Sundance doc traces Simon's 'Graceland' hit album (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? Paul Simon recalls his return to South Africa like a family reunion ? musical brothers getting back together after decades apart.

The trip last summer to commemorate the 25th anniversary of his "Graceland" album was a far more joyous occasion than some of his earlier travels on behalf of the record.

The Sundance Film Festival documentary "Under African Skies" chronicles the creation of "Graceland," its overnight success and the furor it caused as critics accused Simon of impeding progress to abolish South Africa's system of racial segregation known as apartheid.

Simon said he was surprised by protests that sprang up on his "Graceland" tour in the 1980s. But looking back, he said the album and tour with South African musicians raised awareness that helped end apartheid in the 1990s.

"Once I saw it had an immediate acceptance and that people loved it and had great affection for the music, I thought that the tour and the album were going to be a very effective way of showing just how evil apartheid was," Simon said in an interview alongside "Under African Skies" director Joe Berlinger.

The film shows Simon's South African musical colleagues enjoying their first taste of success outside their oppressed nation on the "Graceland" tour. But critics charged that the tour violated a United Nations cultural ban meant to pressure South Africa's white minority into doing away with government policies of segregation against blacks.

There were protests and even bomb threats, resulting in tight security as the tour progressed around the world.

Even today, there is lingering bitterness against Simon. "Under African Skies" includes a sometimes-uneasy exchange last summer between him and Dali Tambo, the son of African National Congress leader Oliver Tambo and the founder of Artists Against Apartheid. Dali Tambo had remained a harsh critic of Simon.

The joint interview arranged by filmmaker Berlinger helped clear the air between Simon and Tambo, who ended their meeting with a warm hug on camera.

That meeting was part of Berlinger's aim to examine both the musical origins of "Graceland" but also its unpleasant political fallout.

"I made it clear I didn't want a puff piece, a Paul Simon puff piece, and he didn't want a Paul Simon puff piece," Berlinger said. "We established that we're going to do an honest exploration of these issues and also go deeply into how this music was made, which, to me, is actually the more interesting part of the film.

"The political story is relevant and has resonance in today's world as well, but how this album was made, the dissection of that music and that achievement to me was as interesting, or more so, than the political story."

The film traces the creation of the album, from early recording sessions Simon did in South Africa to capture the raw material for many of the songs, to a London studio session with vocal group Ladysmith Black Mambazo, to an early performance on "Saturday Night Live" that enchanted the audience months before "Graceland" was released.

"Under African Skies" also follows Simon on his return to South Africa last summer, when he and musicians from the album reunited for a performance.

Simon had a gracious welcome there, reminiscent of a trip back to South Africa he took a few years after the "Graceland" tour, when apartheid had ended and South Africa's new president, Nelson Mandela, invited him to come and perform.

Mandela's invitation amounted to the "official announcement that was nothing about `Graceland' that the ANC saw as harming the cause. In fact, the opposite," Simon said. "We all felt particularly honored to even meet Nelson Mandela. I think of him as one of the great, great leaders of the 20th century. One of the great teachers. To be in his presence actually was extraordinary. We felt great about it."

___

Online:

http://www.sundance.org

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_en_ce/us_film_sundance_paul_simon

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Asthma rate and costs from traffic pollution higher: Much higher than past traditional risk assessments have indicated

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? A research team led by University of Massachusetts Amherst resource economist Sylvia Brandt, with colleagues in California and Switzerland, have revised the cost burden sharply upward for childhood asthma and for the first time include the number of cases attributable to air pollution, in a study released this week in the early online version of the European Respiratory Journal.

The total cost of asthma due to pollution is much higher than past traditional risk assessments have indicated and there is growing evidence that exposure to traffic-related air pollution is a cause of asthma and a trigger for attacks, so it should be included, say the authors. They conducted the study in Long Beach and Riverside, Calif., communities with high regional air pollution levels and large roads near residential neighborhoods.

Total additional asthma-specific costs there due to traffic-related pollution is about $18 million per year, almost half of which is due to new asthma cases caused by pollution, they report. Brandt worked with researchers at the University of Basel, Switzerland, Sonoma Technology, Inc. and the University of Southern California.

Using updated techniques that count asthma cases attributable to air pollution for the first time and including a broader range of health care costs such as parents? missed work days, extra doctor visits and travel time along with prescriptions, the researchers found that a single episode of bronchitic symptoms cost an average $972 in Riverside and $915 in Long Beach. Bronchitic symptoms (daily cough, congestion or phlegm, or bronchitis for three months in a row) are a critical outcome for children with asthma.

Further, people who live in cities with high traffic-related air pollution bear a higher burden of these costs than those in less polluted areas, they say.

Brandt and colleagues say the total annual cost for a typical asthma case was $3,819 in Long Beach and $4,063 in Riverside, and ?the largest share of the cost of an asthma case was the indirect cost of asthma-related school absences.? School absences are an important economic consequence, they add, because ?they often lead to parents or caregivers missing work.?

Overall, Brandt points out that the results are relevant and applicable to many settings and ?families with children who have asthma are bearing a high cost. The total annual estimate between $3,800 and $4,000 represents 7 percent of median household income in our study in these two communities. This is troublesome because that is higher than the 5 percent considered to be a bearable or sustainable level of health care costs for a family.?

Riverside and Long Beach account for about 7 percent of the total population of California, the authors say, which suggests that state-wide costs of asthma related to air pollution are ?truly substantial.?

For this work, Brandt and colleagues analyzed several surveys on health care visits by children with asthma and their previous estimates of the number of asthma cases attributable to pollution to estimate the annual costs of childhood asthma. They also estimated the cost of asthma exacerbation due to regional air pollutants. They feel the new method does a better job of accounting for the full impact of traffic-related pollution and will be widely applicable in urban areas.

She points out, ?Traditional risk assessment methods for air pollution have underestimated both the overall burden of asthma and the cost of the disease associated with air pollution. Our findings suggest the cost has been substantially underestimated and steps must be taken to reduce the burden of traffic-related pollution.?

This work was supported by California?s South Coast Air Quality Management District and its settlement funds from BP, as well as by the U.S. National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Hastings Foundation.

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Journal Reference:

  1. S. J. Brandt, L. Perez, N. Kunzli, F. Lurmann, R. McConnell. Costs of childhood asthma due to traffic-related pollution in two california communities. European Respiratory Journal, 2012; DOI: 10.1183/09031936.00157811

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Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/pHWZg9hugIk/120125202759.htm

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One year on, Egypt will demonstrate and celebrate

By Reuters

CAIRO-- Egyptians head to Tahrir Square on Wednesday to mark the first anniversary of the uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak with some seeking a new revolt against army rule and others celebrating the changes already achieved.

It is a year since protesters inspired by an uprising in Tunisia took to the streets in Egypt and the January 25 anniversary has exposed divisions in the Arab world's most populous country over the pace of democratic change.

Concerned the generals are obstructing reform to protect their interests, the pro-democracy activists behind the "January 25 revolution" plan marches to Tahrir Square to demand the military council that replaced Mubarak hand power to civilians immediately.

But well-organized Islamist parties which dominated Egypt's most democratic election since army officers overthrew the king in 1952 are among those who oppose a new uprising.

Signs of friction were on show as hundreds of people began to congregate in Tahrir Square late on Tuesday, pitching tents in winter rain and hanging the national flag from buildings.

"The military council is Mubarak," said Amr al-Zamlout, a 31-year-old protester clutching a sign declaring "there is no change" and stating his aim was to topple the army rulers.

Mohamed Othman, an accountant, stopped to put forward a different view based on the idea that Egypt needs stability for economic recovery, not more protests.

"The council will leave power in any case. Sure the revolution is incomplete but it doesn't mean we should obstruct life," he said. His criticism quickly drew a crowd and touched off an argument.

Grocery stores were unusually busy as shoppers stocked up, reflecting concern at the prospect of a repeat of last year when protests went on for 18 days before Mubarak was forced to step down on February 11.

Protests against the military council turned violent in November and December.

White House praise
The United States, a close ally of Egypt under Mubarak, praised "several historic milestones in its transition to democracy" this week, including the convening of parliament.

"While many challenges remain, Egypt has come a long way in the past year, and we hope that all Egyptians will commemorate this anniversary with the spirit of peace and unity that prevailed last January," a White House statement said.

Headed by Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the military council has said it will cede power to an elected president by the end of June, thus completing a democratic transition.

Yet pro-democracy activists doubt their intentions, pointing to a surge in military trials and the use of violence against protesters as signs of autocratic ways familiar from the Mubarak era.

Tantawi, for two decades Mubarak's defense minister, again defended the military from such accusations during a televised speech on Tuesday. "The nation and the armed forces had one aim: for Egypt to become a democratic state," he said.

In an apparent attempt to appease reformist demands, the military council has in recent days pardoned some 2,000 people convicted in military courts since Mubarak was toppled. On Tuesday it announced a partial lifting of a state of emergency.

But it kept a clause saying emergency laws in place since 1981 would still apply in cases of "thuggery," a vague term that triggered calls for clarification from Washington and more criticism from human rights groups.

The activist movement, a coalition of groups united in calls for deeper and faster reform, have been fighting back in the run-up to the anniversary against what they describe as state efforts to present them as foreign-backed trouble makers.

The leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the Islamist group which won nearly half the seats in the parliament, said last week he was against calls for a new revolt against the military.

"I hope we will go down together to be joyful at what we have accomplished, to guard our Egypt and to complete the demands of the revolution," Mohamed Badie said in an interview with Egypt's Dream TV.

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Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/24/10228383-one-year-on-egypt-will-demonstrate-and-celebrate

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John Travolta's stolen vintage Mercedes recovered in pieces (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) ? Film star John Travolta's vintage Mercedes-Benz, stolen from a Los Angeles suburb, has been recovered in pieces and two men have been arrested, police said on Wednesday.

Travolta's convertible 1970 Mercedes-Benz 280-SL vanished from the street in Santa Monica while the "Pulp Fiction" star was visiting a nearby Jaguar dealership in September.

Michael Green, 58, and D.L. Rayford, 52, were taken into custody in December by members of a law enforcement task force investigating a sophisticated car-theft ring, Santa Monica police Sergeant Richard Lewis said.

"Through the collaborative efforts of investigators ... two individuals were identified as suspects relating to the theft of Mr. Travolta's Mercedes, and were arrested by investigators from the task force," Lewis said.

Lewis said leads developed following the theft led investigators to a "chop shop," where stolen vehicles were found, including parts of the actor's car.

"It was not recovered in whole, it was chopped," Lewis said. "We have numerous pieces recovered but not the entire car."

He said the arrests were not announced earlier to avoid compromising a larger investigation into the car theft ring.

Both Green and Rayford were charged with grand theft auto, a Los Angeles County District Attorney's spokeswoman said.

(Reporting by Dan Whitcomb; Editing by Cynthia Johnston)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/celebrity/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/people_nm/us_travolta_mercedes

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Samsung Galaxy S III rumor-mill going strong, will we see it at MWC?

Galaxy S III

The Samsung Galaxy S III (or lack of it) has the Internet ablaze once again, and this time it's based on some information industry insider Eldar Murtazin claims to know, and has hinted at in his Twitter account.  According to Eldar (and nestled in with words like "flagship" and "so much better"), the next-generation Galaxy S device will feature updated hardware with a 1.5GHz or 1.6GHz quad-core processor, a 12MP camera, HD screen (we're assuming it will be part of the AMOLED family), Ice Cream Sandwich with Samsung's TouchWiz tweaks, and it gets great battery life -- yes, he says he has used it.

Eldar says we'll get a to see the Galaxy S III in February at Mobile World Congress, which would make sense. (The Galaxy S II was announced in Barcelona last year.)  We'll see manufacturers' new products at a show designed for manufacturers to show us their new products.  The Galaxy S III will most likely be released in the Far East and Europe before the United States, so Barcelona would be the place to see it.  The specifications sound about right for the next generation of hardware, so Eldar's news seems feasable, and a natural progression that we've seen before.  We'll know more soon when we head to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress.

What does concern us is once again seeing new and better handsets from Samsung, while their current models sit and wait for updates.  The original Galaxy S line is (and we hate it as much as you do) a write-off by now, but there's more than a few Galaxy S II devices which are more than capable, waiting for an Ice Cream Sandwich update.  Samsung's gorgeus screens and state-of-the art hardware has made many of us give them a second chance with the Galaxy S II, but another year-long saga of waiting for device updates just isn't going to fly.  Hopefully, the right people at Samsung and the carriers realizes this as well.

Source: @eldarmurtazin; More: Samsung Galaxy S III forums

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/OpdZ_k-GeLg/story01.htm

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Marine faces 3 months in brig for Iraqi deaths (AP)

CAMP PENDLETON, California ? Military prosecutors worked for more than six years to bring Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to trial on manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life.

But only weeks after the long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich a deal that stopped the proceedings and could mean little to no jail time for the squad leader who ordered his men to "shoot first, ask questions later," resulting in one of the Iraq War's worst attacks on civilians by U.S. troops.

The 31-year-old Marine, who was originally accused of unpremeditated murder, pleaded guilty Monday to negligent dereliction of duty for leading the squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005 during raids after a roadside bomb exploded, killing a fellow Marine and wounding two others.

Wuterich, who was indicted in 19 of the 24 deaths, now faces no more than three months in confinement.

It was a stunning outcome for the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. The seven other Marines initially charged were exonerated or had their cases dropped.

Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones will hear arguments from both sides Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, Calif., before sentencing Wuterich.

Legal experts said the case was fraught with errors made by investigators and the prosecution that let it drag on for years. The prosecution was also hampered by squad mates who acknowledged they had lied to investigators initially and later testified in exchange for having their cases dropped, bringing into question their credibility.

In addition, Wuterich was seen as taking the fall for senior leaders and more seasoned combat veterans, analysts said. It was his first time in combat when he led the squad on Nov. 19, 2005.

Brian Rooney, an attorney for another former defendant, said cases like Haditha are difficult to prosecute because a military jury is unlikely to question decisions made in combat unless wrongdoing is clear-cut and egregious, like rape.

"If it's a gray area, fog-of-war, you can't put yourself in a Marine's situation where he's legitimately trying to do the best he can," said Rooney, who represented Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the case. "When you're in a town like Haditha or Fallujah, you've got bad guys trying to kill you and trying to do it in very surreptitious ways. Marines understand it's a crazy environment. You've got to do the best you can with what you've got."

Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel said the deal was not a reflection or in any way connected to how the prosecution felt its case was going in the trial.

The Haditha attack is considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

It still fuels anger in Iraq today.

Kamil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni lawmaker from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, called the plea agreement proof that "Americans still deal with Iraqis without any respect."

"It's just another barbaric act of Americans against Iraqis," al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press. "They spill the blood of Iraqis and get this worthless sentence for the savage crime against innocent civilians."

Wuterich, the father of three children, had faced the possibility of life behind bars when he was charged with nine counts of manslaughter, which will be dropped. Besides now facing a maximum of three months in confinement, he could also lose two-thirds of his pay and see his rank demoted to private when he's sentenced.

.Wuterich, his family and his attorneys declined to comment Monday after he entered the plea. Prosecutors also declined to comment on the plea deal.

During the trial before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq, prosecutors argued he lost control after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage in which they stormed two nearby homes, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a man in a wheelchair.

In the deal, Wuterich acknowledged that his orders misled his men to believe they could shoot without hesitation and not follow the rules of engagement that required troops to positively identify their targets before they raided the homes.

He told the judge that caused "tragic events."

"I think we all understood what we were doing so I probably just should have said nothing," Wuterich told the judge.

He said his orders were based on the guidance of his platoon commander at the time, and that the squad did not take any gunfire during the 45-minute raid.

Many of his squad mates testified that they do not believe to this day that they did anything wrong because they feared insurgents were inside hiding.

Haditha prompted commanders to demand troops be more careful in distinguishing between civilians and combatants.

Former Navy officer David Glazier said the case shows such rules are essential to helping the United States prevail in an armed conflict.

"The reality is that this incident has had significant consequences for the U.S. in Iraq," said Glazier, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "It probably fueled the resistance and so it probably ended up costing additional soldiers and Marines their lives later on."

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Raquel Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120124/ap_on_re_us/us_marines_haditha

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Katherine Heigl Regrets Leaving 'Grey's Anatomy' (VIDEO)

Katherine Heigl left her role as Dr. Izzie Stevens on "Grey's Anatomy" after five seasons in 2010 to focus on her movie career and being a mom. But now, the actress is having second thoughts about her decision. Heigl told the "The View" (weekdays on ABC) on Monday that she regrets leaving the show and has approached its writers about a possible return.

When Barbara Walters asked her if she's sorry she left, Heigl -- who had her adopted daughter Naleigh by her side -- said that she was. "Oh yeah, sometimes, yeah. You miss it. I miss my friends. It was a great work environment ... and it becomes a family. I spent six years together with these people every day ... you grow up together, in a way," she reflected.

Heigl also echoed comments she made last week saying she'd love to return to "Grey's" to see where her character is now. She's let the show's producers know she'd like to return, but hasn't yet been asked back. Heigl said she understands how complicated her return might be with so many characters and story lines already ongoing.

"I always felt that if they wanted me to come back and sort of wrap up that storyline ... I want them to know that I'm down with it if they want me to, but I completely understand if it doesn't necessarily work ... They've got a lot of story lines going on there," she explained.

TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/katherine-heigl-greys-anatomy_n_1224018.html

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Wall Street stalls at open after big run (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks were little changed in early trading on Monday after equities posted their best week in a month as the euro zone debt crisis and the economy showed signs of stabilizing.

Germany and France pressed for a rapid deal between Greece and its private creditors and said they remained committed to a new bailout that is needed by March to avert a default. Euro zone finance ministers were due to decide later Monday on what debt restructuring terms they would accept.

The euro hit its highest level in nearly three weeks against the dollar on optimism a deal would be reached.

U.S. stocks are up nearly 5 percent this year after four days of gains, with investors particularly emboldened by a turnaround in U.S. banking stocks that have helped lead the rally after an abysmal 2011.

A solid showing in fourth-quarter earnings during the current reporting season has also put a floor in the market.

David Lutz, a trader at Stifel Nicolaus Capital Markets in Baltimore, pointed out that some technical analysts are calling for a pullback after the market's strong run.

"Some of the market action to me is showing the possibility of a 'Blowoff Top' this week before we head south of 1,300 again (on the S&P 500)," he said in an email.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 13.69 points, or 0.11 percent, at 12,734.17. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 3.37 points, or 0.26 percent, at 1,318.75. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was up 8.43 points, or 0.30 percent, at 2,795.13.

The S&P 500 is up more than 22 percent from October lows. The Nasdaq 100 (.NDX) is at its highest level since 2001.

Halliburton Co (HAL.N), the world's second largest oilfield services company, posted quarterly profit that beat analysts' estimates, helped by improved activity in North America. The stock, which has rallied 18 percent since late December, fell 3.6 percent to $34.85.

Research In Motion Ltd's (RIM.TO) (RIMM.O) co-chief executives bowed to investor pressure and resigned over the weekend, handing the top job to an insider with four years at the struggling BlackBerry maker. The stock fell 6 percent to $15.98.

The current earnings season has not been as good as previous ones. Of about 70 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 60 percent exceeded estimates, according to Thomson Reuters data.

"If earnings come in decently I don't see any type of a big plunge," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York. But, he added, "I'm still concerned about when we get towards the end of earnings season."

Given the recent outperformance of economically sensitive stocks compared to interest rates, Goldman Sachs recommended shorting U.S. 10-year Treasury bonds in anticipation that improved economic performance will push yields higher.

"Yields have traded in a tight range around an average 2 percent since September, including so far into 2012," said Goldman in a research note. "We are now of the view that a break to the upside, to 2.25-2.50 percent, is likely and recommend going tactically short."

Investors in recent weeks have been heartened by improving economic data, even though progress has been uneven.

Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N) will reduce dry gas drilling and cut production in response to natural gas prices falling below "economically unattractive levels". The stocks rose 7.6 percent to $22.54.

(Reporting By Edward Krudy editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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BOJ sees recovery delayed as Europe bites but skips easing (Reuters)

TOKYO (Reuters) ? The Bank of Japan forecast the economy will contract in the current fiscal year but kept policy steady on Tuesday, expecting exports to emerging markets and reconstruction after last year's earthquake will help fuel a steady recovery later in 2012.

BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa, however, warned that Europe's sovereign debt crisis remained the biggest threat to Japan's recovery prospects, already clouded by recent yen rises against the euro and slowing global demand for Japanese goods.

"At present, Europe's debt problem poses the biggest risk for the global economy, including Japan's. If the situation worsens further, it may trigger a global credit crunch," Shirakawa told a news conference after the BOJ's widely expected decision to hold off on additional monetary easing.

The remarks underline deep-rooted concern within the BOJ over developments in Europe as Greece teeters on the edge of default, with some market watchers not ruling out a worsening of the crisis that could knock Japan back into recession.

With the chance of that happening appearing slim for now and the yen off record highs, the BOJ likely decided to save its limited policy options in case renewed market turmoil or a prolonged slump in overseas growth threaten Japan's recovery.

Still, the central bank may not hold fire for too long.

"Europe remains the biggest risk in the eyes of the BOJ. If Greece suffers a disorderly default or Europe fails to work out assistance measures for key states like Italy, triggering share price falls and renewed yen rises, the BOJ is likely to ease policy further," said Naomi Hasegawa, senior fixed-income strategist at Mitsubishi UFG Morgan Stanley Securities.

"The possibility of this happening will remain high towards the spring as a large amount of government bonds reach maturity in Europe."

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As widely expected, the BOJ kept its key policy rate at zero to 0.1 percent and held off on further expanding its 55 trillion yen ($713 billion) asset-buying scheme.

Europe's sovereign debt crisis, the stubbornly strong yen and slowing overseas growth have taken a heavy toll on an export-reliant economy barely emerging from the devastation of the March disaster.

The BOJ stuck to its view that Japan is headed for a moderate recovery after a temporary lull. But it now expects the rebound to come by September, rather than around spring as forecast three months ago, due to the pain from Europe's crisis.

"It is my view, along with all in the board, that the timing of the recovery has been delayed somewhat," Shirakawa said.

In a quarterly review of long-term projections, the BOJ cut its economic forecast for the year ending in March to a 0.4 percent contraction, matching a Reuters poll of private-sector analysts, from a 0.3 percent rise.

It trimmed its forecast for the next fiscal year to an expansion of 2.0 percent from 2.2 percent, reflecting the effects of the global slowdown, although it was still higher than 1.8 percent growth forecast in a Reuters poll.

The government is somewhat more upbeat, forecasting a 0.1 percent contraction for the current fiscal year and a 2.2 percent expansion for the following year.

Eager to pass bills through parliament to raise taxes to fix Japan's tattered finances, the government kept up pressure on the central bank to help support the fragile economy.

"In order to overcome the yen's rise to historical levels and prolonged deflation we will fortify cooperation with the BOJ ... and manage solid economic and fiscal policies," Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told parliament.

The BOJ releases its long-term economic and price forecasts in a twice-yearly outlook report in April and October, and reviews them in January and July of each year.

With interest rates virtually at zero, the central bank put in place in 2010 a pool of funds to buy assets ranging from government to public debt to pump cash into the economy and shield it from the pain from a strong yen.

It last boosted the scheme in October last year and has been standing pat since then, but has expressed its readiness to ease again if Europe's debt crisis and the market fallout threaten Japan's recovery prospects. Many market players expect another expansion in its asset purchases by mid-year.

($1 = 77.1200 Japanese yen)

(Additional reporting by Rie Ishiguro, Tetsushi Kajimoto, Stanley White and Kaori Kaneko; Editing by Michael Watson and Chris Gallagher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_japan_economy

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Arab League extends Syria mission 1 more month

Syrian army defectors gather at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors gather at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

Syrian army defectors gather at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

An anti-Syrian regime protester flashes victory sign as he marches during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border, on Friday Jan. 20, 2012. President Bashar Assad's forces attacked Zabadani, some 17 miles (27 kilometers) west of the capital, for six days, sparking fierce fighting that involved heavy bombardments and clashes with army defectors. On Wednesday, government tanks and armored vehicles pulled back, leaving the opposition in control of the town. Buoyed by the opposition's control of a town near the Syrian capital, thousands of people held anti-government protests Friday, chanting for the downfall of the regime. At least eight people were killed by security forces across the country, activists said. (AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? A clash between Syrian forces and army defectors erupted Sunday in a suburb of the tightly held capital of Damascus, adding urgency just as the Arab League was extending an observers' mission that so far has failed to end long months of bloody violence.

The two events outlined how an uprising against President Bashar Assad that started with mass popular protests is moving now toward an armed conflict that could draw international intervention ? an outcome the Arab League is trying to avoid.

Arab League foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, extended the much-criticized observers mission for another month, according to a statement from the 22-member organization.

The League decided to add more observers and provide them with additional resources, the officials said.

The observer mission is supposed to be the first step toward implementing an Arab League plan to end the Syria crisis. Other points are pulling heavy Syrian weapons out of cities, stopping attacks on protesters, opening talks with the opposition and allowing foreign human rights workers and journalists in.

"There is partial progress in the implementation of the promises," Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said in Cairo about Syria's implementation of the plan. Syria "did not carry out all its promises, although there are some implementation of pledges."

He added that the use of "extreme force" by Syrian forces have led to a reaction by the opposition "in what could lead to civil war."

Qatari Foreign Minister Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani told reporters after the meeting that the Arab League was launching a new initiative to solve the crisis in which the Syrian government and the opposition would form a unity government with in two weeks to lead to the country through a transitional period in which elections would be held and a new constitution written.

It was seen as highly unlikely that Syrian authorities or the leaders of Syria's scattered opposition would agree to such a plan.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told reporters that his country will pull out its observers because "the Syrian government did not implement the Arab plan." He urged Muslim countries, China, Russia, Europe and the U.S. to put pressure on Assad's government to stop the violence.

Saudi Arabia has been one of the harshest Arab critics of the crackdown, It recalled its ambassador from Damascus last year in protest.

So far the observer mission has not gone well. Though some credit it with tamping down violence in some places, the Local Coordination Committees activist group said Sunday that 976 people, including 54 children and 28 women, have been killed since the observers began their mission last month.

The U.N. estimates some 5,400 have been killed since it began in March.

The Arab League faced three options Sunday: ending the mission and giving up its initiative, extending it, or turning the crisis over to the U.N. Security Council, as some opposition groups have urged. There, however, it would face a possible stalemate because of disagreements among permanent members over how far to go in forcing Assad's hand.

The mission's one-month mandate technically expired on Thursday.

The pullout of Assad's security forces from the Damascus suburb of Douma marked the second time in a week that troops have redeployed from an area near the tightly-controlled Syrian capital, an indication that Assad might be losing some control.

Diplomacy has taken on urgency as opponents of Assad's regime and soldiers who switched sides increasingly take up arms and fight back against government forces.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights' head Rami Abdul-Rahman said government troops had pulled back early Sunday to a provincial headquarters and a security agency building in the Damascus suburb of Douma after hours of clashes, although they still controlled the entrances. The clashes broke out after Syrian troops opened fire at a funeral on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon, the battles resumed between the defectors and troops loyal to Assad, according to the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, another activist group. The LCC said that heavy machine gun fire was used in the clashes, and five people were killed.

Abdul-Rahman had no information on casualties from the clashes but said security forces at an entrance checkpoint shot dead one man who was passing by on Sunday. He added that one person was shot dead in a nearby town of Rankous as well as another person in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The LCC said 12 people were killed in Syria Sunday. The LCC and the Observatory reported intense gunfire in the central city of Homs that left at least one person dead.

State-run news agency SANA said gunmen opened fire at the car of an army brigadier general, killing him and another army officers who was in the vehicle.

Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso confirmed that security forces had abandoned Douma.

Also Sunday, state-run SANA, said an estimated 5,255 Syrian prisoners have been released over the past week under an amnesty, raising the total freed since November to more than 9,000. Opposition groups say thousands are still being held.

The U.S. has imposed sanctions on Syria as the bloodshed escalates. The U.S. has long called for Assad to step down, and officials say his regime's demise is inevitable.

Two U.S. Senators plan to introduce a bill to stiffen the sanctions.

The bill, sponsored by Democratic Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York would require President Barack Obama to identify violators of human rights in Syria, call for reform and offer protection to pro-democracy demonstrators. It would also block financial aid and property transactions in the United States involving Syrian leaders involved in the crackdown.

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Al-Shalchi reported from Cairo.

Bassem Mroue can be reached on http://twitter.com/bmroue

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-22-ML-Syria/id-944425ffaa6e42d5bc4d80324389c492

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