Zynga, Slowing Down, Still Beats Expectations

monster beats Zynga is still the king of gaming on Facebook, but its dazzling growth is starting to fade. The online game maker of hits like FarmVille and CityVille issued its fourth-quarter earnings report on Tuesday, its first since its initial public offering in December. Zynga recorded a profit of $37.2 million, or 5 cents a share, on an adjusted basis, a drop from the year-earlier period. While its revenue totaled $311.2 million, a 59 percent increase from the year-earlier period, it was a mere 1.4 percent gain from the previous quarter. Still, on both metrics, the company managed to beat analysts¡¯ expectations.¡°We saw great momentum in mobile and advertising and ended the year with a strong pipeline of new games,¡± Zynga¡¯s chief executive and founder, Mark Pincus, said in a statement.

monster headphones ¡°We are excited about the opportunities in front of us to continue delighting our current players and to bring play to millions of new people.¡± On an unadjusted basis, Zynga did report a net loss of $435 million, mainly because of $510 million in stock-based compensation to employees that was booked after the company¡¯s I.P.O. Investors moved cautiously after the late-day announcement. Shares of Zynga fell in after-hours trading after rising nearly 7 percent to close at $14.35.¡°It was a little softer than what we were expecting,¡± Ken Sena, an Evercore Partners analyst said in an interview late Tuesday, referring to the company¡¯s revenue. ¡°It¡¯s early days, but based on our view we do feel the stock price is ahead of itself.¡±

beats by dre headphones Zynga, which still makes the vast majority of its money on Facebook¡¯s platform, is trying to become less dependent on the world¡¯s largest social network and its original stable of hits. In the last few months, it has introduced two major franchises, CastleVille and Hidden Chronicles, and increased its investments in mobile platforms. The San Francisco-based company is also preparing to introduce Project Z, its independent gaming platform that uses Facebook Connect, which is currently being tested internally. In its earnings conference call with investors, Zynga said it was closely tracking the online gambling industry and would be well positioned to develop new projects in that category, based on the success of Zynga Poker, one of its earlier franchises.

beats by dr dre¡°We¡¯ve been investing heavily to build out our product pipeline,¡± said John Schappert, Zynga¡¯s chief operating officer, in an interview. ¡°The more fun, accessible and social a game is, the more players become payers.¡± Zynga¡¯s mobile platform had 15 million daily active users by the end of 2011, Mr. Schappert added. Converting more users into paying customers will be crucial to Zynga¡¯s future. Although it attracts about 240 million active users a month, the company¡¯s profitability is largely dependent on a fraction of its users that spend money on Zynga¡¯s virtual goods. The number of monthly unique payers increased about 13 percent to 2.9 million in the fourth quarter from the prior quarter.

dre beats Some analysts cautioned Tuesday that Wall Street might have to adjust its expectations for Zynga, since it is a blend of a technology company and a hits-driven entertainment company. Michael Pachter, a Wedbush Securities analyst, who considers himself to be fairly bullish on the stock, believes Zynga could double its revenue within three years, but he warned that earnings will fluctuate depending on the popularity of its games.¡°The problem with this business is that they invented it,¡± Mr. Pachter said. ¡°In many ways, I see them as an entertainment network and users will rise and fall based on their content.¡±

Moody's rating agency places UK on negative outlook

louis vuitton official outlet The statement from the Moody's ratings agency followed concerns about the possible impact of the eurozone crisis on the UK's growth prospects. It put the UK on "negative outlook", implying a 30% chance of losing its AAA credit rating within 18 months. France and Austria have also been warned and Italy, Spain and Portugal's ratings have been lowered. Chancellor George Osborne said the c omments from the US agency was not a criticism of his government's economic policy. "It was a reality check for the whole political system that Britain has to deal with its debts, that we can't waver in the path of dealing with our debts," Mr Osborne told the BBC. "This is yet another organisation - in this case a credit ratings agency - warning Britain that if we spend or borrow too much we're going to lose our credit rating," he added.

louis vuitton online outlet However, shadow chancellor Ed Balls said the Moody's statement was a warning to the UK. "Unless you have growth, if your plan is unbalanced it becomes self-defeating and today is the first evidence that even the ratings agencies are waking up to the fact George Osborne's plan is not working," he told the BBC. "I have said consistently and in the face of the views at times of ratings agencies, that without growth, without jobs, you can't get the deficit down," he added. BBC economics editor Stephanie Flanders said there was no suggestion that the agency would prefer the UK government to change its economic policy of austerity. However, she added the agency's warning means spending cuts may not prevent the UK losing its credit rating - if growth falls. In its statement, Moody's said: "Any further abrupt economic or fiscal deterioration would put into question the government's ability to place the debt burden on a downward trajectory by fiscal year 2015-16."

louis vuitton handbags outlet The downgrades had been justified by the "growing financial and macro economic" risks from the eurozone crisis, it said. Like personal credit scores, sovereign credit ratings are an indication of how risky it is to lend money to a country. A high credit rating from the three main agencies, Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch, implies that borrowing to fund public spending will be relatively cheap. If the rating is lowered this can push up the interest rate on new borrowing for governments. However, many analysts believe a fall in the UK's rating would have little effect. "It's all relative," said Laura Lambie from William de Broe "We did see America being downgraded, they lost their AAA rating last year and that didn't have a huge detriment, in actual fact it was reasonably positive they are still seen as a safe haven when compared to other countries such as Greece and Spain, and I suspect Britain will be the same." she added.

louis vuitton handbags on sale The UK's "negative outlook" is the lowest level of warning offered by the agency - and can be followed by a "negative watch" implying a more than 50% chance of downgrade. The agency said the UK faced three main risks to its top rating; slower growth and the possible impact on spending cuts, a sharp rise in borrowing costs due to inflation or a new crisis in the banking sector. However, the agency noted the UK "continues to be well supported by a large, diversified and highly competitive economy, a particularly flexible labour market, and a banking sector that compares favourably to peers in the euro area". Bad timing can be particularly painful on Wall Street. Billionaire hedge fund manager John Paulson might be feeling that pain in regards to his Bank of America position.Paulson & Co sold its entire stake of 64.3 million shares in Bank of America  sometime in the fourth quarter of 2011. At the time it may have seemed like an appropriate move since the bank¡¯s shares were down over 50% in 2011.

louis vuitton bags outlet The trouble for Paulson is that BofA shares have rallied big time in 2012 rising over 40% since January. Paulson was also holding  other big financial positions last year including  Citigroup. But SEC filings show he sold over 25 million shares of Citigroup valued at over $640 million at the end of the year. Meanwhile, Citi is up 20% so far this year. Overall the financial sector which suffered a pretty rough 2011 is off to a better start in 2012.  The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSE XLF) up 12%. It was down about 18% for 2011. Some of the turnaround this year can be attributed to a not-so-horrible fourth quarter earnings season for banks. That certainly  was the case for BofA which put to rest some questions about its capital position in its year-end earnings.

cheap louis vuitton bags Also, last week there was also a bit of relief for JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, BofA and Citi in the form of a settlement with the nation¡¯s attorneys general. After more than a year of investigations over improper foreclosure practices the banks agreed to pay up $26 billion to homeowners and their respective states over the matter. That removed some of the uncertainty around the cost of such litigation for banks but there¡¯s more overhang left regarding private investors who purchased mortgage securities. Indeed, not everyone is convinced BofA is out of the woods. Citigroup analyst Keith Horowitz dropped his rating on BofA to neutral today explaining that while the bank¡¯s capital positions are looking better its earnings outlook is still uncertain. The news sent BofA¡¯s shares down over 3% today to close at $7.98. JPM, Wells and Citi also closed in the red.

louis vuitton shoes outlet Still, that¡¯s a far cry from many of BofA¡¯s closing prices during much of the fourth quarter when the bank¡¯s shares were hovering between $5 and $6. Airlines got 79.6 percent of their domestic trips to the gate within 15 minutes of scheduled time in 2011, compared to 79.8 percent in 2010; while the number of canceled flights increased to 115,978, or 1.9 percent of all scheduled flights, from 113,255, or 1.8 percent of scheduled flights, in 2010. Alaska and Delta scored best among major carriers in on-time arrivals, according to the WSJ; while jetBlue Airways and American Airlines were the poorest performing major carriers. Meanwhile, according to CNN, there were 3.39 reports of mishandled bags per 1,000 passengers in 2011, compared with 3.51 in 2010.

louis vuitton shoes for men It cited the trade group Airlines for America as saying that was the best performance by the airlines in that category since the Department of Transportation started collecting data about luggage in 1988. The rate of bumped passengers also reached a record low since the department started collecting data in 1995, A4A reportedly said. However, the number of consumer complaints against US carriers reportedly remained relatively unchanged at 7,465 in 2011. Southwest Airlines had the lowest rate of complaints among US airlines, with just 0.32 complaints per 100,000 passengers, CNN reported. United Airlines had the highest number, with 2.21 complaints per 100,000 passengers.

Proposed settlement with banks over foreclosure practices dealt a setback

louis vuitton official outlet New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman abruptly called off a news conference at which he could have provided a crucial endorsement of a proposed settlement with some of the nation¡¯s biggest banks over shoddy foreclosure practices. Schneiderman¡¯s unexplained last-minute postponement cast another cloud of uncertainty over the ongoing negotiations, which have dragged on for more than 16 months. State and federal officials have been intent on finalizing the deal by the end of the week. Had Schneiderman backed the deal Tuesday, as several informed observers expected he would, it could have increased the likelihood that remaining holdouts such as California, Delaware and Nevada ¡ª which have shared Schneiderman¡¯s long-standing concerns that the settlement might let banks off the legal hook too easily ¡ª would also sign on.

louis vuitton online outlet More than 40 states have backed the proposed agreement, and officials leading the talks remain adamant that the multibillion-dollar deal will go forward whether New York and other undecided states participate or not. Schneiderman¡¯s blessing could help reassure liberal groups and consumer advocates who have been critical of the Obama administration over the proposed settlement, saying it doesn¡¯t go far enough in punishing banks for their actions and would help only a fraction of homeowners who need aid. One person familiar with the negotiations said several banks wanted Schneiderman to withdraw a suit he filed on Friday against prominent financial firms, saying they had acted deceptively by filing erroneous and fraudulent foreclosure documents through a popular electronic mortgage registry designed to allow firms to save time and money by bypassing local property recording requirements.

louis vuitton handbags outlet The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because the talks were ongoing. It was unclear whether Schneiderman had intended on Tuesday to address the status of those lawsuits during the news conference. At 2:11 p.m., Schneiderman¡¯s press office sent an advisory saying that he would ¡°make brief remarks¡± about the pending settlement during a 6 p.m. conference call, then take questions from reporters. At 5:49 p.m., the office sent another alert saying that the call had been ¡°postponed indefinitely.¡± The office did not respond to a request for comment. The current settlement stems from revelations in late 2010 that banks had filed hundreds of thousands of flawed and fraudulent foreclosure documents in their rush to keep up with a tidal wave of delinquent loans wrought by the housing crisis, a practice known as ¡°robosigning.¡±

louis vuitton handbags on sale Under the proposed deal, the five banks involved ¡ª Wells Fargo, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase, Ally Financial and Citigroup ¡ª would agree to end those practices and overhaul the often-convoluted way they deal with borrowers trying to stay in their homes. They also would pay about $25 billion that would go toward lowering loan balances for borrowers who owe more than their houses are worth, helping others refinance at lower rates and paying up to $2,000 to hundreds of thousands of people who lost homes to foreclosure. California¡¯s participation in the settlement could increase the final size of the agreement, given the large number of foreclosures in the state and the potential legal liability banks face there. A spokesman for Attorney General Kamala Harris, who previously had called the proposed settlement ¡°insufficient¡± for California homeowners, said she, too, had yet to make a final decision.

louis vuitton bags outlet Although fellow attorneys general prefer that Schneiderman support the deal, his long-standing criticism of the negotiations has caused acrimony and infighting. From the time he took office in January 2011, Schneiderman insisted that any robosigning settlement with banks should not grant a legal release from separate claims over how they bundled and sold mortgages to investors, a process known as ¡°securitization.¡± Rather, he argued in favor of a more comprehensive investigation of mortgage-related misdeeds aimed at reaching a larger settlement with banks down the line. Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, the top state official leading the negotiations, removed Schneiderman from the coalition¡¯s executive committee last summer, saying he had ¡°actively worked to undermine¡± the efforts to reach a settlement. The move backfired, with some lawmakers, editorial boards and liberal activists rallying behind Schneiderman and praising his skepticism of the talks and his push for more in-depth inquiries.

cheap louis vuitton bags Miller and others involved in crafting the deal felt bitter about what they saw as unfair misperceptions. They insisted they had no interest in letting banks off easy and were pushing for a narrow legal release so as not to hinder further investigations by Schneiderman and others. In his State of the Union address last month, President Obama announced a new task force of state and federal officials to further investigate mortgage misdeeds. The administration tapped Schneiderman to help lead that effort.Beyond rental delays, Iger expressed doubts about UltraViolet, the cloud-based technology being pushed by other studios as a way to encourage consumers to buy digital copies of movies and television shows. In theory that is something the studio would be interested in, particularly given that it cited a declining DVD market was one of the reasons for its weak studio revenue.

louis vuitton shoes outlet Also read: UltraViolet Arrives Soon: Will It Save the Day for Hollywood?Disney has thrown its weight behind developing its own digital locker called KeyChest, although Iger admitted the roll-out was behind schedule. It is the only major studio not to join the consortium behind UltraViolet, and Iger made it clear that Disney would not be reversing course any time soon. I don't want to sound too critical, but we're taking a wait-and-see approach on UltraViolet," Iger said. "I'm not suggesting that we're not open-minded about it, but so far I'm not sure that it's proven to be as robust as we'd expected or as consumer-friendly as we had hoped. Again, that's not to say that we wouldn't necessarily consider it, but it's way too early to conclude that." In another sign that the credit freeze is thawing, the Federal Reserve said Americans ramped up their borrowing at the end of 2011.Household borrowing through credit cards, car loans, student loans and other installment debt¡ªwhich excludes mortgages¡ªrose at a seasonally adjusted 9.3% annual rate in December, following a 9.9% rise in November, the Fed said Tuesday. That was the biggest two-month surge since late 2001, when auto makers rolled out zero-percent financing after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

louis vuitton shoes for men The most recent gains largely reflect more student loans, which at least one economist said could be a sign of financial strain. But auto loans and, to a lesser extent, credit-card use also rose. That marks a rebound in consumers' ability and willingness to borrow, which fell sharply after the 2008 crisisamid tighter credit, heavy household debt and rising unemployment. Heather Davidson of Collegeville, Pa., is among the Americans who are borrowing again after years of paying down debt. The 36-year-old and her husband spent several years paying off student loans and staying out of credit-card debt, earning a sterling credit score. Early last year, the couple starting talking about replacing their 2003 Ford Expedition. But they held off in part due to anxiety about the economy. In December, the couple got a loan to buy a $57,000 2012 Nissan Motor Co.Armada, taking on a $650 monthly payment for the next six years. Ms. Davidson said ultra-low interest rates and the recent economic strengthening of the economy influenced their decision. "We had looked at our budget, and it was something we knew we were comfortable affording," she said. "We could have afforded it the year before, we just chose to wait a little."

Glencore, Xstrata Seal Deal After Years of Talks

cheap louis vuitton belts Glencore International Plc¡¯s planned $41 billion takeover of Xstrata Plc (XTA), a combination years in the making, came together in just two months after a pivotal dinner in London last year between Xstrata Chief Executive Officer Mick Davis and Glencore¡¯s Ivan Glasenberg. The two executives met at a hotel in London¡¯s West End in early December to iron out the basis for talks that would fuse their enterprises, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified because the talks were private. After reaching an agreement, they then brought in 18 advisers from half a dozen banks to hammer out the details of the all- share ¡°merger of equals¡± announced yesterday. Glencore, which already holds 34 percent of the Zug, Switzerland-based mining company, offered 2.8 of its shares for every Xstrata share, valuing the rest of Xstrata at 26 billion pounds ($41 billion) in the largest mining takeover ever.

replica louis vuitton handbags The companies spent about six to seven years laying the groundwork for the deal, Xstrata CEO Davis, who will lead the combined company, said yesterday at a press conference. Negotiations, however, only gathered steam following Glencore¡¯s $10 billion IPO in May, from which point the executives spoke ¡°every few weeks,¡± CEO Glasenberg said in an interview. Glencore¡¯s offering expedited the talks because it gave Xstrata shareholders an idea of how to value the commodities trader, a crucial step before trying to strike a non-cash transaction. The share sale, which valued Glencore at $59 billion, also gave the commodities trader the firepower necessary to carry out the takeover. By that point, the two companies had brought in Michael Klein, the former vice chairman of Citigroup Inc. who struck out on his own in 2008, to act as a broker between Davis and Glasenberg.

fake louis vuitton bags uk Throughout most of the negotiations, Klein played an important role relaying the two CEOs¡¯ demands and helping them come to terms, according to people with knowledge of the talks. Klein was listed on the merger announcement as a strategic consultant to both companies. A spokesman for Baar, Switzerland-based Glencore declined to comment, and an Xstrata spokeswoman wasn¡¯t available. By late last year, Davis, 53, and Glasenberg, 55, were ready to take the next step, and began planning the merger in earnest, the people said. When Bloomberg broke the news of the talks on Feb. 2, Glasenberg was at a conference in Moscow. Xstrata¡¯s board was set to meet that same day and Glencore¡¯s on Feb. 3, as the final details were being hashed out for the deal to create a company to rival BHP Billiton Ltd.

cheap louis vuitton bags sale That agreement, which includes giving Davis the role of CEO and making Glasenberg his deputy, reunites two men who first crossed paths more than 30 years ago at South Africa¡¯s University of the Witwatersrand, where Davis taught and Glasenberg received an accounting degree. Glasenberg later joined the commodities trader Marc Rich & Co., which was renamed Glencore in 1994 after a management buyout. By then, the company had acquired a stake in Sudelektra AG, a Swiss infrastructure investment company that was renamed Xstrata in 1999. Davis, who had helped orchestrate the merger of BHP with Billiton Plc in 2001, left the combined company to become CEO of Xstrata months later. Xstrata listed on the London Stock Exchange the following year, at the same time acquiring the Australian and South African coal assets of Glencore, still its largest shareholder.

louis vuitton wallet for women As partners, Davis and Glasenberg will now have to convince shareholders of the merits of the deal and the price, which has some investors balking. Garnering their support may yet draw out the final stretches of a deal almost a decade in the making. Yahoo¡¯s chairman, Roy Bostock, and three other directors are to step down as part of a boardroom clear-out, marking the latest attempt to win back investor confidence as the US internet company pursues a change in strategic direction.Mr Bostock announced the board-level changes, which include two new independent directors, in a letter to shareholders on Tuesday. Also stepping down at this year¡¯s annual meeting will be Vyomesh Joshi, Arthur Kern and Gary Wilson. Mr Bostock added that Maynard Webb, a former number two at Ebay, and Alfred Amoroso, who once served on IBM¡¯s top management committee, have been elected to replace them, and a search is under way for other independent directors.

louis vuitton wallets for men The moves, which will leave Yahoo with a seven-member board appointed entirely since 2010, following intense pressure from Wall Street over a number of recent missteps, including the handling of leadership succession and the failure of negotiations over an acquisition by Microsoft in 2008. The timing of the announcement raised questions about whether Yahoo¡¯s effort to sell its large minority stakes in Yahoo Japan and Alibaba had slowed, since that might have prompted the company to accelerate the announcement of its planned board changes as a way to appease investors. In his letter, Mr Bostock said progress was being made on the strategic front, including in the talks with Yahoo¡¯s Asian partners, but added: ¡°The complexity and unique nature of these transactions is significant.¡±One person familiar with the sale negotiations said they were still making progress and might reach a conclusion in March, though Yahoo¡¯s hopes of reaching the outline of a deal before the end of this month appeared to have been dashed.

louis vuitton mens wallets¡°If this is going slower than Yahoo had hoped, it¡¯s because it¡¯s very complicated,¡± this person said. Another person familiar with the talks said they were unlikely to be delayed by the board changes. The deal being discussed, known as a ¡°cash-rich split¡±, would allow Yahoo to escape taxes on its profits from the investments, though part of the payment would have to come in the form of companies or other operating assets that it could run alongside its own business.Time has been running out for Yahoo to head off a shareholder battle at its annual meeting, which usually takes place in June. Dan Loeb of New York hedge fund Third Point has threatened a proxy fight to replace directors and would need to submit proposals by late March ¨C putting pressure Yahoo to convince shareholders before then that it is making progress with both internal changes and its strategic revamp.

louis vuitton jewellery Yahoo has already won some support from shareholders this year for its appointment of former PayPal boss Scott Thompson as its new chief executive and the resignation from the board of Jerry Yang, the co-founder who some blamed for the failure of the Microsoft acquisition talks. However, the rest of the board has continued to face pressure following the failure of Carol Bartz, who was sacked as chief executive last September, to turn Yahoo around, and the slow pace of the strategic overhaul since then. Mr Bostock said the changes on the board would ¡°accelerate the company¡¯s transformation¡±. The move would be a departure for the studio. Unlike Warner Bros., Universal and other major studios, Disney has largely resisted the temptation to push back release windows for home entertainment chains like Blockbuster and Netflix.

louis vuitton jewelry replica Also read: Theme Parks, Cable Networks Drive Disney's Q1 Earnings Iger said that the studio is currently in discussions with the kiosk company about making it wait nearly a month before they can buy DVDs and Blu-rays directly from Disney. "We feel that would be a wise thing for us to do," Iger said.  He noted that because of the First Sale doctrine companies like Redbox can buy discs from third-party distributors if they do not want to honor release window delays. That's precisely what the kiosk company plans to do with Warner Bros. movies now that the parties have failed to come to a deal about extending release windows to 56 days.

Live blog: Santorum wins Missouri primary

abercrombie and fitch outlet We're live-blogging the results from GOP presidential contests in Minnesota, Missouri and Colorado. Rick Santorum has scored the first victory of the night with a win in Missouri. He's battling with Mitt Romney in Minnesota, while Romney is looking to Colorado for his fourth win in a GOP primary or caucus. Scroll down for updates. Santorum was the only candidate to campaign in Missouri, whose primary had nothing to do with the allocation of GOP convention delegates. Still, the symbolism is important to the former Pennsylvania senator, who appears to be defeating Romney by a 2 to 1 margin. His last win came in Iowa. Santorum is supposed to speak tonight from St. Charles, Mo. It's official: AP has called Santorum the winner of the Missouri primary. CNN is projecting Rick Santorum has won the Missouri primary.

abercrombie outlet More than one-quarter of the votes are counted in Missouri and Santorum has more than half the GOP vote. He's followed by Romney and Paul. Gingrich isn't on the Missouri ballot. Jon Huntsman's daughters are back! The popular Twitter feed of Abby, Liddy and Mary Anne is promoting the former GOP presidential candidate's appearance this evening on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. We're sorry we missed @Jon2012girls hilarious Super Bowl related tweets, but check them out for yourself. We blogged earlier today about Huntsman's post-presidential campaign plans. Paul is knocking the Federal Reserve and its monetary policy. He gets huge applause for his line about auditing the Fed, one of the cornerstones of his campaign. "Make sure they're actually holding the gold they claim they're holding," he says.

abercrombie and fitch sale CNN is showing Ron Paul, who is speaking at a caucus in Maple Grove, Minn. He begins by telling the crowd he's delivered 4,000 babies as an obstetrician-gynecologist, and gets applause by talking about his military service. "I've been campaigning for the cause of liberty for a long time," the Texas congressman says, saying politicians who don't obey the Constitution are the biggest source of problems in Washington. Some very early returns from Missouri show Romney leading Santorum. A reminder that this is a GOP "beauty contest," since it's not part of any delegate selection process. The Show Me state's national convention delegates will be chosen at district conventions in April and a state convention in June. Romney is slated to give a major economic address Feb. 24 at the home stadium of football's Detroit Lions, ahead of the Michigan primary.

abercrombie sale The Associated Press says the former Massachusetts governor's address to the Detroit Economic Club quickly sold out at a local hotel, so the speech was moved to Ford Field. The Michigan primary is Feb. 28. Romney was born in Michigan, and his father was governor of the state and ran American Motors. Newt Gingrich tells CNN that tonight's results will show the "elite media" can no longer consider Mitt Romney the "inevitable" GOP presidential nominee. Gingrich says he is looking forward to the Super Tuesday contests on March 6 to build support for his campaign. Rick Santorum is poised to win in Minnesota and Missouri, two of the three states that vote tonight. Romney is expected to do well in Colorado. Gingrich repeated his vow to stay in the race through the Republican National Convention in Tampa. He said it's not "harmful" to have a contested GOP primary. Can Rick Santorum win two states in the first night of multistate contests in the GOP presidential race? We'll be live blogging results from the GOP caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and Missouri's primary. No delegates will be awarded tonight, so it's all about bragging rights and momentum for the four-man Republican field.

abercrombie sale uk USA TODAY's Susan Page and Jackie Kucinich will have more in Wednesday's editions. Polls show Santorum, who won the Iowa caucuses, with leads over GOP front-runner Mitt Romney in Minnesota and Missouri. The former Pennsylvania senator asked Missouri supporters to help him "reset" the race. Romney is looking to Colorado for his fourth win this year in the race for the Republican nomination. His campaign is playing down its expectations, in a memo that emphasizes the former Massachusetts governor's long-term plans. "Of course, there is no way to win first place in every single race," Romney's political director Rich Beeson wrote in the campaign memo. The Colorado outcome could be the most important, since the state is one of about a dozen swing states where the general election with President Obama will be fought the hardest. Newt Gingrich has been spending the day campaigning in Ohio, which votes on March 6 as part of the Super Tuesday contests. Ron Paul is looking ahead to a straw poll Saturday in Maine.

Greek Haggling Drags on as Meeting to Seal Terms of Second Bailout Delayed

beats by dre Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos is set to negotiate with leaders of the political parties supporting his caretaker government after Athens missed another deadline to secure a second aid package. Papademos will see the chiefs in Athens today after delaying the meeting for a second time in as many days while Greek officials and international creditors haggle over the terms. Late last night, he held an unscheduled meeting with the so-called troika, comprising the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to put the final touches on terms required for a 130 billion-euro ($172 billion) rescue package. Yesterday¡¯s delay was yet another hitch in completing a package that¡¯s been on the table since July. The government is struggling to arrange financing to avert a collapse of the economy, risking a new round of contagion in the euro area. With the country facing a 14.5 billion-euro bond payment on March 20, German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned this week that ¡°time is running out¡± to reach an accord.

dre beats The tussling in Athens threatens to hold up a critical element of the second financing package, that of a debt swap that will slice 100 billion euros off more than 200 billion euros of privately-held debt. The rescue blueprint includes a loss of more than 70 percent for bondholders in the voluntary debt exchange as well as loans that will probably exceed the 130 billion euros now on the table. The European Central Bank is prepared to swap its holdings of Greek government bonds to contribute to a reduction of the country¡¯s debt burden, Dow Jones reported yesterday, citing unidentified people briefed on the talks. The agreement could reduce Greece¡¯s debt by as much as 11 billion euros, Dow Jones said. A formal offer for the debt swap must be made by Feb. 13 to allow all procedures to be completed before the March 20 bond comes due. Parliament may be called to vote on the terms of the writedown on Feb. 12, state-runs Athens News Agency reported yesterday, without saying how it got the information.

beats by dr dre Papademos met last night for ¡°constructive¡± talks with Charles Dallara, managing director of the International Institute of Finance, which has negotiated the terms of the swap, and Deutsche Bank AG Chairman Josef Ackermann, according to an IIF statement. Creditors are prepared to accept an average coupon of as low as 3.6 percent on new 30-year bonds in the exchange, said a person familiar with the talks, who declined to be identified because a final deal hasn¡¯t been struck yet.  While the prime minister and party chiefs have agreed to make further cuts this year equal to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product, they have yet to close gaps over measures demanded by creditors for the rescue. Unions, which struck yesterday, have derided the conditions as ¡°blackmail.¡± ¡°There is a path here for Greece, there is a way out for Greece, if it wants to take it but there¡¯s no denying this will be tough.

cheap beats by dre Grant Lewis, an economist at Daiwa Capital Europe Ltd. in London, said in a radio interview with Bloomberg¡¯s Ken Prewitt yesterday. ¡°You are talking about multi-year austerity packages against a backdrop of an economy that¡¯s shrinking very rapidly.¡± A Greek official said earlier yesterday the government and international creditors were close to a final draft of an agreement on budget and structural measures needed to extend the financial lifeline. Another official said earlier yesterday talks were focused on how to make up for a 550 million-euro shortfall in new austerity measures for this year. At stake is whether Greece wins the bailout, secures a debt write-off with private creditors and remains in the euro region. Failure and the country¡¯s bankruptcy, means even greater sacrifice, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos has warned.

beats by dre studio The euro rose 0.9 percent to $1.3254 at 10:16 p.m. Athens time after touching $1.3270, the highest level since Dec. 12. The Stoxx Europe 600 Index slipped 0.3 percent.  With elections due as early as April, Greek political leaders are arguing over demands such as ensuring the viability of pension funds and reducing wage- and non-wage costs to boost competitiveness.  Efforts to win a second bailout from the troika have hung in the balance over the past five days as lenders demand officials sign up to measures ranging from a cut in the minimum wage, lower pensions and immediate layoffs for as many as 15,000 state employees.  Merkel said yesterday that the impact of a Greek exit from the euro would be ¡°incalculable,¡± and restated her determination to keep Greece in the single currency region. ¡°I don¡¯t want Greece to leave the euro and therefore the question doesn¡¯t arise,¡± Merkel said in a speech in Berlin. ¡°I won¡¯t take part in any effort to push Greece out of the euro. It would have incalculable consequences.¡±

beats solo Even so, Merkel said that there is ¡°no way around¡± Greece carrying out reforms. Greece is in a ¡°very complicated situation¡±, she said. The troika argues that lower wage costs and pension cuts are among reforms necessary to boost competitiveness in the country. Those opposed say the cuts would deepen the country¡¯s recession, now in its fifth year. Antonis Samaras, the head of the second-biggest party, New Democracy, has indicated he will oppose measures that will deepen the country¡¯s downturn. George Karatzaferis, the head of Laos, one of the three supporting Papademos, said he would seek assurances that the measures would lead the country out of the crisis. Guarantees from Greek leaders such as Samaras, who is ahead in opinion polls, are key to securing the funds. International lenders want assurances that whoever wins the next election will stick to pledges made now to receive financing.

Samaras¡¯s party has 31 percent support from voters, according to a Public Issue poll, compared with 8 percent for the socialist Pasok party, which is the biggest party in the current parliament. The survey of 1,002 Greeks showed a growing number of Greeks wanting elections immediately and waning support both for Papademos and the parties that back him.

California gay marriage ban struck down, appeals court cites equal rights

louis vuitton outlet By striking down California's ban on same-sex marriage, a divided federal appeals court on Tuesday became the first in the nation to conclude a state has no compelling social or legal justification for denying gay and lesbian couples the right to wed. The ruling draws the U.S. Supreme Court closer than ever into the gay marriage fray. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals emphatically declared voter-approved Proposition 8 to be unconstitutional. But its 2-1 ruling revealed a deep split in judicial philosophy over a state's ability to forbid same-sex marriage, offering a preview of the possible Supreme Court debate to come. In the interim, same-sex weddings in California are not expected to resume Proposition 8 backers press forward with plans to appeal. The decision upheld former San Francisco Chief U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker, who invalidated Proposition 8 in 2010 after an unprecedented trial.

www.louisvuittonoutletjan.com Gay rights advocates rallied behind Tuesday's ruling, conservatives from family values groups to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney decried it and legal experts predicted it would face equal division whenever it reaches the Supreme Court. "Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples," wrote Stephen Reinhardt, one of the nation's most liberal judges, who was joined by Judge Michael Daly Hawkins. In his dissent, N. Randy Smith, a conservative appointee of former President George W. Bush, concluded California has a constitutional basis to restrict the definition of marriage to a union between a man and woman. He wrote there were "legitimate governmental interests" in banning gay marriage, such as arguments it promotes procreation and is better suited to raising children.

louis vuitton outlet The distinction is crucial because any government-imposed restrictions on a particular group must be supported by "rational" reasons to be constitutional. Proposition 8 backers can now ask the 9th Circuit to rehear the case with an 11-judge panel, or proceed directly to the Supreme Court. Either way, same-sex marriages will await the legal process, with further appeals likely to stretch at least into next year. The 9th Circuit put its decision on hold for at least two weeks to give Proposition 8 supporters time to appeal, as they quickly pledged to do. Any 9th Circuit judge can also call for a vote on whether to rehear the case, which would require a majority vote of the court's 25 full-time judges.

S. Korea Unofficial Delegation Heads North as Kim Role Elevated

abercrombie and fitch sale Hyundai Group¡¯s chairwoman and a former South Korean first lady crossed into the North on a private visit as their government¡¯s restrictions on condolences for the death of Kim Jong Il drew warnings of ¡°unpredictable catastrophic consequences¡± from the regime in Pyongyang. Lee Hee Ho, the 89-year-old widow of former President Kim Dae Jung, said it was her duty to offer condolences. Lee and Hyundai¡¯s Hyun Jeong Eun are leading 18 South Koreans who are expected to arrive in the North Korean capital about 11:30 a.m. local time, according the Unification Ministry in Seoul. The reaction to any attempts by the South to bar citizens from paying respect for the former dictator Kim underscored efforts to buttress the position of the deceased leader¡¯s son, Kim Jong Un. The ruling party named the younger Kim head of its central committee, and the official Korean Central News Agency started referring to him as ¡°supreme leader of the revolutionary armed forces¡± and ¡°tender-hearted father.¡±

abercrombie sale The DPRK will never tolerate anyone checking mourners,¡± the North¡¯s official news service said yesterday, citing the state-run Committee for Peaceful Reunification of Korea and referring to the nation by its official name, the Democratic People¡¯s Republic of Korea. ¡°The South Korean authorities should bear in mind that their obstructions will entail unpredictable catastrophic consequences to the North-South relations. No government officials from Seoul will pay condolences, according to the Unification Ministry, which oversees policy toward North Korea. South Korea, which prohibits its citizens from traveling to the North except to visit the jointly run Gaeseong industrial complex, gave special permission for Lee and Hyun. Private individuals and groups, also banned by South Korean law from praising the North Korean regime, are being allowed to send condolences via mail or fax. While the Lee and Hyun delegation didn¡¯t say if it would see Kim Jong Un, who is thought to be in his late 20s, such a meeting is likely, according to Paik Hak Soon, director of North Korean studies at Seongnam, South Korea-based  Sejong Institute. Chances of any political progress are limited, Paik said.

abercrombie kids uk In the U.S., Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican on the chamber¡¯s Foreign Relations Committee, said he is concerned that the transition to a new North Korean leader could provide an opening for the transfer of nuclear materials out of the country. Some in the country might try to sell this to others because of the economic crisis that they have,¡± Lugar said on CNN¡¯s ¡°State of the Union¡± program. ¡°That would certainly be one of the missions that I would be most concerned about.¡± Paik said a flurry of official statements hailing the younger Kim over the past week indicates that he may be given the highest formal roles in the country more quickly than was his father, who waited three years for the titles following the death of the nation¡¯s founder, Kim Il Sung. Jang Song Thaek, an ally and brother-in-law of Kim Jong Il, was shown in military uniform for the first time on state television yesterday, Yonhap news reported. Jang¡¯s role within the power structure is widening and this will help him guide and protect the young leader, said Kim Yong Hyun, a professor of North Korea studies at Dongguk University in Seoul.

abercrombie uk The group that left today is traveling by land and crossed the border about 8:30 a.m. through the Demilitarized Zone near the village of Panmunjom, where a cease-fire that ended fighting in the Korean War was signed in 1953. South Korea¡¯s government on Dec. 20 expressed ¡°sympathy¡± to the people of North Korea over Kim¡¯s Dec. 17 death, stopping short of offering formal condolences. His funeral is planned for Dec. 28. Chung Ju Yung, the late founder of the Hyundai Group, herded cattle across the border during a famine in the North in 1998, expressing his desire to reunite the two Koreas. Kim Dae Jung traveled to Pyongyang for a landmark summit with his North Korean counterpart in 2000, part of his so-called Sunshine Policy that attempted to defuse tension on the peninsula.

abercrombie and fitch outlet Seven people believed to be related had opened their Christmas gifts and started cleaning up the wrapping paper when they were shot to death in a suburban Fort Worth apartment, police said Sunday. Authorities said they believe the shooter is among the dead. Four women and three men, aged 18 to 60, were found in an adjoining kitchen and living room area when police entered the apartment around midday, said Grapevine Police Sgt. Robert Eberling. Two handguns were found near the bodies in the apartment that was decorated for the holiday with a tree, he added. "It appears they had just celebrated Christmas. They had opened their gifts," Eberling said. The victims have not yet been identified, but Eberling said it appears they all died of gunshot wounds. He said authorities still don't know what sparked the incident. Police and firefighters rushed to the Lincoln Vineyards complex after receiving an open-ended 911 call at about 11:30 a.m., Eberling said.

abercrombie outlet "There was an open line. No one was saying anything," he explained. So police went into the apartment, located in a middle-class, suburban neighborhood of Grapevine, not far from the upscale Fort Worth neighborhood of Colleyville. The apartment is at the back of the complex, overlooking the athletic fields of Colleyville Heritage High School. But many of the nearby apartments are vacant, and police said no neighbors reported hearing anything on a quiet Christmas morning when many people were not around. Christy Posch, a flight attendant who moved to the complex about six months ago so her son could attend the high school, said she lives a few buildings away and did not hear any gunshots. Pope Benedict XVI issued pleas for peace to reign across the world during his traditional Christmas address Sunday, a call marred by Muslim extremists who bombed a Catholic church in Nigeria, striking after worshippers celebrated Mass.

louis vuitton outlet The assault on the Catholic church left 35 dead in Madalla, near the Nigerian capital. A failed bombing also occurred near a church in the city of Jos, followed by a shooting that killed a police officer. The blast came a year after a series of Christmas Eve bombs in Jos claimed by Islamist militants killed 32. Benedict didn't refer explicitly to the Nigerian bombings in his "Urbi et Orbi" speech, Latin for "to the city and to the world" in which he raises alarm about world hotspots. But in a statement, the Vatican called the attacks a sign of "cruelty and absurd, blind hatred" that shows no respect for human life. Elsewhere, Christmas was celebrated with the typical joy of the season: In Cuba, Catholics had plenty to cheer as they prepared for Benedict's March arrival, the first visit by a pontiff to the Communist-run island since John Paul II's historic tour nearly 14 years ago."We have faith in God that we will be allowed to have this treat," said Rogelio Montes de Oca, 72, as he stood outside the Cathedral in Old Havana. "Not every country will have the chance to see him physically and receive his blessing."

Decades Later, a Cold War Secret Is Revealed

hollister clothing For more than a decade they toiled in the strange, boxy-looking building on the hill above the municipal airport, the building with no windows (except in the cafeteria), the building filled with secrets. They wore protective white jumpsuits, and had to walk through air-shower chambers before entering the sanitized "cleanroom" where the equipment was stored. Few knew the true identity of "the customer" they met in a smoke-filled, wood-paneled conference room where the phone lines were scrambled. When they traveled, they sometimes used false names. At one point in the 1970s there were more than 1,000 people in the Danbury area working on The Secret. And though they worked long hours under intense deadlines, sometimes missing family holidays and anniversaries, they could tell no one ¡ª not even their wives and children ¡ª what they did. They were engineers, scientists, draftsmen and inventors ¡ª "real cloak-and-dagger guys," says Fred Marra, 78, with a hearty laugh.

hollister outlet He is sitting in the food court at the Danbury Fair mall, where a group of retired co-workers from the former Perkin-Elmer Corp. gather for a weekly coffee. Gray-haired now and hard of hearing, they have been meeting here for 18 years. They while away a few hours nattering about golf and politics, ailments and grandchildren. But until recently, they were forbidden to speak about the greatest achievement of their professional lives. Ah, Hexagon," Ed Newton says, gleefully exhaling the word that stills feels almost treasonous to utter in public. It was dubbed "Big Bird" and it was considered the most successful space spy satellite program of the Cold War era. From 1971 to 1986 a total of 20 satellites were launched, each containing 60 miles of film and sophisticated cameras that orbited the earth snapping vast, panoramic photographs of the Soviet Union, China and other potential foes. The film was shot back through the earth's atmosphere in buckets that parachuted over the Pacific Ocean, where C-130 Air Force planes snagged them with grappling hooks.

hollister clothes The scale, ambition and sheer ingenuity of Hexagon KH-9 was breathtaking. The fact that 19 out of 20 launches were successful (the final mission blew up because the booster rockets failed) is astonishing. So too is the human tale of the 45-year-old secret that many took to their graves. Hexagon was declassified in September. Finally Marra, Newton and others can tell the world what they worked on all those years at "the office." "My name is Al Gayhart and I built spy satellites for a living," announced the 64-year-old retired engineer to the stunned bartender in his local tavern as soon as he learned of the declassification. He proudly repeats the line any chance he gets. "It was intensely demanding, thrilling and the greatest experience of my life," says Gayhart, who was hired straight from college and was one of the youngest members of the Hexagon "brotherhood".

hollister jeans He describes the white-hot excitement as teams pored over hand-drawings and worked on endless technical problems, using "slide-rules and advanced degrees" (there were no computers), knowing they were part of such a complicated space project. The intensity would increase as launch deadlines loomed and on the days when "the customer" ¡ª the CIA and later the Air Force ¡ª came for briefings. On at least one occasion, former President George H.W. Bush, who was then CIA director, flew into Danbury for a tour of the plant. Though other companies were part of the project ¡ª Eastman Kodak made the film and Lockheed Corp. built the satellite ¡ª the cameras and optics systems were all made at Perkin-Elmer, then the biggest employer in Danbury. There were many days we arrived in the dark and left in the dark," says retired engineer Paul Brickmeier, 70.

hollister shirts He recalls the very first briefing on Hexagon after Perkin-Elmer was awarded the top secret contract in 1966. Looking around the room at his 30 or so colleagues, Brickmeier thought, "How on Earth is this going to be possible?" One thing that made it possible was a hiring frenzy that attracted the attention of top engineers from around the Northeast. Perkin-Elmer also commissioned a new 270,000-square-foot building for Hexagon ¡ª the boxy one on the hill. Waiting for clearance was a surreal experience as family members, neighbors and former employers were grilled by the FBI, and potential hires were questioned about everything from their gambling habits to their sexuality. They wanted to make sure we couldn't be bribed," Marra says. Clearance could take up to a year. During that time, employees worked on relatively minor tasks in a building dubbed "the mushroom tank" ¡ª so named because everyone was in the dark about what they had actually been hired for.

hollister kids Joseph Prusak, 76, spent six months in the tank. When he was finally briefed on Hexagon, Prusak, who had worked as an engineer on earlier civil space projects, wondered if he had made the biggest mistake of his life. "I thought they were crazy," he says. "They envisaged a satellite that was 60-foot long and 30,000 pounds and supplying film at speeds of 200 inches per second. The precision and complexity blew my mind." Several years later, after numerous successful launches, he was shown what Hexagon was capable of ¡ª an image of his own house in suburban Fairfield. "This was light years before Google Earth," Prusak said. "And we could clearly see the pool in my backyard." There had been earlier space spy satellites ¡ª Corona and Gambit. But neither had the resolution or sophistication of Hexagon, which took close-range pictures of Soviet missiles, submarine pens and air bases, even entire battalions on war exercises.

hollister outlet online According to the National Reconnaissance Office, a single Hexagon frame covered a ground distance of 370 nautical miles, about the distance from Washington to Cincinnati. Early Hexagons averaged 124 days in space, but as the satellites became more sophisticated, later missions lasted twice as long. "At the height of the Cold War, our ability to receive this kind of technical intelligence was incredible," says space historian Dwayne Day. "We needed to know what they were doing and where they were doing it, and in particular if they were preparing to invade Western Europe. Hexagon created a tremendous amount of stability because it meant American decision makers were not operating in the dark." Among other successes, Hexagon is credited with providing crucial information for the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1970s.

hollister sale From the outset, secrecy was a huge concern, especially in Danbury, where the intense activity of a relatively small company that had just been awarded a massive contract (the amount was not declassified) made it obvious that something big was going on. Inside the plant, it was impossible to disguise the gigantic vacuum thermal chamber where cameras were tested in extreme conditions that simulated space. There was also a "shake, rattle and roll room" to simulate conditions during launch "The question became, how do you hide an elephant?" a National Reconnaissance Office report stated at the time. It decided on a simple response: "What elephant?" Employees were told to ignore any questions from the media, and never confirm the slightest detail about what they worked on.

But it was impossible to conceal the launches at Vandenberg Air Force base in California, and aviation magazines made several references to "Big Bird." In 1975, a "60 Minutes" television piece on space reconnaissance described an "Alice in Wonderland" world, where American and Soviet intelligence officials knew of each other's "eyes in the sky" ¡ª and other nations did, too ¡ª but no one confirmed the programs or spoke about them publicly.

Woman loses parents, 3 kids in Christmas fire

hollister A fire tore through the home of an advertising executive in a tony neighborhood along the Connecticut shoreline Sunday, killing her three children and both of her parents on Christmas morning. Madonna Badger, who bought the large Victorian home last year, was able to get out of the house, along with an acquaintance. Police Sgt. Paul Guzda said Badger's three daughters — a 10-year-old and 7-year-old twins — were killed. He said her parents, who were visiting for the holiday, also died. Police officers drove Badger's husband, Matthew Badger, from New York City to Stamford on Sunday morning. Guzda said the male acquaintance was a contractor who was doing work on the home. Badger, an ad executive in the fashion industry, is the founder of Badger & Winters Group. A supervisor at Stamford Hospital said she was treated and discharged. Neighbors awakened to the sound of screaming and rushed outside to help, but they could only watch in horror as flames devoured the grand home in the pre-dawn darkness and the shocked, injured survivors were led away from the house.

hollister uk "It is a terrible, terrible day," Mayor Michael Pavia told reporters at a news briefing at the scene of the fire. "There probably has not been a worse Christmas day in the city of Stamford." The fire was reported shortly before 5 a.m. Firefighters were able to rescue Badger and another adult from the house in Shippan Point, a neighborhood that juts into Long Island Sound, Acting Fire Chief Antonio Conte said."We had our hands full from the moment we arrived on the scene," he said. Firefighters knew there were other people in the home but could not get to them because the flames were too large and the heat too intense, Conte said, his voice cracking with emotion. "It's never easy. That's for sure," he said. "I've been on this job 38 years ... not an easy day."Conte said fire officials don't yet know the cause of the blaze and likely won't get clues for a few days until fire marshals can enter the structure.

hollister sale By Sunday evening, the roof of the blackened house had largely collapsed. A spokesman for Stamford Hospital said one of the survivors was listed in fair condition; he did not know the condition of the other. A neighbor, Sam Cingari Jr., said he was awakened by the sound of screaming and saw that the house was engulfed by flames. "We heard this screaming at 5 in the morning," he said. "The whole house was ablaze and I mean ablaze." Cingari said he did not know his neighbors, who he said bought the house last year and were renovating it. The 3,349-square foot (311.13-sq. meter), five-bedroom home sold for $1.7 million in December 2010, according to the Stamford assessment office's website. Charles Mangano, who lives nearby, said his wife woke him up and alerted him to the fire. He ran outside to see if he could help. "I heard someone yell `Help, help, help me!' and I started sprinting up my driveway," Mangano told The Advocate of Stamford. There were already numerous firetrucks on the scene.

hollister clothing "I just came out as neighbor," Mangano said. "There's really nothing I could do." He told the newspaper he saw a barefoot man wearing boxers and a woman being taken out of the house. The outdoor temperature at the time was below freezing, according to the National Weather Service. The woman said, "My whole life is in there," Mangano said. "They were both obviously in a state of shock." Concord, N.H. • Mitt Romney’s wife gushes about his silly side and devotion to their five sons and 16 grandchildren. Rick Santorum’s college-age daughter opines online about missing the campus coffee shop and chats with friends about their Friday night plans. Jon Huntsman’s daughters generate much-needed buzz for him with a joint Twitter account and online videos, including at least one that went viral.

hollister hoodies Days away from voting in the Republican presidential race, the path to the nomination is quickly becoming a crowded family affair with spouses and offspring pitching in and doing far more than just smiling from the sidelines. Ann Romney, Anita Perry and Callista Gingrich are starring in new TV ads for the husbands they’ve loyally campaigned for. Romney extols her husband’s character and says “to me that makes a huge difference” in a candidate. Perry tells the “old-fashioned American story” of how she and her husband were high school sweethearts who had to wait until he was done flying airplanes around the world for the Air Force before they could marry. Callista Gingrich wishes the nation a Merry Christmas “from our family to yours” in Gingrich’s new holiday-themed TV ad. Candidate kids, including those born to Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul, are helping, too, acting as surrogates, strategists and, in some cases, sounding boards for parents competing for the right to challenge President Barack Obama next fall.

hollister sweatpants Santorum’s daughter Elizabeth has taken time off from her junior year at the University of Dallas to serve as a self-described “field staffer/phone banker/chauffeur/surrogate speaker” for her father, primarily in the leadoff caucus state of Iowa. Her father, who hopes Iowa’s socially conservative voters turn out for him on caucus night Jan. 3, rolled out an ad late last week featuring the entire Santorum clan, including the family German shepherd, Schotzy. The spot highlights his 21-year marriage to his wife, Karen, notes that he has coached Little League and introduces viewers to the youngest of the couple’s seven children, Isabella, born in 2008 with a genetic disorder. Sometimes the family members campaign with the candidates and other times they go it alone. Such family involvement carries risks and benefits. The stories they tell often humanize the candidates and help voters relate to them. But the things they say, and do, can sometimes cause headaches for the campaign advisers who are left to try to figure out a way out.

Suicide Bomber Strikes Funeral in Afghanistan

abercrombie sale A suicide bomber attacked a funeral in northern Afghanistan on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, officials said, in what appeared to be the Taliban¡¯s latest strike against Afghans who have ties to the national government. Among those killed in the bombing, in Takhar Province in northern Afghanistan, was a member of Parliament, Abdul Mutaleb Baik, who had gained prominence as a commander of forces that fought the Taliban during the civil war that gripped the country in the 1990s, according to a spokesman for the provincial government. A member of the provincial council was also killed, along with a number of Afghan intelligence agents and lower-level government officials. The bombing took place shortly after 2 p.m. in the village of Begabad, near the town of Taloqan, the provincial capital, a once calm area that has had a rise in insurgent violence over the past year. The attacker struck as the mourners were finishing a short funeral prayer that traditionally comes just before the body is lowered into the ground.

abercrombie and fitch uk The bomber rushed to the front of the crowd ¡ª near where Mr. Baik was standing ¡ª and detonated his explosives, said Baz Muhammad, 45, a tribal elder who was taking part in the service. Mr. Muhammad said the last thing he remembered was hearing a loud bang and a flash. He awoke with shrapnel in his leg and back, although his wounds were not life-threatening. Later, at the hospital in Taloqan where the dead and wounded were taken, hundreds of people waited outside for news of family members and friends who had been at the funeral, Mr. Muhammad said. Both President Hamid Karzai and the American officials quickly condemned the bombing, pointing to it as more evidence of the Taliban¡¯s brutality. ¡°This ruthless act of terror to target innocent people who had gathered for a religious ceremony yet again demonstrates the vile and vicious nature of the enemy who do not want to see the Muslim people of Afghanistan to perform even their Islamic rituals,¡± President Karzai said in a statement.

abercrombie kids The American Embassy called the bombing ¡°reprehensible,¡± and said it ¡°further illustrates that the Taliban and other insurgents are waging a murderous campaign against innocent Afghan civilians, including women and children, and exposes as false calls by Mullah Omar during the Id al-Adha and other insurgent leaders on their followers not to kill civilians.¡± Mullah Omar is the Taliban¡¯s reclusive leader, and in his message this year for Id al-Adha, the holiest day of the Islamic year, he called on his followers to refrain from civilian casualties.  Muhammad Tauhidi, the Takhar provincial spokesman, put the death toll at 30, while the Interior Ministry said that more than 20 had been killed. A number of officials and elders were attending the funeral, which was for the father of the chief of the provincial fire department, said Mualavi Muhammadullah Wursaji, the Takhar provincial council¡¯s leader. Neither the Taliban nor any of Afghanistan¡¯s other insurgent groups immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. But suspicion quickly fell on the Taliban and their allies, who often single out Afghan government officials and people close to them.

abercrombie and fitch london In September, a suicide bomber who was believed to be a member of the Taliban killed Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of Afghanistan¡¯s High Peace Council and a former Afghan president. If the Taliban were behind Sunday¡¯s attack, it would be the group¡¯s second major suicide bombing this year in Takhar Province. In May, a Taliban suicide bomber disguised as a police officer blew himself up during a meeting at the provincial governor¡¯s compound. The chief police officer in northern Afghanistan, Gen. Daud Daud, and Takhar Province¡¯s police chief, Gen. Shah Jahan Noori, were killed. Among the wounded was the top German officer in Afghanistan, Gen. Markus Kneip, the commander of NATO forces in northern Afghanistan. But the Taliban are not the only insurgent faction operating in Takhar. Their allies in the Haqqani militant network are believed to maintain a presence in the province.

abercrombie and fitch sale A rival group, Hizb-i-Islami, is said to be active in the region; it is run by the warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former Afghan prime minister who played a major role in the fight against the Soviet Union in the 1980s. And militants from the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan are also thought to be in Takhar. On Saturday, an Afghan soldier ¡ª or possibly an insurgent wearing an Afghan Army uniform ¡ª opened fire on coalition forces in Farah Province in western Afghanistan, NATO and Afghan officials said Sunday. NATO reported only that the attacker had been killed and that the shooting was under investigation. But the provincial police chief, Said Muhammad, said two American soldiers had been killed after a gun battle between American and Afghan soldiers during a joint patrol. The shooting was believed to have been brought on by an argument, he said. The Taliban quickly claimed responsibility, saying the shooting had been carried out by an infiltrator. The Taliban often overstate their effectiveness, but Afghan soldiers have repeatedly turned on coalition forces, giving rise to fears that both the Afghan Army and the nation¡¯s police force are being infiltrated by insurgents.

abercrombie uk Khalil Ibrahim had his primary school education at Tina village and secondary education at El Fasher high school. He graduated from the Department of Medicine at Gezira University in 1984. He worked as a doctor for a while in Saudi Arabia but returned to Sudan after Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir assumed power in 1989, and then served as a doctor at Omdurman hospital. Khalil Ibrahim has assumed many political posts, including Minister of Education in North Darfur State, Adviser of Bahral- Jabel State Government, Minister of Health in North Darfur State, and Minister of Engineering Affairs in Blue Nile State. During 1989-1999, Khalil Ibrahim was a prominent leader in the People's Defense Forces, formed by the National Salvation Revolution, which fought alongside the government against South Sudan. He was then known as "Emir of the Mujahideen" in the south.

Cruise takes quiet Christmas with $26.5M 'Mission'

abercrombie and fitch outlet Tom Cruise's latest mission has won a holiday weekend that's shaping up with some silent nights at movie theaters as business continues to lag. Studio estimates Sunday placed Cruise's "Mission: Impossible ¡ª Ghost Protocol" a solid No. 1 with $26.5 million domestically over its first weekend in full release. The movie raised its total to $59 million since it started a week earlier in huge-screen cinemas and expanded nationwide last Wednesday, and distributor Paramount estimated that revenues will reach $72.7 million by Monday. Cruise's fourth "Mission" flick was a bright spot over a Christmas weekend filled with so-so tidings for Hollywood, whose usually busy holiday stretch since the Thanksgiving holiday in late November has been a bust. Generally well-reviewed movies from Steven Spielberg ("The Adventures of Tintin"), David Fincher ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo") and Cameron Crowe ("We Bought a Zoo") ¡ª with casts that include Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson and Daniel Craig¡ª opened with modest to weak results.

abercrombie outlet Despite predictions from studio executives that 2011 could be a record-setter that would finish with a bang, domestic revenues remained stuck at a sluggish pace that has lingered all year. Hollywood should finish the year with $10.1 billion domestically, down 4.5% from 2010, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com. The picture gets worse taking into account higher ticket prices, which means that Hollywood is bringing in fewer fans for each dollar spent. Actual domestic attendance for 2011 will close out at about 1.27 billion, down 5.3% from the previous year's and the lowest head count since 1995, when admissions totaled 1.26 billion. "Thank God 2011 is almost over, because we've had a real rough run here at the end of the year," said Hollywood.com analyst Paul Dergarabedian. "We always count on the holiday season to give us a big boost at the end of the year, and it just didn't happen. "These admission numbers this year just tell me that we maybe have to set our sights a little lower in terms of attendance every year."

abercrombie outlet uk Since peaking at a modern high of 1.6 billion in 2002, domestic movie admissions have been on a general decline since. Studio executives always insist that slow times result from weak films, but on paper, the strong lineup Hollywood presented this year should have had fans lining up in huge numbers. Pretty good films are out there this holiday season, yet blockbuster expectations fizzled, a sign that people might be skipping a trip to the theater in favor of home-viewing, video games or the countless other entertainment options their gadgets now offer. Rising ticket prices, particularly the extra few dollars it costs to see 3-D films, also could be causing a backlash among fans. With "Ghost Protocol" climbing toward the $100 million mark, it's a return to box-office form for Cruise, who had been Hollywood's most-dependable earner for two decades until he turned off fans with odd antics in his personal life six years ago.

abercrombie and fitch sale "Ghost Protocol" will be Cruise's first top-billed $100 million hit since 2006's "Mission: Impossible III." He had a supporting role in 2008's $100 million comedy hit "Tropic Thunder," which was headlined by Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black. Even with a No. 1 debut, "Ghost Protocol" still was a shadow of its predecessors. The first three "Mission: Impossible" movies ranged from $45 million to $58 million over opening weekend, but those installments opened at the start of the busy summer season. As of Friday, "Ghost Protocol" also had brought in a healthy $118 million overseas. Downey's "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" fell from No. 1 to No. 2 in its second weekend with $17.8 million. The family sequel "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked" dropped from second to third with $13.3 million. Both sequels trail well behind the business their predecessors did. "A Game of Shadows," from Warner Bros., lifted its domestic haul to $76.6 million, while 20th Century Fox's "Chipwrecked" pushed its receipts to $50.3 million.

abercrombie sale The weekend's newcomers failed to light up the box office, too. Fincher and Craig's "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" from Sony was No. 4 with $13 million, Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin" from Paramount was No. 5 with $9.1 million and Crowe, Damon and Johansson's "We Bought a Zoo" from 20th Century Fox was No. 6 with $7.8 million. "Dragon Tattoo" raised its total to $21.4 million since opening Tuesday night, while "Tintin" lifted its take to $17.1 million since debuting Wednesday. European literary exports "Dragon Tattoo," adapted from Stieg Larsson's Swedish best-seller, and "Tintin," based on Belgian artist Herge's storybook classics, are finding a lukewarm reception among U.S. crowds. "Dragon Tattoo" has been a sensation among U.S. readers yet failed to challenge "Mission: Impossible" and the other established franchises at the top of the box office.Beloved by generations of readers overseas, "Tintin" launched internationally two months ahead of its U.S. release. But the blockbuster global attention, with nearly $250 million already in the bank from foreign markets, did not translate to crowds in the United States.

abercrombie sale uk The calendar made it a tough weekend for Hollywood, with Christmas Eve¡ª always a slow night for movie-going ¡ª falling on Saturday, usually the best day of the week at theaters. Christmas Day typically is a strong one for movies, as fans squeeze in a film between unwrapping presents and sitting down to family dinners. Two big holiday releases ¡ª Spielberg's World War I epic "War Horse" and Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock's Sept. 11 drama "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" ¡ª opened Christmas Day, but estimates on their revenues will not be available until Monday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday. Dwyane Wade did two things on the basketball court Sunday for the first time in his life. irst, there was the fantastically instinctual tip-pass, alley-oop from LeBron James that Wade finished with a two-handed dunk. Wade had never seen anything like it before Sunday, let alone participated in such split-second magic. Even the Mavericks¡¯ fans had to gasp in awe after that one.

abercrombie and fitch uk Then the buzzer sounded and Wade, for the first time, defeated the Mavericks on their home court during the regular season. The Heat¡¯s 105-94 victory over the defending NBA champions was Miami¡¯s first win in Dallas during the regular season since March 2002. ade downplayed the significance of the Heat¡¯s win, calling it ¡°just one game,¡± but he said nearly everything felt familiar about his team despite the long break during the lockout. That¡¯s a good sign given the NBA¡¯s frantic schedule between now and the playoffs, which will leave little time for practices.¡°We¡¯re a little bit more together,¡± Wade said. ¡°We¡¯re getting into our game a little. We¡¯re just more comfortable with each other. Never was that familiarity more apparent than during the fast break in the third quarter that ended in the Chalmers-to-James-to-Wade alley-oop. The play already could be considered a contender for best of the season ¡ª never mind it occurring in the first game.

Hackers Breach the Web Site of Stratfor Global Intelligence

louis vuitton outlet While the rest of the world engaged in merriment and good cheer, hackers used the holidays to attack a United States research group that puts out a daily newsletter on security issues. On Saturday, hackers who say they are members of the collective known as Anonymous claimed responsibility for crashing the Web site of the group, Stratfor Global Intelligence Service, and pilfering its client list, e-mails and credit card information in an operation they say is intended to steal $1 million for donations to charity. The hackers posted a list online that they say contains Stratfor¡¯s confidential client list as well as credit card details, passwords and home addresses for some 4,000 Stratfor clients. The hackers also said they had details for more than 90,000 credit card accounts. Among the organizations listed as Stratfor clients: Bank of America, the Defense Department, Doctors Without Borders, Lockheed Martin, Los Alamos National Laboratory and the United Nations.

The group also posted five receipts online that it said were of donations made with pilfered credit card details. One receipt showed a $180 donation from a United States Homeland Security employee, Edmund H. Tupay, to the American Red Cross. Another showed a $200 donation to the Red Cross from Allen Barr, a recently retired employee from the Texas Department of Banking. Neither responded to requests for comment.

www.louisvuittonoutletenter.com Mr. Barr told The Associated Press that on Friday he discovered that $700 had been transferred from his account to charities including the Red Cross, Save the Children and CARE, but that he had not been aware that the transfer was tied to a breach of Stratfor¡¯s site. Stratfor executives did not return calls for comment on Sunday. In an e-mail to subscribers Sunday morning, Stratfor¡¯s chief executive, George Friedman, confirmed that the company¡¯s site had been hacked and said his company was working with law enforcement to track down the parties responsible. ¡°We have reason to believe that the names of our corporate subscribers have been posted on other Web sites,¡± Mr. Friedman wrote in the e-mail. ¡°We are diligently investigating the extent to which subscriber information may have been obtained.¡± The hackers took responsibility for the Stratfor attack on Twitter and said the attack would be the beginning of a weeklong holiday hacking spree. The breach was the latest in the online group¡¯s ongoing campaign of computer attacks which, to date, has been aimed at MasterCard, Visa and PayPal as well as groups as diverse as the Church of Scientology, the Motion Picture Association of America and the Zetas, a Mexican crime syndicate.

louis vuitton outlet The breach first surfaced on Saturday when hackers defaced Stratfor¡¯s Web site with their own message. ¡°Merry Lulzxmas!¡± the group wrote in a reference to Lulz Security, a hacking group loosely affiliated with Anonymous. ¡°Are you ready for a week of mayhem?¡± By Sunday afternoon, the message had been replaced with a banner message that said: ¡°Site is currently undergoing maintenance. Please check back soon.¡± According to the hackers¡¯ online postings, the group voted on what charities to contribute to. Among their choices were cancer and AIDS research, the American Red Cross, WikiLeaks and the Tor Project, a software that enables online anonymity.  Also according to their postings, the breach appears to have been conducted in retaliation for the arrest and imprisonment of Pfc. Bradley Manning, the Army intelligence analyst on trial on charges of leaking classified intelligence information and more than 250,000 diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks last year.

The attack was also likely intended to embarrass Stratfor, which specializes in intelligence and security. The hackers said they were able to obtain the credit card details because, they said, Stratfor had failed to encrypt them. ¡°The scary thing is that no matter what you do, every system has some level of vulnerability,¡± says Jerry Irvine, a member of the National Cyber Security Task Force. ¡°The more you do from an advanced technical standpoint, the more common things go unnoticed. Getting into a system is really not that difficult.¡±

Martha's Deal Miffs Macy's

abercrombie and fitch The media and merchandising company raised $38.5 million by selling a stake to Penney and providing two board seats, a deal that could help the department-store chain's new chief, Ron Johnson, shape up his struggling housewares business. But it appears to have annoyed Macy's, which has sold an exclusive Martha Stewart line since 2007. In a statement Wednesday, Macy's said it will review its Martha Stewart product line for "potential changes" in light of "the proliferation of Martha Stewart-branded product in the marketplace." The spat has broader significance for all three companies. Penney and Macy's each rely heavily on home goods to drive traffic and sales at their stores, and merchandising is a key source of profits at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Inc. Mr. Johnson, who used to run Apple Inc.'s retail operations, said chains just need to share."A lot of retailers through the years have fought for exclusivity, and at times that's important, but there are certain brands that should be available broadly," the chief executive said. He added that he's more concerned with being "the best place to buy" Martha Stewart products.

abercrombie and fitch kids Macy's declined to comment further. The chain had the opportunity to explore a deal similar to Penney's considering how public Martha Stewart Living's pursuit of partners was, said a person familiar with the media company's thinking. If Macy's were to dump Martha Stewart as a result of the Penney deal, they'd be "cutting off their nose to spite their face," because it is the store's top-selling home brand, the person said. Martha Stewart Living is expected to receive more than $200 million over the 10-year life of the contract with Penney. Martha Stewart Living President Lisa Gersh said the products that will be sold at Penney will differ from those at Macy's and will help raise the brand's profile for all of its partners. Macy's used its Martha Stewart line to attract new customers by developing an extensive range of home goods, from bedding to dinnerware. Ms. Stewart has been very visible in Macy's marketing, appearing in holiday commercials touting "the magic of Macy's" and in a backstage video series where the celebrity homemaker demonstrates her exclusive line of products, such as spatulas and baking sheets.

The five-year deal with Macy's expires around the end of 2012 but can be renewed. Martha Stewart Living didn't notify Macy's about the Penney's deal until Tuesday night, a person familiar with the matter said.

abercrombie kids uk Mr. Johnson has had his eye on Martha Stewart since the 1990s, when he was working at Target and the homemaker paired up with Kmart. Under the deal announced Wednesday, Penney has bought 16.6% of Martha Stewart, which will set up distinct retail spaces inside the majority of J.C. Penney's stores beginning in February 2013. The stores-within-a-store will offer home and lifestyle gear selected by Martha Stewart's team and sourced by Penney. Penney has successfully used such arrangements with Sephora, MNG by Mango and Call It Spring by Aldo Group Inc., but it continues to struggle with weak sales. Home sales were 18% of Penney's total sales in 2010 but remain the department store's worst performer. More than half of Penney's online sales are in the home category so its poor performance there is weighing on what is the fastest growing channel for most retailers.For Martha Stewart Living, the partnership provides a much needed infusion of cash at a time when all of its key businesses have been shrinking. In recent years, revenue has mostly declined in all three divisions of the company, which includes publishing, broadcasting and merchandising.

Penney considered taking a full stake, but management was deterred by Martha Stewart Living's magazine and media business, says a person familiar with the matter. Talks between the two companies began in the fall, this person says.

Delta Air Strikes Alliance With Brazil's Gol

uggs outlet Delta Air Lines Inc., moving to expand in the fast-growing Latin American travel market, agreed to pay $100 million for a nonvoting 3% stake in Brazil's Gol Linhas A¨¦reas Inteligentes SA as part of a broad alliance. The deal cements Delta's relationships with leading carriers in Latin American's two largest air markets after it agreed in August to take a 3.5% stake in Grupo AeroM¨¦xico SAB. Delta also has a relationship with Aerolineas Argentinas, the Argentine carrier that next year will join the SkyTeam global marketing group in which the U.S. carrier is a leading member. The Gol pact comes at a crucial time for the three global alliances jockeying for position in Latin America, the world's fastest-growing aviation market. The International Air Transport Association expects traffic in the region to rise 10.6% this year and 8.5% next, more than twice the global average. Gol is not a member of a global alliance, and said the Delta deal doesn't envision Gol joining SkyTeam club, which also includes Air France-KLM SA, AeroM¨¦xico, China Southern Airlines and Korean Air.

ugg boots Constantino de Oliveira Jr., Gol's chief executive, said on Wednesday that he intends for the airline to stay independent of alliances, but build strong bilateral relationships. The deal with Delta will allow Gol to sell seats on Delta's flights between Brazil and the U.S. Delta will be able to sell U.S. travelers connections to Gol's Brazilian flights. Delta's investment essentially keeps Gol from joining a rival group, said John Thomas, global head of the aviation and travel practice at L.E.K Consulting. "Gol may not join SkyTeam but they could align with [Delta partner] Aerolineas and look for opportunities in Mexico." Delta, which remains the No. 3 U.S. airline to Latin America after AMR Corp.'s American Airlines and United Continental Holdings Inc., has expanded its capacity in the region by 43% since 2005. Its investment in Gol, the region's largest discounter, brings a seat on the Brazilian carrier's board and a long-term exclusive alliance. American, which already has a code-sharing relationship with Gol, stressed Wednesday that Delta's news will have no impact on its own deal with Gol, which is based in Sao Paulo. But Gol said the American arrangement is slated to expire in mid-2012.

cheap uggs for sale Delta insists that it will be the exclusive U.S. partner of Gol, which serves 51 Brazilian destinations, flies to 11 cities in South American and the Caribbean, owns a large frequent flier program and recently acquired a smaller Brazilian discount carrier, WebJet. With low unemployment, rising income and plentiful credit, Brazil has spawned a new generation of air travelers. The local airline industry has seen double-digit annual growth for much of the past decade. Passenger traffic was up 17% in the first 10 months of this year, compared with the prior-year period, according to Brazil's civil aviation authority, ANAC. Some major global events, including the 2014 World Cut and the 2016 Olympic Games, only add to the attractiveness of the market. But the growth has increasingly come at the expense of profits, particularly since the launch of new airlines in recent years. On Wednesday, Mr. Oliveira said growth has slowed recently as a price war eased, which is "extremely healthy" and will allow airlines to rebuild their finances. Gol swung to a third quarter loss of 516.5 million reais ($287 million) due largely to the strong appreciation of the U.S. dollar, which drives up the cost of its dollar-denominated debt. A year earlier, the company had a profit of 110 million reais.

cheap uggs A far larger and more complex deal is making its way through Brazil's lengthy antitrust process. Last year, Chilean airline LAN SA and Gol's biggest rival in the local market, TAM SA, agreed to merge into Latam Airlines Group. If that deal is completed as expected early next year, it will lead to the creation of the largest airline in Latin America. TAM commands 41% of the domestic Brazilian market and also serves long-haul destinations such as the U.S. and Europe. LAN is the leading Chilean domestic and longhaul carrier, and has regional affiliates in Peru, Ecuador, Argentina and Colombia. Chilean regulators already have required that a combined LAN and TAM can only be a member of one global alliance. Currently, Tam is a member of the Star Alliance, whose members include United Continental, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Air Canada and All Nippon Airways. LAN is a longtime member of the Oneworld grouping, which includes American, British Airways and Japan Airlines. Keeping Latam Airlines Group in Oneworld is important to American, which filed for bankruptcy-court protection last week under the weight of years of losses, high labor costs and waning market share. Latin America is the only geographic region where American has made money over the past couple of years. If Latam Airlines Group jumps to the Star group, "it puts American into a very, very difficult situation," said Mr. Thomas, the consultant.

cheap ugg boots While American remains the leading U.S. carrier to the region by capacity offered, a new U.S.-Brazil air treaty to take effect in two years is going to open up those routes to new competition. Moreover, American's Mexican partner in Oneworld, Cia. Mexicana de Aviacion, went into bankruptcy in 2010 and shut down, robbing American of a partner in that important market. Delta's recent investments, while small, "dramatically change its position in Latin America," Mr. Thomas said. "It poses a real challenge to American." American said Latin American remains an important and growing market for it, and its frequent-flier program, with 66 million members worldwide, will continue to remain competitive in the region. The company also said it is pure speculation that Lan would leave Oneworld, and said it and its Chilean partner are increasing their commercial cooperation. Delta will pay 22 reais for each Gol preferred share, a hefty 47% premium from Tuesday's closing price of 14.96 reais. A Delta spokesman said the Atlanta-based airline felt the shares were undervalued, but the purpose of the investment isn't to profit on the shares but to lay the foundation for the relationship.

www.cheapuggsbootsau.com The transaction is part of a capital increase of up to 280 million reais for Gol, which will offer subscription rights to all of its shareholders. The International Monetary Fund and a G-20 official Wednesday shot down a report from the Nikkei news agency earlier in the day that world leaders were planning a $600 billion lending facility at the IMF for the European debt crisis. "There has been no such discussion with the IMF," the fund's spokesman William Murray said in an emailed statement. An official from a member of the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations also denied the report. The Nikkei reported that Japan, the U.S. and China would contribute to a new fund totalling $600 billion that would give the IMF more than $1 trillion in cash to ease Europe's debt crisis. "There is little chance the U.S. will contribute, politically it's a nonstarter," says Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University economist and former senior IMF official. Beyond the fact that Congress is in no mood to provide any more money for the IMF, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has repeatedly said on the record Washington isn't going to give any more money to the IMF, as Europe has enough of its own resources to solve the problem.

India's Reform by Stealth Derails Wal-Mart: Choudhury

uggs Much like any government trying to push through an unpopular decision, India's leaders first tried telling the opposition to rise above partisan politics. That was to no avail (this will come as no surprise to Americans). Then they tried to bring around their political allies, but some of them dissented openly. Then the government went to the people with notices in newspapers ("For the country, for the people of the country"), but thousands took to the streets in protest instead. The leaders tried insisting that theirs was an executive decision, not open to a vote, but found that Parliament refused to apply itself to any other issue. They offered a vision of millions of new jobs, and argued they had made a rational, carefully calculated policy move, but found themselves ambushed instead by all manner of conspiracy theories. Finally, India's coalition government, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), blinked, and announced Dec. 5 that it was "suspending" the 4 Comments: the decision two weeks ago to allow foreign retail companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to own, subject to certain provisos, a majority stake in multibrand retail.

ugg boots on sale This had promised nothing less than a second consumer revolution in India by stimulating the infusion of foreign capital and allowing both farmers and consumers a greater say in India's byzantine food chain. The suspension -- a small concession to the opposition's demand of a total "rollback" -- was a sign of how difficult it is to push through reforms in India. But it also might be read as a salutary lesson about how, in a democracy, the art of policy is nothing if it isn't complemented by the art of politics. As the government contemplated the shambles around it, it seemed worth exploring the question of intelligent policy on a subject of vast importance that was sabotaged in its transmission by obtuse and even self-defeating politics. As I wrote last week, the initial decision on foreign direct investment had opened a chasm not only between the government and the opposition, but also between the Congress, the party that leads the UPA, and its allies. And for millions of small shopkeepers and traders (thousands of whom came out on the streets to protest the move) employed in India's vast, unorganized retail sector, it also raised the specter of lost jobs from the arrival of global supermarket giants, including Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour SA. All this was only to be expected, as is always the case when the status quo is challenged.

cheap ugg boots So what was most surprising about the decision wasn't so much its content (which, as the economist Surjit Bhalla remarked, appeared carefully thought out, with a number of caveats designed to function as shock absorbers) or its method. Instead, it was the timing that created the problem: The decision to liberalize retail in India was announced at the beginning of the winter session of Parliament. This allowed other political parties, including the principal opposition party, the BJP (which, despite being to the right of the Congress on economic issues, declared that the time wasn't right to open up the economy to big retail giants), to hijack the move by paralyzing Parliament. When some of the Congress's own allies in the coalition government also voiced their resistance to the move, the opposition was able to demand a vote on it. What was, then, a policy decision of tremendous import for every Indian was made to serve a more expedient function by both sides: a government under pressure on several fronts, most notably for its dithering over the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, possibly looking for something to distract its critics, and an opposition happy to take any chance to embarrass the government.

An astringent editorial in the Indian Express, one of the English newspapers most clearly in favor of the liberalization of retail, asked:

uggs on sale [W]hat was the government thinking? Why set up the decision when Parliament was in session, in a way that invites opportunistic opposition, without mobilising public opinion around a vital reform? As things stand after the backdown, the perception that the UPA can be easily cowed has been strengthened, that it does not have the guts to stand by its convictions or the political artfulness to sell what is essentially a decision that potentially improves the material well-being of many, many Indians. The UPA failed to pitch it as the farmer¡¯s issue that FDI-in-retail is, to explain how directly selling to big retailers would give them higher returns (with the right precautions), and how rural infrastructure would improve. It could have mobilised consumers, who stand to gain from greater choice and lower prices. It could have followed up its press release and statements by making it a real, resounding issue in the streets, and ensured that its own superior argument was heard over the opposition¡¯s fear-mongering. It could have made the inflation point much more forcefully. It could have seized the initiative, instead of letting the opposition get away with framing it as an alien invasion, of big global corporates destroying small shopkeepers.

uggs outlet sale Some of the motivations behind the politics were investigated in the New York Times' India Ink blog by its correspondent Vikas Bajaj, who wrote about how the country's political climate and entrenched politics of populism have often encouraged a troubling "reform by stealth": If the Indian government decides to undo or indefinitely delay its decision to let foreign retailers into the country, as government sources now quietly predict, proponents of modernization will probably blame the opposition political parties and allies of the government like the Trinamool Congress party, as well as small retailers and wholesale traders. But a portion of the blame should also be set aside for another target: the cloak-and-dagger way in which this and many other free-market policies are often made in New Delhi, a process often described as ¡°reform by stealth.¡± Faced with politically unpalatable proposals, Indian politicians and bureaucrats often go quiet, enact reforms in the dead of the night and then pray that the opposition is either too lazy or preoccupied to react. [...]¡°In much of reform, the long-run consequence and the deeper consequences are harder to sell,¡± [the economist Raghuram] Rajan said. ¡°What people can see is the most immediate stuff, and they go to town on that.¡±

www.bootsalemall.com  Indeed, if there was a damning criticism to be made of the Congress outside the immediate political context of the impasse over FDI, it is that, while the party is often credited with the liberalization of India's economy in 1991, it has never seriously believed in free (or at the very least freer) markets, preferring to stake its political reputation on welfare measures and to speak not of creating wealth but of eliminating poverty. There is, then, clearly a difference (in this case a fatal difference) between the way the government interprets the economic problems of India today and the way that the party anchoring the governing coalition (and thinks of itself as center-left) does. In a way, then, the fervid opposition to the government's decision across the political spectrum amounted to the Congress being presented with a projection of its own internal dilemmas.

India's Reform by Stealth Derails Wal-Mart: Choudhury

uggs Much like any government trying to push through an unpopular decision, India's leaders first tried telling the opposition to rise above partisan politics. That was to no avail (this will come as no surprise to Americans). Then they tried to bring around their political allies, but some of them dissented openly. Then the government went to the people with notices in newspapers ("For the country, for the people of the country"), but thousands took to the streets in protest instead. The leaders tried insisting that theirs was an executive decision, not open to a vote, but found that Parliament refused to apply itself to any other issue. They offered a vision of millions of new jobs, and argued they had made a rational, carefully calculated policy move, but found themselves ambushed instead by all manner of conspiracy theories. Finally, India's coalition government, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), blinked, and announced Dec. 5 that it was "suspending" the 4 Comments: the decision two weeks ago to allow foreign retail companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to own, subject to certain provisos, a majority stake in multibrand retail.

ugg boots on sale This had promised nothing less than a second consumer revolution in India by stimulating the infusion of foreign capital and allowing both farmers and consumers a greater say in India's byzantine food chain. The suspension -- a small concession to the opposition's demand of a total "rollback" -- was a sign of how difficult it is to push through reforms in India. But it also might be read as a salutary lesson about how, in a democracy, the art of policy is nothing if it isn't complemented by the art of politics. As the government contemplated the shambles around it, it seemed worth exploring the question of intelligent policy on a subject of vast importance that was sabotaged in its transmission by obtuse and even self-defeating politics. As I wrote last week, the initial decision on foreign direct investment had opened a chasm not only between the government and the opposition, but also between the Congress, the party that leads the UPA, and its allies. And for millions of small shopkeepers and traders (thousands of whom came out on the streets to protest the move) employed in India's vast, unorganized retail sector, it also raised the specter of lost jobs from the arrival of global supermarket giants, including Wal-Mart and France's Carrefour SA. All this was only to be expected, as is always the case when the status quo is challenged.

cheap ugg boots So what was most surprising about the decision wasn't so much its content (which, as the economist Surjit Bhalla remarked, appeared carefully thought out, with a number of caveats designed to function as shock absorbers) or its method. Instead, it was the timing that created the problem: The decision to liberalize retail in India was announced at the beginning of the winter session of Parliament. This allowed other political parties, including the principal opposition party, the BJP (which, despite being to the right of the Congress on economic issues, declared that the time wasn't right to open up the economy to big retail giants), to hijack the move by paralyzing Parliament. When some of the Congress's own allies in the coalition government also voiced their resistance to the move, the opposition was able to demand a vote on it. What was, then, a policy decision of tremendous import for every Indian was made to serve a more expedient function by both sides: a government under pressure on several fronts, most notably for its dithering over the anti-corruption Lokpal Bill, possibly looking for something to distract its critics, and an opposition happy to take any chance to embarrass the government.

An astringent editorial in the Indian Express, one of the English newspapers most clearly in favor of the liberalization of retail, asked:

uggs on sale [W]hat was the government thinking? Why set up the decision when Parliament was in session, in a way that invites opportunistic opposition, without mobilising public opinion around a vital reform? As things stand after the backdown, the perception that the UPA can be easily cowed has been strengthened, that it does not have the guts to stand by its convictions or the political artfulness to sell what is essentially a decision that potentially improves the material well-being of many, many Indians. The UPA failed to pitch it as the farmer¡¯s issue that FDI-in-retail is, to explain how directly selling to big retailers would give them higher returns (with the right precautions), and how rural infrastructure would improve. It could have mobilised consumers, who stand to gain from greater choice and lower prices. It could have followed up its press release and statements by making it a real, resounding issue in the streets, and ensured that its own superior argument was heard over the opposition¡¯s fear-mongering. It could have made the inflation point much more forcefully. It could have seized the initiative, instead of letting the opposition get away with framing it as an alien invasion, of big global corporates destroying small shopkeepers.

uggs outlet sale Some of the motivations behind the politics were investigated in the New York Times' India Ink blog by its correspondent Vikas Bajaj, who wrote about how the country's political climate and entrenched politics of populism have often encouraged a troubling "reform by stealth": If the Indian government decides to undo or indefinitely delay its decision to let foreign retailers into the country, as government sources now quietly predict, proponents of modernization will probably blame the opposition political parties and allies of the government like the Trinamool Congress party, as well as small retailers and wholesale traders. But a portion of the blame should also be set aside for another target: the cloak-and-dagger way in which this and many other free-market policies are often made in New Delhi, a process often described as ¡°reform by stealth.¡± Faced with politically unpalatable proposals, Indian politicians and bureaucrats often go quiet, enact reforms in the dead of the night and then pray that the opposition is either too lazy or preoccupied to react. [...]¡°In much of reform, the long-run consequence and the deeper consequences are harder to sell,¡± [the economist Raghuram] Rajan said. ¡°What people can see is the most immediate stuff, and they go to town on that.¡±

www.bootsalemall.com  Indeed, if there was a damning criticism to be made of the Congress outside the immediate political context of the impasse over FDI, it is that, while the party is often credited with the liberalization of India's economy in 1991, it has never seriously believed in free (or at the very least freer) markets, preferring to stake its political reputation on welfare measures and to speak not of creating wealth but of eliminating poverty. There is, then, clearly a difference (in this case a fatal difference) between the way the government interprets the economic problems of India today and the way that the party anchoring the governing coalition (and thinks of itself as center-left) does. In a way, then, the fervid opposition to the government's decision across the political spectrum amounted to the Congress being presented with a projection of its own internal dilemmas.

Poll: Investors Predict China Bank Crisis

uggs Most global investors predict China will face a banking crisis within the next five years, paring their appetite for the nation¡¯s shares and eroding confidence in its leadership, a Bloomberg Global Poll indicated. Sixty-one percent of respondents said they anticipate a crash in the financial industry by late 2016, and only 10 percent were confident China¡¯s banks will escape trouble, according to the quarterly poll of 1,097 investors, analysts and traders who are Bloomberg subscribers conducted Dec. 5-6. Evidence of slowing growth in China -- including the weakest manufacturing performance in more than two years, falling home sales and ebbing export growth -- has stoked concern that non-performing loans will climb in the world¡¯s second-largest economy. The risk is a legacy of a record 17.6 trillion-yuan ($2.8 trillion) lending boom unleashed by Premier Wen Jiabao in 2009-2010 amid the global recession.

uggs on sale The deep-seated misallocation of resources, particularly in the real estate and banking sectors, will lead to a combination of political and economic instability,¡± says Lance Depew, managing director of UPI Management LLC in Santa Barbara, California, and a participant in the poll. ¡°I expect further macroeconomic weakness and sub-par returns in the stock market for the foreseeable future.¡± The MSCI China/Financials Index of shares has tumbled 22 percent this year, underperforming the broader MSCI China Index of equities, which is down 17 percent. China Life Insurance Co. (2628) has declined 32 percent and Bank of China Ltd. (3988) 30 percent, contributing the most to the financial index¡¯s losses. Enthusiasm for Chinese stocks has flagged among Bloomberg users. In the latest poll, 21 percent called China one of the best places to invest over the next year. That was less than half the 44 percent who named China in an October 2009 Bloomberg survey.

uggs for sale Thirty-five percent of respondents said they expect China¡¯s economic growth to slow to less than 5 percent from the 9.1 percent year-on-year pace recorded in the third quarter. Thirty- one percent anticipated ¡°serious political or economic instability that stalls growth.¡± American investors were the most pessimistic, with 40 percent expecting a Chinese crisis. A plurality of 46 percent of investors described the Chinese economy as ¡°deteriorating¡± -- up from 38 percent in September -- compared with 40 percent who said it was ¡°stable.¡± The skepticism contrasts with the outlook of economists from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and the International Monetary Fund, who predict China will avoid a growth slump while defusing inflation. Goldman Sachs, in a Dec. 1 report, projected the nation¡¯s gross domestic product will rise 8.6 percent next year and 8.7 percent in 2013. A relatively low central government debt burden gives Premier Wen Jiabao¡¯s administration the fiscal wherewithal to address a jump in non-performing loans. The IMF estimates the government¡¯s gross debt-to-GDP ratio at 27 percent this year, compared with 100 percent for the U.S. and 233 percent in Japan.

www.uggsonsaleuggs.net The World Bank said last month that while China faces the risk of a ¡°strong¡± impact from a real-estate correction, it has ¡°ample¡± scope to cushion its economy. Policy makers have begun responding to the signs of a weakening outlook, with the People¡¯s Bank of China last week lowering banks¡¯ reserve requirements for the first time since 2008 to encourage lending. Best in Class¡°China, simply put, is the best managed major economy on the planet,¡± said Anthony Stephens, an equity trader with Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong and a survey participant. Most investors in the poll don¡¯t anticipate China¡¯s relative economic performance translating into broader influence that would displace the U.S. as the world¡¯s preeminent superpower. Forty-one percent of poll respondents said that the U.S. would remain militarily dominant even as the Chinese economy eventually overtakes it in size. An additional 27 percent said China would ¡°never surpass¡± the U.S. as the top global force. Only 25 percent agreed that China would ¡°inevitably replace¡± it as the No. 1 superpower.

louis vuitton outlet President Barack Obama¡¯s administration has sought to enhance the U.S.¡¯s stature in Asia this year, an initiative Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has described as a ¡°pivot¡± toward the region after a decade of American focus on war in the Middle East. As part of the approach, the administration is seeking a free-trade agreement with Pacific nations including Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore, and last month enhanced its security ties with Australia. Global investors are skeptical of the U.S. effort, highlighted when Obama hosted the annual 21-nation Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Honolulu last month and attended an East Asia Summit in Bali, Indonesia. Fifty-six percent said the campaign ¡°will not enhance U.S. influence and end up antagonizing China,¡± compared with 30 percent who expect it to serve as an ¡°effective counterweight¡± to Chinese power. ¡°China¡¯s rising power and the United States¡¯ traditional role are increasingly coming into conflict in the region,¡± said Michael Swaine, author of ¡°America¡¯s Challenge: Engaging A Rising China in the 21st Century¡± and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. ¡°These two countries have very different views on what sustains prosperity and stability.¡±

www.louisvuittonoutletonly.com Investors this year have become less enamored of Chinese President Hu Jintao, with 47 percent saying they were optimistic about his leadership, compared with 38 percent who described themselves as pessimistic. In January, Bloomberg customers favored Hu by a 60 percent to 30 percent margin. China is in the midst of a planned leadership shift that will culminate late next year with the 18th Communist Party Congress. The conclave, which occurs every five years, is likely to tap Vice President Xi Jinping as China¡¯s next president and Li Keqiang, currently vice premier, as prime minister. Global investors are confident the new team will continue the shift toward private enterprise devised in the late 1970s by Deng Xiaoping. In the poll, 49 percent of Bloomberg customers said the Chinese leadership will move toward free markets, while 37 percent forecast a tightening of state control over the economy. Asian investors were most upbeat, with 55 percent anticipating further opening. Among the tasks that may face the next government is clearing any wreckage left from a surge in non-performing loans. The IMF, in its first formal evaluation of China¡¯s financial system Nov. 15, called for further moves toward a ¡°market-based financial system,¡± including upgraded bank risk-management systems and additional skilled personnel for the central bank and regulatory agencies.

PacSun to close up to 200 stores

louis vuitton outlet Teen retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., hoping for a financial turnaround after a three-year slump, said it plans to close as many as 200 of its weaker-performing stores around the country. The Anaheim-based company known for its surf- and skate-inspired apparel also said it had secured $160 million in financing for its overhaul, even as it reported its 13th straight quarterly loss, of $17.6 million. That compares with a $6.96-million loss in the same period a year earlier. The new financing, along with the store closings, "greatly enhances our financial and operating position, and is a critical step forward as we work to reestablish PacSun as a leading specialty retailer across the U.S.," Chief Executive Gary Schoenfeld said in a statement Wednesday. The news sent PacSun shares as high as $1.99 in after-hours trading, a 47% gain over its closing price of $1.35. The stock could use the bounce; PacSun shares have lost 75% of their value since Jan. 1.

louis vuitton In an interview, Schoenfeld would not say which stores would close or the number of jobs that would be lost. "They are spread across the country," Schoenfeld said. "But in general our business in California continues to strengthen."The company said its new financing came from two principal sources. It said it obtained a $100-million revolving line of credit from Wells Fargo Capital Finance and a $60-million secured loan from San Francisco-based Golden Gate Capital, a private equity firm with substantial retail and restaurant holdings. Golden Gate was given two seats on the PacSun board. Analysts say that the last few years has been a troubled time for the retailer, which has suffered from a lackluster product mix and lost ground to more trendy competitors. "They lost their way a bit on merchandising, and as a result have lost relevancy with their core customer," said Pamela Quintiliano, a specialty retail analyst at Oppenheimer & Co. "They are struggling to regain credibility."

www.superhotstyle.com Quintiliano said that PacSun's mix of private-label and third-party surf brands ¡ª such as Roxy and Billabong ¡ª hasn't attracted trend-hungry youngsters who are eager for up-and-coming designers. As a result, many have flocked to rivals such as action-sports chain Zumiez Inc., which has been more conscious of offering exclusive merchandise. PacSun's "private-label brand wasn't cheap enough to attract customers nor was it differentiated enough," Quintiliano said. "They are also not the only stores in the mall to have Roxy or Volcom; other stores carry them too." That's something PacSun has been eager to change. The company has shaken up its women's merchandising and design team as part of an effort to produce more trendy apparel to better appeal to female shoppers, Schoenfeld said. The company is also trying to target an older teen and early-20s customer base to better align itself with its more successful menswear. "The women's business has been where there has been some significant declines," Schoenfeld said. "Historically PacSun was a pretty basic tees and shorts and fleece business on the girls side, and she's definitely looking for on-trend and fashionable merchandise."

louis vuitton outlet Banks receive death threats and warnings about letter bombs and toxins such as anthrax almost every week, the person said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the firm doesn¡¯t want to attract additional threats. Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) confirmed reports that it had received a ¡°suspicious package¡± addressed to Ackermann.¡°The relevant internal departments subsequently alerted the police, who have now taken over the investigation,¡± bank spokesman Armin Niedermeier said by telephone. There have been a number of well-reported proposals floated in recent weeks to help boost Europe's bailout power through IMF-managed funds. One idea is for Europe's central banks to pool cash through the IMF in conjunction with its existing bailout funds, with about $150 billion mentioned as a possible figure. Emerging markets have said they are willing to consider extra financing, but only after Europe finalizes a comprehensive and effective debt-crisis package. Economists say emerging markets are unlikely to contribute more than $100 billion in extra cash, and it would come with controversial conditions such as giving them more power at the IMF. Japanese officials have also mentioned helping.