The Lede Blog: Frank Video of Mass Sexual Assault in Cairo Is Released by Anti-Harassment Activists

Egyptian activists released a brutally frank video on Friday, using images recorded during the mass sexual assault of a woman last week in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to urge volunteers to join their campaign against attacks during demonstrations.

The video, created by the filmmakers Aida Elkashef and Salam Yousry, uses disturbing overhead images of a crowd of men swarming around a woman being assaulted just out of view to explain the work of Op Anti-SH, one of two new initiatives to combat the sexual harassment and rape of female protesters.

A video produced by Egyptian activists uses images recorded during the mass sexual assault of a woman in Cairo’s Tahrir Square last week, on the second anniversary of the Egyptian revolution.

While the video includes no graphic images and shows that volunteers did eventually manage to help the woman to a safe location — near the KFC in the square — its detailed description of the woman’s assault stunned some viewers. Activists argued that the events described in the video are depressingly routine two years after the Egyptian revolution began.

Despite that reality, the Op Anti-SH activists vow to continue their struggle.

In a video interview on the initiative published on Saturday, one of the women involved in Op Anti-SH, Engy Ghozlan, said: “This is our country, and we will not be silent about sexual harassment, not the type that happens to us every day, nor that of Tahrir. It will end, it cannot continue, because we believe Egypt deserves better.”

“In Egypt,” she added, “there is no revolution without the participation of women or without their security.”

A video report by a journalist, Simon Hanna, on Op Anti-SH for the news site Ahram Online.

Read More..

Apple edges out Samsung for mobile phone sales lead in fourth quarter






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple Inc became the top mobile phone seller for the first time in the lucrative U.S. market during the fourth quarter of 2012, outshining arch rival Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, a report by Strategy Analytics showed.


Apple‘s share of the U.S. mobile phone market, including feature phones and smartphones, jumped to 34 percent from 26 percent, while Samsung’s share grew to 32.3 percent from 31.8 percent, the research firm said.






Samsung had been the top mobile phone vendor in the US since 2008, the firm said. Indeed, for the full year, Samsung still held the crown for mobile phone sales; it had a 31.8 percent share of the U.S. market in 2012, against Apple’s 26.2 percent.


Apple investors have recently been anxious about the future growth prospects for the company amid intense competition from Samsung’s cheaper phones, powered by Google’s Android software, and signs the premium smartphone market may be close to saturation in developed markets.


Overall, mobile phone shipments rose 4 percent to 52 million units in the U.S. during the fourth quarter of 2012, driven by strong demand for 4G smartphones and 3G feature phones.


But in all of 2012, U.S. mobile phone shipments fell 11 percent to 166.9 million, Strategy Analytics said.


Apple sold 17.7 million iPhones in the U.S. in the fourth quarter, up 38 percent from the previous year, driven by aggressive marketing of its new iPhone 5 and steep carrier subsidies, the firm said. Samsung shipped 16.8 million phones during the same period.


In the international arena, Samsung Electronics, with a range of handsets, has overtaken Apple as the world’s top smartphone seller.


(Reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Bernadette Baum)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: Apple edges out Samsung for mobile phone sales lead in fourth quarter
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/apple-edges-out-samsung-for-mobile-phone-sales-lead-in-fourth-quarter/
Link To Post : Apple edges out Samsung for mobile phone sales lead in fourth quarter
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Obama offers faith groups new birth control rule


WASHINGTON (AP) — Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration on Friday proposed a compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans.


Some of the lawsuits appear headed for the Supreme Court, threatening another divisive legal battle over President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law, which requires most employers to cover birth control free of charge to female workers as a preventive service. The law exempted churches and other houses of worship, but religious charities, universities, hospitals and even some for-profit businesses have objected.


The government's new offer, in a proposed regulation, has two parts.


Administration officials said it would more simply define the religious organizations that are exempt from the requirement altogether. For example, a mosque whose food pantry serves the whole community would not have to comply.


For other religious employers, the proposal attempts to create a buffer between them and contraception coverage. Female employees would still have free access through insurers or a third party, but the employer would not have to arrange for the coverage or pay for it. Insurers would be reimbursed for any costs by a credit against fees owed the government.


It wasn't immediately clear whether the plan would satisfy the objections of Roman Catholic charities and other faith-affiliated nonprofits nationwide challenging the requirement.


Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is representing religious nonprofits and businesses in lawsuits, said many of his clients will still have serious concerns.


"This is a moral decision for them," Duncan said. "Why doesn't the government just exempt them?"


Neither the Catholic Health Association, a trade group for hospitals, nor the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops had an immediate reaction, saying the regulations were still being studied.


Some women's advocates were pleased.


"The important thing for us is that women employees can count on getting insurance that meets their needs, even if they're working for a religiously affiliated employer," said Cindy Pearson, executive director of the National Women's Health Network.


Policy analyst Sarah Lipton-Lubet of the American Civil Liberties Union said the rule appeared to meet the ACLU's goal of providing "seamless coverage."


Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement that the compromise would provide "women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care at no cost, while respecting religious concerns."


The birth-control rule, first introduced a year ago, became an election issue, with some advocates for women praising the mandate as a victory but some religious leaders decrying it as an attack on faith groups.


The health care law requires most employers, including faith-affiliated hospitals and nonprofits, to provide preventive care at no charge to employees. Scientific advisers to the government recommended that artificial contraception, including sterilization, be included in a group of services for women. The goal, in part, is to help women space out pregnancies to promote health.


Under the original rule, only those religious groups that primarily employ and serve people of their own faith — such as churches — were exempt. But other religiously affiliated groups, such as church-affiliated universities, Catholic Charities and hospitals, were told they had to comply.


Catholic bishops, evangelicals and some religious leaders who have generally been supportive of Obama's policies lobbied fiercely for a broader exemption. The Catholic Church prohibits the use of artificial contraception. Evangelicals generally accept the use of birth control, but some object to specific methods such as the morning-after contraceptive pill, which they argue is tantamount to abortion, and is covered by the policy.


Obama had promised to change the birth control requirement so insurance companies — and not faith-affiliated employers — would pay for the coverage, but religious leaders said more changes were needed to make the plan work.


Since then, more than 40 lawsuits have been filed by religious nonprofits and secular for-profit businesses contending the mandate violates their religious beliefs. As expected, this latest regulation does not provide any accommodation for individual business owners who have religious objections to the rule.


Questions remain about how the services ultimately will be funded. The Health and Human Services Department has not tallied an overall cost for the plan, according to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, an HHS deputy policy director.


However, in its new version of the rule, the department argues that the change won't impose new costs on insurers because it will save them money "from improvements in women's health and fewer child births."


The latest version of the mandate is now subject to a 60-day public comment period. The overall mandate is to take effect for religious nonprofits in August.


___


Zoll reported from New York. Associated Press writer David Crary in New York contributed.


Read More..

Wall Street surges to five-year highs; Dow ends above 14,000

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose to five-year highs on Friday, with the Dow closing above 14,000 for the first time since October 2007, after jobs and manufacturing data showed the economy's recovery remains on track.


The S&P touched its highest since December 2007 after a 5 percent gain in January, which was its best start to a year since 1997. The index is now just about 60 points away from its all-time intraday high of 1,576.09.


Employment grew modestly in January, with 157,000 jobs added. That was slightly below expectations, but Labor Department revisions showed 127,000 more jobs were created in November and December than previously reported.


Analysts attributed the market's robust showing so far this year partly to a deluge of cash flowing into equities.


Investors poured $12.7 billion into U.S.-based stock mutual funds and exchange-traded funds in the latest week, concluding the strongest four-week flows into stock funds since 1996, data showed on Thursday.


"There is a lot of money looking for a home, and people are finally deciding the bond market is done and moving money into equities," said Edward Simmons, managing director and partner at HighTower in Portland, Maine.


"I see the rotation (of assets) pushing the market up in the face of not-massive amounts of good news," he said. "People are overlooking the higher risk in equities."


Other reports released Friday showed the pace of growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector picked up in January to its highest level in nine months, U.S. consumer sentiment rose more than expected last month, while December construction spending also beat forecasts.


"All the data seems to keep pointing to a slowly, steadily improving economy," said Eric Kuby, chief investment officer at North Star Investment Management Corp in Chicago.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was up 149.21 points, or 1.08 percent, at 14,009.79. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 15.06 points, or 1.01 percent, at 1,513.17. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 36.97 points, or 1.18 percent, at 3,179.10.


With the day's gains, major equity indexes rose five straight weeks.


More than 600 stocks on the NYSE and the Nasdaq combined hit 52-week highs on Friday, including Google which rose as high as $776.60, before closing at $775.60, up 2.6 percent.


Investors were also attuned to corporate earnings, with a trio of Dow components reporting profits that beat expectations.


Exxon Mobil ended flat at $90.04 after reporting results while Chevron added 1.2 percent to $116.50.


Drugmaker Merck & Co fell 3.3 percent to $41.83 after a cautious 2013 outlook.


Generic drugmaker Perrigo reported a better-than-expected second-quarter profit and its shares jumped 4.7 percent to $105.28.


Of the 252 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 69 percent have exceeded expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data. That is a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above average since 1994.


Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings are estimated to have grown 4.4 percent, according to the data, up from a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season but well below a 9.9 percent profit growth forecast on October 1.


Dell Inc gained 2.9 percent to $13.63 after sources said the company was nearing an agreement to sell itself to a buyout consortium led by its founder, Michael Dell, and private equity firm Silver Lake Partners.


(Reporting By Angela Moon; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



Read More..

Spain’s Premier, Mariano Rajoy, Expected to Speak on Graft Scandal







SEVILLE, SPAIN — Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy is expected to break his silence on Saturday over a report this week alleging that he and other conservative politicians had received regular payments from a previously undisclosed account run by treasurers of his Popular Party.




According to the newspaper El País, the payments were made to Mr. Rajoy and other leading party members from 1990 to 2008 — when Spain’s construction bubble burst — via a slush fund administered by former party treasurers, including Luis Bárcenas, whom Swiss authorities recently reported to have maintained as much as €22 million, or $29 million, in Swiss bank accounts.


On Friday, El País reported that more than €5 million of the €7.5 million listed as payments to party leaders in accounting ledgers prepared by Mr. Bárcenas, copies of which were published by the newspaper, may have exceeded the legal limits under the law that was in effect at the time.


Spain’s attorney general, Eduardo Torres-Dulce, said late Thursday that the judiciary was considering incorporating the bookkeeping evidence into an ongoing investigation into possible kickbacks received by conservative politicians.


At the same time, some junior conservative politicians broke ranks with the party leadership on Friday, with two of them resigning in protest over the latest revelations. Eduardo Junquera said he would leave the administration of the city hall in Gijón, in northern Spain, to show his “radical rejection of the pitiful, shameful and serious facts” relating to the activities of senior members of his Popular Party.


Mr. Rajoy also faced rising demands from his parliamentary opponents on the left to provide an explanation. The Socialist opposition leader, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, repeated calls that Mr. Rajoy appear — “Now, right now” — before Congress to explain his role in the scandal.


“What is under judgment today is the name of the prime minister of Spain,” Mr. Rubalcaba said. “He needs to come out and clarify all of this, now.”


Instead, Mr. Rajoy has convened an extraordinary meeting of his Popular Party’s executive committee, scheduled for Saturday, when he is expected to make his first statement about the allegations. Speaking after a weekly cabinet meeting Friday, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the deputy prime minister, said that Mr. Rajoy would “give his opinion” about the corruption scandal and provide “explanations” at that time.


Ms. Sáenz de Santamaria defended Mr. Rajoy’s track record, saying that he had always displayed “exemplary conduct.” She also denied suggestions that the scandal could weaken the government at a time when the economy remains bogged down in a recession that has pushed the jobless rate above 25 percent.


The latest accusations, however, have fueled the anger of many citizens who have been forced to tighten their belts because of Mr. Rajoy’s austerity program while corruption scandals related to Spain’s boom years continue to unfurl around the country. There is plenty of anger to go around, as Spain’s other main parties are mired in several corruption scandals of their own.


Even as some left-wing politicians called this week for an early general election in response to the report, Mr. Rajoy, who took office in December 2011 after his Popular Party trounced the Socialists, still holds one of the strongest parliamentary majorities in Europe.


At the same time, despite sinking in opinion polls over the past year because of his tax hikes and other broken electoral pledges, Mr. Rajoy has also kept a tight control on his Popular Party and faces no obvious internal rival. Last September, Esperanza Aguirre — a one-time challenger to Mr. Rajoy — unexpectedly resigned as head of the regional government of Madrid for personal reasons.


Read More..

OpenStack at Linux.conf.au 2013






I’m writing this blog post from Canberra Australia, while attending the Linux.conf.au (LCA) open source conference. Among the people who do these sorts of things, LCA has a well deserved reputation as one of the very best open source conferences in the world.


Geeks from across Australia and New Zealand, and from across the rest of the world, come together for a week in January (summer in this part of the world) to talk about everything from the intricate technical details of Linux kernel design to pushing the state of the art in file systems and issues deploying practical wireless cryptography. Softer but equally important topics such as Open Government, gender balance in technology, and international legal issues are also discussed. Read more about OpenStack at Linux.conf.au 2013 »






Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News





Title Post: OpenStack at Linux.conf.au 2013
Url Post: http://www.news.fluser.com/openstack-at-linux-conf-au-2013/
Link To Post : OpenStack at Linux.conf.au 2013
Rating:
100%

based on 99998 ratings.
5 user reviews.
Author: Fluser SeoLink
Thanks for visiting the blog, If any criticism and suggestions please leave a comment




Read More..

Jeremy & Jason London's Sad Spiral in 5 Clicks





Kidnappings, bar brawls, rehab, restraining orders – catch up on the bizarre happenings surrounding these once-squeaky-clean twins








Credit: Alex Berliner/Beimages/REX USA



Updated: Thursday Jan 31, 2013 | 03:00 PM EST
By: Kate Hogan




Subscribe Now




Read More..

Hedgehog Alert! Prickly pets can carry salmonella


NEW YORK (AP) — Add those cute little hedgehogs to the list of pets that can make you sick.


In the last year, 20 people were infected by a rare but dangerous form of salmonella bacteria, and one person died in January. The illnesses were linked to contact with hedgehogs kept as pets, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


Health officials on Thursday say such cases seem to be increasing.


The CDC recommends thoroughly washing your hands after handling hedgehogs and cleaning pet cages and other equipment outside.


Other pets that carry the salmonella bug are frogs, toads, turtles, snakes, lizards, chicks and ducklings.


Seven of the hedgehog illnesses were in Washington state, including the death — an elderly man from Spokane County who died in January. The other cases were in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Oregon.


In years past, only one or two illnesses from this salmonella strain have been reported annually, but the numbers rose to 14 in 2011, 18 last year, and two so far this year.


Children younger than five and the elderly are considered at highest risk for severe illness, CDC officials said.


Hedgehogs are small, insect-eating mammals with a coat of stiff quills. In nature, they sometimes live under hedges and defend themselves by rolling up into a spiky ball.


The critters linked to recent illnesses were purchased from various breeders, many of them licensed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, CDC officials said. Hedgehogs are native to Western Europe, New Zealand and some other parts of the world, but are bred in the United States.


___


Online:


CDC report: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr


Read More..

S&P 500 posts biggest monthly gain since October 2011

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks edged lower on Thursday on caution ahead of Friday's all-important jobs report, but the S&P 500 still posted its best monthly gain since October 2011.


The benchmark S&P 500 advanced 5.1 percent in January as investors cheered a compromise that temporarily postponed the impact of the "fiscal cliff" and fourth-quarter earnings were better than expected.


The S&P 500 registered its largest monthly advance since a rise of more than 6 percent in October 2011 and the best January showing since a 6.1 percent jump in 1997. For the month, the Dow gained 5.8 percent and the Nasdaq rose 4.1 percent.


Investors expect a pullback in equities after the recent gains, though they have bought on dips over the past four weeks. The largest daily decline on the S&P 500 so far in 2013 was Wednesday's 0.39 percent drop after data showed the economy contracted in the fourth quarter of 2012.


On Friday, the government is due to release January's employment figures at 8:30 a.m. (1330 GMT). Economists polled by Reuters expect non-farm payrolls to show employers added 160,000 jobs compared with a rise of 155,000 in December. The unemployment rate is likely to hold steady at 7.8 percent.


A survey by payroll processing company ADP on Wednesday showed private sector employment rose higher than expected last month, but the government's measure of jobless benefits claims increased last week.


"It's the calm before the potential storm. The uncertainty about tomorrow's numbers comes from that fact that we had a decent ADP report but the weekly claims were not so great," said Randy Frederick, managing director of active trading and derivatives for Charles Schwab in Austin, Texas.


In a separate report, the Commerce Department said American incomes rose 2.6 percent last month, the biggest increase since December 2004.


"We could see an overly sensitive market to a bad number tomorrow, given that we've been up without a major correction, and that makes the market sensitive to the downside."


Friday will also bring reports on consumer confidence, U.S. manufacturing, construction spending and car sales.


Limiting losses on the Nasdaq composite index, Qualcomm gained 3.9 percent to $66.02 after the world's leading supplier of chips for cellphones beat analysts' expectations for quarterly profit and revenue and raised its targets for the year.


Facebook shares fell 0.8 percent to $30.98 after falling as low as $28.74 a day after the social network company said it doubled its mobile advertising revenue in the fourth quarter. However, growth trailed some of Wall Street's most aggressive estimates.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> was down 49.84 points, or 0.36 percent, at 13,860.58. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was down 3.85 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,498.11. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was down 0.18 points, or 0.01 percent, at 3,142.13.


UPS shares lost 2.4 percent to $79.29 after reporting fourth-quarter earnings that were below analysts' estimates on Thursday and forecasting weaker-than-expected profit for 2013.


Constellation Brands shares tumbled 17.4 percent to $32.36 after the U.S. Justice Department moved to stop Anheuser-Busch InBev from buying the half of Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo that it does not already own. Constellation would have distributed Corona beer in the United States if the transaction had been approved.


Thomson Reuters data through Thursday morning shows that of the 231 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings this season, 69.3 percent have exceeded expectations, a higher proportion than over the past four quarters and above the average since 1994.


Overall, S&P 500 fourth-quarter earnings rose 3.7 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data. That's above a 1.9 percent forecast at the start of the earnings season but well below a 9.9 percent profit growth forecast on October 1.


(Reporting By Angela Moon; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Kenneth Barry)



Read More..

Hagel Offers Endorsement of U.S. Military Might




Tough Questions for Hagel at Hearing:
Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s nominee for secretary of defense, had some sharp exchanges with Senator John McCain.







WASHINGTON — Chuck Hagel, President Obama’s nominee to be secretary of defense, came under sharp and sometimes angry questioning Thursday on a wide range of issues from fellow Republicans at his Senate confirmation hearing, including from his old friend, Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who is still smoldering about their break over the Iraq war.




Mr. Hagel, 66, a former senator from Nebraska and a decorated Vietnam veteran who would be the first former enlisted soldier to be secretary of defense, often seemed tentative in his responses to the barrage from fellow Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee, who showed him little deference and frequently cut him off.


One of the most hostile questioners was Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, who told Mr. Hagel to “give me an example of where we’ve been intimidated by the Israel-Jewish lobby to do something dumb.'’ Mr. Hagel, who in 2006 said the “Jewish lobby” intimidates Congress, could not.


From Mr. Hagel's home state, Senator Deb Fischer told Mr. Hagel that he held "extreme views" that were "far to the left of this administration.'' Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, surprised the hearing with excerpts on a giant video screen from an interview Mr. Hagel gave to Al Jazeera in 2009. Although it was difficult to hear the short clips he provided, Mr. Cruz asserted that they showed Mr. Hagel agreeing with a caller who suggested that Israel had committed war crimes.


“Do you think the nation of Israel has committed war crimes?'’ Mr. Cruz demanded.


“No, I do not, Senator,'’ Mr. Hagel replied.


But his exchange with Mr. McCain was the most notable, given that the two former Vietnam veterans were close friends when they served in the Senate until Mr. Hagel’s views on the Iraq War caused a split. In 2008, Mr. Hagel did not endorse Mr. McCain for president and traveled with Mr. Obama, then a senator from Illinois, to Iraq and Afghanistan.


Mr. Hagel dodged a direct answer as Mr. McCain asked him repeatedly if history would judge whether Mr. Hagel was right or wrong in opposing the surge in American armed forces when he was in the Senate. The escalation, along with other major factors, is credited in helping to quell the violence in Iraq at the time. When Mr. Hagel said he wanted to explain, Mr. McCain bore in.


“Are you going to answer the question, Senator Hagel — the question is whether you were right or wrong?” Mr. McCain said.


“I’m not going to give you a yes or no answer,” Mr. Hagel replied.


Mr. McCain did not let up.


"I think history has already made a judgment about the surge, sir, and you’re on the wrong side of it,” Mr. McCain said, then seemed to threaten that he would not vote for Mr. Hagel if he did not answer the question.


It took the next questioner, Senator Bill Nelson, Democrat of Florida, to draw Mr. Hagel out on the subject. “I did question the surge,” Mr. Hagel said. “I always asked the question, is this going to be worth the sacrifice?” He said 1,200 American men and women lost their lives in the surge. “I’m not certain it was required,” Mr. Hagel said. “Now, it doesn’t mean I was right.”


Despite the theatrics, it was unclear how the committee would vote on Mr. Hagel’s nomination. He needs a majority of the 26-member panel, which includes 14 Democrats, almost all of whom are likely to support his nomination. And there remained a possibility that perhaps one or two Republicans would join them. If Mr. Hagel advances out of the committee, he would have an easier time when the entire Senate votes on his confirmation.


The onslaught by Republicans, however, began even before Mr. Hagel made his opening statement.


The ranking Republican on the committee, Senator James M. Inhofe of Oklahoma, told Mr. Hagel that he would not vote for him because of his position of “appeasing” America’s adversaries.


Read More..