Egypt's new PM says army to give him extra powers (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? Egypt's new prime minister said on Tuesday the ruling army would grant him extra powers, and appointed a finance minister along with most other cabinet members, state media reported.

Kamal al-Ganzouri has been struggling to put together a cabinet since Egypt's military rulers brought him out of retirement to lead a new interim government nearly two weeks ago.

State television on Tuesday confirmed Ganzouri's appointment of Mumtaz al-Saeed as finance minister, but said two portfolios, including the powerful interior ministry, had yet to be filled.

The new interior minister would be announced when the cabinet takes the oath of office on Wednesday, it said.

Ganzouri told a news conference the army would issue a decree "this evening or tomorrow" to hand the premier presidential powers "except those concerning the judiciary and armed forces." He gave no further detail.

The appointment of Ganzouri, 78, has been criticized by protesters seeking a full purge of the system because he served as prime minister in the 1990s under ousted Hosni Mubarak.

The military itself has jealously shielded its own broad interests from civilian oversight. But, under pressure from protests, the army has said it would cede power to civilians in mid-2012 after a presidential vote, sooner than it had planned.

A senior leader in the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, which secured the biggest chunk of votes in first round of a parliamentary election, said it was reviewing Ganzouri's statement on being granted more powers.

The group has played down suggestions that Islamists would try to dominate parliament when it gets to work after the staggered election is completed in January.

It promised Egyptians voting in a run-off on Tuesday it would work in a broad coalition if its party wins elections.

DELAYS

The announcement of the government was postponed from Sunday to Wednesday, Ganzouri said, because of difficulties in appointing a new interior minister hours before the parliamentary election's first stage run-offs.

Ganzouri said his "government of national salvation" would concentrate on Egypt's security and its economy.

The new interior minister should focus on crime, he said, apparently seeking to allay criticism that the police have been more keen on cracking down on political dissent than on keeping Egypt's streets safe in the chaos that followed the uprising.

The new finance minister, Saeed, is a finance ministry veteran who was pulled out of retirement to serve as deputy to outgoing Finance Minister Hazem el-Beblawi, who was appointed in July, a ministry source said.

"He is a very meticulous civil servant," said the source, adding Saeed was well-versed in all aspects of the ministry's work. "He knows every bit of the ministry," the source added.

About half the cabinet have kept the posts they had under the outgoing premier, Essam Sharaf. Two of the ministers served when Mubarak was still in office and have survived successive reshuffles.

Critics accused Sharaf's cabinet of not carrying out deep enough reforms of the police force, which was hated for the way it crushed dissent under Mubarak. Police were accused of heavy-handed tactics in violent clashes with demonstrators last month.

The protests pushed the army to accept the resignation of Sharaf's cabinet.

Protesters in Cairo and other cities demanding an immediate end to military rule faced teargas, pellets and rubber bullets in clashes that killed 42 people. They also accused police of firing live rounds. Officials denied this.

Politicians have also accused the army of meddling in economic policy, particularly over whether or not Egypt will sign up to a $3.2 billion financing facility from the International Monetary Fund to supports its battered economy.

Egypt first negotiated the facility this year but turned it down in the summer in part because the then finance minister said the army did not want to build up debts. The next minister said Egypt was inclined to take the funds, but the incoming minister has now said Cairo is not ready to decide.

A senior army finance official said this month that Egypt did not want foreign borrowing because it came with too many political strings attached.

(Additional reporting by Ahmed Tolba and Ali Abdulaty; Writing by Patrick Werr and Edmund Blair, Editing by Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111206/wl_nm/us_egypt

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Napster name will live on to irritate Lars Ulrich another day in UK, Germany

Those who declared the death of Napster have apparently underestimated the survival skills of the plucky headphone-wearing feline. The piracy-enabler-turned-legit-streaming-service will continue to live on under that moniker in the UK and Germany, in spite of its being swallowed up by the Rhapsody name here in the States, according to the company.

Napster name will live on to irritate Lars Ulrich another day in UK, Germany originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 05 Dec 2011 19:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bat Ears Deform For Better Ping Pickups

60-Second Science | More Science

Slow motion video and high resolution imaging show that horseshoe bats can deform the shape of their outer ears for superior echolocation. Cynthia Graber reports.

December 2, 2011?|

More 60-Second Science

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Bat see with their ears. Which are highly attuned to pick up minute variations in the reflection of the sound pulses they use to echolocate. Here are some pulses, slowed down. [Bat sound.]

And now researchers have shown that horseshoe bats can manipulate the shape of their ears in milliseconds to better catch those bouncing sound waves.

Horseshoe bats had been known to move their entire outer ear, or pinna. But scientists wondered whether the motion was a generalized swiveling of the entire ear?the way a cat can point its whole ear in a specific direction?or whether the bats could delicately manipulate the shape of the pinnae.

The researchers analyzed the pinnae with high-speed video and high-resolution imaging. And they found that the pinnae could move from upright to bent and back again within a tenth of a second, less than the blink of an eye. The study appeared in the journal Physical Review Letters. [Li Gao et al, Ear Deformations Give Bats a Physical Mechanism for Fast Adaptation of Ultrasonic Beam Patterns]

The changes in the deformation of the bats? ears can correspond to different echolocation beam patterns. Which might allow the bats to tune in to particular frequencies. And you thought wiggling your ears was impressive.

?Cynthia Graber

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast]

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=f010bdbf20ada05402fcb69da921463a

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RIM?s Troubles Continue: BlackBerry PlayBook Costing Company $485 Million

RIM can't catch a break. Not only is the company coping with dismal PlayBook tablet sales, it's also taking a near half-billion dollar hit for sitting inventory that must now be sold at rock-bottom prices. RIM announced on Friday that the company wouldn't be meeting its financial targets for the year, primarily due to the unsuccessful performance of the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet. It pushed 150,000 units this quarter, compared with 250,000 last quarter, and 500,000 in the first quarter of the year.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/Bre9Lgjba9Y/

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Leaders at Americas talks: world economy top worry

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is seen on a large TV screen, flanked by paintings of Latin America Independence heros Simon Bolivar, left, and Antonio Jose de Sucre, while speaking at the second working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Bolivia's President Evo Morales gestures during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Uruguay's President Jose Mujica looks on during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar speaks during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean pledged closer ties to safeguard their economies from the world financial crisis as they formed a new bloc on Saturday including every nation in the hemisphere except the U.S. and Canada.

Several presidents stressed during the two-day summit that they hope to ride out turbulent times by boosting local industries and increasing trade within the region.

"It seems it's a terminal, structural crisis of capitalism," Bolivian President Evo Morales said in a speech Saturday. "I feel we're meeting at a good moment to debate ... the great unity of the countries of America, without the United States."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and some of his closest allies called the new regional bloc a tool for standing up to U.S. influence. But other leaders focused more on economic concerns and on working together to confront issues such as drug trafficking and the effects of climate change.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that if the nations are to keep thriving they will need to look more to their neighbors.

"The economic, financial crisis should be at the center of our concerns," Rousseff said Friday night. She said Latin America should "realize that to guarantee its current cycle of development despite the international economic turbulence, it means that every politician must be aware that each one needs the others."

The region has so far weathered the economic woes better than the U.S. or Europe, achieving economic growth of more than 5 percent last year.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the region has immense potential while "there's a hurricane that's hitting the so-called industrialized economies hard." He said Colombia's current trade with Brazil, for instance, is minimal and could grow significantly.

Chavez read aloud a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao congratulating the leaders on forming a new 33-nation regional bloc, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Hu pledged to deepen cooperation with the new group.

The U.S. remains the top trading partner of many countries in the region, with exceptions including Brazil and Chile, where China has recently taken the place of the U.S. as the biggest trading partner.

The leaders formally launched the new bloc, known by its Spanish initials CELAC, by approving a declaration of shared principles as well as a clause dealing with democratic norms. Chavez said leaders had not agreed on whether to make decisions by consensus or by vote, and as a result would reach decisions by consensus for the time being and take up the matter again later.

Chavez pounded a gavel on his desk as he read out several statements approved by the leaders, including one opposing the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, a conservative who took over the new group's rotating presidency, touted it a forum to build regional cooperation in spite of political differences. Pinera said the group would hold its next summit in Santiago in 2012.

Venezuela's government celebrated the gathering at a Caracas military base with bursts of fireworks that could be heard from the session. Other events included an orchestral performance led by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and a post-summit concert headlined by Puerto Rican hip-hop duo Calle 13.

Both Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said they hope the bloc eventually overshadows the importance of the Washington-based Organization of American States. Unlike the OAS, the new group will have Cuba as a full member and exclude the U.S. and Canada.

"We need a new inter-American system and, more specifically, a new system to guarantee human rights," Correa said Friday, referring to the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which has received complaints from Ecuadorean newspapers and television channels that accuse his government of trying to silence critics.

Chavez called the OAS "obsolete." Bolivia's Morales strongly criticized the International Monetary Fund, saying "they've just pillaged us and led us to poverty."

Several other presidents said they see CELAC as a forum to resolve conflicts and build closer ties, but not as an alternative to existing bodies such as the OAS.

On other issues, Morales appealed for strong steps at this month's climate change conference in South Africa, saying it's critical that developed nations renew pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

"If they kill the protocol, they kill the planet," Morales said.

Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, also expressed concerns about changing weather patterns and said nations should work together to better plan for disasters.

Several leaders called for closer cooperation to fight criminals and drug trafficking.

Colombia's Santos said the new bloc could help in re-examining whether current counter-drug efforts are the right approach.

Chavez criticized past U.S. interventions in Latin America, and said the region must "demand respect."

He recalled shaking President Barack Obama's hand at a 2009 summit and giving him a copy of the book "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Eduardo Galeano.

"I think President Obama hasn't had time to read that book," said Chavez, whose relations with Washington have been tense for much of his nearly 13-year-old presidency.

Caribbean leaders including Haitian President Michel Martelly thanked Chavez for selling their nations oil on preferential terms including long-term, low interest loans.

"The people of Haiti love you with all their hearts," Martelly told Chavez during his speech, saying "south-south cooperation" is key to the future of his impoverished country.

Chavez assured leaders he will survive cancer, reiterating that he underwent recent tests in Cuba after finishing chemotherapy and they found no "malignant cells in any part of my body, thanks to God."

Trinidad's prime minister gave Chavez a little bottle of what she described as holy water, and Chavez thanked her saying: "Soon we will have a summit of those of us who've beaten cancer."

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-03-LT-Venezuela-Summit/id-4d9d593c764242008d20478d334eca92

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Sears reverses 'sneaky' up-sell policy

Did Sears.com pad the bill for major appliance orders by automatically tacking on a service contract even when it is not requested??

Edgar Dworsky, a nationally-respected consumer advocate and founder of the website ConsumerWorld.org, made that claim Thursday. Sears said on Friday that it will change the way its website operates.?

Dworsky says he went on the site on Black Friday weekend looking for a refrigerator. He found a model he liked, put it in his cart and noticed that a five-year service contract for $469 had been added without his consent.?

"I'm really upset and I think it's a very sneaky practice,? Dworsky tells me. ?A consumer should not have to opt-out of buying something they never asked for to start with.??

If you bought a fridge from Sears.com, you may have been hit with a $469.99 protection fee without you knowing it.

Dworsky points out that the charge for the service plan is easily removed from the cart if the customer spots it. If not, they could overpay from $110 to $550.?

"How many shoppers have in their mind, 'Oh, I'd better check the cart just to make sure they haven't slipped something in there that I didn't order?' "?

Dworsky shopped for various appliances on Sears.com and he says the same thing happened every time: an expensive five-year extended warranty turned up in the shopping cart.?

I had the same experience when I went to the site and put a washing machine in my cart. A five-year service contract was added to the bill. I wasn?t asked if I wanted the service contract and I didn?t click any box indicating I wanted to purchase it. The computer just added the extra protection and a charge of $303 to my order.?

What does Sears say about all this? In an email, Larry Costello,?the company's public relations director,?writes:?

"Since 2010, we have selected the purchase of a protection agreement as the default and clearly displayed that choice.? The customer must click to confirm that choice or select another option prior to moving forward in the order process."?

Costello says the company has received ?very little negative customer feedback? about its up-sell policy. Even so, he says, ?now that it's been pointed out as an item of concern, we've made a decision to provide customers with the default choice of declining the protection agreement.??

Dworsky says he is ?thrilled that Sears is doing the right thing? by making their extended warranties an optional add-on, just as other major appliance sellers do.?

NOTE: There is an important lesson here for anyone who shops online. Check the cart carefully before you hit the "buy" button.? You need to make sure the retailer hasn't added something to your cart that you didn't ask for."?

More Info:?
Sears Reverses Course After Being Accused of Cramming Major Appliance Orders with Expensive Service Contracts?

Source: http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9169923-sears-reverses-sneaky-up-sell-policy

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Glam Slam: December Do List (omg!)

Can you believe it's already the last month of 2011? Phew!

Here are a few fun things to check out in December, in between all those parties and holiday shopping and holiday celebrations and.....

PLAY IT NOW: Behind The Scenes: 'Mirror Mirror's' Amazing Wardrobe

LIZ'S JEWELRY Oh, Santa!!!! Elizabeth Taylor's $30 million dollar jewelry collection goes on the auction block this month, including gorgeous gems from husband Richard Burton. There are 269 pieces of fine jewelry on view starting December 3rd and the sale starts December 13th at Christie's in New York. www.christies.com

TOUGH GIRL CHIC LOVED this best-selling series and now "The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo" gets the big Hollywood treatment. The movie starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara opens December 21st. And check out H & M's "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" collection by the film's costume designer Trish Summerville, which features lots of dark, edgy clothes.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: The Latest Star Sightings

HOLIDAY SWEETS The girls at Georgetown Cupcake have done it again! They are offering holiday versions of their delicious cupcakes. Choose from the Christmas Collection, Winter Wonderland Dozen, Hanukkah Dozen, Season's Greetings Dozen or Holiday Classic Dozen. Phew! Flavors range from gingerbread and white chocolate peppermint to chocolate eggnog and "Rudolph" red velvet, with a cute reindeer on top. Georgetown Cupcake is also featured in a Christmas Special--"DC Cupcakes: Nutcracker Sweet" premieres Friday December 2nd at 10:30 PM.

HOLIDAY TRADITION Don't forget to check out the holiday classics. "A Charlie Brown Christmas" airs December 5th on ABC. "It's a Wonderful Life" airs on Christmas Eve on NBC. "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve" airs December 31st, of course!

Happy Holidays!

VIEW THE PHOTOS: 2011 Sundance Film Festival: Stars Bundle Up In The Snow!

Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_glam_slam_december_list175316159/43773476/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/glam-slam-december-list-175316159.html

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Lytro Camera: How Pro Shooters Use Its Amazing Lens Technology

A little over a month ago, the revolutionary Lytro light field camera became available for pre-order. But a few lucky pro photographers have been using the Lytro and its "living picture" technology for the last few months, and now we can see their stunning results.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/GearFactor/~3/UrgCRUPT0aQ/

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Obama condemns storming of British embassy in Iran (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Declaring himself "deeply disturbed" by the storming of the British Embassy in Tehran, President Barack Obama strongly urged the Iranian government to hold those responsible to account.

"For rioters to essentially be able to overrun the embassy and set it on fire is an indication that the Iranian government is not taking its international obligations seriously," the president said.

Obama made his remarks at the beginning of an Oval Office meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

"That kind of behavior is unacceptable," Obama said, adding that the Iranian government has a responsibility to protect diplomatic outposts.

Hard-line Iranian students stormed the embassy in Tehran on Tuesday, bringing down the Union Jack flag, burning an embassy vehicle and throwing documents from windows in scenes reminiscent of the 1979 attack on the U.S. embassy there.

In a statement earlier, the White House urged Iran to condemn the incident, prosecute the offenders and ensure that no other incidents occur at either the British Embassy or any other mission in Iran.

The White House says the State Department is in close contact with the British government.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111129/ap_on_re_us/us_white_house_iran

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