вторник, 3 июля 2012 г.
четверг, 15 марта 2012 г.
Dow Shakes Out of Slump
Stock prices finally came to life last week, propelling the DowJones index to its highest level in five months, but the expertswarn that the market is not a place for widows and orphans.
The cure for the market's summer blahs was a report Wednesdayby the Commerce Department that orders for expensive manufacturedgoods took an unexpected 4.2 percent plunge in July.
It said the drop in orders for durable goods - cars, homeappliances and other items meant to last at least three years - wasthe largest in 2 1/2 years.
Wall Street viewed the data as a sign that the threat ofinflation is receding, which tempered concern over further interestrate increases …
No. 7 Texas tops Oklahoma State 61-46
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) — Tristan Thompson scored all 14 of his points in the second half, Jordan Hamilton added 12 points and 11 rebounds and No. 7 Texas beat Oklahoma State 61-46 Wednesday night as the Cowboys marked the 10-year anniversary of a plane crash that killed 10 people with ties to the basketball program.
The Longhorns (17-3, 5-0 Big 12) wore the same orange "Remember the 10" T-shirts as Oklahoma State during warmups, then deployed the same stiff defense that has provided them a perfect start to conference play.
The Cowboys (14-6, 2-4) shot just 32 percent while being held to their lowest scoring output of the season and having a 13-game home winning streak …
Respected Brazilian journalist Nogueira dies at 83
One of Brazil's most honored sports journalists has died after a long battle with brain cancer. Armando Nogueira was 83.
Globo TV says Nogueira died at his home early Monday, more than two years after his disease was diagnosed.
Nogueira covered World …
среда, 14 марта 2012 г.
Also Opening
An idyllic small town is rocked when Aubrey Fleming (LindsayLohan) is abducted and tortured. When she escapes, the girl whoregains consciousness in the hospital insists that she is not whothey think she is and that …
R. Kelly cuts another CD, 'TP-2.Com'
R. Kelly cuts another CD, `TP-2.Com'
Home Boy R. Kelly and the designated King of Hip-Hop, has another CD circulating everywhere which will probably zoom into the orbit of the gold record status entitled "TP-2. Com." "I Wish" the premiere single is blasting its wan into the arena of the Urban and Rhythm Crossover charts alreade. The Video which has captured audience on BET, The Box and MTV's DFX.
R. Kelly co-directed the video with Christopher Erskin.
In the meantime, R. Kelly will be honored by the Local Chapter of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, sponsors of the Grammy Awards, will honor the hip hop King R. Kelly with the industries first …
Leaders call for new rules for financial system
Seeking a common approach to the global financial turmoil, Asian and European leaders called for new rules guiding the global economy and a leading role for the International Monetary Fund in aiding crisis-stricken countries.
The 43 nations participating in the Asia-Europe Meeting summit reconvened for a second day of meetings in China's capital Saturday, a day after adopting a statement calling on the IMF and similar institutions to help stabilize struggling banks and shore up flagging share prices.
"Leaders agreed that the IMF should play a critical role in assisting countries seriously affected by the crisis, upon their request," the statement …
Couple open garden to grow charity funds
A LLANGAIN couple have opened their garden to the public onceagain as part of a fundraising drive for the Alzheimer's Society.
Lynn and Anne Davies of Dol-y-Dderwen will open the garden for aweek starting today (Wednesday).
The pair are award winning gardeners and their hard work has beenfeatured on S4C's popular horticultural show Garddio in the past.
Lynn said: "Unlike other years this is not at official openingbut we decided to keep it informal and people can call in throughoutthe …
Iowa Flag-Desecration Laws Tossed
DES MOINES, Iowa - Two state laws that prohibit misuse and desecration of an American flag are unenforceable and unconstitutional, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. District Judge Robert W. Pratt said Tuesday that the Iowa laws violate a due process clause in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa brought a lawsuit on behalf of a man charged with a misdemeanor for flying a flag upside down and writing on it and another man also charged with flying a flag upside down. It declared the ruling a victory.
"Today should mark the end of government misuse of these laws to intimidate and harass those who disagree with …
Diplomat: Somalia wants help rebuilding navy
Somalia wants international help to rebuild its navy to combat piracy on the high seas and train security forces to track down pirates in their coastal haunts, a senior Somali diplomat said Monday.
Deputy Ambassador Idd Beddel Mohamed said Security Council resolutions that authorized international action to fight piracy off the coast of Somalia also made clear that the international community should work with Somalia's government to re-establish anti-piracy forces "so we can fight against pirates in the Somali territorial waters but also on land."
While the United States, France, China and other countries have sent warships to try to stop the …
PLUS ENTERTAINMENT
DomRep hospital goes on strike amid cholera cases
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Doctors and nurses at one of the few hospitals in the Dominican Republic with the capacity to treat cholera patients went on strike Thursday after a nurse became infected with the bacteria.
Workers are demanding better sanitary conditions at Francisco Moscoso Puello Hospital, which often lacks water, medication and a system to safely dispose of waste, said Felipe de la Rosa, general secretary for a medical workers union.
Nurse Ramona Rivera is suspected of having contracted cholera this week while handling the waste of other cholera patients at the hospital in the capital, Santo Domingo.
During the strike, medical personnel are …
16 killed in Somalia fighting
Fighting in Somalia's capital killed 16 people Monday and a remote-controlled land mine wounded two aid workers and killed their driver in a southern port town, officials said.
The wounded aid workers were an Italian and a Somali, said Dr. Abdi Rahman of Merka Hospital, who treated them. Their driver, a Somali, died on the way to the hospital. Rahman said they worked for the United Nations.
In the capital, Mogadishu, fighting around the city's bustling Bakara market killed 16 people, said Mohamed Hassan, who owns a stall in the market and counted the bodies. In the past, government officials have suspected insurgents use Bakara market as a base.
…WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET
STAGE
Ten minutes with comic Tim Conway
When given the opportunity to interview a famous actor, it's often with some degree of trepidation that an interviewer agrees. It's hard to know what to expect. The person could play sweet, generous characters on the big and small screens but be a curt, difficult snob over the phone. I'd watched Tim Conway on The Carol Burnett Show for years, had seen more than one story of his life on the Biography channel and had read quite a bit about him. I got the impression that he was as nice in person as he seemed on film and my impression was not wrong. When I called him to do this interview, he answered the phone by pretending he was me. I was caught off guard, but in a way that set the tone for the rest of the call. Although I only spoke to him for 10 minutes, it was evident that Conway is a kind, funny guy, and his humor and wit kept us both laughing through the entire interview.
Boise Weekly: Thanks for agreeing to this interview.
Tim Conway: Thanks for calling me, or I'd have been sitting here talking to no one.
I have fond memories of watching the Apple Dumpling Gang [a 1975 film starring Conway and Don Knotts as a couple of fumbling Old West outlaws].
Well, Don [Knotts] really got me into this business. After watching him on the Steve Allen show and that crazy character he played [Mr. Morrison], I just said, "If I could be in the business and be as happy as that guy and doing what he is doing, I think that's what I want to do." I met him through the Steve Allen show and we came to be very, very good friends. We got to do a couple of Disney movies. I wrote a couple of movies for he and I. It was a wonderful, wonderful association with a wonderful guy.
You and Harvey Korman have been on the road a long time. It's been eight years.
I didn't realize it had been that long.
We didn't either.
Do you have any extended periods of time off for vacations?
We're doing about 150 shows a year, so we're pretty much always working. We occasionally get a few days off. We wander around the country or go to New York or something.
How many shows do you have left?
About seven. Actually, Boise is the last place that we're going to play. We're going to start our retiring shows.
Retiring shows?
Yeah, like everybody else does. They retire nine or 10 times. So this is our first retirement.
It would be safe to say that after eight years, you've got your shows pretty well nailed down...
We've almost got them rehearsed, yes.
But, there's quite a bit of improv in each show, right?
Yes. As a matter of fact, when we were playing somewhere in Canada ...Vancouver, I think. During a question-and-answer thing, some guy stood up and said, "You know, with all this ad-libbing you do, when are we ever going to hear the material we were supposed to hear?" We basically do the same show every time, but we don't always know where we're going to go with it. Somebody in the audience may do something that we'll take off on, so it's also different each time for sure.
Do you add any current events into your shows?
From time to time, but not really. We don't want to denigrate anybody. People make a point of ruining their own lives in public so we don't need to pick on them.
Is there a particular character of yours that you're most fond off?
I think the old man is the best because it's easy to do and for some reason [he] just captures people. It's the fact that this guy is not going to do anything in a hurry. We have a sketch where Harvey needs to catch an airplane to New York in a hurry and I'm the guy who's giving him the ticket.
My favorite sketch with the old man is the dry cleaner sketch where [he] keeps getting hung up on the rotating rack.
They actually couldn't stop that rack. That was the problem. It got stuck going around so I just went with it. I was on there for some time.
Is there a particular character of Korman's that you like?
I never cared for any of them.
So, I guess it's a good thing you guys are going into retirement.
Yeah, I guess it is. No, he used to do a character of a ham actor which I really enjoyed.
I was told you were recently spending 12-hour days in the studio recording. What are you working on?
I just tell my manager that so he'll leave me alone. I was actually at the dentist. Actually, I do a lot of things like Spongebob [Squarepants] voiceovers.
Were you working on Spongebob?
Actually, we're putting together a video tape of this [Together Again] show so I was working for about five days editing that, just trying to edit Harvey out of most of it.
I read that when you were recording the voice of Barnacle Boy for Spongebob, you didn't know that's what it was for.
You record, especially for cartoons, about a year in advance. You do a voice and somebody says, "This is going to be a cartoon someday," and you go, "Oh. OK." So my granddaughter said, "Hey, I think that's you doing that voice!" And, by golly, it was.
Do you have people come up to you and instead of saying, "I loved you on McHale's Navy, " or "I loved you on the Carol Burnett Show, " say "I love Barnacle Boy?"
Absolutely, and I don't know how they put it all together. I mean, they don't see a face.
And he doesn't look much like you...
Pretty much now he does. It really amazes me that people recognize me from just the voice.
Do you have any TV or film projects in the works?
We're doing a bunch of stuff that's going to be interesting because it's going to be on the Net. You know, the networks are tough to work with now and I don't think I'd ever go back to that. It just isn't the fun that it used to be and you have to use foul language and you have to be nude and I've seen Harvey nude and I don't want to subject myself to that again.
Is there anything you'd like to say to add?
We just hope people come out to the show. They'll be seeing the Burnett Show if they come. Everybody they're familiar with: The Old Man, Mr. Tudball, the tennis sketch and things like that. It's kind of a coming home show.
Tim Conway and Harvey Korman: Together Again, Sunday, Dec. 10, 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., $35, $45, $55, call 426-1110 for tickets. Morrison Center, 2201 Cesar Chavez Lane on the Boise State campus, http://mc.boisestate.edu.
вторник, 13 марта 2012 г.
Unity seen lacking in Mass. Black Caucus
In the Massachusetts House certain issues are called "values votes" -- legislative issues like the death penalty or abortion on which Speaker Thomas Finneran deems it acceptable for law makers to vote their conscience.
That handful of votes underscores the fact that at most other times the speaker doesn't brook dissent.
"They call it voting off," says Rep. Byron Rushing. "They say if you vote "off" on this you're going to have a problem with the speaker."
According to Rushing and the dissident House members backing his numerically-doomed bid to unseat Finneran, the concentration of power in the hands of one man is the crux of the problem in the State House.
"I don't want to be in a position where the leader tells me when I can use my conscience or not," Rushing says. "I ask people what do you call the votes that are not conscience."
Perhaps no vote matters more than the vote lawmakers make on the first of each year to support Finneran's bid for re-election to the speakership. A vote against Finneran can easily land a lawmaker in a remote office with a minor role on an obscure committee.
Thus Rushing finds himself somewhat isolated in his bid for the speakership with just 12 firm commitments for votes -- far short of the 81 he would need to unseat Finneran.
And in an intriguing twist, none of the 12 are fellow members of the Legislative Black Caucus. Rushing says he is surprised.
"I thought I'd get mixed support," he said. "I thought some people would be with me, some would not, depending on the experience that they've had in a closed legislature. I guess those are the decisions that people have to make."
When Rushing came into the State House 20 years ago, the Black Caucus was a radically different entity whose members marched in locked-step in pursuit of a progressive agenda. Now the six-member body is widely seen as fractured, lacking in unity and purpose. And the vote for speaker puts the divisions in the Caucus in the public eye.
Of the five House members on the Caucus, only Gloria Fox says she's undecided on the vote. Marie St Fleur, whom Finneran said publicly is in line for a chairmanship, is expected to vote for Finneran, as are reps Ben Swann and Shirley Owens-Hicks.
Asked about her decision to support Finneran, Owens-Hicks said her chairmanship of the Federal Financial Affairs committee factored into her decision.
"You know I'm a chair of a committee," she said. "I've been fortunate to get some significant things done within the established order," she added, citing funding for the Metco and Headstart programs.
"I think Rep. Rushing is doing what he feels he needs to do at this time," she said, calling his bid for the speakership "symbolic."
The divisions on the Caucus began to emerge long before Rushing's insurgency. While Rushing and Fox have championed progressive causes and often find themselves at odds with the speaker, St. Fleur and Owens-Hicks, whose districts abut Finneran's, have taken more conservative stands on issues.
In the '70s and '80s, Caucus members earmarked their legislative priorities each year and pledged to push their agenda en masse. That unity has disintegrated to the point where the words "black" and "progressive" are no longer synonymous on Beacon Hill. Split by ideological lines and political differences, the Caucus members find fewer issues on which they agree.
A nadir in the Caucus came last year when State Sen. Dianne Wilkerson left the body, reportedly frustrated with the infighting in the group.
Fox acknowledges the ideological differences on the Caucus, but says the unity is still there.
"We're all different individuals who come together for a common cause and a common goal: to serve the people in our districts and represent them in the State House."
But Rushing says personality conflicts and ideology have chipped away at the unity of the Caucus.
"I think it's a combination of personalities that find it difficult to work together and not enough shared ideology," he said. "If we had a shared ideology, the other problems wouldn't be so bad."
Political activist Louis Elisa agrees with Rushing's assessment.
"It's not as cohesive an organization as it was in the past," he said. "You'd like to see them do more together."
Elisa notes that the Caucus has not yet attracted the House's Latino members to its ranks. Although Rep. Jarrett Barrios joined the body after his election in 1998, reps Cheryl Rivera and Jose Santiago have not. In other states like Connecticut and New York, blacks and Latinos have a unified Caucus. In Massachusetts, with just five black lawmakers and four Latinos being seated this year, the bodies remain separate. Neither caucus presents much of a bloc in a House that has 160 members and a Senate that has 40.
"Maybe they just don't see that it's in their interests to work together," Elisa said.
Finneran's leadership has done little to expand opportunities for people of color to gain access to Beacon Hill. His redistricting plan packed people of color into Shirley Owens-Hicks' district while his own district whitened, expanding into the predominantly white town of Milton.
While black and Latino activists sought districts in Boston and Chelsea that would expand electoral opportunities for the growing populations of blacks and Latinos, Finneran's redistricting committee reduced the number of so-called majority-minority districts in Boston from seven to just five.
While some Black Caucus members expressed opposition to the redistricting plan, the disagreement was apparently not enough to sour them on Finneran himself.
Fox said the state's tight fiscal budget -- and the process of allocating scarce fiscal resources -- weighed on the decision-making process she and other Caucus members underwent while considering supporting Finneran or Rushing.
"One of the things we talked about is how decisions were going to be made during the budget process," she said. Fox, who has opposed Finneran on key issues including the Clean Elections Law, a rent control bill and domestic partnership, said she had not made up her mind, but admits there is a gap between the conservative policies embraced by Finneran and his leadership team and her constituents.
"It's been a strained relationship with most members of the House when it comes to issues that community sees as priorities and the leadership does not," she said.
But Fox, who was still undecided on the Speaker vote at the Banner's press deadline, said Caucus members are not completely shut out of the decision-making process in the House.
"The Black Caucus has been able to meet with Finneran on certain matters we want his support on," she said. "We haven't always been victorious. But he is willing to meet with us."
Rushing, however, points to popularly-supported bills like domestic partnerships and rent control, that were buried in committees and never made it to the floor for debate.
"I think more and more people in the black community are concerned that their own state representatives don't have access to the political process," he said. "That's not going to change until we change the culture of the House of Representatives."
Photograph (Byron Rushing)
Telmex profit drops 17 pc as sales edge down
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexican communications company Telefonos de Mexico says its first-quarter profit fell 16.9 percent as revenues dipped amid a drop in customers for its landline phone service.
Telmex says its profit totaled 3.76 billion pesos ($314.5 million) in the January-March period. That compares to a profit of 4.52 billion pesos in the same period of 2010.
The earnings report released Thursday says revenue decreased 3.6 percent in the first quarter, dropping to 27.55 billion pesos ($2.3 billion).
The company controlled by billionaire Carlos Slim says it had 12.5 million fixed telephone lines in service as of March 31. That is down just under 1 percent from a year earlier. Telmex controls more than 78 percent of Mexico's landline market.
Global stock markets fall amid recovery fears
World stock markets extended their losses Wednesday as Japan's much weaker-than-expected economic growth and rising debt loads around the world added to concerns the global recovery was faltering.
Asian markets fell 1 percent or more and European shares were lower as global stocks headed for a second day of losses. The dollar, up strongly the last couple days, slumped against major currencies like the yen and the euro, while oil prices rose.
Investors in Asia were rattled after Japan reported its economy, the world's second biggest, grew far less than originally expected in the third quarter, at an annualized 1.3 percent instead of 4.8 percent, as cautious companies slashed spending.
The big cut to the growth figure came after a torrent of negative news about governments and companies that reinforced fears the world economy's turnaround wasn't sustainable.
Greece's credit rating was lowered because of growing debt. Ratings agencies also cut ratings on state-linked companies in Dubai, the massively indebted Mideast city-state, and raised concerns about heavy public debt loads in the U.S. and Britain. Disappointing reports from 3M Co. and McDonald's Corp. also weighed on investors.
The declines, analysts say, reflect growing anxiety that unprecedented stimulus measures behind this year's market rally have only masked fundamental weakness and could end up worsening economic prospects by running up national debts. That's led traders to pile into traditional safe-haven investments like bonds and the dollar in recent days.
"It's becoming increasingly difficult for investors to ignore the symptoms of the continuing underlying sickness, which is unsustainable debt burdens around the world," said Kirby Daley, senior strategist at Newedge Group in Hong Kong.
"The signs of recovery that we have seen have all been artificially induced and will not be evident into the first half of next year without new stimulus measures."
After falling sharply Tuesday, European markets added to their losses, with benchmarks in Germany, France and Britain down between 0.1 percent and 0.4 percent.
Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 135.75 points, or 1.3 percent, to 10,004.72.
Hong Kong's key index shed 318.76, or 1.4 percent, to 21,741.76, and Shanghai's benchmark was off 1.7 percent at 3,239.57.
Australia's market lost 0.7 percent, India's stock measure declined 0.5 percent and Singapore's market was off 0.3 percent.
The South Korean market defied the downdraft and gained 0.4 percent to 1,634.17, helped after the International Monetary Fund raised the country's economic growth forecast for 2010. Taiwan's market also rose 0.4 percent.
U.S. markets were hit by a mix of debt concerns and disappointing corporate reports.
The Dow ended down 104.14, or 1 percent, at 10,285.97 after being down as much as 140 points.
The broader S&P 500 index fell 11.31, or 1 percent, to 1,091.94, while the Nasdaq composite index fell 16.62, or 0.8 percent, to 2,172.99.
U.S. futures pointed to slightly higher open Wednesday. S&P futures rose 1.6, or 0.2 percent, at 1,091.60.
Oil prices rose in Asia as an unexpected drop in U.S. crude supplies suggested demand may be recovering.
Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 73 cents to $73.35 in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.31 overnight.
Gold prices continued their fall, losing 4.5 percent to $1,139 an ounce.
The dollar fell to 87.63 yen from 88.38 yen. The euro rose to $1.4755 from $1.4703.
Lexmark shares fall after Morgan Stanley downgrade
Shares of Lexmark International Inc. took a hit Wednesday after a Morgan Stanley analyst cut her rating on the printer and copier maker, citing stiffer competition and the weakening euro.
THE SPARK: Analyst Katy L. Huberty downgraded Lexmark to "Underweight." She said rival Hewlett-Packard Co. will present a "formidable challenge" to Lexmark's ability to gain further market share in the laser printer market. She said Lexmark had benefited from component constraints that had plagued HP but are now easing.
The weak euro versus the dollar also could hurt Lexmark's earnings.
THE BIG PICTURE: The overall tech sector advanced Wednesday following much better-than-expected second-quarter results and a strong outlook from top chip maker Intel Corp.
THE ANALYSIS: But Huberty expects Lexmark's shares to underperform any short-term rebound in hardware shares.
"We see stiffer competition, weaker inventory growth and foreign currency headwinds for (Lexmark)," she wrote in a note to investors. "Long term, secular growth challenges remain for the industry due to mobile computing proliferation."
SHARE ACTION: Shares fell $1.86, or 5.3 percent, to $33.13 in midday trading. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has traded between $14.23 and $42.14.
Rare rally helps Indians end 8-game losing streak
CLEVELAND - Coming from behind to win hasn't exactly been theCleveland Indians' forte. Building a big lead and holding it isn'ttheir style, either.
Mostly, what they've done this season is lose, which is why Fridaynight's win felt so good.
Ellis Burks hit a two-run double in the eighth inning - his secondof the night - as the Indians snapped an eight-game losing streakwith a 6-5 win over the Texas Rangers.
"That's a step," Burks said. "Hopefully, we can run off a few morelike it."
Burks, who rallied the Indians to 5-4 with a double in the sixth,did it again in the eighth off Ugueth Urbina as Cleveland won for thefirst time in 17 games when trailing after six innings.
Rookies Jody Gerut and Travis Hafner homered for the Indians, whoavoided their first nine-game slide since a 10-game skid in 1979.
"It has been a tough stretch, but the guys hung in there," first-year Manager Eric Wedge said.
"A couple of our veterans stepped up tonight."
Alex Rodriguez hit his 10th homer in the first inning for the free-swinging Rangers, who lead the Majors with 55 homers but couldn't getsimple singles when they needed them.
Texas blew a chance to extend its lead when the Rangers strandedleadoff doubles in the fifth and sixth.
"What sticks in my craw is twice we had a man on second and noneout and didn't push them across," Manager Buck Showalter said. "Wedidn't even come close and it bit us tonight."
Dave Elder (1-0), recalled from Triple-A Buffalo on Thursday, gotone out in the eighth for his first career win and Cleveland's firstwin by a reliever. The Indians' bullpen had been the only one in theMajors without a victory.
Danys Baez pitched the ninth for his fourth save and first sinceApril 9. The converted starter had blown his last two save tries andhad a 16.63 ERA in his previous five outings.
Rookie reliever Billy Traber kept Cleveland close with 32/3scoreless innings.
Traber wasn't involved in the decision, but that didn't matter.
"Who cares?" Traber said. "The only numbers we care about arewins."
Texas first baseman Rafael Palmeiro went 0-for-3 with a walk andremains two homers shy of 500 for his career. Palmeiro is seeking tobecome the 19th player to reach the plateau.
The Indians trailed 5-4 in the eighth when Matt Lawton singledwith one out off Francisco Cordero (1-3) and Omar Vizquel worked hisway back from a 1-2 count for a walk.
Urbina came on and Burks hit his first pitch - just as he did inthe sixth against Rosman Garcia - off the left-field wall. Vizquelwas able to beat Rodriguez's relay throw to the plate as the Indiansrecorded just their second comeback win.
"I was looking for a fastball and I got it," Burks said.
Before Burks' double in the sixth, the Indians were 3-for-40 withrunners in scoring position in their last six games.
Texas starter Joaquin Benoit blew his chance to make the rotationwith a disappointing spring training and made five starts at Triple-A Oklahoma before being recalled earlier in the day.
The right-hander looked good in his season debut, allowing threeruns and four hits in 5 1-3 innings.
The Rangers scored three unearned runs during a bizarre thirdinning when the Indians showed why they're struggling.
Cleveland starter Jason Davis had two wild pitches - one on apitchout - a balk, two walks, and the Indians made an error in theinning.
Japan stocks bolstered by weaker yen
A weaker yen fueled shares of Japan's big exporters Friday, propelling the benchmark Nikkei index to a new 15-month closing high ahead of key U.S. jobs data.
The Nikkei 225 stock average rose 116.66 points, or 1.1 percent, to 10,798.32 _ its best finish since Oct. 3, 2008. The broader Topix index added 1 percent to 941.29.
Automakers led the day's gains as the Japanese currency softened against the dollar following new Finance Minister Naoto Kan's call for a weaker yen. Exporters, who assume an average of 91 yen to the dollar for the second fiscal half, stand to benefit from a weaker yen because it increases the value of overseas profits.
Kan reiterated his preference for a weaker yen Friday, hinting at currency intervention if needed, even after Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said earlier that government officials should refrain from commenting on foreign exchange rates.
The dollar climbed as high as 93.76 yen at one point, then retreated to the low 93-yen level.
Toyota Motor Corp., the world's largest automaker, jumped 2.9 percent to 3,960 yen. Honda Motor Co. added 3.1 percent to 3,185 yen, and Nissan Motor Co. finished up 2.2 percent at 807 yen.
Other blue chip exporters also advanced, with Sony Corp. adding 2.4 percent to 2,809 yen and Toshiba Corp. closing up 3.5 percent at 538 yen.
Missing out on the rally was Japan Airlines Corp., which tumbled 11.8 percent to 67 yen in heavy trading.
The Nikkei financial daily reported that the government may approve a plan to help the struggling carrier through court-led bankruptcy. A decision is expected as early as Tuesday, the paper said.
Investors also awaited U.S. jobs data due later in the day that could shed more light on the state of demand for goods made in Asia and other exporting regions.
Japanese financial markets will be closed Monday for a national holiday.
Military Trying to ID Iraq Crash Remains
GLENDALE, Ariz. - The American pilot whose F-16 crashed in Iraq this week was described by military members and his family as a husband and father of five who always completed his missions.
The military has classified Maj. Troy L. Gilbert, 34, as "whereabouts unknown."
Air Force officials said in a news conference Wednesday that human remains were retrieved from the crash site. They would not elaborate, but said figuring out whether Gilbert is dead depended largely on those remains, which were undergoing DNA identification.
Gilbert was supporting troops fighting in Anbar province, where many of the country's Sunni-Arab insurgent groups operate. Videotape footage obtained by Associated Press Television News appeared to show the wreckage of the F-16CG in a farm field and a tangled parachute nearby.
U.S. forces investigating the crash have said insurgents reached the site before American forces could.
The cause of the crash is under investigation. Officials don't believe Gilbert was shot down.
Officials switched between referring to Gilbert in the present and past tense during a Wednesday news conference at Luke Air Force Base in the western Phoenix suburb of Glendale, Ariz., where Gilbert has been stationed since 2003.
"Everybody liked him - such a hard worker. Everyone here will tell you that. He did what it took to get the mission done," said Lt. Col. John Paradis, an Air Force spokesman.
Paradis explained his and another official's careful wording when referring to Gilbert's status.
"In situations like this, the Air Force and the Department of Defense want to be extremely careful about drawing any conclusions until we can look at all the facts that we have and everything available to us to make sure the family can have some closure, regardless of what that might be," Paradis said.
"Troy was first and foremost a wonderful husband and father," Gilbert's family said in a news release issued through the military. "His Christian faith, personal values, and work ethic guided his personal life and his career as a military officer."
Gilbert, who finished undergraduate pilot training in 2001, was deployed to the 332nd Expeditionary Wing at Balad Air Force Base in Iraq in September and logged more than 130 combat hours, the Air Force said in a news release.
At Luke Air Force Base, Gilbert was assistant director of operations, executive officer of wing flying, a flight commander and chief of training.
"Major Gilbert is well-known here at Luke Air Force Base," Brig. Gen. Tom Jones said. "He is an outstanding officer, an outstanding pilot, and an outstanding friend to many people."
36 Killed in Fierce Battle in Iraq
BAGHDAD - Iraqi and British forces fought a fierce battle with Shiite militiamen while conducting house-to-house searches early Monday south of Baghdad, and Iraqi police and hospital officials said 36 people were killed in the violence.
More than 100 people were injured in the fighting in Amarah, the officials said. At least three of those killed were Iraqi policemen, they said.
A doctor at Amarah's general hospital said 36 bodies had been taken to his facility, though he could not determine how many were militiamen and how many were civilians. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to media.
The British military in Iraq could not immediately comment on the reports, but a Ministry of Defense spokeswoman in London said details of the fighting were still "quite sketchy" but that there were no British casualties.
The spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with ministry policy, said that the British soldiers played a supporting role to Iraqi security forces during the raid and fighting.
The U.S. military released a statement saying at least 20 insurgents had been killed and six wounded in coalition operations targeting "secret cells" in Amarah. Another suspect was detained, it said.
The men were believed to be members of a terror network that imports deadly armor-piercing weapons made in Iran known as "explosively formed penetrators," or EFPs, the statement said. They also were suspected of bringing militants from Iraq to Iran for terror training, it added.
Coalition forces came under small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenade attacks during the raids, and called in air support, the military said. The suspects were killed by fire from aircraft, it said.
The U.S. statement did not specify whether the coalition troops were American or British.
Iraqi police said the Mahdi Army, the militia commanded by radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, was involved in the clashes, which lasted for about two hours before dawn.
Amarah, located 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, is the provincial capital of Maysan province, a predominantly Shiite region that borders Iran. Iraqi forces took over control of security from British troops there in April.
The city has seen intense militia fighting, most recently in October 2006, when the Mahdi Army briefly took control of the city and fought prolonged gunbattles with local police. At the time, Amarah's police force was believed to be dominated by a rival militia, the Badr Brigades. More than 30 people were killed in the standoff.
Elsewhere Monday, two people were killed in clashes that erupted between Iraqi police and Mahdi Army fighters in Nasiriyah, about 70 miles south of Amarah, police said.
The fighting began after some police patrols were attacked there Sunday night, a police officer and an official in the town's health department said, both on condition of anonymity out of security concerns.
Some local tribesman had joined the fight, siding with Iraqi police in trying to oust the militiamen from their town, the officials said.
A policeman and a militiaman were killed, and more than 60 people were injured, most of them police, they said.
The battle included at least eleven mortar strikes on police headquarters in Nasiriyah, the officials said.
Clashes continued through Monday morning, and local authorities imposed an indefinite curfew on the city, police said.
In Fallujah, four civilians were killed and 13 injured Monday when a parked car bomb ripped through a busy vegetable market, police said. Fallujah lies 40 miles west of Baghdad.
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Associated Press Writer Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.
понедельник, 12 марта 2012 г.
Jordanian security official says motorcade of King Abdullah II attacked, king unharmed
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordanian security official says motorcade of King Abdullah II attacked, king unharmed.
French Open Seeds Fared
How the seeded players fared Friday at the French Open (seedings in parentheses):
Men
Second Round
Novak Djokovic (4), Serbia, def. Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1.
Philipp Kohlschreiber (29), Germany, def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (3), 6-3.
Third Round
Rafael Nadal (1), Spain, def. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 6-1, 6-3, 6-1.
Andy Murray (3), Britain, def. Janko Tipsarevic, Serbia, 7-6 (3), 6-3, retired.
Victor Hanescu (30), Romania, def. Gilles Simon (7), France, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.
Fernando Verdasco (8), Spain, def. Nicolas Almagro (31), Spain, 6-2, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (8).
Nikolay Davydenko (10), Russia, def. Stanislas Wawrinka (17), Switzerland, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Fernando Gonzalez (12), Chile, def. Josselin Ouanna, France, 7-5, 6-3, 7-5.
Marin Cilic (13), Croatia, def. Radek Stepanek (18), Czech Republic, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3.
Robin Soderling (23), Sweden, def. David Ferrer (14), Spain, 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
Women
Third Round
Dinara Safina (1), Russia, def. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (27), Russia, 6-2, 6-0.
Agnes Szavay (29), Hungary, def. Venus Williams (3), United States, 6-0, 6-4.
Ana Ivanovic (8), Serbia, def. Iveta Benesova (32), Czech Republic, 6-0, 6-2.
Dominika Cibulkova (20), Slovakia, def. Gisela Dulko, Argentina, 6-4, 6-2.
Li Na (25), China, def. Olga Govortsova, Belarus, 7-5, 6-1.
Tobacco: ; Reducing addiction; will reduce the settlement
NOT counting your chickens before they hatch is good advice. Notcounting eggs until they are laid is even better. Such is the casewith the state's out-of-court settlement with the tobacco industry.
On the surface, the state stands to receive nearly $2 billionspread over the next 25 years. On the surface, that's an average of$80 million a year. On the surface, that's enough to finance thestate's portion of expanded Medicaid coverage for the poor.
But legislators have a duty to look beneath the surface.
Projecting 25 years into the future is difficult.
Three things threaten to shrink the settlement money. One is thelawsuit that lawyers Bob Gould and Troy Giatras filed seeking torecover some of the settlement money for individual smokers andtheir survivors.
Where there is money, there is a lawyer these days.
What's even more disturbing is the legislative attitude towardthis lawsuit. At a legislative meeting this week, Senate FinanceChairman Oshel Craigo, D-Putnam, said, "The way I see it, it's notan issue. There were people raising all kinds of hell about it, butI don't have a big problem with it."
That's not very prudent.
The second reason the state's share of this money may shrink isthe push to spend more on the anti-smoking program.
The governor recommended $5 million. The Centers for DiseaseControl thinks West Virginians should spend $14 million to $35million.
Finally, the main threat against this stipend is the success ofanti-smoking campaigns. Fewer smokers mean smaller payments lateron. The settlement made the state a partner with the tobaccoindustry by giving the state - as they say in gangster movies - apiece of the action.
Given the potential for this settlement to fall belowprojections, lawmakers should be careful not to over-obligate thestate.
Let's not count the chickens before they are even eggs.
Choosing the best Christmas tree
Here are some Christmas tree shopping tips, courtesy of JeanneWeiss, spokeswoman for the National Christmas Tree Association. Figure out where the tree will stand in your home before you goshopping. Measure the area, so you know how big a tree you can get."Trees look a lot smaller out in the field than when you get them inthe home," Weiss said. Do the freshness test: Lift a tree by its trunk and hammer theground with it a few times. "If any green needles fall off, it's nota fresh tree," she said. Check for a healthy, green color. Anotherway to test freshness is to grasp a branch and run a cupped hand overthe needles. If green needles fall out, the tree is not fresh. After buying the tree, have half an inch chopped off the trunk.This will enable the tree to absorb water through the fresh cut. Give the tree plenty of water. "The first day it's going to take ina gallon of water," Weiss said. Keep it away from heat sources, which will dry out the tree, makingit a fire hazard.
Scotch pines are the most popular, Weiss said. Others includethe Douglas and balsam firs, and the Fraser fir, which Weiss saidwas the most expensive and highest-quality tree.
Costs, she said, should generally run $3.25 to $5.25 a foot.
Former northern Indiana mayor, aides to pay $108M
A federal judge has ordered a former northern Indiana mayor and two ex-aides to pay $108 million in civil damages in an alleged sidewalks-for-votes scheme.
U.S. District Judge James Moody filed his decision Thursday in a racketeering lawsuit filed by the state in 2004.
The suit says former East Chicago Mayor Robert Pastrick and others spent $24 million in public money on private driveways, patios and walkways to court voters in 1999.
Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller says it's the first time a city government has been adjudged a corrupt organization under federal racketeering laws.
Pastrick left office in 2004 and was never charged criminally. No one answered his lawyer's phone late Thursday.
East Chicago is 20 miles southeast of Chicago.
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