tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37325163796697980062024-02-08T07:23:24.340-08:00Denis Taillefer NewsPasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comBlogger378125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-92055002622026269092013-03-02T14:12:00.001-08:002013-03-02T14:12:10.609-08:00With record highs in sight, stocks face roadblocks<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - If <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362202326700_3">Wall Street</span> needs to climb a wall of worry, it will have plenty of opportunity next week.</p><br /><p> Major <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362202326700_7">U.S.</span> stock indexes will make another attempt at reaching all-time records, but the fitful pace that has dominated trading is likely to continue. Next Friday's unemployment report and the hefty spending cuts that look like they about to take effect will be at the forefront.</p><br /><p> The importance of whether equities can reach and sustain those highs is more than Wall Street's usual fixation on numbers with psychological significance. Breaking through to uncharted territory is seen as a test of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362202326700_2">investors</span>' faith in the rally.</p><br /><p> "It's very significant," said <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362202326700_1">Bucky Hellwig</span>, senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management in Birmingham, Alabama.</p><br /><p> "The thinking is, there's just not enough there for an extended bull run," he said. "If we do break through (<span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362202326700_4">record highs</span>), then maybe the charts and price action are telling us there's something better ahead."</p><br /><p> Flare-ups in the euro zone's sovereign debt crisis and next Friday's report on the U.S. labor market could jostle the market, though U.S. job indicators have generally been trending in a positive direction.</p><br /><p> Small- and mid-cap stocks hit lifetime highs in February. Now the Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> and the S&P 500 <.spx> are racing each other to the top. The Dow, made up of 30 stocks, is about 75 points - less than 1 percent - away from its record close of 14,164.53, which it hit on October 9, 2007. The broader S&P is still 3 percent away from its closing high of 1,565.15, also reached on October 9, 2007.</.spx></.dji></p><br /><p> The advantage may be in the Dow's court. So far in 2013, it has gained 7.5 percent, beating the S&P 500 by about 1 percent.</p><br /><p> THE RALLY AND THE REALITY CHECK</p><br /><p> The Dow's relative strength owes much to its unique make-up and calculation, as well as to investors' recent preference for buying value stocks likely to generate steady reliable gains, rather than growth stocks.</p><br /><p> But the more defensive stance illustrates how stock buyers are getting concerned about this year's rally. While investors don't want to miss out on gains, they're picking up companies that are less likely to decline as much as high-flying names - if a market correction comes.</p><br /><p> The Russell Value Index <.rav> is up 7.6 percent for the year so far, outpacing the Russell Growth Index's <.rag> 5.7 percent rise. Within the realm of the S&P 500, the consumer staples sector led the market in February, gaining 3.1 percent.</.rag></.rav></p><br /><p> There is some concern that growth-oriented names are being eclipsed by defensive bets, said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.</p><br /><p> "This isn't a be-all and end-all sell signal by any means, but we would feel much more comfortable if some of the more aggressive areas, like technology and small caps, would start to gain some leadership here," Detrick said.</p><br /><p> Signs that investors are becoming concerned about the rally's pace is evident in the options market, where the ratio of put activity to call activity has recently shifted in favor of puts, which represent expectations for a stock to fall.</p><br /><p> "We are seeing some put hedging in the financials, building up for the past month," said Henry Schwartz, president of options analytics firm Trade Alert in New York.</p><br /><p> The put-to-call ratio representing an aggregate of about 562 financial stocks is 1:1, when normally, calls should be outnumbering puts.</p><br /><p> Investors have no shortage of reasons to crave the relative safety of blue chips and defensive stocks. Although markets have mostly looked past uncertainty over Washington's plans to cut the deficit, fiscal policy negotiations still pose a risk to equities.</p><br /><p> The $85 billion in spending cuts set to begin on Friday is expected to slow economic growth this year if policymakers do not reach a new deal. Markets so far have held firm despite the wrangling in Washington, but tangible economic effects could pinch stock prices going forward.</p><br /><p> The International Monetary Fund warned that full implementation of the cuts would probably take at least 0.5 percentage point off U.S. growth this year.</p><br /><p> EASY MONEY AND TEPID HIRING</p><br /><p> Investors will also take in a round of economic data at a time when concerns are percolating that the market is being pushed up less by fundamentals and more by loose monetary policy around the world.</p><br /><p> The main economic event will be Friday's non-farm payrolls report for February. The U.S. economy is expected to have added 160,000 jobs last month, only a tad higher than in January, in a sign the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362202326700_6">labor market</span> is healing at a slow pace. The U.S. unemployment rate is forecast to hold steady at 7.9 percent.</p><br /><p> While lackluster data has been a catalyst in the past for <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362202326700_5">stock market</span> gains as investors bet it would ensure continued stimulus from the Federal Reserve, that sentiment may be wearing thin.</p><br /><p> Markets stumbled last week following worries that the Fed might wind down its quantitative easing program sooner than expected.</p><br /><p> "It shows the underpinning of the market is being driven at this point by monetary policy," Hellwig said.</p><br /><p> With investors questioning what is behind the rally, it will make a run to record highs even more significant, Hellwig added.</p><br /><p> "There's smart people that are in the bull camp and the bear camp and the muddle-through camp," Hellwig said. "The fact that you can statistically, using historical evidence, make a case for going higher, lower, or staying the same makes this number very important this time around."</p><br /><p> (Wall St Week Ahead runs every Friday. Comments or questions on this column can be emailed to: leah.schnurr(at)thomsonreuters.com)</p><br /><p> (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Additional reporting by Doris Frankel in Chicago; Editing by Jan Paschal)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-9211746659351346272013-03-02T14:06:00.001-08:002013-03-02T14:06:11.294-08:00U.S. evolves on same-sex marriage<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>The president and the nation have shifted perspectives on same-sex marriage</li><br /><li>Supreme Court ruling on California's same-sex marriage ban a critical test</li><br /><li>Growing public support for gay marriage give proponents hope for change</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Washington (CNN)</strong> -- The nation's growing acceptance of same-sex marriage has happened in slow and painstaking moves, eventually building into a momentum that is sweeping even the most unlikely of converts.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Even though he said in 2008 that he could only support civil unions for same-sex couples, President Barack Obama nonetheless enjoyed strong support among the gay community. He disappointed many with his conspicuously subdued first-term response to the same-sex marriage debate.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Last year, after Vice President Joe Biden announced his support, the president then said his position had evolved and he, too, supported same-sex marriage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">So it was no small matter when on Thursday the Obama administration formally expressed its support of same-sex marriage in a court brief weighing in on California's Proposition 8, which bans same-sex weddings. The administration's effort was matched by at least 100 high-profile Republicans — some of whom in elections past depended on gay marriage as a wedge issue guaranteed to rally the base — who signed onto a brief supporting gay couples to legally wed.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Obama on same-sex marriage: Everyone is equal</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Then there are the polls that show that an increasing number of Americans now support same-sex marriage. These polls show that nearly half of the nation's Catholics and white, mainstream Protestants and more than half of the nation's women, liberals and political moderates all support same-sex marriage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">According to Pew Research Center polling, 48% of Americans support same-sex marriage with 43% opposed. Back in 2001, 57% opposed same-sex marriage while 35% supported it.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">In last year's presidential election, same-sex marriage scarcely raised a ripple. That sea change is not lost on the president.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"The same evolution I've gone through is the same evolution the country as a whole has gone through," Obama told reporters on Friday.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">Craig Rimmerman, professor of public policy and political science at Hobart and William Smith colleges says there is history at work here and the administration is wise to get on the right side.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">"There is no doubt that President Obama's shifting position on Proposition 8 and same-sex marriage more broadly is due to his desire to situate himself on the right side of history with respect to the fight over same-sex marriage," said Rimmerman, author of "From Identity to Politics: The Lesbian and Gay Movements in the United States."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"I also think that broader changes in public opinion showing greater support for same-sex marriage, especially among young people, but in the country at large as well, has created a cultural context for Obama to alter his views."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">For years, Obama had frustrated many in the gay community by not offering full-throated support of same-sex marriage. However, the president's revelation last year that conversations with his daughters and friends led him to change his mind gave many in that community hope.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">Last year, the Obama administration criticized a measure in North Carolina that banned same-sex marriage and made civil unions illegal. The president took the same position on a similar Minnesota proposal.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">Obama administration officials point to what they see as the administration's biggest accomplishment in the gay rights cause: repealing "don't ask, don't tell," the military's ban on openly gay and lesbian members serving in the forces.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">Then there was the president's inaugural address which placed the gay community's struggle for equality alongside similar civil rights fights by women and African-Americans.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">"Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law, for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal, as well," Obama said in his address after being sworn in.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">In offering its support and asserting in the brief that "prejudice may not be the basis for differential treatment under the law," the Obama administration is setting up a high stakes political and constitutional showdown at the U.S. Supreme Court over a fast-evolving and contentious issue.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">The justices will hear California's Proposition 8 case in March. That case and another appeal over the federal Defense of Marriage Act will produce blockbuster rulings from the justices in coming months.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">Beyond the legal wranglings there is a strong social and historic component, one that has helped open the way for the administration to push what could prove to be a social issue that defines Obama's second term legacy, Rimmerman said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">The nation is redefining itself on this issue, as well.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">Pew survey: Changing attitudes on gay marriage</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">The changes are due, in part, to generational shifts. Younger people show a higher level of support than their older peers, according to Pew polling "Millennials are almost twice as likely as the Silent Generation to support same-sex marriage."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">"As people have grown up with people having the right to marry the generational momentum has been very, very strong," said Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, a gay rights organization.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">That is not to say that there isn't still opposition.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">Pew polling found that most Republicans and conservatives remain opposed to same-sex marriage. In 2001, 21% of Republicans were supportive; in 2012 that number nudged slightly to 25%.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">Conservative groups expressed dismay at the administration's same-sex marriage support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">"President Obama, who was against same-sex 'marriage' before he was for it, and his administration, which said the Defense of Marriage Act was constitutional before they said it was unconstitutional, has now flip-flopped again on the issue of same-sex 'marriage,' putting allegiance to extreme liberal social policies ahead of constitutional principle," Family Research Council President Tony Perkins said in a statement.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">But there are signs of movement even among some high profile Republican leaders</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">Top Republicans sign brief supporting same-sex marriage</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">The Republican-penned friend of the court brief, which is designed to influence conservative justices on the high court, includes a number of top officials from the George W. Bush administration, Mitt Romney's former campaign manager and former GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">It is also at odds with the Republican Party's platform, which opposes same-sex marriage and defines marriage as a union between a man and a woman.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">Still, with White House and high-profile Republican support, legal and legislative victories in a number of states and polls that show an increasing number of Americans support same sex-marriage, proponents feel that the winds of history are with them.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">"What we've seen is accelerating and irrefutable momentum as Americans have come to understand who gay people are and why marriage matters," Wolfson said. "We now have a solid national majority and growing support across every demographic. We have leaders across the spectrum, including Republicans, all saying it's time to end marriage discrimination."</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Peter Hamby, Ashley Killough and Bill Mears contributed to this report. </p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-2857368790866751322013-03-02T14:04:00.001-08:002013-03-02T14:04:16.236-08:00Sinkhole victim 'will be there forever,' brother says<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>SEFFNER, Fla. Florida rescue personnel on Saturday searched for a man who disappeared into a sinkhole that swallowed his whole bedroom while he was asleep in his suburban Tampa home.</p><p>Jeff Bush, 36, who is presumed dead, was in bed when the other five members of the household who were getting ready for bed on Thursday night heard a loud crash and Jeff screaming.</p><br /><p>The sinkhole has compromised the house next door, officials said Saturday.</p><p>Officials planned to let family members, accompanied by firefighters, into the threatened home for about 20 minutes to gather some belongings, Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Ronnie Rivera told reporters Saturday.</p><p>Bush’s body hadn’t been removed by Saturday afternoon and the ground near the home was still “very, very unsafe,” Rivera said at a televised press conference Saturday.</p><p>"At this time we did some testing and we determined that the house right next to the house that’s actually damaged is also compromised by the sinkhole,” Rivera said.</p><br /><p>Jeff's brother, 35-year-old Jeremy Bush, jumped into the hole and furiously kept digging to find his brother.</p><p>"I really don't think they are going to be able to find him," Jeremy said on Saturday. He "will be there forever."</p><p>A small memorial of balloons and flowers for his brother had formed near the house on Saturday morning.</p><p>"I thank the Lord for not taking my daughter and the rest of my family," he said.</p><p>Jeremy himself had to be rescued from the sinkhole by the first responder to the emergency call, Douglas Duvall of the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office. When Duvall entered Jeff Bush's bedroom, all he saw was a widening chasm but no sign of Jeff.</p><p>"The hole took the entire bedroom," said Duvall. "You could see the bed frame, the dresser, everything was sinking," he said.</p><p>Norman Wicker, 48, the father of Jeremy's fiancée who also lived in the house, ran to get a flashlight and shovel.</p><p>"It sounded like a car ran into the back of the house," Wicker said.</p><p>Authorities have not detected any signs of life after lowering listening devices and cameras into the hole.</p><p>"There is a very large, very fluid mass underneath this house rendering the entire house and the entire lot dangerous and unsafe," Bill Bracken, the head of an engineering company assisting fire and rescue officials, told the news conference late on Friday.</p><p>"We are still trying to determine the extent and nature of what's down there so we can best determine how to approach it and how to extricate," Bracken said.</p><p>After suspending the search overnight, it resumed at daylight on Saturday, with engineering consultants trying to determine the extent of the collapse so that a perimeter boundary can be established for setting up heavy equipment for future excavation.</p><p>Several nearby homes were evacuated in case the 30-foot (9-meter) wide sinkhole got larger but officials said Friday it only appeared to be getting deeper.</p><p>Soil samples showed that the sinkhole has compromised the ground underneath a home next door, engineers said Saturday.</p><p>The residents of that house were allowed 20 minutes in their home on Saturday to gather belongings. Firefighters and residents formed an assembly line to move items out of the house into SUVs and trucks.</p><p>Rescue officials said that in addition to soil samples, they were focusing on engineering analysis, ground penetration radar and other techniques to determine the extent of the ongoing collapse. Listening devices were being used to detect any evidence of life although Bush was presumed dead.</p><p>The Bush brothers worked together as landscapers, according to Leland Wicker, 48, one of the other residents of the house.</p><p>The risk of sinkholes is common in Florida due to the state's porous geological bedrock, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. As rainwater filters down into the ground, it dissolves the rock, causing erosion that can lead to underground caverns, which cause sinkholes when they collapse.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-60655644657306411592013-03-01T14:12:00.001-08:002013-03-01T14:12:10.385-08:00Wall Street advances as data outweighs budget cuts<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks advanced modestly on Friday, leaving the S&P 500 with slight gains in a volatile week as strong economic data overshadowed growth concerns in China and Europe and let investors discount the impact of expected government spending cuts.</p><br /><p> Stocks opened sharply lower for the session as Asian factories slowed and European output fell, but most of the losses evaporated after a report showed manufacturing activity expanded last month at its fastest clip in 20 months.</p><br /><p> Consumer sentiment also rose in February as Americans turned more optimistic about the job market.</p><br /><p> With $85 billion in government budget cuts set to begin, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_1">President Barack Obama</span> blamed Republicans for failure to reach a compromise to avert the cuts, known as sequester. But the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_2">stock market</span> appeared to have already priced in the failure by legislators to reach an agreement.</p><br /><p> "We were able to dig out of that hole, but not make any great strides on it either," said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments LLC in Lisle, Illinois. "We will probably be in a holding pattern pending some big development on a broader budget deal."</p><br /><p> The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 35.17 points, or 0.25 percent, to 14,089.66 at the close. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> added 3.52 points, or 0.23 percent, to 1,518.20. The <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_3">Nasdaq Composite Index</span> <.ixic> advanced 9.55 points, or 0.30 percent, to 3,169.74.</.ixic></.spx></.dji></p><br /><p> For the week, the Dow rose 0.6 percent, the S&P 500 edged up 0.2 percent and the Nasdaq gained 0.3 percent.</p><br /><p> The slight gains for equities came during a volatile week that saw markets decline on Monday after uncertain Italian elections, only to rebound in the next two sessions as <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_4">Federal Reserve</span> Chairman Ben Bernanke defended the central bank's stimulus measures.</p><br /><p> The low interest rates due to the Federal Reserve's accommodative monetary policy have helped equities continue to attract investors. The Dow is less than 1 percent away from its all-time intraday high of 14,198.10. Declines have been shallow and short-lived, with investors jumping in to buy on dips.</p><br /><p> Intuitive Surgical <isrg.o> jumped 8.5 percent to $553.40 after Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Jeremy Feffer upgraded the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362173407058_5">stock</span>, saying the stock's slide of more than 11 percent on Thursday was a gross overreaction to a news report.</isrg.o></p><br /><p> Groupon Inc <grpn.o> surged 12.6 percent to $5.10 a day after the online coupon company fired its chief executive officer in the wake of weak quarterly results.</grpn.o></p><br /><p> Gap Inc <gps.n> rose 2.9 percent to $33.87 after the clothing retailer reported fourth-quarter earnings that beat expectations and boosting its dividend by 20 percent, while Salesforce.com Inc <crm.n> posted sales that beat forecasts, driving its stock up 7.6 percent to $182.</crm.n></gps.n></p><br /><p> Chesapeake Energy Corp <chk.n> fell 2.4 percent to $19.67 after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission escalated its investigation into the company and its Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon for a controversial perk that granted him a share in each of the natural gas producer's wells.</chk.n></p><br /><p> Volume was modest with about 6.72 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE MKT and Nasdaq, slightly above the daily average of 6.5 billion.</p><br /><p> Advancing stocks outnumbered declining ones on the NYSE by a ratio of about 17 to 13, while on the Nasdaq, seven stocks rose for about every five stocks that fell.</p><br /><p> (Editing by Jan Paschal)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-30019878374060549952013-03-01T14:08:00.001-08:002013-03-01T14:08:16.011-08:00Frustrated McIlroy walks off course at Honda<br /><p class="first">PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362163089109_2">Rory McIlroy</span> abruptly walked off the course Friday at the Honda Classic, telling reporters who followed him to his car he's "not in a good place mentally."</p><br /><p>He later said it was more dental than mental, releasing a statement that he couldn't concentrate because of a sore wisdom tooth.</p><br /><p>The surprising departure raised serious questions about golf's No. 1 player with the Masters just more than a month away. McIlroy has played only four rounds in three tournaments this year, and this was a clear sign of frustration.</p><br /><p>McIlroy was asked three times if anything was wrong physically and said there was not.</p><br /><p>"There's not really much I can say, guys," he told three reporters before he drove away. "I'm not in a good place mentally, you know."</p><br /><p>McIlroy already was 7-over par through eight holes of the second round when he hit his second shot into the water on the par-5 18th at PGA National. He shook hands with <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362163089109_1">Ernie Els</span> and Mark Wilson and was headed to the parking lot before they even finished the hole.</p><br /><p>Els also hit into the water on the 18th and was complaining to a rules official about the muddy conditions of the fairway when he realized McIlroy was through.</p><br /><p>"I was dropping my ball and I realized he wasn't dropping his ball," Els said. "I thought maybe his ball crossed further up (the hazard). When I hit my fourth shot, he just came up and said, 'Here's my card. I'm out of here.'"</p><br /><p>About an hour after he left, McIlroy released a statement that pinned his withdrawal on dental problems.</p><br /><p>"I have been suffering with a sore wisdom tooth, which is due to come out in the near future," McIlroy said. "It began bothering me again last night, so I relieved it with Advil. It was very painful again this morning, and I was simply unable to concentrate. It was really bothering me and had begun to affect my playing partners."</p><br /><p>He was seen eating a sandwich on the 18th fairway.</p><br /><p>McIlroy apologized to the tournament, saying he had every intention of defending his title at the Honda Classic. He said on Twitter he was "gutted."</p><br /><p>"I'm a great fan of Rory's, but I don't think that was the right thing to do," Els said.</p><br /><p>Told about McIlroy's statement about the sore wisdom tooth, Els softened his stance, not wanting to judge another player's pain.</p><br /><p>"I didn't see anything, but if he had a toothache, that's what it is, you know?" Els said. "Hey, it's tough. If you ask him how he's feeling now, he's obviously feeling terrible for what's happened this morning."</p><br /><p>"I didn't notice anything," Wilson said. "He wasn't playing the way the world No. 1 plays normally. Didn't hit the ball where he wanted to, and he's a true gentleman, though. He ... wasn't treating Ernie and myself in a different way. He was upset with his golf and I guess he had enough for the week."</p><br /><p>McIlroy, coming off a year in which he won a second major in record fashion, already set himself up for scrutiny when he left Titleist to sign an equipment deal with Nike that was said to be worth upward of $20 million a year.</p><br /><p>Nike introduced him with blaring music and a laser show in Abu Dhabi, but it's been all downhill from there.</p><br /><p>McIlroy missed the cut in the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship with rounds of 75-75. He took a four-week break, and then was eliminated in the opening round of the Match Play Championship to Shane Lowry in one of the most poorly played matches of the round.</p><br /><p>McIlroy played 36 holes with Tiger Woods at The Medalist on Sunday and said Tuesday it was no time to panic.</p><br /><p>"Even though my results haven't revealed it, I really felt like I was rounding a corner," McIlroy said. "This is one of my favorite tournaments of the year and I regret having to make the decision to withdraw, but it was one I had to make."</p><br /><p>It looked more like McIlroy was sinking than rounding the corner, not difficult to do on a course with so many water hazards. And he found plenty of them.</p><br /><p>McIlroy, who opened with a 70, hit two poor chips that led to double bogey on No. 11, and a wild tee shot to the right led to a bogey on the 13th. His round really unraveled on the par-4 16th, when he hit his tee shot to the right and into the water, took a penalty drop and then came up short of the green and into the water again. He made a 6-foot putt for a triple bogey.</p><br /><p>He three-putted from 40 feet, running his first putt about 10 feet by the hole, for a bogey to go 7 over. And then came the approach on the 18th that found water for the third time on his short day.</p><br /><p>McIlroy is scheduled to play next week in the Cadillac Championship at Doral, which has no cut, and then the Houston Open. But on the first day of March, he has completed only four rounds of competition.</p><br /><p>Els said the attention on McIlroy was sure to increase.</p><br /><p>"I didn't think much of the equipment change. We've all made equipment changes before," said Els, who has used three brands of clubs to win majors. "I think there was a bit of criticism somewhere, and then I think he's furthering responding to that, and I think he's got a bit of pressure coming on him that way. I thought he played quite well yesterday. I thought he was pretty close to playing good golf, and unfortunately this morning ... hopefully he gets it together. We've got next week, got four rounds there. Such a talented player, he'll get it figured out."</p><br /><p>It was the second straight year one of golf's biggest stars failed to finish a tournament on the Florida swing. Woods withdrew after 11 holes on the final round at Doral last year because of tightness in his Achilles tendon, raising questions about the seriousness of his recurring leg injuries. He won Bay Hill two weeks later.</p><br /><p>McIlroy at least drove off from PGA National without a helicopter camera following him.</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-61309610645996002842013-03-01T14:06:00.001-08:002013-03-01T14:06:14.424-08:00Syria war is everybody's problem<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="8"><p>Syrians search for survivors and bodies after the Syrian regime attacked the city of Aleppo with missiles on February 23.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Frida Ghitis: We are standing by as Syria rips itself apart, thinking it's not our problem</li><br /><li>Beyond the tragedy in human terms, she says, the war damages global stability</li><br /><li>Ghitis: Syria getting more and more radical, jeopardizing forces of democracy</li><br /><li>Ghitis: Peace counts on moderates, whom we must back with diplomacy, training arms</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Frida Ghitis is a world affairs columnist for The Miami Herald and World Politics Review. A former CNN producer and correspondent, she is the author of "The End of Revolution: A Changing World in the Age of Live Television." Follow her on Twitter: @FridaGColumns</em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- Last week, a huge explosion rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus, killing more than 50 people and injuring hundreds. The victims of the blast in a busy downtown street were mostly civilians, including schoolchildren. Each side in the Syrian civil war blamed the other.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">In the northern city of Aleppo, about 58 people -- 36 of them children -- died in a missile attack last week. Washington condemned the regime of Bashar al-Assad; the world looked at the awful images and moved on.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">Syria is ripping itself to pieces. The extent of human suffering is beyond comprehension. That alone should be reason enough to encourage a determined effort to bring this conflict to a quick resolution. But if humanitarian reasons were not enough, the international community -- including the U.S. and its allies -- should weigh the potential implications of allowing this calamity to continue.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/111012033349-frida-ghitis-left-tease.jpg" alt="Frida Ghitis" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Frida Ghitis</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">We've all heard the argument: It's not our problem. We're not the world's policeman. We would only make it worse.</p><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">This is not a plea to send American or European troops to fight in this conflict. Nobody wants that.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">But before we allow this mostly hands-off approach to continue, we would do well to consider the potential toll of continuing with a failed policy, one that has focused in vain over the past two years searching for a diplomatic solution.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry has just announced that the U.S. will provide an additional $60 million in non-lethal assistance to the opposition. He has hinted that President Obama, after rejecting suggestions from the CIA and previous Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to arm Syrian rebels, might be ready to change course. And not a day too soon.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">The war is taking longer than anyone expected. The longer it lasts, the more Syria is radicalized and the region is destabilized.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">If you think the Syrian war is the concern of Syrians alone, think about other countries that have torn themselves apart over a long time. Consider Lebanon, Afghanistan or Somalia; each with unique circumstances, but with one thing in common: Their wars created enormous suffering at home, and the destructiveness eventually spilled beyond their borders. All of those wars triggered lengthy, costly refugee crises. They all spawned international terrorism and eventually direct international -- including U.S. -- intervention.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19">The uprising against al-Assad started two years ago in the spirit of what was then referred to -- without a hint of irony -- as the Arab Spring. Young Syrians marched, chanting for freedom and democracy. The ideals of equality, rule of law and human rights wafted in the air.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">Al-Assad responded to peaceful protests with gunfire. Syrians started dying by the hundreds each day. Gradually the nonviolent protesters started fighting back. Members of the Syrian army started defecting.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">The opposition's Free Syrian Army came together. Factions within the Syrian opposition took up arms and the political contest became a brutal civil war. The death toll has climbed to as many as 90,000, according to Kerry. About 2 million people have left their homes, and the killing continues with no end in sight.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">In fairness to Washington, Europe and the rest of the international community, there were never easy choices in this war. Opposition leaders bickered, and their clashing views scared away would-be supporters. Western nations rejected the idea of arming the opposition, saying Syria already has too many weapons. They were also concerned about who would control the weaponry, including an existing arsenal of chemical and biological weapons, after al-Assad's fall.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">These are all legitimate concerns. But inaction is producing the worst possible outcome.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">The moderates, whose views most closely align with the West, are losing out to the better-armed Islamists and, especially, to the extremists. Moderates are losing the ideological debate and the battle for the future character of a Syria after al-Assad.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31">Radical Islamist groups have taken the lead. Young people are losing faith in moderation, lured by disciplined, devout extremists. Reporters on the ground have seen young democracy advocates turn into fervent supporters of dangerous groups such as the Nusra Front, which has scored impressive victories.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">The U.S. State Department recently listed the Nusra Front, which has close ties to al Qaeda in Iraq and a strong anti-Western ideology, as a terrorist organization.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">Meantime, countries bordering Syria are experiencing repercussions. And these are likely to become more dangerous.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">Jordan, an important American ally, is struggling with a flood of refugees, as many as 10,000 each week since the start of the year. The government estimates 380,000 Syrians are in Jordan, a country whose government is under pressure from its own restive population and still dealing with huge refugee populations from other wars.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39">Turkey is also burdened with hundreds of thousands of refugees and occasional Syrian fire. Israel has warned about chemical weapons transfers from al-Assad to Hezbollah in Lebanon and may have already fired on a Syrian convoy attempting the move.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph41">Lebanon, always perched precariously on the edge of crisis, lives with growing fears that Syria's war will enter its borders. Despite denials, there is evidence that Lebanon's Hezbollah, a close ally of al-Assad and of Iran, has joined the fighting on the side of the Syrian president. The Free Syrian Army has threatened to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon if it doesn't leave Syria.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph43">The possible outcomes in Syria include the emergence of a failed state, stirring unrest throughout the region. If al-Assad wins, Syria will become an even more repressive country.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph45">Al-Assad's survival would fortify Iran and Hezbollah and other anti-Western forces. If the extremists inside the opposition win, Syria could see factional fighting for many years, followed by anti-democratic, anti-Western policies.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph47">The only good outcome is victory for the opposition's moderate forces. They may not be easy to identify with complete certainty. But to the extent that it is possible, these forces need Western support.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph48">They need training, funding, careful arming and strong political and diplomatic backing. The people of Syria should know that support for human rights, democracy and pluralism will lead toward a peaceful, prosperous future.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph50">Democratic nations should not avert their eyes from the killings in Syria which are, after all, a warning to the world.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph52"><i>Follow us on Twitter </i><i>@CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph53"><i>Join us on </i><i>Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Frida Ghitis.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-23192803659988938762013-03-01T14:04:00.001-08:002013-03-01T14:04:17.281-08:00Florida man swallowed by sinkhole feared dead<p>Brother of sinkhole victim talks to reporters at the scene.</p><div id="story-body-text" readability="98"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>SEFFNER, Fla.—<br /> <br /> <br /> </p><br /> <br /> <br /> A Florida man was feared dead on Friday after a sinkhole suddenly opened up under the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home and swallowed him, police and fire officials said.<p>Rescuers responded to a 911 call late on Thursday after the family of Jeff Bush, 36, reported hearing a loud crash in the house and rushed to his bedroom.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> "All they could see was a part of a mattress sticking out of the hole," said Hillsborough County Fire Rescue Chief Ron Rogers. "Essentially the floor of that room had opened up."<p>A sheriff deputy rescued Bush's brother who had jumped in the sinkhole to try find him. Three other adults and a two-year-old child were in the house at the time the sinkhole opened up.</p><p>"I feel in my heart he didn't make it," Jeremy Bush told Tampa TV station WFTS. "There were six of us in the house, five got out."</p><p>Bush said he thought he heard his brother scream for help.</p><p>"I didn't see any part of him when I went in there," he said. "I told my father-in-law to grab a shovel and I started digging. Then the cops showed up and pulled me out of the hole and told me the floor was still falling in.</p><p>Authorities have not detected any signs life after lowering listening devices and cameras into the hole and ordered the evacuation of several nearby homes out of concern the sinkhole is growing.</p><p>Bill Bracken, the head of an engineering company assisting rescuers, said the sinkhole appeared to be as wide as 30 feet and 20 feet deep.</p><p>"It started in the bedroom and it has been expanding outward and it's taking the house with it as it opens up," Bracken said.</p><p>Officials were trying to determine the exact size of the sinkhole and dropped a camera mounted on wheels into a sewer in front of the one-story, sky blue-colored house to assess whether it could collapse.</p><p>The risk of sinkholes is common in Florida due to the state's porous geological bedrock, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.</p><p>As rainwater filters down into the ground, it dissolves the rock causing erosion that can lead to underground caverns, which cause sinkholes when they collapse.</p><p>Florida suffered one of its worst sinkhole accidents in 1994 when a 15-story-deep sinkhole opened up east of Tampa at phosphate mine.</p><p>It created a hole 185 feet deep and as much as 160 feet wide.</p><p>Rogers said rescue efforts were suspended on Friday because of concerns about the house's stability.</p><p>Workers planned to put up a fence around the house.</p><p>"Right now we're trying to determine what if anything we can do. This is a very difficult situation. It's beneath our feet. We can't see anything," he said.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p></div>Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-73548562565590900012013-02-28T14:06:00.001-08:002013-02-28T14:06:30.442-08:00Syria war is everybody's problem<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li><b>NEW:</b> France considers sending Syrian rebels night-vision gear and body armor, a source says</li><br /><li>Britain's foreign secretary says the UK will announce new aid soon</li><br /><li>The statements after European Union loosens restrictions to allow nonlethal aid to rebels</li><br /><li>The U.S. will also send non-lethal aid to rebels for first time, plus $60 million in administrative aid</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>Rome (CNN)</strong> -- The United States stepped further into Syria's civil war Thursday, promising rebel fighters food and medical supplies -- but not weapons -- for the first time in the two-year conflict that has claimed more than 60,000 lives and laid waste to large portions of the country.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Meanwhile, European nations began to explore ways to strengthen rebel fighters that stop short of arming them after a European Council decision allowing such aid to flow to Syria.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said the aid would help fighters in the high-stakes effort to topple Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a conflict that has already spawned an enormous humanitarian crisis as refugees flee the fighting.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">The ongoing fighting also poses the persistent threat of widening into a destabilizing regional crisis,<strong> </strong>including concerns that Hezbollah, Iran or others could gain control in Damascus after al-Assad's government falls.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">"The United States' decision to take further steps now is the result of the continued brutality of a superior armed force propped up by foreign fighters from Iran and Hezbollah, all of which threatens to destroy Syria," Kerry said after meeting opposition leaders in Rome.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Kerry didn't say how much that aid would be worth, but did announce that the United States would separately give $60 million to local groups working with the Syrian National Council to provide political administration and basic services in rebel-controlled areas of Syria.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">READ: U.S. weighing nonlethal aid to Syrian opposition</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">That's on top of $50 million in similar aid the United States has previously pledged to the council, as well as $385 million in humanitarian assistance, Kerry said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"This funding will allow the opposition to reach out and help the local councils to be able to rebuild in their liberated areas of Syria so that they can provide basic services to people who so often lack access today to medical care, to food, to sanitation," he said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"><strong>Islamist Influence</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">That aid is partly an effort to hem in radical Islamist groups vying for influence in Syria after the fall of al-Assad, a senior State Department official told CNN.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"If the Syrian opposition coalition can't touch, improve and heal the lives of Syrians in those places that have been freed, then extremists will step in and do it," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Sheikh Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib, president of the Syrian National Council, said concerns about Islamist influence had been overstated.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">"We stand against every radical belief that aims to target Syria's diverse social and religious fabric," he said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">READ: Inside Syria: Exclusive look at pro-Assad Christian militia</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">U.S. officials hope the aid will help the coalition show what it can do and encourage al-Assad supporters to "peel away from him" and help end the fighting, the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">The opposition council will decide where the money goes, Kerry said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">But the United States will send technical advisers through its partners to the group's Cairo headquarters to make sure the aid is being used properly, the senior State Department official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph19"><strong>Additional aid possible</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20">The European Council carved out an exception in its sanctions against Syria on Thursday to allow for the transfer of nonlethal equipment and technical assistance for civilian protection only.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21">The council didn't specify what kind of equipment could be involved.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph22">British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Friday on Twitter that his country would be pledging new aid because "we cannot stand still while the crisis worsens and thousands of lives are at stake."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph23">A diplomatic official at the French Foreign Ministry told CNN that France is studying the possibility of supplying night-vision equipment or body armor.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph24">"It is in the scope of the amendment," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph25">In the United States, President Barack Obama is thinking about training rebels and equipping them with defensive gear such as night-vision goggles, body armor and military vehicles, according to sources familiar with the discussions.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph26">The training would help rebels decide how to use their resources, strategize and maybe train a police force to take over after al-Assad's fall, one of the sources said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph27">READ: Syrian army in Homs is showing strains of war</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph28">Kerry did not announce that sort of aid Thursday, but said the United States and other countries backing the rebels would "continue to consult with each other on an urgent basis."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph29">An official who briefed reporters said the opposition has raised a lot of needs in the Rome meetings and the administration will continue to "keep those under review."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph30">"We will do this with vetted individuals, vetted units, so it has to be done carefully and appropriately," the official said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph31"><strong>Humanitarian crisis</strong></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph32">The conflict began with demands for political reform after the Arab Spring movement that swept the Middle East and Africa, but descended into a brutal civil war when the al-Assad regime began a brutal crackdown on demonstrators.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph33">At least 60,000 people have died since the fighting began in March 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said in early January.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph34">Another 940,000 had fled the country as of Tuesday, while more than one in 10 of Syria's 20 million residents have been forced to move elsewhere inside the country because of the fighting, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph35">The situation is nearing crisis proportions, with the dramatic influx of refugees threatening to break the ability of host nations to provide for their needs, Assistant High Commissioner Erika Feller told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph36">"The host states, including Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and the North African countries, have been exemplary in their different ways, but we fear the pressure will start to overwhelm their capacities," she told the council, according to a text of her remarks posted on the United Nations website.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph37">Al-Khatib said it's time for the fighting to stop.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph38">"I ask Bashar al-Assad for once, just once, to behave as a human being," he said. "Enough massacres, enough killings. Enough of your bloodshed and enough torture. I urge you to make a rational decision once in your life and end the killings."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph39">READ: Syrian war is everybody's problem</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">Jill Dougherty reported from Rome, and Michael Pearson reported and wrote from Atlanta. CNN's Nick Paton Walsh and Elise Labott also contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-44704532254499893692013-02-28T14:04:00.001-08:002013-02-28T14:04:30.541-08:00Mason out at Groupon, shares jump<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Groupon is replacing its CEO, company co-founder Andrew Mason, with two current executives amid increasing heat about the deal site's disappointing financial performance. <p>In a letter to employees, Mason said he was fired, with a playful and self-deprecating addition: "If you’re wondering why … you haven’t been paying attention." <br /></p><p>"From controversial metrics in our (IPO statement) to two quarters of missing our own expectations and a stock price that's hovering around one quarter of our listing price, the events of the last year and a half speak for themselves," Mason continued. "As CEO, I am accountable."</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> The board said it's searching for a permanent replacement. For now, Executive Chairman Eric Lefkofsky and Vice Chairman Ted Leonsis have been appointed to the newly created Office of the Chief Executive. <p>The company said its earnings expectations for the first quarter and full year outlined on Wednesday remain unchanged. </p><p>Investors appear to applaud the executive change, driving shares up in after-hours trading after a brutal regular session in which the stock lost a quarter of its value. Shares had plummeted in continuing fallout from a weaker than expected earnings report and forecast on Wednesday. The stock jumped 8 percent after hours on the news and was at $4.65, up 2.6 percent, at 3:40 p.m.</p><p>Groupon, a once-red-hot company that started in 2008 by marketing discounts on local services such as spas and restaurants to millions of online subscribers, has lost about three-quarters of its value since its IPO. Mason came under fire for not finding a quick enough solution for its problems. </p><p>The company posted a fourth-quarter net loss of $81.1 million, or 12 cents a share, missing Wall Street's expectations for a profit. Revenue for the quarter was up 30 percent, in line with analysts' views. </p>Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-62187964816982104172013-02-27T14:12:00.001-08:002013-02-27T14:12:14.762-08:00Wall Street gains on Bernanke comments, S&P above 1,500<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose on Wednesday, with major indexes posting their best daily gains since early January, as <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362001086395_1">Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke</span> remained steadfast in supporting the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362001086395_4">Fed</span>'s stimulus policy and data pointed to economic improvement.</p><br /><p> In a second day before a congressional committee, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362001086395_2">Bernanke</span> defended the Fed's buying of bonds to keep interest rates low to boost growth. The market's jump of more than 1 percent also came on better-than-expected data on business spending plans and the housing market.</p><br /><p> Bernanke's remarks helped the market rebound from its worst decline since November and put the S&P 500 index back above 1,500, a closely watched level that has been technical support until recently. The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> closed at a level not seen since 2007 as it again pulled within striking distance of an all-time high.</.dji></p><br /><p> Speaking before the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362001086395_6">House Financial Services Committee</span>, Bernanke downplayed signs of internal divisions at the Fed, saying the policy of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362001086395_3">quantitative easing</span>, or QE, has the support of a "significant majority" of top central bank officials.</p><br /><p> Bernanke removed a headwind from markets arising from concerns the Fed's quantitative easing might end earlier than anticipated. Doubts about the Fed's intentions had broken a seven-week streak of gains by stocks.</p><br /><p> "The Fed continues to encourage risk-taking in markets, which is a powerful tool that makes the danger not being long stocks, not in being too long," said Tom Mangan, a money manager at <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362001086395_7">James Investment Research Inc</span> in Xenia, Ohio.</p><br /><p> The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 176.32 points, or 1.27 percent, at 14,076.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 19.07 points, or 1.27 percent, at 1,516.01. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 32.61 points, or 1.04 percent, at 3,162.26.</.ixic></.spx></.dji></p><br /><p> Pending home sales jumped 4.5 percent in January, three times the rate of growth that had been expected. While orders for durable goods fell more than expected in January, non-defense capital goods orders excluding aircraft - a closely watched proxy for business spending plans - showed the biggest gain since December 2011.</p><br /><p> About 74 percent of stocks traded on the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1362001086395_5">New York Stock Exchange</span> closed higher while 64 percent of Nasdaq-listed shares closed up.</p><br /><p> The S&P turned very slightly higher on the week, recovering from the index's biggest daily drop since November on Monday. That drop came on concerns over Italy's election, as well as over sequestration - U.S. government budget cuts that will take effect starting on Friday if lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on spending and taxes.</p><br /><p> The index had climbed 6.3 percent for the year before pulling back on concerns about Fed policy and inconclusive elections in Italy, which rekindled fears of a new euro zone debt crisis.</p><br /><p> "While the rally remains intact and there are reasons to be long-term bullish here, there are also reasons to not be surprised if we get a correction," said Mangan, who helps oversee $3.7 billion.</p><br /><p> In earnings news, Priceline.com <pcln.o> gained 2.6 percent to $695.91 after reporting adjusted earnings that beat expectations. TJX Cos Inc <tjx.n> jumped 2.5 percent to $44.75 after the retail chain operator posted higher fourth-quarter results.</tjx.n></pcln.o></p><br /><p> The S&P retail index <.spxrt> climbed 1.6 percent.</.spxrt></p><br /><p> Target Corp <tgt.n> offered a cautious outlook for consumer spending in 2013 following a weak holiday quarter. The stock dipped 1.1 percent to $63.32.</tgt.n></p><br /><p> First Solar Inc <fslr.o> plunged 14 percent to $27.04 after failing to give a full-year earnings and sales outlook, though it also swung to a quarterly profit.</fslr.o></p><br /><p> Groupon Inc <grpn.o> plunged 21 percent to $4.70 after the bell after reporting its fourth-quarter results.</grpn.o></p><br /><p> With 93 percent of the S&P 500 companies having reported results so far, 69.5 percent beat profit expectations, compared with a 62 percent average since 1994 and 65 percent over the past four quarters, according to Thomson Reuters data.</p><br /><p> Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies are estimated to have risen 6.2 percent, according to the data, above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season.</p><br /><p> About 6.23 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, slightly below the daily average so far this year of about 6.48 billion shares.</p><br /><p> (Editing by Nick Zieminski and Kenneth Barry)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-37827222728517384952013-02-27T14:08:00.001-08:002013-02-27T14:08:18.954-08:00AP Source: 49ers to send Smith to KC<br /><p class="first"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_1">Alex Smith</span> is headed to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_3">Kansas City</span>, the first major acquisition by the Chiefs since <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_5">Andy Reid</span> took over as coach.</p><br /><p>A person with knowledge of the trade told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the Chiefs have agreed to deal for the 2005 top overall draft pick who lost his starting quarterback job in San Francisco to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_2">Colin Kaepernick</span> last season.</p><br /><p>The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the trade does not become official until March 12, when the NFL's new business year begins.</p><br /><p>Another person familiar with the deal said the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_4">49ers</span> will get a second-round draft pick in April, No. 34 overall, and a conditional pick in the 2014 draft.</p><br /><p>Fox Sports first reported the deal.</p><br /><p>Smith sustained a concussion Nov. 11 and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_8">Kaepernick</span> played well in his place. Coach <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_6">Jim Harbaugh</span> stuck with him even when Smith got healthy, and Kaepernick led the 49ers to the NFC championship and a close loss to Baltimore in the Super Bowl.</p><br /><p>The 28-year-old Smith struggled for most of his career in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_9">San Francisco</span>, plagued as much by coaching and coordinator changes as by his own indecisiveness. But when Harbaugh became coach, Smith blossomed. He was among the league leaders in passer rating (104.1) with a 70.2 completion percentage when he was injured in a 24-24 tie against St. Louis.</p><br /><p>Smith never started again for the 49ers, but now will replace Matt Cassel in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361991487902_7">Kansas City</span>.</p><br /><p>The Chiefs went 2-14 in 2012, earning the top pick in April's draft. But with no standout quarterbacks coming out of college this year, they quickly turned to finding a veteran.</p><br /><p>Reid was fired by Philadelphia after 14 highly successful seasons, although the Eagles went 4-12 last year. Kansas City made him the first coach hired to fill a vacancy in January — there were eight of them — and the Chiefs also fired general manager Scott Pioli.</p><br /><p>Now Reid has found his quarterback, and Smith has found another starting job.</p><br /><p>Kansas City also has Brady Quinn on the roster, and he started eight games last season, going 1-7.</p><br /><p>The 49ers, meanwhile, will be searching for a veteran to back up Kaepernick, their second-round draft choice in 2011.</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-41629906917133423972013-02-27T14:06:00.001-08:002013-02-27T14:06:20.480-08:00Why Italians keep voting for Berlusconi<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><div class="cnnExplainer cnn_html_slideshow"><br /><div class="cnnstrylccimg640"><div class="cnn_stryichgfull" readability="18"><div class="cnn_stryichgflg" readability="31"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>Photos: Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /><p>Berlusconi through the years</p><br /></div></div></div><br /><br /><div><br /><p><span><<</span></p><br /><p><span><</span></p><br /><div class="articleGalleryNavContainer"><br /><p><br /><br /><span>1</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>2</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>3</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>4</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>5</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>6</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>7</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>8</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>9</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>10</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>11</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>12</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>13</span><br /></p><br /></div><br /><p><span>></span></p><br /><p><span>>></span></p><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Scandal-plagued three time ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi finished second in Italy's election</li><br /><li>Italians and non-Italians have very different views of Berlusconi, argues journalist Bill Emmott</li><br /><li>For all his faults, Emmott says Berlusconi did better than most at listening to his voters</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Bill Emmott is a British journalist and was the editor of The Economist from 1993 to 2006. His book "Good Italy, Bad Italy" was published in English in 2012, and he is the narrator of "Girlfriend in a Coma," a new documentary about Italy's current crisis.</em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- On the subject of Silvio Berlusconi Italians and non-Italians are, to paraphrase George Bernard-Shaw's famous quip about Britain and America, divided by a common political language.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">We think we share the view that in a political world dominated by mass communications, there is little room for forgiveness about scandals, or other personal failures, or a poor record in office. Yet on those grounds, Berlusconi should have died a political death long ago, rather than coming a very close second in this week's Italian elections.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130218132738-bill-emmott-left-tease.jpg" alt="Bill Emmott" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Bill Emmott</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Foreigners, perhaps, will always remain baffled by Berlusconi's success in continuing to attract voters. But Italians, horrified by him though plenty of them are, tend to be a lot less surprised. That is because they think of him in context, rather than in isolation. In Italian politics, the context is all.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">What this means, and what it meant for Berlusconi's remarkable feat in nearly doubling his share of the vote between his opinion poll ratings in November 2012 and the election itself, can be laid out in the following evidently misleading indicators:</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5"><strong>He makes unbelievable promises.</strong> In part this is true: one of Berlusconi's traits is his willingness to say one thing today and the opposite tomorrow, to attract attention from different groups or on different occasions, totally without shame. Italians know this, and those who support him tend to see it as an endearing part of his character, part of his desire to entertain and to please. But also it is misleading: the key promise he made during the 2013 election campaign was entirely believable -- that he would cut or even abolish a dreaded property tax, known by its Italian initials as IMU.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6"><strong>His record makes him untrustworthy.</strong> Yes, on overall economic policy. But not on taxes. He has promised to cut them before, and has delivered on at least some of those promises. The promise to cut IMU was made in an incredibly artful way, as he wrote to voters saying he would pay them back for the tax from his own pocket, which very few will have believed. But that did not matter: it drew attention to the proposal in an eye-catching way, and reinforced the only important point -- that he would cut the tax.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Opinion: Italy's election leaves country, and eurozone, on financial high-wire</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8"><strong>He is irresponsible. </strong>Yes, but so is almost everyone to the cynical Italian political mind. His plan for how to finance this tax cut had as many holes in it as a sieve, but that did not really matter. It would have to be financed by taxes on other people, or cuts in spending on other things. Fine, said his voters: at least this awful tax will go. In offering a relentless focus on that tax, he showed that he was listening to the pain of his voters and taking them seriously, rather than talking down to them like most other parties.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9"><strong>His trials and sex scandals make him a national shame.</strong> Not really, though at times his behavior has stretched even the Italian tolerance. But the context is important: plenty of people think the justice system works disastrously badly in Italy, so if Berlusconi is caught up in it -- like so many others -- then so what? And his sex scandals are really part of his own marketing plan: he cavorts with scantily clad young women in order to make himself look glamorous, young, entertaining and happy. Moreover, his antics with women act as a distraction from his other weaknesses, like a kind of tranquillizer for those who might otherwise get angry with him. A lot of Italians, especially young women, hate him for this. But enough either don't care or are sympathetic enough to him to mean that this does not harm him fatally in political terms.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10"><strong>His opponents are more statesmanlike and responsible.</strong> Yes, that is true of Mario Monti, the caretaker prime minister for the past year who then decided to run in the elections with a centrist list of candidates. But it is not particularly true of his big opponents -- including the left-wing Democratic Party, which has its own scandals, its own selfish interests and, during the election campaign, its own evidence of the abuse of political power in the case of Italy's third-largest (and oldest) bank, Monte dei Paschi di Siena, whose business was allegedly run and distorted in the interests of local Democratic Party politicians in that area. So the PD (by its Italian initials) is also viewed as selfish by the public, neutralizing Berlusconi's disadvantage on that measure. Since both the PD leader, Pier Luigi Bersani, and Monti are dull, leaden communicators who failed to offer any positive, hopeful message for their voters, the way was opened for Berlusconi.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">News: Italy seeks way out of political chaos</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12"><strong>Only one party in the election really stood for change: the Five Star Movement of Beppe Grillo.</strong> This meant that Berlusconi's old-fashioned, tax-cutting message, geared towards preserving his own political power, had plenty of space in which to operate. And although Berlusconi did not stand for change, he was at least cheerful, smiling and entertaining.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13"><strong>Politics is now all about personalities, as was shown by the rise of Grillo, but he and Berlusconi are opposites in this regard. </strong>It is true that the discrediting of traditional political parties, combined with the preeminence of television, has given personalities a huge advantage in Italian politics, even if neither the PD nor Monti seemed able to grasp this. Personalities and even personal stories breed attention and loyalty, even if from different groups. One of the last Italian politicians to understand and exploit this was, unfortunately, Benito Mussolini.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14"><strong>Oh, and did I forget to mention that Berlusconi owns Italy's three main commercial TV channels and its biggest advertising sales agency, and has billions of euros in cash to hand around to supporters and allies?</strong> Well, that isn't a misleading indicator. But it is a reason, perhaps too obvious to dwell upon, for Berlusconi's continuing success at the ripe old age of 76.</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are strictly those of Bill Emmott.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-52849312820813784622013-02-27T14:04:00.001-08:002013-02-27T14:04:16.559-08:00White House, Republicans dig in ahead of budget talks<p>Speaker of the House John Boehner tells Scott Pelley in a "CBS Evening News" interview that a budget deal is now out of his hands.</p><div id="story-body-text" readability="148.625352113"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>WASHINGTON—<br /> <br /> <br /> </p><br /> <br /> <br /> Positions hardened on Wednesday between President Barack Obama and Republican congressional leaders over the budget crisis even as they arranged to hold last-ditch talks to prevent harsh automatic spending cuts beginning this week.<p>Looking resigned to the $85-billion in "sequestration" cuts starting on Friday, government agencies began reducing costs and spelling out to employees how furloughs will work.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Expectations were low that a White House meeting on Friday between Obama and congressional leaders, including Republican foes, would produce any deal to avoid the cuts.<p>Put into law in 2011 as part of an earlier fiscal crisis, sequestration is unloved by both parties because of the economic pain it will cause, but the politicians cannot agree how to stop it.</p><p>A deal in Congress on less drastic spending cuts, perhaps with tax increases too, is needed by Friday to halt the sequestration reductions which are split between social programs cherished by Democrats and defense spending championed by Republicans.</p><p>Obama stuck by his demand that Republicans accept tax increases in the form of eliminating tax loopholes enjoyed mostly by the wealthy as part of a balanced approach to avoiding sequestration.</p><p>"There is no alternative in the president's mind to balance," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.</p><p>Obama wants to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies and the lower "carried interest" tax rate enjoyed by hedge funds.</p><p>But Republicans who reluctantly agreed to raise income tax rates on the rich to avert the "fiscal cliff" crisis in December are in no mood for that.</p><p>"One thing Americans simply will not accept is another tax increase to replace spending reductions we already agreed to," said Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell.</p><p>In one of the first concrete effects of the cuts, the administration took the unusual step of freeing several hundred detained illegal immigrants because of the cost of holding them.</p><p>Republicans described that move by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as a political stunt aimed at scaring them into agreeing to end the sequestration on Obama's terms.</p><p>Carney denied the White House had ordered the release.</p><p>Friday's White House meeting will include McConnell and the other key congressional leaders: Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid, House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, and House Speaker John Boehner, the top U.S. Republican.</p><p>'BELATED FARCE'?</p><p>But the chances of success were not high.</p><p>One congressional Republican aide criticized the White House for calling the meeting for the day the cuts were coming into effect. "Either someone needs to buy the White House a calendar, or this is just a - belated - farce. They ought to at least pretend to try."</p><p>At the unveiling of a statute for civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks on Capitol Hill, Obama chatted briefly with McConnell and other congressional leaders.</p><p>Americans blame both Obama and congressional Republicans for this latest fiscal crisis, according to a Reuters/Ipsos online poll released on Tuesday.</p><p>Twenty-five percent of people said Republicans in Congress were responsible for sequestration, 23 percent blamed Obama and 5 percent pointed to congressional Democrats. Thirty percent said all of them were to blame.</p><p>Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said sequestration was too drastic an approach for reducing the budget deficit.</p><p>"What I am advising is a more gradual approach. I'm not saying we should ignore the deficit, I am not saying we shouldn't deal with long-term fiscal issues, but I think that from the perspective of our recovery, a more gradual approach would be constructive," he told a House Financial Services Committee hearing.</p><p>Among many warnings from the Obama administration of possible damage to public services, the Air Force said its Thunderbirds exhibition flying team is expected to be grounded if sequestration happens.</p><p>The Pentagon will put most of its 800,000 civilian employees on unpaid leave for 22 days, slash ship and aircraft maintenance and curtail training.</p><p>But the full weight of sequestration will take place over seven months, allowing Obama and the Republicans time to work out a deal after the cuts begin this week.</p><p>White House spokesman Carney said sequestration would officially start just before midnight on Friday night if no deal were reached.</p><p>Government agencies began to tell employees how sequestration will force them to take furloughs. The Environmental Protection Agency acting head, Bob Perciasepe, told employees in an email that the agency did not know how much of its budget will be cut but it was working on an estimate of 5 percent.</p><p>"What might that mean for our employees? If the sequester order requires a 5.0% cut, the impact could be up to 13 furlough days," he said. That would likely mean four furlough days by June 1, he said.</p><p>Education Secretary Arne Duncan said as many as 40,000 teachers would eventually lose their jobs under the cuts. School districts heavily dependent on federal aid would have to decide as early as next week whether to lay off teachers or cut the number of school days.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p></div>Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-50641514753035909482013-02-27T14:02:00.001-08:002013-02-27T14:02:23.593-08:00Iran upbeat on nuclear talks, West still wary<br /><p class="first">ALMATY (Reuters) - <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_1">Iran</span> was upbeat on Wednesday after talks with world powers about its nuclear work ended with an agreement to meet again, but Western officials said it had yet to take concrete steps to ease their fears about its atomic ambitions.</p><br /><p> Rapid progress was unlikely with Iran's presidential election, due in June, raising domestic political tensions, diplomats and analysts had said ahead of the February 26-27 meeting in the Kazakh city of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_2">Almaty</span>, the first in eight months.</p><br /><p> The United States, China, France, Russia, Britain and Germany offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing its most sensitive nuclear work but made clear that they expected no immediate breakthrough.</p><br /><p> In an attempt to make their proposals more palatable to Iran, the six powers appeared to have softened previous demands somewhat, for example regarding their requirement that the Islamic state ship out its stockpile of higher-grade uranium.</p><br /><p> Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili said the powers had tried to "get closer to our viewpoint", which he said was positive.</p><br /><p> In Paris, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry commented that the talks had been "useful" and that a serious engagement by Iran could lead to a comprehensive deal in a decade-old dispute that has threatened to trigger a new Middle East war.</p><br /><p> Iran's foreign minister said in Vienna he was "very confident" an agreement could be reached and Jalili, the chief negotiator, said he believed the Almaty meeting could be a "turning point".</p><br /><p> However, one diplomat said Iranian officials at the negotiations appeared to be suggesting that they were opening new avenues, but it was not clear if this was really the case.</p><br /><p> Iran expert Dina Esfandiary of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said: "Everyone is saying Iran was more positive and portrayed the talks as a win."</p><br /><p> "I reckon the reason for that is that they are saving face internally while buying time with the West until after the elections," she said.</p><br /><p> The two sides agreed to hold expert-level talks in Istanbul on March 18 to discuss the powers' proposals, and return to Almaty for political discussions on April 5-6, when <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_3">Western diplomats</span> made clear they wanted to see a substantive response from Iran.</p><br /><p> "Iran knows what it needs to do, the president has made clear his determination to implement his policy that Iran will not have a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_5">nuclear weapon</span>," Kerry said.</p><br /><p> A senior U.S. official in Almaty said, "What we care about at the end is concrete results."</p><br /><p> ISRAELI WARNING</p><br /><p> Israel, assumed to be the Middle East's only nuclear-armed power, was watching the talks closely. It has strongly hinted it might attack Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to ensure that it cannot build a nuclear weapon. Iran denies any such aim.</p><br /><p> Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said economic sanctions were failing and urged the international community to threaten Iran with military action.</p><br /><p> Western officials said the offer presented by the six powers included an easing of a ban on trade in gold and other precious metals, and a relaxation of an import embargo on Iranian petrochemical products. They gave no further details.</p><br /><p> In exchange, a senior U.S. official said, Iran would among other things have to suspend uranium enrichment to a fissile concentration of 20 percent at its Fordow underground facility and "constrain the ability to quickly resume operations there".</p><br /><p> The official did not describe what was being asked of Iran as a "shutdown" of the plant as Western diplomats had said in previous meetings with Iran last year.</p><br /><p> Iran says it has a sovereign right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, and wants to fuel nuclear power plants so that it can export more oil.</p><br /><p> But 20-percent purity is far higher than that needed for <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361994252510_4">nuclear power</span>, and rings alarm bells abroad because it is only a short technical step away from weapons-grade uranium. Iran says it produces higher-grade uranium to fuel a research reactor.</p><br /><p> Iran's growing stockpile of 20-percent-enriched uranium is already more than half-way to a "red line" that Israel has made clear it would consider sufficient for a bomb.</p><br /><p> In Vienna on Wednesday, a senior U.N. nuclear agency official told diplomats in a closed-door briefing that Iran was technically ready to sharply increase this higher-grade enrichment, two Western diplomats said.</p><br /><p> "Iran can triple 20 percent production in the blink of an eye," one of the diplomats said.</p><br /><p> The U.S. official in Almaty said the powers' latest proposal would "significantly restrict the accumulation of near-20-percent enriched uranium in Iran, while enabling the Iranians to produce sufficient fuel" for their Tehran medical reactor.</p><br /><p> This appeared to be a softening of a previous demand that Iran ship out its stockpile of higher-grade enriched uranium, which it says it needs to produce medical isotopes.</p><br /><p> Iran has often indicated that 20-percent enrichment could be up for negotiation if it received the fuel from abroad instead.</p><br /><p> Jalili suggested Iran could discuss the issue, although he appeared to rule out shutting down Fordow. He said the powers had not made that specific demand.</p><br /><p> The Iranian rial, which has lost more than half its foreign exchange value in the last year as sanctions bite, rose some 2 percent on Wednesday, currency tracking websites reported.</p><br /><p> (Additional reporting by Fredrik Dahl and Yeganeh Torbati in Almaty, Georgina Prodhan in Vienna, Zahra Hosseinian in Zurich, Gabriela Baczynska in Moscow, Dan Williams in Jerusalem and Marcus George in Dubai; Writing by Timothy Heritage and Fredrik Dahl; Editing by Louise Ireland)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-37565272985453645502013-02-26T14:08:00.001-08:002013-02-26T14:08:11.712-08:00Experts: Pistorius violated basic firearms rules<br /><p class="first">JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Even if <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_1">Oscar Pistorius</span> is acquitted of murder, firearms and legal experts in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_2">South Africa</span> believe that, by his own account, the star athlete violated basic gun-handling regulations and exposed himself to a homicide charge by shooting into a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_7">closed door</span> without knowing who was behind it.</p><br /><p>Particularly jarring for firearms instructors and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_9">legal experts</span> is that <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_5">Pistorius</span> testified that he shot at a closed toilet door, fearing but not knowing for certain that a nighttime intruder was on the other side. Instead of an intruder, Pistorius' girlfriend <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_4">Reeva Steenkamp</span> was in the toilet cubicle. Struck by three of four shots that Pistorius fired from a 9 mm pistol, she died within minutes. Prosecutors charged Pistorius with premeditated murder, saying the shooting followed an argument between the two. Pistorius said it was an accident.</p><br /><p>South Africa has stringent laws regulating the use of lethal force for self-protection. In order to get a permit to own a firearm, applicants must not only know those rules but must demonstrate proficiency with the weapon and knowledge of its safe handling, making it far tougher to legally own a gun in South Africa than many other countries where a mere background check suffices.</p><br /><p>Pistorius took such a competency test for his 9 mm pistol and passed it, according to the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_8">South African Police Service</span>'s National Firearms Center. Pistorius' license for the 9 mm pistol was issued in September 2010. The Olympic athlete and Paralympic medalist should have known that firing blindly, instead of at a clearly identified target, violates basic gun-handling rules, firearms and legal experts said.</p><br /><p>"You can't shoot through a closed door," said Andre Pretorius, president of the Professional Firearm Trainers Council, a regulatory body for South African firearms instructors. "People who own guns and have been through the training, they know that shooting through a door is not going to go through <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_6">South African</span> law as an accident."</p><br /><p>"There is no situation in South Africa that allows a person to shoot at a threat that is not identified," Pretorius added. "Firing multiple shots, it makes it that much worse. ...It could have been a minor — a 15-year-old kid, a 12-year-old kid — breaking in to get food."</p><br /><p>The Pistorius family, through <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361901847556_3">Arnold Pistorius</span>, uncle of the runner, has said it is confident that the evidence will prove that Steenkamp's death in the predawn hours of Feb. 14 was "a terrible and tragic accident."</p><br /><p>In an affidavit to the magistrate who last Friday freed him on bail, Pistorius said he believed an intruder or intruders had gotten into his US$560,000 (€430,000) two-story house, in a guarded and gated community with walls topped by electrified fencing east of the capital, Pretoria, and were inside the toilet cubicle in his bathroom. Believing he and Steenkamp "would be in grave danger" if they came out, "I fired shots at the toilet door" with the pistol that he slept with under his bed, he testified.</p><br /><p>Criminal law experts said that even if the prosecution fails to prove premeditated murder, firing several shots through a closed door could bring a conviction for the lesser but still serious charge of culpable homicide, a South African equivalent of manslaughter covering unintentional deaths through negligence.</p><br /><p>Johannesburg attorney Martin Hood, who specializes in firearm law, said South African legislation allows gun owners to use lethal force only if they believe they are facing an immediate, serious and direct attack or threat of attack that could either be deadly or cause grievous injury.</p><br /><p>According to Pistorius' own sworn statement read in court, he "did not meet those criteria," said Hood, who is also the spokesman for the South African Gun Owners' Association.</p><br /><p>"If he fired through a closed door, there was no threat to him. It's as simple as that," he added. "He can't prove an attack on his life ... In my opinion, at the very least, he is guilty of culpable homicide."</p><br /><p>The Associated Press emailed a request for comment to Vuma, a South African reputation management firm hired by the Pistorius family to handle media questions about the shooting.</p><br /><p>The firm replied: "Due to the legal sensitivities around the matter, we cannot at this stage answer any of your questions as it might have legal implications for a case that still has to be tried in a court of law." Vuma said on Monday it referred the AP's questions to Pistorius' legal team, which by Tuesday had not replied.</p><br /><p>Culpable homicide covers unintentional deaths ranging from accidents with no negligence, like a motorist whose brakes fail, killing another road user, "to where it verges on murder or where it almost becomes intentional," said Hood. Sentences — ranging from fines to prison — are left to courts to determine and are not set by fixed guidelines.</p><br /><p>The tough standards for legally acquiring a gun were instituted in part because of a wave of weapons purchases after the end of racist white rule in 1994, said Rick De Caris, a former legal director in the South African police. Under South Africa's white-minority apartheid regime, gun owners often learned how to handle firearms during military service. Many of the new gun owners had little or no firearms training, which brought tragic results, De Caris said.</p><br /><p>"People were literally shooting themselves when cleaning a firearm," said De Caris, who helped draft the Firearms Control Act of 2000.</p><br /><p>Prospective gun owners must now take written exams that include questions on the law, have to show they can safely handle and shoot a gun and are required to hit a target the size of a glossy magazine in 10 of 10 shots from seven meters (23 feet), said Pretorius of the Professional Firearm Trainers Council.</p><br /><p>In his affidavit, Pistorius said he wasn't wearing his prosthetic limbs "and felt extremely vulnerable" after hearing noise from the toilet.</p><br /><p>"I grabbed my 9 mm pistol from underneath my bed. On my way to the bathroom, I screamed words to the effect for him/them to get out of my house and for Reeva to phone the police. It was pitch-dark in the bedroom and I thought Reeva was in bed," he testified.</p><br /><p>Legal experts said they are puzzled why Pistorius apparently didn't first fire a warning shot to show the supposed intruder he was armed. Also unanswered is why, after he heard noise in his bathroom that includes the toilet cubicle, Pistorius still went toward the bathroom — toward the perceived danger — rather than retreat back into his bedroom.</p><br /><p>"He should have tried to get out of the situation," said Hood, the attorney.</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-69278111903094729892013-02-26T14:06:00.001-08:002013-02-26T14:06:14.834-08:00Benedict: Pope aware of his flaws?<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="8"><p>Pope Benedict XVI delivers his last Angelus Blessing to thousands of pilgrims gathered in Saint Peter's Square on February 24.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Sister Mary Ann Walsh: Pope Benedict acknowledged that he made mistakes</li><br /><li>Walsh: In firestorm over scholarly quotes about Islam, he went to great lengths to atone</li><br /><li>Walsh: Similarly, he quickly reversed a decision that had angered Jews and repaired ties</li><br /><li>Even his stepping down is a nod to his humanity and his love of the church, she says</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> Sister Mary Ann Walsh is director of media relations for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and a member of the Sisters of Mercy of the Americas Northeast Regional Community. She is a former foreign correspondent at Catholic News Service (CNS) in Rome and the editor of "John Paul II: A Light for the World," "Benedict XVI: Essays and Reflections on his Papacy," and "From Pope John Paul II to Benedict XVI." </em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- One of the Bible's paradoxical statements comes from St. Paul's Epistle to the Galatians: "Power is made perfect in infirmity."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">The poetic statement proclaims that when we are weak, we are strong. Pope Benedict XVI's stepping down from what many consider one of the most powerful positions in the world proves it. In a position associated with infallibility -- though that refers to formal proclamations on faith and morals -- the pope declares his weakness.</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130225155656-sister-mary-ann-walsh-left-tease.jpg" alt="Sister Mary Ann Walsh" border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>Sister Mary Ann Walsh</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">His acceptance of frailty speaks realistically about humanity: We grow old, weaken, and eventually die. A job, even one guided by the Holy Spirit, as we Roman Catholics believe, can become too much for us.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">Acceptance of human frailty has marked this papacy. We all make mistakes, but the pope makes them on a huge stage.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">He was barely into his papacy, for example, when he visited Regensburg, Germany, where he once taught theology. Like many a professor, he offered a provocative statement to get the conversation going. To introduce the theme of his lecture, the pope quoted from an account of a dialogue between the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus and an unnamed Muslim scholar, sometime near the end of the 14th century -- a quote that was misinterpreted by some as a condemnation of Mohammed and Islam.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">Opinion: 'Gay lobby' behind pope's resignation? Not likely</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">Twice, the pope emphasized that he was quoting someone else's words. Unfortunately, the statement about Islam was taken as insult, not a discussion opener, and sparked rage throughout the Muslim world.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">The startled pope had to explain himself. He apologized and traveled two months later to Istanbul's Blue Mosque, where he stood shoeless in prayer beside the Grand Mufti of Istanbul. Later he hosted Muslim leaders at the Vatican at the start of a Catholic-Muslim forum for dialogue. It was a human moment -- a mistake, an apology and atonement -- all round.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">A similar controversy erupted when he tried to bring the schismatic Society of St. Pius X back into the Roman Catholic fold.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">In a grand gesture toward reconciliation, he lifted the excommunication of four of its bishops, unaware that one, Richard Williamson, was a Holocaust denier. This outraged many Jews. Subsequently the Vatican said the bishop had not been vetted, and in a bow to modernity said officials at least should have looked him up on the Internet.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">In humble response, Benedict reiterated his condemnation of anti-Semitism and told Williamson that he must recant his Holocaust views to be fully reinstated. Again, his admission of a mistake and an effort to mend fences.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">News: Scandal threatens to overshadow pope's final days</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">Pope Benedict XVI came from a Catholic Bavarian town. Childhood family jaunts included trips to the shrine of the Black Madonna, Our Lady of Altotting. He entered the seminary at the age of 13. He became a priest, scholar and theologian. He lived his life in service to the church. Even in resigning from the papacy, he embraces the monastic life to pray for a church he has ever loved.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">With hindsight, his visit to the tomb of 13th century Pope Celestine V, a Benedictine monk who resigned from the papacy eight centuries before, becomes poignant.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">In 2009, on a visit to Aquila, Italy, Benedict left at Celestine's tomb the pallium, a stole-like vestment that signifies episcopal authority, that Benedict had worn for his installation as pope. The gesture takes on more meaning as the monkish Benedict steps down.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">We expect the pope to be perfect. Catholics hold him to be the vicar of Christ on earth. He stands as a spiritual leader for much of the world. Statesmen visit him from around the globe. He lives among splendid architecture, in the shadow of the domed St. Peter's Basilica. All testify to an almost surreal omnipotence.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">Complete coverage of the pope's resignation</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph18">In this world, however, walked a vulnerable, human person. And in a paradox of life, his most human moment -- giving up the power of office -- may prove to be his most potent, delivering a message that, as St. Paul noted many centuries ago, "Power is made perfect in infirmity."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph20"><i>Follow </i><i>@CNNOpinion on Twitter.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph21"><i>Join us at Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Mary Ann Walsh.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-80519804786710061362013-02-26T14:04:00.001-08:002013-02-26T14:04:14.116-08:00Midwest winter storm: Snow, sleet making travel hazardous<p>Chicago's midday full weather forecast. (WGN - Chicago)</p><div id="story-body-text" readability="151.956512238"><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>A winter weather advisory is in effect until tonight as sleet, freezing rain and snow hit the Chicago area, making travel hazardous and grounding hundreds of flights.</p><br /><p>The National Weather Service expects the heaviest snow to fall this afternoon. Winds gusting at 35 to 40 mph will reduce visibility and glaze roads, the weather service warned in the advisory.</p><br /><p>"Snowfall rates in excess of an inch per hour could occur at times," it said, predicting 3 to 6 inches by Wednesday morning. "This will likely be a heavy wet snow sometimes referred to as heart attack snow."</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>Mike Bardou, a weather service meteorologist, said "the early part of the rush hour will be most affected."</p><br /><p>The advisory expires at 9 p.m. in Cook, Will and DuPage counties, and at midnight in DeKalb, Kane, Lake, McHenry and several other counties in north central Illinois.</p><br />As of about 2 p.m., there were 5.5 inches in northwest suburban Bull Valley, 4 inches in northwest suburban South Elgin and Schaumburg, 3.3 inches in west suburban Winfield, 2.5 inches in north suburban Lake Bluff, 1.8 inches in north suburban Morton Grove, and 1.5 inches at Midway International Airport.<br /><p>About 550 flights have been canceled at O'Hare International Airport and 160 at Midway, according to FlightStats, which gathers data from airports and airlines. There were about 600 flights delayed at O’Hare and 114 at Midway.</p><br /><p>On the roads, spinouts have been reported on interstates 90, 94 and 55, according to the Illinois State Police.</p><br /><p>The Illinois State Police Chicago District has instituted its emergency snow plan. In an accident where there are no injuries and the cars are driveable, the drivers should exchange information at a safe place and file accident reports with the state police within 10 days.</p><br /><p>Chicago's Streets and Sanitation Department has deployed its entire fleet of 284 plows. Drivers will plow the main roads, such as Lake Shore Drive, through the evening rush hour. As the snow begins to taper off, the plows will clear residential roads, said department spokeswoman Anne Sheahan.</p><br /><p>Extra plows are being deployed to the 2<sup>nd</sup> congressional district to help residents get to their polling places for today's primary election, Sheahan said.</p><br /><p>Road conditions were treacherous throughout the southwest suburbs, especially along Interstates 55 and 80 in Will County, police and fire officials said.</p><br /><p>Several vehicles have slipped into ditches along I-55 near Plainfield, especially near U.S. Route 30, said Jon Stratton, a deputy chief with the Plainfield Fire Protection District. "On I-55, there are vehicles everywhere in the ditch," Stratton said. "Visibility is going down and roads are getting all snow covered, so it's going to be an interesting day."</p><br /><p>The most serious accident in the area so far today occurred when an SUV slid under a semi's trailer on the Route 30 overpass over I-55, Stratton said.</p><br /><p>Firefighters extricated the woman who was driving the SUV, and she was taken by ambulance to Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, Stratton said. The woman was conscious and stable when removed from the SUV, he said.</p><br /><p>Plainfield police have responded to several reports of crashes and vehicles that have slid into ditches, Sgt. Mike Fisher said. "It is getting slick out there, so people should give themselves extra time, slow down and drive safe," Fisher said.</p><br /><p>Schools in the southwest suburbs have also begun changing their schedules because of the storm.</p><br /><p>High school students in Plainfield Community Consolidated School District 202 will be dismissed 20 minutes early today, at 1:50 p.m., to give bus drivers more time to complete their routes, according to a news release from the district.</p><br /><p>Middle school students will be dismissed as soon as buses arrive at those schools after completing their high school routes. Elementary school students will be dismissed as close to their usual time as possible, according to the district.</p><br /><p>All after-school activities in the district have also been canceled, including sports practices and games and Plainfield Park District programs that are usually held in the school district's buildings.</p><br /><p>In Romeoville and Bolingbrook, most students in Valley View School District 365U already had today off because of staff meetings. But the district announced early this afternoon that it is ending the meetings early and closing all schools and its administration center because of the weather.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </div>Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-34506231928530578432013-02-26T14:02:00.001-08:002013-02-26T14:02:14.565-08:00Italy parties seek way out of election stalemate<br /><p class="first">ROME (Reuters) - <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_2">Italy</span>'s stunned <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_6">political parties</span> searched for a way forward on Tuesday after an inconclusive election gave none of them a parliamentary majority and threatened prolonged instability and a renewal of the European financial crisis.</p><br /><p> The results, notably the dramatic surge of the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement of comic <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_1">Beppe Grillo</span>, left the center-left bloc with a majority in the lower house but without the numbers to control the upper chamber, the Senate.</p><br /><p> Financial markets fell sharply at the prospect of a stalemate that reawakened memories of the crisis that pushed Italy's borrowing costs toward unsustainably high levels and brought the euro zone to the brink of collapse in 2011.</p><br /><p> "The winner is: Ingovernability," ran the headline in Rome newspaper Il Messaggero, reflecting the deadlock the country will have to confront in the next few weeks as sworn enemies are forced to work together to form a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_9">government</span>.</p><br /><p> Ratings agency Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday that policy choices of the next Italian government would be crucial for the country's creditworthiness, underlining the need for a coalition that can agree on new reforms.</p><br /><p> <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_4">Pier Luigi Bersani</span>, head of the center-left Democratic Party (PD), has the difficult task of trying to agree a "grand coalition" with former <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_5">prime minister Silvio Berlusconi</span>, the man he blames for ruining Italy, or striking a deal with Grillo, a completely unknown quantity in conventional politics.</p><br /><p> The alternative is new elections either immediately or within a few months, although both <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_7">Berlusconi</span> and Bersani have indicated that they want to avoid a return to the polls if possible: "Italy cannot be ungoverned and we have to reflect," Berlusconi said in an interview on his own television station.</p><br /><p> For his part, Grillo, whose movement won the most votes of any single party, has indicated that he believes the next government will last no more than six months.</p><br /><p> "They won't be able to govern," he told reporters on Tuesday. "Whether I'm there or not, they won't be able govern."</p><br /><p> He said he would work with anyone who supported his policy proposals, which range from anti-corruption measures to green-tinted energy measures but rejected suggestions of entering a formal coalition: "It's not time to talk of alliances... the system has already fallen," he said.</p><br /><p> The election, a massive rejection of the austerity policies applied by Prime Minister <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_3">Mario Monti</span> with the backing of international leaders from U.S. President Barack Obama to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, caused consternation across Europe.</p><br /><p> German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble put a brave face on it, saying "that's democracy".</p><br /><p> Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo was more pessimistic.</p><br /><p> "This is a jump to nowhere that does not bode well either for Italy or <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361912891526_8">Europe</span>," he said.</p><br /><p> A long recession and growing disillusionment with mainstream parties and tax-raising austerity fed a bitter public mood and contributed to the massive rejection of Monti, whose centrist coalition was relegated to the sidelines.</p><br /><p> Projections by the Italian center for Electoral Studies showed that the center-left will have 121 seats in the Senate, against 117 for the center-right alliance of Berlusconi's PDL and the regionalist Northern League. Grillo would take 54.</p><br /><p> That leaves no party with the majority in a chamber which a government must control to pass legislation.</p><br /><p> "THE BELL IS RINGING"</p><br /><p> On a visit to Germany, President Giorgio Napolitano said he would not comment until the parties had consulted with each other and Bersani called on Berlusconi and Grillo to "assume their responsibilities" to ensure Italy could have a government.</p><br /><p> He warned that the election showed austerity policies alone were no answer to the economic crisis and said the result carried implications beyond Italy.</p><br /><p> "The bell is ringing for Europe as well," he said in his first public comments since the election.</p><br /><p> He said he would present a limited number of reform proposals to parliament, focusing on jobs, institutional reform and European policy.</p><br /><p> However forming an alliance may be long and difficult and could test the sometimes fragile internal unity of the mainstream parties.</p><br /><p> "The idea of a majority without Grillo is unthinkable. I don't know if anyone in the PD is considering it but I'm against it," said Matteo Orfini, a member of Bersani's PD secretariat.</p><br /><p> "The idea of a PD-PDL government, even if it's backed by Monti, doesn't make any sense," he said.</p><br /><p> For his part, Berlusconi won a boost when his Northern League ally Roberto Maroni won the election to become regional president of Lombardy, Italy's economic heartland and one of the richest and most productive areas of Europe.</p><br /><p> For Italian business, with an illustrious history of export success, the election result brought dismay that there would be no quick change to what they see as a regulatory sclerosis that has kept the economy virtually stagnant for a decade.</p><br /><p> "This is probably the worst possible scenario," said Francesco Divella, whose family began selling pasta under its eponymous brand in 1890 in the southern region of Puglia.</p><br /><p> Berlusconi's campaign, mixing sweeping tax cut pledges with relentless attacks on Monti and Merkel, echoed many of the themes pushed by Grillo and underlined the increasingly angry mood of the Italian electorate.</p><br /><p> But even if the next government turns away from the tax hikes and spending cuts brought in by Monti, it will struggle to revive an economy that has scarcely grown in two decades.</p><br /><p> Monti was widely credited with tightening Italy's public finances and restoring its international credibility after the scandal-plagued Berlusconi, who is currently on trial for having sex with an under-age prostitute.</p><br /><p> However, Monti struggled to pass the kind of structural reforms needed to improve competitiveness and lay the foundations for a return to economic growth. A weak center-left government may not find it any easier.</p><br /><p> The view from some voters, weary of the mainstream parties, was unrepentant: "It's good," said Roger Manica, 28, a security guard in Rome, who voted for the center-left PD.</p><br /><p> "Next time I'll vote 5-Star. I like that they are changing things, even if it means uncertainty. Uncertainty doesn't matter to me, for me what's important is a good person who gets things done," he said. "Look how well they've done."</p><br /><p> (Additional reporting by Barry Moody, Gavin Jones, Lisa Jucca, Steven Jewkes, Steve Scherer, Catherine Hornby and Massimiliano Di Giorgio, Annika Breidthardt in Berlin. Writing by Philip Pullella and James Mackenzie; Editing by Peter Graff)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-77189411013390911252013-02-25T14:08:00.001-08:002013-02-25T14:08:21.662-08:00Indiana stays No. 1 in AP Top 25, Gonzaga No. 2<br /><p class="first">Indiana is No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25 for the fourth straight week, while <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361818208176_1">Gonzaga</span> moved to No. 2 for the first time in school history.</p><br /><p><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361818208176_2">The Bulldogs</span> were third last week, matching their previous best ranking.</p><br /><p>"The polls mean a lot more this time of year than they do in November, December, even January," coach Mark Few said. "All of us are being judged on the true body of work. It's definitely rewarding.</p><br /><p>"It establishes us as a national program, which I believe we have been for the last 10 years. This group has done a great job of competing at that level, winning games at the highest level."</p><br /><p>While the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361818208176_3">West Coast Bulldogs</span> made some news at the top of the poll Monday, <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361818208176_4">Louisiana Tech</span>, the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361818208176_5">Bulldogs</span> from Down South, moved into the rankings for the first time since a 13-week run in 1984-85, their only appearance in the poll.</p><br /><p>Louisiana Tech, which is 25th this week, was led back then to a ranking as high as No. 7 by a forward named Karl Malone. Gonzaga at that time had a point guard named John Stockton. They went on to become one of the greatest combinations in NBA history with the Utah Jazz, were members of the Dream Team and both were inducted in the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361818208176_6">Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame</span>.</p><br /><p>The Hoosiers, who have been ranked No. 1 for a total of 10 weeks this season, received all but one first-place vote from the 65-member national media panel.</p><br /><p>Gonzaga, which got the other No. 1 vote, was ranked third for the final two weeks of 2003-04.</p><br /><p>Duke moved up three spots to third and is followed by Michigan and Miami, which dropped from second after falling to Wake Forest, the Hurricanes' first Atlantic Coast Conference loss this season.</p><br /><p>Kansas is sixth, followed by Georgetown, Florida, Michigan State and Louisville.</p><br /><p>Saint Louis, which beat Butler and VCU last week, moved into 18th in the poll, the Billikens' first ranking since being in for one week last season.</p><br /><p>Colorado State, which was 22nd and lost twice last week, and VCU, which was 24th, dropped out.</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-31207214642323017572013-02-25T14:06:00.001-08:002013-02-25T14:06:19.822-08:00Iran plans own response to 'Argo'<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><div class="cnn_stryimg640caption" readability="7"><p>(File photo) Argo tells the story of a rescue of U.S. diplomats from revolutionary Iran.</p></div><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Ben Affleck's "Argo" tells the story of a dramatic rescue of U.S. diplomats from revolutionary Iran</li><br /><li>Iranian state media criticize the movie as "replete with historical inaccuracies and distortions"</li><br /><li>Iran's Art Bureau says it will fund its own film about the handing over of 20 U.S. hostages</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- Ben Affleck has more than just a couple of Golden Globes to add to his resume.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">His movie "Argo," about the suspenseful rescue of U.S. diplomats during the Iran hostage crisis, has also achieved the unusual honor of prompting Tehran to produce its own cinematic response.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Opinion: Latino should have played lead in 'Argo'</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">"Argo" was named best drama movie during the Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday night in Los Angeles, and Affleck won the award for best director, a category for which he was passed over in the recent Oscar nominations.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">But his efforts to recreate on screen the drama of the secret operation by the CIA and Canada to extract six U.S. embassy workers from revolutionary Iran in 1980 haven't been overlooked by Tehran's Art Bureau.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">'Argo' recognizes forgotten heroes of Iran hostage saga</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">It plans to fund a movie entitled "The General Staff," about 20 American hostages who were handed over to the United States by Iranian revolutionaries, according to a report last week by Mehr News, the official Iranian agency.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">"This film, which will be a big production, should be an appropriate response to the ahistoric film 'Argo,'" said Ataollah Salmanian, the director of the Iranian film, according to Mehr.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">"Argo" claims to be based on a true story rather than to constitute a scrupulous retelling of exactly what took place, and its deviations from reality have been documented.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">But Iranian authorities have taken offense at the film's portrayal of the country and its people. "Argo" was officially viewed as "anti-Iranian" following its U.S. release last year, Mehr reported.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">Iran's state-run broadcaster Press TV detailed its objections to the film in an online article on Sunday.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">"The Iranophobic American movie attempts to describe Iranians as overemotional, irrational, insane, and diabolical while at the same, the CIA agents are represented as heroically patriotic," it complained.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">In the movie, in which Affleck plays the lead role, the CIA operation is shown outwitting Iranian authorities through an elaborate plan based on pretending that the U.S. diplomats fleeing the country were part of team scouting locations for an outlandish science-fiction film.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14">But according to Press TV, the film is "a far cry from a balanced narration" and is "replete with historical inaccuracies and distortions."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15">On the other hand, "The General Staff," set to begin shooting next year, will be based on eyewitness accounts, Salmanian said.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph16">The Art Bureau, which is to provide the financing, is affiliated with the Islamic Ideology Dissemination Organization, according to Mehr.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph17">Press TV cited Salmanian as saying that his film would depict "the historical event unlike the American version which lacks a proper view of the story."</p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">CNN's Samira Said contributed to this report.</p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-6725237134100393962013-02-25T14:04:00.001-08:002013-02-25T14:04:21.087-08:00Woman freed after conviction in son's death tossed<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>Nicole Harris, who has been locked up since the 2005 death of her son, walked out of an Illinois prison today after an appeals court threw out her murder conviction.</p><br /><p>Harris emerged from Dwight Correctional Center in front of a gathering of news crews after being reunited with her other son.</p><br /><p>"I'm just overwhelmed and I'm thankful that's it's going to be over and I just want to be home with my son," Harris told the assembled media.</p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <p>"I'm just ready to get on with my life and hold my son."</p><br /><p>The Chicago woman was 23 when a jury found her guilty of killing her 4-year-old son Jaquari in their Northwest Side apartment following her confession to authorities. But Harris has long maintained that her confession was false and the result of threats and manipulation by police.</p><br /><p>She said today that she was able to make it through the past seven years knowing that "I'm innocent and the truth will come out."</p><br /><p>"It was like at some point I just knew this isn't it, that this was not my final destination."</p><br /><p>In a 90-page ruling last October that vacated her conviction, the 7th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals said there were "many reasons" to question her confession.</p><br /><p>The appeal judges also ruled that Diante, then 5, should have been allowed to testify.</p><br /><p>Now 14, Diante was the first person to meet Harris when she was released into an outer room of the prison at about 11:30 a.m. today. Diante walked in bearing a balloon that read, "It's your Day" and a teddy bear. Harris threw her arms around him, wept softly and kissed him.</p><br /><p>When asked later what it was like to see her son at that time, she said, "There are no words."</p><br /><p>At exactly noon, a prison official told Harris she was "free to go." She clutched hands with a close friend and walked out of the prison. She had been told to get her things together around 8:30 a.m. this morning, she told the media, and said that, at that time, "I was beyond anxious."</p><br /><p>Jaquari had been found dead with an elastic bedsheet cord wrapped around his neck. Diante had told authorities that he was alone with Jaquari when he saw him wrap the cord around his neck while playing.</p><br /><p>Prosecutors, who argued that Diante also said he was asleep when Jaquari died, accused Harris of strangling Jaquari with the cord because she was angry he would not stop crying.</p><br /><p>Harris' release, which the state argued against, is not the end of legal battle. The state has appealed the October ruling, asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. In addition, Cook County prosecutors could still move to retry her. A representative from the state's attorney's office said no decision on a retrial has been made.</p><br /><p>For now, Harris said, "I just want to enjoy life."</p><br /><p>"I'm just glad to be free. I'm just glad to be free."</p><br /><p><strong>deldeib@tribune.com<br/></strong></p><br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-25501375398560075252013-02-25T14:02:00.001-08:002013-02-25T14:02:21.676-08:00Huge protest vote pushes Italy towards deadlock<br /><p class="first">ROME (Reuters) - A huge protest vote by Italians enraged by economic hardship and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_8">political corruption</span> pushed the country towards deadlock after an election on Monday, with voting projections showing no coalition strong enough to form a government.</p><br /><p> With more than two thirds of the vote counted, the projections suggested the center left could have a slim lead in the race for the lower house of parliament.</p><br /><p> But no party or likely coalition appeared likely to be able to form a majority in the upper house or <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_7">Senate</span>, creating a deadlocked parliament - the opposite of the stable result that <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_4">Italy</span> desperately needs to tackle a deep recession, rising unemployment and a massive public debt.</p><br /><p> Such an outcome has the potential to revive fears over the euro zone debt crisis, with prospects of a long period of uncertainty in the zone's third largest economy.</p><br /><p> Italian financial markets took fright after rising earlier on hopes for a stable and strong center-left led government, probably backed by outgoing technocrat premier <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_3">Mario Monti</span>.</p><br /><p> The projected result was a stunning success for Genoese comic <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_1">Beppe Grillo</span>, leader of the populist 5-Star Movement, who toured the country in his first national election campaign hurling obscenity-laced insults against a discredited political class.</p><br /><p> With vague election promises and a team of almost totally unknown candidates, the shaggy haired comedian channeled pure public anger against what many see as a sclerotic and useless political system.</p><br /><p> The likely result was also a humiliating slap in the face for colorless center-left leader <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_5">Pier Luigi Bersani</span>, who appeared to have thrown away a 10-point opinion poll lead less than two months ago against <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_2">Silvio Berlusconi</span>'s center right.</p><br /><p> Berlusconi, 76, who staged an extraordinary comeback from sex and corruption scandals since diving into the campaign in December, appeared to be leading in the Senate race, but Grillo's projected bloc of Senators would leave him well short of a majority.</p><br /><p> Projections gave Bersani's center-left alliance a lead of less than one percentage point in the lower house. If confirmed, that would be enough to control the chamber because of election laws that guarantee a 54 percent majority to the party with the largest share of the vote.</p><br /><p> In the Senate the picture was different. The latest projection from RAI state television showed Berlusconi's bloc winning 112 Senate seats, the center-left 105 and Grillo 64, with Monti languishing on only 20 after a failed campaign which never took off. The Senate majority is 158.</p><br /><p> Berlusconi, a master politician and communicator, wooed voters with a blitz of television appearances and promises to refund a hated housing tax despite accusations from opponents that this was an impossible vote buying trick.</p><br /><p> Grillo has attacked all sides in the campaign and ruled out a formal alliance with any group although it was not immediately known how he would react to his stunning success or how his supporters would behave in parliament.</p><br /><p> DANGER OF NEW ELECTION</p><br /><p> A bitter campaign, fought largely over economic issues, made some investors fear a return of the kind of debt crisis that took the euro zone close to disaster and brought the technocrat Monti to office, replacing Berlusconi, in 2011.</p><br /><p> The projected results showed more than half of Italians had voted for the anti-euro platforms of Berlusconi and Grillo.</p><br /><p> Officials from both center and left warned that the looming deadlock could make Italy ungovernable and force new elections.</p><br /><p> A center-left government either alone or ruling with Monti had been seen by investors as the best guarantee of measures to combat a deep recession and stagnant growth in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_6">Italy</span>, which is pivotal to stability in the currency union.</p><br /><p> The benchmark spread between Italian 10-year bonds and their German equivalent widened from below 260 basis points to above 300 and the Italian share index lost all its previous gains after projections of the Senate result.</p><br /><p> "These projections suggest that we are heading for an ungovernable situation", said <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361825896141_9">Mario Secchi</span>, a candidate for Monti's centrist movement.</p><br /><p> Stefano Fassina, chief economic official for Bersani's center-left, said: "The scenario from the projections we have seen so far suggests there will be no stable government and we would need to return to the polls."</p><br /><p> If the results are confirmed the only possibility looks like a "grand coalition" combining right and left, like the one Monti led for a year. But politicians said before the vote this could not work for long and would struggle to work decisively.</p><br /><p> Monti helped save Italy from a debt crisis when Rome's borrowing costs were spiraling out of control, but few Italians now see him as the savior of the country, in its longest recession for 20 years.</p><br /><p> Grillo's movement rode a huge wave of voter anger about both the pain of Monti's austerity program and a string of political and corporate scandals. It had particular appeal for a frustrated younger generation shut out of full-time jobs.</p><br /><p> "I'm sick of the scandals and the stealing," said Paolo Gentile, a 49-year-old Rome lawyer who voted for 5-Star.</p><br /><p> "We need some young, new people in parliament, not the old parties that are totally discredited."</p><br /><p> Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, exploited anger against Monti's austerity program, accusing him of being a puppet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, but in many areas Grillo was a bigger beneficiary of public discontent.</p><br /><p> Italy desperately needs a strong, reform-minded government to revive growth after two decades of stagnation and address problems ranging from record youth unemployment to a dysfunctional justice system and a bloated public sector.</p><br /><p> Italians wrung their hands at prospects of an inconclusive result that will mean more delays to these reforms.</p><br /><p> "It's a classic result. Typically Italian. It means the country is not united. It is an expression of a country that does not work. I knew this would happen," said 36-year-old Rome office worker Roberta Federica.</p><br /><p> Another office worker, Elisabetta Carlotta, 46, shook her head in disbelief. "We can't go on like this," she said.</p><br /><p> (Additional reporting by Stefano Bernabei, Steve Scherer, Gavin Jones, Naomi O'Leary and Giuseppe Fonte in Rome and Lisa Jucca in Milan; Writing by Barry Moody; Editing by Peter Graff)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-77406100831538711672013-02-24T14:12:00.001-08:002013-02-24T14:12:11.674-08:00Investors face another Washington deadline<p class="first">NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361716207137_3">government spending</span> cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.</p><br /><p> Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.</p><br /><p> Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.</p><br /><p> "It's at this point a political hot button in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361716207137_4">Washington</span> but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361716207137_1">President Barack Obama</span> and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.</p><br /><p> Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.</.spx></p><br /><p> But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.</p><br /><p> National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361716207137_6">investor concern</span>. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361716207137_5">Silvio Berlusconi</span> has raised doubts.</p><br /><p> "Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361716207137_2">stock market</span>, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.</p><br /><p> OPTIONS BULLS TARGET GAINS</p><br /><p> The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.</p><br /><p> Yet in the options market, bulls were targeting gains in Lockheed Martin Corp <lmt.n>, the Pentagon's biggest supplier.</lmt.n></p><br /><p> Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.</p><br /><p> "The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.</p><br /><p> The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.</p><br /><p> If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp <gd.n> and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp <swhc.o> could be affected.</swhc.o></gd.n></p><br /><p> General Dynamics Corp shares rose 1.2 percent to $67.32 and Smith & Wesson added 4.6 percent to $9.18 on Friday.</p><br /><p> EYES ON GDP DATA, APPLE</p><br /><p> The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.</p><br /><p> U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.</p><br /><p> Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.</p><br /><p> Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.</p><br /><p> On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.</p><br /><p> (Additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Kenneth Barry)</p><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-72579651429659097562013-02-24T14:08:00.001-08:002013-02-24T14:08:16.520-08:00Johnson wins 2nd Daytona 500; Patrick finishes 8th<br /><p class="first"><span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_8">DAYTONA BEACH, Fla.</span> (AP) — <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_2">Jimmie Johnson</span> has won his second <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_3">Daytona 500</span>, racing past defending <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_5">NASCAR</span> champion <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_4">Brad Keselowski</span> on the final restart, while <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_1">Danica Patrick</span> finished eighth.</p><br /><p>Johnson wasn't challenged over the final six laps Sunday, adding another 500 title to go with his 2006 victory.</p><br /><p>This time crew chief <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_6">Chad Knaus</span> can enjoy it — he was suspended by NASCAR for the first victory.</p><br /><p>Dale Earnhardt Jr. made a late move to finish second, but didn't challenge his <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_7">Hendrick Motorsports</span> teammate for the victory. <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1361742786705_9">Mark Martin</span> was third.</p><br /><p>Patrick was third on the final lap, but faded in the flurry of late action. She became the first woman in history to lead laps in the Daytona 500, though, with her three laps out front.</p><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3732516379669798006.post-89174678121777237762013-02-24T14:06:00.001-08:002013-02-24T14:06:14.328-08:00Vatican 'Gay lobby'? Probably not<br /><!--startclickprintexclude--><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr"><br /><p><strong>STORY HIGHLIGHTS</strong></p><br /><ul class="cnn_bulletbin cnnStryHghLght"><!--google_ad_section_start--><li>Benedict XVI not stepping down under pressure from 'gay lobby,' Allen says</li><br /><li>Allen: Benedict is a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government </li><br /><li>However, he says, much of the pope's time has been spent putting out fires</li><br /><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /></ul></div></div><br /><!--endclickprintexclude--><!--google_ad_section_start--><!--startclickprintinclude--><br /><p class="cnnEditorialNote"><em><strong>Editor's note:</strong> John L. Allen Jr. is CNN's senior Vatican analyst and senior correspondent for the National Catholic Reporter.</em></p><br /><p><strong>(CNN)</strong> -- Suffice it to say that of all possible storylines to emerge, heading into the election of a new pope, sensational charges of a shadowy "gay lobby" (possibly linked to blackmail), whose occult influence may have been behind the resignation of Benedict XVI, would be right at the bottom of the Vatican's wish list.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph2">Proof of the Vatican's irritation came with a blistering statement Saturday complaining of "unverified, unverifiable or completely false news stories," even suggesting the media is trying to influence the papal election.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph3">Two basic questions have to be asked about all this. First, is there really a secret dossier about a network of people inside the Vatican who are linked by their sexual orientation, as Italian newspaper reports have alleged? Second, is this really why Benedict XVI quit?</p><br /><div class="cnn_strylftcntnt"><div class="cnn_strylctcntr cnn_strylccimg214"><br /><img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/120528080343-john-l-allen-jr-left-tease.jpg" alt="John L. Allen Jr." border="0" class="box-image" height="122" width="214"/><p>John L. Allen Jr.</p><br /></div></div><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph4">The best answers, respectively, are "maybe" and "probably not."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph5">It's a matter of record that at the peak of last year's massive Vatican leaks crisis, Benedict XVI created a commission of three cardinals to investigate the leaks. They submitted an eyes-only report to the pope in mid-December, which has not been made public.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph6">It's impossible to confirm whether that report looked into the possibility that people protecting secrets about their sex lives were involved with the leaks, but frankly, it would be surprising if it didn't.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph7">There are certainly compelling reasons to consider the hypothesis. In 2007, a Vatican official was caught by an Italian TV network on hidden camera arranging a date through a gay-oriented chat room, and then taking the young man back to his Vatican apartment. In 2010, a papal ceremonial officer was caught on a wiretap arranging liaisons through a Nigerian member of a Vatican choir. Both episodes played out in full public view, and gave the Vatican a black eye.</p><br /><br /><div id="expand18" class="cnnGalleryContainer cnn_strylftcntnt"><br /><div class="cnnStoryElementBox"><br /><div id="expandableTarget18" class="cnnArticleExpandableTarget"><br /><br /><br /><div class="cnnArticleGalleryCaptionControl"><br /><p>Pope Benedict XVI</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p>HIDE CAPTION</p><br /><br /></div><br /><div><br /><p><span><<</span></p><br /><p><span><</span></p><br /><div class="articleGalleryNavContainer"><br /><p><br /><br /><span>1</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>2</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>3</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>4</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>5</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>6</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>7</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>8</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>9</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>10</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>11</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>12</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>13</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>14</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>15</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>16</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>17</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>18</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>19</span><br /></p><br /><p><br /><br /><span>20</span><br /></p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><p><span>></span></p><br /><p><span>>></span></p><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><br /></div><br /></div><br /><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph8">In that context, it would be a little odd if the cardinals didn't at least consider the possibility that insiders leading a double life might be vulnerable to pressure to betray the pope's confidence. That would apply not just to sex, but also potential conflicts of other sorts too, such as financial interests.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph9">Vatican officials have said Benedict may authorize giving the report to the 116 cardinals who will elect his successor, so they can factor it into their deliberations. The most immediate fallout is that the affair is likely to strengthen the conviction among many cardinals that the next pope has to lead a serious house-cleaning inside the Vatican's bureaucracy.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph10">It seems a stretch, however, to suggest this is the real reason Benedict is leaving. For the most part, one should probably take the pope at his word, that old age and fatigue are the motives for his decision.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph11">That said, it's hard not to suspect that the meltdowns and controversies that have dogged Benedict XVI for the last eight years are in the background of why he's so tired. In 2009, at the height of another frenzy surrounding the lifting of the excommunication of a Holocaust-denying traditionalist bishop, Benedict dispatched a plaintive letter to the bishops of the world, voicing hurt for the way he'd been attacked and apologizing for the Vatican's mishandling of the situation.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph12">Even if Benedict didn't resign because of any specific crisis, including this latest one, such anguish must have taken its toll. Benedict is a teaching pope, a man who prefers the life of the mind to the nuts and bolts of government, yet an enormous share of his time and energy has been consumed trying to put out internal fires.</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph13">It's hard to know why Benedict XVI is stepping off the stage, but I doubt it is because of a "gay lobby."</p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph14"><i>Follow us on </i><i>Twitter @CNNOpinion.</i><i> </i></p><br /><p class="cnn_storypgraphtxt cnn_storypgraph15"><i>Join us on </i><i>Facebook/CNNOpinion.</i></p><br /><p class="cnn_strycbftrtxt">The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of John L. Allen Jr. </p><br /><!--endclickprintinclude--><!--google_ad_section_end--><br /><!--no partner--><br /><br /><br />Pasukan News Dua Belashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15124931027898178048noreply@blogger.com