The Lede Blog: New Photographs Stir Doubts About Bashar's Baby and Iran's Space Monkey

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Last Updated, Saturday, 12:37 p.m. Bad news, readers: new images appear to cast doubt on the accuracy of two of the week’s most widely-reported stories — the rumored pregnancy of Syria’s first lady, and the pioneering space flight of an Iranian monkey.

As the Washington Post correspondent Liz Sly reported, President Bashar al-Assad’s office posted five new photographs of his wife, Asma, on Facebook, as part of an effort to disprove a curious aside in a Lebanese newspaper report that she is pregnant. In each of the photographs, said to have been taken last week in Damascus, a very slender Mrs. Assad was pictured congratulating the winners of this year’s Syrian Science Olympiad.

As my colleague Rick Gladstone explained, “rumors that Mrs. Assad had conceived in June,” were first reported in November by Al Bawaba, an Amman-based news Web site. Since the British-born first lady has been out of public view for most of the past year, as her husband’s government struggled to regain control of the country, the rumors about her spread despite an absence of visual confirmation.

The photographs were released a day after Mr. Assad’s office issued an indignant statement taking exception to a Washington Post blogger’s reading of the Lebanese newspaper’s story. The statement said the blogger, Max Fisher, “based his analysis on false allegations that led him to wrong results which are far from reality.”

Since Syria’s Science Olympiad takes place every year, the president’s office could have recycled images of the first lady that were taken a year or more earlier, but that would require the cooperation of all of the students pictured with her in the photographs. At least one of the students pictured with Mrs. Assad in the new photographs, a girl with curly hair wearing brightly-patterned sneakers, does appear in another image of the winners posted on the Olympiad’s Facebook page.

While this set of images appears to back the official story coming out of Damascus, recently released photographs and video of the monkey that Iran says it sent into space seem to undermine Tehran’s claims.

Video broadcast on Iranian television this week showed what officials said were images of a monkey before and after a space flight.

As journalists at the German state broadcaster Deutsche Welle pointed out on its Persian language site on Thursday, the first reports on the space mission published in Iran’s state-run media showed an anxious-looking monkey prepared for blast-off with a prominent mole above his right eye.

When Iran got around to releasing photographs and video of the monkey’s capsule being retrieved post-flight, there was no trace of a mole on his brow in the close-ups of him waiving to reporters or smiling for the cameras at a subsequent public appearance.

That led to speculation that Iran might have attempted to cover up a failed space mission by displaying a different monkey than the one that actually made a 150-mile round trip into the thermosphere and back. Or that the newly famous monkey had fallen prey to the Iranian penchant for cosmetic surgery.

The missing mole is not exactly hard evidence that Iranians had a spare monkey waiting in the wings to pretend he’d just got back from space, but Iran does have a track record of fictionalizing its achievements in the field of rocket-science. Last July, however, the Iranian Students’ News Agency — which released photographs of the monkey with and without the mole this week — did report that the space agency in Tehran had five monkeys in training for the mission.

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Dina Manzo Split from Her Husband - in October

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By Charlotte Triggs





02/02/2013 at 01:20 PM EST



Dina Manzo is splitting from her husband of seven years, Tommy Manzo, she confirmed Saturday.

"My secret ... I have been separated since October," the reality star, who appeared on Bravo's Real Housewives of New Jersey before moving on to her own show, Dina's Party on HGTV, Tweeted. "My heart hurts but Tommy and I will always share a very special love."

Dina, 41, and her sister Caroline, who also appeared on the show, were married to brothers Tommy and Albert Manzo, owners of N.J.'s Brownstone event hall. Dina's million-dollar wedding was documented for VH1's My Big Fat Fabulous Wedding, but Tommy never appeared on Housewives, and Dina has alluded to her husband's aversion to the media.

On Twitter, Dina thanked friends for their support. "I'm so grateful for the support of my loved ones during this time, especially my spiritual friends. You know who you are. And of course, my biggest supporter Lexi (her daughter from a previous marriage). Tommy adores her and they will remain close."

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New rules aim to get rid of junk foods in schools

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Most candy, high-calorie drinks and greasy meals could soon be on a food blacklist in the nation's schools.


For the first time, the government is proposing broad new standards to make sure all foods sold in schools are more healthful.


Under the new rules the Agriculture Department proposed Friday, foods like fatty chips, snack cakes, nachos and mozzarella sticks would be taken out of lunch lines and vending machines. In their place would be foods like baked chips, trail mix, diet sodas, lower-calorie sports drinks and low-fat hamburgers.


The rules, required under a child nutrition law passed by Congress in 2010, are part of the government's effort to combat childhood obesity. While many schools already have improved their lunch menus and vending machine choices, others still are selling high-fat, high-calorie foods.


Under the proposal, the Agriculture Department would set fat, calorie, sugar and sodium limits on almost all foods sold in schools. Current standards already regulate the nutritional content of school breakfasts and lunches that are subsidized by the federal government, but most lunchrooms also have "a la carte" lines that sell other foods. Food sold through vending machines and in other ways outside the lunchroom has never before been federally regulated.


"Parents and teachers work hard to instill healthy eating habits in our kids, and these efforts should be supported when kids walk through the schoolhouse door," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.


Most snacks sold in school would have to have less than 200 calories. Elementary and middle schools could sell only water, low-fat milk or 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice. High schools could sell some sports drinks, diet sodas and iced teas, but the calories would be limited. Drinks would be limited to 12-ounce portions in middle schools and to 8-ounce portions in elementary schools.


The standards will cover vending machines, the "a la carte" lunch lines, snack bars and any other foods regularly sold around school. They would not apply to in-school fundraisers or bake sales, though states have the power to regulate them. The new guidelines also would not apply to after-school concessions at school games or theater events, goodies brought from home for classroom celebrations, or anything students bring for their own personal consumption.


The new rules are the latest in a long list of changes designed to make foods served in schools more healthful and accessible. Nutritional guidelines for the subsidized lunches were revised last year and put in place last fall. The 2010 child nutrition law also provided more money for schools to serve free and reduced-cost lunches and required more meals to be served to hungry kids.


Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, has been working for two decades to take junk foods out of schools. He calls the availability of unhealthful foods around campus a "loophole" that undermines the taxpayer money that helps pay for the healthier subsidized lunches.


"USDA's proposed nutrition standards are a critical step in closing that loophole and in ensuring that our schools are places that nurture not just the minds of American children but their bodies as well," Harkin said.


Last year's rules faced criticism from some conservatives, including some Republicans in Congress, who said the government shouldn't be telling kids what to eat. Mindful of that backlash, the Agriculture Department exempted in-school fundraisers from federal regulation and proposed different options for some parts of the rule, including the calorie limits for drinks in high schools, which would be limited to either 60 calories or 75 calories in a 12-ounce portion.


The department also has shown a willingness to work with schools to resolve complaints that some new requirements are hard to meet. Last year, for example, the government relaxed some limits on meats and grains in subsidized lunches after school nutritionists said they weren't working.


Schools, the food industry, interest groups and other critics or supporters of the new proposal will have 60 days to comment and suggest changes. A final rule could be in place as soon as the 2014 school year.


Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, said surveys by her organization show that most parents want changes in the lunchroom.


"Parents aren't going to have to worry that kids are using their lunch money to buy candy bars and a Gatorade instead of a healthy school lunch," she said.


The food industry has been onboard with many of the changes, and several companies worked with Congress on the child nutrition law two years ago. Major beverage companies have already agreed to take the most caloric sodas out of schools. But those same companies, including Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, also sell many of the non-soda options, like sports drinks, and have lobbied to keep them in vending machines.


A spokeswoman for the American Beverage Association, which represents the soda companies, says they already have greatly reduced the number of calories that kids are consuming at school by pulling out the high-calorie sodas.


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Follow Mary Clare Jalonick on Twitter at http://twitter.com/mcjalonick


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"Great Rotation"- A Wall Street fairy tale?

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Wall Street's current jubilant narrative is that a rush into stocks by small investors has sparked a "great rotation" out of bonds and into equities that will power the bull market to new heights.


That sounds good, but there's a snag: The evidence for this is a few weeks of bullish fund flows that are hardly unusual for January.


Late-stage bull markets are typically marked by an influx of small investors coming late to the party - such as when your waiter starts giving you stock tips. For that to happen you need a good story. The "great rotation," with its monumental tone, is the perfect narrative to make you feel like you're missing out.


Even if something approaching a "great rotation" has begun, it is not necessarily bullish for markets. Those who think they are coming early to the party may actually be arriving late.


Investors pumped $20.7 billion into stocks in the first four weeks of the year, the strongest four-week run since April 2000, according to Lipper. But that pales in comparison with the $410 billion yanked from those funds since the start of 2008.


"I'm not sure you want to take a couple of weeks and extrapolate it into whatever trend you want," said Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citigroup. "We have had instances where equity flows have picked up in the last two, three, four years when markets have picked up. They've generally not been signals of a continuation of that trend."


The S&P 500 rose 5 percent in January, its best month since October 2011 and its best January since 1997, driving speculation that retail investors were flooding back into the stock market.


Heading into another busy week of earnings, the equity market is knocking on the door of all-time highs due to positive sentiment in stocks, and that can't be ignored entirely. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> ended the week about 4 percent from an all-time high touched in October 2007.


Next week will bring results from insurers Allstate and The Hartford , as well as from Walt Disney , Coca-Cola Enterprises and Visa .


But a comparison of flows in January, a seasonal strong month for the stock market, shows that this January, while strong, is not that unusual. In January 2011 investors moved $23.9 billion into stock funds and $28.6 billion in 2006, but neither foreshadowed massive inflows the rest of that year. Furthermore, in 2006 the market gained more than 13 percent while in 2011 it was flat.


Strong inflows in January can happen for a number of reasons. There were a lot of special dividends issued in December that need reinvesting, and some of the funds raised in December tax-selling also find their way back into the market.


During the height of the tech bubble in 2000, when retail investors were really embracing stocks, a staggering $42.7 billion flowed into equities in January of that year, double the amount that flowed in this January. That didn't end well, as stocks peaked in March of that year before dropping over the next two-plus years.


MOM AND POP STILL WARY


Arguing against a 'great rotation' is not necessarily a bearish argument against stocks. The stock market has done well since the crisis. Despite the huge outflows, the S&P 500 has risen more than 120 percent since March 2009 on a slowly improving economy and corporate earnings.


This earnings season, a majority of S&P 500 companies are beating earnings forecast. That's also the case for revenue, which is a departure from the previous two reporting periods where less than 50 percent of companies beat revenue expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data.


Meanwhile, those on the front lines say mom and pop investors are still wary of equities after the financial crisis.


"A lot of people I talk to are very reluctant to make an emotional commitment to the stock market and regardless of income activity in January, I think that's still the case," said David Joy, chief market strategist at Columbia Management Advisors in Boston, where he helps oversee $571 billion.


Joy, speaking from a conference in Phoenix, says most of the people asking him about the "great rotation" are fund management industry insiders who are interested in the extra business a flood of stock investors would bring.


He also pointed out that flows into bond funds were positive in the month of January, hardly an indication of a rotation.


Citi's Levkovich also argues that bond investors are unlikely to give up a 30-year rally in bonds so quickly. He said stocks only began to see consistent outflows 26 months after the tech bubble burst in March 2000. By that reading it could be another year before a serious rotation begins.


On top of that, substantial flows continue to make their way into bonds, even if it isn't low-yielding government debt. January 2013 was the second best January on record for the issuance of U.S. high-grade debt, with $111.725 billion issued during the month, according to International Finance Review.


Bill Gross, who runs the $285 billion Pimco Total Return Fund, the world's largest bond fund, commented on Twitter on Thursday that "January flows at Pimco show few signs of bond/stock rotation," adding that cash and money markets may be the source of inflows into stocks.


Indeed, the evidence suggests some of the money that went into stock funds in January came from money markets after a period in December when investors, worried about the budget uncertainty in Washington, started parking money in late 2012.


Data from iMoneyNet shows investors placed $123 billion in money market funds in the last two months of the year. In two weeks in January investors withdrew $31.45 billion of that, the most since March 2012. But later in the month money actually started flowing back.


(Additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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Suicide Bomber Attacks Market in Pakistan

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Abdul Basit/Associated Press


People gathered at the scene of the explosion in a market in northwestern Pakistan on Friday.







PESHAWAR, Pakistan — An explosion in a market in northwestern Pakistan on Friday killed at least 21 people and wounded 33 in what police described as a suicide bombing.




The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in Hangu, about 70 miles west of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. Abu Omar, a Taliban commander in the neighboring tribal region of North Waziristan, said in a telephone interview that the attack was in revenge for the killing on Thursday of a Sunni cleric.


The cleric, Mufti Abdul Majeed Deenpuri, 60, was shot in the southern port city of Karachi, setting off fears of reprisals against Shiites.


Mr. Deenpuri was a senior teacher at Jamia Binoria, one of the largest seminaries in Pakistan. A gunman opened fire on a vehicle carrying the cleric and a colleague at a busy intersection and then fled.


While the security situation is precarious across Pakistan, Rehman Malik, the interior minister, had warned of the potential for an attack in Karachi, a sprawling, violence-prone port city. Cellphone service was suspended there from noon to 3 p.m. during Friday Prayer.


Sectarian violence has also occurred in Hangu in the past, often forcing the authorities to impose a curfew. The town borders the Orakzai tribal region, where the army and paramilitary forces are fighting Taliban militants.


Friday’s explosion occurred just after Friday Prayer as worshipers filed out of nearby Sunni and Shiite mosques, police officials said. “People were coming out of the mosque when the explosion occurred,” said one officer in Hangu, speaking on the condition of anonymity.


Another police official in Hangu said a suicide bomber had detonated his explosives. While Shiites were the likely target, the dead included people from both Islamic sects, he said.


Separately, a Pakistani intelligence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said 30 mortar shells fired from Afghanistan on Friday morning killed six residents of Angoor Adda, a border village in South Waziristan. However, there was no official comment from the Pakistani military, and a local government official gave a conflicting number of casualties, saying three people were killed and six wounded.


In recent years, Pakistan and Afghanistan have traded barbs over allegations of cross border rocket and artillery fire. The 1,510 mile long craggy border between the two countries has long posed a problem for both sides, each accusing the other of not manning the border effectively. Both sides maintain that insurgents easily cross over the porous border, but plans to fence the border have been shot down as impractical.


On Thursday, Human Rights Watch released its World Report 2013, which sharply criticized the Pakistani government and its military and intelligence agencies for failing to reduce human rights abuses.


“Pakistan’s human rights crisis worsened markedly in 2012 with religious minorities bearing the brunt of killings and repression,” said Ali Dayan Hasan, the director in Pakistan for Human Rights Watch. “While the military continued to perpetrate abuses with impunity in Baluchistan and beyond, Sunni extremists killed hundreds of Shia Muslims and the Taliban attacked schools, students, and teachers.”


Ismail Khan reported from Peshawar, and Salman Masood from Islamabad, Pakistan. Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud contributed reporting from Islamabad.



This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 1, 2013

Because of an editing error, an earlier version of this article misidentified the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province. It is Peshawar, not Hangu.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 1, 2013

An earlier headline with this article misstated the location of the suicide attack. It was in a market, not a mosque.



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Google moves closer to resolving EU investigation

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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Google has offered to take specific steps to allay competition regulators’ concerns about its business practices, in a major move towards ending a two-year investigation and avoiding billions of dollars in fines.


The European Commission said on Friday it had received detailed proposals from the world’s most popular search engine, which has been under investigation following complaints from more than a dozen companies, including Microsoft, that Google has used its market power to block rivals.






If the commission accepts the proposals under its settlement procedure, it would mean no fine and no finding of wrongdoing against Google.


Companies found to be in breach of EU rules can be fined as much as 10 percent of global turnover, which could mean up to $ 4 billion if there is no satisfactory resolution in Google’s case.


EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia told Reuters he had received Google’s submission, but declined to give details of the proposal.


“We are analyzing it,” he said.


Google spokesman Al Verney said the group continues to work cooperatively with the commission.


The company ranks first in Internet searching in Europe, with an 82 percent market share, versus 67 percent in the United States, according to research firm comScore.


Lobbying group ICOMP, whose members include complainants Microsoft, Foundem, Hot-map, Streetmap and Nextag, said any solution should include measures ensuring that rivals could compete on a level playing field with Google.


The FairSearch coalition, whose members include online travel agencies and complainants Expedia and TripAdvisor, said a third-party monitor should be appointed to ensure that Google lives up to any promises.


The commission, which acts as competition regulator in the 27-member European Union, is now expected to seek feedback from Google’s rivals and other interested parties, before launching an official market test.


Last month, Google won a major victory when U.S. antitrust regulators ended their investigation, saying the company had not manipulated its web search results to block rivals.


The commission has said Google may have favored its own search services over those of rivals, and copied travel and restaurant reviews from competing sites without permission.


The EU executive is also concerned the company may have put restrictions on advertisers and advertising to prevent them from moving their online campaigns to competing search engines.


(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Rex Merrifield and Hans-Juergen Peters)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem Expecting Second Child: Report

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By Sarah Michaud and Tim Nudd





02/01/2013 at 01:15 PM EST







Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem


George Pimentel/WireImage


Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem may be set to double down on parenthood.

The actors, who have a 2-year-old son, Leonardo, are expecting their second child together, the New York Post's Page Six reports.

"Nature is very wise and gives you nine months to prepare, but in that moment – when you see that face, you are transformed forever," Cruz, 38, has said of parenthood.

Reps for the couple did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's requests for comment.

Cruz and Bardem, 43, both Oscar winners, were married in July 2010 at a friend's home in the Bahamas.

If true, this won't be the only new addition to the family this year – Cruz's sister Mónica is expecting a bundle of joy of her own.

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Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

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NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.


In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.


The CDC recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs and cleaning pet cages and other equipment outside.


Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.


Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death — an elderly man from Spokane County who died in January. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.


In years past, only one or two illnesses from this salmonella strain have been reported annually, but the numbers rose to 14 in 2011, 18 last year, and two so far this year.


Children younger than five and the elderly are considered at highest risk for severe illness, CDC officials said.


Hedgehogs are small, insect-eating mammals with a coat of stiff quills. In nature, they sometimes live under hedges and defend themselves by rolling up into a spiky ball.


The critters linked to recent illnesses were purchased from various breeders, many of them licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CDC officials said. Hedgehogs are native to Western Europe, New Zealand and some other parts of the world, but are bred in the United States.


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Online:


CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr


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Wall Street surges to five-year highs on data

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks climbed to five-year highs on Friday in the wake of jobs and manufacturing data that showed the economy's sluggish recovery is still on track.


The Dow industrials rose to 14,000 for the first time since mid-October 2007 and the S&P hit its highest since December that year. The S&P advanced 5 percent in January, its best start to a year since 1997.


Analysts attributed the market's robust showing so far this year partly to a deluge of cash flowing into equities.


Data on Thursday showed investors poured $12.7 billion into U.S.-based stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the latest week, concluding the strongest four-week flows into stock funds since 1996.


"There's a lot of money looking for a home and people are finally deciding the bond market is done and moving money into equities," said Edward Simmons, managing director and partner at HighTower in Portland, Maine.


"I see the rotation (of assets) pushing the market up in the face of not-massive amounts of good news," he said. "People are overlooking the higher risk in equities."


Employment grew modestly in January, with 157,000 jobs added in the month, slightly below expectations for 160,000. Still, figures for both November and December were revised upwards.


Other reports released Friday showed the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector picked up in January to its highest level in nine months, U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected last month, while December construction spending also beat forecasts.


"All the data seems to keep pointing to a slowly, steadily improving economy," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 137.21 points or 0.99 percent, to 13,997.79, the S&P 500 <.spx> gained 14.81 points or 0.99 percent, to 1,512.92 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> added 34.76 points, or 1.11 percent, to 3,176.89.


With the day's gains, major equity indexes were on track for a fifth straight week of gains. The S&P 500 is also coming off its best monthly performance since October 2011.


Investors were also attuned to corporate earnings, with a trio of Dow components reporting profits that beat expectations.


Exxon Mobil was little changed at $89.95 after its results while Chevron added 0.8 percent to $116.10.


Drugmaker Merck & Co fell 2.9 percent to $42 after a cautious 2013 outlook.


Generic drugmaker Perrigo reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit and its shares jumped 6.3 percent to $106.92, the largest advancer on the S&P 500.


Of the 252 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 69 percent have exceeded expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data. That is a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above average since 1994.


Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are estimated to have grown 4.4 percent, according to the data, up from a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season but well below a 9.9 percent profit growth forecast on October 1.


Dell Inc gained 4.2 percent to $13.80 after sources said the company was nearing an agreement to sell itself to a buyout consortium led by its founder Michael Dell and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.


Shares of General Motors and Ford Motor rose after the two largest American automakers posted better-than-expected U.S. auto sales for January.


GM gained 1.2 percent to $28.42 and Ford added 0.9 percent to $13.07.


Shares of Zoetis surged on its trading debut on the New York Stock Exchange after its shares were priced at $26, above the expected range. Zoetis was trading at $30.67 at midday, after earlier climbing as high as $31.74.


(Editing by Bernadette Baum)



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U.N. Panel Says Israeli Settlement Policy Violates International Law

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GENEVA — Israel has pursued a creeping annexation of the Palestinian territories through the creation of Jewish settlements and committed multiple violations of international law, possibly including war crimes, a United Nations panel said on Thursday, calling for an immediate halt to all settlement activity and the withdrawal of all settlers.




Presenting their findings in Geneva after a nearly six-month inquiry for the United Nations Human Rights Council, a panel of three judges, led by, Christine Chanet, of France, said Israel’s settlements had clearly violated the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit a state from transferring its own civilian population into territory it has occupied.


Asked if Israel’s actions constituted war crimes, Ms. Chanet replied that its offenses fell under Article 8 of the International Criminal Court statute. “Article 8 of the I.C.C. statute is in the chapter of war crimes,” she said at a news conference. “That is the answer.”


Israel’s Foreign Ministry quickly dismissed the report as “counterproductive and unfortunate” and said it provided a reminder of the Human Rights Council’s “systematically one-sided and biased approach towards Israel.”


Israel “must cease all settlement activities without preconditions” and start withdrawing all settlers from the occupied territories, the judges state in their report, which is due to be debated in the Human Rights Council in March.


The panel drew on 67 submissions from a cross section of academics, diplomats, Israeli civilian organizations and Palestinians, Ms. Chanet said. Israel refused to cooperate with the investigators, who as a result were unable to visit the West Bank and went instead to the Jordanian capital, Amman, to take testimony.


The council’s decision last March to investigate the effect of Jewish settlements on Palestinian rights prompted Israel to break off cooperation with the council, castigating it as a political platform used “to bash and demonize Israel.” The panel’s report came two days after Israel boycotted a council review of its human rights, becoming the first country to withhold cooperation from a process in which all 193 United Nations member states have previously engaged.


The United States has condemned Israel’s settlement policy as unhelpful and an obstacle to achieving a two-state solution to the Palestinian issue, but it also opposed the creation of the fact-finding mission, saying at the time that it was an example of the council’s bias against Israel, that it did not “advance the cause of peace” and that it would “distract the parties from efforts to resolve the issues that divide them.”


The panel noted that Israel had established about 250 Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967, with a combined population now estimated at 520,000. It said the settler population was growing much faster than the population of Israel outside the settlements.


The report quotes the Israeli finance minister, Yuval Steinitz, as saying in November that the government had doubled the budget for West Bank settlements “in a low-key way because we didn’t want parties in Israel or abroad to thwart the move.”


The result is “a mesh of construction and infrastructure leading to a creeping annexation that prevents the establishment of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state and undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination,” the report concludes.


These actions fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, the panel noted, and if a future Palestine state ratified the Rome Statute, which created the court, Israel could be called to account for “gross violations of human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law.”


The report was welcomed by Palestinian officials and some settlement opponents in Israel. Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said in a statement that it documented “illegal Israeli practices without any ambiguity.”


Israeli officials, on the other hand, dismissed the report, saying that the only way to resolve the settlement issue was through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations without preconditions.


Yigal Palmor, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, criticized the report for ignoring Israel’s unilateral evacuation of all settlements in Gaza, and several in the northern West Bank, in 2005. “This was a major event,” said Mr. Palmor, describing the omission as “gross and crude” and evidence that the fact-finding mission did not lay out all the facts.


Nick Cumming-Bruce reported from Geneva, and Isabel Kershner from Jerusalem.



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The 7 most dedicated employees

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You probably don’t want to forward this roster of tireless go-getters to your boss


Some people probably feel they deserve a medal for merely getting up and going to work every day, but only a few actually merit one. Take Deborah Ford, for example. This 64-year-old Detroit postal worker, who recently retired, didn’t use a single sick day in all of her 44 years on the job. Not a single one! For doctor’s appointments, she would take vacation days, and when she was feeling lousy she says she would just “shake it off.” At the end of her dedicated career, Ford had amassed a sick-leave balance of 4,508 hours. But before you give her the award for most dedicated employee, check out this lot:






1. Going the distance
Unless you work from home, chances are you endure a less-than-pleasant commute. But none is likely as arduous as that of Dave Givens. In 2006 the Mariposa, Calif., resident earned the unenviable award for “America’s Longest Commute” when tire company Midas set out to find the employee who trekked the most miles to work. From his ranch home in Mariposa, Givens drives 186 miles to his job at Cisco Systems, Inc., in San Jose. The electrical engineer has been making this 372-mile round trip, which equals a total of seven hours of driving, for 17 years. “I have a great job and my family loves the ranch where we live,” Givens said. “So this is the only solution.” His dedication to the horrendous commute earned Givens the grand prize of $ 10,000 and some much-needed gas money as well as an array of Midas maintenance services and products.


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


2. A life’s work
Rose Syracuse Richardone “just loves to work,” says Macy’s senior vice president Robin Hall of the 92-year-old employee. Richardone retired from Macy’s in September 2012 after working in a range of positions from her first job at the age of 17 in the accounts department — back when there weren’t credit cards and customers would set aside money in the in-store bank to pay for items — to her final position within the parade and entertainment group. To honor her 70th year with the company a few years ago, Macy’s management arranged for Richardone to cut the red ribbon that launched the iconic Thanksgiving parade. Had it not been for a broken hip, the diminutive employee might still be working today. “Life is good,” she said of her longevity. “You go on each day, you’re happy where you’re at. And people — bosses, supervisors, they appreciate you. And you stay.”


3. Hardest working unemployed man
You may not know Justin Knapp, but you’re likely familiar with his work. Knapp is a voluntary editor of the Wikipedia, and last April the 30-year-old became the first person to complete 1 million edits on the massive online, open-source encyclopedia. After coming across Wikipedia in 2003, Knapp registered as an editor in 2005 and now spends several hours per day combing, editing, and adding to Wikipedia articles. His edits can be as small as ensuring em dashes and en dashes are used properly or as substantial as building the most comprehensive George Orwell entry, which reportedly took about 100 hours. But Knapp relishes the work. “Editing these projects is relaxing and rewarding,” Knapp told Gizmodo. Knapp doesn’t get paid for his work, however plentiful, but he manages to get by financially with odd jobs while he pursues his nursing degree at Indiana University. Ultimately he feels his diligence is for the greater good. “Far be it for me to say that it’s an act of love to edit Wikipedia,” he said. “But I really do feel like that it helps other human beings. That makes me feel good — knowing that somehow I can be a small part of helping someone who I’ll never know.”


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


4. Dedicated volunteer
Don Moss is the “Energizer Bunny of volunteers.” As of 2010, the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center volunteer has clocked in more than 47,000 hours, setting a Guinness World Record for his time. For the last 28 years, Moss has worked at Wake Forest Monday through Thursday, 48 hours per week. The 63-year-old’s dedication is a personal one. In 1980, Moss was in a freak accident that landed him at Wake Forest Baptist where he spent three months in a coma with a major head injury. Doctors didn’t think he would make it and, after he woke up, specialists said he would never walk again. But Moss defied all expectations and now, after being encouraged to volunteer during his rehabilitation stint, he’s rarely idle. While working, Moss delivers letters to patients, helps out at the gift shop, and guides lost visitors to their destinations. And those free Fridays? Those are for his wife, he says: “That’s my honey-do list day.”


5. Hardest working mom
Dr. Helen Wright felt like she had it all — she loved her job as a headmistress at an exclusive British all-girls school, and she had time to enjoy her beautiful growing family. On February morning in 2010, when Wright was pregnant with her third child, she went into labor. Within an hour she had given birth to the baby, a girl named Jessica, and by lunchtime, Wright was back at work, her newborn in tow. This was nothing new for her. She had never taken maternity leave with any of her children. Her second child was born on a Friday; Wright was back at work by Monday. Given the ongoing can-women-have-it-all debate, Wright says she wants to be a role model for her students to show them that they too can have a career and a family, quite literally, in the same space. The rarely trodden path of bringing your baby to work is, Wright says, the option more women should consider. “Most women have a choice of taking maternity leave or going back to work and having their babies looked after. Why can’t there be a third way?”


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


6. Hardest working country
Do you feel like you work long hours? Well, here’s some food for thought: Employees in Asian countries have the highest proportion of employees who work more than 48 hours per week, which is considered “excessive.” Of those Asian countries, South Korea is the most overworked: According to data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, South Koreans work a whopping 2,193 hours per year. Chile comes in second with 2,068 hours, which far exceeds the average for most developing countries, which is 1,718 hours annually. The United States is just below the average with 1,695 hours. Germany and the Netherlands remain on the low end of the scale with 1,408 hours and 1,377 hours per year, respectively. Tighter labor laws in developed countries, particularly Europe, have contributed to reduced working hours, so, you know, don’t feel too bad about it, you’re just playing by the rules.


7. Hardest working American town
Columbia, Mo., managed to keep its unemployment rate of 6.0 percent throughout the worst economic downturn since the Depression with the help of its robust health-care and education sectors. The town has six hospitals and the second highest number of hospital beds per capita in the country. It’s also home to the University of Missouri-Columbia, which employs some 8,000 people, as well as six other institutions of higher education. More than 80 percent of households are dual-income, and the city ranked second on likelihood to work on the weekends, according to data compiled by Parade magazine in 2012. 


SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know


Sources: BBC, Daily Mail, Gizmodo, Parade, The Stir, Yahoo


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Tim McGraw: How He Got That Body

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By Alicia Dennis





01/31/2013 at 01:35 PM EST







Tim McGraw, before and after


Ramey; Nino Muñ oz


The good news: Tim McGraw is shirtless in the new issue of PEOPLE, showing off an impressive set of abs. The bad news: It takes (a lot!) of hard work to get the country star's rock-hard eight-pack. And when the 6-foot star, 45, gets ready to go out on the road, he turns up the workout to a whole new level.

"No one wants to grow up to be a rock star to sing the same song over and over again in a studio," says McGraw, who has maintained a 40-lb. weight loss in recent years. "The reason you want to do this is to be in front of thousands of people, playing that guitar and doing what you love. And when I'm on stage, I want to feel good."

McGraw will hit the work-out sessions hard in the upcoming months to prepare for his Two Lanes of Freedom tour in May; the new album hits stores next week. To make sure he has all the right moves, he trains with martial arts expert and stunt man Roger Yuan, 52, three times a day five weeks prior to hitting the road.

"We work with pulleys, bars and do core training, strength and balanced movements to build up the muscles between the ribs and connective tissues," says Yuan, who also got Daniel Craig in shape to play James Bond. "I have trained a lot of people and many are hard workers. But Tim is another animal. I have to reign him in and have to tell him, 'You can't do that much.' There is no quitting in him."

Though McGraw says he still indulges occasionally, he trains and diets before tours because "it's part of my job," he says.

"I'll eat a cheeseburger now and then, and I love sweet tea," says McGraw, who works out around four hours a day when he's not performing. "I like to eat. I like food. That is one of the reasons that I throw that extra hour of working out in."

Tim's Typical Routine

7 a.m. Wake up
8 oz. Hot water, cayenne pepper, lemon juice, manuka honey UMF10+

Breakfast
Fresh berries (blue, black, straw), muesli, natural yogurt, mixed in a regular cereal bowl
OR
Organic oats/bran porridge with raisins, sliced banana, maple syrup

8-9 a.m. Morning training session

10 a.m. Protein break
Fresh made Spelt flour pancakes made with soy milk, egg whites, powdered linseed/goji berries/flax seed
Optional toppings: fresh fruit compote or almond butter, or natural yogurt, and maple syrup

12-1 p.m. Midday training session

1:15 p.m. Lunch
Tuna mixed with chopped onions, celery, lemon juice and zest, Bragg's Aminos (soy sauce), chopped pickled sushi ginger, natural yogurt, and 1 teaspoon maple syrup
Served on halved avocado with side of alfalfa sprout/beetroot/spinach and rocket salad seasoned with rock salt, ground pepper, balsamic and olive oil

3 p.m. Snack
Handful of nuts almonds, pecans, or walnuts with a fruit smoothie

4:15-5:30 p.m. Afternoon training session
Specificity training, including stretch, warm down and 10-minute physio-massage
After training snack: apple or handful of grapes

7:30 p.m. Dinner
Grilled salmon marinated with lime juice, ginger, Vietnamese fish sauce, paprika, brown sugar and sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds, chopped coriander and basil mix
Serve with blanched or stir fry green beans, or asparagus (olive oil and balsamic dressing) and sliced lightly fried polenta slices

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Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella

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NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.


In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died. Investigators say the illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets.


Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs. Also, clean pet cages and other equipment outside.


Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.


Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.


____


Online:


CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr


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Market treads water before Friday's employment data

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as investors were cautious after a mixed bag of economic data, while stellar earnings from chipmaker Qualcomm helped the Nasdaq index to edge higher.


The S&P 500 is on track to post its best month since October 2011 and its best January since 1997.


Investors expect a pullback in equities after the recent gains, though they have bought on dips over the past four weeks. The largest daily decline on the S&P 500 so far in 2013 was Thursday's 0.39 percent drop after data showed the economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2012.


"This is a highly rotational market," said Janelle Nelson, portfolio analyst at RBC Wealth Management in Minneapolis, noting how investors dive into beaten-down sectors on the smallest encouraging news.


Data on Thursday that showed a slight rise in weekly jobless claims while incomes grew at the best pace since 2004 underscored how fragile the economic recovery still was.


On Friday the government is due to release figures on January's non-farm payrolls, which are expected to show employers added 160,000 jobs in January after a rise of 155,000 in December. Friday will also bring reports on consumer confidence, U.S. manufacturing, construction spending and car sales.


"The market's lack of movement is due in part to the large number of economic releases coming out tomorrow," said Nelson.


Qualcomm gained 4.7 percent to $66.53 as the top boost to the Nasdaq Composite after the world's leading supplier of chips for cellphones beat analysts' expectations for quarterly profit and revenue and raised its targets for the year.


Facebook was trading mostly flat at $31.21 after falling as low as $28.74 a day after the social network company said it doubled its mobile advertising revenue in the fourth quarter. However, growth trailed some of Wall Street's most aggressive estimates.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 19.72 points or 0.14 percent, to 13,890.7, the S&P 500 <.spx> lost 1.68 points or 0.11 percent, to 1,500.28 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> added 3.04 points or 0.1 percent, to 3,145.35.


The S&P 500 has advanced more than 5 percent in January after legislators in Washington temporarily sidestepped a "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax increases and spending cuts that could have derailed the recovery. Better-than-expected corporate earnings have added to the gains.


It would be the benchmark's largest monthly advance since a more than 6 percent gain in October 2011 and the best January advance since a 6.1 percent jump in 1997.


UPS shares lost 2.1 percent to $79.49 after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that were below analysts' estimates on Thursday and forecasting weaker-than-expected profit for 2013.


Constellation Brands shares tumbled 18 percent to $32.10 after the U.S. Justice Department moved to stop Anheuser-Busch InBev from buying the half of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo that it does not already own. Constellation would have distributed Corona beer in the United States if the transaction had been approved.


Tank barge operator Kirby Corp added 6.3 percent to $70.67 and transportation company Ryder Systems climbed 3.2 percent to $56.01 after posting quarterly results.


Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning shows that of the 231 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings this season, 69.3 percent have exceeded expectations, a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above the average since 1994.


Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are forecast to have risen 3.7 percent. That's above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season but well below a 9.9 percent profit growth forecast on October 1, the data showed.


WMS Industries surged 51.6 percent to $24.81 after the company agreed to be acquired by Scientific Games for $26 per share in cash. Scientific Games jumped 8.5 percent to $9.68.


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; editing by Bernadette Baum and Kenneth Barry)



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Morsi Rejects Calls for New Unity Government in Egypt

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Markus Schreiber/Associated Press


Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, center left, and President Mohammed Morsi of Egypt, center right, reviewed an honor guard on Wednesday before their talks at the chancellery in Berlin.







BERLIN — President Mohamed Morsi of Egypt, meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday, rejected calls for a new unity government in response to the violent demonstrations rocking his country and defended his decision to impose a state of emergency and curfew in three cities.




“In Egypt there is a stable government working day and night in the interest of all Egyptians,” Mr. Morsi said. A new government will not be formed before the upcoming parliamentary election, Mr. Morsi said.


At a moment of acute political crisis at home in Egypt, Mr. Morsi found himself on a previously scheduled visit to Berlin, where he also met with the economy minister, Philipp Rösler, and leading representatives of German businesses. Germany is Egypt’s third most important trading partner, and investment and development aid from Germany will be necessary if Egypt hopes to get back on its feet, analysts say.


His visit to Germany was controversial, with newspapers and television commentators questioning whether Egypt was on the path to democracy. In a country conscious of its responsibility for the Holocaust, Mr. Morsi’s past comments about Jews and Zionists have also raised concerns.


After the two leaders met, Mr. Morsi and Ms. Merkel held a joint news conference at the chancellery building on Wednesday afternoon. A German reporter asked Mr. Morsi about comments in which he described Zionists as “bloodsuckers” and “the descendants of apes and pigs.”


Mr. Morsi said his statements had been taken out of context. “I am not against Judaism as a religion,” he said. “I am not against Jews practicing their religion. I was talking about anybody practicing any religion who spills blood or attacks innocent people — civilians. I criticize such behavior.


“My religion instructs me to believe in all the prophets and to respect all religions as well as every person’s freedom of religion,” Mr. Morsi continued. “Everyone believes in and practices his religion the way he sees fit as long as it remains lawful in the country he lives in.”


Ms. Merkel made it clear that Germany would continue its support of Egypt’s transition to democracy only if Mr. Morsi’s government upheld certain democratic ideals.


“One thing that is important for us is that the channels of dialogue are always open with all political forces in Egypt, so that the different political forces can play their role,” Ms. Merkel said.


She said Berlin would also like to see Egypt uphold human rights, ensure the free practice of religion and establish a government based on the rule of law in exchange for Germany’s support.


Last year, Egypt received around $130 million in development aid from Berlin.


The fact that Mr. Morsi decided to travel to Berlin despite the mounting problems at home reflects how important he views his country’s relationship to Germany, said Sarah Hartmann, an Egypt expert and head of the European Union-Middle East Forum at the German Council on Foreign Relations.


“They desperately need an improvement in their economic circumstances,” Ms. Hartmann said. “It’s going worse for the people than before the revolution. Egypt needs help from abroad. It can’t solve its problems itself.”


Following his meeting with the chancellor, Mr. Morsi and a delegation of business officials were to meet with representatives of German industry to set up a bilateral trade commission. Visitors from Germany also make up a significant part of the tourism sector, which Egypt relies on. The news that armed men had attacked the Semiramis InterContinental Hotel in Cairo on Tuesday is likely to further discourage vacationers from traveling to Egypt, hindering economic recovery.


The spiraling violence in three Suez Canal cities in recent days, and demands by members of the opposition that Mr. Morsi enter into dialogue with them, overshadowed his visit to Germany.


Egypt’s top general warned that the state was in danger of collapse as a result of the violence in three Suez Canal cities, Port Said, Suez and Ismailia. They are now under a one-month state of emergency, which gives the president and the police extraordinary powers and suspends ordinary judicial process as well as most civil rights.


In response to a question from an Egyptian reporter, Mr. Morsi addressed concerns that he was using the hated legal tool favored by Hosni Mubarak, the ousted president. “I have emphasized time and again that I do not like making use of these emergency powers in the course of the transformation process,” Mr. Morsi said. “And I will never allow myself or anybody else to break the law in that regard, in any direction, no matter what the circumstances are.” He said that was why he declared states of emergency in those three cities only.


Mr. Morsi also pointed to the fact that the emergency measures were temporary and that he had given the governors of those cities the authority to reverse the decision when the situation stabilized as evidence that he was not abusing those powers.


“This measure is to protect the safety of residents and put a stop to the conflicts and criminal attacks,” Mr. Morsi said. “As soon as the situation stabilizes, this measure will be reversed.”


Mayy el Sheikh contributed reporting from Cairo, and Chris Cottrell and Victor Homola from Berlin.



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California police probe stunts that shut down freeways

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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The California Highway Patrol is investigating two apparently unrelated stunts that jammed freeways over the weekend, including one involving hundreds of motorcyclists celebrating a marriage proposal that inconvenienced motorists east of Los Angeles.


Both events created a flurry of viral Internet videos, fueling concerns about a repeat performance by copycats.






On Interstate 10 east of Los Angeles on Sunday, up to 300 bikers stopped traffic so that one of them could propose to his girlfriend, said Officer Vince Ramirez, a Los Angeles-area spokesman for the California Highway Patrol.


Video that surfaced online of the stunt showed some bikers creating a wall of smoke by spinning their tires against the concrete. In the middle of the gathering, pink smoke could be seen wafting into the air.


As they exited the freeway, several bikers were later ticketed for reckless riding unrelated to their possible role in the freeway shutdown, Ramirez said.


He said officers were working with the Los Angeles County District Attorney‘s office to prepare additional charges against some of the bikers.


The stunt did not cause any injuries or collisions, he said.


In Oakland on Saturday, traffic ground to a halt on Interstate 880 near the city’s sports coliseum, as several sports cars did doughnuts, spinning around and filling the air with tire smoke, officials said. Stunned motorists exited their cars and watched.


Several motorists caught in the sudden traffic jam were frightened or angry, according to recordings of calls to authorities released on Tuesday.


“I can’t believe this – I have three kids in the car,” one caller told an Oakland-area dispatcher. “It scares the hell out of me.”


Authorities have not found or identified any of the drivers, said California Highway Patrol Sergeant Diana McDermott.


California Highway Patrol officers said they feared the weekend events’ popularity on social media websites could start a dangerous trend. So far, such stunts have been rare, they said.


“That’s why the investigation is expanding,” Ramirez said.


“If there are any criminal charges that can be filed as a result of this incident, they will be filed,” he said.


(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Tom Brown and Eric Walsh)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Justin Timberlake & Barbra Streisand Performing at Grammys & Oscars

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01/30/2013 at 01:20 PM EST







Justin Timberlake and Barbra Streisand


Justin Lane/Landov; Walter McBride/Retna


How's this for a generational gap?

This year's Grammy and Oscar ceremonies will feature top performers from two very different times. For the first time in four years, Justin Timberlake will appear onstage at the Grammy Awards with a live performance, according to Rolling Stone. Two weeks later, Barbra Streisand will make her own return to the Oscar stage, performing there for the second time.

Timberlake, 31, recently released a new single, "Suit and Tie." His upcoming album, The 20/20 Experience, drops March 19, and he'll put on his first show in four years at a Feb. 2 Super Bowl event, Rolling Stone reports.

As for Streisand, 70, she last sang at the Oscars in 1977, (performing "The Way We Were," which won best original song honors that night), according to CBS News.

"In an evening that celebrates the artistry of movies and music, how could the telecast be complete without Barbra Streisand?" said producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron of the upcoming "very special performance."

The Grammy Awards air on Feb. 10 at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, and Oscar coverage begins on Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.

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APNewsBreak: EPA moves to ban some rodent poisons

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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency is moving to ban the sale of a dozen rat and mouse poisons sold under the popular D-Con brand in an effort to protect children and pets.


The agency said Wednesday it hopes to reduce the thousands of accidental exposures that occur every year from rodent-control products. Children and pets are at risk for exposure because the products typically are placed on floors.


The agency had targeted a handful of companies two years ago, saying they needed to develop new products that are safer for children, pets and wildlife. All but Reckitt Benckiser Inc., manufacturer of D-Con, did so.


The company will have at least 30 days to request a hearing before an administrative law judge. If no hearing is requested, the ban will take effect.


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Wall Street flat ahead of Fed after GDP shock

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday as data showing the economy unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter was offset by upbeat parts of the report and strong results from Boeing and Amazon.


Economists stressed that the 0.1 percent contraction in U.S. gross domestic product, caused partly by a plunge in government spending and lower business inventories, is not an indicator of recession.


"Inventories came down and that subtraction is actually positive for the private sector," said Jim Russell, chief equity strategist for U.S. Bank Wealth Management in Cincinnati.


"A lot of the important components going forth are there, like consumption by individuals and capital spending, and they are looking strong."


Wall Street opened slightly higher despite the GDP data, with traders awaiting a statement from the Federal Reserve after its two-day policy-setting meeting. The Fed is expected to keep monetary policy on a steady, accommodative path, though debate continues over when it should curtail its bond-buying program.


The S&P 500 held above 1,500, seen by technical analysts as an inflection point that will determine the overall direction in the near term. The index is on track to post its best month since October 2011 and its best January since 1997.


"This is a very modest pullback after a steep run," said Paul Zemsky, head of asset allocation at ING Investment Management in New York.


"It is too soon for the Fed to start talking about the end of (their bond buying program); the economy needs stimulus to sustain this recovery."


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 0.27 points or 0 percent, to 13,954.69, the S&P 500 <.spx> lost 1.04 points or 0.07 percent, to 1,506.8 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 0.11 points or -0 percent, to 3,153.55.


Both Boeing Co and Amazon.com shares gained after earnings beat expectations, continuing a trend this quarter of high-profile names advancing after results.


Amazon rose 5.4 percent to $274.40 and Boeing rose 1.2 percent to $74.54.


Thomson Reuters data showed that of the 192 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings this season 68.8 percent have been above analyst expectations, which is a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above the average since 1994.


Chesapeake Energy rose 6.5 percent to $20.20 a day after it said Aubrey McClendon would step down as chief executive. The last year has been marked by civil and criminal probes into the second-largest U.S. natural gas producer.


Research In Motion shares fell 5.7 percent to $14.76 after the company, which is changing its name to BlackBerry, unveiled a long-delayed line of smartphones in hopes of a comeback into a market it once dominated.


Giving the market extra support, private sector employment topped forecasts with the ADP National Employment report showing 192,000 jobs added in January, higher than the 165,000 expectation.


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)



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China may consider ending its decade-long ban on video game consoles

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Shares of Sony (SNE) and Nintendo (NTDOY) surged on Monday following a report from China’s official newspaper that claimed the country is considering the lift of a decade-long ban on video game consoles. An unnamed source told the China Daily newspaper that the Ministry of Culture is “reviewing the policy,” and has conducted surveys and held discussions with other ministries on the possibility of lifting the ban. An official at the ministry’s cultural market department denied the report in a statement to Reuters, however, claiming it “is not considering lifting the ban.”


[More from BGR: BlackBerry 10 debuts on Wednesday – strap in for a wild ride]






China banned the sale of video game consoles in 2000 to safeguard children’s mental and physical development. In order for the ban to be lifted, the seven different ministries who issued the ruling must all agree to reverse it.


[More from BGR: Apple releases iOS 6.1 to iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users]


Shares of Sony’s stock were up more than 8% in Tokyo on Monday, while Nintendo gained 3.5% on a weaker Nikkei index.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Katy Perry Reveals Her Fast Food Indulgence

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How does Katy Perry get that perfectly curvy bod? With lots of hiking, a little bit of training ... and the occasional double cheeseburger.

"I've cut out most fast food," the pop star, 28, told PEOPLE last week. "The only thing I stop for now is In-N-Out Burger."

Perry, who's been going strong with beau John Mayer for several months, also has a new work out addiction.

"I'm really obsessed with getting my steps in now," says the songstress, who recently purchased an UP by Jawbone activity tracker. "You create a team and everybody's competitive about who gets the best steps in and it also tracks your sleep."

But just because she's working out and eating healthier now doesn't mean Perry is no longer a foodie when she's traveling around the world.

"I do like to try all of the cuisines that are authentic to the area," says Perry, who recently dined at the sushi restaurant featured in the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

"It was really intense," she added. "[I] barely [finished]... with a lot of Sapporo!"

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Soldier looks forward to driving with new arms

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BALTIMORE (AP) — A soldier who lost all four limbs in a roadside bombing in Iraq says he's looking forward to driving and swimming with new arms after undergoing a double-arm transplant.


"I just want to get the most out of these arms, and just as goals come up, knock them down and take it absolutely as far as I can," Brendan Marrocco said Tuesday.


The 26-year-old New Yorker spoke at a news conference at Johns Hopkins Hospital, where he was joined by surgeons who performed the operation.


After he was wounded, Marrocco said, he felt fine using prosthetic legs, but he hated not having arms.


"You talk with your hands, you do everything with your hands, basically, and when you don't have that, you're kind of lost for a while," he said.


Marrocco said his chief desire is to drive the black Dodge Charger that's been sitting in his garage for three years.


"I used to love to drive," he said. "I'm really looking forward to just getting back to that, and just becoming an athlete again."


Although he doesn't expect to excel at soccer, his favorite sport, Marrocco said he'd like to swim and compete in a marathon using a handcycle.


Marrocco joked that military service members sometimes regard themselves as poorly paid professional athletes. His good humor and optimism are among the qualities doctors cited as signs he will recover much of his arm and hand use in two to three years.


"He's a young man with a tremendous amount of hope, and he's stubborn — stubborn in a good way," said Dr. Jaimie Shores, the hospital's clinical director of hand transplantation. "I think the sky's the limit."


Shores said Marrocco has already been trying to use his hands, although he lacks feeling in the fingers, and he's eager to do more as the slow-growing nerves and muscles mend.


"I suspect that he will be using his hands for just about everything as we let him start trying to do more and more. Right now, we're the ones really kind of holding him back at this point," Shores said.


The procedure was only the seventh double-hand or double-arm transplant ever done in the United States.


The infantryman was injured by a roadside bomb in 2009. He is the first soldier to survive losing all four limbs in the Iraq War.


Marrocco also received bone marrow from the same donor to minimize the medicine needed to prevent rejection. He said he didn't know much about the donor but "I'm humbled by their gift."


The 13-hour operation on Dec. 18 was led by Dr. W.P. Andrew Lee, plastic surgery chief at Hopkins.


Marrocco was being released from the hospital Tuesday but will receive intensive therapy for two years at Hopkins and then at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda.


After a major surgery, human nerves regenerate at a rate of an inch per month, Lee said.


"The progress will be slow, but the outcome will be rewarding," he added.


___


Associated Press Writer David Dishneau contributed to this story from Hagerstown, Md.


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Defensive stocks extend rally as caution sets in

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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Tuesday, led by defensive sectors, in a sign the cash piles recently moving into the market are being put to use by cautious investors to pick up more gains.


The S&P 500 is on track to post its best monthly performance since October 2011 and its best January since 1997 as investors poured $55 billion in new cash into stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in January, the biggest monthly inflow on record.


Among rising defensive shares, which are companies relatively immune to economic swings, were drugmaker Pfizer, up 1.2 percent to $27.16 after posting earnings and AT&T , 1.5 percent higher at $34.64.


"Cyclicals were moving very nicely, now you see balance with some of the defensives. Many managers use that as an internal hedge in equity portfolios," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial in Newark, New Jersey.


She said the market is cautious ahead of Wednesday's statement following the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting. In addition, defensive stocks would hold up better if Friday's payrolls report surprises on the downside.


The S&P hovered near 1,500, and market technicians say the benchmark is at an inflection point which will determine the overall direction in the near term.


"The public is pouring in now," said Carter Worth, chief market technician at Oppenheimer & Co in New York. "It reflects complacency and that typically leads to hubris, and hubris leads to trouble. Everyone's buying."


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> rose 70.27 points or 0.51 percent, to 13,952.2, the S&P 500 <.spx> gained 6.62 points or 0.44 percent, to 1,506.8 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 3.52 points or 0.11 percent, to 3,150.77.


The top performing sectors on the S&P 500 were healthcare <.spxhc> and telecom services <.splrcl>, so-called defensives, both up more than 1 percent.


The energy sector also advanced, on the back of strong earnings from Valero Energy Corp and a hedge fund move to break up Hess Corp to boost investor returns.


Valero shares jumped 10.3 percent to $42.82 and Hess gained 8.5 percent to $67.80.


The equity gains have largely come on a strong start to earnings season, though results were mixed on Tuesday with Pfizer rising but Ford Motor Co down after its report.


Both companies reported profits that topped expectations, but Ford also forecast a wider loss in its European segment. Ford dropped 5.6 percent to $13.01 as one of the biggest percentage losers on the S&P 500.


Thomson Reuters data showed that of the 174 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings this season, 68.4 percent have been above analyst expectations, which is a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above the average since 1994.


Disappointing outlooks from Seagate Technology and BMC Software pressured their shares. Seagate lost 9.6 percent to $33.82 and BMC fell 8.5 percent to $40.70.


Software maker VMware Inc lost 21 percent to $77.71 also after a cautious 2013 outlook.


Amazon was the biggest drag on the Nasdaq with a 2.1 percent drop to $270.17 before its results, expected after the closing bell.


U.S. home prices rose in November to rack up their best yearly gain since the housing crisis began, a further sign that the sector is on the mend, but consumer confidence fell to its lowest level in more than a year in the wake of higher taxes for many Americans.


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Nick Zieminski)



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The Lede Blog: Images of New Clashes in Egypt, Two Years After the Revolution's 'Day of Rage'

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Last Updated, 2:02 p.m. As my colleague David Kirkpatrick reports from Egypt, there were protests in the Suez Canal city of Port Said and fresh clashes in Cairo on Monday.

Video uploaded to YouTube on Sunday showed officers firing at protesters in Port Said, killing four, including a man in a wheelchair, according to Mosireen, a collective of activist Egyptian filmmakers.

Video said to show Egyptian police officers firing at protesters in the Suez Canal city of Port Said on Sunday.

As clashes continued in Port Said on Monday, despite a declaration of martial law, journalists and bloggers there uploaded video of angry chants against the government at funerals for protesters and reports of escalating mayhem.

Video said to show the funeral of protesters killed in Port Said, Egypt on Monday.

In Cairo, police fired tear gas on Sunday and Monday at protesters at the foot of the Kasr el-Nile bridge near Tahrir Square, which was the scene of an epic battle during the uprising against former President Hosni Mubarak exactly two years ago, on what was known as the revolution’s “Day of Rage.”

The activist blogger Omar Kamel shared dramatic photographs and video of the clashes by the bridge on Sunday, showing clouds of tear gas in front of the luxury hotels along the Nile Corniche illuminated by the protesters’ fireworks and lasers.

Video of clashes along the Nile Corniche in Cairo on Sunday night, posted online by Omar Kamel, an activist filmmaker.

The Egyptian newspaper El Watan uploaded video of clashes in the same area on Monday.

Video on clashes in Cairo on Monday, from hte Egyptian news site El Watan.

The Cairene blogger who writes as Kikhote uploaded video shot from above Tahrir Square on Monday that zoomed in to the foot of the Kasr el-Nil bridge, showing the location of the bridge and what looked like hundreds of protesters gathered there.

Video shot from above Tahrir Square on Monday showed the location of clashes at Kasr el-Nil bridge nearby.

Kikhote also drew attention to the activist blogger Rasha Azab’s photograph of a cloud of tear gas in the air above the heads of protesters near the foot of the bridge on Monday, in front of the distinctive salmon-colored facade of the Cairo Semiramis hotel.

Tarek Shalaby, another activist blogger, reported on Twitter that a couple of hundred protesters remained on the bridge, with dozens of officers from the Central Security Forces on the Corniche nearby, at about 2 p.m. on Monday afternoon.

A short time later, my colleague Kareem Fahim reported from the bridge that tear gas was being fired at protesters on the Cornche.

At abut 5 p.m. local time, Jonathan Rashad, a photographer, reported on Twitter that the officers had pushed protesters back from the Cornche on to the bridge and into Tahrir Square.

About two hours later, the Egyptian journalists Mohamed Abdelfattah and Simon Hanna reported from the Corniche that a protest march coming from the other direction had broken through the police lines just down the street from the Semiramis, and, after some fighting, the protesters captured a senior officer outside another luxury hotel, the Kempinski.

Witnesses also said that the protesters then took control of one police armored personnel carrier, driving it to Tahrir Square, and set fire to another.

At about 8 p.m. local time the A.P.C. that was driven into Tahrir Square by protesters was also on fire, as video posted online by the blogger Kikhote showed.

Video of an armored personnel carrier ablaze in Tahrir Square on Monday night.

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