CVC, RBS raise $290 million in Samsonite stake sale-term sheet

HONG KONG (Reuters) - Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners and Royal Bank of Scotland sold a combined $290 million stake in Hong Kong-listed luggage maker Samsonite International , a term sheet seen by Reuters showed.
The 138.3 million shares were sold at HK$16.20 each, a 4.9 percent discount to Samsonite's Friday's close of HK$17.04, the terms showed. That would put the total deal at HK$2.24 billion, with about 65 percent of the shares sold by CVC and the remainder by RBS .
Samsonite's shares fell 1.6 percent in early trading in Hong Kong to HK$16.76, compared with a 0.3 percent gain in the benchmark Hang Seng index <.hsi>, but were still above the selldown price.
The latest sale meant CVC reduced its stake in Samsonite to about 9.7 percent and RBS to 5.1 percent, according to Thomson Reuters data.
Goldman Sachs was the sole underwriter on the selldown.
Luxembourg-based Samsonite listed in Hong Kong in 2011 in a $1.25 billion IPO. CVC and RBS jointly raised about $821 million by selling into the IPO, although Samsonite's shares languished following the deal.
CVC and RBS have agreed to a 90-day lock-up during which they will refrain from selling any more shares into the market, the terms showed.

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Corvette enthusiasts await debut of 2014 model

DETROIT (Reuters) - Members of America's Corvette Club can't wait to see General Motors Corp's 2014 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, the first new Corvette in nine years, which the automaker will unveil this week at the annual Detroit auto show.
The seventh generation Corvette, called C7 by fans of the iconic American sportscar, has a front-mounted engine and a shape like a race car. GM showed it to the media on Sunday and will make pictures and video available to the public.
But 100 members of the Corvette Club from southeastern Michigan are counting the hours until January 19, when GM will give them a chance to see and touch the car an hour before the doors of the auto show are opened to the public, said social director Peter Shilland, who owns an exclusive 2009 Corvette Callaway edition.
"We want to hear from the engineers and see how far they've come with the C7," said Shilland, a former GM employee.
The car has been has been redesigned from the ground up and goes on sale next summer.
Dan Akerson, GM chief executive officer, said the Corvette is a "halo car" that will draw buyers to the Chevrolet brand, which accounted for 71 percent of the company's U.S. sales in 2012.
Akerson said the Corvette is indicative of the risks the company is willing to take with its new products and called the new Corvette "a balanced risk."
"It's a statement about American ingenuity," Akerson said on Sunday night. "It's a statement about our technology, and, quite frankly, our risk-taking. This is the first car that was designed, start to finish, since our bankruptcy."
Since it debuted 60 years ago this month as a GM Motorama "dream car" concept in New York, the Corvette has earned the nickname "America's sports car" - embodying Detroit muscle and engineering know-how. To date, GM has built and sold more than 1.5 million.
Even as sales have dwindled from a peak of 42,571 in 1977 to 14,132 last year, Corvette has maintained its cachet and exclusivity as the only legitimate U.S.-built competitor to such exotic European sports-car brands as Ferrari and Lamborghini.
That position has been secured by continuous technical improvements and equipment upgrades to the car over the decades, with the 2014 Corvette poised to offer "better performance by every measure" than its predecessors, according to chief engineer Tadge Juechter.
At its heart is a new version of Chevrolet's long-running "small block" V8 - a 6.2-liter engine that produces 450 horsepower, but can run under part throttle on only four cylinders and is expected to return average fuel economy of better than 26 miles per gallon.
The new front-mounted V8 is also potent enough, when equipped with either a new seven-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic with paddle shifters, to propel the Corvette from 0 to 60 miles per hour in less than four seconds - pure supercar territory.
In comparison, the 2013 Porsche 911 - its exterior dimensions are virtually identical to those of the 2014 Corvette - has a rear-mounted 350-horsepower 3.6-liter in-line six-cylinder engine that enables 0-60 acceleration in 4.6 seconds, with an average EPA fuel-economy rating of 23 m.p.g.
The Porsche is priced from $83,000 to $173,000. The current Corvette starts at just over $50,000 and runs up to $112,600.
The 2014 Stingray's edgy new exterior design was inspired to some extent by the swoopy Corvette C6.R race car, while the name dates to perhaps the best-known Corvette, the 1963 Sting Ray.
The 2014 Stingray maintains the classic sports-car proportions - long hood, short deck - while providing a visual complement to the car's extraordinary performance. To help reduce weight, Chevrolet has fitted a carbon-fiber roof and hood, composite body panels and an aluminum frame.
And, to support the car's mission of knocking off more expensive and exotic European rivals, the new Corvette features a variety of branded high-end hardware from such European suppliers: Michelin tires, Brembo brakes and Bilstein shocks.
A more premium cockpit, bristling with the latest digital technology and intended to attract luxury import buyers, can be trimmed in leather, aluminum, suede and carbon fiber. Among the available gear: A color head-up display, a pair of eight-inch configurable screens and a 3D navigation system.
"I don't know that much about the C7, but I'm anxious to hear about some of the new technology in the car," says Corvette club member Shilland. "I like the idea of more innovation."

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Apple cuts LCD panel orders for iPhone 5 on weak demand: Nikkei

(Reuters) - Apple Inc has almost halved its order with suppliers of LCD panels for the iPhone 5 in the current quarter due to weak demand, the Nikkei reported on Monday.
Apple has asked suppliers Japan Display Inc, Sharp Corp and South Korean company LG Display Co Ltd, to cut supply, down from an initial plan to order about 65 million units in the quarter, the Japanese daily said.
Japan Display's plant in Nomi, Ishikawa Prefecture, where the iPhone maker has invested heavily, is expected to temporarily reduce output by 70 percent to 80 percent compared to the October to December period, the financial daily reported.
Sharp's dedicated facility for iPhone 5 LCD panels in Mie Prefecture will lower production in January and February by about 40 percent from the October to December quarter, when it was near full capacity, the daily said.
An Apple spokesperson was not immediately available for comment outside regular business hours.

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NHL: Labor dispute moves into courts with talks stalled

(Reuters) - After three months of failed negotiations, the labor dispute between the National Hockey League (NHL) and locked out players moved into the courts on Friday, with the league filing a class action complaint against the players' union.
The league asked U.S. courts to confirm the legality of the lockout. It also filed an unfair labor practice against the players' union.
The players' union said the action had no merit.
The NHL's move appears to be a pre-emptive strike by the league after reports circulated that the NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) would seek a vote from its members to proceed with a "disclaim of interest" and no longer represent players in bargaining.
Dissolving the union would free players to file anti-trust lawsuits in the courts and have the lockout found illegal.
"Today, in response to information indicating that NHL players have or will be asked to vote to authorize the National Hockey League Players' Association's executive board to proceed to 'disclaim interest' in continuing to represent the players in collective bargaining, the National Hockey League filed a class action complaint in Federal Court in New York seeking a declaration confirming the ongoing legality of the lockout."
The league also said it was simultaneously filing an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that by threatening to "disclaim interest," the NHLPA is engaging in an unlawful subversion of the collective bargaining process and conduct that constitutes bad faith bargaining under the National Labor Relations Act.
The players' union said it had just received a copy of the National Labor Relations Board charge and has not yet been served with the lawsuit.
"However, based on what we've learned so far, the NHL appears to be arguing that players should be stopped from even considering their right to decide whether or not to be represented by a union," the NHLPA said in a statement.
"We believe that their position is completely without merit."
Canadian media reported the players' union executive board agreed on Thursday to put a vote to the players that would authorize the board to proceed with a "disclaimer of interest."
The union would be dissolved with a favorable vote and players would cease being seen as a collective entity, enabling them to file anti-trust suits.
National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) players pursued similar courses in 2011 labor disputes with their leagues before new collective bargaining agreements were eventually reached.
The legal maneuvering comes a day after the sides had spent two unsuccessful days with U.S. federal mediators trying to jump start stalled talks on a new collective bargaining agreement.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said he cannot see the league, which normally runs an 82-game regular season, playing less than a 48-game campaign. But with games through December, 42.8 percent of the schedule, already canceled, time is quickly running out on salvaging even a partial season.
The two sides appear to have inched closer on the main sticking point of how to divide $3.3 billion in revenue.
The league is seeking an immediate 50-50 split while players, who will see their share chopped from 57 percent, want the cuts brought in gradually with a "make whole" provision in place to cover money that would be lost on current contracts.
Several other contentious items remain on the table, including the length of a new collective bargaining agreement and contract limits to drug testing and continued participation in the Winter Olympics.

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Players to vote on whether board can dissolve union

(Reuters) - Locked out National Hockey League (NHL) players will begin voting on Sunday on whether to give the players association's executive board authority to file a "disclaimer of interest" and dissolve their union.
Voting will be done electronically and continue through Thursday, a source familiar with the proceedings told Reuters on Saturday.
A two-thirds majority will be needed to give the 30-member executive board the power to file a "disclaimer of interest" that would disband the union and free players to file anti-trust suits with the courts.
The NHL Players' Association (NHLPA) has not yet said it plans to file the disclaimer but could go that route if negotiations remained stalled.
The league moved to prevent the NHLPA from decertifying on Friday, filing a class action complaint against the players' union.
The NHL asked U.S. courts to confirm the legality of the lockout and simultaneously filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board.
National Basketball Association (NBA) and National Football League (NFL) players pursued similar courses in 2011 labor disputes with their leagues before new collective bargaining agreements were eventually reached.
The legal maneuvering follows two unsuccessful days of bargaining with U.S. federal mediators trying to jump start stalled talks on a new collective bargaining agreement.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman has said he cannot see the league, which normally runs an 82-game regular season, playing less than a 48-game campaign. But with games through December, 42.8 percent of the schedule, already canceled, time is quickly running out for salvaging even a partial season.
The two sides appear to have inched closer on the main sticking point of how to divide $3.3 billion in revenue.
The league is seeking an immediate 50-50 split while players, who will see their share chopped from 57 percent, want the cuts brought in gradually with a "make whole" provision in place to cover money that would be lost on current contracts.
Several other contentious items remain on the table, including the length of a new collective bargaining agreement, contract limits, drug testing and continued participation in the Winter Olympics.

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Owners and players return to table but no closer to deal

(Reuters) - National Hockey League owners and players returned to the bargaining table on Wednesday in a late push to salvage a scaled down season but the two sides appear no closer to reaching a deal.
After negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) collapsed last Thursday amid angry rhetoric, talks resumed at a secret location with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and players union chief Donald Fehr, joined at the table by U.S. federal mediators, according to local media reports.
It marked the second time mediators have been brought in to try to jump start stalled negotiations that have now dragged on for nearly three months.
Owners locked out players on September 15 when the current CBA expired, plunging the league into its fourth work stoppage in 20 years.
Few details of the meeting have emerged other than there were no face-to-face negotiations, with mediators meeting both sides separately.
No new proposals were exchanged and there was no word on whether talks will continue.
The two parties returned to bargaining as pressure mounts to reach a deal or risk having the entire campaign wiped out like the 2004-05 season.
Bettman has said he cannot see the league playing less than a 48-game regular season schedule, and with 526 games, or more than 40 percent, of the season already canceled, time is quickly running out.
The two sides appear to have inched closer on the main sticking point of how to divide $3.3 billion in ice hockey related revenue.
The league is seeking an immediate 50-50 split while players, who will see their share chopped from 57 percent, want the cuts brought in gradually with a "make whole" provision in place to cover money that would be lost on current contracts.
Several other contentious items remain on the table, including the length of a new CBA and contract limits to drug testing and continued participation in the Winter Olympics.
While players and owners talk the losses continue to mount on both sides.
The NHL has said the lockout is costing it between $18-$20 million a day while players, with games canceled up to December 30, will miss six pay cheques.

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China's Huawei expects profit jump after reporting drop in 2011

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's No.2 telecom equipment maker, expects a 2012 profit gain after reporting a sharp drop a year ago, thanks to new projects and increased sales in high-end mobile phone markets such as Japan.
Net profit is expected to be around $2.4 billion, rotating and acting Chief Executive Officer Guo Ping said in a New Year message to employees on Friday. That would be a rise of 29 percent from 11.6 billion yuan ($1.86 billion) in 2011, based on his forecast.
Revenue is expected to exceed $35 billion, Guo said. In 2011, sales rose 11.7 percent to 203.9 billion yuan, or about $32 billion.
Privately held Huawei and its crosstown rival ZTE Corp have been expanding their footprint in the global telecom equipment and mobile phone sectors over the past few years.
While Huawei has boosted sales and gained market share in Europe, Africa and Asia, it ran into a few obstacles last year in other markets such as the United States and Australia due to national security and cyber espionage concerns.
Slower telecom spending stemming from a weak global economy and stiff competition in the increasingly crowded mobile phone sector have also weighed on the outlook of equipment providers and handset manufacturers.
"We should devote our limited energy to specific business objectives, and avoid the impulse to expand business blindly," Guo said. "Managers who expand business blindly must be held accountable."
Last October, ZTE, the world's fourth-biggest maker of mobile phones and No.5 telecom equipment maker, reported its biggest quarterly loss since it was listed due to narrowing margins, project delays and accounting changes in China.
Guo did not provide a breakdown of the revenue figures by business segment. Huawei is expected to announce audited figures in the next few months, although no date has been set yet.
Rival Ericsson has yet to report its full-year figures, so it is unclear whether the Chinese company had surpassed the Swedish giant as the top telecom equipment maker in the world.
Huawei was founded in 1987 by Ren Zhengfei, a former People's Liberation Army officer. Huawei has denied repeatedly any links with the Chinese military and says it is a purely commercial enterprise.
In a message to employees a year earlier, Ren said Huawei had initiated a system that allows top executives to take turns acting as chief executive, paving the way for a smooth management handover when Ren eventually retires. ($1 = 6.2303 Chinese yuan)

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Samsung, Nokia and others hit with fresh patent infringement lawsuit

InterDigital (IDCC) on Thursday filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission against Samsung (005930), Nokia (NOK), Huawei (002502), and ZTE (000063) for selling devices that allegedly infringe upon seven of its 3G and 4G wireless patents. The company has asked the ITC to block sales of the infringing products, which incorporate WCDMA, CDMA2000, LTE and Wi-Fi technologies. The ITC has 30 days to decide whether it will launch an investigation into the claims. InterDigital also filed a similar lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware, seeking a permanent injunction and damages based on willful infringement.
[More from BGR: Samsung confirms plan to begin inching away from Android]
“Wireless technology continues to advance at tremendous speed based on the contributions that InterDigital and others have made to core connectivity technology,” said Lawrence F. Shay, President of InterDigital’s patent holding subsidiaries. “For InterDigital, that effort represents roughly one billion dollars of research and development involving hundreds of wireless engineers over decades. While the vast majority of our dozens of licensees recognize our contributions and choose to license our portfolio based on discussions alone, in some cases we’re forced to resort to legal action.”
[More from BGR: ‘iPhone 5S’ to reportedly launch by June with multiple color options and two different display sizes]
Earlier this week, Research In Motion (RIMM) extended its existing patent licensing agreement with the firm to cover 4G LTE technology, allowing RIM to use InterDigital’s patents in its upcoming BlackBerry 10 products. It was reported in 2011 that Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG) and Samsung were all looking into purchasing the company and its 8,800-patent portfolio, however no acquisition was ever completed.

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China Huawei espera aumento de ganancias tras caída en 2011

HONG KONG (Reuters) - La empresa china Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, la segunda empresa de equipos de telecomunicaciones más grande del mundo, espera un aumento de ganancias en el 2012 tras haber reportado una fuerte caída en el período anterior, gracias a nuevos proyectos e incrementos de ventas en mercados de teléfonos móviles de alta gama como Japón.
La utilidad neta alcanzaría los 2.400 millones de dólares, dijo el viernes el actual y rotativo presidente ejecutivo de la firma, Guo Ping, en un mensaje de Año Nuevo para los empleados. La cifra implicaría un aumento del 29 por ciento respecto a los 11.600 millones de yuanes (1.860 millones de dólares) del 2011, según su pronóstico.
Los ingresos excederían los 35.000 millones de dólares, indicó Guo. En el 2011, las ventas crecieron un 11,7 por ciento a 203.900 millones de yuanes, o alrededor de 32.000 millones de dólares.
Huawei y su vecina rival ZTE Corp han estado expandiendo su presencia en los sectores globales de equipamiento telefónico y teléfonos móviles en los últimos años.
Aunque Huawei ha aumentado sus ventas y ha ganado terreno de mercado en Europa, Africa y Asia, el último año se topó con algunos obstáculos en otros mercados como Estados Unidos y Australia, como consecuencia de preocupaciones en torno a la seguridad nacional y el espionaje cibernético.
El desacelerado gasto en telecomunicaciones derivado de una economía global débil y una feroz competencia en el cada vez más atestado sector de telefonía móvil también pesaron sobre las proyecciones de proveedores y fabricantes de equipamiento.
"Deberíamos dedicar nuestra energía limitada a objetivos comerciales específicos y evitar el impulso de expandir el negocio ciegamente", remarcó Guo.
En octubre pasado, ZTE, el cuarto fabricante de teléfonos móviles más importante del mundo y el quinto en el sector de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones, reportó su peor pérdida trimestral desde que empezó a cotizar en bolsa como consecuencia de márgenes más pequeños, retrasos en proyectos y cambios contables en China.
Guo no dio un detalle sobre los ingresos por segmento comercial. Huawei anunciaría sus cifras auditadas en los próximos meses, aunque todavía no hay fecha para eso.
Su rival Ericsson aún no ha reportado sus cifras anuales, con lo cual no está claro si la empresa china logró superar al gigante sueco como el principal fabricante de equipamiento de telecomunicaciones del mundo.

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Syrian rebels free 48 Iranians in prisoner swap

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — Syrian rebels on Wednesday freed 48 Iranians held captive since August in exchange for the release of more than 2,000 detainees in the first major prisoner swap of the country's civil war, officials said.
The exchange, which was brokered by Iran, Turkey and Qatar, came just days after Assad vowed to press ahead with the fight against rebels despite international pressure to end the bloodshed that has left more than 60,000 people dead.
Iran is one of Assad's main backers and the Iranians, who were seized outside Damascus in August, were a major bargaining chip for factions trying to bring down his regime.
The group of 48 men arrived at the Sheraton hotel in several vans escorted by Syrian security forces. Iran's ambassador in Damascus, Mohammad Riza Shibani and several Iranian clerics greeted each one with a white rose.
Rebels claimed the captives were linked to Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, but Tehran has denied that, saying the men were pilgrims visiting Shiite religious sites in Syria.
Shibani said their release was a result of elaborate and "tough" negotiations, but he did not provide any other details of the deal. The Syrian government, which rarely gives details on security related matters, had no official comment and it was not clear what prompted the exchange.
"The conditions placed on the deal were difficult, but with much work ... we succeeded in securing this release," he said. "I hope such tragedies will not be repeated."
The rebels had threatened to kill the captives unless the Syrian regime halted military operations against the opposition.
A spokesman for a Turkish Islamic aid group that helped coordinate the release said the regime had agreed to release 2,130 people in exchange for the Iranians.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan hailed the swap, but expressed regret that many remain locked up by the Syrian government.
"Let's hope that they may be released as well and let's hope that the process is beneficial for all," Erdogan said during a visit to Niger.
He said the deal was brokered with the help of a Turkish and a Qatari aid organization, and added that Turkey had been talking with the rebels during the negotiations.
"The rebels had made some preliminary preparations for the release, but we did not know what the Syrian reaction would be," Erdogan said.
"In the end, it seems that they agreed," he said, adding that four Turks and "a number of Palestinians" were among the prisoners released by the Syrian government.
There were conflicting reports about how many of the prisoners in Syrian custody had been freed. Speaking in Istanbul, Umit Sonmez of the Foundation for Human Rights and Freedoms and Humanitarian Relief said the 48 Iranians were handed over to aid workers soon after the Syrian regime let a group go.
Sonmez said the Syrian prisoners included "ordinary people or friends or relatives of the rebels."
"This is the largest prisoner exchange to date," Sonmez said. "We are pleased that people from all sides who were held and victimized have finally been freed."
Sonmez said the foundation coordinated the negotiations.
"Turkey and Qatar, who have influence over the rebels, spoke with the rebels. They also spoke with Iran. Iran for its part spoke with Syria."
Turkey's state-run agency Anadolu Agency also said a group of people, including women and children, held in the Syrian Interior Ministry building in Damascus had been released and were escorted onto buses. The report could not immediately be confirmed.
Bulent Yildirim, the head of the Turkish aid organization, told Anadolu in Damascus that 1,000 people have been released so far, including 74 women and a number of children between the ages of 13 and 15.
Some photographs released from the aid organization showed a group women lined up against a wall, apparently waiting to be released, inside a building. Most appeared to be hiding their faces from the camera. Another showed a group of men, their heads shaven, standing in a room.
The deal marks the first major prisoner swap since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011.
Regime forces and rebels have exchanged prisoners before, most arranged by mediators in the suburbs of Damascus and in northern Syria, but the numbers ranged from two to 20 prisoners. The Syrian Red Crescent also has arranged exchanges of bodies from both sides.
In a speech Sunday, Assad struck a defiant tone, ignoring international demands to step down and saying he is ready to talk — but only with those "who have not betrayed Syria."
He outlined his vision for a peace initiative that would keep him in power to oversee a national reconciliation conference, elections and a new government. But he also vowed to continue the battle "as long as there is one terrorist left," a term the government uses for rebels.
The opposition rejected his offer, which also drew harsh international criticism.
Syria's Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi said countries like the United States and its Western allies that have called on Assad to step down since the start of the uprising have dismissed the president's initiative "before even having the time to translate it."
Al-Zoubi was speaking in Damascus late Tuesday after an emergency Cabinet meeting to discuss the proposal.
___
Fraser reported from Ankara, Turkey. Associated Press writers Ali Akbar Dareini in Tehran and Barbara Surk in Beirut contributed to this story.

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Egypt's ultraconservative party chooses new leader

r that reads in Arabic, "the list of al-Nour …more
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CAIRO (AP) — Egypt's largest ultraconservative Islamist party, which has emerged as a potent political force in the country, elected a new leader Wednesday after the previous head broke away to form his own political group following months of infighting.
Younis Makhyoun, a 58-year-old cleric and trained dentist, was selected in a consensus vote to lead the Salafi Al-Nour party, one of several religion-based parties to take root after the 2011 Egyptian uprising. His election marks the consolidation of power within the party of the religious clerics who co-founded Al-Nour and successfully faced down a challenge to separate the group's political and religious leadership.
The infighting could cost the Salafis in upcoming parliamentary elections as they compete with fellow Islamists for seats in the legislature and try to shape Egypt's future in a political struggle with secular-minded political groups.
Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is expected to set a date soon for the elections. His spokesman, Yasser Ali, told reporters Wednesday that preparations for the vote would begin Feb. 25.
In taking the reins of the party, Makhyoun immediately turned his sights Wednesday to the elections. He described the next parliament as "the most dangerous and the most important" in Egypt's history because its mission will be "to purify all laws from whatever violates Shariah," or Islamic law.
Makhyoun was a member of the Islamist-dominated constituent assembly that wrote Egypt's new constitution. The document deeply polarized Egyptians and sparked deadly street protests, but passed by a 64 percent "yes" vote in a referendum in which around 33 percent of voters participated.
Islamists perceive the constitution as the first step toward redefining Egypt's identity to conform to Islamic law.
"We want to liberate Egypt from slavery and submission," Makhyoun said Wednesday, while also trying to assuage fears of women and Christians by saying Shariah would "liberate even Western women from the West's moral decay."
Al-Nour was founded by a group of influential hardline Salafi clerics shortly after the 2011 Egyptian uprising that toppled longtime strongman Hosni Mubarak. Their single-minded dedication to applying Islamic law sets them apart from Egypt's strongest Islamist force, the Muslim Brotherhood, which shares many of the Salafi fundamentalist beliefs but also has a history of political pragmatism to achieve its ends.
Salafis follow the Wahhabi school of thought, which predominates in Saudi Arabia. They promote a strict interpretation of Islamic law which mandates segregation of the sexes, bans banks from charging interest and punishes theft by cutting off thieves' hands.
Al-Nour made a surprisingly strong showing in the country's first parliamentary elections last year, capturing 25 percent of the seats and trailing only the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's best-organized political force. Their success reflected years of grassroots organizing throughout the country, giving them a ready-made network of support when they entered politics.
That parliament was disbanded by a court order last year.
The party has been riven by internal feuds over the past year as it struggles to reconcile political maneuvering with religious ideology. It was not immediately clear how the power struggle would affect the Salafis' popularity at the polls.
Al-Nour's founder, Emad Abdel-Ghafour, broke away earlier this month to form a new party over disagreements tied to the role of a body of clerics in the group's politics.
Some of the divisions were also linked to concerns with the Brotherhood. Some Salafis fear the Brotherhood is too willing to compromise in pursuit of an Islamic state. During last year's parliamentary elections, Al-Nour split from an electoral alliance with the Brotherhood after complaining of the group's attempt to monopolize the alliance.

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Winter storm batters Mideast, 8 dead

    
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AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — The fiercest winter storm to hit the Mideast in years brought a rare foot of snow to Jordan on Wednesday, caused fatal accidents in Lebanon and the West Bank, and disrupted traffic on the Suez Canal in Egypt. At least eight people died across the region.
In Lebanon, the Red Cross said storm-related accidents killed six people over the past two days. Several drowned after slipping into rivers from flooded roads, one person froze to death and another died after his car went off a slippery road, according to George Kettaneh, Operations Director for the Lebanese Red Cross.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, a Palestinian official said two West Bank women drowned after their car was caught in a flash flood on Tuesday. Nablus Deputy Governor Annan Atirah said the women abandoned their vehicle after it got stuck on a flooded road, and their bodies were apparently swept away by surging waters. Their driver was hospitalized in critical condition.
In the Gaza Strip, civil defense spokesman Mohammed al-Haj Yousef said storms cut electricity to thousands of Palestinian homes and rescuers were sent to evacuate dozens of people.
Parts of Israel were bracing for snow a day after the military was forced to send helicopters and rubber dinghies to rescue residents stranded by floodwaters. In Jerusalem, streets were mostly empty as light snow began to stick Wednesday night. School was canceled for the next day because of the weather, which Israeli meteorologists said was the stormiest in a decade.
The unusual weather over the past few days hit vulnerable Syrian refugees living in tent camps very hard, particularly some 50,000 sheltering in the Zaatari camp in Jordan's northern desert. Torrential rains over four days have flooded some 200 tents and forced women and infants to evacuate in temperatures that dipped below freezing at night, whipping wind and lashing rain.
"It's been freezing cold and constant rain for the past four days," lamented Ahmad Tobara, 44, who evacuated his tent when its shafts submerged in flood water in Zaatari. A camp spokesman said that by Wednesday, some 1,500 refugees had been displaced within the camp and were now living in mobile homes normally used for schools.
Weather officials said winds exceeded 45 miles (70 kilometers) per hour and the rain left two feet (70 centimeters) of water on the streets.
The storm dumped at least a foot of snow on many parts of Jordan and was accompanied by lashing wind, lightning and thunder. It shut schools, stranded motorists and delayed international flights, Jordanian weatherman Mohammed Samawi said. The unusually heavy snowfall blocked streets in the capital Amman and isolated remote villages, prompting warnings from authorities for people to stay home as snow plows tried to reopen clogged roads. It forced at least 400 families to evacuate their homes and move to government shelters overnight.
Samawi called it the "fiercest storm to hit the Mideast in the month of January in at least 30 years."
The snowstorm followed four days of torrential rain, which caused flooding in many areas across the country.
In Lebanon, several days of winds and heavy rain along the coast and record snow in the mountains caused power outages across the country, blocked traffic and shut down mountain passes. Later Wednesday, snow is forecast at altitudes higher than 200 yards (meters), while rain that has already flooded suburbs of the capital, Beirut, should continue.
In Egypt, rare downpours, strong winds and low visibility disrupted Suez Canal operations over the past three days and also led to the closure of several ports. The number of ships moving through the Suez Canal had fallen by half because of poor visibility, the official MENA news agency reported. A canal official said that by Wednesday, operations had returned to normal. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief reporters.
MENA also reported that ports in the northern Mediterranean city of Alexandria and Dakhila were shut down, while cities in the Nile Delta suffered power outages and fishing stopped in cities like Damietta, northeast of Cairo.
MENA also reported 10 fishermen went missing after their boat capsized near Marsa Matrouh on the Mediterranean.
In Syria, where a civil war is raging, snow was piling up in and around the capital, Damascus. Officials said many villages in central Homs province and along the southern border with Israel have been cut off after heavy snowfall. Torrential rains are expected over the next three days with temperatures around freezing. Some 2.5 million people within Syria have been displaced in fighting that has stretched on for nearly two years now.

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Soccer-Italian Cup quarterfinal results

Jan 8 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the Italian Cup Quarterfinal first leg matches on Tuesday
Quarterfinal
Tuesday, January 8
Lazio - Catania 3-0 (halftime: 1-0)
Next Fixtures (GMT):
Wednesday, January 9
Juventus v AC Milan (1945)

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Italian Cup quarterfinal summaries

Jan 8 (Infostrada Sports) - Summaries from the Italian Cup Quarterfinal first leg matches on Tuesday
Lazio 3 Stefan Radu 30, Hernanes 61,90+1
Catania 0
Halftime: 1-0; Attendance: 25,000
- - -
Next Fixtures (GMT):
Wednesday, January 9
Juventus v AC Milan (1945)

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Lowly Bradford stun Villa in League Cup first leg

LONDON, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Fourth tier Bradford City continued their heroics with a 3-1 home victory over Premier League Aston Villa in the Capital One (League) Cup semi-final first leg on Tuesday as the prospect of a shock Wembley final moved ever closer.
Bradford, who had already disposed of top flight Wigan Athletic and Arsenal, took the lead when Nahki Wells scored from close range in the first half before Rory McArdle doubled the advantage after the break.
Villa squandered several good chances with substitute Darren Bent guilty of arguably the worst miss, heading over an open goal in the second half before Andreas Weimann pulled a goal back late on for the visitors.
It proved to be a brief ray of light on a grim evening for Premier League strugglers Villa however, as Carl McHugh added gloss to the scoreline with two minutes remaining.
"You are playing against a class team, you need to be on your game," Bradford goalkeeper Matt Duke told Sky after a superb individual display.
"We've got an even bigger challenge ahead of us now."
The second leg at Villa Park takes place on Jan. 22. Chelsea host Swansea City in the first leg of their semi-final on Wednesday.
Teams from the bottom tier of English professional football playing in cup finals is almost unheard of but buoyant Bradford will fancy their chances such is youthful Villa's poor form at the moment.
SHIPPED GOALS
Villa manager Paul Lambert made four changes to the team which beat Ipswich in the FA Cup on Saturday with Christian Benteke, Weimann and Gabriel Agbonlahor spearheading the visitors' attack.
They began the brighter and should have taken the lead after 10 minutes when Benteke found himself unmarked in the penalty area but could only direct his header wide from four metres.
Villa had shipped 17 goals in their last four league games and their leaky defence was exposed again after 19 minutes when a deflected shot from Zavon Hines fell kindly for Wells who calmly sidefooted the ball into the back of the net.
The goal acted as a confidence boost to the hosts, eighth in League Two (fourth tier), who got the upper hand in midfield and created a series of half chances as Villa looked short on ideas.
The visitors' best chance arrived just before the break when Charles N'Zogbia beat his man on the right flank and pulled it back for Agbonlahor who rifled in a shot from close range that Bradford keeper Duke did well to beat away.
The Premier League side looked brighter after the break and Duke was called into action early on, producing a series of good saves to deny first N'Zogbia then Benteke and Agbonlahor.
Striker Bent was a second-half substitute for Agbonlahor and within minutes of coming on, he wasted the visitors' best chance when he headed over from five metres after Duke parried a shot from N'Zogbia.
Cash-strapped Bradford, last in the top flight in 2001, looked to have taken a decisive advantage when McArdle powered home a header from a Gary Jones cross but Villa kept a toe-hold in the tie when Austrian Weimann beat Duke to the ball and poked home.
Their celebrations were short-lived as McHugh rose powerfully in the area to head home Bradford's third.
"Set pieces are a vital part of the game and you've got to defend them and we certainly didn't do that," under pressure Lambert said.

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Monster Jam Tickets Rev Up Massive Sales Traffic on BuyAnySeat.com

Tickets to Monster Jam 2013 events are driving massive online search and sales traffic for seats, said Felina Martinez at ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. The shows start up on Friday night, January 4, 2013 in nine U.S. cities from Trenton, New Jersey to Tacoma, Washington.

Denver, CO (PRWEB) January 02, 2013
Monster Jam is set to kick into high gear again this year. The 2013 shows rev up Friday night, January 4, 2013 in nine cities, including: Trenton, New Jersey; Des Moines, Iowa; Nashville, Tennessee; Manchester, New Hampshire; Birmingham, Alabama; Columbus, Ohio; Rochester, New York; Tacoma, Washington; and Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The tour begins in the late winter each year and visits virtually all major cities in the U.S., Canada and Europe. The shows culminate with the Monster Jam World Finals in Las Vegas every year, with this season’s finals event scheduled for March 23, 2013.
The series is sanctioned under the umbrella of the United States Hot Rod Association (USHRA) and takes place primarily in the United States. Although individual event formats can vary greatly based on the “intermission” entertainment, the main attraction is always the racing and freestyle competitions by monster trucks.
“Online traffic for Monster Jam tickets has been absolutely massive,” said Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. “Not only are tickets beginning to sell out for some of the dozens of upcoming shows, the show’s popularity grows each year as new competitors join the tour.
“Since fans of all ages attend these events, many times with close friends and family, we’re proud to be able to offer them a complete selection of Monster Jam tickets, with a worry-free guarantee to protect their purchase,” said Martinez.
“To access the continuously updated selection of discount Monster Jam tickets we have available, fans can go to BuyAnySeat.com and search for Monster Jam – then select their tickets,” said Martinez.
Monster Jam is a live motorsport event tour and TV series currently operated by Feld Entertainment and sponsored by Advance Auto Parts. Scheduled concurrently at different venues around the country, monster trucks face off in two different forms of competition – racing and freestyle.
In the smaller shows, there is a wheelie competition or a donut contest, and sometimes both. The goal in the wheelie competition is to hit a ramp and get big air while remaining perpendicular to the ground. In the donut competition, drivers try to spin their trucks until they get dizzy, the truck can't go any more, or they think they have a good enough score to win.
Side-by-side racing is traditional heads-up tournament racing, where the first truck to cross the finish line moves onto the next round until it is eliminated or wins the Championship race.
The freestyle competition gives drivers 90 seconds, plus a 30 second bonus period, on an open floor to show off their skills as they drive their huge trucks over cars. Drivers perform stunts and tricks that make these massive high-horsepower vehicles appear to dance gracefully across the track. The freestyle competition winner is determined by three judges who each give the driver a score out of a possible 10.
If the same driver who wins racing that night also wins freestyle, they receive the Double Down trophy, named after the Double Down activities in the Las Vegas Monster Jam World Finals. (Source: Wikipedia.com)
To shop for cheap Monster Jam tickets, visit BuyAnySeat.com.
About BuyAnySeat.com: An online ticket marketplace, BuyAnySeat.com connects sports, theater and other live entertainment fans to an extensive worldwide network of ticket sellers. The site’s simplified listings and navigational tools enable fans to easily locate, compare and purchase inexpensive, discounted or lower-priced tickets to virtually all advertised sports and entertainment events around the globe. The site, which is PCI-compliant and Norton Secured, also provides customers with a complete Worry-Free Guarantee on all ticket purchases. Based in Denver, Colorado, BuyAnySeat.com is a subsidiary of Denver Media Holdings. For more information, please visit http://buyanyseat.com.

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Jane Yuan and Creative Retail Packaging Pair Up to Develop Branding, Packaging & Web Design for Simple & Crisp

Seattle based Simple & Crisp, an organic dried fruit crisp company, launches branding, custom packaging and website produced by Creative Retail Packaging.

Seattle, WA (PRWEB) January 02, 2013
Simple & Crisp, an organic, gluten-free dried fruit crisp, has hit the marketplace in full swing with branding, custom packaging and a website created by Creative Retail Packaging. Chief Pairing Purveyor Jane Yuan, chief editor of the lifestyle news site Seattleite.com, created Simple & Crisp with the desire to offer healthier options to entertain guests, as well as satisfy different dietary needs. Her vision of introducing fruit crisps as a gourmet serving vessel and cracker alternative was brought to life with CRP, a design and custom packaging company located in Seattle.
“When I first visited CRP, I knew I had a product with potential.” recounts Yuan. “After meeting with them, I realized that potential was even greater than I imagined, and I felt excited to move forward with my brand.”
CRP Creative Director Cole Johnston was equally motivated by Yuan’s ideas and felt inspired to work alongside her to jumpstart her brand. “Jane had a very unique and compelling vision for Simple & Crisp. Our job was to take her passion and turn it into a tangible brand experience,” explains Johnston. “After our initial meeting, we all left inspired with a clear direction for the brand.”
Yuan spoke with a representative at Whole Foods, attended the Natural Products Expo, and traveled to New York to gain inspiration. She shared her fruit crisps with friends, local restaurant owners, sometimes even complete strangers, gathering feedback about the crisps themselves and whether or not consumers would be interested in her product.
“I knew my close friends enjoyed them, but I wasn’t sure if they were simply being gracious,” says Yuan. “I needed unbiased feedback from people I didn’t know who would challenge my vision. This process played an integral role in confirming that I was on the right path.”
Yuan sought to promote Simple & Crisp as the “perfect pairing” for the social, yet health-conscious entertainer. The crisps are “the perfect pairing” for items such as cheese, chocolate, champagne, and countless other foods and beverages – an ideal culinary companion for healthy entertaining. One of the biggest sources of inspiration for Yuan was the unique and eye-catching retail experience in New York’s Dean & Deluca. “For me, design aesthetic and presentation are very important qualities. I wanted Simple & Crisp to be something that people are proud to buy and serve – so much so, that they would feel comfortable putting the package on their table as they entertained,” explains Yuan.
“With a background in public relations and a true passion for her product, Jane was the perfect spokesperson for her brand. This ended up playing an important role in the overall branding and packaging design for Simple & Crisp,” says Johnston.
The main considerations that Yuan communicated to CRP were that the packaging had to be airtight and structurally sound, while also showcasing the product in a unique and visually appealing manner.
Yuan chose a hexagonal prism not only for its structural integrity but for its ownable geometric shelf presence. To highlight the natural beauty and integrity of the fruit, Yuan added die-cut windows to showcase the fruit crisps from multiple vantage points.
“The process of taking the dielines CRP had drawn and making prototypes out of them played a vital role in solving the packaging challenges I faced. The crisps look beautiful in the packaging, and I am very pleased with the end result,” says Yuan.
Yuan and CRP also worked together to design the Simple & Crisp website. The site’s main purpose is to provide interactive information about the product and its “perfect pairings” as well as to serve as a point of purchase for consumers. Similar to the packaging, the design features a clean white background with colorful product photography, showcasing the fruit crisps as the main attraction.
For Yuan, the functionality of the site was as important as the design. “The revealing effect of the navigation panel encourages customers to uncover sources for culinary inspiration and creativity,” explains Yuan. “As Chief Pairing Purveyor, I am constantly on the lookout for new ways to pair our crisps with unique foods and beverages. Our site is meant to act as a motivational tool for people looking to entertain in exciting, unconventional settings.”
Simple & Crisp products are available at Whole Foods stores in Washington and Oregon, nationally at Dean & Deluca and Opensky.com or online at the company’s website http://simpleandcrisp.com. The company utilizes organic ingredients. Owner and Chief Pairing Purveyor Jane Yuan sources the fruit at the peak of perfection and oversees the manufacturing and distribution from her Seattle facility.
Creative Retail Packaging is a Houston-based company with over 30 years of experience in the design and sourcing of custom retail packaging. The company’s Design division specializes in brand development, graphic and web design. CRP has offices in Seattle, Houston, and Chicago, and operates three regional warehouses across the United States.

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NewsWatch Features ProCamera HD on it's National Television Show as Part of AppWatch

NewsWatch, a nationwide television show, recently aired a news segment about “ProCamera HD”, a new camera app. The segment aired as part of “AppWatch”, a weekly review of the top apps in the marketplace.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) January 03, 2013
NewsWatch, a nationwide television show, recently aired a news segment about “ProCamera HD”, a new camera app. The segment aired as part of AppWatch, a weekly review of the top apps in the marketplace.
ProCamera is a full-featured 5-in-1 app that has still camera and video, photo editing tools, social networking support, and camera related utilities. ProCamera sets the standard as the most professional camera app with its high-end features and has gotten numerous awards. ProCamera HD for iPad was released recently as the first full-featured iPad camera replacement app and has been a big success worldwide.
Included in the new app, users have access to: ProCamera Lightbox to save, export and delete photos within the app; QuickFlick for going immediately to albums and settings; 100% stability and blazing fast performance; adjustable capture format, including 16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 1:1,; and Anti-Shake Image Stabilizer for photo and video.
ProCamera HD also comes with professional editing capabilities. Using the Pro Lab Studio users can make real-time tonal curve correction; as well as adjust brightness, contrast, gamma, saturation, color temperature, and shadows.
For more information or to download the “ProCamera HD” app, head to their iTunes Page.
About Cocologics

Cocologics is a professional startup and has become the technological leader for mobile photography software on iOS. Committed to sustainability, Cocologics develops cutting-edge software solutions, which meet the highest demands in quality, aesthetics and simplicity.
NewsWatch is a weekly 30-minute consumer oriented television show that airs on the ION Network Thursday mornings at 5:30am across the nation. NewsWatch regularly features top travel destinations, health tips, technology products, medical breakthroughs and entertainment news on the show. A recent addition to NewsWatch, AppWatch is a weekly segment that provides viewers app reviews and game reviews of the latest and hottest apps and games out on the market for iOS and Android devices. The show airs in 180 markets nationwide as well as all of the top 20 broadcast markets in the country, and is the preferred choice for Satellite Media Tour and Video News Release Distribution.
For more information, head to http://www.newswatchtv.com. To watch more NewsWatch segments, visit the YouTube Channel, http://www.Youtube.com/TVConsumerWatch.

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GM recalls more than 69,000 vehicles that could roll away

(Reuters) - General Motors Co is recalling more than 69,000 full-size trucks and vans globally that could roll away after being parked due to a potential steering column defect, the automaker said on Friday.
The vehicles may have been built with a fractured park lock cable or a malformed steering column lock actuator gear, and could roll away after the driver has exited the vehicle, according to documents filed with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
GM said most of the affected vehicles are believed to be still on dealer lots or in transit to dealers. It said it was not aware of any crashes or injuries related to the defect.
Only about one in 1,000 of the recalled vehicles are expected to have the defect, it said.
About 55,000 of the vehicles in the recall are in the United States, 6,310 are in Canada and 7,084 are exports, GM said. Another 670 are in Mexico.
Affected vehicles include certain 2013-model Cadillac Escalade, Escalade EXT and Escalade ESV SUVs; Chevrolet Express vans, Silverado and Avalanche pickup trucks, and Tahoe and Suburban SUVs; and GMC Savanna vans, Sierra pickup trucks, and Yukon and Yukon XL SUVs, GM said.
If the steering column defect is present, a driver could shift from "park" while the key is removed from the ignition or the key is in the "off" position, GM said. The transmission also could be shifted out of "park" with application of the brake pedal while the key is in the "off" position, or the key may be rotated to the "off" position and removed while the shifter is not in "park."
GM said the steering column will be replaced if necessary at no cost to the vehicle owner. Letters are expected to be mailed to vehicle owners alerting them to the recall beginning January 22.

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Canada jobless rate at 4-year low even as growth slows

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's economy created far more jobs than expected in December and the jobless rate slid to a four-year low, bolstering the likelihood of a central bank interest rate rise later this year.
The economy added 39,800 jobs in December from November, Statistics Canada said on Friday, well above market expectations for 5,000 jobs and surpassing even the most bullish forecast in a Reuters poll of analysts.
In a report that appeared at odds with other figures pointing to sluggish growth, Statscan said the unemployment rate dipped to 7.1 percent from 7.2 percent in November.
It was the third surprisingly strong jobs report over the past four months and contrasted with the situation in the United States, where non-farm payrolls rose a disappointing 155,000 last month.
Analysts expected little Canadian hiring in December, ahead of a recent deal by U.S. lawmakers and the White House to avert potentially crippling austerity measures due to take effect early this year.
"My initial response is not only are they defying expectations, they are defying gravity," Doug Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, said of the Canadian jobs numbers.
Canada has recovered all the jobs lost during the 2008-09 recession, although hiring has been unsteady as businesses fret about headwinds from the United States and Europe.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said those headwinds could mean more "bumps in the road" for the Canadian economy and people should not get too excited by a single month's data.
However, he noted that employment has been growing steadily for several years.
"We have more Canadians working today than ever before and we are one of the very few advanced industrial economies that can say that," Harper told reporters.
The Bank of Canada does not formally target employment and inflation has been below its 2 percent target. But the strength of the jobs market suggests the economy entered 2013 in a stronger position than other economic indicators have suggested.
"I don't think the bank will be in any rush to do anything. But it likely means they'll keep a mild hawkish bias in place," said Porter.
The Bank of Canada has held rates at 1 percent since September 2010, but has insisted for the past several months that the next move will be up, not down.
Most primary securities dealers surveyed by Reuters expect a move in the fourth quarter of this year.
Overnight index swaps, which trade based on expectations for the central bank's key policy rate, showed that traders increased bets on a rate increase in late 2013 after the employment report.
The Canadian dollar rallied after the data and at 1:20 p.m. (1820 GMT) was at $0.9866 to the U.S. dollar, or $1.0137, compared with C$0.9880, or $1.0121, at Thursday's North American close.
Another Statscan report on Friday showed producer prices fell 0.3 percent in November from October as gasoline and other fuel prices fell. Raw materials prices slid 1.9 percent. Both indices were down from a year earlier.
TOO GOOD TO LAST
Taking their cue from the U.S. jobs data, analysts forecast the latest trend of Canadian job creation would not continue.
According to Statscan, the economy churned out 59,300 jobs in November, the equivalent of 534,000 in the United States, and outsized gains in September and August. October saw a lull.
"There is still a sense that the levitation act on jobs can't continue for much longer," said Mark Chandler, head of fixed income and currency strategy at Royal Bank of Canada.
"There's still some doubt cast around these numbers even though they look solid in all the details."
Statscan's household survey tends to be volatile from month to month, so analysts prefer to look at the six-month trend, which showed average job gains of about 26,000.
In 2012 as a whole, employment grew by roughly the same amount as in 2010, 1.8 percent, or 312,000 jobs. That was up from 1.1 percent in 2011, but weaker than the pace of growth in the pre-recession years of 2006 and 2007.
Most of the details in the December report were positive. All the gains were in full-time jobs and most were in the private sector.
Employment gains were spread across goods-producing and services sectors, with the strongest hiring in transportation and warehousing, construction and health care and social assistance.
"It is very tough to reconcile this with a lot of the other indicators we are seeing on the economy, but we have to accept the numbers as presented. Almost every aspect of this report was strong," said Porter.
(Additional reporting by Alex Paterson in Ottawa and Cameron French, Andrea Hopkins, Julie Gordon and Alastair Sharp in Toronto; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Janet Guttsman and Andre

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Canada meets key aboriginal demand amid blockades

 Canada's prime minister will meet with native leaders next week to discuss social and economic issues, an olive branch to an angry aboriginal movement that has blockaded rail lines and threatened to close Canada's borders with the United States.
Stephen Harper made no mention of the aboriginal protests in a statement on Friday announcing the January 11 meeting.
But the meeting is a key demand from native Chief Theresa Spence, who has been on a hunger strike for 25 days on an island within sight of the Canadian Parliament in Ottawa.
Spence's spokesman Danny Metatawabin told reporters, on the snowy ground outside her traditional teepee, that she would continue her hunger strike until she was satisfied with the outcome of next week's meeting.
Spence's hunger strike has been one of the most visible signs of a protest movement called Idle No More, which had announced plans for blockades on Saturday all along the U.S.-Canadian border.
It was not clear if these blockades would now be called off, or if there would be any disruptions at the border crossings between the two big trading partners.
The movement is not centrally organized, and Metatawabin said he would not tell others what to do. Several hours after Harper's announcement, the Idle No More website still had a call up for blockades on Saturday.
Demonstrators blocked a Canadian National Railway Co line in Sarnia, Ontario, for about two weeks until Wednesday, and there were shorter blockades elsewhere in the country, including one that delayed passenger trains between Montreal and Toronto for several hours on Sunday.
Harper said next Friday's meeting would address economic development, aboriginal rights and the treaty relationship between the government and native groups. He described it as a follow-up to a meeting with aboriginal leaders last January as well as talks in November with Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo.
"While some progress has been made, there is more that must be done to improve outcomes for First Nations communities across Canada," Harper said in a statement.
DISMAL CONDITIONS
Many of Canada's 1.2 million aboriginals live on reserves where conditions are often dismal, with high rates of poverty, addiction and suicide.
Treaties with Ottawa signed a century ago finance their health and education in a way that many experts say is now dysfunctional.
Speaking to reporters in Oakville, Ontario, Harper sidestepped a question on whether he had agreed to the meeting because of Spence's hunger strike and fear the protests could snowball like last year's Occupy Movement.
Asked about the demonstrations, he said: "People have the right in our country to demonstrate and express their points of view peacefully as long as they obey the law, but I think the Canadian population expects everyone will obey the law in holding such protests."
Idle No More was sparked by legislation that activists say Harper rushed through Parliament without proper consultation with native groups and which affects their land and treaty rights. But it has broadened into a complaint about conditions in general for native Canadians.
In her meeting with reporters after Harper's announcement, Spence said she planned to attend the meeting in person along with three of her supporters and she wanted the governor general - Queen Elizabeth's representative - and the Ontario premier to attend as well.
She stood flanked by her daughter and several supporters, some of them holding up feathers. There were several minutes of drumming and singing before she and her spokesman began talking.
When asked what she needed to hear from the prime minister in order to start eating again, she said, "a positive result because there's a lot of issues we need to discuss" and that they should discuss the issues as equal partners.

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Report says Armstrong may confess to doping, though move could have cons and benefits

AUSTIN, Texas - Lance Armstrong is reportedly considering a change in course, dropping his years of denials and admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs.
The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported late Friday that Armstrong has told associates he is thinking about the move.
However, Armstrong attorney Tim Herman says that the cyclist hasn't reached out to USADA chief executive Travis Tygart and David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
USADA stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles last year and issued a report portraying the cyclist as the leader of a sophisticated doping operation on his winning teams.
A USADA spokeswoman declined comment on Saturday while Howman was quoted by the Sunday Star-Times in New Zealand, where he is vacationing, saying Armstrong has not approached his group.

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Lance Armstrong may admit he used banned drugs: NY Times

 Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist at the center of the biggest doping scandal in the sport's history, may admit he used performance-enhancing drugs during his career, the New York Times reported in Saturday's editions, citing unidentified sources.
Such an admission would be a stunning reversal for Armstrong, who has vehemently denied doping for years.
The Times reported that Armstrong, 41, has told associates and anti-doping officials he may make the admission in hopes of persuading anti-doping officials to allow him to resume competition in athletic events that adhere to the World Anti-Doping Code, under which Armstrong is currently subject to a lifetime ban.
Asked if Armstrong might admit to doping, Armstrong's lawyer Tim Herman told the Times: "Lance has to speak for himself on that."
The newspaper, citing an unidentified person briefed on the situation, said Armstrong has been in discussions with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and met with Travis Tygart, the agency's chief executive.
The paper, citing the same source, said Armstrong is also seeking to meet with David Howman, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
Armstrong's lawyer denied his client had talked with Tygart, according to the Times.
Howman said in a statement the agency had read "with interest" media accounts of Armstrong's possible intention to confess.
"To date, WADA has had no official approach from Mr. Armstrong or his legal representatives, but - as with anyone involved in anti-doping violations - it would welcome any discussion that helps in the fight against doping in sport," Howman said.
A spokeswoman for the USADA declined to comment.
An October 10 report from the USADA citied Armstrong's involvement in what it characterized as the "most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen," involving anabolic steroids, human growth hormone, blood transfusions and other doping.
Less than two weeks later, Armstrong's seven Tour de France victories were nullified and he was banned from cycling for life after the International Cycling Union ratified the USADA's sanctions against him.
Wealthy supporters of Livestrong, the charity Armstrong helped found, have been seeking to convince Armstrong to come forward to clear his conscience and spare the organization from further damage, the Times reported, citing a person with knowledge of the situation.
But an official with Livestrong said the group was unaware of any pressure on Armstrong by organization donors to admit anything, and declined to comment further.
Calls to Armstrong's attorney and Capital Sports & Entertainment, which represents Armstrong, were not returned on Saturday.
Austin, Texas-based Livestrong was launched in 2003 by the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which the cyclist founded in 1997, a year after he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. In October, he stepped down from his post as chairman of the board, saying he did not want the doping controversy to affect the organization. A few weeks later, he quit the board outright.
World Anti-Doping rules permit under certain circumstances penalties for admitted dopers to be reduced.

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Confess? Armstrong may not have much to gain

Lance Armstrong may be considering a change in course, dropping his years of denials and admitting that he used performance-enhancing drugs — though whether such a move would help him is uncertain.
The New York Times, citing anonymous sources, reported late Friday that Armstrong has told associates he is thinking about the move.
However, Armstrong attorney Tim Herman says that the cyclist hasn’t reached out to USADA chief executive Travis Tygart and David Howman, director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
A USADA spokeswoman declined comment on Saturday, while Howman was quoted by the Sunday Star-Times in New Zealand, where he is vacationing, saying Armstrong has not approached his group.
USADA stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles last year and issued a report portraying the cyclist as the leader of a sophisticated doping operation on his winning teams.
Public confessions and apologies have been the route of redemption for several athletes who have gotten in trouble.
For example, Tiger Woods said he was sorry for cheating on his wife in televised speech, and baseball slugger Mark McGwire eventually admitted to steroid use. Yet Armstrong faces serious legal entanglements those megastars didn’t, and a confession to doping could end up complicating matters for Armstrong — not making them easier.
The U.S. Department of Justice is considering whether to join a federal whistle-blower lawsuit filed by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis alleging fraud against the U.S. Postal Service during the years the agency sponsored Armstrong’s teams.
A Dallas-based promotions company has also said it wants to recover several million dollars paid to Armstrong in bonuses for winning the Tour de France. And the British newspaper The Sunday Times is suing to recover about $500,000 paid to Armstrong to settle a libel lawsuit.
Armstrong has testified under oath that he never used performance-enhancing drugs, which could theoretically lead to charges if he confessed. Former U.S. track star Marion Jones spent several months in federal prison for lying to investigators about her drug use.
And after so many years of vehement denials and sworn statements that he never doped, at this point, what would Armstrong gain from a confession? There would be no guarantee that his personal sponsors would return or that the public would accept it.
Is the public even interested in an Amrstrong confession?
Gene Grabowski, executive vice president of Levick, a Washington, D.C.-based crisis and issues management firm, said “it may be too little, too late because he’s been denying it for so long.”
A confession would only work to salvage Armstrong’s reputation if he accepted full responsibility and blamed no one else, Grabowski said. And it would have to include some public act of atonement.
“If he does all three, he has a shot,” Grabowski said. “You have to show people you are willing to pay a price.”
The New York Times reported the 41-year-old Armstrong may be considering a confession in an attempt to reduce his lifetime ban from cycling and Olympic sport so he can return to competing in triathlons and elite running events.
Armstrong lost most of his personal sponsorship worth tens of millions of dollars after USADA issued its report and he left the board of the Livestrong cancer-fighting charity he founded in 1997. He is still worth about a reported $100 million.
Livestrong might be one reason to issue an apology. The charity supports cancer patients and still faces an image problem because of its association with its famous founder.
And if Armstrong did confess, the corporate sponsors who abandoned him might support him again, Grabowski said.
“They’ll do what the public does,” Grabowski said.
Betsy Andreu, the wife of former Armstrong teammate Frankie Andreu, was one of the first to publicly accuse Armstrong of using performance-enhancing drugs.
She dismissed a potential confession from Armstrong as self-serving and too late.
“Sorry, your chance is over. You’re banned for life. It’s not with an asterisk, that because you are Lance Armstrong you get to come back,” Andreu said. “He does not belong in sport.

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FDA proposes sweeping new food safety rules

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration on Friday proposed the most sweeping food safety rules in decades, requiring farmers and food companies to be more vigilant in the wake of deadly outbreaks in peanuts, cantaloupe and leafy greens.
The long-overdue regulations could cost businesses close to half a billion dollars a year to implement, but are expected to reduce the estimated 3,000 deaths a year from foodborne illness. Just since last summer, outbreaks of listeria in cheese and salmonella in peanut butter, mangoes and cantaloupe have been linked to more than 400 illnesses and as many as seven deaths, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The actual number of those sickened is likely much higher.
The FDA's proposed rules would require farmers to take new precautions against contamination, to include making sure workers' hands are washed, irrigation water is clean, and that animals stay out of fields. Food manufacturers will have to submit food safety plans to the government to show they are keeping their operations clean.
Many responsible food companies and farmers are already following the steps that the FDA would now require them to take. But officials say the requirements could have saved lives and prevented illnesses in several of the large-scale outbreaks that have hit the country in recent years.
In a 2011 outbreak of listeria in cantaloupe that claimed 33 lives, for example, FDA inspectors found pools of dirty water on the floor and old, dirty processing equipment at Jensen Farms in Colorado where the cantaloupes were grown. In a peanut butter outbreak this year linked to 42 salmonella illnesses, inspectors found samples of salmonella throughout Sunland Inc.'s peanut processing plant in New Mexico and multiple obvious safety problems, such as birds flying over uncovered trailers of peanuts and employees not washing their hands.
Under the new rules, companies would have to lay out plans for preventing those sorts of problems, monitor their own progress and explain to the FDA how they would correct them.
"The rules go very directly to preventing the types of outbreaks we have seen," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods.
The FDA estimates the new rules could prevent almost 2 million illnesses annually, but it could be several years before the rules are actually preventing outbreaks. Taylor said it could take the agency another year to craft the rules after a four-month comment period, and farms would have at least two years to comply — meaning the farm rules are at least three years away from taking effect. Smaller farms would have even longer to comply.
The new rules, which come exactly two years to the day President Barack Obama's signed food safety legislation passed by Congress, were already delayed. The 2011 law required the agency to propose a first installment of the rules a year ago, but the Obama administration held them until after the election. Food safety advocates sued the administration to win their release.
The produce rule would mark the first time the FDA has had real authority to regulate food on farms. In an effort to stave off protests from farmers, the farm rules are tailored to apply only to certain fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest risk, like berries, melons, leafy greens and other foods that are usually eaten raw. A farm that produces green beans that will be canned and cooked, for example, would not be regulated.
Such flexibility, along with the growing realization that outbreaks are bad for business, has brought the produce industry and much of the rest of the food industry on board as Congress and FDA has worked to make food safer.
In a statement Friday, Pamela Bailey, president of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, which represents the country's biggest food companies, said the food safety law "can serve as a role model for what can be achieved when the private and public sectors work together to achieve a common goal."
The new rules could cost large farms $30,000 a year, according to the FDA. The agency did not break down the costs for individual processing plants, but said the rules could cost manufacturers up to $475 million annually.
FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the success of the rules will also depend on how much money Congress gives the chronically underfunded agency to put them in place. "Resources remain an ongoing concern," she said.
The farm and manufacturing rules are only one part of the food safety law. The bill also authorized more surprise inspections by the FDA and gave the agency additional powers to shut down food facilities. In addition, the law required stricter standards on imported foods. The agency said it will soon propose other overdue rules to ensure that importers verify overseas food is safe and to improve food safety audits overseas.
Food safety advocates frustrated over the last year as the rules stalled praised the proposed action.
"The new law should transform the FDA from an agency that tracks down outbreaks after the fact, to an agency focused on preventing food contamination in the first place," said Caroline Smith DeWaal of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

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Julia Roberts to star in HBO film on early AIDS epidemic

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Julia Roberts will star as a paraplegic physician treating patients early in the AIDS epidemic in the stage-to-screen adaptation of the Tony Award-winning drama "The Normal Heart," U.S. cable television network HBO said on Friday.
"The Normal Heart," set to air on HBO in 2014, tells the story of the dawning of the epidemic in 1980s New York.
Oscar-winner Roberts plays Dr. Emma Brookner, who treats several early patients infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. Co-star Mark Ruffalo plays Ned Weeks, an eyewitness to how the disease ravaged the city's gay community.
The film will be directed by "Glee" creator Ryan Murphy and was adapted by the play's author, Larry Kramer, an early advocate for AIDS prevention and care.
"Ryan has assembled an extraordinary cast to bring Larry Kramer's landmark theatrical achievement to the screen for the first time, and we couldn't be more thrilled to bring this important film to HBO," Michael Lombardo, HBO's president of programming, said in a statement.
"The Normal Heart" debuted on stage in 1985 in New York and was revived on Broadway in 2011, winning the Tony Award for best revival.
The movie version was originally envisioned as big screen release before HBO took it up as a television film.

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Bigger Brains Come At A Cost

Comparisons of different animals have shown that larger brains provide greater intelligence, but they also guzzle more energy and have other consequences. Now scientists have observed the effects of varying brain size within a single species: guppies. The work is in Current Biology. [Alexander Kotrschal et al, Artificial Selection on Relative Brain Size in the Guppy Reveals Costs and Benefits of Evolving a Larger Brain]
Swedish researchers bred two different lines of guppies, selecting one for larger brains and one for smaller. The fish quickly modified until brains were nine percent larger in the big-brained line than in the other.
Not surprisingly, when 48 guppies were given learning tests, large-brained female fish outperformed small-brained females. However, males from both lines scored about the same, possibly because the female guppies' visual system was more suited to the type of intelligence test used.
But big brains also had a downside—the brainier fish had smaller guts, by 20 percent for males and 8 percent for females. Plus, the large-brained guppies produced 19 percent fewer offspring. In order to provide energy to their bigger brains, the egghead fish made sacrifices that may be evolutionary disadvantages. It may indeed be possible to be too smart for your own good.

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Chavez swearing-in can be delayed: Venezuelan VP

CARACAS (Reuters) - President Hugo Chavez's formal swearing-in for a new six-year term scheduled for January 10 can be postponed if he is unable to attend due to his battle to recover from cancer surgery, Venezuela's vice president said on Friday.
Nicolas Maduro's comments were the clearest indication yet that the Venezuelan government is preparing to delay the swearing-in while avoiding naming a replacement for Chavez or calling a new election in the South American OPEC nation.
In power since 1999, the 58-year-old socialist leader has not been seen in public for more than three weeks. Allies say he is in delicate condition after a fourth operation in two years for an undisclosed form of cancer in his pelvic area.
The political opposition argues that Chavez's presence on January 10 in Cuba - where there are rumors he may be dying - is tantamount to the president's stepping down.
But Maduro, waving a copy of the constitution during an interview with state TV, said there was no problem if Chavez was sworn in at a later date by the nation's top court.
"The interpretation being given is that the 2013-2019 constitutional period starts on January 10. In the case of President Chavez, he is a re-elected president and continues in his functions," he said.
"The formality of his swearing-in can be resolved in the Supreme Court at the time the court deems appropriate in coordination with the head of state."
In the increasing "Kremlinology"-style analysis of Venezuela's extraordinary political situation, that could be interpreted in different ways: that Maduro and other allies trust Chavez will recover eventually, or that they are buying time to cement succession plans before going into an election.
Despite his serious medical condition, there was no reason to declare Chavez's "complete absence" from office, Maduro said. Such a declaration would trigger a new vote within 30 days, according to Venezuela's charter.
RECOVERY POSSIBLE?
Chavez was conscious and fighting to recover, said Maduro, who traveled to Havana to see his boss this week.
"We will have the Commander well again," he said.
Maduro, 50, whom Chavez named as his preferred successor should he be forced to leave office, said Venezuela's opposition had no right to go against the will of the people as expressed in the October 7 vote to re-elect the president.
"The president right now is president ... Don't mess with the people. Respect democracy."
Despite insisting Chavez remains president and there is hope for recovery, the government has acknowledged the gravity of his condition, saying he is having trouble breathing due to a "severe" respiratory infection.
Social networks are abuzz with rumors he is on life support or facing uncontrollable metastasis of his cancer.
Chavez's abrupt exit from the political scene would be a huge shock for Venezuela. His oil-financed socialism has made him a hero to the poor, while critics call him a dictator seeking to impose Cuban-style communism on Venezuelans.
Should Chavez leave office, a new election is likely to pitch former bus driver and union activist Maduro against opposition leader Henrique Capriles, the 40-year-old governor of Miranda state.
Capriles lost to Chavez in the October presidential election, but won an impressive 44 percent of the vote. Though past polls have shown him to be more popular than all of Chavez's allies, the equation is now different given Maduro has received the president's personal blessing - a factor likely to fire up Chavez's fanatical supporters.
His condition is being watched closely by Latin American allies that have benefited from his help, as well as investors attracted by Venezuela's lucrative and widely traded debt.
"The odds are growing that the country will soon undergo a possibly tumultuous transition," the U.S.-based think tank Stratfor said this week.

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Wall Street Week Ahead - "Cliff" concerns give way to earnings focus

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors' "fiscal cliff" worries are likely to give way to more fundamental concerns, like earnings, as fourth-quarter reports get under way next week.
Financial results, which begin after the market closes on Tuesday with aluminum company Alcoa , are expected to be only slightly better than the third-quarter's lackluster results. As a warning sign, analyst current estimates are down sharply from what they were in October.
That could set stocks up for more volatility following a week of sharp gains that put the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> on Friday at the highest close since December 31, 2007. The index also registered its biggest weekly percentage gain in more than a year.
Based on a Reuters analysis, Europe ranks among the chief concerns cited by companies that warned on fourth-quarter results. Uncertainty about the region and its weak economic outlook were cited by more than half of the 25 largest S&P 500 companies that issued warnings.
In the most recent earnings conference calls, macroeconomic worries were cited by 10 companies while the U.S. "fiscal cliff" was cited by at least nine as reasons for their earnings warnings.
"The number of things that could go wrong isn't so high, but the magnitude of how wrong they could go is what's worrisome," said Kurt Winters, senior portfolio manager for Whitebox Mutual Funds in Minneapolis.
Negative-to-positive guidance by S&P 500 companies for the fourth quarter was 3.6 to 1, the second worst since the third quarter of 2001, according to Thomson Reuters data.
U.S. lawmakers narrowly averted the "fiscal cliff" by coming to a last-minute agreement on a bill to avoid steep tax hikes this weeks -- driving the rally in stocks -- but the battle over further spending cuts is expected to resume in two months.
Investors also have seen a revival of worries about Europe's sovereign debt problems, with Moody's in November downgrading France's credit rating and debt crises looming for Spain and other countries.
"You have a recession in Europe as a base case. Europe is still the biggest trading partner with a lot of U.S. companies, and it's still a big chunk of global capital spending," said Adam Parker, chief U.S. equity strategist at Morgan Stanley in New York.
Among companies citing worries about Europe was eBay , whose chief financial officer, Bob Swan, spoke of "macro pressures from Europe" in the company's October earnings conference call.
REVENUE WORRIES
One of the biggest worries voiced about earnings has been whether companies will be able to continue to boost profit growth despite relatively weak revenue growth.
S&P 500 revenue fell 0.8 percent in the third quarter for the first decline since the third quarter of 2009, Thomson Reuters data showed. Earnings growth for the quarter was a paltry 0.1 percent after briefly dipping into negative territory.
On top of that, just 40 percent of S&P 500 companies beat revenue expectations in the third quarter, while 64.2 percent beat earnings estimates, the Thomson Reuters data showed.
For the fourth quarter, estimates are slightly better but are well off estimates for the quarter from just a few months earlier. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have risen 2.8 percent while revenue is expected to have gone up 1.9 percent.
Back in October, earnings growth for the fourth quarter was forecast up 9.9 percent.
In spite of the cautious outlooks, some analysts still see a good chance for earnings beats this reporting period.
"The thinking is you need top line growth for earnings to continue to expand, and we've seen the market defy that," said Mike Jackson, founder of Denver-based investment firm T3 Equity Labs.
Based on his analysis, energy, industrials and consumer discretionary are the S&P sectors most likely to beat earnings expectations in the upcoming season, while consumer staples, materials and utilities are the least likely to beat, Jackson said.
Sounding a positive note on Friday, drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co said it expects profit in 2013 to increase by more than Wall Street had been forecasting, primarily due to cost controls and improved productivity.

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GreenDeals Re-brands Marketplace as Go Green Marketplace

GreenDeals has relaunched their Marketplace for eco-friendly products under a new domain and brand, GoGreenMarketplace.com.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB) December 31, 2012
GreenDeals launched their Marketplace last month to help green minded consumers purchase green products, including eco-friendly, fair trade and organic items in one place. After extensive testing, they have decided to re-brand the GreenDeals Marketplace to the Go Green Marketplace to help differentiate its offering from its traditional eco-friendly deal site. The Go Green Marketplace will be hosted under a new domain but still be operated as an entity of GreenDeals.
The Go Green Marketplace will still allow shoppers looking for eco-friendly and organic products such as bath & body, kitchen & home, cleaning supplies and more to purchase all of these products at one website. All products are shipped out from a single warehouse to limit excessive shipping and reduce our shipping carbon footprint.
Gone are the days of searching website after website to find green products, the Go Green Marketplace is the one stop shopping experience for anything green. Shoppers can purchase green products from over a hundred companies such as Seventh Generation, Bambu, Mr. Meyer's, EcoClean, and Preserve.
The Go Green Marketplace features over 1,500 products and will add new products weekly with a goal of 20,000 green products by the end of 2013. GreenDeals Director, Jonah Mytro stated, "The re-launch of the GreenDeals Marketplace is essential to help us differentiate and grow this new website to consumers. We are anticipating the Go Green Marketplace to experience tremendous growth over the next 12 months as we expand our green product offerings."
While GreenDeals has had tremendous success offering discounts on green products, the Go Green Marketplace is ideal for consumers looking to purchase a variety of products for home, family, and gifting. Shoppers can visit the Go Green Marketplace and get free shipping with any order of at least fifty dollars.
About GreenDeals
GreenDeals launched in October 2010 to offer discounts and deals from local and national green businesses approved by Green America. GreenDeals offers daily deals, contests, content, tips, and promotes green living to thousands consumers across the US and Canada.

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Book of Mormon Tickets Remain Atop Most Popular Theatre Tickets List

The Book of Mormon continues to remain at the top of our Most Popular Theatre Tickets list, said Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. The 9-time Tony Award winning musical is currently running at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre in New York, the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago, and the Curran Theatre in San Francisco.

Denver, CO (PRWEB) January 01, 2013
This bold, bawdy, hilarious and heartfelt musical opened in February of 2011. It went on to win nine Tony Awards including Best Musical.
Now after almost two years, it continues to top popularity polls and play to sold out crowds around the country. (Source: Wikipedia.com, BuyAnySeat.com)
From the creators of “South Park and “Avenue Q”, Coloradoans Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the Book of Mormon continues to receive an almost perfect 4.9 rating from audiences, while critics give it a 4.7 out of five stars. (Source: Entertainment-link.com)
“While this musical is not appropriate for younger children, especially those in their pre-teens, adult audiences appear to appreciate the show’s explicit and irreverent content,” said Felina Martinez at online ticket marketplace BuyAnySeat.com. “We continue to see The Book of Mormon tickets at the top of our Most Popular Theatre Tickets list.”
“Through-out the Holiday season, we’ve also seen major spikes in search traffic for discount Book of Mormon tickets for the current performances in New York, Chicago and San Francisco.”

“We still have a big selection of Book of Mormon tickets available however,” said Martinez. “And we’re proud to be able to offer fans a great selection, with a worry-free guarantee to protect their purchase,” said Martinez.
“To access the complete selection of cheap Book of Mormon tickets we now have available, customers can go to BuyAnySeat.com and search for Book of Mormon – then select their tickets,” said Martinez.
The musical itself tells the tale of two mismatched missionaries sent to deepest, darkest Africa to spread the good word. Those who have seen "South Park" probably won't need any warnings, but the producers have issued a parental advisory due to `explicit language’. What happens to these asymmetric missionaries in poor, hungry, AIDS-plagued Africa is... well, R-rated.
To some reviewers, the musical’s content is both revolutionary and classic, hilarious and humane, funny and obscene. Other critics have called it blasphemous, scurrilous and more foul-mouthed than David Mamet on a blue streak – yet with a heart and soul as pure and pristine as a Rodgers and Hammerstein or Disney show.
How offensive is it? Despite its adult theme and bawdy content, Entertainment Weekly and the Salt Lake Tribute call it “surprisingly sweet”, while Vogue magazine writes that the show "starts out as a potty-mouthed buddy comedy" before "winding up as a kind of parable," and concludes that the musical's "dirty little secret is its big heart."
To shop for The Book of Mormon tickets, visit BuyAnySeat.com.
About BuyAnySeat.com: An online ticket marketplace, BuyAnySeat.com connects sports, theater and other live entertainment fans to an extensive worldwide network of ticket sellers. The site’s simplified listings and navigational tools enable fans to easily locate, compare and purchase inexpensive, discounted or lower-priced tickets to virtually all advertised sports and entertainment events around the globe. The site, which is PCI-compliant and Norton Secured, also provides customers with a complete Worry-Free Guarantee on all ticket purchases. Based in Denver, Colorado, BuyAnySeat.com is a subsidiary of Denver Media Holdings. For more information, please visit http://buyanyseat.com.
Note: Not an authorized ticket seller of the Book of Mormon.

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Breakout Consulting Offers New Clients $500 Off on Dream Client Marketing Campaign

Leading business consultancy offers businesses of all sizes to strategically target their dream client list.

(PRWEB) January 01, 2013
Breakout Consulting, a leading small business coaching and consulting firm based in Dearborn, MI is offering new clients a $500 discount on their Dream Client Marketing Campaign focused on attracting the most lucrative buyers in their marketplace. The customized marketing package includes all the research, creatives and marketing collateral necessary to execute an effective dream client or best buyer marketing strategy. Package price also includes coaching and guidance to ensure effective deployment of the campaign. New clients can expect to be interacting with prospective dream clients within 45 days of engaging Breakout Consulting for this service.
The promotional price of $495 is a 50% discount over the normal price and is offered to new clients only.
Additional details can be found on their website or by calling 313-757-1425.
About Breakout Consulting:
Breakout Consulting, LLC was founded in 2000 by Michael P. Berry, a seasoned business professional who has been involved at various levels of ownership and management in 23 different private and franchise brands. Coaching and consulting services focus on all aspects of business improvement including marketing, sales, profitability, growth, hiring, training, planning, policies and procedures for start-ups and small to medium sized businesses. Prospective clients are offered a complimentary initial consultation and receive a customized 12-point growth plan free of charge.

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More than 400 Million Devices Are Connected in U.S. Homes, According to The NPD Group

There are 425 million devices connected to the Internet in U.S. homes, according to a new Connected Intelligence report from global information company, The NPD Group.

Port Washington, New York (PRWEB) January 02, 2013
There are 425 million devices connected to the Internet in U.S. homes, according to a new Connected Intelligence report from global information company, The NPD Group. The Connected Home report found that while computers are still the primary connected device, numerous others are diminishing the computer’s relevance to the broadband content marketplace. This trend is being fueled by devices such as gaming consoles and Blu-ray Disc players adding to the number of Internet connected HDTVs, and the connectivity piped directly to the TV itself. Strong consumer retail sales in developing categories such as tablets and smartphones are also impacting the traditional computer’s share of Internet connected devices.
By the end of 2013, a shift towards more screen-sharing across devices is expected. Smaller screens such as the smartphone have the greatest reach now with an estimated 133 million users, with tablets contributing another 31.8 million screens. The development of the shared screen experience, by throwing content from a smaller screen to the TV, is converging device ecosystems and will allow for over-the-top content to become even more prominent on the TV.
“Mobile is adding another dimension powered by screen sharing technologies that allows users to project their tablet or smartphone onto their TV,” said John Buffone, director, NPD’s Connected Intelligence. “Through 2013, multi-screen and multi-device synergy will lead the growth in the broader connected device market, but only if services consumers desire are delivered in a simplistic manner. In this connected world, content providers and consumer technology OEMs need to determine the optimal mix of services and have them on the right devices.”
Are consumers embracing the ability to access apps on their TVs? Read John’s blog to find out.
Methodology

More than 4,000 U.S. consumers, age 18 and older were surveyed in the fourth quarter of 2012. The number of installed and internet connected devices includes those that deliver broadband applications such as computers, tablets, smartphones, HDTVs, Blu-ray Disc Players, video game consoles, and streaming media set top boxes. These devices must actually be connected to the Internet not just be Internet capable. Networking devices and others such as routers, modems, mobile hot spots, and pay TV set top boxes were excluded from this analysis. E-readers were also excluded due to the limited content array they offer.
About Connected Intelligence

Connected Intelligence provides competitive intelligence and insight on the rapidly evolving consumer’s connected environment. The service focuses on the three core components of the connected market: the device, the broadband access that provides the connectivity and the content that drives consumer behavior. These three pillars of the connected ecosystem are analyzed through a comprehensive review of what is available, adopted, and consumed by the customer, as well as reviewing how the market will evolve over time and what the various vendors can do to best position themselves in this evolving market. For more information: http://www.connected-intelligence.com. Follow Connected Intelligence on Twitter: @npdci.
About The NPD Group, Inc.

The NPD Group provides global information and advisory services to drive better business decisions. By combining unique data assets with unmatched industry expertise, we help our clients track their markets, understand consumers, and drive profitable growth. Sectors covered include automotive, beauty, entertainment, fashion, food / foodservice, home, office supplies, sports, technology, toys, video games, and wireless. For more information, visit npd.com and npdgroupblog.com. Follow us on Twitter: @npdtech and @npdgroup.

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