Signs of firm US recovery trigger market gains

LONDON (AP) ? Evidence that the U.S. economic recovery is firmly on track drove markets higher on Friday, adding to the cheer from good economic indicators out of Europe.

The world's largest economy added 157,000 jobs in January, in line with market expectations, though hiring over the past two years was revised up. The improvement was not sufficient to prevent the unemployment rate ? which is based on surveys of households, not employers ? from edging up to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent in December.

But the figure eased concerns that the U.S. economic recovery may have been running out of steam. Official data this week showed the economy contracted on an annualized basis in the fourth quarter for the first time in three years, though mainly due to a one-off fall in defense spending.

Other indicators released Friday proved similarly upbeat ? a measure of manufacturing activity in the U.S. rose strongly in January while construction spending grew in December.

In Europe, Germany's DAX rose 0.7 percent to close at 7,833.39 while France's CAC-40 added 1.1 percent to 3,773.53. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.1 percent to 6,347.24.

Wall Street rallied as well, with the Dow rising 1 percent to 13,999.08, trading momentarily above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007. The broader S&P 500 added 1 percent to 1,512.31.

Although the Dow Jones industrial average finished lower on Thursday, the index logged its best January since 1994 by finishing 5.8 percent higher for the month. The Standard & Poor's 500 finished the month 5 percent higher, its best start to the year since 1997.

Earlier, upbeat news in Europe had helped push markets higher. Official figures showed the unemployment rate in the 17-country eurozone was at a lower-than-expected 11.7 percent in December, unchanged from the previous month's rate, which was revised down from 11.8 percent, a record high. Inflation was also steady, suggesting the recession ravaging the currency union is it abating.

"With eurozone economic activity seemingly bottoming out last October and business confidence picking up, the pressure on labor markets has eased," said Howard Archer, chief European economist at HIS Global Insight.

"Nevertheless, business confidence is still relatively low in most countries and eurozone economic activity is unlikely to be strong enough to prevent further rises in unemployment over the coming months."

Earlier in Asia, stocks were mixed after manufacturing data from China fell short of expectations. Industrial production is still growing, but at a slower pace, according to the government-sanctioned China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing. Its manufacturing index for January fell to 50.4 from 50.6 in December on a 100-point scale in which numbers above 50 indicate expansion.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell marginally to 23,721.84. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.2 percent to 1,957.79. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.9 percent to 4,921.10. The ASX closed at 4,879 on Thursday, capping its best January since 1995, Lucas said.

Japan's Nikkei 225, meanwhile, was once again energized by the yen's continued descent against the dollar. The index rose 0.5 percent to 11,191.34.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was up 46 cents to $97.95 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 45 cents to close at $97.49 a barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

In currencies, euro rose to $1.3701 from $1.3574 late Thursday in New York. The dollar rose to 92.51 yen from 91.38 yen.

___

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/signs-firm-us-recovery-trigger-market-gains-161719292--finance.html

lra eric johnson eric johnson big east tournament ashley olsen new apple tv sun flare

5 accused men plead not guilty in India gang rape

NEW DELHI (AP) ? Five men pleaded not guilty Saturday after being formally indicted in a special court on 13 charges, including rape and murder, in the fatal gang rape of a woman in a New Delhi bus, a lawyer said.

The men signed statements in the fast-track court saying they were innocent, said one of the men's lawyers. The lawyer cannot be identified under a gag order imposed by the court.

The court will begin hearing the evidence of witnesses on Tuesday.

A sixth suspect, who is 17 years old, will be tried in a juvenile court and could face a maximum sentence of three years in a reform facility if convicted. A conviction as an adult could have led to his execution.

Police say the victim and a male friend were attacked after boarding a bus Dec. 16 as they tried to return home after watching a movie. The six men, the only occupants of the private bus, beat the man with a metal bar, raped the woman and used the bar to inflict massive internal injuries to her, police say. The victims were dumped naked on the roadside, and the woman died from her injuries two weeks later in a Singapore hospital.

The brutal attack set off nationwide protests, sparking a debate about the treatment of women in India and highlighting the inability of law enforcement agencies to protect them.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/5-accused-men-plead-not-guilty-india-gang-111808855.html

constitution day dolly parton stephen colbert running for president richard threlkeld moonrise kingdom coachella lineup joran van der sloot

Egypt 'bodyguards' take stand against sex assault

CAIRO (AP) ? With bright neon vests and hardhats gleaming at dusk, a dozen Egyptian volunteers fanned out through Cairo's crowded Tahrir Square. Their project: end a surge in sexual assaults on women that activists say has become the darkest stain on the country's opposition street movement.

Patrolling on Friday, the men and women have joined Tahrir Bodyguard ? one of several informal groups that have arisen to protect female demonstrators after women were stripped, groped and assaulted in a string of attacks this past year. Over the past week alone, while mass protests filled city squares around the country, over two dozen new sexual attacks have been reported ? a wave activists call the worst in years.

Soraya Bahgat said she founded the group using social media after seeing television footage last November of a mob of men attacking a woman and tearing off her clothes. She had been on the way to a demonstration at Tahrir herself, but instead stayed in, gripped with fear.

"It was sickening. They were dragging her through the street," said the 29-year-old, who works as a human resources manager. "I couldn't imagine something so horrific, and something that fundamentally would keep women from exercising their right to assembly like anyone else. No one should be prevented from demonstrating."

Such is the concern that the United Nations on Thursday demanded authorities to act to bring perpetrators to justice, saying it had reports of 25 sexual assaults on women in Tahrir rallies over the past week. Another Egyptian organization that also patrols the square, Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault, reported 19 incidents on one day alone. It was January 25th ? the second anniversary of the start of the uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak.

Extraordinary violence has been used in some of the attacks. Human rights campaigner Amnesty International says that some meet the definition of rape, including penetration with fingers and sharp objects. Frequently, fights with knives and blunt weapons break out when people try to stop the attacks, blurring the lines between those helping and the perpetrators.

"Testimonies from victims and those attempting to save them paint a frightening picture: tens if not hundreds of men surrounding the victims with countless hands tearing-off clothes and veils, unzipping trousers and groping breasts, nipples and backsides," Amnesty's Egypt researcher Diana Eltahawy wrote in a blog post on Friday.

The activists say they can expect little help from the police, who rarely intervene in such cases and who they accuse of failing to properly investigate allegations. Uniforms are almost never seen at Tahrir during demonstrations except at the fringes, where riot police regularly clash with rock-throwing youths.

Sexual harassment in Egypt is not a new phenomenon. Women on the streets frequently are subjected to everything from stares to cat-calls and attempts to grab them. In previous years, there were instances of young men ganging up to grope girls in parks or on main boulevards during public holidays when large crowds are on the street.

The trend however has worsened since the 2011 uprising, which saw a general collapse in security and rise in crime after the fall of Mubarak. This past June, as women marched through Tahrir demanding an end to harassment, a crowd assaulted them, overwhelming their male guardians and molesting several of the female marchers. And in October during Eid al-Adha, Islam's biggest holiday, activists trying to protect women were harassed themselves, as hordes of all-male onlookers shouted taunts and blew air horns at them.

Experts, activists and media have attributed the harassment to a wide range of possible factors. Some blame widespread unemployment or underemployment among youth. Others cite an attitude in the conservative nation that women should not be out in public and thus those who are fair game. Activists have speculated that some attacks are planned, aiming to discredit the protesters or to dissuade women from joining them.

The patrols, which aim to deter potential assailants and evacuate women under assault, have prompted a backlash from harassers.

"We've had people beaten up, and in one instance a crowd ? some of whom were carrying knives ? tried to break into one of our locations," said Hussein ElShafei of Operation Anti-Sexual Harassment/Assault. "Threats are a regular occurrence."

In Tahrir on Friday, the neon-vested team said they had only had to make three interventions during the day's protest, which they attributed to their high visibility and a smaller turnout in the square than usual. With other groups present, including the one ElShafei works for, dozens of volunteers could be seen in the crowds. Violence that night was concentrated on the other side of the city, where thousands of protesters denouncing the president marched on his palace and clashed with security forces firing tear gas and water cannons.

It was the eighth day of the country's latest wave of political violence. Around 60 people have been killed in protests, rioting and clashes over the past week, the worst period of crisis since the fall of Mubarak. Observers say the protests are taking a dangerous turn as rival groups supporting and opposing Morsi's Islamist backers have taken matters into their own hands.

"I think people are getting more violent. It's been two years now and they are battle hardened," said Mohammed Osama, a 35-year-old computer engineer and black belt in judo who said he joined the bodyguard group after being slashed with a knife in street violence in his hometown of Alexandria. He said that after experiencing violence himself, he wanted to do something to prevent it from striking others.

"Individual efforts aren't enough ? organization is needed. And it's the honorable thing to do," he said in measured tones, a scar visible under his eye.

As for the perpetrators of the attacks, he described them as a "social disease."

"Sometimes attacks are organized, other times it's people profiting from chaos on the streets, said Osama. "Ignorance and poverty is part of the problem, but for those who seek to victimize others, they now have another thing coming."

___

On Twitter: Tahrir Bodyguard (at)TahrirBodyguard

___

Follow Brian Rohan on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Brian_Rohan

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/egypt-bodyguards-stand-against-sex-assault-063813770.html

los angeles dodgers christie brinkley seattle mariners geraldo rivera supreme court health care joe oliver joba chamberlain

Wispelwey: Loneliness of the long-distance cellist

LEIDEN, Netherlands (Reuters) - Dutch cellist Peter Wispelwey has recorded the haunting, delightful and soul-uplifting Bach Six Suites for Solo Cello three times and still he's not finished.

His next, he says, is his "Lost in Translation" version, referring to the Bill Murray movie about an actor coming to terms with an alien culture in Tokyo.

Wispelwey is doing the same, flying into the Japanese capital for recording sessions in the early morning hours.

When it is released, he wants to strew CDs of portions of the Bach suites around Tokyo for people to find them, he told Reuters over a three-course dinner served during intervals as he performed in this Dutch university town.

"That's my ideal," he said. "I want the Tokyo preludes, the Tokyo gigues, the Tokyo allemandes."

At this stage in his career, the 50-year-old Wispelwey who first fell in love with the cello's growling sound at the age of two while listening to an amateur quartet in which his father played violin, can be indulged.

Growing up in a small country at a time when it did not have much of an established conservatory tradition, he more or less is a self-made cellist, though he has had several of the world's best teachers, among them compatriot Anner Bylsma.

He made his name in the Netherlands by putting on recitals in his late teens of all the mainstream repertoire for solo cello, renting the hall himself, getting the tickets distributed and playing it all from memory.

He got his international credentials with his first 1990 recording of the Bach suites, for the Channel Classics label, which became one of the gold-standard versions.

His latest, and third version, is unique for tuning his baroque cello, with gut rather than modern steel strings, to a much lower pitch than A at 440 hertz, or slightly higher, which is the standard for modern orchestras, pianos, wind instruments and pretty much everything.

Wispelwey has done it at 397 hertz, a full tone below the modern A tuning, and a semitone, or half tone, below the usual baroque A which is 415 hertz.

There are theoretical reasons, including evidence it was the pitch Bach would have known. But more importantly, the sound world is different.

"If the general public comes in to hear the Bach suites on a baroque cello they need almost an hour just to adjust to that sound world and it's not surprising," he said, between gulps of food and before taking a shower to refresh for the continuation of one of the most demanding recital programs, for soloist and audience alike.

"We're used to a steely, projecting laser beam of a sound and this has shades, it has color and it has the overtones. That's why we can hear it. It has this very particular shine. but it's a shine of nobility."

Here's what else he had to say about Bach's appeal today, the mystical "Black Sarabande" and why it can sometimes seem a bit lonely being a cello soloist:

Q: What is it about Bach's music, written in the early 18th century, that speaks to us three centuries later with such power, if not to say God-like authority?

A: "One is the magic of Bach. Even in the sparse notes of the cellos suites there is a narrative and it becomes more hypnotic the less you hear and the less you hear it filled in. It's the hypnotic element of being carried away by so little. That said, the concentration of the listener is tunneled and first there's an emotion of being narrowed but then the opposite happens.

"After an hour that tunnel gives suddenly way to the biggest panorama you'd ever want to see. It starts meaning everything, the small world becomes the big world and everything starts shining and becoming meaningful...Bach's brain was all over the place all the time. That's why we're so eternally intrigued at what kind of creativity was at work there."

Q: In the Suite No. 5, there's a movement you call the "Black Sarabande". Why?

A: "It's painful, not nice. There is comfort in it but death is there. It's about blackness, about dust and with the gut C string it sounds like dust, it sounds like throwing something into the grave or a last breath - it's all there. The first four bars are a sort of solar system, all those notes hanging in space but they are somehow related...It's dark and light and death and life. It's so simple that its meaning expands in space. The simpler it is the more meaningful it seems to be."

Q: Of course you don't play only Bach - though you play these suites a lot. Two days from now you are doing a Schubert program and you also play modern composers like Ligeti and Crumb. Is it hard finding sufficient repertoire for an instrument which, let's face it, has never been as big a crowd pleaser as the violin?

A: "It (Bach) does sound like you are playing really serious, profound music, so that's good, and the other thing of course is the cello repertoire is so small that when we have six pieces by the greatest composer of all time, well, then, of course... There are 15 great cello concertos against 40 great violin concertos. The cello was emancipated (from its accompaniment role) late. Then look at the 20th century. We have Mstislav Rostropovich and suddenly we get this tsunami by the great composers..."

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wispelwey-loneliness-long-distance-cellist-112127988.html

notre dame notre dame football Bcs Bowl Chuck Hagel ncaa football irs CES

Majorities favor gun control proposals, but issue remains divisive, new poll says (Washington Bureau)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/281716537?client_source=feed&format=rss

hunger games premiere red meat bachelor ben good morning america jon hamm jon hamm kim kardashian law school rankings

iOS 6.1 adoption hit 22% in just three days

Apple iPhone 5

If there?s one big thing that Android users envy about iOS users, it?s the speed at which Apple (AAPL) fans get their devices updated. Per TechCrunch, the latest numbers from web content creation company Onswipe show that the adoption rate of iOS 6.1 had already hit over 22% just three days after its release.?Onswipe CEO Jason Baptiste told TechCrunch that the iOS 6.1 adoption rate is on track to be the fastest ever and will likely surpass the iOS 6 first-week adoption rate of 45%. The reason for this, he said, is that iOS users have gotten much more comfortable with Apple?s over-the-air update process and are now moving to upgrade their devices the minute a new version of iOS comes out.

[More from BGR: Dell founder reportedly plans to spend $1 billion of his own funds to regain control of company]

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ios-6-1-adoption-hit-22-just-three-011936402.html

role models ferdinand porsche gregg williams theraflu masters leaderboard frozen four joe avezzano

Tokyo: Helpful Tips To Fully Maximize Your Stay In Japan's Capital

Tokyo: Helpful Tips To Fully Maximize Your Stay In Japan's Capital

By Stephen Williams
$4.99 Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: Jan. 31, 2013
Words: 3,755 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781301688029

Short description

Planning to go on a trip to Tokyo and you don't have much idea on how to enjoy your stay there? Worry no more! Here is a book that maximizes your fun on your stay in Tokyo to the fullest! Discover the best things to do in Tokyo on the best budget and maximized time. So get this book now and enjoy Tokyo to the fullest! Have a wonderful time experiencing The Land of Rising Sun!

Here's a quick way enjoy your travel to Tokyo!

Are you planning to go to Tokyo and looking for good ways to enjoy it?Japan is a wonderful country to travel to. And on its capital Tokyo, the possibilities of enjoying your stay are endless.... (Read more)

Have a wonderful time experiencing The Land of Rising Sun!

Here's a quick way enjoy your travel to Tokyo!

Are you planning to go to Tokyo and looking for good ways to enjoy it?Japan is a wonderful country to travel to. And on its capital Tokyo, the possibilities of enjoying your stay are endless.

This book shows you how to enjoy Tokyo the best way. It has the tips that guides you and maximize your time and enjoy your stay to the fullest.

Here are some of the Tokyo travel tips that you can find inside:

Tips on transportation
Tips on spending culture
Tips on weather condition
Tips on enjoying the food and the manga district
And much more!

The book offers the best ways to enjoy Tokyo thus the length. Get this book now and have a handy guide in achieving the best satisfaction in spending time in Tokyo!

And lastly, you can obtain answers to questions such as:
"How will I organize the tips in this book and help me enjoy the stay?"
"Will this also make me get some good deals and souvenirs in Tokyo?"
"Are the tips in here will make me satisfied on my stay in Tokyo if I follow all of these?"
(Less)

Tags

travel, japan, tokyo, sun, manga, japanese, enjoy Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.

Format	Full Book	Sample First 20%
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)	Buy	View sample
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)	Buy	Download sample
Epub (Apple iPad/iBooks, Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)	Buy	Download sample
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)	Buy	No sample available
RTF (readable on most word processors)	Buy	No sample available
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)	Buy	Download sample
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)	Buy	Download sample
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)	Buy	No sample available
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)	Buy	No sample available

Reviews

Log-in to write a Review ? Log-in to add a Video Review

This book has not yet been reviewed.

Source: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/280817

van der sloot heather locklear mlk memorial mlk memorial heather locklear hospitalized joplin tornado extreme makeover home edition