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Jo Yeates' landlord Chris Jefferies accuses police of leaks There needs to be an independent inquiry into this potentially criminal conduct on the part of officers from Avon and Somerset Police, as well as the Crown Prosecution Service. As regards any legal action against Avon and Somerset Police for wrongful arrest, this is a matter which remains under review. Mr Jefferies was responding to evidence - disputed by Avon and Somerset Police - that Daily Mirror editor Richard Wallace gave the Leveson Inquiry into media standards last week. Mr Wallace apologised to Mr Jefferies and told the inquiry that his judgment was affected by off-the-record briefings from the force in which they appeared confident that Mr Jefferies "was their man." In his statement, which was read to the inquiry, Mr Wallace said: "In the article of December 31, we reported that a source close to the police investigation said that it was believed Jo's murderer had tried to conceal her body. This information, to the best of my knowledge, came from one of the off-the-record briefings referred to above. The police also give more general guidance to the press. When Mr Jefferies was arrested on December 30, the content desk informed me that off the record the police were saying that they were confident Mr Jefferies was their man. Colin Port, the Chief Constable of Avon and Somerset Police, denied the claims made by Mr Wallace and said the force was "actively challenging" his comments. Mr Port said in a statement: "I now have a copy of the letter sent by these solicitors direct to the media 12 months after the event, and which has not been directed to Avon and Somerset Constabulary. I am surprised by the contents of the letter which appear to be based on the opinions expressed by Richard Wallace, editor of the Mirror, when he gave evidence to the Leveson Inquiry last week, and which we are actively challenging. Last year Mr Jefferies accepted a libel payout from eight national newspapers, including the Daily Mirror, over false allegations they made against him following the murder of his tenant. He had previously told the Leveson Inquiry that the national press "shamelessly vilified" him. As well as paying damages to the former Clifton College teacher, the publishers of the Mirror and the Sun were fined £50,000 and £18,000, plus legal costs. They were found guilty of contempt of court over stories they published following Mr Jefferies' arrest on suspicion of murdering landscape architect Miss Yeates, 25. Mr Jefferies, who owned Miss Yeates' flat at 44 Canynge Road, Bristol, was questioned by detectives for two days before being released. He was later declared to be innocent and during the trial of Miss Yeates' killer, Vincent Tabak, who was jailed for life in October, it was revealed Tabak had implicated Mr Jefferies by phoning the police and making false claims.

Missing Houston Boy Found Unharmed Evan Miller, 18 months, was found inside his mother's stolen vehicle. Is Salt the New Food War? A favorite seasoning is under attack with new recommendations to eat less salt. Missing Montana Teacher Dead, School Says FBI has one man in custody in connection with Sherry Arnold's disappearance.

Bacon roll a day linked to most lethal of cancers The most fatal of all cancers is linked today for the first time with the consumption of processed meat. A daily bacon sandwich or a single sausage, equivalent to an average serving of 50 grams, is associated with a 19 per cent increase in risk of pancreatic cancer, researchers say. The finding adds to evidence from earlier studies that processed meat - including ham, bacon and sausages - increases the incidence of cancer of the bowel. Pancreatic cancer affects only one in 77 men and one in 79 women during their lifetime. But it has among the poorest survival rates of any cancer with almost 95 per cent of patients dying within five years. "Thus identification of risk factors for this cancer is of great public health importance," researchers from the Karolinska Institute, in Sweden, said. They analysed 11 studies involving over 6,000 people with pancreatic cancer. The results showed red meat consumption also increased the risk of the cancer for men by 29 per cent for each daily serving of 120 grams. But there was no significant increase in risk for women, raising doubts about the robustness of the finding. But the link with processed meat is "biologically plausible," the researchers say in the British Journal of Cancer. Nitrites used to preserve processed meats are "potent carcinogens" which have been shown to cause pancreatic cancer in animals. About 8,090 people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the UK in 2008, and around 7,780 people died. Dr Rachel Thompson, deputy head of science at the World Cancer Research Fund, said: "WCRF recommends limiting intake of red meat to 500g cooked weight a week and avoiding processed meat altogether." Sara Hiom, director of information at Cancer Research UK, said: "The jury is still out as to whether meat is a definite risk factor for pancreatic cancer and more large studies are needed. But this new analysis suggests processed meat may be playing a role.

Rise of New Breed of Tight End Goes Unchecked So Far San Francisco tight end Vernon Davis danced into the end zone after a 49-yard touchdown against the Saints on Saturday. John Lynch spent 15 years as one of the N.F.L."s hardest-hitting safeties, so when he watches the hulking and high-speed tight ends barreling into this weekend's conference championship games, it is with the particular bloodlust of a defensive player with a lingering distaste for offense. "It still bothers me," Lynch said in a telephone interview. You get them earlier, or they'll get you later. Nobody seems to be taking care of them at the line of scrimmage. That body type - typically where a guy like that would struggle is with starting and stopping. If you break their momentum you have a chance. That is Lynch's suggestion - essentially, he is telling defenses, "Do something!" - for a matchup that teams have struggled to solve all season. It's worth a try. When the Giants play the San Francisco 49ers and the Baltimore Ravens face the New England Patriots on Sunday with Super Bowl berths on the line, they will encounter the new breed of tight end - direct descendants of Tony Gonzalez and Antonio Gates - who terrorized defenses all season, but especially in the divisional round, with their absurd mix of wide receiver speed and power forward girth. When Vernon Davis caught the 49ers" winning touchdown pass at the goal line Saturday, he looked like nothing so much as Charles Oakley boxing out an entire secondary. And Davis, who finished with seven catches for 180 yards, might be the easier tight end matchup this weekend. For the ones that will keep Ravens defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano awake at night turn on the video from the Patriots" annihilation of the Denver Broncos last Saturday night. The game will be remembered for Tom Brady's six touchdown passes, including one in which tight end Rob Gronkowski laid out and tipped a pass to himself in the corner of the end zone. It was a pass that Lynch initially thought was a throwaway, until he saw how quickly Gronkowski caught up to it. Gronkowski just finished one of the best seasons by an N.F.L. tight end, with 90 receptions (fifth among all receivers) for 1,327 yards (sixth) and 17 touchdowns (first). But it was a 43-yard run on the Patriots" fourth play from scrimmage - by Aaron Hernandez, a 6-foot-1, 245-pound tight end who lined up in the backfield - that stands as the most eye-opening play of the night. "We didn't have any backs in the game in that personnel grouping, we just had the three receivers and the two tight ends," Patriots Coach Bill Belichick explained late Saturday night of the Hernandez play. You see all those receivers on the field and you're not really thinking too much about the running game defensively, so we tried to pop a couple runs in there just to keep them honest. When Belichick chose Gronkowski in the second round of the 2010 draft, and followed that two rounds later by taking Hernandez, it stumped plenty of people around the league. What was Belichick going to do with two tight ends when his offense at the time placed little emphasis on them? The answer, now, is clear: anything he wants. Now the Giants and the Ravens need to stop this new breed of tight end. Davis presents a mostly straightforward challenge because he and receiver Michael Crabtree are the 49ers" most potent threats. San Francisco will try to create favorable matchups by having Davis split out like a receiver, but Charley Casserly, the former general manager of the Redskins and the Texans, recommends essentially what Lynch does: double-team Davis or press him at the line of scrimmage with a safety that has some speed, a cover safety. There aren't many of those available because the fastest athletes are usually switched to cornerback. "It's the hardest thing to find," said Michael Lombardi, an analyst for the NFL Network and a former personnel executive in Cleveland and Oakland. You might have to play four corners. Some teams might choose to use a third cornerback on the tight end because even though the smaller cornerbacks can be outmuscled, they can at least keep up. But no matter who is lined up against the tight end, there is one edict that cannot be ignored. "You can't give up a free release," Casserly said.

Italians launch rescue bid after cruise liner runs aground About 1,800 passengers were being evacuated by lifeboat from a cruise ship off Italy on Friday last night after it ran aground and started taking in water. The Costa Concordia got into difficulties and began listing near the island of Giglio, off Tuscany, after leaving Civitavecchia near Rome. "The passengers are not in danger, a rescue mission is underway," a coast guard at Giglio port told the AFP news agency. One passenger told the Italian news agency ANSA that the first thing those on board knew was when they heard a large boom. To start with they were told the ship had come to a halt for electrical reasons, before being told to put on their life-jackets. There were no injuries reported. The vessel is one of the largest the 27-ship fleet operated by Costa cruises, which describes it as a "floating temple of fun" containing 1,500 cabins, 13 bars and five restaurants. The coast guard said in a statement: "At around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) the 290-metre-long Costa Concordia cruise ship... began taking on water and tilting over by around 20 degrees." The Costa Crociera company, which owns the vessel, released a statement saying it was not yet possible to say what caused the problem, but that the evacuation had been begun as quickly as possible and was winding up. "The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille," the company said. There were around 1,000 Italian passengers on board, as well as 500 Germans and around 150 French people.

Hollysys Automation Technologies Announces CFO Departure and Appointment of CFO's Replacement, COO and Senior VP BEIJING, Jan. 15, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Hollysys Automation Technologies, Ltd. (NASDAQ: HOLI) ("Hollysys" or the "Company"), a leading provider of automation and control technologies and applications in China, today announced the departure of Peter Li, CFO, who is leaving the Company due to personal reasons at the expiration of his three-year contract, effective February 1, 2012, and appointment of corporate senior executives of CFO, COO, and Senior VP Business Development. Ms. Herriet Qu, Financial Controller, is promoted to Chief Financial Officer of Hollysys overseeing the overall corporate financial management. Ms. Qu has been with Company for more than four years with MBA degree from Oklahoma City University. Mr. Jianfeng He, CEO of Beijing Hollysys Group Corporation, is promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Hollysys in charge of Company's daily operation and supply chain management. Mr. He has been with Company for more than 14 years, with PHD in Automation from South China University of Technology. Mr. Baiqing Shao, Vice President of Beijing Hollysys Group Corporation, is promoted to Senior Vice President Business Development of Hollysys in charge of merger and acquisition and new business exploration. Mr. Shao has been with Company for more than eighteen years as one of the founding group of engineers, with Master of Computer Science from the 6th Research Institute of China Electronics Corporation and MBA from Beijing University. Ms. Jennifer Zhang, IR Manager, is promoted to IR Director of Hollysys in charge of investor relations management and corporate communications. Ms. Zhang has been with Company for more than three years, with B.A. in English Literature from Nanjing Agricultural University. Mr. Peter Li, the departing CFO, commented, "I was blessed to be part of Hollysys' team in its journey of significant growth realization and capital market recognition over the past three years. Hollysys is well-set for the next phase of growth on much improved infrastructure of operational and financial management under the leadership of this team, thanks to the visionary strategy adopted, tough decisions made, and short-term sacrifices endured. I am confident that the team of internally promoted CFO and IR Director will come together to fill in my shoes with the team's support, to enable the Company's growth to the next higher level. I will continuously cheer for every success achieved by Hollysys on the side-line. From bottom of my heart, I will always be part of Hollysys team. Dr. Changli Wang, Chairman and CEO of Hollysys, commented, "Peter has been a great addition to Hollysys team. Under his leadership, we see Hollysys market capitalization growing by multiple times, sell-side analyst coverage expanded dramatically including bulge-bracket banks, and our investor base diversified and improved by leaps and bounds. He is truly a Hollysys story evangelist in the capital market for us. We are grateful to his contributions as Hollysys CFO and extend our best wishes to his new endeavors! Going forward, I will allocate more of my time in communicating with investors and analysts, together with Jennifer and her team. With Herriet, Jianfeng, and Baiqing readily stepping up to their roles, I believe this new team will be capable to grow the Company to the next level of development. About Hollysys Automation Technologies, Ltd. Hollysys Automation Technologies is a leading provider of automation and control technologies and applications in China that enables its diversified industry and utility customers to improve operating safety, reliability, and efficiency. Founded in 1993, Hollysyshas approximately 3,500 employees with nationwide presence in over 40 cities in China, with subsidiaries and offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Dubai, India, and serves over 2000 customers in the industrial, railway, subway & nuclear industries in China, south-east Asia, and the middle east. Its proprietary technologies are applied in its industrial automation solution suite including Distributed Control System (DCS), Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), RMIS, HAMS, OTS, and other products, high-speed railway signaling system of Train Control Center (TCC) and Automatic Train Protection (ATP), and other products, subway supervisory and control platform (SCADA), and nuclear conventional island automation and control system. Safe Harbor This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All statements, other than statements of historical fact included herein are "forward-looking statements," including statements regarding: the ability of the Company to achieve its commercial objectives; the business strategy, plans and objectives of the Company and its subsidiaries; and any other statements of non-historical information. These forward-looking statements are often identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "believes," "expects" or similar expressions, involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements, based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Hollysys management, are subject to risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve assumptions, risks and uncertainties, and these expectations may prove to be incorrect. Investors should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of a variety of factors, including those discussed in the Company's reports that are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available on its website (http://www.sec.gov). All forward-looking statements attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these factors. Other than as required under the securities laws, the Company does not assume a duty to update these forward-looking statements. Hollysys Automation Technologies, Ltd. www.hollysys.com +8610-58981386 +8610-58981326 [email protected] SOURCE Hollysys Automation Technologies, Ltd.

Mr. Obama hasn't overstepped on Libya By Editorial Monday, March 21, 2011; 8:39 PM PRESIDENT OBAMA went to some lengths to get United Nations authorization and Arab League support for the current U.S. mission in Libya. But aside from some last-minute consultations, the president did far less to ensure the support of Congress. This strikes some members of that body, from both parties, as the opposite of what the Constitution requires. They are quoting back to Mr. Obama what he told the Boston Globe in 2007: "The president does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation. . . . It is always preferable to have the informed consent of Congress prior to any military action. To be sure, when it comes to committing U.S. forces to battle, it would be wrong to substitute the will of the U.N. Security Council, much less the Arab League, for the will of Congress. The framers of the Constitution gave Congress the power to declare war and raise armies precisely because they did not want an unchecked executive committing the country to battle as he pleased; and they wanted clear national political support for those military undertakings that proved unavoidable. Still, Mr. Obama's actions of the past week square with his words of four years ago and, more important, with the Constitution - for reasons the president himself has articulated. There is a broad category of military operations short of full-scale war - from hostage rescues to humanitarian relief to enforcement of no-fly zones. Such contingencies, especially when they are likely to remain brief and involve little or no risk to U.S. troops, do not require full-blown debate in Congress and a declaration of war, in part because the process might go on longer than the emergency. Though not articulated in constitutional text, this principle has been confirmed by many years of historical practice, in which presidents have ordered forces into action abroad without prior congressional authorization. And it is why President Obama did not need a vote of Congress for what he promises will be a short and limited operation, soon to be handed over mostly to other nations, whose initial aim was to block Moammar Gaddafi's forces from sacking opposition-controlled Benghazi. Things could change, however, if the operation mutates into something longer and more ambitious - as wars are wont to do. In that regard, Mr. Obama has done himself no favors by saying that the goal for which he is using force - protecting civilians - is separate from a goal - ousting Mr. Gaddafi - that Mr. Obama also has embraced. On Monday, the president made the required report triggering a 60-day time limit for the use of force in Libya without a vote of Congress. Congress should use that time to demand more clarity about U.S. objectives. And Mr. Obama should welcome the chance to provide it.

First Thoughts: A stop to Romney's coronation? A stop to Romney's coronation?... With certified results from Iowa (though eight missing precincts), Santorum ended up with a 34-vote advantage over Romney... And a new NBC/Marist poll shows Gingrich gaining ground on Santorum in South Carolina... What's clear from our poll: Debates matter, and there's another one tonight... Also in the poll: The Bain dog doesn't bite -- at least for now... But will Marianne Gingrich bite Newt?... How things have changed for the Gingrich camp in a month... And how they've remained the same for Team Romney... And breaking down the Obama campaign's first TV ad. A stop to Romney's coronation? Just two days ago, it appeared Mitt Romney was well on his way to wrapping up the GOP presidential nomination by the end of the weekend, going 3-for-3 in the first three GOP contests -- something that's never been done before by a non-incumbent Republican. But breaking news and brand-new polls out of South Carolina suggest that Romney's coronation might have been premature. First, the breaking news: The Des Moines Register reports that after the certified totals from the Iowa caucuses, Rick Santorum ended up with a 34-vote advantage over Romney with eight precincts" numbers missing (which will never be certified). The Iowa Republican Party and the Romney campaign are calling the certified results a tie, and NBC News will not declare a winner in the contest (due to the missing precincts). But make no mistake: Santorum came out ahead. Second, brand-new polls out of South Carolina -- including our new NBC/Marist survey -- show Gingrich gaining considerable ground on Romney in the Palmetto State. Now think about it: On Saturday night, it is POSSIBLE that instead of 3-and-0, Romney could be 1-and-2, with that one victory coming in his backyard of New Hampshire. A thought exercise: You've got to wonder: Had the headlines coming out of Iowa on Jan. 4 been "Rick Santorum wins Iowa" instead of "Mitt Romney wins...," what would have been the impact in New Hampshire? Would the race have been closer? Ironically, the change in outcome doesn't help Santorum, whose campaign has noticeably run out of gas in the last few days -- despite that evangelical endorsement over the weekend. Instead, this news hurts Romney -- and by extension benefits Gingrich. Debates matter: If there's one lesson we've learned in this Republican presidential contest, it is this: The 16 debates -- and counting -- have mattered. And our new NBC/Marist poll of South Carolina provides even more evidence of that. Overall in the two-day survey (conducted Monday Jan. 16 and Tuesday Jan. 17), Romney gets the support of 34% of likely GOP primary voters, while Gingrich is at 24%, Ron Paul at 16%, Rick Santorum at 14%, and Perry at 4%. But the numbers are strikingly different before and after the debate on Monday, when Romney had an uneven performance and Gingrich had a strong one. On Monday, Romney led Gingrich by a whopping 15 points in the poll, 37%-22%. But on the Tuesday after the debate, that advantage narrowed to just five points, 31%-26%, putting Gingrich in striking distance. In particular, the most conservative parts of the GOP electorate (Tea Party supporters, "very conservative" voters, and evangelicals) broke toward Gingrich in the day after the debate. And guess what: Tonight, we have another debate, the 17th of the cycle. The Bain dog doesn't bite -- at least for now: While Gingrich gained ground on Romney the day after Monday's GOP debate, the former Massachusetts governor can take comfort with this finding from the poll: His past work at Bain Capital doesn't seem to bother South Carolina Republicans. Per the survey, 61% of GOP primary voters (as well as 42% of all registered voters in the state) agree with the statement that investment firms like Bain help the U.S. economy, and they agree that while some companies fail or are restructured, others succeed and that's how the free market works. By comparison, just a quarter of like GOP voters (and a third of all registered voters) agree with the statement that investment firms like Bain hurt the economy when they take over a company and lay off workers and reduce their pay and when they make money for the firm whether or not the company succeeds. But will Marianne Gingrich bite Newt? And here's another thing where Romney can take some comfort: Today's political story -- as well as tonight's debate -- is going to include a discussion about Gingrich's second failed marriage. Matt Drudge yesterday revealed that ABC got an interview with ex-wife Marianne Gingrich, who had criticized the former House speaker in a 2010 Esquire interview. Last night, the Gingrich camp responded to the upcoming interview with a letter from Gingrich's two daughters: "We will not say anything negative about our father's ex-wife. But Newt is going to talk to the people of South Carolina about the future. In an interview on "TODAY" this morning, Gingrich invoked his daughters and refused to say anything negative about Marianne. But do remember: In an interview with NBC's Chuck Todd, Gingrich declared that he didn't have a relationship with his second ex-wife. How things change...: Given how the Gingrich campaign has responded so far -- with a quick statement from his two daughters -- it's striking how much has changed in a month. And it hasn't been just this story; it's how the campaign has responded to the Romney camp in recent days. A month ago, heading into the Iowa contest, the Gingrich camp looked haphazard and unable to respond to the attacks hitting them. Now? They look much more sophisticated. ... and how they remain the same: And while things appeared to have changed for the Gingrich candidate, NBC's Garrett Haake observes how similar things have been for Romney - and how history might be repeating itself. In early December, Haake explains, Herman Cain had just dropped out of the presidential race; Mitt Romney was trying to recover from a rough interview with Fox's Brett Baier; and Newt Gingrich's surge was being battled back by Romney surrogates. Now in the final days before the South Carolina primary, Jon Huntsman has just dropped out of the presidential race; Mitt Romney is trying to recover from a rough debate outing (moderated by Baier); and Newt Gingrich's (latest) surge is being battled back by Romney surrogates. Obama campaign plays defense with first ad: So President Obama's campaign is up with its first TV ad of the cycle -- at a buy of $1.3 million and counting, per Smart Media Group Delta -- and it turns out to be a response to a $6 million blitz by the Koch brothers" Americans for Prosperity that hits Obama on Solyndra. It's a very defensive ad, something that the RNC made clear to reporters last night. The Obama camp tells First Read that the objective of their response to make clear that the attack ad is funded by oil executives -- i.e., the Koch brothers -- who want to keep America running on oil, not clean energy. And it believes such a response makes the attack less credible to viewers. A few points on this Obama ad. One, it's clear that the Solyndra ad was having an effect. Two, this just demonstrates again how important outside groups will be to this campaign. And three, this is just more evidence that 2012 is going to be a negative campaign - full of attacks and responses.. On the trail, per NBC's Adam Perez: Two days before Saturday's primary, all the candidates remain in South Carolina: Gingrich stumps in Bluffton, Beaufort, and Walterboro... Romney visits Charleston... Santorum rallies in Charleston... And all candidates (Romney, Paul, Gingrich, and Santorum) will be in North Charleston for the CNN debate, which begins at 8:00 pm ET. Countdown to South Carolina primary: 2 days Countdown to Florida primary: 12 days Countdown to Nevada caucuses: 16 days Countdown to Super Tuesday: 47 days Countdown to Election Day: 292 days

The Presidential Planner - Obama Takes SOTU Message on the Road President Obama takes his message on the road this morning after Tuesday night's State of the Union, launching a three-day tour across five battleground states. The president will focus today on U.S. manufacturing, one of the four pillars of his "Blueprint for an America Built to Last," which he outlined in Tuesday night's address. The president will tour Conveyor Engineering & Manufacturing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, today before delivering remarks. Obama will visit an Intel campus in Phoenix later. The president plans to touch on each of his pillars in the coming days. He will focus on energy Thursday with stops in Las Vegas and Denver. Obama will highlight skills for American workers in Detroit Friday. At every stop along the way, the president will push U.S. values, the fourth pillar, which will include a focus on economic fairness. In his State of the Union address, the president called for an America where everyone pays their "fair share," including the wealthy. In addition to outlining his economic agenda, the president's address Tuesday night clearly set the tone for his upcoming re-election campaign. While the president will spend the next day speaking to voters in critical swing states, the White House says the trip is purely official presidential business.

Austrian Priest Publishes Names of Ex-Catholics The Vienna archdiocese has apologized for the publication of a list of people who have formally left the Roman Catholic church. A statement says those affected have been asked "for forgiveness," noting making the names public "is not allowed by state or church rules." The statement was issued Thursday after a priest in a village north of Vienna listed local church-leavers in the diocese newspaper. The archdiocese says the priest has since "apologized in the form of a Mass and has written those affected a letter" of apology. The rash of sex abuse scandals hitting the Catholic church has led to an increased number of people formally renouncing their affiliation. That also frees them from paying a mandatory church tax.

Coalition to boost club links as students shun sport on leaving school The Football Association has pledged that 2,000 clubs will be linked to secondary schools by 2017, rugby union has a target of 1,300 clubs, cricket 1,250 clubs, and rugby league and tennis 1,000 clubs each. Schools will also receive funding to throw open facilities to the wider public in their communities. The change of policy has taken 18 months to devise and follows huge cuts to education funding for school sports, but Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt defended the timing and substance of the new policy. "The one-million target was not going to be delivered whichever government was in power, so we have acknowledged that a top-down, target-driven approach was not going to work," he said. If we don't deliver significant increases in the number of people in sport at 16, 18 and 24 then this policy will have failed, but the existing target was not going to be delivered. Even when Labour was ring-fencing money for school sport the funding was in decline, so we should not pretend that everything was rosy. Sport England will be responsible for delivering the new policy despite failing to hit previous targets. Governing bodies will face financial penalties if they fail to deliver improvements in performance.

Art in Saudi Arabia: The picture is changing SAUDI ARABIA's response to the Arab spring might be described as allergic. The tiniest whiff of protest last March prompted the government to outlaw demonstrations. Even as women, in effect, continue to be banned from driving, and dissidents jailed or banned from travelling, a new media law has clamped tighter restrictions on the press. Echoing events in tiny Bahrain, where the ruling family crushed Shia protests, Saudi security forces have responded to rising unrest in their country's east, among the kingdom's own 10% Shia minority, with blunt measures, including live gunfire that killed five protesters in recent months. Instead, the immediate beneficiaries of the Arab spring in Saudi Arabia may be a new generation of comedians and artists. They certainly stole the limelight on 19th January, at the opening of "We Need to Talk," organised in Jeddah, a Red Sea port city. Set in a bare-walled, unfinished shopping mall by Edge of Arabia, an independent arts initiative, the festival was billed as the most significant exhibition of contemporary art ever staged in the kingdom. Many of the 22 Saudi artists involved have repeatedly exhibited abroad, but until recently their work was felt to be unacceptable in the country where most of them live (see image). The upheavals across the Arab world last year appear to have changed that. Alongside the artists - whose work looks at such issues as the ban on women driving, religious extremism, Saudi bureaucracy and cultural conservatism - were also young comedians who have shot to fame online in the last year. "We shouldn't think of what has happened in the region just in political terms," says Aziz Shalan, one of the comedic collective telfaz11 (the "11" refers to 2011), whose latest video pokes fun at the Saudi religious police and was viewed more than a million times on YouTube in a week. What happened here is something bigger. It's not political change, it's social change. Other artists and comedians share this attitude. They want social change, but without seeking confrontation with the government. Their target is ordinary people, and increasingly they collaborate. Ten years ago it was largely impossible for either group to express themselves in Saudi Arabia to much more than a roomful of friends. The government controlled most channels of communication. Now artists and comedians can produce their work independently and use the internet to share it with their audience. Abdulnasser Gharem, an army officer who is also one of the leading lights in Saudi contemporary art, describes the growing movement as an evolution. It is often assumed the divisions in Saudi Arabia are religious or political, he says, but they are really between young and old. After the Arab spring I think the older generation in Saudi has realised this. Now they want to hear the younger generation.

With Horford Out, Hawks Rout Bobcats ATLANTA (AP) - Josh Smith scored 30 points, Joe Johnson added 23 and the Atlanta Hawks won their first game without All-Star center Al Horford, routing the Charlotte Bobcats 111-81 on Thursday night. The Hawks learned earlier in the day that Horford, a leader on and off the court, will miss at least three months after tearing the pectoral muscle in his left shoulder going for a rebound the previous night at Indiana. Knowing they'll be expected to take on an even larger load with Horford sidelined, Smith and Johnson came through big time against the hapless Bobcats, who lost their fifth in a row and dropped to 2-9. The Hawks dominated on the boards, outrebounding Charlotte 55-30. Byron Mullens led the Bobcats with 21 points in his first career start. Charlotte never led in the game, and the Hawks steadily pulled away from a 19-all tie late in the first quarter. Jeff Teague hit a 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left in the opening half, sending Atlanta to the locker room with a 57-47 edge. The Bobcats never seriously threatened the rest of the way. After Gerald Henderson swished a jumper that made it 59-51, the Hawks led by double figures the rest of the way. Even without Horford, the Hawks dominated the boards to improve to 8-4. Most telling was the commanding 20-4 edge at the offensive end, setting up Atlanta for 22 second-chance points. The Bobcats had just six. Playing without his so-called "'bash brother," Smith still crashed the boards for a game-high 13 rebounds. Zaza Pachulia also had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Everyone, in fact, got in on the act. Vladimir Radmanovic had eight boards, while Joe Johnson and reserve Ivan Johnson chipped in with seven apiece. Nothing went right for the Bobcats, who didn't have anyone with more than six rebounds and shot just 1 of 8 from 3-point range. The Hawks had their biggest lead at the end, after both teams had cleared their benches. Thirty-seven-year-old Jerry Stackhouse even had a rim-hanging dunk in the final minute, leading to chants of "Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!" from what remained of the sparse crowd generously listed at 10,597. The Hawks had three other players in double figures: Teague with 16 points, Ivan Johnson 12 and Willie Green 11. By comparison, Henderson, with 16, was the only other player with at least 10 points for Charlotte. Notes: The Hawks played again without Tracy McGrady (back spasms) and Marvin Williams (sprained left ankle). ... Corey Maggette (left hamstring strain) didn't travel with the Hornets. ... Ivan Johnson got his money's worth during less than 21 minutes on the court. He took nine shots from the field, got to the foul line for five attempts, worked hard on the boards and fouled out late in the game. ... Joe Johnson led the Hawks with eight assists. Follow Paul Newberry on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963

London 2012 Olympics: 'men with rhythm' have final chance to apply for opening ceremony role We need more men - particularly if you have rhythm! This means those of you who can dance but also drum, or do any sport, job, or hobby that involves keeping to time," the description specifies. Ceremonies volunteer performers simply need lots of enthusiasm, personality, a positive attitude, huge amounts of energy and a willingness to perform in front of a stadium audience and to millions of people around the world. However, to deliver Ceremonies of this scale to a world audience a substantial commitment is required. You must be able to participate in an audition in February and up to two or three rehearsal sessions each week of up to four hours per session from April 2012, and a number of all day rehearsals in the three weeks leading up to each Ceremony. Men interested in strutting their stuff in the 'Greatest Show on Earth' should register their interest by completing the online application form. The ceremonies will be directed by Danny Boyle, the man behind Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire and is rumoured to include music by Elgar and a performance from Sir Paul McCartney. The Government recently increased the budgets for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games by an extra £41m. The injection of extra public money attracted criticism from some quarters but Locog chair Lord Coe has staunchly defended the decision. The opening ceremony will go out to four billion people. It will be the largest piece of television in history. The budget is across four ceremonies and the judgment was made, which I support, that this is a unique opportunity that has been independently assessed at being worth up to £5 billion in advertising. This was a very clear declaration of intent that we want this to be a great show. There's no other opportunity to do that kind of thing to a global audience and I think it was a good decision.

Stolen Monkey Returns Home The 17-year-old monkey was returned to the San Francisco zoo on New Year's eve.

Romney says he doesn't expect to win every contest GILBERT, S.C. (AP) - Working to fend off a surging Newt Gingrich in what's become an unexpectedly tight race in South Carolina, presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Friday he expects he will lose some state contests to Gingrich during a prolonged fight for the GOP nomination. "I expect that Newt will win some primaries and contests and I expect I will as well," Romney said on the Laura Ingraham radio show a day before voting begins in the critical South Carolina primary. I'm not expecting to win them all. Romney didn't directly say he expects to lose in South Carolina, and in a separate appearance Friday described the contest as "neck-and-neck." But senior aides acknowledged they wouldn't be surprised if he lost the primary. Romney's comments were his most blunt acknowledgement yet of the trouble his campaign faced amid a reality much changed from 10 days ago when he won the New Hampshire primary in a landslide. They also recognized the possibility that Gingrich could take a South Carolina victory on to other states and win again. Romney's campaign appeared visibly rattled the day before voting began. His standing in polls had tumbled after a week of constant attack ads and self-made problems. Senior advisers and campaign hands were preparing for a long fight. He will win. It's a question of when," said Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who campaigned with Romney on Friday. Romney came to South Carolina after twin victories in Iowa and New Hampshire, only to see his Iowa victory thrown into question because of problems with the count. He then spent a week trying to answer questions about his personal wealth and when he will release his tax returns. Romney tried to change the subject from his unreleased tax returns to the ethics investigation Gingrich faced 15 years ago. Gingrich's House reprimand in 1997 presented an opportunity to talk about something else. When asked if Gingrich should release the Ethics Committee report that resulted in the first such action against a House speaker, Romney replied, "Of course he should." "Nancy Pelosi has the full record of that ethics investigation," he said. You know it's going to get out ahead of the general election. In fact, the 1,280-page committee report on Gingrich is already public. Campaign officials said Romney was referring to other documents that Gingrich has referenced and that Pelosi has also mentioned. "Given Speaker Gingrich's newfound interest in disclosure and transparency, and his concern about an `October surprise,' he should authorize the release of the complete record of the ethics proceedings against him," Romney spokeswoman Gail Gitcho said. Romney's campaign was calling South Carolina voters with a recording attacking Gingrich's ethics record and calling on him to release any documents related to the inquiry. In December, Pelosi told Talking Points Memo that she had served on the committee that conducted the investigation and implied that more information about the investigation could come to light. At the time Gingrich said the House should retaliate against Pelosi if she released any additional information. "We turned over 1 million pages of material," Gingrich said then. We had a huge report. Gingrich's campaign said Romney's criticism represented a "panic attack" on the part of his campaign. Romney on Friday said again that he wouldn't release his tax returns until April, which would probably be after Republicans choose their nominee. "I realize that I had a lot of ground to make up and Speaker Gingrich is from a neighboring state, well-known, popular in the state," Romney said as he campaigned in Gilbert. Frankly, to be in a neck-and-neck race at this last moment is kind of exciting. Romney's campaign has rolled out endorsement after endorsement this week as he has tried to build a case that he is the most electable nominee. Ohio Sen. Rob Portman joined him on Thursday and McDonnell was with Romney on Friday. McDonnell said he had been in touch with Romney's campaign for several weeks as they discussed the timing for the endorsement and decided it was most needed now, even as Romney looks ahead to a long campaign. It's the first Southern primary. I'm a Southern governor. I thought I could help," McDonnell said. The campaign's attack message jumped from rival to rival and topic to topic as Romney fought to stay afloat here. At the beginning of the week, Romney attacked rival Rick Santorum over voting rights for felons. Then he went after Gingrich's claims that he created jobs under President Ronald Reagan, saying Gingrich was living in "fantasyland." Meanwhile, his surrogates held a series of conference calls attacking his rivals, first calling Gingrich an unreliable leader and then pivoting to attack his ethics record. In Thursday night's GOP debate, Romney continued his string of off-message remarks about his wealth, saying he has lived "in the real streets of America." A multimillionaire, he has three homes, one each in Massachusetts, California and New Hampshire. Romney held three campaign events Friday in his last-ditch push to stem Gingrich's momentum. After stopping in Gilbert, he held a rally in North Charleston and flew to Greenville in the conservative upstate for a nighttime rally and a stop at his campaign headquarters before an evening event in Columbia, the state capital. On a plane between events Friday night, Romney was outwardly cheerful in spite of a difficult day ahead, gamely bantering with reporters as he served pastries from Panera Bread. "Pain au chocolat, smart move!" he said to one, proferring the box and a pair of tongs to take the desserts. As he moved farther back into the plane, though, he dispensed with the tongs. "Just use your fingers," he said. To heck with it!

Video: William Hague welcomes Burma reform but says more needs to be done Mr Hague's visit to Burma is the first by a British Foreign Secretary to the country for more than half a century. Speaking after talks with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in Rangoon he said he supported President Thein Sein's dialogue with the noble prize-winner who is likely to be returned to parliament in the April by-elections. "Progress towards democracy will continue to be made," Mr Hague said, but he warned that the government would have to ensure the by-elections, were "free and fairly held and visibly free and fair in the eyes of the world." We look to the government to improve humanitarian access to areas of ethnic conflict, and to ensure that there are elections, by-elections that will take place on the first of April. Mr Hague said there was a risk that the government's unexpected reforms had generated excitement and people would forget that the reforms have not been fully completed.

France's Armenia genocide law put on hold France's new law punishing denial of the Armenian genocide was put on hold Tuesday after politicians opposed to the legislation demanded that its constitutionality be examined. Turkey reacted furiously last week when the Senate approved the law which threatens with jail anyone in France who denies that the 1915 massacre of Armenians by Ottoman Turk forces amounted to genocide. President Nicolas Sarkozy's office brushed off angry threats of retaliation by Turkey and vowed to enforce the law within a fortnight. But on Tuesday two separate groups of French politicians who oppose the legislation -- from both the Senate and the lower house of parliament -- said they had formally requested the constitutional council to examine the law. The groups said they each had gathered more than the minimum 60 signatures required to ask the council to test the law's constitutionality. "This is an atomic bomb for the Elysee (Sarkozy's office) which didn't see it coming," said deputy Lionel Tardy, who said that most of the 65 signatories from the lower house were, like him, from Sarkozy's UMP party. The council is obliged to deliver its judgement within a month, but this can be reduced to eight days if the government deems the matter urgent. Turkey's President Abdullah Gul and Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan immediately welcomed the development. "I hope the constitutional council will do what is necessary," said Erdogan, while Gul said he was "not expecting the French from the very beginning to let their country be overshadowed" by the genocide law. France has already officially recognised the killings as a genocide, but the new law would go further by punishing anyone who denies this with up to a year in jail and a fine of 45,000 euros ($57,000). Turkey disputes the figure, arguing that 500,000 died, and denies this was genocide, ascribing the toll to fighting and starvation during World War I and accusing the Armenians of siding with Russian invaders. Erdogan last week denounced the law as "tantamount to discrimination and racism" and warned that his Islamist-rooted government would punish Paris with unspecified retaliatory measures if Sarkozy signed it into law. Ankara has already halted political and military cooperation with France and was threatening to cut off economic and cultural ties. Trade between the two states was worth 12 billion euros ($15.5 billion) in 2010, with several hundred French businesses operating in Turkey. Armenia hailed the passage of the bill through the French Senate, with President Serzh Sarkisian writing in a letter to Sarkozy: "France has reaffirmed its greatness and power, its devotion to universal human values." Around 20 countries have officially recognised the killings as genocide. Amnesty International has criticised the French law, saying it would violate freedom of expression.

Detroit's recovery a mixed blessing for used car market

Independents represent a major unknown in the N.H. primary PORTSMOUTH, N.H. - Independents are a finicky and fickle bunch. They are deeply dissatisfied with the direction of the country, with an overwhelming majority saying things are badly off track. Social issues do not concern them. Many of them voted for President Obama. And now, this critical voting bloc - which makes up as much as 45 percent of the New Hampshire electorate - is about to take center stage. If the Iowa contest exposed the conflicted mood and sharp divisions within the GOP, then New Hampshire will offer a broader snapshot of a hard-to-pin-down sliver of the electorate that has an outsize impact on elections, particularly in this swing state. The Washington Post's Joel Achenbach looks back at some of the game-changing moments from past New Hampshire primaries and how the small state plays a big factor in presidential primary elections. Jan. 5 "I'm disappointed in the unemployment rate and the economy, so I'm open and I'm listening," said Julie Gagne, 52, an independent who voted for Obama in 2008. Now, Gagne is planning to vote in the Republican primary Jan. 10. As part of her decision-making process, she last week went to see Mitt Romney at an event outside a chowder shop. A Republican-leaning voter who broke from the party only to back Obama, Gagne soured on the president last year, after losing her job. She said she was upset to see Obama focus on health care instead of the economy. Gagne went to see Romney in hopes of personally connecting with the man who she believes will probably be the eventual Republican nominee. But to her dismay, Gagne found Romney "choreographed and deliberate and stiff and staged," she said. She said she most likely will vote for Romney in the primary but reserve judgment about the general election. "I guess I'll just keep an eye on the economy and just watch how the campaign plays out," she said. That sentiment is reverberating across New Hampshire and the country, as independents express their dissatisfaction with both the president and the alternatives. Their unhappiness could not matter more: Nationally, the candidates will be competing for the roughly one-third of the electorate that is considered independent and remains up for grabs. It is not at all clear yet how Obama and his eventual Republican opponent will play with this exceptionally disgruntled group of voters, who have expressed greater displeasure with Washington than their partisan peers. Independent voters - more than eight in 10 of whom are unhappy with the country's political system - are more deeply unhappy with Washington than are Democrats or Republicans, and they're far more apt than others to blame both sides in Congress. Fully 39 percent of independent voters in Washington Post-ABC News polling said they're "angry" about the way the federal government works, higher than the numbers among Democrats and Republicans. They are no less critical of the particular candidates. While Obama appears to have disappointed many independents who supported him in 2008, Romney has hardly locked them down. Even though Romney holds a double-digit lead in recent New Hampshire polls, his support is weaker among independents, who have also flocked to former Utah governor Jon Huntsman and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Current oil prices are "very reasonable" Kuwait: Current oil prices are "very reasonable" Jan 11 05:50 AM US/Eastern KUWAIT CITY (AP) - Kuwait's oil minister says international markets need more oil, and that the Gulf country considers the current price of crude "very reasonable." The country's official news agency quoted Mohammed al-Busairi as saying that Kuwait's daily production exceeded 3 million barrels last month. Al-Busairi made the comments to KUNA late Tuesday amid concerns that Iran might try to close the vital Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for new U.S. sanctions on its central bank. The sanctions would make it difficult for Iran to sell its crude.

Deadly Pakistan blast called accident KHANPUR, Pakistan, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- Pakistani officials said the explosion that killed 10 people in Khanpur Sunday was caused by an electric transformer and not a terrorist bomb. Twenty other people were injured in the blast that occurred when a flag being carried by one of the marchers accidentally touched a live electrical wire, a hospital official told reporters. Six of the injured were reported in critical condition. The Associated Press of Pakistan said initial reports said the blast was caused by a bomb; however, that conclusion was later discounted.

3 1/2-inch nail removed from man's brain ORLAND PARK, Ill., Jan. 20 (UPI) -- An Illinois man is recovering after surgery to remove a 3 1/2-inch nail he didn't realize he had inadvertently shot into his brain, his fiance said. Dante Autullo, 32, was recovering Friday at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn after surgery Thursday to remove the nail and replace a contaminated piece of skull with mesh and titanium, the Chicago Tribune reported. He had shot the nail into his brain with a nail gun while working in the garage of his Orland Park home in suburban Chicago Tuesday morning -- but didn't know it for 36 hours. The nail gun had recoiled, bringing it against his head, and he thought the small wound was from contact with the gun, his fiance, Gail Glaenzer, said. Autullo was walking, talking, even working at his side job shoveling snow Tuesday, with the nail in his brain, and then went to work Wednesday, the Chicago Sun-Times reported. But the pain grew severe after a nap Wednesday. His head hurt. I asked him what his pain was on a scale of 1 to 10 and he said, 14. And he was nauseous," Glaenzer said. The nail was millimeters from the part of the brain that controls all motor functions, X-rays showed. Autullo was awake and talking Friday at the hospital, where he was expected to remain three more days.

Sketch: a Scottish uprising at PMQs For once, Ed Miliband was not David Cameron's main target at Prime Minister's Questions. It was the Scottish National Party, represented in the Commons yesterday by a small, scowling clan of MPs. Mr Cameron accused them of delaying the proposed referendum on independence. "It's not a referendum they want," he chortled, "it's a never-endum!" By the look of them, what they really wanted was a punch-up outside a chip shop. At both PMQs and the half-hour of Scottish Questions which preceded it, the SNP's proud guerrillas heckled ceaselessly, noisily and for the most part unintelligibly whenever the topic of Scottish independence was raised. "Give way!" they bawled at Mr Miliband. "Shut up!" they bawled at Mr Cameron. When the Prime Minister said he and the Labour leader agreed that the United Kingdom should remain united, they applauded ironically. They sounded like a vanload of football fans on a day trip south of the border for a match against the Auld Enemy. If they couldn't defeat the English, they could at the very least tear down the Wembley goalposts and make off with chunks of the turf. Some of them had prepared more diligently than others. Pete Wishart (Perth and North Perthshire) announced during Scottish Questions that the referendum would definitely take place "in the autumn of 1914," a time surely inconvenient to voters, many of whom will be otherwise engaged at the Western Front. Angus Robertson (Moray) hauled his party back on track during PMQs, by asking a question that combined a boast about the SNP's supposedly "overwhelming mandate," an irrelevant swipe at Margaret Thatcher, and the claim that the English were "dictating to Scotland." It was as though he were the caller in a game of SNP Cliché Bingo. If he'd mentioned North Sea oil I'd have had a full house. Throughout the arrow-shower of abuse raining down on him from these smart-suited Bravehearts, Mr Cameron seemed unruffled. Of course, these are early days. For example, as the Scottish Secretary Michael Moore admitted, it's still to be decided whether Scots who live outside Scotland will be allowed to vote. Presumably they must, if only to avoid excluding the SNP's biggest celebrity supporter, Sean Connery, a man who loves Scotland so much he lives in the Bahamas. All this squabbling meant there was less pressure than usual on Mr Miliband. Despite a wretched start to the year he appeared to be in reasonable spirits. Normally the Labour leader looks like a man wearing an itchy jumper two sizes too small for him, but here he seemed, if not cheerful, then at least not suicidal. He and Mr Cameron bickered over which government's fault it was that train fares have shot up. It was a debate that, in a sense, both men lost, by looking at it solely from their own viewpoint rather than the public's. No one pointed out that passengers are surely past caring who put fares up first; they just want them to come down again. Mr Cameron's attacks on the Opposition were largely restrained, although on the question of executive pay he accused the last government of doing "sweet nothing." Probably he was muddling the romantic term "sweet nothings" and the rather less romantic term "sweet FA." If he has a habit of confusing the two, one dreads to think what he whispers into the fragrant Samantha's ear.

Can power actually make you feel taller? A series of experiments conducted by American researchers confirmed that there is a relationship between feelings of power and our perception of our own height. According to the research, from Cornell University School of Industrial and Labour Relations in New York, there is a physical experience that goes with feeling powerful. Professor Jack Goncalo, who led the study, said: "Although a great deal of research has shown that physically-imposing individuals are more likely to acquire power, this work is the first to show that being powerful may actually make people feel taller than they are. We found that people literally perceived themselves as taller when they occupied a more powerful position. He said it raised the possibility that world leaders were less able to feel empathy and relate to "little people" because they actually felt bigger. Similarly, short people might attempt to capture power by physically elevating themselves above others. The findings are to be published in the scientific journal Psychological Science.

Young people today 'better savers than their parents' The "Skins" generation is less materialistic than the babyboomers, preferring to save for university rather than save for a car or a home, if the latest research is to be believed. According to a survey by Barclays, more than third of people over the age of 45 said they had saved for a car when they were young, while only 15pc of young people now actively save for their first car. It also showed that 29pc of young people today saved for university, compared with just 6pc of over-45s. Barclays omits to mention that most students 20 years ago could count on grants and free tuition to get through university. Today, it costs more than £20,000 to embark on a three-year degree - and that's before day-to-day living costs are taken into consideration. The research was presented at the House of Commons in a session where representatives from charities, government bodies, specialist youth agencies and the corporate sector discussed new ways to build the financial skills of the next generation. Michelle Smith, head of UK consumer and corporate Affairs at Barclays, said: "It is great to see, in spite of a tough economic climate, that so many young people are regularly setting money aside. Young people are now presented with numerous and sometimes complex financial choices which their parent's generation did not have to face, including higher education costs and house prices. Indeed, saving for university has seen the biggest shift in attitude.

Writers, Art Directors and Now Uggie January 5, 2012, 3:40 pm Until someone or Kanye West tells us otherwise, the Bagger will take this as evidence that blog campaigns and wild Twitter sprees: The fine folks at Movieline, who started the "Consider Uggie" campaign on behalf of the little dog in "The Artist," point us to a prize that the Jack Russell terrier has already won. It's from the French, bien sûr. Last month he earned a special mention in the Prix Lumière Awards, France's equivalent of the Golden Globes, with "The Artist" picking up four other nominations - best film, best director, best actor and best actress - over all. Like any burgeoning star, Uggie is now going on a major victory lap, Movieline reports. He'll be making TV appearances in London (including on Graham Norton's show and the BBC's "Newsround") and at a screening of the film for the British charity Dogs Trust. Perhaps a red carpet meet-cute with one of the group's pups could be engineered, á la the human stars of "The Artist"? We smell a sequel!

Why Ron Paul is Mitt Romney's best friend, part two DERRY, N.H. - Rick Santorum has it all planned out. "Several races down the road, this field will narrow and it will be a one-on-one race - Mitt Romney against Rick Santorum - and we'll win this race," the Pennsylvania senator said at an event here Monday afternoon. One major problem: Ron Paul. We wrote before on this blog about how Paul was Romney's "best friend" in the Iowa caucuses, because he was instrumental in chopping down Newt Gingrich, while not really threatening Romney to become the GOP nominee. Well, Paul is also a big help to Romney post-Iowa, and here's why: Republican presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) holds a town hall meeting with employees of Timberland LLC on Monday in Stratham, N.H. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Santorum and the other GOP presidential candidates all seem to be shooting for the path to victory he described above - i.e. survive long enough to get Romney mano-a-mano and try to beat him then. The problem with that theory is that Paul ain't going anywhere. His campaign has acknowledged it is shooting for a brokered convention (more on this idea later today) and is already discussing its strategy for after Florida's primary on Jan. 31. And he can do it - or try, at least - because he's got a very reliable base that will continue to fund his campaign even as it becomes clear he's not going to win. So why does that matter? With Paul still in the race, it becomes much harder for whatever other non-Romney candidate might emerge, because the anti-Romney vote is suddenly split in two. If Paul can continue to take 15 or 20 percent of the vote - or even just 10 percent - in these contests, the threshold of victory for Romney in that three-way race is much lower than it would be in a head-to-head race. And the more Romney keeps finishing first, the more it will be clear that he's the presumptive nominee, which will probably only increase the margin of his victories. At that point, it will likely be impossible for the non-Romney candidate to continue to fund and run a real campaign. Remember 2008, when Mike Huckabee seemed to be sticking around even as the race was pretty clearly coming down to Romney and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.)? Huckabee's continued presence in that race - particularly on Super Tuesday - similarly split the anti-McCain vote and probably ruined any chance Romney had of overtaking the frontrunner. This time, Romney could very well be on the winning side of that equation.

Growing IRS workload causing problems Watchdog: Growing IRS workload causing problems Jan 11 11:04 AM US/Eastern By ALAN FRAM Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - A government watchdog says the Internal Revenue Service can't fully handle identity theft cases and fraudulent tax refund claims or adequately answer taxpayers' questions because its budget is too small to deal with its growing workload. A report by national taxpayer advocate Nina E. Olson says that last year the IRS identity theft caseload grew by 20 percent to more than 226,000. She says the number of tax returns the agency decided needed additional screening for possible fraud exceeded 1 million, a 72 percent increase over 2010. Olson says Congress should give the IRS enough money to perform properly. This year's agency budget is $11.8 billion. That's $300 million less than last year. The taxpayer advocate is an independent watchdog within the IRS that reports annually on the agency's performance.

He Shoots. He Scores? From Soccer to Lacrosse, Goalkeepers Get in on the Act The ball, kicked routinely by the goalkeeper for the Everton soccer team, soared through the night sky at Goodison Park in Liverpool, England, bounced once - and weirdly - and landed in the opposition's net. From roughly 100 yards, a goalkeeper had scored a goal. In a soccer game. In one of the world's best professional leagues. The goalkeeper, Tim Howard, declined to celebrate. What he had done was remarkable - he understood that. But it was also embarrassing. He evidently understood that, too. It had happened to him. "It's not a nice place to be," Howard told reporters in Liverpool after the game, referring to his counterpart, Bolton's Adam Bogdan. I've been there - a long, long time ago. A goal such as Howard's - scored from a distance roughly the length of an American football field - had happened once before in the 20-year history of the English Premier League. Goals somewhat like it have been scored in other professional leagues, in college games and in recreational league games, too. But not often. And no one connected to those moments - the scorers, those scored upon, those there to witness them - tends to forget. Ever. Indeed, the list of goalies who scored their own goals in any sport - hockey, lacrosse - makes for an odd, enduring subcategory of rare athletic accomplishment. In the history of the N.H.L., for instance, 11 goalies have scored a goal. Of course, that has always happened once the opposing goalie has left the ice. No goalie has scored with their rival still manning his position, oversize pads, glove and stick at the ready. The first goalie to score a goal in a professional game was Michel Plasse of Kansas City in the Central Hockey League, who shot the puck the length of the ice into an empty net in the final minute against Oklahoma City on Feb. 21, 1971. "I was just trying to clear the puck out of there," said Plasse, who died in 2006. It was a hell of a shot! On six occasions when N.H.L. goaltenders have scored, the goalie got credit for the tally merely because he was the last to touch the puck before an opponent accidentally put it in his own net. "It was a cheesy goal," said Chris Mason of the Nashville Predators after being credited with such a goal in 2006. I don't even like counting one like that as a goal. But five other times, an N.H.L. goalie actually shot it all the way down the ice, à la Plasse. Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers was the first on Dec. 8, 1987, and the second during a playoff game on April 11, 1989. Evgeni Nabokov of the San Jose Sharks was the most recent, on March 10, 2002. Martin Brodeur of the Devils has been credited with two goals in his career. The first he shot into an empty net in a 1997 playoff game against his hometown Montreal Canadiens. "I was freaking out - it was unbelievable," Brodeur said. Goalies have scored at least 14 goals in the 24-year history of the National Lacrosse League and its predecessor, the Major Indoor Lacrosse League, the wintertime professional box lacrosse circuits whose games are played on the floors of ice hockey rinks. In each case, the ball was shot into an empty net. The glory of scoring as a goalie brims over on a lacrosse message board titled "Have You Ever Scored Playing Goal???" "I have done it once in a 4 year career - it was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my whole life," said a correspondent named CStan10GK. . "The best one was a side arm snipe from around midfield (indoor)," wrote another named Gardinerkeepa00, "the ball hit the other goalie in the dome and hit under the crossbar, I felt kinda bad, but it was sweet." "One look at me and you'll know I didn't run up the floor and score," said Pat O'Toole, who, with the Rochester Knighthawks, became the first goalie in the lacrosse league's history to score a regular-season goal, in 2001, and a playoff goal, in 2003, both on long shots into empty nets. O'Toole and other box lacrosse goalies wear about 50 pounds of protective equipment. But in a career spanning the 1960s and "70s, Buff MacCready, a goalie in the summertime Ontario box league, scored 15 goals, usually by hulking up the floor in full gear and joining the attack during regular play. He wound up with 608 career assists. It has happened only a handful of times in collegiate field lacrosse. But in those cases the goalie has run most of or all the way down the field and scored on the opposing goalie.

Arsenal hit back to win all-Premiership FA Cup tie January 29, 2012 -- Updated 2135 GMT (0535 HKT) Arsenal's second half goalscorers Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott celebrate their team's second half revival. Robin van Persie scores twice as Arsenal beat Aston Villa 3-2 Arsenal trailed 2-0 at halftime in FA Cup fourth round tie Sunderland and Middlesbrough draw 1-1 in north-east derby Liverpool drawn at home to Brighton in last 16 draw (CNN) -- Arsenal recovered from two goals down at halftime to beat Aston Villa 3-2 in their English FA Cup fourth round tie at the Emirates Sunday. Arsenal looked headed out of this year's competition after goals from Richard Dunne and England striker Darren Bent left them trailing. But Arsene Wenger's men grabbed three goals in eight second half minutes to spare their blushes in the all-Premier League clash. Two Robin van Persie penalties to take his tally for the season to 25 were separated by a Theo Walcott goal. "We wanted to stay in the Cup," Wenger told ESPN as he explained their recovery. Two-nil was very harsh for us at half-time. It was just a question of keeping our structure and then we got an early (goal to make it) 2-1. In an earlier clash Sunday, Sunderland salvaged a 1-1 home draw against second flight north-east neighbors Middlesbrough. Barry Robson gave Middlesbrough a deserved first half lead, but it was his mistake that allowed Frazier Campbell to score the equalizer on his return after a long-term injury. The winners of their replay will take on Arsenal in the last 16, while Liverpool's reward for knocking bitter rivals Manchester United out of the FA Cup Saturday was a home tie against second-tier Brighton. Tottenham, third in the Premier League, must travel to Stevenage, who play in the third flight, while favorites Chelsea are at home to Birmingham, who won last season's League Cup but were also relegated.

Tim Tebow sets Twitter record REUTERS/Marc Piscotty Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow jumps into the crowd after throwing the winning touchdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers during overtime in their NFL AFC wildcard playoff football game in Denver, Colorado, January 8, 2012. By Craig Kanalley, Social Media Editor at NBC News Not only did Tim Tebow record his first playoff victory as an NFL quarterback on Sunday, he set a Twitter record. Twitter announced this afternoon that the social network erupted for 9,420 tweets per second after Tebow's 80-yard touchdown pass in overtime gave Denver a 29-23 win over Pittsburgh. That's a new tweets/per second record for a sports event. It also, inevitably, gave new life to the meme of Tebowing. To put this into perspective, CNBC's Darren Rovell notes that Tebow's pass beat notable events in the past year like the Royal Wedding (3,966 tweets/second), Osama Bin Laden's death (5,106 tweets/second) and Steve Jobs's death (6,049 tweets/second). The previous sports record was 7,196 tweets/second after Japan defeated the United States in a women's World Cup match, USA Today reports. Tebow's touchdown even topped Beyonce's announcement that she was pregnant at the MTV Music Awards, which led to 8,868 tweets/second. At 8 p.m. ET on Sunday, "Tebow" was found in 6.46% of all tweets, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Tebow got plenty of attention on Twitter last night for another reason. The Associated Press NFL account @AP_NFL noted that he recorded 316 passing yards and 31.6 yards per pass, interesting since he is a fan of the Bible verse John 3:16. The stat was passed around the social network all night. Even so, Tebow didn't set the all-time tweets/second record, as a Japanese movie prompted 25,088 tweets/second in December, per The Next Web. But there's always next game against the Patriots. Follow Craig on Twitter, subscribe to his Facebook posts, or circle him on Google+.

Arab body calls for pullout of monitors in Syria CAIRO (AP) - A pan-Arab body called Sunday for the immediate withdrawal of the Arab League monitors in Syria because President Bashar Assad's regime has kept up killings of government opponents even in the presence of the observers. The 88-member Arab Parliament said that Arabs are angered by the Syrian regime's ongoing killings while the nearly 100 monitors are in the country. The monitors are supposed to be ensuring Syria complies with terms of the League's plan to end the 9-month-old crackdown on dissent - a plan Syria agreed to on Dec. 19. However, the Kuwaiti head of the Arab Parliament, Ali Salem al-Deqbasi, said the presence of the monitors is distracting from the "flagrant violations" committed by Assad's regime. "The killing of children and the violation of human rights law is happening in the presence of Arab League monitors, raising the fury of Arab people," he said. "The mission of the Arab League team has missed its aim of stopping the killing of children and ensuring the withdrawal of troops from the Syrian streets, giving the Syrian regime a cover to commit inhumane acts under the noses of the Arab League observers," al-Deqbasi said in a statement. The Arab League created the Arab Parliament, which is made up of lawmakers and advisers from states around the Middle East. Its recommendations are nonbinding and it operates separately from the Arab League. While the Arab Parliament has little sway on Damascus or the Arab League, al-Deqbasi's remarks about the observer mission represents growing concern about the monitors' ability to deter Assad's regime from killing protesters. According to activists, more than 150 people have been killed across the country since the observers began their one-month mission on Tuesday. The U.N. says more than 5,000 people have died as the government has sought to crush the revolt. The Arab League plan demands that the government remove its security forces and heavy weapons from cities, start talks with the opposition and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country. It also calls for the release of all political prisoners. The ongoing violence in Syria, and questions about the human rights record of the head of the Arab League monitors, Sudanese Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, are reinforcing the opposition's view that Syria's limited cooperation with the observers is merely a ploy by Assad to buy time and forestall more international condemnation and sanctions. The Syrian opposition has called for the removal of al-Dabi, a longtime loyalist of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted on an international arrest warrant on charges of genocide in the Darfur region.

Iran plans new drills near Strait of Hormuz TEHRAN, Iran - Iran is planning new military exercises near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to a naval commander, after threatening to close the strait and completing another set of maneuvers. One sixth of the world's oil passes through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's threat to close the passage if the West imposes sanctions on its oil exports unsettled an already nervous world oil market. The semiofficial Fars news agency late Thursday quoted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's naval commander, Adm. Ali Fadavi, as saying that the upcoming exercise would be the seventh staging of an annual drill called "The Great Prophet." Video: Iran continues threats against oil shipping Iran warns U.S. to back off from Persian Gulf U.S.: Warships will sail despite Iran's threats Fadavi said the next round of war games would be "different" from previous ones. He did not elaborate. The admiral said the drill would take place in the Iranian month of Bahman, which roughly corresponds to February. The announcement comes just days the European Union said it was considering a blanket ban on all Iranian oil imports, a ban which would deal a serious blow to Iran's economy - already struggling under a raft of international sanctions. The Guards, Iran's most powerful military force, have the same air, naval and ground branches as the regular military. They are also in charge of Iran's missile program. Iran's navy ended a 10-day drill Tuesday in the waters off the Strait. Military officers said the purpose was to show off Iran's prowess and defense capabilities. The drill, including widely publicized missile tests, was carried out as international criticism mounts over Tehran's nuclear program. The West believes the program is aimed at developing atomic weapons. Iran denies that, insisting that it is for peaceful purposes. The U.S. has recently tightened sanctions on Iran, banning transaction with Iran's central bank. That could cripple Iranian oil sales by limiting financial transactions. Iran threatened to close the strait if the West tried to limit or stop Iran's own oil exports, which account for 80 percent of the country's public revenues. The country regularly conducts maneuvers and has also been active in fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden.

David Cameron and President Hamid Karzai to sign agreement on Afghanistan's future Some of that work is already under way, including the creation of new police stations, education schemes for women and a UK-funded Afghanistan Business Innovation Fund, according to Downing Street. Mr Cameron is also keen to seek assurances that Afghan forces will be able to maintain security on their own to prevent the country from being used as a safe haven for international terrorists. It follows the announcement by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday, following talks with President Karzai, that France will pull its troops out a year earlier than planned. Mr Karzai said in Paris that Afghan troops would replace the French. It also comes as the Ministry of Defence confirmed a British soldier from the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment had been killed in Afghanistan. It brings the total number of British military personnel killed in Afghanistan since the start of operations in October 2001 to 397. The soldier, who has not yet been named, was serving as part of Combined Force Nahr-e Saraj (North), and was taking part in an International Security Assistance Force foot patrol to disrupt insurgent activity when he received a fatal gunshot wound.

Couple Recalls Being Stranded on Cruise Ship Joe and Stacey Noriega spent their honeymoon stranded aboard the Carnival Splendor, which suffered an engine malfunction, leaving the ship without electricity or plumbing for three days in November 2010. "It was not the honeymoon I imagined at all," Stacey told "20/20." Courtesy the Noriegas

Morgan State beats Hampton 60-55 for MEAC crown By MIKE CRANSTON The Associated Press Saturday, March 12, 2011; 5:10 PM WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- Brandon Tunnell scored 20 points, including four free throws in the final 35 seconds, and Hampton secured its first NCAA tournament berth in five years with a 60-55 victory over Morgan State on Saturday in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference title game. The second-seeded Pirates (24-8) overcame poor shooting with stifling defense to hold off the fourth-seeded Bears (17-14), who had won the last two MEAC titles. Darrion Pellum added 12 points for Hampton, which held Morgan State scoreless for more than 8 1/2 minutes in the second half. DeWayne Jackson had 25 points, including a 3-pointer with 25 seconds left to get Morgan State within 57-55. But Tunnell hit two free throws on the next possession before Jackson missed a long 3 to end coach Todd Bozeman's hopes of another NCAA appearance. Hampton, best known for its stunning upset of Iowa State in 2001, is headed back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since losing to Monmouth in the 2006 play-in game. Shooting just 36 percent from the field, the Pirates secured their fifth straight win by holding Morgan State to 30 percent from the field to overcome a 44-30 disadvantage on the glass. Stymied by a trapping zone defense, Morgan State missed 3-pointers, layups and mid-range jumpers in a drought that stretched for 8:35. Hampton's 12-0 run forged a 46-37 lead with less than 8 minutes left. Then it was Hampton's turn to go cold. The Pirates managed one field goal over the next 6 minutes and Morgan State got within 48-47 with 3:35 to go. Five straight free throws by Pellum and Tunnell's driving layup gave Hampton some breathing room and ended Morgan State's two-year dominance of the league under Bozeman. Best known for his tumultuous 3 1/2-year tenure at California in the 1990s that ended with him being dismissed and receiving an eight-year ban for major recruiting violations, Bozeman nearly engineered an impressive comeback. A day after knocking off top-seeded Bethune-Cookman, Morgan State struggled to get in a rhythm early. The Bears missed their first six shots, committed three turnovers and saw point guard Larry Batsfield pick up two quick fouls in falling behind 7-0 and 10-2. With the animated Bozeman stomping his feet, Morgan State rallied to take a 29-28 halftime lead thanks to their dominance on the boards. The lead would have been bigger in a poor shooting first half for both teams if Hampton's Mike Tuitt wasn't constantly beating different defenders off the dribble to collect 12 first-half free throw attempts. But no other player ended up in double figures after Jackson, who shot 9 of 19 and grabbed six rebounds. This version corrects headlines

Swiss army battles snow at Davos Summary Box: Swiss army battles snow at Davos CREATING BARRIERS: Thousands of Swiss soldiers and police have been shoveling snow to erect a "ring of steel" against unwelcome demonstrators hoping to gatecrash the annual meeting of political and economic elites in the Swiss Alps at Davos. SNOW JOB: A Swiss army spokesman said Tuesday that heavy snowfall over the past two weeks made putting up 11 miles (18 kilometers) of security barriers around the heart of Davos an arduous task. AVALANCHE THREAT: Davos saw 16 inches (40 centimeters) of fresh snow overnight, with roadside mounds already reaching heights of more than 8 feet (about 2.5 meters).

Peddling Influence - Public Eye - CBS News CBS/iStockphoto "Decider" is so 2006. Nowadays it's all about the "Influencers." And contrary to the 'decider' where you couldn't really pass yourself off as The One, the bonus about 'Influencers' is that you may be one and not even know it. According to Editor and Publisher, there's a new Newspaper National Network study out today: Newspaper Web site users, who also read the print editions, are 52% more likely to shape opinions about new products, technologies, and issues than those who use the Web without consulting newspapers, according to a new study from the Newspaper National Network (NNN). This inspired me to ask a very basic question: What the heck is an influencer? So I posed that question to NNN President Jason Klein, who responded: The Influencer concept has been around for a while, and was crystallized in a 2003 book by Jon Berry and Ed Keller called 'The Influentials: One American in Ten Tells the Other Nine How to Vote, Where to Eat, and What to Buy. There is standard definition of an Influential used by researchers, which involved taking part in 3 or more of a defined list of activities, like "running for public office." Millward Brown used this standard definition. We found that 47% of newspaper website users are influentials based on this definition, well more than the "one in ten" in the book. This all seems to be a bit circular to this writer, as people who care about the news follow it and end up being better informed. Therefore, they're more reliable and knowledgable than, say, the guy who is stapled to his loveseat watching the NFL Network. So it's not that reading your newspaper and its online version automatically makes you an "Influencer," it's more the other way around - these are just things that "Influencers" do. I asked Klein "Isn't this just another way to say 'These people are plugged in?'" And he said: Not entirely. We were surprised by the finding versus social network sites, which did not perform as well on a variety of measures, as shown in the chart in the study. In the peer to peer world, not every person's opinion is equal. The Myspacers may be plugged in to others, but they aren't necessarily well informed. So there you have it, that's the kernel in this report. Despite all the "new media" options out there, the old school traditional media still carries more weight when it comes to making friendly conversation or giving advice -even in the Facebook or MySpace demographics. So it remember that the next time you're counting the people who have 'friended' you. Logoff for a little while and pick up the dead tree newspaper instead.

Scientists grow sperm in laboratory dish The findings of the sperm trial have been revealed in a major scientific journal published by Nature. Now the scientists who made the discovery have begun experiments that will hopefully lead to the 'Holy Grail' - human sperm grown outside a man's body. Stephen Gordon, a leading NHS male infertility consultant, praised the breakthrough. He said:"This is an amazing development that could revolutionise fertility treatment and allow every man to be a natural father. Infertile men naturally want to be the father of their child but at present have to accept that can't happen. With the mouse discovery, that could now be a possibility. Professor Richard Sharpe, one of the UK's top fertility scientists, based at Edinburgh University, who hopes to work on the project, said: "This is a significant step forward towards making human sperm." The problem of male infertility has grown over the last 50 years and has been matched by huge decrease in sperm counts in men. Some of this has been attributed to environmental factors such as pollution and female hormones appearing in plastic packaging. Mr Gordon, a urologist, who practises at Epsom Hopsital, Surrey, said: "Even with our latest microsurgical techniques there are still thousands of men - who are otherwise healthy -who can't naturally father babies and rely on sperm donation." Professor Huleihel said his team were now working 'as quickly as possible' to reproduce their success in mice to help infertile men. We have already applied the same tests as we did with mice in the laboratory, using human cells, but as yet have not had success. We are confident that if it can be done in a mammal such as a mouse it can be done in humans. We are experimenting with a number of different compounds to get the germ cells to grow into sperm. And we believe it will be possible. And, hopefully, soon. The sperm production breakthrough is reported in the Asian Journal of Andrology this month. Professor Huleihel added: "We were able to produce viable sperm that could have been used to create baby mice. The sperm appeared healthy and were not genetically damaged. It has taken us several years to reach this stage so a technique to create human sperm won't come overnight but we have started that research already after our success with mice. In an attempt to speed up the search for a way of making human sperm Professor Huleihel's team is about to start talks with Professor Richard Sharpe at Edinburgh University. Professor Sharpe said: "What this research shows is that it will be possible to make human sperm outside the body. The germ cells just need the right environment. That's the tricky part getting them to think they are in the testes Professor Sharpe believes that one novel way may make.it possible. He proposes using a live mouse as a 'host' to make human sperm. He said: "What you would do is take some human testicular tissue with germ cells and place that under the skin of the mouse and use it to incubate the cells. You could then extract any sperm and use it in fertility treatment. But we would have to demonstrate that there were no mouse cells present in the extracted sperm if we were to use this technique and I believe that's possible. Mr Gordon, who also treats infertile men at the private New Life Clinic, said: "Hundreds of millions have been poured into research into female infertility but research into male infertility attracts relatively little interest. There will be a lot of infertile men hoping this research succeeds and that in future they won't have to rely on a sperm donor to have child. Before human sperm grown in a laboratory could be used in fertility treatment it would have to be licensed. But researchers like Professor Sharpe believes that this hurdle will be overcome. He said: "The main thing that would have to be proved is that the sperm was not genetically damaged and was the same as sperm produced in the testes. Similar checks are already carried out on eggs and embryos used in women's fertility treatment.

Americans briefly held by Iraqi forces Four US embassy security staff were held by Iraqi forces Thursday over "suspicious" activity in central Baghdad but were released shortly after following an apparent misunderstanding, officials said. The two men and two women were driving a BMW with local licence plates, rather than diplomatic registration, and were all wearing flak jackets and armed with pistols and automatic weapons, said Baghdad provincial governor Salah Abdulrazzaq. "They (security forces) stopped them, they checked their (personal ID) badges, they found them suspicious," he told AFP, adding the group had been stopped at 9:00 am (0600 GMT) in Baghdad's central Sharchiyah neighbourhood. A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the group made up of embassy staff were briefly stopped, but released shortly afterwards when their identification badges were verified. The four were not charged with any offence. US forces completed their withdrawal on December 18 from Iraq, a country where there were once nearly 170,000 troops on more than 500 bases.

Longtime Coliseum finance director is off the payroll A top Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum official caught up in an ongoing financial scandal no longer works at the stadium, the county counsel's office said Wednesday. Ronald Lederkramer, the Coliseum's longtime finance director who was second in command, went on paid medical leave in September, shortly after a member of the stadium's governing commission demanded that he be fired. At the time, the Coliseum's interim general manager said he expected Lederkramer to return to his post. But in response to queries by The Times, Acting Assistant County Counsel Thomas Faughnan confirmed Wednesday that Lederkramer has been removed from the payroll. He provided no details. Lederkramer, reached by phone, said: "No comment as to whether I was terminated or retired." He declined to discuss the matter further. His departure is the third in the Coliseum's management ranks since The Times began reporting financial irregularities at the taxpayer-owned stadium and companion Sports Arena. According to records and interviews, Lederkramer billed the Coliseum for luxury car costs, his personal auto insurance, snoring treatments and other questionable expenses. He also used his personal Visa to buy hundreds of thousands of dollars in Coliseum equipment, enabling him to collect credit card reward points worth tens of thousands of dollars. More recently, Coliseum officials were looking into his handling of Fidelity investment accounts for the stadium, according to people familiar with the inquiry, because he had a relationship with the company for his side business providing financial planning services. Lederkramer said in an earlier interview that he did not benefit personally from the Coliseum accounts, and he has denied doing anything wrong. City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, a Coliseum commissioner, called for Lederkramer's ouster four months ago, accusing him of spending abuses and a failure to weed out alleged corruption at the stadium as keeper of the books. Parks said the interim general manager, John Sandbrook, should also be removed, in part because he was a strong defender of Lederkramer. "I'm just pleased to see that he is gone," Parks, whose district includes the Coliseum, said of Lederkramer. Patrick Lynch, who ran the Coliseum for 17 years, quit as general manager last February, after The Times reported that he allowed his then-events manager to work on the side for a company that staged rave concerts at the property. The county counsel said in October that the Coliseum's technology manager and a co-worker were no longer employed by the stadium. That followed a Times report that the manager, Leopold Caudillo Jr., directed Coliseum business to a firm he set up with the co-worker.

Woman found stabbed to death The body of a woman apparently stabbed to death shortly after being kidnapped from her home yesterday morning has been found in an abandoned car in Hackney, east London. Police were last night awaiting formal identification, but said they believed the victim was 20-year-old Kirsty Treloar. She had been abducted from her home in Brownlow Road, Hackney, at around 7.10am by a suspect driving a grey Fiat Stilo. The vehicle, containing Ms Treloar's body, was found an hour later. She was pronounced dead on the scene at 8:34am, having suffered stab wounds.

SEALs free U.S., Dane hostages in Somalia Updated at 9:23 a.m. MOGADISHU, Somalia - The same U.S. Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden parachuted into Somalia under cover of darkness early Wednesday and crept up to an outdoor camp where an American woman and Danish man were being held hostage. Soon, nine kidnappers were dead and both hostages were freed. President Obama authorized the mission two days earlier, and minutes after he gave his State of the Union address to Congress he was on the phone with the American's father to tell him his daughter was safe. Mr. Obama referred to the mission before delivering the address. U.S. officials confirmed to CBS News national security correspondent David Martin that members of SEAL Team Six -- the same unit that killed Osama bin Laden last year -- parachuted into Somalia and were engaged in a firefight as they neared the pirates' compound in Adado. SEAL Team Six spotlighted again in Somalia raid The Danish Refugee Council confirmed the two aid workers, American Jessica Buchanan and Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, were "on their way to be reunited with their families." Buchanan, 32, and Thisted, 60, were working with a de-mining unit of the Danish Refugee Council when gunmen kidnapped the two in October. The raiders came in quickly, catching the guards as they were sleeping after having chewed the narcotic leaf qat for much of the evening, a pirate who gave his name as Bile Hussein told The Associated Press by phone. Hussein said he was not present at the site but had spoken with other pirates who were, and that they told him nine pirates had been killed in the raid and three were "taken away." New intelligence emerged last week that Buchanan's health was "deteriorating rapidly," so Mr. Obama directed his security team to develop a rescue plan, according to a senior administration official who was not authorized to speak publicly. "As Commander-in-Chief, I could not be prouder of the troops who carried out this mission, and the dedicated professionals who supported their efforts," Mr. Obama said in a statement released by the White House. The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people, and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice. A Western official said the rescuers and the freed hostages flew by helicopter to a U.S. military base called Camp Lemonnier in the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. Panetta visited Camp Lemonnier just over a month ago. A key U.S. ally in this region, Djibouti has the only U.S. base in sub-Saharan Africa. Buchanan lived in neighboring Kenya before Somalia, and worked at a school in Nairobi called the Rosslyn Academy from 2007-09, said Rob Beyer, the dean of students. He described the American as easy to laugh and adventurous. "There have been tears on and around the campus today," Beyer said. She was well-loved by all her students. The timing of the raid may have been made more urgent by Buchanan's medical condition. Soevndal congratulated the Americans for the raid. Ann Mary Olsen, head of the Danish Refugee Council's international department, informed Hagen Thisted's family of the successful military operation and said "they were very happy and incredibly relieved that it is over." "We are really happy with the successful release of the innocents kidnapped by evildoers," said Mohamud Sahal, an elder in Galkayo town, by phone. They were guests who were treated brutally. That was against Islam and our culture ... These men (pirates) have spoiled our good customs and culture, so Somalis should fight back.

Virginia Lawmaker Criticizes GOP For Requiring Primary Loyalty Oath A Virginia Republican lawmaker is criticizing his state party for requiring primary voters to sign a so-called loyalty oath in order to vote in the March 6 presidential primary. The state's Board of Elections approved the proposal earlier in the week. Going forward, voters who arrive at polling sites in March will be required to sign the following statement: I, the undersigned, pledge that I intend to support the nominee of the Republican Party for president. The idea is to keep out impostor Republicans, given that Virginia has an open primary, meaning voters of all political stripes, not just Republicans, can participate in the party's presidential primary. But Robert Marshall, a state delegate, told Fox News the plan effectively would require residents in some cases to commit to a candidate they're not yet familiar with. "For the Republican Party to depart so far from what the founders wanted, I think, is a mistake," he said. It's not the first time the state GOP has made voters pledge their allegiance. Back in 2000, they had voters sign a pledge saying they wouldn't participate in the nominating process of any other parties. The latest measure is more strict -- even though it is not enforceable and anybody who breaks the pledge will face no punishment. According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, even absentee voters will receive a notice to inform them of the pledge. Meanwhile, Virginia's presidential primary ballot currently only includes two candidates -- Ron Paul and Mitt Romney. The rest did not meet the state's signature requirement, though the other candidates are challenging their exclusion in court.

Kerry Heffernan's ultimate dish: Black Sea bass "CBS This Morning: Saturday" reeled in quite a catch to share his favorite dish: chef Kerry Heffernan. He's an avid saltwater fly fisherman. And he's known for his outstanding American fare at South Gate, in Manhattan. Kerry brought his ultimate dish to the set: Roasted Whole Black Sea Bass, Stuffed with Crab. He had 20 years experience under his culinary belt, working at such restaurants as Montrachet, Le Regence, and Restaurant Bouley before landing his first job as chef de cuisine at One Fifth Avenue. In 1998, Kerry became the opening executive chef, and eventually partner at Union Square Hospitality Group's Eleven Madison Park. The restaurant received accolades from a wide variety of sources, including a tie with per se on Zagat Survey's "Top 20 Most Popular Restaurants in New York," the James Beard Foundation's award for Outstanding Service in America, Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence, and esquire magazine's "Best New Restaurant." Kerry also loves snowboarding, but fishing takes the cake for him. On weekends, he can be found doing one of his favorite things -- climbing under the docks outside his home in Sag Harbor, on Long Island, checking for oysters and clams. Enjoy all our recipes! 1 Black sea Bass, approx 4 pounds (30") Can substitute snapper or salmon of similar size) 3/4 pound crabmeat freshest is best (maine, maryland or dungeness) picked clean 3/4 Cup diced toasted white bread 2 eggs and 1/2 C heavy cream blended together 1 ea small onion diced 1 ribs celery diced 4 sprigs marjoram picked of stems 10 sprigs parsley picked of stems and roughly chopped 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 4 T butter Scale bass, and trim off all fins, leaving head and tail intact, Gut and fillet from dorsal side leaving only one incision that runs nearly the length of the fish, remove entrails and rinse well,.Remove spine,pin and "chest" bones as well as any remnants of fins inside flesh taking care not to "puncture" the fish or damage the integrity of the skin as it will eventually serve to hold everything together. Preheat oven to 475 F In a large heavy bottomed skillet "sweat" the onion and celery in 2 of the 4 T of butter, seasoning with salt and pepper, for 5 minutes, add garlic and stir again, remove from heat, add herbs diced bread and crabmeat and 1/2 of the egg cream mixture gently work stuffing to insure that it is barely combined and well moistened, add more egg cream mixture if it seems dry but not so much as to make it too "soggy." Dry and season inside of bass with salt and pepper. Set bass upright with cavity exposed and gently fill with as much stuffing as would nearly recreate the size of the fish with entrails etc, (any extra can be formed and sauteed into cakes) Using approx 20" ' lengths of butcher twine, gently tie fish around the girth approx 5 times every 2 to 3 " or so in the thickest sections to nearly re-close the incision to the original shape of the fish, tie gently as stuffing will expand Coat exterior with remaining soft butter and season well with S+P ,roast in oven for approx 15 minutes until browned and nearly done (use a very sharp small knife to make and incision in the thickest part,flesh should appear just opaque) it will "carry over" and continue cooking out of the oven as it "rests" Allow to rest 10 minutes, remove strings very carefully and slice into bone- free prestuffed disks with an electric knife For more of Kerry's recipes, go to Page 2.

Parole agent shot, suspect arrested LOS ANGELES, Jan. 4 (UPI) -- Los Angeles Police arrested a parole violator described as "a violent criminal" who allegedly shot a parole agent Wednesday, law enforcement sources said. Police shut down a freeway and locked down a large area in Los Angeles before apprehending the suspect. The Interstate 210 freeway was shut down in both directions near a private residence where Los Angeles Police Department Lt. Andy Nieman said officers surrounded the suspect. Citing law enforcement officials, the Los Angeles Times reported the suspect was taken into custody about 6 p.m. PST, almost 5 hours after allegedly shooting the parole agent, whose name had not been reported. The parole agent, accompanied by Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department officers, had been attempting to arrest the man -- who Nieman said was wanted for multiple parole violations. Citing court records, the Times said the suspect, Steven Hoff, 43, was convicted in Los Angeles County Superior Court in November 2003 of being a felon in possession of a firearm and making terrorist threats. Officers had cordoned off a wide area to make sure they had the suspect encircled. Residents of an area Nieman said covered 2 1/2 to 3 square miles in the San Fernando Valley were asked to evacuate and two schools -- Brainard Elementary School and the Delphi Academy of Los Angeles -- were put on lockdown.

Draft UN Resolution Calls for Syria's Assad to Hand Power to His Deputy

Marriott Rises on Fortune's 2012 '100 Best Companies to Work For' List BETHESDA, Md., Jan. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- For the 15th consecutive year, Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) earned top marks on FORTUNE magazine's "100 Best Companies to Work For" List, rising 14 places from 71st to 57th. This distinction maintains Marriott's "All Star" status as one of only 13 companies that have appeared on every list since it launched in 1998. Marriott was the highest ranked lodging company, and the highest ranked of the four companies with 100,000 or more employees. "Marriott's culture is woven throughout every aspect of the company," said David Rodriguez, executive vice president of global human resources for Marriott International. From the company's beginning nearly 85 years ago, putting people first has been a core value. It continues to be the foundation for our success and one of the reasons why so many of our employees choose to make Marriott their career-long destination and extended family. FORTUNE specifically featured Marriott as a "Social Media Star." Last year, the company ventured into new ground by launching the popular 'My Marriott Hotel,' a social media game which allows people to run their own virtual hotel. The game has been played in 130 countries, and in addition to English will soon be available in Spanish, French, Arabic and Mandarin. The game can be found at http://www.facebook.com/marriottjobsandcareers. Marriott International and its brands also have a strong presence on Twitter, YouTube, MarriottU and China Careers blogs, and "Marriott on the Move," a blog written by the chairman, Bill Marriott, which is now distributed in Mandarin. The article noted that Marriott offers its employees tremendous career growth opportunities, highlighting that more than 3,000 managers started with the company in hourly positions. Marriott has been recognized as a great place to work by several prominent publications including Working Mother, DiversityInc, and LATINA Style magazines. The company was most recently named one of the "World's Best Multinational Workplaces" by Great Place to Work® Institute. For a list of other awards and recognition, visit http://news.marriott.com/awards-and-recognition.html. The full list of companies and related stories appear in the February 6 issue of FORTUNE, available on newsstands next week, and now at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/best-companies/2012/full_list/. SOURCE Marriott International

Peterson hearing cancelled by Golden Boy Promotions

Clegg: Israel's policies undercut talks LONDON, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg chided Israel for its settlement policies in the West Bank, saying they amounted to vandalism and undercut peace talks. Clegg said Israel's actions were making the likelihood of a negotiated settlement nearly impossible to attain, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday. "It is an act of deliberate vandalism to the basic premise on which negotiations have taken place for years and years and years," Clegg said during a joint appearance with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Monday in London. While saying Israel had "no stronger supporter ... than myself," Clegg noted, "The continued existence of illegal settlements risks making facts on the ground such that a two-state solution becomes unviable. That, in turn, will do nothing to safeguard the security of Israel itself or of Israeli citizens. That is why I condemn the continued illegal settlement activity in the strongest possible terms. His remarks drew a hostile response from Israel, with a Foreign Ministry spokesman accusing Clegg of "gratuitous bashing," the Telegraph said. "It would be much better to contribute to peace by encouraging the fragile revival of Israeli-Palestinian talks," the ministry spokesman said. Abbas said he appreciated the endorsement of the Palestinian position. "That is exactly what we wanted to hear officially from the government of the United Kingdom," he said.

Giant Salt Flats Racer Built From Airplane Gas Tank When Ed Pettus found a 700-gallon wing tank from Lockheed Super Constellation aircraft, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with it. Why, build a gigantic lakester speed-trial car, of course. "I've been a hot rodder all my life," said Pettus, a Cedar Rapid, Iowa, auto-shop owner who's also a licensed pilot. And this is the most fun car I've ever built. What he came up with is a vintage-looking, tandem-seat roadster (with the driver's seat in the back, aircraft style) that combines his love for classic speed-trial cars with his enthusiasm for vintage aircraft. The Crow Lakester runs and drives, and he's had it out to the famous El Mirage dry-lake speed course where he not only ran it but gave rides to his family and friends. How fun is it to ride in a (Bonneville) Salt Flats car? Pettus said. How many people actually get to ride in one? Pettus, who built the lakester with the help of his professional car-restorer son, Ed Jr., said it is time to hand it over to a new owner, so he's brought it to sell at the Barrett-Jackson Collector Car Scottsdale auction (Lot #1236). The Lakester recalls the hot little roadsters that were built out of surplus wing tanks after World War II during the early days of hot rodding, and then used to run for speed records at the Salt Flats and California dry lakes. They were small and aerodynamic and it didn't take a ton of horsepower to push them through the air. Just add wheels and go. Click here for full coverage of the Barrett-Jackson auctions on Speed Pettus" huge Lakester - fully 17-and-a-half feet long - is a cool piece of work, maintaining the patina of a vintage race car and incorporating old-style aircraft technology, mostly from Lockheed parts. In the double cockpit are a pair of genuine 1948 Lockheed Neptune steel gunner seats with real military web-strap seatbelts. The steering "wheel" is from a classic 1948 Rockwell Aero Commander. The stark gauges are all Lockheed, and just to drive home the point, it has an air-speed indicator instead of a speedometer. "It's a Lockheed lakester," Pettus said proudly. The gleaming aluminum body carries on the theme, polished but left with its original patina, rough welds and all; it was being used as a hot-water tank when Pettus discovered it. He's added an aerodynamic headrest built from an aircraft fuselage, and a group of side scoops were hand-cast in aluminum out of parts from an old La Salle. Pettus showed off the front end, the axle taken from an antique truck and the long radius arms once part of a 1944 farm tractor. Watch Maxim's Hometown Hottie April Rose check out the Barrett-Jackson auctions The Lakester took about 18 months to build, and while Pettus worked on the oddball project at his son's restoration shop, most people who saw it while it was half finished were perplexed, he said. "Nobody thought much of it until I got the wheels on," he said. Then they thought it was cool. Those wheels and tires seem awfully huge, but Pettus pointed out that he had to make the effort to keep it looking correct on a monumental scale. The headlights and taillights are pretty large, too, taken from a 1930s luxury car. "To keep it in proportion, I had to use some big stuff," he said. The engine is not all that gigantic, though, in true vintage-lakester form and because space in the back of the wing tank is at a premium. The 1.8-liter four-banger from a Toyota is boosted by a supercharger, though, to produce around 200 horsepower. That's plenty of juice to motivate an 1,100-pound streamlined car, Pettus noted. As for its worth at auction, the Crow Lakester has to be seen as a true wild card, value unknown. Barrett-Jackson has had plenty of luck with such individualistic and even artistic efforts, with the outlandish creations of the Blastolene Brothers and wacky movie and TV cars fetching some decent bids over the years. "This is kind of my own creation," Pettus said. This is just an old fuel tank that I found and thought I'd make it my own.

Florida See-Saw Tipping In Mitt Romney's Direction (The Note) JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Call it a ping-pong match or the swing of the pendulum, however you want to describe the volatile race in Florida, Mitt Romney now seems to have the upper hand. Just days ago, it looked like Newt Gingrich might have enough momentum coming out of South Carolina to claim the top prize in the Sunshine State. But with four full days of campaigning to go until next Tuesday's primary, Gingrich's star seems to be fading. Romney has opened up a 38 to 29 percent lead over Gingrich among Republican likely voters in Florida, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today. Compare that to the results of a poll taken just days ago showing Romney with 36 percent of likely primary voters to Gingrich's 34 percent. "Of course, with four days before Election Day, there is time for another reversal," Quinnipiac pollster Peter A. Brown said. Three in 10 voters say they might change their mind. But it's unlikely that between now and Tuesday Gingrich will have a better chance than he had last night to break though and the debate was an enormous missed opportunity for him. It was Romney who pulled the attack dog rug right out from under Gingrich's feet. And it was Romney who finally looked like a candidate who wants to win this election. He was aggressive and disciplined, and never allowed Gingrich to get the upper hand. Several of Romney's answers were as knife-sharp as we've seen at any debate during the primary season, particularly his laundry list of projects, including the lunar colony, that Gingrich has proposed. Gingrich, by comparison, fell flat. The fired up and aggressive Newt we saw on the campaign trail this week was not on the stage last night. Even his attempt at turning the audience against the moderator didn't work. http://abcn.ws/zNHE19 With the debates now behind us, the fight to win the fourth nominating state will largely be waged on the ground as the campaign machines of both candidates try to drive turnout on Tuesday and engage in a fierce war on airwaves. Without the political winds at his back, Gingrich could fall prey to Romney's superior resources and organization. Neither of those were enough to guarantee him wins in Iowa or South Carolina, but they might be in Florida. You know you've had a bad debate when your own spokesman can't spin it as a win, ABC's Jonathan Karl notes. Romney quite simply out-debated Gingrich - on immigration, on Freddie Mac, and even on space exploration. http://abcn.ws/z9uu7R ABC's Jon Berman reviews the greatest hits from last night's CNN debate in Jacksonville, Fla. WATCH: http://abcn.ws/xMXgY1 VIDEO: The Florida Debate in 60 Seconds: http://abcn.ws/zNBePc President Barack Obama yesterday signaled an aggressive tact for his early re-election campaign, critiquing his Republican opponents by name and insisting he's ready to "fight with every fiber of my being" for a second term. ABC News" Diane Sawyer asked Obama during an exclusive interview in Las Vegas. Obama pushed back against what he called Republicans" "rhetorical flourishes," including Newt Gingrich's oft-repeated contention that Obama is the "food stamp president." I think it's an argument that is wrong." http://abcn.ws/ywiAws (h/t ABC's Devin Dwyer) NOTED: In the same interview, President Obama denied that he was "tense" in his airport tarmac encounter with Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer Wednesday, as she has described. In her 2011 book, "Scorpions for Breakfast," Brewer accused Obama of being "condescending" and "patronizing" and complained that she and her aides were treated coldly by White House staffers. http://abcn.ws/yxGIhu (h/t ABC's Huma Khan) Two days before the crucial Florida primary, Republican presidential candidate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich goes one-on-one with ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper, this Sunday on "This Week." Then, in his State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to break through the gridlock in Washington. But can any common ground be found between congressional Republicans and the White House during an election year? House Speaker John Boehner answers the president's challenge in a "This Week" exclusive. http://abcn.ws/xcAVAj "They're trying to crucify this man and rewrite history, and rewrite what it is that he has stood for all these years," Sarah Palin said in an interview on Fox Business Network last night. It's not just Ron Paul. I believe it is also Newt Gingrich that the establishment, that the liberal media, certainly that the progressives and Democrats don't like. ...JEB BUSH CRITICIZES HIM. "Former Florida governor Jeb Bush tells National Review Online that Newt Gingrich should stop insinuating that Mitt Romney aides, due to their past work for Charlie Crist, are part of a moderate GOP conspiracy," the Review's Robert Costa reports. Earlier this week, for example, Gingrich told supporters that Romney hired Crist staffers, and emphasized its significance. "We discovered last night that Mitt Romney has picked up Charlie Crist's campaign manager," Gingrich said. I thought that told you everything you need to know about this primary. "That's not a serious accusation," Bush says. Candidates win elections. I'm not a big Charlie Crist fan, as you recall, but these guys shouldn't have that moniker attached to them, as if Governor Romney is part of some evil plot. That's ridiculous."" http://bit.ly/xoLlac "Members of Newt Gingrich's campaign accused Mitt Romney's campaign of packing the audience for the Republican presidential candidate debate on Thursday night in Jacksonville, Fla., with its own supporters to ensure that the dynamics would be favorable to Romney," the Huffington Post's Jon Ward reports. ""They definitely packed the room," Kevin Kellems, one of Gingrich's senior advisers, told The Huffington Post early Friday morning. The problem for them is their candidate, at several junctures, couldn't remember what he had said before on an issue or what the fundamental truth is on a given topic. TV viewers tend to notice and remember things like that. A more junior member of the Gingrich campaign said in an email that it was "obvious" that the Romney campaign had worked to make sure the audience was overly favorable toward the former Massachusetts governor. "I was getting calls and emails from all over saying this," the junior aide said. "Just average people saying, "Wait a minute."" http://huff.to/xwHRAy Stumping on behalf of Mitt Romney for the first time in Florida yesterday, former presidential candidate and Arizona Sen. John McCain pressed Florida voters to consider a candidate's record, not just debate performances, when choosing whom they will vote for in the Florida primary next week, ABC's Arlette Saenz notes. McCain characterized the debates as having taken on a tone that is "not healthy" and suggested they have "deteriorated into name calling." http://abcn.ws/xrIWYu There is no doubt that Super PACs, independent groups that are bankrolled by supporters of specific candidates, are playing a significant role in the 2012 primary campaign, ABC News" Amy Walter reports. Even so, don't blame the Citizens United ruling for the outsized influence of independent spending. Colby College professor Anthony Corrado, a nationally recognized expert on campaign finance, tells me in an email that "most of the activity that has taken place in the presidential race so far could have been conducted under the campaign finance rules of 2008." Or, even 2004. Back in 2004 there was this little group called "Swift Boat Veterans for the Truth" that was bankrolled by wealthy Texas home builder Bob Perry to the tune of $4.4 million. Also that year, two guys who wanted to see a Democrat elected to the White House, George Soros and Peter Lewis, pumped more than $38 million of their own money into an independent organization called "Americans Coming Together." Sheldon Adelson didn't need Citizens United ruling to allow him to put as much money as he wanted into an independent organization. In the olden days, pre-Citizens United, he would have formed a 527, like he did in 2008 when he put $30 million into a group called "Freedom's Watch." What the Citizens United decision does allow that wasn't the case back in earlier elections is for these independent groups to accept unlimited corporate and labor union contributions and spend the funds on candidate advertising. Big corporations, wary of the negative PR that would come with donating to a political cause, are staying out. http://abcn.ws/x5iSJN @MattMackowiak: The next televised Republican presidential debate is 27 days away. 2/22 in Mesa, AZ, cosponsored by CNN & the Arizona GOP @globeglen: NEWT GINGRICH: Bused to Miami from Jacksonville overnight... About to address Latin Builders Association... #mapoli @politicoroger: The GOP field is making Obama look good. My latest column:goo.gl/nFamD @jonathanchait: For Newt to come back *now* would be completely unprecedented in the entire history of the last three days @ZekeJMiller: Happy Birthday @HowardMortman Newt Gingrich is in Miami, Florida to address the Latin Builders Association. Gingrich will also speak at a conference in Miami hosted by the Hispanic Leadership Network. In the afternoon, Gingrich travels to Delray Beach for a Republican Jewish Coalition Rally. Mitt Romney is also scheduled to address the Hispanic Leadership Network conference in Miami. Later in the day, Romney is on the trail in Cape Canaveral where he'll discuss innovation on the Space Coast. Rick Santorum campaigns in Miami where he'll speak at the Latin Builders Association Conference. Ron Paul will hold three events in Maine including an evening town hall in Lewiston. John McCain will hold events on behalf of Mitt Romney in Lakeland and The Villages, Florida.

Ukraine urged to step up AIDS fight KIEV, Ukraine (AP) - The head of a global health fund is urging Ukraine to step up efforts to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Europe's largest. Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria called on the Ukrainian authorities Monday to expand opiate substitution therapy and ensure HIV/AIDS treatment in prison. The Global Fund has earmarked $86 million for HIV prevention and treatment programs in Ukraine in 2012-2013, but Kazatchkine also urged the government to increase domestic spending on such projects. The United Nations says Ukraine has Europe's worst AIDS epidemic with 1.3 percent of the population above 15 infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

Bath run empty but Glasgow eye last eight The Aviva Premiership side had looked set for victory after two tries from the second-row forward Ryan Caldwell helped put them 22-17 ahead, going into the final minute. But Montpellier snatched their first Heineken Cup win when Timoci Nagusa went over for a try that was converted by Martin Bustos Moyano. The result left Bath bottom of Pool Three, on seven points, and sent Montpellier into second spot, level on 10 points with Glasgow but having played a game extra. Leinster lead the way on 16 points ahead of their meeting with Glasgow tomorrow. A win for the champions will settle the pool; a win for the Scottish side will keep things very interesting heading into the final weekend of the pool stages. It was Montpellier who were quickest out of the blocks at Stade Yves du Manoir and they crossed for a try in the opening minute, through the winger Pierre Berard. Benoît Paillaugue added the extra two points to make it 7-0 but Bath battled back from that early setback to take a 10-7 lead at the interval, the centre Olly Barkley reducing the deficit with a penalty before converting Caldwell's first try, which came on the stroke of half-time. A Paillaugue penalty levelled the scores five minutes into the second half but Bath were back in front soon after that when Caldwell went over for his second try, Tom Heathcote kicking the conversion this time. Bath's lead lasted barely eight minutes, before Montpellier made it 17-17 through a converted Alex Tulou score, but the Premiership side were soon back in the ascendancy as the England centre Matt Banahan - who was last week dropped to the second-string Saxons for the Six Nations period to come - scored their third try of the match in the 71st minute. Heathcote was unable to add the extra points, however, and that meant that the French side, playing in only their second Heineken Cup campaign, knew a late converted try could still win them the match. That was exactly what happened, thanks to Nagusa and the replacement Moyano. The game between Glasgow and Leinster today has assumed an importance for Scottish rugby as a whole. Only one Scottish team - Edinburgh in 2004 - have ever made it into the last eight of the Heineken Cup. This season it could be two, as Edinburgh are well placed to go through from Pool Two and Glasgow are still in contention. Glasgow's hopes were boosted when their highly rated flanker Rob Harley was cleared to face Leinster, having faced a disciplinary hearing triggered by his third yellow card of the season, collected against the Scarlets last week. Harley is one of 10 new faces in Sean Lineen's team for today. The head coach said: "It's great to have the matter settled and a real boost to the team to know that Rob will be involved. He's been a key player for us all season and we're expecting another big performance from him. Lineen has picked Chris Cusiter and Duncan Weir to resume their half-back partnership and John Barclay, Alastair Kellock, Richie Gray, Pat MacArthur, Ed Kalman, Colin Shaw, Stuart Hogg and Rory Lamont also return. "This is the sort of game you work in rugby to be involved in," said Lineen. What a challenge we've got ahead of us, against a side who have set new standards in what they do at the contact area and how many good decisions they make right across the park. We know from the first game back in November that it's going to be tough, massively so, but this is what it's all about. Through a lot of hard work and determination, we've put ourselves in a position where we're going into the last two pool games still very much in the mix, and we're all excited and enthused by that. It's been yet another difficult selection process this week, with some tough calls for us to make between guys who each present a compelling case. The guys who weren't involved in Llanelli will feel the benefit in what will be another hugely physical game, and it's great to be able to welcome back Rory Lamont, whose quality and fearlessness are vital for us in this sort of environment. We really believe in this team and what they're capable of delivering. It's about showing what it means to represent Glasgow Warriors on the biggest stage, and ultimately to win on it. Montpellier JB Peyras-Loustalet (M Bustos Moyano, 67); T Nagusa, G Doumayrou (Y Audrin, 62), T Combezou, P Berard; S Fernandez, B Paillaugue (J Tomas, 67); M Nariashvili (J Caudullo, 60), M Ladhuie (N Leleimalefaga, 62), M Bustos, M Demarco (D Hancke, 64), J Tuineau, V Bost (A Tulou, 62), M Matadigo (Demarco, 78), R Martin (capt; Bost, 73). Bath N Abendanon; O Woodburn, O Barkley (A Perenise, 63-73), M Banahan, T Biggs; T Heathcote, M Claassens; C Beech (D Flatman, 63), R Batty (P Dixon, 63), D Wilson (Perenise, 73), D Attwood, R Caldwell, B Skirving (G Mercer, 63), S Taylor, F Louw (capt). Referee D Phillips (Ireland). Montpellier Tries: Bérard, Tulou, Nagusa Cons: Paillaugue 2, Bustos Moyana Pen: Paillaugue Tries: Caldwell 2, Banahan Cons: Barkley, Heathcote Pen: Barkley

Culligan Celebrates 75 Years With "Hey Culligan Man!" Update and New Resource-Rich Website CHICAGO, Jan. 17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- It's not every day a 75-year-old company re-defines its brand icon. Water treatment leader Culligan International is doing just that with an update to its famous "Hey Culligan Man!" persona. A new website at culligan.com (culligan.ca in Canada) features a new Culligan Man and is loaded with information on water quality and water treatment solutions for homeowners and businesses. The initiatives cap the company's 75th anniversary year. To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click: http://www.multivu.com/mnr/53999-culligan-celebrates-75-years-with-hey-culligan-man-update-and-new-website Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20120117/MM33878 Introduced in 1958, "Hey, Culligan Man!" remains one of the most recognized advertising slogans and an important link between customers and the company's network of over 800 dealers in 90 countries worldwide. "Culligan products are in over three million homes and consumers associate 'Hey Culligan Man!' with the leader in the water category," said Curt Hilliard, Culligan's Senior Vice President of Marketing. The slogan is completely embedded in our culture, but the image of the Culligan Man was not representing the services our dealers were performing. Although dealers have it shouted out to them everywhere they go, from the largest city to the farm, we need to expand what consumers think about when they say this celebrated phrase. Hilliard added that the update celebrates Culligan dealers for exactly who they are - highly-skilled professionals. It syncs how we picture and talk about the Culligan Man - representing all our dealers, men and women - with their day-to-day roles as trusted partners and advisors to homeowners and business customers who are looking to become more educated about the importance and role of water in their lives. Because water changes community to community and is always a local issue, whether via a municipal system or a well, 'Hey Culligan Man!' is clearly a call for expertise. Culligan dealers truly are local water experts - champions for improving water quality for families and businesses. The new website leverages Culligan's state-of-the-art water expertise in an educational, resource-rich, interactive environment. The site's "Solution Center" helps visitors configure answers to a host of water questions and problems categorized by touch, taste, smell, appearance or contaminant. For example, if a customer is experiencing situations such as dry and itchy skin, a bitter taste in water, water that smells like rotten eggs, spots on glasses, or they have a local water supply issue such as arsenic in water, they can find a solution to address their unique problems. Information is also available on hundreds of Culligan products and services, from drinking water systems to water softeners and water filtration systems, with links to find the local Culligan Man, who is ready to help. "Consumers want to be educated on water treatment and now have a better understanding of their options by visiting the website," concluded Hilliard. And when they need professional treatment options, they can say 'Hey, Culligan Man!,' knowing that phrase gets them access to a trusted local water professional - backed by Culligan International - with the knowledge, network and tools to support their needs. About Culligan International: Founded in 1936 by Emmett Culligan, Culligan International is a world leader in delivering water solutions that will improve the lives of their customers. The company offers the most technologically-advanced, state-of-the-art water filtration products, including water softeners, drinking water systems, whole-house systems and solutions for business. Culligan's network of franchise dealers is the largest in the world with over 800 dealers in 90 countries. Many Culligan dealers have valuable equity in their communities as multi-generational, family owners of their franchises. Ted Fay Director, eMarketing Culligan International [email protected] (O) 847-430-1452 (M) 847-644-0993 Jean Ban CBD Marketing [email protected] (O) 312-661-1050 (M) 312-259-4648 SOURCE Culligan International

3-D It Yourself, Thanks to New Library Site Four years ago, a San Francisco artist and writer named Joshua Heineman began making animated versions of digitized vintage stereographs from the New York Public Library's collection and posting them on his blog. The project quickly went viral, attracting as many as 70,000 visitors a day to its mesmerizing 3-D animations of old-school cyclists zipping around on penny-farthings and heavy-skirted matrons reclining over a picnic. Now the library itself has done Mr. Heineman's populist raid on the archives one better and created its own Stereogranimator, a graphic tool that allows users to try their hand at bringing the more than 40,000 digitized stereographs from its collection back to flickering life. "It's a nice example of the cool things that can happen when you put library collections online in free, repurposable forms," Ben Vershbow, the manager of NYPL Labs, the unit responsible for the project, said in a telephone interview. Mr. Heineman puts it more vividly in an essay on the project's Web site, writing: "This is my Frankenstein's monster. Now, thanks to the NYPL team, it's your monster too. Stereographs, produced by the millions between the 1850s and the 1930s, were a wildly popular form of entertainment, giving viewers a taste of the kind of richly rounded images now readily available on screens of all sizes. No motion was involved, however. Instead, viewers looked through a stereoscope at two slightly different photographs of the same scene, which the brain was tricked into perceiving as a single three-dimensional image. The Stereogranimator, like Mr. Heineman's original project, uses GIF animation to create the illusion of three-dimensionality by flickering back and forth between the two images. Users can adjust the speed, as well as the spatial jump between the images. The tool also generates an old-fashioned anaglyph, one of those blurry, two-toned images that snap into rounded focus when viewed through a stereoscope or vintage blue-red 3-D glasses. The newfangled "RealD" glasses you brought home from last night's showing of "Hugo," alas, won't work. The more "objective" anaglyphs, Mr. Vershbow said, will probably be a bigger draw for scholars and stereoscope nerds. Yes, they exist. But the GIF animations, he insisted, are more than just crowd-pleasing eye candy. Instead, he said, they themselves provide a kind of stereographic historical vision, fusing nostalgia for early 3-D technology with nostalgia for the early days of the Web, when it seemed that every other homespun site featured a cheesy GIF image flashing "New!" or "Under Construction." "These animations were one of the first ways ordinary creators could add a little visual pizzazz to their Web pages," Mr. Vershbow said. They were often used to convey the way the medium for the Web was changing. The Stereogranimator also reflects how the library itself is changing, using digital technology to open its collections to patrons in new ways. NYPL Labs's What's On the Menu? project, for example, started last April, has already enlisted some 65,000 participants to transcribe 730,000 dishes from the more than 40,000 restaurant menus in its collection, generating data that others might use to study price trends, or the rise and fall of sun-dried tomatoes. Mr. Vershbow said he expects a lot of users to retweak the library's tweak of Mr. Heineman's original idea. All the images are in the public domain. And if any the results are interesting enough, they may be archived as part of the library's collection. "The central purpose of the Stereogranimator," he said, "is to make new things out of old things."

Plodding PC sales weigh down Microsoft profit SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is starting the new year much as it did the one just ended - grappling with weak computer sales tearing a hole in its core Windows business, while it gropes its way slowly into the faster-growing mobile phone and tablet markets. Shares of the world's largest software company are pretty much where they were a year ago too, and few expect much to change after the latest results are announced on Thursday. " (It is) clear that investors will continue to need to be patient," Barclays Capital analyst Raimo Lenschow said in a research note on Friday. There could be positive short-term momentum ... but we first need to see proper evidence of mobile/tablet success rather than just signs of hope. Microsoft, which just wrapped up its last Consumer Electronics Show, gave a taste of the tough times it is facing last week. Speaking with analysts on Tuesday, the head of marketing for the Windows unit flagged the most recent decline in PC sales and warned that the floods in Thailand disrupting crucial disk-drive shipments would put a drag on numbers for a while, making sales hard to foresee. "I just think it's going to take a couple of quarters to work itself out," said Tami Reller, speaking about the effect of the shortages. It would be naive to believe otherwise. The level in each of the quarters, I think that's hard to exactly predict. Reller's cautious outlook was confirmed by industry numbers released a day after, when Gartner reported a 1.4 percent decline in global PC sales for the fourth quarter. The research firm predicted that the disk-drive shortages would be most felt in the first half of this year. More worryingly for Microsoft, Gartner noted "continuously low consumer PC demand" over the normally buoyant holiday shopping season in the United States, and a lack of excitement so far over the newest lightweight laptops championed by Intel Corp. That's bad news for Microsoft, whose financial success is still closely bound to computer sales, despite its forays into gaming, servers, Internet search and phones. Wall Street expects sales of $20.9 billion for the fiscal second quarter - which would be a 5 percent increase from a year ago and its biggest quarterly sales on record - but a net profit of only 76 cents per share, a slight dip from 77 cents last year. Microsoft's shares have moved higher in the past six weeks - as they often do before earnings - but they tend to fall after its numbers are released. The stock has fluctuated aimlessly between $23 and $29 since May 2010, the last time they topped $30, despite hitting sales records and increases in the dividend. Pointing to the stock's 9.7 price to earnings ratio - just over half its 10-year average - most Wall Street analysts have 'buy' ratings on the stock and target prices in the $30s. But the good news that is meant to propel the stock afresh never arrives. The latest hopes are pinned on Microsoft's new phones - pushed aggressively at CES last week - and on Windows 8 later this year. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer was very visible at CES, jumping from one place to the next promoting phones that use the latest Windows software. Nokia's Lumia 900 looked slick and attracted a lot of attention. The Lumia 900 in the United States will have a front-facing camera and work on wireless firms' new high-speed networks, said Bill Koefoed, Microsoft's head of investor relations at CES. "We will put plenty of marketing muscle behind it," he said. However, no date was set for its U.S. launch with AT&T. Likewise, Microsoft would not be tempted into announcing any release date for the mobile-friendly, touch-enabled Windows 8, which will provide its entry into the exploding tablet market. All the company has said is that a beta test version will come out in February, which generally means a full release is at least six months down the road from there. Some industry watchers forecast that machines running Windows 8 will not be on sale until early 2013, by which time Apple Inc's iPad will have almost three years' head start.

Guatemala: sufficient evidence to charge ex-military dictator with genocide Judge Patricia Flores said that the information presented by the prosecution showed that Rios Montt, 85, should answer to charges of orchestrating the destruction of native Maya villages during the country's civil war. Judge Flores ordered that Rios Montt be placed under house arrest. Rios Montt, known for his "scorched earth" campaign against Guatemala's leftist rebels, now looks set to have to answer charges that his regime was responsible for the massacre of tens of thousands of people. The hearing was the first since Rios Montt lost the congressional immunity that shielded him from prosecution for years. Guatemala's truth commission estimates that some 200,000 people were killed in the country's 36-year civil war that ended in 1996. Some of the worst atrocities are said to have taken place during Rios Montt's rule. The UN-backed group - the Historical Clarification Commission - found that the government was guilty of a deliberate campaign of genocide against the mostly poor, indigenous massacre victims, many of whom were caught in the crossfire as the government battled leftist rebels.

Sundance 2012: Frank Langella is happy with his robot costar Reporting from Park City, Utah - In his more-than-distinguished career, Frank Langella has become Richard Nixon, Clark Kent's editor Perry White and a count named Dracula. So how did he end up playing a part opposite a robot in a sweltering East Coast summer? The answer is surprisingly simple: "Christopher Walken turned it down." The resulting picture, the sly and delightful "Robot & Frank," brought the 74-year-old actor to the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. Sitting in a comfortable corner of an Italian restaurant and watching a near blizzard develop outside, Langella added, "I really do believe that all of life is happenstance, careers especially." I was sitting with my new agent of 24 hours, Toni Howard, and she got a text that said, 'Chris just passed on the movie.' She answered, 'How about Langella? Same deal as Chris. They answered 'Perfect.' And perfect is what Langella is as an elderly grump named Frank who's having increasing difficulty taking care of himself, so much so that, this being the near future, his son brings in a UGC-60L home care robot to look after the old man. Frank initially resists ("I'm talking to an appliance," he complains), but then finds the droid actually suits him in deliciously unexpected ways. Given how beautifully Langella acts with the UGC-60L, it is surprising to find out that (a) he never heard Peter Sarsgaard do the voice of the machine until he saw the finished film a few days ago and (b) the robot he acted with was a sometime thing on the set. "Filming was a hardship case, it was 110 degrees, no air conditioning in that steaming house, no dressing rooms, no place to wait," he said of the shoot last summer in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y. "We had a young girl from a circus, she was a little under 5 feet tall, in the robot suit, but because of the heat it was extremely difficult for her and when she spoke I often didn't hear her. Sometimes my nephew would read the robot's lines off camera. Sometimes there would be a robot head on a stick. None of this affected the actor. In a very strange way, it was a remarkable experience. I had a very personal relationship with the robot in my head, it was very real to me, and nothing else mattered. That relationship began when Langella read the screenplay by first-time writer Christopher Ford. Every part I choose is me in some form. I trust what happens to me when I open a script and start reading. Some scripts are so vulgar and stupid I stop after five or 10 pages. More than the script, Langella connected to under-30 director Jake Schreier, a man who he feels is a kindred spirit to Andrew Wagner, the director of the last film Langella had in Sundance, "Starting Out in the Evening." "Both men are ferocious, single-minded," Langella said. I don't like the word 'vision,' it has an air of self-importance, but they have a determination to make their film their way. These two guys are in love with cinema. And they have a purity of heart. Other obligations kept Langella from Sundance when "Evening" played in 2007, so he's an older newcomer to Park City who is amused to find that "everywhere I go I am the oldest man in the room. Everyone is always putting their arm under my elbow. That sense of the vicissitudes of age, as it turned out, played a part as well in Langella's decision to take on the role in "Robot & Frank." Often I understand afterwards why I chose a movie. In this one I realized that I was profoundly affected in my own life by the ephemeral-ness of things, how I'm changing in my own body. I'm fine now, but I know it's coming. No matter what I do, I can't prepare for the day when the doctor rings me up and says, 'Frank, we found something.' Langella has just completed a book, due out in March, with an intriguing title, "Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women as I Knew Them." In it, he relates his experiences with 66 people he's met who are no more, from a glimpse of Marilyn Monroe when he was 15 to meeting Elizabeth Taylor when he was 60. It's the kind of experience few Sundance players can boast. Despite all that's come before, Langella gets surprised by his work when he sees it on screen, and that was very much the case with "Robot & Frank." "I had no expectation, while we were making it I thought, 'Oh, dear,' but you never know what's going to jell," Langella said. I liked it very much, but I can't tell you why. This movie created something you can't put into words.

Citigroup cut investment bank bonuses by 30 percent: report Fri Jan 27, 2012 8:23pm EST (Reuters) - Citigroup (C.N) has cut bonuses for its investment banking division by about 30 percent on average, Bloomberg said, citing a person briefed on the matter. Some businesses within the securities and banking unit had bonuses reduced by as much as 70 percent, Bloomberg reported. Citigroup was not immediately available for comment. Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bangalore; Editing by Steve Orlofsky

NH home sales went up in 2011, prices fell CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - A realtor group says New Hampshire saw a 2 percent increase in home sales in 2011, while the median price of those homes fell by 6 percent. The New Hampshire Association of Realtors says there were 10,714 homes sold in 2011. In 2010, that number was 10,529. The increase was in part fueled by a jump in sales in December. The median price of New Hampshire homes, though, dropped $215,000 in 2010 to $201,700 in 2011. Association President John Rice says there are still a lot of homes available in most New Hampshire markets. He says buyers are still able to be very selective, and many are reluctant to buy if the price isn't just right.

First lady dismisses 'angry black woman' portrayal First Lady Michelle Obama in an interview broadcast Wednesday shrugged off portrayals of her as an "angry black woman," and dismissed a new book describing tense relations between her and top White House aides. "The Obamas," the controversial new book about their first term in the White House, describes a "distant and awkward" relationship between the first lady and the president's aides -- especially former chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. "There's a notion that I'm sitting in meetings and having conversations and conflict," she told the "CBS This Morning" program. I guess it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation here and a strong woman. But that's been an image that people have tried to paint of me since the day Barack announced -- that I'm some angry black woman," she said. I just try to be me. And my hope is that over time people get to know me. And they get to judge me for me. The first lady also said that she has a warm relationship with Emanuel, who after leaving the White House was elected mayor of Chicago, describing him as being among "our dearest friends." Rahm and I have never had a cross word. He's a funny guy," Obama said. She added that contrary to the book's account of battles with her husband's aides, she rarely interacts with them. I don't have conversations with my husband's staff. I don't go to the meetings," Michelle Obama said. Our staffs work together really well. If there's communication that needs to happen, it happens between staffs. My chief of staff talks to his chief of staff," she said. The first lady said that while President Obama gets the best advice on difficult issues from his advisors, he also has her ear. "I talk very candidly to my husband about how I feel," she said. "If I didn't agree with something, I would talk to my own husband about it," Michelle Obama said, adding that she considers herself the president's "biggest ally" and "one of his biggest confidantes." "But he has dozens of really smart people who surround him," she added. She added that she is ready to take up her role as the president's main cheerleader for the 2012 reelection campaign. This campaign is going to be about making sure that people understand all that's been accomplished. I think people are confused about -- some may be confused about how much has been accomplished. That's what you do in a campaign," she said, adding that she understands that the president has detractors and dispirited supporters. People have a right to be disappointed and feel impatient. But they've got the president who is moving them in the right direction. I'm excited to remind them of how and what's being done. New York Times reporter Jodi Kantor reportedly interviewed more than 30 current and former Obama employees but did not sit down with the first couple themselves for the book, described Michelle Obama's difficult transition to White House life. But the first lady told CBS that she had not read the book and did not intend to. "I don't read these books because you know, it's a game in so many ways," Obama said. I mean, who can write about how I feel? Who? What third person can tell me how I feel -- or anybody for that matter?

Miami's Cuban vote shifting, but still strongly Republican Frank Verano and Mirna Montes stand out among the Cuban patrons at Versailles Bakery in Little Havana. They're decades younger than many of the customers and, perhaps as a result, they're also more liberal. Verano voted for Barack Obama in 2008, and Montes says she'll vote for him as soon as she becomes a citizen. "Your mother wanted to kill you," Montes said, teasing Verano, a close friend, about his 2008 vote. His mother, like many in the Cuban American community, is a devoted Republican. For decades, Democrats have salivated over the powerful Cuban voting bloc inMiami-Dade County, hoping the children and grandchildren of immigrants who came in the 1960s would be more progressive than their parents. In 2008, it looked like the vote might finally break for the Democrats. Obama, buoyed by independent voters like Verano, narrowly won the 18th Congressional District, which has been represented by a Cuban American Republican since 1989. But the momentum has shifted since 2008, and many Cuban Americans who voted for Obama say they're disillusioned and may not support him in 2012. Verano says voting for Obama was a "mistake" and that this time he'll vote for Ron Paul or not at all. "Obama had at least a chance to make some inroads for the Democrats about younger Cuban voters," said Dario Moreno, a professor at Florida International University. But the persistence of the bad economy has hurt him. If his presidency had been more successful, those Cuban American young people who voted for him in 2008 would have stuck with him. The Cuban vote in Florida has always been important. The state has 1.2 million residents of Cuban descent, according to census data, and many are registered Republicans. In Miami-Dade, the state's most populous county, 74% of registered Republicans are Latino. That's why every election year, candidates come to the Versailles Restaurant to give an anti-Fidel Castro speech and sip coffee, and then head perhaps to the Freedom Tower, where Cuban immigrants were processed, to extol freedom. Appealing to Republican Cuban Americans is usually easy - candidates just need to say they want to do away with Castro and keep or strengthen the embargo on Cuba, and maybe allude to using force to displace the regime. Mitt Romney confused this in 2008 when he used the phrase "Patria o muerte, venceremos," in a speech in Little Havana, which means "Fatherland or death, we will prevail" and is associated with Castro. The Republican affiliation of Cubans stems from a distrust of President Kennedy over the failed Bay of Pigs invasion; an affinity for the strong anti-communist stance adopted by previous Republican presidents; and conservative Roman Catholic values often shared with conservative politicians. Democrats who are Cuban say many from the older generation accuse them of being communists for voting Democratic. But that changed slightly in 2008, according to a study by Benjamin Bishin, a UC Riverside professor who conducted a poll of the Cuban electorate in Miami-Dade County. Support for tightening the embargo against Cuba - a conservative position - fell by half between 2004 and 2008, he said. About 20% of Cuban Americans identified themselves as liberals in 2008, a 7-percentage-point increase from 2004. And 58% of Cubans said they identified with the Republican Party in 2008, down from 68% in 2004. "The community is moderating very slowly," Bishin said. That's in part because 50 years after the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban community is becoming more diverse. It's made up of more new, young immigrants from Cuba and of second- and third-generation Cuban Americans for whom economic issues trump arguments about an embargo or regime change, Bishin said. Recent immigrants often think that the embargo hasn't worked. Younger generations "are more open" to voting for a different party, but often register as independents, Bishin said. Democrats were poised to take advantage of those changes, putting up strong candidates in 2008 for seats in the 18th, 21st and 25th congressional districts. Republicans won all three, but Obama beat McCain in the 18th and was only 2 percentage points behind in the 21st. This year, none of the districts is considered up for grabs, perhaps because the economy rather than immigration or Cuba policy is the top issue for Cuban American voters. That's why Marioska Bravo, 29, a Cuban American sales clerk in Miami, said she wouldn't vote for Obama again, even though she supported him in 2008. "No," she said. I don't like the economy. I don't like the situation. Millie Herrera, vice president of the Miami-Dade Cuban American Democratic Club, said she was going to try to fight perceptions among Cuban Americans that the poor economy was Obama's fault. "When the economy is bad, people tend to blame the administration in power," she said. Over the long haul, the trend favors Democrats in Miami-Dade. Latino Republicans still hold an 80,000-voter edge, but Latino Democratic rolls have surged by 45% since 2006. Latino Republican registration gained 2% in the same period. But Bishin says that it could be 15 years before the Cuban American Republican strongholds go Democratic. "Those districts are up for grabs in the long run," he said, "but it looks like the electorate is only changing at a 4 or 5 points a cycle." Until many of the solid Republicans stop voting because of death or disinterest, Democrats may just have to wait for people such as Mirna Montes, the woman at Versailles. She says she likes Obama but is not a citizen yet, so she cannot vote. Joe Garcia ran for Congress as a Democrat in 2008 and 2010. He finished 8 percentage points behind opponent Mario Diaz-Balart in 2008, but 10 percentage points behind opponent David Rivera in 2010. He says residents told him they wanted to support him, but they either couldn't vote or didn't turn out. "I won the Latin American vote and the younger Cuban American vote," he said. But the reality is, these older Cuban Americans voted in huge numbers. These old guys are going to turn out to vote.

Kodak replaces chief restructuring officer Mon Jan 23, 2012 3:29pm EST (Reuters) - Eastman Kodak Co (EKDKQ.PK) has replaced its chief restructuring officer on Monday, just a handful of days after it filed for bankruptcy protection. James Mesterharm, who works for the consultancy firm AlixPartners ALIXP.UL and was chief restructuring officer for Parmalat USA during the dairy company's bankruptcy, will replace Dominic DiNapoli, the FTI Consulting Inc (FCN.N) employee who was chosen last week. The company said in a statement that there was no "disagreement or difference of opinion" with the previous restructuring officer DiNapoli and provided no further explanation for the change. Kodak, the photography icon that invented the hand-held camera, filed for bankruptcy protection last Thursday, capping a prolonged plunge for one of America's best-known companies. Reporting by Liana B. Baker; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick

Video: Interactive Business Bullet: Greece, Carnival, Bovis and Stanley Gibbons Robert Miller with the main City and business news as markets digest the Standard & Poors' sovereign credit downgrades on Eurozone members, led by France, but Greece is now the potential catalyst for the crisis to deepen; the owner of the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship Carnival estimates earnings' loss at £62m; Bovis Homes provides a rare spot of cheer to the UK's gloomy housing market and stamp specialist and rare coins dealer Stanley Gibbons is bullish for 2012.

Answers to Readers' Questions Will Appear Wednesday Goal, The New York Times soccer blog, will report on news and features from the world of soccer and around the Web. Times editors and reporters will follow international tournaments and provide analysis of games. There will be interviews with players, coaches and notable soccer fans. Readers can discuss Major League Soccer, foreign leagues and other issues with fellow soccer fans.

Men from north Wales and Liverpool admit drug supply charges

Microsoft may follow Apple's lead and skip Las Vegas gadget show Microsoft's chief executive, Steve Ballmer, will open the annual festival of gadgetry which is the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tonight, but it will be for the last time. The company is betting on a strategy to "out-Apple Apple" by spreading its own launch events across the year, in the hope of building razzamatazz around a new suite of products including Windows tablets and motion-sensitive interactive television. The idea has been hatched because Microsoft is enjoying glowing reviews for its new Windows operating system for mobile devices and its Kinect system for the Xbox, which does away with a handheld controller in favour of a sensor that tracks the body movements of gamers. And while Microsoft and Nokia will unveil more details of their range of Windows smartphones this week, and some 20,000 new consumer products are expected to launch over the four days of the show, analysts say the 2012 event will feature few genuine technological breakthroughs. Instead, according to Shawn DuBravac, the chief economist for the organiser, the Consumer Electronics Association, this will be "the year of the interface" - where manufacturers and software developers work to improve the usability of existing devices. "Gesture and voice controls are showing up in more devices," he told a preview session for the media. This year's CES has attracted 146,529 registered attendees from more than 140 countries, with exhibitors filling 1.6 million square feet of display space across Las Vegas's convention centres. Shelly Palmer, a technology consultant and the founder of Advanced Media Ventures, said it remained the premier showcase and networking event for the industry. "If you are a content person looking for someone to distribute your content, or a developer looking for a manufacturer, whoever you are, you can do 20 years of business development in five days here," Mr Palmer said. For consumers, the interest is in the vast array of weird and wonderful gadgets, which this year include everything from intelligent stove-tops to backpacks that can charge your iPhone. The biggest trend this year could be for new ultra-thin laptops, called ultrabooks, which are modelled on Apple's MacBook Air. Apple, though, has never attended the show, preferring instead to pick its own timetable for product launches. The late Steve Jobs preferred all eyes to be on him when he announced his latest world-changing devices, and it is a lesson that Microsoft has learned. Mr Ballmer is expected today to tout Microsoft's latest Windows operating system, Windows 8, which aims to create a standard look and feel across personal computers, tablets and smartphones.

Pacquiao camp says no to Mayweather bout Boxer's financial adviser says there is no economic sense for fight on May 5 updated 1:06 a.m. MANILA, Philippines - Manny Pacquiao's camp says there is no economic sense in setting up a bout with Floyd Mayweather on May 5 after the unbeaten American publicly challenged the Filipino champion via Twitter. Pacquiao's financial adviser Michael Koncz told The Associated Press on Thursday that a 45,000-seat boxing arena being built in Las Vegas won't be finished before the end of May and staging the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight in a smaller venue is "foolish from an economic standpoint." Mayweather challenged and taunted Pacquiao to a May 5 bout in a tweet on Tuesday. "Manny Pacquiao I'm calling you out let's fight May 5th and give the world what they want to see," he tweeted. Mayweather is available for a fight in May at the MGM Grand Garden after a judge agreed last week to postpone his jail sentence for domestic violence until June. Mayweather was sentenced to 87 days in jail, but likely will serve less time. The MGM Grand seats about 17,000, which could fetch around $20 million in sales, but the larger arena could raise an additional $30 million, Koncz said. Why would I tell Manny to fight on the 5th and throw away a percentage of 30 million? That's crazy," he said. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum has told the Philippines' GMA television the only reason the fight won't happen is if there is an "economic problem." He said the fight "could happen very, very easily" at the end of May - enough time to build the outdoor arena "the fight so badly needs." "I will also guarantee Manny's purse," he said. In other words, Manny doesn't want to go into the ring and just fight out a percentage. He said Mayweather is looking for "outside parties to guarantee his end of the purse." "So, until he finds the angel, there is no fight," Arum said. In a separate interview with GMA, Pacquiao said that if Mayweather agrees to a "50-50 sharing, there will be no problem." "The purse is not the issue right now, the date is," Koncz said. But we don't have a problem splitting it 50-50.

UK ticketholder wins £41 Euromillions jackpot Camelot said that the winner scooped the rollover jackpot of £40,627,241 in Friday night's draw although no one has yet come forward to claim the prize. A Camelot spokesman said: "This is fantastic news - we're absolutely delighted to have yet another huge EuroMillions win here in the UK. We have plenty of champagne on ice and look forward to welcoming the lucky ticketholder into The National Lottery millionaires' club. Over 2,800 people have become millionaires since The National Lottery began and, to date, our players have raised an amazing £27 billion and counting for National Lottery Good Causes. The success is the seventh biggest UK lottery win. The record is held by Colin and Chris Weir, from Largs, Scotland, who won £161 million on EuroMillions last July. The winning main EuroMillions numbers were: 02, 10, 22, 27 and 28, and the winning Lucky Star numbers were 06 and 08.

Silicon Valley flexing muscle in push against Web piracy bills Reporting from Washington and Los Angeles - Until this week, entertainment industry executives thought they had the votes for new federal legislation cracking down on foreign websites that traffic in pirated movies and music and cost them billions. They lined up support from the powerful pharmaceutical industry and labor unions, and organized an impressive bipartisan coalition in Congress. Then Silicon Valley struck back and appears to have outflanked Hollywood. The result was on full display Tuesday night as Wikipedia, Craigslist and other popular sites shut down for a threatened 12- to 24-hour strike, said to be the Internet's first such stoppage. As many as 10,000 others had also threatened to go dark. Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia's founder, said the strike was meant to protest the legislation's "frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world." Visitors to Wikipedia's English-language site and others participating in the strike were met with a page urging them to write to Congress to oppose two proposed bills. The swelling online opposition persuaded the White House to call over the weekend for lawmakers to remove the legislation's most controversial provision, which would have required U.S. search engines and payment networks to block access to websites focused on pirated materials. Supporters of the legislation say it would target foreign websites trading in stolen intellectual property, including movies and music. Critics say it would unfairly penalize legitimate websites too, such as the online classified ad service Craigslist or the photo sharing service Flickr. Congressional sponsors are expected to remove the site-blocking provision, and to try to forge a compromise that focuses largely on cutting off the money to foreign piracy websites. While Hollywood and other backers focused their firepower inside the Beltway, tech giants such as Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., along with websites and online activists, made a broader case and took it mainstream. They successfully shifted the debate from piracy to Internet freedom, calling the legislation a threat to free speech that could stifle the massive Web economy. And they waged an unprecedented online campaign to slow the momentum of the fast-moving bills and endanger their passage. "It was assumed by everyone that the content owners were going to get what they asked for," said Eric Goldman, director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law. What's happened is that the opposition campaign has gone viral. It's not just Silicon Valley speaking up, it's the public at large. USC media professor Marty Kaplan said the Motion Picture Assn. of America is partly at a disadvantage because tech companies have a higher "brand appeal" in the general public. "In the fight between a message that says, 'The sites you love will be shut down' and 'The expensive content you love won't be available,' I think Silicon Valley wins that argument," Kaplan said. Although all sides agreed foreign piracy sites are a problem and preached the need to find consensus, that could be difficult given the inflamed rhetoric. "It's time to move forward on a narrowly crafted bill," said David Hirschmann, president of the Global Intellectual Property Center at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, a major backer of the legislation. Whether the politics in an election year will allow for that, I still don't know yet. The proposed legislation aims to cripple foreign-based websites that trade in pirated or counterfeit material by cutting off money from U.S. credit card companies and ad networks as well as removing the sites from search engine results and in some cases blocking access. Opponents said the legislation risks entangling legitimate websites and adding onerous legal costs to Internet start-ups. "The definitions and language and provisions are extremely broad and extremely vague," said Erik Martin, general manager at Reddit. It would seem to be written without anybody who knew the technology. But supporters of the legislation said opponents are mischaracterizing it and criticized the protests. Former Sen. Christopher J. Dodd, now chief executive of the MPAA, called the strike a "gimmick" and "PR stunt." House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) said Wikipedia and other sites participating in the blackout were "promoting fear instead of facts."

French withdrawal from Afghanistan up to Paris: US The Pentagon said Friday it was up to France alone to decide whether to accelerate the withdrawal of French troops from Afghanistan after four of them were killed by an Afghan soldier. France's President Nicolas Sarkozy said he was considering an accelerated withdrawal of the French contingent following the incident, in which the Afghan soldier opened fired on the French, who were unarmed, during a sports session. Besides the four soldiers who were killed, another 15 were wounded in the attack. "We mourn for their losses today, but those are decisions that only the French government and the French people can make," Navy Captain John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, said of Sarkozy's remarks. "Their contributions are theirs to determine and theirs to amend as they see fit," Kirby said, calling the French "great allies and great friends." France has about 3,700 troops in Afghanistan, mainly in the provinces of Kabul and Kapisa, the scene of Friday's shooting. They are currently scheduled to be withdrawn by the end of 2013. "The French army stands alongside its allies but we cannot accept that a single one of our soldiers be wounded or killed by our allies, it's unacceptable," Sarkozy said. "If security conditions are not clearly established, then the question of an early return of the French army will be asked," he said.

Payroll tax negotiations open amid optimism WASHINGTON (AP) - 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.

US stocks mixed as Greece negotiates to cut debt NEW YORK (AP) - U.S. stocks were mixed Monday morning, while European indexes and the euro rose on hopes that Greece will reach a deal with private creditors on lowering its debt. The euro neared its highest level against the dollar this year. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 7 points to 12,713 as of 11:15 a.m., giving up an earlier gain of 44. Procter & Gamble fell 1.7 percent, the biggest drop in the Dow. Creditors are in negotiations with the Greek government to reduce that country's debt burden so it can avoid default. European finance ministers are expected to give new momentum to a Greek debt relief deal. One proposal would have Greece's private creditors, which include banks and other investors, swap their bonds for news ones at a 50 percent discount. In other trading, the Standard & Poor's 500 index edged up 1 point to 1,316. The Nasdaq composite is up 1 point to 2,787. The euro rose 1.2 percent to $1.304, its highest point since Jan. 3. The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.07 percent from 2.03 percent late Friday as investors moved money out of low-risk assets. Energy companies were making large moves in early trading. Chesapeake Energy Corp. jumped 4 percent after the country's second-largest natural gas producer said it plans to cut production, a response to plunging prices. Natural gas futures rose 3.5 percent to $2.47 per 1,000 cubic feet. Gas futures were trading above $4 just six months ago. Stocks of other gas producers shot higher. Southwestern Energy Co. rose 8 percent and Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. 7.1 percent. Apache Corp. inched up less than 1 percent after the oil and gas producer said it plans on buying Cordillera Energy Partners in a $2.85 billion deal. It's the largest merger announced in the U.S. this year. Research In Motion Ltd., the maker of BlackBerry mobile devices, sank 6.2 percent after its new chief executive said no drastic changes are needed. The company's founders announced they were stepping down as co-CEOs late Sunday. Stocks are off to a strong start in 2012, as investors' biggest fears have slowly faded. Stronger than expected job growth in the U.S. and falling borrowing costs for European governments have helped the S&P 500 index post gains for three weeks in a row. The index is now up 4.7 percent for the year.

Apparent smoke bomb thrown over White House fence WASHINGTON - An apparent smoke bomb was thrown over the fence of the White House as hundreds of Occupy protesters massed outside the gates. The crowds were dispersed Tuesday night, and U.S. Secret Service spokesman George Ogilvie says there were no arrests in the incident. However, people inside the White House were being prevented from exiting on the Pennsylvania Avenue side of the building as the situation was being resolved. Ogilvie says there were 1,000 to 1,500 protesters at one point. He said something appearing to be a smoke bomb was thrown over the fence and that the device was being removed.

AT&T to acquire Deutsche Telekom's T-Mobile USA for $39 Billion By Greg Bensinger Bloomberg News Sunday, March 20, 2011; 3:15 PM AT&T Inc. said it entered a definitive agreement with Deutsche Telekom AG to acquire T- Mobile USA in a cash-and-stock transaction currently valued at approximately $39 billion. The purchase price will include $25 billion in cash and the balance in AT&T stock, subject to adjustment, according to a statement today. The deal may give Deutsche Telekom an 8 percent stake in the Dallas-based carrier, which will add a Deutsche Telekom executive to its board of directors. If completed, the deal would allow AT&T, now the second- largest U.S. wireless operator, to add 34 million customers and surpass Verizon Wireless as the largest in the country. The acquisition may face regulatory scrutiny because it combines the second- and fourth-largest wireless providers. AT&T said that it would expand the rollout of its high- speed wireless technology, called Long-Term Evolution, or LTE, under the T-Mobile agreement. AT&T said it would offer the service to an additional 46.5 million people as part of the deal, helping achieve the Federal Communications Commission goal of making broadband available more widely. "This transaction represents a major commitment to strengthen and expand critical infrastructure for our nation's future," Randall Stephenson, AT&T Chairman and CEO, said in a statement. It will improve network quality, and it will bring advanced LTE capabilities to more than 294 million people. Mobile broadband networks drive economic opportunity everywhere, The agreement has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies, Deutsche Telekom said in a statement. The T-Mobile transaction, subject to regulatory approval, is expected to close in about a year, AT&T said. AT&T was advised by Greenhill & Co., JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Evercore Partners on the deal.

Wrapsol Unveils New Non-Slip "Grip Pad" for Tablets LAS VEGAS, Jan. 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- ShowStoppers @ CES 2012 -- Wrapsol, a leader in protection solutions for consumer electronics, today introduced its newest product in protective films technology - the Wrapsol non-slip Grip Pad. The Grip Pad is made with tactilla™, a proprietary gripping technology, made from advanced high durability polyurethane. The Grip Pad is the first product to integrate Wrapsol's non-slip, tactilla™ technology. Wrapsol's non-slip Grip Pad helps prevent accidental slip-and-fall damage and makes using your tablet more convenient - without compromising its design integrity in any way. The Grip Pad installs in an instant and helps securely position any tablet along virtually any slanted surface. Wrapsol Grip Pads are now available at Staples and other leading retailers nationwide. Wrapsol Grip Pad Features: Non-slip tactilla™ material 100% Polyurethane Micro-textured finish 8.25 x 3.75-inch material size for Apple iPad 2 and similar size devices Installs in an instant Made in USA For more information on Wrapsol's Grip Pad, visit www.wrapsol.com. About Wrapsol Wrapsol is a leader in protective adhesive solutions for today's most popular consumer electronics devices and mobile phone handsets. Wrapsol helps consumers stay connected by protecting their mobile phone, mp3 player, notebook computer, game console and camera with the industry's strongest and easiest-to-apply protective film and non-slip Grip Pad. Committed to community and the environment, all Wrapsol device protection systems are engineered, manufactured and packaged at the Company's Massachusetts headquarters and come in 100% recyclable packaging. For more information, visit www.wrapsol.com.

Woman accused over art attack A 36-year-old woman was accused of causing $10,000 worth of damage to a painting valued at between $30m and $40m by punching it, scratching it, and sliding her bare buttocks against it while urinating. The oil painting, Clyfford Still's 1957-J no 2, was on show at the recently opened museum dedicated to the artist in Denver, Colorado. Carmen Tisch was charged with criminal mischief on Wednesday and has been held on a $20,000 bond since the incident in late December. But she did appear to be safe over the urination issue. "It doesn't appear she urinated on the painting or that the urine damaged it, so she's not being charged with that," a police spokeswoman said.

Horrific murder no surprise in meth capital Horrific murder no surprise in meth capital - Crime & courts Horrific murder no surprise in meth capital of US DEA officer: 'We're slinging it all over the country from here' FRESNO, Calif. - When a 23-year-old Fresno woman fatally shot her two toddlers and a cousin, critically wounded her husband then turned the gun on herself last Sunday, investigators immediately suspected methamphetamine abuse in what otherwise was inexplicable carnage. It turned out the mother had videotaped herself smoking meth hours before the shooting. In family photos, the children are adorable, the mother pretty. They lived in a large apartment complex near a freeway with neatly clipped lawns and mature trees. The father was recently laid off from a packing house job. "When you get this type of tragedy, it's not a surprise that drugs were involved," said Lt. Mark Salazar, the Fresno Police Department's homicide commander. Meth has been a factor in other violent crimes. A Bakersfield mother was sentenced Tuesday for stabbing her newborn while in a meth rage. An Oklahoma woman drowned her baby in a washing machine in November. A New Mexico woman claiming to be God stabbed her son with a screwdriver last month, saying, "God wants him dead." "Once people who are on meth become psychotic, they are very dangerous," said Dr. Alex Stalcup, who treated Haight Ashbury heroin users in the 1960s, but now researches meth and works with addicts in the San Francisco Bay Area suburbs. They're completely bonkers; they're nuts. We're talking about very extreme alterations of normal brain function. Once someone becomes triggered to violence, there aren't any limits or boundaries. The Central Valley of California is a hub of the nation's methamphetamine distribution network, making extremely pure forms of the drug easily available locally. And law enforcement officials say widespread meth abuse is believed to be driving much of the crime in the vast farming region. Chronic use of the harsh chemical compound known as speed or crank can lead to psychosis, which includes hearing voices and experiencing hallucinations. The stimulant effect of meth is up to 50 times longer than cocaine, experts say, so users stay awake for days on end, impairing cognitive function and contributing to extreme paranoia. "Your children and your spouse become your worst enemy, and you truly believe they are after you," said Bob Pennal, a recently retired meth investigator from the California Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement. Methamphetamine originally took root in California's agricultural heartland in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a poor man's cocaine. Its use initially creates feelings of euphoria and invincibility, but experts say repeated abuse can alter brain chemistry and sometimes cause schizophrenia-like behavior. Meth's availability and its potential for abuse combine to create the biggest drug threat in the Central Valley, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Justice's Drug Intelligence Center. From 2009 to 2010 methamphetamine busts in the Central Valley more than tripled to 1,094 kilograms, or more than 2,400 pounds, the report says. Hiding place Large tracts of farmland with isolated outbuildings are an ideal place to avoid detection, which is why the region is home to nearly all of the nation's "super labs," controlled by Mexican drug trafficking organizations, said John Donnelly, resident agent in charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration office in Fresno. "They have the potential to make 150 pounds per (each) cook," he said. There are more super labs in California than anywhere else. Every week another office calls us - St. Paul, Dayton, Kansas, Texas - and says, 'We've got a meth case here' and they say the suspects are from Turlock or Visalia. We're slinging it all over the country from here. Last month, a drug task force working in four central California counties busted 24 alleged members of the Mexican drug cartel La Familia Michoacana with 14 pounds of powdered meth, 30 gallons of meth solution, 17 guns, $110,000 in cash and a fleet of vehicles with sophisticated hidden compartments for smuggling. Most law enforcement agencies don't keep statistics on how many homicides, burglaries and thefts are meth-related, but those responding to the National Drug Intelligence Center's 2011 survey said the drug is the top contributor to violent crimes and thefts. It drives more crime than other drugs do. Meth is in its own category, because it's so much more addictive than other drugs," said Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims. Across the valley, meth addicts steal any metal they can resell - agricultural plumbing, copper wiring, lawn sprinklers. "We lose five to 10 manhole covers a week," said Ceres Police Chief Art de Werk, who said a woman was injured recently when she fell into an unprotected drain in a shopping center. Meth is the poor man's drug and frankly the Central Valley is an impoverished geographic area. 'Shake and Bake' Authorities say the science involved in creating the chemical compound continues to evolve, including an easier recipe called "Shake and Bake" that is available on the Internet. Last month, an Oklahoma woman was arrested as she walked around a WalMart store - for six hours before she was noticed - mixing ingredients for Shake and Bake. In one of the recent attacks by meth users, Aubrey Ragina Mailloux received a nine- month sentence in Bakersfield Tuesday for stabbing her 6-week-old infant in the back and cutting her along her abdomen, jaw and neck during a binge. The baby survived. It's not illegal because we don't want people to feel better. It's illegal because it makes good people do crazy things," said Mailloux's defense attorney, Mark Anthony Raimondo. In Oklahoma, authorities charged Lyndsey Fiddler with second-degree manslaughter after an aunt found her infant daughter in a washing machine thudding off balance in the spin cycle. The aunt told authorities that Fiddler had been up for three days using meth. In Albuquerque, N.M., last month Liehsa Henderson, high on meth, claimed to be God and told police God wanted her son to die after allegedly stabbing him in the neck with a screwdriver. The boy survived. Last Sunday, Fresno police found Aide Mendez dead on the bathroom floor of her home. Her children - 17-month-old Aliyah Echevarria and Isaiah Echevarria, 3 - were in the bathtub. Mendez's cousin was dead in the kitchen. She had shot each in the head. The children's father remains hospitalized with stabbing and gunshot wounds. Police recovered 10 grams of meth, $8,000 and scales - and the iPad the young mother used to videotape herself smoking meth. "If she had been on it for any length of time, well it deteriorates your brain and central nervous system," said Sue Webber-Brown, a former DA investigator in Butte County who now advocates nationally for children in drug cases. If you are already depressed or feel like a loser mom and you don't have a support system and there is no hope, the meth just fuels that.

Frederick Taylor University's Cheap M.B.A."s on the Internet May Not Be Such a Bargain Dibyendu Malakar needed a graduate business degree to advance his career, but he was working full time and could not afford $100,000 or more for a two-year M.B.A. program at Berkeley, Stanford or another accredited business school. So Mr. Malakar enrolled at Frederick Taylor University, an unaccredited school in Moraga. Because Frederick Taylor is listed in California as a state-approved school, he said, "I thought, "It can't be completely bogus." " In fact, he got his M.B.A. via the Internet in just a year, for less than $5,000. That may not have been quite the bargain it seemed to be, though. "I did not realize that it did not carry the same weight as Berkeley or Stanford," said Mr. Malakar, who emigrated from India. But it was not a complete waste. Mr. Malakar said his M.B.A. helped him get a job as director of product management at a software company in Cupertino. Shakila Marando, a 33-year-old doula from El Cerrito, is seeking a bachelor's degree in management from Frederick Taylor. Although she has been a student for nearly a year, she has never spoken to a teacher, she said. "They e-mail you a package of reading materials to read with a multiple-choice exam that is open book," said Ms. Marando, who is from Tanzania. For me, it is very convenient and I can work full time and read a little bit on the side. It is pretty easy. For Mr. Malakar, Ms. Marando and hundreds of students like them, it matters little that Frederick Taylor has no library or dorms; or that some states, including California, Michigan and Oregon, refuse to hire its graduates for many civil service jobs; or that its degrees are worthless for most professional licenses or teaching certificates. Education experts say California leads the nation in unaccredited schools. Frederick Taylor is one of nearly 1,000 unaccredited or questionably accredited colleges and vocational schools that have been operating in the state without regular inspections or evaluations of educational quality, which is required under a state law that has rarely been enforced. State approval is basically a license to operate. Accreditation comes from national or regional agencies that review curriculums and educational standards. "There are a lot of schools that beg the question "What exactly is going on in California?" " said Eyal Ben Cohen, managing director of Accredibase Limited, a company based in London that monitors diploma mills. California has very weak oversight procedures as far as allowing an institution to operate within its borders. An institution within California can obtain a license very easily. Based in a cramped office on the second floor of a nondescript office building in Moraga, Frederick Taylor is run by Mansour S. Saki and Zhilla Nayeri Saki. Mr. Saki's own curriculum vitae lists a Ph.D. from the C.S.M. Institute of Graduate Studies, which forfeited its accreditation in 2004. Zhilla Nayeri Saki lists a doctorate in business administration from the same institution. Both are listed among Frederick Taylor's six-person faculty, along with the couple's 32-year-old daughter, Maryam S. Boller. Selling diplomas over the Internet is a thriving business. The Sakis live in Orinda in a three- bedroom home with an assessed value of $1.1 million, according to property records. The California Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education is responsible for overseeing schools like Frederick Taylor, which was named for a late-19th-century management consultant. But in interviews, state officials conceded that many unaccredited schools had operated with state approval for decades without regular inspections. Frederick Taylor initially received approval to award degrees in 1994, but state records do not show that it was ever inspected. In October, state officials renewed the school's application to operate, again without a visit. "They received approval because the eight-page application that they filled out was in compliance with the law," said Russ Heimerich, a spokesman for the state Department of Consumer Affairs, which oversees the postsecondary education bureau. Frederick Taylor charges $5,212 for a bachelor's degree or a master's in business administration. The academic requirements are less stringent than those at accredited universities. Full-time M.B.A. students at the University of California's Haas School of Business at Berkeley, for example, must complete 51 semester units of course work. Frederick Taylor requires 32 units.

New Research Finds Walnuts Rank Highest in Antioxidant Content Among Nuts FOLSOM, Calif., Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- During this time of year when diet and exercise are a top priority, more and more people are grabbing a handful of walnuts. According to new research published in Food and Function, researchers from The University of Scranton in Scranton, Pa., compared the amount of powerful antioxidants called polyphenols in nine types of roasted and raw nuts and two types of peanut butter, in an attempt to "crack" the antioxidant code. The results? Walnuts are the valedictorian. To view the multimedia assets associated with this release, please click http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/walnuts-go-to-the-head-of-the-class-new-research-finds-walnuts-rank-highest-in-antioxidant-content-among-nuts-137137453.html The analysis found the content and quality, or potency, of antioxidants present in walnuts was highest among the nuts. According to lead researcher Professor Joseph Vinson, Ph.D., Department of Chemistry at The University of Scranton, "A handful of walnuts has almost twice the antioxidant content as an equivalent amount of any other commonly consumed nut." Dr. Vinson thinks consumers are confused about antioxidants and do not truly understand what foods are good sources of antioxidants or what they do. Antioxidant compounds neutralize agents in the body called free radicals that do damage to cell membranes, perhaps leading to cancer, heart disease, premature aging and cell death. Polyphenols are one type of antioxidant that specifically target LDL ("bad cholesterol") and are known to help protect the heart and fight atherosclerosis by slowing plaque buildup and improving artery and vein health. Walnuts are a convenient nutrition powerhouse that Dr. Vinson suggests should be included more frequently in the diet. "In addition to providing fiber, high-quality protein and an excellent source of alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), our research shows that an ounce of walnuts has more antioxidants than the daily sum of what the average person gets from fruits and vegetables," says Dr. Vinson. He certainly does not believe consumers should replace fruits or vegetables, however, considering the nutrient profile and research supporting the health properties of walnuts, Dr. Vinson thinks "people would be 'nuts' not to consume them daily." Registered Dietitian Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, adds, "Dr. Vinson's research gives us another great reason to incorporate nutrient-rich nuts in our diet and it's exciting to see the omega-3 rich walnuts ranked highest in polyphenols - an important group of antioxidants with a promising array of health benefits from our brains to our hearts and beyond. This research further shows us why we should feel good about sprinkling, spooning and snacking on walnuts as a delicious AND nutritious part of our every day. Available: Full study: http://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2012/fo/c2fo10152a Antioxidant Recipes/Photos/Charts B-roll Interviews with: Lead Researcher: Dr. Joseph Vinson, PhD., Professor, Department of Chemistry, The University of Scranton Registered Dietitian and Author of "The SuperFoodsRx Diet": Dr. Wendy Bazilian, DrPH, RD California Walnut Commission The California Walnut Commission, established in 1987, is funded by mandatory assessments of the growers. The Commission is an agency of the State of California that works in concurrence with the Secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). The CWC is mainly involved in health research and export market development activities. Non-Discrimination Statement The California Walnut Board (CWB) and California Walnut Commission (CWC) prohibit discrimination in all programs and activities on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, reprisal, or because all or part of an individual's income is derived from any public assistance programs. Persons with disabilities who require alternative means for communication of program information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact the CWB / CWC offices at (916) 922-5888. To file a complaint of discrimination, write to USDA, Director, Office of Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410, or call (800) 795-3272 (voice) or (202) 720-6382 (TDD). CWB/CWC is an equal opportunity employer and provider. The California Walnut Board and Commission offices are located at 101 Parkshore Dr., Ste. #250, Folsom, CA 95630. Related Links: Link to view the California Walnuts website Link to view the full study SOURCE California Walnut Commission

Eurozone private sector downturn eases The downturn in the eurozone's private sector economy has eased slightly. The latest surveys of companies" purchasing managers showed an improvement in December, but much of that came in Germany and the region as a whole still looks on course for a moderate recession. The services sector survey particularly suggested a dire struggle for the eurozone's peripheral countries, with Germany and France doing better. Survey compiler Markit warned of a worsening divergence between the euro zone's stronger economies, and the likes of Italy and Spain that seem to be undergoing a severe economic contraction. "The uplift in the eurozone PMI in December does little to dispel fears of the region sliding back into recession," said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit. Despite the upturn, the fourth quarter saw the steepest contraction since the spring of 2009, and forward-looking indicators suggest that a further decline is on the cards for the first quarter of 2012. Italy and Spain were probably already in recession as domestic austerity measures further weighed on the economy, he said. More about: Corporate, Euro in crisis, Eurozone, Industry

New York City Opera Declares Rehearsal Lockout New York City Opera's future darkened this weekend when the company declared a lockout for the first rehearsal of the season, scheduled for Monday, amid a labor dispute with its unions. The impasse raises the possibility that the struggling company may have to cancel its first production, "La Traviata," and possibly the season. The move came after mediated talks broke down on Saturday night. Negotiations between the company and its two unions, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians, and the American Guild of Musical Artists, have grown increasingly bitter since City Opera announced last spring that it was moving out of its Lincoln Center home, the David H. Koch Theater, to save money. Local 802 represents the orchestra, and the guild represents the chorus and singers as well as stage managers and directors. The lockout most immediately affects the chorus, which was scheduled to report for a "Traviata" rehearsal at 3 p.m. on Monday, along with a rehearsal pianist. The orchestra is not scheduled to rehearse until Feb. 1. City Opera's spokeswoman, Risa B. Heller, said the company had no plans to hire replacement workers. The unions predicted that the lockout would lead to the season's cancellation, but Ms. Heller said there was no change in the company's plans to put on 16 performances of four operas in various locations around the city, starting with "La Traviata" at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on Feb. 12. "Rehearsals are canceled until we have a deal, and we are taking it day by day to evaluate our options," Ms. Heller said. But time will quickly run short. After the "Traviata" run, Rufus Wainwright's opera, "Prima Donna," begins immediately, on Feb. 19. Mr. Wainwright issued an appeal on his Web site for fans to buy tickets to the show. "A big early interest in "Prima Donna" would really boost the moral and physical prospects for both my piece and the New York City Opera as a whole," he wrote. Mozart's "Così Fan Tutte" is to go up in March, followed by Telemann's "Orpheus" in May. The company did not immediately respond to a question about how long it could go without rehearsals before having to cancel performances. City Opera wants to eliminate salaries for the chorus and orchestra and pay only for individual rehearsals and performances, saying it simply cannot afford large contracts based on a far larger season. The unions say such a plan would cost dozens of jobs and lead to pay reductions of 90 percent, when the workers have already made large pay concessions in recent years. In the continuing battle to portray the opposing side as the real enemy of the company's survival, each blamed the other for intransigence. George Steel, the company's general manager and artistic director, said in a statement that the unions "refused to budge" despite the offer of "hundreds of thousands of dollars" more in compensation. Ms. Heller said that offer amounted to seven more months of full health coverage, or one year's worth; limited coverage for the next two years; and increased severance pay of $3,500, or in some cases $5,000, per person. "City Opera had no other choice but to lock them out, as the company cannot afford to pay for rehearsals when the unions have pledged to strike the performances," the company's news release said. Gail Kruvand, a double bassist in the orchestra and the leader of the players" negotiating committee, said of the supposedly sweetened offer: "That's not what we saw. I don't know what period he's talking about, but it was certainly not in the last week. She said the orchestra had offered to play performances free but rehearse for pay and have a greater say in the company's management. City Opera rejected the offer. "We can't keep sacrificing if this effort by current management is doomed to failure," Ms. Kruvand said. "You can't run a nonprofit performing-arts company on 10 percent earned income," she added, referring to the rough proportion of ticket sales to donations. She blamed company negotiators for the impasse and said the unions were willing to compromise on just a year of full health coverage. "We were willing to keep talking," she said. We're heartbroken. This is not something we wanted to see happen. Alan S. Gordon, the guild's executive director, blamed the City Opera board and its chairman, Charles R. Wall, for the company's problems. "City Opera's death rests squarely on the shoulders of Chuck Wall," he said.

Diniyar Bilyaletdinov aims parting shot at Everton as he prepares for move to Spartak Moscow He has not started a game for his country since September 2010, and in a Russian-language interview with the Uefa website, he talked about how hard he had found it to settle in England. "There was a whole set of circumstances against me," he said. It is not so easy to be a foreign player in England. They must meet certain requirements. What is forgiven locals is not for foreigners. But on the whole I am satisfied with the English stage of my career. I got invaluable experience from playing in the Premier League. And off the pitch, there were positives: during this time I learnt the language, got married, met many interesting people. Bilyaletdinov's criticisms were echoed by his father, who said the player's creativeness had "stagnated" like Mikel Arteta's, as a result of David Moyes's negative style. "If he [Moyes] had got more out of his defensive players, then his creative players wouldn't have dropped off so much in recent years," Rinat Bilyaletdinov said on Tuesday. The player's Everton team-mate Tim Cahill wished him well on Twitter on Wednesday, writing: "Good luck my friend, was great to have you at the Blues. All the best to you and your family. Rangers have priced Nikica Jelavic out of a move to Goodison Park by placing a £10 million valuation on the striker. Moyes has watched the Croatian several times and will have money to spend once Bilyaletdinov completes his move. Rangers have already rejected a £6 million bid from West Ham for Jelavic. Everton are also ready to pounce if Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha's proposed £3 million move to Queens Park Rangers continues to stall.

Shopping Snapshots: Jan. 26 - Slide Show - NYTimes.com Extra Buttons, Extra Power At the men's fashion shows in Milan, just ended, double-breasted blazers were inescapable - and, it turns out, they are proving the cut of choice for women, too. A bevy of designers showed the jackets, so synonymous with 1980s power dressing, in their resort collections, including Theyskens" Theory, with versions in silk and linen; Ferragamo, which showed nautically inspired looks; Sonia Rykiel; Band of Outsiders; and Robert Rodriguez. Ahead-of-the-curve street-style favorites like Lauren Santo Domingo (in the pink jacket), Olivia Palermo (in white) and Caroline Issa (in gray) have already adopted the D-B look.

Williams Injures Ankle in Win at Brisbane Serena Williams injured her left ankle at the Brisbane International, and it could be a major setback for her Australian Open preparations. Williams, in her first trip Down Under since winning the 2010 Australian Open title, is playing a tournament for the first time since losing last year's U.S. Open final. Andy Murray of Britain plays a shot in his match against Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan during the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Brisbane, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard) Close She was serving for the match with a 6-2, 5-3 lead against Serbia's Bojana Jovanovski on Wednesday when she twisted the ankle, falling to the court on the baseline. She needed treatment and had the ankle re-taped before losing the next point to surrender a service break. Williams limped through the next game, wincing in pain at times, before securing a 6-2, 6-4 win to advance to quarterfinals.

California Housing - latimes.com Home sales in the Golden State rose slightly in December, boosted by a pickup in the Bay Area and investor activity in Southern California. But with foreclosures and other low-cost homes dominating the market, the median home price for the state ticked down. Sales rose 4.2% from the same month a year earlier. A total of 37,734 homes were bought throughout the state in December with more than half purchased in Southern California, according to DataQuick, a residential real estate information firm based in San Diego. The median price for the state fell 3.1% to $246,000 compared with the same month a year earlier. That made for the 15th consecutive decline. The December data cap a year in which home prices and sales stagnated with a troubled economy and a high unemployment rate. Although there are some signs that housing may be improving - new home starts are increasing nationally, for instance, and builder confidence ticked up for the fourth consecutive month in January - many hurdles remain. A weak job market and a shortage of buyers able to meet today's tough credit standards set by lenders are chief among those challenges. "The spectacular gains in affordability, based on the combination of lower prices and ultra-low interest rates, was largely theoretical for many people because it was so hard to get a mortgage," said John Walsh, DataQuick president. That, combined with negative equity and economic uncertainty, kept people away. Sales in the Bay Area included few move-up buyers and lots of investors scraping the bottom, according to DataQuick. Total sales were up 4.4% from the same month a year earlier. The region's median sale price fell 6.3% to $351,500. In Southern California, a record number of investors and second-home buyers flooded the market in December, though that was not enough to give sales in the region a bump over the same month a year earlier. Sales fell 1.4% from December 2010 and the median slipped 6.9% to its lowest point in 2011, at $270,000. Statewide, foreclosures and short sales -- where a lender allows a home to be sold "short" of the remaining debt due on the property -- made up more than half of California's resale market. More than one in three homes sold in December were foreclosures while one in five were short sales, DataQuick said.

Australian Open 2012: Maria Sharapova crushed by Victoria Azarenka in women's final in Melbourne When she slipped 0-2 0-30 down, her camp must have been fearing the worst but she dragged it back to 40-30 and then got on the scoreboard with a blistering forehand down the line. The confidence suddenly returned to the Belarusian and she broke back to love to level it at 2-2 and followed that with a routine hold to edge ahead. While Sharapova was happy to simply trade groundstrokes from the baseline, Azarenka was displaying more variety. Having held for 4-3 with a clever drop shot-lob combination she then broke with some adventurous net play. A drive volley gave her a second break point and she took it with another drop shot which Sharapova could only scrape up and her opponent was on hand to volley into the open court. She had no problems in serving it out and remained on the front foot at the start of the second set, breaking with a stunning forehand winner after Sharapova had hit a drive-volley straight to her on the baseline. The Russian was being outgunned and although she did create an immediate break back opportunity, Azarenka slammed the door to move 2-0 ahead. It then became 3-0 as Sharapova, who was starting to look dispirited, thrashed another wayward backhand into the tramlines. Azarenka was relentless and Sharapova powerless to prevent her from running away with it. The 22-year-old broke again for 5-0 and, despite Sharapova's best efforts to extend the match, she completed a quite stunning victory in one hour and 22 minutes.

Former Colts Coach Caldwell Hired by Ravens Jim Caldwell is back in the NFL, this time as the Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach. The 57-year-old Caldwell was hired on Monday by the Ravens. The appointment comes less than two weeks after Caldwell was fired as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts following a 2-14 season. Caldwell went 26-22 in three years with Indianapolis, including a Super Bowl appearance. After working with Colts standout quarterback Peyton Manning for 10 seasons, Caldwell will turn his attention toward improving Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco and teaming with offensive coordinator Cam Cameron to strengthen Baltimore's passing game, which ranked 19th this season. "After spending considerable time with Jim over the last week, we think he will be an excellent fit with our team, coaching the quarterbacks and helping with our offense," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. We believe he enhances our staff. Jim has a tremendous history coaching at the college and pro level, especially working with quarterbacks and providing help with offenses. The timing is right to add a quarterbacks coach after Cam and Joe worked so closely and well together this year. It's the right step for us now. Before taking over as head coach at Indianapolis, Caldwell spent seven seasons as the team's quarterbacks coach. Under his direction, Manning won three NFL MVP awards. In 2004, Indianapolis went 12-4 behind Manning, who threw for a career-high 49 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. "I am really excited to work with coach Harbaugh, Cam and the rest of the coaching staff," Caldwell said. It's a great fit for me, and I'm happy they saw it that way. I can't wait to get started with the Ravens, an organization that from top to bottom is one of the NFL's best. The Ravens were eliminated this year by New England in the AFC title game.

Meet the GOP's Go-To Supreme Court Warrior January 18, 2012 Paul D. Clement is a lawyer standing at the center of three blockbuster Supreme Court cases that could make this term one of the most politically significant in years. Clement, a solicitor general during the George W. Bush administration, will serve as the lead counsel for a challenge brought by 26 states to the Obama administration's health care law. He is representing Arizona as it defends its controversial immigration law, and represented the state of Texas in a voting rights case that was argued in early January. While it is not unusual for a top notch Supreme Court advocate to make frequent visits to the Court in one term, it is almost unprecedented for one lawyer to handle so many high-profile, politically divisive cases. By the end of this term, Clement will have appeared before the justices 60 times during his career. "It does get easier, but it never gets easy," he says of the experience. If I ever stop getting nervous about arguing a Supreme Court case, I am going to find something else to do. You absolutely need to be on the top of your game to argue before this Court. Clement says the challenge to the health care law brought by the Republican governors and attorneys general of 26 states, a small business group and several individuals has been the most difficult case to juggle this term. The justices will target four aspects of the law and the Court has scheduled a total of 5 ½ hours of arguments over three consecutive days in March. Central to the issues before the Court is the individual mandate, which requires everyone to have health insurance or face a penalty. And if that's not constitutional, can the rest of the act stand, or must it be struck down in its entirety? Then there's the question of whether challenges should even be heard now since the mandate doesn't take effect until 2014. Another issue concerns the forcing of states to pay the extra Medicaid costs the law stipulates. "Generally, if you have multiple cases in different sittings, the briefing schedules will not overlap very much," Clement says. But the health care case is the equivalent of having four cases all in the March sitting. At 45, Clement's name often tops the list of potential Supreme Court nominees in future Republican administrations. While he is known for his Supreme Court practice, he is no stranger to the lower courts, where he is currently defending the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) that defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman. In general, taking a case from the lower courts to the Supreme Court, as Clement often does, requires a shift in strategy. In the lower courts you spend a lot of time talking about what a Supreme Court decision means. In the Supreme Court, you are likely to be talking to the author. As a result, the discussion is going to turn less on what a particular sentence means and more on broader principles of constitutional law," he says. Clement's style in the Supreme Court is different from less seasoned practitioners who respond to questions from prepared notes, often giving canned answers. Clement argues note-free and engages in a conversation with the justices, carefully targeting their concerns. His effective style was on display during arguments in the Texas voting rights case. Clement was defending a set of redistricting maps drawn by the Republican-dominated state legislature. Latino groups are challenging the maps, arguing they don't properly reflect Latino population growth in the state. Clement was facing so many aggressive questions from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, that at one point Chief Justice John Roberts intervened, asking her to allow Clement to finish his answer. Pressing on, Sotomayor implied that in one district in El Paso County, legislators had drawn a map in an unnatural and illegal manner. "The enacted map," she said, "created an antler-type district, a head and two unconnected antlers on top -- nothing tying them together." As the audience envisioned a deer head, Clement was quick to respond. "You may be right," he said. There may be a problem in El Paso. But he pointed out that the legislators hadn't acted unreasonably because they adhered to a similar drawing that had been approved by the Department of Justice after the 2001 census. Then he circled back to Sotomayor's deer analogy. "The deer had one antler and an antenna," he said. His response was a mixture of his in-depth preparation and his ability to be light on his feet. Sotomayor did not ask him any further questions. Last June, when the health care case that is now before the Supreme Court was being heard by a lower appellate court, Clement argued against Neal Katyal, who was then serving as the acting U.S. Solicitor General of the Obama administration. Before arguments, the courtroom was tense with anticipation. But Katyal and Clement stood together, hands in their pockets, spending several moments smiling and laughing. Once the gavel banged, they tried to tear apart each other's arguments. Paul Clement is one of the very best oral advocates in the country. He is deeply prepared, engaged, comfortable at the podium, and charming on and off the court. His clients are lucky to have him," says Katyal. After graduating from Harvard Law School in 1992, where he served for a time on the law review with Barack Obama, Clement clerked for two judges who are considered legal luminaries on the right, Judge Laurence H. Silberman, of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and Justice Antonin Scalia. "Having served as a law clerk on the Court was tremendously helpful," Clement says in preparing him to argue before the justices. It gives you an opportunity to see a lot of advocacy and get a sense of what works. Clement spent seven years in the Office of the Solicitor General, a division of the Department of Justice charged with government litigation in the Supreme Court. He headed the office from 2005 until 2008. During his tenure in government, he argued cases that included the landmark campaign finance decision, McConnell v. FEC; a decision that expanded the rights of individuals with disabilities, Tennessee v. Lane; and some of the key war-on-terror cases, including Hamdi v. Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld v. Padilla and Hamdan v. Rumsfeld. From there he moved to private practice. David J. Garrow, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law who has studied the history of the Supreme Court, says he can't remember the last time one advocate had "quite this stellar a trifecta" of big cases in one term. "It reflects all the parties' perception that the justices have supremely high regard for Clement," says Garrow. They similarly have high regard for other practitioners as well, but Clement is right now the man of the moment. Garrow says it also points to a more recent trend in which a small number of attorneys appear repeatedly before the Court. "Over this past 10 to 12 years," he says, "high-profile cases have been argued by an all-star team that truly doesn't number more than 25. I think that reflects the understandable perception by parties of all stripes that the Court itself welcomes and embraces really first-rate representation. Some say that Clement has become the go-to guy to represent the conservative position in cases that are politically divisive. Michael J. Gerhardt, of the University of North Carolina School of Law, says that Clement is "moving to the front tier of experienced advocates who tend to specialize in ideologically driven cases." He says, "Clement is clearly one of the more experienced and well respected litigators, but he also has in his mix of cases an unusually large number of cases that appeal to the conservative movement to reshape Supreme Court doctrine. " But Lisa S. Blatt of Arnold & Porter, who worked with Clement in the Solicitor General's office, scoffs at the notion that Clement is only tied to conservative causes or only works for Republican Attorney Generals and Governors. "That's pretty ridiculous," she says. He has taken a series of high profile civil rights cases that aren't exactly conservative causes. One such case was Clement's representation of inmates challenging poor prison conditions in California in Brown v. Plata in 2010. He also represented two ex-prisoners in their bid to seek monetary damages for prosecutorial misconduct in Pottawattamie County v. McGee. And he wrote an amicus brief on behalf of a bipartisan group of former senior DOJ attorneys in favor of a man who spent 18 years in prison and sought to sue a prosecutor's office for suppressing exculpatory evidence. The case was called Connick v. Thompson. "The work is as varied as it is interesting," Clement says. Upon leaving the Solicitor General's Office in 2008, Clement was snapped up by the law firm King & Spalding, but left the firm last spring after a controversy. House Speaker John Boehner had hired Clement to defend the Defense of Marriage Act after Justice Department lawyers refused to do so. But Clement's bosses at King & Spalding unexpectedly reversed course and the firm decided to withdraw from the case. Gay and lesbian groups had mounted intense pressure on the firm for accepting the case. Clement immediately resigned and wrote a scathing letter to the chairman of the firm. Clement said King & Spalding had backed down because the client's legal position was unpopular. "When it comes to the lawyers," Clement wrote in his letter, "the surest way to be on the wrong side of history is to abandon a client in the face of hostile criticism." Clement said that he "recognized from the outset" that the federal statute implicates sensitive issues "on both sides" but that "having undertaken the representation, I believe there is no honorable course for me but to complete it." Clement immediately joined two of his former law school classmates at a much smaller firm, Bancroft PLLC. "I say this as a lefty liberal Democrat," says Garrow. He did exactly the right thing by insisting that his obligation to represent his client outweighed the politics of the law firm. You couldn't find someone more pro gay marriage than I am but at the same time Clement's behavior professionally was utterly commendable," Garrow says. Clement says that his experience at Bancroft has been "tremendous." "Lawyers tend to work pretty hard; it is really rewarding to work with your friends, especially people you have known since law school," he says. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife and three sons, and says that besides his education, and his years as a law clerk, his upbringing in Wisconsin helped to prepare him for Supreme Court arguments. A lot of lively debate at the family dinner table growing up probably didn't hurt.

Heineken Cup: Saracens sole English survivors as Edinburgh progress

Police question man in NYC firebomb attacks By NBC News and news services Police are questioning a person of interest in the firebomb attacks over the weekend, including one at a prominent Islamic cultural center, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Tuesday. The man was tracked through a car with Virginia license plates that was believed to be at the scene of at least two of the attacks Sunday evening on a convenience store, two homes and the cultural center, Kelly said. The man was kicked out of the convenience store on Dec. 22 for trying to steal a glass Starbucks bottle and milk, authorities believe. Four of the five crude Molotov cocktails thrown at the various locations were made from glass Starbucks bottles, Kelly said. See video, more coverage at NBCNewYork.com Witnesses reported the man made threats as he was escorted out, Kelly said. When they were pushing him out of the store, he said words to the effect that 'We're going to get even. We're going to get back at you,'" Kelly said. No one was injured in any of the attacks, and it remains unclear whether they were linked. The attacks wrought little or no damage at most of the locations. The first hit was at 8 p.m., when a bottle was thrown at a counter at the corner convenience store where the man was kicked out. Ten minutes later, a possible firebomb smashed through the glass at a nearby home, setting it on fire and badly damaging it. Three children were inside. About half an hour later, the Imam Al-Khoei Foundation, an Islamic center, was hit with two, one at the entrance where about 80 worshippers were dining, and one near a sign for the center's grade school. And shortly after 10 p.m., two bottles were thrown at a house that police said was used for Hindu worship services, causing minimal fire damage. Police also were investigating a possible firebombing Sunday night in Elmont, Nassau County, just east of the city borough of Queens. A homeowner reported hearing glass shattering and smelling gasoline and found a broken glass bottle on his porch, county police said. Detectives located the car with Virginia plates in Queens and staked it out, noticing the man who fit a police description of the suspect trying to get into it Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, religious and city leaders met at the Islamic center to urge tolerance, though it remained unclear whether the incidents were hate crimes. "As I said before, we don't know what the motive was," Mayor Bloomberg said. But in New York City, as you know, we have no tolerance for violence, and certainly no tolerance for discrimination. Whether it was senseless violence or a hate crime will be determined down the road. But in either case, we're just not going to tolerate it in this city. This article includes reporting by Shimon Prokupecz and Andrew Siff of NBCNewYork.com and by The Associated Press.

Border Agent, Jail Officer Arrested In Drug Conspiracy Case A U.S. Border Patrol agent and an Arizona Department of Corrections officer were arrested Thursday and charged with conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana, according to court documents. Border Agent Ivhan Herrera-Chiang, who has been with the force since 2006, along with corrections officer Michael Lopez, who has been with the corrections department since 2006, are accused of conspiring to smuggle drugs into the U.S., according to the documents. Herrera has been with the Smuggling Interdiction Group since March 2011, which includes access to smugglers, surveillance and intelligence collection. In the documents, an investigation found that Herrera was the middle man between a drug trafficking organization in Mexico and Lopez. Herrera allegedly monitored the Border Patrol radio and location of agents when he was not able to participate directly in the smuggling, and notify Lopez of where the operation should take place. Lopez also stands accused of smuggling one pound of methamphetamine into the U.S. through the Port of Entry by taping the drugs to his body under his uniform and guiding other traffickers to routes to avoid checkpoints. Lopez offered a confession to smuggling the drugs as well as working with Herrera to obtain sensitive information when he was arrested Thursday, officials say. Herrera also is said to have confessed to receiving payment in return for information after he was arrested.

Man injured in west Belfast shooting

Asil Nadir needed 135 tonnes of cash Business tycoon Asil Nadir would have needed banknotes 300 times the height of Nelson's Column to balance the books of his failing empire, the Old Bailey heard today. Nadir, who is accused of siphoning off £150 million from Polly Peck International, told investigators his mother put the money back in Turkish lira (TL). He claimed she and others made deposits to a bank he owned in Northern Cyprus. But Philip Shears, QC, prosecuting, told the jury the claim was "not credible." He said one deposit slip in June 1988 to balance a £6 million transfer from PPI suggested 148.8 million TL were deposited in 100TL bank notes. "Such a huge quantity of bank notes is likely to have weighed 135,185kg - over 135 tonnes," said Mr Shears. If the notes were piled on top of each other, they would reach a height 300 times the height of Nelson's Column. What is also open to question is how the defendant's mother was physically able to transport and deposit such vast quantities of banknotes on a regular basis. Without being flippant, we are now in the realms of forklift trucks and vans stuffed full of banknotes. Moreover, from where did she or others get all this money? Nadir, 70, of Mayfair, central London, denies 13 specimen counts of theft amounting to £34 million between 1987 and 1990. He was arrested and was due to stand trial in 1993 but left Britain for Northern Cyprus, only to return in August 2010. Mr Shears said his "fleeing the country before his trial in order to avoid prosecution and trial, remaining out of the jurisdiction for some 17 years" was evidence of his dishonesty. The administrators were unable to track down the large amounts sent to Northern Cyprus. The prosecution said documents about the deposits said to have been made by Safiye Nadir were fake. Accountants who went to Northern Cyprus were unable to speak to Mrs Nadir and had difficulty with Nadir's employees. Mr Shears said: "Administrators were met with obstruction, and inaccurate and inconsistent accounts and explanations." But Kemal Birgen, a former bank manager of IBK who has since died, implicated the finance director of PPI subsidiary Unipac and bank workers. Mr Shears said the cash deposit claim "simply beggars belief." Mr Bergen said the bank did not have space for such large deposits. He added: "Mr Birgen stated it did not happen - with regard to Asil Nadir's mother, she never had up to £70 million in her deposit account, and had no knowledge of 300 billion lira passing through the accounts." Mr Birgen, manager of IBK from 1982 to April 1991, said he had been forced to resign. He was interviewed by Christopher Howell for the administrators in July 1991. Mr Shears said: "He later told Mr Howell that he had been threatened, had had dead chickens delivered, his house had been petrol-bombed, and an abusive phone call was received while Mr Howell was present."

SBA Urges Earthquake Survivors to Apply Now; New Counties Added to the Declaration ATLANTA, Jan. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Small Business Administration encourages homeowners, renters and businesses in Virginia impacted by the earthquake and aftershocks that occurred on Aug. 23 through Oct. 25, 2011, to return their completed loan applications before the March 5 deadline. "Currently, 107 homes and 7 businesses disaster loans have been approved in the amount of $2,330,400 for affected survivors," said Frank Skaggs, director of SBA's Field Operations Center East in Atlanta. We are pleased to be able to get these loans approved so residents and businesses in the disaster area can continue to rebuild and resume their normal lives. Waiting to file an SBA application could cause unnecessary delays in receiving disaster assistance, and many may miss the extended application deadline of March 5. I encourage anyone who has not completed their disaster loan application to meet with Customer Service Representatives at one of the Disaster Recovery Centers for one-on-one assistance," added Skaggs The counties of Culpeper, Fluvanna, Goochland, Louisa, Orange, Spotsylvania and the independent city of Fredericksburg are eligible for both Physical and Economic Injury Disaster Loans from the SBA. Small businesses and most private non-profit organizations in the following adjacent counties are eligible to apply only for SBA Economic Injury Disaster Loans: Albemarle, Buckingham, Caroline, Chesterfield, Cumberland, Fauquier, Greene, Hanover, Henrico, Madison, Powhatan, Rappahannock and Stafford in Virginia. Homeowners and renters who receive a SBA disaster home loan application after registering with FEMA should submit it as soon as possible to receive consideration for a loan or referral to FEMA for possible grant assistance that covers personal property, vehicle repair, moving and storage expenses. To be considered for all forms of disaster assistance, those affected by the disaster should call FEMA at 1-800-621-FEMA (3362) or 800-462-7585 (TTY) for the deaf and hard-of- hearing or register online at www.disasterassistance.gov. For assistance and Disaster Recovery Centers locations, call the SBA's Customer Service Center at 800-659-2955 (800-877-8339 for the deaf and hard-of-hearing) or send an email to [email protected]. Loan application forms can be downloaded from www.sba.gov. Those affected by the disaster may also apply for disaster loans electronically from SBA's website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela/. The deadline to return SBA applications for physical property damage is March 5, 2012. The deadline to return applications for economic injury is August 6, 2012.

Van plunges off ferry after being hit by a Mercedes By Yvonne Beltzer , nbclosangeles.com NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. -- A minivan with two parents and two children on board plunged off the Balboa Ferry Friday morning after it was struck by another vehicle. A ferry worker dove into the water and helped the family escape, getting the fourth person out of the minivan just seconds before it sank 15 feet into Newport Harbor. No one was hurt -- the van went under just after the final passenger was rescued. In addition to the ferry worker who led the rescue effort, two boaters pulled alongside to help. Witnesses said a black Mercedes-Benz accidentally accelerated as it boarded the ferry. It rammed the minivan, pushing it into the water. The Mercedes was left teetering off the end of the ferry. The incident occurred shortly after 9 a.m. on the Balboa Island side of the ferry run. Witnesses also said the minivan floated for about a minute and a half before it sank.

Arms ship's path raises concern about Russian support for Syria Andreas Lazarou / AFP - Getty Images The Saint Vincent-flagged Chariot cargo ship, said to be carrying tons of munitions from Russia to Syria, is released by the Cypriot authorities after receiving confirmation the vessel would not proceed to the Syrian port of Latakia as originally scheduled. A Russian ship apparently laden with arms for Syria was under way again Wednesday after being detained in Cyprus, only now its destination is supposed to be Turkey. The incident signals apparently signals Russia's continued military support for the Syrian regime, according to The Guardian newspaper of London. The regime is under a European Union embargo for President Bashar Assad's crackdown on an uprising that has left at least 5,000 dead over the past 10 months. The cargo ship, owned by St. Petersburg-based Westberg Ltd., left the Russian port Dec. 9 for Turkey and Syria, which is 65 miles east of Cyprus, officials said. Russia and Turkey are not members of the European Union, so the route did not violate the embargo. However, the Chariot, a St. Vincent and Grenadines-flagged ship, dropped anchor off the southern Cypriot port of Limassol on Tuesday because of high seas, drawing the attention of Cypriot officials. Customs officials boarded the ship to examine its cargo, but couldn't open and inspect four containers in the hold because of "the confined space" they were stored in, the Cypriot Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Nevertheless, the officials determined they were holding a "dangerous cargo." The Guardian cited a Greek-language Politis newspaper report that the vessel carried ammunition of various calibers and that the recipient was the Syrian defense ministry. Another newspaper, Simerini, said initial reports suggested it was carrying 35 tons of explosives, weapons and munitions. Cyprus Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias told private Sigma TV that the cargo was of a type that "essentially necessitated its seizure." The ship was also carrying an electricity generator, the foreign ministry said. Russian state news agency RIA Novosti quoted a Westberg spokesman as saying that the Chariot was ferrying cargo owned by Russia's state arms trader Rosoboronexport. Cypriot authorities talked with the ship's Russian owners, who promised to change the ship's route, and the vessel was allowed to refuel and leave Cyprus on Wednesday, a statement said. "From the moment that we were informed that the cargo aboard the ship won't go to Syria, then we had no reason not to allow (the ship's) immediate release," Kazamias said. All actions were taken allowing us to properly get rid of this ship with the dangerous cargo. The statement didn't say where the vessel is now headed. But an official with knowledge of the matter said the ship was allowed to leave after saying its final destination will be nearby Turkey. The official spoke on condition of anonymity, given the diplomatic sensitivity of the issue. However, Turkish officials couldn't confirm that the Chariot was heading to Turkey, and the vessel could still make a dash for the Syrian ports of Latakia or Tartus, which Russian warships use as a resupply stop. Russia is one Assad's few remaining international allies, the Guardian said. Moscow considers the embargo and U.S. sanctions as Western encroachment on its traditional sphere of influence. Moscow continues to supply Damascus with advanced weapons and other arms, the Guardian said. Syria gives Russia a strategic foothold in the Mediterranean. Previous seizures Turkish authorities intercepted an arms shipment from Iran to Syria in August and seized the cargo of a Syria-bound Iranian plane in March because it breached U.N. sanctions. Turkish media said the aircraft was carrying light weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket launchers and mortars. Last summer, Cyprus suffered a disaster involving confiscated munitions from another cargo ship heading to the Middle East. In February 2009, officials seized 85 gunpowder-laden containers from a Cypriot-flagged ship that was suspected of transporting them from Iran to Palestinian militants in Gaza through Syria. Those containers, left piled in an open field at a naval base, blew up in July, killing 13 people and wrecking the island's main power station in the island's worst peacetime military accident.

Rick Santorum's Iowa surge. Charted. Evidence of former Pennsyvania senator Rick Santorum "s surge in Iowa is everywhere - from packed events over the final few days to a media horde now following his every move. Move from 10 feet to 10,000 feet - the Fix is nothing if not a high-riser - and the rapidity of Santorum's rise is equally striking. Two charts capture that ascent. A third suggests that Santorum may have peaked - at least in the world of social media - slightly too early. The first chart comes to us courtesy of TargetPoint - a Republican micro-targeting firm. TargetPoint has put together something called the "National Dialogue Monitor" that "tracks every time a celebrity, organization, issue or corporation is mentioned across all media channels - television, radio, newspapers, magazines, blogs, websites and social networks - measuring the associated volume, tone, and topics of each tracked entity." And, yes, we are going to be referencing this data all the time going forward. Here's a look at the dialogue about the Republican field over the past two weeks: The second chart comes courtesy of the newest Washington Post tool. It's called Mention Machine and it is amazing - helpfully tracking the mentions (and actual tweets) of the candidates in field over time. Here's Santorum's trendline on Twitter over the past week: But, the Mention Machine data also may carry an ill omen for Santorum as over the past few hours the number of Tweets about him has dropped precipitously. (Or maybe it's just a mid-day lag. People have to eat lunch, after all.) As we often note, data alone isn't determinative. If it was, the Oakland A's would be World Series champions every year. But this data does back up the sense on the ground that Santorum is the momentum candidate in today's Iowa caucuses.