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E. coli outbreaks linked to Egypt

     
    Fenugreek seeds Egyptian fenugreek seeds have been linked to both outbreaks E. coli outbreaks in Germany and France could have come from seeds sourced in Egypt, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has said.
    A report said there was still "much uncertainty", but fenugreek seeds imported in 2009 and 2010 "had been implicated in both outbreaks".
    More than 4,000 people were infected during the German outbreak, 48 died.
    Investigators traced the source back to a bean sprout farm in Bienenbuettel, Lower Saxony.
    The outbreak in Bordeaux affected 15 people and was linked to seeds sold by a firm in the UK - Thompson and Morgan, although it said there was no evidence of a link.
    Linked Both outbreaks involved the rare strain of E. coli known as O104:H4.
    The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said the strain was so rare in humans the outbreaks were unlikely to have been isolated incidents and both were linked to eating sprouting seeds.

    Food Standards Agency advice

    • Do not eat sprouted seeds such as alfalfa, mung beans (or bean sprouts) and fenugreek raw
    • Cook sprouted seeds until steaming hot throughout
    • Clean equipment used for sprouting seeds
    • Wash hands after handling seeds intended for planting or sprouting
    Further investigations have been trying to determine if the source of the infection was contamination at the sites, or if they had been supplied with contaminated seeds.
    The report said the German outbreak had come from seeds imported from Egypt in 2010. The outbreak in Bordeaux was linked to seeds exported in 2009 from Egypt to the UK and then sold to France.
    Seeds from the UK company Thompson and Morgan are being tested by the Food Standards Agency.
    In a statement the firm said: "We can confirm that our own supplier sourced this Egyptian seed, which was then supplied to us.
    "Further, we can confirm that this sprouting seed was then exclusively supplied into the French garden centre market."
    The report added there could be more outbreaks of the deadly E. coli as "other batches of potentially contaminated seeds are still available within the European Union and perhaps outside".
    The ECDC and the European Food Safety Authority "strongly recommend advising consumers not to grow sprouts for their own consumption and not to eat sprouts or sprouted seeds unless they have been cooked thoroughly" until their investigations are complete.

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E. coli outbreaks linked to Egypt


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Afghan bus hit by roadside bomb in Nimroz province

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    At least 13 people have been killed after a passenger bus in southern Afghanistan hit a roadside bomb, police officials say.
    The attack took place on the highway between Kandahar and the south-western province of Nimroz.
    Nimroz police chief Abdul Jadar Pordalai said more than 30 people had been injured, with 18 left in a coma.
    He told the BBC that women and children were among the victims of the blast, which he blamed on the Taliban.
    The road targeted is used by Afghan security forces as well as vehicles from the US-led international coalition.
    There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing.
    In the past, the Taliban have distanced themselves from similar attacks resulting in civilian casualties.
    US forces took some of those injured to be treated at a hospital in the area, Mr Pordalai said.

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Greece: MPs pass second austerity vote

     

    The BBC's Jon Sopel says tour buses have returned to Syntagma Square 
    Greece's parliament has passed a second vote on its austerity programme, which was needed to secure the country further financial support.
    The vote approved putting into practice the tax hikes, pay cuts, privatisations and public sector redundancies approved in principle on Wednesday.
    Greek PM George Papandreou hailed its passage as "a crucial step" for Greece.
    The EU welcomed the result, which came despite a two-day nationwide strike and violent protests in Athens this week.
    Had the package been rejected, Greece could have run out of money within weeks.
    Greece parliamentary composition graphic
    The EU and the International Monetary Fund had demanded that the measures be implemented before they extend further loans to Greece.
    With the votes passed, Greece can now receive the latest 12bn-euro (£10.8bn) tranche of a 110bn-euro loan, instead of defaulting.
    "We have still many difficult and crucial battles ahead of us," Mr Papandreou told a cabinet meeting after Thursday's bill was passed by 155 votes to 136.
    His ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok) has a slim parliamentary majority, with 154 out of 300 deputies.
    European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy hailed the result as a "decisive step Greece needed to take in order to return to a sustainable path".
    "In very difficult circumstances, it was another act of national responsibility," they side, in reference to the violent protests in Athens that injured some 300 people.
    Vote of confidence? Greece's package of tax rises and budget cuts is worth about 28bn euros over five years.
    The Greek government has, for now, a narrow majority in parliament for pushing ahead with its austerity plans - mainly on the basis that the alternatives would be even worse.
    But a large section of the Greek people are close to the limit of what they are prepared to withstand. And that's even before any of the new measures kick in. Expect further protests.
    European leaders are worried sick and occasionally prone to statements which sound rather too much like panic for comfort. They are working hard on much longer-term finance for Greece, but no-one has a magic wand.
    And the markets clearly believe that Greece will eventually default on its debts; that there is no way they can all be repaid. This is all about buying time, and shoring up defences.
    Now its implementation has been improved, Eurozone finance ministers will start finalising the details of a second bail-out designed to help Greece pay its debts until the end of 2014.
    This is likely to be approved over the weekend, correspondents say.
    Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said he was "very satisfied" with the result.
    "I can go to Eurogroup strengthened by a vote of confidence and two approved bills," he told Reuters news agency.
    But analysts say the real challenge will come after the loan is secured, and there is concern about whether the austerity measures can be effectively implemented in the face of so much public hostility.
    As Greek MPS were voting, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said German banks and insurers had agreed to participate in a plan to continue lending to Athens, following a similar decision by French lenders.
    Mr Schaeuble said German institutions would contribute 3.2bn euros to the plan.
    Calm returns Wednesday's vote - which was approved in principle by 155 votes to 138 - had prompted a furious response from protesters in Athens.
    Masked rioters - armed with sticks and stones - fought running battles with riot police firing tear gas and stun grenades.
    Clashes had continued on Syntagma (Constitution) Square outside parliament overnight.
    But calm returned after daybreak, with protesters replaced by street-cleaning crews removing debris left after two days of battles in the square.
    Police had restricted access to the city centre to prevent demonstrators from obstructing members of parliament heading to vote on the new law.
    Some Athenians have accused the police of heavy-handed tactics and the excessive use of tear gas; Greek newspapers on Thursday railed against what one called "an orgy of state terror".
    Scores of people have been treated for injuries and severe breathing problems.
    Concessions offered The measures in Thursday's enabling legislation include:
    • June 29: Parliament approves new austerity package
    • June 30: MPs approve details of implementing package
    • July 3: EU will sign off latest bail-out payment to Greece - 12bn euros 
    • The setting up of a privatisation agency
    • Preparation for privatisation of state-owned real estate
    • Tax increases
    • Curbs on public sector recruitment
    • Social security regulations
    Some Socialist MPs had said they would vote against individual clauses such as an increase in heating oil levy and a rise in the minimum tax threshold.
    Before the vote, Mr Venizelos had offered some concessions on tax, one of the most contentious parts of the package.
    Greek unions are angry that the government's austerity programme will impose taxes on those earning the minimum wage, following months of other cuts that have seen unemployment rise to more than 16%.
    Countries most exposed to Greek debt


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Libya: Russia decries French arms drop to Libya rebels

     Libyan rebels with a captured tank in Zintan, 25 June 2011 Libyan rebels have been battling government forces for months Russia has strongly criticised France for dropping weapons to Libyan rebels and demanded an explanation from Paris. "If this is confirmed, it is a very crude violation of UN Security Council resolution 1970," Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
    The African Union has also criticised the move, saying it risks causing a "Somalia-sation" of Libya.
    The French military says it has dropped arms to Berber tribal fighters in the mountains south-west of the capital.
    Mr Lavrov said Russia had formally requested information from France about the move, to check that it "corresponds with reality".
    Mr Lavrov is due to meet French counterpart Alain Juppe in Moscow on Friday.
    'Undefended populations' Moscow abstained from the UN Security Council vote in March that authorised an international mission in Libya to protect civilians.
    Russia and China have both criticised the Nato campaign in recent weeks, saying it had gone beyond the remit of UN resolution 1973.
    Another resolution, 1970, had imposed an arms embargo on Libya.
    But US and UK officials have argued that resolution 1973 could nonetheless allow weapons to be supplied to rebels fighting to topple Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
    France is also said to have been concerned at the stalemate in the Libyan conflict, which began in February.
    Libyan rebels have recently been making gains and hope to advance on Tripoli from the existing front line on the northern side of the Nafusa mountains about 65km (40 miles) from the capital.
    French officials have said the arms dropped to rebels earlier this month were for the protection of civilians threatened at the time by pro-Gaddafi forces.
    "It appeared that in certain zones the security situation was extremely tense for these undefended populations," French military spokesman Thierry Burkhard said on Thursday.
    'Somalia-sation' He said the supplies had been limited to ammunition and "light arms" including machine guns and rocket launchers. He denied a report in Le Figaro newspaper that anti-tank missiles had been parachuted in.
    French media reports have said "light armoured cars" were also delivered to the rebels from Tunisia, and that France had not informed its allies about the move.
    Earlier on Thursday, African Union chief Jean Ping listed a number of "problems" linked to France's decision to air-drop weapons to the rebels.
    "The risk of civil war, risk of partition of the country, the risk of 'Somalia-sation' of the country, risk of having arms everywhere... with terrorism.
    "These risks will concern the neighbouring countries," said Mr Ping, speaking at an African Union summit in Equatorial Guinea.

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Hariri murder: UN tribunal issues arrest warrants

     Women pass by a giant portrait of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri near his grave, Beirut, Lebanon, 30 June 2011 Rafik Hariri is widely credited with getting Lebanon back on its feet after the 15-year civil war 
    Four arrest warrants have been issued by the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the court said.
    Hariri's son, Saad, welcomed the indictments and described them as a "historic moment" for Lebanon.
    Local reports say the warrants name senior members of the Shia militant and political group Hezbollah.
    Hezbollah has repeatedly denounced the tribunal and vowed to retaliate.
    Divisions over the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), based in The Hague, have thrown the country into political turmoil and prompted fears of sectarian unrest.
    'Innocent until proven guilty' Rafik Hariri and 22 others were killed in February 2005 in central Beirut when a huge bomb went off as his motorcade passed by.
    The arrest warrants divide opinion in Lebanon. Many Lebanese want to know who killed Rafik Hariri. But the long years of delay in the international judicial process have made many people sceptical wondering whether the truth will ever come out.
    Others believe that the constant vulnerability of Lebanon's political system means that stability is more important than justice. They question whether the tribunal process and the risks it entails are worth it.
    There are also Lebanese - many of them Hezbollah supporters - who reject the tribunal outright, seeing it as a tool of Israel and the West to discredit enemies such as Syria and Hezbollah.
    The newly installed government of Najib Mikati is well aware of the divergent views. And with Hezbollah a dominant force in the new government, handling the issue is going to be an early test of the new prime minister's political skills.
    On Thursday, Lebanon's state prosecutor Saeed Mirza said he had received the indictments and four arrest warrants from an STL delegation in the Lebanese capital Beirut.
    The STL later confirmed the indictment, stating that the judge "is satisfied that there is prima facie evidence for this case to proceed to trial".
    It added that it would not reveal the identities of those named in the indictment.
    "Judge Fransen has ruled that the indictment shall remain confidential in order to assist the Lebanese authorities in fulfilling their obligations to arrest the accused," the statement reads.
    Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said his government would deal "responsibly and realistically" with the indictment, while "bearing in mind that these are accusations and not verdicts".
    "All suspects are innocent until proven guilty," Mr Mikati told a news conference.
    But the BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones in Beirut says the new prime minister is in a difficult position.
    With Hezbollah now a strong force in the new Lebanese government, it is difficult to see how any arrests could be made, our correspondent says.
    In a policy statement, the government said it would "follow the progress of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon... as long as it does not negatively affect Lebanon's stability and civil peace."
    Thirty days 
    The aftermath of a car bombing is seen in Beirut, Lebanon, 14 February 2005
    • February 2005: Rafik Hariri is killed in a bombing in Beirut
    • April 2005: Syrian troops leave Lebanon after 29 years amid international pressure, despite Damascus denying any role in the killing
    • June 2007: UN-backed Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) created
    • April 2009: The STL orders the release of four Lebanese generals detained in 2005
    • October 2010: Hezbollah urges all Lebanese to boycott the UN inquiry
    • January 2011: Hezbollah forces collapse of government led by Saad Hariri, Rafik Hariri's son, after he refuses to stop co-operating with the tribunal
    Officials from Hezbollah declined to comment, but the group's al-Manar television described the indictment as "politicised".
    Hezbollah has denied always any role in the assassination. The group claims the tribunal is a plot involving the United States, Israel and France, and the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, has threatened to cut the hand of anyone who tries to arrest Hezbollah members.
    Saad Hariri - himself a former prime minister - described the indictment over his father's case as a milestone for the country.
    "After many years of patience, of struggle... today, we witness a historic moment in Lebanese politics, justice and security," he said.
    He urged Lebanon's new Hezbollah-dominated government to live up to its international obligations.
    Hezbollah forced the collapse of Saad Hariri's government in January after he refused to stop co-operating with the tribunal.
    Mr Mikati has previously said that he would strive to uphold Lebanon's international obligations, but that he was also mindful of his responsibilities when it came to the country's stability.
    According to tribunal officials, Lebanon now has 30 days to serve out the arrest warrants.
    If the suspects are not arrested within that period, the STL will then make public the indictment and summon the suspects to appear before the court.

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Hariri murder: UN tribunal issues arrest warrants


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Cool Self Made Seaplane by Liu Chun Sheng


    Cool Self Made Seaplane by Liu Chun Sheng - This Chinese guys invent a cool amazing stuff which is can walk on the water and also in the air, it's a seaplane. Liu Chun Sheng made it alone with his effort and takes 6 years to finish his project. so how does this Seaplane by Liu Chun Sheng works?

    Liu Chun Sheng start working on his dream machine in July 2009 and he finally finished with what he had set out to build. But, there is one slight problem with the seaplane he has built. It is still incapable of flying! According to Liu, the problem is with the length of the propeller blades which he thinks may be a little too short to provide the proper amount of lift to his 250 kg seaplane. He has two 100 hp engine fitted on both wings of the airplane to power the aircraft and he is determined to carry on with his quest of making this aircraft fly.



    The seaplane built by Liu is quite simple and rudimentary in design. But, it has one crucial technology which sets it apart from rest of the DIY airplanes. The seaplane of Liu uses the “tilt-rotor” technology, where the plane takes off from water like a helicopter using vertical propulsion, and, then rotors change its positions in the middle of the flight to make it an airplane. Tilt-rotor is quite a new invention in the aviation and currently it is used in the field of military aviation. It is quite astonishing to see how a common aviation enthusiast can master this complex technology.



    The body of this Seaplane has been made of aluminum and welded steel pipes. The cockpit looks like a bird cage and can accommodate only one person. But it houses all the necessary instruments that one needs to fly an aircraft. The amazing thing about this aircraft is that its creator has not taken any help from any other person. The only help he took is from an aviation magazine which he read a while back.

    Via : Gizmowatch


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Cool Self Made Seaplane by Liu Chun Sheng


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Matress with an Air Conditioning System by FranceBed


    Matress with an Air Conditioning System by FranceBed - Here comes another cool amazing concept by FranceBed. they made a matress with an Air Conditioning System. with this system now you don't need to put an Air Conditioner on your room. beside works as an air conditioner, this francebed matres could also used as the heater in a winter season. How does this FranceBed works?

    In this mat there is a pipe working for water flow through the machines in it so that flowing water can provide the desired temperature with the help of the machine.

    The machine that is able to function as air or heated and the temperature can be adjusted from 15-48 ° C, so it can be used summer or winter.

    FranceBed Matress with Air Conditioning system

    Compared with AC is far more efficient FranceBed that is only produced electricity about 1/4 compared to AC ( summer) or 1/10 compared to heater ( winter ).

    On the other hand, FranceBed can only cool the bed (not for the room) and can be used for one person only because the size of a single type of mattress that is only measuring 97 x 195 cm. Here's the Demo video of this Cool Amazing Concept of Matress with Air Conditioning System by FranceBed




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Matress with an Air Conditioning System by FranceBed


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Tea Leoni, David Duchovny are separated once again

     Tea Leoni and David Duchovny are separated.

    Tea Leoni and David Duchovny have separated for the second time in their 14-year marriage, according to multiple reports Wednesday morning after a statement was released.

    They reportedly have not decided whether to divorce.

    The acting couple, who have two kids, married in 1997 after meeting on "The Tonight Show." He was starring in "The X-Files" at the time, while she was on "The Naked Truth."

    They renewed their vows in 2009, after separating in 2008.

    That separation, which saw "Californication" star Duchovny heading off to rehab for sex addiction, sparked rumors an affair between him and his Hungarian-born tennis coach, and sexting between Leoni and -- wait for it -- Billy Bob Thornton. (Thornton quickly put the kibosh on the story involving him, and a lawsuit filed by Duchovny had the Daily Mail soon retracting its story about instructor Elsa Patay as categorically untrue. Patay denied it too.)

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Big banks relieved as Fed sets debit card rule

    The Federal Reserve on Wednesday slashed the fees which banks charge for debit card transactions, but did not cut them as deeply as initially expected, handing a partial victory to Wall Street.
    Under the new rules, the fee charged for the average debit card transaction of $38 would be capped at approximately 24 cents, the Fed said in a statement announcing its decision.
    Currently, the fee for an average debit card transaction is 44 cents. Banks had feared that the average fee would be cut as low as seven to 12 cents and mounted a fierce lobbying campaign to thwart the changes.
    The rule change was mandated by last year's Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which brought in tougher regulation of the US banking system in an effort to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.
    Lawmakers from President Barack Obama's Democratic Party had pushed for the debit card provision to help retailers and small businesses, which pay the transaction fees. The fees are typically not seen by consumers.
    The American Bankers Association, which lobbies for the interests of large banks, welcomed the Fed's decision on Wednesday.
    "The Federal Reserve has taken a significant step in reducing the harm that could have resulted from the proposed rule," it said in a statement.
    Shares of companies which process debit card payments surged after the Fed's decision was announced, with Visa stock skyrocketing by 15.0 percent and Mastercard rising 11.3 percent.

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Big banks relieved as Fed sets debit card rule


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Big banks relieved as Fed sets debit card rule

    The Federal Reserve on Wednesday slashed the fees which banks charge for debit card transactions, but did not cut them as deeply as initially expected, handing a partial victory to Wall Street.
    Under the new rules, the fee charged for the average debit card transaction of $38 would be capped at approximately 24 cents, the Fed said in a statement announcing its decision.
    Currently, the fee for an average debit card transaction is 44 cents. Banks had feared that the average fee would be cut as low as seven to 12 cents and mounted a fierce lobbying campaign to thwart the changes.
    The rule change was mandated by last year's Dodd-Frank financial reform law, which brought in tougher regulation of the US banking system in an effort to prevent a repeat of the 2008 financial crisis.
    Lawmakers from President Barack Obama's Democratic Party had pushed for the debit card provision to help retailers and small businesses, which pay the transaction fees. The fees are typically not seen by consumers.
    The American Bankers Association, which lobbies for the interests of large banks, welcomed the Fed's decision on Wednesday.
    "The Federal Reserve has taken a significant step in reducing the harm that could have resulted from the proposed rule," it said in a statement.
    Shares of companies which process debit card payments surged after the Fed's decision was announced, with Visa stock skyrocketing by 15.0 percent and Mastercard rising 11.3 percent.

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Big banks relieved as Fed sets debit card rule


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Charlie Sheen Reveals Steroid Use For 'Major League' Role

    Charlie Sheen has revealed that he took his preparations for his role in 1989's "Major League" to the extreme.

    "Let's just say that I was enhancing my performance a little bit. It was the only time I ever did steroids," the actor told Sports Illustrated in an interview featured in the new "Where Are They Now?" issue.


    "I did them for like six or eight weeks," he continued. "You can print this... my fastball went from 79 to like 85."

    The former "Two and a Half Men" star also told the mag that character Ricky Vaughn's signature hairstyle combined with his steroid use was a dangerous combination.


    "I didn't like the haircut because it generated so many comments in bars. I've got enough of that already. Add that to the mix and it's a recipe for a fistfight," he continued.

    The notorious lady-lover said the movie's physical demands cut into the amount of female visitors he had on set.

    "It wasn't as bad as on 'Young Guns' [a year earlier]. We made that one in Santa Fe, and you would fly into Albuquerque and drive to Santa Fe on this two-lane highway. Literally, the girls that were leaving would pass the ones coming in," he recalled. "'Major League' was so physically demanding that you didn't have a lot of time for that. You're lying in bed and everything [hurts], and you're thinking, I have to pitch tomorrow?! But there were certain days that we'd look at the schedule for the next day and be like, 'Gentlemen, tonight we ride.'"

    The actor told the mag he loves how the classic baseball comedy has endured over the years.

    "We had this party at my place a few months ago to watch 'Major League.' It was awesome. The beard was there -- Brian Wilson, from the [San Francisco] Giants. We had [former pro baseball players] Eddie Murray and Kenny Lofton. And I got David Ward to introduce the film. Colin Farrell showed up. And when my big strikeout at the end comes on, the place goes nuts like we've never even seen the movie before," he told the mag. "I'm in between my two girlfriends, and I look over and there's Colin Farrell giving me a thumbs-up. I reach behind me for a fist bump from Brian Wilson, who goes, 'Winning!' I'm telling you, [director] David Ward created a baseball classic, and baseball is all that matters in the world.

    "You know, I always wonder what I'm going to be in the middle of when I die. And I just hope it's not in the middle of the greatest...pennant race ever," Sheen added.

    Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
    This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Twitter founders return to roots, relaunch Obvious

    ASPEN, Co. (Reuters) - Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams plan to revive Obvious, the company they conceived years ago as a technology project incubator that eventually spawned Twitter.
    Stone and Williams will continue to advise Twitter on strategic matters, but devote the lions' share of their time to The Obvious Corporation, Stone told the Aspen Ideas Conference at the ski resort on Tuesday.
    The pair, along with others such as Jack Dorsey, who now runs payments service Square, created the four-year-old website that allows users to send 140-character messages across the Internet. It has grown into a microblogging phenomenon used by celebrities and heads of state alike, hailed at times as a crucial tool in promoting the free flow of information.
    Neither Stone nor Williams told conference attendees explicitly what they intended with Obvious, apart from saying that they were excited about building projects that will improve people's lives.
    "All the biggest ideas are obvious in retrospect," said Williams. "If we get as lucky as Twitter, that would be great."
    Dick Costolo replaced Williams as Twitter's CEO in October, a move Silicon Valley sources have said re-focused the microblogging sensation on monetization, or translating its fast-growing pool of users into revenue.
    "The Twitter crew and its leadership team have grown incredibly productive. I've decided that the most effective use of my time is to get out of the way until I'm called upon to be of some specific use," Stone said in a blog post. http://www.bizstone.com/2011/06/its-so-obvious.html
    "Our plan is to develop new projects and work on solving big problems aligned along a simple mission statement: The Obvious Corporation develops systems that help people work together to improve the world."
    "This is a dream come true!" Stone said.
    DYNAMIC DUO
    In a conversation with Walter Isaacson, the Aspen Institute's chief executive, the duo skipped from topic to topic, flummoxing audience members hoping for clues on their new venture.
    They discussed the advantages of closed versus open systems online; how the Internet was changing philanthropy through services such as Kickstarter that allow crowdsourced funding; and how the Internet has affected distribution of content much more than content itself.
    "There are more fundamental things than how distribution evolves to change publishing," Williams said.
    The two charmed the audience, frequently drawing laughs with their deadpan wit. Stone described himself and Williams as "hallucinogenically optimistic", while their Obvious partner Jason Goldman, formerly vice president for product at Twitter, "is always like, 'here are the 10 ways we can get screwed'."
    Social networking services like Twitter and Facebook are increasingly challenging established online powers like Google Inc and Yahoo for Web surfers' time and advertisers' dollars.
    Twitter, which began courting advertisers one year ago, is still in the early stages of building a business. The company is expected to bring in about $150 million in ad revenue this year, compared with Facebook's roughly $4 billion in ad revenue, according to research firm eMarketer.
    In December, Twitter was valued at $3.7 billion in a $200 million funding round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. An auction of Twitter shares on the secondary market in March suggested investors were valuing the company at more than $7 billion.
    One audience member asked if there was a bubble in technology.
    "Maybe investor excitement is outpacing the development," Williams allowed. But he was firm about his corporate progeny.
    "I'm holding my Twitter stock long-term," he said. "If there is a correction, these things always go in cycles. So that will be fine."

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Gaikai seeks deals as gaming shifts to the cloud

     
    BANGALORE (Reuters) - Gaikai, a privately-held cloud gaming firm whose backers include Electronic Arts and Intel Capital, expects to sign deals with major publishers and video game makers, as the market shifts from console-based games to online titles.
    Chief Executive David Perry, 44, who founded Gaikai in 2009, said he is "going back and forth with at least 20 major companies" over a licensing contract.
    Like larger rival OnLive, Gaikai -- a Japanese term for "open ocean" -- streams game content directly to any internet connected device, without the need for additional hardware like a console or a graphics processor.
    OnLive, backed by AT&T, Time Warner's venture capital arm, Taiwan's HTC Corp and others, offers annual subscription based games in the United States and is expected to launch in Britain later this year.
    Gaikai has licenses for most of EA's game catalog and has signed with Wal-Mart to stream games on the retailer's web store. The company charges video game publishers based on minutes of game play on its network.
    "We're building a content distribution company here, like Akamai -- but how we're different is that the technology is bi-directional. It's data being sent and received constantly," Perry said in a telephone interview.
    The market share of console games is forecast to shrink to 39 percent by 2014 from 61 percent in 2009, according to research from broker ThinkEquity, as gamers shift to online and mobile games.
    ThinkEquity estimates the global online games market will grow around 9 percent a year, to almost $17 billion by 2014.
    "The consoles people are playing on today are 5-6 years old, and those machines are not running the games fast at all," Perry said.
    Sony's PlayStation 3 was launched in 2006, a year after Microsoft's Xbox 360. Both last year launched motion gaming extensions, but neither have announced plans for next-generation consoles.
    "These consoles are playing games at 30 frames per second (fps), which adds to the latency. Gaikai's servers are running at 60 fps. We're using modern hardware and not 5-year-old hardware," Perry noted.
    "Today, playing a large title online is not convenient. 'World of Warcraft' has an average 30 clicks before users can get into the game play, whereas 'Farmville' has an average of two clicks," Perry said.
    "Our focus is on how to make these big games convenient for playing on a platform like Facebook"
    VENTURE CAPITAL
    Aliso Viejo, California-based Gaikai also counts Akamai Technologies and rival Limelight Networks as early investors, and uses Limelight's data centers to house its servers.
    "When I was raising money for the company, the $1 million question was how to raise money for the servers and data centers. TriplePoint Capital signed up as an investor, so all the servers and hardware in the Gaikai network is bought by them," said Perry.
    TriplePoint, which was an early investor in both Facebook and YouTube, provides venture funding to technology start-ups, and financed Facebook's servers in its early years.
    Gaikai expects to double the number of its data centers in the United States and Europe, to almost 50, inside a year.
    Perry, who developed his first video game as a 14-year-old in Ireland, predicts the Gaikai service will be running on most digital TVs next year, and is in talks with console makers for a similar service.
    "We have conducted tests on all major consoles, and will soon be announcing new deals."
    Perry, who developed games such as 'Earthworm Jim' and founded the video game company Shiny Entertainment in 1993, sees the shift to the cloud -- technology that allows remote access to computing power and data over the internet -- as integral to video game sales.
    "Physical sales are dropping, and digital sales are picking up. If there's a console that doesn't use technology like this it will fall behind as it won't be using the capabilities of the internet."
    "When I started programing, games were in black and white and ran on 1k of memory. Then, suddenly, there were machines in the market with 16k of memory, and we couldn't imagine what to do with all that memory," Perry recalled.
    "It's clear that cloud gaming is in the crosshairs of every major technology company in the world."
    (Reporting by Himank Sharma, Editing by Ian Geoghegan)

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Gaza flotilla makes Internet splash

    JERUSALEM (Reuters) - They're all a Twitter about the flotilla.
    It may still be anyone's guess when a small international convoy of vessels carrying pro-Palestinian activists and aid will set sail from Greece to the Gaza Strip in a challenge to Israel's naval blockade of the territory run by Hamas Islamists.
    But, mindful of the bloodshed at sea and global outcry that marked a similar event last year, the opposing sides are already battling for hearts and minds in the social and mainstream media.
    An array of Facebook pages, websites and tweets posted by organizers of "Freedom Flotilla II" (www.freedomflotilla.eu), say they are on a humanitarian mission of peace. Waging its own public relations campaign, Israel says the activists could be plotting violence.
    A text message sent to reporters by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office (www.facebook.com/IsraeliPM) on Monday quoted unnamed "Israeli officials" as saying flotilla organizers might use chemicals against Israeli troops sent to intercept the convoy.
    The next day, the Israeli military, which is under orders to prevent the ships from reaching the Gaza Strip, went on the record with the same accusation.
    The "US Boat to Gaza" used its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/USBOATTOGAZA) and tweets to challenge the allegation. The group, which has dubbed its vessel "The Audacity of Hope," said Israel was "fabricating horror stories about hundreds of unarmed civilians in the flotilla."
    Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak said in a television interview later on Wednesday that while it was not known what the ships might be carrying, forces were readying for all eventualities.
    "I am sure the (military) is better prepared than in the past. This is not a sea cadet ride or a pleasure cruise and in any event we must be ready for all scenarios ... The working assumption for the forces is that they could meet very violent resistance," Barak told Israel's Channel 2.
    Israel says the blockade, enforced since 2006, is aimed at stopping more weapons from reaching Hamas, a militant group shunned by the West over its refusal to recognize Israel and renounce violence. Palestinians and their supporters say the measure is illegal and constitutes collective punishment.
    HIGH STAKES
    The stakes are high -- a year ago, nine Turkish activists, including a dual U.S.-Turkish national, were killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers who raided a Gaza-bound convoy in the eastern Mediterranean.
    Israeli-Turkish relations neared breaking point after the bloodshed and an international outcry led to Israel easing its land blockade of the Gaza Strip.
    Israel has urged foreign governments not to let the new convoy of about 10 ships get under way. Organizers in Athens have accused Greece, where some of them are docked, of raising bureaucratic obstacles and bowing to Israeli pressure.
    Flotilla groups and Israel have also used YouTube to make their case -- in at least one instance in a video that looks to have been a hoax.
    Organizers of the convoy said the propeller of one ship was cut in Piraeus harbor near Athens on Monday, and they accused Israel of sabotage. A video uploaded to YouTube by "digital flotilla" showed the damage and an interview with the boat's captain.
    Another YouTube video featured a man who identified himself as "Marc," an American gay rights activist (www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhmBbGFJleU&feature=player_embedded). He said he had offered flotilla organizers the support of a network of gay activists but they had turned him down.
    "It was hurtful," he complained, accusing Hamas of homophobia. Israel's Government Press Office and the Foreign Ministry (www.facebook.com/IsraelMFA?v=wall), as well as an intern in Netanyahu's office linked to the video on their Twitter feeds.
    A pro-Palestinian website later said the video, which appeared to have been professionally made, was bogus and identified the man as a Tel Aviv actor.
    A photo of the actor on an Israeli celebrities website matched the man in the video.
    (Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

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Bank of America in $8.5B mortgage settlement

    Bank of America to pay $8.5 billion settlement over mortgages 

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    , On Wednesday June 29, 2011, 9:04 am EDT
    NEW YORK (AP) -- Bank of America and its Countrywide unit will pay $8.5 billion to settle claims that the lenders sold poor-quality mortgage-backed securities that went sour when the housing market collapsed.
    The deal, announced Wednesday, comes after a group of 22 investors demanded that the Charlotte, N.C. bank repurchase $47 billion in mortgages that its Countrywide unit sold to them in the form of bonds.
    The group, which includes the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Pimco Investment Management, and Blackrock Financial Management, argued that Countrywide enriched itself at the expense of investors by continuing to service bad loans while running up servicing fees.
    Bank of America, which bought Countrywide in 2008 for $4 billion, has denied those claims.
    Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said Wednesday that the settlement would minimize "future economic uncertainty" in the banking business and "clean up the mortgage issues largely stemming from our purchase of Countrywide."
    For several months, Bank of America battled claims based on estimates "that were much different from ours," Moynihan said. But at this point, it made more sense to settle than to keep fighting, he said.
    "We have said consistently if people are reasonable and can get to a reasonable assessment of their claims and it's in the best interest of shareholders, we will settle," Moynihan told Wall Street analysts in a conference call.
    The settlement is subject to court approval and covers 530 trusts with original principal balance of $424 billion.
    Citi analyst Keith Horowitz said the settlement, which amounts to only 2 percent of the original principal balance, removes one of the largest investor risks for Bank of America.
    "We think this could prove to be a step forward" for Bank of America, Horowitz said. It would show investors that the bank can manage through crisis without raising additional capital.
    As a result of the settlement, Bank of America put its second-quarter loss at $8.6 billion to $9.1 billion. Excluding the settlement and other charges, the bank expects to post a quarterly loss of $3.2 billion to $3.7 billion.
    Shares of Bank of America Corp. jumped more than 4 percent, or 48 cents to $11.30 before the market opened, with investors happy that the bank can put very big uncertainty behind it.
    Investors may now be more confident that they can get similar concessions from other major U.S. banks that created markets for mortgage-backed securities with questionable pedigrees.
    Yet stocks in the financial sector were rising in electronic trading Wednesday, likely because the Bank of America deal presents a framework for others to follow.

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News Corp sells MySpace for $35M mostly in stock

    News Corp sells MySpace for $35 million, mostly in stock, to Specific Media 

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    , On Wednesday June 29, 2011, 3:05 pm EDT
    LOS ANGELES (AP) -- News Corp. has sold struggling social networking site MySpace for $35 million, mostly in stock, according to a person familiar with the matter. The deal values MySpace at a fraction of what News Corp. paid for the site six years ago.
    The sale to online advertising network operator Specific Media is expected to close later Wednesday, a day before the end of News Corp.'s fiscal year. News Corp. will maintain less than a 5 percent stake in the company.
    The person was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
    News Corp. bought MySpace for $580 million in 2005, but users and advertisers have fled the site for other hotter social networks like Facebook and Twitter.
    Specific Media confirmed the acquisition but not the terms of the deal Wednesday.
    "There are many synergies between our companies as we are both focused on enhancing digital media experiences by fueling connections with relevance and interest," said Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook, in a statement. "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."
    Specific Media, based in Irvine, Calif., was founded in 1999 by brothers Tim, Chris and Russell Vanderhook.

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Fed orders banks to lower retailers' debit fees

    WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve is set to limit the fees that banks charge retailers for swiping debit cards to 21 cents, a higher cap than initially proposed.
    Banks succeeded in convincing the Fed that its initial proposal of 12 cents was too low after a six-month lobbying blitz. They currently charge an average of 44 cents per swipe.
    The Fed will formally adopt the rule Wednesday, which was required under the financial regulatory law enacted last year. The rule takes effect Oct 1, later than expected.
    In addition to the 21-cent cap, the rule will also allow banks to charge a fraction more to cover the costs of fraud prevention.
    The move to limit swipe fees pitted the nation's largest banks and payment processors like MasterCard Inc. and Visa Inc. against Wal-Mart and retailers of all sizes. The decision to settle on a higher cap pushed up bank and network stocks in late afternoon trading on Wall Street.
    Banks said roughly $16 billion was at stake if the 12-cent cap took effect. That would be more than 80 percent of the $19.7 billion in debit transaction fees paid by merchants in 2009, according to the Nilson Report, which tracks the payments industry.
    The banks warned that they would have to make up for some revenue lost by shifting costs to consumers. Many already eliminated unrestricted free checking accounts, and some ended debit card rewards programs. Other potential actions include annual fees for using debit cards, which are already being tested in some markets.
    The higher cap may lead some to avoid taking such action.
    Merchant groups said that their savings would be passed on to customers in the form of lower prices. But many questioned whether retailers would simply pocket the difference. Some big retailer stocks declined late in Wednesday's trading session.
    Banks and credit unions with assets under $10 billion are exempt from the rule, under the premise that they rely more on swipe fees, also known as interchange fees. But those smaller institutions argued that the exemption won't help. That's because it invites merchants to discriminate against their cards. It also leaves the decision on which network to use to process the transaction in the hands of merchants, who could choose to bypass networks that charge higher fees.
    Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke acknowledged small banks' concerns during a May 12 hearing by the Senate Banking Committee. He said allowing them to charge more than big banks for processing debt card transactions could make debit cards issued by smaller banks less attractive to merchants.
    "There's good reason to be concerned about it," Bernanke said. It could result in some smaller banks "being less profitable or even failing."
    Separately Wednesday, a federal appeals court in South Dakota ruled that a lower court judge was correct to deny a preliminary injunction against the fee limits taking effect.
    The case challenging the regulations' constitutionality was brought in October by Minnesota-based TCF National Bank, the unit of TCF Financial Corp., considered the first bank to offer free checking accounts. TCF is among the banks that no longer offer free checking without requirements such as using direct deposit or maintaining minimum balances.
    In a twist, TCF's attorneys argued that the provision of the law exempting small banks and credit unions gave those unaffected banks an unfair advantage.

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FDA panel: Revoke drug's breast cancer approval

    Federal panel says government should revoke cancer drug Avastin's approval for breast cancer 
    , On Wednesday June 29, 2011, 3:42 pm
    SILVER SPRING, Md. (AP) -- A panel of cancer experts has ruled for a second time that Avastin, the best-selling cancer drug in the world, should no longer be used in breast cancer patients, clearing the way for the government to remove its endorsement from the drug.
    The unprecedented vote Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel comes less than a year after the same panel reached the same conclusion.
    In three unanimous votes, the six members of the FDA oncology drug panel voted that Avastin is ineffective, unsafe and should have its approval for breast cancer withdrawn.
    "I think we all wanted Avastin to succeed but the reality is that these studies did not bear out that hope," said Natalie Compagni-Portis, the lone patient representative on the FDA panel
    The vote is not binding and FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg will make the final decision. The drug is approved for multiple cancers and will still be available for breast cancer, though most insurers are expected to drop coverage if it loses FDA approval
    The FDA began steps to remove Avastin's breast cancer approval in December, but Roche took the rare step of appealing that decision and lobbied the agency and Congress for a second hearing.
    The dramatic, contentious tone of the two-day hearing underscored the difficulty of removing an option for cancer patients, even when backed by scientific evidence.
    Immediately after the final vote, patients in the audience erupted in shouts against the FDA and its panelists.
    "What do you want us to take!? We have nothing else!" shouted Christi Turnage, of Madison, Miss. Turnage said her cancer has been undetectable for more than two years since starting therapy with Avastin.
    A spokesman for the Abigail Alliance, which advocates for patient access to experimental medicine, said the vote should be overruled.
    "This was a kangaroo court," said Steven Walker, the group's co-founder. "There wasn't one dissenting thought up there, let alone one dissenting vote."
    Assuming the FDA follows through on the withdrawal, drugmaker Roche could lose up to $1 billion in revenue for its best-selling product, which generates over $6 billion per year. Avastin is FDA-approved for various types of colon, lung, kidney and brain cancer, which are not part of the debate. Doctors will still be allowed to prescribe Avastin for breast cancer, though insurers may not pay for it. When administration fees are included, a year's treatment of Avastin can cost $100,000.
    Roche's Genentech unit argued the drug should remain available while it conducts more research on which patients benefit most from the injectable drug. The drug is approved for breast cancer that has spread, or metastasized, to other parts of the body. Such cancer is generally considered incurable.
    "The data tell us it is better for women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer to have Avastin as an approved treatment option," said Hal Barron, Roche executive vice president.
    Wednesday's vote came after two days of hearings that often resembled a courtroom trial, complete with testimony, cross-examination and a final jury verdict. In a public comment period Tuesday, Avastin patients and their families took the role of witnesses against the FDA.
    "Make no mistake, this hearing is a death trial not of Avastin but of these women who rely on Avastin to say alive," said Terry Kalley, whose wife takes Avastin for breast cancer. "You are each personally responsible for the consequences of your own vote."
    Kelley formed a group called Freedom of Access to Medicines to protest and lobby the FDA. Kelley says the group does not receive funding from Roche.
    After more than 14 hours of discussion, panelists ultimately sided with the government, saying that Avastin's ability to slow tumor growth, which is measured through medical imaging scans, has not translated into meaningful benefit for breast cancer patients.
    "I think as treating clinicians we have to ask ourselves: What are we doing in terms of helping patients? Simply delaying a change in a CT scan for a month or two is not significant unless it's accompanied by other improvements in how the patients are doing or overall survival improvement," said panelist Dr. Wyndam Wilson of the National Cancer Institute.

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Greece passes austerity, but riots seize capital

    Greece backs austerity measures, holding off default, but protests against bill turn violent 
    , On Wednesday June 29, 2011, 4:17 pm
    ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece fended off a bankruptcy that would have roiled global markets and threatened the future of the euro when lawmakers on Wednesday backed controversial austerity measures in the face of violent protests. More than 100 people were injured.
    Investors cheered the bill -- which aims to cut spending and raise taxes by euro28 billion ($40 billion) and raise euro50 billion ($71 billion) in privatizations over five years -- but, in Athens, the mood was dark. In a haze of tear gas, protesters hurled anything they could find at riot police and tried to blockade the Parliament building.
    A Greek default would threaten the viability of the euro, the EU's common currency, and send shock waves through global markets similar to those that kicked off the global financial meltdown after the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.
    While world markets rose on the news that the bill passed, Greece is not yet out of the woods. The bill -- along with another that must be passed Thursday on implementing the austerity package -- will release the next euro12 billion ($17 billion) installment of a euro110 billion ($157 billion) international bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. Eurogroup head Jean-Claude Juncker indicated after the vote that Greece would get the fifth batch of its bailout loans.
    But many Greeks complain they have already paid dearly in a year that has seen public sector salaries and pensions cut and unemployment rise to above 16 percent.
    "This is bad, the country will be sold for a piece of bread," said Dimitris Kostopoulos, a 48-year-old insurer who was protesting Wednesday. "There were many other more appropriate alternatives to this. Parliament has once again betrayed us."
    The next installment Greece hopes to get will only see it through September, leaving open the question of how the country, burdened with piles of debt, will right itself.
    On Sunday, eurozone finance ministers will meet in Brussels to make progress on a second bailout for Greece that is hoped will address more long-term problems. As part of that plan, banks are expected to share some of the burden, possibly by rolling over Greek bonds that they hold, as French banks have already volunteered to do.
    Prime Minister George Papandreou has said the second bailout will be roughly the same size as the first.
    But many economists expect even that reprieve will not be enough, and Greece will need a more significant restructuring of its debt.
    "We must avoid the country's collapse with every effort," Papandreou said before the vote. "Outside, many are protesting. Some are truly suffering, others are losing their privileges. It is their democratic right. But they and no one else must never suffer the consequences ... of a collapse."
    But the specter of continued protests could undermine the government's ability to implement the harsh austerity measures, which slap taxes on even some of the lowest-paid Greeks and raise consumer taxes during a recession.
    "While approval of the package is an essential first step toward Greece getting the much-needed funding it needs from the EU/IMF to meet its upcoming financial obligations, they are not out of the water just yet," said Carl Campus, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.
    As lawmakers voted, stun grenades echoed across the square outside Parliament and acrid clouds of tear gas and orange and green mist from smoke bombs and flares hung in the air. Several banks and storefronts were smashed, while a Socialist dissenter who backed the government at the last minute, Alexandros Athanassiadis, was briefly assaulted by protesters after leaving Parliament on foot.
    Violence continued throughout the afternoon, and smoke billowed from a post office beneath the Finance Ministry, before the fire was put out. Rioters set up burning barricades along Syntagma Square, where demonstrators have staged a sit-in for the past month. Nearby streets were littered with thousands of chunks of smashed marble and ripped up paving stones used to throw at police.
    A general strike that began Tuesday also ground the country to a halt, grounding planes, docking ferries and stranding tourists during the busy summer season.
    By Wednesday night, police said 38 officers had been injured, including one who was seriously hurt when he was hit in the face by a chunk of marble. Thirty protesters were detained, with 11 of them arrested. Emergency services said they had treated 99 protesters and passers-by for injuries.
    Dozens of injured were treated at a makeshift first aid center set up inside the square's metro station. Most were treated for breathing problems, contusions and broken bones, volunteers at the first aid center said, appealing for medical supplies.
    Across Europe, officials hailed the vote as an act of "national responsibility" and urged Greek lawmakers to follow up with another positive vote Thursday.
    "That's really good news," German Chancellor Angela Merkel said when told of the outcome of the vote on her way out of an economic forum in Berlin. Germany is Greece's biggest creditor.
    In a joint statement, the heads of the EU commission and council, Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman Van Rompuy, said Greece had taken "a vital step back -- from the very grave scenario of default."
    Equally, relief was the main response in markets. Soon after the vote, the euro was trading at a fairly elevated level around the $1.44 mark while stock markets around the world were posting big gains.
    The unpopular package of spending cuts and tax hikes passed by 155 votes to 138, with five opposition deputies voting "present" -- a ballot which backs neither side.
    Christopher Torchia, Menelaos Hadjicostis and Demetris Nellas in Athens and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed.

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Mt. Pleasant Food Lion robbed over weekend

     

    Mt. Pleasant police are looking for several suspects who robbed the Food Lion grocery store on Long Point Road on Friday night.
    Four suspects are on the run after officers say the Food Lion was robbed at gunpoint around 9:15 p.m. Witnesses say the suspects entered the Food Lion wearing masks and were armed with handguns.
    A cashier told police that one of the suspects pointed a gun at her and made her open a safe in the back office.
    The manager told investigators that during the robbery, he was able to escort two customers out a back door to safety.
    K-9 units were able to track the suspects to the Snowden community before losing the trail.
    This case is under investigation by Mt. Pleasant police.

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Equatorial Guinea

    Equatorial Guinea lose to Norway at Women's World Cup Equatorial Guinea's women's team Equatorial Guinea missed several good chances as they lost their first ever match at the Women's World Cup
    Women's World Cup debutants Equatorial Guinea opened their Group D campaign with a narrow 1-0 defeat to Norway in Augsburg.
    Emelie Haavi scored in the 84th minute after the 1995 world champions had hit the woodwork three times.
    The 2008 African champions had chances of their own - with captain Anonman missing several times.
    Equatorial Guinea's next game is against Australia on 3 July in Bochum, while Norway face Brazil in Wolfsburg.
    In front of almost 13,000 fans, the Norwegians' first chance came in the second minute as Haavi shot wide.
    Equatorial Guinea needed some time to get into the match and relied on long-range efforts, like Anonman's 40-yard blast and Jurama's attempt from a bit closer after 17 minutes.
    The Africans then began to dominate and on 20 minutes, Dulcia was through on goalkeeper Ingrid Hjelmseth but Haavi made a vital last-gasp interception.
    Hjelmseth faced a barrage of shots - most of them from long range - and successfully cleared them all away.
    Equatorial Guinea had one final chance before the break as Anonman got past Nora Holstad Berge for a dash at Hjelmseth, but the keeper won the encounter.
    After the break, Anonman continued her excellent match, breezing past four women before chipping a shot that went just wide of the post after 53 minutes.
    The back-and-forth went on as Norway's Mykjaland hit the outside of the right post in the 55th minute.
    The Norwegians found the framework again just two minutes later with Herlovsen hitting the left post before the ball was pushed out in a scramble.
    Anonman broke through again in the 71st minute but again shot wide of the far right post and then she wasted another one-on-one situation with Hjelmseth just seconds later.
    Norway finally broke through when Leni Larsen Kaurin crossed from the right side to Haavi, who shot into an empty net after the Africans failed to clear.

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Sony boss Howard Stringer takes a pay cut

     

    Howard Stringer Howard Stringer praised PlayStation network gamers for coming back after hacking attacks 
    Sony boss Howard Stringer took a 16% pay cut last year, the electronics and media giant announced at a shareholder meeting on Tuesday.
    His salary and bonuses fell to 345m yen (£2.7m) - a drop from 408m yen a year earlier.
    The fiscal year, which ended on 31 March, is Sony's third year of losses.
    The company is still recovering from the damage to its factories, hit by the recent earthquake and tsunami, and from a series of security breaches.
    Speaking at Sony's annual meeting in a Tokyo hotel, Mr Stringer praised PlayStation network gamers for coming back after the hacking attacks.
    He said that up to 90% of subscribers have remained loyal to the network.
    Despite the chief executive's apology for the hacks, some shareholders appeared frustrated, with one person asking for Mr Stringer to step down.
    The data breaches have made the company's stock price slide by 30% this year.
    Hacker group Lulz Security claimed responsibility for the attacks.
    Global leader?
    Sony The company is still recovering from a series of security breaches
    But Mr Stringer seemed positive about the firm's future.
    "Our brand perception, you'll be happy to know, is clearly improving again," he said.
    "My foremost responsibility to the board and all of you is to further advance the transformation process, firmly establish Sony's position as a global product, content and service leader in the networked digital era and ensure our continued development and growth," he added.
    According to the company's estimates, the attacks will cost it 14bn yen (£108m) in increased customer support costs, welcome-back packages, legal fees, lower sales and measures to strengthen security.

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Google+ challenges Facebook in social network battle

     
    A screenshot of Google+ Google+ has been released for use by a small, selected number of users Online search giant Google has launched a new social networking website in its latest attempt to take on Facebook, which now claims more than 500m users.
    Google+ allows individuals to share photos, messages and comments but also integrates the company's maps and images into the service.
    It also aims to help users easily organise contacts within groups.
    But some analysts say Google has simply reproduced features of Facebook while adding a video chat function.
    Google, which handles roughly two out of every three internet searches in the US, has taken several stabs at Facebook in recent years.
    But its previous efforts ended in failure, with both Google Wave and Google Buzz proving unpopular with users.
    New functions The company is now boasting that four features in Google+ could help make the company a permanent player in social networking: Circles - a functionality that allows individuals to place friends into groups, allowing users to share different forms of content with targeted clusters of friends
    • Hangouts - live multi-user video conferencing that permits friends to drop in and out of live group conversations
    • Huddle - group instant messaging
    • Sparks - a feature that connects individuals on the network to others with common interests.
    The current version of Google+ has only been released to a small number of users, but the company has said it soon hopes to make the social network available to the millions of individuals that use its services each day.
    "Online sharing needs a serious re-think, so it's time we got started," Vic Gundotra, senior vice president of engineering at Google, said in a press release.
    "Other social networking tools make selective sharing within small groups difficult," she added, taking what appears to be a jab at Facebook's recent grouping function.
    But some analysts have said Google could have a difficult time converting Facebook devotees to their new social network.
    "People have their social circles on Facebook - asking them to create another social circle is challenging," Debra Aho Williamson, principal analyst with research firm eMarketer, told the Associated Press news agency.
    "The whole idea of a Google social network... they've been throwing stuff against the wall for several years and so forth nothing has stuck," she added.
    In April, Google reached an out-of-court settlement with a US policy group over its rollout of Google Buzz, a previous social effort.
    The legal action claimed Google deceived users and violated its own privacy policy by automatically enrolling all Gmail users in its Buzz social network without seeking prior permission.

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Christine Lagarde named IMF chief

     
    Christine Lagarde Christine Lagarde will start her five-year term at the IMF on 5 July 
    France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, 55, has been named the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
    Ms Lagarde fought off Mexico's Agustin Carstens for the job, although an IMF statement said that both candidates "were well qualified".
    She received backing from America and Europe and key emerging market nations, including China, India and Brazil.
    The post became vacant following the resignation of Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
    "The results are in: I am honoured and delighted that the board has entrusted me with the position of MD of the IMF!" Ms Lagarde said via Twitter minutes after the announcement.
    In a statement, the IMF said that its 24-member board regarded both candidates as highly suitable for the job, but had decided on Ms Lagarde "by consensus".
    'Leadership' Messages of support poured in, with UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne saying he was "delighted" and French President Nicolas Sarkozy calling it "a victory for France".
    Mr Carstens said he had sent Ms Lagarde his "best wishes and full support", adding that he hoped she would "make meaningful progress in strengthening the governance of the institution".
    I will make it my overriding goal that our institution continues to serve its entire membership”
    Christine Lagarde IMF Managing Director
    US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said: "Minister Lagarde's exceptional talent and broad experience will provide invaluable leadership for this indispensable institution at a critical time for the global economy."
    Although Ms Lagarde is the first woman to become managing director since the IMF was created in 1944, she maintains the tradition that the post is held by a European.
    It has been convention that Europe gets the IMF, while an American gets the top job at the World Bank.
    Mr Carstens, Mexico's central bank governor, campaigned on a platform that this time the IMF chief should reflect the emergence of developing nations as an economic force.
    However, Ms Lagarde toured the world drumming up powerful support in the Middle East, Asia and South America.
    Her appointment looked effectively sealed on Tuesday when America and Russia came out in her favour.
    Immediate task In a signal to IMF members who fear she will be overly-focused on Europe, Ms Lagarde said in a statement: "I will make it my overriding goal that our institution continues to serve its entire membership.
    The IMF's David Hawley announces Christine Lagarde's appointment
    "As I have had the opportunity to say to the IMF board during the selection process, the IMF must be relevant, responsive, effective and legitimate, to achieve stronger and sustainable growth, macroeconomic stability and a better future for all."
    However, when Ms Lagarde begins her five-year term on 5 July, her immediate task will be to deal with the efforts of the IMF and European Union to resolve the Greek debt crisis and prevent contagion to other eurozone economies.
    In a television interview minutes after her appointment, Ms Lagarde pressed Greece to move quickly to push through unpopular austerity measures that the IMF and EU have said are a prerequisite for further aid.
    On a day of riots and protests throughout Greece, she said: "If I have one message tonight about Greece, it is to call on the Greek political opposition to support the party that is currently in power in a spirit of national unity."
    Meeting Strauss-Kahn Mr Strauss-Kahn resigned abruptly on 18 May after being arrested in New York for an alleged sexual assault. He denies the charges.
    Ms Lagarde said that following the turmoil of his arrest, she wanted to unify the IMF's staff of 2,500 employees and 800 economists and restore their confidence in the organisation.
    She also said she wanted to meet Mr Strauss-Kahn, if permitted to by the US government.
    "I want to have a long talk with him, because a successor should talk with their predecessor," Ms Lagarde said during an interview on French television channel TF1.
    "I can learn things from what he has to say about the IMF and its teams," she said.
    Before becoming France's finance minister in June 2007, she was minister for foreign trade for two years.
    Prior to moving into politics, Ms Lagarde, a former champion swimmer, was an anti-trust and employment lawyer in the US.

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UK service sector sees biggest fall for 15 months

     The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge The UK had an extra public holiday in April on the day of the royal wedding 
    UK service sector output saw its biggest fall in 15 months in April, but the Office for National Statistics said the figures had been affected by the royal wedding and hot weather.
    ONS figures showed that service sector output contracted by 1.2% during April.
    But the ONS said April was "unusual" due to the extra public holiday for the royal wedding, and the warmest weather for the month since records began.
    The service sector accounts for about three-quarters of the UK economy.
    It includes everything from hotels and restaurants to the banking industry and public transport.
    April's decline in service sector output followed a 0.8% rise in March.
    'Worrying news' The breakdown of April's service sector output figures show that the biggest decline from March seen in the ONS's distribution category, which includes the retail sector. This saw a 2.5% fall.
    Business services and finance saw the next biggest decline, dropping 1.3%.
    Transport, storage and communication fell 0.7%, as did government and other services.
    The hotels and restaurants category was the only one to see output rise in April, up 0.9%.
    Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: "Given the dominant role of the services sector this is worrying news for second-quarter GDP growth prospects - even allowing for the fact that activity was clearly held back appreciably in April by the extra public holiday resulting from the Royal Wedding."
    He added that the service sector appeared to be being held back by consumer spending, and that the danger was that this would continue over the coming months.
    Offical data earlier this week confirmed that the UK economy expanded by only 0.5% during the first three months of 2011, while consumer spending between January and March declined by 0.6%.
    Consumers are cutting back on their spending in the face of higher energy and food bills.

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Japan's factory output rebounds as conditions improve

     
    Car manufacturing unit Car production was hit badly due to a shortfall of parts following the earthquake and tsunami 
    Japan's factory output rose at a faster-than-expected pace in May as the economy continued to recover from March's earthquake and tsunami.
    Japan's industrial output jumped by 5.7% in May, compared with the previous month, the latest government data showed.
    The twin disasters had damaged factories and caused disruption to the country's supply chain.
    This is the second successive month that industrial output rose in Japan.
    "As supply chains recover from the damage caused by the March earthquake, output is showing a strong recovery, mainly in cars," said Yuichi Kodama, of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance.
    'Downside risk'
    Longer-term, power constraints are a downside risk to the economy”
    Yoshiki Shinke Daiichi Life Research Institute
    Some of the biggest Japanese manufacturers had to suspend or curb production after the earthquake and tsunami, due to a shortage of parts and electricity supply.
    While an improvement in the supply chain has eased the parts shortage, power cuts still remain a big concern for manufacturers, not least because of peak consumption during the summer months.
    "The prospect of power shortages in the summer is making companies cautious about the outlook," said Mr Kodama.
    Analysts also warned that if a solution to the power crisis is not found quickly, it may have an adverse affect on the overall economy.
    "Longer-term, power constraints are a downside risk to the economy as more companies may decide to shift their production overseas, which would weigh on Japan's potential growth rate," said Yoshiki Shinke, of Daiichi Life Research Institute.
    Back on track One of the sectors worst hit by the twin disasters was Japanese car manufacturing.
    A shortage of parts coupled with power supply constraints saw leading manufacturers like Toyota and Honda suspend production at their factories.
    However, the latest production numbers show that the pace of decline at Japan's car manufacturers is slowing down.
    On Tuesday, Toyota reported that its domestic production in May fell by 54.4%, compared with the same month last year. Last month it reported a 74.5% drop.
    Honda said its Japanese factories produced 53.4% fewer cars in May. Its output had plunged by 81% in the previous month.
    Meanwhile, Nissan said production at its domestic factories actually increased by 0.8% in May, compared with a 48.7% drop in the previous month.
    Analysts said that the recovery in the sector had been faster than they had expected.
    "Carmakers have been able to recover very quickly from the loss of output after the earthquake," said Shuji Tonouchi, of UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.

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Japan's factory output rebounds as conditions improve


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Bank of America pays $8.5bn over housing crash claims

     Bank of America flag and building The payouts are to large investors who bought bonds backed by bad-quality mortgage loans 
    Bank of America says an $8.5bn (£5.3bn) payout over housing crash claims will leave it with quarterly losses of up to $9.1bn.
    The money, from the bank's Countrywide arm, is to settle claims that it sold poor quality mortgage-backed bonds that lost money when the market crashed.
    The mortgages were granted without proper checks on, for example, borrowers' creditworthiness.
    The payout is the third of its type this year.
    The bank says it will also set aside another $5.5bn in provisions.
    Bank of America's chief executive, Brian Moynihan, said: "We will continue to act aggressively and in the best interest of our shareholders to clean up the mortgage issues largely stemming from our purchase of Countrywide."
    In pre-US market trading, though, the shares rose 6% on relief that the issue had been resolved.
    Earlier this year, the bank agreed to pay US mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac about $2.6bn (£1.7bn) to settle claims it sold them bad home loans.
    Those claims also related to loans sold by Countrywide Financial Corporation, which Bank of America bought in 2008.
    Bank of America agreed a further payout in April for an estimated $1.6bn to resolve claims with the bond insurer Assured Guaranty.
    The payout is subject to court approval.

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Carrefour and Casino fight for Brazil's Pao de Acucar

     

    Pao de Acucar supermarket in Sao Paulo Pao de Acucar was founded in Sao Paulo in 1948 
    Two French food giants are locked in a battle to take over Brazil's number one retailer, Grupo Pao de Acucar.
    Proposals to merge Pao de Acucar with the local operations of Carrefour are opposed by rival Casino, which already has a stake in the Brazilian group.
    The proposed Pao de Acucar-Carrefour deal would create a firm with a 27% market share and sales of more than $40bn (£25bn) a year.
    Pao de Acucar is already Latin America's second-biggest retailer.
    As well as its Pao de Acucar and Extra supermarket chains, it also has a majority stake in the Ponto Frio and Casas Bahia chains that sell electrical goods and furniture.
    Pao de Acucar's shares rose 12.6% on Brazil's main stock exchange on Tuesday after news of the deal emerged.
    Secret talks Brazilian investment fund Gama announced the merger plan on Tuesday. Under the terms of the offer, it will combine Pao de Acucar and Carrefour's Brazilian assets into a new company, to be called Nova Pao de Acucar.
    Gama said investment fund BTG Pactual and the BNDES state development bank had committed $2.8bn to the deal, as well as $710m in debt financing.
    The deal followed talks between Carrefour and Pao de Acucar chairman Abilio Diniz, whose family founded the firm in Sao Paulo in 1948.
    Since 1999, Pao de Acucar has been part-owned by another French firm, Casino, which denounced the proposal to merge with Carrefour as "illegal".
    Casino said it was disappointed with Mr Diniz for negotiating a deal without its authorisation.

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Aung San Suu Kyi 'must end political activity'

     Aung San Suu Kyi is mobbed by supporters as she arrives at her National League for Democracy party headquarters in Rangoon The National League for Democracy continues to issue statements and hold meetings 
    Burma's government has warned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her party to halt all political activities, state media report.
    The interior ministry told the Nobel peace prize laureate her party was breaking the law by keeping its offices open and holding meetings.
    Aung San Suu Kyi was released from house arrest in November following Burma's first election in 20 years.
    The NLD was officially dissolved for refusing to register for the poll.
    This first official warning was made in a letter to Aung San Suu Kyi and the chairman of the NLD, Aung Shwe.
    The New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the party should apply to register as a social organisation if it wanted to "engage in social affairs".
    "If they really want to accept and practise democracy effectively, they are to stop such acts that can harm peace and stability and the rule of law as well as the unity among the people," it said.
    'Chaos and riots' Aung San Suu Kyi has remained in Rangoon since her release from house arrest. But she has said she soon plans to travel to the countryside to meet her supporters.
    A commentary in the state-run newspaper warned that such a move could cause turmoil.
    "We are deeply concerned that if Daw Aung San Suu Kyi makes trips to countryside regions, there may be chaos and riots, as evidenced by previous incidents," it said.
    This is the first official warning issued to Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD since a new, nominally civilian government took power earlier this year.
    They have been told to stop all activities that harm peace, stability and the unity of the people. Issuing statements to the media and holding meetings with international organisations are now deemed illegal.
    In a BBC lecture, broadcast on the day the government warning was issued, Aung San Suu Kyi said recent events in the Middle East and North Africa had renewed her movement's commitment to freedom.
    The democracy leader has remained in Rangoon since her release from house arrest last November. But she has said she soon plans to travel to the countryside to meet her supporters.
    A commentary in a state-run newspaper said any such trip could lead to chaos. After initially allowing Aung San Suu Kyi some leeway, the Burmese authorities it seems have decided to set new boundaries.
    "Aung San Suu Kyi is just an ordinary public member, so (the government) will not restrict her from travelling and doing things in accordance with the law, but she shall honour the laws for the rule of law."
    Aung San Suu Kyi made a similar political tour in 2003, which drew large crowds before being ambushed apparently organised by the then ruling generals.
    Several of her supporters were killed. Although she escaped alive, she was detained for seven years.
    In the BBC Reith lectures broadcast on Tuesday, Ms Suu Kyi compared the history of dissent in her country to the uprisings now over-turning some governments in the Middle East.
    "The universal human aspiration to be free has been brought home to us by the stirring developments in the Middle East," she said.
    "Do we envy the people of Tunisia and Egypt? Yes, we do envy them their quick and peaceful transitions.
    "But more than envy is a sense of solidarity and of renewed commitment to our cause, which is the cause of all women and men who value human dignity and freedom," she added.
    The National League for Democracy won a resounding victory in Burma's elections in 1990, but was kept from power by the military junta.
    The party refused to re-register in order to take part in last November's election, complaining that the conditions set by the junta were unfair and undemocratic.
    In January, Burma's highest court upheld the dissolution of the NLD, saying it would remain an unlawful association.
    The court's decision leaves Aung San Suu Kyi and her party outside formal politics in Burma.
    Military-backed parties won by far the largest number of seats in the elections which the ruling generals said marked a transition to democracy, but opposition groups and Western nations condemned as a sham.

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