3PAR says HP acquisition bid 'superior' to Dell's

WASHINGTON — Data storage firm 3PAR said Saturday a newly-raised acquisition offer by computer-maker Hewlett-Packard was "superior" to that made by Dell, amid a bidding war between the PC giants.

3PAR's "board of directors has determined that the unsolicited proposal by Hewlett-Packard Company... constitutes a 'superior proposal,'" the firm said in a statement.

"The 3PAR board of directors notified Dell of its intention to terminate the merger agreement with Dell," after a period of three business days, the firm added.

HP on Friday announced it would increase its offer for 3PAR to two billion dollars or 30 dollars per share in cash, up 11 percent from Dell's 27 dollars per share offer.

HP, the world's largest computer maker, said it did not require financing to carry out the deal that has been approved by its board of directors.

It was unclear whether Dell would be willing to up its offer in an effort to win back 3PAR amid what increasingly appears to be a war of prestige between the two giants.

The latest bids cap an intensifying two-week battle for 3PAR, which focuses on so-called "cloud computing" in which data is stored remotely.

Dell first announced on August 16 it had reached an agreement to acquire 3PAR at 18 dollars per share. HP made a counter bid of 24 dollars per share in cash, which Dell matched. HP then raised its bid to 27 dollars, and Dell followed suit.

Both Dell and HP are hoping the acquisition would offer near-exclusive control over the market of advanced high-end data storage solutions, where 3PAR is the most dominant player.

3PAR's technology enables large companies and government bodies to shift to "cloud" storage platforms, giving them extra speed in accessing data and cutting storage costs by nearly 59 percent, according to the company.

US completing Iraq logistics operation

A US ARMY BASE, Kuwait — The US army has nearly completed the largest logistics operation since World War II in pulling thousands of combat troops and more than one million pieces of equipment out of Iraq, a senior officer said.

"Its the largest drawdown since World War II," Colonel Donnei Walker, commander of the First Sustainment Brigade, US Third Army, said at a key US military facility in Kuwait through which most of the equipment has passed.

"We have moved out nearly 1.2 million pieces of equipment," since the operation began more than a year ago, Walker told reporters during a tour of the facility in southern Kuwait on Friday.

The base's name was withheld for security reasons.

Walker, whose brigade is responsible for transporting materiel, was inspecting a new transportation convoy preparing to leave for Iraq to pick up a new shipment.

The pullout is scheduled to be completed by the end of August.

Each convoy normally consists of 40 vehicles of heavy equipment transporters, well-fortified large trucks and several armoured vehicles that provide protection.

The equipment included thousands of tanks, different kinds of other military vehicles, repair parts and general supplies.

The brigade is part of the First Theatre Sustainment Command (TSC), Third Army, which has been responsible for the massive logistics operations for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

At another location on the massive base, a second convoy of truck transporters carrying Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles was just arriving from Iraq.

The large trucks lined in an orderly manner and workers immediately began offloading the MRAPs.

Thousands of tanks and heavy military vehicles, known by officers as pre-positioned equipment, filled a large space on the facility.

The equipment is properly checked and then washed before being shipped, either back to the United States, or to Afghanistan or one of the 16 countries where the Third Army operates.

During the operation "about 1,500 long-haul trucks were going to Iraq daily to load stuff," the deputy commander of First TSC in Kuwait, Brigadier General Nick Tooliatos, told reporters.

Part of the equipment had been shipped to Afghanistan, but now "the flow of forces and equipment to Afghanistan (from Iraq via Kuwait) is almost finished," and almost everything goes back to the United States, he said.

The operation included moving close to 3,000 tonnes of ammunition from Iraq to Afghanistan.

Colonel Gerald O'Hara, a public affairs chief, said more than 90,000 US combat troops had been pulled out during the operation that began in June 2009 and accelerated to full speed just a few weeks after the March 7 Iraqi general election.

On Thursday, the United States pulled out the last combat brigade, the 4th Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, from Iraq into Kuwait and reduced its troop numbers to 52,000.

The strength of US troops in Iraq is set to drop to 50,000 by September 1, less than a third of the peak level during a 2007 "surge."

"Most of the troops withdrawn from Iraq passed through Kuwait on their way back home," O'Hara told AFP.

Currently, between 15,000 and 20,000 US troops are in the oil-rich emirate, which served as the launchpad for the March 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled Saddam Hussein, he said.

The forces are present at Camp Arifjan, the main US army base 70 kilometres (44 miles) south of Kuwait City, and several other smaller camps in the northern desert close to the Iraqi border.

O'Hara said the number of attacks on US convoys has sharply dropped to "one to two" a week and were not as serious as attacks used to be in Iraq.

The colonel said the US military presence in the region following the Iraqi pullout will be decided in negotiations between Washington and its partners in the region.

"Any US military presence in the region will be based upon negotiations between the US government and its partners in the region," O'Hara said.

Major General Peter Vangjel, Third Army deputy commanding general, praised Kuwait for its partnership with Washington. "Kuwait has been a great partner ... and we look forward to continue our relationship with Kuwait," he said.

The two states are linked by a 10-year defence pact running up until 2012.

Obama, daughter swim in Gulf in act of reassurance

PANAMA CITY, Florida — US President Barack Obama and his daughter have taken a dip in the Gulf of Mexico in an attempt to reassure Americans that, despite a massive oil spill, its waters remain safe for tourists.

The president, First Lady Michelle Obama, and their younger daughter, Sasha, traveled to this Florida panhandle city to talk to local officials and business leaders, and highlight the region's tourist attractions.

"Oil is no longer flowing into the Gulf," said Obama, speaking at a regional US Coast Guard headquarters.

"But I'm here to tell you that our job is not finished, and we are not going anywhere until it is."

Obama said that he wanted to deliver the message directly to residents of the Gulf Coast, which he has visited four times since an April explosion on a BP-leased oil rig triggered the disaster.

"I made a commitment in my visits here that I was going to stand with you... until you have fully recovered from the damage that has been done. And that is a commitment my administration is going to keep," he said.

And Obama also demanded that BP speed up processing of compensation claims, saying that "any delays -- by BP or by those managing the new fund -- are unacceptable."

Earlier this week BP made its first deposit into the 20-billion-dollar Gulf of Mexico oil disaster fund intended to compensate thousands of residents and businesses hit by the largest maritime oil spill of all time.

During the height of the spill Obama urged his fellow Americans to continue taking vacations in the region, famous for its sugar-white beaches, and heavily dependent on tourism.

Obama later went for a swim with Sasha at Panama City Beach, away from the public and press cameras, with only an official photo of the pair -- heads bobbing just above the water line -- issued by the White House.

While the image might go far to reassure Americans that Gulf waters are safe, Obama had stressed he would take a presidential plunge in private.

The last time Obama, who is physically fit, was photographed swimming without a shirt was in December 2008, shortly before he took office. The pictures were broadly circulated and used on the cover of news magazines.

Obama is scheduled to return to Washington on Sunday, the White House said.

The trip comes after US officials announced that energy giant BP's runaway well has been sealed, and that they are moving ahead with plans to make sure it is truly "killed" by pumping cement in through a relief well under the Gulf of Mexico.

Pressure tests showed that the well no longer has "direct communication with the reservoir" thanks to a "top kill" operation which pumped drilling mud and cement down through the wellhead, US spill chief Thad Allen said.

Allen on Saturday issued a directive for BP to run a new series of tests and provide plans to ensure the safety of the "bottom kill" operation, before he gives the green light for a relief well to resume drilling.

The relief well, which is approximately 100 feet (30 meters) short of intersecting the well bore, was delayed several days because of a storm. Once it resumes, the bottom kill operation is expected to take four days.

The huge spill threatened the fish and wildlife-rich Gulf Coast with environmental ruin and plunged residents of coastal communities into months of anguish over their livelihoods and the region's future.

The week after his Florida sojourn, Obama is scheduled for a multi-stop trip around the United States, starting in Wisconsin, where he is to visit factories specializing in renewable energy production and fund-raise for Democrats.

Monday evening will see him in Los Angeles for another fundraising event, before he heads to the northwestern state of Washington on Tuesday for a meeting on health care reform in Seattle, the White House said.

Later this month the First Family is scheduled to vacation in Martha's Vineyard, an elite Massachusetts resort island, in the US northeast.

Woods slumps to 18 over par at World Golf Championships

AKRON, Ohio — Tiger Woods looked and sounded like a broken man after his final round at the Bridgestone Invitational on Sunday where he carded the worst 72-hole score of his 14-year professional career.

Top-ranked defending champion Woods fired a closing seven-over par 77 to finish the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational at 18-over par 298 on a course where he has dominated in past years, winning seven times.

"It has been a long year," Woods said, choking up as he spoke to reporters.

That is as close as Woods has ever come to referring to his off-course problems as he struggles to cope mentally with the reported imminent divorce from wife Elin in the fallout from revelations of his multiple affairs.

Woods was set to finish near the bottom of the 80-man field, shooting over par in every round of an event for the first time since 2003.

With the year's last major title at stake at next week's PGA Championship at Whistling Straits inh Wisconsin, Woods looks unlikely to be a contender for a 15th career major triumph as he chases Jack Nicklaus's all-time record of 18.

"I definitely don?t want to start 18-over next week, so it?s nice the tournament is over and we can focus on next week," Woods said.

Woods will surrender his world number one ranking if second-ranked US compatriot Phil Mickelson finishes solo fourth or better at the WGC event.

"Shooting 18-over is not fun. I don?t see how it can be fun, especially since my handicap is supposed to be zero," Woods said.

"I?ve got to be ready come Thursday. That?s all that matters. I need to hit the ball better, chip better, putt better, score better."

Woods said he did not know if he might take another extended break after next week.

He missed five months before beginning his 2010 season at the Masters last April.

Woods also said that while he right now did not deserve to be picked for the American team for October?s Ryder Cup showdown against Europe, there was plenty of time to turn his game around before the matches.

"I wouldn?t help the team if I?m playing like this," Woods said. "I think I can turn it around, but we?ve got a lot of time between now and then, which is good."

Woods' performance was all the more shocking because he appeared to have his form on track at his previous two starts, including last month?s British Open at St Andrews, and had shared fourth at the US Open and Masters.

Asked if he was surprised by his woeful form at the WGC event, Woods replied, "No, it doesn?t surprise me at all.

"I could probably play 18 (more holes on Sunday) and still watch the guys finish."

Canadian court frees brother of Guantanamo detainee Khadr

MONTREAL — Abdullah Khadr, a brother of the sole Western detainee at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was freed from jail Wednesday after a court rejected a US request for his extradition.

The 28-year-old elder brother of Canadian citizen Omar Khadr, held at the US naval base in Cuba, had been sought by the United States for allegedly supplying arms to Al-Qaeda.

Judge Christopher Speyer said the detainee had not been granted access to Canadian authorities in a timely way when he was detained in Pakistan, Radio Canada reported.

The judge rejected extradition citing the government's major misstep in the case.

His lawyers said that he had been tortured to secure his testimony while he was jailed in Pakistan.

Khadr told CBC as he left court: "I think this is going to be a new beginning for me in life. What can I say? I want to start new now. I don't want to think about it anymore."

US forces in Afghanistan took Omar Khadr prisoner when he was just 15 years old in July 2002. He was later charged with war crimes for allegedly throwing a grenade that killed a US soldier, and now is the last Westerner held Guantanamo Bay. He is facing the possibility of life in prison.