China raises security to contain Tibet protests (AP)

BEIJING ? A senior official in Chinese-ruled Tibet is ordering heightened security in Buddhist monasteries and along key roadways as the government tries to prevent protests that erupted in neighboring Tibetan communities from spreading.

Inspecting security around the Tibetan capital of Lhasa this week, the city's Communist Party secretary, Qi Zhala, warned officials and clerics at monasteries that they would be dismissed if any trouble arose and told police at a highway checkpoint to be alert for acts of sabotage.

Officials "must profoundly recognize the important significance of preserving stability in temples and monasteries," the state-run Tibet Daily on Tuesday quoted Qi as saying Monday. "Strive to realize the goal of 'no big incidents, no medium incidents and not even a small incident.'"

The exhortations underscore China's nervousness as it tries to squelch the most serious outbreak of anti-government protests among Tibetans in nearly four years.

Tibetan areas in the neighboring province of Sichuan ? on tenterhooks for more than a year as more than a dozen monks, nuns and lay people separately set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule ? saw large demonstrations last week. Police fired on crowds in three separate areas, leaving several Tibetans dead and injuring dozens, according to Tibet support groups outside China.

The violence has highlighted anew the government's failure to win over Tibetans and other ethnic minorities through policies to boost economic growth and incomes while increasing police presence and controlling religious practices to deter displays of separatism. State media announced Monday that 8,000 additional police were being recruited in Xinjiang, a traditionally Muslim region north of Tibet that has its own separatist rebellion.

Before the latest protests, Chinese security forces were already hunkering down for an annual period of tensions in Tibetan areas: the weeks between the Tibetan new year, which this year falls in late February, and a string of anniversaries in March marking previous anti-Chinese uprisings.

A crucial task for the government is to keep the protests in Sichuan from spilling into Tibet proper, especially Lhasa, home to major monasteries that have been at the forefront of previous unrest. In 2008, rioting in Lhasa left at least 22 people dead.

Among the stops Qi, the Lhasa official, made on his inspection tour was a key roadway leading from Sichuan into the capital and two major monasteries on the city's outskirts.

Qi spoke with members of the monasteries' management committees. The committees are comprised of officials and clerics that Beijing has set up in Tibetan religious institutes to purge them of followers of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile in India. The groups and their controls have contributed to the tensions behind the protests.

"They who do not do their jobs responsibly, if any problems happen, will be fired immediately without exception and will be strictly held accountable," Qi was quoted as saying.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120131/ap_on_re_as/as_china_tibet

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Canadian teens send Legonaut into 'space' (+video)

Two Canadian boys sent a Lego Man 80,000 feet above the Earth and captured the voyage on video.

OK, technically, Lego Man didn't get into space.

Skip to next paragraph

But that doesn't make this $400 science project by two Canadian teens any less cool.

Mathew Ho and Asad Muhammad, a couple of 17-year olds, sent their Canadian flag-toting Lego figure aloft beneath a weather balloon they bought online for $85.

The packed a?Styrofoam?box with some gel hand warmers to keep three point-and-shoot cameras and a video camera (bought used on Craigslist) functioning at the below -4 F (-20 C) temperatures.? They also put a cellphone with GPS aboard to track it. And they stiched together a parachute (on Muhammad's mom's sewing machine) to bring their Legonaut and their camera's safely back to Earth.

The boys filled their weather ballon with $165 worth of helium, bringing it close to the bursting point. Why so much?

?If you fill your balloon, say, halfway, it will reach a higher max altitude but then obviously it?s got a lot more time in the air so it has a lot more time that it could be affected by wind,?? Ho explained to The Toronto Star.

?A perfect flight plan would be just up and down, on the same spot. The less we had to drive (to retrieve Lego Man) that was our goal, especially since we?re surrounded by so many lakes. There were so many problems that could go wrong," said Ho.

Watch their video and you can see when the balloon bursts ? at 24 kilometers above the earth (almost 80,000 feet). NASA says that an object isn't in "space" unless it reaches about 50 kilometers above the Earth.

After the balloon reached its bursting point, the parachute brought the package of cameras, cellphone, and, of course Lego Man, safely back to the ground - about 122 kilometers (and 97 minutes) from it's launch at a soccer filed in Newmarket, Ontario. Prior to the launch, the boys used a Univeristy of Wyoming site that calculates weather balloon trajectories. And with the help of the GPS, they recovered the package after a hunt in the woods near Rice Lake.?

Certainly, these aren't the first to launch a video camera into the stratosphere.? In fact, Ho said that they were inspired by Massachusetts Institute of Technology students who'd sent a video camera aloft on a weather balloon a couple of years ago.

Still, the MIT students didn't send Lego Man up, up, and away.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/0X9CmTfMpXU/Canadian-teens-send-Legonaut-into-space-video

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Researchers find cancer in ancient Egyptian mummy

CAIRO (AP) ? A professor from American University in Cairo says discovery of prostate cancer in a 2,200-year-old mummy indicates the disease was caused by genetics, not environment.

The genetics-environment question is key to understanding cancer.

AUC professor Salima Ikram, a member of the team that studied the mummy in Portugal for two years, said Sunday the mummy was of a man who died in his forties.

She said this was the second oldest known case of prostate cancer.

"Living conditions in ancient times were very different; there were no pollutants or modified foods, which leads us to believe that the disease is not necessarily only linked to industrial factors," she said.

A statement from AUC says the oldest known case came from a 2,700 year-old skeleton of a king in Russia.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-ML-Egypt-Ancient-Cancer/id-e1ac4d45bf884d0ea6f5c8fb2ede8778

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World stocks gain on Fed's low rate pledge (AP)

BANGKOK ? World stock markets were mostly higher Thursday after the U.S. central bank pledged to keep interest rates low until late 2014 to nurture the country's stubbornly slow economic recovery.

Benchmark oil hovered below $100 per barrel while the dollar fell against the euro and the yen.

European shares were higher in early trading. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent to 5,741.56. Germany's DAX was 0.4 percent higher at 6,451.53 and France's CAC-40 added 0.5 percent to 3,335.07. But ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, Dow Jones industrial futures fell 0.1 percent to 12,672 and S&P 500 futures shed 0.2 percent to 1,317.90.

Gains were muted in Asia. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.3 percent to 1,957.18.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index jumped 1.6 percent to 20,439.14 on its first trading day since the Chinese New Year holiday. Benchmarks in Thailand, Singapore and New Zealand also rose.

Japan's Nikkei was 0.4 percent lower at 8,849.47 as a weakening dollar pressured the country's exporters. Benchmarks in Malaysia and the Philippines also fell.

Markets in Taiwan and mainland Chinese remained closed for the Chinese New Year. Markets in India and Australia were closed for public holidays.

On Wednesday, the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee said it was unlikely to raise interest rates before late 2014. It had previously said it expected to keep rates low into the middle of 2013.

The Fed cut rates to near zero in December 2008, during the financial crisis, and has held them there ever since. The announcement was a sign that the Fed expects the economy, which is improving, to need significant help for three more years.

Analysts said some stock buyers rejoiced that the Fed was leaning toward promoting economic growth.

"With the FOMC sending out a strong signal that monetary policy is likely to remain accommodative for even longer than previously expected, risk assets are in a very good position," Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne said in an email.

Energy shares got a boost after crude briefly topped $100 per barrel on Wednesday. South Korea's oil refiner S-Oil Corp. rose 3 percent, while China National Offshore Oil Corp., known as CNOOC, rose 2.2 percent in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong-listed Zijin Mining Group, China's largest gold miner, jumped 5.6 percent amid rising prices in the precious metal.

But Japanese export shares didn't fare so well. Low interest rates in the U.S. would likely weigh on the dollar, giving the tenaciously strong yen another unwelcome boost.

Yamaha Motor Corp. sank 2.3 percent, while Sony Corp. lost 1.4 percent. Toshiba Corp. was 1.2 percent down.

Lee Kok Joo, head of research at Phillip Securities in Singapore, said the Fed announcement would likely have only a short-term effect on equities.

"Beyond that, you still need to look at the macro picture," he said, referring in particular to the sovereign debt crisis in Europe. "Things are still pretty uncertain in the European region."

Greece, which faces an important bond repayment deadline in March, is struggling to reach a deal with creditors to prevent a chaotic default on its massive debts. A default could trigger a financial crisis in Europe and beyond.

Private sector investors that hold a large part of Greece's debt are being asked to swap their existing bonds with new ones of a reduced value, longer maturity and lower interest rate. Greece needs the deal if it is to avoid default this spring.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 37 cents to $99.77 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose by 45 cents to finish at $99.40 per barrel in New York on Wednesday. At one point it was as high as $100.40.

The prospect of low interest rates dragged on the dollar, since it reduces the returns that investors get from holding assets denominated in that currency. The euro rose to $1.3110 from $1.3084 late Wednesday in New York. The dollar fell to 77.57 yen from 77.81 yen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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Biden: Obama sought repeatedly to work with GOP (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Vice President Joe Biden said Wednesday the protracted policy fight between Democrats and Republicans in Washington is "not about bad guys and good guys," but centers on how best to keep the middle class growing in America.

Biden said the Obama administration has worked hard to strike deals with congressional Republicans on a wide array of issues, including steps to rein in the mounting federal deficit. But he added that time after time in talks he held with congressional figures in both parties, he was told little could be accomplished because of the wall of opposition from 86 conservative House Republicans.

The vice president said it seemed "like the tail is wagging the dog."

"This president came in with open arms" and said he was ready to sit down and talk, Biden said, only to be repudiated by conservative Republicans.

He denied that the White House renounced the recommendations of the Simpson-Bowles deficit-reduction commission, saying that while President Barack Obama didn't endorse the panel's findings "per se," he embraced many of the ideas contained in the report.

Biden said he wanted to take issue with "this idea that Simpson-Bowles is some kind of Holy Grail."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the differences between the GOP and Obama are "stark" and said there will have to be significant work to overcome them.

"I don't think anyone wants to pay higher taxes," he said. The Virginia Republican said that Washington needs to "get out of the mindset" that the country's problems can be solved with new programs and expensive new initiatives.

He said "small business is the backbone" of the nation, and policies that bolster small business should be pursued more aggressively.

Biden appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America," "CBS This Morning" and NBC's "Today" show. Cantor was interviewed on CBS and MSNBC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_the_union_biden

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Euro zone ministers reject private bondholders' Greece offer (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) ? Euro zone finance ministers Monday rejected as insufficient an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default.

At a meeting in Brussels, ministers said they could not accept bondholders' demands for a coupon of four percent on new, longer-dated bonds that are expected be issued in exchange for their existing Greek holdings.

Banks and other private institutions represented by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) say a 4.0 percent coupon is the least they can accept if they are going to write down the nominal value of the debt they hold by 50 percent.

Greece says it is not prepared to pay a coupon of more than 3.5 percent, and euro zone finance ministers effectively backed the Greek government's position at Monday's meeting, a position that the International Monetary Fund also supports.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the Eurogroup countries, said Greece needed to pursue a deal with private bondholders where the interest rate on the replacement bonds was "clearly" below 4.0 percent, stating:

"Ministers asked their Greek colleagues to pursue negotiations to bring the interest rates on the new bonds to below 4 percent for the total period, which implies the interest comes down to well below 3.5 percent before 2020."

The aim of the restructuring is to reduce Greece's debts by around 100 billion euros ($129 billion), cutting them from 160 percent of GDP to 120 percent by 2020, a level EU and IMF officials think will be more manageable for the growth-less Greek economy.

But with Greece off-track in its efforts to get its budget deficit in shape, the 2020 goal looks a long shot at best.

The disagreement increases the risk that it will prove impossible to strike a voluntary restructuring deal between Greece's creditors and the Greek government - an outcome that would have severe repercussions for financial markets.

Negotiations over what's called 'private sector involvement' (PSI) have been going on for nearly seven months without a concrete breakthrough. Failure to reach a deal by March, when Athens must repay 14.5 billion euros of maturing debt, could result in a disorderly default.

Despite the disagreement, Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of economic and monetary affairs, said he expected a deal on PSI to be struck "within days."

PERMANENT BAILOUT FUND

As well as assessing Greece's debt restructuring, euro zone ministers discussed efforts to enforce stricter budget rules for EU states via a "fiscal compact," and steps to finalize the structure of a permanent euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is due to operate from July.

The ESM will have an effective lending capacity of 500 billion euros and replace the European Financial Stability Facility, a temporary fund that has so far been used to bail out Ireland and Portugal and which will be used to provide part of a second, 130 billion euro package for Greece.

Germany has insisted that once the ESM is up and running, the combined potential outlay of the EFSF and ESM should not exceed 500 billion euros.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and IMF chief Christine Lagarde have said the ceiling should be raised, possibly up to 1 trillion euros, so it has more than enough capacity to handle any problems in major economies such as Spain or Italy.

The Financial Times reported Monday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was ready to see the ceiling of the combined firewall raised to 750 billion euros in exchange for agreement on tighter euro zone budget rules, but the report was immediately denied by her chief spokesman.

"It is not true. There is no such decision," Steffen Seibert told Reuters.

Monti told reporters after Monday's meeting that no conclusions had been reached on the ESM, which all 17 euro zone countries must back in a new treaty. Officials said the details would have to be finalized by an EU summit on January 30.

It was a similar situation for the "fiscal compact," which also involves a new treaty and which EU leaders are expected to agree at the summit next week.

"We have had an extremely constructive meeting on the fiscal compact and this text is a good basis for the discussions for the heads of government at the end of the month," said Juncker, sidestepping concerns about the text raised by the European Central Bank.

DEBT SUSTAINABILITY

Despite the continued deep differences, Greece and its private creditors do appear to be slowly converging on a deal in which private bondholders would take a real loss of 65 to 70 percent on their Greek bonds - giving a nominal reduction of 50 percent - officials close to the negotiations say.

Sources close to the talks told Reuters Monday that the impasse centered on questions of whether the deal would return Greece's debt mountain, currently over 350 billion euros, to levels that European governments believe are sustainable.

"There will likely be an updated debt sustainability analysis that will be discussed at the Eurogroup," a banking source in Athens said, requesting anonymity. "Talks will continue this week. The aim is to have an agreement by late next Monday."

Speaking in Berlin, Lagarde called on European leaders to complement the "fiscal compact" they agreed last month with some form of financial risk-sharing, mentioning euro zone bonds or bills, or a debt redemption fund as possible options.

Merkel told a news conference it was not the time to debate an increase in the euro zone's bailout funds.

"I don't think it is right to do one new thing then do another, let's get the ESM working," Merkel said, reiterating that Germany was prepared to accelerate the flow of capital into the ESM ahead of its planned introduction in mid-2012.

Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the second bailout would total 130 billion euros, if private bondholders forgave half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.

But Greek economic prospects have deteriorated since then, which means either euro zone governments or investors will have to contribute more than thought.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Brown and Alexandra Hudson in Berlin, Leigh Thomas in Paris, Lefteris Papadimas and Ingrid Melander in Athens; Writing by Noah Barkin and Luke Baker, editing by Mike Peacock/Jeremy Gaunt/Rex Merrifield.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_eurozone_ministers

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Alabama hit again by tornadoes; 2 dead, 100 hurt (AP)

OAK GROVE, Ala. ? Knowing this community's history of tornadoes, Jhan Powers gets nervous anytime violent weather rolls in. While her house was spared this time, a tornado demolished nearby mobile homes ? all of which were just a short drive from a path of destruction cut just last year by a deadly twister.

At least two tornadoes roared across the heart of Alabama on Monday, killing two people and injuring more than 100 others during the middle of the night. More than 200 homes were destroyed, the Red Cross said, and just as many houses were heavily damaged.

The storm awoke families, and many huddled together as winds howled outside. After the storms passed, rescue teams had to go door-to-door in some places, calling out to residents.

The unincorporated community of Oak Grove was hit hard in April and again Monday, though officials said none of the same neighborhoods was struck twice.

"I would really like to never see another tornado again," Powers said as neighbors sorted through the remnants of their home. "When you see this destruction, how can you not take it seriously?"

The area near Birmingham has a history of being a tornado alley going back decades. In April, about 20 people were killed in Jefferson County, most of them close to Oak Grove.

Powers' brother was injured in April 1998 when a tornado killed 34 people, injured 260 and destroyed Oak Grove High School. The storm left barren what was once a heavily-wooded section of the county.

In a sign the state has become all too familiar with severe weather, officials had to reschedule a meeting Monday to receive a report on their response to the spring twisters.

Retiree Mary Roberts covered her mouth with her hand and grew misty-eyed describing what happened within sight of her mobile home on Toadvine Cemetery Road in Oak Grove.

Just across the street, a twister ripped apart Amber and Russ Butler' trailer, which was scattered across a pasture. The couple took cover in a relative's brick home, and they were not injured.

Further down the road, Roberts' sister, Janice Sims, lost her husband Bobby and her home.

"They were in a double wide. They have a camper buried that they use to get down in during storms, but it happened so quick they couldn't get to it," she said.

Roberts said her sister is hospitalized but should recover. "I just don't know what she's going to do," she said.

As dawn broke, residents surveyed the damage and began cleaning up across several parts of central Alabama. The governor declared a state of emergency.

The storm system stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, producing hail, strong winds and rain.

Jefferson County, Ala., has been infamous for destructive tornadoes dating back to the 1930s.

State Climatologist John Christy said there seems to be a general path from central Mississippi going into north Alabama that gets attention for a large number of especially intense tornadoes. One theory has to do with the distance from the Gulf of Mexico. The area sits between the warm moist air from the Gulf and cold air from the north.

"It's the frequency and intensity of the storms that tend to align on this corridor," said Christy, a professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

In Clay, northeast of Birmingham, 16-year-old Christina Nicole Heichelbech was killed, the Jefferson County coroner's office said. Rescue workers said her parents were injured.

Laurie Gibbs and her husband awoke to the screaming winds and went downstairs to check on their two teenage sons. A neighbor's pine tree crashed in the back of their home within moments, punching a hole in the roof, and each of their three cars was smashed by fallen oak trees.

After grabbing buckets to catch the rainwater spilling into the house, Gibbs opened the front door and looked toward the Georgebrook subdivision of brick homes across the street.

"I could see power lines down, but it was dark and raining so hard I couldn't see much else," she said. "After a few minutes, I could tell there were houses missing."

More than a half-dozen brick homes were flattened, leaving a trail of beige insulation, clothes, splintered lumber and siding splattered along a hill.

Stevie Sanders woke up around 3:30 a.m. and realized bad weather was on the way. She, her parents and sister hid in the laundry room of their brick home as the wind howled and trees started cracking.

"You could feel the walls shaking and you could hear a loud crash. After that it got quiet, and the tree had fallen through my sister's roof," said Sanders.

The family was OK, and her father, Greg Sanders, spent the next hours raking his roof and pulling away pieces of broken lumber.

"It could have been so much worse," he said. "It's like they say, we were just blessed."

The mayor of Maplesville, about 45 miles south of Birmingham, said a storm came through about 5 a.m., downing many trees and causing major damage to about five buildings.

More than 50 people were in the town's dome-shaped storm shelter when the winds blew the top of a sweet gum tree, about one-foot in diameter, on to the steel building. No damage was done and no one was injured in the shelter, built about five years ago with a FEMA grant because of past tornadoes.

"The shelter did what it was supposed to do," Mayor Aubrey Latham said.

___

Associated Press writers Dave Martin in Oak Grove, and Phillip Rawls and Bob Johnson in Montgomery contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_us/us_severe_weather

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Official: possibility of unregistered passengers

People watch the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

People watch the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

A ferry boat, right, sails past the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Tourists stop and have a look at the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

A fisherman adjusts a net as the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen in background, off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

John Heil, son of Barbara and Gerald Heil of White Bear Lake, Minn. both missing in the cruise ship Costa Concordia accident, talks on a cellphone in the port of Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

GIGLIO, Italy (AP) ? Unregistered passengers might have been aboard the stricken cruise liner that capsized off this Tuscan island, a top rescue official said Sunday, raising the possibility that the number of missing might be higher than the 20 previously announced.

Divers, meanwhile, pulled out a woman's body from the capsized Costa Concordia on Sunday, raising to 13 the number of people dead in the Jan. 13 accident.

Civil protection official Francesca Maffini told reporters the victim was wearing a life vest and was found in the rear of a submerged portion of a ship by a team of fire department divers. The unidentified body was being removed from the ship.

Earlier, Italian authorities raised the possibility that the real number of the missing was unknown because some unregistered passengers might have been aboard.

"There could have been X persons who we don't know about who were inside, who were clandestine" passengers aboard the ship, Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the rescue effort, told reporters at a briefing on the island of Giglio, where the ship, with 4,200 people aboard rammed a reef and sliced open its hull on Jan. 13 before turning over on its side.

Gabrielli said that relatives of a Hungarian woman have told Italian authorities that she had telephoned them from aboard the ship and that they haven't heard from her since the accident. He said it was possible that a woman's body pulled from the wreckage by divers on Saturday might be that of the unregistered passenger.

But in addition to the body recovered on Sunday, the body found on Saturday and those of three men found a few days earlier, have yet to be identified, because the corpses were badly decomposed after so much time in the water.

Gabrielli said they have identified the other eight bodies: four French, an Italian, a Hungarian, a German and a Spanish national.

Until Sunday, authorities had said that 20 people are still missing.

The search had been halted for several hours early Sunday, after instrument readings indicated that the Concordia has shifted a bit on its precarious perch on a seabed just outside Giglio's port. A few meters (yards) away, the sea bottom drops off suddenly, by some 20-30 meters (65-100 feet), and if the Concordia should abruptly roll off its ledge, rescuers could be trapped inside.

When instrument data indicated the vessel had stabilized again, rescuers went back in, but only explored the above-water section and evacuation staging areas where survivors have indicated that people who did not make it into lifeboats during the chaotic evacuation could have remained.

Passengers were dining at a gala supper when the Concordia sailed close to Giglio and struck the reef, which is indicated on maritime and even tourist maps.

There are also fears that the Concordia's double-bottom fuel tanks could rupture in case of sudden shifting, spilling 2,200 metric tons (almost 500,000 million gallons) of heavy fuel into pristine sea around Giglio, which is part of a seven-island archipelago in some of the Mediterranean's most pristine waters and a prized fishing area.

But Gabrielli said pollutants found near the ship have been detergents and other substances, including chlorine, apparently from the wreck of the ship, which carried some 3,200 passengers and a crew of 1,000. Any fuel traces found were "compatible with what you find in a port," he said.

Ferries and cargo ships regularly call at Giglio's port.

Sophisticated oil-removal equipment has been standing by, waiting for the search-and-rescue operations to conclude before workers can start extracting the fuel in the tanks.

The Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest as prosecutors investigate him for suspected manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship while many were still aboard.

Operator Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Carnival Cruise Lines, has said that Capt. Schettino had deviated without permission from the vessel's route in an apparent maneuver to sail close to the island and impress passengers.

Schettino, despite audiotapes of his defying Coast Guard orders to scramble back aboard, has denied he abandoned ship while hundreds of passengers were desperately trying to get off the capsizing vessel. He has said he coordinated the rescue from aboard a lifeboat and then from the shore.

___

D'Emilio reported from Rome.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-22-EU-Italy-Cruise-Aground/id-dbd08c0e8e824ad6897d4b239c4ad39a

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YouTube hits 4 billion views per day, deals with 60 hours of uploaded content every minute

It looks like that redesign was worth it. The Google-owned video site has recently revealed that it's now streaming 4 billion videos every day, up 25 percent on daily views from eight months earlier. According to Reuter's report, the site now has to deal with around 60 hours of uploaded video every minute. As long as those education videos are kept separate and the cat content keeps coming, we'll be happy.

YouTube hits 4 billion views per day, deals with 60 hours of uploaded content every minute originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 23 Jan 2012 07:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/23/youtube-hit-4-billion-views-per-day-deals-with-60-hours-of-uplo/

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Is it 'Burma' or 'Myanmar'? US officials start shifting.

Sen. John McCain arrives Sunday with other US officials in Myanmar. Or is it Burma?

Burma or Myanmar? As the country's military-backed government races headlong into reforms aimed at ending its long international isolation, US officials are changing their tone.?For starters, they are beginning to use the government's preferred name for the country, "Myanmar," after two decades of sticking with "Burma."?

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?We have visited the Philippines, Vietnam, we are here, we are going to Myanmar tomorrow morning,? said Sen. John McCain, opening a press conference given by four US senators for journalists?in Bangkok on Saturday afternoon.

It may seem like a small point, but in the subtle world of diplomacy this is heady stuff. It would seem to signal US recognition of the changes afoot in Myanmar and a willingness to work with a regime it has shunned for decades.

Until now, the US took its verbal cues?from opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi when it came to the country's name. Attempting a symbolic stand against the arbitrariness of military rule, Ms. Suu Kyi and western governments have mostly stuck with ?Burma? since the military junta changed the country's name to Myanmar in 1989.

But throughout Saturday's 45 minute Q&A with the senators, "Myanmar" was the term of choice, though the senior lawmakers at times slipped back into using "Burma."

When I asked whether the etymological shift presaged a changing US policy, Senator McCain cracked a joke about the ?West Philippine Sea? (the name used by Manila to refer to the disputed South China Sea, also known as the East Sea in Vietnam), before telling me that ?you raise a good point.?

He moved swiftly along to the next question.?

After US State Deptartment official Joseph Yun got an ear-bending last year from Myanmar's Foreign Minister Wunna Waung Lwin over his use of "Burma" during a visit to the country, perhaps the senators were just getting the script right before meeting President Thein Sein.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/FM9YshNzjSE/Is-it-Burma-or-Myanmar-US-officials-start-shifting

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CBS buys "The Words", "Tupelo 77" gets a director (Reuters)

PARK CITY, Utah, Jan 22 (TheWrap.com) ? Buying activity at the Sundance Film Festival ramped up on Sunday after late-night negotiations on Saturday. CBS Films announced that it had acquired "The Words," a drama starring Brad Cooper, Zoe Saldana and Jeremy Irons.

The movie stars Cooper as a writer who at the peak of his literary success discovers the price he must pay for stealing another man's work. Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal co-wrote and co-directed the film.

Mickey Liddell's LD Distribution bought North American rights to the midnight entry "Black Rock."

And there was plenty of noise continuing around the hottest film in the feature competition, "Beast of the Southern Wild," which insiders said had Fox Searchlight, Focus Features and others seeking the rights through WME.

"Filly Brown," a fierce hip-hop drama, handled by WME, was also said to be in play.

Also on Sunday:

Julie Dash, who directed the television movie "The Rosa Parks Story," is in final negotiations to direct Angel Entertainment's feature "Tupelo 77," Angel's Bob Crowe said Sunday.

The movie is set in a small town in Mississippi in the summer of 1977. It tells the story of a group of women of various ages and races who are regulars at a roadside diner. The summer of 1977 -- the year Elvis Presley died -- is the hottest on record in Mississippi.

Casting for the film is under way. Crowe and Sean Hewitt are producing the movie, which begins shooting this summer.

Rich Mancuso wrote the screenplay, which shows the women as they struggle to "transcend the obstacles of poverty, racial and religious differences, and the persistent wounds of war."

Dash's "Daughters of the Dust" was selected as one of the "From the Collection" screenings at the Sundance Film Festival. That film first screened at the 1991 Sundance festival, where it earned the Excellence in Cinematography Award.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/media_nm/us_sundance_deals

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Thu, Jan 19, 2012

Ewan McGregor, Ask This Old House, The Avett Brothers

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/thu-jan-19-2012/1-h-420672?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Athu-jan-19-2012-420672

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Yemen FM says no delay in presidential election (AP)

SANAA, Yemen ? Yemen's presidential elections will be held as scheduled toward the end of February, the foreign minister said on Wednesday, countering his own observation a day earlier.

Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, a veteran of President Ali Abdullah Saleh's regime, told Al-Arabiya television on Tuesday that it would difficult to have presidential elections if the security situation is not resolved.

After a series of meetings with American and U.N diplomats, al-Qirbi backtracked, saying that his government was committed to holding presidential elections on February 21.

It appeared, however, that the subject was not closed.

A top ruling party official told The Associated Press that Saleh met with high-level security officials this week and decided to ask parliament to delay the elections until May 22, which would be a violation of the U.S.-backed agreement the president signed in November. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

Yemen has been in turmoil for a year over demands that Saleh resign. In November, he signed the power transfer deal brokered by Yemen's powerful Gulf neighbors, but he remains in office.

The U.S.-backed power transfer deal also granted Saleh immunity from prosecution.

That clause set off new protests when it emerged that it applied to all crimes by all members of Saleh's government during his entire 33-year reign.

Responding to the public outcry, Yemen's vice president, opposition parties and members of Saleh's party agreed to limit the sweeping immunity, said a government official who attended the meeting late Wednesday.

The official said the new arrangement would allow for trying officials except for Saleh on corruption charges. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the private meeting.

The immunity still covers those behind the deadly crackdowns that have killed more than 200 protesters in Yemen's uprising, part of the Arab Spring revolts that have swept through countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

The amendment needs to be approved by the Cabinet and the parliament, and Saleh's supporters might try to torpedo it.

Amnesty International earlier called the law "a smack in the face for justice." Navi Pillay, the United Nations' top human rights official, said last week that granting immunity to for those accused of gross human rights violations or war crimes breaks international law.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said the U.S. regretted that Saleh has not complied with agreements to leave the country and allow an election for a successor.

Saleh agreed under pressure to sign the plan to transfer power to his vice president and hold presidential elections in February. The vice president is the only candidate, and the election would rubber-stamp his takeover.

The agreement did not spell out that Saleh must leave the country, but Clinton's remarks appeared to confirm what Yemeni officials close to Saleh have told the AP ? alongside the Gulf-brokered deal, Saleh made a "gentleman's agreement" with the United States to leave his country.

In late December, Saleh said he would leave Yemen to help calm the turmoil in his country, and he made a request for a visa to receive medical treatment in the United States, but officials in his ruling party later announced he would stay in Yemen.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_yemen

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Burgeoning winos won?t savor buggy Blush for Wine iPhone app (Appolicious)

I?m certainly no oenophile (red, white and sparkling is as advanced as I get), so apps that bolster wine-shopping confidence usually pique my interest. Blush for Wine, designed for iPhone and iPod Touch is no exception, but, perhaps to Blush?s embarrassment, I didn?t come away from the app with a solid vino education.

Blush offers a five-question quiz to help determine your mood and recommend a type of wine. The questions vary, depending on your selection, but the results were not as diverse, with the same bottles appearing again and again. I did like that I could select which price range to view, but this would be more helpful if users could select multiple choices to eliminate refreshing (this app isn?t a speed demon).

In addition to the mood selector, Blush also offers a label scanner alongside its search function, but I was unable to get any results on my iPhone 4 (it repeatedly errored out) ? perhaps users with iPhone 4S will fare better, as the app supports voice search on those devices. If you can get this to work, it could prove useful in the wine aisle ? that is, if your scanned bottle contains any information. In doing some random searches, I found that not all included types contained descriptions. Descriptions that were present varied, too. I?m not sure where they are pulled from, but one bottle listed that it was currently out of stock. Nothing specified which store had the empty shelf, and I certainly didn?t learn anything about that particular vintage.

Blush for Wine also claims to be able to locate nearby wines. Despite clearly registering that I am in Chicago, the app never gave any options for locating nearby bottles. I double-checked that location services were on (yes, and the GPS indicator displayed at the top of the screen), but never once did I see the location indicator that exists on app screen shots.

This, coupled with countless App Store reviews complaining of continued API errors (I didn?t get this particular one in my tests, though), lead me to conclude that Blush for Wine isn?t ready for prime time. I liked Blush for Wine?s quiz, but on the whole, wino-wannabes can do better elsewhere.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10791_burgeoning_winos_wont_savor_buggy_blush_for_wine_iphone_app/44211043/SIG=13ck82pq3/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/10791-burgeoning-winos-wont-savor-buggy-blush-for-wine-iphone-app

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Hansons' Runner Desiree Davila Finishes 2nd In U.S. Olympic Trials - Rochester-Rochester Hills, MI Patch

Rochester Patch:

Desiree Davila of Rochester Hills earned a spot on the women's U.S. Marathon Olympic team today with a time of 2:25:55 at the Olympic trials in Houston, TX.

Davila, a 28-year-old San Diego native, moved to Michigan six years ago to train with the Hansons-Brooks Distance Project, said assistant coach Don Jackson of Royal Oak.

Read the whole story: Rochester Patch

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/15/hansons-runner-desiree-da_0_n_1207610.html

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West Ham close to loan of US' John

Charles in Charge

Charles Howell III has gone winless in his last four seasons on Tour, but looks renewed and revived at the Sony Open. &nbsp;&nbsp<a href="http://www.golfchannel.com/tours/pga-tour/2012/sony-open-in-hawaii/"><font color="#ffffff"><b>View scores</b></font></a>

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45977896/ns/sports-soccer/

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Android App Review: Cell Limit 0

  

Hey folks. In keeping with New Year’s resolutions suggested by the staff at Android Central I thought it fitting to write a review of an app I have been using for about a month, ever since the Holiday rush started and roads were littered with shoppers talking and texting. Holiday traffic and cell phone use are two topics that are bound to clash and they have. I am a father of two great kids and husband to a great wife and I don’t want their lives compromised by me texting or emailing in the car.

This is where this simple but great app comes into play.  Sponsored by one of the local health networks in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, it is called Cell Limit 0. Why the name? Simply put, a text or email is not worth someone’s life.  The app is very simplistic in its use and powerful in its effectiveness. All it does is simply create an automated response to people who text you. In the upper right hand corner, you can see the toggle button is red as it is set to off.  When you activate this toggle, you can set it to whatever message you want to respond with as seen in second image by typing what you want (I use the default message shown) then hit “Set Message”.  Notice how the toggle is now green in the upper right of your screen? The auto responder is now set. Click it again to turn it off.

Even better, it has the website celllimit0.com, which takes you to their website. Fill out the form and they will mail you a magnet of a Stop Sign to promote no texting and driving.  This is not a game changing app, but for me I find myself using the phone a lot less than before.  The app does have some FC issues that require you to exit and start it back up, but I find that running it on Ice Cream Sandwich is less problematic then running it on CyanogenMod or stock Gingerbread. Download link is after the break, check it out in the market as it’s FREE!

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/46FHDFsuHns/story01.htm

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Wall Street drops on euro-zone downgrade chatter (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? U.S. stocks were on track to end the week with modest gains as major indexes pulled back from session lows after falling more than 1 percent on Friday on talk that Standard & Poor's was ready to downgrade ratings on several euro-zone countries.

A senior euro-zone source said S&P would downgrade several European nations' credit ratings later on Friday, as it had warned in December, adding that Germany and the Netherlands were not on the list. S&P declined to comment on the report.

The slide, led by banks, came despite solid data that showed U.S. consumer sentiment hit an eight-month high as Americans became more optimistic about job prospects. The S&P financial index (.GSPF) fell 1.2 percent, making this sector the day's biggest decliner.

The tug of war between Europe's debt crisis and relatively solid U.S. economic indicators has stymied investors' attempts to assess how much risk to take on in the market.

"Similar to the leaking of the news of the U.S. downgrade by S&P months ago, we're seeing it again with Europe," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak & Co in New York.

"The reason is that S&P typically gives each individual country 12 hours' notice of an imminent downgrade. And what politician can keep that a secret?"

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 88.02 points, or 0.71 percent, at 12,383.00. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was down 9.52 points, or 0.73 percent, at 1,285.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 16.72 points, or 0.61 percent, at 2,707.98.

For the week, the S&P was on track to end moderately higher, up 0.6 percent. The Dow was on track to finish the week up 0.2 percent, while the Nasdaq was set to close the week with a gain of 1.3 percent.

Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) slid 3.4 percent to $35.61 after the bank said fourth-quarter profit fell as the European debt crisis weighed on trading and corporate deal-making.

JPMorgan's Chief Executive Jamie Dimon expressed renewed concerns about the euro-zone debt crisis.

"We're very very cautious," Dimon said in a conference call with reporters. "I would put myself in the 'increasing worried' category."

The KBW index of bank stocks (.BKX) was down 1.2 percent, following a streak of gains. As of Thursday's close, the index was up almost 11 percent for the year.

JPMorgan's results "could be enough to make people take a bit of profits off that strong move," said Brian Lazorishak, senior quantitative analyst and portfolio manager at Chase Investment Counsel in Charlottesville, Virginia.

Bank of America (BAC.N) shares fell 2.5 percent to $6.62. Goldman Sachs (GS.N) lost 2.8 percent to $98.36.

(Reporting By Angela Moon; Additional reporting by Jed Horowitz; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120113/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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DNA Damage From Chemo May Help Spur Leukemia's Return (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Jan. 12 (HealthDay News) -- The chemotherapy used to treat a form of adult leukemia sets a trap that can result in the return of the disease within years, a new study suggests.

The finding confirms the suspicions of specialists who thought chemotherapy drugs could disrupt DNA through mutations and ultimately allow tumor cells to avoid the effects of the medications.

"Chemotherapy drugs are absolutely necessary to get leukemia patients into remission, but we also pay a price in terms of DNA damage," study co-author Dr. Timothy Ley, a professor of oncology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, said in a university news release.

These drugs "may contribute to disease progression and relapse in many different cancers, which is why our long-term goal is to find targeted therapies based on the mutations specific to a patient's cancer, rather than use drugs that further damage DNA," Ley added.

The type of leukemia in question is known as acute myeloid leukemia. While chemotherapy treatment can send the cancer into remission, 80 percent of patients die within five years. In the United States, about 13,000 cases of acute myeloid leukemia are diagnosed annually, most often in people age 60 and older.

The researchers came to their conclusions after studying the genomes -- the entire DNA, both healthy and cancerous cells -- from eight patients with acute myeloid leukemia. They watched to see what happened after the patients received chemotherapy.

The investigators found that tumors essentially reappeared, according to the report published in the Jan. 11 advance online edition of Nature.

"It's the same tumor coming back but with a twist," co-author Richard Wilson, director of university's Genome Institute, explained in the news release. It "comes back with new mutations that give the cells new strategies for surviving attack by whatever drugs are thrown at them. This makes a lot of sense but it's been hard to prove without whole-genome sequencing."

Commenting on the report, Louis DeGennaro, executive vice president and chief mission officer of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, said the study "demonstrates the critical need to identify disease-causing mutations in acute myeloid leukemia so that therapies targeted specifically at these mutations can be developed."

Ultimately, he added, "that would allow us to avoid the use of chemotherapy, which may contribute to cancer relapse."

For now, DeGennaro said, "while current chemotherapy regimens have liabilities, they represent the best treatment currently available and may result in complete remission, which would allow eligible patients to receive a stem cell transplant, the only treatment capable of curing acute myeloid leukemia."

More information

For more about acute myeloid leukemia, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120113/hl_hsn/dnadamagefromchemomayhelpspurleukemiasreturn

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Weak rupee to drive profit at India IT firms

By Dhanya Ann

TAKING THE PULSE: Top Indian technology companies are expected to report strong earnings growth in the seasonally weak October-December quarter, aided by a sharp fall in the Indian rupee's value, though the demand for outsourcing technology services is likely to moderate.

The rupee fell nearly 11% on average against the dollar in the October-December quarter. Most Indian software exporters get more than 80% of their revenue from the U.S. and Europe, and book benefits on currency conversion as most of their expenses are in rupees.

Brokerage UBS expects outsourcing demand to be "markedly slower" this year, weighed by the global economic uncertainties.

COMPANIES TO WATCH:

Infosys Ltd. - Reporting Jan. 12

Market Expectations: The second-largest Indian software exporter by revenue is expected to post a 29% year-on-year jump in fiscal third-quarter net profit to INR23.03 billion, according to the average of estimates in a Dow Jones Newswires poll of 24 analysts. Its revenue is forecast to rise 30% to INR92.06 billion.

These numbers are according to international accounting standards.

Key Issues: Kotak Institutional Equities expects Infosys to narrow its outlook on dollar revenue growth for the fiscal year through March to 17.0%-17.5% from 17%-19%. The house expects the company to raise its earnings outlook to INR148-INR150 a share from INR145, aided by the weak rupee.

Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. - Reporting Jan. 17

Market Expectations: The average of estimates in a poll of 24 analysts is for a 23% increase in net profit to INR28.75 billion and a 37% rise in revenue to INR132.18 billion, based on international accounting standards.

Key Issues: Citigroup expects the sector leader's earnings margin before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to expand 261 basis points sequentially.

Wipro Ltd. - Reporting Jan. 20

Market Expectations: Wipro is likely to report a 10.3% rise in net profit to INR14.55 billion and its revenue is likely to grow 24% to INR97.20 billion, as per a poll of 24 analysts.

The numbers are based on international accounting standards.

Key Issues: CLSA Asia Pacific expects Wipro to forecast 2%-4% dollar revenue growth at its outsourcing division for the March quarter.

Emkay Global expects its earnings margin before interest and tax to expand 110 basis points on quarter.

HCL Technologies Ltd. - Reporting Jan. 17

Market Expectations: The average in a poll of 24 analysts indicates HCL would post 38% growth in net profit to INR5.52 billion and a 35% rise in revenue to INR52.39 billion, based on U.S. accounting standards.

Key Issues: Religare Capital Markets expects HCL's earnings margin before interest and tax to expand 100 basis points.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/weak-rupee-drive-profit-india/story.aspx?guid=%7BD3B37667-7B60-4874-83FE-1B19B1736ECD%7D&siteid=rss

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Belkin Outs The Thunderbolt Express Dock, A Multi-Port Adapter For All Your Docking Needs

You have a cable problem. Belkin has the docking solution. The Thunderbolt Express Dock aims to be a notebook (or iMac) owner's best friend. As the name suggests, the dock utilizes the speedy, multiplatform Thunderbolt interconnect to expand a computer's available ports. Simply plug in a single Thunderbolt cable to access three USB 2.0 ports, one Firewire 800 port, one 3.5mm Audio port, one gigabit Ethernet port and two Thunderbolt ports. Extra ports FTW!

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/wIHGHUNf2rw/

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Official: US bomb suspect met Kosovo radicals (AP)

PRISTINA, Kosovo ? Sami Osmakac, the man accused by U.S. authorities of plotting to bomb Florida nightclubs and a sheriff's office, met with radical Islamists during visits to his native Kosovo, a senior official in the country said Wednesday.

International agencies had alerted Kosovo authorities that Osmakac could be linked to Islamist extremists, the official told The Associated Press. He said the 25-year old naturalized U.S. citizen discussed "issues in support of radical elements" with the individuals he met, but declined to disclose further details.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity.

U.S. authorities say Osmakac planned to use a car bomb and other weapons in an Islamist-inspired attack in the Tampa area of Florida. He was arrested Saturday ? the day officials said he was planning his attack ? after he allegedly bought disabled explosive devices and firearms from an undercover agent.

Osmakac lived with his parents in a tan stucco home in Pinellas Park, Fla., a small city west of Tampa. He worked occasionally at the Balkan Food Store and Bakery in St. Petersburg, a small store owned by his parents.

He also occasionally visited his Kosovo, where he still has relatives.

Osmakac's aunt, Time Osmankaj, told the AP on Tuesday that Sami Osmakac was last in Kosovo in October 2011, but that she learned of his visit from neighbors and that he did not contact her or other relatives. Kosovo authorities also recorded earlier visits in May 2011.

Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians are overwhelmingly Muslim and a small minority is Roman Catholic.

The population is a staunch supporter of the U.S. because of America's lead role in NATO's 1999 bombing of Serb forces that drove them out of Kosovo and ended a brutal crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120111/ap_on_re_eu/eu_kosovo_bomb_plot

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Amber Rose Returns To 'RapFix Live'

Rose joins Yo Gotti and Saigon for 'RapFix Live' Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com.
By Rob Markman

Amber Rose and Wiz Khalifa on "RapFix Live" in March 2011
Photo: MTV News

"RapFix Live" is about to get a whole lot sexier, now that Ms. Amber Rose will appear on Wednesday's show. On Tuesday (January 10), the voluptuous vixen dropped her very first single, "Fame," which features her beau, Wiz Khalifa.

"The song represents the ups and downs of fame and lets people know that it's not all it's cracked up to be," Rose told MTV's RapFix blog. "I have my own unique sound, I make music that I love, and I hope that my fans and the people that embrace me will love it also!"

On Wednesday, Rose will make her return to the red couch, where she first appeared with Wiz in March of last year. It wasn't planned, but after some prompting by host Sway Calloway, Amber walked on set and fielded a few questions about her and Khalifa's relationship. Fans can look for the model to dish details on her music, many business endeavors and her portrayal in the media.

That's not all though. Yo Gotti will also thug it out on "RapFix Live" this Wednesday. The Memphis, Tennessee, MC has finally released his major label debut, Live From the Kitchen and will swing through to talk about his road to rap infamy. Saigon will also be premiering a new trailer for his upcoming mixtape Warning Shots 3: One Foot in the Grave. Giddy debuted the tape's first single, "I Am 4 Real," Monday on the RapFix blog.

Catch Yo Gotti, Amber Rose and Saigon on "RapFix Live" Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET on MTV.com, and be sure to join the Twitter conversation using the hashtag #RapFixLive. Send your questions for the artists to @MTVRapFiX!

Related Videos

• 'RapFix Live' With Wiz Khalifa

Related Artists

• Saigon

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677013/amber-rose-fame-rapfix-live.jhtml

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Dennis M. Kelleher: Handcuffs and Prison Sentences for Bankers Next Time

Why are there no banking statesmen is a question I've asked before , and it is the unstated question underlying a recent Financial Times editorial: "Restoring Faith in the Banking System." While the editorial focuses on the "culture within banking institutions," the real problem is leadership or, more accurately, the utter lack of enlightened leadership in finance today.

The leaders in banking and finance today are unanimous in their unrestrained zeal to fight financial reform as hard as possible while whining about being picked on and not appreciated. The just-won't-shut-up JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is the poster child for this ignorant and, ultimately, self-defeating, narcissistic reasoning, but he is by no means alone.

With so many worldwide still suffering from the worse economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, with un- and underemployment and foreclosures at historic highs, with poverty rising and the middle class declining, with hopelessness again ever-present at too many family tables, with dreams deferred or just dead, rich-beyond-Croesus Wall Street bankers are self-centeredly complaining about how tough they have it. It's enough to make any decent, honorable, honest, self-respecting person sick.

Yet not one has stepped up and stepped out to say that their industry contributed overwhelmingly to the financial crisis of 2008, that it cost this country and the world dearly, that most of the those costs were shifted to society and taxpayers from the financial industry and bonus-bloated bankers. Not one has said that they recognized this and that they were going to work with governments to reform finance and make it safer, stronger, and less prone to crisis, and genuinely make sure that taxpayers would never again have to bail them out from their reckless activities.

Not one malefactor has said any of this. Indeed, they all circled the wagons, loaded up on paid mercenaries -- oops, lobbyists and lawyers -- and began a massive, comprehensive strategy to defeat financial reform:

First, fight any legislation.

Second, fight every rule to implement that legislation.

Third, sue in court to stop any rule they didn't like.

Fourth, fund and elect as many anti-reform politicians as possible.

Fifth, get those politicians to do whatever they can to roll back reform, harasses financial regulators, and defund them.

Sixth, delay as much reform as possible in the hope of getting past the November 2012 elections, when they plan on a bank-friendly Senate and president to join the already anti-reform House and, together, they would deliver the final coup de gr?ce to financial reform. (Why did John Paulson give $1 million to a Romney-friendly super-PAC that dropped $1 million in negative ads on Newt Gingrich, you ask?)

No leader of any bank or financial institution has objected to this defeat-financial-reform-at-any-cost strategy. They all parrot the same talking points, pay the same lawyers and lobbyists, fund the same trade and front groups, and contribute to the same anti-reform politicians. And, they all blame regulation for everything bad, from the economy to unemployment to their own poor performance.

If this strategy is successful, as a similar one was in the decades before the financial catastrophe of 2008, the restraints would be off, the cops would be taken off the Wall Street beat, and bankers would be able to do as they please while stuffing their pockets full of as much cash as possible -- again. As the always dead-on New York Times columnist Gretchen Morgenson put it, "banks love the perks that come with being too big to fail. They will lobby shamelessly to hang on to their riskiest businesses and stay perilously large. No surprise, really. A heads-we-win, tails-the-taxpayers-lose model has a lot going for it, at least for executives atop these institutions."

However, sealed off from reality in their riches-bought insularity, surrounded by high-paid, like-minded sycophants, and singing "Happy days are here again," the bankers would be blindly dancing to Armageddon because, as has been proved repeatedly throughout history, unregulated and unrestrained bankers are their own worst enemy. Ultimately, this Hobbesian state of banking would be self-defeating and another financial collapse inevitable.

The backlash after the next financial calamity will make the Dodd-Frank Act look so mild that many will wonder if it was written by bankers themselves. Handcuffs and prison sentences will not likely be in short supply next time. Clawbacks of billion dollar bonuses will be the norm, as one mansion after another is put on the auction block. That's the future of bankers after their next reckless, unregulated splurge.

What about banking? The Financial Times was right to point out:

[T]hose who attack bankers often forget how essential the core activities of a financial institution -- the payment systems and deposit-taking -- are to the functioning of a modern economy. Even investment banking -- sometimes maligned as "socially useless" -- has a part to play. Many derivatives do help companies and individuals manage real business risks.

All true, but those traditional and socially useful banking activities are too often an afterthought and little more than window dressing behind which a Wall Street focused obsessively on getting the biggest bonuses hides their biggest, most irresponsible bets that literally threaten the financial system.

That's the culture that has to change, and that's going to require statesman-like leadership from within, or prison sentences from without.

Anyone interested in being a statesman should begin by reading about the Bloomberg editorial "Don't Give Up on the Sensible Ideas of the Dodd-Frank Act," which concludes that the Dodd-Frank Act has "an elegant core of sensible ideas" and should be considered "a fail-safe system with three levels of containment." That is not only for the benefit of our economy, our treasury, and our taxpayers, but also for banks and, yes, bankers, who just don't get it -- yet.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dennis-m-kelleher/handcuffs-prison-sentence_b_1187310.html

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