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Showing posts with label World. Show all posts

‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night






Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).


Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.






William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.


“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.


Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”


The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.


The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.


Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+


Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night






Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).


Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.






William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.


“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.


Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”


The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.


The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.


Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+


Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night






Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).


Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.






William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.


“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.


Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”


The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.


The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.


Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+


Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Stock index futures signal mixed open

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a mixed Wall Street open on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 indexes slipping 0.1 percent, while futures for the Dow Jones rose 0.1 percent by 0933 GMT.


U.S. durables goods and homes data due out at 1330 and 1500 GMT respectively should provide further clues on the health of the world's largest economy.


The Pentagon program chief for the F-35 warplane slammed its commercial partners Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney on Wednesday, accusing them of trying to "squeeze every nickel" out of the U.S. government and failing to see the long-term benefits of the project.


Pratt & Whitney is 99 percent sure the fan blade problem that grounded the Pentagon's 51 new F-35 fighter jets was not caused by high-cycle fatigue, which could force a costly design change, according to two sources familiar with an investigation by the enginemaker.


Airbus parent EADS predicted higher profit this year on the heels of stronger than expected 2012 earnings and a clampdown on costs, with the development of its A350 jet remaining the biggest wild card in its bid to match rival Boeing .


Partner Communications , Israel's second-largest mobile phone operator, reported weaker-than-expected quarterly profit and said it could have weak earnings throughout 2013 due to fierce competition that has slashed calling rates.


The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> was up 0.1 percent at 1,151.69 points by 1010 GMT on Wednesday while the euro zone's Euro STOXX 50 index <.stoxx50e> also advanced 0.1 percent, although concerns over Italy's political stalemate were likely to cap gains.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 115.96 points, or 0.84 percent, to 13,900.13 at the close on Tuesday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> rose 9.09 points, or 0.61 percent, to 1,496.94. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> advanced 13.40 points, or 0.43 percent, to close at 3,129.65.


(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Susan Fenton)



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‘Star Trek’ Beams Into Oscar Night






Star Trek” fans got quite a treat last night during the Academy Awards last night (Feb. 24).


Actors who portray major characters from the film and television versions of the iconic science fiction series made cameo appearances during the three-hour-long ceremony celebrating the best movies of 2012.






William Shatner, the actor that played Starship Enterprise captain James T. Kirk in original series helped open the awards show with host, Seth McFarlane.


“I’ve come back in time from the 23rd century to stop you from destroying the Academy Awards,” joked Shatner to McFarlane.


Actors Chris Pine and Zoe Saldana also had a part to play in the festivities. Pine, who plays Kirk in 2009′s “Star Trek” and its sequel “Star Trek Into Darkness “ being released later this year, and Saldana, who plays the Enterprise’s communications officer Uhura, recapped an earlier event they co-hosted on Feb. 10 called the “Sci-Tech Oscars.”


The smaller ceremony is designed to showcase the technical achievements of designers and technicians on movie sets.


The newest movie in the Star Trek franchise, “Star Trek Into Darkness,” is set to be released on May 17.


Follow Miriam Kramer on Twitter @mirikramer or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook & Google+


Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Space and Astronomy News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Stock index futures point to small rebound

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.3-0.4 percent at 0916 GMT.


U.S. stocks had suffered their biggest drop since November on Monday after later results pointed to a strong showing in Italian elections by groups opposed to the country's economic reforms. That triggered worry that Europe's debt problems could once again destabilize the global economy.


European markets were playing catchup with that move in early trade on Tuesday, falling sharply as a result.


Standard & Poor's releases its S&P Case/Shiller Home Price Index for December at 1400 GMT, expected to show a rise of 0.5 percent versus a 0.6 percent rise in the previous month.


One hour later, the Conference Board's February consumer confidence was forecast to come in at 61.0 compared with 58.6 in January.


Also at 1500 GMT, new home sales data for January were seen at 381,000 annualized units, compared with 369,000 in December.


Ben Bernanke delivers the first of two days of congressional testimony on the Federal Reserve's semi-annual monetary policy report. Investors will examine Bernanke's words before the Senate Banking Committee closely for any sign he is growing nervous that the potential costs of the U.S. central bank's bond buying might soon outweigh its benefits.


Goldman Sachs Group Inc will begin its annual job cutting process as early as this week, sources familiar with the matter said on Monday, with its equities-trading business bracing for bigger cuts than fixed-income trading.


JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon leads his new team of managers in an annual day of presentations to Wall Street about the outlook for businesses operated by the biggest U.S. bank. The firm named a new head of auto finance on Monday.


Intel Corp has agreed to make chips on behalf of Altera ALTR.O, a significant step toward opening its prized manufacturing technology to customers on a larger scale, potentially including Apple .


Fuelled by a 48 percent rise in fourth-quarter earnings, the top executive of securities firm Stifel Financial Corp's defended his aggressive acquisition spree on Monday.


Retailer Home Depot is expected to post a $0.14 rise in quarterly earnings per share, seen at of $0.64, one day after rival Lowe's reported better-than-expected profit and boosted its outlook for revenue this year.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> dropped 216.40 points, or 1.55 percent, to 13,784.17 on Monday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 27.75 points, or 1.83 percent, to 1,487.85. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> fell 45.57 points, or 1.44 percent, to 3,116.25.


(Reporting by Francesco Canepa; editing by Patrick Graham)



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Stock index futures point to flat to higher open

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a mixed open on Wall Street on Monday, with futures for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 up 0.1 and 0.2 percent respectively by 0856 GMT, while those for Dow Jones were steady.


* The U.S. stock market closed higher on Friday, with the S&P 500 adding 13.18 points, or 0.88 percent, to 1,515.60 <.spx>, after comments from Fed officials allayed fears that the central bank would curtail stimulus measures.


* Prospects of continued stimulus also lifted Asian and European equity markets on Monday, with the EuroSTOXX 50 benchmark of euro zone blue chips up 0.7 percent <.stoxx50e>. However, uncertainty over the outcome of Italian elections, which close on Monday, kept a lid on the gains.


* With days left before $85 billion is slashed from U.S. government budgets, the White House on Sunday issued more dire warnings about the harm the cuts will do to Americans. But Republicans, who advocate budget cuts, said the warning was overplayed and called on President Barack Obama to apply what is known as the "sequester" in a more careful way, rather than slashing budgets across the board.


* A relatively light calendar features the Chicago Fed's national activity index for February at 1330 GMT, alongside earnings from Autodesk Inc and Lowe's Companies.


* Barnes & Noble Inc Chairman Leonard Riggio is considering a bid for the company's bookstore business, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the situation.


* Disney's movie "Brave" won the Oscar on Sunday for Best Animated Feature.


* BlackRock Inc. , the world's largest money manager, has got approval from the U.S. securities regulator to list a copper-backed exchange-traded fund, potentially getting the jump on JPMorgan, whose listing of a similar product has been delayed by industry objections.


* Knight Capital Group , which recently agreed to be bought for $1.4 billion by Getco Holding Co, has struck a deal to sell its credit-brokerage unit to Stifel Financial Corp , according to a person familiar with the matter.


* Hewlett-Packard Chairman Ray Lane and fellow board members plan to meet with about 20 of the computer maker's big investors Monday in hopes of heading off a campaign to unseat Lane and two other directors, the Wall Street Journal reports.


* Office Depot Inc said late on Friday that following talks with the largest holder of its common stock, Starboard Value LP, it is extending the deadline for nominating candidates for its board at its annual meeting.


* Dick's Sporting Goods Inc shares could rise 23 percent within the next year if the largest publicly traded U.S. sporting goods retailer continues to boost profit at a mid-teens percentage rate, Barron's said.


(Reporting By Toni Vorobyova; Editing by Hugh Lawson)



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Asteroid-Smashing Mission Picks Space Rock Target






A mission that aims to slam a spacecraft into a near-Earth asteroid now officially has a target — a space rock called Didymos.


The joint European/U.S. Asteroid Impact and Deflection Assessment mission, or AIDA, will work to intercept Didymos in 2022, when the space rock is about 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth, European Space Agency officials announced Friday (Feb. 22).






Didymos is actually a binary system, in which a 2,625-foot-wide (800 meters) asteroid and a 490-foot (150 m) space rock orbit each other. Didymos poses no threat to Earth in the foreseeable future.


The proposed asteroid-smashing AIDA mission will send one small probe crashing into the smaller asteroid at about 14,000 mph (22,530 kph) while another spacecraft records the dramatic encounter. Meanwhile, Earth-based instruments will record so-called  ”ground-truthing” observations.


The goal is to learn more about how humanity could ward off a potentially dangerous space rock. The necessity of developing a viable deflection strategy was underlined in many people’s minds by the events of last Friday (Feb. 15), when the 130-foot (40 m) asteroid 2012 DA14 gave Earth a historically close shave just hours after a 55-foot (17 m) object exploded above the Russian city of Chelyabinsk, injuring 1,200 people and damaging thousands of buildings.


The AIDA impact will unleash about as much energy as that released when a big piece of space junk hits a satellite, researchers said, so the mission could also help improve models of space-debris collisions.


“The project has value in many areas, from applied science and exploration to asteroid resource utilization,” Andy Cheng, AIDA lead at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Physics Laboratory, said in a statement.


The European Space Agency (ESA) has asked scientists around the world to propose experiments that AIDA could carry in space or that could increase its scientific return from the ground. Researchers have until March 15 to pitch their ideas.


Johns Hopkins’ Applied Physics Laboratory is providing AIDA’s impactor, which is called DART (short for Double Asteroid Redirection Test). The observing spacecraft is known as AIM (Asteroid Impact Monitor) and will come from ESA.


Follow SPACE.com senior writer Mike Wall on Twitter @michaeldwall or SPACE.com @Spacedotcom. We’re also on Facebook and Google+


Copyright 2013 SPACE.com, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Investors face another Washington deadline

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors face another Washington-imposed deadline on government spending cuts next week, but it's not generating the same level of fear as two months ago when the "fiscal cliff" loomed large.


Investors in sectors most likely to be affected by the cuts, like defense, seem untroubled that the budget talks could send stocks tumbling.


Talks on the U.S. budget crisis began again this week leading up to the March 1 deadline for the so-called sequestration when $85 billion in automatic federal spending cuts are scheduled to take effect.


"It's at this point a political hot button in Washington but a very low level investor concern," said Fred Dickson, chief market strategist at D.A. Davidson & Co. in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The fight pits President Barack Obama and fellow Democrats against congressional Republicans.


Stocks rallied in early January after a compromise temporarily avoided the fiscal cliff, and the Standard & Poor's 500 index <.spx> has risen 6.3 percent since the start of the year.


But the benchmark index lost steam this week, posting its first week of losses since the start of the year. Minutes on Wednesday from the last Federal Reserve meeting, which suggested the central bank may slow or stop its stimulus policy sooner than expected, provided the catalyst.


National elections in Italy on Sunday and Monday could also add to investor concern. Most investors expect a government headed by Pier Luigi Bersani to win and continue with reforms to tackle Italy's debt problems. However, a resurgence by former leader Silvio Berlusconi has raised doubts.


"Europe has been in the last six months less of a topic for the stock market, but the problems haven't gone away. This may bring back investor attention to that," said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.


OPTIONS BULLS TARGET GAINS


The spending cuts, if they go ahead, could hit the defense industry particularly hard.


Yet in the options market, bulls were targeting gains in Lockheed Martin Corp , the Pentagon's biggest supplier.


Calls on the stock far outpaced puts, suggesting that many investors anticipate the stock to move higher. Overall options volume on the stock was 2.8 times the daily average with 17,000 calls and 3,360 puts traded, according to options analytics firm Trade Alert.


"The upside call buying in Lockheed solidifies the idea that option investors are not pricing in a lot of downside risk in most defense stocks from the likely impact of sequestration," said Jared Woodard, a founder of research and advisory firm condoroptions.com in Forest, Virginia.


The stock ended up 0.6 percent at $88.12 on Friday.


If lawmakers fail to reach an agreement on reducing the U.S. budget deficit in the next few days, a sequester would include significant cuts in defense spending. Companies such as General Dynamics Corp and Smith & Wesson Holding Corp could be affected.


General Dynamics Corp shares rose 1.2 percent to $67.32 and Smith & Wesson added 4.6 percent to $9.18 on Friday.


EYES ON GDP DATA, APPLE


The latest data on fourth-quarter U.S. gross domestic product is expected on Thursday, and some analysts predict an upward revision following trade data that showed America's deficit shrank in December to its narrowest in nearly three years.


U.S. GDP unexpectedly contracted in the fourth quarter, according to an earlier government estimate, but analysts said there was no reason for panic, given that consumer spending and business investment picked up.


Investors will be looking for any hints of changes in the Fed's policy of monetary easing when Fed Chairman Ben Bernake speaks before congressional committees on Tuesday and Wednesday.


Shares of Apple will be watched closely next week when the company's annual stockholders' meeting is held.


On Friday, a U.S. judge handed outspoken hedge fund manager David Einhorn a victory in his battle with the iPhone maker, blocking the company from moving forward with a shareholder vote on a controversial proposal to limit the company's ability to issue preferred stock.


(Additional reporting by Doris Frankel; Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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New England storm could pack less punch than feared






BOSTON (Reuters) – A weather system threatening New England with a third straight weekend of winter storms appeared to be weakening on Saturday night, promising less snowfall than expected.


Another storm was rolling out of the Rocky Mountains in the Western United States and could create blizzard conditions in Colorado over the weekend, according to a National Weather Service advisory.






Forecasters were also predicting blizzard conditions from Oklahoma through Missouri early next week when another snowstorm hits an area of the Northern United States from the Plains to the Great Lakes.


But by Saturday evening, the East Coast storm was moving more east and offshore than anticipated – potentially leaving areas like Boston with much less snowfall than originally expected, said Eleanor Vallier-Talbot of the National Weather Service in Taunton, Massachusetts.


“The further south you go, the less snow. Boston proper might not even see an inch of snow,” she said. “The forecast models have been slowly but surely backing off this thing.”


Much of the Midwest is already blanketed with snow, with more than a foot reported in Kansas on Thursday, forcing airports to cancel hundreds of flights and leaving motorists stranded on highways.


On Colorado’s high plains, up to a foot of snow was possible overnight and throughout Sunday, with winds gusting up to 45 miles an hour, said Frank Cooper, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Boulder.


A spokeswoman for the Denver International Airport said passengers could expect delays on Sunday as crews de-iced aircraft and cleared runways, and a Southwest Airlines spokeswoman, Olga Romero, said 46 flights in and out of Denver had been canceled until 11 a.m. on Sunday.


STATES OF EMERGENCY


The New England coast – from northern Connecticut to southern Maine – was expecting an extended mix of snow and rain, according to a National Weather Service advisory. Residents were taking it in stride.


“Look, it’s winter, it’s New England, it snows. Happens every time!” said Steve Scardino, a software sales executive and lifelong New Englander from Hopkinton, Massachusetts.


Farther north, near Portland, Maine, the heaviest snow was not expected until Sunday, with accumulations up to 8 inches farther inland.


The weather service said the storm may bring sleet and freezing rain to the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic states as well, with thunderstorms expected in the Southeast. It likely will dump rain from New York City to Philadelphia, it said. The storm barreled eastward after pummeling the Midwest during the week. In Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Sly James said about 60 buses were stuck on snowbound streets on Friday, and even tow trucks were immobilized.


After a storm last week dumped some 14 inches of snow on Wichita, Kansas, and 11 inches on Kansas City, residents from Texas to Nebraska were bracing for another one early next week, according to AccuWeather.com.


Forecasters predicted heavy snow developing on Sunday night and increasing to a rate of 2 inches an hour from northern Oklahoma through central Kansas.


Missouri Governor Jay Nixon and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback declared states of emergency because of possible power outages and generally hazardous travel.


Drought-stricken farmers in the Great Plains, one of the world’s largest wheat-growing areas, welcomed the moisture, although experts said even more rain or snow would be needed to ensure healthy crops.


(Additional reporting by Kevin Murphy, Ian Simpson, Kevin Gray, Kewith Coffman, Steve Gorman and Chris Francescani; Editing by Peter Cooney and Jackie Frank)


Weather News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Microsoft’s Macs Hacked in Java Attack






In yet another round of Friday-afternoon security disclosures, Microsoft today (Feb. 22) admitted that it had fallen victim to the same Java-based malware attacks that plagued Twitter, Facebook and Apple.


“As reported by Facebook and Apple, Microsoft can confirm that we also recently experienced a similar security intrusion,” wrote Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Security General Manager Matt Thomlinson in a Microsoft company blog posting put up at 5:45 p.m. ET.






Even more significantly, it wasn’t Microsoft’s Windows computers that were hacked so much as it was Microsoft’s Macs.


“We found a small number of computers, including some in our Mac business unit, that were infected by malicious software using techniques similar to those documented by other organizations,” Thomlinson wrote. “We have no evidence of customer data being affected and our investigation is ongoing.”


Late last Friday (Feb. 15), Facebook dropped the news that its network had been penetrated in January by malicious software that infected some of its computers.


Facebook disclosed more than did Twitter, Apple or indeed Microsoft; it chronicled how an infected website had exploited a flaw in Java software to get through browser security, and said that other companies had been affected as well.


It’s not clear whether Macs were more susceptible than other machines to the Java flaw, which was fully patched by Java maker Oracle on Feb. 1. (All the infections presumably took place last month.)


But Apple laptops are popular among social-media software developers, and no other kind of machine has been mentioned in any of the Java-related disclosures.


Java is a self-contained software platform that lets applications, especially Web-based ones, run equally well on Windows, Mac OS X or Linux.


That makes it ideal for malware writers, who can be sure their malicious code will attack anything.


Unless you’re a Web developer, use specialized Web tools or need to often run Web-conferencing software, there’s little reason to have Java in your browser. We’ve written a guide on how to disable it.


[Why and How to Disable Java on Your Computer]


And if you’re on a Mac, don’t believe the old adage that Macs are immune to malware. Install Mac anti-virus software now.


This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience.


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

LONDON (Reuters) - Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, rebounding after the S&P 500 <.spx> posted its worst two-day loss since November.


Futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 were up 0.2-0.3 percent at 0958 GMT.


European shares rose and German Bund futures fell on Friday after a better-than-expected German Ifo survey.


Shares in Hewlett-Packard rose 2.9 percent in after-market trade as the computer maker's quarterly revenue and forecasts beat Wall Street expectations.


Chipmaker Texas Instruments Inc raised its quarterly dividend by a third and said it will buy back an additional $5 billion in stock. TI shares rose 2 percent in after-market trading after closing at $32.48 on the Nasdaq.


Fellow chipmaker Marvell Technology Group Ltd forecast results this quarter largely above analysts' expectations as it gained market share in hard-disk drive and flash storage businesses, sending its shares up 5 percent after the closing bell.


Insurer American International Group Inc reported fourth-quarter results that beat Wall Street expectations, helping its shares rise 4.2 percent in after hours trade.


Citigroup Inc said on Thursday it has overhauled an executive pay plan that shareholders rejected last year as overly generous, revising it to tie bonus payments more closely to stock performance and profitability.


Newmont Mining Corp , the No. 1 U.S. gold producer, said on Thursday that a more disciplined approach to spending and cost cuts is its top priority as leadership of the company shifts to Gary Goldberg, who takes over as chief executive on March 1.


Private equity firm KKR & Co LP has submitted an offer of $75 per share for Gardner Denver Inc GDI.N, valuing the industrial machinery maker at close to $3.7 billion, two people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.


Interpublic Group, the second-biggest U.S. advertising and marketing group, is expected to follow larger rival Omnicom in reporting upbeat quarterly results, with earnings per shares seen up $0.03 year on year to $0.53 on higher revenue from the United States.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 46.92 points, or 0.34 percent, to 13,880.62 on Thursday. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> lost 9.53 points, or 0.63 percent, to 1,502.42. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> dropped 32.92 points, or 1.04 percent, to close at 3,131.49.


(Reporting By Francesco Canepa/editing by Chris Pizzey, London MPG Desk, +44 (0)207 542-4441)



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Vote: What Would You Name Squirrelly Mammal Ancestor?






What do you name the ancestor of almost all living mammals?


According to LiveScience readers, “Ralph” wouldn’t be a bad bet.






Ralph topped LiveScience’s poll results as of Feb. 21, beating out “Protosorex mammaliensis” and “Little Mama,” after scientists announced earlier this month that they’d traced back the features of the hypothetical forerunner to all placental mammals. The animal looks a bit like a modern shrew with a dash of squirrel.


Scientists didn’t give this mammal mama a nickname — it is, after all, a composite rather than a real creature. However, the American Museum of Natural History, where much of the research was based, plans to team up with NPR’s RadioLab to host a naming competition for the hypothetical ancestor. 


Everyone’s ancestor


It may seem odd to announce the discovery of an animal that never existed. But the origins of placental mammals — mammals that nourish their young in utero via the placenta, which accounts for nearly all living species — are foggy. The fossil record suggests that mammal diversity exploded after the dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period, but genetic studies indicate a longer evolution for mammals dating back before the end of the Cretaceous.


The goal of the ancestral mammal project was to marry fossil and genetic evidence, piecing together the DNA and physical changes to trace the lineage back to the beginning, or at least an approximation of the beginning. The result was an insect-eating four-legged creature that weighed less than half a pound. From these humble beginnings arose everything from elephants to bats. The researchers reported their findings on Feb. 8 in the journal Science. [6 Strange 'New' Species Hiding in Museums]


Naming names


A survey of the researchers involved in the project turned up no consensus on what, if anything, this hypothetical ancestor should be named. Michael Novacek, a study researcher and a paleontologist at the American Museum of Natural History, said that a Latin scientific name wouldn’t be appropriate.


“The hypothetical ancestor is not represented by a real specimen, something that is required for Latinized names, or, as they are known in taxonomy, Linnaean names,” Novacek wrote in an email to LiveScience.


So much for “Protosorex mammaliensis,” the runner-up in the LiveScience poll. Other reader suggestions, contributed via Facebook, included “Timba” after Timon and Pumba from the movie “The Lion King,” because “they like grubs, too!” and “yomama” (“obviously”).


“These nicknames for the common ancestor are all very creative,” said study researcher Maureen O’Leary, a scientist at Stony Brook University in New York. “It’s great to see that this animal has inspired so much interest in science and is encouraging people to know about past life on Earth.”


Editor’s Note: If you have a great naming idea for this shrew-squirrel ancestor, please email Jeanna Bryner at [email protected]


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


Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Shares, euro extend losses as Europe recovery hopes dim

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares and the single currency fell sharply on Thursday when surprisingly weak euro zone economic data dashed hopes of an early recovery for the recession-hit region this year.


Economists had forecast the euro zone purchasing managers' indexes (PMIs), based on surveys of business activity, would add to tentative signs a recovery was under way, but instead they pointed to a first-quarter contraction of up to 0.3 percent.


"The expectation was the trend of improvement for the euro zone as a whole would continue and it hasn't, so that is a disappointment," said BNP Paribas economist Ken Wattret.


The euro tumbled to a fresh six-week low below $1.32 on the news, having already suffered at the hands of a resurgent greenback following signals from the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday that it was considering an end to monetary stimulus.


Signs that Fed policymakers were becoming increasingly reluctant to continue aggressive monetary easing, revealed in the minutes of the last policy meeting, had sparked a worldwide selloff in riskier asset markets.


MSCI's world equity index <.miwd00000pus>, already down 0.5 percent on the doubts about future Fed policy, took another step down after the PMI data to be one percent lower for the day, having touched its best levels since mid-2008 on Wednesday.


Europe's Eurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> shed 1.25 percent, on track for its second biggest daily loss of the year. London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> were all down as much as 1.8 percent lower.


SAFETY PLAYS WELL


In the fixed income market, German bonds, considered a safe haven, hit their best levels for a month with the main Bund futures contract up 91 ticks to 143.33. The move reversed a fall seen on Wednesday and was also being supported by the approach of an Italian general election this weekend.


"Investors are becoming more and more cautious ahead of the weekend ... and altogether people decided here to pull the trigger and go risk-off," said Christian Lenk, a strategist at DZ Bank.


The dollar, another safety play, followed up its big gains on Wednesday adding a further 0.45 percent on an index value that includes most major currencies <.dxy>, although it slipped against the yen to 93.35.


The Markit composite PMI for the euro zone, which combines both services and manufacturing surveys, fell to 47.3 in February from 48.6. It had been expected to rise to 49.0.


The data also showed a growing gap between Germany and France - the two biggest economies in the euro zone - which could have implications for the European Central Bank's future monetary policy.


The survey found firms in Germany are enjoying a healthy rate of growth, while French service sector companies are in the midst of their worst slump since the financial crisis was at a peak in early 2009.


"The theme is still the very substantial divergence between France and Germany and that is going continue to be the case for much of the year," said Wattret of BNP Paribas.


"On the margins this is going to resonate with the dovish tone from the ECB at its last meeting, but I think the real swing factor for the ECB will be exchange rate factor and the tightening impact it is having."


The strength of the euro has been holding back exports.


In commodity markets, the prospect of weakening demand from Europe and a possible early end to the Fed's policy of quantitative easing sent all markets lower.


London copper struck its lowest in nearly two months, at $7,870 a tonne, while oil dropped below $114.50 a barrel for the first time this month having seen its biggest daily fall of the year on Wednesday.


Growth-attuned precious metal platinum fell 3 percent to hit a five-week low. Traditional safe haven gold popped higher, to $1,568 an ounce, after the Fed minutes had pushed it to a seven-month low.


"Long-position holders have been looking to sell for profit-taking," said Yusuke Seta, a commodity sales manager at Newedge Japan. "I guess this is a good time to sell."


(Additional reporting by Marc Jones.; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)



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Drones Large and Small Coming to US






Most of the drones that have begun to appear in the skies above the U.S. homeland don’t resemble the Predators or Reapers flown by the U.S. military and CIA above Afghanistan and Pakistan. Instead, these smaller versions of flying, unmanned vehicles almost rival the animal kingdom in their diversity.


Government agencies such as NASA and U.S. Customs and Border Protection operate aircraft-size military drones that take off from runways like airplanes. Labs in the United States have even built tiny drones that look like hummingbirds. But most drones resemble the radio-controlled aircraft and toy helicopters flown by hobbyists for decades, capable of taking off horizontally, vertically or by being thrown into the air like a trained falcon or hawk.






“To say they’re all the same is not accurate at all,” said Kevin Lauscher, an industrial sales representative for Draganfly Innovations Inc.


The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration does not plan to permit drones armed with weapons in U.S. civilian airspace, according to an official quoted by the Washington Times. But state agencies, sheriff’s offices and universities have already found more widespread use for drones that carry cameras for taking photos or video from above.


“If you look at the capabilities, there are small, quad helicopters and rotor helicopters that can be fitted with a camera and fit in the palm of your hand,” Lauscher told TechNewsDaily. “They go all the way up [in size] to a Global Hawk,” which is a relatively large military drone.


Draganfly Innovations builds small drones weighing less than 5 pounds that fly under the control of a human operator using two joysticks. The Canadian company has sold some drones to law enforcement for taking pictures or video of traffic accidents or crime scenes, as well as aiding SWAT teams preparing to storm a building or housing compound. [7 Next Generation UAVs]


But law enforcement represents a relatively small part of Draganfly’s business. Many more clients use drones to cheaply inspect the exterior of huge factories, manufacturing facilities or construction sites. Drones could even help check on tall structures such as wind turbines, Lauscher said.


FAA drone license applications tracked by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights organization, suggest many other possible uses. Some U.S. states have begun considering drones for checking on highway traffic conditions, inspecting bridges and fighting wildfires. U.S. corporations, such as FedEx, have already begun planning for the day when drones could deliver packages.


Unlike free-flying birds, practically every unmanned aerial vehicle known as a drone flies under some form of human remote control. But university labs have already shown how pre-programmed drones can carry out intricate flight patterns, and military-grade drones have emergency backup routines in case they lose the signal connection to their human operators.


Bird watchers accustomed to spotting a gaggle of geese or a murder of crows may someday spot similar groupings of drones. Such drone swarms will likely use advanced forms of today’s artificial intelligence programs to coordinate their missions without precise human control, a future with possibilities both delightful and daunting.


“Can drone technology be abused? Absolutely,” Lauscher said. “Can they be beneficial and save lives? Absolutely.”


This story was provided by TechNewsDaily, a sister site to LiveScience. You can follow TechNewsDaily Senior Writer Jeremy Hsu on Twitter @jeremyhsu. Follow TechNewsDaily on Twitter @TechNewsDaily, or on Facebook.


Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Stock index futures signal more gains

LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly firmer open on Wall Street on Wednesday, with futures for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones 0.1 percent higher at 0936 GMT, while those for the Nasdaq 100 added 0.2 percent.


U.S. producer prices, housing starts and building permits for January are all due at 1330 GMT, with the data expected to show a slight acceleration in factory price pressures alongside a continued recovery in the housing market.


The market focus, though, is likely to be on the minutes from the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee's January meeting, due at 1900 GMT, which will be scanned for clues on how long monetary policy is likely to remain ultra accommodative.


The earnings season continues, with Devon Energy Corp., Fluor Corp. and Newfield Exploration among those due to report.


With the season now three quarters of the way through, 28 percent of S&P 500 companies have missed full-year earnings forecasts, with 41 percent undershooting on revenues, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data.


Dell Inc : The world's No.3 maker of personal computers reported a 31 percent drop in profit, hurt by a shrinking consumer business, as investors weighed founder Michael Dell's offer to buy out the firm.


Demand Media Inc : The company said it is exploring the separation of its media business from its domain name service, a disclosure that sent its shares up nearly 20 percent in after-hours trading.


Boeing : The aircraft maker has found a way to fix battery problems with its grounded 787 Dreamliner jets which involves increasing the space between cells, a source familiar with the U.S. company's plans told Reuters.


Life Technologies : An $11 billion-plus sale of Life Technologies Corp is looking less likely as a gap in price expectations with the company has left potential buyer Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc skeptical about a deal while buyout firms' offers came up short, people familiar with the matter said this week.


Herbalife : The diet supplements company raised its 2013 earnings forecast late on Tuesday.


Heinz : The FBI is looking into possible insider trading in the options of the ketchup maker before its blockbuster deal last week to be acquired by Warren Buffett and Brazil's 3G Capital.


Sina Corp : The operator of China's largest online portal posted better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and profit amid concerns about the slowing growth of Chinese online advertising.


Milennial Media : The mobile advertising firm's fourth-quarter sales missed Wall Street expectations, and the company forecast first-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates, sending its shares down as much as 33 percent after the bell.


Marriott International : The hotel operator reported better-than-expected quarterly results, aided by rising international travel and higher rates, and said it expects per-room revenue to rise further in 2013.


Nabors Industries : The owner of the world's largest onshore drilling rig fleet, reported a 44 percent jump in profit, but revenue fell as its major customers curtailed spending amid the worst slowdown in gas-directed drilling in more than a decade.


Total System Services Inc : The Payment processor said it will buy prepaid debit card provider NetSpend Holdings Inc for about $1.4 billion in cash to expand its presence in the prepaid card market and target new customers.


European shares traded flat on Wednesday, consolidating after the previous session's sharp gains, held back by weak earnings newsflow and as traders cited caution ahead of the minutes to the U.S. Federal Reserve's January policy meeting. <.eu/>


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> gained 53.91 points, or 0.39 percent on Tuesday to 14,035.67 points - just 0.9 percent away from its record high. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> closed up 0.73 percent at 1,530.94, while the Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> added or 0.68 percent to 3,213.59.


(Reporting By Toni Vorobyova; Editing by Susan Fenton)



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European shares edge higher, euro flat ahead German data

LONDON (Reuters) - European shares edged higher and the euro was steady on Tuesday ahead of German economic sentiment data, while the yen rose after Japanese ministers played down talk the Bank of Japan might buy foreign bonds to loosen credit.


Following last week's GDP figures showing that the euro zone saw a weaker end to 2012 than expected, forecasters see a pick-up in Germany's ZEW survey of investors and analysts at 1000 GMT, which may point to rebound in the bloc's biggest economy.


European stock markets, which have lost around 1.5 percent since the end of January, bounced backed from Monday's weak session in early trading, with the FTSEurofirst 300 <.fteu3> up 0.4 percent led by 0.7 and 0.5 percent gains on Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi>.


Underscoring the drag Europe's economic sluggishness is creating, new figures showed car firms had their weakest January since the records of the Association of European Carmakers began in 1990, with sales dropping 8.5 percent.


Berkeley Futures associate director Richard Griffiths said the Euro STOXX 50 and German DAX <.gdaxi> equity index could fall by between 3 and 4 percent over the coming month as economic weakness acts to cap investor sentiment.


"Any inroads to the upside will be hard to come by," he said. "We're in for a period of consolidation, with the risk more to the downside."


In the bond market, benchmark German Bunds edged up as demand for low-risk debt was also supported by concerns over the possibility of an inconclusive outcome to the Italian parliamentary election on Sunday and Monday, though gains were capped ahead of the German sentiment data.


The euro was little changed against the dollar at $1.3345 by 0900 GMT after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi reiterated on Monday that the bank would continue to monitor whether the currency's recent strength was likely to push inflation below its comfort zone.


The yen rose after Japanese ministers played down talk of foreign-bond buying by the country's central bank, a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said such a policy could be one option for monetary easing.


Finance Minister Taro Aso told a news conference that he was not considering foreign-bond purchases as a part of monetary easing, while Economy Minister Akira Amari said Abe's comments on Monday simply referred to policy options countries have in general.


Their comments sent the dollar down to 93.39 yen. The euro eased 0.6 percent to 124.70 yen, well below its peak since April 2010 of 127.71 yen touched on February 6.


(Reporting by Marc Jones; Editing by Alastair Macdonald)



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TV special shows glory, trauma of military dogs






LOS ANGELES (AP) — It’s been almost seven months since a bomb exploded on a strip of dirt in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Leonard Anderson can only remember a reassuring voice.


He has seen the ambush and its aftermath on film, though: The man behind the voice putting a tourniquet on Anderson‘s leg as a medic tended to the other, listening to his own cries for help and his dog’s whines of worry.






The blast that severely wounded the military dog handler was captured on film by one of four camera crews that were embedded with front line troops last year. The voice that reassured him belonged to Craig Constant, a cameraman for Animal Planet’s “Glory Hounds” TV special, which airs Thursday.


It took the network a year to get permission to film the two-hour special, which followed the animals into combat zones where insurgents and buried explosives could be around any bend or under any pile of dirt.


Military dogs are prized targets for Taliban insurgents, Anderson said. They sniff out bombs, making safe passage for troops to follow and saving countless lives. The U.S. Department of Defense calls each dog a piece of equipment, but Constant says they’re much more than that.


“They call them tools, and they are not. They are soldiers. They just have four paws instead of two feet. They walk in front of the platoons. It’s a deadly game, and they die all the time. But they save lives by finding IEDs that technology can’t find,” said Constant, referring to the military terminology for improvised explosive devices.


Anderson became the handler for an 8-year-old Belgian Malinois named Azza when he asked for the job as kennel master at the base in Sperwan Ghar, said the 29-year-old who loves animals.


The breed is among four — including Dutch shepherd, German shepherd and Labrador retriever — that is commonly used by the military because they are of similar size and temperament, easy to train and enjoy working, said Ron Aiello, president of the U.S. War Dogs Association.


Azza became a military dog when she was 3 and detecting explosives was her specialty, said Anderson.


On the day of the blast, early morning on July 28, Azza and Anderson were about a mile from the base camp. They didn’t need to go into the field — Anderson’s job was to assess daily needs, plot routes and assign teams. But the self-described adrenaline junkie said he couldn’t do his job if he didn’t know where his men and dogs were headed and what they were facing.


Constant and his sound technician were about 10 feet behind them when the bomb went off. Military experts who examined the blast site said it was activated by remote control, not set off by touch.


But the dog bore the guilt: Constant remembers most vividly the anguished look on her face and her whines.


“Azza just looked at him. She had a human face. She was helpless. She was concerned. She was fixated on him,” Constant said.


The explosion knocked the camera out of Constant’s hands. He picked it up, planning to film, but dropped it when he saw Anderson.


“I don’t know how he survived. There was a 6-foot-by-5-foot crater, and he was right on top of it,” said Constant, who suffered ear drum damage and shrapnel wounds. The sound technician was wounded in the leg.


Anderson slipped in and out of consciousness while a medic and Constant, who is a former Marine, worked on his legs. Azza watched and whined.


“The only thing I remember from that day is Craig’s voice talking to me telling me to ‘calm down,’ ‘be easy,’ ‘it’s going to be all right,’” Anderson said. “I woke up in Texas and that’s when I asked, ‘Where is my dog?’ and ‘What’s going on?’”


Anderson doesn’t know how many surgeries he had in Afghanistan, Germany and San Antonio, Texas, but he estimates around 20 based on what doctors and relatives have told him. He lost his left forearm and four fingers on his right hand, suffered upper body injuries and lost the skin on both legs.


Azza has been retired and was adopted by Anderson, his wife and their sons, ages 1 and 2. Memories of combat still haunt her, he said.


“She has some pretty bad nightmares, moving, breathing real heavy. I will slowly wake her up. She will get up and pace the house,” he said.


Constant believes “Glory Hounds” shows the importance of dogs and their combat work.


“They really showed the truth and consequences of what these guys do. It’s sad to watch because the story is told as much as you can tell it in two hours,” he said.


His only regret from filming the show was that he didn’t have his camera trained on Azza while they were helping Anderson.


“I wish to God I could have shot that. I wish I could have gotten that on film,” Constant said. “It would have changed people’s ideas about dogs” being viewed as merely equipment or property, he added.


___


“Glory Hounds” airs Thursday at 8 p.m. ET/PT and repeats on Feb. 24 at 9 a.m. ET/PT.


___


Online:


http://www.animalplanet.com


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Euro, dollar up after G20, stocks ease on growth concern

LONDON (Reuters) - The euro and the dollar rose against the yen on Monday after the G20 decided not to criticize Japan for its expansionist policies, but shares eased as Europe's weak growth outlook weighed on sentiment.


Financial leaders from the world's 20 biggest economies promised on Saturday not to devalue their currencies to boost exports, aiming to defuse talk of currency wars that had been roiling the markets.


The euro gained 0.2 percent to 125.32 yen, edging up toward a 34-month high of 127.71 yen hit earlier this month, while the dollar rose 0.6 percent to 94 yen, closer to its highest level since May 2010 of 94.46 hit on February 11.


"Future yen direction will continue to be driven by domestic monetary policy from the Bank of Japan and improving international investor confidence, which are both driving the yen weaker," said Lee Hardman, currency analyst at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.


Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is poised to nominate a new BOJ governor. Sources told Reuters that former financial bureaucrat Toshiro Muto, considered likely to be less radical than other candidates, was leading the field.


Abe said on Monday that buying foreign bonds was a future option for the Bank of Japan, which would entail selling of the yen by the central bank.


The euro was also rising against the dollar, gaining 0.1 percent to $1.3375 ahead of address by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi to the region's parliament which may touch on the outlook for the single currency after the G20 meeting.


In European markets, attention was also switching to the release of euro area Purchasing Managers' Indexes for February and German sentiment indices due later in the week, and the upcoming general elections in Italy.


Analysts expect Thursday's euro area flash PMI indices, which point to economic activity around six months out, to show growth stabilizing across the recession-hit region, leaving hopes for a recovery in the second half of the year intact.


Concerns over an inconclusive outcome in Italian elections at the end of the week added to the weaker sentiment as a fragmented parliament could hamper a future government's reform efforts.


The worries about the outlook for Italy were encouraging investors back into safe have German government bonds on Monday, with 10-year Bund yields easing 3.6 basis points to be around 1.63 percent.


"Political uncertainty will keep Bunds well bid this week," ING rate strategist Alessandro Giansanti said, adding that only better than expected economic data could create selling pressure on German debt near term.


EARNINGS HIT


European equity markets were taking their lead from corporate earnings reports which have been reflecting the sluggish economic conditions across the region.


Danish brewer Carlsberg , which generates just over 60 percent of its sales in western Europe, became the latest company to report a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit, sending its shares to lowest level in nearly a month.


The 5 percent drop in price for shares in the world's fourth biggest brewery helped send the FTSEurofirst 300 index <.fteu3> of top European shares down 0.4 percent in morning trade. Germany's DAX <.gdaxi>, the UK FTSE <.ftse> and France's CAC-40 <.fchi> were all also slightly weaker. <.l><.eu/>


Earlier, the effect of the G20 statement and the comments from Abe indicating a renewed drive to stimulate the economy lifted the Nikkei stock index <.n225> by 2.1 percent, near to its highest level since September 2008.


U.S. stock futures were barely changed and are expected to stay little changed as Wall Street will be closed on Monday for the Presidents' Day holiday. <.n/>


MSCI's world equity index <.miwd00000pus> was flat as markets extended two-week period of consolidation that has followed the big run up in January when demand was buoyed by the efforts of global central banks to stimulate the world economy.


Data from EPFR Global, a US-based firm that tracks the flows and allocations of funds globally, shows investors pulled $3.62 billion from U.S. stock funds in the latest week, the most in 10 weeks after taking a neutral stance the prior week.


But demand for emerging market equities remained strong, with investors putting $1.81 billion in new cash into stock funds, the fund-tracking firm said.


CHINA RETURN


In the commodity markets traders played catch up after a week-long holiday last week in China, the world's second biggest consumer of many raw materials, had kept activity subdued, with worries about the euro zone economy weighing on sentiment.


Copper, for which China is the world's largest consumer, fell 0.8 percent to $8,135 a metric ton (1.1023 tons) on the London futures market.


Gold rebounded by 0.3 percent from a six-month low to be $1,614 an ounce as jewelers in China returned to the physical market after the Lunar New Year holiday.


Crude oil markets were mostly steady after some weak U.S. industrial production data on Friday [ID:nL1N0BF44A] was seen dampening demand, while tensions in the Middle East lent some support.


U.S. crude fell 20 cents to $95.66 a barrel but Brent inched up two cents $117.86.


(Reporting by Richard Hubbard; editing by Philippa Fletcher)



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Thousands at climate rally in Washington call on Obama to reject Keystone pipeline






WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Thousands of protesters gathered on the Washington’s National Mall on Sunday calling on President Barack Obama to reject the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline proposal and honor his inaugural pledge to act on climate change.


Organizers of the “Forward on Climate” event estimated that 35,000 people from 30 states turned out in cold, blustery conditions for what they said was the biggest climate rally in U.S. history. Police did not verify the crowd size.






Protesters also marched around the nearby White House, chanting “Keystone pipeline? Shut it down.” Among the celebrities on hand were actresses Rosario Dawson and Evangeline Lilly, and hedge fund manager and environmentalist Tom Steyer.


The event came days after a bipartisan group of U.S. senators made the latest call for Obama to approve the $ 5.3 billion pipeline, seen by many as an engine for job growth and another step toward energy independence.


A new poll by Harris Interactive showed 69 percent of respondents said they support construction of the pipeline, with only 17 percent saying they oppose it.


One of Sunday’s main organizers, climate activist Bill McKibben, said that approving the pipeline, which would transport crude oil from the oil sands of northern Alberta to refineries and ports in Texas, would be akin to lighting a “carbon bomb” that could cause irreparable harm to the climate.


“For 25 years our government has basically ignored the climate crisis: now people in large numbers are finally demanding they get to work,” said McKibben, founder of the environmental group 350.org.


Other major organizing groups on Sunday included the Sierra Club and the Hip-Hop Caucus.


The proposed TransCanada Corp project has been pending for 4-1/2 years. A revised route through Nebraska, which would avoid crossing sensitive ecological zones and aquifers, was approved by that state’s governor last month.


Backers of Keystone, which would transport 830,000 barrels of oil per day, say it would provide thousands of jobs in the United States and increase North American energy security.


Environmentalists oppose the pipeline because the oil sands extraction process is carbon intensive, and say the oil extracted is dirtier than traditional crude oil.


Van Jones, Obama’s former green jobs adviser, said if the president approved the pipeline just weeks after pledging to act on climate change, it would overshadow other actions Obama takes to reduce pollution.


“There is nothing else you can do if you let that pipeline go through. It doesn’t matter what you do on smog rules and automobile rules – you’ve already given the whole game way,” said Jones, who is president of Rebuild the Dream, a non-government organization.


Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, the lone member of Congress to speak at the rally, told Reuters Obama risked creating a “credibility gap” if he approved the pipeline.


“He would have to roll out a very complete and very strong package to offset something that on its own is described by government scientist as ‘game-over’ on climate,” he said.


Still, some of Obama’s core constituents favor the pipeline, including the labor union AFL-CIO’s building and construction unit, which sees the potential for job creation for its members, and certain Democratic lawmakers.


In January, nine Democratic senators joined 44 Republicans in urging the president to approve Keystone XL.


(Reporting By Valerie Volcovici; editing by Ros Krasny and Mohammad Zargham)


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