Paradigm Shift e3m

Paradigm is well known in the hi-fi audio realm for making some of the most affordable, excellent-sounding speakers under $1000, the Mini Monitors. Recently, Paradigm announced a more affordable line of speakers and?in a first for the company?earphones. The line is called Paradigm Shift, and the e3m, at $129.99 (direct), is the most expensive of the three earphone pairs the company unveiled at CES 2012. Fans of the signature smooth bass response of Paradigm speakers will not be disappointed, as the e3m offers plenty of clean, robust low-end that never distorts, even at top volume. Some listeners might prefer a bit more brightness or high frequency presence, but the response is not so muted in the highs that it could be called muffled. Overall, the e3m is a strong debut for Paradigm in the earphone realm.

Design
Offered in white or black (ours was black), the e3m features earpieces with aluminum housings for the 8-mm super-neodymium drivers. They're metallic-covered at the base, where the ear tips slide on, and black on the ends, with the Paradigm Shift logo emblazoned in silver on each earpiece. Red plastic, hidden by the eartips, marks the right earpiece. One tip in each ear tip pair?there are three differently-sized pairs included?also has red on it to keep things straight. The earpieces provide a secure seal and decent passive noise reduction, with the cable extending straight down from the ear. (Paradigm will also offer earhooks as an accessory for the Shift earphone line?rubberized sleeves for the cable that fit over the top of the ear, for those who prefer to wear the earphones upside down, with the cable shooting up and behind the ear.) The cable is covered in black, tangle-resistant cloth. It's not tangle-proof, but it should be easier to keep the e3m's cable more tidy than a typical earphone cable.

Along the right ear's cable, there is a small compartment housing a microphone and a single-button control system for answering calls. It works with most modern, popular phones, including the iPhone, but since it's not designed for one phone in particular, it doesn't handle any of them particularly gracefully. On the iPhone 4S, for instance, the single button needs to be tapped rapidly twice to skip a song, and three times to accomplish other tasks. The three-button iPhone controls included on most earphone pairs these days are far more efficient. The trade-off is that Paradigm's earphones will also work with most smartphones. Still, it feels like a control system from a few years back, and will likely annoy iPhone users who are familiar with the modern controls on other earphones. The 3.5mm connection is straight and narrow, which makes it ideal for mobile phones with bulkier cases. The e3m also comes with a compact, padded travel case.

Performance
One thing newcomers to the earphone realm often get wrong is bass performance?not just how much or how little bass to include in the earphones' sound signature, but also how well the drivers will handle deep bass at higher volumes. It's refreshing to see Paradigm get this right on the first try. Not only does the e3m offer exemplary bass response with articulate but powerful lows, but there is never any distortion. Even on tracks with seriously deep bass, like The Knife's "Silent Shout," and even at maximum volume, the e3m's remain clean.

Bass response isn't everything, though, and one thing audiophiles might find lacking is the high frequency response. When bass is intense and the higher frequencies lack the same amount of presence in the overall response, the result is often described as muddy or muffled. I wouldn't go so far as to say that the e3m sounds muffled, but there is less of an emphasis on the higher frequencies and crispness of vocals and percussion than you will find in similarly priced-models, like the Shure SE215 (4 stars, $119) and the Bowers & Wilkins C5 In-Ear Headphones (4.5 stars, $179.95). Both of those pairs won Editors' Choice awards and offer a much crisper high frequency response without sacrificing the low end. The e3m, however, sounds almost refreshing for dialing back the highs a bit?a sound sometimes attributed to vinyl and referred to as "warmth." If you're seeking the opposite of warmth, the Etymotic ER-4PT (4.5, $299)?another Editors' Choice?though far more expensive, is an industry standard for flat response, and has a distinctive crisp response with subtle, less intense low-end.

So, we'll call this a matter of taste. If you favor crisp, super-articulate highs, the e3m is probably not for you. If you're looking for a warmer sound, favoring the bass frequencies without getting muddy, the e3m may be just what you're looking for. If all the aforementioned options are all out of your budget, perhaps you should check out another PCMag Editors' Choice, the AKG K 325 (4 stars, $79.95)?at about $50 less, it's a steal, and still delivers laudable bass response and overall clarity.

?More Headphone Reviews:
??? Paradigm Shift e3m
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?? more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/L-TSMkvpe2c/0,2817,2399165,00.asp

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NBC Nightly News: Economy trumps all in S.C.

NBC News

NBC's Tom Brokaw caught up with voters at Bailey's sports bar in Greenville, S.C. for his second report in the

?

By Tom Brokaw
NBC News
Columbia, S.C.

There are only two days left until South Carolina?s Republican presidential primary and a new NBC News/Marist poll shows former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is gaining ground. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has a 10-point lead over Gingrich, but Gingrich now has the support of 24 percent of likely Republican primary voters in the state ? and the support of the latest candidate to drop-out, Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

I spent two?full days in South Carolina, from Greenville-Spartanburg to Columbia and many stops between, including the old mill towns of Laurens and Newberry.?The Palmetto?State has so many parts?--?the coastal areas, the midlands, the western front -- and they're all distinct in?their geography and culture.?But after speaking?with people throughout the region, I found nearly everyone agreed that this year the economy trumps all in South Carolina, a deeply religious state where social issues such as abortion and gay rights have played larger roles in the past.

NBC News

NBC's Tom Brokaw interviews Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Ernie Segars,?the county administrator in Laurens, S.C., said although religious issues are ?very important? to voters, ?jobs and the economy are the major issues right now.?

?I think when the economy?s better and things are improved, and certainly the social issues are important and will have a role,? Segars said.

Watch Tom Brokaw tonight on ?Nightly News? as he connects with voters in the political battleground of South Carolina, the second in a series of reports called ?Main Street, USA.?? Click HERE to watch the first report, from Iowa.

Gov. Nikki Haley, a Tea Party darling who has struggled with her ratings her first year in office,?echoed that sentiment.

?We?re looking for a president that understands it?s all about jobs,? said Haley, who has endorsed Romney. ??The hardest part about my job has been the Obama administration ? The people of South Carolina saw that we passed by the will of the people legal immigration reform and the Department of Justice stopped it ? The people have experienced the mandates and the stops of the federal government and they?re frustrated with it. And so they?re looking for someone that can go in day one and say, ?Lay off the states, let them do their jobs and let?s get people back to work.??

South Carolina's unemployment rate has hovered close to?10?percent, even with a new BMW plant and the arrival of some support industries.???

I also spoke with?the state?s U.S.?Sen. Lindsey Graham,?a Republican?who is being criticized by?his?own party and a variety of other party activists for his occasional departure from Republican orthodoxy.

?The question for the Republican party, would we put raising revenue on the table to solve our entitlement problem?? he asked.??Will our Democratic friends put on the table working longer and reducing benefits? And every time you put these ideas on the table, people come at you pretty hard.?

After two days spent talking with dozens of people, I encountered the most passionate opinions at?a Ron Paul debate party at Bailey?s sports bar in Greenville: all working class and mostly young, many of whom had not been involved in politics before.

I asked Sandy Monroe what she found so appealing about Ron Paul.

?He challenged my ideas,? she said. ??He sent me back to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights and to the Founding Fathers ? He could win if the people understood what he stood for.? If people like me would actually go study what he says, it makes sense.? And it?s our freedom that he?s talking about.?

But for Robert Whitney, ?it?s a trust issue.?

?Everything that Romney says, he?s flip-flopped too much,? Whitney said. ?When there?s big government people saying that Ron Paul has integrity, that he?s a man that stands by his word, then I mean, I think that?s all the proof you need.?

Tune in to ?Nightly News? tonight for more of Tom Brokaw?s reporting from South Carolina and join the conversation on the ?Nightly News? Facebook page.

Source: http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/19/10191957-economy-trumps-all-in-south-carolina

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Missing teenager Natalee Holloway declared dead (AP)

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? The parents of Natalee Holloway looked on somberly as a judge on Thursday declared their child dead, more than six years after the American teenager vanished during a high school graduation trip to the Caribbean island of Aruba.

"We've been dealing with her death for the last six and a half years," Dave Holloway said after a brief hearing. He said the judge's order closes one chapter in a long ordeal, but added: "We've still got a long way to go to get justice.

Natalee Holloway disappeared in Aruba on May 30, 2005. The 18-year-old was last seen leaving a bar early that morning with a young Dutchman, Joran van der Sloot. Her body was never found and the ensuing searches for the young woman would reap intense media scrutiny and worldwide attention.

Thursday's hearing was scheduled long before van der Sloot ? a suspect questioned in Holloway's disappearance ? pleaded guilty Wednesday in Peru to the 2010 murder of a woman he met at a casino in Lima. Stephany Flores, 21, was killed five years to the day after Holloway, an 18-year-old from the wealthy Birmingham suburb of Mountain Brook, disappeared.

Shortly after Flores' death on May 30, 2010, van der Sloot told police he killed the woman in Peru in a fit of rage after she discovered on his laptop his connection to the disappearance of Holloway. Police forensic experts disputed the claim.

Dave Holloway told the judge in September he believed his daughter had died and he wanted to stop payments on her medical insurance and use her $2,000 college fund to help her younger brother.

The teen's mother originally objected, but her lawyer, Charlie DeBardeleben, said she subsequently changed her mind once she understood her husband's intentions.

Natalee Holloway's parents were divorced in 1993 and Beth Holloway sat in the back row of the courtroom, mostly staring at her hands in her lap through the hearing Thursday afternoon in a probate court in Birmingham.

Although Beth Holloway declined to speak to journalists, her attorney signaled it was a difficult moment for her to witness a judge signing the order declaring her daughter dead.

"She's ready to move on from this," DeBardeleben added.

Mark White, an attorney for Dave Holloway, told the judge just before he announced his decision, that there was no evidence that Holloway was alive.

"Despite all that no evidence has been found Natalee Holloway is alive," he told the judge, noting that exhaustive searches, blanket international media coverage and even the offer of rewards had turned up nothing new.

King had ruled in September that Dave Holloway had met the legal presumption of death for his daughter and it was up to someone to prove she didn't die on a high school graduation trip. He had set the hearing after a period of several months in the event anyone might come forward with new information.

However, investigators have long worked from the assumption that the young woman was dead in Aruba, where the case was officially classified as a homicide investigation.

That investigation remains open, though there has been no recent activity, said Solicitor General Taco Stein, an official with the prosecutor's office on the Dutch Caribbean island.

"The team that was acting in that investigation still is functioning as a team and they get together whenever there is information or things are needed in the case or a new tip arrives," Stein said in a phone interview Thursday.

Dave Holloway said he hopes the 24-year-old van der Sloot, who is awaiting sentencing in Lima, gets a 30-year prison term sought by Peruvian prosecutors.

"Everybody knows his personality. I believe he is beyond rehabilitation," Holloway said.

Attorneys said both parents also expressed hope that van der Sloot's next stop is Birmingham, where he faces federal charges accusing him of extorting $25,000 from Beth Holloway to reveal the location of her daughter's body.

Prosecutors said the money was paid, but nothing was disclosed about the missing woman's whereabouts.

"I expect to see him in Birmingham," Dave Holloway said Thursday.

____

Online: AP interactive - http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2012/natalee-holloway

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_us/us_missing_teen_aruba

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'Sweet Valley High' To Be A Musical, Diablo Cody Confirms

'It's going to blow people's minds,' screenwriter tells MTV News about the in-the-works adaptation.
By Jocelyn Vena, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Diablo Cody
Photo: Jason Merritt/ Getty Images

Diablo Cody explored the life of one particular "Young Adult" author in her screenplay for the Charlize Theron film. Next up, she herself is taking on the challenge of adapting a beloved young-adult franchise, "Sweet Valley High," for the big screen.

And while she's knee-deep in work for the project, when MTV News caught up with the screenwriter at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday night in Los Angeles, she revealed one very juicy detail about the adaptation.

"Oh my gosh! OK, so I am so excited about 'Sweet Valley High.' There's original songs being written for it right now, which is the most exciting development. They're amazing. They're being written by these Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning songwriters from Broadway who are the best," she gushed, confirming that the film will be a musical version of the novels. "Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt, who wrote [the Broadway show] 'Next to Normal'; they're amazing and I'm sorry, I could go on and on. But I'm very excited about 'Sweet Valley High.' It's going to blow people's minds. I haven't really had the chance to talk about this yet, so it's exciting."

The Francine Pascal novels (which debuted in 1983) follow the lives of twin teenagers, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield, who live in Sweet Valley, California. The series is full of puppy love, teen angst and the kind of drama and comedy that keeps people tuning into the CW and ABC Family week after week. If you've never read the books before, Cody assures you that you can still love the movie. "It [has] a lot of familiar '80s awesomeness for fans of the series, and if you've never heard of 'Sweet Valley High' you will want to," she said, noting that casting plans are still to be determined.

"Obviously I will be playing the twins. Old-fashioned '60s-style split screen," she joked.

Check out everything we've got on "Sweet Valley High."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677283/sweet-valley-high-musical-diablo-cody.jhtml

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Brazil: Checking email after hours? It's overtime

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ? Brazilian workers who find themselves answering work emails on their smartphones after the end of their shifts can qualify for overtime under a new law.

The new legislation was approved by President Dilma Rousseff last month.

It says that company emails to workers are equivalent to orders given directly to the employee. Labor attorneys told the Folha de Sao Paulo newspaper this makes it possible for workers answering emails after hours to ask for overtime pay.

This issue has come up in the United States as well. In May, Chicago policeman Jeffrey Allen filed a class action suit against the city, asking for unpaid overtime compensation.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-12-LT-Brazil-Smartphone-Overtime/id-84a79a6340c94487b3e083069ab0c452

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Mont. school district: Missing teacher is dead

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Sidney High School math teacher Sherry Arnold, 43.

SIDNEY, Mont. -- Montana school district officials say?the high school math teacher who went missing last?weekend is dead, and the FBI announced it has one man in custody and is questioning another in connection with her disappearance.

Sidney Public School officials posted a statement on the school website saying they learned of Sherry Arnold's death about 9:30 a.m. Friday after authorities had notified family members. There has been no official police announcement that a body had been found.

"This has been a very challenging time for our family and we would appreciate some privacy and time to process what has happened," Karen Arnold Truax told msnbc.com on Friday.

Arnold Truax, who is the daughter of Sherry Arnold's?husband, Gary, said the outpouring of support has overwhelmed the family.

"We want to thank everyone across the country for their support, time and prayers," she said.?"With the support of family, friends and God, we will?get through this."?

FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson of Salt Lake City?said a tip from the public led to the suspects, according to?a statement released by the FBI.

Authorities had been investigating the possibility Arnold?had been?abducted.

Hundreds of residents, police, firefighters and others combed the northeast Montana town and surrounding countryside earlier this week for the popular 43-year-old teacher, who went missing after a weekend run, after recovering only a single running shoe.

The school district lent buses to transport members of search teams and set up a fund to defer expenses.

The district posted on its website: "In response to this news, the District will be in session until 2:00 PM. All route busses will operate at 2:00 PM. Additional counselors are on hand this morning in all buildings and parents, if needed, may check their students out from each building. Friday games are cancelled."

The Associated Press contributed to this report, as did msnbc.com's Sevil Omer.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/13/10149920-montana-school-district-missing-teacher-is-dead

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Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Ford's Paul Mascarenas

Not enough car talk yesterday? Good news, Ford's chief technical officer Paul Mascarenas will be stopping by the booth today to talk cars with Tim. Join in at 5PM ET today after the break.

Continue reading Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Ford's Paul Mascarenas

Live from the Engadget CES Stage: an interview with Ford's Paul Mascarenas originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/YkS4inlDExI/

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Can scientists define 'life' ... in three words?

In November 2011, NASA launched its biggest, most ambitious mission to Mars. The $2.5 billion Mars Science Lab spacecraft will arrive in orbit around the Red Planet this August, releasing a lander that will use rockets to control a slow descent into the atmosphere. Equipped with a "sky crane," the lander will gently lower the one-ton Curosity rover on the surface of Mars. Curiosity, which weighs five times more than any previous Martian rover, will perform an unprecedented battery of tests for three months as it scoops up soil from the floor of the 96-mile-wide Gale Crater. Its mission, NASA says, will be to "assess whether Mars ever was, or is still today, an environment able to support microbial life."

For all the spectacular engineering that?s gone into Curiosity, however, its goal is actually quite modest. When NASA says it wants to find out if Mars was ever suitable for life, they use a very circumscribed version of the word. They are looking for signs of liquid water, which all living things on Earth need. They are looking for organic carbon, which life on Earth produces and, in some cases, can feed on to survive. In other words, they?re looking on Mars for the sorts of conditions that support life on Earth.

But there?s no good reason to assume that all life has to be like the life we?re familiar with. In 2007, a board of scientists appointed by the National Academies of Science decided they couldn?t rule out the possibility that life might be able to exist without water or carbon. If such weird life on Mars exists, Curiosity will probably miss it.

Philosophical challenge
Defining life poses a challenge that?s downright philosophical. There?s no ambiguity in looking for water, because we have a clear definition of it. That definition is the same whether you?re on Earth, on Mars, or in intergalactic space. It is the same whether you?re dealing with water as ice, liquid, or vapor. But there is no definition of life that?s universally agreed upon. When Portland State University biologist Radu Popa was working on a book about defining life, he decided to count up all the definitions that scientists have published in books and scientific journals. Some scientists define life as something capable of metabolism. Others make the capacity to evolve the key distinction. Popa gave up counting after about 300 definitions.

Things haven?t gotten much better in the years since Popa published "Between Necessity and Probability: Searching for the Definition and Origin of Life" in 2004. Scientists have unveiled even more definitions, yet none of them have been widely embraced. But now Edward Trifonov, a biologist at the University of Haifa in Israel, has come forward with a new attempt at defining life, based on a new strategy. Rather than add on yet another definition to the pile, he?s investigating the language that previous scientists have used when they talk about life.

Trifonov acknowledges that each definition of life is different, but there?s an underlying similarity to all of them. ?Common sense suggests that, probably, one could arrive to a consensus, if only the authors, some two centuries apart from one another, could be brought together,? he writes in a recent issue of the Journal of Biomolecular Structures and Dynamics (article PDF).

In lieu of resurrecting dead scientists, Trifanov analyzed the linguistic structure of 150 definitions of life, grouping similar words into categories. He found that he could sum up what they all have in common in three words. Life, Trifonov declares, is simply self-reproduction with variations.

Trifonov argues that this minimal definition is useful because it encompasses both life as we know it and life as we may discover it to be. And as scientists tinker with self-replicating molecules, they may be able to put his definition to the test. It may be possible for them to create a system of molecules that meets the requirements. If it fails to come "alive," it will show that the definition was missing something crucial about life.

Trifonov's editors at the journal invited a number of other scientists who study the origin of life to issue their verdict on Trifonov's definition. Judging from their responses, it doesn?t look like anyone?s ready to link arms and sing "Kumbaya" over their beakers of primordial soup. Popa, for example, questions whether the best way out of the definitional bind is to look for consenus. ?It does apply very well to fields where basic research has more or less ended, yet it makes it difficult for pioneers and novel theories to gain recognition, irrespective of how right they are,? he writes (article PDF). If science is nothing but a popularity contest, ideas like plate tectonics might have never been discovered and confirmed.

What's missing?
A number of the scientists who responded to Trifonov felt that his definition was missing one key feature or another, such as metabolism, a cell, or information. Eugene Koonin, a biologist at the National Center for Biotechnology Information, thinks that Trifonov?s definition is missing error correction. He argues that ?self-reproduction with variation? is redundant, since the laws of thermodynamics ensure that error-free replication is impossible. ?The problem is the exact opposite,? Koonin observes: if life replicates with too many errors, it stops replicating. He offers up an alternative: life requires ?replications with an error rate below the sustainability threshold.?

1. More science news from MSNBC Tech & Science

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      Science editor Alan Boyle's Weblog: Researchers identify traces of nicotine inside a Maya tobacco jar that?s been dated to the year 700, confirming the vessel?s ancient use.

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   4. Funny facial features tell monkeys who's who

Jack Szostak, a Nobel-prize winning Harvard biologist, simply rejects the search for any definition of life. "Attempts to define life are irrelevant to scientific efforts to understand the origin of life," he writes (article PDF).

Szostak himself has spent two decades tinkering with biological molecules to create simple artificial life. Instead of using DNA to store genetic information and proteins to carry out chemical reactions, Szostak hopes to create cells that only contain single-stranded RNA molecules. Like many researchers, Szostak suspects that RNA-based life preceded DNA-based life. It may have even been the first kind of life on Earth, even if it cannot be found on the planet today.

Life, Szostak suspects, arose through a long series of steps, as small molecules began interacting with each other, replicating, getting enveloped into cells, and so on. Once there were full-blown cells that could grow, divide, and evolve, no one would deny that life had come to exist on Earth. But it?s pointless to try to find the precise point along the path where life suddenly sprang into being and met an arbitrary definition. "None of this matters, however, in terms of the fundamental scientific questions concerning the transitions leading from chemistry to biology," says Szostak.

It?s conceivable that Mars has Earthlike life, either because one planet infected the other, or because chemistry became biology along the same path on both of them. In either case, Curiosity may be able to do some good science when it arrives at Mars this summer. But if it?s something fundamentally different, even the most sophisticated machines may not be able to help us until we come to a decision about what we?re looking for in the first place.

More from Txchnologist:

Carl Zimmer is the author of 10 books about science, most recently "Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed." He has written hundreds of articles for the New York Times and magazines including National Geographic, Time, Scientific American, Science and Popular Science. Since 2003, he has written the award-winning blog The Loom.

This report was originally published by Txchnologist as "Can a Scientist Define 'Life'?" The Txchnologist is a forward-facing magazine presented by GE that takes a look at the wide world of science and technology. The stories and opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of the company.

Copyright General Electric 2012. Reprinted with permission.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45963181/ns/technology_and_science/

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Official: US bomb suspect met Kosovo radicals (AP)

PRISTINA, Kosovo ? Sami Osmakac, the man accused by U.S. authorities of plotting to bomb Florida nightclubs and a sheriff's office, met with radical Islamists during visits to his native Kosovo, a senior official in the country said Wednesday.

International agencies had alerted Kosovo authorities that Osmakac could be linked to Islamist extremists, the official told The Associated Press. He said the 25-year old naturalized U.S. citizen discussed "issues in support of radical elements" with the individuals he met, but declined to disclose further details.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the issue's sensitivity.

U.S. authorities say Osmakac planned to use a car bomb and other weapons in an Islamist-inspired attack in the Tampa area of Florida. He was arrested Saturday ? the day officials said he was planning his attack ? after he allegedly bought disabled explosive devices and firearms from an undercover agent.

Osmakac lived with his parents in a tan stucco home in Pinellas Park, Fla., a small city west of Tampa. He worked occasionally at the Balkan Food Store and Bakery in St. Petersburg, a small store owned by his parents.

He also occasionally visited his Kosovo, where he still has relatives.

Osmakac's aunt, Time Osmankaj, told the AP on Tuesday that Sami Osmakac was last in Kosovo in October 2011, but that she learned of his visit from neighbors and that he did not contact her or other relatives. Kosovo authorities also recorded earlier visits in May 2011.

Kosovo's majority ethnic Albanians are overwhelmingly Muslim and a small minority is Roman Catholic.

The population is a staunch supporter of the U.S. because of America's lead role in NATO's 1999 bombing of Serb forces that drove them out of Kosovo and ended a brutal crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120111/ap_on_re_eu/eu_kosovo_bomb_plot

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Huntsman is Only GOP Candidate Who Can Actually Beat Obama (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | When Mitt Romney attacked Jon Huntsman for his service in the Obama administration on Saturday, he had no idea the former Utah governor would get the last word. The Los Angeles Times reported that the allegations continued the next day on a NBC/Facebook roundtable debate. For me, that was proof Huntsman really is the only Republican who can actually win the White House this year.

The former Utah governor served as ambassador to China until April, when he resigned to enter the Republican race to replace his former boss. The fact Huntsman served under a Democrat president isn't something to criticize him about -- to the contrary. It's admirable that he was able to serve our country in a way that found common ground with a politically-opposed president. I would be concerned by any president that couldn't find room for people with opposing ideas.

I've kind of been all over the board about Huntsman. I like the guy. I like his wholesome looks and his "hip" connection to young voters -- he plays rock music. In many ways, he's the best candidate the challenge Obama in the fall, but he just can't seem to get a "moment" in the spotlight with the stage so crowded.

Politico described him as a "formidable entry in the ? GOP field," and a fiscal conservative, with the most foreign policy experience of any GOP candidate. That's exactly what the Republican Party needs. The religious right has driven the party into hard-line issues that alienate the country and are just plain wrong. Huntsman takes a much softer stand on many of those issues -- something that should appeal to Democrats and independents.

He is the child of a billionaire businessman and pretty successful in business in his own right. He knows Wall Street and the halls of diplomacy. He's a "fixer" and had one of the highest popularity rates of any of the nation's governors.

Obama will be hard pressed to criticize a man that served admirably in his own administration. On foreign trade and domestic issues, Huntsman can go toe-to-toe with the sitting president, and he understands the Chinese. In fact, he speaks it too. That's the person we need negotiating the next trade agreement with the largest holder of U.S. debt.

Huntsman is also -- in some respects -- a new kind of Republican. That's what the party needs right now. In fact, that's what the nation needs right now.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120109/cm_ac/10812945_huntsman_is_only_gop_candidate_who_can_actually_beat_obama

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Mad Catz / Tritton ship 5.8 Ghz wireless headset for Xbox 360, dub it Primer

If the exclusive third-party manufacturer of wireless Xbox 360 didn't have enough options for you, Mad Catz and Tritton just unleashed another. The outfit's latest set of gaming cans, the Primer, features two 40mm drivers, separate volume controls for game and voice and proprietary 5.8 Ghz wireless digs for superior audio clarity. Sound like a good fit? They'll set you back $100. Read on for a short, but official, press release.

Continue reading Mad Catz / Tritton ship 5.8 Ghz wireless headset for Xbox 360, dub it Primer

Mad Catz / Tritton ship 5.8 Ghz wireless headset for Xbox 360, dub it Primer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Giffords leads crowd in Pledge of Allegiance

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, leads the Pledge of Allegiance accompanied by her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six others, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, leads the Pledge of Allegiance accompanied by her husband, former astronaut Mark Kelly, at the start of a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors one year after the Arizona congresswoman was wounded in a shooting that killed six others, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

People hold lights aloft during a a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors of the shooting that wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 12 others and killed six one year ago Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

People hold lights aloft during a a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors of the shooting that wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, 12 others and killed six one year ago Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly bow their heads as they light a candle during a memorial vigil remembering the victims and survivors of the shooting that wounded Giffords, 12 others and killed six one year ago Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Rob Schumacher) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; NO SALES

Serenity Hammrich, right, and Jamie Stone, best friends of shooting victim Christina-Taylor Green speak during a memorial ceremony remembering the victims and survivors of last year's shooting rampage targeting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and killing 6 other poeple, Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) ? Rep. Gabrielle Giffords led a crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance, her words ringing out across a cold Tucson night in a rare public appearance Sunday evening at a candlelight vigil one year after surviving a deadly shooting.

The Democratic congresswoman ? who has struggled to re-learn to walk after being shot in the head ? stepped onstage to cheers from the crowd. Ron Barber, a staffer who was wounded in the rampage that killed six one year ago, invited her to lead the audience in the pledge.

The crowd chanted: "Gabby, Gabby."

She limped to the podium, and husband Mark Kelly helped lift her left hand over her heart. After months of intensive speech therapy, Giffords recited the pledge with the audience, head held high and a smile on her face as she punched each word.

The remembrance at the University of Arizona concluded a day of events, including a church service that drew hundreds in the afternoon and a citywide bell-ringing at 10:11 a.m., the exact time a gunman started shooting at a Safeway political event on Jan. 8, 2011.

With hugs and tears, southern Arizonans remembered the dead, the shattered lives and those who acted heroically after a gunman opened fire at an outdoor meet-and-greet that severely wounded Giffords and 12 others.

"Those of us who survived were forever changed by that moment," Kelly said. "For the past year, we've had new realities to live with, the reality and pain of letting go of the past.

"There's a reality that life is unpredictable, and that even in the best of times, our cherished friends, the good, the caring, the innocent among us, the closest and dearest people we know, can be taken from us," he said.

Earlier in the day, a crowd of people at St. Augustine Cathedral recited the 23rd Psalm and watched as relatives of the six dead walked solemnly down the aisle with a single red rose, placing the flowers in a vase in front of a picture of a heart.

"Even in the midst of this troubling year, the healing, the courage that we have experienced in our community ? each one of us can notice how our cups overflow with the blessings of our lives," said Stephanie Aaron, Giffords' rabbi.

Hundreds of people at the cathedral ? including Gov. Jan Brewer ? stood and chanted, "We remember, we remember, we remember with grateful hearts." Some closed their eyes while others held each other.

At the evening service, 19 candles marked the lost and the survivors. Giffords and Kelly lit one candle together as an orchestra played and many in the crowd wept. The emotional service brought together many who survived the shooting, and those who lost loved ones.

Suzi Hileman, who was shot three times, took the stage, hugged Giffords and walked to the candle area. She lit one, put her hands over her heart and mouthed "thank you" to the crowd.

Giffords, 41, has spent the last year in Houston undergoing intensive physical and speech therapy in a recovery that doctors and family have called miraculous. She is able to walk and talk, vote in Congress and gave a televised interview to ABC's Diane Sawyer in May.

But doctors have said it would take many months to determine the lasting effects of her brain injury. The three-term congresswoman has four months to decide whether to seek re-election.

Barber said he spent time with Giffords on Friday and Saturday.

"Even though it's a hard weekend for her and all of us, she wanted to be here with her community to remember," he said. "She's sad, we're all sad, and she's glad to be home."

Jared Lee Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in the shooting. The 23-year-old, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, is being forcibly medicated at a Missouri prison facility in an effort to make him mentally ready for trial.

President Barack Obama called Giffords on Sunday to offer his support and tell her he and the first lady are keeping her, the families of those killed and the whole Tucson community in their thoughts and prayers, according to the White House. He said Giffords was an inspiration to all Americans.

At an afternoon event at the University of Arizona, Colorado Sen. Mark Udall, who was born and raised in Tucson, spoke about Giffords.

He praised Giffords for working for the good of the country, and said other politicians can learn from her and move away from incendiary comments.

"Although Gabby now struggles with her words at times, we know what she's trying to say," Udall said. "It's a simple concept. Words matter, and these days you don't hear our elected officials using words to bring us together. Too often words are used as weapons."

Of 9-year-old Christina-Taylor Green, her two best friends recalled a girl who aspired to dance with Beyonce, to be the first woman in Major League Baseball and one day be elected president United States.

"She wasn't afraid of boys or sports or anything," Serenity Hammrich said, wearing a black dress and standing with Jamie Stone on stage while many in the audience wept. "When she made student council, I was so happy for her. She believed it was important to help others to try to make a difference in the school and to put others first."

The Rev. Andrew Ross, spoke for shooting victim and his congregant Phyllis Schneck.

"I remember just shaking and as I shared with my congregation, my immediate response was anger, in fact rage, that someone would once again do this to a member of our flock," Ross said. "And so it's good for us to be honest and admit it's not easy remembering this day. We have to be honest about that."

At the Safeway memorial, Bruce Ellis and his wife Kelly Hardesty, both 50, held each other tight and wept as the bells rang.

"It's shocking to have a massacre like this occur in your backyard," Ellis said. "It's something that happens on the news, not in your neighborhood."

About 30 others rang bells, hugged each other and cried as the time of the shooting passed. Many bowed in prayer.

Gail Gardiner, 70, who lives about a mile away, tied a balloon Sunday that said, "Thinking of you," to a railing next to a memorial of the shooting that reads: "The Tucson Tragedy ... we shall never forget."

Albert Pesqueira, assistant fire chief for the Northwest Fire District in Tucson, was one of the first responders to the shooting. He came to the Safeway on Sunday to remember and to heal.

His most vivid memories from that day are the sounds of moaning and crying among shooting victims in the aftermath of the attack.

"I can still hear them," Pesqueira said. "We'll never be the same. We'll never be normal again because of what occurred."

___

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at https://twitter.com/(hash)!/AmandaLeeAP

___

Online:

AP interactive - http://hosted.ap.org/interactives/2011/congresswoman-recovery

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-08-Congresswoman%20Shot-Anniversary/id-bd81d991eb8f420c876c8c340aafc719

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Report: Iran begins uranium enrichment at new site

This image provided by NASA shows the Strait of Hormuz taken from the International Space Station in Sept. 30, 2003. An Iranian newspaper quotes a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Sunday Jan. 8, 2012 as saying that Tehran's leadership has decided to order the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf if the country's oil exports are blocked. (AP Photo/NASA)

This image provided by NASA shows the Strait of Hormuz taken from the International Space Station in Sept. 30, 2003. An Iranian newspaper quotes a senior commander in Iran's Revolutionary Guard Sunday Jan. 8, 2012 as saying that Tehran's leadership has decided to order the closure of the strategic Strait of Hormuz at the mouth of the Persian Gulf if the country's oil exports are blocked. (AP Photo/NASA)

FILE - In this April 8, 2008 file photo provided by the Iranian President's Office, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, center, visits the Natanz Uranium Enrichment Facility some 200 miles (322 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran. Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site well protected from possible airstrikes, a leading hardline newspaper reported Sunday, Jan. 8, 2011. (AP Photo/Iranian President's Office, File) NO SALES

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) ? Iran has begun uranium enrichment at a new underground site well protected from possible airstrikes, a leading hardline newspaper reported Sunday in another show of defiance against Western pressure to rein in Tehran's nuclear program.

Another newspaper quoted a senior commander of the powerful Revolutionary Guard force as saying Tehran's leadership has decided to order the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic oil route, if the country's petroleum exports are blocked. Revolutionary Guard ground forces also staged war games in eastern Iran in an apparent display of resolve against U.S. forces just over the border in Afghanistan.

"The supreme authorities ... have insisted that if enemies block the export of our oil, we won't allow a drop of oil to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. This is the strategy of the Islamic Republic in countering such threats," Revolutionary Guard deputy commander Ali Ashraf Nouri was quoted as saying by the Khorasan daily.

Iranian politicians have issued similar threats in the past, but this is the strongest statement yet by a top commander in the security establishment.

The latest statements are certain to fuel tensions with the U.S. and its allies, which are trying to turn up pressure on Iran with new sanctions to punish it over its disputed nuclear program. The West suspects Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons, but Iran denies this.

The United Nations has already sanctioned Iran for refusing to stop uranium enrichment ? which can produce both nuclear fuel and fissile warhead material. Tehran says its nuclear program is only for energy and medical research, and refuses to halt uranium enrichment.

Kayhan daily, which is close to Iran's ruling clerics, said Tehran has begun injecting uranium gas into sophisticated centrifuges at the Fordo facility near the holy city of Qom.

"Kayhan received reports yesterday that show Iran has begun uranium enrichment at the Fordo facility amid heightened foreign enemy threats," the paper said in a front-page report. Kayhan's manager is a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final word on all important matters of state.

Iran's nuclear chief, Fereidoun Abbasi, said late Saturday that his country will "soon" begin enrichment at Fordo. It was impossible to immediately reconcile the two reports.

Iran has a major uranium enrichment facility in Natanz in central Iran, where nearly 8,000 centrifuges are operating. Tehran began enrichment at Natanz in April 2006.

The Fordo centrifuges, however, are reportedly more efficient. And the site better shielded from aerial attack.

Nouri said Iran's leadership has made a strategic decision to close the Strait of Hormuz, should the country's exports be blocked. One-sixth of the world's oil flows to market through the Strait of Hormuz, at the mouth of the Persian Gulf.

President Barack Obama approved new sanctions against Iran a week ago, targeting the central bank and its ability to sell petroleum abroad. The U.S. has delayed implementing the sanctions for at least six months, worried about sending the price of oil higher at a time when the global economy is already struggling. But the new sanctions nevertheless prompted a series of threats from Iranian officials about closing the Strait of Hormuz.

The newspaper paraphrased Nouri as saying that a 10-day naval war game which ended Tuesday was preparation for such a closure. The Guard, which is Iran's most powerful military force and which has its own naval arm, has planned more sea maneuvers for February.

"The exalted leader (Khamenei) determined a new strategy for the armed forces, by which any threat from enemies will be responded to with threats," Nouri said.

The U.S. and Israel have said that all options remain open, including military action, should Iran continue with its enrichment program.

Tehran says it needs the program to produce fuel for future nuclear reactors and medical radioisotopes needed for cancer patients.

The country has been enriching uranium to less than 5 percent for years, but it began to further enrich part of its uranium stockpile to nearly 20 percent as of February 2010, saying it needs the higher grade material to produce fuel for a Tehran reactor that makes medical radioisotopes needed for cancer patients. Weapons-grade uranium is usually about 90 percent enriched.

Iran says the higher enrichment activities ? to nearly 20 percent ? will be carried out at Fordo. These operations are of particular concern to the West because uranium at 20 percent enrichment can be converted into fissile material for a nuclear warhead much more quickly than that at 3.5 percent.

Built next to a military complex, Fordo was long kept secret and was only acknowledged by Iran after it was identified by Western intelligence agencies in September 2009.

Buried under 300 feet (90 meters) of rock, the facility is a hardened tunnel and is protected by air defense missile batteries and the Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military force. The site is located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) north of Qom, the religious nerve center of Iran's ruling system.

"The Fordo facility, like Natanz, has been designed and built underground. The enemy doesn't have the ability to damage it," the semiofficial Mehr news agency quoted nuclear chief Abbasi as saying Sunday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-08-Iran-Nuclear/id-db516481dda5418c94fa9621c9ba17d4

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India to roll out red carpet for Mali president

New Delhi: India kicks off its Africa diplomacy this year by rolling out the red carpet for President Amadou Toumani Toure of Mali, the landlocked mineral-rich West African country, during his three-day state visit that begins here Tuesday.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold talks with Toure Wednesday to ramp up bilateral ties across the spectrum, including the intensification of economic ties and developmental cooperation between the two countries.

The two sides will also discuss a cluster of global issues, including the international financial crisis, counter-terrorism, the UN reforms and climate change.

Some agreements in the areas of developmental cooperation and capacity building are expected to be signed after the talks, said informed sources.

Mali is Africa's second largest producer of long staple cotton after Egypt and the third largest producer of gold in the continent.

Toure, popularly known as 'soldier of democracy', will also address top industry leaders at an interactive lunch where he is expected to pitch for greater Indian investment in his country.

The two sides will explore collaboration in areas of agriculture and agro-processing industries that have huge potential.

India's relations with Mali have been steadily growing in the past decade. During 2009-10, goods worth $42.24 million were exported to Mali from India. Indian exports to Mali includes electricity transmission, cotton fabrics, cycle parts, machinery and machine parts, transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, and processed food items. India's imports from Mali are limited to raw cotton and few agro products like shea nuts.

India has provided several lines of credit (soft loans) to a swathe of infrastructure projects to Mali. These include $15mn for rural electrification, $12 million for agro-machinery and tractor assembly plant, 11 million in three tranches for electricity transmission and distribution projects from Cote D'Ivoire to Mali, $20.62 million for acquiring railway coaches and locomotives from India and $15 million for development of agro-industries.

Source: http://www.sify.com/news/india-to-roll-out-red-carpet-for-mali-president-news-national-mbjqEgiigic.html

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Bombing in Syrian capital of Damascus kills 25 (AP)

BEIRUT ? A bomb exploded Friday at a busy Damascus intersection, killing 25 people and wounding dozens in the second major attack in the Syrian capital in as many weeks, officials said, vowing to respond to further security threats with an "iron fist."

The government blamed "terrorists," saying a suicide bomber had blown himself up in the crowded Midan district. But the country's opposition demanded an independent investigation, accusing forces loyal to the Syrian regime of being behind the bombing to tarnish a 10-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.

"Is there anything worse than these crimes?" said Majida Jomaa, a 30-year-old housewife who ran to the streets after hearing the explosion around 11 a.m. "Is this freedom?"

It was impossible to determine the exact target of the blast, but a police bus was riddled with shrapnel and blood was splattered on its seats, according to Syrian TV video and a government official. Blood also stained the street, which was littered with shattered glass.

The bomber "detonated himself with the aim of killing the largest number of people," Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar told reporters. State media said most of the dead were civilians but security forces were also among them.

Midan is one of several Damascus neighborhoods that have seen frequent anti-Assad protests on Fridays since the uprising began in March, inspired by the revolutions around the Arab world.

The violence marks a dramatic escalation of bloodshed in Syria as Arab League observers tour the country to investigate Assad's bloody crackdown on dissent. The monitoring mission will issue its first findings Sunday at a meeting in Cairo.

In a statement, the Interior Ministry vowed to respond to any security threats with an "iron fist."

Syria's state media, SANA, put the initial death toll at 25 and more than 60 wounded. The death toll included 10 confirmed dead and the remains of an estimated 15 others whose bodies had yet to be identified.

"I found bodies on the ground, including one of a man who was carrying two boxes of yogurt," Midan resident Anis Hassan Tinawi, 55, told the AP.

The blast came exactly two weeks after twin bombings targeting intelligence agencies in Damascus killed 44 people. The regime blamed terrorists for those explosions as well.

A Syrian official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to talk publicly to the media, said a smaller bomb exploded Friday in the Damascus suburb of Tal, killing a girl. Security experts dismantled another bomb nearby, he said.

While many of the anti-government protests sweeping the country remain peaceful, the uprising as a whole has become more violent in recent months as frustrated demonstrators take up arms to protect themselves from the steady military assault. An increasing number of army defectors also have launched attacks, killing soldiers and security forces.

The unrest has posed the most serious challenge to the Assad family's 40-year dynasty. The regime's crackdown has led to broad worldwide condemnation and sanctions, eviscerated the economy and left Assad an international pariah just as he was trying to open up his country and modernize the economy.

The protests continued Friday around the country, and security forces killed at least eight people, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, put the death toll at 17.

The Observatory said 50,000 protesters took to the streets in the Damascus suburb of Douma in the largest protest of the day. The numbers were impossible to confirm, however, because Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting.

Also Friday, SANA said terrorists blew up a pipeline that carries diesel from the central province of Homs to nearby Hama. There have been several pipeline blasts in recent months, but it is unclear who is behind them.

The government has long contended that the turmoil in Syria is not an uprising but the work of terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.

In a sign of just how polarized Syria has become, the opposition questioned the government's allegations that terrorists were behind Friday's attacks and the Dec. 23 bombings.

Opposition leaders suggest the regime itself could have been behind the violence to try to erode support for the uprising and show the Arab League observers that it is a victim in the upheaval. Neither the regime nor the opposition has produced evidence backing their accusations, and no one but Syrian authorities have access to investigate the blasts.

A spokesman for the Syrian National Council opposition umbrella group called for an independent investigation.

"It is a continuation of the regime's dirty game as it tries to divert attention from massive protests," spokesman Omar Idilbi said. "We call upon for an independent international committee to investigate these crimes that we believe that the regime planned and carried out."

The Arab League observers started work Dec. 27 on a mission to monitor Syria's compliance with a League-drafted peace deal. Under the deal, Assad's regime is supposed to pull its military off the streets and stop its crackdown on protesters.

Despite the observers' presence, violence has spiked, with Syrian activists saying up to 400 people have been killed since Dec. 21. The U.N. says the overall death toll since the revolt began is more than 5,000.

Arab League Deputy Secretary-General Ahmed bin Helli condemned Friday's attack.

"We are concerned about these explosions. That is why we are calling on the Syrian government to be totally cooperative with the mission and to work by all means to stop the bloodshed and allow room for the political process to begin," he told The Associated Press in Cairo, where the League is based.

Bin Helli said the observers will have insight into the attack.

"The mission which is on the scene will undoubtedly have an opinion," he said.

At the United Nations, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the bombings, extending his condolences to the families of the victims and saying, "all violence is unacceptable and must stop."

In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland condemned the attack but declined to say who the U.S. believed was responsible.

"What's interesting here is that, as with previous attacks, the Assad regime has blamed just about everybody," Nuland told reporters. "They've blamed the opposition, they've blamed al-Qaida, they've even blamed the United States. Meanwhile, the opposition, including the Free Syrian Army, has denied carrying out the attacks and it has itself accused the regime of staging these things."

Asked about the Arab League monitors, Nuland said the U.S. accepts that they are doing their best with an uncooperative regime.

Opposition groups have been deeply critical of the Arab League mission, saying it is giving Assad cover for his crackdown. The observer mission's Sudanese chief has raised particular concern because he served in key security positions under Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted for crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Critics also say the mission is far too small ? and too dependent on government escorts ? to be effective. The regime says the escorts are vital to the monitors' personal safety.

Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar, said it was impossible to determine who was behind the attack, even with the Arab League observers offering an outside perspective.

"This again points to the need to have full independent credible investigation," he told the AP.

"I would actually say on the eve of the Arab League meeting, the Arab League mission is failing," he added. "It is failing to protect civilians. We have not had a halt to the violence. I think the Arab League now needs to go to the United Nations and seek a helping hand from the international community."

___

AP writers Albert Aji in Damascus, Sarah El Deeb in Cairo, Bradley Klapper in Washington and Michael Astor at the United Nations contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120106/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Nobody Wins At CES

Rather than do a CES pre-round-up of exciting products I'd like to address this interesting slant on the whole "massive electronics trade show in the middle of the desert" concept that has kept the Gadgets crew here up for the past few weeks. MG said Apple won CES. He was being snide, but, in a way, honest because, in the end, nobody wins CES. The Consumer Electronics Show is, as its name implies, a show for consumer electronics. These include, but are not limited to, TVs, DVD players, Blu-Ray players (if they still make those), and accessories. TV stands! TV brackets! Speakers! Remotes! In fact, there's an entire hall dedicated to the Asian purveyors of the components that make up those consumer electronics, a sort of Fishmongers Row to the CE industry where the smell is at least far more tolerable.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/iXUhZ5Ehzuo/

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Economy likely ended 2011 with solid job growth (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The U.S. job market strengthened in the second half of 2011, and December is expected to cap a solid finish.

Economists forecast that employers added a net 150,000 jobs last month, according to a survey by Factset. They also predict that the unemployment rate ticked up to 8.7 percent from 8.6 percent, which was the lowest rate since March 2009.

The Labor Department will issue the December jobs report at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time Friday.

The projected hiring gains would mark a six-month stretch in which the economy generated 100,000 jobs or more in each month. The last time that happened was in April 2006 ? more than a year and a half before the country plunged into the Great Recession.

A more robust hiring market would coincide with other positive data that show the economy ended the year with some momentum.

Weekly applications for unemployment benefits have fallen to levels last seen more than three years ago. Holiday sales were solid. And November and December were the strongest months of 2011 for U.S. auto sales.

Many businesses say they are ready to step up hiring in early 2012 after seeing stronger consumer confidence and greater demand for their products.

Even the projected increase in the unemployment rate could be a positive sign. The rate is expected to rise as more people feel better about their chances to find employment and resume job searches. The government counts out-of-work people as unemployed only if they are looking for work.

The rate fell from 9 percent in October to 8.6 percent in November, partly because about 300,000 people gave up looking for work. People routinely enter and leave the work force, though 300,000 is more than usual.

Still, it also dropped because small business hired more workers.

The government uses a survey of mostly large companies and government agencies to determine how many jobs were added or lost each month. It uses a separate survey of households to determine the unemployment rate.

The household survey picks up hiring by companies of all sizes, including small businesses and companies just getting off the ground. It also includes farm workers and the self-employed, who aren't included in the survey of companies.

The household survey has shown an average of 321,000 jobs created per month since July, compared with an average of 13,000 the first seven months of the year.

When the economy is either improving or slipping into recession, many economists say, the household survey does the better job of picking up the shift because it detects small business hiring.

Economists surveyed by the Associated Press project that the economy will generate an average of 175,000 jobs per month this year. That would be a step up from average monthly gains of 130,000 last year and 78,000 in 2010.

The pickup in hiring reflects some modest improvement in the economy. Growth will likely top 3 percent at an annual rate in the final three months of this year, economists expect. That would be a sharp improvement over the 1.8 percent growth in the July-September quarter.

Even so, many economists forecast that growth could slow to roughly 2 percent this year. Europe is almost certain to fall into recession because of its financial troubles. And without more jobs and higher incomes, consumers may have to cut back on spending. That could drag on growth in 2012.

President Barack Obama could face voters in November with the highest unemployment rate of a sitting president seeking election since World War II. Unemployment was 7.8 percent when Obama took office in January 2009.

But Obama could benefit if the unemployment rate continues to dip. History suggests that presidents' re-election prospects hinge less on the unemployment rate itself than on the rate's direction during the year or two before Election Day.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120106/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/us_economy

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Sports briefs: Cubs to trade Carlos Zambrano to Marlins

MLB ? A person familiar with the negotiations says the Chicago Cubs have reached a deal to trade pitcher Carlos Zambrano to the Miami Marlins for pitcher Chris Volstad. The swap is pending physicals and approval by Major League Baseball.

Zambrano wore out his welcome with the Cubs after repeated meltdowns. The former ace cleaned out his locker and talked about retiring after being ejected during a loss to Atlanta on Aug. 12. He was suspended without pay and then it was decided he would sit out the rest of the season.

Zambrano went 9-7 with a 4.82 ERA and has a year left on a $91.5 million, five-year deal.

? Joe Torre resigned Wednesday as Major League Baseball?s executive vice president for baseball operations to join a group trying to buy the Los Angeles Dodgers. Torre managed the Dodgers from 2008-10, then retired and was hired by MLB in February as a top aide to Commissioner Bud Selig. He is part of a group headed by real estate developer Rick Caruso.

Boise State gives Petersen a raise

College football ? Boise State?s Chris Petersen has officially joined college football?s $2 million coaching club. The State Board of Education voted unanimously Wednesday to give Petersen a $375,000 raise for 2012, the first step toward replacing his old contract with a new five-year deal designed to keep Petersen in Boise through January 2017.

Story continues below

Ronaldo has dengue fever

SOCCER ? Former Brazil striker Ronaldo says he has dengue fever. Ronaldo tweeted Wednesday that he was discharged from a hospital the night before and is recuperating. He apparently contracted the mosquito-borne disease while vacationing at a northeastern Brazil beach town. Dengue can cause fever, headache and pain in muscles and joints. It?s potentially fatal and there?s no vaccine or specific treatment.

? Tim Howard became the fourth goalkeeper to score in the Premier League when the American put in a wind-blown clearance from about 100 yards during Everton?s 2-1 loss to Bolton on Wednesday night.

Serena injures ankle, withdraws from Brisbane tourney

TENNIS ? Serena Williams? Australian Open preparations took a major hit Wednesday when she injured her left ankle and withdrew from the Brisbane International. In her first tournament since losing the U.S. Open final in September, Williams was serving for the match with a 6-2, 5-3 lead against Bojana Jovanovski of Serbia when she twisted her ankle and crashed heavily to the court. The 13-time Grand Slam winner lay near the baseline for several minutes while getting medical attention. She was helped to a courtside chair and had the ankle re-taped before resuming the second-round match and losing the next point to surrender a service break to Jovanovski.

? Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer eased into the Qatar Open quarterfinals in rare cool and windy conditions in Doha on Wednesday. Nadal routed German qualifier Denis Gremelmayr 6-2, 6-2, while Federer overwhelmed Slovenia qualifier Grega Zemlja 6-2, 6-3. Federer won his 19th straight match dating to his U.S. Open semifinal loss to top-ranked Novak Djokovic. Federer and Nadal were joined by the sixth-ranked Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who saved two set points in the first set before defeating Flavio Cipolla of Italy 7-6 (8), 6-3. Nadal will face Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, while Federer will play Andreas Seppi of Italy. Tsonga will face Albert Ramos of Spain.

From wire reports

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/sports/53233218-77/wednesday-petersen-zambrano-baseball.html.csp

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