US tornadoes kill 35, millions brace for more

At least 35 people were killed in tornadoes that ravaged neighborhoods across six states, US media said, but Mother Nature was not done yet and was threatening to unleash hail the size of baseballs.
In hard-hit Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, at least 17 people were killed Monday, CNN television said. Another 18 were reported dead in Arkansas, Iowa and Oklahoma on Sunday.
But forecasters warned more brutal weather was set to hit, affecting an estimated 70 million people.
The National Weather Service said that "severe thunderstorms" were expected in eastern and southern Mississippi, western Alabama and extreme eastern Louisiana.
It also forecast several tornadoes, some of them "intense," baseball-sized hail and damaging winds.
Among the dead was University of Alabama student John Servati, who perished saving his girlfriend from a wall that fell and would have otherwise crushed her, The Clarion-Ledger reported.
"I called my coach when I found out this morning; we just kind of balled for a moment," high school friend Colton Fremont said.
"It was surreal to hear one of my best swimming friends I've had my entire life is gone just like that."
People in Tupelo, Mississippi sifted through the rubble of their destroyed homes and businesses.
Some grilled hotdogs and hamburgers to hand out for free to those in need, while youths helped remove debris and fallen tree limbs from elderly people's homes and yards.
"I am just overwhelmed -- the damage is overwhelming, of course, but the outpouring of people to lend a hand and give out water and food, it's just tremendous," said Denise Hardin of the Tupelo Housing Authority that manages many neighborhood properties.
The tornado that ripped through Louisville, Mississippi was given a preliminary rating of at least EF4 by national forecasters.
At 166-200 miles (265-320 kilometers) per hour, that would make the storm one of the strongest to strike the United States this year.

For Apple Inc's iPhone, the Best Is Yet to Come

Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) reported a huge earnings beat this week, with EPS coming in 14% ahead of the average analyst estimate. The iPhone was by far the biggest driver of Apple's strong performance.
Fortunately for Apple shareholders, iPhone sales and earnings growth is likely to continue at a strong pace in the next few years. Apple is attracting plenty of new users, and a larger-screened iPhone 6 should accelerate that trend, while also driving a major replacement cycle.
Most importantly, Apple's iPhone product roadmap positions it well for strong growth in China in the next few years. Larger-screened phones should help Apple gain share from Android among wealthy Chinese consumers. Meanwhile, as lower-cost phones become available through top carrier China Mobile (NYSE: CHL  ) , sales will probably surge.
The iPhone is crushing sales expectations
Last quarter, Apple sold 43.7 million iPhones, up 17% year-over-year. This set a new March-quarter record. iPhone revenue rose 14% or more than $3.1 billion, which accounted for more than 100% of Apple's total revenue growth last quarter.
Apple's iPhone sales total came in way ahead of what analysts expected. In a survey of 32 analysts (20 Wall Street professionals and 12 "independents") conducted by Philip Elmer-DeWitt of Fortune, the average iPhone sales estimate was 38.2 million units. The highest estimate was 42.5 million: still more than 1 million units short of Apple's actual sales tally.
Apple executives explained on the earnings call that the iPhone strength is broad-based. Apple fans are continuing to buy the new iPhone 5s in droves (it now accounts for more than 20% of all iPhone usage), but the iPhone 5c and the older iPhone 4S are also selling well. Apple estimated that more than 50% of iPhone activations in the last 6 months came from new iPhone users.
iPhone sales in China hit a new quarterly record, driven in part by the addition of China Mobile as an iPhone carrier partner. However, that was not the whole story. Strong sales of the cheaper iPhone 4S -- which is not available through China Mobile -- also contributed in a big way.
The China opportunity is growing
Most signs are pointing toward Apple releasing a new iPhone (presumably the iPhone 6) with a 4.7" or 4.8" screen later this year. Apple may also add a "phablet" with an even bigger screen within the next year. Larger screen sizes have been popular in China, and so Apple could significantly improve its competitive position there with a bigger iPhone.
Furthermore, Apple clearly saw some sales lift last quarter from its recent agreement with China Mobile, which is the world's largest wireless carrier. However, the short-term sales lift pales in comparison to the long-term opportunity at China Mobile.
First, Apple's iPhone is one of the first devices to be promoted for China Mobile's new LTE service. China Mobile is in the midst of expanding LTE from just a handful of key cities at the beginning of 2014 to (hopefully) hundreds of cities by the end of the year. As LTE service improves, Apple's sales through China Mobile should rise.
Second, most Chinese consumers cannot afford to buy a top-of-the line iPhone, which can cost the equivalent of nearly $1000. That's why Apple has seen such strong sales of the older iPhone 4S in China and other developing markets. However, the iPhone 4S does not have LTE and it doesn't work with China Mobile's 3G network either.
When the next iPhone comes out, Apple will probably stick to its policy of slashing the price on its older models. That will move the LTE-equipped iPhone 5c to a more affordable price point at China Mobile. (Apple took a step down this road last month by putting an 8GB iPhone 5c on sale in China at roughly 10% off the price of the 16GB version.) This will make Apple competitive in a huge market segment that it's not competing in today.
Foolish bottom line
Today, Apple is fighting in the smartphone market with one arm tied behind its back. It doesn't have a big-screen iPhone yet, let alone a phablet. It can't sell its current entry-level phone at China Mobile -- the world's largest carrier -- because of compatibility issues. Lastly, the China Mobile LTE rollout, which is one of the biggest long-term iPhone growth catalysts, is still in its early stages.
In spite of this, Apple's iPhone posted double-digit growth for the 3rd time in the last 4 quarters. With Apple set to fix some of its weak points in the smartphone market later this year and into 2015, the iPhone is positioned for even stronger growth going forward. This momentum should carry Apple stock higher as well.Is this incredible product Apple's next growth driver?If you thought the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad were amazing, just wait until you see this. One hundred of Apple's top engineers are busy building one in a secret lab. And an ABI Research report predicts 485 million of them could be sold over the next decade. But you can invest in it right now... for just a fraction of the price of AAPL stock. Click here to get the full story in this eye-opening new report.

West prepares Russia sanctions amid fears of Ukraine invasion

sanctions on Russia on Monday over the escalating crisis in east Ukraine, as Western leaders fear Moscow is preparing to send in troops.
The Group of Seven top economies and the European Union signalled they would step up economic pressure on Moscow early next week as tensions spiked over the kidnapping of a team of international military observers by pro-Kremlin rebels.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk claimed Russia violated his country's airspace seven times overnight with an aim "to provoke" Ukraine into starting a war.
US Secretary of State John Kerry told his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, that Washington was concerned about "provocative" troop movements along its border with Ukraine and its support for the separatists, which he said "are undermining stability, security and unity in Ukraine".
Yatsenyuk cut short a visit to the Vatican as concern grew that the tens of thousands of Russian troops conducting military drills on the border could soon be ordered to invade.
But Moscow denied any transgression by its warplanes, with Lavrov calling for "urgent measures" to calm the crisis, which has plunged East-West relations to their lowest point since the Cold War.
A Western diplomat warned: "We no longer exclude a Russian military intervention in Ukraine in the coming days."
The diplomatic source noted that Russia's UN envoy, Vitaly Churkin, "has been recalled urgently to Moscow" for consultations.
- 'Human shield' -
Meanwhile, international efforts were underway to secure the release of a 13-member mission from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe held hostage by pro-Russian militants in the flashpoint city of Slavyansk.
The chief of the insurgents' self-styled "Republic of Donetsk", Denis Pushilin, accused them of being "NATO spies" and said they would only be released in a prisoner swap for militants detained by Ukrainian forces.
As indignant Western powers demanded their release, Russia's envoy to the OSCE said Moscow would "take all possible steps in this case".
"We believe that these people should be released as soon as possible," said Andrei Kelin, Russia's envoy to the OSCE.
Russian's foreign ministry added that Moscow was "taking measures" to resolve the situation, but blamed the Ukrainian authorities for the hostage crisis.
"They were invited by the Ukrainian authorities" and their safety "rests fully with the receiving side", the foreign ministry in Moscow said.
The OSCE observers were sent to Ukraine to monitor an April 17 accord signed in Geneva between Russia, Ukraine, the US and EU that was meant to take the heat out of the crisis in the ex-Soviet republic.
An OSCE spokeswoman at the group's Vienna headquarters told AFP there were eight monitors from the mission: four Germans, a Dane, a Pole, a Swede and a Czech.
Poland and the Czech Republic both strongly condemned the kidnapping and urged "all parties involved in the conflict to undertake the necessary steps" for their release.
The monitors were accompanied by five Ukrainian army personnel, said Kiev's defence ministry.
Speaking to reporters in Rome, Yatsenyuk said the detention was "unbelievable and unacceptable".
"This is another proof and evidence that these so-called peaceful protesters with Russian ideas are terrorists," he said.
Ukraine's own secret services said one of those detained "urgently" needed medical help.
The hostages were being held in "inhuman conditions" and were likely to be used as "a human shield effectively terrorising the whole international community", said the Kiev authorities.
- Fresh sanctions -
As the West and Russia traded barbs, the G7 group agreed on the need for further sanctions on the government of President Vladimir Putin.
In a joint statement, the G7 consisting of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the US said it would "move swiftly to impose additional sanctions on Russia".
"These sanctions will be coordinated and complementary, but not necessarily identical. US sanctions could come as early as Monday," a senior US administration official said.
The US and EU have already targeted Putin's inner circle with visa and asset freezes and imposed sanctions on a key Russian bank.
US officials said the next round would target "individuals with influence on the Russian economy, such as energy and banking" and could be bolstered if the situation escalated.
EU sources in Brussels said senior diplomats from the 28-member European bloc would also hold talks Monday to consider new sanctions.
An EU diplomat said a list adding 15 people to the 55 Russians and Ukrainians already blacklisted by the EU had been approved in principle.
- 'Choose a peaceful resolution' -
The crisis heightened after Russia refused to accept the legitimacy of Kiev's new pro-EU government, which came to power after four months of street protests forced the ouster of the Kremlin-backed president, Viktor Yanukovych.
Last month, Moscow annexed Ukraine's peninsula of Crimea after deploying troops, sparking international outrage.
While President Barack Obama has ruled out sending US or NATO forces into Ukraine, Washington has begun deploying 600 US troops to bolster NATO's defences in nearby eastern European states.
Ukraine has stepped up its offensive against insurgents they claim are supported by Moscow, who have seized towns in the east of the country.
Ukrainian army units are besieging Slavyansk with sporadic fighting at checkpoints but authorities have pledged a measured response to avoid civilian casualties.
The insurgents have also conducted their own operations. On Friday, they blew up an army helicopter on the ground with a rocket-propelled grenade, wounding the pilot.
Lavrov has claimed the push against rebels was part of a US plot to "seize" Ukraine for its own "geopolitical ambitions".
But the White House has urged Moscow to "choose a peaceful resolution to the crisis" by implementing the Geneva deal, which calls for "illegal armed groups" to lay down weapons.
Earlier Saturday, Moscow denied reports that Obama and Putin were no longer talking, saying they remain in touch.

Lamborghini Urus SUV to be assembled in Slovakia

Lamborghini is known for many, many things. Beautiful, exotic and expressive styling, extreme performance and eye-watering prices are Lambo hallmarks. But the Raging Bull is perhaps best known for building its cars by hand... in Slovakia?

No, it's known for building its cars in Italy. But with the Urus SUV, which is already a departure (although not an unprecedented one) from your traditional Lamborghini, the brand could move construction outside the boot-shaped country, and east, into the former Soviet state.

The move will see the Urus, which will ride on a modified version of the Volkswagen Group's MLB platform, screwed together alongside the VW Touareg, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Bentley's eventual SUV at VAG's Bratislava factory. In terms of consolidating production in one factory, it's clearly a clever move. Still, we wonder if setting up Urus production outside of the Sant'Agata factory and in the sprawling Bratislava facility won't lessen the specialness inherent in Lamborghini products.

According to Automotive News Europe, the Urus should start rolling out of the plant in 2017.

With A3, Audi stages coup on the world stage

For the second time in a decade of the World Car of the Year awards ceremony, an Audi has bagged the top honour.
Barely on the market in the US for a fortnight, the A3 – which has been on sale in Europe for months already – defeated the BMW 4 Series and Mazda 3 for the title, as determined by a panel of 69 automotive journalists from 22 countries. It was not a foretold victory, if the faint pause evinced by the award presenter (who had no knowledge of the award recipient’s identity) was any indication. Audi’s first victory at the competition was in 2005, when that year’s A6 sedan was crowned the original World Car of the Year. It is the sixth time that a model from the Volkswagen Group has taken the honour.
The A3 shares underpinnings with last year’s award winner, the seventh-generation Volkswagen Golf.
Scott Keogh, president of Audi of America, accepted the award on the manufacturer’s behalf, saying that the A3 “represents what Audi does really well.”
It was the second time that the Mazda 3 made it to the round of three, only to be snubbed. Most recently it lost out to the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray as North American Car of the Year.
The BMW i3 electric car still managed to sweep two categories: World Green Car and World Car Design of the Year. In the former category, the i3 eked out a victory over the Audi A3 Sportback G-tron and E-gas, as well as the Volkswagen XL1 — BBC Autos’ pick for Most Fascinating Green Car of 2013. In the design category, the i3’s figure trumped those of the Mazda 3 and 2015 Mercedes-Benz C-Class.
Perhaps the most controversial selection was of the Porsche 911 GT3 as World Performance Car. The hot GT3 was recently subject to an automaker-mandated recall to prevent it from becoming too hot, after two already caught fire. The Ferrari 458 Speciale and Chevrolet Corvette Stingray played debutantes.
In the newly created World Luxury Car category, the semi-autonomous Mercedes-Benz S-Class sedan was recognised, beating out the Bentley Flying Spur and Range Rover Sport.

Tetris anniversary marked with game on skyscraper

Hundreds of Tetris fans had a little fun Saturday with a big version of the classic video game.
The Philadelphia skyscraper-sized version created a spectacle against the night sky that organizers hoped inspired onlookers and players to think about the possibilities of technology.
The 29-story Cira Centre, which has hundreds of LED lights embedded in its glass facade, normally displays colorful geometric patterns at night. On Saturday, images of supersized shapes "fell" on two sides of the mirrored tower as competitors used joysticks to manoeuvr them into place.
It wasn't the first time Tetris has been played on a building. But the 100,000-square-foot "screen" — which includes the north and south faces of the structure — could be a record.
City resident Sam Robinson, 30, said he signed up on a whim for the lottery to play because he figured "it would be cool to play the world's largest game of Tetris."
"It has been probably 15 years since I played Tetris last on a Game Boy, and it's much different playing on the side of building that's a half-mile away," he said. "Everything's happening so quick."
The spectacle kicked off a citywide series of events called Philly Tech Week. It also celebrated the upcoming 30th anniversary of Tetris, a game revered as the epitome of elegance and simplicity, said Frank Lee, an associate professor of digital media at Drexel University.
Lee, a game designer who oversaw creation of the giant display, said putting it on an office building was like making a huge virtual campfire.
"This project began as a personal love letter to the games that I loved when I was a child - Pong last year, Tetris this year. But it ended up as a way of uniting the city of Philadelphia," Lee told the crowd.
Lee already holds the Guinness World Record for the world's largest architectural video game display for playing Pong on one side of the Cira Centre last year. Pong, the granddaddy of all video games, is an electronic version of paddleball developed by Atari in 1972.
Tetris, created by Russian computer programmer Alexey Pajitnov in 1984, challenges players to rotate and arrange falling shapes into complete rows.
It became a global phenomenon in the late 1980s after game designer Henk Rogers, who had seen Tetris at a trade show in Las Vegas, acquired the rights and struck a deal to put it on Nintendo's original Game Boy.
Rogers, who was among the players on Saturday in Philadelphia, said he can't believe the longevity of Tetris, which decades later continues to mesmerize players on more than 30 platforms.
"If a game lasts a year, that's amazing," said Rogers, now managing director of The Tetris Co. "They usually go out of style very quickly."
Rogers said several new Tetris products and initiatives are planned for release around its June 6 anniversary. He declined to discuss details.

Navy rescues family with sick baby from disabled sailboat hundreds of miles off Mexican coast

SAN DIEGO - U.S. sailors rescued a family with an ill 1-year-old baby from a disabled sailboat hundreds of miles off the Mexican coast and were headed Sunday to San Diego to get the girl medical treatment.
The girl, along with her parents and 3-year-old sister, were helped onto an inflatable raft and then taken aboard the USS Vandegrift at 8 a.m. Sunday. The baby girl was in stable condition and was heading to San Diego for medical treatment, the Coast Guard said in a news release.
Charlotte and Eric Kaufman were two weeks into their trip to sail the world when their daughter, Lyra, developed a fever and a rash covering most of her body and wasn't responding to medications. Then, their 36-foot sailboat lost steering and communication abilities about 900 miles off Mexico. They sent a satellite call for help to the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday.
A California Air National Guard crew parachuted into the water and reached the boat Thursday night. The crew stabilized the girl and stayed by her side until the ship arrived.
The California Air National Guard dispatched four rescuers, who parachuted into the water and reached the disabled vessel. The team was able to stabilize the girl and pointed the sailboat, which does not have steering or communication abilities, toward Mexico, the 129th Rescue Wing said in a statement.
The rescuers stayed aboard the Rebel Heart to keep watch on the ill child until daylight when sailors helped them board the Navy frigate.
Before the family left, Lyra had salmonella poisoning, but doctors cleared her to travel after she was healthy again, said Charlotte Kaufman's sister, Sariah Kay English.
English initially was in daily email contact with the family but realized something was wrong when the communication stopped several days ago.
English said she was told the vessel took on water every time the motor was turned on. It's now slowly moving using only the sails.
When her sister first mentioned plans to sail with two young children, English recalled, "I thought it was nuts."
But English said the couple was always careful. Eric Kaufman is a Coast Guard-licensed captain who introduced sailing to Charlotte Kaufman during one of their early dates.
"They were not going into this blind. I knew they were doing this wisely," English said.
English said the couple made a network of friends who travelled around the globe with children and always stocked the sailboat with more food than they need.
"They were very overcautious. They're not new at sailing," English said. Unfortunately, "sickness sometimes happens."

Meet ex-U.S. President George W. Bush...the artist

DALLAS—Former President George W. Bush is displaying his portraits of world leaders in the first exhibit of his work as an artist.
The portraits include everyone from Prime Minister Stephen Harper to a grim-looking Russian President Vladimir Putin to a smiling likeness of the late Czech playwright and President Vaclav Havel.
A spokesman for Harper said the prime minister was always on friendly terms with Bush.
“President Bush has said these portraits were painted in the spirit of friendship, and that he chose to paint leaders he admired. That’s a kind gesture from a President that Prime Minister Harper respected and with whom he has enjoyed a good personal and professional relationship,” Jason MacDonald said in an email.Opening Saturday at the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum in Dallas, the exhibit is called “The Art of Leadership: A President’s Personal Diplomacy.” It runs through June 3.
“I spent a lot of time on personal diplomacy and I befriended leaders and learned about their families and their likes and dislikes, to the point where I felt comfortable painting them,” he said in an introductory video to the exhibit.
“Painting portraits of my friends and some people who weren’t necessarily my friends gave me a sense to convey a feeling I have about them because I got to know them well in the presidency,” he added in the video.
Bush, who started painting in 2012, three years after leaving office, said reading an essay by the late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill on painting inspired him to take lessons.
“I’d never lifted a brush before. I’d never been next to paint. So I gave it a whirl,” he said in the introductory video.
Accompanying many of the portraits are photographs of Bush with the leader he painted, along with gifts. On display with Bush’s portrait of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is a book of Churchill’s speeches that Blair gave to Bush with the inscription, “To George, my ally and my friend.”
The exhibit includes more than two dozen portraits. Other subjects include the Dalai Lama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Bush also painted his father, George H.W. Bush, the 41st president of the United States.
Bush, who was the 43rd president, signs his works “43.” He has quipped: “I tell people that the signature on my paintings is worth more than the paintings.”
Interviewed by his daughter Jenna Bush Hager in a segment that aired Friday on NBC’s “Today” show, he said, “I paint a lot because, as you know, I’m a driven person.”
Talking about his portrait of Putin, he said, “I got to know him very well. It became more intense as time went on.”
He noted to her: “Vladimir is a person who in many ways viewed America as an enemy. I tried, of course, to dispel him of that notion.”
The George W. Bush Presidential Center, which includes the library and museum, opened almost a year ago on the campus of Southern Methodist University.

MH370 'black box' ship due in search zone

Australian navy vessel Ocean Shield, which is fitted with a US-supplied "black box" detector, was Friday expected in the area being scoured for wreckage of Flight MH370 as 14 planes continued the arduous search.
Nearly a month after the Malaysia Airlines jet carrying 239 people vanished authorities still have no idea how or why it crashed and warn that unless the black box is found, the mystery may never be solved.
But finding the flight data recorder using the towed pinger locator on Ocean Shield appears increasingly remote with officials warning that without a confirmed crash site, hopes of recovering the device are slim in the vast and unpredictable southern Indian Ocean.
Time is also ticking with the battery-powered signal from the black box expected to expire within days. Ocean Shield left Perth on Monday evening for the three-day voyage to the search zone.
The British navy's hydrographic ship HMS Echo is already in the area and spent Thursday scouring for sonic transmissions from the flight data recorder.
"One alert was experienced but discounted," the Perth-based Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) said.
"False alerts may be experienced from biological sources such as whales or interference from shipping noise."
Weeks of looking for wreckage of the plane that veered off course en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8 have proved fruitless despite eight nations now involved in the increasingly desperate hunt for clues.
They drew another blank on Thursday with 10 military planes, four civil jets and nine ships due to resume the search on Friday, zig zagging across a huge area of about 217,000 square kilometres, 1,700 kilometres northwest of Perth.
"The weather forecast for today's search is fair, with visibility approximately 10 kilometres and a cloud base between 1,000 and 2,000 feet," JACC said.
If floating MH370 debris is eventually found, authorities plan to analyse recent weather patterns and ocean currents to determine where the plane went down.
Malaysia believes the flight was deliberately diverted by someone on board and that satellite data indicates it crashed in the Indian Ocean.
Malaysia's disjointed response to the crisis has been widely criticised, particularly by distraught relatives of the 153 Chinese people on the plane, and Australia has assumed increasing responsibility in the quest to find answers to one of aviation's greatest mysteries.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott on Thursday said there were no current plans to scale back the search but cautioned that a reassessment would have to be made eventually.
On a tour of the Perth military base being used as the staging post for the search effort on Thursday, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak vowed "we will not rest" until the fate of flight was known.
"We want to find answers. We want to provide comfort to the families and we will not rest until answers are indeed found," he said, while admitting it was a "gargantuan task".