Source: Investors face 70 pct loss in Greek deal

BRUSSELS (AP) ? Investors participating in a deal to slash Greece's massive debt would face an overall loss on their bond holdings of around 70 percent, a person familiar with the negotiations said Monday.

Athens and representatives of investors holding Greek government bonds over the weekend came close to a final deal designed to make Greece's debt sustainable. The country has to secure an agreement with its creditors to get any further international rescue funds.

If the agreement works as planned, it will help Greece remain solvent and help Europe avoid a blow to its already weak financial system, even though banks and other bond investors will have to accept multibillion-dollar losses.

The person briefed on the talks said Monday that the 70 percent loss was the result of cutting the bonds' face value in half, reducing the average interest rate to between 3.5 per cent and 4 percent and pushing repayment of the bonds decades into the future.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the talks are confidential.

The deal, which aims to reduce the country's debt by about euro100 billion, needs to be finalized quickly. Greece runs the risk of a disorderly default on March 20, when it faces a euro14.5 billion bond repayment it cannot afford without additional help.

Many investors ? banks, insurance companies and hedge funds ? who hold Greek bonds also hold debt from other countries that use the euro, which could lose value if there is a full-fledged Greek default. This is the scenario analysts fear most and why they hope investors will voluntarily accept a partial loss on their Greek bonds.

The agreement taking shape is a key step before Greece can get a second, euro130 billion bailout. The country has been surviving since May 2010 on an initial euro110 billion package of rescue loans from other countries using the euro and the International Monetary Fund.

Besides restructuring its debt with private investors, Greece must also take other steps to secure further aid. It must cut its deficit and boost the competitiveness of its economy through layoffs of public sector workers and the sale of several state companies, among other moves.

Earlier Monday, Greek lenders Eurobank and Alpha Bank said a planned merger to create the country's largest bank by assets could be put on hold because of the negotiations over the bond swap.

The banks said that "an accurate timeline cannot be given" to complete the deal announced last August because of the negotiations.

Greece's finance ministry expressed surprise at the announcement, arguing that the negotiations had produced "nothing new or different" to factors already taken into account by both banks.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-30-EU-Greece-Financial-Crisis/id-a22ff1238d2048a5a50f729a4985253f

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Elisabeth Braw: "The Revolution Will Spread Throughout the Muslim World - and Beyond"

People call him "The Godfather of the new Islamist Middle East." Rachid Ghannouchi, whose Ennahdha party won Tunisia's first free elections last November, does indeed spearhead the post-Arab Spring Middle East. After being imprisoned and forced into exile by President Ben Ali for his Islamist views, Ghannouchi triumphantly returned during the Arab Spring. Tunisia's Islamist government is set to be joined by more; Islamists recently won the Egyptian elections.

But Ghannouchi doesn't like the everyday business of political office, he tells Metro. He has chosen to remain party leader while fellow Ennahdha member Hamadi Jebali serves as prime minister. But Ghannouchi is the country's real power central, "the man who pulls the strings," Tunisians say.

Far from a firebrand preacher, Ghannouchi is a soft-spoken former philosophy professor. He met Metro at Ennahdha's headquarters in Tunis. Staff scurried through the dilapidated building, while hordes of poor Tunisians gathered downstairs, hoping for handouts from Ennahdha.

Islamism was banned during the rule of Ben Ali. Did you expect Tunisians would vote for your party in the elections?

I always expected our party to win the elections once the dictatorship collapsed. We won the majority in the 1989 elections, but the regime falsified the results and decided to eliminate our movement. Nothing can convince me that the people of Tunisia have changed their minds since then.

How will Tunisia change now that the coalition led by your party is in power?

Our government is the result of the revolution. There will be a lot of change, and we'll respond to the needs of Tunisians. Right now, Tunisians want calm more than anything else, and we'll provide that.

How do you foresee the Middle East developing as a result of the Arab Spring?

Of course I'm very proud that Tunisia started the Arab Spring. In one year, we've seen five revolutions, and most of them have succeeded. This wave of revolutions will spread and will influence all Arab and Muslim countries, and even influence the rest of the world. And the Muslim world will be lead by the Islamic movement, specifically the mainstream moderate Islamic parties. These parties are against extremism and terrorism.

The Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party won Egypt's elections. Are they the same kind of Islamists as you?

They're part of the mainstream Islamic movement, and the mainstream is moderate. But each country's Islamic movement has specific elements.

How do you see the situation developing in Egypt?

The Muslim Brotherhood just won the final stage of the parliamentary elections, and I believe the Egyptians will be able to establish true democracy. I'm certain that the army will cede power to a civilian government. Egyptian politics is more complicated than politics in Tunisia, because they have a strong army and large minorities, but I have no doubt that the Egyptian people will once and for all succeed in replacing their dictatorial regime with a democratic one. And I'm convinced that SCAF [Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] will voluntarily step down rather than risking bloodshed.

So countries like France and Britain will feel the Arab Spring at home?

Absolutely. The Arab Spring has given people a new understanding of Islam. Before, it was linked with terrorism. Now it's linked with revolution, democracy, human rights and justice.

Did people simply misunderstand Islamism in the past?

I think what the world has discovered is that Islamism goes hand in hand with modernity and human rights. Islam and terrorism are incompatible. In the elections and Tunisia, Morocco and Egypt moderate Islamists won the majority of votes. Still, some people stick to their old views on Islamism. Those views are fueled by the media. Most newspapers and TV stations still spread the idea that Islam is a threat to democracy, human rights and modernity. But in time we'll convince those people as well that Islam is in favor of people's interests.

What's your response to people who see Islamism as a threat?

In Islam all human beings are equal in front of God and in front of the law. Nobody can pretend that he's better than others. During the history of Islamic civilization Muslims have co-existed with Christians and members of other religions. We haven't had any religious wars like the Catholics and Protestants. The Holocaust happened in the West, not in an Islamic state. The conflicts in the history of Islam have been about politics; which party or person will rule? But your religious convictions are up to you. Religious minorities in the Islamic world today have full rights as citizens.

What about religious minorities in Tunisia?

We only have tiny minorities of Christians and Jews. Two months ago, the head of the Jewish minority came to congratulate me on our election victory. Afterwards he told a newspaper that he's not afraid of Ennahdha because we're moderates.

How do you plan to tackle extremism among Muslims?

Extremism and terrorism are a very real threat to Islam and Muslims. Most people killed by Muslim extremists are Muslims! Just consider Iraq, Egypt, Indonesia and Algeria. Being perceived as a religion of extremism is a danger to Islam as well.

But how can you make sure that young men in particular aren't drawn into extremist networks?

Terrorism is the fruit of dictatorships. For example, the seeds of terrorism by Egyptians were sewn Mubarak's prisons. Once democracy is established we won't see these strange phenomena of Islam.

How will you convince those who doubt that Islamists are peaceful?

Through deeds. By being role models. If we succeed in implementing our model, people will see that Islam is compatible with democracy, development and women's rights.

The West supported secular dictators in the Muslim world to make sure Islamists didn't win elections...

It was hypocrisy. Ben Ali and Mubarak ran Mafia regimes. Western leaders acted against the very beliefs they professed to have. By doing so, they trampled on human rights and democracy. I hope the post-Arab Spring will lead to an opening between Islam and the West, based on mutual respect. After we won the election, Western leaders called to congratulate us. Now they have an understanding of what we're trying to do.

Ben Ali supported women's rights, and observers worry that your government may revoke some of those rights, including women's right to divorce. Will you?

My party won't change the rights women have under Tunisian law. Allah, God, created us male and female, and we're equal. In Islam we can't distinguish between people based on gender. Of the 49 female MP's in Tunisia's newly elected Assembly, 42 belong to my party. The majority of Tunisian women accept our views on Islam. They fight for their rights inside Islam, not outside. One of our MP's is a woman who doesn't even wear a headscarf.

One human rights observer told me, "even if Ennahdha wanted to force women to wear headscarves it wouldn't have to, because more and more women are wearing it anyway"...

Scarf, no scarf: it's the woman's choice, just as she decides what she wants to eat and drink. The state doesn't have any reason to intervene.

Previously published in Metro, http://www.metro.lu

?

Follow Elisabeth Braw on Twitter: www.twitter.com/elisabethbraw

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elisabeth-braw/tunisia-rachid-ghannouchi_b_1243487.html

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Indy battens down hatches for Super Bowl security (AP)

INDIANAPOLIS ? From pickpockets and prostitutes to dirty bombs and exploding manhole covers, authorities are bracing for whatever threat the first Super Bowl in downtown Indianapolis might bring.

Some ? nuclear terrorism, for instance ? are likely to remain just hypothetical. But others, like thieves and wayward manhole covers, are all too real.

Though Indianapolis has ample experience hosting large sporting events ? the Indianapolis 500 attracts more than 200,000 fans each year, and the NCAA's men's Final Four basketball tournament has been held here six times since 1980_ the city's first Super Bowl poses some unique challenges.

Unlike the Final Four, which is compressed into a weekend, the Super Bowl offers crowd, travel and other logistical challenges over 10 days leading up to the Feb. 5 game. And unlike the 500, where events are largely concentrated at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway about seven miles from Lucas Oil Stadium, the NFL's showcase event will consume 44 blocks ? about a mile square ? in the heart of the city, closing off streets and forcing an anticipated 150,000 or more NFL fans to jockey with downtown workers for space much of the week.

"This is clearly bigger in terms of the amount of people who will be downtown over an extended period of time," city Public Safety Director Frank Straub said.

Under a security risk rating system used by the federal government, the Super Bowl ranks just below national security events involving the president and the Secret Service, said Indianapolis Chief of Homeland Security Gary Coons. The ratings are based on factors including international attention, media coverage, number of people the event attracts and visits by celebrities and foreign dignitaries, he said. The Indianapolis 500 ranks two levels below the Super Bowl.

The city has invested millions of dollars and worked with local, state and federal agencies to try to keep all those people safe. Up to 1,000 city police officers will be in the stadium and on the street, carrying smartphones and other electronic hand-held devices that will enable them to feed photos and video to a new state-of-the-art operations center on the city's east side or to cruisers driven by officers providing backup, Straub said. Hundreds of officers from other agencies, including the state police and the FBI, will be scanning the crowd for signs of pickpocketing, prostitution or other trouble.

One concern has been a series of explosions in Indianapolis Power & Light's underground network of utility cables. A dozen underground explosions have occurred since 2005, sending manhole covers flying.

Eight explosions have occurred since 2010. The latest, on Nov. 19, turned a manhole cover into a projectile that heavily damaged a parked car and raised concerns about the safety of Super Bowl visitors walking on streets and soaring above the Super Bowl village on four zip lines installed for the festivities.

Since December, IPL has spent about $180,000 to install 150 new locking manhole covers, primarily in the Super Bowl village and other areas expected to see high pre-game traffic.

IPL officials say the new Swiveloc manhole covers can be locked for security reasons during the Super Bowl. In case of an explosion, the covers lift a couple of inches off the ground ? enough to vent gas out without feeding in oxygen to make an explosion bigger ? before falling back into place.

An Atlanta consultant hired by the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission last summer to audit IPL's underground network of cables for a cause of the explosions says the new covers are merely a Band-Aid.

"We've argued it's better to prevent," said Dan O'Neill of O'Neill Management Consulting, which filed its report in December.

O'Neill's team couldn't pinpoint an exact cause for the explosions but said a flawed inspection process contributed, noting that IPL workers missed warning signs such as road salt corroding an old cable or leaks in nearby steam pipes. In a report filed Jan. 19 with Indiana utility regulators, the power company said it had overhauled its inspection process.

IPL will dispatch extra crews to the area around the stadium in case of power-related problems, such as a recent breaker fire that left 10,000 customers in homes south of downtown without power. Spokeswoman Crystal Livers-Powers said the company doesn't anticipate any power issues.

Straub, the public safety director, said he's confident the city is prepared and notes that Indianapolis hosts major events "pretty regularly."

Special teams from the Department of Energy will sweep Lucas Oil Stadium and the surrounding area for nuclear terror threats, and a new $18 million high-tech communications center that opened in time for the lead-up to the game will tie it all together.

"We're using more technology, and state of the art technology, than has been used in any Super Bowl before this one," Straub said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_super_bowl_security

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Police focus on SUV in fatal N. Calif. train crash (AP)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. ? Investigators on Sunday were trying to determine what motivated the driver of a sport utility vehicle to ignore a downed crossing arm and flashing lights and pull the vehicle into the path of an oncoming commuter train in Sacramento.

Three died after the Saturday afternoon collision south of downtown, including Damian Williams, a 21-month-old boy, county coroner's officials said.

One of the four people inside the Nissan Pathfinder remained in the hospital Sunday at the University of California, Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, where she was being treated for serious injuries.

Authorities also were trying to sort out the relationships of those involved and had not released the identities of the adults.

In addition to the toddler, the dead included a 25-year-old woman and a 62-year-old man, who was ejected from the Pathfinder when it was struck by the southbound light rail train traveling at 55 mph shortly after 4 p.m. The impact pushed the SUV about 30 yards down the track and flipped it.

Officer Laura Peck, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Police Department, said the woman taken to the hospital was the man's wife.

Investigators and officials with the Sacramento Regional Transit District said video from cameras mounted on the intersection showed the SUV drive around the crossing arms just before impact. That video and other pictures captured by a camera mounted on the train are part of the investigation and were not being released publicly, Peck said.

Witness accounts appear to support the video evidence that the crossing arms were down and warning lights were flashing when the SUV tried to get across the tracks.

Davis resident Ravin Pratab, 42, was in a car that was waiting to cross the tracks when he said he heard a loud bang and then "saw a light-rail train heading south with a big truck smashed on it."

Authorities said six of the roughly 50 passengers on the light rail train were taken to local hospitals but had only minor injuries.

On Sunday, the tracks were cleared and the intersection was open, with no sign of the previous day's collision. A white teddy bear was placed at the base of the pole holding the crossing arm, on the same side of the tracks where the SUV had been before it attempted to cross.

Regional transit officials said trains were operating on their regular schedule after a section of track was repaired Saturday night.

One question investigators are trying to answer is the length of time the crossing arms were down. The light rail train passed through the intersection after two Union Pacific freight trains, going in opposite directions and using different tracks, had passed by.

Neither Peck nor a spokeswoman for the transit district said they knew the length of the interval between the time the freight trains cleared the intersection and the commuter line came through. The light rail system has its own dedicated tracks.

Drivers in Sacramento often can wait up to 10 minutes for a freight train to pass, then might have to wait several minutes more because of an approaching light rail train. The extended wait times can be a source of irritation ? and missed appointments ? in California's capital.

Alane Masui, a spokeswoman for the Sacramento Regional Transit District, said Sunday that determining the length of time the crossing arms were down and the interval between the trains was part of the ongoing investigation.

Sacramento's light rail system, started in 1987, carries an average of 50,000 passengers a day. On weekdays, it's packed with those commuting between the suburbs and state government jobs downtown.

Masui could not immediately say whether Saturday's collision was the deadliest in the system's history or how many collisions between light rail trains and vehicles had occurred in the past.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_us/us_suv_light_rail_crash

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Romney widens lead over Gingrich in Florida: Reuters/Ipsos poll (reuters)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/192777511?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Russia to delay space mission due to technical problems (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) ? Russia plans to delay the next mission carrying U.S. and Russian astronauts to the International Space Station by several weeks due to problems with the spaceship's descent vehicle, Interfax news agency quoted an industry source as saying Friday.

The expected delay follows a series of technical mishaps that marred Russia's celebration of 50 years last year since Yuri Gagarin's pioneering first human space flight.

The space industry source told Interfax that the launch, originally set for March 30, would be delayed by several weeks, possibly until May.

The source added the shell of the descent vehicle, used to carry astronauts to the surface of Earth or other celestial bodies, broke during testing ahead of the take-off.

"This descent vehicle can no longer be used in a manned flight," said the source. "Therefore the launch of the Soyuz TMA-04M will have to be rescheduled until the second half of April or the first half of May."

The Soyuz was meant to carry Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin as well as U.S. astronaut Joseph Acaba to the ISS, a $100 billion research complex that orbits about 240 miles above Earth.

Alexei Krasnov, in charge of manned flights at Russian state space agency Roskosmos, told Itar-Tass there was a defective element in the descent vehicle. He said a decision might be made as soon as next week to push back the launch date.

Separately a space industry source told Itar-Tass that Saturday's launch of Dutch telecommunications satellite NSS-14 would also be delayed for the second time because of problems with the Proton-M carrier rocket.

It had first been planned for December 26, but was rescheduled for January 28. The new launch date has not yet been set.

The Proton-M has failed in the past and it was temporarily suspended after one of the rockets proved to be the cause behind the loss of a $265 million satellite last year.

(Reporting By Thomas Grove)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/sc_nm/us_russia_space_launch

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Homemade Bungee Jumping Looks Like the Scariest Thing in the World [Video]

Bungee jumping is already the scariest thing in the world, so how does one make it EVEN SCARIER? By going the homemade, DIY-route. These guys just tied a few knots, used a few carabiners and then just jumped off a freaking bridge. That's it. Watch it, you'll be stunned at how flimsy the entire set up looks. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/hzLJ-GB0Fpk/homemade-bungee-jumping-looks-like-the-scariest-thing-in-the-world

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Ship carrying rocket parts hits Ky. bridge (AP)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. ? The voyage of a cargo boat that carries space rocket components to Florida's coast for NASA and the Air Force has stalled in a western Kentucky river after it slammed into an aging traffic bridge.

The bow of the Delta Mariner was covered in twisted steel and chunks of asphalt from the two-lane bridge. The boat hit the bridge Thursday night on the Tennessee River on its way to Cape Canaveral, Fla.

Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear has promised speedy work to begin replacing the structure, formerly known as Eggner's Ferry Bridge. The five-story high Delta Mariner was too tall to pass through the portion of the bridge that it struck, and the resulting collision left a 300-foot wide gap.

"We were very fortunate that no one was on the span at that time," Beshear said Friday.

No injuries were reported on the bridge or boat, which was carrying space rocket parts from Decatur, Ala., to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The ship was traveling on its typical route to Florida's Atlantic coast when it hit the aging steel bridge, which was built in the 1930s and handles about 2,800 vehicles a day.

U.S. Coast Guard officials investigating the collision declined to comment Friday evening on a possible cause. Lt. Ron Easley in the Louisville office said a report would be issued but the investigation was not finished.

Sam Sacco, a spokesman for the ship's owner and operator, Foss Maritime of Seattle, said the Coast Guard inspected the vessel and interviewed crew members. Sacco said the boat was not severely damaged, and some of the crew remained on board Friday to ensure the cargo is safe.

Meanwhile, officials on land will perform an immediate review of options to restore the bridge, Beshear said.

Robert Parker was on the Kentucky bridge Thursday night and said he had to slam on his brakes when he saw a section missing ahead of him.

"All of a sudden I see the road's gone and I hit the brakes," said Parker, who lives in Cadiz. "It got close."

Parker said he stopped his pickup within five feet of the missing section.

The 312-foot, 8,400-ton Delta Mariner hauls rocket parts for the Delta and Atlas systems to launch stations in Florida and California, according to a statement from United Launch Alliance, which builds the rocket parts in Alabama. The cargo was not damaged in the collision with the bridge, the company said.

The rockets are used by the Air Force, NASA and private companies to send satellites into space, said Jessica Rye, a spokeswoman with United Launch Alliance.

Sacco said the ship's typical route to Florida takes it along the Tennessee and Ohio Rivers, then onto the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and on to Florida's east coast.

Sacco said he didn't believe that the Delta Mariner has had any major incidents before the collision. The ship became stuck in a sandbar on the Tennessee River in 2001 during a trip to Decatur, but it was later freed by a river tug after about an hour.

Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson and Transportation Cabinet Secretary Mike Hancock were visiting the crash area Friday.

Transportation Cabinet spokesman Keith Todd told The Paducah Sun he believes most of the navigational lights were functioning on the bridge at the time of the impact.

The bridge at US 68 and Kentucky 80 opened in 1932, connecting Trigg County and Marshall County at the western entrance to Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area. The transportation cabinet said the bridge was in the process of being replaced, and preconstruction work began months ago.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_ky_bridge_collapse

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PFT: NFL allowing players to tweet during Pro Bowl

Reuters

The NFL has some great traditions.? And some bizarre habits.

One particularly goofy quirk comes from the publication of injury reports for practices that didn?t happen.? It happens from time to time during the season.? And it happens during the bye week before the Super Bowl.

On Wednesday, neither the Giants nor the Patriots practiced.? But both teams were required to predict whether and to what extent injured players would have been able to participate in practice, if there actually had been practice.

For the Patriots, the only player whom they think wouldn?t have been able to practice if there were practice was tight end Rob Gronkowski, whose ankle suffered an unnatural, Gumby-like twist on Sunday against the Ravens.

The following Patriots would have participated in practice on a limited basis, if there had been practice: receiver Deion Branch (knee), tackle Marcus Cannon (ankle), safety Patrick Chung (knee), linebacker Dane Fletcher (thumb), safety James Ihedigbo (shoulder), defensive tackle Kyle Love (ankle), guard Logan
Mankins (knee), linebacker Rob Ninkovich (hip), linebacker Brandon Spikes (knee), tackle Sebastian
Vollmer (back, foot), receiver Wes Welker (knee), and linebacker Tracy White (abdomen).

Guard Dan Connolly (groin) and receiver Matt Slater (shoulder) would have fully participated in practice.

For the Giants, running back Ahmad Bradshaw (foot), receiver Hakeem Nicks (shoulder), and safety Tyler Sash (concussion) would not have practiced.? Defensive end Osi Umenyiora (ankle, knee) would have practiced on a limited basis.

Stay tuned for further updates for who wouldn?t have practiced on days on which there wasn?t practice.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/25/league-will-allow-in-game-tweeting-during-pro-bowl/related/

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Gingrich's big donor and the problem with Super PACs

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Billionaire Sheldon Adelson has poured millions into Newt Gingrich's Super PAC?an example of what's wrong with our campaign finance system.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/PUo4S7vRCuw/Gingrich-s-big-donor-and-the-problem-with-Super-PACs

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A slim race for best original song at the Oscars (AP)

NEW YORK ? The race for the best original song Oscar is a slim one with two songs up for the honor, a first for the Academy Awards.

Sergio Mendes' "Real In Rio" from the animated adventure "Rio" will compete with Bret McKenzie's "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets," despite having songs from a bevy of all-star musicians like Elton John, Mary J. Blige, will.i.am and Pink in contention for nomination.

Charles Bernstein, the former chairman of the Academy Awards' music branch, says he "personally was surprised" that only two songs are up for the honor.

In the past, the number of nominees for best original song has ranged from three to 14. Only up to five songs are eligible for nomination.

"I personally felt that there may have been more than two that I personally would have championed," he said in an interview after the Oscars nominations were announced Tuesday. "But it is a majority vote situation."

Blige, who co-wrote a song for the Deep South drama "The Help," said in a tweet Tuesday that she was sad, and felt like the Academy "is being mean" for only nominating two songs for the award.

This year, 39 songs were eligible for nomination for best original song, including tracks from Brad Paisley, Robbie Williams, The National, Zooey Deschanel, Zac Brown, Chris Cornell and others.

Members of the music branch can rank songs using 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, 8, 7.5, 7, 6.5 or 6, and a song must have at least an average score of 8.25 to be nominated. If only one song gets that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score will be the two nominees.

Since two songs were nominated, it could mean that voters were unimpressed with this year's contenders.

"Each person is voting on a subjective impression ... so you'd have to go into the head of each individual voter to kind of know what it was that made them feel that any given song was or wasn't award-worthy," Bernstein said.

Bernstein also stressed that the songs "have to be written for the picture, and the judgment of its quality has a great deal to do with how it functions in the movie as well as how well written it is."

Bernstein, who did vote in the category, wouldn't say how many people voted this year, but did say that the rules for each Academy Award are carefully observed each year. He says the music branch will most likely take a closer look at the requirements for best original song after this year's results.

"It's very likely because there were two this year that the rules committee will probably take another look at it next year and make sure it wants to continue the same rules," he said.

Madonna's "Masterpiece," which won the Golden Globe for best original song and is from her directorial effort "W.E.," was not eligible for an Academy Award because "the song does not occur either in the body of the film, or as the first song at the end of the film," Bernstein said.

Mendes, who shares his nomination with Siedah Garrett and Carlinhos Brown, says "Rio" director Carlos Saldanha delivered the good news to him.

"I don't know much about the voting process really. I'm not an expert in that, but I'm so happy about me being nominated," Mendes said Tuesday afternoon. "I don't really know the criteria, but I can only think about celebrating."

Winners of the 84th annual Academy Awards will be announced Feb. 26 in a ceremony that will air live on ABC from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.

____

Online:

http://oscar.go.com/

____

Mesfin Fekadu covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/musicmesfin

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_mu/us_oscar_nominations_best_original_song

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Dropped heart successfully transplanted in Mexico (AP)

MEXICO CITY ? A heart that was dropped on the ground while being transported to a hospital has been successfully transplanted into a 28-year-old hair stylist.

Dr. Jaime Saldivar says Erika Hernandez doesn't yet know that her new heart made national news when a medic stumbled and the plastic-wrapped heart tumbled out of a cooler onto the street two weeks ago.

Saldivar says it will be up to the family to tell her.

A rosy-cheeked Hernandez spoke briefly with reporters on Tuesday and thanked the donor's family, saying "I have no words to express what I'm feeling right now."

Hernandez was born with a congenital heart defect. She received the heart of a man who died in a car accident.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_heart_dropped

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Temporary Appointment: Communications Specialist, Ohr ... - Devex

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Source: http://www.devex.com/en/jobs/temporary-appointment-communications-specialist-ohr-new-york-44516

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What puts Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt at odds?

LOS ANGELES?? They're arguably Hollywood's highest-profile couple, so it's only natural that Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie would privately discuss the art and business of filmmaking. According to Pitt, they don't always agree.

Speaking with Reuters at Saturday's Producers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills, Pitt said that he and Jolie, who are each busy on both sides of the camera as well as raising six children together, will talk shop at the end of a long day.

Story: Jon Voight: Hollywood should fear Jolie-Pitt kids

"Usually we argue shop every now and then," Pitt said, noting that they tend to differ in their approach. "She's much more decisive, she's much more quick. I've got to see everything. I've got to shop the entire eBay to know exactly what I want and what I need."

When he's stumped, Pitt said, "I'll always go to her and talk it out."

Story: Five biggest jaw-droppers of the Globes

Jolie, who received the guild's Stanley Kramer Award for her directorial debut, "In the Land of Blood and Honey," said Pitt's role as a producer calls for different skills. He produced and starred in "Moneyball," one of the 10 films nominated for the Producers Guild's top prize.

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"I had to direct, I think it's different. I think he'd execute properly if he was the director," Jolie said. "But I do like to think of myself as decisive, so I'll take that."

Slideshow: Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt (on this page)

Regarding her first work in the director's chair, a love story set amid the harrowing destruction of the Bosnian War, Jolie said her intention "wasn't to make a political statement against anybody. It was simply to say, 'We must talk about what happened, we must try to learn from what happened, we must try to see humanity on all sides,' and if we can, then we can start to move forward."

On the other hand, Jolie admitted that she was "fascinated" by a political matter somewhat closer to home: the Republican presidential race.

Story: Jolie: Brad found me sobbing in the shower

"There's that part of us that's wanting to learn about what's going on, and wanting to see who could possibly be the next president, and taking that very seriously, which it is. And then there's that other part of it that is this strange television ... these characters that we're watching. So you try to kind of separate that," Jolie said, adding that "it goes into the bizarre sometimes."

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/46098304/ns/today-entertainment/

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Sundance: T-Mobile Presents Google Music at Tao Day 1

T-Mobile and Google Music kicked off the first day of a four-day indie concert series to celebrate the launch of the?new Google Music Magnified program,?which will help recognize and support independent musicians via the Google?Music Artist Hub.   The Google Music Artist Hub allows?bands and solo artists to upload original music, set retail?prices and sell [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/sundance-t-mobile-presents-google-music-at-tao-day-1/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sundance-t-mobile-presents-google-music-at-tao-day-1

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Chinese fire on Tibetan protest, 1 dead: advocacy group (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? Chinese troops fired on thousands of Tibetans protesting in southwestern Sichuan province Monday, killing at least one and wounding more, two overseas advocacy groups said.

Free Tibet, a London-based group that campaigns for Tibetan self-determination, said the protesting Tibetans gathered at an intersection in Luhuo, about 590 km (370 miles) west of Sichuan's capital of Chengdu, and marched on government offices, where security forces opened fire about midday.

The Tibetans were protesting about arrests earlier in the day in connection with the distribution of pamphlets carrying the slogan "Tibet Needs Freedom" and declaring that more Tibetans were ready to stage self-immolations to challenge Chinese rule, the group said in an emailed statement.

One resident -- a 49-year-old Tibetan man called Yonten -- was shot dead by government forces and another 30 or so residents were injured, said Free Tibet.

Another advocacy group, the International Campaign for Tibet, said three people were killed and about nine injured when police fired into the crowd in Luhuo, which is called Drango or Draggo by Tibetans.

"Others were injured in the crackdown, including through beatings by police, following the dissemination of leaflets in Drango saying that Tibetans should not celebrate New Year due to the self-immolations and situation in Tibet," Kate Saunders, the London-based communications director for the International Campaign, said in an emailed statement that cited several unnamed sources.

This year the main Tibetan traditional new year celebrations begin on February 22.

"Due to fears for their safety, Tibetans who were injured are unable to seek treatment at the local government-run hospital," said the International Campaign for Tibet.

Chinese security forces have been on edge after 16 incidents of self-immolation by ethnic Tibetans over the last year in response to growing resentment of Beijing's controls on religion. Some have called for the return of the Dalai Lama, their exiled Buddhist leader.

The mountainous western part of Sichuan province where the recent unrest has been concentrated is dominated by ethnic Tibetans and lies next to the official Tibetan Autonomous Region.

The reports could not be immediately verified. A staff member of the county public security bureau said he was not aware of any incident.

"There's nothing happening. I don't know about anything," he said, before hanging up.

The two advocacy groups said Tibetans from nearby areas were continuing to converge on Luhuo Monday.

China's Foreign Ministry has branded the self-immolators "terrorists" and has said the Dalai Lama, whom it condemns as a supporter of violent separatism, should take the blame.

(Reporting by Ken Wills and Chris Buckley; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani and Robert Woodward)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_china_tibet_protest

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'Extinct' monkey rediscovered in Borneo by new expedition

Friday, January 20, 2012

An international team of scientists has found one of the rarest and least known primates in Borneo, Miller's Grizzled Langur, a species which was believed to be extinct or on the verge of extinction. The team's findings, published in the American Journal of Primatology, confirms the continued existence of this endangered monkey and reveals that it lives in an area where it was previously not known to exist.

Miller's Grizzled Langur (Presbytis hosei canicrus) is part of the small primate genus Presbytis, found across Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Thai-Malay Peninsula. In Borneo, P.h. canicrus is only found in a small corner of the county's north east and its habitat has suffered from fires, human encroachment and conversion of land for agriculture and mining.

The team's expedition took to them to Wehea Forest in East Kalimantan, Borneo, a large 38,000 ha area of mostly undisturbed rainforest. Wehea contains at least nine known species of non-human primate, including the Bornean orangutan and gibbon.

"Discovery of P.h canicrus was a surprise since Wehea Forest lies outside of this monkey's known range. Future research will focus on estimating the population density for P.h. canicrus in Wehea and the surrounding forest," said Brent Loken, from Simon Fraser University Canada. "Concern that the species may have gone extinct was first raised in 2004, and a search for the monkey during another expedition in 2008 supported the assertion that the situation was dire."

By conducting observations at mineral licks where animals congregate and setting up camera traps in several locations, the expedition confirmed that P. h canicrus continues to survive in areas west of its previously recorded geographic range. The resulting photos provide the first solid evidence demonstrating that its geographic range extends further than previously thought.

"It was a challenge to confirm our finding as there are so few pictures of this monkey available for study," said Loken. "The only description of Miller's Grizzled Langur came from museum specimens. Our photographs from Wehea are some of the only pictures that we have of this monkey."

"East Kalimantan can be a challenging place to conduct research, given the remoteness of many remaining forested areas, so it isn't surprising that so little is known about this primate," said Dr. Stephanie Spehar, Assistant Professor of Anthropology at University of Wisconsin Oshkosh. "We are very grateful to our local partners. This discovery represents the hard work, dedication, and collaboration of Western and Indonesian scientists, students, NGOs, as well as local communities and government."

"While our finding confirms the monkey still exists in East Kalimantan, there is a good chance that it remains one of the world's most endangered primates," concluded Loken. "I believe it is a race against time to protect many species in Borneo. It is difficult to adopt conservation strategies to protect species when we don't even know the extent of where they live. We need more scientists in the field working on understudied species such as Miller's Grizzled Langur, clouded leopards and sun bears."

###

Wiley-Blackwell: http://www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell

Thanks to Wiley-Blackwell for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/116909/_Extinct__monkey_rediscovered_in_Borneo_by_new_expedition

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Adult in Ohio Craigslist case charged with murder

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2011 file photo, Richard Beasley, 52, appears in Summit County Common Pleas Court in Akron, Ohio, on drug charges. Confusion over rules governing prisoner transfers and lack of communication helps explain why Beasley, now suspected in a deadly Craigslist robbery scheme, was mistakenly released from Ohio custody twice, according to a state prisons report. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

FILE - In this Dec. 1, 2011 file photo, Richard Beasley, 52, appears in Summit County Common Pleas Court in Akron, Ohio, on drug charges. Confusion over rules governing prisoner transfers and lack of communication helps explain why Beasley, now suspected in a deadly Craigslist robbery scheme, was mistakenly released from Ohio custody twice, according to a state prisons report. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak, File)

Summit County Prosecuting Attorney Sherri Bevan Walsh and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine take media questions after Walsh announced a 28-count indictment against 52-year-old Richard James Beasley of Akron during a news conference at the Oliver Ocasek Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 in Akron, Ohio. Exhibits at the left show the victims and explains the indictments. Beasley is accused of a scheme to rob people who replied to a job ad on Craigslist has been charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and robbery in the killing of three men and could face the death penalty if convicted. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Paul Tople) MANDATORY CREDIT

Summit County Prosecuting Attorney Sherri Bevan Walsh announces a 28-count indictment against 52-year-old Richard James Beasley of Akron during a news conference at the Oliver Ocasek Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 in Akron, Ohio. Exhibits at the left show the victims and explains the indictments. Beasley is accused of a scheme to rob people who replied to a job ad on Craigslist has been charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and robbery in the killing of three men and could face the death penalty if convicted. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Paul Tople) MANDATORY CREDIT

Summit County Prosecuting Attorney Sherri Bevan Walsh announces a 28-count indictment against 52-year-old Richard James Beasley of Akron during a news conference at the Oliver Ocasek Auditorium on Friday, Jan. 20, 2012 in Akron, Ohio. Exhibits at the left show the victims and explains the indictments. Beasley is accused of a scheme to rob people who replied to a job ad on Craigslist has been charged with aggravated murder, kidnapping and robbery in the killing of three men and could face the death penalty if convicted. (AP Photo/Akron Beacon Journal, Paul Tople) MANDATORY CREDIT

AKRON, Ohio (AP) ? A self-styled chaplain suspected in a deadly scheme to rob people who replied to a Craigslist job ad has been charged with multiple counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping and robbery and could face the death penalty if convicted, according to an indictment announced Friday.

The charges against Richard Beasley accuse him of killing three men and wounding a fourth in August, October and November.

Beasley, 52, of Akron, who has been jailed in Akron on unrelated prostitution and drug charges, has denied involvement in the Craigslist slayings. He was arrested in November after authorities linked him to the alleged plot.

Prosecutors would not speculate on a motive but Attorney General Mike DeWine, who joined in announcing the charges, said investigators are looking at "serial killings."

"Are there more bodies? We frankly do not know," DeWine said, appealing to people with any information about missing persons to come forward.

Also Friday, a judge determined that the case of a juvenile suspect mentored by Beasley will be moved out of the county where two slaying victims were found and another was shot but survived.

The decision to transfer the case of Brogan Rafferty to Summit County came after a hearing Friday afternoon, said Tonda Brown, Noble County Court Assignment Commissioner. She said the gag order in the case has also been lifted.

Messages were left with the Noble County prosecutor and Rafferty's attorney in Noble County. The Summit County Prosecutor's Office could not immediately comment, said spokeswoman April Wiesner.

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh said the case of Beasley, with the nature of the crimes and the multitude of charges, was made for the death penalty.

"This case we view as to be one of the worst of the worst when it comes to horrible murder cases," Walsh said.

The 28-count indictment against Beasley also included theft, weapons and identity theft charges. Beasley received the indictment Friday, and a decision will be made next week about his representation, said Rhonda Kotnik, an attorney who has been representing Beasley on the non-Craigslist charges.

An acquaintance of Beasley, 16-year-old Brogan Rafferty, of nearby of Stow, could face similar charges after being transferred to adult court late last year. His case is pending in Noble County where two of the slayings happened.

Authorities say the scheme targeted older and single out-of-work men with backgrounds that made it unlikely their disappearances would be noted right away.

The first victim, Ralph Geiger, 55, of Akron, was killed Aug. 9, the day after he left a homeless shelter saying he was taking a farm job. His body wasn't found until Nov. 25.

Geiger's brother, Mark Geiger, said Friday he's happy with the way prosecutors are handling the case. He said he's long wondered about other victims. He said he's not a death penalty advocate but wouldn't oppose it, although life in prison for Beasley would also satisfy him.

"As long as Beasley never has the opportunity to interact with the outside world again, that's what I feel would be appropriate," said Geiger, a telecommunications executive in Atlanta.

The plot's second victim, David Pauley, 51, of Norfolk, Va., came to Ohio in mid-October after answering the Craigslist ad. A friend has said Pauley was desperate for work and eager to return to Ohio.

Police say he was killed Oct. 23, and his body was found Nov. 15. Family members had contacted police concerned they hadn't heard from him.

The third victim, Timothy Kern, 47, of Massillon, whose body was buried near an Akron shopping mall, answered the ad and was last seen Nov. 13, authorities said. His body was also found Nov. 25. Kern told his family he was taking the job to help support his three sons.

A surviving victim, Scott Davis, 48, of South Carolina, also answered the ad and was shot Nov. 6 before escaping, police say.

Beasley was a Texas parolee when he returned to Ohio in 2004 after serving several years in prison on a burglary conviction. He was released from an Akron jail July 12 after a judge mistakenly allowed him to post bond on a drug-trafficking charge.

He was arrested two days later following a traffic stop but again mistakenly released. An investigation by Ohio's prisons system found that Beasley should not have been released on bond but said confusion over interstate prisoner-transfer rules and "ambiguity" in messages from Texas to Akron jail officials contributed to the error.

In a four-page handwritten letter to the Akron Beacon Journal, Beasley has said he has been miscast as a con man when he really helped feed, house and counsel scores of needy families, alcoholics, drug addicts, the mentally ill and crime suspects for years.

"To call me a con man when I sacrificed for others is wrong," wrote Beasley, who didn't mention the Craigslist investigation or Rafferty. "To turn their back on me is not following Christ's example. I gave three full years of my life to that ministry and what I got out of it was the satisfaction of doing the right thing. There was no 'con' to it."

__

Andrew Welsh-Huggins, who contributed to this report from Columbus, can be reached at http://twitter.com/awhcolumbus.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-20-Craigslist-Jobseekers%20Killed-Charges/id-a3ac977f90d642bcaa03f351569a5c18

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DirecTV dispute with Sunbeam has viewers in dark (AP)

MIAMI ? DirecTV Inc. and the owner of TV stations in Miami and Boston are in a standoff over fees the satellite provider pays to run broadcast programming, leaving tens of thousands of viewers unable to see shows ranging from "American Idol" to the NFL playoffs.

It's the latest in a string of disputes across the country between cable and satellite companies and local stations over what are known as retransmission fees, which have risen sharply in recent years. One industry group said there were about 40 similar blackouts nationally in 2011 and more continuing this year.

"The networks are saying, `affiliates, you should be getting value from the cable and satellite providers, and if you're not, that's your fault," Bill Carroll, vice president at Katz Media in New York, said Thursday.

In Miami, DirecTV viewers were unable to watch Fox's premiere of "American Idol" on Wednesday and last weekend's NFC playoff games because of the dispute between DirecTV and Sunbeam Television Corp. Sunbeam owns the Miami Fox affiliate and two stations in Boston, one of them the NBC affiliate that this year would carry the Super Bowl ? possibly featuring the hometown New England Patriots.

"Usually the best time to have this drama is when there is a big event associated with it that could cost viewership," said Shari Anne Brill, a New York media consultant. "What better time to mess with it, when there's programming at stake and viewers get caught in the middle?"

Sunbeam decided Thursday to give DirecTV's customers in Miami a break, announcing it will allow the satellite system to air Sunday's NFC championship game between the New York Giants and San Francisco 49ers, as well as top-rated "American Idol" later that night and local news. Sunbeam's station in Miami is WSVN.

"WSVN-TV is still negotiating with DirecTV, but we care about our viewers, and we want them to be able to watch this game, which will determine who goes to the Super Bowl," said Robert Leider, WSVN's executive vice president and general manager.

DirecTV spokesman Robert Mercer said it was the right move.

"We're pleased that they're doing the right thing for our customers and NFL fans and are looking forward to getting a deal done quickly," he said.

The blackout has forced DirecTV subscribers to scramble to see their favorite shows and sports. Shari Rondon, co-owner of J.P. Mulligans Restaurant and Pub in Pembroke Pines, resorted to old-fashioned rabbit ear antennas to allow patrons to see football games last weekend. She could only use about four televisions, far fewer than normal, for the games.

"Everybody had to be huddled up. It's inconvenient for customers, and it's inconvenient for our staff," she said.

DirecTV is accusing Sunbeam of greed, contending that it is seeking a 300 percent increase in the retransmission fee compared with the last contract. Sunbeam executives counter that they only want to update the fee to established market prices. The two sides have been negotiating off and on, but no breakthrough appeared imminent Thursday.

Leider called the 300 percent figure misleading, noting that DirecTV for years paid no fee.

The fees paid by cable and satellite providers to broadcast stations have risen from about $215 million in 2006 to an estimated $1.4 billion in 2011, according to a study by the SNL Kagan media research company. One reason, experts say, is that newer contracts between the broadcast networks and local affiliates give the networks a larger share of the fees.

"The networks have become more aggressive with their affiliates, and the stations have had to become more diligent in pursuing the fees," Carroll said.

Cable and satellite providers are pushing back. They contend that outdated Federal Communications Commission rules enable local affiliates to hold them hostage, and some members of Congress have introduced bills that would end a rule requiring the providers to carry only local broadcast signals.

"They have found there's a gold mine," said Mike Heimowitz at the American Television Alliance, which represents many satellite and cable companies. "They are using the rules to extract more and more money."

Brill, the media consultant, said she expects the DirecTV-Sunbeam dispute to be settled, possibly just in time for a playoff game or the Super Bowl. That's what happened in a 2010 fee fight between New York's Cablevision Systems Corp. and ABC, which ended just as the annual Academy Awards telecast got under way.

"They usually cave in at the last minute," Brill said. "Consumers will wind up paying extra. That's the moral of the story."

___

Follow Curt Anderson on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Miamicurt

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_en_ot/us_directv_dispute

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Microsoft 2Q beats Street despite soft PC market (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Microsoft Corp. battled through a weak PC market to post flat earnings in the final quarter of 2011, boosting sales of servers, Xbox games and its Office productivity software while trimming losses at its Bing search engine.

The quarter wasn't as bad as some industry analysts feared, given that flooding in Thailand constricted the supply of hard disk drives used in personal computers. Microsoft also witnessed a wave of consumers buying Apple Inc.'s popular iPad, which cut into sales of miniature laptop PCs known as netbooks.

Still, Microsoft's earnings modestly topped expectations. That was largely thanks to strong business demand for software and services, and an upbeat holiday season for the Xbox game console and the accompanying Kinect motion controller.

Its shares rose 70 cents, or 2.5 percent, to $28.82 in after-hours trading Thursday.

Net income in the company's second quarter through December came to $6.62 billion, down slightly from the $6.63 billion a year ago. Earnings per share came to 78 cents, up a penny from a year ago, as the outstanding share count fell.

Revenue rose 5 percent to $20.89 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting slightly weaker earnings of 76 cents per share. Sales were below the $20.92 billion expected.

"People were afraid it was going to be much, much worse," said Colin Gillis, an analyst with BGC.

Gillis said cost controls and a second-consecutive quarter of reduced losses at Bing helped results. Continuing growth in its Office software division was also encouraging, he said.

The company said PC sales were down an estimated 2 percent to 4 percent from a year earlier. Netbook sales made up just 2 percent of the overall PC market, down from 8 percent a year ago as the iPad decimated the lightweight portable computer category.

Microsoft, based in Redmond, Wash., is now looking ahead to the release of Windows 8, an operating system that should work similarly over PCs and tablet computers.

It is also pinning hopes on a new category of PCs called Ultrabooks, which mimic Apple's MacBook Air in form, but which may also utilize a touch screen that would work on the upcoming Windows. A beta version of Windows 8 is due out late next month.

"We're on track, we feel really good about where we are on the product, and the next super important milestone is the beta release," said Bill Koefoed, Microsoft's general manager of investor relations.

Although analysts expect another weak quarter for PCs, sales are seen strengthening as the year goes on.

The big question is whether Microsoft can deliver results on a whole range of new products from its Windows Phone smartphone operating system to Windows 8 and its Office 365 suite of cloud-based productivity applications.

"It's a year of the product cycle" for Microsoft, said Josh Olson, a technology analyst for Edward Jones. "How well they bring those product offerings to market will say a lot about the Microsoft story this year."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_microsoft

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Why Russia is planning Iran war games

Russia has reportedly ordered the military to plan war games to deal with potential spillover from a US-Iran conflict.

As tensions ratchet up in the Persian Gulf, the Kremlin is signaling that it will use all its diplomatic influence to oppose war and, according to a leading Moscow newspaper, has ordered the military to prepare for any possible spillover from a conflict between Iran and the US into the sensitive post-Soviet Caucasus region.

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Russia will block any further sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council, a Foreign Ministry official said Tuesday, because it believes rising tensions could trigger a conflict that would destabilize the wider region. Last week Russian deputy prime minister and former ambassador to NATO Dmitry Rogozin warned that any Western attack on Iran would constitute "a direct threat to [Russian] national security."

The independent Moscow daily Nezavisimaya Gazeta reported Monday that this year's annual military exercises in Russia's south, Kavkaz 2012, will be much larger than usual and organized around the premise of a war that begins with an attack on Iran but spreads to neighboring Armenia and Azerbaijan, and draws Russia into a regional maelstrom. The newspaper said the war games, which are usually confined to Russian territory, might this year include maneuvers in the breakaway Georgian statelets of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and perhaps also in Russian-allied Armenia.

"We believe that sanctions relative to Iran have lost their usefulness," Gennady Gatilov, Russia's deputy foreign minister, told a Moscow press conference Tuesday.? "We will oppose any new resolution [on UN sanctions against Iran]....

"Russia would consider any use of force against the territory of Iran unacceptable. That would make the situation even more critical....? Unfortunately, many [Western] government leaders are not restraining themselves and are speaking openly about a military strike against Iran," Mr. Gatilov added.

A harsh sanctions regime, signed into law by President Obama two weeks ago, would target Iran's ability to earn cash through oil exports by penalizing Western companies who clear payments through Iran's central bank. The European Union could enact its own sanctions against Iranian oil exports as early as next week.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/YMSGrpicb68/Why-Russia-is-planning-Iran-war-games

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