TOKYO ? Japan's Cabinet approved bills Tuesday aimed at bolstering nuclear safety regulations following last year's Fukushima disaster, including one that would put a 40-year cap on the operational life of nuclear reactors.
The approval came as a team of International Atomic Energy Agency experts generally endorsed "stress test" results at two idled reactors at a plant in western Japan, bolstering the Tokyo government's efforts to restart the facility, though the IAEA team said some safety measures there needed clarification.
Japan currently has no legal limit on the operational lifespan of its 54 reactors, many of which will reach the 40-year mark in coming years. One of three reactors at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-ichi plant has been operating for 41 years.
The legislation, which still needs parliamentary approval to take effect, does allow for an extension of up to 20 years in some cases ? an exception that critics have blasted as a loophole. Officials have said extensions will be rare and require strict safety standards.
The Cabinet also approved a bill to create a new nuclear regulatory agency under the Environment Ministry that would unify the various nuclear safety and regulatory bodies.
Critics say the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency's current placement under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry ? which also promotes nuclear energy ? has contributed to lax supervision of the industry.
After the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the Fukushima accident, Japan reversed its nuclear energy policy and now aims to reduce its dependency on atomic power. Officials say capping the lives of reactors at 40 years is consistent with that policy.
Still, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has said Japan must rely on nuclear energy during a transitional phase, and idled reactors deemed safe after inspections need to be restarted.
Since the meltdowns at Fukushima, Japan has ordered reactors across the country to undergo "stress tests" before they can be restarted. But passing the new tests may not lead to a quick startup because of deep safety concerns in local communities hosting the reactors.
With only three of the country's 54 reactors now online, officials are desperately trying to avoid a power crunch. One of the three operating reactors will go offline for regular checks next month, and Japan will have no operating reactors by the end of April.
Last week, a 10-member IAEA delegation inspected the Ohi No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at a nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture ? a rural area where 13 reactors are clustered around a bay. The reactors have undergone stress tests, which are supposed to assess whether they can withstand earthquakes, tsunamis, loss of power or other emergencies, and to suggest changes to improve safety.
The IAEA team was invited by Tokyo to visit the plant in a step seen as an attempt to drum up support for the government's safety campaign.
In a preliminary assessment Tuesday, the team said that Japanese nuclear safety officials' instructions to their operator, Kansai Electric Power Co., and the review process for the tests were "generally consistent" with IAEA safety standards.
However, the team said authorities should clarify the stress tests' goals and better define what consitutes the safety margins within which plants would be able to tolerate disasters. It also said the nuclear safety agency, or NISA, still needs to confirm certain improvements to safety before allowing the facility to resume operation.
Mission leader James Lyons said that the team was "satisfied with the work they had done as part of their primary assessment" but that there was room for improvement.
NISA chief Hiroyuki Fukano welcomed the IAEA review, saying authorities were "encouraged" that stress tests were deemed valid.
Critics, however, say the tests are meaningless because they have no clear criteria, and view the IAEA as biased toward the nuclear industry.
Daniel Radcliffe is no Harry Potter in "Woman in Black."
By Gael Fashingbauer Cooper
Some big names show up in movie theaters this week. Daniel Radcliffe is onscreen with "Woman in Black," while Madonna is behind the camera with "W.E." And on?the small screen,?"The Voice" returns with another season of musical competition. Here's our look at the week ahead in entertainment.
Movies Daniel Radcliffe will forever be Harry Potter to many, but in "The Woman in Black," dubbed "Scary Potter" by some, he plays a more adult role. Radcliffe's character is an English lawyer and young father who travels to a spooky house where all kinds of creepy things are going on -- maybe you've seen the shivery posters featuring old photographs with scratched-out eyes. Unfortunately,?this time Radcliffe?doesn't have his Potter powers to help out. This looks like a regular scare-fest, and it's good to see Radcliffe back on the big screen. (Feb. 3)
Madonna goes behind the camera for "W.E." The pop star directed and co-wrote the film, which tells the story of Wallis Simpson and King Edward VIII's romance through the eyes of a modern New York woman, Wally Winthrop, ?who's obsessed with the historic romance. Look for Madonna's daughter, Lourdes, as a young Winthrop, and stay through the ending credits to hear "Masterpiece," Madonna's Golden Globe-winning song. (Feb. 3)
TV "The Voice" has grabbed the prime spot after the Super Bowl and will premiere there before moving to Mondays. Music coaches Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Cee Lo Green and Blake Shelton are all returning, as is host Carson Daly.? (Feb. 5, NBC, after Super Bowl ends)
"Grey's Anatomy"?delves into?alternate history this week. What if Meredith's hard-driving mother, Ellis, hadn't had Alzheimer's? What if Derek, Cristina, Bailey and the others had all traveled different paths on their way to Seattle Grace? This episode promises to be a fun trip for "Grey's" fans, with their usual dark and twisty Meredith replaced with a sweet smiler who wears pink, at least in a photo in TV Guide. (Feb. 2m 9 p.m., ABC)
College sororities are an American tradition for the most part, but can they transfer across the pond? The new show "Sorority Girls" tries to do just that by taking five American women to England to try and start a sorority there. (Jan. 31, 9 p.m., TLC)
DVD Fans of Ryan Gosling's dark and chilling "Drive" were upset last week when the film wasn't nominated for any of the major Oscars. Don't let the title throw you off as it did one Michigan woman -- "Drive" is no "Fast & Furious." Instead, it's a quietly menacing drama about a movie stunt driver with a criminal side. Albert Brooks really should have been Oscar-nominated for his role as the producer-criminal who meets up with Gosling, and some thought Gosling himself earned a nod. Judge for yourself whether the film was unfairly snubbed -- it hits DVD and Blu-ray?this week. (Jan. 31.)
"Stand up! Your father's passing." That scene, from "To Kill a Mockingbird," has been proclaimed one of the best in movies, and the movie itself?is often touted as one of the best films ever made.?"Mockingbird" is 50 this year, and a special anniversary DVD and Blu-ray is being issued. It included three hours of bonus material, including two documentaries, as well as a hardcover book that reproduces some script pages complete with star Gregory Peck's handwritten notes. (Jan. 31.)
Country music icon Willie Nelson performs during a fundraising concert for U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in Lorain, Ohio Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Redistricting has pitted Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat, against Toledo area congresswoman Marcy Kaptur in the March primary. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Country music icon Willie Nelson performs during a fundraising concert for U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, in Lorain, Ohio Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Redistricting has pitted Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat, against Toledo area congresswoman Marcy Kaptur in the March primary. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
Country music icon Willie Nelson smiles before a fundraising concert for U.S. Rep Dennis Kucinich, left, in Lorain, Ohio, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Redistricting has pitted Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat, against the Toledo area congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, in the March primary. (AP Photo/Mark Duncan)
LORAIN, Ohio (AP) ? Country music icon Willie Nelson has come to Ohio to sing out in support of an old friend, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich (koo-SIH'-nich).
Nelson performed a sold-out benefit for the congressman on Sunday in Lorain, about 25 miles west of Cleveland. The star previously campaigned for Kucinich during his long-shot bids for president.
Redistricting has thrown Kucinich into a congressional primary battle with another veteran Democrat, Marcy Kaptur.
Her campaign sniffed last week that while Kucinich brings singers to northern Ohio, Kaptur brings jobs.
Multiple news outlets report that Kucinich shot back during a news conference before Sunday's concert that he has worked to save steel jobs in the region.
Amazon?s Kindle Fire fourth quarter sales threw Samsung Galaxy into a pyre, as Android-based tabs made their moves against the dominant Apple iPad.
Strategy Analytics reported that that 27 million units of tabs shipped in the fourth quarter. Apple and its iPad owned 58 percent of the market.
But Google Android-based tabs increased their share to 39 percent of the global tablet market, up 10 percentage points from the same quarter a year earlier. Shipments of Android tabs tripled to 10.5 million, as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others busted a move, said Neil Mawston, SA?s executive director.
?Android is so far proving relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns about fragmentation of Android?s operating system, user-interface and app store ecosystem,? he said.
Mobile app analysts Flurry?s Peter Farago said, ?Overall, Android tablets are growing aggressively as a category.?
But the big surprise was the success of e-tailer and upstart device-maker Amazon and its Kindle Fire against established device giant Samsung. The Fire scorched Samsung?s breakfast, lunch and dinner, according to Flurry.
Farago added: ?Amazon?s launch of Kindle Fire had more in common with an Apple-style launch than it did with aligning with the Android system. To date, the Android world has focused on marketing the operating system and the ?power? of the devices, with quality of content and the consumer experience subordinated in priority. With Google managing the Android Market, which lacks content control and a seamless commerce experience, inertia pushes those developers who choose to build for the platform toward advertising models.?
He said following the holiday season?s boom in Kindle Fire sales, significant downloads driven from the Amazon App Store ?resulted in a massive surge in session usage that just edges out the Galaxy Tab.?Unrounded, Kindle Fire represents 35.7 percent of sessions and Galaxy Tab represents 35.6 percent.?Remarkably, and from a standing start, the Kindle Fire overtook the Galaxy Tab in just a few short months.?
Can Amazon Kindle Fire?s scorched Earth path close the huge gap to take on ?Apple?s iPad? Let?s revisit this a year from now.
A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.
CAMBRIDGE, Maryland (Reuters) ? President Barack Obama vowed on Friday to push back hard against Republicans who try to obstruct his election-year proposals on taxes and jobs, as he sought to rally congressional Democrats and move past a period of strained relations.
Wrapping up a cross-country tour to promote a populist agenda laid out in this week's State of the Union address, Obama hammered home a reelection campaign appeal for greater economic fairness and called on fellow Democrats to close ranks with him.
Obama, who must convince voters to give him a second term despite a fragile economy and high unemployment, used his speech to a Democratic lawmakers' retreat in Maryland to turn up the heat on their Republican opponents.
Republicans accuse him of pursuing the "politics of envy" and have assailed his State of the Union proposals, including higher taxes on wealthier Americans.
"Where they obstruct, where they're unwilling to act, where they're more interested in party than they are in country ... then we've got to call them out on it," Obama said to loud applause. "We've got to push them. We can't wait. We can't be held back."
The White House believes that by casting Obama as a champion of the middle class, he can tap into voter resentment over income inequality and Wall Street excess, while painting the Republicans as the party beholden to the rich.
But Obama's economic proposals are unlikely to make headway in a deeply divided Congress, where Republicans control the House of Representatives and the president's legislative agenda remains stalled.
Pledging to "push hard" for his proposal that people earning more than $1 million a year pay a minimum of 30 percent in tax, Obama dismissed Republican criticism this was class warfare.
"Nobody envies rich people. Everybody wants to be rich ... the question is, are we creating opportunity for everybody?"
Relations between Obama and Democratic lawmakers suffered after Republicans won the House in the 2010 congressional elections, with some Democrats complaining Obama had made too many concessions to his political opponents.
But ties have improved in recent months as Obama has taken a more combative line toward Republicans over taxes and jobs and has drawn a stark contrast with Republican presidential hopefuls vying to face him in the November election.
Starting his appearance with a standing ovation from the audience, Obama thanked the House Democrats for giving him a compact disc in which they all performed a rendition of Al Green's 'I'm So In Love With You.'"
(Additional reporting by Alister Bull and Matt Spetalnick in Washington and Thomas Ferraro in Cambridge, Maryland; Editing by Eric Walsh)
Video: New Quantum Dot Tech Could Boost Current Optical Fiber Band Tenfold Current optical communications schemes rely on a narrow 1.55 micron wavelength band of about 10 terahertz, a band in which optical signals can be well controlled and loss of signal/data is fairly low. But to open up optical networks to the high data load of the future, we need to open up the span of available wavelength.
Source: POPSCI Posted on:
Friday, Jan 27, 2012, 8:55am Views: 4
DORAL, Fla. ? Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney urged conservatives to back off aggressive anti-immigration policies as the Republican presidential candidates vied for Hispanic votes Friday, a day marked by heightened tensions entering the final weekend before Florida's primary.
"I'm very concerned about those who are already here illegally and how we deal with those 11 million or so," Romney said. "My heart goes out to that group of people. ... We're not going to go around and round people up in buses and ship them home."
The compassionate approach, like Gingrich's calls for politically practical reform, was aimed at improving the Republican Party's tarnished reputation among Hispanics. Both men delivered speeches Friday to the same group of Hispanic leaders gathered in Miami but avoided ? at least briefly ? criticizing each other in what now looks like a two-man race for the nomination.
Any calls for temperance on immigration didn't apply to personal attacks elsewhere.
The former House speaker released a new television ad in Florida using former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to question Romney's integrity. "If a man's dishonest to get a job, he'll be dishonest on the job," Huckabee says in the ad.
However, Huckabee said he didn't approve of his appearance in the ad and had been quoted out of context. Reiterating his stand against making a primary endorsement, he wrote on his PAC website: "My hope is to defeat Barack Obama and win majorities in both the House and Senate, not to attack any of the presidential candidates who might be our nominee."
Romney flashed a newfound confidence as he campaigned the day after delivering a strong debate performance. "I've had the fun of two debates where I had to stand up and battle, and battling was fun and battling was won," he told cheering supporters gathered at Cape Canaveral.
He later likened Gingrich's complaints to "Goldilocks," the fairy tale character who complained of the temperature of her porridge.
Tensions boiled over between the Gingrich and Romney representatives at a stop in Delray Beach. Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond confronted Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz, who is among several high-profile Romney surrogates tailing the former House speaker.
Surrounded by reporters and cameras, Hammond goaded Chaffetz for employing a tactic that even 2008 presidential nominee John McCain has called into question. McCain is a Romney backer who on Friday said he would discourage that type of infiltration.
"What you're saying is you're disregarding the advice of one your top endorsers?" Hammond asked Chaffetz.
"Speaker Gingrich has routinely said he would follow the president from place to place. We think it's a good idea," Chaffetz responded, referring to Gingrich's threat, if he wins the GOP nomination, to follow President Barack Obama from city to city to get the last word.
The outburst overshadowed a detailed discussion about immigration, in which the rivals called for democracy in Cuba and across Latin America, touching a theme that caused clashes between the GOP front-runners at Thursday night's debate in Jacksonville.
Immigration is a flashpoint issue in Florida for the GOP candidates, who are trying to strike a balance between sounding compassionate toward immigrants and firm about stemming the tide of illegal workers. The state has roughly 1.5 million Hispanic voters.
Gingrich pushed for a measured approach to revising the nation's immigration laws, "because any bill you write that is comprehensive has too many enemies." The former House speaker says he wants stricter border control, faster deportation proceedings and a guest-worker program for certain immigrants.
If elected, Gingrich said he would bring to bear "the moral force of an American president who is serious about intending to free the people of Cuba and willingness to intimidate those who are the oppressors and say to them, `You will be held accountable.'"
Romney said the United States needs to work harder to promote democracy across Latin America and elsewhere. He compared it to selling soda: "We convince people around the world to buy a brown, caramel-colored water called Coca-Cola and to pay like a half day's wage for it. And they'll buy it. It's unbelievable. We're able to convince people of things that sometimes you scratch your head. ... And yet democracy, we don't sell that so well."
Military dictatorships allied with the United States ruled much of South America in the 1970s, but most nations returned to democracy in the 1980s.
Romney also pledged to appoint a Latin American envoy and to create a task force to focus on drug trafficking and other issues.
Hours after the speech, Romney also won the coveted endorsement of Puerto Rico Gov. Luis Fortuno, who joined Romney at an Orlando campaign stop late in the day. Romney and Gingrich said earlier that Puerto Rico should be granted statehood if local voters approve a looming referendum.
Opinion polls show a close race, with a slight advantage for Romney. Two other contenders, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, were far behind.
Paul has already made clear his intention to skip Florida in favor of smaller states that cost less to campaign in. On Friday, he began a two-day visit to snowy Maine.
Santorum, who had been campaigning aggressively here, conceded that he's better off at home, sitting at his kitchen table Saturday doing his taxes instead of campaigning in a state where he can't keep up with the GOP front-runners.
Outside advisers were urging him to pack up completely and not spend another minute in Florida, where he is cruising toward a third straight loss.
NASHVILLE, Tenn (Reuters) ? Country singer Kellie Pickler recorded her new album, "100 Proof," as if it would be her last.
That's a strong statement for an entertainer who has produced a string of country hits, including "Red High Heels" and a song she wrote for the mother she never knew, "I Wonder."
Pickler's new album, released on Tuesday this week, is a much more traditional recording for the singer, who said she grew up listening to and loving Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn.
When Pickler came to Nashville from the small town of Albemarle, North Carolina, she expected to record the kind of music her heroes were making. Instead, she was grouped with the new generation of singers whose work was more contemporary.
She and Taylor Swift became friends and wrote together, resulting in one of her biggest hits, "The Best Days of Your Life."
But after being one of the runners-up on Fox's "American Idol" TV show in 2006 and recording two successful albums, she didn't feel she was being true to herself. Her latest album, however, is "100 proof" Pickler.
"I didn't try to please anyone but myself. I didn't think 'will radio play this?' or 'will people buy this?'" she said.
"I'm at an age and place in my life where I care, but I don't care enough to compromise who I am anymore. I'm just gonna sing and I'm gonna say what I want to say," the 25-year-old told Reuters.
"It's okay to be selfish every now and then. Making this record, I made myself happy. That's not to say that I'm not happy with the things I did in the past. But I'm even happier now that I got to go in and do what I wanted to do."
STOP CHEATIN'
The first song Pickler recorded was "Stop Cheatin' On Me."
"My producer sent me the work tape and I listened to it and thought, 'Damn that sounds like a country song to me.' There is honesty in the lyrics. It's very real," she said.
The first single from the album, "Tough," was written for her by Leslie Satcher. When Pickler first met the songwriter, she asked for tunes that no one else had recorded, saying the songs other writers pitched to her did not feel right.
"So she asked me, 'Well, who is Kellie?' It was so easy to open up to her, so I told her about my life and some personal things that I'd never shared with anyone. She went home and locked herself in a room and wrote this song, taking what I had told her," Pickler said.
Satcher also wrote "Where's Tammy Wynette," which kicks off the album and opens with the sure-fire country lyric: "I stay torn between killin' him and lovin' him."
Pickler composed songs with one of her songwriter heroes, Dean Dillon, including the tunes "Long as I Never See You Again" and "The Letter (To Daddy)."
"I'm a huge fan of Dean," Pickler said, pausing to sing a few lines of a Vern Gosdin hit that Dillon wrote, "Set 'em up Joe." Dillon is one of Nashville's most prolific writers, having written mega-hits for George Strait including "The Chair" and the song that headlines his most recent No. 1 album, "Here for a Good Time."
"I never thought in a million years he'd sit in a room and write with little ol' me. We wrote several songs with Dale Dodson, and what a fun session that was," she said.
Her song "The Letter (To Daddy)" was initially not meant to be heard publicly as it touches on the heartbreak Pickler felt as a little girl while her father struggled with alcohol.
"We wrote it so I could get what was in here (touches her heart) out on paper," Pickler said. "But when I played it for a few friends they told me I had to record it."
"I love this album," Pickler said, adding she is anxious to find out if fans will too. "I've never been more proud of anything I've worked on. I fell in love with country music all over again while I was making this record."
(Reporting By Vernell Hackett; Editing by Andrew Stern and Bob Tourtellotte)
TRADE GAP: The devastating March tsunami and shift of manufacturing overseas due to the stronger yen plunged Japan's trade account into the red for the first year since 1980.
WORLD PAIN: Weakness in the U.S. economy, Europe's debt problems and the recent flooding in Thailand, which disrupted production for Japanese automakers, also contributed to export declines.
FUTURE: Some economists predicted that the trade balance would be in the black again within two years, but the years of Japan running massive trade surpluses are likely over.
Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa signs autographs for fans during the baseball team's annual Winter Warm-Up on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in St. Louis. La Russa is getting a victory lap with St. Louis fans following his retirement after the Cardinals' World Series win at the end of the 2011 season. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa signs autographs for fans during the baseball team's annual Winter Warm-Up on Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in St. Louis. La Russa is getting a victory lap with St. Louis fans following his retirement after the Cardinals' World Series win at the end of the 2011 season. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
Former St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa signs autographs for fans during the baseball team's annual Winter Warmup, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, in St. Louis. After La Russa retired following the Cardinals' World Series win at the end of the 2011 season, he's now getting a victory lap with St. Louis fans. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
ST. LOUIS (AP) ? Tony La Russa will become the second retired manager to lead an All-Star team next summer, joining Hall of Famer John McGraw.
La Russa concluded a 16-season run in St. Louis with the team's second World Series title in five years last October, stepping down after 33 seasons overall. Commissioner Bud Selig announced Tuesday that the 67-year-old La Russa will manage the National League in this year's game July 10 in Kansas City.
"Tony earned this opportunity with the remarkable run the Cardinals completed last October, and I am delighted that he shared my enthusiasm about staying in this role," Selig said in a statement. "The All-Star Game celebrates all the best of our game, and it is very appropriate that we will have the chance to celebrate one of the greatest managerial careers of all-time as a part of our festivities."
McGraw retired after the 1932 season and managed the National League in the first All-Star game the following year.
Danny Murtaugh managed the NL All-Star team in 1972 after stepping down following Pittsburgh's 1971 World Series title, but Major League Baseball doesn't consider him retired for that appearance because he returned to manage the Pirates from 1973-76.
This will be La Russa's sixth time managing an All-Star team, three in each league.
Two managers led All-Star teams after moving to new teams, Dick Williams in 1974 after switching from the Athletics to the Angels and Dusty Baker in 2003 after switching from the Giants to the Cubs.
La Russa and Joe Torre are tied for fourth with six All-Star managing appearances, trailing Casey Stengel (10), Walter Alston (9) and Joe McCarthy (7).
Veteran guitar repairman Bob Wirtz faced a wall of pricey custom-built electric guitars, and he had the ear of Gibson Guitar Corp.'s resident expert on the instruments. But what Wirtz wanted to talk about was international law.
Like many who attended the National Assn. of Music Merchants convention in Anaheim last weekend, Wirtz was tapping into a discordant tone among the makers, purveyors and purchasers of guitars that often are made from exotic woods protected by the federal Lacey Act.
A raid on Gibson's Nashville factory last summer, the second at company workshops in as many years, vaulted the once obscure law into the national spotlight when Chief Executive Henry E. Juszkiewicz accused the federal government of "bullying" and "persecution." His high-profile campaign against the raids has made him the darling of the GOP and the tea party movement and their agenda of regulatory reform.
At a hearing convened by U.S. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) shortly after the August raid, Juszkiewicz said the seizures, delays in bringing charges and wrangling over a Gibson countersuit were events he "just really would never have believed ? would take place in this country."
Wirtz was sympathetic.
"For the Department of Justice or any entity of government to spend those kinds of resources on something that isn't well defined ? it really seems to smell like politics as opposed to ecological concern," he said.
The law, first passed in 1900 to curtail trade in contraband wildlife, was amended in 2008 to address illegally harvested wood.
At the time, the amendments enjoyed bipartisan support, particularly among lawmakers from states with large forestry interests. They touted the measure as a way to protect American wood products from cheaper, illegally harvested wood from foreign sources. Such support is crumbling amid a presidential election campaign.
The National Assn. of Music Merchants backs Gibson's gripe and a congressional bill to revise Lacey. But the attitude of its members at the convention, which attracted more than 95,000 registrants, was more nuanced.
Wirtz, who has worked with guitars for half a century, runs the stringed instrument repair shop at a Sam Ash music store in the City of Industry. He was familiar with the dispute over whether Indian rosewood was lumber ? illegal to export under Indian law ? or finished fret board, which is exportable.
"The amount of Indian rosewood going into making a guitar is a tiny drop in the bucket," Wirtz said. "It's kind of a strange area of the economy to go after when there's so many other areas to go after."
Cliff Chulos, president of North American Wood Products, had a large display of sawed wood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, or FSC.
He said he has benefited from the Gibson raid: His Portland, Ore., company now supplies fingerboard wood to the company.
Chulos remains a strong supporter of the 2008 Lacey amendments introduced by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). "Not only is it beneficial for the environment, but it benefits America," he said.
Nonetheless, Chulos added, "Can't we revise the act to make it simpler for the buyers?"
Fingerboard blanks, he said, are too small to have any other use and shouldn't have to be classified as lumber. "It doesn't have any other use. It's not lumber."
Scott Paul, director of Greenpeace's forest campaign, said he fears the current GOP-dominated House may open the law to amendments pushed by lobbyists from less reputable foresters, particularly in Indonesia.
"The prospect of bringing this act back to Capitol Hill and opening it up is daunting," said Paul, who is not related to the senator. "Greenpeace feels a lot of the issues that are being raised can be addressed at the agency level."
C.F. Martin & Co. markets a line of guitars built entirely with FSC-certified wood, and others that include certified woods.
"We absolutely support the Lacey Act," said Gregory Paul, vice president of corporate operations for the Nazareth, Pa., company. He also is not related to the senator. "We understand the Lacey Act does create some difficult circumstances."
Holding a guitar made of FSC-certified woods, Gregory Paul said: "There are species available. You just have to be diligent about who you obtain it from."
CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. ? Newt Gingrich has the momentum. Mitt Romney has the money.
Rick Santorum? He has neither at the moment.
Not that he's going to let details like that stop him from pressing ahead in his White House quest. Or, for that matter, hurdles like scant cash in an expensive state and a rapidly disappearing opportunity to emerge as the consensus candidate of conservative voters now that Gingrich has emerged as the leading anti-Romney candidate.
"Our feeling is that this is a three-person race," Santorum insisted on CNN's "State of the Union." He added that he felt "absolutely no pressure at all" to abandon his bid given Gingrich's rise.
Still, Santorum acknowledged a hard road ahead in what he called "a tough state for everybody."
"It's very, very expensive. It's a very short time frame," he said.
The former Pennsylvania senator placed third in Saturday's South Carolina primary.
Gingrich scored his first win, entering the Florida campaign with the political winds pushing the former House speaker from behind. Romney, who has raised mounds of cash, came in second and was ready to regroup with sophisticated political machines in the upcoming states, Florida included.
Underscoring Santorum's challenges, he was taking a few days away from the campaign trail in Florida this week to restock his thin campaign bank accounts. He plans fundraisers in other states, leaving Gingrich and Romney with free rein in Florida, while he stops in states such as Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri. Money is a necessity in a state like Florida with numerous expensive media markets and where campaigns are usually won on TV.
That's not a natural fit for Santorum, who has run his campaign on a shoestring and won the Iowa caucuses ? albeit narrowly ? by spending more than a year making house calls to voters and traveling the state in a pickup truck.
To make up ground and perhaps earn some free media, Santorum is going on the attack.
Standing in a strip mall's parking lot here Sunday before heading to fundraising events, Santorum cast Romney as an inconsistent figure who would not be an effective foil to President Barack Obama's re-election bid and argued that Gingrich was too "high risk" to be the Republican standard-bearer.
"Trust is a big issue in this election," Santorum told several hundred people. "Who are you going to trust when the pressure is on, when we're in that debate? It's great to be glib, but it's better to be principled."
He also met privately Sunday with pastors and delivered a sermon at Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, where he emphasized his conservatism. Santorum, who sprinkles his campaign speeches with his Catholic faith, is banking on evangelicals to coalesce around him over the thrice-married Gingrich or Romney, a Mormon.
"Can he win? Only God knows," said David Babbin, a voter here who works at the nearby children's hospital and likes Santorum. "But I believe in miracles."
Still, he noted one of the candidate's challenges: "Rick Santorum is one of us. And that's his biggest flaw ... We live in a society that is `American Idol' and Rick Santorum is not like that."
Santorum has other hurdles beyond what even admirers call his lack of charisma.
His tough talk on Social Security and Medicare ? ending benefits for wealthier retirees, cutting payments to those who don't need them ? is going to dog him here in a state of 3.3 million seniors, or 17 percent of the population. AARP estimates that more than a third of those seniors would have incomes below the poverty line without Social Security and one in three seniors rely on Social Security as their sole source of income.
Santorum didn't mention those proposals at his first public campaign event since the primary in South Carolina.
(Reuters) ? The Miami Dolphins named Joe Philbin as the team's new head coach on Friday.
A statement released by chairman of the board and managing general partner Stephen Ross and general manager Jeff Ireland confirmed Philbin as the franchise's 10th head coach.
"We are thrilled to have Joe Philbin join the Miami Dolphins as our head coach," Ross said. "Joe has all the attributes that we were looking for when we started this process.
"Joe was the right choice to bring the Dolphins back to the success we enjoyed in the past. I know I join our fans in welcoming him as the newest member of the Dolphin family."
Philbin has been the offensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers since 2007 and originally joined the team as the assistant offensive line coach in 2003.
"I want to thank Steve Ross and Jeff Ireland for giving me the opportunity to become the head coach of one of the premier franchises in professional sports," said Philbin.
"I also want to thank the Green Bay Packers for all the support the organization has given me during my time there."
Philbin replaces interim head coach Todd Bowles, who took over from Tony Sparano with three games remaining in the season. Sparano had coached Miami since 2008.
"The Dolphins have a strong nucleus to build around, and together we will return the team to its winning tradition," added Philbin.
"I have seen how much the fans in South Florida care about the Dolphins, and that passion is one reason why I'm really excited to be here. I can't wait to get started."
(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario. Editing by Alastair Himmer)
Six United States Marines were killed when their helicopter went down in Southern Afghanistan. An investigation is under way, but U.S. military officials say there was no evidence of enemy activity in the area. NBC?s Jim Miklaszewski reports.
We're live and listening.... A bunch of the execs are on. You can also follow along here.... Everything below is paraphrased.?Chief executive Larry Page: Good afternoon everyone. Google had a very strong quarter with revenue up 25% year over year...
Greenpois0n Absinthe has been updated to version 1.2.2 with bug fixes for some users that were experiencing issues. If you were having issues accessing Cydia or your jailbreak was failing, this should fix your issues. Just run it over your current jailbreak.
PORTO ERCOLE, Italy ? Stone fortresses and watchtowers which centuries ago stood guard against against marauding pirates loom above pristine waters threatened by a new and modern peril: fuel trapped within the capsized Costa Concordia luxury liner.
A half-million gallons (2,400 tons) of black goo are in danger of leaking out and polluting some of the Mediterranean's most unspoiled sea, where dolphins are known to chase playfully after sailboats and fishermen's catches are so prized that wholesalers come from across Italy to scoop up cod, lobsters, scampi, swordfish and other delicacies.
"Compared to the Caribbean, we have nothing to be envious about," said Francesco Arpino, a scuba instructor in the chic port of Porto Ercole, marveling at how the sleek granite sea bottom helps keep visibility crystal clear even 40 meters (135 feet) down.
Divers in these transparent waters marvel at sea horses and red coral, while on the surface sperm whales cut through the sea.
But worry is clouding this paradise, which includes a stretch of Tuscan coastline that has been the holiday haunt of soccer and screen stars, politicians and European royals.
Rough seas hindering the difficult search for bodies by divers in the Concordia's submerged section have delayed the start of a pumping operation expected to last weeks to remove the fuel from the ship. Floating barriers aimed at containing any spillage now surround the vessel.
Concordia lies dangerously close to a drop-off point on the sea bottom. Should strong waves nudge the vessel from its precarious perch, it could plunge some 20-30 meters (65-90 feet), further complicating the pumping operation and possibly rupturing fuel tanks. Italy's environment minister has warned that if those tanks break, globs of fuel would block sunlight vital for marine life at the seabed.
A week after the Concordia struck a reef off the fishing and tourism island of Giglio, flipping on its side, its crippled 114,000-ton hull rests on seabed rich with an underwater prairie of sea grass vital to the ecosystem. The dead weight has likely already damaged a variety of marine life, including endangered sea sponges, and crustaceans and mollusks, even before a drop of any fuel leaks, environmentalists contend.
"The longer it stays there, the longer it impedes light from reaching the vegetation," said Francesco Cinelli, an ecology professor at the University of Pisa, in Tuscany. And the sheer weight of the Concordia will also crush sea life, he said.
The seabed where the Concordia lies is a flouishing home to Poseidon sea grass native to the Mediterranean, Cinelli told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
"Sea grass ... is to the sea what forests are to terra firma," Cinelli said: They produce oxygen and serve as a refuge for organisms to reproduce or hide from predators.
The Tuscan archipelago's seven islands are at the heart of Europe's largest marine park, extending over some 60,000 hectares (150,000 acres) of sea.
They include Elba, where Napoleon lived in exile, and the legendary island of Montecristo, a setting for Alexandre Dumas' novel "The Count of Monte Cristo" ? where rare Mediterranean monk seals have been spotted near the coast.
Montecristo has a two-year waiting list of people hoping to be among the 1,000 people annually escorted ashore by forest rangers to admire the uninhabited island. Navigation, bathing and fishing are strictly prohibited up to 1 kilometer (0.6 miles) from Montecristo's rocky, cove-dotted coast. A monastery, established on Montecristo in the 7th century, was abandoned nine centuries later after repeated pirate raids.
Come spring, Porto Ercole's slips will be full, with yachts dropping anchor just outside the port. It lies at the bottom of a steep hill, whose summit gives a panoramic view of a sprawling seaside villa, once a holiday retreat of Dutch royals, and of the crescent-shaped island of Giannutri, with its ancient Roman ruins.
Alberto Teodori, 49, who said he has been hired as a skipper for the yachts of Rome's VIPs for 30 years, noted that the area thrives on tourism in the spring and summer and survives on fishing in the offseason.
If the Concordia's fuel, "thick as tar," should pollute the sea, "Giglio will be dead for 10, 15 years," Teodori fretted, as workers nearby shellacked the hull of an aging fishing boat.
The international ocean-advocacy group, Oceana, on Thursday, described the national marine park as an "ecological diamond," favored by divers for its great variety of species.
"If the pollution gets into the water, we are ruined," said Raffaella Manno, who with her husband runs a portside counter selling fresh local fish in Porto Santo Stefano, a nearby town where ferries and hydrofoils depart for Giglio.
A wholesaler as well, she said fish from the archipelago's waters is prized throughout Italy for its quality and variety.
"The water is clean and the reefs are rich" for fish to feed, she said, as trucks carrying oil-removal equipment waited to board ferries Wednesday to Giglio. "The priciest markets in Italy come here to buy, from Milan, Turin, even Naples."
Concordia's captain, initially jailed and then put in house arrest in his hometown near Naples, is suspected of having deliberately deviated from the ship's route, miles off shore, to hug Giglio's reef-studded coastline in order to perform a kind of "salute" to amuse passengers and islanders.
The maneuver is apparently a common practice by cruise ships, environmentalists lament.
"These salutes are an established practice by the big cruise ships," said Francesco Emilio Borrelli, a Green party official from Naples. He said that the Greens have received reports of numerous such sightings by ships sailing by the Naples area islands of Capri, Ischia and Procida.
Even before the Concordia tragedy, environmentalists had railed against what they brand "sea monsters," virtually floating cities ? each pumping massive amounts of greenhouse gases ? sailing perilously close to the sea coast to thrill passengers aboard.
They even sail up to Venice, the lagoon city whose foundations are eroded by waves churned up by passing vessels. Venice port officials defend the practice, saying they're escorted by tugboats.
"These virtual cities," said Marevivo in a statement highlighting Cinelli's concerns, "put at risk the richness of biodiversity, which that we must never forget is at the foundation of our very survival on Earth."
Zoe Saldana doesn't just play heroines in her action films; she is one in real life. The Colombiana star rushed to help an elderly woman who was reportedly in a car accident in Culver City, Calif. Wednesday.
Non-invasive measurements of tricuspid valve anatomy can predict severity of valve leakagePublic release date: 18-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Abby Robinson abby@innovate.gatech.edu 404-385-3364 Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
An estimated 1.6 million Americans suffer moderate to severe leakage through their tricuspid valves, which are complex structures that allow blood to flow from the heart's upper right chamber to the ventricle. If left untreated, severe leakage can affect an individual's quality of life and can even lead to death.
A new study finds that the anatomy of the heart's tricuspid valve can be used to predict the severity of leakage in the valve, which is a condition called tricuspid regurgitation. The study, conducted by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, found that pulmonary arterial pressure, the size of the valve opening and papillary muscle position measurements could be used to predict the severity of an individual's tricuspid regurgitation.
"By being able to identify and measure an individual's particular tricuspid valve anatomical features that we have shown are correlated with increased leakage, clinicians should be able to better target their repair efforts and create more durable repairs," said Ajit Yoganathan, Regents' professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
The study was published in the January issue of the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. Funding for this work was provided by the American Heart Association and a donation from Tom and Shirley Gurley.
Yoganathan and recent Coulter Department doctoral graduate Erin Spinner teamed with Stamatios Lerakis, a professor of medicine (cardiology), radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University, to non-invasively collect 3-D echocardiograms from 64 individuals who exhibited assorted grades of tricuspid leakage. Subjects included 20 individuals with "trace," 13 with "mild," 17 with "moderate" and 14 with "severe" tricuspid regurgitation. The subjects with "mild" to "severe" leakage exhibited a mix of isolated right, isolated left, and both right and left ventricle dilation.
From the 3-D echocardiography images of the heart they collected, the researchers measured (1) the area of the annulus, which is the fibrous ring that surrounds the tricuspid valve opening; (2) the distance between the annulus and the three right ventricle papillary muscles, which keep the valve shut when the ventricle contracts; and (3) the position of the papillary muscles with respect to the center of the annulus. The clinicians also measured pulmonary arterial pressure using standard clinical methods and assessed the grade of tricuspid regurgitation from "trace" to "severe" with color Doppler imaging.
In collaboration with Emir Veledar, an assistant professor and statistician in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, the researchers found statistical differences between individuals with ventricular dilation and the control subjects in the parameters of pulmonary arterial pressure, annulus area and papillary muscle displacement. They also found that all three factors were correlated with the grade of tricuspid regurgitation.
"This study's use of advanced cardiovascular imaging, and more specifically 3-D echocardiography, provided new insight into the pathophysiology of tricuspid regurgitation and a good understanding as to why current surgical treatments for tricuspid regurgitation are not good enough," explained Lerakis. "I believe this study will change the focus and direction of future surgical therapies for tricuspid regurgitation only to make them better and more durable."
Based on the findings of this study, said Lerakis, future surgical therapies should not only be focused on the tricuspid annulus, but on the entire tricuspid valve apparatus, including the tricuspid valve papillary muscles and their three-dimensional location within the apparatus.
Individuals in the study with left ventricle dilation exhibited significant displacement of one of the papillary muscles and patients with both ventricles dilated had significant displacement of two papillary muscles. Subjects with right ventricle dilation showed significant displacement of all three papillary muscles.
The researchers also found that patients with a dilated right ventricle were more likely to have a dilated annulus and exhibited the highest pulmonary arterial pressures and highest levels of tricuspid regurgitation. However, not all patients with a dilated right ventricle had significant increases in annulus area, providing evidence that the right ventricle may become dilated without the annulus being affected.
"We think an increase in pulmonary arterial pressure caused geometric changes in the ventricle, which resulted in alterations to the annulus and papillary muscles," explained Yoganathan. "The combination of displacement of all three papillary muscles and annular dilatation may account for the patients with isolated right ventricle dilatation having the largest percentage of severe tricuspid regurgitation."
Knowing which parameters are responsible for significant tricuspid regurgitation and having a non-invasive imaging technique to measure these parameters should help clinicians target repairs to the specific cause of an individual's tricuspid leakage, according to Yoganathan.
In future studies, the researchers plan to study papillary muscle displacements in individuals with specific diseases to see if different disease manifestations exhibit different characteristics.
"Although it has long been accepted that pulmonary hypertension may result in tricuspid regurgitation, this study is one of the first to provide a clinical correlation between the two," said Yoganathan, who is also the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering. "We want to know whether treating an individual's pulmonary hypertension, and thus decreasing one's pulmonary arterial pressure, can reverse the geometric changes that are causing tricuspid regurgitation and return the annulus and papillary muscles to their original positions."
###
Emory University sonographers Jason Higginson, Maria Pernetz and Sharon Howell also contributed to the study.
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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.
Non-invasive measurements of tricuspid valve anatomy can predict severity of valve leakagePublic release date: 18-Jan-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Abby Robinson abby@innovate.gatech.edu 404-385-3364 Georgia Institute of Technology Research News
An estimated 1.6 million Americans suffer moderate to severe leakage through their tricuspid valves, which are complex structures that allow blood to flow from the heart's upper right chamber to the ventricle. If left untreated, severe leakage can affect an individual's quality of life and can even lead to death.
A new study finds that the anatomy of the heart's tricuspid valve can be used to predict the severity of leakage in the valve, which is a condition called tricuspid regurgitation. The study, conducted by researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University, found that pulmonary arterial pressure, the size of the valve opening and papillary muscle position measurements could be used to predict the severity of an individual's tricuspid regurgitation.
"By being able to identify and measure an individual's particular tricuspid valve anatomical features that we have shown are correlated with increased leakage, clinicians should be able to better target their repair efforts and create more durable repairs," said Ajit Yoganathan, Regents' professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University.
The study was published in the January issue of the journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging. Funding for this work was provided by the American Heart Association and a donation from Tom and Shirley Gurley.
Yoganathan and recent Coulter Department doctoral graduate Erin Spinner teamed with Stamatios Lerakis, a professor of medicine (cardiology), radiology and imaging sciences at Emory University, to non-invasively collect 3-D echocardiograms from 64 individuals who exhibited assorted grades of tricuspid leakage. Subjects included 20 individuals with "trace," 13 with "mild," 17 with "moderate" and 14 with "severe" tricuspid regurgitation. The subjects with "mild" to "severe" leakage exhibited a mix of isolated right, isolated left, and both right and left ventricle dilation.
From the 3-D echocardiography images of the heart they collected, the researchers measured (1) the area of the annulus, which is the fibrous ring that surrounds the tricuspid valve opening; (2) the distance between the annulus and the three right ventricle papillary muscles, which keep the valve shut when the ventricle contracts; and (3) the position of the papillary muscles with respect to the center of the annulus. The clinicians also measured pulmonary arterial pressure using standard clinical methods and assessed the grade of tricuspid regurgitation from "trace" to "severe" with color Doppler imaging.
In collaboration with Emir Veledar, an assistant professor and statistician in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University, the researchers found statistical differences between individuals with ventricular dilation and the control subjects in the parameters of pulmonary arterial pressure, annulus area and papillary muscle displacement. They also found that all three factors were correlated with the grade of tricuspid regurgitation.
"This study's use of advanced cardiovascular imaging, and more specifically 3-D echocardiography, provided new insight into the pathophysiology of tricuspid regurgitation and a good understanding as to why current surgical treatments for tricuspid regurgitation are not good enough," explained Lerakis. "I believe this study will change the focus and direction of future surgical therapies for tricuspid regurgitation only to make them better and more durable."
Based on the findings of this study, said Lerakis, future surgical therapies should not only be focused on the tricuspid annulus, but on the entire tricuspid valve apparatus, including the tricuspid valve papillary muscles and their three-dimensional location within the apparatus.
Individuals in the study with left ventricle dilation exhibited significant displacement of one of the papillary muscles and patients with both ventricles dilated had significant displacement of two papillary muscles. Subjects with right ventricle dilation showed significant displacement of all three papillary muscles.
The researchers also found that patients with a dilated right ventricle were more likely to have a dilated annulus and exhibited the highest pulmonary arterial pressures and highest levels of tricuspid regurgitation. However, not all patients with a dilated right ventricle had significant increases in annulus area, providing evidence that the right ventricle may become dilated without the annulus being affected.
"We think an increase in pulmonary arterial pressure caused geometric changes in the ventricle, which resulted in alterations to the annulus and papillary muscles," explained Yoganathan. "The combination of displacement of all three papillary muscles and annular dilatation may account for the patients with isolated right ventricle dilatation having the largest percentage of severe tricuspid regurgitation."
Knowing which parameters are responsible for significant tricuspid regurgitation and having a non-invasive imaging technique to measure these parameters should help clinicians target repairs to the specific cause of an individual's tricuspid leakage, according to Yoganathan.
In future studies, the researchers plan to study papillary muscle displacements in individuals with specific diseases to see if different disease manifestations exhibit different characteristics.
"Although it has long been accepted that pulmonary hypertension may result in tricuspid regurgitation, this study is one of the first to provide a clinical correlation between the two," said Yoganathan, who is also the Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair in Biomedical Engineering. "We want to know whether treating an individual's pulmonary hypertension, and thus decreasing one's pulmonary arterial pressure, can reverse the geometric changes that are causing tricuspid regurgitation and return the annulus and papillary muscles to their original positions."
###
Emory University sonographers Jason Higginson, Maria Pernetz and Sharon Howell also contributed to the study.
[ | E-mail | 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.
MADRID/ATHENS (Reuters) ? The embattled euro zone cleared a major funding test on Thursday when Spain romped through a key bond sale, while signs pointed to only a mild recession for the 17-nation bloc.
Talks between Greece and its creditors remained deadlocked, however, threatening to derail a needed bailout and keep the region's all-consuming debt crisis on the boil.
Ireland passed the latest review of its European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout, although it faces difficulty keeping its deficit reduction going if its economy sours.
A Reuters poll of economists pointed to the euro zone wallowing in a mild recession until the second half of this year, but contracting by just 0.3 percent for the year compared with a forecast three months ago of 0.9 percent.
At the same time, the IMF is expecting the euro zone economy to contract by 0.5 percent in 2012, according to draft document reported by the Italian news agency ANSA.
Neither figure is comforting, but both suggest a downturn is seen as shallow and probably short.
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi, speaking in Abu Dhabi, repeated his view that the euro zone economy is fragile.
"We see a softening business cycle in Europe with significant downside risk. We also see some tentative signs... but I have to be quite cautious here... some tentative signs of stabilization of economic activity at low levels," he said.
"All this is subject to downside risk, in other words it can get worse."
One key risk is if the debt crisis intensifies, pushing borrowing costs to unsustainable levels and driving a further wedge between the robust northern euro zone economies such as Germany and The Netherlands, and the debt-laden south.
CHEAP MONEY
Spain's auction of benchmark 10-year bonds was a major test of investor appetite in the peripheral euro zone country. Short-term auctions last week had been successful but Thursday's sale was for longer-dated bonds.
It raised more than forecast at 3 billion euros, at a yield of 5.403 percent, a drop of more than 1.5 percentage points since the same bond was last sold in November.
The sale signaled that markets have largely shrugged off last week's salvo of euro zone rating downgrades from Standard & Poor's, an impression reinforced by a strong bond sale in Paris.
"These results are bullish for both Spain and the broader periphery and stand to further underpin the ongoing 'risk-on' tone... For now.. the glass half-full brigade have the upper hand," said Richard McGuire, rate strategist at Rabobank in London.
Euro zone bond auctions have been largely successful since the ECB offered nearly half a trillion euros of cheap, three-year loans to push investors towards buying government bonds and lowering borrowing costs.
"We start seeing also a fall of the longer-term part of the yield curve as well. I think that by and large this measure has really avoided a serious funding crisis that European banks might have to face," Draghi told reporters.
LITTLE PROGRESS IN GREECE
Greece remains the fly in the ointment, with Athens locked in negotiations with creditors on a deal to reschedule its debt and avoid an uncontrolled default.
Nearly a week after talks hit an impasse, the two sides remain bogged down over the coupon, or interest payment, that Greece must offer on new bonds under a debt swap.
Athens and its foreign lenders offered a coupon of just over 3.5 percent during a two-hour meeting on Wednesday, but bondholders rejected that as too low, one source said. They were angling for a coupon of at least 4 percent, one source said.
A senior Greek official also played down speculation that terms of a deal had been nearly pinned down, saying: "Nothing has been concluded yet."
The two sides must thrash out a deal within days to pave the way for Greece to receive a new infusion of aid and avoid bankruptcy when 14.5 billion euros ($18.5 billion) of bond redemptions fall due in late March.
Kept afloat by bailout loans, Greece faces the threat of having to leave the euro zone and slumping into further economic and social misery if it fails to come to grips with its debt, including securing a deal with the private bond holders.
Greece's central bank governor made an urgent appeal to his countrymen and their leaders to implement reforms or risk being pushed into an ignominious euro zone exit.
"If we ignore reality this time, the outcome will be a given: the country will become economically and politically isolated," Bank of Greece Governor George Provopoulos said.
(Additional reporting by Andy Bruce in London and Martina Fuchs and Martin Dokoupil in Abu Dhabi; Writing by Jeremy Gaunt; Editing by Hugh Lawson, Ron Askew)
MOSCOW ? Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Wednesday he is ready for dialogue with the country's newly energized opposition forces but doubts whether their leaders want to talk, according to Russian news reports.
Putin met with top editors of Russian news media and was asked if he is ready for dialogue in the wake of the massive protests that erupted over allegations of vote fraud in last month's parliamentary election.
Putin said some figures had been invited for talks "not long ago" but did not come.
"This question occurs to me ? what do they want? Do they want to show that there are no discussions or that they do not want to discuss," Putin was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency.
"We're ready, and I am personally ready to meet with them, to talk. We invited them, but they did not come even one time," he said.
It was not clear from the reports specifically who had been invited or when the invitations were issued.
Putin, who was president in 2000-2008, now seeks to return to the Kremlin in an election on March 4. Although he is seen as almost certain to win, his image has taken a significant blow from the protests, including two rallies in Moscow that attracted tens of thousands of people in the largest public show of discontent in post-Soviet Russia.
Putin has belittled the protesters, dismissing them as Western stooges, and he has firmly rejected opposition demands that the parliamentary election be negated and a new one conducted.
In late December, he had appeared to effectively reject talks with the opposition, saying they had no common platform or leadership, so "who is there to talk to?"
Amazon?s Kindle Fire fourth quarter sales threw Samsung Galaxy into a pyre, as Android-based tabs made their moves against the dominant Apple iPad.
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Public release date: 18-Jan-2012
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