Police catch suspect in 75 drug cartel killings (AP)

MONTERREY, Mexico ? Police in northern Mexico have captured an alleged member of the Zetas drug gang who confessed to killing at least 75 people, including many who were pulled off buses, authorities said Monday.

Enrique Elizondo Flores told investigators 36 of his victims were bus passengers traveling through the town of Cerralvo, near the border with Texas, said Nuevo Leon state security spokesman Jorge Domene.

Elizondo was detained Jan. 20 in the town of Salinas Victoria, but authorities delayed announcing his arrest so they could verify details of his confession, state Attorney General Adrian de la Garza said.

Domene said the 35-year-old suspect told investigators that he had been working in the area at least three years and that he was in charge of killing members of the rival Gulf drug cartel heading to the towns of Cerralvo and General Trevino.

Elizondo and other gunmen last January began pulling passengers off buses as they arrived at Cerralvo's bus station, Domene said. They are among at least 92 bus passengers the Zetas are accused of killing in three attacks in January and March 2011. Many the victims were originally from the central state of Guanajuato and had arrived in Cerralvo from the border city of Reynosa, Domene said.

Elizondo was known "for torturing, maiming and then killing his victims," Domene said.

Last year, authorities in the neighboring state of Tamaulipas unearthed 193 bodies from clandestine graves in the town of San Fernando. Security forces said they were led to the site by members of the Zetas who confessed to kidnapping and killing bus passengers traveling through the area.

The motive for the bus abductions remains unclear. Prosecutors have suggested the gang may be forcefully recruiting people to work for it or trying to kill rivals they suspected were aboard the buses.

Northeastern Mexico has been engulfed by a turf battle between the Gulf Cartel and the Zetas since they split in 2010.

More than 47,000 people have been killed nationwide since President Felipe Calderon launched a crackdown against drug traffickers in December 2006.

In the border city of Ciudad Juarez, police officers killed three men and detained a fourth Monday after being attacked at a gas station, authorities said.

The officers were refueling their patrol cars at a gas station a few blocks from the Zaragoza border crossing into El Paso, Texas, when they were attacked, a police statement said. The officers returned fire, killing three assailants, and they also seized two assault rifles, two handguns and a hand grenade, it said.

Last week, messages signed by the New Juarez drug cartel and left in several parts of the city claimed Police Chief Julian Leyzaola is favoring a rival cartel. It said that one officer would be killed daily if their members continue to be arrested. Five police officers have been killed since.

Leyzaola was not immediately available to comment on Monday's attack.

In a public appearance over the weekend, Mayor Hector Murguia said the recent string of attacks on law enforcement officers was a response from criminals affected by Leyzaola's work.

"Go downtown, there are no more brothels where drugs used to be sold," he said, referring to a police crackdown in downtown Juarez as part of the city's efforts to combat crime.

As a safety measure, police officers are now required to leave precincts wearing street clothes and are allowed to take their guns home. The city also is considering plans to rent hotels to quarter all the police force.

In 2009, then Police Chief Roberto Orduna quit after several police officers were killed and their bodies dumped along with messages saying more officers would be killed unless he resigned.

Leyzaola is no stranger to threats. Shortly after he was hired in 2011, the body of a tortured man was left in a street with a message to Leyzaola that read, "This is your first gift."

In April 2009, when he was police chief in western border city of Tijuana, drug traffickers took over police radio frequencies to say that if he didn't quit, many police officers would die.

A few days after, seven officers were killed in separate but coordinated attacks. Drug traffickers took over the police radio frequencies again to say their threat had been carried out.

___

Associated Press writer Juan Carlos Llorca in El Paso, Texas, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico

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HBT: Greinke open to extension with Brewers

Zack Greinke, who left CAA Sports last year and is currently without an agent, said he is open to doing a new deal with the Brewers this winter.

?I?ll talk to them about it,? he told MLB.com. ?I don?t really want to talk to anyone else about it. But I like the business of baseball. It?s exciting for me. It?s not like I plan on being my agent, but it is exciting being able to know what?s going on behind the scenes.?

Greinke will be eligible for free agency for the first time next winter after finishing the four-year, $38 million contract he originally signed with the Royals. He?ll make $13.5 million in 2012. Barring an extension, he?s set to join Cole Hamels and Matt Cain in what looks like a pretty strong class of free agent pitchers. Still, like Jered Weaver before him, he may choose to take a bit less to stay where he is.

?Everything feels really good at the stadium and stuff, the team is great, and I love the whole coaching staff and front office, too,? Greinke said. ?The owner [Mark Attanasio] is probably the best owner in baseball, maybe. He?s incredible.?

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/29/zack-greinke-still-agentless-yet-open-to-extension/related/

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Wanted Women

What the West can learn from two fiercely intelligent Muslim women who took opposing paths in life.

How do two women ? both in their 30s, highly intelligent, and raised as Muslims ? develop radically different ideas about militant Islam and its treatment of women?

Skip to next paragraph

This was the question journalist Deborah Scroggins set out to answer in Wanted Women, her six-year investigation into the lives of Pakistani neuroscientist Aafia Siddiqui and Dutch-Somali politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali. In ?Wanted Women,? Scroggins (who is also the author of the award-winning 2002 ?Emma?s War,? about a British relief worker who married a Sudanese warlord), covers events from before the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 up through the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and on to the present. She provides readers with a behind-the-scenes look at the war on terror as seen through the lives of two women who played prominent yet deeply contrasting roles in that war.

Scroggins?s exploration began after reading the headlines about the beheading of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Van Gogh?s murder was directly linked to a controversial film, ?Submission,? which portrayed fictional Muslim women discussing the ?rapes, beatings, and incest they have suffered at the hands of Muslim men.? Van Gogh had directed the movie and Hirsi Ali had written it.

Scroggins was already on assignment to investigate the mysterious and brilliant Siddiqui for possible connections to Al Qaeda. Scroggins couldn?t help noticing a ?weird symmetry? to the lives of Siddiqui and Hirsi Ali. ?They were opposites, yet related,? Scroggins writes. ?Like the bikini and the burka....?

Written in alternating chapters (a device that disrupts the continuous flow of each woman?s personal story), Scroggins examines the public and private lives of Hirsi Ali and Siddiqui from birth to near present-day. Although both women grew up in Islamic households, their lives took vastly different routes. Siddiqui was raised ?to be a hero of Islam? and did not fail in her promises. Her parents sent her to the United States to receive a doctorate in neuroscience so she might become a ?true mujahida? ? an educated Muslim woman, following the ?model of the Prophet Mohammad?s wives.?

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/aSdx3sCHPlg/Wanted-Women

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Chris Weidman takes UFC on Fox 2 decision

CHICAGO -- On 11 days notice, Chris Weidman took a less-than-stellar split decision over Demian Maia. The judges saw it 29-28, 29-28, 29-28 for Weidman at the United Center on Saturday night.

Though both men are accomplished grapplers, the first round started with nothing but stand-up. Neither fighter truly got an edge in striking, though it was Maia who got the first takedown. The two got back to their feet quickly, and Maia followed up with aggressive strikes.

Weidman got the takedown to start the second round, but again, they did not stay there for long. Maia's face started to show damage from the repeated hits Weidman delivered, but Weidman's movement around the cage slowed as the round went on. As Weidman slowed, Maia delivered more kicks and punches. Weidman tried for a takedown with a minute left, but Maia easily avoided it. In the final 20 seconds, Weidman was able to get the takedown, and turned over for a choke, but the round ended before he could secure it.

Weidman returned to the clinch in the third round, moving towards Maia and landing knees and punches. They continued their evenly matched striking fest, though both fighters were clearly exhausted.

The crowd in Chicago wasn't enthused about the action, but that's what happens when two grappling aficionados decided to engage in a fist fight.

UPDATE: After the bout, UFC president Dana White tweeted that the scores were read wrong. Weidman actually won by a unanimous decision.

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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/chris-weidman-takes-ufc-fox-2-split-decision-014653119.html

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Sudan says to release ships seized from South Sudan (Reuters)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) ? Sudan will free ships carrying cargos of crude it seized from South Sudan to ease tensions between the former civil war foes and help the two states agree on a deal over oil revenue, Sayed El-Khatib, deputy head of negotiating team said on Saturday.

"President Bashir is ready to make this gesture. Sudan is going to release the vessels detained in Port Sudan," he told a media conference in the Ethiopian capital.

South Sudan became independent in July under a 2005 peace agreement with Khartoum that ended decades of conflict but both sides have failed to agree how to untangle their oil industries.

The new landlocked nation needs to use a northern pipeline and the port of Port Sudan to export its crude but has failed to reach an agreement with Khartoum over a transit fee, prompting Sudan to start seizing oil as compensation.

South Sudan said on Monday it had started shutting down oil production and accused Sudan of seizing $815 million worth of crude.

South Sudan's top negotiator said on Friday his country would complete the shutdown by Saturday, after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan's President Salva Kiir met on the sidelines of a meeting of East African officials in Ethiopia.

Sudan said it was freeing the ships to help end the deadlock.

"By doing this step, we expect the cover agreement to be signed, the shutdown to be halted, and the terms of the cover agreement to be respected," said El-Khatib.

"Before the end of today, we could be able to sign the cover agreement. We, at least, are ready to sign."

Officials said in November South Sudan was producing about 350,000 barrels of oil per day.

China is the biggest buyer of oil from the two countries, some 12.99 million barrels last year. That amounted to five percent of last year's crude imports by China, which is also the top investor in South Sudan's oilfields.

(Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Toby Chopra)

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

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Bisping continues to question Sonnen?s manhood over low testoterone

CHICAGO -- Maybe it's a good thing Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen didn't have months to promote their fight tomorrow night on the UFC on Fox 2 at the United Center. One can only imagine the depths the trash talk would've sunk to.

Sonnen's testosterone replacement therapy is the popular subject this week for the Brit, who suggests that the American is less than a complete male. Early in the week on HDNet, Bisping alleged that Sonnen has a physical abnormality.

"[...] He's been submitted more times than I care to mention. Not to mention, the last time he lost a fight by submission, there were some issues involving performance enhancing drugs," Bisping said. "I don't know what the deal is. Apparently, he has one testicle. One testicle! This is why he uses performance enhancing drugs. He's gonna need more than one little ball to fight me next weekend!"

Sonnen served a one-year suspension for not properly disclosing that he was undergoing testosterone replacement therapy before his UFC 117 fight in California. Bisping is not a fan of fighter using TRT.

"If Sonnen needs TRT, then he's is the wrong sport. If you need TRT, then perhaps you should be carrying a purse and a handbag, and wearing a dress," Bisping told The Telegraph's Gareth A. Davies. "This is a fight sport, and Alpha males shouldn't need testosterone from anywhere else."

Strangely enough, that quote emerged from a conversation where Bisping discussed using a sports psychologist. That topic could certainly open the door for some counter-fire from Sonnen. Stay tuned, there's still 30-plus hours until the fight.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/bisping-continues-sonnen-manhood-over-low-testoterone-194252587.html

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Nadal tops Federer in Australian Open semifinal (AP)

MELBOURNE, Australia ? Rafael Nadal outlasted Roger Federer 6-7 (5), 6-2, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in an Australian Open semifinal on Thursday night, the longtime rivals playing with the intensity normally displayed when meeting in a Grand Slam final.

The stars who met in eight Grand Slam finals were on the same side of the draw for the first time at a major since 2005.

Two weeks ago, Nadal injured his right knee and wasn't sure he'd be able to start the tournament. Now, he can barely believe he's in the final.

"If you tell me that two Sundays ago, I really cannot imagine," Nadal said. "For me, it's a dream to be back in a final of the Australian Open."

Nadal will have the opportunity to win another championship on Sunday night when the Spanish left-hander plays the winner of the semifinal Friday between defending champion Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.

Earlier Thursday, Maria Sharapova overcame Petra Kvitova to advance to the women's final against Victoria Azarenka. Sharapova broke Kvitova's serve in the last game to finish off a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory and the third-seeded Azarenka beat defending champion Kim Clijsters 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 to set up a Saturday night final at Rod Laver Arena that will decide the No. 1 ranking.

Nadal, who holds a 6-2 edge in Grand Slam finals against Federer, made the key service break in the ninth game of the fourth set, making an incredible cross-court forehand winner from well behind the baseline, then watching as Federer hit a backhand wide to give Nadal a 5-4 lead.

Serving for the match, Nadal moved two points away from the win when Federer sent a backhand long. He won on his second match point when Federer floated a forehand long.

At the end, Nadal smashed a ball up high in the stadium, almost clearing the roof. He then applauded along with the crowd when Federer walked off.

The 25-year-old Spaniard won the 2009 Australian title but lost in the quarterfinals in his next two trips to Melbourne Park. Federer hasn't added to his record 16 Grand Slam titles since he won the 2010 Australian Open.

"I thought Rafa played well from start to finish," Federer said. "It was a tough match physically as well. I'm disappointed, but it's only the beginning of the season. I'm feeling all right, so it's OK."

When the often enthralling play was suspended for 10 minutes late in the second set for an Australian Day fireworks display, Federer seemed to be affected most. Nadal led 5-2 at the time, and Federer lost his serve in the next game to give the Spaniard the set. In all, the Swiss dropped 11 points in a row.

"It's tough, it's not helpful, that's for sure," Federer said of the break for the fireworks. "They told us before, so it was no surprise. But I knew it was a lot of points in a row that I lost."

The capacity, 15,000-strong crowd was evenly split in its support, with the names seeming to blur after the R in rival chants.

Each time somebody called out for Rafa, it was met by a response for Roger. The cheers were just as loud for Nadal's scrambling, sometimes astonishing, passing shots as for Federer's deft winners.

With the players on serve in the second set, Nadal went so far wide on a Federer return that he was near the side wall of the arena. Incredibly, he stretched wide and returned the ball crosscourt for a winner. That set up three break points and Nadal clinched the game to take a 4-2 lead in the second set.

Federer saved a set point in the 11th game of the third set that eventually forced a tiebreaker. But Federer made three unforced errors in the tiebreaker to give Nadal a 6-1 lead, and the Spaniard eventually clinched the set on his last opportunity of five set points.

"Please win the point, that's all," Nadal recalled when asked what he was telling himself at 6-5 in the tiebreaker. "I was very, very nervous at that moment. Losing four set points in a row is tough, especially when you play the toughest in history."

Clijsters was in the crowd, only hours after her title defense ended. And Ivan Lendl was at Rod Laver Arena for a second night, scouting opponents again as Murray's coach. So were former Australian greats Laver, Ken Rosewall and Pat Rafter.

Sharapova lost to second-ranked Kvitova in the Wimbledon final last year, her first major final since returning from an injury layoff following a shoulder operation in 2008. She has won three majors, but none since the 2008 Australian Open.

"In the third set, I felt she always had the advantage because I was always down on my serve," said Sharapova, who served five double-faults in the third set and 10 in the match. "I just told myself 'You just gotta go for it, don't let her finish off the points like she likes to.'"

Azarenka won the first semifinal after twice recovering from periods when a resurgent Clijsters seemed to have the upper hand, to secure victory in only her second appearance in a major semifinal.

"I felt like my hand is about 200 kilograms and my body is about 1,000 and everything is shaking, but that feeling when you finally win is such a relief. My God, I cannot believe it's over. I just want to cry," Azarenka said as she choked back tears, then buried her face in a towel.

Clijsters is popular in Australia, where she's widely known as "Aussie Kim" after dating Lleyton Hewitt years ago. She had most of the backing from the crowd on the national holiday in what is likely to be her last Australian Open.

Azarenka held her nerve despite the crowd and playing against a proven big-match player. Clijsters has won four majors and has defended a Grand Slam title ? winning the U.S. Open in 2009 and '10. To reach the semifinals, the Belgian saved four match points despite a sprained ankle to beat French Open champion Li Na in the fourth round and beat top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals.

"I guess before you all thought I was a mental case," Azarenka said in a courtside interview. "I was just young and emotional. I'm really glad the way I fight, that's the most thing I'm really proud of. I fight for every ball."

Wozniacki will vacate top spot in next week's rankings after her quarterfinal loss, leaving either No. 3 Azarenka and No. 4 Sharapova a chance to move to the top.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_sp_te_ga_su/ten_australian_open

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Edison Bests Jobs as Top Inventor in Poll

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Video: Can Gingrich take the GOP down?

Surprising 30 percent rise in home births

A small, but growing trend of women in the US are choosing home births, a new government report finds. These mostly over 35, non-Hispanic white women are "consciously rejecting the system" of hospital deliveries, says the researcher.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46154554#46154554

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U.S. commandos free two hostages in daring Somalia raid (Reuters)

MOGADISHU (Reuters) ? Elite U.S. Navy SEALs swooped into Somalia on Wednesday and rescued two hostage aid workers after killing their nine kidnappers, a rare and daring raid in the Horn of Africa nation to free foreign captives.

American Jessica Buchanan, 32, and Poul Hagen Thisted, 60, of Denmark, humanitarian aid workers for a Danish demining group, were rescued three months after they were kidnapped on October 25 in the town of Galkayo in the semi-autonomous Galmudug region of the Horn of Africa country.

The SEALs came from the same elite Navy unit -- SEAL Team Six -- that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden at his compound in Pakistan last year, U.S. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The mission also involved other U.S. forces providing airlift for the SEALs to and from the raid.

"The United States will not tolerate the abduction of our people and will spare no effort to secure the safety of our citizens and to bring their captors to justice," President Barack Obama said in a statement.

The SEALs parachuted into a location near the town of Gadaado in central Somalia and then hiked to the encampment where the two hostages were being held by their nine abductors, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity.

It was not clear that any of the same SEALs were involved in both the Somalia and bin Laden raids even if they came from SEAL Team Six.

The raiding party arrived prepared to detain the kidnappers but was not able to do that and all nine were killed, Pentagon officials said. The kidnappers were heavily armed and had explosives nearby, they said. None of the U.S. forces was hurt.

Obama authorized the raid on Monday and military commanders gave the final go-ahead on Tuesday, Pentagon officials said.

They said a confluence of factors, from the health of the hostages to the available intelligence and operational conditions, gave Obama a window of opportunity to act and prompted Washington to move ahead with the raid.

Buchanan was suffering from a possible kidney infection, according to people involved with the hostages. New evidence obtained last week suggested her health was deteriorating, said Pentagon officials, who would not elaborate on her condition.

"We're confident that there was enough of a sense of urgency, there was enough actionable intelligence to take the action that we did, for the president to make the decision that he did," said Navy Captain John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman.

Buchanan and Thisted were flown to neighboring Djibouti, home to the only U.S. military base in Africa and France's largest base on the continent, a U.S. official said on condition of anonymity. They were under the care of U.S. military doctors, officials said.

'GOOD JOB TONIGHT'

Obama was overheard congratulating Panetta on the success of the operation as the president entered the U.S. House of Representatives chamber on Tuesday for his annual State of the Union speech.

Panetta had been at the White House before the speech and had been monitoring the progress of the operation. The raid was still being wrapped up when the president spoke to him.

"Leon. Good job tonight. Good job tonight," Obama said.

The Pentagon said there were no known links between the kidnappers and Islamist militant groups in the region. Kirby said the U.S. military had no evidence to connect them to piracy.

But Obama called them "criminals and pirates" in his statement, as did local officials.

"About 12 U.S. helicopters are now at Galkayo. We thank the United States. Pirates have spoilt the whole region's peace and ethics. They are mafia," Mohamed Ahmed Alim, leader of the Galmudug region, told Reuters.

He was speaking from Hobyo, a pirate base north of Haradheere, where he said he was negotiating the release of an American journalist seized on Saturday, also from Galkayo.

Somali pirate gangs typically seize ships in the Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and hold the crews until they receive a ransom. The kidnapping of the aid workers in Galkayo would be an unusual case of a pirate gang being behind a seizure on land.

U.S. and French forces have intervened to rescue pirate hostages at sea, but attacks on pirate bases are rare.

Pirates and local elders say the American journalist and a number of sailors from India, South Korea, the Philippines and Denmark are being held by pirate gangs.

A British tourist kidnapped from Kenya on September 11, 2011, is also still held captive in Somalia.

Somalia's government applauded the mission and said it welcomed any operation against pirates.

U.S. special forces killed senior al Qaeda militant Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan in a raid in southern Somalia in 2009. Several other al Qaeda or al Shabaab officials have been killed in U.S. drone strikes in Somalia over the past few years.

In an excerpt of a CBS "60 Minutes interview released on Wednesday, Panetta said al Qaeda "is still a threat" that the United States would pursue around the world, including Africa.

"We're confronting the nodes of al Qaeda in Yemen, in Somalia, in North Africa," Panetta said.

Panetta visited U.S. troops in Djibouti last month on his way to Afghanistan and Iraq, in a stopover that reflected Obama's growing focus on the militant and piracy threats from Yemen and the eastern edge of Africa.

In Djibouti, the United States has a platform to monitor al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula in Yemen and Somalia's al Shabaab, a hard-line rebel group with links to al Qaeda.

(Additional reporting by Mohamed Ahmed in Mogadishu, John Acher and Mette Fraende in Copenhagen, David Clarke in Nairobi, Phil Stewart, David Alexander and JoAnne Allen in Washington; Writing by Richard Lough and David Clarke; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/ts_nm/us_somalia_hostages

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Surge in number of homeless female veterans

Lucy Nicholson / Reuters

Army veteran Tara Eid, 50, writes an essay at New Directions women's house, a long-term transitional program for female veterans dealing with issues of homelessness, trauma and addiction, in Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 2011. Eid was homeless many times over a period of 10 years.

By Jeff Black, msnbc.com

The number of homeless female military veterans?more than doubled from 2006 to 2010, according to new government estimates.

Acknowledging "limited VA data,"?homeless female vets numbered 3,328 in 2010,?according to a report by the General Accounting Office published on Monday, up from 1,380 in 2006.

The report says?actions are necessary to ensure?homeless female veterans?get the housing and services they need.

The GAO says a lack of coordination among the Veteran?s Administration and Housing and Urban Development, two government agencies that provide housing and services to homeless veterans, is hampering efforts to help these.

Report: Growing number of military women see combat

?Absent more complete data, VA does not have the information needed to plan services effectively, allocate grants to providers and track progress toward its overall goal of ending veteran homelessness by 2015,? the report said.

??In reality, the number of homeless women vets is probably much higher, maybe by a factor of one-and-a half times,? Patrick Sherlock, executive director Project Foot, a Florida group that helps homeless veterans, told msnbc.com on Tuesday.

?They don?t count vets who are living in shelters,? Sherlock said. ?And they don?t ask homeless people on the streets if they are veterans.?

Homeless numbers down, but risks rise

The increase didn?t come as a surprise, Sherlock said, because of the increase in the number of female veterans overall. But he said there is no doubt the problem of?homelesseness among veterans is "getting worse."

"Many returning vets have major psychological issues that leave them on the streets," Sherlock told msnbc.com. "Call it PTSD, shell shock or battle fatigue, they're not right."

Two-thirds of the homeless female veterans were between 40 and 59 years old, the report said, and over one-third had disabilities. In addition, many of?these women lived with young children.

The report said homeless female veterans are often not aware of services available, and often?shelters that are available do not take children.

?Without improved services, women ? including those with children and those who have experienced military sexual trauma ? remain at risk of homelessness and experiencing further abuse,? the report said.

The GAO urged the VA and HUD to collaborate to ensure proper data is collected on homeless female veterans, and ramp up services such as referrals to shelters and transitional housing.

??On any given night some 67,000 veterans are homeless, according to?the?National Coaltion?for Homeless Veterans,?with men making up an estimated 95 percent of the total.

According to the GAO, officials from the VA and HUD ?generally agreed? with the findings.

The report also points out that the number of female veterans will continue to rise as service members return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

?Some of these women veterans, like their male counterparts, face challenges readjusting to civilian life and are at risk of becoming homeless,? the report said. "Such challenges may be particularly pronounced for those women veterans who have disabling psychological conditions resulting from military sexual trauma and for those who are single mothers.?

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/24/10227869-number-of-homeless-female-veterans-more-than-doubles

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Katy Perry unfollows Russell Brand on Twitter

Katy Perry is cutting Russell Brand out of her life in more ways than one.

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   4. On Megan Fox Island, you better know English
   5. Late-night 'Idol' guest? Jim Carrey's daughter

The 27-year-old "Firework" singer has unfollowed her soon-to-be ex-husband on Twitter. As of Friday, Perry is still one of the 78 people Brand subscribes to via the social networking site.PHOTOS: Katy's crazy cleavage

It's not surprising, given that Perry is only communicating with Brand, 36, via phone or email. "She's limiting those interactions," a source tells the new issue of Us Weekly (out now). "He's being so atrocious that she feels like she never really knew him."

VIDEO: Why did Katy and Russell call it quits?

Perry has been keeping Brand off her mind by focusing on her career: she performed in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Thursday, and she recently shot an Adidas ad in Santa Barbara, Calif.

"She doesn't want to look battered and have people for sorry for her," a Perry source tells Us. "She's very strong and confident."PHOTOS: Katy and Russell's zany romance

For much more on the couple's nasty split -- including Brand's plans for a tell-all book documenting his 14-month marriage to Perry -- pick up the new issue of Us Weekly, out now!

Copyright 2012 Us Weekly

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46095129/ns/today-entertainment/

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Video: The Bathtub Mystery, Part 6

Dateline NBC

'Dateline NBC,' the signature broadcast for NBC News in primetime, premiered in 1992. Since then, it has been pioneering a new approach to primetime news programming. The multi-night franchise, supplemented by frequent specials, allows NBC to consistently and comprehensively present the highest-quality reporting, investigative features, breaking news coverage and newsmaker profiles.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032600/vp/46058022#46058022

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'The Artist' silent but golden at producer awards (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? "The Artist" followed its Golden Globe win by taking top honors at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday, as the silent film continues its unlikely run toward Oscar night.

Producer Thomas Langmann received the award handed out at the Beverly Hilton by the Producers Guild of America, as "The Artist" beat out George Clooney's family drama and another Oscar favorite, "The Descendants."

"The Artist" won best musical or comedy at Sunday's Golden Globes and "The Descendants" won best drama along with a best actor nod for Clooney, making the movies likely rivals for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

The other nominees in the movie category were "War Horse," "The Help," "Bridesmaids," "Hugo," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball" and another Clooney movie, "The Ides of March."

Along with honors from other Hollywood professional groups such as actors, directors and writers guilds, the producer prizes have become part of the preseason sorting out contenders for the Oscars, whose nominations come out Jan. 24.

HBO's saga of mobsters in Prohibition-era Atlantic City "Boardwalk Empire" won the producers' award for television drama series, keeping AMC's "Mad Men" from winning its fourth straight PGA Award.

A team of seven producers including Martin Scorcese received the award for "Boardwalk Empire," which also beat out Showtime's "Dexter," CBS's "The Good Wife," and another HBO series, "Game of Thrones."

The ABC sitcom "Modern Family" took the award for best comedy series for the second straight year, beating "30 Rock," "The Big Bang Theory," "Glee," and "Parks and Recreation."

Other winners at the PGA awards include PBS's "Downton Abbey" for long-form television, "The Adventures of Tintin" for animated film, "Beats, Rhymes & Life" for movie documentary and "The Colbert Report" for talk and live entertainment shows.

___

Online:

http://www.producersguild.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_en_ot/us_film_producers_awards

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NASA Also Has a SWAT Team . . . (Theagitator)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190454460?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Flooding, power failures linger after Northwest storm

Ted S. Warren / AP

A downed tree rests on a car Thursday in front of an apartment building in Tacoma, Wash.

By msnbc.com staff and news services

Updated 3:45 p.m.: Temperatures in the Puget Sound region warmed above freezing on Friday, but tens of thousands of people remained without power after coatings of snow and ice took down power lines and trees around the region.

The Tacoma Narrows Bridges between Tacoma?and the Kitsap Peninsula were closed because ice was falling from the upper structures and cables on to the roadway, NBC station KING/5 of Seattle reported.

Sea-Tac Airport re-opened all three runways Friday after a layer of ice forced the airport to shut them down?Thursday. But there was still a significant backup of flights.

Schools in the Seattle area?were closed for a fourth straight day during a week already shortened by the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday.

In western Oregon, flooding rivers were expected to start to recede as the state got a?break in rainstorms through Friday afternoon,?said Nick Allard,?meteorologist at NBC station KGW of Portland.

Original post: Utility crews worked Friday to restore power to hundreds of thousands of Pacific Northwest residents left in the dark by a powerful snow and rain storm.

About 250,000 electric customers around Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia were expected to begin a second day in the cold and dark. Most of those affected are customers of Puget Sound Energy, which said it could take into the weekend or later to get the power back on for everybody.

The storm coated much of Washington in ice and swelled Oregon rivers, killing a child and two adults. Besides the outages, the big concern now is more flooding in both states with warmer temperatures and rain.

The National Weather Service said warming temperatures Friday should melt snow and ice in the Western Washington lowlands as the forecast returns to normal ? rain ? into next week. Forecasters said the melting snow could cause urban and small stream flooding and fill the Skokomish and Chehalis rivers above flood stage by Saturday evening.

Gov. Chris Gregoire of Washington and Gov. John Kithaber declared both a state of emergency, authorizing the use of National Guard troops if necessary.

Oregon, which saw the storm heap a torrent of rain on top of melting snow, should see a break for some hours before another front comes in, said meteorologist Paul Tolleson in Portland, Ore.

"It'll be just enough rain to make people nervous," he said.

The unusually strong system temporarily shut down Seattle's airport Thursday. Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air canceled 310 flights to and from Seattle Thursday and Alaska Air said it was canceling 50 flights on Friday. Seattle is Alaska Air's main hub.

Deadly consequences
The storm left three people dead: a mother and her 1-year-old boy, killed after torrential rain swept away a car from an Albany, Ore., grocery store parking lot; and an elderly man fatally injured by a falling tree as he was backing an all-terrain vehicle out of a backyard shed near Seattle.

Thomas Patterson / AP

Floodwaters run over Gun Club Road in Independence, Ore., Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. Though most of the Willamette Valley's overnight snow rapidly melted away, heavy wind and rain whipped through the region. (AP Photo/Statesman-Journal, Thomas Patterson)

The weather system also dropped snow on Washington's Mount Rainier, where four people were reported missing. A search was suspended at nightfall but was to resume Friday.

?It really is pointless to [attempt a rescue] in blizzard conditions ?,? Stefan Lofgren, head of Rainier?s climbing program but not part of this search, told The News Tribune. ?You can?t place people at risk in the same weather that pinned down the people you are trying to rescue.?

In Oregon, flooding hit the Salem-to-Eugene area the hardest, with 17 rivers across the region at or near flood stage, The Oregonian reported. Some 15.5 inches fell? in 48 hours in the tiny Lane County town of Swiss Home.

Portions of several Oregon highways were closed Thursday due to high water or downed trees.

Rick Bowmer / AP

A submerged school bus lies on its side as Diane Garibaldi looks on Thursday in Salem, Ore. Up to 10 inches of rain fell on parts of the Oregon Coast Range in a 36-hour period.

In the Willamette Valley town of Scio, Ore., many residents evacuated as the city manager said water was pouring down Main Street.

Officials in the city of Turner, Ore., issued a voluntary evacuation order to people, asking them to flee to higher ground as floodwaters from the rising Mill Creek swept through town.

To the west of Oregon's Coast Range, residents were being moved out of Mapleton, with a population of about 900.

The storm system also brought blowing snow to northwest Colorado as high winds battered the Front Range, with more heavy snow expected over the weekend.

Meteorologist Mike McFarland at the National Weather Service in Seattle said the system that brought freezing rain was over Minnesota, Wisconsin and parts of Nebraska and Kansas Friday but not packing the same punch.

"I don't think it looks like a very interesting system back east," he said. "Even though it was interesting here, it's not an extensive storm that will do much of anything anywhere else.

"It was unusual but not exceptionally potent, otherwise."

The Associated Press and msnbc.com's James Eng contributed to this story.

More content from msnbc.com and NBC News

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10199517-flooding-power-outages-linger-after-huge-northwest-storm

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Brees: Focus on keeping Saints together (AP)

METAIRIE, La. ? Drew Brees has spent the past six years reinvigorating the Saints, rewriting NFL records and rebuilding New Orleans.

His contract may be expiring, but the Big Easy's biggest sports star doesn't see himself changing teams any time soon.

Brees said Friday he would be "beyond stunned" if he and the Saints are unable to agree on a contract extension during this offseason, echoing comments by coach Sean Payton this week.

The former Super Bowl MVP added he doesn't believe his next deal will prevent the Saints from bidding for some other key members of their record-setting offense who will become free agents, including Pro Bowl guard Carl Nicks and receivers Marques Colston and Robert Meachem.

"My No. 1 priority, and it always has been this, is keeping our team together and making sure we have the right guys in the right positions to make a run at this for a long time," Brees said by phone from his offseason home in San Diego. "We all kind of work together on this thing.

"Put it this way: I'm not worried one bit about my contract or our ability to keep guys at key positions."

At the same time, Brees acknowledged that his powers of persuasion only go so far as it pertains to teammates' decisions to stay or go, and the franchise's decisions regarding how much to offer other players.

"Is it realistic to think we can keep absolutely everybody? I don't know how realistic that is just because every year on a team there's turnover and I think that's just the business we're in," Brees said.

"That's the biggest reason why it's so sad when the season ends. It's not because the season is over and you don't get to play anymore games or you know you're not going to win a championship that year. The biggest sadness comes in because you're looking around the room and you know that there's guys you've become very close to that you might not be playing with anymore."

Brees is expected to command an annual salary in the range of $18 million, which would be commensurate with the average yearly pay of New England's Tom Brady and Indianapolis' Peyton Manning.

Brees' agent is Tom Condon, who also represents Manning.

In 2011, Brees set NFL single-season records with 468 completions, 5,476 yards passing and a completion percentage of 71.2. His prolific passing numbers helped the Saints set a new NFL high for total offensive yards in a season with 7,474.

Brees led the Saints to a 13-3 regular season record and second NFC South Division title. New Orleans defeated Detroit in the first round of the playoffs before falling in the final seconds of their second-round game at San Francisco, which hosts the NFC title game on Sunday.

Brees has been invited to the Pro Bowl and plans to attend. By then, he hopes the emotional pain of losing in the playoffs will have subsided enough that he can look back fondly on New Orleans record-shattering season.

"I haven't been able to enjoy it yet to be honest with you. It's been tough this week. I really have tried not to turn on the TV," Brees said. "It's hard not to think about what could have been. But you know what? I take solace in the fact that we fought our heart out, we gave it our best and you know what? It just wasn't meant to be.

"If we're not playing for a championship, I guess there's no place I'd rather be than going to Hawaii for a week with the family and be able to enjoy the Pro Bowl and be around other guys that have earned that trip," Brees said. "And maybe that's going to be the time to decompress and reflect back on the season a little bit, but for now it still stings."

Brees arrived in New Orleans in 2006, less than a year after Hurricane Katrina had struck. Since then he has passed for more yards than any other quarterback in the NFL (28,394) while lifting the Saints to new heights and simultaneously helping a region heal from Katrina's devastation.

In addition to lifting the spirits of football fans, he and wife Brittany have worked through their Brees Dream foundation to sponsor about $8 million in projects primarily aimed at improving the lives of children in the area through the refurbishing of schools or renovation of athletic fields and facilities. His foundation also has supported the arts, along with hospital facilities for cancer patients.

He said his family's growing bond with New Orleans is another reason it would be hard for him to envision playing anywhere else.

"This is a place that is very special in our hearts. We've had two of our kids raised here and hopefully we'll have more in the future," Brees said, alluding to a third child that is expected this summer.

"It's been an unbelievable journey over the last six years to watch how far, not only our organization and our team, but just the mental psyche of the city" has improved, Brees said. "We're always going to have a strong connection with New Orleans. We're always going to give back to New Orleans, and I'm talking like 20, 30, 40 years from now."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_saints_brees__future

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Video: What?s next after wild day in S. Carolina?

The Republican presidential field may be smaller, with Jon Huntsman and Rick Perry recently dropping out, but that?s not stopping the fireworks on the campaign trail ahead of South Carolina?s primary on Saturday. NBC?s Chuck Todd takes a look at what may be next.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/46069572/

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Apparel Mountain Hardwear 50% off in Canada Select Mens and Womens Jackets

Liveoutthere.com is continuing their boxing day sale. They have the mens Monkey Man jacket in large, xl, XXL, Downhill Parka and the Nitrous Jacket for $84, $~200 and ~$130. This is the cheapest I have seen the Monkey Man Jacket including sites from the US like Steep and Cheap. The advantage of liveoutthere.com is that they are based in Calgary, AB and that means free shipping. They also have free return shipping if the piece does not fit you. I ordered a Medium in the Monkey Man and it fits great (5'10, 170 pounds skinny build) and according to size chart. The jacket is soft and furry like the name would imply, and very warm and breathable. It is not meant to block any wind, I use it as an insulating layer under a softshell or shell. I'm sure it would be great for moderate activity levels on its own as well. It is super warm, but again it lets the wind through.

Click this link to find the jackets. http://www.liveoutthere.com/boxing-day-sale.html

For Women's Jackets they have the downtown coat at $150, and the pyxis hoody at $60.

I've never seen Mountain Hardwear go on sale much and this beats the sales I've seen in the States, including the Columbia outlets. Shipping was fast being that it is in Canada.

I highly recommend these guys.

Source: http://forums.redflagdeals.com/mountain-hardwear-50-off-canada-select-mens-womens-jackets-1128596/new-post/

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Facebook friendship blossoms into gay marriage in Trang

Home ? national ? Facebook friendship blossoms into gay marriage in Trang

Trifa Saekhow
The Nation on Sunday January 8, 2012 1:00 am

Chumwit's mother, Jinda Sudsai, said she had known her son was homosexual since he was young, but she had never criticised him because he was a good person and didn't cause any problems to society. She also encouraged him to join beauty contests, eventually leading to his victory in the Miss Krabi Fairies 2011 title, she said. She gave her blessing and consent to his wedding because it made him happy, and because society was now more open to same-sex marriage.

Jinda said her family sought no money or assets from the "groom" - as she described Thongchai; the families speak of Chumwit as the "bride" - beyond the gold-and-diamond wedding ring, because love and understanding were more important than money.

She said she planned to open a restaurant for her son-in-law to run because he cooked very well.

Chumwit said he initially added Thongchai - who had served as a private at Chon Buri's Sattahip Navy Base - as a Facebook friend because they were fellow southerners. Impressed by Thongchai's simple, down-to-earth nature, Chumwit said the pair had been "boyfriend and girlfriend" for three years. After Thongchai came to help him at his flower shop, Chumwit proposed and Thongchai said yes.

Chumwit said they planned to continue running the flower shop, while Chumwit also taught traditional Thai dancing as a sideline.

Latest stories in this category

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Facebook-friendship-blossoms-into-gay-marriage-in--30173344.html

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Legal Services Sector Dropped 1800 Jobs in December - Law Blog ...

By Joe Palazzolo

Not a good month for the industry.

While the economy added 200,000 jobs in December, the legal services sector shed about 1,800 jobs, according to the Labor Department. In fact, legal services was the only category of professional and?technical?services?that showed a decline in the jobs report released Friday.

The drop erased modest gains in October and?November. Since December 2010, the legal services sector has dropped about 2,700 jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The unemployment rate, meanwhile, sank to 8.5% in December, its lowest level since February 2009.

Source: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/01/06/legal-services-december-jobs-report/

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Vuzix designs Smart Glasses to look like plastic sunshades, sport connected transparent display

Vuzix has announced plans to develop a stylish head-mounted display solution in the form of Smart Glasses, through a licensing partnership with Nokia. The yet-unnamed product would integrate a bright, high-contrast display that's integrated with a pair of ordinary-looking sunglasses -- sounds like a perfect companion to the ZionEyez in-glasses camera prototype we saw last month. In Vuzix's words:

This amazing new technology starts with a compact display engine capable of hi contrast and brightness for outdoor use. The output is then relayed into a 1.4 mm thick plastic waveguide lens with input and output hologram structures on the surface which squeezes the light down the waveguide and then two dimensionally expands the image back into the user's eye, creating an image that is then mixed into the real world.

Naturally, the company envisions its Smart Glasses solution as a web-connected device, letting you watch videos or browse the internet while still being able to see-and-avoid pedestrians as you walk on the sidewalk or obstacles while behind the wheel -- try doing that with a Kindle or smartphone (better yet, please don't). Vuzix expects its Smart Glasses solution to start appearing as early as this summer, but we'll be getting an early look next week at CES.

Gallery: Vuzix SMART Glasses Technology

Continue reading Vuzix designs Smart Glasses to look like plastic sunshades, sport connected transparent display

Vuzix designs Smart Glasses to look like plastic sunshades, sport connected transparent display originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Jan 2012 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Top 10 Craziest Things Caught At Airport Security In 2011 [Airports]

The Transportation Security Administration has released a list of the worst/best/most crazy things caught by their airport agents in 2011—including a whooping 1,200 loaded firearms. I picked my favorite top ten because theirs is not right. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/lIv_JPCkJjQ/the-top-10-craziest-things-caught-at-airport-security-last-year

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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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Ford unveils Brazil-designed car for world market

by Associated Press

WCNC.com

Posted on January 4, 2012 at 11:11 AM

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- The Brazilian subsidiary of automaker Ford has unveiled a new version of its EcoSport SUV and says it will be sold in close to 100 countries.

The car was introduced Wednesday in the Brazilian capital and at the Auto Expo show in New Delhi.

Ford Motor Co. says in a statement that the new EcoSport is an improved, more aerodynamic version of the model it began producing in northeastern Brazil in 2003.

The statement says the EcoSport will be produced in Brazil and India and in other countries to be announce in the future. It will be sold in emerging markets, mostly in Latin America and Asia.

The company says that by mid-decade more than 2 million units of the new EcoSport will be produced each year.
?

Source: http://www.wcnc.com/news/business/Ford-unveils-Brazil-designed-car-for-world-market-136663943.html

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US stock futures rise to begin new year (AP)

NEW YORK ? U.S. stock futures are rising after solid economic news, notably out of China, helped mute concerns over the European debt crisis.

Europe's debt woes will likely remain the main catalyst for markets over the coming days and weeks. But in the absence of any fresh bad news, trading in 2012 has got off to a fairly buoyant start.

About one hour before trading opens in New York, Dow futures were up 1.6 percent at 12,343. Futures for the broader Standard & Poor's 500 rose 1.6 percent to 1,272. The Nasdaq composite rose 1.7 percent to 2,313.75.

Surveys showing that China and India may be picking up momentum have helped shore the mood of investors.

It's a busy week on the economic data front, culminating in Friday's closely watched U.S. December employment report. That often sets the market tone for a week or two and investors will be keen to see if the recent improvement in the U.S. economic news is evident in the figures.

The consensus in the markets is that the U.S. economy generated another 150,000 or so jobs during the month ? solid, if unspectacular, jobs creation in the world's largest economy.

The reports kick off Tuesday with the December manufacturing survey from the Institute for Supply Management, which is expected to rise to 53.4 in December from the previous month's 52.7. Anything above 50 indicates expansion.

Investors will also be interested in the minutes from the last rate-setting meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. They'll look to see whether the central bank's outlook is less gloomy than before.

In Europe, Germany's DAX was up 0.6 percent at 6,113.06, but the CAC-40 in France was 0.8 percent lower at 3,196.67. Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading British shares, which was closed Monday, was trading 1 percent higher at 5,626.78.

Earlier, Asian stocks rose, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index, on its first trading session of 2012, jumped 2.4 percent to close at 18,877.41. South Korea's Kospi index rose 2.7 percent to 1,875.41 and Australia's S&P ASX 200 gained 1.1 percent at 4,101.20. Benchmarks in Japan and mainland China remained closed for the extended New Year's holiday.

Oil prices tracked equities higher ? benchmark crude for February delivery rose $2.07 to $100.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120103/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/us_wall_street

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Egyptians head to polls again in parliament vote (Reuters)

MAHALLA EL-KUBRA, Egypt (Reuters) ? Egyptians voted in the third round of a parliamentary election on Tuesday that has so far handed Islamists the biggest share of seats in an assembly that will be central in the planned transition from army rule.

Islamist groups came late to the uprising that unseated President Hosni Mubarak in February, but were well placed to seize the moment when Egyptians were handed the first chance in six decades to choose their representatives freely.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) led after the first two rounds, and the strong showing by Islamist movements has sown unease among Western powers that only disowned Mubarak when his three-decade rule was crumbling.

Many citizens see the first fair election they can remember as a chance to end the blight of incompetent leadership and a culture of venality among the powerful that enriched a few and left millions in poverty.

In an industrial region north of Cairo where labor disputes over low wages preceded the wider protests that brought down Mubarak, optimism was high as residents lined up to vote.

"I am glad to be alive to witness this - a free election in Egypt," said Ahmed Ali al-Nagar, a carpenter in his late fifties from Mahalla el-Kubra. "Workers had a big impact on the political outcome we are living through these days."

Mahalla's streets were dotted with the posters of parties, especially the Brotherhood and hardline Islamist al-Nour party, promising an end to corruption.

The concluding vote to parliament's lower house takes in regions of the rural south, which has the largest proportions of Christian voters, the Nile Delta region north of the capital Cairo, and the restive Sinai desert region to the east.

The ballot was overshadowed by the deaths of 17 people last month in clashes between the army and protesters demanding the ruling military council hand power to civilians immediately. The army says the elections will not be derailed by violence.

POLICE RAID VOTE MONITORS

Turnout in earlier rounds was far higher than in Mubarak's day, when ballot stuffing, thuggery and vote-rigging guaranteed landslide wins for his party.

Brotherhood banners in Mahalla carried its motto "Islam is the solution" alongside its FJP party logo, in defiance of a ban on religious slogans.

Flyers for al-Nour carried names of influential local families who had lent their support. Residents said such sponsorship boosted the popularity of the ultra-conservative party, which has also opened shops carrying its name.

Monitors praised the first two rounds as relatively free of irregularities, while noting that many parties had defied a ban on campaigning outside polling stations in election day.

But police raids on pro-democracy and rights groups last week have disrupted the work of leading Western-backed election monitors and drawn accusations that the army was deliberately trying to weaken oversight of the vote and silence opponents.

The government said the raids were part of an investigation into illegal foreign funding of political parties and not aimed at weakening rights groups, which have been among the fiercest critics of the army's rule.

The United States called on Egyptian authorities to halt "harassment" of the groups involved. Egypt's government said some of the groups had no permits to operate in the country.

The U.S.-funded International Republican Institute (IRI) said it was invited by Egypt's government to monitor the election and gave no funding to parties or civic groups.

It urged the government to let staff return to their offices and obtain the official permits they had long requested.

"There is no reason not to allow IRI to assess the elections," the IRI said in a statement.

Fourteen million eligible voters in nine regions were choosing who occupies 150 of the seats in parliament. The staggered lower-house election concludes with a run-off vote on January 10 and 11, with final results expected on January 13.

The army, under pressure to hasten the handover to civilian rule, issued a decree on Sunday to shorten an upper house election beginning on January 29 to two rounds from three.

Egyptians turned out in unprecedented numbers in the first two rounds and parties ranging from hardline Islamists to liberals and secularists are competing hard for every vote.

Liberals say groups like the Muslim Brotherhood and the hardline Islamist Al-Nour party, which surprised with a strong showing in earlier rounds, flout the ban on religious electoral slogans and tell voters their rivals are ungodly.

Islamists accuse one of the party's top figures, Coptic Christian businessman Naguib Sawiris, and others of using media they control to mount a disinformation campaign against them.

(Reporting by Yasmine Saleh, Tom Pfeiffer and Tamim Elyan; Writing by Tom Pfeiffer; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120103/wl_nm/us_egypt_election

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