Saturday, 31 December 2011

Designer behind Apple's products knighted in UK

(AP) ? Fans of the clean, inviting look of the iPhone, iPad and other blockbuster Apple products are legion, and that includes Queen Elizabeth II.

The British monarch has awarded a knighthood to Jonathan Paul Ive, a Brit and head of Apple Inc.'s design team since the mid-'90s.

Ive received an Order of the British Empire for services to design and enterprise.

Ive is credited with helping the late Steve Jobs bring the consumer-electronics company back from the brink of financial ruin in the late 1990s with his whimsical design for the iMac computer, which originally came in bright colors at a time bland shades dominated the PC world.

He later helped transform Apple into the envy of Silicon Valley with the iPod, the iPhone and, most recently, the iPad.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-31-Apple%20Designer-Knighted/id-2cd34111cfb54fe0ba8a2d1dfb327efd

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Morgan Stanley to cut 580 jobs in NY

PTI???? New York?? December 29, 2011????

Morgan Stanley to cut 580 jobs in New York Global financial services firm Morgan Stanley on Tuesday said it will slash over 500 jobs across four locations in New York under plans announced earlier this month to cut 1,600 jobs globally by next year, citing hard economic times .

In a filing with the New York State Department of Labour, Morgan Stanley said 580 jobs would be cut at the firm's midtown Manhattan headquarters and three smaller Morgan Stanley offices in New York.

The firm said in the filing that "rolling layoffs" had begun on December 15, when it had announced that it would slash 1,600 jobs or 2.6 per cent of its workforce globally by the first quarter of 2012.

Morgan Stanley had 62,648 employees at the end of September. The layoffs would impact all divisions, including investment banking and trading.

The year 2011 has been one that Wall Street would want to forget, with major financial services firms announcing layoffs as continued economic woes force them to trim costs.

In all, financial firms have disclosed plans to eliminate more than 200,000 jobs globally this year.

Citigroup had announced earlier this month that it would cut 4,500 jobs, while Bank of America said it would cut 30,000 jobs over the next few years.

Swiss lender UBS is downsizing its investment bank to 16,000 people from the current 18,000.

In June, Goldman Sachs had told the New York Department of Labour that it would layoff 230 New York workers through March 2012.

The New York State comptroller had said in October that an estimated 10,000 Wall Street workers could lose their jobs by the end of next year.

Source: http://businesstoday.feedsportal.com/c/33681/f/593013/s/1b593ff4/l/0Lbusinesstoday0Bintoday0Bin0Cstory0Cmorgan0Estanley0Eto0Ecut0E580A0Ejobs0Ein0Enew0Eyork0C10C212750Bhtml/story01.htm

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Friday, 30 December 2011

UF survey: Florida consumer confidence jumps in December

The index used by UF researchers in the survey is benchmarked to 1966, which means a value of 100 represents the same level of confidence for that year. The lowest index possible is a 2; the highest is 150.

Consumer confidence in December shot up in four of the five indexes used by survey takers, and declined in only one. The index that reveals whether Floridians think their personal finances have improved from a year ago rose one point to 53. Another showed their overall expectations in the soundness of the U.S. economy jumped six points to 59. Confidence in the economy?s performance over the next five years also rose ? this time three points to 71. Finally, the overall perception of survey takers that the present is a good time to buy ?big ticket? items, such as washing machines and laptops ? went up sharply by seven points to 85.

The only index to show dropping confidence was an expectation of a drop in personal finances a year from now, declining two points to 78.

Taken as a whole, the UF survey reflects a changing mood that matches growing confidence across the nation, said Chris McCarty, director of UF?s Survey Research Center in the Bureau of Economic and Business Research. In addition, he added, there are factors in the Florida economy that were interpreted as positive by both younger and older respondents. Men were more positive than women by a margin of 71 points to 67.

?Floridians are most likely optimistic about continued improvement in the employment situation,? McCarty said. The decline in unemployment in November was .4 percent to 10 percent. The drop marked the first time in many months that economic sectors other than tourism led the way in employment increases. McCarty noted that employers in trade, transportation and utilities employed 34,800 more workers from October to November. However, he cautioned that many of these new jobs were in retail trade and may only reflect holiday seasonal hiring, which could disappear in early 2012.

McCarty also cited several other reasons for the change in mood. Retailers are offering big seasonal discounts to shoppers and mortgage interest rates are low. Housing prices may have ?bottomed out? for a while, he said, hovering about around $130,100 for a single-family home. Gas prices are down, too. A gallon cost about 15 cents less than it did in November, though prices are expected to rise in 2012.

Stock prices were unsteady but did not sink in the wake of bad economic news coming from Europe, as some economists expected. Media reports about the U.S. Congress? wrangling over debt and spending issues also didn?t sour consumer confidence. ?Contrary to our prediction, the impasse of the Super Commission regarding deficit reductions came and went with very little concern from consumers,? McCarty said.

Overall, the mood for December is modestly upbeat. But McCarty cautioned that Floridians may find it hard to remain optimistic in the coming year, if Congress carries through with $1.2 trillion in mandatory spending cuts required by the debt ceiling deal in 2011.

The UF survey was conducted between Dec. 11 and Dec. 22, and reflects the responses of 411 individuals statewide.

Provided by University of Florida (news : web)

Source: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-uf-survey-florida-consumer-confidence.html

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[uruknet.info] PLO Official: Without Peace Agreement, We May Cancel Recognition of Israel

December 26, 2011

On Monday, PLO official Mohammed Eshtayeh said the Palestinian Authority (PA) might cancel its 1993 recognition of the state of Israel if a peace agreement could not be reached.

Eshtayeh made the comment in an interview the London-based Sharq al-Awsat newspaper, calling the recognition of Israel "an unbalanced one."

Eshtaiyeh also said that the PLO recognized Israel in 1993 "geographically."

"However," he continued, "Israel did not recognize Palestine geographically, but only as an institution. It only recognized the PLO. We now ask for a mutual recognition: we want Israel to recognize Palestine on the 1967 borders."

Eshtayehh also said that if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was determined to say there is no difference between the illegal settlement of Har Homa and Tel Aviv, then Palestinians would not differentiate between Ramallah and Jaffa.

According to Eshtayeh, Palestinian efforts from now on would concentrate on internal issues, saying, "Mahmoud Abbas is interested in uniting Palestinians."

Eshtayeh, part of the Palestinian negotiating team, also talked about the possibility to canceling the Oslo agreements, just days after Hamas and the Islamic Jihad agreed to join the PLO and prepare for May elections for the main two bodies of the organization, the Palestinian National Council and the Executive Committee.

PLO executive committee member Hanan Ashrawi said no formal position about recognition of Israel had been decided.

Ashrawi told the "Voice of Palestine" radio that withdrawal of recognition was a last option if Israel made no progress towards peace. She said that first legal responses must be formulated to Israels expansion of settlements and Judaization of Jerusalem. Ashrawi also said that Palestinians must work on civil resistance projects in Jerusalem.

Source

Source: http://www.uruknet.info?new=84275

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Thursday, 29 December 2011

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Wednesday, 28 December 2011

Police shoot 7 'terrorists' in China's Muslim west (AP)

BEIJING ? Police in China's restive Central Asia border area fatally shot seven members of a Muslim ethnic group in what officials say was an attempt to end a kidnapping.

Officials and state media accounts said Thursday that police opened fire after encountering resistance in trying to free two men who had been kidnapped by what officials called "a violent terrorist group."

Four others were injured and another four arrested in Wednesday night's raid outside the city of Hotan. The two hostages were freed.

The area has been plagued by tensions between China's Han Chinese majority and ethnic Uighurs, the indigenous, mainly Muslim group. Some Uighurs have embraced militant separatism, though the Chinese government has provided scant evidence of organized terrorism.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111229/ap_on_re_as/as_china_xinjiang

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PIP implants sold to Dutch firm under new name (Reuters)

AMSTERDAM/MARSEILLE (Reuters) ? Potentially dangerous breast implants made by a now-defunct French company were sold to about 1,000 Dutch women under a different name, a Dutch health official said on Monday, broadening a scandal that could affect some 300,000 women worldwide.

Dutch health authority spokeswoman Diane Bouhuijs said a Dutch company had bought implants made by France's Poly Implant Prothese, which went bankrupt in 2010 after French health authorities shut its doors and is now under investigation. The Dutch firm sold them in the Netherlands rebranded as "M-implants".

"We estimate that some 1,000 women in the Netherlands have those implants. We have advised them to consult their physician," Bouhuijs said.

She declined to disclose the name of the Dutch company.

The rebranding of PIP implants potentially expands the scope of the health controversy in which PIP, once the third-largest maker of breast implants in the world, stands accused of using industrial-grade instead of medical-grade silicone in some of its protheses. They were sold in a number of European and Latin America countries.

The company's founder, Jean-Claude Mas, was able to charge lower prices for the implants using the non-approved silicone.

Health authorities have cited no evidence of increased cancer risk due to the PIP implants but have said they have higher rates of rupture that could cause inflammation and irritation.

While the French government has urged the 30,000 women in France with PIP implants to have them removed, other countries, including Britain and Brazil, say women should visit their surgeons for checks.

Health spokeswoman Bouhuijs did not say how long M-implants were sold in the Netherlands before they were banned in March 2010, along with PIP-labeled implants, as in France.

In early 2010 Dutch authorities launched an investigation into breast implants which is still going on, Bouhuijs said.

France's drug and medical device regulator, AFSSAPS, was closed on Monday due to the holiday, so Reuters was unable to ascertain whether health authorities knew about the M-implants.

SICK IN SOUTHERN FRANCE

Mas' lawyer Yves Haddad told Reuters on Monday that his 72-year-old client is in poor health but ready to respond to any court summons.

No one has been charged in the case, but sources say a Marseilles court could soon announce fraud charges against four to six ex-PIP employees. An investigation into involuntary homicide is going on, following the death from cancer in 2010 of a woman who had PIP implants.

Haddad denied that Mas was in hiding, reiterating that he was still in southern France's Var region.

"He's currently in very bad health because he has just undergone a difficult surgery that prevents him from walking," Haddad said.

Mas recent surgery was confirmed by a second source, who cited a vascular problem.

"He is worried by the importance this matter is taking on. He is angry at those who pointlessly add to people's suffering," Haddad said.

Haddad denied reports that Mas was a former butcher, saying that before founding PIP in 1991 he worked for more than 15 years as a medical sales representative for Bristol Myers.

Officials at Bristol Myers in the United States and France were not immediately available over the holiday weekend to verify Mas' employment record.

PIP AT FOREFRONT

French plastic surgeon Patrick Perichaud, who implanted over 600 women with protheses made by PIP between 2001 and 2009, defended the devices, saying their rupture rates were no higher than other makers' products.

Perichaud told Reuters PIP was at the forefront of breast implant technology in the past two decades. Whereas other implant makers made saline protheses that had to be filled once inside the breast, PIP introduced a pre-filled version, he said.

In 2001, after a 10-year ban of silicone implants was lifted in France, PIP was the first to make asymmetrically shaped implants whose look was more natural than competitors', he said.

"This made for very natural-looking breasts, and allowed me to put the protheses in front of the muscle and not behind it, like we had to do often before," said Perichaud, who is based in the southern city of Toulon.

The cost of the implants was 610 euros ($800). He said the patients bought the implants directly from PIP and that he as a surgeon did not get any financial incentive to steer clients towards the company.

The current breast implant health scare was "more psychological than scientific," he said, adding that no definitive link had been made between PIP implants and cancer.

"Breast cancer affects one in 10 women, even one in eight, so if 30,000 patients received PIP implants, statistically that would make 3000 cancers," he said.

Since the start of the PIP scandal in 2010, Perichaud has re-operated on 148 women to remove the implants at issue.

($1 = 0.7669 euros)

(Additional reporting by Alexandria Sage and Sophie Louet; Yinka Adegoke in New York; writing Alexandria Sage; editing by Geert De Clercq and Dan Grebler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111226/ts_nm/us_breast_implants_netherlands

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Tuesday, 27 December 2011

Suicide attacker kills 7 at Baghdad checkpoint (AP)

BAGHDAD ? A suicide bomber set off a car bomb Monday at a checkpoint leading to the Iraqi Interior Ministry, killing seven people and injuring 32 others, officials said.

The attack followed a series of bombings last week that killed up to 70 people in a single day, increasing fears about Iraq's future after U.S. troops withdrew this month.

Two police officers said the bomber struck during morning rush hour, hitting one of many security barriers set up around the ministry's building. Five policemen were among the dead, they said.

Two doctors at nearby hospitals confirmed the causality figures. All spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information.

No one has claimed responsibility, but suicide attacks are the hallmark of the al-Qaida in Iraq terror group.

U.S. and some Iraqi officials have warned of a resurgence of Sunni and Shiite militants and an increase in violence after the full U.S. troop withdrawal.

Adding to Iraq's troubles is an increase in political tension stemming from a showdown between the Shiite prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, and the top Sunni political leader in the country.

Al-Maliki's government has issued an arrest warrant for Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi on charges that he ran hit squads against government officials.

Al-Hashemi has denied the charges and said they are politically motivated.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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Best of 2011: Jennifer Lopez's Sizzling Comeback (omg!)

Best of 2011: Jennifer Lopez's Sizzling Comeback

All hail J.Lo!

PHOTOS: So cute! How Max and Emme have grown up

After lying low for three years to raise her twins Emme and Max, 3, Lopez, 42, assumed the throne as an American Idol judge, then released Love?, her highest-charting album since 2005 (three singles hit No. 1 on the Dance Club Play charts and one, "On the Floor," went triple-platinum).

PHOTOS: How Jennifer's love life influenced her style

Other crowning achievements? A show-stealing performance at the American Music Awards (alongside her 24-year-old backup dancer beau Casper Smart), a Kohl's clothing line and a Fiat ad campaign. "I'm never tired!" Lopez tells Us Weekly.

PHOTOS: JLo and Marc and other huge splits of 2011

Indeed. The hot mom brought Smart along for a Thanksgiving vacation to Kauai, Hawaii -- where the two were spotted frolicking on the beach with her children.?

?

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_best2011_jennifer_lopezs_sizzling_comeback_215952021/44000555/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/best-2011-jennifer-lopezs-sizzling-comeback-215952021.html

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Monday, 26 December 2011

Dropbox For Android Gets A Major Revamp, New Features

dropbox2.0androidThe new year is right around the corner, and many of us are in dire need of some organization. Luckily for all you fandroids out there, DropBox 2.0 has finally made its way onto the Android Market. The app has brand new features and a totally revamped layout. You'll find a little arrow to the right of each file in the app, which will then lead you to a pop-out menu. From there you can share, delete, and favorite, which is a brand new feature to DropBox. From the main menu, you'll see three tabs up top including Dropbox, Uploads and the newly added Favorites.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/DnhlqA2aC6E/

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Terrorists Fire Two Qassam Rockets at Southern Israel

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Source: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/227761

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Muskingum County church services to focus on true meaning of Christmas

CHRISTMAS EVE SERVICES

? Rushing Wind Biker Church, 5715 East Pike.: Christmas services Friday will begin at 7 p.m.

? Trinity Full Gospel, 535 Munson Ave.: Christmas Eve Candle Light Service, 5 to 6 p.m. For more information, call (740) 452-8478.

? Central Trinity United Methodist Church, 62 S. Seventh St.: The Christmas Eve candlelight service at 4:30 p.m. will feature the Children's and Wesleyan Choirs, vocal solo by Emily Miller and the Christmas Isn't Christmas Choir.

? Somerset United Methodist Church, 141 E. Main St., Somerset: Christmas Cantata, "Emmanuel," will be at 7 p.m. and carols and candlelight service will be at 11 p.m.

? Brighton Presbyterian Church, 771 Lexington Ave.: Christmas Eve candlelight service will begin at 11 p.m. Worship will include music, sermon, Holy Communion and conclude with lighting of candles.

? Nashport-Irville United Methodist Church, 7941 O'Bannon Road, Nashport: Christmas Eve service candlelight and cantata will begin at 9 p.m.

? North Terrace Church of Christ, 1420 Brandywine Boulevard: The church is offering two identical Christmas Eve services this year, at 5 and 6:30 p.m. The church will collect a Christmas Eve offering for Zanesville's Heartbeat Family Center, the local pregnancy support center, during both services. For more information, call (740) 453-2951.

? Coburn United Methodist Church, 3618 N. Maple Ave.: Christmas Eve candlelight service and worship will be celebrated at 7 p.m.

? Rolling Plains Church, 3350 Moxahala Park Road: Christmas Eve services will be at 5:30, 7:30 and 11 p.m.

? First Christian Church, 3000 Dresden Road: Family worship will be at 5 p.m.; candlelight communion service with cantata begins at 10 p.m.

? Iliff United Methodist Church at 3992 Flint Ridge Road, Crooksville: Christmas Eve cantata entitled "Memories of a Merry Christmas." The service, which includes a candlighting, starts at 7 p.m.

Source: http://zanesvilletimesrecorder.com/article/20111223/NEWS01/112230305/1002/rss01

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Saturday, 24 December 2011

iPhone Tips And Tricks - Business Insider

Summary

The iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was introduced on January 9, 2007. An iPhone functions as a camera phone, including text messaging and... More ?

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/iphone-tips-2011-12

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Kid Rock, Detroit church donate gifts to needy (AP)

DETROIT ? Kid Rock is teaming up with a Detroit church to give away hundreds of gift baskets and retail gift certificates to needy families in the area where he got his start and still calls home.

The musician's nonprofit organization joined Hartford Memorial Baptist Church on Wednesday to distribute 100 gift certificates for Meijer retail and grocery stores, along with more than 300 gift baskets.

Kid Rock, who was born Robert Ritchie, grew up and lives in suburban Detroit. He and the Kid Rock Foundation have been honored this year for their philanthropic contributions by Goodfellows Detroit and the NAACP's Detroit branch.

Kid Rock is known for dabbling in various musical styles, from hip-hop and hard rock to country and Southern rock.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111222/ap_on_en_mu/us_people_kid_rock

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Friday, 23 December 2011

Latest Syria killings draw international ire

Syrian troops have killed 111 people in one of the deadliest incidents since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March, activists said Wednesday.

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The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the killings occurred in the town of Kfar Owaid in the northwestern province of Idlib Tuesday.

"It was an organized massacre. The troops surrounded people, then killed them," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the organization.

The killings were reported a day before Arab League observers were due to visit Syria to monitor pledges by Assad's government to withdraw troops from besieged areas.

The White House said it was "deeply disturbed" by Tuesday's attack, the State Department stepped up its travel warning, France called the deaths a "murderous spiral," and the Arab League reminded the Assad regime of its responsibilities to protect its civilians.

In a statement, the rights organization said government forces surrounded about 150 local residents and shot them with bullets and tank shells for more than five hours.

"Some women tried to break the siege but in vain," it said. "The security forces arrested a number of young people from their homes, shackled them [and] executed them," it added.

It said 111 bodies were counted in the local mosque, of which 56 had been identified by its local activists.

Dr. Mousab Azzawi, a coordinator in London for the organization, told msnbc.com that the total number of victims its local activists had verified since Monday was 228.

"The situation is absolutely getting worse by the day," he said. "This area has been crippled by protest strikes and there is no electrical power, freezing cold weather and very little communication."

The accounts could not be independently confirmed because Syria has banned entry to most foreign journalists and places heavy restrictions on the work of local reporters.

Azzawi claimed Syria's decision on Monday to allow Arab League monitors to enter the country had simply prolonged the bloodshed.

"Every time they talk it means another day without change for the people in Syria," he said.

Warnings from US
The Obama administration reacted to the latest reports by renewing its call for Assad to step down, saying he "does not deserve to rule Syria."

"The United States is deeply disturbed by credible reports that the Assad regime continues to indiscriminately kill scores of civilians and army defectors, while destroying homes and shops and arresting protesters without due process," the White House said in a statement read by spokesman Jay Carney, warning that the international community could take more steps against Syria.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland added that the stepped-up violence signaled that Syria's acceptance of the Arab League plan is merely a "stalling tactic."

"This is not the behavior of a government that is getting ready to implement the Arab League proposals," she told reporters, adding later that: "We've got lots of promises as the government continues to mow down its own people."

The department, renewing its travel warning for Syria, repeated earlier alerts that urged Americans to leave while there is still commercial air service and limit their travel inside the country due to the violence. The warning also said that already limited services at the embassy in Damascus likely would be curtailed "as staff levels ... are being further reduced."

French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said "everything must be done to stop this murderous spiral into which Bashar Assad is leading his people more every day." He added that the U.N. Security Council must "pass a firm resolution demanding the end to this repression."

The German government's human rights commissioner, Markus Loening, called for an immediate end to violence against deserters and demonstrators.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said "it is unacceptable" that so many people were killed after Syria agreed to an Arab League plan to halt the bloodshed.

In Cairo, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby expressed deep concern about reports of an escalation in violence and appealed to Damascus to shoulder its responsibilities to protect civilians in compliance with its pledges to abide by the league's plan.

The Arab League plan calls for Syria to halt its crackdown, open talks with the opposition, withdraw military forces from city streets and allow in human rights workers and journalists. The 22-member Arab League has also suspended Syria's membership and leveled economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Despite the new violence, the Arab League appeared to be going ahead with its plans to send in its first delegation of monitors on Thursday. An Arab League official said the second team of observers ? 30 experts in military affairs and human rights ? will head for Syria on Sunday, led by Lt. Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa of Sudan.

Another team of 100 observers will leave for Syria within two weeks, he said.

Syria's main opposition group, the Syrian National Council, described this weeks killings as "brutal massacres and genocide," saying it has urged the U.N. Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on Syria. The SNC also asked the international community to help protect Syrian citizens.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

? 2011 msnbc.com

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45748624/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Thursday, 22 December 2011

Russia urges NATO to probe Libyan deaths (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? Russia urged NATO on Monday to investigate civilian deaths in Libya from its bombing campaign, saying the alliance's claim that there were no civilian casualties is untrue.

Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said he has been asking NATO to give "a definitive report" to the U.N. Security Council summing up its activities in Libya. But he said "unfortunately" the alliance only provided "piecemeal, rather perfunctory reports... (that) were not very informative."

Russia holds the council presidency this month and Churkin told reporters he will raise the issue of civilian casualties when it discusses Libya on Thursday.

NATO's 7-month air campaign against Libya was hailed as a triumph by the alliance and its supporters for setting the country on the path to a democratic transition after the ouster and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

Mark Kornblau, spokesman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations, said the NATO campaign was intended to protect Libyan civilians.

"The NATO mission in Libya was responsible for saving tens of thousands of innocent civilians from imminent slaughter by a madman," Kornblau said.

But the operation's critics ? including Russia, China and the African Union ? have argued that NATO misused the limited U.N. resolution imposing a no-fly zone and authorizing the protection of civilians as a pretext to promote regime change.

"Unfortunately, NATO adopted the pure propaganda style, claiming zero civilian casualties in Libya which was completely implausible first of all and secondly not true," Churkin said.

He said it was "cruel and cynical" for people whose houses were destroyed, whose relatives were killed or injured, and who are suffering from stigma because their neighbors suspect they were bombed because they were Gadhafi sympathizers, "to be told that actually nothing of this kind happened."

He said he was sure the United Nations could provide help in thoroughly investigating civilian casualties from NATO aerial bombing if the alliance "is reluctant to do it on their own."

Churkin also criticized U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for supporting NATO's claim of zero casualties, but he praised the U.N. chief for also saying "there must be no misunderstanding about civilian casualties in Libya."

Last month, NATO spokesperson Oana Lungescu in Brussels said NATO is confident its forces carried out the campaign "in full compliance with international law."

During NATO's seven-month campaign, which ended on Oct. 31, its warplanes flew 26,000 sorties, including more than 9,600 strike missions, destroying more than 1,000 tanks, vehicles, and guns.

NATO leaders have hailed the precision with which the mission was carried out, citing the small number of civilian deaths caused by the bombing as evidence of its success. Representatives of the military alliance based in Brussels have said that all NATO air strikes in Libya were aimed at military targets.

The relatively quick victory in Libya represented a major boost for the Cold War alliance which is bogged down in a 10-year war in Afghanistan, a 12-year mission in Kosovo, and anti-piracy operation off the Somali coastline.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111220/ap_on_re_us/un_un_libya_nato

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Monday, 19 December 2011

Issa on Justice Department: ???I???ve called for a house cleaning??? (Daily Caller)

House oversight committee chairman Rep. Darrell Issa said on Friday that he thinks the groundswell in calls for Attorney General Eric Holder?s resignation, a topic that most recently took center stage at the GOP debate in Iowa Thursday night, is a sign that changes are needed at the Justice Department.

?You have to ask: Isn?t there a point at which real management changes need to happen?,? Issa told Fox News anchor Martha MacCallum. ?I?ve called for a house cleaning, a thorough house cleaning, because I think that up and down political appointees and in some cases career professionals clearly did what was wrong or failed to do what?s right. And Brian Terry?s family is grieving today, one day past the anniversary of his killing.?

U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed with a weapon from Operation Fast and Furious a year ago Thursday.

Fast and Furious was a program of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, overseen by Holder?s Justice Department. It sent thousands of weapons to Mexican drug cartels via straw purchasers, people who legally purchased guns in the United States with the known intention of illegally trafficking them somewhere else.

At least 300 people in Mexico were killed with Fast and Furious weapons, as was Terry. The identities of the Mexican victims are unknown.?The Terry family has called for criminal charges to be brought against administration officials.

Issa and Iowa Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley have led a nine-month long investigation into the program.

In recent weeks, 60 congressmen, two senators, six presidential candidates and two sitting governors have demanded Holder resign over the program. Seventy-five House members?have signed on?to a resolution of ?no confidence? in the attorney general.

Issa, who hasn?t called for Holder?s resignation or firing, added that he thinks it?s President Barack Obama?s responsibility to decide if Holder should keep his job. But Issa said if he were president he would handle the Holder situation much differently from how the president has.

?Our job is to investigate,? Issa said. ?The president?s job is to figure out whether Eric Holder has become too much of a distraction and whether or not Justice would be better off without him.?

Issa added that Holder is ?somebody I would not have full confidence in and I would not keep on if I had control of that decision.?

Issa also addressed the emergence of 75 House members who have cosponsored Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar?s resolution of ?no confidence? in Holder. Issa is not one of those cosponsors.

?It?s not unheard of, but it?s a pretty high number here to get people to say that they really believe uniquely that one person needs to go,? Issa said. ?Remember, on the hill there?s a lot of people that would like house cleaning from top to bottom of the cabinet. But it generally doesn?t turn into this kind of a specific call for resignation or call for firing.?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20111216/pl_dailycaller/issaonjusticedepartmentivecalledforahousecleaning

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WWE Bring it Back!: Evolution

The classy suits, the fast-moving party atmosphere, the unbridled ruthlessness, the past, present and future of the squared circle. What was must be again. WWE.com calls for the return of Evolution.

PHOTOS OF EVOLUTION AND OTHER GREAT FACTIONS FROM WWE HISTORY

It seemed to be a moment of sheer destiny, the natural progression of all that had come before it. During a 2003 episode of Raw, the WWE Universe stood witness as ?the past? ? 16-time World Champion Ric Flair ? joined forces with ?the present? ? one of the top grapplers in the game Triple H ? and ?the future? ? then up-and-coming Superstars Randy Orton and Batista. Together, they formed Evolution and instantly grew into one of the most dominant WWE factions of all-time.

At the height of Evolution?s success, every member of this multi-generational formidable foursome held a major title. The Game stood at the top of the mountain as World Heavyweight Champion, Orton was the Intercontinental Champion and Batista & Flair were the World Tag Team Champions. However, championship gold was not the only aspect that made them a brand part.

With every step they took, the members of Evolution exuded confidence, truly emulating the life of the group?s legendary mentor ?The Nature Boy? by walking, talking and acting a cut above the rest. They were often seen in the company of beautiful women, dressed to the nines in expensive suits and the coolest sunglasses.

On the flip side to their sophistication ? however ? they also would strive to equal Triple H?s sheer ruthlessness, completely dominating their opposition in a fury of overwhelming force.

Put simply, Evolution was style incarnate and dangerous dominance all at the same time ? the divine successor of a slew of infamous factions that included the immortal Four Horsemen, the NWO, The Nation of Domination, The Cooperate Ministry and D-Generation X.?

The epic return of Evolution would once again represent the ever-evolving nature of WWE, elevating returning members to new heights while bringing in fresh blood to mold into greatness.

Triple H should definitely return. But, considering the legendary status that The King of Kings has grown to over the years, he could now feasibly assume the Ric Flair role ? as the mentor/competitor whose knowledge is as dangerous as his in-ring ability. He is ?that damn good.? Randy Orton, who has clearly soared to the lofty heights that Triple H once predicted he would, is now ready to move to the next step and take the reins as the centerpiece of the elite group.

Still, who would assume the role of the two up-and-comers of Re-Evolution? Clearly the ultra-braggadocio Dolph Ziggler has all the tools to fill the shoes of the once cocky young Orton. Despite his recent differences with both Orton and Triple H, the outspoken Cody Rhodes would also be an A-list option.

When considering a Superstar with the power and temperament once harnessed by ?Evolution?s Animal,? Sheamus is a sure fire choice. Though The Great White already has the WWE Title on his resume, aligning himself with the likes of The Cerebral Assassin and The Viper would propel him to unprecedented heights. Still, another powerful possibility would be the explosive Mason Ryan, poised to make his earth-shattering mark on WWE.

Evolution is inevitable. Inside the WWE Universe, where it is always survival of the fittest, the time has come for one of the greatest factions of all-time to evolve before a new generation and to add the already electrifying atmosphere being created by the likes of WWE Champion CM Punk, John Cena and World Heavyweight Champion Mark Henry. WWE, bring back Evolution.

PHOTOS OF EVOLUTION AND OTHER GREAT FACTIONS FROM WWE HISTORY

What does the WWE Universe think?

Should WWE bring back Evolution? Let your voice be heard at WWE Interaction.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/inside/wwefeaturepage/bring-back-classic-evolution

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Saturday, 17 December 2011

Jailed Hezbollah commander turned over to Iraqis (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The last American prisoner in Iraq, a Hezbollah commander linked to the kidnapping deaths of four U.S. soldiers, was turned over to the Iraqi government Friday, the White House said.

U.S. officials have long feared that such a transfer would lead to Ali Mussa Daqduq's release from prison. But his case became enmeshed in both international diplomacy and the Washington political debate over how best to prosecute suspected terrorists.

Under President George W. Bush, prosecutors had planned to someday charge Daqduq in a U.S. criminal court. But those plans were scrapped after Obama took office and lawmakers began restricting the president's ability to bring terrorist suspects into the United States for trial.

Many Republicans had wanted Daqduq prosecuted before a military tribunal at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba. The Obama administration had hoped a compromise would be to prosecute Daqduq in a first-of-its-kind military commission on U.S. soil.

But the Iraqi government would not let the United States take Daqduq out of the country for trial, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said.

"We have sought and received assurances that he will be tried for his crimes," Vietor said Friday.

It was not immediately clear what charges he could face. The U.S. has said he was part of a brazen raid in which four American soldiers were abducted and killed in the Iraqi holy city of Karbala in 2007.

Iraq has had a shoddy record on detainee security. Last year, just a week after the U.S. turned more than 1,000 detainees at its Camp Cropper prison over to Iraqi control, four al-Qaida-linked detainees escaped. An investigation showed that the detainees had inside help.

That had lawmakers worried that Daqduq would return to Hezbollah soon after his transfer. Shortly before the White House announcement, Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Ill., was gathering signatures on a letter to Obama.

"Daqduq's Iranian paymasters would like nothing more than to see him transferred to Iraqi custody, where they could effectively pressure for his escape or release," Kirk wrote. "We truly hope you will not let that happen."

Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, fumed over the release of Daqduq.

"Rather than ensure justice for five American soldiers killed by Hezbollah terrorist Ali Musa Daqduq, the administration turned him over to Iraq, once again completely abdicating its responsibility to hold on to deadly terrorists. Given Iraq's history of releasing detainees, I expect it is only a matter of time before this terrorist will be back on the battlefield."

Vietor said a trial at Guantanamo Bay was never an option, either for the Iraqis or for the administration.

"The policy of this administration, because we believe it's in our national security interest, is to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, not add to the population," he said.

Two Iraqi officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case, said Daqduq was in the custody of Iraqi judiciary authorities in Baghdad. Daqduq will stand before an Iraq investigative judge, one official said. Investigative judges decide whether there is enough evidence for a trial and recommend specific charges, somewhat like a grand jury does in the U.S. system.

___

Associated Press writers Adam Goldman and Donna Cassata in Washington and Qassim Abdul Zahra in Baghdad contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mideast/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111216/ap_on_go_ot/us_hezbollah_prisoner

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Fed's Fisher says further monetary easing is "wrong path" (Reuters)

AUSTIN (Reuters) ? Europe's debt crisis threatens to throw a strengthening economy off track, but more monetary accommodation from the U.S. Federal Reserve is not the answer, a top Fed official known for his hawkish views on inflation said on Friday.

In a speech to the Austin Chamber of Commerce, Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher reiterated his long-held view that it is the overhang from the U.S. national debt and uncertainty over tax and regulatory policy that is holding back U.S. businesses, not insufficiently loose monetary policy.

And, he said, it is up to Congress and the President -- not the U.S. central bank -- to clean up the "yucky mess" that is the country's debt and fiscal problems.

"The Federal Reserve has done everything it can, and more, to reduce unemployment without forsaking our sacred commitment to maintaining price stability, or crossing over the monetary river Styx into full-blown debt monetization," Fisher said in remarks prepared for delivery in the Texas capital. "From my standpoint, resorting to further monetary accommodation to clean out the sink, clogged by the flotsam and jetsam of a jolly, drunken fiscal and financial party that has gone on far too long, is the wrong path to follow."

The U.S. central bank stood pat on policy at its meeting Tuesday, leaving interest rates near zero, and continuing to signal that it will keep them there through at least mid-2013. One policymaker, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans, dissented, calling for further easing.

Fisher, along with fellow hawks Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota and Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser, were the dissenters earlier this year as the Fed eased policy to jumpstart a slowing recovery.

Fisher on Friday said his votes were driven not by a fear that easing would stoke inflation but on concern it would not help on employment.

Inflation, he said, is headed back down toward the Fed's 2 percent target. Recent economic indicators suggest domestic demand is strengthening, he added.

Unemployment fell to 8.6 percent in November, the lowest in two and a half years, and regional factory activity has picked up, bolstering what has been a stop-and-start recovery from the worst downturn since the Depression.

But souring conditions in Europe and slowing growth in emerging economies like China and Brazil threaten to knock the U.S. recovery off course again, Fisher said, adding there is little U.S. policymakers can do but "pray that fiscal and monetary authorities abroad get it right."

On the home front, though, the fix is within reach, he said.

Comparing the nation's problems with a clogged sink, Fisher warned against the Fed opening the spigots of liquidity further to flush out the detritus.

"It may provide immediate relief but risks destroying the plumbing of the entire house," said Fisher, who often uses colorful metaphors and literary references to enliven his speeches. "Better that the Congress and the president -- the makers of fiscal policy and regulation -- roll up their sleeves and get on with the yucky task of cleaning out the clogged drain."

Fisher and his fellow hawkish dissenters rotate off the Fed's policy-setting panel next year, and only one policy hawk -- Richmond Fed President Jeffrey Lacker -- will rotate in.

The change in voting line-up means the panel will lean more dovish than it did last year, suggesting Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke may have more support for further easing in the New Year.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/bs_nm/us_usa_fed_fisher

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