U.S. stocks fell Wednesday, reversing Tuesday?s gains, on growing concerns that the Federal Reserve will begin to scale back stimulus measures as the U.S. economy continues to show improvement. Earlier this week, economic data showed consumer confidence was at a five-year high and home prices in April posted its largest gain in 7 years. On Wednesday, crude-oil futures declined 2 percent to settle near $93 a barrel, which was a four-week low.
ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP - News) shares traded in the range of $62.20 to $63.01 Wednesday before settling to close at $62.78, up approximately 8.2 percent year-to-date. The stock appears to be facing resistance at the $64.33 and $64.98 levels. The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.66 per share, payable June 3, 2013. As of March 31, 2013, ConocoPhillips held total assets of $118 billion.
More information on ConocoPhillips and access to the free equity report can be found at: www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/COP
Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX - News) shares traded in the range of $124.81 to $126.73 Wednesday before settling to close at $125.49, up approximately 16.0 percent year-to-date. The stock appears to have strong support at $124.96. The company plans to invest approximately $36.7 billion in 2013, with a 90 percent focus on upstream activities.
More information on Chevron and access to the free equity report can be found at: www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/CVX
WPX Energy Inc. (NYSE:WPX - News) shares traded in the range of $19.36 to $19.97 Wednesday before settling to close at $19.73, a decrease of 1.05 percent. The stock appears to be facing resistance at $19.76 with some support at $18.51. The company reported a 31 percent sequential increase in consolidated oil revenues for the first quarter of 2013. Shares of WPX Energy have gained approximately 32.5 percent in 2013.
More information on WPX Energy and access to the free equity report can be found at: www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/WPX
Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM - News) shares traded in the range of $91.59 to $92.42 Wednesday before settling to close at $92.08. The stock appears to be some resistance at $93.32 with support at $91.78. The company has recently reported that it has commenced development of the Julia oil field in the Gulf of Mexico. Capital costs are estimated to be more than $4 billion and oil production is expected to commence in 2016. Shares of ExxonMobil have gained approximately 6.4 percent in 2013.
More information on Exxon Mobil and access to the free equity report can be found at: www.WallStreetFundamentals.com/XOM
Wall Street Fundamentals offers our members a full range of investor services including in-depth equity reports on your favorite companies and timely market updates featuring the hottest stocks trending in the marketplace.
Activate your always free membership by signing up at www.WallStreetFundamentals.com today.
Disclaimer: Information, opinions and analysis contained herein are based on sources believed to be reliable, but no representation, expressed or implied, is made as to its accuracy, completeness or correctness. The opinions contained herein reflect our current judgment and are subject to change without notice. We accept no liability for any losses arising from an investor's reliance on or use of this report. This report is for information purposes only, and is neither a solicitation to buy nor an offer to sell securities. Certain information included herein is forward-looking within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements concerning manufacturing, marketing, growth, and expansion. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could affect actual results and cause them to differ materially from expectations expressed herein. Wall Street Fundamentals has no financial relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this release.
Contact: Wall Street Fundamentals Website: www.WallStreetFundamentals.com Email: editor@wallstreetfundamentals.com
Razer promised it was aiming to iterate its Blade gaming laptop on a yearly basis, and despite the company's recent focus on tablets, it appears to be keeping its word. Today, a mere eight months after releasing the second-gen Blade, Razer unveiled two new members of the Blade family: the 17-inch Blade Pro and its 14-inch sibling. As you might expect, the Pro tops its elders with new silicon and storage options. It's exchanging third-gen Intel Ivy Bridge silicon for a fourth-gen Haswell chip and upgrading from an NVIDIA GTX 660M to a GTX 765M GPU. Oh, and Razer's nixed the HDD options from the big Blade's menu -- the Pro packs a 128GB SSD standard, with optional upgrades to 256 or 512GB. That new hardware is evidently smaller than what it's replacing: though the Pro shares the same size chassis as its predecessor, it packs a 74Wh battery (the older Blade has a 60Wh cell). Other than that, the Blade Pro comes with Razer's Switchblade interface, a trio of USB 3.0 ports, 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0 and a 1920 x 1080 display, just like the prior Blade.
Meanwhile, the new 14-inch Blade will come with mostly the same hardware as the Pro, meaning it's got a Haswell chip and GTX 765M graphics along with a buffet of SSD choices. Those components are stuffed inside a chassis that measures 13.6 x 9.3 x 0.66 inches, and weighs 4.13 pounds. Naturally, given its smaller size, it lacks the Switchblade LCD and buttons, has a 1.3 megapixel webcam (as opposed to the Pro's 2 megapixel unit) and a 14-inch 1600 x 900 display. And, despite its relatively svelte dimensions (for a portable gaming rig), the baby Blade still has a 70Wh battery inside. The Pro starts at $2,299, or $200 less than prior Blades and the 14-inch model will set you back a minimum of $1,799. Each will be available in North America in Q2, with a worldwide rollout of the Pro coming sometime later this year.
Update: Good news, Indie game developers! Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan just announced that those devs with a successfully funded Kickstarter can get a new Blade Pro for just $999.
Retired Army Gen. David Petraeus will take a new job with investment firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. L.P. as he attempts to rebuild his reputation after an extramarital affair with a biographer triggered his resignation as CIA director last fall.
Petraeus, 60, will serve as chairman of the New York firm's newly created KKR Global Institute. He was CIA director from September 2011 until last November. Before that, Petraeus served more than 37 years in the U.S. Army, where he rose to the rank of four-star general.
Petraeus served as commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan and also commanded forces in Iraq in 2007 and 2008, when violence in that country dropped following a surge in military forces.
KKR said Thursday that Petraeus will support its investment teams and portfolio companies when studying new investments, especially in new locations. The company did not detail terms of its agreement with Petraeus, but a spokeswoman said he will serve in a consultant's role.
Petraeus has a doctorate from Princeton University and has written widely on international relations, military strategy and tactics, and national security issues. He also has taught economics and international relations at the U.S. Military Academy.
Petraeus will add the new job to a couple of teaching assignments. Earlier this month, the University of Southern California announced that he will join its faculty to teach classes and mentor ROTC members.
In April, Macaulay Honors College at City University of New York named Petraeus a visiting professor for public policy starting next August. He said in a statement released by Macaulay that he was looking forward to leading a seminar on the global economic slowdown.
KKR said the global institute will help it focus on issues that can affect its global investments. Those include public policy, regulatory and technology trends. The institute also will build on KKR's push to help its portfolio companies expand globally.
KKR invests in companies and, in general, hopes to profit by selling them a few years later. KKR also has an asset management business, which invests in debt and equities, and a capital markets business, which arranges debt financing for deals and underwrites stock sales for other companies. It had $78.3 billion in assets under management as of March 31.
Shares of the company fell 5 cents to $20.06 Thursday before markets opened. But the stock has climbed more than 30 percent since closing 2012 at $15.23.
Sixth night of violence in Sweden, but police say capital calmer
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Community patrols and a beefed-up police presence helped to calm violence around Stockholm overnight on Saturday but 20 to 30 cars were still torched in poor immigrant suburbs and serious incidents were reported outside the capital for the first time. The rioting in Stockholm abated after a week of masked youths vandalizing schools and police stations, setting cars alight and hurling stones at firefighters, police said.
In Syria's shadow, Iraq violence presents new test for U.S.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Saddled with Middle East problems ranging from Iran to Syria and beyond, President Barack Obama now faces one that is both old and new: Iraq. Unresolved sectarian tensions, inflamed by the raging civil war in neighboring Syria, have combined to send violence in Iraq to its highest level since Obama withdrew the last U.S. troops in December 2011, U.S. officials and Middle East analysts say.
Pakistan school bus explosion and blaze kill 17 children: media
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Seventeen Pakistani children burnt to death on Saturday when a gas cylinder on the bus taking them to school exploded, media said. Ten children were injured in the blaze on the outskirts of Gujrat, 100 miles southeast of Islamabad, DawnNews said.
UK fighters escort Pakistan plane to airport, two arrests
LONDON (Reuters) - British fighter jets escorted a Pakistan International Airlines passenger plane to Stansted Airport near London on Friday, where police went on board and arrested two men on suspicion of endangering an aircraft. Passengers were leaving the plane and no one was hurt in the incident, a spokesman for the airport said.
Taliban attack international compound in Afghan capital
KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban militants launched a large-scale attack involving the United Nations in the center of the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, sparking a five-hour battle with security forces. A plume of smoke hung over Kabul after the attack was launched, with the sound of .50 caliber heavy machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and sniper fire clearly audible throughout the city center as night fell.
IMF's Lagarde escapes formal investigation in court
PARIS (Reuters) - French magistrates decided on Friday not to place IMF chief Christine Lagarde under formal investigation over her role in a 285-million-euro ($368.5 million) arbitration payment made to a supporter of former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Lagarde instead was given the status of a "supervised witness" after two full days of questioning on her 2008 decision as Sarkozy's finance minister to use arbitration to settle a legal battle between the state and businessman Bernard Tapie.
Guatemalan ex-president extradited to U.S. on money-laundering charges
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Former Guatemalan President Alfonso Portillo was extradited on Friday to the United States to face money-laundering charges, just days after former dictator Efrain Rios Montt's genocide conviction was overturned. A U.S. grand jury decided in 2009 that Portillo, who was in office from 2000 to 2004, should face charges that he laundered $70 million through U.S. banks.
British security services in spotlight after soldier murder
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's security services faced questions on Friday over whether they could have done more to prevent the murder of a soldier hacked to death in a busy London street after it emerged that his suspected killers were known to intelligence officers. Suspects Michael Adebolajo, 28 and Michael Adebowale, 22, are under guard in hospital after being shot and arrested by police after the murder of 25-year-old Afghan war veteran Lee Rigby on Wednesday. They have not yet been charged.
Bosnia president, charged with graft, freed from jail
SARAJEVO (Reuters) - The president of Bosnia's autonomous Muslim-Croat federation was freed from jail on Friday after the Constitutional Court ordered his release following his arrest last month on corruption charges. President Zivko Budimir was arrested along with 19 other officials in late April in the most high-profile anti-corruption drive in Bosnia since independence more than two decades ago.
U.S. casts doubt on credibility of Iran election
TEL AVIV (Reuters) - The United States on Friday called into question the credibility of Iran's presidential election next month, criticizing the disqualification of candidates and accusing Tehran of disrupting Internet access. On a visit to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also warned that time was running out to resolve the deadlock over Iran's contested nuclear program.
Google Buzz, the social service that Google launched way back in 2010 and then killed in 2011, reminded former users that their data still lives in and will be moved over to your Google Drive accounts in July. That's lovely.
FILE - In this Friday, May 24, 2013 file photo, military boots are laid in tribute outside the Woolwich Barracks, in London, in response to the bloody attack on Wednesday when a British soldier was killed in the nearby street. Counterterrorism police on Saturday were questioning a friend of Michael Adebolajo, one of two suspects in the savage killing of British soldier Lee Rigby. The friend, Abu Nusaybah, was arrested immediately after he gave a television interview telling his story about how Adebolajo may have become radicalized. (AP Photo/Bogdan Maran, File)
FILE - In this Friday, May 24, 2013 file photo, military boots are laid in tribute outside the Woolwich Barracks, in London, in response to the bloody attack on Wednesday when a British soldier was killed in the nearby street. Counterterrorism police on Saturday were questioning a friend of Michael Adebolajo, one of two suspects in the savage killing of British soldier Lee Rigby. The friend, Abu Nusaybah, was arrested immediately after he gave a television interview telling his story about how Adebolajo may have become radicalized. (AP Photo/Bogdan Maran, File)
FILE - Michael Adebolajo, front, shouts slogans as Muslims march in London in a protest against the arrest of 6 people in anti-terror raids, in this Friday April 27, 2007 file photo. Adebolajo has been identified as one of the two men who attacked and killed a British soldier on a street in south London on Wednesday May 22 2013. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth, file)
LONDON (AP) ? British police investigating the savage killing of an off-duty soldier in London have arrested three more suspects.
Scotland Yard said counter-terrorism officers arrested two men, aged 24 and 28, at a residential address in southeast London.
A third man, 21, was arrested separately on a London street at the same time.
Police said Saturday they used a stun gun on two of the suspects. All three were detained on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder.
Officers have already detained four others in connection with the murder of 25-year-old soldier Lee Rigby, who was stabbed to death while walking outside the Royal Artillery Barracks in the Woolwich, south London, on Wednesday afternoon.
Salesforce.com met analyst expectations for its first quarter with non-GAAP earnings per share of 10 cents. Total first quarter revenues were $893 million, an increase of 28 percent on a year-over-year basis. Subscription and support revenues were $842 million, an increase of 29% on a year-over-year basis. Professional services and other revenues were $50 million, an increase of 25%. It had operating cash flow of $283 Million, up 33%. Salesforce also raised its 2014 fiscal year reenues to an estimaged $3.835 to $3.875 billion. Salesforce.com is on a bit of a roll. Gartner nmed it the number one CRM platform in the world this past quarter. CEO Marc Benioff said in the earnings call that it had a record number of SAP customers moving to Salesforce. (We will update the story as more information comes available.)
In with a bang, out with a whimper. After making us fear for the Xbox 360's (shelf) life by delivering an adverse ruling in Motorola's ITC patent infringement case against Microsoft last year, the presiding Administrative Law Judge reversed his stance a couple months ago after prodding by the full Commission. While the finding of non-infringement was good news for Microsoft, the decision still needed to be OK'd by the Commission before the investigation could be officially closed. We thought we weren't going to get a final ruling until later in the summer, but the ITC apparently agreed with the ALJ's initial ruling ahead of schedule, and has decided not to review the decision today. As a result, the investigation is now closed, and this particular battle in the patent wars is finally over.
Update: Naturally Microsoft Corporate VP and deputy General Counsel David Howard is a excited to see this case be closed, and issued the following statement:
This is a win for Xbox customers and confirms our view that Google had no grounds to block our products.
MOORE, Oklahoma (Reuters) - At least 91 people, including 20 children, were feared killed when a 2 mile wide tornado tore through an Oklahoma City suburb, trapping victims beneath the rubble as one elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed.
President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest U.S. tornado since one killed 161 people in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago.
Emergency crews were desperately searching the wreckage of Plaza Towers Elementary School that took a direct hit from the tornado on Monday afternoon, Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb told CNN.
There was an outpouring of grief on the school's Facebook page, with messages from around the country including one pleading simply: "Please find those little children."
Another elementary school, homes and a hospital were among the buildings leveled, leaving residents of the town of about 50,000 people stunned at the devastation and loss of life.
The Oklahoma medical examiner said 20 of the 91 expected to have been killed were children. The office had already confirmed 51 dead and had been told by emergency services to expect 40 more bodies found in the debris, but had not yet received them.
At least 60 of the 240 people injured were children, area hospitals said.
"We thought we died because we were inside the cellar door ... It ripped open the door and just glass and debris started slamming on us and we thought we were dead to be honest," Ricky Stover said while surveying the devastated remains of his home.
Moore was devastated with debris everywhere, street signs gone, lights out, houses destroyed and vehicles tossed about as if they were toys.
Rescuers were searching for survivors throughout the swath of devastation into the early hours of Tuesday, while the dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters. Severe weather was expected through the night from the Great Lakes south to Texas.
STORM ALERTS
Speaking outside Norman Regional Hospital Ninia Lay, 48, said she huddled in a closet through two storm alerts and the tornado hit on the third.
"I was hiding in the closet and I heard something like a train coming," she said under skies still flashing with lightning. The house was flattened and Lay was buried in the rubble for two hours until her husband Kevin, 50, and rescuers dug her out.
"I thank God for my cell phone, I called me husband for help."
Her daughter Catherine, seven, a first-grader at Plaza Towers Elementary School, took shelter with classmates and teachers in a bathroom when the tornado hit and destroyed the school. She escaped with scrapes and cuts.
The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 200 mph.
Witnesses said Monday's tornado appeared more fierce than the giant twister that was among the dozens that tore up the area on May 3, 1999, killing more than 40 people and destroying thousands of homes. That tornado ranked as an EF5, meaning it had winds over 200 mph.
The 1999 event in Oklahoma ranks as the third-costliest tornado in U.S. history, having caused more than $1 billion in damage at the time, or more than $1.3 billion in today's dollars. Only the devastating Joplin and Tuscaloosa tornadoes in 2011 were more costly.
SCHOOL DESTROYED
The National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center provided the town with a warning 16 minutes before the tornado touched down at 3:01 p.m. (4.01 p.m. EDT), which is greater than the average eight to 10 minutes of warning, said Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the center in Norman, Oklahoma.
The notice was upgraded to emergency warning with "heightened language" at 2:56 p.m., or five minutes before the tornado touched down, Pirtle said.
Television media measured the tornado at more than 2 miles wide, with images showing entire neighborhoods flattened.
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed a temporary flight restriction that allowed only relief aircraft in the area, saying it was at the request of police who needed quiet to search for buried survivors.
Oklahoma activated the National Guard, and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency activated teams to support recovery operations and coordinate responses for multiple agencies.
Briarwood Elementary School, which also stood in the storm's path, was all but destroyed. On the first floor, sections of walls had been peeled away, giving clear views into the building; while in other areas, cars hurled by the storm winds were lodged in the walls.
Across the street, people picked through the remains of their homes.
The number of injured as reported by several hospitals rose rapidly throughout the afternoon.
Oklahoma University Medical Center alone was treating 65 patients, 45 of them children, though it was no longer expecting a further mass influx of casualties, spokesman Scott Coppenbarger said.
Moore Medical Center itself sustained significant damage.
"The whole city looks like a debris field," Glenn Lewis, the mayor of Moore, told NBC.
"It looks like we have lost our hospital. I drove by there a while ago and it's pretty much destroyed," Lewis said.
The massive twister struck at the height of tornado season, and more were forecast. On Sunday, tornadoes killed two people and injured 39 in Oklahoma.
(Additional reporting by Lindsay Morris, Carey Gillam, Nick Carey, Brendan O'Brien and Greg McCune; Writing by Daniel Trotta and Nick Carey; Editing by Alison Williams)
JUBA, South Sudan (AP) ? South Sudan's military spokesman says 24 people were killed and dozens wounded during a battle between government troops and rebels who had overrun a town.
Col. Philip Aguer said Monday that a battle in Jonglei state on Sunday killed 20 rebel fighters and four government troops.
Aguer said the army recaptured the town of Boma, near the border with Ethiopia, from rebels led by David Yau Yau who took over the town earlier this month.
Aguer said government forces found food manufactured in the East African country of Eritrea on the ground, but that officials don't have evidence that Eritrea is helping the rebels.
South Sudan accuses Sudan of supporting Yau Yau's rebellion in order to block South Sudan's plans to build an oil pipeline through Jonglei state and Ethiopia.
An Albuquerque mother chased down a man she suspected of abducting her 5-year-old daughter on Wednesday night, eventually crashing into the suspect's car and triggering a manhunt.
The child, according to police, was grabbed near an apartment complex. She was then shoved out of the car by the suspect a short time later. The girl was uninjured. Not knowing that her child was safe, the mother pursued the suspect in her own car, causing the suspect to crash and then flee by foot.
The Albuquerque Police Department set up a 20-block perimeter on Wednesday night, according to KRQE.com.
From KRQE.com:
"At this point in time it appears to be a complete stranger abduction," APD Chief Ray Schultz said during a news conference outside the search perimeter. "It appears to be no relation that we've been able to determine from either the mother or any witnesses.
"It appears this time to be a stranger abduction, so that's how we're treating it. That's why such a large amount of resources out here tonight."
KRQE later reported that the suspect's physical description matches that of a man alleged to have kidnapped another child from the same area last week.
Yahoo News spoke with APD, which confirmed the suspect was still at large. Anyone with information about the kidnapping is encouraged to contact APD.
The AP reports that police are seeking a person of interest, identified as 31-year-old David Hernandez.
ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigerian gunmen killed 46 police officers in an ambush in the central state of Nassarawa this week, police said on Thursday, but the governor there believed a lesser-known local cult was behind the killings and not Boko Haram Islamists.
Boko Haram has waged a three-year insurgency in Nigeria, although it and other Islamist groups tend to operate further north than Nassarawa. It is suspected of launching a deadly assault on the northeastern town of Bama, also on Tuesday.
President Goodluck Jonathan cut short his trip to South Africa and Namibia to return home on Thursday and oversee efforts to contain threats to Nigerian security, highlighted by this week's bloodshed.
"Forty-six police officers were killed about 10 km (6 miles) from Lafia by members of a militia who had ambushed them on their way to an operation to arrest the leader of the militia group," police spokesman Sergie Ezegam said.
Local media quoted Nassarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura as saying the attack was carried out by a cult called Ombatse, meaning "the time has come" in the local Eggon language.
The group has attacked officials, churches and mosques in the past, he said, but added that this week's assault signified a marked escalation in the scale of its operations.
"Two weeks ago, we discovered a certain militia group holding arms and carrying out cult activities in the state," Al-Makura was quoted as saying in local papers.
"Since January, this thing has not abated and in the past two weeks, it has taken on a totally different dimension."
Two security sources also said they did not think the attack on Nassarawa was carried out by Boko Haram. The Ombatse group is motivated by ethnic rivalries within the state, one security source said.
Boko Haram and offshoots such as the al Qaeda-linked group Ansaru, as well as associated criminal networks, are seen as the main threat to stability in Africa's top energy producer.
Although Boko Haram's attacks mostly occur in its northeast stronghold, its reach has grown in the last year, while Ansaru's attacks included a siege on a police barracks in the capital Abuja and violence further south.
Ansaru, dubbed a terrorist group by Britain, claimed responsibility for a January attack in Kogi state on a convoy of Nigerian soldiers en route to deployment with West African forces in Mali. Kogi is south of Abuja and borders Nassarawa.
Western governments are increasingly concerned about Nigerian militants linking up with other jihadist groups in West Africa.
Boko Haram wants to carve out an Islamic state in a country whose population of 170 million is split roughly equally between Christians and Muslims.
Around 200 heavily armed suspected members of the group laid siege to the northeastern town of Bama on Tuesday, leaving 55 people dead, the military there said.
Attacks by Boko Haram have killed more than 3,000 people since 2009, based on figures from Human Rights Watch.
(Writing by Joe Brock; editing by Mike Collet-White)
The famous cricketer-turned-politician will miss final days of election campaigning as he recovers in a hospital named for his mother, but his party could benefit from a wave of concern.
By Taha Siddiqui,?Correspondent, Jenna Fisher,?Staff Writer / May 8, 2013
Supporters of Pakistan's cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan pray for their leader's health in Karachi, Pakistan on Tuesday. One of Pakistan's most prominent politicians, Khan, is recovering in a hospital after falling some 15 feet from a forklift during a campaign rally Tuesday in Lahore, just days before historical elections in Pakistan.
Shakil Adil/AP
Enlarge
Popular cricket star-turned-politician Imran Khan?is recovering in a hospital after falling some 15 feet from a forklift during a campaign rally Tuesday in Lahore, just days before historical elections in Pakistan.
Skip to next paragraph Taha Siddiqui
Pakistan Correspondent
Taha Siddiqui?is?The Christian Science Monitor's Islamabad-based correspondent, covering Pakistan since 2012. He reports about rising terrorism, persecution of minorities, economic instability, corruption, civil-military affairs in a nuclear-armed country rife with extremism. He frequently travels to the tribal areas of Pakistan, next to the Afghanistan border.
Jenna Fisher
Asia editor
Jenna Fisher is the Monitor's Asia editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine.
Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of The Christian Science Monitor Weekly Digital Edition
LAHORE Pakistan ? Pakistani politician and former cricketer Imran Khan injured his head and back in a fall at an election rally. He's now in a hospital recovering.
The fall,?captured on live television, showed Mr. Khan and five others being lifted up to a stage on the improvised elevator, when Khan and three or four of his bodyguards tumbled off. Khan was rushed to a hospital where he was treated for broken bones and given a number of stitches. Doctors say he is expected to make a full recovery but estimate that he will be bedridden for anywhere from several days to weeks, according to reports.
The incident immediately raised questions about the future of his party's campaign as Pakistan makes its first uninterrupted civilian-to-civilian transition of government. But despite having to end his campaign two days early, Khan?gave no indication to reporters from his hospital bed that he was giving up. And given all the media attention, some observers say he could even benefit from the event.?
"This really resonates because people like the image of a fighter, of a warrior,"?Mohammad Malick, a prominent Pakistani journalist, told The Guardian. "He took this terrible fall and he's recovering quickly ? that's a powerful image."
Khan was an early favorite for prime minister?with the youth of?Pakistan, and many from the urban educated population, who saw him as a symbol for change. His campaign had lost momentum but has recently seen renewed energy among voters disenchanted with government corruption.?
After winning the World Cup for Pakistan in 1992, he quit his role as the national cricket team captain and focused his efforts on philanthropy, which won him even more goodwill. In fact, the hospital where Khan is recovering is one he arranged to have built in his mother?s name. It?s one of the largest charity-based cancer treatment hospitals in the country. He also established a modern university near his hometown ? and it was just as well received.?
Then, in 1996 Khan formed a centrist, nationalist political party called Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), which means "the movement for justice."
He has?campaigned based on a promise to abolish corruption "in 90 days" and stop?US?drone strikes. But his party ? one of the only mainstream political parties in Pakistan that is not family-based ? has struggled to gain seats in Parliament.
Khan?s star power may have helped elect him to Parliament in 2002 under?Gen. Pervez Musharraf?s regime ? still the only seat his party has ever gained in Parliament (172 are required to form a majority).?He stayed mainly in the background until late in 2011, when he surprised everyone by holding a major public gathering in which tens of thousands of people showed up to support him.
Observers say that gathering was a game changer for Khan, as he started to attract local and international attention. Many big stalwarts of traditional parties like?Shah Mehmood Qureshi, the then-foreign minister of Pakistan, quit his party and the Parliament to join Khan.?
Khan has been criticized as a?Taliban?sympathizer for his antiwar policies and calls to have talks with the Taliban, and many think the?Pakistani military may be behind his rise to prominence to create a third party in the race in a country where two traditional parties have historically dominated the Parliament. He dismisses both as labels by the opposition.?
His biggest hurdle to getting his party seats in the Parliament and then getting elected will be breaking the ruling elites? hold in the rural areas, which make up more than 70 percent of Pakistan and where he is not popular. Nevertheless, observers feel he may have a good chance at becoming a significant third force to watch. The added press and request for interviews following Khan's fall could also help get sympathy for his party and boost voter turnout, which The Guardian reports could benefit Khan more than Nawaz Sharif, the head of his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and front-runner.
A poll published by the political magazine Herald on Wednesday showed the PTI and PML-N were virtually tied, with the latter leading by less than a percentage point among the 1,285 people surveyed.
Khan could have a shot at becoming prime minister, Jonah Blank of the think tank RAND Corp. told a press conference recently, as a figure most parties could find least objectionable.?
Khan?s hospitalization came the same day multiple blasts targeting election rallies killed at least 20 people. Since April more than 70 have been killed in election-related violence. ??
MARION, Ohio (AP) ? An unwanted modern addition has flown into the arms of a Lady Justice statue that sits atop a county courthouse in north-central Ohio.
A 9-inch, remote-control helicopter flew into Lady Justice on the Marion County Courthouse on April 27 and has been there since ? resting on the hilt of her sword more than 100 feet high.
Video producer Terry Cline tells the Marion Star (http://ohne.ws/YdwsPA) that he was using the $1,500 camera-equipped helicopter to shoot a promotional video for the city when it was caught by an unexpected breeze.
Since then, Cline has been trying figure out how to get the helicopter back.
County officials say they won't pay to remove it or risk anyone's life for it.
May 2, 2013 ? What do all Twitter users want? Followers -- and lots of them. But unless you're a celebrity, it can be difficult to build your Twitter audience (and even some celebs have trouble). Looking at a half-million tweets over 15 months, a first-of-its-kind study from Georgia Tech has revealed a set of reliable predictors for building a Twitter following.
The research was performed by Eric Gilbert, assistant professor in Georgia Tech's School of Interactive Computing. Gilbert found that Twitter users can grow their followers by such tactics as:
? Don't talk about yourself: Informational content attracts followers at a rate 30 times higher than content focused on the tweeter. The study found users talked about themselves in 41 percent of their tweets on average. ? Be happy: Twitter is mainly based on weak social ties (most followers do not know each other offline), which makes it more important to stay away from negative posts such as death, unemployment and poor health. ? Cool it on the hashtags: While hashtags are definitely useful tools for expressing emotional commentary or tying tweets to larger events or issues, they can be abused. Researchers found that the higher a Twitter users' "hashtag ratio," the less likely they were to attract new followers.
"To our knowledge, this is the first longitudinal study of follow predictors on Twitter," Gilbert said. "For the first time, we were able to explore the relative effects of social behavior, message content and network structure and show which of these factors has more influence on the number of Twitter followers."
Working with Ph.D. student C.J. Hutto and Sarita Yardi, now an assistant professor in the University of Michigan's School of Information, Gilbert examined the tweets of more than 500 Twitter users. After identifying 2,800 terms that convey positive and negative emotions, the team scored each term based on a sliding scale of positivity. They were then able to determine whether Twitter users who used each term gained or lost followers.
The team discovered that certain identifiable strategies in message content and interaction with other Twitter users, as well as the structure of one's Twitter network, have a predictable effect on the number of followers. For example, Twitter "informers" (users who share informational content) consistently attract more followers than "meformers" (users who share information about themselves).
"Followers are Twitter's most basic currency, yet little is understood about how to grow such an audience," said Gilbert. "By examining multiple factors that affect tie formation and dissolution over time on Twitter, we've discovered information that could help technologists design and build tools that help users grow their audiences."
The team's findings are summarized in the paper, "A Longitudinal Study of Follow Predictors on Twitter," which will be presented this week at the ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems in Paris, France.
Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
Story Source:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Georgia Institute of Technology.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.
Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation announce new brain tissue networkPublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jane E. Rubinstein jrubinstein@rubenstein.com 212-843-8287 Autism Speaks
Autism BrainNet will acquire, process, store, and distribute tissue accelerate autism research
New York, N.Y. (May 2, 2013) Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation announced the establishment and funding of a new network of sites to collect brain tissue to advance autism research through brain donation at today's International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR).
The network, Autism BrainNet, will build off over a decade of contributions to the tissue-based research community made by Autism Speaks Autism Tissue Program (ATP) and other brain banks. Autism BrainNet will establish, for the first time, a multi-site network that will acquire, process, store, and distribute brain tissue resources to accelerate understanding of the biological basis of autism.
"Brain donation is a difficult subject for many and takes courage to discuss, but experiments on human brain tissue are now the very best way forward in attempts to improve the quality of life of those on the autism spectrum," says Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D., Scientific Director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). "And recent research advances demand nothing less than an interactive network of regional nodes as the best way forward."
The ATP, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the University of California MIND Institute, and the University of Texas at Southwestern Medical School will be the first four institutional partners of Autism BrainNet. David Amaral, Ph.D., of the MIND Institute, will serve as the network's first director. The network will grow to include more national and international partners and will eventually assume the operations of the ATP as well.
"Autism Speaks' ATP has been the largest program solely dedicated to increasing and enhancing the availability of brain tissue to as many qualified scientists as possible," said Autism Speaks chief science officer, Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. "We are excited to greatly broaden its reach in this new network and thank all the families who generously donated tissue over the past 12 years."
Autism BrainNet represents the culmination of consensus building activities over the past years among key experts in the field of brain banking, both inside and outside the autism field. "It is enormously satisfying to see the collaborative efforts of the workgroup delivering on the promises of a model presented to the field for discussion at last year's IMFAR," said Robert Ring, Ph.D., Autism Speaks vice president of translational research. "With more than $7.5 million in funding over the next five years, this collaboration between the Simons Foundation, Autism Speaks, and the Nancy Lurie Marks Foundation will be game changing with the potential to advance the field of autism brain research in ways previously not possible."
The Autism BrainNet portal will launch in the fall of 2013, allowing the autism community to access research results and learn about how brain research contributes to understanding and treating ASD.
###
About Autism
Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders autism spectrum disorders caused by a combination of genes and environmental influences. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by communication difficulties, social and behavioral challenges, as well as repetitive behaviors. An estimated one in 88 children in the U.S. is on the autism spectrum a 78 percent increase in six years that is only partly explained by improved diagnosis.
About Simons Foundation
Established in 1994, the Simons Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to advancing the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. The Simons Foundation sponsors a range of programs that aim to promote a deeper understanding of our world.
The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) seeks to improve the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders by funding innovative research of the highest quality and relevance. SFARI currently funds more than 165 investigators in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, SFARI aims to advance the autism research field as a whole by developing resources for scientists. Please visit SFARI.org for more information on all SFARI programs.
About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization. It is dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Mr. Wright is the former vice chairman of General Electric and chief executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal. Since its inception, Autism Speaks has committed more than $195 million to research and developing innovative resources for families. Each year Walk Now for Autism Speaks events are held in more than 100 cities across North America. On the global front, Autism Speaks has established partnerships and related activities in more than 40 countries on five continents to foster international research, services and awareness. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit AutismSpeaks.org.
Contacts:
Jane Rubinstein 212.843.8287 jrubinstein@rubenstein.com
Dana Marnane 917-882-7472 dmarnane@autismspeaks.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation announce new brain tissue networkPublic release date: 2-May-2013 [ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Jane E. Rubinstein jrubinstein@rubenstein.com 212-843-8287 Autism Speaks
Autism BrainNet will acquire, process, store, and distribute tissue accelerate autism research
New York, N.Y. (May 2, 2013) Autism Speaks and the Simons Foundation announced the establishment and funding of a new network of sites to collect brain tissue to advance autism research through brain donation at today's International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR).
The network, Autism BrainNet, will build off over a decade of contributions to the tissue-based research community made by Autism Speaks Autism Tissue Program (ATP) and other brain banks. Autism BrainNet will establish, for the first time, a multi-site network that will acquire, process, store, and distribute brain tissue resources to accelerate understanding of the biological basis of autism.
"Brain donation is a difficult subject for many and takes courage to discuss, but experiments on human brain tissue are now the very best way forward in attempts to improve the quality of life of those on the autism spectrum," says Gerald D. Fischbach, M.D., Scientific Director of the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI). "And recent research advances demand nothing less than an interactive network of regional nodes as the best way forward."
The ATP, Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, the University of California MIND Institute, and the University of Texas at Southwestern Medical School will be the first four institutional partners of Autism BrainNet. David Amaral, Ph.D., of the MIND Institute, will serve as the network's first director. The network will grow to include more national and international partners and will eventually assume the operations of the ATP as well.
"Autism Speaks' ATP has been the largest program solely dedicated to increasing and enhancing the availability of brain tissue to as many qualified scientists as possible," said Autism Speaks chief science officer, Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. "We are excited to greatly broaden its reach in this new network and thank all the families who generously donated tissue over the past 12 years."
Autism BrainNet represents the culmination of consensus building activities over the past years among key experts in the field of brain banking, both inside and outside the autism field. "It is enormously satisfying to see the collaborative efforts of the workgroup delivering on the promises of a model presented to the field for discussion at last year's IMFAR," said Robert Ring, Ph.D., Autism Speaks vice president of translational research. "With more than $7.5 million in funding over the next five years, this collaboration between the Simons Foundation, Autism Speaks, and the Nancy Lurie Marks Foundation will be game changing with the potential to advance the field of autism brain research in ways previously not possible."
The Autism BrainNet portal will launch in the fall of 2013, allowing the autism community to access research results and learn about how brain research contributes to understanding and treating ASD.
###
About Autism
Autism is a general term used to describe a group of complex developmental brain disorders autism spectrum disorders caused by a combination of genes and environmental influences. These disorders are characterized, in varying degrees, by communication difficulties, social and behavioral challenges, as well as repetitive behaviors. An estimated one in 88 children in the U.S. is on the autism spectrum a 78 percent increase in six years that is only partly explained by improved diagnosis.
About Simons Foundation
Established in 1994, the Simons Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to advancing the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences. The Simons Foundation sponsors a range of programs that aim to promote a deeper understanding of our world.
The Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative (SFARI) seeks to improve the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders by funding innovative research of the highest quality and relevance. SFARI currently funds more than 165 investigators in the U.S. and abroad. In addition, SFARI aims to advance the autism research field as a whole by developing resources for scientists. Please visit SFARI.org for more information on all SFARI programs.
About Autism Speaks
Autism Speaks is the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization. It is dedicated to funding research into the causes, prevention, treatments and a cure for autism; increasing awareness of autism spectrum disorders; and advocating for the needs of individuals with autism and their families. Autism Speaks was founded in February 2005 by Suzanne and Bob Wright, the grandparents of a child with autism. Mr. Wright is the former vice chairman of General Electric and chief executive officer of NBC and NBC Universal. Since its inception, Autism Speaks has committed more than $195 million to research and developing innovative resources for families. Each year Walk Now for Autism Speaks events are held in more than 100 cities across North America. On the global front, Autism Speaks has established partnerships and related activities in more than 40 countries on five continents to foster international research, services and awareness. To learn more about Autism Speaks, please visit AutismSpeaks.org.
Contacts:
Jane Rubinstein 212.843.8287 jrubinstein@rubenstein.com
Dana Marnane 917-882-7472 dmarnane@autismspeaks.org
[ | E-mail | Share ]
?
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Chicago PHP is usually an open source scripting language that is certainly straightforward and can be employed in numerous servers, environments and operating systems. If you are a website owner, you can instantly translate this like a significant saving in the cost of web site hosting. It truly is advantageous simply because programs from some other part of the earth are contributing towards the development in this language and they are generally keeping it consistently updated and alive. But there are plenty of other explanation why it is the most preferred language for web page developers. It gives other rewards like flexibility, security, affordability, speed, simplicity and compatibility with common modules.
This scripting language can also be commonly used in creating ecommerce Chicago sites. The experience and means of obtaining involved in small business within the internet is referred to as ecommerce. While using the growing number of people who engage in on the internet shopping, the popularity of ecommerce website design continued growing being a significant economic activity worldwide. This trend outcomes to encouraging corporations to determine their presence online and reaching a global marketplace via ecommerce web-sites. Ecommerce web design incorporates a objective of attracting Online users to purchase merchandise and remain longer on a website in order to Invest a lot more.
Create a list of corporations that provide the services you are searching for. Research with great care the way they deliver results and find out should they have satisfied clients in recent times. You can also inquire further to determine some of their creations so you will know as long as they would pass your standards. A vital reminder when choosing the best ecommerce development Chicago Skilled is you shouldn't select one who affords the most affordable service. Chances are they may struggle to precisely deliver what they promise and will only give you false hopes. Also, one of the most costly business doesn't necessarily guarantee fantastic outcomes.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Growth in China's manufacturing sector unexpectedly slowed in April, with the official purchasing managers' index (PMI) falling to 50.6 from March's 11-month high of 50.9 as new export orders and input prices contracted, data showed on Wednesday.
The outcome was lower than market expectations in a Reuters poll of 51.0, but figure from the National Bureau of Statistics showed the PMI has stayed above the watershed mark of 50, which separates expansion from contraction compared with a month earlier, for seven straight months.
A sub-index measuring new orders fell to 51.7 in April from 52.3 in March, while new export orders swung into contraction, falling to 48.6 from 50.9 in March.
"The dip in April PMI shows that the foundation for China's economic recovery is still not solid," Zhang Liqun, an economist at the Development Research Centre, a top government think tank in Beijing, said in an emailed statement accompanying the index.
"The fall in new orders shows a change to destocking from restocking. And the plunge in input price index reflects negative expectations from companies," Zhang added.
"All these show the possibility for China's growth to slow slightly in the future. We must work to stabilize domestic demand and make our economic recovery more sustainable," he said.
Another PMI survey sponsored by HSBC, which includes more small- and medium-sized firms in the private sector as compared with the official one, is scheduled to be published on Thursday.
Its preliminary April reading, published last week, fell to 50.5 from 51.6 in March as new export orders shrank.
The fall in the official China PMI is the latest in a gloomy string of global data, including from the United States and Europe, which has dented optimism at the start of the year that the global economy was picking up.
China's financial markets are closed for a holiday and will open on Thursday.
The Australian and New Zealand dollars held their ground in subdued trade on Wednesday with most of Asia shut for a holiday, even after the PMI data added to signs of cooling growth in the world's second biggest economy.
RECOVERY UNDER THREAT
The reading added risks to market expectations that China's economic expansion will pick up to 8.0 percent in the April-June quarter after an unexpected slip in growth in January to March to 7.7 percent.
Government comments to heighten scrutiny of local government financing vehicles, wealth management products and the country's fledgling bond market have also undermined confidence in second-quarter forecasts.
China's politburo, the top decision-making body, said in a meeting last week that China would speed up the establishment of a regulatory system for local government debt financing while strengthening oversight on potential financial risks.
"Recent policy signals suggest policy tightening has started and will adversely affect growth," Zhiwei Zhang, a China economist at Nomura, said in a note to clients before the PMI data.
He anticipates China will grow 7.5 percent this quarter, matching the pace of Beijing's full-year target, after 2012 growth fell to 7.8 percent, its weakest since 1999.
China's new government will step up infrastructure investment to offset global headwinds, but will not repeat the big stimulus package seen during the global financial crisis as Beijing seeks to rebalance its economy away from exports and towards domestic consumption.
The central bank will hold rates steady throughout 2013, as it needs to tread a delicate balance between inflation and growth, a Reuters poll showed.
A credit boom in January through March failed to keep economic recovery on track, but raised concerns it could stoke consumer and housing inflation.
China's debt-ridden local governments used new lending to repay existing loans instead of channeling it into new investment, analysts said.
And shadow banking, a main driver of a credit surge in recent months, has provided a lifeline to property funding, fuelling unwelcome housing inflation.
New home prices jumped 3.6 percent in March from a year ago, a third straight monthly increase despite an intensified government tightening campaign during the past three years.
(Reporting by Langi Chiang and Jonathan Standing; Editing by Neil Fullick)
Salesforce.com met analyst expectations for its first quarter with non-GAAP earnings per share of 10 cents. Total first quarter revenues were $893 million, an increase of 28 percent on a year-over-year basis. Subscription and support revenues were $842 million, an increase of 29% on a year-over-year basis. Professional services and other revenues were $50 million, an increase of 25%. It had operating cash flow of $283 Million, up 33%. Salesforce also raised its 2014 fiscal year reenues to an estimaged $3.835 to $3.875 billion. Salesforce.com is on a bit of a roll. Gartner nmed it the number one CRM platform in the world this past quarter. CEO Marc Benioff said in the earnings call that it had a record number of SAP customers moving to Salesforce. (We will update the story as more information comes available.)
![[ Back to EurekAlert! ]](http://www.eurekalert.org/images/back2e.gif){kind=small}
Public release date: 2-May-2013
Share ]