Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Kindle and Nook -- Good for More Than Just E-Books (ContributorNetwork)

They've got the brand names of popular black and white e-readers. But the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet are, as the latter's name implies, basically miniature tablets like the iPad. (The Nook Color is also; it's a cheaper version of the Nook Tablet.)

They're like the iPad in that they have color, glass multitouch screens, and reasonably powerful hardware inside. They're not as big or as powerful as the iPad, but they're only about half the size and half the cost. And that hardware doesn't go to waste, either. Here's what you can do with them besides read (and buy) e-books:

Web Browsing

Full-sized websites look a bit cramped on the 7-inch screens, and the text can be a bit tiny. You can double-tap to zoom in, though, and the browser will reflow the text to make it fit the screen width once it's a reasonable size. And on mobile sites, the experience is even better, as the buttons that were designed for smartphone users are especially easy to hit.

The Nook browser requires you to scroll to the top to bookmark a page or navigate it, but has most of the features that you would expect from a web browser.

Music

A Kindle or Nook can provide a soundtrack for reading books, or they can serve as portable music players when carried in a handbag. The built-in music apps are serviceable, and apps for Pandora, Grooveshark, and other streaming music services are available when you have Wi-Fi access. The Nook can sync music to its built-in memory or microSD card, and the Kindle can sync with your Amazon Cloud Drive account and buy new songs from Amazon's MP3 store.

Games and Apps

Neither the Nook nor the Kindle has the tens of thousands of tablet apps available for the iPad. And while they run Google's open-source Android operating system "under the hood", neither one has access to the Android Market, either.

Amazon has an "Appstore," though, and Barnes and Noble has its own selection of apps for the Nook. The Nook's catalog is considerably weaker, but both have a good-sized assortment of "name brand" games and apps, including Evernote, Netflix and Angry Birds.

If you rely on a particular tablet app, you may not be able to find it in either store. There's often a web version of today's popular apps, though, which you can access online through a web browser while you're on Wi-Fi.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120130/tc_ac/10891429_the_kindle_and_nook__good_for_more_than_just_ebooks

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'The Help' wins best film at SAG Awards (omg!)

Actress Octavia Spencer accepts the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a supporting role for "The Help", at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California January 29, 2012.  REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Screen Actors Guild on Sunday picked the actors in drama "The Help" as the top ensemble cast of 2011 and gave it two other awards for best lead actress and supporting actress, in a surprise over heavily favored silent movie romance "The Artist."

"The Help" earned three awards overall and "The Artist" only one for French actor Jean Dujardin as best actor in a drama for his role as a fading actor at the end of the talkies.

Dujardin seemed genuinely surprised as he held his statue, thanking the audience of A-list actors including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams.

He noted that as a kid he was always a dreamer and that his teachers called him "Jean of the moon."

"I was always dreaming," he said. "I realize now that I never stopped dreaming. Thank you very much. Thank you for this dream."

Viola Davis was named best actress in a movie for civil rights-era drama "The Help," and she too talked of dreaming big as a kid and encouraged others to do so.

"Dream big and dream fierce," she said.

Others winning SAG film honors included Christopher Plummer with the first film honor for supporting actor. Plummer, 82, who plays an elderly man who reveals his homosexuality, much to the chagrin of his family, thanked his fellow actors from the stage, calling them a wacky but wonderful bunch of artists.

"I just can't tell you what fun I've had being a member of the world's second oldest profession," Plummer joked on stage. "When they honor you, it's like being lit by the holy grail. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

Octavia Spencer won supporting actress in a movie with her role as a poor maid "The Help." It proved to be a surprise over Berenice Bejo of silent film romance, "The Artist."

SAG's film awards are closely watched for their impact on Oscars because actors make up the biggest voting group at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences which picks winners. The Academy Awards take place in Los Angeles on February 26.

But unlike academy voters focused on film, SAG members also pick winners in TV awards, and in that arena, "Boardwalk Empire" was named best drama series for the second straight year and "Modern Family was picked top comedy, also for the second year.

(Reporting By Bob Tourtellotte and Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Stacey Joyce)

Viola Davis accepts the award for outstanding performance by a female actor in a leading role for her role in "The Help" at the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards in Los Angeles, California January 29, 2012.  REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_plummer_spencer_win_early_sag_film_awards012900740/44350288/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/plummer-spencer-win-early-sag-film-awards-012900740.html

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Monday, January 30, 2012

Fujifilm X10


The Fujifilm X10 ($599.95 direct) may look like an older camera on the outside, but it's a purely digital point-and-shoot with some nice features that photographers should appreciate. Along with the X100 and recently announced X-Pro1, the camera is part of Fuji's X series?a group of unique cameras that are aimed at enthusiasts. The X10 is set apart from other point-and-shoots by its larger image sensor, bright optical viewfinder, abundant physical controls, and Raw shooting capability. It doesn't manage to oust the Canon PowerShot S100 ($429.99, 4.5 stars) as our Editor's Choice for high-end compacts, but if you're looking for a zooming compact with a good optical viewfinder, the camera is worth consideration.

Design and Features
From a distance, the X10 could easily be mistaken for a 1970s-era 35mm camera. Its all-black finish and optical viewfinder fit the bill, but the camera's disguise is betrayed by the modern rear LCD and an abundance of button and dials. It's a bit larger than most compact cameras, measuring 2.7 by 4.6 by 2.2 inches (HWD) and weighing in at 12.3 ounces. The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX5 ($499.99, 3.5 stars), which delivers a similar zoom range but lacks an optical finder, is only 2.6 by 4.3 by 1.7 inches and a bit lighter at 9.5 ounces.

Unlike most modern cameras, the X10 lacks a power switch. To turn the camera on, you must remove the lens cap and twist the lens away from its Off position. You also twist the lens to change its focal length?there are no power zoom controls like on other compact cameras. This gives you more control over the zoom action, but also makes the camera a bit awkward to use?especially if you're shooting via the optical viewfinder. Other cameras in this class have optical finders, including the Canon PowerShot G12 ($499.99, 2.5 stars), but they are generally much smaller and don't lend themselves to regular use.

The viewfinder is bright and clear enough for regular use, but it is not without its foibles. It doesn't cover the entirety of the frame, only about 80 percent, so for tightly-composed photos you'll probably want to use the rear LCD. It is also without any sort of information display. There is no focus confirmation, so you'll have to place your trust in the camera's autofocus system. By default, the camera uses a center focusing point, although you can change that manually. If you use something other than center as the point, it's up to you to remember where in the frame the camera is focusing and translate that to a position in the finder.

Placing trust in the autofocus is not something to be worried about?I was able to raise the camera to my eye for quick street shots and the X10 nailed the focus quickly and consistently. There is an option to have the camera make an audible beep when focus is locked, but street shooters are likely to disable this. There is no way to separate the focus confirm beep and the shutter sound clip, which is unfortunate as the desire to have an audible confirmation of focus lock does not go hand-in-hand with that to have the camera play a fake shutter noise when a photo is snapped.

I also found that using the zoom lens and the optical finder together could be a bit awkward. My hand would generally get in the way of the finder when adjusting the focal length, which makes grabbing quick shots difficult. I also inadvertently added fingerprints to the front of the finder when operating the zoom on several occasions, which very noticeably affected its clarity.

The 4x zoom lens is the equivalent of a 28-112mm f/2-2.8 in 35mm photography. It's a very sensible zoom range?although it lacks the telephoto reach needed for sports, birding, and similar applications. Other top-end compacts feature similar zoom ranges and fast lenses, although the Nikon Coolpix P7100 ($499.95, 4 stars) leads the pack with a 7.1x (28-200mm f/2.8-5.6) lens. The camera has a very nice macro mode to allow you to focus on objects that are very close to the lens. Enabling it also enables the rear LCD, as you cannot get accurate framing with the optical finder when shooting on a close object due to parallax. This is true for any camera that has a viewing lens that is offset from its taking lens.

The X10's rear LCD isn't the best in its class. It is 2.8 inches in size, a bit smaller than the 3-inch displays?that are par for the course in this class of camera, but does offer the same 460k dot resolution that is common to the Canon PowerShot S100, Panasonic LX5, and Canon G12. Both the Nikon P7100 and the Samsung TL500 ($449, 3 stars) offer 921k dot screens. The X10's LCD is bright, so you won't have any trouble using it on a sunny day?and the optical finder is there if you're in a situation where glare cannot be avoided?but it's easier to confirm critical focus on a higher-resolution display.

You'll find a number of physical controls on the X10. The top-mounted Mode Dial allows you to toggle between shooting modes, and another dial makes it easy to dial in EV compensation from -2 EV to +2 EV in third-stop increments. The shutter button features a standard thread, which makes it possible to add a soft release button or to use a manually shutter release cable to grab a photo. Rear controls include a 4-Way Command Dial, AE-L/AF-L, and a button to switch from JPG to Raw shooting for a single shot. There is also a standard rear command dial which will adjust aperture in A mode, shutter speed in S mode, and can be used to navigate through menus.

The menu system isn't the most intuitive; in my testing, some of the settings were a bit hard to find. The Raw shooting mode is actually located in the Settings area rather than the Shooting Menu where I'm used to seeing it. Once the initial setup is complete you won't have to spend a lot of time diving into menus?there are enough physical controls so you can avoid that. The X10 also supports a few film emulation modes, including Provia, Velvia, and Astia film stocks as well as a few different black and white shooting modes.

Even though the 2/3-inch image sensor in the X10 is larger than those found in most point-and-shoots, it is smaller than that found in interchangeable lens cameras like the Nikon J1 ($649.95, 3.5 stars), Olympus E-PM1 ($499.99, 4 stars), and our Editors' Choice, the Sony Alpha NEX-C3 ($649.99, 4.5 stars)?all of which are similarly priced to the X10. The main reason to opt for a compact over one of these mirrorless shooters is portability. Larger lenses are required to capture enough light to cover larger image sensors, where a compact camera like the X10 is able to get the job done with a much smaller lens. Canon's recently announced G1 X ($799.99) is set to change this a bit, as its sensor is larger than that of a Micro Four Thirds camera, but the camera itself is only slightly larger than the X10.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/3I62bOo2nhM/0,2817,2399338,00.asp

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Sonicating sperm -- the future of male contraception

Sonicating sperm -- the future of male contraception [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 29-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dr. Hilary Glover
hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2370
BioMed Central

The ideal male contraceptive would be inexpensive, reliable, and reversible. It would need to be long acting but have few side effects. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology used commercially available therapeutic ultrasound equipment to reduce sperm counts of male rats to levels which would result in infertility in humans.

Ultrasound's potential as a male contraceptive was first reported nearly 40 years ago. However the equipment used is now outdated and no longer available. Researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine used these experiments as a starting point to see if modern ultrasound equipment usually used for physical therapy could be used as a male contraceptive.

The team led by James Tsuruta found that by rotating high frequency (3MHz) ultrasound around the testes they were able to cause uniform depletion of germ cells throughout the testes. The best results were seen using two sessions consisting of 15 minutes ultrasound, two days apart. Saline was used to provide conduction between the ultrasound transducer and skin, and the testes were warmed to 37 degrees centigrade. Together this reduced sperm to a Sperm Count Index of zero (3 million motile sperm per cauda epididymis).

The World Health Organization has defined oligospermia (low sperm concentration) as less than 15 million sperm per ml. Dr Tsuruta explained, "Unlike humans, rats remain fertile even with extremely low sperm counts. However, our non-invasive ultrasound treatment reduced sperm reserves in rats far below levels normally seen in fertile men (95% of fertile men have more than 39 million sperm in their ejaculate). However further studies are required to determine how long the contraceptive effect lasts and if it is safe to use multiple times."

###

Notes to Editors

1. Therapeutic ultrasound as a potential male contraceptive: power, frequency and temperature required to deplete rat testes of meiotic cells and epididymides of sperm determined using a commercially available system
James K Tsuruta, Paul A Dayton, Caterina M Gallippi, Michael G O'Rand, Michael A Streicker, Ryan C Gessner, Thomas S Gregory, Erick JR Silva, Katherine G Hamil, Glenda J Moser and David C Sokal
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology (in press)

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication.

2. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology (RB&E) is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal that aims to act as a forum for the dissemination of results from excellent research in the reproductive sciences.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Sonicating sperm -- the future of male contraception [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 29-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Dr. Hilary Glover
hilary.glover@biomedcentral.com
44-203-192-2370
BioMed Central

The ideal male contraceptive would be inexpensive, reliable, and reversible. It would need to be long acting but have few side effects. New research published in BioMed Central's open access journal Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology used commercially available therapeutic ultrasound equipment to reduce sperm counts of male rats to levels which would result in infertility in humans.

Ultrasound's potential as a male contraceptive was first reported nearly 40 years ago. However the equipment used is now outdated and no longer available. Researchers from the Department of Pediatrics at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine used these experiments as a starting point to see if modern ultrasound equipment usually used for physical therapy could be used as a male contraceptive.

The team led by James Tsuruta found that by rotating high frequency (3MHz) ultrasound around the testes they were able to cause uniform depletion of germ cells throughout the testes. The best results were seen using two sessions consisting of 15 minutes ultrasound, two days apart. Saline was used to provide conduction between the ultrasound transducer and skin, and the testes were warmed to 37 degrees centigrade. Together this reduced sperm to a Sperm Count Index of zero (3 million motile sperm per cauda epididymis).

The World Health Organization has defined oligospermia (low sperm concentration) as less than 15 million sperm per ml. Dr Tsuruta explained, "Unlike humans, rats remain fertile even with extremely low sperm counts. However, our non-invasive ultrasound treatment reduced sperm reserves in rats far below levels normally seen in fertile men (95% of fertile men have more than 39 million sperm in their ejaculate). However further studies are required to determine how long the contraceptive effect lasts and if it is safe to use multiple times."

###

Notes to Editors

1. Therapeutic ultrasound as a potential male contraceptive: power, frequency and temperature required to deplete rat testes of meiotic cells and epididymides of sperm determined using a commercially available system
James K Tsuruta, Paul A Dayton, Caterina M Gallippi, Michael G O'Rand, Michael A Streicker, Ryan C Gessner, Thomas S Gregory, Erick JR Silva, Katherine G Hamil, Glenda J Moser and David C Sokal
Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology (in press)

Please name the journal in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the article. All articles are available free of charge, according to BioMed Central's open access policy.

Article citation and URL available on request at press@biomedcentral.com on the day of publication.

2. Reproductive Biology and Endocrinology (RB&E) is an open access, peer-reviewed, online journal that aims to act as a forum for the dissemination of results from excellent research in the reproductive sciences.

3. BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com/) is an STM (Science, Technology and Medicine) publisher which has pioneered the open access publishing model. All peer-reviewed research articles published by BioMed Central are made immediately and freely accessible online, and are licensed to allow redistribution and reuse. BioMed Central is part of Springer Science+Business Media, a leading global publisher in the STM sector.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/bc-ss012712.php

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Sunday, January 29, 2012

At Just $40, the Price Is Right For Tenqa's Bluetooth Headphones [Headphones]

I haven't had a chance to test Tenqa's new REMXD Bluetooth headphones, so I have no idea what they sound like. But at just $40 they're some of the cheapest wireless headphones you can buy, and might be worth a try. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MPVQs99bbDo/at-just-40-the-price-is-right-for-tenqas-bluetooth-headphones

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David Arquette & Courteney Cox Reuniting? (omg!)

David Arquette & Courteney Cox Reuniting?

David Arquette and Courtney Cox are reuniting! However the duo are not rekindling be their romance, instead the former flames are going to work together on Cox?s hit sitcom Cougar Town, a show rep confirms.

Arquette, who danced his way into America?s heart on Dancing with the Stars, will play a hotel concierge on the season three finale of the ABC show, ABC confirms.

Cox and Arquette separated in October 2010 after 11 years of marriage, but Cox insists they are still best friends. "He's my favorite person in the world," she told People earlier this month. "No matter what happens in our future, he's my very best friend."

The pair first fell in love while on the set of the 1996 film Scream and just last year reprised their roles in Scream 4.

Cougar Town premieres Tuesday February 14 at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_david_arquette_courteney_cox_reuniting020500795/44334125/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/david-arquette-courteney-cox-reuniting-020500795.html

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Saturday, January 28, 2012

Verizon-bound ZTE V66 slate gets photographed, looks just like you imagined

Verizon-bound ZTE V66 slate gets photographed, looks just like you imaginedIt wasn't long ago that we first crossed paths with the ZTE V66 tablet, though at the time we were unfortunate to only meet its dull black-and-white renders. Those of you unfamiliar with the tab won't have your jaws dropped by its innards, which are expected to be missing out on the Ice Cream Sandwich treatment. Aside from the OS letdown (still, it's not as bad as shipping with Gingerbread), the V66 is pretty standard fare for a modern tablet. It'll be running on Verizon's speedy LTE network, sporting a 7-inch (1,280 x 800) display, a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and a 4,000mAh battery will help keep it chugging along. We've yet to hear an official word from the Big Red about price and availability, so we'll let you know how deep into your wallet you'll have to dig as soon as we find out.

Verizon-bound ZTE V66 slate gets photographed, looks just like you imagined originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Unwired View  |  sourceBluetooth.org  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/FdWdIuhZUkA/

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Peter, Paul and Mary bassist Dick Kniss dies at 74 (AP)

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. ? Dick Kniss, a bassist who performed for five decades with the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary and co-wrote the John Denver hit "Sunshine on My Shoulders," has died. He was 74.

Kniss died Wednesday of pulmonary disease at a hospital near his home in the Hudson Valley town of Saugerties, his wife, Diane Kniss said.

Kniss was born in Portland, Ore., and was an original member of Denver's 1970s band. He also played with jazz greats including Herbie Hancock and Woody Herman.

Active in the 1960s civil rights movement, Kniss performed at benefits for a range of causes and played during the first celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday.

Peter, Paul and Mary's Peter Yarrow said in a statement that Kniss was "our intrepid bass player for almost as long as we performed together.

"He was a dear and beloved part of our closest family circle and his bass playing was always a great fourth voice in our music as well as, conceptually, an original and delightfully surprising new statement added to our vocal arrangements," Yarrow said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_en_mu/us_obit_kniss

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Friday, January 27, 2012

User-friendly health plan summaries at risk

(AP) ? Consumer groups are scrambling to salvage a popular provision of President Barack Obama's health care overhaul that suddenly seems to be in question.

This time it's not Republican opposition they're worried about, but the White House itself.

At issue is a requirement that health plans provide simple, standard summaries of coverage and costs to help consumers pick benefits that are right for them ? a sort of "CliffsNotes" version of cryptic insurance company jargon.

Consumer advocates say they fear the administration may heed industry complaints that the regulation as proposed last summer is too costly, burdensome and intrusive. The rule is due to take effect this year and is undergoing final review by the White House. It would apply to all private and employer health plans, covering an estimated 180 million Americans.

"There is concern that the consumer protections we were hoping to see may not be in the final rule," said Dr. LaShawn McIver, policy director for the American Diabetes Association. "Ultimately, we are looking for a consumer-friendly product that gives people the information they need about what levels of coverage they can expect."

Her organization and four others ? the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Association, AARP and Consumers Union ? wrote Obama this week urging him not to water down the requirements.

"The information available to Americans today is wholly inadequate for consumers to choose and understand the insurance coverage options available to them," their letter said.

Simple-to-understand health plan summaries are the most popular provision of the health care law, which otherwise continues to divide the public. That's according to a poll last November by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, which found the summaries garnered support from 84 percent of Americans compared with 37 percent who viewed the overall law favorably.

Administration officials said they can't comment on the specifics of regulations under review, but they sought to reassure the consumer groups, which were among the major backers of the health care law as it was being debated in Congress.

"Giving consumers the information they need and making the health care system more transparent is a top priority," said Erin Shields, a spokeswoman for the Health and Human Services Department. "We're confident the final rules ... will meet that goal."

A proposed template released by the department last summer included such basic details as information on premiums, deductibles and copays for doctor visits and hospitalization. Such information is now generally the norm in health plan summaries that most companies voluntarily provide their employees during annual open enrollment.

But the federal template also included so-called coverage examples of the cost of care for a typical individual for three common health conditions: normal childbirth, treating breast cancer and managing diabetes. Because all health plans would have to follow the same rules in compiling the information, it would allow consumers to directly compare insurance in ways they can't now.

America's Health Insurance Plans, a trade group representing the industry, complained that the timeline for introducing the comparisons this year is unrealistic, and the cost would be more than double what the government estimated, or $382 million for the first two years alone. That would drive up costs for employers and health plans, the industry said, at a time when many companies are struggling in a difficult economy.

Lynn Quincy, a senior policy analyst for Consumers Union, said the advocacy groups have learned that the requirement for employer plans to provide the comparisons may be delayed or weakened. Additionally, two of the coverage examples may be omitted at least initially, leaving only a comparison of maternity costs.

"We are very concerned that compared to the proposed rule that was released in August, the final rule we are expecting shortly will be weakened," she said. "That would be very bad for consumers."

___

Online:

Proposed template for health plan comparisons: http://tinyurl.com/6ryq8rl

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-26-Health%20Overhaul-Consumers/id-25be26cd6c784ab5be69a1295e171661

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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Greece hopes for debt swap deal by end of week (AP)

ATHENS ? Greece is aiming to complete negotiations on its debt swap deal by the end of the week, the government's spokesman said Wednesday, adding that the talks were at their "most delicate phase."

Charles Dallara, head of the Institute of International Finance ? the body representing banks and other investment firms ? will head back to Athens on Thursday for the negotiations on the bond swap, known as the Private Sector Involvement.

"The target is to conclude the PSI agreement even within this week," government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis told reporters in Athens.

The duration of Dallara's stay in Athens "will depend very much on the outcome of the negotiations," IIF spokeswoman Emily Vogl said.

On the front line of Europe's sovereign debt crisis, Athens is trying to get its private creditors to swap their Greek government bonds for new ones with half their face value, thereby slicing some euro100 billion ($130 billion) off its debt. The new bonds would also push the repayment deadlines 20 to 30 years into the future.

However, the main stumbling block over the past few weeks to securing this deal has been the interest rate these new lower-value, longer-term bonds would carry. A high interest rate could buffer losses for investors, but would also require the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund to put up more than the euro130 billion ($169 billion) in rescue loans they promised in October.

The bond swap is crucial to bring Greece's debt back to a sustainable level. The Eurozone and IMF say a higher interest rate would prevent Greece's debt from falling to 120 percent of gross domestic product by 2020 ? the maximum level they see as sustainable. Without the debt swap, Greece's debt would approach 200 percent of GDP by the end of this year.

"We are at the moment at perhaps the most delicate phase of the negotiations on completing the PSI, and also in formulating the new program for the stabilization of the economy," Kapsis added.

"It is obvious that what happens in the coming days ... will affect the course of the country in coming years," he added.

Separately, representatives of Greece's private sector bondholders were to meet in Paris on Wednesday to discuss the agreement after the EU toughened its demands, a person close to the investors said.

The so-called steering committee of the IIF was to gather for an "important meeting ... to really take stock" of the talks, the person said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

The committee represents banks and other investment funds that hold a large part of Greece's debt and are being asked to swap their existing bonds with new ones of a reduced value, longer maturity and lower interest rate.

Eurozone finance ministers decided this week to cap the average interest rate on those new bonds at well below 4 percent. In their last offer, the bondholders said the average interest rate should be above 4 percent.

The finance ministers are pushing for a lower rate because whatever debt relief Greece doesn't get from the investors will have to come from them and the International Monetary Fund, the country's bailout rescuers.

The person close to the private bondholders said the meeting was called for Wednesday because some eurozone officials wanted the deal to be ready for a summit of EU leaders on Monday.

____

Steinhauser reported from Brussels.

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

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Payroll tax negotiations open amid optimism (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Negotiations to renew a payroll tax cut for 160 million workers and jobless benefits for millions more kicked off on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, with both sides optimistic of an agreement despite last year's bitter battles over President Barack Obama's jobs proposals.

The House-Senate talks will focus chiefly on finding ways to finance the $10 billion a month cost of a 2 percentage point cut in Social Security payroll taxes that awards a worker making a typical $50,000 salary a tax cut of about $20 a week. Lawmakers also need to pay for the $45 billion or so cost of renewing jobless benefits for people out of work for more than half a year and the $20 billion a year cost of making sure doctors aren't hit with massive cuts to their Medicare payments.

Negotiators face a Feb. 29 deadline under a temporary measure enacted amid great acrimony just before Christmas.

The daunting challenge facing the negotiators is a cost of roughly $160 billion to extend the tax cut, jobless benefits and Medicare payments through the end of the year.

"We should be able to get it done," said top Senate GOP negotiator Jon Kyl of Arizona, who says last year's failed effort by a congressional deficit panel produced lots of proposals that can be used "offset" the cost of the payroll tax measure. "The Joint Select Committee identified a lot of good offsets and so the opportunity for us to get it done is there."

"It's our job to work together here to make sure this tax cut doesn't expire," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the lead Senate negotiator. "We need to show we can rise above politics for the good of the country."

But given the remarkable dysfunction and acrimony surrounding virtually anything Congress does, there's no reason to assume the talks will go smoothly.

"It's not going to be easy finding these offsets," said Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., a veteran of the deficit supercommittee.

Senate defenders of federal workers ? whose pension benefits and pay increases have been targeted by House Republicans for more than $60 billion in savings over the coming decade ? are signaling they won't go along.

"I don't think it's the forum to take up these on federal workers," said Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Md., whose state is home to many federal workers.

As the same time, Hispanic groups, a key Democratic-leaning voting bloc are battling against a House proposal to raise $9 billion by blocking illegal immigrants from claiming the refundable child tax credit. Key Democrats like Baucus have signaled they could accept the idea, however.

Another question is whether to shorten the eligibility period for extended unemployment benefits down from the current 99 weeks or allow states to test unemployment benefit applicants for drugs, as House Republicans would like. The House measure would shorten the jobless benefits eligibility period to 79 weeks, though the improving job market in most states means that the actual duration of benefits would be 13 or 20 weeks less than that under current law.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the negotiators should also take on dozens of tax breaks for businesses and individuals that expired last year, including a tax credit for business research and development, a deduction for state and local sales taxes and several breaks important to the energy industry. This $30 billion-plus package is a top priority of the capital's powerful lobbying community.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_go_co/us_congress_payroll_tax

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

1000s Of Journalists Now Use Facebook Subscribe, And That?s Bad For Twitter

Facebook Subscribe Bad For Twitter4 months after it launched its Twitter-style?asymmetrical Subscribe feature, Facebook and its?Journalist Program Manager?Vadim Lavrusik's efforts to weaken Twitter's stranglehold on breaking news are paying off.?The company?just announced that thousands of journalists now use Subscribe, including 50 reporters from The New York Times and 90 from the Washington Post. If Facebook can get your favorite journalists publishing through Subscribe, you'll have less need for Twitter. Next I hear it's setting its sights on getting celebrities and entertainment tastemakers onboard. Additionally, Facebook released some best practices for how journalists can maximize the engagement (Likes, comments, and shares) on their posts.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/i4Uhz04v91g/

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Video: Jenna Wolfe takes the plunge

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/46091521#46091521

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Tuesday, January 24, 2012

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/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-22-AF-Nigeria-Violence/id-c71c1e7197784302ae762096b36d6466

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Monday, January 23, 2012

AnnaLynne McCord Laughs Off Topless Twitpic Faux Pas

'I am going to tweet myself naked all the time,' the '90210' actress jokes to MTV News at Sundance.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz


Annalynne McCord
Photo: MTV News

Much like a plot right out of her soapy CW show, "90210," AnnaLynne McCord made headlines when she inadvertently tweeted out a NSFW photo of herself on January 10. It quickly became clear that she took the photo as the wrong angle, exposing a bit more of herself than she had expected to.

After realizing her Twitter faux pas, she laughed off the incident. "This is for you, @meganraee You Rock! Xxx," she initially tweeted, including the nipple-baring photo. She later added, "Hahaha! Megan, you feel like sharing? Very funny I actually LOL-ed xxxA."

When MTV News had the chance to speak to McCord during her trip to the Sundance Film Festival, she had some a very amusing response to the tweet. "I am going to tweet myself naked all the time. I mean I am going to be a press whore from here on out. This is awesome," she joked about the headline-making incident. "You know what's so crazy to me, it's the sensationalism. I mean so disappointing, I'm sorry for everybody who thought I was going to be naked. You see more of me naked as Pauline in ['Excision'].

"Anyone with half of a brain knows it was an accident," she continued. "I have a very small areola and I have to get a magnifying glass to make sure that it's not in pictures in the future. That's the moral of the story."

McCord had a few more laughs at her own expense, adding, "The moral of the story is not to stop taking pictures of yourself naked. We all like being naked. Just make sure that the little bit of your areola isn't in the picture before you send it to a hundred billion people."

How did AnnaLynne McCord handle her Twitter photo faux pas? Leave your comments below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677724/annalynne-mccord-twitter-topless-photo.jhtml

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South Sudan to unveil pipeline plans next week: minister (Reuters)

JUBA/BEIJING (Reuters) ? South Sudan will announce plans for an oil export pipeline through East Africa next week, a priority for the new nation because its crude is "no longer safe" in Sudan, a government spokesman said on Saturday.

Landlocked South Sudan took about three quarters of Sudan's roughly 500,000 barrels per day of oil production when it seceded from Sudan in July under a 2005 peace deal, but it still relies on Sudan's infrastructure to export crude.

Oil is vital to both economies -- it accounts for almost all of South Sudan's government revenues -- but the two countries have yet to agree how much South Sudan should pay as a transit fee.

South Sudan threatened to halt crude output within two weeks on Friday, after its northern neighbor started seizing crude to compensate for what Khartoum calls unpaid fees.

"The pipeline is now a priority. The minister of petroleum and mining will announce next week which pipeline we are going with and the consortium that will be involved," Barnaba Marial Benjamin, South Sudan's information minister and government spokesman, told Reuters by telephone.

"It has to be done because of the shutdown. Our crude is no longer safe in Sudan," he said. "If we choose the pipeline through Kenya it could take less than 10 months to complete."

South Sudan has floated the idea of an East African pipeline before, but outside experts say barriers include geography and the need to ensure enough production volume to fill the pipeline in the future.

South Sudanese officials have previously said the country can survive on credit using crude as collateral if exports were ever halted.

"CALM AND RESTRAINT"

The new pipeline will be built with the help of international oil companies operating in its fields, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported earlier on Saturday.

China, a major buyer of South Sudanese crude, has urged "calm and restraint" over the dispute, which began in November.

The two neighbors together rank as the seventh-largest supplier of crude oil to China, accounting for 5 percent of its imports in 2011.

South Sudan has started "practical steps" to construct a pipeline through Kenya and Uganda and would begin construction of a refinery in South Sudan immediately, Xinhua quoted Benjamin as saying.

International oil firms currently operating in South Sudan would construct the pipeline and refinery, the agency cited Benjamin as saying. It did not specify which.

Oil firms active in South Sudan include Chinese state-owned China National Oil Corp., or CNPC, and Sinopec, Malaysia's state-owned Petronas, and Oil and Natural Gas Corp of India, or ONGC.

French oil major Total said in December it could build a pipeline from South Sudan to Uganda that would continue to Kenya's coast but that construction of the pipeline at the time was still "just thoughts."

South Sudanese officials have also talked to Toyota Kenya about the possibility of linking to a proposed regional oil corridor to help export crude.

(Additional writing by Alexander Dziadosz; Editing by Alison Birrane)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120121/wl_nm/us_south_sudan_pipeline

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Sunday, January 22, 2012

Greece, banks near deal to prevent default

Greece and its private bondholders drew closer on Friday to a bond swap deal that would prevent the country from sinking into a chaotic default and ease the euro zone's debilitating debt crisis.

Cash-strapped Greece is fast running out of time as it pushes to wrap up an agreement by Monday paving the way for a fresh injection of aid before 14.5 billion euros ($18.5 billion) of bond repayments fall due in March.

Bankers and government officials close to the talks say an agreement to cut Greece's debt is in sight and that the two sides may be able to present a joint proposal at a meeting of euro zone finance ministers on Monday.

"We are very close to wrapping it up," one source close to the negotiations told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

After a breakdown in talks last week over the coupon, or interest payment, that Greece must offer on its new bonds raised fears of a disastrous bankruptcy, the two sides resumed negotiations on Thursday.

Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and Charles Dallara, the head of the Institute of International Finance (IIF) representing bondholders, started a new meeting on Friday morning.

According to one Greek banker, senior euro zone finance officials have scheduled a conference call for Friday afternoon.

The stakes could not be higher. Greece needs to have a deal in the bag before funds are doled out from a 130 billion euro rescue plan that the country's official lenders, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, drew up in October.

The paperwork involved alone is expected to take weeks, meaning failure to secure a deal soon could put Athens at risk of a chaotic default in March, which in turn could jolt the financial system and tip the global economy into recession.

A large chunk of the bond swap must be agreed by noon on Friday and formalized before Monday's meeting of euro zone finance ministers, Venizelos has said.

"The deal must be completed. There is no more time left," said a Greek government official who requested anonymity.

Adding to the pressure, officials from the "troika" of foreign lenders have begun meetings with the Greek government on Friday to discuss reforms and plans to finalize that bailout package.

Progress has been hard to come by in the latest round of negotiations, with bankers worried about suffering losses far higher than the 50 percent writedown they were expected to take on the nominal value of their bonds.

Actual losses for investors are expected to be much higher depending on the terms, such as the coupon, being negotiated.

A source close to the talks earlier said Athens and its foreign lenders had initially offered a coupon of just over 3.5 percent, but bondholders rejected that as too low. They were seeking a coupon of at least 4 percent, the source said.

One of the options being considered is a coupon that rises after staying stable for the first 10 years, another source close to the talks has said.

According to Greek press reports not identifying their sources, the two sides may agree a coupon ranging between 3 and 5 percent, depending on the new bonds' maturities, resulting in a loss for investors of between 65 and 70 percent in terms of net present value.

Investors have also bridled at Greece's threat to enforce losses if not enough bondholders sign up to the deal.

The swap is aimed at cutting 100 billion euros off Greece's over 350 billion euro debt load. The second bailout - drawn up on condition Greece pushes through painful cuts and structural reforms - is expected to reduce Greece's debt to a more manageable 120 percent of gross domestic product in 2020 from about 160 percent now.

Greece is stumbling through its worst economic crisis since World War Two, with unemployment at record highs and near-daily protests and strikes against austerity measures that have deepened an already brutal recession.

Nearly one out of two youths is unemployed and anger against waves of tax hikes and pay cuts is running high.

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46069978/ns/business-world_business/

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Rare, once-royal turtle to be tracked in Cambodia (AP)

BANGKOK ? One of the world's most endangered turtles has been released into a Cambodian river with a satellite transmitter attached to its shell to track how it will navigate through commercial fishing grounds and other man-made hazards.

The 75-pound (34-kilogram) southern river terrapin ? one of only about 200 adults remaining in the wild ? waddled into the Sre Ambel river in southwestern Cambodia this past week to the cheers of local residents and conservationists.

The New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society said the female terrapin was given to the group last year instead of being sold to traffickers who have decimated the country's population of turtles and other species to cater to demand for exotic wildlife in China.

The southern river terrapin, once considered the sole property of Cambodia's kings, only survives in the wilds of Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia, the group said in a statement. The population in the Sre Ambel river is estimated at less than 10 nesting females.

But it said the terrapins there have an excellent chance of recovery because coastal mangrove forests in the region are among the largest and most pristine in Southeast Asia, spanning some 175 square miles (45,000 hectares).

The first-ever satellite monitoring of the species hopes to determine how the turtle will fare among fisherman as well as in areas threatened by sand mining and conversion of mangrove forests into shrimp farms.

A small population of the species was found in 2000 in Sre Ambel after being considered locally extinct for many years.

Following the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge in the mid-1970s which left the country devastated, poor rural dwellers scoured the forests for wildlife, much of which was sold to traders connected to China, where many wild animals ? from turtles to tigers ? are believed to possess medicinal and sex-enhancing properties.

The turtle project is being run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in cooperation with the Cambodian government and Wildlife Reserves Singapore, a zoological enterprise.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120121/ap_on_re_as/as_cambodia_king_s_turtle

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Saturday, January 21, 2012

Mike Posner Opens Up In 'No Room For Rockstars' Clip

Mike Posner is a busy man. That's what you're left with after this clip from the upcoming rock-doc, "No Room for Rockstars."
The documentary, which is premiering at the independent film festival Slamdance, brings viewers an in-depth look behind the scenes of the Vans Warped Tour and the many musicians playing on it.

The crew on [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/20/no-room-for-rockstars-clip/

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Friday, January 20, 2012

IMRA_UPDATES: Palestinian NGO Condemns Stabbing of Palestinian who criticized resistance to Israel for endangering Palestinians http://t.co/M4jZxaNc

Twitter / IMRA: Palestinian NGO Condemns S ... Loader Palestinian NGO Condemns Stabbing of Palestinian who criticized resistance to Israel for endangering Palestinians

Source: http://twitter.com/IMRA_UPDATES/statuses/159536706763231232

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Young cancer patient Perez's ultimate warrior (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? When Eloy Perez fights holder Adrien Broner for the WBO super featherweight title next month in St. Louis, he will have in his corner an inspirational nine-year-old boy whom he regards as the ultimate warrior.

Sy Sherman, the boxer's official belt carrier, was diagnosed with primary liver cancer 11 months ago but he has been a source of optimism ever since he joined the Perez team last year.

"Sy lifts up our spirits and he's fun to have around," Mexican-American Perez told Reuters. "He just smiles like nothing bothers him, even when he is hurting. He's more a fighter than I am. I am the softy.

"He's coming to St. Louis with us to watch us win that title and he's going to be the one holding that belt afterwards. He deserves it. He's just nine years old and he's already been through 11 rounds of (chemotherapy).

"He has spirit and a big heart, a heart of steel. I can't wait for that moment when I win in St. Louis and he will get on my shoulders and hold that belt high so we can all be proud."

Perez, who has a professional career record of 23-0-2 with seven knockouts, was introduced to Sherman by his assistant trainer, Sam Garcia, at their training base in Salinas, California.

"Sam heard about Sy's story and I know financially it's very hard for any parent to go through something like this," Perez said. "So Sam found him and brought him on to our team.

"We wanted to help him out and so I met him and we all fell in love with him. Sy keeps smiling and, since I met him, he has come to my training sessions and to the last couple of fights. It's great having him around."

Sherman, who lives with his family in Salinas, was aged eight when he learned he had hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the third leading cause of cancer death worldwide, accounting to the Mayo Clinic.

The most common form of primary liver cancer, HCC usually affects people age 50 or older and if the cancer cannot be completely removed, the disease is usually fatal within three to six months.

Since his diagnosis, Sherman has undergone 11 rounds of chemotherapy and is now taking Nexavar pills, which are typically given to liver cancer patients who cannot be treated with surgery.

'DANGER ZONE'

"Unfortunately we were not able to continue the chemotherapy," said Sherman's father Matt. "He was already in the danger zone with the amount of toxins in his body.

"Remarkably, though, the cancer seems to be slowly but surely going away. It's a miracle. He shouldn't be here today is what it came down to and here he is, stronger than ever."

In Matt's eyes, Sy's regular visits to the Salinas gym where he chats to Perez, the boxer's trainer Max Garcia, assistant trainer Sam Garcia and manager Kathy Garcia have been a significant factor in his son's improving health.

"It has given him something to look forward to and has kept his mind off of his cancer," Matt said. "It's kind of like a mind-over-matter feeling for him.

"He doesn't think about cancer, he is just thinking about Eloy, the Garcias and the next trip he gets to go on with the team. He talks and talks non-stop, and they spoil him every day with little presents and stuff.

"I've got to thank the whole Garcia boxing camp for just brightening Sy's day more than anyone could have done up to this point. They are all like family now."

With Sy in his corner, Perez is confident he will take the WBO super featherweight title from the unbeaten Boner (22-0, 18 KOs) on February 25.

"My training is going according to plan and I have been sparring with some incredible partners, all very talented and none of them have cut me any slack," the 25-year-old said.

"I can't wait for February 25th, I will own the night. I've worked so hard for many years for this opportunity and now it's just six weeks' away. I have my eyes on the prize, I'm not going all the way to St. Louis to lose. It's not an option."

(Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes; Editing by Frank Pingue)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120118/lf_nm_life/us_boxing_perez

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Thursday, January 19, 2012

China policy easing ahead as growth hits 2-year low (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? China's economy expanded at its weakest pace in 2-1/2 years in the latest quarter, with the sagging real estate and export sectors heralding a sharper slowdown in coming months and fresh pro-growth measures from the government.

Growth of 8.9 percent over a year earlier was slightly stronger than the 8.7 percent forecast by economists in a Reuters poll, but the data on Tuesday raised concerns about the immediate outlook and how much support China can offer a struggling global economy.

Gross domestic output rose just 2 percent from the previous quarter, suggesting to some economists that underlying momentum is slowing more rapidly than headline data implies.

A near 40 percent plunge in the annual pace of property investment in December versus November's rate underscored risks to China's domestic demand even as it is trying to cope with those emanating from debt-ridden Europe -- China's biggest export market.

"It indicates that in Q1 2012 the numbers will be very unpleasant. Policy easing will continue," said Yao Wei, an economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong, who forecasts growth slowing to 8.3 percent in the first three months of 2012.

"It's a very significant slowdown already in China," she said.

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Growth for all of 2011 slipped to 9.2 percent, a pace last seen in 2009 during the global financial crisis, from 10.4 percent in 2010.

Beijing is likely to stick to what Premier Wen Jiabao has called "fine-tuning" of economic policy settings to counter the downturn for now, rather than adopting more aggressive measures such as a cut in interest rates.

December's retail sales growth of 18.1 percent on the year was well above forecasts and industrial production also staged a slight uptick in real terms in December versus November.

"On policy, we expect Beijing will read both positive and negative messages from the Q4 data and further adjust their policies," Ting Lu, China economist at Bank of America/Merrill Lynch in Hong Kong wrote in a note to clients.

"Simply put, Beijing will continue its policy easing which was started in mid-October, though we should not expect a big-bang stimulus," he added.

China's policymakers have unveiled a series of policy tweaks from tax breaks for small firms, to a cut in the proportion of deposits the country's banks must hold as reserves in a bid to boost corporate credit and money supply.

A cut in the required reserve ratio (RRR) in November -- to 21 percent from a record 21.5 percent for big banks -- was the first in three years.

Analysts polled recently by Reuters forecast another 200 basis points of cuts in 2012, with many banking on one in the run-up to next week's Lunar New Year holiday to ease anticipated liquidity squeezes as demand for cash soars.

The pressure for another RRR cut has built as capital has started to flow out of China after years of inflows that allowed the country to amass the world's biggest store of foreign exchange reserves worth $3.18 trillion.

Reducing RRR keeps money supply -- which senior Chinese think-tank sources tell Reuters is targeted for 14 percent growth in 2012 -- stable in the face of capital outflows.

INVESTORS EXPECT POLICY EASING

Asian shares, the euro, industrial metals and commodity-linked currencies all rose as the data soothed investor worries that the euro zone debt crisis is dragging dangerously on the world's second-biggest economy.

Meanwhile, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index (.SSEC) rallied around 3 percent, reversing a 1.7-percent fall a day earlier, as investors priced in further policy easing and hopes that China would quicken the pace of approval for more foreign investors to trade Chinese stocks.

With Europe in danger of slipping into a recession and U.S. growth looking lackluster, China's role in the global economy is magnified.

Although economists widely expect China's 2012 growth will be the weakest in a decade, a more pronounced slowdown would put a major drag on already shaky global growth.

The fourth-quarter growth rate was the slowest pace since the second quarter of 2009, when the global economy stumbled out of a deep recession. It also marked the fourth straight quarter in which growth had slowed down.

Global miner Rio Tinto (RIO.AX) (RIO.L) reported much lower than expected growth in iron ore production in the fourth quarter amid concerns that China's demand may be softening.

Ma Jiantang, the head of China's statistics agency, said China's economic growth was likely to slow further as Beijing tries to restructure the economy away from exports and towards domestic consumption -- something the United States and other trading partners have long pressed China to do.

Tuesday's data showed net exports subtracted from 2011 growth while consumption contributed more than half.

Annual growth in property investment at 12.3 percent in December, marked a sharp slowdown from November's 20.2 percent pace, a worrying signal for a sector worth some 13 percent of total economic output.

Housing investment dropped precipitously in December, and many property developers have warned that 2012 looks grim.

A booming housing market helped drive China's explosive growth in recent years, but Beijing has tried to cool prices in hopes of avoiding a devastating bubble and bust.

A modest housing market slowdown would be a welcome development, but a crash would be catastrophic, both for China and its trading partners around the world.

Some analysts think China's first-quarter growth will be below 8 percent threshold seen as the minimum for assuring sufficient job creation.

Europe is China's top export market, and all signs point to much of the continent falling into recession in coming months, with no end in sight as governments push austerity programs.

Mass ratings downgrades in the euro zone over the weekend and a breakdown in Greek bailout talks have added to financial market jitters.

LUNAR LIFT

An early Lunar New Year holiday on January 23-24 probably skewed the fourth-quarter data and the effect will likely linger through the first three months of the year.

Factories typically step up production to clear orders before the festive period, and then temporarily shut down as workers head home to visit family.

That means fourth-quarter growth probably benefited from the surge in manufacturing, while first-quarter activity will be even slower.

"What's happened in December is to some extent the pre-Lunar New Year bounce in activity and prices. What we're seeing in December is the seasonal effect. If it is just a seasonal effect then obviously what that means is January-February will be weaker," Michael Spencer, Deutsche Bank's Hong Kong-based chief economist in the Asia Pacific said.

"It's fair to say the economy is holding up better but it's hard to say if that's just a statistical artifact of the short calendar," he added. ($1=6.31 yuan)

(Additional reporting by China economics team: Writing by Nick Edwards and Emily Kaiser; Editing by Kim Coghill and Neil Fullick)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/bs_nm/us_china_economy_gdp

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