Once an afterthought, Romney eyes Iowa with hope (AP)

DES MOINES, Iowa ? Mitt Romney, watching as Republicans flail for a not-Romney alternative, is looking with optimism at Iowa, the state that rejected him four years earlier but now appears at least open to the possibility that he could be the GOP presidential nominee.

With Iowa barreling toward its lead-off caucuses Tuesday, Romney is suddenly making a public play to win the contest he largely kept at arm's length since his stinging second-place finish in 2008. Romney planned to begin his Friday in West Des Moines with New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a larger-than-life figure whom conservatives courted to join the race before he endorsed Romney's presidential quest.

Romney's declared rivals, however, were working in overdrive to emerge as his chief rival. None went directly after the former Massachusetts governor though. Instead, they kept their focus on each other as all hoped a strong showing here could yield momentum heading into the next contests in New Hampshire and South Carolina.

"Don't settle for what's not good enough to save the country," the newly ascendant Rick Santorum implored Iowans on Thursday at city hall in Coralville. He urged voters to put conservative principles above everything else and suggested that his rivals, and specifically Ron Paul, lacked them.

For the first time, Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator who lost a bruising 2006 re-election bid, became a target.

"When he talks about fiscal conservatism, every now and then it leaves me scratching my head because he was a prolific earmarker," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said of Santorum, referring to special spending projects members of Congress seek. "He loaded up his bill with Pennsylvania pork.'"

Rep. Michele Bachmann also criticized Santorum on the spending set-asides in a conference call late Thursday with supporters.

"He has a real problem with earmarks," she said.

Santorum defended the practice as part of lawmakers' constitutional role as appropriators, telling CNBC that he owed it to Pennsylvanians to bring money to the state. He said earmarking became abused and that he would support a ban on them if he were president.

Both of Santorum's critics planned to continue to hammer that point ? Perry in central Iowa and Bachmann in the western part of the state. Santorum, meanwhile, planned to campaign in north-central Iowa, including a watch party for Iowa and Oklahoma's faceoff in the Insight Bowl football game.

The maneuvering underscored the fluid ? if not convoluted ? state of the GOP presidential race as Tuesday's caucuses loom while cultural conservatives and evangelical Republicans, who make up the base of the electorate here, continue to be divided. That lack of unity could pave the way for someone who is seen as less consistently conservative.

Five days out, public and private polling show Romney and Paul in strong contention to win the caucuses, with coalitions of support cobbled together from across the Republican political spectrum and their get-out-the-vote operations ? beefed up from their failed 2008 bids ? at the ready. They're the only two with the money and the organizations necessary to ensure big turnouts on Tuesday.

The three others ? Santorum, Perry and Gingrich ? will have to rely largely on momentum to carry supporters to precinct caucuses. Each was working to convince fickle conservatives that he alone would satisfy those who yearn for a nominee who would adhere strictly to GOP orthodoxy.

Looking to capitalize on his burst of support in new polls, Santorum made a play for tea party backers lining up behind Paul by arguing that the Texas congressman is longer on promising sweeping change than enacting it:

"The guy has passed one bill in 20 years," Santorum said. "What makes you think he can do any of these things?"

___

Associated Press writers Thomas Beaumont, Mike Glover, Kasie Hunt, Brian Bakst and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign

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Coast 2 Coast Mixtape Promotion - iStandard Producers 'Beast of The Beats' - Monster Energy X Coast 2 Coast X Native Instruments Present

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Can foreign tourists help US economy? (AP)

LAS VEGAS ? Agustina Ocampo is the kind of foreign traveler businesses salivate over.

The 22-year-old Argentine recently dropped more than $5,000 on food, hotels and clothes in Las Vegas during a trip that also took her to Seattle's Space Needle, Disneyland and the San Diego Zoo. But she doubts she will return soon.

"It is a little bit of a headache," said Ocampo, a student who waited months to find out whether her tourist visa application would be approved.

More than a decade after the federal government strengthened travel requirements after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, foreign visitors say getting a temporary visa remains a daunting and sometimes insurmountable hurdle.

The tourism industry hopes to change that with a campaign to persuade Congress to overhaul the State Department's tourist visa application process.

"After 9/11, we were all shaken and there was a real concern for security, and I still think that concern exists," said Jim Evans, a former hotel chain CEO heading a national effort to promote foreign travel to the U.S.

At the same time, he said, the U.S. needs "to be more cognizant of the importance of every single traveler."

Tourism leaders said the decline in foreign visitors over the past decade is costing American businesses and workers $859 billion in untapped revenue and at least half a million potential jobs at a time when the slowly recovering economy needs both.

While the State Department has beefed up tourist services in recent years, reducing wait times significantly for would-be visitors will likely be a challenge as officials try to balance terrorist threats and illegal immigration with tight budgets that limit hiring.

"Security is job one for us," said Edward Ramotowski, managing director of the department's visa services. "The reason we have a visa system is to enforce the immigration laws of the United States."

Anti-immigration proponents argue travel to the U.S. is already too accessible and that allowing more visitors would put the nation at greater risk.

"Everybody would like to find a way to admit as many people as possible to visit here providing that they visit and then go home," said Jessica Vaughan, director of policy studies at the Center for Immigration Studies, an anti-immigration group based in Washington, D.C.

"A lot of consular officers underestimate how much people want to come and live here," she said.

Nearly 7.6 million nonimmigrant visas were issued in 2001, compared with fewer than 6.5 million in 2010. The number of visa applicants also dropped sharply after 2001. Those combined forces pushed the U.S. share of global travelers down to 12 percent last year, from 17 percent before 2001.

The proposed immigration overhaul has largely been driven by the U.S. Travel Association, the tourism industry's lobbying giant, and has been endorsed by business titans such as the National Retail Federation, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, and Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. Republicans and Democrats in Congress are backing the proposed changes through six bills in the House and Senate.

Geoff Freeman, the travel association's chief operating officer, said the State Department should be required to keep visa interview wait times at a maximum of 10 days.

"Every day a person is waiting for that interview is a day a person cannot be here supporting the American economy," he said.

For most foreigners, taking a last-minute business or leisure trip to New York, Los Angeles, Miami or other U.S. travel hubs would be nearly impossible. The average wait time for a visa interview in Rio de Janeiro, for example, was 87 days, according to the State Department.

The Government Accountability Office, a nonpartisan agency that audits federal programs, concluded that wait times are likely much longer than reported because some department employees artificially reduce the wait times by not scheduling interviews during high-demand periods.

The vast majority of visitors enter through the country's visa waiver program, which allows travelers from 36 nations with good relationships with the U.S. to temporarily visit without a visa. Travel proponents want to add nations whose residents are unlikely to illegally move to the U.S., including Argentina, Brazil, Poland and Taiwan.

Tourists from the rest of the world, including India, China, Mexico and other nations with affluent travelers looking to use their passports, must obtain a nonimmigrant visa. The process can be expensive and time-consuming.

People living far from a visa processing center must arrange travel to the interview location, not knowing whether they will be approved. Roughly 78 percent of all tourist visas were approved so far in 2011.

Tourism proponents want the department to embrace videoconferencing as a way to interview more people quickly. The department has no plans to implement videoconferencing interviews because of safety and technological concerns, Ramotowski said.

In-person interviews weren't the norm before 9/11, when consular officials had the authority to approve travelers based on an application alone. Since then, however, screenings have become more strenuous, with fingerprint checks and facial recognition screening of photographs.

The State Department has made moves to boost its tourist services in recent years, transferring employees from underworked offices to bustling embassies and consular posts. Many visa processing centers are also operating under extended hours.

Other proposed changes include granting more multi-entry visas and charging premium fees to tourists who want a visa right away, similar to the premium passport fee charged to Americans with last-minute passport requests. The tourism industry also wants more visa processing officers and to allow travelers to submit applications in their native language.

"We can't afford to treat them in a way that gives them an impression that maybe they aren't welcome," said Rolf Lundberg, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's top lobbyist.

To help make the U.S. appear more welcoming, Congress approved last year a $200 million annual marketing campaign.

In Las Vegas, where travelers to the Strip have traditionally kept Nevada's economy afloat, tourism and government leaders are desperate to keep businesses open and create jobs in a state with the nation's highest unemployment rate.

"The industries affected by tourism are all behind it," said Republican Rep. Joe Heck of southern Nevada, who has sponsored a bill in the House that would require shorter visa interview delays, among other measures. "We need the jobs."

Ocampo, who spent her vacation shopping at upscale boutiques and visiting family in California, said she would be more eager to come back if she knew her business was wanted.

"Everyone wants to visit the Statue of Liberty and Disneyland," she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_re_us/us_tourist_visas

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Stanford believes it's primed to stay on top (AP)

STANFORD, Calif. ? David Shaw gets the same question in a variety of forms: Can Stanford remain a top-tier team once projected No. 1 pick Andrew Luck is long gone for the NFL?

Shaw is optimistic he can keep a good thing going when many figure the Cardinal will be down on their Luck.

But the ever-positive Luck doesn't foresee a drop-off for the No. 4 Cardinal (11-1).

Shaw considers Monday's Fiesta Bowl date with third-ranked Oklahoma State (11-1) not as the program's last hurrah but rather just another great opportunity to build the Stanford name.

"I like to think in terms of eras, and hopefully our era doesn't come to an end with Andrew leaving," Shaw said last week before the team headed to the desert to prepare. "I kind of like the high expectations, because it shows us that we've earned the right to be where we are. Then you've got to play up to it."

Shaw, one of two first-time coaches in BCS bowl games along with West Virginia's Dana Holgorsen, believes the top players now want to play on The Farm. Heisman Trophy runner-up Luck helped establish that reputation for the school.

"I've searched, and I can't find another team that's ended back-to-back years in the top five in football and the top five in education," Shaw said. "It doesn't happen very often anymore."

He points to when do-everything running back Toby Gerhart departed for the pros two years ago and the chatter then about how could the Cardinal possibly succeed without him.

"Good teams always handle that," Shaw said. "Everybody wondered how good we'd be after we lost Toby Gerhart. Everybody wondered how it'd be with three new starters this year on the offensive line. And everybody's going to wonder how good we're going to be without Andrew next year. And that's good."

Having played at Stanford ? where his father also worked as an assistant ? Shaw gets what it takes to thrive, the demands of balancing the academic standards and football. Athletic director Bob Bowlsby promoted Shaw from offensive coordinator to replace Jim Harbaugh last January.

Bowlsby is optimistic, while also realistic about losing Luck, about the direction of the program looking ahead to 2012 and beyond.

"There is no question that it is very difficult to improve at the same time a team is losing a great player like Andrew Luck," Bowlsby said. "Additionally, Andrew would be the first to assert that he plays with many other special players, some of whom will be graduating and moving on to the NFL. Our staff has done a very good job recruiting, and we have the best depth in many years with a very strong recruiting class coming in. When all of that is combined with excellent sport performance, sports medicine programs, and a proven coaching staff, we have every reason to be excited about the future."

When Shaw arrived in Arizona on Monday, he referenced his dad, Willie, and his experiences at the Fiesta Bowl.

"It means a lot," he said. "I had so many memories as soon as I heard that we were going to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. My dad coached in the 1982-83 seasons. Those were big games and exciting games, and hopefully we can do the same here. The good thing is he won that game also, and hopefully we get a chance to win this one."

Shaw earned his first big victory the moment Luck decided to stay for one more college season ? despite Harbaugh bolting to coach the San Francisco 49ers. Shaw's first year running the show received an instant adrenaline shot.

He believes it could happen again, not necessarily with a player of Luck's magnitude but by finding a core of new stars to start fresh in 2012.

"For us, it's retooling," Shaw said. "We're recruiting very well. I think we're going to have some great speed coming in this year. ... We might look a little different, but we expect to be competitive from here on out."

Stanford will turn to QB-in-waiting Brett Nottingham, running back Stepfan Taylor, its talented tight ends and ? the Cardinal hope ? a healthy Shayne Skov at linebacker to carry on.

Although their national title hopes were dashed weeks ago, leaving one last mark with another monumental win would mean so much. Stanford could match its 12-1 record from a year ago, capped by a 40-12 victory over Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. That helped the Cardinal finish fourth in the final AP poll, the school's best ranking since the unbeaten 1940 team finished No. 2.

By the end of the week after last season's bowl win, Harbaugh was gone. Soon, it will be Luck walking away from campus to begin his NFL preparations.

He can leave with the comfort of knowing his teammates are in good hands.

"I think we've had very good recruiting classes come in, probably better than us," Luck said. "I guess we'll see. I know they've had higher ratings and grades and all those things. Hopefully we've been able to bring in good guys, and hopefully the legacy will continue long after we're gone."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111228/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_t25_stanford_steady_shaw

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Lions vs. Cattle: Taste Aversion Could Solve African Predator Problem

After coexisting for thousands of years, humans and African lions (Panthera leo) are on a collision course. Lion populations have dropped from 450,000 animals 50 years ago to as few as 20,000 today. Most of that decline has taken place over the past two decades, and experts are now predicting that the big cats could actually go extinct in as little as 10 to 20 more years.

Threats to lions come on many fronts?including hunting by American trophy seekers, poaching for use in traditional Asian medicine, disease and pesticide poisoning?but the biggest danger occurs when lions encroach upon livestock. Cattle farms have taken over much of the African savanna and grasslands, thus pushing aside lions? natural prey such as impalas, zebras and buffalo. Rather than following the prey to new territories, many lions simply turn to its nearest replacement?cattle. But when lions kill cattle, it affects peoples? livelihoods, and the lions are the ones that often end up paying the price with their lives as farmers shoot or poison the troublesome beasts.

But now there?s an idea that could keep lions from predating on livestock. The Colorado-based nonprofit WildiZe Foundation has funded research to see if lions can be taught to dislike the taste of beef. The process is called conditioned taste aversion, and it has worked with some other endangered species, including Mexican wolves and quolls in Australia.

Denver Zoo research associate Bill Given started his research on lions this September at Grassland Safari Lodge in Botswana. The lodge is home to several lions that have previously slain cattle but were captured by lodge personnel before farmers could kill them. The lions now live semi-wild lives in 11-hectare enclosures at the lodge but depend upon humans for their food. Given and his team of researchers gave eight of the cats meals of beef treated with the deworming agent thiabendazole in doses large enough to make them temporarily sick to their stomachs. ?It basically causes a bad case of indigestion,? WildiZe founder Eli Weiss told The Aspen Times.

After a few meals of treated beef, the lions were once again offered untreated meat. Seven of the eight refused to eat it, while an eighth actually refused to eat at all for a short period.

Writing for the WildiZe Web site, Given described conditioned taste aversion as ?a natural defensive mechanism enabling predators to survive encounters with prey with toxic [antipredator] defenses. When mammalian predators experience nausea after consuming prey with toxic defenses, they form an aversion to the taste and scent of these prey animals. Long after recovering from the effects of a [sublethal] dose of the toxin, predators avoid offending prey wherever they are encountered.?

Now that researchers know conditioned taste aversion works in lions, the next step is to obtain approval from Botswana?s Department of Wildlife and National Parks and the Kenya Wildlife Service to try the idea in the wild.

Photo by Dominik Kreutz via Flickr. Used under Creative Commons license

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=d53033d4db78043d660a786a8c1468c2

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Ultra Orthodox And Secular Jews Clash Over Gender Segregation In Israel

Ultra Orthodox Jews continue to push for segregation between men and women in the city of Beit-Shemesh, Israel, as secular residents fight back. "It is the fight for the soul of Israel," one resident stated.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/28/ultra-orthodox-and-secula_n_1173230.html

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NBA's return draws big TV ratings on Christmas

NEW YORK (AP) ? NBA fans seem more excited about basketball's return than bitter about the lockout based on television ratings for the league's delayed openers.

The five Christmas games Sunday attracted large audiences, with the Bulls-Lakers matchup drawing the third-highest preliminary rating for a regular-season game on ABC. The 6.5 overnight rating trailed only a 7.3 for last year's highly anticipated Heat-Lakers showdown and a 7.9 for another meeting between Miami and LA in 2004.

Chris Paul's Clippers debut in the nightcap against the Warriors earned a 2.3 overnight, up 77 percent over last year's Portland-Golden State telecast. It was ESPN's highest-rated Christmas prime-time game.

The earlier night game on ESPN ? Magic-Thunder ? drew a 1.9 overnight, up 36 percent from to last year's Denver-Oklahoma City matchup. The afternoon's finals rematch on ABC, the Heat's rout of the Mavericks, earned a 5.6 overnight, up 6 percent from Boston-Orlando last year.

The Celtics-Knicks game on TNT to open the day drew a 4.1 overnight. The early game on ESPN last year, Bulls-Knicks, had a 2.7 on ESPN.

Ratings represent the percentage of all homes with televisions tuned to a program. Overnight ratings measure the country's largest markets.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-12-26-BKN-NBA-Christmas-Ratings/id-4ee4243cbf7a44b6a630b9413b2fec88

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Man killed amid Britain's post-Christmas sales (AP)

LONDON ? A teenager was fatally stabbed Monday and a second man wounded in attacks on London's most famous retail street as thousands of shoppers flocked to Britain's capital seeking post-Christmas bargains.

The killing of the 18-year-old man on Oxford Street ? and a second wounding in the same road ? did little to deter shoppers crowding into neighboring stores in the landmark shopping district. Bargain hunters were also largely untroubled by a subway strike which badly disrupted the city's public transport services.

Selfridges ? close to the scene of Monday's stabbing and one of Britain's most popular department stores ? reported its biggest ever first hour of trading Monday morning, while the New West End Company, which represents traders on central London's shopping streets, reported 15 million pounds (US$23.5 million) in sales in the first three hours of trading.

Jace Tyrrell, of the New West End Company, said hundreds of thousands of people had visited central London retailers, despite action by police to cordon off parts of Oxford Street and temporarily close some stores.

"These incidents are extremely rare on Oxford Street and we understand arrests have been made," she said. "The emergency services were quick to respond and have cordoned off the street as they continue with their investigations. We are working to ensure the street is open to businesses and shoppers tomorrow."

Tyrrell said shopkeepers had requested a meeting with police to discuss the incidents. "We understand both incidents involved gangs of youth who were known to each other (and) the police, and did not involve individual shoppers," she said.

London's air ambulance helicopter had earlier rushed to the street following the fatal stabbing.

Authorities said the teenage victim died before medics could administer help, while amateur video footage showed police struggling to part large crowds of shopper to allow emergency vehicles to reach the man.

Police erected a tent outside a Foot Locker sports store as they carried out investigations and confirmed that about ten people had been arrested in connection with the death.

Officers said a second stabbing took place close by ? on the corner of Oxford Street and Regent Street ? but insisted it wasn't immediately known if the two incidents were linked.

Det. Chief Insp. Mark Dunne, of London's Metropolitan police, said two groups of young people appeared to have become involved in a large-scale altercation before the teenager's death.

Dunne said that little more was known about the circumstances, but there were likely to be large numbers of witnesses. "This is probably the busiest place in the United Kingdom right now, on the busiest shopping day," he told reporters at the scene.

"A number of weapons have been recovered from that scene ? whether I have got the murder weapon I don't know. There's an assortment of items, but no guns," he said.

In the second attack, a 21-year-old man was stabbed in the leg and is being treated in hospital for his wound.

Police said in a statement that three men had been arrested, but it was "too early to say whether this incident is linked to a fatal stabbing on Oxford Street."

On London's subway network, the ASLEF train drivers' labor union staged a one-day strike to demand extra pay and additional time off for members working on the public holiday.

Despite the disruptions, huge crowds ? some lining up outside stores from midnight ? rushed into department stores in London and other British cities as soon as doors opened early Monday.

The London Underground, the organization that manages the subway system, condemned the move, saying it was pointless and demonstrated "a complete disregard for our customers." Authorities said extra buses were running in main shopping areas to cater to the increased flow of travelers on one of the year's busiest shopping days.

The ASLEF union has warned it plans to stage three more strikes in January and February if the dispute is not resolved.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111226/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_subway_strike

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FilmOn.com anuncia canais de basquete e NCAA College Football para a Internet

FilmOn caminha lado a lado com as principais redes de esportes da ind?stria com a cria??o de novos paradigmas em televis?o de esportes ao vivo.

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif?rnia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A FilmOn.com Inc., a divis?o norte-americana do maior servi?o de televis?o HD baseado na Internet do mundo, http://www.FilmOn.com, anunciou hoje uma parceria com a XOS Digital, a fornecedora l?der de solu??es de gest?o de conte?do para organiza??es esportivas profissionais e universit?rias. A parceria vai criar duas novas redes College Sports premium para a FilmOn.

?Estamos muito entusiasmados com a adi??o dos jogos da NCAA ?s nossas linhas esportivas. A lista vai incluir jogos de basquete e futebol americano do arquivo e da temporada ? rede de esportes universit?rios da FilmOn?

"Estamos muito entusiasmados com a adi??o dos jogos da NCAA ?s nossas linhas esportivas. A lista vai incluir jogos de basquete e futebol americano do arquivo e da temporada ? rede de esportes universit?rios da FilmOn", disse o fundador e diretor executivo Alki David.

"Anteriormente neste ano lan?amos o primeiro canal de futebol (soccer) da Internet junto com a UK Premiership e a Football Association. Reconhecemos o fant?stico valor dos esportes na televis?o online e vamos continuar a ampliar nossas ofertas com esportes ao vivo em tempo real em 2012. Isto come?a com o futebol russo ao vivo da Russian Premier League a ser apresentado todas as semanas. Estaremos lado a lado com os mais importantes programadores da ind?stria, al?m de criar novos paradigmas no mercado de televis?o pela Internet".

Sobre a FilmOn.com Inc.

A FilmOn.com foi fundada pelo magnata da m?dia, Alki David, como plataforma de entrega Pay TV transmitindo HD IPTV para computadores, Tablets e dispositivos m?veis, inclusive Roku e outros decodificadores. A FilmOn oferece ainda solu??es prontas de marcas de tecnologia e conte?do para provedores de Internet externos.

A FilmOn.com Plc. ? uma empresa com sede em Frankfurt (o s?mbolo da empresa ? FMX), que ? operada por equipes de gest?o americanas e brit?nicas, com escrit?rios em Beverly Hills e Londres e centros de dados em Los Angeles, Nova York, Amsterd? e Genebra.

Sobre a XOS Digital, Inc.

Fundada em 1999, a XOS Digital ? fornecedora l?der de solu??es de gest?o de ativos digitais para organiza??es esportivas profissionais e universit?rias. Funcion?rios de confer?ncias, escrit?rios de ligas, equipes de treinamento e departamentos de atletismos dependem do portf?lio de produtos e servi?os XOS para administrar, analisar, arquivas, distribuir, proteger e monetizar seus ativos digitais.

Galeria de fotos/multim?dia dispon?vel em: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50116471&lang=pt

O texto no idioma original deste an?ncio ? a vers?o oficial autorizada. As tradu??es s?o fornecidas apenas como uma facilidade e devem se referir ao texto no idioma original, que ? a ?nica vers?o do texto que tem efeito legal.

Source: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20111226005033/pt

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Indonesian Mayor Refuses to Reinstate Church License

December 26, 2011

The refusal of the mayor of Bogor, Indonesia, to obey a Supreme Court order to restore a church's permit casts doubt on the ability of the Indonesian government to enforce the rule of law, according to Compass Direct News. Muslim demonstrators and area police have continually obstructed the services of the Indonesian Christian Church congregation in Bogor, which has been holding services on roadsides or in members' homes since the local government sealed its building last year. Despite a Dec. 2010 Supreme Court ruling in favor of the congregation and a July 2011 recommendation by the National Ombudsman Institute to reinstate the church's license, Bogor mayor Diani Budiarto still refuses, and local police are even reporting that the church building is going to be torn down. Civil rights groups say Budiarto's approach sets a precedent that court decisions can be ignored, and plan to file suit against Bogor over his defiance.

Source: http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/religion-today-blog/indonesian-mayor-refuses-reinstate-church-license.html

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Trump Leaves GOP

They?re fired! Donald Trump has officially left the Republican Party, changing his voter registration to ?unaffiliated.? An aide said that Trump switched ?in order to preserve his right to run for president as an independent if he?s not satisfied with who the Republicans nominate.? The aide added that Trump was ?disgusted? with the GOP?s handling of the payroll-tax-cut extension.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thedailybeast/cheat-sheet/~3/aKRZ_o7GslI/trump-leaves-gop.html

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A Christian on Hitchens' Atheism and Lowe's Muslim Problem (Time.com)

David Caton owes me one. I interviewed the head of the Florida Family Association last week during his bigoted but successful crusade to get companies like Lowe's to pull ads from All-American Muslim, the Learning Channel reality show about a community of Muslim Americans. Before Caton hung up on me -- he gets angry when you question his complaint that the show presents Muslims in too positive a light and not as crazed radicals plotting to impose Islamic shari'a law from Maine to Monterey -- I corrected his pronunciation of imam, a Muslim cleric, from Eye-mam to the proper Ee-mawm. Later that day, I heard him say it properly on CNN.

But that's all he got right. I concern myself with Caton -- who also likes to hire small planes to haul banners over Orlando warning people that homosexuals visit Disney World -- only for two reasons. One is that a major corporation like Lowe's actually caved to the Evangelical's ugly Islamophobia. The other is that he got his 15 minutes of fame at about the same time that Christopher Hitchens died, on Dec. 15. Hitchens was best known as one of the "angry atheists" for his 2007 best seller God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, and narrow-minded fundamentalists like Caton made his work a lot easier. So of course did extremist Muslims, as well as extremist Roman Catholics, Jews, Hindus and all the fanatics who ruin religion the way drunks ruin driving. Which is why Hitchens' attacks on faith, while brilliantly written, could also feel gratuitous. (See "Christopher Hitchens, RIP.")

So it's fitting, at least for the silent majority of Christians who aren't hatemongering zealots but who derive hope and humane inspiration from our beliefs, that Caton and Hitchens should both be in the news during the Christmas season. The holiday's anticommercialization critics are right to argue that Christians spend too much time on outdoor lights at the expense of the inner light kindled by the story of God's incarnation in a manger. I'm as guilty as anyone in that regard. But Caton and Hitchens at least give us Christians a convenient place to start. They prod us on the one hand to assess what isn't Christian -- like demonizing gays and Muslims -- and on the other hand to reaffirm why Christianity and religion itself are a positive and not always poisonous influence in the world.

The crux of the Florida Family Association's campaign is Caton's preposterous claim, as he told me, that "every Eye-mam in this country wants to put the U.S. under shari'a law." Every imam I know here in Miami rejects the idea. "Muslims are only 6 million out of 300 million in this country," one reminds me. "We rely on U.S. law to protect our rights as a minority." They're also a minority who wish Christians well at Christmas: the Koran reverently mentions Jesus and the Virgin Mary almost 60 times. (See "Do Shari'a Courts Have a Role in British Life?")

One way, then, that Christians can practice Jesus' teachings of love, tolerance and charity this yuletide is by resolving to reassure folks like Muslims that we're not like the Florida Family Association. That we're committed to the code of Christmas -- "Peace on earth to people of goodwill" -- trumpeted by the same angels we place atop the trees in our living rooms.

That's also one of the best ways to answer Hitchens as well as other angry atheists like Richard Dawkins and quite a few members of my own hypersecular profession. It's a fairly widely accepted maxim that atheist fundamentalists, as I call them, can be just as intolerant as religious fundamentalists. And the problem they share is that both take religion way too literally. Just as Christian fundamentalists insist on a literal reading of the Bible, angry atheists tend to insist that belief in God qualifies you as a raving creationist. (See "Why Christopher Hitchens Is Wrong About Billy Graham.")

Here's what they refuse to get: Yes, Christians believe that Jesus' nativity was a virgin birth and that he rose from the dead on Easter. But if you were to show most Christians incontrovertible scientific proof that those miracles didn't occur, they would shrug -- because their faith means more to them than that. Because in the end, what they have faith in is the redemptive power of the story. In Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited, an agnostic says to his Catholic friend, "You can't seriously believe it all ... I mean about Christmas and the star and the three kings and the ox and the ass."

"Oh yes, I believe that. It's a lovely idea."

"But you can't believe things simply because they're a lovely idea."

"But I do. That's how I believe."

I'm willing to bet it's how most believers believe. Before Hitchens died at 62 from esophageal cancer, he made a point of declaring he was certain no heaven awaited him. But that swipe at the faithful always misses the point. Most of us don't believe in God because we think it's a ticket to heaven. Rather, our belief in God -- our belief in the living ideal of ourselves, which is something even atheists ponder -- instills in us a faith that in the end, light always defeats darkness (which is how people get through the wars and natural disasters I cover). That does make us open to the possibility of the hereafter -- but more important, it gives us purposeful inspiration to make the here and now better.

With all due respect to the memory of Christopher Hitchens, making the here and now better would be difficult without religion. But it's also hard enough without the un-Christian antics of people like David Caton. As Christmas ought to remind us.

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LA's 'Wonderful Life' Day honors Frank Capra film

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? George Bailey can rest easy. He really did make a difference in the lives of people, including all 3.8 million in Los Angeles.

Bailey, for the one or two people who still haven't seen the classic Frank Capra film "It's A Wonderful Life," is a man driven to the brink of suicide when he comes to believe his life never really mattered.

It's up to his quirky guardian angel Clarence to set him straight by showing Bailey, played by Jimmy Stewart, what the world would have been like without him.

In honor of the film's 65th anniversary, the City Council declared Friday "It's A Wonderful Life Day" in Los Angeles.

To get people in the spirit, Councilman Tom LaBonge, several members of Capra's family and a few others gathered at the director's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on a sunny holiday morning.

The section of the walk, it turns out, is one filled with cheesy souvenir shops and sex toy emporiums. They give it more the look of Pottersville, the disreputable place in the film that the evil banker Mr. Potter turns bucolic Bedford Falls into when Bailey isn't there to stop him.

That didn't dampen Friday's celebration, however, which included Jimmy Hawkins, the actor who played Bailey's 5-year-old son, Tommy.

As one of the last surviving cast members, the 70-year-old actor-producer said he considers it an honor to introduce new audiences to the movie.

When it debuted in theaters in 1946, "It's A Wonderful Life" was actually a commercial and critical flop. But if that bothered Capra, he never let it show.

"My father always said that 'It's A Wonderful Life' was the best movie that he ever made," Tom Capra said. "As a matter of fact, he said it was the best movie ever made."

The film, whose story takes place at Christmas, became a holiday classic with the dawn of television, when families began to gather each holiday season to watch it.

It airs again Saturday night on NBC.

"It carried with it the message that you can find in each of my dad's films. The message of hope," Capra said. "Maybe like George Bailey, we should pause for a brief moment and examine our lives and see if we can make a difference as long as we never give up."

Associated Press

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MustafaMir: RT @DeirQaddis: #ChristmasIsCancelled I told Santa that Israel wants Peace. He died laughing. #XmasInPalestine

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Transformer Optimus Prime wants his name back, right now preferably

In a cunning bid to remind the adult world of its long-lost childhood, in which even the most vacuous fictional characters could somehow seem magical, Hasbro has suddenly decided to sue Asus over its 'Transformer Prime' branding. It doesn't matter that the Transformer Prime really does transform -- you know, in real-life -- or that it exists in a non-competing market, or that the latest Transformers movie was a complete waste of everybody's time. Nope, Hasbro still feels the need to "aggressively protect its brands and products" from illusory enemies, and it's fully prepared to threaten Asus with a sales injunction until some sort of conciliatory gesture appears on its bank statement. If this lawsuit takes hold -- please, not another Düsseldorf -- then we promise that our future children will never buy, watch or touch a single Hasbro product. Except maybe that R2-D2 version of Operation, which is pretty sweet.

Transformer Optimus Prime wants his name back, right now preferably originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Dec 2011 05:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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US offers $10 million for al-Qaida financier

WASHINGTON?? The United States on Thursday established a reward of up to $10 million for information leading to Yasin al-Suri, accused of operating from Iran as a facilitator and financier for al-Qaida.

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The bounty is the first offered for an al-Qaida financier and is aimed at disrupting a financial network that has operated from within Iran's borders since 2005, said Eytan Fisch, a senior Treasury Department official.

Robert Hartung, a senior State Department official, said that under an agreement between al-Qaida and the government of Iran, al-Suri had helped move money and recruits through Iran to al-Qaida leaders in neighboring countries.

Hartung said al-Suri, who is originally from Syria, also was known as Ezedin Abdel Aziz Khalil.

The U.S. Treasury Department in July blacklisted al-Suri and five other members of his network, exposing what the United States says are direct links between Tehran and the al-Qaida network.

Hartung said al-Suri's network serves as an important conduit for channeling both money and fighters from around the Middle East to al-Qaida leaders in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq.

"He is a dedicated terrorist working in support of al-Qaida with the support of the government of Iran," Hartung said. "As a key fundraiser for the al-Qaida terrorist network, he is a continuing danger to the interests of the United States."

Since 1984 the U.S. Rewards for Justice program has paid more than $100 million to more than 70 people who provided credible information that either prevented terrorist attacks or helped bring accused terrorists to justice, the State Department's Hartung said.

Related story:

NBC: New evidence links Iran to terror group

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45768221/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Alec Baldwin: ?I Doubt? I?ll Still Run For Mayor of New York City (AUDIO)

Truth rating: 10

30 Rock Alec Baldwin Here's The Thing WNYC

7:14 pm, December 21st, 2011

AUDIO

(GettyImages.com)

Despite an interest in politics, Alec Baldwin says he has lost his ?appetite? to run for office.

?I doubt it now. The older I get, the more I feel that all of it has changed,? the actor said Wednesday on his WNYC radio show, ?Here?s The Thing.?

Baldwin has previously said he?d consider running for Mayor of New York, but now finds himself turned off by the political players currently in the mix.

?I don?t see myself in that crowd,? he said, accusing current possible candidates as?being ?horny for their own ascension.?

RELATED ? Alec Baldwin Kicked Off American Airlines Flight

Instead, the ?30 Rock? star would rather focus on the life he currently leads.

?I?ve got a job now,? he said, referring to his hit NBC show. ?We have fun, and it?s a family and I love New York and I?ve got a life. It?s been a great harbor for me in my life.?

?Give this up for what?? Baldwin wondered. ?I give up money and fame and position and success; I give up this wonderful life I have now in exchange for the chance to really change things.?

?Yeah, I?m not quite sure you can anymore,? he added.

Listen below at the 26-minute mark.

Do you agree with Baldwin?s reasoning?

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Source: http://www.gossipcop.com/alec-baldwin-run-mayor-new-york-decision-running-december-2011-wnyc-radio-show/

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Boxer Mayweather to serve 90 days in jail for attack (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? A Las Vegas judge sentenced boxer Floyd Mayweather on Wednesday to six months behind bars for a 2010 attack on the mother of his children, but half of that jail term was suspended, officials said.

Mayweather, the World Boxing Council welterweight champion, pleaded guilty to one count of battery and no contest to two counts of harassment after reaching a deal with prosecutors, said Mary Ann Price, spokeswoman for the Clark County Courts.

Those charges were part of a criminal complaint against Mayweather, 34, that originally included charges of robbery, grand larceny and coercion over an altercation at the home of his former girlfriend, Josie Harris.

Las Vegas Judge Melissa Saragosa sentenced Mayweather to six months in jail, but she only ordered him to serve three months behind bars, officials said.

Saragosa suspended the other three months of the sentence, but if he is arrested again or fails to complete certain parts of his sentence he would have to spend those three months in jail, said Tess Driver, spokeswoman for the Clark County District Attorney's Office which prosecuted the case.

The judge ordered Mayweather to complete 100 hours of community service and attend a 12-month domestic violence program, officials said.

Mayweather, who lives in Las Vegas, must report to court on January 6 to be transferred to jail, officials said.

An attorney for Mayweather could not be reached for comment.

Mayweather originally faced a maximum sentence of over 30 years in jail in the case, Driver said.

A criminal complaint against Mayweather states he battered Harris in November 2010, when he grabbed her by the hair, threw her to the floor and struck her. The robbery and larceny charges against Mayweather related to allegations that he took Harris' cell phone.

Five-division world champion Mayweather, a flamboyant fighter renowned for his trash-talking before bouts, is widely regarded as the best defensive fighter of his generation.

The boxer known as "Money" improved his professional record to a perfect 42-0, including 26 knockouts, with a fourth-round knockout of Victor Ortiz in Las Vegas in September to claim the World Boxing Council welterweight title.

He is due back in court for a separate case next week, when he is expected to plead guilty to a charge of misdemeanor battery against a security guard, Driver said. That would carry a $1,000 fine, she said.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis and Mark Lamport-Stokes)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111221/people_nm/us_usa_crime_mayweather

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Mediterranean diet gives longer life, study suggests

ScienceDaily (Dec. 20, 2011) ? A Mediterranean diet with large amounts of vegetables and fish gives a longer life. This is the unanimous result of four studies to be published by the Sahlgrenska Academy.

Research studies ever since the 1950s have shown that a Mediterranean diet, based on a high consumption of fish and vegetables and a low consumption of animal-based products such as meat and milk, leads to better health.

Study on older people

Scientists at the Sahlgrenska Academy have now studied the effects of a Mediterranean diet on older people in Sweden. They have used a unique study known as the "H70 study" to compare 70-year-olds who eat a Mediterranean diet with others who have eaten more meat and animal products. The H70 study has studied thousands of 70-year-olds in the Gothenburg region for more than 40 years.

Chance of living longer

The results show that those who eat a Mediterranean diet have a 20% higher chance of living longer.

"This means in practice that older people who eat a Mediterranean diet live an estimated 2 3 years longer than those who don't," says Gianluca Tognon, scientist at the Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg.

Support from other studies

These results are supported by three further as yet unpublished studies into Mediterranean diets and their health effects: one carried out on people in Denmark, the second on people in northern Sweden, and the third on children.

"The conclusion we can draw from these studies is that there is no doubt that a Mediterranean diet is linked to better health, not only for the elderly but also for youngsters," says Gianluca Tognon.

Gianluca Tognon himself is from Italy, but moved to Sweden and Gothenburg specifically to collaborate with Lauren Lissner's research group at the Sahlgrenska Academy, and develop research into the Mediterranean diet.

The article Does the Mediterranean diet predict longevity in the elderly? A Swedish perspective has been published in the scientific journal Age.

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Journal Reference:

1. Gianluca Tognon, Elisabet Rothenberg, Gabriele Eiben, Valter Sundh, Anna Winkvist, Lauren Lissner. Does the Mediterranean diet predict longevity in the elderly? A Swedish perspective. Age, 2010; 33 (3): 439 DOI: 10.1007/s11357-010-9193-1

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

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

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/aoiv4IkqDjY/111220154122.htm

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The deal averting a government shutdown: Who achieved what? (The Week)

New York ? Congress reached an 11th-hour deal to keep federal agencies running. But the horse-trading isn't over

Just 27 hours before a deadline that could have shut down the federal government at midnight Friday, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on a $1 trillion spending bill that will keep the lights on through the end of the fiscal year in September, 2012. They still have to work out the particulars of another sticking point ? a separate measure extending a temporary payroll tax cut and jobless benefits. So what did both parties gain, and give up, to break the impasse? Here, a brief guide:

So, the parties settled their differences?
Not exactly. They still have to work out how to pay for the $120 billion payroll tax cut extension for 160 million workers, to keep it from expiring on Dec. 31. But they got close enough that the White House and Senate Democrats figured it was safe to detach the payroll-tax issue from the spending bill, which they were delaying in an attempt to force the GOP to negotiate. Now Congress can approve the spending bill, and focus on settling lingering differences over the payroll tax.

SEE MORE: 6 people celebrating the super committee's collapse

?

Who caved?
Both sides gave up a little on the spending measure. "The final bill strips out a Republican amendment to the Treasury budget to reinstate Bush-era restrictions on travel to Cuba" ? something President Obama opposed, says David Rogers at Politico. But it also includes some GOP provisions that are hard for Democrats to swallow, such as one blocking new, greener standards for light bulbs.

Will extending the payroll tax be easy now?
Both sides say a deal is near, although anything can happen. Democrats have reportedly dropped their insistence on offsetting the cost with a surtax on people making more than $1 million a year, which was a dealbreaker for the GOP. But Republicans haven't budged on one provision Democrats have described as a poison pill ? a controversial proposal to expedite the review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

SEE MORE: The super committee's 'epic' failure: What now?

?

What happens if they can't agree?
Both sides want to extend the payroll tax holiday. If they let it expire, the portion of Americans' paychecks withheld for Social Security and Medicare will rise 2 percent ? from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. In such a scenario, someone making $50,000 would have to pay $1,000 more in payroll taxes. To avoid that, Congress is likely to pass a two-month extension if no long-term agreement is in sight. That way members will be able to head home for the holidays, and put off a final showdown until February.

Sources: CNN, NY Times, Politico, Washington Post

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PlayStation Vita won't support multiple PSN accounts (Digital Trends)

After saying the PlayStation Vita would indeed be able to manage multiple PlayStation Network accounts with minimal hassle, Sony has now back-tracked on their statement, revealing that owners will likely be limited to one account.

While the multi-account issue probably won?t be a concern for most Vita owners, those who do share a Vita with other users won?t be able to change accounts without wiping the entire system. Originally, Sony had claimed that switching accounts would be as simple as swapping memory cards.

?[The] PSN account is tied to the hardware and the memory card, not just the card,? a Sony representative told Wired, ?which means that if a second person is using your Vita, it?s not just a case of switching out memory cards, it?s clearing out all of your saved data on the Vita itself when you do the factory reset.?

?In other words, PlayStation Vita is intended to be played by only one user,? the representative added.

With the Vita hitting shelves in Japan this weekend and arriving in the U.S. on February 22, much has been made of the handheld console?s abilities and limitations. The PlayStation 3 recently received a major update that prepared it for the Vita?s release, and Sony has hinted that some of the Vita?s shortcomings could be addressed in future firmware updates.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111216/tc_digitaltrends/playstationvitawontsupportmultiplepsnaccounts

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US teen wins in Dubai, youngest on both tours (AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates ? American teenager Lexi Thompson has made history as the youngest winner on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours.

The 16-year-old Thompson shot a 5-under 67 Saturday to win the Dubai Ladies Masters, becoming the youngest professional winner on that side of the Atlantic.

Thompson pulled away from Lee-Anne Pace of South Africa to win by four strokes for her second professional victory. In September, she became the youngest winner of an LPGA tournament at the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama.

"It feels amazing," Thompson said. "I'm just honored they invited me back and I'm just grateful to be here. I've been working on my game really hard and it has paid off."

Thompson chipped in for a birdie on No. 9 to take a one-shot lead over Pace and extended her lead with four birdies on the back nine for a 15-under 273 total.

Pace (69) started strong with two birdies and an eagle on her first six holes, but shaky putting on the back nine ended her chances.

The 2010 European Tour money winner, Pace hit her approach shot on No. 12 over the green for her second bogey in five holes.

"Things could have been a little different," Pace said. "I hit a bad club on 12, which cost me a shot, and that is where things changed around."

Sophie Gustafson of Sweden (71) was a shot behind Pace in third place followed by four players another shot back.

Michelle Wie (72) came into the final round five shots behind leader Thompson. She fell out of contention with two bogeys and a double-bogey on the front nine, finishing tied for 12th.

"It was pretty frustrating. I couldn't get my putts going," Wie said. "I just needed to play better on the front nine all week. Nothing really went. Nothing went in. At least, I finished birdie, birdie. I gotta work on a lot of things for next season."

Thompson's father Scott, who caddies for her, said he was most impressed how she handled the pressure when Pace made her run.

"She didn't panic and kept playing her game, not worrying about what else anyone was doing," he said.

Wie offered a congratulatory tweet and predicted she would be force to reckon with in the future. The 22-year-old Wie praised the support Thompson gets not only from her father but her entire entourage.

"I think she kind of has that mentality, just grip it and rip it," said Wie, who also joined the LPGA Tour at 16 and has two wins. "She just goes out there and just kind of has fun, which is really nice to see. She's a really talented player and I'm really impressed."

Thompson is projected to move into the top 40 in the rankings. She credits her success with playing alongside her brothers, including PGA Tour member Nicholas.

The precocious Floridian qualified for the U.S. Women's Open at age 12 in 2007 at Pine Needles, tied for 10th at the tournament last year and was a runner-up by one shot last year at the Evian Masters, one of the richest events on the LPGA Tour schedule.

Her breakout moment came in September when she won the Navistar LPGA Classic by five strokes and was granted LPGA membership two weeks later.

The unfailingly polite, easy-going Thompson said she was looking forward to spending some time with friends and steadily improving next season.

"There's not really any pressure," she said. "I'm just playing the game and doing what I love. Playing every week in these tournaments is an honor for me, so I'm just coming out and relaxing and doing my best."

Her father also tried to tamp down expectations, saying he just wanted to relish her second victory since she turned pro a year-and-a-half ago.

"The first one wasn't a fluke. She has won again now. That is the great thing," he said. "The first one people may say she is lucky for the week. But she won again, so it kind of validates it."

___

Follow Michael Casey on Twitter at https://twitter.com/mcasey1

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_dubai_ladies_masters

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Drugmakers extend cut-price pneumonia vaccine deal (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline are increasing sales of cut-price pneumonia vaccine to developing countries by more than 50 percent, marking the scale-up of an international program to protect millions of children.

The Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) is buying an additional 180 million doses of Pfizer's pneumococcal vaccine Prevenar 13 and a similar quantity of GSK's Synflorix at a deeply discounted price of $3.50 a shot.

The two companies said on Friday they would supply the extra vaccine through 2023, building on an original commitment last year to supply 300 million doses apiece.

The GAVI Alliance, a public-private partnership set up in 2000 to speed the introduction of vaccines into the world's poorest countries, hopes to avert up to 7 million deaths by 2030 by giving the vaccines to infants and young children.

Pneumococcal disease, which can cause pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, kills more than half a million children every year, the vast majority of them in poorer countries.

GSK's Synflorix protects against 10 strains of the streptococcus pneumoniae bacterium, while Pfizer's Prevenar 13 shot protects against 13 strains.

In exchange for large orders, GAVI has negotiated a low price with the two drug companies, which get $7 per dose for the first 20 percent and $3.50 for the remainder of their orders under a so-called Advance Market Commitment (AMC) scheme.

A Pfizer spokeswoman said $3.50 was more than a 90 percent reduction from prices charged in some industrialized countries.

The pneumococcal vaccination program was initially started a year ago in Nicaragua and has now been rolled out to 15 other countries in Africa and Latin America.

The latest agreement shows how momentum is building behind the GAVI program, even as experts worry about funding cutbacks in other areas of global health due to austerity measures in donor countries hit by the economic crisis.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the world's largest financial backer of HIV treatment and prevention programs, said last month it was cancelling new grants for countries battling these diseases and would make no new funding available until 2014.

By contrast, GAVI secured a bigger-than-expected $4.3 billion in pledges from its donors last June, reflecting widespread acknowledgement of the value of its immunization work.

Overall, development assistance for health in all forms has continued to grow in 2011, although the rate of growth has slowed, the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation in Seattle said in a report this week.

It estimated that spending increased by 4 percent each year between 2009 and 2011, reaching a total of $27.7 billion, down from 17 percent between 2007 and 2008.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/parenting/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111216/hl_nm/us_drugmakers_pneumonia

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