Kourtney, Khloe and Kim: Topless for Kardashian Kollection!

Are you sure you don't want to hit this, Tim Tebow?

In a new ad for the denim jeans of their Kardashian Kollection, sisters Kim, Kourtney and Khloe "go natural," as the former writers on her blog, adding: "I think it's such a beautiful shot and Khloe and Kourtney both look so stunning!"

This line of jeans - available at Sears - "will hug your curves and compliment your figure while remaining affordable and comfortable to wear," reads a press release.

No word yet on whether or not you must return the item within 72 days of purchase.

Study the topless figures above now and decide:

Which Kardashian sister would you rather Ray J?

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2012/01/kourtney-khloe-and-kim-topess-for-kardashian-kollection/

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Mexicans overcharged billions for phone, web: study (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) ? Mexicans have been overcharged $13.4 billion a year for phone and internet services as the industry dominated by billionaire Carlos Slim gouges customers and keeps the economy from growing, a study released on Monday said.

Mexico, the second-largest economy in Latin America, cannot reach its growth potential until the cost of phone and internet access comes down and more people have easy access to telecom services, the report from the Organization for Co-operation and Development said.

From 2005 to 2009, Mexican consumers paid $13.4 billion a year excess for phone and internet services, with high fees disproportionately hitting the poor, according to the report. In total, overcharging cost the economy $129 billion over the five-year period, the report found, nearly 2 percent of the country's economic output.

"Inefficient telecommunication markets impose a significant cost on the Mexican economy and the welfare of its population," according to the report that reviewed the country's telecom sector.

Mexican home phone service is dominated by Slim's Telefonos de Mexico, or Telmex, which provides about 80 percent of services while the billionaire controls about 70 percent of the cellphone market through his America Movil.

"This is a critical study...that exposes the weakness of the telecommunications sector in Mexico," Dionisio Perez-Jacome, minister of Communications and Transport, said at a press event accepting the report.

The report found Mexico had the lowest per capita public investment in telecommunications in the 34-member OECD, while Slim's Telmex had very high profit margins compared to other countries.

In 2008, Telmex had a profit margin of 47 percent, while the average for countries including Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States was 28 percent.

A Slim spokesman declined to comment on the findings of customers being overcharged, but pointed to other reports that Mexico enjoys a relatively-affordable broadband base.

The report found broadband internet speeds are low compared to the OECD average and comparatively expensive, while a three-minute call from a cellphone to a local phone would cost a Mexican travelling in another OECD country $8.65, compared to the OECD average of $6.76.

It suggested that Mexico eliminate restrictions on foreign investment in the telecom sector and cut judicial red tape that lets the telecom industry stall new rules, fines and restrictions.

Mexico's President Felipe Calderon, at a separate event, said that his government planned to auction strands of fiber optic cable that would increase broadband service across the country.

Mexico's cable giant, Megacable, is in a partnership with cellphone company Telefonica and television giant Televisa to share one fiber optic project that should deliver more high-speed internet and telecom services.

(Reporting by Patrick Rucker and Krista Hughes; Editing by Gary Hill and Matt Driskill)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/tc_nm/us_mexico_phone

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African Union fails to elect new chief (Reuters)

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) ? The African Union failed to elect a new head on Monday, highlighting the weakness of a group criticized for slow decision-making during political turmoil on the continent last year.

Former South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was up against incumbent commission chairman Jean Ping of Gabon, who failed to win an outright majority in four rounds of voting.

The commission is the AU secretariat's top organ and the chair its public face.

Smaller countries said Zuma's candidacy broke an unwritten rule that the continent's dominant states do not contest the leadership. "South Africa's decision to do so turns everything upside down," a West African delegate said.

"You could say they may have not voted for Ping but the smaller countries are skeptical of the big countries," he said.

Analysts said Ping's attempts to juggle the diverse views of its 54 members had hampered decision-making on Libya after the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi.

"The weakness that Jean Ping had was not being forthcoming in putting his own opinion... the commission is a bureaucracy and it doesn't have its own position but that of member states," Mahari Taddele Maru, an African Union analyst at International Security Studies said.

The AU recognized the National Transitional Council as Libya's de facto government long after most European nations, the U.S. and Nigeria. A Libyan delegate, describing the AU as "indecisive up to the last moment," said the commission should be given more authority.

A member of the AU's communications team said after hours of deliberation in the new Chinese-built AU headquarters in the Ethiopian capital that Ping had won 32 votes in the last round, four short of the number needed for a majority.

The African Union has not yet made an official announcement.

SOUTH AFRICAN ROLE

South Africa, which has complained the United Nations needs to pay more attention to the pan-African body, especially when it comes to African crises, had pushed Zuma's candidacy hard, saying the AU needed the strong leadership she could give it.

"The incumbent could not win a two-thirds majority after four rounds so this is very very clear, that leaders of this continent want change and they want it now," said South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane.

She said the rules dictated that the deputy chairman, Kenya's Erastus Mwencha, would become interim chair until the next round of elections that would probably take place in six months at the next summit in Malawi.

South African President Jacob Zuma's failure to secure a majority for Dlamini-Zuma, his ex-wife, after Ping's much criticized tenure dealt a blow to South Africa, which regards itself as an emerging power championing African causes, but is seen by some other states as a step behind global affairs.

Envoys at climate talks in Durban last year criticized the largest economy in Africa for failing to get delegates to agree on a deal before two weeks of talks ended.

Pretoria also blocked a visit by the Dalai Lama to attend the 80th birthday of South African hero Desmond Tutu.

"President Zuma has been criticized for a weak foreign policy on Africa so he had to show his direction. This will be a crisis for him, that his first attempt to come up with a way to repair his policy has been defeated," Maru said.

(Writing by Yara Bayoumy; Editing by Duncan Miriri and Philippa Fletcher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120130/wl_nm/us_africa_union

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Eva M. Clayton: PBM Merger Means More Bad News For Consumers

American consumers, still worried about finding or keeping their jobs and paying their bills in today's troubled economy, could receive another blow if a major health-industry merger is approved.

Early this year, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will decide whether or not to allow pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) Express Scripts, Inc. (ESI) and Medco Health Solutions to merge. For the sake of American patients -- particularly those in lower-income and minority communities -- I sincerely hope the deal is stopped.

Undoubtedly, most Americans today are feeling the effects of our troubled economy in some way or another. This is especially true for the underserved communities that were struggling just to keep up even when our economy was doing well. Education, housing, healthcare and jobs are just a few of the areas where underserved Americans have historically lagged behind. Our economic downturn has only exacerbated these disparities.

For instance, while the overall U.S. unemployment rate dropped for the fourth straight month in December, black unemployment rose again from 15.5 to 15.8 percent overall and from 39.6 to 42.1 among African American teens. Similarly, communities that are traditionally less likely to own their own home are even more likely to have lost their homes as a result of the recession. And finally, nearly 50 million Americans are currently without health insurance - this number includes a disproportionate number of lower-income and minority Americans.

If we are going to get back to full strength, we need to get things moving in a more positive direction. To start, we need to avoid making things worse for those that have been hit the hardest by taking away access to local community pharmacies and increasing prescription prices. And this is what could result from an approved merger between ESI and Medco, two of the nation's largest PBM companies.

PBMs broker prescription drug contracts for employers, unions, health plans and others. They do so largely without regulation and with a lop-sided advantage in negotiations that increases costs to insurers and reduces the reimbursements paid to pharmacies. They squeeze the delivery system at both ends, pushing profits toward the middle. These are multi-billion-dollar companies, which, combined, would control an excessive share of the market - approximately 50 percent - and would be almost twice as big as their nearest competitor.

In recent years, PBMs have used their clout to reduce reimbursement rates to pharmacies for filling prescriptions to levels that are, in some cases, unsustainably low. They have a financial interest in doing so, both because it increases their own profit, and because community pharmacies compete with the mail-order pharmacies run by the PBMs themselves.

An approved merger will give the consolidated-PBM increased power to continue to wield a lopsided advantage in setting contract and reimbursement terms for community pharmacies. Already, Express Scripts has taken an aggressive stance against one of the country's leading community chain pharmacies that is reducing patient choice. If Express Scripts is allowed to merge with Medco, it is very possible that the consolidated PBM will not only continue this bullying behavior, but will use its size and dominance to cause further harm to patients, community-based pharmacies and healthcare outcomes. Many smaller pharmacies would be forced to close their doors due to the increased costs and severely slashed reimbursements that would result.

Pharmacists are front-line health providers, offering many health services in addition to filling prescriptions. If community pharmacies close, neighborhood residents will no longer have convenient access to medications, vaccinations, health screenings and prescription counseling. Restricting access to these services hurts everyone, but low-income and minority communities that already struggle with health-care affordability and accessibility issues, and have lost significant ground economically since the start of the recession, will be hardest hit.

Small and independent pharmacies may not fit into the PBM industry's vision for the future. But community pharmacies and pharmacists are the most affordable and accessible health care provider in many communities -- and underserved communities in particular. Certainly their loss will have an adverse affect on patient care and outcomes.

The potential harm posed by this merger is nationwide - and therefore, the deal should be closely scrutinized and stopped. American patients and consumers can ill-afford the costs (financial and otherwise) that an approved merger would generate.

Eva Clayton, a former member of Congress from North Carolina, is chair of the Preserve Community Pharmacy Access NOW! (PCPAN) coalition.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eva-m-clayton/pbm-merger-means-more-bad_b_1240092.html

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Former Italian president Scalfaro dies at 93 (AP)

ROME ? Oscar Luigi Scalfaro, a past president of Italy who helped write its post-war constitution and was a founding member of the former Christian Democrats, died Sunday in Rome. He was 93.

Italian President Giorgio Napolitano paid tribute to his predecessor as "a protagonist in the democratic political life" and called him an example of "moral integrity."

No cause of death was immediately reported.

Scalfaro held numerous prestigious posts before becoming Italy's ninth postwar president, a position that is largely ceremonial but carries the significant role of moral compass for the country.

As president from 1992-1999, Scalfaro was often called upon to resolve Italy's recurrent political crises, either choosing a new premier or calling early elections. He once called Italy's volatile political situation "pathological."

The National Magistrates Association remembered Scalfaro as a "strenuous defender of constitutional values and the autonomy and independence of the magistrates."

A devout Roman Catholic with a law degree from the Catholic University of Milan, Scalfaro spent the war years working to help imprisoned anti-Fascists and their families.

Then, in 1946, he won a seat in the assembly that wrote the constitution for the Italian Republic, declared in late 1947 after a popular referendum abolished the monarchy.

Scalfaro, a native of the northern city of Novara, was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the republic's first general election in 1948 and remained a deputy until he was elected president in 1992.

He also was one of the founding figures of the former Christian Democrats, for decades Italy's most powerful party until its demise in corruption scandals in the early 1990s.

Scalfaro held junior posts at various ministries through the 1950s and early 1960s. In 1966, he gained his first Cabinet position when Premier Aldo Moro appointed him transportation minister.

In subsequent governments, Scalfaro served two more stints as transport minister and was education minister and interior minister. He was vice president of the Chamber of Deputies from 1976 to 1983.

He became a senator for life after completing his term as president.

He is survived by a daughter, Marianna.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_eu/eu_italy_obit_scalfaro

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Exiting watchdog sees flaws in SEC's rulewriting (Reuters)

WASHINGTON, DC (Reuters) ? In his final act before departing the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, the agency's inspector general, David Kotz, criticized how the agency analyzes the economic impact of some of its Dodd-Frank rules.

Kotz's criticism, contained in a report, could have ramifications for the SEC, which has lost several court battles over the years because of flaws in how it demonstrates that the benefits of a rule outweigh its costs.

"We found that the extent of quantitative discussion of cost-benefit analyses varied among rulemakings," Kotz wrote in his report. "Based on our examination of several Dodd-Frank Act rulemakings, the review found that the SEC sometimes used multiple baselines in its cost-benefit analyses that were ambiguous or internally inconsistent."

Last year, U.S. business groups successfully convinced a federal appeals court to overturn one of the SEC's Dodd-Frank rules that aimed to empower shareholders to more easily nominate directors to corporate boards.

In rejecting the rule, the court said the agency failed to properly weigh the economic consequences.

Some of the business groups, such as the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, have since raised similar concerns with other rulemakings pending before the SEC.

Congress passed the Dodd-Frank act in 2010 to more closely police financial markets and institutions after the 2007-2009 financial crisis. The legislation gives the SEC responsibility to write roughly 100 new rules.

Although the SEC is not subject to an express statutory requirement to conduct a cost-benefit analysis of its rules, other laws do require the agency to consider the effects of its rules on capital formation, competition and efficiency.

In addition, the SEC must also follow federal rulemaking procedures, such as providing the public with an opportunity to comment on its proposals.

This is the second report Kotz has issued looking at the quality of the SEC's cost-benefit analysis.

Both reports were issued after certain members of the Senate Banking Committee, including ranking Republican Richard Shelby, voiced concerns about whether regulators were adequately examining the economic impact of Dodd-Frank rules.

To determine how well the SEC is faring, Kotz's office retained Albert Kyle, a finance professor at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, to help carry out the review.

Friday's report covered a sample of Dodd-Frank rulemakings, including a rule allowing shareholders a non-binding vote on compensation, several asset-backed securities rules and two proposals pertaining to the reporting of security-based swap data.

Kotz's report was critical of the agency in a number of areas.

In one instance, the report cites a memo in which former General Counsel David Becker gave his opinion that the SEC should do thorough cost-benefit analyses on rules that are not explicitly required by Congress.

Rules mandated by Congress, however, generally would not need the same level of cost-benefit research, the memo said.

The report suggested that the agency should reconsider these guidelines, or else it risks "not fulfilling the essential purposes of such analyses."

SEC management, in a written response to the report, disagreed with that point.

"We believe Professor Kyle's opinion fails to appreciate both the practical limitations on the scope of cost-benefit a regulator can conduct, and the distinct roles of Congress and administrative agencies," they said.

"We think it is entirely sensible ... for the staff to focus its attention and the commission's limited resources on matters that the commission has the authority to decide."

Kotz made other recommendations, including using a single consistent baseline in the cost-benefit analysis process and having economists provide more input.

SEC spokesman John Nester declined to comment beyond the SEC comments in the report.

(Reporting By Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Gary Hill)

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

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Nintendo chief promises to do Wii U launch right

Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata speaks during a press conference in Tokyo Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Nintendo, a Japanese video game machine maker, sank to losses for the April-December period, battered by a price cut for its 3DS handheld, a strong yen that erodes overseas earnings and competition from mobile devices such as the iPhone that offer games-on-the-go. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata speaks during a press conference in Tokyo Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Nintendo, a Japanese video game machine maker, sank to losses for the April-December period, battered by a price cut for its 3DS handheld, a strong yen that erodes overseas earnings and competition from mobile devices such as the iPhone that offer games-on-the-go. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata bows at the start of a press conference in Tokyo Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Nintendo, a Japanese video game machine maker, sank to losses for the April-December period, battered by a price cut for its 3DS handheld, a strong yen that erodes overseas earnings and competition from mobile devices such as the iPhone that offer games-on-the-go. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata bows at the start of a press conference in Tokyo Friday, Jan. 27, 2012. Nintendo, a Japanese video game machine maker, sank to losses for the April-December period, battered by a price cut for its 3DS handheld, a strong yen that erodes overseas earnings and competition from mobile devices such as the iPhone that offer games-on-the-go. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO (AP) ? Nintendo's chief is determined to get right the launch of its next game machine, Wii U, set for this year's holiday shopping season, and acknowledged Friday some mistakes with selling its 3DS handheld.

But Nintendo Co. President Satoru Iwata warned earnings for the fiscal year set to begin April will be the toughest ever for the Japanese manufacturer behind the Super Mario and Pokemon games.

Nintendo went against conventional wisdom with the original Wii in 2006. The quirky, cheap game console relied not on high-end graphics and complex buttons to lure in hardcore players, but on simple motion controls to lure in everyone.

Although the company successfully courted casual gamers with the Wii, it is now facing increased competition from Apple Inc.'s iPhone and other devices that offer simple games. It had hoped to win new gamers through a 3-D handheld device. But sales were slow, and Nintendo slashed prices on the 3DS within six months.

Iwata's remarks come a day after it lowered its annual earnings forecast to a 65 billion yen ($844 million) loss, much larger than the 20 billion yen ($260 million) loss projected earlier. It posted a 77.62 billion yen profit the previous fiscal year.

Iwata blamed the strong yen, which erases overseas earnings, as well as the arrival of smartphones and other devices that offer gaming.

The higher yen slashed nearly 54 billion yen ($701 million) from the company's operating profit for the April-December period.

"I can see how the red ink may be perceived as abnormal," Iwata told analysts and reporters at a Tokyo hotel. "The environment has changed."

The failure of the 3DS handheld to take off with enough momentum during the last quarter of 2011 was one of the main reasons for the dismal results, according to Iwata.

The 3DS has gradually started to sell better, but it took a price cut in August. It still lacks a strong lineup of attractive software games, a key factor for a machine to succeed in a big way.

Iwata vowed the company will be better prepared when it introduces the Wii U home console during the 2012 year-end shopping season for a strong comeback.

He declined to give details such as pricing or what the software games available at that time might be.

But he said the Wii U will come with a strong game lineup at the launch as well as secure and safe Internet services that will offer players individual accounts.

The Wii U will come with new ways of playing that will almost make the term "home console" obsolete, Iwata said. It will also offer mobile gaming. The machine has a touch-panel controller.

Nintendo has long competed against rival game makers, such as Sony Corp. and Microsoft Corp. These days, all face the threat from hit devices like the iPad and iPhone from Apple Inc. that also offer games.

Iwata's comments also showed Nintendo is growing less cautious about the Internet, which in the past it had brushed off as mainly for hard-core gamers.

Kyoto-based Nintendo has built its reputation on making games fun to play for casual and newcomer players.

"We are going to put to use our bitter experience with the 3DS," said Iwata.

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama at http://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-27-Japan-Nintendo/id-87e9bafd2897485c8667c1e88f8a5ca1

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Cancer free?

I have stage II OVC and had my 6 month check up since completing chemotheraphy today. My CA 125 score was a 9 and my doctor told me that everything looks good. I was just wondering what is the time frame or what has to happen for you to be considered cancer free?

Source: http://www.inspire.com/groups/ovarian-cancer-national-alliance/discussion/cancer-free-7/

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BeagleBone board boots up XBMC Eden, shows off its media prowess

BeagleBoard isn't letting the Raspberry Pi steal all the glory in the battle for low-cost computing supremacy. The $35 ARM11-based Pi may win on price, but at least the BeagleBone can hold its own in terms of power. After the Model B was demoed pushing XBMC and AirPlay capabilities, some intrepid devs managed to get the second beta of Eden up and running on the ARM A8 dev board. The vid stutters a bit during playback but, overall, it's a respectable performance considering this is a CPU that would get laughed out of most modern smartphones. Head on after the break to see it in action.

Continue reading BeagleBone board boots up XBMC Eden, shows off its media prowess

BeagleBone board boots up XBMC Eden, shows off its media prowess originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jan 2012 18:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/25/beaglebone-board-boots-up-xbmc-eden-shows-off-its-media-prowess/

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AT&T posts 4Q loss on charges; revenue increases

In this Jan. 23, 2012 photo, the AT&T globe logo hangs on an AT&T Wireless store in Hanover, Mass. AT&T Inc. reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, as results were weighed down by hefty charges. But strong smartphone sales led to the best-ever quarter in activations. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

In this Jan. 23, 2012 photo, the AT&T globe logo hangs on an AT&T Wireless store in Hanover, Mass. AT&T Inc. reported a fourth-quarter loss Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, as results were weighed down by hefty charges. But strong smartphone sales led to the best-ever quarter in activations. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

NEW YORK (AP) ? AT&T Inc. is still the home of the iPhone. It activated 7.6 million of them in the latest quarter, accounting for one out of every five iPhones sold globally.

And AT&T remains heavily dependent on the iPhone to gain and keep customers, despite a vow by CEO Randall Stephenson a year ago to "very aggressively" market competing smartphones in 2011. That vow came in the wake AT&T's loss of the exclusive right to sell the iPhone in the U.S.

The iPhone accounted for 81 percent of the smartphones AT&T activated in the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 69 percent just before Stephenson made his vow.

The figures are somewhat skewed because the fourth quarter of 2011 saw the launch of a new iPhone model, the iPhone 4S, whereas the fourth quarter of 2010 didn't. Looking at annual sales instead, there's a small decline in the iPhone's percentage of AT&T smartphones from 2010 to 2011, from 72 percent to 69 percent.

The Dallas company has also retained its position as the premier U.S. iPhone carrier, beating Verizon Wireless' 4.3 million iPhone activations handily.

AT&T's iPhone dependency comes at a heavy cost, since the phone is more expensive than many other smartphones, and AT&T needs to subsidize each iPhone with hundreds of dollars to put it in customers hands for as little as $1.

That, together with massive charges for adjustments in the value of the company's pension plans, the breakup of the deal to buy T-Mobile USA and a writedown of the value of its phone-directory business, forced AT&T to post a massive loss on Thursday of $6.68 billion, or $1.12 per share, for the fourth quarter.

It was the first quarterly loss for AT&T in three years. An adjustment of pension-plan obligations was also the main culprit behind the previous loss, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

Excluding charges, net income was 42 cents per share in the latest quarter, a penny shy of Wall Street expectations, according to a poll by FactSet.

The loss compares with net income of $1.09 billion, or 18 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $32.5 billion, helped by the smartphone sales. Analysts were expecting revenue of $31.99 billion, on average.

In premarket trading Thursday, shares of AT&T Inc. fell 71 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $29.53.

In a welcome move for investors, AT&T is shifting the cash it had hoped to buy T-Mobile with into stock buybacks, saying it will deploy $9 billion into a program that will start immediately.

Most of the iPhone activations were upgrades for people who were already AT&T subscribers. The carrier gained a net 717,000 subscribers on contract plans in the quarter. That was the best result all year, but didn't match Verizon's 1.2 million. AT&T has been lagging Verizon in this important measure for more than a year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-26-Earns-ATandT/id-813e2a86874543d499de6ce49c72d857

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Apple doubles iPhone sales in 1Q (AP)

NEW YORK ? After uncharacteristically tepid sales in the July-to-September quarter, Apple came back with a vengeance in last three months of 2011, vastly exceeding analyst estimates and setting new records.

Apple Inc. on Tuesday said it sold 37 million iPhones in the quarter, double the figure of the previous quarter and more than twice as many as it sold in last year's holiday quarter.

The result may make Apple the world's largest maker of smartphones. Samsung Electronics, which held that position for most of last year, has said it expects to report shipping about 35 million smartphones in the October to December quarter.

October saw the launch of the iPhone 4S, and the addition of Sprint Nextel Corp. as an iPhone carrier in the U.S.

Apple said net income in the fiscal first quarter was $13.06 billion, or $13.87 per share. That was up 118 percent from $6 billion, or $6.43 per share, a year ago.

Analysts polled by FactSet were expecting earnings of $10.04 per share for the latest quarter, Apple's fiscal first.

Revenue was $46.33 billion, up 73 percent from a year ago. Analysts were expecting $38.9 billion.

The Cupertino, Calif., company shipped 15.4 million iPads in the quarter, again more than doubling sales over the same quarter last year.

Apple shares rose $33.03, or 7.9 percent, to $453.53 in extended trading, after the release of the results.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_apple

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GOP race turns to new terrain in Florida (AP)

TAMPA, Fla. ? Florida voters are facing a new political reality as the Republican presidential contest turns their way.

Newt Gingrich's stunning victory in South Carolina on Saturday stopped Mitt Romney's march to his party's presidential nomination. And Florida now becomes a critical test for whether the former Massachusetts governor can regroup and rediscover his dominance in the race to face President Barack Obama in November.

The four remaining candidates will be in the state Monday for the first of two presidential debates this week. They have just nine days to navigate an electorate unlike anything they've faced so far. The state is six times larger than New Hampshire, has almost five times more Hispanics than Iowa, and has a population that's older and more culturally moderate than South Carolina's.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign_florida_s_turn

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Tim Gunn: I haven't had sex in 29 years

By Anna Chan

Craig Sjodin / ABC

"Project Runway" mentor Tim Gunn is a good-looking, stylish guy with tons of charm. But, as he shared on his new ABC daytime lifestyle show "The Revolution" on Tuesday,?he's been celibate for quite awhile.

When therapist and co-host Tiffanie Davis Henry turned the subject to sex and how "15 to?20 percent of people are in no sex and low-sex relationships,"??the style guru dropped his bomb. "I will share with all of you ... I haven't had sex in 29 years," he revealed. "Do I feel like less of a person for it? No!"

The reaction? Stunned silence from the studio audience.

Gunn, who is openly gay, went on toexplain why he's abstained for so long, and basically, it comes down to a bad breakup. "I was in a very?intense relationship for a long time and my partner ended it." Gunn said. "Quite frankly, he was impatient with my ... sexual performance. ... It was at the cusp of AIDS, and I think a lot of people simply retreated because they were concerned about their health. I certainly was. I'm happy to be healthy and alive, quite frankly."

Though he is choosing?to not have sex, Gunn is quite satisfied with how things are. "I'm a perfectly happy, fulfilled individual," he said.

"The Revolution" airs on ABC at 2 p.m. ET and 1 p.m. PT weekdays?on ABC.

Are you surprised that Gunn shared such a personal detail about his life? Tell us what you think on our Facebook page.

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Source: http://theclicker.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/24/10227618-tim-gunn-i-havent-had-sex-in-29-years

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Fed likely to hint of no rate increase before 2014

WASHINGTON (AP) ? It could be quite a while yet before the Federal Reserve starts raising the interest rates it's kept at record lows for three years.

Maybe not before 2014.

That's the thinking of many analysts as the Fed prepares this week to provide more explicit clues about how long short-term rates will likely stay near zero.

Starting when their policy meeting ends Wednesday, Fed members plan to forecast the direction of those rates four times a year. The clearer guidance will accompany the Fed's usual quarterly predictions of growth, unemployment and inflation.

The new hints about rates are part of a Fed drive to make its communications with the public more transparent. The more immediate goal is to assure consumers and investors that they'll be able to borrow cheaply well into the future.

No announcements are expected Wednesday of any further Fed action to try to lift the economy. Most analysts think Fed members want to put off any new steps, such as more bond purchases, to see if the economy can extend the gains it's made in recent months.

That's true even though this year's new roster of voting members on the Fed's policy panel suggests that fewer voters would likely oppose further steps to boost the economy. Twice last year, Fed action to try to further lower long-term rates drew three dissenting votes out of 10.

Instead, expectations are focused on the likelihood that the Fed's first quarterly forecast of interest rates will signal no rate increase is probable until at least 2014. That would mark a shift. Since August, the Fed has said in policy statements that it planned to keep its benchmark rate at a record low until at least mid-2013, as long as the economy remained weak.

Here's why analysts expect the Fed to signal that most members see no increase before 2014:

On Wednesday, the Fed will use two charts to signify the thinking of each of its 17 policy committee members about rates.

One chart will illustrate how high each committee member thinks the Fed's benchmark rate will be at the end of 2012, 2013 and 2014.

A second chart will show how many members think the first rate increase will occur in each year from 2012 through 2016.

The charts won't identify any member by name.

Because the range of options extends as far as 2016, many analysts think the consensus view within the Fed is to avoid any rate increase before 2014 ? the average of the possible options.

"Just seeing that the choice of a year for the first hike in the Fed funds rate goes all the way out to 2016 makes us think there are at least a few members of the committee who don't want to raise rates until the unemployment rate gets back down to 5 percent or 6 percent," said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.

"We guess there will be some hawks looking for a hike in 2013 and some doves thinking more like 2015," Rupkey said. "The weighted average is likely to be 2014."

Hawks on the Fed tend to be concerned that super-low rates will stoke inflation; doves worry more about high unemployment.

Ward McCarthy, chief financial economist at Jeffries & Co. Inc., said he thinks the Fed's guidance will hint that the first rate increase could come in early 2014.

Others, such as economists at RBC Capital Markets, think the forecasts will suggest no change until late 2014.

A further clue to the Fed's plans will come in its economic projections. In its last projections in November, the Fed forecast that the economy would grow between 2.5 percent and 2.9 percent in 2012. That figure exceeds the forecasts of many private economists. Should the Fed reduce its expectations for growth, that could signal that it's prepared to do more for the economy.

The Fed has already taken numerous unorthodox steps to try to strengthen the economy. Since 2008, for example, it's kept its key rate, the federal funds rate, at a record low between zero and 0.25 percent. It's also bought government bonds and mortgage-backed securities to try to cut long-term rates and ease borrowing costs.

The idea behind the Fed's two rounds of bond buying was to drive down rates to embolden consumers and businesses to borrow and spend more. Lower yields on bonds also encourage investors to shift money into stocks, which can boost wealth and spur more spending.

Some Fed officials have resisted further bond buying for fear it would raise the risk of high inflation later. And many doubt it would help much since Treasury yields are already near historic lows. But Bernanke and other members have left the door open to further action if they think the economy needs it.

The path to such a move could be easier because three regional Fed bank presidents who dissented last year from further Fed action are no longer voting members of the committee. They're being replaced by three who are seen as more likely to back additional efforts to aid the economy.

Vincent Reinhart, a former Fed economist who is chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley, says he thinks the Fed will launch another round of bond buying in the spring. That's because he thinks the economy will slow in the current January-March quarter compared with the final months of 2011.

Some think the Fed is most likely to buy more mortgage-backed securities. Doing so could help further reduce record-low mortgage rates and help boost home sales. The weak housing market has held back the economy.

Brian Bethune, an economics professor at Dartmouth College, expects another round of bond purchases in the second half of the year. Bethune thinks the Fed will use those purchases to counter the economic drag that could result if government spending cuts start next January. Those cuts are to take effect unless Congress resolves an impasse on extending tax cuts first passed during the Bush administration.

In addition to providing more guidance on rates, the Fed is weighing other changes in its communications. One could be a new statement to clarify its long-term targets for inflation and unemployment.

The Fed's inflation goal is thought to be between 1.7 percent and 2 percent. Its long-run goal for unemployment is believed to be roughly between 5 percent and 6 percent.

Some private economists say the Fed would start a new bond-buying program only after it resolves an internal debate on its communications strategy ? which could happen as soon as this week.

"They want to get the communications changes out there and get them understood before they do anything else," said Alan Levenson, chief economist at investment firm T. Rowe Price.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-23-Federal%20Reserve/id-b12f586b48514b6b900776a763c2ab67

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Newbery, Caldecott winners announced (omg!)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Jack Gantos' "Dead End in Norvelt" has won the John Newbery Medal for the best U.S. children's book of 2011. Chris Raschka's "A Ball for Daisy" won the Randolph Caldecott award for best illustrated story.

The Newbery and Caldecott prizes, the most prestigious in U.S. children's literature, were announced Monday by the American Library Association. No cash prizes are given, but the awards are watched closely by booksellers and librarians and often lead to increased sales. Previous winners include such favorites as Louis Sachar's "Holes" and Brian Selznick's "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," the basis for Martin Scorsese's film "Hugo."

Gantos' novel follows the improbable adventures of a boy named "Jack Gantos," grounded from a family vacation, but restored by the stories he learns about his hometown. Raschka's picture book recounts the saga of a dog whose favorite toy is destroyed. Both winners are well established in children's publishing. Gantos, 60, has been a finalist for the Newbery and National Book Award. Raschka, 52, won the Caldecott in 2006 for "The Hello, Goodbye Window."

Numerous other winners were announced Monday, including John Corey Whaley's "Where Things Come Back," which received the Michael L. Printz Award for best young adult literature; and Kadir Nelson's "Heart and Soul," winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Award for best African-American story. The King prize for best illustrated book was given to Shane W. Evans' "Underground: Finding the Light to Freedom."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_newbery_caldecott_winners_announced150635713/44272957/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/newbery-caldecott-winners-announced-150635713.html

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Should couples share passwords?

Live Poll

Should couples share passwords?

• 173871

  ABSOLUTELY. Those that have nothing to hide, hide nothing.

  51%

• 173872

  NO. We're still individuals entitled to privacy and we trust each other.

  49%

VoteTotal Votes: 1216

By Athima Chansanchai

Just how much do you trust your spouse or partner? Enough to share passwords? For some, passwords are the final frontier of privacy not only in financial matters, but in social media and email correspondence. But for others, there are no secrets when you're in a relationship?? even risking the potential payback should a break-up sever the happy union.

The New York Times tells us about an "intimate custom" writer Matt Ritchel says is happening between teens in love: "sharing their passwords to email,?Facebook?and other accounts." The desire to be one even extends, the article claims, to couples creating identical passwords and letting each other read private emails and texts.?

For some, it takes a court order to share so much.

But for others, it's imperative to know each other's passwords as part of an open, healthy and fully functioning relationship. Sometimes this comes after a loss of trust, as when one partner has cheated on the other. On the Surviving Infidelity website, where more than 34,000 members have exchanged stories of betrayal and support one another in the forums, there is a saying that becomes a mantra for many of them: "Those who have nothing to hide, hide nothing." To that end, nothing is private anymore in order to facilitate healing for the offended party.?

In this philosophy, those who have been unfaithful should share (or make open and available) not only passwords to their email accounts and Facebook, but also the contents of their text messages, phone logs, work and travel itineraries "without qualms."

Many in those forums mention how finding secret Facebook and email correspondences led to the big reveal of infidelity in their marriages and relationships, and we've seen surveys that attribute at least some fault in Facebook, though an informal poll we took at the end of year showed that nearly half of the 876 votes attributed the demise of their marriages with other factors. But 34 percent did blame Facebook.

Some of the teens in the New York Times article who opened themselves up were dealt a nasty lesson in human nature when their not-so-better halves decided to use the passwords in retaliation for perceived wrongs. The Times listed some examples:

The stories of fallout include a spurned boyfriend in junior high who tries to humiliate his ex-girlfriend by spreading her e-mail secrets; tensions between significant others over scouring each other?s private messages for clues of disloyalty or infidelity; or grabbing a cellphone from a former best friend, unlocking it with a password and sending threatening texts to someone else.

Take our poll and let us know if couples should share passwords.

More stories:

Check out Technolog on?Facebook, and on Twitter, follow?Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the?Google+?stream.

Source: http://digitallife.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/20/10199414-should-couples-share-passwords

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Deputy head of Libya's NTC quits after protests (Reuters)

BENGHAZI, Libya (Reuters) ? The deputy head of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) said on Sunday he was resigning after a series of protests against the new government which the country's leader warned could drag Libya into a "bottomless pit."

The protests have pitched the NTC into its deepest crisis since Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown with help from NATO powers last year, and they raise new questions about the council's ability to govern the oil exporting country.

Late Saturday, a crowd demanding the government's resignation forced their way into the NTC's local headquarters in Benghazi while the NTC chief was inside, in the most serious show of anger at the authorities since Gaddafi's ouster.

The NTC has the support of Western powers, but it is unelected, has been slow to restore basic public services, and some Libyans say too many of its members are tarnished by ties to Gaddafi.

Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-president of the NTC and one of the council's highest-profile members, was the target of some of the protesters' criticism. Last week, students jostled him when he visited a university in Benghazi and he had to be pulled to safety.

"My resignation is for the benefit of the nation and is required at this stage," Ghoga told Al Jazeera television.

He said the national consensus that helped the country rise up and end Gaddafi's 42-year rule had not lasted into peace-time, giving way to what he called an atmosphere of hatred.

"I do not want this atmosphere to continue and negatively affect the National Transitional Council and its performance," said Ghoga, who also acted as the NTC's spokesman.

DISAPPOINTED HOPES

Protesters say the NTC has failed to live up to the aspirations of the revolt against Gaddafi, the most violent of the "Arab Spring" uprisings.

"We hoped for security, peace and transparency. We have seen the opposite," said Miftah Al-Rabia, 28, who was standing outside the NTC's Benghazi headquarters Sunday with a group of protesters.

NTC chief Mustafa Abdel Jalil, speaking at a news conference in Benghazi just over an hour before Ghoga announced he was resigning, appealed to the protesters to be more patient.

"We are going through a political movement that can take the country to a bottomless pit," he said. "There is something behind these protests that is not for the good of the country."

"The people have not given the government enough time and the government does not have enough money. Maybe there are delays, but the government has only been working for two months. Give them a chance, at least two months."

He said he had accepted the resignation of Benghazi's mayor, Saleh El-Ghazal, following the protests, and promised elections to choose the mayor's successor.

In a glimpse of the lack of coordination which Western diplomats say pervades the workings of the NTC, Abdel Jalil was asked if Ghoga would be stepping down and said he would not.

Sources in the NTC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Ghoga has not submitted a letter of resignation.

They said he was angry at being manhandled at the university and that a delegation had gone to his home to try to talk him out of resigning.

The location of the protests is particularly galling for the NTC. Benghazi, in eastern Libya, was the birthplace of the revolt against Gaddafi's rule and the site of the NTC's headquarters during the revolt.

HASTILY-FORMED COUNCIL

The protests add to the list of challenges facing the NTC.

It is struggling to bring to heel dozens of armed militias who have carved the country into rival fiefdoms and are so far refusing to join a newly created national army.

Foreign states are worried about the NTC's capacity to secure its borders against arms traffickers, al Qaeda insurgents and migrants trying to reach Europe illegally.

The NTC was formed in the early days of the revolt against Gaddafi from a hastily-assembled group of lawyers, government officials who defected, Muslim clerics, tribal leaders and civil society activists.

At the time, Gaddafi's troops were using automatic weapons to fire on protests in Benghazi and elsewhere, and there was little time to vet the members.

But nearly six months on from the moment the rebellion took control of the capital Tripoli, Libyans are started to question the council's legitimacy.

In particular, some people have cast doubt over the loyalties of former Gaddafi lieutenants who are now in the NTC. These include Abdel Jalil himself, who was justice minister under Gaddafi before defecting early in the uprising.

The council says it will dissolve itself once elections are held for a transitional national assembly. That vote is scheduled to take place in about six months.

At the NTC headquarters in Benghazi Sunday, smashed windows bore witness to the protests Saturday night. Guards in camouflage fatigues patrolled the building.

"We still don't know who exactly is in the NTC. There is no transparency," said Al-Rabia, a protester standing outside the building with a group of about 30 other men.

Another protester, 24-year-old Mohammed Mahmoud, said he fought against Gaddafi during the revolt and wounded his shoulder and hand.

"We fought on the front line and received injuries but we did not see the NTC with us," he said. "I have one single question: Why has the NTC failed at everything except selling oil? We want to correct the path of the revolution."

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy in Cairo, Ali Shuaib and Taha Zargoun in Tripoli and Mohammad Al Tommy in Benghazi; Writing by Christian Lowe; Editing by Elizabeth Piper)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/wl_nm/us_libya_benghazi_protests

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What We're Reading - The Internet Lives On Edition (Democracyforamerica)

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

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/189074958?client_source=feed&format=rss

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House rejects debt limit hike in protest vote (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The House of Representatives rejected a $1.2 trillion increase in the federal debt limit on Wednesday in a largely symbolic vote that allowed Republicans to stake out election-year positions to bash President Barack Obama's spending record.

The Republican-controlled House voted 239 to 176 along party lines in favor of a "resolution of disapproval" against the increase sought by Obama, a Democrat, but the winning tally fell far short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto.

The Republican effort to deny the debt limit hike - seen by Democrats as political posturing - is expected to die in the Senate, which reconvenes in Washington next week. But should it pass, Obama is poised to veto it.

The vote was also largely an academic exercise, for Congress gave Obama the authority to increase the debt limit last August as part of a deal to end a rancorous budget battle that brought the United States to the brink of default and cost it its coveted top-tier credit rating from Standard & Poor's.

Republican lawmakers used Wednesday's vote to go on record as opposing more spending increases and to cast Obama as the architect of a massive spending binge. Exploiting voter worries over the ballooning federal debt, now over $15 trillion, is a central theme of Republicans' election campaign strategy.

SPENDING MORAL HIGH GROUND

During several hours of debate, a procession of Republican lawmakers railed against spending they said was ruining the U.S. economy.

"This president, I believe thinks that government has the answers and he wants to give the bureaucrats a blank check to move forward and spend this country into oblivion," said Ann Marie Buerkle, a freshman Republican from upstate New York.

Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul even left a contentious primary race in South Carolina to come back to Washington to vote against the higher borrowing cap.

"We ought to face up to the reality and live within our limits," Paul, a Texas congressman, said on the House floor.

Democrats countered that Republicans were mounting a political "charade" that could again put investors' faith in U.S. Treasury debt at risk.

"If the Unites States of America were to renege on the full faith and credit of its obligations, it would be a disaster on the international economy, but that is the course of action being advocated by our Republican colleagues today," said Chris Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the House Budget Committee.

Other Democrats pointed out that 174 Republicans voted in favor of the budget deal last year that authorized $2.1 trillion in new borrowing capacity in three stages. Yet there were 233 Republican votes against the final $1.2 trillion portion of this and only one in favor of it.

The increase would push the U.S. debt ceiling to $16.394 trillion. The U.S. Treasury essentially reached the prior limit at the end of December, but has been using special accounting maneuvers to delay the increase to allow for the vote.

In each of Obama's three years in office, the government has run up record deficits in the $1.3 trillion-plus range.

The White House argues that Obama inherited a deficit on track to exceed $1 trillion, and was forced to spend hundreds of billions of dollars to stimulate the economy to prevent the worst recession since the 1930s from becoming another Great Depression.

Obama is expected next month to try to use his 2013 budget plan to turn the tables on Republicans and cast himself as working against an obstructionist Congress to tackle deficits by reviving his proposals to slash deficits by $4 trillion.

Those plans, which were stopped in their tracks when deficit reduction talks collapsed last year, relied partly on tax hikes for the wealthy, an idea that Republicans have staunchly opposed.

(Reporting By David Lawder; Editing by Sandra Maler and Philip Barbara)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/pl_nm/us_usa_debt_vote

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Beckham cites loyalty, family in MLS return

/

By GREG BEACHAM

updated 9:03 p.m. ET Jan. 19, 2012

David Beckham considered offers from Paris, the Premiership and beyond. He decided nothing was better than his adopted home with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

The English superstar formally returned to his MLS club Thursday with a new two-year contract, vowing to win more trophies with the Galaxy while preparing to own an MLS franchise when his career ends. He'll also be free to play at the Olympics if he's chosen for Britain's national squad.

After the excitement died down from the Galaxy's run to the league title last fall during Beckham's most impressive MLS season, the midfielder made his final decision to stay in Hollywood on New Year's Eve over a glass of wine with his wife, Victoria.

"We've been happy here for the last five years, and we felt, why change something that works?" Beckham asked a packed room at Staples Center. "Los Angeles has been amazing to us as a family, so we're going to continue to enjoy it. ... We knew the first day that we arrived here that it would be a place that we'd spend many years, and I wasn't wrong."

The Beckhams' four children are comfortable living in Southern California, and he felt his family's well-being outweighed the intrigue of bigger offers from unnamed Premiership clubs or Paris Saint-Germain, which aggressively courted him in recent weeks.

"At 36 years old, to still have the offers that were being thrown at me, you have to look at all options," Beckham said.

The bold experiment that began nearly five years ago has survived a rough start to become longer and more fruitful than nearly anybody expected when Beckham left Real Madrid and moved stateside, hoping to spread the world's most popular sport in a nation that has always resisted its lure.

While Beckham's move hasn't transformed the sport in North America, he's the biggest star and fan draw in MLS even after five seasons, and the Galaxy have been the league's best team for two years.

"I must admit that I've never come back after a season with the Galaxy having been a champion," Beckham said. "I wanted to have that feeling and enter back into that locker room a champion. And we are, but we're not finished. I'm not just happy with one championship. I want more."

His second contract with the Galaxy was greeted with nothing near the spectacle of his July 2007 arrival, when the club threw a huge party at Home Depot Center to herald the biggest contract in MLS history.

This time around, Beckham quietly met his usual media retinue at the downtown arena owned by AEG, the conglomerate that also owns the Galaxy. Beckham spends much of his free time in Los Angeles at Staples Center, where he watches Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers from a courtside seat ? sometimes even making it to games just a few hours after the Galaxy's matches.

"I've become a Lakers fan, so being able to come to the games is great," Beckham said. "There are so many things that we love."

Staples Center's owners are thrilled by the decision. AEG President Tim Leiweke said Beckham can play for the Galaxy for the rest of his career, if he chooses ? and when he's done, AEG will help Beckham with his desire to own a franchise.

"For however long as he decides to play, the question of where he plays is not a question," said Leiweke, whose company spent aggressively to assemble top talent around Beckham in the last two years. "Unless I'm mistaken, (ownership is) his future, once he decides to retire. We have structured that option in a way to allow David to become a partner in the league at some point in the near future and operate his own franchise."

Even Beckham might not have predicted this outcome just two years into his tenure with the Galaxy, when the failed tenure of coach Ruud Gullit and the franchise's general disarray prompted Beckham to twice go on loan to AC Milan, where he blew out his Achilles tendon in 2010.

Everything came together for Beckham in Los Angeles last year after he returned from injury and another training stint with Tottenham. He was among the league's best players all season long with the Galaxy, who picked up Irish striker Robbie Keane as they topped the MLS table for the second straight season and steamrolled through the playoffs to the title.

Beckham's assist set up Landon Donovan's winning goal in a 1-0 victory over Houston in the MLS Cup on Nov. 20. Beckham celebrated the championship with his three sons on the Galaxy's home field before saying he planned to debate his future over the holidays.

Beckham claimed he would consider staying with the Galaxy, yet many fans and observers in Europe didn't believe him. Given his revitalized form with the Galaxy, many assumed he would take one of the offers sure to be dangled in front of him to resume his European career.

"I was always optimistic, because I felt he was really comfortable with the team and just happy," said coach Bruce Arena, whose steady influence has been praised by Beckham. "We literally were working all the way through the year to get David back."

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

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More newsChristian Hartmann / Reuters

Pele: Messi's not me

Pele thinks Lionel Messi still needs to improve at international level before he can be considered the greatest soccer player ever and needs to score more goals to come close to matching the Brazilian great.

Boris Streubel / Getty Images

Best of the US

Abby Wambach and Clint Dempsey are voted top players by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46064305/ns/sports-soccer/

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Bangladesh military says it has foiled coup plot (AP)

DHAKA, Bangladesh ? The Bangladesh military said Thursday it foiled a plot by a group of hardline officers, their retired colleagues and Bangladeshi conspirators living abroad to overthrow Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The coup attempt underscored tension between Hasina's government and elements of the military that has lingered since a 2009 mutiny.

Brig. Gen. Muhammad Masud Razzaq told a news conference the military has specific evidence that up to 16 current and former Bangladeshi military officers "with extreme religious views" were involved in the "heinous conspiracy."

The plot was instigated by Bangladeshi conspirators living abroad, he added.

Two retired officers ? Lt. Col. Ehsan Yusuf and Maj. Zakir ? have been arrested, Razzaq said, but he did not say when. Authorities are also looking for another fugitive serving officer, Maj. Ziaul Haq, he said.

He said Haq fled his post after the arrest of Yusuf and Zakir.

In 2009, just two months after Hasina took office after sweeping a general election, Bangladesh border guards mutinied over complaints over pay, perks and promotion prospects. At least 74 military commanders were killed, many of them the commanders of the mutineers.

Military officials were furious with Hasina for not ordering an assault on the compound, but instead ending the standoff by offering an amnesty to the mutineers that was later rescinded.

Since then, the military has been pressing for an early trial of the mutineers. Hasina's government is trying more than 800 border guards on charges of killing, arson and looting in Dhaka. Hundreds who mutinied at locations outside the capital have been tried already and sentenced to prison.

It's not clear why the alleged coup participants are being described as religious fanatics. Hasina banned Islamic militant groups after taking office in 2009 and has warned in recent speeches that such groups are "conspiring against her elected government."

Bangladesh, a parliamentary democracy since 1990, has witnessed two presidents slain in military coups and 19 other failed coup attempts.

Hasina's father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh, was assassinated in the country's first military coup in 1975.

Another coup in 1981 killed army general-turned-president Ziaur Rahman, husband of ex-prime minister and Hasina's main rival Khaleda Zia.

The country's last military ruler, Gen. Hussain Mohammad Ershad, was ousted in 1990 in a pro-democracy movement led jointly by Hasina and Zia.

(This version CORRECTS that Haq is not retired.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_as/as_bangladesh_coup_plot

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Deals in Place for Hunger Games Sequel

What was rumored late last year appears to be nearing fact: Oscar-winning screenwriter Simon Beaufoy is working on the "Hunger Games" sequel, "Catching Fire," with "Games" director Gary Ross likely to return for part two as well.

TheWrap reports that development on the "Catching Fire" script is already underway, with Beaufoy writing and Ross "supervising." Beaufoy is an interesting choice to pen the already anticipated sequel: he won his Oscar for "Slumdog Millionaire" and also wrote "127 Hours."

"Catching Fire" is the middle book in Suzanne Collins's worldwide best-selling "Hunger Games" trilogy; it continues the story that is set up in "The Hunger Games," albeit with added characters and increased stakes.

"Games" is due in theaters on March 23. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland and Stanley Tucci, the first film was written by Collins herself. Expect fans to start lining up for tickets yesterday.

[via TheWrap]

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924324/news/1924324/

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A Q&A on contested Internet anti-piracy bills (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Online piracy costs U.S. copyright owners and producers billions of dollars every year, but legislation in Congress to block foreign Internet thieves and swindlers has met strong resistance from high-tech companies, spotlighted by Wikipedia's protest blackout on Wednesday, warning of a threat to Internet freedom.

House and Senate bills that once seemed to be on a path toward approval now face a rockier future. House Speaker John Boehner on Wednesday said it was "pretty clear to many of us that there is a lack of consensus at this point."

Amid the high-tech campaign against the bills, several lawmakers came out in opposition. At least three Senate Republicans who had previously cosponsored the Senate bill ? Orrin Hatch of Utah, Roy Blunt of Missouri and John Boozman of Arkansas ? issued statements Wednesday saying they were withdrawing their support. Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin of Maryland last week said that, after listening to constituent concerns, he could not vote for the Senate bill as it is currently written.

On the House side, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., issued a statement that he had heard from many of his constituents and come to the conclusion that the House and Senate bills "create unacceptable threats to free speech and free access to the Internet."

Here are some of the some of the questions being raised about the bills being considered:

Q. Why is legislation needed?

A. There's no argument that more needs to be done to protect artists, innovators and industries from copyright thieves and shield consumers from products sold on the Internet that are fake, faulty and unsafe. Creative America, a coalition of Hollywood studios, networks and unions, says content theft costs U.S. workers $5.5 billion a year. The pharmaceutical industry loses billions to Internet sellers of drugs that are falsely advertised and may be harmful.

Q. What is Congress trying to accomplish?

A. The two main bills are the Protect Intellectual Property Act, or PIPA, in the Senate, and the similar Stop Online Privacy Act, or SOPA, in the House. There are already laws on the books to combat domestic websites trafficking in counterfeit or pirated goods, but little to counter foreign violators.

The bills would allow the Justice Department, and copyright holders, to seek court orders against foreign websites accused of perpetrating or facilitating copyright infringement. While there is little the United States can do to take down those websites, the bills would bar online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as credit card companies and PayPal from doing business with an alleged violator. It also would forbid search engines from linking to such sites.

The original bills would have let copyright holders and Internet service providers block access to pirate websites. Critics and Internet engineers complained that would allow copyright holders to interfere in the behind-the-scenes system that seamlessly directs computer users to websites. They said that causing deliberate failures in the lookup system to prevent visits to pirate websites could more easily allow hackers to trick users into inadvertently visiting websites that could infect their computers. The White House also took issue with that approach, saying "We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet."

Responding to the critics, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said he is taking the blocking measure out of his bill. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., also is reworking his bill to address those cybersecurity issues.

Q. What are other concerns with the bills?

A. Critics say they would constrain free speech, curtail innovation and discourage new digital distribution methods. NetCoalition, a group of leading Internet and technology companies, says they could be forced to pre-screen all user comments, pictures and videos ? effectively killing social media. Search engines, Internet service providers and social networks could be forced shut down websites linked to any type of pirated content.

In addition, critics contend that young, developing businesses and smaller websites could be saddled with expensive litigation costs. And, they contend existing rights holders could impede new investment in the technology sector.

The White House said it would "not support any legislation that reduces freedom of expression ... or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet."

Leahy responded that there is nothing in the legislation that would require websites, Internet service providers, search engines, ad networks, payment processors or others to monitor their networks. He said his bill protects third parties from liability that may arise from actions to comply with a court order.

Michael O'Leary, a senior vice president at the Motion Picture Association of America, a key supporter of the legislation, said his industry is built upon a vibrant First Amendment. "We would never support any legislation that would limit this fundamental American right," he said. Neither PIPA nor SOPA "implicate free expression but focus solely on illegal conduct, which is not free speech."

Q. Who else supports the bills?

A. The most visible supporters are entertainment-related groups such as the MPAA and the National Music Publishers' Association. But the bills also enjoy support from the pharmaceutical industry, which is trying to shut down illegal online drug operations, and electronic and auto industries concerned about people going online to buy counterfeit parts that may be substandard. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and several law enforcement groups also back the legislation.

Q. Who are the opponents?

A. In addition to Wikipedia, many major Internet and technology companies, including Google, Yahoo!, Amazon.com and eBay, are part of the NetCoalition group opposing the bills. Disparate political groups such as the liberal Democracy for America and the conservative Heritage Action have also voiced concerns about censorship.

Q. What is the status of the bills?

A. Momentum for the bills has slowed, giving the edge to Silicon Valley over Hollywood. The Senate, as its first major business when it returns to session next Tuesday, is to vote on whether to take up the bill. Sixty votes are needed to clear that legislative hurdle. It's unclear whether supporters have the votes.

Six Republicans on the Judiciary Committee last week wrote Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., saying that while the problem of intellectual property theft must be addressed, "the process at this point is moving too quickly" and a vote on moving to the bill "may be premature."

Reid replied that the vote will occur as scheduled, saying that while the bill was not perfect and he had urged Leahy to make changes, the issue was "too important to delay."

In the House, Judiciary Committee Chairman Smith said his panel would resume deliberations on SOPA in February. Meanwhile, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and an ally of the high-tech industry, said he had received assurances from GOP leaders that anti-piracy legislation would not move to the House floor this year unless there is a consensus on it.

Issa, and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are pushing an alternative to SOPA and PIPA that would make the International Trade Commission, which already is in charge of patent infringements, responsible for taking steps to prevent money and advertising from going to rogue sites.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120118/ap_on_go_co/us_internet_piracy_q_a

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