Wall Street Week Ahead: Going off "cliff" with a bungee cord

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The 1987 crash. The Y2K bug. The debt ceiling debacle of 2011.


All these events, in the end, turned out to be buying opportunities for stocks. So will the "fiscal cliff," some investors say as they watch favorite stocks tumble during the political give-and-take happening in Washington.


The first round of talks aimed at avoiding the "fiscal cliff" caused a temporary rise in equities on Friday, signaling Wall Street's recent declines could be a buying opportunity. The gains were small and sentiment remains weak, but it suggests hope for market bulls.


Though shares ended moderately higher on Friday, it was not enough to offset losses for the week. The S&P was down 1.5 percent, while both the Dow and the Nasdaq fell 1.8 percent.


The S&P 500 is down more than 5 percent in the seven sessions that followed President Barack Obama's re-election. Uncertainty arose as attention turned to Washington's task of dealing with mandated tax hikes and spending cuts that could take the U.S. economy back into recession.


Some see the market's move as an overreaction to hyperbolic headlines about policy gridlock in Washington, believing stocks may start to rebound in what should be a quiet few days ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday.


"It just doesn't seem to make any sense that you suddenly wake up the day after the election and realize we've got a fiscal cliff," said Krishna Kumar, partner at New York hedge fund Goose Hollow Alpha Advisors.


Not long ago the S&P was on target for its second-best year in the last 10, riding a 17 percent advance in 2012. That's been halved to about 8 percent, which isn't bad but disappointing compared with just a month ago.


Investors have been selling the year's winners. Apple is down 25 percent from its peak above $700. General Electric is down 14 percent; Google has lost 16 percent. Overall, the stocks that make up the top 10 percent of performers in the month prior to Election Day have been the worst performers since, according to Bespoke Investment Group of Harrison, New York.


"I think it's a good opportunity to be long stocks at these levels," said Kumar.


Hikes on capital gains and dividend taxes are on the line, and Obama has dug in his heels on what he sees as a mandate to make the tax code more progressive.


He seems to have the upper hand in dealings with Congress because Republican lawmakers don't want to see tax rates increase, which is what will happen if no solution is found by the beginning of 2013. Republicans don't want to take the blame for driving the economy over the cliff.


The current crisis is similar to last year's fight to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which led to the downgrade of the United States' top credit rating in early August 2011.


During the dealings, the S&P 500 lost 18.8 percent between its peak in July 2011 and its bottom in August. As the market slid, the political standoff badly hurt investors' confidence in Washington, setting off a spike in volatility.


In the end a deal was announced that raised the ceiling and put off longer-term fiscal decisions until January 1, 2013, setting the stage for today's "fiscal cliff" crisis.


After staying flat through September 2011, the S&P 500 jumped 31 percent between its October low and the end of March.


BUY THE DIP?


Gridlock in Washington and all that could possibly go wrong with the economy if a deal is not reached have grabbed the headlines, but the negotiations leave room for stock market gains. Congressional leaders said Friday they will work through the Thanksgiving holiday recess to find a solution.


"The debate over how to solve (the fiscal cliff) may be more productive than is commonly recognized," said Brad Lipsig, senior portfolio manager at UBS Financial Services in New York.


"The U.S. is facing a major debt overhang, and serious steps toward addressing it might ultimately be viewed as a positive for future growth," he said. "The market may recognize this and, after a time of hand wringing, recover from the concerns with a renewed sense of optimism."


The recent selling took the S&P 500's relative strength index - a technical measure of internal strength - below 30 this week, indicating the benchmark is oversold and due for a rebound.


The RSI in four of the 10 S&P sectors - utilities, telecoms, consumer staples and technology - is below 30 and the highest RSI reading, for the consumer discretionary sector, is below 40, suggesting a bounce is in store.


"What I want to do is what we did during the decline following the budget negotiations in the summer of 2011: The lower the stock market goes, the more I want to own stock," said Brian Reynolds, chief market strategist at New York-based Rosenblatt Securities.


"If we go off the cliff it will be with a bungee cord attached," he said.


KEEP CALM AND HEDGE


Volatility is expected to rise through the end of November and to spike in late December if no agreement on the fiscal cliff is reached in Congress. Alongside comes opportunity for those with high risk tolerance.


"Recently, volatility has increased in the market overall. You can't really pick it up in the VIX yet, but I think as we get through November, I think you're likely to see the VIX be at a relatively higher level," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston.


In 2011, the VIX averaged 19.2 in July and 35 in August. So far this month the average is 17.8 and it is expected to spike if negotiations on the cliff drag into late next month.


"Looking at the range of possibilities, I would say any of them would be better than sitting here waiting. I would even put going off the fiscal cliff in that category," said Jill Cuniff, president of Seattle-based Edge Asset Management Inc, which manages about $20 billion.


"But we don't believe Congress will let that happen; there's going to be some middle ground here."


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos and Jonathan Spincer, additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)


Read More..

Israel, Gaza fighting rages on as Egypt seeks truce

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli warplanes struck Gaza militants for a fifth straight day on Sunday and its military prepared for a possible ground invasion, though Egypt saw "some indications" of a truce ahead.


Forty-seven Palestinians, about half of them civilians, including 12 children, have been killed in Israel's raids, Palestinian officials said. More than 500 rockets fired from Gaza have hit Israel, killing three people and injuring dozens.


Israel unleashed its massive air campaign on Wednesday, killing a leading militant of the Hamas Islamist group that controls Gaza and rejects Israel's existence, with the declared goal of deterring gunmen in the coastal enclave from launching rockets that have plagued its southern communities for years.


The Jewish state has since launched more than 950 air strikes on the coastal Palestinian territory, targeting weaponry and flattening militant homes and headquarters.


The raids continued past midnight on Sunday. One targeted a building in Gaza City housing the offices of local Arab media, wounding three journalists from al Quds television, a station Israel sees as pro-Hamas, witnesses said.


Two other predawn attacks on houses in the Jebalya refugee camp killed one child and wounded 12 other people, medical officials said.


These attacks followed a defiant statement by Hamas military spokesman Abu Ubaida, who told a televised news conference.


"This round of confrontation will not be the last against the Zionist enemy and it is only the beginning."


The masked gunman dressed in military fatigues insisted that despite Israel's blows Hamas "is still strong enough to destroy the enemy."


An Israeli attack on Saturday destroyed the house of a Hamas commander near the Egyptian border.


Casualties there were averted however, because Israel had fired non-exploding missiles at the building beforehand from a drone, which the militant's family understood as a warning to flee, and thus their lives were spared, witnesses said.


Israeli aircraft also bombed Hamas government buildings in Gaza on Saturday, including the offices of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and a police headquarters.


Among those killed in air strikes on Gaza on Saturday were at least four suspected militants riding motorcycles, and several civilians including a 30-year-old woman.


ISRAELI SCHOOLS SHUT


Israel said it would keep schools in its southern region shut on Sunday as a precaution to avoid casualties from rocket strikes reaching as far as Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in the past few days.


Israel's "Iron Dome" missile interceptor system destroyed in mid-air a rocket fired by Gaza militants at Tel Aviv on Saturday, where volleyball games on the beach front came to an abrupt halt as air-raid sirens sounded.


Hamas' armed wing claimed responsibility for the attack on Tel Aviv, the third against the city since Wednesday. It said it had fired an Iranian-designed Fajr-5 at the coastal metropolis, some 70 km (43 miles) north of Gaza.


In the Israeli Mediterranean port of Ashdod, a rocket ripped into several balconies. Police said five people were hurt.


Israel's operation has drawn Western support for what U.S. and European leaders have called Israel's right to self-defense, but there was also a growing number of calls from world leaders to seek an end to the violence.


British Prime Minister David Cameron "expressed concern over the risk of the conflict escalating further and the danger of further civilian casualties on both sides," in a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a spokesperson for Cameron said.


The United Kingdom was "putting pressure on both sides to de-escalate," the spokesman said, adding that Cameron had urged Netanyahu "to do everything possible to bring the conflict to an end."


Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama, said the United States would like to see the conflict resolved through "de-escalation" and diplomacy, but also believes Israel has a right to self-defense.


Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi said in Cairo as his security deputies sought to broker a truce with Hamas leaders, that "there are some indications that there is a possibility of a ceasefire soon, but we do not yet have firm guarantees."


Egypt has mediated previous ceasefire deals between Israel and Hamas, the latest of which unraveled with recent violence.


A Palestinian official told Reuters the truce discussions would continue in Cairo on Sunday, saying "there is hope," but it was too early to say whether the efforts would succeed.


In Jerusalem, an Israeli official declined to comment on the negotiations. Military commanders said Israel was prepared to fight on to achieve a goal of halting rocket fire from Gaza, which has plagued Israeli towns since late 2000, when failed peace talks led to the outbreak of a Palestinian uprising.


Diplomats at the United Nations said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Israel and Egypt in the coming week to push for an end to the fighting.


POSSIBLE GROUND OFFENSIVE


Israel, though, with tanks and artillery positioned along the frontier, signaled it was still weighing a possible ground offensive into Gaza.


Israeli cabinet ministers decided on Friday to more than double the current reserve troop quota set for the Gaza offensive to 75,000 and around 16,000 reservists have already been called up.


Asked by reporters whether a ground operation was possible, Major-General Tal Russo, commander of the Israeli forces on the Gaza frontier, said: "Definitely."


"We have a plan. ... It will take time. We need to have patience. It won't be a day or two," he added.


Another senior commander briefing reporters on condition of anonymity said Israel had scored "good achievements" in striking at nearly 1,000 targets, with the aim of ridding Hamas of firepower imported from Libya, Sudan and Iran.


A possible move into the densely populated Gaza Strip and the risk of major casualties it brings would be a significant gamble for Netanyahu, favorite to win a January national election.


Hamas fighters are no match for the Israeli military. The last Gaza war, involving a three-week Israeli air blitz and ground invasion over the New Year's period of 2008-09, killed over 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis died in the conflict.


But the Gaza conflagration has stirred the pot of a Middle East already boiling from two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to spread beyond its borders.


One major change has been the election of an Islamist government in Cairo that is allied with Hamas, potentially narrowing Israel's maneuvering room in confronting the Palestinian group. Israel and Egypt made peace in 1979.


(Writing by Allyn Fisher-Ilan; Editing by Todd Eastham)


Read More..

Wii U Will Launch With 24 Games This Sunday
















Assassin’s Creed III


A version of the latest chapter in the Assassin’s Creed saga, a week after it was released on other console.


Click here to view this gallery.













[More from Mashable: Xbox Live Celebrates 10 Years of Connecting Gamers]


Nintendo’s newest console is out this Sunday, and there are already people lining up outside retailers to get one.


There are 24 games available for the Wii U at launch. Some are highly anticipated Nintendo staples, like New Super Mario Brothers U, and some are interesting and creative titles from third-party developers, like Scribblenauts Unlimited and ZombiU. Many games already out on other systems are being released for the Wii U as well, including Assassin’s Creed III and NBA 2K13; some of these games even have extra functionality that’s been added to take advantage of the Wii U GamePad.


[More from Mashable: Competitive Gaming Seeing TV-Levels of Viewership in 2012]


If you don’t see a game in the gallery above that you thought was coming to the Wii U, it’s because many announced games will be available in the “launch window”, a broad period from now until March. That’s when games like Pikmin 3 and LEGO City Undercover will come out.


If you haven’t preordered a Wii U from a large retailer, many places will still have them available at launch day. Expect long lines at larger retailers though.


Are you planning on purchasing a Wii U this weekend, and what games do you most want to buy? Let us know in the comments.


This story originally published on Mashable here.


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News



Read More..

Sarah Michelle Gellar Names Son Rocky




Celebrity Baby Blog





11/17/2012 at 07:00 PM ET



Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze, Jr. Welcome Son Rocky James
Claire Greenway/Getty


Update: The couple have named their son Rocky James Prinze, a source close to the family confirms to PEOPLE.


Originally posted Sept. 24: Hello, little Prinze.


Sarah Michelle Gellar ”had a baby boy last week in Los Angeles,” her rep tells PEOPLE.


She and husband Freddie Prinze, Jr. “are thrilled to announce” the news, the rep confirms to Access Hollywood, adding that ”mother and baby are doing great.”


The newborn joins the couple’s daughter Charlotte Grace at home.


Their 3-year-old, who was spotted out with a still-pregnant Gellar last Tuesday, “is very excited to be a big sister,” the rep adds.

“They are thrilled that Charlotte [has] a little brother,” a source close to the couple told PEOPLE in July.


“They love their little girl more than anything in the world and know that love will only multiply.”


Gellar, 35, and Prinze, 36, were married in September 2002.


– Sarah Michaud with reporting by Charlotte Triggs


Read More..

EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: Going off "cliff" with a bungee cord

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The 1987 crash. The Y2K bug. The debt ceiling debacle of 2011.


All these events, in the end, turned out to be buying opportunities for stocks. So will the "fiscal cliff," some investors say as they watch favorite stocks tumble during the political give-and-take happening in Washington.


The first round of talks aimed at avoiding the "fiscal cliff" caused a temporary rise in equities on Friday, signaling Wall Street's recent declines could be a buying opportunity. The gains were small and sentiment remains weak, but it suggests hope for market bulls.


Though shares ended moderately higher on Friday, it was not enough to offset losses for the week. The S&P was down 1.5 percent, while both the Dow and the Nasdaq fell 1.8 percent.


The S&P 500 is down more than 5 percent in the seven sessions that followed President Barack Obama's re-election. Uncertainty arose as attention turned to Washington's task of dealing with mandated tax hikes and spending cuts that could take the U.S. economy back into recession.


Some see the market's move as an overreaction to hyperbolic headlines about policy gridlock in Washington, believing stocks may start to rebound in what should be a quiet few days ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday next Thursday.


"It just doesn't seem to make any sense that you suddenly wake up the day after the election and realize we've got a fiscal cliff," said Krishna Kumar, partner at New York hedge fund Goose Hollow Alpha Advisors.


Not long ago the S&P was on target for its second-best year in the last 10, riding a 17 percent advance in 2012. That's been halved to about 8 percent, which isn't bad but disappointing compared with just a month ago.


Investors have been selling the year's winners. Apple is down 25 percent from its peak above $700. General Electric is down 14 percent; Google has lost 16 percent. Overall, the stocks that make up the top 10 percent of performers in the month prior to Election Day have been the worst performers since, according to Bespoke Investment Group of Harrison, New York.


"I think it's a good opportunity to be long stocks at these levels," said Kumar.


Hikes on capital gains and dividend taxes are on the line, and Obama has dug in his heels on what he sees as a mandate to make the tax code more progressive.


He seems to have the upper hand in dealings with Congress because Republican lawmakers don't want to see tax rates increase, which is what will happen if no solution is found by the beginning of 2013. Republicans don't want to take the blame for driving the economy over the cliff.


The current crisis is similar to last year's fight to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, which led to the downgrade of the United States' top credit rating in early August 2011.


During the dealings, the S&P 500 lost 18.8 percent between its peak in July 2011 and its bottom in August. As the market slid, the political standoff badly hurt investors' confidence in Washington, setting off a spike in volatility.


In the end a deal was announced that raised the ceiling and put off longer-term fiscal decisions until January 1, 2013, setting the stage for today's "fiscal cliff" crisis.


After staying flat through September 2011, the S&P 500 jumped 31 percent between its October low and the end of March.


BUY THE DIP?


Gridlock in Washington and all that could possibly go wrong with the economy if a deal is not reached have grabbed the headlines, but the negotiations leave room for stock market gains. Congressional leaders said Friday they will work through the Thanksgiving holiday recess to find a solution.


"The debate over how to solve (the fiscal cliff) may be more productive than is commonly recognized," said Brad Lipsig, senior portfolio manager at UBS Financial Services in New York.


"The U.S. is facing a major debt overhang, and serious steps toward addressing it might ultimately be viewed as a positive for future growth," he said. "The market may recognize this and, after a time of hand wringing, recover from the concerns with a renewed sense of optimism."


The recent selling took the S&P 500's relative strength index - a technical measure of internal strength - below 30 this week, indicating the benchmark is oversold and due for a rebound.


The RSI in four of the 10 S&P sectors - utilities, telecoms, consumer staples and technology - is below 30 and the highest RSI reading, for the consumer discretionary sector, is below 40, suggesting a bounce is in store.


"What I want to do is what we did during the decline following the budget negotiations in the summer of 2011: The lower the stock market goes, the more I want to own stock," said Brian Reynolds, chief market strategist at New York-based Rosenblatt Securities.


"If we go off the cliff it will be with a bungee cord attached," he said.


KEEP CALM AND HEDGE


Volatility is expected to rise through the end of November and to spike in late December if no agreement on the fiscal cliff is reached in Congress. Alongside comes opportunity for those with high risk tolerance.


"Recently, volatility has increased in the market overall. You can't really pick it up in the VIX yet, but I think as we get through November, I think you're likely to see the VIX be at a relatively higher level," said Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston.


In 2011, the VIX averaged 19.2 in July and 35 in August. So far this month the average is 17.8 and it is expected to spike if negotiations on the cliff drag into late next month.


"Looking at the range of possibilities, I would say any of them would be better than sitting here waiting. I would even put going off the fiscal cliff in that category," said Jill Cuniff, president of Seattle-based Edge Asset Management Inc, which manages about $20 billion.


"But we don't believe Congress will let that happen; there's going to be some middle ground here."


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos and Jonathan Spincer, additional reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Kenneth Barry)


Read More..

Israel authorizes more reservists after rockets target cities

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's cabinet authorized the mobilization of up to 75,000 reservists late on Friday, preparing the ground for a possible Gaza invasion after Palestinians fired a rocket toward Jerusalem for the first time in decades.


Tel Aviv, Israel's commercial centre, also came under rocket attack for the second straight day, in defiance of an Israeli air offensive that began on Wednesday with the declared aim of deterring Hamas from launching cross-border attacks that have plagued southern Israel for years.


Hamas, the Islamist group that runs the Gaza Strip, claimed responsibility for firing at Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Israel said the rocket launched toward Jerusalem landed in the occupied West Bank, and the one fired at Tel Aviv did not hit the city. There were no reports of casualties.


The siren that sounded in Jerusalem stunned many Israelis. The city, holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians, was last struck by a Palestinian rocket in 1970, and it was not a target when Saddam Hussein's Iraq fired missiles at Israel in the 1991 Gulf War.


Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a four-hour strategy session with a clutch of senior ministers in Tel Aviv on widening the military campaign, while other cabinet members were polled by telephone on raising the mobilization level.


Political sources said they decided to more than double the current reserve troop quota set for the Gaza offensive to 75,000. The move did not necessarily mean all would be called into service.


Hours earlier, Egypt's prime minister, denouncing what he described as Israeli aggression, visited Gaza and said Cairo was prepared to mediate a truce.


Officials in Gaza said 29 Palestinians - 13 militants and 16 civilians, among them eight children and a pregnant woman - had been killed in the enclave since Israel began its air strikes. Three Israeli civilians were killed by a rocket on Thursday.


The Israeli military said 97 rockets fired from Gaza hit Israel on Friday and 99 more were intercepted by its Iron Dome anti-missile system. Dozens of Israeli bombing raids rocked the enclave, and one flattened the Gaza Interior Ministry building.


In a further sign Netanyahu might be clearing the way for a ground operation, Israel's armed forces announced that a highway leading to the territory and two roads bordering the enclave of 1.7 million Palestinians would be off-limits to civilian traffic.


Tanks and self-propelled guns were seen near the border area on Friday, and the military said it had already called 16,000 reservists to active duty.


Netanyahu is favorite to win a January national election, but further rocket strikes against Tel Aviv, a free-wheeling city Israelis equate with New York, and Jerusalem, which Israel regards as its capital, could be political poison for the conservative leader.


"The Israel Defence Forces will continue to hit Hamas hard and are prepared to broaden the action inside Gaza," Netanyahu said before the rocket attacks on the two cities.


Asked about Israel massing forces for a possible Gaza invasion, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "The Israelis should be aware of the grave results of such a raid, and they should bring their body bags."


SOLIDARITY VISIT


A solidarity visit to Gaza by Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Kandil, whose Islamist government is allied with Hamas but also party to a 1979 peace treaty with Israel, had appeared to open a tiny window to emergency peace diplomacy.


Kandil said: "Egypt will spare no effort ... to stop the aggression and to achieve a truce."


But a three-hour truce that Israel declared for the duration of Kandil's visit never took hold.


Israel Radio's military affairs correspondent said the army's Homefront Command had told municipal officials to make civil defence preparations for the possibility that fighting could drag on for seven weeks. An Israeli military spokeswoman declined to comment on the report.


The Gaza conflagration has stoked the flames of a Middle East already ablaze with two years of Arab revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to leap across borders.


It is the biggest test yet for Egypt's new President Mohamed Mursi, a veteran Islamist politician from the Muslim Brotherhood who was elected this year after last year's protests ousted military autocrat Hosni Mubarak.


Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood are spiritual mentors of Hamas, yet Mursi has also pledged to respect Cairo's 1979 peace treaty with Israel, seen in the West as the cornerstone of regional security. Egypt and Israel both receive billions of dollars in U.S. military aid to underwrite their treaty.


Mursi has vocally denounced the Israeli military action while promoting Egypt as a mediator, a mission that his prime minister's visit was intended to further.


A Palestinian official close to Egypt's mediators told Reuters Kandil's visit "was the beginning of a process to explore the possibility of reaching a truce. It is early to speak of any details or of how things will evolve".


Hamas fighters are no match for the Israeli military. The last Gaza war, involving a three-week long Israeli air blitz and ground invasion over the New Year period of 2008-2009, killed more than 1,400 Palestinians, mostly civilians. Thirteen Israelis died.


Tunisia's foreign minister was due to visit Gaza on Saturday "to provide all political support for Gaza" the spokesman for the Tunisian president, Moncef Marzouki, said in a statement.


The United States asked countries that have contact with Hamas to urge the Islamist movement to stop its rocket attacks.


Hamas refuses to recognize Israel's right to exist. By contrast, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who rules in the nearby West Bank, does recognize Israel, but peace talks between the two sides have been frozen since 2010.


Abbas's supporters say they will push ahead with a plan to have Palestine declared an "observer state" rather than a mere "entity" at the United Nations later this month.


(Additional reporting by Maayan Lubell, Jeffrey Heller and Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Writing by Jeffrey Heller; Editing by Giles Elgood and Will Waterman)


Read More..

News Summary: UK court overturns Facebook demotion
















PUNISHED: Britain‘s High Court ruled Friday that a man had been unfairly stripped of a management position and demoted for saying in a Facebook post that he was opposed to gay marriage.


COURT RULING: The court said the Trafford Housing Trust breached Adrian Smith‘s contract and a judge added that Smith had not done anything wrong. Smith had written on Facebook that gay weddings in churches would be “an equality too far.”













EVOLVING LAW: In Britain, same-sex couples can form civil partnerships that carry the same legal rights marriages do. The government plans to introduce legislation allowing civil marriages as well.


Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News



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Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom Will Be Apart for Thanksgiving






The X Factor










11/16/2012 at 10:35 PM EST







Lamar Odom and Khloé Kardashian


Denise Truscello/Wireimage


As most Americans sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, he'll be on the court with the Los Angeles Clippers in New York and she'll be on the stage in Los Angeles.

But even if Khloé Kardashian, 28, and her basketball star husband Lamar Odom, 33, won't be together this year for the family holiday, they remain connected and supportive as both continue their busy careers.

"Honestly, I'm fine with it, because I'm obsessed with my husband – in a healthy way – but he's on the road. He has a game in Brooklyn, so I don't feel guilty, like, 'I'm not going to be able to cook for him!' " Kardashian told PEOPLE from the set of The X Factor on Thursday.

"So, he'll be on the road. He'll be working anyway. So, I feel better about that, and my sister Kim will be here. And I think my mom will come here that night, too. Thanksgiving at The X Factor!"

Wherever her husband may be, Kardashian says Odom lovingly takes time to watch her show, even if it's a replay on YouTube, where he often makes fun of her voice. Odom, she adds, has also given her other advice, chiding her for being a bit ... overexposed.

"The only tip he gave me was don't show your nipples anymore," Kardashian joked. He said, "Please do not have your [breasts] out." I said, 'Oh, good tip.' "

As she gets emotionally invested in the show's talented contestants and in watching their gut-wrenching departures, Kardashian says she is also trying to improve her own skills co-hosting the show with Mario Lopez. Her famous siblings have been supportive thus far, offering their own tips.

"I'm still learning. I'm still just trying to get better, and better every week," she said of her new role. "I like constructive criticism, but still it's only a one or two-hour show, and there's still so many people. I just don't have time to just talk, and be myself yet."

"And right now, it's so technical. I feel like, when more people go, there's going to be more time to fill. And I feel like that's where I can kind of do my thing."

Reporting by PATRICK GOMEZ

Read More..

EU drug regulator OKs Novartis' meningitis B shot

LONDON (AP) — Europe's top drug regulator has recommended approval for the first vaccine against meningitis B, made by Novartis AG.

There are five types of bacterial meningitis. While vaccines exist to protect against the other four, none has previously been licensed for type B meningitis. In Europe, type B is the most common, causing 3,000 to 5,000 cases every year.

Meningitis mainly affects infants and children. It kills about 8 percent of patients and leaves others with lifelong consequences such as brain damage.

In a statement on Friday, Andrin Oswald of Novartis said he is "proud of the major advance" the company has made in developing its vaccine Bexsero. It is aimed at children over two months of age, and Novartis is hoping countries will include the shot among the routine ones for childhood diseases such as measles.

Novartis said the immunization has had side effects such as fever and redness at the injection site.

Recommendations from the European Medicines Agency are usually adopted by the European Commission. Novartis also is seeking to test the vaccine in the U.S.

Read More..

Wall Street ends flat as wary investors stay defensive

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks were little changed on Thursday as the prospect of a drawn-out battle over impending tax and spending changes made investors wary of getting into the water, while retailer Wal-Mart tumbled after disappointing sales.


The S&P 500 is down nearly 2 percent for the week, adding to last week's selloff and eroding more of the market's gains for the year.


What had looked like a stellar 2012 for stocks has turned into merely an average year, and as 2012 draws to a close, investors are becoming more inclined to protect the gains they have.


The worry is the economy could contract again if no deal is reached in Washington to avoid the "fiscal cliff" - large, automatic budget cuts and tax hikes that begin to take effect in the new year.


Combined with the euro zone debt crisis, the uncertain outlook for corporations makes it hard to know how much a stock is worth, said Alan Lancz, president of Alan B. Lancz & Associates in Toledo, Ohio.


"Valuation is going to be uncertain because you don't know what the growth will be," said Lancz. "That is definitely not a good scenario for someone to step up to the plate and do a lot of buying."


The euro zone relapsed into its second recession since 2009 in the third quarter as the region was hurt by its debt problems.


Wal-Mart fell 3.6 percent to $68.72 and was the biggest drag on the Dow as frugal consumers hurt the company's quarterly sales.


Investors will be watching Friday's meeting at the White House between President Barack Obama and Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress over deficit reduction for any sign the two sides are moving closer.


The memory of last year's political impasse over raising the debt ceiling has also made analysts nervous.


"(There is) uncertainty of whether we're going to have a functioning government going forward. That is a weight that sits on markets right now," said Troy Logan, managing director and senior economist at Warren Financial Service in Exton, Pennsylvania.


Even if the economy avoids an outright recession, there are fears a lengthy political dispute could sap business investment and consumer spending.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> slipped 28.49 points, or 0.23 percent, to 12,542.46. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 2.16 points, or 0.16 percent, to 1,353.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was off 9.87 points, or 0.35 percent, to 2,836.94.


The S&P 500 sunk to a 3 1/2-month closing low and was well below its 200-day moving average, which it pierced last week.


Data on Thursday showed new claims for unemployment benefits surged last week, while factory activity in the mid-Atlantic region unexpectedly shrank in November as the economy felt the effects of superstorm Sandy.


A flare-up in violence in the Middle East added to market unease as Israeli warplanes bombed targets in and around Gaza city for a second day, while two rockets fired from the Gaza Strip targeted Tel Aviv.


Apple Inc shares dragged the Nasdaq lower, falling 2.1 percent to $525.62 and down about 25 percent since September's high.


Also in the tech sector, shares of Dell Inc fell in after-hours trading after it reported revenue that was shy of Wall Street's expectations. Dell was down 2.2 percent at $9.35.


Target Corp bucked the trend, rising 1.7 percent to $62.44 after it reported a profit that beat expectations.


Volume was roughly 7.26 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, topping the year-to-date average daily closing volume of around 6.5 billion.


Decliners outnumbered advancers on the NYSE by 2,069 to 975 on the New York Stock Exchange. Decliners also had the upper hand on the Nasdaq, outpacing advancers 1,506 to 948.


(Editing by Kenneth Barry)


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Egypt PM to visit Gaza in support of Hamas against Israel

GAZA (Reuters) - Egypt's prime minister prepared to visit the Gaza Strip on Friday in an unprecedented display of solidarity with Hamas militants embroiled in a new escalation of conflict with Israel that risks spiraling into all-out war.


Two rockets from Gaza crashed near Tel Aviv in the first such attack on Israel's commercial capital in 20 years. One fell into the Mediterranean Sea and the other in an uninhabited part of one of the Tel Aviv suburbs south of the city.


Two days of Israeli air strikes have killed 19 Palestinians, including seven militants and 12 civilians, among them six children and a pregnant woman. A Hamas rocket killed three Israelis in the town of Kiryat Malachi on Thursday morning.


The latest upsurge in the long-running conflict came on Wednesday when Israel killed Hamas' military mastermind, Ahmed Al-Jaabari, in a precision air strike on his car. Israel then began shelling the coastal enclave from land, air and sea.


Israel says its offensive responded to increasing missile salvoes from Gaza. Its bombing has not yet reached the saturation level seen before it last invaded Gaza in 2008, but Israeli officials have said a ground assault remains possible.


The Gaza conflagration has stoked the flames of a Middle East ablaze with two years of Arab popular revolution and a civil war in Syria that threatens to spread further afield.


Israeli warplanes bombed targets in and around Gaza City, rattling tall buildings. In a hint of escalation, the spokesman for Israel's military said it had received the green light to call in up to 30,000 reserve troops.


Egypt's new Islamist President, Mohamed Mursi, viewed by Hamas as a protector, led a chorus of denunciation of the Israeli strikes by allies of the Palestinians.


Mursi's prime minister, Hisham Kandil, is to visit Gaza on Friday with other Egyptian officials in a show of support for the enclave, an Egyptian cabinet official said. Israel promised the delegation would come to no harm.


An Egyptian government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said officials accompanying Kandil would explore the possibility of brokering a ceasefire.


Mursi faces domestic pressure to act tough. But Egypt gets $1.3 billion a year in U.S. military aid and looks to Washington for help with its ailing economy, constraining Mursi despite his need to show Egyptians that his policies differ from those of his U.S.-backed predecessor Hosni Mubarak.


TEL AVIV TARGETED


Air raid sirens sent residents running for shelter in Tel Aviv, a Mediterranean city that has not been hit by a rocket since the 1991 Gulf War, when it was targeted by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.


The Tel Aviv metropolitan area is home to more than 3 million people, more than 40 percent of Israel's population. "This escalation will exact a price that the other side will have to pay," Barak said in a television broadcast shortly after the strike.


But an Israeli cabinet statement on Wednesday spoke only of "improving" national security - acknowledgement that the Jewish state has no illusions about crushing the militants once and for all.


Speaking at the same time in Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh urged Egypt to do more to help the Palestinians.


"We call upon the brothers in Egypt to take the measures that will deter this enemy," the Hamas prime minister said.


The resurgent conflict will be the biggest test yet of Mursi's commitment to Egypt's 1979 peace treaty with Israel, which the West views as the bedrock of Middle East peace.


Cairo recalled its ambassador from Israel on Wednesday. Israel's ambassador left Cairo on what was called a routine home visit; Israel said its embassy would remain open.


The Muslim Brotherhood, which brought Mursi to power in an election after the downfall of Hosni Mubarak, has called for a "Day of Rage" in Arab capitals on Friday. The Brotherhood is seen as the spiritual mentor of Hamas.


The Israeli army said 300 targets were hit in Gaza, including more than 130 militant rocket launchers. It said more than 270 rockets had struck Israel since the start of the operation, with its Iron Dome interceptor system shooting down more than 130 rockets bound for residential areas.


Expecting days or more of fighting and almost inevitable civilian casualties, Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets in Gaza advising residents to stay away from Hamas and other militants.


DIPLOMATIC EFFORTS


United Nations diplomats said Secretary General Ban Ki-moon would head to Israel and Egypt next week to try to mediate a ceasefire, although they gave no further details.


The United States has asked countries that have contact with Hamas to urge the Islamist movement to stop its recent rocket attacks from Gaza, a White House adviser said.


"We've ... urged those that have a degree of influence with Hamas, such as Turkey and Egypt and some of our European partners, to use that influence to urge Hamas to de-escalate," Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser, said in a conference call with reporters.


French President Francois Hollande began talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other world leaders in an attempt to avert an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Jean-Francois Ayrault said.


British Prime Minister David Cameron spoke to Netanyahu too, saying Hamas bore the principal responsibility for the crisis.


Israel's sworn enemy Iran, which supports and arms Hamas, condemned the Israeli offensive as "organized terrorism."


Lebanon's Iranian-backed Shi'ite Muslim militia Hezbollah, which has its own rockets aimed at the Jewish state, denounced strikes on Gaza as "criminal aggression," but held its fire.


The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation condemned Israel's action.


(Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations, Writing by Ori Lewis in Jerusalem, Editing by Mark Heinrich and Todd Eastham)


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Xbox Live Celebrates 10 Years of Connecting Gamers
















Thursday marks the tenth anniversary of Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online gaming platform for the Xbox and the Xbox 360.


[More from Mashable: Steve Ballmer Hints at Microsoft Building More Hardware]













For the last decade, Xbox Live has offered both a marketplace and online play space for gamers. It started in 2002 on Microsoft‘s original Xbox console; Xbox spokeperson Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson, said it launched with games like Ghost Recon, MechAssault and NFL Fever.


Now Xbox Live serves as a complete entertainment package for the Xbox 360. Players can still compete online and connect with others, but can also access all kinds of other services through their Xbox 360 as the console moves to position itself as a living room centerpiece. Streaming services like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, HBO Go, ESPN and NBA Live, as well as on-demand movies from Zune. During this year’s election, Xbox Live offered full access to the debates and election coverage, thanks to a partnership with NBC.


[More from Mashable: New ‘Grand Theft Auto V’ Trailer Takes Game Violence to the Next Level [VIDEO]]


There are about 30 million Xbox Live subscribers, each with their own unique gamertag. Xbox Live was instrumental in the widespread adoption of achievements on games, which players unlocked for completing different in-game challenges. According to Hyrb’s Twitter account, gamers have unlocked 14.5 billion achievements in the past decade.


Xbox Live is the only online network on consoles that charges its users, at $ 60 a pop for a 12-month subscription.


To celebrate today’s anniversary, some long-time Xbox Live subscribers are receiving special edition Xbox 360s, according to Hyrb’s Twitter feed. Hyrb is also giving out one-year subscriptions to Xbox Live on his Twitter all day Thursday.


Do you have fond memories of playing Xbox Live in the past decade? Please share them with us in the comments.


1. Triforce Lamp


Know a Zelda fan in need of some power, wisdom and courage? This beautiful wood and acrylic lamp can be hung or shelved. The pixelated carvings on each side warm the room with dappled light. Price: $ 95.00


Click here to view this gallery.


Image courtesy Rodrigo Denúbila, Flickr.


This story originally published on Mashable here.


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News



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Cesar Millan Reveals: I Attempted Suicide















11/15/2012 at 06:30 PM EST







Cesar Millan with dog Daddy


Meredith Jenks


It seemed Cesar Millan had been on top of the world, but then it all came crashing down.

In 2010, the trainer and television personality known as the Dog Whisperer was working with celebrity clients, had a hit show and was becoming an international advocate for bully breeds.

Millan, 43, was dealt his first loss when Daddy, the 16-year-old pit bull who had been Millan's best example of a "calm, submissive" dog, died in February.

Then, in June of that year, Millan learned that his wife of 16 years, Ilusion Millan, had filed for divorce.

"I was at the lowest level I had ever been emotionally and psychologically," Millan wrote on his blog in August of this year.

So low, in fact, that he attempted suicide, a revelation Millan makes in Cesar Millan: The Real Story, a documentary airing on Nat Geo Wild on Nov. 25.

"Daddy was my Tibet, my Himalaya, my Gouda, my Buddha, my source of calmness," Millan tells the Associated Press.

After surviving the overdose, Millan opted for work, exercise and affection over antidepressants. His recovery progressed further when he met Jahira Dar, a woman Millan calls "the one."

He plans to propose soon. "I am a traditional guy, so I like to do the whole parent thing," Millan said. "I know they are going to say yes, but I like the whole Cinderella story."

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Diabetes rates rocket in Oklahoma, South

NEW YORK (AP) — The nation's diabetes problem is getting worse, and the biggest jump over 15 years was in Oklahoma, according to a new federal report issued Thursday.

The diabetes rate in Oklahoma more than tripled, and Kentucky, Georgia and Alabama also saw dramatic increases since 1995, the study showed.

The South's growing weight problem is the main explanation, said Linda Geiss, lead author of the report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

"The rise in diabetes has really gone hand in hand with the rise in obesity," she said.

Bolstering the numbers is the fact that more people with diabetes are living longer because better treatments are available.

The disease exploded in the United States in the last 50 years, with the vast majority from obesity-related Type 2 diabetes. In 1958, fewer than 1 in 100 Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes. In 2010, it was about 1 in 14.

Most of the increase has happened since 1990.

Diabetes is a disease in which the body has trouble processing sugar; it's the nation's seventh leading cause of death. Complications include poor circulation, heart and kidney problems and nerve damage.

The new study is the CDC's first in more than a decade to look at how the nationwide boom has played out in different states.

It's based on telephone surveys of at least 1,000 adults in each state in 1995 and 2010. Participants were asked if a doctor had ever told them they have diabetes.

Not surprisingly, Mississippi — the state with the largest proportion of residents who are obese — has the highest diabetes rate. Nearly 12 percent of Mississippians say they have diabetes, compared to the national average of 7 percent.

But the most dramatic increases in diabetes occurred largely elsewhere in the South and in the Southwest, where rates tripled or more than doubled. Oklahoma's rate rose to about 10 percent, Kentucky went to more than 9 percent, Georgia to 10 percent and Alabama surpassed 11 percent.

An official with Oklahoma State Department of Health said the solution is healthier eating, more exercise and no smoking.

"And that's it in a nutshell," said Rita Reeves, diabetes prevention coordinator.

Several Northern states saw rates more than double, too, including Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, South Dakota, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Maine.

The study was published in CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

___

Associated Press writer Ken Miller in Oklahoma City contributed to this report.

___

Online:

CDC report: http://tinyurl.com/cdcdiabetesreport

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Wall Street drops on deficit, Middle East concerns

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks slid on Wednesday with declines accelerating after President Barack Obama set up a drawn-out fight over the fiscal cliff when he stuck to his pledge to raise taxes on the wealthy, and as violence increased in the Middle East.


Obama, in his first press conference since re-election, held to his position that marginal tax rates will have to rise to tackle the nation's deficits.


With talks over solving the U.S. "fiscal cliff" in early stages, investors are reacting to the uncertainty by shedding positions.


"I think we will have a last-minute cliffhanger solution," said Michael Cheah, portfolio manager at SunAmerica Asset Management in Jersey City, New Jersey, about a deal to avoid the so-called cliff.


"In the meantime, the market is going to get punched every day."


Without a deal, a series of mandated tax hikes and spending cuts will start to take effect early next year that could push the U.S. economy into a recession.


Taxes on capital gains and dividends could rise as part of the negotiations, pushing investors to sell this year and pay lower taxes on their gains.


Adding to the selling pressure, Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza, killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave. Egypt said it recalled its ambassador from Israel in response.


"We know Europe's in trouble, China's slowing down ... and now you've got the Middle East flaring up again. It's all hitting at once, and obviously, the market is taking a 'sell first, ask questions later' approach," said Ryan Detrick, senior technical strategist at Schaeffer's Investment Research in Cincinnati.


Industrial shares led the decline, dragged lower in part by a 1 percent spike in crude prices after the Israeli offensive on Gaza. The S&P industrial sector index <.gspi> fell 2.5 percent.


Wall Street had opened higher after Dow component Cisco Systems Inc reported first-quarter earnings and revenue late Tuesday that beat expectations, driving its stock up 4.8 percent to $17.66. But the positive momentum was short-lived.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 185.23 points, or 1.45 percent, to 12,570.95 at the close. The S&P 500 <.spx> dropped 19.04 points, or 1.39 percent, to 1,355.49. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> lost 37.08 points, or 1.29 percent, to 2,846.81.


Both the Dow industrials and the Nasdaq ended at their lowest levels since late June.


The S&P 500 has fallen 5.1 percent in the six sessions since election night. Wednesday marked the benchmark index's lowest close since July 25.


The Russell 2000 <.rut> tumbled 2 percent. The Dow Jones Transportation average <.djt> slid 2.6 percent. FedEx Corp shares dropped 3.7 percent to $87.12. Bank of America shares lost 3.6 percent to $8.99.


In contrast, Facebook shares jumped 12.6 percent to $22.36 as investors were relieved that expiring trading restrictions on a huge block of shares did not trigger an immediate wave of insider selling.


Teen clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co jumped 34.4 percent to $41.92 after the company reported unexpectedly improved third-quarter results and a full-year outlook that exceeded Wall Street's forecasts.


About 7.53 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, more than the daily average so far this year of about 6.51 billion shares.


On the NYSE, decliners outnumbered advancers by a ratio of almost 9 to 1. On the Nasdaq, about four stocks fell for every one that rose.


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Additional reporting by Steven C. Johnson and Leah Schnurr; Editing by Jan Paschal)


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Israel hammers Hamas in Gaza offensive

GAZA (Reuters) - Israel launched a major offensive against Palestinian militants in Gaza on Wednesday, killing the military commander of Hamas in an air strike and threatening an invasion of the enclave that the Islamist group vowed would "open the gates of hell".


The onslaught shattered hopes that a truce mediated on Tuesday by Egypt could pull the two sides back from the brink of war after five days of escalating Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes at militant targets.


Operation "Pillar of Defence" began with a surgical strike on a car carrying the commander of the military wing of Hamas, the Iranian-armed Islamist movement which controls Gaza and dominates a score of smaller armed groups.


Within minutes of the death of Ahmed Al-Jaabari, big explosions shook Gaza as the Israeli air force struck at selected targets just before sundown, blasting plumes of smoke and debris high above the crowded city.


Panicking civilians ran for cover and the death toll mounted quickly. Ten people including three children were killed, the health ministry said, and about 40 were wounded. Also among the dead were an 11-month-old baby and a woman pregnant with twins.


Army tanks shelled border areas of Gaza in south and the Israeli navy shelled a Hamas security position from the sea.


Hamas stuck back, firing at least four Grad rockets at the southern city of Beersheba in what it called its initial response. Israel reported damage but no casualties. Its 'Iron Dome' interceptor defence knocked out a dozen rockets in flight.


The escalation in Gaza came in a week when Israel fired at Syrian artillery positions it said had fired into the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights amid a civil war in Syria that has brought renewed instability to neighboring Lebanon.


Egypt, whose new Islamist government pledged to honor the 1979 peace treaty with Israel, condemned the raids as a threat to regional security, recalled its ambassador from Israel and called for an emergency session of the U.N. Security Council.


Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi's predecessor Hosni Mubarak twice withdrew his ambassador, with no lasting effect. But Israel will be watching for signs of a more aggressive approach by the Islamist leader that could imperil their ties.


Mursi has said of the Palestinians that "our blood is their blood" and Egypt may not "accept what was accepted before".


Russia called for an end to the raids. Arab League foreign ministers planned to meet on Saturday to discuss the crisis.


DOZENS OF TARGETS


A second Gaza war has loomed on the horizon for months as waves of Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli strikes grew increasingly more intense and frequent.


Israel's Operation Cast Lead in 2008-2009 began with a week of air attacks and shelling, followed by a land invasion of the blockaded coastal strip, sealed off at sea by the Israeli navy. Some 1,400 Palestinians were killed and 13 Israelis died.


The Israel Defence Forces said it had targeted dozens of Hamas's medium range (up to 40km) underground rocket launch and infrastructure sites in Wednesday's strikes.


"This has significantly damaged the rocket launch capabilities as munitions warehouses owned by Hamas and other terror organizations were targeted. In addition, Israeli Navy soldiers targeted several Hamas terror sites stationed along the shoreline of the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement.


The Hamas internal security headquarters in southern Gaza was destroyed. There were no injuries because it had been evacuated. After dark, Gaza looked like a ghost city, with no traffic and no people in the streets, no shops open, no electric lights on.


KILLED IN HIS CAR


Hamas said Jaabari, who ran the organization's armed wing, Izz el-Deen Al-Qassam, died along with a Hamas photographer when their car was blown apart by an Israeli missile.


The charred wreckage of a car could be seen belching flames, as emergency crews picked up what appeared to be body parts.


Israel confirmed it had carried out the attack and announced there was more to come. Reuters witnesses saw Hamas security compounds and police stations blasted apart.


"Today we relayed a clear message to the Hamas organization and other terrorist organizations," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. "And if there is a need, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is prepared to broaden the operation. We will continue to do everything in order to protect our citizens."


Immediate calls for revenge were broadcast over Hamas radio.


"The occupation has opened the gates of hell," Hamas's armed wing said. Smaller groups also vowed to strike back.


"Israel has declared war on Gaza and they will bear the responsibility for the consequences," Islamic Jihad said.


Southern Israeli communities within rocket range of Gaza were on full alert, and schools were ordered closed for Thursday. About one million Israelis live in range of Gaza's relatively primitive but lethal rockets, supplemented in recent months by longer-range, more accurate systems.


"The days we face in the south will, in my estimation, prove protracted," Brigadier-General Yoav Mordechai, Israel's chief military spokesman, told Channel 2 TV.


The Israeli cabinet gave preliminary authorization for the mobilization of military reserves if required, Netanyahu's office said.


Asked if Israel might send in ground forces, Mordechai said: "There are preparations, and if we are required to, the option of an entry by ground is available."


OBAMA BRIEFED


Israeli President Shimon Peres briefed U.S. President Barack Obama on the operation, Peres's office said. He told Obama that Jaabari was a "mass-murderer" and his killing was Israel's response to Palestinian rocket attacks from Gaza.


"Israel is not interested in stoking the flames, but for the past five days there has been constant missile fire at Israel and mothers and children cannot sleep quietly at night," said Peres, who visited the border town of Sderot earlier.


In the flare-up that was prelude to Wednesday's offensive, more than 115 missiles were fired into southern Israel from Gaza and Israeli planes launched numerous strikes.


Seven Palestinians, three of them gunmen, were killed. Eight Israeli civilians were hurt by rocket fire and four soldiers wounded by an anti-tank missile.


The leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Ismail Haniyeh, called on Arab states, especially Egypt, to halt the assault. The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council said the U.N. Security Council should put pressure on Israel to stop its attacks.


Israel holds a general election on January 22 and Netanyahu has pledged to retaliate harshly against Hamas. But Israel is also wary of the reaction from Mursi's Egypt, whose ruling Muslim Brotherhood is the spiritual mentor of Hamas.


Hamas has been emboldened by its rise to power, viewing Mursi as a "safety net" who will not permit a second Israeli thrashing of Gaza, home to 1.7 million Palestinians.


Hamas is also supported by Iran, which Israel regards as a rising threat to its own existence due to its nuclear program.


Helped by the contraband trade through tunnels from Egypt, Gaza militias have smuggled in longer-range rockets.


But their estimated 35,000 Palestinian fighters are still no match for Israel's F-16 fighter-bombers, Apache helicopter gun ships, Merkava tanks and other modern weapons systems in the hands of a conscript force of 175,000, with 450,000 in reserve.


(Additional reporting by Dan Williams, Crispian Balmer and Ori Lewis in Jerusalem; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Giles Elgood)


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Verizon says 1.4 million customers back on its fiber optic network
















(Reuters) – Verizon Communications said fiber optic services have been restored to more than 1.4 million customers hurt by Hurricane Sandy.


The provider of telephone, Internet and television services said on November 1 that it may take another two weeks to restore telecommunication services for its customers after flooding and power outages knocked out services.













The company said it completed 364,000 repairs across the mid-Atlantic and northeast regions.


Verizon said it will provide credits for landline customers and fix equipment damaged due to the hurricane.


Verizon shares were up at $ 42.39 after the bell on Wednesday. They closed at $ 42.24 on the New York Stock Exchange.


(Reporting By Pallavi Ail in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News



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Hope Solo Weds Jerramy Stevens Amid Assault Allegations?















11/14/2012 at 06:35 PM EST







Jerramy Stevens and Hope Solo


NFL/Getty; Jeff Vinnick/Getty


One day after former Seattle Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens was arrested on suspicion of assaulting his fiancée, U.S. women's soccer team goalkeeper Hope Solo, the pair reportedly tied the knot.

"Confirmed," Sportsradio 950 AM and 102.9 FM radio host Dave Mahler Tweeted on Tuesday. "Jerramy Stevens and Hope Solo were married tonight. Events of yesterday morning didn't change plans."

The pair, who had only been dating for about two months, applied for a marriage license last Thursday. According to court documents, the athletes were arguing over whether to wed in Florida or Washington State.

Stevens, 33, was reportedly released from custody by a Kirkland, Wash., Municipal Court judge on Tuesday after determining there wasn't enough evidence to hold the former football star.

All of the former Dancing with the Stars contestant's social media pages have gone silent since Nov. 6., and calls to her rep have not been returned.

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New gene triples risk for Alzheimer's disease

Scientists have identified a new gene variant that seems to strongly raise the risk for Alzheimer's disease, giving a fresh target for research into treatments for the mind-robbing disorder.

The problem gene is not common — less than 1 percent of people are thought to have it — but it roughly triples the chances of developing Alzheimer's compared to people with the normal version of the gene. It also seems to harm memory and thinking in older people without dementia.

The main reason scientists are excited by the discovery is what this gene does, and how that might reveal what causes Alzheimer's and ways to prevent it. The gene helps the immune system control inflammation in the brain and clear junk such as the sticky deposits that are the hallmark of the disease. Mutations in the gene may impair these tasks, so treatments to restore the gene's function and quell inflammation may help.

"It points us to potential therapeutics in a more precise way than we've seen in the past," said Dr. William Thies, chief medical and scientific officer of the Alzheimer's Association, which had no role in the research. Years down the road, this discovery will likely be seen as very important, he predicted.

It is described in a study by an international group published online Wednesday by the New England Journal of Medicine.

About 35 million people worldwide have dementia, and Alzheimer's is the most common type. In the U.S., about 5 million have Alzheimer's. Medicines such as Aricept and Namenda just temporarily ease symptoms. There is no known cure.

Until now, only one gene — ApoE — has been found to have a big impact on Alzheimer's risk. About 17 percent of the population has at least one copy of the problem version of this gene but nearly half of all people with Alzheimer's do. Other genes that have been tied to the disease raise risk only a little, or cause the less common type of Alzheimer's that develops earlier in life, before age 60.

The new gene, TREM2, already has been tied to a couple other forms of dementia. Researchers led by deCODE Genetics Inc. of Iceland honed in on a version of it they identified through mapping the entire genetic code of more than 2,200 Icelanders.

Further tests on 3,550 Alzheimer's patients and more than 110,000 people without dementia in several countries, including the United States, found that the gene variant was more common in Alzheimer's patients.

"It's a very strong effect," raising the risk of Alzheimer's by three to four times — about the same amount as the problem version of the ApoE gene does, said Dr. Allan Levey, director of an Alzheimer's program at Emory University, one of the academic centers participating in the research.

Researchers also tested more than 1,200 people over age 85 who did not have Alzheimer's disease and found that those with the variant TREM2 gene had lower mental function scores than those without it. This adds evidence the gene variant is important in cognition, even short of causing Alzheimer's.

"It's another piece in the puzzle. It suggests the immune system is important in Alzheimer's disease," said Andrew Singleton, a geneticist with the National Institute on Aging, which helped pay for the study.

One prominent scientist not involved in the study — Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, a Harvard Medical School geneticist and director of an Alzheimer's research program at Massachusetts General Hospital — called the work exciting, but added a caveat.

"I would like to see more evidence that this is Alzheimer's" rather than one of the other dementias already tied to the gene, Tanzi said. Autopsy or brain imaging tests can show whether the cases attributed to the gene variant are truly Alzheimer's or misdiagnosed, he said.

___

Online:

Medical journal: http://www.nejm.org

Alzheimer's info: http://www.alzheimers.gov

Alzheimer's Association: http://www.alz.org

___

Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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Microsoft leads Wall Street lower, but retailers gain

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks sold off late in the session on Tuesday, led by a slide in Microsoft shares, though retailers were a notable bright spot after Home Depot raised its outlook.


Microsoft Corp was the most actively traded on Nasdaq, weighing on the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite after the surprising departure of a key executive. The stock fell 3.2 percent to $27.09.


After the closing bell, Cisco Systems shares rose 6.8 percent to $18 after it reported quarterly revenue and earnings that beat analysts' estimates.


Home Depot shares hit during the regular session levels not seen since April 2000 and the company's raised outlook suggested a revival in the long-dormant U.S. housing market. The S&P retail sector index <.spxrt> advanced 1 percent.


"Home Depot did say something about housing, which was perceived as positive and was behind the earlier rally," said Richard Sichel, chief investment officer at Philadelphia Trust Co.


"That was tempered by Microsoft, to some extent, and probably more so by the 'fiscal cliff,'" he said.


The S&P 500 is down 2.7 percent so far this month and closed below its 200-day moving average for a fourth day in a row, a technical indicator that suggests the recent declines could gain momentum. The moving average is currently at 1,381.58, and failure to rise above that level suggests market weakness.


Concerns about the looming "fiscal cliff" kept investor activity subdued as lawmakers returned to Washington after the November 6 election, when President Barack Obama won a second term while Democrats added to their margin in the U.S. Senate and picked up seats in the House of Representatives.


The market is grappling with how a divided U.S. Congress will deal with the series of mandated tax hikes and spending cuts that start to take effect next year and could take the world's largest economy back into recession. However, serious negotiations are still weeks away, analysts said.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 58.90 points, or 0.46 percent, to 12,756.18 at the close. The S&P 500 <.spx> dropped 5.50 points, or 0.40 percent, to 1,374.53. The Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> lost 20.37 points, or 0.70 percent, to 2,883.89.


Dow component Home Depot Inc raised its full-year outlook even before accounting for any future lift in sales in the aftermath of super storm Sandy, as the retailer benefited from a recent uptick in the U.S. housing market. Home Depot's stock rose 3.6 percent to $63.38, its highest close in more than 12 years.


TJX Cos , which owns the Marshalls and T.J. Maxx retail chains, reported results that beat analysts' forecasts and its shares added 2.7 percent to $42.06.


Microsoft shares fell after Steve Sinofsky, head of the Windows unit, left the company. Sinofsky was considered the driving force behind Windows, the company's biggest product.


Technology shares led the market's decline, with an S&P technology index <.gspt> down 0.8 percent.


AK Steel Holding shares fell 17.6 percent to $4.50 after the company forecast a fourth-quarter loss.


Just over 6.2 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and NYSE MKT, below the daily average during November last year of 7.33 billion shares.


More than two issues fell for every one that rose on both the NYSE and the Nasdaq.


(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)


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France recognizes new Syria opposition

CAIRO/PARIS (Reuters) - France became the first European power to recognize Syria's new opposition coalition as the sole representative of its people and said on Tuesday it would look into arming rebels against President Bashar al-Assad once they form a government.


Twenty months into their bloody uprising against Assad, fragmented Syrian opposition groups struck a deal in Qatar on Sunday to form a broad coalition and their leader immediately appealed for European backing.


"I announce today that France recognizes the Syrian National Council as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people and as future government of a democratic Syria making it possible to bring an end to Bashar al-Assad's regime," French President Francois Hollande said, breaking ranks with European allies. Six Gulf Arab states took a similar step on Monday.


The question of arming the rebels would be looked at as soon as the rebel coalition formed a transitional government, Hollande told a news conference in Paris.


Arab League and EU foreign ministers meeting in Cairo on Tuesday welcomed the formation of the coalition as an important step forward, although their communiqué showed they had not reached a unanimous decision to recognize it as Syria's sole authority.


The French announcement came just hours after Syria's newly installed opposition leader urged European states to back the opposition so it could buy weapons.


Paris, one of Assad's harshest critics, had previously ruled out arming rebel forces, concerned that weapons could get into the hands of radical Islamists.


Speaking to Reuters as Arab and European ministers met to discuss Syria at the Arab League in Cairo, Mouaz Alkhatib, the Damascus preacher elected unopposed on Sunday to lead the new group, had asked for diplomatic backing.


"I request European states to grant political recognition to the coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people and to give it financial support," he said.


"When we get political recognition, this will allow the coalition to act as a government and hence acquire weapons and this will solve our problems," added Alkhatib, who has been described by supporters as a moderate noted for his embrace of Syria's religious and ethnic minorities.


So far, concerted action on Syria has been thwarted by divisions within the opposition, as well as by big power rivalries and a regional divide between Sunni Muslim foes of Assad and his Shi'ite allies in Iran and Lebanon.


Russia and China, which have lent Assad diplomatic support since the uprising erupted in March last year, have shown no sign of warming towards his Western- and Arab-backed opponents.


"STEP FORWARD"


Cajoled by Qatar and the United States, the ineffectual Syrian National Council, previously the main opposition body based abroad, agreed to join a wider coalition on Sunday.


Britain's foreign minister, William Hague, said the coalition must show it had support within Syria before London would acknowledge it as the rightful government.


"If they have this, yes, we will then recognize them as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people," he told reporters at the Arab-European meeting in Cairo.


The opposition had hoped its new-found unity would clear the way for outside powers to arm the rebels, but Western nations fear such weapons could reach the hands of Islamist militants.


Western concern has also been heightened by documented reports of atrocities by ill-disciplined insurgents.


"Syria's newly created opposition front should send a clear message to opposition fighters that they must adhere to the laws of war and human rights law, and that violators will be held accountable," New York-based Human Rights Watch said.


BORDER VIOLENCE


Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for 42 years, has vowed to fight to the death in a conflict that has already killed an estimated 38,000 people and risks sucking in other countries.


His warplanes again struck homes in Ras al-Ain, a town on the northern border seized by rebels last week. Civilians fled over the border dividing it from the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar and thick plumes of smoke billowed upwards.


Syrian jets and artillery hit the town of Albu Kamal on the frontier with Iraq, where rebels have seized some areas, according to the mayor of the Iraqi border town of Qaim.


Tension also remained high on the Golan Heights, where Israeli gunners have retaliated against stray Syrian mortar fire landing on the occupied plateau in the previous two days.


Twenty months of conflict have created a vast humanitarian crisis, with more than 408,000 Syrians fleeing to neighboring countries and up to four million expected to need aid by early next year, according to the United Nations.


Fighting has also displaced 2.5 million civilians inside Syria, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent estimates.


"If anything, they believe it could be more; this is a very conservative estimate," Melissa Fleming, chief spokeswoman of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, said in Geneva.


"So people are moving, really on the run, hiding," she told a news briefing. "They are difficult to count and access."


In Cairo, Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby urged opposition factions to join Alkhatib's group, formally known as the Syrian National Coalition for Opposition and Revolutionary Forces.


But although six Gulf Arab nations recognized the coalition as Syria's only legitimate representative on Monday, Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon prevented the League from following suit.


Iraq and Lebanon, with influential Shi'ite populations, have generally maintained better relations with Iran and with Assad, whose minority Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.


(Additional reporting by Shaimaa Fayed in Cairo and Jonathon Burch in Ceylanpinar, Turkey; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Peter Graff)


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RIM to release new BlackBerrys soon after Jan. 30
















TORONTO (AP) — Research In Motion Ltd. will release its much-delayed BlackBerry 10 smartphones “not too long” after a launch event on Jan. 30, a senior executive said Tuesday.


Chief Operating Officer Kristian Tear said the company is still fine-tuning the new phones.













The new phones are seen as critical to RIM‘s survival as the smartphone pioneer struggles in North America to hold on to customers who are abandoning BlackBerrys for flashier iPhones and Android phones. The new BlackBerry 10 system is designed for the touch screen, Internet browsing and apps experience that customers now expect. RIM’s current software is still focused on email and messaging and is less user-friendly, agile and robust than iPhone or Android.


On Monday, RIM said details on the BlackBerry 10, including specific availability, will be announced at the event. A touch-screen-only device is expected to be released first followed shortly after by a version with a physical keyboard. Many people still gravitate to BlackBerrys specifically for their physical keyboards, and RIM hasn’t succeeded in the past with touch-only offerings.


Tear said RIM wants to be the No. 1 mobile computing platform, despite the dominance of Apple and Android. He said the Waterloo, Ontario-based company believes it can compete with Silicon Valley because it has access to a lot of talented people and two great universities in the area. He said he’s been involved in two turnarounds before with Sony Ericsson and Ericsson and believes in RIM’s new management.


“It’s not going to be easy,” Tear said. “But everybody is super-focused and super-commited. We’re going to show the world that we are turning this around.”


Steve Zipperstein, RIM’s new chief legal officer, said RIM invented the smartphone and has been the innovator in the mobile space for a long time.


“We’re not going away,” Zipperstein vowed. “We’re going to succeed with BB 10. We’re going to impress our customers. We’re going to fight every day.”


Tear and Zipperstein were hired this past summer by CEO Thorsten Heins, who took over RIM in January after it lost tens of billions of dollars in market value. Heins had vowed to do everything he could to release BlackBerry 10 this year but said in June that the timetable wasn’t realistic. The new BlackBerrys will be released after the holiday shopping season and well after Apple’s September launch of the iPhone 5.


Heins is counting on BlackBerry 10 for a turnaround.


RIM’s platform transition is happening under a new management team and as RIM lays off 5,000 employees as part of a bid to save $ 1 billion this year.


RIM was once Canada‘s most valuable company with a market value of more than $ 80 billion in 2008, but the stock has plummeted since, from over $ 140 per share to around $ 8. Its decline evokes memories of Nortel, another former Canadian tech giant, which declared bankruptcy in 2009.


RIM’s stock fell 41 cents, or 4.7 percent, to close at $ 8.40 Tuesday in New York after rising as high as $ 9.07 the previous day, when RIM announced its Jan. 30 launch date.


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News



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