Alcohol and your heart: Friend or foe?

Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
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Contact: Michael Torres
media@camh.net
416-595-6015
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

For immediate release -- A meta-analysis done by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) into the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart disease provides new insight into the long-held belief that drinking a glass of red wine a day can help protect against heart disease.

"It's complicated," says Dr. Juergen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at CAMH. Dr. Rehm's paper, co-authored by Michael Roerecke, was recently published in the journal Addiction. "While a cardioprotective association between alcohol use and ischaemic heart disease exists, it cannot be assumed for all drinkers, even at low levels of intake," says Dr. Rehm.

Ischaemic heart disease is a common cause of illness and death in the Western world. Symptoms are angina, heart pain, and heart failure. Based on 44 studies, the analyses used 38,627 ischaemic heart disease events (including deaths) among 957,684 people.

"We see substantial variation across studies, in particular for an average consumption of one to two drinks a day," says Dr. Rehm. The protective association may vary by gender, drinking patterns, and the specific health effects of interest. Differential risk curves were found by sex, with higher risk for morbidity and mortality in women.

Moreover, for any particular individual, the relationship between alcohol consumption and ischemic heart disease should not be isolated from other disease outcomes. Even at low levels, alcohol intake can have a detrimental effect on many other disease outcomes, including on several cancers.

"Even one drink a day increases risk of breast cancer, for example," says Dr. Rehm. "However, with as little as one drink a day, the net effect on mortality is still beneficial. After this, the net risk increases with every drink."

"If someone binge drinks even once a month, any health benefits from light to moderate drinking disappear." Binge drinking is defined more than four drinks on one occasion for women, and more than five for men.

Given the complex, potentially beneficial or detrimental effects of alcohol on ischaemic heart disease in addition to the detrimental effects on other disease categories, any advice by physicians on individual drinking has to take the individual risk constellation (such as familial predisposition for certain diseases and behavior with respect to other risk factors) into consideration.

"More evidence on the overall benefit-risk ratio of average alcohol consumption in relation to ischaemic heart disease and other diseases is needed in order to inform the general public or physicians about safe or low-risk drinking levels," the study concludes. "Findings from this study support current low-risk drinking guidelines, if these recognize lower drinking limits for women."

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The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 30-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Torres
media@camh.net
416-595-6015
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

For immediate release -- A meta-analysis done by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) into the relationship between alcohol consumption and heart disease provides new insight into the long-held belief that drinking a glass of red wine a day can help protect against heart disease.

"It's complicated," says Dr. Juergen Rehm, director of social and epidemiological research at CAMH. Dr. Rehm's paper, co-authored by Michael Roerecke, was recently published in the journal Addiction. "While a cardioprotective association between alcohol use and ischaemic heart disease exists, it cannot be assumed for all drinkers, even at low levels of intake," says Dr. Rehm.

Ischaemic heart disease is a common cause of illness and death in the Western world. Symptoms are angina, heart pain, and heart failure. Based on 44 studies, the analyses used 38,627 ischaemic heart disease events (including deaths) among 957,684 people.

"We see substantial variation across studies, in particular for an average consumption of one to two drinks a day," says Dr. Rehm. The protective association may vary by gender, drinking patterns, and the specific health effects of interest. Differential risk curves were found by sex, with higher risk for morbidity and mortality in women.

Moreover, for any particular individual, the relationship between alcohol consumption and ischemic heart disease should not be isolated from other disease outcomes. Even at low levels, alcohol intake can have a detrimental effect on many other disease outcomes, including on several cancers.

"Even one drink a day increases risk of breast cancer, for example," says Dr. Rehm. "However, with as little as one drink a day, the net effect on mortality is still beneficial. After this, the net risk increases with every drink."

"If someone binge drinks even once a month, any health benefits from light to moderate drinking disappear." Binge drinking is defined more than four drinks on one occasion for women, and more than five for men.

Given the complex, potentially beneficial or detrimental effects of alcohol on ischaemic heart disease in addition to the detrimental effects on other disease categories, any advice by physicians on individual drinking has to take the individual risk constellation (such as familial predisposition for certain diseases and behavior with respect to other risk factors) into consideration.

"More evidence on the overall benefit-risk ratio of average alcohol consumption in relation to ischaemic heart disease and other diseases is needed in order to inform the general public or physicians about safe or low-risk drinking levels," the study concludes. "Findings from this study support current low-risk drinking guidelines, if these recognize lower drinking limits for women."

###

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) is Canada's largest mental health and addiction teaching hospital, as well as one of the world's leading research centres in the area of addiction and mental health. CAMH combines clinical care, research, education, policy development and health promotion to help transform the lives of people affected by mental health and addiction issues.

CAMH is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto, and is a Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization Collaborating Centre.

---

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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/cfaa-aay013012.php

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Santorum denounces 'gutter politics' of opponents

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum uses a bullhorn to speak to an overflow crowd who couldn't get into an auditorium to hear him speak during a campaign stop Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Republican presidential candidate, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum uses a bullhorn to speak to an overflow crowd who couldn't get into an auditorium to hear him speak during a campaign stop Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum signs a yard sign for a supporter after speaking during a campaign stop Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a campaign stop Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a campaign stop Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

Republican presidential candidate former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum speaks during a campaign stop Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, at St. Charles Community College in Cottleville, Mo. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

COTTLEVILLE, Mo. (AP) ? Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum denounced the "gutter politics" of his opponents Monday as he turned his campaign away from a potentially futile effort in Florida in hopes of regaining momentum in the Midwest.

After spending what he described as a stressful weekend with his sick 3-year-old daughter, Santorum resumed his campaign at a suburban St. Louis community college ? assuring people that his daughter was improving and forecasting a political revival in swing states such as Missouri. He was to appear later Monday at a campaign event in Minnesota, which also is holding its caucuses next week.

The former senator from Pennsylvania carefully avoided naming Republican rivals Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich ? he trails them in polls heading into Tuesday's primary in Florida ? but nonetheless directed a scolding toward them for what he said is devolving into a negative campaign.

"I'm sick and tired of candidates who think they have to do anything that's necessary ? anything ? to win an election," Santorum told more than 300 people packed into an auditorium at St. Charles Community College. "We deserve better than the gutter politics that we've been seeing in this race."

Santorum is the first Republican candidate to appear in Missouri in advance of its Feb. 7 primary, which will essentially be a statewide public opinion poll. The Republican Party plans to award its presidential delegates in Missouri through a series of caucuses that begin in mid-March. Gingrich didn't get on Missouri's primary ballot while others who have since dropped out of the race will be listed alongside Romney, Santorum and Ron Paul.

Santorum said he still considers Missouri's primary to be important. Because of Gingrich's absence, it could allow Santorum to test his political strength more directly against that of Romney, who has been building a network of prominent Republican endorsements in Missouri.

"I think doing well in the primary well help us in the caucus," Santorum told The Associated Press after his Missouri campaign event.

Democratic President Barack Obama narrowly lost Missouri in 2008 to Republican Sen. John McCain.

Santorum campaigned Monday in one of Missouri's fastest-growing and staunchly Republican counties. Because the crowd exceeded the capacity of the auditorium, he later took a bullhorn to speak to an additional 150 people outside, then lingered to hold babies, pose for photos and sign autographs.

During his campaign speech, Santorum touted his plan to eliminate the corporate income tax for manufacturers and waive taxes on money earned by companies overseas if it is brought back to the US and invested in new equipment at plants. He pledged to repeal all regulations enacted during Obama's presidency, to enforce trade laws against China and to support fundamental change to the education system, though he offered few specifics beyond combining numerous federal education programs under large block grants to states and local schools.

Among those at his Missouri campaign event was Marty Leitner, a longtime Republican who said she appreciated the family emphasis of both Santorum and Romney but had become turned off by reports about Romney's wealth.

"I think Santorum's a little more like most normal people, and Romney's a little out of touch with most average Americans," said Leitner, 43, of St. Charles.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-30-US-Santorum/id-6c5bac244afb429c92d01616fb5ac26f

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China paper says punish Philippines over US ties (AP)

BEIJING ? An official Chinese newspaper says Beijing must punish the Philippines economically for proposing closer military ties with Washington.

The nationalist tabloid Global Times, published by the Communist Party's People's Daily, said Sunday that China must pressure Manila to abandon cooperation with the U.S.

China and the Philippines, along with other nations, are locked in a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, and Beijing sees the U.S. as an unwelcome interloper in that dispute.

U.S. and Philippine officials agreed last week to increase cooperation in various areas including maritime security and defense. The Philippines said it is considering more joint military exercises and a greater presence by American troops.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_re_as/as_china_philippines

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Thousands take polar bear plunge in Chesapeake Bay

Plungers run into the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Plungers run into the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

David Zihmer runs out of the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

Laura Hanna runs out of the Chesapeake Bay during the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge to raise funds for the Special Olympics Maryland Sat. Jan 28, 2012 in Annapolis, Md.(AP Photo/Gail Burton)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) ? Thousands of people clad in bathing trunks, bikinis and even some woolly winter hats have taken the Polar Bear Plunge into the Chesapeake Bay for charity.

The surging mass of bathers whooped and hollered as they dashed into the chill winter waters, monitored by safety divers in wetsuits just offshore at Sandy Point State Park in Maryland.

Some participants spent mere seconds in the water, leaving behind sandals and floppy beach hats in the rush to get out just as fast as they got in. Some wore costumes, one like "Star Wars" character Darth Vader.

Saturday's was the 16th annual Polar Bear Plunge at the park, benefiting Special Olympics Maryland. Last year's plunge raised nearly $3 million, but there was no immediate word on the amount raised this year.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-29-Polar%20Bear%20Plunge/id-7a9ef9aacf234e319c9b219118449336

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Researchers shed light on magnetic mystery of graphite

Friday, January 27, 2012

The physical property of magnetism has historically been associated with metals such as iron, nickel and cobalt; however, graphite ? an organic mineral made up of stacks of individual carbon sheets ? has baffled researchers in recent years by showing weak signs of magnetism.

The hunt for an explanation has not been without controversy, with several research groups proposing different theories. The most recent suggestion, published today, 27 January, in the journal EPL (Europhysics Letters), has been put forward by a research group from the University of Manchester that includes Nobel prize-winning scientist Professor Sir Andre Geim.

The research group, led by Dr Irina Grigorieva, found that magnetism in many commercially available graphite crystals is down to micron-sized clusters of predominantly iron that would usually be difficult to find unless the right instruments were used in a particular way.

Finding the way to make graphite magnetic could be the first step to utilising it as a bio-compatible magnet for use in medicine and biology as effective biosensors.

To arrive at their conclusions, the researchers firstly cut up a piece of commercially-available graphite into four sections and measured the magnetisation of each piece. Surprisingly, they found significant variations in the magnetism of each sample. It was reasonable for them to conclude that the magnetic response had to be caused by external factors, such as small impurities of another material.

To check this hypothesis, the researchers peered deep into the structure of the samples using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) ? a very powerful microscope that images samples by scanning it with a beam of electrons ? and found that there were unusually heavy particles positioned deep under the surface.

The majority of these particles were confirmed to be iron and titanium, using a technique known as X-ray microanalysis. As oxygen was also present, the particles were likely to be either magnetite or titanomagnetite, both of which are magnetic.

The researchers were also able to deduce how many magnetic particles would be needed, and how far apart they would need to be spaced in order to create the originally observed magnetism. The observations from their experiments agreed with their estimations, meaning the visualised magnetic particles could account for the whole magnetic signal in the sample.

Dr Grigorieva, said: "The excitement around the findings of ferromagnetism in graphite, i.e. pure carbon, is due to the fact that magnetism is not normally found in organic matter. If we can learn to create and control magnetism in carbon-based materials, especially graphene, this will be an important development for sensors and spintronics."

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The paper can be downloaded from http://iopscience.iop.org/0295-5075/97/4/47001

Institute of Physics: http://www.iop.org

Thanks to Institute of Physics for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/117149/Researchers_shed_light_on_magnetic_mystery_of_graphite

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Tweet lightly: How social media could someday affect your credit score, insurance, and more (Digital Trends)

Did you know January 28 is Data Privacy Day in the United States, Canada, and the European Union? The intention behind Data Privacy Day is to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information?not just amongst individual users of things like social networking, but also amongst businesses, organizations, and corporations that collect, retain, and access information about their clients, customers, and users. Companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo have been drawing the attention of privacy advocates and regulators in recent years, but the reality is that there are tens of thousands of companies out there collecting, processing, and distributing personal information about individuals all the time. Increasingly, those companies are looking to things like social networking for cues about individuals? behaviors, lifestyle, interests, and activities.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg ??Time?s 2010 Man of the Year ? once famously declared privacy is not a ?social norm,? and Facebook and other companies have consistently borne out that idea in the online world, collecting increasing amount of information about individuals and hiding behind privacy policies longer than the U.S. Constitution. Clauses of implied consent decree that users legally agree to having their information gathered and tracked, so long as they continue using accounts or services. In other words: Users can either agree to be tracked, or they can agree not to use a service. However, this cavalier approach to data collection and user profiling is drawing increased scrutiny not just from consumer and privacy advocates, but by governments and everyday people. The European Commission has just proposed new data protection laws that would enshrine a ?right to be forgotten? for individuals, and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has forced Facebook to toe the line on sharing user information with third parties. Google?s recent ground-up revamp of its privacy policies and user tracking is almost certain to draw FTC scrutiny as well.

Social impact

In observance of Data Privacy Day, Microsoft?which has a major stake in how data protection plays out, has released data from a survey of 5,000 people examining how they approach their online profiles and reputations. Overall, the survey found that 91 percent of respondents have taken some action to manage their overall online profile at some point in time, while about two thirds of respondents feel they are actually in control of their online reputations. However, only 44 percent indicated they actively consider the potential long-term consequences of their online actions; that means a surprising 56 percent do not consider any consequences from their online activity. Further, a surprising 14 percent believe they have been negatively impacted by the online activities of others. In this survey, ?negative impact? means things like being fired from a job, being denied a mortgage, losing health insurance, or losing out on being accepted to a college or a job.

It?s well-known that most employers these days commonly vet job candidates by checking out their social media postings: Pictures from a drunken party in college could come back to haunt job-seekers later in life, particularly as things like Facebook?s now-mandatory Timeline expose more of people?s online histories. Similarly, employers and others can easily trawl through someone?s postings to Twitter and other social media services. Someone who regularly uses insulting or demeaning language in their public tweets or fuels flame wars with strangers in forums might now be an employer?s first choice for a job that entails dealing with the public or customers politely. By the same token, tweeting ?Mainstreet offramp at 90mph, flipped off ugly minivan that honked at me!!? is probably a fast way to lose a job as a delivery driver.

Messages, files, photos, videos and other things marked as private or shared with a small group on a social networking site are only private in a very limited sense. If someone you?ve shared with takes the material public, it?s out there for the whole world to see, forever, just like any other social media posting. Also remember that discovery processes for civil and criminal cases treat social networking posts just like any other communication: They can be subpoenaed, and providers have to turn them over the data regardless of whether that information was free for the whole world or intended for just a selected few. And those subpoenas don?t have to be about you specifically: they might be about one of your online ?friends? or related to a fan page, group, discussion list, or blog you happen to like.

Do not track

Back in December 2010 the FTC fielded a do-not-track proposal that essentially extends the notion behind the the well-received U.S. do-not-call list for telephone solicitation to the Web. Consumers would be able to tell online advertisers that they do not want to be tracked or have data about their online data collected about them and used to target advertising. Although all the major Web browsers implemented support for the do-not-track behavior during 2011 (and Microsoft even submitted a version to the W3C as a standard), the bottom line is that, even if consumers enable the feature on all their browsers, sites and services must explicitly support it. It doesn?t work automatically, and there is no regulatory requirement that any site support it.

Of course, there is a negative consequence for high-profile companies (the Googles, Microsofts, and Facebooks of the world) if they fail to support something like the do-not-track technology: They can be publicly humiliated, which could impact their usership and, ultimately, the amount of money they can earn via their online advertising businesses. However, FTC commissioner Julie Brill, speaking at the George Washington University law school in observance of Data Privacy Day, noted a entirely different aspect of the industry: Low-profile data brokers who specialize in scraping and collecting information about Internet users?and then, of course, sell it to others. Like, perhaps, the Facebooks, Googles, and Microsofts of the world.

Brill indicated the FTC intends to take a much closer look at these sorts of data brokers, particularly since the data they collect is essentially unverified and hidden away. Internet users have no way of knowing, reviewing, or correcting what data brokers are saying about them, and similarly have no way to opt out of the data collection. In much the same ways inaccurate credit reports can have a severe negative impact on an individual?s finances (and can take months or even years of effort to correct, even in cases of fraud and identity theft), material collected about individuals via the Internet could have an impact on people?s everyday lives.

?Analysts are undoubtedly working right now to identify certain Facebook or Twitter habits or activities as predictive of behaviors relevant to whether a person is a good or trustworthy employee, or is likely to pay back a loan,? Brill said in her remarks. ?Might there not be a day very soon when these analysts offer to sell information scraped from social networks to current and potential employers to be used to determine whether you?ll get a job or promotion??

Brill outright admitted the FTC doesn?t even know who many of these data brokers are.

The FTC is expected to release its final report early next year, outlining policy principles and urging the industry to adopt and implement transparency principles that put consumers in control of the personal data being distributed about them. Unfortunately, these will be nonbinding recommendations: The FTC doesn?t have much in the way of enforcement power without assistance from Congress, and about the only thing the FTC can bring to bear right now is the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which only applies to credit reporting agencies (CRAs), defined as companies assembling and selling credit and financial information about individuals. It?s not clear whether scrapings from the Internet and social networking services would fall within that definition. And the final policy report is expected to fall far short of the EU?s proposed ?right to be forgotten,? which itself is not above criticism.

It?s not all about you

There are essentially three classes of information that impact people?s online reputations:

• Items posted by a user for the whole world to see
• Items posted by a user intended only for a select group
• Items posted about a user by a third party

This last case is noteworthy because it?s singularly outside of a users? control. In the same way we can?t control what people say when we leave a room, we can?t control what people say about us on social networking services. Unfortunately, people have a tendency to say things online they would never say in real life; equally unfortunately, those kinds of insensitive or outright untrue comments can have an impact on our real lives. The day may come when it?s possible to negatively impact someone?s credit score just by saying enough negative things about them online.

To combat this possibility, industry leaders like Microsoft and Google recommend users be proactive and keep an eye on what?s being said about them online. Both companies recommend regularly searching for all variations on their names in popular search engines to see what turns up. Microsoft?s survey found that only 37 percent of Internet users do this. (Among other things, Google recommends automating these types of searches with a Google Alert. (Unfortunately, you have to have a Google account to do that, and will be subject to Google?s we-track-everything policies.) If you find your online reputation is less flattering than you?d hoped, there?s not much you can do about it: Once something is published on the Internet, it?s essentially available to anyone, forever.

One tactic for maintaining some online privacy can be to keep your personal and professional lives separate. Maybe have one profile that?s public and available to the world ? including employers, schools, government agencies and others. Then, have separate profiles, screen names, and email addresses that handle your personal business, and keep those under tighter control, utilizing the privacy tools available on most social networking services and sites. (Bearing in mind that nothing available on the Internet is truly private.) If you do separate personal and professional roles, don?t cross-pollinate the two! There?s no point to having separate setups if you?re just going to link back and forth between them.

Keep a lid on it

A little over a two years ago, current Google chairman Eric Schmidt opined on CNBC that if people were doing something they didn?t want anyone to know, maybe they shouldn?t be doing it in the first place; Schmidt has also frequently expressed disdain for anonymity online, once declaring it ?too dangerous.? Comments like these from a top executive at one of the world?s most pervasive providers of online services ? and advertising ? should be troubling to anyone who doesn?t feel all the details of their lives ought to be accessible to anyone at any time

Although we can?t control what others say about us, or what companies are compiling about us, we do have control over what we do ourselves. A good rule of thumb for managing online privacy and reputation is ?think before you post.? If you?ve separated your personal and professional online lives, make sure you?re logged into the right account. And before posting a candid photo or hot-under-the-collar remark, think ?Is this something I really want associated with me for years?? Because whether you answer yes or no, it will be.

Image credit: Shutterstock / ra2 studio / VLADGRIN

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

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Glam Slam: The Friday Five: Best Dressed Of The Week (omg!)

There's been no shortage of stylish stars hitting the town this week. Here's a look at five of the best.

KATHERINE HEIGL "I'm sucking it in," laughed Katherine about her vibrant red asymmetrical Herve Leroux gown, which she accessorized with Jimmy Choo peep-toe heels and Ferragamo clutch at the New York premiere of her film "One For The Money." We haven't seen the actress on the red carpet much lately and she makes an elegant and glamorous return.

PLAY IT NOW: Katherine Heigl Says Its ?Make It Or Break It? With ?One For The Money?

ANGELINA JOLIE The actress oozes sex appeal at the Producers Guild Awards in this sleek black Michael Kors gown with lace panels and thigh-high slit. Natural-looking hair and makeup complete the look. Stunning!

CAMERON DIAZ Diaz in Dior! Polka dots are a classic and a big trend for spring and Cameron Diaz wears them to perfection in Paris when she hit the French capital for Spring/Summer Haute Couture fashion week. Her strappy shoes give the sweet dress some edge.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Golden Globes 2012: Red Carpet Stars

MADONNA It's safe to say that Madge's bold and dramatic tulle and velvet Marchesa gown is probably not everyone's cup of tea, but it completely suits the larger-than-life icon and is the perfect choice for the New York premiere of her film 'W.E.'

RACHEL MCADAMS Lovely in lace! The actress is absolutely beautiful in this Collette Dinnigan cocktail dress and heels at a press event in Germany for her new film, 'The Vow.'

Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood?s Favorite Leading Ladies: Then & Now

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Romney is the aggressor in final Florida debate

By DAVID ESPO
AP Special Correspondent

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) - An aggressive Mitt Romney repeatedly challenged Republican rival Newt Gingrich Thursday night in the final debate before next week's critical Florida primary, demanding an apology for an ad saying he harbors anti-immigrant sentiments and ridiculing the former House speaker's call to colonize the moon.

"If I had a business executive come to me and say I want to spend a few hundred billion dollars to put a colony on the moon, I'd say, 'You're fired,'" Romney declared. That was just one particularly animated clash between two rivals struggling for supremacy in the race to pick an opponent to President Barack Obama in the fall.

Gingrich responded heatedly. "You don't just have to be cheap everywhere. You can actually have priorities to get things done." He said that as speaker of the House he had helped balance the budget while doubling spending on the National Institutes of Health.

The debate was the 19th since the race for the Republican nomination began last year, and the second in four days in the run-up to Tuesday's Florida primary. Opinion polls make the race a close one - slight advantage Romney - with two other contenders, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Texas Rep. Ron Paul far behind.

Gingrich's upset victory in the South Carolina primary last week upended the race for the nomination, and Romney in particular can ill-afford a defeat on Tuesday.

While the clashes between Gingrich and Romney dominated the debate, Santorum drew applause from the audience when he called on the two front-runners to stop attacking one another and "focus on the issues."

"Can we set aside that Newt was a member of Congress ... and that Mitt Romney is a wealthy guy?" he said in a tone of exasperation.

There were some moments of levity, including when Paul, 76, was asked whether he would be willing to release his medical records. He said he was, then challenged the other three men on the debate stage to a 25-mile bike race.

He got no takers.

In the days since Romney's loss in South Carolina, he has tried to seize the initiative, playing the aggressor in the Tampa debate and assailing Gingrich in campaign speeches and a TV commercial.

An outside group formed to support Romney has spent more than his own campaign's millions on ads, some of them designed to stop Gingrich's campaign momentum before it is too late to deny him the nomination.

With polls suggesting his South Carolina surge is stalling, Gingrich unleashed a particularly strong attack earlier in the day, much as he lashed out in Iowa when he rose in the polls, only to be knocked back by an onslaught of ads he was unable to counter effectively.

Thursday night's first clash occurred moments after the debate opened, when Gingrich responded to a question by saying Romney was the most anti-immigrant of all four contenders on stage. "That's simply inexcusable," the former Massachusetts governor responded.

"Mr. Speaker, I'm not anti-immigrant. My father was born in Mexico. My wife's father was born in Wales. ... The idea that I'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. Don't use a term like that," he added.

At the same time, Romney noted that Gingrich's campaign had been pressured to stop running a radio ad that called Romney anti-immigrant after Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called on Gingrich to do so.

He called on Gingrich to apologize for the commercial, but got no commitment.

About an hour later, Romney pounced when the topic turned to Gingrich's proposal for a permanent American colony on the moon - an issue of particular interest to engineers and others who live on Florida's famed Space Coast.

The audience erupted in cheers when Romney said he'd fire an executive who came to him with such a costly plan, but he wasn't finished.

He said the former speaker had called for construction of a new Interstate highway in South Carolina, a new VA hospital in northern New Hampshire and widening the port of Jacksonville to accommodate the larger ships that will soon be able to transit the Panama Canal.

"This idea of going state to state and promising people what they want to hear, promising hundreds of billions of dollars to make people happy, that's what got us into trouble in the first place," Romney said.

Gingrich responded that part of campaigning is becoming familiar with local issues, adding, "The port of Jacksonville is going to have to be expanded. I think that's an important thing for a president to know." He went on to refer to completion of an Everglades project that he did not describe, then noted he had worked to expand NIH while he was speaker.

Gingrich raised questions about Romney's wealth and his investments. "I don't know of any American president who's had a Swiss bank account," Gingrich said. Romney replied that his investments were in a blind trust over which he had no control. "There's nothing wrong with that," declared Romney, who has estimated his wealth at as much as $250 million.

Earlier Thursday, it was disclosed that Romney and his wife, Ann Romney, failed to list an unknown amount of investment income from a variety of sources including a Swiss bank account on financial disclosure forms filed last year. His campaign said it was working to correct the omissions.

Gingrich also failed to report income from his 2010 tax return on his financial disclosure. The former Georgia congressman will amend his disclosure to show $252,500 in salary from one of his businesses, spokesman R.C. Hammond said.

Debating in a state with a large and influential Jewish population, Romney and Gingrich vied to stress their support for Israel rather than criticize one another.

And all four men were quick to name prominent officials of Hispanic descent who deserved consideration for the Cabinet. Gingrich trumped the other three, saying, "I've actually thought of Marco Rubio in a slightly more dignified and central role," an evident reference to the vice presidential spot on the ticket.

Immigration was a recurring theme.

Gingrich said Romney was misleading when he ran an ad accusing the former House speaker of once referring to Spanish as "the language of the ghetto." Gingrich claimed he was referring to a multitude of languages, not just Spanish.

Romney initially said, "I doubt it's mine," but moderator Wolf Blitzer read it aloud and pointed out that Romney, at the ad's conclusion, says he approved the message.

As for immigration policy, it was difficult to discern their differences.

Both men said they want to clamp down in illegal immigration, create programs to make sure jobs go only to legal immigrants and deport some of the 11 million men and women in the country unlawfully.

Gingrich has never said how many illegal residents he believes should be deported, preferring to say that the United States is not going to begin rounding up grandmothers and grandfathers who have lived in the United States for years.

Romney agreed that was the case - and Gingrich said that marked a switch in position.

"Our problem is not 11 million grandmothers," Romney said. "Our problem is 11 million people getting jobs that many Americans, legal immigrants would like to have."

Romney and Gingrich also exchanged jabs over investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two mortgage giants that played a role in the national foreclosure crisis that has hit Florida particularly hard.

Gingrich said Romney was making money from investments in funds that were "foreclosing on Floridians."

Romney quickly noted that Gingrich, too, was invested in mutual funds with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He then added that the former House speaker "was a spokesman" for the two. That was a reference to a contract that one of Gingrich's businesses had for consulting services. The firm was paid $300,000 in 2006.

___

Associated Press writers Brian Bakst, Kasie Hunt and Steve Peoples contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/lasvegasnow/nationalnews/~3/Oq2y_OlJObo/romney-gingrich-exchange-barbs-on-immigration

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Steam community app available, access limited to beta participants for now

If you're a PC or Mac gamer, chances are you've used Steam, Valve Software's leading digital distribution platform for games. Today sees the launch of the official Steam app for Android, a new application that gives you access to the Steam store and community features like Steam chat on-the-go. If you're big on Steam and the Steam community, this could definitely be worth a look.

It's worth clarifying that this isn't a fully-fledged Steam client for Android, so you won't be playing Portal 2 on your Galaxy Tab any time soon, unfortunately. All it lets you do is buy PC and Mac games and chat to your Steam friends.

While the app itself is freely available on the Android Market (see the link after the jump), you'll need to be part of the Steam Mobile beta group in order to use it, or you'll be rejected at the login screen. This is a little strange given that the app is openly advertised on SteamPowered.com with no mention that a beta invite is required. So keep an eye on this one, folks. All signs point to a possible public launch in the near future. If you are in the beta group, however, you'll find a handy Market link after the break.

Source: SteamPowered.com

read more

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/androidcentral/~3/ZBNzeQrjQ2M/story01.htm

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Fed and Apple restart Wall Street's advance (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Big profits from Apple and a promise from the Federal Reserve to keep rock-bottom rates for at least two more years powered the U.S. stock market higher on Wednesday.

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) led the Nasdaq to a 1 percent gain. Shares of the maker of iPhones and iPads surged to a record, making it the most valuable U.S. company in terms of market capitalization. Apple finished up 6.2 percent at $446.66.

Buying picked up after the Federal Reserve said it would keep interest rates near zero through at least 2014, which was longer than many investors anticipated. The actions were taken as a sign of the central bank's commitment to boost a sluggish economic recovery.

"What caught the market off guard was obviously the fact they are going to keep rates lower for longer," said John Canally, investment strategist at LPL Financial in Boston.

"This statement (on an inflation target) moves the ball slightly down the field" for possible more quantitative easing later, Canally said, referring to a type of monetary stimulus.

The Fed also took an historic step of setting an inflation target of 2 percent, which brings the U.S. central bank in line with many of the world's other central banks that use an explicit benchmark for policy.

Apple was a standout in what has otherwise been a fairly lackluster earnings season. So far, 57 percent of companies reporting have beaten forecasts, while at this stage in past earnings seasons, the beat rate averaged 70 percent.

Apple shares hit an all-time high of $454.45 on results issued after Tuesday's market close that sailed past expectations. The move higher pushed Apple's market capitalization above that of Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), making it the largest publicly held U.S. company.

The Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) rose 83.10 points, or 0.66 percent, at 12,758.85. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index (.SPX) was up 11.41 points, or 0.87 percent, at 1,326.06. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) ended up 31.67 points, or 1.14 percent, at 2,818.31.

In other earnings news, video rental company Netflix Inc (NFLX.O) reported results that outpaced Wall Street's expectations, sending shares up about 13 percent to $107.28 in extended trade.

Earlier in regular trading session, both United Technologies Corp (UTX.N) and Rockwell Automation Inc (ROK.N) shares fell after slightly missing revenue forecasts.

United Tech shares closed down 0.2 percent at $77.65 and Rockwell dropped 2.9 percent to $79.42.

Another diversified manufacturer, Textron Inc (TXT.N), surged 14.6 percent to $24.76 after it raised its 2012 profit forecast. The S&P industrials index (.GSPI) gained 1.2 percent.

Corning Inc (GLW.N) tumbled 10.7 percent to $13.05 as manufacturers cut back on the production of big-screen televisions that use the company's specialty glass.

Greece was hoping to reach a deal with its bondholders as talks were set to resume this week to avoid a messy default. Such an outcome could threaten the stability of other debt-laden members of the euro zone as well as the global economy.

About 7.9 billion shares changed hands on the New York Stock Exchange, NYSE Amex and Nasdaq, compared with this year's average of about 6.7 billion shares.

On the NYSE, advancing stocks beat declining ones by ratio of 3-to-1. On the Nasdaq, advancers beat decliners by a ratio of 2-to-1.

(Reporting By Angela Moon; additional reporting by Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Kenneth Barry)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120125/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Chemists synthesize artificial cell membrane

Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Neal Devaraj
scinews@ucsd.edu
University of California - San Diego

A novel reaction using a simple metal catalyst creates molecules that self-assemble into biomimetic membranes

Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life.

Neal Devaraj, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, and Itay Budin, a graduate student at Harvard University, report their success in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

"One of our long term, very ambitious goals is to try to make an artificial cell, a synthetic living unit from the bottom up to make a living organism from non-living molecules that have never been through or touched a living organism," Devaraj said. "Presumably this occurred at some point in the past. Otherwise life wouldn't exist."

By assembling an essential component of earthly life with no biological precursors, they hope to illuminate life's origins.

"We don't understand this really fundamental step in our existence, which is how non-living matter went to living matter," Devaraj said. "So this is a really ripe area to try to understand what knowledge we lack about how that transition might have occurred. That could teach us a lot even the basic chemical, biological principles that are necessary for life."

Molecules that make up cell membranes have heads that mix easily with water and tails that repel it. In water, they form a double layer with heads out and tails in, a barrier that sequesters the contents of the cell.

Devaraj and Budin created similar molecules with a novel reaction that joins two chains of lipids. Nature uses complex enzymes that are themselves embedded in membranes to accomplish this, making it hard to understand how the very first membranes came to be.

"In our system, we use a sort of primitive catalyst, a very simple metal ion," Devaraj said. "The reaction itself is completely artificial. There's no biological equivalent of this chemical reaction. This is how you could have a de novo formation of membranes."

They created the synthetic membranes from a watery emulsion of an oil and a detergent. Alone it's stable. Add copper ions and sturdy vesicles and tubules begin to bud off the oil droplets. After 24 hours, the oil droplets are gone, "consumed" by the self-assembling membranes.

Although other scientists recently announced the creation of a "synthetic cell," only its genome was artificial. The rest was a hijacked bacterial cell. Fully artificial life will require the union of both an information-carrying genome and a three-dimensional structure to house it.

The real value of this discovery might reside in its simplicity. From commercially available precursors, the scientists needed just one preparatory step to create each starting lipid chain.

"It's trivial and can be done in a day," Devaraj said. "New people who join the lab can make membranes from day one."

###

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering supported this work. UC San Diego has filed a patent application on this discovery. Anyone with commercial interest in the research or application should contact senior licensing officer Eric Gosink in the technology transfer office at egosink@ucsd.edu.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Public release date: 25-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Neal Devaraj
scinews@ucsd.edu
University of California - San Diego

A novel reaction using a simple metal catalyst creates molecules that self-assemble into biomimetic membranes

Chemists have taken an important step in making artificial life forms from scratch. Using a novel chemical reaction, they have created self-assembling cell membranes, the structural envelopes that contain and support the reactions required for life.

Neal Devaraj, assistant professor of chemistry at the University of California, San Diego, and Itay Budin, a graduate student at Harvard University, report their success in the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

"One of our long term, very ambitious goals is to try to make an artificial cell, a synthetic living unit from the bottom up to make a living organism from non-living molecules that have never been through or touched a living organism," Devaraj said. "Presumably this occurred at some point in the past. Otherwise life wouldn't exist."

By assembling an essential component of earthly life with no biological precursors, they hope to illuminate life's origins.

"We don't understand this really fundamental step in our existence, which is how non-living matter went to living matter," Devaraj said. "So this is a really ripe area to try to understand what knowledge we lack about how that transition might have occurred. That could teach us a lot even the basic chemical, biological principles that are necessary for life."

Molecules that make up cell membranes have heads that mix easily with water and tails that repel it. In water, they form a double layer with heads out and tails in, a barrier that sequesters the contents of the cell.

Devaraj and Budin created similar molecules with a novel reaction that joins two chains of lipids. Nature uses complex enzymes that are themselves embedded in membranes to accomplish this, making it hard to understand how the very first membranes came to be.

"In our system, we use a sort of primitive catalyst, a very simple metal ion," Devaraj said. "The reaction itself is completely artificial. There's no biological equivalent of this chemical reaction. This is how you could have a de novo formation of membranes."

They created the synthetic membranes from a watery emulsion of an oil and a detergent. Alone it's stable. Add copper ions and sturdy vesicles and tubules begin to bud off the oil droplets. After 24 hours, the oil droplets are gone, "consumed" by the self-assembling membranes.

Although other scientists recently announced the creation of a "synthetic cell," only its genome was artificial. The rest was a hijacked bacterial cell. Fully artificial life will require the union of both an information-carrying genome and a three-dimensional structure to house it.

The real value of this discovery might reside in its simplicity. From commercially available precursors, the scientists needed just one preparatory step to create each starting lipid chain.

"It's trivial and can be done in a day," Devaraj said. "New people who join the lab can make membranes from day one."

###

The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering supported this work. UC San Diego has filed a patent application on this discovery. Anyone with commercial interest in the research or application should contact senior licensing officer Eric Gosink in the technology transfer office at egosink@ucsd.edu.

---

[ | E-mail | Share ]

?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uoc--csa012512.php

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Mitt Romney?s tax returns show more than $42 million income (The Ticket)

(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

Mitt Romney paid $6.2 million in federal taxes over the last two years on income generated almost entirely on investments linked back to his days as a founder and partner in Bain Capital.

According to documents released by his campaign Tuesday, Romney earned $21.7 million in investments in 2010, and he will report another $20.9 million investment income in 2011.

In 2010, Romney paid $3 million in federal taxes but also gave about $3 million to charity?roughly half of that to the Mormon church?which lowered his effective tax rate to roughly 13.9 percent.

According to his 2011 tax return, which hasn't been filed yet, he'll pay $3.2 million in taxes with an effective tax rate of approximately 15.4 percent, according to his campaign. He gave $4 million to charity, including $2.6 million to the Mormon church.

The release comes after weeks of pressure from Romney's rivals for the candidate to release his financial information. After weeks of hedging, Romney finally agreed to release his tax information for the last two years. During Monday's presidential debate in Tampa, he pointedly declined to follow in the footsteps of his father, George Romney, who released 12 years of returns when he sought the presidency in 1964.

Romney said Monday there would be "no surprises" in his filings.

"I pay all the taxes that are legally required and not a dollar more," Romney said during Monday's debate. "I don't think you want someone as the candidate for president who pays more taxes than he owes."

But in the process, he took a shot at rival Newt Gingrich's tax plan. Romney noted that his income is almost entirely derived through capital gains and noted that under Gingrich's proposal?which would eliminate taxes on capital gains?he would have paid no taxes.

Other popular Yahoo! News stories:

??Romney calls Gingrich an 'influence peddler" in debate

??Hacker infiltrates Twitter account of Chuck Grassley, PIPA sponsor and senator from Iowa

??Rand Paul blocked at airport after refusing TSA patdown

Want more of our best political stories? Visit?The Ticket or connect with us?on Facebook, follow us?on Twitter, or add us?on Tumblr.?Handy with a camera? Join our?Election 2012 Flickr group to submit your photos of the campaign in action.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_theticket/20120124/el_yblog_theticket/mitt-romneys-tax-returns-show-more-than-43-million-income

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Moammar Gadhafi loyalists seize Libyan town

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) ? Moammar Gadhafi loyalists seized control of a Libyan city and raised the ousted regime's green flag, an official and military commanders said Tuesday, in the most serious revolt yet against the country's government.

The retaking of Bani Walid highlights the vulnerability of Libya's new leaders, who have faced mounting criticism as they struggle to unify the oil-rich North African nations and build state institutions from scratch three months after Gadhafi was captured and killed.

The seizure also appeared to be the first major, organized operation by armed remnants of Gadhafi's regime, adding to the security woes of the ruling National Transitional Council. The council has so far made little progress in unifying armed forces. Instead it is left reliant on multiple "revolutionary brigades," militias made up of citizens-turned-fighters, usually all from a specific city or even neighborhood.

The militias were created during the months of civil war against Gadhafi's forces last year and when the war ended in October, the various brigades remain in control of security affairs of each city they liberated. Though loyal to the NTC, they have also feuded among themselves and acted on their own initiative, and the council has been unable to control them.

Hundreds of well-equipped and highly trained remnants of Gadhafi's forces battled for eight hours in Bani Walid with the local revolutionary brigade, known as the May 28 Brigade, which was eventually driven out, said Mubarak al-Fatmani, the head of Bani Walid local council. The Gadhafi loyalists then raised the green flag over buildings in the western city.

On Monday's attack, he said four revolutionary fighters were killed and 25 others were wounded.

The revolutionary brigade had kept only a superficial control over the mountain city, a longtime Gadhafi stronghold which was one of the last to fall to NTC rule late last year.

"The only link between Bani Walid and the revolution was May 28, now it is gone and 99 percent of Bani Walid people are Gadhafi loyalists," said the head of Bani Walid's military council, Abdullah al-Khazmi, confirming the fall of the city. He spoke to The Associated Press at a position on the eastern outskirts of Bani Walid, where hundreds of pro-NTC reinforcements from Benghazi were deployed, with convoys of cars mounted with machine guns.

A top commander of a revolutionary brigade in Bani Walid, Ali al-Fatmani, who was present in Benghazi during the attack, says he has lost contact with other fighters in the town.

The three officials said the attackers belong to Brigade 93, a militia newly created by Gadhafi loyalists who reassembled after the fall of the regime. The fighters, flush with cash and heavy weaponry including incendiary bombs, have been increasing in power in the city, they said.

A month ago, Gadhafi loyalists attacked another revolutionary brigade from Tripoli that entered Bani Walid, killing 13, said al-Fatmani.

"The council (NTC) did absolutely nothing," said al-Fatmani, the local council chief, who resigned from his post to protest the NTC's failure to investigate the ambush. He still holds his position, since his resignation has not yet been accepted.

The revolt has underlined the weakness and what is seen as reluctance of the NTC in delivering and meeting promises. Protests have surged in recent weeks, with people demanding that the interim leaders deliver on promises of transparency and compensation for those injured in the fighting.

On Sunday, the head of the NTC Mustafa Abdul-Jalil suspended the Benghazi representatives on the council after protests in the city accusing the body of corruption and for not moving forward on reforms. The second top official in the NTC has also resigned. Benghazi, Libya's second largest city, was where the movement that toppled Gadhafi began and it served as the capital of the movement until Gadhafi's fall.

Bani Walid, located in the mountains 90 miles (140 kilometers) southeast of Tripoli, was one of the last Gadhafi strongholds to fall to revolutionary forces amid a monthslong civil war. It held out for weeks after the fall of the regime, with loyalist fighters dug into its formidable terrain of valleys and crevasses.

Gadhafi's son and longtime heir apparent, Seif al-Islam, was long believed to have been hiding in the town. Seif al-Islam, who has been charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court, was captured in November by fighters from the town of Zintan in Libya's western mountains, who continue to hold him.

The main tribe in Bani Walid is a branch of the Warfala tribal confederation, which stretches around the country with around 1 million members. The Bani Walid branch was one of the most privileged under Gadhafi, who gave them top positions and used their fighters to try to crush protesters in the early months of last year's uprising against his rule.

Such has left the tribe with deep mistrust and enmities with the rest of the cities, especially those whose residents have suffered the most during the uprising.

The fighters who rose up in Bani Walid on Monday belong to Brigade 93, a militia created by Gadhafi loyalists who reassembled after the fall of the regime in August, said al-Khazmi and the local council chief.

The brigade is named after a famous coup against Gadhafi in 1993 by members of the Warfala tribe. Gadhafi ordered executions and arrests of all the military officers involved in the coup, except for a few. Among those spared was Salem al-Aawar, who is believed to have helped the regime uncover the plot and who is believed to head Brigade 93, said al-Khazmi.

The Britain's Foreign Office said that tension is not between pro-Gadhafi loyalists but between tribal leaders and the National Transitional Council.

"This follows increased tensions in this area in recent weeks with local tribal leaders," a ministry spokesman said on customary condition of anonymity. "These events underline the importance of an inclusive political process, which the Libyans are working hard to take forward together with rebuilding Libya," he said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-24-Libya/id-5e04fe0a21cb4d87b6a8d3277b1e5d54

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Iran slams EU oil embargo, warns could hit U.S. (Reuters)

TEHRAN/BRUSSELS (Reuters) ? Iran accused Europeans on Monday of waging "psychological warfare" after the EU banned imports of Iranian oil, and President Barack Obama said Washington would impose more sanctions to address the "serious threat presented by Iran's nuclear program."

The Islamic Republic, which denies trying to build a nuclear bomb, scoffed at efforts to choke its oil exports, as Asia lines up to buy what Europe scorns.

Some Iranians also renewed threats to stop Arab oil from leaving the Gulf and warned they might strike U.S. targets worldwide if Washington used force to break any Iranian blockade of a strategically vital shipping route.

Yet in three decades of confrontation between Tehran and the West, bellicose rhetoric and the undependable armory of sanctions have become so familiar that the benchmark Brent crude oil price edged only 0.8 percent higher, and some of that was due to unrelated currency factors.

"If any disruption happens regarding the sale of Iranian oil, the Strait of Hormuz will definitely be closed," Mohammad Kossari, deputy head of parliament's foreign affairs and national security committee, told Fars news agency a day after U.S., French and British warships sailed back into the Gulf.

"If America seeks adventures after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, Iran will make the world unsafe for Americans in the shortest possible time," Kossari added, referring to an earlier U.S. pledge to use its fleet to keep the passage open.

In Washington, Obama said in a statement that the EU sanctions underlined the strength of the international community's commitment to "addressing the serious threat presented by Iran's nuclear program."

"The United States will continue to impose new sanctions to increase the pressure on Iran," Obama said.

The United States imposed its own sanctions against Iran's oil trade and central bank on December 31. On Monday it imposed sanctions on the country's third-largest bank, state-owned Bank Tejarat and a Belarus-based affiliate, for allegedly helping Tehran develop its nuclear program.

The EU sanctions were also welcomed by Israel, which has warned it might attack Iran if sanctions do not deflect Tehran from a course that some analysts say could potentially give Iran a nuclear bomb next year.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner: "This new, concerted pressure will sharpen the choice for Iran's leaders and increase their cost of defiance of basic international obligations."

U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, reiterated Washington's commitment to freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. "I think that Iran has undoubtedly heard that message and would be well advised to heed it," she said at a meeting of the board of governors of the American Jewish Committee in New York.

CALLS FOR TALKS

Germany, France and Britain used the EU sanctions as a cue for a joint call to Tehran to renew long-suspended negotiations on its nuclear program. Russia, like China a powerful critic of the Western approach, said talks might soon be on the cards.

Iran, however, said new sanctions made that less likely. It is a view shared by some in the West who caution that such tactics risk hardening Iranian support for a nuclear program that also seems to be subject to a covert "war" of sabotage and assassinations widely blamed on Israeli and Western agents.

The European Union embargo will not take full effect until July 1 because the foreign ministers who agreed the anticipated ban on imports of Iranian crude at a meeting in Brussels were anxious not to penalize the ailing economies of Greece, Italy and others to whom Iran is a major oil supplier. The strategy will be reviewed in May to see if it should go ahead.

Curbing Iran's oil exports is a double-edged sword, as Tehran's own response to the embargo clearly showed.

Loss of revenue is painful for a clerical establishment that faces an awkward electoral test at a time of galloping inflation which is hurting ordinary people. But since Iran's Western-allied Arab neighbors are struggling to raise their own output to compensate, the curbs on Tehran's exports have driven up oil prices and raised costs for recession-hit Western industries.

A member of Iran's influential Assembly of Experts, former Intelligence Minister Ali Fallahian, said Tehran should respond to the delayed-action EU sanctions by stopping sales to the bloc immediately, denying the Europeans time to arrange alternative supplies and damaging their economies with higher oil prices.

"The best way is to stop exporting oil ourselves before the end of this six months and before the implementation of the plan," the semi-official Fars news agency quoted him as saying.

'PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE'

"European Union sanctions on Iranian oil is psychological warfare," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said. "Imposing economic sanctions is illogical and unfair but will not stop our nation from obtaining its rights."

Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told the official IRNA news agency that the more sanctions were imposed on Tehran "the more obstacles there will be to solve the issue".

Iran's Oil Ministry issued a statement saying the sanctions did not come as a shock. "The oil ministry has from long ago thought about it and has come up with measures to deal with any challenges," it said, according to IRNA.

Mehmanparast said: "The European countries and those who are under American pressure, should think about their own interests. Any country that deprives itself from Iran's energy market, will soon see that it has been replaced by others."

China, Iran's biggest customer, has resisted U.S. pressure to cut back its oil imports, as have other Asian economies to varying degrees. India's oil minister said on Monday sanctions were forcing Iran to sell more cheaply and that India planned to take full advantage of that to buy as much as it could.

The EU measures include an immediate ban on all new contracts to import, purchase or transport Iranian crude and petroleum products. However, EU countries with existing contracts can honor them up to July 1.

EU officials said they also agreed to freeze the assets of Iran's central bank and ban trade in gold and other precious metals with the bank and state bodies.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said: "I want the pressure of these sanctions to result in negotiations."

"I want to see Iran come back to the table and either pick up all the ideas that we left on the table ... last year ... or to come forward with its own ideas."

Iran has said it is willing to hold talks with Western powers, though there have been mixed signals on whether conditions imposed by both sides make new negotiations likely.

IAEA INSPECTORS VISIT

The Islamic Republic says it is enriching uranium only for producing electricity and other civilian uses. The start this month of a potentially bomb-proof - and once secret - enrichment plant has deepened skepticism abroad, however.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed plans for a visit next week by senior inspectors to try to clear up questions raised about the purpose of Iran's nuclear activities. Tehran is banned by international treaty from developing nuclear weaponry.

"The Agency team is going to Iran in a constructive spirit, and we trust that Iran will work with us in that same spirit," IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said in a statement announcing the January 29-31 visit.

Iran, whose regional policies face a setback from the difficulties of its Arab ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has powerful defenders in the form of Russia, which has built Iran a reactor, and China. Both permanent U.N. Security Council members argue that Western sanctions are counter-productive.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, classifying the EU embargo among "aggravating factors", said Moscow believed there was a good chance that talks between six global powers and Iran could resume soon and that Russia would try to steer both Iran and the West away from further confrontation.

His ministry issued an official statement expressing "regret and alarm": "What is happening here is open pressure and diktat, an attempt to 'punish' Iran for its intractable behavior.

"This is a deeply mistaken approach, as we have told our European partners more than once. Under such pressure Iran will not agree to any concessions or any changes in its policy."

But that argument cuts no ice with the U.S. administration, for which Iran - and Israel's stated willingness to consider unilateral military action against it - is a major challenge as Obama campaigns for re-election against Republican opponents who say he has been too soft on Tehran.

(Additional reporting by Robin Pomeroy and Mitra Amiri in Tehran, David Brunnstrom in Brussels, Adrian Croft in London, John Irish in Paris, Alexei Anishchuk in Sochi, Ari Rabinovitch and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem, Nidhi Verma in New Delhi, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Rachelle Younglai and Andrew Quinn in Washington, Fredrik Dahl in Vienna and Patrick Worsnip at the United Nations; writing by Alastair Macdonald; editing by Robert Woodward and Mohammad Zargham)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120123/wl_nm/us_iran_eu_deal

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