discovery-site

Serial Box 03-2011

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 14:23:00 +0200

Serial Box 03-2011 Mac OS X | 12.97 MB Latest version of the serial database (Serial Seeker 1.3.5/B1 and iSerial Reader 2.0.9 are included). So it's the version of march 2011. This is compatible with the latest database, and is said to be faster than iSerial Reader. If you prefer SerialSeeker, feel free to download and enjoy this. Enjoy

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VistaMizer 4.1.0.0

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 14:14:00 +0200

With VistaMizer you can transform your Windows XP, MCE or Server 2003 into the look of Windows Vista. Therefore over 400 files with new Icons, pictures as well as videos are modified. This means that VistaMizer does not provide own files and change your system files. That has the advantage that VistaMizer works with each language and no changes of the language specifics are made. The installer is so developed that you have completely the change which will be modified and which not. Even if you select files, which are possibly not at all on your system available or not compatible, the application recognizes this and jumps over these. This ensures that the system does not become unstable because of wrong modification. After updates if your system data are overwritten, then a renewal of these is possible by using an extra program that is linked by the VistaMizer. The application examines thereby, which files are updated and re-modify only these. This means a very fast re-modification and it is always the current data in the Backup. However if the result of the installation should not assure to you, you have the possibility to get back the old system by an un-installation. If newer files are already present in the system by updates, this is recognized by the un-installer and only the modified files will be replaced.

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Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10.0.23.29 data 2011/03/06

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 14:12:00 +0200

Kaspersky Rescue Disk 10 is a free and safe program to remove viruses from a computer without the risk of getting infected! Kaspersky Rescue Disk is designed to scan and disinfect x86 and x64-compatible computers that have been infected. The application should be used when the infection is so severe that it is impossible to disinfect the computer using anti-virus applications or malware removal utilities (such as Kaspersky Virus Removal Tool) running under the operating system. In this case, disinfection is more efficient because malware programs do not gain control when the operating system is being loaded. In the emergency repair mode, you can only start objects scan tasks, update databases roll back updates and view statistics. Boot from the Kaspersky Rescue Disk to scan and remove threats from an infected PC without the risk of infecting other files or computers. Burn this ISO image to a CD, insert it into the infected system's CD-ROM drive, enter the PC's BIOS, set it to boot from the CD and reboot the PC

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Song ruled out of Barca clash

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:42:00 +0200

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has confirmed that midfielder Alex Song will miss Tuesday's Champions League trip to Barcelona.
Song missed the goalless draw with Sunderland at the emirates Stadium on Saturday with a knee injury sustained in the Carling Cup final.
After undergoing a fitness test on Sunday, the Cameroon international has been ruled out and will not travel with the squad to the Camp Nou for the last-16 second-leg clash with the Spanish champions.
Song joins several other first-team players on the injured list for the Gunners, ho have striker Robin van Persie, winger Theo Walcott and long-term absentee Thomas Vermaelen also injured.
However, there is hope that captain Cesc Fabregas will be able to recover from a hamstring injury in tie to face the club he left to join Arsenal as a 16-year-old.
Arsenal take a 2-1 aggregate lead to Catalonia, but insisted that his team would not be aiming to sit on that slender lead, and were not equipped to do so even if they wanted to.
"We'll make some changes for Tuesday, that's for sure. We need some fresh legs for the Nou Camp because we'll have to run a lot there," said Wenger.
"We've not got enough security just to sit back and defend; you can't go to Barcelona and play for a 0-0. Anyway, it's not the personality of my team. This game has been hanging a bit over the heads of my players but our focus is on it now."

Microsoft's Bing launches deals feature

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:24:00 +0200

Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine said it launched 'Bing deals' for both the desktop and mobile, allowing consumers to find the best deals locally, a service that will pit it against daily deals website Groupon.
The company has partnered with The Dealmap, a service provider that allows people to find and share the best local deals.
It said the feature provides access to 200,000 offers in 14,000 cities.
Bing deals compiles leading offers from Groupon, LivingSocial and Restaurant.com, Bing's director of product management said in a company blog post.
Competition has been intensifying for companies like Groupon, with the likes of LivingSocial expanding in the same space and a plethora of websites springing up globally that specialize in deals for niche markets.

Brazil at heart of Google's Latin America strategy

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:22:00 +0200

Brazil is on the way to becoming Google Inc's sixth-largest global market, Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said on Friday as the company opens new offices in the fast-growing Latin American region.
The world's No. 1 Internet search company saw its revenue in the region surge last year on the back of brisk economic growth, with countries showing growth of 50 percent to 100 percent last year.
"That means you're almost doubling (revenue) every year," Schmidt told Reuters in the company's offices in Buenos Aires. "That's a lot due to the effect of the economic recovery from a global recession, but also to the development of broadband and the development of the electronic commerce."
Schmidt will be replaced as CEO in April by Google co-founder Larry Page, a move to make the company more nimble at a time when competition heats up with fast-growing rivals like Facebook.
Latin America accounts for 2 percent to 3 percent of the California-based company's revenue, which totaled $29.3 billion last year, mostly from its business in the United States and Europe.
But Schmidt said the region's relatively modest share should grow fast.
"It will become a much larger percentage very quickly. Brazil is, for example, already on its way to becoming our sixth-largest country in revenue," he said.
Google has about 500 employees in Latin America, where it has opened new premises in Chile, Colombia and Peru.
"Latin American is our fastest-growing region in the world. You can see it everywhere," Schmidt said, highlighting the company's Orkut social network -- one of Brazil's most-visited websites.
"I disagree that the only thing Google can do in social networking would be buying Twitter simply by the observation we have a very successful social network in Brazil, Orkut, which is growing and expanding," Schmidt said when asked if Google had held takeover talks with the microblogging site.
While Google has dominated Internet search for a decade, it has struggled to find its footing in social networking, with a new crop of Web companies including Facebook and Twitter stealing Web traffic and engineering talent.
Meanwhile, Schmidt said Google was not too anxious to see YouTube showing a profit, defending the scale of investments in its online video site.
"Profitability is not that important for us. For YouTube, what's really important is to build the great business for the partners," he said, adding that YouTube remained "almost profitable."

Twitter share auction suggests $7.7 billion valuation

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:21:00 +0200

A recent auction of Twitter shares on the secondary market suggests investors value the company at $7.7 billion, more than twice the valuation the Internet microblogging service garnered in a December funding round.
Investors have agreed to pay $34.50 a share for Twitter in the auction conducted by Sharespost, an exchange for private company shares that announced the news on Friday
Based on the 223.7 million estimated fully diluted shares of Twitter listed by Sharespost on its website, the deal would suggest a valuation of roughly $7.7 billion.
Valuations of privately-held Web companies have surged in recent months as investors scramble to buy stakes in companies that many hope could turn out to be the next Google Inc.
On Thursday, an investment firm bought 2.5 million Facebook shares in a deal valuing the No.1 social network at $65 billion, according to a media report. That valuation is 30 percent higher than the valuation Facebook announced in its last funding round in January.
The Twitter auction, which Sharespost said was oversubscribed, involved 35,000 shares of Twitter's Series B preferred stock, Sharespost said.
In December Twitter was valued at $3.7 billion in a $200 million funding round led by venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Buyers.

Moussa hits campaign trail in Egypt presidency race

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:20:00 +0200

Veteran diplomat Amr Moussa talked economics and social justice when he hit the campaign trail for the Egyptian presidency with a string of interviews that flagged him as the front runner for the job.
Arab League secretary-general for the last decade, Moussa, 74, is the most prominent figure yet to declare his candidacy for the position from which Hosni Mubarak was toppled on February 11 after three decades in power.
The military, which took power after Mubarak was ousted, plans to hold a parliamentary vote in June to be followed by a presidential election six weeks later.
In a country where years of oppression have crushed political life, Moussa's high profile, oratory skills and charisma have given him a natural head start.
An online poll on the Web site of al-Ahram newspaper on Thursday showed him with a big lead over Mohammed ElBaradei, the Nobel prize-winning former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
ElBaradei, a leading figure in the reform movement, has yet to say whether he will run on not. He is widely expected to.
"The Egyptian economy must move on two wheels: the free market and social justice," Moussa said in an interview with the Al Masry Al Youm newspaper, one of at least three he gave this week.
The economic policies of the last decade had resulted in "overwhelming poverty for the majority and obscene wealth for the minority," said Moussa, adding that growth had not benefited a large proportion of the population.
His move into economics marked a step away from the diplomacy that has defined his career. He was Egypt's foreign minister for 10 years until 2001, before being moved to the Arab League position which he will relinquish soon.
As foreign minister, Moussa was an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights as Cairo played a leading role in the Middle East peace process.
His popularity was widely assumed to be the reason Mubarak removed him from the foreign ministry in 2001. To some, the final straw for Mubarak seemed to be the release of the 2001 Egyptian pop hit, "I hate Israel, I love Amr Moussa."
The perceived differences between Moussa and his former boss will help him overcome suggestions that he represents the past.
Asked in the Al Masry Al Youm interview whether he was a part of the former administration, Moussa said: "I was not merely an employee who would be ordered and obey."
WORKING FOR MUBARAK WASN'T EASY
Moussa said he had expressed "the pulse" of the Egyptians. He declined to go into the details on his differences with the former president. "The road was not easy with President Mubarak at junctures," he said.

China says U.S. must stop Taiwan arms sales

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:18:00 +0200

The United States will put improved relations with Beijing at risk if it does not stop selling arms to Taiwan, China's Foreign Minister said on Monday.
The world's two biggest economies have sought to steady ties after a year that exposed strains over human rights, Taiwan, Tibet and the gaping U.S. trade deficit with China. Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the White House in January.
"The atmosphere at the moment in Sino-U.S. relations is good," Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi told a news conference on the sidelines of the ongoing meeting of China's parliament.
Vice President Joe Biden will visit China in the middle of this year, after which Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping will go the United States at "an appropriate time", Yang said.
"Of course, it is an objective reality that China and the United States have some differences or even friction over some issues," he added. "What's important is to properly handle these differences on the basis of mutual respect."
Early last year, Beijing reacted with fury to the Obama administration plans for a new round of weapons sales to Taiwan, the self-ruled island that China deems an illegitimate breakaway province, threatening to sanction the U.S. companies involved.
"We urge the United States to ... stop selling arms to Taiwan and take concrete actions to support the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations. This is very important in upholding the overall interests of China-U.S. relations," Yang said.
The United States is obliged under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act to help the island defend itself.
While China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou's promotion of closer economic ties with Beijing has reduced the risk of military conflict, the island is nonetheless seeking to shore up the balance of power against China.
Beijing has threatened to attack if the island tries to declare independence, and China has been outpacing it in its military build-up.

Japan's PM hangs on but outlook grim

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:14:00 +0200

Japan's unpopular Prime Minister Naoto Kan refused on Monday to step down after the resignation of his foreign minister over a political funding scandal that has added to pressure on him to quit or call a snap election.
But it is far from clear how Kan, if he does manage to cling to office, will be able to resolve the political stalemate that has left the government struggling to implement policies to cut into a huge public debt and win approval from a divided parliament to enact a new budget from April.
"Carrying out the administration's duty for the four-year term and then letting the people decide at the ballot box is best for the people themselves," he told a parliamentary session.
"I intend to firmly fulfill my duty until that time comes."
But some analysts warned that Kan's government may well collapse sooner rather than later. He is Japan's fifth leader since 2006 and has no clear successor in sight.
The resignation of Seiji Maehara, a security hawk and critic of China's military buildup, removes a strong contender to replace Kan and has deepened the impression of a government in disarray, unable to resolve fundamental problems facing the world's third largest economy.
The stalemate is blocking passage of bills to implement a $1 trillion budget for the year from April and keeping the government from tackling tax reforms to curb massive public debt, already twice the size of the $5 trillion economy.
Kan has made fiscal reforms including a rise in the 5 percent sales tax a priority as a way to fund the social costs of a fast aging society. But he has failed to get opposition parties to join in talks on the topic.
Japan's Rating and Investment Information (R&I) agency told Reuters on Monday it may cut the country's sovereign rating before local elections in April as deepening political turmoil could delay efforts to fix the country's tattered public finances.
Standard & Poor's cut Japan's rating by one notch in January and Moody's warned last month that lack of success on fiscal reform would have a negative impact on its rating.
"LACK OF GOVERNING ABILITY"
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano will serve temporarily as foreign minister while Kan picks a successor, who will have their hands full managing strained ties with China and Russia and keeping relations with ally Washington on an even keel.
Kan's health minister, Ritsuo Hosokawa, is also under fire for messy handling of measures to help housewives who had mistakenly failed to pay their pension premiums.
Media warned more cabinet ministers could quit in a "domino effect," although Kan told parliament that he wanted to keep the health minister in his post.
Kan faces pressure from within his own fractious Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) to step down, while opposition parties are pushing him to call a snap election in the lower house.

Casualties take focus from Gates's Afghan trip

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:04:00 +0200

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in Afghanistan on Monday at a time of increased strain between Kabul and its Western backers and with important security transition milestones looming.
Gates, whose visit was not announced in advance, will meet President Hamid Karzai, who complained angrily last week after nine Afghan children were mistakenly killed by helicopters from the NATO-led force.
Karzai will soon unveil a timetable for the start of a handover of security responsibility from foreign forces to Afghans. The process is to begin in July and be complete by 2014. U.S. officials said it would be the focus of Gates's trip.
But civilian casualties have clouded the relationship and diverted attention from transition plans, with blunt exchanges between Karzai and U.S. leaders after a string of recent accidental killings.
Karzai said in a statement on Sunday that a rare and candid apology by General David Petraeus, commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, was "not enough."
The boys were gunned down while collecting firewood in a volatile eastern province last Tuesday. U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed his "deep regret."
At a meeting with security advisers on the eve of Gates's trip, at which Petraeus was present, Karzai said civilian casualties caused by foreign troops were "no longer acceptable."
Petraeus again apologized for the killings, saying they were a "great mistake," according to a statement released by the presidential palace.
Karzai in turn said that the apology was not enough and that civilian casualties caused by NATO-led forces were the main cause of strained relations between the United States and Afghanistan, the statement said.
Hundreds of Afghans chanting "Death to America" gathered in the capital on Sunday in protest. There have been at least four similar incidents, mainly in the east, in the past three weeks.
HAMPER EFFORTS
International concern over civilian casualties has grown, and the fallout from the recent incidents threatens to hamper peace and reconciliation efforts, with a gradual drawdown of the 150,000 foreign troops to begin in July.
U.S. and NATO leaders have agreed to Karzai's ambitious timetable for foreign combat troops to leave by 2014. Karzai will announce on March 21 where and when the district-by-district, province-by-province transition will begin.
A senior U.S. defense official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said NATO and Afghan forces were in the process of identifying provinces, districts and municipalities that were ready to be put formally under Afghan control, even if foreign forces remain close at hand.
Gates is expected to visit parts of southern and eastern Afghanistan, where NATO commanders say they have weakened the Taliban and created "bubbles" of security they hope to link up.

London Stock Exchange mulls Nasdaq takeover: report

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:02:00 +0200

The London Stock Exchange is eyeing a takeover of its rival Nasdaq just weeks after announcing a merger with the Toronto stock exchange, the Sunday Times reported.
Although the companies have not held talks about a three-way tie-up, LSE and its Canadian counterpart expect to make their move later this year following the closing of their own deal, the newspaper said without citing sources.
A Nasdaq spokesman declined to comment.
For now, LSE has its hands full as it tries to close on its 3.1 billion pound ($5 billion) proposed takeover of TMX Group.
Last week the two exchanges defended their transatlantic tie-up to skeptical lawmakers as they faced the first of a series of government and regulatory hurdles.
But the two exchange operators have said the combined company could go on the offensive as stock market competition intensifies internationally, especially with Deutsche Boerse in takeover talks with NYSE Euronext, and the Singapore Exchange trying to acquire Australia's ASX Ltd.
Some have speculated Nasdaq could jump into the fray, and LSE head Xavier Rolet was non-committal last week when asked whether TMX and LSE would consider a three-way tie-up.
"I can't speculate on what might or might not happen or what we could or should do," he told reporters last week.
A source told Reuters previously that Nasdaq, left out of the recent merger frenzy, was looking at its alternatives, including the possibility of teaming up with CME Group Inc or Intercontinental Exchange Inc to bid on NYSE.
But last week at the Reuters Future Face of Finance Summit the chief executives of both CME and ICE appeared to play down the possibility of a bid anytime soon.

Moody's slashes Greek rating, may cut further

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 12:00:00 +0200

Moody's slashed Greece's credit rating on Monday on fears the country's efforts to cut its debt will not be enough, heaping further pressure on EU leaders to ease repayment terms on its bailout loans or risk a default.
Moody's cut the country's rating by three notches to B1 from Ba1 with a negative outlook, citing significant risks to the country's fiscal consolidation plan and risks of a debt restructuring.
Moody's now has the lowest rating for Greece of all the major credit agencies and is the first to classify Greek government debt as 'highly speculative'.
The Greek finance ministry said the cut was completely unjustified.
Greece signed in May a 110 billion euro ($153.9 billion) rescue package with the EU and IMF to avoid default, but many see the repayment terms as too onerous.
European Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn told a German newspaper on Saturday that countries that share the euro currency must grant Greece and fellow debt-strapped nation Ireland easier terms on loans they have provided.
Moody's said on Monday that Greece continues to face difficulties with revenue collection and there was a risk that the country did not satisfy solvency criteria attached to EU/IMF support after 2013 which could lead to a debt restructuring.
"The fiscal consolidation measures and structural reforms that are needed to stabilize the country's debt metrics remain very ambitious and are subject to significant implementation risks," the agency said in a statement.
Moody's said it was also concerned by the lack of certainty surrounding the nature of financial support that will be available to Greece after 2013, and its implications for bondholders.
"The likelihood of a default or distressed exchange has risen since its last downgrade of the Greek government debt rating in June 2010," the agency said.
The spread on 10-year Greek debt against benchmark Bunds widened by 8 basis points to 9.13 percent following the Moody's downgrade, while the euro fell about 30 pips against the dollar.
Earlier this month, Standard & Poor's said it may cut the sovereign rating of Greece, depending on the details of Europe's crisis fund that euro zone policy makers are discussing.
In January, Fitch became the third rating agency to cut Greek debt to junk, highlighting persisting doubts over the country's ability to pull itself out of a severe debt crisis that has shaken the euro zone.

Wisconsin Senate Democrats say no date set for return

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:59:00 +0200

Wisconsin Democrats who fled the state more than two weeks ago to block a vote on a Republican plan to limit public union collective bargaining said on Sunday they have no immediate plans to return.
"I think the situation has not been resolved," said Mike Browne, a spokesman for Wisconsin senate minority leader Mark Miller, while adding: "I don't think anyone has ever suggested that at some point the Democrats don't return."
Browne and several of the 14 Democrats in the senate who left the state on February 17 sought to downplay comments by Miller to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday that Democrats will return to the Capitol soon for a vote on the Republican bill.
"I think he's speaking the truth that at some point - and I don't know when soon is - at some point we have to say we've done all we can," Senator Bob Jauch told Reuters.
Jauch and Sen. Tim Cullen have been part of negotiations with the staff of newly elected Republican governor Scott Walker, who says the controversial bill now stalled by the Democrats is vital budget repair for the current fiscal year.
Miller told the Journal that moving forward with a vote on the budget repair would give Democrats more leverage in seeking changes to the 2011-13 budget the governor proposed last week.
Cullen declined comment, saying Miller didn't speak with him before making the comments, while Sen. Jon Erpenbach, who's been the lead contact with media during the standoff, said Democrats are not preparing to return.
Browne said there was nothing really new in Miller's comments and that Democrats continue trying to keep the lines of communication open.
"The bottom line is that Democrats would still like to see a reasonable negotiated settlement," Browne said.
He added: "The whole strategy by stopping a vote on the bill was to allow the public to comment on the bill."
A poll by Rasmussen Reports of 800 Wisconsin voters on March 2 found 34 percent strongly approved of Walker's performance as governor, while 48 percent strongly disapproved. Walker was elected with a 52 percent majority last November.
DEMOCRATS UNDER PRESSURE
Walker proposed increased payments for health care and pension benefits for public workers but also stripping most of their unions of most key collective bargaining provisions.
"I don't think there's any question that what the governor has proposed has proven to be overwhelming unpopular with the people of Wisconsin and has clearly affected his standing," Browne said.
Thousands of union supporters in Madison protested the budget proposals this weekend after Walker issued layoff warning notices to at least 13 public unions late Friday. But the crowds were smaller, with an estimated 12,000 protesters on Saturday compared to more than 70,000 one week earlier.

Thousands protest in Bahrain

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:53:00 +0200

Thousands of protesters have gathered outside the prime minister's office in Bahrain to demand that he step down, as their campaign for reform in the tiny Gulf nation enters its fourth week.
The demonstrators massed on Sunday at the Al-Qudaibiya Palace in the capital, Manama, chanting slogans against the government and King Hamad, but failed to disrupt a government meeting in progress there.
Demonstrators shouted "Topple Hamad! Topple Hamad!" and "Hey Khalifa, get out! Get out!", referring to the country's long-time prime minister, Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman al-Khalifa.
Al-Khalifa, who was presiding over a weekly meeting of government ministers inside the palace, later told the state-run Bahrain News Agency that changes are under way and the kingdom's "reform march will continue".
"The government's development policies will continue upbeat as we are determined more than ever to achieve our goal of upgrading the citizens' standards of living by providing them with the means of decent life," he said.
The demonstrators want al-Khalifa to step down over alleged corruption and a deadly crackdown on the opposition in which seven people were killed.
"We want the prime minister to go," Alaa al-Nasr, a 24-year-old demonstrator, was reported by the AFP news agency as saying.
Protesters on Sunday also chanted for the 2002 constitution, which they say gave too much power to the monarchy, to be scrapped.
Constitutional demands
Al Jazeera's correspondent in Manama said there was a very large security presence inside the palace grounds.
"There are police helicopters circling protests, which are peaceful. Not only are protesters calling for a new government and a new constitution, but also for the royal family to go," he said.
"The official opposition in parliament has accepted dialogue with the government whereas the protesters are calling for the compete overthrow of the monarchy."
In addition to the protest at Al-Qudaibiya, demonstrators remain in hundreds of tents at Manama's Pearl Roundabout, which has become the epicentre of the anti-government protests which started 21 days ago.
Mansoor al-Arayedh, chairman of the Gulf Council for Foreign Relations, told Al Jazeera that protests appeared likely to continue and urged the government to speed up its dealings with the opposition.
"I see more demonstrations coming in the following week. They government has called for dialogue with the opposition parties and most of civic society to reach some sort of compromise ... the long this takes the more agitated civil society will be," he said.
"I would welcome a situation that would allow the government to act in a faster way - maybe some sort of a privy council, at least initially," said al-Arayedh, himself a former senator in Bahrain.
"It's a constitutional monarchy so you can't pretend it's Egypt or Tunisia, it's part of the GCC - that's another element that needs to be looked at. The third thing is it's a US ally and therefore stability becomes very important."
'National dialogue'
Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa, Bahrain's interior minister, told local newspaper editors Saturday that King Hamad had ordered the creation of 20,000 new jobs and called for a national dialogue.
"We hope this step will have a positive effect on the safety and security of citizens," the al-Wasat newspaper quoted him as saying.
"The minister said national dialogue was the way to achieving political stability and of raising demands."
Opposition figures said it interpreted the move as an attempt to appease Shia protesters who say they have been shut out of government jobs.
Bahrain's Shia majority has long complained of discrimination and political persecution in the island kingdom. A Sunni dynasty has ruled Bahrain for two centuries.

Saudi scholars forbid protest calls

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:51:00 +0200

Saudi Arabia's leading religious authorities have issued a statement forbidding public protests and petitions for reforms in the country.
The warning from Saudi's council of senior scholars on Sunday follows a similar announcement by secular authorities a day earlier.
The 10-member council's statement, carried by state news agency SPA, said that "the correct way in sharia [Islamic law] of realising common interest is by advising, which is what the Prophet Muhammad established".
"Reform and advice should not be via demonstrations and ways that provoke strife and division, this is what the religious scholars of this country in the past and now have forbidden and warned against," the statement said.
"The council warns of deviant ideological and party-political connections since this nation is one and will adhere to the ways of the pious ancestors.
"The kingdom has not and will not allow ideas from the West or the East that take away from this Islamic identity and divide the unity of the whole."
A day earlier, the interior ministry said that protests violate Islamic law and the kingdom's traditions, and reminded potential demonstrators that security forces were authorised to crack down on public protests.
Protesters arrested
Saudi authorities have grown nervous after more than 17,000 people backed a call on the social networking website Facebook to hold two demonstrations in the kingdom this month, the first scheduled to take place on March 11.
In the capital Riyadh on Friday, dozens of men gathered at the exit of the al-Rajhi mosque, one of the city's most important, repeating slogans denouncing "oppression" and the monarchy, according to witnesses.
Three men were arrested, witnesses said.
There were also demonstrations last week in the area of Qatif and neighbouring Awwamiya in Saudi's Eastern Province, with demonstrators from the country's minority Shia population calling for the release of prisoners they said were bing held without trial.
The area is sensitive as the province is near Bahrain, which has also seen protests in recent weeks by the country's majority Shia Muslim against their Sunni Muslim rulers.
Videos posted on the March 11 Facebook page appeared to show heavily armed police confronting protesters.
Twenty-two people were arrested following the Qatif demonstrations, Saudi activists said.
Activist freed
Authorities made a limited concession on Sunday, according to a report by the Associated Press, by releasing Tawfiq al-Amer, a Shia cleric who was arrested last week after he called for a constitutional monarchy.
Sultan al-Qassemi, a columnist for the UAE's National newspaper, told Al Jazeera: "Protests have always been shunned in Saudi Arabia, and they've never been allowed by law, so this is not a new development it's just a confirmation of the ban.
"However, we've seen perhaps several hundred - some say several thousand - people go out in Qatif in the Eastern Province. I don't think this ban is going to change their mind, these individuals expect some reforms."
With pro-democracy uprisings throughout the Arab world, Gulf states are increasingly concerned. Both Bahrain and Oman have witnessed protests in recent weeks.
Asked what democratic model Gulf states could turn to, al-Qassemi said: "Kuwait is decades ahead of any Gulf state. Kuwaiti women several years ago won the right to vote and run in the parliament through democratic means.
"Kuwait is two or three decades ahead of any other Gulf states. The closest I can see to it is Bahrain, which has a very active parliament, and then of course the other Gulf states come behind."

Gaddafi seeks UN probe into unrest

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:50:00 +0200

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has called for an international investigation into the unrest rocking his country, as forces loyal to him fight hard to hold on to their territory.
In an interview released on Sunday with the French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, Gaddafi said he wants the United Nations or the African Union to investigate the violence.

"First of all I would like that an investigatory commission of the United Nations or the African Union comes here to Libya," he said. "We will let this panel work unhampered."
Gaddafi said he would be in favour of France "co-ordinating and leading" the investigation.

He also used the interview to lash out at Western nations for turning their backs on him, saying that he was embroiled in a fight against terrorism.
"I am surprised that nobody understands that this is a fight against terrorism.
"Our security services co-operate. We have helped you a lot these past few years. So why is it that when we are in a fight against terrorism here in Libya no one helps us in return?"

Egypt PM appoints new key ministers

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:49:00 +0200

Egypt's prime minister has appointed new ministers for the foreign-affairs and interior portfolios in a further sign that ousted president Hosni Mubarak's old guard are being removed from the cabinet.

Essam Sharaf named Nabil Elaraby, a former judge with the Hague-based International Court of Justice, and Mansour el-Essawy for the crucial positions on Sunday, according to a post on the Facebook page of the prime minister's office.
Elaraby's appointment came hours after El-Essawy's, but Sharaf's cabinet list has yet to be confirmed.

Elaraby would replace Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, who has held the post since 2004.
El-Essawy replaces Mohmoud Wagdi, who was appointed by Mubarak in the wake of the violent crackdown on anti-government protesters by security forces on January 28. El-Essawy is a former head of security for Giza, which is in greater Cairo, and is a former governor of Minya in Upper Egypt.
Sharaf also named Mohammed al-Guindy, a former attorney general, as minister of justice to replace Mamdouh Marie, who has been widely accused of corruption.
Al Jazeera's Ayman Mohyeldin, reporting from Cairo, said: "The message that's being delivered to the international community with someone that's as seasoned a diplomat as Nabil Elaraby is that it's a departure from the past [of Mubarak]."
Just hours after the new appointments, Egyptian troops fired into the air during a protest outside the interior ministry offices in Cairo by activists demanding reform of the security forces, witnesses said.
The activists said they were confronted by men in plain clothes armed with knives during the protest. Two activists speaking to the Reuters news agency by telephone said they were trapped by men they called "thugs".

Ireland 'to observe EU-IMF targets'

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:45:00 +0200

Ireland's new government has confirmed it will stick to the stringent fiscal targets laid down in a European Union-International Monetary Fund bailout package.
Confirmation followed news the centre-right Fine Gael party, the winner of last week's election, had concluded a coalition
deal with the Labour party on Sunday.
The two parties had taken divergent views during their electoral campaign on the scale of public-sector cutbacks, the split between taxes and spending cuts and the time frame for cutting the budget deficit to an EU limit of three per cent of gross domestic product.
Following the deal, the parties said they would stick to the fiscal targets, but reiterated in their programme for government their plans to seek a reduction on the bailout's average 5.8 per cent interest rate.
"We will see very strong fiscal policy in the document which ties us into the parameters laid down by the EU/IMF,
notwithstanding the fact that we want to see that renegotiated," Phil Hogan, one of the lead coalition negotiators for Fine Gael, told the state broadcaster RTE.
He said the new government would target 25,000 job cuts in the public sector.
Brendan Howlin, one of the chief negotiators for the Labour party, told RTE: "We have to repair broken bridges across our European partner to build up an understanding of our position."
In November, Ireland's financial woes meant it negotiated a potential $94bn line of credit from EU and IMF donors.
A bailout became unavoidable as Ireland's largely state-owned banks found themselves unable to borrow on open markets and faced insolvency.
Fianna Fail, Ireland's then governing party, was handed a crushing electoral defeat in polls in February, thought mainly to be due to their handling of the crisis, but the new government has limited room for a change in economic policies.
Sunday's decision will likely be popular with Ireland's EU partners and draws a veil over much of the election campaigns' anti-Europe rhetoric.

Oil supply fears slow down Spain

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:44:00 +0200

US crude oil has reached $105 a barrel line to reach its highest level since September 2008 as worries about supply disruption have increased due to deepening unrest in Libya.
Oil depots in the country, have been attacked and the continuing instability which has slowed production there, is hitting investor confidence.
In Spain, fears of a shortage in the oil supply has caused the government to take innovative measures.
Al Jazeera's Sonia Gallego reports from Madrid, Spain.

Libyan buildup focuses on Malta

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:42:00 +0200

Some Libyan rebel groups have called for limited military assistance, such as targeted air strikes.
However, one US Senator has said direct military intervention would be counter-productive. John Kerry said the international community should prepare a no-fly zone, in the event of a massacre of civilians by the Libyan air force.
Much of the military equipment needed to enforce a no-fly zone is already based on the Mediterranean island of Malta.
Al Jazeera's James Bays reports from Malta.

Former French president faces trial

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:41:00 +0200

After years of claiming immunity to avoid legal proceedings, Jacques Chirac, the former president of France, is finally facing a court.

The 78-year-old statesman faces a month in court on charges that he masterminded a scheme to have Paris City Hall pay for work that benefited his political party when he was mayor - before he became president in 1995.
Chirac is the first former head of state to go on trial since the country's Nazi-era leader was exiled.
A prison term is seen as highly unlikely, but in principle if convicted, Chirac could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined $210,000.

France's restive political circles are gearing up for next year's presidential race, but the fallout from this trial is unlikely to hit anyone other than Chirac and the nine other defendants including a grandson of General Charles de Gaulle and a former left-wing labor union leader.

Still, the trial looms as an embarrassing coda to Chirac's 12-year presidential term, potentially denting his legacy, recent philanthropic work and image as one of France's most popular personalities since he left office.

Ferguson refuses to speak to media after Liverpool game

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 11:31:00 +0200

Sir Alex Ferguson refused to speak to media rights holders on Sunday following the game at Liverpool, which Manchester United lost 3-1.

The United manager did not talk to host broadcaster Sky Sports, radio rights holders TalkSport and the club's television channel MUTV.
His assistant Mike Phelan did not carry out his usual post-match engagements with the BBC.
The decision not to speak to the media was made before the game.
Should any of the media organisations complain to the Premier League, the governing body would be forced to act.
Ferguson has not given a post-match interview to the BBC since 2004 after a BBC Three documentary about his son Jason, who was then working as a football agent.
The Premier League was due to discuss Ferguson's BBC boycott, which is in contravention of its rules, late last year, but if any fines were imposed for his non-compliance they have yet to be made public.
However, it is believed no media organisation has ever lodged an official complaint over the issue.
United have lost their last two league games against Chelsea and Liverpool.
However, Ferguson's side remain top of the table but second-placed Arsenal are only three points behind with a game in hand.
Ferguson cancelled his pre-game briefing on Friday in protest at the coverage given to his post-match quotes at Chelsea on Tuesday for which the Football Association charged him with improper conduct .
His action was also prompted by the furore that surrounded Wayne Rooney's elbowing of Wigan's James McCarthy last weekend.
Ferguson said he had "feared the worst" when referee Martin Atkinson was appointed for the game at Stamford Bridge with Chelsea, which United lost 2-1 after leading at half-time.
He denies the charge and will have a personal hearing at a date no later than 25 March.
The Scot also has two matches of a four-game ban from last season hanging over him after remarks about referee Alan Wiley.
It is not yet known whether the media blackout will continue this week, with United set to Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Saturday, although discussions are bound to take place behind the scenes.
However, defender Rio Ferdinand, who was not at Anfield because he is recovering from a calf injury, offered his opinion via social networking site Twitter.
"Bad result today, no excuses," he said.

Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus (x86/x64)

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 02:19:00 +0200

Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 x86/x64 FINAL Fully Activated

Office Professional Plus 2010 offers you user-driven updates and new server integration capabilities that make it easier for everyone to track, report, and share vital information. It’s the familiar, intuitive tools you trust all in one package.

Includes:

Microsoft Word 2010
Microsoft Excel 2010
Microsoft PowerPoint 2010
Microsoft OneNote 2010
Microsoft Outlook 2010 with Business Contact Manager
Microsoft Publisher 2010
Microsoft Access 2010
Microsoft Communicator
Microsoft InfoPath 2010
Microsoft SharePoint Workspace 2010

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SmartSoft SmartFTP Client Ultimate 4.0.1168

noreply@blogger.com (discovery-site) — Mon, 7 Mar 2011 02:08:00 +0200

SmartFTP is an FTP (File Transfer Protocol) client which allows you to transfer files between your local computer and a server on the Internet. With its many basic and advanced features SmartFTP also offers secure, reliable and efficient transfers that make it a powerful tool.

Program Features:

* Secure Connections (TLS / SSL)
o 256 bit, HIPAA compliant
* Modern Graphical User Interface (GUI)
* File/Folder Synchronization
* Multilingual (more than 20 languages)
* IPv6

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