Iran ready to take action if Israel attacks

Iran is ready to take “real and decisive” action if Israel attacks its nuclear facilities, a senior Iranian parliamentary official said on Monday.

The remarks by Alaed- din Broujerdi, the head of Iran’s parliamentary committee on national security and foreign policy, came after U.S. Vice President Joe Biden signaled that Washington would not try to prevent any such Israeli assault.

“Both the U.S. and Israel are aware of the consequence of an erroneous decision,” Broujerdi told reporters at the Iranian Embassy in Tokyo.

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Fans line-up in Asia 2 days before new iPhone launch

Seeking to be one of the world's first to grab the new-generation iPhone, fanatical Apple fans around Asia are queuing up two days before its launch, undiscouraged by rain or freezing temperatures.


The July 11 launch will be the first chance for Asian consumers to own an iPhone, and related websites have been swamped with inquiries and early orders.

In Japan, one of the world's most advanced mobile markets, about 20 people were lined up outside Softbank Corp's flag ship mobile store in Tokyo on Wednesday morning, with a sign at the head of the queue reading "We Love iPhone".

"The big appeal (of the iPhone) is that this is an Apple product," said Hiroyuki Sano, a 24-year-old graduate student who early on Tuesday arrived in rainy Tokyo from Nagoya, 225 miles west of the capital, to be first in line.

He will turn 25 on Thursday while waiting to get his hands on the high-end version of the iPhone with 16 gigabytes of memory. Apple also offers an entry-level version with an 8 gigabyte memory.

"I've told my professor I was going to go buy an iPhone, and he gave me permission," said Sano, wearing a T-shirt with an Apple logo. "He is an Apple-lover too, and he sent me off cheerfully."

The long-anticipated 3G iPhone, which has faster Web links than its predecessor and supports third-party applications such as games and email, will debut in Japan, Hong Kong, Australia, and New Zealand on Friday as part of the global launch in 22 countries.

The original iPhone was only available in the United States and Europe, and the next-generation model is expected to go on sale in 70 countries by the end of the year.

Shares of Apple gained 2.5 percent on Tuesday ahead of the launch. Softbank shares rose 1.9 percent on Wednesday.

Softbank, Japan's third-biggest mobile carrier, will start selling iPhones at its flagship store at 7 a.m. on Friday (2200 GMT Thursday) and expand sales nationwide at noon.

Targeting a far bigger market with its new iPhone, Apple slashed the handset price and is allowing carriers to subsidize the phone this time around, making it easier for users to bring home the device.

Research firm Enterbrain said 6.7 percent of 1,200 people it surveyed in Japan wanted to buy an iPhone immediately.

WORLD'S FIRST

Four New Zealanders with deck chairs, sleeping bags and a small tent started queuing on a chilly Tuesday night outside the Auckland shop of Vodafone, which will launch the iPhone at 12:01 a.m. Friday (1201 GMT Thursday), the first in the world.

"I'm really just doing it to be able to say that I'm the first one in the world with one of these phones," 22-year-old student Jonny Gladwell told the New Zealand Herald.

Vodafone, New Zealand's top mobile carrier, is selling the phone for as little as NZ$199 ($150) in the country if consumers sign up for a two-year contract. Demand for pricing details was so heavy it crashed Vodafone's New Zealand website on Tuesday.

In Hong Kong, Hutchison Telecom International was flooded by 60,000 online applications over the weekend from consumers who are hoping to grab one of just 500 phones on sale.

A number of the more desperate would-be users pleaded online they needed the iPhone to appease demanding wives or stressed it was their birthday, according to Hong Kong media.

The only woman in the Tokyo queue said she was securing places in line with her co-workers so that her company, Ubiquitous Entertainment Inc, can own iPhones and develop content for the device.

Despite the hype, analysts say Japan's 108 million mobile subscribers who are already frequent users of Web browsing and email on 3G networks might not be easily wowed by the iPhone.

Most of the people in the Tokyo queue told Reuters they plan to buy the device as their second cellphone.

"We can expect certain demand from core Apple fans and others, but there will be users who would hesitate about buying the iPhone because of the high monthly charges of some 8,000 yen," said Hironobu Sawake, a JPMorgan senior analyst in Tokyo.

"Even though there will be other features that are more attractive than ordinary phones, the fact that the iPhone does not offer some features that are available on most handsets could turn off some users too," he said.

Tokyo taxis no longer a haven for smokers

Once smoker-friendly Japan got less sympathetic to tobacco lovers on Monday when a ban on lighting up in Tokyo taxis went into effect, part of a nationwide trend. Two Tokyo taxi groups instituted the ban out of concern over lawsuits from drivers suffering the effects of second-hand smoke and in response to demands from passengers.

"There were lots of complaints from passengers about the smell," said Tokyo Taxi Association spokesman Keiichi Sato.

Japan was once a haven for smokers but a growing number of municipalities and companies have banned smoking on the streets and at the workplace in recent years.

A Tokyo court in 2005 rejected drivers' demands for compensation for health damage from second-hand smoke, but ruled that taxi operators should consider ways to protect drivers.

Some Tokyo smokers said they opposed the latest move.

"As a matter of free competition, I think there should be taxis where it's OK to smoke," said Masayuki Oda, a 41-year-old insurance company employee.

"Sometimes I used to catch a cab just to have a cigarette," added the pack-a-day smoker.

Others, though, were resigned.

"It's getting harder to find a place to smoke, but it can't be helped. It's bad for your health," said Rie Owashi, 25, who works in a traditional "ryotei" Japanese restaurant, where she said once ubiquitous ashtrays are now supplied only on request.

For passengers who can't hold out, Tokyo drivers will carry tiny portable ashtrays and pull over at a safe place to let their customers have a smoke, the Tokyo Taxi Association's Sato said.

One 50-something taxi driver who confessed to a three-pack-a day habit said he'd cut late night riders a break.

"Late at night, many people have been drinking and want to smoke, so I'll let them," he said.

The proportion of Japanese adults who smoke has slipped to 26 percent from 34 percent a decade ago and a peak of 49 percent in 1966, Japan Tobacco said last October.

About half of Japan's taxis are now smoke-free, Kyodo news agency reported, adding similar steps were planned elsewhere but faced passenger opposition in some places including the western metropolis of Osaka.

article source: www.reuters.com