Stem cell eye remedy 'seems safe'

24 January 2012 Last updated at 07:36 ET By Michelle Roberts Health reporter, BBC News

Early results from the world's first human trial using embryonic stem cells to treat diseases of the eye suggest the method is safe, say researchers.

US firm Advanced Cell Technology told The Lancet how two patients who had received the retinal implants were doing well, four months on.

Trials of the same technique have now started at London's Moorfields Eye Hospital.

But experts say it will be years before these treatments are proven.

The aim of these first human studies is to establish that the treatment is safe to use.

The treatment takes healthy immature cells from a human embryo, which are then manipulated to grow into the cells that line the back of the eye - the retina.

Experts hope that by injecting these cells into a diseased eye, they will be able to restore vision for people with currently incurable conditions such as Stargardt's disease - one of the main causes of blindness in young people.

Advanced Cell Technology, along with the Jules Stein Eye Institute at the University of California, Los Angeles, are reporting their first experiences with this treatment in human trials.

Continue reading the main story

?Start Quote

This is a significant moment because there has been so much expectation about human embryonic stem cells ?

End Quote Fergus Walsh BBC Medical Correspondent

The study involved one elderly patient in her 70s with dry age-related macular degeneration - the leading cause of blindness in the developed world - and another female patient in her 50s with Stargardt's disease.

Both had very poor vision and were registered blind.

Each patient was given an injection containing 50,000 of the retinal pigment epithelium cells into one of their diseased eyes.

After surgery, structural evidence confirmed the cells had attached to the eye's membrane as hoped, and continued to survive throughout the next 16 weeks of the study.

Furthermore, the procedure appeared to be safe, causing no signs of rejection or abnormal cell growth.

Although this study is not designed to see if the procedure actually works, the researchers say their results do suggest that their patients' vision has improved slightly.

But they say it is still too soon to make any firm conclusions and that many more years of investigation will be needed to confirm that the treatment is both safe and effective.

They told The Lancet: "The ultimate therapeutic goal will be to treat patients earlier in the disease processes, potentially increasing the likelihood of photoreceptor and central visual rescue."

But even if this does become possible, such treatments would face stiff opposition by critics who say it is ethically wrong to use human embryonic tissue.

Dr Dusko Ilic, Senior Lecturer in Stem Cell Science at Kings College London, said that these early findings did not necessarily hint towards a viable treatment.

"We should keep in mind that people are not rats.

"The number one priority of initial clinical trial is always patient safety. If everyone expects that the blind patients will see after being treated with human embryonic stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium, even if the treatment ends up being safe (which is what Advanced Cell Technology are trying to determine in this trial), they risk being unnecessarily disappointed."

UK stem cell expert Chris Mason added: "We do not have a complete answer yet. But it is a valuable next step."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/health-16687974

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Yemeni president departs, en route to US

SANAA, Yemen?? Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh left his battered nation Sunday on his way to the U.S. for medical treatment after passing power to his deputy and asking for forgiveness for any "shortcomings" during his 33-year rein.

But in a sign that Saleh's role as Yemen's top power broker is likely far from over, he said he would return to Yemen before the official power transfer next month to serve as the head of his ruling party.

Saleh's departure marks a small achievement in the months of diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and Yemen's powerful Gulf neighbors to ease the nearly year-old political crisis in the Arab world's poorest country. An active al-Qaida branch there has taken advantage of the turmoil, stepping up operations and seizing territory.

After months of diplomatic pressure and mass protests calling for his ouster, Saleh signed a deal in November to transfer authority to his vice president in exchange for immunity from prosecution. Still, Saleh continued to exercise power behind the scenes, sparking accusations he sought to scuttle the deal and cling to power.

His departure could help the deal go forward.

Presidential spokesman Ahmed al-Soufi told The Associated Press that Saleh left Yemen's capital Sanaa late Sunday on a plane headed for the Gulf sultanate of Oman. He did not say how long Saleh would remain there, but added that he would make "another stop before heading to the United States of America."

A senior administration official said Ali Abdullah Saleh would travel to New York this week, and probably stay in the U.S. until no later than the end of February. U.S. officials believe Saleh's exit from Yemen could lower the risk of disruptions in the lead-up to presidential elections planned there on Feb. 21.

The Obama administration faced a dilemma in deciding whether to let Saleh enter the U.S. after he requested a visa last month. It has long seen getting Saleh out of Yemen as an important step in ensuring the power transfer goes forward.

But some in the administration worried that welcoming Saleh would spark charges from the Arab world that the U.S. was harboring an autocrat responsible for deadly crackdowns on protesters.

To protect against this, the administration has sought assurances that Saleh will not seek to remain in the U.S.

An official close to Saleh said Sunday the president would undergo medical exams in Oman before heading to the U.S. The U.S. has forbidden him from any political activity in the U.S., the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorize to disclose diplomatic talks.

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Saleh is likely seeking treatment for injuries sustained in a blast in his palace mosque last June 3 that left him badly burned. After the attack, Saleh traveled to Saudi Arabia for treatment, leaving many to suspect his power was waning. A few months later, however, he made a surprise return to Yemen and resumed his post.

Under the power transfer deal signed in November, Vice President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi is to be rubber-stamped as the country's new leader in presidential elections. The political parties that signed the deal agreed not to nominate any other candidates.

In a farewell speech Friday reported by Yemeni state media, Saleh said he was passing his powers to Hadi, whom he promoted to the rank of marshal.

Saleh portrayed himself as a patriot who "gave his life in the service of the nation," called for reconciliation and apologized for any mistakes.

"I ask for forgiveness from all sons of the nation, women and men, for any shortcomings during my 33 years in office," Saleh said according to Yemen's state news agency.

He also called on Yemen's youth, who have spearheaded the mass protests calling for his ouster and often faced deadly crackdowns by Saleh's security forces, to go home.

"I feel for you and call on you to return to your homes and turn a new page with a new leadership," he said.

Yemen expert Gregory Johnsen of Princeton University said Saleh's departure could help the power transfer deal progress, though it will do little to address protesters' demands for a fundamental change of how politics in Yemen works.

Throughout his rule, Saleh has put close members of his family and tribe in charge of key state institutions and security forces, Johnsen said. Leaving that network intact could allow Saleh to continue to shape events in Yemen, even without the title of president.

"I don't think we have seen the last of President Saleh," Johnsen said.

Inspired by popular uprisings elsewhere in the Arab world, Yemenis took to the streets nearly a year ago to demand Saleh's ouster and call for democratic reforms. Saleh's security forces have met them with often deadly crackdowns, killing more than 200 protesters. Many others have been killed in violent clashes between armed groups that support the protesters and security forces.

Al-Qaida's active Yemeni branch has also taken advantage of the security collapse to seize territory in the country's south, even taking control of a town 100 miles from the capital Sanaa earlier this month.

The protests have continued despite the power transfer deal, which many say falls far short of their demands. They also reject the immunity clause, saying they want to see Saleh tried for his alleged role in the protester deaths.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46091792/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Turkey warns Iraqi PM over sectarian conflict (Reuters)

ANKARA (Reuters) ? Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan warned his Iraqi counterpart, Nuri al-Maliki, on Tuesday that Ankara would not remain silent if he pursued a sectarian conflict in his country.

A war of words between the two neighbors has added to heightened regional tension. Turkey fears Iraq is heading toward a full-scale sectarian war while Baghdad has accused Ankara of meddling.

"Esteemed Maliki should know this - if you start a period of conflict in Iraq within a sectarian struggle, it will be impossible for us to remain silent," Erdogan told his AK Party parliamentary group in the Turkish capital.

Maliki's office responded with a statement again criticizing Turkey's "interference" in Iraq's affairs.

"This is not acceptable in the dealings between officials of different states and especially from heads of state," Maliki's office said. "Mr Erdogan has to be more careful in handling the usual protocols in international relations."

Fears of renewed sectarian conflict in Iraq have increased since U.S. troops withdrew in December and Maliki's Shi'ite-led government sought the arrest of a Sunni vice president on accusations he ran death squads.

Maliki's government denies it has a sectarian agenda, but the arrest warrant threatens to wreck a fragile ruling coalition that led to Sunni and Kurdish groups joining Maliki's cabinet.

DIPLOMATIC ROLE

Iraq summoned the Turkish ambassador in Baghdad last week to complain about comments by some Turkish officials it said amounted to meddling in its internal affairs.

While Iraq did not specify what Turkish remarks they were angry about, the complaint appeared to stem from comments this month by Erdogan, who said a Sunni-Shi'ite conflict in Iraq, if unleashed, could engulf the entire Islamic world.

Mainly Sunni but officially secular Turkey has sought to play a bigger diplomatic role in the Middle East, backed up by its growing might as the world's 16th biggest economy.

But while Ankara insists it maintains its official "zero problems with the neighbors" foreign policy, its support for Syrian demonstrators has drawn it into tensions with Iran, one of the main backers of the Damascus government.

Analysts say Turkey has heavily courted Sunni and Kurdish political blocs in Iraq in recent years while Iraq's Shi'ite parties remain closer to Shi'ite Iran.

In an interview with al-Hurra television this month, Maliki said: "Turkey is unfortunately playing a role which may lead to disaster and civil war in the region."

Tuesday, Erdogan described Maliki's comments about Turkey meddling in Iraq's affairs as "unfortunate" and "ugly."

"That Turkey is backing or is against a particular ethnic group or sect, whether in Syria or Iraq or in any other country in the region, is out of the question," Erdogan said.

"We see every problem in our region from a position of peace, stability and loyalty."

At least two rockets were fired at the Turkish embassy in Baghdad last week, Iraqi and Turkish sources said, prompting condemnation from Ankara which said it expected Iraq to take steps to provide security for Turkey's diplomatic missions.

Iraq is now Turkey's second biggest export market after Germany, with trade volume between the two reaching nearly $12 billion in 2011, Turkey's economy minister said during a visit to northern Iraq last week.

More than half of that trade is with Kurdistan, which puts the region in Turkey's top-10 trading partners.

(Writing by Jonathon Burch; Editing by Alison Williams and Robert Woodward)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iraq/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/wl_nm/us_turkey_iraq

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Mexico authorities unravel child trafficking ring (AP)

ZAPOPAN, Mexico ? The Irish couples ensnared in an apparent illegal adoption ring in western Mexico thought they were involved in a legal process and are devastated by allegations organizers were trafficking in children, the families said Monday.

"All the families have valid declarations to adopt from Mexico as issued by the Adoption Authority of Ireland," they said in a statement, which was read over the phone to The Associated Press by their lawyer in Mexico, Carlos Montoya.

Prosecutors in Mexico contend the traffickers tricked destitute young Mexican women trying to earn more for their children and childless Irish couples desperate to become parents.

For 15-year-old Karla Zepeda, the story began in August when a woman came to her dusty neighborhood of cinderblock homes and dirt roads looking for babies to photograph for an anti-abortion ad campaign.

Zepeda told the AP that the woman, Guadalupe Bosquez, asked to use her 9-month-old daughter Camila in a two-week photo shoot for $755 ($10,000 pesos), a small fortune for a teen mother who earns $180 a month at a sandwich stand and shares a cramped, one-story house with her disabled mother, stepfather, and three brothers.

Bosquez later returned with another woman, Silvia Soto, and gave her half the money as they picked the child up. She got the rest two weeks later when they brought Camila home.

"They showed me a poster that showed my girl with other babies and said 'No To Abortion, Yes To Life,'" said Zepeda, a petite teenager cleaning her house to loud norteno music. "I thought it was legal because everything seemed very normal."

Before long, the message spread to her neighbors. Seven other women, most between the ages of 15 and 22, agreed to let their babies be part of the ad campaign. Some already had several children. Some were single mothers. Two of them didn't know how to read or write. Five of them told they AP that they did not even have birth certificates for their babies when they came across Bosquez and Soto.

One said she needed money to pay for her child's medical care. All deny agreeing to give their children up for adoption.

But instead of just posing for photographs, Jalisco state investigators say Camila and other babies were left for weeks at a time in the care of Irish couples who had come to Mexico thinking they were adopting the children.

Camila and nine other children have been turned over to state officials who suspect they were being groomed for illegal adoptions. And authorities hint that far more children could be involved: Lead investigator Blanca Barron told reporters the ring may have been operating for 20 years, though she gave no details. Prosecutors also say four of the children show signs of sexual abuse, though they didn't say how or by whom.

Nine people have been detained, including Bosquez and Soto, but no one has yet been charged.

At least 15 Irish citizens have been questioned, the Jalisco state attorney general's office said, but officials have not released their names and their lawyer says all have returned to Ireland after spending weeks or months in Ajijic, a town of cobblestone streets and gated communities 37 miles (60 kilometers) away, trying to meet requirements for adopting a child. None was detained.

In their statement, the Irish couples said they would not comment further because of the ongoing investigation.

The Mexican mothers say that Bosquez and Soto persuaded three of them to register their children as single mothers so they could participate in the anti-abortion campaign, even though they live with the children's fathers.

Children's rights activists say that also could have made it easier to release the child for adoption: only the mother's signature would be needed.

The mothers were assured that the babies were being taken care of by several nannies and checked by doctors. The children often returned home wearing new clothes.

Some of the mothers said they began having second thoughts. But when they declined to send their children back, they say, Bosquez and Soto insisted they would have to pay for the strollers, car seats, diaper bags and everything else they had bought for the babies.

"We're going through a nightmare," said Fernanda Montes, an 18-year-old housewife who said she took part to pay a $670 hospital bill from the birth of her 3-month-old. "How could we have trusted someone so evil?"

The plan began to unravel on Jan. 9, when local police detained 21-year-old Laura Carranza and accused her of trying to sell her 2-year-old daughter.

Investigators said Carranza denied that allegation, but acknowledged she was "renting" her 8-month-old son. She then led authorities to Bosquez and Soto.

Both are now being held on suspicion they ran the alleged anti-abortion ad campaign as a front for an illegal adoption ring. It was not clear if they have attorneys and they have not yet been brought before a judge to say if they accept or reject the allegations.

Carranza is also being held, as is Karla's mother, Cecilia Velazquez, who hasn't worked since she lost both legs in a traffic accident in 2010. Karla says her mother's only fault was agreeing to the ad campaign.

Seven of the mothers interviewed told the AP that the children had most recently been picked up by Bosquez and Soto between Dec. 27 and Dec. 30 for an alleged photo shoot. They returned the babies on Jan. 9 and 10, saying "there had been problems." The mothers said they didn't notice anything wrong with the babies or any signs of abuse.

Then state police investigators showed up at their homes and drove them and their children to the police department for questioning. The babies were taken from them and put into state protective custody. The women complained that only four of them have been allowed to see their babies since, and only once.

A statement from Jalisco state prosecutors' said authorities seized Carranza's two children from her and the other seven while they were with the Irish couples. Prosecutors didn't respond to requests by the AP to clarify the discrepancy.

Residents of Ajijic, a town on the shore of Lake Chapala favored by American and Canadian retirees, say Irish citizens looking to adopt Mexican children began appearing there at least four years ago.

Jalisco state prosecutors' spokesman Lino Gonzalez said none of the Irish had been charged with a crime.

Even if they had adopted the children, Ireland might not have accepted them because the adoptions were handled privately, said Frances FitzGerald, Ireland's minister for children.

"Obviously, for any couple caught up in this, it's a nightmare scenario," she said.

"What you can't have in Mexico is people going to local agencies or individuals doing private adoptions because when they come back, there is going to be a difficulty."

Prosecutors say they have been trying without success to reach the attorneys who were handling the adoption paperwork in the neighboring state of Colima.

Custody release statements signed by all of the mothers carry the logo of Lopez y Lopez Asociados, a firm owned by Carlos Lopez Valenzuela and his son, Carlos Lopez Castellanos. Authorities raided their home last week.

The release statements were shown to the AP by a local advocate for missing and stolen children, Juan Manuel Estrada of Fundacion FIND, who said they had been leaked to him by a state official. He said Lopez Valenzuela had separately sent him a lengthy statement by email declaring that he too may have been duped in the case and denying wrongdoing.

Prosecutors wouldn't confirm the authenticity of his statement to Fundacion FIND, but it mirrors the stories of seven mothers who were interviewed by the AP.

Lopez didn't respond to emailed interview requests from the AP.

The Irish couples told authorities they found Lopez Valenzuela through a website advertising his services, according to their lawyer, Carlos Montoya.

He said they were charged $6,000 for the search for a baby, $13,600 to gain final custody and $5,000 in legal fees, as well as the biological mother's supposed prenatal care, hospital care and nanny services.

The babies stayed with the couples in Ajijic for weeks at a time. Several of the couples had adopted Mexican children in the past with Lopez Valenzuela and hadn't had any problems, he said.

"They are innocent people who were swindled by the lawyer managing the adoptions," he said.

They all returned to Ireland last week on his advice, he said.

___

Associated Press writer Shawn Pogatchnik in Dublin contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_mexico_child_trafficking

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Sonnen vs. Bisping is for title shot, but Chael says Silva will never fight him

Dana White released his first video blog for the card on FX today. One interesting scene includes the UFC president dealing with the withdrawal of Mark Munoz from the UFC on Fox 2 card. White is getting ready to release news of the new Chael Sonnen-Michael Bising fight and says the winner will get a title shot against the currently sidelined UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva.

White must know something Sonnen doesn't because the outspoken contender sounds pretty sure he'll never face Silva.

"I'm not going to fight Anderson either way. They can say whatever they want. Anderson is never going to do that fight," Sonnen told "The MMA Insiders" show last week on Las Vegas' ESPN1100/98.9 FM. "I hope he's healthy and has a good life, but I'm not buying into this mythical world that Anderson is going to some day sign a contract to fight me."

During today's UFC on Fox 2 conference call, Sonnen reiterated his theory and said Silva turned down the fight to their boss' face.

"He even said no to (UFC executive) Lorenzo Fertitta's face. Face-to-face, not over the phone ? Lorenzo brought him out, sat him down, and said, 'This is the fight we want.' And Anderson said no," said Sonnen.

Sonnen knows management isn't pleased and questions the severity of Silva's back and shoulder injuries.

"They're not happy about it. The message to Anderson was this ' Chael is the opponent for you. You can fight him or you can't fight nobody. He elected to fight nobody,'" said Sonnen. "Dan Henderson said it perfectly, if the right opponent comes up, all of Anderson's injuries will go away."

Silva's next opponent will be known next Saturday night. A date and location is completely up in the air until Silva announces when he can officially return.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/sonnen-vs-bisping-title-shot-chael-says-silva-231128840.html

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iVoices On the Issues: Gay Marriage

iVoice Stephanie Stearns Dulli gets fired up about the subject of gay rights and longs for the day when Democrats and Republicans agree to give gay people the same rights as straight men and women.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/ivoices-issues-gay-marriage/1-h-420780?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aivoices-issues-gay-marriage-420780

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Dominant Serena into 4th round at Australian Open

Serena Williams of the United States plays a shot against Hungary's Greta Arn on her way to winning their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Serena Williams of the United States plays a shot against Hungary's Greta Arn on her way to winning their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Serena Williams of the United States plays a shot against Hungary's Greta Arn on her way to winning their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Serena Williams of the United States, runs to plays a shot against Hungary's Greta Arn on her way to winning their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Serena Williams of the United States, left, shakes hands with Hungary's Greta Arn after winning their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/Andrew Brownbill)

Serena Williams of the US reacts after winning a point against Hungary's Greta Arn during their third round match at the Australian Open tennis championship, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. (AP Photo/John Donegan)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) ? Just before she walked on court, Greta Arn said she was looking forward to the "privilege" of playing her first match against Serena Williams.

Some privilege.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion overpowered Arn 6-1, 6-1 in 59 minutes Saturday for her 17th straight win at the Australian Open.

The mismatch was so great that the crowd was muted, rousing themselves only when Arn won her two games and when Williams completed her third-round victory.

Arn double-faulted twice to end the match. As the players shook hands at the net, Williams looked briefly taken back and smiled.

"I told her it was an honor to play against you," the 32-year-old Arn said. "And she told me, 'Oh, you are so sweet.' I'm a big fan of hers. She's the real No. 1."

Williams, who racked up her 501st career match win, is hoping to become the second woman over age 30 to win the Australian title in the Open era.

"It makes me feel really good," she said of her Hungarian opponent's remarks. "I'm really proud of the work that I've been doing for so many years, all the hard work."

Vania King's loss to Ana Ivanovic left Williams as the only American player left in either singles draw. John Isner lost Friday, the last American man to exit.

Coming off an injury-ravaged 18 months, Williams is seeded 12th in Melbourne. She hasn't held the top ranking since 2010, the year she won the last of her Grand Slam titles.

On Saturday, she spoke expansively about her off-court activities: She's taking courses in kinesiology and management and preparing for an appearance in a "pretty big" TV show.

Arn says "everybody knows" if Williams hits top form she will win the Australian Open, where she hasn't lost since 2008. She won back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010 and was unable to defend her title last year while she recovered from two foot surgeries.

Because of her ranking, Williams can't take the No. 1 spot with a win at Melbourne. However, No. 2 Petra Kvitova, No. 3 Victoria Azarenka and No. 4 Maria Sharapova could walk away with the top ranking if they win the tournament.

Azarenka was an early winner on Sunday, beating Iveta Benesova 6-2, 6-2 to become the first player to reach the quarterfinals.

Next up for Williams is unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova. After that, things are likely to get a lot tougher. Sharapova is a potential quarterfinal opponent, and Wimbledon champion Kvitova may await in the semifinals.

"I'm nowhere near where I want to be," said Williams, who came into the tournament nursing a sprained left ankle. "I'm just trying to play through it. A little rusty, just trying to play through my rust."

Sharapova and Kvitova joined Williams in advancing to the fourth round on Saturday. Between the three of them, they lost six games.

Kvitova was leading 6-0, 1-0 when Russian opponent Maria Kirilenko retired. Sharapova, who won her first two matches 6-0, 6-1, was tested for the first time and still came out with a 6-1, 6-2 win over U.S. Open semifinalist Angelique Kerber.

Like Williams, Sharapova came into the tournament short of matches. The three-time Grand Slam champion hurt her left ankle late last season and didn't play a tuneup event before the Australian Open.

"Whether it's a Grand Slam or anywhere else in the world, if you're committed to playing that tournament you have to be ready from the first match," Sharapova said.

It was a day of lopsided scorelines on Rod Laver Arena.

No. 1-ranked Novak Djokovic routed Nicolas Mahut 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes to give the Frenchman a lousy 30th birthday present.

Mahut, who lost the longest Grand Slam match in history at 11 hours, 5 minutes at Wimbledon in 2010, was hampered by a left leg injury, but said he played because the previous matches on Rod Laver Arena were over so quickly.

"I wish him happy birthday and hopefully tonight he can enjoy it," Djokovic said.

The defending champion has won 24 straight sets at the Australian Open, and has lost 10 games in his first three matches this time.

"I always played well in Australia. This is the only Grand Slam I won twice," he said. "The conditions are great. They're very suitable to my style of the game, day and night. I'm really looking forward to next week."

Djokovic likely gets an evening slot for his fourth-round match against Lleyton Hewitt. The 30-year-old Australian downed promising Canadian Milos Raonic 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 in Saturday's final match of the day before a raucous home crowd.

Playing in his 16th straight Australian Open, Hewitt needed three match points in the final game to close out the win and become the first wild card entry to reach the fourth round in Melbourne since Mats Wilander in 1994.

"It's just a game," Hewitt said. "But it's a bloody big game."

No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal and No. 3 Roger Federer are back on court in a Sunday schedule that features a repeat of the 2011 women's final between Kim Clijsters and Li Na. Federer is up against Australian teenager Bernard Tomic. Nadal faces fellow Spaniard Felicano Lopez.

No. 4-ranked Andy Murray, beaten in the last two Australian finals, brushed aside Michael Llodra 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 Saturday to leave France with two players in the draw, having started the day with six.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga was the other Frenchman to advance. The 2008 finalist beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

He will play Kei Nishikori, the first Japanese man to reach the fourth round in Melbourne in the Open era. Mikhail Kukushkin, who beat an ailing Gael Monfils in five sets, will be the first man from Kazakhstan to play a round of 16 match at a Grand Slam when he faces Murray.

Williams is frequently the only American left in a tournament, and it doesn't bother her.

"I really don't think when I go out there that I'm the last American," she said. "I just think I'm trying to come in here and win this match, play this girl. That's all I really think about."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-21-TEN-Australian-Open/id-7d8bb05712454befb73eae90033b7516

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Mourinho's 'woeful Barca loss

By PAUL LOGOTHETIS

AP Sports Writer

Associated Press Sports

updated 8:41 a.m. ET Jan. 19, 2012

MADRID (AP) -Another loss to Barcelona has piled pressure on Jose Mourinho, with support for the Real Madrid coach ebbing after another ill-tempered and ineffective display against its biggest rival summed up by Pepe's ugly stamp on Lionel Messi's hand.

Barcelona rallied for a 2-1 Copa del Rey victory on Wednesday for its 10th victory in 13 games, and sixth win against Madrid since the Portuguese coach took over in 2010.

Mourinho's defensive tactics and use of centerback Pepe in midfield did little to stop Barcelona's attack, while his aggressive approach and lack of offensive inspiration drew jeers from the Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Even daily sports paper Marca, a staunch Madrid supporter, labeled Madrid's performance "woeful" and Pepe's stamp on Messi "repugnant."

"Madrid has thrown its entire history overboard by electing this woeful style, which did not produce a single benefit," Marca columnist Santi Segurola wrote. "(Pepe's) presence in midfield represented a minuscule, almost nothing, Madrid that disappointed because Spanish football remembers a lot of (Madrid) teams with less talent that made it more difficult for Barcelona.

"This team has bought the best players the market has to offer - what for? To play like an insignificant, distasteful team."

Mourinho surprised by sticking with a defensive game plan that had failed before against Barcelona, with Ricardo Carvalho and Hamit Altintop starting in defense and Madrid's focus of disrupting Barcelona's midfield creativity led by Pepe, who came under heavy criticism from the Spanish press, with Marca calling his stamp "unacceptable."

Pepe's actions were not surprising. The Portugal defender was red carded for a tackle on Barcelona's Daniel Alves in their Champions League semifinal in April, and he was also banned for 10 games in April 2009 after lashing out at two Getafe players in a skirmish that included him stamping on the back of Javier Casquero after pushing the player to the ground, unprovoked.

"Pepe always plays fairly," Carvalho said. "Sometimes he plays to the limit but his intention is always to play the ball and to play cleanly."

Pepe's stamp on Messi, who was also violently shoved in the head by Madrid defender Fabio Coentrao during the match, characterized Madrid's inability to deal with Barcelona, as the Catalans held the ball for nearly three-quarters of the match.

"Pepe has trouble managing his aggressiveness. There's a great feeling of impotence in Madrid, which is trying all possible methods and Mourinho probably feels incapable despite all of his history of successes," Juan Carlos Cubeiro, co-author of "Mourinho vs. Guardiola: Two Methods for Achieving the Same Objective," told The Associated Press on Thursday. "Mourinho tried a very intelligent strategy by hoping to strike on the counter. He is intelligent, he knows they can't play with Barca and the only way to success is on the counter."

Cubeiro said Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola's belief in team play and the fact that so many of Barcelona's players came out of its youth academy were behind the highly paid Madrid squad's inability to find a way to beat the Catalans.

"You cannot copy the collective system that Guardiola relies on. Manchester United tried, Santos tried and neither succeeded," said Cubeiro, who echoed a sentiment that is unlikely to ever be adopted by Mourinho. "Madrid play better without Cristiano Ronaldo than with him, they have more options without him, which is quite a paradox" because Mourinho called the Portugal forward his best player on Wednesday night.

Madrid leads defending champion Barcelona by five points in the league, and must first play Athletic Bilbao on Sunday before trying to overturn the first leg result on Wednesday. While Mourinho said Pepe could be punished for the stamp, there is no certainty over whether there will be any consequences to his actions in another Barcelona performance eclipsed by Madrid's transgressions.

"There are people whose job is just that, to review the play. Let's see what they do," Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said on Thursday.

"People just want to watch football, good games, good football. We don't want to talk about bad things like this, because it is bad for Spanish football and we don't really want this."

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Mourinho's 'woeful Barca loss

Another loss to Barcelona has piled pressure on Jose Mourinho, with support for the Real Madrid coach ebbing after another ill-tempered and ineffective display against its biggest rival.

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He's back

David Beckham has re-signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy, agreeing to a new two-year contract with the Major League Soccer club.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45447222/ns/sports-soccer/

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House GOP to push for pipeline despite Obama move (AP)

BALTIMORE ? House Republicans say a fresh push for a 1,700-mile Canada-to-Texas pipeline could be part of a new round of negotiations over extending the payroll tax cut and benefits for the long-term unemployed.

House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman Fred Upton tells reporters the House leadership is looking at every option after President Barack Obama decided this week to block the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline, at least temporarily. The Michigan Republican and other House GOP lawmakers argue that the decision was politically driven and will deny the nation both jobs and a new energy source.

Upton and the lawmakers spoke at the GOP's annual retreat in Baltimore.

A two-month extension of the Social Security tax cut and benefits expires Feb. 29, and negotiators hope to produce a new plan.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_go_co/us_house_republicans_pipeline

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Sophie Gold: The Business of Revenue Models

I am often asked by my clients, "Sophie, how can I work smart vs. working hard and how can I stop going through the feast and famine cycle?" The answer is to structure a lucrative revenue model that doesn't exchange dollar for hours.

When you exchange dollars for hours you will also go through periods of famine. This is because you have a limited stream, that relies on you booking a client, fulfilling the service and then looking for another client.

However, there is a way that you can always be generating revenue. A way that allow you to work smart vs. working hard. A way that allows you to stop exchanging dollars for hours and a way that provides continuous streams of income and regular bulk income.

The way to achieve all of the above is by implementing six basic revenue pillars which are:

1. Residual income
2. High ticket income
3. Leveraged Income
4. Joint Venture income
5. Access income
6. Signature product income

Residual income can be done by offering a membership service to your clients/customers. It doesn't matter if you are a photographer or a salon owner there are ways that you can re-package your products or service to allow you customers/clients to commit to a monthly payment.

I was talking with a spa owner the other week who was confused as to how she could generate residual income from her business. I suggested that she sent out monthly spa products that were used during the spa treatments. This way not only does she get a monthly income, she will also be ''top of mind'' to her customers as they will be using her products on a regular basis.

High ticket income are products or services that roll out the red carpet for your VIP clients. How can you repackage your product and services to make your clients feel special? If you are a coach a high ticket item would be one-on-one access to you, if you are a photographer a high ticket item would be a special finish that you could offer to your clients.

Leveraged income is when you make 2, 3, 5 or 10 times your normally hourly rate. I wrote an article a few months ago in The Huffington Post where I explained how you can make five streams of income from one event. The five are: ticket sales, live stream sales, sales of the manual, creating a home study and selling the audio on iTunes. Events are great to provide leveraged income. Cinemas achieve this every day, they play a movie once and get 100 people at a time to watch this movie.

Joint venture income is achieved when you look within your industry and identify how you can use your strengths to complement another business weakness. A few years ago I was contacted by an author who saw me on Bloomberg who wanted to send he readers to my seminars, because he did not have the capability and know-how to put on his own seminars. This provide thousands of dollars in revenue that I didn't have to do an extra work for. Joint ventures are a must.

Access income are low priced products and services that introduce your ideal customers and clients to your company. Free is great but I see too many business owners offer too much for free. If you give your clients an inch they will take a mile and before you know it you will be out of business. Remember profit is sanity and exposure is vanity. Don't fall in the trap of thinking that if you offer something for free that it is guaranteed that they will buy from you.

Signature product income is a product or service that doesn't change. I see a lot of business owners just launching product after product, service after product. The problem is that between the launch there is nothing that your clients and customers can purchase from you. Having a signature product anchors your business and makes your business know for something. Even though I offer lots of different products and services at different times of the year I am know for my White Space Business Coaching Sessions that provide clarity and creativity in business and revenue models.

By implementing these six pillars your cash flow will also be flowing, you will be able to pay yourself what you are worth, your business will grow faster and you will be much happier.

Until next time remember its your business, your life and your worth so own it!

?

Follow Sophie Gold on Twitter: www.twitter.com/@sophiegold

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sophie-gold/revenue-business_b_1206280.html

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Chris Brown Denies Rihanna Relationship Rumors

'He and Rihanna are just friends,' Brown's rep tells ABC News of hookup rumors.
By Jocelyn Vena

Rihanna and Chris Brown
Photo: Rick Diamond/WireImage

Nearly three years after Chris Brown assaulted then girlfriend Rihanna, rumors have spread that the two have been hooking up for the past year. But Brown's rep has stoutly denied there is any truth to the gossip. "He and Rihanna are just friends," his rep tells ABC News. "He is with his girlfriend, Karrueche, and is not cheating."

Sources told Us Weekly that the former couple "meet up very casually," adding, "She comes to see him anytime she's in L.A." Other sources say that "they can't get enough of each other. I don't see it ending well."

"Rihanna loves to live dangerously," another source added. "And talking to and hooking up with Chris is all part of that." While Brown is speaking out against the report, instead of responding to the rumors, Rihanna has been posting a series of vacation photos on her Twitter. In them, she's seen posing on the beach in her bikini, hanging with her friends on a surfboard and working out on a treadmill.

Rihanna has also been focusing on the positive, which includes another week at the top of the charts for her Calvin Harris-produced track, "We Found Love." She's also set to perform with Coldplay at the Grammy Awards on February 12. She appears on their Mylo Xyloto track, "Princess of China."

"My friends @ColdPlay and I will be sharing the stage for a performance at this years Annual Grammy Awards!" Rihanna tweeted Wednesday night, later adding, "I'm in a great mood, and I got some GREAT NEWS!!! PRINCESS OF CHINA #GRAMMYS2012."

Do you believe the hookup rumors? Sound off below!

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Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677524/chris-brown-rihanna-relationship-rumors.jhtml

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Crucial debt talks resume in Athens

Communist party affiliated protesters block the entrance of the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants building in Athens on Wednesday, Jan. 18 2012. Greece's unions and employers are to start talks on reducing labors costs, but the negotiations were disrupted when protesters from a Communist-backed labor union occupied the central building where the meetings were to take place. The banners read " Hands off Labor Contracts" "Increases in Salaries and Pensions". (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

Communist party affiliated protesters block the entrance of the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants building in Athens on Wednesday, Jan. 18 2012. Greece's unions and employers are to start talks on reducing labors costs, but the negotiations were disrupted when protesters from a Communist-backed labor union occupied the central building where the meetings were to take place. The banners read " Hands off Labor Contracts" "Increases in Salaries and Pensions". (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

Communist party affiliated protesters block the entrance of the General Confederation of Professionals, Craftsmen and Merchants building in Athens on Wednesday, Jan. 18 2012. Greece's unions and employers are to start talks on reducing labors costs, but the negotiations were disrupted when protesters from a Communist-backed labor union occupied the central building where the meetings were to take place. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

Charles Dallara, the head of the Institute of International Finance, which represents Greece's private bondholders, leaves after his meeting with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos, in Athens, on Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012. The Greek government resumed talks with its private creditors in Athens on Wednesday in the hope of sealing a debt relief deal needed to avoid a disastrous default this spring. (AP Photo/Kostas Tsironis)

ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? The Greek government resumed stalled talks with its private creditors in Athens on Wednesday in the hope of sealing a euro100 billion ($128 billion) debt relief deal needed to avoid a disastrous default this spring.

Charles Dallara, a top official at the Institute of International Finance, a global banking association, returned to Greece after negotiations stalled last week, and held a nearly three-hour meeting with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos and Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos.

"A very crucial meeting, that lasted several hours, has just finished at the prime minister's office," Venizelos told Parliament shortly afterward. "The meetings between the Greek government and the IIF have resumed and they will continue (Thursday)."

Earlier, he said the talks "are without a doubt at a very sensitive stage."

The so-called private sector involvement, or PSI, deal is meant to write off half of the debt Greece owes private bondholders. Creditors would get most of the remaining debt in new bonds with extended repayment periods, as well as a cash payment.

"We want this (deal) to happen in a way that is safe for Greece ? with Greece in the eurozone ? and safe for the real economy and the financial system," Venizelos said.

Since May 2010, Greece has kept solvent with rescue loans from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. In the event of bankruptcy, Greece would likely have to abandon the euro and revert to a devalued currency. Since the country imports more than it exports, the costs of fuel and basic consumer goods would skyrocket, further frustrating a population angered by two years of harsh austerity.

The PSI talks have mainly been held up by a disagreement on interest rates for the new bonds.

"The interest rate on the new loans is a key issue here," Dallara told CNN before Wednesday's meeting. "Some seem to have a view that we should actually extend the loans at interest rates even lower than what the IMF and (the Europeans) extend their loans at, and there's not much logic in that in our viewpoint."

Dallara urged the EU to make clear that a similar deal would not apply to other troubled eurozone countries. "Greece really is a unique situation," he said.

A Greek government official said Athens is still considering whether to impose so-called collective action clauses on its bonds. Such clauses could force private debt holders resisting a settlement to fall in line with the majority if an agreement is reached. The official asked not to be identified, citing the sensitive nature of the talks.

A second government official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said Athens estimates there could be an agreement by the end of the week.

Greece needs to clinch the deal quickly to qualify for more bailout loans before it faces a euro14.5 billion ($18.6 billion) bond repayment on March 20. The bond swap is a key part a new euro130 billion ($166 billion) bailout package in loans and bank support from international rescue creditors.

Recession-bound Greece needs to write off some of its borrowings, if it is to have a fighting chance of emerging from its debt hole.

It has so far relied on austerity measures, which were a condition for it to receive the emergency loans. The Greek government has cut pensions and salaries, raised taxes and sold some state property.

Yanis Varoufakis, a professor of economics at the University of Athens, argued that even with a debt deal Greece could do little to eventually avoid default.

"Let the truth be revealed. Let's have a default because Greece is insolvent and insolvent entities have to default. It's a law of nature and of society and of reason, and we should simply succumb to that," Varoufakis told AP Television.

"If European leaders are worried about the effect this will have on banks, they might as well recapitalize them, not continue to drip-feed the Greek state," he said.

Dallara, the Institute of International Finance official, said that if Greece is forced to default, it will be messy. "I personally believe that there is no such thing as an orderly default for Greece," he told CNN. "If there is a default, it is likely to be very disorderly."

As austerity measures have cut deeply into incomes and unemployment has risen, unions have held frequent strikes and protests over the past two years.

Unions and employers were to start talks on Wednesday on reducing labors costs, but the negotiations were disrupted when protesters from a Communist-backed labor union occupied the central building where the meetings were to take place.

EU-IMF debt inspectors are back in Athens this week to monitor progress of those reforms aimed at slashing the country's high budget deficits.

__

Derek Gatopoulos and Theodora Tongas in Athens contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-18-EU-Greece-Financial-Crisis/id-7992acd5b3ae4c79b2fb2636df48f9ec

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EBay reports higher 4Q earnings, revenue

FILE - In this April 22, 2011 file photo, two pedestrians pass eBay headquarters in San Jose, Calif. EBay Inc. reports quarterly financial results Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, after the market close. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

FILE - In this April 22, 2011 file photo, two pedestrians pass eBay headquarters in San Jose, Calif. EBay Inc. reports quarterly financial results Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012, after the market close. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? EBay reported on Wednesday that its net income grew sharply in the fourth quarter, helped by a gain from the sale of its remaining investment in Skype. Its results beat Wall Street's expectations, thanks to strong holiday sales at its namesake website and growth at PayPal, its online payments business.

Investors sent eBay's stock higher in after-hours trading. Though the company gave a first-quarter outlook that was shy of analysts' estimates, its guidance for the full year was stronger than expected, suggesting stronger momentum later in 2012.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO John Donahoe called 2011 an "inflection point for shopping."

"For consumers and retailers we intend to make shopping more locally convenient and more globally accessible," he said. "This means enabling retailers of all sizes to reach consumers when, where and how those consumers want to shop."

EBay's long-term plan is to transform into a commerce company that melds the online and offline shopping worlds. As part of this effort, it has been expanding PayPal's reach beyond the Web, to mobile devices and tablets. The company is also testing a service that will let people use their PayPal accounts to shop in brick-and-mortar stores, though the program is still in the early stages.

The company earned $1.98 billion, or $1.51 per share, in the October-December quarter. That's up from $559 million, or 42 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier. Excluding special items such as the Skype gain, eBay Inc. says it earned 60 cents per share in the latest quarter, above the 57 cents that analysts were expecting.

Revenue grew 35 percent to $3.38 billion from $2.5 billion.

On average, analysts polled by FactSet expected revenue of $3.32 billion.

The e-commerce and online payments company said its PayPal business continued to grow, ending the quarter with more than 106 million active accounts. That's up 13 percent from a year earlier. Revenue jumped 28 percent to $1.24 billion and the business processed $33.4 billion worth of payments during the quarter. That's up 24 percent from a year earlier.

As more people used their smartphones and tablets to buy things online, payments made through mobile devices accounted for $4 billion of the total payments processed through PayPal ? a more than fivefold increase from the prior year.

The company's marketplaces business, which includes eBay.com and other e-commerce sites and businesses, saw its revenue grow 16 percent to $1.77 billion.

EBay's outlook for the current quarter fell shy of expectations. The company expects adjusted first-quarter earnings of 50 cents to 51 cents per share on revenue of $3.05 billion to $3.15 billion. Analysts are predicting earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $3.16 billion.

For all of 2012, the company is forecasting adjusted earnings of $2.25 to $2.30 per share on revenue of $13.7 to $14 billion. Analysts are expecting $2 per share in earnings and $11.59 billion in revenue.

The San Jose, California-based company's stock climbed 60 cents, or 2 percent, to $30.94 in after-hours trading after closing down 19 cents at $30.34.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-18-Earns-EBay/id-7104475c7e844b0e9d4a70b2d4601d5a

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Inquest opens into death of Zimbabwe general (AP)

HARARE, Zimbabwe ? Forensic investigations have found no evidence that explosives or inflammable liquids were used in the house-fire death of a powerful general whose family believes he may have been murdered, Zimbabwean state attorneys said Monday.

Retired Gen. Solomon Mujuru, the husband of Vice President Joice Mujuru, was burned beyond recognition in a bedroom fire at his farmhouse outside Harare last year.

Opening the inquest in Harare, state attorney Clemence Chimbari said DNA tests had proved the remains were Mujuru's. Other samples from the scene were tested by forensic experts in South Africa.

For the first time at a state funeral, the general's coffin was sealed and mourners could not participate in the traditional viewing of the remains.

Mujuru's death intensified infighting in the party of President Robert Mugabe, where the general was a powerful figure who used his military, political and business connections to promote his wife's battle for supremacy.

Chimbari said the state power utility will testify that an electrical fault did not cause the fire.

First reports said a candle may have tilted over accidentally during a power outage, a common event in Zimbabwe. But the intensity of the blaze that virtually cremated the general's body led to accusations that gasoline, chemicals or explosive devices may have been used.

Joice Mujuru attended the opening of the inquest dressed in black. She has hired private attorneys to question witnesses called by the state and to examine forensic reports. Soon after Mujuru's death at age 66, she told mourners she could not understand why the former army commander and veteran guerrilla leader did not escape from the fire which left parts of the house and some furniture intact.

The farmhouse of brick and stone has a fire-resistant roof and large windows and exit doors.

A security guard at the property, Clement Runhare, said Monday he heard what sounded like gunfire two hours before he was alerted that a fire had broken out. He said he thought poachers nearby were responsible.

He said the general drove through the entrance gate to the farm with a passenger in his car who he could not identify. No other human remains were found after farm workers and neighbors converged on the house to try and put out the flames.

He said a police protection detail did not have mobile phones to call the fire department and their police radio was broken.

On his way home to the farm 60 kilometers (35 miles) southwest of Harare on Aug. 15, Mujuru stopped at a local hotel bar and drank at least two double whiskies, hotel patron Tongai Chimuka told presiding magistrate Walter Chikwanha. Widely known as a heavy drinker, the general was "in a jovial mood and was not drunk," Chimuka said.

More than 40 witnesses have been summoned to testify at the hearing expected to last at least a week and rule later on whether Mujuru's death was accidental.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_re_af/af_zimbabwe_general_s_death

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Hanlon Presents Offshore Investments in U.S. Equity and Debt Markets and U.S. Tax Evasion Today at NYU

? More on Mitt Romney's Inevitable Disclosure of His Tax Returns | Main | Call for Papers: Critical Tax Theory Conference ?

January 17, 2012

Hanlon Presents Offshore Investments in U.S. Equity and Debt Markets and U.S. Tax Evasion Today at NYU

Michelle Hanlon (MIT Sloan School of Management) presents "Taking the Long Way Home: Offshore Investments in U.S. Equity and Debt Markets and U.S. Tax Evasion" at?NYU today as part of its Colloquium Series on Tax Policy and Public Finance?convened by?Daniel Shaviro?(NYU):

We empirically examine a form of offshore tax evasion in which U.S. individuals hide funds in entities located in offshore tax havens and then invest those funds in U.S. equity and debt securities. While their true nature is hidden from the authorities, such investments are reflected in foreign portfolio investment data routinely gathered by the Federal Reserve. We identify the tax evasion component in these data by examining how foreign portfolio investment varies with changes in the incentives to evade and the risks of detection. We find that foreign portfolio investment from tax haven countries is increasing in the U.S. tax rate, which reflects the incentive to evade, and decreasing in detection and enforcement efforts, our proxy for the expected risk of being caught. Both of these results are consistent with a portion of portfolio investment from haven countries being made by U.S. tax evaders and not from ?true? foreign investors. To our knowledge, this is the first empirical evidence of investor-level tax evasion affecting cross-border investment in equity and debt markets. In addition, our results suggest that estimates of home bias may themselves be biased.

January 17, 2012 in Colloquia, Scholarship, Tax | Permalink

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Remembered in Octavia Spencer's Globes Acceptance Speech (omg!)

On what would have been Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 83rd birthday, first-time Golden Globe winner Octavia Spencer paid tribute to the late civil rights leader in her Sunday acceptance speech.

Earning the Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe for her role as maid Minnie Jackson in The Help, the mega-smash 1960s-set film that exposed race relations in Montgomery, Ala., Spencer was quick to thank Dr. King.

PHOTOS: What the stars wore to this year's Golden Globes

"With regard to domestics in this country, now and then, I think Dr. King said it best: 'All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance.' And I thank you for recognizing that with our film," an emotional Spencer, 39, said.

Though the characters in the film are fictional, "they represent scores of real people. [The Help's] narrative itself is part of our fabric," she told reporters backstage. "It's important to keep the younger generation abreast of how far we've come, because this is really foreign to them."

PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2012 party pics

Personifying the tough-talking maid depicted in Kathryn Stockett's bestselling 2009 novel, Spencer was applauded by domestic workers nationwide for her positive portrayal.

"Domestic workers around the country watched with pride tonight. After generations of exclusion and invisibility, we are so grateful to Octavia for helping bring recognition and light to this workforce," Ai-jen Poo, the co-founder and director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance told Us Weekly in a statement Monday. "And we're thankful for all of the performances in The Help that gave life and dignity to domestic workers stories."

PHOTOS: Hollywood's new breakout stars

"We have a dream that one day all work will be valued equally," the statement continued. "Together we can be 'the help' needed to bring respect to domestic work."

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_martin_luther_king_jr_remembered_octavia_spencers_globes195000680/44198331/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/martin-luther-king-jr-remembered-octavia-spencers-globes-195000680.html

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Microblogging use in China quadruples in 2011: report (Reuters)

SHANGHAI (Reuters) ? Use of microblogging in China quadrupled in 2011 compared with the previous year, with nearly half of all Chinese Internet users now taking to the near-instant service to gather news and spread views, a government Internet think tank said Monday.

Microblogging, or "Weibo" as it is known in China, allows users to send short messages of 140 characters or less to their followers. Twitter, the most popular microblogging platform in the world, is blocked by China's censors.

Sina Corp and Tencent Holdings both run popular Weibo platforms in China, both firms claim to have more than 200 million users.

Last year was a watershed year for Weibo with major events such as the Wenzhou high-speed train crash in July fuelling intense discussion on the platform.

The vibrant discussion and rapid dissemination of information on Weibo caused hand-wringing within the Communist Party, which fears that losing control of information and opinion could threaten its authority.

In December, city governments announced rules to regulate microblogging operators, requiring new users to register with their real names.

The total number of Weibo users rose 296 percent to 249.9 million in 2011, data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) showed, meaning nearly half of the Chinese Internet population used Weibo.

CNNIC said in its report that by the end of December, there were 513 million Internet users in China, representing an Internet penetration rate of 38.3 percent. (http://www.cnnic.cn/research/ttdt/201201/W020120116374539281086

.pdf) Another spot of high-growth in the Internet sector was the group-buying industry that saw a 244.8 percent user growth in 2011, bringing the total to 64.7 million users at the end of December.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/wr_nm/us_china_internet

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Guantanamo Bay May Still Be 2012 Political Issue (ContributorNetwork)

Guantanamo Bay Naval Station began taking prisoners of war 10 years ago on Jan. 11, 2002. Prisoners in the war on terror were transported to the naval base from Afghanistan once American forces invaded the country to bring alleged terrorists to justice. Time magazine reports there are still prisoners on the base, two years after President Barack Obama vowed to shut it down.

Here's a look at the naval base, 10 years ago and now.

Base Premises

The U.S. military began housing ships and sailors at the base in 1903. The base sits on 45 square miles of land and sea and was originally used as a coal refueling station for the U.S. fleet. Today, it is used a launching point for ships into the Caribbean to provide support of U.S. interests including immigration.

Sailors stationed at the base were kidnapped June 27, 1958, as part of the Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro. They were released 22 days later. Ever since, the base has been a vital part of the U.S. presence in Cuba since there are no diplomatic relations with the country.

Prisoners of War

President George W. Bush ordered the first 20 detainees to the base after their capture in Afghanistan during the war on terror. The move was controversial. The United States had to find a way to detain enemy combatants in U.S. facilities without labeling them as prisoners who would be subject to due process under American law. Plus there were international issues of which countries may take the prisoners back.

The population of prison maxed out at 800 about two years after the war began. Journalists seeking entry into the prison were heavily monitored. When more prisoners were delivered, a prison camp turned into a full-service detention facility with isolation rooms for each prisoner kept there.

Current Status

When President Obama took office, he issued an executive order to begin an immediate review of all detainees at Guantanamo Bay. It was a step towards fulfilling a campaign promise Obama made in the lead up to the election in 2008. That order was made Jan. 22, 2009, just two days after officially taking office.

As of the 10th anniversary, there are still 171 prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay Naval Station. Only 36 are awaiting trial for war crimes. Many of the others there are still being detained by order of Congress. Still others are unable to go to their home countries due to upheavals in government overseas.

When the prison will close, no one can say for certain. Despite a change in administration and the conclusion of the war in Iraq, the prison facility at Guantanamo Bay is still in operation.

William Browning is a research librarian specializing in U.S. politics. Born in St. Louis, Browning is active in local politics and served as a campaign volunteer for President Barack Obama and Missouri Sen. Claire McCaskill.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120112/pl_ac/10824697_guantanamo_bay_may_still_be_2012_political_issue

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