Alone in NH, Huntsman sees past Iowa

Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman speaks at the Laconia Rotary Club luncheon in Laconia, N.H., Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman speaks at the Laconia Rotary Club luncheon in Laconia, N.H., Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman hugs his daughter Gracie Mei while attending the Laconia Rotary Club luncheon in Laconia, N.H., Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is interviewed while attending a Rotary luncheon in Laconia, N.H., Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

Republican presidential candidate, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is interviewed while attending a Rotary luncheon in Laconia, N.H., Thursday, Dec. 29, 2011. (AP Photo/Cheryl Senter)

LACONIA, N.H. (AP) ? The political world is spinning in Iowa this week. And Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman says he doesn't care.

He's hunkered down in New Hampshire, waiting for Tuesday's Iowa caucuses to end and the race to turn to this fiercely independent state ? the only one where the former Utah governor is competing in earnest.

"It's wondrously quiet here in New Hampshire these days. We have it all to ourselves," Huntsman said Thursday night in Wolfeboro, where he attracted a crowd of roughly 200 people in the town where rival Mitt Romney has a summer home.

"A day or two after the Iowa caucuses play out, no one will remember what went on there, and everyone will be focused on New Hampshire," he said on the second day of a 13-day marathon of campaigning that ends with the Jan. 10 Republican primary.

Come this time next week, the Republicans who triumphed in Iowa will campaign here with momentum on their side and they'll have to contend with Huntsman, who has planted a flag in the state. Polling suggests his popularity in New Hampshire may be growing, but his margin for error in the race certainly is not.

He conceded the obvious, acknowledging that he cannot remain a viable presidential contender ? and likely won't stay in the race ? if he finishes below third place in New Hampshire, where Mitt Romney has a comfortable lead in polls and a strong organization from his failed 2008 bid.

"If we cross that threshold and the headline or the storyline is, 'Huntsman did better than expected, he exceeded market expectations,' then you know you've done something and you can carry on," he told The Associated Press from the back of a black SUV speeding toward the Laconia Rotary Club.

It's a relatively low bar, but a bar nonetheless set by a candidate who has been careful not to set the terms for his departure from a contest that's been difficult from the beginning.

Huntsman was expected to be a force in the race long before he officially joined the crowded field in June. Handsome and well-spoken, the 51-year-old California native offered a unique set of qualifications as a former GOP governor with experience working under four presidents, three Republicans and Democrat Barack Obama, whom he served as ambassador to China.

Perhaps it's the connection to Obama, but Huntsman has struggled to win over the more conservative voters who typically dominate Republican primaries. It could be that he offers more moderate positions on global warming, the war in Afghanistan and gay rights. Despite those stances, he has portrayed himself as the most electable conservative and has promised not to pander to the likes of businessman turned TV star Donald Trump or to shift positions simply to score political points.

Huntsman retreated to New Hampshire largely out of necessity; the state, like South Carolina, allows independents to participate in the Republican primary. Iowa, where social conservatives and evangelicals tend to dominate, wasn't the right fit for a Mormon like him.

Overall, his strategy is similar to John McCain's in 2008 ? hope that New Hampshire's independent voters lift him to victory, giving him momentum heading into next-up South Carolina and Florida. But that carries risks because Huntsman would have to court them without turning off Republicans whose support he'd need to build a broad ? and winning ? coalition for the GOP primary.

"It's our strategy," says Huntsman. "I might as well own it."

He has spent the past few months working to build a campaign organization in the state, so much so that he's competitive with those of Romney, Ron Paul and Newt Gingrich, considered his strongest competitors. Going all in, he moved his national headquarters from Florida to New Hampshire in September but has struggled to win big-name endorsements in the state. Still, Huntsman recently earned the backing of three newspapers, including the state capital's Concord Monitor.

But without the funds for a full-fledged television advertising campaign, Huntsman has depended on outside help to deliver his message to the full electorate. An independent super PAC designed to help Huntsman spent $1.2 million earlier in the month on two weeks of television ads aired across the state. His campaign released an online video this week that jabs Paul as "unelectable." But Huntsman acknowledged Thursday that the campaign may not have the money to air the ad on television.

He's partly relying on New Hampshire's reputation for going its own way.

"People here in New Hampshire, they're not influenced by what comes out of another state," Huntsman said earlier this week. "They want to do their own (due) diligence, they want to get to know the candidates, they want to draw their own conclusions. So, putting our eggs in the first primary basket is a good strategy."

And he reminded the few dozen New Hampshire voters at a Rotary Club luncheon on Thursday of New Hampshire's tradition.

"You're going to upend conventional wisdom once again Jan. 10. And we're going to go on to win this election," he said. "I'm just putting you all on early notice."

At least in New Hampshire, he's scoring points for bypassing Iowa.

"He's made a great choice coming here," said Jim Emery, a retired automotive repair shop owner who attended Huntsman's town hall meeting in Pelham on Wednesday night and dismissed the Iowa caucus results as essentially meaningless. Emery, a registered Republican, said electability is a top concern ? but he hasn't settled on a candidate yet.

"Ron Paul has some great ideas ? totally unelectable," Emery said. "Newt Gingrich probably knows the inside better than anyone else, but again, I question electability. Romney is probably the front-runner for a reason, but he doesn't inspire ? I don't know ? a sense of fire. He doesn't set me on fire."

And therein lies another Huntsman challenge ? his low-key demeanor.

He freely admits that he's not a verbal bomb thrower in a political era where brash rhetoric is often rewarded, particularly by a Republican electorate looking for a nominee who will aggressively take it to Obama. Huntsman tries to turn his style into a positive, saying that he's outlining goals that are achievable, while his opponents are "campaigning on a bunch of nutty ideas to whoop up folks in a crowd."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-29-US-Huntsman-Waiting-in-NH/id-4233239d7fbf49c18e22f504ed4c2920

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Italy short-term debt costs halve at auction

By Valentina Za

MILAN | Wed Dec 28, 2011 11:21am GMT

MILAN (Reuters) - Italian short-term debt costs halved at auction on Wednesday as a new package of budget austerity and an injection of cheap long-term money from the European Central Bank won Rome some respite in thin year-end markets.

Analysts warned market tensions could easily reignite and pointed to a new test on Thursday when Italy will sell up to 8.5 billion euros (7.1 billion pounds) of longer-term bonds, including three- and ten-year paper.

But the average rate of 3.25 percent at which Italy sold 9 billion euros of six-month BOT bills was down from a euro lifetime record of 6.50 percent just a month earlier.

"Many things have changed from a month ago: the government has won a confidence vote on its austerity package and the ECB has acted to help banks," an Italian bill trader said.

"This doesn't mean we can rule out further problematic auctions. Markets are easily unnerved."

Demand for bills totalled 1.69 times the amount on offer, a clear improvement versus a bid-to-cover ratio of around 1.5 at the end of November.

This is the first Italian debt sale since the ECB provided 490 billion euros in cheap three-year loans to euro zone banks on December 21 in an unprecedented move aimed at easing credit strains.

Expectations of a strong take-up at the ECB's tender contributed to an equally dramatic fall in Spanish short-term borrowing costs this month.

Madrid's six-month debt costs more than halved to 2.4 percent at an auction on the eve of the ECB's tender.

However, doubts about how much of the cheap three-year funds would find their way into troubled government bonds weighed on Italian and Spanish yields in the following sessions.

Italy's ten-year yields briefly climbed back above 7 percent this week, pushing the premium over the equivalent German benchmark above 500 basis points.

On Wednesday, the yield stood at 6.8 percent, giving a premium of 489 basis points over Germany.

Credit Agricole strategist Peter Chatwell said the results bode well for the auction of three-year bonds on Thursday but he was less sure about the 10-year sale - typically a better measure of underlying interest from external investors.

"Demand for short term paper is good. It remains to be seen whether this extends to the longer maturities," he said.

Italy paid a euro lifetime record high yield of 7.56 percent to sell ten-year bonds at the end of November.

TESTING START

Italy can count on key support from retail domestic investors at short-term sales but longer-term bonds remain more challenging. With more than 91 billion euros of bonds maturing in the first four months of 2012, Rome faces a crucial test early next year.

In a push to regain market confidence, in the run-up to Christmas Italy's parliament gave the final seal to an emergency austerity budget rushed through by a new technocrat government.

Market attention will now turn to the reform agenda of Prime Minister Mario Monti who has promised to tackle Italy's chronic low-growth problems -- after inaction by former PM Silvio Berlusconi pushed the country to the brink of financial disaster.

Monti has convened a cabinet meeting on Wednesday to outline his plans and he could provide some indications to investors in his traditional year-end press conference on Thursday.

Analysts expect Monti's 33 billion euro austerity package to further depress Italy's weak internal demand, making government's efforts to revive growth through a series of long-delayed liberalisations even more crucial.

Italy also sold on Wednesday 1.7 billion euros of 24-month, zero-coupon CTZ bonds at an average yield 4.85 percent, sharply down from 7.8 percent a month ago.

For the first time, the Treasury set a target range for the CTZ sale, as it does for other bonds. It gives a set amount for bill auctions.

The Treasury had planned to sell between 1.5 billion and 2.5 billion euros of CTZs.

(Additional reporting by William James in London)

Source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/Reuters/UKBusinessNews/~3/jqrtVUEGHVE/uk-italy-bills-auction-idUKTRE7BR0CB20111228

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Source: http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/India/Goa/Bambolim/blog-674760.html

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AMD Radeon HD 7970

The perpetual war for supremacy between AMD and Nvidia constantly leaves enthusiasts dodging shrapnel: When you want the best video card you can afford, why buy one now instead of waiting for the better one the competing chipset designer will undoubtedly release in a few months? This leaves reviewers in a tough spot, too, as we're constantly proclaiming that nearly every new card is the fastest ever. But because you can only live in the world you live in, we're obliged to go there. So, here goes once again: The just-released AMD Radeon HD 7970 ($549 list) is the latest fastest and most feature-rich single-GPU card ever, surpassing our previous Editors' Choice winner, the Nvidia GeForce GTX 580.

Though we have little doubt that Nvidia will yank back that title with its next generation of cards, the 7970 is an impressive achievement for the moment.? (It's?rumored to become widely available by early January of?2012.)? The inaugural member of the Southern Islands family, it utilizes a fresh architecture AMD refers to as "Graphics Core Next." Based on a new 28nm process technology and utilizing more than 4.3 billion transistors, Graphics Core Next uses a revised instruction set architecture, gives each compute unit the ability to simultaneously execute instructions from multiple kernels, and delivers an increased number of instructions per clock cycle per square millimeter of GPU space. The result, so AMD claims, is "designed for high utilization, high throughput, and multitasking."

We'll examine how well the 7970 achieves those goals in due time, but first we should look more deeply at what the card offers on a component level. The maxed-out new Southern Islands GPU (the 7900 series, code-named "Tahiti") can contain up to 32 compute units (CUs) supported by two geometry engines and rasterizers (one of each for every collection of 16 CUs), one L2 cache up to 768KB, four render back-ends (offering 32 color ROPs per clock and 128 Z/stencil ROPs per clock), and a 384-bit GDDR5 memory interface with bandwidth up to 264GBps. Cards in the 7900 series can also make full use of the newest and speediest PCI Express (PCIe) 3.0 x16 bus interface.

AMD didn't stop with just internal developments. The company promises that the Southern Islands cards will offer improved cooling and acoustics, by way of a new sixth-generation vapor chamber and a wider fan with new blades that are capable of wicking away more heat than before. Power issues have received plenty of attention as well, with PowerTune technology for intelligent monitoring of energy usage on an application-by-application basis when the proper electrical and thermal headroom are available.

Also new is ZeroCore Power Technology, which shuts down the GPU and turns off the fan during long idle states, for a reduction in idle power usage of up to 95 percent. According to AMD, this delivers additional benefits in CrossFireX configurations: Secondary GPUs are always in the ZeroCore Power state when they're not in use, with the primary GPU joining them during long idle periods, thus saving even more power in systems that traditionally suck it up with party-animal abandon.

Like all of the company's video cards, those in the 7900 series support?DirectX 11 (and it's posed for?DX11.1 when Windows 8?comes around)?the full range of AMD's proprietary technologies. Eyefinity is back, but with a twist: Though it still makes for an easy way to run multiple monitors, the 7970 is the first card capable of driving three stereoscopic 3D displays by itself using new monitors that support DisplayPort 3D; the 7900 series isn't even limited to a single audio stream, but can out multiple independent streams at once. Other new Eyefinity features introduced with the Catalyst 11.10 driver update include new monitor configurations (5-by-1 landscape and portrait), full support for setups using multiple 1,920-by-1,200 and 2,560-by-1,600 monitors, and flexible bezel compensation.

If the 7970 sounds beefy from a spec standpoint, it is indeed. The card's 250-watt TDP hasn't changed from the 6970, but almost everything else has been dialed up. The card is driven by an astonishing 2,048 stream processors and has a 925MHz engine clock; AMD estimates the card delivers 3.79 teraflops of compute performance. Thirty-two ROPs and 128 Z/stencils max out the GPU's capability. Memory has been packed on, too, with the 7970 housing a remarkable 3GB of GDDR5, twice what the GTX 580 carries; the bandwidth is the aforementioned 264GBps, the memory clock runs at 1,375MHz, and the overall data rate is 5.5Gbps. (The last two specs are not increases over those of AMD's last-generation top single-GPU card, the Radeon HD 6970, for what it's worth.)

Video outputs are a strong collection as well, with two Mini DisplayPort jacks (supporting the DisplayPort 1.2 standard), one HDMI 1.4a port, and one dual-link DVI port. The last is beginning to look mighty legacy, as both the Mini DisplayPort and HDMI ports are now capable of driving the 4K displays that are almost certainly coming in the next generation or so. (AMD touts its cards as being the first on the market to support this new hardware.) And there is again a switch that lets you return to the factory settings any time you want, so you can overclock to your heart's content safe in the knowledge it will be tough to do any permanent damage.

Positive as all this is, the typical downsides to such a powerful card are here as well.? You will need to run two additional cables from your power supply (one eight-pin, one six-pin), and the card's oversize fan?heat sink unit means it blocks an adjacent expansion slot. But because the card is of a reasonable length (11 inches), these are minor annoyances well in keeping with video cards this high up in the enthusiast spectrum.

What does all this mean in terms of gaming performance? A lot. In our testing (on a system set up using an Asus P9X79 Deluxe motherboard running the Intel Core i7-3960X CPU) we saw some significant jumps over both AMD's own 6970 and Nvidia's GTX 580. The 7970's overall 3DMark 11 score was 2,734, an 861-point increase over what we saw from the 6970 (1,873) and 619 points higher than what the GTX 580 earned (2,115). The 7970 triumphed in almost all of our gaming benchmarks, often by large degrees, at least at 1,920 by 1,200. When we tested Aliens vs. Predator at that resolution, for example, the 7970's result of 55.1 frames per second (fps) was well ahead of the 6970's 47.2fps and the GTX 580's 43.6fps. The 7970 barely eked out a playable 31fps against the GTX 580's 27.2fps in Total War: Shogun 2 at 1,920 by 1,200, though the GTX 580 couldn't even run the game's benchmark with all the details cranked.

The 7970, it should be noted, didn't ace every test. The GTX 580 did marginally better in DiRT 3 (69.5fps versus 66.9fps) and HAWX 2 (140 versus 130), both at 1,920 by 1200. And a lot of the 7970's impressive leads dropped at 2,560 by 1,600, with only about 7fps separating the cards at Aliens vs. Predator (34.7fps versus 27.5fps), 1fps at DiRT 3 (47.7fps versus 46.7fps, the 7970 winning the competition here it couldn't quite at 1,920 by 1,200), and 12fps in Just Cause 2 (40.6fps versus 28.6fps, as compared with the wider gap between 60fps and 36.8fps for that game we saw at 1,920 by 1,200). And looked at beside either AMD's or Nvidia's more expensive?dual-GPU gaming cards, the Radeon HD 6990 and the GeForce GTX 590 respectively, the 7970 looks like small performance potatoes. (Though, for the record, the GTX 590 couldn't run Total War: Shogun 2 at 2,560 by 1,600.)

Where the 7970 really distinguished itself was in terms of power usage. AMD's efforts in this regard really paid off, as our test bed was able to idle at an impressive minimum of 99.8 watts; that's less than we saw with either the 6970 (107.8) or the GTX 580 (117.3). But when running under full graphics load the 7970's full-system power draw rose to only 245.9 watts?again, this is below the results we got from both the 6970 (249.8 watts) and the GTX 580 (264.6 watts), and the 7970 gives you the most polygon-pushing power.

So, folks, it's that time again to declare a new Editors' Choice and a new "sensibly priced" (as opposed to the dual-GPU models, anyway) enthusiast video card. No matter what game you want to play or, within reason, what resolution you want to play it at, this is the one-GPU card that will excel most at the job best. Its price may still be steep, and you may be able to find GTX 580 cards on the market for less (around $500), but if full-tilt gaming without compromises?is what you crave, you won't be able?to do better than the AMD Radeon HD 7970. At least for a while.

More Graphics Card reviews:
??? AMD Radeon HD 7970
??? Nvidia Quadro 4000
??? Nvidia Quadro 5000
??? Nvidia Quadro 2000
??? AMD Radeon HD 6450
?? more

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Just days before Iowa caucuses, GOP field still unsettled (CNN)

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Steve Hughes was appointed as finance director

The Empire Building Society has chosen Steve Hughes as his deputy group finance director. Hughes will continue to ensure that the council approved the suggestion of commercial, strategic and financial strength. He will run the financial control, reporting and treasury functions.

Hughes will also offer commercial support for the Kingdom of the business units and make continuous improvement of key financial processes. Before him as finance director at Lloyds TSB General Insurance Limited for six years, where he occupies a prime position in the integration program to join Lloyds TSB with Halifax, after a merger of two companies in January 2009.

Hughes is a qualified accountant and has 20 years experience in the financial world, start building a career in automotive manufacturing company Schaeffler UK and Calsonic Kensei, near Swansea. He said that he was excited to be joining a business with a strong Welsh brand.

Mr Thomas said that Steve has considerable experience in the field of commercial finance and strategic, and he believes that the skills and expertise in this field could further help to support the financial strength of the Kingdom, provide assurance that we continue to provide members and customers secure our and the home for their savings to support increased regulation.

Source: http://www.meta4forexbroker.com/2011/12/steve-hughes-was-appointed-as-finance-director/

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Rich Chinese couple's octuplets spark anger, inquiry (Reuters)

BEIJING (Reuters) ? A rich Chinese couple who had eight babies with the help of two surrogate mothers has been forced to move out of their villa following a public uproar, and could face a large fine for breaching strict family planning laws mandating only one child.

The couple in the booming southern metropolis of Guangzhou had the children last year, but the story only came to light after media discovered a picture of the babies -- four boys and four girls -- taken by a photography studio.

The couple turned to in vitro fertilization after years of trying to have children and spent nearly one million yuan ($157,800) on the procedure, state television CCTV reported this week.

The mother had three of the children herself, and the other five with two surrogates, though the couple had not intended to have so many.

After the babies were born last September and October, the couple hired eleven people, including eight baby sitters and a teacher, to take care of them, state television cited neighbors as saying.

The provincial government has set up a team to investigate the case, media added, especially as most people in China are only allowed to have one child.

"Why did they have to hire so many people to have babies for them? Did they think they had the right to bear children just because they were rich? This was their first mistake," Liao Xinbo, Guangdong's deputy health chief, told CCTV.

"Secondly, what respect to life did they show? Multiple pregnancies are super risky."

A family-planning official added that the couple may face a big fine for breaching the one-child policy.

However, some Chinese media have suggested that the couple may not have done the procedures in China, and that the children could have been born in Hong Kong, in which case they would escape punishment in the mainland.

The issue has triggered heated debate on China's Twitter-like microblogs.

"I don't understand why such law-breakers can still be left alone. Because they are rich, they can have as many babies as they like? That would create chaos!" wrote "Lingning" on Sina's Weibo.

"The case shows the worsening wealth gap in China. The rich, with their money in hand, are shattering social equality," added "A Late 2011."

However, some expressed a degree of sympathy and even envy.

"When I am rich enough, I will have two or three babies," wrote "Sha Guola."

China introduced its one-child policy in 1979 to limit births in the world's most populous nation. It has relaxed the rules somewhat in the past few years and some couples are now allowed to have a second child.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/hl_nm/us_chinese_octuplets

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Senate Democrats Celebrate Payroll Tax Cut Deal (ABC News)

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Corrected: Zhang, Bale blossom together on "Flowers of War" (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? In 100 years of Chinese film, "The Flowers of War" is the first major title to feature a western movie star. It earned a Golden Globe nomination for best foreign language film, and is China's entry for Oscars.

Budgeted at $100 million, "Flowers of War" stars Oscar-winner Christian Bale as John Miller, an opportunist mortician on the run in 1937 as the Japanese are invading the province of Nanking, now known as Nanjing. The Japanese occupation led to the deaths of thousands of Chinese citizens and came to be known by some as the Rape of Nanking or the Nanjing Massacre.

In the film, which has a limited U.S. release this week before opening nationwide in 2012, Bale's character must save a group of schoolgirls from the clutches of the Japanese. At the same time, he falls in love with a Chinese courtesan.

Bale and Chinese director Zhang Yimou, who communicated through an interpreter while making the film, talked with Reuters about overcoming cultural barriers and revisiting an infamous episode of China's past. (The interview took place before Bale's recent run-in with Chinese officials.)

Q: This is your first time working with a western film star. Did the collaboration meet or defy your expectations?

Zhang: "First, I'm amazed at how low key and humble Christian is. The stereotype that Chinese have of Hollywood actors is they probably have an entourage and assistants. So that's definitely changed how I viewed Hollywood actors. And also Christian didn't want to stay in a five star hotel either. He lived right above me, lived with everybody else, with the crew members. And another thing is Christian gave up his weekends to work with us because we work seven days a week."

Bale: "But this seven-day week schedule became something I quite enjoyed cause I liked the momentum. Yimou is top dog in his profession, and he genuinely seemed to have a great deal of humor and laughter on the set. I didn't always know what the laughter was about but I would laugh with them. I hope they're not all laughing at me! I felt surrounded by good friends and even if I didn't understand nuances of what was being discussed, I got the essence in the presence of people."

Q: Do you find that your shared experience in filmmaking was enough to communicate despite the language barrier?

Bale: "There would be moments where Yimou would come to me and we would work it out between the two of us. And sometimes with a scene it's very small adjustments that were being asked for and I could understand from body language. And I always was convinced Yimou spoke a little bit of English, more than he ever let onto. So we'd experiment and see how it works out and sometimes it did and sometimes it didn't."

Q: How are Western actors different than Chinese?

Zhang: "Each line Christian offered three or four different ways, which is very unusual because Chinese actors normally cannot pull that off. Screening the film for a western audience I realized that the first one-third of the movie, audiences would laugh at Christian's lines. That actually surprised me because when I wrote the script in Chinese, I didn't think that was humorous, but clearly Christian added other layers to it."

Q: I understand Zhang asked you to stand before the cast and give them acting tips but it proved awkward.

Bale: "I always think it's bad to try to alter anybody else's experience. Apart from that, it's not my job. That's the director's job. And I love very much working with actors who either have no experience or very little experience. I like to try to avoid getting any technique into my acting because I feel like the more known an actor gets, you really have to be exceptional to maintain that feeling of freshness and vitality and enthusiasm instead of falling back on your usual tricks."

Q: Steven Spielberg recommended you for the part after working with you years ago on "Empire of the Sun" when you were a child. Did working with kids on this movie take you back?

Bale: "Some of the girls would say to me, 'I would never want to act ever again in my life, this is it.' And I would say to them, 'That's what I said. That's exactly what I said when I was your age.' The thing that I liked so much was the freshness that they brought in terms of this is something new but there's no consideration of this being anything that they would continue with."

Q: The movie is set around an atrocity by the Japanese that rivals in brutality what the Nazis did in Europe. Why do you think the world hasn't held the Japanese accountable?

Zhang: "Maybe the international community doesn't know much about Nanjing because China, at that time, was really far behind, and they didn't have enough voice or power to actually speak out for themselves. For me, rather than arouse sad feelings, the goal of the movie is to make people see the good side of humanity and bring peaceful feelings to an audience."

(Editing by Jill Serjeant and Bob Tourtellotte)

(This story is corrected to delete reference to Chinese government funding, paragraph 2)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/film_nm/us_zhangyimou_christianbale

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Self-affirmation may break down resistance to medical screening

ScienceDaily (Dec. 21, 2011) ? People resist medical screening, or don't call back for the results, because they don't want to know they're sick or at risk for a disease. But many illnesses, such as HIV/AIDS and cancer, have a far a better prognosis if they're caught early. How can health care providers break down that resistance?

Have people think about what they value most, finds a new study by University of Florida psychologists Jennifer L. Howell and James A. Shepperd. "If you can get people to refocus their attention from a threat to their overall sense of wellbeing, they are less likely to avoid threatening information," says Howell. Do that, and people are more likely to face a medical screening even if it means undertaking onerous treatment and even if the disease is uncontrollable. The findings will appear in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science.

The researchers undertook three studies, each with about 100 students of both sexes. In all three studies, they asked the participants to think of a trait they valued; they chose traits such as honesty, compassion, and friendliness. Participants then wrote either about how they demonstrated the trait (expressing self-affirmation) or a friend (not affirming themselves) demonstrated the trait.

Next participants watched a video about a (fictional) disorder called thioamine acetlyase (TAA) deficiency that ostensibly impairs the body's ability to process nutrients and can lead to severe medical complications. They then completed an online risk calculator for the disease and decided either to receive their risk feedback or not.

In the first study, fewer participants who wrote self-affirming essays avoided learning their risk than did participants who wrote non-affirming essays. In studies 2 and 3 researchers investigated the effects of affirmation on two conditions known to increase avoidance of risk feedback. In the second study, participants learned that testing at high risk for TAA deficiency would either require an easy or onerous follow-up examination process. Participants who were not affirmed avoided learning their risk more when they thought it might necessitate an onerous, as compared to an easy, follow up. However, affirmed participants showed little avoidance regardless of the difficulty of follow up. In the third study, participants learned either that TAA could be managed with a pill; or that there was no effective treatment. Again, the non-affirmed group avoided learning their risk almost twice as often when hearing they had no control over the illness. By contrast, affirmed participants were unlikely to avoid the news, regardless of the possibility of treatment.

The researchers acknowledge it's sometimes rational to choose not to know about an incurable disease you might (or might not) get. "But when it is important to prepare for negative events -- getting your affairs in order, finding the coping resources you'll need," Howell suggests, going through with that screening might wise.

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Journal Reference:

1. Jennifer L. Howell and James A. Shepperd. Reducing Information Avoidance Through Affirmation. Psychological Science, (in press)

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://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111221211326.htm

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Google halts Android 4.0.3 roll out after complaints

Google has stopped the roll out of Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich update a couple of days after it issued the upgrade for Samsung Galaxy Nexus GT-I9020 and GT-I9023 devices. The announcement came after several users reported fast battery drainage issues and heavy CPU usage.

Paul Wilcox, community manager for Google help forums, said that the roll out of Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich update has been paused in several regions. Google will monitor feedbacks from users on Android 4.0.3 as well.

Software engineers working on Google's Android Open Source Project pushed the first version of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich for Samsung Nexus S users. The Android 4.0.3 ICS build IML74K is available through OTA for US based Nexus S owners and the rest of the people have managed to download it via direct links.

Users of Nexus S smartphones with Android 4.0.3 ICS are complaining of heavy processor usage with the Android OS string. Several users also complained about rapid battery drainage issues along with no WiFi and poor GPS performance.

Samsung Nexus S is one of Google's flagship devices which focus on providing the 'pure' Android experience (free of custom skin) to developers and users. At this moment, the Android 4.0 ICS build IML74K update is meant only for the US region and doesn't have radio firmware for all regions.

We advise users to avoid downloading the Android 4.0 ICS update until it is officially pushed for the respective region.

Source: http://www.themobileindian.com/news/4391_Google-halts-Android-4.0.3-roll-out-after-complaints

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Japan's exports fall for second straight month (AP)

TOKYO ? Japan's exports fell for the second straight month in November, hit by faltering demand from Asia and Europe.

Exports shrank 4.5 percent from a year earlier to 5.198 trillion yen ($66.7 billion), according to a finance ministry report released Wednesday. The result is steeper than October's 3.8 percent decline.

The data underscore the growing pressures facing the world's third-largest economy, which relies heavily on exports to drive growth. A persistently strong yen, Europe's debt problems and the recent flooding in Thailand are eroding gains made since the March earthquake in Japan disrupted manufacturing.

Economists predict economic growth will slow this quarter after the economy expanded at an annualized rate of 5.6 percent in the July-September period.

Shipments to Asia ? usually a source of robust demand ? fell 8 percent in November. Exports to the European Union and the Middle East also retreated, while those to North America rose slightly.

Goldman Sachs economist Chiwoong Lee described the falloff in shipments to Europe as "especially pronounced."

"This suggests that the deterioration in financial conditions in Europe may be having a negative impact on demand there," he said in a research note.

By sector, electrical machinery exports took a 10.7 percent hit as demand for semiconductors and audio equipment tumbled. Motor vehicles shipments slipped 0.6 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, imports jumped 11.4 percent to 5.882 trillion yen as Japan bought more fossil fuels to meet electricity demand.

That resulted in a November trade deficit of 684.7 billion yen. It was the second straight monthly deficit.

The turmoil in Europe and the U.S. has driven up the yen as global investors flock to the currency as a relatively safe haven. The yen hit multiple historic highs against the dollar this year.

A rising yen shrinks the value of overseas earnings when repatriated and makes Japanese products less competitive in overseas markets. The yen has weakened to around 78 to the dollar recently, but exporters say it is still too high.

The currency levels have forced manufacturers including Nissan Motor Co. and Panasonic Corp. to shift some production overseas, a trend that could further undermine Japan's exports.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111221/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_economy

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Houston Texans @ Indianapolis Colts. 12/22. 7 CT. NFL N. **Official GameDay Thread**

After dominating the AFC South over the previous eight seasons, the Peyton Manning-less Indianapolis Colts have given way to the Houston Texans.

Even though these teams? most recent efforts more resembled previous seasons than the current one, this may be Houston?s best chance to finally win in Indianapolis.

Looking to regroup from their first defeat in more than two months, the division champion Texans visit a Colts team looking to build on its first win of the season Thursday night.

The Texans secured their first postseason berth and division title in Week 14. They entered Sunday having won a franchise-record seven straight and coming off a last-second 20-19 victory over Cincinnati, but they lost 28-13 at home to a sub-.500 Carolina team.

Houston had been tied for the conference?s best record but fell one game behind New England and is now one of three AFC teams at 10-4.

?It is a wake-up call, and it?s up to us as leaders to let our team know what exactly this game is,? defensive end Antonio Smith told the team?s official website. ?I wouldn?t say it has to happen, but if it does happen, it?s needed for you to be battle-tested in a situation like this, for us to grow as a team. You got to take your (knocks). You got to take your hits on the chin.?

?When you become ?the team,? just like when we face teams that people give high praise, you got the underdog coming to knock you right off the pedestal.?

The Texans find themselves in a similar situation Thursday and likely know better than to overlook a Colts team that has plenty to celebrate following an 0-13 start.

Indianapolis rallied in the second half to defeat the Titans, posting its first victory without Manning in more than 14 years.

Making his third consecutive start, Dan Orlovsky was just 11 of 17 for 82 yards but threw for the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, and no Colts passes were intercepted for the first time since Week 5. Donald Brown carried 16 times for a career-high 161 yards, including an 80-yard TD run late in the fourth.

Rookie T.J. Yates, thrown under center with season-ending injuries to Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart, also had a forgettable performance as he went 19 of 30 for 212 yards and two interceptions.

With Yates still getting accustomed to his new role, the offense continues to lean on Arian Foster. The Pro Bowler had his fifth 100-yard rushing effort and eighth touchdown in eight games Sunday, running for 109 yards and catching five passes for 58.

In two career meetings with Indianapolis, Foster has totaled 405 yards from scrimmage and four TDs. He rushed for a career-high 231 yards and three scores during a 34-24 win Sept. 12, 2010.

Source: http://www.texanstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88149&goto=newpost

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Coachella Valley Sickness: Unusually High Rates Could Be Caused By Poverty, Pollution

Story comes courtesy of California Watch.

By Bernice Yeung

Although they live near the trappings of a fit and healthy lifestyle, close to lush golf courses and luxury day spas, Coachella Valley residents are sicker and in poorer health than other Californians, according to a new analysis of multiple health studies.

In a comparison of research [PDF] released last week, the Palm Desert-based Health Assessment Resource Center found that residents in the Coachella Valley had higher rates of diabetes, binge drinking and smoking than people living in other parts of the state and country. They also were more likely than other Californians to report being in only fair or poor health by more than 9 percentage points.

The center began collecting detailed health and socioeconomic data for eastern Riverside County in 2007 because despite concerns about poor health in the region, such localized information did not previously exist. In its most recent report [PDF], issued earlier this year, the center found that about 20 percent of eastern Riverside County residents had not seen a doctor in the past year. It also found that Latinos make up 23 percent of the population, and they are three times more likely than whites to be uninsured.

When compared with similar data collected by the United Health Foundation?s recently released annual America?s Health Rankings and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Health Assessment Resource Center reported that 17.4 percent of Coachella Valley residents were in fair and poor health, more than twice the statewide average of 8.1 percent.

Health professionals said they are not surprised by the center?s findings, especially considering the number of low-income residents living in the proliferation of mobile home parks that dot the east Coachella Valley, an area made up primarily of rural, unincorporated towns.

?It is no surprise that Coachella's population is less healthy,? Eduardo Guevara, an east Coachella Valley resident who works for a local health organization, wrote in an e-mail. ?Historically, this area has received less representation from government at all levels. The Coachella Valley is plagued with contaminated water, unhealthy air quality, unregulated hazardous waste dumps and food deserts. This study is only a snapshot of the communities' health conditions; the reality is far more alarming.?

Guevara, who works for a health education organization called Promotores Comunitarios del Desierto, said he sees the effects of these statistics firsthand.

?My family is a mirror image of thousands of families living in Coachella Valley," he wrote. "My mother is in remission from cancer, my sister is fighting life-threatening kidney disease, my wife is fighting severe asthma, and I am in treatment for diabetes. Dodging death is our daily ritual.?

Local physicians also said the study resonates with what they see in their daily practice.

?We are getting more and more severely ill patients and more patients in the emergency department,? said Raul Ruiz, an emergency room doctor and founder of the Coachella Valley Healthcare Initiative. ?I?m also seeing it in the community where I give free care throughout the Coachella Valley in poor neighborhoods, where a lot of patients find it difficult to maintain their health because they are having difficulty accessing health education, prevention programs and health care.?

The eastern Coachella Valley, in particular, historically has had a severe physician shortage. A 2010 report by the Coachella Valley Healthcare Initiative found that there was one doctor for every 8,407 residents there. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends a ratio of one doctor for every 2,000 people.

?The worse the health care access crisis gets, the worse our health outcomes will be,? Ruiz said.

The center?s 2010 research also found that health care access for Coachella Valley residents has been affected by the economic downturn.

?The significant changes between 2007 and 2010 was health care insurance for adults,? said Eileen Packer, the Health Assessment Resource Center's executive director. ?The other was in the socioeconomic demographics. There are more people out of work, less people working full time, more people needing food assistance and more people who are uninsured.?

According to the center?s study, more than 50 percent of Coachella Valley adults are uninsured; 38 percent of those without health care coverage were Latino.

This means that many low-income residents must rely on a shrinking safety net, Guevara said.

?The majority of people I work with reside in the unincorporated area of the eastern Coachella Valley," he said. "The medical services are limited to federally qualified clinics, such as Clinicas de Salud del Pueblo, that have seen dramatic cuts in federal funding, impairing their ability to provide more extensive medical services to the underserved and uninsured populations.?

A lack of health care coverage is, in fact, an issue for Latinos statewide, according to a study released this month by the California HealthCare Foundation. Of the 6.9 million Californians without health insurance ? the largest number of any state ? about 60 percent are Latino.

?A lot of people get their coverage through their employers, and unfortunately, a lot of work that Latinos are engaged in ? blue-collar and physical jobs ? a lot of those employers are not providing insurance, and they can?t afford to purchase private insurance,? said Chad Silva, a policy analyst with the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California.

Environmental and social factors also are at play. ?We can?t discuss health and wellness without discussing the social determinants of health and wellness,? said Ruiz, the emergency room doctor.

Last year, for example, one of Ruiz?s elderly diabetic patients was living in a mobile home park that had a monthlong power outage at a time when temperatures reached 115 degrees. The situation turned a chronic illness into a medical crisis, he said. ?Because of the exposure to heat and dehydration, he went into renal failure,? Ruiz said. He died from medical complications related to his diabetes eight months later.

These environmental issues are at the heart of Coachella Valley?s poor health, advocates say.

?We can keep treating disease and things like diabetes and look for new cures to different forms of cancer and new medications that make asthma attacks less severe, but the issue is that people are getting sick for a reason, and there are environmental contributors to that, such as open space, such as how often communities of color are living adjacent to really intense sources of pollution,? Silva said.

Guevara, the eastern Coachella resident, agrees that his and his family members' health is tied to what is happening in the rest of his community, which he calls ?the gray area of California.?

?In order to improve the health of Coachella residents, it will take political will, investment in infrastructure, transportation and the creation of good jobs that provide medical benefits,? he said. ?As long as the Coachella Valley continues to be treated as California's dumping ground, our health will continue to decline. We have to break that cycle.?

Bernice Yeung is an investigative reporter for California Watch and the Center for Investigative Reporting focusing on community health. For more California Watch stories, click here.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/22/coachella-valley-sickness_n_1165351.html

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States unlikely to heed NTSB call for cell ban (Providence Journal)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/175617122?client_source=feed&format=rss

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HBT: Blue Jays reportedly make highest bid for Darvish

As we noted last night, nothing will be official until next week, but the New York Post is reporting that the Blue Jays have made the highest bid for negotiating rights for Japanese sensation Yu Darvish.

The Post reports that ?according to several sources with knowledge of the situation,? the Blue Jays owner, Rogers Communications, ordered the team to bid upwards of $40-50 million for the rights to negotiate with Darvish. If they are the winners, they would then have 30 days to get him under contract, which could cost an additional $75 million, many speculate.

The Blue Jays landing Darvish would make the AL East pretty interesting next year. The Jays were just a .500 team in 2011, but they have a core of great talent with Jose Bautista, Brett Lawrie ? who would get more than 43 games in 2012 ? and Ricky Romero.

With Darvish in the fold, the Jays would officially obtain ?frisky? status, no?

Source: http://hardballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/12/16/report-the-blue-jays-are-the-high-bidders-for-yu-darvish/

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Video: Pier 1 Imports CEO Talks Q3

Mad Money host Jim Cramer says Pier 1 Imports is the best turnaround story in all of the retail sector. Alex Smith, Pier 1 Imports president & CEO, weighs in. "This quarter everything came together for us," he says.

Related Links:

Business & financial news headlines from msnbc.com

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/45690531/

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Italian appeals court says why it cleared Knox

FILE -- In this file photo taken on Oct. 3 2011, Amanda Knox cries as she walks away following the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, Italy. The Italian appeals court that cleared Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate gave the reasons for its ruling on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011: the evidence that had been used by a lower court to convict the American and her Italian boyfriend of murder just didn't hold up. Those shortcomings included no murder weapon, faulty DNA, an inaccurate time for the killing, and insufficient proof that Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were even at the location where the crime occurred. So said the Perugia appellate court in its long-awaited reasoning behind its October ruling that reversed the lower court's convictions. (AP Photo/Pietro Crocchioni, Pool)

FILE -- In this file photo taken on Oct. 3 2011, Amanda Knox cries as she walks away following the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, Italy. The Italian appeals court that cleared Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate gave the reasons for its ruling on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011: the evidence that had been used by a lower court to convict the American and her Italian boyfriend of murder just didn't hold up. Those shortcomings included no murder weapon, faulty DNA, an inaccurate time for the killing, and insufficient proof that Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were even at the location where the crime occurred. So said the Perugia appellate court in its long-awaited reasoning behind its October ruling that reversed the lower court's convictions. (AP Photo/Pietro Crocchioni, Pool)

FILE -- In this file photo taken on Oct. 3, 2011, Amanda Knox cries after hearing the verdict that overturns her conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roommate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, Italy,The Italian appeals court that cleared Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate gave the reasons for its ruling on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011: the evidence that had been used by a lower court to convict the American and her Italian boyfriend of murder just didn't hold up. Those shortcomings included no murder weapon, faulty DNA, an inaccurate time for the killing, and insufficient proof that Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were even at the location where the crime occurred. So said the Perugia appellate court in its long-awaited reasoning behind its October ruling that reversed the lower court's convictions. (AP Photo/Tiziana Fabi, Pool)

FILE -- In this file photo taken on Oct. 3, 2011, Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann, left, reads out the the verdict that overturns Amanda Knox's conviction and acquits her of murdering her British roomate Meredith Kercher, at the Perugia court, Italy. The Italian appeals court that cleared Amanda Knox in the slaying of her British roommate gave the reasons for its ruling on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011: the evidence that had been used by a lower court to convict the American and her Italian boyfriend of murder just didn't hold up. Those shortcomings included no murder weapon, faulty DNA, an inaccurate time for the killing, and insufficient proof that Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were even at the location where the crime occurred. So said the Perugia appellate court in its long-awaited reasoning behind its October ruling that reversed the lower court's convictions. (AP Photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Pool)

FILE - This Oct. 4, 2011 file photo shows Amanda Knox speaking at a news conference shortly after her arrival at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Seattle. The appellate court in Italy that cleared Knox in the slaying of her British roommate has released the reasoning behind its ruling. The appellate court released its 144-page reasoning for reversing the earlier verdict on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2011. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson, file)

MILAN, Italy (AP) ? No murder weapon. Faulty DNA. No motive. Even the time of death was wrong by nearly an hour. The Italian appeals court that cleared Amanda Knox in the killing of her roommate explained its ruling on Thursday: The evidence just didn't hold up.

In a 143-page document that criticized nearly every stage of the investigation that led to the conviction of Knox and her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, the appeals court said the lower court didn't even prove they were in the house when Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher, was killed.

Kercher was found slain in a pool of blood in the house she shared with Knox in the Italian city of Perugia.

Knox and Sollecito, who had just begun dating, were arrested several days later, then convicted in what prosecutors portrayed as a drug-fueled sexual assault. They were sentenced to 26 years and 25 years, respectively, in proceedings that made headlines around the world.

The Perugia appellate court, which acquitted the two in October after reviewing the lower court's evidence and conducting new hearings of its own, criticized the "building blocks" of the conviction and the failure to identify a motive.

The guilty verdict "was not corroborated by any objective element of evidence and in itself was not, in fact, probable: the sudden choice of two young people, good and open to other people, to do evil for evil's sake, just like that, without another reason," wrote presiding Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellmann.

Still, the three-judge panel stopped short of saying what actually might have happened the night of Nov. 1, 2007. "It is not up to this court to speculate about what actually took place," Hellmann wrote, "or whether one or more people carried out the crime."

A third defendant, Ivory Coast-born drifter Rudy Guede, was convicted in a separate trial of sexually assaulting and stabbing Kercher. His 16-year prison sentence ? reduced on appeal from an initial 30 years ? was upheld by Italy's highest court in 2010.

The appeals court said there was no evidence that Knox and Sollecito helped Guede assault and kill Kercher, and expressed incredulity that they would have committed such a crime with a man they had little contact with. "There is no evidence of phone calls or text messages between the three," he wrote.

Hellmann also ridiculed the prosecution's efforts to demonize the 24-year-old Knox because she bought thong underwear days after the murder instead of more modest apparel, calling it "a garment in style and widely worn by young and not-so-young women."

Such a purchase, he wrote, "cannot be considered a show of an insensitive spirit or obscene inclinations."

He also defended Knox's behavior at a police station, where she did cartwheels and cuddled and kissed Sollecito while awaiting questioning.

Such displays could not be construed as evidence of guilt, he wrote, adding: "There are numerous ways ... to react to tragedy. An exchange of tenderness and even an exhibition of gymnastics can be explained by the need to find through gestures and behavior a bit of normality in a tragic situation."

The only elements of the prosecution case that were proven, the judge said, were a charge of slander against Knox, who was convicted of falsely accusing a bar owner of killing Kercher, and the fact that Knox and Sollecito's alibis did not match.

That the alibis were out of synch "is very different" from the prosecutors' claim of false alibis, he wrote.

And as for implicating Diya "Patrick" Lumumba after hours of intense police questioning, Knox did so because "she was convinced that was what the police wanted her to do: to name a guilty person," he said.

"The only elements that are sustained don't allow the belief, even when put together, that the guilt of Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito for the crime of murder ... has been proven," the judge said.

Prosecutors had contended that a kitchen knife found at Sollecito's house was the murder weapon, saying it matched wounds on Kercher's body and carried traces of Kercher's DNA on the blade and Knox's on the handle.

However, a court-ordered review discredited the DNA evidence, saying there were glaring errors in evidence-collecting and that below-standard testing and possible contamination raised doubts over the DNA traces on the blade and on Kercher's bra clasp.

The appellate court also contradicted the lower court's time of death, putting it nearly an hour earlier, at around 10:15 p.m. instead of after 11 p.m.

Knox returned home to Seattle immediately after her release, but prosecutors have said they plan to appeal her acquittal in Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-15-EU-Italy-Knox/id-1a7f1bfac71b49119972f3c62f4a60ae

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Humongous plane to serve as flying launch pad for space tourists

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced plans to construct a giant aircraft to launch rockets into orbit, eventually for paying passengers.

Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen announced today (Dec. 13) that he is teaming up again with aerospace design mogul Burt Rutan to develop what the pair is calling a revolutionary approach to private space travel for people, cargo or satellites.

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The billionaire investor and philanthropist unveiled the new company Stratolaunch Systems, which aims to create airport-like operations for space travel. The company, headquartered in Huntsville, Ala., will use a giant twin-boom aircraft to launch a rocket and space capsule from the air to carry commercial and government payloads, and eventually paying passengers, into orbit. The first flight is expected to occur within five years.

Once the launch system is proven to be safe and reliable, manned flights will follow, Stratolaunch Systems officials said.

"I have long dreamed about taking the next big step in private space flight after the success of SpaceShipOne ? to offer a flexible, orbital space delivery system," Allen said in a statement. "We are at the dawn of radical change in the space launch industry. Stratolaunch Systems is pioneering an innovative solution that will revolutionize space travel."

This isn't Allen's first foray into the realm of private space travel.

Allen first partnered with Rutan, founder of the aerospace design company Scaled Composites, to bankroll the construction of a manned vehicle capable of reaching the edge of space. In 2004, the?SpaceShipOne suborbital rocket plane?became the first privately built manned craft to reach suborbital space.

In October of that year, SpaceShipOne was piloted to suborbital altitudes of more than 360,000 feet (112 kilometers) on back-to-back flights that helped Rutan and Allen snag the $10 million Ansari X prize.?

Stratolaunch systems will use an aircraft developed by?Scaled Composites?that is expected to be the largest aircraft ever flown, Stratolaunch officials said.

"Paul and I pioneered private space travel with SpaceShipOne, which led to Virgin Galactic?s commercial suborbitalSpaceShipTwo Program," Rutan, who will join Stratolaunch Systems as a board member, said in a statement. "Now, we will have the opportunity to extend that capability to orbit and beyond. Paul has proven himself a visionary with the will, commitment and courage to continue pushing the boundaries of space technology. We are well aware of the challenges ahead, but we have put together an incredible research team that will draw inspiration from Paul?s vision." [Images: Paul Allen's Giant Stratolaunch Air Launch Pad?]

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/KzPaqBvwI4k/Humongous-plane-to-serve-as-flying-launch-pad-for-space-tourists

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