Obama praises ‘fiscal cliff’ deal

1 January 2013 Last updated at 23:51 ET

Barack Obama: “The deficit is still too high”

Barack Obama has hailed a deal reached to stave off a “fiscal cliff” of drastic taxation and spending measures as “just one step in the broader effort to strengthen the economy”.

The US president was speaking after the House of Representatives passed a Senate-backed bill by 257 votes to 167.

It raises taxes for the wealthy and delays spending cuts for two months.

There had been intense pressure for the vote to be passed before financial markets reopened on Wednesday.

In Tuesday night’s house vote, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favour of the bill.

It had been passed in the Senate less than 24 hours earlier by 89 votes to eight after lengthy talks between Vice-President Joe Biden and Senate Republicans.

Economists’ warnings

Continue reading the main story

At the scene

Adam Blenford BBC News, Capitol Hill

---

In the end, it was settled after a tense meeting of House Republicans in a basement conference room.

When a stony-faced Speaker John Boehner left the room an hour later, one Congressman was overheard telling someone on the phone it was “looking like a long night”. Out of the basement, the smell of pizza wafted through the ornate House corridors. If the fiscal cliff was going to hurt ordinary Americans, the threat of it did no harm to one pizza parlour just a short hop down Pennsylvania Avenue.

Before the final vote, dissenters and supporters lined up to make their point. “Common sense has prevailed,” one Democrat declared; a prominent Republican said he simply did not believe spending cuts would eventually be delivered. But as the votes rolled in, House members stood on the floor and watched as the scoreboard lit up, and applauded – briefly – when the crucial 217th vote was cast.

Speaking before returning to Hawaii for his interrupted Christmas holiday, Mr Obama said that in signing the law he was fulfilling a campaign pledge.

“I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans… while preventing a middle-class tax hike,” he told a White House press conference.

The US deficit was still too high, he said: While open to compromise on budgetary issues, he would not offer Congress spending cuts in return for lifting the government’s borrowing limit, known as the debt ceiling.

“There is a path forward, if we focus not on politics, but on what’s right for the country,” added Mr Obama.

The “fiscal cliff” measures – cutting spending and increasing taxes dramatically – came into effect automatically at midnight on Monday when George W Bush-era tax cuts expired.

The 1 January deadline triggered tax increases of about $ 536bn and spending cuts of $ 109bn from domestic and military programmes.

Continue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

• On 1 January 2013, tax rises and huge spending cuts come into force – the so-called fiscal cliff


• The deadline was put in place in 2011 to force the president and Congress to reach agreement on the budget over the next 10 years


• Date coincides with expiry of Bush-era tax cuts


• There are fears that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have a huge impact on households and businesses


• The fiscal squeeze could also push the US into recession, and have a global impact

Economists had warned that if the full effects of the fiscal cliff were allowed to take hold, the resulting reduction in consumer spending could have sparked a new recession.

The compromise deal extends the tax cuts for Americans earning under $ 400,000 (£246,000) – up from the $ 250,000 level Democrats had originally sought.

In addition to the income tax rates and spending cuts, the package includes:

• Rises in inheritance taxes from 35% to 40% after the first $ 5m for an individual and $ 10m for a couple


• Rises in capital taxes – affecting some investment income – of up to 20%, but less than the 39.6% that would prevail without a deal


• One-year extension for unemployment benefits, affecting two million people


• Five-year extension for tax credits that help poorer and middle-class families

BBC News – Business

Title Post: Obama praises ‘fiscal cliff’ deal
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

France counts 1,193 cars torched on New Year’s Eve

PARIS (AP) — A New Year’s Eve tradition for some in France of torching empty, parked cars has continued.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Tuesday that 1,193 vehicles were burned overnight around the country, where the stunt began in the 1990s.

There was no way to compare this figure to recent ones because the conservative government of former President Nicolas Sarkozy stopped making the numbers public while he was in office. But the rate of burned cars was apparently steady. On Dec. 31, 2009, 1,147 vehicles were burned.

For some, the decision of France’s current Socialist government to resume making public figures of New Year’s Eve’s torched cars is unwise.

Bruno Beschizza, a security chief for Sarkozy’s UMP party, said on iTele TV that publishing the numbers motivates youths to commit such crimes.

Europe News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: France counts 1,193 cars torched on New Year’s Eve
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

This Is 2012 Summed Up in One Image

Hey girl — it’s been a good year. No need to panic if you missed something along the way, though. Just look at the picture above.

[More from Mashable: 20 WTF New Year’s Resolutions]

Reddit user SellingIsSoExciting mashed together some of 2012′s biggest Internet moments into one masterfully crafted photo. It’s a grumpy, Gangnam-styling, Path to Prosperity-pumping collection of awesomeness.

[More from Mashable: Dying Trekkie Gets Private ‘Into Darkness’ Screening]

Any 2012 moments that should have made the photo? Let us know what you think below. And here’s to a meme-tastic and eventful 2013! Because, you know, YOLO.

BONUS: Top 12 Memes of 2012

12. Photobombing Stingray

Five years ago, three college girls on a Caribbean vacation got a serious case of the heebeejeebies when a stingray photobombed their “say cheese” moment. The hilarious photograph could have ended up as just a fond vacay memory if it weren’t for a friend, who shared the image on Reddit in September of this year.

Click here to view this gallery.

Image courtesy of Reddit, SellingIsSoExciting

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: This Is 2012 Summed Up in One Image
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

Hollywood tops Chinese film market in 2012, first time in four years

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – China‘s 2012 box office was dominated by foreign films for the first time in four years as a deal cemented earlier this year saw more Hollywood film screened on the mainland, squeezing out domestic competition.

China’s box office receipts are expected to reach 16.8 billion yuan ($ 2.7 billion) in 2012 and about 8 billion yuan ($ 1.28 billion), or slightly less than half the receipts, are from domestic films, the official People’s Daily reported on Monday, quoting estimates from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television.

It is the first time in four years that domestic film receipts totaled less than 50 percent of the market and signals that the February trade agreement to allow more Hollywood movies to be screened in China is having a significant impact on the country’s movie industry.

Last year, domestic films made up 54 percent of box office receipts, down slightly from 56 percent in 2010, local media reported. China agreed in February to open its market to more American movies, permitting 14 premium format films such as IMAX or 3D to be exempt from the annual 20 foreign film quota.

Last month, Tian Jin, China’s vice minister of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, said the U.S. film industry was reaping massive profits due to the February concession while domestic producers were under pressure.

However, the best-selling film this year is a low-budget, domestically-produced comedy called “Lost in Thailand” about two rival businessmen. The movie drew a bigger audience in China than James Cameron’s “Avatar”, the People’s Daily said.

($ 1 = 6.2335 Chinese yuan)

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Editing by Matt Driskill)

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Hollywood tops Chinese film market in 2012, first time in four years
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

Illinois Sen. Kirk to return a year after stroke

CHICAGO (AP) — Nearly a year after a stroke left him barely able to move the left side of his body, U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk is expected to climb the 45 steps to the Senate‘s front door this week — a walk that’s significant not just for Illinois‘ junior senator, but also for medical researchers and hundreds of thousands of stroke patients.

It’s estimated only one-third of patients return to work after a stroke, said Dr. Elliot Roth, medical director of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago‘s New Patient Recovery Unit and AbilityLab, where Kirk recovered.

The 53-year-old Republican will return to the high-profile, demanding life of a Washington lawmaker after an experimental rehabilitation so intense it’s often compared to boot camp, Roth said. Patients keep grueling schedules, often spending eight hours a day or more re-learning how to walk, talk and do other tasks.

Because there are risks to going back to work unprepared, patients do “practice runs” of what it will be like to be back on the job. If and when they successfully return to work, Roth added, “It’s like having a great symphony play and recognizing it’s all the practice beforehand that went into it.”

Kirk will walk back into a Congress that has grappled for weeks over how to avoid going over the “fiscal cliff,” a series of across-the-board tax increases and spending cuts due to take effect Tuesday. President Barack Obama indicated Monday afternoon that a deal was in sight, but not yet finalized. But House Republicans said they will not vote on the issue Monday night, and it remained unclear whether the Senate would vote Monday.

The Illinois senator’s return will be inspiring to fellow stroke patients, said Frank Watson, the former Republican leader of the Illinois Senate who resigned from office after his 2008 stroke.

“For us in the stroke fraternity, we’re very happy to see this occur, to see somebody taking their life back,” Watson said. “There are so many people who don’t make it back.”

Kirk, who won President Barack Obama’s former Senate seat in 2010, checked himself into a hospital in January 2012 after feeling dizzy. Tests revealed that the avid swimmer had suffered a major stroke. Surgeons had to remove two small pieces of destroyed brain tissue, and temporarily removed a 4-inch by 8-inch portion of his skull to allow for swelling.

Doctors said movement in Kirk’s left side was severely limited. He was in intensive care and would need speech therapy, but they expected he would make a full mental recovery.

Within days, they said Kirk was asking for his Blackberry. In May, Kirk released a video updating his progress and showing footage of him walking with the help of a harness, a cane and Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago staff. It also included clips of Kirk speaking while sitting in a chair, his left shoulder lower than his right and the left side of his face still largely paralyzed.

Kirk said in the video that his staff had counted the steps from the parking lot to the front door of the Senate. It was his hope to climb all 45 of them someday, “to fight for the people of Illinois.”

In a separate video released three months later, Kirk was shown climbing stairs at the RIC and working in his home office. He said he had moved back to his home in the north Chicago suburbs, and that he was talking to his staff several times a day and keeping up with business in Washington via email. He also touted the experimental therapy, through which he had logged almost 15 miles and 145 flights of stairs.

Roth said the study represents a new approach to stroke rehabilitation, which has traditionally been slower and more cautious. In the study, one group — which included Kirk — was pushed harder and walked more, in an effort to see if it led to a quicker recovery.

In November, Kirk climbed 37 floors of stairs inside Chicago’s Willis Tower as part of an RIC fundraiser. One of his therapists called it “remarkable progress.”

Kirk has said little to the media throughout his rehabilitation. Through his staff, he declined to comment about his return to Washington. They have said he’ll walk the steps Jan. 3, when the new Congress convenes.

Watson, who was in a wheelchair for months after his stroke, said it will be important for Kirk to take it slow and make time for continued rehabilitation, noting “it’s not over.”

Watson’s stroke affected his emotions, prompting him to break down in tears at times he previously would not have. It’s something that still happens a little, he said.

Moments later, talking about the significance of Kirk’s return, Watson began to cry.

“We need success stories,” he said, “and Mark’s one of them.”

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Illinois Sen. Kirk to return a year after stroke
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

China’s Futile War on Web Pseudonyms

Chinese Internet cops are at it again. On Dec. 28, the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress came out with new regulations forbidding Chinese citizens from using pseudonyms when signing up for Internet service.

The official Xinhua news agency quickly tried to reassure everyone not to worry about any chilling effect on Chinese cyberspace. “Instead of depriving netizens’ freedom and entitlement, the rules protect the legal rights of every Internet user,” Xinhua reported in a commentary helpfully titled “Nothing to fear from new Internet ID policy.” The new rules, Xinhua added, “will ultimately help to create a better online environment in China.”

Given China’s record of censoring blogs, banning YouTube (GOOG) and Facebook (FB), and blocking foreign news sites, not everyone is convinced of the government’s good intentions, of course. “Anti-corruption campaigns online have deeply tarnished the party and the government’s image, and social media discussions have increased instability in certain regions,” Zhang Zhi’an, an adjunct professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, told Bloomberg News. “Enforcing real-name registration will make Web users more cautious when posting comments online.”

It’s far from certain, however, that the Chinese government will be able to succeed in this latest attempt at controlling the Net. To understand why, I spoke today to Mark Natkin, the managing director and founder of Marbridge Consulting, a research firm in Beijing. Natkin says this isn’t the first time Chinese authorities have tried to force Internet users to register using their real names. He’s seen at least three of these campaigns. Indeed, the Xinhua commentary points out that the country’s three telecom operators have required real-name registration since September 2010.

Natkin is waiting to hear specifics about the new requirement before assuming the worst. “How do you enforce it? What are the penalties?” he asks. “If there are no answers to that, there is really no change.”

Earlier moves by authorities to document all of China’s Internet users have had limited impact. For instance, anybody who wants to sign up for fixed-line broadband access has to show ID. Likewise, somebody who goes to a China Mobile store for mobile Internet access has to show papers before getting a new SIM card.

There are lots of other ways to get online in China, though. People can buy SIM cards from the supermarket or from the local newsstand, Natkin says. Even before the government came out with the new rules, those vendors were supposed to be carding would-be Internet customers. Few do, says Natkin. And good luck forcing them to do it now, since these small vendors often don’t have the network infrastructure to verify ID cards and ensure that they’re genuine.

Changing that equation won’t be easy, given how thin the vendors’ margins are. “The amount of money a kiosk can make on a new SIM card or a recharge is small enough—are they now going to go to the extra hassle of checking your ID card, writing down your name, and sending it to the authorities?” he says. “Managing that whole process for an ocean of little kiosks and supermarkets is so enormous a task.”

The government could prevent such vendors from selling SIM cards, but that would cut out an important source of revenue for the country’s three cellular operators, China Mobile (CHL), China Unicom (CHU), and China Telecom (CHA)—all of them owned by the state. Ending sales via kiosks and supermarkets would “be potentially huge hit to the operators,” says Natkin.

Businessweek.com — Top News

Title Post: China’s Futile War on Web Pseudonyms
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

Pope marks end of difficult year, notes God’s good

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI marked the end of a difficult year Monday by saying that despite all the death and injustice in the world, goodness prevails.

Benedict celebrated New Year’s Eve with a vespers service in St. Peter’s Basilica to give thanks for 2012 and look ahead to 2013. He appeared tired during the service and used a cane afterward — an indication that the busy Christmas season may be taking a toll on the 85-year-old Benedict.

In his homily, Benedict said it’s tough to remember that goodness prevails when bad news — death, violence and injustice — “makes more noise than good.” He said taking time to meditate in prolonged reflection and prayer can help “find healing from the inevitable wounds of daily life.”

This past year was full of highs and lows for the pope, including a successful trip to Mexico and Cuba but also the betrayal of his butler, convicted in October of stealing Benedict’s personal papers and leaking them to a journalist.

After the service, Benedict was brought out in a covered car to pray before the Vatican’s main nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square. Walking with a cane in the chilly piazza, Benedict chatted animatedly with the artist who crafted the scene, which recreated an entire village from the poor, southern Italian region of Basilicata which donated this year’s crèche.

The Vatican gladly accepted Basilicata’s donation after the €550,000 price tag the Vatican paid for the 2009 nativity scene was revealed in the documentation leaked by Benedict’s ex-butler Paolo Gabriele.

Gabriele was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican tribunal and sentenced to 18 months in prison. He received a pre-Christmas papal pardon and is expected to soon leave his Vatican City apartment for a new home and job elsewhere.

On Tuesday morning, Benedict celebrates a New Year’s Day Mass, which the Catholic Church celebrates as its world day of peace.

Europe News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: Pope marks end of difficult year, notes God’s good
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

14 Solutions to Your New Year’s Midnight Kiss

Find a Baby

There’s got to be one crawling around somewhere. What’s cuter than kissing a baby’s fat cheek? Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Click here to view this gallery.

[More from Mashable: Here’s a Depressing Look at Man’s Impact on Earth]

Do you find yourself in a panic every New Year’s Eve because everyone’s counting down and Billy Crystal has yet to explain all of the reasons why he’s madly in love with you?

No? Oh okay — me neither.

[More from Mashable: Watch the Scariest Skiing Lesson of All Time]

But the final holiday of the year can put a lot of unnecessary pressure on people. We want to end and begin each year with a bang — this often means the perfect outfit, an amazing soiree and the midnight kiss that will sweep you off your feet.

Instead of starting 2013 in a state of panic, then promising to be better later, enjoy New Year’s Eve and stop worrying about a silly superstition. We’ve come up with a couple solutions to the big smooch at the end of the night.

Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: 14 Solutions to Your New Year’s Midnight Kiss
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

A blood clot’s danger depends on where it is

Blood clots like the one that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is being treated for following her recent concussion can occur for a host of reasons. How serious a clot is depends on where it is and why it formed, doctors say. A Clinton aide would not say where hers is located.

WHAT THEY ARE: Blood pools and thickens into a clot after an injury or because of a heart problem, clogged arteries or other condition. Clots also can break off and travel to another part of the body.

WHERE THEY OCCUR: In leg veins (called deep vein thrombosis) or in blood vessels in the neck, brain or lungs. Leg clots are a common risk after someone has been bedridden. Clots are most dangerous when they travel to the lungs, a potentially life-threatening situation, or to the brain, where they can cause a stroke.

RISK FACTORS: High blood pressure, diabetes, birth control pills, pregnancy, stroke, recent surgery, prolonged sitting, circulation problems and heart problems — especially an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation — raise the chances of developing a blood clot.

TREATMENT: Sometimes a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin) is prescribed to allow the clot to dissolve by itself over time and prevent new ones from forming.

___

Online:

Concussion information: http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/

Blood clots: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/blood-clots/MY00109/DSECTION=causes

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Title Post: A blood clot’s danger depends on where it is
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..

Behind the Bidding War For a Gene Sequencing Firm

In June, Complete Genomics (GNOM), the struggling maker of the world’s most accurate gene-sequencing machine, put itself up for sale. Nothing happened initially. Analysts predicted the company would soon need to wind down operations.

Cut to December. A pair of genomics superpowers, China’s BGI and San Diego-based Illumina (ILMN), have suddenly made competing bids to buy Complete, and politicians and regulators want to weigh in on its future. The question is whether foreign ownership might create a national security threat to the U.S. “This budding research area has the opportunity to really advance the development of bioweapons,” says Michael Wessel, a member of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, which reports to Congress. He’s concerned that Complete will “advance China’s capabilities in that area beyond what they already have.”

Founded in 2005, Complete has offices in a sedate office park across the street from Google (GOOG) in Mountain View, Calif. It makes a machine that can decode strands of DNA, but unlike most of its rivals offers a sequencing service instead of selling the machine to customers. In its most recent quarter, Complete posted revenue of $ 7.3 million and a net loss of $ 18 million.

Complete’s machines stand out for their ability to accurately sequence entire human genomes, instead of just portions of a person’s DNA. That’s much needed in clinical settings where physicians want to know for sure whether a patient has a particular illness. Complete also has been able to amass a large database of precise genomic information. Finding patterns among that data, comprising thousands of DNA sequences, could be useful in developing novel therapies.

The unique properties of Complete’s sequencers, which have been used for studies of cancer, aging, and disease traits, make them a good fit for BGI. Backed by loans from government-run banks, BGI has spent more than a decade creating a huge DNA database. Believed to be the world’s largest purchaser of sequencing machines, it’s been opening offices worldwide to offer services that complement its research. But BGI lacks the know-how to build its own sequencer, an area in which the U.S. remains far ahead of other countries.

In September, BGI offered $ 118 million to acquire Complete, and Complete’s board approved. Together the companies would have a database of 30,000 whole human genomes—about 10 times larger than that of their nearest competitor, says George Church, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School. With such a vast trove of data, BGI could gain a leg up in the race to create therapies and diagnostic tools using sequencing information. “I think this is a very big deal,” says Church, who advises dozens of companies in the industry including BGI, Illumina, and Complete.

The possibility of BGI and Complete uniting has not been lost on Illumina, the world’s biggest seller of sequencing machines, which counts BGI as a top customer. In November, Illumina offered a $ 123.5 million counterbid for Complete, which the company’s board rejected, saying regulators would not approve the deal because of Illumina’s market dominance. (Illumina claims its machines produce 90 percent of the world’s sequencing data.)

This in turn prompted Illumina Chief Executive Officer Jay Flatley to raise national security and privacy concerns about BGI’s bid in a letter to Complete’s board that the board later made public. An Illumina spokesperson declined to comment. In a statement, Complete CEO Cliff Reid said, “There’s no risk to U.S. national security raised by Complete Genomics merging with BGI.” Church and others have speculated that the real reason Illumina wants to keep BGI from acquiring sequencing machine technology is that it wants to avoid losing the company as a customer.

Both the Federal Trade Commission and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS), which weighs national security issues, are reviewing BGI’s bid and will make a recommendation that will likely determine if the deal goes through. Last year, Huawei Technologies, a Chinese maker of telecommunications equipment, abandoned its acquisition of hardware startup 3Leaf Systems, when CFIUS recommended rejecting the deal before it was reviewed by President Obama.

It’s hard to find a genomics expert who sees real national security concerns in a BGI-Complete deal. DNA sequencing machines are readily available, and Complete’s technology isn’t considered uniquely capable of some uniquely nefarious use. Several startups around the world are developing a new generation of sequencing machines that could soon make today’s obsolete. Church, though, says the Complete kerfuffle has provided U.S. regulators with “a good wake-up call” about the potential for this technology and the need for the U.S. to keep investing in its DNA sequencing lead. “Our politicians don’t follow technology as well as they should,” he says.

The bottom line: A BGI-Complete deal could lead to one entity owning 30,000 human genomes, 10 times more than its nearest competitor.

Businessweek.com — Top News

Title Post: Behind the Bidding War For a Gene Sequencing Firm
Rating:
100%

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

Read More..