State Department stayed out of contractors' dispute over consulate security, letters show

Letters obtained exclusively by Fox News appear to show the State Department refused to get involved when the company tasked with protecting the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, raised security concerns, the latest indication that warning signs may have been ignored in the lead-up to last month's terror attack.

The letters pertain to a dispute between Blue Mountain Libya, the security license holder in Libya, and its operations partner Blue Mountain UK, which trained and provided the local guards. 

A source with knowledge of two State Department meetings -- one in June and a second in July -- told Fox News that Blue Mountain Libya felt the security provided by the UK partner was "substandard and the situation was unworkable." 

But according to the source, when the Libyans tried to bring in a third party -- an American contractor -- to improve security, a State Department contract officer declined to get involved. 

"The U.S. government is not required to mediate any disagreements between the two parties of the Blue Mountain Libya partnership," contracting officer Jan Visintainer wrote on July 10 to Blue Mountain Libya, adding that to date "contract performance is satisfactory." 

Asked about that letter Tuesday, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the department's investigation likely would address the issue. 

"Presumably, those kinds of questions will have to be looked at in the context of the work that we're doing," she said. 

A representative with Blue Mountain UK has not yet responded to a request by Fox News for comment. 

The July 10 exchange and the apparent warning that set it off are sure to be examined closely as both the State Department and Congress begin to scrutinize what may have gone wrong in the weeks and months preceding the attack, in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed. 

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee plans to hold a hearing Oct. 10 on security in the region before the attack. Two members of that committee, Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, fired off a letter Tuesday to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asking a string of security-related questions. 

They detailed attacks and other security incidents in Benghazi starting in April and asked the State Department what measures it took to address the threat. Further, they claimed officials have told the committee of "repeated requests" for additional security that were turned down. 

"Based on information provided to the committee by individuals with direct knowledge of events in Libya, the attack that claimed the ambassador's life was the latest in a long line of attacks on Western diplomats and officials in Libya in the months leading up to September 11, 2012," they wrote. "In addition, multiple U.S. federal government officials have confirmed to the committee that, prior to the September 11 attack, the U.S. mission in Libya made repeated requests for increased security in Benghazi. The mission in Libya, however, was denied these resources by officials in Washington." 

A State Department spokeswoman said Tuesday that Clinton plans to respond to the lawmakers' questions. 

The letter to Clinton alleges 13 incidents that showed the deteriorating security situation on the ground -- one of which included workers with Blue Mountain. Weeks before the attack, the letter said, Libyan guards employed by the Blue Mountain Group were urged by their family members to quit over rumors "of an impending attack." 

The letter included other incidents, which have been well documented, including the June attack on a convoy carrying the British ambassador. And it said "assailants" put an explosive device at the gate of the U.S. Consulate in early June, blowing a hole in the security perimeter. 

The State Department, meanwhile, has stood by U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice in the face of criticism and calls for her resignation. Rice came under fire for claiming repeatedly the Sunday after the attack that it was a "spontaneous" reaction to protests over an anti-Islam film. The administration now acknowledges the assault was a coordinated terror attack.

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iSorry - A History of Apple's Apologies

Apple CEO Tim Cook issued a public apology for Apple's new Maps app today, stating that the company "fell short" of "the same incredibly high standard" its customers expect it to meet.

This isn't Apple's first apology and probably won't be its last, but it may be its most satisfying.

It's not hard to see why a consumer-electronics company wouldn't want to admit its mistakes too definitively; beyond the risk of class action suits, it can be bad for a company's reputation. Because, the fact is, apologies make for news. (Yes, we realize we're complicit in this.)

But historically, Apple's apologies (we came up with ten) have often left something to be desired. Coupled with the sometimes unreasonable expectations it encourages in its customers, Apple's understandable restraint in acknowledging problems might come off as smug or prevaricating. Still, what's more repellant than an insincere apology?

Here's our account of Apple's reluctant admissions that even Apple makes mistakes over the last five years, complete with background info and a bit of kindergarten-culture commentary.

Sorry You Paid So Much for Your iPhone. (Sept 2007)

This is actually Apple's first on-record public apology we could find. Two months after the original iPhone was released, it got a pretty major price-drop: $200 across the board. The 8GB iPhone went from $599 to $399. Understandably, anybody who'd bought the iPhone when it first launched (or, worse, the day before it got a price drop) felt cheated.

Did Apple give them their $200 back? iDon'tThinkSo. But it did offer them $100 in store credit. And Steve Jobs actually said "We apologize for disappointing some of you." And Apple's price drops since have been more predictable.Of course, Jobs' apology came after three lengthy paragraphs explaining why dropping the iPhone's price was the right decision - that a bigger user-base would be better for everyone with an iPhone, and that "if you always wait for the next price cut or to buy the new improved model, you'll never buy any technology product."

And he was right about both those things. But he didn't acknowledge that what bothered folks was the capricious nature of the price-drop. There's a reason the rhythmic life cycle of iPhone models (and prices) is foreseeable these days.

Source: Apple

Sorry (And Sorry Again) MobileMe Is Broken. (July 2008)

The precursor to iCloud (and successor to .Mac) had a bumpy launch, with server problems, a broken webapp and other bugs. And because advertised MobileMe's cloud syncing as "push", users were disappointed to find that their computers would only sync every 15 minutes.

Apple's response in this case was refreshingly sincere: "we are going to stop using the word ‘push’ until it is near-instant on PCs and Macs, too. [And] we want to apologize to our loyal customers and express our appreciation for their patience by giving all current subscribers an automatic 30-day extension to their MobileMe subscription free of charge."

Not bad! Of course, that apology came in an email...

Source: Wired

Sorry About Baby Shaker. (Apr 2009)

The same week the App Store saw its billionth download, Apple pulled an app that had users quiet a crying baby by, well, shaking their phones.

The app was discovered by a Shaken Baby Syndrome advocacy group, but by the time they'd organized a protest and alerted the media, Apple had already pulled the app and issued its biggest apology yet:

"This app is deeply offensive and should not have been approved for distribution on the App Store. We sincerely apologize for this mistake."

But Patrick Donohue, founder of the Sarah Jane Brain Foundation, wasn't satisfied. Citing Apple's refusal to release its criteria for App Store gatekeeping, he said Apple's statement was "directed at the media to kill the story. This is the most cynical apology I have ever seen."

Source: Information Week

Sorry the iPhone 4 Is Our Hottest Phone Ever. (June 2010)

Check out Apple's bragpology after high pre-order demand for the iPhone 4 crashed its site:

"Yesterday Apple … took pre-orders for more than 600,000 iPhone 4s. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and … many of our order and approval systems malfunctioned. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again."

Source: Apple

Sorry You're Holding Your iPhone 4 Wrong. (July 2010)

Remember Antennagate, when just touching part of an iPhone 4's aluminum side might drop a call? Apple didn't apologize for this one at first, recommending that iPhone 4 owners "avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases," and calling the problem "a fact of life for every wireless phone."

When people still insisted the issue was way worse on the iPhone 4 than any phone they'd ever used, Apple released a second statement, explaining that the "dramatic drop in bars" was caused by phones falsely displaying more bars than the signal strength called for. "The formula we [have used] to calculate how many bars … to display is totally wrong," Apple told the press, before explaining that the problem would be "fixed" by a software update that made the first three bars bigger and easier to see.

Apple did remind customers that they had 30 days to return their iPhone if they didn't like it, but the statement maintained that "the iPhone 4's wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped," and its guidelines for technical support staff still instructed, "We ARE NOT appeasing customers with free bumpers – DON'T promise a free bumper to customers."

Source: Engadget, Apple, Gizmodo

Sorry Our Last Apology Sucked. (July 2010)

Thought Antennagate was over? So did Apple, but customers and the media had other plans.

While Apple never recalled the iPhone 4 or admitted to a design flaw, it did eventually offer some customers a free bumper case, and the phone's antenna design was eventually quietly revised to fix it.

Siri: "Sorry My Servers Are Down." (Nov 2011)

In early November last year, early adopter of the iPhone 4S experienced Siri outages. Her servers may have been down, but Siri still had the manners to say, "Sorry I am having trouble connecting to the network."

Sorry Siri's Pro-Life. (Dec 2011)

If you lived in New York and asked Siri for directions to the nearest abortion clinic, it would have told you last December that she couldn't find any. If you lived in DC, Siri would have taken you to an anti-abortion "crisis pregnancy center".

When Nancy Keenan of the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League brought the issue to Apple's attention, Tim Cook responded personally:

"While [Siri] can find a lot, it doesn't always find what you want. These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone, it simply means that as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better and we will in the coming weeks."

Calling it a "glitch" isn't exactly an apology, but if that's all it was, maybe an apology wasn't warranted.

Source: Business Insider

Sorry the Galaxy Tab Isn't Cool Enough to Be an iPad Knockoff. (Coming Soon)

Back in July, Apple lost an infringement case against Samsung in the UK. In his ruling, Judge Birss said the Galaxy Tabs "are not as cool" as the iPad.

But he also ordered Apple to print a public apology to Samsung for accusing it of design theft. Apple has a stay on this order until the appeal is heard in October, so check back soon to find out just how awesome Apple's next apology is.

Source: Bloomberg

What do you want to see your favorite (or least favorite) electronics company apologize for? Let us know in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

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Football Manager 2013 Release Date Announced

SEGA has revealed the latest instalment in the Football Manager franchise will release on November 2 worldwide.

If you can't wait until then though, the company is offering keen players who pre-order the chance to get into the game earlier.

Anyone who pre-orders a physical or digital copy of the game will receive a code that will grant access to a single-player beta version of the game about two weeks before the full game becomes available. This beta will remain playable until November 5, and all saved games and progress made during the pre-release period will be fully compatible with the final release.

Speaking about the decision to offer earlier access, Sports Interactive’s studio director Miles Jacobson said, "Our fans are very good at letting us know what they want and the one thing that’s consistently at the top of their wish list is an earlier release date. While we can’t, strictly speaking, offer them exactly what they want, this Beta version is the next best thing… a fully playable Football Manager they can get their hands on around two weeks before the finished game hits the streets."

Football Manager 2013 will be available on PC and Mac from November 2, and includes new features such as a Classic mode and short-term challenges.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Mr. Ed Returns as CGI/Live-Action Hybrid

Waterman Entertainment is looking to adapt the classic television series Mr. Ed into a feature film. The company also recently bought the rights to The Brave Little Toaster, hoping to breathe new life into beloved children's properties.

"We are identifying properties that have had success with multiple generations of parents who feel comfortable and have excitement about reintroducing the characters and storylines to their own kids and grandkids," said executive producer Cooper Waterman. "While each property remains independent of each other, they will share the commonality of addressing social values, morality lessons, and characteristics that are clearly identifiable for kids with comedic elements for all age groups."

The original TV show centered on the exploits of a talking horse, Mr. Ed, and his klutzy but affable owner Wilbur Post. Current plans are to adapt the series into a live-action/CG hybrid movie.

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Halo 7, 8, 9 Websites Purchased by Microsoft

Microsoft has purchased domains related to Halo 7, Halo 8 and Halo 9. Registered by internet brand protection company MarkMonitor, Microsoft acquired Halo7.net, Halo7.org, Halo8.org, Halo 9.net and Halo9.org within the past 48 hours.

The domains were registered by DNStination, Inc., a service administered by MarkMonitor. MarkMonitor lists Microsoft as a “strategic alliance” on its official site and has worked to register Microsoft domains in the past.

Microsoft has previously announced that the upcoming Halo 4 will begin a series of three games known as the Reclaimer Trilogy. While that trilogy will presumably include Halo 4, 5 and 6, this is the first hint that Microsoft could already be actively planning for games beyond that. Just recently, a 343 Industries job listing suggested a Halo game is already in the works for next-gen consoles.

This is the second high-profile domain registration by Microsoft in recent months, following a series of Xbox 8 domains the company secured back in July. It’s likely that Microsoft is simply protecting its brand by registering these new Halo domains, though it's worth noting that Microsoft doesn't own Halo.com and only acquired Halo4.com after the game's E3 2011 announcement. We’ve reached out for comment just in case.

For now, the only future Halo game announced is Halo 4, which will hit stores on November 6th. For much more, check out our Halo 4 wiki guide and information on Halo 4’s changes to Capture the Flag announced at PAX.

Source: Fusible

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

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Bayonetta 2 Devs Respond to Exclusivity Criticism

PlatinumGames has responded to fan criticism about Bayonetta 2 being a Wii U exclusive.

A mixed reaction followed the company's surprising reveal that the sequel to the original Bayonetta, which appeared on both PS3 and Xbox 360, would only launch on Nintendo's upcoming console.

“

Alongside Nintendo, we hope to grow the Bayonetta brand beyond where it stands today, allowing even more gamers around the world to experience the action of our beloved witch.

PlatinumGames CEO and President Tatsuya Minami explained on the company's website that the original game was fundamental in establishing the company as an emerging studio, and promised that Bayonetta 2 would be a "true sequel" in terms of both design goals and much of the team working on it.

He explained, "Bayonetta has fans the world over, and we would never dream of alienating them from participating in the future of PlatinumGames.

“That being said, the console games market is in a state of upheaval, so establishing a new game franchise requires a considerable amount of will, determination, and love. Bayonetta is a brand that we want to see become stronger, reaching the hands of more and more gamers, so we have continued to consult with SEGA, the previous game’s publisher, on how we can make sure this takes place. Our answer was a new partnership with Nintendo.

“Alongside Nintendo, we hope to grow the Bayonetta brand beyond where it stands today, allowing even more gamers around the world to experience the action of our beloved witch.”

While nothing has been confirmed, its believed that Bayonetta 2 was dropped by SEGA as a result of the company’s reshuffle earlier this year when it was decided that the publisher would only focus on core franchises in future. It's possible that Nintendo swooped in to save the game and made it into a Wii U exclusive in the process.

Returning from the original game is Yusuke Hashimoto who will replace Hideki Kamiya in the game director role. He said, "Alongside Bayonetta’s creator, Hideki Kamiya, I’m working on everything from creating a compelling world to character designs (I will be designing the enemies again), and everyone on our talented team is united around the core of Bayonetta."

Though this means Kamiya won't be directing the game, he is on board as a supervisor and revealed that work on Bayonetta 2 has been ongoing for some time. He explained, "We were secretly making one the entire time. While I am not the director of this game, I am still supervising the world, story, characters, etc. in close coordination with Hashimoto, and I have been from the very beginning. You have nothing to work [sic - presumably he means 'worry'] about on that end. And of course, plenty of members from the first Bayonetta are on-board and working hard under the direction of Hashimoto."

No release date has been set for Bayonetta 2 but it isn't scheduled to appear during the Wii U's launch window, which runs from November until the end of March.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and doesn't care what platform Bayonetta 2 is on, as long as there's more J-Pop covers of Sinatra songs. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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Ubisoft's Uplay May Sell Third-Party Games

Ubisoft has revealed it may add titles from other publishers to its Uplay app in the future.

Speaking with MCV, the company's Stephanie Perotti revealed that whilst Uplay currently only offers the company's own PC titles, this may all change in the future in a bid to challenge EA's Origin service and Valve's Steam.

"We remain open to opportunities," she said. "Right now, we’re starting the service with our own games, but as we go forward, we plan to potentially add other titles."

Though Uplay first launched in 2009 as an achievement tracking service that allowed players to use points to unlock DLC and extras in Ubisoft's other titles, it was only with last month's revamp that it became possible to download games directly. That update also saw the addition of friends lists and chat systems, bringing it in line with what's on offer in Steam and Origin.

Perotti added that this is just the beginning though, and promised further changes were on the way to re-incorporate the best bits of the old design with the new digital distribution platform.

"The plan for UPlay goes beyond digital distribution," said Perotti.

"We continue to evolve the service across all platforms, including PC, console and mobile. The more Ubisoft games you play, the more rewards you can get, as well as several online services that players would expect."

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

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