Business in Taiwan's Wowprime brisk despite slowing economy

TAIPEI: 2012 was a slow year for many industries in Taiwan except for the food and beverage industry, which bucked the trend.

Leading the pack is Taiwan's biggest restaurant chain, Wowprime. It is aiming to cater to the rest of the world.

Wowprime's Wang Steak restaurant is fully occupied almost all year round. Business did not seem to be affected by a slowing economy.

Many customers visit it for its signature dish - prime rib selected from only the six best pieces of a cow.

But it is not just the steak that draws the crowd. Some customers also appear to be fans of Steve Day, the chairman of Wowprime.

The 59-year-old started his first restaurant, Wang Steak, 20 years ago.

Today, he has 11 brands under his belt with 275 restaurants on both sides of the strait.

Among its 11 brands, there is a French-style teppanyaki restaurant which opened in 2005, and a low-priced hot pot chain in 2009, which is very popular among young Taiwanese. Recently, it added coffee shops to its latest venture.

The company's revenues have grown an average of nearly 30 per cent in the last three years. To keep the business growing, it plans to build one new brand every two years.

Mr Day said: "In a small market, you must have a number of brands in order to satisfy the customers. If you focus on one brand, it tends to stop growing once you reach the maximum size of the market."

Wowprime's ultimate ambition is to go global. It is already teaming up with Jollibee of the Philippines to open hot pot chains in China.

By 2020, it hopes to have 1000 restaurants worldwide.

Mr Day is confident the target can be achieved ahead of schedule because nobody can resist good food.

He said: "Every dish we bring to the table has gone through many levels of elimination. At the end, we choose only one from the best 50 dishes. So it must be the most delicious."

Competitive pricing is another key to Wowprime's success.

Mr Day said all of its cuisines are priced at 30 per cent below market. And to achieve this, the group has to keep a cap on its profit margin.

Mr Day said: "We have set a ceiling for our annual earnings. Our group earnings must not exceed 10 per cent. If the number exceeds 10 per cent, that means what you offer to your guests are not good enough. But the earnings must not fall below 10 per cent either because that would make the employees worry."

The pricing strategy has made Wowprime one of the fastest growing companies in Taiwan, and it is hoping to win over customers in the rest of the world.

- CNA/xq

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NFC: Not just for mobile payments anymore

LG demos NFC technology in appliances at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

Move over, mobile payments. NFC is finding other ways to make itself useful.

In fact, paying for items with one's phone seems to be the least common use for the close-range connectivity technology right now, at least based on gadgets unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show. Rather, essentially all products using NFC shown at the recent confab employed the technology in one of two ways: To set up a sort of digital handshake between a mobile device and another gadget or as a way to share information between products with just a tap.

"NFC really simplifies things," Scott McGregor, CEO of connectivity chipmaker Broadcom, told CNET at
CES. "The most advanced technology is stifled if it's not easy to use. ... NFC plays a very valuable role in simplifying user interfaces for consumer products."

NFC is short for near-field communication, a chip technology that allows devices to transfer small amounts of data between each other. Both devices must contain NFC chips and must be closer than an inch to connect. Typically, NFC works by tapping the two devices together to securely exchange data such as credit card information, train tickets, coupons, press releases, and more.

NFC has long been hailed as the technology to bring mobile payments, or the idea of waving your phone in front of a cash register to purchase a good, closer to reality. However, the mobile payments trend has been slow to take off, and it continues to face many hurdles for adoption. While the technological issues have largely been resolved, there just aren't that many stores and point-of-sales terminals equipped with NFC for widespread use.

But at CES, NFC popped up in nearly everything imaginable (just not at cash registers). Along with the usual devices, like smartphones, there were speakers, cameras, televisions, refrigerators, business cards, and numerous other items. Some companies, such as Panasonic, have even added NFC to rice cookers and other usual items.

Sony introduced speakers with NFC technology at CES.

(Credit:
Sarah Tew/CNET)

NFC is already becoming a familiar spec in smartphones. Aside from mobile payments, many handset vendors have been using NFC technology as a way to differentiate their products from rivals, particularly the iPhone. Apple is the most notable NFC holdout, though it's widely expected to incorporate the technology into future devices.

Samsung, meanwhile, has been one of the biggest companies pushing the technology. It has released several ads that show what users can do with NFC (like sharing videos by tapping two Galaxy S3 phones together), and it also has slammed the iPhone 5 for its lack of sharing capabilities. At CES, the company unveiled speakers that use NFC to pair a phone to the device. Content is then streamed via Bluetooth.

And Sony included NFC in nearly all of its products shown at CES, including TVs, smartphones, remotes, and speakers. The company, which dubbed the technology "One Touch," said during its press conference that it offers more NFC-enabled products than any other electronics maker in the world. Sony noted the technology would ease media transfer and streaming among phones,
tablets, TVs, and audio devices by establishing a link between them just by touching the devices to one another.

"Customers are asking for easy, seamless ways to be able to access and transfer their personal content," Brian Siegel, Sony vice president of marketing, told CNET at CES. "We've been talking about it collectively for a long time, and it's been this combo of wireless and wired solutions. NFC and Sony's One Touch, we believe, is the easiest solution ever brought to market."

Panasonic unveiled a couple cameras with the technology, and LG also incorporated NFC into its electronics, as well as its appliances such as washing machines, vacuums, and refrigerators. In the case of appliances, people will be able to pair their smartphones with the product and then control it remotely, like turning on the washing machine while still in the office.

NFC has many benefits over other connectivity technology. Most important, it allows users to bypass all the steps required to set up something like Bluetooth. Just think about how long pairing a phone to a Bluetooth speaker takes. You have to discover the device, enter passwords, etc. For less tech savvy users, simply getting two devices to talk to each other can be daunting. With NFC, it's one tap and the items are paired.

It can even be used to get information from a poster or other non-electronic device by installing passive NFC tags in the item. Unlike NFC readers, which are used in smartphones and other electronic devices, the passive tags don't need batteries, and they're very cheap, costing only pennies. An NFC-enabled smartphone is able to decipher the information on the tag by sending energy to it to power it up and receive the data.

Caesars Entertainment, owner of eight hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, is making use of such technology. It installed more than 4,500 interactive Samsung TecTiles in its resorts, allowing anyone with an NFC-enabled device to tap the various TecTiles for information such as game tutorials, show times, restaurant menus, and ticket purchases.

"People are talking about putting them in virtually every consumer device," Henry Samueli, Broadcom co-founder and board chairman, told CNET at CES. "You could walk through your grocery store, and something you buy for a couple dollars could have a tag. That would be useful for stores for inventory control and things like that, and for the consumer, it's a fast way of exchanging information."

The Panasonic Lumix TS5 features NFC capabilities.

(Credit:
Panasonic)

By getting NFC into more devices, companies are easing consumers into the idea of using the technology, which should help when (if) mobile payments take off. Because NFC is a secure technology, it's still seen as an ideal way to handle mobile transactions.

"NFC was very present at CES, but it had nothing to do with payments," Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said. "It's smart because you're getting consumers familiar with the technology so when mobile payments is ready and the ecosystem ready, they'll feel comfortable with it."

Of course, NFC isn't perfect. Because the technology requires two devices to be very close to each other, it won't be replacing Bluetooth or Wi-Fi anytime soon. Those longer-range connectivity technologies will still be required for streaming content. Also, in the early days of NFC, it was hard to figure out where to tap to make the connection.

In addition, while NFC technology itself is a standard, not all NFC products work together. That's because companies incorporate their own software into the systems, limiting what devices the products work with. That helps create brand loyalty (if you have a Samsung phone and want to stream content to your TV, it's easier to also own a Samsung television), but it also limits what consumers are actually able to do with their products.

Market watchers say that should change as industry groups and companies agree on a standard. And in time, NFC might actually show up in the majority of consumer electronics.

"Right now you see Samsung commercials where you tap a Galaxy S3 with another and you're exchanging videos." Gartner analyst Mark Hung said. "That's great, but try doing that with a Nokia phone. All these other companies also have NFC, but interoperability leaves much to be desired. I expect that to be sorted out this year."

Samsung handed out wristbands with NFC technology at its CES press conference.

(Credit:
James Martin/CNET)

Here are some products that use NFC (Note: not all of these were announced at CES):

• Virtual press kits and business cards -- Various execs and companies used NFC as a fast way to share their contact information and press releases. All people meeting them had to do was tap their NFC-enabled phone (sorry, iPhone users) to the item, typically a wristband or business card, to access the information. Samsung, for example, handed NFC-enabled wristbands to all attendees at its press conference, and Sharp gave out business cards embedded with its press release.


• Information points such as posters -- Caesars Entertainment, owner of eight hotels and casinos in Las Vegas, installed more than 4,500 interactive Samsung TecTiles in its resorts. Anyone with an NFC-enabled device will be able to tap the various TecTiles for information such as game tutorials, show times, restaurant menus, and ticket purchases.


• Speakers -- NFC is typically used in these devices to pair a smartphone to a speaker. The music is not actually streamed to the system via NFC but is shared through Bluetooth. Samsung and Sony were two notable companies with NFC speakers.


• Headphones -- The function is much like wireless speakers. Users tap their phone to the headphones to allow pairing for the transfer of music. Sony also makes these.


• Boomboxes and other music players -- Sony, again.


• Cameras -- At least two cameras introduced at CES included NFC capabilities: The Panasonic Lumix ZS30 and the Panasonic Lumix TS5. Along with built-in Wi-Fi, the cameras should enable "the widest range of remote shooting options, remote viewing, and instant sharing on social networks."
  


• TVs -- LG and Sony were a couple big companies showing off NFC-enabled TVs at CES. Like with audio devices, NFC is used to pair a phone to the TV by tapping the two together.


• Remote controls -- In this instance, users tap their phones to their remote instead of their TV to pair the device to the television. Sony is one company doing this.


• Appliances -- LG showcased a slew of washers, dryers, ovens, refrigerators, and vacuums with NFC technology. After pairing the appliance with a phone, users can program their products from afar, such as turning on a washing machine while still in the office.


• Other weird kitchen items -- Panasonic's Asian operations have made an NFC-enabled rice cooker and a steam microwave oven. Users can search for recipes and program cooking instructions using their smartphones.


• Computers -- HP's SpectreOne all-in-one desktop PC, announced in September, incorporates NFC technology, which it calls HP TouchZone. Via a sensor built into the base of the unit, users can log into the SpectreOne or transfer files to it by simply swiping a smartphone or another device equipped with NFC. HP's Envy 14 Spectre ultrabook also includes NFC, as does Sony's Vaio Tap 20 mobile desktop PC.


• Smart meters for utility companies -- Landis+Gyr in late 2011 said it was working with NXP Semiconductor on energy management products with integrated NFC.


• Digital bubble gum machine -- Digital advertising agency Razorfish last July developed a high-tech prototype version of the gum ball machine that allows users to download digital content like apps and movies to their NFC-enabled phone for a small fee.


• Heart monitor -- Impak Health, a joint venture between Swedish chipmaker Cypak and U.S.-based Meridian Health, developed the RhythmTrak heart monitor. The product tracks certain heart-related data, which can then be downloaded or sent to a clinician by placing it next to an NFC-enabled phone.


• Wii U -- It's not really clear how NFC will be used in this Nintendo console, but it may allow users to do things like add new characters to games.


• Cars -- An NFC-enabled smartphone will be able to unlock Hyundai cars by 2015.

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Obamas Share the Love, Even for Michelle's Bangs

Jan 20, 2013 10:49pm

(Charles Dharapak/AP Photo)

President Obama used the first public remarks of his second term to address what he called the “most significant” event of this weekend: his wife’s much-talked-about new haircut.

“I love her bangs,” Obama told supporters at an inaugural reception at the National Building Museum. “She looks good. She always looks good.”

First lady Michelle Obama, wearing a black sequined cocktail dress and showcasing her new hairdo, also heaped compliments on her husband.

“Let me tell you, it has just been a true thrill to watch this handsome, charming individual grow into the man and the president that he is,” she said, as she reached out to playfully touch the president’s face, sparking laughter from the crowd.

Praising his compassion and courage, the first lady introduced the president as the “love of her life.”

Obama, who was sworn in for a second term in a small White House ceremony earlier today, kept his remarks short, noting he has another big speech to deliver Monday.

“There are a limited amount of good lines and you don’t want to use them all up tonight,” he joked.

Because the Constitutionally mandated date for the inauguration, Jan. 20, fell on a Sunday this year, the traditional, public ceremony was delayed until Monday.

Saving the best for his official inaugural address, the president instead dedicated the bulk of his remarks to thanking supporters for their hard work and dedication to getting him re-elected.

“You understood this was not just about a candidate; it was not just about Joe Biden or Barack Obama. This was about us, who we are as a nation, what values we cherish, how hard we’re willing to fight to make sure that those values live not just for today but for future generations,” he said.

“All of you here understood and were committed to the basic notion that when we put our shoulders to the wheel of history, it moves… It moves forward. And that’s part of what we celebrate when we come together for inauguration,” he said.

SHOWS: World News

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Thailand's Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visits Singapore

SINGAPORE: Thailand's Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn called on Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana on Sunday.

She was hosted to lunch by PM Lee.

The Princess, who arrived on January 19, also visited the Asian Civilisations Museum on Sunday morning.

She was there to view a special exhibition, entitled, 'Enlightened Ways: The Many Streams of Buddhist Art in Thailand'.

- CNA/fa

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WikiLeaks says Aaron Swartz may have been a 'source'

WikiLeaks said late yesterday that recently deceased Internet activist Aaron Swartz assisted the organization, was in contact with Julian Assange, and may have been one of the organization's sources.

Reached in Iceland on Saturday evening, California time, WikiLeaks representative Kristinn Hrafnsson confirmed to CNET that the tweets were authentic but declined to elaborate.

In the tweets, the organization said it was revealing the information "due to the investigation into the Secret Service involvement" with Swartz.

Here are screenshots of the tweets:

The phrasing of the last tweet ("strong reasons to believe, but cannot prove") may be related to the precautions WikiLeaks says it takes to ensure its sources' anonymity. WikiLeaks' policy says:

...we operate a number of servers across multiple international jurisdictions and we we do not keep logs. Hence these logs can not be seized. Anonymization occurs early in the WikiLeaks network, long before information passes to our web servers. Without specialized global internet traffic analysis, multiple parts of our organisation must conspire with each other to strip submitters of their anonymity.

The Secret Service has a legal mandate to investigate computer crime, a task it shares with the FBI and other federal agencies, which the agency describes including "unauthorized access to protected computers" -- which Swartz is alleged to have been guilty of. It also investigates forgery, identity fraud, visa fraud, money laundering, food stamp fraud, wire fraud, and a host of other federal offenses.

It would not be unusual, in other words, for the Secret Service to be involved in a criminal probe of Swartz's alleged bulk downloading from the JSTOR database. Some other examples: The Secret Service, which is now part of the Department of Homeland Security, has investigated an artist who installed photo-taking software in Apple stores, a credit card theft ring, spyware installed on college campuses, and a possible theft of GOP candidate Mitt Romney's income tax returns.

The ambiguous WikiLeaks tweets have prompted speculation about what the group was trying to suggest. The Verge's Tim Carmody wrote that "the aim of these tweets could be to imply that the US Attorney's Office and Secret Service targeted Swartz in order to get at WikiLeaks, and that Swartz died still defending his contacts' anonymity. Taking that implied claim at face value would be irresponsible without more evidence." And blog emptywheel wrote that if true, the tweets "strongly indicate" that "the US government used the grand jury investigation into Aaron's JSTOR downloads as a premise to investigate WikiLeaks."

Until WikiLeaks elaborates on what it intended to say by highlighting the Secret Service's involvement, and provides supporting evidence, it will be difficult to draw any conclusions.

After confirming the authenticity of the tweets, WikiLeaks representative Hrafnsson asked that we contact him later with any further questions. We'll do that and let you know what we find out.

It seems the only thing that's now certain is that criticisms of, and speculation about, the government's handling of the Swartz-Jstor case isn't likely to die down overnight.

CNET's Declan McCullagh contributed to this report.

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Attack at Algeria Gas Plant Heralds New Risks for Energy Development

The siege by Islamic militants at a remote Sahara desert natural gas plant in Algeria this week signaled heightened dangers in the region for international oil companies, at a time when they have been expanding operations in Africa as one of the world's last energy frontiers. (See related story: "Pictures: Four New Offshore Drilling Frontiers.")

As BP, Norway's Statoil, Italy's Eni, and other companies evacuated personnel from Algeria, it was not immediately clear how widely the peril would spread in the wake of the hostage-taking at the sprawling In Amenas gas complex near the Libyan border.

Map by National Geographic

Algeria, the fourth-largest crude oil producer on the continent and a major exporter of natural gas and refined fuels, may not have been viewed as the most hospitable climate for foreign energy companies, but that was due to unfavorable financial terms, bureaucracy, and corruption. The energy facilities themselves appeared to be safe, with multiple layers of security provided both by the companies and by government forces, several experts said. (See related photos: "Oil States: Are They Stable? Why It Matters.")

"It is particularly striking not only because it hasn't happened before, but because it happened in Algeria, one of the stronger states in the region," says Hanan Amin-Salem, a senior manager at the industry consulting firm PFC Energy, who specializes in country risk. She noted that in the long civil war that gripped the country throughout the 1990s, there had never been an attack on Algeria's energy complex. But now, hazard has spread from weak surrounding states, as the assault on In Amenas was carried out in an apparent retaliation for a move by French forces against the Islamists who had taken over Timbuktu and other towns in neighboring Mali. (See related story: "Timbuktu Falls.")

"What you're really seeing is an intensification of the fundamental problem of weak states, and empowerment of heavily armed groups that are really well motivated and want to pursue a set of aims," said Amin-Salem. In PFC Energy's view, she says, risk has increased in Mauritania, Chad, and Niger—indeed, throughout Sahel, the belt that bisects North Africa, separating the Sahara in the north from the tropical forests further south.

On Thursday, the London-based corporate consulting firm Exclusive Analysis, which was recently acquired by the global consultancy IHS, sent an alert to clients warning that oil and gas facilities near the Libyan and Mauritanian borders and in Mauritania's Hodh Ech Chargui province were at "high risk" of attack by jihadis.

"A Hot Place to Drill"

The attack at In Amenas comes at a time of unprecedented growth for the oil industry in Africa. (See related gallery: "Pictures: The Year's Most Overlooked Energy Stories.") Forecasters expect that oil output throughout Africa will double by 2025, says Amy Myers Jaffe, executive director of the energy and sustainability program at the University of California, Davis, who has counted 20 rounds of bidding for new exploration at sites in Africa's six largest oil-producing states.

Oil and natural gas are a large part of the Algerian economy, accounting for 60 percent of government budget revenues, more than a third of GDP and more than 97 percent of its export earnings. But the nation's resources are seen as largely undeveloped, and Algeria has tried to attract new investment. Over the past year, the government has sought to reform the law to boost foreign companies' interests in their investments, although those efforts have foundered.

Technology has been one of the factors driving the opening up of Africa to deeper energy exploration. Offshore and deepwater drilling success in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil led to prospecting now under way offshore in Ghana, Mozambique, and elsewhere. (See related story: "New Oil—And a Huge Challenge—for Ghana.") Jaffe says the Houston-based company Anadarko Petroleum has sought to transfer its success in "subsalt seismic" exploration technology, surveying reserves hidden beneath the hard salt layer at the bottom of the sea, to the equally challenging seismic exploration beneath the sands of the Sahara in Algeria, where it now has three oil and gas operations.

Africa also is seen as one of the few remaining oil-rich regions of the world where foreign oil companies can obtain production-sharing agreements with governments, contracts that allow them a share of the revenue from the barrels they produce, instead of more limited service contracts for work performed.

"You now have the technology to tap the resources more effectively, and the fiscal terms are going to be more attractive than elsewhere—you put these things together and it's been a hot place to drill," says Jaffe, who doesn't see the energy industry's interest in Africa waning, despite the increased terrorism risk. "What I think will happen in some of these countries is that the companies are going to reveal new securities systems and procedures they have to keep workers safe," she says. "I don't think they will abandon these countries."

This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.

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Algeria Hostage Crisis Over, One American Dead

After the Algerian military's final assault on terrorists holding hostages at a gas complex, the four-day hostage crisis is over, but apparently with additional loss of life among the foreign hostages.

One American, Fred Buttaccio of Texas, has been confirmed dead by the U.S. State Department. Two more U.S. hostages remain unaccounted for, with growing concern among U.S. officials that they did not survive.

But another American, Mark Cobb of Corpus Christi, Texas is now confirmed as safe. Sources close to his family say Cobb, who is a senior manager of the facility, is safe and reportedly sent a text message " I'm alive."

Inside Algerian Hostage Crisis, One American Dead Watch Video

American Hostages Escape From Algeria Terrorists Watch Video

In a statement, President Obama said, "Today, the thoughts and prayers of the American people are with the families of all those who were killed and injured in the terrorist attack in Algeria. The blame for this tragedy rests with the terrorists who carried it out, and the United States condemns their actions in the strongest possible terms. ... This attack is another reminder of the threat posed by al Qaeda and other violent extremist groups in North Africa."

According to Algerian state media, 32 militants are dead and a total of 23 hostages perished during the four-day siege of the In Amenas facility in the Sahara. The Algerian Interior Ministry also says 107 foreign nationals who worked at the facility for BP and other firms were rescued or escaped from the al Qaeda-linked terrorists who took over the BP joint venture facility on Wednesday.

The Japanese government says it fears "very grave" news, with multiple casualties among the 10 Japanese citizens working at the In Amenas gas plant.

Five British nationals and one U.K. resident are either deceased or unaccounted for in the country, according to British Foreign Minister William Hague. Hague also said that the Algerians have reported that they are still trying to clear boobytraps from the site.

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NASA planet-hunter is injured and resting

Lisa Grossman, physical sciences reporter

(Image: NASA/Kepler mission/Wendy Stenzel)

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler telescope has put its search for alien Earths on hold while it rests a stressed reaction wheel.

The injured wheel normally helps to control the telescope's orientation, keeping it pointed continuously at the same patch of sky. Kepler stares at the thousands of stars in its field of view to watch for the telltale blinks that occur when a planet crosses in front of its star. It has found nearly 3000 potential planets outside our solar system since its launch in 2009, transforming the field of exoplanet research and raising hopes of someday finding alien life.

When it launched, Kepler had four reaction wheels: three to control its motion along each axis, and one spare. But last July, one wheel stopped turning. If the spacecraft loses a second wheel, the mission is over.

So when another wheel started showing signs of elevated friction on 7 January, the team decided to play it safe. After rotating the spacecraft failed to fix the problem, NASA announced yesterday that they're placing Kepler in safe mode for 10 days to give the wheel a chance to recover.

The hope is that the lubricating oil that helps the wheel's ball bearings run smoothly around a track will redistribute itself during the rest period.

The telescope can't take any science data while in safe mode. But if the wheel recovers on its own, Kepler's extended mission will run until 2016, leaving it plenty of time to make up for the lost days.

"Kepler is a statistical mission," says Charlie Sobeck, Kepler's deputy project manager at NASA's Ames Research Centre in Mountain View, California. "In the long run, as long as we make the observations, it doesn't matter a lot when we make the observations."

Despite the high stakes, the team doesn't seem too worried.

"Each wheel has its own personality, and this particular wheel has been something of a free spirit," Sobeck says. "It's had elevated torques throughout the mission. This one is typical to what we've seen in the past, and if we had four good wheels we probably wouldn't have taken any action."

"I prefer to picture the spacecraft lounging at the shore of the cosmic ocean sipping a Mai Tai so that she'll be refreshed and rejuvenated for more discoveries," wrote Kepler co-investigator Natalie Batalha in an email.

The team will check up on the wheel on 27 January and return to doing science as soon as possible.

There are two exoplanet missions currently being considered for after Kepler is finished, says Doug Hudgins at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. One, TESS (Terrestrial Exoplanet Survey Satellite), would scan the entire sky for planets transiting the stars nearest to the sun. The other, FINESSE (Fast Infrared Exoplanet Spectroscopy Survey Explorer), would take spectra of planets as they passed in front of their stars as a way to probe their atmospheres.

The missions are being evaluated now, and NASA will probably select one this spring, Hudgins says. The winner will launch in 2017.

If Kepler goes down with its reaction wheel, that won't affect which mission wins, he adds. "That's a straight-up competition based on the merits of the two concept study reports."

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Getting the law to work for you

SINGAPORE: The National Trades Union Congress and the Law Society of Singapore have launched a new initiative to educate working people on their legal rights.

The initiative called 'Law Works' will include a series of programmes that will be implemented to reach out to PMEs, working women and freelance professionals.

The year-long campaign will see the publication of a 10-part quick guide and on-site legal clinics.

At the clinics, workers will be able to consult with practising lawyers on specific legal issues.

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said this collaboration is very timely with the recent legislative changes.

These include the Retirement and Re-employment Act which was recently passed and the Employment Act which is currently being reviewed.

Chief Justice Menon said: "Amidst these changes to the labour laws, it is critical that workers be made aware of not only the existing legal position, and equally that they are apprised of such changes.

"The focus of the labour laws is firstly to safeguard the interests of workers by conferring rights upon them, and secondly to enable them to understand their obligations and responsibilities in the workplace."

- CNA/fa

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