Gingrich, Reid Spar on Twitter Over Spending Debate

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich has challenged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to debate him on a possible government shutdown over the defunding of Obamacare.

"I would be happy to debate Harry Reid anywhere, any time about govt shutdown versus disastrous spending and destructive Obamacare," Gingrich tweeted Tuesday.

Reid shot back with his own Tweet, "@newtgingrich, to be clear, are you saying you support another government shutdown?"

The Georgia Republican said he wanted to debate the Nevada Democrat over whether the government should continue to fund Obamacare, even at the cost of a government shutdown, The Hill reported.

As House speaker, Gingrich presided over a government shutdown in 1995 due to an impasse on spending, which ultimately helped to hand Bill Clinton his re-election in 1996.

Gingrich, who will be a o-host on CNN's new "Crossfire" program, also tweeted an invite to Reid to appear on the show.

"Harry Reid would be a great guest on Crossfire this fall. We could debate the 1995 shutdown versus out of control spending and Obamacare," Gingrich tweeted Tuesday.

There have been calls among House Republicans this week to shut down the government if Obamacare is not defunded during the spending negotiations in the fall.

Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, is circulating a proposal which is already being supported by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida and other conservative colleagues.

? 2013 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/Politics/gingrich-reid-spar-twitter/2013/07/30/id/517793

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Nigeria: 24 die in blasts in Kano's Christian area

KANO, Nigeria (AP) ? Multiple explosions at a bar and entertainment area in a Christian quarter of Nigeria's northern and mainly Muslim city of Kano killed at least 24 people, a hospital official said Tuesday.

Lt. Ikedichi Iweha, a spokesman for the Military Joint Task Force, said earlier Tuesday that 12 people died at the scene and "a couple" of people were wounded in Monday night's attack, which he blamed on suspected members of the Islamic extremist Boko Haram network.

But the spokesman for Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital said their mortuary had 24 bodies brought from the scene and from the city's Murtala Muhammad Specialists Hospital.

The teaching hospital also was treating nine people wounded in the blasts, said spokesman Aminu Inuwa. It was unclear how many others might be in treatment at other hospitals.

More than a hundred people gathered outside the hospital morgue, weeping and screaming in anguish Tuesday afternoon. Military officials would not allow them into the morgue, so many said they have no idea if missing loved ones are dead or alive.

Nigeria is fighting an Islamic uprising by extremists based mainly in the northeast, where the government has declared a state of emergency. Kano city and state are in the northwest and not part of that emergency. Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden," wants to impose Islamic law in all of Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation of more than 160 million divided almost equally between Christians who live mainly in the south and Muslims who dominate the north.

Monday night's attack at just after 9 p.m. (21:00 GMT) rocked an area popular for its outdoor bars, blaring music, snooker tables and table tennis ? a place where people have fun, which is anathema to the militants.

Witness Kolade Ade said at least one blast appeared to come from a Mercedes-Benz parked beside the bar.

"After the first bomb, I threw myself into the canal (drain) to hide. There were at least three blasts," he said.

But Lt. Iweha said in a statement that the explosions were not the work of a suicide bomber but of parcels of explosives planted in the area.

"This latest incidence could have been avoided if citizens maintain vigilance to observe when packages are dropped, as it was in this case," he said.

The explosions came as hundreds of people thronged the area in the Sabon Gari neighborhood, and raised fears among the city's mainly Muslim population.

In March, a suicide bomber drove a car loaded with explosives into a bustling bus station in the same Christian neighborhood of Sabon Gari, killing 25 people.

Exactly a year ago, suspected Islamic militants attempted to attack a mosque in Kano city. They were engaged by police in running gun battles in which the militants killed five civilians and police killed four of the attackers.

In December, three days before Christmas, Kano was rocked by twin suicide car bombings that targeted two major mobile telephone companies. One worker was injured in one attack. Security officials botched the second attack by shooting the bomber, which caused an explosion at the company's gate.

In January, worshippers foiled an attack on Kano Central Mosque, killing two suspected bombers.

President Goodluck Jonathan declared a state of emergency on May 14 in six northeastern states covering one-sixth of the country, admitting that Islamic fighters had taken control of some towns and villages.

Militants have targeted Muslim political and religious leaders who preach against their extreme form of Islam. Recently, the extremists have targeted schools, killing scores of students and some teachers.

The Boko Haram network is blamed for the killings of more than 1,600 people since 2010, when suicide bombers drove a car filled with explosives into the lobby of the United Nations headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria's capital.

___

Faul reported from Lagos, Nigeria

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nigeria-24-die-blasts-kanos-christian-area-121933327.html

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AP: Florida education chief helped GOP donor's school while in Indiana

By Tom Lobianco

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS --?Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold "failing" schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett's education team frantically overhauled his signature "A-F" school grading system to improve the school's marks.

Emails obtained by The Associated Press show Bennett and his staff scrambled last fall to ensure influential donor Christel DeHaan's school received an "A," despite poor test scores in algebra that initially earned it a "C."

"They need to understand that anything less than an A for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12 email to then-chief of staff Heather Neal, who is now Gov. Mike Pence's chief lobbyist.

The emails, which also show Bennett discussed with staff the legality of changing just DeHaan's grade, raise unsettling questions about the validity of a grading system that has broad implications. Indiana uses the A-F grades to determine which schools get taken over by the state and whether students seeking state-funded vouchers to attend private school need to first spend a year in public school. They also help determine how much state funding schools receive.

A low grade also can detract from a neighborhood and drive homebuyers elsewhere.

Bennett, who now is reworking Florida's grading system as that state's education commissioner, reviewed the emails Monday morning and denied that DeHaan's school received special treatment. He said discovering that the charter would receive a low grade raised broader concerns with grades for other "combined" schools ? those that included multiple grade levels ? across the state.

"There was not a secret about this," he said. "This wasn't just to give Christel House an A. It was to make sure the system was right to make sure the system was face valid."

However, the emails clearly show Bennett's staff was intensely focused on Christel House, whose founder has given more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett and thousands more to state legislative leaders.

Other schools saw their grades change, but the emails show DeHaan's charter was the catalyst for any changes.

Bennett rocketed to prominence with the help of former Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and a national network of Republican leaders and donors, such as DeHaan. Bennett is a co-founder of Bush's Chiefs for Change, a group consisting mostly of Republican state school superintendents pushing school vouchers, teacher merit pay and many other policies enacted by Bennett in Indiana.

Though Indiana had had a school ranking system since 1999, Bennett switched to the A-F system and made it a signature item of his education agenda, raising the stakes for schools statewide.

Bennett consistently cited Christel House as a top-performing school as he secured support for the measure from business groups and lawmakers, including House Speaker Brian Bosma and Senate President Pro Tem David Long.

But trouble loomed when Indiana's then-grading director, Jon Gubera, first alerted Bennett on Sept. 12 that the Christel House Academy had scored less than an A.

"This will be a HUGE problem for us," Bennett wrote in a Sept. 12, 2012 email to Neal.

Neal fired back a few minutes later, "Oh, crap. We cannot release until this is resolved."

By Sept. 13, Gubera unveiled it was a 2.9, or a "C."

A weeklong behind-the-scenes scramble ensued among Bennett, assistant superintendent Dale Chu, Gubera, Neal and other top staff at the Indiana Department of Education. They examined ways to lift Christel House from a "C" to an "A," including adjusting the presentation of color charts to make a high "B" look like an "A" and changing the grade just for Christel House.

It's not clear from the emails exactly how Gubera changed the grading formula, but they do show DeHaan's grade jumping twice.

"That's like parting the Red Sea to get numbers to move that significantly," Jeff Butts, superintendent of Wayne Township schools in Indianapolis, said in an interview with The Associated Press.

DeHaan, who opened the Christel House Academy charter school in Indianapolis in 2002 and has since opened schools in India, Mexico and South Africa, said in a statement Monday that no one from the school ever made any requests that would affect Christel House's grades.

Current Indiana schools chief Glenda Ritz's office declined comment on the emails.

Ritz, a Democrat, defeated Bennett in November with a grass-roots campaign driven by teachers angered by Bennett's education agenda.

Bennett said Monday he felt no special pressure to deliver an "A" for DeHaan. Instead, he argued, if he had paid more attention to politics he would have won re-election in Indiana.

Yet Bennett wrote to staff twice in four days, directly inquiring about DeHaan's status. Gubera broke the news after the second note that "terrible" 10th grade algebra results had "dragged down their entire school."

Bennett called the situation "very frustrating and disappointing" in an email that day.

"I am more than a little miffed about this," Bennett wrote. "I hope we come to the meeting today with solutions and not excuses and/or explanations for me to wiggle myself out of the repeated lies I have told over the past six months."

Bennett said Monday that email expressed his frustration at having assured top-performing schools like DeHaan's would be recognized in the grading system, but coming away with a flawed formula that would undo his promises.

When requested a status update Sept. 14, his staff alerted him that the new school grade, a 3.50, was painfully close to an "A." Then-deputy chief of staff Marcie Brown wrote that the state might not be able to "legally" change the cutoff for an "A."

"We can revise the rule," Bennett responded.

Over the next week, his top staff worked arduously to get Christel House its "A." By Sept. 21, Christel House had jumped to a 3.75. Gubera resigned shortly afterward.

He declined comment Monday.

The emails don't detail what Gubera changed in the school formula or how many schools were affected. Indiana education experts consulted for this article said they weren't aware the formula had been changed.

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Source: http://jacksonville.com/opinion/blog/403455/matt-dixon/2013-07-29/ap-florida-education-chief-helped-gop-donors-school-while

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LG Optimus G Pro: A Great (Big) $100 Android Phone

If you can first make peace with the sheer, pocket-hogging size of the thing, you'll find a lot to love about LG's beastly, 5.5-inch Android phone.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/c_zBJB9SZAI/

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Florida likely to get short break from storm threats

Rees Redirect: Get the latest storm updates from Ken Kaye. SunSentinel.com/stormcenter

Florida is probably safe from a hurricane hit over the next couple of weeks, thanks to the same atmospheric conditions that mangled Tropical Storms Chantal and Dorian.

Both systems were done in by strong wind shear, dry air and cooler ocean temperatures. Although Dorian briefly looked like it might regenerate on Monday, chances of that are quickly diminishing.

The same hostile conditions might remain in place until mid-August. But experts say they likely won't persist long enough to dampen the heart of the season, which starts in mid-August and continues through October.

"These weather systems are transient," warned meteorologist Robert Molleda.

Although most of Dorian's remnants are expected to remain offshore, the system still could bring some heavy rain to South and Central Florida, mainly on Thursday. The rain chance has been increased to 50 to 60 percent on that day, the National Weather Service said.

"We're assuming some of the moisture will be close to us," Molleda said.

Wind shear and dry air commonly disrupt tropical systems that wander into the western Atlantic in July. But there's no guarantee of that later on.

"It's normal for conditions in July to be less favorable than in August or September," said James Franklin, top hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center.

For now, forecast teams say the hurricane season could be extremely busy because they expect winds and moisture levels over the tropical Atlantic to become more conducive for storm development.

As evidence those conditions already are starting to gel, both Chantal and Dorian emerged in the eastern Atlantic, which is normally too unsettled for storms to develop in July.

"The fact that they formed there at all in July, even though they didn't last long, suggests that when we hit the peak months, things could be very favorable for development," said Stanley Goldenberg, a research meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

On the other hand, some atmospheric factors could suppress systems, mainly dry air and cooler sea surface temperatures, said Phil Klotzbach, a Colorado State University climatologist.

"There are a lot of mixed signals out there," he said.

Klotzbach and William Gray, who in June predicted 18 named storms, including nine hurricanes, will update their seasonal forecast on Friday. NOAA, which called for up to 20 named storms, including up to 11 hurricanes, will update its outlook on Aug. 8.

After emerging last week, Dorian survived less than three days. On Monday, its remnants, near Puerto Rico, were given a 30 percent chance of redeveloping.

"The primary impediment to development is the presence of an upper-level trough of low pressure to its west," said Jeff Masters, chief meteorologist of Weather Underground, the online weather site. "Strong upper-level southwesterly winds associated with this trough are creating moderate wind shear and driving dry air into the west side of ex-Dorian."

kkaye@tribune.com or 954-572-2085.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Hurricane/~3/P6HVLGPfv2c/fl-dorian-tuesday-20130729,0,3311291.story

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Libya PM to reshuffle cabinet amid wave of attacks | Morocco World ...

by Imed Lamloum

TRIPOLI, July 29, 2013 (AFP)

Libya?s premier said Monday he would restore a feared Kadhafi-era security agency and reshuffle the cabinet to help resolve a political crisis and end a wave of violence.

Ali Zeidan said he would reactivate the Internal Security Agency which helped keep the former dictator in power for decades to try to stem a spate of bombings and assassinations, particularly in the east of the country.

?I understand the population?s opposition to this agency that was used by the former regime to repress the people,? he said.

?But without an efficient intelligence body, we cannot stop the attacks,? he said the day after two explosions outside the courthouse in second city Benghazi wounded 43 people, according to the latest health ministry toll.

Zeidan told a news conference in Tripoli that a new defence minister had been chosen and that by Wednesday a new list of ministers would be presented to the country?s highest political authority, the General National Congress.

Libya has not had a defence minister since the removal of Mohammed al-Barghathi from the post in late June.

Zeidan did not name any of the candidates or other portfolios that will be affected by the reshuffle.

But he did say that ?a personality? had been chosen for the defence post.

Meanwhile, the GNC announced on Facebook that it had appointed a new chief of staff on Monday.

Abdessalem Jadallah al-Salihin, who had been an officer in Kadhafi?s special forces but joined the uprising against him in 2011, was named to the post.

In his speech, Zeidan also said specialised teams from Britain and Interpol were expected in Libya soon to help investigate the violence in Benghazi.

On Monday, a car bomb exploded in central Benghazi, a security spokesman told AFP, adding that it had been an attempt to kill a senior naval officer.

?The explosion was caused by a device attached to the car,? Mohamed Hijazi said after reports of a white pickup truck exploding in the city centre and bursting into flames.

?It was an attempted assassination,? Hijazi said, adding that the officer was wounded in the blast.

Clashes between the Libyan army and an armed group near the central town of Sirte killed two people and wounded four others, the news agency LANA reported, without giving further details.

The fighting lasted several hours, LANA said.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Monday expressed concern about the violence.

?Those responsible for violence against the Libyan people, be it shootings or bombings, must be brought to justice to answer for their crimes,? a statement from her office said.

Zeidan said on Friday a ministerial reshuffle would cut the number of cabinet members to create ?greater efficiency?.

He accused the General National Congress of shackling his efforts and stressed: ?I?m an independent. I am not supported by any one party.?

On Saturday and Sunday the offices of political parties in the capital and in Benghazi were vandalised.

Parties targeted included the Muslim Brotherhood?s political wing the Party of Justice and Construction (PJC) and its liberal rival the Alliance of National Forces (NFA).

Amid a spate of incidents in Benghazi, nearly 1,300 inmates escaped during a riot on Saturday in the city?s Al-Kuifiya prison, a security official said. On Friday night, hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Benghazi to condemn the assassination earlier that day of Abdessalem al-Mesmari, an anti-Islamist lawyer who campaigned for a civil state.

Many Libyans blame political rivalries for the problems plaguing a country awash with militias and weaponry left over from the 2011 revolution that toppled Moamer Kadhafi.

?It was a mistake to allow political parties to operate before a constitution was adopted and a law regulating parties was drawn up,? Zeidan admitted on Monday.

?The party with the greatest interest in seeing the country sink into violence and instability is undoubtedly the former regime,? commentator Mohamed Belkheir said.

?Supporters of the former regime have money and are well embedded in the cogs of the state machinery,? he said.

Ashton, who was in Egypt on Monday for talks as Libya?s eastern neighbour was rocked by violence after a July 3 coup, urged Libyans to rally behind Zeidan.

She called on Libyans ?led by the democratically elected government of Mr Zeidan, to ensure the security and stability of the country in the face of those groups who try to undermine the Libyan transition,? her statement said.

?She also encourages the Libyan authorities to proceed as quickly as possible with the process of drafting and adopting a new constitution.?

Source: http://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2013/07/99357/libya-pm-to-reshuffle-cabinet-amid-wave-of-attacks/

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She's battled breast cancer twice, but hasn't missed a Pan-Mass ride in 12 years

PORTSMOUTH --- Elizabeth Fregeau already was contemplating riding in the 2001 Pan-Mass Challenge when she received news that would solidify her desire to support the Dana-Farber Cancer Center in Boston, the bicycling event's beneficiary.

A mother of two, Fregeau was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2000 and immediately underwent surgery, followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

By April 2001, she was in remission. That August, she completed her first two-day, 163-mile ride from Wellesley, Mass., to Province-town, at the tip of Cape Cod.

The experience was so powerful, Fregeau has returned every year since, even following a bout with a different type of breast cancer in 2010. Although her course of treatment did not wrap up until June of that year, and included a double mastectomy, by August she was back on her bike.

Her oncologist and others advised against it.

"She said, 'I'm behind you, but you have to know you have nothing left in the tank.'" Fregeau said, recalling the conversation with the doctor. "She was concerned, but she also knew I had to do what I had to do."

And she did, completing the two-day ride with family and friends cheering along the way.

The most significant moment that year came near the end of the ride, when Fregeau, still bald and wondering if she was going to make it, saw her two daughters, Emily, now 18, and Caroline, now 14, at the finish line. They had often seen their mother start the ride but had never seen her finish.

It is a memory that still causes Fregeau to choke up when talking about it.

This August, at 49, she will ride for the 13th consecutive year, with the support of her daughters, many friends and family, and her boyfriend of seven years.

"It's an incredible ride - the people you meet, the reason why you do it," Fregeau said.

Her first year participating in the Challenge, she had planned to ride in memory of a friend's mother who had lost her battle with breast cancer.

Now, she rides not only for those who have lost, but those who have survived. And she continues to spread a message of hope bred from the research done at Dana-Farber that has helped her to stay alive.

Now in its 34th year, the Pan-Mass Challenge raises more money for charity than any other single athletic fundraising event in the country, according to Dana-Farber.

On Aug. 3 and 4, Fregeau will be among 5,500 cyclists, including 143 others from New Hampshire, who will ride with the collective goal of raising $38 million to support patient care and cancer research at Dana-Farber.

To date, Fregeau alone has raised nearly $87,000 for the cause.

She said riding in the Pan-Mass Challenge is a way to give back to everyone fighting all kinds of cancers.

She also gives back in other ways.

In 2003, she helped to start a breast-cancer support group called "Breast Friends," which has grown to 700 members representing cancer survivors and current cancer patients.

In July, Fregeau joined other survivors in a ride around the warning track of Fenway Park, where she met other women in earlier stages of treatment. They were able to talk about their experiences, and Fregeau was able to give them some hope.

She said she used to ask her mother why this was happening to her. She was otherwise healthy, ate well, exercised.

Her mom suggested that it may be so she could be an inspiration to others. And she is, even in the way she simply lives her life each day.

"I definitely think I kind of live in the moment more," she said. "I appreciate the little things more."

gmacalaster@newstote.com

Source: http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20130727/NEWHAMPSHIRE09/130729311/-1/newhampshire&source=RSS

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San Diego mayor Bob Filner to have therapy after sexual harassment claims

Mr Weiner?s lead in the polls imploded after fresh revelations this week that he had used he alias ?Carlos Danger? to continued his 'sexting? habits for several months after he resigned from congress promising to mend his ways.

Having led comfortably, Mr Weiner, 48, now trails his nearest rival Christine Quinn, the New York City Council speaker, by 9-percentage points in the race to win the Democratic nomination for mayor, a poll released on Thursday found.

Mrs Quinn, who is closely allied to the out-going mayor Michael Bloomberg, said Mr Weiner had demonstrated ?reckless behaviour, an immaturity and a real disconnect from the truth.?

Like Mr Filner, however, Mr Weiner is ignoring widespread calls for him to drop out of public life and is ploughing on with his campaign despite receiving a hostile reception on the campaign trail last week after the news broke.

As Mr Weiner tried to show his concern for the victims of last year?s Hurricane Sandy he was confronted by Peg Brunda, a retired school teacher, who said she would not vote for him, according to the New York Daily News .

?I don?t quite understand how you would feel you?d have the moral authority as the head administrator in this city, to oversee employees, when your standard of conduct is so much lower than the standard of conduct that is expected of us,? said.

Mr Filner?s decision to enter sex counselling while remaining in control of the Californian city of 1.3m with morning and evening briefings from City Hall, was also derided as a transparent attempt to hang on to power.

?I think this is a man who demonstrates an extreme narcissistic profile,? one of his accusers, Morgan Rose, a school psychologist, told CNN, ?He is doing this because he can keep the control and power. He is not giving that up for us. If he truly was repentant he would. He would realise how hurtful he was to us.?

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/568301/s/2f3c8071/sc/24/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cworldnews0Cnorthamerica0Cusa0C10A20A65140CSan0EDiego0Emayor0EBob0EFilner0Eto0Ehave0Etherapy0Eafter0Esexual0Eharassment0Eclaims0Bhtml/story01.htm

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EU, Chinese solar panel makers agree on price

The EU and Chinese solar panel exporters said on Saturday that they had reached a settlement in their long trade dispute, with the exporters agreeing to sell their products at a minimum price in the EU market.

The agreement ends one of the biggest-ever trade disputes between China and Europe ? a row that threatened to escalate into a full-blown trade war involving European wines and to disrupt EU-China relations.

The settlement comes after negotiations that began last month when the EU announced that duties averaging 47 percent on Chinese-made solar panels, cells and wafers would come into effect next month. The EU said then that China was selling its products in the EU market at below-cost prices and harming the European solar panel industry.

In announcing the settlement, EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said that he was satisfied with the offer by the Chinese solar panel exporters and that the agreement would stabilize the European solar panel market.

?We have found an amicable solution that will result in a new equilibrium on the European solar panel market at a sustainable price level,? he said.

The China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products said in a statement that the price promise represents the majority will of Chinese companies and that it would allow Chinese manufacturers to continue to export their products to Europe and retain fair market shares. The chamber described the negotiations as ?arduous? and ?meticulous.?

?China?s solar panels industry is always committed to maintaining a fair international trade environment,? the statement said. ?It opposes trade protectionism and supports resolving disputes through negotiations.?

Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesman Shen Danyang (???) said China welcomed the settlement. The EU is the largest export market for Chinese solar panel products, according to Shen.

In Europe and the US, the price drop in the solar panels market in recent years has wreaked havoc among EU and US manufacturers, forcing several out of business.

More than a fifth of all jobs ? or about 24,000 ? in Germany?s once-burgeoning solar panel industry have been lost since 2011. A recent government report found that solar industry revenue dropped to 7.34 billion euros (US$9.53 billion) last year from 11.9 billion euros in 2011 and blamed the price fall on cheap solar panels made in China.

However German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the most powerful EU leader, spoke out strongly against the duties, fearful they would result in a Chinese backlash.

Earlier this month, China?s commerce ministry opened an anti-dumping probe into the wine exports from Europe in response to the EU?s planned tariffs on Chinese solar panels.

Source: http://libertytimes.feedsportal.com/c/33098/f/535603/s/2f430b53/sc/2/l/0L0Staipeitimes0N0CNews0Cbiz0Carchives0C20A130C0A70C290C20A0A3568389/story01.htm

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Group protests Enbridge pipeline project to reverse flow of oil near Sarnia

SARNIA, Ont. - A group of protesters who gathered on the Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia say they oppose plans to reverse the flow of oil in an Enbridge pipeline.

The Line 9 pipeline goes through the Sarnia area and reversing the flow would allow Alberta crude to move to Montreal.

Spokeswoman for the protest Vanessa Gray, 21, says she's worried about an oil spill similar to one that happened three years ago in Michigan.

She says about 20 people gathered Saturday afternoon for a peaceful protest.

Line 9 runs in two sections from Sarnia, Ont., to North Westover, near Hamilton, and then from there to Montreal.

A protest last month in North Westover led to the arrest of 18 protesters who refused to leave a pumping station.

Both protest actions were also linked to the Idle No More movement.

Source: http://www.mjtimes.sk.ca/Canada---World/Society/2013-07-27/article-3331110/Group-protests-Enbridge-pipeline-project-to-reverse-flow-of-oil-near-Sarnia/1

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My Child Will Face a Hatred That I Have Never Known

How would you explain the Trayvon Martin shooting and trial to children? In this file photo, NAACP rally for Martin in Sanford, Fla., last March.

Photo by Lucas Jackson/Reuters

After George Zimmerman walked free, we finally showed our 10-year-old the Jackie Robinson biopic, 42. He had trouble sleeping. So did we.

We?re white. He?s African-American. In the past, when we?ve tried talking with him about what?s wrong with the N-word?a word so coolly slung in his favorite songs?he's told us that ?no one cares? about that race stuff any more. He can think that because he's grown up in a Cambridge, Mass., bubble, where his family?two white women raising one brown boy?is boringly ordinary. He knows plenty of other brown and black kids?on our block, in his school, on his sports teams?with at least one white parent, whether by birth, remarriage, or adoption; often enough the parents are two women or two men. In his daily life, ?all that race stuff? can easily seem like ancient history.

But he's stopped saying that since he watched 42, and heard the N-word used in its native habitat, flecked with the spittle of hate and contempt. It was painful. But it gave us the opening we needed to talk seriously about race, including the gut-wrenching Zimmerman verdict. He hadn?t known about the trial?Whitey Bulger, Aaron Hernandez, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev have dominated the crime news up here in Boston recently?but we had to find a way to tell him. Because although he doesn?t know it yet, it was a trial about him.

So we put on the movie. Had I watched 42 before my little Bruins-loving man came into my life, I would've found it cheesy. I would've rolled my eyes at Robinson?s ideal and admiring bride; I would've yeah-yeah-yeahed as, one by one, his teammates stepped up to fight others? prejudices. And I would've had no patience with the simplistic depiction of racism as meaningless ignorance easily overcome by real contact with black people, rather than as the structurally entrenched enforcement of a damaging caste system in which some humans profited from other humans? debasement.

But with my boy sitting next to me, visibly miserable to learn what Jackie Robinson faced, and knowing that Trayvon Martin had been shot and killed in the same town?Sanford, Fla.?where the movie showed Robinson threatened by the Klan, 42 left me in tears. Our son told us that he didn?t like the movie, and asked if we could turn it off. But we can?t in good conscience launch him unprepared into a world where there are still George Zimmermans walking free. He needs to understand this sickening history, both the unreasoning white hatred and the white allies who stand up to it. The past isn't over, as Faulkner wrote. It isn't even the past. We watched it all the way through.

Afterward, our sweet-headed boy?a child who's terrified of spiders and loves fart jokes?was especially upset by the fact that Robinson had gotten hate mail from strangers, that his life was threatened for playing baseball with white men. He kept asking us: Who wrote those letters? Did the police catch them and put them in jail? Why not? We?ve worked hard to undo his outsize fear of ?bad guys? and burglars, to teach him that most people are good, to understand that the police and the law are there to protect us. So it was painful to say: Some of those letters were probably written by cops.

When he wanted to know why the jury let Zimmerman off, we didn?t have the words to explain reasonable doubt to a 10-year-old. He wouldn?t understand phrases like poor prosecution, indifferent investigation, or ?stand your ground.? We couldn?t articulate the probability that by refusing to consider race, the mostly white jury was probably influenced by parts of their brains they don?t know are there, or to explain that hidden biases could have influenced both Zimmerman and the jury to perceive a young black man in a hoodie as a potential menace, whereas a young white man, similarly reedy and with a hood up to keep out the rain, might get the benefit of the doubt. How do you explain that sometimes these attitudes grow not out of overt hatred but because of the more subtle biases, nearly undetectable except by social scientists and neurologists, lodged in American neurons so deeply that most of us don?t even know that they're there?

Source: http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/07/the_zimmerman_verdict_forced_me_a_white_mother_me_talk_to_my_black_son_about.html

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Live From Google's Mystery Announcement With Android Head Sundar Pichai

We're live from San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood, where Google has asked a couple dozen of us tech-minded folk to join them for the announcement of? something. What exactly that something could be is still (kind of) a mystery ? but we're here to find out.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/h_a6AAEFEME/

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Google letting developers in on the Chromecast action with Google Cast SDK

Now that Google has let its $35 Chromecast HDMI dongle out of the bag at its breakfast press event, it's gonna need developers to chip in some apps for it. To help boost that effort, the company is releasing the Google Cast SDK to help those folks bring content from mobile and the web to TVs. By using the kit, developers won't need to build new applications for the big screen from scratch; they'll just need to make a few tweaks to their existing mobile apps. Mountain View expects Google Cast tech to be embedded in future hardware, with Chromecast being "the first instantiation" of such an ecosystem. You'll can now grab a preview (at the source) for iOS, Android and Chrome -- which is good news, since the wee dongle already appears to be sold out on Play.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Google

Comments

Source: Google Cast

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/rNiTD5KDgBk/

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GOP leaders denounce Rep. Steve King for calling most illegal immigrants ‘drug mules’

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

Source: www.washingtonpost.com --- Wednesday, July 24, 2013
House Republican leaders are denouncing one of their own for remarks made last week that disparaged most illegal immigrants as drug smugglers. The comments by Rep. Steve King (Iowa) came as the GOP is trying to improve its image and political prospects among the fast-growing Latino community. Read full article >> ? ? ? ? ...

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Official Droid MAXX specs

The supposed new king of battery life, the Motorola Droid MAXX packs a whopping 3500mAh battery in a phone just .28-inches thick. Verizon is promising 48-hours of battery life, and we can't wait to put that to the test.

Besides offering great battery life, the MAXX is full of other goodies -- like wireless charging, Motorola's new eight-core X8 Mobile Computing System, and a snazzy Kevlar back. We know you want to see the full specs, so keep reading!

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/thVqgKONWyE/story01.htm

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Chris Brown Pleads Not Guilty to Hit and Run

Source:

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'The Conjuring' tops box office with $41.9M

"R.I.P.D." was dead on arrival at the box office.

Sony's ghost-busting crime caper starring Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges opened in seventh place with $12.7 million, while the Warner Bros. haunted house thriller "The Conjuring" spooked up $41.9 million to rank first during its initial weekend in theaters.

Fox's animated snail racing adventure "Turbo," opened with $21.3 million in third place.

Summit Entertainment's "Red 2," which stars Bruce Willis and Helen Mirren as retired CIA operatives, debuted with $18 million in fifth place.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com, are:

1. "The Conjuring," Warner Bros., $41,855,326, 2,903 locations, $14,418 average, $41,855,326, one week.

2. "Despicable Me 2," Universal, $24,906,360, 3,820 locations, $6,520 average, $276,006,395, three weeks.

3. "Turbo," Fox, $21,312,625, 3,806 locations, $5,600 average, $31,015,384, one week.

4. "Grown Ups 2," Sony, $19,872,150, 3,491 locations, $5,692 average, $79,388,026, two weeks.

5. "Red 2," Summit, $18,048,422, 3,016 locations, $5,984 average, $18,048,422, one week.

6. "Pacific Rim," Warner Bros., $16,002,231, 3,285 locations, $4,871 average, $68,282,523, two weeks.

7. "R.I.P.D.," Universal, $12,691,415, 2,852 locations, $4,450 average, $12,691,415, one week.

8. "The Heat," Fox, $9,303,788, 2,689 locations, $3,460 average, $129,271,224, four weeks.

9. "World War Z," Paramount, $5,191,541, 2,066 locations, $2,513 average, $186,932,608, five weeks.

10. "Monsters University," Disney, $5,121,878, 2,186 locations, $2,343 average, $249,114,132, five weeks.

11. "The Lone Ranger," Disney, $4,380,047, 2,273 locations, $1,927 average, $81,291,290, three weeks.

12. "White House Down," Sony, $2,400,246, 1,454 locations, $1,651 average, $68,452,875, four weeks.

13. "The Way, Way Back," Fox Searchlight, $2,200,622, 304 locations, $7,239 average, $4,592,892, three weeks.

14. "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain," Summit, $2,034,217, 748 locations, $2,720 average, $29,947,017, three weeks.

15. "Man of Steel," Warner Bros., $1,819,387, 1,050 locations, $1,733 average, $285,000,474, six weeks.

16. "This Is the End," Sony, $1,179,821, 622 locations, $1,897 average, $94,429,913, six weeks.

17. "Fruitvale Station," Weinstein Co., $739,484, 34 locations, $21,750 average, $1,331,697, two weeks.

18. "Girl Most Likely," Roadside Attractions, $694,477, 351 locations, $1,979 average, $694,477, one week.

19. "Now You See Me," Lionsgate, $436,092, 333 locations, $1,310 average, $114,410,708, eight weeks.

20. "20 Feet From Stardom," Weinstein Co., $397,335, 135 locations, $2,943 average, $2,425,321, six weeks.

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2013-07-22-US-Box-Office/id-9d8aafc6104848619a3dc58afcf967dc

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Discounts & Benefits - Online Community AARP - Friends & Family ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.aarp.org/online-community/people/showProfile.action?UID=50496862&plckPersonaPage=PersonaBlog&plckUserId=50496862

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Purple bacteria on Earth could survive alien light

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Purple bacteria contain pigments that allow them to use sunlight as their source of energy, hence their color. Physicists recently found that these organisms can also survive in the presence of extreme alien light. The findings show that the way in which light is received by the bacteria can dictate the difference between life and death.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_technology/~3/EAUZ112T6Dk/130723134542.htm

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14th Meeting of Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh held

Following is the text of the joint press statement on the 14^th Meeting of the Home Secretaries of India and? Bangladesh held in New Delhi from July 19^th to? July 22^nd? 2013.

????????? ?The 14^th?meeting of the Home Secretaries of India and Bangladesh was held in New Delhi from July 19^th to July 22^nd, 2013. The Indian delegation was led by Mr. Anil Goswami, Union Home Secretary, Government of India. The Bangladesh delegation was led by Mr. C. Q. K. Mustaq Ahmed, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Bangladesh.

???????The two Home Secretaries recalled the excellent and friendly bilateral relations existing between India and Bangladesh and reiterated their commitment to further take these relations forward. They noted that the exchange of visits by the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and India in January 2010 and September 2011 respectively and by the Home Minister of Bangladesh to India in February and December 2012 and the Home Minister of India to Bangladesh in July 2011 and January 2013 has infused a new dynamism in the bilateral relations in general and security cooperation in particular. They also noted that the bilateral cooperation in the field of security and border management has been strengthened with the signing of four agreements pertaining to security cooperation including the Extradition Treaty.

??????They took note of the outcome of the 13th JWG meeting on Security issues held on 18 July 2013, wherein the two sides discussed issues such as security, border management, incidents of deaths due to firing on the border, implementation of agreements, ratification of the land boundary agreement, visa and consular related matters, capacity building etc.

?????The Indian Home Secretary conveyed the appreciation of Government of India to Government of Bangladesh for extending cooperation for addressing the security concerns of India. The two Home Secretaries reaffirmed their commitment not to allow the territory of either country to be used for any activity inimical to each other?s interests. Both sides expressed satisfaction at the smooth operation of Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) and agreed to increase the frequency of coordinated patrolling with a view to curbing criminal activities along the border.

??????They noted with satisfaction that the implementation of the CBMP has resulted in reduced number of border incidents. Agreeing that it is a joint responsibility, both Home Secretaries expressed confidence that increased number of coordinated patrolling would enhance cooperation between the border guarding forces of the two countries, and enable them to prevent the movement of criminals and manage the identified vulnerable areas with a view to prevent criminal activities, acts of violence and loss of lives along the border areas. As an additional measure for better border management, both sides welcomed the recent DC-DM conference between Brahmanbaria district of Bangladesh and West Tripura district of India. They agreed to have regular consultations between the DMs-DCs of border districts for resolving local issues. Both the sides also agreed to sensitize the media about ground realities of border management.

???????Both sides agreed to further intensify the activities of the different nodal points in different areas of cooperation such as human trafficking, drugs, INTERPOL, etc. They expressed satisfaction at the regular interaction of different bilateral mechanisms, including BGB-BSF DG level meetings, Narcotics DG level meetings, JWG on Security issues etc. and noted that these regular exchanges helped to enhance understanding and resolve issues to mutual satisfaction.

??????Both sides agreed to extend cooperation for apprehension of wanted criminals and fugitives. The Bangladesh Home Secretary urged for immediate tracking, arresting, and handing over the killers of Bangabandhu, the Father of the nation of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Indian Home Secretary assured that India will continue to extend all possible assistance in this regard.

??????Both sides expressed satisfaction at the level of cooperation in the seizure and prevention of trafficking of drugs. Bangladesh side also appreciated the decision of the Indian Government to invoke the provisions of the NDPS Act to contain the trafficking of Codeine based syrups like Phensedyl. ?It was also agreed to expand and strengthen further cooperation in sharing actionable intelligence in real time.

??????Both sides noted that the implementation of three agreements (Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons and Combating Terrorism, organized crime and illicit drug trafficking) signed during the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to India in 2010 has been satisfactory.

????Both the Home Secretaries reviewed the measures taken to expedite the verification and repatriation of prisoners who have completed their sentences. Both sides welcomed the recent setting up of procedures for transfer of sentenced prisoners and agreed to expedite the process so that nationals who are in each other?s jails could serve remaining period of their sentence in their native country.

??????Both sides discussed the ratification of the LBA-1974 and the protocol signed in 2011 and noted that early ratification of the same would pave the way for implementation of the provisions of the agreement and lay the long pending boundary related issues at rest.

?????Both sides welcomed that the Joint Task Force on Fake Currency Notes has been set up and agreed that the first meeting may be convened soon to develop a mechanism to deal with the menace.

????Both sides agreed that there should be greater number of goodwill visits and increased cooperation in training on subjects like Cyber Crime, ICT, Forensic Sciences etc. The Indian side reiterated its offer of training courses for law enforcement agencies of Bangladesh in Indian Institutions.

??????The Home Secretary of Bangladesh invited the Home Secretary of India for the 15th Home Secretary level talks at a mutually convenient time in Bangladesh.?

?

KSD/HR/SK

****

?

Source: http://pib.nic.in/newsite/erelease.aspx?relid=97344

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Invites for the LG G2 event in New York are making the rounds, and LG isn't keeping secrets

LG puts the G2 front and center in today's press invitation to New York on August 7.

LG's not even trying to hide it anymore, as a new round of press invites for their August 7 event in New York have went out, and they not only picture the G2, but name it in the text.

To be honest, we think this is a great thing. Everyone knows what LG has coming, everyone is excited about the new G2, and giving us pictures and dropping the name around makes us look forward to the event even more. As a refresher, what we expect to see inside the G2:

• Snapdragon 800 processor at 2.3GHz
• 2GB RAM
• 13MP camera
• Back mounted volume controls
• 5.2-inch 1080p display
• On-screen buttons

With those internals, it's no wonder that a lot of folks can't wait to see and hear more about the LG G2. We'll be there in New York, not just because it's our job to be there, but because we're also Android nerds are are pretty excited.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/BzNawcfFJfc/story01.htm

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Hockey Canada releases Olympic orientation camp roster ...

Getty ImagesThe NHL will be sending its players to Sochi for the 2014 Winter Olympics. On Monday, Hockey Canada announced their 47-player list of players who will be invited to Calgary at the end of August for orientation camp.

Here are Team Canada's camp invitees:

Goalies: Corey Crawford, Braden Holtby, Roberto Luongo, Carey Price, Mike Smith

Defensemen: Karl Alzer, Jay Bouwmeester, Dan Boyle, Drew Doughty, Mike Green, Dan Hamhuis, Travis Hamonic, Duncan Keith, Kris Letang, Marc Methot, Dion Phaneuf, Alex Pietrangelo, Brent Seabrook, Marc Staal, P.K. Subban, Marc-Edouard Vlasic, Shea Weber

Forwards: Patrice Bergeron, Jeff Carter, Logan Couture, Sidney Crosby, Matt Duchene, Jordan Eberle, Ryan Getzlaf, Claude Giroux, Taylor Hall, Chris Kunitz, Andrew Ladd, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand, Rick Nash, James Neal, Corey Perry, Mike Richards, Patrick Sharp, Eric Staal, Jordan Staal,Martin St. Louis, Steven Stamkos, John Tavares, Joe Thornton, Jonathan Toews

Chicago (5), Pittsburgh/San Jose (4) and Boston/Los Angeles/Washington (3) lead the the way with the number of players heading to camp. And, according to Hockey Canada, Crawford is the only player on the list to not have represented them internationally at any level. That's what a strong regular season and Stanley Cup ring will do for you.

As usual, there's enough talent that Canada could send two strong sides to Sochi. Of course, this also means some tough cuts need to be made, like not including Jamie Benn, Jason Spezza, Evander Kane or Francois Beauchemin in their preliminary list. Those players can be added later as replacements, if need be.

While the U.S. and Canadian players will be in Washington, D.C. and Calgary, respectively, for camp next month, insurance issues may keep them all off the ice.

From the Canadian Press:

"Insurance is a big issue," Nicholson said in an interview Friday. "We got some quotes yesterday that it would be over a million dollars to skate. So if it's that type of dollars, it'd be very difficult for us to do that. But we're just starting to look into that now with the agreement being done."

While the agreement to send NHL players to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, takes care of insurance during the tournament, individual federations are responsible for insuring contracts for orientation camps.

USA Hockey has already said its players will not skate at their camp.

The provisional rosters for all 12 competing nations will be due to the IIHF by Dec. 31, which will be made up of 22 skaters and 3 goaltenders. Official rosters for the tournament will be announced the day before things kick off on Feb. 11, 2014.

Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/hockey-canada-releases-olympic-orientation-camp-roster-insurance-183944355.html

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'Community' panel at Comic-Con: As it happened

Well, this should be a bit fun! Community is in Comic-Con's legendary Hall H this year for a celebration of its fandom - which sounds very nice, doesn't it?

We're expecting a bunch of the stars plus execs Dan Harmon and Chris McKenna, so join us back here at 1.50pm PT / 4.50pm ET / 9.50pm BST to find out what's going on...

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Third of Britons see interest rates rising in next 12 months - poll

LONDON (Reuters) - More than a third of Britons think interest rates will rise in the next 12 months, a survey showed on Sunday, suggesting the Bank of England's first attempt to ease concern over higher rates ahead has had little effect beyond financial markets.

The bank and its new governor, Mark Carney, will have to hope for more success with their next try - likely to come in more detailed form in early August - as they work to encourage consumers to spend more and spur economic growth.

The survey by financial data company Markit found that on top of the 35 percent of respondents who expected the Bank to raise rates over the next year, a further 18 percent thought it would happen in 13 to 24 months' time.

Only 16 percent of Britons agreed with financial markets, which are predicting that the central bank will start raising interest rates in two years' time at the earliest.

"The survey results present the Bank with the challenge of better communicating the prospect of an extended period of low interest," said Markit economist Chris Williamson.

"The spectre of higher interest rates is a key factor restraining many of the UK's 11 million mortgage holders from feeling comfortable about increasing their current spending."

The outcome of the July 10-15 survey for Markit chimes with the findings of the Bank poll of households in May, before the central bank's latest steer on interest rates.

On July 4, after its first policy meeting under Carney, the Bank took the unusual step of warning that investors were predicting higher rates too soon.

That caused markets to push back expectations of the first rate rise into the second half of 2015 from the first half as thought before the announcement.

Markit's survey found that 27 percent of respondents had no view on what would happen to rates, in a sign of uncertainty that could be also curbing consumption.

The Bank cut rates to a record low of 0.5 percent in 2009 and has kept them there ever since as the British economy has struggled to recover from the financial crisis.

On August 7, the bank is due to report on the merits of sending clear signals on how long it will keep rates low. It will probably adopt such forward guidance, a policy favoured by Carney. In his former job running the Bank of Canada, he pledged to keep rates super-low for over a year.

In the survey, around 1,500 people were interviewed on behalf of Markit.

(Reporting by Olesya Dmitracova)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/third-britons-see-interest-rates-rising-next-12-230537207.html

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Concert Review: 'Video Games Live: Bonus Round!' at Wolf Trap

?Video Games Live? at Wolf Trap. Photo courtesy of Wolf Trap.

For those who call video games anti-social or who think that only a minority of people, ?nerds? play them they are in for a shock when going to a performance of Video Games Live: Bonus Round! The evening opened with Video Games Live creator and Video Game composer Tommy Tallarico saying, ?Some people think video games are just for little kids, video game music is just a bunch of annoying bips and bloops, video games are the cause of violence.? Well if there was ever a crowd to staunchly disagree it was at Wolf Trap saturday night. People of all ages were out to see the National Symphony Orchestra and a chorus prepared by Danny Ozment perform music from Pacman to Skyrim.

Video Games Live! was created by Mr. Tallarico in 2002 as an immersive audio and video experience to celebrate and support the art of video game music. It is now in its 10th anniversary of touring with two albums and numerous awards.

Emil de Cou the NSO at Wolf Trap festival conductor wrote in the introduction ?all the worlds of music are welcome on our stage? and never was it more true than for the Video Games Live: Bonus Round performance. If you are a fan of orchestra concerts ?the calm spectators clapping politely at just the right moments? this performance was not for you. Rarely have I seen such audience enthusiasm, energy and sheer joy for the music being performed, it was infectious.

??a fun, exciting, and unique experience.

The National Symphony Orchestra was stellar, conducted with elegance and mirth by Emmanuel Fratianni. They were gleefully cheered on as they had to perform the music, sound effects and all, while select members of the audience got on stage and played super smash brothers live. It is hard to imagine a better way to expose young people to the wonder of the orchestra as with music that they already love and appreciate.

Composed by Nobuo Uematsu, a ?famous? composer in the gaming world,??Final Fantasy 8, Liberi Fatali? was one piece that stood out, and I must say that the music was absolutely AMAZING. ? This song is the introduction when you start a new game, foreshadowing the epic love story between Squall and Rinoa. ?For the time this game came out (1999), this took video game music to a whole new level. ?Nobuo said, ?screw that?, to conventional video game music, which was usually really short and catchy. ?He wanted to make something huge and beautiful ?and he did.They also performed a medley from Zelda. ?The girl who played the flute for the medley is Laura Intravia, and she became popular via youtube for doing this.

I can promise you that going to a performance of Video Games Live, whether you are a gamer, a musician, a parent or all three, you will have a fun, exciting, and unique experience.

Running time: Three hours with two encores.

Video Games Live: Bonus Round!?was their only performance at Wolf Trap. ?For future events at Wolf Trap, click here.

Source: http://www.mdtheatreguide.com/2013/07/concert-review-video-games-live-bonus-round-at-wolf-trap/

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Opposition leader Navalny joins growing roster of jailed opponents of Putin (+video)

The five-year sentence meted out to Alexei Navalny has deepened doubts among many about the Russian justice system.

By Fred Weir,?Correspondent / July 18, 2013

People gather in support of opposition figure Alexei Navalny who was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to five years in prison, in the center of Moscow, Russia, Thursday, July 18. Navalny was convicted of embezzlement Thursday and sentenced to five years in prison, a harsh ruling his supporters called an obvious attempt to shut down a top foe of President Vladimir Putin and intimidate other opposition activists.

Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP

Enlarge

The conviction and sentencing today of anticorruption blogger Alexei Navalny?has focused minds around the world on something that's allegedly been going on in Russia since Vladimir Putin came to power and?accelerating over time:?the selective application of criminal charges and Kremlin-controlled courts to smear and immobilize political actors who refuse to play by the rigged rules of "managed democracy."

Skip to next paragraph Fred Weir

Correspondent

Fred Weir has been the Monitor's Moscow correspondent, covering Russia and the former Soviet Union, since 1998.?

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For many people, especially those who respect Mr. Putin as a leader who rescued Russia from a catastrophic downward spiral in the 1990s, it's not exactly obvious that is what's happening. After all, no one in Russia today is being explicitly prosecuted, Soviet-style, for their political opinions.?

The charges against Mr. Navalny, that he embezzled the equivalent of $500,000 from a state timber company while acting as advisor to a regional governor, sound plausible enough. And he was convicted, in a court of law. "Navalny. . . committed a grave crime," said Judge Sergei Blinov as he passed a five year prison sentence on Navalny?Thursday.

Yet increasing numbers of people insist that they have no faith in Russia's courts, nor in the law enforcement bodies that choose which investigations to pursue and what evidence to admit.?

They include US Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, who issued a distinctly undiplomatic Tweet?after hearing of the verdict: "We are deeply disappointed in the conviction of @Navalny and the apparent political motivations in this trial." Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who has repeatedly lambasted Mr. Putin for hijacking Russia's democratic experiment, posted a comment on his foundation's website?contending that the conviction of Navalny "is proof that we do not have independent courts" in Russia.

The key reason that many long-term observers of Russia have arrived at this conclusion is that Navalny, who is one of Russia's best-known opposition figures due to his highly-effective anticorruption blogging, is far from the only anti-Kremlin politician to have been targeted with elaborate criminal charges.

One of the first was oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky,?who may have made his fortune through dubious methods in the 1990s along with numerous other "oligarchs," but was only arrested and charged with tax evasion 10 years ago after he refused to stop supporting opposition politicians and funding critical civil society groups. Legal experts have disputed the state's case against Mr. Khodorkovsky, and a court clerk told journalists that his second trial in 2011 was thoroughly stage-managed by the Kremlin, but he remains defiant and ? some say therefore ? is kept in prison. Many recent signals suggest that the Kremlin's powerful Investigative Committee is preparing a third trial against Khodorkovsky?to keep the renegade oligarch in his Siberian penal colony after his second term expires next year.

A surprisingly large number of leaders lifted to prominence by the street protest movement that appeared after mass electoral fraud was alleged in December 2011 Duma elections have since found themselves charged with a variety of crimes. They include Navalny, who will probably have to drop his bid to challenge pro-Kremlin incumbent Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin in September elections.

The leader of the Left Front, which dominates the left flank of the protest movement, Sergei Udaltsov, is under house arrest and, along with several associates, charged in an elaborate foreign-funded conspiracy to overthrow the Russian government?using street protests as a springboard for revolution. At least two dozen people who attended a rally on Bolotnaya Square on the eve of Putin's third-term inauguration last year are awaiting trial for allegedly attempting to stage "mass disturbances"?planned by?Mr. Udaltsov.

Two parliamentarians who supported the protest movement, Gennady Gudkov and Ilya Ponomaryov, have faced endless legal woes. Among other things, Mr. Gudkov was expelled from the Duma?last year, while Mr. Ponomaryov has been named by the Investigative Committee in a still-developing corruption scandal that may expand to include government figures who failed to crack down on the protest movement.

Early this month Yevgeny Urlashov, the popular mayor of Yaroslavl, one of Russia's largest cities, was arrested and charged with soliciting a bribe of about $500,000. Mr. Urlashov, who had defeated a candidate of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, taking almost 70 percent of the vote, was planning to head an opposition slate for September regional elections.

No one assumes that liberals or leftists in power are necessarily any less corrupt than pro-Kremlin politicians, and Urlashov's case might not be remarkable if he were the only one. But according to a study by political scientist Mikhail Tulsky,?about 50 independent mayors, or over 90 percent of all non-United Russia mayors elected to lead Russian municipalities, have been arrested or removed from office on a variety of criminal pretexts over the past three years.

Kremlin supporters have two responses to all this. First, they argue, criminals always shout "political persecution" when they get nabbed. Second, they say, critics like Mr. McFaul and Mr. Gorbachev are motivated by political animus against Putin and Russia. It's in their interests to transform people like Navalny into martyrs.

Opinion polls show that Putin remains extremely popular, with public approval ratings that routinely top 60 percent. Opposition figures, including Navalny, have little name recognition among the Russian population ? at least outside of Moscow and other large cities ? and miniscule support even among those who know of them.?

Hence, Kremlin supporters argue, why on Earth should Russian authorities want to fabricate cases against them?

That question still can't be definitively answered, though grounds for skepticism are growing by the day.

But before anyone concludes that such skepticism about the state of Russia's institutions is the invention of ill-intentioned Western journalists and diplomats, joined by Russia's beleaguered liberals, consider this May public opinion survey?by the independent Levada Center in Moscow, which clearly shows that it's far-and-away the majority view among ordinary Russians.

When asked "Do you think that the trial of Alexei Navalny is the result of his political activities and his opposition views?" 59 percent of Russians answered "yes" while just 19 percent said "no."

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/BpyCiwjcFow/Opposition-leader-Navalny-joins-growing-roster-of-jailed-opponents-of-Putin-video

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