Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167107961?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Bad sale of Italian debt adds to Monti's headaches (Reuters)
ROME (Reuters) ? A punishing sale of Italian debt on Friday was not just bad news for the country's finances and the euro zone as a whole but increased political problems for the new technocrat government of Mario Monti.
The sale, in which Italy was forced to pay a record 6.5 percent for six month paper, comes on top of early sniping by politicians who were dragooned into accepting Monti a week ago only because of Italy's soaring borrowing costs.
Monti's predecessor, flamboyant media magnate Silvio Berlusconi, was finally forced to resign on November 12 because of untenable yields on Italian debt which have put the euro zone's third largest economy at the epicenter of its widening crisis.
But so far, despite warm praise from European leaders who have greeted Monti with open arms -- in contrast to their barely concealed disdain for Berlusconi -- Italian debt yields are still going the wrong way.
The Italian auction capped a terrible week for the euro zone after a disastrous German bond auction and a continuing failure of European leaders to agree measures to combat the crisis. Moreover, Spain has been forced to pay record interest on its debt despite the landslide election of a conservative government.
Italy's auction on Friday, described by one analyst as "awful," spooked investors further and pushed two-year yields on the secondary market to an eye-watering euro lifetime high of more than 8 percent.
Longer term debt is above a "red line" of 7 percent which forced Portugal, Greece and Ireland into bailouts that Europe could not afford for the much bigger Italian economy.
Many analysts say the euro zone crisis is now systemic, but Berlusconi, whose sexual and legal scandals combined with his inability to pass key reforms led to his demise, quickly pointed out the lack of any substantial premium from Monti's arrival.
"Everyone has been able to see that the (bond) spread has remained high even after I resigned: evidently our government was not at fault at all," he said in a newspaper interview.
"LOUSY GOVERNMENT"
Umberto Bossi, head of the devolutionist Northern League and Berlusconi's principal partner in the ousted center-right government, has refused to support Monti and was scathing about the new government.
"It's lousy. It seems an improvised government to me," he told reporters on Friday. He said Monti was like a "lead climber who has only seen the mountains in a postcard."
Monti's problem is that although most of Italy's parties have promised broad support in parliament to face the crisis, he was unable to persuade them to include ministers in his government, robbing him of political cover.
This problem has already become apparent in his difficulty in appointing about 30 deputy ministers and under-secretaries, apparently because of disagreement among the parties.
His warm welcome in Brussels this week has been interpreted negatively by some politicians and commentators, who accused him of giving details of his reforms to German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy before they were revealed to the parties or markets.
"On his knees in front of Merkel," said a banner headline in il Giornale, owned by Berlusconi's brother Paolo.
A commentary by the paper's editor, Alessandro Sallusti, said Monti "told the Chancellor what he is silent about to his fellow citizens and, what is worse, to his parliament."
Underlining the deep political tensions in Italy, Monti had to meet senior party leaders in secret on Thursday night to discuss the under-secretary problem, apparently because they did not want to be photographed together.
"When you have been spitting on each other for three and a half years, how can you suddenly meet publicly to decide who should be the undersecretaries?" the source said, referring to bitter political infighting since the last election in 2008.
Political sources told Reuters the summit took place, despite official denials, and it was widely reported in Italian newspapers. Appointment of the junior government officials would be delayed until next week, the sources said.
Parties on both left and right will face opposition from their supporters in backing unpopular legislation from Monti to cut Italy's debt and reverse a decade of stagnant growth.
Many political insiders believe the politicians will sabotage Monti as soon as they can, and that he won't make it to the next scheduled election in 2013.
"These are not very encouraging developments. Monti has a honeymoon of about three months in which he can try to push for some major reforms," said Franco Pavoncello, political science professor at Rome's John Cabot university.
"I'd be surprised if there is not a general election by June of next year," he added.
(Additional reporting by Steve Scherer)
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/wl_nm/us_italy
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Italy's Monti in austerity race as IMF role eyed (Reuters)
ROME (Reuters) ? Prime Minister Mario Monti faces a testing week seeking to shore up Italy's strained public finances, with an IMF mission expected in Rome and market pressure building to a point where outside help may be needed to stem a full-scale debt emergency.
Monti is expected to unveil measures on December 5 that could include a revamped housing tax, a rise in sales tax and accelerated increases in the pension age. But pressure from the markets could force him to act more quickly.
One source with knowledge of the matter said contacts between the International Monetary Fund and Rome had intensified in recent days as concern has grown that German opposition to an expanded role for the European Central Bank could leave Italy without a financial backstop if one were needed.
An IMF inspection team is expected to visit Rome in the coming days but no date has been announced.
The IMF declined to comment on any moves to provide financial support, and official sources in Rome said they were unaware of any request for assistance from Italy, which has over 185 billion euros of bonds falling due between December and the end of April.
Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111127/bs_nm/us_italy
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Congo: 2 killed in clashes days ahead of poll
A sea of electoral posters line the streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Friday Nov. 25, 2011. On Monday Nov. 28 2011, Congolese will elect their president and national assembly. between 11 contenders for president and 18,835 for the 500 parliamentary seats. The election commission has set itself a Friday deadline to deliver 186,000 ballot boxes and more than 64 million ballot papers to nearly 64,000 polling stations, in a country of 2,345,000 square kilometres (906,000 square miles) -- 77 times the size of former colonial ruler Belgium. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
A sea of electoral posters line the streets of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Friday Nov. 25, 2011. On Monday Nov. 28 2011, Congolese will elect their president and national assembly. between 11 contenders for president and 18,835 for the 500 parliamentary seats. The election commission has set itself a Friday deadline to deliver 186,000 ballot boxes and more than 64 million ballot papers to nearly 64,000 polling stations, in a country of 2,345,000 square kilometres (906,000 square miles) -- 77 times the size of former colonial ruler Belgium. (AP Photo/Jerome Delay)
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) ? Two people were killed in pre-vote clashes Saturday in Congo's capital and security officials fired into a crowd that included tens of thousands of opposition supporters, prompting officials to ban rallies before a critical poll that observers say could re-ignite violence in the vast central African nation.
Violence erupted Saturday among political supporters who had gathered to greet the top opposition presidential candidate, who had planned to come to the airport in a car convoy. Supporters of the president also gathered there to meet him, though he did not pass through the airport.
At the airport, security forces fired tear gas and live ammunition into the burgeoning crowd.
Scuffles erupted on the road to the airport. Two dead bodies were seen along that road. One of them, a young man, was badly bludgeoned and appeared to have been stoned to death. A second body, also a man, was seen being carried away by Red Cross medics on the same road. It was not immediately clear how he had been killed.
Police also fired tear gas to push the crowd away, but riot police manned the airport hours later to prevent opposition presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi and his entourage from leaving the scene.
It was not immediately possible to determine the total number of casualties from Saturday's clashes.
Saturday's violence prompted the governor to call off political rallies ahead of Monday's vote. Governor Andre Kimbuta made the announcement on state television Saturday.
"Because of the escalating violence seen in Kinshasa, all public demonstrations and other political meetings are canceled this Saturday," Kimbuta said. "This is for a better result of the electoral process. The urban authority calls on the population's patriotism."
Human rights groups had expressed fears about an atmosphere of spiraling violence and hate speech ahead of the vote in the large mineral-rich nation. The outcome of the vote is almost certain to keep President Joseph Kabila in power.
Earlier this month in Kinshasa, gunmen fired on Tshisekedi campaigners putting up posters, wounding two. In the southern mining city of Lubumbashi, another 16 were injured in violence pitting Tshisekedi's supporters against a rival opposition party. Young people in the eastern city of Goma took to the streets after popular folk musician Fabrice Mumpfiritsa was kidnapped after he refused to sing songs supporting Kabila. He was found three days later, legs and eyes bound and so badly beaten he had to be hospitalized.
"We all know that the country is not ready to hold this election," said Jacquemain Shabani, the secretary general of Tshisekedi's party, which was the first major opposition party to stand up to former dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in the 1980s. "It's inevitable that it will bring conflict if they go ahead with it."
How the elections unfold will be a likely indicator of whether Congo is consolidating its fledgling democracy or returning to a state of widespread instability after decades of dictatorship and civil war, according to the International Crisis Group.
The violence is just one of the numerous challenges that could derail Monday's vote and re-ignite conflict. Tension is running high, partly because many polling stations have not yet received the necessary voting materials.
On Friday, just days before the poll, at least 33 of the 80 planes carrying voting materials to the provinces were unable to take off because of bad weather.
Election experts say it is unlikely the ballots will be able to reach the remote interior in time in a country with so few paved roads, and where there are some 60,000 polling stations spread out over a territory the size of Western Europe.
"We have been trying to sound the alarm but to no avail," said Jerome Bonso, coordinator of the Coalition for Peaceful and Transparent Elections.
"The end result of a democratic election should be the resolution of conflict. Instead, we're heading into an election which is by its very nature bound to aggravate conflict ..." he said. "And the planes carrying the voting materials have not even taken off yet."
Voters will be choosing between 11 presidential candidates and more than 18,000 candidates for the 500-seat parliament.
In a nation where a third of adults cannot read, voters will be handed a ballot as thick as a book, due to the overwhelming number of parliamentary contenders. Politicians are using campaign rallies to explain to voters where to find their names on the ballot paper.
Jason Stearns, former coordinator of the United Nations Group of Experts on the Congo and the author of a book on the country's political history, said the number of candidates is bound to create confusion inside polling stations because the ballot is confusing even for those who know how to read. It will also create delays in an election that is supposed to take place in a single day, and may result in a large share of people not being able to cast their votes.
"There is an overwhelming number of candidates and voters will have a limited amount of time in voting stations," said Stearns, who pointed out that even the three best-known candidates, including Kabila, are informing voters at rallies of their place on the ballot paper.
"Even among the 11 presidential candidates, every one of their campaign advertisements stress their number on the ballot. Kabila is No. 33. Tshisekedi is No. 11," said Stearns.
It's the country's first election since the landmark 2006 vote which was considered the country's first democratic vote in 40 years, but was marred by weeks of street battles led by supporters of the losing candidate.
Congo's history of back-to-back wars also provides a backdrop. Kabila, a former rebel leader, first took control of the country a decade ago, after the 2001 assassination of his father, Laurent Kabila, who ruled Congo after overthrowing dictator Mobutu Sese Seko in 1997.
He was elected president in 2006, a vote which was overseen and organized by the U.N. The runner-up was former warlord Jean-Pierre Bemba, now on trial at the Hague. He refused to accept defeat, unleashing his private army on the capital, leading to weeks of street battles. There are no warlords in the race for president this time, and none of the candidates have personal militias at their disposal, Stearns said.
___
Associated Press writer Saleh Mwanamilongo in Kinshasa, Congo contributed to this report. Callimachi contributed from Dakar, Senegal.
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Bodies identified in Mexico mass slaying (AP)
MEXICO CITY ? Mexican authorities say they have identified 14 of the 26 slaying victims whose bodies were left on an expressway in what may be a growing war between the powerful Zetas and Sinaloa drug cartels.
Tomas Coronado is a prosecutor for the western state of Jalisco, where Guadalajara is located. He tells MVS Radio that authorities are still trying to confirm an apparent Zetas claim of responsibility.
Coronado says investigators have found evidence that the Zetas are working with a local gang known as the Resistance, comprising former members of several other cartels.
The bodies were stuffed in two vans and a pickup truck abandoned on an expressway near the Milennium Arches, one of the most recognizable landmarks in Guadalajara, which hosted last month's Pan American Games.
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No. 4 Connecticut loses to Central Florida
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas (AP) ? Marcus Jordan was headed to the foul line for two big shots Friday when a teammate passed along an encouraging message.
"He told me this shot is in my blood," Jordan said.
Yup, like father, like son.
Jordan, the son of Hall of Famer Michael Jordan, made two big free throws to give Central Florida the lead with 3:11 left and the Knights upset No. 4 Connecticut 68-63 in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis, snapping the Huskies' 16-game winning streak.
Jordan and Keith Clanton each scored 20 points for the Knights (4-1), who trailed by 17 early in the second half. Jordan also had seven rebounds and seven assists.
Jeremy Lamb had 15 points for the defending national champion Huskies (5-1), who lost for the first time since March 5 against Notre Dame. Alex Oriakhi added 14 points and 10 rebounds.
"I can't be more disappointed in how we played," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "We just stopped playing. We couldn't even get the ball inbounded near the end. Nobody stepped up and it was a complete disaster for us."
Calhoun was particularly disappointed in the last four minutes.
"That wasn't a run, it was an avalanche," he said.
Connecticut put together a 10-0 run to take a 50-33 lead with 16 minutes left. Lamb sparked the run with a 3-pointer and also hit two free throws during the surge.
Central Florida then scored 17 of the next 19 points to pull within two. Clanton kicked off the rally with a 3-pointer and Jordan finished the spurt with a 3.
Lamb made another 3 to stretch the Huskies' lead to five, but they couldn't hold off the pesky Knights. Jordan converted a layup, then made the two free throws to give Central Florida a 58-57 advantage. Jordan added four more foul shots down the stretch to preserve the big win.
Jordan was whistled for a technical with 16 minutes left in the game, fueling his big final surge.
"I still don't know why I got the technical," he said. "But I do know I wanted to come out and be more aggressive."
Isaiah Sykes added 10 points, including consecutive layups that stretched Central Florida's lead to 62-57 late in the game. The Knights will face Harvard in the championship game on Saturday.
Andre Drummond finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots for the Huskies, who led 38-29 at halftime.
"I feel like I let the team down," Lamb said. "I turned the ball over in key moments. We've lost games before but this hurts. We just need to come out with energy tomorrow and be ready to play."
Connecticut will play No. 22 Florida State in the consolation game on Saturday.
Starting point guard Shabazz Napier had seven of the Huskies' 13 turnovers, compared to eight for the Knights. Lamb had three turnovers.
Napier went 1 for 7 from the field and finished with four points and five assists.
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Lithuania to dismantle troubled bank (AP)
VILNIUS, Lithuania ? Lithuania's central bank said it would dismantle a bank controlled by a Russian businessman after regulators discovered large sums of money missing.
Lithuanian prosecutors said Friday that Raimondas Baranauskas, minority owner of Snoras Bank, has been detained in London after they had issued a European arrest warrant on Wednesday.
Prosecutors could not say whether Russian citizen Vladimir Antonov, the bank's majority owner, was also detained. Antonov is the owner of the Portsmouth football club.
The Bank of Lithuania said late Thursday that the dismantling of Snoras was the best solution for the Baltic state's financial system and economy, which have been jolted after the bank was nationalized and its operations halted.
Bank chief Vitas Vasiliauskas said should not waste taxpayers' money trying to help "a plane that won't fly."
"There is no other way to solve this situation," he said.
Hundreds of millions of euros (dollars) are believed to have been siphoned off from Snoras and Latvijas Krajbanka, a subsidiary bank in neighboring Latvia.
Janis Brazovskis, an official with Latvia's Finance and Capital Markets Commission who was appointed to oversee Latvijas Krajbanka, said Wednesday that Antonov's failed attempt to acquire the troubled Swedish automaker Saab might have triggered the downfall of the two Baltic banks.
He said that approximately 100 million lats ($200 million) were siphoned from the bank to increase its charter capital and finance Antonov's investment projects ? including the unsuccessful takeover of Saab.
Deposit holders in both countries are now forced to wait in long lines to withdraw money from cash machines, while companies and municipalities have seen the working capital virtually disappear.
Still, authorities in both Lithuania and Latvia say the two banks' collapse does not pose a systemic risk since they are mid-sized and the two states have ample reserves to guarantee deposits.
Latvijas Krajbanka was Latvia's 10th largest bank by assets after it was taken over by regulators on Monday.
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Summary Box: Deere 4Q net income jumps 46 percent (AP)
SOLID SUCCESS: Agricultural equipment maker Deere & Co. impressed investors Wednesday by reporting a 46 percent profit increase. The Moline, Ill., company reported net income of $670 million, or $1.62 per share.
GROWING PROFITS: Deere said it expects equipment sales to increase about 15 percent next year and profit to grow to $3.2 billion from this year's $2.8 billion.
EXPANDING EMPLOYMENT: To help meet growing demand, Deere's employment has grown about 10 percent over the past year to reach 61,000. A little more than half of Deere's employees are based in the U.S.
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Friday, November 25, 2011
Navy Blue Angels fly into era of budget questions
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2010 file photo, the Blue Angels practice near the stadium before the start of Game 2 of a National League Division Series baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves in San Francisco. The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying in fighter planes, but a new era of federal budget worries and proposed deficit cutting has some inside and outside the military, raising questions about the millions it costs to produce their shows. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE - In this Oct. 8, 2010 file photo, the Blue Angels practice near the stadium before the start of Game 2 of a National League Division Series baseball game between the San Francisco Giants and Atlanta Braves in San Francisco. The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying in fighter planes, but a new era of federal budget worries and proposed deficit cutting has some inside and outside the military, raising questions about the millions it costs to produce their shows. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)
FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2006 file photo, members of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels precision flying team rehearse at Little Rock Air Force base in Jacksonville, Ark. The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying. The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying in fighter planes, but a new era of federal budget worries and proposed deficit cutting has some inside and outside the military, raising questions about the millions it costs to produce their shows. (AP Photo/Danny Johnston, File)
PENSACOLA NAVAL AIR STATION, Fla. (AP) ? The Navy's Blue Angels have been thrilling audiences for more than six decades with their acrobatic flying in fighter planes, but a new era of federal budget worries and proposed deficit cutting has some inside and outside the military raising questions about the millions it costs to produce their shows.
Some want the popular shows grounded and some readers of the Air Force Times newspaper ? most of them active or retired service members ? recently listed eliminating the Blue Angels and similar programs as one way to cut defense spending.
The Pentagon spends $37 million for the Blue Angels, whose mission is to enhance recruiting for the Navy and Marines and to be their public goodwill ambassador. That's a fraction of the Pentagon's $926 billion annual budget, but that's not the point, critics say. They argue that lots of smaller programs will have to be eliminated to meet required spending reductions.
Automatic cuts triggered by the collapse of the debt supercommittee in Washington this week combined with spending reductions previously hammered out by President Barack Obama and Congress mean that the Pentagon would be looking at nearly $1 trillion in cuts to projected spending over 10 years.
The Air Force's Thunderbirds and the Army's Golden Knights paratroopers also perform big public shows.
"It goes to show the scale of the Department of the Defense budget ? the defense department always goes big," said Laura Peterson, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based group Taxpayers for Common Sense. She said the money could be better spent on other programs. "The point is to look at all federal spending. We can no longer afford the wants; we have to look at the needs."
But Capt. Greg McWherter, the Blue Angels' commander, said his team fills a vital national security role by improving morale, helping with recruiting and presenting a public face for the nation's 500,000 sailors and Marines. The Navy says about 11 million people see the squadron's F/A-18 fighter jets scream and twist overhead during each year's show season, from March through November.
"We still live in a country that has an all-volunteer force. Everyone that signs up to join the military does so because they were motivated and inspired; maybe it was an aunt or an uncle, maybe it was a teacher or maybe it was the Blue Angels, you never know," he said.
"It is difficult to put a price on that and on the number of young men and women inspired by a performance." But, he said, it helps ensure "that the Navy and the Marine Corps is strong 10 to 15 years from now."
Loren Thompson, a military analyst with the conservative think tank Lexington Institute in Washington's Virginia suburbs, said it is very unlikely anyone in Congress would specifically target the Blue Angels because the team is so popular.
"I think any legislator who called for eliminating the Blue Angels would be digging and digging through emails filled with outrage," he said.
But he said it is possible spending for the Blue Angels, Air Force Thunderbirds and other military promotional programs could be curtailed under a larger umbrella bill as Congress and the administration look for ways to cut federal spending.
"No provision specifically aimed at cutting the Blue Angels will ever pass, but that doesn't mean the Blue Angels are safe from budget cuts," he said.
Republican Congressman Jeff Miller, who represents the Pensacola base and serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said it's the popularity of the Blue Angels that will keep the program alive.
"You can ask the hundreds of thousands of people who come out each weekend and see them fly and know they aren't going anywhere," he said.
It's already been a tough 65th year for the Blue Angels, who are based at Pensacola Naval Air Station on the Florida Panhandle.
McWherter, who commanded the team from November 2008 through 2010, returned in May when his replacement, Cmdr. Dave Koss, resigned after flying below minimum altitude at a Virginia air show. Koss realized the mistake and pulled out of the maneuver but the error, which could have caused a crash, prompted an internal investigation and a monthlong safety stand-down, which forced the Blue Angels to cancel their traditional fly-over at the Naval Academy's graduation in Annapolis, Md.
Koss resigned from the team, saying he had not met "the airborne standard that makes the Blue Angels the exceptional organization that it is." The Blue Angels last had a fatal accident in 2007 when a pilot lost control of his F/A-18 and crashed outside a Marine base in Beaufort, S.C.
A September crash of a civilian plane at a Nevada air race killed 11 spectators and the pilot, raising the public's awareness of what can go wrong when airplanes and spectators mix.
McWherter told The Associated Press in a recent interview that safety has to be the team's primary goal. The air shows in which the Blue Angels perform are different from air races like the one in Nevada, he said. Blue Angels follow strict FAA guidelines for each show and maintain a standard safety zone from crowds, he said. The Blue Angels performances are designed to appear dangerous and exciting for those watching from the ground, but the shows are carefully choreographed and performed by experts.
The Navy demonstration team began after World War II when Adm. Chester W. Nimitz wanted to continue support for naval aviation during peacetime and spotlight the Navy and Marines for potential recruits who live far from Navy bases.
The 2011 budget funded 70 performances at 35 cities around the United States, including Great Falls, Mont., Millington, Tenn., and Ypsilanti, Mich. The blue and gold jets twist, turn, drop from the sky and roar into the clouds in perfect formation for 45 minutes.
More than 100,000 people attended the Blue Angels end-of-season performance on Nov. 11 and 12 at Pensacola Naval Air Station.
U.S. Navy Secretary Ray Mabus said the Blue Angels are important because they show the incredible skill level of U.S. military.
He said he thinks of the Blue Angels as "ambassadors for not just the Navy but for the entire American military across this country and around the world."
"We get way more than our money's worth for what they do," he said.
Fans who watched the team perform this summer at the team's annual Pensacola Beach show agreed.
Bryan Johnson and his family from Lubbock, Texas, watched from beneath a beach umbrella as the team streaked over the Gulf of Mexico.
"I think (The Blue Angels) are a good way to get guys to want to join the military, especially those with college education who want to go in and fly the planes," Bryan Johnson said.
The only proof of the Blue Angels appeal and success that Lori Johnson needed was the crowd on the beach.
"This airshow is more popular today than it was 20 years ago. Everyone is here to support the military in some fashion," she said.
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Triple bombings in Iraq kill 19
BASRA, Iraq?? A string of bombings in a southern oil city killed several people Thursday evening and injured dozens more, a grim sign of the security challenges Iraq will face after American troops go home.
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Iraqi officials raised the death toll to 19.
The U.S. military is drawing down its troops ahead of an end-of-December deadline to have all American forces out of the country. Incidents like Thursday's triple bombing in a city seen as key to Iraq's economic development show the dangerous prospects awaiting Iraqis next year.
Three bombs went off in a popular open-air market in Basra, police officials said.
The third bomb exploded a few minutes after Iraqi army and police forces arrived on the scene in response to the earlier blasts, officials said. The third blast caused all the fatalities and almost all of the injuries, the officials said.
Among the dead and wounded were many policemen and Iraqi army soldiers.
The police officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.
Kamal Ali was working at a clothing shop across the street when the blasts went off. He said after the first explosion, bystanders rushed to help the victims. When another blast went off about five minutes later, the terrified people ran to escape.
Then police and soldiers rushed to the scene before the third and most deadly bomb went off.
"Most of the casualties are police and Iraqi troops who rushed to help the victims and cordoned off the scene. They sacrificed their lives for the poor people," Ali said.
The head of the Basra provincial council, Ahmed al-Sulaiti, confirmed the incident.
"We can't blame the security forces for this act. They were the people most hurt," he said by telephone from Basra.
Basra is about 340 miles (550 kilometers) southeast of Baghdad It is considered the center of Iraq's burgeoning oil sector.
Many foreign oil companies have offices there. The country is relying on foreign companies to bring the money and expertise needed to develop Iraq's vast oil sector, which has been ravaged by war, sanctions and neglect.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombings, and it was not clear whether it was the work of Sunni extremists like al-Qaida, or by Shiite militias. Sunni militants often stagger their blasts in order to cause the most carnage, and they often target security officials, whom they see as propping up the Shiite-led government.
The area where the blasts occurred is also a stronghold for Shiite militia members, who have been known to use violence as they jockey for power and control.
__
Associated Press writers Mazin Yahya and Rebecca Santana in Baghdad contributed to this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45429892/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/
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Miguel Torres video: Can a smarter fighter be a player in the 135-pound title hunt?
Miguel Torres was as exciting as they came. His go-for-broke style helped him roll up a 37-1 record and move as high as No. 4 on the pound-for-pound list back in early 2009.
His banging style eventually cost him and he ran into a couple of knockout punches. Now he's re-worked his game to essentially become a points fighter. Do you like it? Torres does.
"I fought my last fight against Demetriuous Johnson, he got the decosion and he ended getting the title shot. So a fight against me can make or break somebody," Torres told Cagewriter. "and I understand. I want to go out there and be very aggressive, finishing fights, but I have to be careful also."
Working with Georges St-Pierre's trainer Firas Zihabi, Torres is now working behind his jab and scoring points. Sound familiar? Will this get Torres an eventual title shot? Standing with less fighters like Nick Pace could also get him caught.
Without explosive wins, Torres (40-4, 2-1 UFC) is now stuck in the middle of the pack from No. 5-15 at bantamweight. Will he get a rematch against Joe Benavidez next or should the UFC throw him someone like Brad Pickett, Scott Jorgensen or Renan Barao?
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
French former first lady Mitterrand dies at 87
PARIS?? Well before the Occupy movement took on Wall Street, the former first lady of France, Danielle Mitterrand, was leading the charge against capitalist excess.
"Everybody knows that the foundation of the system today is money: Money is the guru, money decides everything ... That's why we are working to get out of this system," she told RTL radio last month, summing up a lifelong cause in one of her last interviews before her death Tuesday at 87.
Such resistance defined the life of Mitterrand, the widow of France's first Socialist president, Francois Mitterrand.
At age 19, with World War II raging, she went underground in the Burgundy hills with the French Resistance. She was awarded the Croix de Guerre for her work against the Nazi occupation of France and met her future husband, who had joined up under the code name "Francois Morland."
That union eventually gave her a bully pulpit ? during Francois' 14 years as president ? that she used to advocate for many left-leaning causes. She supported Marxist rebels in El Salvador, ethnic minorities such as Kurds and Tibetans and vociferously opposed capitalist excess.
They also had three sons together, one of whom, Pascal, died at a young age.
Danielle Mitterrand died before dawn after being hospitalized at Georges Pompidou hospital in Paris in recent days for fatigue, her foundation France Libertes said.
As first lady, Mitterrand shucked the tradition of her predecessors who largely kept to the background. In a 1986 interview with The Associated Press, her blue eyes flashed at the suggestion she resembled a high-profile American first lady.
"There is no traditional role" for a first lady, Mitterrand said. "Each woman has her own personality and ... acts according to her conscience and her sensibilities."
Yet in contrast to her outspoken approach to politics, she kept quiet for years about one aspect of her personal life: a secret relationship her husband had had with Anne Pingeot, a museum curator 28 years his junior and the mother of his long-secret daughter, Mazarine Pingeot.
He died of cancer less than a year after leaving office in 1995. In an especially poignant moment in French politics, the widowed Danielle stood before the late president's coffin alongside his mistress and daughter, whose out-of-wedlock birth and existence were long kept from the French public.
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Her foundation said Danielle Mitterrand found guidance in a phrase of French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre: "It's not right to want to heal the suffering of people without committing to fight the very causes of this suffering."
She created several charities and crisscrossed the world in defense of human rights. She once even kissed Cuba's revolutionary Fidel Castro at a residence for visiting dignitaries near the presidential Elysee Palace.
Mitterrand urged worldwide unity to "put an end to economic and financial dictatorship, the henchman of political dictators. Finally, they seem to be shaken by the anger of peoples."
"Of course, the world revolves around the Dow Jones, the Nikkei stock index or the CAC 40 (French stock index). ... But all around the world, little voices are being raised to say that man is unhappy even if the stock market is doing well," Mitterrand told Le Figaro newspaper in 1996.
Thirteen years ago, Mitterrand visited in prison Mumia Abu-Jamal, a former Black Panther who has spent nearly 30 years on death row over his 1982 conviction for killing a white police officer in Philadelphia.
And in 2008, Mitterrand denounced American support for foes of Bolivia's leftist president Evo Morales, and accused "fascist gangs" of intimidating native peoples in the South American country.
France Libertes, whose focus has been human rights and had recently made a top priority of getting drinking water to those without it around the world, said Mitterrand left behind "a message of hope."
Praise and appreciation for her poured in from across France's political spectrum Tuesday.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's office said: "Neither the setback or the victory caused her to deviate from the road she had laid for herself: giving a hearing to the voice of those that no one wanted to hear."
Her nephew Frederic Mitterrand, who now serves as culture minister in Sarkozy's conservative government, told BFM TV that his aunt "did a lot to humanize the role of first ladies."
Danielle Emilienne Isabelle Gouze was born Oct. 29, 1924 in Verdun, a town in northeastern France known as one of World War I's biggest killing fields.
Under the Nazi collaborationist Vichy regime during World War II, her father, a Socialist-leaning school principal, lost his job after refusing a state order to list all Jewish students and teachers for authorities, according to Mitterrand's foundation.
In March 1944, she took her own stand and joined the Resistance.
She is survived by sons Gilbert and Jean-Christophe. A burial service is planned Saturday in the eastern town of Cluny, her foundation said.
____
Associated Press writer Elaine Ganley in Paris contributed this report.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45398662/ns/world_news-europe/
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Verizon going with 'Nexus Prime' after all? This Best Buy flyer sure thinks so
Look, we know the wait for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus here in the United States is making people act a little crazy. We get that, and we're not really blaming anybody. But this sort of thing isn't helping matters any. What you see here, according to new forums member mynewride, is a Best Buy Mobile flyer that is due to come out Dec. 1. And in it we have the Samsung Nexus Prime on Verizon. Or the Samsung Nexus Prime 4G LTE, if you turn the page. Or the Samsung Nexus Prime, member of the Samsung Galaxy S II family.
What. The. Hell.
OK. So, Best Buy doesn't exactly have a spotless record when it comes to Photoshop blunders. (See Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2 and Exhibit 3.) But the "Nexus Prime"-- the unofficial code name for the Galaxy Nexus that we all worked with for months -- has been seen in Best Buy's internal systems before, which might or might not mean anything here.
We're nowhere near sold on this one yet. But it's just one more chapter in the strange saga that's been the Verizon launch of the Galaxy Nexus.
We've got more pics after the break, and hit the source link for all the discussion from mynewride's original post.
Source: Galaxy Nexus forums
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/rvc4aaFAw7o/story01.htm
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Oil price wavers on economy concerns, Middle East (AP)
NEW YORK ? Oil prices were volatile Tuesday on concerns that Middle East strife could disrupt supplies and that U.S. and European economies would continue to struggle.
In midday trading West Texas Intermediate crude, the benchmark used to price oil in much of the U.S., was up 92 cents at $97.86 a barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price oil produced in many foreign countries, rose $1.75 to $108.41 a barrel in London.
Oil prices rose more than a percent Tuesday morning on worries that international sanctions on Iran would reduce the flow of oil from the world's fourth biggest oil producer. Also, large, violent protests in Egypt stirred fears that upheaval in the region could spread and disrupt supplies. Egypt is not a major oil producer, but it does control important energy supply lines and it wields considerable influence over the region because it is the most populous Arab nation.
Prices lost ground after the Commerce Department said that the U.S. economy grew more slowly over the summer than the government had earlier estimated. That picture of a sluggish economy also helped drive the stock market lower as well.
There is also the ongoing concern about Europe's debt crisis pushing the region toward recession. Investors worry that the world financial system could seize up if European banks and banks with ties to Europe stop lending.
When the global economy slows, demand for crude oil and refined products like diesel and gasoline falls because fewer goods are produced and shipped, and people travel less.
"The market is concerned on the one hand on the rate of economic growth," said Andrew Lipow, an independent oil analyst based in Houston. "On the other hand issues in the Middle East are continuing."
The price of gasoline futures rose, however, with mild, fair weather forecast for much of the U.S. over the Thanksgiving weekend. That's expected to motivate drivers to hit the road to visit families and shop. Gasoline futures were up 5 cents at $2.5433 a gallon in New York.
At the pump, retail gasoline fell almost a penny to a national average of $3.34 per gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA, Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express. In coming days, though, the higher price of wholesale gasoline could push up pump prices.
Gasoline demand has been weak in the U.S. over the past several months. U.S. demand began to fall sharply as prices rose above $4 per gallon in many states last winter and spring. Prices, while still high, are 16 percent below the peak national average of $3.98 per gallon reached on May 5.
In other energy trading in New York, natural gas fell 2 cents to $3.542 per 1,000 cubic feet, and heating oil rose 4 cents to $3.0308 a gallon.
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Android App Mini Review: Mobile Checkbook
Mobile Checkbook, a hugely popular personal accounting application on the BlackBerry platform, is now available for Android devices. Mobile Checkbook allows the user to quickly enter in both deposits and withdrawals while maintaining an accurate bank balance on the go.
Mobile Checkbook allows you to ditch that paper transaction register and record their transactions as they occur. You can also transfer funds, reconcile accounts as well as set up automatic/recurring transactions. There is no limit on how many accounts you may create and the application allows you to use one of many currency options.
- Transaction lists can be exported via email with optional XLS or QIF attachments which can then be imported easily into most computer financial software like Quicken or Quickbooks.
- PIN code password feature that you can set just in case you're worried about someone seeing your financial information if your phone gets lost.
- Secure cloud based Backup/Restore option
- Show/Hide Available Balance on the apps main screen
- Reconciliation
- Multiple date formats
Mobile Checkbook is currently available in the marketplace for only $0.99! Hit the break to download this fantastic financial application today.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ntfvwyR_SPc/story01.htm
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
DGA ratifies new commercial contract (Reuters)
LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? The Directors Guild of America has ratified a new contract with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, the union announced Tuesday.
The three-year agreement includes wage increases each year, including a 15.8 percent increase for 2nd assistant directors in the first year of the contract.
It also includes increased contributions to the DGA health plan, limits on non-disclosure agreements, an extension of canceled call provisions to cover 2nd assistant directors and the establishment of working committees.
Additionally, it increases low-budget thresholds to $300,000 from $250,000.
The DGA's national board of directors unanimously approved the contract during its October 15 meeting. Members received ratification materials soon after.
The contact takes effect December 1 and runs through November 30, 2014.
"We entered into negotiations with the goal of protecting the excellent health benefits enjoyed by our members, retirees and their families, and obtaining the best possible deal for our members in light of the continued difficult economic environment confronting the advertising industry," DGA president Taylor Hackford said in a written statement.
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Secretive North Korea opens up to cellphones (Reuters)
SEOUL (Reuters) ? Secretive North Korea is expected to register the 1 millionth cellphone user on its new 3G network by the end of the year, barely four years after people were thrown into prison camps, or possibly even executed, for owning one.
Most of the users are in the capital of Pyongyang, home to the impoverished country's elite and powerful who have the cash to splash out for a device and the calling fees.
"There has been an astronomical increase since even two years ago," said Michael Hay, a lawyer and business consultant based in the capital for the past seven years.
Two years ago, there were fewer than 70,000 users.
"All the waitresses in coffee shops have them, as one example, and use them. Let's not even talk about businessmen. The are never off them, and conversations are frequently interrupted by mobile calls."
The authoritarian government ended a ban on cellphones in 2008, signing a four-year deal with Egyptian company Orascom to build the 3G network in partnership with the government.
A report this month by the Nautilus Institute for Security and Sustainability said 60 percent of people ages 20 to 50 use cellphones in Pyongyang, a city of around 3 million people who are strictly vetted by the state for residency permits.
"Especially for the younger generation in their 20s and 30s, as well as the merchant community, a cellphone is seen as a must, and many youngsters can no longer see their lives without it," Alexandre Mansourov wrote in the report.
Calling fees have fallen this year, driving the surge in demand, reports say. And the introduction of the "Euro pack" bundle provides the isolated government with some much-needed hard foreign currency.
But you can't dial into or out of the country, and there's no Internet. The government still keeps a stranglehold on all news flows into the destitute state.
While the 3G network covers 94 percent of the population, it still only covers 14 percent of the territory, according to Orascom, involved in a joint venture with the government.
North Koreans who have defected to the South say the cost of buying a cellphone and the operating fees, mean owning such a 3G device is out of question for most. Phones cost about $350 in the country where the average monthly income is about $15.
"The possession of cellphones was not limited by class, but not many people have cellphones because they are just too expensive," said Kim Seong-hu, 40, who defected to South in April. "Most commoners are satisfied with landlines we have."
Cheap illegal cellphones tapping into Chinese networks are not uncommon, but their range is limited to just the border fringe.
NO THREAT, YET
Analysts say the 3G network does not pose a threat to the government in the way cellphones have fueled uprisings around the Arab world this year.
Cellphones and the Internet have been used to rally a revolutionary wave of protests and civil wars that have brought down iron rulers from Hosni Mubarak to Muammar Gaddafi.
But analysts say this is unlikely to happen in North Korea because strict state media controls limit what the poor know about the outside world and there is no immediate sense of revolt.
"In the long run, the growth of interaction between people is a problem for the regime, but it might take years, or even decades, before the situation will be ripe for an outbreak of internal discontent," said Andrei Lankov of Kookmin University in Seoul.
The North banned the use of cellphones in 2004 after an explosion at the Ryongchon railway just a few hours after train carrying leader Kim Jong-il passed through it. Security officials suspect a cellphone was used to ignite the bomb.
Pyongyang's lifting of the ban paved the way for Orascom's entry into the market. It threw some $400 million into developing the North's first and only 3G network.
Last week, Orascom reported there were more than 800,000 users on its network, compared with 300,000 at the same time last year.
Despite its obsession with secrecy and control, North Korea's authoritarian leadership is opening up its telecommunication services and encouraging IT development.
Ironically, its isolationist policy of Juche has made its drive to catch up a lot easier than for other countries that have traveled the path of IT development.
"As a laggard in the global digital revolution, Pyongyang enjoys key advantages of backwardness -- dramatic savings on initial R&D costs in the IT sector, the opportunity to leap frog from exclusive reliance on obsolete and scarce landlines to world class 3G mobile communications," says Mansourov.
"The DPRK (North Korea) mobile communications industry has crossed the Rubicon and the North Korean government can no longer roll it back without paying a severe political price."
(Additional reporting by Iktae Park)
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LeapFrog Tag Reading System
The LeapFrog Tag Reading System ($39.99 list) is a halfway point between an interactive website and a physical book. The Tag Reader uses physical books with a pen-like stylus to help kids read stories, solve puzzles, and sound out words that they?re learning to read. The stylus is actually an optical pen with a built-in speaker to give your child audible feedback during reading and play sessions. It?s pretty neat, but there are a couple drawbacks to its use.
The Tag Reader stylus fits easily in a child or adult hand, and works even if you don?t hold it perfectly straight. However, there definitely is a ?more correct? way to hold it that's both more ergonomic and lets the internal sensor see what you?re pointing at more accurately. This is because the stylus body is slightly curved, and the sensor at the tip of the stylus works best when the pointed end is above the word you want to point at. Once you hold it right, the stylus responds quickly and accurately. It has obviously been playtested with kids, since the Tag Reader was able to keep up with my four-year-old son?s rapid tapping on several words in succession. Even faster than many well designed interactive websites, the Tag Reader reacted to split-second shifts from one word to another. It can read words at New York City speech speeds or the more leisurely pace of a toddler trying to read a passage for the first time. This is one of its strengths, as your child can go as fast or as slow as he wants.
The Tag Reader I reviewed came with a book with sample pages from several titles, including pages featuring Disney characters, other licensed characters like Scooby Doo, and Leapfrog?s mascot Little Leap. The sample book can give you an idea of how the system works for your child, but to get the full potential you?ll need to buy the full priced books. Books on learning to read, write, and use basic mathematics are supplemented by maps that teach geography, science, and social studies. The books are aimed at the 4-to-8-year-old crowd, including prep for kindergarten. The presentation and knowledge were interesting enough to temporarily transfix my 12-year-old daughter as well, particularly the geography pages. The Tag Reader holds 32MB of data, enough for about a dozen or so books and activities. You?ll need to connect the Tag Reader to your PC or Mac to download the audio to the stylus? internal memory via a USB cable. All of the audio is accessible online, though you won?t be able to hear the audio unless you buy the corresponding physical book. It?s an interesting take on the old handle and razor blades model, but it does work. There are over 40 titles and map sets currently available for purchase.
Are there any drawbacks aside from the need to download audio? Well, the PC and Mac conduit programs are free, but they require the use of Adobe Flash, which can be temperamental on some systems. There?s also the animation factor: When you use a learning website or software on a computer, that learning experience is likely to be embellished with sound effects and animation. You?ll get the sound effects with the Tag Reader, but you won?t get the animation. The audio is certainly more effective than simply reading a book, but it can?t compete for attention like an animated website or console game. Make sure you?re letting your child use Tag in a room away from the TV or an easily accessible computer.
The Leapfrog Tag Reading System is a well designed, well supported way for your child to learn how to read at his or her own pace. It takes the constant adult supervision out of the equation, so the child can repeat a single word or audio sequence as many times as is necessary (to him or her). This is a good thing when your child?s favorite character is based on a goofy cartoon. Or named Walter the Farting Dog.
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/xrxNBdu43rY/0,2817,2396772,00.asp
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