Sunday, December 25, 2011

Pros see stocks up in 2012, but big risks, too (AP)

NEW YORK ? The good news is that Wall Street experts think stock prices will rise more than 10 percent next year. The bad news is that they expected big gains in 2011 and got nearly zero instead.

It's forecasting time on Wall Street, and once again the pros are trying to predict the unpredictable. History suggests their target price for stocks by the end of 2012 will prove too high or too low. They might even get the direction wrong ? predicting a gain when there's a loss.

As Yogi Berra said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

In typical times, guessing where stocks will end up in a year is difficult. There are many assumptions about economic growth, inflation and consumer spending that go into the calculation.

Now, forecasting has become nearly impossible. Big unknowns hang over the market as rarely before. Will the euro break up? Will China slow too sharply? Will squabbling in Washington scuttle the economic recovery?

"Normally, you wonder, How will sales do? How are managements doing?" says Howard Silverblatt, senior index analyst at Standard & Poor's, which puts out its own forecasts. "Now there are so many high-level issues that affect the market."

Silverblatt's firm says the S&P 500 index should rise to 1,400 by the end of 2012, up more than 10 percent from Friday's close of 1,265. That figure is an average of expectations from investment strategists, economists and other big thinkers. More bullish yet are stock analysts focused on individual companies. Add up their price targets for each stock in the index, and they see it rising to 1,457, up 15 percent.

There's plenty of reason to think stocks will rise fast in the coming year. U.S. companies are generating record profits. Americans are spending more than expected and factories are producing more. The job market finally appears to be healing, too.

The odds of the U.S. slipping into another recession have fallen since the summer, when the economy had slowed.

Stocks seem attractively priced, too. The S&P 500 is trading at 12 times its expected earnings per share for 2012. It typically trades at 15 times, meaning stocks appear cheaper now.

Binky Chadha, chief strategist at Deutsche Bank, says the S&P 500 could hit 1,500 by the end of 2012, a gain of more than 18 percent.

Still, there is worry amid the bullishness.

Michael Hartnett, chief global equity strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, expects the S&P to close next year at 1,350, up 6.7 percent from Friday's close. He thinks the U.S. will avoid recession and U.S. companies will generate decent profits.

What could wreck that prediction is a worse situation in Europe than he is expecting. If European leaders move too slowly to solve their government debt crisis, the region could fall into a deep recession and throw the U.S. into one, too. If Europe tanks, profits will drop sharply and push the S&P down to 1,000, he says. That would be a sharp drop of 21 percent from Friday's close.

The frightening part is that Hartnett gives this "bear" case four-in-10 odds.

Similarly, Barry Knapp, strategist at Barclays Capital, predicts the S&P will rise to 1,330 next year. But he expects Europe's struggles with its debt and Washington gridlock could lead investors to sell before they buy. He says the S&P could fall to 1,150 by the middle of the year before rising to his target.

It could drop sooner. In the first three months next year, Italy needs to sell national bonds to raise money to pay holders of $172 billion worth of old ones coming due. The risk is that investors will demand high interest rates to buy the new bonds, and that will spread fears of a possible default. After Italy was forced to pay unexpectedly high rates in a bond auction earlier this month, stocks fell hard around the world.

"The crisis could become systemic," says Athanasios Vamvakidis, head European currency strategist at Bank of America-Merrill Lynch. "That would threaten not only Europe, but the whole global recovery."

One solution is to invest in companies selling goods that people need in both good times and bad, such as drugs and food. If the economy falls into recession, profits of these companies are less likely to collapse.

In 2011, these so-called defensive companies bucked the flat market. Stocks of utility companies have risen almost 15 percent through Friday. Healthcare and consumer staples were each up 10. Standouts include insurer UnitedHealth Group Inc., which has risen 42 percent, and Kraft Foods, up almost 20 percent.

Then again, you might do better investing in the opposite kind of companies, like makers of toys and other consumer discretionary goods. Their profits tend to zoom up and down with the economy.

A report from S&P Capital IQ notes that stocks of cyclical companies such as these tend to gain the most after market drops like the one in October, when stocks fell nearly 20 percent.

In the five times that the S&P 500 has fallen between 15 percent and 25 percent since 1978, consumer discretionary stocks have risen an average 30 percent in the next six months, according to S&P. Those stocks are up 16 percent since their Oct. 3 lows.

One reason it's difficult to guess future stock prices is that figuring out where the economy is heading isn't so easy either.

In December 2007, economists expected the economy to grow an average 2.4 percent in 2008, according to a survey of three dozen of them by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. It shrank 0.3 percent instead. For 2009, they forecast the economy would shrink 0.8 percent. It shrank 3.5 percent.

Economists were more accurate the next two years, though not by much. Now they say the economy will grow 2.2 percent next year.

A few mutual fund managers say people aren't skeptical enough about forecasts. In a recent letter to their investors, the folks who run Castle Focus, a $43 million fund, say hopes of big profits may be dashed given all the economic uncertainty. The fund had 28 percent of its assets in cash in September, its latest report.

Most funds are doing the opposite and investing cash. The average stock mutual fund had just 3.5 percent of its assets in cash in October, according to a report from the Investment Company Institute. That is the nearly the lowest level since the firm started keeping records 25 years ago.

Maybe fund managers have been listening too much to bullish stock analysts. For the record, the same analysts surveyed by S&P who expect a 16 percent stock jump next year were optimistic about 2011, too. A year ago, they called for the S&P to rise 9 percent.

It still may, but the odds are long and time is running out. As of Friday, the index was up 0.6 percent for the year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_ye_wall_street2012

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December 20, 2011 - Southern California Edison Employees Return to Irwindale Facility, Crisis Counseling Offered to Employees


Media Contact: (626) 302-2255

ROSEMEAD, Calif., Dec. 20, 2011 ?? Southern California Edison (SCE) employees returned to Rivergrade facilities in Irwindale today.? The SCE offices have been closed since fatal shootings last Friday.

The company determined late Monday that the offices could be reopened once all appropriate preparations were made. Crisis counselors are available for employees at Rivergrade and other SCE offices. The company continues to provide support and counseling to families of the shooting victims.

Three employees, including the gunman, died and two others were injured in last Fridays shooting.

Employee Angela Alvarez, who was injured, remains hospitalized. Her condition has been upgraded from critical to serious condition. Her family has requested privacy as she recuperates. The other injured employee, Abhay Pimpale, was treated and released.?

The company is working with the Los Angeles Sheriffs Department investigating the shootings. Questions about updates on the investigation are being referred to the sheriffs department.

Personnel matters related to any SCE employees have been and will continue to remain confidential. The company does not discuss individual personnel issues.?
?
About Southern California Edison
An Edison International (NYSE:EIX) company, Southern California Edison is one of the nations largest electric utilities, serving a population of nearly 14 million via 4.9 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within Central, Coastal and Southern California.

-###-

Southern California Edison Employees Return to Irwindale Facility, Crisis Counseling Offered to Employees

Source: http://www.edison.com/pressroom/pr.asp?id=7789

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Saturday, December 24, 2011

Asian shares, euro ease as bank funding doubts persist (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Asian shares fell and the euro struggled on Thursday as doubts remained over how much of the funds that banks raised from an inaugural long-term European Central Bank tender will actually flow into struggling euro zone economies and help restore confidence.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) fell 0.7 percent, after climbing to a one-week high on Wednesday, while Tokyo's Nikkei stock average (.N225) ended down 0.8 percent.

Despite the drop, Japanese equities have been least affected by the volatility stemming from the euro zone debt woes, with daily swings in the benchmark exceeding 2.5 percent for only 16 trading sessions this year, compared with 88 such days for the Euro STOXX 50 (.STOXX50E) and 41 for the S&P 500 (.SPX).

The euro was virtually unchanged around $1.3043, with traders seeing major support around $1.3000, the December 14 low, above 2011's trough of $1.2860. The euro reached a one-week high near $1.32 on Wednesday.

European shares were likely to inch up, with financial spreadbetters expecting London's FTSE (.FTSE) to open up 0.2 percent, Frankfurt's DAX (.GDAXI) up 0.2 percent, and Paris' CAC-40 (.FCHI) to begin 0.3 percent higher.

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Euro zone debt crisis graphics: http://r.reuters.com/hyb65p

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At the ECB's first ever three-year lending operation on Wednesday, 523 banks borrowed a record 489 billion euros ($638 billion), well above the 310 billion euro take-up forecast.

The tender eased concerns about an immediate credit crunch, but it does not directly lead to resolving the huge indebtedness of some euro zone countries, which has discouraged investors from lending to euro zone banks because of their large exposure to sovereign debt.

"The ECB's funding operation is not a fundamental fix to the euro zone's debt problems and is only a way to buying time, so flight-to-safety bids remain firmly in place," said Shinsuke Kanabu, general manager at Central Tanshi, a Japanese money brokerage.

In further evidence that Japan has become a preferred destination for global funds, government data on Thursday showed non-Japanese investors bought a net 2.6615 trillion yen in short-term Japanese government securities in the week to December 17, the second largest after a record 2.9752 trillion yen net purchase in the week to August 13.

It was the third straight week of such net buying of bills. Non-Japanese investors also were net buyers of Japanese government bonds (JGBs) in the same week.

"Foreign investors have helped drive down yields on Japanese short-term securities in recent months as Europe's debt crisis deepened, suggesting they see Japanese treasury bills as a safe-haven and put priority on safety over returns," Kanabu said.

Despite Japan's huge public debts and a domestic rating agency cutting its top credit rating on Wednesday, JGB markets remain unfazed. More than 90 percent of JGB holders are Japanese, giving the country a solid financing backing, unlike countries such as Italy, where foreigners account for some 40 percent of sovereign debt holdings.

DOLLAR FUNDING STRAINED

Analysts have said the ECB loans would lower the cost for euro zone banks to borrow euros in the open market, but would not reduce their dollar funding costs, and banks were likely to use the funds to repay their own debts as they strive to get rid of bad assets and improve their balance sheets, rather than lend.

"With bank balance sheets under stress and the system still required to raise capital ratios under Basel III, the temptation will surely be for banks to sit on this additional liquidity, rather than recycle it back through the economy," wrote BNP Paribas in a daily note.

Italy alone faces about 150 billion euros of debt refinancing between April and March.

Italian and Spanish government bond yields rose on Wednesday, snapping an eight-session downtrend, and the spread between the Italian and German 10-year government bond yields widened by some 20 basis points to 488 bps on Wednesday from the day before.

Dollar funding strains reached their worst level since July 2009 when the London interbank offered rate for three-month dollars rose further to 0.57125 percent on Wednesday from 0.56975 percent.

Asian credit markets weakened as yields of highly indebted Italy and Spain inched higher despite strong demand at the ECB's long-term funding operation, with spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment grade index widening by several basis points.

Commodities markets were muted in thinning pre-holiday trade, with London Metal Exchange copper unchanged at $7,455 a tonne and Brent crude oil edging down 0.2 percent to around $107.50 a barrel.

(Additional reporting by Cecile Lefort in Sydney; Editing by Alex Richardson)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/bs_nm/us_markets_global

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EPA unveils 'historic' air pollution rules. Can power industry cope? (The Christian Science Monitor)

Environmentalists and health advocates received an early Christmas present Wednesday when the US Environmental Protection Agency announced new federal clean-air regulations that promise to vastly reduce emissions of mercury and other toxic pollutants from the nation's power plants.

The limits, which come two decades after Congress ordered the EPA to control toxic air pollutants, have been hailed as historic by supporters.&nbsp;But industry groups say they unduly harm the economy.

The new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) are expected to cost&nbsp;utilities about $10 billion a year as they install emissions-control equipment between now and 2016, the EPA estimates. Several dozen elderly coal-fired power plants also might have to be shut down.

RECOMMENDED:&nbsp;Is the EPA really a 'jobs killer'?

But the EPA estimates at least $59 billion in annual financial savings from reduced health-care costs.&nbsp;

"The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will protect millions of families and children from harmful and costly air pollution and provide the American people with health benefits that far outweigh the costs of compliance,"&nbsp;EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said at its unveiling.

The standards will be the first nationwide limits on the amount of mercury and other toxics ? such as arsenic, nickel, and cyanide ? released from power-plant smokestacks. But the wheels of regulation began grinding in 1990 with the passage of the Clean Air Act Amendments.&nbsp;

Since then, the EPA has targeted mercury emissions from all high-emitting sources except power plants.&nbsp;When fully implemented, MATS rule reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants by&nbsp;91 percent.&nbsp;

Environmentalists and health advocates were giddy.

"This is truly historic," says Frank O?Donnell, president of&nbsp;Clean Air Watch,&nbsp;in an e-mail interview. "After two decades of evading the law, the coal-burning power industry is finally going to clean up. The health benefits will be tremendous. There is no question in my mind that this will prove to be the signature clean-air accomplishment of the Obama administration."

The new rules apply to about 1,200 coal-fired units at 450 facilities that generate about 48 percent of electricity nationwide, the EPA says. Because new emissions controls are costly, utilities that own older coal-fired power plants may face some financial pressure.

To offset these pressures, the EPA gave utilities until 2016 to upgrade ? with an added year if a company can show it deserves more time. Still, some business groups were upset.

?The EPA is out of touch with the hard reality facing American families and businesses," said Steve Miller, president of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE), an industry lobbying group, in a statement. "This latest rule will destroy jobs, raise the cost of energy, and could even make electricity less reliable."

An economic analysis for ACCCE by the National Economic Research Associates found that the new mercury rule ? combined with other pending EPA regulations ?would chop 183,000 jobs annually from 2012 to 2020 and raise electricity and other energy prices by $170 billion.

ACCCE also contends that proposed EPA&nbsp;air- and water-quality regulations would shutter scores of power plants, making the reliability of the electricity grid a concern.

Other studies, including the EPA's own peer-reviewed analyses,&nbsp;have contradicted these findings.

For instance, an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank that studies policy effects on low- and middle-income workers, suggests the new mercury rule "would have a modest positive net impact on overall employment, likely leading to the creation of 28,000 to 158,000 jobs between now and 2015."

Meanwhile, on the issue of grid reliability, a&nbsp;new Associated Press analysis concludes that more than 32 mostly coal-fired power plants in a dozen states would likely be forced to close because of the MATS rule and another new EPA rule that limits emissions drifting into other states. Another 36 plants are at risk of closing, AP said.

The US Department of Energy says such closures would not be a problem. In an analysis released earlier this month, it found that the new rules "should not create resource-adequacy issues." &nbsp;

Eleven of the top 15 largest coal fleet owners in the US say they are basically in position to meet the EPA?s clean-air rules because of years of investments to upgrade their power plants, according to an industry study by M. J. Bradley & Associates last month.

In the "40-year history of the Clean Air Act, the EPA has never let the lights go out, and it is committed to upholding this record. Our industry is well-positioned to comply with these rules,? Calpine CEO Jack Fusco wrote recently in a rebuttal to a Wall Street Journal editorial warning of grid instability flowing from the rules.

RECOMMENDED:&nbsp;Is the EPA really a 'jobs killer'?

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20111221/ts_csm/440752

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Friday, December 23, 2011

Republican Presidential Candidates on Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae (ContributorNetwork)

According to a CNN report, Newt Gingrich started a consulting company after he left Congress, the Gingrich Group, and was paid $1.6 million to $1.8 million for consulting Freddie Mac. Due to the fact many believe mortgage lenders Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae were partly responsible for the collapse of the U.S. housing market, the candidates seeking the Republican presidential nomination were asked for their opinions on this issue and corruption in Washington, in general.

Here is what they said, according to a debate transcript provided by the American Presidency Project:

* Newt Gingrich: "Barney Frank was in public office with direct power over Freddie Mac. He exploited that power just as Chris Dodd was in public office when he got special bargains from Countrywide, a firm that went broke. They were using power. I was a private citizen, engaged in a business like any other business. I worked for years with Habitat for Humanity. I think it's a good conservative principle to try to find ways to help families that are right at the margin learn how to budget, learn how to take care of a house, learn how to buy a house. And I'm not going to step back from the idea that in fact we should have as a goal, helping as many Americans as possible be capable of buying homes. And when you look for example at electric membership co-ops, and you look at credit unions, there are a lot of government sponsored enterprises that are awfully important and do an awfully good job."

* Ron Paul: "Well (Gingrich) has a different definition of the private sector than I have. Because it's a GSE, government sponsored enterprise. That's completely different ? the worst kind of economy. You know, pure private enterprise, more closely probably to what Gov. Romney is involved with, but if it's government-sponsored, it's a mixture of business and government. It's very, very dangerous. Some people say, if it goes to extreme, it becomes fascism, because big business and big government get together."

* Michele Bachman: "We know that (Gingrich) cashed paychecks from Freddie Mac. That's the best evidence that you can have, over $1.6 million. And, frankly, I am shocked listening to the former speaker of the House, because he's defending the continuing practice of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. There's a big difference between a credit union and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. And they were the epicenter of the mortgage financial meltdown. I was trying to see these two entities put into bankruptcy because they, frankly, need to go away, when the speaker had his hand out and he was taking $1.6 million to influence senior Republicans to keep the scam going in Washington, D.C. That's absolutely wrong. We can't have as our nominee for the Republican Party someone who continues to stand for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. They need to be shut down, not built up."

* Mitt Romney, as reported by the Huffington Post: "One of the things that I think that people recognize in Washington is that people go there to serve the people and then they stay there to serve themselves. ... By the way, a very different number ($1.6 million) than (Gingrich) said in the first debate. He said $300,000 and he was there as an historian."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111221/pl_ac/10729015_republican_presidential_candidates_on_freddie_mac_and_fannie_mae

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Saturday, December 17, 2011

Military hearing resumes in Manning leak case (AP)

FORT MEADE, Md. ? The military court case against the young soldier blamed for the largest leak of classified material in American history resumed Saturday after an Army appeals court rejected a defense effort to remove the presiding officer.

Army Pfc. Bradley Manning was back in a military courtroom Saturday, his 24th birthday, to hear prosecutors begin presenting their case against him as the source for the WikiLeaks website's collection of U.S. military and diplomatic secrets.

The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring Manning to trial. Manning's lawyers tried to oust Lt. Col. Paul Almanza as the presiding officer because of alleged bias, but an Army appeals court rejected their request late Friday.

Separately, lawyers for WikiLeaks and founder Julian Assange are asking the Army Court of Criminal Appeals to guarantee them two seats in the courtroom at Fort Meade.

Manning, a one-time intelligence analyst stationed in Baghdad, is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive items including Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, State Department cables and a classified military video of a 2007 American helicopter attack in Iraq that killed 11 men, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver.

The Obama administration says the released information has threatened valuable military and diplomatic sources and strained America's relations with other governments.

Friday was Manning's first appearance in public after 19 months in detention. He appeared slight but serious in his Army camouflage fatigues and dark-rimmed glasses, taking notes during the proceedings and answering straightforwardly when called upon by Almanza.

Manning, a native of Crescent, Okla., is relying on a defense that will argue much of the classified information posed no risk.

In addition to claims of partiality, his lawyer, David Coombs, argued that Almanza wrongly denied the defense's request to call as witnesses the officials who marked as secret the material WikiLeaks later published. Instead, the officer accepted unsworn statements from those people, Coombs said.

Friday's tangling, however, centered primarily on Almanza's Justice Department job. "I don't believe I'm biased," Almanza said, explaining that his government work concerns child exploitation and obscenity. He said he hasn't talked about WikiLeaks or Manning with anyone in the department or FBI.

The Justice Department has a separate criminal investigation into Assange. A U.S. grand jury is weighing whether to indict Assange on espionage charges, even as he is in Britain fighting a Swedish request that he be extradited because of rape allegations.

Manning's hearing at this Army post outside Washington is open to the public, with limited seating. Assange's lawyer filed a request Friday with the Army appeals court seeking two guaranteed seats in the Fort Meade courtroom, one for the attorney representing the Wikileaks organization and the other for Assange's non-U.S. attorney.

Inside the courtroom, no civilian recording equipment is allowed. Instead of a judge, a presiding officer delivers a recommendation as to whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring a suspect to trial. A military commander then makes the final decision.

The case has spawned an international support network of people who believe the U.S. government has gone too far in seeking to punish Manning, and a few dozen showed up outside Fort Meade on Friday to rally on his behalf.

"I plan to march all night tonight and bring as much attention as I can to put the entire country on notice that we have a hero who's standing trial for nothing more than telling the truth," said Dan Choi, a gay West Point graduate discharged from the military for revealing his sexual orientation. He wore a bright orange "Bradley Manning Support Network" sticker on the lapel of his uniform jacket.

Others were less supportive.

"That man did something very wrong," said Mandie Stanley, a 19-year-old who lives on the Army post with her husband, a member of the Air Force. She spotted the protesters and decided to come out with a sign that said: "Don't leak classified information, stupid!"

___

Associated Press writers Sarah Brumfield and Mark Sherman contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_manning_wikileaks

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Jury says verdict close in $1B Microsoft lawsuit

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2011 photo, Bill Gates arrives to testify at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Closing arguments are set Tuesday Dec. 13,2011 in a $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. Novell Inc. claims the software giant duped it into working on a new version of the WordPerfect writing program only to withdraw support months before Microsoft's Windows 95 was released. Novell claims it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1 billion loss. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart,File)

FILE - In this Nov. 21, 2011 photo, Bill Gates arrives to testify at the Frank E. Moss federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Closing arguments are set Tuesday Dec. 13,2011 in a $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. Novell Inc. claims the software giant duped it into working on a new version of the WordPerfect writing program only to withdraw support months before Microsoft's Windows 95 was released. Novell claims it was later forced to sell WordPerfect for a $1 billion loss. (AP Photo/Jim Urquhart,File)

(AP) ? Jurors have resumed deliberations in a Utah company's $1 billion federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp. and say they're close to a verdict.

Novell Inc. sued in 2004, claiming Microsoft duped it into developing a version of its WordPerfect writing program for Windows 95 only to pull the plug so Microsoft could gain market share with its own Word program.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates testified last month that Novell just couldn't deliver a compatible WordPerfect program in time for the rollout, and that Microsoft's own Word program was actually better.

Jurors said late Thursday they were making progress deciding whether Novell was entitled to damages. On Friday morning, they said they were close to finishing deliberations.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-12-16-Antitrust%20Lawsuit-Microsoft/id-09f0e11e5d104d5496490566f1dd9140

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Friday, December 16, 2011

Video: Honeywell CEO's 2012 Outlook

We want the highest oil price the economy can stand, says David Cote, Honeywell chairman & CEO. "We try to be in everything because you can't predict how things are going to go," he tells Mad Money host Jim Cramer.

Related Links:

Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45690775/

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Stories about faith and family help Romney open up (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? Mitt Romney is starting to open up.

For the past year, the former Massachusetts governor has emphasized his business background as he's argued that he should be president because he understands the economy and can fix it to help millions of out-of-work Americans. Yet Romney, a multimillionaire many times over whom critics call robotic, has struggled to connect with average people.

Now, he's trying to show people he personally understands what hardship is like by drawing on anecdotes from his upbringing ? funny, revealing and sometimes slightly awkward stories ? in hopes they will humanize him while providing a contrast with the rocky past of his chief rival, Newt Gingrich.

There's the one about how he proposed to his girlfriend in the back seat of his parents' car after he came back from his Mormon mission in France. "I said, `You want to get married?' She said, `Yeah!'" Romney said, smiling.

He's also opened up about counseling fellow Mormons who were having financial trouble. "What impressed me," he said, "was that we're all the same in the things we aspire for, the things we love."

He even told a group of New Hampshire voters about using a crude toilet while he traveled in France for his church. "There was a chain behind you with kind of a bucket, a bucket affair," he said. "I had not experienced one of those in the United States."

All told, the shared memories hammer home a point that he's tried to make in debates and on TV and repeatedly on the campaign trail.

"I think people understand that I'm a man of steadiness and constancy," he said during a debate in Michigan, a line his campaign team used in a commercial that's now running in Iowa. "Let me tell you this: If I'm president of the United States, I will be true to my family, to my faith and to our country."

Romney doesn't say it out loud, but his family and his faith are two direct contrasts with Gingrich. The former House speaker has been married three times and has acknowledged infidelities in both previous marriages. A longtime Southern Baptist, Gingrich converted to Catholicism in 2009.

Romney is relying more and more on his family ? especially in Iowa, where social conservatives hold sway ? to help him make his case with voters. His wife, Ann Romney, has spent more time in Iowa in the past week than her husband, telling audiences in West Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and Council Bluffs about how her husband stood by her through a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis.

"He is there, he is steadfast, you can count on him," Ann Romney said during one campaign stop. "He won't abandon you in the hardest times."

And Romney's son Josh has also campaigned here, readily showing off photos of his own family and telling stories about growing up with dad.

Perhaps more telling, Romney is talking more openly about his faith. His Mormon religion caused problems with many evangelical and conservative Christian voters during his 2008 presidential campaign. And while Romney gave a major speech on religion during that bid, critics say he never did enough to explain the Mormon church to people who don't understand it.

Now, little by little, he's explaining it.

During a stop in Hudson, N.H., on Sunday, he talked about how Mormon missionaries get paid very little and live among local hosts as young men and women in the church. On Monday, he told workers at a New Hampshire lumber mill how he became a pastor even though he was an English major looking to go to law school and business school.

"Well, in my church that sort of rotates around," he said. "They ask different people to do it, and you take the assignment for a while."

Later, Romney insisted to reporters that his campaign hadn't made a strategic decision to have him open up more.

"I just respond to the questions as they come, and the question that got asked today was about, was the same question I got asked in the debate, so I gave the same answer," he said.

But the pitch he's started to make is one that combines his business background with his own personal and religious background ? and looks ahead to a general election that's likely to be a struggle over which party can better defend America's middle class.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney_personal_side

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Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Microsoft demos new Windows Store, now with more Metro

Well well, we knew Microsoft had something in store for us at its Windows Store Preview event tonight, and it just revealed a fresh look for its app-selling portal. It sports a new Metro-like UI, and comes with some new content from Disney, digital books and magazines, plus games like Cut the Rope are on tap, too. Bing's on board to index the whole store catalog and make all the fresh content easy to find, and the new setup allows company websites to deep link to app descriptions in the store. There's also a mechanism integrating app purchases from company websites built directly into the store infrastructure.

Of course, the new Windows Store isn't just for consumers, enterprise apps will also be available. Corporate IT admins can deploy apps in a local version of the Store, so that everything stays nice and secure on the internal networks. Not only that, but some secret sauce ensures that both enterprise and personal apps can be managed seamlessly on that slick new Windows 8 slate of yours.

Developing...

Microsoft demos new Windows Store, now with more Metro originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 19:49:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/06/microsoft-demos-new-windows-phone-marketplace-now-with-more-met/

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Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Something's fishy _ Marlins become big players

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2011 file photo, Heath Bell of the San Diego Padres baseball team is shown. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that All-Star closer Bell has agreed to a $27 million, three-year contract with the Miami Marlins _ their first free-agent deal since beginning courtships last month with several top players. The person spoke Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been announced. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

FILE - In this Feb. 23, 2011 file photo, Heath Bell of the San Diego Padres baseball team is shown. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that All-Star closer Bell has agreed to a $27 million, three-year contract with the Miami Marlins _ their first free-agent deal since beginning courtships last month with several top players. The person spoke Friday, Dec. 2, 2011 on condition of anonymity because the agreement had not yet been announced. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)

FILE - In this Sept. 29, 2010, file photo, New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes reacts after hitting a double during the first game of a baseball doubleheader against the Milwaukee Brewers at Citi Field in New York. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Reyes and the Miami Marlins have agreed to a $106 million, six-year contract. The deal includes a club option for a seventh season that, if exercised, would make it worth $120 million. The person spoke Sunday Dec. 4, 2011 on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been announced. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)

FILE - This Sept. 7, 2011 file photo shows construction underway at the Miami Marlins' new downtown stadium in Miami. The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the financing of the stadium. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

DALLAS (AP) ? Jeffrey Loria watched the news conference from the second row, beaming like a proud parent as Heath Bell talked about his new love for the Miami Marlins and reuniting with Jose Reyes.

Trying to make a quick getaway, the owner was surrounded by reporters in the corridor who wanted to know who else would be migrating to South Florida: Albert Pujols, C.J. Wilson, Mark Buehrle?

Instead of trading away their stars, the Marlins have become the biggest player in the offseason market, the riches from their new ballpark a free-agent attraction.

"I want our team to be important," Loria said Monday as the winter meetings opened. "It's an energy city, and I think that's one of the things that brings the players there. They see the energy."

Bell's $27 million, three-year contract was finalized, giving the renamed Marlins an All-Star closer. Reyes' $106 million, six-year deal is a satisfactory physical from conclusion.

Pujols, who already has toured the new ballpark, would join Hanley Ramirez, Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison in the batting order ? if the three-time NL MVP is willing to leave the St. Louis Cardinals, the only major league team he's played for.

"One big hitter?" Loria said out loud, his 2003 World Series ring flashing from his hand. "Well, I don't know about that, but there's a possibility of another player or two we're looking at."

Morrison, among others, was wondering.

"Just out of surgery. Everything went well," he wrote on Twitter after a minor knee operation, adding: "Have we signed Pujols yet??"

On the mound, Wilson or Buehrle could be added to a rotation that includes Josh Johnson (if healthy), Ricky Nolasco, Anibal Sanchez and Chris Volstad. While the Marlins are being aggressive, traditional big spenders such as the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are moving cautiously, both with free agents and in the trade market.

"It's hey, take my older, expensive, over-the-hill guy for your young, better-performing guy," Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said. "Let me think about that and get back to you, buddy."

Not that he's acting any differently with opening day four months away.

"I'm sure my ideas are as distasteful as the ones that I've received," he said.

As the four-day swap session began, the first piece of formal business was the annual meeting of the Hall of Fame Veterans Committee, which elected late Chicago Cubs third baseman Ron Santo. He'll be inducted in Cooperstown on July 22, along with any players elected by members of the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Jan. 9.

Pujols and Prince Fielder are the big bats on the market, and it remains unclear whether Pujols is willing to leave the World Series champions, where he's joined Stan Musial as a franchise icon.

"I always use the word hopeful," Cardinals chairman Bill DeWitt Jr. said. "I think it's presumptive to say that I'm optimistic because we obviously have continuing discussions and have a good dialogue going."

No longer watching players like Josh Beckett and Miguel Cabrera getting hooked by other teams, the Marlins now have the bait to attract baseball's best. They drew a major league-low 1.52 million fans to Sun Life Stadium, also home to the NFL's Miami Dolphins, last season. But Loria expects his team will draw 2.5 million to 3 million at the new ballpark.

"When you have a ballpark that seats 78,000, there's no great demand ? and in the middle of nowhere in a football-configured stadium," he said. "But with a ballpark half the size of that and a baseball-only ballpark, you create a different kind of experience and we've seen it in our sales already."

The rest of baseball has taken notice of a team that hopes to overtake Philadelphia and Atlanta in the NL East.

"Good for the Marlins. I'm happy for them, and it's something, of course, I'd like to see happen for us. But in the meantime, you can't cry about it," said Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon, whose team along with Oakland are the last two trying to get new ballparks.

Calling Reyes an "exciting young man" and Wilson a "very intelligent and very interesting guy," Loria said he thinks the Marlins can become a consistent winner in their retractable-roof ballpark, not far from downtown Miami.

"With the roster that we have and the things we hope we can do, the outlook is very good," he said. "I'm not going to make any predictions. But we certainly want to be in position to compete seriously."

While the Marlins are poaching, other teams want to retain their stars. Texas may want Wilson back after he helped it come within one strike of the team's first World Series title.

"We basically felt they were going to test the market and we'd circle back to each other," general manager Jon Daniels said.

The Mets, plunging to losing records in all three seasons at Citi Field and plagued by losses from the Bernard Madoff Ponzi scheme, are cutting payroll from the $140 million range in 2008 and 2009 to about $100 million next year. General manager Sandy Alderson said the team lost $70 million but wouldn't say whether it was all this year.

"When I took the job, my understanding was the payroll was not at a sustainable level, that it would have to come down somewhat," he said. "Perhaps it's had to come down a little more than I would have expected."

Reyes returns to Citi Field when the Marlins visit April 24. He'll be in their new uniforms with garish colors.

"Well, I was a little surprised they had that much money to burn," Mets manager Terry Collins said.

Elsewhere, the Los Angeles Dodgers agreed to a $6 million, two-year contract with utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. and neared an agreement with pitcher Aaron Harang.

Minnesota agreed to a $4.75 million, one-year deal to keep closer Matt Capps, a person familiar with that deal said on condition of anonymity because it had not yet been announced.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-05-Winter%20Meetings/id-b8c6b415f0464600ba2f0e0a7f5c3db0

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Monday, December 5, 2011

?Mayhem? Miller cornered tonight by Kevin James, Michael Bisping says it?s all part of what makes Miller less than legit contender

Jason Miller has a lot to prove to UFC fans tonight at the Season 14 "Ultimate Fighter Finale."

He's built a nice following amongst hardcore MMA fans by augmenting his fight career with satellite radio and television shows, but his opponent says Miller's standing in the MMA world is built on a myth.

"While I've been in the UFC fighting the best fighters in the world, he's been flying around the world fighting a bunch of washed-up journeymen and not doing a very good job of it," Bisping told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "The only reason he's here now and the only reason he got "The Ultimate Fighter" spot is because he's a loudmouth TV personality."

Miller (24-7 , 0-1 UFC) laughs at that assertion. He's a highly sought after teacher of the sport in southern California. Even with all of his side gigs, he still has his eyes on the fighting prize.

"It's paramount. That's what kicked off all this other stuff," Miller said. "I wouldn't have a radio career or a television career without fighting. The past year, I really put in the effort into doing the things in the gym that are going to help my fight career."

Miller will flash a little of that entertainment-world star power with "King of Queen" stars Kevin James in his corner. The 30-year-old Miller met James during the filming of MMA-themed film "Here's Comes the Boom."

Below is James speaking about the UFC-approved film.

Tips via Adam Hill, Las Vegas Review-Journal and Ariel Helwani, MMAFighting.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/blog/cagewriter/post/-Mayhem-Miller-cornered-tonight-by-Kevin-James-?urn=mma-wp10144

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Stock market closes out its best week since 2009

FILE - In this file photograph taken Nov. 30, 2011, specialist Dermot Bermingham, left, and trader Edward Radziewcz work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks rose Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, around the world as markets unnerved by the eurozone's debt crisis welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's call for changes to EU treaties to enforce fiscal discipline. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

FILE - In this file photograph taken Nov. 30, 2011, specialist Dermot Bermingham, left, and trader Edward Radziewcz work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks rose Friday, Dec. 2, 2011, around the world as markets unnerved by the eurozone's debt crisis welcomed German Chancellor Angela Merkel's call for changes to EU treaties to enforce fiscal discipline. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

(AP) ? An early rally fizzled on the stock market Friday but still left the Standard & Poor's 500 index up 7.4 percent for the week, its biggest gain since March 2009.

A surprise drop in the U.S. unemployment rate sent stocks higher in early trading, but the gains faded during the afternoon.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 0.61 of a point to close at 12,019.42. The Dow ended the week up 7 percent, the largest weekly gain since July 2009.

Bank stocks rose sharply, continuing a weeklong rally. JPMorgan Chase & Co. jumped 6.1 percent, the most among the 30 stocks in the Dow average. Morgan Stanley leapt 6.9 percent, the second-biggest gain of any stock in the S&P 500 index.

European stock indexes and the euro rose after German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a speech pushing for tighter rules on government spending. Merkel said the 17 countries that use the euro must quickly restore market confidence by making financial controls stricter.

Bond yields for Spain and Italy fell, a sign that investors are becoming more confident in the ability of those countries to pay their debt. France's CAC-40 and Britain's FT-SE each rose 1.1 percent.

Markets could be in for more volatility next week as European leaders prepare for a summit to propose new measures for containing the crisis.

The Labor Department reported before the market opened that the unemployment rate fell to 8.6 percent last month, the lowest level in 2? years. Economists had expected the rate to stay at 9 percent. But a key reason the unemployment rate fell so much was that more than 300,000 people gave up looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

The Nasdaq composite index inched up 0.73 to 2,626.93. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 0.31 of a point to 1,244.28. The S&P surged 7.4 percent over the week, the most since March 2009.

Decisive steps by world leaders to right Europe's teetering economy sent stocks soaring on Wednesday. The Dow jumped 490 points, its biggest gain since March 2009 and its seventh-largest one-day point gain in history. The weekly point gain of 787 in the Dow was the second-biggest in its history, following a 946-point gain in October 2008.

"This market has been gripped with fear for a long time," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital. "And I think some of these fear factors are beginning to dissipate."

This week's strong stock performance is partially a reflection of the market's increased volatility since August, when concerns that Europe's debt was spinning out of control made dramatic stock price swings the norm. On Monday the S&P 500 broke a 7-day slide that had taken the index down 7.9 percent.

The improvements in the U.S. job market are "another illustration that the US economy is, for now at least, shrugging off the global economic downturn and fears about the collapse of the euro-zone," Capital Economics Chief U.S. Economist Paul Ashworth said in a note to clients.

Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy will meet Monday to discuss changes to European Union treaties. The talks will culminate in a Dec. 9 summit of EU leaders, where the proposals are expected to be debated and detailed. Analysts say stricter controls on spending could encourage the European Central Bank to offer more short-term help for governments struggling with their debts.

If the European Central Bank takes a larger role in buying government debt, "it will certainly be a relief to markets," Cardillo said, "and maybe even mean Europe avoids falling into a deep recession. Not that it's going to cure all the problems of Europe."

In corporate news:

? Western Digital Corp. soared 7.5 percent, the most in the S&P. The data storage provider raised its revenue estimate for the current quarter and said that recovery efforts at its facility in Thailand following massive flooding there were proceeding faster than had been expected.

? Big Lots Inc. slumped 8.7 percent, after the retailer reported a 76 percent plunge in income because of lower margins and a loss related to a newly acquired Canadian business. The company buys overstocked items including food and housewares and sells them at a discount.

? H&R Block Inc. fell 6.4 percent. The country's largest tax-preparation company reported a wider quarterly loss late Thursday. H&R Block also said there was a jump in claims tied to bad loans made by its former subprime mortgage unit.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-02-Wall%20Street/id-5a8680086b3046668f0b11cd58845235

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Sunday, December 4, 2011

Croatia opposition set to win vote on economy ticket (Reuters)

ZAGREB (Reuters) ? Croatia's center-left opposition looks set to win Sunday's parliamentary election as voters bet the bloc can overhaul the country's floundering economy before it joins the European Union in 2013.

Led by the Social Democrats' (SDP) Zoran Milanovic, the opposition bloc known as Kukuriku ('cock-a-doodle-doo'), has pledged to boost growth in the former Yugoslav republic, create jobs, attract investment and maintain its credit rating.

According to an Ipsos Puls poll Wednesday, the bloc is forecast to win a majority of the 151 parliamentary seats, as voters show their frustration with growing poverty and unemployment under conservative Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor.

His HDZ party, which has dominated Croatian politics since its 1991 independence, is a distant second place in the polls.

"The two things we expect from the new government are to draft a budget that shows fiscal consolidation, otherwise we are threatened with a credit rating cut, and to make a resolute start of the necessary reforms," said Davor Majetic of the national employers' association.

Croatia, a popular tourist destination of 4.3 million people on the Adriatic, has seen its economy boom over the past decade on the back of foreign borrowing, but its growth ground to a halt when the global crisis hit in 2009.

"The real job only begins after the election. Please stay with us when the going gets tough in the next few months. I promise we will not let you down," Milanovic, 45, told supporters at the last rally in Zagreb Friday.

TURNAROUND PROMISED

The former diplomat told Reuters this week the state budget for 2012 would be in place by the end of March and should reflect "how serious we are" about turning the economy around and averting a credit downgrade.

"The rating agencies will give us a grace period of three months at most," he said. "But I believe we can do it."

Unemployment stood at 17.4 percent in October and thousands of employees work without pay. Lack of liquidity has paralyzed many local businesses and overall foreign debt has surpassed 100 percent of gross domestic product.

In power for the past eight years, HDZ has been mired in corruption scandals since its former leader and prime minister, Ivo Sanader, stepped down in 2009. A number of other senior HDZ officials have been arrested or questioned over alleged slush funds in the past year.

Polling stations open at 7 a.m. (01:00 a.m. EST) and close at 7 p.m., when exit polls will follow. An official, preliminary count is expected by midnight.

(Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/wl_nm/us_croatia_election

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Saturday, December 3, 2011

Genome Researchers Have Too Much Data

An anonymous reader writes "The NY Times reports, 'The field of genomics is caught in a data deluge. DNA sequencing is becoming faster and cheaper at a pace far outstripping Moore's law. The result is that the ability to determine DNA sequences is starting to outrun the ability of researchers to store, transmit and especially to analyze the data. Now, it costs more to analyze a genome than to sequence a genome. There is now so much data, researchers cannot keep it all.' One researcher says, 'We are going to have to come up with really clever ways to throw away data so we can see new stuff.'"

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/NaE5rG5BHxQ/genome-researchers-have-too-much-data

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Friday, December 2, 2011

Sanctions bite in Syria as oil giant Shell pulls out (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Royal Dutch Shell said on Friday it would cease operations in Syria to heed new European Union sanctions against Damascus, deepening the international isolation of President Bashar al-Assad imposed over his violent crackdown on popular unrest.

In the latest bloodshed, Syrian army defectors killed eight Air Force intelligence personnel in an attack on their base in the north of the country, according to an opposition group.

The incident suggested that armed deserters are turning increasingly from defending civilian protesters against violent repression by Assad's security forces to an offensive of ambushes and roadside bombs, raising the specter of civil war.

Western and Arab countries have been intensifying punitive sanctions to press Assad to carry out pledges to halt bloodshed by withdrawing forces from restive cities, starts transition talks with the opposition and admit Arab League observers.

Royal Dutch Shell said it would shutting down in Syria to heed a batch of EU sanctions slapped on Syria's economically vital oil and financial sectors the day before.

A Shell spokesman said: "Our main priority is the safety of our employees ... We hope the situation improves quickly for all Syrians."

The EU on Friday extended sanctions to three Syrian oil concerns, including the state-owned General Petroleum Corporation (GPC) and Syria Trading Oil (Sytrol), to crank up the financial pressure on the Assad government.

The three oil concerns were among 11 entities and 12 Syrian leadership figures added to an EU blacklist now aimed in part at bringing the Syrian ventures of oil giants to a halt. Royal Dutch Shell was the first to bow out.

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay called for international action to protect Syria's civilian population from "continual ruthless repression that, if not stopped now, can drive the country into a full-fledged civil war".

More than 4,000 people have been killed, including 307 children, in the military crackdown on unrest since March and more than 14,000 people are believed to be held in detention, she told an emergency session of the U.N. Human Rights Council.

"In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people," Pillay said in Geneva. "All acts of murder, torture and other forms of violence must be immediately stopped."

She voiced disquiet at reports of increased armed attacks by the opposition forces, including the so-called Free Syrian Army, against the Syrian military and security apparatus.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other activists said at least 20 civilians were killed by Syrian security forces across the country on Thursday, mainly in the provinces of Hama and Homs - epicenter of the anti-Assad revolt.

The Observatory said the attack on Air Force intelligence took place in Idlib province, between the towns of Jisr al-Shughour and the Mediterranean port of Latakia.

"A clash ensued for three hours which led to the death of at least eight members of the Air Force Intelligence," it said.

The Syrian state news agency SANA said security forces "on Thursday killed 5 armed men and arrested 35 others during a clash with armed terrorist members in the Hama countryside".

It said dozens of Kalashnikov assault rifles, shotguns, grenades and explosives were seized.

OPPOSITION ORGANISING

The anti-Assad Syrian Free Army has formed a military council of nine defecting officers. They issued a declaration pledging to "bring down the regime and protect citizens from the repression ... and prevent chaos as soon as the regime falls".

The main civilian opposition group, the Syrian National Council, held a first meeting with Free Army leaders in Istanbul this week. A Council spokeswoman said the Council only supports a peaceful uprising and the Free Army is not its armed wing.

Syrian armed forces defectors began organizing three months ago and now number around 10,000, say opposition sources.

They cite increased operations in the last ten days by defectors and insurgents in the central regions Hama and Homs, Idlib on the border with Turkey, and the southern province of Deraa where armored convoys have been attacked.

U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden, on a visit to Ankara, praised Turkey for being "a real leader" on the Syrian crisis.

"We also welcome the government's giving space in Turkey to the political opposition," he told Hurriyet newspaper. "The United States' position on Syria is clear. The Syrian regime must end its brutality against its own people and President Assad must step down so a peaceful transition that respects the will of the people can take place," Biden said.

SANA said Syria had suspended a free trade zone pact with Turkey in retaliation for Ankara's actions. Turkey, formerly a staunch ally of Assad, has also suspended financial credit dealings with Syria and frozen Syrian government assets, joining the Arab and Western campaign to isolate Assad.

In Paris, French Interior Minister Claude Gueant said on Friday he had taken steps to protect members of Syria's National Council in France after recent threats.

"Given the troubles in Syria, we have seen a certain number of threats on Syrian opponents," he told a press conference. "Measures to protect them have been taken."

After a meeting with SNC chairman Burhan Ghalioun earlier this month, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris considered the group to be the legitimate partner with which it wanted to work.

RUSSIAN EXCEPTION

The expanded EU sanctions list encompasses media companies and firms the EU says supply sensitive equipment to a research centre that supports Assad's suppression of dissent. The United States and the Arab League have also imposed an array of economic sanctions and banned travel by some Syrian VIPs.

But Russia has opposed further sanctions and defended its right to sell arms to Syria. The Interfax news agency on Thursday reported the delivery of Russian anti-ship cruise missiles to Syria, a few days after a United Nations commission of inquiry called for an arms embargo on Damascus.

Russia traditionally uses what influence it still has in the Middle East as a lever in diplomatic maneuvering with Europe and the United States. Syria is also one of its major arms clients.

Russia and China, which both have oil concessions in Syria, teamed up in October to veto a Western-backed Security Council resolution condemning Assad's government for the bloodshed.

(Additional reporting by Alister Bull in Iraq, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva and Dmitry Zhdannikov in London; Editing by Mark Heinrich)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/wl_nm/us_syria

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Monday, November 28, 2011

Iraq signs gas deal with Shell, Mitsubishi

(AP) ? Iraq on Sunday signed a multibillion-dollar deal with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. to tap natural gas in the south, one of the biggest agreements by the OPEC member to develop an energy sector battered by years of neglect and war.

The $17 billion deal forms a joint venture to gather, process and market gas from three oil fields in the oil-rich province of Basra. That gas, pumped in conjunction with crude oil, is currently burned off ? or flared ? due to lack of infrastructure.

The 25-year joint venture is called Basra Gas Company. Iraq will hold a 51 percent stake, to Royal Dutch Shell's 44 percent and Mitsubishi's 5 percent shares. The gas will be used mainly for domestic energy needs, but there is also an option for exports.

Iraq's Oil Minister, Abdul-Karim Elaibi hailed the signing as "historic turn in Iraq's oil industry."

Shell CEO Peter Voser told reporters that Iraq is now a "...substantial part of Royal Dutch Shell's portfolio in the Middle East."

For Iraq, the deal is a key part of its strategy to alleviate power generation woes. Despite billions of dollars spent since the 1990s to rebuild Iraq's dilapidated electrical grid, Iraqis still suffer through chronic power outages that have led to sometimes violent protests.

The deal is Shell's third in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, and it will bolster the company's presence in a country which sits atop 143.1 billion barrels of crude oil and 126.7 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.

A memorandum of understanding on the Shell gas deal was signed in September 2008, but the venture has been bogged down ever since. Some lawmakers argued that the deal should have been approved by parliament and officials in Basra wanted more benefits for their province.

Iraq burns off almost half of the 1.5 billion cubic feet per day of gas that it produces. The deal will help the country capture more than 700 million cubic feet per day of gas from three fields.

They are the 17.8 billion-barrel Rumaila field being developed by a BP-CNPC consortium, the 4.1 billion barrel Zubair field, handled by an Eni-led consortium and partners Occidental Petroleum Corp. and KOGAS, as well as the 8.6 billion barrel West Qurna Stage 1, which is being developed by ExxonMobil-Shell consortium.

ExxonMobil has recently been embroiled in controversy after it became known that the company had signed a contract with the Kurdish regional government ? and not the Oil Ministry in Baghdad ? to develop oil fields in northern Iraq.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has clashed with Baghdad over who has the right to sign deals with international oil companies to develop Iraq's vast energy resources.

The Kurds, who control three provinces in northern Iraq, want to be able to sign contracts with international oil companies to develop their own fields, while Baghdad maintains it has final authority.

On Sunday the oil minister said the ministry sent letters to ExxonMobil asking for an explanation of the reports that they signed these deals, but has not yet heard a response. He declined to comment on what penalties the Texas-based company might face.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-27-ML-Iraq-Gas-Deal/id-3b1da84a986f4892901e8597b7f4434b

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Best Buy Has The Galaxy Nexus Live On Its Site, But Not For Sale (GOOG, BBY)

It looks like Best Buy jumped the gun and put up a new landing page for the Galaxy Nexus with a $299.99 price tag. Even weirder, the page calls the phone the "Nexus Prime," not the "Galaxy Nexus."

Things keep getting crazier and crazier with Google's newest flagship phone. This is the second leak we've seen from Best Buy that calls it the Prime. Plus we still can't figure out what the price point will be. A few days ago a leaked online ad from Verizon showed the Galaxy Nexus selling for $199.99.?Now this Best Buy page has the phone at $299.99. Weird.

And even though Samsung finally confirmed with us the phone will launch in December, we still don't have a precise release date. Can Verizon just get it's act together already and just tell us what's going on?

The Best Buy page is still live as of this writing, but we've included a screenshot below in case it gets removed. There's no option to pre-order the phone, but you can add it to your virtual shopping list on the site.

Thanks to Droid Life for discovering this!

samsung galaxy nexus best buy page

Image: Best Buy

See Also:

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/businessinsider/~3/zh7skrTnfHM/galaxy-nexus-best-buy-2011-11

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