Apple cuts iPhone 13 output forecast on chip shortage: report

SAN FRANCISCO, United States - Apple is unlikely to meet production goals for its new iPhone before the holidays because of a global electronic chip shortage, a report said Tuesday. 

The firm had planned to produce 90 million iPhone 13s before the end of the year, but will have to settle with 80 million as suppliers Broadcom and Texas Instruments cannot meet demand, the Bloomberg News said, citing sources familiar with the matter who asked to remain anonymous.

Apple presented a new line of iPhones last month, with four new models, including the iPhone 13 Mini, which sells from $700, and the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which costs $1,100.

"We estimate that overall demand has been robust globally," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said, highlighting strong demand in China and the United States especially. 

"Apple will be running into a 5 million-plus iPhone 13 unit shortage for the holiday season if consumer demand keeps up at this pace," he added.

Chief executive Tim Cook warned during quarterly earnings reports in late July that supply chain constraints would have an even bigger impact on the current quarter than it had in the previous three months. 

He pointed out that electronic chip shortages were affecting all parts of the industry, not just Apple, and stemmed from significantly higher-than-expected demand.

Agence France-Presse

Kanye West puts Wyoming ranch, business sites up for sale

CODY, Wyo. (AP) — Rapper, music producer and clothing entrepreneur Kanye West has put his ranch and business properties in northwestern Wyoming up for sale.

The West Ranch, formerly known as Monster Lake Ranch, went on the market Monday for $11 million. The property sprawls across six square miles (16 square kilometers) of open land and tree-studded hills and outcrops about six miles (10 kilometers) south of Cody.

The property features lakes, a lodge, commercial kitchen, equipment sheds, horse facility, corrals and go-kart track, according to the DBW Realty listing.

The listing came days after West listed his seven commercial properties in Cody for more than $3.2 million, the Cody Enterprise reported.

The ranch, which leases additional land owned by the U.S. government, listed for $13.3 million before West bought it in 2019 though it’s unknown how much he paid for the property. Wyoming law does not provide for public disclosure of real estate sale amounts.

-Associated Press

Denmark to ban violent offenders from night-life zones

COPENHAGEN - Police in Copenhagen have set up four "no go" zones aimed at barring violent offenders from popular night-life areas in a bid to reduce violence in a country known for its low crime rates.

Under a new law, Danish courts can exclude people convicted of violent crime from "night life zones" set up by police, effectively controlling after-dark access to whole streets popular with partygoers.

"We have definitely got a new tool, a tool that affects the few, but which helps the many," Copenhagen police inspector Tommy Laursen told Reuters.

In an early application of the new law, a court in Helsingor last week gave a 24-year-old Dane a five-month prison sentence for violent behaviour.

In addition, he was handed a nine-months ban from visiting pubs, restaurants and places that serve alcohol between midnight and 5 a.m. as weall as being excluded from night-life zones.

In Copenhagen, prosecutors will on Monday use the new law in a violent crime case against a 31-year-old man.

Despite having declined in recent years, violence in bars and clubs is a major contributor to Denmark's violent crime statistics.

Many of those convicted of violence in night life venues are repeat offenders, Laursen said.

Violating a ban, which can last up to two years, will initially result in a fine of 10,000 Danish crowns ($1,500). A second offense means 30 days in prison, Laursen said.

-reuters

Malaysia lifts travel restrictions for fully vaccinated people

KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysia on Sunday lifted interstate and international travel restrictions for residents fully vaccinated against COVID-19, as the country achieved its target of inoculating 90 percent of its adult population.

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said the government has agreed to allow fully vaccinated Malaysians to travel overseas without applying for permission.

The new rules take effect on Monday.

The government is preparing to shift into an endemic COVID-19 phase where it will not impose wide lockdowns again if cases rise, Ismail Sabri told a news conference.

"We have to train ourselves to live with COVID, because COVID may not be eliminated fully," he said.

Nearly 65% of the country's 32 million population, including those aged 12 to 17, were fully vaccinated as of Saturday.

The Southeast Asian nation has recorded 2.3 million coronavirus infections and 27,265 deaths from COVID-19.

(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by David Goodman and William Mallard)

-reuters

India to reopen for tourists from October 15

India will reopen for tourists from October 15 after being closed for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the government said Thursday.

"After considering various inputs, the MHA (home ministry) has decided to begin granting fresh Tourist Visas for foreigners coming to India through chartered flights with effect from October 15, 2021," the home ministry said in a statement.

"Foreign tourists entering into India by flights other than chartered aircraft would be able to do so only with effect from November 15, 2021 on fresh Tourist Visas," it added. 

India suspended all visas for foreigners in March 2020 when the pandemic took off as the government imposed a strict lockdown.

Restrictions on some categories of foreigners such as diplomats and businesspeople were later lifted but tourists remained barred.

Earlier this year India was hit by a severe wave of coronavirus infections with about 400,000 cases and 4,000 deaths every day.

But cases in the country of 1.3 billion people have since slowed sharply to around 20,000 new daily infections and 200 to 300 deaths.

At the same time restrictions on most activities have been lifted.

Agence France-Presse

Martinez on ALDS roster, not in Game 1 lineup for Red Sox

ST. PETERSBURG. Fla. (AP) — Boston slugger J.D. Martinez is on the Red Sox roster but not in the lineup for Game 1 of their AL Division Series against the 

Martinez missed Tuesday night’s win over the New York Yankees in the AL wild-card game because of a sprained left ankle. The best-of-five ALDS was scheduled to start Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Boston manager Alex Cora said Martinez was available off the bench for Game 1.

“Obviously, four at-bats, it’s going to be hard,” Cora said. “He will keep getting treatment. If we need it in a big spot and in a situation that we feel it’s the right one, not only because of his bat, but where he is at physically, we’ll use him.”

Martinez stumbled over second base while heading to the outfield in Sunday’s regular-season finale at Washington.

Because the National League does not use a DH in games played in its stadiums, Martinez was playing right field against the Nationals. He stepped on the bag and twisted the ankle heading out to play defense in the fifth inning.

It was only the seventh game in 2021 that Martinez started in right field. He was in the starting lineup as a DH for 113 games and as the left fielder for 28.

Martinez hit .286 with an AL-leading 42 doubles and 28 homers and 99 RBIs during the regular season.

Tampa Bay has 13 pitchers on its roster that does not include speedy outfielder Brett Phillips. Lefty Ryan Yarbrough, who went 9-7 with a 5.11 ERA in 30 games, including 21 starts, was also left off.

Rays manager Kevin Cash plans to be aggressive in using his bullpen during the series. He said right-hander Drew Rasmussen will start Game 3 or 4, with the other contest being a bullpen day.

Boston also added Game 2 starter Chris Sale, left-hander Martín Pérez and infielder Danny Santana to the ALDS roster.

Sale made nine starts this year after having Tommy John surgery on March 30, 2020.

“It’s been two years trying to get to this point,” Cora said. “All the hard work, all the tears and sweat throughout the process. So we have to take care of him, but it was his turn and we feel comfortable with him.”

Sale said he would be available to work as a reliever later in the series as well.

“There’s no reason to save an arm to go sit on the couch, you know what I mean?” Sale said. “This is all the baseball we have left, and we’re going to get certain points in these series where tomorrow might not come. So if that’s the case and it’s what’s called upon, you know, it’s my job.”

Red Sox right-hander Matt Barnes, who lost his closer role in August, is not on the roster after being active for the wild-card game. Others dropped were catcher Connor Wong, infielder Jonathan Araúz and outfielder Jarren Duran.

Boston outrighted infielder José Iglesias to Triple-A Worcester, reinstated infielder-outfielder Yairo Muñoz from the COVID-19 related injured list and outrighted him to Worcester on Wednesday. Iglesias was not eligible for the postseason roster because he signed with the team after the Aug. 31 cutoff.

Nick Anderson, Tampa Bay’s closer during its run to the World Series last year, failed to make the roster. He didn’t make his 2021 debut until Sept. 13 because of a right elbow injury and struggled in six late-season appearances.

With Boston having several left-handed starting pitchers on its roster, Tampa Bay added right-handed hitting outfielder Jordan Luplow.

The AL East champion Rays lost the World Series in six games to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020.

-Associated Press

Golf: Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau to face off in 'The Match V'

The Feud is now coming to Las Vegas to become The Match V.

Brooks Koepka will square off against nemesis Bryson DeChambeau in a 12-hole match at The Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas on Black Friday, Nov. 26, Golf.com reported Tuesday.

Turner Sports will air the match, as it has the first four, with Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley on the call, per the report. This will be the first of "The Match" series that won't include Phil Mickelson as one of the participants.

DeChambeau foreshadowed the duel during Ryder Cup week.

"I think there may be something fun coming up here moving forward, but I won't speak too much more on that," he said when speaking about himself and Koepka -- to which the latter said he had "no idea" what DeChambeau was talking about.

An official announcement, including stakes, is expected later this week.

The pair buried the hatchet for the Ryder Cup, even embracing after the Americans' win over Team Europe.

Their feud began in 2019 when Koepka criticized DeChambeau's pace of play, and that sparked a series of barbs and social media posts ever since.

DeChambeau sits ranked No. 7 in the world while Koepka is ninth. DeChambeau has career earnings of nearly $26 million, while Koepka has $36.7 million in winnings.

-reuters

Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram suffer worldwide outage

Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms were down across wide swathes of the world Monday. Facebook’s internal systems used by employees also went down.

The company said it was aware that “some people are having trouble accessing (the) Facebook app” and it was working on restoring access. Regarding the internal failures, Adam Mosseri, the head of Instagram, tweeted that it feels like a “snow day.”

The company did not say what might be causing the outage, which began around 11:45 ET. It is normal for websites and apps to suffer outages, though one on a global scale is rare. Users reported being unable to access Facebook in California, New York and Europe.

Doug Madory, director of internet analysis for Kentik Inc., said it appears that the routes Facebook advertises online that tell the entire internet how to reach its properties are not available.

Madory said it looks like the DNS routes that Facebook makes available to the networking world have been withdrawn. The Domain Name System is an integral element of how traffic on the internet is routed. DNS translates an address like “facebook.com” to an IP address like 123.45.67.890. If Facebook’s DNS records have disappeared, no one could find it.

Facebook is going through a separate major crisis after whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook product manager, provided The Wall Street Journal with internal documents that exposed the company’s awareness of harms caused by of its products and decisions. Haugen went public on “60 Minutes” on Sunday.

Haugen also anonymously filed complaints with federal law enforcement alleging that Facebook’s own research shows how it magnifies hate and misinformation, leads to increased polarization and that Instagram, specifically, can harm teenage girls’ mental health.

The Journal’s stories, called “The Facebook Files,” painted a picture of a company focused on growth and its own interests over the public good. Facebook has tried to play down the research. Nick Clegg, the company’s vice president of policy and public affairs, wrote to Facebook employees in a memo Friday that “social media has had a big impact on society in recent years, and Facebook is often a place where much of this debate plays out.”

Twitter, meanwhile, chimed in from the company’s main Twitter account, posting “hello literally everyone” as jokes and memes about the Facebook outage flooded the platform.

-Associated Press

Protesters in Brazil demand Bolsonaro's impeachment

RIO DE JANEIRO - Tens of thousands of Brazilians took to the streets around the country Saturday, once again calling for the ouster of unpopular President Jair Bolsonaro over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, among other issues. 

Large crowds gathered in Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Brasilia and dozens of other towns and cities as part of the "Bolsonaro Out National Campaign," which is backed by a dozen left-wing political parties and labor groups.

Among other issues, the right-wing president has come under stinging criticism for his handling of the pandemic, which has claimed nearly 600,000 lives here.

Hundreds of people marched through the central Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Candelaria, shouting "Bolsonaro out!" which was also emblazoned on several large banners. 

"We're going to get him out. The hope of the people here in the streets is to put pressure on legislators so that they call for impeachment," 69-year-old retired professor Elizabeth Simoes told AFP. 

More than 100 requests for the impeachment of Bolsonaro have been filed with the Chamber of Deputies, but its leader Arthur Lira, a government ally, has refused to take any of them up. 

The Supreme Court has ordered several investigations into Bolsonaro and his aides, including for spreading false information.

In Sao Paulo, tens of thousands of people gathered Saturday afternoon on the central Paulista Avenue, including former cabinet minister Ciro Gomes.

"Bolsonaro is destroying the national economy," said the center-left politician, calling for unity. "He fills Brazil with shame abroad and is responsible for the death of almost 600,000 Brazilians" from COVID-19.

Meanwhile, hundreds of demonstrators gathered along the Esplanade of Ministries in Brasilia.

Local media counted protests in 24 of Brazil's 27 states, and in 84 cities, including 14 state capitals.

Red flags of the Workers' Party of former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, or Lula, could be seen Saturday, along with Brazilian flags and the signs of several other left-wing and centrist parties often seen at protests against the far-right Bolsonaro.

- 'Can't stand this government' -

In recent months, protests led by leftist movements have demanded Bolsonaro's impeachment due to his mismanagement of the pandemic. But Saturday's demonstrations were also against a hike in food and fuel prices, as well as for relief for the 14.1 million unemployed people throughout the country.

"The population is going hungry, and we can't stand this government any longer," said Isadora Lessa, 22, in Rio.

"What is the importance of being here? That he knows he doesn't have unanimity, that he's going to have a hard time getting elected again," said Marcelo Werneck, who joined the protests in Rio in memory of the "friends and family" who died of COVID-19.

"If he doesn't face an impeachment, he loses the election in 2022," Werneck added.

Besieged by judicial investigations and the economic crisis, Bolsonaro's popularity has plummeted in recent months to 22 percent, its lowest level since he took office in January 2019.

But backers of the president have also made themselves known in recent weeks, as around 125,000 of them gathered in Brasilia and Sao Paulo September 7 in a show of support for Bolsonaro. 

A mid-September opinion poll by the Datafolha Institute found that Bolsonaro has 26 percent support compared with Lula's 44 percent, just one year ahead of the presidential vote. 

Agence France-Presse

Expo 2020 Dubai kicks off with lavish opening ceremony

DUBAI—The first world fair to be held in the Middle East, Expo 2020 Dubai, opened on Thursday with a lavish ceremony of fireworks, music and messaging about the power of global collaboration for a more sustainable future.

Stars headlining the opening ceremony, which was projected in public spaces around the UAE, included Italian tenor singer Andrea Bocelli, British singer Ellie Goulding, Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Saudi singer Mohammed Abdu.

Dubai, the region's tourism, trade and business hub, is hoping to boost its economy by attracting 25 million business and tourist visits to the world fair, which has been built from scratch on 4.3 square kilometers of desert.

Many countries and companies are also looking to the expo - the first major global event open to visitors since the coronavirus pandemic - to boost trade and investment. 

The full expo site will open its doors to exhibitors from almost 200 countries on Friday after being delayed for a year by the pandemic. Chosen eight years ago to follow the 2015 Expo in Milan, Italy, the event cost around $6.8 billion.

Dubai says it wants the Expo, an exhibition of culture, technology and architecture under the banner "Connecting Minds and Creating the Future", to be a demonstration of ingenuity, and a place where global challenges such as climate change, conflict and economic growth can be addressed together.

The event will probably contend with a global reluctance to travel and many events will be streamed live online. But Expo still officially expects to attract more visits than Milan received and more than twice the population of the UAE.

"We are quite confident...that by being responsible in how we manage the situation with COVIV but also in how we put forward an exciting program for visitors, we will hopefully be able to thread the needle by opening up but remaining at the same time conservative and keep public safety first and foremost," Reem Al Hashimy, Expo 2020 Dubai's Director General told Reuters.

The Gulf state has relaxed most coronavirus restrictions but Expo requires face masks to be worn and for visitors over 18 to be vaccinated against, or test negative for, COVID-19.

Before the pandemic, the consultancy EY forecast that the Expo would over the course of its six months contribute 1.5% of the UAE's gross domestic product. (Writing by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

-reuters