent airstrikes in support of Assad's forces for the moment seem likely only to prolong the war and increase the humanitarian crisis in the country. If conditions worsen in Syria, producing even greater flows of refugees headed for Europe, Carter and eventually Obama could feel pressure to further escalate American involvement in the conflict.

A similar dynamic could play out in Afghanistan, where Carter and his commanders advocated forcefully for a larger American presence than Obama initially planned and were able to win the president's backing. Obama's plans now call for keeping 9,800 U.S. troops in the country through most of next year before reducing the force to about 5,500 in late 2016 or early 2017.

But the current American force of about 9,800 troops has not been enough to prevent the Taliban from making gains against Afghan army and police forces. Recently, Taliban forces seized the Afghan city of Kunduz for two weeks before Afghan forces, supported by American advisers and air power, were able to take it back.

For Obama and Carter, though, doing something - even if it isn't enough to generate immediate battlefield victories - may be preferable to the status quo.

As a student of U.S. defense policy, "Ash Carter more than anyone knows that history looks fondly on secretaries who make decisions, whether they're right decisions or wrong, in a timely manner and give the president good options," Brimley said. "History looks less kindly on secretaries who have just treaded water."

Beijing warns, follows US warship in disputed South China Sea

Highlights

• US warship sails near Chinese man-made islands in Spratlys

• US challenges 12-nautical mile territorial limits around outposts

• China says US warship entered its waters illegally

• US defence official says such patrols will be regular

• Beijing hints could strengthen military presence

In this file photo, the USS Lassen is anchored in Yokosuka near Tokyo.

WASHINGTON/BEIJING: A US Navy guided-missile destroyer sailed close to China's man-made islands in the disputed South China Sea on Tuesday, drawing an angry rebuke from Beijing, which said it warned and followed the American vessel.

The patrol by the USS Lassen was the most significant US challenge yet to the 12-nautical-mile territorial limits China asserts around the islands in the Spratly archipelago and could ratchet up tension in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

One US defence official said the USS Lassen sailed within 12 nautical miles of Subi Reef. A second defence official said the mission, which lasted a few hours, included Mischief Reef and would be the first in a series of freedom-of-navigation exercises aimed at testing China's territorial claims.

China's foreign ministry said the "relevant authorities" monitored, followed and warned the USS Lassen as it "illegally" entered waters near islands and reefs in the Spratlys without the Chinese government's permission.

"China will resolutely respond to any country's deliberate provocations," the ministry said in a statement that gave no details on precisely where the US ship sailed.

READ ALSO:
US warship patrols near islands built by China


Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang later told a daily briefing that if the United States continued to "create tensions in the region," China might conclude it had to "increase and strengthen the building up of our relevant abilities".

Lu did not elaborate, except to say he hoped it did not come to that, but his comments suggested China could further boost its military presence in the South China Sea.

"China hopes to use peaceful means to resolve all the disputes, but if China has to make a response then the timing, method and tempo of the response will be made in accordance with China's wishes and needs."

The second US defence official said additional patrols would follow in coming weeks and could be conducted around features that Vietnam and the Philippines have built up in the Spratlys.

"This is something that will be a regular occurrence, not a one-off event," said the official. "It's not something that's unique to China."

White House spokesman Josh Earnest referred questions on any specific operations to the Pentagon but said the United States had made clear to China the importance of free flow of commerce in the South China Sea.

The US Navy last went within 12 miles of Chinese-claimed territory in the Spratlys in 2012.

China claims most of the South China Sea, through which more than $5 trillion of world trade passes every year. Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, the Philippines and Taiwan have rival claims.

The Philippines, a vocal critic of China's activities in the South China Sea, welcomed the US action.

"The American passage through these contentious waters is meant precisely to say that there are norms as to what freedom-of-navigation entails and they intend to exercise so there is no de facto changing of the reality on the ground," President Benigno Aquino told reporters.

Risk of escalation

The decision to go ahead with the patrol follows months of deliberation and it risk upsetting already strained ties with China.

"By using a guided-missile destroyer, rather than smaller vessels ... they are sending a strong message," said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore's Institute of South East Asian Studies.

"They have also said, significantly, that there will be more patrols - so it really now is up to China how it will respond."

Some experts have said China would likely resist attempts to make such US actions routine. China's navy could for example try to block or attempt to surround US vessels, they said, risking an escalation.

Zhu Feng, executive director of the China Centre for Collaborative Studies of the South China Sea at Nanjing University, said he expected Beijing to limit its response as it ultimately did not want confrontation.

"Both sides will be quite verbal but real actions, I hope, will show signs of exercising restraint," Zhu said.

Competing claims

Both Subi and Mischief Reefs were submerged at high tide before China began a dredging project to turn them into islands in 2014.

Under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, 12-nautical mile limits cannot be set around man-made islands built on previously submerged reefs.

Washington worries that China has built up its outposts with the aim of extending its military reach in the South China Sea. China says they will have mainly civilian uses as well as undefined defence purposes.

The patrol comes just weeks ahead of a series of Asia-Pacific summits President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping are expected to attend in the second half of November.

Xi surprised US officials after a meeting with Obama in Washington last month by saying that China had "no intention to militarize" the islands.

Tourist attractions of Wayanad (Kerala)

Wayanad

Featured here is the first of the four trails in the northern district of Wayanad as conceived and promoted by Wayanad Tourism Organization (WTO) an organization taking the lead role in fostering a culture of 'responsible and sustainable tourism' in Wayanad.
Of the four trails, we would like to introduce first the 'Outdoor Trail', which would cover the following locations in the District of Wayanad.

Chembra Peak

At a height of 2100 metres, the towering Chembra Peak is located near Meppadi in the southern part of Wayanad. It is the tallest of peaks in the region and climbing this peak would test ones physical prowess. The climb up the Chembra Peak is an exhilarating experience, as each stage in the climb unfolds great expanses of Wayanad and the view gets wider as one goes up to its summit. Going up and coming down the peak would take a full day. Those who would like camp at the top are assured of an unforgettable experience.

Those who require camping gear may contact the District Tourism Promotion Council, located atKalpetta in Wayanad.

Neelimala

Located in the southeastern part of Wayanad, and approachable from Kalpetta as well asSulthan Bathery, Neelimala is a trekkers delight, with options for different trekking routes. At the top of Neelimala, the sight is a breathtaking one with a view to the Meenmutty falls located near by and the valley in the foreground.

Meenmutty waterfalls

Located close to Neelimala the spectacular Meenmutty falls can be reached through a 2 km trekking route from the main road connecting Ootty and Wayanad. It is the largest of waterfalls in the district of Wayanad, and adds to ones curiosity with its three stage falls dropping from about 300 metres.

Chethalayam

Yet another waterfall that attracts visitors to Wayanad is the Chethalayam falls, located close toSulthan Bathery in the northern part of Wayanad. This waterfall is smaller in size when compared to Meenmutty. The falls and the adjoining areas are ideal locales for trekking and a haunt for bird watchers.

Pakshipathalam

Pakshipathalam is located deep within the forest in the Brahmagiri hills at an altitude of more than 1700 metres. The region predominantly comprises large boulders, some of them really massive. The deep caves found here are home to a wide variety of birds, animals and distinctive species of plants. Pakshipathalam is located near Mananthavady and a visit to the region would require a 7 km trek through the forest, starting from Thirunelli. Visitors to Pakshipathalam are to seek permission from the DFO- North Wayanad.

Banasura Sagar Dam

The dam at Banasura Sagar is reckoned as the largest earth dam in India. The dam is located in the southwestern part of Wayanad district and is close to the Karalad Lake. The project area of the Banasura Sagar Dam also has the start point for treks to the Banasura Peak. An interesting feature is a set of islands that were formed when the reservoir submerged the surrounding areas.

While you take in the captivating sights, sounds and fragrance of Wayanad, you may also shop for some specialities of Wayanad like spices, coffee, tea, bamboo products, honey and herbal plants.

For more details on 'Outdoor Trail' in Wayanad, please get in touch with Wayanad Tourism Organization.

Contact details:
General Secretary
Wayanad Tourism Organisation
Vasudeva Edom, Pozhuthana PO,
Wayanad, Kerala, India.
Pin - 673575
Tel. +91-4936-255308, Fax.+91-4936-227341
E-mail: mail@wayanad.org

Getting there

Nearest railway station: Calicut Railway Station is 62 km away
Nearest airport: Calicut International Airport is about 65 km away

Fresh Israeli-Palestinian violence after new Al-Aqsa measures

• Jerusalem’s Old City’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound (with the al-Aqsa mosque on left and the Dome of the Rock on the right) is seen before a rain storm on October 25, 2015. AFP

Fresh violence flared between Israelis and Palestinians on Sunday as Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu agreed to install security cameras at the flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound in a bid to defuse tensions.

A Palestinian stabbed and wounded an Israeli man in the West Bank and a Palestinian was shot several times by an Israeli settler while picking olives, according to the army and security sources. Knife attacks, shootings and protests have become a near daily occurrence since October 1 in the latest surge of violence in the decades-old conflict, sparking a diplomatic scramble to defuse what many fear may become a new Palestinian intifada, or uprising.

The focal point of the latest unrest is the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem, which is sacred to both Muslims and Jews, and Netanyahu on Saturday agreed on new measures to allay Palestinian fears that he plans to change longstanding rules governing the site. Netanyahu vowed Jews would continue to be allowed to visit but not pray at the compound and agreed that 24-hour surveillance cameras could be installed.

"Israel has an interest in placing cameras on all parts of the Temple Mount," Netanyahu said in a statement Sunday, using the Jewish term for the compound in annexed east Jerusalem. "Firstly, to refute the claim Israel is violating the status quo. Secondly, to show where the provocations are really coming from, and prevent them in advance." However Saeb Erakat, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the recognised representative of Palestinians, said Netanyahu's statements were "only words, not concrete actions."

"There will not be calm without political prospects to definitively end the occupation," said Nabil Shaath, an official from Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's West Bank-based Fatah. He said the status quo the Palestinians wanted was that before the second intifada broke out in 2000, when Israel did not decide who had access to the compound.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II -- whose country is the custodian of the site -- that security cameras would be a "game changer in discouraging anybody from disturbing the sanctity of the holy site." And Jordan's Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said the cameras "will indeed make a difference and a very strong difference at that."

China growth rate may fall below 7%: Premier Li Keqiang

ross domestic product (GDP) in the world's second- largest economy grew at just 6.9% in the third quarter, its slowest rate in six years.

• Premier Li Keqiang Getty Images

China's economy does not need to grow 7% this year, Chinese Premier Li Keqianghas said, after data last week showed the economy grew at the slowest pace since the financial crisis.

But China can still overcome economic problems, Li said in a speech last yesterday at the Central Party School, which trains cadres, according to a notice on the cental government's website.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the world's second- largest economy grew at just 6.9% in the third quarter, its slowest rate in six years

In March, Li forecast 2015 economic growth would be about 7.0%, as the country shifts to a "new normal" driven by domestic consumption instead of exports and government investment.

"First, 6.9% is about 7%, which is in a reasonable range," Li said, according to a report of the meeting by the People's Daily, the official Communist Party mouthpiece. "We never said we must defend any target to the death."

China's most recent GDP figures added to fears over the health of the global economy, and some analysts expressed concern they had been manipulated to understate the gravity of the situation. But Li attempted to strike an optimistic tone about the future.

"The joint efforts of the whole country and the great potential of China's economy, strengthens our confidence in overcoming difficulties," according to paraphrased remarks posted on the central government's website.

The country's decades-long boom, fuelled by infrastructure investment, exports and debt, made it a key driver of the global economy.

Even though growth has eased in recent years its GDP more than doubled in real terms between 2006 and 2014, according to World Bank figures.

Now it is looking to transition to a "new normal" of slower and more sustainable expansion driven by domestic consumer demand, but the change is proving bumpy and stock exchanges around the world have been pummelled in recent weeks by concerns over its future.

Ex-UK Prime Minister Tony Blair Apologises for 'Mistakes' in Iraq, Admits it Led to Rise of ISIS

Tony Blair apologised for certain aspects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. (Reuters)

LONDON, ENGLAND:  Britain's ex-prime minister Tony Blair again apologised today for certain aspects of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, adding there were "elements of truth" to the view it was connected to the rise of the Islamic State group.

However, Mr Blair insisted he still did not regret the removal of Saddam Hussein as Iraq's leader as he said sorry over intelligence failings and planning mistakes.

"I apologise for the fact that the intelligence we received was wrong," he told CNN in an interview.

"I also apologise for some of the mistakes in planning and, certainly, our mistake in our understanding of what would happen once you removed the regime."

He added: "I find it hard to apologise for removing Saddam. I think, even from today in 2015, it is better that he's not there than that he is there."

Mr Blair acknowledged there were "elements of truth" to the argument that the US-led and British backed invasion of Iraq eventually led to the rise of ISIS terrorists in Syria and Iraq, according to a transcript on the CNN website.

"Of course, you can't say that those of us who removed Saddam in 2003 bear no responsibility for the situation in 2015," he said.

"But it's important also to realise, one, that the Arab Spring which began in 2011 would also have had its impact on Iraq today, and two, ISIS actually came to prominence from a base in Syria and not in Iraq," he added, using another acronym to refer to ISIS.

The comments from Mr Blair, a divisive figure for leading Britain into the Iraq war, come shortly before a timetable for the publication of the much-delayed public inquiry into the Iraq war is due to be announced.

Amid intense pressure to publish from British lawmakers and families of military personnel killed in the war, John Chilcot will write to Prime Minister David Cameron by November 3 saying when the inquiry, launched in 2009, will be completed.

A spokeswoman for Mr Blair said of the CNN interview: "All of this he has said before".

She added: "Tony Blair has always apologised for the intelligence being wrong and for mistakes in planning. He has always also said, and says again here, that he does not however think it was wrong to remove Saddam."