Video games in '09: Our favorite titles of the year

Readers have selected their choices for the top games of the year - both by vote and in the forum. Now, Game Hunters chooses out favorites from 2009.

Despite the exodus of video games into 2010, there were still plenty of quality titles to select from. The decision was quite difficult, so much so that we have two top 5 lists, one from each of the Game Hunters.

No. 5

Mike - Wii Sports Resort. There were many other great games that I considered for my fave five. But perhaps it was the pure excitement I saw on the faces of those I bowled, played ping-pong and clashed swords with that earned this game its spot. Like the Wii itself, this game attracts others to games, exponentially upping the fun factor.

Brett - Wii Sports Resort. What better way to top the phenomenon that is Wii Sports with even more mini-games and improved motion controls. It was tough to not enjoy yourself slinging arrows and sinking three-pointers.

No. 4

Mike - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Like many, I underestimated this sequel from the creators of the Crash Bandicoot games. But the action, the look and the characters of this game trumps the latest Indiana Jones film and won me over.

Brett - Flower. Most video games prefer pumping adrenaline through your body. The PlayStation 3 download soothed your nerves with enchanting visuals and a relaxing environment. It was one of the year's most imaginative games.

No. 3

Mike - The Beatles: Rock Band. Perhaps the ultimate rock band to build a game around. And Harmonix hit enough right notes to make me want to play eight days a week.

Brett - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. It's hard not to include this considering the dozens of hours I've invested in multiplayer (Level 35 on first Prestige rank as of this post). While the single-player boasted some crazy moments (fighting inside a faux Burger King), the multiplayer is what entices gamers to enlist.
No. 2

Mike - Assassin's Creed II. The original intrigued me, the sequel carried me away. As a lover of art and history -- and art history -- this game set in Renaissance Italy had an attractive setting. But the gameplay and story is what kept the game on my mind when I was away.

Brett - Batman: Arkham Asylum. It represents arguably the best superhero game ever created. The Caped Crusader returns as his dark, brooding self, trying to restore order to the famed looney bin. While the appearances by Joker and Harley Quinn are top notch, it doesn't match the brilliance of Scarecrow. It felt like Scarecrow wanted to play mental tricks with me just as much as he did the Dark Knight during his haunting sequences.

Our favorite game of 2009

Mike - Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. High expectations were set for and met by Infinity Ward's follow-up to Call of Duty 4, which earned top honors from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. Sure the single-player plot was over-the-top, but not any more so than a blockbuster action film -- and it was more fun. And the fun continues with the new Special Ops co-op mode and online multiplayer.

Brett - Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. The single-player adventure cements Nathan Drake as video games' signature action hero, evoking classic blockbuster film franchises such as Indiana Jones and Die Hard. Perhaps one of the best moments this year was Drake leaping between speeding trucks in an incredible interactive chase scene. Most surprising is a multiplayer component that's both diverse and highly entertaining. Every PlayStation 3 owner must have a copy of this on their shelves.

Frigid temps break winter weather records

Bitterly cold air and howling winds spread across the USA — from the Dakotas to Florida— over the weekend, breaking weather records in the upper Midwest, the Great Lakes and New England.
The wintry blast even shocked International Falls, Minn., the self-described "Icebox of the Nation," where temperatures bottomed out at 37 below zero Saturday and Sunday mornings, breaking records that have stood since 1979. Sioux Falls, S.D., was 30 below on Saturday morning, the coldest temperature recorded since 1974.

"We basically have an anomalous high-pressure system that came out of Canada and brought some really cold air with it," reported Jennifer Laflin, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sioux Falls.

After a slight moderation early this week, yet another cold air mass — likely even colder than this one — is poised to invade the entire eastern two-thirds of the USA by later in the week, said Weather Channel meteorologist Mark Ressler.

The unusually powerful high-pressure ridge causing the current freeze is holding at bay warmer air from the west and allowing frigid air to spill directly south from north-central Canada across the Midwest, Laflin said.

Snow was the main issue over the weekend in much of New England and the interior Northeast, where nearly 3 feet blanketed Burlington, Vt. The 31.8 inches of snow recorded as of Sunday afternoon represented the city's all-time biggest snowstorm in 120 years of recordkeeping, according to the weather service's Scott Whittier in South Burlington. Snow was still falling late Sunday in Burlington.

The cold air had marched all the way down the East Coast into south Florida by Sunday, where freeze warnings were issued for nearly the entire state for today.

Robert Ritchey, a tomato grower in Alva, Fla., said temperatures dipped to 39 degrees in his 3-acre fields Saturday night. "I ain't lost any (crops) yet, and I don't want to," Ritchey said.

Daytime TV takes stock, retrenches in a changing world

It has been a season of loss for daytime broadcast TV.
Not only has the viewing audience continued its gradual decline, but daytime's biggest star, Oprah Winfrey, will be ending her show in 2011, and another talk host, Tyra Banks, announced last week that she would be leaving after one more season.

The soap opera world is taking a hit, too, as one of the most enduring soaps, As the World Turns, will stop telling stories after 54 years in September, joining the canceled Guiding Light.

"Viewership in daytime is down, and it's also unfortunately happening at a time of economic downturn. So the combination of the two makes it pretty difficult in the daytime arena," says Bill Carroll, vice president of Katz Television Group.

Winfrey's choice is considered personal rather than connected to the daytime drop, although her top-rated show also has experienced audience erosion. Nevertheless, her departure will leave a huge hole in the daytime lineup that no current host will be able to fill, Carroll says.

Doctors are very in

Daytime's audience loss reflects ratings drops throughout the broadcast day as cable competitors chip away (Winfrey will be taking a major role in her own cable network) and innovations, such as Soapnet and the DVR, let viewers catch up with their shows at other times. But there are also fewer women, the target audience, available to watch during the day, a trend that has been building for decades.

The news isn't all bad, however. The top performers in the talk, soap and court genres still perform well, although most have seen declines over the past five years. Some newer medical shows, such as the syndicated Dr. Oz and The Doctors, seem to be catching on by prescribing useful advice in an engaging way.

Doctors creator Jay McGraw says time-strapped viewers want more than just pure entertainment. "We like to think that we are a very entertaining show ... but we make sure in every episode that we give our viewers usable information," he says.

Bernanke: Regulation can hold back market excesses

Stronger regulation should be the first line of defense against excessive speculation that could send the economy into a new crisis, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Sunday.
But he didn't rule out higher interest rates to stop new speculative bubbles from forming.

The Fed chief's remarks were his most extensive on the subject since the housing market's tumble led to the gravest financial crisis since World War II— and perhaps the worst in modern history, in his view.

Critics blame the Fed for feeding that speculative boom in housing by holding interest rates too low for too long after the 2001 recession.

But Bernanke, in a speech to the American Economic Association's annual meeting in Atlanta, defended the central bank's actions. Extra-low rates were needed to get the economy and job creation back to full throttle after the Sept. 11 attacks and accounting scandals that rocked Wall Street, he said.

Bernanke said the direct links were weak between super-low interest rates and the rapid rise in house prices that occurred at roughly the same time. The stance of interest rates during that period "does not appear to have been inappropriate," he said.

Still, the enormous economic damage from the housing bust — the longest and deepest recession since the 1930s and double-digit unemployment — shows how important it is to guard against a repeat, Bernanke said.

"All efforts should be made to strengthen our regulatory system to prevent a recurrence of the crisis, and to cushion the effects if another crisis occurs," he said.

"However, if adequate reforms are not made, or if they are made but prove insufficient to prevent dangerous buildups of financial risks, we must remain open to using monetary policy as a supplementary tool," he added.

Speculative excesses are not easy to pinpoint in their early stages, he said, and using higher interest rates to combat them can hurt the economy.

For instance, rate increases in 2003 and 2004 to constrain the housing bubble could have "seriously weakened" the economy just when a recovery from the 2001 recession was starting, he said.

To help the country emerge from that recession, the Fed under then-Chairman Alan Greenspan cut its key bank lending rate from 6.5% in late 2000 to 1% in June 2003. It held rates at what was then a record low for a year. It's this action that critics blame for feeding the housing speculation.

Bernanke, however, said the expansion of complex mortgage products and the belief that housing prices would keep rising were the keys to inflating the housing bubble. As a result, lenders made home loans to people to finance houses they couldn't afford.

The Fed in 2005 did crack down on dubious mortgage practices and the type of mortgages blamed for the crisis. Bernanke acknowledged that these efforts "came too late or were insufficient to stop the decline in underwriting standards and effectively constrain the housing bubble."

Still, Bernanke said the lessons learned from the crisis isn't that regulation is ineffective but that regulation "must be better and smarter."

However, the Fed's regulatory lapses and its failure to spot problems leading up to the crisis have spurred efforts in Congress to rein in the Fed's powers and subject it to more oversight. Bernanke, who has been tapped by President Obama to a second term as Fed chief, faces a contentious confirmation in the Senate.

During a brief question-and-answer session after his speech, Bernanke didn't talk about current economic conditions or the future course of interest rates.

When the Fed meets later this month, it is expected to keep its key bank lending rate at a record low, near zero. The big question is whether the Fed will provide clues at that time about when it will need to start raising rates to prevent inflation from taking off.

Some analysts worry that the Fed, which has held rates at record lows since December 2008, could be fueling a new speculative period and potentially a future economic crisis.

Looking back, Bernanke suggested the Fed might have underestimated the full force of the recession, which struck in December 2007. "It turns out the recession was worst than we thought at the time."

After a four straight losing quarters, the economy finally growth from July through September last year. Much of that growth, though, came from government supported spending on homes and cars. There's concern about how vigorous the recovery will be once government supports are removed later this year.

Swine flu, space interest scientists most in 2009

Science marches on, sometimes with headlines and awards, but most often with little fanfare.
A look at the year's most-cited papers in science, ones that scientists themselves referenced in their own work, for example, finds studies that did and didn't make any "Top Ten" lists.

"What scientists themselves are interested in often differs a good bit from the public's interests," says analyst David Pendlebury of Thomson Reuters, the international specialty information firm. "Often the stories that really matter in science are the ones still unfolding."

As part of his efforts for the ScienceWatch.com website, Pendlebury compiled 2009's top topics in science, by citation, using an "Essential Science Indicators" database of publications, citations and trends in all disciplines. Here are the top 10:

•NASA's measures of the age, expansion and distribution of galaxies throughout the universe based on observations by its WMAP probe, launched in 2001. Not on a lot of lists, but, "the studies just provide a wealth of data that everyone in physics from cosmology to high-energy physicists will use for years," Pendlebury says.

•Prostate cancer studies suggesting that screening and Vitamin E had few benefits in treating the disease. These made news but were also highly cited by other researchers.

•New England Journal of Medicine and Journal of the American Medical Association studies showing problems with the blood-thinning drug Clopidogrel for heart patients. Another newsmaker.

•Diabetes treatment consensus statements that were updated this year. "Such articles are typically highly cited," Pendlebury says.

Fla. suspect held without bond in 4 Thanksgiving slayings

A Florida man accused of killing four relatives at a Thanksgiving dinner is being ordered held without bond on four charges of murder.
Paul Merhige was booked early Sunday at the Palm Beach County jail, hours after he was captured at a motel in the Florida Keys.


DAD: Florida Thanksgiving shootings were planned

The Palm Beach Post reported that Merhige was silent at his first court appearance. He was appointed a public defender, and an arraignment is set for Feb. 1.

Merhige had been the subject of a massive manhunt from Miami to Michigan that included billboards and flyers with his image and a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. He is accused of gunning down his twin sisters, a 79-year-old aunt and a 6-year-old cousin on Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 26) at a family gathering in Jupiter.

Merhige, 35, was arrested without a struggle Saturday night after the TV show America's Most Wanted aired and provided the tip that led to Merhige's capture on Long Key, Jupiter Police Sgt. Scott Pascarella said.

"I'm elated that the monster is in the cage," Jim Sitton, the father of 6-year-old victim Makayla Sitton, told The Palm Beach Post. "We don't have to worry about him killing my wife or coming back for my father-in-law. It doesn't bring my daughter back, but at least this chapter is over."

Authorities said Merhige checked into the motel Dec. 2, using the name "John Baca" and a false Homestead address. He had the same blue 2007 Toyota Camry that had been a key part of the manhunt, but police said it was hidden at the motel.

U.S. Marshals said Merhige, who had withdrawn $12,000 from bank accounts before the killings, paid for his room in advance in cash. It turned out that the license tag on his car had been registered to a Lexus he owned in 2006.

Merhige was on his computer when U.S. Marshals and local deputies entered his motel room, according to a Marshals statement.

It wasn't immediately clear Merhige had an attorney. Authorities said he was taken to the Palm Beach County jail.

Police said Merhige opened fire at a home where 16 relatives had gathered for the holiday in Jupiter, an affluent community about 90 miles north of Miami. He faces four counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings, which also injured two other people.

Police said Merhige shot and killed his 33-year-old twin sisters, Carla Merhige and Lisa Knight, both of Miami, along with his aunt Raymonde Joseph, 76, and his young cousin. Police said Knight was pregnant.

Authorities have said Merhige carefully planned the killings. Sitton has said Merhige was heard saying after the shootings that he had waited 20 years to kill the relatives.

Merhige sat through three hours of dinner and sing-a-longs around the piano before the shootings, Sitton has said. There were no arguments, warnings or red flags before the rampage, he said.

Police said Merhige was taking numerous medications, including Ativan, which is used to treat anxiety disorders.

Copyright 2010

Stocks post biggest rebound in 2009 since Great Depression

NEW YORK — Few analysts forecast this year's remarkable stock market rebound as major indexes were plunging to 12-year lows last March. Now, with most experts predicting the pace of stocks' gains will slow in 2010, there's reason to believe they will be proven correct.
Despite fears early in the year about a potential financial system collapse, stocks managed to have their best year since 2003 on growing signs of recovery in what turned out to be Wall Street's biggest comeback since the Great Depression.

Stocks began the dramatic turnaround in March after Citigroup and other big banks said they were making money again, and then climbed at a fairly steady pace as signs of an economic recovery from the Great Recession became more pronounced.

Once it was clear a collapse wasn't going to happen, the Standard & Poor's 500 index roared back 64.8% from its early March low. For the full year, the index rose 23.5%, or 211.85 points, it's best showing since 2003.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1,651.66, or 18.8% for the year. From its March 9 close, the Dow jumped 59.3%. Powered by the recovery in high-tech stocks, the Nasdaq ended 2009 with a gain of 696.12, or 43.9%. Tthe Nasdaq has surged 78.9% from its March low.

But despite the spectacular gains in 2009, stocks have turned in one of its worst performances over the course of a decade. The S&P 500 posted its first losing decade, falling 24% from the start of 2000.

Authorities search for man who walked through screening exit

NEWARK (AP) — Authorities are searching for a man who walked through a screening checkpoint exit into the secure side of a terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport. Flights have been grounded, and passengers are being re-screened.
Homeland Security Department spokeswoman Sari Koshetz says a man was seen walking down an exit lane at Terminal C about 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Screening was halted in the terminal while authorities looked at surveillance tapes to identify the man.

Passengers in the Continental terminal have been moved to the open side of the airport to go through screening again. The security line was emptied, and passengers were waiting in check-in areas at about 9 p.m.

Continental spokeswoman Susannah Thurston says it's an airport security issue not involving the Houston-based airline.

Marrakech Travel Guide

Why? A mysterious labyrinthine medina, snake-charmers and acrobats on the panoramic central square, colourful bazaars, the aroma of sizzling Morrocan delicacies: these are the experiences one can expect from a holiday in Marrakech. The intoxicating city was an ancient caravan trading post, and retains its traditional atmosphere along with a lively modern tourist trade which draws thousands to travel to Marrakech for an exotic get-away.

When? The sun shines nearly all year round in Marrakech, which has a Mediterranean climate. Those who enjoy the heat should holiday in Marrakech during July and August, but the best time to travel to Marrakech is during spring (March to June), when bright blue skies offset the rose-hue of the city's clay buildings and temperatures are comfortable.

Who for? Anyone who has a yen for exotic destinations will be charmed by a holiday in Marrakech, which is a trip back in time to medieval Morocco.

More Info: To find out everything you need to know to plan a holiday in Marrakech make use of our comprehensive Marrakech travel guide, which includes everything from airport facilities to admission fees for the major attractions. It is also advisable for Westerners to read up on Muslim customs in the 'Basics' section of the guide before travelling to Marrakech.

About Saxophones

The saxophone is a single reed instrument that has its place in everything from pop to big band to jazz to classical. Depending on the player, it can sound mellow or strong. The saxophone's individualized sound is possible because of the variety of mouthpiece materials and designs, the range of hardness in reeds, and a relatively loose mouth position that enables the player to vary the timbre and to "bend" notes.

Available in a variety of sizes ranging from seven inches to seven feet tall, the most common saxophones are the soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones. More unusual saxophones include the mezzo soprano, bass, contrabass, Conn-O-Sax, F baritone, C soprano, and sopranino.

Legends like Charlie Parker and John Coltrane helped the saxophone become the most popular woodwind solo instrument among jazz performers and audiences. Other legendary saxophone players include Cannonball Adderly, Stan Getz, Jimmy Dorsey, Johnny Hodges, Wayne Shorter and Grover Washington, Jr. Among today's well-known names, you'll find Sonny Rollins, David Sanborn, Kenny G, Boney James, Candy Dulfer, Dave Koz and Branford Marsalis.

Uganda army 'kills rebel leader'

A senior commander of a Ugandan rebel group has been killed in Central African Republic, Ugandan officials have said.

Brigadier Bok Abudema of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) was killed in the town of Djema on Friday amid an ongoing operation against the group by Ugandan forces across several countries in the region.

Lieutenant Colonel Felix Kulayige, Uganda's defence and army spokesman, said Abudema was the only casualty of the raid that killed him but troops also recovered two women who had been with him.

"He was a notorious commander but his life has come to an end," he said.

Okello Oryem, Uganda's foreign affairs minister, repeated the military's claims that it had carried out a successful operation against the LRA commander.

"Abudema is absolutely dead, he will never recover from his death and his body is due to be buried any time now because his body is fermenting," he told Al Jazeera from Kampala, the Ugandan capital.

"This is a massive triumph," he said. "Abudema was a killer, he was a rapist and he committed massacres in northern Uganda on a number of occasions."

Real rue missed opportunity

Real Madrid missed their chance to top Spain's Primera Division after being held to a 0-0 draw at Osasuna.

A win would have put Madrid level on points with Barcelona and ahead on goal difference after the Catalans drew 1-1 against Villarreal on Saturday.

Barcelona lead the standings with 40 points after the first round of games following the winter break. Real Madrid are next with 38, Valencia have 32.

"We wanted to win because it was a very important game but this is a very tough place to play,'' said Madrid's Marcelo.

"Now we have to keep working and winning to catch up with Barcelona.''

Mallorca fourth

In other results on Sunday, Mallorca moved up to fourth place and the Champions League spots by beating Athletic Bilbao 2-0 thanks to second-half goals from Julio Alvarez and Aritz Aduriz.

Alvarez's left-footed shot glanced off a defender and looped into the goal in the 49th minute.

Aduriz scored his eighth of the season in the 66th when he lobbed goalkeeper Gorka Iraizoz.

Mallorca's eighth home win out of eight give them 30 points. Bilbao are eighth on 26 points.

Racing Santander and Almeria both climbed away from the relegation zone with wins.

Santander beat Tenerife 2-0 with second-half goals from Gonzalo Colsa and Francisco "Xisco'' Jimenez, lifting the team two places to 14th on 16 points.

Almeria beat bottom-placed Xerez 1-0 with an 89th minute winner from Jose Ortiz Bernal in Juan Manuel Lillo's first game in charge following the departure of Hugo Sanchez.

The result leaves Almeria in 15th place on 16 points.

Another struggling team, Malaga, appeared to have risen out of the bottom three, twice going ahead against Sporting Gijon with goals from Sergio "Duda'' Barbosa and Weligton before the hosts equalised through Gregory Arnolin and a long-range shot by Roberto Canella.

US recovery on shaky ground

The US economy is growing, but not as much as expected new figures have shown.

Data released on Tuesday showed the US GDP grew 2.2 per cent from July through September, more than half a percentage point down from earlier forecasts.

The revised growth figure follows four successive quarters of decline in the world's largest economy, but prospects for a sustainable recovery remain uncertain.

The expansion was largely driven by massive government spending, including the so-called "cash-for-clunkers" programme to encourage spending on new cars.

Meanwhile, business investment remains well down, as are bank lending figures, and despite the Christmas holiday season, consumer spending has been tepid at best.

At the same time, unemployment stands at around 10 per cent, with warnings that that figure could rise yet further before it starts to improve.

Fear

Ford agrees to sell Volvo to Geely

Ford, the US auto giant, has moved a step closer to selling its loss-making Swedish brand Volvo, saying a final deal is expected with Chinese car maker Geely next year.

Ford said work still remained before finalising the deal, which it expects to sign in the first quarter of 2010 and close in the second quarter.

"Ford Motor Company confirmed today that all substantive commercial terms relating to the potential sale of Volvo Car Corporation have been settled between Ford and Zhejiang Geely Holding Group," Ford said in a statement on Wednesday.

It added Ford expects to co-operate with Volvo Cars after the sale, but doesn't intend to maintain a shareholding in Volvo.

In a separate statement, Geely said its negotiations with Ford had deepened since October and that it had held "constructive" talks with Volvo's management and Swedish union and government officials.

According to reports in Swedish media, the price of the transaction will be around $2bn, less than a third of what Ford had paid for Volvo in 1999.

The accord would mark the first major inroad by a Chinese company into Europe's auto industry and would be another step in the US auto industry's retrenchment from global operations.

The move would also mark another acquisition of an auto unit by a Chinese company.

General Motors is selling its Hummer brand to construction machinery maker Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery, and China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings has agreed to buy some powertrain technology from GM's Swedish Saab unit.

Ford, which unlike its US rivals General Motors and Chrysler did not take US government aid to cope with falling sales and managed to avoid bankruptcy this year, had put Volvo up for sale in December 2008.

Geely, a former refrigerator parts supplier, has grown into one of China's largest private car makers since launching its auto business in 1997.

'Payout plan' angers Iceland voters

Iceland's president is facing pressure to halt the repayment of $5bn to British and Dutch savers who lost their money when the island's banks collapsed over a year ago.

Nearly a quarter of Icelandic voters have signed a petition asking Olaf Ragnar Grimsson to veto a bill sanctioning the repayment and organise a referendum on the issue, organisers said on Saturday.

Hundreds of people, some carrying flares, gathered outside Grimsson's residence to submit the petition.

Parliament earlier narrowly approved an amended version of the bill to reimburse Britain and the Netherlands for the amount lost by their savers who had deposited funds in high-interest "Icesave" online savings accounts.

But the Grimsson has yet to sign it into law and 23 per cent of the island nation's electorate - 56,089 people - have signed the petition, organisers said.

'Huge risk'

The Icesave deal is deeply unpopular with the Icelandic population and there is widespread feeling that taxpayers are being left to foot the bill for mistakes made by financial firms operating under the watch of other national regulators.

InDefence, the group responsible for gathering the signatures, said the Icesave legislation represented a "huge risk" for Iceland's economic future.

"All projections based on realistic assumptions ... showed without doubt that Iceland would be unable to meet the payments stipulated by the Icesave loan agreements as set out in the disputed legislation," a statement from the group said.

But repaying the money could also hold some benefit for Iceland as the longstanding dispute has held up payment of some aid funds from international lenders.

'Debt burden'

Morton Kraemer, a credit analyst with rating agency Standard & Poor's, said that while the bill "will add significantly to the general government's debt burden" the resulting aid payments would help Reykjavij relax financial controls put in place during the financial crisis.

"It [passage of the bill] is a decisive step to unlock further disbursements of up to 2.3 billion euros from the International Monetary Fund and from bilateral loans from Nordic governments," he said.

Passing the Icesave legislation would also boost Iceland's hopes of swift entry into the European Union, a move Iceland's population is only lukewarm about.

Icesave was an online subsidiary of Iceland's Landsbanki bank, which had to be rescued in October 2008 as the global credit crunch hit.

Phones, PCs to drive tech rally into 2010

The mood at CES 2010 should be far more buoyant than in early 2009, when the economy was deep in recession and financial markets reeled from the credit crisis.

Tech stocks have since recovered, with the Nasdaq Composite Index ending 2009 up more than 40 percent, near a 15-month high. Analysts say stronger corporate IT spending, an explosion of activity around smartphones and mobile computing, plus consolidation, should further bolster the sector in 2010.

Broadpoint AmTech analyst Brian Marshall predicted a climb of roughly 15 percent in the Nasdaq in 2010, noting that some of the good news was already factored in to stock valuations.

"It's going to be tough to find areas that won't do well next year," Marshall said.

Topping the list for many sell-side analysts are perennial blue-chip favorites like Google Inc, Apple Inc, Cisco Systems Inc and Intel Corp.

But with economic recovery slowly taking root and companies starting to upgrade their IT systems again, analysts say 2010 will offer tech investors a wide range of opportunities.

Microsoft Corp's latest Windows 7 operating system should help spur sales of personal computers, with research group IDC forecasting double-digit PC shipment growth through 2013. Top PC makers Hewlett-Packard Co, Acer Inc and Dell Inc could be a way for investors to capitalize on that trend, analysts say.

Many like data storage giant EMC Corp as a way to play the anticipated uptick in corporate spending, along with its software unit VMware Inc.

FBR Capital Markets analyst Daniel Ives is recommending "defensive stocks with offensive characteristics" because of uncertainty about the strength and pace of recovery in 2010. He likes EMC, infrastructure software maker Citrix Systems Inc, and security software names McAfee Inc and Symantec Corp.

Tamesna city General Contractor, clients reach agreement

For over a year now, a total of 3500 families have been claiming their flats built by General Contractor, calling on the French company to honor its commitments and deliver to them their houses after a delay of more than a year.

“When the creation of the new city was announced a number of families rushed to the premises of the company to buy new flats, obtained bank loans for the purpose, paid the property developer and prepared themselves for their new homes,” the president of the association “Tamesna Awalan” (Tamesna first), Houcine Hayani, had said.

He added that “for more than a year now, these families have been asking General Contractor-Maroc to hand them over their due flats, but up to now they have received nothing.”

Now, at last, the problem has been solved after four months of hard work made by a mediation commission designated by the housing ministry to look into this crisis.

Thus the new management of the GCM has signed on Monday two contracts. The first is with the state-run construction company Al Omrane which will take charge of the French company's projects in Tamesna.

The second was signed with the Tamesna Association for Development and Solidarity, which is representing the families claiming their houses. The company thus made a number of commitments to alleviate the situation.

According to the new arrangement, at the end of the new deadlines, the French company commits to pay each client MAD 3,000 for each day of delay.

“This accord has put an end to the difficulties faced by the GCM in the implementation of its programmers as part of Tamesna city project,” said Abdelkader Kaioua, the president of the mediation commission.

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Sweden culls its resurgent wolves

Swedish hunters have begun culling wolves for the first time in 45 years after parliament ruled that numbers needed to be reduced again.

Nine animals were shot dead in the county of Dalarna on the first day of the cull - a third of the total number to be killed, Swedish radio reports.

Hunters have until 15 February to fill the quota of 27, which will leave Sweden with an estimated 210 wolves.

Some 10,000 hunters were reported to be planning to take part in the hunt.

Hunting in Dalarna was halted as the quota for the county was nine wolves.

Late-night teens 'face greater depression risk'

Going to bed earlier protects teenagers against depression and suicidal thoughts, New York research suggests.

Of 15,500 12 to 18-year-olds studied, those who went to bed after midnight were 24% more likely to have depression than those who went before 2200.

And those who slept fewer than five hours a night had a 71% higher risk of depression than those who slept eight hours, the journal Sleep reports.

It is estimated 80,000 UK children and young people have depression.

The researchers from Columbia University Medical Center in New York looked at data from 15,500 teenagers collected in the 1990s.

One in 15 of those studied were found to have depression.

Enough sleep, good food and regular exercise and all essential to stay emotionally healthy

Sarah Brennan, YoungMinds
As well as the higher risk of depression, those who were set a bedtime by their parents of after midnight were 20% more likely to think about suicide than those whose bedtime was 2200 or earlier.

Oil price rise nears $80 a barrel

Oil prices have climbed to more than $79 a barrel, reaching the highest levels for five weeks.

During Monday's trading in London, US crude touched $79.12 a barrel before falling back later to $78.77.

Heating oil futures led the gains, while London Brent crude rose by more than a dollar to $77.32 a barrel.

Prices rose following forecasts of colder weather in the United States, and the expectation of increased consumption and falling reserves.

That would indicate that demand was rising and signal an improvement in the US economy.

The north-west of the US is also the world's largest heating oil market.

On Thursday last week, benchmark crude rose $1.38 to settle at $78.05. Oil markets were closed on Friday for Christmas.

Falling supplies?

Inventory figures detailing the amount of oil held in stock are expected later this week from the Energy Information Administration.

News of low stock levels could push oil prices above $80 a barrel by the end of the year, according to Clarence Chu, a trader with Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore.

Better employment figures in the US last week also helped to lift hopes of economic recovery and raised expectations of stronger consumer spending and oil consumption.

Stock markets recover in 2009

Stock markets around the world staged a recovery in 2009 since March, when most of them hit their lows for the year.

It was a year in which governments and central banks around the world took extraordinary measures to get their economies growing.
US share prices also performed well. Despite a drop of about 1% of all Wall Street indexes during the last trading hour on New Year's Eve, the broad-based S&P 500 index was up nearly 25%, the strongest performance since 2003, while the Dow Jones gained 20%. The technology-driven Nasdaq index doubled those gains, rallying 45%.

However, those advances pale in comparison with China's stock market rally. The Shanghai composite jumped 80% this year.

Familiar movie characters set for 2010 return

Old favourites get a new look in 2010 with a raft of blockbuster releases featuring tried and tested characters.

These include a 3D interpretation of Alice in Wonderland from director Tim Burton and a new take on the Robin Hood legend starring Russell Crowe.

Actor Michael Douglas will reprise his Oscar-winning performance as corporate raider Gordon Gekko in a belated sequel to 1987 thriller Wall Street.

And the stars of a big-screen version of 1980s TV show The A-Team will be hoping audiences still love it when a plan comes together.



Sam Worthington plays Perseus in the Clash of the Titans remake
Following the enormous success of New Moon, a third instalment in the Twilight franchise is sure to have box-office tills ringing when it arrives in July.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse will be followed towards the end of 2010 by the penultimate Harry Potter adventure and a third Narnia film, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

L'Egypte et le Nigeria sans problème ?

A 10 jours du coup d'envoi de la Coupe d'Afrique des nations en Angola, qui se tiendra du 10 au 31 janvier 2010, Football.fr poursuit sa revue d'effectifs des forces en présence dans chaque groupe de la compétition. Après les groupes A et B, place au groupe C avec comme têtes d'affiche le Nigeria et l'Egypte. Ces deux sélections semblent promises aux quarts de finale, mais gare au Bénin du Parisien Stéphane Sessegnon, qui jouera le coup à fond. Le Mozambique, enfin, va avoir besoin d'un exploit pour exister dans cette CAN 2010.

Le Mozambique: Que peut véritablement espérer le Mozambique dans ce groupe C de la Coupe d'Afrique des nations ? Troisième du groupe B des éliminatoires de la Coupe du monde 2010, la formation dirigée par Mart Nooij semble être la victime expiatoire aux côtés du Nigeria et de l'Egypte. L'aventure angolaise des Mambas devrait se réduire à une lutte pour la troisième place avec le Bénin. Histoire de ne pas repartir totalement bredouille. Côté palmarès, le Mozambique est quasiment inexistant. Jamais qualifié en Coupe du monde, trois participations en Coupe d'Afrique des nations pour une élimination dès la phase de poules... On voit mal les Mambas créer une surprise.

Pronostics Football.fr: Phase de poules, 4e du groupe C
Matches de préparation: Gabon-Mozambique, le 3 janvier.
Surnom: Les Mambas
Classement Fifa: 72e
Nombre de participations à une phase finale de CAN: 3
Meilleur résultat en Coupe d'Afrique des Nations: 1er tour (1986, 1996 et 1998)
Phases finales de Coupe du monde avant 2010: aucune

Learn Arabic

Many people are wondering what they should expect if they start to learn Arabic. How important is it? How hard or easy is it? Whether it has different rules from English (concerning Arabic Grammar, Arabic Vocabulary ...)



First let's talk about how important Arabic is, Today Arabic is spoken throughout the Arabian Peninsula, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Mauritania, and Chad. It is the mother tongue of over 225 million people in Africa and Asia. And since the Qur'an is written in Arabic, people in other Muslim countries have from basic to advanced knowledge of Arabic like in Indonesia (largest Muslim population), Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Israel, India also has one of the world's largest Muslim populations, although Islam is not the principal religion there. Djibouti, Gambia, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Ghana, Tanzania (Zanzibar is predominantly Muslim), Nigeria ...and in many places where Islam is the dominant religion, or even among small Muslim communities, since Arabic is related directly to the Qur'an, the holy book of Muslim.

Le Cinéaste Ivoirien Timité Bassori Présidera le Jury du 11éme FNF

C'est le cinéaste Ivoirien Timité Bassori qui présidera le jury de la de la compétition long métrage de la 11ème édition du Festival National du Film, prévue du 23 au 30 janvier 2010 à Tanger.

Le jury de la compétition court métrage sera présidé par Madame Martine Zevort, chef monteuse Cinéma et enseignante à l’Ecole Supérieure des Arts Visuels (ESAV) de Marrakech.

Les autres membres seront communiqués ultérieurement, souligne un communiqué du CCM, organisateur de cette manifestation.

Le jury de la de la compétition long métrage sera composé de sept membres alors que celle du court métrages sera composée de cinq membres.

Les deux jury devront départager respectivement 14 longs métrages et 14 courts métrages en compétition officielle pour les différents prix du 11ème Festival National du Film.

Rappelons que Le Festival du cinéma Africain de Khouribga avait rendu un hommage au réalisateur ivoirien Timité Bassori lors de sa dernière édition.

Comment faire pour installer Windows XP

Cinq méthodes d'installation de Windows XP sont proposées. Examinez les méthodes suivantes, puis sélectionnez la méthode qui convient à votre installation.
Méthode 1 : nouvelle installation de Windows XP
Cette méthode permet une nouvelle installation de Windows XP. Une nouvelle installation permet de supprimer toutes les données du disque dur en le repartitionnant et en le reformatant et de réinstaller le système d'exploitation et les programmes sur un disque dur vide (nouveau).
Méthode 2 : mise à niveau vers Windows XP
Utilisez cette méthode si vous procédez à une mise à niveau vers Windows XP à partir de Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition et Microsoft Windows 2000 Professionnel.
Méthode 3 : installation de Windows XP sur un nouveau disque dur
Cette méthode permet d'installer Windows XP sur un nouveau disque dur. Cette opération est généralement effectuée lorsqu'un nouveau disque dur est installé sur votre ordinateur.
Méthode 4 : installation de Windows XP dans un nouveau dossier (installation parallèle)
Cette méthode permet d'installer Windows XP dans un nouveau dossier (installation parallèle) pour exécuter deux systèmes d'exploitation ou pour accéder, réparer ou récupérer les données d'un disque endommagé.
Méthode 5 : démarrage multiple
Cette méthode permet d'installer Windows XP comme système d'exploitation distinct sur votre ordinateur. Vous pouvez alors installer plusieurs systèmes d'exploitation sur votre ordinateur et sélectionner celui que vous souhaitez utiliser à chaque démarrage de votre ordinateur.

How to Make Money with Web Hosting

We all know that web hosting is the basis of all web sites. It helps us attract visitors, it displays what we are desperately trying to get across, and it allows us to survive in the cut throat internet world. While these are all important qualities that come with web hosting, there are many other opportunities. Dying to make extra cash? Surprisingly, web hosting can actually help with your bills. In a few simple steps, you will be on your way to a richer lifestyle.

Fortunately, there is a new trend in the web industry. Reseller Hosting, which consists of purchasing a web hosting package and reselling it for a larger price, has been making webmasters just a few cents richer. Although this sounds like a daunting task, it actually only requires a large amount of space. Once the webmaster acquires such a large server and bandwidth, he/she is able to divide it up among other people. As long as they are willing to pay a monthly fee, you will never get screwed over.

Regardless of how much money you want to make, purchasing this re-seller hosting does not cost much. For an average of $30/month, you can purchase enough space to make a profit. While all of these websites will be on a shared server, the majority of webmasters do not mind this downside. After all, not everyone can shell out thousands a month just to acquire their own dedicated server. Once you have found a few loyal customers who will not create any illegal material, you will be generating a profit every single month out of the year. Fortunately, until you stop your hosting, you will never be out of a job.

In order to sell this type of hosting, you absolutely need to network. Regrettably, there are many webmasters trying to follow the trend. For this reason alone, you should look in unpopulated areas. Try and find a website or forum that has not yet been tackled by other masses of website owners. For instance, find websites similar to your own. If you do not have one, look on webmaster-related forums such as Digital Point or Webmaster-Talk. These areas are populated with thousands of interested clients, who will be more than happy to jump on the bandwagon, if you do have a great deal.

Still desperately trying to find other ways to market? Many website owners advertise through blogs and buy text link ads. As a result, people will be more apt to find what you are offering. If this doesn't work, you could even start marketing in a local newspaper or a newsletter that goes out to professional companies who are always looking for alternatives. Nevertheless, there are plenty of consumers out there. You just need to be creative and put in the effort, in order to get anywhere.

For years web hosting has been flooding the market. However, it has just recently become a form of revenue for webmasters who just don't own their own web hosting company. It is a wonderful alternative to an additional part time job, especially if this is what you love to do. Networking with others, controlling a server, while working on your website certainly sounds like the perfect occupation.

New Year 2010

After the year 2009, the New Year 2010 has in store various things for different persons. It is expected to be an eventful year with achievements and success in every field. This year you would achieve bigger goals and fulfill those commitments which were pending last year. Whatever work we had thought of taking up but failed to do so, should be taken up this year. We all would try to make this New Year 2010 more successful and joyful.

Grippe A (H1N1) de 2009

La grippe A (H1N1) de 2009 est une maladie respiratoire aiguë contagieuse provoquée par un virus de la grippe A de sous-type H1N1 différent des sous-type A H1N1 de la grippe saisonnière. Ce virus est réapparu en 2009 sous une nouvelle forme génétique transmissible d’homme à homme. L'épidémie grippale résultante a touché l'ensemble de la planète dans les mois qui ont suivi et a été qualifiée de pandémie par l'OMS en juin 2009[1]. Ce nouveau virus grippal, contenant des gènes de plusieurs virus connus d’origine porcine, aviaire et humaine[2], est un virus réassorti[3].


Influenza virus A de sous-type H1N1Le virus se propage généralement par la toux, les éternuements, les postillons dans un périmètre d'au moins deux mètres (avec une incertitude concernant les climatisations collectives), ou en touchant une surface contaminée (il reste vivant de 8 à 48 heures à l'air libre, selon la nature de la surface sur laquelle il repose). Les symptômes, qui peuvent durer jusqu'à une semaine, sont similaires à ceux de la grippe saisonnière et peuvent inclure fièvre, éternuements, mal de gorge, toux, maux de tête et douleurs musculaires et articulaires. En général, le traitement est symptomatique, analogue à ce qui est pratiqué face aux autres syndromes grippaux et essentiellement à base de paracétamol[4]. Pour les cas plus sévères, des médicaments antiviraux, inhibiteurs de la neuraminidase tels l’oseltamivir ou le zanamivir, sont prescrits[5]. Un vaccin étant disponible, les campagnes de prévention privilégient la vaccination pour l'ensemble de la population dans la plupart des pays.

Au niveau mondial, environ 6 000 décès étaient enregistrés à la mi-novembre[6] avec un taux de complications sévères de l'ordre de 2 à 3 ‰, analogue à ce qui est observé avec les grippes saisonnières[7]. Dans la plupart des cas, les malades n’ont présenté que des symptômes bénins et leur guérison a été rapide et complète[8], néanmoins à la différence des épidémies de grippe saisonnière, les femmes enceintes et les personnes souffrant d'obésité présentent une sur-mortalité[

Website Creation Tutorial for Beginners

Want to learn the ABC's of creating a website? Congrats! You just stumbled upon one of the few tutorial sites that encourage you to GET THE FACTS before you create a website. Start here!

The Perfect Site Guide is Free!
No need to pay for books to learn how to create a website and make money online. The only guide you will ever need is right here and it's free!

Download The Perfect Site Guide here.
(Right-click your mouse and Save As)

What You Need to Start Your Website
There are two things you absolutely must have to build a website:

1) A domain name (yoursite.com or yoursite.net, etc.)

2) A web host

Watch a video that shows you how to register a domain and choose a host.

However, before you just jump into the website creation process, you should define the type of site you want so you choose the right kind of web host for your needs.

Create a Website or Blog?
Don't know the real difference between the two? Can't decide which one you should create or do you need both?

Learn more about creating a blog here.

Sarkozy fait de 2010 «l'année du renouveau»

«Respectons-nous les unsles autres», a lancéle président lors de ses vœux du 31 décembre aux Français.

Rassurer et se rassurer. Pas mécontent d'en finir avec une fin d'année 2009 marquée par une série de mauvaises nouvelles et des sondages en berne, Nicolas Sarkozy a commencé 2010 en adoptant la «positive attitude». Pour les troisièmes vœux de son quinquennat, le chef de l'État a privilégié un discours rassembleur énumérant en sept minutes, sur un ton délibérément modeste, les réformes accomplies et les chantiers à venir. Le tout sans chercher la moindre polémique jusqu'à souhaiter davantage de «fraternité». Un vocabulaire directement emprunté à Ségolène Royal.

En pleine polémique autour du débat sur l'identité nationale, le président a d'ailleurs invité l'opposition et la majorité à se respecter, à moins s'insulter et se déchirer. «Respectons-nous les uns les autres, faisons l'effort de nous comprendre», a-t-il suggéré sans évoquer explicitement le débat lancé par le ministre de l'Immigration, Éric Besson. Mais l'adresse présidentielle visait évidemment à calmer le jeu alors que ce débat a provoqué plusieurs dérapages verbaux et soulevé un tollé à gauche et même à droite.

Tourism in Morocco

Tourism in Morocco is well developed, with a strong tourist industry focused on the country's coast, culture, and history. Most of Morocco's tourists are European. Morocco has been one of the most politically stable countries in North Africa, which has allowed tourism to develop. The Moroccan government created a Ministry of Tourism in 1985.

मोविएस २०१० Youth in Revolt

Title:
Bitch Slap

Genre:
Action

Directed by:
Rick Jacobson

Starring:
Julia Voth, Erin Cummings, America Olivo

Release date:
Fri 08, Jan 2010

Neil Young receives royal honour

Neil Young has been given the Order of Canada as part of Queen Elizabeth II`s New Year honours.

The Order of Canada is the second highest honour that can be awarded to a Canadian. Young had previously been granted the O.M. (Members of the Order of Canada) and can now add the O.C. (Order of Canada) to his name.

Neil Young, O.C, O.M. received the new honour 'for his contributions as one of Canada’s greatest musical talents whose unique voice and iconic songs have influenced generations of musicians, and for his support of educational and charitable organizations'.

Young was amongst 57 new appointments for the honor presented by the Queen’s representative in Canada Governor General Michaelle Jean.

The Order of Canada was established in 1967 to recognize the lifetime achievements of outstanding Canadians.

Soundgarden reform

Soundgarden are back together. It is official. Chris Cornell has announced the news at his Twitter site.

'The 12 year break is over & school is back in session. Sign up now. Knights of the Soundtable ride again!,' he posted today (01-01-10)

Australia was the last country on Earth to experience Soundgarden. The band broke up after their headlining Australian tour on Big Day Out in 1997.

Since then, singer Chris Cornell has kept a high profile, firstly solo, then as frontman for Audioslave, then solo again.

In total, he made 5 albums (including Audioslave) outside Soundgarden.

It is still early days. We don’t know what is in store for Soundgarden 2010 at this stage. A tour is obvious. Another album expected. More soon.

World Revels as New Year Begins

NEW YORK -- The crystal ball has dropped and confetti has showered the crowd of hundreds of thousands of revelers in Times Square who are greeting 2010 with cheers.

With hugs and kisses, partygoers tried to look forward to a more hopeful decade after 10 years marred by war, an uncertain economy, terrorism and the threat of environmental catastrophe.

But 50-year-old reveler Gail Guay of New Hampshire had this advice: "Don't look back."

Organizers had mixed handwritten wishes with about 3,000 pounds of confetti. The messages include appeals for the safe return of troops fighting overseas, continued employment and a cure for diabetes.

The crowds brought out heightened security. Hundreds of officers were scattered around Times Square. Snipers were at various locations.

Paris jazzed up the Eiffel Tower with a multicolored, disco-style light display as the world basked in festivities with hopes that 2010 and beyond will bring more peace and prosperity.

From fireworks over Sydney's famous bridge to balloons sent aloft in Tokyo, revelers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries about the future to bid farewell to "The Noughties" -- a bitter-tinged nickname for the first decade of the 21st century playing on a term for "zero" and evoking the word naughty.

Las Vegas prepared to welcome some 315,000 revelers with fireworks from casino rooftops, a traffic-free Las Vegas Strip and toasts at nightclubs from celebrities including actress Eva Longoria and rapper 50 Cent.

Even as some major stock market indexes rose in 2009, the financial downturn hit hard, sending many industrial economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out of their homes as foreclosures rose dramatically in some countries.

Two Dowdy Clothing Brands Go for Vogue

'A Functional Fleece'
Ms. Gardell, who lives in Manhattan, says she can't remember the last thing she ordered from L.L. Bean or Lands' End. "It might have been a functional fleece to go skiing," she says. "I go through the catalogs, and I don't really see anything that jumps out at me and makes me want to buy. It's kind of dowdy. What comes to mind is pleated khaki pants and zip-up fleeces that come in 18 different colors but don't really have style."

Still, she says she would be willing to give the new collections a look. "If there is something different, I'll try it," she says.

For both brands, the biggest difference lies in fit. To design its Signature line, which launches in March, L.L. Bean tapped Alex Carleton, who founded fashion line Rogues Gallery and once worked as a designer at Bean. Signature alters the silhouettes of the label's clothing, such as men's work shirts and cargo pants and women's camp shirts and shirt dresses. In some cases, it changes the fabrics, using chambray rather than poplin, for instance. Also, pants for both men and women have shorter rises, the length of the fabric from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband. Prices will be slightly higher than those in L.L. Bean's core line.

Mourinho: 'Italy lacks innovation'

Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho has criticised Italy's Serie A, saying there was too much emphasis on results and less flexibility for coaches to 'innovate' and develop tactics.

The self-appointed 'Special One', compared working in Italy to working in the English Premier League, where he used to manage Chelsea, saying in England coaches were given a greater amount of time to 'develop their work'.

In an interview with Portuguese weekly paper Expresso, Mourinho again hinted he was not totally happy in Italy.

"When after a third of the Italian championship nine coaches have lost their jobs, who is the coach that wants to innovate?", he remarked.

"The Serie A coach does not want to innovate, he wants to survive."

Proteas mull over changes

South Africa are set to make at least one change in their team as they go into the crucial third Test against England, starting on Sunday in Cape Town.

The pressure is on for the home side who trail 1-0 in the series and are facing calls for wholesale changes to the team.

"We're all under pressure," admitted South African coach Mickey Arthur, who said 'tough decisions' would have to be made about the composition of the side following their crushing innings and 98 runs defeat in the second Test in Durban.

"We're 1-0 down in the series and we've got to take 20 wickets and win this Test match," said Arthur.

He said: "There may be one change, there may be two."

Possibilities

Asked whether veteran fast bowler Makhaya Ntini faced the axe, Arthur said Ntini had not been at his best in Durban, but cautioned that did not necessarily mean the only black African in the squad would be dropped.

But he also said that if Ntini won a reprieve it would not be simply because of his status as a standard-bearer for racial transformation.

"He's an icon cricketer and you tend to give icon players a longer run because they deserve it."

England, meanwhile, are concerned about the fitness of batsman Paul Collingwood, who suffered a dislocated left index finger during fielding practice in Durban.

Coach Andy Flower said Collingwood had made good progress, which included batting in the nets on Friday.

"I was pleasantly surprised because we hadn't factored in him batting today," said Flower.

"But he's still doubtful. He didn't face the quicker bowlers and he didn't do any robust fielding practice."

The Bubble Decade

It is befitting that Time magazine made Bernard Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, the US central bank, as its "Man of the Year" for 2009.

Surely, the decade of 2000-09 will go down in history as the decade of the forming and bursting of one of the biggest financial bubbles ever.

Though this was the decade of 9/11, followed by the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the economic ups and downs may have put more of a signature on the decade 2000-09 than even those world-altering events.

The decade of 2000-09 began with an economic smarting due to the dissipation of the personal computer-internet boom.

The PC-internet boom was a major technological epoch covering more than the previous decade.

It had brought about high and sustained economic growth to the US and most of the world. But by 2000, not only was the technological epoch over, but the financial bubble that had accompanied the real growth had also burst.

As the US economy was floundering around aimlessly, the only policy issue being talked about was the Bush tax cuts, which once implemented transformed the US government's annual budgets from surpluses to deficits.

And then came 9/11. Wall Street crashed in the ensuing days, and there was a serious concern that the US would go into a downturn.


The artificial US housing boom in early 2000
led to the financial crisis [GALLO/GETTY]

In response, the Fed [the US federal bank] under Alan Greenspan started creating money at an unusually high rate.

This brought the Fed's lending rate to commercial banks to one per cent and sometimes even below.

The Fed continued to pump money into the banking system for a long period of time, making it one of the longest binges of money creation in it's history.

Where was all this liquidity supposed to go? As mentioned before, there was nothing happening in the real economy once the PC-internet boom was over.

Most of this money found its way into the real estate sector, and by 2003 a real estate boom had begun in the US.

The boom was not driven by construction as it was in China, India and Dubai, but mostly by Americans turning over the existing stock of housing among each other.

This artificial boom was the cause of the financial crisis in the latter part of the decade.

Concern over Kazakhstan's OSCE role

Kazakhstan has taken over the leadership of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) for the next year amid concern over its human rights record.

It is the first former Soviet state to chair the 56-nation transatlantic security body, after making promises of democratic reforms.

The country, which takes over the reins from Greece, has been attacked in recent months for jailing Yevgeny Zhovtis, a prominent rights activist, to four years in prison over his role in a fatal car accident and for raids on a well-known independent newspaper.

Kazakhstan was ranked 142 out 175 countries on Reporters Without Borders, a media watchdog, annual worldwide press freedom index in 2009.


In November, Human Rights Watch called on OSCE members to put more pressure on Kazakhstan to do more to protect the freedom of the press and improve human rights there.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Robert Amsterdam, an international human rights lawyer, said: "Kazakhstan violates the very prescriptions the OSCE believes it needs to deliver to the region.

"Kazakhstan is a one-man state, with a one-party legislature dominated by [Nursultan] Nazarbayev [Kazakhstan's president].

"The president himself has faced massive investigations for fraud, corruption and kickbacks.

They [Kazakhstan] have never had a democratic election, or anything that would appear like it.

"One can go on and on about the reasons why this country virtually defies every defining aspect of the OSCE."


Rights concerns

In a statement issued on Friday in Astana, the capital, Kanat Saudabayev, Kazakhstan's foreign minister, pledged "to uphold the fundamental principles and values of the organisation".

He said his country would "proceed according to the interests of all participating states and to strengthen the role of the OSCE as a significant platform for dialogue contributing to security in the wider Eurasian space".

Saudabayev will outline his country's priorities in a speech on January 14 to the OSCE's permanent council in Vienna and plans to host a summit of the organisation during the year.

Last month, Janez Lenarcic, director of the OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, said: "We have concerns about the situation of human rights, media and other areas ... throughout the region, including Kazakhstan."

While conceding that "no state is without problems," Lenarcic said at a meeting of ministers in Athens on December 2, "clearly there is a challenge for the incoming chairmanship whether they will be able to lead by example".

Journalist's death

December also the month a Kyrgyz opposition journalist was murdered in the Kazakh financial capital of Almaty.

Gennady Pavlyuk was apparently thrown from the sixth-floor window of an apartment with his hands and feet bound with duct tape.

On Wednesday, Kazakhstan angrily denied that it planned to sell purified uranium ore to Iran, calling media reports to this effect "groundless insinuations".

The reports prompted a warning from the United States that such a transfer was prohibited under UN sanctions on Iran.

Brown calls global summit on Yemen

Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, has invited important international partners to a meeting in London to discuss how to counter radicalisation in Yemen after last week's failed attack on a US-bound jet.

The meeting on January 28 will be held in parallel with an international conference on Afghanistan on the same day in the UK capital.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian who is reported to have told US investigators he was trained by al-Qaeda in Yemen, is accused of trying to blow up a US passenger jet as it approached Detroit on Christmas Day.

In a statement on the Downing Street website, Brown said: "The international community must not deny Yemen the support it needs to tackle extremism."

Mousavi urges end to Iran crackdown

Mir Hossein Mousavi, the prominent Iranian opposition politician, has said he is "not afraid to die" in defence of people's rights and called for an end to the government crackdown on anti-establishment activists.

In a statement on his Kaleme website on Friday, Mousavi also said that the Islamic Republic was in "serious crisis" following the disputed presidential election in June.

"I am not afraid to die for people's demands ... Iran is in serious crisis ... Harsh remarks ... will create internal uprising ... the election law should be changed ... political prisoners should be freed," his statement said.

But religious leaders across the country have condemned anti-government activists and said Mousavi and other opposition leaders had been defeated.

'Corrupting God's earth'

Ayatollah Ahmad Jannati, the speaker of Iran's Guardian Council, accused anti-government protesters of "corrupting God's earth", a charge punishable by death under Islamic law.

"Our people have fought against the United States for 30 years and have humiliated it. You are nothing compare to that, your masters have been humiliated like that," he said at Friday prayers.

in depth


Video: Tehran warns opposition protesters
Video: Deadly clashes rock Iran
Timeline: Iran after the election


A second religious leader described Mousavi's statement as provocative.

"There is no crisis in the country and you are creating a crisis. Stop it!" Ahmad Khatami was quoted by the Isna news agency.

Mousavi, in his statement, accused the government of making more mistakes by resorting to "violence and killings" to quell the protests over the poll outcome, that saw Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the incumbent president, re-elected for another term.

"Arresting or killing Mousavi, [another opposition leader Mehdi] Karroubi ... will not calm the situation," Mousavi, who lost the election, said in the statement.


Mousavi also demanded that the government "take responsibility for the problems it has created in the country ... and recognise people's right to lawful assembly".

"I say openly that until there is an acknowledgement of the existence of a serious crisis in the country, there will be no possibility of resolving the problems and issues."



'Mixed message'

Baqer Moin, a specialist on Iran based in London, told Al Jazeera that Mousavi was being both defiant and conciliatory in his statement.

"He's saying: 'if you want war then I am man of war, if you want peace then I am man of peace ... I'm ready to negotiate'," Moin said.

"Having said that he comes with five suggestions saying that if you really want peace in the country you can't go overnight towards the maximum demand of everybody - we have to move gradually towards a destination."

"So in a sense he is coming with some realistic proposals within the constitution to deal with the current crisis," he said.

Iran has been in political turmoil since the June poll, with Mousavi and the rest of the opposition alleging election fraud.

Despite government measures to curb protests, opposition workers have intermittently taken to the streets of the capital Tehran and elsewhere to vent their anger at Ahmadinejad's re-election, often triggering violent clashes between protesters and security forces.

In the latest round of violence during Ashoura commemorations, eight Iranians - including a nephew of Mousavi - were killed. The opposition said they died in police shooting, a charge denied by the authorities.

Chinese Slapped in Steel Dispute

U.S. steelmakers won a case over Chinese steel imports, as the U.S. International Trade Commission voted that the domestic industry has been damaged by subsidized steel from China.

The ruling Wednesday will result in duties of between 10% and 16% on future imports of Chinese steel pipes used to extract natural gas and oil. It is the latest in a string of trade decisions against China, the U.S.'s largest trading partner, and threatens to further aggravate trade tensions between the two nations.

On Tuesday, the U.S. imposed preliminary antidumping duties on imports of steel-grate products from China, prompting strong reaction from the Chinese, who said it sent a "wrong, protectionist signal." Earlier this year, the Obama administration imposed tariffs of 35% on consumer tires from China, which was answered by a Chinese probe into whether U.S.-made autos were being dumped in China at unfairly low prices.

AT&T Severs Ties With Woods

AT&T Inc. is severing its ties with Tiger Woods, joining a growing list of marketers distancing themselves from the golfer amid the public furor surrounding allegations of his infidelities.

"We are ending our sponsorship agreement with Tiger Woods and wish him well in the future," said a spokesman for AT&T on Thursday.

AT&T's relationship with Mr. Woods began more than five years ago when the telecommunications company started sponsoring Tiger Jam, an annual star-studded concert that is the biggest fund-raiser for the Tiger Woods Foundation. That contract gave AT&T the right to have Mr. Woods conduct golf clinics for its ...

Scripps Networks Pulls Channels from Cablevision Systems

Scripps Networks Interactive Inc. pulled its Food Network and HGTV channels off Cablevision Systems Corp. early Friday morning after the two companies were unable to reach an agreement in a year-end negotiations over carriage fees.

Cablevision's agreement to carry the Scripps channels expired at midnight Thursday, and Scripps warned subscribers Thursday that its Food Network and HGTV channels may be "dropped from your TV lineup," as another contentious negotiation over programming fees spilled into public view.

Scripps said in a statement that Cablevision is not properly compensating it for ...

American Air Mishaps Spur Federal Review

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday said it is stepping up oversight of American Airlines in the wake of three botched landings by the carrier over an 11-day period.

The latest incident, which prompted heightened FAA scrutiny of American's operations, involved a jetliner whose wingtip struck the ground while landing in Austin, Texas, on Christmas Eve. There were no injuries and the McDonnell Douglas MD-80 aircraft was inspected and returned to service. But the incident raised concern inside the FAA, according to people familiar with the matter, because it followed two more-serious landing mistakes on aircraft operated by the AMR ...

Time Warner, Fox Extend Cable Talks

Time Warner Cable Inc. and News Corp. were nearing a new television-programming agreement Friday, according to people familiar with the matter, bringing a possible end to a fierce negotiation that each side characterized as a crossroads for the television business.

The impasse, which threatened the loss of programs in millions of homes in New York, Los Angeles, Dallas and elsewhere, has been the most high profile of several year-end negotiations between TV companies and firms that pipe TV into homes.

About 3.1 million Cablevision Systems Corp. customers saw cable channels Food Network and HGTV go dark, and more expiring programming ...

Redesigned Annuities Abound

A string of redesigned variable annuities are hitting the market, after life insurers last year yanked the products that proved too generous to customers and threatened some insurers' financial health.

Variable annuities are a tax-advantaged form of investing in mutual funds, and, for an additional fee, consumers can buy downside protection. In simplest terms, the safety net often works like this: If the funds perform poorly, the consumer can swap the shrunken sums in them for lifetime payments of a guaranteed-minimum amount.

Those guarantees of lifetime payments were a major strain on insurers after the market slide of 2008 and 2009. Insurers quickly pulled the juiciest deals off the market—subbing in less-generous versions at higher prices.

Now, they are rolling out fresh designs. The good news for consumers is that costs in the famously expensive products are edging down, and one of the new offerings has an interest-rate adjustment feature that will appeal to many baby boomers worried about inflation.

But, in general, the new guarantees continue a trend in which insurers are trying to minimize their risk and consumer choice, by, say, requiring that buyers put 30% or more of their money into bond funds.

The flurry of activity represents what consultants say is the start of a transformation of the variable-annuity business, as insurers try "to come up with a sustainable product that people want to buy" to help save for retirement and protect against a deep market downturn, said Ken Mungan, a practice leader at consulting firm Milliman Inc. "That means simple, low-cost, easy for people to understand," he said, predicting "significant changes throughout 2010."

The bottom line is that the new-generation products can be valuable to some consumers as a slice of an overall portfolio, advisers say, provided they know the drawbacks. A knock long has been the cost, with fees sometimes topping 3.5%, a serious drag on owners' fund returns.

Yet the products' safety net gives many cautious boomers the fortitude to keep some money in stocks, in hopes that big years for the market will deliver high-enough returns to overcome the fees—and make falling back on the guarantee unnecessary.

Any purchase requires digging deep to know the rules. And consumers should explore potentially lower-cost alternatives with their advisers, such as the insurance contracts known as immediate annuities.

There are many variations of guaranteed-minimum variable annuities, but they typically involve keeping track of two figures: the actual value of the customer's funds and a guaranteed-minimum "benefit base," which is used to calculate the annual income if the funds tank and the owner opts to go this route.

When the owner is eligible to pull money out of the contract, it comes down to which is the better option: keeping control of his funds for withdrawals as he pleases, or collecting the guaranteed annual income pegged to the benefit base (in which case the insurer uses what remains in the funds to cover fees).

So how is this benefit base calculated? Under contracts that got many insurers into trouble, it is "reset" at least annually to incorporate gains from the owner's funds, and many contracts promise minimum annual boosts of 7%. Since the crisis, new contracts typically give 5% boosts. Typically, owners in their mid- to late-60s are eligible for annual income of 5% of the base.

Of redesigned products now hitting the market, "Retirement Cornerstone" from AXA SA's AXA Equitable Life Insurance Co. incorporates market gains into customers' benefit bases just once every three years. But a big selling point is expected to be its use of a floating rate to determine minimum rises to those bases and the size of annual checks ultimately pegged to them, rather than the static 5% in most rival products.

Should interest rates rise as many economists expect, the floating rate would put more money in the pockets of buyers who use the safety net. The rate will be set annually at one percentage point above the 10-year Treasury, ranging from 4% to 8%, according to the insurer's marketing material. The product has launched with a 5% rate; the 10-year Treasury currently yields 3.8%.

AXA Equitable has been a top seller of variable annuities in recent years and was a pioneer of the guarantees in the 1990s.

In November, insurer MetLife Inc. teamed with Fidelity Investments for the Boston fund giant to sell "MetLife Growth and Guaranteed Income" variable annuity. It restricts buyers to a single Fidelity asset-allocation fund, annually locking investment gains into the benefit base. Depending on the investor's age, lifetime withdrawals range from 4% to 6% of the base. All-in cost: 2.7% a year.

Buyers of "AnnuityNote" from Manulife Financial Corp.'s John Hancock unit invest in a designated indexed-based stock and bond fund.

After five years, the contract guarantees 5%-a-year lifetime withdrawals based on the amount invested or the investment's value at that point, whichever is higher. Buyers must be at least 55. Fees total just under 2%; a sales charge may apply.

Crude Awakening: Gas Producers Shift Focus

Exxon Mobil Corp.'s $31 billion purchase of XTO Energy Inc. is seen as a big endorsement of the future value of natural gas. But many gas producers aren't so optimistic.

After years of volatile gas prices, and last year's dismal performance, dozens of small gas companies are expanding into crude oil, taking the opposite tack of Exxon, which last month agreed to buy XTO.

The contrasting moves highlight the conundrum facing natural-gas producers and investors: Gas appears likely to become a favored fuel over the long run, because it is seen as a cleaner and more environmentally friendly fuel, but ...

$20 Billion Fight Over Auction Notes

Hundreds of businesses are fighting to recover billions of dollars tied up in frozen auction-rate securities, a year after Wall Street firms agreed to $60 billion in settlements over the collapsed market for the investments.
Some 400 companies that sank their free cash into the investments -- from retailer Abercrombie & Fitch Co. to tiny Nanophase Technologies Corp. -- hold more than $20 billion of auction-rate securities that can't be sold or are sharply reduced in value. That is forcing the holders to restrain their spending, thus creating yet another drag on the economy as it struggles to recover.

Google, India Test the Limits of Liberty

The rules of political speech on the Internet are usually pretty simple. In America, almost anything goes. In places like China, the censors call the shots. But in India -- a boisterous democracy that's riven by religious and ethnic tension -- the game is far trickier, as Google is discovering.
In September, lawyers at Google Inc.'s New Delhi office got a tip from an Internet user about alarming content on the company's social networking site, Orkut. People had posted offensive comments about the chief minister of India's southern state of Andhra Pradesh, who had died just a few days earlier in a helicopter crash.
Google's response: It removed not just the material but also the entire user group that contained it, a person familiar with the matter says. The Internet giant feared the comments could heighten tensions at a time when thousands of mourners of the popular politician were emptying into the street.