PolyU Researchers Develop Novel Treatment for People with Hemiplegic Arms

Researchers of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)'s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences have developed a novel treatment for people with hemiplegic arms because of stroke or unilateral cerebral palsy in order to speed up their recovery. Coined "Remind to move," the treatment requires the patients to wear a specially made sensory cueing wristwatch (SCW-V2), which is designed to provide pertinent sensory signals at a fixed interval.

(PRWEB) December 26, 2012
Researchers of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)'s Department of Rehabilitation Sciences have developed a novel treatment for people with hemiplegic arms because of stroke or unilateral cerebral palsy in order to speed up their recovery. Coined "Remind to move," the treatment requires the patients to wear a specially made sensory cueing wristwatch (SCW-V2), which is designed to provide pertinent sensory signals at a fixed interval.
The research was led by Dr Kenneth N. K. Fong, Associate Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, who indicated that one of the common problems with arm recovery after stroke or in children with cerebral palsy is the "learned non-use." With learned non-use, a portion of motor impairment of the patient is not resulted from the brain cell damage but from the learned suppression of the movement, and that makes an individual unable to move or develop the arm further.
Dr Kenneth Fong therefore developed a sensory cueing wristwatch to promote the attention and overcome "non-use" of hemiplegic arm through sensory cueing (e.g. vibration) emitted by a portable ambulatory wristwatch device tied to the upper limb, thereby reminding the subject to move his/her arm as instructed by the therapist.
Three initial clinical trials have been completed in hospitals and in the community settings over the past few years. Not only have the research team published their results in top international rehabilitation journals, but also obtained patents for the device in the United States and on the Chinese mainland.
The results of a randomized controlled trial done in the hospitals supported the proposition that sensory cueing using a cueing device was better than using a placebo device in improving arm functions for patients with stroke and unilateral neglect. In the community settings, participants with chronic stroke were asked to wear a ambulatory sensory cueing device on their affected arms for three hours a day and engage in repetitive task practice for two weeks; while school children with unilateral cerebral palsy were asked to wear a sensory cueing wristwatch device for five hours a day over a three-week period to remind them to perform a set of pre-determined arm exercises to enhance their arm functions. All subjects ended up with significant improvement in using their hemiplegic arms.
The device is now being used in the occupational therapy departments of five hospitals under the Hospital Authority. As the device is small, light, user-friendly and cost effective, the treatment can be carried out at home and even in the absence of therapists' supervision. This allows patients to practise more using the hemiplegic arms in real life.
More recently, PolyU researchers have been awarded research funding from the Research Grants Council to support the further development of this novel treatment. The research team will also look for business and industry partners to further develop the wristwatch device with better design and a new monitoring system.

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Home Business Owners Data Now Available on ConsumerBase

B2B files contain email, telephone, postal and firmographic data for these entrepreneurs.

Evanston, IL (PRWEB) December 26, 2012
ConsumerBase LLC, a multi-channel mailing list provider located in Evanston, IL, is updating its home business owner data on its website. Business-to-business direct marketers seeking consumers with entrepreneurial interests and burgeoning businesses are able to access firmographic, geographic and contact information data through these comprehensive files.
“ConsumerBase home business data mailing lists provide our clients with high quality data for their business-to-business marketing needs,” says Larry Organ, CEO of ConsumerBase. “Our continuous data cleansing techniques ensure we always have accurate and up-to-date data available.”
ConsumerBase home business owner mailing lists include, but are not limited to:
Direct Response Home Office and Home Business Opportunity Seekers Mailing List

Home Business Owners Mailing List

Money from Home- Home Business Owners Mailing List
ConsumerBase mailing lists contain up-to-date email, telephone, postal, demographic, and firmographic data. Daily list additions to all categories and monthly updates on existing lists ensure that the resulting high data quality gives direct marketers the advantage in a competitive marketplace.
ConsumerBase

ConsumerBase provides multi-channel direct marketing services with a specialty in postal, email, and telephone solutions. Encompassing the entire lifecycle of customer information, ConsumerBase services focus on acquiring and retaining customers, validating, cleaning, and enhancing customer data, and improving the overall performance of marketing communications.
ConsumerBase is an Evanston-based multi-channel mailing list company. The company was founded in 2001 and is based in Evanston, Illinois. ConsumerBase operates as a subsidiary of Organ Worldwide LLC.

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Renowned Master of Wine Jeannie Cho Lee Appointed Professor of Practice (Wine) by PolyU

Jeannie Cho Lee, Asia’s foremost expert in wines, has been appointed by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) as Professor of Practice (Wine) at its School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) commencing 1 November 2012.

(PRWEB) December 26, 2012
Jeannie Cho Lee, Asia’s foremost expert in wines, has been appointed by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) as Professor of Practice (Wine) at its School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) commencing 1 November 2012.
The first Asian Master of Wine (MW), Professor Jeannie Cho Lee is also an award-winning author, wine and food writer, wine critic, judge, educator and consultant. A graduate of Smith College and Harvard University, Professor Lee holds a Certificat de Cuisine from Cordon Bleu. She is also a Master Sake Sommelier from Japan’s Sake Service Institute and a Certified Wine Educator from the United Kingdom’s Wine & Spirits Education Trust as well as the US Society of Wine Educators. Professor Lee was born in Korea and has lived in Hong Kong since 1994.
In her capacity as Professor of Practice (Wine), Professor Lee will be able to contribute to the School in different ways, including offering special lectures to both students and industry executives, advising SHTM on curriculum development in relation to wine studies, and facilitating the School’s collaboration with the wine industry through a number of dedicated platforms such as The Food and Wine Academy.
Speaking about the appointment, Professor Kaye Chon, Dean and Chair Professor of SHTM said, “Professor Jeannie Cho Lee has demonstrated excellence and leadership in her field of practice. She will no doubt bring a unique depth of experience to this new position and help bridge the gap between academic and professional practice.”
PolyU’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management is a world-leading provider of hospitality and tourism education. It was ranked No. 2 internationally among hotel and tourism schools based on research and scholarship, according to a study published in the Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research in November 2009.
With 65 academic staff drawing from 19 countries and regions, the School offers programmes at levels ranging from Higher Diploma to Ph.D. Currently a member of the UNWTO Knowledge Network, the School was recently bestowed the McCool Breakthrough Award by the International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (I-CHRIE) recognising its breakthrough in the form of its teaching and research hotel – Hotel ICON – the heart of the School’s innovative approach to hospitality and tourism education.

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Online Shopping Mall and Blog Launches New Info Site to Help Shoppers Choose Best Printer for Photos

MyReviewsNow.net, a leading online shopping mall, blog, reviews and information hub, has launched a new website designed to help people choose the right photo printer when they shop online. There is no cost to access the new website, and no membership or registration is required.

Las Vegas, NV (PRWEB) December 26, 2012
For parents to students to professionals and everyone in between trying to shop online and choose the best printer for photos can be a challenge – especially when many products look the same, and trying to separate apples from oranges is easier said than done. Fortunately, online shopping mall and blog MyReviewsNow.net has a helpful solution with the launch of their new, no-cost information website.
The new website, located at bestprinterforphotos.com, provides simple, jargon-free information and tips on how to choose the best printer for photos. In particular, the website reminds shoppers that new, portable and lightweight battery-operated photo printers are available that rival many larger options in terms of print quality, speed and performance – yet at a fraction of the size.
“At the end of the day, there is no single best printer for photos,” commented a Spokesperson from MyReviewsNow.net. “Ultimately, it all comes down to finding the right mix of features and specifications, and of course, ensuring that it doesn’t cost an arm and a leg, and makes it cost-effective over the long term to print photos at home or the office, instead of visiting a professional print shop. Our website provides helpful information that people – from homemakers to a small business owner – can trust to choose the right solution that works for them and their needs.”
People who want to learn more about choosing the best printer for photos can access MyReviewsNow.net’s new information website now. There is no cost, and no membership or registration is required.
People are also encouraged to visit MyReviewsNow.net’s giant shopping mall, and browse for a variety of products and services from the convenience of their home, office, or wherever their busy lifestyle takes them. Shoppers can also read hundreds of helpful reviews, leave their own feedback and ratings, explore the informative shopping blog, sign-up for the e-newsletter, and more.
For more information or media inquiries, contact Lina Andrade at info(at)myreviewsnow(dot)net. Press release issued by SEOChampion.com.
About MyReviewsNow.net Shopping Blog and Mall
A shopping blog, gift ideas hub and online shopping superstore that features thousands services, products and publications available online, MyReviewsNow.net is a business directory that sets itself apart from similar sites by offering both professional reviews and consumer reviews on the Internet’s hottest offerings in a fun, simple format that is easy for visitors to shop online and enjoy. Plus, MyReviewsNow.net is 100% free, open 24/7, and the best way avoid crowded shopping malls and parking lots.
About SEO Champion
SEO Champion was started in 1999 and is owner operated by Michael Rotkin, SEO Specialist for over 17 years. Michael Rotkin’s goal for his clients is to “own” keyword placements for the top 3 slots organically, so that his clients can earn a higher return on investment from their advertising dollars. Rotkin realizes the value of SEO over Pay-Per-Click campaigns, where click-throughs are generally more expensive and harder to convert into sales. SEOChampion’s intense work ethic can be seen in daily and weekly reports that show progress through organic keyword gain. This effort is the reason his SEO firm has been able to build a loyal client base for many years. Learn more at SEO Champion.

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The Hong Kong Polytechnic University promotes knowledge enterprises through MAKE Award

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)'s Knowledge Management and Innovation Research Centre (KMIRC) has successfully run the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) Award in Hong Kong for five years. This Award has encouraged more Hong Kong enterprises to keep abreast of best practices in knowledge management (KM) and provided a platform for local enterprises to benchmark their KM performance for further improvement.

(PRWEB) December 26, 2012
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU)'s Knowledge Management and Innovation Research Centre (KMIRC) has successfully run the Most Admired Knowledge Enterprise (MAKE) Award in Hong Kong for five years. This Award has encouraged more Hong Kong enterprises to keep abreast of best practices in knowledge management (KM) and provided a platform for local enterprises to benchmark their KM performance for further improvement.
This year's MAKE Award Presentation Ceremony was held at Cyberport on 18 December, followed by a sharing forum jointly organized by KMIRC and Cyberport. The event has won support of government officials, educational and business leaders. Officiating at the ceremony were Mr Kim Salkeld, Head of the HKSAR Government's Efficient Unit; Ir Professor Choy Kin-kuen, President of Hong Kong Institution of Engineers; Mr Herman Lam, Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Ltd; and Mr Nicholas W. Yang, Executive Vice President of PolyU. Mr Stephen Selby, Former Chair of the APEC Intellectual Property Experts' Group also delivered a speech on behalf of the judging panel.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Nicholas Yang said, "To compete in the knowledge-based economy nowadays, enterprises should adopt a new business model, i.e. to effectively manage the intangible assets and intellectual capital for enhancing the competitive advantage and the innovation capability which are the key factors to productivity, competitiveness and sustainability."
All winning enterprises have exhibited outstanding knowledge management achievements with mature and humanistic KM strategy. This year's top prize went to Hong Kong Productivity Council. Other winning enterprises included Arup; Ernst & Young, Hong Kong; Hutchison Telecommunications Hong Kong Holdings Limited; MTR Corporation Limited; and Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited.
A sharing forum was organized after the ceremony during which Mr Neil Salton of Woods Bagot, winner of Asian MAKE Award, Mr Jiejia Lin of Kingdee Software (China) Co. Ltd., winner of MAKE Award (Chinese mainland) and Mrs Agnes Mak of Hong Kong Productivity Council (Top winner of Hong Kong MAKE Award) shared their KM experiences with the audience. In the panel discussion session, local winners also shared their successful experience in KM implementation.
The Global MAKE award is an international benchmark of best practice knowledge management. It was launched in 1998 by KNOW Network, an international web-based professional knowledge sharing network and Teleos, a research firm specializing in knowledge management. Since 2008, the MAKE Award has been introduced in Hong Kong and Chinese mainland by the PolyU Knowledge Management and Innovation Research Centre.

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Red Sox look for innings in Dempster

 The Boston Red Sox have the reliable starter they sought in Ryan Dempster.
He's pitched at least 200 innings in four of the past five seasons, impressive to general manager Ben Cherington but not so special to Dempster.
"That's your responsibility as a starting pitcher in the big leagues," Dempster said Wednesday at a news conference after his $26.5 million, two-year deal was finalized. "The norm used to be 300 and somehow we worked it down to like 200. Even 180 seems to suffice."
He said he works hard to stay in shape "so that I can take on that workload."
Boston had just one starter reach the 200-mark this year, with Jon Lester pitching 205 1-3 innings.
"It's important," Cherington said. "Ryan's got a history of being very effective and a really good pitcher. The consistency he's shown in taking the ball every fifth day was important to us. I think as a team when you start having to fill in for guys, if we don't have a reliable rotation and you start filling in with guys from down below or guys from the bullpen or whatever, it's not so much that move but you've inevitably weakened another area of your team."
Dempster gets $13.25 million a year and would earn an additional $250,000 each season for pitching 190 innings.
"We went into this offseason wanting to add a proven starter to the rotation, someone that has a history of success, reliability and someone who we thought would embrace coming to Boston and everything that comes with pitching and playing in Boston, on and off the field," Cherington said. "We think Ryan is the perfect fit for that."
The 35-year-old right-hander adds experience to a rotation that underachieved this year as the Red Sox went 69-93 and finished last in the AL East in their only season under manager Bobby Valentine. He was fired and replaced by John Farrell.
"Obviously there's a lot of room to go up," Dempster said. "Ben and the organization have done an incredible job of adding a lot of really good players and good baseball guys. So we're just going to go into spring training and work as hard as we can and go out there every day and leave it all on the field and play as hard as we can to get the best out of each other."
Lester and Clay Buchholz had disappointing years and John Lackey returns after missing the season following elbow-ligament replacement surgery. Left-hander Felix Doubront was in the rotation for most of the season.
Dempster reached the major leagues in 1998 with the Florida Marlins and has a 124-124 record with a 4.33 ERA. A Canadian, he said he is undecided about playing in the World Baseball Classic.
But he is confident the Red Sox can reach the playoffs for the first time since 2009.
"That's why we play," he said. "The money and things like that in baseball are great. But I came here because I believe this team has a chance of winning as much as anybody else. I've always believed that should be your mentality going into any season. Because it's proven day in, day out every team's going to win 50 games, every team's going to lose 50 games. It's what you do with the other 62 that matter."
He went 12-8 with a 3.38 ERA this year. After starting 5-5 with a 2.25 ERA in his ninth season with the Chicago Cubs, he was traded to the Texas Rangers and went 7-3 with a 5.03 ERA. That was his first stint in the American League.
"It's going to be a little bit different not being able to hit," he joked. "They're going to miss my bat in the lineup, but we'll get through that.

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Baseball-Angels swap hitting for pitching with Mariners

Dec 19 (Reuters) - The bulked-up Los Angeles Angels swapped some hitting for pitching on Wednesday by sending first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners for starting pitcher Jason Vargas.
The Angels, who signed power-hitting Josh Hamilton to a free agent contract last week, sent some much-needed punch to Seattle to add lefthander Vargas to a rotation rotation that includes Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Tommy Hanson and Joe Blanton.
"We have been focused on adding offense this offseason, and feel that Kendrys will be a middle-of-the-order bat for us," Seattle General Manager Jack Zduriencik said in a report on Major League Baseball's website.
"He's a switch-hitter with power who has played - and hit - in the AL West. He's familiar with the teams and parks and is a proven run-producer."
Seattle was last in the American League in runs scored with 619, 148 fewer runs than third-best Los Angeles.
The Cuban-born Morales, 29, hit .273 with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs last year in 134 games in his first season back after missing all of 2011 with a broken left leg.
Before his injury, suffered when he landed awkwardly while jumping into a group of team mates after hitting a walk-off grand slam homer, Morales was one of MLB's emerging sluggers after hitting .306 with 34 home runs and 108 RBIS in 2009.
The trade of Morales freed up some lineup space for 26-year-old Mark Trumbo, who hit 32 home runs with 95 RBIs for the Angels last season bouncing between the outfield, first base, third base and designated hitter.
Vargas, also 29, pitched the last four seasons with Seattle, posting a 36-42 record with a 4.09 ERA. The lefty, who went 14-11 with a 3.85 ERA last season, was a Mariners workhorse, logging more than 200 innings in each of the last two years.
He has pitched well in the past at Angel Stadium, registering a 3-1 record with a 2.27 ERA in seven career outings in the ball park.

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Angels swap hitting for pitching with Mariners

The bulked-up Los Angeles Angels swapped some hitting for pitching on Wednesday by sending first baseman/designated hitter Kendrys Morales to the Seattle Mariners for starting pitcher Jason Vargas.
The Angels, who signed power-hitting Josh Hamilton to a free agent contract last week, sent some much-needed punch to Seattle to add lefthander Vargas to a rotation that includes Jered Weaver, C.J. Wilson, Tommy Hanson and Joe Blanton.
"We have been focused on adding offense this offseason, and feel that Kendrys will be a middle-of-the-order bat for us," Seattle General Manager Jack Zduriencik said in a report on Major League Baseball's website.
"He's a switch-hitter with power who has played - and hit - in the AL West. He's familiar with the teams and parks and is a proven run-producer."
Seattle was last in the American League in runs scored with 619, 148 fewer runs than third-best Los Angeles.
The Cuban-born Morales, 29, hit .273 with 22 home runs and 73 RBIs last year in 134 games in his first season back after missing all of 2011 with a broken left leg.
Before his injury, suffered when he landed awkwardly while jumping into a group of team mates after hitting a walk-off grand slam homer, Morales was one of MLB's emerging sluggers after hitting .306 with 34 home runs and 108 RBIS in 2009.
The trade of Morales freed up some lineup space for 26-year-old Mark Trumbo, who hit 32 home runs with 95 RBIs for the Angels last season bouncing between the outfield, first base, third base and designated hitter.
Vargas, also 29, pitched the last four seasons with Seattle, posting a 36-42 record with a 4.09 ERA. The lefty, who went 14-11 with a 3.85 ERA last season, was a Mariners workhorse, logging more than 200 innings in each of the last two years.
He has pitched well in the past at Angel Stadium, registering a 3-1 record with a 2.27 ERA in seven career outings in the ball park.
The deal involved two players entering their final season of arbitration eligibility, with both set to become free agents after the 2013 season.

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YEARENDER-Baseball-Never-say-die Giants cap season of surprises

The never-say-die San Francisco Giants' rousing drive to the World Series title capped a year of surprises, sensational individual achievements and big-name doping controversies in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Miguel Cabrera of the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers claimed the first Triple Crown sweep of the American League's (AL) major offensive categories in 45 years by slugging 44 home runs with 139 runs batted in, while batting .330.
San Francisco's Matt Cain, Phillip Humber of the Chicago White Sox and Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners put their names in the record books with perfect games, a remarkable triple considering the total of 23 perfectos since Lee Richmond threw MLB's first recorded one in 1880 for Worcester.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout had one of the best rookie seasons ever, hitting 30 home runs, 83 RBIs, batting .326 and leading MLB with 49 stolen bases to finish runner-up to Cabrera in the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting at age 21.
Those feats marked 2012 as a special year, with the Giants' rise to the top providing the crowning touch.
San Francisco fought off elimination six times during the playoffs, overcoming a 2-0 deficit with three straight road wins in the best-of-five Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds, and battling back from 3-1 down against the 2011 champion St. Louis Cardinals to reach the World Series.
VENEZUELA POWER
In the Fall Classic against the Tigers, the Giants served immediate notice they would no longer play from behind.
Stocky third baseman Pablo Sandoval, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda, powered home runs in his first three at-bats to kick-start San Francisco on their way to a four-game sweep.
Venezuela's Sandoval, saluted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez via Twitter, joined Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols as the only players with three homers in a World Series game.
Giants catcher Buster Posey, 25, returned from a home plate collision that aborted his 2011 season to win National League (NL0 MVP honors.
It was also a banner year for Venezuelan players.
Sandoval won the World Series MVP award, following compatriot Marco Scutaro, who was MVP of the National League Championship Series for San Francisco.
Cabrera claimed the American League MVP award and in addition to the perfect game by fellow-Venezuelan "King Felix" Hernandez, countryman Johan Santana of the Mets threw the first no-hitter by a Mets pitcher in their half-century of existence.
SERIOUS CONCERNS
The Tigers had reached the World Series by sweeping the New York Yankees, who had some serious concerns going forward.
Yankees captain Derek Jeter fractured his ankle diving for a ball at shortstop in the series against Detroit, and slugging third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who suffered through an abysmal postseason, was found after the season to need hip surgery that will sideline him for half the 2013 season.
Making the Giants' climb to the top even more unlikely was the loss of outfielder Melky Cabrera, who was hit with a 50-game suspension in August for testing positive for testosterone while leading the majors with a .346 batting average.
A week later starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (10-9) of the Oakland Athletics, across the bay from San Francisco, also received a 50-game ban for testosterone.
The loss of Colon did not impede the Athletics either, as they rode a rotation that featured four rookie pitchers all the way to AL West title over two-time champion Texas Rangers.
The Baltimore Orioles gave the AL a second Cinderella team, as they reached the postseason for the first time in 15 years, reversing a 69-93 2011 record, and knocked out Texas in this season's debut of a wildcard playoff game.
The Washington Nationals reached the playoffs for the first time in their eighth season in the U.S. capital and posted the best record in the majors with 98 wins.
DOPING ISSUES
Even before the season started, doping was a prominent talking point as NL MVP Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers was found to have tested positive for a performance enhancing drug.
However, Braun won an appeal against an automatic suspension by proving that his urine test had been mishandled.
Doping news also grabbed attention after the season when Hall of Fame ballots went out with Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens listed as candidates for the first time.
Bonds, a seven-time NL MVP and the all-time career and single season home run king, and seven-time Cy Young winning pitcher Clemens would ordinarily be first-ballot shoo-ins, but a cloud of doping suspicion hovers over both of them and turns the vote into a referendum on the taint of the Steroids Era.
The year closed with some tantalizing prospects for the new season.
The big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers added top free agent pitcher Zack Greinke to MLB's biggest payroll, the Toronto Blue Jays opened their wallets to take on high-priced talent from the economizing Miami Marlins, and the Los Angeles Angels signed premier slugger Josh Hamilton to fortify their lineup.

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Never-say-die Giants cap season of surprises

The never-say-die San Francisco Giants' rousing drive to the World Series title capped a year of surprises, sensational individual achievements and big-name doping controversies in Major League Baseball (MLB).
Miguel Cabrera of the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers claimed the first Triple Crown sweep of the American League's (AL) major offensive categories in 45 years by slugging 44 home runs with 139 runs batted in, while batting .330.
San Francisco's Matt Cain, Phillip Humber of the Chicago White Sox and Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners put their names in the record books with perfect games, a remarkable triple considering the total of 23 perfectos since Lee Richmond threw MLB's first recorded one in 1880 for Worcester.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout had one of the best rookie seasons ever, hitting 30 home runs, 83 RBIs, batting .326 and leading MLB with 49 stolen bases to finish runner-up to Cabrera in the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting at age 21.
Those feats marked 2012 as a special year, with the Giants' rise to the top providing the crowning touch.
San Francisco fought off elimination six times during the playoffs, overcoming a 2-0 deficit with three straight road wins in the best-of-five Division Series against the Cincinnati Reds, and battling back from 3-1 down against the 2011 champion St. Louis Cardinals to reach the World Series.
VENEZUELA POWER
In the Fall Classic against the Tigers, the Giants served immediate notice they would no longer play from behind.
Stocky third baseman Pablo Sandoval, nicknamed Kung Fu Panda, powered home runs in his first three at-bats to kick-start San Francisco on their way to a four-game sweep.
Venezuela's Sandoval, saluted by Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez via Twitter, joined Babe Ruth, Reggie Jackson and Albert Pujols as the only players with three homers in a World Series game.
Giants catcher Buster Posey, 25, returned from a home plate collision that aborted his 2011 season to win National League (NL0 MVP honors.
It was also a banner year for Venezuelan players.
Sandoval won the World Series MVP award, following compatriot Marco Scutaro, who was MVP of the National League Championship Series for San Francisco.
Cabrera claimed the American League MVP award and in addition to the perfect game by fellow-Venezuelan "King Felix" Hernandez, countryman Johan Santana of the Mets threw the first no-hitter by a Mets pitcher in their half-century of existence.
SERIOUS CONCERNS
The Tigers had reached the World Series by sweeping the New York Yankees, who had some serious concerns going forward.
Yankees captain Derek Jeter fractured his ankle diving for a ball at shortstop in the series against Detroit, and slugging third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who suffered through an abysmal postseason, was found after the season to need hip surgery that will sideline him for half the 2013 season.
Making the Giants' climb to the top even more unlikely was the loss of outfielder Melky Cabrera, who was hit with a 50-game suspension in August for testing positive for testosterone while leading the majors with a .346 batting average.
A week later starting pitcher Bartolo Colon (10-9) of the Oakland Athletics, across the bay from San Francisco, also received a 50-game ban for testosterone.
The loss of Colon did not impede the Athletics either, as they rode a rotation that featured four rookie pitchers all the way to AL West title over two-time champion Texas Rangers.
The Baltimore Orioles gave the AL a second Cinderella team, as they reached the postseason for the first time in 15 years, reversing a 69-93 2011 record, and knocked out Texas in this season's debut of a wildcard playoff game.
The Washington Nationals reached the playoffs for the first time in their eighth season in the U.S. capital and posted the best record in the majors with 98 wins.
DOPING ISSUES
Even before the season started, doping was a prominent talking point as NL MVP Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers was found to have tested positive for a performance enhancing drug.
However, Braun won an appeal against an automatic suspension by proving that his urine test had been mishandled.
Doping news also grabbed attention after the season when Hall of Fame ballots went out with Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens listed as candidates for the first time.
Bonds, a seven-time NL MVP and the all-time career and single season home run king, and seven-time Cy Young winning pitcher Clemens would ordinarily be first-ballot shoo-ins, but a cloud of doping suspicion hovers over both of them and turns the vote into a referendum on the taint of the Steroids Era.
The year closed with some tantalizing prospects for the new season.
The big-spending Los Angeles Dodgers added top free agent pitcher Zack Greinke to MLB's biggest payroll, the Toronto Blue Jays opened their wallets to take on high-priced talent from the economizing Miami Marlins, and the Los Angeles Angels signed premier slugger Josh Hamilton to fortify their lineup.

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AP Interview: Opposition leader says constitution illegitimate, vows liberal parliament win

CAIRO - One of Egypt's leading opposition figures pledges continued resistance to his country's constitution even if it is declared to have passed, contending that the process was fundamentally illegitimate. Unofficial tallies say nearly two-thirds voted in favour of the Muslim-friendly constitution, but turnout was low. Hamdeen Sabahi, who placed third in the nation's first free presidential race over the summer, said in an interview with The Associated Press that the majority of Egypt's people are not Islamists. He argued that successive electoral triumphs by President Mohammed Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood group are the result of unfair electoral practices and key mistakes by the liberal opposition, particularly a lack of unity and organization. "The Muslim Brotherhood is a minority, this is for sure," he said Monday.

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Newtown marks the holiday: 'Christmas will never be the same'

Residents of Newtown prepared on Monday to observe Christmas. Tiny, empty red stockings sewn with the victims' names hung from trees in the neighbourhood where the 20 children and six adults were shot in a school. A steady stream of people lit candles and dropped off toys at a memorial filled with stuffed animals, poems, flowers, posters and cards. "All the families who lost those little kids, Christmas will never be the same," said resident Philippe Poncet. "Everybody across the world is trying to share the tragedy with our community here." Police say 20-year-old resident Adam Lanza killed his mother in her bed before his Dec. 14 school rampage killed himself as he heard officers arriving. Authorities have yet to give a theory about his motive. The guns he used had been legally purchased by his mother, a gun enthusiast. While the grief was still fresh, some residents were urging political activism in the wake of President Barack Obama's call for "real action, right now." A grassroots group called Newtown United has been meeting to talk about national issues ranging from gun control to increasing mental health services. "We seek not to be the town of tragedy," said Rabbi Shaul Praver of Congregation Adath Israel. "But we seek to be the town where all the great changes started." Richard Scinto, a deacon at St. Rose of Lima Roman Catholic Church, which was attended by eight children killed in the massacre, said the church's pastor, Rev. Robert Weiss, told his congregation to get angry and take action against what some consider is a culture of gun violence in the U.S. "These were his mother's guns," Scinto said. "Why would anyone want an assault rifle as part of a private citizen collection?" A handful of people showed up to the first Newtown United meeting two days after the Dec. 14 shooting. A few days later, Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Sen.-elect Chris Murphy told the group they planned to push for gun control legislation. "We don't want Newtown to go on the list with Columbine, Tucson and Virginia Tech and only have it associated with horrible acts," said Lee Shull, who moderated one Newton United meeting. "We want to turn this into something positive. What can we do?"

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Bethlehem enjoys merry Christmas as thousands of pilgrims flock to Jesus' biblical birth town

Thousands of Christians from the world over packed Manger Square in Bethlehem Monday to celebrate the birth of Jesus in the ancient West Bank town where he was born. For their Palestinian hosts, this holiday season was an especially joyous one, with the hardships of the Israeli occupation that so often clouded previous Christmas Eve celebrations eased by the United Nations' recent recognition of an independent state of Palestine. In his annual pre-Christmas homily, the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, said the road to actual freedom was still long, but this year's festivities were doubly joyful, celebrating "the birth of Christ our Lord and the birth of the state of Palestine." "The path (to statehood) remains long, and will require a united effort," added Twal, a Palestinian citizen of Jordan, at the patriarchate's headquarters in Jerusalem's Old City. Then he set off in a procession for the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Jesus' traditional birthplace. There, he was reminded that life on the ground for Palestinians has not changed since the U.N. recognized their state last month in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem and the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. Twal had to enter the biblical town through a massive metal gate in the barrier of towering concrete slabs Israel built between Jerusalem and Bethlehem during a wave of Palestinian suicide bombings in the last decade. The Israeli military, which controls the crossing, said it significantly eased restrictions for the Christmas season. Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the statehood bid, saying it was a Palestinian ploy to bypass negotiations. Talks stalled four years ago. Hundreds of people greeted Twal in Manger Square, outside the Church of Nativity. The mood was festive under sunny skies, with children dressed in holiday finery or in Santa costumes, and marching bands playing in the streets. After nightfall, a packed Manger Square, resplendent with strings of lights, decorations and a 17-meter (55-foot) Christmas tree, took on a festival atmosphere, as pilgrims mixed with locals. A choral group from the Baptist Church in Jerusalem performed carols on one side of the square, handing out sheets of lyrics and encouraging others to sing along with songs such as "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." Vendors sold balloons, cotton candy and corn on the cob, bands played Christmas songs and tourists packed cafes that are quiet most of the rest of the year. Pilgrims from around the world wandered the streets, singing Christmas carols and visiting churches. Festivities led up to the Midnight Mass at St. Catherine's Church, next to the fourth-century Church of the Nativity, built over the grotto where tradition says Jesus was born. Devout Christians said it was a moving experience to be so close to the origins of their faith. "It's a special feeling to be here, it's an encounter with my soul and God," said Joanne Kurczewska, a professor at Warsaw University in Poland, who was visiting Bethlehem for a second time at Christmas. Pastor Al Mucciarone, 61, from Short Hills, New Jersey, agreed. "We come here to celebrate Jesus. This is a very important town. Great things come from small events. The son of God was born in this small village. We hope all will follow Jesus," he said. Audra Kasparian, 45, from Salt Lake City, Utah, called her visit to Bethlehem "a life event to cherish forever. It is one of those events that is great to be a part of." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas also visited Bethlehem and said "peace will prevail from the birthplace of Jesus, and we wish everyone peace and happiness," according to the official Palestinian Wafa news agency. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued a special Christmas greeting too, wishing Christians "a year of security, prosperity and peace." Christmas is the high point of the year in Bethlehem, which, like the rest of the West Bank, is struggling to recover from the economic hard times that followed the violent Palestinian uprising against Israel that broke out in late 2000. Tourists and pilgrims who were scared away by the fighting have been returning in larger numbers. Last year's Christmas Eve celebration produced the highest turnout in more than a decade, with some 100,000 visitors, including foreign workers and Arab Christians from Israel. The Israeli Tourism Ministry predicted a 25 per cent drop from that level this year, following last month's clash between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza, which put a chill on tourist arrivals. Foreign tourists heading to Bethlehem must pass through Israel or the Israel-controlled border crossing into the West Bank from Jordan. Outside the town's quaint Manger Square, Bethlehem is a drab, sprawling town with a dwindling Christian base — a far cry from the pastoral village of biblical times. About 22,000 Palestinians live in Bethlehem, according to the town council, but combined with several surrounding communities has a population of some 50,000 people. Overall, there are only about 50,000 Christians in the West Bank, less than 3 per cent of the population, the result of a lower birthrate and increased emigration. Bethlehem's Christians make up only a third of its residents, down from 75 per cent a few decades ago. Elias Joha, a 44-year-old Christian who runs a souvenir store, said even with the U.N. recognition, this year's celebrations were sad for him. He said most of his family has left, and that if he had the opportunity, he would do the same. "These celebrations are not even for Christians because there are no Christians. It is going from bad to worse from all sides ... we are not enjoying Christmas as before." Located on the southeastern outskirts of Jerusalem, Bethlehem has the highest unemployment in the West Bank, but the tourist boom of Christmas offered a brief reprieve. Officials say all 34 hotels in the town are fully booked for the Christmas season, including 13 new ones built this year. Israel turned Bethlehem over to Palestinian civil control a few days before Christmas in 1995, and since then, residents have been celebrating the holiday regardless of their religion. Many Muslims took part in celebration Monday as well. Christians across the region marked the holiday. In Iraq, Christians gathered for services with tight security, including at Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church, the scene of a brutal October 2010 attack that killed more than 50 worshippers and wounded scores more. Earlier this month, Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, who is responsible for the Vatican's outreach to the Middle East's Catholic communities, travelled to Iraq and presided over a Mass to rededicate the church following renovations. In his homily, he remembered those who were killed and expressed hope that "the tears shed in this sacred place become the good seed of communion and witness and bear much fruit," according to an account by Vatican Radio. The exact number of Christians remaining in Iraq is not known, but it has fallen sharply from as many as 1.4 million before the U.S.-led invasion nearly a decade ago to about 400,000 to 600,000, according community leaders cited by the U.S. State Department. In the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI lit a Christmas peace candle set on the windowsill of his private studio. Pilgrims, tourists and Romans gathered below in St. Peter's Square for the inauguration Monday evening of a Nativity scene and cheered when the flame was lit. The pope was set to appear in St. Peter's Basilica to lead Christmas Eve Mass.

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If US falls off 'fiscal cliff,' economy could get soft landing - or dizzy dive onto the rocks

WASHINGTON - Efforts to save the nation from going over a year-end "fiscal cliff" were in disarray as lawmakers fled the Capitol for their Christmas break. "God only knows" how a deal can be reached now, House Speaker John Boehner declared. President Barack Obama, on his way out of town himself, insisted a bargain could still be struck before Dec. 31. "Call me a hopeless optimist," he said. A look at why it's so hard for Republicans and Democrats to compromise on urgent matters of taxes and spending, and what happens if they fail to meet their deadline: ___ NEW YEAR'S HEADACHE Partly by fate, partly by design, some scary fiscal forces come together at the start of 2013 unless Congress and Obama act to stop them. They include: — Some $536 billion in tax increases, touching nearly all Americans, because various federal tax cuts and breaks expire at year's end. — About $110 billion in spending cuts divided equally between the military and most other federal departments. That's about 8 per cent of their annual budgets, 9 per cent for the Pentagon. Hitting the national economy with that double whammy of tax increases and spending cuts is what's called going over the "fiscal cliff." If allowed to unfold over 2013, it would lead to recession, a big jump in unemployment and financial market turmoil, economists predict. ___ WHAT IF THEY MISS THE DEADLINE? If New Year's Day arrives without a deal, the nation shouldn't plunge onto the shoals of recession immediately. There still might be time to engineer a soft landing. So long as lawmakers and the president appear to be working toward agreement, the tax hikes and spending cuts could mostly be held at bay for a few weeks. Then they could be retroactively repealed once a deal was reached. The big wild card is the stock market and the nation's financial confidence: Would traders start to panic if Washington appeared unable to reach accord? Would worried consumers and businesses sharply reduce their spending? In what could be a preview, stock prices around the world dropped Friday after House Republican leaders' plan for addressing the fiscal cliff collapsed. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has warned lawmakers that the economy is already suffering from the uncertainty and they shouldn't risk making it worse by blowing past their deadline. ___ WHAT IF THEY NEVER AGREE? If negotiations between Obama and Congress collapse completely, 2013 looks like a rocky year. Taxes would jump $2,400 on average for families with incomes of $50,000 to $75,000, according to a study by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Because consumers would get less of their paychecks to spend, businesses and jobs would suffer. At the same time, Americans would feel cuts in government services; some federal workers would be furloughed or laid off, and companies would lose government business. The nation would lose up to 3.4 million jobs, the Congressional Budget Office predicts. "The consequences of that would be felt by everybody," Bernanke says. ___ THE TAXES Much of the disagreement surrounds the George W. Bush-era income tax cuts, and whether those rates should be allowed to rise for the nation's wealthiest taxpayers. Both political parties say they want to protect the middle-class from tax increases. Several tax breaks begun in 2009 to stimulate the economy by aiding low- and middle-income families are also set to expire Jan. 1. The alternative minimum tax would expand to catch 28 million more taxpayers, with an average increase of $3,700 a year. Taxes on investments would rise, too. More deaths would be covered by the federal estate tax, and the rate climbs from 35 per cent to 55 per cent. Some corporate tax breaks would end. The temporary Social Security payroll tax cut also is due to expire. That tax break for most Americans seems likely to end even if a fiscal cliff deal is reached, now that Obama has backed down from his call to prolong it as an economic stimulus. ___ THE SPENDING If the nation goes over the fiscal cliff, budget cuts of 8 or 9 per cent would hit most of the federal government, touching all sorts of things from agriculture to law enforcement and the military to weather forecasting. A few areas, such as Social Security benefits, Veterans Affairs and some programs for the poor, are exempt. ___ THERE'S MORE AT STAKE All sorts of stuff could get wrapped up in the fiscal cliff deal-making. A sampling: — Some 2 million jobless Americans may lose their federal unemployment aid. Obama wants to continue the benefits extension as part of the deal; Republicans say it's too costly. — Social Security recipients might see their checks grow more slowly. As part of a possible deal, Obama and Republican leaders want to change the way cost-of-living adjustments are calculated, which would mean smaller checks over the years for retirees who get Social Security, veterans' benefits or government pensions. — The price of milk could double. If Congress doesn't provide a fix for expiring dairy price supports before Jan. 1, milk-drinking families could feel the pinch. One scenario is to attach a farm bill extension to the fiscal cliff legislation — if a compromise is reached in time. — Millions of taxpayers who want to file their 2012 returns before mid-March will be held up while they wait to see if Congress comes through with a deal to stop the alternative minimum tax from hitting more people. ___ CALL THE WHOLE THING OFF? In theory, Congress and Obama could just say no to the fiscal cliff, by extending all the tax cuts and overturning the automatic spending reductions in current law. But both Republicans and Democrats agree it's time to take steps to put the nation on a path away from a future of crippling debt. Indeed, the automatic spending cuts set for January were created as a last-ditch effort to force Congress to deal with the debt problem. If Washington bypassed the fiscal cliff, the next crisis would be just around the corner, in late February or early March, when the government reaches a $16.4 trillion ceiling on the amount of money it can borrow. Boehner says Republicans won't go along with raising the limit on government borrowing unless the increase is matched by spending cuts to help attack the long-term debt problem. Failing to raise the debt ceiling could lead to a first-ever U.S. default that would roil the financial markets and shake worldwide confidence in the United States. To avoid that scenario, Obama and Boehner are trying to wrap a debt limit agreement into the fiscal cliff negotiations. ___ SO WHAT'S THE HOLDUP? They're at loggerheads over some big questions. Obama says any deal must include higher taxes for the wealthiest Americans. Many House Republicans oppose raising anyone's tax rates. Boehner tried to get the House to vote for higher taxes only on incomes above $1 million but dropped the effort when it became clear he didn't have the votes. Republicans also insist on deeper spending cuts than Democrats want to make. And they want to bring the nation's long-term debt under control by significantly curtailing the growth of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security — changes that many Democrats oppose. Obama, meanwhile, wants more temporary economic "stimulus" spending to help speed up a sluggish recovery. Republicans say the nation can't afford it. ___ IT'S NOT JUST WASHINGTON Seems like they could just make nice, shake hands and split their differences, right? But there's a reason neither side wants to give ground. The two parties represent a divided and inconsistent America. True, Obama just won re-election. But voters also chose a Republican majority in the House. Republican and Democrats alike say they are doing what the voters back home want. Neither side has a clear advantage in public opinion. In an Associated Press-GfK poll, 43 per cent said they trust the Democrats more to manage the federal budget deficit and 40 per cent preferred the Republicans. There's a similar split on who's more trusted with taxes. About half of Americans support higher taxes for the wealthy, the poll says, and about 10 per cent want tax increases all around. Still, almost half say cutting government services, not raising taxes, should be the main focus of lawmakers as they try to balance the budget. When asked about specific budget cuts being discussed in Washington, few Americans express support for them. ___ THE COUNTDOWN Time for deal-making is short, thanks to the holiday and congressional calendars. Some key dates for averting the fiscal cliff: — Lawmakers aren't expected to return to the Capitol until after Christmas, leaving less than a week to vote on a compromise before year's end. — Obama and his family also left town for a Christmas vacation in Hawaii. The president said because the fiscal cliff was still unresolved, he would return to Washington this week. — If lawmakers reach Dec. 31 without a deal, some economists worry that the financial markets might swoon. — The current Congress is in session only through noon Eastern time on Jan. 3. After that, a newly elected Congress with 13 new senators and 82 new House members would inherit the problem.

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New Jersey pension fund sues NYSE Euronext on ICE deal

A pension fund that holds shares of NYSE Euronext has sued the exchange operator over its proposed $8.2 billion sale to IntercontinentalExchange Inc , saying the deal undervalues the company's stock. The New Jersey Carpenters Pension Fund late on Friday filed a complaint in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan contending that NYSE Euronext breached its duty to maximize returns for shareholders. The lawsuit seeks class action status on behalf of other NYSE Euronext shareholders and aims to block the sale. It is the second such lawsuit filed against the exchange operator since the deal was announced on Thursday. An individual shareholder, Samuel Cohen, filed a proposed class action in Delaware Chancery Court on Friday that also seeks to prevent the buyout from going forward. Under the deal, NYSE Euronext, which operates the New York Stock Exchange, will sell itself to Atlanta-based ICE. The stock-and-cash deal is expected to close in the second half of 2013. At $33.12 per share, ICE's offer represents a 28 percent premium to NYSE Euronext's closing price last Wednesday. In court papers, the New Jersey pension fund said the deal was based on a "hopelessly flawed process" that would favor NYSE Euronext Chief Executive Duncan Niederauer and several members of its board of directors. The sale was "designed to ensure the sale of NYSE Euronext to ICE on terms preferential to ICE and designed to benefit NYSE Euronext's insiders," the pension fund said. A spokesman for NYSE Euronext declined to comment. A spokeswoman for ICE, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, did not return a call seeking comment. The lawsuit also names as defendants Niederauer, NYSE Euronext Chairman Jan-Michiel Hessels, and other executives and board members. The buyout is expected to help ICE compete in derivatives trading against U.S.-based CME Group, owner of the Chicago Board of Trade. Derivatives trading is highly profitable for the exchanges, and new rules next year will dramatically expand the demand for clearing over-the-counter contracts. NYSE Euronext's stock market businesses are less valuable to ICE, and the company said it will try to spin off the Euronext European stock market businesses in a public offering, generating speculation it may also have little interest in the NYSE trading floor. Profits from stock trading have been significantly eroded by new technology and the rise of other places for investors to trade, including venues known as "dark pools." The cases are New Jersey Carpenters Pension Fund et al. v. NYSE Euronext et al., Supreme Court of the State of New York, No. 654496/2012, and Cohen v. NYSE Euronext et al, Delaware Court of Chancery, No. 8136.

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Diana's wedding dress, gowns in exhibition coming to West Edmonton Mall

With news of the Duchess of Cambridge's pregnancy causing excitement among fans of British royalty, the late grandmother of that yet-to-born heir to the throne is the focus of an exhibition coming to West Edmonton Mall.
"Diana, A Celebration," chronicling the life and work of the Princess of Wales who died in a 1997 Paris car crash, has toured widely in the U.S. and has had only one other Canadian stop, at Toronto's Design Exchange a decade ago.
Covering almost 650 square metres, the exhibition contains 150 objects including Diana's wedding gown with its 7 1/2-metre-long train, as well as 28 of her designer dresses. It will run Feb. 9 to June 9 on Level 2 of the mall.
All profits from the show, on loan from Britain's Althorp Estate, go to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund.

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School Modesty Club Says Cover Up

High-school freshman Saige Hatch was sick of seeing her peers revealing too much skin when she came to school each day.
The 15-year-old saw midriff-grazing tops, exposed cleavage, short shorts.
"From elementary to middle school, and then to high school, I noticed immodesty," she told ABCNews.com. "I really wanted to start a club to bring awareness to it and bring remembrance to what modesty is."
Inspired by her brother's No Cussing Club, Hatch started the Modesty Club at South Pasadena High School in South Pasadena, Calif., in September to bring attention to her cause.
"A shift is coming, sneaking through the literal fabric of our culture," read a statement on the club's website. "Our bright heroic women are being made the fool. A fool to think that to be loved they must be naked. To be noticed they must be sexualized. To be admired they must be objectified."
While South Pasadena High School has a dress code that requires students to cover the "range of skin from armpit to 'The Bottom Line,'" defined as "a hand's width below the bottom of the buttocks," Hatch is crusading for a more traditional definition.
She said she views immodest dress as showing cleavage, showing one's midriff or one's shoulders. Immodesty also includes shorts, dresses, pants and skirts that are too short or tight, she said.
The Modesty Club only boasts 17 members at school, but Hatch said the website has helped to garner more than 1,000 members who come from all 50 states and 14 countries.
This week, Michael Cacciotti, the mayor of South Pasadena, commended Hatch for her efforts and granted her a proclamation. The city has declared Dec. 3 through the 7 "Modesty Week" in South Pasadena.
Cacciotti had granted her brother a similar proclamation when he started his own club.
"People are afraid to stand up," Hatch said. "I know there are a lot of people who wanted to start it, but sometimes it's hard to stand up and take the courage to start a club."
But Brent Hatch, Saige's father, said he was hesitant to let his daughter start the club after he saw what his son went through. When Saige's brother, McKay, started the No Cussing Club in 2009, it spurred thousands of hate messages.
"During the death threats and the bomb threats and the packages and the calls and all the chaos, my daughter said to me when she was in the fifth grade that she wanted to start a modesty club," said Hatch, who co-authored "Raising a G-Rated Family in an X-Rated World," with his wife, Phelecia. "I laughed and said it's not going to happen, especially with what McKay's going through.
"I said, 'You're going to get made fun of at school for going against the grain,'" he said. "My son, I could handle. But my daughter, I didn't know what was going to happen."
Saige was persistent, and ultimately her father caved.
He's finding that even though she has support, the mocking has returned.
"My van was egged, people graffitied on it," he said. "We had people call our house making threats again."
Saige said that as she moves forward with the club, she plans to put together an online petition to members of the film and magazine industries for more modest attire.
She has plans to write to clothing designers to make more modest clothing for women, in general, and to arrange to have a vote in school to enforce the dress code or switch to uniforms, she said.
But her biggest inspiration remains her brother.
"I want to make a change in the world, like he did," she said.

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Australian prank call radio to donate profits to nurse's family

The Australian radio station behind a prank call to a British hospital will donate its advertising revenue until the end of the year to a fund for the family of the nurse who apparently took her own life after the stunt, the company said on Tuesday.
Southern Cross Austereo , parent company of Sydney radio station 2Day FM, said it would donate all advertising revenue, with a minimum contribution of A$500,000, to a memorial fund for the nurse, Jacintha Saldanha, who answered the telephone at the hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife, Kate.
The company has suspended the Sydney-based announcers, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, scrapped their "Hot 30" programme and suspended advertising on the station in the wake of the Saldanha's death. Southern Cross said it would resume advertising on its station from Thursday.
"It is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts continue to be with the family," Southern Cross Chief Executive Officer Rhys Holleran said in a statement.
"We hope that by contributing to a memorial fund we can help to provide the Saldanha family with the support they need at this very difficult time."

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Dry Cleaning Mix-Up Leaves Woman with Wrong Wedding Dress

Many women love to shop, and there is one particular shopping occasion that they'll never forget -- the day they buy their wedding gown. After the wedding, some brides have their dress cleaned and preserved by a professional dry-cleaning company and put into a preservation box forever, or at least until they are ready to pass the dress to their daughter, granddaughter, or other close relative.
Kim Jones of Georgia and her daughter Emily opened the box containing what she thought was her wedding dress, 26 years after it was originally preserved. What she found inside was not her dress. It was an entirely different dress that had sleeves and was a completely different color than the dress she had worn on her wedding day. Understandably, Kim and her daughter were stunned and upset by what they found. She had hoped to pass down her dress to her daughter to wear on her wedding day. Emily told the Tennessean, "As the only girl in the family, this is the one thing that my mother had for me. She took the time to keep it and preserve it. And to find out that it wasn't hers after all these years was very disappointing."
Kim believes that the mix-up of her dress and someone else's must have taken place at the dry cleaner. The ticket number for her dress was just one digit off from the one on the dress in the box. She tried to contact White Way Cleaners in Brentwood, Tennessee, but found the store was no longer in business. Kim is still searching for her wedding gown.
If you have any information that could help Kim find her missing gown, please contact Bonnie Burch at The Tennessean who first reported the story. You can e-mail her at bburch@tennessean.com. Hopefully, our stories and word-of-mouth will help Kim locate her lost dress.

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Teen fashion blogger branches out with book

Tavi Gevinson has accomplished more in her 16 years than most people double her age.
The style blogger, writer and darling of the fashion set launched a fashion blog from her suburban Chicago home before she turned 12. Two years later it was getting 50,000 hits a day and she was a fixture in the front row of fashion shows in New York, Paris and Tokyo.
Profiles of the young fashionista followed in the New York Times and the New Yorker, along with stories in French Vogue and in teen magazines.
Gevinson has added editor to her credits with the publication of "Rookie Yearbook One," a compilation of articles, photographs and drawings from her Rookie website, which she started about 15 months ago.
"I always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to do a print component. Each month on the site is a different theme. I eventually realized that to do a yearly book, and call it a yearbook, would be the best format," she said.
The second book, due next September, is already in the works.
Despite its young audience, the yearbook claims it is not a guide to being a teenager. But with topics ranging from family, friends, relationships, to fashion and school its appeal is obvious.
And Gevinson admits she started the website, which focuses less on fashion and more on teen life, because there wasn't an online magazine for adolescent girls that respected its readers' intelligence.
"I decided to make a website and now a book that didn't talk down to teenagers and had beautiful art, fine articles about TV and all of that."
FROM BEDROOM BLOGGER TO BOOMING BUSINESS
With more than 300 pages, 80 contributors, and articles ranging from "How to Bitchface" to "Breakup Breakdown" and "How to Approach the Person You Like Without Throwing Up," the book navigates teenage angst and a range of other topics and includes photos and graphics.
"Rookie is a place to make the best of the beautiful pain and cringe-worthy awkwardness of being an adolescent girl," is how Gevinson described it.
It has also attracted some star power, namely online interviews with "Mad Men's" Jon Hamm giving advice about love and guys, and wise words from actor Paul Rudd and producer/director Judd Apatow.
When Gevinson started her blog at 11 she saw it as an outlet that helped her get through middle school. She never expected it to mushroom into a website and the business it is today with a huge fan base.
The youngest of three children, Gevinson recently completed a tour to Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Toronto and other cities to promote the book and still manages to keep up with her school work.
Her father, a retired English teacher, oversees the business side of Rookie, and there is a staff of paid adult editors, photographers and designers who work on the website and manage its contributors.
Despite it all, Gevinson seems unfazed by her success and the celebrity status that has come with it.
"I've enjoyed feeling I make something and people understand it, and that there are other people going through the things that I go through," she said. "That to me is the most valuable thing -- being heard by people who understand it.

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US fixed mortgage rates fall to new record lows

WASHINGTON (AP) — Fixed U.S. mortgage rates fell again to new record lows, providing prospective buyers with more incentive to brave a modestly recovering housing market.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the average on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.62 percent. That's down from 3.66 percent last week and the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
The average rate on the 15-year mortgage, a popular refinancing option, slipped to 2.89 percent, below last week's previous record of 2.94 percent.
The rate on the 30-year loan has fallen to or matched record low levels in 10 of the past 11 weeks. And it's been below 4 percent since December.
Cheap mortgages have provided a lift to the long-suffering housing market. Sales of new and previously occupied homes are up from the same time last year. Home prices are rising in most markets. And homebuilders are starting more projects and spending at a faster pace.
The number of people who signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose in May, matching the fastest pace in two years, the National Association of Realtors reported last week. That suggests Americans are growing more confident in the market.
Low rates could also provide some help to the economy if more people refinance. When people refinance at lower rates, they pay less interest on their loans and have more money to spend. Many homeowners use the savings on renovations, furniture, appliances and other improvements, which help drive growth.
Still, the pace of home sales remains well below healthy levels. Many people are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans or can't afford larger down payments required by banks.
And the sluggish job market could deter some would-be buyers from making a purchase this year. The U.S. economy created only 69,000 jobs in May, the fewest in a year. The unemployment rate rose to 8.2 percent last month, up from 8.1 percent in April.
The government reports Friday on June employment.
Mortgage rates have been dropping because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. A weaker U.S. economy and uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis have led investors to buy more Treasury securities, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increase, the yield falls.
To calculate average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.
The average does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.8 point, up from 0.7 percent last week. The fee for 15-year loans also was 0.7 point, unchanged from the previous week.
The average rate on one-year adjustable rate mortgages fell to 2.68 percent, down from 2.74 percent last week. The fee for one-year adjustable rate loans rose to 0.5 point, up from 0.4 point.
The average rate on five-year adjustable rate mortgages was unchanged at 2.79 percent. The fee stayed at 0.6 point.

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W.Va. teachers to attend 'Finance University'

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — West Virginia University's business school is teaming up with the state auditor's office and a nonprofit economic literacy group called the West Virginia Jump$start Coalition to present a conference for educators to learn personal finance — and how to teach it to their students.
This year's Finance University is the 10th annual event for middle- and high-school teachers. It will be held Monday through Friday at the Charleston Conference Center.
Conference organizers say that participants will take a course to prepare for teaching their students personal-finance topics, including credit-card use, saving and investing, insurance, retirement plans, and more. Fifteen financial experts also are expected to give presentations.

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Average on 30-year US mortgage stays at 3.55 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage held steady this week, staying slightly above the lowest level on record. Low mortgage rates have aided a modest housing recovery.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan was unchanged at 3.55 percent. In July, the rate fell to 3.49 percent, the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing option, slipped to 2.85 percent, down from 2.86 percent last week. That's above the record low of 2.80 percent.
Cheap mortgages have helped lift the housing market. Sales of new and previously occupied homes are well above last year's levels. Low rates have also allowed people to refinance, which lowers monthly mortgage payments and helps boosts consumer spending.
Home prices are increasing more consistently this year, largely because the supply of homes has shrunk while sales have risen. And the number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth declined in the second quarter.
Still, the housing market has a long way back. Home sales are below healthy levels. And many people are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans or can't afford larger down payments required by banks.
Mortgage rates are low because they tend to track the yield on the 10-year Treasury note. A weaker U.S. economy and uncertainty about how Europe will resolve its debt crisis have led investors to buy more Treasury securities, which are considered safe investments. As demand for Treasurys increase, the yield falls.
To calculate average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.
The average does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.6 point, down from 0.7 point last week. The fee for 15-year loans was changed at 0.6.
The average rate on one-year adjustable rate mortgages was steady at 2.61 percent. The fee for one-year adjustable rate loans also was unchanged, at 0.4 point.
The average rate on five-year adjustable rate mortgages fell to 2.72 percent from 2.75 percent. The fee declined to 0.6 point from 0.7.

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Ahead of the Bell: Weekly mortgage rates

WASHINGTON (AP) — Loan buyer Freddie Mac reports Thursday on whether mortgage rates are continuing to hold near recent low rates.
Last week the average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage held steady at 3.55 percent, slightly above the record low of 3.49 percent that was reached in July. Meanwhile, the average rate on the 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing option, dipped to 2.85 percent from 2.86 percent.
Cheap mortgages have helped the housing market recover this year. Sales of new and previously occupied homes are well above last year's levels.
Home prices are increasing more consistently this year, largely because the supply of homes has shrunk while sales have risen. And the number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth declined in the second quarter.
Still, the housing market has a long way back. Home sales are below healthy levels. And many people are still having difficulty qualifying for home loans or can't afford larger down payments required by banks.

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Rate on 30-year mortgage hits record low 3.40 pct.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Average U.S. rates on fixed mortgages fell again to new record lows. The decline suggests the Federal Reserve's stimulus efforts may be having an impact on mortgage rates.
Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday that the rate on the 30-year loan dropped to 3.40 percent. That's down from last week's rate of 3.49 percent, which was the lowest since long-term mortgages began in the 1950s.
The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage, a popular refinancing option, fell to 2.73 percent, down from the record low of 2.77 percent last week.
The Fed is spending $40 billion a month to buy mortgage-backed securities. The goal is to lower mortgage rates and help the housing recovery. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke says the program will continue until there is substantial improvement in the job market.
Some economists expect mortgage rates to fall even further because of the Fed's bond purchases.
The housing market already is benefiting from the lowest mortgage rates on record. Sales of both previously occupied and newly built homes in the U.S. are up from last year. Home prices are rising more consistently. And builders are more confident in the market and are starting to build more homes.
The broader economy is also likely to benefit from a revival in the housing market. When home prices rise, Americans typically feel wealthier and spend more.
Still, the housing market has a long way back. Sales and construction rates remain below healthy levels.
And some economists question whether lower rates will make much of a difference. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage has been below 4 percent since early December. So most people who can qualify have likely already taken advantage of the lower rates.
Many people who would like to refinance or buy a home can't because they fail to meet stricter lending requirements or don't have enough money to make a down payment.
To calculate average rates, Freddie Mac surveys lenders across the country on Monday through Wednesday of each week.
The average does not include extra fees, known as points, which most borrowers must pay to get the lowest rates. One point equals 1 percent of the loan amount.
The average fee for 30-year loans was 0.6 point, unchanged from last week. The fee for 15-year loans also held steady at 0.6 point.
The average rate on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages dipped to 2.60 percent from 2.61 percent. The fee for one-year adjustable rate loans was unchanged at 0.4 point.
The average rate on five-year adjustable-rate mortgages fell to 2.71 percent from 2.76 percent. The fee remained at 0.6 point.

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Pope pardons ex-butler who stole, leaked documents

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI granted his former butler a Christmas pardon Saturday, forgiving him in person during a jailhouse meeting for stealing and leaking private papers in one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.
After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. The Vatican said he couldn't continue living or working in the Vatican, but said it would find him housing and a job elsewhere soon.
"This is a paternal gesture toward someone with whom the pope for many years shared daily life," according to a statement from the Vatican secretariat of state.
The pardon closes a painful and embarrassing chapter for the Vatican, capping a sensational, Hollywood-like scandal that exposed power struggles, intrigue and allegations of corruption and homosexual liaisons in the highest levels of the Catholic Church.
Gabriele, 46, was arrested May 23 after Vatican police found what they called an "enormous" stash of papal documents in his Vatican City apartment. He was convicted of aggravated theft by a Vatican tribunal on Oct. 6 and has been serving his 18-month sentence in the Vatican police barracks.
He told Vatican investigators he gave the documents to Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi because he thought the 85-year-old pope wasn't being informed of the "evil and corruption" in the Vatican and thought that exposing it publicly would put the church back on the right track.
The publication of the leaked documents, first on Italian television then in Nuzzi's book "His Holiness: Pope Benedict XVI's Secret Papers" convulsed the Vatican all year, a devastating betrayal of the pope from within his papal family that exposed the unseemly side of the Catholic Church's governance.
The papal pardon had been widely expected before Christmas, and the jailhouse meeting Benedict used to personally deliver it recalled the image of Pope John Paul II visiting Ali Agca, the Turkish gunman who shot him in 1981, while he served his sentence in an Italian prison.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said the meeting was "intense" and "personal" and said that during it Benedict "communicated to him in person that he had accepted his request for pardon, commuting his sentence."
None of the documents threatened the papacy. Most were of interest only to Italians, as they concerned relations between Italy and the Vatican and a few local scandals and personalities. Their main aim appeared to be to discredit Benedict's trusted No. 2, the secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Vatican officials have said the theft shattered the confidentiality that typically governs correspondence with the pope. Cardinals, bishops and everyday laymen write to him about spiritual and practical matters assuming that their words will be treated with the discretion for which the Holy See is known.
As a result, it prompted a remarkable reaction, with the pope naming a commission of three cardinals to investigate alongside Vatican prosecutors. Italian news reports have said new security measures and personnel checks have been put in place to prevent a repeat offense.
Gabriele insisted he acted alone, with no accomplices, but it remains an open question whether any other heads will roll. Technically the criminal investigation remains open, and few in the Vatican believe Gabriele could have construed such a plot without at least the endorsement if not the outright help of others.
A Vatican computer expert, Claudio Sciarpelletti, was convicted Nov. 10 of aiding and abetting Gabriele by changing his testimony to Vatican investigators about the origins of an envelope with Gabriele's name on it that was found in his desk. His two-month sentence was suspended.
Benedict met this past week with the cardinals who investigated the origins of the leaks, but it wasn't known if they provided him with any further updates or were merely meeting ahead of the expected pardon for Gabriele.
As supreme executive, legislator and judge in Vatican City, the pope had the power to pardon Gabriele even before he went to trial. The only question was when it would come.

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Pope grants pre-Christmas pardon to former butler

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict made a surprise pre-Christmas visit to the jail holding his former butler on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing and leaking documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See.
The pope and Paolo Gabriele spent about 15 minutes together before Gabriele was freed and allowed to return to his family in their Vatican apartment, a Vatican spokesman said.
Gabriele was convicted of aggravated theft on October 6 in a case that shone unwelcome publicity on the Vatican and had been serving an 18-month sentence in a jail cell in the city state's police headquarters.
"This was a paternal gesture towards a person with whom the pope shared his daily life for several years," Father Federico Lombardi, a spokesman, said.
"This is a happy ending in this Christmas season," he said.
Gabriele was arrested in May after Vatican police found many documents in his possession that had been stolen from the pope's office.
The former butler gave them to the media in what mushroomed into an embarrassing scandal for Benedict's pontificate that became known as "Vatileaks".
Gabriele told investigators he had leaked the documents because he saw "evil and corruption everywhere in the Church" and that information was being hidden from the pope.
The Vatican said the pope had also pardoned a second Vatican employee, Claudio Sciarpelletti, who was convicted in a separate trial of helping Gabriele and given a two month suspended sentence.
Gabriele will no longer be able to work in the Vatican but will be helped to find a job and start a new life outside its walls together with his family, the Vatican said.
"VISCERAL LOVE"
Gabriele, 46, told the court that convicted him at the trial - one of the most sensational in the recent history of the Holy See - that he did not consider himself a thief and that he had done what he did out of "visceral" love for the Church.
In one of the most dramatic betrayals of trust in Vatican history, Gabriele, who served the pope his meals and helped him dress, photocopied sensitive documents under the nose of his immediate superiors in a small office adjacent to the papal living quarters in the Apostolic Palace.
He then hid more than 1,000 copies and original documents, including some the pope had marked "to be destroyed," among many thousands of other papers and old newspaper clippings in a huge armoire in the family apartment inside the Vatican walls.
A former member of the small, select group known as "the papal family", Gabriele was one of fewer than 10 people who had a key to an elevator leading directly to the pope's apartments.
He said during the trial that from his perch as papal butler he was able to see how easily a powerful man could be manipulated by aides and kept in the dark about things he should have known.
In the course of the trial, intimate details emerged of the inner workings of an institution long renowned for its secrecy.
The documents Gabriele leaked triggered one of the biggest crises of Pope Benedict's papacy when they emerged in a muckraking expose by an Italian journalist earlier this year.
The case was all the more embarrassing for the Vatican because it came at a time when it was trying to limit the reputational fallout from a series of scandals involving sexual abuse of minors by clerics around the world as well as from mismanagement at its bank.

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Merkel rival attacks Germany's soaring arms exports

BERLIN (Reuters) - Peer Steinbrueck, set to challenge Angela Merkel as German leader next year, criticized her centre-right government on Saturday for letting arms exports surge and vowed to end that if his centre-left opposition wins power.
The former finance minister, nominated to lead the Social Democrats (SPD) into September's election against Merkel, said it was a scandal that Germany has become the world's third largest arms exporter on her watch.
Arms exports are a sensitive issue in Germany due to its Nazi past and the role arms makers such as Krupp played in stoking 19th and 20th century wars with exports to both sides.
After World War Two, successive West German and later united German governments placed tight restrictions on arms exports, especially to regions where there were armed conflicts or where human rights were poorly respected.
"It's a scandal and extremely dangerous that Germany has become the world's third largest exporter of weapons," Steinbrueck, who hopes to form a coalition with the Greens party, told the Passauer Neue Presse newspaper on Saturday.
"An SPD-Greens government led by me would change that," said Steinbrueck, 65. "We're even exporting weapons to regions in conflict and to areas where human rights aren't respected."
The SPD and Greens would win a combined 43 percent of the vote, according to an ARD TV opinion poll by the Infratest dimap institute published on Friday. That is more than Merkel's conservatives but not enough to form a majority coalition.
Merkel's conservatives would win 40 percent. Her Free Democrat (FDP) allies would win 4 percent, failing to clear the 5 percent hurdle needed for seats. The Left party would win 7 percent, according to the poll. If so, the SPD-Greens bloc would need 48 percent of votes to secure a parliamentary majority.
As a result, many analysts see a repeat of the 2005-2009 grand coalition of Merkel's conservatives and the SPD as a likely election outcome.
In 2001 Germany was the world's sixth largest arms exporter with $925 million sold abroad, behind the United States, Russia, Britain, France and Italy.
Germany now trails only the United States and Russia after exporting $2.476 billion in 2010, according to latest available data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Germany ranks ninth in the world on its own defense spending.
Steinbrueck's pre-Christmas attack on Merkel for the increased arms exports is not likely to figure as a major election issue in 2013. But it reflects his fighting spirit on an issue that is important for some leftist voters.
It also aims to deflect criticism from Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, an FDP leader who last week blamed the SPD-Greens' government from 1998 to 2005 for the increase in arms exports. He said many recent weapons deliveries to the Middle East were set up under the SPD-Greens government.
Steinbrueck, facing an uphill battle against the popular Merkel, said he was not afraid to criticize her government's foreign policies, adding he would rely on advice from his friend, former Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
"I've been around in the world quite a bit," Steinbrueck told the newspaper. "At the appropriate time, I'll be making comments on foreign policy on the campaign trail."
The arms issue has made it into the headlines amid a recent report in Der Spiegel magazine that Saudi Arabia wants to buy several hundred armored fighting vehicles from Germany.
Der Spiegel suggested the vehicles could be used in combating possible demonstrations. According to other media reports Germany gave pre-approval for the export of 270 Leopard 2 tanks to Saudi Arabia in 2011. The government has declined to comment.

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Car bomb kills five in Damascus: Syrian Observatory

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed five people and wounded dozens in the eastern Damascus district of Qaboun on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Another activist group in Damascus gave no figures for the number of people killed in the blast but said bodies were still being recovered from wreckage caused by the explosion.
The British-based Observatory, which monitors violence across Syria through a network of sources on the ground, also reported clashes between rebel fighters and forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the edge of the southern Damascus neighborhood of Hajar al-Aswad.
The district is next to the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, which was taken over by rebels this week.
The Observatory says 44,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising erupted against Assad in March last year.

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UK prosecutors consider charges over royal hoax callapologised for their actions.

LONDON (Reuters) - British detectives investigating the death of a nurse found hanged after she took a prank phone call at a hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate have passed an evidence file to prosecutors, police said on Saturday.
Public prosecutors must decide whether the case is strong enough to bring charges over a stunt that was condemned around the world and fuelled concerns about media ethics.
Indian-born Jacintha Saldanha, 46, was found hanging in her hospital lodgings in London, days after she answered the hoax call from an Australian radio station, an inquest heard.
She put the call through to a colleague who disclosed details of the Duchess of Cambridge's condition during treatment for an extreme form of morning sickness in the early stages of pregnancy.
"Officers submitted a file to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for them to consider whether any potential offences may have been committed by making the hoax call," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.
A CPS spokesman confirmed it had received the file, but declined to comment on the timing or nature of possible charges.
"That is what we will be considering," he said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has described the case as a "complete tragedy" and has said many lessons will have to be learned from the nurse's death.
Australia's media regulator has launched an investigation into the phone call. Southern Cross Austereo, parent company of radio station 2Day FM, has apologized for the stunt.
Britain's own media is already under pressure to agree a new system of self-regulation and avoid state intervention following a damning inquiry into reporting practices.
The presenters who made the call, Mel Greig and Michael Christian, have apologised for their actions.

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Soccer-Juve defender Chiellini faces lengthy layoff

ROME, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has confirmed that he will miss Friday's Serie A meeting with Cagliari due to a calf injury.
The 28-year-old Chiellini underwent a scan on Thursday and while an exact timeline for a possible return is unknown, he could be facing up to three months on the sidelines.
"Unfortunately the calf injury has been confirmed and I have to stop for a while," Chiellini wrote on his Twitter page.
"But I am going to do my best to come back as soon as possible and stronger than before! Thank you all very much for all the messages for a fast recovery that you are sending me!"
Friday's match will take place at Parma's Ennio Tardini stadium after Cagliari's usual home ground, the Is Arenas stadium, failed to receive clearance from the local council.
Juventus are top of Serie A with 41 points, seven clear of the second-placed Inter Milan.

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Soccer-Qatar plough up to 200 mln euros a year into PSG-media

PARIS, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Qatar will pour up to 200 million euros ($265 million) a year into Paris Saint-Germain under an advertising contract designed to help the French club meet UEFA's financial fair-play rules, according to French media.
The deal, already submitted to French football's controlling body (DNCG), has been struck with the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) and will run until 2016, daily Le Parisien said on Thursday.
PSG have spent more than 250 million euros in transfers since the Qatari fund QSI bought the club in June 2011 and must comply with new financial fair play regulations, which require clubs not to spend more than they earn.
PSG are playing in the Champions League for the first time since 2004 and broadcasting rights for the French top flight are the lowest in the top European leagues, so the club were looking for a new revenue source.
According to Le Parisien, QTA will pay between 150 and 200 million a year to PSG for the club's help in promoting the country abroad. QTA is linked to the Qatari state, as are the club's owners QSI.
The deal is retroactive, meaning QTA will put the money in the club for 2012 to help PSG bear the cost of their latest signings, including striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is reportedly earning a net 14 million euros a year.

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Column: Messi & Co. will win without coach

Even if Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates had no coach to guide them, you would think long and hard about betting against perhaps the greatest collection of players assembled by one club. Their success is built on foundations so solid it has seemingly become self-perpetuating, almost capable of taking care of itself.
So Messi & Co. will weather the absence, hopefully brief and temporary, of Tito Vilanova while he undergoes chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Even if the coach's recovery from the recurrence of a tumor on a saliva gland takes longer than expected, his team is plenty strong enough to keep winning without him, to wrest the Spanish league title from Real Madrid and to muscle past AC Milan in March to advance deep into the final rounds of the Champions League and even win that, too.
For such an astoundingly talented and well-blended team to underperform in either of those competitions in 2013 would be shocking, regardless of who is coaching it. The acid disappointment of losing La Liga to Madrid and falling to Chelsea in the Champions League semifinal in 2012 should be motivation enough for the players, without needing Vilanova to remind them they should do better next year.
Barcelona is less coach-centric than other teams, because its methods, tactics, philosophy and identity are woven into its fabric, not dependent on any single personality. At Manchester United, Real Madrid or Arsenal, the imprint of managers Alex Ferguson, Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger is evident. If those strong leaders took protracted time off, there would be probing questions about how their players might cope without them. But only a lengthy injury for Messi, its record-setting goal scorer, would spark grave doubts about Barcelona's chances of success in the months ahead. At Barca, the players are for the most part brighter stars than Vilanova, their coach. But at Real Madrid, Man United and Arsenal, it's mostly the other way round.
The center of Barcelona's universe isn't a person but a training academy, La Masia. That is where Messi, Andres Iniesta, Xavi Hernandez, Gerard Pique, Carles Puyol and other vertebrae in the backbone of Barcelona's first team were drenched in the club's traditions. Once housed in an 18th-century Catalan farmhouse, the academy is now in a modern five-story building located at Barca's training grounds on the outskirts of the city. Vilanova is a La Masia alumni. So is the man he replaced as coach at the end of last season, Pep Guardiola. So is Vilanova's assistant coach, Jordi Roura.
Roura will warm Vilanova's seat and direct the team while he is on sick leave but won't formally replace him as coach — a nice touch that makes Barcelona look like a club with class, which sticks by its own through thick and thin.
Barcelona said that after surgery Thursday on his parotid gland and a few days in hospital, Vilanova might be able to coach during his expected six weeks of chemo and radiation treatment. Until he's back, Barcelona sports director Andoni Zubizarreta said the team was in "great hands" with Roura. A former Barcelona player under coach Johan Cruyff, Roura worked on Guardiola's staff, studying rival teams, before becoming Vilanova's assistant coach.
La Masia's production line of success and talent gives Barcelona continuity in difficult times like these. While other clubs head-hunt managers, chopping and changing in search of success, Barcelona's deep wells of experience have enabled it to recruit in-house for leadership since Guardiola replaced Dutchman Frank Rijkaard as coach in 2008.
Even though Vilanova is undefeated in the Spanish league this season and has led the team to the best league start ever by any team in Spain, his sudden absence mid-season shouldn't provoke a slump and might barely be noticed on the field. Tactics and lineups didn't change massively when Guardiola handed over the reins to Vilanova, nor will they while Roura is caretaking. Barcelona calls itself "more than a club." It is also more than any one coach.
"Few things have changed," midfielder Xavi said Dec. 13, talking about the handover from Guardiola to Vilanova. "Everything has stayed the same."
It was Guardiola who once described Barcelona soccer so succinctly: "Take the ball, pass the ball, take the ball, pass the ball." It is, of course, more complex than that. But Messi and his teammates have for years now been honing Barcelona's passing game into an art. They could probably find each other with their eyes shut and definitely with Roura on the coach's bench.
Barcelona has a nine-point league lead over Atletico Madrid and a 13-point jump on Real Madrid after just 16 games — a gap so whopping that Atletico coach Diego Simeone said Spain's top league has become "boring." Although this won't be how he or the players think, Roura can afford to lose a few games before he will come under sustained pressure for wins. His first match is at Valladolid in the league on Saturday, Barcelona's last game of 2012.
Barcelona's announcement this week that Messi, Xavi and Puyol all agreed to renew their contracts also gives the team long-term stability and removes an issue that potentially could have distracted the players and Roura.
Since last month, Barcelona has again been able to field Puyol and Pique in defense together after both recovered from injuries. David Villa also looks like the dangerous forward he used to be before eight months out with a broken leg. And Messi, well, how can more praise be heaped on a player who has scored a record 90 goals in 2012?
So no excuses.
Barcelona should keep winning while Vilanova gets better.
He surely wouldn't settle for anything less.

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Hearts hit by transfer embargo over unpaid bonus

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Hearts will be banned from buying players during the January window after the Scottish Premier League (SPL) extended a transfer embargo following the club's failure to pay bonuses to their squad.
The club announced earlier that they had raised more than 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) by selling shares to their fans. But this amount was some way short of the target and they warned supporters the club's financial crisis was far from over.
Hearts also informed the SPL that it had not paid a number of bonuses and appearance payments.
The SPL said in a statement it had therefore decided to extend a so-called remuneration default which means Hearts are unable to sign players until "the SPL Board is satisfied that the remuneration default no longer continues".
Hearts must also attend a disciplinary hearing at a date yet to be fixed. The Edinburgh club, ninth in the 12-club league, said they were consulting with their legal advisers.
The existing 60-day ban, due to run out on Dec. 23, was imposed in October following late salary payments to players.
Lithuanian businessman Vladimir Romanov is the largest shareholders in Hearts who have debts of around 24 million pounds. Earlier this month the club agreed to pay 1.5 million pounds over the next three years to settle a tax dispute.
Hearts also cleared a separate tax bill of 450,000 pounds which lifted the immediate threat of liquidation.
Rangers, who have been champions 54 times, collapsed under their debts this year and were demoted to the fourth tier in Scotland. This week Rangers raised 22 million pounds via a listing on the stock market.

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