Chile's Senate approves education budget (AP)

SANTIAGO, Chile ? Chile's Senate approved the government's 2012 education budget Friday after 29 hours of debate in a vote in which the center-left opposition abstained.

Students who have been protesting for more than six months for greater funding and reforms to the education system opposed the budget put forward by President Sebastian Pinera's government.

The government and opposition were close to reaching an agreement on a revised budget plan but ultimately failed, and the vote on Pinera's proposal went forward. Christian Democratic Sen. Ignacio Walker said only $130 million separated the sides.

Senators approved an $11.5 billion budget, which was an increase of $350 million from the previous year.

Center-left Sen. Ricardo Lagos Weber said opposition lawmakers decided not to vote on the budget because it was "small and unambitious" but they didn't want to block it. The proposed budget was rejected earlier by the Chamber of Deputies.

Parts of the budget will now be submitted to a commission of legislators from both houses for final approval before the Wednesday deadline.

In May, university and high school students began protests calling for major changes to the education system, including free tuition, more funding and an increased state role in the sector. The sometimes violent protests paralyzed Chile's universities and schools.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/latam/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111125/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_chile_education_budget

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Gingrich's Manchester Union-Leader Endorsement Gives Campaign Boost (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The Manchester Union-Leader, the influential newspaper in the first in the nation primary state of New Hampshire, has given its much sought-after endorsement to Newt Gingrich, granting his campaign a boost in a state dominated by his rival, Mitt Romney.

The Union-Leader endorsement can have an effect of the results of the New Hampshire Primary. It endorsed John McCain in 2008. McCain went on to edge Romney 37 percent to 31 percent. It endorsed Ronald Reagan in 1980, that year's winner of the primary and eventual nominee and winner in the general election. Pat Buchanan, who got the endorsement in 1992 and 1996, made a shocking strong showing against then-President George H.W. Bush in the former year and won the primary in 1996.

However, the newspaper endorsed Steve Forbes in 2000. Forbes came in a distant third.

Romney, who was governor of neighboring Massachusetts, remains in a strong poll position at about 40 percent. Gingrich is running third at 11 percent, behind Romney and Rep. Ron Paul. But with memories of 2008, losing a primary he had counted on winning, Romney cannot be happy with losing out on the Union-Leader's endorsement. A loss or a close first in the Jan. 10 primary would be devastating for Romney's hope of making a second time a charm.

Gingrich, who is surging in Iowa and nationwide, has gotten an undoubted boost to his campaign to be the conservative alternative to Romney. The flap over his somewhat soft view on illegal immigration has generated a lot of noise in the media and on the campaign trail, but it has not yet eaten into his poll numbers.

The endorsement is bad news to Gingrich's rivals on the right: Rick Perry. Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum, each of whom might have benefited from such a nod. A win by Gingrich in Iowa and a win or good second-place showing in New Hampshire could give him just enough momentum to propel him through South Carolina and Florida, knocking out the others, setting himself up to confront Romney alone. Romney, who has never cracked above 25 percent, would be the likely loser in such a contest.

Front-runner status also translates to more donations and more volunteers. That in turn adds up to a campaign that is on a roll and may be unstoppable.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20111127/us_ac/10534991_gingrichs_manchester_unionleader_endorsement_gives_campaign_boost

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Automotive News Blog

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Threatdown for mobile viruses? Maybe not (Appolicious)

In a new report on ?threats,? McAfee reported that the Android OS from Google is the biggest target for malware. The security software company said that malware aimed at Android had increased 37 percent since the second quarter.

And Kapersky Labs blogged about Android phones, especially used in corporate settings, being under threat: ?The company?s analysts noted a continued growth in cyber-attacks against some of the world?s biggest corporations throughout the period. When it comes to attacking smartphones, there were clear signs that cybercriminals have made Android their platform of choice.?

?Yet, there are questions on whether or not the threat of Android malware is really as bad as McAfee and other security companies are making it seem,? said Sue Marquette Poremba in ITBusinessEdge.

Eric Zeman asked at InformationWeek: ?Are you scared yet, Android smartphone owners? Are you quaking in your boots? Are you ready to buy anti-malware and antivirus software from these companies? Should your corporate IT department be licensing protection schemes in bulk??

Google?s Chris DiBona weighed in on Google+, warning that virus companies ?are playing on your fears to try to sell you bs protection software for Android, RIM and IOS. They are charlatans and scammers. IF you work for a company selling virus protection for android, rim or IOS you should be ashamed of yourself.?

He said traditional computer viruses are ?possible, but not probable? in the smartphone world. ?The barriers to spreading such a program from phone to phone are large and difficult enough to traverse when you have legitimate access to the phone, but this isn't Independence Day, a virus that might work on one device won't magically spread to the other,? he said.

Zeman gave a nod to points made by security companies, but sided with DiBona: ?Well, there's some truth to what the security vendors are telling us. Smartphones?and apparently Android devices in particular?can be infected with malware through careless use.

?But DiBona is right, too. How do we know that he is? Because there haven't been mass breakouts or major epidemics of malware spreading from phone to phone to phone. It simply hasn't happened yet. Could it? Yes. Will it? Probably not anytime soon.?

Poremba said her smartphone is too important to her?so she?s opting for caution and protection.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/software/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_androidapps_com_articles10299_threatdown_for_mobile_viruses_maybe_not/43727280/SIG=12olf19p7/*http%3A//www.androidapps.com/tech/articles/10299-threatdown-for-mobile-viruses-maybe-not

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With sifting of GOP field, do voters want safe Romney or risky Gingrich? (Seattle Times)

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Blasts kill 15 in Iraq as US troops pull out (AP)

BAGHDAD, ? A string of explosions hit a Baghdad market and the capital's western outskirts on Saturday, killing at least 15 people and exposing the challenges still facing Iraqi security forces just over a month before all American troops leave the country.

The bombings mark the second major attack against Iraqi civilians this week and come as American forces are packing up to leave and handing over their remaining security responsibilities to Iraqi forces. Many Iraqis are concerned that insurgents may use the transition period to launch more attacks in a bid to regain their former prominence and destabilize the country.

Iraqi security officials maintain that they are fully prepared for the American withdrawal, which is required under a 2008 security pact between the U.S. and Iraq. About 15,000 U.S. troops remain in the country, down from a one-time high of about 170,000.

Earlier this week, the top U.S. general in Iraq, Lloyd Austin, said that there would likely be some "turbulence" after American troops leave. But he did not think there would be a wholesale descent into violence.

The first blasts Saturday struck an area where people looking for work were gathered in the mostly Sunni village of al-Zaidan, west of Baghdad. Seven people were killed and 11 others were wounded, police officials said.

Hours later, three bombs exploded near kiosks in a market in downtown Baghdad where vendors were selling CDs and military uniforms, killing eight people and wounding 19 others.

"I went outside my shop and saw people running in all directions trying to leave the market area. I saw several bodies and wounded people on the ground," said Mohammed Youssef, who owns a clothing shop in the area.

Iraqi military commanders later ordered all the vendors selling products in the area to close up their kiosks and move, in an attempt to clear out the area and make it harder for insurgents to hide bombs.

Health officials at Abu Ghraib's general hospital and at three hospitals in Baghdad confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

The market had until recently been protected by blast walls, but the military spokesman for Baghdad, Qassim al-Moussawi, said they were removed because the security situation in the city has been improving.

The bombers "try to prove their presence and hinder our efforts to remove all the concrete walls, but we will continue removing them and keeping control," he said.

Baghdad is crisscrossed with concrete blast walls that both reassure and frustrate residents. The walls helped reduce violence and protect areas such as markets or major buildings. But they also create huge traffic jams and hurt the economy.

The Iraqi security forces have been slowly removing the blast walls, but some people in the market area Saturday said they wanted them back.

"We have been expecting something bad in the market after the security forces removed the blast barriers a few days ago," said Youssef.

Violence has ebbed across Iraq since the height of the fighting, but deadly bombings and shootings still occur almost daily as U.S. troops prepare to leave. On Thursday evening, 19 people died in the southern city of Basra after three bombs went off in quick succession.

As the U.S. has drawn down the number of American troops in Iraq over the last year, the U.S. military has played more of an advising role to Iraqi security forces, leaving the more high-profile jobs such as patrolling and manning checkpoints to Iraqi security forces.

But U.S. troops have played a key role in helping Iraqi forces gather intelligence on suspected insurgents, something that will be lost when the American military departs.

In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Gen. Austin said that Iraqis are very good at human intelligence ? gathering information from a local population that they know well. But they lack the American technology and ability to analyze intelligence gathered from multiple sources and then use that information to combat terror networks such as al-Qaida.

"What we've learned about al-Qaida is they have a very sophisticated network and the ability to kind of see themselves across the country, and synchronize activities," he said. "In order to counter that I think you need the ability to put pressure on the network."

___

Associated Press staff in Baghdad, Qassim Abdul-Zahra and Hadi Mizban, contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111127/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq

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Pakistan stops NATO supplies after deadly raid (Reuters)

YAKKAGHUND, Pakistan (Reuters) ? NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military outposts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday, killing as many as 28 troops and plunging U.S.-Pakistan relations deeper into crisis.

Pakistan retaliated by shutting down NATO supply routes into Afghanistan, used for sending in nearly half of the alliance's land shipments. It also said it would ask U.S. forces to quit an air base used for CIA drone strikes on militants.

The attack is the worst incident of its kind since Pakistan uneasily allied itself with Washington following the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

The NATO-led force in Afghanistan confirmed that NATO aircraft had probably killed Pakistani soldiers in an area close to the Afghan-Pakistani border.

"Close air support was called in, in the development of the tactical situation, and it is what highly likely caused the Pakistan casualties," said General Carsten Jacobson, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

He added he could not confirm the number of casualties, but ISAF was investigating. "We are aware that Pakistani soldiers perished. We don't know the size, the magnitude," he said.

Pakistan's Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said the killings were "an attack on Pakistan's sovereignty," adding: "We will not let any harm come to Pakistan's sovereignty and solidarity."

The Foreign Office said it would take up the matter "in the strongest terms" with NATO and the United States, while the Chief of Army Staff, General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani, said steps would be taken to respond "to this irresponsible act."

"A strong protest has been launched with NATO/ISAF in which it has been demanded that strong and urgent action be taken against those responsible for this aggression."

Two military officials said up to 28 troops had been killed and 11 wounded in the attack on the outposts, about 2.5 km (1.5 miles) from the Afghan border. The Pakistani military said 24 troops were killed and 13 wounded.

EARLY MORNING ATTACK

The attack took place around 2 a.m. (2100 GMT) in the Baizai area of Mohmand, where Pakistani troops are fighting Taliban militants. Across the border is Afghanistan's Kunar province, which has seen years of heavy fighting.

"Pakistani troops effectively responded immediately in self-defense to NATO/ISAF's aggression with all available weapons," the Pakistani military statement said.

The commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan, General John R. Allen, offered his condolences to the families of Pakistani soldiers who "may have been killed or injured."

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was aware of reports of the incident and was monitoring the situation.

"(The defense secretary) shares General Allen's regret for any loss of life and supports the general's work to immediately investigate," said spokesman Captain John Kirby.

There was no immediate comment on the report of U.S. forces being asked to vacate a Pakistani base or on the closure of the Pakistani border crossing to trucks carrying supplies for ISAF forces.

Around 40 troops were stationed at the outposts, military sources said. Two officers were reported among the dead. "They without any reasons attacked on our post and killed soldiers asleep," said a senior Pakistani officer, requesting anonymity.

The border is often poorly marked, and Afghan and Pakistani maps have differences of several kilometers in some places, military officials have said.

However Pakistani military spokesman Major-General Athar Abbas said NATO had been given maps of the area, with Pakistani military posts identified.

"When the other side is saying there is a doubt about this, there is no doubt about it. These posts have been marked and handed over to the other side for marking on their maps and are clearly inside Pakistani territory."

The incident occurred a day after Allen met Kayani to discuss border control and enhanced cooperation.

A senior military source told Reuters that after the meeting that set out "to build confidence and trust, these kind of attacks should not have taken place."

BLOCKED SUPPLIES

Pakistan is a vital land route for nearly half of NATO supplies shipped overland to its troops in Afghanistan, a NATO spokesman said. Land shipments account for about two thirds of the alliance's cargo shipments into Afghanistan.

Hours after the raid, NATO supply trucks and fuel tankers bound for Afghanistan were stopped at Jamrud town in the Khyber tribal region near the city of Peshawar, officials said.

The border crossing at Chaman in southwestern Baluchistan province was also closed, Frontier Corps officials said.

A meeting of the cabinet's defense committee convened by Gilani "decided to close with immediate effect NATO/ISAF logistics supply lines," according to a statement issued by Gilani's office.

The committee decided to ask the United States to vacate, within 15 days, the Shamsi Air Base, a remote installation in Baluchistan used by U.S. forces for drone strikes which has long been at the center of a dispute between Islamabad and Washington.

The meeting also decided the government would "revisit and undertake a complete review of all programs, activities and cooperative arrangements with US/NATO/ISAF, including diplomatic, political, military and intelligence."

A similar incident on Sept 30, 2010, which killed two Pakistani service personnel, led to the closure of one of NATO's supply routes through Pakistan for 10 days. NATO apologized for that incident, which it said happened when NATO gunships mistook warning shots by Pakistani forces for a militant attack.

Relations between the United States and Pakistan were strained by the killing of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by U.S. special forces in Pakistan in May, which Pakistan called a flagrant violation of sovereignty.

Pakistan's jailing of a CIA contractor and U.S. accusations that Pakistan backed a militant attack on the U.S. embassy in Kabul have added to the tensions.

"This will have a catastrophic effect on Pakistan-U.S. relations. The public in Pakistan are going to go berserk on this," said Charles Heyman, senior defense analyst at British military website Armedforces.co.uk.

Other analysts, including Rustam Shah Mohmand, a former ambassador to Afghanistan, predicted Pakistan would protest and close the supply lines for some time, but that ultimately "things will get back to normal." (Additional reporting by Bushra Takseen, Saud Mehsud, Jibran Ahmad and Saeed Achakzai in Pakistan, Tim Castle in London, and Hamid Shalizi and Christine Kearney in Afghanistan; Writing by Augustine Anthony, Chris Allbritton and Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Andrew Roche and Rosalind Russell)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111126/wl_nm/us_pakistan_nato

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Germany: 20 police injured during nuke protest (AP)

BERLIN ? German police say 20 policemen have been injured during clashes with protesters ahead of the arrival of a shipment of nuclear waste in northern Germany.

Police say some 300 protesters threw stones and fireworks at security officers near the town of Dannenberg Saturday.

It followed a clash on Friday night when police used water cannons and batons to keep some 200 protesters in check. The officers were injured during the clash.

The protests occurred near the railway tracks used by a train this weekend to transport the nuclear waste shipment reprocessed in France to a storage site near the town of Gorleben.

Some 20,000 officers are on hand in the region to secure the shipment.

Officials have yet to resolve where such waste should be stored permanently. Activists say Gorleben is unsafe.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111126/ap_on_re_eu/eu_germany_nuclear_waste

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Arab League prepares for Syria sanctions (Reuters)

BEIRUT (Reuters) ? Syrian forces killed four people in Homs city on Saturday, activists said, shortly before Arab ministers were due to draw up sanctions against Damascus over its crackdown on protests and failure to let observers into the country.

Damascus missed a Friday deadline to agree an Arab League proposal to send monitors to Syria, where the United Nations says 3,500 people have been killed in the eight-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

Despite Syria's pledge this month to withdraw its army from urban areas and let in the monitors, the violence has continued, prompting reprisals from the Arab League, stinging rebukes from Turkey and French proposals for humanitarian intervention.

Damascus, where the Assad family has ruled for 41 years, says regional powers helped incite the violence, which it blames on armed groups targeting civilians and its security forces.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four people, including a 10-year-old child, were killed on Saturday in separate incidents across Homs, a center of increasing opposition to Assad and deepening sectarian violence.

The British-based opposition group said at least 30 people were killed the day before including 13 members of Assad's security forces, most of them killed in a clash with army deserters in the eastern Deir al-Zor province.

Arab ministers had warned that unless Syria agreed to let monitors in, they could consider imposing sanctions including suspending flights to Syria, stopping dealings with the central bank, freezing Syrian government bank accounts and halting financial dealings.

They could also decide to stop commercial trade with the Syrian government "with the exception of strategic commodities so as not to impact the Syrian people," the ministers said.

IRAQ "HAS RESERVATIONS"

The League's economic and social council was due to meet on Saturday evening to recommend sanctions which will be put to a meeting of foreign ministers on Sunday.

But Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said his country would not take part in the deliberations and said several of Syria's Arab neighbors had reservations about sanctions.

"Iraq is a neighbor to Syria and there are interests -- there are hundreds of thousands of Iraqis living in Syria are there is trade," he told reporters in Najaf. "Lebanon also has the same idea and Jordan too has shown its objection."

Lebanon was one of only two countries to vote against suspending Syria from the Arab League.

Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour has said his country would not impose sanctions on Syria, but Prime Minister Najib Mikati said Lebanon would implement Arab League decisions "because it is in our interest to be with the Arab consensus."

Syria's economy is already reeling from months of unrest, aggravated by U.S. and European sanctions on oil exports and several state businesses.

In neighboring Turkey, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said his country could take steps alongside the Arab League if Syria did not respond to the proposal for observers positively.

"I want to say clearly we have no more tolerance for the bloodshed in Syria," he said.

The stepped-up pressure followed a French proposal for "humanitarian corridors" to be set up through which food and medicine could be shipped to alleviate civilian suffering.

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the plan fell short of a military intervention but acknowledged that humanitarian convoys might need armed protection.

The proposal could link Syrian civilian centers to the frontiers of Turkey and Lebanon, to the Mediterranean coast or to an airport, and enable supply of humanitarian supplies or medicines to people in need.

But United Nations humanitarian coordinator Valerie Amos suggested that setting up humanitarian corridors into Syria or buffer zones on the border could be premature.

"At present, the humanitarian needs identified in Syria do not warrant the implementation of either of those mechanisms," she said, adding that the United Nations had been unable to assess comprehensively those needs because of the limited number of international staff operating in Syria.

Amos said 3 million people had been affected by the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, and Syria's Red Crescent had sought support to feed 1.5 million people.

PILOTS KILLED

Alongside the mainly peaceful protests, armed insurgents have increasingly attacked military targets in recent weeks. Officials say 1,100 members of the security forces have been killed since the outbreak of uprising.

State news agency SANA reported funerals of 22 security force members on Saturday, including six pilots killed in an attack on an air force base between Homs and Palmyra two days earlier which the army says was carried out by an "armed terrorist group."

"This confirms the involvement of foreign elements and their support of these terrorist operations in an effort to weaken the fighting capabilities of our forces," the army said on Friday.

The account fits the government narrative that it faces an armed insurrection by trouble-makers backed by its enemies, rather than a largely peaceful pro-democracy movement inspired by the Arab Spring revolts which toppled the rulers of Tunisia, Egypt and Libya and may have forced out Yemen's president.

State television showed footage of thousands of people demonstrating in the Mediterranean city of Latakia on Saturday, condemning the Arab League for taking a stance against Syria and chanting in support of Assad.

(Additional reporting by Patrick Markey in Baghdad; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111126/wl_nm/us_syria

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Eurozone recession signals mounting

LONDON (AP) ? Any hopes that the 17-country eurozone will avoid sliding back into recession in the wake of a debt crisis that's shown alarming signs of spreading to the bigger economies appeared to have been dashed Wednesday.

A couple of indicators show that the eurozone economy is in deep trouble and that the debt crisis is denting confidence so badly that a recession looks almost inevitable. Figures last week showed that the eurozone only narrowly avoided contracting in the third quarter, growing by only 0.2 percent during the period.

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.

Though its monthly composite purchasing managers index ? a broad gauge of business activity ? rose to 47.2 in November from 46.5, it remains below the 50 mark, the threshold between expansion and contraction.

Markit said Wednesday's survey suggests that the eurozone is contracting 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.

"As feared earlier in the year, malaise has spread from the periphery to the core," said Chris Williamson, Markit's chief economist. "Even Germany is stagnating and France contracting by around 0.5 percent."

Further grim news emerged with the shock announcement that eurozone industrial orders collapsed by a massive 6.4 percent in September from the previous month. Though this series of data is historically volatile ? one big Airbus order can cause big swings, for example ? the figures provide further uncomfortable reading for a political class battling to get a grip on the debt crisis.

"Looking ahead, the recent survey data point to a further deterioration in industrial sector conditions, and so today's news ? both in this orders report and in the earlier PMI surveys ? reinforces our expectation of an industrial sector recession," said James Ashley, an economist at RBC Capital Markets.

The euro unsurprisingly took a battering in the wake of the figures, plunging 0.9 percent to $1.3389.

Analysts said the figures are likely to pile the pressure on the European Central Bank to cut interest rates again, possibly as soon as next month. In November, it reversed recent policy, cutting its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 1.25 percent amid mounting worries over the state of the eurozone economy.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-11-23-EU-Europe-Economy/id-4afaadb088364822a696df740a17e215

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Medtronic beats estimates on higher 2Q sales (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Medtronic Inc., the world's largest medical device maker, reported higher-than-expected earnings Tuesday as sales of newer devices helped make up for an ongoing slump in its best-selling heart and spine implants.

For more than a year Medtronic has reported weaker sales of its two leading franchises, heart defibrillators and spinal implants, which account for about 40 percent of total sales. Tighter hospital budgets, reduced procedures and safety concerns have led doctors to implant fewer devices. Those trends continued in the most recent period, with combined sales of the devices falling 5 percent.

But overall revenue rose 3 percent in the second fiscal quarter to $4.13 billion, helped by sales of heart valves, stents and other upgraded products, the Minneapolis-based company reported.

"I was pleased to see the strong performances in many of our businesses, as our new products are taking share and protecting pricing," said Chief Executive Omar Ishrak. Those products include the company's Revo pacemaker, the first device of its kind that can be used with an MRI scanner, and the Resolute drug-eluting stent, a next-generation device used to prop open arteries.

For the most recent quarter, the company reported net income of $871 million, or 82 cents per share, up 54 percent from $566 million, or 52 cents per share, a year ago. Results in the year-ago period were weighed down by a massive legal settlement related to defective heart defibrillators.

Excluding one-time expenses, the company would have earned $898 million, or 84 cents per share, in the most recent period.

Those results topped analyst expectations for earnings of 82 cents per share on revenue of $4.07 billion. Analysts had speculated Medtronic might scale back its full-year revenue guidance, but the company said it still expects earnings of between $3.43 and $3.50 per share for fiscal 2012.

Medtronic shares rose $1.45, or 4.4 percent, to $34.72 in afternoon trading. They have moved haltingly higher since dipping to a 52-week low of $30.18 in early August. Their high for the past year was $43.33 in mid-May.

Revenue in Medtronic's portfolio of cardiovascular devices increased 1 percent to $2.21 billion, with sales of pacemakers and heart valves making up for weaker sales of implantable heart defibrillators. Revenue from those heart-zapping devices, used to treat heart failure, fell 8 percent to $708 million. Medtronic and other device makers have seen profits drop since the Department of Justice began investigating alleged overuse of defibrillators in January.

The company reported 8 percent higher sales of its drug-eluting stents with revenue of $830 million. Medtronic said its share of the global market for the devices increased to roughly 19 percent, aided by the launch of Resolute in Europe and other international markets. U.S. approval is expected in 2012.

Revenue from the company's spine business fell 3 percent to $839 million. In June that business took a major publicity blow after a medical journal alleged that the company downplayed the risks of its InFuse spinal repair protein. The implant, which is approved to treat degenerative spinal disk disease, had sales of approximately $800 million in the last fiscal year. But Medtronic said Tuesday sales declined 16 percent in the last quarter.

Medtronic said sales of diabetes treatments and surgical tools helped offset weak spinal sales.

International sales rose 6 percent to $1.83 billion, accounting for 44 percent of total sales for the quarter.

With more than 40,000 employees working across dozens of businesses, Medtronic has long been the largest company in the medical device sector. But last week the company said it would get a bit smaller by shedding its Physio-Control unit, which makes heart monitors and external defibrillators. Ishrak said Medtronic decided to sell the unit to Bain Capital LLC for $487 million because "the synergies were really not that strong and they were working in an area where we really didn't have any other kind of presence." Ishrak added that the company has no other plans to sell off businesses.

"Right now when we look at these businesses we find that in almost every area they will do better as part of Medtronic," Ishrak said in an interview with The Associated Press.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_medtronic

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Video: With the super committee?s failure, Congress remains broken

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Ex-leader: Khmer Rouge atrocities are 'fairy tale' (AP)

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia ? A senior Khmer Rouge leader insisted Wednesday he had no real authority during the regime's brutal rule of Cambodia and allegations he bore responsibility for its atrocities were a "fairy tale."

Head of state Khieu Samphan told a tribunal he was a figurehead leader who never joined key policy meetings in the radical communist government, which is accused of orchestrating the "killing fields" and causing the deaths of an estimated 1.7 million Cambodians in the 1970s.

In his rebuttal, he said the prosecutors' opening remarks were exaggerations based mainly on unreliable old news reports and books. "You really want my head on the block," he said.

After the trial of Khieu Samphan and two other top leaders opened Monday, prosecutors have described the pitiless policies ? focused on forced labor and abolition of private property ? the Khmer Rouge imposed in an effort to build an agrarian utopia.

The tribunal is seeking justice on behalf of the estimated quarter of Cambodia's population who died from executions, starvation, disease and overwork under the Khmer Rouge rule.

The defendants are the most senior surviving members of the regime: Khieu Samphan, 80; Nuon Chea, 85, the group's No. 2 and chief ideologist; and former Foreign Minister Ieng Sary, 86. They are charged with crimes against humanity, genocide, religious persecution, homicide and torture, but have denied wrongdoing.

The Khmer Rouge's supreme leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998 in Cambodia's jungles while a prisoner of his own comrades.

Khieu Samphan stressed the nationalist credentials of the Khmer Rouge, who first opposed French colonialism, then fought against a pro-Western regime and its U.S. backers and finally forced a showdown with neighboring Vietnam, Cambodia's traditional enemy.

He recalled that when he was young, communism gave hope to him as the best way for developing Cambodia, as it did for millions of youth for their own homelands. Yet the picture the prosecution had painted, he said, "would lead people to believe that my youth was that of a murderer."

"You seem to want everybody to listen to your fairy tale," he said.

Prosecutors have described a litany of horrors, large and small, saying the Khmer Rouge sought to crush not just all its enemies, but seemingly, the human spirit. Defense statements have lacked that emotional punch, but their emphasis on politics and history indicates that will be key to the trial.

Khieu Samphan's French lawyer, Jacques Verges, dismissed the prosecution statements as similar to the novels of Alexandre Dumas, author of dashing adventure yarns such as "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Three Musketeers."

Khieu Samphan has said he has known Verges since he attended university in France in the 1950s, when both were active in student movements against French colonialism.

"He and I used to attend meetings of student committees against colonialism. That's what bound us together in friendship," Khieu Samphan said in a 2004 interview with The Associated Press.

Verges has defended Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal and Nazi Gestapo officer Klaus Barbie and is noted for a slashing, sarcastic courtroom style, aimed as much at discrediting the judicial establishment as getting his clients off the hook.

Khieu Samphan, along with Verges, reminded the court that intensive U.S. bombing of his country during the Vietnam War contributed to its misery.

"Can you imagine what my country faced after such bloody killing and war?" Khieu Samphan declared.

While decrying the case against him, Khieu Samphan added that he welcomed the opportunity to explain his role to the Cambodian public.

Khieu Samphan earned a reputation for rectitude and bravery when he was a left-wing lawmaker under a repressive royalist regime in the 1960s before joining his Khmer Rouge comrades in the jungle.

Even today, there is a residue of respect for him.

Um Ros, 82, from Kandal province on the outskirts of Phnom Penh said Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary were good leaders and never committed crimes against Cambodians. He said Khieu Samphan was member of parliament for his constituency in the 1960s and always was good to people.

"Khieu Samphan is not a communist leader but a real democratic leader and I don't believe he killed Cambodians during the Khmer Rouge regime," said Um Ros, who attended the trial on Monday. He said the court arrested Khieu Samphan because it was unaware of his goodwill and clean hands.

Scholars question the professions of innocence, however.

"Khieu Samphan was promoted up the ranks of his Party and State apparati to become one of the key accomplices in the political execution machine that Pol Pot created," Cambodia expert Stephen Heder said in a 1990 study. "Khieu Samphan became an ever more important assistant to Pol Pot because he remained steadfastly loyal to his leadership and policies" while others who betrayed or were suspected of disloyalty were detained or executed.

"Khieu Samphan's political star rose literally on heaps of corpses," wrote Heder, who teaches at London's School of Oriental and African Studies and worked to help the tribunal prepare cases.

Ieng Sary also spoke briefly Wednesday to reiterate that he would not participate in the trial until a ruling had been issued on a pardon he received in 1996. The tribunal previously ruled the pardon does not cover its indictment against him. He sat in a wheelchair and complained of shortness of breath and heart problems while delivering his statement.

"I'm not surprised that Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary continue to deny their crimes as the charges against them of genocide, war crimes are very serious," said Theary Sang, a Cambodian lawyer and human rights activist who lost family members under their regime. "Even if I am not surprised, I am however disgusted by their lack of remorse for the suffering they caused. They are delusional in their denial in light of the weight of evidence against them - the mounds of skulls and bones, the horrific testimonies from every survivor of cruelty, the magnitude and scope of evil unleashed by them across the whole of Cambodia."

About 600 spectators attended on the third day of the trial, including Buddhist monks, students, civil servants and ordinary people who traveled from the provinces on transport provided free by the tribunal.

Opening statements concluded with Wednesday's hearing, and actual testimony is slated to begin on Dec. 5.

The U.N.-backed tribunal has tried just one case, convicting former prison chief Kaing Guek Eav for war crimes, crimes against humanity and other offenses. His sentence was reduced to 19 years due to time served and other technicalities.

A fourth defendant in the current trial was ruled unfit due to illness. Political and financial pressure has raised concern that a third trial may never exist.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_re_as/as_cambodia_khmer_rouge

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Defense hawks insist on sparing military from cuts (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Congress' defense hawks insist the military should be spared from automatic cuts triggered by the failure of the supercommittee to reach a deal on reducing the deficit.

No way, says President Barack Obama, who Monday vowed to veto any effort to undo the roughly $1 trillion in across-the-board cuts, half from domestic programs and half from defense.

"There will be no easy off-ramps on this one. We need to keep the pressure up to compromise, not turn off the pressure," the president said. "The only way these spending cuts will not take place is if Congress gets back to work and agrees to a balanced plan to reduce the deficit by at least $1.2 trillion."

The confrontation will play out in a politically charged atmosphere, with Obama's Republican presidential rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Perry already criticizing the commander in chief for the looming defense cuts.

Actually, those big federal deficit reductions wouldn't begin until January 2013. That allows plenty of time for lawmakers to try again to produce a debt plan, rework the cuts or hope that a new post-election cast of characters ? with possibly a different president ? will reverse them.

Protectors of the Pentagon budget argue that last summer's debt accord between Obama and congressional Republicans already inflicted enough damage. That law set in motion some $450 billion in cuts to Pentagon accounts over the next decade.

Defense hawks are backed up in part by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who warned of a hollow fighting force but implored Congress to produce a debt plan avoiding "cuts that will tear a seam in the nation's defense."

Now the supercommittee's failure sets the stage for the automatic cuts Panetta had feared. Combined with the earlier reductions, the Pentagon would be looking at nearly $1 trillion in cuts in projected spending levels over 10 years.

"Those who have given us so much have nothing more to give," said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., promising to introduce legislation to prevent the cuts.

Sens. John McCain of Arizona, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a member of the panel, said they would "pursue all options" to avoid deeper defense cuts.

"As every military and civilian defense official has stated, these cuts represent a threat to the national security interests of the United States, and cannot be allowed to occur," the two said in a joint statement.

But there's hardly unanimity in Congress. Deficit-cutting tea partyers in the GOP are siding with liberal Democrats in signaling they're ready to allow military reductions. In addition, House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said they would abide by the consequences of last summer's deficit-fighting law ? and they control what legislation moves forward.

Freshman Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., a tea party favorite, even questioned the legitimacy of the outcry over the military reductions.

"I think we need to be honest about it," Paul said in an interview on CNN Sunday. "The interesting thing is there will be no cuts in military spending. This may surprise some people, but there will be no cuts in military spending because we're only cutting proposed increases. If we do nothing, military spending goes up 23 percent over 10 years. If we sequester the money, it will still go up 16 percent. So spending is still rising under any of these plans."

According to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the planned Pentagon budget for 2021 would be some $700 billion, an increase over the current level of about $520 billion. The cuts already in the works plus the automatic reductions would trim the projected budget by about $110 billion.

If the automatic cuts go through, the Pentagon would face a 10 percent cut in its $550 billion budget in 2013. On the domestic side, education, agriculture and environmental programs would face cuts of around 8 percent.

Social Security, Medicaid and many veterans' benefits and low-income programs are exempt from automatic cuts. Medicare is limited to a 2 percent reduction.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said it is imperative for Obama "to ensure that the defense cuts he insisted upon do not undermine national security," as Panetta has warned.

McCain and Graham have been working on legislation that would undo the automatic defense reductions and instead impose a 5 percent across-the-board reduction in government spending combined with a 10 percent cut in pay for members of Congress.

The Senate resumes work next week on a massive defense bill, a possible vehicle for any effort to rework or undo the cuts. Prospects are still unclear.

"Flat out repeal of sequester? No," said G. William Hoagland, a former top GOP Senate budget aide.

Instead, Hoagland suggested that Obama could use Republican demands for an extension of the tax cuts enacted under President George W. Bush as leverage in negotiations to soften the automatic spending cuts. Congress must decide by the end of next year whether to extend the Bush tax cuts. Democrats want to allow them to expire for wealthy Americans.

Congressional Republicans and Democrats must also decide in the coming weeks whether to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term jobless and leave in place a payroll tax cut enacted last year to prop up the economy.

Another costly question is whether to fix Medicare's payment formula to prevent a 27 percent cut in doctors' pay starting Jan. 1.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_go_co/us_supercommittee_automatic_cuts

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Penguin suspends library e-books, citing security

NEW YORK (AP) ? Library patrons hoping to borrow e-books published by Penguin may have to wait.

Citing security concerns, Penguin Group (USA) announced Monday it has suspended the availability of new e-books to libraries. Crime writer Patricia Cornwell, "The Pillars of the Earth" writer Ken Follett and biographer Ron Chernow are among Penguin's many authors. Hardcovers and paperbacks aren't affected by Penguin's decision.

Publishers have been wary of allowing libraries to loan e-books over worries about lost sales.

Simon & Schuster and Macmillan have yet to make e-books available to libraries. HarperCollins has restricted e-books, a policy that angered librarians when announced last year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2011-11-21-Books-Libraries/id-b9e3c681c49d4d5aaf6733dec814bf89

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LivingSocial goes national with Black Friday deals

NEW YORK (AP) ? Online deals service LivingSocial is going national for the holiday shopping season.

LivingSocial is best known for coupons for local restaurants, fitness classes and spas. It's unveiling two sets of deals Monday involving larger, national businesses such as Office Max, the sneaker brand Sketchers and Verizon Wireless.

LivingSocial will run special offers on Black Friday, the much-hyped shopping bonanza that takes place the day after Thanksgiving. The deals include $25 for $50 worth of Verizon devices. There's also a charity component where Toys R Us and other businesses will match $5 donations from consumers to Toys for Tots.

On Cyber Monday, the online shopping day that follows Thanksgiving weekend, LivingSocial will unveil another set of deals from online businesses such as Snapfish.

LivingSocial is based in Washington, D.C.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2011-11-21-LivingSocial-Black%20Friday/id-b004783731b84eeeb1fbb06d07ca1be4

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Captain: Wagner responsible for Natalie Wood death (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? A yacht captain said on national TV Friday that he lied to investigators about Natalie Wood's mysterious death 30 years ago and blames the actress' husband at the time, Robert Wagner, for her drowning in the ocean off Southern California.

The circumstances of her death remain one of Hollywood's enduring mysteries and continue to create renewed intrigue, with homicide detectives on Thursday unexpectedly re-opening the case that had long been classified as a tragic accident.

A Los Angeles County sheriff's detective will speak to reporters Friday about the decision to take another look at the Oscar-nominated actress' nighttime demise in the chilly waters off Southern California on Nov. 29, 1981. Wood drowned after spending several hours drinking on Catalina Island in a yacht with Wagner, fellow actor Christopher Walken and the ship's captain, Dennis Davern.

Davern, skipper of the Splendour, told NBC's "Today" show on Friday that he made mistakes by not telling the truth about events leading to the Thanksgiving weekend death and had urged Los Angeles County sheriff's homicide investigators to reopen the case. It is the latest attempt by Davern to change the official account of what happened in the hours before Wood's death.

"Was the fight between Natalie Wood and her husband Robert Wagner what ultimately led to her death?" show host David Gregory asked.

"Yes," Davern replied.

"How so?"

"Like I said, that's going to be up to the investigators to decide," the captain said after a long pause.

Davern said he believes Wagner had intentionally kept the investigation into Wood's death low profile and didn't do everything he could have done. When Gregory pressed Davern for supporting details, the captain said that was the duty of investigators.

Davern has said for years that the official account of Wood's disappearance was not what really happened, including in a 1992 appearance on a Geraldo Rivera special and in a 2000 Vanity Fair piece. He also worked with author and friend Marti Rulli on "Goodbye Natalie, Goodbye Splendour," a book released last year.

Wagner spokesman Alan Nierob said Friday a statement he released Thursday spoke for itself.

"Although no one in the Wagner family has heard from the LA County Sheriff's department about this matter, they fully support the efforts of the LA County Sheriff's Dept. and trust they will evaluate whether any new information relating to the death of Natalie Wood Wagner is valid, and that it comes from a credible source or sources other than those simply trying to profit from the 30 year anniversary of her tragic death," Nierob wrote in the statement.

Davern denied he was motivated to speak out for profit.

Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore said Thursday the renewed inquiry was prompted by unspecified new information about Woods' case. The Los Angeles Times reported that Los Angeles Sheriff Lee Baca said detectives want to talk to Davern and that he had "made comments worthy of exploring." The paper said the agency had also received information from an unidentified third party.

In the Vanity Fair story, Davern is quoted as saying that Wood and Wagner fought in their cabin before the actress disappeared. Coroner's officials ruled her death an accidental drowning, perhaps caused by her slipping off the boat while trying to tie down a dinghy.

She was found wearing a flannel nightgown, socks and a red down jacket and Davern identified her body for authorities, according to an autopsy report. Her body had superficial bruises, according to the report, but those were considered consistent with drowning.

Her death sparked tabloid speculation that foul play was involved, but Wagner and Wood's sister have dismissed any suggestion the actress' death was anything more than an accident. Coroner's officials at the time agreed, writing that Wood was "possibly attempting to board the dinghy and had fallen into the water, striking her face."

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said the agency hadn't been asked to do any additional investigation into Wood's case.

Sheriff's officials are also hoping for tips from the public that may shed new light on how Wood, who was afraid of being in the water, ended up drowning.

Wood, a three-time Oscar nominee famous for roles in "West Side Story," `'Rebel Without a Cause" and other Hollywood hits, was 43 when she died. She and Wagner were twice married, first in 1957 before divorcing six years later. They remarried in 1972.

Lana Wood wrote in a biography on her sister, "What happened is that Natalie drank too much that night."

Wagner, star of the television series "Hart to Hart," wrote in a 2008 autobiography that he blamed himself for his wife's death.

He recounted the night of Wood's disappearance, during which the couple and Walken drank at a restaurant and on the boat. Wood went to the master cabin during an argument between her husband and Walken. The last time Wagner saw his wife, she was fixing her hair at a bathroom vanity and she shut the door.

Wagner wrote that despite various theories about what led Wood to the water, which she feared, it was impossible to know what exactly happened.

"Nobody knows," he wrote. "There are only two possibilities; either she was trying to get away from the argument, or she was trying to tie the dinghy. But the bottom line is that nobody knows exactly what happened."

Later in the book, Wagner wrote, "Did I blame myself? If I had been there, I could have done something. But I wasn't there. I didn't see her."

He wrote that he never saw his wife after she died and has never returned to Catalina Island.

Phone and email messages to Walken's publicist were not returned Thursday. Walken and Wood were co-stars in "Brainstorm," which was the actress' final big screen role.

___

AP reporter Alicia Rancilio contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111118/ap_en_mo/us_natalie_wood_investigation

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US foods that are tough to find abroad

Matthew Mead / AP

Thanksgiving dinner, an American tradition, is a rare find overseas.

By Ryan Murphy, Budget Travel

Traveling provides ample opportunities for indulging in culinary experimentation. But what if you just want a familiar snack from the homeland? Not so fast ? you might be surprised by just how foreign some of our most common foodstuffs are to our friends overseas.

Some criticize the very concept of eating American chow abroad when there are so many ethnic cuisines to enjoy; others will ignore the naysayers and happily pour another bowl of Cheerios for breakfast. Regardless of what category you fall into, there's something interesting about knowing which of our foods are foreign to most other cultures.

Without further ado, here are?six foods you'll be hard-pressed to find when you travel (and the specialty shops where you can track them down if you find yourself nursing a case of the munchies).

?

American candy
From Swiss chocolate to raw sugarcane, local sweets have a place in every society. Americans have a dizzying array of domestic candies to choose from, but in other countries their appeal ? and thus shelf space ? doesn?t necessarily measure up. But if you happen to be in Prague, The Candy Store has you covered, thanks to an extensive collection of sugary U.S. treats from Nerds to Marshmallow Fluff. American holidays aren?t neglected, either: if you can?t find a decent pumpkin pie in time for Thanksgiving, The Candy Store will mix one up on-site using another staple of American pantries, Libby?s Canned Pumpkin.

?

Brownie and cake mix
Good luck finding a brownie mix (or a pancake or cake mix) outside of the U.S. In London, the American Food Store?fulfills a niche market of American cravings. Inspired by holidays in the States, the proprietors of this store aim to offer reasonably?priced and legitimate American products ? not the adulterated cereals and sodas they claim are sold under the same brand names in the United Kingdom. However, perhaps the store?s greatest boon to traveling Americans is its store of dry goods: aside from prepared foods, the American Food Store sells baking necessities like Gold Medal flour, Clabber Girl baking powder and, of course, mixes from Duncan Hines and the First Lady of American cooking, Betty Crocker. Gumbo and jambalaya
The culinary ways of Americans (hot dogs, takeout Chinese) may be a mystery to Parisians, but at least Judith Bluysen understands. Since 1990 this transplant from New York has been selling American groceries at her store, Thanksgiving, in one of the gastronomical capitals of the world. Although her store stocks American products of many stripes, Thanksgiving specializes in Cajun food ? fittingly so, as Louisiana culinary traditions owe much to the French. Bluysen?s on?site Cajun restaurant has been shuttered for years, but her Paris grocery still hosts Zatarain?s gumbo and jambalaya mixes, Tabasco sauce, Cajun sausages and fil? powder for that authentic New Orleans taste.

?

Turkey
With Thanksgiving approaching, the thoughts of all Americans ? even those abroad ? turn to turkey. Tokyo is a paradise for food aficionados in many ways, but some stores and restaurants that claim to offer American food don?t necessarily live up to the promise. (Even the Denny?s outlets differ from their beloved American model.) Some items, like the aforementioned bird, are simply hard to find in their unaltered state. Nissin World Delicatessen?delivers the real deal and more. The supermarket stocks its shelves with items from many western countries ? German pickles, French cheese and even Italian bottled water ? but its greatest contribution to the western crowd may be the store?s ?Meat Rush? section, which sells meats from the United States, New Zealand and Australia, including ?hard?to?find? cuts of turkey and lamb. And if you don?t mind mixing your cuisines, feel free to slap some southwest flavor onto your Thanksgiving fowl with some Nissin-supplied American barbecue sauce.

?

American beer
Remember the Chinese toast ?gan bei? (?dry the glass?) ? it may come in handy at Jenny?s. A store with the humblest of origins, Jenny?s began as a fruit and vegetable stall in 1988 and has become a multi?outlet chain scattered throughout China?s capital. While Jenny?s still prides itself on its fresh produce ? and even offers a rent?a?plot program at its new organic farm ? its list of international groceries is extensive. Visitors jonesing for a familiar tipple are particularly in luck: Jenny?s offers bottled and canned beers from more than?15 countries, including American brews like Samuel Adams and Longboard Lager.

?

Cheddar cheese
It may not have originated in the United States, but Americans adore this British import ? some even enjoy it alongside apple pie, the most quintessentially American food of them all. The rest of the world loves its cheeses as well, however, and poor cheddar can get lost in the mix. Cheeseheads in Buenos Aires can head for a branch of the aptly named Al Queso, Queso, which offers a menu of international sandwiches and wines along with its wide variety of cheeses.

?

More from Budget Travel

Source: http://itineraries.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/03/8619839-popular-us-foods-that-are-tough-to-find-abroad

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UN bashing is popular among Republican candidates (AP)

UNITED NATIONS ? It seldom fails as an applause line for Republican presidential candidates: beating up on the United Nations.

Front-runner Mitt Romney says the U.N. too often becomes a forum for tyrants when it should be promoting democracy and human rights. Newt Gingrich pledges to take on the U.N.'s "absurdities." Herman Cain says he would change some of its rules. And Rick Perry says he would consider pulling the United States out of the U.N. altogether.

All that U.N. bashing has raised questions about whether a Republican victory could strain the relationship between the United Nations and its host country, the United States.

President Barack Obama's Democratic administration considers the U.N. critical to the country's interests, while Republicans traditionally have been disenchanted with the world body over America's inability to reliably win support for its positions. It doesn't help that U.N. members often criticize American policies, especially as they relate to Israel and the Palestinians.

That was reinforced last month when the U.N. cultural agency voted to approve a Palestinian bid for full membership in that body, and the U.S. responded by cutting off funding.

Yet history shows that any American president, Republican or Democrat, ultimately learns to get along with the United Nations "simply because there's a lot of stuff the U.N. does that is useful to the United States," said David Bosco, who writes The Multilateralist blog for Foreign Policy magazine.

Case in point: Even the harshest American critics were silent earlier this month when the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog concluded that Iran was probably developing nuclear arms.

Bosco, also an assistant professor at American University's School of International Service, noted that the Republican administration of George W. Bush supported a major expansion in U.N. peacekeeping ? despite regular sniping about the world body.

But the relationship wasn't a smooth one: Tensions ran high between the U.S. and the world body under the younger Bush, especially when John Bolton served as the outspoken U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

U.N. officials have declined to comment on the possibility that a Republican win could strain the United Nations' relationship with the U.S.

"The United States is an important state at the United Nations and we would expect that relationship would continue under any administration," said Martin Nesirky, spokesman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The presidential race has been dominated by the economy and other domestic issues, but foreign affairs are taking on greater importance and will be the subject of a debate by the Republican candidates Tuesday, giving them another chance to air their views on the U.N.

Cain says he has read and admires Bolton's foreign policy views, which are highly critical of the United Nations. But the former ambassador to the U.N. said Friday he has not endorsed any of the candidates.

One of the loudest U.N. critics among the candidates is Perry, the Texas governor who has recently slipped in the polls. "I think it's time for us to have a very serious discussion about defunding the United Nations," he declared in October.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, in 2007 characterized U.N. failures as "simply astonishing" but has been more measured during the current campaign.

U.N. supporters say that when the candidates bash the world organization, they are simply playing to the most conservative Republicans: the primary voters and caucus-goers needed early in the electoral contest.

"My sense is that if any of them were to be elected president, they would quickly realize that the U.N. serves American interests," said Peter Yeo, vice president for public policy of the U.N. Foundation, a nonprofit organization that supports the world body's work.

"They would find a way to constructively work within the U.N. system," Yeo added.

Detractors say that the candidates are just being truthful.

"I wouldn't call it U.N. bashing; I'd call it U.N. realism," said Bolton, the former U.S. ambassador to the U.N. "I think the issue for the United States is what to do to make the U.N. more effective, and the answer to that has to lie in how it is funded."

Contributions to the U.N.'s regular budget are assessed on a scale based primarily on a country's ability to pay. Additional contributions to U.N. entities such as the children's agency UNICEF are voluntary.

The U.S. assessment is the highest ? 22 percent of the total U.N. operating budget. By comparison, China pays 3 percent.

In the 2010 budget year, the U.S. provided $7.7 billion to the U.N. for its regular budget, peacekeeping and other programs, up from $6.1 billion the previous year.

House Republicans recently introduced legislation to force the U.N. to adopt a voluntary funding system. The administration opposes it and it is unlikely to become law.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111119/ap_on_el_pr/un_un_republican_candidates

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Video: Godiva's Holiday Outlook

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45357203#45357203

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Governor: Mitt Romney making 'big mistake' by neglecting Iowa (Los Angeles Times)

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AMD-like lesions delayed in mice fed lower glycemic index diet

Monday, November 14, 2011

Feeding older mice a lower glycemic index (GI) diet consisting of slowly-digested carbohydrates delays the onset of age-related, sight-threatening retinal lesions, according to a new study from the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (USDA HNRCA) at Tufts University.

The researchers studied middle-aged and older mice that consumed either a higher or lower GI diet. Mice fed the lower GI diet developed fewer and less-severe age-related lesions in the retina than the mice fed the higher GI diet. The lesions included basal laminar deposits, which typically develop after age 60 in the human retina and are the earliest warning sign of Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD).

"To our knowledge, we have established the first mature, mammalian model indicating a delay in the development of AMD-like lesions as the result of a lower GI diet," says Allen Taylor, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Nutrition and Vision Research at the USDA HNRCA. "The only difference between the two groups of mice we studied is the GI of their meals, which suggests that diet alone is enough to accelerate or delay the formation of lesions. These results, coupled with similar observations made by our laboratory in earlier human epidemiologic studies imply that lower GI diets hold potential as an early intervention for preventing onset and progress of AMD."

The dietary glycemic index (DGI) measures the rate at which glucose is delivered to the bloodstream after consuming carbohydrates. Higher GI foods including white bread and white potatoes trigger a rapid delivery of glucose that pushes the body to work overtime to absorb, whereas lower GI foods, like whole grain bread and fruits and vegetables, initiate a slower release of glucose that is more easily processed by cells.

Compared to the mice on the lower GI diet, mice on the higher GI diet demonstrated elevated accumulations of debris known as advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in the whole retina, particularly in the cells of the RPE. The RPE plays a crucial role in maintaining vision and its dysfunction results in the gradual central vision loss that is the hallmark of AMD. AGE accumulation has also been linked to tissue damage in other age-related diseases such as Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"We presume the elevated accumulation of AGEs we saw in the retina of the higher GI group is associated with toxicity. The AGEs result from the modification of proteins by excess glucose and this compounds the normal protein damage that happens as we age," says Karen Weikel, first author and a PhD candidate at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. "While previous research has linked higher GI diets to AGE accumulation in the blood, ours appears to be the first to show diet-related AGE presence in tissue, such as the retina, which becomes the site of the eye disease."

The research, published online in October in the journal Aging Cell traces the drop-off in AGE accumulation in the lower GI diet to the ubiquitin-protease system pathway and the lysosome/autophagy pathway. "In cell models we saw that both the ubiquitin pathways and lysosome pathways processed proteins more efficiently and kept cells healthier when glucose levels were lower," says Taylor, who is also a professor at the Friedman School and Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM). "Both pathways are well-known for their ability to remove damage from cells, but this had not been previously systematically explored for removal of AGEs."

The Centers for Disease Control reports AMD is the chief cause of irreparable vision loss in Americans over age 65 and that 1.8 million people in the U.S. are living with the disease, a number that is expected to approach 3 million by 2020.

"Although our laboratory has shown in epidemiological studies and now in a live laboratory model that lower GI diets may prevent or delay the progression of AMD, future studies are needed. Trials involving more animals and human clinical trials could more carefully describe the protein-editing machinery that appeared to determine the development and severity of the lesions we saw," Taylor says. "With such information, we may begin to develop cost-effective dietary interventions as well as a new generation of drugs that mimic the presumed effects of the lower GI diet to prolong vision."

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Uchiki T, Weikel KA, Jiao W, Shang F, Caceres A, Pawlak D, Handa JT, Brownlee M, Nagaraj R, and Taylor A. "Glycation-Altered Proteolysis as a pathobiologic mechanism that links dietary glycemic index, aging and age-related disease (in non-diabetics). Aging Cell. Published online October 3, 2011. DOI: 10.1111/j.1474-9726.2011.00752.x

Tufts University, Health Sciences Campus: http://www.tufts.edu

Thanks to Tufts University, Health Sciences Campus for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115163/AMD_like_lesions_delayed_in_mice_fed_lower_glycemic_index_diet

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