San Francisco (AFP) - The video game studio that won players' devotion with blockbuster hit "Halo" is out to eclipse its enviable success with the Tuesday launch of massive new science-fiction action title "Destiny."

"We're really proud of the world we created with 'Halo,' and the millions of gamers we attracted, but with 'Destiny' we wanted the worlds to be bigger and feel more alive," Bungie studio chief operating officer Pete Parsons told AFP.

"To do that, we added in the most exciting and unpredictable ingredient we could think of: players. Destiny’s worlds are connected and alive."

The game puts players in the role of guardians of the last city on Earth, with enemies to battle; special powers to wield, and planets to explore.

Console processing power and Internet capabilities have been taken advantage of to create "an unprecedented combination" of play options from spontaneous co-operative online skirmishes to immersive solo action.

"Destiny" launches on Tuesday for play on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles as well as their predecessors the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

The game's creator's tout it as "the next evolution in interactive entertainment and an epic adventure."

- Big money bet -

While talking about the money pumped into developing and promoting "Destiny," publisher Activision Blizzard has referred to it as a $500 million bet that it will be a winning new franchise.

Armies of players joined the virtual fray during a test run of "Destiny" online capabilities in recent months.

"Proving out our technology was a huge win for us," Parsons said of the beta period.

"We also learned that a lot of people were compelled to spend a lot of time in our worlds."

The number of players topped 4.6 million, making it the largest test run ever for a new video game franchise, according to Activision Publishing.

At one point during the test run, more than 850,000 people were playing simultaneously.

"Destiny is a great action game," Parsons said.

"It's a lot of fun. Even better, you can play every single activity with your friends."

Players inspired to invest lots of time in the game can form clans, customize characters, or tackle challenges.

A compelling aspect of "Destiny" is that players can move easily about a seemingly boundless virtual universe, slipping into or out of battles raging between online players.

After years spent creating the game, the prospect of players finally getting their hands on copies is "amazing, relieving, nerve racking and exciting," Parsons said.

- Place worthy of heroes -

The game is priced at $60, but special edition versions with added perks and higher prices are being offered.

"The world is a stage – a place worthy of heroes," Parsons said.

"We love telling big, epic stories with legends and villains, but we also do everything we can to make players the star of the show."

Microsoft bought US-based Bungie in 2000 and the studio came out with "Halo" games that scored as a blockbuster franchise exclusively playable on Xbox.

Some in the industry credit "Halo" with being the franchise on which the success of the Xbox was built.

Bungie split from Microsoft about seven years ago and went on to align itself with Activision Blizzard, the publisher behind "Call of Duty" and other hit franchises.

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If you’ve seen Disney’s animated movie “Frozen” — and even if you haven’t — you know two songs from the film: Oscar-winning“Let It Go” and the song any child who has seen the film knows by heart, “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” 

According to a new special airing on ABC Tuesday, Sept. 2, called “The Story of Frozen: Making a Disney Animated Classic,” everyone’s favorite snowman song nearly didn’t make it into the film’s final cut. 

“Frozen” producer Peter Del Vecho reveals there was a screening of the film in February 2013 and “although the individual parts were strong and working, it just didn’t add up.”  

Del Vecho says the “Do You Want To Build a Snowman?” segment was taken out at one point and was in and out of the film a few times.

Songwriter Robert Lopez recalls emails coming down the Disney chain of command asking why the song was missing from the film. 

“It was not put back in the film until the witching hour before we released it,” says Kristen Bell, who voices Anna in the animated picture. 

“Thankfully, at the very last moment, someone made the call of putting it back in,” she added. “I think it’s one of the best songs in the movie.” 

"Frozen" went on to make more than $1.2 billion at theaters after it opened in theaters November 2013. The making of “Frozen” special will air on ABC Tuesday at 8 p.m. 

Watch the segment below and listen to the song below:

SEE ALSO: Photos of wrestler Dave Bautista's 5-hour "Guardians of the Galaxy" makeup process

AND: Photos of Lee Pace transforming into the "Guardians of the Galaxy" villain

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San Francisco (AFP) - Apple's mystery unveiling on Tuesday is expected to be a watershed moment for the California giant -- and the entire tech industry. Here are key things to watch for:

- Can Tim Cook step up? -

Chief executive Tim Cook will seek to vanquish the notion that Apple lost its magic when its famed co-founder Steve Jobs died. 

Cook could help Apple establish its dominance in a new category with an "iWatch" at the event set in the very location where Jobs introduced the Macintosh computer 30 years ago.

Since Jobs died in late 2011, pressure has been on his successor Cook to show the world that Apple can shine just as brightly without the iconic pitchman known for perfection in design and mastery in marketing.

Apple lovers have been eager for the company to seize a new gadget category the way it dominated smartphones, tablets, and MP3 players with the iPhone, iPad, and iPod respectively.

"I don't believe this project is a knee-jerk reaction to other smartwatches," said Creative Strategies president Tim Bajarin.

"While the roots go back to Steve Jobs, this product is Tim Cook and Jony Ive."

The genesis of what is being referred to in the media as "iWatch" stemmed from Jobs and his frustration with health care matters while battling illness that took his life, according to the analyst.

Bajarin spoke of sources telling him the Apple wearable computer has been in the works for seven years.

Cook would fittingly be putting his stamp on the first "next big thing" launched by Apple without Jobs. While an iWatch will wirelessly tap into capabilities of iPhones or iPads, managing health is expected to be a strong theme.

Bolstering that likelihood is Cook's reputation as a fitness fanatic who was among the early users of Nike Fuel activity tracking wristbands.

- Can Apple shake off security fears? -

Another thing to watch for will be how Apple addresses the elephant in the room -- security of photos, videos and other data stored on devices or online in servers at iCloud or iTunes.

Cook told The Wall Street Journal this week that Apple is stepping up its iCloud security by sending people alerts when attempts are made to change passwords, restore iCloud data to new devices, or when someone logs in from a new gadget.

His comments came after Apple took a bruising over a "targeted attack" that led to the release of nude photos of celebrities including Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence.

Apple has insisted there was no breach of its cloud storage system and that the celebrities had their accounts hacked by using easy-to-guess passwords, or by giving up their personal data to clever cybercriminals.

Security could play into the off-chance that Apple will announce iPad enhancements such as adding fingerprint scanning, in a break from its practice of keeping smartphone and tablet events separate.

- How big will the iPhone go? -

While the unveiling of new-generation iPhones with larger screens is considered a sure bet, people will be watching to see how big Apple will go and when models will make it to market.

Apple has remained consistently tight-lipped, but analysts are expecting the iPhone screen to be boosted to at least 4.7 inches, and a 5.5-inch screen is also likely, allowing Apple to compete in the new "phablet" segment.

- A payments company? -

Watch also to see how aggressively Apple moves into mobile money with near-field-communication chips built into iPhone 6 models letting them be used as Internet age wallets.

There are reported to be 800 million accounts at Apple's online iTunes shop, where people's credit card data could be easily synched to mobile wallets, quickly creating a vast sea of users.

With this, Apple could jump-start the effort to use mobile devices for payments.

- What else is coming? -

Some reports speculate that Apple may also unveil an upgrade to its iPad Air, which would be a departure from its tradition of a separate announcement for tablets.

The new mobile platform iOS 8 will have capabilities that go beyond health and payments, say some analysts. This could involve smart-home technology or other systems that put Apple at the center of the ecosystem.

"Ultimately, we believe the pivot toward software and services and the rise of a more comprehensive enterprise strategy could help Apple become much more than just a hardware company," said Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes.

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Tokyo (AFP) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's appointment of a record number of women to his cabinet highlights efforts to power the economy by boosting the female workforce -- but he faces myriad challenges turning that vision into reality.

On Wednesday, Abe gave key jobs -- including the justice ministry and oversight of the embattled nuclear power sector -- to women, who now make up more than a quarter of the 18-strong cabinet.

"Creating a society where women can shine is a big challenge that the Abe cabinet is taking on," said the conservative premier, who swept to power in late 2012 on a ticket to kickstart the lumbering economy.  

The move followed growing calls for Japan to make better use of its highly-educated but underemployed women as a rapidly ageing population strains the public purse. 

Tokyo wants to boost the ratio of women in senior positions to 30 percent by 2020, up from 11 percent now, one of the lowest rates in the world.

Dozens of Japan's biggest firms -- including Toyota, Panasonic and All Nippon Airways -- recently announced targets for boosting the number of executive women.

But the task is a daunting one in a country where sexist attitudes are still prevalent and men dominate politics and business.

Long working hours, boozy after-work sessions with the boss, and not enough childcare facilities are also among the reasons why many working Japanese women opt to stay at home or give up hopes of promotion after having children.

"The corporate gender gap in Japan is thought to be a result of indirect discrimination against women," said Kazuo Yamaguchi, a sociology professor at the University of Chicago.

"For example, willingness to work long hours seems to be a condition for promotion for women, but not for men.

"Another example is a corporate practice of placing women in positions that have fewer opportunities for promotion despite high job-performance evaluations."

- 'Skewed situation' -

Chie Kobayashi, a mother of two, transferred to Nissan's Brazil office in 2005, becoming the first working mother at the Japanese automaker to work overseas.

"I had been hoping to work in a foreign country since I was young and single," said Kobayashi, 46, now the Tokyo-based head of Nissan's diversity development office. 

"But in my younger days the opportunities for working abroad or receiving training overseas often fell to male workers. For women, those chances were rare."

Kobayashi, who joined Nissan straight out of university, credits a tie-up with France's Renault in 1999 for boosting her job choices.

"Compared with other Japanese companies, Nissan is probably advanced in terms of diversity in personnel, as it was forced to change when it joined with Renault," she told AFP.

But Kobayashi cast doubt on the government targets.

"If you try to achieve numerical targets by any means, it could bring about a skewed situation such as lenient performance assessments for women," she said.

"What is important is giving equal job opportunities to both men and women."

Meaningful change in company demographics will only come if more Japanese women want to work and the environment welcomes them, added French sociologist Muriel Jolivet, who has been living and teaching in Japan for years and has written several books on Japanese society.

"These kind of (numerical) goals don't mean anything," she said.

Old attitudes can be another barrier, an issue highlighted this summer when a member of Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) admitted he hurled sexist taunts at a Tokyo assemblywoman during a council debate on motherhood.

The embarrassing episode did little to burnish the feminist credentials of Abe's government, which is set to host a female leadership meeting in Tokyo this week, with International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde delivering a keynote address.

"If Japanese women can really work together to get more women through the political party system... (and there are) more people articulating perspectives about women's needs... then I think this kind of misogynist criticism you're seeing will start to recede," Helen Clark, head of the United Nations Development Programme, told AFP in a July interview.

- 'Step by step' -

Some firms are moving to more flexible workplaces and shrinking Japan's notoriously long overtime hours.

Toyota is planning to set up a fund to encourage female students to join male-heavy sectors, such as the auto industry.

But Nissan's chief Carlos Ghosn has called for a go-slow approach, saying Abe's targets are too ambitious.

"We have to go step by step to avoid failures that would be counter productive," he said.

Kimie Iwata, 67, a director at Japan Airlines and a former senior official in the labour ministry, was more upbeat on voluntary targets among the nation's firms.

But it was fears about the economy -- not women's rights -- that were behind the change in corporate Japan, she added.

"In the past, Japan's business community wasn't moved by the logic of women's rights," Iwata said.

"They first became serious about empowering women due to concerns about the economy."

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Rochefort (France) (AFP) - A life-size replica of the Hermione, the French navy frigate that shipped General Lafayette to America to rally rebels fighting British troops in the US war of independence, will undertake its maiden voyage on Sunday, organisers said. 

Thousands of spectators who lined the port in Rochefort on Saturday hoping to see the reproduced vessel cast off were disappointed when a build-up of sediment in its launch bay delayed departure. 

Organisers now hope to let Hermione loose at 3am local time (0100 GMT), after which she will sail up the Charente river to Rochefort's commercial port. From there, the frigate will head to the Atlantic Ocean island of Aix for several weeks of sea trials.

The vessel will make a public stop in Bordeaux in October before returning to its home port a month later for final preparations. 

The 65-meter (210 feet) ship is due to set sail for the United States in April 2015, following the route from Rochefort to Boston made by French General Gilbert du Motier -- the Marquis de Lafayette -- in 1780 to bolster American revolutionaries in their fight against British troops.

Sunday's launch is a major milestone in the journey undertaken by a group of restoration enthusiasts who in 1997 embarked on the arduous task of recreating the three-masted vessel using only eighteenth-century shipbuilding techniques.

"It is an important step to sail Hermione at sea, which no one has ever done," said Benedict Donnelly, president of the Hermione-Lafayette Association.

Since its foundation 17 years ago the association has attracted artisan craftsmen from France, Britain, Germany, Spain and Sweden and now comprises some 8,000 members. 

"There is real pride in the collective force behind this project. There have been tense moments, but we remained united," Donnelly said.

The project cost 25 million euros ($32 million), financed by more than four million visitors to the shipyard -- also home to Rochefort's original arsenal -- as well as through crowd-funding initiatives for specific parts of the ship. 

Yann Cariou, the ex-naval officer who will captain the frigate for its voyage to Boston, said the next weeks of testing would give the 72-strong crew a chance to "get their sea legs". 

"Above all there will be emotion. It's still the Hermione and nobody has navigated a ship like this for two centuries," Cariou said. 

It took Lafayette 38 days to cross the Atlantic, a voyage that confirmed his renown as a military mastermind and a hero of the American Revolution. 

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Cherry Hills Village (United States) (AFP) - Billy Horschel, who is determined to put Monday's tough finish fast behind him, fired a third-round 63 to vault three shots clear of the field at the BMW Championship.

Horschel capped his bogey-free round at the Cherry Hills Country Club by rolling in a 32-foot birdie putt on No. 18.

It was a far cry from his final hole at the Deutsche Bank Championship on Monday when he chunked his second shot well short into the hazard and had to settle for a bogey. 

Horschel finished in a tie for second place after having arrived at the 18th tee just one shot behind winner Chris Kirk.

"I was over it real quickly," Horschel said. "It was just a bad swing at the wrong time. 

"There are bigger things in life than hitting a fat six iron in a hazard."

Tell that to world number one Rory McIlroy, who suffered the ignominy of a triple-bogey in his third round. 

McIlroy's assault threatened to dissolve as he four putted on the par-three 12th. The Northern Irishman ended up posting a 72, which dropped him into a tie for 10th at four-under 206.

McIlroy joked about his triple-bogey wobble on Twitter.

"Glad everybody enjoyed my 4 putt today... always tomorrow to get a few shots back and get up that leaderboard!" he said.

Horschel ended 54 holes at 13-under-par 197 at the $8 million Colorado PGA Tour event.

Ryan Palmer, who was runner-up at the Humana Challenge and The Honda Classic, posted a 67 and is alone in second on 200.

US Open champion Martin Kaymer (64) and Masters winner Bubba Watson (66) share third place at eight-under 202, five shots adrift of Horschel but still in the hunt.

But the day belonged to the 27-year-old American Horschel, who had seven birdies and 11 pars.

Horschel, of Jacksonville Beach, Florida, matched the tournament's 54-hole scoring record with his total of 197. 

Camilo Villegas set the mark in 2008 at Bellerive golf course and Tiger Woods matched it a year later at the Cog Hill course.

Horschel is projected to move to first place in the FedEx Cup points standings with a victory at Cherry Hills.

"I just came to the realization that I was being too hard on myself," he said of Monday's blunder. "I am not nearly as frustrated when I hit a bad shot. I know that it happens."

On Saturday, Horschel drained a 22-foot birdie chance on the 14th and followed it up with an eight-foot birdie on the next hole. His run was briefly stopped with a par at the 16th.

On the par-five 17th, Horschel's second shot landed on the green. He then two-putted for birdie to move to 12-under. He was already alone in the lead when he posted another birdie at No. 18.

- 'Didn't know I was leading' -

"I played really solid," he said. "The goal today was to make no bogeys. I didn't know I was leading.

"I am just out there trying to do my thing and hopefully things will go my way.

"That putt on 18 was a bonus."

Second-round leader Sergio Garcia of Spain stumbled to a two-over 72 and fell into sixth place at 204.

A struggling Phil Mickelson withdrew before the third round started, ending his PGA Tour season, and Keegan Bradley also pulled out, citing a possible rules violation regarding a drop he took during the first round.

"I just feel withdrawing is the right thing to do to protect the field in the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship next week," Bradley said.

"It's eating me alive. I know the official approved the drop, but I just can't be absolutely sure it was the right spot."

Because Bradley will earn no points from the BMW Championship, he is in danger of dropping out of the top 30 players who advance to the next week's Tour Championship. After three rounds, he is projected to be in 33rd spot.

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London (AFP) - Vast projects to expand the Suez and Panama canals are being talked up as the biggest upheaval for decades in global maritime traffic, but experts say they could be outflanked by a trade shift towards Asia.

In recent years, freight traffic travelling from Asia to the east coast of the United States has increasingly circumvented the Panama Canal and its restrictions on ship size in favour of the Suez route open to most big vessels.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has launched plans for a second Suez canal in parallel to the existing one at a cost of $4.0 billion (3.0 billion euros).

To attract business back, the board of the Panama Canal began work in 2007 to widen the channel to permit the passage of ships carrying a much greater volume of containers.

The broader channel would allow for vessels carrying 12,000 TEU containers (TEU, or "twenty-foot equivalent unit", is the standard unit of measurement for containers) -- a big increase from the current capacity of 5,000 TEU.

Work on widening the Panama Canal continues despite a dispute on cost overruns.

Meanwhile, Chinese interests are involved in a project still on the drawing board to link the Pacific and Atlantic oceans with a second canal through Nicaragua.

But while the channel through central America should attract an increase in business, "it will not be revolutionary" in terms of global traffic, said James Frew, an analyst with Maritime Strategies International.

He also highlighted the efficient overland distribution network from California to the US east coast, which gives shippers an alternative route.

- Panama project to have 'some impact' -

The enlargement of the Panama Canal "should have some impact on container trades", explained Ralph Leszczynski, head of research at the Banchero Costa brokerage.

"However, for most shipping business such as dry bulk and tankers it's not really such a big deal," he said.

There are 4,500 container ships in the world compared to at least 10,000 dry cargo ships and more than 7,000 tankers.

"These days, most imports of coal, iron ore and oil are dominated by China, India, Japan and they do not require using any of the canals, as the main sources are Australia, Indonesia, Africa and the Middle East," said Leszczynski.

In addition, "the high cost of passing through the Panama Canal is such that it will become less and less attractive for transporting commodities whose prices have fallen -- like iron ore," said Marc Pauchet, head of research on dry bulk carriers at the broker Braemar ACM.

- Changing demands -

The Suez Canal remains "fundamental for all Middle East Gulf to Europe crude oil trades... but even there it's losing importance, as the main sources of growth in oil demand are China and India, and their imports do not cross any canal," said Leszczynski.

Sisi has said the canal through Egypt must be doubled with the second route to increase traffic flow within a year.

But "I see less economic requirement for an expansion of the Suez Canal than I do for the Panama Canal," Frew said.

The only real restriction, he said, "is that you cannot get a fully loaded VLCC (very large crude carriers) through the Suez Canal but there's no restriction on container ships at the moment."

These tankers must currently unload part of their cargo at the beginning of the channel and reload at the end, in order to maintain the correct waterline to pass through.

Leszczynski believes that there is also no economic justification for the construction of a competitor to the Panama Canal in Nicaragua.

"If, magically, it turned out to be cheaper to use than the Panama one then I'm sure shipowners would appreciate it, but again I'm afraid this will not be the case," he said.

"It is interesting to note that it is the Chinese who are responsible for building the canal in Nicaragua," adds Pauchet. 

"Perhaps they do not want to submit to American hegemony for passing from the Pacific to the Atlantic."

The United States led the construction of the Panama Canal, and granted themselves the lion's share of concessions from its opening in 1914 until its surrender in 1999. 

An agreement still in force today allows them to intervene if they believe the neutrality of the channel is threatened.

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Napier (New Zealand) (AFP) - The All Blacks were counting the cost on Sunday of their 28-9 Rugby Championship victory over Argentina as Sam Whitelock and Liam Messam were ruled out of next week's crunch Test against South Africa. 

The medical report was not the news coach Steve Hansen wanted to hear as he began plotting how his defending champions could beat their closest rivals by attempting to run them into submission. 

Hansen talked of playing "positive rugby" despite facing depleted ranks at lock and blindside flanker with Whitelock and Messam possibly out for four weeks.

The All Blacks top the standings halfway through this year's championship after the previously unbeaten South Africa suffered their first loss, going down 24-23 to Australia. 

Senior lock Whitelock was forced from the field in the first half with a damaged rib cartilage while flanker Messam injured a quadriceps muscle when racing to score just on half-time. 

"The worst case scenario is (they are) out for probably four weeks. Best case scenario -- probably three," Hansen said. 

With Messam injured, Steven Luatua, who could not make the match-day squad against Argentina, becomes the next available blindside flanker while first choice Jerome Kaino remains sidelined with an elbow injury. 

The lock stocks are even more depleted with sixth-choice Jeremy Thrush likely to partner Brodie Retallick against South Africa. 

Squad members Patrick Tuipulotu (ankle) and Dominic Bird (toe) are still a week away from being match fit while Luke Romano, who played 16 Tests in 2012-13, suffered a broken leg in the Super 15 ruling him out of the Rugby Championship. 

Despite the injuries, Hansen declared himself "very happy" with the way the All Blacks outgunned Argentina, scoring four tries to nil on a wet night as they chanced their arm to run with the ball despite the greasy conditions. 

All Blacks captain Richie McCaw added the side was fully committed to a 15-man game and rejected any suggestion of resorting to a kicking game if it is wet when they play South Africa in Wellington on Saturday. 

"I don't think that suits us totally. We want to be able, even when it's like that, to be better than the opposition, at being able to use our skills under pressure," he said. 

"You've got a bunch of guys from numbers one to 15 who want to run with the ball, play with the ball, and if we can create opportunities to do that regardless of the conditions I think that makes it pretty tough for the opposition."

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Washington (AFP) - The United States launched its first air strikes in the Sunni Arab heartland on Sunday, bombing jihadists around a key dam on the Euphrates Valley, the military said.

"At the request of the government of Iraq, US military forces attacked ISIL (Islamic State) terrorists near Haditha in Anbar province in support of Iraqi security forces and Sunni tribes protecting the Haditha dam," the US Central Command said.

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Donetsk (Ukraine) (AFP) - Shelling was heard near the airport of the main rebel-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on Sunday, an AFP journalist in the area said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the artillery fire, the latest breach of a shaky ceasefire signed on Friday. Although Donetsk itself is in the hands of the pro-Russian insurgents, the airport is controlled by Ukrainian government forces.

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Ramallah (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has threatened to break off a unity agreement with Hamas if the Islamist movement does not allow the government to operate properly in the Gaza Strip.

"We won't accept a partnership with (Hamas) if the situation continues like this in Gaza where there is a shadow government of 27 deputy ministers who are running the territory," Abbas said on arrival in Cairo late Saturday, in remarks published by official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

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Mariupol (Ukraine) (AFP) - A woman was killed in the heavy fighting that erupted overnight in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, the local authorities said on Sunday, the first reported death since a ceasefire was signed two days ago.

Another three residents were also wounded when pro-Russian rebels opened fire on a government-held checkpoint at the eastern edge of the city, Mariupol town hall said in a statement.

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PETERHEAD (United Kingdom) (AFP) - "One, two, two. One, three, four. One, three, six," the auctioneer bellows in a rich Doric accent native to Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland.

With each new price, his warm breath creates plumes of steam in the near freezing, cavernous hall that is Peterhead wholesale fish market.

Around him, buyers wearing clumpy yellow, orange or white boots tap dance across boxes of fish, holding the animals up to test their firmness and freshness and laying out rectangular strips of paper to mark their choice.

This is Europe's biggest wholesale market for freshly-landed fish, where the looming Scottish independence referendum on September 18 is putting many traders on edge.

Within three hours, 6,000 boxes of North Sea white fish -- mainly haddock, cod, monkfish or saithe -- are packed off to markets, shops, restaurants or processing plants across the continent.

More than 130,000 tonnes of white fish, herring, mackerel and shellfish pass every year through Peterhead, 158 miles (254 kilometres) northeast of Edinburgh.

The town's port authority is so confident about the future that it plans to build a bigger market hall to accommodate a higher volume of fish.

But there is a cloud on the horizon.

"We don't know if there are going to be any barriers regarding red tape, if we have to pay any charges for fish going to England. We've been told nothing. Nothing at all," says fish merchant Gary Mitchell, who exports 20 percent of his stock to France but sells all the remainder to clients in England.

"There's a big difference in paperwork we have to do regarding filling out forms for France... There's nothing like that at the moment for England. If that becomes a reality, there'll be a huge amount more paperwork. So it's a big upheaval," Mitchell said.

- 'We would set rules' -

The biggest challenge though will be the amount of fish that can be landed in the first place.

Fish quotas are decided in hard-fought negotiations within the European Union and, in the event of a "Yes" vote, no one knows what will happen to those quotas while Edinburgh negotiates its membership of the bloc.

The fishing industry, which is much bigger in Scotland than the rest of the United Kingdom, represents less than one percent of Britain's GDP and the pro-independence Scottish National Party (SNP) says London has bartered away fishing rights for advantages in more lucrative economic sectors. 

"At the moment, we have no control whatsoever over the activities of foreign vessels in our waters," said Stewart Stevenson, SNP member of Scotland's parliament for Banffshire and Buchan Coast, which includes Peterhead.

"As an independent nation, we can start to set the rules within the European framework. We would set rules that suit us," he said.

It's a message that resonates with a lot of fishermen, many of whom have been living off the sea for generations.

Peter Bruce, skipper of "The Budding Rose", can trace his family's sea-faring days back to when his great, great grandfather worked on the whaling ships.

He's also witnessed the industry's steep decline.

"I used to have about six members of my immediate family in fishing. I'm the last one. Now everyone is in the oil industry," Bruce said.

Strict quotas to protect dwindling fish stocks have forced many to look elsewhere for employment and the Peterhead fleet has fallen 75 percent from about 120 boats in the late 1990s to just 30 today.

Bruce said stocks have rebounded strongly in the past five years but the three-million-pound (3.8-million euro, $4.9 million) Budding Rose only fished for 60 days in the first eight months of 2014 as it had already hit quota limits.

He complains the EU is too slow to react to the evolving resources in the sea.

Bruce has decided to vote in favour of independence because it offers a glimmer of hope that things will get better.

"What I really hope for is that the fishing gets a lot higher profile.

"The last time there was a debate on fishing in the House of Commons and there were about 12 people there. It just shows the interest of fishing," he said.

- 'Gnat on a windscreen' -

But the head of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation Bertie Armstrong warned an independent Scottish nation will not have the same powerful voice in Europe and fishermen will suffer in the short term.

Under the new Lisbon Treaty, for a vote on the Common Fisheries Policy to pass you need 55 percent of the member states but also 65 percent of the population of Europe.

Scotland with its 5.3 million people would have a long way to go to match the voting power of the United Kingdom and its 63.2-million-strong population.

In the complex system of EU fishing quotas, boats can also swap the fish they catch with vessels from other nations.

If a Scottish boat nets too much monkfish, it can swap it for cod caught by a vessel from France where monkfish is more popular while still meeting quotas.

Within Britain, Scottish boats can also for example buy or lease quotas from other boats from England or Wales as long as they remain in the overall UK quota.

"What happens when that system stops?" Armstrong said, pointing out that Scotland's mixed fishermen currently catch 20 to 30 percent more than they're nominally allowed by buying or leasing quotas.

"Although you might feel better as a small country and negotiating for yourself, if you want to have more impact that a gnat on a windscreen, you need to be a heavier hitter."

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For most students, early September means back-to-school time.

But that’s not the case for everyone, especially in the tech industry.

Billionaire investor Peter Thiel, for example, is paying $100,000 for kids to drop out of school and start their own companies.

Thiel has a point: Some of the most successful tech entrepreneurs have racked up billions of dollars without ever finishing college.

Whether to skip college or not is totally up to you. But if you’re one of those thinking about it, this will serve as inspiration.

Bill Gates

Company: Microsoft

School: Harvard

Net worth: $81 billion

Bill Gates started college at Harvard in 1973, but dropped out two years later to found Microsoft. His co-founder, Paul Allen, went to the same high school as Gates.

Gates remained Microsoft’s CEO until 2000, when he stepped down to take on the Chairman role. Now, he serves as a technology advisor to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, while focusing on his charity work at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

In 2007, Gates received an honorary degree from Harvard, when he also delivered the commencement speech.

Michael Dell

Company: Dell Computer

School: University of Texas at Austin

Net worth: $18.8 billion

Michael Dell was a freshman at the University of Texas at Austin when he decided drop out. He was a biology major, but computers were what really got him excited at school.

In 1984, Dell founded Dell Computer Corp. and turned it into a multi-billion dollar computer empire over the next 30 years.

Dell became the youngest CEO of a company ever to make the Fortune 500 list in 1992.

He took Dell private in a deal worth $24.9 billion in 2013, and currently serves as the company’s Chairman and CEO.

Mark Zuckerberg

Company: Facebook

School: Harvard

Net worth: $34 billion

Zuckerberg dropped out of Harvard in his sophomore year to focus on running Facebook. The 30-year old has remained the company’s CEO/Chairman since its founding in 2004.

Facebook went public in 2012 and is now worth over $200 billion.

It had 1.32 billion monthly active users as of June 2014, and had over $7.8 billion in revenue last year.

Apple will announce the iPhone 6 on Tuesday, with a possible release date of Sept. 19. 

The phone will probably come in two sizes and various capacities, and the phones could cost anywhere from $400 to $900. 

But that's if you buy them off contract. 

If you get a phone with a new two-year contract, the price drops significantly, usually starting at around $200. Here's how to find out if you're eligible for a phone upgrade for the big phone carriers in the U.S.

Verizon

There are a few ways to check if your phone is eligible for an upgrade. You can call #874 from your iPhone, and you'll get a text message back, letting you know when you're eligible to get a shiny new phone.

You can also check via Verizon's website. 

Click on "My Verizon" at the top of the site, and then click on "My Device."

Then click on "Upgrade Device."

There you'll see all your devices, and when they are eligible for an upgrade. 

AT&T

Like with Verizon, you can call *639#, and you'll get a text message back, letting you know whether you're eligible.

You can also sign in to your account via a web browser. Right when you sign in, it will ask you if you'd like to check whether you're eligible. 

If it doesn't ask you, click on "myAT&T" and then "Wireless" at the top of the page. Then click "Check Upgrade Eligibility."

If you're eligible, you can start the process of getting your new phone on the next screen.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile offers the Jump plan. You pay $10 a month, and then you're eligible to upgrade whenever a new device comes out. You just have to trade in your current device. 

You also have to have paid up to 50% the cost of your current device. 

Sprint

You can text the word "upgrade" to 1311, and it will tell you whether you're eligible. 

You can also check on Sprint's website.

Click on "Upgrade" from the "My Account" dropdown.

Then click on "Discount Options" next to your phone number.

That will bring up a pop-up screen, which will give you the date you're eligible for an upgrade. 

Apple's Apple Store app

Apple also provides an easy way to tell if your iPhone is eligible for a discount. 

Download the free app, and then click on "Upgrade Your iPhone" from the main screen.

On the next screen, it will ask you to verify the last four digits of your Social Security number and put in your ZIP. Click "Continue."

The next screen will tell you when you're eligible for an upgrade. It'll also show you how much money you'll save if you wait for when your contract is up. 

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If you want to understand the stakes in the September 18 referendum on Scottish independence, you have to remember that Alex Salmond, the country’s first minister, is famous for his devotion to horseracing and his gambling tips.

On this occasion, he has come up with an accumulator bet.

Salmond needs to win four high-risk wagers to lead Scotland to independence and deliver on the prosperity he claims will come from separating from the UK. The danger for the people of Scotland is that they could find themselves in a weak state that is dependent on a UK that feels it owes them nothing.

Here are the four bets:

1) That Salmond can convince a majority of Scotland’s population to vote for independence on September 18, 2014.

2) That an independent Scotland can keep the British pound.

3) That Scotland can leave the UK but stay in the EU.

4) That Scotland can leave the UK but remain in NATO on its own terms.

Bet number 1: Salmond wants a majority to vote “Yes” to independence on September 18. With the pro-independence “Yes” campaign leading in the latest poll, Salmond’s gamble looks good. Until now the complacent consensus among British politicians has been that the “Yes” campaign would lose because it was trailing in almost every opinion poll since May 2011.

However, as Salmond knows, British opinion pollsters can get elections wrong. The opinion polls failed to predict that Salmond’s Scottish National Party (SNP) would win a majority in the 2011 Scottish parliament elections. The SNP’s unexpectedly large victory, a product of its efficient grass roots organization, paved the way for the September 18 referendum.

In addition to the SNP party machine, Salmond is using the Scottish government to propagandize for independence. He has built an efficient media machine that smears his opponents, including on one occasion a single mother with a child suffering from cerebral palsy. The bloated Scottish government payroll plays in the nationalists’ favour and Scottish ministers have warned businesses not to oppose independence. Some local pro-independence groups have resorted to intimidation, with anti-English extremists joining in.

The anti-independence “No Thanks” campaign, by contrast, has no government resources at its disposal. Those advocating to keep Scotland in the UK have cobbled together an organization with no track record of success. The leader of “No Thanks,” Alistair Darling, is a Labour politician best known for being Britain’s finance minister during the 2008 financial crisis.

Bet number 2: Salmond wants Scotland to separate from the UK but keep the British pound as its currency. The notion that Scotland could become independent but still use the pound is bizarre. The only independent countries that function with somebody else’s currency are failed economies such as El Salvador.

As importantly, the British government and opposition say they will not share the pound with an independent Scotland. Salmond’s response is that they are bluffing. He claims that Scotland actually owns pound: “it’s our pound and we’re keeping it.”

What is really happening here is that Salmond is preparing the way for a Scottish currency. Salmond has hinted as much by saying that using the pound is “transitional,” although without specifying to what. Having agitated for Scottish independence for over 30 years, and having studied the experience of other countries, Salmond has seen that most independent states issue their own money. A Scottish currency will also provide his government with control over monetary policy and will make running the budget easier.

Indeed, Salmond has actually made a strong argument for a Scottish currency. In an important speech in March 2014, Salmond said that “London is the dark star of the economy, inexorably sucking in resources, people and energy.” He’s right. Scotland is just 7.7% of the UK economy, while London accounts for 22.4% (England as a whole is 84.8% of the total). The London economy, with its exorbitant property prices and high wages, exerts greater influence over interest rates and the exchange rate than Scotland. Why then would Scotland want to use the currency of the “dark star”?

Bet number 3: Salmond wants Scotland to leave the UK but stay in the EU (which the UK joined in 1973). Numerous European politicians have said Scotland will have to apply to join the EU if it splits from the UK. No EU state wants to set a precedent that could lead to its own break up. Again, Salmond says they are bluffing.

The problem is that the nationalist attitude to the EU is malleable. Salmond conveniently forgets that in 1975 the SNP campaigned to take the UK out of the EU’s predecessor, the European Economic Community. The SNP has consistently argued that the British government in London routinely ignores Scotland’s needs, hence the need for independence. Yet an independent Scotland will supposedly be an EU member on precisely the terms that the British government has negotiated.

If this bet goes wrong, Scotland may have to leave the EU and negotiate to join from the outside. That would give the UK government tremendous influence in negotiations over using the pound and military bases in Scotland, to name just two issues.

Bet number 4: Salmond wants an independent Scotland to keep Britain’s membership of NATO, but with special provisions. In Scottish nationalist speak this will involve a “transition from being a NATO member as part of the UK to becoming an independent member of the alliance.”  

The SNP, which opposed NATO membership until 2012, says that Scotland will be part of the Atlantic alliance on two conditions. The first is that nuclear weapons leave the country—the  UK’s nuclear submarines and their weapons are based in Scotland and US nuclear-armed vessels visit the country. The second is that an independent Scotland would “only take part in UN sanctioned operations.”

Both conditions are impossible for NATO, which is an explicitly nuclear alliance whose only combat operation, in Kosovo in 1999, was not UN sanctioned. Salmond knows this because he publicly denounced the Kosovo war as “an action of dubious legality, but above all one of unpardonable folly.”

In practice, in NATO or neutral (the more likely outcome), an independent Scotland would have security forces so weak that it would depend on the UK. The nationalists claim that the Scottish armed forces would be small but capable, like those of the Nordic members of NATO, with defence assets claimed from current UK forces. This assumes an agreement on the division of UK assets and liabilities—an unlikely prospect given the nationalists’ determination to expel the UK nuclear deterrent.

The nationalists’ defence plans also ignore the fact that NATO’s Nordic members shelter under the U.S.-UK-French nuclear deterrent. The Nordic states, which feel particularly threatened by a resurgent Russia, rely on the U.S. and other NATO allies for many aspects of security, particularly intelligence and technology.

Alex Salmond may soon crown his 32 year political career by splitting Scotland from the UK, dividing mainland Britain for the first time in over 300 years. His accumulator bet is that Scotland can split from the UK but retain all the benefits of being in the UK. These odds may be too great even for Salmond. Instead, the result could be a separate Scotland independent largely in name, but in practice dependent on a resentful UK.

Andrew Apostolou is a writer on international affairs based in Washington D.C.

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Good morning! We're looking at a pretty nice day here in New York. It's going to be sunny and comfortable in the high seventies. Let's look at the news.

1. Apple added a big name in design to its staff: Marc Newson. Newson is good friends with Apple's head of design, Jony Ive. Newson's role at Apple is unclear. He will still work on outside projects.
2. Alibaba set its initial IPO price range at $60-$66, which suggests it will raise $21 billion in the offering.
3. At that price, the core business of Yahoo, which owns a significant stake in Alibaba, would get an $11 billion valuation by investors. Previously, people thought the core Yahoo business was valued at $0.
4. The New York Times has a massive profile of Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba, who has tight control over the company.
5. The iWatch, which will be announced on Tuesday, will have its own App Store, and some developers have been given a sneak people of the iWatch so they can start making apps.
6. Reddit shut down the thread on its site that was hosting the stolen images of nude celebrities. This is unusual since Reddit is usually filled with all sorts of offensive content that doesn't get censored.
7. CenturyLink, a land-line company, is reportedly interested in buying Rackspace.
8. E-commerce site The Fancy is trying to sell itself for $1 billion.
9. Dave Morin, CEO and founder of Path, which is a smaller, more limited social network says of his attempt at a new type of network: "Did the experiment fail? Maybe."Path is trying out different apps now.
10. If you're more into listening to the news than reading it ... try out our new podcast where we preview everything that we expect from Apple tomorrow.

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London (AFP) - Supporters of the United Kingdom began a fightback on Monday to stop Scotland voting for independence in next week's referendum after an opinion poll put the separatists ahead for the first time.

The shock survey put the "Yes" campaign two points ahead after months of a strong lead by unionists, causing the pound to slump to a 10-month low on fears that a break-up of the 300-year-old union was now a real possibility.

The leader of the Better Together campaign, Alistair Darling, insisted that other polls put the unionist campaign ahead but admitted it was "clearly very tight" ahead of the September 18 vote.

"We're in the position now where every voter in Scotland could potentially tip the balance in this referendum. But I am confident that we will win," the former finance minister told BBC radio.

The unionists are planning this week to publish a "plan of action" to give more powers to Scotland, detailing a timetable and process to give further tax and spending powers to the devolved government in Edinburgh.

Senior politicians from the opposition Labour party, including former prime minister Gordon Brown, will also hit the campaign trail on Monday amid signs that growing support among their voters for independence is driving the narrowing of the polls.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond, the leader of the pro-independence Scottish Nationalist Party (SNP), warned of "panic" in the unionist camp.

His deputy, Nicola Sturgeon, told the BBC on Monday that the pro-independence campaign was "still... the underdog in the referendum, but there's no doubt the momentum is towards 'Yes'. We will continue to work flat out over the remaining ten days of the campaign."

- 'Ten days to save UK' -

This weekend's poll has shaken up a campaign that until just a few weeks ago looked almost certain to end in defeat for the independence campaign.

The YouGov poll in The Sunday Times newspaper gave the "Yes" camp 51 percent support compared to the "No" camp's 49 percent, excluding undecided voters. Six percent said they had not made up their minds.

The two-point gap is still within the margin of error but Peter Kellner, the president of the YouGov pollsters which carried out the survey, said it was a major development.

"The 'Yes' campaign has not just invaded 'No' territory; it has launched a blitzkrieg," he wrote in a blog posting.

The poll finding was front-page news on British newspapers on Monday, with many running the same headline: "Ten days to save the union."

Amid continued uncertainty about the effect that independence would have on the British economy, including whether an independent Scotland would be able to use the pound, the currency fell to under $1.62 on Monday, its weakest since November.

Against the euro, it fell to 80.26 pence, a three-week low.

Scotland-based financial institutions also suffered in early trading, with Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Standard Life shares falling by more than two percent.

- Queen 'horrified' by break-up -

The poll has increased the pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron, who agreed to a referendum but has been accused of failing to fight hard enough to keep Scotland in the UK.

Media reports suggest that some lawmakers in his Conservative party are discussing whether to call a vote of no confidence in the premier in the event of a "Yes" vote.

However, Cameron has insisted he has no intention of resigning and will lead the Tories into the next British general election in May next year.

Cameron spent the weekend with Queen Elizabeth II at her Scottish summer retreat in Balmoral, where the referendum is likely to have been a topic of discussion.

Officially the monarch has remained neutral, although some newspapers quoted royal sources as saying she is "horrified" at the prospect of a break-up of the UK.

London Mayor Boris Johnson, a Conservative, warned in a newspaper article on Monday that independence would be "an utter catastrophe for this country".

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Just hours before Apple's big iPhone 6 launch, video of a working 4.7-inch iPhone 6 has emerged from China.

We first saw the video on 9to5Mac. "We won’t know how legit it is for another 48 hours but it is certainly convincing," the site warns.

The video is interesting because it shows the phone actually working, in addition to being fully assembled. Most of the leaks so far have been of manufacturing pieces that have not been completely integrated into a working product.

Here is something of a surprise: The new phone will be both wider and thinner than the old one:

We have a slight doubt about that power jack: It looks like the wrong shape for Apple's lightning adapter:

Yes, the new phone is bigger than iPhone 5S. This we knew already ...

This is a good view showing you how much thinner it's going to be:

The control buttons are arranged differently on the new phone, too:

The new phone is going to make older iPhones look small and dated:

Here is the video in full:

SEE ALSO: Analysis Of Kate Upton Photos Shows Hackers May Have A Backup Of Her Entire iPhone

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Manchester (United Kingdom) (AFP) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter said Monday that he will be a candidate for a fifth term in charge of world football in an election next year.

"Yes I will be ready. I will be a candidate," Blatter said in a video speech to a football conference in Manchester, north-west England. 

Blatter has been FIFA's leader since 1998, but has faced criticism from European football chiefs in recent months.

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