LONDON, Dec 13 (Reuters) - The departure of Spanish strugglers HRT from Formula One still leaves the sport with one team too many, commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone said on Thursday. Madrid-based HRT have not been included on the official 2013 entry list published by the governing International Automobile Federation, a move that leaves 11 teams and 22 cars on the starting grid. "I'd rather have 10," Ecclestone told Reuters. "I never wanted 12. "It's just that 10 is easier to handle, for the promoters, for transport. We'd rather have 10...so long as we don't lose Ferrari. ...
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North Korea rocket launch raises nuclear stakes
Label: WorldSEOUL/TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea successfully launched a rocket on Wednesday, boosting the credentials of its new leader and stepping up the threat the isolated and impoverished state poses to opponents.
The rocket, which North Korea says put a weather satellite into orbit, has been labeled by the United States, South Korea and Japan as a test of technology that could one day deliver a nuclear warhead capable of hitting targets as far away as the continental United States.
"The satellite has entered the planned orbit," a North Korean television news reader clad in traditional Korean garb announced, after which the station played patriotic songs with the lyrics "Chosun (Korea) does what it says".
The rocket was launched just before 10 a.m. (0100 GMT), according to defense officials in South Korea and Japan, and was more successful than a rocket launched in April that flew for less than two minutes.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD), a joint U.S.-Canadian military organization, said that the missile had "deployed an object that appeared to achieve orbit".
North Korea followed what it said was a similar successful launch in 2009 with a nuclear test that prompted the U.N. Security Council to stiffen sanctions that it originally imposed in 2006 after the North's first nuclear test.
North Korea is banned from developing nuclear and missile-related technology under U.N. resolutions, although Kim Jong-un, the youthful head of state who took power a year ago, is believed to have continued the state's "military first" programs put in place by his late father, Kim Jong-il.
North Korea hailed the launch as celebrating the prowess of all three members of the Kim family to rule since it was founded in 1948.
"At a time when great yearnings and reverence for Kim Jong-il pervade the whole country, its scientists and technicians brilliantly carried out his behests to launch a scientific and technological satellite in 2012, the year marking the 100th birth anniversary of President Kim Il Sung," its KCNA news agency said. Kim Il Sung, the current leader's grandfather, was North Korea's first leader.
The United States condemned the launch as "provocative" and a breach of U.N. rules, while Japan's U.N. envoy called for a Security Council meeting. However, diplomats say further tough sanctions are unlikely from the Security Council as China, the North's only major ally, will oppose them.
"The international community must work in a concerted fashion to send North Korea a clear message that its violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions have consequences," the White House said in a statement.
U.S. intelligence has linked North Korea with missile shipments to Iran. Newspapers in Japan and South Korea have reported that Iranian observers were in the North for the launch, something Iran has denied.
Japan's likely next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who is leading in opinion polls ahead of an election on Sunday and who is known as a hawk on North Korea, called on the United Nations to adopt a resolution "strongly criticizing" Pyongyang.
A North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman reiterated that the rocket was a "peaceful project".
"The attempt to see our satellite launch as a long-range missile launch for military purposes comes from hostile perception that tries to designate us a cause for security tension," KCNA cited the spokesman as saying.
"STUMBLING BLOCK"
China had expressed "deep concern" prior to the launch which was announced a day after a top politburo member, representing new Chinese leader Xi Jinping, met Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang.
On Wednesday, its tone was measured, regretting the launch but calling for restraint on any counter-measures, in line with a policy of effectively vetoing tougher sanctions.
"China believes the Security Council's response should be cautious and moderate, protect the overall peaceful and stable situation on the Korean peninsula, and avoid an escalation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei told journalists.
Bruce Klingner, a Korea expert at the Heritage Foundation, said: "China has been the stumbling block to firmer U.N. action and we'll have to see if the new leadership is any different than its predecessors."
A senior adviser to South Korea's president said last week it was unlikely there would be action from the United Nations and Seoul would expect its allies to tighten sanctions unilaterally.
Kim Jong-un, believed to be 29 years old, took power when his father died on December 17 last year and experts believe the launch was intended to commemorate the first anniversary of his death. The April launch was timed for the centennial of the birth of Kim Il Sung.
Wednesday's success puts the North ahead of the South which has not managed to get a rocket off the ground.
"This is a considerable boost in establishing the rule of Kim Jong-un," said Cho Min, an expert at the Korea Institute of National Unification.
There have been few indications the secretive and impoverished state, where the United Nations estimates a third of people are malnourished, has made any advances in opening up economically over the past year.
North Korea remains reliant on minerals exports to China and remittances from tens of thousands of its workers overseas.
Many of its 22 million people need handouts from defectors, who have escaped to South Korea, for basic medicines.
Given the puny size of its economy - per capita income is less than $2,000 a year - one of the few ways the North can attract world attention is by emphasizing its military threat.
It wants the United States to resume aid and to recognize it diplomatically, although the April launch scuppered a planned food deal.
The North is believed to be some years away from developing a functioning nuclear warhead although it may have enough plutonium for about half a dozen nuclear bombs, according to nuclear experts.
It has also been enriching uranium, which would give it a second path to nuclear weapons as it sits on big natural uranium reserves.
"A successful launch puts North Korea closer to the capability to deploy a weaponized missile," said Denny Roy, a senior fellow at the East-West Center in Hawaii.
"But this would still require fitting a weapon to the missile and ensuring a reasonable degree of accuracy. The North Koreans probably do not yet have a nuclear weapon small enough for a missile to carry."
The North says its work is part of a civil nuclear program although it has also boasted of it being a "nuclear weapons power".
(This story has been refiled to clarify reference to NORAD in paragraph five)
(Additional reporting by Jumin Park and Yoo Choonsik in SEOUL; David Alexander, Matt Spetalnick and Paul Eckert in WASHINGTON; Linda Sieg in TOKYO, Sui-Lee Wee and michael Martina in BEIJING,; Rosmarie Francisco in MANILA; Writing by David Chance; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan and Robert Birsel)
Miranda Lambert Gets Kissed by a Llama
Label: Lifestyle
People Pets
12/12/2012 at 02:30 PM EST
Miranda Lambert at the San Diego Zoo
Courtesy Miranda Lambert
Miranda Lambert is feeling the love – and not just from husband Blake Shelton.
"Llama kisses!" she Tweeted on Friday, sharing a photo of her up-close-and-personal encounter at the San Diego Zoo, which she visited with Shelton over the weekend.
The country couple also got acquainted with one of the zoo's big turtles, with Lambert – who took home three guitar trophies at Monday's American Country Awards – posting another photo of what she dubbed the pair's "zoo date."
"We had a blast at the San Diego zoo!!!!" she wrote. "Thanks so much."
The trip comes as no surprise for fans of the duo, whose love of animals has been well-documented. Lambert and Shelton plan to spend the holidays with their six rescue pooches, each of whom will receive a gift-wrapped present.
Congress examines science behind HGH test for NFL
Label: HealthWASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional committee has opened a hearing to examine the science behind a human growth hormone test the NFL wants to start using on its players.
Nearly two full seasons have passed since the league and the players' union signed a labor deal that set the stage for HGH testing.
The NFL Players Association won't concede the validity of a test that's used by Olympic sports and Major League Baseball, and the sides haven't been able to agree on a scientist to help resolve that impasse.
Among the witnesses before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday is Pro Football Hall of Fame member Dick Butkus. In his prepared statement, Butkus writes: "Now, let's get on with it. The HGH testing process is proven to be reliable."
Stocks extend gains after Fed unveils stimulus plan
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - Stocks rose to seven-week highs on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve announced a new stimulus plan, its latest attempt to boost the country's struggling economy.
The new plan will replace a more modest program due to expire with a fresh round of Treasury purchases that will increase its balance sheet, as was widely expected.
The S&P 500 ticked up as high as 1438.59, its highest intraday level since October 22, with all 10 industry sectors in positive territory. Financials led the advance, with the S&P financial sector index <.gspf> up 1.1 percent.
"It is good for stocks and risk more generally. And they came out with an economic data point as a guideline. That's very important, because it helps the market anticipate an exit strategy," said Quincy Krosby, market strategist at Prudential Financial, in Newark, New Jersey.
The central bank conmitted to monthly purchases of $45 billion in Treasuries on top of the $40 billion per month in mortgage-backed bonds it started buying in September. It also said it will keep its near-zero interest-rate program in place until the U.S. unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent from its current 7.7 percent.
Negotiations over plans to avoid the "fiscal cliff" intensified in Washington, but U.S. House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday "serious differences" remain with President Barack Obama in their talks. If no agreement is reached, steep tax hikes and budget cuts will fall into place next year.
The S&P 500 was up for a sixth straight day, its longest winning streak since August, although gains have been less than 0.5 percent per day, on average, in part due to uncertainty over the cliff negotiations.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> climbed 65.18 points, or 0.49 percent, to 13,313.62. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 8.83 points, or 0.62 percent, at 1,436.67. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gained 7.70 points, or 0.25 percent, at 3,030.00.
Shares of Aetna , the third-largest U.S. health insurer, jumped 4.5 percent to $46.52 a day after the company gave a higher forecast for profit and revenue growth in 2013.
But Wal-Mart Stores Inc
Shares of Berkshire Hathaway
(Reporting by Gabriel Debenedetti; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak; Editing by Jan Paschal)
Egypt army seeks national unity as crisis mounts
Label: WorldCAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army chief called for talks on national unity to end the country's mounting political crisis after a vital loan from the IMF was delayed and thousands of pro- and anti-government demonstrators took to the streets.
The meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon was called in response to an increasingly destabilizing series of protests that has unfolded since President Mohamed Mursi awarded himself sweeping powers on November 22 to push through a new constitution shaped by his Islamist allies in a referendum on Saturday.
Armed forces chief and Defense Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called for a meeting of "national unity for the love of Egypt to bring together partners of the country in the presence of the president of the republic", the army spokesman said.
An aide said Mursi had supported the call for talks. The Muslim Brotherhood said it would be there, while the main opposition coalition said it would decide on Wednesday morning whether to attend.
Earlier, the finance minister disclosed that a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan, a cornerstone of Egypt's economic recovery hopes, would be delayed until next month.
Mumtaz al-Said said the delay was intended to allow time to explain a widely criticized package of economic austerity measures to the Egyptian people.
The announcement came after Mursi on Monday backed down on planned tax rises, seen as essential for the loan to go ahead, but which the opposition had fiercely criticized.
"Of course the delay will have some economic impact, but we are discussing necessary measures (to address that) during the coming period," Said told Reuters, adding: "I am optimistic ... everything will be well, God willing."
Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said the measures would not hurt the poor. Bread, sugar and rice would not be touched, but cigarettes and cooking oil would go up and fines would be imposed for public littering. In a bid to rebuild consensus, he said there would be a public consultation about the program next week.
In Washington, the IMF said Egypt had asked for the loan to be postponed "in light of the unfolding developments on the ground". The Fund stood ready to consult with Egypt on resuming discussions on the stand-by loan, a spokeswoman said.
GUNMEN OPEN FIRE
On the streets of the capital, tensions ran high after nine people were hurt when gunmen fired at protesters camping in Tahrir Square, according to witnesses and Egyptian media.
The opposition has called for major protests it hopes will force Mursi to postpone the referendum. Thousands gathered outside the presidential palace, whose walls are scrawled with anti-Mursi graffiti.
A bigger crowd of flag-waving Islamist Mursi backers, who want the vote to go ahead as planned on Saturday, assembled at a nearby mosque, setting the stage for further street confrontations in a crisis that has divided the nation of 83 million.
In Egypt's second city of Alexandria, thousands of rival demonstrators gathered at separate venues. Mursi's backers chanted: "The people want implementation of Islamic law," while his opponents shouted: "The people want to bring down the regime." Others cities also witnessed protests.
The upheaval following the fall of Hosni Mubarak last year is causing concern in the West, in particular the United States, which has given Cairo billions of dollars in military and other aid since Egypt, the Arab world's most populous nation, made peace with Israel in 1979.
The turmoil has also placed a big strain on the economy, sending foreign currency reserves down to about $15 billion, less than half what they were before the revolt two years ago as the government has sought to defend the pound.
"Given the current policy environment, it's hardly a surprise that there's been a delay, but it is imperative that the delay is brief," said Simon Williams, HSBC economist in Dubai. "Egypt urgently needs that IMF accord, both for the funding it brings and the policy anchor it affords."
The IMF deal had been seen as giving a seal of approval to investors and donors about the government's economic plans, vital for drawing more cash into the economy to ease a crushing budget deficit and stave off a balance of payments crisis.
MASKED ATTACKERS
In central Cairo, police cars surrounded Tahrir Square in central Cairo, the first time they had appeared in the area since shortly after Mursi awarded himself sweeping temporary powers in a move that touched off widespread protests.
The attackers, some masked, also threw petrol bombs that started a small fire, witnesses said.
"The masked men came suddenly and attacked the protesters in Tahrir. The attack was meant to deter us and prevent us from protesting today," said John Gerges, a Christian Egyptian who described himself as a socialist.
The latest bout of unrest has so far claimed seven lives in clashes between the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood and opponents who gathered outside Mursi's presidential palace.
The Republican Guard, which protects the palace, has yet to use force to keep protesters away from the building, now ringed with tanks, barbed wire and concrete barricades.
The army has told all sides to resolve their differences through dialogue, saying it would not allow Egypt to enter a "dark tunnel". For the period of the referendum, the army has been granted powers by Mursi allowing it to arrest civilians.
In statement issued after rights groups criticized the army's new police powers, the presidency said anyone arrested by the military during the referendum would face civil rather than military courts. It said the army's new role would only last until results are declared after Saturday's referendum.
The army has portrayed itself as the guarantor of the nation's security, but so far it has shown no appetite for a return to the bruising front-line political role it played after the fall of Mubarak, which severely damaged its standing.
OPPOSITION MARCHES
Leftists, liberals and other opposition groups say the hastily arranged constitutional referendum is polarizing the country and could put it in a religious straitjacket.
Opposition leaders want the referendum to be delayed and hope they can get sufficiently large numbers of protesters on the streets to change Mursi's mind.
The main association of Egypt's judiciary, the Judges' Club, voted against supervising the referendum, but the Islamists are confident they can muster enough judges to make sure the vote goes ahead with the necessary judicial supervision.
Islamists have urged their followers to show support for Mursi and for a referendum they feel sure of winning.
The opposition says the draft constitution fails to embrace the diversity of the population, a tenth of which is Christian, and invites Muslim clerics to influence lawmaking.
(Additional reporting by Tamim Elyan; Writing by Giles Elgood; Editing by Peter Graff and Will Waterman)
Web host Go Daddy appoints former Yahoo executive as CEO
Label: Technology(Reuters) – Go Daddy, one of the world’s biggest Internet hosting firms, appointed Yahoo Inc‘s former Chief Product Officer Blake Irving as chief executive.
He will take over from interim CEO Scott Wagner on January 7. Irving left Yahoo, where he headed a centralized products group that straddled several client types, on April 27.
“Blake Irving’s deep technology experience and his history of developing new cutting-edge products and leading large global teams make him a … compelling choice to drive Go Daddy to the next level of its … growth,” said Bob Parsons, Go Daddy’s executive chairman and founder.
Irving also served in various positions at Microsoft Corp from 1992 to 2007.
Go Daddy, which describes itself as the top provider of domain names, filed to go public in 2006 but withdrew its IPO due to poor market conditions.
(Reporting by Neha Alawadhi in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das, Maju Samuel)
Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News
Man Builds Full-Scale Replica of Noah's Ark
Label: Lifestyle
People Pets
By Stephen M. Silverman
12/11/2012 at 02:15 PM EST
Johan Huibers and his ark
Peter Dejong/AP
He may have trouble finding two animals of every kind, but Johan Huibers of the Netherlands isn't one to be dissuaded.
After 20 years, the professional builder completed his goal of building a full-scale, fully-operational version of Noah's Ark, using Genesis, books 6-9, in The Bible as his guide.
Huibers converted cubits to modern measurements to pull off the feat, reports the Associated Press, leading to an impressive wooden vessel that is 427 feet long, 95 feet wide and 75 feet high.
But just to be clear, the Dutchman, a Christian, is not expecting a flood of Biblical proportions anytime soon.
"I had a call from American television," he told AP with a laugh. "This has nothing to do with the end of the Mayan calendar."
Instead, citing what The Bible predicts might be in store for Earth, Huibers says, "I want to make people question that so that they go looking for answers." He also hopes people will ultimately find salvation through God and eternal life.
And while the ark is not currently occupied with multitudes of four-legged creatures – though there are reportedly some plastic and stuffed replicas of larger species onboard for atmosphere – there is a small petting zoo with ponies, dogs, sheep, rabbits and exotic birds aboard the ship, which is moored just south of Rotterdam, as well as a restaurant and movie theater that can seat 50.
See more photos inside the ark on CNN.com.
Surprise: New insurance fee in health overhaul law
Label: HealthWASHINGTON (AP) — Your medical plan is facing an unexpected expense, so you probably are, too. It's a new, $63-per-head fee to cushion the cost of covering people with pre-existing conditions under President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.
The charge, buried in a recent regulation, works out to tens of millions of dollars for the largest companies, employers say. Most of that is likely to be passed on to workers.
Employee benefits lawyer Chantel Sheaks calls it a "sleeper issue" with significant financial consequences, particularly for large employers.
"Especially at a time when we are facing economic uncertainty, (companies will) be hit with a multi-million dollar assessment without getting anything back for it," said Sheaks, a principal at Buck Consultants, a Xerox subsidiary.
Based on figures provided in the regulation, employer and individual health plans covering an estimated 190 million Americans could owe the per-person fee.
The Obama administration says it is a temporary assessment levied for three years starting in 2014, designed to raise $25 billion. It starts at $63 and then declines.
Most of the money will go into a fund administered by the Health and Human Services Department. It will be used to cushion health insurance companies from the initial hard-to-predict costs of covering uninsured people with medical problems. Under the law, insurers will be forbidden from turning away the sick as of Jan. 1, 2014.
The program "is intended to help millions of Americans purchase affordable health insurance, reduce unreimbursed usage of hospital and other medical facilities by the uninsured and thereby lower medical expenses and premiums for all," the Obama administration says in the regulation. An accompanying media fact sheet issued Nov. 30 referred to "contributions" without detailing the total cost and scope of the program.
Of the total pot, $5 billion will go directly to the U.S. Treasury, apparently to offset the cost of shoring up employer-sponsored coverage for early retirees.
The $25 billion fee is part of a bigger package of taxes and fees to finance Obama's expansion of coverage to the uninsured. It all comes to about $700 billion over 10 years, and includes higher Medicare taxes effective this Jan. 1 on individuals making more than $200,000 per year or couples making more than $250,000. People above those threshold amounts also face an additional 3.8 percent tax on their investment income.
But the insurance fee had been overlooked as employers focused on other costs in the law, including fines for medium and large firms that don't provide coverage.
"This kind of came out of the blue and was a surprisingly large amount," said Gretchen Young, senior vice president for health policy at the ERISA Industry Committee, a group that represents large employers on benefits issues.
Word started getting out in the spring, said Young, but hard cost estimates surfaced only recently with the new regulation. It set the per capita rate at $5.25 per month, which works out to $63 a year.
America's Health Insurance Plans, the major industry trade group for health insurers, says the fund is an important program that will help stabilize the market and mitigate cost increases for consumers as the changes in Obama's law take effect.
But employers already offering coverage to their workers don't see why they have to pony up for the stabilization fund, which mainly helps the individual insurance market. The redistribution puts the biggest companies on the hook for tens of millions of dollars.
"It just adds on to everything else that is expected to increase health care costs," said economist Paul Fronstin of the nonprofit Employee Benefit Research Institute.
The fee will be assessed on all "major medical" insurance plans, including those provided by employers and those purchased individually by consumers. Large employers will owe the fee directly. That's because major companies usually pay upfront for most of the health care costs of their employees. It may not be apparent to workers, but the insurance company they deal with is basically an agent administering the plan for their employer.
The fee will total $12 billion in 2014, $8 billion in 2015 and $5 billion in 2016. That means the per-head assessment would be smaller each year, around $40 in 2015 instead of $63.
It will phase out completely in 2017 — unless Congress, with lawmakers searching everywhere for revenue to reduce federal deficits — decides to extend it.
Tech titans, "cliff" hopes push indexes up
Label: BusinessNEW YORK (Reuters) - Rising shares in technology companies helped push major stock indexes up around 1 percent on Tuesday, as the S&P 500 reached its best levels since mid-October, recouping its post-election selloff.
A 3.1 percent gain in Apple Inc's stock lifted the Nasdaq, as the largest U.S. company by market value rebounded from a week in which investors took profits before a possible tax rise next year. Prior to Tuesday's trading, Apple shares had lost 25 percent from an all-time intraday high hit in September.
Other major tech stocks also rose. Texas Instruments
"I see a lot of buying in tech, and that's taking the whole market up with it," said Tom Donino, co-head of trading at First New York Securities in New York.
The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 112.57 points, or 0.85 percent, at 13,282.45. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> was up 13.23 points, or 0.93 percent, at 1,431.78. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> rose 40.95 points, or 1.37 percent, at 3,027.91.
Retailers like luggage maker Tumi Holding Inc
Traders voiced cautious optimism as the pace of negotiations over the "fiscal cliff" quickened. However, representatives from both parties cautioned that an agreement remains uncertain.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner called on President Barack Obama to propose a counter-offer on Tuesday.
"I guess in our own dysfunctional way, there is progress," said Frank Davis, director of sales and trading at LEK Securities in New York.
"Since conversations are occurring, it clarifies at least they are taking some action. My personal gut is they'll jostle this into the holiday week and try to do a last minute push."
Lawmakers worked toward a deal to avoid a series of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts that would hurt U.S. economic growth next year.
The lack of demonstrable progress has kept investors from making aggressive bets in recent weeks.
Still, stocks have steadily marched higher on thin volume. The S&P 500 hovered around 1433.38 on Tuesday, retracing losses incurred in the first seven sessions after Obama's re-election. Gains were broad, with more than two shares rising for every one falling on the New York Stock Exchange and winners outpacing losers on the Nasdaq Stock Exchange by nearly three-to-one.
The U.S. Treasury is selling its remaining stake in insurer American International Group Inc . AIG's shares were up 4.7 percent at $34.94.
The Fed began a two-day policy-setting meeting on Tuesday. The central bank is expected to announce a new round of Treasury bond purchases when the meeting ends on Wednesday to replace its "Operation Twist" stimulus which expires at the end of the year.
(Editing by Kenneth Barry and Nick Zieminski)
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