Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/334841242?client_source=feed&format=rss
Similar Articles: hayden panettiere US News college rankings kim zolciak Kendrick Lamar Control food network star
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Good News From the GOP's War on Science: Textbook Publishers Resisting Pressure From Texas Creationists (Little green footballs)
US shutdown end boosts hopes for Antarctic reserve
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — A long-awaited deal to create the world's largest marine sanctuary in Antarctica appears to have survived a last-second obstacle — the U.S. government shutdown — and could be approved next week.
The U.S., New Zealand and other countries have sought a sanctuary in the pristine waters of the Ross Sea for the past decade, and there are hopes that previous objectors Russia and Ukraine will agree to a new, smaller proposal when the nations that regulate Antarctic fishing meet next week in Hobart, Australia.
On Wednesday, Secretary of State John Kerry joined his counterparts from other nations in calling for the sanctuary to proceed.
At the time, the U.S. apparently had suspended travel plans for its delegation, according to Gerry Leape, a senior international policy expert at Pew Charitable Trusts.
David Edginton, a spokesman with the U.S. Embassy in Wellington, said Wednesday he was unable to comment on whether the U.S. delegation will be traveling to Australia.
But on Wednesday night, Congress passed legislation to avert a U.S. debt default and end a government shutdown, closing an epic political drama that threatened to rattle the world economy.
Leape said earlier that the suspension could be lifted on short notice, either if the shutdown ends or if the delegation gets special permission to travel. Under normal circumstances, he said, the delegation would already be in Australia and working its diplomatic channels in pre-meetings.
Jointly proposed by the U.S. and New Zealand, the 1.34 million-square-kilometer (517,000-square-mile) sanctuary would be twice the size of Texas and the world's largest stretch of protected ocean.
Progress on the sanctuary has already been painfully slow. The nations that make decisions about Antarctic fishing — 24 countries plus the European Union — do so only by unanimous agreement. A proposal for a larger sanctuary failed in July when Russia and Ukraine, which have fishing interests in the region, raised objections.
The U.S. and New Zealand revised their plans, reducing the sanctuary's proposed size by 40 percent. Environmental groups including Pew criticized the changes initially but have come to embrace the current proposal.
Next week the Antarctic nations also plan to consider a separate proposal to create a series of smaller marine reserves in East Antarctica. Those areas would come with less stringent protections than those in the Ross Sea proposal.
People involved in the negotiations say Russia remains the key to completing the Ross Sea agreement, with Ukraine likely to follow Moscow's lead.
New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said Wednesday that Russia was ready to talk.
"I'm aware that there are some plans for dialogue with the Russian delegation, which is an encouraging sign," he said. "We are certainly moving in a better direction than we have been previously."
Members of the Russian delegation didn't respond to emails from The Associated Press.
The head of the U.S. delegation, Evan Bloom, said in an interview last month that the size of the proposed sanctuary was reduced based on the findings of a committee which gives scientific advice to the nations, and that it remained faithful to the original objectives.
"One has to make tactical decisions in negotiations," said Bloom, the director of the U.S. State Department's Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs. "I still think the proposal is very strong, very robust, very pro-conservation, and viable."
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-10-17-Antarctic%20Sanctuary/id-cebcf875873843959888d0dedb25bfbaSimilar Articles: Supernatural yom kippur Kendra Spears Nexus 7 helen thomas
AP sources: 476,000 Obamacare applications filed
File- Thgis Oct. 17, 2013 file photo shows President Barack Obama speaking in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Administration officials say about 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through federal and state exchanges, the most detailed measure yet of the problem-plagued rollout of President Obama's signature legislation. However, the officials continue to refuse to say how many people have actually enrolled in the insurance markets. Without enrollment figures, it's unclear whether the program is on track to reach the 7 million people projecting by the Congressional Budget Office to gain coverage during the six-month sign-up period. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
File- Thgis Oct. 17, 2013 file photo shows President Barack Obama speaking in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. Administration officials say about 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through federal and state exchanges, the most detailed measure yet of the problem-plagued rollout of President Obama's signature legislation. However, the officials continue to refuse to say how many people have actually enrolled in the insurance markets. Without enrollment figures, it's unclear whether the program is on track to reach the 7 million people projecting by the Congressional Budget Office to gain coverage during the six-month sign-up period. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Administration officials say about 476,000 health insurance applications have been filed through federal and state exchanges, the most detailed measure yet of the problem-plagued rollout of President Barack Obama's signature legislation.
However, the officials continue to refuse to say how many people have actually enrolled in the insurance markets. Without enrollment figures, it's unclear whether the program is on track to reach the 7 million people projecting by the Congressional Budget Office to gain coverage during the six-month sign-up period.
Obama's advisers say the president has been frustrated by the flawed rollout. During one of his daily health care briefings last week, he told advisers assembled in the Oval Office that the administration had to own up to the fact that there were no excuses for not having the website ready to operate as promised.
The president is expected to address the problems on Monday during a health care event at the White House. Cabinet members and other top administration officials will also be traveling around the country in the coming weeks to encourage sign-ups in areas with the highest population of uninsured people.
The first three weeks of sign-ups have been marred by a cascade of computer problems, which the administration says it is working around the clock to correct. The rough rollout has been a glaring embarrassment for Obama, who invested significant time and political capital in getting the law passed during his first term.
The officials said technology experts from inside and outside the government are set to work on the glitches, though they did not say how many workers were being added.
Officials did say staffing has been increased at call centers by about 50 percent. As problems persist on the federally run website, the administration is encouraging more people to sign up for insurance over the phone.
The officials did not want to be cited by name and would not discuss the health insurance rollout unless they were granted anonymity.
Despite the widespread problems, the Obama administration has yet to fully explain what went wrong with the online system consumers were supposed to use to sign up for coverage.
Initially, administration officials blamed a high volume of interest for the frozen screens that many people encountered. Since then, the administration has also acknowledged unspecified problems with software and some elements of the system's design.
Interest in the insurance markets appears to continue to be high. Officials said about 19 million people had visited HealthCare.gov as of Friday night.
People seeking insurance must fill out applications before selecting specific plans. The applications include personal information, including income figures that are used to calculate any subsidies the applicant may qualify for.
More than one person can be included on an application.
Of the 476,000 applications that have been started, just over half have been from the 36 states where the federal government is taking the lead in running the markets. The rest of the applications have come from the 14 states running their own markets, along with Washington, D.C.
The White House says it plans to release the first enrollment totals from both the federal and state-run markets in mid-November.
An internal memo obtained by The Associated Press showed that the administration projected nearly a half-million people would enroll for the insurance markets during the first month.
Officials say they expect enrollments to be heavier toward the end of the six-month sign-up window.
In an ironic twist, the problems with the rollout were overshadowed by Republican efforts to get changes to the health care law in exchange for funding the government. That effort failed and the government reopened last week with the health care law intact.
Stung by that defeat, some Republicans are now calling for the resignation of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The White House says it has complete confidence in her.
House Republicans have scheduled a hearing next week to look into the rollout problems. White House allies say they're confident the problems are being addressed.
"There's no question the marketplace website needs some improvement," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., one of the architects of the law. "The administration needs to fix the computer bugs and I'm confident that they're working around the clock to fix the problems."
___
Associated Press writer Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar contributed to this report.
___
Follow Julie Pace at http://twitter.com/jpaceDC
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-10-19-Obama-Health%20Care/id-b4f7bdd6e0894d40a34ae6512bf17ea8Related Topics: NASA Gareth Bale Justin Morneau allen iverson Frank Castillo
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Are These Avant-Garde Popsicles the Frozen Treats of the Future?
Whether they're ice pops or flat Paletas, most icy treats aren't much of an adventure. But these faceted vegan delicacies up the ante: They're designed to have a smoother melt and better mouth feel and than anything you've tried before. That's right—highly engineered popsicle mouth feel. Welcome to the future. It's time to savor the flavor.
     |
Tags: nascar Eiza González fox sports paulina gretzky whitney houston
Adrian Peterson -- DNA Test Proved He Was the Dad
Adrian Peterson
DNA Test Proved He Was the Dad
Exclusive
When Adrian Peterson was told that he might be the father of a love child in South Dakota, he suspected it was true ... but he took a DNA test just to be sure, TMZ has learned.Sources very familiar with the situation tell us ... when AP was notified about the situation roughly 2 to 3 months ago, he immediately offered to step up and help out in any way he could.
Adrian didn't suspect he was being targeted in any sort of cash grab -- but we're told that he realized it would be smart to get definitive proof that he was the child's biological dad before he made any big moves.
We're told ... once the test came back positive, AP supercharged his efforts to be a part of the kid's life -- and also offered to help out financially.
As we first reported, Adrian had initially planned to meet the child in the next couple of weeks -- but instead, he rushed to the hospital last week after learning the boy was on life support stemming from injuries allegedly caused by the mother's boyfriend. The boy died shortly after Adrian visited him.
Our sources say ... Adrian plans to fly back to South Dakota to attend his son's funeral later this week. We're also told he will continue to communicate with the mother in the future.
Get TMZ Breaking News alerts to your inbox
Category: rose byrne Ray Rice
Einstein on the Beach: Opera Review
The Bottom Line
For a work that is now 37 years old, "Einstein on the Beach" remains challenging and utterly modern.
One of the most famous but little-seen American high art totems of the modern era, Einstein on the Beach, alit in Los Angeles for the first time for three performances over the weekend. Presented by L.A. Opera and defined as such by its creators, it is less an opera than an acute sensory occasion, an uninterrupted four-hour-plus cascade of pulsating Philip Glass music, extraordinary stage pictures courtesy of Robert Wilson, arresting movement and choreography by Lucinda Childs, and meanings that percolate, confound, sometimes bubble to the surface and often elude. For a work that is now 37 years old, it remains challenging and utterly modern. And quite something to behold.
Between its debut at the Avignon Festival in 1976 and the present incarnation, Einstein has been mounted just two other times -- in 1984 and 1992 -- and had ever been presented in the United States only in New York City and at Princeton. The 2012-14 tour started in Ann Arbor and made 10 previous stops (including Toronto, Brooklyn and Berkeley in North America) before the Los Angeles engagement. At this point, the only remaining destination is Paris in early January, and, as Wilson and Glass are both in their 70s, there can be little doubt that this will be the last time the venture will be undertaken by its creators.
PHOTOS: THR's Composers Roundtable: 6 Film Music Heavyweights Swap War Stories
What Einstein would be like interpreted by other hands is as puzzling as the most abstract and abstruse interludes in the work itself. Even now, this is a piece in which the spectator is neither encouraged nor expected to find literal or even symbolic meaning in anything in particular; one is advised just to go with it to avoid frustration and the accusation of being too conventionally minded. Why does a big locomotive steam engine come on- and offstage? Why do we spend several minutes watching a large illuminated beam be raised with agonizing slowness from a horizontal to a vertical position? What is the relevance of the two big courtroom scenes? What does Einstein being on the beach have to do with anything? Why is David Cassidy referenced numerous times? Did Clint Eastwood get his idea about the empty chair from the conspicuous one here?
As an Einstein virgin, these and dozens of other odd notions entered and collided within my head while I eventually settled into a state of what I can best gauge as moderate bliss. To a great extent, the mellow mood is created by Glass' score, which runs up and waterfalls down scales in endless repetitions that are nonetheless subtly altered and staggering to consider when being played onstage by violin virtuoso Jennifer Koh (made up with wild hair to resemble old Albert, a fiddle player himself), who concludes her tour de force by sticking out her tongue at the audience.
Glass' relentless arpeggios and propulsive energy creation, I decided in due time, represent the audible correlative to the constant bombardment of atoms, the nature and potential of which Einstein was forever weighing. The furious violin playing is the musical equivalent to Einstein's writing of formulas, while the assertive jazzy sax solo that ultimately erupts out of the mass of churning sound is Einstein's mental breakthrough and the explosion of the nuclear age.
Ultimately, it seems to me that the secret of Einstein, what binds it together and makes it cohere, is the push-and-pull between the ultra-discipline and order of its artistry and the inchoate nature of its subject. Once I embraced the experience on those terms, much of the work seemed clear and the mysteries remained, well, mysteries. And exquisitely rendered ones at that, in a production where not a note, gesture, word, glance, prop, lighting cue or effect was out of place.
Dates: Oct. 11-13
Venue: L.A. Opera
Director: Robert Wilson
Set and lighting designer: Robert Wilson
Music and lyrics: Philip Glass
Choreographer: Lucinda Childs
Conductor: Michael Riesman
250 minutes
Related Topics: survivor apple katy perry Ncaa Football Scores egypt
Market priced for perfection as earnings, data flow
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A U.S. data clog will begin to clear next week and payrolls figures will land just as more than one-quarter of S&P 500 companies report earnings. But equities, at record highs, have already surpassed expectations for the year and could begin to drift sideways.
The S&P 500 closed Friday at 1,744.50, an all-time high, making it safe to say the bulls are in control on Wall Street. Neither the four-month rise in benchmark Treasuries yields that topped in September nor the government shutdown and near-technical default on U.S. debt earlier this week could derail the rally.
"Investors may be feeling a bit invincible, having survived the rise in rates and the shenanigans in D.C.," said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.
He said, however, the consequences of the rise in interest rates and the evidence of an economic slowdown could take a toll, and investors could begin to cash in on a good year as fourth-quarter outlooks dim.
Expectations for earnings growth in the year's last quarter are now at a lofty 10.3 percent, though they are expected to fall.
"I'm not so concerned about the third-quarter earnings numbers as those are likely to come in without much fanfare. I'm more concerned about what analysts do with fourth-quarter earnings numbers," Jacobsen said. "I think we could have a topping market here."
Positive third-quarter earnings from Google
HERE COMES THE DATA
September payrolls numbers, expected two weeks ago, will be released on Tuesday to start a flow of economic data delayed because of the 16-day government shutdown that ended on Thursday.
The September data won't be corrupted because of the delay, but October data may be. The Federal Reserve has repeated that its decision regarding when and by how much to reduce its $85 billion a month stimulus is data dependent, and the trend may not be reliable next month.
"Professional investors are pretty well aware of the new schedule, but that may not be the case for retail," said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.
"When we get the non-farm payrolls next Tuesday, the focus may shift to 'what is the Fed going to do with its stimulus program' since we've moved away from the whole Washington drama for now."
Adding to the data question mark, the economic headwinds stemming from the recent disarray in Washington have all but ensured the Fed's quantitative easing will not be reduced until next year.
EARNINGS GALORE
About 28 percent of S&P 500 components will report earnings next week. The list includes Dow components Caterpillar
Overall earnings growth on the S&P 500 is expected to be 2.1 percent for the third quarter, down from an estimate of 4.5 percent at the beginning of October and 8.5 percent in July.
In terms of revenue, 53 percent of the nearly 100 companies that have reported have beaten expectations and 46.9 percent have missed. In a typical quarter going back to 2002, 61 percent of companies beat revenue estimates and 39 percent missed.
"It's going to pull us back to earth a little bit. Earnings are important but what I am looking at is revenue," said Brad McMillan, chief investment officer at Commonwealth Financial in Waltham, Massachusetts.
"There are a couple of companies that are doing well, and God bless them, but is that the rule or the exception?"
At 14.6, the S&P's forward price-to-earnings ratio is near its highest in four years and slightly under the long-term mean of 14.9. The P/E multiple has risen throughout the year as earnings growth has remained stagnant, and forecasts are likely to fall in coming months. Without improved growth, that P/E will start to look expensive.
(Reporting by Rodrigo Campos; additional reporting by Angela Moon and Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Kenneth Barry)
- Finance
- Investment & Company Information
Similar Articles: Bum Phillips Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2 courtney stodden emmy winners Jack Nicholson
Iran: More Nuclear Talks 'In A Few Weeks'
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. More talks "in a few weeks," he says.
Jason DeCrow/AP
Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif. More talks "in a few weeks," he says.
Jason DeCrow/AP
Iran is planning a fresh round of talks on its nuclear program "in a few weeks" after a generally positive first round of multiparty meetings in Geneva aimed at defusing tensions with the West.
Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, commenting on his Facebook page, says the next meeting with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany would also be held in Geneva.
Reuters, quoting a western diplomat, says the talks are set to resume in Geneva for two days beginning Nov. 7.
On Tuesday, Tehran presented a plan to the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany to end the confrontation over its nuclear program, which it has always insisted is for peaceful purposes.
No details of that plan were released, but as The Associated Press reports:
"[Comments] from Western officials meeting with Iranian negotiators indicated interest in the proposal, described by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi as designed to allow Iran to leave the 'dark' path of international isolation.
Previous rounds have often been fitful and sporadic, reflecting the deadlock between the two sides. Zarif's Facebook comments that negotiations will resume 'in a few weeks' strengthened expectations that some progress was being made. He said the follow-up will also be held in Geneva, the venue for the ongoing talks."
The election of moderate President Hassan Rouhani four months ago has opened the door to negotiations over Iran's nuclear program, which many Western analysts believe is aimed at acquiring a bomb.
Related Topics: 12 Years a Slave Columbus Day 2013 ohio state football Bobby Cannavale Percy Jackson Sea Of Monsters
Talks Begin In Geneva On Iran's Nuclear Program
Negotiators from six world powers meet with Iranian envoys in Geneva amid some optimism about the prospects of a deal over Tehran's suspect nuclear program.
Tags: Mike Wayans trent richardson How To Close Apps On Ios7 Seaside Heights Amanda Dufner
Shutdown deal settles nothing in the long run
The United States flirted suggestively this week with default but ultimately went home with a short-term solution that sets up a series of similar crises in the next few months.
This is no regrettable one-night stand: Democrats and Republicans now face a deadline for forging a broader compromise on the nation's woeful finances (Dec. 13), while government funding runs out Jan. 15 and the next debt ceiling fight is programmed for Feb. 7. The hard-fought agreement, though widely heralded as a breakthrough, offers only a brief truce in the wars over the government's finances and Obamacare.
Thanks to the deal, the United States won't face default — at least for now. Federal workers idled by the first partial government shutdown since 1996 will get back pay. And tourists frustrated by makeshift barriers and student-art-project-caliber signs declaring popular monuments closed will get some relief. Small-business loans will start flowing again. For moms reliant on food aid, for scientists starved of research grants and for others, it’s a grimmer picture. There's no answer here to government spending cuts that affect them. And forecasters warn that the standoff slowed economic growth, effectively shaving $24 billion from the fragile recovery.
“There are no winners here,” White House press secretary Jay Carney intoned somberly from the briefing room podium.
That’s not quite true — and not just because anonymous "advisers" to President Barack Obama seemingly invited reporters to think of him as JFK facing down the Soviets in the Cuban Missile Crisis, while top aides high-fived one another (and maybe themselves) in pieces like this.
The obvious big winner was Obamacare. Imagine that House Republicans, spurred on by Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, hadn't shut down the government and threatened global economic mayhem to try to force the White House to whittle away at the law. What would have been the top story, not just for health care reporters, but for their more easily distracted brethren who cover politics? The president's signature health care law, his most significant domestic policy achievement had such a botched rollout that it almost felt like his visit to the Federal Emergency Management Agency might have included a covert plea for help.
The White House war plan had called for trying to shift the Obamacare debate from a philosophical dispute about the government's proper role in health care to a battle one aide summarized as "they want to take away your health care benefits." Obama himself linked the Affordable Care Act to Social Security and Medicare. Widely reported glitches could by rights have crippled that narrative. Instead, the shutdown took up so much bandwidth that reporters failed to ask Obama even one question about the botched rollout during an Oct. 8 press conference. And the controversial law actually got more popular during the crisis (though it remains unpopular). The tea party? Less popular.
(Another winner? Republican Rep. Michael Grimm of New York, for similar reasons.)
Obama won. He got what he publicly demanded: the government reopened and a debt limit increase without ideological concession to Republicans.
The GOP vowed not to wave the white flag — and its new strategy sounded oddly like Obama's recalibration of the war on terrorism from vast conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan to smaller operations like commando raids and drone strikes, thought to be less likely to foster vast popular resentment.
"We will rely on aggressive oversight that highlights the law's massive flaws and smart, targeted strikes that split the legislative coalition the president has relied upon to force his health care law on the American people," Republican House Speaker John Boehner promised on Wednesday.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has to be counted among the winners: Arguably the most fascinating and important dynamic of the standoff was the unusual-to-the-point-of-shocking unity among famously fractured Senate Democrats.To hear one plugged-in Senate Democratic aide tell it, "There wasn't any browbeating and there's wasn't any arm-twisting, because there wasn't really any need." Instead, Democrats saw the public side with Democrats. And even lawmakers facing uphill re-election fights, like Arkansas Democratic Sen. Mark Pryor, spoke out on the floor of the Senate.
"Everyone seemed to understand that a line had to be drawn, and defaulting was it," the aide explained. "As the situation evolved, it became clear that Democratic unity was paying off, especially in contrast with the Republican disarray."
But accepting spending levels in line with "sequestration" — the across-the-board cuts resulting from a debt limit standoff in August 2011 — was "a bitter pill to swallow," the aide said. Will Reid and the White House use the upcoming fights to replace those cuts? Will Democrats divide over spending levels?
What about Obama? His poll numbers sank a bit, though Democrats are quick to point out that Republicans fared far worse and that he doesn't face the voters again. That's true, though the GOP is sure to make him an issue in the 2014 midterms and he still has a stalled domestic agenda.
But one place where the president scored at least a temporary victory was in the notion that the debt limit is off-limits to what the White House repeatedly characterized as "extortion" for partisan gain.
Sure, that position makes his own speeches as a senator denouncing increases in the debt limit look like politically motivated opportunism. But aides describe him as profoundly committed to rolling back the precedent he set with Republicans in the debt limit battle of summer 2011.
It's a promise he made on Jan. 1.
"While I will negotiate over many things, I will not have another debate with this Congress over whether or not they should pay the bills that they’ve already racked up through the laws that they passed," he said. "Let me repeat: We can't not pay bills that we've already incurred. If Congress refuses to give the United States government the ability to pay these bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy would be catastrophic."
Democrats point to a vote, later that month, in which many of the Republicans vowing never to back a debt limit increase without significant concessions did just that.
But that doesn't mean the president will prevail again.
Obama benefited another way. Grumbling from congressional Democrats had grown louder in the months before the shutdown as the White House faced revelations about spying on Americans and looked utterly adrift on Syria, even as the recovery failed to pick up much steam. But the shutdown helped the president's allies paper over rifts and unite against Republicans.
That unity might be tested as the 2014 elections draw closer.
The picture only gets blurrier for the other players. House Speaker Boehner? In the end, he wasn't able to deliver what several House GOP members privately said they wanted: a meaningful counterweight to the debt ceiling hike, making it easier to explain their votes to folks back home and potentially inoculate themselves against a primary challenge. Those lawmakers will now have to settle for voting "no" on the final bill. But rumors of a possible challenge — implausible on their face given the lack of a plausible challenger — fizzled out.
Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell? His primary opponent will surely try to exploit McConnell's central role in crafting the deal. But the senator himself underlined that the agreement preserved "sequestration" spending cuts. "This is far less than many of us had hoped for. But it’s far better than what some had sought," he said.
Vice President Joe Biden? He didn't play the key role he played in past standoffs. And the White House press office forgot to mention his presence at meetings with key lawmakers at least twice. That might set tongues a-wagging, but aides deny that he'll take a lower profile in those upcoming budget debates.
And Cruz? He boosted his profile sharply with tea party-affiliated Republicans who are likely to shape the party's nomination fight in 2016. And while some might question why he ultimately decided not to try to block a deal he described as "terrible," one senior Republican aide suggested that Cruz had actually shown a sense of timing.
"I don’t think he saw any merit in prolonging this fight," the aide told Yahoo News, "particularly when he could say everyone else 'caved.'"
- Politics & Government
- Government
- Barack Obama
- White House
- Republicans
Related Topics: Mayweather vs Canelo results Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them alyssa milano Ozil princess diana
Friday, October 18, 2013
Easy Fed outlook, China growth send shares to five-year high, dollar to eight-month low
By Marc Jones
LONDON (Reuters) - Expectations the Federal Reserve will keep its stimulus in place for longer following the confidence-sapping U.S. fiscal impasse pushed world shares to a five-year high and the dollar to an eight-month low on Friday.
An acceleration in China's giant economy provided a further boost for stock markets, as well as growth-linked commodities such as oil and copper, as the prospect of an extended spell of super-easy money and improving growth buoyed investors. <.n/>
European shares <.fteu3> were up 0.3 percent around midday, with broadly even gains for most of the region's major bourses leaving them on course for a weekly gain of 1.75 percent and hovering at their highest since mid-2008.
That followed solid gains across most of Asia overnight.
Wall Street was expected to tick up 0.1-0.2 percent after Thursday's record close for the S&P 500 <.spx>.
As the U.S. debt drama faded, speculation grew over whether the likely hit to growth from the wrangling would see the Federal Reserve further delay cutting back its stimulus - supporting riskier assets but weighing on the dollar.
"The debate on the timing of QE tapering by the Fed is quickly moving to whether it will be Q1 2014 or Q2," said Derek Halpenny, European head of global markets research for Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi.
"The dollar has been left vulnerable by this uncertainty especially in circumstances of growth stabilizing in China."
Traders were continuing to sell the greenback versus a broad basket of currencies from both advanced and emerging economies.
The knock-on effect for Europe was a stronger euro and pound. The euro zone's shared currency hit an 8-1/2 month high of $1.3694 as its recent strong run following signs of a pick-up in the bloc continued.
"The euro itself has several factors that are certainly beneficial," said Vasileios Gkionakis, global head of FX Strategy for UniCredit. "The recovery is on track and next week we have the new PMI figures which should support that view."
"I think we are also seeing central banks looking to diversify some of their dollar holdings into euros and on top of that at the last ECB press conference Mario Draghi didn't show any real concern about the strength of the euro."
CHINA BULLS SHOP
Investors were also relieved by data showing China's economy grew 7.8 percent in the third quarter, its fastest pace this year and in line with expectations, as firmer foreign and domestic demand lifted factory production and retail sales.
China's CSI300 index <.csi300> climbed 0.7 percent, while Australian shares <.axjo> jumped to their highest level since June 2008. Australian exports are closely linked to China's economic fortunes.
"The Q3 GDP figure is in line with market expectations but the uncertainty is whether the current recovery is sustainable," said Shen Jianguang, chief China economist with Mizuho Securities in Hong Kong.
Though there was broad U.S. relief investors were retaining some caution following Wednesday's last-minute debt deal.
While it pulled the world's largest economy back from the brink of an historic default, it only funds the government until January 15 and raises the borrowing limit through to February 7, meaning another political showdown could be on cards.
Markets are also bracing for a deluge of delayed U.S. economic data over the next week.
A simple estimate suggested the direct and indirect impact of this month's shutdown would weigh on annualized fourth-quarter gross domestic product growth by 0.4 percentage point, analysts at Morgan Stanley wrote in a note to clients.
German Bunds were on course for a steady end to a week of hefty gains, while in the euro zone periphery only Portugal was in the red along with its main share market <.psi20> as its debt concerns continued.
Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasuries were trading with a yield of 2.5504 percent ahead of the start of U.S. trading, a two-week low. Yields move inversely to prices.
In commodity markets, China's stronger growth helped copper climb 0.6 percent to 7,273 a tonne and Brent oil futures to hold above $109 a barrel after a build-up of crude stocks in the United States pushed oil prices down overnight.
Meanwhile, gold took a breather after rallying almost 3 percent overnight - its biggest one-day rise in a month - as the dollar weakened. It was steady at about $1,316 an ounce and not far off a more-than one-week high reached on Thursday.
(Editing by Catherine Evans)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/asian-shares-hit-5-month-high-u-relief-030257546--business.html
Tags: Baby Hope Johnny Galecki tupac aaron hernandez Becky G
Cover up? McCarthy magazine photo criticized
2 hours ago
Elle
Actress Melissa McCarthy reportedly loves her picture on the cover of Elle.
Safe to say this isn't the type of response Elle magazine was hoping to receive over their annual "Women in Hollywood" issue.
The high-fashion mag has found itself on the receiving end of rampant criticism over the publication's November cover, which features "The Heat" star Melissa McCarthy.
And while the 43-year-old actress undoubtedly looks stunning in the shot, criticsare slamming Elle for covering up the curvy actress, who's barely showing any skin while bundled up in a charcoal Marina Rinaldi coat.
PHOTOS: Check out the other covers from Elle's women in Hollywood issue
Alternate covers for the annual issue feature Reese Witherspoon showing off her figure in a fitted black Versace dress, Shailene Woodley wearing a strappy black swimsuit and Penlope Cruz flaunting her flawless face in a close-up shot.
(For the record, Cruz, who just recently gave birth to her second child, isn't showing any skin, either.)
NEWS: See last year's Women in Hollywood honorees
Elle has since responded to the backlash and is defending McCarthy's cover look:
"On all of our shoots, our stylists work with the stars to choose pieces they feel good in, and this is no different: Melissa loved this look, and is gorgeous on our cover," a spokesperson for the Elle said in a statement. "We are thrilled to honor her as one of our Women in Hollywood this year."
A source tells E! News Melissa "loves the cover."
This isn't the first time critics have been fired up over Melissa's appearance. Many speculated that McCarthy's face was Photoshopped to look slimmer in a U.K. promotional image for her recent flick "The Heat."
And in June, film critic Rex Reed wrote a scathing review of the star in The New York Observer for her performance in "Identity Theft," in which he described the mother of two as a "hippo," "tractor-sized" and called her "a gimmick comedian who has devoted her short career to being obese and obnoxious with equal success."
NEWS: BFFs Melissa and Sandra open up about bonding on set and off
The "Bridesmaids" beauty later addressed the cruel comments in The New York Times, saying she was concerned about the criticism not because of its individual impact, but because of our image-obsessed society.
"I felt really bad for someone who is swimming in so much hate," she said to the paper. "I just thought, that's someone who's in a really bad spot, and I am in such a happy spot. I laugh my head off every day with my husband and my kids who are mooning me and singing me songs."
PHOTOS: Controversial magazine covers
She added that we live in a society where there is a "a strange epidemic of body image and body dysmorphia," noting how articles like Reed's "just add to all those younger girls, that are not in a place in their life where they can say, 'That doesn't reflect on me.'"
Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/covered-melissa-mccarthy-magazine-cover-draws-criticism-8C11418627
Category: Windows 8.1 2020 Olympics us open tennis meteor shower tonight Conjuring
China's economic growth rebounds to 7.8 percent
BEIJING (AP) — China's economic growth rebounded in the latest quarter, easing pressure on communist leaders for more stimulus and allowing them to focus on longer-term reforms.
The world's second-largest economy grew by 7.8 percent over a year earlier in the three months ending in September, boosted by higher government spending, data showed Friday. That was up from a two-decade low of 7.5 percent the previous quarter.
"The fundamentals of China's economy are turning for the better," said a National Bureau of Statistics spokesman, Sheng Laiyun, at a news conference.
The improvement eases pressure on communist leaders who say their priority is longer-term reforms aimed at steering the economy to slower, more sustainable growth based on domestic consumption instead of exports and investment.
The abrupt drop in global demand for Chinese goods prompted them to backtrack temporarily and launch a mini-stimulus of higher spending on railway construction and other public works to prop up growth and avoid politically dangerous job losses.
Communist leaders are due to meet in November to craft an economic development blueprint that reform advocates hope will include market-opening and more financial support to private entrepreneurs.
The country's top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang, said earlier Beijing would try to keep growth above 7.5 percent. That is far above levels forecast for the United States, Europe and Japan but barely half of 2009's 14.2 percent growth.
Asian stock markets were boosted by the Chinese growth figure but analysts have warned the rebound might not last because growth depends on government spending. Global demand is weak and Chinese consumer spending is growing more slowly than Beijing wants.
"China's economy rebounded in the third quarter because of the government's stimulus measures," said Moody's Analytics economic Alaistair Chan in a report.
The deceleration of China's economy is denting revenues for suppliers of commodities and industrial components such as Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia. Lower Chinese demand already has depressed prices for iron ore and other raw materials.
Friday's data highlighted the economy's heavy reliance on government-led investment and the weakness of trade.
Spending on factories and other fixed assets contributed 55.8 percent of the latest quarter's growth, or 4.3 percentage points of the 7.8 percent expansion, according to Sheng. Domestic consumption was 45.9 percent of growth, or 3.7 percentage points of the total.
Trade was so weak that its contribution to overall growth was negative, according to Sheng, and detracted 0.1 percentage point from the quarter's growth rate.
September exports suffered a rare and unexpectedly sharp decline of 0.3 percent, falling short of forecasts. Surveys of manufacturers show September activity barely expanded.
The International Monetary Fund is forecasting Chinese growth this year of 7.6 percent, which would be the weakest performance since the early 1990s. Some private sector analysts have cut their growth forecasts for next year to below 7 percent.
In an apparent effort to lower expectations, Finance Minister Lou Jiwei said in June that growth as low 6.5 percent might be acceptable.
In a positive sign for the ruling party, Sheng said the economy created 10 million jobs in the first three quarters of the year.
Factory output in September rose 10.2 percent from a year earlier, up 1.1 percentage points from the first half's growth rate, according to statistics bureau data.
Growth in fixed asset investment rose 20.2 percent in the first three quarters of the year, compared with 20.1 percent for the first half, the data showed. Retail sales also accelerated, rising 13.3 percent in September, up from a 12.9 percent growth rate for the first three quarters.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/chinas-economic-growth-rebounds-7-8-percent-020844402--finance.html
Related Topics: chicago fire Phillip Lim Target US News college rankings nfl Justin Morneau
Will Google ever bring Android and ChromeOS together?
When Google acquired Android in 2005 and subsequently unveiled it in 2007, there was no such thing as ChromeOS yet. Google’s entire OS effort was on Android, and separately the company worked on the Chrome browser for desktop and mobile operating systems.
Over the last year we’ve started to see Google have success with ChromeOS in the notebook computer market. Android and ChromeOS are both based on Linux, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. ChromeOS is a very thin client, almost everything is done via the browser.
On a personal level, I’ve now gotten to the point where I’d rather consume content on a touch screen device. I prefer swiping my finger on a screen to navigate a website rather than being forced to use a trackpad. This tells me all computers will be touchscreen soon, just like all mobile devices already are.
So this raises the question — why would Google want to maintain two operating systems down the road? I don’t think they want this. And I’m trying to get my head around the possible solutions.
| |
Related Topics: politico emmy winners Sons Of Anarchy Season 6 Whitey Bulger usain bolt
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)