Afghan violence falls in 2012, insider attacks up

Internally displaced Afghans wait in line to receive firewood donated by Welt Hunger Hilfe 'German Agro Action' in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. Around 240 internally displaced families received firewood. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Internally displaced Afghans wait in line to receive firewood donated by Welt Hunger Hilfe 'German Agro Action' in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. Around 240 internally displaced families received firewood. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Afghan women wait for transportation after receiving flour donated by the women's affairs department, in the Gozara district, Herat province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan, Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012. The women's affairs department of Herat province donated a sack of flour to around 250 families in the Gozara district. (AP Photo/Hoshang Hashimi)

Graphic shows monthly U.S. troop deaths in Afghanistan since October

Internally displaced Afghans from Helmand province, carry sacks of blankets to be donated by the United Nation's refugee agency (UNHCR) at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. Around 600 internally displaced families received winter relief assistance distributed by the United Nation's refugee agency. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

Internally displaced Afghan children from Helmand province, wait for winter relief assistance from the United Nation's refugee agency (UNHCR) at a refugee camp in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. Around 600 internally displaced families received winter relief assistance distributed by the United Nation's refugee agency. (AP Photo/Musadeq Sadeq)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) ? Violence in Afghanistan fell in 2012, but more Afghan troops and police who now shoulder most of the combat were killed, according to statistics compiled by The Associated Press.

At the same time, insider killings by uniformed Afghans against their foreign allies rose dramatically, eroding confidence between the sides at a crucial turning point in the war and when NATO troops and Afghan counterparts are in more intimate contact.

"The overall situation is improving," said a NATO spokesman, U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Lester T. Carroll. He singled out Afghan special forces as "surgically removing insurgent leaders from the battle space."

Gen. Mohammad Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Defense, said Afghan forces were now charged with 80 percent of security missions and were less equipped to face the most lethal weapon of the militants ? roadside bombs.

"Our forces are out there in the battlefields and combat areas more than at any other time in the past," he said, citing reasons for the spike in casualties.

U.S. troop deaths, overall NATO fatalities and Afghan civilian deaths all dropped as insurgent attacks fell off in their traditional strongholds in the south and east. However, insurgent activity rose in the north and west, where the Taliban and other groups have been less active in the past, and overall levels of violence were higher than before a U.S. troop surge more than two years ago.

U.S. troop deaths declined overall from 404 last year to 295 as of Saturday. The Defense Department says 1,701 U.S. troops have been killed in action in Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion in 2001 until Dec. 26. Of those, 338 died from non-hostile causes. Some 18,154 were wounded.

A total of 394 foreign troops, including the Americans, were killed in 2012, down from 543 in 2011. The British, with the second-largest military presence, had 43 killed ? the second-highest toll among countries with forces in Afghanistan, by AP's count. The figure includes a Georgian soldier who went missing on Dec. 18 and whose body was turned over to NATO on Saturday.

The AP keeps daily tallies of casualties and violent incidents across Afghanistan based on reports from NATO and Afghan officials. Most cannot be independently verified, and other incidents may never come to light. The statistics sometimes vary from official counts because of time lags, different criteria and other reasons.

Deaths from so-called insider attacks ? Afghan police and troops killing foreign allies ? surged to 61 in 45 attacks last year compared with 2011, when 35 coalition troops were killed in 21 attacks.

The number, provided by the NATO command, does not include the Dec. 24 killing of an American civilian adviser by a female member of the Afghan police because the investigation is ongoing.

The focus of NATO's mission has largely veered from the battlefield to training the Afghans ahead of a pullout of most troops by 2014. The U.S plans to maintain a residual force, the size of which is now being determined.

A NATO report that tracks violence in the country showed a rise this year compared with the period before the surge of U.S. troops into the country. But the levels were down from last year and a peak in the summer of 2010. Kabul and the country's second-largest city, Kandahar, saw a considerable drop in lethal attacks, but districts in Kandahar province remain among the most restive in Afghanistan.

Militant attacks, the report said, decreased countrywide by 7 percent through November compared with the same 11-month period last year. But they were up in the northern and western parts of the country, which previously had been among the most peaceful regions.

Although NATO officials frequently credit Afghan troops with successful unilateral operations, a recent U.S. congressional report noted that higher-level Afghan units still need vital air, logistics and other support from foreign forces.

More Afghan police and soldiers are dying in the conflict, according to numbers provided by the interior and defense ministries.

More than 1,050 Afghan troops died this year, substantially higher than last year, although the ministry could not provide the exact 2011 death toll.

Nearly 1,400 police died in the 10 months from March 21 to the end of the year, compared with about the same number for the 12 months beginning March 21, 2011. The Afghan government follows a calendar year starting March 21.

NATO says Afghan security forces have grown from 132,000 in March 2011 to 333,000 this month.

The AP tally showed that at least 822 Afghan civilians had been killed by the Taliban and other militants this year while another 119 died in NATO airstrikes and other operations. That was a decrease from last year, when 1,151 were killed by insurgents and 283 by NATO. Substantially smaller numbers perish when caught in crossfires.

The United Nations reported different casualty figures but also noted that civilian deaths had decreased, reversing a five-year trend of mounting civilian deaths. Its latest report says that during the first six months of the year, 1,145 civilians died in conflict-related violence, compared with 1,510 in the same period of 2011. The U.N. considers insurgent land mines and roadside bombs to be particularly deadly for civilians.

Close to 3,000 militants were reported to have been killed by coalition and Afghan forces this year, compared with more than 3,500 last year. The NATO command does not issue reports on the number of insurgents its troops have killed, and Afghan military figures, from which the AP compiles its data, cannot be independently verified.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-30-AS-Afghanistan-Year-of-Violence/id-14d6caab9e394635b54587e0ed40aca8

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GMA Live! reports from Newtown, Conn.

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President Obama calls for U.S. to do more to protect its children (Washington Bureau)

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Rible Special Education Bill Clears Committee - Manasquan-Belmar ...

A state Assembly bill aimed at streamlining special education programs in the state?s public schools on Thursday passed its first major hurdle when it cleared the Education Committee.

The bill, A1365, this week passed the committee by a unanimous vote and will be headed for a full vote of the Assembly. The bill is sponsored by Assemblyman Dave Rible and would create a task force charged with improving the funding, deliver and effectiveness of special education programs and services in New Jersey?s public schools.

The bill would create the Task Force on Improving Special Education for Public School Students, comprised of 14 Gubernatorial appointments and the state Education Commissioner. The 14 would include parents, teachers, administrators and advocates involved in the special education community, according to the bill.

The panel would be charged with studying issues such as the methods of classifying special needs students strategies to reduce costs of out-of-district placements and program standards to ensure programs meets students? needs and focus on achievement.

It would have 180 days after it organizes study to present findings and recommendations based on its study, according to the bill.

?Many families with special needs children have been frustrated with their experiences in the public school system. Although there are some exceptional special education programs in New Jersey, we can do better,? Rible, R-Monmouth and Ocean, said in a release. ?This task force will leave no stone unturned in its quest to find ways to make special education more efficient and effective with a greater emphasis on student achievement.?

The bipartisan legislation is also prime-sponsored by Assembly members Mary Pat Angelini, Jason O?Donnell and Donna Simon, and Senators Jennifer Beck and Teresa M. Ruiz.

?I thank my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their support of this critical issue affecting education in just about every community in New Jersey,? Rible said.

Source: http://manasquan.patch.com/articles/rible-special-education-bill-clears-committee

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Protesters to march on Michigan capitol over 'right-to-work' vote

LANSING, Michigan (Reuters) - As many as 10,000 labor union workers from throughout Michigan and the U.S. Midwest are expected to march on the Michigan Capitol building in freezing temperatures on Tuesday to protest likely passage of a "right-to-work" law.

The Republican-controlled Michigan House of Representatives will consider two and perhaps three bills on Tuesday that would prohibit unions from compelling private sector workers and government employees to pay union dues.

The right-to-work movement has been growing in the country since Wisconsin fought a similar battle with unions over two years ago.

Michigan would become the 24th state to enact right-to-work provisions and passage of the legislation would deal a stunning blow to the power of organized labor in the United States.

Michigan is home of the heavily unionized U.S. auto industry, with some 700 manufacturing plants in the state. It is also the birthplace of the United Auto Workers, the richest U.S. labor union.

While the new laws are not expected to have much immediate impact because existing union contracts would be preserved, they could, over time, further weaken the UAW, which has already seen its influence wane in negotiating with the major automakers.

Right-to-work laws typically allow workers to hold a job without being forced to join a union or pay union dues.

Last Thursday, when the senate passed two bills and the House also considered right-to-work legislation, protesters converged on Lansing. Several people were arrested and officials sealed the Capitol from the public.

"We support people exercising their constitutional rights to protest," said Inspector Gene Adamczyk of the Michigan State Police. "But we need them to do it in an orderly manner."

President Barack Obama waded into the debate during a visit to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Michigan on Monday, criticizing the Republican right-to-work effort.

"What they're really talking about is giving you the right to work for less money," Obama said.

School teachers are among those expected to march on the Capitol on Tuesday. Several school districts will not hold classes on Tuesday due to teacher and staff absences, Detroit newspapers and television stations reported.

Labor leaders such as UAW President Bob King say they were blindsided by Republican Governor Rick Snyder, who last Thursday announced he was supporting right-to-work after nearly two years of saying the issue was too divisive.

King was unsuccessful in more than a week of talks with Snyder and his staff in staving off the right-to-work push by the Republicans, who will lose several seats when newly elected members take their seats in the state house and senate in January.

Michigan has the fifth highest percentage of unionized workers in the United States at 17.5 percent and the Detroit area is headquarters for General Motors Co, Ford Motor Co and Chrysler, which is majority owned by Fiat SpA.

(Reporting by Bernie Woodall; Editing by Greg McCune and Lisa Shumaker)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/protesters-march-michigan-capitol-over-vote-054656984.html

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Daily Use Self Training Workout Advice For A ... - Fitness Spotlight

December 10, 2012 ‐ Posted by Fitness Tips ‐ Under: Fitness Tips

If you are lacking fitness, then you are not clear as to which health and fitness approach to take. What gets people stuck in a rut is no substantial desire or information on how to get in shape. Although a lot of people are convinced that exercising is difficult, it doesn?t have to be. It can be a lot of fun. Use these tips in order to add fun into your exercise routine.

An easy way to get your body moving is to crank up some great music. No one can resist dancing to an infectious beat or and addictive song blasting on the radio. You would be missing out if you don?t build music into you exercise program! Turn on your favorite songs, and start moving! Music can lift your spirits and give you the extra push you need to follow through with your fitness goals.

TIP! Motivation will almost always beat mere talent. -Norman R. Augustine

When you decide to start working out, encourage a couple of friends to join you. Pleasant conversation can make a long work out session fly by. This will take the focus off the workout and make the experience more enjoyable. You can also use this time to socialize. Working out can be really fun if you are with friends.

Get an workout video game to play. Fitness games are an easy way for you to add variety to your workout regimen. When you are engrossed in your video game, you will not be thinking about the workout that you are getting. By doing this, you will be able to increase the length of your workout because tiredness is not a factor.

Some people are anxious about being seen while working out. Having sexy, new exercise clothes can make you feel better about working out. Clothing nowadays has a wide variety of colors and sizes. Make sure your exercise clothing is cool-looking and puts you in the right mood to exercise. You?ll be more motivated to exercise.

TIP! Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. -Albert Einstein

Variety is the key to keeping you interested and motivated when it comes to exercise programs. Therefore, it is important that you switch your exercise routine up. If you?re glued to the treadmill every time you exercise, why not try a long run outdoors instead? Changing your regular exercise routine can give you the extra push you need to keep going.

Rewarding yourself is a great way to motivate yourself to complete a goal. Just give yourself little perks to keep yourself going and help you stay motivated. Get yourself a small candy or a book you?ve wanted. Reward yourself by getting something that you have put off purchasing. My vote goes for a home gym fitness equipment, as this is that kind of a reward that will keep you motivated for the rest of your life. You will feel proud.

Daily Use Self Training Workout Advice For A Physically Fitter Body

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Source: http://www.fitnessspotlight.net/daily-use-self-training-workout-advice-for-a-physically-fitter-body/

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U.S. and Russia to meet on Syria amid chemical weapons fears

DUBLIN (AP) ? The top U.S. and Russian diplomats will hold a surprise meeting Thursday with the United Nations' peace envoy for Syria, signaling fresh hopes of an international breakthrough to end the Arab country's 21-month civil war.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and mediator Lakhdar Brahimi will gather in Dublin on the sidelines of a human rights conference, a senior U.S. official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn't authorized to speak publicly on the matter. She provided few details about the unscheduled get-together.

Ahead of the three-way meeting, Clinton and Lavrov met separately Thursday for about 25 minutes. They agreed to hear Brahimi out on a path forward, a senior U.S. official said. The two also discussed issues ranging from Egypt to North Korea, as well as new congressional action aimed at Russian officials accused of complicity in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

The former Cold War foes have fought bitterly over how to address Syria's conflict, with Washington harshly criticizing Moscow of shielding its Arab ally. The Russians respond by accusing the U.S. of meddling by demanding the downfall of President Bashar Assad's regime and ultimately seeking an armed intervention such as the one last year against the late Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

But the gathering of the three key international figures suggests possible compromise in the offing. At the least, it confirms what officials describe as an easing of some of the acrimony that has raged between Moscow and Washington over the future of an ethnically diverse nation whose stability is seen as critical given its geographic position in between powder kegs Iraq, Lebanon and Israel.

The threat of Syria's government using some of its vast stockpiles of chemical weapons is also adding urgency to diplomatic efforts. Western governments have cited the rising danger of such a scenario this week, and officials say Russia, too, shares great concern on this point.

On Thursday, Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad accused the United States and Europe of using the issue of chemical weapons to justify a future military intervention against Syria. He warned that any such intervention would be "catastrophic."

In Ireland's capital, one idea that Brahimi could seek to resuscitate with U.S. and Russian support would be the political agreement strategy both countries agreed on in Geneva in June.

That plan demanded several steps by the Assad regime to de-escalate tensions and end the violence that activists say has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011. It would then have required Syria's opposition and the regime to put forward candidates for a transitional government, with each side having the right to veto nominees proposed by the other.

If employed, the strategy would surely mean the end of more than four decades of an Assad family member at Syria's helm. The opposition has demanded Assad's departure and has rejected any talk of him staying in power. Yet it also would grant regime representatives the opportunity to block Sunni extremists and others in the opposition that they reject.

The transition plan never got off the ground this summer, partly because no pressure was applied to see it succeed by a deeply divided international community. Brahimi's predecessor, former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who drafted the plan, then resigned his post in frustration.

The United States blamed the collapse on Russia for vetoing a third resolution at the U.N. Security Council that would have applied world sanctions against Assad's government for failing to live by the deal's provisions.

Russia insisted that the Americans unfairly sought Assad's departure as a precondition and worried about opening the door to military action, even as Washington offered to include language in any U.N. resolution that would have expressly forbade outside armed intervention.

Should a plan similar to that one be proposed, the Obama administration is likely to insist anew that it be internationally enforceable ? a step Moscow may still be reluctant to commit to.

In any case, the U.S. insists the tide of the war is turning definitively against Assad.

On Wednesday, the administration said several countries in the Middle East and elsewhere have informally offered to grant asylum to Assad and his family if they leave Syria.

The comments came a day after the United States and its 27 NATO allies agreed to send Patriot missiles to Turkey's southern border with Syria. The deployment, expected within weeks, is meant solely as a defensive measure against the cross-border mortar rounds from Syria that have killed five Turks, but still bring the alliance to the brink of involvement in the civil war.

The United States is also preparing to designate Jabhat al-Nusra, a Syrian rebel group with alleged ties to al-Qaida, as a foreign terrorist organization in a step aimed at blunting the influence of extremists within the Syrian opposition, officials said Wednesday.

Word of the move came as the State Department announced Clinton will travel to the Mideast and North Africa next week for high-level meetings on the situation in Syria and broader counter-terrorism issues. She is likely then to recognize Syria's newly formed opposition coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, according to officials.

The political endorsement is designed to help unite the country against Assad and spur greater nonlethal and humanitarian assistance from the United States to the rebels.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-russia-set-surprise-syria-meeting-093221177--politics.html

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Is the Birth Rate Properly a Political Question? (Atlantic Politics Channel)

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Free coffins: political swag for Honduran poor

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AP) ? In some countries political campaigns give out bumper stickers and yard signs. In others, they offer free lunches and supermarket debit cards. In Honduras, one of Latin America's poorest countries and also its most dangerous, candidates dole out another kind of political swag: coffins for the destitute.

Charities organized by politicians scour poor neighborhoods in search of families of murder victims who cannot afford funeral services or even a simple casket to bury their beloved. There are plenty of takers in this Central American country, where two out of three workers earn less than the minimum wage of $300 a month, and more than 136 people are killed each week.

The murder rate has more than doubled over the last six years due largely to an explosion in drug trafficking to the United States and a proliferation of violent gangs, many of which originated in U.S. cities. The capital, Tegucigalpa, has grown so threatening that its streets empty after sunset, while its morgues fill up.

Without a coffin, morgues are prohibited from releasing a body and instead bury the dead in mass graves. For the grieving family too poor to purchase a casket, that means not just the loss of their loved ones, but no way to honor them either.

That's where the charities come in ? three, to be exact, which offer free coffins, and sometimes transportation and refreshments for the bereaved. The charities are run by three elected officials, two of whom are seeking the presidency next year and a third who is running for mayor of Tegucigalpa. All are members of President Porfirio Lobo's ruling National Party.

One charity, Helping Hand Up, won its congressional funding thanks to the head of the Honduran Congress, Juan Orlando Hernandez, who is running for president. Like the others, Helping Hand Up insists it is not trading coffins for votes.

It is "just a desire to serve," said Congressman Renan Ineztroza, who manages Helping Hand Up. The average price for a funeral in Honduras is $1,000, with coffins at about $125.

But Melisa Elvir of Democracy Without Borders, a Honduran transparency foundation, said there's a fine line between good works and vote-buying, and in the case of the caskets, the line is too thin.

"The congressmen are running for re-election," she said. "When delivering the goods, they name the politicians who are responsible for the delivery. The charge could be made that they are funds for favors, with the objective of winning votes."

On a recent Friday at the gate of the Tegucigalpa Judicial Morgue, Luis Membreno was oblivious to the coffin politics as he wept over the death of his older brother, 19-year-old Marvin, shot three times in the head earlier that day. Luis did not have the money to bury his sibling, but People's Mortuary did.

The charity's Carla Majano offered a free coffin ? the charity's 701st giveaway of the year. She regularly works neighborhoods and morgues to find relatives who need the People's Mortuary's help. The Membreno family qualified.

"This is a humble family that lives on the bottles they collect in the streets," she said. "They don't even have a sheet to wrap the body."

Nilvia Castillo, People's Mortuary manager, said that in its first year, the charity gave away 374 coffins, and now gives double that number for a total of 5,000 in six years.

The program, according to Castillo, "is part of the political campaign" of Tegucigalpa Mayor Ricardo Alvarez to help the city's poorest neighborhoods. Alvarez, who founded the charity and is a presidential hopeful for 2013, secured $230,000 in government funding for the program this year.

Alvarez did not respond to requests for comment about the charity.

Honduras is considered the world's most dangerous country, with 91 murders per 100,000 people, according to the United Nations and the Organization of American States ? 20 times the homicide rate in the U.S. The violence permeates all facets of life, leading pedestrians to shun city streets. The poor stick close to home in neighborhoods ruled by Maras gangs, while the wealthier congregate in American-style, indoor shopping malls with heavily armed guards at the door. At night, motorists typically drive through traffic lights to avoid assaults.

Despite the precautions, thousands of people are murdered every year, creating an outsized demand for coffins and new opportunities to serve the poor.

Neither the political ties to the charities nor their government funding violate the law. Under the constitution, the Honduran congress may approve spending by other agencies but not spend money itself. In the case of Helping Hand Up, representatives created a social fund, which the congressional chief, Hernandez, distributes. He apportioned $127,000 to the charity last year.

Congressman Ineztroza, the manager, said that without the charities, yet more families would see their loved ones disappear into mass graves.

"Now it's easy for them to get the money," he said, "thanks to Juan Orlando Hernandez."

Funeral home directors complain that the free coffins may be good politics, but they're bad for business.

Jose Gutierrez, who works at the Santa Rita Mortuary, said that the charities are politically motivated, looking for votes. "They only come around before elections and favor people who can vote and come recommended."

At times, the coffin charities compete among themselves. At the Judicial Morgue the morning Luis waited for his brother's coffin, the relatives of two other murder victims shot that day searched for caskets.

The family of 19-year-old Joseph Jamaco received a coffin from a third charity, run by Congressman Tito Asfura, who hopes to become Tegucigalpa's next mayor.

"Tito Asfura does it better. He doesn't ask questions or ask for documents. He even gives you the gas money and sometimes food," said Felipe Leon, who helped recover Jamaco's body.

Meanwhile, the People's Mortuary collected Marvin Membreno's body from the morgue and trucked it to a church in one of Tegucigalpa's most marginalized neighborhoods, where Marvin's mother could barely stand for her grief. Johnny Osorio expressed his condolences on behalf of People's Mortuary and arranged to take the casket to the cemetery the following day.

His job, he said, "is humanitarian work. It is painful, it requires great flexibility and respect. It is a ceaseless wake, bathed in tears."

As Jamaco and Membreno were buried, other bodies continued to pile up at the morgue, so many that Public Minister spokesman Marvin Duarte said 25 had to be buried in a mass grave.

"Maybe no one knew they had died, or maybe their families didn't have money," said spokesman Marvin Duarte. "It's the third time we've had to do that this month."

And it is getting worse, said the spokesman.

"We are not only saturated at the morgue, we are running out of space in the cemetery."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/free-coffins-political-swag-honduran-poor-185309831.html

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Chris Christie Can't Wait to Tell You How Excited He Is for the Debates

Chris Christie is bursting at the seams with excitement for Wednesday's big debate. That conventional 'manage your expectations' going into the debates wisdom? Not if Chris Christie has anything to say about it.?"This whole race is going to be turned upside down come Thursday morning,??Gov. Christie told Bob Schieffer on CBS's Face the Nation. Maybe he's had a preview of those we've heard so much about. He's excited for Romney to speak on a platform where his message won't be "filtered" or "spun" by the media. Schieffer asked Christie about any aspirations for the oval office he has for 2016, but Christie shot him down.?"Mitt Romney is going to win, so it?s a question I don?t have to address," he said.?

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John McCain knows all about managing debate expectations. He might even sleep through Wednesday's debates. It's not like anything happens anyway.?"Sometimes we expect a major breakthrough, but that doesn't happen very often," McCain told CNN's State of the Union host Candy Crowley. He also credited Romney's lagging behind in the polls to a "glimmer of hope" for the economy in the voters' eyes. "I think he's behind because Americans probably feel better than they did about jobs and the economy," he said.?

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Paul Ryan also worked to manage debate expectations on Fox News Sunday, though he missed one party message memo.?"Well, we're running against an incumbent president. We're running against an incumbent president with incredible resources. But more importantly, I don't think one event is going to make or break this campaign," Ryan said. "Look, President Obama is a very -- he's a very gifted speaker. The man's been on the national stage for many years, he's an experienced debater, he's done these kinds of debates before. This is Mitt's first time on this kind of a stage." (Maybe he missed the nationally televised Republican primary debates, who knows.) But when it came time to talk about media coverage, Ryan slipped away from the party line. The directive has been to not complain about media coverage. Ryan didn't bother to read that memo, apparently. "It goes without saying that there is definitely media bias," Ryan said.?"I think most people in the mainstream media are left of center and, therefore, they want a very left-of-center president versus a conservative president like Mitt Romney."

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Chris Christie, for one, doesn't like whiners. Whining is a sign of losing, he said on an appearance on ABC's This Week with George Stephanopolous. "I?m not going to sit here and complain about coverage of the campaign," Christie said. "As a candidate, if you do that, you?re losing." Christie also expanded on why he thinks Wednesday night will be so big for the Romney ticket. "But what I will tell you that this is the first moment when the American people are going to see these two guys side by side laying out their vision unfiltered. I think that?s going to be a powerful moment for Mitt Romney," Christie explained.?

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Missouri Sen. Roy Blunt is riding shotgun on the 'rehabilitate Todd Akin' bandwagon. Akin's been behind on polls and receiving next to no funding since his comments about "legitimate rape." ?Blunt appeared on CNN's State of the Union to offer his thoughts on Akin's chances against Claire McCaskill. "Todd may well yet win," Blunt said on Sunday. He advised making the race about more national issues instead of about past mistakes. "We need to make the race a discussion of those issues rather than the ones Todd raised," Blunt said.

Paul Ryan said he's not getting himself caught up in his boss's big week when he knows he's got a worthy opponent ahead of him in Joe Biden. He knows he has prepared to go against a wily debate veteran like the Vice Presdient. Biden is someone?"you're not going to rattle," Ryan said on Fox News Sunday.?"He's fast on the cuff," Ryan said. "He's a witty guy. He knows who he is and he's been doing this for 40 years. So you're not going to rattle Joe Biden. Joe Biden?s been on the national stage, he ran for president twice, he's a sitting vice president." Ryan credited his Biden stand-in,?former Solicitor General Ted Olson, for getting him prepared for his time to shine.?"I hope Joe Biden shows up more than Ted Olson, because I tell you, this is one of the best litigators in America," Ryan said. "But what Ted has done is he has studied Joe Biden's tapes, Joe Biden's record, Joe Biden's, you know, style. And Ted, as you know, is one of the best litigators in America, he's pretty good at adapting to that."

Obama's senior advisor David Plouffe certainly isn't taking Mitt Romney's debate lightly. Romney is more prepared than any candidate, ever, according to Plouffe.?"He?s prepared more than any candidate I think maybe in history, certainly in recent memory. So we believe Gov. Romney. He?s been a good debater in the past. He?s very prepared. He?s got all these clever zingers and lines in his pocket, so we understand he?ll probably have a good night on Wednesday night," Plouffe said on ABC's This Week.

Chris Christie actually pulled triple duty this week. He appeared on Face the Nation, This Week, and NBC's Meet the Press to say the same thing. He's really, really excited about Wednesday's debate. He told David Gregory "the entire narrative" would change Thursday morning. He accused Obama of trying to "run out the clock with platitudes that sound nice." (Maybe he didn't see the ' ' commercial.) Chris Christie is fired up, you guys. Let's hope he can get some sleep before the big night.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chris-christie-cant-wait-tell-excited-debates-184318668.html

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Grim milestone for US troop deaths in Afghanistan

In light of recent attacks, troops are told to "build trust, but make sure you have a bodyguard present." NBC's Richard Engel reports.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Updated at 2:01 p.m. ET: An apparent insider attack by Afghan forces has killed a U.S. service member and a contractor, officials said Sunday ? bringing the total number of U.S. troops killed inside Afghanistan to 2,000 according to some measures.

A U.S. official confirmed the latest death in the 11-year-old conflict on Sunday.

The American service member killed was a soldier. The American contractor was working as a trainer for either the Afghan army or police, according to NBC News.

The attack happened Saturday at a checkpoint on a highway in Wardak Province, a defense official said.?Two Afghan National Army soldiers approached the checkpoint and had a brief conversation with the troops there. One of the ANA soldiers then shot and killed the American service members and the contractor, officials told NBC News.

A brief firefight ensued, and left at least three Afghan Army soldiers dead - including the initial shooter, officials said.

The Afghan military claimed the Americans were killed by a mortar attack, but the American military insisted that is not true, that the Afghan soldier opened fire and they returned fire.

The U.S. toll in Afghanistan has climbed steadily in recent months with a spate of attacks by Afghan army and police against American and NATO troops, and questions about whether allied countries will achieve their aim of helping the Afghan government and its forces stand on their own after most foreign troops depart in little more than two years. The U.S. is preparing to withdraw most of its combat forces by the end of 2014.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that the latest death was the 2,000th member of the U.S. armed services killed inside Afghanistan since the U.S.-led invasion on Oct. 7, 2001. ?However, that AP figure did not include those who died after sustaining?injuries in Afghanistan or those killed in other countries as part of the same campaign against al-Qaida and the Taliban.

TODAY's Lester Holt heads down the road to Sangasar, the physical and spiritual heart of the Taliban. He speaks with American and Afghan soldiers along the way.

According to icasualties.org, an independent monitoring organization which uses the wider definition, the latest death brings the toll of U.S. service members to 2035.?At least a further 1,190 coalition troops have also died in the Afghanistan war, it says.

The Brookings Institution, a?Washington-based research center, said?40.2 percent of the deaths were caused by improvised explosive devices, with the majority of those after 2009 when President Barack Obama ordered a surge of 33,000 troops to combat heightened Taliban activity. According to the Washington-based research center, the second highest cause, 30.6 percent, was hostile fire.

Tracking civilian deaths is much more difficult. According to the U.N., 13,431 civilians were killed in the Afghan conflict between 2007, when the U.N. began keeping statistics, and the end of August. Going back to the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, most estimates put the number of Afghan deaths in the war at more than 20,000.

The 2001 invasion targeted al-Qaida and its Taliban allies after the Sept. 11 attacks, which claimed nearly 3,000 lives in the United States.

"The tally is modest by the standards of war historically, but every fatality is a tragedy and 11 years is too long," Michael O'Hanlon, a fellow at the Brookings, told the AP. "All that is internalized, however, in an American public that has been watching this campaign for a long time. More newsworthy right now are the insider attacks and the sense of hopelessness they convey to many. "

Attacks by Afghan soldiers or police ? or insurgents disguised in their uniforms ? have killed 52 American and other NATO troops so far this year.

The so-called insider attacks are considered one of the most serious threats to the U.S. exit strategy from the country. In its latest incarnation, that strategy has focused on training Afghan forces to take over security nationwide ? allowing most foreign troops to go home by the end of 2014.

As American troops draw out of Afghanistan, officials say the removal plan is on track but that time is precious and the Taliban threat is worrisome. NBC's Lester Holt reports.

Although Obama has pledged that most U.S. combat troops will leave by the end of 2014, American, NATO and allied troops are still dying in Afghanistan at a rate of one a day.

Even with 33,000 American troops back home, the U.S.-led coalition will still have 108,000 troops ? including 68,000 from the U.S. ? fighting in Afghanistan at the end of this year. Many of those will be training the Afghan National Security Forces that are to replace them.

"There is a challenge for the administration," O'Hanlon said, "to remind people in the face of such bad news why this campaign requires more perseverance."

The Associated Press and?NBC News' Courtney Kube and Atia Abawi, in Kabul, contributed to this report.

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Source: http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/30/14156823-afghan-insider-attack-marks-grim-milestone-for-us-troop-deaths?lite

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Dodgers win, still clinging to playoff hopes

Associated Press Sports

updated 12:12 a.m. ET Sept. 30, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles Dodgers' faint playoff hopes are still flickering, and Matt Kemp does not want to see them extinguished if he can help it.

Kemp homered twice, Joe Blanton pitched shutout ball into the seventh inning, and the desperate Dodgers climbed within two games of the second NL wild-card spot with a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.

Los Angeles' fourth straight victory, coupled with St. Louis' 10-inning loss to Washington, gave the Dodgers a much-needed boost with four games left. After this weekend, they finish up with a three-game series against NL West champion San Francisco. The defending World Series champion Cardinals close out the regular season with a three-game set at home against Central champion Cincinnati.

"Right now we have to find a way to sneak into those playoffs," Kemp said. "We're both going to be playing good teams next week, so it's going to come down to the end. We've just got to keep going out there and playing hard and see where we end up."

The loss was the Rockies' 96th, breaking the franchise record set in their inaugural 1993 season and equaled in 2005. Blanton (10-13) scattered seven hits over six-plus innings, struck out six and walked none. The Rockies got only one runner as far as third base against the right-hander, who has only two victories in 10 starts with the Dodgers since he was acquired from Philadelphia on Aug. 3 - including a 10-8 win over the Rockies on Aug. 29 at Coors Field.

"You hope when you're traded, you're put in a position to pitch in the playoffs or do all you can to get in the playoffs," Blanton said. "You just hope you get those opportunities. You never know in this game what's going to happen. Last year was a prime example of that. So as long as there's games left and you're still in it, anything could happen. That's the way you've got to treat it and try to win every game."

Ronald Belisario and Kenley Jansen each pitched a perfect inning and Brandon League did likewise in the ninth for his 15th save in 21 chances with the Dodgers and Seattle Mariners. He has converted all six opportunities with Los Angeles.

Tyler Chatwood (5-6) threw 74 pitches over four innings, allowing two runs and five hits. The 22-year-old right-hander, who began his big league career down the freeway with the Angels last season, was 4-5 with a 4.88 ERA in his 12 starts with the Rockies this season, including an 8-4 home win over the Dodgers on Aug. 28.

Kemp led off the fourth with a drive into the left field pavilion that traveled an estimated 461 feet. Hanley Ramirez singled one out later, stole second and scored on a two-out single by A.J. Ellis - his fifth consecutive game with at least one RBI after going 15 games and 44 at-bats without one.

Kemp added his 22nd homer in the eighth, an opposite-field drive to right against Josh Roenicke. It was his fifth career multihomer game and second this season, the other coming on April 14 against San Diego at Dodger Stadium.

"I'm just seeing the ball and hitting the ball, putting some good wood on mistake pitches and driving the ball. That's what I'm used to doing and what I'm capable of doing," Kemp said. "As long as I can get strikes to hit, I can be a pretty good hitter. It felt good to hit balls that hard. Hopefully I can do it the next four days."

Kemp is batting .229 with five homers and 13 RBIs in 23 games since hurting his left shoulder crashing into the center field fence at Coors Field in consecutive games last month while trying to catch triples by Josh Rutledge and Tyler Colvin.

"I feel like any other player would feel in the month of September," Kemp said. "Everybody's banged up at this time of the year, so you can't make excuses."

Colorado manager Jim Tracy, using a patchwork lineup because of injuries to Colvin, Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki, Carlos Gonzalez, Jason Giambi, Dexter Fowler, Michael Cuddyer and Eric Young Jr., had little to choose from on the bench to pinch-hit for Chatwood in the fifth with runners at the corners, two out and the Rockies trailing 2-0. So Chatwood batted for himself and grounded into a fielder's choice before Josh Outman replaced him on the mound in the bottom half.

"That's where we're at right now," first baseman Jordan Pacheco said. "We're not really in a position to do anything, so we're not going to hurt anybody anymore. It stinks when you're in that position with a chance to do something, and we haven't had many situations like that - especially in this series. So all you can do is roll with the punches."

NOTES: LHP Clayton Kershaw, the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner, has a league-best 2.58 ERA with one start remaining. If he stays on top, he would become the first Dodgers pitcher with back-to-back ERA titles since Sandy Koufax's career-ending five-year run from 1962-66. ... The Rockies have lost eight straight on the road and 13 of their last 14 away from Coors Field. ... Blanton was 1-4 with a 5.46 ERA in his previous 10 home starts with the Dodgers and Phillies. ... Dodgers RHP Josh Beckett, who beat the Rockies in Game 1 of the 2007 World Series while pitching for Boston, starts Sunday's series finale against LHP Jorge De La Rosa.

? 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/49228015/ns/sports-baseball/

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Bill and Giuliana Rancic Will Show Their Baby's Birth | Famecrawler

Bill and Giuliana Rancic.

Proud new parents are often eager to share everything with the world, from the official birth announcement to the video of baby?s first steps.

So it is with Giuliana and Bill Rancic. Ever since the birth of their son, Edward Duke, they?ve been sharing photos and talking to interviewers about the sheer joy of being parents after so many long and frustrating years.

Now they?re taking the sharing a step further. Giuliana tells the Chicago Sun-Times Sunday magazine Splash that they?ll be airing their home footage of Duke?s birth on the upcoming season of their reality show, Giuliana & Bill.

The couple had previously decided that they wanted the birth to stay personal. They told the Style Network not to send their cameras into the Denver delivery room when their gestational surrogate, Delphine, went into labor. But Giuliana and Bill did bring their own video camera to capture the miraculous moment.

And now that a month has passed, they?ve reconsidered their decision.

?This is our sixth season and people have followed our story for years,? Giuliana tells the magazine.

?To have people praying for you and supporting you and wanting the best for you and wanting you to have this baby so badly, and then to say, ?Thanks for all your prayers, thanks for your support, we?re not showing the baby.? That?s wrong.? So they gave their own footage to the producers.

But there?s lots more for Giuliana & Bill fans to see before the birth episode airs. The new season, which starts Tuesday, will also feature Giuliana?s baby shower, her coverage of the Olympics in London, the couple?s search for a larger house and their hunt for just the right nanny for little Duke.

The Rancic family has been spending time in Chicago while Bill supervises the opening of his new restaurant. Soon, they?ll be packing up again and traveling back to Los Angeles to settle into their new home.

What do you think? Are you glad Giuliana and Bill are sharing the birth video?

[Photo: via PacificCoastNews]

More from Shana:

Drop Dead Gorgeous! Amy Adams Goes Shopping With Her Family

Jessica Alba and Family Have Lunch in L.A.

Family Day! Heidi Klum and Her Boyfriend Go to the Park With Her Kids

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Source: http://blogs.babble.com/famecrawler/2012/09/30/giuliana-rancic-baby-dukes-birth-will-be-televised/

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Technology designed for use by astronauts works to save trapped miners

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2012) ? A technology designed for use by astronauts in the hazardous environment of space has found a lifesaving use in another dangerous occupation, but this time on Earth, or rather under it: coal mining.

Paragon Space Development Corp. of Tucson, Ariz., is providing the air revitalization system it matured under a NASA Space Act Agreement to Mine Shield LLC of Lancaster, Ky., for use in its underground miner refuge chambers. These air-tight metal chambers are used by miners as lifesaving havens when trapped underground, providing air, water and food until rescued.

"This is a great example of NASA investment fostering entrepreneurial activity in other markets," said Phil McAlister, director of NASA's Commercial Spaceflight Development in Washington, D.C. "The technology was developed as part of an effort to stimulate the private sector to develop commercial space transportation concepts and enable capabilities for future commercial support of human spaceflight with U.S. taxpayer dollars and Paragon's private investment. The company then found another market for it, leading to the development of a new commercial product and service, which will help save the lives of American miners."

In 2010, NASA began to invest in the commercial sector's capability to support transport of crew to and from low Earth orbit. During this initiative through a Space Act Agreement, NASA invested approximately $1.5 million of American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 economic stimulus funds in Paragon to mature its air purifying system.

Astronaut survival in space depends on a continuous source of breathable air. Paragon improved its design, manufactured and tested an engineering development unit that controls carbon dioxide, humidity, trace contaminants, airborne particulates, air circulation and cooling. Key elements of this technology could play an important role in the life support systems for future deep space exploration missions.

"Our air revitalization system recycles the air by using a series of scrubbers, filters and catalysts that purify the air over and over again," said Taber MacCallum, chief executive officer of Paragon. "The fact that this system, which was developed for human space exploration, has other important applications here on Earth shows how NASA and space exploration energizes American innovation."

Paragon was approached by the U.S. Department of Labor's Mine Safety and Health Administration to see if the NASA-developed technology could be used to improve the safety and effectiveness of mine refuge chambers.

For more information about crewed commercial space transportation, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

For more information about Paragon Space Development Corp., visit: http://www.paragonsdc.com/

For more information about Mine Shield LLC, visit: http://www.mineshieldky.com/

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/space_time/astronomy/~3/uxeEcnf1KQY/120928093237.htm

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Are You Losing Ground In Affiliate Marketing? Make It Up With ...

Online marketing is helpful for companies in the promotion of services and products, and is used instead of, or in addition to, traditional marketing methods, such as television and print media. The tips presented below can be a big help if you?d like to make use of Internet marketing in your own business.

Put some banners on your header, make sure they do not look like a banner. Use banners that are links to click on to get to more content. Most people will not click banners when they see them, so this will entice them to.

You need to have good leads to get good sales. Real-time leads will unify both you and a potential customer during the moment in which this person is looking for product information. Contacting your customer as they express their need for your product gives you the best chance of selling them your product.

TIP! Make a plan for how you will market your webpage and the strategies you will use. A good way to advertise your page is to give something away, tell people about it in blogs, or put ads out at businesses.

Include your signature in all of your emails, regardless if they are business-related or not. It can also act as a ?cyber business card? of sorts. This is a great way to connect with people and seem more accessible, which will in turn boost revenue and traffic to your site.

Use popular websites to advertise your company online. Having your brand recognized can be a powerful way to increase your business success. If your page has traffic all day, the presence of your ad will be implanted in a customer?s mind.

There has to be something on your site that visitors can?t find anywhere else. Doing so will likely increase the traffic of people interested in the product. Once they have been driven to your site, they are more likely to browse around, improving your search result rank.

TIP! Services that provide email marketing are easily available and can assist you with internet marketing, but it?s always a good idea to try to learn the process yourself. It is simple to use auto responders, send bulk emails and build contact lists once your know what you?re doing.

Always stay on top of what your internet promotion competition is doing. It doesn?t matter what market you have, there is always competition.

Money is required to buy a quality domain. Chances are, you are not going to find a domain name that is the exact name of your company. You can get any domain name you want if you have over a thousand dollars to spend. You should definitely weigh the pros and cons of this investment.

If you are already using internet promotion, you know which of your products are top sellers. Next, try using these products to think of new products that might generate a similar profit. Advertising accessories for these popular items will likely further your sales. These products are virtually guaranteed to be profitable, and advertise themselves through the main product.

TIP! Make use of good quality graphics that showcase what you are selling on your website. Potential buyers will appreciate the fact that they can clearly see the products you are selling.

Check frequently for outdated information on your website. Old material is of little use in these fast paced times. So, new content is king to both casual visitors to your site and to the search engine algorithms, which determine your ranking in the listings. When readers encounter a well-maintained site with pertinent and current information, they find it encouraging.

You should take the time to look at how others respond to your content, promotions, and even your business as a whole. If you establish an event, promotion, or ambition online, look to how your visitors react on blogs and forums. Choose to incorporate future customers? advice when applicable and make people feel like their opinions are important and considered.

It can be easy to overspend on advertising. It is not wise to pay for a service that is not going to even help out your business. Consider spending money on banner and other forms of advertisement if you believe you will benefit from this investment.

TIP! Allow customers to rate and review your products, but be sure to screen those reviews for spam. Once a buyer has given feedback that illustrates the strong points and weaknesses of a product, other potential customers can make a more-informed purchasing decision.

Be sure to have customer reviews and testimonials included on your site. Oftentimes, people are interested in see what others buyers have to say about the product and enjoy seeing the experience others had. Comments from other consumers can make them feel comfortable with both your company and their purchase.

User reviews is one of the best marketing strategies to employ. Customer?s post their real experiences with your product and these can make new sales, at the same time they are increasing your presence on the Internet with more content.

Consider marketing your website as a forum or social gathering spot instead of just another business website. This should increase the traffic to your site as people are able to communicate with one another. That also allows your site to stay in the forefront of their minds. Give people graphics they can use on their websites to advertise their memberships; it?s free advertising.

TIP! Although you should feature current headlines, try to make yours stand out from the rest. You should make them engaging and interesting for people to appreciate.

Orders should include incentives for a limited time. You may offer free shipping to a limited number of shoppers, for instance, or you may give away gift-wrapping to those who make orders prior to a given date. Make sure that you highlight the end date of the offer to create a feeling of urgency.

As you can see, Web marketing has become an essential for any successful business. Web marketing can be an amazing promotional vehicle that is just as strong, or in some ways stronger, than more traditional advertising methods. You can see the benefits for yourself if you take a few of this articles suggestions and try them out with your business

TIP! Change your headlines and add relevant content often. Keep a record of how those changes affect the traffic generated on your site.

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Egypt tourism takes a hit from prophet protests

CAIRO (AP) ? One of the world's largest cruise ships, its foreign passengers primed for onshore spending, was supposed to dock in Egypt this month. The port call, however, was scrapped because of security concerns surrounding Mideast protests against a film made in the U.S. that denounces Islam's holiest figure.

Once again, Egyptian tourism, an engine of the national economy and a flagship of the regional industry, has taken a hit. It was another setback for a business that had plummeted in parts of the Middle East and North Africa last year during the uprisings known as the Arab Spring, then moved toward recovery this year.

"Small things become like mountains," Essam Zeid, an Egyptian tour guide, said of the fallout from unrest in Egypt since authoritarian President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in February 2011. But he also offered a (somewhat) positive metaphor: "We always say that Egypt gets sick but never dies. Recovery is always an option."

Egypt and other Arab nations undergoing turmoil rely heavily on the labor-intensive trade and see it as a priority key to economic growth and social stability.

Travel and tourism directly contribute a big chunk of gross domestic product to some of the countries that suffered economic fallout from last year's tumult, which came not long after the global financial crisis. Egypt, for example, generals 6.7 percent of GDP from tourism and Tunisia is around the same level with 6.6 percent, according to the London-based World Tourism and Travel Council. It is among industry groups that will assess the impact from the latest upheaval, though it is too early for a comprehensive estimate of losses.

In the multi-layered Middle East, a setback for tourism in one area can mean a windfall in another. During the Arab Spring, tourists, many of them Arabs, turned away from countries in crisis and traveled to more stable places like Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, said Sana Toukan, Middle East research manager for Euromonitor International, a market research group. The UAE also drew more Chinese visitors, according to Toukan.

The latest downturn followed demonstrations in Egypt against an online film that was produced by a U.S. citizen originally from Egypt and denigrates the Prophet Muhammad. They were part of a wider explosion of anger in Muslim countries. The unrest hit near the U.S. Embassy, far from the pyramids of Giza on Cairo's outskirts, and even farther from gated Red Sea resorts, cocoons for the beach-bound vacationer.

Yet the online or TV images of flames, barricades and whooping demonstrators were a killjoy for anyone planning a getaway, even though the protests have now largely subsided. Tour guides in Egypt say tourist bookings are mostly holding, but they worry about a drop-off early next year as people tend to plan several months ahead.

Tharwat Agami, head of the chamber of tourist agencies in Luxor, home to the Valley of the Kings tombs in southern Egypt, reported up to one-quarter of tourist cancellations through October. His own company guided 17 American tourists last week, half of the group's expected number.

Royal Caribbean International took no chances. One of its vessels, Mariner of the Seas, can carry more than 3,000 passengers. It left Italy, on Sept. 15 ? with regional tension still boiling over the film ? and was to call at Alexandria on the northern Egypt Mediterranean coast three days later.

The company canceled the layover "in an abundance of caution," said Cynthia Martinez, director of global corporate communications at Miami-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.

"Royal Caribbean International continues to closely monitor the situation in Egypt," Martinez wrote in an email Tuesday to The Associated Press. "At this time, Royal Caribbean has not changed the itinerary of any upcoming sailing that includes a port call to Egypt."

Cruise ships also stayed away during the turmoil that led to Mubarak's downfall. Usually, passengers board buses for a day's outing to Cairo, where the pyramids, the medieval citadel, the mummies of the Egyptian Museum and other treasures await. It's a windfall for guides, ticket vendors and souvenir shops.

Egyptian tourism revenues fell 30 percent to $9 billion in 2011, but the industry proved as resilient as it is vulnerable. It survived the killing of 62 people, mostly foreign tourists, by Islamic militants in a 1997 attack at Luxor that seemed aimed at weakening the government by stopping the flow of tourism revenue. The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by al-Qaida pummeled tourism, as did 2005 bombings in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh.

Fueled partly by oil income, Mideast tourism is more diverse and reliant on regional customers. Expatriates and tourists splurge in the glitzy city-state of Dubai in the Persian Gulf; religious tourism is big at Islamic sites in Saudi Arabia; Oman and Jordan are angling for a piece of the medical tourism market. The popular uprisings did not affect Turkey but diverted tourist traffic to the country, now rated sixth in the world in international tourist arrivals.

Tourism prospects are a moot point in Syria, which is embroiled in a civil war, and in still-chaotic Libya, where militias roam. The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed on Sept. 11 in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi in an attack on the American consulate there.

In Tunisia, violence and looting around the U.S. Embassy during a protest against the anti-Islam film did no favors for a tourism campaign that had been titled, "All Dreams are Possible."

"It's not one picture when you look at the Middle East," said Sandra Carvao, Madrid-based communications coordinator at the World Tourism Organization, a U.N. agency. "It's a region that has suffered and has proven to bounce back in the past."

Indeed, the agency had deemed the Middle East to be the fastest growing tourism market in the world over the past decade, despite the Iraq war, the 2006 conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah and other violence. While some Gulf airlines have gone bankrupt, Carvao compared the expansion of Emirates and Etihad Airways to the rate of growth of Asia's aviation leaders.

Amid upheaval and political transition in 2011, according to the agency, international tourist arrivals in the Middle East dropped seven percent to 55.7 million, and in North Africa by nine percent to 17 million. So far this year, the numbers have climbed by nearly one percent and 10.5 percent, respectively.

Gladys Haddad, a tour guide in Cairo, said she was pleased that Egypt's new president, Mohammed Morsi, appealed to Italians to visit Egypt when he was in Rome at the height of tension over the anti-Islam film. She said early concerns that Egypt's Islamist-dominated government might scare off tourists by banning alcohol or mixed beaches have waned, at least for now.

"I don't think they're going to have like a magic stick to do things right away" to improve tourism, Zeid, the guide who is quick with a metaphor, said of Egypt's fledgling government. "We can't really evaluate their work right now. They have lots of other issues on their agenda."

One thing in their favor, immeasurably, is what lies in Egyptian sands. In its bid to revive tourism, the government this month reopened the Serapeum of Saqqara, a subterranean necropolis where bulls were believed to have been buried in giant sarcophagi. The site was closed for a decade for renovation.

One tourist who marveled at Egypt's heritage was Herodotus, the ancient Greek who wrote about Egyptian beliefs and customs, based on what he said he had observed.

According to a 19th century translation by a British scholar, he wrote: "Concerning Egypt itself, I shall extend my remarks to a great length, because there is no country that possesses so many wonders, nor any that has such a number of works which defy description."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-09-28-Prophet%20Film-Egypt%20Tourism/id-5aa63f910c4143879ca519b698c58e28

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Russian metals moguls settle RUSAL stake spat

LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian billionaires Oleg Deripaska and Michael Cherney reached an 11th-hour settlement in a dispute over a billion dollar slice of aluminium giant RUSAL, shortly before they were due to give evidence in a drawn-out London court case.

The case, which had been expected to run well into 2013, was due to dwell on allegations of broken promises, criminality and mob rule while shining a light on the murky carve-up of lucrative smelters in the 'wild east' of post-Soviet Siberia.

"Mr. Deripaska announces that Mr. Cherney's litigation in London against him has been terminated," a spokesperson for Deripaska said in a brief statement. "Neither party will be making any further comment in relation to the litigation or matters raised therein."

Cherney's team released a nearly identical statement.

Cherney, born in Ukraine, raised in Uzbekistan, Jewish by creed and living in Israel since leaving Russia in 1994, alleged that metals mogul Deripaska reneged on a deal to buy him out of their joint aluminium business, RUSAL.

Well-connected Deripaska, who controls RUSAL and is a survivor of President Vladimir Putin's crackdown on oligarchs who once wielded great political power, denied having had any such business relationship with Cherney. He alleged he was the victim of a protection racket Cherney helped orchestrate - an accusation Cherney denied.

Cherney, who in 2008 won the right to bring his case against Deripaska in London's respected courts - the venue of choice for the warring Russian wealthy - was due to be cross-examined next Tuesday via video-link from Israel. An outstanding arrest warrant relating to a separate money laundering investigation prevents him from travelling to London.

Lawyers were intrigued at the last-minute deal.

"The experience in most of these cases is that they do go to trial because no one is willing to back down," said Philippa Charles, a litigation partner at law firm Mayer Brown.

"So it's interesting that the level of publicity has perhaps focused the minds of both parties on whether or not it is actually worth having their dirty linen washed in public."

THE POWER OF METAL

The Russian aluminium industry, like much of Russia's raw materials sector, came under the control of a few powerful oligarchs during the huge selloff of state assets that followed the collapse of communism and of the Soviet Union in 1991. The brutality of the business rivalry over aluminium smelters gave birth to the term 'aluminium wars'.

Cherney's case against Deripaska had overtones of a recent battle between Russian oligarchs Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich, which in August helped ensure the concept of "krysha", or roof, is well understood in the English courts.

A "krysha", in Russian gangster parlance, can be either a figure who genuinely protects, in return for payment, the interests of a business in a sometimes brutal business world or it can refer to a racketeer extorting money by intimidation. The boundary between the two can, of course, be blurred.

The case, which began in July when both sides published opening statements and lawyers laid out the details of their arguments in front of Judge Andrew Smith, hinged in part on what was agreed in a London hotel 11 year ago.

Cherney and Deripaska agreed they met at the Lanesborough Hotel on a March morning in 2001, that they signed one document and that Deripaska handed Cherney $250 million (154.1 million pounds). Everything else, even exactly when they first met each other, was disputed.

Deripaska says he made the payment to terminate a krysha arrangement with Cherney, partly because his business was now powerful enough, and his security forces strong enough, to confront criminal gangs.

Cherney says he had orally agreed a 50/50 partnership with Deripaska in 1993, which lasted until March 2001. He alleges Deripaska then agreed at the Lanesborough meeting to pay him a preliminary $250 million for his aluminium interests held by Deripaska - and also agreed to buy him out of the remainder of his stake within a few years.

MOB RULE

RUSAL, the product of a slew of takeovers and mergers mainly in Siberia, where the hydro-electric power needed to fuel hungry smelters comes cheap, has emerged as Russia's only aluminium producer. Cherney alleged a 13.2 percent stake belongs to him.

Deripaska, a former physics student who started investing in aluminium assets in 1991 who has entertained top British politicians on his 70 million pound ($114 million) yacht, says he was forced into a "krysha" after being threatened by some of the country's most powerful criminal gangs in the mid-1990s.

Stories abound about such "protection" mobs attacking the wives and relatives of those who failed to do their bidding, launching fictitious criminal proceedings, violent takeovers of businesses or simply liquidating rivals and critics.

One gang at the centre of the court case was the feared Ismailovskaya mob, alleged to have been run by Anton Malevsky, a man Deripaska says was used by Cherney to extort money before the Afghan war veteran died in a parachuting accident in 2001.

Cherney, who has never been convicted of a crime, dismissed the claims against him as "scandalous".

Deripaska also faced allegations at proceedings in Israel, the United States and Russia that he was involved in bribery, threats and even murder as he built his fortune. In separate proceedings, Germany's Stuttgart Regional Court has also linked him to Ismailovskaya. He denied the accusations.

($1 = 0.6164 British pounds)

(Writing by Kirstin Ridley, Additional reporting by Clara Ferreira-Marques; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Mark Potter)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/russian-metals-moguls-clash-london-court-123011236--finance.html

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