AT&T posts 4Q loss on charges; revenue increases (AP)

NEW YORK ? AT&T Inc. is still the home of the iPhone. It activated 7.6 million of them in the latest quarter, accounting for one out of every five iPhones sold globally.

And AT&T remains heavily dependent on the iPhone to gain and keep customers, despite a vow by CEO Randall Stephenson a year ago to "very aggressively" market competing smartphones in 2011. That vow came in the wake of AT&T's loss of an exclusive right to sell the iPhone in the U.S.

The iPhone accounted for about 80 percent of the smartphones AT&T activated in the fourth quarter of 2011, up from 70 percent just before Stephenson made his vow.

The figures are somewhat skewed because the fourth quarter of 2011 saw the launch of a new iPhone model, the iPhone 4S, whereas the fourth quarter of 2010 didn't. Looking at annual sales instead, there's a decline in the iPhone's percentage of AT&T smartphones ? to 69 percent last year, from 79 percent in 2010.

The Dallas-based company has also retained its position as the premier U.S. iPhone carrier, beating Verizon Wireless' 4.3 million iPhone activations handily.

AT&T's iPhone dependency comes at a heavy cost. The phone is more expensive than many other smartphones, and AT&T needs to subsidize each iPhone with hundreds of dollars to put it in customers' hands for as little as $1.

That, together with massive charges for adjustments in the value of the company's pension plans, the breakup of a deal to buy T-Mobile USA and a writedown of the value of its phone-directory business, forced AT&T to report a massive loss on Thursday of $6.68 billion, or $1.12 per share, for the fourth quarter.

It was the first quarterly loss for AT&T in three years. An adjustment of pension-plan obligations was also the main culprit behind the previous loss, in the fourth quarter of 2008.

AT&T took a charge of $4.2 billion for the compensation it's paying T-Mobile USA. When AT&T made the $39 billion bid in March, it promised T-Mobile cash and wireless licenses if the deal fell through. The deal was squelched by federal regulators, who saw reason to believe that the No. 2 wireless carrier buying No. 4 would reduce competition.

On Thursday, Stephenson said the company's Plan B consists of trying to buy more wireless spectrum in smaller deals, selling low-performing units and instituting a share-buyback program.

AT&T said it has board authorization to buy back 300 million shares, worth about $9 billion, and will start doing so immediately.

Excluding charges, net income was 42 cents per share in the latest quarter, a penny shy of Wall Street expectations, according to a survey by FactSet.

The loss compares with net income of $1.09 billion, or 18 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $32.5 billion, helped by the smartphone sales. Analysts were expecting revenue of $31.99 billion, on average.

After stripping out the jump in smartphone sales, which constitute an immediate loss for the company, revenue grew 0.6 percent from last year. Wireless service fees are growing slower than before, barely making up for the decline of AT&T's traditional-phone business.

AT&T said it expects earnings per share to grow by a mid-single-digit percentage in 2012, a bit lower than analysts had expected.

In afternoon trading Thursday, shares of AT&T Inc. fell 68 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $29.53.

Most of the iPhone activations were upgrades for people who were already AT&T subscribers. The carrier gained a net 717,000 subscribers on contract plans in the quarter. That was the best result all year, but didn't match Verizon's 1.2 million. AT&T has been lagging Verizon in this important measure for more than a year.

For all of 2011, AT&T earned $3.9 billion, or 66 cents per share, on $126.7 billion in revenue. That compares with $19.9 billion, or $3.35 per share, on $124.3 billion in revenue in 2010.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_hi_te/us_earns_at_t

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Should the West just let Iran enrich uranium? (The Week)

New York ? The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty allows countries to enrich uranium if they agree to rigorous monitoring. Should that standard apply to Iran, too?

Tensions are rising over Iran's uranium enrichment program, which the U.S. and Europe insist is part of a surreptitious bid to build nuclear weapons. Iran's Islamist leaders, who maintain that they're only interested in nuclear energy, refuse to back down. In response to a potentially devastating new European?ban on importing Iranian oil, Tehran is escalating its rhetoric, renewing threats to disrupt all tanker traffic out of the Persian Gulf. Is it time for the West to accept Iran's nuclear program?

Yes. Let Iran enrich all the uranium it wants: "The West is all but isolated in insisting that Iran must not enrich," says Peter Jenkins at Britain's Telegraph. Most other nations think Iran should be treated like every other Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty nation, and be "allowed to enrich uranium in return for intrusive monitoring" by International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors. Iran won't seem as threatening with tough safeguards in place to make sure it's not building a bomb. And if we allow Iran to enrich uranium, and Tehran pursues nukes anyway, "the world will be united in condemning such a betrayal of trust."
"The deal the West could strike with Iran"

Are you kidding? Waiting is foolhardy: There may be no smoking-gun proof that Iran is trying to put together a nuclear weapon, say David Albright, Paul Brannan, Andrea Stricker and Andrew Ortendahl at the Institute for Science and International Security. But "it has pursued a strategy of nuclear hedging" and is building centrifuges under "great secrecy." Why should we trust Iran? Every day we let Iran's nuclear program continue unchecked only shortens the time it would take the country to build a bomb once it decides to do it.
"Reality check: Shorter and shorter timeframe if Iran decides to make nuclear weapons"

Iran's uranium isn't the real issue: There's "nothing illegal" about Iran's stockpiling of low-enriched uranium, says Yousaf Butt at Foreign Policy. Brazil, Argentina, and Japan ? none of which have nuclear weapons ? all have plenty of uranium-producing capabilities. Let's be honest: Judging from the "impossible conditions" Western sanctions impose, it's pretty clear the the U.S. and Europe aren't after Iran's nuclear program ? they're out to "dismantle the current regime" entirely.?
"Stop the madness"

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/oped/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/theweek/20120125/cm_theweek/223643

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EU ministers push bondholders in Greek deal (AP)

BRUSSELS ? European finance ministers piled the pressure on Greece's private creditors Monday to reach an agreement with Athens to cut the country's massive debt load, with the Dutch representative warning bondholders that they may be forced to take losses.

Time is running out for Greece to reduce its debt by some euro100 billion ($129 billion) and avoid missing a vital bond repayment deadline. Talks between the country and representatives of banks and other investment firms to secure a deal hit an impasse over the weekend.

The deal would involve private creditors swapping their old Greek bonds for ones with a 50 percent lower face value. The new, lower priced bonds, would also have much longer maturities ? pushing repayments decades into the future ? and will pay a much lower interest rate than Greece would currently have to pay on the market.

It's clear that Greece needs some form of deal soon ? it faces a euro14.5 billion ($19 billion) bond repayment on March 20, which it will be unable to afford if the bond swap doesn't go through.

The Greek government and representatives for the private creditors said they are moving closer to a final deal. But any agreement also has to be signed off by the other 16 countries that also use the euro as their currency and the International Monetary Fund, who have made the deal a key condition of the country winning any further bailout loans.

Greece has been surviving on a first euro110 billion ($142 billion) batch of rescue loans since May 2010, which were conditioned on deep spending cuts and sweeping public sector reforms.

At the center of the debate is the interest rate that Greece will have to pay on the new, lower-valued bonds. The interest rate is key not only to determining the overall losses for the bondholders but also to whether the deal will work.

If the interest rate is too high, a second, euro130 billion ($168 billion) bailout for Greece may not be enough to put the country back on its feet. The other eurozone states and the IMF would have to provide more loans, but they are unwilling to do so.

But if they are too low, the losses for bondholders will become so high that it will be difficult to get them to agree voluntarily to a deal.

Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager indicated that the eurozone may be moving away from its previous insistence that investors will not be forced to take losses.

"We've never pushed for a default, but we've never said it (a restructuring) must be voluntary," de Jager said as he arrived for a meeting with his eurozone counterparts in Brussels. "Our goal is a sustainable debt. It has our preference if it's voluntary, but it's not a precondition for us."

Greece needs to secure a deal quickly if it wants to avoid a disorderly default on March 20.

"Given that any debt swap deal will involve a lot of lawyers, it is estimated that around 5 weeks are needed between agreement and the bond maturing to prevent default," said Louise Cooper, markets analyst at BGC Partners. "This does not leave much wriggle room, although such pressure must focus the minds of all at the negotiating table."

A forced restructuring would likely trigger payouts on so-called credit default swaps ? a contract traded between banks and other investment firms that want to insure against potential defaults. Because the market in CDS is obscure ? with no clear data on who would owe whom how much ? the eurozone fears that a payout could lead to turmoil on financial markets similar to what happened after the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Although officials, including the French and Greek finance ministers, insisted that a deal was in the making, few expected a final agreement ahead of a key summit of EU leaders next Monday. De Jager suggested that negotiations may even drag on beyond that.

A Greek official said the government now hopes to make a formal offer on the bond swap to investors by Feb. 13. He declined to be named because talks are ongoing.

Greece's economic problems kicked off Europe's debt crisis more than two years ago and the continent's inability to resolve its troubles have raised concerns about other highly indebted countries. But positive bond auctions in Spain, Italy and France last week have eased some concerns about the region's bigger economies and have lifted stock markets and the value of the euro.

On Monday, the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, called on Europe's stronger economies to do more to boost growth and beef up the defenses against the continent's debt crisis.

After meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Christine Lagarde urged the leaders of the 17 countries that use the euro to deal with the crisis that is threatening another recession in the eurozone.

"There are three imperatives ? one is stronger growth, two is larger firewalls; three, deeper integration," she said in a speech to the German Council on Foreign Relations. "Resorting to across-the-board, across-the continent, without differentiation, budgetary cuts will only add to recessionary pressures."

Merkel insisted Monday that the debt crisis has shown that the bloc's leaders must now press for a genuine political union.

"In my opinion it is the great task of the coming years to move forward on the path of a political union," Merkel said in Berlin.

Ministers in Brussels will also seek to put the finishing touches on their permanent bailout fund ? the euro500 billion European Stability Mechanism ? which is scheduled to come into force this year. They will also discuss a new intergovernmental treaty designed to keep eurozone countries from overspending.

___

Greg Keller in Paris and Nicolas Paphitis in Athens contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Turkey slams France over Armenian 'genocide' bill (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey ? Turkey warned the French president on Tuesday against signing a law that makes it a crime to deny that the killings of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago constituted genocide, saying such a move would deal a heavy blow to the relations between the two countries.

France's parliament approved the bill late Monday, risking more sanctions from Turkey and complicating an already delicate relationship with the rising power. Officials in President Nicolas Sarkozy's government insisted the vote didn't directly target the country.

Turkey, which sees the allegations of genocide as a threat to its national honor, has already suspended military, economic and political ties with Paris, and briefly recalled its ambassador last month when the lower house of French parliament approved the same bill.

For some in France, the bill is part of a tradition of legislation in some European countries, born of the agonies of the Holocaust, that criminalizes the denial of genocide. Denying the Holocaust is already a punishable crime in France.

Most historians contend that the 1915 killings of 1.5 million Armenians as the Ottoman Empire broke up was the 20th century's first genocide, and several European countries recognize the massacres as such. Switzerland has convicted people of racism for denying the genocide.

But Turkey says that there was no systematic campaign to kill Armenians and that many Turks also died during the chaotic disintegration of the empire. It also says that death toll is inflated.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the bill was a result of "racist and discriminatory" attitude toward Turkey.

He warned of new, unspecified sanctions against France if the bill is signed into a law.

"For us it is null and void," Erdogan said. "We still have not lost our hope that it can be corrected."

Turkey's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday strongly condemned the decision, saying the law should not be enacted to "avoid this being recorded as part of France's political, legal and moral mistakes."

Sarkozy, whose party supported the bill, must sign it into law, but that is largely considered a formality. He has 15 days to sign a bill into law after it has been passed by both houses of parliament. During that period, the president, the prime minister, the presidents of either house of parliament or a group of either 60 deputies or 60 senators can ask the Constitutional Council to examine the bill to determine if it's constitutional.

"I hope 60 senators appeal to the Constitutional Council to eliminate this shadow over French democracy," Turkish President Abdullah Gul said. "If the bill is not taken to the Constitutional Council and finalized, Turkish-French relations will be dealt a heavy blow."

If the law is signed, "we will not hesitate to implement, as we deem appropriate, the measures that we have considered in advance," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said. It did not elaborate on the measures.

The debate surrounding the measure comes in the highly charged run-up to France's presidential elections this spring, and critics have called the move a ploy by Sarkozy to garner the votes of the some 500,000 Armenians who live in France.

"It is further unfortunate that the historical ... relations between the Republic of Turkey and France have been sacrificed to considerations of political agenda," Turkey's foreign ministry said. "It is quite clear where the responsibility for this lies."

Officials in Sarkozy's conservative government were in damage-control mode on Tuesday, appealing to Turkey's government to keep its calm.

"As foreign minister, I think this initiative was a bit inopportune. But the parliament has thus decided. What I'd like to do today is call on our Turkish friends to keep their composure," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Canal Plus TV. "After this wave that has been a little bit excessive, I have to say I'm convinced that we will return to constructive relations ? I extend my hand, I hope it will be taken one day."

Turkish media slammed Sarkozy: "(He) massacred democracy," read the banner headline of the leading Hurriyet newspaper while the Sozcu daily blasted "Sarkozy the Satan."

France's relations with Turkey are already strained, in large part because Sarkozy opposes Turkey's entry into the European Union. The law is likely to further sour relations with a NATO member that is playing an increasingly important role in the international community's response to the violence in Syria, the standoff over Iran's nuclear program and peace negotiations in the Middle East.

The Senate voted 127 to 86 to pass the bill late Monday. Twenty-four people abstained. The measure sets a punishment of up to one year in prison and a fine of euro45,000 ($59,000) for those who deny or "outrageously minimize" the killings.

Some Turks said Turkey should retaliate in kind. The Turkish prime minister has accused the French of "genocide" during France's 132-year colonial rule in Algeria.

"I think our country should have retaliated in the same way after the French Bill has passed," Yilmaz Sesen, a chemist, told AP television in Ankara. "They have committed genocide in North Africa, and not too long ago either."

___

Sarah DiLorenzo and Jamey Keaten contributed to this report from Paris.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_eu/eu_turkey_france_genocide

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Florida Debate Live Blogging (talking-points-memo)

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All-white blackbird photographed

23 January 2012 Last updated at 00:13

This unusual blackbird is attracting bird watchers to a Nottinghamshire country park.

The bird is leucistic, which is a genetic mutation that prevents pigments from being deposited normally in its feathers.

It has been residing for the last four years in the woodland of Rufford Abbey Country Park.

Each year, observers say, it has steadily shed its black feathers for white feathers.

Continue reading the main story

Ghostly plumage

• Leucism is often confused with the rarer condition albinism, a genetic condition that prevents the production of melanin in the body; in leucism, these colouring chemicals are present in the body, but are not deposited in feathers
• Some colours in birds' plumage come from other pigments such as carotenoids, so birds can be albinistic and still have some colour
• Leucistic birds may be completely white and still have melanin in their bodies; as for this blackbird, such animals will have dark eyes and white feathers
• Albino birds and animals also have pink eyes, as the only colour in the eyes comes from the blood vessels behind the eyes

Park rangers took this picture of the blackbird - which is now completely white with no visible pigmented feathers - in the summer of 2011.

Leucistic birds are often very vulnerable to predators, because of their bright white plumage. So the park's managers are urging birdwatchers to keep an eye out for this unusual blackbird.

Site manager John Clegg said: "This bird has been steadily turning whiter over the years and last summer it was completely white.

"It has become quite a character at the park in recent years.

"It tends to appear in the warmer months and we have not seen it for a few months but hope it will return here soon."

Most leucistic birds have some spots or patches of colouration in their feathers from other pigments, so this is a particularly unusual specimen.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/16646922

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Try a New Operating System This Weekend [Weekendhacker]

We write about a variety of platforms here at Lifehacker, and even if you're perfectly happy with what you're using, nothing makes you feel more appreciative (not to mention knowledgeable) than trying something new. Take some of your free time this weekend and give a new OS a shot.

Windows

Windows gets a bad rap these days, but it's actually a great operating system. If you haven't tried out Windows 7 yet (or if you haven't used it in a while), check out our master list of Windows 7 shortcuts, and get to know big features like the taskbar and the Windows 7 libraries. Of course, it has a lot of really underhyped features that rock, too, not to mention lots of clever hidden tricks.

Of course, if you've been using Windows 7 for the past few years, you still have some new things to try out in the awesome, upcoming Windows 8. You can download the developer preview now, and install it or run it in a virtual machine. It may not be ready to be your primary operating system, but it's cool to see how far it's come in terms of speed and features. Check out our Windows 8 in-depth guides, from the Metro interface (which isn't great without touch, not that it matters) to the desktop, to Windows Explorer and the brand new Task Manager. While you're at it, you can check out some of Windows 8's lesser known features, too.

Once you've got everything up and running, be sure to check out our Lifehacker Pack for Windows and the Windows App Directory for a ton of cool programs.

Mac OS X

If you haven't used Macs since the 80s, now's a good time to take another look. If your desktop or laptop is compatible, you can turn your computer into a hackintosh. They're tough, but with a bit of troubleshooting, you should have no problem getting it up and running. You can also run OS X off a flash drive, or run it in VirtualBox on Windows. The latest version of OS X has some pretty cool features both secret and obvious., especially once you've de-iOSified it (though you can get a lot of those features in Snow Leopard, if you aren't a Lion fan).

Once you've got everything up and running, be sure to check out our Lifehacker Pack for Mac and the Mac App Directory for a ton of cool apps.

Linux

Working with Linux is a hefty undertaking, but we've tried to make it easy with our Night School course on getting started with Linux. Of course, if you have used Linux before, you could always try a new distribution, like the super-customizable Arch Linux (my personal favorite) to the netbook-friendly Lubuntu or Archbang. Even if you've done your fair share of distro-hopping, you might try a new desktop environment instead, or even something a bit more out of the box like Chrome OS. Programs like Lili make it easy, by creating versatile, go-anywhere bootable thumb drives so you don't even need to install anything on your system.

Once you've got everything up and running, be sure to check out our Lifehacker Pack for Linux and the Mac App Directory for a ton of cool programs. Check out our guide to getting cool desktop effects in Linux, too, while you're at it.

Putting It All Together: Dual and Triple Booting

If you like what you see and want to give your new OS a more permanent spot on your hard drive?without losing your old one?you can dual boot your computer. We've done guides on how to dual or triple boot your computer with Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, whether you're on a Mac or a hackintosh-compatible PC. You can also dual-boot Windows 7 and Windows 8 side by side, or run all your OSes at once using VirtualBox. Once you've got it all set up, make sure you're able to share your data across all your operating systems, too, for super-seamless switching.

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/AzLHbSYZfmo/try-a-new-operating-system-this-weekend

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Ericsson, ZTE shake hands, drop patent infringement lawsuits

Back in April, Ericsson and ZTE filed patent infringement lawsuits against each other, with each party claiming that its 4G / WCDMA / GSM technology had been illegally appropriated. Today, though, the two have apparently decided to bury the hatchet, and withdraw their lawsuits. In a statement issued yesterday, ZTE said the two firms arrived at the decision after "extensive discussion and consultation," adding that the move will bring an end to "the patent infringement lawsuits filed by Ericsson against ZTE in the U.K., Germany and Italy, as well as the patent infringement lawsuit filed by ZTE against Ericsson." The company went on to deny earlier reports that it was forced to pay €500 million (about $647 million) to Ericsson, though Ericsson has yet to offer any comment on the matter.

Ericsson, ZTE shake hands, drop patent infringement lawsuits originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Etta James, a Life and Legend (ContributorNetwork)

Etta James's sultry voice provided an entire generation's worth of inspiration to modern songstresses. CNN reports major players in the music industry such as Mariah Carey and Beyonce Knowles were both influenced by her songs and style. The Associated Press reports James passed away Jan. 20 in California from complications related to leukemia.

James was a matriarch for the modern female blues singer throughout her life.

1938: Born

The Biography Channel states James was born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles on Jan. 25, 1938. By the age of 5, she was singing gospel choir songs in church and on the radio.

1950: Moved North

When James turned 12, she and her family moved north to San Francisco. She formed a trio with two other girls and singing became an even larger part of her life. Very quickly, the girls got noticed and James turned to professional singing.

1954: Return to L.A.

In 1954, James returned to Los Angeles to get more heavily involved in the recording industry. Johnny Otis spotted her two years earlier in San Francisco and the young lady embarked on a singing career, against the will of her mother. She changed her stage name to Etta James, a re-arrangement of her first name and was given a back up group called the Peaches (James's childhood nickname).

Her first recording, and first hit, came a year later. James sang "Roll with Me Henry" with Richard Berry. The song was renamed "The Wallflower" and it topped the R&B charts in 1955.

1960: Meteoric Rise

James signed a recording deal with Chess Records in Chicago in 1960. From this point, her career took off and never looked back. Hits such as "All I Could Do Was Cry," "Somthing's Got a Hold on Me," and "Trust in Me" were all hits during her run with Chess Records in the 1960s and early 1970s.

1973: Grammy Nomination

Her self-titled album "Etta James" earned James the first of several Grammy nominations in her career.

1984: Olympic Glory

James sang "When the Saints Go Marching In" for the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

1993: Hall of Fame

James was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland in 1993. At this point in her career, James was recognized for her wide-ranging vocals and styles that marked her long career.

2003: Grammy

In 2003, James was honored with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Her sassy and no-nonsense singing style was recognized for being open, honest and heart wrenching simultaneously.

2011: Last Album

James's last album entitled "The Dreamer" was released in November 2011, three months before her death. The Associated Press reports her last album was typical James fare as she even rocked out to the Guns 'N Roses song "Welcome to the Jungle."

The audacious songstress died five days short of her 74th birthday.

William Browning is a research librarian.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120121/en_ac/10862597_etta_james_a_life_and_legend

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RIAA Is "Deeply Grateful" to Justice Department for Thwarting Megaupload's "Sinister Scheme" [Piracy]

The feds shut down Megaupload today, and the RIAA is juiced. In a statement released after the DoJ killed Megaupload. The RIAA celebrated victory by with a hearty diatribe villainizing Megaupload. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/gfG3b3H7_8o/riaa-is-deeply-grateful-to-justice-department-for-thwarting-megauploads-sinister-scheme

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Interpol chief says countries not using databases (AP)

LONDON ? Interpol's chief sounded an alarm Thursday that countries are still failing to check identity documents against its database ? a warning that comes just months before the 2012 Olympics.

Ron Noble, secretary-general of the international police agency based in France, said out of the 1.1 billion travelers last year, ID documents of about 500 million people were not checked against Interpol's database, which is one of the world's most detailed.

"It will take a tragedy ? a specific kind of tragedy ? for behavior to change," Noble told The Associated Press after speaking to foreign correspondents in London.

Noble has said Britain is the only EU country to systematically check passports against those registered with Interpol as missing worldwide. Britain carried out 140 million checks last year against the database ? more than the rest of Europe combined.

Last year, he said more than 11,000 people were caught trying to enter the U.K. using lost or stolen passports.

France carried out the second-highest number of checks at 10 million.

A special Interpol team will be sent specifically for the Olympics, helping British authorities determine whether anyone trying to enter the U.K. is wanted, whether their documents have been listed as lost or stolen and whether they are considered a threat.

He said the team will be smaller than the one Interpol sent to South Africa for the 2010 World Cup ? an event where teams were at border crossings and airports.

"We know terrorists use fraudulent ID documents," Noble said.

The U.K. Border Agency faced intense criticism last year after passport checks were relaxed during the height of the summer tourist season to lessen lines at London's Heathrow Airport, Europe's busiest. A government report on Thursday blamed poor communications, a lack of supervision and other shortcomings for the problems.

Olympics security has been a primary concern since 1972, when 11 Israeli athletes and coaches were killed at the Munich Games.

Noble said while there was no specific intelligence that the games would be targeted, such events provide an array of opportunities for criminals, including pickpocketing, forced prostitution, illegal Internet betting rings and hoaxes.

And then there is still the threat of terrorism. Noble said while al-Qaida's ranks had been depleted, affiliates were actively recruiting in places like Somalia.

Another fear that Noble said "keeps him up at night" is the threat of a nuclear or biological attack. Interpol has been alerted to some 2,715 instances where there were questions of whether there had been illicit trafficking of nuclear material.

Noble stressed, however, that didn't mean there were more 2,000 cases of trafficked nuclear material.

While most of the cases involved non-nuclear radioactive material cases ? 2,535 ? there were 200 cases involving nuclear material. Only four cases involved the attempted sale of highly enriched uranium, Noble said.

The U.S., he said, had the most cases in the database ? mostly because of its reporting through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Council. After that, Eastern Europe has had the most and some of the most significant cases of concern in terms of criminality, Noble said.

As for whether terror groups were becoming more capable of unleashing biological attacks, Noble pointed to advances in both technology and biotechnology. He said the risk was increasing ? partially because technology can be misused ? but that did not mean there was an increased likelihood of a bio-terrorist attack.

"It's so easy to think about how an attack can be carried out because the screening of passengers doesn't focus on that at all," Noble said. "That's why it's important to identify people who are engaged in conduct that is suspicious or illegal."

Noble is American and a former head of the U.S. Secret Service. Interpol is based in Lyon, France.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_interpol

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Show no fear : daring actions in Canadian military history / edited by Bernd Horn.

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Panetta: US 'fully prepared' for an Iran challenge (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The U.S. military is now "fully prepared" to deal with any Iranian effort to close the Strait of Hormuz, a vital Persian Gulf avenue for international oil shipments, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.

At a Pentagon news conference, Panetta was asked whether, in light of Iran's threat to close the strait in retaliation for stronger international economic sanctions, Washington is adjusting U.S. forces in the region.

"We are not making any special steps at this point in order to deal with the situation," Panetta replied. "Why? Because, frankly, we are fully prepared to deal with that situation now." He noted that routine planning continues as the U.S. and its allies consider a range of potential Iran-related problems.

The Navy this month added a second aircraft carrier strike group in the Middle East, portraying it as part of a normal rotation and not a deliberate buildup of force. The carriers are the USS Carl Vinson and the USS Abraham Lincoln, under the control of U.S. Naval Forces Central Command in Bahrain.

The U.S. has kept a continuous naval presence in the Gulf region for decades, but international concerns about a potential confrontation have grown amid tensions over the advancement of Iran's nuclear program.

The U.S. also has military forces in nearby United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and other Gulf nations.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the country's most powerful military force, says Tehran's leadership has decided to order the closure of the Strait of Hormuz if Iran's oil exports are blocked as a result of sanctions. A senior Guard officer said earlier this month that the decision has been made by Iran's top authorities.

Iranian politicians have made the threat in the past, but this was the strongest statement yet that a closure of the strait is official policy.

In his remarks at the Pentagon, Panetta said he still holds out hope for a diplomatic solution with Iran.

"It takes two to be able to engage, and we've always expressed a willingness to try to do that," he said. "But we've always made clear that in terms of any threats to the region, in terms of some of the behavior that they've conducted in the region, that we'll also be prepared to respond militarily if we have to."

In what some view as a sign of concern about aggravating tensions with Iran, the U.S. and Israel have postponed what Panetta has called the largest-ever U.S.-Israeli air defense exercise. It was supposed to be conducted in April.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said on Monday the postponement was a "joint" decision with Washington. "The thinking was it was not the right timing now to conduct such an exercise," he said. He refused to elaborate.

Asked about this Wednesday, Panetta said Israel's defense minister, Ehud Barak, had approached him to suggest the delay "in order to be able to plan better." Panetta said the decision had nothing to do with Iran.

Israel's ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, issued a statement Tuesday saying the delay "stemmed solely from technical issues." He said the exercise, dubbed "Austere Challenge 2012", would be held in the second half of this year.

___

Robert Burns can be reached on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/robertburnsAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/usmilitary/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120119/ap_on_bi_ge/us_us_iran_military

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How much does Android earn Google? Oracle says $10M a day

Take this one with a grain of salt, folks: in a recent submission to the court in conjunction with its ongoing lawsuit,?Oracle?estimated that revenue from Android?activations made every day net Google a whopping million across an entire year. Estimating that the figure stays solid over 2012 (and keep in mind, it?s almost certain to increase) that would mean that Google makes approximately 3.7 billion dollars on Android advertising alone. Oracle did not say how it reached this conclusion, but Free and Open Source Software advocate Florian Muller guesses that they?re assuming of ad revenue per Android user, per year.

Without hard data, it?s touch t?

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How much does Android earn Google? Oracle says $10M a day
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Source: http://androidheadlines.com/2012/01/how-much-does-android-earn-google-oracle-says-10m-a-day.html

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Stocks set to rally as earnings pick up

By msnbc.com news services

Stocks are set to rally Tuesday as investors look to corporate profits as earnings season picks up and Chinese data fuel the belief the government may move to stimulate growth.

China's economy grew slightly more than expected but at the weakest pace in 2-1/2 years, suggesting the government may act to increase growth in the near future.

Corporate earnings are due from Citigroup Inc , Forest Laboratories Inc , Linear Technology Corp , M&T Bank Corp , and Wells Fargo & Co . Profit outlooks will be monitored for insight on how the euro zone debt crisis affected multinational companies.

Investors appear set to shrug off a cut in the credit rating of the euro zone's rescue fund by Standard & Poor's by one notch, apparently relieved the downgrade was not more severe. The move comes after Friday's widely expected downgrade of a number of euro zone countries.

S&P 500 futures rose 11.7 points and were above fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract. Dow Jones industrial average futures climbed 118 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures added 26 points.

Carnival Corp slumped 16.6 percent to $28.60 in premarket trade after its Italian unit, Costa Crociere, attempted to locate missing passengers after its cruise liner capsized.

France's EDF SA agreed to drop its opposition to power group Exelon Corp's purchase of Constellation Energy Group Inc after reaching a deal to protect the operating independence of a nuclear joint venture with Constellation.

AIA Group Ltd, Asia's No. 3 insurer that is about one-third owned by American International Group Inc, may bid for the $6 billion Asian insurance operations of ING Groep, sources said.

European stock indexes broke through key technical levels to hit five-month highs in early Tuesday trade, with miners among the biggest gainers after economic growth data from top metals user China topped forecasts.

Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://bottomline.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/17/10173507-stocks-set-to-rally-as-earnings-pick-up

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The Uses of the Past: Science/Science Writing Talk (Balloon Juice)

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Markets shrug off S&P downgrades, focus on Greece (AP)

LONDON ? European markets responded calmly to Standard & Poor's decision to cut the credit ratings of a number of euro countries as France managed to tap bond market investors Monday despite the loss of its cherished triple-A rating.

The downgrades, which were based on concerns over Europe's ability to handle its two-year debt crisis and the lack of economic growth, had been anticipated for weeks so the market impact was muted, especially since the U.S. is on holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Europe is set to remain the focus of attention all week as a number of bond auctions are due and Greece tries to clinch a debt deal with its private creditors. Last October, Greece's partners in the eurozone sanctioned a deal whereby Greece's creditors agree to take a cut in the value of their Greek bond holdings to help lighten the country's debt burden.

The deal with private investors, known as the Private Sector Involvement, or PSI, aims to reduce Greece's debt by euro100 billion ($126.5 billion) by swapping private creditors' bonds for new ones with a lower value. It is a key part of a euro130 billion international bailout, the second one for Greece.

It is expected that talks on the PSI will resume this coming week after being abandoned last Friday.

On Tuesday, representatives of Greece's creditors ? the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund ? will visit Greece for yet another round of inspections of its efforts at fiscal and structural reform and negotiations for the next tranche of money, the seventh, from the first bailout.

Without a deal with its private creditors, Greece has been told it won't get the seventh tranche. Without that, Greece would be unable to pay a big bond redemption in March and face the prospect of defaulting on its debts, potentially triggering more mayhem in financial markets.

Gary Jenkins, a director of Swordfish Research, reckons the Greek debt restructuring poses more risks to the markets in the short-term than S&P's decision to strip France of its cherished triple A credit rating or to downgrade eight other euro countries, including Italy.

"The progress or otherwise of these negotiations will probably dictate how the market trades over the next few weeks," said Jenkins.

Greece's Prime Minister Lucas Papademos insisted in an interview with CNBC that a deal will be hammered out.

"Some further reflection is necessary on how to put all the elements together," he said. "So as you know, there is a little pause in these discussions. But I'm confident that they will continue and we will reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable in time."

While investors awaited developments, markets were trading modestly higher especially after France easily sold short-term debt to investors in the first auction since Standard & Poor's stripped the country of its top tier rating.

Meanwhile, there was further good news in the bond markets as yield on France's ten-year bonds was falling back toward the 3 percent mark, which is well within what is considered manageable.

In stock markets, France's CAC-40 closed 0.9 percent higher at 3,225 while Germany's DAX rose 1.3 percent to 6,220.01. The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares ended 0.4 percent higher at 5,657.44.

The euro was also steady, up 0.2 percent at $1.2675. On Friday, it had fallen to a 17-month dollar low of $1.2623 as speculation swirled in the markets of S&P's downgrades.

Earlier in Asia, markets responded more negatively to the S&P downgrades, which were confirmed after U.S. and European markets had closed on Friday. Asian markets had already closed by the time speculation of the downgrades emerged.

Japan's Nikkei 225 index slid 1.4 percent to close at 8,378.36 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng lost 1 percent at 19,021.20. South Korea's Kospi dropped 0.9 percent to 1,859.25.

In mainland China, the Shanghai Composite Index lost 1.7 percent to 2,206.19, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index dropped 3.3 percent to 818.17. Almost 70 companies plunged the daily limit of 10 percent.

In the oil markets, traders are fretting over simmering tensions in the Middle East and Nigeria ? benchmark oil rose $1 to $99.70 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

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Nigeria fuel strike ends with soldiers in streets

Protesters run away from tear gas fired by police officers during a demonstration against spiraling fuel prices in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. For the first time since protests erupted over spiraling fuel prices, soldiers barricaded key roads Monday in Nigeria's two biggest cities as the president offered a concession to stem demonstrations that he said were being stoked by provocateurs seeking anarchy. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Protesters run away from tear gas fired by police officers during a demonstration against spiraling fuel prices in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. For the first time since protests erupted over spiraling fuel prices, soldiers barricaded key roads Monday in Nigeria's two biggest cities as the president offered a concession to stem demonstrations that he said were being stoked by provocateurs seeking anarchy. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Protesters run away from tear gas fired by police officers during a demonstration against spiraling fuel prices in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. For the first time since protests erupted over spiraling fuel prices, soldiers barricaded key roads Monday in Nigeria's two biggest cities as the president offered a concession to stem demonstrations that he said were being stoked by provocateurs seeking anarchy. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Angry youths protest and shout slogan in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. For the first time since protests erupted over spiraling fuel prices, soldiers barricaded key roads Monday in Nigeria's two biggest cities as the president offered a concession to stem demonstrations that he said were being stoked by provocateurs seeking anarchy. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

An Army officer stand guard in front of protesters on a major road in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. For the first time since protests erupted over spiraling fuel prices, soldiers barricaded key roads Monday in Nigeria's two biggest cities as the president offered a concession to stem demonstrations that he said were being stoked by provocateurs seeking anarchy. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

Angry people protest on a major road in Lagos, Nigeria, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. For the first time since protests erupted over spiraling fuel prices, soldiers barricaded key roads Monday in Nigeria's two biggest cities as the president offered a concession to stem demonstrations that he said were being stoked by provocateurs seeking anarchy. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)

LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) ? Labor unions ended a crippling nationwide strike Monday in Nigeria after the country's president partially restored subsidies that keep gasoline prices low, though it took soldiers deployed in the streets to stop demonstrations in Africa's most populous nation.

Union leaders claimed a victory for labor, saying this would allow its leaders to guide the country's policy on fuel subsidies in the future. But the newly agreed price of about $2.27 a gallon (60 cents a liter) is still more expensive than the previous price of $1.70 per gallon (45 cents per liter), putting additional economic strain on those living in a nation where most earn less than $2 a day and few see the rewards of being a major oil exporter.

And to force the compromise and stop popular protests, President Goodluck Jonathan ordered soldiers to take over security in the country's major cities, something unseen since the nation abandoned military rule for an uneasy democracy in 1999. The move raises new questions about freedom of speech in a nation where government power still appears absolute.

"This is a clear case of intolerance and shutting of the democratic space against the people of Nigeria which must be condemned by all democracy-loving people around the world," read a statement from the Save Nigeria Group, which has organized massive demonstrations in Lagos.

The six-day strike began after fuel prices more than doubled to at least $3.50 per gallon (94 cents per liter) following a Jan. 1 decision by Jonathan's administration to end the government-sponsored subsidies. Low gasoline prices, something Nigeria has been accustomed to since 1973, remain one of the only benefits the average Nigerian sees from the nation producing 2.4 million barrels of crude oil a day. Gasoline also powers the small generators that provide shops and homes electricity in a nation with a failed national power grid.

Many protesters also joined the growing demonstrations to speak out against a culture of government corruption in a nation where lawmakers earn pay packages of $1 million a year and states have budgets larger than neighboring countries. Under the hash-tagged slogan of "Occupy Nigeria," many used social media to criticize the nation's poor roads and failing hospitals amid the excesses of the country's elite.

The government tried to persuade the nation to its side, promising the estimated $8 billion saved a year by ending the subsidies would go toward needed public work projects. That failed to win popular support as tens of thousands joined in protests across the country.

In the last two days, government authorities began warning that provocateurs wanted to exploit the rallies to cause unrest in a nation with a long history of coups.

"It has become clear to government and all well-meaning Nigerians that other interests beyond the implementation of the deregulation policy have hijacked the protest. ... These same interests seek to promote discord, anarchy and insecurity to the detriment of public peace," President Jonathan said in a speech aired Monday morning on the state-run Nigerian Television Authority.

Jonathan gave no further explanation to his remarks. Opposition politicians did sometimes lead demonstrations, but they were not connected to the violence that killed at least 10 people and wounded more than 600 others during strikes.

The Nigeria Labor Congress and the Trade Union Congress told journalists on Monday they chose to abandon the strike "in order to save lives and in the interest of national survival." They previously met with Jonathan late Sunday night, who made the same claims about security concerns.

"We are sure that no government or institution will take Nigerians for granted again," said Abdulwaheed Omar, the president of the Nigeria Labor Congress.

That did not appear the case as soldiers and armored personnel carriers moved in overnight to occupy a park in Lagos where tens of thousands had gathered to protest. Soldiers also took over major highways and road junctions throughout Lagos, home to 15 million people, and in Kano, Nigeria's second-largest city.

Labor organizers had urged workers to stay home on Monday after Jonathan's appeal Sunday night. At the Lagos headquarters of the Nigeria Labor Congress, some 50 protesters gathered anyway. Lawyer Bamidele Aturu led the crowd in chants and cheers, comparing the president to military rulers of the past who used soldiers to suppress dissent.

"It's very clear the revolution has begun!" Aturu shouted. However, those gathered looked warily at passing pickup trucks filled with soldiers.

The protesters began to march, passing soldiers who slung their assault rifles over their shoulders, allowing them to walk on. But as they drew closer to the surrounded Lagos park, around 20 soldiers arrived in two pickup trucks to cut them off, with bayonets affixed to their assault rifles. They told the protesters to go back and some of them began to turn around.

Soldiers fired into the air and tear gassed the crowd to disperse it, leaving protesters running through a stinging white cloud as gunshots echoed down the highway.

Meanwhile, authorities also targeted some foreign media outlets in Lagos. Officers of the State Security Service, Nigeria's secret police, raided an office compound Monday used by the BBC and CNN, witnesses said. Marilyn Ogar, a secret police spokeswoman, said she had no information about the raid.

Though an oil workers association threatened to cut Nigeria's crude oil production, they held off. Such a shutdown could have shaken oil futures, as Nigeria is the fifth-largest crude supplier to the U.S.

Meanwhile, an offshore rig being run for a Chevron Corp. subsidiary near Nigeria's oil-rich southern delta caught fire and officials tried to account for all the workers there, the oil company said. Chevron spokesman Scott Walker said the fire started early Monday morning. Government officials blamed the fire on an industrial accident.

___

Associated Press writers Bashir Adigun and Lekan Oyekanmi in Abuja, Nigeria; Ibrahim Garba in Kano, Nigeria; and Yinka Ibukun in Lagos contributed to this report.

___

Jon Gambrell can be reached at www.twitter.com/jongambrellAP.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-16-AF-Nigeria-Fuel-Subsidy/id-200cc23643894757b53560434ae95861

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Santorum backed by social conservative leaders (AP)

GREENVILLE, S.C. ? Rick Santorum's quest to emerge as the conservative alternative to Mitt Romney received a boost Saturday from a group of evangelicals and others who voted to back his candidacy in a last-ditch effort to stop the front-runner's march to the nomination.

About 150 social conservatives meeting in Texas sided with Santorum over a home-state favorite, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. The gathering reflected their dissatisfaction with Romney over abortion rights and other issues and their belief that they needed to unite behind one contender if they had any hope of derailing the former Massachusetts governor after his victories in Iowa and New Hampshire.

Their decision comes a week before the next contest, Jan. 21 in South Carolina, where social conservatives are an influential voting bloc. But it was not immediately clear what effect the backing will have.

One participant at the meeting, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins, said Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, ended up with 75 percent of the vote.

Former presidential candidate, Gary Bauer, said the group endorsed Santorum after several ballots, winnowing the field down from three candidates: Santorum, Gingrich and Perry. He said that there was some support for Mitt Romney.

"Santorum was the preferred candidate by a significant majority," Bauer told The Associated Press by telephone from Texas. "They were all looking for the best Reagan conservative," he said. "It came down to things like, who do you most trust."

Still, Bauer insisted the gathering wasn't "an anti-Romney meeting." He said groups like Focus on the Family and others were likely to endorse Santorum in the coming days.

South Carolina's Republican voters are some of the nation's most conservative. In exit polling from the 2008 Republican presidential contest there, 60 percent of primary voters said they were born-again Christians. Romney, whose Mormon faith is not considered a Christian denomination by some in South Carolina, carried just 11 percent of their votes in 2008, fewer than his 15 percent tally overall. Mormons consider themselves Christians.

Conservatives looking to back someone else have a heavy workload in a compressed period of time.

Although Santorum is Romney's closest rival, he's 18 points behind in South Carolina, followed by Gingrich, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, Perry and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, according to the CNN/Time/ORC International poll. Six percent are undecided, the survey found.

Santorum has risen here since his breakthrough near-tie with Romney in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. He has a robust state organization and is making aggressive inroads with evangelical conservatives, like many of those who were at the Country Ham House in Greenville on Saturday.

___

Associated Press writer Laurie Kellman contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120114/ap_on_el_pr/us_santorum

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CES 2012: Samsung tablet running Windows 8 [Video] (Yahoo! News)

Despite an arguable lack of major new announcements, Microsoft nevertheless managed a strong showing at this year's CES with a number of highly-regarded Windows Phones and a preview of the latest in Windows 8, the company's upcoming new desktop operating system. We're very much fans of the Metro user interface ??a tile-based control system consistent across the Windows flavors on both mobile and PC devices.

One of the things we're looking forward to seeing come to market is the Windows 8 experience on tablets. With Apple's iPad still the far and away leader in the tablet market, Android exhibiting a weak but plucky performance, and both RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook and HP's webOS-based Touchpad largely out of the running altogether, it will be a great thing for consumers to finally have a third option that's a solid contender for their tablet dollars.

Luckily, from what we see above in the Samsung Series 7 tablet running a developer preview build of Windows 8, that third option looks like it has every chance of delivering on that premise. The demo we saw was impressively responsive, fast, slick, and showed every indication of being an intuitive way to interact with a touch-based device.

Are you excited for the Windows 8 experience on tablets? Let us know in the comments!

This article originally appeared on Tecca

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Court orders new psychiatric review of Breivik (AP)

OSLO, Norway ? A Norwegian court has ordered a new psychiatric evaluation of confessed mass killer Anders Behring Breivik, after an earlier report found him legally insane.

Judge Wenche Elizabeth Arntzen said in Oslo that the new evaluation was necessary considering widespread criticism of the initial findings, which suggested Breivik should be sent to psychiatric care instead of prison.

Arntzen said two Norwegian psychiatrists had been appointed for the new evaluation.

Breivik has confessed to a bomb and shooting spree on July 22 that killed 77 people.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_re_eu/eu_norway_massacre

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Is Ron Paul Sticking Up for Mitt Romney? (ContributorNetwork)

Ron Paul and Mitt Romney are not polar opposites, but they do not have much in common either. That's why it was a surprise to see, of all people, Ron Paul come to Romney's aid in defending him while the other candidates lambast his business record, specifically his time at Bain Capital. Romney has been touting his statistic that he created more than 100,000 jobs while the head of Bain Capital a few decades ago.

Simply taking a look at the quotes can give one a sense whether or not Romney's opponents are bending his words to fit their criticism, which is why Paul is defending him. Here's a look at the quotes that led up to Paul sticking up for his primary opponent:

* Romney, Jan. 7, 2012 at the ABC/Yahoo!/WMUR New Hampshire GOP Primary Debate: "In the business I had, we invested in over 100 different businesses and net-net, taking out the ones where we lost jobs and those that we added, those businesses have now added over 100,000 jobs."

* Romney, Jan. 9, 2012: "I want individuals to have their own insurance," he said. "That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means if you don't like what they do, you can fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me."

* Rick Perry: "If you are the victim of Bain Capital's downsizing, it is the ultimate insult for Mitt Romney to come to South Carolina and tell you he feels your pain - he caused it."

* Newt Gingrich: Accused Romney of "bankrupting companies and laying off employees."

* Paul, in response to the above-referenced attacks on Romney: "I think they're wrong. I think they're totally misunderstanding the way the market works. They are either just demagoguing or they don't have the vaguest idea how the market works. I think they're unfairly attacking him on that issue because he never really literally said that. They've taken him way out of context. ? He wants to fire companies. I think they're way overboard on saying that he wants to fire people, he doesn't care. You save companies, you save jobs when you reorganize companies that are going to go bankrupt. And they don't understand that."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120113/pl_ac/10819377_is_ron_paul_sticking_up_for_mitt_romney

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Watch the Engadget Mobile Podcast CES edition, live tonight at 11PM ET!

Nope, it's not a typo, folks: for tonight's CES 2012 podcast we're getting in front of a camera to discuss all of the latest happenings in Las Vegas. And there's a lot to talk about, too, so you won't want to miss seeing us rant live for a change! So join Myriam Joire, Sean Cooper (yes, the Sean Cooper) and Brad Molen as we show off some of the phones announced this week and converse on everything we've seen so far.

January 11, 2012 11:00 PM EST

Continue reading Watch the Engadget Mobile Podcast CES edition, live tonight at 11PM ET!

Watch the Engadget Mobile Podcast CES edition, live tonight at 11PM ET! originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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