Diabetes drugs tied to pancreatic cancer risk (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? A new study links the diabetes drug metformin to fewer cases of pancreatic cancer -- at least in women -- but finds other diabetes medications are associated with a higher risk of the disease.

The differences in medication history among people who did or didn't get pancreatic cancer were small, researchers said, and it's unclear why the drugs might affect cancer risks in men and women differently.

Still, the new finding is in line with previous research suggesting that metformin may decrease the risk of multiple cancers, said Dr. Peter Butler, a diabetes researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine, who wasn't involved in the new study.

"One theme that seems to be coming through... is that the oldest drug we have for diabetes, metformin, is undoubtedly the best drug we have for diabetes," he told Reuters Health.

Pancreatic cancer is relatively rare as far as cancers go, but progresses quickly; most people don't survive more than a couple years after diagnosis. The National Cancer Institute estimates that about 44,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States this year, and close to 38,000 will die from the disease.

Research has suggested that people with pancreatic cancer may have an increased risk of diabetes, but it's unclear how diabetes -- and the drugs used to treat it -- may affect pancreatic cancer risks in previously cancer-free people.

To help answer that question, Dr. Christoph Meier of the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland and his colleagues consulted a database of more than eight million people in the UK, including about 2,800 who were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer between 1995 and 2009.

For each of those people, they found another six of the same age and gender that didn't have pancreatic cancer to serve as a comparison group.

Using records from primary care doctors, the researchers determined how many people in the pancreatic cancer and cancer-free groups had previously been diagnosed with diabetes and were on an anti-diabetes drug, such as metformin or sulfonylureas, which include glimepiride and glyburide.

Those drugs cause the body to make or absorb less glucose (metformin) or to produce more insulin (sulfonylureas) to keep blood sugar levels in check.

One in nine people with pancreatic cancer had a prior diagnosis of diabetes, compared to about one in twelve in the cancer-free comparison group, according to findings published Tuesday in the American Journal of Gastroenterology.

According to their medical records, two percent of people with pancreatic cancer had been taking metformin long-term before they were diagnosed, compared to 1.6 percent of the group without cancer -- a difference that could have been due to chance.

But when the researchers separated the records by gender, they found that significantly fewer women with a new diagnosis of pancreatic cancer had been taking metformin for at least a few years, compared to cancer-free women.

That was after the researchers had already taken into account whether women were overweight or obese and if they smoked or drank alcohol.

The association in one gender but not the other was "somewhat unexpected," according to Meier's team, and there's no clear biology-based way to explain why metformin might help protect women against pancreatic cancer, but not men.

The findings were reversed for insulin and sulfonylureas in the study population. Significantly more people with pancreatic cancer had a history of long-term use of those drugs than cancer-free people.

Craig Currie, who has studied diabetes drugs and cancer at the Cardiff University School of Medicine in the UK, said it makes sense that insulin and sulfonylureas would increase the risk of pancreatic cancer. Insulin promotes cancer growth, he said, and also acts directly on the pancreas.

The study's investigators "raise doubts about these treatments," he told Reuters Health in an email.

"There is a possibility that exogenous insulin (insulin that's not made naturally by the body) is of questionable safety in people with type 2 diabetes," added Currie, who didn't participate in the new research.

Still, absolute differences in medication use were small even in people with cancer: less than one percent of those with or without pancreatic cancer had taken insulin long-term. Sulfonylurea users accounted for just over three percent of people with a new pancreatic cancer diagnosis and two percent without cancer.

Butler said it's hard to tease out what cancer risks may be due to the drugs, and what could be a result of poor diet and lack of exercise, for example, in people with diabetes. He said that more research will be needed to tease out those specific effects.

"Honestly for patients at this point, I think this is another piece of the jigsaw puzzle," Butler said.

"This paper in itself would not cause me to recommend a change in treatment for people."

That said, Butler concluded that evidence suggests most people with type 2 diabetes who don't have any medical reasons not to take metformin should be on the drug, either alone or in combination with other anti-diabetes medications.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/kkA6Tc American Journal of Gastroenterology, online January 31, 2012.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/hl_nm/us_diabetes_drugs_tied_pancreatic_cancer_risk

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Video: Prince William?s trip to Falklands divisive

Argentina says Prince Williams deployment to the Falklands is provocative. Britain says his deployment is routine for a search and rescue pilot. The timing Williams?s deployment is sensitive because it is has been thirty years since British forces liberated the Falkland Islands from Argentina. ITN?s Bill Neely reports.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46193594/

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Ryman Auditorium getting new stage after 61 years (AP)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. ? It's time for a new stage at Ryman Auditorium, a significant moment in the history of a building known for its significant moments.

Scuffed by the heels of "The King," "The Queen of Soul" and thousands of singers in cowboy boots, scarred by an uncountable stream of road cases and worn by six decades of music history, the Ryman's oak floorboards have reached the end of a very long, very successful run.

"That stage has had a wonderful life," said Steve Buchanan, senior vice president of media and entertainment for Gaylord Entertainment, owners of the Ryman.

The current stage is just the second in the 120-year history of the "Mother Church" after the original was installed in 1901 for a performance of the Metropolitan Opera. It was laid down in 1951 and has lasted far longer than expected. The stage was refinished during a renovation in 1993-94 and even then officials knew it would be the last resurfacing. Today it's heavily scuffed and scarred, its age easily visible from the Ryman's balcony.

The Ryman is still the building most associated with The Grand Ole Opry, though it moved to the Opry House in 1974, and has hosted a number of significant moments in American culture.

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash stood together on those boards and changed music. Cultures clashed there too when the boo birds took on country rockers The Byrds. Today the Ryman is a much sought-after destination point for musicians of all genres and many shows take on a unique aura.

Dylan recently returned, more than 40 years after "Nashville Skyline." Taylor Swift sang there recently with her good friends, The Civil Wars. Even the heaviest of rockers get a little nostalgic, like Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, who said it was an honor to get drunk while performing in the building last year.

Keith Urban, making his return from vocal surgery, will be among the last performers on the stage when the Opry plays its final winter date Friday at The Ryman. Dierks Bentley will play the last standalone concert Thursday.

As a young, aspiring performer in Nashville more than a decade ago, Bentley would run his fingers along the building's brickwork late at night as he walked home from performing on Lower Broadway, daydreaming of playing on that stage. He calls it "one of the most precious places in Nashville and in country music to me."

"The significance of that stage and who played there before me will definitely be in the back of my head all night," Bentley said in an email. "As a member of the Grand Ole Opry, I couldn't be any prouder."

That a busy venue needs a new stage is not necessarily news. The stage at the Opry's permanent home, for instance, has been changed multiple times over the years with little comment. But when the Ryman stage is replaced, officials in some sense are altering an icon that is closely watched by sometimes vocal guardians of its cultural significance.

Officials are prepared for questions. They point out the building has gone through many upgrades over the years and that each step was vital to preserving the building. Most recently the roof was replaced in 2009.

"We're not in the business of getting rid of old things just to get rid of them," Ryman general manager Sally Williams said.

They will retain an 18-inch lip of the blonde oak at the front of the stage, similar to the way the Ryman stage was commemorated in a circle of wood at the new Opry House. The rest of the stage will be stored and replaced with a medium brown Brazilian teak that will be far more durable and camera friendly.

Beneath the stage, the original hickory support beams will be kept and reinforced with concrete foundations, crossbeams and joist work that will help triple the stage's load capacity.

Work will begin Feb. 4 and continue seven days a week until Feb. 20, when rising country stars The Band Perry will make its Ryman debut with a sold-out show. Tours will continue throughout the work, allowing members of the public to watch.

Williams says she's gotten no negative feedback as word has spread because everyone understands the importance of the project.

"I think it will be interesting because I think it's obvious we're doing something ensuring that people will be coming here and having those Ryman moments in 120 years," she said.

___

Online:

http://www.ryman.com

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

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Quotes from the Screen Actors Guild Awards (AP)

Quotes from the 18th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards.

___

"There's no need to be delicate. I grew up in the Bible Belt. I realized that even though I had never really experienced bigotry, to be silent is to be passive." ? Best supporting actress winner Octavia Spencer speaking to reporters after accepting her award for "The Help."

___

"This nomination belongs to four of us. Please, please know that I'm dealing them right in with this. I'm not going to let them keep this, but I'll let them see it." ? Betty White, saying during her acceptance speech that her three "Hot in Cleveland" co-stars should share in her best actress in a comedy series award.

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"I am still playing `Words With Friends,' but on Virgin Atlantic." ? Alec Baldwin, making light backstage of his being kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to shut off his cellphone while he was playing the game before takeoff.

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"I'm still scared to speak out. I want us to come back very badly next year for another season. When you do speak out, it does cost you." Baldwin, speaking to reporters after winning the best comedy actor award for his role on "30 Rock."

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"I was a very bad student. I didn't listen in class. I was always dreaming. My teachers called me "Jean of the Moon" and I realize now that I never stopped dreaming. Thank you very much. Thank you for this dream." ? Best actor winner Jean Dujardin, accepting his award for his role in "The Artist."

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"Not only did this cast do it, but several of the other movies did the same thing. I am hoping that the industry begins to recognize us as the artists that we are rather than the females that we are." ? "The Help" actress Cicely Tyson on her hope that Hollywood executives realize female-driven films can be successful.

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"A few more people checked my name in the box for whatever reason. This time I kind of fooled them." ? Best actress winner Viola Davis speaking to reporters after her win for "The Help."

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"I just can't tell you what fun I've had being a member of the world's second oldest profession." ? Christopher Plummer, accepting his award for best supporting actor for his role in "Beginners."

___

"Actors are gregarious and wacky, are they not, and I love them dearly. But when they honor you, it's like being lit by the Holy Grail. Thank you, thank you, thank you." Plummer.

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"If more women ate, they'd be a lot happier. I'm real grumpy when I don't eat." ? Spencer, speaking with reporters after winning best supporting actress for her role in "The Help."

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"Thank you to the unions for making sure we're properly fed, have all (our) shots, cleaned and are put in our pens each night by sundown." ? Nolan Gould, accepting the best comedy television ensemble award with his "Modern Family" co-stars, many of whom are child actors.

___

Associated Press Writers Anthony McCartney and Beth Harris contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_en_mo/us_sag_awards_quotes

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Syrian troops push back in fight on Damascus edges (AP)

BEIRUT ? Syrian forces pushed dissident troops back from the edge of Damascus in heavy fighting Monday, escalating efforts to take back control of the capital's eastern doorstep ahead of key U.N. talks over a draft resolution demanding that President Bashar Assad step aside.

Gunfire and the boom of shelling rang out in several suburbs on Damascus' outskirts that have come under the domination of anti-regime fighters. Gunmen ? apparently army defectors ? were shown firing back in amateur videos posted online by activists. In one video, a government tank on the snow-dusted mountain plateau towering over the capital fired at one of the suburbs below.

As the bloodshed increased, with activists reporting more than 40 civilians killed Monday, Western and Arab countries stepped up pressure on Assad's ally Russia to overcome its opposition to the resolution.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the British and French foreign ministers were heading to New York to push for backing of the measure during talks Tuesday at the United Nations.

"The status quo is unsustainable," Clinton said, saying the Assad regime was preventing a peaceful transition and warning that the resulting instability could "spill over throughout the region."

The draft resolution demands that Assad halt the crackdown and implement an Arab peace plan that calls for him to hand over power to his vice president and allow creation of a unity government to pave the way for elections.

If Assad fails to comply within 15 days, the council would consider "further measures," a reference to a possible move to impose economic or other sanctions.

Moscow, which in October vetoed the first council attempt to condemn Syria's crackdown, has shown little sign of budging in its opposition. It warns that the new measure could open the door to eventual military intervention, the way an Arab-backed U.N. resolution led to NATO airstrikes in Libya.

A French official said the draft U.N. resolution has a "comfortable majority" of support from 10 of the Security Council's 15 members, meaning Russia or China would have to use its veto power to stop it. The official said Russia had agreed to negotiate on the draft, but it was not yet clear if it would be willing to back it if changes were made.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with department rules.

The Kremlin said Monday it was trying to put together negotiations in Moscow between Damascus and the opposition. It said Assad's government has agreed to participate; the opposition has in the past rejected any negotiations unless violence stops.

Western countries cited the past week's escalation in fighting to pressure Moscow.

"Russia can no longer explain blocking the U.N. and providing cover for the regime's brutal repression," a spokeswoman for British Prime Minister David Cameron said, on customary condition of anonymity in line with policy.

The United Nations estimated several weeks ago that more than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria's crackdown on the uprising against Assad's rule, which began in March. It has been unable to update the figure, and more than 200 people have been killed in the past five days alone, according to activists' reports.

Pro-Assad forces have fought for three days to take back a string of suburbs on the eastern approach to Damascus, mostly poorer, Sunni-majority communities. In past weeks, army defectors ? masked men in military attire wielding assault rifles ? set up checkpoints in the communities, defending protesters and virtually seizing control.

Late Sunday, government troops retook two of the districts closest to Damascus, Ein Tarma and Kfar Batna, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based head of the Syrian Human Rights Observatory, which tracks violence through contacts on the ground.

On Monday, the regime forces were trying to retake the next suburbs out, pounding neighborhoods with shelling and heavy machine guns in the districts of Saqba, Arbeen and Hamouriya, he said.

At least five civilians were killed in the fighting near Damascus, according to the Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees.

Regime forces also heavily shelled buildings and battled dissidents in the central city of Homs, one of the main hot spots of the uprising, activists said.

The Observatory reported 28 killed in the city Monday. The Local Coordination Committees put the number at 27.

The reports could not be independently confirmed. Syrian authorities keep tight control on the media and have banned many foreign journalists from entering the country.

The Syrian Interior Ministry, in charge of security forces, said Monday that its three-day operation in the suburbs aimed to track down "terrorist groups" that have "committed atrocities" and vowed to continue until they were wiped out. Damascus had remained relatively quiet while most other Syrian cities have slipped into chaos since the uprising began.

Regime forces, backed by tanks and armored vehicles, heavily outgun and outnumber the defectors, organized into a force known as the Free Syrian Army. However, the military can't cover everywhere at once, and when it puts down the dissidents in one location, they arise in another. The dissidents' true numbers are unknown.

The result has been a dramatic militarization of a crisis that began with peaceful protests demanding the ouster of the Assad family and its regime. The army defectors began by protecting protesters, but over the weeks they have gone more on the offensive.

The dissidents have seemed increasingly confident in hit-and-run attacks.

On Monday, they freed five imprisoned comrades in an assault on a military base in the northeastern province of Idlib, the Observatory and Local Coordination Committees reported. Other defectors attacked a large military checkpoint outside Hama, destroying several transport trucks and claiming to kill a number of troops, the two groups said.

Six government soldiers were killed in an ambush on their vehicles in the southern region of Daraa, the state news agency SANA reported. The Observatory reported two other soldiers and 10 defectors killed in fighting elsewhere.

Attackers also blew up a gas pipeline near the border with Lebanon, SANA reported, the latest in numerous attacks on Syria's oil and gas infrastructure.

Because of the upsurge in violence, the Arab League halted a month-old observer mission, which had already come under heavy criticism for failing to stop the crackdown. The League turned to the U.N. Security Council to throw its weight behind its peace plan, which Damascus has rejected.

The move resembles the turn of events before last year's NATO air campaign in Libya, when Western countries waited for Arab League support before winning U.N. cover for intervention.

But so far, there has been little appetite for a similar campaign in Syria. There is no clear-cut geographical divide between the regime and its opponents as there was in Libya, and the opposition is even more divided and unknown than it was in the North African nation. Syria is intertwined in alliances with Iran, Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups, and borders Israel ? making the fallout from military action more unpredictable.

___

AP correspondents Bradley Klapper in Washington and Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Yosemite plan means fewer hikers on Half Dome (AP)

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. ? There was a time not long ago when a climb to the top of Yosemite National Park's Half Dome was a solitary trek attempted by only the most daring adventurers.

Over the past decade, however, the route has been inundated with up to 1,200 nature lovers a day seeking to experience the iconic mountain that is stamped on the California quarter, stitched on a line of outdoor clothing and painted on the side of the park's vehicles.

Now officials want to permanently limit access to the granite monolith, frustrating both hikers who journey there for a transcendent experience and advocates who say the plan doesn't go far enough to protect a place in a federally designated wilderness area.

"At the end of the day, if the visitors and users of wilderness aren't willing to make sacrifices to preserve the wilderness character of these areas, then we just won't have wilderness. We'll have some Disney-fied version of it," said George Nickas, executive director of Wilderness Watch.

"If people want solitude in Yosemite, there's another 12,000 square miles to do that," counters hiker Pat Townsley, a Bay Area resident who has been to the top nine times.

This past week the park released its environmental assessment of options for the future of the Half Dome trail, which studies show is the busiest by far of any in the National Park's designated wilderness areas. The aim is to improve safety on the Dome and make the trail to get there less crowded.

Options range from doing nothing to removing the cables that hikers use to pull themselves up the 45-degree final climb, rendering it inaccessible to all but experienced climbers.

Nickas calls them "handrails in the wilderness," and says his agency might sue to have them removed if park officials don't choose that option.

"There is often an attempt by agencies to make wilderness all things to all people, and they can't do that and still be wilderness," he said.

The park's recommendation is something in between a complete ban and the free-flowing days of the past when hikers packed together on the cables like cars in rush hour traffic. It would allow 300 people a day past a check point two miles distant beginning in 2013.

"There's some subjectivity to this decision," said park spokesman Scott Gediman. "But we considered how wilderness is managed and personal interviews with people about their experience on the trail. Finding balance is something we have to do."

In 1874 the slick dome that rises 5,000 feet above the valley floor was described as "perfectly inaccessible." But in 1919 the Sierra Club installed the first cables along the 400-foot final ascent so that visitors without rock climbing experience could hoist themselves to the summit _the size of 17 football fields_ to drink in stunning views of Little Yosemite Valley, El Capitan, endless Sierra and the Valley floor.

"Once you get up there it's like `holy cow.' It's just one of those moments in your life when you go `wow' and you question your existence and space and time and everything else," said hiker Townsley, who thinks everyone should be allowed the experience.

There is no doubt that if the decision were made today, there would be no braided steel cables and stanchions drilled into Half Dome. Congress passed the Wilderness Act in 1964, and 20 years later designated 95 percent of Yosemite, including Half Dome and the well-worn eight-mile trail leading to it, as land that should not be altered by the hand of man.

Over the decades the number of visitors to the park has steadily climbed, topping 4 million last year_ in part because the park is an easy drive from Los Angeles and the Bay Area. And the idea of scaling Half Dome in a day as measure of personal fortitude also began to grow.

At least five people have died on the cables since 2006, nearly all with rain as a factor, officials say. Rangers want visitors to be able to descend the slick granite in 45 minutes if they have to escape the fast-forming storms that make footing precarious, and limiting numbers is the only way to do that, they say.

Last year park officials instituted a temporary 400-permit lottery for daily access, which is roughly from Memorial Day until the first snow in October.

"I think they're doing a fine job, but I think they've got a hairball that they're dealing with trying to come up with something that works," said Rick Deutsch, who wrote the book "One Best Hike: Yosemite's Half Dome." He says 400 permits is a more workable number that accounts for no-shows.

The increase in visitors is a challenge to park officials who must balance access with the system's mandate to protect resources for future generations. The park already has been struggling over whether to limit the number of cars allowed in the gates to protect the Merced River that cuts through the heart of Yosemite Valley and is federally protected as Wild and Scenic.

The chance for the public to weigh in on all of the options in the Half Dome Trail Stewardship Plan ends March 15.

"Climbing Half Dome is iconic and we understand that," spokesman Gediman said. "But at the same time we're having to preserve and protect the park for future generations and provide for a positive visitor experience, because the National Parks belong to the American people."

-------

Follow Tracie Cone on Twitter: (at)TConeAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_us/us_yosemite_half_dome_crowds

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Myanmar's Suu Kyi makes political tour in south

DAWEI, Myanmar (AP) ? Thousands of supporters in Myanmar's countryside cheered opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Sunday as she made a political tour ahead of by-elections, highlighting how quickly and dramatically politics is changing in the long-repressed Southeast Asian nation.

Throngs of people lined the roads of several towns in the southern district of Dawei shouting, "Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi!" ''Daw" is a title of respect in Myanmar.

Many waved bouquets of flowers, and some hoisted babies on their shoulders to glimpse the Nobel Peace Prize laureate and former political prisoner on her first political trip since announcing a bid for parliament.

"We will bring democracy to the country," Suu Kyi told an exuberant crowd of thousands. "We will work for development. We will bring rule of law to the country, and we will see to it that repressive laws are repealed."

"We can overcome any obstacle with unity and perseverance," she said from the second-story balcony of a provincial office for her National League for Democracy party.

Suu Kyi, 66, has devoted much of her life to a struggle against authoritarian rule, but spent 15 of the past 23 years under house arrest and has never held elected office. If she wins, she is likely to have limited power in the legislature, which remains dominated by the military and the ruling party, but victory would be highly symbolic and give her a voice in government for the first time.

The one-day trip to Dawei follows a series of unprecedented reforms enacted by the nominally civilian government that took over when a military junta ceded power last year. The government has released hundreds of political prisoners, reached cease-fire deals with ethnic rebels, increased media freedoms and eased censorship laws.

The April 1 by-election is being held to fill 48 seats in the lower house of parliament that were vacated after lawmakers were appointed to the Cabinet and other posts.

Suu Kyi's party boycotted the last vote in 2010, but registered earlier this month for the by-election after authorities amended electoral laws, enabling her party to legally participate.

The Election Commission must still accept Suu Kyi's candidacy. A ruling is expected in February.

Suu Kyi is hoping to run as a representative of the constituency of Kawhmu, a poor district just south of Yangon where villagers' livelihoods were devastated by Cyclone Nargis in 2008.

The vote is being closely watched because it is seen as a crucial test of the government's commitment to change.

Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her nonviolent struggle for democracy, has rarely traveled outside Yangon, the country's main city, over the last two decades.

Although she conducted one successful day of rallies in two small towns north of Yangon last August, a previous political tour to greet supporters in 2003 sparked a bloody ambush of her convoy that saw her forcibly confined at her lakeside home.

Suu Kyi was finally released from house arrest in late 2010, just days after the country's military rulers held elections widely viewed as neither free nor fair.

In Dawei, a coastal district south of Yangon, Suu Kyi was garnering support for another candidate running for a parliament seat, party spokesman Nyan Win said.

She will make similar campaign trips to other areas, including the country's second-largest city, Mandalay, in early February before campaigning for her own seat, Nyan Win said.

Dawei is home to activists who recently helped persuade the government to ditch construction of a 4,000-megawatt coal-fired power plant over environmental concerns.

A 400-megawatt coal plant is still planned, however, because it will be needed to power a massive industrial complex project that includes construction of a deep sea port, a steel mill and a petrochemical plant. The project also includes railroads and highways that will connect Myanmar's coast directly to Thailand and the rest of Southeast Asia.

Banners with Suu Kyi's pictures decorated the area.

"People had been afraid to discuss politics for so long," said Aung Zaw Hein, an environmental activist whose Dawei Development Association helped stop the huge power plant. "Now that she's visiting the political spirit of people has been awakened."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/apdefault/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-29-AS-Myanmar-Suu-Kyi/id-3980bac93acf4944ad04ea12675d2640

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Awards Tour 2012: Directors Guild of America Winners

DGA President Taylor Hackford announced the winner for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for 2011.

"The directors nominated this year for the Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film Award have each demonstrated an inspired command of the medium. The fact that their prodigious talents have been recognized by their peers is the highest honor a director can achieve," said Hackford. "I offer my most sincere congratulations to each of the nominees."

---

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

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Feature Documentary

James Marsh, Project Nim

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924274/news/1924274/

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Fourth-quarter GDP figures good, not great

The growth rate was 2.8 percent, slightly below expectations but an okay boost nevertheless.

I?ll try to get to some details later, but fourth quarter GDP just came out and the growth rate was 2.8%, slightly below expectations but an OK pop nevertheless.

Skip to next paragraph Jared Bernstein

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Before joining the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities as a senior fellow, Jared was chief economist to Vice President Joseph Biden and executive director of the White House Task Force on the Middle Class. He is a contributor to MSNBC and CNBC and has written numerous books, including 'Crunch: Why Do I Feel So Squeezed?'

Recent posts

Remember, the rule of thumb here?and while it doesn?t hold quarter-to-quarter, it?s pretty reliable year-to-year?is that for every point real GDP grows about the trend rate of 2.5%, the unemployment rate should come down about a half a percent.? So a sustained growth rate close to 3% should shave one-quarter of a percentage point off of the jobless rate.

The question is sustainability.? Headwinds persist?Europe (and the UK) pose growth and financial contagion risks, oil price spikes, and fading stimulus all come to mind, and the capacity of this Congress to self-inflict economic wounds is also hanging out there (failure to extend the UI and payroll tax cut, e.g., would definitely hurt near-term growth).

One notable data signal from the report is the growth rate of final sales, which excludes inventory buildups or drawdowns, and is thus considered a cleaner measure of actual real-time demand in the economy.? Final sales grew only 0.8% last quarter, meaning inventory buildup was a big part of the topline number and suggesting that the real, underlying growth rate of the ongoing expansion is still too slow.? It?s also worth noting that the economy expanded at a relatively sloggy rate of 1.6% over the year 2011.

So, have we hit escape velocity from the clutches of the Great Recession?? I?d say no, not yet.? We?re headed in the right direction, we?ve got some mo, but growth is too slow and there?s still too much fragility and slack in the system.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here. To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on jaredbernsteinblog.com.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/I8M-XUlsonc/Fourth-quarter-GDP-figures-good-not-great

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Jennifer Aniston Chows Down on Short Ribs in Front of Justin Theroux (omg!)

Justin Theroux is getting a taste of the good life -- thanks to Jennifer Aniston.

The 42-year-old actress brought her boyfriend to the 64th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards in Hollywood Saturday, where Aniston was nominated alongside Demi Moore, Penelope Spheeris, Alicia Keys and Patty Jenkins for co-directing Lifetime's Five.

PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston's on-set PDA

Aniston wore a strapless black Dolce & Gabbana mini, highlighting her toned physique. Theroux, 40, wore a matching black suit.

"Jen and Justin talked to each other quite a bit," an onlooker tells Us Weekly. "They would turn to each other and talk, and they took turns putting their arms on the backs of each other's chairs."

PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston's best hairstyles

The actress isn't afraid to chow down in front of Theroux, either: she polished off the lobster and artichoke salad, followed by short ribs and steamed vegetables.

VIDEO: Jennifer Aniston mocks Chelsea Handler's hygiene

"During the actual show, Jennifer seemed really interested," the onlooker says. "She'd refer to her program and clap for the various winners, and occasionally comment to Patty and Justin about whatever was going on onstage."

PHOTOS: Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux's matching outfits

Though Aniston and her pals lost to The Kennedy's Jon Cassar, that didn't stop her and Theroux from having a good time. Post-show, the Wanderlust costars hit up a private members' club in West Hollywood, where Theroux was spotted "continuously putting his arm around her or touching her in some way."

Get more Us! Follow us on Twitter, Friend us on Facebook, Subscribe to Us Weekly

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_jennifer_aniston_chows_down_short_ribs_front_justin162417357/44346115/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/jennifer-aniston-chows-down-short-ribs-front-justin-162417357.html

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Topless protesters detained at Davos forum (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Three topless Ukrainian protesters were detained Saturday while trying to break into an invitation-only gathering of international CEOs and political leaders to call attention to the needs of the world's poor.

After a complicated journey to reach the heavily guarded Swiss resort town of Davos, the women arrived at the entrance to the congress center where the World Economic Forum takes place every year.

With temperatures around freezing in the snow-filled town, they took off their tops and climbed a fence before being detained. "Crisis! Made in Davos," read one message painted across a protester's torso, while others held banners that said "Poor, because of you" and "Gangsters party in Davos."

Davos police spokesman Thomas Hobi said the three women were taken to the police station and their papers were checked. They were told that they weren't allowed to demonstrate, and will be released later, he said.

The activists are from the group Femen, which has become popular in Ukraine for staging small, half-naked protests to highlight a range of issues including oppression of political opposition. They have also conducted protests in some other countries.

"We came here to Switzerland to Davos to explain position of all poor people of the world, to explain that we are poor because of these rich people who now sit in the building," said protester Inna Schewcenko.

Protesters from the Occupy movement that started with protests against practices on Wall Street held a separate demonstration in Davos on Saturday. A small group of protesters are camped in igloos in Davos to call for more help for the needy.

About 40 protesters from the Occupy movement gathered in front of the town hall. Some held placards with slogans such as "If voting would change anything, it would be illegal" and "Don't let them decide for you, Occupy WEF." The event has been peaceful.

A member of the Occupy camp was invited to speak at a special event outside the Forum on Friday night discussing the future of capitalism attended by British opposition leader Ed Miliband.

Soon after the panel discussion began, some activists in the audience jumped up and started chanting slogans, and the protester panelist walked off the stage.

Other members of the audience told the activists to "shut up" and arguments disrupted the panel for about 20 minutes. The discussion then resumed, without the Occupy panelist.

___

Anja Niedringhaus and Paolo Santalucia contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_re_eu/eu_davos_forum_protests

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Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast with guest CrackBerry Kevin, live at 5PM ET!

Just wake up from a very restful week-long slumber? First of all, we're envious of your good fortune. Second, Research in Motion made a few changes to its leadership chart. Third, you must be really hungry right about now. So grab a sandwich, come back in an hour and join Myriam, Brad, Sean Cooper and our very special guest Kevin Michaluk (yes, Mr. CrackBerry Kevin himself) as we discuss the northern news, as well as anything else that happened this week.

Be sure to send questions or comments you have for us or Kevin via Twitter (we're @engadgetmobile), or make your voice heard in our Ustream chat room during the show!

January 27, 2012 5:00 PM EST

Listen to the Engadget Mobile Podcast with guest CrackBerry Kevin, live at 5PM ET! originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 27 Jan 2012 16:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/27/engadget-mobile-podcast-live/

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Iran could ban EU oil exports next week: lawmaker (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? A law to be debated in Iran's parliament on Sunday could halt exports of oil to the European Union as early as next week, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a lawmaker as saying on Friday.

"On Sunday, parliament will have to approve a 'double emergency' bill calling for a halt in the export of Iranian oil to Europe starting next week," Hossein Ibrahimi, vice-chairman of parliament's national security and foreign policy committee, was quoted as saying.

Parliament is pushing for the export ban to deny the EU a 6-month phase-in of the embargo on Iranian oil that the bloc agreed on Monday as part of a raft of tough new Western sanctions aimed at forcing Iran to curb its nuclear program.

The EU accounted for 18 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the first half of 2011, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), making it Iran's second biggest customer after China.

"If the deputies arrive at the conclusion that the Iranian oil exports to Europe must be halted, the parliament will not delay a moment (in passing the bill)," Fars quoted Moayed Hosseini-Sadr, a member of parliament's energy committee, as saying.

"If Iran's oil exports to Europe, which is about 18 percent (of Iran's oil exports) is halted the Europeans will surely be taken by surprise, and will understand the power of Iran and will realize that the Islamic establishment will not succumb to the Europeans' policies," he said.

Reflecting how seriously Tehran was taking the idea, Iran's OPEC governor Mohammad Ali Khatibi told the ILNA news agency the country might choose to raise the issue at the next OPEC meeting.

Iran's conservative-dominated parliament has previously shown it is ready to force the government to take action against what it sees as hostility from the West.

In November it voted to expel the British ambassador after London announced new sanctions ahead of other EU countries.

The day after that vote, radical Iranians stormed the British embassy, causing London to withdraw all staff and close the mission.

(Writing by Robin Pomeroy; editing by James Jukwey)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_iran_sanctions_oil

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Why Sports is Good Training for Entrepreneurs

By Cynthia Kocialski

I noticed that many successful entrepreneurs played sports. Does sports training matter to budding entrepreneurs? What skills do athletes learn that would benefit a new business owner and entrepreneur?

The Intent to Win

In sports, the link between progressing in a sport is directly related to your track record of winning. Athletes know that when they step on the playing field, they must have the intent to win and must live in the moment ? for the next few minutes or hours their world is only the game and what must be done to win it.

I see many young entrepreneurs that want to start the next Google or Amazon. They are very talented people, but they don?t have the intent to win. Many entrepreneurs believe it?s about effort. If they try hard and long enough then they will eventually succeed at their business. But that?s not true. Who hires an attorney who loses all his cases, but tried his best? Who engages a physician that never cures their patients of their ills? Find me an investor who will back an entrepreneur whose previous companies have all failed? Athletes understand the importance of a consistent level of excellence and winning.

Performance Under Pressure

Athletes learn to perform under pressure. While there is the pressure to get good grades in school, it?s not as intense as athletics. If you don?t do well in math, you may get a B or C for a grade, but you will still move to the next level. If you don?t do so well in a season you may never have the opportunity to play the sport again.

Even in practice, athletes are under pressure to perform. They have to jump so high or spin so fast by a certain date, or their lack of progress becomes detrimental. If a sports coach knows an athlete is capable of doing something, but just can?t get it, there will be no sympathy from the coach. The coach will push the athlete to perform.

In order for a company to grow, it must bring in sales so it can pay the staff and reinvest for the future. Without that external pressure to perform, companies remain marginal.? In sports, there?s the coach. In a business, it?s the mentors, advisors, businesses coaches, and shareholders that can provide the accountability necessary to push the company to succeed.

Every Sport Is a Team Sport

Your team matters. Even for individual athletes like Apolo Ono, Michelle Kwan, or Shaun White, it?s still about the team hidden behind the curtain. Athletes learn to build the team that can get them the best overall performance.

I see this with new start-up companies. More often than not, the team is a random collection of individuals. Or the team is lopsided with half the functional areas empty and the other half overstaffed. Seriously, what would happen if the offensive team on a football team fielded 5 quarterbacks on the field but no wide receivers? Learning how to evaluate who you need on your team and how to build an effective team is imperative for a business because no company has reached great heights without a team of employees.

This is important for those solo entrepreneurs or fledgling businesses to learn because it?s easy to become overwhelmed and distracted with mundane work that?s necessary, but doesn?t help reach the end objective.? They shouldn?t spend their time on the most impactful tasks and leave the rest for a new employee or outsource the work.

Knowing and Learning from the Competition

Athletes are more than just aware of their competitors. They study and analyze them. They learn from them. Athletes know their competitors? strengths and weakness. Athletes also know how their abilities compare to their competitors.

Entrepreneurs perform a competitive analysis of their industry or market. They focus on what their competitors? weaknesses are. However, the usually neglect to study their competitors? strengths as thoroughly. And rarely do start-ups look at themselves through the eyes of their competitors. If they were sitting in a competitive analysis meeting held in their competitors? offices, what would the competitors be saying about their start-up?

Performance Reviews

One comment I hear from athletes is how American corporations manage to compete with their performance review systems is mystifying. In athletics, the athlete gets daily feedback from their coaches on how they are doing and what they need to improve. This allows the athlete to improve faster. In corporations, employees are given annual or semi-annual performance reviews.? How far would our athletes go if their coaches only told them how they were doing every six or twelve months? Not far, I bet.

Finding the Right Goal

There have been many athletes that started in one sport, only to abandon it and reach great success in another. Most athletes are physically adept; they can play or do most sports well. Succeeding is more than just ?doing well?. It?s though the act of competing and allowing themselves to be compared to others ? both good and bad ? that stops them from blindly pursing a goal without it necessarily being the right goal.

Here?s a way this gets translated in entrepreneurship. An entrepreneur starts a company with a product concept. First misstep is when the entrepreneur squirrels the team away, develops the product in isolation, and launches the product, only to find out that 7 billion people in the world don?t care at all. The start-up waited too long before ?competing? for the customers? attention and budget.

The second problem is when the start-up pursues the product concept and business model to the bitter end, never changing what they are doing. They are doing something well, but not well enough to thrive and succeed. Studies show successful start-ups change course 1 to 2 times before finding the right product and business model. In this case, the entrepreneur doggedly pursues the original goal, assuming the goal is correct.

Investors talk about their portfolio companies and they will say, ?It?s not going well. The team is not bold enough or aggressive enough to win in the marketplace.? You must know how to think, not just what to think. Competitive environments aren?t stable, they?re dynamic and you have to be able to function and adapt in ambiguous situations, and do so by a deadline.

Sports Psychology

Athletes are trained to visual the goal. There are no obstacles between them and their objective. They are also trained to look at themselves in the mirror in the morning and ask, ?What am I going to accomplish today?? It?s not a matter of they ?want? or ?can? do something. It?s a much stronger thought psychologically; it?s they ?will? do something.

Cynthia Kocialski is the founder of three tech start-ups companies. In the past 15 years, she has been involved in dozens of start-ups. Cynthia writes the Start-up Entrepreneurs? Blog www.cynthiakocialski.com. Cynthia has written the book, ?Out of the Classroom Lessons in Success: How to Prosper Without Being at the Top of the Class.? The book serves up tips, insight, and wisdom to enable young adults and parents of kids to know what it will take to forge a successful career, no matter what their academic achievement.

Tags: Business, Cynthia Kocialski, Entrepreneurs, Sports Training, Success, The Work at Home Woman

Source: http://www.theworkathomewoman.com/sports-good-training-entrepreneurs/

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Germany wants Greece to give up budget control (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) ? Germany is pushing for Greece to relinquish control over its budget policy to European institutions as part of discussions over a second rescue package, a European source told Reuters on Friday.

"There are internal discussions within the Euro group and proposals, one of which comes from Germany, on how to constructively treat country aid programs that are continuously off track, whether this can simply be ignored or whether we say that's enough," the source said.

The source added that under the proposals European institutions already operating in Greece should be given "certain decision-making powers" over fiscal policy.

"This could be carried out even more stringently through external expertise," the source said.

The Financial Times said it had obtained a copy of the proposal showing Germany wants a new euro zone "budget commissioner" to have the power to veto budget decisions taken by the Greek government if they are not in line with targets set by international lenders.

"Given the disappointing compliance so far, Greece has to accept shifting budgetary sovereignty to the European level for a certain period of time," the document said.

Under the German plan, Athens would only be allowed to carry out normal state spending after servicing its debt, the FT said.

"If a future (bail-out) tranche is not disbursed, Greece cannot threaten its lenders with a default, but will instead have to accept further cuts in primary expenditures as the only possible consequence of any non-disbursement," the FT quoted the document as saying.

The German demands for greater control over Greek budget policy come amid intense talks to finalize a second 130 billion-euro rescue package for Greece, which has repeatedly failed to meet the fiscal targets set out for it by its international lenders.

CHAOTIC DEFAULT THREAT

Greece needs to strike a deal with creditors in the next couple of days to unlock its next aid package in order to avoid a chaotic default.

"No country has put forward such a proposal at the Eurogroup," a Greek finance ministry official said on condition of anonymity, adding that the government would not formally comment on reports based on unnamed sources.

The German demands are likely to prompt a strong reaction in Athens ahead of elections expected to take place in April.

"One of the ideas being discussed is to set up a clearly defined priorities on reducing deficits through legally binding guidelines," the European source said.

He added that in Greece the problem is that a lot of the budget-making process is done in a decentralized manner.

"Clearly defined, legally binding guidelines on that could lead to more coherence and make it easier to take decisions - and that would contribute to give a whole new dynamic to efforts to implement the program," the source said.

"It is clear that talks on how to help Greece get back on the right track are continuing," the source said. "We're all striving to achieve a lasting stabilization of Greece," he said. "That's the focus of what all of us in Europe are working on right now."

(Reporting By Noah Barking; Additional reporting by George Georgiopoulos in Athens and; Adrian Croft in London; writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/bs_nm/us_eurozone_greece_germany

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Brazil vs Israel

gl br!

gl israel

gl israel

omg omg alpha omg om

GL abs and sh0ckz :D roll em :D

gl shock bielano holy olavol destiny!

e: gl sabian!

gl guys..
Make it an interesting game..!

GL AMIGOS BRAZILE?OS
NEGROS PUTOS <3

Good luck abs1,shock & destiny.

e: sabiaN ;*

vai se fuder xD

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gl brazil :)

gl brazilians. Just make sure shockz doesnt rq in the middle of the map xD

or ego

fuck off I just ragequit sometimes ":D"

GL SHOCKY!

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gl destiny mate :)

hf destiny mate ;)

Rebenta Brazil!!!

shockz gonna get raped like usual :D

gl OlavoL & sH0ckz :D

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Needs more Res0

:DDddd

Oh, and gl shockz m8

no AdoBE no win

GL sH0cksz

vamo q vamo porrrraaa!!!!

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Gl justice !

If u let shockz play ur dead! Special Gl to my little brazilian brother Olavo! :) GL Abs1

Haha, indeed. Ty mate :))))))))

o cara vai arrebentar : D

gl brazil !

For?a ai Brasil...pau neles

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you love brazil don't u xD

s? gordo peitudo no time do Brasil, se foder.

gl montagejewbro

let the lag begin

gl both :D

GL SHOCK PUTO DE LA TETA DE TU MAMA PURAAAAS FABELAS

epic lag battle

Brazil Connection vs Israel Connection hmmm ...
Gonna be a Hard batlle with Epic laggz

gl brazil :)

jogo bonito! gl abs sh0ckz

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Source: http://www.gamestv.org//event/30671-brazil-vs-israel/

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Romney puts Gingrich on defensive in Florida debate (Reuters)

JACKSONVILLE, Florida (Reuters) ? Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney took the fight to chief rival Newt Gingrich on Thursday in his most aggressive debate performance yet, five days ahead of Florida's primary vote.

A neck-and-neck race for Florida and its importance for the Republican presidential nomination made for a combustible atmosphere at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville as the candidates sparred repeatedly.

Gingrich, who has displayed a mastery of debating skills during previous debates, was frequently caught flat-footed under attack from Romney who went after his chief rival in an attempt to put his campaign back on track after losing South Carolina last Saturday.

Gingrich and Romney are running close in polls before next Tuesday's primary vote in Florida, the biggest state so far in the early voting for the Republican nomination to face President Barack Obama in November. The most recent polls put Romney ahead.

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, took umbrage at Gingrich's description of him as "anti-immigrant."

"That's inexcusable," Romney said, turning to his rival. "I'm not anti-immigrant. My father was born in Mexico. ... The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don't use a term like that."

Gingrich, who has offered a softer version of immigration policy than most Republican conservatives, insisted the United States could not rationally deport millions of people and that some who had lived here for decades should be allowed to stay.

But he added some confusion to his position by saying he would support some version of "self-deportation," the very issue he has criticized Romney for supporting.

"Newt needed a big night to turn around the momentum and he didn't get it. He struck me as tired and too ticked for his own good," wrote conservative columnist Rich Lowry on the National Review's website. His blog post was titled "Newt's worst night."

GINGRICH ATTACK FELL FLAT

Gingrich has enjoyed support from rock-ribbed conservatives in debate audiences by attacking debate moderators.

But this time, his effort to chastise CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer over a question about Romney's tax disclosures fell flat when Blitzer stood his ground and insisted Gingrich explain a comment he made in a TV interview that Romney "lives in a world of Swiss bank and Cayman Island bank accounts.

Gingrich did draw attention to Romney's vast wealth, which was put under the microscope this week when the former private equity executive release two years of tax documents.

"I don't know of any American president who has had a Swiss bank account. I'd be glad for you to explain that sort of thing," he said.

But Gingrich was ridiculed by Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul for telling laid-off space workers near Cape Canaveral on Wednesday that if elected president next November he would seek to build a permanent colony on the lunar surface.

It was the kind of claim that supports criticism that Gingrich has grandiose yet far-fetched ideas.

Romney said the money could be better spent elsewhere, that Gingrich's proposal was a big idea but not a good one. Paul, a Texas congressman and libertarian, got off the zinger of the night.

"I don't think we should go to the moon," said Paul. "I think maybe we should send some politicians up there."

Bickering erupted from the first question over illegal immigration, and intensified over Gingrich's past work for the troubled mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

Romney raised Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac as a sign that his rival was an influence peddler, a "horn tooter" for Freddie Mac. Romney has attacked Gingrich all week for accepting $1.6 million in consulting fees from Freddie Mac.

Gingrich fought back. "Romney made $1 million dollars on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," he said, an attack that fell flat when Romney pointed out that Gingrich owns stock in the two government-sponsored entities at the heart of the U.S. housing crisis.

The candidates, asked which of their wives would make the best first lady of the White House, chose their own, except for Gingrich, who said they would all be terrific, including his wife, Callista.

"I would rather just talk about why I like Callista, and why I'd like her to be first lady, but she's not necessarily in any way better. These are wonderful people, and they would be wonderful first ladies," he said.

(Editing by Alistair Bell and Eric Beech)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign_debate

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Cops: Man, 65, kills teen who knocks him off bicycle

A 65-year-old man who was knocked off his bicycle by three teenagers on a Pennsylvania trail shot two of them, killing one, police said according to reports.

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The Reading Eagle newspaper said the wounded teen, 16, was taken to hospital and the third, aged 15, was taken in for questioning and was later committed to a youth center.

The paper said the mother of the slain boy, 16, asked officials not to release his name until she had been able to tell other members of the family what happened.

The incident happened on the Thun Trail near a bridge over the Schuylkill River, between Reading and West Reading just after noon Wednesday.

Story: Okla. mom won't face charges for shooting intruder

"There was one juvenile who was shot and is deceased [and] another juvenile who was shot and is in surgery," Police Chief Jed Habecker said, according to a report by the WFMZ-TV station.

According to police, the 65-year-old was riding his bicycle when the teens knocked him to the ground, the station said.

Police said two teens then assaulted the man, who drew his gun and shot them.

The man was released by police after they consulted with District Attorney John Adams late Wednesday, WFMZ reported.

? 2011 msnbc.com Reprints

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46143485/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

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Sudan sells seized South Sudan crude at deep discount: sources (Reuters)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) ? Sudan has sold at least one cargo of crude seized from South Sudan at millions of dollars discount and is offering more, industry sources said, as Khartoum looks to recover oil revenue from its former civil war foe.

A bitter row has escalated between the two over the value of the transit fee landlocked South Sudan should pay for oil pumped north by pipeline through its northern neighbor and exported from Port Sudan.

South Sudan is shutting down production in protest after Khartoum blocked exports and seized some of the oil as compensation. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir accused Khartoum of having "looted" revenues amounting to roughly $815 million from crude cargoes.

The seized crude was loaded onto three tankers from January 13-20, South Sudan's justice ministry said.

Sudan sold one of those cargoes, a 600,000 barrel shipment loaded on the vessel Ratna Shradha, to a North Asian trader. The final price of the sale was unclear, but one trader said that the cargo was sold at a discount as steep as $14 a barrel. That would indicate an $8.4 million discount for the whole cargo versus the last official price charged by the South.

"This is crude from the South sold by the North at a $14 discount to the South's last selling price," a Middle East-based crude trader said.

The tanker is heading to Singapore, another source said.

The last time South Sudan sold Nile Blend cargoes, it did so at a premium of $2.50-$3.00 a barrel to the benchmark Indonesian Crude Price, traders said. This would indicate that Sudan has sold the cargo at a discount of around $11 a barrel to the Indonesian price.

Sudan has also loaded two other cargoes of seized Dar Blend crude, but it is not immediately clear if they have sold those. Khartoum had offered these cargoes last week at a discount to official South Sudan prices, traders said. One of them is headed to the United Arab Emirates port of Fujairah, they added.

The South last sold seven cargoes of Dar Blend at discounts between $5 and $11 a barrel to dated Brent. Sudan offered the cargoes at a discount of $15-$16, another source said.

OFFGUARD

Buyers of South Sudan oil were caught offguard when Khartoum started blocking exports in late December.

In addition to the three, at least seven tankers are still waiting at the port to lift December and January cargoes, raking up demurrage costs of $20,000-$22,000 per day, traders and shipbrokers said. Buyers include PetroChina, Glencore, Vitol, Trafigura and Arcadia, they said.

"There was no reason given. They just held back sailing," a second trader with a Western firm said, adding that demurrage costs and the uncertainty were a "nightmare."

South Sudan pledged to fully shut its output of 275,000 barrels per day (bpd) in two weeks, a move that could also cut off supplies to equity holders China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Malaysia's Petronas and India's Oil & Natural Gas Corp.

A third trader said buyers could declare force majeure if they still cannot lift the oil 30 days from the date of loading.

"Force majeure is the last resort if the cargo has not been loaded 30 days after the scheduled loading date. As long as the ship has not loaded the oil," the trader said.

"It will be complicated to declare force majeure if the oil is already on board. How are you going to discharge the oil back into the shore tanks?"

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

(Additional reporting by Yaw Yan Chong and Osamu Tsukimori in TOKYO Editing by Manash Goswami and Simon Webb)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_sudan_oil_dispute

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Japan posts first annual trade deficit since 1980 (AP)

TOKYO ? The devastating March tsunami and shift of manufacturing overseas plunged Japan's trade account into the red for the first time since 1980. Experts said the years of Japan running massive trade surpluses are likely over.

The 2.49 trillion yen ($32 billion) deficit for 2011 reflected a surge in energy imports to cover shortfalls caused by the disaster and a 2.7 percent decline in the value of Japan's exports to 65.55 trillion yen ($843 billion), according to the Ministry of Finance figures released Wednesday.

Manufacturers have moved some production overseas to avoid the damage inflicted by the strong yen, a trend that has accelerated in recent years. Some economists say the trade balance will be in the black again within two years, but the era of very large surpluses that allowed Japan to build a huge pile of foreign reserves has ended.

"It reflects fundamental changes in Japan's economy, particularly among manufacturers," said Hideki Matsumura, senior economist at Japan Research Institute. "Japan is losing its competitiveness to produce domestically."

"It's gotten difficult for manufacturers to export, so they're they've moved production abroad so that products sold outside the country are made outside the country," he said.

The yen's surge to record levels against the dollar and euro has made Japanese exports more expensive and also erodes the value of foreign earned income when brought home. Recently, manufacturers such as Nissan Motor Co. and Panasonic Corp. have shifted some of their output to factories abroad. At the same time, Japan is facing intense competition from South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, where labor and production costs are cheaper.

Japanese manufacturers have been battered by a host of negatives in the past year. The tsunami temporarily disrupted the production of automobile makers and other manufacturers. Weakness in the U.S. economy and Europe's debt problems and recent flooding in Thailand, where many Japanese automakers have assembly lines, also contributed to export declines.

"The impact of the supply chain problem and the temporary effect of the earthquake will fade. We may see Japan's trade balance recover to a small trade surplus, but it won't return to the pre-crisis level," said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief Japan economist at B of A Merrill Lynch in Tokyo.

"The big surpluses are gone. Japan's trade balance should be almost balanced or at best a small surplus."

Another major factor behind the deficit was the impact of the expensive energy imports Japan turned to after the March disaster touched off a nuclear crisis and led the country to shut down, or not restart, a large portion of its reactors, said Martin Schulz, senior economist with the Fujitsu Research Institute.

He said pressure to import energy will continue to weigh heavily on Japan for the next year, but will subside as the country pursues greater efficiency measures.

Much of Japan's oil and natural gas is imported from the Middle East, with which Japan had a 10.88 trillion yen trade deficit last year, up 33 percent, figures showed.

Japan still has a trade surplus with the U.S., although that is shrinking. For 2011, exports exceeded imports by 4.10 trillion yen ($52.6 billion), down 8.2 percent from a year earlier. Exports to the U.S. declined 2.8 percent to 10.02 trillion yen during the year, while imports inched up 0.2 percent to 5.9 trillion.

Japan had a 1.57 trillion yen trade surplus with China for the year. A breakdown of figures showed a trade deficit with mainland China, but a big surplus with Hong Kong.

Trade with Germany was fairly balanced last year as imports grew nearly 10 percent to 1.86 trillion yen. Exports came to 1.87 trillion yen, giving Japan a relatively small trade surplus of 16 billion yen.

The turmoil in Europe and the U.S. has driven up the yen as global investors flock to the currency as a relative safe haven. The yen hit multiple historic highs against the dollar, and touched a record against the euro earlier this month as well.

The yen is trading at around 78 to the dollar recently, a level that is extremely painful for exporters. Five years ago, the dollar was trading above 120 yen.

Matsumura believes that Japan will likely log another trade deficit this year amid prospects for high energy prices and a persistently strong yen, but that renewed strength in the global and Asian regional economies could put Japan back into the black in 2013.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/japan/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_trade

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