Portuguese ex-PM returns before judge in tax fraud case

AFP

November 23, 2014, 8:05 pm

Portuguese ex-PM returns before judge in tax fraud case

Lisbon (AFP) - Portugal's former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates returned before a magistrate on Sunday after spending a second night in custody following his shock arrest as part of an inquiry into tax fraud, corruption and money laundering.

Socrates, 57, who has been held since his arrest Friday as he arrived at Lisbon airport on a flight from Paris, made a first appearance in court on Saturday to answer questions about suspicious money transfers and banking operations.

The arrest was the latest bombshell in Portuguese politics, coming hard on the heels of another scandal that cost Interior Minister Miguel Macedo his job.

Macedo resigned on November 16 after several senior government officials were arrested as part of a probe into money laundering and influence-peddling around so-called "golden visas".

"It's a sad day for Portugal and the Portuguese," commented conservative former prime minister Pedro Santana Lopes on Saturday, expressing the wish that "justice will be done" if wrongdoing is proven.

The investigation netting Socrates has also implicated three others who appeared before a judge on Friday, according to the prosecutor.

More than 60 police, customs officers and justice officials carried out raids at several unspecified locations ahead of the arrests.

Socrates' arrest came at a bad time for Lisbon Mayor Antonio Costa, a close ally who was named late Saturday as the main opposition party's secretary general following a ballot in which he was the only candidate.

Costa said in a message to party stalwarts before his election: "We are all certainly in shock over the news (but) we mustn't let personal feelings of solidarity and friendship impede the political action of the (party)."

Portuguese ex-PM Socrates arrested in corruption probe

Portugal's Socialist Party candidate and caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates reacts during the general election in Lisbon June 5, 2011.

CREDIT: REUTERS/HUGO CORREIA

(Reuters) - Portuguese police have arrested former Socialist prime minister Jose Socrates and three other people in an investigation of suspected tax fraud, corruption and money-laundering, the Prosecutor General's office said on Saturday.

The detention, the first involving a former premier in Portugalunder democracy, follows arrests of other high-ranking officials or prominent people in separate inquiries in the past few months as prosecutors intensify a fight against corruption in a country notorious for its slow justice system.

Socrates was brought before a criminal judge for questioning on Saturday afternoon after his apartment was searched. The prosecutor's office said the questioning and search were part of an investigation of suspicious banking operations and money transfers, but would not reveal more details.

It was not clear if the investigation was linked to Socrates' time as prime minister between 2005 and 2011.

Police arrested Socrates, 57, at Lisbon airport late on Friday as he arrived from Paris. He spent the night in a police station, according to a police official. The other three arrested individuals are linked to Socrates.

Socrates resigned as prime minister in the middle of his second four-year term in 2011 as an escalating debt crisis forced him to request an international bailout, which imposed painful austerity on Portugal.

His center-left Socialist party leads in opinion polls ahead of next year's general election.

Socialist leader Antonio Costa told party militants in a message that "we are all certainly shocked" with the detention, but added that "feelings of solidarity and personal friendship" should not influence the party's policy or interfere in any way with the independence of the investigation.

"The party has to focus on mobilizing Portugal in affirming an alternative to this government and its policy," he wrote.

A snap election in 2011 brought to power the current center-right ruling coalition, which introduced the unpopular austerity measures such as tax hikes and cuts in wages and pensions.

After stepping down, Socrates left for Paris, where he attended a university course. He returned in 2013 to become a regular commentator on RTP state television.

During his premiership, Socrates weathered several investigations, including allegations that he misused his position as environment minister in 2002 to allow the construction of a shopping mall. He denied wrongdoing and faced no formal charges.

Prosecutors have detained and are investigating several prominent people in separate corruption and fraud cases.

Last week, the head of Portugal's immigration service, Manuel Palos, was arrested along with several other officials on suspicions of corruption linked to the issuing of so-called "golden visas" to wealthy foreign investors. The inquiry also forced Interior Minister Miguel Macedo to resign.

(Editing by Stephen Powell)

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The Incredible Story Of How Google Glass Helped A Blind 13-Year-Old Get His Vision Back

WMMT-TV

Google Glass has already proven itself useful when it comes to the medical industry. Some doctors, for example, have been using Glass in the operating room to assist with surgery. Now, Google's wearable display is being used to help a teenager losing his vision see the world around him.

Michigan teenager Ben Yonnatan was diagnosed with a disorder called retinal dystrophy, which slowly deteriorates one's vision over time.

In an interview with local Michigan news station WWMT Newschannel 3 (via 9to5Google), Yonnatan described how Google Glass has helped him expand his field of view.

It only took about four months for Yonnatan's field of view to become heavily restricted. In fact, his field of view became so confined that it was like looking through a straw, his mother Erin Brown Conroy told WWMT.

Google Glass' tiny screen is small enough to fit in this small window. With the device's camera Yonnatan is actually able to see more than he normally would since Google Glass's camera can capture a larger field of view than Yonnatan's eyes currently can.

Doctors charted Yonnatan's vision both with and without Google Glass, and you can see the difference is extraordinary:

WMMT-TV

"The first time I put it on, I was like, 'Whoa, whoa whoa!'" Yonnatan said to the Michigan news channel. "I could see seven people! I took it off and I could only see one person with one eye."

Check out the full video at WWMT-TV's website here.

SEE ALSO:  Here's What I Learned About Google Glass After Hanging Out With A Bunch Of Early Adopters

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-glass-helps-blind-teenager-2014-11#ixzz3JdSGcYUT

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/google-glass-helps-blind-teenager-2014-11#ixzz3JdRWR2xj

Watch This Mesmerizing Time-Lapse Of All The Flights Across The North Atlantic In 24 Hours

This amazing visualization shows Transatlantic traffic over a 24-hour period taken from a day in August last year and shows 2,524 flights crossing the North Atlantic.

Produced by Devan Joseph. Video courtesy of NATS.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/air-flight-traffic-planes-north-atlantic-2014-11#ixzz3JdO5pT9U

A Japanese Construction Company Wants To Build Colonies Spiraled Into The Ocean

© Shimuzu Corporation/AFP Shimuzu Corporation

Shimizu Corporation says about 5,000 people could live and work in a modern-day Atlantis.

Forget colonies in space, one Japanese construction company says in the future human beings could live in huge complexes that corkscrew deep into the ocean.

Blue sky thinkers say about 5,000 people could live and work in a modern-day Atlantis, a sphere 500 meters (1,500 feet) in diameter that houses hotels, residential spaces, and commercial complexes.

The vast globe would float at the surface of the sea but could be submerged in bad weather, down the center of a gigantic spiral structure that plunges to depths of up to 4,000 meters.

The spiral would form a 15 kilometer (nine mile) path to a building on the ocean floor, which could serve as a resource development factory that could collect rare metals and rare earths.

Visionaries at Shimizu, a construction company, even think they could use micro organisms called "methanogens" to convert carbon dioxide captured at the surface into methane.

The sci-fi concept is the work of several organizations, including Tokyo University and the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology.

It envisages using the wide difference in water temperatures between the top and the bottom of the ocean for generating power.

Shimizu says the Ocean Spiral would cost three trillion yen ($25 billion), and all the technology could be in place by 2030.

It is the third such project unveiled by the company after a floating metropolis and solar power ring around the moon.

"The company in cooperation with many organizations has spent two years to design the project working with technologies we think will be plausible in the future," a Shimizu spokesman said.

In 2012, another Japanese construction firm, Obayashi Corp., said it could execute an out-of-this-world plan to put tourists in space within 40 years by building an elevator that stretches a quarter of the way to the moon.

Obayashi said it could use carbon nanotube technology, which is more than 20 times stronger than steel, to build a lift shaft 96,000 kilometers (roughly 60,000 miles) above the Earth.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-japan-sees-modern-atlantis-spiral-deep-into-ocean-2014-11#ixzz3JdMrvqT5

MUNSTER: Apple's iPhone 6 Sales Are Going Be Stronger For Even Longer Than People Are Expecting

REUTERS/Yuya Shino

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster has raised his price target on Apple to $135, up from $120. 

Apple is trading at $114.67, up 43% year-to-date.

Munster is the just latest analyst to up his price target. This week Walter Piecyk at BTIG raised his price target, Morgan Stanley's Katy Huberty raised her target, and the Apple analyst at Oppenheimer raised the price target. 

Munster is raising his target because he believes the two latest iPhone models will sell in large numbers for longer than people expect. 

He says Apple still can't meet demand for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. He estimates that 58% of iPhone 6/6 Plus models are in stock at US Apple stores. That's up from 6% a month ago, but it still means that Apple is missing 42% of the iPhone 6/6 Plus models in its stores.

Anecdotally, employees at Business Insider have tried to order the iPhone 6 Plus and experienced difficulty finding it in stock in the mid-range, 64GB tier. This could be limiting sales as people wait to get the exact model they want.  

Munster also says that online orders are stable but experiencing delays. An iPhone 6 will ship seven to 10 days after being ordered. An iPhone 6 Plus will ship three to four weeks after being ordered online. 

These supply problems will not hurt this quarter's numbers, Munster says. He doesn't think Apple would have forecast the revenue it did if it thought it couldn't make enough iPhones. Apple is expecting $63.5 billion to $66.5 billion this quarter. Because of the supply issues, Munster doesn't think Apple is going to demolish its numbers; rather it will either hit them or just barely beat them.

Still, Munster sees the supply problem as a positive. If someone wants an iPhone but it's not in stock immediately, that person is not going to buy an Android phone; that person will just wait until it's in stock. As a result, Munster believes the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will continue to sell very well into the first three months of next year as people continue to buy the phone.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/analyst-raises-price-target-2014-11#ixzz3JdLGy7go