Protests grip Cairo as pressure mounts for early vote (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? An Egyptian government building was set on fire on Sunday as protests disrupted the heart of Cairo for a fourth day and public figures demanded a faster transition to civilian rule.

It was unclear who was behind the attack, shown by Egyptian television after midnight, with the state news agency blaming "unknown" arsonists.

The building is near the Cairo headquarters of the Interior Ministry, the focus of the latest wave of protests against the army-led government triggered by the deaths of 74 people in violence at a soccer stadium in Port Said on Wednesday.

Seven people have been killed in protests around the Interior Ministry since Thursday, with another five killed in demonstrations in Suez, a city east of Cairo.

Protesters and security forces clashed again on Saturday in Cairo despite efforts by some activists to halt the violence.

Youths threw rocks at police who fired tear gas to disperse them in bouts of violence throughout the day. The Interior Ministry said the police were trying to protect the building.

Protesters hold the Interior Ministry responsible for the deaths in Port Said. There has been intense speculation about the cause of the soccer stadium disaster, Egypt's worst.

Some believe remnants of the Mubarak regime triggered violence that caused a stampede, part of a plot to create chaos to reassert their influence. The interior minister has blamed the incident on provocations by rival fans.

The Port Said incident has heightened criticism of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, due to hand power to a new president at the end of June according to its own timetable.

Responding to one of Egypt's bloodiest weeks since Mubarak was toppled, the council said the country was going through "the most important and dangerous period" in its history.

A civilian council set up to advise the generals recommended on Saturday they bring forward preparations for presidential elections, a view echoed by a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood, the biggest party in parliament.

"In view of the seriousness of the events, the carnage that happened, we cannot be silent, we cannot wait," said Mona Makram Ebeid, a council member. "It's a revolutionary plea."

"The advisory council will consider halting its meetings if the military council does not respond," Sherif Zahran, another member of the body, told Reuters.

Formal nominations for the presidency should be accepted starting February 23, according to the recommendation, nearly two months sooner than the April 15 date previously announced.

That could lead to an election as soon as April or May. The existing timetable states the generals will hand power to a president by the end of June. Officials had indicated the election would happen just before then.

Essam el-Erian, the deputy head of the Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, told Reuters the presidential election could be held in May, shaving a month off the interim period.

(Additional reporting by Tom Perry and Marwa Awad; Writing by Tom Perry Editing by Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120205/wl_nm/us_egypt_protest

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Spain's Repsol begins drilling offshore Cuba: sources (Reuters)

Havana (Reuters) ? Spanish oil company Repsol YPF has begun drilling the first well in Cuba's long-awaited exploration of offshore oilfields that the communist country says hold both billions of barrels of oil and the key to greater prosperity, industry sources told Reuters.

The massive Scarabeo 9 drilling rig, which arrived in Cuban waters two weeks ago, began drilling into the sea floor about 30 miles northwest of Havana on Tuesday night, the sources said.

A Repsol spokesman said the company could not comment on "operational details."

The newly built, high-tech rig is operating in 5,600 feet of water, or what the oil industry calls "ultra-deep water," in the Straits of Florida, which separate Cuba from its longtime ideological foe, the United States.

Sources close to the project said such wells generally take about 60 days to complete.

Repsol, which is operating the rig in a consortium with Norway's Statoil and ONGC Videsh, a unit of India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp, has said it will take several months to determine the results of the exploration.

The well is the first of at least three that will be drilled in Cuban waters with the Scarabeo 9, which was built in China and is owned by Saipem, a unit of Italian oil company Eni.

Sources have said that Repsol will drill the first well and then the rig will go to Malaysia's Petronas in partnership with Russia's Gazprom Neft and then back to Repsol for the third well.

It is not clear what happens after that, although some sources have said Repsol, which is leasing the Scarabeo 9 from Saipem at a rate said to be more than $500,000 a day, will move the rig to Brazil for exploration there.

Cuba has said it may have 20 billion barrels of oil in its northern waters, which are its part of the Gulf of Mexico. The U.S. Geological Survey has estimated it may have 5 billion barrels of oil, but its study does not include the entire Cuban gulf zone.

(Additional reporting by Jane Sutton in Miami; Editing by Bob Burgdorfer)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120202/wl_nm/us_cuba_oil

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Video: January brings stronger-than-expected jobs report

Silva: How do Patriots and Giants match up?

Silva: Super Bowl XLVI isn't an exact rematch of Super Bowl XLII when the New York Giants shocked the New England Patriots. But that may be a good thing. What this one lacks in historical significance (no perfect season at stake) it makes up for in offensive firepower and sheer entertainment value, not to intriguing storylines on defense and special teams. So we broke it all down.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036697/vp/46257860#46257860

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Dodger James Loney Drug Alcohol Tests Negative After Maserati ...

LOS ANGELES, California ? Drug and alcohol tests conducted on Dodger James Loney after a November collision were negative, prompting the Los Angeles city attorney?s office to drop criminal charges against him Wednesday for suspicion of driving under the influence.

Loney, 27, was behind the wheel of his 2009 Maserati on the 101 freeway on Nov. 14 when he allegedly caused a multi-vehicle collision just west of the 405 San Diego freeway in Sherman Oaks. Police say he declined a breathalyzer test at the scene so they took a blood test because he exhibited signs of possible intoxication including eyelid tremors and excessive perspiration.

Loney allegedly struck three vehicles and witnesses described him as unresponsive and disoriented as he was hunched over the steering wheel of his car as if he were sleeping after the accident. He was taken to a Sherman Oaks hospital for assessment.

?Although he may be cleared on criminal charges, Loney is not off the hook in terms of compensating the victims of the car crash for any injuries or property damage he may have caused,? said Attorney West Seegmiller. ?It?s certainly good news that he wasn?t under the influence of drugs or alcohol given that baseball players are idolized by many young people.?

Have you been injured in a California or Nevada car accident by a negligent driver? Do you need a California Personal Injury Law Firm? Are you searching for a Nevada Personal Injury Law Firm? For roughly 30 years, the legal experts at Seegmiller Law Firm have represented hundreds of clients injured in serious traffic accidents. Our legal team has also handled hundreds of wrongful death claims for families of victims killed in traffic accidents. Indeed, the car accident law firm has a proven track record supported by settlements ranging from several thousand dollars to millions.

Seegmiller is a California Personal Injury Law Firm with a track record of proven results. There is no cost to clients until our experienced team of lawyers and legal professionals have won your case. Finding the best car accident attorney can mean you will get the settlement you need to get your life back on track. Compensation for your injuries, loss of wages and pain and suffering can?t take away the trauma of the accident, but it can help you rebuild your life.

Call us today at 1-877-426-0695 to speak with our car accident law firm. Seegmiller Law Firm has offices in California including its headquarters in Irvine. We also have offices outside of Orange County to serve you in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside and in Las Vegas, Nevada.

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Source: http://www.theseegmillerlawfirm.com/blog/dodger-james-loney-drug-alcohol-tests-negative-maserati-crash

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Internet War Microsoft vs. Google Which is Better Online Solution ...

Posted by Leo on February 2, 2012|

Many businesses and individuals rely on free online solutions to run their day to day transactions. The two rival companies in this online market is Google and Microsoft. Just recently Google?announced?that it will have new privacy policy in which it will share user?s?information?to a number of other Google owned products.

There has been a lot of?speculation regarding privacy concerns and fears that Google might compromise users data. Microsoft sees the?opportunity to offer their products as?alternative?to?Google.??Hotmail which does not have ads can be used as an option to Gmail, Google Docs can be matched by Office 365, and Chrome can be replaced with Internet Explorer which the PC Giant?believes?as the?widely?used internet browser in the world.???But most of all Microsoft champions it?s product to be completely safe as it will not share any user information to third?advertisers.

In response search engine giant Google denied all allegations made by Microsoft. They affirms that the new privacy policies will not?jeopardize?users?information. It also denied that they are selling data from users to advertisers. This week Microsoft will run printed ads on every leading news paper to give everyone a better choice of online service solution that is secure and free.

Source: http://www.heyahey.com/internet-war-microsoft-vs-google-which-is-better-online-solution-and-security

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EU blocks "near-monopoly" of D.Boerse-NYSE merger (Reuters)

BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? European Union regulators have blocked the merger of exchange operators Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext to avoid giving them a stranglehold on the European futures market.

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext, which unveiled the plan to create the world's biggest stock exchange as long ago as February last year, said they would now unwind the deal, the sector's fourth failed tie-up attempt in a year.

The European Commission said Wednesday that the combined entity would make it hard for new players to compete.

"The merger between Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext would have led to a near-monopoly in European financial derivatives worldwide," EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in a statement.

"These markets are at the heart of the financial system, and it is crucial for the whole European economy that they remain competitive. We tried to find a solution, but the remedies offered fell far short of resolving the concerns."

Deutsche Boerse and NYSE Euronext had refused to sell either the German operator's Eurex derivatives market operator or the U.S. company's London-based futures exchange Liffe to address such concerns.

NYSE said it would return $550 million to shareholders via a share repurchase program and seek to grow its derivatives business.

"While we viewed the merger as a way to accelerate our plans, our existing business model was always central to our strategy," NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer said in a statement.

"We will also take advantage of our financial strength to capture opportunities for growth in derivatives, and through our new initiatives, including technology services, NYSE Liffe US/NYPC and post-trade services," he said.

Deutsche Boerse said it was positive about the outlook for this year despite the failed deal.

The Hessian economics ministry, Deutsche Boerse's home regulator in Wiesbaden, Germany, had said Tuesday that the exchanges had not eased its legal concerns over the deal. The ministry was planning to issue a decision after the Commission's ruling.

U.S. regulators approved the merger in December last year on condition the exchanges sell a minor asset.

In the past year the sector has seen three other large deals fail.

Nasdaq and IntercontinentalExchange Inc's bid for NYSE Euronext was rejected by the U.S. Department of Justice, London Stock Exchange's takeover of TMX Group was rejected by shareholders of the Toronto Stock Exchange operator, and Singapore Exchange Ltd's bid for Australia's ASX Ltd was stopped by the Australian government.

(Additional reporting by Edward Taylor and Christoph Steitz in Frankfurt, Editing by Sebastian Moffett and Will Waterman)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120201/bs_nm/us_nyseeuronext_deutscheboerse

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PFT: Titans fans begin Peyton campaigning

AP

Vince Wilfork?s physique may not show it, but Patriots coach Bill Belichick says Wilfork is a great athlete who?s in great shape and one of the biggest reasons the Patriots are in the Super Bowl.

At his press conference in Indianapolis today, Belichick praised Wilfork for making back-to-back big plays late in the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game, noting that Wilfork had already been on the field for more than 60 snaps at that point but still had the energy to stuff a run on third down and pressure Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco on fourth down.

?Late in the fourth quarter when we had to have it, the whole game was on the line, he made the plays for us,? Belichick said.

Wilfork, who?s listed at 325 pounds and looks heavier than that, had two interceptions during the regular season, returning one for 28 yards and the other for 19 yards, and Belichick said those plays proved just how well Wilfork can run.

?Vince is really a good athlete, as we can see from all his interception returns and open-field running and those kind of plays,? Belichick said.

Belichick also noted that Wilfork can play in running or passing situations and doesn?t ask to come off the field and rotate with other defensive linemen.

?He takes a lot of pride in not coming off the field, which I love in a defensive lineman ? that they want to be on the field and not come out,? Belichick said. ?He?s in good condition. Out there at practice today during the offensive period he?s running sprints back and forth on the field, working on his conditioning, with a week to go in the season. I think that?s a sign of his dedication.?

The big gut that hangs over Wilfork?s waistline makes him look like something less than a great athlete, but looks can be deceiving.

?You can talk about his appearance ? maybe it?s not the classic appearance ? but he?s a good athlete, he?s in good shape and he works real hard,? Belichick said.

And without Wilfork, the Patriots probably wouldn?t be in Indianapolis right now.

Source: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/01/30/titans-fans-start-campaign-for-peyton-manning/related/

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