Sudan, South Sudan leaders to try to defuse tension at summit

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - The leaders of Sudan and South Sudan meet on Friday to make another attempt to defuse hostilities after their countries split and restart cross-border oil flows to throw their beleaguered economies a lifeline.

Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir and South Sudan's Salva Kiir have both signaled possible concessions at the talks in Addis Ababa to end a stalemate over how to set up a demilitarized buffer zone after the countries came close to war in April.

They signed agreements at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital in September to resume oil exports and secure the volatile border, but sharing deep mistrust after fighting one of Africa's longest civil wars, neither country has implemented the deals.

Both countries badly need the oil exports, for which Juba has to pay Khartoum millions of dollars. But analysts say they also need the confrontation with the other side to shore up domestic legitimacy and divert attention from their crumbling economies and widespread corruption.

The African Union, backed by Western powers, urged them to hold Friday's talks to try again to reach a deal.

Sudan's state news agency SUNA said late on Thursday Bashir would meet Kiir to discuss "speeding up" implementing the September deals. Kiir said in a speech on New Year's Eve the South was ready to withdraw its troops.

But diplomats remain skeptical of a quick breakthrough because both countries have a history of signing and then not implementing the agreements.

Since April's flare up, the worst violence since South Sudan seceded in 2011 after a 2005 peace deal ending the civil war, they have pulled back their armies from the almost 2,000 km (1,200 miles) border, much of which is disputed.

Both sides say such a buffer zone is necessary before oil from the landlocked South can flow through Sudanese territory. Juba shut down its entire output of 350,000 barrels a year ago after failing to agree on an export fee.

TRADING ACCUSATIONS

They agreed in September not just to set up the buffer zone and restart oil exports but also to open the border for trade and start a monetary cooperation - none of which saw the light of day.

South Sudan's oil minister, Stephen Dhieu Dau, said on Wednesday it would delay resuming oil exports until at least mid-March even if Juba solves all security conflicts with Sudan at the summit - the such first forecast since November.

South Sudan accused Sudan on Thursday of launching air strikes on the southern side of their border on Wednesday, wounding several civilians. Sudan's armed forces were not immediately available for comment but have regularly denied southern accusations of attacks in the past.

In turn, Sudan accuses South Sudan of supporting rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-North) in two border states. Juba denies the accusation and says Sudan is backing militias on its territory.

The enmity remains deep and diplomats say both sides tend see such summits, the latest in a series of bilateral talks, more as a way of focusing on the other's weaknesses, rather than primarily as a way to solve their conflicts.

In Sudan, some officials think, diplomats say, Kiir has made a grave mistake by shutting down the oil production, depriving state coffers of 98 percent of revenues, with some saying South Sudan's leadership might soon run out of money.

In Juba, many officials believe that Bashir's government might collapse due to popular dissent over spiraling inflation and cracks inside his ruling circles. The government said in November it had uncovered a plot attempt against Bashir.

Faced with such mutual mistrust, the African Union will try at the summit to get some sort of border security agreement under way to help restart the oil flows.

Once that happens, the hope among diplomats is that both have an incentive to keep talking and sort out their remaining conflicts such as the final status of Abyei and other disputed border regions.

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/south-sudan-accuses-sudan-bombing-ahead-leaders-summit-164019209.html

don cornelius whitney houston i will always love you breaking news whitney houston carmen whitney houston last performance cpac straw poll i will always love you

Lyrik & Lyla Are Among 2013's First Babies

The first babies of 2013 are a creatively named bunch, with monikers ranging from vintage ? Olivia Rose ? to new inventions such as Lyrik.

Lyrik was the first baby born in Colorado in 2013, according to NameCandy.com, which collects the names of the first newborns in each state every year. Lyrik, a boy, was named for his mother's love of music, according to the Denver Post. Though "Lyrik" has never ranked in the top 1,000 in U.S. baby names, "Lyric" ranked as the 325th most popular name for girls in 2011, and it was 858th for boys.

The hard "K" sound both at the start of the name and at the end has been on-trend for names in 2013, if Jan. 1 babies are any measure. The letter has been popular for some time, according to NameCandy. Among the new babies are Kiera (Minnesota), Klara (North Dakota) and Kennedi (Mississippi). [Quiz: Test Your Baby Name Knowledge]

While classic names such as New York's Olivia Rose are popular, other parents are aiming for the unique. In Virginia, the first baby of the year, a boy, was named Daffon. Mobley entered the world at 12:33 a.m. in Tennessee, and Sayge Raylynn became 2013's first new Vermonter at 1:59 a.m.

Speaking of Raylynn, "Y" is another popular letter among parents picking baby names today, as South Carolina's Lyla can attest.

In May, the Social Security Administration releases the most popular baby names of the previous year, so 2012's top monikers have yet to be announced. In 2011, "Sophia" topped the list for girls and "Jacob" for boys. Vowel-heavy girls names such as Isabella, Emma, Olivia and Emily dominated the top 10. Among the top 10 boy names were Mason, William, Jayden, Aiden and Daniel.

Having a popular name isn't what it used to be, though. In the 1950s, the most popular girl and boy names (Mary and John) accounted for half of all babies named each year. Today, the top names account for just 1 percent of all babies.

That's because parents choose more unusual baby names now, striving for the perfect balance between unique and pleasing to the ear, according to Laura Wattenberg, a statistician who blogs about names at BabyNameWizard.com.

"Everybody is looking for this impossible dream, which is a name that everybody knows, everybody loves and nobody is using," Wattenberg told LiveScience last year. "As you can imagine, it just doesn't work that way."

See the state-by-state list of New Year's babies at NameCandy.com.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas?or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook?& Google+.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lyrik-lyla-among-2013s-first-babies-230029736.html

benjamin netanyahu storm shelters nick lachey chevy volt christina hendricks lifelock camp david

The Portal | Writelink Creative Writing Challenges

?It?s snowing!? Mike shouted in surprise. His wife joined him in the doorway of the caf?. Their daughter, Mina stood on the patio staring, not upwards at the falling snow but towards Canigou, the sacred mountain of the Pyrenees, looming above the village, its menacing outline gradually being swallowed up by the swirling flakes.

?Mina! You?ll catch your death,? Sylvia called to her daughter. ?Oh, get her to put on some warm clothes,? she pleaded with Mike before turning towards the back of the caf? and the kitchen. ?I have to check the soup. We?ll have a big uptake today. Everyone?s complaining about the cold, it?s so unusual.?

Mike stared at her receding back and sighed. He loved his wife?s down to earth outlook on life and her business acumen. It was thanks to her that their little caf?/restaurant was a success, but couldn?t she see that something was seriously wrong with their adolescent daughter? She had always been a bit of a loner, spending hours in her room reading but since her beloved gran died she barely spoke except in monosyllables and hardly ever went out except to school. Mike knew she blamed them that she was too late to see her gran before her death. They had put off closing the caf? and risking losing business until it was too late. He sometimes wondered if they weren?t paying too high a price for living out their dream of settling in France.

He went out to his daughter who hardly seemed aware that he was there. At last he persuaded her to put on her duffel coat, a hat and scarf but she insisted on staying outside to build a snowman. Mike told her she would be better to wait till the snow stopped falling but he was relieved she wanted to do something so normal even if it was a bit childish. He promised to help her but he was soon too busy to pay much attention to what was going on outside.

In quite a short time the tables and chairs all wore tall white hats and the snow lay thickly. Doggedly, Mina, rolled it to form a big body then a smaller ball for the head, talking quietly all the time. The snowman quickly became solid, even icy and when she formed the face it looked almost sculpted, like a man. Carefully she made his base so that it swept outwards like a long dress and she made a funny shaped hat for his head.
At last the caf? emptied and Mike went out to speak to his daughter. Unaware of her dad behind her, Mina continued whispering to the snowman. When Mike spoke to her she didn?t jump; instead she turned and stared at him as if she didn?t recognise him.

?I?m fine. Not hungry.? She snapped at him when he tried to persuade her indoors.
Worried, Mike called Sylvia to the door.

?She?s calling it Sonny,? he said. ?And she?s talking some strange language to it. Like French but different.?

?Catalan??

?I don?t think so.?

?Oh, Mike! At least she?s doing something fun. Leave her alone.?

Sylvia bustled off to prepare more vegetables for the evening trade.

Mike went out again and tried to joke a little with Mina.

?Do you know what we did when we were young?? he said. ?We made angels.?
He lay down and swung his arms and legs in arcs showing her what to do.

?Come on, Mina, it?s fun.?

At first she scowled and refused but Mike teased her till she gave in. They stood looking at the two angels, one large one smaller, side by side next to the snowman. Mina even had a little smile on her face. Mike tried to hug her but she shrugged him off and the scowl returned.

The evening was twice as busy as lunch. Odile, a neighbour who occasionally looked after Mina came in. Catching Mike?s attention she waved him over to a relatively quiet corner.

?Mina doesn?t want to come with me, Mike. She doesn?t want to leave her snowman.?

Mike shook his head but didn?t want a scene. ?Okay, she can stay here, Odile.?

Odile looked worried. She hesitated before speaking.

?Em? she?s talking to him.?

?Yes, I heard her. She?s calling him Sonny and saying some strange things.?

?No, it?s not Sonny, it?s Sauniere.? Mike shook his head, his expression blank. ?He was cure over a hundred years ago in Rennes-le-Chateau.?

?Right, that?s near here, isn?t it??

?He believed it was possible to open a portal into another life? A parallel universe.?
A bark of laughter met this statement. Odile grabbed his sleeve and whispered into his face.

?Mike, I?ve been worried about Mina for quite a while. She reads about him all the time. She?s obsessed with the idea she can get through the door. That she?ll see her gran again.?

?No, Odile. It?s just teenage angst. I?m worried about her too but she?ll get through this.?

?Didn?t you notice the snowman looks as if he?s wearing a soutane? A priest?s robe,? she continued when Mike looked blank. ?And the hat is the exact shape of a biretta, a priest?s hat. Sauniere believed that the portal is around here.?

?Odile, I?m not religious. I think this is all just guff.? Mike put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ?Thanks for being concerned but I have to get on.?
Customers were clamouring for Mike?s attention. With a last glance through the door at the dark silhouette of his daughter spotlighted by the patio light he hurried to attend them. Mina went on whispering into the frozen face of the snowman.
Later that night, Sylvia and Mike sat down, exhausted. Busy days like this were rare in the winter; they brought a welcome income but were very tiring with no extra help.

?I saw Odile earlier,? Sylvia said. ?Did she say she would take Mina to our house? I can?t face having to wake her up and take her home.?
Mike?s face paled. He jumped up and hurried outside. There was no sign of Mina.

?No need to panic,? he muttered. He staggered and almost fell when he looked down. Only one angel, the large one, was outlined beside the snowman. The snowman gleamed icily, an enigmatic smile on his face.

GD Star Rating
loading...

GD Star Rating
loading...

Related Posts:

Source: http://write-link-creative-writing-contests.com/christmaschillers2012/the-portal-2/

mitch daniels shirataki noodles prince fielder state of the union address 2012 obama state of the union 2012 2012 state of the union address jorge posada

Bigger fights looming after cliff deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama and congressional Republicans looked ahead on Wednesday toward the next round of even bigger budget fights after reaching a hard-fought "fiscal cliff" deal that narrowly averted potentially devastating tax hikes and spending cuts.

The agreement, approved late on Tuesday by the Republican-led House of Representatives after a bitter political struggle, was a victory for Obama, who had won re-election on a promise to address budget woes in part by raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans.

But it set up political showdowns over the next two months on spending cuts and on raising the nation's limit on borrowing. Republicans, angry the deal did little to curb the federal deficit, promised to use the debt ceiling debate to win deep spending cuts next time.

"Our opportunity here is on the debt ceiling," Republican Senator Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania said on MSNBC, adding Republicans would have the political leverage against Obama in that debate. "We Republicans need to be willing to tolerate a temporary, partial government shutdown, which is what that could mean."

Republicans, who acknowledged they had lost the fiscal cliff fight by agreeing to raise taxes on the wealthy without gaining much in return, vowed the next deal would have to include significant cuts in government benefit programs like Medicare and Medicaid health care for retirees and the poor that were the biggest drivers of federal debt.

"This is going to be much uglier to me than the tax issue ... this is going to be about entitlement reform," Republican Senator Bob Corker of Tennessee said on CNBC.

"This is the debate that's going to be far more serious. Hopefully, now that we have this other piece behind us - hopefully - we'll deal in a real way with the kinds of things our nation needs to face," he said.

Obama urged "a little less drama" when the Congress and White House next address thorny fiscal issues like the government's rapidly mounting $16 trillion debt load.

The fiscal cliff showdown had worried businesses and financial markets, and U.S. stocks soared at the opening after lawmakers agreed to the deal.

The Dow Jones industrial average surged 262.45 points, or 2.00 percent, at 13,366.59. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 29.79 points, or 2.09 percent, at 1,455.98. The Nasdaq Composite Index was up 77.45 points, or 2.57 percent, at 3,096.97.

The crisis ended when dozens of Republicans in the House of Representatives buckled and backed a bill passed by the Democratic-controlled Senate that hiked taxes on households earning more than $450,000 annually. Spending cuts of $109 billion in military and domestic programs were delayed only for two months.

Economists had warned the fiscal cliff of across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts would have punched a $600 billion hole in the economy this year and threatened to send the country back into recession.

Obama Praises Deal, Says There's More to Be DonePresident Obama is praising the bill that staves off the fiscal cliff tax hikes and spending cuts. The House of Representatives followed the Senate's lead, and passed the bill late Tuesday. (Jan. 2)

RELUCTANT REPUBLICANS

House Republicans had mounted a late effort to add hundreds of billions of dollars in spending cuts to the package and spark a confrontation with the Senate, but it failed.

In the end, they reluctantly approved the Senate bill by a bipartisan vote of 257 to 167 and sent it on to Obama to sign into law. "We are ensuring that taxes aren't increased on 99 percent of our fellow Americans," said Republican Representative David Dreier of California.

The vote underlined the precarious position of House Speaker John Boehner, who will ask his Republicans to re-elect him as speaker on Thursday when a new Congress is sworn in. Boehner backed the bill but most House Republicans, including his top lieutenants, voted against it.

The speaker had sought to negotiate a "grand bargain" with Obama to overhaul the U.S. tax code and rein in health and retirement programs that will balloon in coming decades as the population ages.

But Boehner could not unite his members behind an alternative to Obama's tax measures.

Income tax rates will now rise on individuals earning more than $400,000 and families earning more than $450,000 per year, and the amount of deductions they can take to lower their tax bill will be limited.

Low temporary rates that have been in place for the past decade will be made permanent for less-affluent taxpayers, along with a range of targeted tax breaks put in place to fight the 2009 economic downturn.

However, workers will see up to $2,000 more taken out of their paychecks annually with the expiration of a temporary payroll tax cut.

The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office said the bill will increase budget deficits by nearly $4 trillion over the coming 10 years, compared to the budget savings that would occur if the extreme measures of the cliff were to kick in.

But the measure will actually save $650 billion during that time period when measured against the tax and spending policies that were in effect on Monday, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, an independent group that has pushed for more aggressive deficit savings.

(Additional reporting by Susan Heavey and Richard Cowan; Editing by Jackie Frank)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/house-republicans-weigh-last-ditch-challenge-fiscal-deal-005743252--business.html

detroit red wings jose canseco zimmerman derek fisher lyrid meteor shower hippocrates andrew breitbart

ArcelorMittal to sell $1.1 billion stake in Canada iron ore unit to POSCO group

SEOUL/HONG KONG (Reuters) - ArcelorMittal , the world's biggest steelmaker, will sell a $1.1 billion stake in a Canadian iron ore mine operator to a consortium that includes South Korean steelmaker POSCO and Taiwan-listed China Steel Corp, China Steel said in a statement.

ArcelorMittal, formed in 2006 when India-born Lakshmi Mittal's steel business bought European peer Arcelor for $33 billion, is battling sluggish steel demand and is looking to offload assets to cut debt.

The sale of a 15 percent stake in Canada's Labrador Trough iron ore mining and infrastructure asset is part of that process.

POSCO, China Steel and ArcelorMittal Mines Canada will own Labrador Trough through a joint venture and will enter into long-term iron ore supply agreements, China Steel said in the statement on its Website.

POSCO shares were up 2.6 percent, while China Steel rose 0.6 percent.

The transaction is subject to approval from the Taiwanese government, and is expected to close in two installments in the first and second quarters of 2013, the statement said.

The deal will give POSCO, the world's fourth-biggest steelmaker, access to iron ore and coal used to make steel, as it currently imports nearly all of its key raw materials. POSCO already owns a 12.5 percent stake in Australia's $10 billion Roy Hill project.

Earlier on Wednesday, a South Korean wire service Yonhap Infomax reported China Steel and POSCO would jointly contribute $540 million, while the remainder was expected to be paid by financial investors including the National Pension Service.

A POSCO spokeswoman confirmed a consortium involving POSCO signed a stock purchase agreement to acquire a stake in the iron ore mine operator, but declined to elaborate on details.

ArcelorMittal is one of Canada's top exporters of iron ore to steel markets around the world and its operations account for about 40 percent of Canada's iron ore output. It operates two large open-pit mines in the province of Quebec, where it also owns the Port-Cartier industrial complex that includes a pellet plant, storage areas and port facilities for shipping.

Last month, ArcelorMittal wrote down the value of its European business by $4.3 billion, underscoring gloom about prospects for the region's recession-hit manufacturers.

A source had previously told Reuters that POSCO was seeking to buy the stake with South Korea's National Pension Service and other investors.

Credit agency Fitch has cut ArcelorMittal's long-term issuer default rating to BB+, just below investment grade, due to the challenging outlook for Western European steel markets in 2013.

ArcelorMittal, which makes about 6-7 percent of the world's steel, says demand in Europe had fallen 29 percent since 2007 when the financial crisis started.

Goldman Sachs and RBC Capital Markets were advising ArcelorMittal on the deal, while Morgan Stanley is advising the POSCO consortium.

(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Denny Thomas; Editing by Michael Perry)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/posco-consortium-buys-1-1-billion-stake-arcelormittal-001629581--finance.html

taxes game of thrones season 2 trailer sag award winners girl scout cookies screen actors guild royal rumble results sag awards 2012

$100M claim against Connecticut in school shooting is dropped

(Reuters) - A $100 million legal claim filed against the state of Connecticut in the wake of the deadly Newtown elementary school shooting has been dropped, local media reported on Tuesday.

New Haven, Connecticut-based attorney Irving Pinsky said he dropped the claim because he was evaluating new evidence, according to a report published online at CTPost.com.

Pinsky said he did not rule out further legal action, the report said. He did not respond immediately to Reuters requests to comment on the report.

The attorney filed the claim last week on behalf of an unidentified 6-year-old survivor of the Newtown shooting at a primary school that left 20 children and six adults dead on December 14.

The survivor, referred to as Jill Doe, "has sustained emotional and psychological trauma and injury, the nature and extent of which are yet to be determined," the claim said.

State Attorney General George Jepsen on Monday called the claim misguided and said a public policy response by the U.S. Congress and the Connecticut state legislature would be more appropriate than legal action, according to a spokeswoman.

"Our hearts go out to this family, and to all the children and families affected by the Newtown shootings," Jepsen said in a statement. "They deserve a thoughtful and deliberate examination of the causes of this tragedy and of the appropriate public policy responses."

By law, any claim against the state must be approved by the state claims commissioner before it can move forward. The state attorney general serves as the state's defense attorney.

"The Office of the Claims Commissioner is not the appropriate venue for that important and complex discussion," Jepsen said in his statement.

"Although the investigation is still under way, we are aware of no facts or legal theory under which the state of Connecticut should be liable for causing the harms inflicted at Sandy Hook Elementary School," he said.

According to the claim, the unidentified child heard "cursing, screaming, and shooting" over the school intercom when the gunman, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, opened fire at Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Pinsky's claim said the state Board of Education, Department of Education and education commissioner failed to take appropriate steps to protect children from "foreseeable harm" and had failed to provide a "safe school setting."

Pinsky said last week he was approached by the child's parents within a week of the shooting.

Lanza shot and killed his mother and took his own life as well, police said, in the violence which has prompted extensive debate about gun control and the suggestion by the National Rifle Association that schools be patrolled by armed guards.

(Reporting and writing by Ellen Wulfhorst; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Bill Trott)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/100m-claim-against-connecticut-school-shooting-dropped-162711362.html

turkey brine Imessage Not Working mc hammer houston texans houston texans pecan pie recipe Hector Camacho

A blood clot's danger depends on where it is

Blood clots like the one that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is being treated for following her recent concussion can occur for a host of reasons.

How serious a clot is depends on where it is and why it formed. In a statement Monday, Clinton's doctors say her clot was located in a vein in the space between the brain and the skull behind the right ear

WHAT THEY ARE: Blood pools and thickens into a clot after an injury or because of a heart problem, clogged arteries or other condition. Clots also can break off and travel to another part of the body.

WHERE THEY OCCUR: In leg veins (called deep vein thrombosis) or in blood vessels in the neck, brain or lungs. Leg clots are a common risk after someone has been bedridden. Clots are most dangerous when they travel to the lungs, a potentially life-threatening situation, or to the brain, where they can cause a stroke.

RISK FACTORS: High blood pressure, diabetes, birth control pills, pregnancy, stroke, recent surgery, prolonged sitting, circulation problems and heart problems ? especially an irregular heartbeat called atrial fibrillation ? raise the chances of developing a blood clot.

TREATMENT: Sometimes a blood thinner such as warfarin (Coumadin) is prescribed to allow the clot to dissolve by itself over time and prevent new ones from forming.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blood-clots-danger-depends-where-033843767.html

snooki pregnant gbc hedy lamarr jack white kowloon walled city ronda rousey vs miesha tate lindsay lohan snl