Syria forces retake Damascus suburbs; showdown at U.N. (Reuters)

AMMAN/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) ? Syrian government forces reasserted control of Damascus suburbs on Tuesday after beating back rebels at the capital's gates as diplomatic pressure mounted on President Bashar al-Assad at the United Nations.

Western and Arab diplomats pushed for a U.N. Security Council resolution which would call for Assad to step down to defuse a 10-month-old uprising against his family's dynastic rule.

They will make the case for a resolution adopting a plan by the Arab League for Assad to quit, with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and Britain's William Hague presenting a united western front.

The resolution's fate depends on whether the Arabs and their Western backers can persuade Russia not to veto it.

But a senior Russian diplomat said in Moscow the move would only set the stage for civil war, Interfax news agency reported.

"The Western draft Security Council resolution on Syria will not lead to a search for compromise," it quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov as saying. "Pushing it is a path to civil war."

On the battlefront, activists in eastern districts of Damascus said troops fired in the air as they advanced beyond areas from which the defector Free Syrian Army withdrew, capping three days of fighting activists said killed at least 100 people. Tanks also swarmed into the area.

"The suburbs are under an unannounced curfew. A small grocery shop opened this morning and soldiers came and beat the owner and forced him to shut down," said an activist in the Ain Tarma neighborhood on Tuesday.

Others said residents of some eastern districts were allowed to flee their neighborhoods in vehicles by advancing troops, but that security forces in the district of Irbin rounded up young men at gunpoint and detained them.

Events on the ground are difficult to confirm as the Syrian government restricts most access by journalists.

Activist groups said 25 people were killed on Monday in Damascus suburbs and dozens more died in other parts of the country, mostly in raids in and around the central city of Homs, which has seen some of the heaviest attacks by Assad's forces.

Government troops were on the move as Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby and the prime minister of Qatar readied the appeal to the Security Council to back their call for Assad to quit power and prepare for elections.

NEW PHASE

The uprising against Assad - one of the most violent revolts of the "Arab Spring" - has entered a new phase in recent weeks, with an insurgency whose leadership is based in Turkey daring to show its face at the outskirts of the capital.

A last-ditch bid by Moscow to broker talks between Assad's government and rebels foundered when the opposition refused to attend, citing the continued killing, torture and imprisonment of the president's opponents.

Washington said countries needed to accept that Assad's rule was doomed and stop shielding him in the Security Council.

"It is important to calculate into your considerations the fact that he will go," White House spokesman Jay Carney said on Monday.

Syria dismissed the U.S. remarks.

"We are not surprised at the lack of wisdom or rationality of these statements and regret that they are still issued by countries that are used to making the Middle East an arena for their follies and failures," the state news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying.

A draft of the U.N. Security Council resolution, obtained by Reuters, calls for a "political transition" in Syria, and says the Security Council could adopt unspecified further measures if Syria does not comply with its terms.

It endorses the Arab League power transfer plan. So far Moscow has shown little sign of being persuaded to let it pass.

Nevertheless, some Western diplomats said they hoped Russia and China could be persuaded not to block the draft.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for consensus among the Council to stop the bloodshed, saying: "Every day tens of people are killed ... It is crucially important for the Security Council to act on this."

REBELS SHOW FACE IN CAPITAL

Assad's forces appear to have decisively beaten back an attempt by the opposition to assert themselves near Damascus.

An activist said armed defectors mounted scattered attacks on government troops who advanced through the district of Saqba, held by rebels just days earlier.

Their forays near the capital follow a negotiated victory in Zabadani - a town of 40,000 in mountains near the border with Lebanon - after government forces pulled back under a ceasefire.

Some rebel commanders have spoken of creating "liberated" territories to force diplomatic action.

Bloodshed and unrest are not confined to the capital.

Homs residents said fighting erupted on Monday in the al-Qusour neighborhood, and several armored vehicles belonging to loyalist forces where destroyed.

Demonstrations have rippled through the northern commercial hub of Aleppo since pro-Assad militiamen killed 10 people after a demonstration on Friday. Activists said security forces cut electricity to one district and arrested 100 youths after an anti-Assad protest.

The United Nations said in December more than 5,000 people had been killed in the protests and crackdown. Syria says more than 2,000 security force members have been killed by militants.

(Additional reporting by Suleiman al-Khalidi and Steve Gutterman; Writing by Joseph Logan; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/wl_nm/us_syria

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Video: Yappy hour! Throw a plush pet party

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29054368/vp/46190362#46190362

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Police focus on SUV in fatal N. Calif. train crash

SACRAMENTO, Calif.?? Investigators on Sunday were trying to determine what motivated the driver of a sport utility vehicle to ignore a downed crossing arm and flashing lights and pull the vehicle into the path of an oncoming commuter train in Sacramento.

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Three died after the Saturday afternoon collision south of downtown, including a 21-month-old boy.

One of the four people inside the Nissan Pathfinder remained in the hospital Sunday at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she was being treated for serious injuries.

Authorities also were trying to sort out the relationships of those involved and were not releasing their identifications.

In addition to the toddler, the dead included a 25-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man, who was ejected from the Pathfinder when it was struck by the southbound light rail train traveling at 55 mph shortly after 4 p.m. The impact pushed the SUV about 30 yards down the track and flipped it.

Officer Laura Peck, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Police Department, said the woman taken to the hospital was the man's wife.

Investigators and officials with the Sacramento Regional Transit District said video from cameras mounted on the intersection showed the SUV drive around the crossing arms just before impact. That video and other pictures captured by a camera mounted on the train are part of the investigation and were not being released publicly, Peck said.

Witness accounts appear to support the video evidence that the crossing arms were down and warning lights were flashing when the SUV tried to get across the tracks.

Davis resident Ravin Pratab, 42, was in a car that was waiting to cross the tracks when he said he heard a loud bang and then "saw a light-rail train heading south with a big truck smashed on it."

Authorities said six of the roughly 50 passengers on the light rail train were taken to local hospitals but had only minor injuries.

One question investigators are trying to answer is the length of time the crossing arms were down. The light rail train passed through the intersection after two Union Pacific freight trains, going in opposite directions and using different tracks, had passed by.

Neither Peck nor a spokeswoman for the regional district said they knew the length of the interval between the time the freight trains cleared the intersection and the commuter line came through. The light rail system has its own dedicated tracks.

Drivers in Sacramento often can wait up to 10 minutes for a freight train to pass, then might have to wait several minutes more because of an approaching light rail train. The extended wait times can be a source of irritation ? and missed appointments ? in California's capital.

Alane Masui, a spokeswoman for the regional transit district, said Sunday that determining the length of time the crossing arms were down and the interval between the trains was part of the ongoing investigation.

Sacramento's light rail system, started in 1987, carries an average of 50,000 passengers a day. On weekdays, it's packed with those commuting between the suburbs and state government jobs downtown.

Masui could not immediately say whether Saturday's collision was the deadliest in the system's history or how many collisions between light rail trains and vehicles had occurred in the past.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46177792/ns/us_news/

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Frenchman killed in armed robbery in Red Sea resort (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? A Frenchman was killed when armed men raided a currency exchange office Saturday in the Egyptian tourist resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea, security officials and the French embassy said.

South Sinai Governor General Khaled Fouda told Reuters that a German national had also been wounded but was in a stable condition in hospital.

The French embassy confirmed a Frenchman had been killed without giving further details.

Sharm el-Sheikh is on the Sinai Peninsula, home to many popular tourist resorts. However, many people own weapons in inland areas of the peninsula, and analysts say the region has become more lawless since an uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak last year.

(Reporting by Yusry Mohamed in Ismailia; Writing and additional reporting by Edmund Blair in Cairo; editing by David Stamp)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_egypt_france

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Kim Kardashian Scores Her Meatiest Acting Gig Yet!

Watch out, Meryl Streep! The indomitable Kim Kardashian is sharpening her thespian skills. The 31-year-old reality star has landed a multi-episode arc on Lifetime's Drop Dead Diva (Sundays at 9 p.m. ET). She'll play a woman named Nikki, who's a love interest for Fred (Ben Feldman), debuting in this summer's season 4 premiere.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/kim-kardashian-lands-role-drop-dead-diva/1-a-422733?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Akim-kardashian-lands-role-drop-dead-diva-422733

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Panetta: US ground forces would be cut by 100,000 (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Pentagon leaders outlined a plan Thursday for absorbing $487 billion in defense cuts over the coming decade by shrinking U.S. ground forces, slowing the purchase of a next-generation stealth fighter and retiring older planes and ships.

In a bid to pre-empt election-year Republican criticism, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the plan shifts the Pentagon's focus from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to future challenges in Asia, the Mideast and in cyberspace. More special operations forces like the Navy SEALs who killed Osama bin Laden will be available around the world, he said.

"We believe this is a balanced and complete package," Panetta told a news conference, with Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his side.

Some lawmakers were quick to dispute him.

"Taking us back to a pre-9/11 military force structure places our country in grave danger," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee that will hold hearings on the Pentagon budget plan.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said the Panetta plan "ignores the lessons of history." He said it provides for a military that is "too small to respond effectively to events that may unfold over the next few years."

Dempsey, however, said the military is united in its support for the new approach.

"This budget is a first step ? it's a down payment ? as we transition from an emphasis on today's wars to preparing for future challenges," he said, adding, "This budget does not lead to a military in decline."

Panetta announced that the administration will request a 2013 budget of $525 billion, plus another $88 billion for operations in Afghanistan. Combined, those totals are about $33 billion less than the Pentagon is spending this year.

Panetta said, however, that the Pentagon's base budget will grow to $567 billion in 2017. At that point, the cumulative budgets over five years would be $259 billion less than had been planned before the administration struck a deficit-cutting deal with Congress last summer that requires projected defense spending to be reduced by $487 billion by 2022.

Among the details Panetta disclosed:

The Army would shrink by 80,000 soldiers, from 570,000 today to 490,000 by 2017. That is slightly larger than the Army on 9/11.

The Marine Corps would drop from today's 202,000 to 182,000 ? also above the level on 9/11.

The Air Force would retire some older planes including about two dozen C-5A cargo aircraft and 65 of its oldest C-130 cargo planes.

The Navy would keep a fleet of 11 aircraft carriers but retire seven cruisers earlier than planned. It also would delay purchase of some other ships, including a new Virginia-class submarine.

Purchase of F-35 stealth fighter jets, to be fielded by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps, would be slowed.

Current plans for building a new generation of submarines that carry long-range nuclear missiles would be delayed by two years. The current fleet of nuclear-capable bombers and land-based nuclear missiles would be left unchanged.

Military pay raises will remain on track until 2015, when the pace of increase will be slowed by an undetermined amount.

President Barack Obama will ask Congress to approve a new round of domestic base closures, although the timing of this was left vague and there is little chance that lawmakers would agree to this in a presidential election year.

The defense spending plan is scheduled to be submitted to Congress as part of the administration's full 2013 budget on Feb. 13.

Prominent in the Obama plan is a renewed focus on Asia, where China's rapid military modernization has raised worry in Washington and rattled U.S. allies.

The Pentagon has embraced a proposal by special operations chief Adm. Bill McRaven to send more manpower and equipment to worldwide "Theater Special Operations Commands" to strike back wherever threats arise, according to a senior defense official who spoke to The Associated Press and to other current and former U.S. officials briefed on the program. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the details of the proposal are still being worked out, including how fast the changes could be made.

The stepped-up network would put top special operations personnel closer to the problems they face, better able to launch unilateral raids like this week's Somalia mission. McRaven also wants the newly invigorated commands to build new relationships with foreign armies to help them lead their own operations, the senior defense official said.

Panetta also has made clear the administration will resist any effort to shrink the Navy's fleet of aircraft carriers. He said last weekend while on board the fleet's oldest carrier, the USS Enterprise, that keeping 11 of the warships is a "long-term commitment" that Obama believes is important to keeping the peace.

"Our view is that the carriers, because of their presence, because of the power they represent, are a very important part of our ability to maintain power projection both in the Pacific and in the Middle East," he said.

Obama has said he hopes to further reduce the size of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, but Panetta said the basic structure ? a "triad" of land, sea and air nuclear forces ? will be maintained. The Pentagon said it will study the potential to shrink that force later.

The defense budget is being reshaped in the midst of a presidential contest in which Obama seeks to portray himself as a forward-looking commander in chief focusing on new security threats. Republicans want to cast him as weak on defense.

Obama has highlighted his national security successes ? the killing of Osama bin Laden, the death of senior al-Qaida leaders and the demise of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi ? to counter Republican criticism. He also has emphasized the completion of the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq and the start of a drawdown in Afghanistan as turning points that offer new opportunities to scale back defense spending.

But several congressional Republicans see a political opening in challenging the reductions in projected military spending that the GOP and Obama agreed to last summer as part of a deal to raise the nation's borrowing authority. They've echoed Obama's potential presidential rivals Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, who plead for fiscal austerity but contend that sizable cuts would gut the military.

___

Associated Press writers Kimberly Dozier and Lolita C. Baldor contributed to this report.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_defense_budget

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Russian Rocket Fleet Grounded Again

Nope. Sorry, I know far too many people at NASA for that to remotely ring true.

However, Space flight is very dangerous, requires high label of engineering and maintenance, and is risky not jsut to the crew, but to everyone who wants to get to space. So there are a lot of details and NASA, being the experts, know what companies need to do. Companies OTOH get all pissy when they find out going to space is in no way like flying a plane and need to be held to a high standard, just like NASA.

NASA has nothing to

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/HZEu1U0yGKg/russian-rocket-fleet-grounded-again

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Fed unlikely to raise rates until at least 2014 (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Federal Reserve went further than ever Wednesday to assure consumers and businesses that they'll be able to borrow cheaply well into the future.

The Fed pushed back the date for any likely increase in its benchmark interest rate by at least a year and a half, until late 2014 at the earliest.

Its new timetable showed the Fed is concerned that the economy's recovery remains stubbornly slow. But it also thinks inflation will stay tame enough for rates to remain at record lows without igniting price increases.

Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned that its late-2014 horizon for any rate increase is merely the Fed's "best guess." It has the flexibility to change its mind if the economic picture changes. But speaking at a news conference later Wednesday, Bernanke said:

"Unless there is a substantial strengthening of the economy in the near term, it's a pretty good guess we will be keeping rates low for some time."

The Fed reduced its outlook for growth this year but is slightly more optimistic about the unemployment rate. It expects the economy to grow between 2.2 percent and 2.7 percent this year. That's down from its November's forecast of between 2.5 percent and 2.9 percent.

But it sees unemployment falling as low as 8.2 percent this year, better than its earlier forecast of 8.5 percent. December's rate was 8.5 percent.

The quarterly updated forecast also shows that some Fed members wanted to extend the period of record-low interest rates beyond late 2014. The Fed also offered a firmer target for inflation ? 2 percent ? in a statement of its long-term policy goals.

Treasury yields fell on the news that the Fed plans no rate increase until late 2014 at the earliest.

The yield on the five-year Treasury hit an all-time low of 0.76 percent. The yield on the 10-year note sank to 1.95 percent. The 10-year yield had been 2.02 percent just before the Fed made its announcement around 12:30 p.m. EST.

Lower yields could help further reduce mortgage rates and possibly boost stock prices as investors shift out of lower-yielding Treasurys.

Stocks, which had traded lower all day, quickly recovered their losses. The Dow Jones industrial average, which had been down about 60 points before the announcement, was up 43 points in mid-afternoon.

The central bank said in a statement after a two-day policy meeting that the economy is growing moderately, despite some slowing in global growth. It held off on any further bond-buying programs to try to increase growth.

The Fed announced no further bond buying efforts. But it held out the possibility of doing so later. It said it was prepared to adjust its "holdings as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in the context of price stability."

Some economists say that means the Fed will take further action soon.

Julie Coronado, an economist at BNP Paribas, said the Fed is signaling it will boost its purchases of bonds and other assets if growth fails to accelerate, even if the economy doesn't slow.

That is a "very low bar indeed," she wrote in a note to clients.

The Fed described inflation as "subdued." That was a more encouraging description than it offered last month. A more positive outlook on prices gives the Fed more room to keep rates low.

"This is a fairly clear-cut signal that inflation is not on their radar at this point," Tom Porcelli, an economist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note.

The Fed's statement was approved on a 9-1 vote. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond regional Fed bank, dissented. He objected to the new time frame for a rate increase.

The extended time frame is a shift from the Fed's previous plan to keep the rate low at least until mid-2013. Some economists said the new late-2014 target could lead to further Fed action to try to invigorate the economy.

Chairman Ben Bernanke will discuss the updated economic forecasts and Fed policy at a news conference later.

The central bank has kept its key rate at a record low near zero for about three years. Its new time frame suggests the rate will stay there for roughly an additional three years.

Beyond the adjusted outlook for interest rates, Wednesday's statement closely tracked the Fed's previous comments about economic conditions.

The Fed used the same language as before in describing Europe's debt problems and the impact on the world economy.

The economy is looking a little better, according to recent private and government data. Companies are hiring more, the stock market is rising, factories are busy and more people are buying cars. Even the home market is showing slight gains after three dismal years

Still, the threat of a recession in Europe is likely to drag on the global economy. And another year of weak wage gains in the United States could force consumers to pull back on spending, which would slow growth.

The Fed has taken previous steps to strengthen the economy, including purchases of $2 trillion in government bonds and mortgage-backed securities to try to cut long-term rates and ease borrowing costs.

The idea behind the Fed's two rounds of bond buying was to drive down rates to embolden consumers and businesses to borrow and spend more. Lower yields on bonds also encourage investors to shift money into stocks, which can boost wealth and spur more spending.

Some Fed officials have resisted further bond buying for fear it would raise the risk of high inflation later. And many doubt it would help much since Treasury yields are already near historic lows. But Bernanke and other members have left the door open to further action if they think the economy needs it.

The Fed said it would keep its holdings of Treasury securities and mortgage-backed bonds at record levels and continue a program to further drive long-term rates lower by selling shorter-term securities and buying longer-term bonds.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/us_federal_reserve

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HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter

Whatever capabilities you associate with ink jet printers, odds are you're in for a surprise with the HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter ($149.99 direct).? The one point that should match your expectations is the low initial cost.? Beyond that, it's faster than many inexpensive color lasers, offers better paper handling than many, and prints at a lower cost per page.? The combination makes it one of the few inkjets that can go head to head (or toe to toe) with a color laser and wind up as the better choice for a micro or small office or busy home office.? That's enough to make it an Editors' Choice as well.

The 8100 is basically the Editors' Choice HP Officejet Pro 8600 Plus e-All-in-One ($299.99 direct, 4.5 stars) without the MFP features.? More significantly, it's also directly competitive with the Editors' Choice Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4020 ($149.99 direct, 4.5 stars), with similar print speed and output quality.? The 8100 and WP-4020 are so close in capability, in fact, that we can't in all good conscience pick one as the definitively preferred choice over the other.? Both are equally impressive, and the best choice for you will depend on relatively minor issues.

The difference in paper handling is a good example.? Both printers come with a 250-sheet tray and built in duplexing, but the WP-4020 adds a second tray for another 80 sheets, giving it a higher capacity.? On the other hand the 8100 offers a second 250-sheet tray as an option ($79.99 direct), giving you the potential for a higher capacity still.? Which printer gets the nod for better paper handling depends on whether you need a second tray, and?if so?whether an 80-sheet tray will be sufficient. ?

Most other differences are similarly subtle.? The WP-2040 offers slightly better image quality, for example, while the 8100 offers slightly better speed.? In both cases, though, the key word is slightly.

Basics, Setup, and Speed
As you might guess from its paper capacity, the 8100 is pretty hefty for an inkjet, at 24.2 pounds.? Assuming you have enough flat space for its 19.5 by 18.9 inch footprint, however, setup is standard fare.? For my tests I connected it to a wired network and installed the drivers on a Windows Vista system.? You can also connect by WiFi?or USB of course.?

In addition, the printer supports Apple AirPrint for printing from iThings over WiFi and HP ePrint for printing through the cloud.? HP ePrint assigns the printer an email address so you can print from anywhere, and from any device with email, by sending it the documents to print as attachments to email messages.?

Not too surprisingly, considering its relationship to the 8600 Plus, the 8100 turned in equally impressive, and nearly identical, results for speed.? I timed it on our business applications suite (using QualityLogic's hardware and software for timing) at 5.9 effective pages per minute (ppm).? That's tied with the 8600 Plus and also essentially tied with the Epson WP-4020 at 5.6 ppm. ?More notably, the 8100 is faster than the laser-class Editors' Choice Dell 1350cnw Color LED Printer ($299 direct, 4 stars), at 4.9 ppm.? It also did reasonably well for photo speed, averaging 55 seconds for a 4 by 6.

Output Quality and Other Issues
The 8100?s output quality isn't as impressive as its speed, but it's good enough across the board so that it doesn't lose any points for quality.? As with the 8600 Plus, the text is suitable for almost any business use, as long as you don't have an unusual need for small fonts.? The text is also water resistant, smudging very little when I rubbed it with a wet tissue.

Graphics quality is easily good enough for any internal business need.? I saw some slight banding in full-page graphics, but depending on your level of perfectionism, you might even consider it good enough for, say, PowerPoint handouts.? Photos were easily a match for what you'd expect from drugstore prints, making them more than good enough for any business need.?

One last important strong point is the low claimed running cost, at 1.6 cents per black and white page and 7.2 cents per color page.? That's a lot less expensive than most competitive ink jets or lasers.? It's also a match for the WP-4020 for black and white pages, and a half-cent savings per color page.

As should be obvious, if you're thinking about buying a low-end color laser, you should be seriously considering the HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter?and also the Epson WP-4020?as alternatives.? Not only are both printers a lot cheaper to buy than comparable lasers, they're cheaper to run and faster too.? Between the two of them, you may find a feature in one or the other that makes it the better choice for your office, but they're so closely matched that most people could pick either one and not be disappointed.? Like the WP-4020, the HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter is an impressive option for a small or micro office, and equally convincing as Editors' Choice.

?More inkjet printer reviews:

??? HP Officejet Pro 8100 ePrinter
??? Epson WorkForce WF-845
??? Brother MFC-J280w
??? Epson WorkForce Pro WP-4020
??? Brother MFC-J625dw
?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/LeHzGG-BFCg/0,2817,2399429,00.asp

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Prem Watsa brings hope to RIM's restless shareholders (Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) ? The arrival of the man known as "the Warren Buffett of North" on Research In Motion's board this week offers a ray of hope to the BlackBerry maker's impatient shareholders after their disappointment that an insider was named new chief executive.

That's not to say the reclusive Watsa - who heads Fairfax Financial, now RIM's fourth-largest shareholder - has a reputation as a turnaround artist who will agitate for radical change at the struggling company.

But his 2.25 percent shareholding and new role as director suggest Watsa sees real value in the withered share price, even though some say the company has fallen hopelessly behind its rivals in the hyper-competitive smartphone and tablet markets.

Based from the Indian-born Canadian's track record, fellow shareholders have good reason to be optimistic.

"Prem is attracted to companies that are out of favor and unpopular with the market," said Todd Johnson, a portfolio manager at BCV Asset Management in Winnipeg, which holds Fairfax bonds. "He likely believes RIM is salvageable and that the market is unfairly punishing the stock now.

His investing acumen has helped shares of Fairfax Financial, technically an insurer but also his investment vehicle, rise more than 100-fold in just over 25 years. Watsa is chairman and CEO of Fairfax and controls its voting shares.

Watsa's appointment to RIM's board was part of a head office shuffle in which Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie gave up their shared chief executive role to Thorsten Heins, a company insider.

RIM investors, who have watched their stock drop 84 percent in the last three years, sent the shares down sharply after the change in leadership was announced.

They're concerned that Heins, with his close association with the pair who presided over RIM's swoon, may not have what it will take to reverse the decline. Heins reinforced that impression when he said he saw no need for a seismic shift at the BlackBerry maker, even though its market share has tumbled.

BUFFETT OF THE NORTH

Watsa started receiving comparisons to Buffett - the best-known proponent of investing on the basis of a company's value - back in the 1990s. He'd already shown his investment chops by selling stock ahead of the 1987 stock market crash and buying Japanese puts - or rights to sell stocks at guaranteed prices - ahead of the Tokyo market's collapse in 1990.

But it was his call on the U.S. mortgage crisis that cemented his reputation as a savvy investor. Watsa began raising alarms on the U.S. mortgage industry in 2003, and Fairfax began selling or hedging its equity holdings, and buying credit default swaps that it later sold when the market began to collapse. A CDS enables the holder to be compensated in the event of a loan default.

The move initially didn't pay off, as stock markets churned higher in the mid-2000s. But when the market crashed in 2008, Fairfax notched a profit of $1.5 billion on the back of a $2.7 billion investment gain.

In late 2008, with markets still reeling and other investors licking their wounds, he started to plow money back into equities, notching another strong year in 2009.

Since then Watsa has changed gears again, hedging the company's equity portfolio in 2010, and making more contrarian investments such as buying a 9 percent stake in troubled Bank of Ireland last year.

"He's gotten very very strong investment returns, I don't think you can argue with that," said one portfolio manager who holds RIM shares.

"Whether he's being brought on the board to support his existing equity positions or maybe ascertain whether value is there for a potential takeover and what that level would be at, I think there's a lot that can be taken from his being added to the board," said the manager, who requested anonymity because of his firm's policy on speaking on the record.

To be sure, not all of Watsa's moves have been golden. Fairfax was forced to write off most its investment in Winnipeg-based media company Canwest in 2009 as the company filed for bankruptcy protections.

It also wrote down a significant investment in publisher Torstar in 2008-09 and took losses on its holding of forestry company Abitibi Bowater.

LOW PROFILE

Born in 1950 in Hyderabad, India, and trained as a chemical engineer, Watsa has maintained a public profile that has at times bordered on the reclusive since he took over Fairfax in 1985. For his first 15 years at the company, he barely spoke to a reporter, and only started holding investor conference calls in 2001.

Fairfax has generally not been known as an activist investor, but Watsa has hardly shied away from a fight, launching a $6 billion lawsuit against a group of hedge funds in 2006, accusing them of conspiring to the drive the company's shares down so they could be shorted. A short position enables an investor to profit when a stock drops.

With a board seat, Watsa will have a prime position to make sure his RIM investment is a winner.

"He sees the value in this company, he sees where sentiment is, he sees where the asset value is and the cash value is and he sees the strategy. By joining the board he's giving a vote of confidence and perhaps can have more hand in overseeing this transition," said Matthew Thornton, analyst at Avian Securities in Boston.

"That doesn't mean it's going to work."

($1 = 1.0121 Canadian dollars)

(Editing by Frank McGurty)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/tc_nm/us_hold_rim_watsa

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Parliamentary Finance Committee: Recover the proceeds of Iraq's ...

Posted: January 25, 2012 in Iraq: Chapter VII, Iraqi Dinar/Politics, Top Headlines
Tags: Central Bank Iraq, Deputy prime minister, Development Fund for Iraq, Iraq, Iraqi government, kuwait, Politics of Iraq, United Nation

Posted 24/01/2012 07:44 PM

Announced that the Finance Committee in the House it will recoup money from the neighboring countries of Iraq after hosting the Director General of the Ministry of Finance of the House of Representatives to take the necessary information from it. ?

The Member of the Finance Committee in Najiba Najib told (people) that ?the Finance Committee and staff will work to recover the funds from the State of Iraq ASAP.?

She added that ?the political blocs unanimous vote on this law to be the Ministry of Finance a special fund to collect money from the debtor countries of Iraq to him.?

She noted that the ?Iraqi funds abroad are at risk because of delays in finding appropriate means to protect them.? Indicating that ?the issue of debt is not just financial, but a question of manipulation and taking a political tight in the international environment.?

Revealed the Iraqi Foreign Ministry on charging a network of lawyers to take over the task of retrieving funds of the former regime abroad, which takes a long time to complete, especially since some of the funds registered under assumed names, were recovered palaces in Nice, France, and another in Switzerland, in addition to the amounts of money reserved in a European banks. ?

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Source: http://thecurrencynewshound.com/2012/01/25/parliamentary-finance-committee-recover-the-proceeds-of-iraqs-neighboring-countries-a-national-necessity/

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All 2011 unemployment insurance benefits taxable (AP)

The jobless rate is dipping, but millions of people are still out of work. And that could have implications when they file their income tax returns.

Collecting unemployment insurance benefits? All that you received in 2011 is taxed as income. Unless you requested that federal taxes be withheld, you could be in for a big surprise when you calculate taxes owed.

"People tend to believe unemployment benefits are still not taxable," said Bob Meighan, a vice president at TurboTax. That was the case in 2009, for the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits. But that provision was not renewed by Congress.

If it's any consolation, you may find yourself in a lower tax bracket because of reduced income, even counting the unemployment benefits. And you might also be eligible for tax breaks that you didn't qualify for before.

"If you have major household changes, say you lost your job in 2011, we encourage people to take a close look at things like the earned income credit," Internal Revenue Service spokesman Terry Lemons said.

He said people should go ahead and file their taxes even if they don't have the money to pay any taxes that are due. "There are more options there than many people realize," he said, including installment agreements.

The aftermath of the Great Recession, which gripped the nation from 2007 to 2009, is still being felt across America. Employers still worried about the state of the economy are hesitant to bring on new workers. And many of the more than 13 million unemployed people have stopped looking for jobs.

For those who spent part or all of 2011 searching for work, there are tax breaks.

"All of those job search expenses are deductible ? the stationery, the long-distance phone calls, the hotels, anything you can relate to the job search," said Jeff Schnepper, author of "How to Pay Zero Taxes" (McGraw-Hill, 2011).

To qualify for this deduction, you have to be looking for a job in the same field or profession as your previous one. Expenses incurred trying to get your first job are not deductible. "Until you start working, you don't have a profession," Schnepper said.

You also have to itemize. And the cost of preparing your resume, working with job search services, mileage and other job search expenses has to exceed 2 percent of your adjusted gross income if you are to benefit, according to Greg Rosica, tax partner with Ernst & Young.

Make sure you save your receipts. "You have to be able to substantiate," he said.

Those out of work may find the jobs have dried up in their cities or towns. "Many people are picking up and moving to where the jobs are," Meighan said.

If you land a job across town or across the country, you might be eligible to take a deduction for moving expenses. "It's an above-the-line deduction, dollar for dollar a reduction in your income," Schnepper said. In this case, unlike job-search expenses, you don't have to itemize to take advantage of the deduction.

To qualify, there's a distance test that has to be met: Your new job has to be at least 50 miles farther from your old house than your former job was.

Also unlike the job-search deduction, you can deduct moving expenses even if this is your first job, provided your workplace is at least 50 miles from your former home. Same if you're returning to work after being unemployed, the IRS says.

And there's a requirement that you work at least 39 weeks in the new location over the first 12 months in the new area. You can take the deduction even if you started your job late in the year and won't meet the time test in 2011. But if you fail to meet it in 2012, you'll either have to file an amended return or report the deduction as income when you do your 2012 taxes.

What's deductible?

The IRS says expenses that are "reasonable for the circumstances of your move." That includes the cost of moving yourself and members of your household, as well as your household goods and personal effects. Shipping a car or the family pet is covered.

If you drove to your new home during the first half of 2011, the mileage rate is 19 cents per mile. The rate for July through December is 23.5 cents a mile. Or, the IRS gives you the option of deducting the actual cost of gas and oil for the car. But if the car broke down on the move, you cannot deduct the cost of the repair.

The cost of lodging on the way to your new home is deductible, but not the meals you eat on the road.

These days, "moving can be hard to do," especially if you can't sell your house in the depressed housing market, said Mark Steber, chief tax officer for Jackson Hewitt Tax Services. If you decide to commute to the new job instead of relocating, those commuting expenses are not deductible.

To claim the moving expense deduction, file Form 3903 with your tax. IRS publication 521 provides more information.

If you went back to school to train for a new job, you may qualify for the American Opportunity Credit, which is partially refundable, or another education tax break.

Looking ahead to 2012, if you're still on unemployment you can use Form W-4V to voluntarily request that a flat 10 percent tax be withheld.

"Withholding on these payments is voluntary," the IRS said. "However, choosing this option may help avoid a surprise year-end tax bill or a possible penalty for having paid too little tax during the year."

___

Carole Feldman can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CaroleFeldman

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_go_ot/us_taxes_out_of_work

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Death toll in Nigeria attack rises, stuns leader

A group of Nigerian police stand near the site of the police headquarters bombed by a suicide bomber in Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. More than 150 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria's largest city, according to an internal Red Cross document seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

A group of Nigerian police stand near the site of the police headquarters bombed by a suicide bomber in Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. More than 150 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria's largest city, according to an internal Red Cross document seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

An unidentified man walks past the site of the police headquarters bombed by a suicide bomber in Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. More than 150 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria's largest city, according to an internal Red Cross document seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Soldiers ride on a back of a truck prior to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's visit to the site of the suicide bombing at the police headquarters Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. More than 150 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria's largest city, according to an internal Red Cross document seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Police officers stand guard prior to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan's visit to the site of the suicide bombing at the police headquarters Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. More than 150 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria's largest city, according to an internal Red Cross document seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Residents watch the convoy of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who visit the site of the suicide bombing at the police headquarters Kano, Nigeria, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. More than 150 people were killed in a series of coordinated attacks by a radical Islamist sect in north Nigeria's largest city, according to an internal Red Cross document seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

KANO, Nigeria (AP) ? People in this north Nigeria city once wore surgical masks to block the dust swirling through its sprawling neighborhoods, but swarming children hawked the masks for pennies apiece Sunday to block the stench of death at a hospital overflowing with the dead following a coordinated attack by a radical Islamist sect.

The Nigerian Red Cross now estimates more than 150 people died in Friday's attack in Kano, which saw at least two suicide bombers from the sect known as Boko Haram detonate explosive-laden cars. The scope of the attack, apparently planned to free sect members held by authorities here, left even President Goodluck Jonathan speechless as he toured what remained of a regional police headquarters Sunday.

"The federal government will not rest until we arrest the perpetrators of this act," Jonathan said earlier. "They are not spirits, they are not ghosts."

However, unrest continued across Nigeria as unknown assailants in the northern state of Bauchi killed at least 11 people overnight Saturday in attacks that saw at least two churches bombed, a sign how far insecurity has penetrated Africa's most populous nation.

Friday's attacks by Boko Haram hit police stations, immigration offices and the local headquarters of Nigeria's secret police in Kano, a city of more than 9 million people that remains an important political and religious center in the country's Muslim north. The assault left corpses lying in the streets across the city, many wearing police or other security agency uniforms.

On Sunday, soldiers wearing bulky bulletproof vests stood guard at intersections and roundabouts, with bayoneted Kalashnikov rifles at the ready. Some made those disobeying traffic directions do sit-ups or in one case, repeatedly raise a bicycle over their head.

Signs of the carnage still remained. Police officers wearing surgical masks escorted a corpse wrapped in a white burial shroud out of Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, the city's biggest. Hospital officials there declined to comment Sunday, but the smell of the overflowing mortuary hung in the air.

An internal Red Cross report seen Sunday by an Associated Press reporter said that hospital alone has accepted more than 150 dead bodies from the attacks. That death toll could rise further as officials continue to collect bodies.

At least four foreigners were wounded in the attack, the report showed. Among the dead was Indian citizen Kevalkumar Rajput, 23, the Press Trust of India news agency reported.

Jonathan arrived to the city late Sunday afternoon, traveling quickly by a motorcade to meet with the state governor and the Emir of Kano, an important Islamic figure in the country. His motorcade later rushed to what used to be the regional command headquarters for the Nigeria police, with an armed personnel carrier trailing behind, a soldier manning the heavy machine gun atop it.

The Christian president, wearing a Muslim prayer cap and a black kaftan, looked stunned as he stood near where the suicide car bomber detonated his explosives. Officers there said guards on duty shot the tires of the speeding car, forcing it to stop before it reached the lobby of the headquarters.

However, it didn't matter in the end as the powerful explosives in the car shredded the cement building, tore away its roof and blew out its windows. Blood stained the yellow paint near a second-story window, just underneath a 10-foot-tall tree uprooted and tossed atop the building by the blast.

"Whether you are a policeman or not a policeman, when you see this kind of thing, definitely you'll be worried," said Aminu Ringim, a senior police officer. "You'll be touched."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also condemned the multiple attacks Sunday.

"The secretary-general is appalled at the frequency and intensity of recent attacks in Nigeria, which demonstrate a wanton and unacceptable disregard for human life," a statement from his office read. He also expressed "his hope for swift and transparent investigations into these incidents that lead to bringing the perpetrators to justice."

A Boko Haram spokesman using the nom de guerre Abul-Qaqa claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message to journalists Friday. He said the attack came because the state government refused to release Boko Haram members held by the police.

The coordinated attack in Kano represents Boko Haram's deadliest assault since beginning a campaign of terror last year that saw a suicide bomber strike the United Nations headquarters in Abuja and at least 510 people killed by the sect, according to an AP count. So far this year, the group has been blamed for 226 killings, according to an AP count.

Nigeria's weak central government repeatedly has been unable to stop attacks by Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language of Nigeria's north. The group has carried out increasingly sophisticated and bloody attacks in its campaign to implement strict Shariah law and avenge the deaths of Muslims in communal violence across Nigeria, a multiethnic nation of more than 160 million people split largely into a Christian south and Muslim north.

While the sect has begun targeting Christian living in the north, the majority of those killed Friday appeared to be Muslim, officials have said.

Violence continued Sunday in Nigeria's north. In Bauchi state, local police commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba said at least 11 people were killed in assaults there that also saw two churches attacked.

It was unclear what started the violence, though communal violence remains occurs between the area's different ethnic groups. Bauchi, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) from Kano, is also a region where Boko Haram has staged attacks before.

___

Shehu Saulawa in Bauchi, Nigeria; Salisu Rabiu in Kano, Nigeria and Carley Petesch in Johannesburg contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-AF-Nigeria-Violence/id-c71c1e7197784302ae762096b36d6466

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UK trial of 9 on US Embassy terror plot begins (AP)

LONDON ? Nine men suspected of plotting attacks on the U.S. Embassy and the London Stock Exchange are to go on trial in London.

Prosecutors say the men arrested in December 2010 in the largest British anti-terror raid in two years had planned to blow up several prominent buildings. All have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to cause explosions. Their trial is scheduled to begin at Woolwich Crown Court in south London on Monday.

The men are aged between 20 and 30 and were arrested in London, Cardiff and Stoke-on-Trent in central England.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_terror_trial

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Oil falls below $98 amid Greece debt deal talks

BANGKOK (AP) ? Oil fell below $98 a barrel Monday in Asia as the crude market waited for the outcome of Greece's negotiations with creditors on a deal to cut the face value of its debt by half.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 35 cents at $97.98 a barrel at early afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.21 to end at $98.33 per barrel in New York on Friday.

Brent crude was up 29 cents at $110.15 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.

Benchmark oil has ranged from ranged from about $98 to $102 in the past week. It has been buffeted by tensions in the Middle East after Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and the likelihood that Europe will slide into recession amid the region's sovereign debt crisis.

Iran has threatened to close the strait if the U.S. and other countries impose more sanctions on it because of its nuclear program. Many analysts doubt that Iran could set up a blockade for long, but any supply shortages would cause supplies to tighten.

Over the weekend, the representative of Greece's private creditors said the talks are continuing even after his unexpected departure from the country.

A deal in Athens would allow the country to receive a second bailout package from other European governments and the International Monetary Fund, and cut Greece's debt from an estimated 160 percent of its annual economic output to 120 percent by 2020.

That is still painfully high, but without the help, Greece will not be able to pay 14.5 billion euros in debt due March 20. A Greek default would send borrowing costs higher across Europe and could trigger chaos in the global financial system.

In other energy trading on Nymex, gasoline was almost unchanged at $2.79 a gallon and heating oil was up 0.9 cent at $2.99 a gallon. Natural gas futures fell 6.6 cents to $2.28 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-23-Oil-Prices/id-0e5416258f2b4ad2a9e30a803cd2033f

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Mexico enacts rules against 'miracle cure' ads

MEXICO CITY (AP) ? Mexico enacted tough new rules Thursday to ban advertising of "miracle cures" for weight loss, sagging body parts and more serious illnesses like prostate ailments, chronic fatigue and even cancer.

Mexico has a long history of faith healers and home remedies, but the problem has come to a head in the last few years with a constant stream of ads on television for more "scientific" sounding creams that supposedly lift or enlarge breast and buttocks, magnets that help users lose weight, or pills and powders that cure gastric problems or diabetes.

In a country with levels of diabetes and obesity among the highest in the world, the combination of a sick population and fake cures can be deadly.

"This is a fraud," said regulator Mikel Arriola, whose Federal Commission for Protection against Health Risks is the agency in charge of regulating pharmaceuticals in Mexico. "It is a very serious public health problem, because people take these things instead of going to the doctor ... they lose time in getting treatment or getting cured."

Under the new rules, which take effect in 30 days, authorities can order media outlets to remove such advertising within 24 hours, and it steeply raises fines that can be levied on manufacturers and distributors that advertise the products.

The rules require that any product making a therapeutic claim will first have to prove it is listed in Mexico's pharmaceutical register. The register requires scientific proof of effectiveness and a scientific description of how the medicine or medical apparatus achieves its claimed effects.

That is probably not going to be possible for products like "Acu-Mag." Its advertising purports that when the tiny pad with eight bumps is placed in the outer ear and massaged a few minutes each day, it helps customers lose weight through what ads call "auricular therapy" ? an alternative medicine supposedly derived from acupuncture.

According to the manufacturer's published claims, the pad "helps you lose weight ten times faster than any other (method) ... eliminates anxiety, burns the fat on your body, improves digestion."

Arriola said the ad should no longer be able to air because it makes claims of medical treatment.

Nor should ads for an herbal supplement called Prostaliv, which promises to reduce prostate enlargement and urinary problems in two to four weeks. Similar claims are made for Mulunggay, another herbal extract that is touted as being able to "combat 300 diseases" and control diabetes.

Anyone with real health issues who relies on such non-working treatments could wind up getting worse, "and that represents a cost for the government," Arriola said, because public hospitals have to treat sicker people.

But he added that supposed "miracle cures" are seldom outright dangerous. "Mainly what these companies are doing is selling a placebo, and spending a lot of money on advertising to promote it."

Executives at two of Mexico's largest vendors of such cure-alls could not be reached for comment. An employee at one of the companies appeared not to have heard of the new rules, and the other firm had an incorrect phone number listed with the Mexican stock exchange.

Companies do appear to have been taking note of the government's plan.

Some already run small-print slogans with their ads stating that "this is not a medicine." Arriola called that "an evasive maneuver" and said such ads won't be exempt from the new rules if they still make medical claims.

And the marketing companies also appear to be moving into less-regulated areas, such as corsets in various forms that are "guaranteed" to give wearers a perfect figure instantly. Those ads could continue to run, in theory, as long as they don't make claims that the product is doing anything but hiding fat.

President Felipe Calderon announced the new rules as a sort of crusade against the power of deceitful advertising.

"Every day, at every hour, on radio, television and the Internet, in print media, the public is literally being bombarded with a huge quantity of ads for all sorts of products that supposedly have curative powers," Calderon said. "They put the health and economic well-being of the population at risk."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-01-19-LT-Mexico-Fake-Medicines/id-821947479b754098a9d173adc615734e

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Obama sings soul, briefly

President Barack Obama sings before speaking at a campaign event, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, at the Apollo Theatre in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama sings before speaking at a campaign event, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, at the Apollo Theatre in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama speaks at a campaign event, Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, at the Apollo Theatre in the Harlem neighborhood of New York. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

NEW YORK (AP) ? President Barack Obama took a brief and unexpected turn as a soul singer at a New York fundraiser, crooning a bar from an Al Green classic and then joking that he hadn't been ushered offstage.

It happened at Manhattan's Apollo Theater late Thursday, when Obama stepped to the podium and veered from prepared remarks to thank Green for warming up the crowd.

Apparently not content with simply praising him, Obama suddenly launched into Green's "Let's Stay Together," starting with the vibrato "I'' and pausing for enthusiastic applause before finishing up with the line "so in love with you."

Obama said his staff didn't believe he'd really do it.

Then he joked that the Sandman hadn't come out ? a reference to Sandman Sims, the tap dancer who chased unpopular acts offstage at the Apollo for decades.

___

Online: http://apne.ws/x7ak4B

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-01-20-Obama-Al%20Green/id-b48bcf2974b5496f9ccd1e534498b784

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Find The advantages Of Automotive Repair service Shop ...

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Source: http://agrapher.net/find-the-advantages-of-automotive-repair-service-shop-application/2067/

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Will Michelle Williams' 'sexy' GQ cover help her Oscar chances? (The Week)

New York ? The My Week With Marilyn star and Best Actress hopeful turns her demure "pixie-mom persona" on its head with an arguably strategic cover shoot?

The image: Indie darling Michelle Williams, on the Oscar campaign trail for her turn as Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn, poses seductively in barely-there lingerie for this month's GQ. (See the image below.) The?"sexy" and uncharacteristically risque cover photo?? paired with the objectifying headline "Who knew Michelle Williams had this body?" ? will surely raise the actress' profile in the run-up to the Oscars, and is reminding pundits of Kate Winslet's nearly-nude 2009 Vanity Fair cover, which some?consider a factor in her narrow win over Meryl Streep in a tight Best Actress race that year. This year, the category is once again neck and neck. At last week's Golden Globes, both Streep and Williams took home trophies: Streep for Best Actress in a Drama (The Iron Lady), Williams for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy (Marilyn).?

The reaction: Sadly, when it comes to the Best Actress Oscar, you can often boost your chances by titillating voters with a sexy photo,?says Sasha Stone at Awards Daily. The typically demure Williams is wise to fire up her sexuality ? she "might pull off an upset after all." She's certainly garnering "attention at just the right time," says Guy Lodge at HitFix. But keep in mind: Williams?not only looks unexpectedly sexy, she comes off as "smart and engaging" in the interview, too. In the end, though, this shoot may be too much of a "far cry from Williams' perpetual pixie-mom persona," says Jen Yamato at Movieline, and backfire. Check out the cover:

SEE MORE: The Artist: Does a dog deserve an Oscar?

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German chief calls for gays to come out

Associated Press Sports

updated 10:57 a.m. ET Jan. 17, 2012

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -The departing German football federation president says it's time for gay players to come out.

Theo Zwanziger, who will leave the post in March, called on gay players "to have the courage to declare themselves," although he conceded it was surely difficult to acknowledge one's homosexuality within a team.

Zwanziger pointed to the example of Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit, who came out years ago.

Speaking at a discussion on the subject organized by the federation, Zwanziger said on Tuesday that society was more understanding than a few years ago for any gays in football willing to out themselves.

Germany captain Philipp Lahm, however, disagrees.

"Football is like being the gladiators in the old times," Lahm said in an interview published Monday. "The politicians can come out these days, for sure, but they don't have to play in front of 60,000 people every week.

"I don't think that the society is that far ahead that it can accept homosexual players as something normal as in other areas."

Zwanziger said Lahm is a tolerant person "and if that's how he sees the situation, I am not going to be the one to criticize him."

No player in Germany's professional leagues has so far acknowledged his homosexuality.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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How will the Bills split the workload between their tailbacks next season?

Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald thinks people should take reports about the Dolphins staff with a grain of salt.

Patriots G Brian Waters won the first playoff game of his career on Saturday.

Those who have played for Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano in the past have good things to say about him.

Said Ravens LB Terrell Suggs, ?I always say that there?s a right way to do things, there?s a wrong way to do things, and then there?s the Ravens? way to do things. It wasn?t really pretty, but hey, we?re not really a pretty team. We got the W, and on to the AFC championship.?

The Bengals run offense doesn?t score well on a year-end report card.

Special teams improvement would be a big help for the Browns in 2012.

Who are Steelers fans rooting for in the AFC Championship Game?

Texans coach Gary Kubiak wasn?t upset that QB T.J. Yates checked into the play that turned into Ed Reed?s interception at the goal line.

Front pages tell the story of the Colts? drop from Super Bowl team to first overall pick over the last two years.

By leading the league in rushing, Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew continued a trend of AFC South teams out of step with larger NFL trends.

A healthy Kenny Britt would make the Titans receiving corps very deep next season.

Harvey Araton of the New York Times thinks Broncos QB Tim Tebow should have been with his team in the aftermath of Saturday?s loss instead of ?tending to his personal business? elsewhere in the stadium.

The Chiefs expect to be very good on defense next season.

With the Packers losing, the Raiders might see a quick resolution to their coaching search.

Mock drafts have the Chargers looking for help on defense.

Eminem hasn?t lost faith in Cowboys QB Tony Romo.

Giants DE Osi Umenyiora didn?t play against the Packers in the regular season, but came up with a huge forced fumble this time around.

The Eagles might benefit from bringing in voices outside the organization.

Will free agent Saints receivers be on the Redskins? shopping list?

The Bears will be looking at cornerbacks this offseason.

K Jason Hanson is excited about the Lions? turnaround.

Packers coach Mike McCarthy?s gambles didn?t pay off on Sunday afternoon.

It doesn?t look like the fight over a Vikings stadium will end soon.

Jeff Schultz of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution is underwhelmed with the choice of Dirk Koetter as the Falcons? new offensive coordinator.

Fan interest in the Panthers seemed to rise sharply this season.

The numbers behind the Saints? loss to the 49ers, including their decision to step up the blitzing in the fourth quarter.

If the Buccaneers want to interview Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewell for their head coaching job, they will have to wait a little while longer.

Cardinals RB Ryan Williams? rehab has him on track to start training camp with the team.

Is Rams owner Stan Kroenke not saying enough about keeping the team in St. Louis?

Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News thinks the Giants will be a very tough opponent for the 49ers.

Jon Kitna spent many years with the Seahawks and he?s returning to the area now that he?s retired.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/16/tom-coughlin-were-a-dangerous-team/related/

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