China boosts security in Tibet following protests

BEIJING?? A senior official in Chinese-ruled Tibet has ordered heightened security in Buddhist monasteries and along key roadways as the government tries to prevent protests that erupted in neighboring Tibetan communities from spreading.

Inspecting security around the Tibetan capital of Lhasa this week, the city's Communist Party secretary, Qi Zhala, warned officials and clerics at monasteries that they would be dismissed if any trouble arose and told police at a highway checkpoint to be alert for acts of sabotage.

Officials "must profoundly recognize the important significance of preserving stability in temples and monasteries," the state-run Tibet Daily on Tuesday quoted Qi as saying Monday. "Strive to realize the goal of 'no big incidents, no medium incidents and not even a small incident.'"

The exhortations underscore China's nervousness as it tries to squelch the most serious outbreak of anti-government protests among Tibetans in nearly four years.

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Tibetan areas in the neighboring province of Sichuan ? on tenterhooks for more than a year as more than a dozen monks, nuns and lay people separately set themselves on fire to protest Chinese rule ? saw large demonstrations last week. Police fired on crowds in three separate areas, leaving several Tibetans dead and injuring dozens, according to Tibet support groups outside China.

Slideshow: The Dalai Lama (on this page)

U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues Maria Otero said in a statement last week that the United States was "gravely concerned" about the reports of violence.

The violence has highlighted anew the government's failure to win over Tibetans and other ethnic minorities through policies to boost economic growth and incomes while increasing police presence and controlling religious practices to deter displays of separatism. State media announced Monday that 8,000 additional police were being recruited in Xinjiang, a traditionally Muslim region north of Tibet that has its own separatist rebellion.

Before the latest protests, Chinese security forces were already hunkering down for an annual period of tensions in Tibetan areas: the weeks between the Tibetan new year, which this year falls in late February, and a string of anniversaries in March marking previous anti-Chinese uprisings.

A crucial task for the government is to keep the protests in Sichuan from spilling into Tibet proper, especially Lhasa, home to major monasteries that have been at the forefront of previous unrest. In 2008, rioting in Lhasa left at least 22 people dead.

'Held accountable'
Among the stops Qi, the Lhasa official, made on his inspection tour was a key roadway leading from Sichuan into the capital and two major monasteries on the city's outskirts.

Qi spoke with members of the monasteries' management committees. The committees are comprised of officials and clerics that Beijing has set up in Tibetan religious institutes to purge them of followers of the Dalai Lama, the Tibetan leader in exile in India. The groups and their controls have contributed to the tensions behind the protests.

"They who do not do their jobs responsibly, if any problems happen, will be fired immediately without exception and will be strictly held accountable," Qi was quoted as saying.

Video: Dalai Lama to US: ?Keep your spirit? (on this page)

Meanwhile, an editorial in China's official English-language China Daily on Monday said exiled Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, whom Beijing brands a "splittist," was eager to stir up trouble to garner Western support.

"In today's world, a handful of extremists have the ability to cause havoc to a region or even a country," the China Daily said, adding that the Dalai Lama "is financed and supported by some Western governments and media with their own agenda against China."

"As usual, Western government officials and the self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile spared no effort in taking the opportunity to criticize the Chinese central government," the paper said.

Timeline: Life of the Dalai Lama (on this page)

The Dalai Lama fled Tibet in 1959 after a failed uprising against Chinese rule. He says he advocates a peaceful resolution of the Tibet dispute and wants authentic autonomy for Tibet, not independence.

China has ruled what it calls the Tibet Autonomous Region since Communist troops marched in in 1950. It rejects criticism that it is eroding Tibetan culture and faith, saying its rule has ended serfdom and brought development to a backward region.

The Tibetan government-in-exile has its headquarters in Dharamsala in northern India, and says it speaks for the authentic aspirations of the Tibetan people.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46200211/ns/world_news-asia_pacific/

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Twitter Posts Awful/Hilarious Recruiting Video To YouTube

Twitter has posted a seriously awful/hilarious recruiting video to YouTube, which the company says was the product of last week's "Hack Week." During this time, employees were able to take time away from their day-to-day work to collaborate on new ideas. Although it was only posted on Friday, the video has already seen over 400,000 views at the time of writing. Why so viral? Because it's parodying the entire genre of startup recruiting videos by purposefully being bad. Really, really bad. So bad it's funny. Or at least that's the hope. The video has everything: amateurish effects, cheesy music, stilted speech, bad acting, poor production quality, and sayings like:?"Man this is a sweet job. But working at Twitter isn't just a sweet job, it's a way of life - a way of life that's like a sweet job." Yeah, you pretty much have to watch this one.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/0rHlYskPYyI/

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Twitter CEO says new policy is for transparency: report (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Twitter Chief Executive Dick Costolo said the company's recently announced online content policy was meant to be a transparent way to handle government requests for the removal of certain content and did not mean it is actively monitoring Tweets, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Twitter had said last week it would begin restricting Tweets in specific countries, renewing questions about how the social media platform will handle issues of free speech as it rapidly expands its global user base.

"There's been no change in our stance ... in respect to content on Twitter," Costolo said at the "Dive Into Media" conference hosted by the website All Things D, which is owned by News Corp, the Journal reported.

Costolo said Twitter would only block Tweets locally at a government's request and would leave the Tweet up for the rest of the world. In place of the pulled Tweet would be a message that the content was removed at the request of the local government, the Journal said.

Costolo said the policy is not meant as a means for the company to get into countries where it currently does not operate, such as China or Iran.

"I don't think the current environment in China is one in which we can operate," he added.

No-one at Twitter could immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Sakthi Prasad; Editing by David Holmes)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/wr_nm/us_twitter

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Detroit's best-dressed man aims to mend Motown (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? The Big Three automakers may be on the rebound but the original Motor City, Detroit, is still battling to turn the tide of decline. One of the people leading the fight is Charles Pugh.

An ex-television broadcaster known for a swanky wardrobe and outspoken presence, he was solidly voted in as president of Detroit's city council two years ago, carrying a mandate to clean up corruption and undo decades of mismanagement. But battles over strip-club legislation, water bills and inflated budgets defined his early days in office.

"We were the public pi?ata," he recalls. "I wanted to quit."

Two years later, the auto industry's Big Three -- General Motors, Chrysler and Ford -- have moved on from the worst of the financial crisis, but the city has fallen further into the mire. With $350 million in annual retiree pension and health-care costs and a shortage of cash, Michigan state officials are considering installing an emergency manager to run the finances of the state's largest city.

Under the worst-case scenario, Pugh's city council -- which costs about $1 million per month to operate, or more than the cost of the public works department -- could be stripped of its power to approve contracts, scrutinize budgets and handle zoning issues.

Pugh, a Democrat who counts Detroit singer Aretha Franklin among his friends, has his own set of problems.

After taking a two-thirds pay cut to join government, he shelved his cable TV service, started packing his lunch and paired back cell service. It wasn't enough -- his tony midtown Detroit condo is headed back to the bank via foreclosure or short sale.

"I can no longer afford it," he said. "Going through this whole fiscal crisis with the city, I learned you can't live at your means or just above. You have to live below."

Detroit has long been in short supply of leaders willing to face up to such cold realities of life.

In 1970, Detroit was the fifth-biggest city in America with 1.5 million people. Now, it has a population of about 700,000. In recent decades, mayors and councilmembers have assumed a reversal of that ongoing population decline would spur economic revival, bolster tax revenue and repair a deteriorating quality of life.

Pugh, who is weighing a run for mayor next year, isn't sticking to the script. "We're no longer a big city ... we're going to get smaller," Pugh said. "Our population probably will end up around half a million."

DETROIT'S BEST-DRESSED MAN

That is just one of many unconventional opinions carried by the 40-year-old council president.

A lot about Charles Pugh is unorthodox. On a typical day, the Food Network plays on the city-issued television hanging in the corner of his office. Twice named Detroit's best-dressed man by an upscale magazine (once as news show host at a local Fox network affiliate, once as council chief), Pugh's look changes daily thanks to his collection of a dozen sets of designer eyeglasses, which he wears strictly for fashion purposes over a pair of contact lenses.

Weekends, he has been running the streets of Detroit to prepare for a first marathon as well as to interact with citizens. Last weekend, in the dead of winter, he ran a 20-mile route down to the city's riverfront, and back north through abandoned neighborhoods, waving and smiling to people along the way.

The following Tuesday, during a meeting with councilmembers asking them to meet with a governor-appointed task force trying to sort out Detroit's finances, Pugh veered off into a monologue about the importance of encouraging grocery stores -- of which there are alarmingly few -- to offer fresh, healthy food.

"Jenny Craig ain't got nothing on me," he said, noting that he has employed better eating habits to shed 54 pounds recently.

From his personal life to public policy, he is frequently blunt. He came out as gay in a newspaper interview in 2004, and is one of the only politicians in the city's 300-year history to challenge the traditional way of managing the water department, which is Detroit's crown jewel.

The water department collects millions in revenue from an array of cities surrounding Detroit. But that money -- and debt collected against those contracts -- can only be used to fund the water department, so city officials are essentially barred from using it to fix the fiscal crisis.

"Detroit people are forbidden from talking about anything at all that may result in relinquishing any control with our water department," he said. "But I think that we need to have a serious conversation with the public to say that our water is not helping us reduce crime, it's not helping us keep the lights on, it's not helping us keep the parks clean."

"I GET IT, I GET IT"

Brutal honesty, he says, is the product of tough lessons, one of the most formative of which came a few years ago when he went to visit his brother's family in the nearby suburb of Southgate. His brother and sister-in-law are both Detroit police sergeants and "we had a big old vicious debate" when they decided to move about 15 miles outside the city limits.

Pugh believes that one of the reasons Detroit is finding it hard to wring concessions from uniformed employees is because police and fire personnel are no longer required to live there. "I don't know that there is the same urgency."

But Pugh learned that an invitation to move back is, for now, futile. "They swayed me when I went to visit them for the first time and I watched my nieces and nephew walk leisurely down the sidewalk to the playground at the end of the block with no worries," he said. "No gunshots off in the distance, no cars doing 100 miles an hour down the street, no abandoned homes, nobody trying to sell them drugs.

"So I went 'OK, Goddamn it, I get it, I get it. This is about the kids and they can go down the street to the public school and you don't have to worry about them.'"

"WATCHDOGS"

The city's crisis may be an opportunity for Pugh to prove himself before a 2013 mayoral election in which he said he is seriously considering a run. A key challenge will be working hand-in-hand with a mayor who knows he probably wants his job.

"He's been advised to keep his distance, to not share the spotlight with Pugh, and that has hurt the process," the city council president said, referring to Mayor Dave Bing, who came to office about the same time as Pugh.

As Detroit's financial picture has darkened, the two have worked more closely. "Now the mayor and the council are united against an emergency manager," Pugh said.

He has invited himself to meetings the mayor is holding with Michigan Treasurer Andy Dillon and a team of consultants who are trying to decide if Detroit's financial situation merits an emergency manager.

Over the past two years, the council -- largely composed of young professionals who want to fix Detroit in one term -- have billed themselves as "watchdogs," repeatedly pushing the mayor for deeper cuts. "We are much more conservative than the mayor (and) that is unheard of in Detroit city politics," Pugh said. "It's odd ... but it shows that we have had to change."

(Reporting By John Stoll; Editing by David Gaffen and Maureen Bavdek)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/us_nm/us_detroit_pugh

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Hands-On With the Changers Solar Charger

I live in sunny Spain, so there’s no problem charging gadgets with solar energy pretty much all year round. The problem has been cost and practicality. Until now. For the past month or so I have been testing the Changers solar charger, a rugged, lightweight solar panel and battery. Changers comes in two main parts. [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/8JJn6V2CwHI/

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WiGig: Panasonic Tablet Wirelessly Transmits A Full DVD Video In 60 Seconds (Video)

WiGig, a multi-gigabit speed wireless communications technology, was first announced back in 2009, but it took companies like Panasonic quite a while to come up with applications that make use of it. Via WiGig, devices can communicate with each other at multi-gigabit speeds using the 60 GHz frequency band. Panasonic has developed a prototype system, in which WiGig is embedded in a tablet that can wirelessly transmit data like photos or videos to displays mounted in the passenger seats of a car that has to be nearby: while Wi-Fi typically has a transmission range of about 30m, WiGig's range is just 1-3m (Bluetooth: around 10m).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/3BQxaWxFgho/

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World stocks fall ahead of EU summit

BANGKOK (AP) ? World stock markets fell Monday, with uncertainty about a tentative deal to resolve Greece's debt crisis weighing on investor sentiment ahead of a summit of European leaders.

Benchmark oil slipped to near $99 per barrel while the dollar rose against the euro but fell against the yen.

Stock markets opened lower in Europe, where leaders gathering in Brussels for a summit on taming the continent's financial crisis were met by a nationwide strike that hobbled trains and other public transportation.

Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent to 5,707.50 and Germany's DAX lost 0.6 percent to 6,470.18. France's CAC-40 shed 0.6 percent to 3,298.07. Wall Street was also headed for a lower open, with Dow Jones industrial futures falling 0.4 percent to 12,559 and S&P 500 futures down 0.5 percent to 1,305.50.

Losses began earlier in Asia, with the investment mood dampened by Friday's release of data showing the U.S. economy grew more slowly than expected in the last three months of 2011. The economy grew at an annual rate of 2.8 percent in the October-December quarter, lower than the 3 percent that economists were expecting.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index shed 0.5 percent to close at 8,793.05. South Korea's Kospi was 1.2 percent lower at 1,940.55 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 1.7 percent to 20,160.41. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.4 percent at 4,272.70.

Benchmarks in mainland China, Singapore, Indonesia, India and the Philippines also fell. Taiwan and New Zealand rose.

European leaders were to meet later Monday in Brussels to discuss austerity and belt-tightening measures as well as a tentative deal reached Saturday between Greece and its private investors that could avert a disastrous Greek default on its debt.

If the deal holds and works, it will help prevent a potential shock to the world banking system. But it doesn't resolve the weakening economic conditions in Greece and other European nations as they rein in spending to get their debts under control.

Stan Shamu of IG Markets in Melbourne said that "the Greece debt issues will remain a source of uncertainty and might dampen the risk mood ahead of the EU summit today."

Under the agreement, investors holding 206 billion euros ($272 billion) in Greek bonds would exchange them for bonds with half the face value. The replacement bonds would have a longer maturity and pay a lower interest rate.

The deal would reduce Greece's annual interest expense from about 10 billion euros to about 4 billion euros. When the bonds mature, Greece would have to pay its bondholders only 103 billion euro.

Some analysts said stocks were taking a breather after post-New Year rallies in several markets that were spurred by signs of improvement in the U.S. economy and Europe's debt crisis stabilizing. Hong Kong's Hang Seng, for example, is up more than 11 percent since the beginning of the year. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 is 5.7 percent higher.

"Probably it's a case of the market getting a little bit tired. We've had quite a significant rally now, and that's been based on some news that was mildly encouraging out of Europe," said Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney.

"But we may have arrived at a level where the market will need a bit further concrete evidence and news to continue the rally," Spooner said.

Shares of CNK International, a South Korean mineral development company, plunged 14.9 percent after company executives were implicated in a stock manipulation scheme, Yonhap News agency said.

Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corp. plummeted 14.8 percent after the Defense Ministry and the Cabinet Satellite Intelligence Center said they would not sign contracts with the electric machinery manufacturer, which acknowledged it had overcharged on defense and space-related projects, Kyodo News agency reported.

Traders are awaiting more data this week for clues about which way the U.S. economy is headed. On Wednesday, the Institute for Supply Management will release its manufacturing index for January. The Labor Department will release monthly employment data Friday.

"Because the market has been expecting rather good economic data from the U.S. ... I am afraid if those figures disappoint the market, it may trigger further correction in the stock market," said Louis Wong, dealing director of Phillip Securities Ltd.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was down 49 cents to $99.07 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 14 cents to end at $99.56 per barrel on the Nymex on Friday.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3145 from $1.3208 late Friday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.67 yen from 76.72 yen.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-30-World-Markets/id-9be545efd5ac4573883ead62e5250701

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Neeson's 'The Grey' tops box office with $20M

NEW YORK (AP) ? Beware the Liam in Winter. Liam Neeson's "The Grey" topped the weekend box office with $20 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, continuing the actor's success as an action star in the winter months.

The Alaskan survivalist thriller opened above expectations with a performance on par with previous Neeson thrillers "Taken" and "Unknown." Those films, both January-February releases, opened with $24.7 million and $21.9 million, respectively.

But the R-rated "The Grey," which has received good reviews, drove home the strong appeal of Neeson, action star. It's an unlikely turn for the 59-year-old Neeson, previously better known for his dramatic performances, like those in "Schindler's List" and "Kinsey."

"Liam is a true movie star, period," said Tom Ortenberg, CEO of Open Road Films. It's the second release for the newly formed distributor, created by theater chains AMC and Regal.

"My guess is that Liam Neeson in action thrillers would work just about any time of year."

January is often a dumping ground for less-stellar releases, a tradition held up by two badly reviewed new wide releases: "Man on a Ledge," with Sam Worthington, and "One for the Money" with Katherine Heigl.

"One for the Money" fared better, earning $11.8 million, while "Man on a Ledge" opened with $8.3 million.

Those were reasonably solid returns, and, in an unusual twist, were both ultimately for Lions Gate Entertainment. Its film studio, Lionsgate, released the romantic comedy "One for the Money." The action thriller "Man on a Ledge" was released by Summit Entertainment, which Lions Gate bought for $412.5 million earlier this month.

"One for the Money" was helped by a promotion with Groupon, the Internet discount site, with which Lionsgate previously partnered for "The Lincoln Lawyer." David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate, said the large number of older, female subscribers of Groupon matched well with the audience of "One for the Money."

Groupon email blasts, he said, had a significant promotional effect.

Last week's box-office leader, "Underworld: Awakenings," Sony's Screen Gem's latest installment in its vampire series, came in second with $12.5 million, bringing its cumulative total to $45.1 million.

The unexpectedly large haul for "The Grey," strong holdovers (such as the George Lucas-produced World War II action film "Red Tails," which earned $10.4 million in its second week) and the bump for Oscar contending films following Tuesday's nominations added up to a good weekend for Hollywood. The box office was up about 15 percent on the corresponding weekend last year.

So far, every weekend this year has been an "up" weekend, after a somewhat dismal fourth quarter in 2011.

"'Mission: Impossible,' I think, really helped reinvigorate the marketplace, and that's carried over into the first part of the year," said Paul Dergarabedian, box-office analyst for Hollywood.com. "That's good news for Hollywood after the down-trending box office of 2011."

Oscar favorites "The Descendants," ''Hugo" and "The Artist" sought to capitalize on their recent Academy Awards nominations. Each expanded to more theaters and saw an uptick in business.

Fox Searchlight's "The Descendants," which is nominated for five Oscars including best picture, added 1,441 screens in its 11th week of release. It added $6.6 million and has now made $58.8 million, making it one of Fox Searchlight's most successful releases.

Sheila DeLoach, senior vice president of distribution for Fox Searchlight, said the film's nominations and its recent Golden Globes wins (for best drama and best actor, George Clooney) "played a big role" in its weekend box office.

Paramount's "Hugo," which led Oscar nominations with 11 including best picture, saw a 143 percent jump in business over its last weekend. In its tenth week of release, it earned $2.3 million, bringing its total to $58.7 million.

The Weinstein Co.'s "The Artist," with 10 Oscar nominations including best picture, expanded a modest 235 screens to bring it to a total of 897 screens in its 10th week of release. It earned $3.3 million, with a total of $16.7 million.

The Weinstein Co. is being careful with the black-and-white, largely silent film. Thus far, it has appealed particularly to older audiences.

"It's not the same type of picture as any other picture in the marketplace," said Erik Loomis, head of distribution for the Weinstein Co. "Now that the nominations are out, we're going to look to capitalize on it as best we can. ... We're being very, very meticulous with it. We're not throwing it out there and grabbing every theater we can. At some point, we'll open the floodgates on the movie, maybe closer to the awards."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. "The Grey," $20 million.

2. "Underworld: Awakening," $12.5 million.

3. "One for the Money," $11.8 million.

4. "Red Tails," $10.4 million.

5. "Man on a Ledge," $8.3 million.

6. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," $7.1 million.

7. "The Descendants," $6.6 million.

8. "Contraband," $6.5 million.

9. "Beauty and the Beast," $5.3 million.

10. "Haywire," $4 million.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com/boxoffice

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by Rainbow Media Holdings, a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corp.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/495d344a0d10421e9baa8ee77029cfbd/Article_2012-01-29-US-Box-Office/id-3a45dd8e69224f159d9850fb268e5b4f

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Giuliana Rancic: "Made a Choice to Live"

Just six weeks after her double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery, Giuliana Rancic is making strides to reclaim her life.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/giuliana-rancic-recovering-breast-cancer/1-a-422816?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Agiuliana-rancic-recovering-breast-cancer-422816

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Twitter's new censorship plan rouses global furor (AP)

NEW YORK ? Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage Friday after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws.

It was a stunning role reversal for a youthful company that prides itself in promoting unfettered expression, 140 characters at a time. Twitter insisted its commitment to free speech remains firm, and sought to explain the nuances of its policy, while critics ? in a barrage of tweets ? proposed a Twitter boycott and demanded that the censorship initiative be scrapped.

"This is very bad news," tweeted Egyptian activist Mahmoud Salem, who operates under the name Sandmonkey. Later, he wrote, "Is it safe to say that (hash)Twitter is selling us out?"

In China, where activists have embraced Twitter even though it's blocked inside the country, artist and activist Ai Weiwei tweeted in response to the news: "If Twitter censors, I'll stop tweeting."

One often-relayed tweet bore the headline of a Forbes magazine technology blog item: "Twitter Commits Social Suicide"

San Francisco-based Twitter, founded in 2006, depicted the new system as a step forward. Previously, when Twitter erased a tweet, it vanished throughout the world. Under the new policy, a tweet breaking a law in one country can be taken down there and still be seen elsewhere.

Twitter said it will post a censorship notice whenever a tweet is removed and will post the removal requests it receives from governments, companies and individuals at the website chillingeffects.org.

The critics are jumping to the wrong conclusions, said Alexander Macgilliviray, Twitter's general counsel.

"This is a good thing for freedom of expression, transparency and accountability," he said. "This launch is about us keeping content up whenever we can and to be extremely transparent with the world when we don't. I would hope people realize our philosophy hasn't changed."

Some defenders of Internet free expression came to Twitter's defense.

"Twitter is being pilloried for being honest about something that all Internet platforms have to wrestle with," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "As long as this censorship happens in a secret way, we're all losers."

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland credited Twitter with being upfront about the potential for censorship and said some other companies are not as forthright.

As for whether the new policy would be harmful, Nuland said that wouldn't be known until after it's implemented.

Reporters Without Borders, which advocates globally for press freedom, sent a letter to Twitter's executive chairman, Jack Dorsey, urging that the censorship policy be ditched immediately.

"By finally choosing to align itself with the censors, Twitter is depriving cyberdissidents in repressive countries of a crucial tool for information and organization," the letter said. "Twitter's position that freedom of expression is interpreted differently from country to country is unacceptable."

Reporters Without Borders noted that Twitter was earning praise from free-speech advocates a year ago for enabling Egyptian dissidents to continue tweeting after the Internet was disconnected.

"We are very disappointed by this U-turn now," it said.

Twitter said it has no plans to remove tweets unless it receives a request from government officials, companies or another outside party that believes the message is illegal. No message will be removed until an internal review determines there is a legal problem, according to Macgilliviray.

"It's a thing of last resort," he said. "The first thing we do is we try to make sure content doesn't get withheld anywhere. But if we feel like we have to withhold it, then we are transparent and we will withhold it narrowly."

Macgilliviray said the new policy has nothing to do with a recent $300 million investment by Saudi billionaire Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Mac or any other financial contribution.

In its brief existence, Twitter has established itself as one of the world's most powerful megaphones. Streams of tweets have played pivotal roles in political protests throughout the world, including the Occupy Wall Street movement in the United States and the Arab Spring uprisings in Egypt, Bahrain, Tunisia and Syria.

Indeed, many of the tweets calling for a boycott of Twitter on Saturday ? using the hashtag (hash)TwitterBlackout ? came from the Middle East.

"This decision is really worrying," said Larbi Hilali, a pro-democracy blogger and tweeter from Morocco. "If it is applied, there will be a Twitter for democratic countries and a Twitter for the others."

In Cuba, opposition blogger Yoani Sanchez said she would protest Saturday with a one-day personal boycott of Twitter.

"Twitter will remove messages at the request of governments," she tweeted. "It is we citizens who will end up losing with these new rules ... ."

In the wake of the announcement, cyberspace was abuzz with suggestions for how any future country-specific censorship could be circumvented. Some Twitter users said this could be done by employing tips from Twitter's own help center to alter one's "Country" setting. Other Twitter users were skeptical that this would work.

While Twitter has embraced its role as a catalyst for free speech, it also wants to expand its audience from about 100 million active users now to more than 1 billion. Doing so may require it to engage with more governments and possibly to face more pressure to censor tweets; if it defies a law in a country where it has employees, those people could be arrested.

Theoretically, such arrests could occur even in democracies ? for example, if a tweet violated Britain's strict libel laws or the prohibitions in France and Germany against certain pro-Nazi expressions.

"It's a tough problem that a company faces once they branch out beyond one set of offices in California into that big bad world out there," said Rebecca MacKinnon of Global Voices Online, an international network of bloggers and citizen journalists. "We'll have to see how it plays out ? how it is and isn't used."

MacKinnon said some other major social networks already employ geo-filtering along the lines of Twitter's new policy ? blocking content in a specific jurisdiction for legal reasons while making it available elsewhere.

Many of the critics assailing the new policy suggested that it was devised as part of a long-term plan for Twitter to enter China, where its service is currently blocked.

China's Communist Party remains highly sensitive to any organized challenge to its rule and responded sharply to the Arab Spring, cracking down last year after calls for a "Jasmine Revolution" in China. Many Chinese nonetheless find ways around the so-called Great Firewall that has blocked social networking sites such as Facebook.

Google for several years agreed to censor its search results in China to gain better access to the country's vast population, but stopped that practice two years after engaging in a high-profile showdown with Chain's government. Google now routes its Chinese search results through Hong Kong, where the censorship rules are less restrictive.

Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt declined to comment on Twitter's action and instead limited his comments to his own company.

"I can assure you we will apply our universally tough principles against censorship on all Google products," he told reporters in Davos, Switzerland.

Google's chief legal officer, David Drummond, said it was a matter of trying to adhere to different local laws.

"I think what they (Twitter officials) are wrestling with is what all of us wrestle with ? and everyone wants to focus on China, but it is actually a global issue ? which is laws in these different countries vary," Drummond said.

"Americans tend to think copyright is a real bad problem, so we have to regulate that on the Internet. In France and Germany, they care about Nazis' issues and so forth," he added. "In China, there are other issues that we call censorship. And so how you respect all the laws or follow all the laws to the extent you think they should be followed while still allowing people to get the content elsewhere?"

Craig Newman, a New York lawyer and former journalist who has advised Internet companies on censorship issues, said Twitter's new policy and the subsequent backlash are both understandable, given the difficult ethical issues at stake.

On one hand, he said, Twitter could put its employees in peril if it was deemed to be breaking local laws.

"On the other hand, Twitter has become this huge social force and people view it as some sort of digital town square, where people can say whatever they want," he said. "Twitter could have taken a stand and refused to enter any countries with the most restrictive laws against free speech."

___

Associated Press writers Paul Schemm in Rabat, Morocco; Michael Liedtke in San Francisco; Peter Orsi in Havana, Cuba; Cara Anna in New York and Ben Hubbard in Cairo contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120128/ap_on_hi_te/us_twitter_censorship

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Activists report 'terrifying massacre' in Syria

BEIRUT?? Updated at 3:15 a.m. ET: Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, describes the killings of at least 35 people in the city of Homs as a "terrifying massacre."

Videos posted online from activists showed the bodies of children wrapped in plastic bags lined up next to each other. Another video shows women and children with bloodied faces and clothes and in a house, with the narrator saying an entire family with its children had been "slaughtered."

The videos could not be independently verified.

The U.N. Security Council meets on Friday to discuss the next move on Syria and council envoys said members will be given a new Western-Arab draft resolution that supports the Arab League's call for President Bashar Assad to transfer his powers to his deputy.

The resolution calls for Assad's deputy to set up a unity government and prepare for elections after a ten-month crackdown.

The Security Council could vote as early as next week on the resolution, which diplomats from Britain and France are crafting in consultation with Qatar, Morocco, the United States, Germany and Portugal, envoys said. It replaces a Russian text that Western diplomats say is too weak.

The Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella group of activists, both said the death toll in Homs was at least 35, but the reports could not be confirmed. The groups cited a network of activists on the ground in Syria.

The Observatory said 29 people were killed in the religiously mixed Karm el-Zaytoun neighborhood of Homs on Thursday, including eight children, most of them when a building came under heavy mortar and machine gunfire.

Residents spoke of another massacre that took place when shabiha ? armed regime loyalists ? stormed the district, slaughtering residents in an apartment, including children.

"It's racial cleansing," said one resident of Karm el-Zaytoun, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. "They are killing people because of their sect," he said.

Published at 4:30 a.m. ET: Dozens of people were killed in a day of relentless violence in the restive Syrian city of Homs, two activist groups said on Friday.

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Two activist groups said the death toll in Homs on Thursday was at least 35, but the reports could not be confirmed. Details about the bloodshed were only emerging Friday.

Witnesses on the ground told The Associated Press they were still gathering information but that the city was rocked by sectarian killings, gunfire and explosions for much of Thursday.

Many of the reported victims were inside a building in the Karm el-Zaytoun neighborhood, the AP reported. Activists say at least 22 civilians were killed in the building, including children.

Outside Syria's capital, suburbs look like war zone

The Local Coordination Committees said in an email sent to news media that a total of 65 people were killed in Syria Thursday.

Interactive: Young and restless: Demographics fuel Mideast protests (on this page)

"Among them were 10 children, 4 women and 8 defected military soldier, they were martyred on Thursday by the bullets of security forces and the heavy weaponry of the military," the email said.

Family: US-born student held in Syria set free

The Syrian uprising against the Bashar Assad regime began last March with largely peaceful anti-government protests, but it has grown increasingly militarized in recent months.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46160189/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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Polish Politicians Don Anonymous Masks To Protest EU Counterfeiting Agreement [Image Cache]

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA to its friends, is coming under fire in the EU from those who fear it will lead to online censorship. But it's recieved particular attention from the public of Poland, and that's been reflected by some of the nation's politicians. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/w5L35dDb8ts/polish-politicians-don-anonymous-masks-to-protest-eu-counterfeiting-agreement

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World stocks slide as US growth data disappoint (AP)

LONDON ? World stocks turned lower on Friday after official data showed the U.S. economic recovery was not as fast as many had hoped.

The Commerce Department said that the U.S. economy, the world's largest, grew at a modest 2.8 percent in the final three months of last year. While that is the fastest growth in 2011, economists had expected growth of 3 percent.

A cut in government spending was offset partly by a rise in inventories, which are expected to slow back down in the early months of 2012, hurting growth. After that, "growth will pick up again by late spring," said Harm Bandholz, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit Bank.

With the data suggesting the U.S. recovery would continue to be a slow process, investors sold off stocks to cash in on gains made so far this month.

Britain's FTSE 100 was down 1.0 percent to 5,735.64 while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent at 6,508.98 and France's CAC-40 lost 1.2 percent to 3,322.46. The euro was up 0.3 percent at $1.3142.

Wall Street edged lower on the open ? the Dow Jones industrial average fell 44 points to 12,691 and the S&P 500 3 points to 1,315.

Other economic and corporate news released Friday contributed to sour market sentiment.

Consumer products maker Procter & Gamble Co. cut its earnings outlook and Ford Motor Co. fell short of Wall Street expectations, while Japanese games and electronics companies Nintendo and NEC issued profit warnings.

In Europe, traders digested grim statistics from Spain showing more than 5 million people without jobs. The National Statistics Institute said the jobless rate shot up from 21.5 percent ? already the highest in the eurozone ? to 22.8 percent in the fourth quarter.

Attention was also focused on the resumption of talks to reach a deal on how Greece can avoid a catastrophic default on its debt. Greece and its bailout rescuers ? other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund ? are asking private creditors to swap their Greek bonds for new ones with a lower value, interest rate and much longer maturity.

The two sides have so far disagreed over what interest rate the new bonds should take. Some negotiators have said they hope to have a deal this weekend, in time for a European leaders' meeting on Monday.

While investors appear to expect a deal at some point ? the euro was up and eurozone borrowing rates were down, suggesting a steady increase in confidence ? some worried that the crisis was far from over.

Portugal's markets have worsened in recent days on fears that its austerity efforts will not be enough to achieve its deficit-reduction targets and that it may end up like Greece, needing a second bailout effort and possibly a debt writedown.

Getting economies like Portugal to grow is fast becoming a priority and is expected to be one of the main topics of discussion at the European leaders' summit in Brussels on Monday.

Earlier in the day, Asian markets showed little momentum ahead of the weekend.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.1 percent to close at 8,841.22 while South Korea's Kospi rose 0.4 percent to 1,964.83. Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.3 percent to 20,501.67 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.4 percent to 4,288.40.

Japanese exporters continued to be hit by a strong yen, which reduces the value of repatriated profits. The dollar fell to 76.81 yen from 77.49 yen.

Nintendo Corp., the Japanese gaming giant behind the Super Mario and Pokemon games, plummeted 4.1 percent, a day after it lowered its annual earnings forecast to a 65 billion yen ($844 million) loss. The company blamed the strong yen for much of the loss.

Japanese electronics company NEC Corp. plummeted 7.1 percent after announcing Thursday that it was slashing 10,000 jobs worldwide and would slide into the red for the full year.

Benchmark oil for March delivery was down 20 cents at $99.50 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 30 cents to finish at $99.70 per barrel on the Nymex on Thursday.

___

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress (Powerlineblog)

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In Northeast Greenhouse Gas Group, Many Unsold Allowances

[unable to retrieve full-text content]The Greenhouse Gas Initiative involving Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states has cut the number of allowances power companies can use to offset emissions.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=28048d0ff43c2ad66b7435333f22fc0a

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Samsung's earnings call liveblog

Do you like numbers? What if we said those numbers were amounts of money -- very large sums of money? If we've caught your attention, then perhaps you'd like to join us as we bring you Samsung's earnings call live, straight into your eye holes courtesy of our fancy new liveblog viewer. Click on through and join on. We promise your net fun ratio will be in the positive.

Continue reading Samsung's earnings call liveblog

Samsung's earnings call liveblog originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Newt Vs. Reagan, The Sequel (Powerlineblog)

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RFK's wife stars in daughter's 'Ethel' at Sundance (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Ethel Kennedy prefers coming to the Sundance Film Festival when she's not the star of a movie.

She has been to Sundance in the past to see films by her daughter, documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy. This time, the widow of U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy is the focus of her daughter's film, the Sundance premiere "Ethel."

Ethel Kennedy said she likes it better coming to Sundance "just to see Rory's films."

Though initially reluctant when her daughter proposed the documentary, Ethel Kennedy opens up on screen with candid recollections about the family, including falling in love at first sight with her future husband on a ski trip to Canada.

"He was standing in front of an open fireplace," she said in an interview alongside her daughter. "I walked in the door and turned and saw him, and I thought, `whoa.'"

In the film, Ethel Kennedy discusses campaigning for her husband and his brother, President John F. Kennedy, the similarities and differences between her family and the Kennedy clan, and raising 11 children after her husband's assassination in 1968.

At the time, she was pregnant with Rory Kennedy, her youngest child, who was born six months after her father's death.

As a widow with such a big family, Ethel Kennedy said she coped simply by going about what she needed to do in tending her children.

"After Rory was born, it was ? life just happened to take care of daily living, which almost had practically nothing to do with me," she said. "I just started taking carpools in the morning, and by the time I was finished dropping the last child off, I'd pick up the first one. And then, you know, I'm putting on all the galoshes. Well, you get the idea."

In "Ethel," airing later this year on HBO, Rory Kennedy coaxes sweet, sad and funny anecdotes out of her mother and her siblings. The Kennedys recollect their mother's devotion to steeping the children in world affairs, her mischievous sense of humor and her rebellious streak that led to run-ins with the law, such as the time she was charged with rustling horses after freeing some mistreated animals.

Through photos and home movies, the film offers an intimate look at the life of the Kennedys, the family relating how Robert Kennedy and his children slid down a bannister in the White House after his brother was elected and how the president once cautioned his fun-loving sister-in-law not to push his Cabinet members into the swimming pool anymore.

In front of her daughter's camera, Ethel Kennedy is unable to discuss the grief over her husband's death.

"When we lost Daddy ..." she begins, then tears up and tells her daughter, "Talk about something else."

Rory Kennedy, whose past Sundance documentaries include the Emmy-winning "Ghosts of Abu Ghraib," said "Ethel" probably was her most challenging film because it was so personal.

"I know my mother and she is just terrific, and I have such admiration and respect for her. She's such a character, too. I really think she's one of the great untold stories, not just because of all of the events she's lived through," Rory Kennedy said. "But also because she's just such a wonderful person, and I hope that comes across in the film. She's so funny, and she is such an inspiration to me. Our family knows my mother, our close friends know her, but to be able to share her with so many other people I think was important."

___

Online:

http://www.sundance.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_en_ot/us_film_sundance_ethel_kennedy

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With UFC on Fox 2 on deck, UFC on Fox 3 taking shape on same night as proposed Floyd Mayweather fight

The Fox/UFC deal is moving ahead full bore.

Heavy promotion for this weekend's second network TV card is underway, a cool new commercial with Jon Jones debuted over the weekend and last night, Dana White confirmed fights for the next MMA appearance on Fox.

That May date is interesting because it's the same night Floyd Mayweather is planning on fighting on pay-per-view in Las Vegas.

Mayweather got out of his 90-day jail sentence by saying he had a contracted fight for May 5. He has to fight that night or he violates the terms of his agreement. Mayweather is now due to check into the Clark County Detention Center on June 1.

Before anyone starts asking why the UFC is competing with a huge boxing PPV, the MMA card starts much earlier and ends before the Mayweather tilt would begin at roughly 11:30 p.m. ET. It serves as a great fight night for combat sports fans.

Miller gets to fight in his backyard in East Rutherford, N.J. He grew up in nearby Sparta.

From a contender standpoint Diaz, is an obvious choice. From a promotional standpoint, he presents a challenge. He's nowhere near as truculant as his brother Nick, but it's been established Nate isn't exactly fond doing tons of media work either. It should be interesting to follow how the 26-year-old handles some of the extra duties that come with fighting on network television.

The UFC's recent visits to the Garden State were at The Prudential Center. It appears nothing is currently scheduled at "The Rock" on on that Saturday night. It is a busy week though with Bruce Springsteen playing the arena on Tuesday and Friday night nouses The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The card will also include the UFC mini-tournament in the new 125-pound weight class. John Dodson will face Darren Uyenoyama.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fox-2-days-away-ufc-fox-3-160100858.html

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Delivering Automotive Parts | Automotive Care and Options

Are you a breakers? yard or breaking an automotive company looking to get your parts Delivered around the country? Manufacturer of new car parts? The automotive solution delivery needn?t Break the Bank!

Some creative thinking With your automotive Deliveries take place Can Quickly and easily.

First thing is to Establish size and weight. If it?s a small part like a headlight it go via Royal Mail dog if Carefully packaged. Remember though, if it?s worth more Than ? 2.500 Then A Same Day With A dedicated courier vehicle is the better option for insurance purposes.

If it?s an engine, Then May Provide a pallet network Part of the Solution Depending on the weight of the engine. The condition Also plays a part. All liquids drained from the must-be engine. Aside from the Fact That Containing an engine oil can still make an horrendous mess in the back of the vehicle couriers, It Can Also count as Hazardous chemicals and normal preventive Same Day courier from moving it (They Have Hazardous chemicals unless or dangerous goods training ). Check With Your supplier first, if you are not breaking the vehicle yourself.

Engine oil / engine fluids or not? If you are not sure, ask your local courier company and They Can Advise you.

If your car or truck part is long But light, parcel carrier to be the right kind May of service for you. Remember though parcel networks or Have a height and length restriction is anything over 1.5 meters Generally a problem for them. Multi dropping the parts by Hiring the Same day courier for the day is an excellent option if you Have lots of items to be sized These Delivered to Various Locations.

If the delivery is non urgent Then your car bonnet or bumper Could co-loading via With A Same Day courier. This Means your delivery option May take Longer to arrive But You Would Have The Advantage of a value for money service provided by a Same Day Courier Service Rather Than the parcel provided by a network. Please note marking your goods ?fragile? can be a challenge to the handlers of your package, you only see the footprints to Have On Some packaging to know your car parts arrive in May not one piece. Whilst the parcel couriers are insured, You Will Need to double check for second hand parts, as Often Does the insurance cover Them.

If your automotive parts to reach an Ongoing Have vehicle trunk Then a Same Day Courier is vital to your business. Deadlines and port windows are missed Rarely When booking an express delivery service. If your courier company is using a satellite tracking system You Can Then down to the minute time When Will your parts arrive, and route traffic around troublesome spots.

Source: http://www.mountaineyemedia.org/articles/delivering-automotive-parts.html

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E.U. Oil Embargo: Will Iran Discard Its Nuclear Ambitions? (Time.com)

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The European Union has raised the stakes in the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. E.U. Foreign Ministers on Monday adopted the most far-reaching package of sanctions yet on the Islamic Republic, including an embargo on the oil exports that are Iran's economic lifeline and measures against the country's central bank that will restrict its ability to engage in international trade. European governments have now adopted an immediate ban on all new oil contracts with Iran, and a gradual phaseout of existing contracts between now and July 1. The measures also ban trade in all petrochemical products, gold, precious metals, diamonds, banknotes and coins.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the oil embargo was part of "an unprecedented set of sanctions," and he urged Iran to "come to its senses" and resume negotiations on its nuclear program. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the concern underlying the new measures was "not a question of security in the region, it is a question of security in the world." And E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the sanctions aimed to "make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table." Although Iranian officials have signaled a readiness to hold new talks, Ashton says Tehran has not yet formally responded to the letter she sent in October calling for a new meeting between Iran and the group known as the P5+1, comprising the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

Adopting the new measures carries a significant cost for Europe. The top European customers for Iranian oil are also those currently facing the most serious financial crises: Greece buys about one-third of its oil imports from Iran, while Italy and Spain each rely on Tehran for a little over 10% of their own supply. Although Saudi Arabia and other suppliers are expected to fill any shortfall in available output, the International Energy Agency has warned that replacing Iranian oil will not be an easy task for Europe. (Read "Amid New Sanctions, Obama Confronts the Challenges of Diplomacy with Iran.")

But the key question is the effect sanctions will have on Iran. Oil accounts for around 90% of all Iranian exports to the E.U., and European countries together make up Tehran's second largest market after China. More broadly, oil makes up over three-quarters of Iran's total economic output, and the country sells roughly 2.5 million barrels a day, with Europe accounting for about one-quarter of it last year. Indeed, Iran is already suffering from the existing European and American sanctions: the Iranian rial has fallen about 40% against the dollar since December, inflation is at 40%, and youth unemployment is at around 50%.

One way Iran may try to offset the impact of the European embargo is by selling more oil to China, India and other Asian countries, inducing them by offering major discounts -- a possibility made easier for Iran while the price remains above $100 per barrel. For that reason, Western powers hope to persuade Asian countries to reduce their own purchases from Iran.

Yet all this effort may still fail to dissuade Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions. Sanctions are often a blunt political instrument: even if they succeed in imposing significant costs on the regime and exacerbating public frustration over economic hardships, they could further entrench Tehran's regime and its intransigence. Says Paul Stevens, a senior research fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank: "Given the crucial role of oil in Iran's deepest political DNA, the E.U. embargo would put the population solidly behind the current regime. It would greatly strengthen the Ahmadinejad regime at a time when it is under considerable pressure, especially with parliamentary elections looming in March." (See photos of Iranian protesters storming the British embassy.)

The new sanctions come just as a U.S. naval flotilla accompanied by British and French warships is patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, inevitably ratcheting up tensions. Two Iranian lawmakers on Monday responded to the E.U. decision by threatening to close the strait, through which some 40% of the world's oil shipments pass en route to market. Despite the new sanctions, however, some analysts maintain Tehran is more likely to heed the threat of military action. European Council on Foreign Relations policy fellow Richard Gowan warns, "It's hard to believe that these sanctions will cause Iran to discard its nuclear ambitions. Iran will remain much more focused on decisionmaking in Israel and the U.S. over the possibility of a military strike this year."

E.U. officials accept that sanctions are no silver bullet. But coupled with robust diplomacy and a credible military presence in the region, they believe economic pressures can create diplomatic leverage. The problem for the West is what happens if Iran fails to buckle as sanctions reach their peak.

J?rg Himmelreich, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund in Berlin, says the measures can only buy time. "At best, sanctions might force a change of regime, but not the nuclear program, which reflects a widely shared sense national pride and self-consciousness," he says. "It may be pessimistic, but I see the next step as accepting Iran as a nuclear power." If that is the way the Iran conundrum is heading, Europe's sanctions may simply be the last throw of the dice.

See photos of smuggling activities between Iran and Iraq.

View this article on Time.com

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20120126/wl_time/08599210515300

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