Congress easily OKs bill for vets, contractors

(AP) ? Democrats and Republicans rallied on a rare patch of common ground Wednesday and Congress approved legislation helping government contractors and unemployed veterans, finally giving President Barack Obama the chance to sign the first, tiny shred of his $447 billion jobs bill into law.

The House sent the bill to the White House by an overwhelming 422-0, six days after the Senate passed it 95-0.

The legislation creates tax breaks for companies hiring jobless veterans ? a part of Obama's jobs plan ? and beefs up vets' job-training and counseling programs.

It also repeals a 2006 law that would require the federal, state and local governments to withhold 3 percent of their payments to contractors. That statute, which doesn't take effect until 2013, was supposed to pressure contractors to fully pay their taxes, but lawmakers now say the withholding would deny cash to companies that they could better use to hire more workers.

Obama's signature would let him and lawmakers claim credit for protecting jobs at a time when the public is clearly furious over the nation's unemployment rate, which has been stuck at around 9 percent. Despite the unity shown Wednesday, the day's debate underscored the stark gulf that separates the two parties over how to fix the struggling economy, a division that is likely to dominate next year's presidential and congressional elections.

Republicans said it was time for the Senate to approve nearly 20 House-passed bills that they say would create jobs, mostly by repealing or blocking energy regulations and others, and touted Wednesday's vote as part of that drive.

"It sends a message to America's job creators that jobs are our No. 1 priority and that Congress is committed to undoing policies that stand in the way of restoring prosperity," said Rep. Wally Herger, R-Calif.

Rep. Sander Levin said the bill's provisions were modest steps toward resuscitating the ailing job market and said Republicans needed to go much further.

"Passage of this bill represents a challenge to the majority in this House: End your blockade of comprehensive jobs legislation" proposed by Obama, the Michigan Democrat said.

The president's jobs bill, introduced in September but mostly shunned by Congress, would continue reduced payroll taxes for workers and employers, extend unemployment insurance benefits and provide money to build roads, modernize schools and hire teachers, police and firefighters.

In a written statement from the White House, Obama congratulated both parties for approving the veterans' tax credits, took credit for proposing them and prodded lawmakers to go further.

"This is a good first step, but it is only a step," he said. "Congress needs to pass the rest of my American Jobs Act so that we can create jobs and put money in the pockets of the middle class."

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., returned the favor. In a written statement, he tweaked Obama by urging him to hold a bipartisan signing ceremony and to invite Sen. Scott Brown, R-Mass., who had introduced a 3 percent withholding bill.

McConnell said inviting Brown would spotlight that "there are plenty of House-passed bipartisan jobs bills that we can all agree on if only Senate Democrats would bring them up for a vote."

The tax credits for hiring veterans approved Wednesday will cost the government an estimated $95 million ? a tiny fraction of Obama's overall jobs plan. The credits would be as much as $9,600 for companies hiring disabled vets who have looked for work for more than half a year. The size of the credit would be based on the worker's salary and how long the worker was unemployed.

The measure would also expand education and job training benefits for veterans, improve job counseling that troops get before leaving the military and provide an additional year of job services for disabled veterans.

The veterans' programs would be financed mostly by extending a fee the Veterans Affairs Department charges to back mortgages.

Erasing the withholding requirement for contractors would reduce federal revenues by an estimated $11.2 billion over the coming decade. It would be paid for by making it harder for some elderly people to qualify for Medicaid by changing the formula used to determine their eligibility.

Many economists have said annulling the withholding law would have a minimal impact on hiring.

Its repeal was heavily lobbied by industry groups, with no visible opposition. This week alone, a coalition of around 200 trade organizations from aeronautical repair businesses to water treatment companies wrote to House members urging passage of the legislation.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-16-Jobs-Veterans/id-f602b6c2ebec44078a5535771591b88f

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GOP hopefuls challenge Obama on Iran

In this Nov. 12, 2011, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a debate in Spartanburg, S.C. The Republican presidential hopefuls are focusing on Iran as a weak spot in President Barack Obama?s foreign policy record, and they?re reviving many of the arguments that neoconservative proponents of armed intervention against Tehran lost in the latter years of George W. Bush?s presidency. "If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon," Romney said in the debate. "If you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon." (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this Nov. 12, 2011, Republican presidential candidate former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney speaks at a debate in Spartanburg, S.C. The Republican presidential hopefuls are focusing on Iran as a weak spot in President Barack Obama?s foreign policy record, and they?re reviving many of the arguments that neoconservative proponents of armed intervention against Tehran lost in the latter years of George W. Bush?s presidency. "If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon," Romney said in the debate. "If you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon." (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this Nov. 12, 2011, photo, Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, speaks at a debate in Spartanburg, S.C. The Republican presidential hopefuls are focusing on Iran as a weak spot in President Barack Obama?s foreign policy record, and they?re reviving many of the arguments that neoconservative proponents of armed intervention against Tehran lost in the latter years of George W. Bush?s presidency. "There are a number of ways to be smart about Iran and relatively few ways to be dumb, and the administration skipped all the ways to be smart," said Gingirch at the debate. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

In this Nov. 12, 2011, photo, Republican presidential candidate Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks at a debate in Spartanburg, S.C. The Republican presidential hopefuls are focusing on Iran as a weak spot in President Barack Obama?s foreign policy record, and they?re reviving many of the arguments that neoconservative proponents of armed intervention against Tehran lost in the latter years of George W. Bush?s presidency. Longshot candidate Santorum said there "isn?t going to be enough time" for tougher sanctions on Iran and more support for pro-democracy groups. He acknowledged the Obama administration?s possible involvement in some of the covert attacks on Iran?s nuclear program. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro)

(AP) ? Republican presidential hopefuls are focusing on Iran as a weak spot in President Barack Obama's foreign policy record, and they're reviving many of the arguments that neoconservative proponents of armed intervention against Tehran lost in the latter years of George W. Bush's presidency.

Spurred by a recent United Nations report on Iran's nuclear weapons research, the leading GOP candidates are presenting themselves as hawkish alternatives to Obama and his administration's two-track policy of pressuring and engaging the Islamic republic. They propose more drastic approaches to prevent Iran from developing an atomic bomb ? from funding armed rebel movements to launching military attacks.

"If we re-elect Barack Obama, Iran will have a nuclear weapon," Mitt Romney said during Saturday's foreign policy debate in South Carolina. "If you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon."

The former Massachusetts governor and Republican front-runner said the U.S. should be "working with the insurgents in the country to encourage regime change." But, if "there's nothing else we can do besides take military action, then of course you take military action."

The killing of Osama bin Laden, NATO's successful Libya campaign and as-promised U.S. troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan have helped transform foreign policy into one of Obama's strengths as he prepares for a difficult re-election campaign focused on the economy. Obama has failed to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, but that elusive goal has confounded every American president since Jimmy Carter.

Iran's nuclear program offers an unusual point of attack for the Republican candidates. The paucity of reliable public information makes it hard to assess whether the Obama administration has hampered Iran's nuclear ambitions or allowed their advance, offering plenty of space for GOP candidates to present alternative tactics.

"There are a number of ways to be smart about Iran and relatively few ways to be dumb, and the administration skipped all the ways to be smart," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said at Saturday's debate. He called for "maximum covert operations to block and disrupt the Iranian program" and backed Romney's call for possible military action. If "the dictatorship persists, you have to take whatever steps are necessary to break its capacity to have a nuclear weapon."

Seeking to one-up Gingrich, longshot candidate Rick Santorum said there "isn't going to be enough time" for tougher sanctions on Iran and more support for pro-democracy groups. He acknowledged the Obama administration's possible involvement in some of the covert attacks on Iran's nuclear program.

But he suggested an even tougher approach alongside Israel to strike Iran's nuclear facilities pre-emptively ? similar to the operations the Jewish state conducted against Iraq in 1981 and Syria four years ago. The Reagan administration fumed over the first; the Bush administration acquiesced by silence to the second.

Iran insists its nuclear program is designed solely for peaceful processes, but an International Atomic Energy Agency report last week strongly suggested work toward atomic weaponry. The program has been hindered in recent years by the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists, a virulent computer virus attacking its facilities and other possible interference ? which may or may not have been the result of covert American or Israeli activity.

For all the early talk of engagement, Obama has stuck largely to the Bush administration's latter-year policies of negotiations with Iran alongside international pressure ? without the inflammatory rhetoric such as accusations of Tehran's membership in an "axis of evil."

Republicans see the policy nevertheless as a failure and seem to be harkening back to the hard-line American posture taken after U.S. troops toppled Iraq's Saddam Hussein in 2003 and many conservative foreign policy thinkers made Iran's regime the next bogeyman that needed to be taken out.

Then, as now, the argument held that a nuclear-armed Iran would be a mortal threat to U.S. forces in the region and to U.S. ally Israel, whose U.S. backing is wide and deep. Then, as now, the more hawkish voices said time is running out for talking and the U.S. must make clear to Iran that it will use its overwhelming military advantage.

The most likely strategy would be a missile strike on one of Iran's known nuclear facilities, or sabotage from within the country.

Either is clearly within U.S. power, but Obama's calculation has thus far been the same as Bush's: A strike isn't yet worth the risks it carries. Iran could retaliate against U.S. interests or allies, and the Pentagon assesses that if Iran is bent on acquiring a nuclear weapon, a strike would delay but not prevent it.

GOP candidate Herman Cain said he wouldn't pursue a military conflict.

"The only way we can stop them is through economic means," he said.

Libertarian Ron Paul also held back, saying war powers were vested in Congress.

Rick Perry called for sanctions against Iran's central bank to "shut down that country's economy," something the Obama administration has examined in recent months but backed off doing. The fear is that isolating the bank beyond existing U.S. sanctions could drive up oil prices and imperil the fragile world economy.

Over the weekend, Obama argued that U.S. and international sanctions against Tehran have had "enormous bite" and said he'd consult with other nations on further efforts to stop Iran from acquiring an atomic weapon. Without specifically mentioning military action, he insisted, as Bush always did, that U.S. officials "are not taking any options off the table."

Still, the focus is on sanctions. Despite four rounds of economic sanctions against Iran ? three during Bush's presidency and the last under Obama ? the United Nations is being held back from tougher measures by veto-wielding Security Council members China and Russia. They've offered no sign of a change in posture since Obama's meetings Saturday with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

Romney has argued that Obama made a strategic blunder early in his presidency by failing to leverage Russian support for "crippling sanctions" against Iran before changing the Bush administration's plans for a missile defense system in Europe.

"This is, of course, President Obama's greatest failing from a foreign policy standpoint," he said. "He gave Russia what they wanted, their No. 1 foreign policy objective, and got nothing in return."

Romney's argument is undercut by Bush's similar struggles in rallying global unity against Iran and the assessment by many international security analysts that the sanctions applied under Bush and Obama have seriously undermined Iran's economy.

Responding a day later, Obama said: "Is this an easy issue? No. Anyone who claims it is is either politicking or doesn't know what they're talking about."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-11-16-Republicans-Iran/id-f827f4ac23d745d3abf599a539a3c885

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15 Infant Dinosaurs Discovered Crowded in Nest (LiveScience.com)

A nest of 15 young dinosaurs uncovered in Mongolia ? cousins of Triceratops ? now suggests these plant-eating beasts might have cared for their young, scientists reveal.

The dinosaur is named Protoceratops andrewsi, a sheep-size herbivore that lived about 70 million years ago that's known for the frill at the back of its head. Within the nest were infants about 4 to 6 inches (10 to 15 centimeters) long and probably no more than a year old.

"The evidence suggests they may have been overrun by migrating dunes during a sandstorm," researcher David Fastovsky, a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Rhode Island, told LiveScience.

The searing hot locale in the heart of the Gobi Desert where this nest was discovered, Tugrikin Shire, has proven rich in fossils in the past, including the "fighting dinosaurs," an entombed Velociraptor and Protoceratops seemingly locked in mortal combat. The site was harsh back when these dinosaurs were alive, too ? the sandstones they were buried in suggest the region was an erg, a windblown dune field a bit like parts of the modern Sahara. The dunes here might once have reached as tall as 80 feet (24 meters). [Photos of dinosaur infants]

This is the first definitive Protoceratops nest uncovered to date, researchers said. Although scientists had discovered what they thought were Protoceratops nests since the 1920s, opening up the eggs revealed they actually belonged to another dinosaur ? Oviraptor, a creature previously suspected to have lurked around these eggs to eat them.

The fact these infant dinosaurs were all found together suggests that Protoceratops parents might have cared for their young at nests during at least the early stages of childhood. In addition, Protoceratops was a relatively primitive member of its group of dinosaurs, the ceratopsians, so suggests that nesting and parental care might have been traits found within other ceratopsians as well, such as Triceratops.

"It's quite striking that there are 15 juvenile Protoceratops here ? that seems like a lot to care for," Fastovsky said. "But they were living in a harsh environment, so perhaps mortality rates were high."

The scientists would like to reconstruct the ecosystem where Protoceratops dwelled to better understand the context in which it lived and why it might have adopted the familial strategy it did.

"We don't know what they fed on right now ? we don't know what plant life there was," Fastovsky said. "But it was more productive than what we might expect of a dune field, given how many fossils we've found there."

The scientists detailed their findings in the November issue of the Journal of Paleontology.

Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111117/sc_livescience/15infantdinosaursdiscoveredcrowdedinnest

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Self-organized pituitary-like tissue from mouse ES cells

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The possibility that functional, three-dimensional tissues and organs may be derived from pluripotent cells, such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), represents one of the grand challenges of stem cell research, but is also one of the fundamental goals of the emerging field of regenerative medicine. Developmental biology has played a central role in informing such efforts, as it has been shown that stem cell differentiation can be directed to follow a given lineage pathway by culturing stem cells in conditions that recapitulate the specific cellular and molecular environment from which such cells normally emerge during embryogenesis. Intriguingly, recent work has shown that when ES cells are cultured under the appropriate conditions, they can be driven to self-organize into complex, three-dimensional tissue-like structures that closely resemble their physiological counterparts, a remarkable advance for the field.

New work by Hidetaka Suga of the Division of Human Stem Cell Technology, Yoshiki Sasai, Group Director of the Laboratory for Organogenesis and Neurogenesis, and others has unlocked the most recent achievement in self-organized tissue differentiation, steering mouse ESCs to give rise to tissue closely resembling the hormone-secreting component of the pituitary, known as the adenohypophysis, in vitro. Conducted in collaboration with Yutaka Oiso at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, this work was published in Nature.

The Sasai group has complied an impressive list of achievements in induced differentiation using an ES cell culture technique dubbed SFEBq (shorthand for "serum-free floating culture of embryoid body-like aggregates with quick re-aggregation"), including high-efficiency methods for the differentiation of dopaminergic, cerebral cortex, cerebellar Purkinje, and other neuronal cell types. In recent years, refinements of this approach have enabled the first tantalizing insights into the developmental capacity of pluripotent stem cells, showing their ability to give rise to multi-cell-type populations of cortical and retinal neurons that spontaneously self-organize into stratified tissue nearly identical to that of the developing embryo.

In the group's most recent work, Suga sought to use SFEBq to derive the secretory component of the pituitary (hypophysis) from mouse ES cells. In embryonic development, the pituitary emerges from a region of the non-neural (rostral) head ectoderm, adjacent to the anterior neural plate. Guided by molecular interactions, this placodal region forms an indentation, known as Rathke's pouch, in the developmental predecessor of the roof of the mouth, and eventually gives rise to the anterior section of the pituitary, the source of hormones involved in growth, reproduction and modulating the physiological response to stress.

The Sasai lab had previously reported how a modified version of the SFEBq approach lacking extrinsic growth factors could spur ES cells to give rise to hypothalamic neurons. Building on this finding, Suga found by further tweaking the conditions he could steer populations of such stem cells to differentiate simultaneously into the neighboring rostral head ectoderm and hypothalamic neuroectoderm, both of which are required to development of the adenohypophysis. Interestingly, the cells in these clusters spontaneously organized into distinct layers resembling those of the corresponding embryonic tissues. This effect appears to be attributable to the increase of BMP signaling in larger cell aggregates, leading to differentiation into non-neural ectoderm. To test whether co-culture of this ectoderm with hypothalamic tissue would lead to the formation of Rathke's pouch-like structures, Suga observed the ESC-derived aggregates for nearly two weeks, and found that by adding the signaling factor Sonic hedgehog, he was able to induce the self-directed formation of this vesicular tissue.

The next important test was whether this in vitro anterior pituitary anlage would show similar functionality to the physiological activity of the adenohypophysis. Of the many critically important pituitary hormones, they chose adenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) for their first assay. Previous research had suggested that Notch signaling interferes with the development of ACTH-secreting cells, so the group added a Notch blocker to the culture medium and found that this triggered the generation of such cells at high efficiencies. Following a similar principle, they showed that by adding Wnt, glucocorticoid and insulin to the culture at appropriate doses and stages, they could obtain growth hormone-secreting cells in quantity. By varying the recipe of the growth factor cocktail, they were able to induce other pituitary hormones as well. And, critically, the group was able to show that in vitro hormone secretion could respond to requisite signals and engage in regulatory feedback just as in the body.

In a final series of experiments, Suga et al. transplanted the ESC-derived ACTH-secreting tissue into the kidneys of adult mice whose own pituitary glands had been ablated, to see whether it would be capable of compensating for pituitary function in this model system. Within a week of transplantation, these mice showed strong overall survival, a marked rise in ACTH levels and a concomitant increase in corticosterone (a glucocorticoid hormone stimulated by ACTH) over untransplanted controls, which uniformly weakened and died within eight weeks of hypophysectomy.

Yoshiki Sasai, leader of the study, commented on this most recent demonstration of the remarkable self-organizing capabilities of embryonic stem cells in vitro. "We have previously shown how ES cells can give rise to self-organized, three-dimensional neuronal and sensory tissues, and in this report we describe for the first time how this principle can be used to generate to an endocrine tissue, suggesting our approach is of general applicability. Suga, himself an endocrinologist, remarks, "We currently treat pituitary deficiencies by hormone replacement, but achieving the correct dosage is not a straightforward problem, given the naturally fluctuating levels secreted within the body. I am hopeful that this new finding will lead to further advances in regenerative medicine in the endocrine system."

###

RIKEN: http://www.riken.jp/engn/

Thanks to RIKEN for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/115197/Self_organized_pituitary_like_tissue_from_mouse_ES_cells

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Staples 3Q profit rises, lowers 2011 outlook (AP)

FRAMINGHAM, Mass. ? Staples Inc. said Tuesday that its profit climbed 13 percent in the third quarter, helped in part by improved sales of office and break room supplies to businesses.

But overall revenue came in short of Wall Street expectations and the nation's biggest office supply company cut its adjusted earnings forecast for the full year as its international performance weakened a bit.

Its shares dropped 57 cents, or 3.7 percent, to $14.80 in afternoon trading.

Office suppliers have suffered during the recession and its aftermath, as consumers and small businesses continue to hold back on spending, something that is not likely to change soon, CEO Ron Sargent said.

"We don't see a lot of change in the economy versus our outlook last quarter," he said in a call with analysts. "I think we remain in a slow growth economy for business in North America and that's really driven by high unemployment and fear of the future."

Still, the company has been outperforming its smaller rivals OfficeMax Inc. and Office Depot Inc., both of which reported small sales declines in the most recent quarter.

"We continue to be impressed by tight expense control, and favor the company's strong free cash flow generation," said S&P Capital IQ analyst Michael Souers. He kept his "Buy" rating on the stock. "We think Staples is attractive, trading well below out target price."

Staples, based in Framingham, Mass., reported net income of $326.4 million, or 47 cents per share, in the three months ended Oct. 29, up from $288.7 million, or 40 cents per share, a year ago.

The earnings met Wall Street's expectations, according to a survey of analysts by FactSet.

Revenue rose 1 percent to $6.57 billion from $6.54 billion, but analysts expected higher revenue of $6.71 billion.

Revenue for Staples' North American delivery segment, which delivers office supplies and break room supplies to businesses, increased 1.8 percent to $2.6 billion. Its North American retail unit revenue was flat at $2.7 billion, with revenue at stores open at least a year down 1 percent on a slight decline in customer traffic and flat average order size.

Revenue at stores open at least a year is a key indicator of a retailer's health because it excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

The company's international revenue slipped 1.9 percent to $1.3 billion or 7 percent on a local currency basis. Staples said revenue at European stores open at least a year dropped 12 percent, with sales also soft in Australia.

For the full year, Staples now anticipates earnings of between $1.35 to $1.39 per share, excluding a tax refund of about $21 million in the second quarter. The retailer previously predicted adjusted earnings in a range of $1.39 to $1.45 per share. It expects a low-single digit percentage rate increase in revenue.

Analysts expect 2011 earnings of $1.39 per share on revenue of $25.29 billion.

Staples expects fourth-quarter earnings of 39 cents to 43 cents per share, with flat to low single-digit sales growth.

Analysts expect earnings of 43 cents per share on revenue of $6.59 billion.

In addition, Staples said it now anticipates buying back about $600 million of its stock for the full year, up from its previously expectations to repurchase $300 million to $500 million of its shares.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111115/ap_on_bi_ge/us_earns_staples

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Fuel tankers explode in Nigeria's nervous capital

(AP) ? Two tanker trucks exploded during rush hour Wednesday in the Nigerian capital of Abuja, seriously injuring one person in a city still tense after repeated threats and bombings by a radical Muslim sect.

Panicked passers-by fled both scenes but police and rescue officials told The Associated Press the two explosions bore no signs of sabotage. Firefighters sprayed down the burning remains of the tankers with foam to keep the flames from spreading. Plumes of smoke drifted over the city.

One tanker exploded at a gas station in the Wuse neighborhood, while the other caught fire near a gas station on a busy street in Abuja's Maitama neighborhood, witnesses said. One person was hospitalized with serious injuries, said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.

"The fires were quenched," he said.

Police were investigating the cause of the explosions.

Police spokesman Jimoh Moshood said the tanker in Wuse had been pumping fuel into the gas station when it exploded.

"There must be some electrical problem, but we are not certain," Moshood said.

The explosions frightened residents already unnerved by the threat posed by a radical Muslim sect, Boko Haram. The U.S. Embassy warned earlier this month that the group, which is waging an increasingly bloody sectarian fight against Nigeria's weak central government, might target three luxury hotels in the city.

Boko Haram has attacked sites in Abuja before. A suicide bomber claimed by the group attacked the U.N. headquarters in August, killing 24 people, while another Boko Haram bomber targeted the federal police headquarters in June.

The sect wants the strict implementation of Shariah law across Nigeria, a nation of more than 160 million people split largely between a Christian south and a Muslim north.

___

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

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-11-16-AF-Nigeria-Explosion/id-b66937ba7a2749ff951b7927e01af1e2

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Michael Jackson's bed no longer part of auction

ANN CURRY, co-host: Back now at 7:39. It has been more than two years since Michael Jackson 's shocking death and -- in his rented mansion in Los Angeles . And now for the first time , NBC 's Jeff Rossen will take us exclusively inside the mansion where the pop star spent his final months in guarded secrecy. Jeff , good morning.

JEFF ROSSEN reporting: Hey, Ann. Good morning to you. Look, we've all seen those now famous crime scene photos, snapshots of Michael 's final moments, but that's it, until now. This morning you're about to see what no one has ever seen before. I got full access to Michael 's mansion , and there our cameras captured everything from his inner sanctum , literally off limits to everyone but him, to love notes from Michael 's children. Welcome to 100 North Carolwood in the heart of Los Angeles , where Michael Jackson spent his final months. And in true Jackson style, the grounds are gorgeous, eclipsed only by the beauty inside.

Mr. DARREN JULIEN: How are you? Welcome.

ROSSEN: Good to see you.

Mr. JULIEN: Good to see you as well.

Mr. MARTIN NOLAN: Morning, Jeff . Welcome.

ROSSEN: Thank you for having me.

Mr. NOLAN: Yeah.

Mr. JULIEN: Come on in.

ROSSEN: Showing us around, that's Darren Julien and Martin Nolan from Julien 's auction house , preparing to sell everything in here. The decor is majestic. Michael lived in this mansion ...

ROSSEN: ...as he was rehearsing for his upcoming tour, and as you look around, Michael 's fingerprints are everywhere. As soon as you get to the top of the stairs, you're greeted in this beautiful, giant foyer with high ceilings and, of course, a piano. Michael loved his music. He has a huge collection of pianos here and at Neverland . But the real interesting section of this house, right through these doors. This is Michael Jackson 's private bedroom, and when I say private, I mean ultraprivate. Michael 's children weren't even allowed here, not his assistants, not his security guards, no one. This was for Michael only. This was his bed, and by the way, Michael Jackson didn't enjoy sleeping in a king. This is a California queen. Something else that jumped out at me, he has a sitting area in the bedroom here as well, and for somebody who was so huge in the entertainment industry, no huge flat-screen TV for Michael Jackson . This was his television set, a fairly standard model. But the real prize in the auction when they start selling off Michael 's items may be this armoire. And you can see that Michael actually handwrote

something on the mirror, so every time he looked at himself he would see this: "Train, perfection, March April. Full out," underlined, "May." And a little stick figure that he drew on the bottom. Michael was so desperate, many say, for this comeback and for this tour. He wanted to see that motivational message every time he looked at the mirror. And by the way, how much money would this mirror go for normal?

Mr. NOLAN: We estimate the armoire to be 6 to $8,000. That's if you or I owned it. Because it's Michael Jackson 's and because of what he wrote here -- he desperately wanted to make a comeback; this was a constant reminder to him.

ROSSEN: How much will it go for then?

Mr. NOLAN: It could be 40, 50,000.

ROSSEN: Wow. And that's part of the point here, Darren , right, that this is Michael 's inner sanctum and everything goes for more money?

Mr. JULIEN: That's exactly right.

Mr. NOLAN: Yeah.

Mr. JULIEN: Anything in here will sell for more money because these were part of his private life that no one else got to see.

ROSSEN: How much of this is for sale?

Mr. JULIEN: Well, everything in the house that's movable's for sale.

ROSSEN: Right through here is Michael 's personal bathroom, and again, this is all part of that master suite that is so private only Michael was allowed in here. So big it can fit a tub and a chaise lounge right in the middle. There's something very interesting right through here, and his shower, by the way, is enclosed in double-sided glass. It's this shower bench. And you can see if you look up close, Michael drew those stick figures on every piece of wood on this shower bench and this is for sale, too. And then right through here, as you go out the other side, this is Michael 's -- well, I guess this would be his closet. It would be a -- it would be an apartment in New York City for most people. And we're told in his final days, this room was literally stacked with his belongings. Every closet was filled, every tabletop was filled with stuff. Michael loved accumulating stuff and he kept a lot of it right in here. Of all the rooms in the house, this one has the most meaning. It's been called the medication room. This is where Michael Jackson spent his final moments. In fact, it's in this very bed where Michael Jackson spent his final moments, and this bed is going up for auction soon. This is how we're used to seeing the medication room, from crime scene photos taken just after Michael died, and it was a mess, pill bottles everywhere, pillows thrown around. There's even a doll in the middle of the bed. Dr. Conrad Murray administered the propofol right here at Michael 's bedside. Of course this is a piece of history now.

Mr. JULIEN: Yeah. I mean, like his inner sanctum , anything in this room's going to have more value, but the bed we conservatively estimate 3 to 5,000. It's what the value is of a bed, but because it's historical significance in this room, it's going to be far greater.

ROSSEN: Do you expect to get perhaps the most money for this particular item of everything?

Mr. JULIEN: We anticipate it being one of the top-selling items, yes.

ROSSEN: Just down the hall, more bedrooms, lavish and spacious. It's believed Michael 's children, Prince, Paris and "Blanket" slept here. In fact, you can see the kids everywhere. Prince carved his name into this candle.

Mr. JULIEN: And this is the kitchen, and this is where the family spent much of their time during the day.

Mr. NOLAN: I mean, a kitchen that's very similar to what they lived in at Neverland , a home that was filled with love. And that's represented here on

the chalkboard: "I love daddy. Smile. It's free."

ROSSEN: The kids wrote that and it's still here.

Mr. NOLAN: For their daddy.

ROSSEN: The chalkboard with that message is up for auction, too. Also downstairs, a living room , a formal dining room , and just like Neverland Ranch , this mansion has a fully functional movie theater, complete with velvet seats. Michael didn't own this home; he rented it, fully furnished. The homeowner, no relation to the Jackson family , wants to remain anonymous. She and the auction house will share profits when the items sell. Wow, when you step outside it is beautiful here.

Mr. JULIEN: Yeah, and Michael always liked private surroundings that were immaculate.

ROSSEN: And this is immaculate, Michael 's own private oasis, greenery, his protection from the outside. The pool, the pool house, all part of Michael 's life in those final months. But even this mansion suited for a king couldn't cure this king's pain. In all, 600 items from the mansion will go up for auction on December 17th in Los Angeles . And by the way, the owner has now put the house on the market itself for upwards of $20 million. Ann :

CURRY: All right, Jeff , thank you so much for your reporting. And by the way, we're going to have some of those items from that mansion live in our studio next month before they hit the auction block. Meantime, coming up next, we'll relive the fun of Matt 's WHERE IN THE WORLD adventure and get some of the behind-the-scenes stories that he hasn't yet told. But first, these messages.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/45308756/ns/today-entertainment/

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Dubai speed machine defies slowdown (Reuters)

DUBAI (Reuters) ? Boeing (BA.N) savoured an order worth at least $18 billion for 50 wide-body 777 jetliners from host airline Emirates as the Dubai Air Show entered a second day beating the drum for growth despite widespread economic gloom.

The largest single order by value in Boeing's history boosted the Middle East's largest industry event and pushed talk of global recession to the sidelines -- though analysts said getting aircraft financing was proving an increasing challenge.

Qatar Airways looked set to step in with a possible Boeing order on Monday and was expected to give its final verdict on a long-awaited Airbus order that sources said would include A380 superjumbos on Tuesday, but talks appeared to be continuing.

Sources familiar with the matter said Abu Dhabi's Etihad Airways was ready to buy an extra 12 Boeings including 10 787 Dreamliners and two more 777s, but may not announce at the show.

The Gulf's big three are buying wide-body aircraft to serve Asia and the United States and redraw the world's transport and logistics map with the Gulf at the center, thanks to its ability to reach most of the world's population in one long-haul hop.

Kuwaiti lessor Alafco plans to boost an order for 30 Airbus (EAD.PA) A320neo passenger aircraft, probably on Monday.

The battle to redirect flows of people and cargo via the Gulf has provoked sharp exchanges with airlines in Europe. Emirates hit back at charges that it is flooding the market by pointing to European superjumbos flying into Dubai.

Emirates is the largest customer for the 525-seat Airbus (EAD.PA) A380 superjumbo with 90 of the world's largest airliner on order and there have been signs it might buy even more.

"The three big Gulf airlines are attacking other people's traffic. They are converting oil wealth into an aviation market position," said aerospace analyst Richard Aboulafia of Virginia-based consultancy Teal Group.

Gulf airlines say they simply operate a better service.

SPEED MACHINES

Airline chiefs played down the risk of contagion from Europe's debt crisis, but the head of Boeing's commercial division said it was a "watch item" and Brazil's Embraer trimmed a forecast for business jet deliveries due to the downturn.

Emirates said it had adequate financing in place for 2012 and planned a mix of funding options for the latest 777 order, including Islamic finance.

Record sales of the Boeing 777 capped by the Emirates announcement, attended by the ruler of Dubai, could force Airbus to do another rework of its future A350, Aboulafia said.

Few if any A350 orders are expected at the show, but sales chief John Leahy said he felt under no pressure to drum up new sales for the aircraft, whose development has been delayed.

Sunday's opening day brought a raucous display of speed and power across the southern Gulf as rival Typhoon and Rafale fighter jets screamed over Dubai and the airline-sponsored Formula One circuit rolled into neighbouring Abu Dhabi.

A potential $11 billion order for French jets was thrown into doubt when the four-nation consortium that builds the Typhoon said it had been invited to give a sales pitch to military officials of the United Arab Emirates.

The combat jet is supplied by Eurofighter partners Britain, Germany, Italy and Spain.

France is anxious to win its first Rafale export order but analysts said it was unclear whether the UAE request signaled a change in requirements or was merely a tactic to put pressure on manufacturer Dassault Aviation (AVMD.PA) over Rafale prices.

"They are sending Dassault a signal, that much is certain," an aerospace industry executive said.

France said it remained in what Defense Minister Gerard Longuet called a late stage of talks with the UAE on the Rafale.

Analysts say rising geopolitical tensions surrounding Iran in past weeks could lead to a spike in defense orders.

(Additional reporting by Nadia Saleem, Praveen Menon, Editing by Diane Craft)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111114/bs_nm/us_airshow_dubai

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