Monday, November 28, 2011

Egypt's post-Mubarak poll peaceful, high turnout (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egyptians voted Monday in the first election since a popular revolt toppled Hosni Mubarak's one-man rule, showing new-found faith in the ballot box that may sweep long-banned Islamists into parliament even as army generals cling to power.

Voters swarmed to the polls in a generally peaceful atmosphere despite the unrest that marred the election run-up, when 42 people were killed in protests demanding an immediate transition from military to civilian rule.

"We want to make a difference, although we are depressed by what the country has come to," said Maha Amin, a 46-year-old pharmacy lecturer, before she voted in an upscale Cairo suburb.

The ruling army council, which has already extended polling to a second day, kept voting stations open an extra two hours until 9 p.m. "to accommodate the high voter turnout."

The Muslim Brotherhood's party and other Islamists expect to do well in the parliamentary election staggered over the next six weeks, but much remains uncertain in Egypt's complex and unfamiliar voting system of party lists and individuals.

Political transformation in Egypt, traditional leader of the Arab world, will reverberate across the Middle East, where a new generation demanding democratic change has already toppled or challenged the leaders of Tunisia, Libya, Syria and Yemen.

Parliament's lower house will be Egypt's first nationally elected body since Mubarak's fall and those credentials alone may enable it to dilute the military's monopoly of power.

A high turnout throughout the election would give it legitimacy. Despite a host of reported electoral violations and lax supervision exploited by some groups, election monitors reported no systematic Mubarak-style campaign to rig the polls.

"We are very happy to be part of the election," said first-time Cairo voter Wafa Zaklama, 55. "What was the point before?"

In the northern city of Alexandria, 34-year-old engineer Walid Atta rejoiced in the occasion. "This is the first real election in 30 years. Egyptians are making history," he said.

ISLAMISTS SCENT POWER

Oppressed under Mubarak, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamist parties have stood aloof from those challenging army rule in Cairo's Tahrir Square and elsewhere, unwilling to let anything obstruct a vote that may bring them closer to power.

In the Nile Delta city of Damietta, some voters said they would punish the Brotherhood for its perceived opportunism.

Nevertheless, the Brotherhood has formidable advantages that include a disciplined organization, name recognition among a welter of little-known parties and years of opposing Mubarak.

Brotherhood organizers stood near many voting stations with laptops, offering to guide confused voters, printing out a paper identifying the correct polling booth and showing their Freedom and Justice Party candidate's name and symbol on the back.

"At least they are not giving people fruit inside the polling station," said Mouna Zuffakar, of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, noting widespread breaches of a ban on campaigning near polling stations.

Many voters engaged in lively political debate as they waited patiently in long queues.

"Aren't the army officers the ones who protected us during the revolution?" one woman asked loudly at a polling station in Cairo's Nasr City, referring to the army's role in easing Mubarak from power. "What do those slumdogs in Tahrir want?"

One man replied: "Those in Tahrir are young men and women who are the reason why a 61-year-old man like me voted in a parliamentary election for the first time in his life today."

The world is closely watching the election, keen for stability in Egypt, which has a peace treaty with Israel, owns the Suez Canal linking Europe and Asia, and which in Mubarak's time was an ally in countering Islamist militants in the region.

Washington and its European allies have urged the generals to step aside swiftly and make way for civilian rule.

The U.S. ambassador to Cairo, Anne Patterson, congratulated Egyptians "on what appeared to be a very large turnout on this very historic occasion." British ambassador James Watt told Reuters the election was "an important milestone in Egypt's democratic transition" that seemed to have gone smoothly so far.

SEGREGATED VOTING

In Alexandria and elsewhere, men and women voted in separate queues, a reminder of the conservative religious fabric of Egypt's mainly Muslim society, where Coptic Christians comprise 10 percent of a population of more than 80 million.

Myriad parties have emerged since the fall of Mubarak, who fixed elections to ensure his now-defunct National Democratic Party dominated parliament. The NDP's headquarters, torched in the popular revolt, still stands like a tombstone by the Nile.

Individual winners are to be announced Wednesday, but many contests will go to a run-off vote on December 5. List results will not be declared until after the election ends on January 11.

About 17 million Egyptians are eligible to vote in the first two-day phase of three rounds of polling for the lower house.

Egyptians seemed enthused by the novelty of a vote where the outcome was, for a change, not a foregone conclusion.

"It's easy to predict this will be a higher turnout than any recent election in Egypt," said Les Campbell, of the Washington-based National Democratic Institute. "We are seeing clear signs of voter excitement and participation."

The army council has promised civilian rule by July after the parliamentary vote and a presidential poll, now expected in June -- much sooner than previously envisaged.

But one of its members said Sunday the new parliament could not remove a cabinet appointed by the army.

Kamal Ganzouri, named by the army Friday to form a new government, said he had met the ruling army council Monday to discuss setting up a "civilian advisory committee" to work with his new cabinet, which he said could be unveiled by Thursday.

Polling day calm was reflected on financial markets battered by this month's unrest. The cost of insuring Egyptian debt edged lower, with five-year credit default swaps slipping 10 basis points to 539. The Egyptian pound, which last week hit its lowest point since January 2005, held steady.

(Additional reporting by Edmund Blair, Maha El Dahan and Tom Perry in Cairo, Marwa Awad in Alexandria, Shaimaa Fayed in Damietta, Yusri Mohamed in Port Said and Jonathan Wright in Fayoum; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Peter Millership)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111128/wl_nm/us_egypt_election

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Swedish people are quick to adopt JoVE, a video journal for biomedical sciences

Swedish people are quick to adopt JoVE, a video journal for biomedical sciences [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
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Contact: Katherine Scott
katherine.scott@jove.com
617-820-1817
The Journal of Visualized Experiments

Academic institutions in Sweden are among the quickest to adopt a novel biomedical science publication, the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), with over 35 percent of institutions subscribing and contributing content to the journal. One explanation for this phenomenon is that Swedes are among the fastest people in the world to embrace new technologies.

"I think we are a very curious people and interested in new things," said Dr. Caroline Kampf, a researcher from Uppsala University in Sweden who is in the process of publishing an article in JoVE. "I think that we are very interested in innovative things."

There are several metrics to support this, including the Connectivity Scorecard report, created in 2008 by London Business School Professor Leonard Waverman. According to last year's report, Swedes are the world's foremost users of information technology, overtaking the United States and leaving Norway in third place.

With new developments in information technology have come new advances in scientific publication, and Swedes have been quick to catch on. JoVE, the latest innovation in academic publishing, is the first and only peer reviewed video journal indexed in PubMed and MEDLINE. Watching experimental procedures, as opposed to simply reading the text, enables researchers to learn and teach new technologies faster and more effectively. This increases productivity in biological sciences and education at academic institutions.

Dr. Jens Sundstrom, an Associate Professor at Uppsala University, published an open access article in JoVE in 2009, about an experimental methodology used in plant biology research. He now uses the video to teach the technique to his graduate students.

"In the video we aimed to show certain steps which is difficult to do just with reading, and it is a bit of a time-saver for me, because I don't have to show them," said Dr. Sundstrom. "I think it is good for them to have the video to refer back to because when you are a grad student, you have to figure out a lot of things on your own, so it's a help."

"Sweden is one of the world leaders in technology and science, and we are not surprised that JoVE's innovative approach to science publishing has been adopted by top academic institutions in that country," said JoVE CEO and co-founder, Dr. Moshe Pritsker.

###

About The Journal of Visualized Experiments:

The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is the first and only Pubmed and Medline indexed academic journal devoted to publishing research in the biological sciences in video format. Using an international network of videographers, JoVE films and edits videos of researchers performing new experimental techniques at top universities, allowing students and scientists to learn them much more quickly. As of September 2011 JoVE has released 55 monthly issues including over 1300 video-protocols on experimental approaches in developmental biology, neuroscience, microbiology and other fields.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Swedish people are quick to adopt JoVE, a video journal for biomedical sciences [ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 28-Nov-2011
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Katherine Scott
katherine.scott@jove.com
617-820-1817
The Journal of Visualized Experiments

Academic institutions in Sweden are among the quickest to adopt a novel biomedical science publication, the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), with over 35 percent of institutions subscribing and contributing content to the journal. One explanation for this phenomenon is that Swedes are among the fastest people in the world to embrace new technologies.

"I think we are a very curious people and interested in new things," said Dr. Caroline Kampf, a researcher from Uppsala University in Sweden who is in the process of publishing an article in JoVE. "I think that we are very interested in innovative things."

There are several metrics to support this, including the Connectivity Scorecard report, created in 2008 by London Business School Professor Leonard Waverman. According to last year's report, Swedes are the world's foremost users of information technology, overtaking the United States and leaving Norway in third place.

With new developments in information technology have come new advances in scientific publication, and Swedes have been quick to catch on. JoVE, the latest innovation in academic publishing, is the first and only peer reviewed video journal indexed in PubMed and MEDLINE. Watching experimental procedures, as opposed to simply reading the text, enables researchers to learn and teach new technologies faster and more effectively. This increases productivity in biological sciences and education at academic institutions.

Dr. Jens Sundstrom, an Associate Professor at Uppsala University, published an open access article in JoVE in 2009, about an experimental methodology used in plant biology research. He now uses the video to teach the technique to his graduate students.

"In the video we aimed to show certain steps which is difficult to do just with reading, and it is a bit of a time-saver for me, because I don't have to show them," said Dr. Sundstrom. "I think it is good for them to have the video to refer back to because when you are a grad student, you have to figure out a lot of things on your own, so it's a help."

"Sweden is one of the world leaders in technology and science, and we are not surprised that JoVE's innovative approach to science publishing has been adopted by top academic institutions in that country," said JoVE CEO and co-founder, Dr. Moshe Pritsker.

###

About The Journal of Visualized Experiments:

The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) is the first and only Pubmed and Medline indexed academic journal devoted to publishing research in the biological sciences in video format. Using an international network of videographers, JoVE films and edits videos of researchers performing new experimental techniques at top universities, allowing students and scientists to learn them much more quickly. As of September 2011 JoVE has released 55 monthly issues including over 1300 video-protocols on experimental approaches in developmental biology, neuroscience, microbiology and other fields.



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2011-11/tjov-spa112811.php

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Wall Street rebounds after six losing sessions (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks rose on Friday, on course to snap a six-session losing streak, as a buoyant start to the holiday shopping season helped offset fears about the euro zone's debt crisis after another leap in Italian bond yields.

Reinforcing what some see as recent signs of strength in the U.S. economy, shoppers stateside flocked to stores, which opened early to offer a jumpstart to "Black Friday," the traditional beginning to the U.S. holiday shopping season. The S&P Retail index (.RLX) rose 0.4 percent.

"Anecdotally it seems that Black Friday is off to a positive start," said Todd Salamone, director of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Europe will continue to predominate, he said. "We may have days when the U.S. market separates itself for whatever reason, but everything is about Europe right now."

Yields on Italy's debt approached recent highs that sparked a sell-off in world markets. Italy paid a record 6.5 percent to borrow money over six months on Friday, and its longer-term funding costs soared far above levels seen as sustainable for public finances.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) gained 53.32 points, or 0.47 percent, to 11,310.87. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) rose 6.47 points, or 0.56 percent, to 1,168.26. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) added 9.50 points, or 0.39 percent, to 2,469.58.

Friday's moves looked to steer indexes away from ending with a second consecutive week of losses. The S&P 500 had lost almost 4 percent this week and given back almost two-thirds of its gains in October, the market's best month in 20 years.

A European Union conference in Strasbourg produced little to ease the markets fears, said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Rockwell Global Capital in New York.

"What they agreed to was not bickering in public," he said. "The markets are going to continue to pressure the EU until they come up with a solution that is going to ease the crisis."

For many investors that means the European Central Bank printing euros to buy larger amounts of European bonds and for Germany to accept the issuance of euro bonds. Germany currently opposes both of those options.

U.S. stock markets, closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday, will end trading on Friday at 1 p.m. The day after Thanksgiving is typically one of the lightest trading volume days of the year.

(Editing by Padraic Cassidy)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111125/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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US court won't block its Texas redistricting map (San Jose Mercury News)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166528536?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Sunday, November 27, 2011

US to investigate deadly NATO airstrike in Pakistan, lawmakers call for tough diplomacy (Star Tribune)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/166961981?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Primpalicious Gifts for the Obsessive Groomer [Gift Guide]

He takes longer than your girlfriend to get ready. Zac Efron hair is his Holy Grail. Somehow you're still friends, so help him preen with a gift that will blow his vain brain away. More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/KPQf9mOdDsk/primp+master-gifts-for-the-obsessive-groomer

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The Myth of Renewable Energy

A great deal more austerity. However, it makes a rather weak argument about a very real trade off problem, that problem is the water-energy trade off problem. In almost all forms of energy generation, it is not usable energy that is created directly, instead, heat is generated, the heat is used to do work, and the work is used to store the energy. So, the classic steam turbine has water heated to gas, and the resulting steam spins the turbine, and that carries wires through a magnetic field, which generates a corresponding electrical current, and that current is sent down wires. Another water energy trade off is to have wind turbines pump water up a shaft, which then is allowed to fall, spinning turbines, when power is needed. Bio-fuels, the same way: water is used to grow plants, the plants fix sunlight into hydrocarbons.

The solution to the water energy problem is more energy, because energy can be used to get water. This, however, lowers the Life Cycle Output of the energy system. LCO or LCA is the expected usable energy out, divided by the expected usable energy used to create and run a system. So if a system produces 10 watts for every watt it takes to build, run, and dispose of it, then its LCA is 10. The 20th century got by on a miracle: namely petroleum has a high LCA, and its its own storage mechanism. Gasoline has great power to weight storage capacities with internal combustion. And internal combustion engines can be built of very cheap metals. There are many quandaries in replacing hydro-carbon energy, and the water energy trade off that the piece mentions is one of them, but it is one of scale. Once there is a large enough renewable base, then the low LCA that getting the water to run it has, is not a problem. It is at the beginning, when the return is eaten through by the water problem, because there are competing uses for water that have much higher economic returns in the short run, such as airconditioning and agriculture. None of these uses want to pay much higher rates for water so that people not yet born can have the advantages.

Where the article falls down is pressing an agenda, and making sloppy equivalences. The first is equating capital requirements with expendable requirements: we don't burn the rare earths we use in kinetic energy extraction ? that is water, wind, and geothermal ? and in fact, rare earths, are not, as a percentage of the earth's crust, all that rare. For example, wikipedia has this chart [wikipedia.org]. It shows that all of the Lanthanide rare earths, plus scandium and yttrium, are more common than either gold or silver, many are more common than tin, and some more common than lead. The problem with them is that they tend to be found near the Actinide rare earths, particularly Thorium. If you have seen a press for "Thorium reactors" it is because exploitation of rare earths leads to Thorium by product, and reactors which burn it would be fantastically profitable, for the people who sell the rare earths. In reality, they have the same problems, only more so, of actively cooled salt reactors. Namely, they work until they blow up. The Chinese dump their Thorium in a holding lack, which, should it break, would contaminate large areas of land and volumes of water.

Side note: how is it that a browser's spell check doesn't know Actinide?

But for all of that, rare earths are not burned, the way for example Lithuium is not burned in a battery and can be recycled. These are recyclable, which is different from consumable. Hence moving from consumption of hydrocarbons, which really are burned, to using rare earths in capital energy, is a positive step, and while the author of the paper implies that there would be rare earth shortages, the reality is that this is not the case, and substitutes in the form of ceramics and active magnets (See Rare Earth Prices Plunge as Manufacturers turn to substitutes [mining.com]

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/bqyGP34ukOc/the-myth-of-renewable-energy

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Saturday, November 26, 2011

JK Rowling says press left her feeling under siege (omg!)

In this image made from television, "Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who has campaigned to keep her children out of the media glare, gives evidence about media intrusion during a media ethics inquiry in London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to media regulation in Britain. (AP Photo/Parliamentary Recording Unit via APTN) NO ARCHIVES

LONDON (AP) ? Author J.K. Rowling has told a U.K. media ethics inquiry she felt under siege from intrusive journalists who staked out her house and went as far as to slip a letter into her 5-year-old daughter's school bag.

The creator of boy wizard Harry Potter says Thursday that media interest began shortly after the publication of her first novel in 1997, and soon escalated, with photographers and reporters frequently stationed outside her home.

Once, her daughter came home from primary school and Rowling found a letter from a journalist in her backpack. Rowling says she felt a huge sense of invasion at the move.

___

Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LONDON (AP) ? Actress Sienna Miller told a media ethics inquiry Thursday that she was left paranoid and scared by years of relentless tabloid pursuit that ranged from paparazzi outside her house to the hacking of her mobile phone.

Miller said the surveillance, and a stream of personal stories about her in the tabloids, led her to accuse friends and family of leaking information to the media. In fact, her cell phone voice mails had been hacked at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid.

Miller, 29, became a tabloid staple when she dated fellow actor Jude Law. She said the constant scrutiny left her feeling "very violated and very paranoid and anxious, constantly."

"I felt like I was living in some sort of video game," she said.

She called the paparazzi focus on her terrifying.

"For a number of years I was relentlessly pursued by 10 to 15 men, almost daily," she said. "Spat at, verbally abused.

"I would often find myself, at the age of 21, at midnight, running down a dark street on my own with 10 men chasing me. And the fact they had cameras in their hands made that legal."

Miller, the star of "Layer Cake" and "Alfie," was one of the first celebrities to take the News of the World to court over illegal eavesdropping. In May, the newspaper agreed to pay her 100,000 pounds ($160,000) to settle claims her phone had been hacked.

The newspaper's parent company now faces dozens of lawsuits from alleged hacking victims.

Miller, who looked confident as she gave evidence at London's Royal Courts of Justice, said challenging Murdoch's media conglomerate had been a difficult decision.

"I was very nervous about taking on an empire that was richer and far more powerful than I will ever be," she said. "It was very daunting."

"Harry Potter" author J.K. Rowling, who has campaigned to keep her children out of the media glare, is due to give evidence later Thursday about media intrusion.

Prime Minister David Cameron set up the inquiry amid a still-unfolding scandal over illegal eavesdropping by the Murdoch-owned tabloid. Murdoch closed down the News of the World in July after evidence emerged that it had illegally accessed the mobile phone voice mails of celebrities, politicians and even crime victims in its search of scoops.

More than a dozen News of the World journalists and editors have been arrested over allegations of illegal eavesdropping, and the scandal has also claimed the jobs of two top London police officers, Cameron's media adviser and several senior Murdoch executives.

The inquiry, led by Judge Brian Leveson, plans to issue a report next year and could recommend major changes to media regulation in Britain.

Miller took the stand after another witness was allowed to give evidence in private. The courtroom was cleared of the press as the witness, identified only as HJK, testified about suffering intrusions while in a relationship with a well-known figure, whose identity was also kept secret.

Former Formula One boss Max Mosley, who has campaigned for a privacy law since his interest in sadomasochistic sex was exposed in the News of the World, broadened the focus in testimony Thursday, discussing the difficulty of squashing malicious stories in the Internet age.

Mosley successfully sued the News of the World over a 2008 story headlined "Formula One boss has sick Nazi orgy with five hookers." Mosley has acknowledged the orgy, but argued that the story ? obtained with a hidden camera ? was an "outrageous" invasion of privacy. He said the Nazi allegation was damaging and "completely untrue."

Mosley said he has had stories about the incident removed from 193 websites around the world, and is currently taking legal action "in 22 or 23 different countries," including proceedings against search engine Google in France and Germany.

"The fundamental thing is that Google could stop this appearing but they don't or won't as a matter of principle," he said. "The really dangerous things are the search engines."

"You work all your life to try and achieve something or do something useful," Mosley added. "And suddenly something like this happens and that's what you're remembered for."

High-profile witnesses still to come include CNN celebrity interviewer Piers Morgan, who has denied using phone hacking while he was editor of the Daily Mirror newspaper.

The hearings have heard allegations of media malpractice and intrusion that extend far beyond the News of the World.

Witnesses have included celebrities like actor Hugh Grant and ordinary people pursued in times of grief, including the parents of murdered 13-year-old Milly Dowler, whose voice mails were accessed by the News of the World after she disappeared in 2002.

Her parents said the hacking gave them false hope their daughter was still alive during the investigation into her disappearance.

On Wednesday, the parents of missing child Madeleine McCann said they were left distraught by false stories and the publication of private information by the tabloid press.

Kate and Gerry McCann told the inquiry they felt powerless in the face of stories, based on concocted evidence, suggesting they had killed their daughter. Madeleine had vanished when she was three during the British family's 2007 vacation in Portugal.

___

Leveson Inquiry: http://www.levesoninquiry.org.uk/

Jill Lawless can be reached at: http://twitter.com/JillLawless

British actress Sienna Miller, arrives to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. The Leveson inquiry is Britain's media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_jk_rowling_says_press_left_her_feeling_under154711988/43705257/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/jk-rowling-says-press-left-her-feeling-under-154711988.html

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Egyptian military says vote won't be postponed

A woman protester attempts to dismantle a barbed wire barricade, newly erected by the Egyptian army, near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. International criticism of Egypt's military rulers is mounting after five days of clashes between police and protesters demanding the generals relinquish power immediately. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A woman protester attempts to dismantle a barbed wire barricade, newly erected by the Egyptian army, near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. International criticism of Egypt's military rulers is mounting after five days of clashes between police and protesters demanding the generals relinquish power immediately. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Egyptian Army soldiers stand guard atop a concrete block barricade on the street between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A boy looks at Egyptian Army soldiers standing guard atop a concrete block barricade on the street between Tahrir Square and the interior ministry in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

Protesters sleep in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which dozens have died. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

(AP) ? Egypt's military rulers said Thursday that parliamentary elections will start on schedule next week despite escalating unrest and they rejected protesters' calls for them to immediately step down.

Resigning now would amount to a "betrayal" of the people's trust after the military took over from ousted president Hosni Mubarak by popular demand, the ruling generals said.

"There will be no postponement in the election," said Maj. Gen. Mamdouh Shaheen, one of two members of the ruling military council who spoke at a televised news conference. "The election will be held on time with all of its three stages on schedule."

The comments suggested that the council led by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Mubarak's defense minister for 20 years, has no intention of making more concessions under pressure from tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 18-day uprising that toppled Mubarak nine months ago.

The second council member, Maj. Gen. Mukhtar el-Mallah, said stepping down immediately would be a "betrayal of the trust placed in our hands by the people." He said the throngs in Tahrir do not represent the whole of Egypt.

"We will not relinquish power because a slogan-chanting crowd said so. ... Being in power is not a blessing. It is a curse. It's a very heavy responsibility."

Earlier in the day, the military apologized for the deaths of dozens of pro-democracy protesters since Saturday and vowed to prosecute those responsible, its latest attempt to appease the protesters.

Tahrir Square was quieter Thursday after five days of intense clashes. Police and protesters agreed to a truce negotiated by Muslim clerics after the clashes that have left nearly 40 dead and more than 2,000 injured. The truce came into force around 6 a.m. and was holding by sunset, when thousands streamed into the square to join protesters there.

Thousands chanted "we are not leaving, he leaves," referring to Tantawi. Others chanted: "Go away marshal, Egypt will not be ruled by a field marshal."

The military's handling of the transitional period has been intensely criticized by rights groups and activists, who suspect the generals want to keep power even after a new parliament is seated and a new president is elected.

The fighting around Cairo's central Tahrir Square has been the longest spate of uninterrupted violence since the uprising that toppled Mubarak on Feb. 11. It has deepened the country's economic and security troubles ahead of the first parliamentary elections since Mubarak's regime was toppled. Voting is scheduled to begin on Monday and will be staggered over a three-month period.

The military's apology left many of the protesters unmoved.

"What we want to hear is when they're leaving," said Khaled Mahmoud, a protester who had a bandage on his nose after being hit by a tear gas canister.

The streets around Tahrir Square where the battles took place were almost entirely covered by debris, soot, abandoned shoes and scores of the surgical masks used by the protesters to fend off the police's tear gas.

"The army is like the police: A tool of suppression," said Mayada Khalaf, a female protester. "Where was the army when the shooting was going on?"

The military statement came two days after Tantawi promised in a televised address to more forward the timetable for handing over power to a civilian authority. He said Egypt will hold a presidential election in the first half of next year, sooner than had been expected, but did not offer an apology for the killings.

The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, as the military's ruling body is known, promised to do everything possible to stop bloodshed.

At the same time, soldiers built barricades from metal bars and barbed wire to separate the protesters and the police on side streets leading from Tahrir to the nearby Interior Ministry. Most of the fighting took place on those streets.

Protesters formed a series of human chains on the side streets to prevent anybody from violating the truce or approaching flashpoint areas close to the police lines.

"If any of you hurl a single rock, we will beat you to death," a young man warned, addressing angry youths itching to resume fighting. Others pleaded for calm, chanting "peaceful, peaceful."

The Health Ministry raised its nationwide death toll since Saturday to 37, while the Elnadeem Center, an Egyptian rights group known for its careful research of victims of police violence, has said 38 were killed.

The clashes also have left more than 2,000 protesters wounded, mostly from gas inhalation or injuries caused by rubber bullets fired by security forces. The military insists the police only used tear gas and asked prosecutors to investigate the possible use of live ammunition by unknown parties.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-11-24-ML-Egypt/id-2a69dc16b9d94e4990bce7c58891c35a

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Intermittent Steroid Use Called OK for Wheezing Preschoolers (HealthDay)

WEDNESDAY, Nov. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Preschoolers who have recurrent wheezing episodes but not an asthma diagnosis are often prescribed inhaled steroid medication, and new research suggests it's OK to take those medications on an as-needed basis instead of every day.

Respiratory illnesses frequently trigger severe wheezing in young children, and the treatment for some of these kids -- using inhaled steroid medications such as budesonide (Pulmicort) on a daily basis -- might expose them to more of the drugs than necessary, the researchers said.

"We learned that the daily, low-dose treatment regimen of inhaled budesonide was no better than a high-dose regimen used for seven days during a specific respiratory illness," said the study's lead author, Dr. Robert Zeiger, a clinical professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, and director of allergy research at Kaiser Permanente in San Diego.

"However, there are certain caveats to the findings. This is only applicable to patients similar to those studied. It would not be applicable to those with more severe wheezing episodes or those with persistent wheezing. And, parents shouldn't institute treatment for every sniffle or cold. Parents need to be instructed on when to use the treatment. They'll need to recognize past symptoms that preceded the development of a wheezing episode," Zeiger explained.

Results of the study are published in the Nov. 24 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Funding for the study was provided by the U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and several academic institutions.

Daily use of inhaled budesonide is recommended for children under 5 years who've had four or more wheezing episodes during the past year, and have an increased risk of developing asthma.

"These are toddlers at high risk for asthma, but they don't have persistent symptoms. Persistent means more than twice a week. When these kids get sick, they often get very sick with respiratory symptoms," said Dr. Shean Aujla, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh.

While inhaled steroid medications have considerably fewer side effects than steroids taken orally, there's still concern when using any medication in the long term in children. Previous research has suggested that long-term use of inhaled corticosteroids may cause a small reduction in a child's height.

The new study sought to assess whether or not less frequent administration of inhaled steroids, but at higher doses than prescribed for daily use, would be effective.

The researchers included 278 children between the ages of 12 and 53 months (1 to 4-plus years). All of the children had a high risk of developing asthma, had recurrent wheezing episodes, and had experienced at least one wheezing episode in the past year, according to the study.

For one year, the children were randomly assigned to receive either daily treatment with 0.5 milligrams (mg) of inhaled budesonide or 1 mg twice daily for seven days at the start of a respiratory illness similar to one that caused wheezing in the past.

They found no difference between the groups for the number of wheezing episodes, the time to the first wheezing episodes or the occurrence of adverse side effects. Children in the intermittent treatment group received 104 milligrams less medication over a year than children in the daily use group, according to the study.

"This study showed that in this particular population, there was no difference in using intermittent budesonide compared to daily," Aujla said.

"We see this population a lot, and they're a challenge to treat. They may only have symptoms in the winter, or when they have a cold, and many families are concerned about using medication every day," she added.

Zeiger said the intermittent use of budesonide will likely be more convenient for parents and children, but parents "should never take wheezing lightly," he cautioned. "It can lead to severe exacerbations, ER visits and hospitalizations. Parents should seek care for a child who has frequent wheezing episodes because we have therapies that can reduce the burden of the child's illness."

More Information

Learn more about wheezing from the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20111124/hl_hsn/intermittentsteroidusecalledokforwheezingpreschoolers

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SF, LA negotiating to close Occupy encampments (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? Los Angeles and San Francisco are seeking long-term solutions to the entrenched encampments by anti-Wall Street protesters, hoping to end the drain on resources and the frayed nerves among police and politicians.

Officials in both cities have considered providing protesters with indoor space that would allow the movement to carry out its work in more sanitary, less public facilities.

Occupiers are debating among themselves about whether to hold their ground or try to take advantage of possible moves.

Talks in both cities mark a distinctly different approach than tactics used elsewhere that have seen police sent in to dislodge Occupy camps. Violence and arrests plagued camps in Oakland and New York, while the use of batons and pepper spray against peaceful protesters on University of California campuses has led to national outrage and derision.

San Francisco is negotiating with Occupy SF members about moving their encampment from the heart of the financial district to an empty school in the city's hip Mission district. That would allow the occupiers to have access to toilets and a room for their daily meetings, while camping out in the parking lot of what was once a small high school.

The move also could help them weed out drug addicts and drunks, and those not wholly committed to their cause.

Protesters in Los Angeles said officials rescinded a similar deal, in which the city would have leased a 10,000-square-foot space that once housed a bookstore in Los Angeles Mall to the protesters for $1 a year.

But after the proposal was made public at an Occupy LA general assembly, it generated outrage from some who saw it as a giveaway of public resources by a city struggling with financial problems, and the offer was withdrawn.

Deputy Mayor Matt Szabo told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the encampment around City Hall would be shut down at some point next week.

"The encampment as it exists is unsustainable," Szabo said.

Whether the city continues to negotiate with Occupy LA for a new location remains to be seen.

Occupy LA camper Alifah Ali said she would pack up her tent at City Hall when the order to leave came down in Los Angeles and welcome the possibility of new digs.

"Maybe we need to move," Ali said. "Maybe this will give us room to organize, make our voice clear."

Los Angeles officials initially endorsed the movement and allowed tents to sprout on City Halls lawns. More than 480 tents have since been erected. But problems arose with sanitation, drug use and homeless people moving into the camp.

In San Francisco, several hundred protesters have been hunkered down for some six weeks in about 100 tents at Justin Herman Plaza, at the eastern end of Market Street and across from the tourist-catching Ferry Building on the bay. The city has declared the plaza a public health nuisance, though city officials also credit the campers for their efforts to rid the camp of garbage and keep the grassy area clean.

Mayor Ed Lee has met with the occupiers at several heated closed-door meetings at City Hall. He's repeatedly told them he supports their cause and the right to protest the nation's confounding inequality between the rich and the poor.

But they cannot, he has said, continue to camp out overnight in a public plaza.

"The mayor is being patient," said Christine Falvey, a spokeswoman for Lee. "He wants to see some sort of long-term, sustainable plan because the city cannot sustain overnight camping for any long period of time."

Ken Cleaveland of the Building Owners and Managers Association of San Francisco, which represents the hotels and businesses that have been impacted by the noise, loss of tourism and concerns of violence, said some hotels had to reimburse guests who could not sleep, and small businesses in the tourist hub have lost thousands of dollars.

"It's time to move the camp," he said. "Nobody's disagreeing with their right to protest or the inequities in society that they are protesting, but it's not a place to camp out permanently."

A survey by The Associated Press found that during the first two months of the nationwide Occupy protests, the movement that is demanding more out of the wealthiest Americans cost taxpayers at least $13 million in police overtime and other municipal services.

Gentle Blythe, a spokeswoman for the San Francisco public school district, said city officials had approached the district about allowing Occupy SF to relocate to the Mission site that formerly housed Phoenix High School. The School Board is considering a facility permit that would allow the city to lease the property for six months.

Occupy SF members say they're mulling over the proposal.

"We're waiting for whatever caveats the city is going to come back at us with," said Jerry Selness, a retired Navy medic from Eugene, Ore., who has volunteered for a more than a month at the Occupy SF medical tent.

"I do feel that we're at a crux point here: we are either going to give this movement enough time to be able to make our next move, which will be to not only to move this camp, but move to a new phase in the way that we occupy," he said.

There is debate among the occupiers in San Francisco as to whether it's better to stay put, move to another long-term location or make quick hit-and-run occupies at symbolic sites such as bank lobbies and foreclosures auctions.

"For instance, there's a neighborhood in San Francisco right now where they're foreclosing on 11 houses in one street," Selness said. "What a perfect place for us to occupy."

---

Hoag reported from Los Angeles

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_re_us/us_occupy_california

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Friday, November 25, 2011

Medicare chief steps aside in political impasse (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The point man for carrying out President Barack Obama's health care law will be stepping down after Republicans succeeded in blocking his confirmation by the Senate, the White House announced Wednesday.

Medicare chief Don Berwick, a Harvard professor widely respected for his ideas on how to improve the health care system, became the most prominent casualty of the political wars over a health care overhaul whose constitutionality will be now decided by the Supreme Court.

Praising Berwick for "outstanding work," White House deputy press secretary Jamie Smith criticized Republicans for "putting political interests above the best interests of the American people."

Berwick will be replaced by his principal deputy, Marilyn Tavenner, formerly Virginia's top health care official. The White House said Obama will submit Tavenner's nomination to the Senate.

Tavenner has been at Medicare since early last year, earning a reputation as a problem solver with years of real-world experience and an extensive network of industry contacts. A nurse by training, the 60-year-old Tavenner worked her way up to the senior executive ranks of a major hospital chain. She ran Virginia's health department under former Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine.

Berwick's fate was sealed early this year when 42 GOP senators ? more than enough to derail his confirmation ? asked Obama to withdraw his nomination. He remained as a temporary appointee, and his resignation takes effect Dec. 2.

Berwick's statements as an academic praising Britain's government-run health care had become a source of controversy in politically polarized Washington. Although he later told Congress that "the American system needs its own solution" and Britain's shouldn't be copied here, his critics were not swayed.

In an email to his staff, Berwick said he leaves with "bittersweet emotions."

"Our work has been challenging, and the journey is not complete, but we are now well on our way to achieving a whole new level of security and quality for health care in America, helping not just the millions of Americans affected directly by our programs, but truly health care as a whole in our nation," Berwick wrote.

A pediatrician before becoming a Harvard professor, Berwick has many admirers in the medical community, including some former Republican administrators of Medicare. His self-styled "three-part aim" for the health care system includes providing a better overall experience for individual patients, improving the health of groups in the population such as seniors and African-Americans, and lowering costs through efficiency.

But some of his professorial ruminations dogged him in Washington. Republicans accused him of advocating health care rationing, which Berwick denies.

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Berwick's past record of controversial statements and his lack of experience managing complex bureaucracies disqualified him from the Medicare job. Hatch, the ranking Republican on the Senate panel that oversees Medicare, led the opposition to his nomination. Hatch said Wednesday the Senate must "thoroughly examine" and "carefully scrutinize" Tavenner's nomination.

Berwick oversaw the drafting and rollout of major regulations that will begin to reshape the health care system, steering Medicare away from paying for sheer volume of services and procedures and instead putting a premium on quality care that keeps patients healthier and avoids costly hospitalizations. He also presided over significant improvements for Medicare beneficiaries, including better coverage for preventive care and relief for seniors with high prescription drug costs.

Berwick turned 65 this year, making him the first Medicare chief eligible to be enrolled in the program. He told The Associated Press in an earlier interview that he was putting in his application, but doesn't plan to retire any time soon. Instead he plans to keep working as an advocate for change in the nation's health care system.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111123/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_medicare_chief

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No major changes for 'Idol' this season

"American Idol" executive producer Nigel Lythgoe says don't expect any major changes when the hit Fox TV show returns in January after undergoing an extensive makeover last season.

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Lythgoe, who helped transform Britain's "Pop Idol" into the American TV juggernaut in 2002, returned as executive producer last season to usher in the post-Simon Cowell era. That ended a two-year hiatus that allowed him to focus on "So You Think You Can Dance," which he produces and helps judge.

For the 10th "American Idol" season, Lythgoe introduced new judges, Jennifer Lopez and Steven Tyler, to join holdover Randy Jackson. Veteran music producer Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope-Geffen-A&M, was brought in as an in-house mentor for the contestants. All of them are back for Season 11, Lythgoe said.

"I think we made a lot of tweaks last year," Lythgoe said. "I'm not sure that we want to make too many more tweaks this year."

Lythgoe said the most significant change introduced last year had nothing to do with the judges: It was a decision to avoid those fish-out-of-water moments that forced very talented singers to sing in styles that didn't suit them.

"The biggest change we made last year was to say, 'OK, if you're a country singer you can sing any of these genres in your country style,'" Lythgoe said. "'We're not going to force you to do rock or anything you can't do. You can take a Michael Jackson song and turn it country.'"

That resulted in singers such as Casey Abrams and Haley Reinhart advancing much deeper into the competition than they might have in previous years. The two teenage finalists, Scotty McCreery and Lauren Alaina, were country singers.

McCreery, the first pure country "Idol" winner since Carrie Underwood in 2005, saw his October release, "Clear As Day," make him the first country act to debut at No. 1 with its first studio album on the Billboard 200 chart. And at 18, he became the youngest man to open at the top of the chart with his debut release. He also was the first "Idol" winner to start his post-"Idol" career with a No. 1 album since Ruben Studdard in 2003.

Lythgoe said last year the show found "some incredible talent, and it was so diverse."

"We got this great jazz singer in Casey, we got a soft jazz singer in Haley, and the two country kids (in the finals) probably in previous years wouldn't have been as successful because they would have been asked to sing in the different styles that we used to do then," he said last week.

Lythgoe expects similar results in Season 11.

"The kids that have auditioned this year that we're going to be taking to Hollywood in December are again really talented and really diverse," he said. "Hopefully they'll get through one of the toughest auditions, which is the Hollywood week, and get themselves into the top 20."

Lythgoe said he believes "Idol" should be "totally about the talent" and the recent changes foster that.

"For me," he said, "it's really showing the talent that is here and not trying to take somebody who's talented, beat them around the bucket and turn them out."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45421444/ns/today-entertainment/

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Family of U.S. student freed in Egypt gives thanks (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Joy Sweeney's Thanksgiving wishes were granted in a predawn email on Thursday notifying her that her son and two other American students arrested on suspicion of throwing gasoline bombs in Egypt would be freed.

Sweeney said she was notified by email at 5:30 a.m. CST that Egyptian authorities would not appeal a judge's release order for her son Derrik Sweeney, 19 as well as Gregory Porter, 19, and Luke Gates, 21. They were detained this week during the protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

"I've gone from the low lows to the high highs," she said in a telephone interview with Reuters from the family's home in Jefferson City, Missouri.

"Oh my God, I'm absolutely ecstatic to have this news on Thanksgiving. He won't be home today but he'll be home soon," said Sweeney, who owns an art gallery and is executive director of Council for Drug Free Youth, a non-profit organization.

She had spoken with him for a minute shortly after he was detained.

"Initially I think they were treated roughly. He said they were not treated well at the beginning. Those his exact words," Sweeney said.

As for what her son was doing at the protests, she said, "He wanted to go there to observe the Egyptian culture and to be with them."

PLASTIC BOTTLES

Asked whether the students had the makings for gasoline bombs as initially alleged by Egyptian authorities, she quoted her older son, Josh, 27, a former Air Force serviceman who served in Iraq, who noted the students were carrying plastic bottles.

"'If they were accused of having Molotov cocktails, they would have had glass bottles,'" she quoted him as saying.

The students -- Sweeney of Georgetown University, Porter of Drexel University, and Gates of Indiana University -- were studying abroad at American University's Cairo campus.

Indiana University spokesman Mark Land, who is in contact with Gates's parents, did not have details on how he was treated.

He said the students' release had been slowed because of a holiday but should be in "a couple of days."

Gates plans to return immediately to Indiana after his release. "His parents have spoken with him and he seems to be doing OK," Land said.

Mark Toner, a spokesman for the State Department, said the United States was trying to confirm reports of the release and was in contact with the students' families.

"We appreciate the ongoing expeditious consideration of this case by the Egyptian authorities," he said in a statement.

Drexel spokeswoman Niki Gianakaris called the Thanksgiving email from Cairo "very encouraging news about Greg and the other two students" but had no further information.

Sweeney had been due to return to the United States on December 22 at the end of the semester. His older brother, a Northrop Grumman employee working in Kunduz, Afghanistan, was planning to stop in Cairo and join him for the trip home for Christmas.

"Josh said, 'There goes my trip to Cairo,'" their mother said.

(Additional reporting by Eric Johnson in Chicago and Dave Warner in Philadelphia; Editing by Ian Simpson)

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/us_nm/us_egyptprotest_students_parents

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Thursday, November 24, 2011

Truce halts fighting in Cairo's Tahrir Square

Protesters attempt to get rid of a tear gas canister during clashes with riot police near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Police are clashing with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in Cairo. Tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square have rejected a promise by Egypt's military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year. They want Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

Protesters attempt to get rid of a tear gas canister during clashes with riot police near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Police are clashing with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in Cairo. Tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square have rejected a promise by Egypt's military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year. They want Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A protester gestures to Egyptian riot police during clashes near Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Egyptian police are clashing with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in Cairo. Tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square have rejected a promise by Egypt's military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year. They want Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A boy with a face mask stands with his father in Tahrir square as clashes take place nearby with Egyptian riot police, in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Egyptian police are clashing with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in Cairo. Tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square have rejected a promise by Egypt's military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year. They want Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

A protester points to an incoming tear gas canister during clashes with Egyptian riot police, not pictured, near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Egyptian police are clashing with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in Cairo. Tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square have rejected a promise by Egypt's military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year. They want Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

An injured protester, center, is aided by others during clashes with Egyptian riot police, not pictured, near Tahrir square in Cairo, Egypt, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Egyptian police are clashing with anti-government protesters for a fifth day in Cairo. Tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square have rejected a promise by Egypt's military ruler to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year. They want Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian council. (AP Photo/Tara Todras-Whitehill)

CAIRO (AP) ? Police and protesters demanding that Egypt's ruling military council step down are observing a truce after five days of deadly street battles in which at least 40 people have died.

Egypt's military also issued a statement on Thursday apologizing for the loss of life and vowing to bring to justice those responsible for the deaths of protesters in Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square and elsewhere in the country.

Army troops have used metal bars and barbed wire to build barricades to separate the protesters and the police on side streets leading from Tahrir to the nearby Interior Ministry. Most of the fighting has been taking place on those side streets.

The truce came into force around 6 a.m. and was still holding by late morning.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

CAIRO (AP) ? An American film maker has told a colleague by phone that she was arrested by Egyptian police while documenting clashes in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Jehane Nojaim's producer Karim Amer says she was detained and her camera was confiscated.

He said Wednesday he was separated from her after they both fled from tear gas.

Nojaim is an award-winning film maker of Egyptian ancestry, best known for her 2004 documentary "Control Room" about the pan-Arab news station, Al-Jazeera.

Clashes resumed for a fifth day in central Cairo despite a promise by the head of the ruling military council to speed transition to civilian rule, aiming for next July. Protesters demand that the military leave office now.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-24-ML-Egypt/id-ad7bcdc9f34b4f39bea6742b754c878a

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Can the U.S. Federal Reserve Help Save Europe's Banks? (Time.com)

The U.S. Federal Reserve has been pumping billions of dollars into the European banking system in recent weeks in an attempt to help stabilize the continent's financial crisis. And while the effort remains small, it is likely to grow in coming days as Europe's banks struggle to find lenders willing to help them service their dollar denominated debts.

The Fed's effort has two parts. The largest by far is its provision of dollars through swap lines the Fed opened to other central banks around the world during the 2008 financial crisis, and reopened in May 2010 when the European sovereign debt crisis blew up. According to the agreement signed between the New York Fed and the European Central Bank, the ECB can swap Euros for dollars at a fixed exchange rate and repay the Fed with nominal interest at an agreed upon date.

For months the swap lines remained idle, but last September the European Central Bank announced it would tap them to help provide dollars to banks in Europe, and it began rolling over about $500 million worth of swaps every 7 days at a little over 1% annualized interest. In mid-October the ECB increased it's swaps, drawing $1.35 billion for three months, while continuing to rollover the previous $500 million. Over the following weeks it swapped another $1 billion in 1-week and three-month paper, bringing the outstanding total to $2.35 billion as of Nov. 16. (Read "Is Europe's Crisis a Glimpse of America's Future?")

That is a tiny amount in the multi-trillion dollar world of transatlantic money flows, and it shows that in some ways the Fed move to ensure its vast store of dollars are available to the European banks through this channel is working. "The hope is that when you put the big bazooka [of Fed dollars] on the table that you don't have to use it," the source says. But the uptick in swap line use shows it is becoming harder for European banks to get their hands on dollars from lenders, and suggests, as the source says, taht at some point the bazooka "may have to be used." Since the Nov. 16 report on swaps was released by the New York Fed, interbank lending in Europe has further worsened.

The European banks are trying hard to avoid using the second measure the Fed has made available to some of them: drawing off the discount window in the U.S. Since the 2008 financial crisis, the Fed's discount window has remained open to all U.S. banks, and to all foreign banks that have branches or agencies here. Virtually no one is currently drawing on that source ? there was $4 million outstanding as of Nov. 16 ? because it is a sign of ultimate collapse for a bank to have to do so. (Read "Europe's New Debt Crisis Agreement: The Good, the Bad, the Ugly.")

For all the Fed's willingness to back-stop European banks there is only so much it can do. The European banks' problems are not primarily with their dollar-denominated debts, but with their Euro debts. They are currently drawing 500 billion Euros off the ECB in an effort to service their debts. In recent weeks, Italian and other banks have pushed the ECB to accept less reliable forms of collateral for loans they take from the ECB. The ECB in the past has accepted such collateral, down to office furniture, for countries receiving help from the IMF, but is only now loosening the restrictions for bigger countries like Italy. With the loosened requirements, the ECB has the potential capacity to lend 14 trillion Euros.

The Fed's effort is a worthwhile risk since the U.S. has a huge economic interest in keeping dollars available worldwide. The U.S. has $1.28 trillion in exports every year, and the vast majority of those purchases are made in dollars ? ensuring there are enough dollars in circulation to keep that commerce going is important. Likewise the discount window protects the flow of dollars at home: in 2006 foreign banking institutions held around 18% of U.S. commercial and industrial loans.

See "What the Greek Debt Crisis Means for You."

See TIME's Pictures of the Week.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20111123/us_time/httpswamplandtimecom20111122canthefedsbillionshelpsaveeuropesbanksxidrssfullnationyahoo

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