Kiwanis kids help build Rose Parade floats

Young volunteers work on the Honda float developed by Phoenix Decorating Company at Rosemont Pavilion in Pasadena on Dec. 26. (Staff photo by Watchara Phomicinda)

The Kiwanis Club is counting on thousands of volunteers to help finish the floral floats for the Tournament of Roses parade on Jan. 2.

Dave Wallach, president of the Hacienda Heights club, has his hands full scheduling the volunteer workers. Wallach is also district chairman of the Kiwanis International Rose Float Committee.

"We'll be using 7,000 volunteers this year to work on the floats in Pasadena," Wallach said. "I've been working on the floats for 11 years and every year is a new challenge."

This year, Kiwanis International is sponsoring a float called Winter Wonderland. The beautiful entry features a snow white horse pulling a sleek sled.

"More than 90 percent of our volunteers are local high school and college students. The kids are fantastic; they really come through for us every year," the Kiwanis officer noted.

Volunteers spend eight-hour shifts working on 14 floats in the Rosemont Pavilion in Pasadena. The Rose Parade entries were designed by Phoenix Decorating Company.

In return for scheduling the volunteers, Phoenix gives Kiwanis International a discount on its float, Wallach said.

"We have the smallest floats at 35 feet and they still cost more than $167,000. Raising the money for our float is always a big challenge," he pointed out.

Somehow the international service organization manages to raise the money. Then the hard work of actually building the float begins.

"The week

after the parade, Phoenix will show us their designs for the next year," Wallach said. "The Rose Parade float has become our biggest service project of the year."

More than 6,000 students from local high schools will work on the beautiful floats. They come from all around Los Angeles, including Los Altos, La Puente, Wilson, Rowland, Walnut and Diamond Bar high schools.

Many of the teens belong to the Key Clubs and Kiwin's groups sponsored by the Kiwanis in our local schools. Wallach will have up to 500 students working on a shift.

"We try to make it fun for the kids, who already enjoy each other's company," he said.

Some teens, like Los Altos senior Melissa Yang, have been decorating the brightly colored entries for years. This year, the vice president of the local Kiwin's will be riding on the Kiwanis float.

"I've been doing this for the past four years. I like gluing on the petals and seeds," the 17-year-old admitted. "I like watching the float come together from the scaffolding high above."

She feels the experience is good for her because she wants to study graphic design at Cal State Long Beach.

"I think it's a real honor to ride on the Kiwanis float. My sister Jennifer is excited about watching me in Rose Parade," Yang added.

Yang will join another local student, Bernadette Lim of Walnut. Lim goes to St. Lucy's Priory High School in Glendora. The teen is governor of Kiwin's.

Other riders include Rafaela Diaz, Miss Latina Global; Kiwanis International President Alan Penn, Special Olympics Scot Miller and 99-year-old Eleanor Landing.

In return for their hard work, the teens get lunch or dinner. One of their favorite dinners is the buffet catered by Casa Blanca Mexican Restaurant in Hacienda Heights.

"Everyone always asks what night they're catering, so they can sign up for that shift," Wallach laughed.

Volunteers have to cut the thousands of flowers and place each one in a vial of water. They won't place the live flowers on the floats until the last couple days.

"Many of the flowers are very delicate, so we can't put them on too early," Wallach explained.

But every inch of a Rose float has to be covered by organic material. The entries have been to be 75 percent complete for judging the day before.

"It's a lot of work every year, but I love it," the Kiwanis official concluded.

richard.irwin@sgvn.com

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Source: http://www.sgvtribune.com/ci_19639504?source=rss_viewed

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Israel approves construction of 130 homes in east Jerusalem

By BNO News

JERUSALEM (BNO NEWS) -- The Jerusalem municipality on Wednesday approved a plan for the construction of 130 housing units in the east of the city, officials said.

The homes are to be built in the neighborhood of Gilo, which is regarded by the international community as a settlement. The plan still needs to be approved by the Interior Ministry and Regional Planning Committee, Ynet news reported.

Pepe Alalu of the left-wing Meretz party said the new homes will be built in three 12-story tower blocks in the neighborhood near the northern West Bank city of Bethlehem. He said that a large tourist complex will also be built in the heart of the Silwan, a neighborhood in East Jerusalem.

Palestinian Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh condemned the Israeli municipality's decision. He told the Palestine News and Information Agency (WAFA) that peace negotiations cannot be resumed without a complete halt of all settlement activities.

The move comes about two weeks after the Construction and Housing Ministry and the Israel Land Administration announced that hundreds of housing units will be marketed beyond the Green Line. According to the announcement, 348 of the units will be built in the town of Beitar illit, 500 in Har Homa in south Jerusalem and 180 in Givat Ze'ev in the northern part of the capital.

The four European Union members of the United Nation Security Council strongly criticized Israel's plan to expand its settlements in East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Britain, France, Germany and Portugal issued a joint statement, saying the Israeli settlements in Palestinian occupied territories and East Jerusalem are illegal under international law.

Last year, Israel and the Palestinian Authority stalled the peace negotiations, which were supported by the United States and the United Nations, after the Jewish nation refused to extend a moratorium on settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territory in September.

In response, Palestinian President Abbas broke off direct talks as recommended by Hamas, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the European Union and countries such as the United States and Israel. Israel has since resumed settlement construction even though they have been labeled as a violation of international law by the international community.

Palestine has demanded a stop to settlement construction in the disputed East Jerusalem and West Bank area as a key element for continuing peace talks, aimed at reaching a two-state solution based on the 1967 Green Line. However, Israeli authorities have rejected the Palestinian solution based on the 1967 borders as that measure would leave a large population of Israelis in Judea and Samaria outside Israel's borders.

(Copyright 2012 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011 at 10:46 pm | BNO News | 1 Comment

Source: http://wireupdate.com/israel-approves-construction-of-130-homes-in-east-jerusalem.html

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2011 'second warmest' year in UK

30 December 2011 Last updated at 08:10 ET

This year was the second warmest on record for the UK, the Met Office says.

Provisional figures show that only 2006, with an average temperature of 9.73C (49.5F), was warmer than 2011's average temperature of 9.62C (49.3F).

This year saw high temperatures for lengthy periods; including the warmest April and spring on record, the second warmest autumn and the warmest October day.

Early figures suggest 2011 is ending with a "close to average" December.

John Prior, national climate manager at the Met Office, said: "While it may have felt mild for many so far this December, temperatures overall have been close to what we would expect.

"It may be that the stark change from last year, which was the coldest December on record for the UK, has led many to think it has been unseasonably warm."

All bar one of the top 10 warmest years on record have occurred since 1997 and all the UK's top seven warmest years happened in the past decade.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/uk-16366078

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Massillon schools seek ways to cut debt

Closed-door discussions about city school district finances soon will become conversations with community members.

As Massillon City School District administrators continue to search for ways to cut millions of dollars in annual operational costs, they are leaving all their options open. They also are hoping to be transparent about what they feel the best options are.

?The sooner people know where we?re headed,? Superintendent Rik Goodright said, ?the better off we will be in the long run.?

The truth, Goodright said, is that there are no easy solutions to the financial concerns that plague the district.

?Initially,? Goodright said, ?it looked like we would have a $1.5 million deficit in (fiscal year 2013), but it looks like it will be more like $2 million.?

Balancing a budget with that kind of a compounding deficit is a lofty task.

?Two million is a lot,? Goodright said. ?When you deal with a budget around $40 million, $2 million is a lot.?

It also means the board has and will continue to look at every aspect of district operations as it looks to cut costs. Nothing is off limits.

?Everything that we do in the district is on the table,? Goodright said.

CUTTING STAFF

According to Goodright, addressing the immediate deficit concerns likely will involve reductions in force, though it?s unclear which positions or how many jobs would need to be cut.

During a January board of education meeting, Goodright expects to see the board pass a resolution that will allow the district to cut positions. It?s likely that announcements regarding specific personnel cuts will come in the spring, and those decisions will be carefully made.

?We have already talked with our four association leaders and informed them about the potential cut backs,? Goodright said. ?We won?t do 15 percent reductions across the board. We will look carefully and see which positions and things we could cut without impacting the education of kids.?

Goodright also noted that the number and types of positions cut will depend on the retirements the district sees this school year.

?In a perfect world, the plan would be to cut through attrition,? Goodright said. ?So far, (the district) has done a wonderful job not replacing as people retire. ? It?s ideal because nobody loses work.?

CLOSING BUILDINGS

Massillon community members are familiar with discussions about potentially closing buildings. Under the leadership of Superintendent Lisa Carmichael, the board examined the possibility of closing Emerson Elementary, and the district central office building which includes the district pool and houses Adult Basic and Literacy Education.

Similar discussions have continued behind closed doors though no specific buildings have been targeted for closure. To have a better understanding of which steps to take when it comes to facilities, Goodright said the community has to help shape a vision for the district.

?Facilities cost money,? Goodright said. ?The community will have to let us know if a high school, a middle school and six elementary schools are the way they want to go. We will have conversations with the community and see what they recommend back to us. ? It will be a community-and-board decision.?

Conversations involving the community will likely also include the possibility of building new schools or seeking additional operating revenue.

?The Massillon community has been very giving,? Goodright said. ?They have given money for a new high school, which was good. They passed a series of emergency levies and always came through when we needed to renew those levies to keep the district running.

?But we also know is that since 1999 our district has not received any new dollars. ? As prices go up and the cost of operation goes up it?s hard to keep up and continue with the same money.?

CREATIVE SAVING

Saving the bottom line and balancing the district budget likely will include cuts both big and small. Goodright acknowledged that Massillon City is looking for ways to cut costs simply and efficiently without impacting the quality of education or the district?s staff.

?We can do simple things,? Goodright said. ?We can turn off the lights and shut the doors and we have done those types of things.?

Goodright said the district also has looked at trimming facility operational costs by moving to four-day work weeks during the summer months.

The district also has looked at changing bus routes and building start times in an effort to cut thousands more dollars from annual operational costs.

?If we create a time schedule with earlier start times for the elementary and later start times for the high school,? Goodright said, ?we may be able to reduce the transportation budget by $15,000 or $20,000, so those things can really add up.?

Source: http://www.cantonrep.com/news/x1980200787/Massillon-schools-seek-ways-to-cut-debt

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Egypt's Mubarak trial resumes after delay (Reuters)

CAIRO (Reuters) ? The trial of ousted Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, charged with the killing of protesters and abuse of power, resumed on Wednesday following a delay of almost two months while lawyers demanded a new judge.

Mubarak, his two sons, the former interior minister and senior police officers face a range of charges including involvement in the deaths of hundreds of protesters and corruption during his three decades in office.

Mubarak, who is being held under arrest in a hospital where doctors say he has a heart condition, was wheeled into the court on a hospital trolley covering his eyes with his arm and surrounded by police.

Previous sessions were marred by clashes outside the Cairo court building between Mubarak supporters and Egyptians demanding the death penalty for their former leader, but there were no scuffles as Mubarak arrived on Wednesday.

Around 850 people were killed in the 18-day uprising that overthrew Mubarak in February.

The trial has gripped the Arab world, ruled ostly by autocrats who seemed unassailable until this year when Mubarak and the leaders of Tunisia and Libya were toppled in popular revolts.

Lawyers representing families of those killed had filed a suit calling for presiding judge Ahmed Refaat and the two other judges to be replaced. The request was rejected.

They had complained that the judges had failed to give them adequate time to question Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, who heads the army council now ruling Egypt, during his court appearance.

Former Interior Minister Habib al-Adli and six senior police officers are also standing trial. Businessman Hussein Salem, a close associate of Mubarak, is being tried in absentia.

The judge was expected on Wednesday to take requests from lawyers and set dates for more testimony.

(Reporting by Tamim Elyan and Marwa Awad; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer and Maria Golovnina)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/wl_nm/us_egypt_mubarak_trial

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Turn down the iPod to save your hearing

ScienceDaily (Dec. 28, 2011) ? Today's ubiquitous MP3 players permit users to listen to crystal-clear tunes at high volume for hours on end -- a marked improvement on the days of the Walkman. But according to Tel Aviv University research, these advances have also turned personal listening devices into a serious health hazard, with teenagers as the most at-risk group.

One in four teens is in danger of early hearing loss as a direct result of these listening habits, says Prof. Chava Muchnik of TAU's Department of Communication Disorders in the Stanley Steyer School of Health Professions at the Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Sheba Medical Center. With her colleagues Dr. Ricky Kaplan-Neeman, Dr. Noam Amir, and Ester Shabtai, Prof. Muchnik studied teens' music listening habits and took acoustic measurements of preferred listening levels.

The results, published in the International Journal of Audiology, demonstrate clearly that teens have harmful music-listening habits when it comes to iPods and other MP3 devices. "In 10 or 20 years it will be too late to realize that an entire generation of young people is suffering from hearing problems much earlier than expected from natural aging," says Prof. Muchnik.

Hearing loss before middle age

Hearing loss caused by continuous exposure to loud noise is a slow and progressive process. People may not notice the harm they are causing until years of accumulated damage begin to take hold, warns Prof. Muchnik. Those who are misusing MP3 players today might find that their hearing begins to deteriorate as early as their 30's and 40's -- much earlier than past generations.

The first stage of the study included 289 participants aged 13 to 17. They were asked to answer questions about their habits on personal listening devices (PLDs) -- specifically, their preferred listening levels and the duration of their listening. In the second stage, measurements of these listening levels were performed on 74 teens in both quiet and noisy environments. The measured volume levels were used to calculate the potential risk to hearing according to damage risk criteria laid out by industrial health and safety regulations.

The study's findings are worrisome, says Prof. Muchnik. Eighty percent of teens use their PLDs regularly, with 21 percent listening from one to four hours daily, and eight percent listening more than four hours consecutively. Taken together with the acoustic measurement results, the data indicate that a quarter of the participants are at severe risk for hearing loss.

Dangerous decibels

Currently, industry-related health and safety regulations are the only benchmark for measuring the harm caused by continuous exposure to high volume noise. But there is a real need for additional music risk criteria in order to prevent music-induced hearing loss, Prof. Muchnik says. In the meantime, she recommends that manufacturers adopt the European standards that limit the output of PLDs to 100 decibels. Currently, maximum decibel levels can differ from model to model, but some can go up to 129 decibels.

Steps can also be taken by schools and parents, she says. Some school boards are developing programs to increase awareness of hearing health, such as the "Dangerous Decibels" program in Oregon schools, which provides early education on the subject. Teens could also choose over-the-ear headphones instead of the ear buds that commonly come with an iPod.

In the near future, the researchers will focus on the music listening habits of younger children, including pre-teens, and the development of advanced technological solutions to enable the safe use of PLDs.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by American Friends of Tel Aviv University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Chava Muchnik, Noam Amir, Ester Shabtai, Ricky Kaplan-Neeman. Preferred listening levels of personal listening devices in young teenagers: Self reports and physical measurements. International Journal of Audiology, 2011; 1 DOI: 10.3109/14992027.2011.631590

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111228134852.htm

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Sudan army kills leader of main Darfur rebel group

FILE - Justice and Equality Movement, JEM, leader Dr. Khalil Ibrahim listens during the Darfur Peace Talks, in Doha, Qatar, in this Feb. 11, 2009 file photo. Sudanese troops killed Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the main Darfur rebel group, in fighting early Sunday Dec. 25, 2011 west of the capital Khartoum, the military said. (AP Photos/Maneesh Bakshi, File)

FILE - Justice and Equality Movement, JEM, leader Dr. Khalil Ibrahim listens during the Darfur Peace Talks, in Doha, Qatar, in this Feb. 11, 2009 file photo. Sudanese troops killed Khalil Ibrahim, the leader of the main Darfur rebel group, in fighting early Sunday Dec. 25, 2011 west of the capital Khartoum, the military said. (AP Photos/Maneesh Bakshi, File)

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) ? The Sudanese army said Sunday that it killed the leader of the main Darfur rebel group in fighting earlier this week, touting his death as a key victory against a powerful rebel force that once threatened Sudan's capital.

Khalil Ibrahim led the Darfur-based Justice and Equality Movement, or JEM, the most organized and effective military force in Darfur, the western region torn by conflict since 2003. The group did not join a peace deal signed last year in Doha, Qatar between other Darfur rebel groups and Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir's government in Khartoum.

The military said he was wounded Thursday during a military offensive in North Kordofan state, which borders Darfur. The government said he died of his wounds Saturday and that rebels quickly buried him. The government did not say how it confirmed his death.

JEM representatives could not immediately be reached for comment. If Ibrahim's death is confirmed by the group, it would be a serious blow to JEM, which has on several occasions threatened to bring down al-Bashir's regime in Khartoum by advancing toward the capital.

Sudanese Information Minister Abdullah Massar said Ibrahim's death sends a message to rebel groups "to listen to the voice of wisdom and join the peace process."

"Our doors are open and the Doha agreement is open," Massar said Sunday.

Darfur has been in turmoil since 2003, when ethnic African rebels accusing the Arab-dominated Sudanese government of discrimination took up arms against it. The Khartoum government is accused of retaliating by unleashing Arab militias on civilians ? a charge the government denies.

The conflict has tapered off since 2009, but the U.N. estimates 300,000 people died and 2.7 million have been displaced. The International Criminal Court in the Hague has issued an international arrest warrant for al-Bashir for his alleged role in crimes against humanity in Darfur.

Sudan's Information Minister told reporters Sunday that 30 people were killed with Ibrahim in the clashes. An army statement carried by Sudan's official SUNA news agency said Ibrahim and several associates were killed in Wad Banda, about 440 miles (700 kilometers) west of Khartoum in the North Kordofan region, which borders Darfur.

"The army cut all paths for the group as it was retreating and trying to cross into South Sudan to reorganize it forces," said Sudanese army spokesman Col. Sawarmy Khaled. "Our gallant armed forces were able to kill rebel Khalil Ibrahim along with some of his associates."

South Sudan seceded from the north in July to become the world's newest nation.

Fighting in Wad Banda had flared up in the past few days. On Saturday, the Sudanese army said Darfur rebels attacked three locations in neighboring North Kordofan, killing an unspecified number of civilians.

JEM has not claimed responsibility for the attack. However, in a dramatic push in 2008, hundreds of JEM fighters drove through the remote western region and attacked Khartoum's western outskirts. More recently, JEM spread its armed presence from Darfur into North Kordofan.

A security officer with the United Nations Mission in Darfur told The Associated Press that JEM mostly operates out of North Kordofan state and no longer has an official presence in Darfur. He said UNAMID officials have not confirmed Ibrahim's death. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

This year, UNAMID had nearly 26,000 troops and police stationed in Darfur, making it the largest UN peacekeeping operation.

Salma Turabi, daughter of longtime opposition leader Hassan Turabi, said she was at a gathering of mourners at Ibrahim's home in Khartoum when police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

Sudan state television broadcast images of Khartoum residents outside military headquarters, waving Sudanese flags and celebrating the news of his death.

Ibrahim is believed to have recently returned to Sudan after years in exile in neighboring Libya, where he enjoyed the patronage of Moammar Gadhafi before the longtime Libyan dictator was ousted and killed in October. Sudanese officials said the JEM has been trying to regroup since losing Gadhafi's reported support for the rebel movement.

Ibrahim once served in al-Bashir's government before joining the rebellion. He refused to join a peace agreement signed in Qatar and backed by the African Union that was meant to provide a basis for a cease-fire, power sharing, equal distribution of wealth and compensation for displaced people.

"He completely refused to come to the negotiating table, he never joined the peace talks," Ismail el-Haj Musa, Sudanese deputy speaker of the council of states, told the pan-Arab Al-Jazeera TV on Sunday. "He committed acts against the state."

On Sunday, Ibrahim Mahmoud Hamad, Sudan's interior minister, described the death of Ibrahim "as a message to all rebels and those carrying arms, calling on them to the negotiating table to resolve issues and reach a peaceful resolution for the best interest of the country," according the semiofficial Sudan Media Center.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-25-ML-Sudan/id-7520d96e67804a68b7a3466a3f9f777a

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Redmond's Selk graduates from Golf Academy

Curtis Selk of Redmond was among 55 fellow recent graduates that earned associate degrees in Golf Complex Operations and Management from the Golf Academy of America (GAA) in Phoenix, Ariz.

?These students put in a lot of hard work and all of them are now well prepared to step into golf career opportunities anywhere in the country,? said Tim Eberlein, campus director of the Myrtle Beach Golf Academy of America. ?Our students are some of the best trained and most knowledgeable golf career professionals in the industry."

The GAA is the largest and longest-running two-year golf career college in the world and prepares graduates for a wide array of golf career opportunities. For more information, go to www.golfacademy.edu.

Source: http://feeds.soundpublishing.com/~r/redmondbusiness/~3/rwNYDGZ_pXc/135937203.html

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Jamie Dupree's Washington Insider: Only Romney & Paul on Virginia Ballot

By Jamie Dupree

Officials in the Commonwealth of Virginia have announced that only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul qualified for the Super Tuesday ballot, dealing a setback to the campaigns of both Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich.

Backers of both Perry and Gringrich submitted more than the 10,000 signatures needed, but not all were judged to be valid by Virginia elections officials.

?Only a failed system excludes four out of the six major candidates seeking access to the ballot," said Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond, referring to the fact that Michele Bachmann, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum also won't be on the Virginia ballot. ?

"Voters deserve the right to vote for any top contender, especially leading candidates," Hammond said in a Saturday morning statement.

While Hammond vowed to wage a write-in campaign, this news was clearly a victory for Mitt Romney's campaign, at least for now.

But what if Romney stumbles early? Then the Old Dominion could truly be up for grabs in early March.

About Jamie Dupree

Jamie Dupree is the Radio News Director of the Washington Bureau of the Cox Media Group and writes the Washington Insider blog.

Connect with Jamie Dupree on:TwitterFacebook

Send Jamie Dupree an email.

Source: http://www.krmg.com/weblogs/jamie-dupree/2011/dec/24/only-romney-paul-virginia-ballot/

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executedtoday: Seven "Class A" #Japan #ww2 #war criminals, including Tojo, hanged #onthisday 23 Dec 1948 http://t.co/fDxy0clR #legal #history

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Less wooden Romney hits New Hampshire campaign trail (Reuters)

BERLIN, New Hampshire (Reuters) ? A more confident and energized Mitt Romney is putting his people skills to the test in New Hampshire as he tries to fix a likeability issue that hurt his failed bid for the White House in 2008.

The Republican presidential hopeful is shaking hands, signing autographs and pumping diesel in a dozen appearances over three days in a classic campaign bus tour aimed at winning the Republican nomination backed by television ads.

In an interview with Reuters, the former Massachusetts governor said he has embraced retail politics with a different mindset than in 2008 when he lost the nomination to John McCain, who was then beaten by Barack Obama in the general election.

A multi-millionaire former businessman, Romney was often described as wooden and unable to connect with ordinary people like mechanics, nurses and farmers during his earlier bid.

"I think I recognize this time, perhaps more than in my last run, that a lot of this is out of my control," Romney said on his spacious tour bus, which was manufactured in North Dakota and custom-wrapped in Tennessee with the signage "Conservative Business Leader" and "Believe in America."

"What ultimately happens is not just a function of my work, and my campaign, but also things that occur in the nation and things that occur in other peoples' campaigns. And so I'm a little more philosophical about the process," Romney said.

Romney has had some celebrated awkward moments on the 2012 campaign trail, from his "corporations are people, my friend" comment in Iowa to telling a group of jobless people in Florida that he is also unemployed.

With most polls showing him enjoying a sizable lead in New Hampshire, Romney is attempting to drive home his advantage in the lead up to the state's January 10 primary election.

Long-time associates say Romney 2012 is leaner and more focused, taking on board fewer consultants and advisers, who often sent conflicting messages in his previous campaign.

SMOOTH TALK

At Hypotherm Inc in Hanover, where Romney did a tour of the factory floor and held a town hall meeting for staff, machinist Robert Von Baltzer, wasn't buying Romney's smooth answers.

"I've heard the talk. I would like to see the walk," said Von Baltzer, 57. "What can you say to me and to other voters that are sitting here, that the promises that you're making, that you can walk the talk?" he asked.

"That's a fair sentiment there," answered Romney, who then went into typical campaign speech mode urging Americans to do more for their country.

Romney,64, has been a front-runner in the Republican race for months. But, despite running a smooth campaign while rivals crumble, he has yet to light a fire and is stuck at around 25 percent in polls. Conservatives have yet to warm to him.

A former venture capitalist, Romney said his work as a lay leader in the Mormon church near his home in Belmont, Massachusetts in the 1980s had helped him deal with different types of people.

"That has allowed me to stay connected with people who face very different circumstances than myself. That experience, as well as my service overseas to my church, has made me understand the extraordinary psychological pain associated with unemployment, for instance ... I have not lived my life detached from the world."

Many who met Romney this week, including some who showed up to events still undecided on their vote, came away with a favorable impression.

DAIRY COWS, HARDWARE STORE

In remote Lancaster, Romney chatted with Jessica Hebert about her experiences raising prize-winning dairy cows as a teenager.

"He was down to earth and very personable. I like that he's come to a local place," said Hebert, 32, a political independent who voted for Obama in 2008. "Meeting someone face to face - you look at them in a different way."

At the Agway farm supply and hardware store in Lancaster, in New Hampshire's northernmost Coos County, Romney compared retail politics favorably to the glitzy fund-raisers he has attended while amassing a large campaign war-chest.

But Bernard Folta of Claremont, said he found Romney overly rehearsed during a brief encounter in Newport, New Hampshire.

"A primary campaign is a theatrical situation, and there are stock answers to the majority of the issues that will come up on the stump," said Folta, 69, who is retired from a computing job and a registered Republican. "He's a sharp guy, with good consultants."

Jim Merrill, who was Romney's New Hampshire campaign manager in 2008 and is a strategist in the state this year, said Romney is more relaxed in his personal encounters with voters this time around. "He's more his own man," Merrill said.

Romney went door to door in the town of Berlin wearing only a light jacket in near freezing temperatures. At one point he ran several blocks after the car of a local official he knew.

"He relates well to people. He seems more genuine than the other contenders," said Shelley Harter, 59, who was visiting from Pasadena, California.

Younger voters were less convinced. In Conway, college student Kallie Durkit, 21, said Romney lacked "relatability" and his message did not resonate the way that Obama's had in 2008.

"I don't think he will be able to mobilize the college-age students," Durkit said.

(Additional reporting by Steve Holland; editing by Alistair Bell and Anthony Boadle).

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111223/pl_nm/us_usa_campaign_romney

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Syria Says 2,000 Troops Killed Since March

A Syrian state news agency says more than 2,000 members of its security forces have been killed in the nine months since Arab Spring-style antigovernment protests broke out.

SANA said the figures were contained in a letter sent by the Syrian government to the UN Security Council and Human Rights Council.

The United Nations says Syrian security forces have killed more than 5,000 people, mostly civilians, in the same period.

Activists said some 29 people were killed in the flashpoint central city of Homs and the northern city of Idlib on December 22.

A 12-member advance team of Arab League observers has meanwhile arrived in Syria.

Dozens of Arab observers are due to arrive in Syria later this month to monitor President Bashar al-Assad's compliance with a plan that calls for troops to leave residential areas, talks to begin with the opposition, and the release of political prisoners.

compiled from agency reports

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/syria_agency_says_2000_security_forces_killed_since_march/24430753.html

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Smallest-ever exoplanets found, one step closer to Earth-twin

These planets, while roughly the size of our planet Earth, are circling very close to their star, giving them fiery temperatures that are most likely too hot to support life, researchers said.

This story was updated at 1:54 p.m. ET.

Skip to next paragraph

Two planets orbiting a star 950 light-years from Earth are the smallest, most Earth-size alien worlds known, astronomers announced today (Dec. 20). One of the planets is actually smaller than Earth, scientists say.

These planets, while roughly the size of our planet Earth, are circling very close to their star, giving them fiery temperatures that are most likely too hot to support life, researchers said. The discovery, however, brings scientists one step closer to finding a?true twin of Earth?that may be habitable.

"We've crossed a threshold: For the first time, we've been able to detect planets smaller than the Earth around another star," lead researcher Fran?ois Fressin of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., told SPACE.com. "We proved that Earth-size planets exist around other stars like the sun, and most importantly, we proved that humanity is able to detect them. It's the beginning of an era."

To discover the new planets, Fressin and his colleagues used?NASA's Kepler space telescope, which noticed the tiny dips in the parent star's brightness when the planets passed in front of it, blocking some of its light (this is called the transit method). The researchers then used ground-based observatories to confirm that the planets actually exist by measuring minute wobbles in the star's position caused by gravitational tugs from its planets.

"These two new planets are the first genuinely?Earth-sized?worlds that have been found orbiting a sunlike star," University of California, Santa Cruz astronomer Greg Laughlin, who was not involved in the new study, said in an email to SPACE.com. "For the past two decades, it has been clear that astronomers would eventually reach this goal, and so it's fantastic to learn that the detection has now been achieved." [Gallery: Smallest Alien Planets Ever Seen]

Chances for life

The two Earth-size planets are among five alien worlds orbiting a star called Kepler-20 that is of the same class (G-type) as our sun, and is slightly cooler.

Two of the star system's planets, Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, are 0.87 times and 1.03 times the width of Earth, respectively, making them the smallest exoplanets yet known. They also appear to be rocky, and have masses less than 1.7 and 3 times Earth's mass, respectively. Scientists think that they are composed mainly of silicates and iron, much like the Earth, though they lack our planet's atmsophere.

Kepler-20e makes a circle around its star once every 6.1 days at a distance of 4.7 million miles (7.6 million kilometers) ? almost 20 times closer than Earth, which orbits the sun at around 93 million miles (150 million km).

The planet's sibling, Kepler-20f, makes a full orbit every 19.6 days, at a distance of 10.3 million miles (16.6 million km). Both planets circle closer to their star than Mercury does to the sun. [Infographic: Earth-Size Alien Planets Explained]

These snuggly orbits around their star give the newfound planets steamy temperatures of about 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit (760 degrees Celsius) and 800 degrees Fahrenheit (430 degrees Celsius) ? way too warm to support liquid water, and probably life, researchers said.

Fressin said the chance of life on either of these planets is "negligible," though the researchers can't exclude the possibility that they used to be habitable in the past, when they might have been farther from their star. There is also a slim chance that there are habitable regions on the planets in spots between their day and night sides (the planets orbit with one half constantly facing their star and the other half always in dark). But astronomers aren't holding out hope.

"The chances of liquid water and life as we know it on Kepler-20e and f are zero," Laughlin said.

Flip-flopped planets

The planetary system around Kepler-20 is an unusual one.

For one thing, scientists say the rocky planets can't have formed in their current locations.

"There's not enough rocky material that close to the host star to form five planets," Fressin said. "They didn't form here; they probably formed farther from their star and migrated in."

Furthermore, the five planets are in an odd order, with the rocky worlds alternating with their gaseous, Neptune-size siblings. That's quite different from most solar systems, including our own, which keeps the rocky terrestrial worlds in close to the sun, with the gas giants farther out.

"The architecture of that solar system is crazy," science team member David Charbonneau of Harvard University said during a Tuesday telecon announcing the finding. "This is the first time that we've seen anything like this."

Scientists will likely have to revise their theories of how planets form to fully understand the Kepler-20 system.

"How did that form?" Fressin said. "I think it's a puzzle the theorists will have to try to explain."

The star's other planets are called Kepler-20b, 20c, and 20d. Their diameters are 15,000 miles (24,000 km), 24,600 miles (40,000 km), and 22,000 miles (35,000 km), respectively, and they orbit Kepler-20 once every 3.7, 10.9, and 77.6 days.

The largest of these, Kepler-20d, weighs a little under 20 times Earth's mass, while Kepler-20c is 16.1 times as heavy as Earth, and Kepler-20b is 8.7 times our planet's mass.

Evolving effort

Scientists say finding the smallest exoplanets yet represents a significant milestone in the fast-evolving effort to learn about planets beyond the solar system.

The first alien planet was discovered in 1996, and the first planet found through the transit method came just 11 years ago. Both of those planets were roughly the size of Jupiter.

"I think we're living in special times," Fressin said. "This was unfeasible 10 years ago, and just with the quality of detectors and the quality of the treatment is it possible now."

The total tally of?known alien planets is above 700. Kepler alone has discovered 28 definite alien planets, and 2,326 planet candidates, since its launch in March 2009.

Earlier this month, the Kepler team announced another landmark find, the?first planet known to occupy the habitable zone?around its star where liquid water, and perhaps life, could exist.

That planet, called Kepler-22b, is about 2.4 times as wide as Earth.

The dream now is for astronomers to combine the two discoveries and find an Earth-size planet that's also orbiting its star in an Earth-like orbit that puts it in the habitable zone.

"The holy grail of the search for other worlds is to find an Earth analogue, a true Earth twin," Fressin said. "We just need to have these two pieces of the puzzle together."

While the newfound planets orbit with periods of 6.1 and 19.6 days, Fressin estimated the habitable zone around Kepler-20 begins at orbits that take roughly 100 days to make a circuit.

Astronomers think it's only a?matter of time before they finally find one?that's just right.

"These discoveries are a great technological step forward ? to detect small planets, in size like Earth ? but these planets are very hot and not in the habitable zone around their star," astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics wrote in an email. Kaltenegger, who studies the habitability of exoplanets, was not involved in the new study. "If we can already find these small planets with radii around Earth's now, some future ones could be in the habitable zone of their stars and THOSE future ones would be great targets to look for liquid water and signatures for life."

A paper detailing the discovery was published online in the journal Nature Dec. 20.

You can follow SPACE.com assistant managing editor Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter?@Spacedotcom?and on?Facebook.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/science/~3/2hS2EsdF1-M/Smallest-ever-exoplanets-found-one-step-closer-to-Earth-twin

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"11/22/63 " tops best-sellers list for second week (Reuters)

(Please note the strong language in the number 4 hardcover nonfiction title)

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stephen King's "11/22/63" held on to the top spot of the Publishers Weekly best-sellers list on Thursday for the second week.

The list is compiled from data from independent and chain bookstores, book wholesalers and independent distributors nationwide.

Hardcover Fiction Last Week

1. "11/22/63" by Stephen King (Scribner, $35) 1

2. "Locked On" by Tom Clancy with Mark Greaney (Putnam, $28.95) -

3. "The Litigators" by John Grisham (Doubleday, $28.95) 3

4. "Kill Alex Cross" by James Patterson (Little, Brown, $28.99) 5

5. "Death Comes to Pemberley" by P.D. James (Knopf, $25.95) 4

6. "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central, $25.99) 8

7. "Red Mist" by Patricia Cornwell Putnam, $27.95 2

8. "Explosive Eighteen" by Janet Evanovich (Bantam, $28) 7

9. "The Drop" by Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $27.99) 6

10. "V Is for Vengeance" by Sue Grafton (Putnam, $27.95) 9

Hardcover nonfiction

1. "Steve Jobs" by Walter Isaacson (Simon & Schuster, $35) 1

2. "Killing Lincoln" by Bill O'Reilly & Martin Dugard (Holt, $28) 2

3. "Unbroken" by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House, $27) 3

4. "Go the F**k to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach, illus. by Ricardo Cort?s (Akashic, $14.95) 4

5. "Jack Kennedy" by Chris Matthews (Simon & Schuster, $27.50) 6

6. "Nearing Home" by Billy Graham (Thomas Nelson, $19.99) 14

7. "Being George Washington" by Glenn Beck (Threshold, $26) 5

8. "Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible" by Paula Deen with Melissa Clark (Simon & Schuster, $29.99) 15

9. "Guinness World Records 2012" (Guinness World Records, $28.95) 7

10. "Through My Eyes" by Tim Tebow with Nathan Whitaker (Harper, $26.99) 10

(Editing by Patricia Reaney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111222/stage_nm/us_books_bestselllers_list

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Rumors Persist Surrounding President Obama?s 'Body Man'

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Source: http://www.southernwolf.net/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=3475

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Bari Zell Weinberger, Esq.: 6 Ways Divorced Parents Can Get More Time With Their Children During the Holidays

Holidays usually mean family time. If you are divorced or legally separated and your scheduled parenting plan says your children will be spending the holidays with your ex-spouse, you might be wondering how you can make some arrangement to still see your children.

There are a number of ways for you to negotiate more time with your children. While some of these ideas may be easier than others, each are practical solutions that we have seen work for many of our divorced and separated clients over the years. We are pleased to provide you with our "top 6" list:

1. Simply ask your ex-spouse for more time. You may be surprised how willing your ex is to accommodate your request for more time, especially if you are polite, respectful, and can convey that it is in the children's best interest for this change to take place. Some consideration now may buy good will in the future and a reciprocal courtesy. A simple request can often lead to better flexibility and co-parenting into the future.

2. Offer to babysit the children. Rather than asking to take the children somewhere (i.e. to a movie, to dinner, etc.), offer to babysit them either at your house or your ex's (whatever your ex prefers). Your offer could be especially welcome during the holidays, as it is likely that your ex has parties to attend and shopping to do. Plus, you'll be saving your ex money on the costs of a babysitter.

3. Suggest a special event for the children. It may be possible for you to spend time with your children outside of scheduled visitation times by suggesting a special event that the children would enjoy -- such as going to see special holiday festivities happening in your town, having an annual cookie bake get together with good friends or some of the children's relatives, or going to a professional sporting event where the tickets were given to you as a holiday gift. It will be more persuasive if the event is on for a limited time (such as seeing The Nutcracker ballet, which is on stage for only a few weeks during the holidays).

4. Offer to pick-up your children. Your ex may welcome your offer to pick up the children from an activity that you otherwise normally wouldn't. You can also ask your ex for consent to take the children out for pizza or ice cream for an hour before dropping the children off.

5. Offer to host a "sleep over". This may work really well if your ex is planning on ringing in the new year at a party. Tell your ex to enjoy a well-deserved "night off" by letting you host a sleepover at your house, where your children can invite a friend.

6. Use Skype/webcam. For this to work, your children obviously need to have access to Skype and a webcam. Technology like this can help you stay in communication with your children on a more regular basis. So, take advantage of them when you can but remember to be respectful of bedtimes and other household rules.

In addition to the 6 options noted above, there are other ways to keep you better connected with your children when they are not physically in your care, such as:

- Calling or texting your children on their cell phones.
- Posting messages and photos via Facebook.

True, these technology-enhanced options are not the same as real "face time," but they are still meaningful ways of staying connected with your children in a manner that is appropriate, and won't offend your ex - or ruin your chances of negotiating more time in the future.

To successfully negotiate more time with your children, you would obviously need to have a pretty good relationship with your ex. If your ex is not open to accommodating any of your requests, and you feel that a change in parenting time is necessary, you can always elect to file a motion for modification of child custody or visitation. Additionally, if you find that your scheduled time with your children is being withheld by your ex-spouse, you can file an enforcement motion with the court to compel compliance.

--

For more information about divorce or other family law related matters or to download a free copy of my divorce guide, visit www.weinbergerlawgroup.com.

To watch the free "The 5 Critical Risks of Divorce -- and the heavy toll they take on you and your family's future" webinar, please visit www.freedivorcewebinar.com. The webinar will be available for viewing at any time on the site for your convenience, after which you will be able to arrange to speak with counselors from the firm to address any questions or to get more information.

Bari Weinberger, the founding partner of Weinberger Law Group, LLC, is a prominent and highly sought after New Jersey divorce and family law attorney. She is Certified by the Supreme Court of NJ as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, a certification achieved by only 2% of the attorneys in New Jersey. Ms. Weinberger is also the associate author of the New Jersey Family Law Practice, a 5-volume treatise utilized by virtually every family law judge and attorney in the State. Her practice is located in Morris County, just minutes from Morristown and she represents clients throughout NJ including the following: Bergen County, Essex County, Hudson County, Hunterdon County, Middlesex County, Monmouth County, Morris County, Ocean County, Passaic County, Somerset County, Sussex County, Union County and Warren County.

?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bari-zell-weinberger-esq/6-ways-divorced-parents-c_b_1159215.html

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Michael Douglas' Son Gets 4 1/2 More Years in Prison

At some point, people just have to learn their lesson. That day may have finally come for Cameron Douglas.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/michael-douglas-son-cameron-douglas-gets-more-jail-time/1-a-412925?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Amichael-douglas-son-cameron-douglas-gets-more-jail-time-412925

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Quote of the Day (Taegan Goddard's Political Wire)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/176532981?client_source=feed&format=rss

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The Hitch at Hay

And he did. And it was hilarious and savage and shocking and mesmerizing. Mother Teresa, Clinton, and Kissinger were indicted, of course; he did bisexuality, his relationship with his brother, and even his mother?s suicide. The darker it got, the funnier he was. He was much, much harder on himself than ever he was on the bad guys. He recited (dead-letter perfect) from Jefferson and Kapuscinski and Catullus; he improvised the filthiest, bawdiest limericks you can possibly imagine. Chaucer would have loved it. He finished the bottle at about 1 a.m. No one had left, and in all that time he?d never lost a thread of thought or slurred a single syllable. It was a great day. Not an assumption was left unchallenged, no orthodoxy tolerated.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=ba4452a487de27d5439c6db630be4e6c

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Fotopedia Shifts From iPad Books To Photozine With ?Wild Friends? App

Digital media is just more compelling when it is updated on a regular basis. That is what keeps people coming back. It's as true for blogs as it is for apps. Fotopedia has built a nice little franchise putting out digital photo books re-imagined for the iPad. After 9 apps and 6.2 million downloads, with 1.4 million active users and 100 million pageviews a month, it is taking a more magazine-like apporach with its latest iPad app, "Wild Friends.". Instead of a relatively static set of highly-curated pictures around a single topic, you get a highly-curated set of pictures that changes every day. And each photo now has a narrative caption written by the photographer. Fotopedia started experimenting with this more magazine-like approach in September with its HTML5 website and integration into Flipboard. You can see what the "Wild Friends" magazine looks like on the web also.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/mGq-DQShD-k/

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UK crime reporter arrested in corruption inquiry (AP)

LONDON ? Scotland Yard has arrested former News of the World crime editor Lucy Panton as part of the investigation into police corruption, a former employee and British media reported Thursday.

Police declined to confirm the report, saying only that a 37-year-old female journalist was arrested in Surrey, a county south of London, shortly before dawn. Authorities in Britain rarely name suspects until they have been charged.

Several U.K. media outlets named the journalist as Panton. A former News of the World employee also told The Associated Press that Panton was the person arrested, speaking anonymously because he still works in the media industry.

The phone hacking scandal in Britain has forced media mogul Rupert Murdoch to close the tabloid and prompted the arrests of more than a dozen former reporters. Several senior Murdoch lieutenants have been forced to resign because of the scandal.

Panton served as the News of the World's crime editor. A report in the Guardian newspaper earlier this year identified her as being married to a Scotland Yard detective.

Panton had high-level contact with the Metropolitan Police; a list of meetings made public earlier this year notes that then-Assistant Commissioner John Yates met Panton and her then-boss, News of the World editor Colin Myler, for dinner in November 2009.

That was only a few months after Yates had decided not to reopen the police investigation into allegations of systematic phone hacking at the paper. Yates was one of two top Scotland Yard officers to quit over his failure to tackle the scandal.

Myler, whose career as editor also was cut short by the scandal, on Thursday told a wide-ranging inquiry into media ethics that he had no reason to believe that phone hacking went beyond a single rogue when he took over at the paper in 2007.

But he told the inquiry that by 2008 he had changed his mind, citing an incriminating email uncovered during a lawsuit which suggested that others were involved in the practice.

That drew questions from inquiry lawyer Robert Jay, who asked why Myler was still suggesting to Press Complaints Committee in 2009 that only one rogue reporter was to blame for phone hacking.

When inquiry lawyer Robert Jay gently asked whether "it might be said that you didn't give them quite a full and frank answer. Can I suggest that?" Myler dodged the question, saying instead that he had "no reason not to give them a full and frank answer."

Myler wasn't pressed on the inconsistency, or on other apparent contradictions.

For example, Myler assured the inquiry that he and his team would "make sure that pictures were taken properly, not in breach of the (Britain's media) code."

But he wasn't quizzed about one of the most notorious incidents of his career, in which, as editor of the Sunday Mirror in 1993, he published hidden camera pictures of Princess Diana working out at a private gym.

The inquiry is charged with clearing the rot from Britain's scandal-tarred media industry, but the relaxed approach of the inquiry's cross-examination is facing criticism.

"It's a bit like being slapped around with a wet fish," said Mark Stephens, a media lawyer and consultant, who has worked for the AP in the past.

The inquiry, led by Lord Justice Brian Leveson, could recommend wide-ranging changes to Britain's media industry.

___

Associated Press writer Paisley Dodds contributed to this report.

___

Online:

Raphael G. Satter: http://twitter.com/razhael

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111215/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_phone_hacking

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Grammy-winning singer Cesaria Evora dies at age 70 (AP)

LISBON, Portugal ? Cesaria Evora, who started singing as a teenager in the bayside bars of Cape Verde in the 1950s and won a Grammy in 2003 after she took her African islands music to stages across the world, died Saturday. She was 70.

Evora, known as the "Barefoot Diva" because she always performed without shoes, died in the Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo, on her native island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde, her label Lusafrica said in a statement on its website. It gave no further details.

Evora retired in September because of health problems. In recent years she had had several operations, including open-heart surgery last year.

She sang the traditional music of the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa, a former Portuguese colony. She mostly sang in the version of creole spoken there, but even audiences who couldn't understand the lyrics were moved by her stirring renditions, her unpretentious manner and the music's infectious beat.

Her singing style brought comparisons to American jazz singer Billie Holiday. "She belongs to the aristocracy of bar singers," French newspaper Le Monde said in 1991, adding that Evora had "a voice to melt the soul."

Evora's international fame came late in life. Her 1988 album "La Diva Aux Pieds Nus" ("Barefoot Diva"), recorded in France where she first found popularity, launched her international career.

Her 1995 album "Cesaria" was released in more than a dozen countries and brought her first Grammy nomination, leading to a tour of major concert halls around the world and album sales in the millions.

She won a Grammy in the World Music category of the 2003 awards for her album "Voz D'Amor".

Evora, known to her close friends as Cize (pronounced see-ZEH), was the best-known performer of "morna," Cape Verde's national music. It is a complex, soulful sound, mixing an array of influences arising from the African and seafaring traditions of the 10 volcanic islands.

Evora was born Aug. 27, 1941, and grew up in Mindelo, a port city of 47,000 people on the island of Sao Vicente, where sailors from Europe, America, Africa and Asia mingled in what was a lively cosmopolitan town with a fabled nightlife.

The local musical style borrowed from those cultures, defying attempts to classify it.

"Our music is a lot of things," Evora told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview at her home. "Some say it's like the blues, or jazz. Others says it's like Brazilian or African music, but no one really knows. Not even the old ones."

Evora was 7 years old when her father died, leaving a widow and seven children. At 10, with her mother unable to make ends meet, she was placed in an orphanage.

"I didn't like it. I value my freedom," she told the AP.

At 16, when Evora was doing piecework as a seamstress, a friend persuaded her to sing in one of the many sailors' taverns in her town. As her popularity grew, she was also rowed out into the bay to sing on anchored ships.

She received no pay ? just free drinks. She used to smile when she recalled her fame as a heavy cognac drinker. And she sadly recalled the exact day ? Dec. 15, 1994 ? she had to give up drinking for her health's sake.

Evora didn't think much of her international stardom and she went back to Mindelo whenever she could. She rebuilt her childhood home, turning it into a 10-bedroom house where friends and family often stayed over, and she always made sure she was home for Christmas.

A heavy smoker for decades, Evora was diagnosed with heart problems in 2005. She suffered strokes in 2008 and in September 2011, when she announced she was retiring.

She had a son and a daughter by different men but never married. Family details were not immediately available.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_en_mu/eu_portugal_obit_evora

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