LivingSocial To Lay Off 400 Workers - Business Insider

There is trouble in the daily-deal world.

LivingSocial is planning to lay off 400 of its U.S. workers tomorrow, reports the Washington Business Journal.

We first got word of this news via PandoDaily, whose editor, Sarah Lacy, tweeted:

We reached out to the company but they declined to comment at this time.

Washington Business Journal says that the cuts are expected to come across a wide range of positions and markets, including its home base in D.C.?LivingSocial maintains six offices in the nations capital.?

The layoffs could be affected by LivingSocial net loss of $566 million in the third quarter. $496 million of that loss stems from a?massive writedown?of some of its acquisitions from 2011, the Washington Business Journal says. LivingSocial's revenue fell to $124 million in the three-month period, down from $138 million in the second quarter.

The layoffs come at a time when the entire daily-deal world is struggling. Earlier this month, Groupon eliminated 648 jobs prior to announcing quarterly revenues that missed expectations. And just yesterday,?news broke that Groupon's board is considering whether to keep founder Andrew Mason on as CEO.

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/livingsocial-expected-to-layoff-400-workers-2012-11

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PM Cameron opposes press law after hacking scandal

LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday that he had serious concerns about legislation to regulate the media, risking a split in his coalition after a damning inquiry triggered by a phone-hacking scandal proposed a press watchdog backed in law.

Opposing a legal foundation to an independent press regulator will delight the British media ahead of the 2015 election but will deepen a divide in Cameron's coalition government and within his own party.

"We should be wary of any legislation that has the potential to infringe free speech and the free press," Cameron told parliament, watched from the chamber's gallery by victims of tabloid newspaper phone-hacking who have campaigned for tougher rules governing Britain's recalcitrant media.

"I'm not convinced at this stage that statute is necessary to achieve Lord Justice Leveson's objectives," Cameron said, referring to the judge who has spent a year investigating the press. "I have some serious concerns and misgivings on this recommendation."

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, said he supported a proposal by Leveson to back a new independent press watchdog with legislation.

Leveson said he had no intention of ending three centuries of press freedom but condemned sometimes "outrageous" behavior by the press that had "wreaked havoc with the lives of innocent people".

"The ball moves back into the politicians' court: they must now decide who guards the guardians," Leveson told a news conference in Westminster, opposite the House of Commons.

Leveson's inquiry was ordered by Cameron after public outrage at revelations that reporters at one of Rupert Murdoch's tabloids hacked the phone messages of a 13-year-old murder victim, Milly Dowler.

Leveson said there should be a new independent self-regulatory body, which would be recognized in law, something the press and many within Cameron's own party, including senior ministers, have adamantly opposed as an erosion of press freedom.

Nick Clegg, the leader of the junior Liberal Democrat partners in the coalition government, will deliver his own statement to parliament after Cameron, implying that the two disagree on the way forward.

'TOO CLOSE'

Leveson, whose inquiry laid bare phone-hacking, claims of police bribes and the cozy relationship between top editors and the political elite, said the relationship between politicians and the press was too close.

Leveson warned that the close ties formed between the government and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp over the aborted takeover of BSkyB was concerning and had the potential to jeopardize the $12 billion bid.

But he offered little in the way of direct criticism of individuals, ammunition for those who hoped it would condemn Cameron for his links to Murdoch's media empire

He said there was no credible evidence of bias on the part of senior minister and Cameron ally Jeremy Hunt in his handling of the BSkyB takeover, but said the close ties allowed a perception of favoritism.

Inquiry hearings embarrassed Cameron by exposing his close ties to executives at Murdoch's British newspaper empire, notably former top lieutenant Rebekah Brooks, who is facing criminal action over phone-hacking and other alleged illegal actions.

Cameron, three former prime ministers, senior ministers, press barons including the 81-year-old Murdoch, plus an array of celebrities such as Hollywood actor Hugh Grant were among the 164 witnesses to appear before the inquiry.

(Additional reporting by Tim Castle, Writing by Guy Faulconbridge,; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/british-inquiry-calls-law-underpin-press-body-134857637--finance.html

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Alquimista dos Estados Unidos transforma pl?stico em petr?leo

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Uma reciclagem in?dita que converte pl?stico velho em petr?leo de excelente qualidade foi apresentada por uma empresa americana presente no Sal?o do Meio Ambiente, Pollutec, realizado em Lyon (centro da Fran?a).

Uma reciclagem in?dita que converte pl?stico velho em petr?leo de excelente qualidade foi apresentada por uma empresa americana presente no Sal?o do Meio Ambiente, Pollutec, realizado em Lyon (centro da Fran?a).

A t?cnica da Agilyx, empresa criada em Oregon (oeste dos Estados Unidos) h? apenas seis anos permite tratar qualquer pl?stico, inclusive o mais velho ou o mais sujo.

"O que nos interessa n?o s?o os pl?sticos que s?o reciclados hoje em dia, mas os pl?sticos que ningu?m quer e que costumam acabar no lixo", explica ? AFP Jon Angin, vice-presidente da empresa, que foi ao sal?o de Lyon.

Este pl?stico, primeiro triturado, ? colocado em um grande "cartucho", aquecido para se transformar em g?s, e depois volta a ser esfriado na ?gua. O petr?leo resultante ? separado ao emergir ? superf?cie.

No fim, mais de 75% do peso original ? transformado em petr?leo cru, pronto para ser refinado como qualquer outro tipo da subst?ncia saudita ou russa. O resto da mat?ria fica dividida em g?s e em res?duo final (menos de 10%).

Esta propor??o significa que 10 toneladas de pl?stico - cuja produ??o mundial foi em 2011 de 280 milh?es de toneladas - fornecem cerca de 50 barris de petr?leo, segundo a empresa, que informa, no entanto, que o equivalente a 10 barris de energia foram utilizados no processo industrial.

"Produzimos assim cinco unidades de energia para cada unidade consumida", resume Angin.

Esta tecnologia parece ter convencido v?rios no setor. Esta PME (pequena e m?dia empresa) de 60 pessoas j? atraiu para seu capital o l?der americano dos res?duos Waste Management e o gigante petroleiro franc?s Total.

E n?o ? preciso que o barril de petr?leo esteja a 200 d?lares para que esta tecnologia tenha sa?da. "Com a cota??o atual do petr?leo (em m?dia a 100 d?lares o barril), a Agilyx j? ? rent?vel", ressalta Fran?ois Badoual, diretor da Total Energy Ventures, filial de investimentos do grupo franc?s, que entrou no capital do americano no fim de 2010.

Angin prefere n?o falar muito do pre?o m?nimo do barril necess?rio para que a empresa seja vi?vel. "Estamos muito tranquilos, o pre?o do petr?leo n?o vai cair abaixo deste n?vel", assegura.

Em rela??o ao petr?leo produzido, n?o deve nada em termos de qualidade ao que ? extra?do no mundo. O pl?stico j? ? um produto do petr?leo refinado, e n?o tem muitas impurezas.

"? um petr?leo de boa qualidade que poder?amos classificar de leve, muitas vezes buscado pelas refinarias", confirma Badoual.

A Agilyx viu v?rios competidores emergirem, como o brit?nico Cymar ou o americano Vadxx Energy, embora eles ainda n?o produzam.

? poss?vel uma instala??o na Europa? Embora o Velho Continente tenha uma certa vantagem em rela??o ? Am?rica Latina em rela??o ? reciclagem, a Europa tamb?m tem menos espa?os para dedicar a lix?es que Estados Unidos ou Canad?, ressalta Jon Angin.

Sua presen?a em Lyon ? uma prova do interesse pelo mercado europeu: ? a primeira vez que a empresa participa de um sal?o deste lado do Atl?ntico.

? 2012 AFP

Source: http://pt.kioskea.net/news/18995-alquimista-dos-estados-unidos-transforma-plastico-em-petroleo

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112 killed in fire at Bangladesh garment factory

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) ? Fire raced through a garment factory that supplies major retailers in the West, killing at least 112 people, many of whom were trapped by the flames because the eight-story building lacked emergency exits, an official said Sunday.

The blaze broke out late Saturday at a factory operated just outside Bangladesh's capital of Dhaka by Tazreen Fashions Ltd., a subsidiary of the Tuba Group, which makes products for Wal-Mart and other companies in the U.S. and Europe.

Firefighters recovered at least 100 bodies from the factory, Maj. Mohammad Mahbub, fire department operations director, told The Associated Press. He said 12 other people who were injured after they jumped from the building to escape died at hospitals.

Local media reported that up to 124 people were killed. The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear, and authorities ordered an investigation.

Army soldiers and border guards were sent to help police keep order as thousands of onlookers and anxious relatives of the factory workers gathered, Mahbub said.

Tazreen was given a "high risk" safety rating after a May 16, 2011, audit conducted by an "ethical sourcing" assessor for Wal-Mart, according to a document posted on the Tuba Group's website. It did not specify what led to the rating.

Wal-Mart spokesman Kevin Gardner said online documents indicating an orange or "high risk" assessment after the May 2011 inspection and a yellow or "medium risk" report after an inspection in August 2011 appeared to pertain to the factory where the fire broke out. The August 2011 letter said Wal-Mart would conduct another inspection within one year.

Gardner said it was not clear if that inspection had been conducted or whether the factory was still making products for Wal-Mart.

If a factory is rated "orange" three times in a two-year period, Wal-Mart won't place any orders for one year. The May 2011 report was the first orange rating for the factory.

Neither Tazreen's owner nor Tuba Group officials could be reached for comment.

The Tuba Group is a major Bangladeshi garment exporter whose clients also include Carrefour and IKEA, according to its website. Its factories export garments to the U.S., Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands, among other countries. The Tazreen factory, which opened in 2009 and employed about 1,700 people, made polo shirts, fleece jackets and T-shirts.

Bangladesh has some 4,000 garment factories, many without proper safety measures. The country annually earns about $20 billion from exports of garment products, mainly to the U.S. and Europe.

In its 2012 Global Responsibility report, Wal-Mart said that "fire safety continues to be a key focus for brands and retailers sourcing from Bangladesh." Wal-Mart said it ceased working with 49 factories in Bangladesh in 2011 because of fire safety issues, and was working with its supplier factories to phase out production from buildings deemed high risk.

At the factory, relatives of the workers frantically looked for their loved ones. Sabina Yasmine said she saw the body of her daughter-in-law, but had seen no trace of her son, who also worked there.

"Oh, Allah, where's my soul? Where's my son?" wailed Yasmine, who works at another factory in the area. "I want the factory owner to be hanged. For him, many have died, many have gone."

Mahbub said the fire broke out on the ground floor, which was used as a warehouse, and spread quickly to the upper floors. Many workers who retreated to the roof were rescued, he said. But he said that with no emergency exits leading outside the building, many victims were trapped, and firefighters recovered 69 bodies from the second floor alone.

"The factory had three staircases, and all of them were down through the ground floor," Mahbub said. "So the workers could not come out when the fire engulfed the building."

"Had there been at least one emergency exit through outside the factory, the casualties would have been much lower," he said.

Many victims were burned beyond recognition. The bodies were laid out in rows at a school nearby. Many of them were handed over to families; unclaimed victims were taken to Dhaka Medical College for identification.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed shock at the loss of so many lives.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said it would stand by the victims' families.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/112-killed-fire-bangladesh-garment-factory-060756614--finance.html

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Gastric bypass surgery helps diabetes but doesn't cure it, study suggests

ScienceDaily (Nov. 26, 2012) ? After gastric bypass surgery, diabetes goes away for some people -- often even before they lose much weight. So does that mean gastric surgery "cures" diabetes? Not necessarily, according to the largest community-based study of long-term diabetes outcomes after bariatric surgery. For most people in the study, e-published in advance of print in Obesity Surgery, diabetes either never remitted after gastric surgery or relapsed within five years.

Among the two thirds of the study's patients whose diabetes at first went away, more than a third re-developed diabetes again within five years after gastric surgery. After adding in the one quarter of patients whose diabetes never remitted after surgery, most (56 percent) of the study's patients had no long-lasting remission of their diabetes following gastric surgery. However, when diabetes did go away, the research team extrapolated, it stayed away for a median of eight years.

Which kinds of obese people with type 2 diabetes are likely to get the most benefit from gastric surgery? "Our results suggest that, after gastric surgery, diabetes stays away for longer in those people whose diabetes was less severe and at an earlier stage at the time of surgery," said principal investigator David E. Arterburn, MD, MPH, a general internist and associate investigator at Group Health Research Institute. "Gastric surgery isn't for everyone," he said. "But this evidence suggests that, once you have diabetes and are severely obese, you should strongly consider it, even though it doesn't seem to be a cure for most patients."

The multi-site study tracked 4,434 adults at Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Kaiser Permanente Southern California, and HealthPartners for 14 years: from 1995 to 2008. The research arms of all three of these integrated health care delivery systems -- and Group Health Research Institute, where the study's results were analyzed -- belong to the HMO Research Network. The patients had type 2 diabetes that was either controlled with medication or else uncontrolled, and they were also obese enough to be candidates for gastric bypass surgery.

"Diabetes is an increasingly common disease that tends to keep getting worse relentlessly," Dr. Arterburn said. More than 25 million American adults have diabetes -- and as populations age and keep gaining weight, 50 million are predicted to have it by 2050. Already, diabetes accounts for 5 percent of all U.S. health care spending. And it raises the risk of blindness, kidney disease, heart attacks, strokes, and deaths.

"Prevention is by far the best medicine for diabetes," Dr. Arterburn said. "Once you have diabetes, it's really hard to get rid of. Attempts to treat it with intensive lifestyle changes and medical management have been disappointing." For instance, the National Institutes of Health recently halted the Look AHEAD study of intensive lifestyle changes for people with diabetes. Despite improvements in risk factors like body weight, fitness, and blood pressure, sugar, and lipids, that study showed lifestyle changes did not lower the outcomes that matter most: heart attacks, strokes, and deaths.

"No wonder so many were excited to learn that diabetes can remit after gastric surgery -- even, in some cases, before any significant weight loss -- and many were hoping that gastric surgery might be a 'cure' for diabetes," Dr. Arterburn said. "Our study is the first major evidence that diabetes often recurs after gastric bypass surgery." Still, he added, even after diabetes comes back, having had a long period of post-surgery remission is likely to have many positive effects, such as fewer complications of diabetes: less damage to eyes and kidneys, and fewer heart attacks, strokes, and deaths. The researchers are now funded by the National Institutes of Health to study that possibility in this same population. Dr. Arterburn is also leading a randomized controlled pilot trial of intensive behavioral treatment vs. gastric surgery at Group Health with colleagues from the University of Washington.

It's still not clear whether diabetes relapse happens because of gaining weight back or because of underlying the progression of diabetes. But patients' weight -- before and after surgery -- was not strongly correlated with remission or relapse of diabetes in this population.

As part of the Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions about Effectiveness (DEcIDE) program, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services funded this project under contract HHSA290-2005-0033-I-TO10-WA1, led by Dr. Arterburn.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Group Health Research Institute.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. David E. Arterburn, Andy Bogart, Nancy E. Sherwood, Stephen Sidney, Karen J. Coleman, Sebastien Haneuse, Patrick J. O?Connor, Mary Kay Theis, Guilherme M. Campos, David McCulloch, Joe Selby. A Multisite Study of Long-term Remission and Relapse of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Following Gastric Bypass. Obesity Surgery, 2012; DOI: 10.1007/s11695-012-0802-1

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/health_medicine/heart_disease/~3/rmyeHWJJJb0/121126142957.htm

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Early Childhood Matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-school and ...

? November 24, 2012Posted in: E-books

Early Childhood Matters documents the rapid development of early years education and care from the late 1990s into the new millennium. It chronicles the unique contribution of the EPPE research to our understanding of the importance of pre-school.

The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education (EPPE) project is the largest European study of the impact of early years education and care on children's developmental outcomes. Through this ground-breaking project a team of internationally-recognised experts provide insights into how home learning environments interact with pre-school and primary school experiences to shape children's progress.The findings of this fascinating project:

provide new evidence of the importance of early childhood experiences
show how these experiences influence children???s cognitive, social and behavioural development
give new insights on the importance of early years education
will be relevant to a wide audience who are interested in policy development, early years education and care, and ???effectiveness??? research
examine how the combined effects of pre-school, primary school and the family interact to shape children???s educational outcomes.

This insightful book is essential reading for all those interested in innovative research methodology and policy development in early childhood education and care. It provides new evidence on good practice in early years settings and will have a wide appeal for students and those engaged in providing accredited courses of study at a range of levels in early childhood.

Download link:

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[Directly Download] Early Childhood Matters: Evidence from the Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project!

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Source: http://www.yoddl.com/e-books/285237-early-childhood-matters-evidence-from-the-effective-pre-school-and-primary-education-project/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=early-childhood-matters-evidence-from-the-effective-pre-school-and-primary-education-project

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Larry Hagman's Death: What Does This Mean For 'Dallas'?

After Larry Hagman's death on Nov. 23, "Dallas" producers are working on wrapping up the storyline for his iconic character, J.R. Ewing.

The TNT reboot of the '80s TV series will premiere its second season on Jan. 28, with Hagman starring in six episodes out of the 15 ordered. But according to The Hollywood Reporter, Hagman, who reprised his role as scheming oil tycoon J.R., will be given a proper send-off.

Sources indicate that producers were caught off-guard by Hagman's death, but will try their best to re-work this season's plot.

In a joint statement issued by Warner Bros. TV and "Dallas" executive producers Cynthia Cidre and Michael M. Robin, the cast and crew celebrated the actor's career, saying:

Larry Hagman was a giant, a larger-than-life personality whose iconic performance as J.R. Ewing will endure as one of the most indelible in entertainment history. He truly loved portraying this globally recognized character, and he leaves a legacy of entertainment, generosity and grace. Everyone at Warner Bros. and in the "Dallas" family is deeply saddened by Larry's passing, and our thoughts are with his family and dear friends during this difficult time.

"All of us at TNT are deeply saddened at the news of Larry Hagman's passing," TNT added in a statement. "He was a wonderful human being and an extremely gifted actor. We will be forever thankful that a whole new generation of people got to know and appreciate Larry through his performance as J.R. Ewing. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this very difficult time."

Hagman, who also starred alongside Barbara Eden in "I Dream of Jeannie," was diagnosed with cancer more than a year ago and continued to work on "Dallas" during treatment. He died at the age of 81 due to complications from his battle with throat cancer.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/24/larry-hagmans-death-what-does-this-mean-for-dallas_n_2184434.html

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War On Christmas: A Narrative (OliverWillisLikeKryptoniteToStupid)

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Europe mulls banning 'boxes' for abandoned babies

BERLIN (AP) ? German pastor Gabriele Stangl says she will never forget the harrowing confession she heard in 1999. A woman said she had been brutally raped, got pregnant and had a baby. Then she killed it and buried it in the woods near Berlin.

Stangl wanted to do something to help women in such desperate situations. So the following year, she convinced Berlin's Waldfriede Hospital to create the city's first so-called "baby box." The box is actually a warm incubator that can be opened from an outside wall of a hospital where a desperate parent can anonymously leave an unwanted infant.

A small flap opens into the box, equipped with a motion detector. An alarm goes off in the hospital to alert staff two minutes after a baby is left.

"The mother has enough time to leave without anyone seeing her," Stangl said. "The important thing is that her baby is now in a safe place."

Baby boxes are a revival of the medieval "foundling wheels," where unwanted infants were left in revolving church doors. In recent years, there has been an increase in these contraptions ? also called hatches, windows or slots in some countries ? and at least 11 European nations now have them, according to United Nations figures. They are technically illegal, but mostly operate in a gray zone as authorities turn a blind eye.

But they have drawn the attention of human rights advocates who think they are bad for the children and merely avoid dealing with the problems that lead to child abandonment. At a meeting last month, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child said baby boxes should be banned and is pushing that agenda to the European Parliament.

There are nearly 100 baby boxes in Germany. Poland and the Czech Republic each have more than 40 while Italy, Lithuania, Russia and Slovakia have about 10 each. There are two in Switzerland, one in Belgium and one being planned in the Netherlands.

In the last decade, hundreds of babies have been abandoned this way; it's estimated one or two infants are typically left at each location every year, though exact figures aren't available.

"They are a bad message for society," said Maria Herczog, a Hungarian child psychologist on the U.N. committee. "These boxes violate children's rights and also the rights of parents to get help from the state to raise their families," she said.

"Instead of providing help and addressing some of the social problems and poverty behind these situations, we're telling people they can just leave their baby and run away."

She said the practice encourages women to have children without getting medical care. "It's paradoxical that it's OK for women to give up their babies by putting them in a box, but if they were to have them in a hospital and walk away, that's a crime," Herczog said. She said the committee is now discussing the issue with the European Parliament and is also asking countries which allow the practice to shut them down.

Herczog also said it's wrong to assume only mothers are abandoning these children and that sometimes they may be forced into giving up children they might otherwise have kept. "We have data to show that in some cases it's pimps, a male relative or someone who's exploiting the woman," she said.

In some countries ? Australia, Canada and Britain ? it is illegal to abandon an infant anywhere. Yet, in the U.S. there are "safe haven" laws that allow parents to anonymously give up an infant in a secure place like a hospital or police department. A handful of other countries including Japan and Slovakia have similar provisions.

Countries that support this anonymous abandonment method contend they save lives. In a letter responding to U.N. concerns, more than two dozen Czech politicians said they "strongly disagreed" with the proposed ban. "The primary aim of baby hatches, which (have) already saved hundreds of newborns, is to protect their right to life and protect their human rights," the letter said.

However, limited academic surveys suggest this hasn't reduced the murder of infants. There are about 30 to 60 infanticides in Germany every year, a number that has been relatively unchanged for years, even after the arrival of baby boxes. That's similar to the per capita rate in Britain where there is no such option.

Across Germany, there is considerable public support for the boxes, particularly after several high-profile cases of infanticide, including the grisly discovery several years ago of the decomposed remains of nine infants stuffed into flower pots in Brandenburg.

Officials at several facilities with baby boxes say biological parents sometimes name the infant being abandoned. "The girl is called Sarah," read one note left with a baby in Lubeck, Germany in 2003. "I have many problems and a life with Sarah is just not possible," the letter said.

The secretive nature also means few restrictions on who gets dropped off, even though the boxes are intended for newborns. Friederike Garbe, who oversees a baby box in Lubeck, found two young boys crying there last November. "One was about four months old and his brother was already sitting up," she said. The older boy was about 15 months old and could say "Mama."

Still, Germany's health ministry is considering other options. "We want to replace the necessity for the baby boxes by implementing a rule to allow women to give birth anonymously that will allow them to give up the child for adoption," said Christopher Steegmans, a ministry spokesman.

Austria, France, and Italy allow women to give birth anonymously and leave the baby in the hospital to be adopted. Germany and Britain sometimes allow this under certain circumstances even though it is technically illegal. Eleven other nations grant women a "concealed delivery" that hides their identities when they give birth to their babies, who are then given up for adoption. But the women are supposed to leave their name and contact information for official records that may be given one day to the children if they request it after age 18.

For German couple Andy and Astrid, an abandoned infant in a baby box near the city of Fulda ended their two-year wait to adopt a child nearly a decade ago.

"We were told about him on a Sunday and then visited him the next day in the hospital," said Astrid, a 37-year-old teacher, who along with her husband, agreed to talk with The Associated Press if their last names were not used to protect the identity of their child. The couple quietly snapped a few photos of the baby boy they later named Jan. He weighed just over 7 pounds when he was placed in the baby box, wrapped in two small towels.

When Jan started asking questions about where he came from around age 2, his parents explained another woman had given birth to him. They showed him the photos taken at the hospital, introduced him to the nurses there and showed him the baby box where he had been left.

Earlier this year, the couple began the procedure to adopt a second child, a boy whose mother gave birth anonymously so she could give him up for adoption.

Astrid said Jan, now 8, loves football, tractors and anything to do with the farming that he sees daily in their rural community. She said it's not so important for her and her husband to know who his biological parents are.

But for Jan, "it would be nice to know that he could meet them if he wanted to," she said. "I want that for him, but there is no possibility to find out who they were."

____

Medical writer Maria Cheng reported from London.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/europe-mulls-banning-boxes-abandoned-babies-075454911.html

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Egypt's Mursi faces judicial revolt over decree

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi faced a rebellion from judges who accused him on Saturday of expanding his powers at their expense, deepening a crisis that has triggered violence in the street and exposed the country's deep divisions.

The Judges' Club, a body representing judges across Egypt, called for a strike during a meeting interrupted with chants demanding the "downfall of the regime" - the rallying cry in the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.

Mursi's political opponents and supporters, representing the divide between newly empowered Islamists and their critics, called for rival demonstrations on Tuesday over a decree that has triggered concern in the West.

Issued late on Thursday, it marks an effort by Mursi to consolidate his influence after he successfully sidelined Mubarak-era generals in August. The decree defends from judicial review decisions taken by Mursi until a new parliament is elected in a vote expected early next year.

It also shields the Islamist-dominated assembly writing Egypt's new constitution from a raft of legal challenges that have threatened the body with dissolution, and offers the same protection to the Islamist-controlled upper house of parliament.

Egypt's highest judicial authority, the Supreme Judicial Council, said the decree was an "unprecedented attack" on the independence of the judiciary. The Judges' Club, meeting in Cairo, called on Mursi to rescind it.

That demand was echoed by prominent opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei. "There is no room for dialogue when a dictator imposes the most oppressive, abhorrent measures and then says 'let us split the difference'," he said.

"I am waiting to see, I hope soon, a very strong statement of condemnation by the U.S., by Europe and by everybody who really cares about human dignity," he said in an interview with Reuters and the Associated Press.

More than 300 people were injured on Friday as protests against the decree turned violent. There were attacks on at least three offices belonging to the Muslim Brotherhood, the movement that propelled Mursi to power.

POLARISATION

Liberal, leftist and socialist parties called a big protest for Tuesday to force Mursi to row back on a move they say has exposed the autocratic impulses of a man once jailed by Mubarak.

In a sign of the polarization in the country, the Muslim Brotherhood called its own protests that day to support the president's decree.

Mursi also assigned himself new authority to sack the prosecutor general, who was appointed during the Mubarak era, and appoint a new one. The dismissed prosecutor general, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, was given a hero's welcome at the Judges' Club.

In open defiance of Mursi, Ahmed al-Zind, head of the club, introduced Mahmoud by his old title.

The Mursi administration has defended the decree on the grounds that it aims to speed up a protracted transition from Mubarak's rule to a new system of democratic government.

Analysts say it reflects the Brotherhood's suspicion towards sections of a judiciary unreformed from Mubarak's days.

"It aims to sideline Mursi's enemies in the judiciary and ultimately to impose and head off any legal challenges to the constitution," said Elijah Zarwan, a fellow with The European Council on Foreign Relations.

"We are in a situation now where both sides are escalating and its getting harder and harder to see how either side can gracefully climb down."

ADVISOR TO MURSI QUITS

Following a day of violence in Cairo, Alexandria, Port Said and Suez, the smell of tear gas hung over the capital's Tahrir Square, the epicentre of the uprising that toppled Mubarak in 2011 and the stage for more protests on Friday.

Youths clashed sporadically with police near the square, where activists camped out for a second day on Saturday, setting up makeshift barricades to keep out traffic.

Al-Masry Al-Youm, one of Egypt's most widely read dailies, hailed Friday's protest as "The November 23 Intifada", invoking the Arabic word for uprising.

But the ultra-orthodox Salafi Islamist groups that have been pushing for tighter application of Islamic law in the new constitution have rallied behind Mursi's decree.

The Nour Party, one such group, stated its support for the Mursi decree. Al-Gama'a al-Islamiya, which carried arms against the state in the 1990s, said it would save the revolution from what it described as remnants of the Mubarak regime.

Samir Morkos, a Christian assistant to Mursi, had told the president he wanted to resign, said Yasser Ali, Mursi's spokesman. Speaking to the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, Morkos said: "I refuse to continue in the shadow of republican decisions that obstruct the democratic transition".

Mursi's decree has been criticized by Western states that earlier this week were full of praise for his role in mediating an end to the eight-day war between Israel and Palestinians.

"The decisions and declarations announced on November 22 raise concerns for many Egyptians and for the international community," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

The European Union urged Mursi to respect the democratic process.

(Additional reporting by Omar Fahmy, Marwa Awad, Edmund Blair and Shaimaa Fayed and Reuters TV; Editing by Jon Hemming)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/clashes-cairo-mursi-seizes-powers-053441160.html

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Owl feathers inspire quieter change

10 hrs.

Francie Diep , TechNewsDaily

An owl glides by on silent wings. Many holiday travelers probably wish airplanes could do the same.?

"On airplanes, the back edge of the wing is where you get most of the noise," Justin Jaworski, a mathematician at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom, told TechNewsDaily. "My work is looking at developing theoretical models to explain trailing-edge noise."

Most recently, he and his colleague Nigel Peake showed, mathematically, that the noise from airplane wings could be reduced tenfold if their designers took a few cues from the feathers that fringe the trailing edge of an owl's wings.?

In their latest research, Jaworski and Peake found that owl wings are especially quiet in part because their trailing-edge feathers are flexible and porous, allowing some air through. Plane wings, of course, are hard and solid. But the pair found that if the edge of a plane's wings were perforated in a particular way, "the theory says you should be able to reduce noise as if there were not an edge there at all," Jaworski said.

Makers of real planes might have a difficult time taking that suggestion. Holes in the wings might reduce a plane's aerodynamics too much for the companies' liking, Jaworski said. Also, flexible trailing edges might flap in the wind, which would also reduce aerodynamics. These are issues that other engineers would work out in later stages of research, Jaworski said. He collaborates with experimental researchers to uncover the engineering trade-offs in his ideas.

In any case, the findings are still in their earliest stages, and it might take two or three years before the ideas for a quieter airplane wing are tested with a small model in a wind tunnel, Jaworski said. After? wind tunnel tests, even more research would go into seeing whether the ideas would be cost-effective in real planes.

Meanwhile, the Cambridge researchers continue to refine their model and study owl wings for further secrets into their quiet flight, Jaworski said.?

On the theory side, the next step is to study other features of owl wings that are not common to noisier flapping birds such as pigeons. "We're really excited about looking at this downy material on top," Jaworski said, referring to a unique, soft covering owl wings have. He said the down covering is difficult to model mathematically, no one has studied it before, and it may be especially important to quiet flight.

Jaworski presented his and Peake's research Nov. 18 in San Diego at a conference hosted by the American Physical Society.

You can follow TechNewsDaily staff writer Francie Diep on Twitter @franciediep. Follow TechNewsDaily on Twitter @TechNewsDaily, or on Facebook.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/technology/futureoftech/owl-feathers-inspire-quieter-change-1C7226147

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Chrome OS developer update adds extended desktop support

Google issued an update this week for the developer edition of Chrome OS, which adds extended display support via HDMI or VGA. Chromebooks packing A15 and Intel Celeron processors are said to fit the bill, while older machines such as the Cr-48 may experience a few hangups. The Dev Channel update also brings a newer version of Flash and Intelligent Window positioning, which automatically organizes your content displayed. If you'd like to go hands-on with these new features before they make their official debut, you'll need to switch your Chromebook over to the Developer Channel. This can be done by toggling: Menu, Settings, Help, More Info and then selecting the Dev Channel option. However, if patience is your strong suit and you prefer to wait for a certified stable release, at least you now know what lies ahead.

Filed under: Laptops, Software, Google

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/11/22/chrome-os-update-extended-desktop-support/

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Brazil to host England in June friendly

Associated Press Sports

updated 3:46 p.m. ET Nov. 23, 2012

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -Brazil will host England in a friendly at the renovated Maracana in June on the eve of the Confederations Cup.

Rio de Janeiro governor Sergio Cabral announced the June 2 game on Friday. The Confederations Cup, involving Brazil as host but not England, starts 13 days later.

England will welcome Brazil in a friendly in February at Wembley.

Maracana, built for the 1950 World Cup, has been undergoing a massive renovation to host the Confederations Cup, 2014 World Cup and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Olympics.

Cabral says a game between Brazil and a squad composed of Israeli and Palestinian players will mark the stadium's official reopening. A date has yet to be set.

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

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Beckham and Donovan, a love story

PST: It was a disastrous first few years, but the relationship between David Beckham and Landon Donovan improved dramatically over the seasons.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49942135/ns/sports-soccer/

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New trail in ex-Atlanta rail corridor draws crowds

ATLANTA (AP) ? Since a new urban trail opened last month in a former rail corridor in Atlanta, it has drawn crowds of joggers, dog-walkers and cyclists to take in spectacular views of the skyline and neighborhoods once seen only by train. Hundreds of trees have been planted along the paved 14-foot-wide path, while artists have added works such as windmills made of bicycle parts and colorful murals on concrete overpasses.

The path, known as the Eastside Trail, is part of a $2.8 billion plan to transform a 22-mile railroad corridor that encircles Atlanta into a network of trails, parks, affordable homes and ultimately streetcar lines. The Atlanta BeltLine is an example of rails-to-trails projects going on around the country, including in New York and Chicago, that aim to make better use of old rail corridors by creating better-connected and more livable urban areas, providing alternatives to car travel and spurring economic development.

"I think it's transformational," Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed said. "The new section is already overused in terms of the people. ... Now folks are demanding more and more."

Advocates say the BeltLine has great promise for a city that was founded as a railroad crossroads before the Civil War and later became a poster child for suburban sprawl and highway gridlock.

"The perception of Atlanta as 100 percent dependent on the car has really started to change," said Ed McMahon, senior residence fellow at the Urban Land Institute in Washington. He cited recent efforts to create bike paths and the planned BeltLine, which he said would be the "first bicycle beltway."

Atlanta's focus on light rail alongside the planned trails is also unique, he added.

More than 1,600 abandoned or unused rail corridors nationwide have been converted to trails, which totaled more than 19,000 miles in 2012.

One of the best-known examples is the High Line project on Manhattan's West Side, where an elevated rail line was transformed into a two-mile-long elevated park. McMahon said it cost $150 million to build and has generated $2 billion in new construction. Chicago is undertaking The Bloomingdale Trail, a 3-mile-long elevated linear park and trail on a former rail line.

Such projects are "sparking real estate sales and energizing future development," McMahon said.

They're also changing the way people get around. In Minneapolis, he said, an abandoned rail yard was turned into a "bicycle freeway" with separate 10-foot-wide paths for travel to and from downtown.

It seems only fitting that Atlantans are reclaiming their rail corridors: The city was settled in 1837 as a railroad crossroads called Terminus.

Atlanta BeltLine Inc., a nonprofit that is an offshoot of the city's economic development authority, works with a myriad of groups and agencies. Its roughly $20-million-plus budget includes new tax revenue above 2005 levels from a BeltLine corridor tax district ? expected to generate $1.7 billion over 25 years ? and government funds and private donations.

In addition to the 2.25-mile-long Eastside Trail, the group has opened three other parks, a skate park and two trails; helped create 120 affordable homes; secured land for future streetcar lines; and invested more than $1.3 million in public art.

However, the grander vision of light rail seems farther off after area voters recently rejected a transportation referendum that included $600 million for transit projects such as the BeltLine.

The ABI has gotten some public-relations black eyes, too. The board overseeing the project voted in August to oust its president and CEO after the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that he charged taxpayers for a wedding gift, a dry cleaning bill, a parking ticket and other items. Critics also voiced concern about spending for elaborate staff retreats, stays at pricey hotels and meals at expensive restaurants for project employees.

ABI Chairman John Somerhalder said limited dollars were at issue, but that a higher principle was involved. He said the board has put in place policies "to make sure we're very good stewards going forward."

Somerhalder said there has been $775 million in private redevelopment completed or underway within a half-mile of the trail since 2005. And, he said, the positive response to projects like the Eastside Trail will help build on the $41 million in private fundraising, much of it from Atlanta's major philanthropic groups.

In recent weeks, the trail has been a beehive of activity.

"I like it. It definitely cleans it up," said John Timlin, 29, a worker at New York Butcher Shoppe, whose back door abuts an increasingly crowded trail. Sales have gone up 20 percent since the trail opened.

Camila Brioli, 21, a Brazil native who is studying piano performance at Georgia State University, went for a jog on the trail recently and wound up stopping at the various public art works, including a temporary piece by artist Misao Cates where passersby wrote messages on white ribbons and attached them to bamboo poles. She left one in Portuguese about Brazil's soccer team, one of more than 1,000 left by people.

"I love it because I am a pianist," she said, adding that she was talking to her mom on Skype moments earlier and used it to show her some of the works.

The new trail, which links century-old Piedmont Park to the well-known Inman Park and Old Fourth Ward neighborhoods, also evokes the past. From one bridge, a visitor can look down on a large retail plaza and lot that was once Ponce de Leon Park, home of the minor-league Atlanta Crackers until the Braves came to town. A magnolia field that was prominently just right of center field still stands.

The trail also passes a 2-million-square-foot red-brick building that was a Sears regional warehouse and store for years before it became city offices for a time.

The city last year sold the building to Jamestown Properties, owner of Chelsea Market in New York, for $27 million. Plans call for turning it into restaurants, apartments and offices.

Fred Yalouris, director of design for the project, said the Eastside Connector has turned out well, drawing on new apartments and condos as well as an influx of 20- and 30-somethings. But planners still must figure out how to better connect neighborhoods that were long separated by railroad tracks.

"There are communities in some parts of the BeltLine within 200 feet and hardly no (one knows) each other," he said.

Two Urban Licks, a popular Atlanta restaurant, used to have a 6-foot-tall privacy fence to shield its back patio, garden and bocce courts from the kudzu-covered railroads tracks. As the trail was built, the fence came down ? and now the eatery may set up a host stand out back. General manager Shireen Herrington called the BeltLine "a great use of something that's just there, been sitting there."

But Herrington said police need to adequately patrol the trail given past crime problems. She also favors adding lighting and call boxes.

Reed said police patrol the BeltLine, and officials say future plans include lighting.

Farther down the trail, a battered old wooden railroad bridge still stands alongside a new span over Ralph McGill Boulevard. There on a recent day, Sabine Markham helped her 6-year-old daughter Savannah learn how to roller blade.

"It's our first time trying it," the Germany native said of the trail. "It's pretty. It's nice they're doing something that lets people do something outdoors."

___

Online:

http://beltline.org/

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/trail-ex-atlanta-rail-corridor-draws-crowds-213825820.html

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Risking Life and Libel Suits To Expose Fraud

Shi-min Fang

Voice of America/Wikimedia Commons.

Shi-min Fang has held research posts at the University of Rochester in New York and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif. He is now a freelance science writer. He just won the inaugural Maddox Prize for exposing scientific misconduct in his native China.

Jon White: You've just won the inaugural Maddox Prize, awarded for your continuing work exposing scientific misconduct in China despite the threats you face. How does that feel?
Shi-min Fang: I am thrilled and honored. There are many people who are supporting me and fighting with me, so I consider this award as an acknowledgement of all our efforts, not just mine.

JW: What prompted you to start challenging dubious pseudoscientific claims in China?
SF: In 1998, after eight years studying in the United States, I returned to China and was shocked to see it was deluged with pseudoscience, superstitions, and scientific misconduct.

JW: What action did you decide to take?
SF: I had created a Chinese website called New Threads in 1994 when I was a graduate student at Michigan State University as a forum for sharing Chinese classics and literature. From 2000, I started to publish articles on the site fighting scientific misconduct and fraud. Eventually, New Threads became a flagship for those fighting pseudoscience, misconduct, fraud, and corruption among the Chinese science community.

JW: Are dubious claims a big problem in China?
SF: The majority of cases exposed are plagiarism, the exaggeration of academic credentials, and faked research papers, which are endemic in China.

JW: Tell me about some of them.
SF: A typical case was the nucleic acid "nutrition" scheme?supplements promoted to boost energy levels in the tired, pregnant, and old. It involved more than a dozen Chinese biochemists and was the first that brought wide media coverage, both domestically and internationally. New Threads has exposed more than 1,000 cases of scientific fraud.

JW: Why is science fraud such a problem in China?
SF: It is the result of interactions between totalitarianism; the lack of freedom of speech, press, and academic research; extreme capitalism that tries to commercialize everything including science and education; traditional culture; the lack of scientific spirit; the culture of saving face, and so on. It's also because there is not a credible official channel to report, investigate, and punish academic misconduct. The cheaters don't have to worry they will someday be caught and punished.

JW: What have been the worst moments?
SF: I have been sued more than 10 times. Because the Chinese legal system is very corrupt and a ruling is not always made according to the evidence, it is not surprising that I have lost some libel cases even though I did nothing wrong. In one of these, a local court at Wuhan ordered me to pay 40,000 yuan (about $6,400) in compensation and transferred the money from my wife's account. I have also narrowly escaped from an attack with pepper spray and a hammer.

JW: Has it been worth it?
SF: Yes. I fully understand the risk I am facing and am willing to take it. What troubles me most is that my wife and my young daughter also have to endure vituperation and personal attacks.

This article originally appeared in New Scientist.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=ad4512e5f2ecc3c3663a3aaaf2f51c0b

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Blow Up The Humanities | The RiotACT

In?Blow Up The Humanities, Professor Toby Miller has provocatively outlined an argument for a new model of humanities teaching and scholarship that will address the social, cultural and economic crises it faces. In England, the newly formed Council for the Defence of British Universities argues the university system is being deliberately designed to subordinate everything to the economic imperative. Autonomy is said to be under threat, public fee support is being withdrawn and dissemination models face challenges from the push to open-access.

David Sweeney argues that the evidence in the humanities is bright ? students are voting with their feet and choosing to study the humanities. At a ?9k annual fee, the financial mode for humanities departments is sound. Employers continue to hire humanities graduates.

This lecture proposes that the humanities have a firm foundation on which to build, and identifies strategies to face the future with confidence. Sweeney will also discuss the UK Research Excellence Framework impact exercise, whose pilot demonstrated that humanities impact is evident and can be measured: ?a powerful story emerges about the strength and benefits of research in the humanities, research that transforms the intellectual and cultural landscape, generates commercial capital and sustains citizenship and civil society?.

David Sweeney has been Director (Research, Innovation and Skills) of the Higher Education Funding Council for England since 2008. In this role he is responsible for developing policy on research (including the Research Excellence Framework), business and community, and employer engagement.

When: Tuesday 27 November, 11am-12pm
Where: Theatrette, Humanities Research Centre, Sir Roland Wilson Building (120), McCoy Circuit, ANU

Click here to register.

Free and open to the public

Enquiries: T 02 6125 8983 E Colin.Steele@anu.edu.au

Source: http://the-riotact.com/blow-up-the-humanities-a-british-perspective-on-university-futures/89277

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How Croatian agriculture bought the farm

Agriculture was once a core industry in the former Yugoslavia. But corruption and mismanagement turned the region's one-time breadbasket into a 'small war zone.'

By Ana Benacic,?Balkan Investigative Reporting Network / November 22, 2012

All the assets of the Retkovci farm, including these buildings in the nearby village of Vodjinci, have been lost.

Ana Benacic

Enlarge

Beyond the long grass lies a runway where the planes no longer land. It was owned by the villagers here, along with the farm and the fields.

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The crop-dusters flew away when the farm went bust. In the following years, the villagers? shares in their business also vanished, seemingly into thin air.

For Ivan Zivkovic, who worked at the farm, the disused airstrip is a neglected piece of an unsolved puzzle. ?We never found out who owns it now, or what they paid for it,? he says. ?There is no trace of the money.?

The collapse of his farm is part of an even larger puzzle ? the catastrophic decline of agriculture in the breadbasket regions of the former Yugoslavia. Food imports and prices are rising in countries that once fed themselves comfortably.

In the lush plains of Serbia, farmers are getting poorer, while their children migrate to the cities for work. In Croatia, agriculture today accounts for three percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared to almost 20 percent two decades ago.

Trade liberalization and the current economic crisis bear some of the blame, as do the conflicts that tore the former Yugoslavia apart. But across the region, experts say it is corruption and mismanagement that have brought agriculture to its knees.

No soldiers traded gunfire over Mr. Zivkovic?s farm in eastern Croatia. Instead, its workers spent the 1990s fighting businessmen and lawyers for their tractors and orchards ? the spoils of a privatization deal gone wrong.

?It was like a small war zone,? says Marko Tominac, an insolvency manager who tried to settle the farm?s accounts among Zivkovic and his colleagues. ?Everybody was screaming that everybody else was getting the bigger part ? including the workers.?

The privatizations of the last two decades were largely ? but not universally ? disastrous. A handful of the region?s largest collective farms have changed ownership and remained productive.

But most of the small and medium-sized concerns did not survive the transition from socialism. They were treated as the low-hanging fruit of the privatization boom ? bought cheap, stripped bare, and discarded ? by men who had little interest in agriculture.

In Serbia, alleged drug baron Darko Saric funded the purchase of Mitrosrem, a collective farm now hovering on the brink of bankruptcy. Mr. Saric denies the charges against him and is on the run from the law.?In Slovenia, agriculture?s contribution to the GDP has shrunk to a quarter of what it was 20 years ago. The country?s privatization was ?tycoon-oriented, wild, and idiotic,? according to Ales Kuhar, an associate professor in food economics at Ljubljana University.

In Croatia, where privatization is commonly referred to as ?legalized theft,? a state audit published evidence of hundreds of bad deals from the previous decade. The audit was completed in 2004, and the statute of limitations relating to the deals has since been removed, allowing any privatizations from that period to be investigated.

However, prosecutors say they are only investigating 31 people at the moment, and have yet to file any indictments. The country?s judiciary is routinely singled out for criticism by the European Union, which Croatia is scheduled to join next year.

1?|?2?|?3?|?4?|?5?|?6

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/jDZNiR9RBLc/How-Croatian-agriculture-bought-the-farm

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Hamas cries victory; truce with Israel holds

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) ? Hamas leaders in Gaza declared victory over Israel on Thursday, and thousands of flag-waving supporters rallied in celebration as the battered territory entered its first day of calm under an Egyptian-brokered truce that ended the worst cross-border fighting in four years.

Eight days of punishing Israeli airstrikes on Gaza and a barrage of Hamas rocket fire on Israeli ended inconclusively. While Israel said it inflicted heavy damage on the militants, Gaza's Hamas rulers claimed that Israel's decision not to send ground troops into the territory, as it had four years ago, was a sign of a new Hamas deterrent power.

"Resistance fighters changed the rules of the game with the occupation (Israel), upset its calculations," Gaza Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, who had attended the rally, said later in a televised speech. "The option of invading Gaza after this victory is gone and will never return."

At the same time, Haniyeh urged Gaza fighters to respect the truce and to "guard this deal as long as Israel respects it."

The mood in Israel was mixed. Some were grateful that quiet had been restored without a ground operation that could have cost the lives of soldiers. Others ? particular those in southern Israel hit by rockets over the past 13 years ? thought the operation was abandoned too quickly.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive's aims of halting Gaza rocket fire and weakening Hamas were achieved. "I know there are citizens who were expecting a harsher response," he said, adding that Israel is prepared to act if the cease-fire is violated.

Despite the tough talk, the cease-fire raised hopes of a new era between Israel and Hamas. The two sides are now to negotiate a deal that would end years of Gaza rocket fire on Israel and open the borders of the blockaded Palestinian territory. Talks are supposed to begin sometime after a 24-hour period that began with the cease-fire late Wednesday.

However, the vague language in the agreement and deep hostility between the combatants made it far from certain that the bloodshed would end or that either side will get everything it wants. Israel seeks an end to weapons smuggling into Gaza, while Hamas wants a complete lifting of the border blockade imposed in 2007, after the Hamas takeover of Gaza.

Israel launched the offensive Nov. 14 to halt renewed rocket fire from Gaza, unleashing some 1,500 airstrikes on Hamas-linked targets, while Hamas and other Gaza militant groups showered Israel with just as many rockets.

The eight days of fighting killed 161 Palestinians, including 71 civilians, and five Israelis. Israel also destroyed key symbols of Hamas power, such as the prime minister's office, along with rocket launching sites and Gaza police stations.

In Gaza, the announcement of a truce late Wednesday set off frenzied street celebrations.

"Today is different, the morning coffee tastes different and I feel we are off to a new start," said Ashraf Diaa, a 38-year-old engineer from Gaza City.

Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters, who had slipped out of sight during the offensive, appeared in public for the first time Thursday during a funeral for five of their comrades. The armed men displayed grenade launchers and assault rifles mounted atop more than 100 brand-new pickup trucks.

The latest round of fighting brought the Islamists unprecedented political recognition. During the past week, Gaza became a magnet for visiting foreign ministers from Turkey and several Arab states ? a sharp contrast to Hamas' isolation in the past.

Israel and the United States, even while formally sticking to a policy of shunning Hamas, also acknowledged the militant group's central role by engaging in indirect negotiations with them. Israel and the West consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak defended his decision not to launch a ground offensive. Barak was also defense minister during Israel's previous major military campaign against Hamas four years ago, which drew widespread international criticism and claims of war crimes.

"You don't get into military adventures on a whim, and certainly not based on the mood of the public, which can turn the first time an armored personnel carrier rolls over or an explosive device is detonated against forces on the ground," he told Israel Army Radio.

"The world's mood also can turn," he said, referring to warnings by the U.S. and Israel's other Western allies of the high cost of a ground offensive.

President Barack Obama had personally lobbied Netanyahu to avoid a ground offensive and give the cease-fire a chance.

Egypt, meanwhile, emerged as the pivotal mediator, raising its stature as a regional power.

Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi will now have to assume a more direct role as a referee between Israel and Hamas, at a time when he faces many domestic challenges, including reviving a faltering economy.

Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and the head of the smaller Islamic Jihad militant group Ramadan Shalah met with Egypt's intelligence chief Thursday as the follow-up talks geared up.

Reaching a deal on a new border arrangement for Gaza would require major concessions from both sides.

Hamas wants both Israel and Egypt to lift all border restrictions.

In 2007, Israel and Morsi's pro-Western predecessor, Hosni Mubarak, sealed the territory, banning virtually all travel and trade. Israel eased its restriction somewhat in 2010 in response to international pressure, allowing Gazans to import consumer goods, while barring virtually all exports and travel. Gaza's battered economy recovered slightly, but the ban on exports prevented it from bouncing back fully.

After Mubarak's fall last year, Egypt eased travel through its Rafah crossing with Gaza. However, Morsi has rebuffed Hamas demands to allow full trade ties with Gaza, in part because of fears this would give an opening to Israel to "dump" Gaza onto Egypt and deepen the split between Gaza and the West Bank.

Palestinians hope the West Bank and Gaza, which lie on opposite sides of Israel, will one day make up the bulk of a Palestinian state. Israel has barred most travel between them during the past decade and closer ties between Egypt and Gaza could exacerbate the division.

Egypt is unlikely to implement major changes at the Rafah crossing, said a senior member of a Palestinian Islamic faction involved in the truce talks in Cairo.

Both Morsi and Hamas belong to the region-wide Muslim Brotherhood, but during the truce talks, Morsi acted more like a mediator than a fellow Muslim Brother, said the Islamist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the details of the closed-door meetings with reporters.

Israel, meanwhile, wants Egypt to halt weapons smuggling across its Sinai region into Gaza, through smuggling tunnels under the border.

Hamas has been able to significantly boost its arsenal in the past four years, largely with weapons from Iran, according to Mashaal, who thanked Tehran for its support late Wednesday.

The Palestinian negotiator said Iran sent Russian-made anti-tank missiles to Gaza after the last Israeli offensive, and claimed that these weapons helped deter Israel from launching a ground offensive.

As part of the cease-fire, Israel received U.S. pledges to help curb arms shipments to Gaza.

The fighting gave a major boost to Hamas' popularity, not only in Gaza, but also in the West Bank, where the Islamists' internationally backed rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, oversees a self-rule government.

Abbas, the leading Palestinian proponent of non-violence and negotiations with Israel, was forced to watch from the sidelines as his bitter rivals scored political points by using rocket fire on Israel as leverage.

A senior Abbas aide, Nabil Shaath, stood alongside Hamas leaders during Gaza City's victory rally Thursday. Despite the symbolism, it was not clear whether the two sides would be able to mend their rift.

Within hours of the truce, life regained a degree of normality after fighting that pinned down hundreds of thousands of people in their homes on both sides of the Gaza-Israel border.

In Gaza, men swept streets and bulldozers removed debris and fallen trees, remnants of the airstrikes. Shoppers crowded outdoor markets to stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. During the night, gunmen fired into the air in joy, and one man was killed and three wounded by the random celebratory fire, a health official said.

"We are back to business," said Iyad Radwan, a 23-year-old employee in a Gaza City window repair shop that had received 60 orders by mid-morning to fix damage. "Now it's time for rebuilding."

In southern Israel, schools remained closed as the region slowly came back to life.

In the hard-hit border town of Sderot, which has suffered years of rocket fire, few people were outdoors and most businesses remained closed. The coastal city of Ashkelon was closer to normalcy. Businesses were reopening, but suffered from shortages of supplies and staffers who had fled.

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Associated Press writers Amy Teibel in Jerusalem, Aron Heller in Sderot, Israel, and Mohammed Daraghmeh in Cairo contributed reporting.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-cries-victory-truce-israel-holds-134218000.html

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