Tiger Woods & Lindsey Vonn Are 'Spending More Time' Together: Source

Buzz

By Steve Helling

02/09/2013 at 06:00 PM EST

Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn

Mick Tsikas/Reuters/Landov; Luis Guerra/Ramey

It was quite the gesture.

After Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury during the Alpine World Championships in Austria, she got a bit of help from Tiger Woods. Walking on crutches, Vonn – who tore two ligaments in her right knee and fractured her shin when she crashed on Tuesday ­– boarded Woods's private jet to return home.

Is it a sign that the rumored relationship between Woods and Vonn is heating up?

"Tiger and Lindsey have been friends for a while, and nothing started out romantically at all," a source tells PEOPLE. "But they really have a lot in common and got closer and closer. He still refers to her as 'my very good friend,' but he's been spending more and more time talking to her – and talking about her."

Last month, Vonn's reps kept mum about the rumored relationship, telling PEOPLE that her "focus is solely on competing and on defending her titles and thus she will not participate in any speculation surrounding her personal life at this time."

But the source close to Woods tells PEOPLE that Woods, 37, and Vonn. 28, talk and text frequently.

"Tiger really does want a woman who he can have good conversations with," he says. "He wants shared interests and outlooks. He is finding that with [Lindsey]."

Woods made international headlines in 2009 when he was linked to dozens of women while still married to his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren.

Since then, he has dated sporadically, but struggled to find someone who wanted a relationship for the right reasons.

"She's not freaked out by his past, and that's really appealing to him," says the source. "He really does deserve to be happy. He has been flogging himself for three years, and it's good to see him moving forward."

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.

The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths also dropped the last two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

But flu is hard to predict, he and others stressed, and there have been spikes late in the season in the past.

For now, states like Georgia and New York — where doctor's offices were jammed a few weeks ago — are reporting low flu activity. The hot spots are now the West Coast and the Southwest.

Among the places that have seen a drop: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., which put up a tent outside its emergency room last month to help deal with the steady stream of patients. There were about 100 patients each day back then. Now it's down to 25 and the hospital may pack up its tent next week, said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital.

"There's no question that we're seeing a decline," she said.

In early December, CDC officials announced flu season had arrived, a month earlier than usual. They were worried, saying it had been nine years since a winter flu season started like this one. That was 2003-04 — one of the deadliest seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths.

Like this year, the major flu strain was one that tends to make people sicker, especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to flu and its complications

But back then, that year's flu vaccine wasn't made to protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated almost every year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed it is about 60 percent effective, which is close to the average.

So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.

Like others, Lehigh Valley's Burger was cautious about making predictions. "I'm not certain we're completely out of the woods," with more wintry weather ahead and people likely to be packed indoors where flu can spread around, she said.

The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 deaths in children. The most — nine — were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, the CDC says

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC report, the number of states with intense activity is down to 19, from 24 the previous week, and flu is widespread in 38 states, down from 42.

Flu is now minimal in Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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New Focus in Mali Is Finding Militants Who Have Fled Into Mountains

Tyler Hicks/The New York Times

A fish market in Konna, Mali, that had been occupied by Islamist rebels. It was the seizure of Konna, in the Mopti region, that provoked France’s military intervention last month.

DAKAR, Senegal — Just as Al Qaeda once sought refuge in the mountains of Tora Bora, the Islamist militants now on the run in Mali are hiding out in their own forbidding landscape, a rugged, rocky expanse in northeastern Mali that has become a symbol of the continued challenges facing the international effort to stabilize the Sahara.

Expelling the Islamist militants from Timbuktu and other northern Malian towns, as the French did swiftly last month, may have been the easy part of retaking Mali, say military officials, analysts and local fighters. Attention is now being focused on one of Africa’s harshest and least-known mountain ranges, the Adrar des Ifoghas.

The French military has carried out about 20 airstrikes in recent days in those mountains, including attacks on training camps and arms depots, officials said. On Thursday, a column of soldiers from Chad, versed in desert warfare, left Kidal, a diminutive, sand-blown regional capital, to penetrate deep into the Adrar, said a spokesman for the Tuareg fighters who accompanied them.

“These mountains are extremely difficult for foreign armies,” said the spokesman, Backay Ag Hamed Ahmed, of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad, in a telephone interview from Kidal. “The Chadians, they don’t know the routes through them.”

These areas of grottoes and rocky hills, long a retreat for Tuareg nomads from the region and more recently for extremists from Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, will be the scene of the critical next phase in the conflict. It will be the place where the Islamist militants are finally defeated or where they slip away to fight again, military analysts say.

French special forces are very likely already operating in the Adrar des Ifoghas, performing reconnaissance and perhaps preparing rescue operations for French hostages believed to be held in the area, said Gen. Jean-Claude Allard, a senior researcher at the Institute for International and Strategic Relations in Paris. But African forces are likely to be assigned the brunt of the combat operations, going “from well to well, from village to village,” General Allard said.

The few Westerners who have traveled in this inaccessible region bordering Algeria say it differs from Afghanistan in that the mountains are relatively modest in size. But its harsh conditions make it a vast natural fortress, with innumerable hide-outs.

“The terrain is vast and complicated,” said Col. Michel Goya of the French Military Academy’s Strategic Research Institute. “It will require troops to seal off the zone, and then troops for raids. This will take time.”

The number of militants who remain is in dispute, with estimates varying from a few hundred fighters to a few thousand. They are becoming more dispersed and are hiding themselves ever more effectively, Western military officials say.

The French military has been flying fewer sorties over the region in recent days, “from which I deduce a lack of targets,” said a Western military attaché in Bamako, Mali’s capital, who was not authorized to speak on the record. “They are just not finding the same targets. Clearly they are hiding better and dispersing more widely.”

A ranking Malian officer stationed in the northern town of Gao said: “We don’t know how many there are. They have learned to hide where the French can’t find them.”

The militants are versed in survival tactics in the hills, supplying themselves from the nomads who pass through and getting water from the numerous wells and ponds, said Pierre Boilley, an expert on the region from the Sorbonne. Still, the sources of water are an opportunity for the French and Chadian forces, as they can be monitored without too much difficulty, experts said.

“It’s a sort of observation tower on the whole of the Sahara,” General Allard said. The fighters have had years to build installations, modify caves, and stock food, weapons and fuel, he said, and the precise locations of their refuges remain a mystery.

Even if the bulk of the militants have retreated into the mountains, pockets remain around the liberated towns of Timbuktu and Gao, said a French military spokesman, Col. Thierry Burkhard. Last week, French forces patrolling the area around Gao engaged in firefights with militants, some of whom fired rockets, officials said.

“We’re encountering residual jihadist groups that are fighting,” said Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s defense minister.

On Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up at a military checkpoint in Gao, wounding a soldier, an act that provided further evidence of the continued threat of the militants.

Adam Nossiter reported from Dakar, and Peter Tinti from Gao, Mali. Eric Schmitt contributed reporting from Washington, and Scott Sayare and Steven Erlanger from Paris.

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New next-gen Xbox details emerge, reinforcing reports that used games will be unplayable

The mystery surrounding Sony’s (SNE) PlayStation 4 will soon dissipate when the company unveils its next-generation video game console on February 20th. Meanwhile, Microsoft’s (MSFT) upcoming rival console is still very much a mystery, though pieces of the puzzle continue to come together. The latest report comes from Edge, which cites multiple unnamed people with “first-hand experience of Microsoft’s next generation console” in claiming that the new Xbox will require an always-on internet connection to check disc registration in order to function. The report reinforces earlier rumors that Microsoft will restrict or even completely block owners’ ability to play used games.

[More from BGR: Microsoft Surface Pro review]

Edge also reaffirms specs reported earlier, including a 1.6GHz eight-core AMD CPU, D3D11.x 800MHz graphics and 8GB of RAM, and it says we should expect a new Kinect sensor to launch alongside the console.

[More from BGR: New reports throw cold water on BlackBerry Z10 sell-outs]

Microsoft’s next Xbox is expected to be unveiled during the E3 gaming conference this summer.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Minka Kelly: 'I'm Not Worthy' of Acting with Oprah

By Jennifer Cress

02/08/2013 at 07:40 PM EST

Minka Kelly as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

Pacific Coast News

It's intimidating enough to play Jackie O, but Minka Kelly felt even more pressure to perform when she found out who was joining the cast of her latest film, The Butler.

"I'm not worthy. I feel so lucky and grateful. I was like, 'What am I doing here?!' " Kelly tells PEOPLE of starring alongside Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, John Cusack, Vanessa Redgrave, Jane Fonda and more in the upcoming film, which tells the story of a butler who served eight presidents.

The movie also features another major star: the one and only Oprah Winfrey. "I didn't get to meet Oprah because our shooting schedules were different, but she's a pretty loved lady," Kelly says. "I have yet to hear a bad thing about her!"

Kelly found that the most difficult part of playing Jackie Kennedy was nailing the former first lady's distinct accent. "I think she spoke in a way she thought she should speak, so getting that down was hard. There's a musicality and rhythm to the way she speaks," Kelly explains. "I went to sleep listening to her."

Another tough task? Slipping into the retro costumes. "My body is so different from her because I have curves, so fitting into those vintage clothes was actually really hard," she shares. "Also it was hot – and there was a lot of wool!"

Jennifer Graylock / Getty

But Kelly had no issue slipping into the stunning Oscar de la Renta gown (left) she strutted down the runway in at the Red Dress Collection fashion show in N.Y.C. on Wednesday night. The actress walked for the second year in a row in honor of The Heart Truth campaign, which encourages women to monitor their heart health.

For the month of February, Diet Coke will donate $1 for every person who uploads a heart-inspired photo to Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #showyourheart. Visit to dietcoke.com/showyourheart for more information.

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After early start, worst of flu season may be over

NEW YORK (AP) — The worst of the flu season appears to be over.

The number of states reporting intense or widespread illnesses dropped again last week, and in a few states there was very little flu going around, U.S. health officials said Friday.

The season started earlier than normal, first in the Southeast and then spreading. But now, by some measures, flu activity has been ebbing for at least four weeks in much of the country. Flu and pneumonia deaths also dropped the last two weeks, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

"It's likely that the worst of the current flu season is over," CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

But flu is hard to predict, he and others stressed, and there have been spikes late in the season in the past.

For now, states like Georgia and New York — where doctor's offices were jammed a few weeks ago — are reporting low flu activity. The hot spots are now the West Coast and the Southwest.

Among the places that have seen a drop: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest in Allentown, Pa., which put up a tent outside its emergency room last month to help deal with the steady stream of patients. There were about 100 patients each day back then. Now it's down to 25 and the hospital may pack up its tent next week, said Terry Burger, director of infection control and prevention for the hospital.

"There's no question that we're seeing a decline," she said.

In early December, CDC officials announced flu season had arrived, a month earlier than usual. They were worried, saying it had been nine years since a winter flu season started like this one. That was 2003-04 — one of the deadliest seasons in the past 35 years, with more than 48,000 deaths.

Like this year, the major flu strain was one that tends to make people sicker, especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to flu and its complications

But back then, that year's flu vaccine wasn't made to protect against that bug, and fewer people got flu shots. The vaccine is reformulated almost every year, and the CDC has said this year's vaccine is a good match to the types that are circulating. A preliminary CDC study showed it is about 60 percent effective, which is close to the average.

So far, the season has been labeled moderately severe.

Like others, Lehigh Valley's Burger was cautious about making predictions. "I'm not certain we're completely out of the woods," with more wintry weather ahead and people likely to be packed indoors where flu can spread around, she said.

The government does not keep a running tally of flu-related deaths in adults, but has received reports of 59 deaths in children. The most — nine — were in Texas, where flu activity was still high last week. Roughly 100 children die in an average flu season, the CDC says

On average, about 24,000 Americans die each flu season, according to the CDC.

According to the CDC report, the number of states with intense activity is down to 19, from 24 the previous week, and flu is widespread in 38 states, down from 42.

Flu is now minimal in Florida, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

___

Online:

CDC: http://www.cdc.gov/flu/

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Stocks end higher for sixth straight week, tech leads

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The Nasdaq composite stock index closed at a 12-year high and the S&P 500 index at a five-year high, boosted by gains in technology shares and stronger overseas trade figures.

The S&P 500 also posted a sixth straight week of gains for the first time since August.

The technology sector led the day's gains, with the S&P 500 technology index <.splrct> up 1.0 percent. Gains in professional network platform LinkedIn Corp and AOL Inc after they reported quarterly results helped the sector.

Shares of LinkedIn jumped 21.3 percent to $150.48 after the social networking site announced strong quarterly profits and gave a bullish forecast for the year.

AOL Inc shares rose 7.4 percent to $33.72 after the online company reported higher quarterly profit, boosted by a 13 percent rise in advertising sales.

Data showed Chinese exports grew more than expected, a positive sign for the global economy. The U.S. trade deficit narrowed in December, suggesting the U.S. economy likely grew in the fourth quarter instead of contracting slightly as originally reported by the U.S. government.

"That may have sent a ray of optimism," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co in Lake Oswego, Oregon.

Trading volume on Friday was below average for the week as a blizzard swept into the northeastern United States.

The U.S. stock market has posted strong gains since the start of the year, with the S&P 500 up 6.4 percent since December 31. The advance has slowed in recent days, with fourth-quarter earnings winding down and few incentives to continue the rally on the horizon.

"I think we're in the middle of a trading range and I'd put plus or minus 5.0 percent around it. Fundamental factors are best described as neutral," Dickson said.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> ended up 48.92 points, or 0.35 percent, at 13,992.97. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 8.54 points, or 0.57 percent, at 1,517.93. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> was up 28.74 points, or 0.91 percent, at 3,193.87, its highest closing level since November 2000.

For the week, the Dow was down 0.1 percent, the S&P 500 was up 0.3 percent and the Nasdaq up 0.5 percent.

Shares of Dell closed at $13.63, up 0.7 percent, after briefly trading above a buyout offering price of $13.65 during the session.

Dell's largest independent shareholder, Southeastern Asset Management, said it plans to oppose the buyout of the personal computer maker, setting up a battle for founder Michael Dell.

Signs of economic strength overseas buoyed sentiment on Wall Street. Chinese exports grew more than expected in January, while imports climbed 28.8 percent, highlighting robust domestic demand. German data showed a 2012 surplus that was the nation's second highest in more than 60 years, an indication of the underlying strength of Europe's biggest economy.

Separately, U.S. economic data showed the trade deficit shrank in December to $38.5 billion, its narrowest in nearly three years, indicating the economy did much better in the fourth quarter than initially estimated.

Earnings have mostly come in stronger than expected since the start of the reporting period. Fourth-quarter earnings for S&P 500 companies now are estimated up 5.2 percent versus a year ago, according to Thomson Reuters data. That contrasts with a 1.9 percent growth forecast at the start of the earnings season.

Molina Healthcare Inc surged 10.4 percent to $31.88 as the biggest boost to the index after posting fourth-quarter earnings.

The CBOE Volatility index <.vix>, Wall Street's so-called fear gauge, was down 3.6 percent at 13.02. The gauge, a key measure of market expectations of short-term volatility, generally moves inversely to the S&P 500.

"I'm watching the 14 level closely" on the CBOE Volatility index, said Bryan Sapp, senior trading analyst at Schaeffer's Investment Research. "The break below it at the beginning of the year signaled the sharp rally in January, and a rally back above it could be a sign to exercise some caution."

Volume was roughly 5.6 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with the 2012 average daily closing volume of about 6.45 billion.

Advancers outpaced decliners on the NYSE by nearly 2 to 1 and on the Nasdaq by almost 5 to 3.

(Additional reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Bernadette Baum, Nick Zieminski, Kenneth Barry and Andrew Hay)

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IHT Rendezvous: IHT Quick Read: Feb. 9

After a failed attempt to set spending targets at a summit meeting in November and in a 24-hour marathon of talks this week, European leaders finally agreed late Friday to a common budget for the next seven years. The new budget, which is slightly smaller than its predecessor — the first decrease in the European Union’s history — reflects the climate of austerity across a Continent still struggling to emerge from a crippling debt crisis. James Kanter and Andrew Higgins report from Brussels.

Few things divide British eating habits from those of Continental Europe as clearly as a distaste for consuming horse meat, so news that many Britons have unknowingly done so has prompted alarm among shoppers and plunged the country’s food industry into crisis. A trickle of discoveries of horse meat in hamburgers, starting in Ireland last month, has turned into a steady stream of revelations, including, on Friday, that lasagna labeled beef from one international distributor of frozen food, Findus, contained in some cases 100 percent horse meat. Stephen Castle reports from London.

The coaches of England’s Premier League are an aggressively unstylish bunch, stalking the sideline in the most scrutinized sport in the world with wardrobes that speak less of Savile Row than of the remainder rack on the Island of Misfit Clothes. The way the coaches dress, there’s no mistaking the English Premier League sideline for a fashion runway. Sarah Lyall reports from London.

With only two weeks to go before national elections, the Italian campaign has become a surreal spectacle in which a candidate many had given up for dead, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has surged. Although he is not expected ever to govern again, with his media savvy and pie-in-the-sky offers of tax refunds, Mr. Berlusconi now trails the front-runner, Pierluigi Bersani, the leader of the Democratic Party, by about five or six points, according to a range of opinion polls published on Friday. Rachel Donadio reports from Rome.

ARTS The auction of Impressionist and Modern art followed by Surrealist works that took place at Sotheby’s on Tuesday evening ended with 52 lots fetching £121 million. It will be remembered by auction house professionals as the second most successful sale in the field held at Sotheby’s London and, by some of those attending, as the strangest session in living memory. Souren Melikian reports from New York.

SPORTS If size or the weight of history were the sole determining factors in a soccer match, then you might wonder why Burkina Faso would even bother to turn up against Nigeria in the Africa Cup final. Rob Hughes reports from London.

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Einhorn case against Apple rests on rarely used legal tactic

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Hedge fund star David Einhorn wants to force Apple Inc to share some of its huge cash pile with investors, but his lawsuit rests on a U.S. securities rule that has little court precedent surrounding it.

Einhorn’s Greenlight Capital sued the iPad and iPhone maker in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Thursday to try to prevent Apple from eliminating preferred stock from its charter. The suit is part of Einhorn’s bid to pressure Apple to use some of its $ 137 billion in cash to issue perpetual preferred shares that pay dividends to existing shareholders.

The suit contends that Apple has violated Securities and Exchange Commission rules that prohibit companies from “bundling” together unrelated matters into a single proposal for a shareholder vote.

Establishing that Apple violated the rules could be tricky. Little to no case law exists on the question, and the SEC’s own rule is relatively general with little guidance, legal experts said.

Still, James Cox, a professor at Duke University School of Law, said he thinks Einhorn “has a hell of good case.”

“I think he’s got Apple in the crosshairs,” he added, saying that it “strikes me as fairly dramatic case of bundling.”

The hedge fund manager is seeking an injunction to block a February 27 shareholder vote on the proposal, saying Apple violated Section 14 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Arguments are due to be heard before U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan on February 22. Apple has until February 15 to file a response with the court to the Greenlight complaint.

The proxy proposal at issue, Proposal No. 2, seeks to amend Apple’s articles of incorporation in three ways: by providing for majority voting for directors, establishing a par value for Apple stock, and eliminating its ability to issue preferred stock.

Einhorn is represented by law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, Greenlight’s long-time outside counsel. No lawyer for Apple is yet listed on the court docket, and a representative declined to say who would represent Apple in the case.

It is unclear how Apple will respond in its formal reply to the lawsuits. On Thursday, Apple said Einhorn’s lawsuit was “misguided” and that adoption of Proposal No. 2 would not preclude preferred share issuances in future.

“Currently, Apple’s articles of incorporation provide for the issuance of ‘blank check’ preferred stock by the Board of Directors without shareholder approval,” Apple said. “If Proposal #2 is adopted, our shareholders would have the right to approve the issuance of preferred stock.”

Greenlight in its complaint said it supports two of the proposals but not getting rid of preferred stock. Einhorn deems preferred stock superior to dividends or share buybacks, and has separately put forward a proposal for an issuance of Apple preferred stock with a perpetual 4 percent dividend.

But as Apple’s proxy proposal is structured, Greenlight said, shareholders have “no choice but to either vote in favor of an amendment they oppose, or against an amendment they support.”

Few lawsuits have ever been filed challenging proposals under the rules, a situation some legal experts attributed to the normally passive nature of shareholders.

“In most cases you’re not going to get a lot of complaining about bundling,” said Brian Slipakoff, special counsel at law firm Duane Morris in Philadelphia.

In one of the few related lawsuits, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York in 1999 recognized an implied private right of action by shareholders suing over alleged antibundling rule violations.

That precedent could back Einhorn in his legal standing to bring the case. The appeals court ruling was cited by Greenlight in additional court papers filed late on Thursday.

Francis Vasquez, a lawyer with the law firm White & Case who is not involved in the case, said Apple may argue that because the stockholder proposals in Proposal 2 are all amendments to the charter, they are properly related.

The California company has another five proposals up for a vote, which are not being challenged by Einhorn and do not involve amending Apple’s charter. Those measures focus on matters such as director elections and executive compensation.

“Apple’s first argument likely is going to be, ‘Look, these are all amendments we put in one place, they don’t have to do with the other items,’” Vasquez said.

The antibundling rules date to 1992. John Coffee, a professor at Columbia Law School, said the idea was to “prevent managements from bribing shareholders with a sweetener into voting for a proposal they would otherwise reject.”

The case is Greenlight Capital LP, et al., v. Apple Inc., U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 13-900.

(Reporting By Nate Raymond in New York; Additional reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Martha Graybow, Tiffany Wu and Tim Dobbyn)

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Asian shares inch higher on solid China trade data

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares edged up on Friday after China's trade data for January handily beat forecasts to underscore a recovery trend, but prices were capped by investors seeking to book profits before next week's Chinese new year holidays.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> edged up 0.2 percent, wiping earlier losses when bearish sentiment was carried over from overnight after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi noted risks still facing the euro zone economy. The pan-Asian index rose to a 18-month high on Monday.

China said its exports grew 25.0 percent in January from a year ago, the strongest showing since April 2011 and well ahead of market expectations for a 17 percent rise, while imports also beat forecasts, surging 28.8 percent on the year.

"China's economic conditions are improving and the trade data confirms the continuation of a recovery trend. Not just the trade data but retail, production and investment flows clearly show that the economy bottomed out in the third quarter last year," said Hirokazu Yuihama, a senior strategist at Daiwa Securities in Tokyo.

U.S. stocks edged lower while disappointing results from French drugmaker Sanofi sent European shares down to 2013 closing lows.

Australian shares rose 0.5 percent while South Korean shares <.ks11> climbed 0.6 percent, on track to reverse six losing sessions as investors bought up auto shares after recent declines.

Japan's Nikkei stock average <.n225> fell 1.4 percent as investors took profits from the index's surge to a its highest level since October 2008 on Wednesday. <.t/>

"Asian markets are undergoing a pre-holiday adjustment, keeping prices top-heavy, with many opting to book profits. Prices have gained sharply over the past months, so a correction is healthy. But the upward trend in Asian equities markets remains intact," Daiwa's Yuihama said.

EURO STEADIES

The euro was off its two-week lows hit the previous session as investors took Draghi's comments as signalling concerns about the euro and Europe's growth outlook, boosting the dollar <.dxy> to a one-month high against a basket of key currencies.

The euro edged up 0.1 percent to $1.3410, after slumping to a two-week low of $1.33705 on Thursday, but still below a 14-1/2-month high against of $1.3711 hit last week.

The ECB kept interest rates at a record low 0.75 percent at its policy meeting on Thursday. Draghi said the ECB will monitor the economic impact of a strengthening euro, feeding expectations the currency's climb could open the door to an interest rate cut.

While Draghi said the exchange rate was not a policy target but is important for growth and price stability, he also noted the euro's appreciation was a sign of returning confidence in the currency.

Spain sold more debt than planned on Thursday, auctioning over 18 percent of its full-year medium- and long-term funding target. The strong demand indicated easing worries about Madrid's financing ability despite political uncertainty over a corruption scandal.

The yen remained near lows against the dollar and the euro.

Data showed on Friday Japan logged a current account deficit for a second straight month in December, resulting in its smallest annual surplus on record in 2012, with evidence of deteriorating trade balances supporting the yen's weakening trend.

"Japan will remain a nation of current account surpluses but the surplus will not be as high as it used to be," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute in Tokyo.

The dollar eased 0.1 percent to 93.53 yen after reaching 94.075 yen, its highest since May 2010 on Wednesday. The euro inched up 0.1 percent to 125.43 yen, having hit its strongest since April 2010 of 127.71 yen on Wednesday.

"Currencies are increasingly becoming part of the policy debate...In the case of the EUR, we believe that the bullish 'overshooting' trend will remain intact as ECB policy continues to promote an asset market friendly environment," Morgan Stanley said in a note.

Morgan Stanley added that the anticipation of the Bank of Japan taking bolder easing steps is set to keep the weak yen trend going, supporting global risk appetite.

U.S. crude futures and Brent were both up 0.2 percent to $96.01 a barrel and $117.48 respectively.

London copper added 0.5 percent to $8,241 a tonne.

(Editing by Eric Meijer)

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Lens Blog: Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen's Photos of Her Newcastle Neighborhood

On clear days in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, a small yet bustling working-class city in northeast England, the view from the hills of Byker can be spectacular. That shabby neighborhood’s rows of brick houses and terraced streets overlook a historic city center, the river and sometimes far beyond.

Those vistas were rare in 1969, when Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, a 21-year-old Finnish photographer, arrived. The landscape was cloaked in an industrial fog belched from the coal and shipbuilding industries.

Despite the grayness, the laughter and vivacity that radiated from this close-knit community appealed to Ms. Konttinen. It welcomed a young foreigner whose presence stoked curiosity, but also generosity. They joked with her in pubs. Some of the older women took her under their wing — she kindled a protective instinct in them.

“People were baffled by my choice to live there,” Ms. Konttinen recalled. “Not that many people had any idea where Finland was, but if they did, they thought it such a beautiful clean country, and why would I choose to come to Byker?”

She had ventured there because of Amber Collective, a progressive documentary project that she helped found, which chronicled the lives of working people in northeast England. The group was formed in London by a handful of students who made a film following Vietnam War demonstrations at Grosvenor Square that turned violent. Titled “All You Need Is Dynamite,” it was just a student effort, but its makers found they shared a philosophy.

Before long, they had relocated to Newcastle.

The city was in decline. Urban planners sought flashy new development projects, and some sections, like Byker, were scheduled for demolition. Ms. Konttinen was unaware that she was documenting a place that was about to disappear. Not drawn to gloomy topics, she found the place spirited and interesting.

“Initially, I don’t think we ever thought that we need to document it because it will be the only thing left for people to remember the place and what the area was like,” she said. “I personally have never felt that that was my mission.”

The Amber Collective has produced an enormous amount of material, dating back decades, that is focused on the communities of northeast England, although Ms. Konttinen’s Byker pictures are probably the collective’s best-known project. That work was published as a book in 1983; Amber also released a film companion of the same name, and in 2011 her documentation was registered with the Unesco U.K. Memory of the World. For the first time in a commercial art space, photographs from the series will be shown in the United States, on view at the L. Parker Stephenson Gallery from Feb. 15 through May 11. Ms. Konttinen will also deliver a lecture at the International Center for Photography on Feb. 13.

In recent years, she returned to Byker. The new Byker is changed — more on that Friday — and the changes required her to reconsider her approach when she decided to photograph it. The newer project, “Byker Revisited,” is a result of a far more collaborative endeavor. Not that she hadn’t collaborated in other ways with a subject before. Her 1971 photo of Heather (Slide 3) brought about one such relationship.

“I heard music coming from a derelict house,” she said. “This was one of the last terraces before the final demolition, and there were no steps left to the house, but upstairs I heard music, piano, coming out the windows.”

She entered the house, climbing a rickety staircase to where the music was coming from. She found a girl, Heather, “playing the piano, banging the notes that were kind of stuck and unstuck.”

Ms. Konttinen and Heather started talking, and Ms. Konttinen taught her a simple tune.

“I told her if she ever wanted to come and play, she could come and play it again on my piano,” Ms. Konttinen said. Heather showed up a few days later, with her little brother. On Ms. Konttinen’s piano, they played the tune together.

---

Friday: Returning to Byker, in color.

Photographs from “Byker” will be on view at the L. Parker Stephenson Gallery from Feb. 15 through May 11. Ms. Konttinen will also deliver a lecture at the International Center for Photography on Feb. 13.

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LibreOffice, a Free Alternative to Office, Is New and Improved

I understand that some people need Microsoft Office – that for the sake of compatibility, familiarity and features, nothing else will do.

But anyone who doesn’t feel that way should consider trying LibreOffice, a free, open-source alternative. The new version, LibreOffice 4, offers better compatibility and more features than the previous version, along with lots of under the hood improvements.

I’ve been a happy LibreOffice 3 user for about a year, and I wouldn’t say the new version is a drastic change — at least not on its face. Perhaps the most significant new feature is the ability to attach comments to a range of text, not just a single point, which will help improve compatibility with Office documents.

But the lack of flashy changes is okay, I think. While Microsoft seems to make a point of shaking up the look and feel of each new version of its Office suite, part of LibreOffice’s allure is how it stays the same. (In fact, if you hated the Ribbon layout of Office 2007 and beyond, I’d argue that LibreOffice is just the respite you’re looking for.)

Like I said, not everyone will be able to work with LibreOffice. But in my experience it handles basic compatibility very well. It supports all Office file formats, has all the major features you might expect, and gets the job done for typical document and spreadsheet editing. Give it a shot if your office software needs don’t justify Microsoft’s $ 140-and-up asking price.

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American Idol: It's a Guys' Night in Hollywood

TV Watch

American Idol

By Jamie Bufalino

02/06/2013 at 11:00 PM EST

From left: Randy Jackson, Mariah Carey, Ryan Seacrest, Nicki Minaj and Keith Urban

George Holz/FOX

Caution: Contains spoilers!

"It does feel a bit like The Hunger Games," said Keith Urban, ramping up the drama as American Idol kicked off the first day of Hollywood Week. Although producers didn't unleash any tracker jackers on the contestants, they did throw in a couple unexpected twists: This season the week started off as a guys-only competition (the girls arrive in Hollywood next week), and after surviving a round of sudden death solo sing-offs, contestants would then be put into groups from which they couldn't escape.

During the solo round, the standouts included two memorable contestants from the nationwide auditions. First up, Navy man Micah Johnson, who developed a speech impediment after suffering through a botched surgery to remove his tonsils. After a rousing rendition of Elton John's "Bennie and the Jets," Johnson was the first to get the green light to the next round.

Joining him soon after was Cuban-American Lazaro Arbos, a 21-year-old ice cream scooper from Naples, Fla., who speaks with a severe stutter but sings with ease. Although Arbos admitted to being both "scared" and "petrified," he quickly won the judges over – Nicki Minaj made her fingers into a heart-shape while he sang – with his take on the Robbie Williams hit, "Angels."

When it came time to form groups of four, the Idol producers threw a few more curveballs – such as pairing a couple of country crooners with two flamboyant (think glitter and faux fur) dudes Ryan Seacrest described as the show's "resident divas."

The result: a quartet that dubbed themselves Country Queen, which delivered a train wreck of a performance. Still, somehow three of the four made it through.

Meanwhile, Arbos's group experience also proved to be a bit of a disaster – which some of his cohorts blamed on his inability to quickly learn the lyrics and melody to the Beach Boys hit "Wouldn't It Be Nice." Although his main nemesis got the boot, a tearful Arbos got the chance to sing another day.

The day of auditions came to a close with what was possibly the most heartbreaking Idol exit ever. New York City subway singer Frankie Ford got a case of the jitters before going on stage, then proceeded to screw up the lyrics and sing off key – leaving the judges no choice but to pull the plug on his dreams. Before walking off into the night, a sobbing Ford stared into the camera and said, "I swear to God I'm coming back next year and I'm going to win."

There will be more solos Thursday (8 p.m. ET), as the judges have to whittle the 43 men left in the competition down to 20 lucky fellas.

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New whooping cough strain in US raises questions

NEW YORK (AP) — Researchers have discovered the first U.S. cases of whooping cough caused by a germ that may be resistant to the vaccine.

Health officials are looking into whether cases like the dozen found in Philadelphia might be one reason the nation just had its worst year for whooping cough in six decades. The new bug was previously reported in Japan, France and Finland.

"It's quite intriguing. It's the first time we've seen this here," said Dr. Tom Clark of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The U.S. cases are detailed in a brief report from the CDC and other researchers in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine.

Whooping cough is a highly contagious disease that can strike people of any age but is most dangerous to children. It was once common, but cases in the U.S. dropped after a vaccine was introduced in the 1940s.

An increase in illnesses in recent years has been partially blamed on a version of the vaccine used since the 1990s, which doesn't last as long. Last year, the CDC received reports of 41,880 cases, according to a preliminary count. That included 18 deaths.

The new study suggests that the new whooping cough strain may be why more people have been getting sick. Experts don't think it's more deadly, but the shots may not work as well against it.

In a small, soon-to-be published study, French researchers found the vaccine seemed to lower the risk of severe disease from the new strain in infants. But it didn't prevent illness completely, said Nicole Guiso of the Pasteur Institute, one of the researchers.

The new germ was first identified in France, where more extensive testing is routinely done for whooping cough. The strain now accounts for 14 percent of cases there, Guiso said.

In the United States, doctors usually rely on a rapid test to help make a diagnosis. The extra lab work isn't done often enough to give health officials a good idea how common the new type is here, experts said.

"We definitely need some more information about this before we can draw any conclusions," the CDC's Clark said.

The U.S. cases were found in the past two years in patients at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia. One of the study's researchers works for a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, which makes a version of the old whooping cough vaccine that is sold in other countries.

___

JournaL: http://www.nejm.org

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Asian shares pause, caution before ECB

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares and the euro paused on Thursday, with investors seeking clues from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on growth prospects for the euro zone economy at a policy meeting later in the day, amid optimism that the worst may be over.

Japanese equities underperformed Asian bourses as a break in the yen selling pulled them from Wednesday's four-year peak. But shorter-dated Japanese government debt rallied, sending two-year JGB yields to their lowest since September 2002 at 0.030 percent, on expectations that the central bank will cut interest rates to zero.

The yen's broad weakness has been driven by expectations for radical reflationary policy from the Bank of Japan, under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push for a mix of anti-deflation policies.

"Hopes for 'Abenomics' are supporting the mood, but investors are also sensitive to the currency moves, so right now, even small uncertainty on Europe can be a reason to pull back," said Hiroichi Nishi, an assistant general manager at SMBC Nikko Securities.

Japan's Nikkei stock average <.n225> fell 0.8 percent, as investors took profits on export-driven firms. The benchmark closed at its highest level since October 2008 the day before when the yen slipped to fresh lows. <.t/>

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> was down 0.1 percent near a one-week low, after reaching a 18-month high on Monday. Asia tracked overnight lackluster U.S. stocks, with Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> ending nearly flat after a five-year high earlier in the week.

Australian shares gained 0.3 percent, outperforming their Asian peers, on a rise in iron ore prices supporting the top miners and on higher earnings from National Australia Bank and Telstra Corp. Australian jobs data for January beat market expectations.

Recent data suggesting a moderate global economic recovery, even if it lacked strong momentum, underpinned industrial metals, keeping London copper prices near four-month highs and platinum and palladium near their highest level in 17 months on hopes of a better demand.

Data from deflation-swamped Japan was also positive, with the country's core machinery orders surging unexpectedly in December for a third straight month of increases and firms expect more improvement in the first quarter.

But analysts said Asian economies were still relying on exports to power their way to growth.

"One of the pillars of our bullish view on Asian currencies at the start of the year was the theme of global rebalancing, in which Asian economies would move away from export-dependent growth models towards a more domestic demand-driven model, allowing their currencies to appreciate to dampen their export competitiveness in favor of stronger terms of trade," said Morgan Stanley in a research note.

"However, Asian economies have been slower in the rebalancing process than we had envisioned, as seen by the heavy physical and verbal FX intervention this year."

FATE OF DRAGHI MAGIC

Growing optimism that the euro zone economy may be nearing a bottom has propelled the euro to a 14-1/2-month high against the dollar, a 34-month peak against the yen and 15-month top on sterling.

The ECB is expected to keep interest rates at a record low 0.75 percent at later on Thursday. Traders will focus on any comments about the euro's recent strength as well as the bank's view on the euro zone economy.

Vassili Serebriakov, strategist at BNP Paribas, said the ECB will likely reason that the euro's strength is due to real improvement in the financial markets and economic outlook, and thus does not warrant immediate action.

"That said, our economists suggest that Mr. Draghi will probably soften the overall tone at the press conference, signaling that easing options are still available if needed," Serebriakov wrote in a client note.

Draghi's strong verbal commitment to defend the euro and the ECB's new bond-buying scheme to help ease funding strains in highly indebted euro zone members had significantly reduced risks of the region crumbling under the weight of its debt woes.

But a corruption scandal in Spain and uncertainty over the outcome of an Italian election later this month brought market focus back to the region's potential political instability.

Later on Thursday, Spain will test investor appetite by offering up to 4.5 billion euros of bonds.

The euro eased 0.1 percent to $1.3505. It hit a 14-1/2-month high against the dollar of $1.3711 last week and a 34-month peak against the yen of 127.71 on Thursday.

The dollar eased 0.2 percent to 93.45 yen after touching 94.075 yen, its highest since May 2010 on Wednesday. The euro fell 0.3 percent at 126.17 yen, off Wednesday's 127.71 yen, its strongest since April 2010.

U.S. crude rose 0.2 percent to $96.81 a barrel.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua in Sydney and Ayai Tomisawa in Tokyo; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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India Ink: Sri Lanka Shakes Up Women's Cricket World Cup

There is nothing like a little unpredictability to give life to a world championship tournament in any sport, but do not tell that to the Indian hosts of the Women’s Cricket World Cup.

Sri Lanka, widely expected to be the weakest among the eight competitors, knocked India’s highly rated team out of the tournament Tuesday with a comprehensive 138-run victory in Mumbai. That means Sri Lanka will take part in the Super Six playoffs starting Friday, while India has to settle for playing for seventh place against Pakistan on Thursday.

The victory over India was not even the first time that Sri Lanka had turned the tournament upside down.

Sri Lanka won only four matches in its previous four World Cups, and none of them against the major powers in women’s cricket. But it began its 2013 campaign last Friday with its first-ever defeat of England, which has won the tournament three times and is the defending champion.

“I can’t think of a bigger upset in 40 years of Women’s World Cup cricket,” wrote Alison Mitchell, a journalist with the BBC.

When Sri Lanka was crushed by 209 runs in its next match, by West Indies, it looked as if it was following the pattern of so many giant-killers, unable to follow up after a single brilliant performance.

It had, after all, never beaten India, and Sri Lanka could only save itself from elimination by beating the host. But batting first, it dominated from the start Tuesday.

Deepika Rasangika, promoted up the order in spite of a previous batting average of 12 runs per innings, struck a brilliant 84. A ferocious late assault brought 92 from the final 10 overs, and Sri Lanka totaled a formidable 282 for 5 from its 50 six-ball overs.

India needed a good start, but instead it lost wickets and was struggling once its captain, Mithali Raj, was dismissed for 20. It could still have qualified ahead of West Indies on the net run rate tiebreaker if it had reached 251, but it never looked likely to achieve even that. India was eventually all out for 144.

“I can’t believe it, actually,” said Sri Lanka’s captain, Shashikala Siriwardene. “It is a dream come true for me. We finished last in 2009 under my captaincy. So I am really relaxed and relieved.

“I am seriously super happy. This could be my last World Cup, and I wanted to do something special for my team.”

Sri Lanka only started offering modest contracts and paying small match fees — $100 in the one-day international format used in the World Cup — for female players in 2011, but success has followed.

Raj, visibly devastated, said that she had not believed Sri Lanka was likely to score so many runs against India’s bowlers. “All the bowlers were off-color today. I guess we can expect one or two to be off-color, but not all of them.”

For India, the loss to its neighbor completes a miserable tournament as host. It began under the shadow of a furious denunciation by Diana Edulji, one of its most respected former players, over the way Indian women’s cricket is run by the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

“I would say it was an insult to women’s cricket to be treated this way,” Edulji said. “There is no cricket. Domestic cricket comprises only one Twenty20 tournament and one 50-over tournament. There are no longer-format matches and no tests.”

She was not alone in being angered, calling it “an absolute disgrace” when the World Cup was ejected on short notice from the Wankhede Stadium, the main venue in Mumbai and the site of the 2011 Men’s World Cup final, so the final of the Ranji Trophy, the main men’s domestic competition, could be played there.

India won its first match against West Indies, but Raj made the mistake of criticizing England’s bowlers before its next match. “Mithali’s comments fired us up, to be honest,” England fast bowler Katherine Brunt said after taking four wickets, including Raj, in a 32-run victory over the host.

Sri Lanka, England and West Indies join Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in the Super Six stage. Each team carries forward the points from its matches against the other qualifiers from its own preliminary pool, and each will now play the three teams that advanced from the other pool. Australia starts with the biggest edge, with four points from victories over New Zealand and South Africa, while South Africa has no points. The other four have two apiece. The top two meet in the final on Feb. 17.

Sri Lanka will start the next stage facing two foes it has never beaten: New Zealand on Friday, then Australia, the five-time champion, on Sunday. If it stays true to its current form it will topple those giants, then stumble against the less-formidable South Africans next Wednesday. But even if it loses all three, Sri Lanka will already have left an indelible mark on this World Cup.

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Timothy Geithner’s new book: Twitter’s funniest title suggestions

From Crime and No Punishment to The Stock Market Corrections

Former Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner plans to write a book about his time in government, with a focus on “how to fight global financial crises,” according to Zachary Goldfarb at The Washington Post. Geithner was at the front line of the government’s response to the financial crisis, first as the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York under President Bush, then as head of the Treasury under President Obama. His legacy has been hotly debated, with some crediting Geithner with rescuing the financial system, and others accusing him of coddling the big banks. And nowhere was that divide so succinctly reflected, with some snark thrown into the mix, than on Twitter today, as analysts and journalists suggested book titles under the hashtag #Geithnerbooktitles. Here, some of the best:

Portrait of the TARPist as a Young Man #geithnerbooktitles

SEE ALSO: Making money: House hunting 101, and more

— NickBaumann (@NickBaumann) February 6, 2013

The AIG of Innocence #geithnerbooktitles

— Jim Aley (@jimaley) February 6, 2013

No Country for Old Mortgages #geithnerbooktitles

SEE ALSO: Is there a future for Apple’s iTunes store?

— Michael Roston (@michaelroston) February 6, 2013

The World According to TARP #geithnerbooktitles

— Ben White (@morningmoneyben) February 6, 2013

Too Big To Fail AND ZOMBIES #geithnerbooktitles

SEE ALSO: The middling January unemployment report: When will Congress focus on jobs?

— John Carney (@carney) February 6, 2013

Crime and No Punishment #geithnerbooktitles

— Matt Yglesias (@mattyglesias) February 6, 2013

A Tale of Two Citis #GeithnerBookTitles

SEE ALSO: Today in business: 5 things you need to know

— Stefan Becket (@stefanjbecket) February 6, 2013

The Stock Market Corrections #geithnerbooktitles

— Paul R. La Monica (@LaMonicaBuzz) February 6, 2013

Honorary mention: Charles Gasparino at Fox Business Network, for going on an alternately hilarious and ridiculous anti-Geithner rant:

#Geithnerbooktitles: how i wasted 4 years of my life; whats its like to take orders from a community activist; why didnt i go to law school

SEE ALSO: Dell goes private in $ 24 billion deal: Smart move?

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) February 6, 2013

#Geithnerbooktitles @cgasparino: how to screw up a perfectly good bailout; unemployment never felt so good; i hate @cgasparino

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) February 6, 2013

@cgasparino #Geithnerbooktitles: how i threw tony james resume in the garbage; why cnbc is always the last to find out stuff

SEE ALSO: Beer-opoly: Should the Justice Department scuttle the Budweiser-Corona deal?

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) February 6, 2013

#geithnerbooktitles cgasparino @thestalwart what i saw at the (socialist) revolution; how did i get myself in this mess;

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) February 6, 2013

#geithnerbooktitles 50 shades of Vomit; how to foolreporters to think high unemployment is great and get ur guy re elected

SEE ALSO: Barnes & Noble and the end of the mega-bookstore

— Charles Gasparino (@CGasparino) February 6, 2013

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Kim Kardashian's Pregnancy Is No Reason to Speed Divorce, says Kris Humphries

By Mike Fleeman

02/05/2013 at 09:20 PM EST

Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian

Seth Browarnik/StarTraks

Kim Kardashian's baby is not even born yet and already is being drawn into mama's divorce.

Kardashian, carrying boyfriend Kanye West's child, has bristled at what she sees as stall tactics by estranged husband Kris Humphries to close the legal books on their 72-day marriage.

But Humphries's lawyer Marshall W. Waller writes that "what is really going on here is that an 'urgency' in the form of an apparently unplanned pregnancy" is being used by Kardashian as "an opportunity to gain a litigation advantage (to) prematurely set this matter for trial."

He adds parenthetically that the pregnancy is "something (Humphries) had nothing to do with."

Waller explains his reasoning for calling the pregnancy as unplanned: "Indeed, why would (she) plan to get pregnant in the midst of divorce proceedings?"

Kardashian, herself, recently addressed the timing.

"God brings you things at a time when you least expect it," she said last month. "I'm such a planner and this was just meant to be. What am I going to? Wait years to get a divorce? I'd love one. It's a process."

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Critics seek to delay NYC sugary drinks size limit

NEW YORK (AP) — Opponents are pressing to delay enforcement of the city's novel plan to crack down on supersized, sugary drinks, saying businesses shouldn't have to spend millions of dollars to comply until a court rules on whether the measure is legal.

With the rule set to take effect March 12, beverage industry, restaurant and other business groups have asked a judge to put it on hold at least until there's a ruling on their lawsuit seeking to block it altogether. The measure would bar many eateries from selling high-sugar drinks in cups or containers bigger than 16 ounces.

"It would be a tremendous waste of expense, time, and effort for our members to incur all of the harm and costs associated with the ban if this court decides that the ban is illegal," Chong Sik Le, president of the New York Korean-American Grocers Association, said in court papers filed Friday.

City lawyers are fighting the lawsuit and oppose postponing the restriction, which the city Board of Health approved in September. They said Tuesday they expect to prevail.

"The obesity epidemic kills nearly 6,000 New Yorkers each year. We see no reason to delay the Board of Health's reasonable and legal actions to combat this major, growing problem," Mark Muschenheim, a city attorney, said in a statement.

Another city lawyer, Thomas Merrill, has said officials believe businesses have had enough time to get ready for the new rule. He has noted that the city doesn't plan to seek fines until June.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other city officials see the first-of-its-kind limit as a coup for public health. The city's obesity rate is rising, and studies have linked sugary drinks to weight gain, they note.

"This is the biggest step a city has taken to curb obesity," Bloomberg said when the measure passed.

Soda makers and other critics view the rule as an unwarranted intrusion into people's dietary choices and an unfair, uneven burden on business. The restriction won't apply at supermarkets and many convenience stores because the city doesn't regulate them.

While the dispute plays out in court, "the impacted businesses would like some more certainty on when and how they might need to adjust operations," American Beverage Industry spokesman Christopher Gindlesperger said Tuesday.

Those adjustments are expected to cost the association's members about $600,000 in labeling and other expenses for bottles, Vice President Mike Redman said in court papers. Reconfiguring "16-ounce" cups that are actually made slightly bigger, to leave room at the top, is expected to take cup manufacturers three months to a year and cost them anywhere from more than $100,000 to several millions of dollars, Foodservice Packaging Institute President Lynn Dyer said in court documents.

Movie theaters, meanwhile, are concerned because beverages account for more than 20 percent of their overall profits and about 98 percent of soda sales are in containers greater than 16 ounces, according to Robert Sunshine, executive director of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York State.

___

Follow Jennifer Peltz at http://twitter.com/jennpeltz

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Asian shares recover on firm euro zone data, yen slips

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares recovered on Wednesday as solid euro zone data calmed nerves jarred by potential political turmoil in Spain and Italy, while the prospect of a dovish new governor for the Bank of Japan dragged the yen to a new low.

Sentiment for other risk assets also improved, pushing London copper up 0.4 percent to $8,302.75 a tonne to a near four-month high, while Brent crude hovered near a 20-week high. Signs of recovery taking root in Europe, the United States and China have helped improve the demand outlook.

The MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> added 0.3 percent, tracking an overnight gain in global equities on data showing the U.S. services sector extended a three-year expansion in January and business activity in the euro zone climbed to a 10-month high last month.

The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> and the Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained over 1 percent.

In Asia, investors have been quick to book profits as prices approached their highs, but analysts and traders say any dip was likely to be seen as a chance to buy back into the market.

The pan-Asian index scaled a 18-month high on Monday, and was up about 2.3 percent so far this year, considerably modest compared to the S&P's nearly 6 percent gain in the same period.

Australian shares <.axjo> jumped 0.9 percent, leading the regional peers.

"We're following on from a pretty good lead from global markets last night," said Steve Daghlian, market analyst at Commonwealth Securities, of Australian equities.

Brent crude was up 0.2 percent to $116.72 a barrel while U.S. crude was barely changed at $96.64.

Japanese equities and government bonds rose while the yen touched fresh lows on expectations for stronger reflationary policies from the BOJ.

The dollar touched 93.91 yen to its highest since May 2010, while the euro also rose to 127.65 yen, its loftiest since April 2010. The Aussie reached a 4-1/2 year peak around 97.42 yen. The pound touched a 3-year high near 147.25 yen.

Yen selling resumed after Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said he would step down on March 19, three weeks earlier than the official end of his five-year term, leaving at the same time as his two deputies, and raising the prospect that the next BOJ governor will more readily adopt the expansionist monetary policy demanded by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

"The Bank of Japan is about to get a lot more dovish, and sooner than previously thought," said Christopher Vecchio, a currency analyst at DailyFX.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei stock average <.n225> soared 3.1 percent to a 33-month high. <.t/>

"I think the market could yet rise when they announce the new governor's name, particularly if it makes an asset purchase budget of 50 trillion yen ($535 billion) from the BOJ more likely," said Norihiro Fujito, senior investment strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley.

The 10-year JGB yield fell 1.5 basis points to 0.775 percent after opening higher, at 0.800 percent.

The euro drew support from growing confidence in the region's economy and improving funding conditions for deeply-indebted euro zone members.

News the European Central Bank's balance sheet fell to an 11-month low of 2.8 trillion euros ($3.8 trillion) as markets unwound some of the ECB's crisis funding measures underpinned the euro, coming in stark contrast to the U.S. Federal Reserve and the BOJ which keep expanding asset buying.

"Flows matter more than stock in currency markets when comparing central bank balance sheets ... highlighting the euro's outperformance over the last few months," said Ashraf Laidi, chief global strategist at City Index, in a note to clients.

The euro was steady at $1.3578, above a key technical support of its 14-day moving average at $1.34653.

The ECB is expected to keep interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting on Thursday, but its president may face a grilling over an Italian banking scandal.

Spanish and Italian yields fell on Tuesday after jumping on worries over a corruption scandal in Spain and polls showing Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi regaining ground before elections this month.

The yen's fall lifted benchmark Tokyo gold futures to a record high of 5,067 yen per gram on Wednesday.

(Additional reporting by Ian Chua and Thuy Ong in Sydney and Ayai Tomisawa and Sophie Knight in Tokyo; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

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Tsunami Fear After Quake Off Solomons

AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Residents of the South Pacific from island chains to Australia were alerted to the possibility of a damaging tsunami on Wednesday after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake off the Solomon Islands, according to scientists and news reports from the area, but the warnings were called off a few hours later.

Ednal Palmer, the chief reporter of the newspaper The Solomon Star in Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands, said in a telephone interview that reports from Lata, the capital of Temotu Province, were sketchy but indicated that a wave had apparently struck three villages.

“We have heard that a wave 103 centimeters high” — nearly three and a half feet — “has hit Lata, swamping the town, and five people are still missing at the moment,” Mr. Palmer said.

Lata, where the quake struck, is in Temotu Province, where the population is around 30,000. It is a three-hour flight from Honiara, which was not damaged by the earthquake or the tsunami.

Mr. Palmer said Honiara residents were not concerned about the tsunami. “Most of us are getting ready for tonight’s UB40 concert,” he said.

The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center said on its Web site, “Sea level readings indicate a tsunami was generated.” The earthquake struck around 11 a.m. local time in the Santa Cruz Islands, part of the Solomon chain. There were conflicting reports as to the depth of the quake.

The center said the tsunami warning was limited to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Tuvalu, New Caledonia, Kosrae, Fiji, Kiribati, and Wallis and Futuna.

A lesser alert, a tsunami watch, was declared for American Samoa, Australia, Guam, the Northern Marianas, New Zealand and eastern Indonesia.

The earthquake was not only powerful but also shallow, giving it significant potential to cause damage, said Barry Hirshorn, a geophysicist with the National Weather Service in Hawaii. Moreover, it was a thrust earthquake, he said, meaning that the sea floor moved up or down, not sideways, contributing to the potential for a dangerous tsunami.

But after the earthquake, as scientists watched to see how far a tsunami might spread, there were few early indications of a major threat beyond the immediate area, Mr. Hirshorn said. A water rise of about three feet had been observed close to the quake, he said, still high enough to be potentially damaging but probably not big enough to threaten distant shores.

In New Zealand, thousands of people were at the beach, swimming in the sea on a glorious summer afternoon on Waitangi Day, a national holiday — quite oblivious to the potential for a tsunami. Tsunami sirens were set off late in the afternoon there, and people in coastal areas were being told to stay off beaches and out of the sea, rivers and estuaries.

The New Zealand Herald reported Wednesday afternoon on its Web site that tsunami sirens in Suva, the capital of Fiji, had been warning people to stay inside or go to higher ground.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on its Web site on Wednesday that the Solomon Islands’ National Disaster Management Office had advised those living in low-lying areas, especially on Makira and Malaita, to move to higher ground.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: February 6, 2013

An earlier version of this article misspelled the given name of the chief reporter of The Solomon Star. He is Ednal Palmer, not Edmal.

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Microsoft defends frayed PC ecosystem with $2 billion Dell loan

SEATTLE/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp is playing defense with a $ 2 billion loan to help Dell Inc’s founder buy back the world’s No.3 PC maker as it seeks to shore up support for Windows and beat back the march of Google Inc’s Android.

The investment in the landmark $ 24 billion buyout led by Michael Dell marks the latest step in Microsoft‘s plan to gain more influence over the hardware supply chain – a departure from the decades-old, software-centric philosophy that helped it dominate the computing world but is now increasingly under threat.

It is far from clear, however, if this strategy will be successful, while the world’s largest software maker risks upsetting other computer producers.

“It doesn’t mean it’s a bad move, but it’s definitely defensive. Microsoft is realizing it must be much more engaged in the hardware business than it used to be, it needs to be making bets and forming relationships,” said Andrew Bartels, an analyst at Forrester Research.

The company that built its fortune on making high-priced software to go in other companies’ computers is inching closer to Apple Inc’s belief that software and hardware must be closely integrated for the sake of the user experience.

Microsoft struck a deal to pay Nokia to make phones running Windows software in 2011 and a year later invested in Barnes & Noble‘s Nook e-reader. It then launched its own computer, the Surface tablet, in October, which rankled some PC makers initially.

In the face of declining PC sales and the onslaught of Apple‘s iPad, “Microsoft has taken more unconventional measures than they would have in the past,” said Sid Parakh, an analyst at investment firm McAdams Wright Ragen.

This time, Microsoft made extra efforts not to alienate its other PC makers, talking to them before inking the deal, said sources familiar with Microsoft‘s relations with its partners, and holding off from an ownership stake.

“Microsoft reached out (at the highest levels) a bit before all of it came out,” one of the people said. “There were multiple conversations. Clearly they put some thought into it and definitely a schedule was pulled together.”

Even so, world No.1 PC maker Hewlett-Packard Co (HP) issued a statement critical of the deal.

Dell “faces an extended period of uncertainty and transition that will not be good for its customers,” HP said, adding that Dell’s ability to invest in products and services will be extremely limited with its debt load.

Lenovo Group Ltd said it remains focused on products and customers rather than “distracting financial maneuvers and major strategic shifts.”

Microsoft, advised by Lazard Ltd, declined to comment on the terms of the Dell loan, or what exactly it gets in return, but made it clear it would look for “opportunities to support” companies that buy in to Windows, in whatever form. That suggests this may not be its last third-party investment.

Still, there is no guarantee that Microsoft‘s loan will give it any sway over Dell at all. One former Microsoft executive said the deal was pointless.

“I know Michael (Dell), he will continue to run his empire the way he has always done – without any outside influence,” said Joachim Kempin, once Microsoft‘s top executive in charge of its relationships with PC makers, who left the company in 2002.

PLATFORM WARS

Chief Executive Steve Ballmer made it clear last year that he sees Microsoft as a “devices and services” company with an explicit interest in hardware, whoever it is made by.

“Microsoft has every interest to keep such a key player in its ecosystem alive and well,” said Al Hilwa, an analyst at tech research firm IDC. “Dell supplies a large number of Microsoft customers with hardware, and it is important that their confidence is bolstered in the overall Microsoft ecosystem.”

Dell decided last year to focus its tablet strategy on the new Windows 8 operating system, in contrast to rivals such as Samsung, Asus and Lenovo, which are hedging or leading with Google‘s Android system, and HP which said this week it would make a Google Chromebook.

Dell did experiment with Android with its Streak tablet in 2010, but it flopped.

“This investment might help Microsoft influence whether Dell adopts Android or not, that is likely the goal behind this,” said Parakh.

The loan, negotiated by Microsoft‘s Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein, takes the form of a 10-year subordinated note and will pay 7 percent to 8 percent interest, according to sources familiar with the deal.

It is not clear how much sway Microsoft will have on Dell’s strategy, but the two have been close partners for 25 years, and will likely build on that.

“I don’t think Microsoft is going to run Dell at any time or have a dispositive say in what Dell does,” said one source familiar with Microsoft‘s thinking, who asked not to be named. “Microsoft wants to continue to have a strong and ever deepening relationship with Dell and you can take it as the expectation on both sides.”

PCs are clearly in decline, with sales falling last year for the first time in a decade as the popularity of tablets surges.

Some analysts suggest Microsoft got involved in the deal to learn more from Dell about selling to businesses and individuals.

“Dell is one of the best at building hardware and putting an operating system on it,” said Michael Cherry, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, an independent consultancy.

With the rise of Google trying to sell into enterprises, it should help Microsoft to have some influence over one of the largest IT vendors, said Parakh.

Microsoft has not always been successful in its tech investments.

Its multi-billion dollar bets on cable firms AT&T Inc and Comcast Corp in the late 1990s did not yield success. Its $ 150 million in a struggling Apple in 1997 ended a long-running patent spat between the two companies, but saved Apple and put it on course to eclipse Microsoft financially.

“Apple is the model, and Microsoft can’t become Apple overnight,” said Bartels at Forrester. “But it needs to have really good partners.”

(Additional reporting by Greg Roumeliotis, Poornima Gupta, Nadia Damouni; Editing by Ryan Woo)

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Jillian Michaels: My Son Phoenix Is 'Fiery' Like Me

Mom & Babies
Celebrity Baby Blog

02/04/2013 at 03:00 PM ET

Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

Jillian Michaels‘ son Phoenix is already taking after his mama — just not the expected one!

Although The Biggest Loser trainer expected her baby boy to inherit her partner’s laidback approach to life — Heidi Rhoades delivered their son in May — the 8-month-old’s budding personality is the polar opposite.

“He wants to walk and he gets really pissed about it when he can’t. He gets frustrated,” Michaels, 38, told PEOPLE at the recent TCAs.

“He’s a fiery little sucker, he’s just like me. I’m like, ‘You were supposed to be like Heidi!’ But he’s not. It’s not good, not good.”

Admitting she is “terrified for when he’s a teenager,” Michaels has good reason to be: Recently she spotted her son — who is “crawling aggressively” — putting his electrician skills to the test in the family room.

“He’s into everything, which is kind of a nightmare to be totally honest,” she says. “We have an outlet in the floor in the living room and I caught him eating the outlet on the floor … I was like, ‘Mother of God!’”

Phoenix’s big sister Lukensia, 3, has also been busy keeping her mamas on their toes. “Lu just had her first ski trip and she had a little crush on her teacher, Ollie,” Michaels shares.

“At first I was like, ‘Oh my God, we’re letting our baby go!’ The second day we took her she ran right to him — loves Ollie.”

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