Les Moonves testifies in Golden Globes trial (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 31 (TheWrap.com) ? CBS President and Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves testified that the network would have paid millions more than NBC for the TV rights for the Golden Globe Awards.

In a written deposition submitted to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles for the ongoing legal battle between Dick Clark Productions and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association over TV rights to the popular show, the network chief admitted that he was willing to pay between $25 and $30 million for the broadcast.

That is more than the $21 million NBC pays annually for the awards show. It's not clear that CBS would have matched the seven years that NBC offered in return for the rights for the broadcast.

Moonves is considered a key witness in the ongoing legal battle between DCP and the HFPA over the rights to the popular awards show. DCP is the longtime production company behind the highly rated broadcast, while the HFPA is the non-profit group that hosts the awards show.

The HFPA claims that DCP renegotiated its contract without its consent and without putting it out for bid to other networks.

DCP has countered that under its agreement with the HFPA, its contract to produce the show and command 50 percent of its broadcast rights automatically renews every time NBC extends its contract.

After a lengthy back and forth about whether he would be forced to appear in person, Moonves' testimony was submitted in writing. By calling on the CBS chief, the HFPA hopes to demonstrate that DCP deprived the group of millions of dollars by foregoing a competitive bidding process.

During a 2010 lunch with HFPA Chairman Philip Berk, Moonves said he would go as long as five years. The current pact with NBC totals seven years and $150 million, but Moonves indicated that he was willing to be flexible in his negotiations.

"...as I said, it was an opening offer. And anyone who does these negotiations knows there's more room than that when you put it out," Moonves said.

"When he asked me for a number, I actually though we had an opportunity to be in the bidding," he added.

Attorneys for DCP have objected to much of Moonves testimony, saying that the case is not about what kind of compensation the HFPA would have received from other networks. Instead, they contend that it is a very narrow contractual dispute centering on whether or not DCP retains its rights to the broadcast when NBC extends its deal.

"...Moonves's statement regarding what CBS would be prepared to pay for the Golden Globes has no bearing on the contract interpretation issues," Martin Katz and Ronald Olson, attorneys for DCP, wrote in their objection.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report

(Editing By Zorianna Kit)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/enindustry/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120201/media_nm/us_goldenglobes_trial

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Retired Greyhounds as Pets | fox4kc.com ? Kansas City news ...

9:45 am, January 30, 2012, by Jason M. Vaughn

You know what makes a great pet? A retired racing greyhound, that?s what! Cher Oliver of Retired Greyhounds as Pets stopped by the FOX 4 Morning Show with more information.

Filed in:

Guests

Topics:

pets, retired greyhounds

Source: http://fox4kc.com/2012/01/30/retired-greyhounds-as-pets/

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`The Help,' Dujardin win at lively SAG Awards (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Finally, an awards show with some surprises and spontaneity.

The Screen Actors Guild Awards featured some unexpected winners, including "The Help" for best overall cast performance and Jean Dujardin for best actor in "The Artist" alongside some of the longtime favorites in movies and television.

But there was a looseness and a playfulness that permeated the Shrine Exposition Center Sunday night ? maybe because it was a room full of people who love to perform, without the rigidity of one single host to lead them.

Unlike the great expectations that came with the sharp-tongued Ricky Gervais' reprisal at the Golden Globes a couple weeks ago or the much-anticipated return of Billy Crystal to the Academy Awards next month, there was no master of ceremonies at the SAG Awards. The presenters and winners seemed to have more room to improvise and put their own spin on the evening ? but mercifully, the show itself still managed to wrap up on time after just two hours.

And so we had three of the stars of best-cast nominee "Bridesmaids" ? Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph and Melissa McCarthy ? introducing their comedy with a joke about turning the name "Scorsese" into a drinking game, which became a running gag throughout the night. When HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" won the award for best drama series cast, among the first words star Steve Buscemi uttered in accepting the prize were "Martin Scorsese" ? he just happens to be one of the show's executive producers.

One of the more exciting moments of the night was the announcement of Dujardin's name in the best-actor category for his performance in the silent, black-and-white homage "The Artist." In winning the award for his portrayal of a silent-film star who finds his career in decline with the arrival of talkies, Dujardin definitely boosts his chances at the Oscars on Feb. 26. Little-known in the United States before this, the French comic bested bigger names like George Clooney ("The Descendants"), Brad Pitt ("Moneyball") and Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar").

If he follows this up with an Academy Award, Dujardin would become the first French actor ever to take the prize. Asked backstage how it would feel, Dujardin launched into a jaunty rendition of "La Marseillaise," the French national anthem.

"Pressure, big pressure," Dujardin then added in his halting English. "It's unbelievable. It's amazing already. Too early to tell."

Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer continued to cement their front-runner status in the actress and supporting actress categories, respectively, for their formidable work in "The Help." Both women play black maids in 1960s Mississippi who dare to go public about the bigotry they've endured.

"I just have to say that the stain of racism and sexism is not just for people of color or women. It's all of our burden, all of us," Davis said, accepting the ensemble prize on behalf of her "The Help" co-stars.

Backstage, Davis said of her own victory: "A few more people checked my name in the box for whatever reason. This time I kind of fooled them."

Meanwhile, Christopher Plummer picked up yet another supporting-actor prize for his lovely turn as an elderly widower who finally comes out as gay in "Beginners." Plummer won at the Golden Globes and is nominated for an Oscar. He would become the oldest actor ever to win an Academy Award at age 82, two years older than Jessica Tandy was when she won best actress for "Driving Miss Daisy."

Backstage, Plummer joked when asked if he would like to win an Oscar, an honor so elusive during his esteemed 60-year career that he did not even receive his first Academy Award nomination until two years ago, for "The Last Station."

"No, I think it's frightfully boring," Plummer said. "That's an awful question. Listen, we don't go into this business preoccupied by awards. If we did, we wouldn't last five minutes."

The win for overall cast for "The Help," when "The Artist" and "The Descendants" have been the favorites all along, makes the conversation more interesting but it isn't necessarily an indicator of how the film will do come Oscar time.

The guild's ensemble prize, considered its equivalent of a best-picture honor, has a spotty record at predicting what will win the top award at the Oscars. While "The King's Speech" won both honors a year ago, the SAG ensemble recipient has gone on to claim the top Oscar only eight times in the 16 years since the guild added the category.

The winners at the SAG ceremony often do go on to earn Oscars, however. All four acting recipients at SAG last year later took home Oscars ? Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and Christian Bale and Melissa Leo for "The Fighter."

On the television side, comedy series awards went to "Modern Family" for best ensemble; Alec Baldwin as best actor for "30 Rock"; and Betty White as best actress for "Hot in Cleveland."

"You can't name me, without naming those other wonderful women on `Hot in Cleveland,'" the 90-year-old White said. "This nomination belongs to four of us. Please, please know that I'm dealing them right in with this. I'm not going to let them keep this, but I'll let them see it."

The TV drama show winners were: Jessica Lange as best actress for "American Horror Story"; and Buscemi as best actor for "Boardwalk Empire."

For TV movie or miniseries, Kate Winslet won as best actress for "Mildred Pierce," while Paul Giamatti was named best actor for "Too Big to Fail."

The guild gave its lifetime achievement award to Mary Tyler Moore, presented by Dick Van Dyke, her co-star on the 1960s sit-com "The Dick Van Dyke Show."

Moore recalled that when she entered show business at age 18 in 1955, there were already six others Mary Moores in the Screen Actors Guild. Told to change her name, she quickly added Tyler, the middle name she shares with her father, George.

"I was Mary Tyler Moore. I spoke it out loud. Mary Tyler Moore. It sounded right so I wrote it down on the form, and it looked right," she said. "It was right. SAG was happy, my father was happy, and tonight, after having the privilege of working in this business among the most creative and talented people imaginable, I too am happy, after all."

___

AP writers David Germain and Beth Harris contributed to this report.

___

Online:

http://www.sagawards.com

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_en_mo/us_sag_awards

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Feds: Megaupload user data could be gone Thursday

Federal prosecutors say data from users of Megaupload could be deleted as soon as Thursday.

U.S. prosecutors blocked access to Megaupload and charged seven men, saying the site facilitated millions of illegal downloads of movies, music and other content.

The company says its millions of users stored their own data, including family photos and personal documents. They haven't been able to see their data since the government raids earlier this month, but there has been hope would be able to get it back.

Megaupload hires outside companies to store the data, for a fee. But Megaupload attorney Ira Rothken said Sunday that the government has frozen its money.

A letter filed in the case Friday by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said storage companies Carpathia Hosting Inc. and Cogent Communications Group Inc. may begin deleting data Thursday. Spokespersons for the two companies and for the U.S. Attorney's Office did not respond to messages Sunday night.

The letter said the government copied some data from the servers but did not physically take them. It said that now that it has executed its search warrants, it has no right to access the data. The servers are controlled by Carpathia and Cogent and issues about the future of the data must be resolved with them, prosecutors said.

Rothken said the company is working with prosecutors to try to keep the data from being erased. He said at least 50 million Megaupload users have data in danger of being erased.

Rothken said that, besides its customers, the data is important to Megaupload so it can defend itself in the legal case.

"We're cautiously optimistic at this point that because the United States, as well as Megaupload, should have a common desire to protect consumers, that this type of agreement will get done," he said.

Megaupload is based in Hong Kong. U.S. authorities said they had authority to act because some of its leased servers are in Virginia.

___

AP Business Writer Daniel Wagner contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-29-Megaupload/id-fcd85f271db7403f9d19a06afc5dac3b

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Video: Axelrod handicaps 2012 campaign

A Second Take on Meeting the Press: From an up-close look at Rachel Maddow's sneakers to an in-depth look at Jon Krakauer's latest book ? it's all fair game in our "Meet the Press: Take Two" web extra. Log on Sundays to see David Gregory's post-show conversations with leading newsmakers, authors and roundtable guests. Videos are available on-demand by 12 p.m. ET on Sundays.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032608/vp/46181315#46181315

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Nuclear experts in Iran on day of oil embargo vote (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? U.N. nuclear inspectors arrived in Iran on Sunday, hoping to shed light on suspected military aspects of Tehran's atomic work, on the day its lawmakers look set to ban oil exports to Europe in revenge for new EU sanctions.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency delegation said he aimed to "resolve all the outstanding issues with Iran" over the nuclear program which the West believes is aimed at making weapons but which Iran insists is peaceful.

"In particular we hope that Iran will engage with us on our concerns regarding the possible military dimensions of Iran's nuclear program," IAEA Deputy Director General Herman Nackaerts told reporters before departing from Vienna airport.

That may be a tall order, with Iran insisting its right to peaceful nuclear technology be recognized by skeptical countries which say its uranium enrichment activities - some of which have been moved to a bomb-proof bunker - go beyond what is needed for atomic energy.

Tensions with the West rose this month when Washington and the European Union imposed the toughest sanctions yet in their campaign to force Tehran into making concessions. The measures take direct aim at the ability of OPEC's second biggest oil exporter to sell its crude.

Less than one week after the EU's 27 member states agreed to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1, Iranian lawmakers were due to debate a bill later on Sunday that would cut off oil supplies to the EU in a matter of days.

By turning the sanctions back on the EU, lawmakers hope to deny the bloc a six-month window it had planned to give those of its members most dependent on Iranian oil - including some of the most economically fragile in southern Europe - to adapt.

BUYBACK PROBLEMS

The head of the state-run National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said late on Saturday that the export embargo would hit European refiners, such as Italy's Eni, that are owed oil from Iran as part of long-standing buy-back contracts under which they take payment for past oilfield projects in crude.

"The decision must be made at high echelons of power and we at the NIOC will act as the executioner of the policies of the government," Ahmad Qalebani told the ISNA news agency.

"The European companies will have to abide by the provisions of the buyback contracts," he said. "If they act otherwise, they will be the parties to incur the relevant losses and will subject the repatriation of their capital to problems."

"Generally, the parties to incur damage from the EU's recent decision will be European companies with pending contracts with Iran."

Italy's Eni is owed $1.4-1.5 billion in oil for contracts it executed in Iran in 2000 and 2001 and has been assured by EU policymakers its buyback contracts will not be part of the European embargo, but the prospect of Iran acting first may put that into doubt.

Eni declined to comment on Saturday.

The EU accounted for 25 percent of Iranian crude oil sales in the third quarter of 2011. However, analysts say the global oil market will not be overly disrupted if parliament votes for the bill that would turn off the oil tap for Europe.

"The Saudis have made it clear that they'll step in to fill the void," said Robert Smith, a consultant at Facts Global Energy.

"It would not pose any serious threat to oil market stability. Meanwhile Asians, predominantly the Chinese and Indians, stand to benefit from more Iranian crude flowing east and at potential discounts."

Potentially more disruptive to the world oil market and global security is the risk of Iran's standoff with the West escalating into military conflict.

Iran has repeatedly said it could close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane if Western sanctions succeed in preventing it from exporting crude, a move Washington has said it would not tolerate.

The IAEA's three-day visit may be an opportunity to defuse some of the tension. Director General Yukiya Amano has called on Iran to show a "constructive spirit" and Tehran has said it is willing to discuss "any issues" of interest to the U.N. agency, including the military-linked concerns.

But Western diplomats, who have often accused Iran of using such offers of dialogue as a stalling tactic while it presses ahead with its nuclear program, say they doubt Tehran will show the kind of concrete cooperation the IAEA wants.

They say Iran may offer limited concessions and transparency in an attempt to ease intensifying international pressure, but that this is unlikely to amount to the full cooperation required.

The outcome could determine whether Iran will face further international isolation, or whether there are prospects for resuming wider talks between Tehran and the major powers on the nuclear dispute.

(Additional reporting by Hashem Kalantari in Tehran, Svetlana Kovalyova in Milan and Fredrik Dahl in Vienna; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Andrew Roche)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/wl_nm/us_iran

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Strong quake jolts eastern Japan, no tsunami warning (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.5 jolted eastern Japan on Saturday morning, but there were no immediate reports of injury or damage and no tsunami warning was issued.

The focus of the tremor was 20 km (12 miles) below the surface of the earth, in Yamanashi prefecture, west of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The quake, at 7:43 a.m., was also felt in the capital.

Earthquakes are common in Japan, one of the world's most seismically active areas. The country accounts for about 20 percent of the world's earthquakes of magnitude 6 or greater.

On March 11, 2011, the northeast coast was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake, the strongest quake in Japan on record, and a massive tsunami, which triggered the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years since Chernobyl. The disaster left up to 23,000 dead or missing.

(Reporting by Chris Gallagher, editing by Matthew Lewis)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120127/wl_nm/us_japan_quake

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Demi Moore's 'Lovelace' Replacement, 'Hangover 3' Cast Gears Up

The boys could be back in town for a new installment of "The Hangover," but not before they get some ginormous paychecks for the movie. Meanwhile, Chloe Sevingy could be getting Demi Moore's recently-vacated spot in "Lovelace," Russell Brand is headed to family-friendly territory and Paul Giamatti is ready for some Shakespearean tragedy.
It's January 26, [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/01/26/demi-moore-lovelace-hangover/

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Business, social media to prevent babies with HIV (AP)

DAVOS, Switzerland ? Business and social media leaders teamed up Friday to tackle the transmission of HIV from mothers to babies, saying the medicine and the money are largely in place, and with the right organizational skills they can eliminate HIV-infected births by 2015.

John Megrue, CEO of Apax Partners U.S., will chair a business group that includes bankers and consulting experts and will help coordinate work being done by several governments and other international donors, as well as filling in gaps in the funding.

Women need to receive antiretroviral drugs to prevent the virus being passed to their unborn babies.

"There are no technological issues around it. There are no medical issues around it. It does not exist in the wealthy part of the world," Megrue said. "But there are still almost 400,000 children a year born ? primarily in sub-Saharan Africa ? with HIV."

Ambassador Eric Goosby, a top U.S. AIDS official, said that although the group set a goal of zero transmission by 2015, in reality about 13 percent of babies born to HIV-positive mothers will unavoidably be born with the virus.

Randi Zuckerberg, who founded RtoZ Studios after leaving the Facebook company that her brother Mark started, will lend the power of social media to increase awareness about the issue, by pulling in 1,000 influential Twitter and Facebook users in an expansion of an earlier social media effort to raise $200 million to fight malaria.

"I'm calling this a social good broadcast experiment," she said. "The long-term vision is for this to be a group of thousands or millions of people who can all broadcast in a coordinated manner where there is a global crisis."

Other business leaders involved in the project include Dominic Barton, managing director of consulting firm McKinsey & Co., and Cynthia Carroll, CEO of the mining company Anglo American PLC.

"AIDS," Carroll said, "should not be a disease of children."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/aids/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_he_me/eu_davos_forum_aids

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Revealed: Famous names who snubbed UK queen's honors (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Receiving an honor from Britain's Queen Elizabeth marks the pinnacle of many careers. But for more than 250 people named in a once-secret official document, the idea was so unappealing that they turned down the monarch's offer.

Artist Lucian Freud, sculptor Henry Moore and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" author Roald Dahl all rejected honors, according to papers released by the British government on Thursday.

"Psycho" film director Alfred Hitchcock also refused an award in 1962, only to accept a knighthood shortly before his death in 1980.

Other public figures named on the official list include painters Francis Bacon and L.S. Lowry and the "Brave New World" novelist Aldous Huxley.

The British government was forced to publish the document after repeated requests under freedom of information laws.

Previously, rejected honors only came to light through unofficial leaks or if the person involved chose to spoke about their decision to snub the twice-yearly "gongs."

Several well-known writers appeared on the list, which only includes people who are no longer alive.

Poet Philip Larkin refused the chance in 1968 to become an OBE, or Officer of the Order of the British Empire, one of the five classes of the chivalric order set up by King George V in 1917 to recognize service in the arts, science, charities and public bodies. Larkin later accepted a higher ranking CBE, or Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

Eveyln Waugh, who wrote "Brideshead Revisited" and "Scoop," rejected an offer in 1959 to become a CBE.

Graham Greene, author of "Our Man in Havana" and "The Quiet American," turned down the same honor three years earlier, only to accept honors later in life. "The Chronicles of Narnia" creator C.S. Lewis also said no to a CBE.

The government gave no details of why people rejected their honors.

In the past, "refuseniks" have cited a range of reasons, from antipathy to the monarchy and Britain's colonial past, to a general lack of interest in prizes or a fear of perpetuating snobbery.

The late J.G. Ballard, whose books include "Crash" and "Empire of the Sun," said he turned down an honor for services to literature in 2003.

"The whole thing is a preposterous charade," he was once quoted as saying in the Sunday Times newspaper. "Thousands of medals are given out in the name of a non-existent empire. It makes us look like a laughing stock."

(Reporting by Peter Griffiths, editing by Paul Casciato)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120126/od_nm/us_britain_honours

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Now You Can Control Your Galaxy Nexus By Groping A Wall

The Galaxy Nexus's 4.65-inch display may make it a handful for some, but a nifty new project from a developer known as DDRBoxman allows users to interact with their Galaxy Nexus on an even grander scale. With the help of a projector, a Kinect camera, and a specially tweaked Ice Cream Sandwich ROM, he was able to interact with his Nexus by touching a wall.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/WJCfo8-NJyg/

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Video: Business & Sports: Secret Indicator?

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/cnbc/46101809/

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Gingrich says Romney desperate, punching wildly (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Newt Gingrich is keeping up the heated tone of his debate exchanges with Mitt Romney, calling his Republican presidential rival a "desperate guy" throwing wild punches.

Gingrich on Tuesday said Romney was "outrageously dishonest" when he accused the former House speaker of lobbying for mortgage giant Freddie Mac. He noted that Romney himself was an investor in the government-backed mortgage companies. Gingrich told Fox News: "I don't own any Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock. He does."

During Monday's debate, Romney called Gingrich an influence peddler who promoted the interests of Freddie Mac while it was contributing to the mortgage mess that led to the nation's foreclosure crisis.

Meanwhile, Rick Santorum, behind in the polls, says he's happy to let the race's leaders point out each other's "severe flaws."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_el_pr/us_gingrich

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AP IMPACT: Meth fills hospitals with burn patients

ST. LOUIS (AP) ? A crude new method of making methamphetamine poses a risk even to Americans who never get anywhere near the drug: It is filling hospitals with thousands of uninsured burn patients requiring millions of dollars in advanced treatment ? a burden so costly that it's contributing to the closure of some burn units.

So-called shake-and-bake meth is produced by combining unstable ingredients in a 2-liter soda bottle. The slightest error can cause an explosion resulting in disfigurement, blindness, even death.

An Associated Press survey of key hospitals in the nation's most active meth states showed that up to a third of patients in some burn units were hurt while making meth, and most were uninsured. One study found that the average meth patient runs up medical bills of $130,000.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-23-Meth-Severe%20Burns/id-d44db40cff88496997cce91dc1764a81

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BlackBerry maker's CEO: No drastic change needed

In this Feb. 5, 2009 photo, Research In Motion co-CEOs Jim Balsillie, left, and Mike Lazaridis talk to media after an Ontario Securities Commission hearing in Toronto. The company on Sunday, Jan. 22 2012 says Balsillie and Lazaridis are stepping down, and will be replaced by Thorsten Heins, a chief operating officer who joined RIM four years ago from Siemens AG. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

In this Feb. 5, 2009 photo, Research In Motion co-CEOs Jim Balsillie, left, and Mike Lazaridis talk to media after an Ontario Securities Commission hearing in Toronto. The company on Sunday, Jan. 22 2012 says Balsillie and Lazaridis are stepping down, and will be replaced by Thorsten Heins, a chief operating officer who joined RIM four years ago from Siemens AG. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)

This undated photo provided by Research in Motion shows Thorsten Heins, who on Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012 was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Research In Motion. Heins succeeds co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, who announced they are stepping down. (AP Photo/Research In Motion via The Canadian Press)

TORONTO (AP) ? The new chief executive of Research in Motion said Monday that drastic change is not needed, even as the once iconic maker of the BlackBerry smartphone confronts the most difficult period in its history.

The Canadian company turned the smartphone into a ubiquitous device that many couldn't live without. But following the departure of Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis, who stepped down as co-CEOs and co-chairmen, Thorsten Heins assumes the chief executive role at a time when Americans are abandoning their Blackberrys for flashier touch-screen phones such as Apple's iPhone and various competing models that run Google's Android software.

RIM's U.S. market share of smartphones dropped from 44 percent in 2009 to 10 percent in 2011, according to market researcher NPD Group. The company still has 75 million active subscribers, but many analysts believe the company will lose market share internationally, just as it has in the U.S.

Heins, formerly a little known chief operating officer who joined RIM four years ago from Siemens AG, replaces RIM's founders after the company has lost tens of billions in market value. Balsillie acknowledged in December that the last few quarters have been among the most challenging times the company has seen.

Even so, Heins said on a conference call on Monday that he didn't think significant change was needed. He said the leadership change was not a "seismic" event. Heins said he's committed to switching the company's phones over to a new operating system, which is expected late this year. That's the same plan favored by Lazaridis and Balsillie, who announced Sunday they would step down from the top jobs, but serve in other roles.

Heins said RIM has to improve its U.S. marketing to go beyond the traditional corporate customer.

"I want us to have a bit more of an ear towards the consumer market, understand trends, and not just do what the Street is telling you," Heins said.

Shares of RIM fell eight percent, or $1.39 cents to $15.61, following his remarks. The stock had initially moved up almost 4 percent in premarket trading.

Heins said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that RIM doesn't have plans "right now" to put the company up for the sale or to split it up. He reiterated there is no reason for a "shake up" of RIM. He explained that he would consult with Lazaridis and Balsille on major decisions because they remain board members.

"I've worked really well with Mike in the past. He is a founder of an iconic company, a great innovator. For sure, I will seek his advice and his counsel where needed and I will have my discussions with him, but the company is run by the CEO and that's what you'll see," Heins said.

Heins' top priority will be to release smartphones that run the company's long-awaited Blackberry 10 software. "I will do everything I can to make that happen, but I cannot commit to a very specific date. But, yes, we will ship BlackBerry devices later this year on BlackBerry 10," he said.

Vic Alboini, president of Jaguar Financial Corp. in Toronto, which has been pushing for a change in leadership, said the drop in stock price on Monday meant the market saw the leadership adjustment as "more of the same."

Many shareholders and analysts have said a change or sale of the company has been needed, but the sudden departure of the two founders from their top jobs wasn't expected despite their promises that they would examine the co-CEO and co-chairmen structure.

Balsillie and Lazaridis have long been celebrated as Canadian heroes, even appearing in the country's citizenship guide for new immigrants as models of success. They headed Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM together for the past two decades.

"There comes a time in the growth of every successful company when the founders recognize the need to pass the baton to new leadership. Jim and I went to the board and told them that we thought that time was now," Lazaridis said in a statement.

Lazaridis will take on a new role as vice chairman of RIM's board and chairman of the board's new innovation committee. Balsillie remains a member of the board. The two remain two of RIM's biggest shareholders.

"I agree this is the right time to pass the baton to new leadership, and I have complete confidence in Thorsten, the management team and the company," Balsillie said in the statement. "I remain a significant shareholder and a director and, of course, they will have my full support."

Analysts have said RIM's future depends on its new software platform as RIM has tried and failed to reinvigorate the BlackBerry.

RIM said last month that new phones deemed critical to the company's future would be delayed until late this year. And its PlayBook tablet, RIM's answer to the Apple iPad, failed to gain consumer support, forcing the company to deeply discount it to move the devices off store shelves.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs said in late 2010 that RIM would have a hard time catching up to Apple because RIM has been forced to move beyond its area of strength and into unfamiliar territory of trying to become a software platform company.

BlackBerrys made email mobile and were dominant in the North American smartphone market until the iPhone came along. Under Lazaridis and Balsillie, the company struggled to adjust to the times and match the iPhone's facility with Web browsing, third-party applications and multimedia.

Heins, who is 54, said Lazaridis and Balsillie took RIM in the right direction and they are "more confident than ever that was the right path."

Barbara Stymiest, a former chief operating officer of the Royal Bank of Canada who has been a member of RIM's board since 2007, has been named chair of the board of directors. RIM also announced that Prem Watsa, the chief executive of Fairfax Financial Holdings, is a new board member. Watsa has become a significant shareholder.

Lazaridis said he was so confident in the future direction of the company that he intends to purchase an additional $50 million of the company's shares on the open market.

RIM was worth more than $70 billion a few years ago but now has a market value of around $8.2 billion. Some industry analysts believe RIM is following the same trajectory as struggling Finish handset maker Nokia or former Canadian tech giant Nortel, which declared bankruptcy in 2009.

BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis agrees that a change in marketing is needed, but it will take more than that to reverse the decline. Gillis said the move is two years late and said he'll get more excited when RIM announces positive news about their new software platform.

"It's just a shuffling of the deck," Gillis said. "He's got a pretty rough road to drive up. The other part is that Mike and Jim are still around. Think about Jerry Yang in Yahoo. When he finally stepped down people said he was still a really big influence on the company."

Stuart Jeffrey at Nomura Securities said the management switch could remove an obstacle toward selling the company, but still believes a buyer is unlikely to surface. The value of the company is uncertain, since the new operating system, BlackBerry 10, is unproven.

Private-equity buyers might be enticed to buy the company for its cash flow, he said, but the fair value for the company is about $15 per share on that basis, meaning private-equity firms are unlikely to pay much above $10.

___

Associated Press Technology Writer Peter Svensson in New York contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-23-RIM-CEOs%20Resign/id-f5d16b6695f145229c6eeae47de4a1c5

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President Obama's Campaign Gains Momentum, Voters Weigh In

Following Newt Gingrich's win in the South Carolina primary, young voters have advice for the president's bid for re-election.
By Uptin Saiidi

President Barack Obama
Photo: Shahar Azran/WireImage

If there's one thing that's certain, it's that primary voters aren't yet ready to decide on a Republican candidate for the 2012 presidential election. Despite Mitt Romney's considerable lead at the beginning of last week, Newt Gingrich pulled off an upset over the weekend in the South Carolina primary, with Gingrich taking 40 percent of the vote to Romney's 27 percent.

While Republicans wrestle with choosing a nominee as they head into next week's Florida primary, President Barack Obama's re-election campaign is gaining momentum. On Thursday, in addition to raising $1.6 million for his campaign, Obama captured widespread attention when he busted out his singing chops with Rev. Al Green's "Let's Stay Together" at a fundraiser event at the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

When MTV News spoke to people in Times Square about the president's musical interlude, the consensus was that his vocals scored a passing grade. "It sounded really good, it's one of my favorite songs," Felicia Bullinger, 20, told us.

Even an "American Idol" producer weighed in, telling MTV News that the commander in chief could pass an "Idol" audition and make it through to Hollywood Week.

Obama's voice wasn't the only thing that won people over. His softer side resonated with 18-year-old student Tonya Deodath. "I think he's always serious so I think it's kind of good that he's being a little personal with everybody. It doesn't hurt to be silly sometimes."

Jamie Dahlquist, 24, agreed. "I think it's fun to show the real human side of himself. It's a good way to get the young people on his side."

A human side could ultimately help translate into more votes. "Seeing how it's time for re-election, if he's going to get more votes, you have to get personal with the people you're trying to win over," Deodath said.

With 45 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 eligible to vote in this year's election, the power of young voters is hard to ignore, especially after the support he received from 2008's record youth turnout.

Of course, gaining popularity will take more than singing at $200-per-ticket fundraisers as voters have mixed reactions to the president's time in office and weighed in with their advice for his campaign.

"He shouldn't make so many promises because as much as someone wants to change the world, they're not going to be able to promise everything," Victoria Lavista, 18, said. "I think he did that last time and there's a lot of promises he didn't follow up on."

One issue that seems to top the list of issues for young Americans is student loan debt and jobs.

"To President Obama, I speak for students when I say this, help us out, especially parents and [those] students who want to go back to school or who are in school right now," Deodath said. "It's kind of hard for students to get a job and nobody's really doing anything about that.

"And if kids are the future, we have to go to school in order to be the future."

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677705/president-obama-campaign-voter-advice.jhtml

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GoPano micro Review

The iPhone continues to be my favorite smartphone almost entirely due to the fact that I love the built in 8MP camera and all the photography apps devoted to it. But it isn’t just the apps that keep me interested, it’s also the camera accessories created specifically for the iPhone. We’ve reviewed a few of [...]

Source: http://the-gadgeteer.com/2012/01/20/gopano-micro-review/

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Gingrich wins most delegates in South Carolina (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Newt Gingrich won nearly all of the delegates in South Carolina's Republican presidential primary Saturday, narrowing Mitt Romney's lead in the race for delegates to the party's national convention this summer.

Gingrich, the former House speaker, has won at least 23 delegates of the 25 delegates at stake. Gingrich and Romney were still battling for the final two delegates.

These are the first delegates Gingrich has won in a primary or caucus. In all, Gingrich has 25 delegates, including endorsements from Republican National Committee members who will automatically attend the convention. Romney has 33 delegates and Rick Santorum has 14.

The race for delegates is still in the early stages, providing plenty of opportunity for a candidate who gains momentum to seize the lead. It will take 1,144 delegates to win the GOP nomination. Only 62 delegates were at stake in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, combined.

Florida is up next on Jan. 31, with 50 delegates up for grabs in a winner-take-all primary. There will be six contests in February, with a total of 178 delegates at stake. Super Tuesday is March 6, with more than 400 delegates at stake in 10 states.

South Carolina Republicans awarded 11 delegates to the statewide winner and two delegates to the candidate who got the most votes in each of the state's seven congressional districts. Gingrich was the statewide winner and he won at least six congressional districts.

Romney and Gingrich were locked in a tight battle in the final congressional district with more than 90 percent of the precincts reporting. The South Carolina State Election Commission did not report the vote by congressional district, but The Associated Press was able to tally those votes.

The South Carolina Republican Party said it plans to finalize the congressional district results in the next seven to 10 days.

The Associated Press calculates the number of national convention delegates won by candidates in each presidential primary or caucus, based on state and national party rules. Most primaries and some caucuses are binding, meaning delegates won by the candidates are pledged to support that candidate at the national convention this summer.

Political parties in some states, however, use local caucuses to elect delegates to state or congressional district conventions, where national delegates are selected. In these states, the AP uses the results from local caucuses to calculate the number of national delegates each candidate will win, if the candidates maintain the same level of support.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_campaign_delegates

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Apple announces free iBooks Author OS X app for publishing books to the App Store

We're here at Apple's education-themed event at the Guggenheim museum in New York City, and the company's just followed up its long-awaited textbook announcement with something unexpected: iBooks Author, a free OS X program for creating books. The intent is really for teachers and other educators to produce educational materials, but Apple says the format can apply to any genre. Aside from the free part, the real story here is ease of use, with the ability to drag and drop photos, videos and even Microsoft Word files into various templates. If you use Apple's own suite of office apps, in particular, you can drag and drop a Keynote presentation into the doc, and it'll live on as an interactive widget. (You can whip up other widgets, too, though you'll need to know Javascript or HTML.)

Moving beyond the main text, authors can also arrange glossaries by highlighting and clicking words, and clicking again to add a definition. In a surprise move, Apple also said authors can publish straight to the store, though we're waiting for clarification that textbook writers and other scribes are actually exempt from Cupertino's notorious approval process. In any case, the app is available now in the App Store (for OS X Lion only, sadly) so you can cracking on that definitive Kurt Vonnegut glossary you never knew you had in you.

Update: We've got our hands-on up!

Update 2: Apple has confirmed some key approval and revenue-sharing details. First, authors will be subject to the same App Store approval process as developers. Writers can offer their books for free, or for as much as $14.99 -- the same price cap for textbooks sold in the store. And, like developers, authors must agree to a 70/30 revenue split, with writers pocketing 70 percent after Apple takes its share.

Gallery: iBooks Author

Continue reading Apple announces free iBooks Author OS X app for publishing books to the App Store

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Video: Showdown in South Carolina

>> congressman from south carolina . thank you for your time.

>> thank you for having me.

>> why do you believe he had a 23-point lead in the polls, and now it's down to ten.

>> well, there are two things converging in this state. one, mr. romney himself. he has allowed himself to be separated from the ordinary people . it's one thing to be wealthy, nobody begrudges him for that. it's another thing to try and make yourself different because of that wealth. that's what he has done with a lot of his words and phrases. for him to say last night during the debate that he walked ordinary streets, everybody knows that's not true. for him to say he inherited nothing from his father. that everything he got he made it himself. that is absolutely not true. people are beginning to say this guy will say anything in order to get a vote, and he has separated himself from ordinary people . now, you got newt gingrich on the other side putting out his tax returns , showing that he may have paid somewhere around 30% income tax on his earnings. here is a guy with all that wealth and saying he's paid only 15%. he has separated himself from ordinary people in a way that newt only had to go halfway. romney went the other half be.

>> let me ask you, there was this title of the inevitable nominee. people believe it was his game to lose. then another bad debate when it came to answering these financial questions. evenmitt romney , tries to just poex him when has not tried. it's like he's putting the cart before the horse.

>> that's correct. i wondered from day one, what kind of candidate would go out, extend him or herself to the other side without ever consolidatiing his or her own base. they didn't seem to do that. the whole thing was all you got to do was be a hater to obama or an objector for obama and that's all you needed for your base. no, no. voters are interested in what you are going to do with me. how will by table top issues get better if you get elected? you just can't be against the other guy. you got to show me why it is i need to invest my precious vote in you and mitt romney --

>> i want to ask you, is that what newt gingrich is doing in your home state? there's been instances where he's referred to the president as this food stamp president and a woman flattered him by saying it was good that she showed juan williams his place in all of this. there's been a lot of talk about race and how it is, for some people, fuel for fire. making them want to get out and vote against this president for whatever reasons or obvious reasons. it is true you have to put out ideas because what we saw in that debate, he's putting out more fire.

>> what i said was, newt had to do his 50%. his 50% was consolidating his base. that's what he's doing with that kind of language. he does his anti- obama stuff, but newt has done a good job of consolidating his base. i don't like where his base is, but the fact of the matter is, using words and phrases like that tend to consolidate his base. that's what he has done to excite these voters and that's why with romney failing to connect and not talking about his vision for the future and with him consolidating his base, those two things have converged in such a way that mitt will benefit in the a very positive way.

>> let me ask you about the first five minutes of the debate when john king asked newt gingrich about his wife's interview in which she revealed newt gingrich asked her for an open marriage . all of the candidates were asked their thoughts on this issue of a person's character and how it should play into the vote. i want to show you each introduced themselves to the audience.

>> i'm rick santorum , and i want to thank the people for their hospitality for my wife and karen children.

>> i'm married now 42 years. i have five kids, daughters-in-law and 16 grand kids.

>> i'm proud that my wife of 54 are years tonight.

>> i want to thank the people of south carolina for being so hospitable.

>> the other three thanked their lives and brought up their families. when given an opportunity not to do any mud slinging, but to just talk about character. they passed, but then were passive aggressive and bringing up their spouses and how many kids they have.

>> we all do that. i'm proud of the fact that i've been married to the same person for 50 years. i have three lovely daughters and three great-grandchildren. we talk about that. i think it's fair game . we talk about family issues and family values . the question is to the extent of which we value our families. i think it's very good for them to do that. if i were newt, i would have brought up the fact that i've got a wife even though it may be a third one. the fact of the matter is, i think i would have brought it up if i were him.

>> all right. congress clyburn it's great to have you. thank you.

>> thank you so much for having me.

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation/46074685/

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Colbert Super PAC Attacks Colbert (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

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Leap second lives on, at least another week

GENEVA (AP) ? The leap second may live on for at least another three years.

Once or twice a year, the leap second can be tacked on to synchronize atomic clocks ? the world's scientific timekeepers ? with the Earth's rotational cycle, which does not run quite like clockwork.

Without the leap second, atomic clocks would diverge about a minute a century from the course of the sun across the sky.

Britain, China, Canada and others have argued to keep it, but the United States, France and other nations have pushed to untether machines from the natural cycle because of the technical difficulties and costs to government and business.

Sanjay Acharya, a spokesman for the International Telecommunication Union, said Thursday a decision to abolish the leap second has been put off until next week. He said "it's been deferred" because government delegates at an ITU meeting were unable to reach agreement at talks this week.

The decision about how much the world needs the leap second affects everything from mobile phone networks to financial markets to air traffic control systems, all of which rely on atomic clocks and wouldn't have to momentarily stop their systems.

A Paris-based agency that tracks the globe's irregular wobble sends notice when the world's timekeepers need to add a leap second. That's only done on June 30 and December 31, but sometimes years go by without an adjustment ? and there's never been the need to subtract a leap second.

Government delegates now plan to examine the issue at a separate meeting in Geneva next week, but Acharya said they will likely defer any formal decision until 2015.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2012-01-19-EU-UN-Leap-Second/id-aacb492c524f46ee9fb84ee85b339579

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Mark Wahlberg apologizes for 9/11 comments (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Actor Mark Wahlberg apologized on Wednesday for saying events may have turned out differently had he been on one of the planes that crashed on 9/11, after incurring the wrath of critics and one victim's widow.

"If I was on that plane with my kids, it wouldn't have went down like it did. There would have been a lot of blood in that first-class cabin and then me saying, 'OK, we're going to land somewhere safely, don't worry,'" the actor said in an interview with Men's Journal magazine that was released one day earlier.

"The Fighter" star, 44, was scheduled to be on one of the planes that crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2011 and made the comments in that context, but after media outlets reported that a widow of one 9/11 victim called his comments "disrespectful," the actor issued a formal apology.

"To speculate about such a situation is ridiculous to begin with, and to suggest I would have done anything differently than the passengers on that plane was irresponsible. I deeply apologize to the families of the victims that my answer came off as insensitive, it was certainly not my intention," Wahlberg said in a statement.

The Oscar-nominated actor, who started his career in music as rapper Marky Mark, transitioned into film and is currently promoting "Contraband," a high-octane action movie in which he plays a former smuggler forced to protect his brother-in-law.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy, Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/en_nm/us_markwahlberg

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US top officer goes to Israel amid Iran fears (AP)

JERUSALEM ? The U.S. military's top officer headed to Israel on Thursday at a time of mounting international anxiety over Iran's nuclear intentions and the possibility that the Jewish state might take military action to keep Tehran from building bombs.

The arrival of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, comes at a charged time when Israel has grown increasingly vocal about its impatience over the international community's failure to curb Iran's nuclear program through sanctions.

Israel, like the West, believes Iran is developing nuclear weapons technology. Iran says its program is intended for peaceful purposes.

In the past few weeks, the U.S. and Europe have moved to step up sanctions against Iran, a top Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in a mysterious assassination, and Tehran has threatened to shut down a key channel for the world's oil supply.

The Israeli and U.S. militaries, meanwhile, have postponed large-scale war games, in part to avoid aggravating growing tensions between the international community and Iran over its nuclear program, Israeli defense officials said.

A former Israeli military intelligence chief stoked the growing jitters by contending Iran already has all the components to build a nuclear bomb.

"If the Iranians get together tonight and decide to secretly develop a bomb, then they have all the resources and components to do so," Amos Yadlin was quoted Thursday as telling the Maariv daily.

It was not clear whether Yadlin, who retired in November 2010, was referring to the mechanical elements of a bomb, or implying the Iranians have sufficient weapons-grade uranium, a critical ingredient for bombmaking.

Still, his remarks reflect the prevalent view in Israel that Iran is on the cusp of producing a bomb ? a view at odds with the American assessment that Iran won't have bombmaking capabilities for years.

Israel considers a nuclear-armed Iran to be a threat to its survival, given Iran's repeated threats against Israel and its support for Arab militant groups. Israeli leaders have repeatedly called for military action against Iran if sanctions, the current strategy favored by the international community, fail to curb the nuclear program.

U.S. ambassador to Israel Dan Shapira portrayed Dempsey's visit as part of the ongoing coordination between the two allies and a reflection of Washington's "unshakable commitment to Israel's security."

But looming large over all discussions is the threat of an Israeli military strike. Israeli analysts have speculated that in his meetings with Israeli military and political leaders, Dempsey will warn Israel against attacking Iran, fearing it would ignite a broad regional conflagration.

On Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak denied that Dempsey would carry such a message ? and added that Israel was "very far" from deciding whether to strike.

He did not give a timeline and said Iran has not started to actually make bombs because it feared that would draw harsher international sanctions and other actions against it.

But Israeli officials have in the past repeatedly questioned whether the international community will be able to agree on penalties forceful enough to pressure Iran.

In Washington, a senior U.S. State Department official insisted the sanctions have been effective, disputing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assessment to the contrary, Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported.

The official said the sanctions were gradual to avoid a sudden jump in oil prices but could be ramped up to include an embargo on Iran's central bank.

Netanyahu had told lawmakers earlier this week that "the current sanctions have harmed the Iranians but not in a way that would stop their nuclear program."

Israel has attacked nuclear sites in foreign countries before. In 1981, Israeli warplanes destroyed an unfinished Iraqi nuclear reactor. In 2007, Israeli aircraft destroyed a site in Syria that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed to be a secretly built nuclear reactor.

An assault on the Iranian program would be more complicated because facilities are scattered and some are located in fortified underground bunkers.

Israeli leaders say they hope economic and diplomatic sanctions will pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear ambitions. But they don't rule out a military strike as a last resort.

In an interview with Time magazine published in excerpt on Wednesday, President Barack Obama took a similar line, saying, "We don't take any options off the table in preventing (Iran) from getting a nuclear weapon."

At the Pentagon on Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the U.S. military was "fully prepared" to deal with any Iranian effort to close the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has threatened to close the strategic waterway, the route for about one-sixth of the global oil flow, because of new U.S. sanctions.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_iran

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Asian shares steady as China data eyed (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? Asian shares inched higher and the euro stayed above a 17-month trough on Tuesday as investors focused on economic data from China to gauge the impact of the euro zone debt crisis on global growth.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) was up 0.3 percent, after hitting its lowest in about a week on Monday, while Japan's Nikkei average (.N225) opened up 0.5 percent, off a four-week low hit the day before.

European shares and the euro recovered on Monday, shrugging off the latest move by Standard & Poor's to cut a top-notch credit rating on the euro zone's bailout fund, following mass downgrades late last week which stripped France and Austria of their prime AAA ratings. U.S. markets were closed for a holiday on Monday.

The euro stood at $1.2663, hovering above a low of $1.2624 hit on Friday, its lowest since late August 2010, according to trading platform EBS. It also held steady against the yen at 97.29 yen, having hit an 11-year low near 97 yen on Monday.

Sentiment was subdued in Asian credit markets early on Tuesday, keeping spreads barely changed on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment grade index.

For now, investors were turning to economic data, although sentiment remained pressured by persistent concerns about Europe's ability to resolve its two-year-old debt crisis, with Greece struggling to break a deadlock on its debt-swap talks, keeping intact fears of a default.

"As EUR/USD tumbles toward a key long-term support level, it is interesting to note that the positive correlation between EUR/USD and equities is starting to erode," RBC Capital Markets said in a report, referring to a recovery in S&P 500 index futures from mid-December as the euro eased against the dollar.

"The key take-away here is that the 'risk on/risk off' dynamic may be starting to have less of an influence on markets, with pure 'fundamentals' becoming more relevant as the Eurozone crisis is now infecting core markets," it said.

CHINESE GDP DATA DUE

The main focus on Tuesday is Chinese GDP data, forecast for a fourth successive quarterly slowdown in growth to around 8.7 percent from 9.1 percent previously.

December industrial production and retail sales are also due. Chinese data will provide clues to policy options including monetary easing to support growth in the world's second-largest economy, which could help underpin sentiment.

For Europe, market attention will likely switch to the latest ZEW survey due later on Tuesday on the health of the giant German economy.

In the first test of investor appetite for French debt since the S&P rating downgrade, yields on French treasury bills eased marginally on Monday.

Euro zone faces further tests later in the week when France and Spain offer longer-dated debts.

Reflecting the fragility in investor confidence, the European Central Bank more than tripled its bond purchases in the week to January 13 to calm market fears, while commercial banks parked a record amount of overnight deposits at the ECB, defying the central bank's aim to spur lending via its massive cash injection into the system.

The cost of insuring Italian, Spanish and other euro zone government debt against default rose on the S&P ratings cuts, while a flight to safety pushed shorter-dated UK government bond yields down on Monday.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120117/bs_nm/us_markets_global

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