Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/167447419?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Monday, November 28, 2011
China's Chery launches new Qoros brand (AP)
SHANGHAI ? Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co. and partner Israel Corp. are launching a new brand, seeking fresh appeal both overseas and in the slowing local market.
The 50-50 joint venture Qoros Automotive Co., introduced Monday at Shanghai's former Expo zone, intends to be one of the first Chinese car makers to meet stringent 2013 Euro auto safety standards, the companies said.
Chery and Israel Corp., an industrial holding company, originally launched their joint venture as Chery Quantum Auto Co., in 2007. Since then, the company has kept a relatively low profile.
Originally, the plan was for Chery, one of China's biggest independent automakers, to contribute "in kind" as in many joint ventures, providing, for example, land or workers. But that vision has evolved to one of starting from scratch, said Volker Steinwascher, vice chairman of Qoros.
Chery is now only a financial investor, leaving the company free to develop its own models and keep the brand separate.
"You don't have to have any legacies," Steinwascher said in an interview.
Qoros plans to introduce its first model, a compact sedan, in China and Western Europe in 2013, executives said. After that, plans call for a hatchback, an SUV and then an electric vehicle.
The name Qoros was a "new word meant to represent a company that stands for quality and works together like a chorus," the companies said in a statement.
"People like brands and products they can be passionate about," Steinwascher said. "Quality, design, connectivity and simplicity, these are the key drivers of our brand," he said.
Israel Corp. is Israel's largest holding company, with interests mainly in chemicals, shipping and energy.
Chery, whose best-selling model is the compact QQ, and other domestic car makers have struggled to break through with brands of their own. Joint venture brands and foreign imports still account for about 70 percent of sales, with domestic car makers holding only 30 percent.
A slowdown this year in vehicle sales, after years of double-digit growth, has proven a special hardship for some domestic makers already struggling with slender profit margins.
Chery has not yet followed through with earlier projects of its own aimed at launching sales in the U.S. For now, Qoros has no plans for the American market, where prices are "extremely competitive" and product liability issues a big concern, Steinwascher said.
The lack of powerful brand names and core technologies and the stringent safety standards in North America and Western Europe have prevented Chinese manufacturers from making strong inroads in those more mature markets, although they have expanded sales in emerging markets.
Qoros is aiming high, intending to meet 2013 European 5-star quality levels of the NCAP, an agency that assesses car safety.
To do so, it is working with Austria's Magna Steyr, a major independent automotive design firm, and has hired designer Gert Hildebrand, formerly of BMW Mini. Other suppliers include major auto parts companies like TRW, Bosch and Valeo.
"All our leading talent is in-house," said Steinwascher, who retired from Germany's Volkswagen AG in 2006 but said he found it was "too early."
"We're looking for very good people. We want to have a few people but good people," Steinwascher said.
Qoros is building a factory in Changshu, an industrial city west of Shanghai, that will have an annual capacity of 150,000 vehicles, which could expand in the future to 300,000. It has a research and development center in Shanghai.
Steinwascher said the first "drivable" Qoros would be ready this week, with most of the testing to be carried out in China.
For Chery itself, any benefits in technology sharing will come over time, he said, as the joint venture shares components and other quality improvements.
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Online:
http://www.qorosauto.com
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No. 1 LSU powers past No. 3 Arkansas, 41-17
LSU's Tyrann Mathieu (7) returns a punt for a 92-yard for a touchdown during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Arkansas in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
LSU's Tyrann Mathieu (7) returns a punt for a 92-yard for a touchdown during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game against Arkansas in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
LSU running back Kenny Hilliard (27) dives into the end zone for a touchdown against Arkansas during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
LSU wide receiver Rueben Randle, left, eludes Arkansas cornerback Tevin Mitchel (8) on a 22-yard pass play to the Arkansas 9 yard line to set up an LSU touchdown during the second quarter of their NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
LSU wide receiver Russell Shepard (10) heads to the end zone for a touchdown as Arkansas cornerback Tevin Mitchel (8) tries for the stop during the second quarter of an NCAA college football game in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson (8) warms up before an NCAA college football game against LSU in Baton Rouge, La., Friday, Nov. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Bill Haber)
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) ? Tyrann Mathieu answered the call for a game-turning play when LSU needed one most, and the top-ranked Tigers piled on from there.
Mathieu returned a punt 92 yards for a game-tying score and the Tigers punished third-ranked Arkansas with 286 yards rushing, wiping out a 14-point deficit with a 41-17 win Friday that secured a spot in the SEC championship.
"I could hear my teammates in my ear saying, 'Man, we need you to go make a play,'" Mathieu said. "I was able to help the momentum really go in our favor.
"You have no idea how bad I just wanted to go out there and make a big play for our team. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that."
Kenny Hilliard, Spencer Ware and Jordan Jefferson all scored on the ground for LSU (12-0, 8-0 SEC), which is 12-0 for the first time and will play No. 13 Georgia next weekend in Atlanta.
A win over the Bulldogs would assure the Tigers their third trip to the BCS title game in nine seasons. Though at this point, LSU might be able to get there even if it loses.
The rivalry game with Arkansas (10-2, 6-2) for the big Boot trophy was billed as the biggest in Tiger Stadium since 1959, the last time two teams ranked in the top three clashed in Death Valley. Billy Cannon lifted No. 1 LSU to a 7-3 win over No. 3 Mississippi in that game with an 89-yard punt return for a score, so it seemed fitting that the Tigers would get a similar score against the Razorbacks.
"That was a huge turning point in the game," Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino said. "We were trying to get the ball punted to the sideline, but he miss-hit it a bit and punted it to the middle. ... (Mathieu) made a great cut and made us miss at the point of attack. He made a great play."
LSU trailed 14-7 when Mathieu fielded Dylan Breeding's end-over-end kick at his own 8, started left, made a hard cut straight up field, then angled left again to break into the clear.
"It made the statement that that lead was not going to stand up," LSU coach Les Miles said. "Our defense was going to continue to play well and our offense was coming."
Cannon also made a game-sealing tackle on defense late in that classic game against Ole Miss. Mathieu, who was playing safety instead of cornerback much of the game because of Eric Reid's injury the previous week, had defensive highlights of his own, forcing two fumbles with strips, one of which he recovered.
He now has six forced fumbles this season. His fifth was a strip of running back Dennis Johnson in LSU territory late in the first half. That set up a touchdown drive that put the Tigers ahead to stay.
It was Mathieu's third touchdown of the season, his second on special teams, the other coming on a fumble return.
Arkansas took a surprising 14-0 lead on Tyler Wilson's 13-yard TD pass to Jarius Wright and Alonzo Highsmith's 47-yard fumble return. The largest deficit LSU had faced before Friday was 13-9 against Oregon in the season opener.
The Tigers stormed back and outscored the Razorbacks 41-3 from there.
"This football team down 14 points did not flinch," Miles said. "There was never a question in anyone's minds on that sideline we were going to respond."
LSU's defense sacked Wilson five times (twice by Barkevious Mingo) and picked him off once on Morris Claiborne's team-leading fifth interception of the season.
Two plays after the pick, Jefferson ran 48 yards for his score on a quarterback draw that was wide open, making it 38-17.
Wilson completed 14 of 22 passes for 207 yards, with 60 yards on a short pass that Cobi Hamilton turned into a long gain. The play put Arkansas in position to tie the game at 21 in the third quarter, but LSU's defense forced a field goal that made it 21-17, and the Razorbacks never got closer than that again.
"We played a great team and they came out on top," said Wright, who came in leading the SEC with 100.2 yards receiving per game, but was held to only one catch by LSU. "They're the No. 1 team in the nation. Of course, we're upset about the loss because we definitely could have finished better."
Jefferson was 18 of 29 for 208 yards and one touchdown, a 9-yard pass to Russell Shepard that gave LSU the lead for good at with 59 seconds left in the first half. His first interception of the season kept Arkansas in the game in the third quarter, but otherwise he was excellent.
Hilliard finished with a career-high 102 yards rushing on 19 carries, while Michael Ford rushed 11 times for 96 yards.
"At halftime our offensive line came in and told us that, man, we were wearing them down and in the second half I think we can beat them up," Hilliard said. "We came out in the second half and pounded the football right at them. I felt it out there."
Hilliard's touchdown came on a tackle-breaking 6-yard run. Ware scored on a similar carry from 7 yards out.
Arkansas has had the better of its end-of-season rivalry with LSU in recent years, having won three of the previous four meetings, including a 2007 triple-overtime upset in Tiger Stadium when LSU was No. 1.
Only a series of unlikely losses by other teams allowed the Tigers to sneak into the BCS title game that season and win their last national title by beating Ohio State.
This the time the Hogs were nearly two-touchdown underdogs, but had pledged to play passionately in memory of late teammate Garrett Uekman, who'd died last Sunday. Coaches wore black ribbons on white shirts, and tight end Austin Tate changed his jersey number from 87 to Uekman's 88.
Hardly intimidated by a raucous Death Valley crowd, Arkansas built a 14-0 lead that was by far LSU's largest deficit of the season.
It looked at that point that LSU was going to face its toughest test yet.
Instead the Tigers made it look easy, scoring three straight TDs before the half ended and pulling away in the second half.
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Pakistan: 26 troops dead in NATO helicopter attack
FILE - NATO forces fuel tankers enter Afghanistan through Pakistan's border crossing in Torkham, east of Kabul, in this Oct 10, 2010 file photo. Pakistan on Saturday Nov. 26, 2011 accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing the key border crossing in Torkham used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
FILE - NATO forces fuel tankers enter Afghanistan through Pakistan's border crossing in Torkham, east of Kabul, in this Oct 10, 2010 file photo. Pakistan on Saturday Nov. 26, 2011 accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the northwest and killing 25 soldiers, then retaliated by closing the key border crossing in Torkham used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul, File)
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) ? Pakistan on Saturday accused NATO helicopters of firing on two army checkpoints in the country's northwest and killing 26 soldiers, then retaliated by closing the border crossings used by the coalition to supply its troops in neighboring Afghanistan.
The incident Friday night was a major blow to already strained relations between Islamabad and U.S.-led forces fighting in Afghanistan. It will add to perceptions in Pakistan that the American presence in the region is malevolent, and to resentment toward the weak government in Islamabad for its cooperation with Washington.
It comes a little over a year after a similar but less deadly strike, in which U.S. helicopters accidentally killed two Pakistani soldiers near the Afghan border, whom the pilots mistook for insurgents. Pakistan responded by closing the Torkham border crossing to NATO supplies for 10 days until the U.S. apologized.
On Saturday, Pakistan went further, closing both of the country's two border crossings into landlocked Afghanistan. NATO trucks about 30 percent of the non-lethal supplies used by its Afghan-based forces through Pakistan. A short stoppage will have no effect on the war effort, but it is a reminder of the leverage Pakistan has over the United States from the supply routes running through its territory.
NATO said it was an investigating an "incident" along the border.
"My most sincere and personal heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of any members of Pakistan security forces who may have been killed or injured," said Gen. John Allen, the top overall commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan in a statement.
Much of the violence in Afghanistan is carried out by insurgents that are based just across the border in Pakistan. Coalition forces are not allowed to cross the frontier to attack the militants. The militants however sometimes fire artillery and rockets across the line, reportedly from locations close to Pakistani army posts.
American officials have repeatedly accused Pakistani forces of supporting ? or turning a blind eye ? to militants using its territory for cross-border attacks. The border issue is the major source of tension between Islamabad and Washington, which wants to stabilize Afghanistan and withdraw its combat troops there by the end of 2014.
In a statement sent to reporters, the Pakistan military blamed NATO for Friday's attack in the Mohmand tribal area, saying the helicopters "carried out unprovoked and indiscriminate firing" but did not give figures for the dead and injured.
The attack killed 26 soldiers and wounded 14 others, said the governor of the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Masood Kausar.
The helicopters attacked two checkpoints around 1,000 feet apart from each other, one of them twice, and two officers were among the dead, said a government official in Mohmand and a security official in Peshawar, the main city in Pakistan's northwest.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Ties between Washington and Islamabad had already taken an especially hard hit from the covert U.S. commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden in a Pakistani garrison town on May 2. The Pakistanis were outraged that they were not told about the operation beforehand, and now are angered even more than before by U.S. violations of the country's sovereignty.
"Any aggression on the (army) is an aggression against Pakistan," information minister Firdous Aashiq Awan told reporters. "We will not only protest, but we will prove through certain actions that the Pakistani government cannot tolerate this."
Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said the government was complaining "in the strongest terms" to NATO and the U.S.
A Pakistani customs official told The Associated Press that he received verbal orders Saturday to stop all NATO supplies from crossing the border through Torkham in either direction. The operator of a terminal at the border where NATO trucks park before they cross confirmed the closure. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.
Saeed Ahmad, a spokesman for security forces at the other crossing in Chaman in southwest Pakistan, said that his crossing was also blocked following orders "from higher-ups."
The U.S., Pakistan, and Afghan militaries have long wrestled with the technical difficulties of patrolling a line that in many places is disputed or poorly marked.
Friday's incident took place on the same day as a meeting between NATO's Gen. Allen and Pakistan army chief Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani in Islamabad to discuss border operations.
The meeting tackled "coordination, communication and procedures between the Pakistan Army, ISAF (intelligence services) and (the) Afghan Army, aimed at enhancing border control on both sides," according to a statement from the Pakistani side.
The checkpoints that were attacked had been recently set up in Mohmand's Salala village by the army. They were intended to stop Pakistani Taliban militants holed up in Afghanistan from crossing the border and staging attacks, said two local government administrators, Maqsood Hasan and Hamid Khan.
The Pakistani military has blamed Pakistani Taliban militants and their allies for killing dozens of security forces in such cross-border attacks since the summer. Pakistan has criticized Afghan and foreign forces for not doing enough to stop the attacks, which it says have originated from the eastern Afghan provinces of Kunar and Nuristan. The U.S. has largely pulled out of these provinces, leaving the militants in effective control of many areas along the border.
The Afghan government blamed Pakistan for firing hundreds of rockets into eastern Afghanistan earlier this year that killed dozens of people. The Pakistan army has denied it intentionally fired rockets into Afghanistan, but acknowledged that several rounds fired at militants conducting cross-border attacks may have landed over the border.
The U.S. helicopter attack that killed two Pakistani soldiers on Sept. 30 of last year took place south of Mohmand in the Kurram tribal area. A joint U.S.-Pakistan investigation found that Pakistani soldiers fired at the two U.S. helicopters prior to the attack, a move the investigation team said was likely meant to notify the aircraft of their presence after they passed into Pakistani airspace several times.
Pakistan moved swiftly after the attack to close Torkham to NATO. Suspected militants took advantage of the impasse to launch attacks against stranded or rerouted trucks carrying NATO supplies.
Senior U.S. diplomatic and military officials eventually apologized for the attack, saying it could have been prevented with greater coordination between the U.S. and Pakistan. Pakistan responded by reopening the border crossing.
____
Abbot reported from Islamabad. Associated Press writers Anwarullah Khan in Khar, Pakistan, Matiullah Achakzai in Chaman and Deb Reichmann in Kabul, Afghanistan contributed to this report.
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Vending machine offers DIY banners at Dutch airport
AMSTERDAM?? Ever wanted to meet and greet your loved ones at the airport to be sure they don't miss you in the crowds?
Then try Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, which now has the world's first vending machine capable of printing out personalized giant canvas banners in just a few minutes.
You can pick your message, whether that is "Missed you Mummy," "I love you," "Will you marry me?," or anything else that makes you stand out from the crowd, choose the font and background design, pay between four and 15 euros ($19.98)depending on the length of the banner, and hit the button.
"We came up with the idea because when we were at the airport we'd see all these people welcoming their friends and family with their own banners made of bed sheets and we thought what a hassle using sheets, wouldn't it just be easier to make the banner at the airport," BannerXpress's co-founder Thibaud Bruna told Reuters Thursday.
Bruna's first machine, which was three years in the making, made its debut at Schiphol Thursday. If the waterproof banners prove popular, he hopes to install the vending machines in other locations.
"We hope have them in other airports, but also in stadiums for sporting and music events," Bruna said.
(Reporting By Roberta B. Cowan, editing by Paul Casciato)
Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45429522/ns/travel-destination_travel/
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[OOC] Pens and Pencils {REMAKE}
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This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Pens and Pencils {REMAKE}"
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Please post all "Players Wanted" threads in the Roleplayers Wanted forum!
This topic is an Out Of Character part of the roleplay, ?Pens and Pencils {REMAKE}?. Anything posted here will also show up there.Topic Tags:
Forum for completely Out of Character (OOC) discussion, based around whatever is happening In Character (IC). Discuss plans, storylines, and events; Recruit for your roleplaying game, or find a GM for your playergroup.This is the auto-generated OOC topic for the roleplay "Pens and Pencils {REMAKE}"
You may edit this first post as you see fit.
You're just jealous because the voices talk to me. XP
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KeiraHigurashi - Member for 0 years
reserve female two? the pencils
Last edited by asylumoftears on Sat Nov 26, 2011 4:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.-melle[darkesthour]
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asylumoftears - Member for 1 years
Alright, I'll go reserve her for you.
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KeiraHigurashi - Member for 0 years
Can I reserve INK female 2?
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Aixulram - Member for 0 years
Can I reserve Male 2 in the Pencils?
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SolrSurfr3 - Member for 1 years
Can I reserve Male 2 in the INK?
I play trombone as well, so hopefully this character will turn out pretty good. xDD
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Thadine - Member for 0 years
Sure you can.
And actually, I play trombone too. ^^ That's why the first time I tried this roleplay I got a little sad that no one wanted to pick the trombone player...
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KeiraHigurashi - Member for 0 years
xD
I'm just learning to play in band, I'm better at Clarinet and Piano, but it's pretty fun.
Anyways, I won't be here tonight or tomorrow, so maybe on Monday I'll work on him.
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Thadine - Member for 0 years
Return to Out of Character
Post a reply
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Saturday, November 26, 2011
Lukoil's Q3 profit drops 20 pct to $2.2 billion (AP)
MOSCOW ? Russia's second-largest oil producer Lukoil said Friday that its third-quarter profit dropped 20 percent because of higher taxes and a slump in the ruble.
The Moscow-based company said Friday that the $570 million decline to $2.2 billion had been caused by the depreciation of the Russian ruble. This includes $340 million it spent on tax on foreign currency translation gain.
The Russian ruble, battered by turmoil on European markets, lost about 15 percent of its value against the U.S. dollar between June 30 and September 30 at the MICEX stock exchange.
Lukoil said its net income was affected by writing down the costs of drilling exploratory wells.
The decline in profit stands in contrast to a 26 percent hike in revenues between July and September, to $34.6 billion from $26.5 billion.
The company said its strict financial discipline and efficient costs management helped them generate a cash flow of $7.7 billion in the nine months of the year against slightly under $7 billion a year ago.
Oil analysts at the Moscow-based UralSib investment bank said in a note to investors earlier this week that it expected the results to be worse that of other Russian oil companies, but said it does not expect Lukoil to underperform in the future.
"Compared to its Russian peers, Lukoil is much more exposed to international product markets where product prices are more flexible than on domestic market," UralSib said in the note.
Lukoil's shares were up 2.3 percent at the MICEX, outperforming the market.
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Packers beat Lions 27-15 to improve to 11-0
DETROIT (AP) ? Aaron Rodgers took every hit the Detroit Lions could dish out.
He just kept throwing ? and winning.
Rodgers threw two touchdown passes and the Green Bay Packers built a big lead in the third quarter thanks in part to Ndamukong Suh's ejection during a 27-15 victory in Detroit on Thursday.
Detroit's best chance to beat the Packers was to knock Rodgers out of the game, just as it did last year in a victory that started a nine-game winning streak.
The Lions gave that tactic a shot, hitting him even if he had already gotten rid of the ball. Kyle Vanden Bosch was flagged for one of those late hits and could've drawn another penalty for trying to rough up the star quarterback even more on the same drive.
Rodgers refused to be rattled, kept his cool and won ? again.
"We try to rise above things like that," Rodgers said. "We knew in a rivalry game, there are going to be a hard of hard hits, but we kept things between the whistles."
The defending champion Packers are 11-0 for the first time in franchise history and have won a team-record 17 straight, including the playoffs.
"I don't feel any pressure, this is a good place to be," coach Mike McCarthy said. "Who doesn't want to be 11-0?"
Green Bay easily passed what was expected to be one of its toughest tests toward joining the 2007 New England Patriots as the NFL's only teams to have 16-0 regular seasons.
"We're a long way from there," Rodgers said. "This is a big step toward our first goal, which is winning the division. If we are undefeated after 14 or 15 games, we'll talk about 16."
While the Packers are working on a perfect season, Detroit (7-4) has to figure out a way to avoid the physical and mental mistakes that have put the team on the playoff bubble after a 5-0 start.
The Lions have lost a franchise-record eight consecutive Thanksgiving games and added to their misery in ugly fashion.
"It really does ruin the holiday," center Dominic Raiola said. "You put so much into this and to go out there and lay an egg like that, it's disappointing. My day's ruined."
Suh's day might lead to another fine ? and possibly a suspension.
He was tossed for stomping on Evan Dietrich-Smith's right arm in the third quarter.
Suh insisted he didn't intentionally step on the opposing lineman with his right foot, saying he was just trying to separate himself from the situation.
"I apologize to my teammates and my fans and my coaches for putting myself in a position to be misinterpreted and taken out of the game," Suh said.
Dietrich-Smith wouldn't say it was a dirty play.
"Stuff happens," he said.
Green Bay defensive end Ryan Pickett was more outspoken.
"There's no place for that," Pickett said.
The Packers took advantage of Suh's misstep just as they did on Matthew Stafford's three interceptions.
John Kuhn followed nose tackle B.J. Raji for a 1-yard TD plunge after Suh was flagged on third down, and Green Bay turned Stafford's interceptions into two TDs and a field goal.
Detroit became the NFL's first team to win three games in a season after trailing by 17 points with Sunday's comeback win over Carolina, but the Packers proved they weren't as vulnerable as the Panthers.
The Lions finally scored when Keiland Williams ran for a 16-yard TD with 13:11 left and added the 2-point conversion on a pass from Stafford to Titus Young that trimmed Green Bay's lead to 16. They scored a meaningless TD on Stafford's 3-yard pass to Calvin Johnson with 11 seconds left.
Detroit had raised expectations for a competitive and entertaining game during its annual showcase after losing the last seven games by three-plus TDs on average.
The Lions kept it close early ? in a punt- and penalty-filled first half ? then simply couldn't keep up with Rodgers' passing attack and failed to stay disciplined.
A game that was scoreless for the first 25 minutes turned into a 24-0 lead for Green Bay late in the third.
"You have to keep your composure," Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson said. "In big games, you need your best players there.
"They broke and we took advantage of it."
Rodgers doesn't need any help, but he did get an assist when Detroit lost three defensive backs to injuries, leaving the Lions with receiver Rashied Davis in the secondary.
Rodgers was 22 of 32 for 307 yards. He threw a 3-yard TD pass to Greg Jennings with 4:51 left in the first half for the first score of the game and a 65-yard pass to James Jones in the third for a 21-0 lead.
Stafford was 32 of 45 for 276 yards. He was picked off by Woodson, Clay Matthews and Robert Francois.
Despite the humbling loss, Stafford remained confident about how his team stacks up with the Packers.
"I still do feel like we match up really well against those guys," he said. "We didn't play our best. We didn't get a bunch of breaks."
Green Bay's winning streak, including its run in the 2010 playoffs, equals the streak the Oakland Raiders had during the 1976-77 seasons.
New England won 18 straight during the 2007 season only to lose to the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.
The Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints were the last teams to start a season 11-0, pulling off the feat two years ago.
"We know we have something special, 12-0 is our goal," Pickett said. "And if 16-0 is there when we get there we'll embrace that."
NOTES: Packers RB James Starks (ankle), LB A.J. Hawk (calf), LB Desmond Bishop (calf) and OG Josh Sitton (knee) were injured. ... RB Kevin Smith (right ankle), FS Louis Delmas (knee), CB Chris Houston (knee) and CB Brandon McDonald (knee) went down for Detroit. ... Green Bay's next game is on the road against the New York Giants and Detroit plays at New Orleans.
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Friday, November 25, 2011
Political ties with violent Nigeria sect alleged (AP)
LAGOS, Nigeria ? Powerful politicians helped form a radical Muslim sect responsible for hundreds of killings this year in Nigeria to seize control of regional power and oil money, authorities allege, but now may have lost control of the monster they created.
The State Security Service said it made a breakthrough in uncovering support for the extremist group Boko Haram when it arrested Ali Sanda Umar Konduga, who the agency said was one of several spokesmen for Boko Haram. The secret police agency described Konduga as a "political thug" who received orders from a member of Nigeria's parliament.
Konduga, who purportedly used the nom de guerre al-Zawahiri when speaking on Boko Haram's behalf, allegedly implicated a member of the National Assembly in the group's activities. Konduga's nickname derives from al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, though Boko Haram has no known direct ties with his group.
On Tuesday, authorities arrested and arraigned Sen. Mohammed Ali Ndume of Nigeria's ruling People's Democratic Party for allegedly being Konduga's sponsor. The senator belonged to a committee looking at possible peace talks with Boko Haram.
The arrest rattled Nigeria's Senate, which held a hasty closed-door meeting Tuesday. Sen. Enyinnaya Abaribe, who serves as a spokesman for the legislative body, said the lawmakers discussed "the security situation" but declined to give details.
Abaribe said he is waiting to see proof from police that Ndume is involved with Boko Haram, a terrorist group that carried out a suicide bomb attack on the U.N. headquarters in Nigeria's capital on Aug. 26 that killed 24.
"It's still an allegation and investigations are going on," Abaribe told African Independent Television. "We are encouraging the security agencies to continue with their investigation."
Rufai Ahmed Alkali, a spokesman for the ruling party, did not respond to requests for comment.
Konduga on Monday also implicated a former Nigerian ambassador, now dead, as well as a former governor in Nigeria's northeast in Boko Haram's creation.
Konduga told journalists that Boko Haram expelled him some time ago, suggesting he and his supposed political masters have fallen out of favor with an organization that is increasingly violent and strident. The sect has several spokesmen and Konduga himself hadn't given any statement on the group's behalf for some time.
"The group suspended me because they thought I was an agent of the State Security Service," Konduga said.
Boko Haram has splintered into three factions, with one wing increasingly willing to kill as it maintains contact with terrorist groups in North Africa and Somalia, diplomats and security sources say.
With that wing viewing a wide variety of people and institutions as potential targets, even politicians with ties to Boko Haram can no longer consider themselves safe. Politicians in Maiduguri, the city that is Boko Haram's spiritual home, and other places in the northeast now surround themselves with security and live in apparent fear of the sect.
Politicians in Nigeria long have been rumored to have ties to militants. In the country's southern Niger Delta, where foreign oil firms extract an estimated 2.4 million barrels of crude a day, politicians hand out Kalashnikov rifles to those who help rig elections in their favor. Many of those weapons and gunmen became the part of the militant and criminal gangs kidnapping oil workers and targeting pipelines.
Boko Haram began the same way, as "politically (and) criminally minded field marshals" began arming youths to keep their hands on the reins of power in northeast Nigeria, said Khalifa Dikwa, a professor at the University of Maiduguri. At stake is control of power at the state level in Nigeria, incredibly lucrative positions that control budgets larger than those of neighboring nations thanks to the nation's oil wealth.
The political scene in the northeast is dominated by the All Nigeria People's Party, which Ndume ? the arrested senator ? once belonged to before joining the ruling party. Little is known about the sources of Boko Haram's support, though its members recently began carrying out a wave of bank robberies in the north. Police stations have also been bombed and officers killed.
Boko Haram's attacks and its factional splits make it much more difficult for the national government to arrive at a political solution or an amnesty. The group's main demand is not one the government is likely to bend to in a nation that is split into a Muslim north and a Christian south.
While the Niger Delta militants agreed to lay down their guns for money and the promise of work, Boko Haram wants the strict implementation of Shariah law across the nation of more than 160 million people.
Boko Haram was thought to have been eradicated in 2009 after its leader was killed and its mosques left in ruins. However, the group has staged increasingly brazen attacks over the last two years, including the attack on the U.N. headquarters in Abuja. This month, its fighters led an attack on a northeast Nigeria state capital that killed more than 100 people ? and they still appear ready to kill at will.
"A look at the government's responses shows that it has found it difficult to eradicate Boko Haram but worryingly so, the group seems to be reinventing itself and its strategies," the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies warned in a report this month.
___
Jon Gambrell can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.
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Germany's auction flop adds to European debt fears (AP)
BERLIN ? Germany failed to raise as much money as it hoped in its latest bond auction, in a surprising sign that Europe's biggest economy may not be immune from a debt crisis raging across the continent
A fresh warning that France risks losing its top-notch credit rating and more verbal jousting between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the EU's top executive arm also fueled concerns that the bloc is losing the battle to contain a debt crisis that's already seen three countries bailed out and is threatening much-bigger economies like Italy and Spain.
However, it was the unexpected news that Germany, Europe's biggest economy and the linchpin of the bailouts, suffered one of its worst bond auctions ever that really caught the eye. The country's Financial Agency said its latest euro6 billion ($8.1 billion) auction of 10-year bonds met with only 60 percent demand.
German officials cited a record-low yield and the extraordinarily nervous market environment for the auction's failure, but investors took it as a warning sign that the crisis might even cause trouble to rock-solid Germany.
"If Germany can't sell bonds, what is the rest of Europe going to do?," asked Benjamin Reitzes, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets.
The auction result hit stocks hard, including in the U.S., and sent the euro sliding to seven-week dollar lows. By early evening, it was trading 1.2 percent lower on the day at $1.3354.
It also piled the pressure on Germany's bonds in the secondary markets, sending the yield on the country's benchmark ten-year bonds up a hefty 0.20 percentage point to 2.08 percent, its highest level since Oct. 28.
Germany, the world's fourth-largest economy, is seen as the 17-nation eurozone's most stable pillar and its borrowing rates have been driven down in recent months by high demand from investors seeking shelter from the sprawling debt crisis.
That may partly explain why it suffered what many in the markets are describing as a "failed auction" ? investors may be beginning to think twice about whether the returns on offer are appealing.
Offering only 1.98 percent, the auction's yield was the lowest-ever for Germany's ten-year bond. Germany offered an interest rate of up to 3.25 percent at previous auctions of 10-year-bonds this year.
Even so, analysts called the result worrying, though the German government stressed that its refinancing was not at risk. Having sold off only euro3.9 billion, the agency retained the remainder, to be sold off another day.
"The result does not represent any refinancing squeeze for the emitter," the agency said.
Though Germany is widely-lauded as a model for other eurozone economies, its debt burden is relatively high, by historical standards at about 81 percent of GDP, so it continually has to tap bond market investors for fresh funds. As a result, it won't want to get in the habit of having too many failed auctions.
One advantage Germany has over practically most European economies is that it's triple A credit rating is not at threat ? unlike France's. Though France has seen the yield on its ten-year bond rise in recent days to around 3.65 percent, way ahead of Germany's equivalent 2 percent, it's still much lower than the near 7 percent rates that have provoked such turmoil in Italy of late.
On Wednesday, Fitch warned that Europe's second biggest economy is at risk of losing its cherished top-grade if Europe's leaders fail to stop the debt crisis from worsening because a "further intensification" would result in a much sharper economic downturn in France and the European Union. Fitch's warning came two days after another rating agency, Moody's, delivered a similar message.
And there were few signs Wednesday that Europe's leaders were pointing in the same direction.
German Chancellor Merkel and the European Union's executive arm clashed openly on the need to issue common bonds uniting the 17 euro nations ? another sign that Europe is divided in dealing with its deepening debt crisis.
Jose Manuel Barroso, the head of the European Commission promoted the introduction of jointly issued eurobonds, coupled with stricter budgetary discipline, as the best way out of the debt crisis. Eurobonds, he said, "could bring tremendous benefits."
That's obviously not Merkel's view, who publicly poured cold water on the idea for the second day running ? calling the Commission's push "troubling" and "inappropriate."
She told lawmakers in Berlin that it was wrong to suggest that a "collectivization of the debt would allow us to overcome the currency union's structural flaws."
Germany has long opposed the use of eurobonds, instead calling on profligate member states to clean up their finances which would eventually enable them to borrow at lower rates again.
Proponents of eurobonds argue that they would immediately ease refinancing for weaker eurozone nations. For Germany, though, a pooling of its strength with the weaker members, would most likely to lead to higher borrowing costs.
Instead, Merkel reiterated her call for changes to the EU treaties to guarantee strict enforcement of fiscal and budgetary discipline as "a first step toward a fiscal union."
The easiest way for Europe to counter its debt problems would be for its economies to grow, automatically lowering its debt ratios and generating more revenues. But that hope was dashed yet again as a pair of indicators showed the bloc's economy as being in deep trouble.
The sense of an impending recession was evident in the findings of a closely watched survey from financial information company Markit. Its monthly survey showed that the eurozone contracted for the third month running in November and that the deteriorating economic picture is not just confined to debt-stressed countries such as Greece.
The survey suggests that the eurozone would contract at a quarterly rate of 0.6 percent in the fourth quarter and that the problems are increasingly spreading to Europe's two biggest economies, Germany and France, Markit said.
Further grim news emerged with a shock announcement that eurozone industrial orders collapsed by a massive 6.4 percent in September from the previous month.
Official figures last week showed that the eurozone only narrowly avoided contracting in the third quarter, growing by only 0.2 percent during the period.
___
Geir Moulson in Berlin, Raf Casert in Brussels and Greg Keller in Paris contributed to this report.
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Pope envoy: Rules for Legion-linked group invalid (AP)
VATICAN CITY ? The pope's envoy running the disgraced Legion of Christ religious order says the 1,000-plus rules governing the cult-like life of some of its members are invalid and will be whittled down to a core set of norms.
The rules that the Legion's consecrated women and men live under cover everything from how to eat a piece of bread (tear off bite-size pieces, don't bite into it) to what they can watch on television to how they interact with outsiders and family members.
Pope Benedict XVI took over the Legion last year after the order admitted its Mexican founder sexually abused seminarians and fathered three children. A Vatican investigation determined he was a fraud and discovered serious spiritual and psychological abuses within the Legion and its consecrated branch ? abuses the pope's delegate says he's now trying to fix.
The Legion scandal ranks as one of the worst in the 20th century Catholic Church since Pope John Paul II held the Legion's late founder the Rev. Marciel Maciel up as a model, even though the Vatican knew for over a decade about credible allegations he was a pedophile.
One of the greatest scandals concerning the Legion's consecrated members is that for years they were told that the 1,000-plus rules they lived by had been approved by the Vatican, when in fact only 128 general statutes had been approved.
Former members have complained that they were told that disobeying any one of the rules was tantamount to disobeying God's will ? a heavy onus that created an unhealthy striving for perfection over the most meaningless of norms.
But in a Nov. 21 letter, the pope's delegate for the Legion, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, said the rules had no legal status since they were never officially approved. He said a small commission would be formed soon to "extract" from the rules only those that are "strictly necessary" for the life and governance of the group.
This core set of rules will guide the consecrated until their whole governing statutes are revised, he wrote. Significantly, this revision process will be carried out almost independently of the Legion ? part of the autonomy De Paolis envisages for the consecrated members.
The rules aren't public but were at one point posted on Wikileaks. The etiquette norms specify how to eat specific types of food: an orange (with a knife and fork); spaghetti (cut, not rolled around a fork) and chicken (with a knife and fork, except on picnics when it can be eaten with fingers).
Members have defended the rules as a way to create unity in an international movement with people from different cultural and socio-economic backgrounds. Critics have said the excessiveness of rules masks a lack of spirituality and constitutes a red flag about the cult-like nature of the movement.
Mary DeGoede, a consecrated woman at the Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island, recently blogged about some of the "idiosyncrasies" of her life in the movement, including living in a dorm of 18 women and shooting out of bed at the crack of dawn.
"When was the last time you used a fork and knife to eat an orange? How about a buffalo wing?" she wrote on the movement's blog. "I find myself alternately amused and alarmed that this type of behavior no longer strikes me as the least bit strange."
She said her family and old friends tease her about the rules she follows "but I find these odd habits endearing. Maybe it's because they're a sign of the deep unity that underlies our life together."
The consecrated women live like nuns, teaching in Legion-run schools and running retreats, youth programs and other initiatives to raise money and attract new members to the Legion's lay branch Regnum Christi.
They have no legal status in the church, however, since they're not members of a religious order like nuns are and aren't members of an independent institute of consecrated life.
In his Nov. 21 letter, De Paolis said members must now reflect on what type of canonical status they should have as an autonomous movement from the Legion.
Some "dissident" Legion priests and many former Legionary priests have complained that De Paolis isn't moving decisively enough to reform the order and that none of the Legion's superiors have been disciplined for having covered up for Maciel.
Dozens of priests, more than 200 seminarians and hundreds of consecrated women have left the movement since the scandal broke in 2009.
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Thursday, November 24, 2011
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Spain's new government faces first test (Reuters)
MADRID (Reuters) ? Prime Minister-elect Mariano Rajoy faces the first test on Tuesday of whether markets have been reassured by his conservative party's sweeping election victory when Spain tries to sell up to 3 billion euros ($4 billion) of short-term government debt.
Investors had hoped for a clear victory for Rajoy's People's Party, which has promised tough measures to tackle the worst economic crisis in decades, but there has been little relief on the markets since his landslide victory.
Spain's borrowing costs are still close to levels that forced Greece and Portugal into an international bailout and Madrid remains at the center of the euro zone debt maelstrom.
Investors are frustrated by a lack of detail on Rajoy's plans and he showed no sign of hurrying after his victory on Sunday, saying he will keep impatient markets and edgy Spaniards guessing until he is sworn in just before Christmas.
Signs before the auction around 0940 GMT were not encouraging with yields on the 3-month bill on the secondary market more than double those recorded at the previous primary auction last month, making short-term financing costs the highest in 14-years.
The People's Party (PP), voted in by a sweeping majority on Sunday as angry voters dumped the ruling Socialists, is not expected to take power formally until around December 20, under an agonizingly long transition required by Spanish law.
Rajoy says he will hold his first cabinet meeting on December 23, and has resisted pressure to at least give some crumbs to nervous investors on precisely what he intends to do to cut the deficit and restore market confidence.
The PP's manifesto was short on policy detail, as Rajoy sat back and relied on anger over a grinding crisis that has put one in five Spaniards out of work--the highest rate in the European Union -- to rocket him to the biggest election win in 30 years.
"The need for immediate action from the new government is pressing, with Spain's bond yields at punishingly high levels," said IHS Global Insight economist Raj Badiani.
REFORMS
The new government plans to introduce three reforms in its first cabinet meeting to tackle these key areas, Expansion newspaper reported on Tuesday citing PP sources.
The measures will tighten budgetary limits on Spain's over-spending regional governments, force banks to acknowledge losses on toxic real estate assets on their balance sheets and speed up reform of the country's rigid labor market, the paper said.
Rajoy, offered close co-operation by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a phone call after his victory, says he will also wait until just before Christmas to name the new economy minister.
Before the elections, he pleaded with markets to give him 'preferably more than half an hour' to get his cabinet and program in place.
Spain is paying investors close to 7 percent interest to hold its 10-year bonds, a rate considered unsustainable over any length of time.
After Greece, Ireland and Portugal had to ask for bailouts, the escalating euro zone crisis has spread right to its center with Italy and France's also now under pressure.
Once he does take power, unlike many of his predecessors, Rajoy will have a free hand with an absolute majority that enables him to govern without making deals with parties in Spain's autonomous regions to pass unpopular measures.
But the austerity measures he will take could make things worse before they get better as Spain slides toward the second recession in two years and the dole queues of 5 million unemployed are likely to get longer.
Many Spaniards expect renewed protests on the streets as his measures begin to bite. ($1 = 0.7425 euros)
(Additional reporting by Paul Day, writing by Barry Moody)
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Acupuncture generally safe in kids: report (Reuters)
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? Researchers who reviewed reports of acupuncture in kids have concluded that the treatment seems safe for the under-18 crowd -- but added that more evidence would be helpful to ensure that's the case.
Although there were some instances of serious infections and other hospitalizations after a procedure gone wrong, an acupuncture expert said that when qualified practitioners are using the needles, there's very little risk involved.
"When you're dealing with children, you really would like to know about safety before you go ahead and try a new therapy," said Dr. Sunita Vohra, from the University of Alberta in Edmonton, who worked on the study.
That's especially true, she added, "if you're not sure about effectiveness" of a treatment.
Acupuncture is used as an alternative therapy for a range of conditions, including pain, headaches and constipation, but few large, long-term studies have examined either its effectiveness or its safety in youngsters.
Still, "Based on the available evidence, in trained hands, acupuncture is safe for children," Vohra said.
The review paper, published Monday in Pediatrics, includes data from 37 studies. Those range from "gold standard" randomized trials that compared side effects with acupuncture and other treatments, to single reports of acupuncture-related illness and injury.
In an analysis of 1,422 kids and teens getting acupuncture for a variety of ailments, there were "mild" side effects in 168 of them, or about 12 percent. Those included pain, bruising or numbness.
More serious side effects, noted 25 times in the reports, included a case of a 17-year-old French boy who was diagnosed with HIV after acupuncture treatment for tendonitis, a 16-year-old Japanese boy who had nerve problems when more than 70 needles were left in his body -- including one in the spine -- and 12 thumb deformities at one Chinese center in the 1980's.
"There's some pretty unusual circumstances," Vohra told Reuters Health. "Those sorts of things don't really seem to happen now under modern-day circumstances."
"If practitioners had good training before, this kind of thing should completely be avoided," agreed Dr. Adeline Ge, senior Chinese medicine consultant with the U.S. National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.
She added that acupuncture isn't recommended for kids younger than two.
Acupuncturists are regulated differently in different states, Vohra said, and some national and state-wide organizations have lists of trained, certified practitioners.
Ge, who wasn't involved in the new study, said that for parents, there are ways to make sure kids are getting safe, appropriate treatment.
First, they can get a recommendation from their kid's pediatrician for a local, qualified acupuncturist. Then, "before they make an appointment, they definitely need to talk with the acupuncturist and discuss the medical condition. No matter the kid's (age), I do highly recommend that the parents go with the kids, so parents can at least observe," she told Reuters Health.
Parents should especially make sure that the needles the practitioner is using are clean, and that kids' skin has been cleaned as well. Also, they should be wary of acupuncturists that offer very cheap appointments. The typical cost for a first session varies but starts at around $100, Ge added.
"In general, acupuncture is a very safe therapy," she concluded. "It should be good for kids. But consider their age, and we do need to be very careful and recommend that the parents are always involved."
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/jsoh2P Pediatrics, online November 21, 2011.
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