Singer Lily Allen Gives Birth To A Baby Girl!

Singer Lily Allen Gives Birth To A Baby Girl!

British singer Lily Allen welcomed her first child on Sunday, after two tragic miscarriages in the past several years. Lily’s ex-boyfriend, DJ Seb Chew, congratulated [...]

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Egypt's Tense Waiting Game: What's at Stake in the Elections (Time.com)

As Egypt heads to the polls for its first democratic vote since the February ousting of President Hosni Mubarak, it appears the ruling military junta has weathered the storm ? for the time being. "They have a black eye, there's no question about that," says Samer Shehata, a professor of Arab politics at Georgetown University, who is currently in Egypt. And the nine days of clashes between protesters and Egyptian security forces, which have left 41 people dead and more than 2,000 injured, have certainly tarnished the ruling military council's image for at least some Egyptians, he adds. In Tahrir Square, where thousands gathered to protest for the 9th day running on Sunday, demonstrators continued to attribute responsibility for the violence to the military council, even though the police force carried out the bulk of the attacks on demonstrators. Even so, Shehata says: "At the end of the day, they're still standing." The timetable for transition to a civilian authority has been pushed forward to July. But the military will still run the country until then. (See pictures of clashes between Egypt's police and protesters.)

The elections will be a test ? both for Egypt's nascent, and still floundering democracy, and for the military rulers whose resignation has been called for by thousands of Egyptians gathered in protests across the country. Mere hours ahead of the vote, the country's security situation is tenuous at best. Analysts say it's unlikely that the military ? or even the central security forces that have been engaged in violent attacks on protesters in recent days ? will fire on voters as they go to the polls. But Egypt will still be struggling to overcome the unsavory electoral legacy of the Mubarak era, in which supporters of rival candidates and parties have actively participated in voter intimidation, fraud, and violence.

The Islamist Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party has been among the most active and organized campaigners in the months since Mubarak's ouster, and they're widely expected to capture a sizeable chunk of Monday's votes. Liberal parties ? many of them newly formed since the uprising ? have complained that the 83-year-old Brotherhood has the advantage due to their years of opposition organizing under the Mubarak regime's repressive gaze. But Brotherhood members point out that they're the only group with grassroots appeal; for years, the organization has rallied new members at the community level ? in mosques, universities, and charities. And its leaders have earned street credibility through the prison sentences they served under Mubarak. The Brotherhood may have been betting on that street popularity last week when it opted to sit out the mass protests in Tahrir Square and across the country, even as other parties joined the confrontation with the military to contest its grip on power. "I think the Muslim Brotherhood is waiting to see what the political atmosphere is, and they think there are people here who want to postpone the elections," said Osama Hosni, an electrical engineer, who visited the Tahrir Square protest. (See why confusion is marring Egypt's vote.)

Many of Tahrir's liberal activists, have accused the Brotherhood of striking a deal with the military ahead of elections, or of prioritizing its own political goals over the fate of the country. Shehata says that's a strategy that has likely hurt them with some constituents, but which hasn't necessarily hurt them politically. "I think they're playing a sophisticated political game, and I think they probably know their interests more than anyone else," he says.

Who played it shrewdly may indeed be revealed on Monday, when Cairo, Alexandria, and several other major cities go to vote in the first phase of the parliamentary race. (The second takes place on December 14). The national news agency on Sunday reported that the country's ruling general, Field Marshall Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, had warned of "extremely grave" consequences if Egypt doesn't weather its latest protest crisis and proceed with the vote. And despite more than a week of violence, most still believe the election will attract a far larger voter turn out than any race under Mubarak. So the question is: how large?

The junta has a high-turnout in its best interest. "A high turnout validates the legitimacy of the elections and the transition process. So it shows acceptance of what the military has put forward," says Shehata. But he doesn't expect turnout to come anywhere close to rivaling that of Tunisia, which recorded a 90% turnout last month in its first election since the winter overthrow of its own dictator, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. "I think if it gets over 50%, [the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces] will be happy," says Shehata. "If it's below 50 ? in the thirties or something, that will be a condemnation of the process."

As for who wins, the military may prefer to wait and see. Analysts and activists believe the military council will work with any government that agrees to maintain the military's power, relative immunity, and complete independence from parliamentary or judicial oversight. A constitutional committee will be set up to draft a new constitution in the months following parliamentary elections. And Islamist groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood, have been among the most vocal critics of a proposed set of "supra-constitutional" principles that would establish the military's status well before a new constitution is drafted. But if votes are split, as they may well be with thousands of independents candidates on the parliamentary ballot, the winners still might pose less of a threat to the ruling junta's authority than Tahrir Square. "We'll see a somewhat fractured parliament with representatives of many different political parties and currents and no one group in the majority," predicts Shehata. "That might make it easier for the military to divide and conquer, as it were. And it will also make it harder for parliament to agree on a corrective course of action."

See TIME's special report "The Middle East in Revolt."

Who should be TIME's Person of the Year 2011? Vote for your choice here.

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Occupy LA stands out for camp-city cooperation

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2011 file photo, a Los Angeles police officer looks at tents set up outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles. Occupy LA, a 485-tent camp surrounding City Hall downtown, has marched to a different beat in its drum circle. Protesters, police and city officials early on established a relationship based on dialogue instead of dictate. As camps in other cities degenerated into unrest and led to mass arrests, Occupy LA has remained largely a bastion of peaceful pot smokers with city leaders determined that Los Angeles would emerge from the shadow of Rodney King once and for all. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2011 file photo, a Los Angeles police officer looks at tents set up outside Los Angeles City Hall in Los Angeles. Occupy LA, a 485-tent camp surrounding City Hall downtown, has marched to a different beat in its drum circle. Protesters, police and city officials early on established a relationship based on dialogue instead of dictate. As camps in other cities degenerated into unrest and led to mass arrests, Occupy LA has remained largely a bastion of peaceful pot smokers with city leaders determined that Los Angeles would emerge from the shadow of Rodney King once and for all. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? When Occupy LA demonstrators recently proclaimed a downtown intersection "our street," police watched as annoyed drivers honked horns and tried to maneuver around gyrating protesters. Officers only moved in after the third intersection takeover ? telling protesters they had to quit or face arrest. The activists turned around and marched back to camp chanting slogans.

That hasn't happened in some other cities and may not have been possible in Los Angeles that long ago.

Occupy LA, a 485-tent camp surrounding City Hall, has marched to a different beat in its drum circle after protesters, police and city officials established a relationship based on dialogues instead of dictates.

As camps in other cities degenerated into unrest that led to mass arrests, Occupy LA has remained largely a peaceful commune. Police arrive on site only when called in to investigate petty crimes. Marches have resulted in only about five spontaneous arrests ? the other 70 or so involved protesters who deliberately got arrested to make a political statement.

City leaders are now hoping that peace can withstand what could be its biggest test. The city has given campers a 12:01 a.m. Monday to clear out of the park, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said at a Friday afternoon news conference.

"We've decided to do things differently here in Los Angeles. We've not stared each other down across barricades and barbed wire," the mayor said at the City Hall news conference. "From the start we've talked to one another and we've listened to each other. I trust that we can manage the closure of City Hall Park in the same spirit of cooperation."

The announcement and the advance warning stand in stark contrast to middle-of-the-night police raids used in other cities.

"Los Angeles has had a real history of heavy-handed tactics with police," said Richard Weinblatt, a police procedures expert and former police chief. "They're taking a very good approach with this. It's a good political sign."

The hands-off strategy perhaps underscores the liberal leanings of a city that has often been known for counterculture movements. But it marks a departure for a police force still striving to emerge from the shadow of the 1991 beating of Rodney King, the Rampart corruption scandal of the late '90s, and more recently, the 2007 crackdown at an immigrants rights rally in which demonstrators and reporters were injured with batons and rubber bullets.

This time, even before the first tent was set up on the City Hall lawn, Jim Lafferty, a lawyer who has been representing Occupy LA, said Police Chief Charlie Beck assured him protesters would be left alone if they remained peaceful. Beck promised no surprise raids would be carried out, said Lafferty, executive director of the National Lawyers Guild's Los Angeles chapter.

Elected city leaders initially embraced the campers. Villaraigosa handed out plastic ponchos one rainy day. The City Council passed a resolution to support Occupy LA. Officials found an alternate site for a farmers market that the camp displaced.

Protesters have done their part to cooperate. They've readily complied with health inspectors' demands for more portable toilets, trash pickup and food sanitation. They've also worked to tamp down anarchist inciters in the camp who want to provoke authorities, as well as activists with hot tempers.

On one march, when two protesters started an argument that appeared ready to flame into fisticuffs, marchers started yelling at the instigator to "focus" and "keep to the mission."

Organizers have implored riled crowds to keep within the peaceful guidelines of the group and to return to camp when threatened with arrest.

Occupiers say they realize violence is not going to win any points in their struggle for greater economic equality and could alienate many supporters.

"What is most important is that we win the hearts and minds of the people of this city," said organizer Mario Brito. "We're all going to have to remain non-violent."

Police, meanwhile, have held off making arrests while giving protesters ample time to make their statement through civil disobedience, such as lying on the sidewalk in front of a Bank of America branch.

They've negotiated with organizers, sometimes for hours, to end actions without arrest, and assigned veteran detectives, clad in riot helmets, to man front lines against protesters instead of younger officers who may be more prone to act rashly when baited with name-calling.

Police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said officers have set out to build trust.

"We really worked hard to establish a dialogue with people at the camp," he said. "We have a command-level officer assigned to it every day. I'm over there three, four times a day, sometimes just to address rumors."

While acknowledging that violence has been avoided in Los Angeles, some question the precedent set by official leniency.

"You have these people staying out weeks at a time, and police let them break the law. They're encouraged to go further," said John Hawkins, who has tracked the Occupy movement in his blog Right Wing News. "The government has to enforce the law."

Occupy LA has found a powerful ally that holds a lot of sway in City Hall: labor unions. The Service Employees International Union and others have turned out hundreds of people to several marches, giving the Occupy movement needed credibility and numbers. The unions even adopted tents as a protest symbol.

Union leaders have been instrumental in persuading Villaraigosa, a former labor organizer, to hold off on acting against the camp, said Peter Dreier, politics professor at Occidental College.

In conjunction with that, city leaders have had few vocal opponents against Occupy LA, which is located in an area of Los Angeles that comprises almost all government buildings, he noted. In some other cities, such as New York, complaining residents and businesses mounted pressure on officials to clear out the tents.

But as Occupy Los Angeles entered its seventh week with no end in sight, the dialogue started getting strained.

City Hall still made friendly overtures, trying to make a deal with the activists by offering them 10,000 square feet of office space and empty lots for a garden if they would pack up their tents. Fallout after the proposal was made public caused the deal to be rescinded.

On Wednesday, city leaders took a tougher stance: The camp must go the following week, but police said they would give protesters a 72-hour deadline to pack up or face arrest. Even then, remaining protesters will be given two opportunities to change their mind before they are placed in handcuffs.

"No one else has seen fit to do it like this around the country," Lafferty said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-25-Occupy%20LA-The%20Camp/id-8304016975c043f88c1d36b84863a2c8

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RBI okays Air India's loan tenure extension - sources (Reuters)

MUMBAI (Reuters) The RBI has approved extension of the tenure of loans to troubled state-run carrier Air India by five years with the loans now being due for repayment after 15 years, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

A consortium of 26 lenders to the debt-laden carrier that include State Bank of India , ICICI Bank , Bank of Baroda among others will meet on Monday to discuss the loan recast, one of the sources said, adding the process would be completed within 120 days of the approval.

"I think banks will approve it on Monday. It is in the best interest of banks to do it soon," the source said.

Air India's lenders had submitted a restructuring proposal to the Reserve Bank of India seeking its permission to extend the loan tenure, among other things, the sources said.

Air India, with total loans of $9.5 billion, is in talks with banks to restructure its working capital debt and is in the midst of implementing a turnaround plan to generate cashflows.

The carrier is expected to post a pre-tax loss of 70 billion rupees for the year-ended March, as per government estimates, hit by a bloated cost structure and stiff competition.

The CAG had in September criticised Air India's decision to buy 111 Boeing and Airbus planes in 2005/06, saying it imposed an "undue long term financial burden on the carrier".

The airline has not posted a profit since merging with former state-owned partner Indian Airlines in 2007 and relies on handouts from New Delhi to survive.

The cabinet has approved an equity infusion of $112 million into the ailing carrier.

The aviation minister Vayalar Ravi told Reuters that the government was still in talks with the RBI on Air India's balance sheet, financial position and future projects.

NO GOVT HELP TO KINGFISHER

Ravi on Thursday ruled out government intervention for the beleaguered Kingfisher Airlines and said the carrier would have to talk to its lenders and find a way out of its financial deadlock.

"They have to talk to the banks and put their own money. It is for them to decide," Ravi said.

The Airports Authority of India, or AAI, has recently put Kingfisher on cash and carry, meaning the airline would have to pay outstanding dues to the operator to avail its services, an official said.

Airlines generally pay on credit against bank guarantees.

Kingfisher declined to comment on the AAI move.

Earlier in the day, Kingfisher said lessor AerCap Holdings NV would take back two of its aircraft in coming months as both the companies could not agree on extension terms.

Talk heated up recently on state intervention to help Kingfisher on the lines of Air India. Earlier this month, the prime minister Manmohan Singh told local media the government would try to find ways to get the carrier out of its financial trouble.

But Kingfisher's chairman and liquor baron Vijay Mallya said he had not approached the government for a "bail-out".

India's airlines are struggling with surging oil prices, high sales tax on jet fuel and below the belt pricing due to increased competition, leading to massive losses.

They are on course to post record losses of more than $2.5 billion for the year ending March 2012, and investors have become wary of an industry that, just a few years back, ordered hundreds of aircraft in an ambitious bet on the future.

Kingfisher Airlines saw its September quarter net loss double as its net worth eroded, prompting it to approach lenders for a cushion to ease its debt burden.

($1 = 52.4 rupees)

(Editing by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Subhadip Sircar)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/india/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/india_nm/india607121

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No. 5 Syracuse beats Stanford 69-63 (AP)

NEW YORK ? Kris Joseph had 18 points and eight rebounds and No. 5 Syracuse closed the game on a 15-3 run in a 69-63 victory over Stanford on Friday night to win the NIT Season Tip-Off at Madison Square Garden.

The Orange (6-0) were never able to make a run against Stanford until the game's final 4 minutes, when they made all five of their shots from the field and five of seven free throws. They were able to force the Cardinal (5-1) into turnovers all game, with three of their 24 coming in the closing stretch.

Joseph had 38 points and 19 rebounds in the two games and was selected the MVP.

Aaron Bright had 13 points for Stanford, which led 60-54 with 4:27 to go on two free throws by Chasson Randle.

Brandon Triche, who finished with 11 points, started the Orange's big run with a drive. C.J. Fair followed with a three-point play after a turnover and Joseph gave Syracuse the lead for good, 61-60, with a banked jumper with 2:54 to go.

Scoop Jardine added 14 points for the Orange, and Fair and Dion Waiters, the two reserves who led the semifinal win over Virginia Tech, both had 10 points. Syracuse shot 46.7 percent for the game from the field (28 of 60), including 17 of 28 (60.7 percent) in the second half.

Randle had 12 points for the Cardinal, who beat Oklahoma State in the semifinals, while John Gage added a career-high 10, six more than he scored all season.

Stanford struggled against Syracuse's 2-3 zone, but it was controlling the ball rather than making shots that did in the Cardinal. They shot 42.9 percent from the field (24 of 56), but their 24 turnovers were converted into 25 points by Syracuse. The Cardinal outrebounded the Orange 36-34 and that led to a 16-11 advantage in second-chance points.

The crowd of 8,477 seemed to be waiting for Syracuse's run that would keep Stanford at bay but it didn't happen until the final minutes when the Orange's speed and size suddenly became a problem for the Cardinal.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/bkc_t25_stanford_syracuse

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Burkhead's 160 yds lead No. 22 Neb past Iowa 20-7

Nebraska's Rex Burkhead (22) runs past Iowa's Jordan Bernstine in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa, in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Nebraska's Rex Burkhead (22) runs past Iowa's Jordan Bernstine in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Iowa, in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz leads his players off the field at halftime of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, in Lincoln, Neb. At right is Zach Derby (85). (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Iowa's Marvin McNutt, Jr. (7) manages to hold on to a pass despite pressure from Nebraska's Alfonzo Dennard in the first half of an NCAA college football game, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Dave Weaver)

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz crouches to get a better look at a play in the first half of an NCAA college football game against Nebraska, in Lincoln, Neb., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

Nebraska's Ameer Abdullah (8) is tackled by Iowa's Jordan Bernstine (4) in the first half of their NCAA college football game, Friday, Nov. 25, 2011, in Lincoln, Neb. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) ? Rex Burkhead, who started the week with his right foot in a walking boot, ran for 160 yards and a touchdown on a school-record 38 carries and No. 22 Nebraska defeated Iowa 20-7 on Friday.

Burkhead pounded away at Iowa's defense 4 or 5 yards at a time and looked like his old self after being held to a season-low 36 yards in last week's loss at Michigan.

He had eight carries for 39 yards on a 10-play drive that ended with his 2-yard run and a 20-0 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Burkhead ran on nine of 15 plays of an 80-yard drive that produced the Huskers' first touchdown. His 2-yard run around right end converted a fourth-and-1 inside the Iowa 30, and six plays later Kyler Reed scored his first touchdown of the season on a 6-yard pass from Taylor Martinez.

Nebraska's coaching staff got Burkhead a record 38th carry on the second-to-last play of the game when the Huskers (9-3, 5-3) were in victory formation. Burkhead took a knee for a 3-yard loss.

Burkhead came out of the 45-17 loss at Michigan banged up, and he was limited in practice all week.

He started and finished strong, breaking a 14-yard run on the Huskers' first play from scrimmage and then going for 8 and 6 yards. Ameer Abdullah spelled him, but never for more than two consecutive plays.

Nebraska is hoping to land a berth in the Capital One Bowl, if two Big Ten teams are invited to BCS games, or the Outback Bowl. Iowa (7-5, 4-4) could slip to the Meineke Car Care Bowl or TicketCity Bowl.

The Hawkeyes avoided getting shut out for the first time in 11 years when Marcus Coker scored on a 2-yard run with 3:26 left.

With Nebraska having joined the Big Ten this year, Friday's game was long touted as the start of a natural rivalry. Iowa is Nebraska's closest Big Ten opponent, and the farm states split by the Missouri River share a passion for football.

The universities further billed it as the inaugural "Heroes Game" and honored "citizen heroes" from each state at halftime.

What happened on the field bore little resemblance to those big Thanksgiving week games Nebraska used to play against Oklahoma and Colorado.

The Huskers and Hawkeyes were meeting for the first time since 2000, and Nebraska leads the series 27-12-3.

Martinez was 12 of 22 for 163 yards, and Kenny Bell caught five balls for a season-high 93 yards.

Cornerback Alfonzo Dennard shut down Marvin McNutt, holding Iowa's record-setting receiver to two catches for 1 yard through three quarters. McNutt finished with four catches for 29 yards.

Coker, averaging 118 yards a game, ran 18 times for 87 yards.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2011-11-25-T25-Iowa-Nebraska/id-f6e4da8c04aa411f9c8bf4c1488d94c9

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Beyond turducken (Offthekuff)

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

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All will be revealed, LG says, on Dec. 1 (Hint: Possibly the LG Nitro)

LG's got an event laid on for early next month in New York City. And while the invitation reads "All will be revealed on December 1," we're getting a little more than perhaps we were supposed to, as some versions of the invite image (ours was renamed) pointed toward the Nitro HD, otherwise known as AT&T's unannounced version of the Optimus LTE. And that's exiting not just for the high-speed data, but for the 1280x720 resolution as well.

Of course, we'll be there with bells on to bring you the whole thing as it happens. It's how we roll.

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AnandTech - Origin PC Offers Ready-To-Ship Gaming System

We've only had the opportunity to look at one Origin PC so far, and while the performance was impressive the packaging was equally so?Dustin had to struggle to get the large wooden crate into his place. Origin does have some seriously high-end (almost ludicrously so) PCs that you can put together if you're willing to shell out, but some people just want a reasonably high-end PC that's ready to go with a minimum of fuss. And if you're thinking of getting something for the holiday season, a ready-to-ship system could be exactly what you need. Enter the Origin Millennium RTS.

Origin states that it will ship within one day of your payment being processed, and what you'll get is a pretty high-end setup ready to run all the latest and greatest games. Here's a quick rundown of the specs?the only area you can customize on the RTS build is the warranty.

If you're like me, the first thing you're going to do when you see the above list is to go spec out how much it would cost you to put everything together yourself. Never fear, I have already done that (substituting the Corsair H80 for the Origin cooler, as that seems to be similar), and my total price for the parts comes to $1,675, plus around $30 for shipping (with pricing predominantly coming from Newegg, linked for your convenience).

We might have a few quibbles with the parts selection?specifically, I'd like to see a large secondary HDD included, and while the Bitfenix Shinobi is a good case I'd be more inclined to go with a Fractal Design Define R3 personally?but overall this is a beefy gaming system priced just $100 over what it would cost for me to put together the same system. In fact, my own gaming/work PC is running a stock GTX 580 with a Core i7 CPU, and even with a 30" LCD I've found that the GTX 580 is able to handle nearly every game I've got at near-maximum details. Given that my time (and your time) isn't free, if you're happy with the part selections and you want your new gaming system ASAP, we have no qualms about recommending Origin's latest offering.

Source: Origin PC Marketing

Source: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5146/origin-pc-offers-readytoship-system

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Germany's auction flop adds to European debt fears (AP)

BERLIN ? Germany failed to raise as much money as it hoped in its latest bond auction, in a surprising sign that Europe's biggest economy may not be immune from a debt crisis raging across the continent

A fresh warning that France risks losing its top-notch credit rating and more verbal jousting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the EU's top executive arm also fueled concerns that the bloc is losing the battle to contain a debt crisis that's already seen three countries bailed out and is threatening much-bigger economies like Italy and Spain.

However, it was the unexpected news that Germany, Europe's biggest economy and the linchpin of the bailouts, suffered one of its worst bond auctions ever that really caught the eye. The country's Financial Agency said its latest euro6 billion ($8.1 billion) auction of 10-year bonds met with only 60 percent demand.

German officials cited a record-low yield and the extraordinarily nervous market environment for the auction's failure, but investors took it as a warning sign that the crisis might even cause trouble to rock-solid Germany.

"If Germany can't sell bonds, what is the rest of Europe going to do?," asked Benjamin Reitzes, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.

The auction result hit stocks hard, including in the U.S. and sent the euro sliding to seven-week dollar lows. By mid-afternoon it was trading 1.3 percent lower on the day at $1.3345.

It also piled the pressure on Germany's bonds in the secondary markets, sending the yield on the country's benchmark ten-year bonds up a hefty 0.20 percentage point to 2.08 percent, its highest level since Oct. 28.

Germany, the world's fourth-largest economy, is seen as the 17-nation eurozone's most stable pillar and its borrowing rates have been driven down in recent months by high demand from investors seeking shelter from the sprawling debt crisis.

That may partly explain why it suffered what many in the markets are describing as a "failed auction" ? investors may be beginning to think twice about whether the returns on offer are appealing.

Offering only 1.98 percent, the auction's yield was the lowest-ever for Germany's ten-year bond. Germany offered an interest rate of up to 3.25 percent at previous auctions of 10-year-bonds this year.

Even so, analysts called the result worrying, though the German government stressed that its refinancing was not at risk. Having sold off only euro3.9 billion, the agency retained the remainder, to be sold off another day.

"The result does not represent any refinancing squeeze for the emitter," the agency said.

Though Germany is widely-lauded as a model for other eurozone economies, its debt burden is relatively high, by historical standards at about 81 percent of GDP, so it continually has to tap bond market investors for fresh funds. As a result, it won't want to get in the habit of having too many failed auctions.

One advantage Germany has over practically most European economies is that it's triple A credit rating is not at threat ? unlike France's. Though France has seen the yield on its ten-year bond rise in recent days to around 3.65 percent, way ahead of Germany's equivalent 2 percent, it's still much lower than the near 7 percent rates that have provoked such turmoil in Italy of late.

On Wednesday, Fitch warned that Europe's second biggest economy is at risk of losing its cherished top-grade if Europe's leaders fail to stop the debt crisis from worsening because a "further intensification" would result in a much sharper economic downturn in France and the European Union. Fitch's warning came two days after another rating agency, Moody's, delivered a similar message.

And there were few signs Wednesday that Europe's leaders were pointing in the same direction.

German Chancellor Merkel and the European Union's executive arm clashed openly on the need to issue common bonds uniting the 17 euro nations ? another sign that Europe is divided in dealing with its deepening debt crisis.

Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission promoted the introduction of jointly issued eurobonds, coupled with stricter budgetary discipline, as the best way out of the debt crisis. Eurobonds, he said, "could bring tremendous benefits."

That's obviously not Merkel's view, who publicly poured cold water on the idea for the second day running ? calling the Commission's push "troubling" and "inappropriate."

She told lawmakers in Berlin that it was wrong to suggest that a "collectivization of the debt would allow us to overcome the currency union's structural flaws."

Germany has long opposed the use of eurobonds, instead calling on profligate member states to clean up their finances which would eventually enable them to borrow at lower rates again.

Proponents of eurobonds argue that they would immediately ease refinancing for weaker eurozone nations. For Germany, though, a pooling of its strength with the weaker members, would most likely to lead to higher borrowing costs.

Instead, Merkel reiterated her call for changes to the EU treaties to guarantee strict enforcement of fiscal and budgetary discipline as "a first step toward a fiscal union."

The easiest way for Europe to counter its debt problems would be for its economies to grow, automatically lowering its debt ratios and generating more revenues. But that hope was dashed yet again as a pair of indicators showed the bloc's economy as being in deep trouble.

The sense of an impending recession was evident in the findings of a closely watched survey from financial information company Markit. Its monthly survey showed that the eurozone contracted for the third month running in November and that the deteriorating economic picture is not just confined to debt-stressed countries such as Greece.

The survey suggests that the eurozone would contract at a quarterly rate of 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter and that the problems are increasingly spreading to Europe's two biggest economies, Germany and France, Markit said.

Further grim news emerged with a shock announcement that eurozone industrial orders collapsed by a massive 6.4 percent in September from the previous month.

Official figures last week showed that the eurozone only narrowly avoided contracting in the third quarter, growing by only 0.2 percent during the period.

___

Geir Moulson in Berlin, Raf Casert in Brussels and Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_germany_financial_crisis

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Jail for woman who stole $1M from Mark Twain House (AP)

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. ? A woman has been sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison for embezzling more than $1 million from the Mark Twain House and Museum, a crime that added to the financial woes of the Hartford landmark that had been struggling to pay its bills.

Donna Gregor, a 54-year-old former museum employee, apologized for stealing the money at the sentencing hearing Monday in federal court in Bridgeport. Gregor faced up to 23 years in prison after pleading guilty in August to wire fraud and filing a false tax return.

The officials who run the gingerbread Gothic home said it has recovered financially and they are happy to put the case behind them.

"We are grateful that the case involving the theft of funds from the Mark Twain House and Museum has been resolved and justice has been served," the museum said on its website. "We want to assure our friends that stringent controls are in place and our financial condition is sound and we thank them for their continued interest and support."

An attorney for Gregor, Gerald Giaimo, had argued for leniency, saying his client was supporting several troubled family members including her cancer-stricken mother.

"The crime was anomalous with the type of person she is," Giaimo said. "Despite what some reports have said she was not living a life of luxury and feeding some type of shopping habit."

The thefts occurred during a time when the Twain House was in dire financial straits, trying to repay millions in bank loans from expansions and struggling to meet its yearly budget.

In 2008, it even cut two-thirds of its staff and made other reductions, but had barely enough money to pay three weeks' worth of bills before publicity generated a spate of donations.

The author and humorist built the house in 1874 and wrote many of his best known works during the 17 years that he lived there, including "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and its sequel, "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." Struggling with debt, Twain had to sell the home in 1903. The building was rescued from demolition in 1927 and is now a prime tourist attraction in Connecticut's capital city.

In addition to her jail sentence, Gregor was ordered to pay restitution to the Mark Twain House for the money she stole between 2002 and 2010. After serving her prison sentence she also faces three years of supervised release.

Authorities say Gregor submitted false information via the Internet to the museum's payroll management vendor to get more pay than she was entitled to and used the museum's check-writing system to write checks payable to herself and forged the signatures of her supervisors on those checks.

Prosecutors said she used the proceeds of her theft for home improvements, theater tickets, dining out, mortgage payments, credit card payments and car payments.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_en_ot/us_mark_twain_house_embezzlement

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Mariners outfielder Halman stabbed to death

Brother arrested as suspect after killing in Rotterdam

Mike Cassese / Reuters

The Mariners' Greg Halman celebrates his three-run home run with Chone Figgins, left, on July 19.

By MIKE CORDER

updated 11:53 a.m. ET Nov. 21, 2011

THE HAGUE, Netherlands - Seattle Mariners outfielder Greg Halman was stabbed to death early Monday and his brother was arrested as a suspect, Dutch police said.

Rotterdam Police spokeswoman Patricia Wessels said police were called to a home in the port city in the early hours of the morning and found the 24-year-old Dutch player bleeding from a stab wound.

The officers and ambulance paramedics were unable to resuscitate Halman.

Wessels said the officers arrested Halman's 22-year-old brother. She declined to give his name, in line with Dutch privacy rules.

"He is under arrest and right now he is being questioned," Wessels told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It will take some time to figure out what exactly happened."

No charges have been filed in the case.

Halman hit .230 in 35 games and made starts at all three outfield positions for the Mariners in 2011 before being optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.

Because he played professionally in the United States, Halman was not part of the Netherlands team that won the Baseball World Cup in Panama last month. The Dutch beat Cuba 2-1 in the final to become the first European team to win the title.

Born in the city of Haarlem, Halman played in the Dutch Pro League and was part of the gold-medal winning Dutch squad at the 2007 European Championship.

Former major leaguer Robert Eenhorn, the technical director of the Dutch baseball association, said he was devastated by the news.

"The only thing I can say right now is we are deeply shocked," Eenhorn, who played for the New York Yankees and Anaheim Angels in the 1990s, told the AP. "All our thoughts are with his family and how they are going to have to deal with this tremendous loss."

Halman was in Europe this month as part of the European Big League Tour, an initiative organized by Baltimore Orioles pitcher Rick Van den Hurk in which major leaguers gave clinics to children. Van den Hurk is also Dutch.

"It's really sad and it's really terrible the way it happened," International Baseball Federation President Riccardo Fraccari said. "We mourn for him and respect his family's sorrow."

Massimo Fochi, the vice president of the Italian baseball federation, said he met Halman less than two weeks ago at a European Big League Tour event in Parma.

"He was a great guy and the most appreciated by the kids," Fochi said. "His passing away is really painful."

? 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Jed Jacobsohn / Getty Images

CSN: Phillies make moves, but they're not done

CSN: The Phillies add some more depth to their bench by picking up Ty Wiggington on Sunday night, but are still a long way from making an progress with free agent shortstop Jimmy Rollins.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45384996/ns/sports-baseball/

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The Day After Raw: Your Tweets for Nov. 22, 2011

The WWE Universe was perhaps more vocal than it?s ever been inside the revered arena known as The Mecca of Sports-Entertainment, Madison Square Garden, on Sunday night. Twenty-four hours later, the theme continued in Hershey, Pa., and on Twitter in response to a ?watershed? moment for Cody Rhodes, the unexpected collapse of The ?Awesome Truth? and a mystifying video montage featuring the long absent mask of Kane.

It?s the day after Raw. Let?s see what you thought ?

The mystery of Kane?s mask
No longtime WWE fan will ever forget the mask that once concealed the ghastly face of The Big Red Monster for the first half of his WWE career. This is exactly why when the symbolic shroud appeared in a chilling video on Raw SuperShow, the WWE Universe exploded in speculation about the possible return of the hellfire and brimstone-born Superstar, beneath the mask not seen since 2003.

But wait just a moment. While the images in the footage were clearly of Kane?s former face gear and though the hulking fiend seemed to resemble The Big Red Monster, it?s still unclear what it all actually means. Is it Kane or could it be another twisted force, perhaps even The Undertaker? The theories have already begun to form on Twitter.

@RyderUprising: #raw kane is coming! Masked?

@aBeeBitMyBottom: looks like #Kane is on his way back! #WWE #Raw

@FanKentonVP: Just re-watched that Kane Promo.FREAKY AS HECK.I hope this means he comes back psychotic or with a new mask. @WWE #RAW

@RonArcher667: @UnholyA7X what was up with the dude that broke the mirror? Was that Kane?#WWE #RAW

@rizamariezatef: @Starship_Pained it could be Taker but i think it's Kane. #Raw #SuperShow

@Parappa_Funk: Bring back masked kane. Still give me nightmares @wwe #raw

@Lital_Devul: KANE Coming soon to #RAW near you

@DGKfilms36: If you looked close, when the man looked in the mirror it looked like he had a full goatee...could it be Undertaker!?!?? #wwe #RAW

@TyRoseHolmes: Gloves...Fire...Mask....YYYYEEEEEEAAAAHHHHHHH BOOOOOOYYYYYY!!! #BigRedMachine!!! #Kane #RAW @WWE

@9_Hendo: I?d love a Kane return with the mask! #RAW

@GrizldYoungVet: I hope Kane comes back rocking his Mask again! #RAW

Tell me Rhodes did NOT just do that!
Somebody should?ve told the Intercontinental Champion that the blaze of Harlem Heat went out years ago. Perhaps then, ?snarling? Cody Rhodes wouldn?t have disrespectfully doused Booker T with water at the announce table. The second-generation Superstar claimed to be ?unbeatable? then backed it up with a decisive win over Santino Marella on Raw SuperShow, but watered down his credibility with such an insulting act to a retired ring legend like Booker T, a five-time (five-time, five-time, etc.) WCW Champion plus World Heavyweight Champion in WWE. (WATCH)

Was it Booker?s supposed ?biased reporting? as cited by Michael Cole? Probably not. Rhodes made a splash, but certainly cost himself placement in Book?s ?Fave Five? for the foreseeable future, if not worse.

@SpenceSupreme: Cody Rhodes threw water in Booker T's face! Aw hell naw! Hell naw! #TellMeHeDidNotJustDoThat #WWE #RAW

@RamonVillalobos: SOMEONE GET COLE A TOWEL! A man of his integrity shouldn't be wet by Booker T's water! #Raw #Colemining

@CashDeVereaux: I'm glad cody rhodes threw that water in booker t's face. Booker T needs to chill. I'm not feeling him as a commentator. #wwe #raw

@night_wolf_34: Rhodes just proved how insane he is throwing water on Booker like that. #RAW #SuperShow

@CSmooth4: @BookerT5x is gonna show Cody Rhodes why he is the 5 time champ @WWE #Raw

@ChrisRettger: We all agree Cody Rhodes is a future world champion, right? @WWE #RAW

@DAsharpshooters: You dont throw water on Booker T and get away with it, Cody Rhodes. It?s on like Neck bones. #WWE #RAW

CM Punk references ?Office Space?
As one of 31 WWE Twitter trends, ?The Best in the World? CM Punk was warmly received just 24 hours after capturing the WWE Championship at Survivor Series ? mostly because of what Punk promised now that he?s back on top, partly due to his likening of Interim Raw GM and EVP John Laurinaitis to cult icon Bill Lumbergh from ?Office Space? (without any of the comedy).

The new WWE Champion wanted more than to know where the hell the WWE ice cream bars are; he advocated for the removal of Laurinaitis. (WATCH) WWE fans seemed to agree that the general manager?s matchmaking is the equivalent of Lumbergh?s TPS reports and weekend overtime, but most cannot wait for The Straight Edge Superstar to fulfill his guarantee to be an ?agent of change.?

And, yes, Punk said ?stooge.? Don?t touch his stapler.

@RKOsnumber1Fan: ****CM Punk, I really hope the Ice Cream Bars come back!! #Raw ***

@93WMA: Agent of Change = CM Punk #raw

@JohnLaryngitis: Punk will have to write an apology on WWE.com for calling him a stooge. #Raw

@JoeyStyles: Hey @@CMPunk, don't you know you can't call @WWERawGM a "stooge"? http://www.wwe.com/inside/laurinaitis-apology

@austin1212: Punk raises a good question. Where the hell are those WWE Ice Cream Bars? #Raw

@PrototypeIV: Johnny Ace has a wildside and is an agent of change. #Raw

@EMcG3624: Yes @WWE where ARE the Ice Cream Bars? #Raw

@pudang: Agent of change: Please change that title belt. #bringbackthewingedeagle #raw

@NY_Giantsrock: Someone get @CMPunk his WWE ice cream bars. #RAW

@jeetpadaruth: #WWE #Raw Nice comparison Mr @CMPunk - Bill Lumbergh & John Laryngitis ;) #Officespace a cult classic!

@1ofthefab9: hell yes for ice cream bars #Raw #WWE

Random Raw ramblings

@RyanHammond65: Who's ready for WWE '12 #WWE #RAW

@BobbyWWETuxGuy: Saw R-Truth talking to some pigeons before RAW #WWE #RAW

@RealAlexxAlexx: Dolph Ziggler is like a wrestling Unicorn. Magical and majestic. Like words can't describe it. #Raw

@XcuseMe_BrieFly: @WWE Randy Orton is a beast and just walked out there all boss.! #Raw

@BRAVO_229: "Roota to the toota to your fruity booty"...another brilliant lyric from R-Truth. #WWE #Raw

@DEREK_L_FOSTER: Cm punk vs Dolf Ziggler was the best Match I've seen on #RAW all year! @WWE

@TravisAlbers1: #Raw Big Show wants to end it for good i can't blame him

@ForeverInvolved CM Punk and Dolph Ziggler is having a great match.....DID YOU SEE THAT DROPKICK! Can you say Textbook? #RAW

@BeardofMikeKnox: Wade Barrett with soaking wet hair and bangs looks like a rookie Randy Orton. #WWE #RAW #WeAreWrestling

@oheytrevor: So... Remember when everyone would wonder if Zack Ryder was gonna be on #Raw? I don't think that's a problem anymore.

@MarkinOut: I wish I knew girls who played video games like that! #WWE12 #WWE #Raw #HOT

@RyanGradler: @WWEgames Last night Survivor Series tonight #RAW then heading to Walmart to pick up #WWE12...awesome time to be a WWE fan!

@KissTheStarsD: Fruity Booty getting ready to trend. @WWE #RAW

@drazenp4evr: Did Booker T just compare Zack Ryder to Tim Tebow?#WWE #Raw

Share your voice with the rest of the WWE Universe on Twitter by using #RAW and check back next week for the next edition of The Day After Raw.

Source: http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/2011-11-21/day-after-raw

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Amazon Is Selling Nearly Every Smartphone for a Penny [Dealz]

If you buy a new Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T phone contract through Amazon Wireless in the next week, Amazon will sell you almost any of those carriers' phones for a penny. (Guess which one's left out). More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/NTiic8xHN1k/amazon-is-selling-nearly-every-smartphone-for-a-penny

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Syrian troops attack despite Arab peace plan

Protesters chant anti-Syrian regime slogans in Tahrir Square, the focal point of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. Thousands of Egyptians are rallying in Cairo's Tahrir square, with Islamists in the forefront, in a protest against what they say are attempts by the country's military rulers to reinforce their powers. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Protesters chant anti-Syrian regime slogans in Tahrir Square, the focal point of the uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak, in Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. Thousands of Egyptians are rallying in Cairo's Tahrir square, with Islamists in the forefront, in a protest against what they say are attempts by the country's military rulers to reinforce their powers. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe speaks to the media during a news conference with his Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu, unseen, in Ankara, Turkey, Friday, Nov. 18, 2011. Juppe on Friday called on the U.N. Security Council to act against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime and said the time has come to strengthen sanctions against Syria over its brutal crackdown on civilians. Juppe said France has called on Assad to change but "the regime did not want to know, which is not acceptable." (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

Pro-Syrian regime protesters, shout pro-Syrian President Bashar Assad slogans during a demonstration in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011, during a demonstration against the Arab League meeting being held in Morocco. The Arab League is expected to formalize its weekend decision to suspend Syria from the Arab League, for failing to end its crackdown against anti-government protesters.(AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

A pro-Syrian regime protester, waves a Syrian flag from a fountain during a demonstration in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011, to protest against the Arab League meeting being held in Morocco. The Arab League is expected to formalize its weekend decision to suspend Syria from the Arab League, for failing to end its crackdown against anti-government protesters. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

A pro-Syrian regime protester, shouts pro-Syrian President Bashar Assad slogans during a demonstration in Damascus, Syria, on Wednesday Nov. 16, 2011, during a demonstration against the Arab League meeting being held in Morocco. The Arab League is expected to formalize its weekend decision to suspend Syria from the Arab League, for failing to end its crackdown against anti-government protesters. (AP Photo/Muzaffar Salman)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syrian troops stormed Saturday a central town and a northwestern region in search of opponents of the government as pressure on Damascus intensified to end an eight-month crisis that has left thousands of people dead, activists said.

The attacks on the town of Shezar in the central province of Hama and the restive Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border came a day after Syria agreed in principle to allow Arab observers into the country to oversee a peace plan proposed by the 22-member Arab League.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said that land and cellular telecommunications as well as electricity have been cut in the Jabal al-Zawiya region where army defectors have been active for months.

Syria's acceptance came on Friday after surprisingly heavy pressure from the Arab League, which brokered the plan and this week suspended Syria from the 22-member organization for failing to abide by it. On Wednesday, the league gave Damascus three days to accept an observer mission or face economic sanctions.

The latest attacks came amid building international pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad.

An official at Britain's Foreign Office said Foreign Secretary William Hague intends to meet opposition representatives in London on Monday.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on the U.N. Security Council to strengthen sanctions against Assad's regime. However, Russia, which holds veto power in the council, urged caution in moving against Damascus.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. has seen no signs that Syria's government will honor the Arab League proposal.

Violence has escalated in Syria over the past week, as army dissidents who sided with the protests have grown more bold, fighting back against regime forces and even assaulting military bases. Activist groups said security forces on Friday killed at least 16 anti-government protesters.

Also Saturday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, commenting on the deteriorating relations between his country and its southern neighbor, accused Syria of not fulfilling promises for reform or to stop the bloodshed.

"In the past nine years, it was Syria and the Syrian people ? rather than Turkey ? that had benefited from the Turkish-Syrian friendship," Erdogan said. "Unfortunately, the Syrian administration has acted in a reluctant and insincere manner in keeping its promises."

"If there is a change of policy, it is not by Turkey but by Syria. Syria has not kept its promises to Turkey, to the Arab League or to the world. It made promises but did not fulfill them. It has not acted in a sincere trustworthy manner," he said.

The attacks on Jabal al-Zawiya came two days after an army force in the nearby area of Wadi al-Deif came under attack by army defectors, a clash that lasted four hours and left an unknown number of casualties among troops loyal to Assad, said an activist said.

The activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, said troops fired from heavy machine guns mounted on armored personnel carriers on the attackers.

The Arab League observer mission aims to prevent violence and monitor a cease-fire that Damascus agreed to last week, but has been unwilling ? or unable ? to implement.

___

Associated Press writers Suzan Fraser in Ankara, Turkey, and Meera Selva in London contributed to this report.

___

Bassem Mroue can be reached on http://twitter.com/bmroue

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-19-ML-Syria/id-66d940010f03424e8434958bc119b894

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White House: No E.T. visits, no UFO cover-up

UFO investigators see references to rocket ships, aliens and astronauts that go back to the days when humans first put chisel and paintbrush to rock. More than 6,000 years later, objects that are unidentified ? at least at first ? continue to appear in the skies and generate buzz.

Take, for example, the blazing pinwheel that appeared in Norwegian skies in December 2009, shown here. The sight sparked speculation that aliens were sending earthlings a signal. Other researchers speculated ? and the Russian military later confirmed ? that a missile failed.

NBC space analyst James Oberg says the incident fits into a long tradition of UFO sightings over Russia that are caused by secret military and space activities. Even when there's a prosaic explanation for the sightings, they can provide useful information about covert activities.

Click onward to learn about seven more UFO cases through time that generated buzz.

? John Roach, msnbc.com contributor

1897: Did an airship crash in Aurora, Texas?

In the 1800s, sightings of UFOs, called airships, streamed in from across the United States, according to Mark Easter, a field researcher and international director of public relations for the Mutual UFO Network, or MUFON. Many of these sightings were explained as hot-air balloons, which were becoming a fad then. A reported UFO crash in Aurora, Texas, however, remains inadequately explained, according to a report by the group.

Among the evidence recovered during MUFON's investigation is an unusual piece of metal with properties consistent with a crash landing, shown here in a black-and-white view from the report. What's more, remains of the alien pilot are said to be interred at the local cemetery. Requests to excavate the grave, however, have been denied. Why?

A local historian concluded that the sighting was a hoax meant to drum up interest in the town at a time it was being bypassed by the railroad. Excavating the grave might expose the hoax. Oberg, however, says that cases such as the Aurora crash are immune to disproof ? too much time has passed to rely on stories that could would have mutated and been embellished over the years, and there's no remaining physical evidence to study.

1947: The 'flying saucer' sighting

On June 24, 1947, former World War II pilot Kenneth Arnold was flying near Mount Rainier in Washington state when he spotted a chain of nine crescent-shaped objects that he said skipped across the air like saucers. Newspaper reporters, erroneously, called them "flying saucers."

"The phrase 'flying saucers,' which are assumed to be round like a saucer, spread so quickly that people began seeing not what he saw but what the reporters had misdescribed," Oberg said. The technical description of whatever Arnold saw has rarely been reported again, the space analyst added.

Other researchers, according to MUFON's Easter, put the sighting in the historical context of the post-World War II atomic weapons program. This activity, he notes, could in theory attract extraterrestrial attention. Plutonium for the bombs was processed at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation east of Mount Rainier.

"If there's some surveillance going on, these things, whatever they were, it just makes sense they would be hugging the east side of that mountain when Arnold saw them," Easter said. Doing so, he noted, would have helped shield them from detection by radar.

1947: The Roswell incident

Did UFOs crash-land in the desert outside of Roswell, New Mexico, in July 1947? According to the official line from the U.S. military, the answer is no. At the time, fragments of strange debris collected by a local rancher were explained away as an experimental weather balloon gone awry. In 1994, the military changed its story, saying that the balloon was actually part of Project Mogul, a covert operation to monitor Soviet nuclear blasts.

Oberg is satisfied with that explanation, but some members of the UFO community view the military's explanation as a cover-up of another kind. MUFON's Easter, for example, lends credence to a theory that the military shot down two spaceships that were checking out nuclear weapons being developed and tested in New Mexico. One crash site was cleaned up before it leaked to the press; the other became known as the Roswell Incident.

Amid the buzz, one thing is certain: The mystery has generated income for merchants in Roswell who play up the incident, including this unquestionably fake alien on display at a local museum.

1952: UFO buzz hits Washington

By 1952, according to MUFON's Easter, UFO fever was at such a high pitch that sighting reports started to clog telephone networks. The buzz hit a crescendo during two consecutive July weekends with a series of visual and radar sightings over Washington, D.C.

The military explained the wave of sightings on a temperature inversion, which can cause interference with light and radar. Skeptical members of the UFO community, however, see the time frame as the beginnings of a government-orchestrated mission to squelch the UFO phenomenon by making fun of the people who reported the sightings.

Oberg says the government was concerned about the flood of calls - it was interfering with communications. Security experts reasoned that enemies could purposely spread UFO panic to tie up lines of communication as they dropped bombs on U.S. cities. Instead of debunking the UFOs - which was an option studied - the military shored up its communications systems.

1967: Malmstrom missile site shuts down

Some UFO researchers say an inadequately explained sighting at a nuclear missile launch site near Malstrom Air Force Base, shown here, in March 1967 bolsters the case for a connection between nuclear weapons development and UFOs.

According to a MUFON investigation into the matter, retired Air Force Capt. Robert Salas, who was stationed at the site, said sightings of UFOs with pulsating red lights were followed by a rapid shutdown of the missiles' targeting system. The military admits the shutdown occurred, but its own investigation concluded that the UFO sighting was a rumor.

Oberg says he'd like to know more about the events surrounding this incident. He notes that the tale sounds similar to a case in Russia in which officials used UFOs as an excuse to explain why nuclear equipment was faulty.

1980: A diamond in the sky

In December 1980, Betty Cash, Vickie Landrum and Vickie's grandson Colby were looking for a bingo game in Texas when a diamond-shaped UFO appeared in the sky. Moments later, the UFO seemed to be escorted away by a fleet of helicopters - some similar to a type used by the U.S. military, according to various accounts of the UFO incident known as the Cash-Landrum Case.

After the incident, Cash and the Landrums reported symptoms such as nausea and burns that some experts believe to be radiation poisoning. Cash spent more than two weeks in the hospital. The trio sued the U.S. government for compensation, but the case was dismissed because a government connection to the incident could not be shown and the medical condition of the alleged victims prior to the incident remained sealed under privacy protection laws.

"That was an interesting case in the sense that it was one of these outliers that have a bright light being carried away by helicopters low across the skies," Oberg says. "That's really bizarre and as far as we know, that, if accurately reported, was the only case where that ever really happened."

2008: Did fighter jets chase Texas UFOs?

Dozens of people in rural Texas near Stephenville reported seeing a large object with bright lights flying low and fast in the skies on Jan. 8, 2008, apparently chased by F-16 fighter jets. At first, the Air Force denied they had jets in the area at the time. Two weeks later, the military admitted that there were indeed jets in the area, and suggested that the residents might have seen one of the jets as a UFO.

The admission satisfies some people as a reasonable explanation. Many such sightings turn out to be military operations. Others, however, remain unconvinced that the larger object has been adequately explained.

Oberg says even he has been fooled by jet overflights. When the line of jets passes overhead, the lights of the leading jet can be seen long before any sound arrives from it. By the time the second and third jets fly over, the roar is evident and it looks as if the jets are chasing the "silent" light out front. "I was shocked by just how gripping, how persuasive, the illusion was that the roaring jets were following a silent light in front," he says.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45176460/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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Cain accuser breaks silence (Politico)

The attorney for one of the women who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment said Friday that the then-National Restaurant Association CEO engaged in ?inappropriate behavior? and ?unwanted advances? that led to a cash payout in 1999.

The woman declined to reveal her identity or detail the nature of the claim.

Continue Reading

Accuser's attorney on complaint

Sunday hosts on Cain saga

?These complaints were resolved in an agreement with her acceptance of a monetary settlement,? said Joel Bennett, the attorney, at a news conference outside his Washington, D.C. law office.

Reading a statement he said he wrote jointly with his client, Bennett declined to say how much money his client received. POLITICO has reported it was approximately $45,000.

Bennett indicated that the woman, now a federal employee, is happy in her current job and doesn?t want to publicly recount her experience with Cain.

?[I]t would be extremely painful to do so,? said the attorney, reading the statement.

Asked directly about the nature of the harassment against the woman, Bennett said: ?Beyond what?s in the statement, she has decided not to relive the specifics of the incidents so I cannot give any further detail.?

He did, however, say his client endured multiple encounters with Cain.

Questioned about Cain?s denials this week that he harassed the woman, Bennett said: ?Those statements are inaccurate factually.?

He added: ?Mr. Cain knows the specific incidents that were alleged. My client filed a written complaint in 1999 against him specifically and it had very specific incidents in it and if he chose to not remember or not acknowledge those, that?s his issue.?

The attorney said they had not asked the restaurant trade group to strike the non-disclosure language from her settlement, only to let him make the approved-upon statement.

In their own statement, the restaurant association confirmed that the woman ?filed a formal internal complaint? and that Cain disputed the charges.

?The Association and Mr. Bennett?s client subsequently entered into an agreement to resolve the matter, without any admission of liability,? said Dawn Sweeney, the group?s current CEO. ?Mr. Cain was not a party to that agreement. The agreement contains mutual confidentiality obligations. Notwithstanding the Association?s ongoing policy of maintaining the privacy of all personnel matters, we have advised Mr. Bennett that we are willing to waive the confidentiality of this matter and permit Mr. Bennett?s client to comment.?

Cain, seeking to move past a story that has engulfed his campaign this week, released a statement that made no mention of the issue at hand.

?We look forward to focusing our attention on the real issues impacting this country, like fixing this broken economy and putting Americans back to work through our ?9-9-9? plan, as well as strengthening national security,? said Cain spokesman J.D. Gordon.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1111_67655_html/43500866/SIG=11md88183/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/67655.html

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