Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/316245808?client_source=feed&format=rss
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Sunday, June 30, 2013
Markets remain calm as half-year comes to an end
LONDON (AP) ? Markets were ending the half-year on a settled note Friday after a month of volatility that pushed many of the world's major stock indexes down from multi-year and record highs.
The coincidence of the end to the month, quarter and half year may prompt some volatility in trading, as some investors try to make their portfolios look better for financial reports. But the prevailing market mood was calm, particularly compared with last week.
That's due to a number of factors, including solid U.S. economic data and a seeming attempt by the U.S. Federal Reserve to ease investor concerns over the pace of any reduction in its monetary stimulus.
Japan also got a dose of upbeat economic news when the government said industrial production rose 2 percent in May from April, the fourth straight monthly increase. Perhaps more importantly, the consumer price index stopped falling for the first time in seven months. That's important as the Bank of Japan is engaged on a massive monetary stimulus to get prices rising again after a near two-decade period of deflation.
"The latest Japanese economic data just published highlighted encouraging signs of recovery," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital.
The news gave Japan's main stock index, the Nikkei 225 index, a big lift as it finished 3.5 percent higher at 13,677.32. The Nikkei's gains fed through across Asia and helped shore up Europe at the open.
Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.1 percent to 6,251, while Germany's DAX was more or less unchanged at 7,989. The CAC-40 in France fell 0.4 percent to 3,749.
Wall Street was poised for another solid performance, with Dow futures up 0.3 percent and the broader S&P 500 futures 0.4 percent higher.
The main U.S. economic data later will be a manufacturing survey around the Chicago region and the University of Michigan's latest assessment of consumer confidence around the country. They may determine whether the Dow finishes the month in positive territory. It needs to add 200 points to do so, a tough ask.
"It's arguably going to be close as to whether the Dow can manage to finish the month positive," said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets. "The bulls would need to remain in a rampant move."
One reason stock markets have calmed this week is that Fed officials appear to be trying to calm investor jitters over an upcoming reduction in the financial assets the central bank buys every month to help the economy. The so-called tapering of the purchases raised fears because the stimulus has been one of the drivers for stocks over recent years.
Earlier in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng advanced 1.8 percent to 20,803.29 while mainland Chinese shares also rose as fears eased of a credit crunch in China. The Shanghai Composite Index gained 1.5 percent to 1,979.21, while the smaller Shenzhen Composite Index edged up less than 0.1 percent to 887.68.
The central bank had allowed rates that banks pay to borrow from each other to soar last week, part of an attempt to clamp down on massive credit in the informal lending industry. Later, however, Chinese policymakers softened their stance with the promise to provide "liquidity support" if needed.
In currency markets, the dollar has been making further gains against the yen, trading up 0.5 percent higher at 99.01 yen on Friday. The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.3059.
Oil prices were steady too with the benchmark rate up 60 cents at $97.65 a barrel.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/markets-remain-calm-half-comes-end-103449011.html
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Saturday, June 29, 2013
JAPAN EXPO - 14? IMPACT
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CompuLab MintBox 2 unveiled with four times the power, same Linux Mint flavor
Now that Linux Mint 15 is available, it's only fair that we get a new MintBox to match. The CompuLab and Linux Mint teams won't disappoint us on that front: they've just previewed the MintBox 2, a big upgrade to their open source mini PC. The new version drops AMD processors in favor of an Intel Core i5 that's reportedly four times faster than the AMD T56 in the MintBox Pro. The refresh also doubles the storage to 500GB while adding a second gigabit Ethernet jack for server duties. CompuLab and Linux Mint haven't said how soon they expect the MintBox 2 to ship, but they're expecting a $599 price at Amazon.
Filed under: Desktops
Via: FanlessTech
Source: Linux Mint Blog
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Can Britain?s Banks Thrive Under Regulation?
The Canary Wharf headquarters of Barclays Bank,which was fined about $450 million for manipulating the Libor inter-bank lending rate. Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images
Last year?s Libor scandal was a shock to the body politic in London. Despite all that had gone before, the public and their representatives were stunned to learn that bankers had systematically undermined the foundations of a global market benchmark ?for personal gain. Britain?s chancellor of the exchequer, George Osborne, felt compelled to launch a parliamentary inquiry. On June 19, after a year?s work, the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards finally laid a large egg.
Bankers will certainly regard the outcome as what in England we like to call a ?curate?s egg? (served a rotten egg by his bishop, a young clergyman, when asked whether the egg was to his liking, replied that it was ?good in parts?). They will choke on the commission?s recommendation of a new criminal offense for reckless conduct that leads to taxpayer bailouts, reinforced by a new ?senior persons? regime that would ascribe all bank functions to a specific individual, who would be held personally liable when things go wrong.
The commission argues that ?top bankers dodged accountability for failings on their watch by claiming ignorance or hiding behind collective decision-making.? Its members aim to make that impossible. If they have their way, behaving recklessly with banking assets will result in a prison sentence, with no Monopoly-style ?get out of jail free? card for financial masters of the universe.
I can already hear the sound of lawyers sharpening their pencils: The offense must be defined specifically enough to withstand a human-rights challenge. But, if implemented, the commission?s proposed regime would certainly be tougher than what is now on offer in New York or other banking centers. And British MPs are noticeably impatient with what they consider the glacial pace of change in global regulation; they want action now.
If the United Kingdom does proceed in this unilateral way, what would the consequences be for London?s banking industry? Would New York, Frankfurt, or even Paris receive a competitive boost as international bankers, alarmed at the prospect of time behind bars if their derivative trades blow up again, flee the City?
The commission?s members offer two, somewhat contradictory, answers to that question. The first is that, frankly, they don?t care. ?The risk of an exodus should be disregarded,? the commission says, noting that the advantages of being a global financial center have been accompanied by serious associated risks to the domestic economy. Unlike the United States, where the financial sector is smaller as a share of GDP, the U.K. economy has still not recovered the output lost in the post-2008 Great Recession, owing to continued retrenchment in the banking sector.
The commission?s members do recognize that London?s loss of status as a global financial center would be costly in terms of jobs and output, so they developed a second line of argument. ?There is nothing inherently optimal,? they say, about a level playing field in international finance. Attempts to develop a single European financial market have, in their view, forced countries to respond to the failings revealed by the 2008 crisis at the speed of the ?slowest ship in the convoy.?
By contrast, the commission argues, ?there may be big benefits to the U.K. as a financial center from demonstrating that it can establish and adhere to standards significantly above the international minimum.? In addition to the tough new regime of personal accountability, the commission would supplement the Basel standards on bank capital with a tight leverage ratio.
The British government, preoccupied with finding ways to stimulate growth as the next election approaches, will no doubt think hard before making any changes that might drive business offshore. But the government is caught between a rock and a hard place, hemmed in by a parliament that, strongly backed by a bank-hostile press and public opinion, is eager to enact reforms, and by EU directives to implement a tougher regime.
So, is the commission right that the government should move quickly on reform and disregard the consequences?
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Friday, June 28, 2013
Camden County Foreclosures - Chapman Hall Realtors Coastal
New Camden County Foreclosure,?just steps from the rivers and waterways.? A large brick ranch in St Mary?s Georgia.? St Mary?s is a small, quiet coastal town located right on the water.? It?s?an easy drive to Jacksonville, Savannah?or The Golden Isles.? This is a three bedroom, two bath home located in Plantation Oaks subdivision.? This home is located on a quiet street. It has a large living room with fireplace and access to screen porch, separate dining room, updated kitchen and laundry room and a?private? fenced backyard. ?All three bedrooms are a decent size and the master bedroom has its own private?bath. Let Chapman Hall Coastal be your one stop shop for all your Coastal Georgia foreclosures. Please call John to set up an appointment to view this home or to see a list of others.
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Posted by John Hallman on Friday, June 28, 2013 at 2:54 pm ?
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Source: http://chapmanhallcoastal.com/plantation-oaks-foreclosure-camden-county-ga/
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Myanmar unlocks Asia's last untapped cellular market
Myanmar awards cell phone contracts to Norwegian Telenor and Qatari Ooredoo.
President Barack Obama listens as Myanmar's President Thein Sein speaks during their meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in May 2013. Thein Sein is the first Myanmar president to be welcomed to the White House in almost 47 years.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP
EnlargeMyanmar, also known as Burma, announced the two winners of a bidding contents for its nationwide cellphone contracts. The move will give Norwegian Telenor and Qatari Ooredoo access to one of Asia?s last untapped cellular markets.
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The Myanmar?government?s Thursday announcement is part of its effort to raise the country?s cellphone penetration rate to 50 percent by 2016. Currently, an estimated 9 percent of Myanmar's?nearly 60 million people have access to mobile devices.
The 15-year wireless license begins in September.
According to a report by consulting firm?McKinsey & Company, making technology readily available in Myanmar?is the first step toward building an environment that can attract strong international investment.?
The rapid introduction of consumer cellphones that the government has planned will signal a great change for Myanmar. Filmmaker Robert Lieberman remembers the difficulties of getting a cellphone in Burma five years ago, when he began working on his documentary, ?They Call It Myanmar.?
?I would call somebody and hang up, and then they would call me back,? he says. As a foreigner in 2008, Mr. Lieberman could spend $20 to buy a SIM card (the chip that allows most cellphones to connect to a company's cellular network), but then the number stopped working after the $20 ran out. Texting wasn?t even an option, he says. Back then, it was about $1,500 to get a cellphone if you were Burmese.
By 2012, the price had dropped to $250, and as of April, government issued SIM cards are sold for $1.60. But the cards can only be obtained through a lottery system, and the average daily wage is about $2, he says, meaning that SIM cards are still a rare luxury item.?
?The country is so poor, people can barely feed their families,? Lieberman says. The idea that more than 50 percent of the population would have a cellphone by 2016, as the government has promised, strikes Lieberman as ?unrealistic unless the economy changes.?
The introduction of foreign cellphone companies to Myanmar??reflects the commercial opening of Burma to outside investors,? says Bob Dietz, the Asia Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists.
?More technology could mean more openness and freedom in Burma, but it doesn?t have to,? Mr. Dietz says.
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Thursday, June 27, 2013
'Bonanza' memorabilia going up for auction in Nev.
RENO, Nev. (AP) ? Several pieces of memorabilia from the long-running hit TV series "Bonanza" are going up for auction in Nevada, including the branding iron used in the iconic Western's opening credits.
The family of "Bonanza" star Lorne Greene is selling a number of the deceased actor's personal items and much of his memorabilia from the show at an auction Saturday in Reno. The sale was arranged by Greene's son, Chuck, who lives at Lake Tahoe.
The actor died in 1987 at age 72. From 1959 to 1973, he played Ben Cartwright, the patriarch of the "Bonanza" family whose sprawling, 1,000-square-mile Ponderosa Ranch was set in the high Sierra between Tahoe and Virginia City.
Jeff Pilliod, who owns the auction house handling the sale, said he got excited as soon as he heard from Chuck Greene's personal assistant that the actor's son had decided he had too "much stuff."
"When you have a name to match with the auction, it adds a lot more entry to it," said Pilliod, owner and auctioneer of Anchor Auctions and Appraisals.
"And 'Bonanza' was very, very popular," he told the Reno Gazette-Journal (http://tinyurl.com/potobzt).
Chuck Greene's assistant, Sky Richarde, said they picked Pilliod as the auctioneer partly because of the local ties. Chuck Greene lives near the site of a replica ranch that operated as a tourist stop at Incline Village from 1967 to 2004.
Chuck Greene "still has a lot of his father's stuff," Richarde said. "He needed to not have so much stuff, and he wants the public to have access to these things that were his father's."
The family earlier donated some of Lorne Greene's documents to the University of Southern California for research purposes, she said.
One of the auction's highlights is the branding iron that appeared during each episode's opening credits, burning up the Old West-style map of the ranch and surrounding frontier.
Also up for sale are awards, photos of Lorne Greene at the Reno Rodeo and large personalized belt buckles, including one he received in 1962 from the owners of the Bucket of Blood Saloon in Virginia City with an inset of an 1884 Liberty silver dollar.
Lorne Greene also starred in the science fiction series "Battlestar Galactica" but is best known for his role in "Bonanza." His TV sons were played by Dan Blocker (Hoss), Pernell Roberts (Adam) and Michael Landon (Little Joe) during the first run of the popular series seen by an estimated 400 million people in 80 countries.
The show, which was filmed mostly in Los Angeles and partly around Lake Tahoe, helped put Nevada on the map worldwide, said Guy Rocha, retired Nevada state archivist and historian.
"People throughout the world saw this area depicted on TV and thought of 'Bonanza' and the Cartwright family," Rocha said. "There were generations raised on the show."
Pilliod said he has reached out to fan clubs of both "Bonanza" and "Battlestar Galactica," as well as museums he believes might have interest in displaying some items. He said he has even sought out fans in Europe and Asia, where "Bonanza" remains popular today because of the allure of the Old West there.
"We hope for a busy weekend," Pilliod said. "We have already had quite a bit of interest, so we're looking forward to it."
___
Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bonanza-memorabilia-going-auction-nev-182527278.html
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Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition hands-on (video)
It's probably not a huge stretch to say that Samsung's Galaxy S 4 running stock Android was the biggest surprise to come out of Google I/O last month. The handset -- officially called Samsung Galaxy S 4 Google Play edition -- is now on sale in the Play store for $649 alongside a special version of the HTC One. Spec-wise, the phone is identical to AT&T's 16GB model and supports the same bands (including LTE). It's powered by Qualcomm's 1.9GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB or RAM and features a 5-inch 1080p Super AMOLED display, 13-megapixel camera with flash, removable 2600mAh Li-ion battery and microSD expansion. While we briefly handled the phone at I/O, it wasn't until yesterday that we got to spend some quality time with it. Hit the break for our first impressions and hands-on video.
Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, Google
Source: Play store
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Vietnam vets with PTSD more than twice as likely to have heart disease
June 25, 2013 ? Male twin Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were more than twice as likely as those without PTSD to develop heart disease during a 13-year period, according to a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.
This is the first long-term study to measure the association between PTSD and heart disease using objective clinical diagnoses combined with cardiac imaging techniques.
"This study provides further evidence that PTSD may affect physical health," said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which partially funded the study. "Future research to clarify the mechanisms underlying the link between PTSD and heart disease in Vietnam veterans and other groups will help to guide the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for people with these serious conditions."
The findings appear online today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology and in the September 10 print issue.
Researchers from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, along with colleagues from other institutions, assessed the presence of heart disease in 562 middle-aged twins (340 identical and 222 fraternal) from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. The incidence of heart disease was 22.6 percent in twins with PTSD (177 individuals) and 8.9 percent in those without PTSD (425 individuals). Heart disease was defined as having a heart attack, having an overnight hospitalization for heart-related symptoms, or having undergone a heart procedure. Nuclear scans, used to photograph blood flow to the heart, showed that individuals with PTSD had almost twice as many areas of reduced blood flow to the heart as individuals without PTSD.
The use of twins, identical and fraternal, allowed researchers to control for the influences of genes and environment on the development of heart disease and PTSD.
"This study suggests a link between PTSD and cardiovascular health," said lead researcher Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the department of medicine at Emory University and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health. "For example, repeated emotional triggers during everyday life in persons with PTSD could affect the heart by causing frequent increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and heartbeat rhythm abnormalities that in susceptible individuals could lead to a heart attack."
When researchers compared the 234 twins where one brother had PTSD and the other did not, the incidence of heart disease was almost double in those with PTSD compared to those without PTSD (22.2 percent vs. 12.8 percent).
The effects of PTSD on heart disease remained strong even after researchers accounted for lifestyle factors such as smoking, physical activity level, and drinking; and major depression and other psychiatric diagnoses. Researchers found no link between PTSD and well-documented heart disease risk factors such as a history of hypertension, diabetes or obesity, suggesting that the disease may be due to physiologic changes, not lifestyle factors.
Affecting nearly 7.7 million U.S. adults, PTSD is an anxiety disorder that develops in a minority of people after exposure to a severe psychological trauma such as a life-threatening and terrifying event. People with PTSD may have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their trauma, may experience sleep problems, often feel detached or numb, and may be easily startled. According to a 2006 analysis of military records from the National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study, between 15 and 19 percent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD at some point after the war.
The study used state-of-the-art imaging scans with positron emission tomography, which measures blood flow to the heart muscle and identifies areas of reduced blood flow, at rest and following stress.
The study was supported by grants from NHLBI (K24HL077506), (R01 HL68630), and (R21HL093665), the National Institute on Aging (R01 AG026255), the National Institute of Mental Health (K24 MH076955), and by the American Heart Association. Support also was provided by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR000454) and the National Center for Research Resources (MO1-RR00039).
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/top_health/~3/5eQ77U24Akc/130625162233.htm
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Wednesday, June 26, 2013
Abbas accepts new Palestinian prime minister's resignation
President Mahmoud Abbas accepted?on Sunday?the resignation of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah. His quick exit highlights internal divisions in the Palestinian Authority that could upset foreign donors.
President Mahmoud Abbas accepted on Sunday the resignation of Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, shown here in a file photo.
Majdi Mohammed/AP
EnlargePresident Mahmoud Abbas accepted?on Sunday?the resignation of his recently appointed prime minister, Rami Hamdallah. His quick exit is feared as a potential setback to years of reform efforts aimed at improving the functioning of the Palestinian government.?
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The instability in Mr. Abbas' Western-backed Palestinian Authority comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected back in the region in the coming days for a fifth time in some four months to promote what he says is a last gasp effort to get the peace process going.
Part of his plan depends on promoting economic development in the West Bank, but the negotiations deadlock has stoked concern about growing unrest and a buckling of the Palestinian government in the West Bank. That?s a reversal from two years ago, when the Palestinian government was being praised as ready to run its own affairs as an independent state. ? ? ??
"I wouldn?t use the term deterioration, but it's the beginning of a period of more difficulties and problems," says Ghassan Khatib, a political analyst at Bir Zeit University. ?
When he was first named by Abbas, Mr. Hamdallah was seen as a choice that balanced strong ties to the Palestinian president, but ??like his predecessor Salam Fayyad ? came with the credentials of a professional from outside the ruling Fatah party to calm the international donors who underwrite the Palestinian government budget.
The surprise resignation, first announced?on Thursday, indicates stronger than expected pressures within the Fatah party to regain control over the premiership, which controls the daily government activities. Hamdallah reportedly quarreled with a newly created deputy prime minister from Fatah, Mohammed Mustafa.
The appointment debacle is liable to undermine donor confidence abroad, while the fallout will ultimately weaken Abbas domestically.
It was infighting between Mr. Fayyad and members of the Fatah party over government administration that led Fayyad to tender his resignation several times before it was accepted last April. The Palestinian government has been under immense economic pressure from lower-than-expected proceeds from donors, and intermittent cut-offs in tax revenue transfers from Israel.
"It's very worrisome. It?s an indication that there are serious problems between the Fatah people and Abbas.??If [donors] can?t get confidence that the money the Palestinians get is going to be clean, there's a big problem," says Gershon Baskin, the former director of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information. "I hope this isn?t the straw that breaks Abbas' back and he?ll resign. This is another step weakening him."
The official Palestinian news agency confirmed that Abbas had accepted the resignation after three days of speculation that the president might convince Hamdallah to rescind the resignation. Hamdallah, who will return to his job as president of An-Najah University in Nablus, will remain as a caretaker prime minister until a replacement can be found. ?
A post from a twitter account that purported to be the official handle of Prime Minister Hamdallah said: "The situation in this country forced me to resign. Conflicts, confusion, corruption. Palestine needs a real political reform."
But hours later the Palestinian government press office issued a statement denying that the statement came from the prime minister.
Mr. Khatib, a former spokesman under Fayyad, says that the departure of Hamdallah is part of a declining participation of independent ministers in the Palestinian government, and a return to the style of rule of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
"The change that we just witnessed reflects a withdrawal from the checks and balances under Fayyad," he says. "This reflects centralization of power under Fatah, which recalls the administration of Arafat."
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Holy Crap It's Good This Airplane Wasn't Flying When Its Engine Exploded
Yesterday this Airbus A330 was zipping down the runway of Manchester Airport, UK, ready to take off and head to the Dominican Republic. And then, holy crap, its engine exploded.
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Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Spatial training boosts math skills
June 25, 2013 ? Training young children in spatial reasoning can improve their math performance, according to a groundbreaking study from Michigan State University education scholars.
The researchers trained 6- to 8-year-olds in mental rotation, a spatial ability, and found their scores on addition and subtraction problems improved significantly. The mental rotation training involved imagining how two halves of an object would come together to make a whole, when the halves have been turned at an angle.
Past research has found a link between spatial reasoning and math, but the MSU study is the first to provide direct evidence of a causal connection -- that when children are trained in one ability, improvement is seen in the other. The findings will be published in a forthcoming issue of the Journal of Cognition and Development.
Kelly Mix, professor of educational psychology, said the findings suggest spatial training "primes" the brain to better tackle calculation problems. Mix authored the study with Yi-Ling Cheng, a doctoral student in MSU's College of Education.
"What's shocking is that we saw these improvements in math performance after giving the students just one 20-minute training session in spatial ability," Mix said. "Imagine if the training had been six weeks."
Understanding the connection between spatial ability and math, she said, is especially important in the early elementary grades because many studies indicate early intervention is critical for closing achievement gaps in math.
Spatial ability is important for success in many fields, from architecture to engineering to meteorology, according to a Johns Hopkins University paper. An astronomer must visualize the structure of the solar system and the motions of the objects in it, for example, while a radiologist must be able to interpret the image on an X-ray.
Some education experts have called for including spatial reasoning in the elementary math curriculum. But there are many forms of spatial ability and Mix said it's important to first figure out how each of them may or may not relate to the various math disciplines.
To that end, Mix is leading a larger study that tests elementary students on different forms of spatial ability and math performance.
Mix's research into spatial ability and math is funded by two grants totaling $2.8 million from the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education.
Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/living_well/~3/qnePuR5O67Q/130625121239.htm
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Kitchen Cleaning Business Threatened By 'Bullying'... | Stuff.co.nz
A small-business owner from Invercargill believes she is being bullied by a national franchise which she claims is trying to push her out of business by threatening legal action.
Sally and Ross Tily set up their professional kitchen cleaning business, VAT2013, last month, saying they saw a gap in the market for commercial kitchen services in Southland.
Their business started trading last week but they said they were under pressure to cease trading from the large kitchen cleaning franchise Cookright Kitchen Services.
The national franchise had sent her letters threatening legal action, she said.
A letter sent by Sally Tily, through her lawyer, to Cookright lawyers says it was a case of David and Goliath.
Tily believed she was being used as a scapegoat during a legal wrangle between Cookright and its former Southland Cookright franchisee, which closed after a dispute with Cookright.
In a solicitor's letter to Tily, Cookright claims she was working in association with the former franchisee and therefore breaking the terms of settlement between Cookright and the former franchisee.
The terms of settlement say the High Court has made an order restraining the former franchisee from operating within Southland, Invercargill or Central Otago, or 100 kilometres from those regions until December 31, 2015.
The letter says Tily was using the same premises, employees and vehicle as the former franchisee, with a similar name which had been used by the former franchisee for another business. The name was Vat Tech.
Tily said she had since changed the name of her business from Vat2013 to Professional Kitchen Services Southland.
She agreed she had employed a staff member who was made redundant from the former franchisee, but said none of the other allegations were true.
The staff member was not the franchise owner and she employed him because he was experienced and well liked in the community.
Tily said she was a family friend of the former franchisee owners and had helped them with their books, but did not seek their assistance in any way when setting up her business.
Various legal letters sent to Tily say that unless she ceases operating court proceedings will be issued.
"Cookright have pulled me into their legal battle with the former franchisees and are trying to put me out of business by saying they helped me set up my business, which is not true, I did this completely independently."
Tily's solicitor sent a reply to say she had nothing to do with any Deed of Settlement between the franchisee and Cookright and had never been part of a dispute or settlement.
The letter also alleges that potential clients who had indicated an interest in using the VAT2013 service had since said they were no longer interested because she would be in a fight in court and did not want the hassle.
Tily is a marriage and funeral celebrant and believes her reputation is in jeopardy.
"I feel that my reputation is at stake with the bullying tactics taking place. I am a nervous wreck; I am scared. I have done nothing wrong to be shut down," she said.
Cookright Kitchen Services managing director Steven McMullen said the company would not address the issue in public and would not comment without legal advice.
Two Cookright Kitchen Services staff members working in the region refused to comment.
- ? Fairfax NZ News
Source: http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/small-business/8841078/Business-threatened-by-bullying-rival
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'That 70s Show' actress arrested in Southern Calif
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) ? "That '70s Show" actress Lisa Robin Kelly has been arrested in Southern California on suspicion of drunken driving.
The California Highway Patrol says officers noticed signs of possible intoxication when they helped move the 43-year-old actress' stalled car off Interstate 5 in Burbank late Saturday.
The CHP said that after an investigation, officers arrested and booked her on suspicion of DUI. Kelly was released on $5,000 bail.
An email to her agent was not immediately returned.
It was not her first brush with the law. Kelly and her husband Robert Joseph Gilliam were arrested last November in connection to a disturbance at their home in the Charlotte, N.C., suburb of Mooresville.
Kelly portrayed Laurie Forman, sister of Topher Grace's lead character Eric, on the FOX series, which ended in 2006.
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UFC Hall of Famer Tito Ortiz not so sure that Stephan Bonnar should be a fellow Hall of Famer
When Forrest Griffin retired just months after Stephan Bonnar, the UFC said the two fighters would enter the UFC Hall of Fame together. Bonnar's banned substance violation and lackluster career mattered less than his part in the groundbreaking bout on the first "The Ultimate Fighter" finale.
Tito Ortiz, a current member of the UFC Hall of Fame, isn't so sure that Bonnar deserves to have the same honor as him.
"As far as Stephan, I have nothing against the guy, but you've got to be a world champion, I think, to be in the Hall of Fame ... That's a big honor to be in the Hall of Fame," Ortiz said to MMA Junkie. "It means you had a significance in the sport at one time or another. You look at that, and the Forrest and Stephan fight was a big step for the UFC, so do they deserve it? Possibly. But can one fight get you in the Hall of Fame? I don't know. I guess that's Dana's decision."
Griffin won the UFC light heavyweight championship with a win over Quinton Jackson in 2008, but then lost it to Rashad Evans. He finished with a record of 19-7. Bonnar announced his retirement after losing a non-title bout to Anderson Silva at UFC 153. He tested positive for a banned substance for the fight. His final record was 15-8, and he never fought for a UFC title.
Ortiz's comments bring to the forefront to the problems with the UFC Hall of Fame. The UFC's Hall of Fame has no open criteria or voting process, and is limited to just UFC fighters. As Ortiz notes, the decision appears to rest in the hands of UFC president Dana White.
It's totally within the UFC's rights to run their Hall of Fame as they see it, but it shouldn't be compared to say, the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Football's Hall of Fame in Canton has a clear criteria and voting process, and isn't limited to just NFL members.
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Monday, June 24, 2013
US gas prices down 4 cents over past 2 weeks
CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) -- The average U.S. price of a gallon of gasoline has dropped 4 cents over the past two weeks.
The Lundberg Survey of fuel prices released Sunday says the price of a gallon of regular is $3.60. Midgrade costs an average of $3.78 a gallon, and premium is $3.92.
Diesel remained unchanged at $3.90 gallon.
Of the cities surveyed in the Lower 48 states, Tucson, Ariz., has the nation's lowest average price for gas at $3.24. Chicago has the highest at $4.23.
In California, the lowest average price was $3.85 in Sacramento. The highest was in Los Angeles at $4.07. The average statewide for a gallon of regular was $4.01, an increase of 9 cents.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/us-gas-prices-down-4-185351744.html
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Rivers receding in Calgary, 3 dead in floods
CALGARY, Alberta (AP) ? Water levels dropped, providing a measure of relief to the western Canadian city of Calgary, hit hard by floods that devastated much of southern Alberta province, causing at least three deaths and forcing thousands to evacuate.
The flooding forced authorities to evacuate Calgary's entire downtown and hit some of the city's iconic structures hard. The Saddledome, home to the National Hockey League's Calgary Flames, was flooded up to the 10th row, leaving the dressing rooms submerged.
Flames' president and CEO Ken King said Saturday that the Saddledome is a "real mess," with water still up to row 8 of the lower bowl. He said the flooding had caused a total loss on the event level with all mechanical equipment submerged under 15 feet (4.5 meters) of water.
"If you were a hockey player walking out of the tunnel to the ice, you'd be underwater yourself," he said during a news conference.
Water lapped at the roof of the chuckwagon barns at the grounds of the Calgary Stampede, which is scheduled to start in two weeks. Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi has said the city will do everything it can to make sure that the world-renowned party goes ahead.
Bruce Burrell, director of the city's emergency management agency, said Saturday they are seeing improvements in the rivers. Dan Limacher, director of water services for the city, said the Elbow river is expected to recede by about 60 percent over the next two days, while the larger Bow river will recede by about 25 percent.
The improving conditions Saturday morning prompted Calgary's mayor to tweet: "It's morning in Calgary! Sunny, water levels are down, and our spirit remains strong. We're not out of this, but maybe have turned corner."
However, Nenshi said later Saturday that while the city may have turned a corner, there is still a state of emergency in effect.
"Flows on Elbow and Bow (rivers) are dropping slowly. We do believe the peak has passed on the Elbow. However, water levels are still four times higher than 2005 flood levels," he said during a press conference.
Overflowing rivers on Thursday and Friday washed out roads and bridges, soaked homes and turned streets into dirt-brown waterways around southern Alberta.
High River, southwest of Calgary, was one of the hardest-hit areas and remained under a mandatory evacuation order. Police said they have recovered three bodies in the town.
It is estimated that half the people in the town of 13,000 experienced flooding in their homes. Police cut off access to most of the town and helicopters circled overhead. Abandoned cars lay submerged in water, while backhoes worked in vain to push water back from houses.
Police asked residents who were forced to leave the High River area to register at an evacuation shelter. By Saturday morning, 485 evacuees had registered at the shelter in Nanton, south of Calgary, and 278 people were on the inquiry list.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said Saturday that during rescue and evacuation efforts on Friday in the High River area, approximately 800 people were evacuated by helicopter along with 100-200 people rescued by various water craft.
Ed Mailhot, a volunteer in High River, was working to build a database of registered evacuees and those who are looking for them. Cellphone service was not restored until late Friday.
"There are a lot of loved ones out there that people can't find, or they don't know where they are," he said. "It's still chaos."
Alberta Premier Alison Redford has warned that communities downstream of Calgary have not yet felt the full force of the floodwaters. Medicine Hat, downstream from Calgary, was under a mandatory evacuation order affecting 10,000 residents.
As the sun rose in Calgary on Saturday morning it wasn't raining. Burrell said some of the 75,000 flood evacuees from more than 24 neighborhoods will be allowed back into their homes. He said the goal is to allow people from portions of six communities back into their homes on Saturday. Residents of a neighborhood in one of those communities ? the high ground portion of Discovery Ridge ?have already been allowed back.
About 1,500 people in Calgary went to emergency shelters during the flooding, while the rest of those evacuated found shelter with family or friends, Nenshi said. Schools and courts were closed Friday. Transit service in the city's core was shut down.
Dale McMaster, executive vice president of ENMAX, Calgary's power company, said Saturday that at least 30,000 customers remain without power.
Calgary's mayor said the downtown area remained off limits and employers will have to make arrangements to have staff work remotely until at least the middle of the week.
"It is extremely unlikely that people will be able to return to those buildings before the middle of next week," Nenshi said.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, a Calgary resident, said he never imagined there would be a flood of this magnitude in this part of Canada.
The Conservative Party said Saturday that it has postponed its federal policy convention which was scheduled to begin Thursday at the Telus Convention Centre in downtown Calgary because of the floods.
"There are neighborhoods under water, so there is a lot of work we have to do to rebuild," said Michelle Rempel, a member of Parliament for Calgary Center. "Postponing the convention is the right thing to do for the people of Calgary."
Calgary, a city of more than a million people that hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics, is the center of Canada's oil industry.
About 350,000 people work in downtown Calgary on a typical day. However, officials said very few people had to be moved out, since many heeded warnings and did not go to work Friday.
A spokesman for Canada's defense minister said 1,300 soldiers from a base in Edmonton were being deployed to the flood zone.
The Mounties added that approximately 200 additional Royal Canadian Mounted Police personnel were deployed Saturday from other parts of Alberta to assist with evacuation, rescue, traffic safety and security operations,
Calgary was not alone in its weather-related woes.
Efforts were under way Saturday to move more than 2,000 people from their homes in a flood-prone part of northeastern Saskatchewan because of rising water levels.
___
Associated Press writers Rob Gillies and Charmaine Noronha in Toronto and Jeremy Hainsworth in Vancouver, British Columbia, contributed to this report.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/rivers-receding-calgary-3-dead-floods-152008579.html
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Sunday, June 23, 2013
No word from Hong Kong on Snowden's return
The front cover of a local magazine shows Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, in Hong Kong Saturday, June 22, 2013. Hong Kong was silent Saturday on whether the former National Security Agency contractor should be extradited to the United States now that he has been charged with espionage, but some legislators said the decision should be up to the Chinese government. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
The front cover of a local magazine shows Edward Snowden, a former CIA employee who leaked top-secret documents about sweeping U.S. surveillance programs, in Hong Kong Saturday, June 22, 2013. Hong Kong was silent Saturday on whether the former National Security Agency contractor should be extradited to the United States now that he has been charged with espionage, but some legislators said the decision should be up to the Chinese government. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
This photo provided by The Guardian Newspaper in London shows Edward Snowden, who worked as a contract employee at the National Security Agency, in Hong Kong, Sunday, June 9, 2013. The man who told the world about the U.S. government?s gigantic data grab also talked a lot about himself. Mostly through his own words, a picture of Edward Snowden is emerging: fresh-faced computer whiz, high school and Army dropout, independent thinker, trustee of official secrets. And leaker on the lam. (AP Photo/The Guardian) MANDATORY CREDIT
A security guard stands in front of the Police headquarters in Hong Kong Saturday, June 22, 2013. Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, believed to be holed up in Hong Kong, has admitted providing information to the news media about two highly classified NSA surveillance programs. It is not known if the U.S. government has made a formal extradition request to Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong government had no immediate reaction to the charges against Snowden. Police Commissioner Andy Tsang, when was asked about the development, told reporters only that the case would be dealt with according to the law. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
David Medine, chairman of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, is seen in front of the White House in Washington, Friday, June 21, 2013. President Barack Obama held his first meeting Friday with the board in the White House Situation Room. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
WASHINGTON (AP) ? Edward Snowden, the former government contractor who says he revealed that the National Security Agency collects Americans' phone records and Internet data from U.S. communication companies, now faces charges of espionage and theft of government property.
Snowden is believed to be in Hong Kong, which could complicate efforts to bring him to a U.S. federal court to answer charges that he engaged in unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information.
In addition to those charges, both brought under the Espionage Act, the government charged Snowden with theft of government property. Each crime carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Hong Kong was silent Saturday on whether Snowden should be extradited to the United States now that he has been charged, but some of Hong Kong's legislators said the decision should be up to the Chinese government.
The one-page criminal complaint against Snowden was unsealed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., part of the Eastern District of Virginia where his former employer, government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton, is headquartered, in McLean.
The complaint is dated June 14, five days after Snowden's name first surfaced as the person who had leaked to the news media that the NSA, in two highly classified surveillance programs, gathered telephone and Internet records to ferret out terror plots.
It was unclear Friday whether the U.S. had yet to begin an effort to extradite Snowden from Hong Kong. He could contest extradition on grounds of political persecution. In general, the extradition agreement between the U.S. and Hong Kong excepts political offenses from the obligation to turn over a person. Hong Kong could consider the charges under the Espionage Act political crimes.
Hong Kong had no immediate reaction to word of the charges against Snowden.
The Obama administration has now used the Espionage Act in seven criminal cases in an unprecedented effort to stem leaks. In one of them, Army Pfc. Bradley Manning acknowledged he sent more than 700,000 battlefield reports, diplomatic cables and other materials to the anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks. His military trial is underway.
Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the charges against Snowden.
"I've always thought this was a treasonous act," he said in a statement. "I hope Hong Kong's government will take him into custody and extradite him to the U.S."
But the Government Accountability Project, a whistle-blower advocacy group, said Snowden should be shielded from prosecution by whistle-blower protection laws.
"He disclosed information about a secret program that he reasonably believed to be illegal, and his actions alone brought about the long-overdue national debate about the proper balance between privacy and civil liberties, on the one hand, and national security on the other," the group said in a statement.
Michael di Pretoro, a retired 30-year veteran with the FBI who served from 1990 to 1994 as the legal liaison officer at the American consulate in Hong Kong, said "relations between U.S. and Hong Kong law enforcement personnel are historically quite good."
"In my time, I felt the degree of cooperation was outstanding to the extent that I almost felt I was in an FBI field office," di Pretoro said.
The U.S. and Hong Kong have a standing agreement on the surrender of fugitives. However, Snowden's appeal rights could drag out any extradition proceeding.
The success or failure of any extradition proceeding depends on what the suspect is charged with under U.S. law and how it corresponds to Hong Kong law under the treaty. In order for Hong Kong officials to honor the extradition request, they have to have some applicable statute under their law that corresponds with a violation of U.S. law.
Hong Kong lawmakers said Saturday that the Chinese government should make the final decision on whether Snowden should be extradited to the United States.
Outspoken legislator Leung Kwok-hung said Beijing should instruct Hong Kong to protect Snowden from extradition before his case gets dragged through the court system.
Leung urged the people of Hong Kong to "take to the streets to protect Snowden."
In Iceland, a business executive said Friday that a private plane was on standby to transport Snowden from Hong Kong to Iceland, although Iceland's government says it has not received an asylum request from Snowden.
Business executive Olafur Vignir Sigurvinsson said he has been in contact with someone representing Snowden and has not spoken to the American himself. Private donations are being collected to pay for the flight, he said.
"There are a number of people that are interested in freedom of speech and recognize the importance of knowing who is spying on us," Sigurvinsson said. "We are people that care about privacy."
Disclosure of the criminal complaint came as President Barack Obama held his first meeting with a privacy and civil liberties board and as his intelligence chief sought ways to help Americans understand more about sweeping government surveillance efforts exposed by Snowden.
The five members of the little-known Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board met with Obama for an hour in the White House Situation Room, questioning the president on the two NSA programs that have stoked controversy.
One program collects billions of U.S. phone records. The second gathers audio, video, email, photographic and Internet search usage of foreign nationals overseas, and probably some Americans in the process, who use major Internet service providers, such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Yahoo.
___
Associated Press writer Jenna Gottlieb in Reykjavik, Iceland, contributed to this report.
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Saturday, June 22, 2013
Brazil leader breaks silence about protests
A riot police officer uses his front teeth to hold onto to a non-lethal grenade during an anti-government protest near the Cidade de Deus, or City of God slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. City centers around Brazil were still smoldering on Friday after 1 million protesters took to the streets amid growing calls on social media for a general strike next week. While most protesters were peaceful, some small groups clashed violently with police, who responded in some cases with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A riot police officer uses his front teeth to hold onto to a non-lethal grenade during an anti-government protest near the Cidade de Deus, or City of God slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. City centers around Brazil were still smoldering on Friday after 1 million protesters took to the streets amid growing calls on social media for a general strike next week. While most protesters were peaceful, some small groups clashed violently with police, who responded in some cases with tear gas, pepper spray and rubber bullets. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana)
A message by Brazil's President Dilma Rousseff is broadcast live at the bus station in Brasilia, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. The Brazilian ended her near-silence about more than a week of massive, violent protests, saying in a prime time TV broadcast Friday that peaceful demonstrations were part of a strong democracy but that violence could not be tolerated. She promised to make improvements to public services, but said it couldn't be done overnight. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)
People shout slogans during an anti-government protest at Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. The country's president, who is a former leftist guerrilla, has done little more than show brief support for the protesters since the demonstrations began a week ago. That's brought criticism that she has allowed the situation to spiral out of control. Rousseff was to meet Friday, with bishops from the Catholic Church about the possible impact of the protests on a papal visit that is still scheduled next month. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
People march during an anti-government protest at Ipanema beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. Demonstrations began as an outcry against a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Brazil's largest cities, but have continued even after announcements that the increases would be rescinded. Protesters have expressed frustration with corruption and what they say are high taxes and poor public services. They've demanded everything from education reforms to free bus fares while denouncing the billions of public dollars spent on stadiums before the World Cup and the Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
Residents of the Ipanema neighborhood shout during an anti-government protest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, June 21, 2013. Demonstrations began as an outcry against a 10-cent hike in bus and subway fares in Brazil's largest cities, but have continued even after announcements that the increases would be rescinded. Protesters have expressed frustration with corruption and what they say are high taxes and poor public services. They've demanded everything from education reforms to free bus fares while denouncing the billions of public dollars spent on stadiums before the World Cup and the Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)
BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) ? Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff spoke about her generation's struggles in battling a dictatorship during a prime-time speech meant to connect with the nation's youth who have energized widespread and at times violent anti-government protests.
The 10-minute address ended Rousseff's much-criticized silence in the face of the protests. She promised to make improvements in urban transportation and to battle corruption, but offered few details as to how that will happen.
The leader added she would soon hold a meeting with leaders of the protest movement, governors and the mayors of major cities. But it remained unclear exactly who could represent the massive and decentralized groups of demonstrators taking to the streets, venting anger against woeful public services despite a high tax burden.
Rousseff said that her government would create a national plan for public transportation in cities ? a hike in bus and subway fares in many cities was the original complaint of the protests. She also reiterated her backing for a plan before congress to invest all oil revenue royalties in education and a promise she made earlier to bring in foreign doctors to areas that lack physicians.
"I want institutions that are more transparent, more resistant to wrongdoing," Rousseff said in reference to perceptions of deep corruption in Brazilian politics, which is emerging as a focal point of the protests. "It's citizenship and not economic power that must be heard first."
The leader, a former Marxist rebel who fought against Brazil's 1964-1985 military regime and was imprisoned for three years and tortured by the junta, pointedly referred to earlier sacrifices made to free the nation from dictatorship.
"My generation fought a lot so that the voice of the streets could be heard," Rousseff said. "Many were persecuted, tortured and many died for this. The voice of the street must be heard and respected and it can't be confused with the noise and truculence of some troublemakers."
Edvaldo Chaves, a 61-year-old doorman in Rio's upscale Flamengo neighborhood, said he found the speech convincing.
"I thought she seemed calm and cool. Plus, because she was a guerrilla and was in exile, she talks about the issue of protests convincingly," Chaves said. "I think things are going to calm down. We'll probably keep seeing people in the streets but probably small numbers now."
But Bruna Romao, an 18-year-old store clerk in Sao Paulo, said Rousseff's words probably wouldn't have an impact.
"Brazilians are passionate," she said. "We boil over quickly but also cool down fast. But this time it's different, people are in full revolt. I don't see things calming down anytime soon."
Trying to decipher the president's reaction to the unrest had become a national guessing game, especially after some 1 million anti-government demonstrators took to the streets nationwide Thursday night to denounce everything from poor public services to the billions of dollars spent preparing for next year's World Cup soccer tournament and the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.
The protests continued Friday, as about 1,000 people marched in western Rio de Janeiro city, with some looting stores and invading an enormous $250 million arts center that remains empty after several years of construction. Police tried to disperse the crowd with tear gas as they were pelted with rocks. Police said some in the crowd were armed and firing at officers.
Local radio was also reporting that protesters were heading to the apartment of Rio state Gov. Sergio Cabral in the posh Rio neighborhood of Ipanema.
Other protests broke out in the country's biggest city, Sao Paulo, where traffic was paralyzed but no violence reported, and in Fortaleza in the country's northeast. Demonstrators were calling for more mobilizations in 10 cities on Saturday.
The National Conference of Brazilian Bishops came out in favor of the protests, saying that it maintains "solidarity and support for the demonstrations, as long as they remain peaceful."
"This is a phenomenon involving the Brazilian people and the awakening of a new consciousness," church leaders said in the statement. "The protests show all of us that we cannot live in a country with so much inequality."
Rousseff had never held elected office before she became president in 2011 and remains clearly uncomfortable in the spotlight.
She's the political protege of former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a charismatic ex-union leader whose tremendous popularity helped usher his former chief of staff to the country's top office. A career technocrat and trained economist, Rousseff's tough managerial style under Silva earned her the moniker "the Iron Lady," a name she has said she detests.
While Rousseff stayed away from the public eye for most of the week, Roberto Jaguaribe, the nation's ambassador to Britain, told news channel CNN Friday the government was first trying to contain the protests.
He labeled as "very delicate" the myriad demands emanating from protesters in the streets.
"One of our ministers who's dealing with these issues of civil society said that it would be presumptuous on our part to think we know what's taking place," Jaguaribe said. "This is a very dynamic process. We're trying to figure out what's going on because who do we speak to, who are the leaders of the process?"
Marlise Matos, a political science professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais, said before Rousseff spoke that answer wasn't good enough.
"The government has to respond, even if the agenda seems unclear and wide open," she said. "It should be the president herself who should come out and provide a response. But I think the government is still making strategic calculations to decide how to respond. What I'd like to see as a response is a call for a referendum on political reform. Let the people decide what kind of political and electoral system we have."
Social media and mass emails were buzzing with calls for a general strike next week. However, Brazil's two largest nationwide unions, the Central Workers Union and the Union Force, said they knew nothing about such an action, though they do support the protests.
A Thursday night march in Sao Paulo was the first with a strong union presence, as a drum corps led members wearing matching shirts down the city's main avenue. Many protesters have called for a movement with no ties to political parties or unions, which are widely considered corrupt here.
Several cities have cancelled the transit fare hikes that had originally sparked the demonstrations a week ago, but the outrage has only grown more intense.
Demonstrations for Saturday have been called by a group opposing a federal bill that would limit the power of prosecutors to investigate crimes.
Most protesters have been peaceful, and crowds have taken to chanting "No violence! No violence!" when small groups have prepared to burn and smash. The more violent demonstrators have usually taken over once night has fallen.
The unrest is hitting the nation as it hosts the Confederations Cup soccer tournament, with tens of thousands of foreign visitors in attendance.
Carlos Cardozo, a 62-year-old financial consultant who joined Friday's protest in Rio, said he thought the unrest could cost Rousseff next year's elections. Even as recently as last week, Rousseff had enjoyed a 74 percent approval rating in a poll by the business group the National Transport Confederation.
"Her paying lip service by saying she's in favor of the protests is not helping her cause," Cardozo said. "People want to see real action, real decisions, and it's not this government that's capable of delivering."
___
Barchfield reported from Rio de Janeiro and Brooks from Sao Paulo. Associated Press writers Stan Lehman in Sao Paulo and Jack Chang in Mexico City contributed to this report.
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