Samsung foresees record profit; Tesla's electric truck in September; Relationships at the workplace

1 Samsung foresees record profit (Straits Times) Samsung Electronics forecast its best quarterly profit in more than three years in the January-March period, beating expectations and putting it on track for record annual earnings on the back of a memory-chip super-cycle.

The company has rapidly recovered from last year's costly failure of its fire-prone Galaxy Note7 device, despite a political scandal involving vice-chairman Lee Jae Yong, who faces charges including bribing ousted president Park Geun Hye.

The global memory-chip leader said first-quarter operating profit was likely 9.9 trillion won, compared with an average forecast of 9.4 trillion won from a Thomson Reuters survey. Revenue rose 0.4 per cent to 50 trillion won, just ahead of analysts' forecasts.

"The semiconductor business was likely the main driver for earnings," said Heungkuk Securities analyst Lee Min Hee, adding that sales of mid- to low-tier smartphones also helped the mobile business to stay profitable. Samsung shares reached a record high of 2.1 million won last month on expectations of record annual profit this year.

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/samsung-expects-record-profit-in-first-quarter

2 Tesla’s electric truck in September (Dave Lee on BBC) Tesla will unveil an electric articulated lorry in September, chief executive Elon Musk has said. Additionally, he said an electric pick-up truck would be shown off in around 18-24 months. Last year Mr Musk expressed the firm’s desire to branch out beyond cars.

However, analysts are concerned the company will not meet demand for its current projects. The Model 3, a more mid-market car compared to what Tesla currently offers, has 400,000 pre-orders - vastly more than the company can manufacture in a year. It is due to go into production later this year.

However, despite this hurdle, investors seem confident that Mr Musk will meet his ambitious promises - Tesla’s surging stock price saw it briefly become the most valuable car maker in the US on Monday.

Speaking about the lorry, Mr Musk said his team had done an "amazing job" and the vehicle would be "seriously next level". In a string of tweets sent out on Thursday, Mr Musk also said that the next version of its roadster sports car will be a convertible.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39596833

3 Relationships at the workplace (Rania Oteify in Gulf News) Corporate culture often sets the tone for how people interact in the workplace, but it is not everything. Personalities often determine how relationships evolve and grow. Some people are more outgoing than others, and when relationships begin to form, it is common to have conversations that go beyond work topics.

This human aspect is important in almost any workplace. After all, many people spend more time with their coworkers than they do with their spouses and children. With that in mind, however, it is important to know where to draw the line. Coworkers are not family and even when friendships form, the office is not a place to handle personal relationships.

Workplace rules are different from anywhere else. A playful comment on a friend’s appearance may be acceptable in a social setting. At work, it could risk a sexual harassment charge — if the relationship takes a turn to the worse. Although grave consequences of this type are uncommon, they become more likely if you let your guard down and you mix work and fun loosely.

That is not to say you must be scripted at all times when you are socialising with coworkers. Instead, you should have a slightly more conservative approach than the one you take with longtime friends. This is particularly important if your communication is in writing over email or text or using company software. Documented conversations that can be forwarded by mistake or retrieved later can be detrimental to your career.

http://gulfnews.com/business/sectors/careers/building-relationships-within-the-office-1.2011242

Why pay isn't rising even with high employment; Mobile trends for 2017; A robot snake to roam the seas

1 Why pay isn’t rising even with high employment (Larry Elliott in The Guardian) To say the least, it is unusual for an economy to be nearing full employment with absolutely no upward pressure on wages. There are record job vacancies in the UK and reports of skill shortages, both of which would normally increase the bargaining power of employees.

There are a number of possible explanations. One is that the economy is still quite a way from full employment. The labour market expert John Philpott believes the jobless rate could fall to 4% before wage pressure starts to build.

Another is that there is a difference in wage growth between those workers who move jobs and those who remain with the same employee. The movers are able to negotiate better pay deals than the stayers. A third is that the 1% pay limit for the public sector – which accounts for about one in six employees – is dragging down overall earnings growth.

Whatever the explanation, the squeeze on real wages will continue and intensify. Inflation is going to hit 3% later this year and will comfortably outpace earnings growth. The current period of falling real wages could hardly have come at a worse time for Theresa May, since it coincides with the start of two years of hard bargaining to thrash out Britain’s departure from the EU. Those negotiations will take place against a backdrop of people feeling poorer.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/12/employment-high-skills-in-demand-why-pay-still-not-rising

2 Mobile trends for 2017 (Christopher Bergey in Khaleej Times) Storage performance and capacity within smartphones continued to increase significantly as smartphones have become the go-to devices for consumers globally.  As such, mobile manufacturers around the world have nearly doubled device storage capacity on an annual basis as high-end smartphones now offer more capacity (256GB) than some laptops.

As for mobile trends in 2017, a faster 5G standard, even larger storage capacities for smartphones, and more prominent edge-to-cloud storage models are at the top of this list. 

5G closer to reality: Though smartphones are the most connected devices that we use, as it relates to 5G, it is actually more about connecting to "other" Internet devices with sensors.  5G will go well beyond smartphones and into computing devices that are embedded into everyday objects enabling them to capture, send and receive data.

1TB capacity is coming: Today, 256GB of embedded storage is now available in smartphones.  That's a lot of storage capacity, which a few years ago may have been deemed as excessive and unnecessary.  However, consumers today never expect to delete content from applications, images, videos, documents or games.  The industry is not far away from having 1TB storage capacities in smartphones and know that consumers will not only want, but demand, terabyte capacities in their mobile devices.

From 5G becoming reality to mega-smartphone capacities to edge-to-cloud storage models, 2017 is shaping up to be an exciting year for data storage in the mobile industry. In fact, given the emphasis that OEMs are now placing on differentiating the CMOS sensor in mobile devices to produce superlative imaging, storage is now at the top of mind for many consumers who have become more conscientious that their mobile devices have adequate storage for storing and sharing.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/technology/here-are-the-mobile-trends-you-need-to-know-in-2017

3 A robot snake to roam the seas (Zoe Kleinman on BBC) In the near future, ocean search-and-repair specialists won't need arms or legs, according to one vision. In fact, they are destined to be much more slithery.

What started as a university robotics research project in Norway 10 years ago, has become a commercial prototype - and it is unavoidably snake-like. It's designed to inspect structures on the sea bed and carry out repairs, and is currently being tested on oil rigs.

The flexible, self-propelling, tubular device has a camera at each end and is kitted out with sensors. Because it has a modular design, its parts can be switched to suit different tasks, with swappable tools including a grabber and cleaning brush.

The design allows the robot to work in confined spaces that might be inaccessible to other vehicles, as well as to wriggle its body to stay in place in strong currents. And because it is designed to connect itself to a seabed dock when not in use, it can be deployed at any time whatever the surface conditions.

It isn't yet on the market, but was recently on show at the Southampton's Ocean Business trade fair. Future plans already include a cheap 3D-printed model and another which can operate in very deep water.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-39496255

Toshiba future in doubt; IMF advises spending cuts for Bahrain; United stock dives after rough treatment of passenger

1 Toshiba future in doubt (BBC) Toshiba has filed its delayed financial results, warning that the company's survival is at risk. "There are material events and conditions that raise substantial doubt about the company's ability to continue as a going concern," the company said in a statement.

The electronics-to-construction giant reported a loss of 532bn yen ($4.8bn) for April to December. However, the results have not been approved by the firm's auditors. These latest financial results have already been delayed twice and raise the possibility that Toshiba could be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Toshiba's president, Satoshi Tsunakawa, apologised for the problems facing the firm and called the auditor's decision not to approve the financial report as "truly regrettable". He said he hoped the company would not be delisted.

Toshiba, originally known for its consumer electronics products, has faced a series of difficulties. An accounting scandal, uncovered in 2015, led to the resignation of several members of the firm's senior management, including the chief executive, after the company was found to have inflated the previous seven years' profits by $1.2bn.

Its problems came to a head again in January this year, when it became clear its US nuclear unit, Westinghouse, was in financial trouble. Westinghouse was put into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March, which protects it from creditors while it undergoes restructuring.

This week, Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn was reported to be willing to pay up to $27bn for Toshiba's computer chip business, a move which could help shore up the losses if it went ahead. But that has not been enough to resolve Toshiba's difficulties.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39564956

2 IMF advises spending cuts for Bahrain (Gulf News) Bahrain needs to make significant spending cuts to restore stability to its budget and improve investor confidence as the smallest economy among Gulf Arab nations tries to manage the impact of lower oil prices, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said.

The Washington-based lender said the drop in crude prices has largely offset “significant fiscal measures that were implemented,” causing the budget deficit and public debt in 2016 to stand at 18 per cent and 82 per cent of gross domestic product, respectively.

Bahrain, a close Saudi Arabia ally and the home of the US Fifth Fleet, has been more vulnerable to slumping oil prices than other Gulf Cooperation Council states. The country’s 2016 budget deficit of 1.5 billion dinars ($4 billion), which is larger than its foreign exchange assets, spurred the government to tap both domestic and international markets to fund spending last year.

Economic growth is projected at 2.3 per cent in 2017, which will be “driven by strong infrastructure spending from GCC funds,” the IMF said.

http://gulfnews.com/business/economy/imf-rings-alarm-as-bahrain-seen-needing-urgent-spending-cuts-1.2009699

3 United stock dives after rough treatment of passenger (Dominic Rushe & David Smith in The Guardian) The CEO of United Airlines has issued a second public apology about the man who was forcibly removed from a flight on Sunday, calling the incident “truly horrific”. “No one should ever be mistreated this way,” Oscar Munoz wrote in a note to employees, after video posted by fellow passengers showing police dragging the man off the plane went viral.

Munoz was criticized after his official statement on Monday described the violent removal as an effort to “re-accommodate” passengers. He also described the man as “disruptive and belligerent”. As the company’s share prices plunged on Tuesday, however, the executive turned attention back on to the company.

Nearly $1bn of the company’s value was erased in trading on Tuesday. The value of the carrier’s holding company, United Continental Holdings, had fallen over 4% before noon, knocking almost a billion dollars off its value.

The airline’s problems only seem to have escalated since Sunday, when a man was violently removed from a flight by aviation police officials at Chicago’s O’Hare international airport after refusing to volunteer his seat on the overbooked flight. In one video clip, guards aggressively grab then drag the passenger down the aisle of the plane as other passengers shout: “Oh my God” and “Look what you did to him”.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/apr/11/united-airlines-shares-plummet-passenger-removal-controversy

Tesla pips GM, becomes most valuable US car maker; Global executions fall 37%; No income tax for Saudi citizens

1 Tesla pips GM, becomes most valuable US car maker (Straits Times) For the first time in the era of the modern automobile, the most valuable US car maker is not based in Detroit. Silicon Valley's Tesla overtook General Motors on Monday to become the US car maker with the largest market capitalisation as the century-old automobile industry increases its reliance on software and cutting-edge energy technology.

That milestone is likely to be on the minds of Tesla chief executive Elon Musk and GM chief executive Mary Barra as they and other CEOs visit the White House on Tuesday to discuss tax reform and infrastructure with President Donald Trump.

Helped by an analyst's recommendation, Tesla rose 3.26 per cent to a record high of $312.39 on Monday. Its market value of $50.887 billion exceeded GM's by about $1 million. Over the past month, the luxury electric car maker has surged 35 per cent as investors bet that Musk will revolutionize the automobile and energy industries.

The Palo Alto, California company is rushing to launch its mass-market Model 3 sedan in the second half of 2017 and quickly ramp up its factory to reach a production target of 500,000 cars per year in 2018. Last year it sold 76,230, missing its target of at least 80,000 vehicles. By comparison, GM sold 10 million cars and Ford sold 6.7 million.

Proponents believe Tesla, which is not profitable, argue its stock price is justified based on long-term expectations for Tesla's growth. They also point to opportunities from Tesla's acquisition last year of money-losing solar panel installer SolarCity and Tesla's Nevada battery cell plant aimed at driving down manufacturing costs.

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/tesla-becomes-most-valuable-us-car-maker-overtaking-gm

2 Global executions fall 37% (BBC) The number of executions recorded worldwide in 2016 fell by 37% on the previous year, human rights group Amnesty International says. At least 1,032 people were executed last year, down from 1,634 in 2015, Amnesty said.

The fall was largely driven by fewer deaths recorded in Iran and Pakistan. China is believed to have executed more than all countries combined but has not been included in the figures given the lack of reliable data, the group adds.

The US was removed from the top five for the first time since 2006, according to Amnesty. Despite fewer executions, Iran and Pakistan remain in Amnesty's top five list, along with China, Saudi Arabia and Iraq. Pakistan's execution rate dropped from 326 recorded deaths in 2015 to at least 87 the following year.

In Iran, at least 567 people were executed last year, compared with 977 in 2015. Amnesty reported a surge in executions in 2015 but said the reasons were unclear. The majority of those killed, the group said, were convicted of drug charges.

Amnesty said that China remained the world's top executioner but said that secrecy around the death penalty made it difficult to confirm the figures. In Europe and Central Asia, Belarus and Kazakhstan were the only two countries in the region to use the death penalty On the other hand, 104 countries were recorded to have abolished the death penalty in law or practice. Back in 1997, that figure was 64.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-39557064

3 No income tax for Saudi citizens (Khaleej Times) Saudi Arabia's finance minister has said that citizens would not pay taxes on income and Saudi companies would not see their profits taxed under sweeping economic reforms being introduced in the Kingdom.

The collapse in oil prices after mid-2014 has pushed Saudi Arabia to contemplate a radical overhaul of all parts of its economy, including new taxes, privatisations, a changed investment strategy and sharp cuts in government spending.

Mohammed Al Jadaan sought in a statement to allay concern that people would be taxed as part of the ambitious reform plan. Saudis currently do not pay any income tax, nor are Saudi companies taxed on their profits. He also said a value-added tax planned for 2018 would "not be raised above 5 per cent before 2020".

The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council are aiming to introduce a 5 per cent value-added tax at the start of next year to raise non-oil revenues. But economists and officials in some countries have said privately that simultaneous introduction in all countries may not be feasible. That is because of the complexity of creating the administrative infrastructure to collect the tax and the difficulty of training companies to comply with it in a region where taxation is minimal.

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/region/saudi-arabia/No-income-tax-for-Saudi-citizens-Minister

US jobless at 10-year low; Dubai landlords lowering rents; Contact lens that can give a health report

1 US jobless at 10-year low (BBC) The US unemployment rate fell to its lowest in almost a decade in March, despite the economy adding a smaller than expected number of jobs. Employers added 98,000 jobs last month - far fewer than the 180,000 expected by economists and less than half the figure for January and February.

However, the unemployment rate fell from 4.7% in February to just 4.5% - the lowest since May 2007. Anything under 5% is considered to indicate "full employment". The economy needs to create 75,000 to 100,000 jobs a month to keep pace with growth in the working-age population.

The US had added more than 200,000 jobs in both January and February, but March brought lower temperatures and a major storm to the North East, which was likely to have hit hiring. Aberdeen Asset Management investment strategist Luke Bartholomew said the decline in job creation was another sign of a "pretty tight" labour market.

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39530875

2 Dubai landlords lowering rents (Cleofe Maceda in Gulf News) According to property analysts, owners of residential flats and villas in Dubai are generally being more flexible than they have been for a long time. They’re not just increasing lease instalments, they’re also extending contracts and lowering rents, in a bid to keep their units occupied amid a sluggish market.

The residential rental market continued to post modest declines in 2017, with rates falling by an average of 1 per cent during the first three months of the year compared to the previous quarter, according to CBRE, a commercial property and real estate services adviser.

During the property boom, landlords were wielding control over rental negotiations and tenants always had to set aside a huge lump sum to rent a house in Dubai. It was always mandatory to pay the full rent one year in advance, and many tenants who were in a financial bind had to borrow money from the bank. And every year, residents would see their accommodation expenditures rise.

The current slowdown has been due to limited demand and high inventory in the rental market. The situation looks set to continue for the rest of the year, as more supply is expected to come on stream in the run-up to Dubai’s hosting of the World Expo in 2020.

http://gulfnews.com/business/property/dubai-landlords-are-lowering-rents-extending-leases-to-keep-tenants-1.2005407

3 A contact lens that can give a health report (Emily Price in San Francisco Chronicle). A research team at Oregon State is developing a bio-sensing contact lens that would be able to detect everything from when your blood sugar is running a little low to when one of your organs isn’t running at 100%. The group, led by professor Gregory Herman, presented its findings at the American Chemical Society’s annual meeting in San Francisco.

In its current form, the technology, which was developed as a solution for diabetics, is only able to detect blood glucose levels. Herman is optimistic that in the future it will be able to detect a number of different health conditions, potentially even cancer.

The way it handles testing is through your tears. The water in your tears have the potential to detect things like cancer, as well as diseases such as glaucoma. While the contact lens in its current form only has a sensor to detect glucose built in, there’s room to add additional sensors – more than 2,500 in fact – to a lens to give it the ability to test for much more.

While certainly a high-tech solution to monitoring your health, it also might be an affordable one. The technology inside of the sensor is similar to transistors currently being used for cell phone displays.

One hundred transistors currently cost around $.10, making this a solution that could even find its way into disposable contacts, although some of the components used in the device are still a bit on the pricey side.

http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2017/04/04/scientists-have-developed-a-contact-lens-that-can-tell-you-if-you-are-sick/

Low interest rate a global financial risk, says IMF; Kuwait best off among oil exporters; Norway to build world's first ship tunnel

1 Low interest rate a global financial risk, says IMF (Larry Elliott in The Guardian) A prolonged period of low interest rates will tempt banks to take greater risks and sound the death knell for final salary pensions, the International Monetary Fund has warned.

A new study from the IMF said a continuation of the cheap borrowing environment seen since the global financial crisis a decade ago would pose a “significant challenge” to financial institutions and force them to make fundamental changes to their business models.

Although interest rates have recently started to rise in the US, the IMF said Japan’s experience suggested an imminent and permanent end to the current low interest rate environment could not be guaranteed. Some economists, such as the former US treasury secretary Larry Summers, say the global economy is gripped by so-called secular stagnation, in which excessive savings and weak investment lead to weaker growth and lower interest rates.

The IMF, in a chapter from its forthcoming Global Financial Stability Review, said the decline in real (inflation-adjusted) interest rates since the mid-1980s had been caused by slow-moving structural factors such as weaker growth and the desire of an ageing population to save more for their retirement.

Japan has had ultra-low interest rates for almost three decades, while other developed countries cut borrowing costs aggressively in response to the deep financial and economic crisis that began almost a decade ago.

The Bank of England held borrowing costs at 0.5% for more than seven years before cutting them to 0.25% last August, the lowest level in its 323-year history. The European Central Bank has adopted a similar approach and its president, Mario Draghi, has said there would be no early rate rise for the eurozone.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/06/imf-study-warns-low-interest-rates-threaten-global-financial-sector

2 Kuwait best off among oil exporters (Gulf News) Kuwait’s in the best position of major oil exporting nations in the Middle East, Africa and parts of Europe to have a balanced government budget this year with oil forecast to average $52.50 a barrel, according to Fitch Ratings.

Nigeria is worst off, needing an oil price of $139 a barrel to balance its budget, Fitch said. Even after cuts in government subsidies and currency devaluations, 11 of them won’t have balanced government budgets this year, including Saudi Arabia, it said.

Only Kuwait, Qatar and the Republic of Congo have estimated break-evens that are below Fitch’s oil price forecast for this year.

http://gulfnews.com/business/sectors/energy/kuwait-is-best-off-nigeria-worst-in-fitch-s-2017-oil-break-even-1.2007251

3 Norway to build world’s first ship tunnel (San Francisco Chronicle) Norway plans to build the world's first tunnel for ships, a 1,700-meter (5,610-feet) passageway burrowed through a piece of rocky peninsula that will allow vessels to avoid a treacherous part of sea.

Construction of the Stad Ship Tunnel, which would be able to accommodate cruise and freight ships weighing up to 16,000 tons, is expected to open in 2023. It will be 36 meters (118 feet) wide and 49 meters (162 feet) tall and is estimated to cost at least 2.7 billion kroner ($314 million).

Norwegian Transportation Minister Ketil Solvik-Olsen had said that sea currents and underwater topography in this part of the country's southwestern coast "result in particularly complex wave conditions."

"We are pleased that the ship tunnel now becomes reality," Solvik-Olsen said, adding that travel time between Norwegian cities and towns in the area would be reduced. Over the years, plans for a ship tunnel in Stad had been floated but now a project with a financing is ready, he said.

Under the plan, passenger traffic will be given priority but leisure boats and other vessels can also use the tunnel. It will be free of charge for vessels measuring less than 70 meters (230 feet), and vessels longer than that would have to be led. Vessels sailing through the tunnel likely will get slot times from a traffic center — like planes at an airport — to avoid congestion.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/Norway-to-build-world-s-first-ship-tunnel-through-11054385.php#photo-12676953

Developing Asia poised for slowest growth in 16 years; Islam to be largest religion by 2075; Declaration of war and the start of the American century

1 Developing Asia poised for slowest growth in 16 years (Straits Times) Developing Asia is on track to post its slowest annual growth in 16 years this year as it adjusts to China's rebalancing and possible spillovers from global policy uncertainty, the Asian Development Bank said.

The Manila-based lender kept at 5.7 per cent this year's growth forecast for developing Asia, which groups 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific region. That would be the region's weakest expansion since it grew 5.0 per cent in 2001. Next year, developing Asia should again grow by 5.7 per cent, the ADB said in its 2017 Asia Development Outlook report.

"Developing Asia continues to drive the global economy even as the region adjusts to a more consumption-driven economy in China and looming global risks," said Yasuyuki Sawada, the ADB's chief economist. Sawada said the region faces "risks from uncertain policy direction in the advanced economies, including the pace of interest rate normalisation in the US".

The ADB reduced its 2017 growth forecast for India to 7.4 per cent from 7.8 per cent and it expects growth there to pick up to 7.6 per cent in 2018.

http://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/developing-asias-2017-growth-seen-as-weakest-in-16-years-adb

2 Islam to be largest religion by 2075 (Harriet Sherwood in The Guardian) The number of babies born to Muslims is expected to overtake those born to Christians within two decades, making Islam the world’s largest religion by 2075, according to new analysis of data by the Pew Research Center.

People with no religious affiliation are set to shrink as a proportion of the world’s population as a result of their declining birthrate and growing numbers of Muslims and Christians. The analysis points to modest but significant demographic shifts in religious affiliation over the coming decades, as populations in the global south continue to grow rapidly and Christian populations in Europe age and die.

Between 2010 and 2015, an estimated 31% of babies born in the world were to Muslim parents, far exceeding the 24% share of the world’s population held by Muslims. In the same period, 33% of the world’s babies were born to Christians, only slightly higher than their 31% share of the global population.

That is set to change, owing to the relatively young age profile of Muslims and their higher fertility rates. Between 2030 and 2035, slightly more babies (225 million) will be born to Muslims than to Christians (224 million). Between 2055 and 2060, the gap is expected to widen to 6 million – 232m births to Muslims, and 226m to Christians.

In 2015, of the world’s 7.3bn people, Christians were the largest religious group, at 31%. Muslims were second at 24%, followed by religious “nones” (16%), Hindus (15%) and Buddhists (7%). Jews, adherents of folk religions (faiths associated with a particular group of people, ethnicity or tribe), and followers of other religions made up smaller shares of the global population.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/apr/05/muslim-population-overtake-christian-birthrate-20-years

3 Declaration of war and the start of the American century (San Francisco Chronicle) Before April 6, 1917, the US still was, in the words of American writer Walter Lippmann, a country where "money spent on battleships would be better spent on schoolhouses." Then, 100 years ago Thursday, the US declared war on Germany and, following victory in 1918, started what would eventually become known as "The American Century."

American immigrant communities were torn over whether to help the British, and pacifism was the watchword after the destruction of the US Civil War. President Woodrow Wilson won re-election in 1916 with the slogan "He has kept us out of war." Another of his campaign catchphrases had a more contemporary ring: "America first."

In Europe, both sides had already dug in for trench warfare in northern France and Belgium, with gas and tanks and precision shelling making battle more deadly than ever. Some days there were tens of thousands of casualties in unprecedented slaughter.

Despite American reluctance to get involved, there was outrage early on at the bombing and German destruction of Belgium's Louvain library and reports of other atrocities. Then, German submarines started attacking ships in the Atlantic. In 1915, the British liner Lusitania was torpedoed, killing some 1,200, including 128 Americans.

And in a diplomatic faux pas with huge consequences, German Foreign Minister Arthur Zimmermann sent a telegram to his Mexico City office to draw Mexico into the war with a promise to get territory back in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. There was no WikiLeaks then, but British intelligence got hold of the missive and fed it to Wilson.

"It means to stir up enemies against us at our very doors," Wilson said. He asked for war. On April 6, Congress obliged.

http://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/100-years-ago-war-declaration-started-The-11051174.php