Apple hoped to offset slowing demand for iPhones by raising the prices of its most important product, but that strategy seems to have backfired after sales sagged during the holiday shopping season.
Results released Tuesday revealed the magnitude of the iPhone slump  a 15 per cent drop in revenue from the previous year.
That decline in Apple's most profitable product caused Apple's total earnings for the October-December quarter to dip slightly to USD 20 billion.
Now, CEO Tim Cook is grappling with his toughest challenge since replacing co-founder Steve Jobs 7  years ago.
Even as he tries to boost iPhone sales, Cook also must prove that Apple can still thrive even if demand doesn't rebound.
It figures to be an uphill battle, given Apple's stock has lost one-third of its value in less than four months, erasing about USD 370 billion in shareholder wealth.
Cook rattled Wall Street in early January by disclosing the company had missed its own revenue projections for the first time in 15 ..

Apple opens new chapter as iPhone sales fall

PTI Automatic

Amnesty International on Wednesday urged online travel sites to ban listings from Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.
The London-based rights group's report, titled "Destination: Occupation," said rental sites Airbnb, Booking.com, Expedia and TripAdvisor are driving tourism to settlements that most of the world considers illegal.
Airbnb announced last November that it would remove West Bank settlement listings but has yet to implement its decision.
The company says it is working to identify the "precise boundaries" of areas subject to the policy.
Amnesty called on Airbnb to immediately implement its ban and to extend it to east Jerusalem, which Israel captured along with the West Bank in the 1967 Mideast War. The Palestinians seek these lands for a future independent state.
On Twitter, Israeli Cabinet Minister Gilad Erdan called the Amnesty statement "an outrageous attempt to distort facts, deny Jewish heritage & delegitimize Israel."
The World Jewish Congress said it ...

Amnesty urges travel sites to ban Israel settlement listings

Indonesia's volatile Mount Merapi volcano has unleashed a river of lava that flowed 1,400 meters (4,590 feet) down its slopes.
Merapi, on the island of Java, has entered an "effusive eruption phase," Kasbani, head of the Volcanology and Geological Hazard Mitigation Center, said Wednesday.
Kasbani, who goes by a single name, said the volcanic material that spewed out late Tuesday was the volcano's longest lava flow since it began erupting again in August.
He said the alert level of the volcano has not been raised but people should stay out of a 3-kilometer danger zone around the crater.
The 2,968-meter mountain, located near the ancient Indonesian city of Yogyakarta, is the most active of dozens of Indonesian volcanoes.  Its last major eruption in 2010 killed 347 people.
Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 260 million people, is prone to earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanic eruptions because it straddles the Pacific "Ring of Fire.

Indonesia's Merapi volcano unleashes river of lava

Capitol Hill negotiators are hopeful of an agreement as they officially kick off talks on a homeland security spending bill that is trapped in a stalemate over President Donald Trump's long-stalled border wall.
Left on their own, the seasoned House and Senate lawmakers say they could easily reach a border security deal as they have for two years in a row.
But whether Trump would sign it is another matter altogether.
Trump has grown impatient and his demands on his U.S.-Mexico border wall have become more insistent even though Democrats took back the House last fall.
Democrats remain united against Trump's vision for a massive wall project, yet some are signaling a willingness to deal in the wake of the 35-day partial government shutdown.
"We've consistently said that we do not support a medieval border wall from sea to shining sea," said Rep. Hakim Jeffries of New York, the No. 4 House Democrat. "However, we are able to support fencing where is makes sense, but it should be done in an 

Lawmakers hopeful of agreement that would prevent shutdown

Lawmakers appear increasingly nervous that Congress and the public won't see a full report when special counsel Robert Mueller is finished with his Russia probe, including what the investigation finds about President Donald Trump.
Republicans and Democrats say they support public disclosure of Mueller's findings.
But it's unclear exactly what documentation will be produced at the end of the probe into possible coordination between Trump associates and Russia, and how much of that the Justice Department will allow people to see. Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker said Monday that the probe is "close to being completed," the first official sign that Mueller's investigation may be wrapping up.
Democrats have pressured Trump's attorney general nominee, William Barr, on the full release of Mueller's final report. Lawmakers in both parties have maintained that there will have to be some sort of public resolution when the report is done  and privately hope that a report shows ...

Lawmakers press for a full Russia probe report from Mueller

Venezuela's Supreme Court barred opposition leader Juan Guaido from leaving the country Tuesday, a move certain to heighten tensions as the man challenging President Nicolas Maduro's claim to the presidency presses forward with establishing a transitional government and the US warned of "serious consequences" if he is harmed.
The government-stacked high court announced the order just hours after chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab announced that he was opening a criminal investigation into Guaido's anti-government activities and requested that restrictions be placed on his movements abroad.
The court also approved Saab's request that all of Guaido's financial assets be frozen.
US national security adviser John Bolton issued a warning to the Maduro government earlier in the day urging them not to harm Guaido, the head of the opposition-controlled congress who has been recognized by the Trump administration and two dozen other nations as Venezuela's rightful president.  "Let me ...

Court bars Venezuela opposition leader from leaving nation

China says it has banned the wife of a Taiwanese human rights activist jailed in China from visiting him for three months due to alleged improper behaviour.
A statement Wednesday from the spokesman of the Cabinet's Taiwan Affairs Office, Ma Xiaoguang, says Lee Ching-yu had made false statements and "interfered with prison operations" during a visit last month.
Lee's husband, Lee Ming-che, is serving a five-year prison sentence at Chishan prison in central Hunan province after being convicted by a Chinese court in November 2017 on charges of subverting state power.
Lee was found guilty of subversion for holding online political lectures and helping the families of jailed dissidents in China. He disappeared into the custody of the security services shortly after entering China in March 2017.

China bans wife of jailed Taiwan activist from visiting him

A grenade was thrown into a mosque in the southern Philippines where Muslim teachers were sleeping early Wednesday morning, killing two of them and injuring four, authorities said.
It was the second explosion at a religious site in the south this week, though authorities didn't see it as retaliation for the bombings of a Roman Catholic cathedral in nearly Jolo during Sunday Mass that killed 21 people.
Regional police Chief Superintendent Emmanuel Luis D. Licup said investigators are trying to determine the motive and identity of the suspect in the grenade attack at the mosque in Zamboanga city.
The victims were from Basilan and nearby provinces at the mosque to teach Islam to children.
Military Col Leonel M Nicolas emphasized the grenade blast was not a retaliatory act and was still under investigation. Licup said a personal grudge was among the possible motives.
The Ulama Council of Zamboanga Peninsula condemned the attack as "an inhumane act" and called for people to be "calm yet ...

Grenade thrown into Philippine mosque kills 2 Islam teachers

A young mother has died after falling down stairs at a Manhattan subway station while holding her 1-year-old daughter.
Malaysia Goodson, of Stamford, Connecticut, fell down the stairs at a midtown Manhattan station at around 8 pm Monday, police said.
Goodson was unconscious when police arrived. She was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Her child was unharmed. Police said it's unknown whether the child was in a stroller during the incident, as initially reported by authorities.
"I wish I could have helped her," Goodson's 23-year-old brother, Shawn Goodson, told The New York Times .
He said his sister was a protective, caring mother.
It was not immediately clear whether the 22-year-old Goodson had a medical issue that precipitated her death or whether she died from impact.
The city's medical examiner will determine the cause of death.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which also is investigating, called Goodson's death "a heartbreaking tragedy."
Only about a ..

Woman with baby dies after falling down NYC subway stairs

US and Chinese negotiators start two days of high-level talks Wednesday aimed at settling a six-month trade war that has weakened both sides, shaken financial markets and clouded the outlook for the global economy.
Yet the odds seem stacked against any substantive resolution this week to the standoff between the world's two biggest economies. Perhaps the best that might be hoped for, analysts say, is for the two sides to agree to keep talking.  The differences between Beijing and Washington are vast.
The United States is essentially demanding that China downsize its aspiration to become a supreme world leader in such fields as robotics and electric cars.
"A comprehensive deal that fundamentally changes their system  I don't think that's possible," said Christopher Adams, a former US trade official.

For US-China trade talks, hopes are high, expectations low

President Donald Trump is dismissing  and potentially bolstering sales of  a new tell-all book by a former White House aide, calling it "made up stories and fiction."
Cliff Sims' book, "Team of Vipers," is the latest in a series of insider accounts by journalists and former Trump staffers who paint an unflattering picture of life in the West Wing.
In it, Sims, the former director of White House message strategy, engages in score-settling with former internal rivals, fingers other administration officials as "leakers" and casts the president as disloyal to his staff.
Trump, in a tweet Tuesday, dismissed Sims as a "low level staffer" who had written "yet another boring book based on made up stories and fiction." "He pretended to be an insider when in fact he was nothing more than a gofer," said Trump, who claimed Sims had signed a non-disclosure agreement.
Indeed, Michael Glassner, chief operating officer of Trump's re-election campaign, tweeted that the campaign was preparing to sue ...

President Trump dismisses tell-all book as 'made up stories'

Brazilian authorities arrested five people Tuesday in connection with a dam collapse that killed at least 65 people and left nearly 300 missing, and dead fish were seen downstream floating at the banks of a river that an indigenous community depends on for food and water.
The dam that held back iron-ore waste, owned and operated by big mining company Vale SA, collapsed on Friday  burying a company cafeteria, other Vale buildings and inundating part of the small southeastern city of Brumadinho.
Grieving relatives of the dead buried some of the victims in Brumadinho and rescue teams continued a delicate search through swaths of muck for more victims or survivors. One official said the death toll was sure to rise.  The dead fish and trash were seen by a reporting team for The Associated Press about 18 kilometers downstream from the dam along the banks of the Paraopeba River.
The Pataxo Indians living alongside the river who use it to fish, bathe and gather water for the plants they ...

Arrests in Brazil dam disaster, dead fish wash up downstream

Victoria Azarenka set up a meeting with Australian Open finalist Petra Kvitova at the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy on Tuesday after a sometimes-shaky 6-4 6-1 win over Russian qualifier Margarita Gasparyan.
Azarenka, herself a two-time Australian Open champion, struggled on serve at times and gave up three breaks to Gasparyan. However, the Belarusian won six straight games from 3-4 in the first set to 3-0 in the second to get the victory.
Kvitova has a bye into the second round.
Former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko won a see-saw match against Kristina Mladenovic 6-1 0-6 6-0.
It was Ostapenko's first win of 2019 after starting the year with three straight losses, while Mladenovic is now 0-4 on the year, including qualifiers.
Ostapenko will next face Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who won 7-5 7-6 (4) over Alize Cornet.
Earlier, Julia Goerges won the final four games of the match and beat Maria Sakkari 6-2 7-5 in the first round.
The fifth-seeded German trailed 5-3 in the second set ...

Azarenka to play Kvitova after beating Gasparyan

Atletico Madrid's fitness trainer was detained and released after being accused of violence against women, Spanish police said on Tuesday.
Oscar Ortega was taken into custody late Monday and released after appearing before a judge on Tuesday. He was not immediately charged with any crime.
Spanish news agency EFE said Ortega's wife sent the agency a statement saying she never accused him of any wrongdoing. She said a misunderstanding led to another person contacting authorities without her consent.
The case will be heard by a court that handles violence against women.  No other details were immediately released.
Atletico Madrid says it will not consider taking any action until all details are available. Ortega attended the team's practice session on Tuesday afternoon.
The 60-year-old Uruguayan was Atletico's trainer when coach Diego Simeone played for the club in 2004. He returned as a member of Simeone's staff when the Argentine took over as coach at the end of 2011.

Atletico Madrid's trainer accused of violence against women

The periodic table of chemical elements is having its 150th birthday, and the UN scientific agency is holding a year of events to celebrate.
Anyone who has studied chemistry will recognize the table, which organizes all chemical elements by the number of protons in a given atom and other properties. Russian scientist Dmitry Mendeleev published the first such table in 1969.
The UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization kicked off the "International Year of the Period Table of Chemical Elements" on Tuesday with a ceremony including a Nobel chemistry laureate and Russia's science minister, among other dignitaries.
Other activities UNESCO is organizing this year include an online competition to test high school students' knowledge of the table, and scientific experiments brought to schools around the world.

UNESCO celebrates 150 years of chemistry's periodic table

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in Central African Republic says 18 civilians are dead and 23 wounded after an armed group opened fire during a funeral ceremony.
The statement on Tuesday says the gunmen with the Union for Peace armed group carried out the overnight attack on Friday in the central town of Ippy.
The peacekeeping mission condemns "this terrible massacre" that occurred as a new round of peace talks on Central African Republic began in Sudan.
Central African Republic, one of the world's poorest nations, has faced interreligious and inter-communal fighting since 2013. The violence has intensified and spread in recent months.
The 13,500-strong UN peacekeeping mission has struggled to protect civilians and contain the fighting since its arrival in 2014.

UN says 18 killed in Central African Republic attack

Countries like Hungary and Turkey are growing more corrupt as they become more autocratic, and threats to the American system of checks and balances have knocked the US out of the top 20 "cleanest" countries, according to a closely watched annual survey released Tuesday.
Watchdog group Transparency International said its Corruption Perceptions Index for 2018 showed more than two-thirds of countries scoring below 50, on its scale where 100 is very clean and zero is very corrupt.
With a score of 71, the US lost four points over 2017 and dropped out of the top 20 nations for the first time since 2011.
"A four point drop in the CPI score is a red flag and comes at a time when the US is experiencing threats to its system of checks and balance, as well as an erosion of ethical norms at the highest levels of power," the Berlin-based organization said.
"If this trend continues, it would indicate a serious corruption problem in a country that has taken a lead on the issue globally this is a ...

Study: Corruption levels linked to health of democracies

Greece has launched a 5-year bond auction, the first time the country has tapped international capital markets for financing since it emerged from its bailout programs in August.
State-run ERT television said the initial guidance for Tuesday's bond sale was a yield of 3.75-3.85 per cent. Authorities are hoping the rate to be as low as 3.5 per cent, raising 2.5 billion euros (USD 2.87 billion).
The government is planning a cautious return to bond markets after Greece ended its third international bailout last summer with a cash buffer aimed at covering financing needs for around two years.
The bond sale was ordered following visit to Athens by bailout inspectors and after the government survived the departure of its junior coalition partner over disagreement on a deal to normalise relations with Macedonia.

Greece launches first bond sale since emerging from bailout

Pacific Gas & Electric Corporation filed for bankruptcy Tuesday as the largest US utility faces billions of dollars in potential damages stemming from wildfires in California.
The utility filed documents in a US court seeking Chapter 11 reorganisation despite state investigators determining last week that its equipment was not to blame for a 2017 fire that killed 22 people in Northern California wine country.
The company cited hundreds of lawsuits from victims of that blaze and others in 2017 and 2018 when it announced this month that it planned to file for bankruptcy. The fires included the nation's deadliest in a century  a November blaze that killed at least 86 people and destroyed 15,000 homes in Paradise and surrounding communities.
The cause of that fire remains under investigation, but speculation has centred on PG&E after the utility reported power line problems nearby around the time it started.
The bankruptcy filing immediately puts a halt to the wildfire lawsuits ...

PG&E files for bankruptcy amid wildfire lawsuits

Myanmar's parliament has voted to create a committee to propose amendments to the country's military-enacted constitution, which grants the armed forces the power to block any change.
The proposal Tuesday to form the committee was presented by a member of the ruling National League for Democracy party of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, which took power in 2016 after more than five decades of military or military-backed rule.
The 2008 constitution gives the military control of national security ministries and 25 per cent of legislative seats, enough to prevent any constitutional changes, which require the support of more than 75 per cent of lawmakers.
The committee proposal required a simple majority to pass. Military lawmakers boycotted the vote, saying it violated parliamentary procedures for changing the constitution.

Myanmar parliament approves step toward charter change

European Union authorities warned Facebook, Google and Twitter on Tuesday that they need to work harder to combat fake news ahead of upcoming bloc-wide parliamentary elections.
The EU's executive commissioners said that while the US internet giants have made some progress, they need to pick up the pace of their work fighting disinformation and if their efforts are unsatisfactory, they could face regulation.
The Commission has been turning up the heat on tech giants ahead of the elections scheduled for May, in which millions of people in 27 EU member countries will vote for 705 lawmakers in the bloc's parliament.
EU officials want to prevent the misuse of social media platforms by foreign groups trying to meddle in elections, and have singled out Russia as a main source of disinformation in Europe.
Google, Facebook, Twitter and browser maker Mozilla are companies that so far have signed up to a voluntary EU code of conduct on fighting disinformation. The Commission said they've made ...

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