Business Highlights - seattlepi.com

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AP Interview: JC Penney CEO talks about the chain

NEW YORK ? Everyone in the retail world wants to see if Ron Johnson can work his magic a third time.

For 15 years, he helped shape Target's cheap chic image. Then, he spent about a decade changing the way Americans shop for electronic gadgets at Apple.

Now, Johnson faces perhaps his biggest challenge yet as CEO of J.C. Penney: Dust off one of the dowdiest brands in retailing to make it cool again. To do that, he's borrowing from Apple's uber-successful playbook.

During an hour-long interview in which he talked about how he planned to transform Penney, the 52-year-old mentioned Apple 19 times. Like he did at Apple, the 30-year retail industry veteran says he plans to change the shopping experience, shun heavy discounting and sell services along with products.

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25 EU nations to sign treaty to stop overspending

BRUSSELS ? All countries in the European Union, except Britain and the Czech Republic, agreed Monday to sign a new treaty designed to stop overspending in the eurozone and put an end to the bloc's crippling debt crisis, while also pledging to stimulate growth across the region.

The new treaty, known as the fiscal compact, was agreed to at a summit of European leaders in Brussels. It includes strict debt brakes and makes it more difficult for deficit sinners to escape sanctions. The 17-country eurozone hopes that the tighter rules will convince investors that all countries will get their debts under control and restore confidence in their joint currency.

Although the new rules only apply to the 17 euro states, the currency union was hoping to get broad support from the other EU states.

The summit also promised Monday to stimulate growth and create jobs across the region, in a tacit acknowledgment that their exclusive focus on austerity has had painful side effects.

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Incomes up strong 0.5 pct., consumer spending flat

WASHINGTON ? Americans' income rose in December by 0.5 percent, the most in nine months, a hopeful sign for the economy after a year of weak wage gains. But consumers didn't spend any more last month than they had in November.

Americans ended up saving their additional income.

Economists noted that income rose last month largely because of strong hiring. The economy added 200,000 jobs in December. More jobs mean more income available to spend.

The best hope for the economy is further job gains. On Friday, the government is expected to report another solid month of hiring for January.

For all of 2011, income barely rose.

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WTO: China unfairly limits export of raw materials

The World Trade Organization ruled Monday that China unfairly limited exports of nine raw materials to protect domestic manufacturers.

A WTO appeals body rejected China's appeal of an earlier ruling in July that concluded the Asian economic powerhouse had violated international trade rules. The appeals body largely sided with the U.S., European Union and Mexico, which had taken issue with Chinese restrictions on its exports of nine materials used widely in the steel, aluminum and chemical industries.

The ruling affects China's exports of certain forms of bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorous and zinc. The WTO appeals body says China must now "bring its export duty and export quota measures into conformity with its WTO obligations."

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Tech companies team up to combat email scams

NEW YORK ? Google, Facebook and other big tech companies are jointly designing a system for combating email scams known as phishing.

Such scams try to trick people into giving away passwords and other personal information by sending emails that look as if they come from a legitimate bank, retailer or other business. When Bank of America customers see emails that appear to come from the bank, they might click on a link that takes them to a fake site mimicking the real Bank of America's. There, they might enter personal details, which scam artists can capture and use for fraud.

To combat that, 15 major technology and financial companies have formed an organization to design a system for authenticating emails from legitimate senders and weeding out fakes. The new system is called DMARC ? short for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance.

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Stocks and bond yields drop on Europe worries

NEW YORK ? The wait for an expected deal between Greece and its creditors rattled financial markets around the world Monday. Yields for ultra-safe U.S. government debt hit their lowest this year, the euro dropped against the dollar, and European stocks fell.

U.S. stocks dropped slightly, with the Dow Jones industrial average off 0.1 percent.

Borrowing costs for European countries with the heaviest debt burdens shot higher. The two-year interest rate for Portugal's government debt jumped to 21 percent after trading around 14 percent last week.

Greece and the investors who bought its government bonds were said to be close to an agreement that would replace bonds held by investment funds and banks with new ones at half the face value.

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Starbucks, Tata to open 50 Indian stores this year

MUMBAI, India ? Starbucks aims to open 50 outlets in India by year's end, through a 50-50 joint venture with Tata Global Beverages, the companies said Monday.

Tata Starbucks Ltd., as their venture is known, hopes to capitalize on the rising aspirations ? and fattening wallets ? of many Indians, who are eager to partake of the global latte life.

The first outlet will open in Mumbai or New Delhi by September.

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Wendy's CEO: Our wounds were 'self-inflicted'

NEW YORK ? Wendy's new CEO on Monday called the dour results of the past few years "self-inflicted wounds" and vowed to do better, laying out plans that included hiring top-tier workers and reclaiming market share from higher-end competitors like Five Guys and Smashburger.

Emil Brolick, the CEO since September, told investors that he was intent on winning back customers jaded by a stale menu and inconsistent service, as well as investors, who have grown weary of "a little bit of overpromising and under-delivering."

And rather than blaming the struggling economy for the revenue declines and quarterly losses of the past few years, Brolick said that the company's problems were its own fault.

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Gates Foundation, drug makers push on tropical ills

Thirteen major pharmaceutical companies, government groups and health charities will work together in a push to eliminate or control by 2020 10 tropical diseases that affect more than a billion people in poor countries.

The partners, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, call it the largest coordinated effort ever to combat neglected tropical diseases. The government groups and charities alone are committing just over $785 million in new funding.

The drug makers are donating billions of doses of their medicines over the rest of the decade, but did not attribute a value to them. The companies also will work together to speed up development of new treatments, and the partners will work on improving drug delivery and treatment programs, including prevention and education.

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By The Associated Press(equals)

The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 6.74 points to close at 12,653.72, for a drop of 0.1 percent. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 3.32 points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,313.01. The Nasdaq composite lost 4.6 points, or 0.2 percent, at 2,811.94.

Benchmark crude fell by 78 cents to finish at $98.78 per barrel in New York on Monday. Brent crude, which is used to price foreign oils that are imported by U.S. refineries, lost 71 cents to end at $110.75 per barrel in London.

Heating oil fell 2 cents to finish at $3.05 per gallon and gasoline futures fell 6 cents to end at $2.87 per gallon. Natural gas futures fell 4 cents to end the day at $2.71 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: http://www.seattlepi.com/business/article/Business-Highlights-2848106.php

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25 EU nations to sign treaty to stop overspending (AP)

BRUSSELS ? All countries in the European Union, except Britain and the Czech Republic, agreed Monday to sign up to a new treaty designed to stop overspending in the eurozone and put an end to the bloc's crippling debt crisis, while also pledging to stimulate growth across the region.

The new treaty, known as the fiscal compact, was agreed at a summit of European leaders in Brussels on Monday. It includes strict debt brakes and makes it more difficult for deficit sinners to escape sanctions. The 17-country eurozone hopes that the tighter rules will convince investors that all countries will get their debts under control and restore confidence in their joint currency.

"We have a majority of 25 that will now sign up to the fiscal compact," Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said after the summit.

Although the new rules only apply to the 17 euro states, the currency union was hoping to get broad support from the other EU states, in the hope that the accord could eventually be integrated into the main EU treaty.

Britain had already said in December that it wouldn't sign the new treaty. Reinfeldt said that the Czech Republic didn't sign up because of parliamentary procedural problems.

The summit also promised Monday to stimulate growth and create jobs across the region, in a tacit acknowledgment that their exclusive focus on austerity has had painful side effects.

"Yes we need discipline, but we also need growth," said Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission.

The leaders pledged to offer more training for young people to ease their transition to the work force, deploy unused development funds to create jobs, reduce barriers to doing business across the EU's 27 countries, and ensure that small businesses have access to credit. However there was no offer of any new financial stimulus.

"We must do more to get Europe out of the crisis," the leaders said in a statement.

Barroso said that there are still euro82 billion ($107.5 billion) in development funds that have yet to be allocated and which small and medium businesses could use as guarantees to get funding from banks.

He also said that the Commission will dispatch action teams to the eight countries where youth unemployment is the highest and help fund apprenticeships and young startups.

Europe's debt crisis has put the continent and its leaders in an almost impossible situation. While they have to slash their deficits to reassure the financial markets and investors reluctant to lend to them, the debt crisis has also sent unemployment soaring. Many analysts, politicians and trade unions think that only government spending can restart growth.

Overall, 23 million people are jobless across the EU, 10 percent of the active population. In Spain, unemployment has soared to nearly 23 percent and closed in on 50 percent for those under age 25, leaving more than 5 million people out of work as the country slides toward recession.

Even the most influential countries in Europe ? which are generally better off ? are suffering. The French government was forced Monday to revise down its growth forecast for its economy for the year from 1 percent to just 0.5 percent.

In fact, many now fear that Europe is on the verge of another recession, and leaders gathering in Brussels said that while austerity is important, more needs to be done for growth. Economists often note that cutting spending is just one way to slash deficits; another equally important method is to boost growth, which increases the amount of money pouring into government coffers.

While the leaders meeting in Brussels focused on walking the fine line between reining in spending and stimulating growth, the elephant in the room was Greece.

Greece and its bondholders have come closer to a deal to significantly reduce the country's debt and pave the way for it to receive a much-needed euro130 billion ($170 billion) bailout.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Monday he hoped a final agreement on Greece will be achieved "in the coming days," either at a special meeting of eurozone finance ministers or leaders.

Negotiators for Greece's private creditors said Saturday that a debt-reduction deal could become final within the next week. If the agreement works as planned, it could help Greece avoid a catastrophic default, which would be a blow to Europe's already weak financial system.

But European officials are afraid that even that deal may not be enough to fix Greece's finances, with some blaming Athens for dithering on its promise to cut spending and introduce austerity measures.

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Associated Press writers Don Melvin, Robert Wielaard and Raf Casert contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Romney runs attack ads against Gingrich, who says he's in the race until the GOP (Star Tribune)

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Avalanche kills snowboarder in half-mile slide

By msnbc.com staff and news services

A 24-year-old snowboarder has died after becoming trapped in an avalanche in a steep Utah backcountry area that the public was warned to avoid after potent snowstorms.

The death marks the ninth avalanche fatality in the West this season, and experts say the risk of additional slides could remain high all winter.

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NBC affiliate KSL TV reported that Alecsander Barton was with two other men when the avalanche occurred Saturday morning in the Wasatch Range's Big Cottonwood Canyon near Salt Lake City.?

Heading back from Stewart, British Colombia, Aaron Garner captures a controlled avalanche technicians set off to clear a highway pass. TODAY.com's Dara Brown reports.

The other two ? a snowboarder and skier ? watched as?Barton descended Kessler Peak and triggered an avalanche that carried him an estimated 2,400 feet, or half a mile,?down the mountain. They found his body under three feet of snow about an hour later using avalanche beacons.?

STORY: Avalanche danger across West is high

Experts say a weak base layer of snow, packed with large grains of ice, is plaguing parts of Utah, Colorado, Montana and California. They say these conditions could keep avalanche risks high for the rest of the season.

Helmet-cam video shows a snowmobiler caught in an avalanche in Washington State and his friends quickly rushing to his rescue. KING-TV's Jim Forman reports.

So far, four people have died in avalanches in Colorado, three on the Wyoming-Montana border and two in Utah.

Last season saw 25 avalanche deaths, and the one before saw 36.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/29/10263387-avalanche-kills-snowboarder-in-half-mile-slide

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Convicted Marine apologizes to Iraqi civilians (AP)

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. ? When Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich finally spoke in court he did not address the judge but instead directed his words at the Iraqi family members who survived his squad's attacks in 2005 that left 24 unarmed civilians dead.

The 31-year-old Camp Pendleton Marine apologized for the loss of their loved ones and said he never intended to harm them or their families. He went on to tell the court that his guilty plea in no way suggests that his squad behaved badly or dishonorably.

"But even with the best intentions, sometimes combat actions can cause tragic results," Wuterich said in an unsworn statement.

The lone Marine was convicted of a single count of negligent dereliction of duty. He faces having his rank reduced but he will not go to jail as a part of a plea agreement that abruptly ended his long-awaited manslaughter trial.

Wuterich, who admitted to instructing his men to "shoot first, ask questions later," defended his order to raid homes in Haditha after a roadside bomb killed a fellow Marine. He said his aim was "to keep the rest of my Marines alive."

His sentence Tuesday ended a six-year prosecution that failed to win any manslaughter convictions. Eight Marines were initially charged; one was acquitted and six others had their cases dropped.

The plea deal that dropped nine counts of manslaughter sparked outrage in the besieged Iraqi town and claims that the U.S. didn't hold the military accountable.

"I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair," said survivor Awis Fahmi Hussein, showing his scars from a bullet wound to the back.

Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones initially recommended the maximum sentence of three months for Wuterich, saying: "It's difficult for the court to fathom negligent dereliction of duty worse than the facts in this case."

Then he opened an envelope containing the plea agreement to learn its terms ? as is procedure in military court ? and announced that the deal prevented any jail time for the Marine.

"That's very good for you obviously," Jones told Wuterich.

Jones did recommend that the sergeant's rank be reduced to private, which would dock his pay as a result, but he decided not to exercise his option to cut it by as much as two-thirds because the divorced father has sole custody of his three daughters. The rank reduction has to be approved by a Marine general, who already signed off on the plea deal.

Defense attorney Neal Puckett said Wuterich has been falsely labeled a killer who carried out a massacre in Iraq. He insisted Wuterich's only intention was to protect his Marines.

"The appropriate punishment in this case, your honor, is no punishment," Puckett said.

Wuterich, who hugged his parents after he spoke, declined comment on Jones' decision. Puckett and his co-counsel Haytham Faraj, said in a statement: "We believe justice prevailed for Staff Sgt. Wuterich and in turn, he wishes it was within his power to impart the same measure of justice to the families of the victims of Haditha."

Wuterich directly addressed family members of the Iraqi victims, saying there were no words to ease their pain.

"I know that you are the real victims of Nov. 19, 2005," he said.

He went on to tell the court: "When my Marines and I cleared those houses that day, I responded to what I perceived as a threat and my intention was to eliminate that threat in order to keep the rest of my Marines alive," he said. "So when I told my team to shoot first and ask questions later, the intent wasn't that they would shoot civilians, it was that they would not hesitate in the face of the enemy."

"The truth is I never fired my weapon at any women or children that day," Wuterich later told Jones.

The contention by Wuterich, 31, of Meriden, Conn., contradicts prosecutors and counters testimony from a former squad mate who said he joined Wuterich in firing in a dark back bedroom where a woman and children were killed.

Prosecutors argued that Wuterich's knee-jerk reaction of sending the squad to assault nearby homes without positively identifying a threat went against his training and caused needless deaths of 10 women and children.

"That is a horrific result from that derelict order of shoot first, ask questions later," said Lt. Col. Sean Sullivan.

Military prosecutors worked for more than six years to bring Wuterich to trial on manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life. But only weeks after the long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich the deal.

It was a stunning outcome for the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in Vietnam.

The Haditha attack is considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

During the trial before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq, prosecutors argued Wuterich lost control after seeing his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a man in a wheelchair.

Faraj said the government was working on false notions and the deal was reached last week when prosecutors recognized their case was falling apart with contradictory testimony from witnesses who had lied to investigators. Many of the squad members had their cases dropped in exchange for testifying. Prosecutors have declined to comment.

Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel said the deal was the result of mutual negotiations and does not reflect how the case was going for the prosecution. He said the government investigated and prosecuted the case as it should have.

Wuterich plans to leave the Marine Corps and start a new career in information technology. His lawyers said they plan to petition for clemency.

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Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Raquel Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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

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Greenlight Capital fined $11M for market abuse (AP)

LONDON ? High-profile hedge fund manager David Einhorn and his U.S.-based Greenlight Capital Inc. have been fined 7.2 million pounds ($11.2 million) for trading on inside information, Britain's market regulator said Wednesday.

Roughly half the penalty will have to paid by Einhorn, making it the second-largest U.K. fine imposed on an individual by the Financial Services Authority, a spokesman for the watchdog said.

In a statement the FSA said Einhorn had been tipped off that leading British pub operator Punch Taverns PLC was about to begin raising money by issuing new shares only minutes before he began dumping millions of the company's shares on June 9, 2009.

As the value of Punch shares would have fallen following the announcement of the share issue, Greenlight avoided making a substantial loss by selling them early.

The authority said that while it accepted that Einhorn did not believe he was breaking the rules, the tip-off "was inside information and Einhorn should have appreciated this." It added that the lapse was particularly egregious given Einhorn's prominence.

"Einhorn is an experienced professional with a high profile in the industry," said Tracey McDermott, the authority's acting director of enforcement and financial crime. "We expect someone in his position to be able to identify inside information when he receives it and to act appropriately. His failure to do so is a serious breach of the expected standards of market conduct."

Einhorn said in a statement that while he believes he did nothing wrong, he and his company had decided to put the matter to rest "rather than continue an arduous fight."

He added that the fine would not be borne by Greenlight funds.

Einhorn is a charismatic figure best known outside the world of finance for his poker-playing prowess, winning a major 2006 tournament, and his unsuccessful attempt to secure minority ownership of the New York Mets.

In the industry, he built a fearsome reputation for publicly criticizing overvalued companies, including Lehman Bros., which he accused of putting the entire financial system at risk several months before the investment bank spectacularly collapsed.

His book, "Fooling Some of the People All of The Time," explores how weak regulators and compromised officials have allowed Wall Street companies to run amok.

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Online:

Financial Services Authority: http://www.fsa.gov.uk/

Greenlight Capital: https://www.greenlightcapital.com/

Einhorn's book: http://foolingsomepeople.com/

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_britain_greenlight_capital

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Guidewire jumps 38 percent in stock market debut (AP)

SAN MATEO, Calif. ? Guidewire Software quickly found a following in its stock market debut Wednesday.

The insurance software maker's stock jumped to $18 within their first few hours of trading, a 38 percent gain from the initial public offering price of $13.

Guide Software Inc. sold 8.85 million shares in the IPO. The offering raised $115 million, before expenses.

The 11-year-old company is based in San Mateo, Calif. and employs about 200 people. It specializes in software that helps insurers analyze risks and manage claims.

After a history of early losses, Guide Software turned a profit in each of the last two fiscal years. It earned $36 million on revenue of $172 million in the year ending last July.

The stock trades under the ticker symbol GWRE.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/us_guidewire_software_ipo

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Newt Gingrich Freddie Mac Contract Released

TAMPA, Fla. ? Under pressure, Newt Gingrich arranged the release of a contract Monday night showing the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. paid his consulting firm a $25,000 monthly retainer fee in 2006, for a total of $300,000.

The agreement calls for "consulting and related services" but makes no mention of lobbying.

Gingrich has likened his work for the federally backed mortgage giant known as Freddie Mac to that of a historian, and later a strategic adviser. His top rival for the Republican presidential nomination, Mitt Romney, says he was lobbying.

Monday's disclosure touched off fireworks between the two contenders during a prime-time debate.

"This contract proves you were not a historian. You were a consultant," Romney said. "And you were hired by the chief lobbyist of Freddie Mac."

Gingrich chafed at the suggestion he was "influence peddling" and turned the issue back on his opponent.

"Gov. Romney has done consulting work for years," the former House speaker said. "I've never suggested his consulting work was lobbying."

Gingrich's work for Freddie Mac was disclosed long ago, but controversy has flared in the 48 hours since he trounced Romney in the South Carolina Republican presidential primary. The contract with Gingrich's former firm listed Freddie Mac's director of public policy ? jargon for lobbyist ? as the project executive.

The next primary is set for Jan. 31 in Florida, a state particularly hard hit by the housing crisis of 2008, and one where Gingrich's connections with Freddie Mac may carry a political stigma.

The material was released by the Center for Health Transformation, which Gingrich helped create, and has since sold.

Its disclosure came about two hours before a campaign debate in Tampa, and the timing suggested Gingrich was hoping to blunt any attack Romney might make at the event.

Gingrich released them on the same day as Romney ramped up criticism for not making the details public sooner. Gingrich said it wasn't only up to him because he no longer controls the firm named in the contract and confidentiality clauses were at play.

The disclosure comes amid a volley between the Romney and Gingrich campaigns about who is hiding information voters may want. After facing pressure himself, Romney intends to release some tax records on Tuesday, about a week after Gingrich made his tax returns public.

Gingrich has said previously that firms he ran received about $1.6 million from Freddie Mac for consulting services over several years, and he personally pocketed $35,000 a year. Only the contract covering 2006 was released.

Even before the material was made public, Romney's campaign said it wouldn't be satisfied with only the contract or contracts themselves. "Speaker Gingrich should immediately make his Freddie Mac contract and work product available to the public," Gail Gitcho, Romney's communications director, said in a statement.

The Center for Health Transformation and the Gingrich campaign share a lawyer, Stefan Passantino. He did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Look through the documents below, from the Washington Post: "; var coords = [-5, -72]; // display fb-bubble FloatingPrompt.embed(this, html, undefined, 'top', {fp_intersects:1, timeout_remove:2000,ignore_arrow: true, width:236, add_xy:coords, class_name: 'clear-overlay'}); });

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/newt-gingrich-freddie-mac-contracts_n_1225377.html

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A look at economic developments around the globe (AP)

A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Monday:

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BRUSSELS ? European finance chiefs put pressure on Greece's private creditors to voluntarily cut the country's massive debt load, with the Dutch minister warning that bondholders may be forced to take losses.

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BRUSSELS ? The European Union and Iran raised the stakes in their test of wills over the Islamic republic's nuclear program, with the bloc banning the purchase of Iranian oil and Iran threatening to retaliate by closing the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude is transported.

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LONDON ? Hopes that Greece will reach a deal with private creditors on lowering its debt ? despite a delay in talks between Athens and banks' representatives ? supported European markets and sent the euro up to three-week highs above $1.30.

The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 0.9 percent, while Germany's DAX rose 0.5 percent. The CAC-40 in France ended 0.5 percent higher.

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TOKYO ? In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average fell 0.01 percent.

Markets were closed in mainland China, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines for the Asian New Year.

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BERLIN ? Europe's stronger economies should do more to boost growth and beef up the defenses against the continent's debt crisis, the head of the International Monetary Fund said.

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FRANKFURT, Germany ? The European Central Bank cut its purchases of government bonds to $2.9 billion last week as countries found it easier to borrow.

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BERLIN ? Germany's chancellor says her country is prepared to speed up its payments to boost Europe's new bailout fund.

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MADRID ? Spain faces more unemployment misery and needs serious labor market reforms, the country's central bank warned as it slashed its economic forecasts for this year.

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MILAN ? Truck drivers in Italy angered by an increase in gas prices introduced as part of the government's austerity measures have blocked highways near Milan in the north and Naples in the south.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy_countries_glance

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Minn. bear delivers at least 2 cubs on Internet

ELY, Minn. (AP) ? A 3-year-old bear in Minnesota has given birth to two cubs before an Internet audience.

Lynn Rogers of the Wildlife Research Institute, affiliated with North American Bear Center, said in a news release that Jewel gave birth in a den near Ely to the first cub at 7:22 a.m. Sunday, and a second at 8:40.

It's not the first time Rogers and his colleagues have monitored hibernating pregnant black bears.

In 2010, they recorded the birth of a bear named Hope in 2010. A Hunter killed Hope last year.

Jewel is the younger sister of Hope's mother, Lily.

Lily also gave birth last year to two cubs named Faith and Jason.

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Online:

North American Bear Center: http://www.bear.org

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Information from: Duluth News Tribune, http://www.duluthsuperior.com

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-01-22-US-Internet-Bear-Sister/id-235fdb6533214241a5273199a71fc42b

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New Genetic Clues to Breast Cancer? (HealthDay)

SUNDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have identified three new genomic regions they believe are linked with breast cancer that may help explain why some women develop the disease.

All three newly identified areas "contain interesting genes that open up new avenues for biological and clinical research," said researcher Douglas Easton, a professor of genetic epidemiology at the University of Cambridge in England.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women, with about 1 million new cases annually worldwide and more than 400,000 deaths a year.

Scientists conducting genome-wide association studies -- research that looks at the association between genetic factors and disease to pinpoint possible causes -- had already identified 22 breast cancer susceptibility loci. Locus is the physical location of a gene or DNA sequence on a chromosome.

"The three [newly identified] loci take the number of common susceptibility loci from 22 to 25," said Easton.

However, the three new susceptibility loci might explain only about 0.7 percent of the familial risks of breast cancer, bringing the total contribution to about 9 percent, the researchers said.

Michael Melner, scientific program director for the American Cancer Society, said this current research adds some important new clues to existing evidence, but he agreed that the number of cases likely associated with these three variants is probably low.

"So the total impact in terms of patients would be fairly small," Melner said.

The study is published online Jan. 22 in Nature Genetics.

To find the new clues, Easton's team worked with genetic information on about 57,000 breast cancer patients and 58,000 healthy women obtained from two genome-wide association studies.

The investigators zeroed in on 72 different single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A SNP -- pronounced "snip" -- is a change in which a single base in the DNA differs from the usual base. The human genome has millions of SNPs, some linked with disease, while others are normal variations.

The researchers focused on three SNPs -- on chromosomes 12p11, 12q24 and 21q21.

Easton's team found that the variant on the 12p11 chromosome is linked with both estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer (which needs estrogen to grow) and estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. The other two variants are only linked with ER-positive cancers, they said.

One of the newly identified variants is in an area with a gene that has a role in the development of mammary glands and bones. Easton said it was already known that mammary gland development in puberty is an important period in terms of determining later cancer risk. "But these are the first susceptibility genes to be shown to be involved in this process," he said.

One of the other SNPs is in an area that can affect estrogen receptor signaling, the researchers found.

Melner, noting some of the research is "fine tuning" of other work, said in his view the new understanding of the signaling pathways and their genetic links is the most important finding.

"When you delineate a pathway, you bring up new potential targets for therapy," he said. "The more targets you have, you open up the potential for having multiple drugs and attacking a cancer more easily, without it becoming more resistant."

Overall, Melner added, the results underscore the complexity of the different mechanisms involved in breast cancer development.

More information

For more about the genetics of breast cancer, visit the American Cancer Society.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/biotech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20120123/hl_hsn/newgeneticcluestobreastcancer

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Cowen: Google?s Mobile Ad Revenues Could Surge To $5.8 Billion In 2012

How much does Google make in advertising from mobile? Cowen analyst Jim Friedland estimates that Google is generating $7 per year from each smartphone (and tablet). This includes both search and display advertising in mobile apps on both Android and iOS (iPhones and iPads). Thanks to the rapid growth in smart mobile devices from an estimated 509 million last year to nearly double that in 2012 to an estimated 914 million, Google's mobile ad revenues are expected to more than double from an estimated $2.5 billion last year to $5.8 billion in 2012 (see chart).

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/7YIJmkX760M/

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Twelve more killed in Syria despite Arab monitors

BEIRUT?? Twelve people were killed on Monday in Syria where a peace plan monitored by Arab observers has failed to douse a 10-month-old struggle between President Bashar al-Assad and his foes.

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Arab foreign ministers will meet on Sunday to discuss the future of the mission sent last month to check if Syria was abiding by the agreement it accepted on November 2.

The Arab plan required Syria to halt the bloodshed, withdraw the military from cities, free detainees and hold a dialogue.

Hundreds of people have been reported killed in Syria even since the monitors deployed on December 26 as pro-Assad forces try to crush peaceful protests and armed resistance to his rule.

Random gunfire by pro-Assad militiamen killed five people, including a woman, and wounded nine in the restive city of Homs, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. A sniper later shot dead a 16-year-old girl there, it added.

It said five soldiers were killed when they tried to change sides during a clash with rebels in the northwestern province of Idlib, adding that 15 soldiers had succeeded in defecting.

The state news agency SANA said an "armed terrorist group" had shot dead Brigadier-General Mohammed Abdul-Hamid al-Awad and wounded his driver in the countryside near Damascus.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reiterated a call for Assad to "stop killing, and listen to his people."

During a visit to Abu Dhabi, he said: "I hope the U.N. Security Council handles Syria in a coherent manner and with a sense of gravity," but did not recommend any specific action.

"The casualties have reached such an unacceptable stage we cannot let the situation continue this way," Ban said.

The harsh response to the uprising by Assad's security forces has killed more than 5,000 people, by a U.N. count. The Syrian authorities say 2,000 members of the security forces have also been killed. The deaths of 32 civilians and soldiers were reported on Sunday.

The head of the Arab monitoring mission is due to report to an Arab League committee on Thursday before Arab foreign ministers gather to consider their next step on Syria.

Qatar, which heads the committee, has suggested Arab troops step in, an idea that is anathema to Damascus and which Arab nations such as Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria are likely to oppose.

The League could also refer Syria to the Security Council if it concludes that its own peace effort has failed.

RUSSIA, CHINA OPPOSE ACTION

The council has been paralyzed so far because Russia and China oppose any resolution that could lead to U.N. sanctions or Western military action against Syria.

There is little Western appetite for any Libya-style intervention. The United States, the European Union, Turkey and the Arab League have announced economic sanctions against Syria.

On Sunday Assad proclaimed the latest of several amnesties for "crimes" committed during the uprising. Some prisoners were released the same day and more on Monday, activists said.

Mohamed Saleh, an activist in Homs, said about 185 people had been freed there, though some had been freed on bail and would still face trial. Many more were expected to be released.

Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory, also said some activists had only been freed on bail. Many more were still held because the authorities had brought new, more serious charges against them that were not covered by the amnesty.

Kinan al-Shami, of the Syrian Revolution Coordination Union, said hundreds of detainees appeared to have been released, but they represented only a fraction of at least 40,000 people he said had been jailed without charge since March, many of whom have been held in secret police buildings or makeshift prisons.

The movement to end more than four decades of Assad family rule began with largely peaceful demonstrations, but after months of violence by the security forces, army deserters and insurgents started to fight back, prompting fears of civil war.

Assad, who retains the support of core military units, is backed by his own Alawite minority as well as some minority Christians and some majority Sunni Muslims who fear chaos, civil war and the rise of Islamist militancy if he is toppled.

The northern commercial city of Aleppo, like central parts of the capital Damascus, has mostly escaped the turmoil, but security forces stormed Aleppo University campus overnight in pursuit of students who staged an anti-Assad protest on Friday.

Activists said dozens of students were beaten in the raid, in which students belonging to a pro-Assad militia took part.

Aleppo residents say that big Sunni merchants in the city still support Assad and that the authorities have recruited Sunni tribesmen from the countryside to patrol the streets.

The president, 46, who appeared in public twice in as many days last week, is eager to show that his people love him.

SANA, the state news agency, reported on Sunday that a 10 km (six mile) long letter, which it billed as the world's longest, was being written and signed by Syrians across the country as a "message of loyalty to the homeland and its leader."

Copyright 2012 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39039381/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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China's number of Web users rises to 513 million (AP)

BEIJING ? The number of Internet users in China has surged past 500 million as millions of new Web surfers go online using mobile phones and tablet computers, an industry group reported Monday.

The popularity of the Internet in China has driven the explosive growth of profitable Web companies and made fortunes for some Chinese entrepreneurs despite government controls on what the public can see online.

The number of mainland Internet users rose to 513 million in December, up 12 percent from a year earlier, the government-sanctioned China Internet Network Information Center said.

Among them, the number who go online using handheld devices rose 17.5 percent over a year earlier to 356 million.

The popularity of wireless Internet was reflected Friday in a scramble by Chinese gadget fans and scalpers to buy Apple Inc.'s latest iPhone 4S, which sold out within hours of its China launch.

Angry customers shouted and threw eggs at Apple's flagship Beijing outlet after the company failed to open the store, citing the size of the crowd. Apple postponed further iPhone 4S sales at its mainland stores for safety reasons but said they will be sold online and through its local carrier, China Unicom Ltd.

The communist government encourages Internet use for business and education but tries to block access to material it deems pornographic or subversive.

The governnment is strengthening its control over popular microblogs after a bullet train crash last July that killed 40 people prompted an online outpouring of criticism of the official response.

Microblog services have been ordered to monitor postings content more closely and remove objectionable material, while news media were barred from reporting online material without firsthand verification.

Despite such controls, popular online services such as portals Sina.com and Sohu.com, video websites Youku.com and Tudou.com and search engine Baidu report growing traffic and revenues.

Outlets owned by the ruling Communist Party or by the government also have jumped into the market, launching their own search engines and other services.

On Friday, regulators approved an initial public stock offering by the online arm of the ruling party newspaper People's Daily, people.com, on the Shanghai Stock Exchange to raise 527 million yuan ($85 million).

___

China Internet Network Information Center: http://www.cnnic.net.cn

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120116/ap_on_hi_te/as_china_internet_population

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Property Vendor Finance - Buying Property Made Easier!

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Article from TinyArticle - Free Articles | Article Directory and entitled Property Vendor Finance - Buying Property Made Easier! - By Suman Buitron.

Source: http://tinyarticle.com/Art/438776/265/Property-Vendor-Finance-Buying-Property-Made-Easier.html

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Watch: Jon Huntsman to Drop Out of GOP Race (ABC News)

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Fly named in honor of Beyonce

Public release date: 13-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Andrew Warren
andrew.warren@csiro.au
61-738-335-747
CSIRO Australia

A previously un-named species of horse fly whose appearance is dominated by its glamorous golden lower abdomen has been named in honour of American pop diva, Beyonc a member of the former group Destiny's Child, that recorded the 2001 hit single, Bootylicious.

According to the Australian National Insect Collection researcher responsible for officially 'describing' the fly as Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae, CSIRO's Bryan Lessard, the fly's spectacular gold colour makes it the "all time diva of flies".

"It was the unique dense golden hairs on the fly's abdomen that led me to name this fly in honour of the performer Beyonc as well as giving me the chance to demonstrate the fun side of taxonomy the naming of species," Mr Lessard said.

"Although often considered a pest, many species of horse fly are extremely important pollinators of many plants," he said.

"Horse flies act like hummingbirds during the day, drinking nectar from their favourite varieties of grevillea, tea trees and eucalypts."

The rare Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae species of horse fly was collected in 1981, the year that Beyonc was born, from north-east Queensland's Atherton Tablelands together with two other previously unknown specimens.

"Most Australian Scaptia species have been described, however, these five 'new' species of a sub-group (Plinthina) have been housed in Australian collections since the group was last studied in the 1960's," Mr Lessard said.

According to Mr Lessard's paper, published in the Australian Journal of Entomology, this discovery has doubled the known size of the Scaptia (Plinthina) subgenus and extended the known distribution of Scaptia into the Northern Territory and north-western Australia where they were previously thought not to exist.

Almost 4400 species of horse flies have been described from all biogeographic regions of the world.

###

---

[ | 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.

Public release date: 13-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Andrew Warren
andrew.warren@csiro.au
61-738-335-747
CSIRO Australia

A previously un-named species of horse fly whose appearance is dominated by its glamorous golden lower abdomen has been named in honour of American pop diva, Beyonc a member of the former group Destiny's Child, that recorded the 2001 hit single, Bootylicious.

According to the Australian National Insect Collection researcher responsible for officially 'describing' the fly as Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae, CSIRO's Bryan Lessard, the fly's spectacular gold colour makes it the "all time diva of flies".

"It was the unique dense golden hairs on the fly's abdomen that led me to name this fly in honour of the performer Beyonc as well as giving me the chance to demonstrate the fun side of taxonomy the naming of species," Mr Lessard said.

"Although often considered a pest, many species of horse fly are extremely important pollinators of many plants," he said.

"Horse flies act like hummingbirds during the day, drinking nectar from their favourite varieties of grevillea, tea trees and eucalypts."

The rare Scaptia (Plinthina) beyonceae species of horse fly was collected in 1981, the year that Beyonc was born, from north-east Queensland's Atherton Tablelands together with two other previously unknown specimens.

"Most Australian Scaptia species have been described, however, these five 'new' species of a sub-group (Plinthina) have been housed in Australian collections since the group was last studied in the 1960's," Mr Lessard said.

According to Mr Lessard's paper, published in the Australian Journal of Entomology, this discovery has doubled the known size of the Scaptia (Plinthina) subgenus and extended the known distribution of Scaptia into the Northern Territory and north-western Australia where they were previously thought not to exist.

Almost 4400 species of horse flies have been described from all biogeographic regions of the world.

###

---

[ | 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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/ca-fni011212.php

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Countdown to crash of Russia's failed Mars probe (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) ? Russia's failed Mars probe Phobos-Grunt was expected to plummet back to Earth Sunday, sending space officials scrambling to predict where it would hit in the countdown to re-entry.

Space agency Roskosmos said debris from its doomed 14-ton spacecraft, which includes 11 tons of toxic rocket fuel, would likely fall to Earth between 1750 GMT and 1834 GMT, possibly in the Atlantic Ocean about midway between Brazil and West Africa.

Due to constant changes in the upper atmosphere, which is strongly influenced by solar activity, the exact time and place of the satellite's return is unknown.

Earler, Roscosmos said the site could be anywhere along an elliptical orbit over a broad swathe of the globe, from roughly as far north as London to the same latitude as the heel of Argentina.

Igor Marinin, editor of a space journal published by Roskosmos, earlier said he expected it to fall in the Atlantic Ocean some 1,200 km (750 miles) from Buenos Aires.

"In my view, it is most likely to fall in the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean, but the picture is constantly changing because the atmosphere is shifting and shaking so it is very difficult to predict an uncontrolled descent," he told Reuters.

Russia's Interfax news agency cited a Russian space industry source as saying it could fall on land, about 120 km (75 miles) west of the northern Argentinian city of Rosario.

Experts say the falling space junk poses little risk. The probe's aluminium fuel tank is expected to burn up high in the atmosphere.

"If anyone gets to see it, it will be a fabulous show. I don't think there has been an explosion of such a large volume of fuel in space history," Marinin, editor of the journal Novosti Kosmonavtiki, told Reuters.

The $165-million spacecraft, designed to retrieve soil samples from the Martian moon Phobos, was meant to be Russia's first successful interplanetary mission in over two decades.

But it became stuck in orbit after a botched launch on November 8, and has since been slowly losing altitude due to gravity's pull.

Some 20 to 30 small pieces of debris with a total weight of 200 kg (440 lbs) could hit Earth, Roskosmos said, adding that a tiny radioactive cargo of Cobalt-57 was too small to cause harm.

One component likely to survive re-entry is a small return capsule specifically designed to crash-land back on Earth in 2014, mission scientist Alexander Zakharov said.

"This is the capsule that was meant to bring back samples from Phobos, it's disappointing," Zakharov said. "We're hoping Roskosmos will approve a new craft to accomplish this mission."

Phobos-Grunt was one of five botched launches last year that marred celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering first human space flight and hurt Moscow's pride.

In an apparent attempt to deflect blame, Russia's space agency chief hinted last week that foreign sabotage might be the reason.

"I don't want to blame anyone, but there are very powerful means to interfere with spacecraft today whose use cannot be ruled out," Vladimir Popovkin told the daily Izvestia.

Stargazers worldwide are watching for reentry, including the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordinating Committee, an offshoot of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space.

Under a U.N. space convention, Russia could be liable to pay compensation for any harm caused by bits of falling spacecraft.

In 1981, the Soviet Union paid Canada $3 million for the cost of cleaning up radioactive debris scattered in the crash of a Soviet nuclear-powered reconnaissance satellite, Kosmos 954.

With most of the planet's surface covered by water, Russia's errant space probe is likely to splash into the ocean.

When NASA's defunct Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite fell out of orbit in September, it showered debris into the Pacific Ocean. Germany's Rosat X-ray telescope re-entered a month later over the Bay of Bengal.

(Reporting By Alissa de Carbonnel; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120115/ts_nm/us_russia_spacecraft

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Melting Ice Is Crushing and Drowning Baby Seals [Science]

Harp seals use sea ice as their chilly love nests, and after the lovin' leads to babies, parents nurse for just 12 days before the pups are on their own. But their ice dens have been melting beneath the baby seals, and when that happens, their chances of survival are slim. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/za7SXNvxi64/melting-ice-is-crushing-and-drowning-baby-seals

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Spike Lee to host Obama fundraiser in New York (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Director Spike Lee will hold a high-dollar fundraiser for President Barack Obama next week at his New York home.

A Democratic official says the president will attend the fundraiser for his re-election bid. About 40 people are expected there next Thursday, with tickets costing $35,800 per person. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the event has not been announced.

Lee is the director of films and documentaries including "Do the Right Thing," "Malcolm X" and "Inside Man."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120113/ap_on_bi_ge/us_obama_fundraiser

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theprogramkc: @JPFreeIV B.J.Young, Arkansas: 15 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 52% FGP. B.Beal, Florida: 14 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1.4 stl. Top 2 players in StL last yr.

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@JPFreeIV B.J.Young, Arkansas: 15 pts, 3 reb, 2 ast, 52% FGP. B.Beal, Florida: 14 pts, 6 reb, 2 ast, 1.4 stl. Top 2 players in StL last yr. Il y a environ 2 heures via web en r?ponse ? JPFreeIV

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