Wednesday, October 31, 2012

October consumer morale drops to lowest in six months - GfK

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Thursday, October 25, 2012

NHL rejects union bid to return to negotiations

NEW YORK (AP) ? Forget about a deal to save a full hockey season: the NHL and the players' association can't even agree to get together to talk.

The union wants anything and everything open for discussion. The league says if the players aren't willing to discuss the offer the NHL presented last week, and has no interest in presenting something new with that proposal as a framework, then there really is nothing to talk about.

It didn't take long for the NHL to fire that message back Tuesday night after the union tried to convince the league to return to the bargaining table on Wednesday.

"I don't anticipate any (talks) taking place for the balance of the week," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said in an email to The Associated Press. "The union has rejected the proposal we made last Tuesday and is not offering another one. We see nothing to be gained at this point by meeting just to meet."

If that is the case, then there is no reasonable hope that a deal will be struck by Thursday ? the deadline Commissioner Gary Bettman set in order to preserve a full 82-game season. Games have already been called off through Nov. 1, and those contests soon could be wiped off the schedule for good.

Following a conference call held by the union's executive board on Tuesday night, the players' association informed the NHL it is willing to meet on Wednesday "or any other date, without preconditions, to try to reach an agreement," the union said in a statement.

The NHL's response wasn't what the union had hoped to hear.

The sides haven't met since the league turned down three counterproposals from the union on Thursday, two days after the NHL's offer that included a 50-50 split of hockey-related revenue. The players' association hasn't shown an inclination to use that offer as a starting point in negotiations, resulting in a stalemate that could last for a while.

"The league is apparently unwilling to meet," NHLPA special counsel Steve Fehr said in a statement. "That is unfortunate, as it is hard to make progress without talking."

No talks have been scheduled, and no last-minute discussions seem to be on tap.

The developments on Tuesday night came hours after more discourse between the sides on the 38th day of the league's lockout.

While negotiators for the NHL and union kept conversations to a minimum, club officials had a brief window last week to discuss the league's latest proposal directly with their players.

Those secretive discussions didn't produce a breakthrough, but they have inflamed an already unsettled atmosphere. The union hierarchy wasn't informed about the window then, and isn't happy about it.

"Most owners are not allowed to attend bargaining meetings," Fehr said Tuesday. "No owners are allowed to speak to the media about the bargaining. It is interesting that they are secretly unleashed to talk to the players about the meetings the players can attend, but the owners cannot."

The NHL said Tuesday that team officials were allowed to have temporary contact with players and there were parameters regarding what could be discussed.

"From our perspective, this is a nonissue and a nonstory," Daly said Tuesday in an email to The Associated Press. "There is nothing ? legally or otherwise ? that precludes club personnel from communicating with their players."

More important is the lack of productive talks between NHL officials and union leaders. Now it seems unlikely that a full season, which was slated to start Nov. 2, will take place.

Last week, the NHL's most recent contract offer was presented to the union and then publicly released in full. The union returned to the bargaining table last Thursday with its various counterproposals, which also would get to an even split of hockey revenue, but each was quickly rejected by the league.

There is a major divide between the sides over how to deal with existing player contracts. The union wants to ensure that those are all paid in full without affecting future player contracts.

After the NHL released its offer on Wednesday, club officials were given until Friday to speak to players and answer questions they might have about the proposal.

In an internal league memo obtained by The Canadian Press, the NHL stated that those discussions must be limited to the contents of the proposal on the table. It also provided examples of questions that shouldn't be asked of players and noted that straying from the rules could "cause serious legal problems."

"You may not ask (a player) what he or others have in mind," the memo stated. "If he volunteers what he has in mind you should not respond positively or negatively or ask any questions but instead refer him to the NHLPA.

"Likewise, you may not suggest hypothetical proposals that the league might make in the future or that the league might entertain from the union."

This was the first time club officials were permitted by the NHL to talk to players since the lockout took effect Sept. 16.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nhl-rejects-union-bid-return-negotiations-074940235--nhl.html

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On Israel Philharmonic?s whirlwind U.S. tour, a N.Y. debut for Israeli?s symphony

LOS ANGELES (JTA) -- Few can chronicle the changes in the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra better than Gabriel Vole, a veteran double bass player.

Vole represents the third generation of his family to perform with the orchestra. His maternal grandfather, the Polish-born violinist Jacob Surowicz, was a co-founder and was followed by Gabriel?s father, Leopold, whose son inherited his love for the double bass. In addition, Gabriel?s mother, Sarah, and uncle Maurice filled in occasionally.

The biggest change, Vole says, is the number of women.

?When I signed up in 1967, there were maybe three or four women in the orchestra,? Vole said. ?Now I?d say they make up 40 percent or more of the members.?

Vole and the IPO, led by music director for life Zubin Mehta, are kicking off a five-day concert tour spanning four American cities with a performance at Carnegie Hall in New York on Oct. 25 before moving on to Palm Springs, Calif., Las Vegas and Disney Hall in Los Angeles on successive nights starting Oct. 28.

Complementing the IPO?s tour will be the release of the film ?Orchestra of Exiles,? which documents the struggle to establish the orchestra in 1936 and to rescue German Jewish musicians from Nazi persecution.

The Carnegie Hall concert will include the New York premiere of "Mechaye Hametim" (Revival of the Dead), a choral symphony by Israeli composer and conductor Noam Sheriff that is dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust and the builders of Israel. Also at the famed venue, Chinese pianist Yuja Wang, 25, an audience favorite for her musicianship and fashion statements, will play in Felix Mendelssohn's Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor.

In the other venues, Wang will perform in Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor. The program for all four concerts will feature Schubert's Symphony No. 3 and Brahms' Symphony No. 1.

Over its 76 years, the IPO has undergone many transformations.

Vole noted that the orchestra early on was comprised mainly of refugees from Germany and a large Polish contingent, and rounded out by a smattering of Russians, Hungarians, Romanians and native Israelis.

?At that time, the rehearsals, the correspondence, everything was in German,? Vole said in a phone interview with JTA.

That lasted until the 1950s, when an increasing number of native-trained musicians joined. An influx of talented musicians from the Soviet Union came in the 1970s and ?80s, and they now make up about half of the 100-piece orchestra.

A number of players from North and South America also have entered the ranks, and the main working languages now are Hebrew and English. The latter is mainly to accommodate many of the Russians, who understand English better than Hebrew.

Vole tells the story of Gustavo Dudamel, now the effervescent conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, leading the IPO in 2008 and 2010 and once setting a rehearsal for late Saturday afternoon. Some religiously observant players did not show up until after the end of Sabbath.

When Dudamel asked about their absence, a violinist gave a one-word explanation: ?Shabbes.?

The conductor grew extremely agitated and shouted, ?Chavez? What does this have to do with Hugo Chavez?,? referring to the president of Dudamel?s native Venezuela.

Vole says playing for the IPO is not purely about playing music "but about solidarity and making music together.?

The love affair between the orchestra and the India-born Mehta is passionate and long standing. He knows the musicians and their spouses by their first names, and will converse in Yiddish with Russian newcomers.

?Zubin?s identification and involvement with the orchestra is complete, and so is his identification with Israel,? Vole said.

The founder of the Palestine Symphony Orchestra, a precursor to the IPO, was Bronislaw Huberman, and the documentary ?Orchestra of Exiles? is a tribute by filmmaker Josh Aronson to Huberman's single-minded dedication and perseverance.

A native of Poland, Huberman was a musical child prodigy who relentlessly driven by his father became a world-renowned violinist. Disillusioned by World War I, Huberman quit at the height of his fame to broaden his education at the Sorbonne in Paris and became an ardent advocate of a pan-European union.

With the rise of Hitler, and seeing worse to come, he set about forming a world-class orchestra in a yet largely barren land, far from the coffeehouses and opera houses of Vienna or Budapest.

In 1936, facing a critical shortfall of $80,000 to launch his venture, Huberman enlisted an amateur violinist named Albert Einstein, and together they raised the sum at one benefit dinner in New York.

For the orchestra?s inaugural concert under the great Italian conductor and ardent anti-fascist Arturo Toscanini, 100,000 buyers -- in a total Jewish population of 400,000 -- vied to buy the 2,000 available tickets.

Among those paying tribute to Huberman, and demonstrating their own virtuosity in the film, are violinists Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zuckerman and Joshua Bell.

"Orchestra of Exiles" opens Oct. 26 in New York and Nov. 2 in Los Angeles.

The New York and Los Angeles concerts will include fundraising galas featuring receptions with the artists and dinners hosted by the American Friends of the IPO. For information, visit http://www.afipo.org/events.

Click here for complete coverage on the 2012 elections from JTA.

Click to write a letter to the editor.

Source: http://www.jta.org/news/article/2012/10/23/3109951/israel-philharmonic-orchestra-comes-for-us-tour

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Taliban ambush kills 10 Afghan troops

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN: Taliban insurgents killed 10 Afghan troops in an ambush in western Herat province, police and government officials said on Tuesday.

A spokesman for the provincial governor, Muhiudin Noori, said the Afghan troops -- which included both soldiers and police -- were searching on late Monday for a group of insurgents who had earlier set up a roadblock, stopping and seizing passing vehicles, when they were ambushed.

Five policemen, including the district commander and five soldiers died in the ensuing firefight, Noori said. There were no insurgent casualties, but police later arrested 25 suspects found in the area, he said.

Also Tuesday, an American service member was killed in an insurgent attack in the east, the US military said in a statement. It did not provide further details about the attack. The latest death makes at least 12 American service members killed so far this month and 265 killed so far this year.

The Herat ambush was the bloodiest single incident for Afghan security forces this year in western Afghanistan -- an area where the insurgents have been less active than in their strongholds in the east and west of the country.

In recent months, Taliban guerrillas have been switching tactics and increasingly targeting Afghan security forces as the international coalition continues its drawdown toward a planned withdrawal of the majority of combat troops in 2014.

Meanwhile, president Hamid Karzai condemned "in the strongest possible terms" a NATO raid on Sunday in Logar province in which he said four children were killed.

A presidential statement said coalition troops carried out the operation in Baraki Barak district in an effort to apprehend two armed militants. But this resulted in the deaths of the four children who were tending to their animals in the same area, it said.

Din Mohammad Darwesh, spokesman for the provincial governor, said the victims were between 10 and 13 years old.

NATO on Tuesday acknowledged that its forces "may be responsible for the unintended, but nonetheless tragic, death of three Afghan civilians'' during the operation in Baraki Barak district. Coalition commander US General John R Allen expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.

There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy in the number of victims in the two statements.

In recent months, Karzai has criticized the international military coalition for what he said was the killing of civilians in Afghanistan, for not going after terrorist safe havens in neighboring Pakistan and for not providing the Afghan forces with all the weapons they need.

The criticisms drew an angry response from US defence secretary Leon Panetta, who earlier this month said the Afghan leader should occasionally say "thank you'' to allied forces who are fighting and dying in Afghanistan, rather than criticizing them.

Source: http://timesofindia.feedsportal.com/fy/8at2EtZ0flbgO3Ne/story01.htm

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China?s accelerated interest rate liberalisation to increase liquidity risks


China?s accelerated interest rate liberalisation to increase liquidity risks

October 24, 2012 ?

From Chien Mi Wong

The side effects of China?s interest rate liberalisation have taken on various forms, including challenges in liquidity management, migration to high-risk borrowers and pressures on NIMs, says Moody?s.

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/FixedIncomeCommodities/~3/m4g_VAoFNgs/Chinas-accelerated-interest-rate-liberalisation-to-increase-liquidity-risks.html

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NFL Weel 13 Steelers @ Ravens

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Source: http://www.sportsviews.com/bet/19911/NFL_Weel_13__Steelers___Ravens

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AMERICAN ACACAMEY OF PEDIATRICS AND CHEERLEADING ...

October 23, 2012 by admin?

Labeling Cheerleading a Sport is hardly Cheerleading Reform and hardly a cure for the recent outbreak of Cheerleading Catastrophic and other Injuries and Deaths. An Epidemic of Cheerleading Injuries by any other name is still a tragedy and the label Sport is far from the final resolution.

From The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): ?In a new policy statement, the AAP urges coaches, parents and school officials to follow injury-prevention guidelines, develop emergency plans and ensure cheerleading programs have access to the same level of qualified coaches, medical care and injury surveillance as other sports and Cheerleading should be designated as a sport in all states.

?Although most high schools and colleges have cheerleaders, only 29 state high school athletic associations recognize cheerleading as a sport, and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) does not include competitive cheerleading in its list of sponsored sports.

?This is an important omission, according to the AAP, because being classified as a sport gives athletes valuable protection including qualified coaches, well-maintained practice facilities, access to certified athletic trainers, mandated sports physicals and surveillance of injury.

?The AAP makes key recommendations for preventing injuries, including:

? Cheerleading should be designated as a sport in all states, allowing for benefits such as qualified coaches, better access to medical care and injury surveillance.
? All cheerleaders should have a pre-season physical, and access to qualified strength and conditioning coaches.
? Cheerleaders should be trained in all spotting techniques and only attempt stunts after demonstrating appropriate skill progression.
? Pyramid and partner stunts should be performed only on a spring/foam floor or grass/turf. Never perform stunts on hard, wet or uneven surfaces. Pyramids should not be more than 2 people high.
? Coaches, parents and athletes should have access to a written emergency plan.
? Any cheerleader suspected of having a head injury should be removed from practice or competition and not allowed to return until he or she has clearance from a health professional.
[Policy statement: ?Cheerleading Injuries: Epidemiology and Recommendations for Prevention, was released at a news conference at 9 a.m. Monday, Oct. 22, at the AAP National Conference & Exhibition in New Orleans and published in the November 2012 issue of Pediatrics (published online Oct. 22, 2012]

The above recommendations are excellent. However, the AAP failed in their Policy Statement to identify the most important deterrent for Not-Accidental, Preventable Cheerleading Injuries that are not Inherrent or Natural to the Cheerleading Athlete Activity, namely understanding the Coach and Child / Youth Athlete Relationship and Coaching Maltreatment of Child and Youth Athletes. [The Coach and Child Athlete Relationship http://www.cappaa.com/coach-and-child-athlete-relationship]

?Everyone knows SRE accidents happen, while playing by the rules of the game, in safe SRE environments, with proper athlete protection, coaching supervision and conduct. Serious Injuries and Deaths that occur during blameless circumstances are Inherent and Natural to the game that athletes play. They are called Accidental and Not-Preventable. An aggressive clean football tackle that fractures an arm is an Accident and Not Preventable.

?Contrarily, Preventable, Not Accidental Injuries and Deaths occur at a rate of approximately fifty per-cent.

?Preventable, Not Accidental Injuries and Deaths of SRE Children (

?Recently I was consulted concerning push-up punishment to an adolescent swimmer that resulted in a Preventable, Not-Accidental torn shoulder labrum and dislocation necessitating surgery. The violation was said by the consultee to have been reported to authorities and will probably result in serious consequences.

?Child SRE Coaches are ?Temporary Substitute Caretakers? (TSC) in the eyes of the Public Law 111-320, Child Abuse Prevention Treatment and Reauthorization Act 2010 and in the eyes of the U.S. Surgeon General and the Kentucky Department of Community Based Services (DCBS) and Child Protection Services (CPS).

?However, the Coach?s role of TSC is not ?crystal clear? and has not been heard, reported and promulgated to the ears of doctors, all public citizens. coaches, parents and child athletes.

?Education, awareness and enforcing the Coach TSC role are the simple solutions to fifty percent of the complex SRE child athlete injury risk management problems.

?Children athletes with SRE injuries and deaths will be prevented, athlete safety first will be promoted and coaches will not be blind-sided with criminal and civil litigations and citizens and doctors will report and child athletes will more likely self-report Child Athlete Physical, Psychological and Sexual Maltreatment once the role of the Coach TSC becomes ?crystal clear? public policy. [Letter to the J KY Med Assoc. Editor, Sept. 2012, vol.110, p384]

Illegal Athlete Maltreatment by Coaches accounts for about 50% of Child and Youth Athlete Not-Accidental and Preventable Injuries in SRE. The interface of Athlete Injury and the Law is Forensic Medicine. The medical doctor that takes the history, examines and treats the Athlete morphs, possibly unbeknown, into a Forensic Doctor as he/she ?investigates? while taking a precise history, Athlete Injuries that are secondary to Coach Maltreatment of Athletes.

Naming Cheerleading a Sport does not cast it into a Legal Corpus called Sports Law when unlawful Coaching Behavior becomes manifest. ?Currently, Sports Law is not separately definable body of law and the possibility, that such a body of law will ever develop, is extremely remote.? [1.Timothy Davis, Marquette Sports Law Review. Article 7, Vol 11, issue 2, Spring]

And it has not happened. The most important deterrent to Illegal Behavior, unfortunately, is punishment by the Law. Relegating Cheerleading or any other SRE activity to a domain of Sport will not suffice as the main deterrent to unlawful SRE Injuries and Deaths secondary to Child and Youth Athlete Abuse Syndrome i.e. Physical, Psychological and Sexual Abuse.

Regarding only the Amateur Child and Youth Sports, High School Athletic Associations, School and Non-school Athletic Associations and the NCAA are non-legal rules of order for how the games are to be played and Athlete Eligibility. They are created by private non-legal, non-governmental organizations that govern sports play.

The main characteristics are first that they are contractual organizations with binding forces coming from agreements by teams to submit to the authority and jurisdiction of Sport Non-Governmental Organizations. While Sport Participation and Play are not regulated by state and national legal systems, they must comply with Federal and State Rules of Law. All U.S. citizens serve the Rule of Law no matter the venue, including Sports.

Rules, Regulations and By-Laws of National and State Amateur School and Non-School leagues, federations and associations do not include the Rules for Child and Youth Protection Laws that have been enacted into Law and willfully or inadvertantly foster ?Closed Sports Societies? that appear to want-to-be impervious to outside interference and the Rules of Law because Child Abuse Laws are not published to the Sport Culture and Athletic Community. The Coach is not defined as should be as a ?Temporary Substitute Caretaker?. In those circumstances labeling Cheerleading a Sport alone would not suffice as a deterrant and possibly be detrimental without spelling out the Coach and Child/Youth Athlete Relationship.

Furthermore, assuming that private non-legal non-governmental organizations are the Law would be a Phony Masquerade of Legal Interpretation of Assumed Legal Authority.

Example: ?The monster question is if the Florida High School Activities Association, the self-governing, self-righteous, self-appointed, all-knowing autocracy of Florida sports.? [Michael Batchelder, FHSAA Is The New High School Bully, The Tampa Tribune, Published: November 15, 2008]

The News is that High School Athletic Associations are not above the Law. ? Senate President Pro Tem Katie Stine , R-Southgate, KY said Tuesday. She has introduced legislation that would allow high-school athletes and their schools to obey court orders without fear of punishment from the Kentucky High School Athletic Association. ?An agency such as the KHSAA is not above the law.? She also said Kentucky high schools should be encouraged to follow the law, not ignore it [http://www.kentucky.com/2009/03/11/721477_amendment-would-limit-khsaas-authority.html - Lexington Herald Leader, Mar. 11, 2009]

Legal Practitioners and others are attempting to birth a new legal area, Sports Law. National and State Amateur School and Non-School leagues, federations and associations appear to be attempting to develop Closed Sports Societies.

But as Secretary Condeleezza Rice stated, ?No Sport is a Kingdom unto its own?. No one is above the Law.? [former Secretary of State, Condeleezza Rice, CNN Interview, Candy Crowley, State of the Nation concerning Coach Jerry Sandusky Penn State Child Sexual Abuse Tragedy]

Presently there are no such animals: Sports Law and Kingdoms operating in the U.S. unto their own.

?The Am Ac Pediatrics made key recommendations for preventing injuries: ? Cheerleading should be designated as a Sport in all states, allowing for benefits such as qualified coaches, better access to medical care and injury surveillance? (maybe mbmsrmd).

The AAP Policies are noble and will be helpful for the Prevention of Cheerleading Injuries and Deaths when implemented, but they are incomplete.

First and Foremost, the Cheerleading Coach is a Temporary Substitute Caretaker of Child Athletes. The Coach and Amateur Athlete have a Legal Relationship.

All Children have Special Standards of Care when under temporary custody and control of a Coach and must be treated and governed accordingly. SRE are not ?Nations Unto Their Own? operating in the U.S. There is no recognized Legal corpus called Sports Law within which to operate.

Child Protection Laws are the Standards of Care for minor Children. Because the Child and Youth Athletes are minors, Cheerleader Athletes are Child (

The AAP Policies are noble and will be helpful for the Prevention of Cheerleading Injuries and Deaths, but currently they are incomplete, because they have neglected the Special Standards of Care for all Children and Youth, including Cheerleaders and have neglected the complete Role of the Coach, a Temporary Substitute Caretaker.

Source: http://www.cappaa.com/american-acacamey-of-pediatrics-and-cheerleading-injuries

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Romney steals narrow lead from Obama as election nears

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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Samsung Galaxy Note II Will Hit AT&T Stores November 9 For $299, Pre-Orders Begin October 25

samsung-galaxy-note-2AT&T has just announced that the Samsung Galaxy Note II, the next big thing to come out of the South Korean electronics maker, will be available on blue carrier shelves starting November 9. Online pre-orders begin October 25, around the same time that the phone will be released on Sprint.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/tNRRQXyic2c/

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17th Century Microscope Book Is Now Freely Readable

Yep, I don't understand why this is news, and why that book hasn't been available electronically for a long time.

Probably some jerk-publisher fraudulently claimed "coypright" on its print of it, and it took google several years until they noticed that indeed, the publisher did NOT have a copyright, and indeed, they COULD post it in its entirety. Which is, by the way, why around 80% of all public domain books google has digitized are not available in its entirety.

I wrote about it a few years ago http://seegr [discordia.ch]

Source: http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotScience/~3/hrNdj4H6CNo/17th-century-microscope-book-is-now-freely-readable

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Hanging in there: Koalas have low genetic diversity

ScienceDaily (Oct. 22, 2012) ? A species relies on genetic diversity to survive and low diversity usually indicates that there has been inbreeding due to a decrease in population size.? By looking at historic mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from museum samples, new research published in BioMed Central?s open access journal BMC Genetics has found that koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus) have had low genetic diversity for over 120 years.

The genetic diversity of koalas is known to be low in modern populations but historical reports suggest that koala populations have had a chequered past. When Europeans first noticed koalas in the late18th century they noted that numbers of this newly described species (originally called Lipurus cinereus) were very low due to Aboriginal hunting and they believed that the species would soon become extinct. Instead hunting declined allowing the koala to become a common animal by the mid 1800s.

At this point in time koala fur became fashionable and the international fur trade decimated the population once more. The koala population was also hit by loss of their habitat to European settlement, and by devastating epidemic diseases such as Chlamydia.?

Researchers from Germany, Denmark and the USA compared the mitochondrial DNA of modern koalas and 14 museum specimens from across the world (where the date of the specimen was known) to see how these changes in population sizes had affected koala genetic diversity.? Despite the 14 historic koalas being from different places and time points, they each had only one of four different haplotypes (variations in the mtDNA hypervariable region) and all of these can be found in modern koalas.

Prof Alex Greenwood, from the Leibniz-Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, who led this study, commented, ?We thought that, like other species such as the grey wolf where the population has recently declined, there should be greater diversity in museum samples than modern specimens. We found this not to be true. The event which reduced the genetic diversity of koalas must have happened a long time ago, perhaps during the late Pleistocene? when the larger species of koala, P. stirtoni, became extinct.?

Low genetic diversity may mean that the species is less able to survive changes to its environment such as global warming, or competing for habitat with humans. The low diversity may also be responsible for the widespread inability of the koala to resist diseases such as Chlamydia and the newly discovered koala retrovirus (KoRV).

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central Limited.

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Journal Reference:

  1. Kyriakos Tsangaras, Maria C Avila-Arcos, Yasuko Ishida, Kristofer M Helgen, Alfred L Roca and Alex D Greenwood. Historically low mitochondrial DNA diversity in koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus). BMC Genetics, 2012 (in press) [link]

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

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/ReufmjgMaGA/121023204636.htm

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South Africa, Congo to Cooperate On Oil Exploration

PRETORIA - South Africa and Congo signed a deal Tuesday for the joint exploration of hydrocarbons in Congo, the two countries said.

The deal was signed by each country's state-controlled oil company, Cohydro in Congo and PetroSA in South Africa, according to a statement from the foreign affairs ministers of both countries.

The chief executive of PetroSA, Nosizwe Nokwe, said the deal is the first step in a cooperation on oil exploration. The CEO said each company will assess opportunities and then decide if they make economic sense to go forward. The two haven't allotted specific amounts of money to achieve this, nor has a time frame been agreed for the cooperation. PetroSA will start by selling oil to Congo because it can buy in bulk and get a better price to sell it on to Congo, she said.

Recent oil finds in eastern Africa have spurred more exploration across the continent as countries seek to become more energy independent.

Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

Generated by readers, the comments included herein do not reflect the views and opinions of Rigzone. All comments are subject to editorial review. Off-topic, inappropriate or insulting comments will be removed.

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Source: http://www.rigzone.com/news/oil_gas/a/121559/South_Africa_Congo_to_Cooperate_On_Oil_Exploration?rss=true

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Your sales meetings: business generators, or sleep aids - Sales Shift

"I can honestly say I learned more in 3 days than I had in 3 years of Business School! You put some confidence behind the potential and I can't thank you enough."

Multimedia Advertising Consultant
The Telegram, Transcontinental Media NL

"Jill, you are truly making a difference in people's careers. I am sure you hear this all the time, but I have to tell you that you are brilliant at your profession. As an attorney, I have been subjected to countless hours of "training," and I can honestly say that your course was the most beneficial and enjoyable that I have ever taken... you have truly changed my perception of selling. Thanks for everything."

Account Executive,
Softchoice Corporation

"The combination of sales training, reinforcement clinics, coaching initiatives, coupled with Jill's contribution as a speaker at our national sales and marketing conferences, has raised the bar within our team in terms of how we look at our sales efforts. We have moved away from being task oriented sales people to becoming a strategic sales team. The sales planning and support tools were critical in the continuance of our learning and application of training after the sessions were completed. Overall, we became a better sales force as a result of this partnership."

Managing Director of Sales,
Hilton Worldwide

"Jill, I wanted to drop you a quick thank you note regarding the most recent CSP training. I have been getting glowing comments on how fantastic the training was and also on how wonderful the instructor was. Everyone I have spoken to regarding the training felt it was a valuable use of their time and that it would definitely help them advance their sales cycles. Thanks again for all of your dedication in making this program a success."

Senior Director Sales North America,
Direct Energy Business

"Jill is an inspiration ? her knowledge, style, energy and enthusiasm should be bottled and sold. By far the best sales training that I?ve ever been through, and I?ve done the Xerox sales training!!"

National Account Manager,
Transcontinental Media

"Jill, just wanted to reiterate that the SalesSHIFT presentation that you presented today at the SITE Education day was absolutely fabulous and key to sales success. The topic, message and delivery were excellent! The message was simple yet so powerful that I walked away inspired, motivated and ready to implement the directives from the presentation. In fact, I'm following through on revisiting a client conversation to fully understand their point of view based on my learnings at your presentation... Thank you for delivering a strategic and vital sales message that is critical to the success of individuals and businesses.'

Vice President, Operations, Canada,
HRG Events and Meeting Management

"I was less than enthusiastic to attend yet another 'sales training', as this was probably the 15th throughout my career. Jill Harrington?s qualities as a business person, a communicator and seasoned sales leader quickly turned things around for me. Without question, one of the best trainers I?ve ever met."

Senior Account Manager
Softchoice / Optimus Regional HQ

"Jill is rock solid in her delivery and an expert in her field. The content is not only educational but extremely entertaining as well. If you are interested in improving sales in your organization, you owe it to yourself and your company to talk with Jill."

Account Executive,
Softchoice

"Jill has worked with our Sales and Service teams with fantastic results each and every time. Jill presents passionately, professionally and with great clarity. Her post-training follow up is exemplary and ensures that we get phenomenal value from each experience."

Vice President,
Meridican Incentive Consultants

"Thank you again for taking the remainder of our team through the CSP training. Changing an individual?s process in a profession like ours is only possible when you gain absolute buy-in to the concept and you develop a deep rooted belief in the rep that applying this process will prove success in every outcome... Your amazing ability to send seven people back to me that were wholly committed to this program makes my job easier."

Retail Advertising Manager,
The Telegram, Transcontinental Media NL

"What?s changed for me is that for every important client meeting, I review my notes from your training just to remind me to always put myself in the clients shoes and to always focus on what is important to them so that I can do my best to satisfy their requirements?so far it has paid off more than I could have ever imagined. I?ve been selling in various industries for 16 years now?I only now feel like a true professional! Thank you so much?no BS, I truly attribute much of my recent success to your training!"

Business Development Manager,
Meridican Incentive Consultants

"Jill has trained three of my teams in the past five years for various companies and she consistently delivers valuable, relevant and useful sales techniques and ideas. She is a true professional sales trainer who kept my goals and objectives in mind throughout the four day session. Jill?s approachable style will put the most fragile and non-confident sales people at ease and allow for true learning to take place. Within days of the training I observed first-hand the shift in my sales team and the wins that we scored. Thanks Jill- looking forward to a follow up refresher day in the future."

Executive Director, Sales,
Cineplex Entertainment

?I consider myself a so called seasoned professional and let me tell you ? I am enjoying your (webinar) training. Yes it?s reinforcing what I already know but I haven?t needed to do any new business development prospecting in a long time and frankly I?ve gotten rusty. The session on Friday was excellent. I immediately updated my LinkedIn profile following the meeting. Goes without saying ? you can use me as an advocate for your training any time. Thank you.?

Director Client Services,
AIMIA

?Based on the feedback I received from John and a few of the attendees, it sounds like the session last week was extremely well received! Jill thank you for your hard work and thorough preparation. I had one of the Relationship Managers say to me, "she really knew her stuff!" ? thank you once again for a "top shelf" experience!?

Senior Relationship Manager,
Scotiabank - Ontario Dealer Finance Centre

"JIll's approach was exactly what the client needed. It was focused, informative, energetic, interactive and tailored to the issues the client was trying to behaviorally change. Her commitment to insuring the client got the desired results was evident. She would be an asset to any organization looking to improve their sales performance."

Janice Mars
Managing Partner, SalesLatitude

Source: http://www.salesshift.ca/better-sales-meetings/

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Watch Two Cats Play Patty Cake (Video) | Babble Pets

262574 patty cake cats 300x168 Watch Two Cats Play Patty Cake (Video)

"Patty cake, patty cake, baker's man..."

I don?t really know what it is about cute cat and dog videos but I can?t get enough of them. From the hysterical dog shaming videos to the hilarious one I found last week of a dog hiding in the shower wrought with guilt after eating the sheets, I simply cannot get enough. I confess, I prefer them to baby videos- they are just that cute.

Today?s selection is of the feline persuasion and takes us to two playful cat buddies who seem to be testing out their paws.

It looks like they might be staring each other down and then begin to literally play a game of patty cake, left paw with left paw, right paw with right paw.

It?s unreal, and ridiculously cute.

Check out it here:

?

Image: YouTube

?

?

Follow Danielle on?Twitter?and?Facebook?and?Pinterest?(where she maintains an ?Adorable Pups? board), or find her at her blog,?Just Write Mom?and Babble?s?Strollerderby.

?

MORE FROM DANIELLE:?

10 Strangest Items Swallowed By Dogs

The 13 Scariest Halloween Cats! (Photos)

Hysterical: Maymo The Lemon Beagle and His Bad Deeds (Video)

Stingray Photobomb Is Too Creepy To Be Real?But It Is! (Photo)

Obie the Obese Dachshund Got A?Facebook?Page (PHOTOS)

Mama Mastiff Raises Baby Chimp (PHOTOS)

 Watch Two Cats Play Patty Cake (Video)

Source: http://blogs.babble.com/pets/2012/10/23/watch-two-cats-play-patty-cake-video/

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As China Tensions Simmer Japan Rethinks Investments

  • China Giants Loom Large for 2013 CES

    Hispanic Business Magazine - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    Marking its 7th year, the "2012-2013 Consumer Electronics Top 10 Brands from China" competition ("The Competition") started recently. This event, held in the context of 3C ...

  • Montebourg attacks WTO on eurozones China trade deficit

    The China Post - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    PARIS--French Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg made an outspoken attack Monday on the World Trade Organization and the growth of Chinese exports to the ...

  • China leftists urge parliament not to expel Bo XilaiBy

    The China Post - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    BEIJING -- A group of Chinese leftists has issued a public letter calling on the country's largely rubber stamp parliament not to expel disgraced former top leader Bo Xilai from its ranks, ...

  • China and Af-Pak not India will be focus in final debate

    Times of India - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    There is bipartisan consensus among both Democrats and Republicans for good relations with India, and if anything, both sides claim credit for the uptick in ...

  • Japan Is The New China

    CNN Money - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- China's massive stake in U.S. Treasuries gets a lot of attention. But it's Japan, and not China, that has been busy gobbling up U.S. debt over the past year. In ...

  • Report Arenas will sign with Guangdong in China

    Sports Illustrated - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    Fresh out of second and third chances domestically, Gilbert Arenas is reportedly poised to head overseas. Arenas, who was suspended for the majority of the 2009-10 season after bringing guns into ...

  • Canada and China BFFs Are we ready for this

    Calgary Herald - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    Canada and China are about to become, if not economic bedfellows, then a serious courting couple, given to public displays of affection. Are we ready for this?With a population of 1.4 billion and ...

  • Turkey has jailed more journalists than Iran Eritrea or China watchdog

    National Post - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    ISTANBUL -- Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan?s government has waged one of the world?s biggest crackdowns on press freedom in recent years, jailing more journalists than Iran, China ...

  • Chinas Slowing Economy Puts Pressure on American Exporters

    International Herald Tribune - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    As China's economy cools, American exporters are increasingly feeling the chill. Cummins, the big Indiana engine maker, lowered its revenue forecast earlier this month and said it would ...

  • Complimentary Three-Day Beijing Adventure On Crystal Cruises New Spring China Voyages

    Yahoo - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    LOS ANGELES, Oct. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Crystal Cruises is taking guests off the ship and through Beijing's most historic and cultural sites for three nights next spring, as part of two new ...

  • Aquino fails to name new China envoy

    Inquirer Global Nation - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    President Benigno Aquino III. AP PHOTO Despite the challenging relations between the Philippines and China, President Benigno Aquino has yet to fill the top diplomatic post in Beijing, even as its ...

  • China calls on cooperation with S. Asi...

    SINA - Monday 22nd October, 2012

    Li Changchun (R), a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, attends a reception with Bangladeshi representatives from all ...

  • Source: http://www.beijingnews.net/index.php/sid/210281139/scat/55582c89cb296d4c

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    Check Out These Helpful Self Improvement Tips!

    Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

    Source: http://www.ecoc2006.org/check-out-these-helpful-self-improvement-tips/

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    Taliban kill 10 Afghan security personnel: officials | Pakistan Today ...

    HERAT?-?Ten Afghan security personnel have been killed in a bloody battle with Taliban insurgents in the western province of Herat, officials said on Tuesday.

    Five police officers were among the dead, including the police chief of Obe district, where the battle took place on Monday afternoon, regional police spokesman Noor Khan Nikzad told AFP.

    Nikzad said the gunfight erupted at noon when the Taliban attacked a police convoy and lasted several hours.

    Najeebullah Ahmadi, the Obe district governor, said five police and five soldiers were killed in the battle. Three Taliban insurgents including a commander were also killed, he said.

    Afghan forces, police and army, are due to take full security responsibility from their Western allies, a US-led NATO force, by the end of 2014 when the foreign troops leave the country.

    Casualties among Afghan security forces have surged as they take over from their foreign allies during this transition process.

    Kris Jenner Has ?Innocent Nip Slip? On Twitter

    kris jenner

    Kris Jenner joined in on a longstanding Kardashian family tradition of accidentally exposing their nipples on camera. The matriarch of the Kardashian clan posted a photo of her Halloween costume on Twitter and, as the Twitterverse was quick to point out, her nipples were showing.

    Jenner, who has about 2.5 million followers, laughed off the incident saying that it was just an ?innocent nip slip.?

    After receiving several comments about the?Halloween?costume photo mother Kardashian decided to remove the controversial image from Instagram. Jenner did, however,?re-post the image on her blog. But this time she edited her nipples out of the photo.

    Jenner wrote:

    ?Jeeeez what?s all the fuss about?!!! It?s just an innocent nip slip, happens to the best of us.?

    Khloe Kardashian saw the photo on and commented on Twitter, writing:??Hi nips. That?s my mom.?

    Jenner is the only member of the Kardashian family to suffer a wardrobe malfunction today (the day isn?t over) but she isn?t the first to post an image of her Halloween costume. Kim Kardashian recently posted an image of her sexy cat costume which may be more revealing than Jenner?s super woman costume. Kardashian?s costume doesn?t involve any accidentally exposed nipples but the see-through cat suit is pretty revealing.

    Here?s the edited version of Kris Jenner?s costume.

    kris jenner costume

    What do you think of Kris Jenner?s costume? Are you offended by her ?innocent nip slip??

    Source: http://www.inquisitr.com/373019/kris-jenner-has-innocent-nip-slip-on-twitter/

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    Families of South Africa mine victims break down

    A woman cries after watching footage of South African police shooting at the Lonmin mine, in Marikana, during an official inquest in Rustenburg, South Africa, Tuesday Oct 23, 2012. Graphic video footage of South African police shooting dead 34 protesting mine strikers in August left the victims? widows weeping inconsolably when it was shown to an official inquest Tuesday. The Marikana Commission, which is investigating violence at Lonmin?s platinum mines on Aug. 16 as well as related incidents in which up to 46 people were killed, was disrupted by the emotional response of grieving family members to the video footage which shows some of the worst state violence since the end of apartheid since 1994. (AP Photo)

    A woman cries after watching footage of South African police shooting at the Lonmin mine, in Marikana, during an official inquest in Rustenburg, South Africa, Tuesday Oct 23, 2012. Graphic video footage of South African police shooting dead 34 protesting mine strikers in August left the victims? widows weeping inconsolably when it was shown to an official inquest Tuesday. The Marikana Commission, which is investigating violence at Lonmin?s platinum mines on Aug. 16 as well as related incidents in which up to 46 people were killed, was disrupted by the emotional response of grieving family members to the video footage which shows some of the worst state violence since the end of apartheid since 1994. (AP Photo)

    WOmen cry after watching footage of South African police shooting at the Lonmin mine, in Marikana, during an official inquest in Rustenburg, South Africa, Tuesday Oct 23, 2012. Graphic video footage of South African police shooting dead 34 protesting mine strikers in August left the victims? widows weeping inconsolably when it was shown to an official inquest Tuesday. The Marikana Commission, which is investigating violence at Lonmin?s platinum mines on Aug. 16 as well as related incidents in which up to 46 people were killed, was disrupted by the emotional response of grieving family members to the video footage which shows some of the worst state violence since the end of apartheid since 1994. (AP Photo)

    JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? In a hail of gunfire, a line of South African police shot at a crowd of striking miners, many of whom fell to the ground, lifeless.

    The shooting continued and more strikers dropped into the dirt.

    That graphic video of 34 strikers being shot dead by police at Lonmin's Marikana platinum mine on Aug. 16 remains so powerful that it upset victims' families watching proceedings Tuesday.

    When the footage was shown many grieving widows, wearing black mourning headscarves, erupted in uncontrollable weeping. Others covered their faces in horror. One woman collapsed and was carried out of the hall, disrupting proceedings inside the Rustenburg Civic Center, northwest of Johannesburg.

    Ian Farlam, a retired judge who heads the Marikana Commission, quickly apologized for showing the footage without warning family members. He said equally upsetting videos of the shootings, from different angles, would be shown to the commission.

    James Nichol, one of the lawyers representing families of the deceased miners, said it was insensitive to show such footage without warning the families present. "What happened was unforgivable and disgraceful," Nichol said.

    The reaction to the footage highlighted the emotive power of the Aug. 16 incident, the worst state violence since the end of apartheid in 1994. Some now describe the Marikana shootings as a "massacre" by the police.

    Lawyer Dali Mpofu, who represents more than 270 miners injured or arrested during the Marikana incident, told the commission Tuesday that the shooting of mineworkers "was premeditated murder of defenseless people" and that he would seek "justice" elsewhere if the commission in the end failed to indict the police.

    Mpofu described the mine violence last August as "collusion between the state and capital." Among other evidence, he presented an email sent on Aug. 15 by South African businessman Cyril Ramaphosa to Lonmin company executives in which he wrote of "dastardly criminal acts" by striking miners and called for "concomitant action." Ramaphosa, an influential member of South Africa's ruling African National Congress party, is sometimes touted as a future leader of the country.

    The Marikana Commission's inquiry is expected to last four months and will investigate the deaths of more than 40 people in the violence at Marikana, nearly 94 kilometers (58 miles) northwest of Johannesburg.

    South African police insist they acted in self-defense when they shot and killed the protesting strikers and wounded more than 70. Ishmael Semenya, a lawyer for the police, told the commission on Monday that the police had not been adequately prepared for confrontations with striking miners armed with crude weapons. Semenya said the striking miners wanted a "bloodbath."

    But Mpofu said on Tuesday that the victims' legal team "refute any suggestions of self-defense" by the police.

    President Jacob Zuma ordered the judicial investigation to determine the causes of the police killings that shocked the nation. Some 46 people, including two police, were killed in mine violence in Marikana in August. The commission will determine the roles played by the police, Lonmin, the National Union of Mineworkers and the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union. It will also determine whether any of those investigated could have put measures into place to prevent the violence.

    The striking Marikana miners later got a hefty pay raise of up to 22 percent. Their wage gains inspired a wave of wild-cat strike action across South Africa. Some of the strikes at gold and platinum mines remain unresolved, according to analysts. Companies such as Gold Fields and AngloGold Ashanti have responded to the striking miners by issuing ultimatums threatening them with dismissal if they do not return to work.

    Associated Press

    Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-10-23-South%20Africa-Marikana/id-5c4b9e3792d541b29d35d7b33af27d6f

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    Tuesday, October 23, 2012

    Qatar visit breaks Gaza ice, delights Hamas

    GAZA (Reuters) - The Emir of Qatar embraced the Hamas leadership of Gaza on Tuesday with an official visit breaking the isolation of the militant Palestinian Islamist movement, to the dismay of Israel and rival, Western-backed Palestinian leaders in the West Bank.

    Israel said it was "astounding" that Qatar, a U.S.-allied Gulf state whose oil and gas permit it to punch way above its diplomatic weight, would take sides in the Palestinian dispute and endorse Hamas, branded as terrorists in the West. The emir had "thrown peace under the bus", an Israeli spokesman said.

    The Gaza Strip on the Mediterranean coast, is all but cut off from the world, under blockade by Israel and Egypt by land and sea to obstruct the import of arms and military equipment.

    In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas, Hamas's arch-rival, said it hoped the visit would not undermine efforts to rebuild Palestinian unity or signal approval for a separate Palestinian territory in Gaza.

    Embarking on what was a state visit in all but name, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani and his wife Sheikha Mozah crossed from Egypt at the head of a large delegation, to be greeted by Hamas Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and an honor guard.

    Hundreds of Palestinians lined his route, waving Palestinian and Qatari flags as the convoy with the sheikh in a black Mercedes limousine bumped along the rutted main highway that Qatar has promised to rebuild.

    "You are today, by this visit, declaring the breaking of the unjust blockade," Haniyeh told the Qatari leader in a speech at the site of a new town to be built with emirate money.

    "Today we declare victory against the blockade through this historic visit," he said. "We say thank you, Emir, thank you Qatar for this noble Arab stance ... Hail to the blood of martyrs which brought us to this moment."

    Hamas rejects a peace treaty with Israel and has poured scorn on Abbas for his futile efforts to negotiate his way to a Palestinian state.

    This was the first visit to Gaza by any national leader since Hamas seized control of the enclave and its 1.7 million people from Abbas's forces in 2007. Israel had pulled out its troops and settlers from the territory two years earlier.

    Qatar has called the visit a humanitarian gesture, to inaugurate reconstruction projects financed by the emirate. After initially earmarking $250 million for the schemes, a smiling Haniyeh announced the fund now stood at $400 million.

    QATAR'S AMBITIONS

    The tiny Gulf emirate, whose native population is only about the same size as that of the Gaza Strip, has ambitions to parlay its vast natural gas wealth into diplomatic and regional influence. It was a major supporter of Islamist groups who have been the biggest beneficiaries of the Arab Spring.

    Though giving up none of his absolute power as monarch at home, the Qatari ruler has promoted popular uprisings elsewhere and Qatar's Al Jazeera television has provided a platform for critics of many Arab governments.

    It was the leading Arab power to provide political cover for the NATO-led operation that help rebels oust Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and it has led Arab opposition to Bashar al-Assad in Syria, providing arms and funds to Sunni rebels.

    But its dual policy has perplexed regional and international players, with its strong support for Islamist groups including Hamas running in parallel with close ties to the United States.

    Qatar hosts one of the biggest U.S. bases in the region.

    Analysts see the visit as an attempt by the emir to use his leverage with Western capitals to help rehabilitate Hamas in Western eyes, and move them into mainstream politics, using their falling out with Shi'ite Iran over the conflict in Syria as a stepping stone to break Tehran influence on them for good.

    Little damage has been repaired in Gaza since a devastating three-week offensive by Israeli forces in the winter of 2008-2009 to stop Hamas and other Islamic militant groups firing rockets and mortars at southern Israel communities.

    The visit coincided with another round in the low-level conflict between Israel and Hamas. An Israeli officer was badly injured by an explosion on the Gaza border and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised a "strong response", which often comes in the form of Israeli air strikes.

    "NO SIGN" OF HAMAS CHANGE

    Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the emir, who has met Israeli leaders but not visited the Palestinian Authority of Abbas and his secular Fatah movement in the West Bank, had "never dignified the PA with a visit".

    "No one understands why he would fund an organization which has become notorious with committing suicide bombings and firing rockets on civilians. By hugging Hamas, the Emir of Qatar is really someone who has thrown peace under the bus," he said.

    Hamas refuses to renounce violence or to recognize Israel's right to exist and is ostracized by the West, the United Nations and Russia of the Middle East "Quartet".

    However, Hamas has softened its position to a degree, by saying it would accept a decades-long truce with Israel in return for a state along lines established before the 1967 war.

    It also denies any desire to create a separate state in Gaza, a 40-km (25-mile) sliver of coastline with few resources.

    Hamas has loosened its ties to Iran since the Syrian revolt, in which Assad's state forces backed by Tehran are fighting Sunni rebels. At the same time it has strengthened relations with its mentor, the Muslim Brotherhood now in control of Egypt.

    Iran's nuclear program has raised the prospect of a war with Israel, with potential Hamas involvement in the south and attacks by Iranian-backed Hezbollah on the northern border.

    Sheikh Hamad has also previously sought to mediate between Hamas and Fatah to end the divisions that have weakened the Palestinian cause. But Palestinian analysts say there is for now no prospect of reconciliation between the two factions.

    Palmor said Hamas had not accepted the Quartet provisions required to be regarded as a legitimate interlocutor. However, Israel acknowledges that Hamas is trying to clamp down on renegade Islamic militant groups that refuse to accept its unwritten moratorium on firing rockets at the Jewish state.

    Yossi Kuperwasser, who directs Israel's Ministry of Strategic Affairs, says "most of the activity is coming now not from Hamas. It comes from other sources".

    "As we have seen in other places when Islamic forces come to power, they have to take into consideration other things and not (just) terrorism. They find themselves in a bit of an awkward position," he told reporters last week.

    (Additional reporting by Samia Nakhoul in Beirut, Andrew Hammond in Dubai and Crispian Balmer in Jerusalem; Writing by Douglas Hamilton; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)

    Source: http://news.yahoo.com/qatars-emir-heads-gaza-historic-trip-072713874.html

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