সোমবার, ২৮ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

Euro zone crisis biggest threat to global economy: OECD (Reuters)

PARIS (Reuters) ? The euro zone's debt crisis has become the biggest threat to the global economy and a break up of the currency zone can no longer be ruled out, the OECD said on Monday, slashing its forecasts and urging the ECB to play a bigger role in defusing the crisis.

The euro zone has already entered a mild recession but much worse could follow unless policy makers take decisive action to get ahead of the market, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said in a stark warning.

"There is a risk to the euro, let's not deny that," OECD chief economist Pier Carlo Padoan told Reuters in an interview. "But I would like also to say that there is a possibility of avoiding that risk."

A worst case scenario of continued inaction in the euro zone and the failure of U.S. lawmakers to agree a spending-reduction plan would usher in a devastating downturn for the world economy, the Paris-based OECD said.

In the absence of decisive action from euro zone leaders, the European Central Bank (ECB) alone has the power to contain the bloc's crisis, the OECD said. In the United States, however, the Federal Reserve had little ammunition left.

"We are still seeing policy behind the curve," Padoan told a news conference. "This cannot be accepted any more."

"Time is running out and every time we lose the occasion to act effectively the price or cost for having positive outcomes goes up," he added.

Padoan said that the absence of credible action from policymakers was sapping households and companies' confidence as well as fueling damaging volatility on financial markets.

While solid growth in big emerging economies would provide a boost, slumping global trade would drag on Chinese output, the OECD said.

Its twice-yearly Economic Outlook forecast that world growth would slow to 3.4 percent in 2012 from 3.8 percent this year.

That marks a sharp fall from its previous outlook in May, when the OECD estimated the world economy would grow 4.2 percent this year and 4.6 percent in 2012.

Separately forecasting global growth of 3.5 percent in 2012, Morgan Stanley warned in a report that, in a worst case scenario, policymakers' inaction in both Europe and the United States could lead to much lower growth of 1.9 percent, with recessions in many major economies.

Struggling to contain an unprecedented debt crisis, the euro zone has already entered a recession and will eke out growth of only 0.2 percent in 2012, the OECD said, slashing its forecast from 2.0 percent in May.

"The euro area crisis represents the key risk to the world economy at present, with concerns about sovereign debt sustainability having become increasingly widespread," the OECD report said.

If major economic shocks such as the default of a euro zone member or the collapse of a big bank were avoided, then the global recovery would likely resume over the course of 2012.

CENTRAL BANKERS TO THE RESCUE?

The OECD said many key questions about the euro zone's response to the debt crisis remain unresolved, raising doubts about even the bloc's most solid economies, as demonstrated by Germany's difficulties placing bonds with investors last week.

"What we see now is contagion rising and hitting probably Germany as well," Padoan told Reuters in an interview.

"So the first thing, the absolute priority, is to stop that and in the immediate the only actor that can do that is the ECB," he added, urging the central bank to commit to a creating a cap on government bond yields as a way of calming the crisis.

With the Federal Reserve already flooding the financial system with liquidity, the U.S. central bank has even less room to act if the world's biggest economy hits a downturn. That prospect was made all the more real by the failure of Congress to agree a deficit-reduction plan, without which deep spending cuts would be triggered.

"The resulting fiscal tightening, which would come automatically, would in our view likely generate a recession in the United States," Padoan said.

Provided that the Congress does reach an agreement, then the U.S. economy is set to grow 1.7 percent in 2011 and 2.0 percent in 2012, down from May forecasts of 2.6 percent and 3.1 percent respectively.

With world trade growth projected to slow to 4.8 percent in 2012 from 6.7 percent this year, even China would not be spared a sharp slowdown, the OECD said.

It forecast that growth in the emerging Asian economic power would slow to 8.5 percent in 2012 from 9.3 percent in 2011.

Slower global trade and confidence knocked by the euro zone's debt crisis could trip up Germany, which the OECD estimated would grow only 0.6 percent in 2012 after a 3.0 percent expansion in 2011. Europe's biggest economy has probably entered a shallow recession at the end of the year, the OECD said.

In a rare bright spot, the Japanese economy was seen rebounding sharply after this year's earthquake and tsunami to achieve growth of 2.0 percent in 2012 following a contraction of 0.3 percent in 2011.

(Editing by Daniel Flynn, Catherine Evans, Ron Askew)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/bs_nm/us_oecd_economy

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রবিবার, ২৭ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

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NASA launches super-size rover to Mars: 'Go, Go!' (AP)

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. ? The world's biggest extraterrestrial explorer, NASA's Curiosity rover, rocketed toward Mars on Saturday on a search for evidence that the red planet might once have been home to itsy-bitsy life.

It will take 8 1/2 months for Curiosity to reach Mars following a journey of 354 million miles.

An unmanned Atlas V rocket hoisted the rover, officially known as Mars Science Laboratory, into a cloudy late morning sky. A Mars frenzy gripped the launch site, with more than 13,000 guests jamming the space center for NASA's first launch to Earth's next-door neighbor in four years, and the first send-off of a Martian rover in eight years.

NASA astrobiologist Pan Conrad, whose carbon compound-seeking instrument is on the rover, had a shirt custom made for the occasion. Her bright blue, short-sleeve blouse was emblazoned with rockets, planets and the words, "Next stop Mars!"

Conrad jumped, cheered and snapped pictures as the rocket blasted off a few miles away. So did Los Alamos National Laboratory's Roger Wiens, a planetary scientist in charge of Curiosity's rock-zapping laser machine, called ChemCam.

Wiens shouted "Go, Go, Go!" as the rocket soared. "It was beautiful," he later observed, just as NASA declared the launch a full success.

The 1-ton Curiosity ? as large as a car ? is a mobile, nuclear-powered laboratory holding 10 science instruments that will sample Martian soil and rocks, and analyze them right on the spot. There's a drill as well as the laser-zapping device.

It's "really a rover on steroids," said NASA's Colleen Hartman, assistant associate administrator for science. "It's an order of magnitude more capable than anything we have ever launched to any planet in the solar system."

The primary goal of the $2.5 billion mission is to see whether cold, dry, barren Mars might have been hospitable for microbial life once upon a time ? or might even still be conducive to life now. No actual life detectors are on board; rather, the instruments will hunt for organic compounds.

Curiosity's 7-foot arm has a jackhammer on the end to drill into the Martian red rock, and the 7-foot mast on the rover is topped with high-definition and laser cameras. No previous Martian rover has been so sophisticated or capable.

With Mars the ultimate goal for astronauts, NASA also will use Curiosity to measure radiation at the red planet. The rover also has a weather station on board that will provide temperature, wind and humidity readings; a computer software app with daily weather updates is planned.

The world has launched more than three dozen missions to the ever-alluring Mars, which is more like Earth than the other solar-system planets. Yet fewer than half those quests have succeeded.

Just two weeks ago, a Russian spacecraft ended up stuck in orbit around Earth, rather than en route to the Martian moon Phobos.

"Mars really is the Bermuda Triangle of the solar system," Hartman said. "It's the death planet, and the United States of America is the only nation in the world that has ever landed and driven robotic explorers on the surface of Mars, and now we're set to do it again."

Curiosity's arrival next August will be particularly hair-raising.

In a spacecraft first, the rover will be lowered onto the Martian surface via a jet pack and tether system similar to the sky cranes used to lower heavy equipment into remote areas on Earth.

Curiosity is too heavy to use air bags like its much smaller predecessors, Spirit and Opportunity, did in 2004. Besides, this new way should provide for a more accurate landing.

Astronauts will need to make similarly precise landings on Mars one day.

Curiosity will spend a minimum of two years roaming around Gale Crater, chosen as the landing site because it's rich in minerals. Scientists said if there is any place on Mars that might have been ripe for life, it would be there.

"I like to say it's extraterrestrial real estate appraisal," Conrad said with a chuckle earlier in the week.

The rover ? 10 feet long and 9 feet wide ? should be able to go farther and work harder than any previous Mars explorer because of its power source: 10.6 pounds of radioactive plutonium. The nuclear generator was encased in several protective layers in case of a launch accident.

NASA expects to put at least 12 miles on the odometer, once the rover sets down on the Martian surface.

This is the third astronomical mission to be launched from Cape Canaveral by NASA since the retirement of the venerable space shuttle fleet this summer. The Juno probe is en route to Jupiter, and twin spacecraft named Grail will arrive at Earth's moon on New Year's Eve and Day.

NASA hails this as the year of the solar system.

___

Online:

NASA: http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_sc/us_sci_mars_rover

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শনিবার, ২৬ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

New Zealand Labour leader concedes to PM Key (AP)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand ? The leader of New Zealand's Labour party conceded defeat to Prime Minister John Key's National Party in elections Saturday, paving the way for him to return for a second term as the nation's leader.

The dominant performance by Key's National Party, however, appeared to come up just short of giving it enough votes to govern alone. Key is likely to find enough support among minor parties to shore up his leadership.

With most of the vote counted Saturday, the National Party was projected to win 60 of Parliament's 121 seats, an increase of two.

The Labour party had just 27 percent of the vote, meaning it will lose about nine of its 43 seats and prompting party leader Phil Goff to concede to Key.

"It wasn't our time this time," Goff told supporters.

The Green party, on the other hand, won 11 percent of the vote, its best showing ever.

But the big news among minor parties was the return of the anti-immigration New Zealand First party to Parliament after it didn't win any seats in the last election. The party was winning nearly 7 percent support, enough for about eight seats.

The election has been driven by Key's personal popularity. After three years in power, polls have shown the former currency trader is far more popular than the Labour party leader, Phil Goff. Key has earned the nickname "Teflon John" for the way that nothing politically damaging seems to stick to him.

"He's a clever strategist and a good manager," said Jennifer Lees-Marshment, a political studies lecturer at the University of Auckland.

She said Key has been adept at knowing when to forge ahead with policies and when to pull back. His common touch was reassuring to people when a deadly earthquake struck Christchurch last February, she said, and enabled him to share in their excitement in October when the country's national All Blacks team won the Rugby World Cup.

Key's campaign has focused primarily on the economy. He's promising to bring the country back into surplus and begin paying down the national debt within three years. Part of his plan to achieve that is to sell minority stakes in four government-owned energy companies and in Air New Zealand.

That's where the center-left Labour party found its biggest point of difference. During the campaign, Goff promised not to sell anything and to raise money by other means, including by introducing a capital gains tax and by raising the age at which people get government pensions by two years, to 67.

On the campaign trail, however, those issues got crowded out by a mini-scandal known as the teapot tape saga. While meeting at a tea shop with a political ally, Key reportedly made rude and embarrassing political comments that were captured on a recording device left by a cameraman.

Key complained to police on the grounds that it's illegal to record a private conversation, and the tape never went public.

Lees-Marshment said she thinks voters grew tired of the attention given to the story and may have begun feeling more sympathetic toward Key.

"It became a story about the story," she said. "The voters got put off by it."

The saga certainly didn't seem to do much to boost the campaign of Goff, who was effectively shut out of any coverage for a few days. Labour's lackluster result has pundits speculating Goff will be replaced as leader of the party within days of the election.

But the saga did seem to boost the fortunes of Winston Peters, who leads the small New Zealand First party. Peters grabbed the headlines with pointed criticism of Key over the affair and his poll numbers shot up.

Early results also indicated the Green party would get about 13 seats, a result leaders would be happy with.

Voters were also deciding on whether to keep their electoral system, in which parties get a proportion of parliamentary seats based on the proportion of the votes they receive. Some wanted to return to a winner-takes-all format, although polls indicated most favored sticking with their current system.

In early results, about 54 percent of voters were favoring keeping the proportional system.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_as/as_new_zealand_election

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শুক্রবার, ২৫ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

Mass. hunter, mom, rescued from Stow River (Providence Journal)

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What Really Caused The Demise Of Demi Moore & Ashton Kutcher?s Marriage?

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বৃহস্পতিবার, ২৪ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

Laser heating -- new light cast on electrons heated to several billion degrees

Monday, November 21, 2011

A new class of high power lasers can effectively accelerate particles like electrons and ions with very intense, short laser pulses. This has attracted the interest of researchers around the globe, working out the details of the acceleration process which occurs when a laser beam impinges on a thin foil to accelerate ions from the foil's rear surface to high energies. The electrons in the foil are heated by the laser pulse, thereby gaining energy. These electrons in turn give part of their energy to the ions, thereby converting laser pulse energy to ion energy. Physicists at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) have developed a new theoretical model for predicting the density and temperature of these hot electrons which surpasses existing models in accurately describing experimental results and simulations.

Particle acceleration by short, intense pulses of light is a modern technology which exhibits considerable advantages over conventional techniques: The distance needed for acceleration is much shorter and the costs for such systems are potentially much lower. The potentials of the new ion acceleration technology will be explored by a laser system which is currently under construction for use at the University Hospital in Dresden. It will be jointly used by the partners HZDR, the University Hospital, and TU Dresden for cancer research and therapy. For the first time ever, a prototype high performance laser will be used in addition to a conventional ion accelerator for radiation tumor therapy.

High power lasers like the DRACO laser at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf are about ten to a hundred times more intense than their predecessors for which theoretical estimates of electron temperature and density were more or less accurate. For the new generation of lasers, though, experimental findings considerably differ from predictions. Thomas Kluge, physicist in the Laser Particle Acceleration Division at the HZDR, together with his colleagues has developed a new theoretical model of laser electron interaction. Hot electrons serve as intermediaries in laser ion acceleration by transferring energy from the laser to the ions. Hence, precise information on the energy of hot electrons is vital for future laser-driven cancer therapy facilities.

Existing models have not been able to accurately predict the properties of hot electrons specifically at very high intensity ? like the electrons generated by the high power laser DRACO and the petawatt laser PENELOPE which is currently under construction at the HZDR. The Dresden researchers have developed an equation that allows precisely calculating the hot electron energy by taking into account the distribution of laser accelerated electrons as well as their dynamics according to the theory of special relativity.

"These new insights surpass models that have been around for decades; thus, permitting, on the one hand, an explanation of previous measurements while, on the other hand, allowing for predicting and optimizing future experiments with great precision," notes Michael Bussmann, Head of the HZDR's Junior Research Group "Computational Radiation Physics." The results were published in the scientific journal Physical Review Letters and are currently being applied to additional acceleration scenarios by the Dresden researchers in order to permit the future use of laser accelerators for medical use.

###

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres: http://www.helmholtz.de/en/index.html

Thanks to Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115363/Laser_heating____new_light_cast_on_electrons_heated_to_several_billion_degrees

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Weinstein desires to become recognized film brand (AP)

NEW YORK ? While Harvey Weinstein has no plans to roar like the MGM lion before each of his movies, the Oscar-winning producer wants to turn the film studio bearing his family's name into a recognizable brand. His wish list includes branding on par with Facebook's F, Twitter's T and Apple's, well, apple.

While he says he will continue to use the "the black and white logo that looks like it's from high school in 1954," he's letting his films this week do the talking ? or at least one of them.

Already in theaters is "My Week with Marilyn," starring two-time Oscar nominee Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe. It's based on the writings of Colin Clark, who spent a week with the iconic actress in 1957 while she was filming "The Prince and the Showgirl" in the United Kingdom.

Weinstein, who heads The Weinstein Co. with his brother, explained the subject matter's appeal to him.

"I wanted to be that 23-year old boy and spend a week with Marilyn Monroe and go skinny-dipping," Weinstein said Wednesday. "Haven't we all dreamed of being with someone that gorgeous?"

But this is not another Monroe biopic. Weinstein calls it "a snapshot movie about one episode in her life." He equates the film's tone with his 2010 Oscar winner for best picture, "The King's Speech," about a speech therapist who helps King George VI.

With production credits in such Broadway hits as "Billy Elliot," "The Producers" and "God of Carnage," Weinstein always has his eyes on Broadway. He admits it's a dream to bring "My Week with Marilyn" to the great stage in "five to 10 years." And when that happens, he has his heart set on seeing Monroe played by singer Katy Perry, whom he met while taking his daughters to the annual Jingle Ball concert at Madison Square Garden last year.

"I think Katy would be perfect to play Marilyn Monroe," Weinstein said, adding: "She would knock it out of the universe."

Weinstein's other new film, "The Artist," which comes out Friday, is a modern homage to the silent film era and was the darling of the Cannes and Toronto International film festivals. It was shot in black and white using the original 4:3 aspect ratio.

While the film is not your typical studio release, Weinstein doesn't concern himself with such things.

"With a script or a book I try to do what would appeal to me," he says proudly. "I'm not here to do the mainstream movies."

And the results are promising. Weinstein likes the buzz both films are getting, but his source isn't what you'd expect: It's the RottenTomatoes.com website, which compiles reviews and assigns percentage scores based on the average.

"I just go to Rotten Tomatoes to check on who's writing, and I read some of the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes," he said. "I like the site. It's fun. I like the interviews on the site."

Weinstein was proud to report Wednesday the Monroe film was at 85 percent. And "The Artist" was trending a bit higher, based on reviews going back to April, when it played at Cannes.

"I wish I could brand the movies in a way so they would just look at the page and trust me rather than a critic or anything else," Weinstein said.

Weinstein has been seeking advice from firms like Christian Dior and Louis Vuitton about how consumers recognize their products. Oddly enough, he's not expecting to recreate that Columbia Pictures lady with the torch. And while the iconic Leo the Lion has become synonymous with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Weinstein says the lion is a powerful symbol, but he's not seeking that type of message. Nor is shy about the brand.

"The thing about MGM and why it doesn't work at the end of the day is because they would make great musicals and then they would make Andy Hardy movies, or they would make Tarzan movies, so you never know what you got at MGM.

"I'm pretty consistent, at least on my side of the fence, with making a certain, you know, they call it artistic, it's really not, but something that is just a little more literary in its approach."

___

Online:

http://weinsteinco.com/

___

John Carucci covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow him at http://www.twitter.com/jcarucci_ap

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_en_ot/us_people_harvey_weinstein

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Shell and Turkey sign oil, gas search deal (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey ? Royal Dutch Shell on Wednesday signed a deal with Turkish state-run petroleum company, TPAO, to search for oil and gas offshore in the Mediterranean and onshore in Turkey's southeast region.

The deal allows the companies to search for oil and natural gas and to produce and share any discoveries. Offshore search efforts will concentrate off the Mediterranean coast of Antalya.

"God willing, we will reach important signs and with these signs ... TPAO, will reach gas and oil discoveries," Energy Minister Taner Yildiz said.

Turkey has recently carried out a seismic search for fuel sources in the Mediterranean in response to a Greek Cypriot search, which Turkey opposes on the ground that it undermines the rights of Turkish Cypriots.

U.S. firm Noble Energy has said that exploratory drilling off the coast of Cyprus may yield between 3 to 9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

Turkey and Greece also have long-running disputes over delineating the Mediterranean and Aegean seas for exploration.

Taner said however, the deal signed Wednesday was "technical work far from any political speculation."

"We hope that (the deal) will be beneficial to both our country and to Shell," Yildiz said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_turkey_shell

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মঙ্গলবার, ২২ নভেম্বর, ২০১১

(Founder Stories) Mick Mountz: ?Solve A Big Problem & Take A Big Swing?

Ooyala Backlot Web-18Having successfully created and launched a business where robots dart through distribution centers securing e-commerce products for delivery, Kiva Systems founder, Mick Mountz reflects on growing his company to 250 employees in just under a decade - and the company culture that organically formed alongside it. Mountz tells Founder Stories host Chris Dixon that Kiva Systems didn't define its culture until "about five years" into operations. "We took this kind of latent approach, which is go fast, have fun, build, be competitive, be successful, and then people would come in and say jeez you got a great culture here and we said oh, that is interesting, what is it?"

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/EOFSwZe6NEA/

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Debt deal prospects sour amid partisan wrangling (AP)

WASHINGTON ? On the brink of failure, members of a special deficit-cutting committee blamed each other Sunday for the intransigence that has gridlocked the panel in its quest to cut the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion over the coming decade.

"If you look at the Democrats' position it was `We have to raise taxes. We have to pass this jobs bill, which is another almost half-trillion dollars. And we're not excited about entitlement reform,' " Republican Jon Kyl of Arizona said in a combative interview on NBC's "Meet the Press."

Fanning out to the sets of the Sunday morning talk shows, Democrats and Republicans blamed each other for a deepening impasse that has all but doomed chances for an accord. In a series of interviews, not a single panelist seemed optimistic about any last-minute breakthrough. Under the committee's rules, any plan would have to be unveiled Monday.

Democrats said that Republicans on the supercommittee were simply unwilling to move on tax increases that Democrats insist should be part of any package that emerges from the negotiations. And Republicans said Democrats' demands on taxes were too great, even in response to a scaled-back GOP offer made late last week.

"There is one sticking divide. And that's the issue of what I call shared sacrifice," said panel co-chair Sen. Patty Murray. "The wealthiest Americans who earn over a million a year have to share too. And that line in the sand, we haven't seen Republicans willing to cross yet," the Washington Democrat said on CNN's "State of the Union."

The Republican co-chair of Congress' debt supercommittee offered a glum assessment of prospects for an agreement.

Texas Rep. Jeb Hensarling said "nobody wants to give up," but he also told "Fox News Sunday" that "the reality is to some extent starting to overtake hope." He said the panel's deadlock "was a failure in not seizing an opportunity."

The committee faces a Wednesday deadline. But members would have to agree on the outlines of a package by Monday to allow time for drafting and assessing by the Congressional Budget Office.

Panel members say they will be available for further talks Sunday in hopes of a final breakthrough and some last-minute offers on smaller deficit-cutting packages were possible. Also on the agenda is stage managing the group's disbandment.

Republicans are demanding changes in so-called entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid while Democrats are insisting on tax increases on the wealthy.

Over the past couple of weeks, the two sides have made a variety of offers and counter-offers, starting with a more than $3 trillion plan from Democrats that would have increased tax revenues by $1.3 trillion in exchange for further cuts in agency budgets, a change in the measure used to calculate cost-of-living increases for Social Security beneficiaries, and curbs on the growth of Medicare and Medicaid.

Republicans countered with a $1.5 trillion plan that included a potential breakthrough ? $250 billion in higher taxes gleaned as Congress passes a future tax reform measure. The plan was trashed by Democrats, however, who said it would have lowered tax rates for the wealthy too far while eliminating tax breaks that chiefly benefit the middle class.

Most recently, Republicans forwarded a smaller, face-saving $644 billion offer comprised of $543 billion in spending cuts, fees and other non-tax revenue, as well as $3 billion in revenue from closing a special tax break for corporate purchases of private jets. It also assumed $98 billion in reduced interest costs.

On Saturday, Republicans floated an even smaller, unspecified offer, said a lawmaker directly familiar with the panel's work. It too was rejected. The lawmaker required anonymity because of the secrecy of the talks.

Officials familiar with the offer said it would save the government $121 billion by requiring federal civilian workers to contribute more to their pension plans, shave $23 billion from farm and nutrition programs and generate $15 billion from new auctions of broadcast spectrum to wireless companies.

Democrats said the plan was unbalanced because it included barely any tax revenue.

"Our Democratic friends are unable to cut even a dollar in spending without saying it has to be accompanied by tax increases," Kyl said.

Failure to reach agreement would trigger automatic across-the-board spending cuts to a wide variety of domestic programs and the Pentagon budget, starting in January of 2013. But both Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and many lawmakers say this automatic sequester would impose devastating cuts at the Pentagon.

"I hope it will be changed," Hensarling said. "Panetta said that cuts of that magnitude would hollow out our national defense."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111120/ap_on_go_co/us_debt_supercommittee

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Deficit deal failure would pose crummy choice (AP)

WASHINGTON ? If the deficit-cutting supercommittee fails, Congress will face a crummy choice. Lawmakers can allow payroll tax cuts and jobless aid for millions to expire or they extend them and increase the nation's $15 trillion debt by at least $160 billion.

President Barack Obama and Democrats on the deficit panel want to use the committee's product to carry their jobs agenda. That includes cutting in half the 6.2 percent Social Security payroll tax and extending jobless benefits for people who have been unemployed for more than six months.

Also caught up in what promises to be a chaotic legislative dash for the exits next month is the need to pass legislation to prevent an almost 30 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors. Several popular business tax breaks and relief from the alternative minimum tax also expire at year's end.

A debt plan from the supercommittee, it was hoped, would have served as a sturdy, filibuster-proof vehicle to tow all of these expiring provisions into law. But after months of negotiations, Republicans and Democrats were far apart on any possible compromise, and there was no indication of progress Saturday.

Failure by the committee would leave lawmakers little time to pick up the pieces. And there's no guarantee it all can get done, especially given the impact of those measures on the spiraling debt.

Instead of cutting the deficit with a tough, bipartisan budget deal, Congress could pivot to spending enormous sums on expiring big-ticket policies.

If lawmakers rebel against the cost, as is possible, they would bear responsibility for allowing policies such as the payroll tax cut, enacted a year ago to help prop up the economy, to lapse.

Last year's extensions of jobless benefits and first-ever cut in the payroll tax were accomplished with borrowed money.

The 2 percent payroll tax cut expiring in December gave 121 million families a tax cut averaging $934 last year at a total cost of about $120 billion, according to the Tax Policy Center.

Obama wants to cut the payroll tax by another percentage point for workers at a total cost of $179 billion and reduce the employer share of the tax in half as well for most companies, which carries a $69 billion price tag.

"The notion of imposing a new payroll tax on people after Jan. 1 in the midst of this recession on working families is totally counterproductive," said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No. 2 Democrat in the Senate.

Letting extended jobless assistance expire would mean that more than 6 million people would lose benefits averaging $296 a week next year, with 1.8 million cut off within a month.

Economist say those jobless benefits ? up to 99 weeks of them in high unemployment states ? are among the most effective way to stimulate the economy because unemployed people generally spend the money right away.

"We will have to address those issues," Durbin said.

Extending benefits to the long-term unemployed would cost almost $50 billion under Obama's plan. Preventing the Medicare payment cuts to doctors for an additional 18 months to two years would in all likelihood cost $26 billion to $32 billion more.

Lawmakers also had hoped to renew some tax breaks for business and prevent the alternative minimum tax from sticking more than 30 million taxpayers with higher tax bills. Those items could be addressed retroactively next year, but only increase the uncertainty among already nervous consumers and investors.

This time, Obama wants them to be paid for. But a move by Democrats to try to finance jobs measures with hundreds of billions of dollars in savings from drawing down troops in Iraq and Afghanistan has gotten a cold shoulder from top Republicans.

"I've made it pretty clear that those savings that are coming to us as a result of the wind-down of the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan should be banked, should not be used to offset other spending," said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. He did not address whether war savings could be used to extend expiring tax cuts.

Those savings are the natural result of national security strategies unrelated to the federal budget. Deficit hawks say tapping into them is simply an accounting gimmick.

"It's just the worst of all worlds if that were to happen," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

But without the war money at their disposal, lawmakers simply can't pay for the payroll tax cut and jobless benefits. Liberals such as Durbin are fine with employing deficit financing, especially if the alternative is playing Scrooge just before the holidays.

"Many people will hate to go home for Christmas saying to the American people, `Merry Christmas, your payroll taxes go up 2 percent Jan. 1 and unemployment benefits are cut off.'"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/uscongress/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111120/ap_on_go_co/us_debt_supercommittee_what_next

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Truck strikes Yale-Harvard tailgaters, killing 1 (AP)

NEW HAVEN, Conn. ? A driver of a U-Haul truck carrying beer kegs through a tailgating area before the Yale-Harvard game Saturday suddenly accelerated, fatally striking a 30-year-old Massachusetts woman and injuring two other women, police said.

It's not clear why the driver sped up, New Haven Police spokesman David Hartman said. The truck then crashed into other U-Haul vans in the lot, an open playing field used for pre-game tailgating parties before Yale home games in New Haven.

Tim Walker of Pawtucket, R.I., said he was grilling sirloin tips when he heard the crash behind him. He turned and saw two people lying on the ground.

People huddled around them trying to help, according to a video that appears to have been recorded shortly after the accident and posted online. "We're not getting a pulse," said someone crouched near one victim, while the cameraman notes the ambulance hasn't arrived.

After emergency officials arrived, Walker said, he saw one victim being given CPR as she was taken away.

"The driver looked shocked. Absolutely shocked," Walker said. Police have not said whether alcohol was a factor.

"He didn't look intoxicated or anything like that," Walker added. "He had a dazed look like he had just hit someone."

Hartman said the driver was in police custody.

He said the woman who was killed was pronounced dead at about 10:15 a.m. at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Police did not immediately release her identity.

A second woman, which Yale said was a student at its School of Management, was listed in critical but stable condition at the hospital.

The third woman suffered minor injuries.

At the annual Yale-Harvard game, tailgating is nearly as storied as the competition itself. Elaborate buffets dot the parking lots, and fans frequently fill such U-Haul trucks with kegs, grills and hard alcohol.

Six years ago, Yale began shutting down all parties after halftime in an effort to curb binge drinking and keep students and alumni safe. Saturday, the university said it planned to review its policies and regulations on tailgating before games.

"The Yale community is deeply saddened by the tragic vehicle accident that occurred at a Yale Bowl parking lot this morning," the school said in statement.

"Yale extends our sympathies and prayers to the family of the woman who was killed and hopes for the speedy recovery of the two women hurt," the statement said. "Our thoughts are also with those who witnessed or were affected by this tragic accident."

The fans had gathered for the 128th game of the Ivy League rivalry, which Harvard won 45-7 for its fifth straight victory over Yale. Three hours after the accident, the loud tailgating continued in the lot, with music blaring from large speakers and fans grilling hot dogs, sausage and hamburgers. Some students danced on top of other rental trucks.

The accident scene was cordoned off by yellow police tape, and a dozen numbered evidence placards were on the ground. The three rental trucks involved in the accident were still at the scene, stacked one against another from the collision.

At halftime of the game, the public address announcer at Yale Bowl informed the crowd of the accident and the woman's death, noting that it had been confirmed by the New Haven Police. He asked spectators to stand and observe a moment of silence.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111119/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_yale_harvard_tailgate_accident

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Ethiopian troops move into Somalia - witnesses


MOGADISHU | Sat Nov 19, 2011 5:25pm GMT

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Scores of Ethiopian military vehicles pushed at least 80 km into neighbouring Somalia on Saturday, residents said, five weeks after Kenya entered Somalia to fight Islamist militants it blames for a wave of kidnappings on its soil.

"The Ethiopian troops, which are in convoys of armoured vehicles, come to us today, crossing from Balanbale district on the border," Gabobe Adan, an elder in the town of Guriel told Reuters.

"They were in about 28 trucks and armed battle wagons - the armed vehicles are very big."

Other residents told Reuters that the Ethiopians had set up a base in Guriel and moved troops to other towns nearby.

A spokesman for the Ethiopian government, Shimeles Kemal, would neither confirm nor deny the reports. Another Ethiopian official told Reuters that an Ethiopian move to support the Kenyan assault on the al Shabaab group was likely.

Senior Kenyan government ministers have shuttled around the east Africa region this week and travelled to the Gulf to drum up political and financial support for a coordinated campaign to rout the al Qaeda-linked rebels.

Although Ethiopian troops regularly cross the border with Somalia, and it has admitted opening "humanitarian corridors" into the country that it says are for food relief, residents said the numbers and locations of the troops was unusual.

Ethiopia entered Somalia in 2006, with tacit U.S. backing, to oust another Islamist movement that had taken control of the capital Mogadishu and large swathes of the country.

Its army set up a base in Guriel during that operation.

The presence of the Ethiopian troops was hugely unpopular with Somalis, and with some analysts saying it was fanning support for new militant groups, they withdrew in early 2009.

(Writing by Barry Malone; Additional reporting by Aaron Maasho in Addis Ababa and Sahra Abdi in Nairobi)

Source: http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/11/19/uk-ethiopia-somalia-idUKTRE7AI0RN20111119?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

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Central students take lessons in finance | TriCities.com

Earl Neikirk/Bristol Herald Courier - A family budget was given to junior students during the On-My-Own personal finance simulation Wednesday at Sullivan Central High School.


BY JAMES SHEA

Sixteen-year-old Courtney Nelson could not pay her bills Wednesday.

The Sullivan Central High School junior took part in a mock finance seminar. She picked a career as a special-education teacher, earning $32,000 a year, and was given a new life complete with a husband, who also worked, and two kids. The problem ? she was saddled with $13,000 in credit-card debt.

After she purchased a vehicle and a place to live, Nelson ran out of money.

?I picked the cheapest truck possible but did not have enough money to buy insurance or child care,? she said.

University of Tennessee Extension and 20 local businesses helped organize the exercise in personal finance. Extension Agent Vickie Clark said Tennessee now requires a personal finance class in high school, as the state ranks fifth in the nation for bankruptcy filings.

?We are really, really high in bankruptcy and loan defaults, so it is a problem and something we are trying to teach,? Clark said.

The exercise teaches students valuable lessons and personal responsibility, she said. Many of the students were surprised at the amount of money needed to support a family, including the cost of child care.

Leslie McReynolds, Sullivan County Health Department tender care coordinator, oversaw the child-care booth at the event. She spoke with students about options and costs.

?One little boy said he could not afford to buy a car with his child in daycare,? she said.

To save money, student Lucas Gentry, 16, chose not to purchase a car and opted for public transportation, in order to keep his expenses low. He was a teacher and the exercise helped him see how expenses ?snowball on top of each other.?

Gentry added: ?I really learned how to budget. It makes you realize there are unexpected situations, and they impact your personal finances.?

Each student was given a ?curveball.? For Nate Lancaster, it was a trip to the dentist for his three pretend children. He earned $50,000 a year as an electrical engineer and purchased a new truck with a $395 monthly payment.

He did not have custody of his children so he paid $600 a month in child support.

?It helped me manage money better and not spend money on wants but focus on needs,? Lancaster said.

Sherrie Spiegler teaches personal finance at the high school and worked with Clark on the exercise. About 100 students from four personal finance classes took part in the activity Wednesday.

She said the students learn the realities of personal finance. Spiegler had them research careers and their salaries were based on national surveys. Some of the professions did not pay well. One of the students wanted to be a massage therapist and was given an $18,000 annual salary.

?Hopefully, they will learn that the more education, the more their personal income,? Spiegler said. ?They learn that paying bills is not fun.?

Austyn Rhea, 17, was a pharmacist because she enjoys chemistry. The lesson helped her see the realities that her parents face each month.

?As a teenager, you don?t think you are going to be paying bills in a couple years,? Rhea said. ?You think you are in college and living the good life.?

?

jshea@bristolnews.com
(276) 645-2511

Source: http://www2.tricities.com/news/2011/nov/17/central-students-take-lessons-finance-ar-1464700/

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Video: Inside the Infrastructure Play

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45346087#45346087

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Boeing gets biggest order ever from Lion Air

FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2011 photo, a model of the newly revealed 737-MAX passenger airplane, which feature redesigned CFM International LEAP-1B engines, is photographed in Renton, Wash. Lion Air, a large private carrier in Indonesia, ordered a total of 230 airplanes. That includes 201 of the redesigned Boeing 737 "MAX" and 29 extended range 737s. The order was announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, by the White House, as part of President Barack Obama's trip to Bali, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear, File)

FILE - In this Aug. 30, 2011 photo, a model of the newly revealed 737-MAX passenger airplane, which feature redesigned CFM International LEAP-1B engines, is photographed in Renton, Wash. Lion Air, a large private carrier in Indonesia, ordered a total of 230 airplanes. That includes 201 of the redesigned Boeing 737 "MAX" and 29 extended range 737s. The order was announced Thursday, Nov. 17, 2011, by the White House, as part of President Barack Obama's trip to Bali, Indonesia. (AP Photo/Stephen Brashear, File)

(AP) ? Boeing Co. has received its largest commercial airplane order ever, topping its own record set less than a week ago.

Lion Air, a large private carrier in Indonesia, ordered a total of 230 airplanes with a list price of $21.7 billion. That includes 201 of the redesigned Boeing 737 "MAX" and 29 extended range 737s. The order was announced Thursday by the White House, as part of President Barack Obama's trip to Bali, Indonesia.

Chicago-based Boeing set the previous order record Sunday, when Dubai's Emirates ordered 50 Boeing 777s, with a total value of $18 billion. The 230 planes also tops Boeing's volume order record.

Lion Air has options for 150 more planes, valued at $14 billion, bringing the deal's total potential value to $35 billion.

In July, American Airlines placed an order for 200 Boeing planes as part of a massive plane purchase that pitted Boeing against its chief rival, Airbus. American at that time said it would buy 260 planes from Airbus and 200 from Boeing. American has options for 465 more planes from the two manufacturers.

Before that, the biggest order by volume in Boeing's history came back in 1989, when United Airlines ordered 115 planes.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-17-Boeing-Biggest%20Order/id-7fa70cefa63641b6a2ca03e2f40d5e5d

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Penn State: Trustees launch investigation (AP)

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. ? Coach Joe Paterno is fighting for his job amid "eroding" support from Penn State's board of trustees and a widening sex-abuse scandal and possible cover-up centered on former assistant and one-time heir apparent Jerry Sandusky.

Paterno's regularly scheduled news conference was abruptly canceled Tuesday. A university spokesman cited "ongoing legal circumstances," a reference to charges announced over the weekend that Sandusky molested eight young boys between 1994 and 2009, and that two PSU administrators who have since stepped aside failed to notify authorities of a 2002 incident reported by an eyewitness.

Late Tuesday night, the board said it would appoint a special committee to conduct an investigation into the "circumstances" that resulted in the indictments of Sandusky, athletic director Tim Curley and vice president Gary Schultz. The committee will be appointed Friday at the board's regular meeting, which Gov. Tom Corbett said he plans to attend, and will examine "what failures occurred and who is responsible and what measures are necessary to ensure" similar mistakes aren't made in the future.

The board also promised those responsible would be held "fully accountable."

"We are committed to restoring public trust in the university," the board statement concluded.

At least a thousand students descended on the administration building about 11 p.m., EDT, chanting "Joe Paterno!" over and over, along with Penn State cheers. Many held up their smartphones to take photos or simply light up the night. A few young men climbed flag poles.

About 10 police officers stood on the steps of the building, guarding it.

Paterno's son, Scott, said his father was disappointed over the decision by PSU President Graham Spanier to cancel the news conference. Addressing reporters outside his parents' house, Scott said Joe was prepared to answer questions about Sandusky ? who maintains he is innocent ? and further that his father plans to coach not only Saturday's game against Nebraska, but for the long haul.

Hundreds of fans staged a raucous rally outside Paterno's home. He appeared briefly, along with some family members, and thanked the crowd for coming.

"It's hard for me to say how much this means," the 84-year-old coach said. "I've lived for this place. I've lived for people like you guys and girls."

Asked if he was still the coach, Paterno didn't answer but a young woman who stood with her arm around him replied: "Now is not the time."

As he returned to his house, Paterno stopped and pumped his fists above his head, yelling, "We are ..."

"Penn State!" the crowd replied.

"We're always going to be Penn State," Paterno said. "I'm proud of you. I've always been proud of you. Beat Nebraska."

At an afternoon practice, managers hastily put plywood boards over an exposed fence to block photographers' view of the field.

Paterno, who earns about $1 million annually from the school, has been head coach for 46 years and part of the Penn State staff for more than six decades, and his old-school values pervade every corner of the program.

Over that span, the Nittany Lions won two national championships, but unlike many other Division I powerhouses, the program avoided run-ins with the NCAA. The team generates millions of dollars each year in revenues from attendance, TV rights and sponsorships, but it has stubbornly stuck with the basic white-and-blue uniforms that are now among the most recognizable in college football.

All those things have inspired pride in the region and fierce loyalty to Paterno, who is the winningest coach in Division I and one of the most respected in any sport. That lofty status, however, has been the subject of heated arguments in recent days, among students on campus, construction workers on the street and the PSU board of trustees.

A person familiar with the trustees' discussions said support there for Paterno was "eroding," but couldn't gauge whether the board would take action. The same person said Spanier has also lost support ahead of Friday's board meeting. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.

While praising Spanier's tenure at Penn State, an official of the American Council on Education, said, "The central issue for the board, which is charged with preserving and protecting the institution, is not the rearview mirror."

"It's the institution going forward," added Terry Hartle, senior vice president at the council, the main umbrella organization representing colleges and universities nationally.

Much of the criticism surrounding Paterno has concerned his apparent failure to follow up on a report of the 2002 incident, in which Sandusky allegedly sodomized a 10-year-old boy in the showers at the team's football complex. The eyewitness, Mike McQueary, is currently receivers coach for the team but was a graduate assistant at the time.

McQueary told Paterno about the incident the next day, and the coach notified Curley and Schultz, who in turn notified Spanier. Curley and Schultz have been charged with perjury and failure to report the incident to authorities, as required by state law.

Both men, as well as Paterno, testified that they were told that Sandusky behaved inappropriately in that 2002 incident, but not to the extent of McQueary's graphic account to a state grand jury.

The same grand jury decided the testimony from Curley and Schultz, whose job at the time also gave him oversight of the campus police, were not believable. Pennsylvania Attorney General Linda Kelly said Paterno is not a target of the investigation, although the state police commissioner has chastised him and other Penn State officials for not doing enough to try to stop the suspected abuse.

"As you know, the kids that were the victims, I think we ought to say a prayer for them," Paterno said Tuesday night.

Sandusky, 67, spent three decades on the Penn State staff before retiring in 1999, but continued to use school and athletic facilities ? where prosecutors allege he molested several of the boys ? as recently as two weeks ago. He often held football camps for youths on PSU satellite campuses and maintained an office at the Nittany Lions' complex on the main campus.

Sandusky began working with at-risk youths after founding The Second Mile charity in 1977. It now raises and spends several million dollars each year for its programs. According to Internal Revenue Service documents, the foundation last paid Sandusky in 2007, when he received $57,000 as a consultant. He publicly severed ties in 2010.

Paterno is listed on The Second Mile's website as a current member of its honorary board of directors, a group that includes business executives, golfing great Arnold Palmer and several NFL Hall of Famers and coaches, including retired Pittsburgh Steelers stars Jack Ham and Franco Harris.

Meanwhile, another potential victim has contacted authorities.

The man, now an adult, contacted the department on Sunday after seeing media accounts of Sandusky's arrest, Lt. David Young at the Montoursville station said. Investigators took a statement from him and forwarded it to the Rockview station for officers there to pursue, Young said.

U.S. Rep. Patrick Meehan of Pennsylvania said Tuesday he's asked Education Secretary Arne Duncan to look into whether the university violated the Clery Act, which requires schools to publish an annual report of all criminal offenses that are reported to campus security or local police.

___

AP sports writers Nancy Armour and Jim Litke in State College and AP writers Mark Scolforo, Justin Pritchard and Justin Pope and AP researcher Judith Ausuebel contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111109/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_penn_state_abuse

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Analysts' view: Australia passes carbon reduction laws (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Australia's parliament passed laws that impose a price on carbon emissions on Tuesday in one of the biggest economic reforms in a decade, giving new impetus to December's global climate talks in South Africa.

For a story on the tax, click:

KEY POINTS

- Tax to take effect mid-2012 before moving to a carbon-trading scheme in mid 2015

- Price initially set at A$23 ($23.78) per tone

- Aims to cut carbon pollution by 159 million tones by 2020 or by 5 percent based on year 2000 levels

- To spend A$9.2 billion to help heavy polluting industries like steel and aluminum, and close dirtiest power stations

COMMENTARY

ENERGY SECTOR

LANE CROCKETT, MANAGING DIRECTOR, AUSTRALIA, PACIFIC HYDRO

"We're hoping the passage of the legislation should provide the certainty for us to invest in the long term. We think it's the first step toward providing a level playing for the first in this country and that it will provide both a trigger for investment to go toward clean energy rather than staying the way we used to be.

It's an historic moment for this country, for our economy, and for this company.

GREG EVERETT, CEO, DELTA ELECTRICITY (on A$23 price):

"It does give you a level of certainty, I'll acknowledge that. Realistically, no one's going to run out and invest on the basis of A$23. So if it's above the international price, I think it's just a cost that we are bearing.

A$23 is not representative necessarily of the future. You could make investments and find that it's stranded. So people will not invest (based) on the A$23 fixed price now.

They'll wait and see where the market starts to trend in the future. The fixed price now is not going to support any immediate investment in large generation."

ANALYSTS

DI BROOKMAN, OIL & GAS ANALYST, CLSA IN SYDNEY

"There's just so many other issues now, I think everyone knew that was going to come in, there was no standing in front of that train," said.

"If I had to say, I'm kind of surprised that it's gone so smoothly getting through the Senate, but it has. If there was a surprise, that would be it. But in terms of the market, I think the market's not that surprised with it."

PETER KOPETZ, RESOURCES ANALYST, STOCK ANALYSIS IN PERTH (on LNG)

"Costs, managing the business will go up, anything to do with trying to offset this carbon tax. They will have to put it somewhere, they are not going to just wear it. There are going to be cost increases across the board, and of course the consumer at the end of the day will somehow have to pay for it...I don't think margins will decrease,"

GEOFF ROUSEL, GLOBAL HEAD OF COMMODITIES, CARBON AND ENERGY, WESTPAC INSTITUTIONAL BANK, SYDNEY

"It is the single most important policy mechanism that Australia has had and as result it will increase certainty for participants. Certainty on a price on carbon, albeit one that fluctuates in a market, the certainty of that signal being there makes the decision to proceed with a project easier across all sorts of spectrums.

"This is about re-incentivizing investment in technology across a number of industries, sectors. That includes electricity. Having a very broad-based carbon price will give more certainty for people and as a result they can make business decisions in a more structured fashion.

"In terms of trading, the passing of the legislation is a significant step in increasing certainty for people who are looking to plan their response to their liabilities and also those who are looking to use the forward price as an investment signal to make a decision to go with energy efficiency or renewable energy."

TIM JORDAN, CARBON ANALYST, DEUTSCHE BANK, SYDNEY

"Today's vote ends a five-year debate on the detail of carbon pricing in Australia. It's a significant change for energy markets and carbon-intensive firms, but for most people the change will be barely noticeable.

This is a very positive step for the global effort on climate change. It shows that the world's most emissions-intensive advanced economy is prepared to use a market mechanism to cut carbon emissions in a low-cost way."

EMISSIONS TRADING

DANIEL CRAWFORD, CARBON TRADER, OM FINANCIAL NEW ZEALAND

"In the medium term the emergence of the Australian market will have a positive impact."

"We will need markets to sell our (carbon offset) units into and vice versa. Ultimately we will need to be able to purchase and get credits from international markets. New Zealand units, in the long term, won't have enough supply to satisfy the demand, so Australia will be very significant in that regard.

"I don't think the price at this stage will impact New Zealand because there are cheaper units offshore."

NICK ARMSTRONG, CEO, EMISSIONS TRADING FIRM COzero

"We hope the global market can follow and that people can take note of this and see the importance of international linkages.

We hope the pre-compliance market starts trading because otherwise we need to take a short holiday since the fixed-price period really doesn't give an opportunity for us to trade.

Having said that, if the liable parties, or polluters, take some certainty from this, we think the pre-compliance market will start trading, potentially in the next six months. That's what we're excited about. It's really the opportunity to start that forward carbon price curve and to start trading contracts."

OTHERS

STEVE SARGENT, CEO, GE AUSTRALIA (on whether it can be repealed)

"I think it's unlikely they're going to be able to unwind this....Once you've put A$1,000 in a bunch of people's pockets to help them with higher energy prices, boy, it's hard to take that out. I just don't know how you do that and get the messages right."

MARTIJN WILDER, GLOBAL HEAD, BAKER & McKENZIE'S CLIMATE CHANGE PRACTICE

"It is highly significant policy reform that should not only reduce national levels of greenhouse gas emissions to safer levels but one that now presents the platform for real innovation across industry and an opportunity to develop alongside our existing resources sector a vibrant and more efficient manufacturing and energy sector.

The passage comes at a time when carbon markets face challenging times. Europe is in financial crisis, U.S. federal action on climate change has all but evaporated and the escalating trade war over the EU ETS applying to airlines may bring about potential trade wars.

In addition, many countries strongly oppose adoption of a second Kyoto commitment period. Nonetheless, many of those developing countries with who we have key economic relationships -- China, South Africa and India -- are moving ahead on climate policy and this makes Australian action all the more critical."

DON HENRY, CEO, AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION

"Scientists have warned about climate change for decades ... and now we have a law to make polluters pay.

Industries that do want to contribute to creating a cleaner and healthier future for our children and grandchildren now have a financial incentive to find new, cleaner ways to do business."

JOHN CONNOR, CEO, THE CLIMATE INSTITUTE

"This is a vital cog in Australia's pollution reduction machinery with the potential to help cut around 1 billion tones of carbon pollution from the atmosphere between next year and 2020.

This vote means Australia now brings greater credibility going into international climate negotiations starting later this month in South Africa. It also puts wind in the sails of other jurisdictions about to introduce, or considering, emissions trading schemes which similarly price and limit carbon pollution."

DAE LEVINE, GREENPEACE AUSTRALIA

"The passing of today's legislation is an important first step in Australia's shift from a high risk, high polluting economy to a safe, sustainable, low carbon economy. It will also result in serious investment in renewable clean energy - helping establish a viable industry, creating thousands of jobs and giving certainty to investors."

POLITICIANS

JULIA GILLARD, PRIME MINISTER

"Today Australia has a price on carbon as the law of our land. This comes after a quarter or a century of scientific warnings, 37 parliamentary inquiries, and years of bitter debate and division.

Today our nation has got this done. It has taken the most effective step it can to cut carbon pollution."

TONY ABBOTT, OPPOSITION LEADER

"Today Julia Gillard and the Labor Party have confirmed in law their betrayal of the Australian people.

The carbon tax is a toxic tax based on a lie from a Prime Minister who promised six days before the last election 'there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead'.

The longer this tax is in place, the worse the consequences for the economy, jobs and families. It will drive up the cost of living, threaten jobs and do nothing for the environment. In the absence of action by other nations, all that the Gillard government has done today is export jobs and emissions overseas."

BOB BROWN, GREENS LEADER

"It is a great day for Australia, it's a great day for the Barrier Reef, for the Murray-Darling Basin, Ningaloo (reef), for Kakadu, for this nation's future. And a great day for this planet earth."

(Reporting by Australia/NZ bureaux and David Fogarty in SINGAPORE; Editing by Ed Davies)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111108/ts_nm/us_australia_carbon_view

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Disney and YouTube to Spawn Kiddie Vids [YouTube]

Given that they're both multi-billion dollar businesses, Disney and YouTube embarking on a $10 million joint adventure seems like small potatoes. But as the NY Times explains, the two need each other in a bad way. And this could be the start of something big. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/MnV7pcpJhDo/disney-and-youtube-to-spawn-kiddie-vids

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Texas university bus crashes; 1 killed, 15 hurt (AP)

ABILENE, Texas ? Anabel Reid was one of a dozen Abilene Christian University students who were traveling to do mission work at a children's home when their school-owned bus veered off a Texas highway and overturned, killing the 19-year-old, ejecting several of her fellow passengers and critically injuring four others, officials said.

The school-owned bus was carrying 12 agricultural studies students, three faculty members and a faculty member's wife from Abilene to Medina, where they were going to spend the weekend, school spokesman Grant Rampy said.

"These were students from our agriculture department, heading to an annual service project to help a children's home in town," he told The Associated Press.

The driver, 34-year-old faculty member Michael Nicodemus, lost control as the bus was entering a bend on U.S. 83 near the town of Ballinger, about 50 miles southwest of Abilene, the Texas Department of Public Safety said. The vehicle hit a concrete culvert and did a complete roll, ejecting several passengers, the DPS said. It ended up a shredded, metal wreck.

Reid, a student from Petersburg, was pronounced dead at the scene, and everyone else who was on the bus was taken to one of four area hospitals. Four of the injured were in critical condition, Rampy said.

Officials at Community Hospital in San Angelo said Allison Dorshorst, 18, of Colleyville, was in stable condition, while a spokesperson at Hendrick Medical Center in Abilene said Naomi Cruz, 19, of Richmond, and Tiffany Lutz, 21, of Zelienople, Pa., were in critical condition, while Merissa Ford, 19, of Maple Valley, Wash., was in good condition.

Reid was among 23 ACU agricultural and environmental science majors who made the annual trip to the Medina Children's Home last year, where she helped clear land, mow the yard and move in a new family, according to a 2010 story posted on the school website.

In another story, Reid spoke about how a school workshop she attended would help prepare her for a lifetime of Christian service.

"I enjoyed the simulation of village and rural settings and all of the hands-on experience," Reid is quoted as saying the story. "I was able to physically help dig a well which put my dream of working in developing countries into perspective. I learned about the attitude with which I should approach situations and also about the cultures and how to live within them."

Several hundred students and faculty members gathered for a prayer vigil Friday night at an outdoor amphitheater on campus.

Jean-Noel Thompson, the dean of students, said he had just met with Reid's family.

"You can imagine the shock and the pain," he said.

Thompson said Reid's mother spoke to him about how much her daughter loved the ACU community, and she had a message for the driver of the bus: "She wants him to know `It's OK, it's not your fault.'"

ACU officials, including the university's president, Phil Schubert, went to hospitals to be with the students' families, Rampy said.

"It's all hands on deck, all members of ACU administration have fanned out to area hospitals," Rampy said.

Mark Lewis, assistant dean for spiritual life, said the wreck immediately made him recall the crash nine years ago that killed five ACU students from Nigeria. In that crash, one of the students apparently fell asleep at the wheel and their SUV veered off a highway about 110 miles from Abilene and landed on its roof on a concrete embankment 30 feet below.

"It's like this can't be true," he said. "You know in your mind it is, but you like to think you're immune from it happening again."

___

Associated Press writer Matt Curry in Dallas contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111105/ap_on_re_us/us_abilene_christian_bus_crash

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Syrian troops kill 11 despite Arab League accord

Syrians in the restive region of Homs performed special prayers for a major Muslim holiday to the sound of explosions and gunfire as government troops pushed forward their assault on the area, killing at least 11 people Sunday, residents and activists said.

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The violence on the first day of Eid al-Adha, or Feast of the Sacrifice, added to fears that a peace plan brokered by the Arab League last week was unraveling and prompted Qatar's prime minister to call for an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the Syrian government's failure to abide by its commitments.

Egypt's official news agency MENA reported that Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani called for the meeting "in light of the continuing acts of violence and the Syrian government's noncompliance" with the terms of the Arab plan.

Violence has continued unabated, though Damascus agreed to halt its crackdown on the 7-month-old uprising that the U.N. says has left some 3,000 people dead.

"It is a very painful situation here in Homs," said a city resident reached by telephone and speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals. "The holiday will come for us only when we are free from this regime."

Activists said government forces on Sunday killed at least nine people in Homs, which has turned into one of the main centers of protest and reprisal during the revolt against President Bashar Assad.

Bloodshed linked to the military crackdown on dissent and what appear to be sectarian revenge killings have engulfed Homs in recent weeks, killing scores of people in the country's third-largest city.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops killed one person in the city of Hama during raids there and another in the northern Idlib province.

Majd Amer, a local Homs activist, said people performed morning prayers to the sound of explosions that sometimes shook the mosques. "Nobody can tell what the explosions are, it's been like this for days now," he said of the ongoing military assault on the city.

He said the shooting did not stop people from holding brief protests after emerging from the city's mosques Sunday, shouting for the downfall of the regime. There were no casualties from the protests in Homs.

Elsewhere, troops fired live ammunition to disperse protesters near Damascus and in the country's north as worshippers emerged from prayers to stage protests calling for Assad's ouster. There were no immediate reports of deaths but activists said several people were wounded in the northern province of Idlib.

Assad, who is trying to fend off the greatest challenge his family's 40-year-old regime, held Eid prayers at the al-Nour Mosque in the northern town of Raqqa, according to the official SANA news agency.

The location marked a divergence from the past few years when Assad held prayers in the capital Damascus. The choice of Raqqa, which has seen some anti-government protests, appeared to be an attempt by the regime to show it remains in control there.

The Observatory said security forces conducted raids in Raqqa after Eid prayers.

The government has pushed ahead with its bloody offensive against protesters despite the peace plan brokered by the Arab League on Wednesday in which Damascus agreed to halt its crackdown and start a dialogue with the opposition.

The head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, addressed the Syrian people on Saturday evening, pledging not to be deceived by Assad's promises or overtures to hold dialogue.

"We will not negotiate on the blood of the victims and martyrs ... we will not be deceived. The National Council will not allow the regime to bide for time," he said in a televised speech broadcast on the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera satellite channel.

The head of the Arab League, Nabil Elaraby, has warned that the failure of the plan would have disastrous consequences. On Saturday, he expressed "deep worries and regret for the continuation of violence all around Syria" despite the deal announced at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo.

Regime opponents skeptical of the government's motives have continued to stage protests to test the government's sincerity, and have been met by gunfire. At least 15 people were killed on Friday, and activists reported tanks were shelling Homs a day later.

Under the Arab plan, Syria's government also agreed to pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners and allow journalists and rights groups into the country.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45180425/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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