Varnish

Siemens AG returns to profit in Q4

2012-03-15T06:55:00.000-07:00

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German industrial equipment maker Siemens AG swung back to profit in its fiscal fourth quarter as sales increased in Asia.

The company said Thursday it made a net profit of €1.23 billion ($1.66 billion) in the three months to end-September in contrast to the loss of €396 million loss in the same quarter a year ago, when the company had a large one-time charge at its health care division.

The company increased its dividend but gave an outlook for only moderate sales growth and indicated it didn't expect profits to rise next year.

Revenues rose 5 percent to €20.35 billion, boosted by a 12 percent increase in Asia. The company said Thursday sales …

Suspected US missile strike kills 2 in Pakistan

2012-03-15T04:30:00.000-07:00

Two intelligence officials say a suspected U.S. missile strike has killed two people in Pakistan's North Waziristan tribal region.

The Saturday strike was the sixth in about a week in the area. Two missiles fired by a suspected unmanned drone hit a house in Data Khel, an area that is a stronghold of the Haqqani militant …

Morris feels his old game coming back

2012-03-15T02:09:00.000-07:00

Bam Morris is getting there.

Signed 10 days ago as a free agent to replace holdout rookieCurtis Enis, he started slowly but looked like the old Bam Morris inthe second half, scoring two touchdowns in the Bears' preseason lossto Arizona.

Morris said he had butterflies in the first half for the firsttime since he was a rookie. He was stopped for losses of three yardsand one yard in two first-half carries. But in the second half hehad seven carries for 27 yards, including touchdown runs of two andfive yards.

"Overall, the question is, do I still have what I had? Yes,"Morris said. "In fact, I may (be) even better. When I lose sevenpounds in a couple of …

Freeskier dies from injuries after fall at event

2012-03-14T23:45:00.000-07:00

KIRKWOOD, Calif. (AP) — A California ski resort spokesman says a professional big-mountain skier who was seriously hurt in a bad landing after doing a back flip off a cliff during a weekend competition has died.

Kirkwood Ski Resort spokesman Michael Dalzell says Ryan Hawks died at a local hospital on Tuesday. The 25-year-old member of the Green Mountain Freeride team from Vermont was competing in the North …

Phew! Asteroid's passing was a cosmic near-miss

2012-03-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

An asteroid about the size of one that blasted Siberia a century ago just buzzed by Earth.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported that the asteroid zoomed past Monday morning.

The asteroid named 2009 DD45 was about 48,800 miles (78,500 kilometers) from Earth. That is just twice the height of some telecommunications satellites and about a fifth of the distance to the …

Bath rugby: A failure of management?

2012-03-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

It is almost accepted that the person who purports to be incharge of any organisation should take the ultimate responsibilityfor any unacceptable actions taken by members of his organisation;the current scandals relating to MPs' expenses and the fallout atCabinet level for example.

However, I do not read of the same conclusions with regards toBath Rugby Club.

The recent publicised outgoings of high-profile players(including two former club captains) following the banning ofanother high profile player and the unexplained, unsatisfactoryexodus of an overseas player appear to have left the managementintact without, what appears to me, any share of …

Melo Drops 34 As Nuggets Beat Raptors

2012-03-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

DENVER - Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points - his sixth straight game of 30 or more points - and Denver won at home for the first time this season with a 117-109 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Saturday night.

T.J. Ford finished with 26 points and a career-high 18 assists for Toronto. Chris Bosh had 31 points and nine rebounds.

Anthony, Bosh and Ford were all part of the 2003 NBA draft class.

J.R. Smith finished with 16 points, including four 3-pointers, for Denver, which had seven players score in double figures. Reggie Evans had a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards. Joe Smith finished with 11 rebounds.

Anthony, who was 11-for-11 from the …

National Basketball Association

2012-03-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

…

W L Pct GB

Boston 41 9 .820 _

Philadelphia 23 24 .489 16 1/2

New Jersey 23 27 .460 18

New York 21 27 .438 19

Toronto 19 32 .373 22 1/2

Southeast Division

W L Pct GB

Orlando 37 11 .771 _

Atlanta 28 20 .583 9

Miami 26 22 .542 11

Socialist Borja sworn in as president of Ecuador

2012-03-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

QUITO (AP) Rodrigo Borja, a socialist who has promised anonaligned foreign policy and an end to Ecuador's free-marketeconomy, was sworn in Wednesday as president.

Foreign leaders in attendance included President Fidel Castro ofCuba and U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz. They did not meetwith each other.

Shultz did meet for 45 minutes with Borja and said that themeeting was cordial.

Borja, a 53-year-old law professor, is a vice president of theSocialist International and …

President Bush Says Turning 60 Not So Bad

2012-03-14T09:43:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON - After months of griping about getting old, President Bush turned 60 Thursday and decided it wasn't so bad after all.

"Let me just say this: It's a lot younger than you think," the birthday boy said with a rueful smile.

There were surprises, a spilled secret, a song and congratulatory calls from afar.

Chinese President Hu Jintao and Russian President Vladimir Putin both wished Bush happy birthday in separate telephone conversations that focused on a less-cheerful subject: North Korea's missile tests this week.

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, visiting the White House, also brought birthday greetings and a surprise gift. But Bush found …

England Lions reach 64 without loss at lunch

2012-03-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

Stephen Moore scored his first century of the season to help England Lions reach 185 for two against Australia, which had fast bowler Brett Lee to thank for bringing the tourists back into the game at Worcester on Thursday.

Lee claimed two wickets just before the interval to help Australia rebound from an opening stand of 172 on the second day of the final practice game before the Ashes.

ooe egstre hs enur (n 47deivris)inth oer bfore thebreak when he cover drove Lee for a boundary and received a congratulatory pat on the back from the bowler. Moore was on 103 at tea with Vikram Solanki on six.

Moore's opening partner Joe Denly was bowled by fast …

CUBS BITS

2012-03-14T05:02:00.000-07:00

It didn't take manager Don Zimmer long to make up his mind aboutSteve Wilson's immediate future: "He's in the bullpen and (Paul)Kilgus will pitch Sunday. I gave it a lot of thought. But thereason we are where we are today is because of the bullpen. I don'twant to break up the bullpen. The bullpen is where I want it to beright now. (Wilson's) got so many important outs for us. He may helpus win four games (out of the pen) in a week instead of just one as astarter." Wilson is 2-0 as a starter after Tuesday's five-inning stint in a4-1 victory over the Phillies, but, in Zimmer's words, "If Kilgusdoesn't get the job done, I can always start (Jeff) Pico or (Calvin)Schiraldi, but I …

AUTOS ONLINE

2012-03-14T02:23:00.000-07:00

Microsoft's CarPoint Web site also provides information about pricesand availability of cars. Site addresses:www.carpoint.comwww.chevrolet.comwww.ford.comwww.chrysler.comwww.nissan-usa.comwww.bmw.comwww.saturncars.com

S. Africans protest schools

2012-03-13T23:31:00.000-07:00

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa Police fired tear gas Tuesday todisperse a march by black children who were protesting conditions intownship schools.

The incident took place outside a high school in the blacktownship of Soweto on the eve of a planned takeover of three vacantwhite schools.

The National Education Coordinating Committee said it hadplanned today's occupations "as a last-ditch attempt . . . to find aninterim solution" to South Africa's education crisis.

Despite the repeal of apartheid laws, the country's educationalsystem remains segregated.

Several white public schools have been closed because ofdeclining enrollment, while schools in black townships often areseverely crowded and dilapidated.

Amon Msane of the Education Coordinating Committee saidthousands of students from black schools would be bused to the vacantwhite schools to call attention to the problem.

"The campaign is planned for one day only, and thereafter wewill wait and see how the government responds to our demand to openthese schools to children of all races," Msane told a news conferenceTuesday.

About 150 children took part in the protest outside Orlando WestHigh School in Soweto.

Also Tuesday, a police report said officers shot to death oneyouth and wounded five when black students tried to take over a newlyopened black high school. The motive for the attempted takeover wasnot clear.

FOMC increases target rate by 25 basis points

2012-03-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

The target for the federal funds rate was increased by 25 basis points to 2 percent at last month's meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee. In its statement, the FOMC said it "believes that, even after this action, the stance of monetary policy remains accommodative and, coupled with robust underlying growth in productivity, is providing ongoing support to economic activity. Output appears to be growing at a moderate pace despite the rise in energy prices, and labor market conditions have improved. Inflation and longer-term inflation expectations remain well contained."

In its statement, the FOMC said it perceives the upside and downside risks to the attainment of both sustainable growth and price stability for the next few quarters to be roughly equal. With underlying inflation expected to be relatively low, the FOMC said it believes that policy accommodation can be removed at a pace that is likely to be measured. Nonetheless, the FOMG said it will respond to changes in economic prospects as needed to fulfill its obligation to maintain price stability.

In a related action, the Board of Governors unanimously approved a 25 basis point increase in the discount rate to 3 percent.

Following the FOMC and Fed actions, money center banks announced increases in their prime rates from 4.75 percent to 5 percent.

US food companies fight dairy farmers over import fees

2012-03-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

A fight in Congress over whether to assess fees on dairy imports to help pay for promoting dairy products in this country pitting dairy farmers against big-name U.S. food companies, cheese importers, foreign countries _ and even the outlying U.S. areas of Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico.

The Bush administration never implemented a dairy import assessment approved by Congress in 2002 because the Agriculture Department concluded the fees could create the appearance of favorable treatment. The fees on domestic producers are levied only on dairy farmers in the 48 contiguous United States, which excludes the states of Hawaii and Alaska as well as U.S. territories.

This year, the chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Democratic Rep. Collin Peterson, inserted a measure into the 2007 farm bill that would extend the mandatory fee to dairy farmers in Hawaii and Alaska (ranked 48th and 50th in dairy production, respectively) and Puerto Rico, a Caribbean U.S. territory. That would remove the trade hurdle and pave the way for fees on imports, he argued.

The House passed the farm bill in July, but it awaits action in the Senate.

U.S. dairy farmers pay 15 cents per 100 pounds of milk sold for the promotions. Cheese importers would pay around 1.5 cents a pound because it takes about 10 pounds of milk to make a pound of cheese. The promotions pay for things like the "3-A-Day" marketing campaign, which encourages people to consume three servings of milk, cheese or yogurt a day.

The Senate version of the farm bill does not include the dairy imports language and eight senators _ including the four from Alaska and Hawaii _ sent a letter to Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom Harkin, a Democrat, urging rejection of the House language.

They said dairy production was declining in the two states and "any further reduction in these farmers' incomes could have a devastating effect." They also argued it was unfair to extend the fees to dairy imports, saying the program does not promote imported cheeses or dairy ingredients, such as milk proteins. Separately, the governor of Puerto Rico, Anibal Acevedo Vila, thanked Harkin for leaving the language out of the Senate bill.

But senators from large dairy-producing states such as Wisconsin and California are pushing for the House provision. Thirteen senators, led by Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, called on the Senate to end the "freeloading of imported dairy products."

"America's dairy farmers feel that it's a fundamental issue of fairness and only want everyone _ including domestic production and imported production _ to be treated equally," said Chris Galen, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation, which has been lobbying Congress to expand the dairy assessments to imports.

Cheese importers and U.S. food companies that use imported dairy products as ingredients have formed the Alliance for Fair Dairy Promotion to lobby against the assessment. The coalition includes companies such as ConAgra Foods, General Mills, Kraft Foods and Nestle, as well as groups such as the Cheese Importers Association of America, the National Taxpayers Union and the International Dairy Foods Association.

"It's a big priority for the companies who are importing products," said Connie Tipton, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, which represents processors of dairy products.

Opponents also include New Zealand and the European Union.

Rick Walker, vice president for government relations and trade at Fonterra USA, a subsidiary of New Zealand dairy exporter Fonterra Cooperative Group, said that his company makes ingredients, such as milk proteins, that are used in products like power bars that wouldn't benefit from promoting dairy consumption.

It is estimated that assessing imports would bring in an additional $8 million to $12 million (euro5 million to euro8 million) a year, said Becky Unkenholz, a spokeswoman for the USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service, which oversees the program. The fees on domestic producers currently brings in around $280 million (euro190 million), according to the agency.

Voter Trump a no-show: NYC board

2012-03-13T14:54:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK — Donald Trump has not voted in primary elections for more than two decades, according to the New York City Board of Elections.

The possible GOP presidential candidate voted in a primary election in the 1989 New York City mayor's race — when Rudy Giuliani beat businessman Ronald Lauder — then didn't vote in a primary for 21 years, board spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez said Saturday.

Records also show Trump skipped the 2002 general election, when Republican incumbent Gov. George Pataki defeated Democrat H. Carl McCall, Vazquez said. But Trump told station NY1, which first reported his voting record, that he has voted in every general election.

"You're going to pay a big price because you're wrong," he told the station. "I have records that I voted and so does the Board of Elections . . . I signed in at every election."

Donald TrumpTIMOTHY A. CLARY

Euromart leaders to send Soviets $1 billion more aid

2012-03-13T11:55:00.000-07:00

ROME Leaders of the 12 European Community countries, alarmed bythe growing political threat to President Mikhail S. Gorbachev,decided Friday to send $1 billion in fresh emergency aid to theSoviet Union to help alleviate consumer discontent with foodshortages.

The 12 European heads of government, who gathered here for atwo-day meeting to launch ambitious new efforts to accelerate thedrive toward political and economic union in this decade, also agreedto stand firm with the United States in warning Iraqi PresidentSaddam Hussein to withdraw from Kuwait by Jan. 15 or face a possibleWestern military assault to evict his forces from the occupiedsheikdom.

While heeding a plea contained in an open letter from PresidentBush to avoid linking Kuwait "with other issues," the Europeanleaders were nonetheless expected to issue a declaration when theirmeeting concludes today reaffirming their desire to move quicklytoward an international peace conference on the Middle East soonafter the Persian Gulf crisis is resolved.

The gulf crisis was discussed at length over dinner after the 12government leaders spent much of their first day assessing the direplight facing the Soviet Union and its former allies in EasternEurope. In offering a new infusion of emergency aid, the EuropeanCommunity leaders said they would attempt to minimize any additionaldebt load for the beleaguered Soviet economy by extending much of theassistance, especially food, as an outright gift.

Fearing that a tardy rescue effort could trigger economic chaosand a stampede of desperate immigrants toward their affluentcountries, the West European leaders also agreed to send nearly $2billion in assistance to East European states to help their fragileeconomies adjust to free markets and survive the coming winter.

Much of the new aid to Eastern Europe will be used to tightenWestern links with Hungary and Czechoslovakia by hastening theconvertibility of their currencies. In countries where moredesperate conditions prevail, such as Bulgaria and Romania, nearly$300 million in urgent food and oil supplies will be delivered soon.

German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, whose country has agreed tofunnel more than $6 billion in bilateral aid to the Soviet Union,appealed to his European peers to expedite all assistance, especiallyfood and medicine, to thwart a potential political challenge thatcould topple Gorbachev and terminate his reforms.

Kohl's plea was backed by French President Francois Mitterrand,who was quoted by his spokesman as saying, "We can't wait any longeror we may regret any failure to move more quickly" to help the Sovietleader surmount his domestic critics.

The new British prime minister , John Major , making hisdiplomatic debut on the European leadership stage, concurred with theneed to speed up aid to the Soviets but expressed some caution aboutthe risk of squandering supplies and overburdening the dilapidatedSoviet transport network.

Search continues for border officials' plane

2012-03-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

Searchers scoured rugged desert Tuesday for a small plane that disappeared while carrying the Mexican and U.S. heads of the International Water and Boundary Commission.

The chartered Cessna 421 carrying U.S. commissioner Carlos Marin and his Mexican counterpart, Arturo Herrera, was reported missing Monday after it didn't land as scheduled in Presidio, Texas, about 250 miles southeast of El Paso. Jake Brisbin Jr., executive director of the Rio Grande Council of Governments, was also on the plane along with a pilot, according to Presidio County Judge Jerry Agen.

Sally Spener, a spokeswoman for the IBWC in El Paso, said searchers were concentrating on a desert area west of Ojinaga, Mexico, a border city across the Rio Grande from Presidio.

Spener said the plane left El Paso just after 10 a.m. Monday and was scheduled to pass over the Luis Leon Reservoir in northern Mexico so the men could view floodwaters that continue to threaten levees on both sides of the border near Presidio.

Marin has worked with the IBWC's U.S. section since 1997. He was appointed interim commissioner in 2005 and President Bush appointed him commissioner the next year. Herrera has led the Mexican section of the IBWC since 1989.

The agency is responsible for maintaining the border between the U.S. and Mexico. In areas divided by the Rio Grande, that includes building and maintaining levees.

Marin, Herrera, and Brisbin were headed to the area Monday to discuss ongoing flooding that has prompted hundreds of residents to evacuate on both sides of the swollen river.

Spener said Tuesday that a levee along the Rio Conchos, a river that feeds into the Rio Grande, failed Monday night. Flood waters were reported in low-lying areas on the western side of Ojinaga. Monday afternoon, houses and businesses near the Rio Grande levee in the Mexican border city were lined with sandbags and appeared empty.

Electronic Arts posts higher 4Q earnings, revenue

2012-03-13T04:57:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Electronic Arts says its quarterly earnings rose fivefold on strong revenue from online games and titles including "Crysis 2" and "Dragon Age 2." But its outlook disappointed investors, sending shares lower after-hours.

Electronic Arts Inc. said Wednesday that it earned $151 million, or 45 cents per share, in the January-March period. That's up from $30 million, or 9 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

EA's adjusted profit of 25 cents per share handily surpassed Wall Street's expectations. Revenue grew 11 percent to $1.09 billion from $979 million in the fiscal fourth quarter.

For the current fiscal year, Redwood City, California-based EA is forecasting adjusted earnings of 70 cents to 90 cents per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of 85 cents. Shares fell 2 percent in aftermarket trading.

After-school program to double enrollment $8 mil. expansion will provide more training, paid apprenticeships

2012-03-13T01:40:00.000-07:00

After School Matters--the year-round arts, sports and technologyprogram for Chicago teenagers that sprung out of Gallery 37--willreach into 11 more neighborhoods this school year and double itsenrollment, thanks to an $8 million expansion unveiled Thursday.

Mayor Daley said Chicago is bucking a nationwide trend by findingways to positively engage 14,000 teens--up from 7,000 currently--during after-school hours when high school students are most at riskof delving into sex, drugs and crime.

"Around the country, many schools are dropping after-schoolprograms because they say teenagers don't find them interesting, butAfter School Matters has shown that teens want to be engaged," themayor told a news conference at Garfield Park, 100 N. Central Park.

"The arts, cultural institutions and after-school programs have ahuge effect on educational issues. Those kids--once they get engaged--they can speak. They can write. They can count. They can doeverything."

Gallery 37 is the award-winning arts apprenticeship programconceived by the mayor's wife, Maggie, in 1991 to use Block 37, theembarrassing hole in the Loop.

In 2000, at the behest of Maggie Daley, the program was expandedto sports and technology, under an after-school initiative that nowprovides training and paid apprenticeships in areas ranging fromcoaching, Web site design and newsletter writing to broadcasting,video production, robotics, dance and poetry.

The goal was to reach 50 percent of Chicago public high schoolstudents by the end of 2005. Thursday's expansion puts Chicago ontarget to more than meet that goal--at a time when there are threetimes as many applicants as there are vacancies, said Nancy Neir-Wachs, executive director of After School Matters.

Donations from corporations, individuals and foundations will fundpart of the expansion, and the Park District and Chicago Board ofEducation will finance the rest.

By increasing the annual budget of After School Matters to $17million--up from $9 million currently--teen programs will reach intounserved neighborhoods such as Chatham, Douglas, Mount Greenwood andWest Town. Programs at Schurz, Collins and Robeson High Schools,where demand is particularly high, will double. Six other unservedhigh schools--Kelly, Calumet, Kelvyn Park, Roosevelt, Foeman andProsser--will join the list.

Daley publicly thanked his wife for prodding him to broaden theGallery 37 umbrella to cover as many teens as possible.

The mayor said Maggie constantly reminds him "how important it isthat we, as a community, really provide more programs for teenagers."

Bobby Brown agrees to community service after being found with cocaine in Massachusetts

2012-03-12T22:42:00.000-07:00

Singer Bobby Brown will not face criminal charges after police said they found a small amount of cocaine in his possession.

Brown's attorney said Tuesday a Brockton District Court clerk magistrate found no probable cause to issue a criminal complaint, but recommended that Brown volunteer to mentor young people, which Brown wanted to do anyway.

Brown agreed to a year's community service and his attorney said if no other issues arise over the next year, the matter will be struck from the docket.

The case began when police responding to a disturbance at a Brockton hotel on Dec. 1. They said they found the 39-year-old Brown sitting in a sports utility vehicle in the parking lot, with cocaine in his possession.

The Boston native is the former husband of singer Whitney Houston and stars in the Country Music Television Network show "Gone Country."

Arizona's Wells will probably play Sunday

2012-03-12T19:50:00.000-07:00

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Arizona running back Beanie Wells went through much more of practice on Thursday, increasing the probability that he will play Sunday in the Cardinals' home opener against the Oakland Raiders.

Wells, who led the team in rushing as a rookie last season, sat out the first two games of the season because of a bruised right knee.

Coach Ken Whisenhunt said Wells looked "really good" in practice. The coach said he is "very optimistic" Wells will play.

Wells said he is tremendously improved from last week and is practicing full speed, not even thinking about the injury.

Brazil Results

2012-03-12T15:52:00.000-07:00

Weekend results in the 5th round of the Brazilian championship:

Sunday

Internacional 4, Atletico Parana 1

Guarani 0, Sao Paulo 0

Corinthians 4, Santos 2

Atletico Mineiro 1, Fluminense 3

Botafogo 1, Vasco da Gama 1

Ceara 1, Cruzeiro 2

Atletico Goiania 1, Goias 3

Saturday

Flamengo 1, Gremio 1

Avai 0, Vitoria 0

Palmeiras 0, Prudente 0

Taipei gays protest homophobic memo

2012-03-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

More than 100 gay people protested at Taipei City Hall on March 2 after the Ministry of Education sent a memo to high schools advising them to ban "homosexual activities," the China Post reported.

The federal agency issued the memo after a Taipei City Council committee discussed, but did not pass, a resolution suggesting that the city government investigate how to "prevent high school student groups from leading students into homosexual activities."

The demonstrators demanded that the national government explain itself and apologize. More than 110 organizations signed a petition to the same effect.

Ministry of Education Secretary General Tsang Tsan-chin responded with an official apology.

Protest organizer Gay & Lesbian Awakening Days said banning gay groups in schools interferes with students' natural development, according to the Post.

"We do not become homosexual because our friends are homosexual," GLAD said. "Through homosexual groups and with the support of peers with similar experiences, we can overcome the feelings of inferiority and fear pressed on us by the society and understand and accept ourselves."