Pfizer trims 2012 view, citing stronger dollar (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) reported sharply lower quarterly earnings, hurt by generic forms of its Lipitor cholesterol drug, and the company trimmed its 2012 forecasts because of negative effects of the stronger dollar.

The world's biggest drugmaker, whose shares rose almost 1 percent in premarket trading, said on Tuesday that it had earned $1.44 billion, or 19 cents per share, in the fourth quarter. That compared with $2.89 billion, or 36 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, Pfizer earned 50 cents per share. Analysts on average expected 47 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Pfizer said results in the latest quarter appeared so unfavorable largely because of a big tax benefit in the year-earlier period.

Revenue fell 4 percent to $16.75 billion, but was a bit higher than Wall Street expectations of $16.61 billion.

Last year, Pfizer vowed to slash billions of dollars in costs, largely through layoffs of thousands of researchers, to weather plunging sales of Lipitor. The pill had been the world's top-selling drug for years, capturing annual sales of more than $13 billion at its peak, but it lost U.S. patent protection in late November.

Global fourth-quarter sales of Lipitor fell 24 percent to $2 billion, including a 42 percent decline in the United States. But some of Pfizer's other biggest drugs scored moderate sales gains, helped by price increases. Sales of arthritis treatment Enbrel and the Celebrex painkiller each rose 7 percent, to $865 million and $622 million, respectively. Sales of impotence treatment Viagra rose 5 percent to $523 million.

As in the third quarter, Pfizer's strongest gains came from its nutritional products and animal health units -- noncore businesses that it aims to possibly sell or spin off.

Chief Executive Officer Ian Read on Tuesday said that any separation of the two businesses would occur between July 2012 and July 2013.

Sales of animal health brands rose 13 percent in the quarter to $1.1 billion, while sales of nutritional products -- including baby formula and maternity supplements -- jumped 22 percent to $598 million.

Pfizer forecast 2012 earnings of $2.20 to $2.30 per share, excluding items. That range was down from its prior outlook of $2.25 to $2.35.

The company lowered its 2012 revenue forecast to a range of $60.5 billion to $62.5 billion, from its earlier outlook of $62.2 billion to $64.7 billion.

Shares of Pfizer were up 0.6 percent at $21.70 in trading before the market opened.

(Reporting By Ransdell Pierson; Editing by Derek Caney and Lisa Von Ahn)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120131/bs_nm/us_pfizer

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"Hang Out" with Gizmodo and President Obama! [Obama]

Tonight's the big night—you don't have to be a Washington fat cat or DC insider to get some face time with the Commander in Chief. Barack Obama is hosting a "cool" Google+ hangout, and we're covering it live. More »

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Fur flies in snub of Scorsese 'Hugo' dog

By Sheri Linden, Reuters

LOS ANGELES-- It's no secret that during Hollywood's awards season, complex character roles often get overlooked in favor of more uplifting performances. But when Martin Scorsese saw such a slight befall his "Hugo" star, he was not about to slink away with his tail between his legs.

Sacha Baron Cohen as The Station Inspector with Blackie in "Hugo."

The esteemed filmmaker took a stand and barked loudly for that actor -- and now Blackie the Doberman is at the center of a heated award campaign.

In an op-ed piece in Sunday's Los AngelesTimes, Scorsese -- whose 3D adventure "Hugo" leads this year's Academy Awards race with 11 nominations -- voiced his outrage over the Doberman pinscher's omission from nominations for the inaugural Golden Collar Awards.

"How could she not be nominated?" he wrote, noting the two nods -- two! -- for the plucky little terrier Uggie of "The Artist" fame. (Notably, the silent movie romance is second only to "Hugo" in Oscar nods with 10.)

Oh, the injustice.

So Scorsese -- he of "Taxi Driver" and "Raging Bull" fame -- took the matter one step further, urging a write-in campaign for Blackie.

Dog News Daily, the online magazine behind the Golden Collars, took up the gauntlet Sunday, inviting fans of Blackie to make their preference known.

"We will do what Mr. Scorsese so eloquently requests of the LA Times readers as well as fans of HUGO and Dobermans everywhere," the site's editors wrote. "If Blackie receives 500 write-in 'NOMINATE HUGO'S BLACKIE' posts by Monday, February 6th on Dog News Daily's FACEBOOK PAGE then the Golden Collar nominating committee will request that the panel of 14 judges add HUGO'S BLACKIE as the 6th Nominee in the Best Dog in a Theatrical Film category."

Should Blackie be added to the ballot, she'll be competing with Uggie, arguably this year's highest-profile canine. The Jack Russell terrier received his Golden Collar nominations for performances in both "The Artist" and "Water for Elephants."

Uggie, too, is at the center of a social media campaign, instigated by Moveline on Facebook to urge an Oscar nod for the terrier.

In the campaign for Blackie, hardly a whimper. Until now. The muzzles are off and the dog race is on.

Also vying for top dog at the Feb. 13 Golden Collars are Cosmo ("Beginners"), Denver ("50/50") and Hummer ("Young Adult"). But Scorsese is mad about Blackie.

In his op-ed piece, Scorsese pointed out the dynamics working against actors of the Doberman persuasion. "Jack Russell terriers are small and cute," Scorsese reminded readers. "Dobermans are enormous and -- handsome. More tellingly, Uggie plays a nice little mascot who does tricks and saves his master's life in one of the films, while Blackie gives an uncompromising performance as a ferocious guard dog who terrorizes children. I'm sure you can see what I'm driving at.

"We all have fond memories of Rin Tin Tin and Lassie, the big stars, the heroes, but what about the antiheroes? We have learned to accept the human antihero, but when it comes to dogs, I guess we still have a long way to go."

Related content:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/30/10270022-fur-flies-in-snub-of-scorsese-hugo-dog

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Video: The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (Little green footballs)

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Private investors near deal on Greek debt (AP)

ATHENS, Greece ? A disorderly and potentially devastating Greek debt default is looking much less likely.

Greece and investors who own its bonds have reached a tentative deal to significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed euro130 billion bailout.

Negotiators for the investors announced the agreement Saturday and said it could become final next week. If the agreement works as planned, it will help Greece remain solvent and help Europe avoid a blow to its already weak financial system, even though banks and other bond investors will have to accept multibillion-dollar losses.

Still, it doesn't resolve the weakening economic conditions in Greece and other European nations as they rein in spending to get their debts under control.

Under the agreement, investors holding euro206 billion in Greek bonds would exchange them for new bonds worth 60 percent less.

The new bonds' face value is half of the existing bonds. They would have a longer maturity and pay an average interest rate of slightly less than 4 percent. The existing bonds pay an average interest rate of 5 percent, according to the think tank Re-Define.

The deal would reduce Greece's annual interest expense on the bonds from about euro10 billion to about euro4 billion. And when the bonds mature, instead of paying bondholders euro206 billion, Greece will have to pay only euro103 billion.

Without the deal, which would reduce Greece's debt load by at least euro120 billion, the bonds held by banks, insurance companies and hedge funds would likely become worthless. Many of these investors also hold debt from other countries that use the euro, which could also lose value in the event of a full-fledged Greek default. This is the scenario analysts fear most and why they hope investors will voluntarily accept a partial loss on their Greek bonds.

The agreement taking shape is a key step before Greece can get a second, euro130 billion bailout from its European Union partners and the International Monetary Fund. Besides restructuring its debt with private investors, Greece must also take other steps before getting aid. It must cut its deficit and boost the competitiveness of its economy through layoffs of government employees and the sale of several state companies, among other moves.

Greece faces a euro14.5 billion bond repayment on March 20, which it cannot afford without additional help.

The country got its first bailout in May 2010 when the EU and the IMF signed off on a euro110 billion aid package, most of which has already been disbursed.

Private investors hold roughly two-thirds of Greece's debt, which has reached an unsustainable level ? nearly 160 percent of the country's annual economic output. By restructuring the debt held by private investors, Greece and its EU partners are hoping to bring that ratio closer to 120 percent by the end of this decade. Without a deal, analysts forecast that ratio ballooning to 200 percent by the end of this year as the Greek economy falters.

Meanwhile, Greece's public creditors ? the IMF, the EU and the European Central Bank ? are baffled by the government's repeated failure to meet deficit targets. They want more government wage cuts. That is meeting resistance by Greek politicians afraid of losing an election tentatively scheduled for the spring. But those same politicians also worry that the nation will be denied a second bailout if doesn't reduce its deficit.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos on Saturday night asked those who oppose structural changes to reconsider their stance.

"The coming days will be decisive for the next decade ... We must answer to tough dilemmas and we must do so with foresight and a sense of responsibility and not hide behind each other," he told reporters after meeting with the public creditors.

In return for the first bailout, Greece's public creditors have unprecedented powers over Greek spending. However, Greece's problems will not be fixed simply by cutting government spending. In order to bring its debts to a more manageable level, the country must also find ways boost economic output, which would enable it to collect more taxes.

If no debt-exchange deal is reached with private creditors and Greece is forced to default, it would very likely spook Europe's ? and possibly the world's ? financial markets. It could even lead Greece to withdraw from the euro.

Sarah Ketterer, co-manager of Causeway International Value Fund, a $1.4 billion mutual fund that invests in European stocks, said the region's markets have rebounded this month largely on expectations that negotiators would reach a deal along the lines of the one being finalized now.

Any last-minute breakdown in the talks could trigger a sharp decline in European markets, she said. But a rally is unlikely if negotiations succeed.

"The equity markets have ... largely already discounted this, and you can see that in the confidence that has returned in European equities since the end of December, and especially for financial stocks," Ketterer said.

She said there "really was no other option" than reaching a deal for bondholders to take a haircut of 50 percent or more.

Ketterer said a Greek deal could help restore bond market confidence. That would help Italy manage its own debt crisis ? one that Ketterer views as more critical than Greece's because of Italy's greater size.

The investors who own Greek bonds are being represented by Charles Dallara, managing director of the Washington-based Institute of International Finance, and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of the French bank BNP Paribas.

___

AP personal finance writer Mark Jewell in Boston, Elena Becatoros in Athens and Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120129/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_greece_financial_crisis

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Syria violence kills over 40 (Reuters)

AMMAN (Reuters) ? Security forces killed over 40 people in Syria on Friday, activists and residents said, as people in Homs mourned 14 members of a family they said were slain by militiamen in one of the worst sectarian attacks in a 10-month revolt.

The U.N. Security Council discussed a new European-Arab draft resolution aimed at halting 10 months of bloodshed.

Russia, which joined China in vetoing a previous Western draft resolution in October and which has since promoted its own draft, said the European-Arab version was unacceptable in its present form but added that it was willing to "engage" on it.

There was no let-up in violence on Friday, when anti-Assad protests again erupted after weekly Muslim prayers.

Tank and mortar fire killed 15 people in Hama, a resident said, on the fourth day of an army assault on rebellious districts of the city, where Assad's father crushed an armed Islamist uprising in 1982, killing many thousands.

The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 22 people killed elsewhere in Syria, including 12 when security forces fired on a funeral march in the southern town of Nowa and four in Homs. Activists said 10 were killed in the normally peaceful city of Aleppo.

Machinegun fire wounded five people in the Qusour district of Homs, one activist there said, adding that the city was calmer than it was at the height of Thursday's violence, when 16 people were also killed by mortar fire from security forces.

The state news agency SANA said "terrorists" killed a security man in Homs on Friday and a bomb killed a child and wounded several civilians and security personnel in the Damascus district of Midan.

SANA also said a bomb wounded three civilians and three security men in the northeastern town of Albukamal and that a suicide bomber had wounded two security men at a checkpoint in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Arab League observers headed for the Damascus suburb of Douma, where government troops battled rebel fighters the previous day as the struggle to topple Assad rumbled close to the Syrian capital.

TRANSITION PLAN

The Arab League has demanded that the Syrian leader step down as part of a transition to democracy, a call rejected by Damascus. The government says it is fighting foreign-backed armed "terrorists" who have killed 2,000 soldiers and police.

Russian U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin criticized a European-Arab draft Security Council resolution that endorses the Arab League plan. Russia, he said, is pushing for a Syrian-led political process in Syria, not "an Arab League-imposed outcome of a political process that has not yet taken place" or Libyan-style "regime change."

"We the Russian delegation do not see that draft as a basis on which we can agree," he said after Morocco distributed the draft to the 15-nation council in New York. "However ... that does not mean we refuse to engage with the co-sponsors of that resolution. We will continue to engage.

Britain and France said they hope to put the draft to a vote next week after a briefing on Tuesday by Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby and the Qatari prime minister on Syria.

The draft, obtained by Reuters, calls for a "political transition" in Syria. While not calling for U.N. sanctions against Damascus, it says the council could "adopt further measures" if Syria does not comply with the resolution.

Russia and Iran are among Syria's few remaining allies.

In another sign of Assad's isolation, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal has effectively abandoned his headquarters in Damascus, diplomatic and intelligence sources said.

"He's not going back to Syria," a regional intelligence source said of Meshaal, who has long been based in the Syrian capital. He heads the Palestinian Islamist group which rules Gaza and is an armed offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Analysts say Meshaal was embarrassed by Assad's crackdown, in which more than 5,000 people have been killed, many of them Sunni Muslim sympathizers of the Muslim Brotherhood.

Homs, a mostly Sunni city with minority Alawite enclaves, has become a battleground since protests against Assad began in March, inspired by pro-democracy revolts elsewhere in the Arab world. Armed rebels have joined the fray in recent months.

GRISLY FOOTAGE

Residents and activists said militiamen from Assad's Alawite sect had shot or hacked to death 14 members of the Sunni Bahader family in Homs's Karm al-Zaitoun district on Thursday, including eight children, aged eight months to nine years old.

YouTube video footage taken by activists, which could not be verified, showed the bodies of five children with wounds to the head and neck, three women and a man in a house.

There was no comment from Syrian authorities, which enforce tight restrictions on independent media.

At least 384 children have been killed since the uprising began in March and a similar number have been jailed, the U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.

The British-based Observatory said 43 civilians were killed on Thursday, including 33 in Homs, of whom nine were children.

Hamza, an activist in Homs, said the militiamen who attacked the Sunni family were avenging deaths inflicted on their ranks by army defectors loosely grouped in the rebel Free Syrian Army.

Tit-for-tat sectarian killings began in Homs four months ago. Assad's Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam, has dominated the political and security apparatus in Syria, a mostly Sunni nation of 23 million, for five decades.

"The Assads are the dirtiest of families," shouted crowds in Deir Balba, on the edge of Homs, according to a YouTube clip that showed people waving pre-Baath party Syrian flags.

In the city's Bab Amro district, demonstrators carried the body of a youth who had been shot in the head. "Bashar, your mother will bury you," they chanted, YouTube footage showed.

It was not possible to verify the footage, which anti-Assad campaigners had posted on the Internet.

The opposition Local Coordination Committees said security forces had fired on an anti-Assad protest by refugees from the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights who live in Thiabieh near Damascus. It said several protesters were wounded.

Activists in the Damascus suburb of Irbin said 15,000 people had turned out to demonstrate against Assad.

Several thousand also gathered in the rain in the ancient, eastern desert town of Palmyra, clapping to anti-Assad anthems. "Bashar, God is greater (than you)!" they sang.

(Additional reporting by Erika Solomon and Dominic Evans in Beirut, Steve Gutterman in Moscow, Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Nidal al-Mughrabi in Gaza and Louis Charbonneau at the United Nations; Writing by Alistair Lyon; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Eric Walsh)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120128/wl_nm/us_syria

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Qualcomm buys Pixtronix to make for better Mirasol displays?

Qualcomm's whipped out some flipping great wadges of cash in order to snap up Pixtronix for its PerfectLight MEMS-based display tech. It reportedly cost between $175 - $200 million and is expected to be merged into the company's super-low power Mirasol-based displays. Compared to the Kyobo eReader we played with at CES, PerfectLight has a wider viewing angle (170 degree), supports full speed video playback and much better RGB modulation. Depending on how successful the marriage is, it could spell the end of the final hurdles that have hampered the widespread adoption of the technology.

Qualcomm buys Pixtronix to make for better Mirasol displays? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Jan 2012 15:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kristen Bell happy about new show 'House of Lies' (AP)

NEW YORK ? Kristen Bell is such a fan of "Homeland" that she just had to tell the cast of the hit Showtime drama at a recent party.

"I felt at one point one of them kind of take a step back like, `She's a little intense,' and then I got insecure like, `Oh, no, you're THAT person,'" she relates.

Now Bell is sharing a network with her favorite show with her new series, "House of Lies," about a management consulting firm that specializes in damage control. The show debuts Sunday night at 10 p.m. EST on Showtime.

The 31-year-old Bell first wowed critics playing a teen private investigator on the smart series "Veronica Mars," which debuted in 2004 and aired for three seasons. The film industry took notice and began casting her in such movies as "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and "Couples Retreat." She also narrates "Gossip Girl" as the show's title character.

Bell realized she missed TV but wanted to do something edgier than anything she had done before. She also liked the idea of being part of an ensemble cast. She found what she was looking in "House of Lies."

The blistering comedy stars Don Cheadle as a slick, ruthless management consultant. Bell plays the ambitious Jeannie, who loves the high life but can flirt with the low life.

"If he's a great actor he's an even cooler person and I don't think there's a ton of people you can say that about," Bell says about Cheadle. "But he's a really genuine, grounded, nice, funny guy."

Bell, who grew up in suburban Detroit, trained in opera and performed in community theater. She went on to study at New York University where she won a role her senior year in the 2001 Broadway musical "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," which ran less than a month.

Bell says she misses musical theater but doesn't feel comfortable leaving her family and friends in California for a long stretch of time in New York. She is engaged to Dax Shepard, who co-stars on the drama "Parenthood" on NBC. The two recently produced and starred in a film together called "Outrun" which is expected to hit theaters next summer. Shepard also directed.

"We actually grew closer by spending every single minute together for about nine weeks," she says. "We drove to work together and we came home together. ... It's very organic for us to spend every moment together. We're severely co-dependent. It's a disease!"

----

Online:

http://www.sho.com/site/houseoflies/home.sho

----

Alicia Rancilio covers entertainment for The Associated Press. Follow her at http:/

/http://www.twitter.com/aliciar.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_en_tv/us_people_kristen_bell

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Obama to talk price of college at Michigan

By Alan Silverleib and Tom Cohen, CNN

updated 2:04 AM EST, Fri January 27, 2012

President Obama spoke at a UPS freight facility in Las Vegas, Nevada Thursday.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Obama will speak at the University of Michigan on Friday morning
• He gave a commencement speech there in 2010
• The president is on a three-day swing through five politically important states
• On Thursday, Obama spoke in Las Vegas about increased federal investment in clean energy

(CNN) -- President Barack Obama will talk about keeping college affordable during the final leg of his road trip focusing on themes announced in the State of the Union address.

Obama's speech at the University of Michigan will be his second there since he took office as he gave the commencement speech in 2010.

On Thursday, Obama spoke in Las Vegas about increased federal investment in clean energy and told a crowd in Colorado that America must compete in a global growth industry.

The federal government on Thursday announced plans to sell off oil and gas leases on 38 million acres of the Gulf of Mexico seafloor in a new domestic energy push.

The leases could yield as much as 1 billion barrels of oil and 4 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, the Interior Department estimates. The sale scheduled in June will be the second since the Deepwater Horizon disaster of 2010 when nearly 5 million barrels of crude spewed into the Gulf.

Obama mentioned the planned lease sales in his remarks at Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado, which has a 1-megawatt solar array and last year test-piloted jets that run on advanced biofuels.

"We are the Saudi Arabia of natural gas," he told the military crowd in detailing his strategy to increase domestic oil and gas development while promoting investment and innovation in clean energy development.

His energy proposals come amid criticism from Republicans and the oil industry for the administration's rejection of a permit to build a pipeline to transport oil from Canada's tar sands production in northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama has said the permit was rejected because Republicans forced a decision before there was time for a necessary review of a proposed route change requested by Nebraska officials, including the state's Republican governor. The president also said the rejection was due to timing, rather than the merits of the project that would create several thousand jobs for the two-year construction period.

In his remarks earlier Thursday at a UPS facility in Las Vegas, Obama called his energy plan an "all-out, all-in, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy."

Among other things, Obama promised more federal assistance for local governments to upgrade their automotive fleets while also pushing new tax incentives for cleaner corporate vehicles.

The president also said the administration is working to develop up to five highway natural gas corridors, and he announced a new competition to encourage the development of breakthroughs for natural gas vehicles.

"We've got to keep at it. Think about what could happen if we do," Obama said. "Think about an America where more cars and trucks are running on domestic natural gas than on foreign oil. Think about an America where our companies are leading the world in developing natural gas technology and creating a generation of new energy jobs. ... We can do this."

The president's remarks Friday will come on the last day of a three-day road trip building on themes announced in Tuesday night's State of the Union address.

CNN's Matt Smith contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/27/politics/obama-trip/index.html?eref=rss_mostpopular

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Penney shares soar on upbeat outlook for 2012

NEW YORK (AP) ? J.C. Penney Co. shares soared 15 percent Thursday after the department store chain delivered a 2012 profit outlook that's well above analysts' projections.

The company expects adjusted earnings per share to be at least $2.16 for the fiscal year, above analysts' $1.60 per share estimate, according to FactSet.

Penney's new CEO Ron Johnson, who was the mastermind behind the successful Apple Inc. stores, laid out an aggressive plan Wednesday to reinvent the business. That includes simplifying pricing, overhauling marketing campaigns and carving stores into 100 mini-shops.

Mike Kramer, chief operating officer, told investors on Thursday that it plans to spend $800 million this year to install the shops and improve technology, using cash from its operations.

The company is targeting $900 million in expense cuts to be completed over the first two years of its transformation, intending to lower the company's expenses below 30 percent of sales in two years. For the company's fiscal 2011 year, selling, general and administrative expenses accounted for 33 percent of annual sales. That's a higher percentage than rivals including Kohl's Corp. and Macy's Inc. Penney will cut costs from stores and advertising, and at operations at the company's home office, Kramer said. The company aims to reduce the layers of management there.

With its new pricing strategy, Penney will be getting rid of hundreds of sales it held last year and instead focusing on "every day" prices, with special monthly sales and clearance. That will reduce labor costs at the stores since associates won't have to use their time ticketing products and putting up big sales signs each night. It will also reduce advertising expenses.

Penney will launch the mini-shops beginning in August. Its new pricing strategy will start Feb. 1.

Johnson said Thursday that Penney will get its first "true read" of customers' reaction to the pricing strategy on Feb. 1. He said he doesn't know what the initial reaction will be, but he's confident that "it will get better and better."

Executives spelled out the Plano, Texas company's changes at a two-day investor meeting in New York.

Shares jumped $5.23 to $39.51 in midday trading Thursday. They had been up 2 percent in January.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-26-Penney-Outlook/id-0f609548696a49f79c4b87dfd84fc88a

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Fed says full recovery could take 3 more years (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The Federal Reserve signaled Wednesday that a full economic recovery could take nearly three more years, and it went further than ever to assure consumers and businesses that they will be able to borrow cheaply well into the future.

The central bank said it would probably not increase its benchmark interest rate until late 2014 at the earliest ? a year and a half later than it had previously said.

The new timetable showed the Fed is concerned that the recovery remains stubbornly slow. But it also thinks inflation will stay tame enough for rates to remain at record lows without igniting price increases.

Chairman Ben Bernanke cautioned that late 2014 is merely its "best guess." The Fed can shift that plan if the economic picture changes. But he cast doubt on whether that would be necessary.

"Unless there is a substantial strengthening of the economy in the near term, it's a pretty good guess we will be keeping rates low for some time," he said.

The Fed has kept its key rate at a record low near zero for about three years. Its new time frame suggests the rate will stay there for roughly an additional three years.

The bank's tepid outlook also suggests it's prepared to do more to help the economy. One possibility is a third bond-buying program that would seek to further drive down rates on mortgages and other loans to embolden consumers and businesses to borrow and spend more.

In a statement after a two-day policy meeting, the Fed said it stands ready to adjust its "holdings as appropriate to promote a stronger economic recovery in the context of price stability."

Treasury yields fell after the midday announcement. But yields stopped falling after the bank later issued forecasts for the economy and interest rates. They showed that while some members foresee super-low rates beyond 2014, six of the 17 members forecast a rate increase as early as this year or next.

It was the first time the Fed had released interest-rate forecasts from its committee members. It will now do so four times a year, when it also updates its economic outlook.

The rate forecasts are an effort to provide more explicit clues about the Fed's plans. They also coincide with a broader Fed effort to make its communications with the public more open.

Lower yields on bonds tend to encourage investors to shift money into stocks, which can boost wealth and spur more spending.

Stocks, which had traded lower before the Fed's announcement, quickly recovered their losses. The Dow Jones industrial average closed at 12,758.85, its highest close in more than eight months.

Some economists said the new late-2014 target may foreshadow further Fed action to try to invigorate the economy.

Julie Coronado, an economist at BNP Paribas, said she thought the Fed was indicating that it will step up its purchases of bonds and other assets if economic growth fails to accelerate ? even if it doesn't slow.

That is a "very low bar indeed," she wrote in a note to clients.

Other analysts fear that the Fed's longer-term timetable for a rate increase could hamstring it, even though Bernanke stressed the Fed's ability to adjust rates as it sees fit.

Dana Saporta, an economist at Credit Suisse, worried that the much-longer timetable would compromise the Fed's credibility if it must raise rates sooner because of unexpectedly strong growth and inflation.

"It's striking that the Fed would make an implicit commitment for almost three years," Saporta said. "It seems like an awfully long time to make such a statement. Given that no one knows what will happen ... the (Fed) may eventually regret this."

The central bank slightly reduced its outlook for growth this year, from as much as 2.9 percent forecast in November down to 2.7 percent. For the first time, the Fed provided an official target for inflation ? 2 percent ? in a statement of its long-term policy goals.

The bank sees unemployment falling as low as 8.2 percent this year, better than its earlier forecast of 8.5 percent. December's unemployment rate was 8.5 percent.

Those rates are still far higher than normal. The Fed didn't set a formal target for unemployment, but it said a rate between 5.2 percent and 6 percent would be consistent with a healthy economy.

Bernanke noted that the Fed expects only moderate growth over the next year. He pointed to the persistently depressed housing market and continued tight credit for many consumers and companies.

The Fed described inflation as "subdued," a more encouraging assessment than last month.

"This is a fairly clear-cut signal that inflation is not on their radar at this point," Tom Porcelli, an economist at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a research note.

The Fed's statement was approved on a 9-1 vote. Jeffrey Lacker, president of the Richmond regional Fed bank, dissented. He objected to the new time frame for a rate increase.

The extended time frame is a shift from the Fed's previous plan to keep the rate low at least until mid-2013.

Beyond the adjusted outlook for interest rates, Wednesday's statement used the same language as before in describing Europe's debt problems and the impact on the world economy.

The threat of a recession in Europe is likely to drag on the global economy. And another year of weak wage gains in the United States could force consumers to pull back on spending, which would slow growth.

But for now, the American economy is looking a little better. Companies are hiring more, the stock market is rising, factories are busy and more people are buying cars. Even the home market is showing slight gains after three dismal years.

The Fed has taken previous steps to strengthen the economy, including purchases of $2 trillion in government bonds and mortgage-backed securities to try to cut long-term rates and ease borrowing costs.

Some Fed officials have resisted further bond buying for fear it would raise the risk of high inflation. And many doubt it would help much since Treasury yields are already near historic lows.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_re_us/us_federal_reserve

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99% A Separation

Asghar Farhadi's "A Separation" (made in Iran) is a deceptively simple film. On the surface, it seems quite mundane. But gradually, its deeper themes emerge beautifully. It is not just about the specific legal disputes that make up the plot. It's a deep expression of sorrow about the divisions in present-day Persian society. It's complex enough that one could analyze it in different ways ad infinitum. (How often are you able to say that about a film nowadays?!) The divisions that hit me most powerfully are: - Class stratification. The gap between the well-educated professional class and the poorly educated working class is depicted in a brutal, heart-wrenching way. - Religious stratification. The gap between the religious population (Muslim, of course) and the secular population is shown to have some correspondence to class stratification, with the poor and less educated tending to be more religious, but not always. - Family divisions. This is explored several ways. A well-educated family is torn apart over whether to leave Iran. The mother wants to leave; the father does not. Their teenage daughter is caught in the middle, forced to make an agonizing choice: which parent does she want to stay with? Before this, I had always thought that families were united in the desire to migrate. This film clued me into the devastating struggles families go through trying to reach consensus around the momentous decision to uproot the family and possibly never again see family members left behind. A chief reason the man does not want to leave is that he cannot leave his father alone. The divisions inside a poor family are also explored. Here it surrounds whether a married woman should work outside the home. This struggle has religious overtones as well. "A Separation" is uncommonly rich. Its weakness is that it does become tedious at times. There are endless scenes in make-shift courtrooms, where witnesses bicker with each other. The camera work is extremely pedestrian. Farhadi seems to be of the mind that the director's hand should be invisible. He should just set up the camera, point it toward the actors, and turn it on. This approach to filmmaking is risky. Sometimes a flat style is paradoxically exhilarating. But more often it leads to a dull cinematic experience for the audience. Unfortunately, this happened too often during the film, at least for me. But still, there's no denying the depth and uniqueness of "A Separation." I'm delighted that it has become an art-house sensation in America. I also look forward to following Asghar Farhadi's career with more care. (This is the fifth film he has directed but the first I've seen or even heard of.)

January 6, 2012

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/a_separation_2011/

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`Underworld' slays the box office with $25.3M (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Kate Beckinsale returned to the "Underworld" as the vampire warrior Selene and helped propel the fourth film in the franchise, "Underworld Awakening," to a first-place debut with $25.3 million. Last week's No. 1 movie, the thriller "Contraband," fell to third place with just over $12 million.

The top 20 movies at U.S. and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, followed by distribution studio, gross, number of theater locations, average receipts per location, total gross and number of weeks in release, as compiled Monday by Hollywood.com are:

1. "Underworld Awakening," Sony Screen Gems, $25,306,725, 3078 locations, $8,222 average, $25,306,725, one week.

2. "Red Tails," Fox, $18,782,154, 2512 locations, $7,477 average, $18,782,154, one week.

3. "Contraband," Universal, $12,039,605, 2870 locations, $4,195 average, $45,937,525, two weeks.

4. "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," Warner Bros., $10,737,239, 2630 locations, $4,083 average, $10,737,239, five weeks.

5. "Beauty and the Beast," Disney, $8,779,676, 2625 locations, $3,345, $33,588,056, two weeks.

6. "Haywire," Relativity Media, $8,425,370, 2439 locations, $3,454 average, $8,425,370, one week.

7. "Joyful Noise," Warner Bros., $5,917,437, 2735 locations, $2,164 average, $21,745,419, two weeks.

8. "Mission: Impossible ? Ghost Protocol," Paramount, $5,554,254, 2519 locations, $2,205 average, $197,363,441, six weeks.

9. "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," Warner Bros., $4,515,497, 2485 locations, $1,817 average, $178,321,726, six weeks.

10. "The Iron Lady," Weinstein Co., $3,684,279, 1076 locations, $3,424 average, $12,585,958, four weeks.

11. "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," Sony, $3,528,514, 1907 locations, $1,850 average, $94,553,582, five weeks.

12. "War Horse," Disney, $3,150,502, 2525 locations, $1,248 average, $72,285,180, five weeks.

13. "Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked," Fox, $3,076,168, 2070 locations, $1,486 average, $124,682,205, six weeks.

14. "We Bought a Zoo," Fox, $2,783,440, 2065 locations, $1,348 average, $69,565,025, five weeks.

15. "The Devil Inside," Paramount, $2,668,865, 2207 locations, $1,209 average, $51,289,972, three weeks.

16. "The Descendants," Fox Searchlight, $2,372,298, 560 locations, $4,236 average, $51,259,658, 10 weeks.

17. "The Artist," Weinstein Co., $2,371,803, 662 locations, $3,583 average, $12,119,718, nine weeks.

18. "The Adventures of Tintin," Paramount, $2,218,841, 1340 locations, $1,656 average, $72,321,006, five weeks.

19. "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Focus Features, $1,763,380, 731 locations, $2,412 average, $18,328,977, seven weeks.

20. "Hugo," Paramount, $937,620, 650 locations, $1,442 average, $55,887,402, nine weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

___

Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_en_mo/us_box_office

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Rep. Giffords to resign Monday from Congress, focus on recovering from shooting injuries (Star Tribune)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/190060689?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Euro zone ministers reject private bondholders' Greece offer (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/BERLIN (Reuters) ? Euro zone finance ministers Monday rejected as insufficient an offer made by private bondholders to help restructure Greece's debts, sending negotiators back to the drawing board and raising the threat of Greek default.

At a meeting in Brussels, ministers said they could not accept bondholders' demands for a coupon of four percent on new, longer-dated bonds that are expected be issued in exchange for their existing Greek holdings.

Banks and other private institutions represented by the Institute of International Finance (IIF) say a 4.0 percent coupon is the least they can accept if they are going to write down the nominal value of the debt they hold by 50 percent.

Greece says it is not prepared to pay a coupon of more than 3.5 percent, and euro zone finance ministers effectively backed the Greek government's position at Monday's meeting, a position that the International Monetary Fund also supports.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the Eurogroup countries, said Greece needed to pursue a deal with private bondholders where the interest rate on the replacement bonds was "clearly" below 4.0 percent, stating:

"Ministers asked their Greek colleagues to pursue negotiations to bring the interest rates on the new bonds to below 4 percent for the total period, which implies the interest comes down to well below 3.5 percent before 2020."

The aim of the restructuring is to reduce Greece's debts by around 100 billion euros ($129 billion), cutting them from 160 percent of GDP to 120 percent by 2020, a level EU and IMF officials think will be more manageable for the growth-less Greek economy.

But with Greece off-track in its efforts to get its budget deficit in shape, the 2020 goal looks a long shot at best.

The disagreement increases the risk that it will prove impossible to strike a voluntary restructuring deal between Greece's creditors and the Greek government - an outcome that would have severe repercussions for financial markets.

Negotiations over what's called 'private sector involvement' (PSI) have been going on for nearly seven months without a concrete breakthrough. Failure to reach a deal by March, when Athens must repay 14.5 billion euros of maturing debt, could result in a disorderly default.

Despite the disagreement, Olli Rehn, the European commissioner in charge of economic and monetary affairs, said he expected a deal on PSI to be struck "within days."

PERMANENT BAILOUT FUND

As well as assessing Greece's debt restructuring, euro zone ministers discussed efforts to enforce stricter budget rules for EU states via a "fiscal compact," and steps to finalize the structure of a permanent euro zone bailout fund, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), which is due to operate from July.

The ESM will have an effective lending capacity of 500 billion euros and replace the European Financial Stability Facility, a temporary fund that has so far been used to bail out Ireland and Portugal and which will be used to provide part of a second, 130 billion euro package for Greece.

Germany has insisted that once the ESM is up and running, the combined potential outlay of the EFSF and ESM should not exceed 500 billion euros.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti and IMF chief Christine Lagarde have said the ceiling should be raised, possibly up to 1 trillion euros, so it has more than enough capacity to handle any problems in major economies such as Spain or Italy.

The Financial Times reported Monday that German Chancellor Angela Merkel was ready to see the ceiling of the combined firewall raised to 750 billion euros in exchange for agreement on tighter euro zone budget rules, but the report was immediately denied by her chief spokesman.

"It is not true. There is no such decision," Steffen Seibert told Reuters.

Monti told reporters after Monday's meeting that no conclusions had been reached on the ESM, which all 17 euro zone countries must back in a new treaty. Officials said the details would have to be finalized by an EU summit on January 30.

It was a similar situation for the "fiscal compact," which also involves a new treaty and which EU leaders are expected to agree at the summit next week.

"We have had an extremely constructive meeting on the fiscal compact and this text is a good basis for the discussions for the heads of government at the end of the month," said Juncker, sidestepping concerns about the text raised by the European Central Bank.

DEBT SUSTAINABILITY

Despite the continued deep differences, Greece and its private creditors do appear to be slowly converging on a deal in which private bondholders would take a real loss of 65 to 70 percent on their Greek bonds - giving a nominal reduction of 50 percent - officials close to the negotiations say.

Sources close to the talks told Reuters Monday that the impasse centered on questions of whether the deal would return Greece's debt mountain, currently over 350 billion euros, to levels that European governments believe are sustainable.

"There will likely be an updated debt sustainability analysis that will be discussed at the Eurogroup," a banking source in Athens said, requesting anonymity. "Talks will continue this week. The aim is to have an agreement by late next Monday."

Speaking in Berlin, Lagarde called on European leaders to complement the "fiscal compact" they agreed last month with some form of financial risk-sharing, mentioning euro zone bonds or bills, or a debt redemption fund as possible options.

Merkel told a news conference it was not the time to debate an increase in the euro zone's bailout funds.

"I don't think it is right to do one new thing then do another, let's get the ESM working," Merkel said, reiterating that Germany was prepared to accelerate the flow of capital into the ESM ahead of its planned introduction in mid-2012.

Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the second bailout would total 130 billion euros, if private bondholders forgave half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.

But Greek economic prospects have deteriorated since then, which means either euro zone governments or investors will have to contribute more than thought.

(Additional reporting by Stephen Brown and Alexandra Hudson in Berlin, Leigh Thomas in Paris, Lefteris Papadimas and Ingrid Melander in Athens; Writing by Noah Barkin and Luke Baker, editing by Mike Peacock/Jeremy Gaunt/Rex Merrifield.)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120124/bs_nm/us_eurozone_ministers

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Rap group 2 Live Crew to reunite, tour this summer (AP)

PARK CITY, Utah ? The rap group that created controversy in the early 1990s with songs like "Me So Horny" is reuniting and hitting the road.

Luther Campbell said Saturday that 2 Live Crew is back together and will tour this summer.

The rapper and producer made the announcement at the Sundance Film Festival, where he is promoting his appearance in the short film "The Life and Freaky Times of Uncle Luke."

The 51-year-old entertainer describes the offbeat film as "an art piece" that he did to help young filmmakers who were inspired by his hip-hop work. But his mind was on getting back with the old crew.

"I just can't wait to just start practicing," he said. "That's going to be a blast."

So will they be "As Nasty As They Wanna Be" (the title of the group's 1989 album that a judge deemed obscene, a ruling later overturned by the United States Court of Appeals)?

Not really, Campbell said.

"We're going to perform the songs and everybody's going to be excited," he said. "Some of the older people of our generation will be able to tell their kids, `You're staying home tonight, we're going to see 2 Live Crew and shake our booty!'"

___

AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy.

___

Online:

http://www.sundance.org/festival/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_en_ot/us_film_sundance2_live_crew

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FACT CHECK: History flubs in Republican debate (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Mitt Romney perpetuated one unsubstantiated claim, about his record at Bain Capital, and more or less corrected himself on another, about President Barack Obama's health care law, in the latest Republican presidential debate.

His rivals flubbed history, Newt Gingrich blaming a Democratic president for a jobless rate he never had, and Ron Paul painting an idyllic picture of life before Medicare that did not reflect deprivations of that time.

A look at some of the claims in the debate Thursday night and how they compare with the facts:

___

ROMNEY: "We started a number of businesses; four in particular created 120,000 jobs, as of today. We started them years ago. They've grown ? grown well beyond the time I was there to 120,000 people that have been employed by those enterprises. ... Those that have been documented to have lost jobs, lost about 10,000 jobs. So (120,000 less 10,000) means that we created something over 100,000 jobs."

THE FACTS: Romney now has acknowledged the negative side of the ledger from his years with Bain Capital, but hardly laid out the full story. His claim to have created more than 100,000 jobs in the private sector as a venture capitalist remains unsupported.

Romney mentioned four successful investments in companies that now employ some 120,000 people, having grown since he was involved in them a decade or ago or longer. From that, he subtracted the number of jobs that he said are known to have been lost at certain other companies.

What's missing is anything close to a complete list of winners and losers ? and the bottom line on jobs. Bain under Romney invested in scores of private companies that don't have the obligation of big publicly traded corporations to disclose finances. Romney acknowledged that he was using current employment figures for the four companies, not the number of jobs they had when he left Bain Capital, yet took credit for them in his analysis.

___

GINGRICH: "Under Jimmy Carter, we had the wrong laws, the wrong regulations, the wrong leadership, and we killed jobs. We had inflation. We went to 10.8 percent unemployment. Under Ronald Reagan, we had the right job ? the right laws, the right regulators, the right leadership. We created 16 million new jobs."

THE FACTS: Sure, inflation was bad and gas lines long, but under Carter's presidency unemployment never topped 7.8 percent. The unemployment rate did reach 10.8 percent, but not until November 1982, nearly two years into Reagan's first term.

Most economists attribute the jobless increase to a sharp rise in interest rates engineered by then-Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker in an ultimately successful effort to choke off inflation. Unemployment began to fall in 1983 and dropped to 7.2 percent in November 1984, when Reagan easily won re-election.

The economy did add 16 million jobs during Reagan's 1981-1989 presidency. Gingrich's assertion that "we created" them may have left the impression that he was a key figure in that growth. Although Gingrich was first elected to the House in 1978, his first Republican leadership position, as minority whip, began when Reagan left office, in 1989.

___

PAUL: "I had the privilege of practicing medicine in the early `60s, before we had any government (health care). It worked rather well, and there was nobody on the street suffering with no medical care. But Medicare and Medicaid came in and it just expanded."

THE FACTS: Before Medicare was created in the mid-1960s, only about half of the elderly had private insurance for hospital care, and they were facing rising costs for those policies on their fixed incomes. Medicare was hugely contentious at the time, seen by many doctors as a socialist takeover, but few argued that the status quo could be maintained.

A Health, Education and Welfare Department report to Congress in 1959, during the Republican administration of Dwight Eisenhower, took no position on what the federal government should do but stated "a larger proportion of the aged than of other persons must turn to public assistance for payment of their medical bills or rely on `free' care from hospitals and physicians."

Paul advocates a return to an era when doctors would treat the needy for free. But even in the old days, charity came with a cost. Research from the pre-Medicare era shows that the cost of free care was transferred to paying customers and the insurance industry.

___

ROMNEY: "I could have stayed in Detroit, like him, and gotten pulled up in the car company. I went off on my own. I didn't inherit money from my parents. What I have, I earned. I worked hard, the American way."

THE FACTS: It's true there's no evidence Romney's wealthy family gave him a trust fund, or helped him secure a job at Bain Capital, where he would ultimately make his fortune. But it's not entirely the case that his success is wholly the result of his own hard work.

Romney's father, George, was an automobile industry CEO and a Michigan governor. He paid for Mitt to attend the Cranbrook School, a private boarding school in the Detroit area. The education didn't hurt Romney's ability to get into Harvard, where he earned law and business degrees in 1975.

While Romney appears to have gotten a job at Bain out of college on his own, the Boston Globe book "The Real Romney" reports that Romney's parents helped him and his wife buy their first home when he was in his early 20s.

On Thursday night, the Romney campaign did not dispute the finding that Romney's parents helped pay for that house, in the Boston suburb of Belmont.

___

ROMNEY: "The executive order is a beginning process. It's one thing, but it doesn't completely eliminate Obamacare. ... We have to go after a complete repeal. And that's going to have to have to happen with a House and a Senate, hopefully, that are Republican."

THE FACTS: With that statement, Romney essentially corrected his repeated suggestions in early debates and speeches that he would eliminate President Barack Obama's health care law with a stroke of the pen on his first day in office ? a power no president has.

In one variation of the claim, he had vowed in a Sept. 7 debate that on Day One, he would sign an executive order "granting a waiver from Obamacare to all 50 states." This, despite the fact that the law lays out an onerous process for letting individual states off the hook from its requirements, and that process cannot begin until 2017.

Now he acknowledges the political reality that a Republican president would need Republican control of Congress to have a strong shot at repealing the law.

___

Associated Press writers Steve Peoples, Jim Drinkard, and Christopher S. Rugaber contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_el_pr/us_gop_debate_fact_check

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Study Hints That Statins Might Fight Breast Cancer (HealthDay)

THURSDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Amid hints that statins -- cholesterol-lowering drugs -- might also play a role in preventing or treating certain types of cancer, new research sheds some light on how these drugs may help stop breast cancer in its tracks among certain women.

The p53 tumor suppressor gene stops the uncontrolled growth of cancer cells, but some women with breast cancer have mutant forms of this gene. In the new study, when the mutant p53 cells were treated in the laboratory with statins, the cells stopped their erratic growth, and even died in some cases.

It seems that the mutated p53 genes may activate the same pathway that the statins inhibit -- the mevalonate pathway, the study suggests. The mevalonate pathway is important in the body's production of cholesterol.

In the study, the effects of the statin drugs were erased when the mevalonate pathway was reactivated, supporting the potential mechanism. The new research is published in the Jan. 20 issue of the journal Cell.

Study author Dr. Carol Prives, chair of the department of biological sciences at Columbia University in New York City, is cautious in her enthusiasm about the results and their implications.

"The study is adding the possibility that there may be classes of breast cancer patients who will respond better to statins than others," she said, but noted that this research is far away from the bedside.

"By understanding better what sort of cells would respond to statins, one might have a better idea of whether or not to consider using them," she added. "The next step could be a trial of statins in women with breast cancer who have a mutated copy of the p53 gene."

Commenting on the study, cancer expert Marc Symons said, "This paper unravels a mechanism whereby p53, a frequently mutated cancer gene, promotes the aberrant behavior of cancer cells."

The mutated protein stimulates the mevalonate pathway, explained Symons, an investigator at the Center for Oncology and Cell Biology at the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research in Manhasset, N.Y.

"Statins, drugs that are widely used to lower cholesterol levels, block a key step in the mevalonate pathway," Symons said. "The new results may well give new momentum to the use of statins as anti-cancer agents."

Dr. Stephanie Bernik, chief of surgical oncology at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, is also intrigued by the potential of the new findings.

"This paper addresses a possible new target for therapeutic agents based on a well-known tumor suppressor gene that is common in many cancers," Bernik said. "Identifying novel pathways that lead to tumor formation is the first step to developing new drugs that can specifically target some of the complex mechanisms that contribute to the development of cancer," she pointed out.

"This work and other projects like this raise the hope that we will one day be able to cure cancers on a molecular level," Bernik said.

More information

Learn more about how breast cancer is treated at the U.S. National Cancer Institute.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/diseases/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120120/hl_hsn/studyhintsthatstatinsmightfightbreastcancer

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Johnny Depp In 1988 Talks 'Strange' Fame, Fans (VIDEO)

Johnny Depp is America's favorite movie star, according to a new poll released earlier this week. By now, the popularity is par for the course for the eccentric, Oscar-nominated "Pirates" actor, what with his tabloid life and red carpet bows, but he didn't always find fame such a familiar experience.

In this 1988 interview with Entertainment Tonight -- his first with the show -- Depp, who was a 25-year old starring on "21 Jump Street," ruminates on the "strange" venture of being a star in Hollywood.

"You don't expect people to be there, waiting for you, it's very new to me," he says of walking the red carpet. "I'm dealing with it the best way i know how, which is right now, I try to meet as many people as I can and when a situation like they have downstairs with all the kids, I try to sign as many things as I can, I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings or make them feel like I don't have time. But it's very strange time because they're saying, 'Please sign this, please sign this,' and then I have these guard guys pulling me, saying, C'mon, we got to go, we got to go,' so it's a little strange to be in that situation."

WATCH:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/21/johnny-depp-in-1988-talks_n_1220816.html

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Activists: Syrians pull back from besieged town

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, anti-Syrian regime protesters chant slogans and flash the victory sign as they march during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, anti-Syrian regime protesters chant slogans and flash the victory sign as they march during a demonstration at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this Tuedsay, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, a young anti-Syrian regime protester shows bullet casings, said by protesters to be left by Syrian army soldiers, at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, an anti-Syrian regime protester flashes the victory sign as he waves the Syrian revolution flag during a demonstration, at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the Lebanese border. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

In this photo taken on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012, anti-Syrian regime protesters shout slogans and flash the victory sign as they march during a demonstration, at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the border with Lebanon. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani, which has come under the control of army defectors. Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent. (AP Photo)

BEIRUT (AP) ? Activists and eyewitnesses say Syrian troops have pulled back from a mountain resort town near the capital Damascus that had fallen under the control of the opposition.

The besieged town of Zabadani has come under shelling and witnessed heavy fighting between army troops and anti-government military defectors in the past six days.

Activist Fares Mohammad says Syrian army tanks and armored vehicles that had been besieging Zabadani withdrew Wednesday night to a military barracks about 7 kilometers (4 miles) away.

Residents confirmed Thursday that the shelling had ceased since midday Wednesday and that the siege had eased although checkpoints remain.

There was no comment from Syrian officials about the fighting in Zabadani, which is near the border with Lebanon.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BEIRUT (AP) ? Syria's powerful allies in Russia vowed Wednesday to block any Western attempts to intervene militarily in Syria as Damascus fights off an increasingly chaotic 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad.

The support came as Assad was showing fresh confidence that he can ride out the uprising with the help of a small ? but influential ? set of friends in Russia, China and Iran.

Iran also gave Syria another boost Wednesday. According to Iran's semi-official ISNA news agency, with the commander of Iran's Quds Force, Brig. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, said Assad's government enjoys public support and won't collapse.

Assad, a 46-year-old authoritarian leader who inherited power from his father in 2000, has made two public appearances last week, where he vowed to strike back with an "iron hand" against the "conspiracy" behind the uprising. Assad has rarely turned up in public during the uprising and his appearances showed he was still firmly in charge.

But protesters show no sign of retreat despite the brutal military crackdown that the U.N. says has killed more than 5,400 people since March. And the uprising is turning increasingly militarized as more frustrated regime opponents and army defectors arm themselves and fight back against the regime.

The comments by Russia's Foreign Minister Lavrov were one of Moscow's strongest statements of support yet for Assad. As one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Russia can veto any Council resolution that would authorize military intervention in Syria.

"If some intend to use force at all cost ... we can hardly prevent that from happening," Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow. "But let them do it at their own initiative on their own conscience. They won't get any authorization from the U.N. Security Council."

Lavrov said his country's draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution on the violence in Syria, which was circulated at the U.N. on Monday, aimed to make it explicitly clear that nothing could justify foreign military interference. However, Western diplomats said the draft fell short of their demand for strong condemnation of Assad's crackdown on civilians.

Russia has been a strong ally of Syria since Soviet times when the country was led by the president's father Hafez Assad. Nevertheless, Russian officials last fall hosted prominent Syrian opposition leaders in Moscow in a bid to sponsor talks.

Lavrov's comments made clear that Russia's position on intervention in Syria has not changed.

"Russia has a number of interests which would be protected by ensuring that there is no external interference in domestic developments in the country," said Anthony Skinner, associate director at Maplecroft, a British-based risk analysis company. Russia sells weapons to Syria and the country's Tartous port gives the Russians a foothold in the Levant region.

But Skinner said the Russian support is not grounds for Assad to feel more secure in his position.

"If you look at the overall longer term dynamic, it's not something that he should draw any confidence from," he said. "As we have seen with autocrats throughout the region, they at times live in an alternative reality and they have to project an image of strength confidence and power," he said.

Syria's regime has grown increasingly isolated over the past 10 months as it waged a brutal military crackdown on an anti-government uprising inspired by the Arab Spring revolts across the region. The U.N. says the violence has killed more than 5,400 people since March.

The Security Council has been unable to agree on a resolution since the violence began because of strong opposition from Russia and China, another permanent, veto-wielding member of the Security Council. In October, both countries vetoed a West European draft resolution backed by the U.S. that condemned Assad's attacks and threatened sanctions.

Russia has sold Syria weapons systems in the past, including the advanced surface-to-air Strelets system, and its warships already had been calling on Syria's northern port of Tartous.

The Syrian opposition and Western countries have also accused Iran, Syria's closest ally in the Middle East, of assisting the regime in its crackdown.

A senior Obama administration official said Tuesday that a recent visit by the commander of Iran's powerful Quds Force to Damascus is the strongest sign yet that Washington's arch foe Tehran is supplying weapons to aid Assad's crackdown.

On Wednesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron also said Iran and Iranian-backed Islamist group Hezbollah in Lebanon are supporting Syria's violent crackdown on the uprising ? accusations that both have denied.

As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani near the border with Lebanon, which has come under the control of army defectors. They said living conditions were deteriorating there after six days of a military siege.

There have been several other instances when the opposition or defectors have gained control of a town or city, but ultimately the Syrian military recaptured them.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Zabadani was hit with heavy machine gun fire early Wednesday.

A resident and activist in Zabadani described the town as a "war zone." He said dozens of anti-government army defectors are deployed at the entrances to prevent any attempt by forces loyal to Assad to storm the area.

The man, who identified himself only as Fares for fear of government reprisal, told The Associated Press by phone that the town was shelled with mortars shortly before noon Wednesday. He added that two security buildings inside Zabadani are still under government control but there have not been any clashes with the forces there.

Fares said food is running out and fuel for heating is very scarce in Zabadani, where it snowed earlier this week.

The anti-Assad revolt, which began as a peaceful uprising by mostly civilian, unarmed protesters has turned increasingly militarized in recent months with growing numbers of army defectors who clash with troops.

The Observatory said there were also clashes between defectors and regular troops in the northwestern province of Idlib, near the border with Turkey. It added that security forces shot dead a civilian in the province. At least 10 civilians and several defectors were killed in fighting in Idlib and shooting in the central city of Homs Wednesday, according to activists.

The Russian foreign minister also addressed reports that a Russian ship had recently delivered munitions to Syria in violation of a European Union arms embargo. He said Russia doesn't feel a need to explain or offer excuses.

Lavrov said Russia was acting in full respect of international law and wouldn't be guided by unilateral sanctions imposed by other nations.

"We haven't violated any international agreements or the U.N. Security Council resolutions," he said. "We are only trading with Syria in items which aren't banned by international law."

Lavrov accused the West of turning a blind eye to attacks by opposition militants and supplies of weapons to the Syrian opposition from abroad.

"They are dodging the main question: Why we should keep silent about the extremist opposition's actions against administrative buildings, hospitals, schools?" He urged the West to use its contacts with the opposition to pressure activists to refrain from violence.

He said that arms supplies to the Syrian opposition are "unacceptable and absolutely counterproductive because it only fuels more violence."

Assad's government blames the violence in Syria on terrorists and armed gangs that it claims are part of a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country.

___

AP writer Vladimir Isachenkov contributed to this report from Moscow.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-19-ML-Syria/id-1d10603950e248f28900d6f4f2af6f01

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