5 tourists killed in Ethiopia: report (AP)

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia ? Five foreign tourists were killed by unknown armed rebels in Ethiopia's restive Afar region in the country's north, Ethiopian state television reported on Tuesday.

The Ethiopian Television, or ETV, cited the Ethiopian Ministry of Defense reporting a group of eight unidentified foreign nationals were attacked near the Eritrean border on Monday.

ETV said two tourists were injured severely and have been brought to a health clinic by defense forces. They are in critical condition, the state television said. Another tourist survived the attack unharmed.

ETV suggested that the attackers were rebels with ties to Ethiopia's archrival Eritrea, which hosts the exiled Oromo Liberation Front, a rebel group listed as a terrorist organization by the Ethiopian government.

Ethiopia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs acknowledged tourists had been attacked in the Afar region but said it didn't have any further details about the attack or the victims' nationalities.

In Berlin, a spokesman at the German Foreign Ministry, speaking on customary condition of anonymity, said it has received "reports of an attack on a tour group with Germans in Ethiopia" and that the ministry is trying to determine what had happened.

In Vienna, Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Launsky-Tiefenthal said as many as 22 tourists of several European nationalities may have been attacked, including two Austrians.

___

David Rising in Berlin and George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120117/ap_on_re_af/af_ethiopia_tourists_killed

speed of light susan powell jonah hill neutrinos neutrinos autumnal equinox rob bell

Apple textbook project rumored to be called Bliss, inspired by Al Gore?s Our Choice

AppleInsider is rumoring that Apple's education event will include a textbook initiative codenamed "Bliss", inspired in part by current Apple board member and past Vice President of United States, Al Gore's Our Choice ebook app.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/eVZ4ar8yF6k/story01.htm

blackberry outage seal beach ca seal beach seal beach bhutan zip code finder zip code finder

US House passes symbolic measure against debt hike

[unable to retrieve full-text content]WASHINGTON (AP) ? Republicans controlling the House have gone on record against President Barack Obama's decision to raise the government's borrowing cap by $1.2 trillion under powers Congress granted him in last year's bipartisan debt agreement.

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-18-Congress-Debt/id-64767b4b30cf45f78a14c40ef95ff147

battlefield 3 release battlefield 3 release battle field 3 battle field 3 dana wilkey dana wilkey chuck liddell

CBS Greenlights Legal Drama Pilot, Contemporary 'Sherlock ...

Nellie Andreeva

UPDATED: CBS got on the board this morning with its first drama pilot orders this season. Greenlighted are Baby Big Shot, a legal drama written by Dana Calvo (TNT?s Franklin & Bash) and executive produced by Kevin Falls, who will serve as showrunner, and Elementary, a modern-day Sherlock Holmes series from writer Rob Doherty.

Baby Big Shot, from Sony TV, Jamie Tarses? studio-based Fanfare and CBS TV Studios, centers on a working-class woman who uses her street smarts to compete with her more polished colleagues at a tony Manhattan law firm. Falls, Tarses and her Fanfare partner Julia Franz are executive producing, with Calvo serving as co-executive producer. This marks the first network drama pilot for comedy-centric Fanfare, which ventured into the hourlong format with TNT dramedy Franklin & Bash.

Elementary, from CBS TV Studios and studio-based Timberman/ Beverly Prods., is described as a modern take on the cases of the pipe-smoking private eye created by Arthur Conan Doyle, with Sherlock now living in New York City. Veteran Medium writer-producer Doherty wrote the script and is executive producing the project with Sarah Timberman & Carl Beverly. Sherlock Holmes is very much in the zeitgeist right now with Guy Ritchie?s movie franchise starring Robert Downey Jr. and BBC?s hit series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which was just renewed for third season.

Like Deadline and get the latest up to date industry news sent straight to your Wall.

TV Editor Nellie Andreeva - tip her here.

Source: http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/cbs-greenlights-dana-calvokevin-falls-legal-drama-pilot/

syracuse university best buy black friday 2011 ads broncos jets jessie james clayton kershaw osu basketball dale sveum

Iran still has path to end nuclear dispute: W.House (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? Iran still has a way out of the growing confrontation over its nuclear program, the White House said on Wednesday, but a spokesman would not confirm reports that President Barack Obama wrote to Iranian leaders expressing a readiness to talk.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Iran should engage major powers in discussions about its nuclear work, which the United States and many other countries say is intended to build a nuclear weapon, as European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton outlined in a letter in October.

"If the Iranians are serious about restarting talks, then they need to respond to that letter," Carney told a White House briefing. "That is the channel by which ... the restarting of those talks would take place."

Carney declined to confirm reports from Tehran that Obama had sent Iranian leaders a new letter about talks, but did not deny a letter had been sent. Direct communications between the U.S. and Iranian governments, which have no diplomatic ties, are rare.

"We don't discuss specific ... diplomatic communications," he said, adding that anything said privately to Tehran would be consistent with what the United States has said publicly.

Earlier, Iranian politicians said Obama had expressed readiness to negotiate in a letter to Tehran. Iran's foreign minister said discussions were under way on reopening talks, but the EU and the State Department denied it.

"There are no current talks about talks," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday.

"What we are doing, as we have said, is making clear to the Iranians that if they are serious about coming back to a conversation, where they talk openly about their nuclear program, and if they are prepared to come clean with the international community, that we are open to that," Nuland said at a media briefing.

DIPLOMATIC STRATEGIES

Still, after weeks of mounting pressure and new U.S. and European sanctions that target Iran's oil exports, Washington appeared to be emphasizing a diplomatic strategy on Iran's nuclear program, which Tehran says is for generating electricity.

The EU is preparing to intensify sanctions against Tehran with an embargo on Iran's oil exports and possibly freezing the assets of Iran's central bank. Obama is preparing to implement new U.S. sanctions that target foreign financial institutions that do business with Iran's central bank.

Iran has threatened to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which much of the region's oil flows, in response to any embargo. U.S. officials have warned that closure of the strait would provoke an American reaction.

Any step Obama takes toward talks with Iran is almost certain to generate criticism from his Republican presidential rivals and hawks on Capitol Hill.

Obama, in an interview with Time magazine on Wednesday, rejected criticism from leading GOP candidate Mitt Romney and reiterated his pledge to "take every step available to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon."

"Can we guarantee that Iran takes the smarter path?" he asked. "No, which is why I've repeatedly said we don't take any options off the table in preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon."

Obama's Republican critics condemned the prospect of renewed talks with Iran, highlighting the danger the Democratic president faces of appearing weak in his dealings with Iran during an election year.

"I think it's very difficult to have talks with a country around the world who's vowed to do everything but wipe us off the face of the Earth," said John Boehner, the speaker of the House of Representatives.

"This is not the kind of environment that I believe could lead to constructive discussions," he added. "And in fact, I do think it makes America look weak."

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said that during a visit to the Middle East last week, leaders seemed to think the United States was on the verge of new talks with Iran.

"I certainly hope we are not going to do that foolish venture again," she said. "We've done that . it didn't work then, it's certainly not going to work now. To reward them with conversations after they've been so belligerent as of late is counterproductive."

(Additional reporting by Susan Cornwell and Alister Bull; Editing by Warren Strobel and Doina Chiacu)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120119/pl_nm/us_iran_usa

r kelly vanessa bryant vanessa bryant kurt busch kurt busch nfl mock draft 2012 adam lambert

Apple files German lawsuit against Samsung, targets Galaxy S II, nine other smartphones

With patent infringement accusations going every which way in recent months, we're certainly familiar with Apple/Samsung banter in the international arena. Now Apple has thrown yet another punch at the Korean smartphone maker, targeting its Galaxy S II, Galaxy S Plus and eight other handsets, claiming -- yes, you've got it -- patent infringement. The suit was filed in Dusseldorf Regional Court -- the same venue that the company used to target the Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which was created specifically to sidestep a September injunction, also in Germany. It's becoming rather difficult to keep track of all the IP hubbub across the pond, but we'll surely be back with more as soon as the German court has a ruling to share.

Apple files German lawsuit against Samsung, targets Galaxy S II, nine other smartphones originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jan 2012 08:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceBloomberg  | Email this | Comments


Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/GHggg1ZD1j4/

martin luther king memorial walking dead season 2 walking dead season 2 saving private ryan world series tickets world series tickets nelson cruz

Head of Germany's FA urges football players to come out

Germanflag

The head of the German Football Association has urged closeted players to be open about their sexuality.

Yesterday's comments, made by Theo Zwanziger, are the latest sign that the culture of international sport is evolving.

"Players should have the courage to declare themselves,? Zwanziger said during a meeting in Cologne.

He added that there has never been a better time for players to come out, he added, insisting that fans of the game ?orient themselves toward performance", rather than sexuality.

The comments follow footballer Philipp Lahm's remarks that Germany is still not ready for openly-gay? sporting figures.

?Football is like earlier gladiatorial combat. Sure, politicians can now come out as homosexuals. But they don?t have to play in front of 60,000 spectators week after week,? Lahm said, according to the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung.

?I don?t think society is yet far enough to accept gay footballers for granted, as it is now possible in other areas.?

But this opinion seems to be receding.

Last year, international German goalkeeper Maunel Neuer stated that homosexual footballers should not be afraid to reveal their sexuality.

The 24-year old goalie, who has appeared for both Schalke and Germany, said that if players were to come out it would relieve a lot of stress.

Neuer told celebrity magazine Bunte: ?Those who are homosexual should say so. That would take a load off their minds. And the fans would get over it quickly.

"What is important to them is the performances on the pitch of the player, not his sexual preferences.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PinkPaperNews/~3/0rrqrWDpxNs/Head-of-Germanys-FA-urges-football-players-to-come-out.aspx

white house shooting internet censorship sveum benetton ads cornucopia best buy black friday deals thanksgiving crafts

US honors MLK with service

Americans honored Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday with a traditional day of service as well as a new wave of economic injustice protests by Occupy Wall Street.

On the first King holiday since the now-global Occupy movement launched in New York City in September, the reignited debate over inequality drew hundreds of protestors to march in wintry temperatures in Manhattan, stopping at a Bank of America branch to shout, "The banks got bailed out, we got sold out."

At least two protesters were loaded into a police van at the march, held "because Dr. King dedicated the last months of his life to planning a campaign for the right of all to a decent-paying job," leaders said in a statement.

King was organizing a Poor People's Campaign, the next phase in the civil rights movement, before he was murdered in 1968.

"I came here on the one hand to honor (King's) birthday, but also for the things that he stood for," said Jim Glaser, a retired teacher from suburban Nyack, New York, at the march.

"We have to have a government that's responsive to people, ... a government that people can have some influence on," he said.

  1. Only on msnbc.com

    1. Occupy Congress: Could it be politics as unusual?
    2. Cruise ship survivor: ?So much chaos?
    3. Red Tape: Wikipedia to join anti-SOPA blackout
    4. Cash-rich super PACs changing presidential race
    5. Italy cruise ship captain 'completely irresponsible'?
    6. Rove:? Romney ?solidified hold on 1st place?
    7. 'Farmville' firm revolutionizes social gaming

At New York's African Burial Grounds, schoolchildren played "We Shall Overcome" on violins before protesters marched to the Federal Reserve in downtown Manhattan.

"What Occupy Wall Street is trying to do is exactly what (King) was trying to -- focus on economic injustice and to inform and educate the American public," said Norman Siegel, former director of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

"I think (King) would be very pleased because Occupy Wall Street is the children of Dr King's dream," Siegel said at the 18th century burial ground, part of the National Park Service.

Story: Obama: 'There is nobody who can't serve, nobody who can't help'

Protesters in the Occupy movement complain that billions of dollars in bailouts were given to banks while many Americans still suffer with joblessness and housing foreclosures. They say minorities were disproportionately affected by predatory lending practices.

The movement has influenced the national political conversation, with President Barack Obama echoing some of its themes in calling for a "fair shot" and "fair share" for all.

Community and civil rights leaders urged Americans to honor King's crusade for nonviolence and racial brotherhood by doing volunteer work.

The president, first lady Michelle Obama and their daughter Malia marked the day by helping spruce up the library at a school in a predominantly African-American community in northeast Washington.

"At a time when the country has been going through some difficult economic times, for us to be able to come together as a community, people from all different walks of life, and make sure that we're giving back, that's ultimately what makes us the strongest, most extraordinary country on earth," Obama said.

This year's King holiday came as officials in more than a dozen states implement new laws requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls. Critics say the restriction violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ? one of the key accomplishments of the movement King led.

Across the nation, formal events such as prayer services, perfornmances and parades were staged for King's birthday, which became a federal holiday in 1986. Post offices, government buildings and most public schools were closed.

King, a Baptist pastor who advocated for nonviolence, racial brotherhood and equal rights and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, was assassinated in 1968 as he stood outside his motel room in Memphis, where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers.

The convicted assassin, a segregationist and drifter named James Earl Ray, confessed to the killing but later recanted. He died in prison in 1998.

Protesting voter ID laws
Thousands gathering outside South Carolina's capitol Monday heard a message that wouldn't have been out of place during the halcyon days of the civil rights movement a half-century ago: the need to protect all citizens' right to vote.

A similar tone was struck at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, where King preached from 1960 until his death. There and in South Carolina, speakers condemned the voter identification laws they said are meant to suppress black voter turnout.

For most of 13 years in South Carolina, the attention at the NAACP's annual rally has been on the Confederate flag that still waves outside the Statehouse. But on Monday, the civil rights group shifted the focus to laws requiring voters to show photo identification before they can cast ballots, which the group and many other critics say is especially discriminatory toward African-Americans and the poor.

South Carolina's new law was rejected last month by the U.S. Justice Department, but Gov. Nikki Haley vowed to fight the federal government in court. At least a half-dozen other states passed similar voter ID laws in 2011.

  1. Only on msnbc.com

    1. Occupy Congress: Could it be politics as unusual?
    2. Cruise ship survivor: ?So much chaos?
    3. Red Tape: Wikipedia to join anti-SOPA blackout
    4. Cash-rich super PACs changing presidential race
    5. Italy cruise ship captain 'completely irresponsible'?
    6. Rove:? Romney ?solidified hold on 1st place?
    7. 'Farmville' firm revolutionizes social gaming

"This has been quite a faith-testing year. We have seen the greatest attack on voting rights since segregation," said Benjamin Todd Jealous, president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

The shift in tactics was also noted by the keynote speaker, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder. Last month, Holder said the Justice Department was committed to fighting any laws that keep people from the ballot box. He told the crowd he was keenly aware he couldn't have become the nation's first African-American attorney general without the blood shed by King and other civil rights pioneers.

"The right to vote is not only the cornerstone of our governance, it is the lifeblood of our democracy. And no force has proved more powerful, or more integral to the success of the great American experiment, than efforts to expand the franchise," Holder said. "Let me be very, very clear ? the arc of American history has bent toward the inclusion, not the exclusion, of more of our fellow citizens in the electoral process. We must ensure that this continues."

Texas' new voter ID law is currently before the Justice Department, which reviews changes in voting laws in nine mostly Southern states because of their history of discriminatory voting practices. Other states that passed such laws in 2011 included Alabama, Kansas, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Wisconsin.

Similar laws already were on the books in Georgia and Indiana, and they were approved by President George W. Bush's Justice Department. Indiana's law, passed in 2005, was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2008.

Critics have likened the laws to the poll taxes and tests used to prevent blacks from voting during the civil rights era. Supporters, many of whom are Republicans, say such laws are needed to prevent fraud.

"I signed a bill that would protect the integrity of our voting," Haley said in a statement welcoming Holder to South Carolina.

At the Atlanta church where King once preached, the Rev. Raphael G. Warnock said some in America disrespect King's legacy by "cutting off those for whom he died and the principles for which he fought."

He called voter ID laws an affront to the memory of the civil rights leader.

"You cannot celebrate Dr. King on Monday, and undermine people's ability to vote on Super Tuesday," Warnock said.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46014402/ns/us_news-life/

lindsay lohan’s playboy cover leaked online kevin martin va tech shooting 2011 cj wilson coriolanus coriolanus jon corzine

Crisis kills revival in Europe microcosm Belgium (Reuters)

ANTWERP, Belgium (Reuters) ? The stunning, narrow 16th century Gothic houses in the centre of Antwerp are dwarfed by the nearby modern port, which stretches to the size of 22,000 soccer pitches.

From it, there is a stream of ships carrying everything from cars to cosmetics around the world - 15,200 ships in 2011.

But what was shaping up as a record-breaking year for Belgium's second city turned sour. The euro zone debt crisis smashed into the continent's economy and the country's debt-reducing austerity program is doing nothing for immediate growth.

Cutbacks by businesses, governments and households quietened the frenetic deliveries of containers on the dockside.

"We were on track to have a new, all-time record for cargo flows, but then the crisis came," said Eddy Bruyninckx, chief executive of the port, one of Europe's biggest.

"As long as it goes on, it will keep affecting us," he said.

The debt crisis that began in Greece two years ago has crushed Europe's recovery from the 2008/2009 global financial crisis, potentially shrinking euro zone output by up to 1.5 percent this year by ratings agency Standard & Poor's estimate.

Belgium is a kind of mini-Europe, and not just because it hosts the European Union's headquarters.

The north speaks a Germanic language, Dutch, and has prospered through trade and hi-tech industries. In southern Belgium, the locals speak French, a Latin language, and suffer joblessness and slow growth. Many in the north resent subsidizing the south.

The economic slump, meanwhile, has revealed a deeper weaknesses that is a microcosm of the EU's malaise. High debt, an ageing population and a growing mismatch between workers' skills and the jobs on offer mean Belgium, just like the euro zone, must reinvent itself to avoid prolonged stagnation.

After a 2 percent expansion in 2011, Belgian economic output is expected to grow just 0.5 percent this year, the central bank says. But Belgium's finance ministry and business leaders are more pessimistic, seeing virtually no expansion.

Antwerp port reflects that downturn. It forecasts no growth in cargo volumes in the first half of 2012, and beyond that there is little clarity.

The change in fortunes is not just from the loss of confidence stemming from the debt crisis.

Belgium, like much of Europe, is embarking on 12.6 billion euros in spending freezes and cuts this year to bring its deficit below the EU's limit, while banks are unwilling to lend. But business leaders say the strategy is misguided.

"Cost-cutting doesn't mean that you stop investing. You'll kill entrepreneurship," said Jo Libeer, the head of the business chamber in Dutch-speaking Flanders, his Antwerp office overlooking the grey waters of the river Scheldt that are constantly dredged to allow the massive ships to pass.

"There's only one solution to get out of the crisis, and that's investing in entrepreneurship," he said.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For a graphic on Belgium: http://link.reuters.com/zaw85s

For full euro zone coverage: http://r.reuters.com/xyt94s

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

PANIC IN THE EURO ZONE

Belgian entrepreneurs are finding it tough and for some, the sharp focus on cuts in the euro zone have had more impact than the collapse of U.S. investment bank Lehman Brothers in 2008, which caused the world's deepest downturn since the 1930s.

Christine Buelens, the chief executive of Flanders-based engineering research company Metalogic, lost one of her biggest clients earlier this month, when a French firm cancelled plans for her firm to test new anti-corrosive technologies for chemical storage tanks that would extend their lifespan.

"2008 was one of our best years, but now there's a panic reaction to cut costs," said Buelens, whose highly specialized business is the kind that business leaders say Belgium needs more of. "Our French client cancelled their project purely for financial reasons."

One blow to Antwerp was triggered in when ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steelmaker, in October permanently closed production of liquid steel in the French-speaking city of Liege, a decision unions say could cost 500 jobs.

That has also fed back into lost business at Antwerp port, where imports of iron ore that fed the blast furnaces in Liege have fallen and reduced dry bulk traffic by 6.5 percent in 2011.

"In 2010, people thought we were getting back to doing business, but Lehman Brothers taught us how quickly a financial crisis can start hurting the real economy," the port's Bruyninckx said.

Franco-Belgian banking group Dexia also learned that lesson in October. The euro zone crisis starved it of the credit it needed to keep operating, pushing it towards collapse until Belgium, France and Luxembourg stepped in with state guarantees and Belgium nationalized its local retail business.

FINISHED AT 59?

Belgium could never have insulated itself from the crisis.

But the post-Lehman revival masked the need for reform - a task that is complicated by Belgium's regional divide. It took politicians more than 500 days to form a government after elections in June 2010.

Flemish businessman Paul Kumpen, who exports his Ridley bicycles to 44 countries and has an annual turnover of 25 million euros, says he is tired of paying one of the world's highest tax burdens when the revenues are seen as poorly spent.

"For every 100 euros I make, I pay 52 to the taxman, so I'm getting just 48 euros to reinvest while the government runs an inefficient public sector and pays the pensions of Belgians who retire at 55," said Kumpen, himself 62.

Despite the stereotypes that it is southern Europeans who retire too early, Belgium's official retirement age at 65 is two years lower than Spain, while unofficially many people retire at 59, compared to 62 in Greece, according to the Paris-based OECD.

One in four of all unemployed Belgians are over 50, and getting them to stay longer in the workforce is a challenge.

At the other end of the scale, ambitious companies that want to build on Belgium's promise as a logistics and hi-tech economy say they cannot find the highly-skilled graduates they need.

Only 15 materials engineers -- needed in industries such as aerospace and chemicals -- graduate in Belgium every year and that makes Metalogic's Buelens' life very difficult.

"It's a struggle for life, it's almost impossible," Buelens said. "The last people I recruited included two Polish engineers, someone from China and another from Portugal."

Even with unemployment at 8 percent in Belgium, Flanders has 307,000 jobs it cannot fill because of a mismatch between what companies need and the skills of the unemployed.

"People don't move within the country, there's a big mobility issue," said Libeer, echoing a problem across the EU.

Joblessness, early retirement and an inefficient public sector have pushed Belgium's public debt to almost 100 percent of GDP, leaving less money to pay the growing pensions bill.

Still, at Antwerp port, work is underway on the banks of the Scheldt to build the world's biggest lock at a cost of 340 million euros to handle ever-larger ships that ply world trade.

It is a sign of the optimism that is in short supply across Europe these days and signals the hope that growth will return if European leaders can find a solution to the crisis.

"It is in everyone's interest to deal with it," Bruyninckx said. "And today, not tomorrow."

(Writing by Robin Emmott.; Editing by Sebastian Moffett/Jeremy Gaunt)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120116/ts_nm/us_belgium_economy

band of brothers the closer michael turner split pea soup land of the lost cleveland cavaliers cleveland cavaliers

Workers strike Panama canal expansion project

AAA??Jan. 17, 2012?4:04 PM ET
Workers strike Panama canal expansion project
AP

Cranes stand still during a strike by workers at the Panama Canal in Cocoli on the outskirts of Panama City, Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012. On Monday workers began striking to demand safer works conditions, overtime and holiday pay, as well as higher salaries. The Panama Canal is undergoing its biggest expansion project since it opened in 1914, which will allow larger Post-Panamax ships to cross the canal, and is scheduled to be completed in Aug. 2014. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Cranes stand still during a strike by workers at the Panama Canal in Cocoli on the outskirts of Panama City, Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012. On Monday workers began striking to demand safer works conditions, overtime and holiday pay, as well as higher salaries. The Panama Canal is undergoing its biggest expansion project since it opened in 1914, which will allow larger Post-Panamax ships to cross the canal, and is scheduled to be completed in Aug. 2014. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

A contractor of the Panama Canal expansion project walks through an empty work site during a labor strike in Cocoli on the outskirts of the Panama City, Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012. On Monday workers began striking to demand safer works conditions, overtime and holiday pay, as well as higher salaries. The Panama Canal is undergoing its biggest expansion project since it opened in 1914, which will allow larger Post-Panamax ships to cross the canal, and is scheduled to be completed in Aug. 2014. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Cranes stand still during a strike by workers at the Panama Canal in Cocoli on the outskirts of Panama City, Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012. On Monday workers began striking to demand safer works conditions, overtime and holiday pay, as well as higher salaries. The Panama Canal is undergoing its biggest expansion project since it opened in 1914, which will allow larger Post-Panamax ships to cross the canal, and is scheduled to be completed in Aug. 2014. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Laborers who were hired to work on the Panama Canal expansion project protest behind a fence in Cocoli on the outskirts of Panama City, Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012. On Monday workers began striking to demand safer works conditions, overtime and holiday pay, as well as higher salaries. The Panama Canal is undergoing its biggest expansion project since it opened in 1914, which will allow larger Post-Panamax ships to cross the canal, and is scheduled to be completed in Aug. 2014. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

Laborers who were hired to work on the Panama Canal expansion project protest behind a fence in Cocoli on the outskirts of Panama City, Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012. On Monday workers began striking to demand safer works conditions, overtime and holiday pay, as well as higher salaries. The Panama Canal is undergoing its biggest expansion project since it opened in 1914, which will allow larger Post-Panamax ships to cross the canal, and is scheduled to be completed in Aug. 2014. (AP Photo/Arnulfo Franco)

(AP) ? About 6,000 workers have gone on strike for higher wages at a $5.25 billion project to widen the Panama Canal to accommodate larger ships.

Workers representative Rolando Gonzalez says the employees want the base wage raised from $2.90 per hour to $4.90, and the wage for the most skilled workers raised from $3.52 per hour to $7.10.

Employees of the multinational construction consortium Grupo Unidos por el Canal claim the firm has failed to pay them some overtime and vacation pay. They are also complaining about deficient workplace safety.

Gonzalez said Tuesday the strike will continue indefinitely. The company acknowledged in a press statement that some data-entry errors apparently had been committed when the company recently switched payroll systems.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-17-LT-Panama-Canal-Strike/id-4f344cc93f774fbbac4a833bfcb6ea35

iraq war over iraq war over maurice jones drew megyn kelly unclaimed money richard hamilton richard hamilton