(750,'Property Taxes Reach the Breaking Point   (BusinessWeek)','property-taxes-reach-the-breaking-point-businessweek','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>It really costs to own a home these days. Not only have home values fallen, leaving nearly one-quarter of residential mortgages under water, but also, local governments around the country have increased property taxes to make up for declining revenue from other sources.</p></div></div>','\n                <p>Homeowners now give a slightly bigger portion of their earnings to property taxes -- which mainly go to public schools, with the rest going to government operations and other public services -- than before the recession. The Tax Foundation, a Washington (D.C.) research organization that advocates for lower taxes, estimates that 3.5 percent of household income went to property taxes in 2009, compared with 2.9 percent in 2005. The median property taxes paid on homes increased to $1,917 in 2009 from $1,614 in 2005.</p>\n                <p>How much is too much? In Miami-Dade County, taxpayers have had enough. Angered by a property tax hike amid plunging real estate values, as well as a pay raise to county employees and a\nnew $600 million stadium for the Florida Marlins, 88 percent of 204,500 people voted to oust Mayor Carlos Alvarez in a recall election on Mar. 15.</p>\n                <p>Miami-Dade residents pay the most property tax in Florida: a median $2,600 per year, according to the Tax Foundation, citing the average median real estate taxes paid annually from 2005 to 2009 in U.S. Census Bureau reports. Last year, Mayor Alvarez pushed for a 14 percent property tax rate increase to help fill a $444 million budget hole.</p>\n                <p>\"It\'s not proper to increase taxes by $178 million (in) this community -- while over 50 percent or close to 50 percent of (homeowners) here owe more money than their homes are worth,\" Norman Braman, the billionaire car dealer who led the recall effort, told reporters.</p>\n                <p>Stable&gt;</p>\n                <p>Property taxes grew significantly in the recession, according to the Tax Foundation. Nationwide, state and local revenue from property taxes totaled nearly $474.2\nbillion in the 12 months ended September 2010, according to U.S. Census Bureau data, up 38.8 percent from the same period in fiscal 2005. Corporate net income tax fell 10.3 percent in the same 2010 period, while total state and local tax revenue rose 15.7 percent.</p>\n                <p>\"Property taxes tend to be the more stable revenue source,\" says Mark Robyn, an economist at the Tax Foundation. Local governments \"can set their rate every year. Property tax policy is very flexible for local governments.\"</p>\n                <p>New Jersey residents pay the most residential property tax in the U.S.: an average $7,576 last year, up 78.7 percent from 1999, according to data from the state\'s Department of Community Affairs. Homeowners in Millburn Township paid an average $19,441, the most among major towns in the state.</p>\n                <p>Among the more than 3,100 counties in the U.S., Hunterdon County, N.J., had the highest median real estate taxes per year --  $8,216 -- from 2005 to 2009, according\nto a Tax Foundation report. Other counties with high taxes in the five-year period: Nassau County, N.Y., where homeowners paid $8,206, and Westchester County, N.Y., where median property taxes on homes were $8,160. (One-year data show Hunterdon ranked fourth in 2009, after Westchester County, Nassau County, and New Jersey\'s Bergen County.)</p>\n                <p>Upset voters in various parts of country have resisted the recent tax hikes -- though not always with the same result as in Miami. In Chattanooga, Mayor Ron Littlefield\'s push for a 19 percent property tax increase sparked a recall effort by the Chattanooga Tea Party and other groups, which failed in 2010. Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle has raised property taxes a total of 15 percent, also leading to a recall election this past January that failed to remove him from office. In Jersey City, the municipal tax rate has increased 84 percent since 2005, but efforts to recall Mayor Jerramiah Healy fell through in February.</p>\n                <p>Last year,\nNew Jersey lawmakers capped property tax increases by local governments at 2 percent.</p>\n                <p>Schools&gt;</p>\n                <p>About half of property tax revenue goes to public elementary and secondary schools, according to the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a think tank in Cambridge, Mass. Public elementary and secondary schools get about 43.5 percent of revenue from local and intermediate sources. State sources provide 48.3 percent, and the remaining 8.2 percent comes from federal sources, according to National Center for Education Statistics 2007 to 2008 estimates.</p>\n                <p>\"From a political standpoint, pressure to provide adequate funding of schools and pressure to provide property tax relief are often intertwined,\" states a report by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy. \"Taxpayers who want to see reductions in their property tax liabilities sometimes press state government for particular school finance restructuring measures.\"</p>\n                <p>While residents battle\ntax hikes, some school boards say avoiding increases will lead to job losses. In Georgia, Chickamauga city councilmen voted for a 17 percent property tax increase in October to generate about $200,000 for schools. In South Portland, Me., the South Portland School Dept. proposed a budget that increases taxes to avoid losing 21 full time positions (including two teaching jobs) next year. In Austin, Tex., the teachers union is discussing a tax increase because the Austin Independent School District may cut $94 million from its budget.</p>\n                <p>As state-level funding fell around the country, many school districts relied on money from the $100 billion federal stimulus in 2009 as well as increased property tax revenue. Yet with most of the stimulus used up now and many taxpayers reluctant to accept more tax increases, schools may have to adjust to a lower level of spending.</p>\n                <p>\"This might be a longer-term situation where there will be more control on school spending,\" says Eric\nHanushek, Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow at Stanford University\'s Hoover Institution.\n</p><p>\nUnfortunately for schools in need of funds, until the real estate market recovers some value and the economy improves, homeowners may continue to fight back against city hall.\n</p><p>\nClick here to see which county in each state pays the most property tax.</p>\n            ',-2,5,0,36,'2011-03-23 08:08:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-03-23 08:08:00','2011-03-24 11:50:33','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(751,'Toyota to delay Prius minivan launch after quake   (AP)','toyota-to-delay-prius-minivan-launch-after-quake-ap','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp. says it will delay the launch of the Prius hybrid minivan in Japan due to disruptions in parts supply following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.</p>\n                </div></div>','<p>Toyota spokesman Paul Nolasco said Wednesday the world\'s No. 1 automaker initially planned to roll out the Prius minivan in April. But the disaster in northern Japan crippled supply chains and destroyed shops, forcing Toyota to postpone the launch.</p>\n                <p>Since March 14, Toyota has halted auto production because of difficulty securing components, including rubber parts and electronics. The company said it will suspend output until Sunday — a production loss of 140,000 cars.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-03-23 06:56:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-03-23 06:56:00','2011-03-24 11:50:34','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(752,'Online Education, With a Low-Cost Twist   (BusinessWeek)','online-education-with-a-low-cost-twist-businessweek','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>As a military wife, Michelle Mills got used to the itinerant lifestyle but could never quite accept the fact that she hadn\'t finished her college degree. Over the past decade or so, Mills, a 34-year-old mother of two, sank $30,000 into college coursework, earning more than 100 credits at three different colleges as she followed her husband, an Air Force fighter pilot, to military outposts in such places as South Korea, North Carolina, and Nevada.</p>\n                <p>\"I was very frustrated,\" Mills says, \"because I wanted to complete my degree, but every time I tried, a roadblock came up, whether it was an issue with kids or my husband\'s deployment.\"</p>\n                <p>Then she stumbled on a website that led her to Western Governors University (WGU), a nonprofit online institution. The school\'s reasonable tuition -- just $2,890 for a six-month term -- coupled with an academic model that lets students accelerate their completion of the degree based on prior subject\nknowledge, seemed at first \"too good to be true,\" says Mills, who enrolled in the school\'s BS program in marketing management in the fall of 2008. WGU\'s unconventional structure was ideal for Mills, who earned her college degree in one year and, last year, received her MBA from the school.</p>\n                <p>\"During one semester, I believe I submitted papers in six or seven different states and two foreign countries,\" she says. \"No other university would have worked for me.\"</p>\n                <p>Real&gt;</p>\n                <p>Western Governors University may not be a household name yet, but it is attracting students like Mills to its virtual doors in droves. Founded in 1997 by 19 U.S. governors from Western states and based in Salt Lake City, the university has grown from nearly 500 students eight years ago to nearly 24,000 students today. It offers more than 50 degrees in teaching, business, information technology, and nursing, from bachelor\'s programs\nto MBAs. The school\'s nationally accredited teaching programs are the most popular, drawing nearly 50 percent of students, followed by the business college, which accounts for about 26 percent of enrollment, according to the school\'s 2010 annual report. The virtual institution has grown at a rapid clip since it first gained regional accreditation in 2003, with enrollment increasing 30 percent each year, the school says.</p>\n                <p>The online institution was designed by the governors to be an affordable alternative to state colleges and for-profit online universities. It\'s geared toward older students -- the average age of a WGU student is 36 -- who did not have the time, money, or resources to complete a college education in the conventional manner. Rural, first-generation, low-income, and minority students from all 50 states make up the majority of the school\'s population. Its success is attracting the attention of higher education policy makers, state\nlegislatures, and public university officials around the country, says Joni Finney, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania\'s Graduate School of Education and director of the school\'s Institute for Research in Higher Education.</p>\n                <p>\"It is gaining some credibility in higher education circles, and it really is one of the more affordable public institutions in the country,\" she says. \"Their model allows them to do it because they don\'t have to employ full-time faculty with tenure and those sorts of things, so their chances of maintaining a reasonable cost are a lot better than other types of institutions that staff differently.\"</p>\n                <p>A&gt;</p>\n                <p>Another reason the school stands out in the crowded online education market is its nonprofit operating model, Finney says. The school is funded almost entirely through student tuition. Last year, the school\'s revenue was $110 million, with 2011 revenue expected to top $140\nmillion, WGU President Robert Mendenhall says. The price of a bachelor\'s degree is about one-half to one-third the cost of a degree at a for-profit university. For example, a student at WGU who took four years to complete her BS in business management would pay $23,120 for her degree, as opposed to $66,000 for a comparable 120-credit degree at the University of Phoenix, the country\'s largest for-profit college.</p>\n                <p>\"Our advantage is we are priced more like a local state college, but we give the student all the flexibility of a for-profit,\" says Mendenhall.</p>\n                <p>Unlike most universities, there are no typical professors, lectures, or required classroom time. Instead, students learn course material via textbooks, Web-based tutorials, simulations, and subject-specific online learning communities. Later, WGU uses technology-based learning to assess students\' progress, measuring whether they\'ve mastered certain concepts via their performance on tests,\nprojects, and assignments. Each course typically has between two and nine \"competencies,\" or key concepts, that a student is required to master. If a student has prior knowledge in a subject area and can demonstrate this to the university, he or she can often complete the class in a shorter period of time. In addition, there is no limit to the number of classes students can take in a six-month semester. Since most WGU students are older and often come to the school with prior knowledge in their subject area, the average time it takes a student to get a college degree from WGU is 30 months, compared with 60 months nationwide, says Mendenhall.</p>\n                <p>\"Ninety-five percent of online education in this country is just classroom education delivered over a wire, where students listen to lectures over their computers,\" says Mendenhall. \"At Western Governors, we turned the whole thing around because we are basically using the computer to do the instruction and deliver\nthe content, which makes it totally scalable. Potentially, 100,000 students can access the school at the same time and whenever they want.\"</p>\n                <p>Mentors&gt;</p>\n                <p>It may seem an impersonal approach, but students are given a significant amount of support during their time at the school. For example, each student is assigned a staff mentor from his chosen study area when he enters the school, a staffer who talks on the phone with the student once a week, guiding him through the degree process and helping him map out a course of study. In addition, each class has a course mentor, who evaluates students\' work and is available to help them via chat rooms or e-mail if they are having trouble mastering a concept in class. The school also has many of the trappings of a typical brick-and-mortar university albeit in digital form, including a virtual career counseling center and an online library and bookstore. The only time the student body gathers in person is for\nthe commencement ceremony, which takes place in Salt Lake City twice a year.</p>\n                <p>WGU\'s atypical learning model means students need to be self-motivated and have excellent time-management skills to get through the program successfully, says Deborah Ward, a mentor at WGU who works with students in the business college.</p>\n                <p>\"Many student do struggle at first with the competency-based model, and it is not for everyone,\" Ward says. \"A lot of students think it is going to be easy and they can zip through the courses, but it takes time to understand how to access the learning resources and courses and juggle their time. Usually by the time they finish their first six months, they have the knack for it.\"</p>\n                <p>Productive&gt;\n</p><p>\nThe flexibility of WGU is ideal for students such as Shelly Stanton, 49, who has been working in the business world for more than a decade without a college degree. She started out 11 years ago as a sales assistant making\n$10 an hour at Performance Mechanical Group, an HVAC contractor in Washington state, and in 2007 she was promoted to the role of chief financial officer. The new demands of her job, coupled with her life-long desire to get a bachelor\'s degree, led her to WGU, where she enrolled in the school\'s BS program in accounting in 2008. For the past three years she has juggled school and work, using her lunch hour to study for classes, do research, and write papers.\n</p><p>\n\"For me, the price was excellent, and there was the additional motivation of being able to use the things I already know so I can finish earlier,\" says Stanton, who hopes to graduate next March. \"I liked that, because if I\'m really motivated enough to commit the time, I will spend a lot less on college because of that.\"\n</p><p>\nThe mega virtual university is increasingly gaining notoriety because it has pioneered a completely new model of moving students through college, one that has the\npotential to change the way universities across the country deliver classes, says Louis Soares, director of post-secondary education programs at the Center for American Progress, a Washington (D.C.) think tank.\n</p><p>\nExpanding&gt;\n</p><p>\nA growing number of states are becoming interested in bringing the Western Governors model to their students, especially as classes become crowded and public universities face increasingly bleak fiscal outlooks, says Soares, who recently co-wrote an article, with Harvard Business School (Harvard Full-Time MBA Profile) Professor Clayton Christensen and two others, that looked at ways the nonprofit higher education world could be reformed through online education. The authors point out Western Governors as an example of an institution that has the potential to transform the higher education industry because of its competency-based learning model.\n</p><p>\nAlready, Western Governors has begun to scale up its operations by forming strategic\nalliances with interested states. State lawmakers in Washington are now considering a proposal that would create an online school called WGU-Washington, and Western Governors is \"in discussions\" with several other states, Mendenhall says. Last year, Indiana Governor Mitchell Daniels announced that the state had formed a partnership with WGU, creating WGU Indiana, which he dubbed Indiana\'s \"eighth state university.\" Under the agreement, Indiana residents can use their state-funded financial aid to enroll in the virtual college, which will be operated by WGU, since it is considered a state school. The move is a \"game changer because it allowed the state essentially to create a new campus for students without investing millions of dollars in building one,\" Soares says.\n</p><p>\nWGU is \"the only institution I know of in the country in which technology has taken over education,\" says Soares. \"They have demonstrated how online education can be\ntaken to scale -- that is the key.\"</p>\n            ',-2,5,0,36,'2011-03-22 08:08:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-03-22 08:08:00','2011-03-24 11:50:35','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(753,'Stock futures pare gains after data   (Reuters)','stock-futures-pare-gains-after-data-reuters','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110324/i/r1079670342.jpg?x=130&amp;y=88&amp;q=85&amp;sig=qHFHys5fGwMIOIU1ki4O3A--\" height=\"88\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Stock futures pare gains after data   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stocks opened higher on Thursday with retail stocks in focus after Best Buy (BBY.N) posted higher-than-expected profit, though light trading volume suggested that optimism was limited.</p>\n                <p>\nWith the quarter-end approaching, portfolio managers will be buyers as they execute window dressing, while hedge funds cover shorts that are under pressure.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was up 58.43 points, or 0.48 percent, at 12,144.45. The Standard &amp; Poor\'s 500 Index (.SPX) rose 5.78 points, or 0.45 percent, at 1,303.32. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) added 16.14 points, or 0.60 percent, at 2,714.44.</p>\n                <p>\n(Reporting by Ryan Vlastelica)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-03-24 08:40:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-03-24 08:40:00','2011-03-25 09:40:49','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,3,''),(777,'Iraqi forces storm settlement of Iranian exiles   (AP)','iraqi-forces-storm-settlement-of-iranian-exiles-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.529e74f12b23423abb11a5254d07437f-529e74f12b23423abb11a5254d07437f-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=96&amp;q=85&amp;sig=uaXAziItVytfiIQG1hoAag--\" height=\"96\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Iraqi forces storm settlement of Iranian exiles   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Iraqi forces stormed a settlement of Iranian exiles early Friday near the two nations\' border that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has long sought to expel. Both sides reported casualties in the latest round of clashes at the camp that has become a point of contention between the Iraqi government and some of its fiercest opponents.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>BAGHDAD – Iraqi forces stormed a settlement of Iranian exiles early Friday near the two nations\' border that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has long sought to expel. Both sides reported casualties in the latest round of clashes at the camp that has become a point of contention between the Iraqi government and some of its fiercest opponents.</p>\n                <p>The exiles said as many as 28 residents at Camp Ashraf in Iraq\'s northeastern Diyala province were killed; top Iraqi government officials vehemently denied any fatalities.</p>\n                <p>A hospital official in Baqouba, Diyala\'s capital, reported three people were killed and 13 wounded in the pre-dawn offensive at Camp Ashraf, the base of the People\'s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information, said five Iraqi soldiers also were injured.</p>\n                <p>Camp Ashraf and the Iranian exile group have long been a source of tension to Iraq\'s Shiite-led government. Al-Maliki has sought to remove the group because of its past ties to former Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein. Iran, a close Shiite ally of Baghdad, has also been pressing for the expulsion of the group, which seeks the overthrow of Tehran\'s clerical rulers.</p>\n                <p>In an interview Friday, Iraqi Lt. Gen. Ali Ghaidan said he ordered the incursion to curb two days of exiles hurling stones at troops and throwing themselves in front of soldiers\' trucks. He said the uprising began after Iraqi troops began switching out military units that are stationed nearby.</p>\n                <p>Ghaidan and government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh denied anyone was killed, and said the situation has calmed after only a few hours.</p>\n                <p>\"One hundred members of the People\'s Mujahedeen Organization of Iran attacked our security and military forces,\" al-Dabbagh said. \"Our forces did not use weapons. The situation is calm now. Our forces are trying to redeploy themselves inside and outside the camp. The Iraqi government is warning of violating the Iraqi laws in that area.\"</p>\n                <p>Camp residents painted a far more dire picture of the scene, and supplied video purportedly taken early Friday that showed gunfire and military bulldozers approaching the camp.</p>\n                <p>Resident Shahriar Kia said 28 exiles have been killed, including six women, and at least 325 wounded in the violence. His claim could not be immediately confirmed because access to the camp is restricted.</p>\n                <p>\"This is a massacre, a catastrophe,\" said Behzad Saffari, who has lived at Ashraf for nine years and acts as the camp\'s legal adviser. \"They came inside the camp and attacked people with grenades and tear gas, and then they started to shoot people. When people saw the attack was about to begin, they lined up to defend their homes.\"</p>\n                <p>In a nearly six-minute video posted on YouTube that the exiles claim was taken of the offensive, Humvees flying the Iraqi flag are chasing down nearly some 100 stone-throwing masked people in an open area. At least one was seen hit by a Humvee.</p>\n                <p>At least one Iraqi soldier was seen firing from his AK-47 machine gun, but his target was not clear. The video also shows at least six people lying on a the ground, and a dozen of blood-soaked men being treated by doctors.</p>\n                <p>The U.N. mission in Baghdad, which monitors the Ashraf situation, declined immediate comment.</p>\n                <p>U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in northern Iraq to visit troops, told reporters he was aware of reports of deaths at Ashraf but did not know how many, or whether they were confirmed. He said U.S. forces were maintaining a \"nearby presence\" but did not give details, although he said the military was providing some medical assistance.</p>\n                <p>\"I urge the Iraqi government to show restraint and live up to their commitments to treat Ashraf residents in accordance with Iraqi law and international obligations,\" Gates told reporters traveling with him in Mosul, 225 miles (360 kilometers) northwest of Baghdad.</p>\n                <p>The last major clash between Iraqi forces and the exile group was in July 2009, and also coincided with a trip by Gates to Iraq in what analysts then speculated was al-Maliki\'s effort to establish its independence from the United States.</p>\n                <p>The People\'s Mujahedeen is deeply controversial. Critics call it a cult with an ideology mixing Marxism, secularism, an obsession with martyrdom and near adoration of its leaders. The U.S. considers it a terrorist organization — albeit one that has provided the Americans with intelligence on Iran. The European Union removed it from its terror list two years ago.</p>\n                <p>Also known by its Farsi name the Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, the group is the militant wing of the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran. It carried out a series of bloody bombings and assassinations in Iran in the 1980s, though it says it renounced violence in 2001.\n</p><p>\nThe MEK also fought alongside Saddam\'s forces during the 1980s Iran-Iraq war, and Saddam set up a number of bases for them — including Camp Ashraf, their last remaining foothold in Iraq, located in a barren desert stretch north of Baghdad, 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Iranian border.\n</p><p>\nIraqi lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq, a Sunni who sits on parliament\'s security committee, confirmed Ashraf residents were killed in the assault Friday but did not say how many. He called the raid \"unjustified,\" and noted that Ashraf\'s 3,400 residents are legally considered \"protected persons\" under the Geneva Conventions.\n</p><p>\n\"There is no doubt that Iran is behind the attack on the camp today,\" al-Mutlaq said.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nBushra Juhi in Baghdad, Sameer N. Yacoub in Amman, Jordan, and Robert Burns in Mosul, Iraq, contributed to this report.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Iraqi forces storm settlement of Iranian exiles   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iraq</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-08 05:25:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:25:00','2011-04-09 06:10:54','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(778,'12 kids die as gunman stalks halls offormer school   (AP)','12-kids-die-as-gunman-stalks-halls-offormer-school-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_school_shooting\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.bddd5c01d59a486ab98c38b7a6724348-4a1f125824fb4947aee73bf960a95a8a-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=PQBgzquSM0J.nXazd4V.2g--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"12 kids die as gunman stalks halls offormer school   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Stalking the halls of his one-time elementary school, 23-year-old Wellington Oliveira killed 10 girls and two boys, most with shots to their heads even as children begged him to stop, witnesses said.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>RIO DE JANEIRO – Stalking the halls of his one-time elementary school, 23-year-old Wellington Oliveira killed 10 girls and two boys, most with shots to their heads even as children begged him to stop, witnesses said.</p>\n                <p>Oliveira then took his own life after police gunfire struck his legs and sent him toppling down some stairs, but not before carrying out what crime experts are calling the worst school massacre in Brazil\'s history.</p>\n                <p>Witnesses said he entered the Tasso da Silveira school in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday armed with two pistols and an ammunition belt, shooting at students and repeatedly yelling: \"I\'m going to kill you all!\"</p>\n                <p>\"He had already killed a lot of children in the first floor and in the yard,\" student Jade Ramos told the Globo television network. \"He kept telling the kids to face the wall and was shooting at their heads. The children kept begging, \'No, please!\' There was a lot of blood, children agonizing on the stairs.\"</p>\n                <p>Ramos said she escaped by running into a classroom, where a teacher locked the door and barricaded it with tables. Images taken with a cellphone and posted on YouTube showed students fleeing wildly, screaming for help, many with their white and blue school shirts soaked in blood.</p>\n                <p>Families still reeling from the attack were planning for the funerals of their children Friday, while Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said she would do her best to attend the memorials.</p>\n                <p>\"I ask for one minute of silence for these children who were taken so early from their life,\" Rousseff said, her eyes welling with tears. \"It\'s not in the nature of our nation to have these types of crimes.\"</p>\n                <p>With a dozen children dead, 11 more were in hospitals for wounds or other injuries, at least two of them reported in grave condition. The ages of the children were not immediately known, though the school serves grades one through eight.</p>\n                <p>Elias da Silva paced outside a hospital waiting for news of his nephew, a 14-year-old boy who slipped on a pool of blood and twisted his ankle as he fled the school pulling along a friend during a moment when the gunman stopped to reload. His nephew escaped, but the girl was shot in the back and died, the uncle said.</p>\n                <p>\"I asked God for him to come out alive and he did,\" Silva said. \"He came out running and still thought to try to save his friend. This is going to be difficult for him to understand.\"</p>\n                <p>Andreia Machado tearfully recounted what her 13-year-old daughter, Thayane, told her before going into surgery.</p>\n                <p>Thayane was struck by three bullets and lost feeling in her legs because one hit her spine, the mother said. With tears streaking her cheeks, Machado wondered if her daughter would ever be able to walk.</p>\n                <p>\"She\'s such an active child,\" she said. \"That\'s the biggest fear I have, her not being able to walk again. But we have to trust in God.\"</p>\n                <p>Officials said Oliveira had once attended the Tasso da Silveira school in a working-class neighborhood in western Rio.</p>\n                <p>The motive for the attack wasn\'t known, but authorities said the shooter left a rambling and mostly incoherent letter at the scene indicating he wanted to kill himself.</p>\n                <p>The letter also explained in detail how Oliveira wanted his corpse to be cared for — bathed and wrapped in a white sheet that he left in a bag in the first room where he said he would start shooting. The letter also states that the gunman should not be touched by anyone who is \"impure\" unless they wear gloves.</p>\n                <p>\"If possible I want to be buried next to my mother. A follower of God must visit my grave at least once. He must pray before my grave and ask God to forgive me for what I have done,\" read the letter, which was posted on the Globo television network\'s website.</p>\n                <p>Edmar Peixoto, the deputy mayor of western Rio, said the letter also stated the gunman had the AIDS virus.\n</p><p>\nOliveira\'s neighbors told the newspaper Jornal do Brasil they couldn\'t believe the quiet young man who kept his head down and stayed out of trouble was responsible for so much bloodshed.\n</p><p>\n\"He was never violent; he didn\'t get in trouble, throw stones, or fight in the streets,\" said Edna de Lira Ferreira, 55. \"He was just quiet, and we respected the way he was. He just stayed in his room, in front of the computer.\"\n</p><p>\nOliveira had been a Jehovah\'s Witness, like his adoptive parents and their other five children, Ferreira said.\n</p><p>\nAnother neighbor, Elma Pedrosa, remembered Oliveira as an unusual youth who looked away when he passed acquaintances rather than greet them.\n</p><p>\n\"He was anti-social, but he never demonstrated any violent tendencies,\" she said.\n</p><p>\nThe public school was in the midst of celebrating its 40th anniversary, and students\' handmade posters commemorating the day could be seen through school windows.\n</p><p>\nAbout 400 people were inside the school when the shooting began about 8:30 a.m.\n</p><p>\nWhen Oliveira first entered the school he told staff members he was there to give a lecture, Rio Police Chief Martha Rocha said. Shortly afterward, he opened fire.\n</p><p>\nThe gunman had no criminal history, Rocha added at a news conference.\n</p><p>\nRio is a city rife with drug-gang violence in its vast slums, but school shootings are rare.\n</p><p>\n\"What happened in Rio is without a doubt the worst incident of its kind to have taken place in Brazil,\" said Guaracy Mingardi, a crime and public safety expert at the University of Sao Paulo.\n</p><p>\nPolice were alerted to the shooting when two young boys, at least one with a gunshot wound, ran up to two officers on patrol about two blocks away. The officers sprinted to the school and at least one quickly located the gunman on the second floor and traded shots with him.\n</p><p>\n\"He saw me and aimed a gun at me,\" officer Marcio Alves said. \"I shot him in the legs, he fell down the stairs and then shot himself in the head.\"\n</p><p>\nRio Mayor Eduardo Paes said life at the four-story, pastel yellow and green school was turned into a \"hellish nightmare.\"\n</p><p>\n\"This day would have been so much worse if it weren\'t for the hero policeman,\" Paes told reporters at the school.\n</p><p>\nAuthorities closed the school temporarily while they investigate, but Paes said it would reopen.\n</p><p>\nRio Gov. Sergio Cabral called the shooter a \"psychopath\" and said there were no indications anyone else was involved in the shooting, but that the investigation would continue.\n</p><p>\n\"We have to investigate where he got the weapons and where he learned to use them,\" the governor said.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nAssociated Press writers Bradley Brooks, Stan Lehman and Tales Azzoni in Sao Paulo contributed to this report.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"12 kids die as gunman stalks halls offormer school   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_school_shooting\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_brazil_school_shooting</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-08 02:10:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 02:10:00','2011-04-09 06:10:55','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(779,'NATO says its planes struck Libyan rebels   (AP)','nato-says-its-planes-struck-libyan-rebels-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nato_libya\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.a6963fab40bf4d70bf24c695e9e928c0-a6963fab40bf4d70bf24c695e9e928c0-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=73&amp;q=85&amp;sig=VTATOrIhxgAu8lM42scE0A--\" height=\"73\" width=\"130\" alt=\"NATO says its planes struck Libyan rebels   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - NATO said Friday its airstrikes had hit rebels using tanks in their fight with the government forces in eastern Libya, but said it would not apologize for the deaths.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>BRUSSELS – NATO said Friday its airstrikes had hit rebels using tanks in their fight with the government forces in eastern Libya, but said it would not apologize for the deaths.</p>\n                <p>Rear Admiral Russell Harding, the deputy commander of the NATO operation, said NATO had no previous information the rebels were operating tanks. In the past, only forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi had used heavy armored vehicles, he said.</p>\n                <p>Harding says the situation between the eastern coastal towns of Brega and Ajdabiya remains fluid, with the opposing forces engaged in a series of advances and retreats, making it difficult for pilots to distinguish between them.</p>\n                <p>NATO jets attacked a rebel convoy between these two towns Thursday, killing at least five fighters and destroying or damaging a number of armored vehicles.</p>\n                <p>The strikes, including an attack earlier this week, provoked angry denunciations of NATO by the rebels.</p>\n                <p>Meanwhile, NATO officials have expressed frustration with the insurgents, who now view the alliance, whose mandate is limited to protecting civilians, as their proxy air force.</p>\n                <p>Harding said Friday that NATO jets had conducted 318 sorties and struck 23 targets across Libya in the past 48 hours.</p>\n                <p>\"It would appear that two of our strikes yesterday may have resulted in (rebel) deaths,\" he told reporters in Naples where the alliance\'s operational center is located.</p>\n                <p>\"I am not apologizing,\" Harding said. \"The situation on the ground was and remains extremely fluid, and until yesterday we did not have information that (rebel) forces are using tanks.\"</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"NATO says its planes struck Libyan rebels   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nato_libya\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_eu/eu_nato_libya</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-08 05:38:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:38:00','2011-04-09 06:10:56','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(780,'China transcript omits mentions of detained artist   (AP)','china-transcript-omits-mentions-of-detained-artist-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_as/as_china_human_rights\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110408/i/r880866665.jpg?x=130&amp;y=85&amp;q=85&amp;sig=fFkmqIqKUZ2FGD9RA4Z12g--\" height=\"85\" width=\"130\" alt=\"China transcript omits mentions of detained artist   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - China\'s Foreign Ministry has removed all references to a detained artist from its official transcript of a news conference given by its spokesman.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>BEIJING – China\'s Foreign Ministry has removed all references to a detained artist from its official transcript of a news conference given by its spokesman.</p>\n                <p>Ten of the 18 questions asked at the news conference Thursday concerned Ai Weiwei, a prominent artist and activist who was detained Sunday at Beijing\'s international airport. All were omitted from the transcript posted Friday on the Foreign Ministry\'s website.</p>\n                <p>Spokesman Hong Lei told the regularly scheduled news conference that Ai was being investigated for economic crimes, but gave no details. He said the case had nothing to do with freedom of expression, although Ai has often been a target of government harassment.</p>\n                <p>\"China is a country under the rule of law, and relevant authorities will work according to law,\" Hong said.</p>\n                <p>Hong\'s office did not immediately respond to requests for an explanation of why the questions about Ai were omitted from the transcript.</p>\n                <p>Foreign governments and international rights groups have called for Ai\'s release, saying the authorities appeared to be punishing him for his activism.</p>\n                <p>Chinese authorities sometimes try to silence critics by accusing them of tax violations or other nonpolitical crimes. Beijing police have refused to comment on Ai\'s case.</p>\n                <p>Ai is among China\'s best-known artists internationally and recently exhibited at the Tate Modern gallery in London.</p>\n                <p>He is the most prominent target so far in China\'s massive crackdown on dozens of lawyers, writers and activists following online calls for protests similar to those in the Middle East and North Africa. No protests have occurred here.</p>\n                <p>China\'s media have been largely silent on Ai\'s case, although the outspoken Global Times newspaper published by the Communist Party mouthpiece People\'s Daily has run editorials on two consecutive days accusing the West of using his case to denigrate China\'s legal system.</p>\n                <p>In its editorial Friday, it appeared to suggest that the case against Ai wasn\'t entirely open and shut.</p>\n                <p>\"Just because Ai Weiwei is being investigated by police on suspicion of committing economic crimes doesn\'t necessarily mean he will be convicted. However, guilty or not is for the court to say and foreign diplomatic and public opinion pressure will not be the determining factor,\" the newspaper said.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"China transcript omits mentions of detained artist   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_as/as_china_human_rights\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_as/as_china_human_rights</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-08 05:53:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:53:00','2011-04-09 06:10:57','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(781,'Conservatives hold 9-point lead over Liberals   (Reuters)','conservatives-hold-9-point-lead-over-liberals-reuters','','Reuters - An opinion poll released on Thursday had the Conservatives maintaining a 9-point lead over the Liberals.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>TORONTO (Reuters) – An opinion poll released on Thursday had the Conservatives maintaining a 9-point lead over the Liberals.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Nanos Research tracking poll of results over three days of surveys put support for the Conservatives at 39.6 percent, down slightly from 39.7 percent in Tuesday\'s survey. Support for the Liberals grew to 30.4 percent from 29.9 percent.</p>\n                <p>\nUnder Canada\'s electoral system, a party needs around 40 percent of the vote to win a majority of the 308 seats in the House of Commons.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Conservatives had a minority in Parliament and needed support from at least one other party to stay in power. The government was defeated in a nonconfidence motion on March 25 and the federal election is scheduled for May 2.</p>\n                <p>\nThe daily tracking figures are based on a three-day rolling sample of 989 interviews, with a margin of error of 3.1 percent, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.</p>\n                <p>\n(Reporting by Solarina Ho; editing by Janet Guttsman)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Conservatives hold 9-point lead over Liberals   (Reuters)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110407/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_politics_poll\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110407/wl_canada_nm/canada_us_politics_poll</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-07 13:15:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 13:15:00','2011-04-09 06:10:58','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(782,'Canberra blocks Australia-Singapore bourse merger   (AFP)','canberra-blocks-australia-singapore-bourse-merger-afp','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/wl_asia_afp/australiasingaporemarketstakeover\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110408/capt.photo_1302241474073-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=91&amp;q=85&amp;sig=sHIbH32Jt4.tlUd98z5g2A--\" height=\"91\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Canberra blocks Australia-Singapore bourse merger   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AFP - Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan officially rejected a proposed merger of the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges Friday, branding it a takeover by the city-state that offered no benefits.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>SYDNEY (AFP) – Australian Treasurer Wayne Swan officially rejected a proposed merger of the Australian and Singapore stock exchanges Friday, branding it a takeover by the city-state that offered no benefits.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Let\'s be clear here: this is not a merger. It\'s a takeover that would see Australia\'s financial sector become a subsidiary to a competitor in Asia,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>\n\"It was a no-brainer that this deal is not in Australia\'s national interest.\"</p>\n                <p>\nSwan said Australia\'s \"economic and regulatory sovereignty over the ASX would be at risk\" if the deal went through, making the country\'s bourse a junior partner.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Given the size and nature of the SGX, the opportunities that were offered under the proposal were clearly not sufficient to justify this loss of sovereignty,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>\nThe ASX and SGX announced plans last October to create one of the world\'s largest and most diversified financial trading hubs in a Aus$8.4 billion ($8.7 billion) deal.</p>\n                <p>\nBut the proposal immediately hit hurdles in Australia, where concerns over foreign ownership and Singapore\'s democracy and rights record were raised.</p>\n                <p>\n\nDespite Swan\'s decision, the ASX remained convinced it should be part of regional and global exchange consolidation.</p>\n                <p>\n\"ASX will continue to evaluate strategic growth opportunities, including further dialogue with SGX on other forms of combination and cooperation,\" the company said.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Singapore bourse said it would look for other opportunities.</p>\n                <p>\n\"As Asia\'s most international exchange, we will continue to pursue organic as well as other strategic growth opportunities, including further dialogue with ASX on other forms of co-operation,\" it said.</p>\n                <p>\nSwan\'s veto was the first time since 2001 that an application has been rejected by the Foreign Investment Review Board and the Treasurer was at pains to make clear that Australia still welcomed foreign investment.</p>\n                <p>\n\n\"The Australian government?s longstanding policy is to welcome foreign investment,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Such investments are subject to review on a case-by-case basis ... which allows the Treasurer to prohibit a particular acquisition on national interest grounds.</p>\n                <p>\n\"It is important to emphasise that this occurs very rarely.\"</p>\n                <p>\nNevertheless, Australia\'s attitude could see the ASX fall behind its peers, analysts say, amid the climate of stock exchange consolidation.</p>\n                <p>\nLast week, the Nasdaq and Intercontinental Exchange joined forces to make an $11.3 billion bid for NYSE Euronext, while the London Stock Exchange has proposed merging with the Toronto bourse.</p>\n                <p>\n\nMatt Robinson, a senior economist at Moody\'s, said the decision \"generates a potentially toxic degree of sovereign uncertainty regarding future merger and acquisition activity involving Australian companies\".\n</p><p>\n\n\"Using Treasurer Swan?s rather eloquent wording, the only \'no-brainer\' in this instance is the damage done to Australia\'s reputation as a destination for foreign capital.\"\n</p><p>\n\nSwan said the Treasury, the Reserve Bank of Australia, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission were all concerned about regulatory oversight when it came to SGX\'s bid.\n</p><p>\n\n\"It is important that we continue to build Australia\'s standing as a global financial services centre in Asia to take best advantage of the benefits of our superannuation savings system,\" he said.\n</p><p>\n\n\"I had strong concerns that the proposed acquisition would be contrary to these objectives.\"\n</p><p>\n\nIn coming to a decision, he considered the proposal?s potential benefits and implications for Australian businesses, investors and the community, and decided they were not enough to green-light the deal.\n</p><p>\n\n\"At the end of the day this takeover was more about growing Singapore\'s financial sector than Australia\'s,\" he said.\n</p><p>\n\n\"The deal just doesn\'t stack up whatever yardstick you use.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Canberra blocks Australia-Singapore bourse merger   (AFP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/wl_asia_afp/australiasingaporemarketstakeover\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/wl_asia_afp/australiasingaporemarketstakeover</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-08 01:47:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 01:47:00','2011-04-09 06:10:58','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(783,'Brazil shooting said to be first school massacre in nation\'s history   (The Christian Science Monitor)','brazil-shooting-said-to-be-first-school-massacre-in-nations-history-the-christian-science-monitor','','The Christian Science Monitor - The Brazil school shooting this morning in the gritty Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Realengo left at least 11 students dead and a nation in shock over its first-ever school massacre.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The Brazil school shooting this morning in the gritty Rio de Janeiro neighborhood of Realengo left at least 11 students dead and a nation in shock over its first-ever school massacre. </p>\n                <p>\"What happened has no precedent,\" Military Police Colonel Djalma Beltrami told the Monitor today as he guarded the gates to the four-story public school on the city\'s less-policed periphery. He says police in the area responded in a matter of \"seconds\" upon being warned.</p>\n                <p>But even that was not quick enough to prevent 23-year-old Wellington Menezes de Oliveira, himself a former student at the Tasso da Silveira Municipal School, from opening fire on students with two .38-caliber revolvers before killing himself. Ten girls and one boy were killed, and at least 17 more students were reported injured.</p>\n                <p>The policeman who took Mr. Oliveira down as he tried to reach the school\'s third floor told reporters he shot him in the leg, immobilizing him. Police say the shooter had no prior criminal record.</p>\n                <p>Think you know South America? Take our geography quiz.</p>\n                <p>Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, who had been preparing to leave for China this weekend on a state visit, wept when commenting on the incident during a speech to business leaders. \"This type of crime is not characteristic of [our] country,\" she said.</p>\n                <p>Indeed, witnesses on the scene said they had never thought Brazil was vulnerable to such an incident reminiscent of the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre and the 1999 Columbine high school shooting.</p>\n                <p>\"This is not normal by what I know. This is the first time this has happened in Brazil,\" says JoÃ£o Luiz, pastor of a Presbyterian church facing the school. He accompanied the parents of a young girl from the church killed to identify her body, and added that he was only used to hearing about such incidents in the US and abroad.</p>\n                <p>Julia Giladete had a daughter and two nephews in classes this morning at the Tasso da Silveira Municipal School. She lives across the street from the school, which was cordoned off with yellow police tape this afternoon as police, nurses, and reporters crowded the dusty block in the working class neighborhood an hour outside downtown Rio. </p>\n                <p>Ms. Giladete had just left the school, where she volunteers as a reading assistant, and gone home to change clothes when she heard the gunshots. This was immediately followed with the sounds of children screaming, she says. </p>\n                <p>But she adds that such incidents are unheard of in Brazil, and even in rougher neighborhoods such as this one. \"Thanks to god,\" she says, \"it\'s difficult for this to happen.\"</p>\n                <p>\"It is an unprecedented tragedy in Brazil,\" Brazilian Education Minister Fernando Haddad told reporters today, noting that the country had never before experienced a massacre of children at a school.</p>\n                <p>Think you know South America? Take our geography quiz.</p>\n                <p>(Editors note: Due to an editing error, the original article misspelled the name of the school and Education Minister Fernando Haddad.)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Brazil shooting said to be first school massacre in nation\'s history   (The Christian Science Monitor)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110407/wl_csm/375586\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110407/wl_csm/375586</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-07 18:48:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 18:48:00','2011-04-09 06:10:59','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(784,'Merkel\'s Coalition Takes Another Hit as Her Deputy Quits   (Time.com)','merkels-coalition-takes-another-hit-as-her-deputy-quits-timecom','','Time.com - German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle\'s resignation as head of the FDP gives the party a chance to rebuild its image. But it doesn\'t look good for Chancellor Angela Merkel\'s coalition','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>When Guido Westerwelle, Germany\'s foreign minister, vice-chancellor and leader of the liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP), announced on April 3 that he was quitting as party leader and then a day later that he would also resign as vice-chancellor, few Germans shed any tears. Not only is Westerwelle extremely unpopular - he\'s seen by many voters as arrogant and out of touch - but he also presided over a dramatic slump in support for the FDP. For the party, Westerwelle\'s announcement could be the chance it needs to rebuild its image and gain back popularity. But for Chancellor Angela Merkel, it\'s another knock to her rapidly weakening hold on power. </p>\n                <p> The crunch came in the March 27 regional elections in the conservative southwestern state of Baden-WÜrttemberg, when the FDP saw its share of the vote drop by half while also suffering massive losses in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate which saw it kicked out of the state parliament. It was a huge reversal of fortune for the liberal FDP, which joined Merkel\'s center-right coalition in 2009 after winning a record 14.6% of the vote in the federal election. Back then, the coalition was heralded as the \"dream team.\" But since then, the FDP has hemorrhaged support. According to a survey commissioned by the Forsa polling institute on Wednesday, the FDP has hit a new low and would now only win 3% of the vote - below the 5% threshold to gain a seat in parliament - if an election were held today. <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=12s10t4l5/*http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2005455_2005458_2005461,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">(See Merkel in TIME\'s top 10 female leaders.)</a></span></p>\n                <p> \"Guido Westerwelle came under growing pressure from within the ranks of the FDP to resign as party leader after the disastrous state election results - the FDP faced meltdown,\" says Manfred GÜllner, director of the Forsa polling institute. For Merkel, Westerwelle\'s departure is another blow to her government which has been battered by internal bickering, criticism over an sudden U-turn on nuclear policy - perceived by many voters as opportunistic - and her own conservative Christian Democratic Union\'s (CDU) electoral defeats in state elections. </p>\n                <p> Addressing party supporters at FDP headquarters in Berlin on April 3, Westerwelle said his decision to quit as party leader after ten years at the helm was \"right and it would also ensure a generational change within the FDP.\" Within 48 hours, Westerwelle\'s potential successor was stamping his mark on the political stage. Philipp RÖsler, the popular 38-year-old health minister and one of the FDP\'s rising young stars, told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday that he would run for the leadership of the FDP at the next party conference in May, and he also threw his hat in the ring for the post of vice-chancellor. RÖsler promised a \"fresh start\" for the FDP: \"The announcement of my candidature can only be the first step to a renewal of the FDP in personnel and content.\" <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=11vbiaaep/*http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2060420,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">(See why Japan\'s nuclear crisis has Merkel worried.)</a></span></p>\n                <p> RÖsler said the FDP may have to ditch the party\'s tax-cutting image, implicitly acknowledging that the party\'s focus on tax reduction - which was rejected as unaffordable by Finance Minister Wolfgang SchÄuble in his quest to reduce the budget deficit - was a mistake. And RÖsler insisted his party would have to concentrate on winning back voters\' trust. </p>\n                <p> But many analysts doubt RÖsler will be able to turn the FDP\'s fortunes around. \"Philipp RÖsler is closely associated with Guido Westerwelle - who is Germany\'s most unpopular politician - and so long as Westerwelle stays on as foreign minister, the FDP will continue to have a \'loser\' image,\" says Joachim Behnke, professor of political science at the Zeppelin University in the southern town of Friedrichshafen. Most recently, Westerwelle faced a lot of flak for isolating Germany after abstaining on the U.N. vote approving military action in Libya. <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=11vv5dtee/*http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,2063620,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">(See pictures inside a Libyan police station.)</a></span></p>\n                <p> While some members of Merkel\'s CDU party breathed a collective sigh of relief on hearing the news of Westerwelle\'s departure, party bigwigs claimed his decision to quit wouldn\'t weaken the government. \"It was a brave move,\" the deputy head of the CDU, Norbert RÖttgen, told ARD public television, insisting that Westerwelle\'s decision to resign as FDP party leader would only strengthen the coalition. </p>\n                <p> But given the FDP\'s electoral setbacks, commentators say Westerwelle\'s exit can\'t save Merkel from having to make some tough decisions ahead of the federal election in 2013. \"Angela Merkel will need another coalition partner in the future,\" says Manfred GÜllner, head of the Forsa polling institute, pointing out that many of the FDP\'s traditional affluent supporters have switched sides to the Green Party, which has captured the center ground in German politics, long held by the liberals. <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=11vvm7g5a/*http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053166,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">(See how Germany\'s \'Super-Election Year\' started with a whimper.)</a></span></p>\n                <p> A skilful, pragmatic operator, Merkel will do her best to gloss over Westerwelle\'s resignation and will try to work with his successor. But as the FDP struggles to redefine its goals and regain the support of disillusioned voters, it will continue to be the weak link in Merkel\'s coalition government. And hanging onto her unpopular foreign minister may not just undermine the FDP\'s image, it may also jeopardize Merkel\'s own standing among voters. </p>\n                <p> <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2060338,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">See the 2011 TIME 100 Poll</a></span> </p>\n                <p> <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=124ec8mn5/*http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2058946,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">See the 140 Best Twitter Feeds</a></span> </p>\n                <p>View this article on <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=12ns7lpru/*http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2063767,00.html?xid=rss-fullworld-yahoo\">Time.com</a></p>\n                <p></p><p>Most Popular on Time.com:</p><ul><li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=13033n6vn/*http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Why Exercise Won\'t Make You Thin</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=132hfgoav/*http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704660,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Are Gay Relationships Different?</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=1307obq79/*http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,2048138,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Singularity: Kurzweil on 2045, When Humans, Machines Merge</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=12vuf71pd/*http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2062604,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Indonesia: Bali Struggles amid a Surge in Tourism</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/wl_time/storytext/08599206376700/40999919/SIG=132e5lnhj/*http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062419,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Finland\'s Educational Success? The Anti-Tiger Mother Approach</a></li> </ul><p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Merkel\'s Coalition Takes Another Hit as Her Deputy Quits   (Time.com)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110408/wl_time/08599206376700\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110408/wl_time/08599206376700</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-08 04:35:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:35:00','2011-04-09 06:11:00','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,1,''),(785,'Portugal requests bailout. Will Europe\'s debt crisis stop there?   (The Christian Science Monitor)','portugal-requests-bailout-will-europes-debt-crisis-stop-there-the-christian-science-monitor','','The Christian Science Monitor - In a critical step in Europeâ€™s struggle to end its debt crisis, Portugal formalized its bailout request and the European Central Bank raised its interest rates a notch on Thursday.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>Madrid – In a critical step in Europe’s struggle to end its debt crisis, Portugal formalized its bailout request and the European Central Bank raised its interest rates a notch on Thursday.</p>\n                <p>Portugal needs cash urgently, and with nowhere else to turn, it finally requested an embarrassing but unavoidable financial bailout from its European peers and from the International Monetary Fund.</p>\n                <p>The terms of the bailout and the sum, which analysts expect will amount to between 75 billion and 90 billion euros ($107 billion and $130 billion), still need to be negotiated in the upcoming weeks, but the money will likely arrive before the June snap general elections triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister JosÃ© SÃ³crates late last month.</p>\n                <p>RELATED – Portugal bailout: Who\'s Europe bailing out, and by how much?</p>\n                <p>More important, analysts say, it will come just in time for the government to pay back pending debts that expire in June. Without the bailout, the juncture would have threatened to drain cash reserves, considering the premium the market demands for Portuguese debt.</p>\n                <p>Separately, the ECB also raised interest rates across the eurozone from 1 percent to 1.25 percent in an effort to curb inflation, a move which some believe comes too soon because it could slow down a still laggard recovery.</p>\n                <p>Both decisions were long expected and were well received by the market and analysts. The debt crisis is likely to stop with Portugal. Spain, which at one point many thought would be the next candidate for a bailout, has successfully tamed those fears.</p>\n                <p>It’s the end of contagion, said Gilles Moec, the London-based senior economist of Deutsche Bank. “If you look at the way the market reacted to the crisis, it attacks selectively the countries with fiscal unbalances, but the core European countries haven’t been affected. There is no reason to be concerned about what’s happening in the peripheral economies.”</p>\n                <p>Portugal is the third European Union country to request a bailout. Ireland received an 80 billion euro loan (about $114 billion) and Greece a 110 billion euro loan (about $157 billion). </p>\n                <p>Mr. Moec discounted that Spain could be next. “There’s still uncertainty, but at least there’s a plan and a scheme. It’s a country that can afford to inject quite a lot of cash into banks while maintaining its public debts. I don’t think it’s the case of Portugal.”</p>\n                <p>Indeed, without the bailout, Portugal would have had to raise about 8 billion euros ($11.5 billion) by June and investors would likely no longer have been willing to invest in Portugal, Moec said. This week, Portugal had to offer sky-high rates to secure about 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion).</p>\n                <p>“Everyone knows how I deplore that this decision became inevitable,” Portuguese caretaker Prime Minister Socrates said late Wednesday when he announced the request was forthcoming.</p>\n                <p>The conditions of the loan will also be critical to the negotiation. The loan, which is likely to be between two and three percentage points below what the market is demanding for 10-year debt, will be tied to austerity measures. The Portuguese parliament last month voted against Mr. Socrates’s proposed austerity measures, which were intended to avert a request for a bailout. This time around, the main opposition party has already supported the EU-IMF request.</p>\n                <p>RELATED – Portugal bailout: Who\'s Europe bailing out, and by how much?</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Portugal requests bailout. Will Europe\'s debt crisis stop there?   (The Christian Science Monitor)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110407/wl_csm/375538\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110407/wl_csm/375538</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-07 17:48:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 17:48:00','2011-04-09 06:11:01','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(786,'Report from Fukushima   (OneWorld.net)','report-from-fukushima-oneworldnet','','OneWorld.net - FUKUSHIMA, Apr 7 (IPS) - My decision to visit Fukushima - the area worst hit by the massive quake, tsunami and nuclear power accident on Mar. 11 - was taken one afternoon last week after a long meeting with scientists.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>FUKUSHIMA, Apr 7 (IPS) - My decision to visit Fukushima - the area worst hit by the massive quake, tsunami and nuclear power accident on Mar. 11 - was taken one afternoon last week after a long meeting with scientists.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nThe invitation to accompany the scientists on a private fact-finding mission to Fukushima was irresistible. The scientists and engineers who gathered that day, had, for decades, harboured misgivings over reactor safety design and policies and were active in the ongoing debate over the future of nuclear energy in Japan.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \n\"There is a dire need for a real time radiation monitoring network to be set up in areas affected by the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear power plant,\" Atsuto Suzuki, head of the high-energy accelerator research organisation at Tsukuba University, explained. \"This is where our expertise can begin to play a role.\"&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nWe started our journey at 6am, armed with bottles of mineral water, clothing that could be discarded before our return to Tokyo, and special facemasks to protect us from radiation when we approached the 20-kilometre exclusive zone around the damaged reactors.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nAround our necks dangled radioactive dosimeters, resembling large thermometers. The machines would show accumulated microsieverts of radiation contamination on our bodies and instructions were given that we carry them all the time to record the rise in the figures while noting the exact locations.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \n\"Our own documentation of radioactive material is key to understanding the Fukushima accident,\" explained Yoichi Tao, a physicist specialising in risk management design, who is now retired. He is also a graduate from Tokyo University.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nBut Tao is not part of the cosy group of experts who have guided Japan’s ambitious post-war nuclear power industry. Instead, having experienced the atomic bombing of Hiroshima when he was just six years old, the scientist, contends the bitter truth that Japan had chosen to ignore till today, was that fool-proof safety in nuclear power is simply a \"myth\".&#13;</p>\n                <p> \n\"It is time,\" he explained, \"to embark on a clearer definition of the complex concept of safety. This calls for research from diverse perspectives - the views of residents, independent opinions, as well as taking in an assessment on the impact of the accident on other countries.\"&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nThe three-hour drive to Fukushima was hauntingly poignant. With most of the motorways now open for traffic, we passed the breathtaking scenery that marks Japan’s northern region - mountains dotted with pristine pine forests on one side of the road and the pale blue, now serene, ocean glistening on the other. Sharp gusts of chilly air wrapped our car on a near empty road, a sign of the lost appeal of Fukushima - which had been up till now a tourist destination boasting therapeutic hot springs and fresh seafood.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nDevastation&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nA harrowing scene awaited us at Iwaki, our entry point into Fukushima. Iwaki, a bustling coastal fishing city had borne the full brunt of the tsunami, with some waves as high as 14 metres.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nWe stopped at Yotsukura hamlet where half the population of 1,000 had suffered fatalities, were still missing, or had lost their homes, fishing boats and cars.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nPeople, protected with masks, appeared dazed while they pulled at piles of washed out rubble in a feeble attempt to reconstruct. \"The community is still scattered in evacuation sites because shops continue to lack food and water and there is a severe shortage of gasoline,\" explained Yuuji Kojima, head of the rescue operation in the local municipality.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nThe afternoon schedule was to get as close to the nuclear disaster as possible and the route we selected was not along the coast but inland. Getting closer to the vicinity, we passed miles of deserted villages where dogs and cattle - abandoned by their owners - walked past shuttered houses and broken roads.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nThe sky had begun to darken and we feared rain that would worsen our risk of contamination. We pulled on our masks and another layer of clothes. Then we watched our monitors.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nPassing the 30-kilometre limit, a recent extension of the risk zone ordered by the government, we reached Miyakoji-machi, once a lush farming area, now turned a ghost village.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nA police car stood at the entry point and ordered our car to stop. Officers explained politely but firmly that only government officials or the Tokyo Electric Power Company - operator of the Fukushima nuclear power plant - were permitted inside. We pulled the car aside and kept the engine running while scanning the area for a suitable site for the scientists to set up their monitoring equipment.&#13;</p>\n                <p> \nRain had turned to snow. Inside the darkening car, our monitors had begun to climb - mine was showing an accumulated 325 microsieverts, the equivalent of almost one chest x-ray already.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nEvacuation Centres&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nThe most excruciating experiences during our visit were in the two evacuation centres we visited.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nLocated in Tamura-town, the first contained 800 local residents who were packed into a large gymnasium. It was not the tsunami, but the accident in the nuclear power plant they had tolerated for the past 40 years, that had devastated their lives.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nCardboard linings demarcated tiny spaces for families. Old people covered in blankets lay in heaps off to one side.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nWanting to find out for myself, I deliberately avoided wearing the slippers given to guests who were asked to remove their shoes at the entrance. My feet froze almost instantly, reflecting the discomfort of the nuclear refugees who have lived on the cold and damp floor for weeks.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nPortable toilets at the other refugee centre were situated outside the building, making visits during the freezing nights a nightmare for the elderly. A lone doctor at the centre described streams of patients seeking medical assistance. \"The authorities had promised us for years everything was safe. We do not believe them anymore,\" she explained, declining to be photographed or identified. She hesitated to be overtly critical of their situation, preferring to focus her attention on the sick.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nLessons Learned&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nAs Japan struggles to contain the world’s second most catastrophic nuclear power accident, the public here is calling for an alternative energy model.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nThis marks the beginning of an unprecedented effort of the expanding network of scientists and designers in Japan - who are also reaching out for advise from their counterparts in the United States and Europe - to develop what some call the world’s most comprehensive study on safety.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nFor now, though, Tao and his team are concentrating on negotiating their way into the tightly controlled bureaucratic systems here that have long resisted outside intervention - one of the more troubling aspects of Japan’s economic development which now lays exposed by the disaster.&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nReturning to Tokyo, late at night, we wondered aloud what lessons had Japan learned from the disaster. We asked Tao, what would come next. \"The answers will take time,\" he said. \"More important right now is maintaining a collective effort to contain the nuclear tragedy that must involve both proponents and opponents of nuclear energy technology.\"&#13;\n</p><p>\n \nAfter more than 20 years in Japan, I knew Tao and his community of concerned scientists were right. At a time of tragedy, Japanese wisdom had won. First things first, and only then can the right platform be established to debate the larger challenges. &#13;\n</p><p>\n \n<b>Want to Know More? &#13;\n</b></p><p>\n\n»  <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/wl_oneworld/storytext/45361669781302177294/40990265/SIG=12g9rbo5p/*http://oneworldgroup.org/2011/03/28/nuclear-power-no-longer-from-a-dark-place/\">Nuclear Power - No Longer from a Dark Place?</a>&#13;\n</p><p>\n\n» <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/wl_oneworld/storytext/45361669781302177294/40990265/SIG=12co2ipfq/*http://oneworldgroup.org/2011/03/22/video-qa-the-fukushima-nuclear-crisis/\">OneWorld TV: Fukushima Q&amp;A with Nuclear Expert</a>&#13;\n</p><p>\n\n<a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/oneworld/wl_oneworld/storytext/45361669781302177294/40990265/SIG=112rtus5k/*http://us.oneworld.net/headlines\">ALL THE LATEST HEADLINES</a>\n</p><p>\n</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Report from Fukushima   (OneWorld.net)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/20110407/wl_oneworld/45361669781302177294\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/oneworld/20110407/wl_oneworld/45361669781302177294</a></p>',-2,5,0,43,'2011-04-07 07:45:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 07:45:00','2011-04-09 06:11:02','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(787,'Wall Street futures signal higher opening   (Reuters)','wall-street-futures-signal-higher-opening-reuters','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110407/i/r165683249.jpg?x=130&amp;y=85&amp;q=85&amp;sig=TXYAGXK4S3ZoPN5F5wVFHA--\" height=\"85\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Wall Street futures signal higher opening   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>(Reuters) Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&amp;P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up 0.3-0.4 percent.</p>\n                <p>\n* The Commerce Department releases wholesale inventories for February at 1400 GMT. Economists in a Reuters survey forecast inventories to rise 1.0 percent, a repeat of the January increase.</p>\n                <p>\n* Facing a midnight deadline, the White House and Congress were working furiously on Friday to break a U.S. budget deadlock and avoid a government shutdown, after President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach a deal in late-night talks.</p>\n                <p>\n* At 1430 GMT, Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) releases its weekly index of economic activity for April 1. In the prior week the index read 130.0.</p>\n                <p>\n* Goldman Sachs (GS.N) has bought a 12 percent stake worth more than $900 million in China\'s Taikang Life Insurance Co Ltd, giving the Wall Street giant a foothold into the world\'s biggest insurance market.</p>\n                <p>\n* Resource-related stocks will be in focus after copper rose more than 1 percent on hopes of improving demand for raw materials and crude prices rose 1 percent to a fresh 32-month high on supply cuts in Libya. Gold hit a record high and silver rose to its strongest in 31 years.</p>\n                <p>\n* Euro zone finance ministers will discuss Portugal\'s bailout plea on Friday, including how much it needs and what reforms it could apply in return, but no firm decisions are likely yet, euro zone sources said.</p>\n                <p>\n* The FTSEurofirst 300 (.FTEU3) index of top European shares rose 0.6 percent as the European Central Bank\'s decision to raise interest rates on Thursday helped fuel optimism over the health of the euro zone economy.</p>\n                <p>\n* Japan\'s Nikkei average (.N225) jumped 1.9 percent to close on Friday at the highest level since the March 11 earthquake as a 24 percent gain in Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T), the operator of a stricken nuclear plant, became a factor in encouraging active short-covering.</p>\n                <p>\n* On Thursday, the Dow Jones industrial average (.DJI) was down 17.26 points, or 0.14 percent, at 12,409.49. The Standard &amp; Poor\'s 500 Index (.SPX) was down 2.03 points, or 0.15 percent, at 1,333.51. The Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC) was down 3.68 points, or 0.13 percent, at 2,796.14.</p>\n                <p>\n(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Hans Peters)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-08 04:36:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:36:00','2011-04-09 06:11:06','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(788,'Budget deal elusive as negotiators scramble   (Reuters)','budget-deal-elusive-as-negotiators-scramble-reuters','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Facing a midnight deadline, the White House and Congress were working furiously on Friday to break a U.S. budget deadlock and avoid a government shutdown, after President Barack Obama and congressional leaders failed to reach a deal in late-night talks.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I\'m not prepared to express \'wild optimism,\' but I think we are further along today than we were yesterday,\" Obama told reporters late on Thursday following a meeting with House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.</p>\n                <p>\nWithout an agreement on spending for the next six months, money to operate the government runs out at midnight on Friday (0400 GMT on Saturday) and agencies such as the Internal Revenue Service would have to begin a partial shutdown.</p>\n                <p>\nA government closing would continue until Republicans and Democrats either resolve their differences or pass a temporary funding bill.</p>\n                <p>\nVital services such as national defense, law enforcement, emergency medical care and air traffic control would continue.</p>\n                <p>\nObama, who has held four face-to-face meetings with the Republican and Democratic congressional leaders over three days, said a few \"difficult issues\" still had to be resolved. He did not provide details.</p>\n                <p>\nRepeatedly over the past few days, optimism over prospects for a deal have been dashed, prompting the two sides to accuse each other of acting to shut down the government for the first time since the mid-1990s.</p>\n                <p>\nBut Boehner, the top Republican in the House of Representatives, and Reid, a Democrat, managed to issue a joint statement after their latest meeting with Obama.</p>\n                <p>\n\"We have narrowed the issues, however, we have not yet reached an agreement. We will continue to work through the night to attempt to resolve our remaining differences,\" they said.</p>\n                <p>\nObama\'s Democrats have been blaming the impasse on a Republican push for policy provisions that would block public funding of birth control and stymie environmental protection efforts.</p>\n                <p>\nRepublicans say they need to lock in the biggest spending cuts possible now to begin bringing down budget deficits that some economists say have reached dangerous levels -- a projected $1.4 trillion just this year.</p>\n                <p>\nThe high-stakes negotiations have aimed to cut spending in the range of $33 billion to $40 billion for the rest of this year in an overall federal budget of about $3.7 trillion.</p>\n                <p>\nA government shutdown would idle hundreds of thousands of workers, potentially put a crimp on the U.S. economic recovery, and carry political risks for both Democrats and Republicans who would be seen by voters as failing to make compromises.</p>\n                <p>\nBoehner is under pressure to stand firm in the talks from Tea Party conservatives who helped fuel last year\'s big Republican election gains with promises of deep spending cuts and reduced government.</p>\n                <p>\nHe likely could ram a spending-cut deal through the House without the support of the dozens of Tea Party freshmen. In doing so he would rely on support from a coalition of more moderate Republicans and moderate Democrats.</p>\n                <p>\nBut no House Speaker likes to abandon any wing of his or her political party in a legislative fight. It\'s also unclear whether Tea Party activists would try to remove Boehner from power sometime down the road if he got on their wrong side.</p>\n                <p>\n(Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle, Kim Dixon, Donna Smith, David Alexander, Andy Sullivan, Thomas Ferraro and David Morgan; editing by Mohammad Zargham)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-08 01:33:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 01:33:00','2011-04-09 06:11:07','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(789,'Goldman bets on China insurance with $900 mln Taikang stake buy   (Reuters)','goldman-bets-on-china-insurance-with-900-mln-taikang-stake-buy-reuters','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>HONG KONG (Reuters) – Goldman Sachs (GS.N) has bought a 12 percent stake worth more than $900 million in China\'s Taikang Life Insurance Co Ltd, giving the Wall Street giant a foothold into the world\'s biggest insurance market.</p>\n                </div></div>','<p>\nGoldman\'s long-overdue purchase could pave the way for Taikang\'s planned initial public offering next year, bankers and analysts said, as the insurer seeks more capital to fund its rapid growth in China.</p>\n                <p>\nCredit Suisse estimates China\'s life insurance market --which generated $124 billion premium income in 2009 -- will grow more than 20 percent per annum for the next decade.</p>\n                <p>\nBut some analysts doubt if Goldman can earn the same big returns that Carlyle Group (CYL.UL) and TPG Capital (TPG.UL) reaped from their investments in Chinese insurance companies.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Goldman has come in pretty late into the game relative to Taikang\'s planned IPO timeline, so the returns might not be as high as previous investors have got,\" said Sally Yim, senior analyst of financial institutions group at Moody\'s.</p>\n                <p>\nCarlyle\'s investment in China Pacific Insurance (Group) Co (2601.HK) is already on course for its best ever exit, after it sold down a $2.6 billion stake over the past few months.</p>\n                <p>\nLast year, TPG sold a $2.4 billion stake in China\'s Ping An Insurance Group Co (2318.HK), which analysts estimate delivered strong profits for the buyout fund.</p>\n                <p>\nRIVAL BIDDERS</p>\n                <p>\nGoldman is not new to the China insurance industry, having previously bought a stake in Ping An along with Morgan Stanley (MS.N) in 1994. But Goldman is using its balance sheet to buy the Taikang stake, while the previous investment was made through its private equity arm.</p>\n                <p>\nGoldman acquired the Taikang stake from French insurer AXA SA (AXAF.PA), which last month said it agreed to sell its 15.6 percent in Taikang to a group of investors for $1.2 billion.</p>\n                <p>\nGoldman beat several bidders, including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts &amp; Co (KKR.N), Blackstone Group (BX.N) and Singapore\'s Temasek Holdings (TEM.UL), to win the Taikang auction.</p>\n                <p>\nChina Guardian Auctions Co. and New Deal TEDA Investment Co., Ltd were the others who bought the shares sold by AXA, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC) said on its web site. AXA put its stake on the block nearly two years ago and Goldman was picked as the preferred bidder last year.</p>\n                <p>\nThe stake purchase was approved by CIRC, Goldman and Taikang said in a joint statement.</p>\n                <p>\nTaikang and New China Life Insurance Co. are among insurers which are looking to tap the public market over the course of the next year or so. Taikang has about $44 billion in assets and 54 million clients across China.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The regulators are a bit reluctant to allow insurance companies to raise subordinate debt to replenish capital. So all these companies are looking to shareholders to help inject capital to support growth,\" Yim of Moody\'s added.</p>\n                <p>\n(Editing by Michael Flaherty and Muralikumar Anantharaman)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-08 04:37:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:37:00','2011-04-09 06:11:08','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(790,'Cerberus, Centerbrige eyeing Citi consumer unit: report   (Reuters)','cerberus-centerbrige-eyeing-citi-consumer-unit-report-reuters','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110406/capt.photo_1302100770470-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=85&amp;q=85&amp;sig=MQ2R42IeTzul5lc8gMF8rA--\" height=\"85\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Cerberus, Centerbrige eyeing Citi consumer unit: report   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) – Cerberus Capital Management LP (CBS.UL) and Centerbridge Capital Partners are among the bidders for Citigroup Inc\'s (C.N) U.S. consumer-lending unit, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.</p>\n                <p>\nReuters reported in March that Citigroup was looking to sell the business without taking losses and was offering partial financing to bidders.</p>\n                <p>\nReuters also reported then that bidders included a handful of groups consisting of more than 10 private equity firms including Warburg Pincus LLC (WP.UL) and KKR &amp; Co (KKR.N) in one group and Blackstone Group (BX.N) and Carlyle Group (CYL.UL) in another.</p>\n                <p>\nBloomberg said on Thursday that the group that included Warburg Pincus withdrew from the process, according to one person.</p>\n                <p>\nCerberus and Citi declined to comment. Officials at Centerbridge, Warburg Pincus and KKR could not be reached immediately.</p>\n                <p>\n(Reporting by Martinne Geller and Ernest Scheyder; editing by Carol Bishopric)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 21:22:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 21:22:00','2011-04-09 06:11:09','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(791,'JPMorgan CEO Dimon\'s pay jumps to $20.8 million   (Reuters)','jpmorgan-ceo-dimons-pay-jumps-to-208-million-reuters','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110407/i/r1236099166.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=UzgUppP29NZ6KIEbitu5LA--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"JPMorgan CEO Dimon\'s pay jumps to $20.8 million   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>NEW YORK (Reuters) – After piloting the No. 2 U.S. bank through the financial crisis relatively unscathed, JPMorgan Chase &amp; Co (JPM.N) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon is now being extremely well rewarded.</p>\n                <p>\nDimon\'s total compensation jumped nearly 1,500 percent to $20.8 million in 2010 from $1.3 million a year earlier, based on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission\'s compensation formula, a regulatory filing showed.</p>\n                <p>\nDimon did even better in terms of the value of money and shares actually received: his salary, bonus and stock and options from grants made largely in previous years that were actually exercised in 2010 were worth around $42 million.</p>\n                <p>\nBy way of comparison, real median U.S. household income was just $49,777 in 2009, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.</p>\n                <p>\nLarge pay packages for bankers who oversaw transactions that brought the world economy to the brink of collapse in 2008 have become a flash point for investors.</p>\n                <p>\nAnger has eased, but banker pay remains a sensitive issue, especially toward lenders that took taxpayer bailout money.</p>\n                <p>\nMany analysts view JPMorgan as the healthiest of the largest U.S. commercial banks, having skirted the worst of the credit losses that hurt many rivals including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) and Citigroup Inc (C.N).</p>\n                <p>\nThey credit the 55-year-old Dimon, who became chief executive on December 31, 2005, for having enabled JPMorgan to quickly repay its $25 billion of bailout money.</p>\n                <p>\nJPMorgan is also one of the first big banks to raise its dividend after passing a second Federal Reserve \"stress\" test.</p>\n                <p>\nHowever, Dimon has criticized regulatory reforms by the Obama administration, saying they could crimp growth.</p>\n                <p>\nIn his annual shareholder letter posted on the bank\'s website, Dimon said JPMorgan could earn $22 billion to $24 billion in a \"more normal\" environment, up from $17.4 billion in 2010. He said profit has fallen short because mortgage losses have been \"extraordinarily high,\" at $4 billion a year and that such losses will remain \"elevated\" for a while.</p>\n                <p>\nTHREE YEARS TO SELL HOME</p>\n                <p>\nDimon\'s 2010 salary remained at $1 million. He was also awarded a $5 million bonus, nearly $8 million in stock awards and $6.2 million in option awards, according to the SEC\'s compensation formula.</p>\n                <p>\nHis 2010 compensation also included $579,624 worth of perks, including $421,458 of \"moving expenses,\" $95,293 to use company aircraft and $45,730 for personal automobile use. Most of the rest went toward home security.</p>\n                <p>\nLike many Americans who have had trouble selling their homes, Dimon did too. The moving expenses relate to the sale in 2010 of Dimon\'s Chicago-area home, in which he had lived while heading Bank One Corp that was sold to JPMorgan in 2004.</p>\n                <p>\nDimon put the home up for sale in 2007 when his family moved to New York.</p>\n                <p>\nDimon\'s total compensation in 2010 fell short of the $35.8 million he was awarded in 2008, according to the SEC formula.</p>\n                <p>\nGoldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein saw compensation jump to $14.1 million in 2010 from $1 million, another regulatory filing shows.\n</p><p>\n\nOther bank CEOs had lower compensation in 2010. Wells Fargo &amp; Co\'s (WFC.N) John Stumpf saw compensation fall to $19 million from $21.3 million. Bank of America\'s Brian Moynihan saw compensation fall 70 percent to about $1.9 million, although in early 2011 he got a $9.1 million bonus.\n</p><p>\n\nCitigroup CEO Vikram Pandit\'s compensation was $1 in 2010, but his salary alone has risen to $1.75 million in 2011.\n</p><p>\n\nJPMorgan shares closed down 0.5 percent at $47.40 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday. (Reporting by Clare Baldwin and Jonathan Stempel; editing by Tim Dobbyn, Martin Howell and Dhara Ranasinghe)</p>\n            ',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 22:57:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 22:57:00','2011-04-09 06:11:10','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(792,'A look at economic developments around the globe   (AP)','a-look-at-economic-developments-around-the-globe-ap','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>A look at economic developments and activity in major stock markets around the world Thursday:</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                </div></div>','<p>LONDON — European stocks made gains in spite of nagging worries over Japan\'s damaged nuclear reactor and Libya\'s violent conflict. The euro hit a 15-month high against the dollar on expectations the European Central Bank will hike interest rates this week.</p>\n                <p>The FTSE 100 index of leading British shares closed up 0.6 percent, Germany\'s DAX rose 0.6 percent and the CAC-40 in France was 0.2 percent higher.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>TOKYO — Earlier in Asia, Japan\'s battered Nikkei 225 closed down 0.3 percent, Hong Kong\'s Hang Seng gained 0.6 percent and in China, investors brushed off the previous day\'s interest rate increase as the Shanghai Composite Index returned from a holiday to close 1.1 percent higher.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>LISBON, Portugal — Portugal managed to raise about 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in a Treasury bill sale but paid a high rate for the cash.</p>\n                <p>It appears inevitable the debt-stressed country will soon need a massive bailout.</p>\n                <p>The spike in rates suggests market confidence in Portugal\'s financial future is evaporating as investors bet the country will not be able to manage its debt load on its own.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>LONDON — British industrial production fell 1.2 percent during February, the largest monthly fall since August 2009 and far worse than analyst expectations for a 0.2 percent increase.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>HONG KONG — Asia\'s economic growth will ease to just under 8 percent for the next two years as the region continues a solid recovery, the Asian Development Bank said. But the lender warned that inflation remains one of Asia\'s biggest challenges, with rising food prices threatening to send more people into poverty.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>WASHINGTON — A senior administration official says the U.S. and Colombia have reached a deal on a key free trade agreement. The official says the deal will increase U.S. exports to Colombia by more than $1 billion per year and support thousands of American jobs.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>BERLIN — Industrial orders in Germany, Europe\'s biggest economy, rose 2.4 percent in February.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nMADRID — Spain raised its unemployment rate forecast for 2011 to 19.8 percent from 19.5 percent. Finance Minister Elena Salgado said continuing deterioration of the labor market forced the change, adding that the government does not expect the rate to fall until 2012.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nPARIS — Algeria\'s former energy minister warned the ongoing political and social turmoil in the Arab world will have \"dramatic\" implications for energy markets in coming years.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nCAIRO — Foreign direct investments into Egypt are projected to fall by over 40 percent, the country\'s investment chief said, in another sobering reminder of how the unrest that toppled former President Hosni Mubarak is battering the economy.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nBERLIN — Commerzbank AG announced plans to repay 14.3 billion euros ($20.3 billion) in aid from the German government by June. The German bank said it aims to return much of the money it received at the height of the financial crisis with help from a capital increase.</p>\n            ',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-06 14:05:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-06 14:05:00','2011-04-09 06:11:11','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,1,'');
INSERT INTO `jos_content` VALUES (793,'Stores turn in surprisingly strong sales for March   (AP)','stores-turn-in-surprisingly-strong-sales-for-march-ap','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.3bfc14b22a494dda9cef34edfad1066a-3bfc14b22a494dda9cef34edfad1066a-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=UqVqaKrzRL6vxhfbu5YuSQ--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Stores turn in surprisingly strong sales for March   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div></div>','<div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK – The economic recovery keeps defying expectations and getting stronger. Robust consumer spending in March is the latest sign that the rebound is entering a self-reinforcing cycle of improvement.</p>\n                <p>Shoppers shrugged off worries about higher gas prices and treated themselves at the mall last month. Retailers from Costco to Victoria\'s Secret reported surprisingly good sales Thursday, and analysts said people would have spent even more but for the late Easter.</p>\n                <p>The results were the latest economic report to come in better than expected. The private sector added more than 200,000 jobs in each of February and March, and the unemployment rate has fallen more than a full percentage point, to 8.8 percent, in just four months.</p>\n                <p>Consumer spending, which makes up 70 percent of the economy, is critical to the recovery. The more shoppers spend, the more companies feel good about ramping up production, which means eventually adding workers, who spend more money.</p>\n                <p>There are signs now that the cycle is taking off. Ajay Banga, the CEO and president of MasterCard Inc., told The Associated Press that there\'s \"something changing\" in American spending habits.</p>\n                <p>\"The 90 percent of the people who are employed, compared with the 10 (percent) who are not, no longer believe that their jobs are at risk,\" Banga said. \"And their willingness to spend has changed compared with six or nine months ago ... when there was a fear.\"</p>\n                <p>Overall, revenue at major retailers rose 2 percent over last March, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Many analysts had expected it to be flat or to decline slightly. The figures are based on stores open at least a year.</p>\n                <p>The increase is better than it looks because Easter falls on April 24 this year, three weeks later than last year. Had it fallen in March, retailers\' results might have been three to five percentage points better because of holiday spending, analysts say.</p>\n                <p>There\'s still plenty for retailers to worry about. Gas now averages more than $3.50 a gallon in almost every state, and food keeps getting more expensive. But \"jobs rule, and that is what is determining the underlying strength,\" said Michael P. Niemira, chief economist at the International Council of Shopping Centers.</p>\n                <p>Other factors worked against stores. The earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crises in Japan took a toll on Gap Inc., which has more than 150 stores there. It reported a decline that was worse than expected and warned of disappointing earnings. Clothing sellers are starting to raise prices to offset soaring costs for labor in China and for raw materials like cotton.</p>\n                <p>Americans have more money to spend because of a two-percentage-point cut in the Social Security payroll tax, which will provide most households an additional $1,000 to $2,000 this year. The IRS had also paid out $206 billion in tax refunds through March 25, 1.1 percent more than at the same point last year.</p>\n                <p>Even so, consumers surveyed in March for the Conference Board\'s consumer confidence index voiced concerns about inflation and stagnant incomes.</p>\n                <p>Niemira said price increases, especially for food, may have helped revenue at discount stores. Most increases in clothing prices haven\'t been passed on to consumers yet.</p>\n                <p>Costco\'s revenue at stores opened at least a year were up 8 percent after adjusting for factors like rising gas prices and fluctuating foreign currencies that can make sales comparisons misleading.</p>\n                <p>To keep sales humming, stores are depending on shoppers like Miguel Guzman, 58, who works in the security business and picked up some extra clothes this week because of recent overtime shifts at work.</p>\n                <p>\"I feel in the last year I\'m getting a little more spending money,\" said Guzman, who was shopping at Manhattan Mall in New York on Thursday. He plans to spend close to $1,000 for Easter, spoiling his 14 nieces and 21 nephews — about twice as much as he spent last year when his work hours were cut.</p>\n                <p>He\'s noticed the rising food prices but isn\'t concerned.</p>\n                <p>\"When it comes to food, believe it or not, the 99-cent store has everything in there,\" he said.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nAP Retail Writer Christina Rexrode in New York contributed to this report.</p>\n            </div>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 16:50:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 16:50:00','2011-04-09 06:11:12','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(794,'Constellation Brands posts profit for 4Q   (AP)','constellation-brands-posts-profit-for-4q-ap','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.c6efef9536874cf89fd1ff1103ab6dc9-c6efef9536874cf89fd1ff1103ab6dc9-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=HMvSg_7S4l7JZ9BvqsaK4w--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Constellation Brands posts profit for 4Q   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div></div>','<div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Constellation Brands Inc. said Thursday that Americans brought home more wine through the holiday season, taking advantage of more discounts to trade up to higher-premium brands.</p>\n                <p>The maker of Robert Mondavi wine, Svedka vodka and Corona beer posted a $279.8 million fourth-quarter profit, recovering from a year-ago loss as it saw a 17 percent jump in wine sales in the key North America market.</p>\n                <p>Its revenue in the December-to-February period edged up just 1 percent to $715.3 million as the bump in wine volumes was largely offset by the recent sale of much of its Australian and British wine business.</p>\n                <p>While alcoholic-beverage purchases at bars and restaurants remain sluggish, the Victor, N.Y., company is benefiting from an improved U.S. economy even though promotional activity at stores is still highly competitive.</p>\n                <p>\"The consumer is definitely back, is definitely purchasing,\" CEO Robert Sands told analysts in a conference call. But the typical take-home shopper \"remains extremely price-sensitive and is looking for a deal and, therefore, promotional activity remains robust. ... We see a lot of trading-up going on in the business.\"</p>\n                <p>This year, he added, \"I don\'t think that we\'re anticipating a big change in consumer behavior.\"</p>\n                <p>The quarterly results beat Wall Street expectations and the company forecast improved earnings in the current fiscal year. In addition, its board of directors authorized a $500 million share repurchase program \"to provide flexibility over a multi-year period.\"</p>\n                <p>Its shares rose $1.41, or 6.9 percent, to close at $21.79 Thursday. The stock is trading at the upper end of a 52-week range of $14.97 to $22.52.</p>\n                <p>\"We believe (the company\'s) core business is improving, and is beginning to reflect the strength of the wine category,\" UBS analyst Kaumil Gajrawala said in a note to clients.</p>\n                <p>The company\'s brands include Clos du Bois, Woodbridge by Robert Mondavi, Blackstone and Ravenswood. It also sells liquors such as Black Velvet Canadian whiskey, and its beer imports include Modelo Especiale from Mexico, Tsingtao from China and St. Pauli Girl from Germany.</p>\n                <p>Spirits sales rose 3 percent, driven by strong gains for Svedka, while sales of Corona and other imported beers surged 15 percent.</p>\n                <p>Boosted by volume growth, operating earnings from Crown Imports, its beer joint venture with Mexican brewer Grupo Modelo SA, rose 18 percent to $97 million on sales of $480.4 million.</p>\n                <p>Net income for all of Constellation Brands equaled $1.32 per share. A year earlier, the company lost $51 million, or 23 cents a share, on sliding sales of spirits and beer and lingering weakness in the U.S. wine market.</p>\n                <p>Excluding items, it earned 35 cents per share. Wall Street expected 26 cents a share, according to FactSet.</p>\n                <p>In January, Constellation Brands lost its eight-year-long status as the world\'s No. 1 winemaker when it sold 80 percent of its Australian and British wine business to an Australian private equity firm for $230 million. It recorded a net pre-tax gain of $84 million and a net tax benefit of $198 million related to the divestiture.</p>\n                <p>Despite the divestiture, wine sales still account for more than 90 percent of revenue.</p>\n                <p>The company has been shifting its focus to higher-priced brands and remains the biggest seller by volume of premium-category wines priced between $5 and $15. Investors expect the sale of foreign assets to create a smaller but more profitable business with less risk.</p>\n                <p>In the current fiscal year, Constellation Brands expects adjusted earnings will rise to between $1.90 and $2 a share from $1.91 in the fiscal year that ended in February. Analysts were looking for a per-share profit of $1.80 this year, according to FactSet.\n</p><p>\nFor all of fiscal 2011, Constellation Brands earned $560 million, or $2.62 per share, up sharply from $99.3 million or 45 cents a share in the previous year. But sales after excise taxes eased to $3.33 billion from $3.36 billion.</p>\n            </div>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 18:15:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 18:15:00','2011-04-09 06:11:13','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(795,'EU ministers wrangle over Portugal bailout deal   (AP)','eu-ministers-wrangle-over-portugal-bailout-deal-ap','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110408/capt.ce3cf674e63845b1895d1c64a3c12228-ce3cf674e63845b1895d1c64a3c12228-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=60&amp;q=85&amp;sig=IQG0gdsXf5guHFSUVRLXEA--\" height=\"60\" width=\"130\" alt=\"EU ministers wrangle over Portugal bailout deal   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div></div>','<div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>GODOLLO, Hungary – European finance ministers were wrangling over the size and terms of a rescue loan for Portugal at the start of their two-day meeting in Hungary Friday, but said uncertainty over how much the caretaker government in Lisbon can offer in return made an imminent deal unlikely.</p>\n                <p>Portugal submitted a formal request for help to the European Commission, the EU\'s executive, Thursday evening, officially kicking off negotiations for a bailout that had been anticipated for months.</p>\n                <p>Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos now has to convince his 16 eurozone counterparts that Lisbon has the authority to implement structural reforms and budget cuts designed to get the country\'s public finances back into shape.</p>\n                <p>Teixeira dos Santos, who together will the rest of the government is only acting as a caretaker until elections in June, indicated Friday how difficult it may be to reach at a deal, since opposition parties will have to be involved in negotiations.</p>\n                <p>\"The interlocutor of the European authorities is not only the government but also the major political parties, because we need a commitment of the country, not only a commitment of the government,\" he said as he arrived in Godollo, a small town just outside Budapest.</p>\n                <p>The Portuguese government resigned late last month after opposition parties rejected new tax hikes and spending cuts that had been worked out together with the European Commission, the EU\'s executive, and the European Central Bank.</p>\n                <p>That package of reforms — also sanctioned by other eurozone governments — will now form the basis of discussions for any bailout program. But Finland\'s Finance Minister Jyrki Katainen said Friday morning that even those planned reforms may not satisfy demands.</p>\n                <p>\"The package must be harder than the one the parliament voted against,\" Katainen told journalists. \"There must be some structural reforms, only fiscal consolidation is not enough.\"</p>\n                <p>Amadeu Altafaj Tardio, the spokesman for the EU\'s Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn, also said that the reforms were only a starting point, and a full program will have to go beyond that.</p>\n                <p>A stringent economic adjustment program is a key prerequisite for international help — serving as assurance that the bailed-out country will eventually garner the strength to repay its creditors.</p>\n                <p>Most analysts expect Portugal to need around euro80 billion ($114 billion) to cover its costs over the next three years without having to raise money on debt markets at prohibitive rates.</p>\n                <p>But ministers said it was too early to put a number on Lisbon\'s financing needs. \"I wait first to hear their needs before I put a check on the table,\" said French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde.</p>\n                <p>The Social Democrats, Portugal\'s main opposition party, have said they would like to have some kind of bridge solution, leaving a full deal until after the elections, but Germany and other financially strong euro countries have so far ruled out giving money without a firm commitment.</p>\n                <p>There will have to be \"one fully fledged program,\" said Rehn.</p>\n                <p>Eurozone governments are already locked in a fight with Ireland\'s newly elected leadership about changing that country\'s bailout agreement — sealed only in November.</p>\n                <p>Ireland\'s Finance Minister Michael Noonan said he wanted to talk to his German and French colleagues about lower interest rates for the country\'s euro67.5 billion bailout, but added that with Portugal likely to dominate the meeting Friday and Saturday, he did not expect a deal.</p>\n                <p>Greece, the eurozone\'s first country to need a rescue last May, had its interest late lowered in March. However Dublin has refused to budge on its super-low corporate tax rate, angering some of the currency union\'s bigger members who believe the Irish tax regime is stealing business away from them.</p>\n                <p>Eurozone ministers said they were confident that a rescue for Portugal would finally draw a line under the debt crisis that has crippled the region for more than a year now. Spanish Finance Minister Elena Salgado said it was \"completely out of the question\" that her country, seen by many as the eurozone\'s next most vulnerable member, would need international help, too.\n</p><p>\n\"Our economy is much bigger, we have a much more diversified economy, we have a much better track record and we are in the middle of big structural reforms and we have a big and strong commitment to the reducing of our deficit,\" she said. \"We have been successful in that and the future ahead is much better.\"</p>\n            </div>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-08 05:41:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:41:00','2011-04-09 06:11:13','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(796,'No federal funding for Ohio projects if shutdown moves forward   (ContributorNetwork)','no-federal-funding-for-ohio-projects-if-shutdown-moves-forward-contributornetwork','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>GENEVA, Ohio -- Yes, the mail will still get delivered and Social Security checks will still go out should the U.S. government \"shut down\" Friday at midnight, but there will be plenty of things to affect Ohioans. From closed parks to delayed income tax refund checks to reduced pay</p></div></div>',' for military families, the government shutdown is likely to touch most residents of the Buckeye State in one way or another.\n                <p><strong>Closing national parks and monuments</strong></p>\n                <p>If the government shuts down, all non-essential workers--around 800,000 nationwide--will be furloughed. That means that Ohio\'s collection of <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ac/pl_ac/storytext/8233111_no_federal_funding_for_ohio_projects_if_shutdown_moves_forward/41000659/SIG=11sb1fiks/*http://www.nps.gov/applications/parksearch/state.cfm?st=oh\">national parks and historic sites</a> will close indefinitely. Among these parks are the 33,000-acre Cuyahoga Valley National Park, located between Cleveland and Akron; Dayton\'s Aviation Heritage National Park; the First Ladies Historic Site in Canton; the James A. Garfield Historic Site in Mentor (pictured at right) and the William Howard Taft Historic Site outside of Cincinnati.</p>\n                <p><strong>Delaying income tax refund checks</strong></p>\n                <p>For Ohioans waiting for an income tax refund check to pay bills or do home improvements, the prospect of a government shutdown couldn\'t come at a worse time. The Internal Revenue Service has said that they will continue to process tax returns with payments enclosed, but will suspend processing income tax refunds. This comes at the peak processing time, just two weeks before the filing deadline. (One positive note: tax audits would also be suspended.)</p>\n                <p><strong>Reduced pay for military families</strong></p>\n                <p>As if Ohio\'s military personnel serving overseas and their families didn\'t face enough challenges, government officials indicate that should there be a government shutdown, military personnel at home and abroad would receive less pay than they are expecting.  As reported by the <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ac/pl_ac/storytext/8233111_no_federal_funding_for_ohio_projects_if_shutdown_moves_forward/41000659/SIG=14ft6ito4/*http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-04-07-Government%20Shutdown/id-1f90ac953e3344d99e2d73a74747cf44\">Associated Press</a>, military checks next week would be for one week\'s pay instead of two weeks (that they usually receive.)  Among those affected would be troops in Iraq, Afghanistan and North Africa. </p>\n                <p><strong>No federal funding for Ohio projects</strong></p>\n                <p>Another casualty of a government shutdown would be the dozens of Ohio state projects funded by the US government. Among these are road and bridge repairs, low-income housing construction, and grant funding for public workers, like some Akron firefighters. Such projects would likely be put on hold for the duration of a shutdown..</p>\n                <p>As of Thursday morning,<a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ac/pl_ac/storytext/8233111_no_federal_funding_for_ohio_projects_if_shutdown_moves_forward/41000659/SIG=12q0po65e/*http://www.wkyc.com/news/article/184503/45/GOP-seeks-1-week-extension-as-shutdown-looms-\"> House Republicans are pushing for a proposal</a> that would delay the shutdown for one week, allowing House Republican and Democrats time to come to an agreement on the new budget.</p>\n                <p><i>Sandy Mitchell is a Ohio resident.</i><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ac/pl_ac/storytext/8233111_no_federal_funding_for_ohio_projects_if_shutdown_moves_forward/41000659/SIG=14h8rcms8/*http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/akron_canton_news/government-shutdown-could-delay-tax-returns-and-hold-up-federally-funded-projects\"><br /></a></p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 19:52:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 19:52:00','2011-04-09 06:11:14','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(797,'IMF wants ability to tap financial markets   (AFP)','imf-wants-ability-to-tap-financial-markets-afp','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110408/capt.photo_1302209733233-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=79&amp;q=85&amp;sig=b6wd.9s3jJhh4EfjULmV2Q--\" height=\"79\" width=\"130\" alt=\"IMF wants ability to tap financial markets   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>WASHINGTON (AFP) – The International Monetary Fund has proposed a plan to allow the multilateral lender to directly tap financial markets to be able to help member nations in crisis, according to a document published Thursday.</p>\n                <p>\n\"There may be circumstances where it is either necessary, or preferable on effectiveness grounds, to augment significantly the Fund\'s own resources,\" the IMF said in a report dated March 23 and released Thursday.</p>\n                <p>\n\"While in 2009-2010 it was possible to do so by turning to member countries, the process took time and may not always be politically feasible,\" it said.</p>\n                <p>\nInstead, establishing the means to borrow from the markets at short notice to supplement its existing resources \"could be worth exploring,\" it said.</p>\n                <p>\nThe news comes a day after the IMF said it stood ready to provide aid to Portugal, the latest eurozone nation seeking a bailout from debt woes.</p>\n                <p>\nIn the middle of the global financial crisis in 2009 the IMF sought to triple its resources to broaden lending capacity.</p>\n                <p>\nWhile it was able to garner pledges from the Group of 20 major economies, it only managed to meet that goal in March this year.</p>\n                <p>\nThe \"usable resources\" of the crisis lending account for medium and high-income countries today totals $671 billion, the highest level since the IMF was founded more than 60 years ago.</p>\n                <p>\nThere was no immediate reaction from member states that would have to approve the plan, but it could face resistance. The IMF since its creation has been financed 100 percent by its member under a quota share system that now includes 187 member states.</p>\n                <p>\nDomenico Lombardi, an economics professor and former IMF administrator for Italy, said IMF resources have not kept up with growth in international capital markets but that some states may not want the institution to move away from its independence.</p>\n                <p>\nLombardi noted that other multilateral institutions such as the World Bank have borrowed from the markets \"and the Fund can certainly learn from that experience.\"</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 19:58:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 19:58:00','2011-04-09 06:11:15','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(798,'Retailers surprise with March sales strength   (Reuters)','retailers-surprise-with-march-sales-strength-reuters','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110407/i/r271249588.jpg?x=130&amp;y=84&amp;q=85&amp;sig=BUUzB9G1qbuqcEzz67V26g--\" height=\"84\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Retailers surprise with March sales strength   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>CHICAGO (Reuters) – Shoppers scooped up bright spring clothing in March, painting a more upbeat picture of consumer spending as the job market improves.</p>\n                <p>\nRetailers from lingerie chain Victoria\'s Secret to upscale department store Saks Inc (SKS.N) reported much stronger-than-anticipated sales on Thursday, while Gap Inc (GPS.N) was one of just four chains to miss expectations.</p>\n                <p>\nThe improving job and stock markets have given shoppers more spending power, although some of the extra dollars in their pockets must pay for pricier food and gas.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The stock market doing as well as it has been doing kind of fuels the fire to generate the additional sales for not only the high-end stores, but the moderate-priced stores also,\" said Al Ferrara, national director of the retail and consumer product practice at accounting and consulting company BDO USA.</p>\n                <p>\nU.S. retailers overall had been expected to show their first same-store sales decline since August 2009, in part because Easter falls three weeks later than last year, which delays some spring purchases.</p>\n                <p>\nHowever, sales at stores open at least a year rose 1.7 percent in a tally of 25 retailers, topping expectations of a 0.7 percent decline, according to Thomson Reuters.</p>\n                <p>\nVictoria\'s Secret owner Limited Brands Inc (LTD.N) said its total same-store sales rose 14 percent, as college students picked up new Pink merchandise for March spring breaks. Analysts were expecting just a 1.5 percent increase.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The retailers that have the right assortment are still doing well,\" said Tom Clarke, director of AlixPartners\' global retail practice.</p>\n                <p>\nGap was a notable outlier. Its same-store sales fell 10 percent, or 3 percentage points more than expected.</p>\n                <p>\nThe clothing retailer blamed some of the weakness on the March earthquake in Japan, where it has more than 150 stores.</p>\n                <p>\nGap expects problems in Japan to cut first-quarter earnings by about 4 cents per share, bringing them below the analysts\' average estimate of 44 cents. It gave that forecast before a major aftershock hit northeast Japan.</p>\n                <p>\nGap\'s shares fell 1.4 percent.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Standard &amp; Poor\'s retail index (.RLX) was nearly unchanged, while the broader S&amp;P 500 (.SPX), which at Wednesday\'s close was up 6.2 percent since the start of the year, fell 0.4 percent.</p>\n                <p>\nLATEST EASTER IN DECADES</p>\n                <p>\nConsumer spending -- which accounts for about 70 percent of U.S. economic activity -- got off to slow start in the first two months of 2011, held back by bad weather.</p>\n                <p>\nWhile the unemployment rate is still high, the government reported a decline in new claims on Thursday, and more than a half-million new jobs have been created in the past four months.</p>\n                <p>\nAs a result, some people feel like they have more wiggle room to shop.</p>\n                <p>\n\"This March I spent more than last March because I was searching for a job last March,\" said Jane Marcinkiewicz. A 37-year-old mother of two from New York\'s Harlem neighborhood, she works part-time at a department store.\n</p><p>\n\nCostco Wholesale Corp (COST.O) and BJ\'s Wholesale Club Inc (BJ.N) each rang up bigger-than-expected gains, in part because the gasoline they sold was more expensive.\n</p><p>\n\nStill, analysts do not expect most of the impact of higher prices to show up in consumer spending until later this year.\n</p><p>\n\nChains focused on clothing were pleased that shoppers decided not to wait to buy their spring gear.\n</p><p>\n\nTJX Cos Inc (TJX.N) said it was \"very comfortable\" with its quarterly earnings outlook, while Macy\'s Inc (M.N) said its sales in March and April should come in stronger than it had anticipated. TJX shares were down about 1 percent after an early rise, while Macy\'s edged up 0.5 percent.\n</p><p>\n\nStill, the retailers\' reports did not clearly show whether higher sales were mostly due to inflation or if they could help profits.\n</p><p>\n\n\"Now we\'re entering the period when retailers have to decide whether to increase prices or reduce gross margins,\" AlixPartners\' Clarke said. \"That risk is now here.\"\n</p><p>\n\nMarch sales reports do not paint the full picture of the consumer economy as the retailers that still issue monthly figures account for only 10 percent of total U.S. retail sales, according to Customer Growth Partners President Craig Johnson.\n</p><p>\n\nWal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), Home Depot Inc (HD.N), Best Buy Co Inc (BBY.N) and others do not give monthly tallies.\n</p><p>\n\n(Reporting by Jessica Wohl and Brad Dorfman in Chicago; Lucia Mutikani, Dhanya Skariachan, Phil Wahba in New York; and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Phil Berlowitz and Lisa Von Ahn)</p>\n            ',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 14:11:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 14:11:00','2011-04-09 06:11:16','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(799,'8 Tips for a Successful Open House   (U.S. News   World Report)','8-tips-for-a-successful-open-house-us-news-world-report','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>If your home is on the market, then you may already know that you\'re  about to enter the high season for buyers. Spring, summer and fall are  when most people look for, and buy, homes. In fact, April through July  is when the majority of homes change hands, with June</p></div></div>',' traditionally  being the strongest month for home sales.\n                <p>[See <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=130c8ggvr/*http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/slideshows/10-smart-ways-to-improve-your-budget\">10   Smart Ways to Improve Your Budget</a>.]</p>\n                <p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=12q63aans/*http://www.moneycrashers.com/four-tips-for-selling-your-home-in-a-fallen-housing-market/\">Selling your home</a> in a down market isn\'t easy. To boost sales potential, it\'s likely that your <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=12tt8bhso/*http://www.moneycrashers.com/top-5-mistakes-sellers-make-when-choosing-a-real-estate-agent/\">real estate agent</a> might want to stage an open house during the busy buying season, especially if you live in an area that\'s seeing an upswing in prices and home sales.  This means it\'s up to you to make sure your open house impresses as many potential buyers as possible.</p>\n                <p>So, what can you do to make the most of your open house? Follow these eight tips to create a buyer-friendly atmosphere.</p>\n                <p><strong>1. Spruce Up the Yard</strong></p>\n                <p>You\'ve probably heard time and time again that <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=133eodi92/*http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/my-money/2011/03/30/7-ways-to-increase-your-homes-curb-appeal\">curb appeal</a> is one of  the most important factors when it comes to selling your home. The experts keep repeating this mantra for a reason: you really don\'t get a second chance to make a first impression.  Make sure your <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=127bst3r2/*http://www.moneycrashers.com/how-to-save-money-landscaping-your-yard/\">yard landscaping</a> and the exterior of your home look amazing. Plant flowers in brightly-colored pots, make sure the grass is cut and edged, and place a fresh layer of mulch in the beds. Clean up any random debris (e.g. those bricks you always meant to use for a new patio have to go) or toys that may be lying around.  Lastly, take a look at your front door. Would it benefit from a fresh coat of paint? It\'s easy to overlook a flaking door frame or rusty railings with everything you have going on, but these little details can make a world of difference.</p>\n                <p><strong>2. Invest in a New Doormat</strong></p>\n                <p>It may sound silly, but think about this: When you\'re about to enter a home, what do you do? You look down, and wipe your feet on the doormat.  If your current doormat is dingy and used, buy a nice one for the open house. A bright, fresh doormat subtly tells buyers you care about the home. Remember to pay attention to other aspects of your entryway as well. Don\'t leave shoes on the floor for visitors to stumble on, and get rid of that stack of mail on the hall table.</p>\n                <p><strong>3. Clear the Clutter</strong></p>\n                <p>Make sure every surface of your home is clean and clear of clutter. Here are a few things to keep in mind:</p>\n                <p>--Kitchen: This is especially true in the kitchen. Buyers like to see uncluttered counter tops because it\'s easier for them to envision how their own appliances would fit. So take away the coffee pot, the juicer, the blender, and anything else you usually leave sitting out.</p>\n                <p>--Bathroom: Put away all personal items, including toothbrushes and toiletries.</p>\n                <p>--Bedrooms and Living Area: It\'s important to pack away personal items like family photos, trophies, and anything else that might prevent buyers from imagining themselves in the house.</p>\n                <p>For more guidance on making your home spotless, check these <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=12eoee859/*http://www.moneycrashers.com/house-spring-cleaning-tips-checklist-printable/\">house spring cleaning tips and checklist</a>.</p>\n                <p><strong>4. Organize Closets and Storage Spaces</strong></p>\n                <p><strong> </strong>Remember, storage space is a key concern for most home buyers. They want to be able to clearly see what your home has to offer. Nobody wants to open a closet door and have a pile of stuff fall on them.  Clean out any extraneous items and make sure these spaces are well-organized. It may even be worth investing in some shelving and stackable bins to really show off the potential of the space.</p>\n                <p><strong>5. Set the Table</strong> </p>\n                <p>Arrange the dining room table with your most interesting tableware. For an added touch of class, add some fresh flowers and candles. If you do your diligence here, buyers will find themselves picturing what it would be like to entertain in the home.\n</p><p>\n[See <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=133p044ga/*http://money.usnews.com/money/personal-finance/slideshows/12-money-mistakes-almost-everyone-makes\"> 12 Money Mistakes Almost Everyone Makes</a>.]\n</p><p>\n<strong>6. Leave Out Goodies</strong>\n</p><p>\nYou want your home to feel inviting and welcoming. There\'s no better way to make potential buyers feel at home then to offer them some delicious treats during the open house. Plus, if you do a little baking beforehand (even if it\'s throwing \"slice and bake\" cookies in the oven), the house will smell amazing.  Put out a plate of cookies or brownies, or individually-wrapped candies or chocolates. Offer bottled water, hot cocoa (if it\'s a wet, cold spring day), or a carafe of lemonade.\n</p><p>\n<strong>7. Leave Flyers and FAQ Sheets</strong> \n</p><p>\nAn informational flyer with one or more attractive, high quality photos of your home can be a great selling tool. Not only will this help your home stay \"top of mind\" once people leave, but flyers and FAQ pages also allow you to offer insider information about the neighbors, the local school system, and any other benefits to the area.\n</p><p>\n<strong>8. Make Yourself Scarce</strong>\n</p><p>\nYou shouldn\'t be home during an open house. If you\'re absent, buyers will feel more comfortable asking questions to the realtor, and discussing the benefits and drawbacks of your home. You\'ll also feel better not having to hear all of the potential buyers\' opinions first hand.  Find something fun to do that will take your mind off of things. And if you have pets, make sure you take them with you.\n</p><p>\n<strong>Final Thoughts</strong>\n</p><p>\nRemember, you want buyers to feel comfortable as they\'re walking around your home. The day before your open house, do a walk through. Try to pretend you\'re looking at the home for the first time. Is the furniture easy to navigate around? Are there any cords someone could trip over? Are there any strange or unpleasant smells?  The closer you analyze your home, the better impression you\'ll likely give to potential buyers.  What appeals to you when you attend an open house? Where do you think sellers should focus their efforts? Share your thoughts in the comments below!\n</p><p>\n<strong><i>Heather Levin </i></strong><i>is a featured columnist for <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=10vovk3ef/*http://www.moneycrashers.com/\">Money Crashers</a>, one of the <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=11q10gp5k/*http://www.moneycrashers.com/top-personal-finance-blogs/\">top personal finance blogs</a> focused on educating readers about various money management topics. Heather also promotes green living through the blog, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/8tipsforasuccessfulopenhouse/40995991/SIG=1135b9cjq/*http://www.thegreenestdollar.com/\">The Greenest Dollar</a>.</i></p>\n            ',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 14:21:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 14:21:00','2011-04-09 06:11:17','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(800,'Oil above $111 as attacks damage Libyan oil fields   (AP)','oil-above-111-as-attacks-damage-libyan-oil-fields-ap','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110407/i/r3808106994.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=0huOeyQ07V4_hJYpZnhosw--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Oil above $111 as attacks damage Libyan oil fields   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>SINGAPORE – Oil prices jumped above $111 a barrel Friday in Asia as fighting in Libya damaged oil fields in the OPEC nation and a weaker dollar made commodities cheaper for investors with other currencies.</p>\n                <p>Benchmark crude for May delivery was up $1.18 at $111.48 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time, the highest since September 2008, in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.47 to settle at $110.30 on Thursday.</p>\n                <p>In London, Brent crude for May delivery was up $1.59 to $123.85 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.</p>\n                <p>Crude output in Libya slowed to a trickle this week as forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi attacked the country\'s largest oil field in the rebel-controlled east, rebels said. Most of Libya\'s 1.6 million barrels a day of crude production had already been shut down by nearly two months of fighting.</p>\n                <p>Rebels were able to sell a shipment of 1 million barrels Wednesday but damage to their oil fields has all but halted production. Output in the government-held west has collapsed as sanctions target Libyan state oil activities.</p>\n                <p>\"Traders have been worried that a dragged-out civil war might ultimately damage or destroy Libyan oil installations,\" Cameron Hanover said in a report.</p>\n                <p>A weaker dollar also boosted oil prices since that makes dollar-based commodities such as crude cheaper for trader with other currencies. The euro rose to $1.4405 on Friday from $1.4306 late Thursday.</p>\n                <p>In other Nymex trading in May contracts, heating oil rose 3.4 cents to $3.24 a gallon and gasoline gained 2.7 cents to $3.21 a gallon. Natural gas futures were down 1.3 cents at $4.04 per 1,000 cubic feet.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-08 04:36:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:36:00','2011-04-09 06:11:17','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(801,'APNewsBreak: IRS awards $4.5M to whistleblower   (AP)','apnewsbreak-irs-awards-45m-to-whistleblower-ap','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>PHILADELPHIA – An in-house accountant who raised a red flag about a tax lapse that his employer then ignored, leading him to tip off the IRS, has received $4.5 million in the first IRS whistleblower award.</p>\n                </div></div>','<p>The accountant\'s tip netted the IRS $20 million in taxes and interest from the errant financial-services firm.</p>\n                <p>The award represents a 22 percent cut of the taxes recovered. The program, designed to encourage tips in large-scale cases, mandates awards of 15 to 30 percent of the amount recouped.</p>\n                <p>\"It ought to encourage a lot of other people to squeal,\" Sen. Charles Grassley told The Associated Press. The Iowa Republican helped get the IRS Whistleblower Office authorized in 2006.</p>\n                <p>The IRS mailed the accountant\'s lawyer a $3.24 million check that arrived in suburban Philadelphia by first-class mail Thursday. The sum represents the award minus a 28 percent tax hit.</p>\n                <p>The lawyer, Eric L. Young of Blue Bell, won\'t release the name of his client or the firm because his client remains a small-town accountant, and hopes to continue to work in his field.</p>\n                <p>\"It\'s a win-win for both the government and taxpayers. These are dollars that are being returned to the Treasury that otherwise wouldn\'t be,\" Young said.</p>\n                <p>\"It\'s very difficult to be a whistleblower,\" said Young, who has represented more than a dozen such tipsters, including one in a $2 billion Pfizer case involving off-label drug marketing.</p>\n                <p>\"Most people would be inclined to turn a blind eye to it. The process can be time-consuming, arduous and stressful, from both a personal and professional standpoint,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>The accountant filed a complaint with the IRS in 2007, just as the IRS Whistleblower Office opened, but heard nothing for two years. Frustrated, he hired Young to help push the issue.</p>\n                <p>\"We were able to help him get it back on track,\" Young said.</p>\n                <p>In the accountant\'s case, the IRS did not deem the issues he raised complex. But the agency said the information he shared pointed out new questions for a routine IRS audit that was already under way.</p>\n                <p>The Whistleblower Office received nearly 1,000 tips involving more than 3,000 taxpayers in fiscal years 2008 and 2009, according to its annual reports to Congress. Hundreds of them alleged tax underpayments of more than $10 million, and dozens more underpayments of $100 million or more.</p>\n                <p>The accountant\'s case is the first in the program to reach fruition.</p>\n                <p>\"Quite frankly, I\'m shocked that they finally got around to using it,\" said Grassley. He has been discouraged by the program\'s slow start, which some blame on ambivalence about whether tipsters should receive potentially huge windfalls. The IRS may also fear embarrassment, the senator said.</p>\n                <p>\"When you got a whistleblower that\'s saying somebody didn\'t pay $20 million in taxes, that that\'s an embarrassment to the full-time employees of the IRS,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>Neither Stephen Whitlock, director of the Whistleblower Office, nor the agency\'s public affairs office returned messages about the program late Thursday.</p>\n                <p>However, the annual reports note a new policy of waiting to pay awards until the two-year window for taxpayers to appeal their payments has expired. Young\'s case might therefore be the first in a series of awards that are ripe for payment.\n</p><p>\nThe office has about 17 employees, who refer complaints to IRS agents and investigators around the country to pursue. Before 2006, the IRS could choose to reward tipsters, but were under no obligation to pay them a share of the taxes recovered. Many of the tips involved mom-and-pop operations or ex-spouses.\n</p><p>\nThe whistleblower program only promises awards for returns of $2 million or more.\n</p><p>\n\"This law is not designed to snag the guppies, but to harpoon the whales,\" said Patrick Burns, president of Taxpayers Against Fraud, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit whose members include many lawyers for whistleblowers.\n</p><p>\n\"Whistleblower programs have been incredibly successful in the arena of health care and defense spending, and now they are being tried as a weapon against tax cheats and Wall Street scoundrels,\" Burns said.</p>\n            ',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-08 03:47:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 03:47:00','2011-04-09 06:11:18','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(802,'Toyota to resume Japan car output at half capacity   (AP)','toyota-to-resume-japan-car-output-at-half-capacity-ap','','<img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110408/capt.005d41dd658b41a085e1928376bb2083-005d41dd658b41a085e1928376bb2083-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=VsxnWcbA.GYfIqhF6nnyRA--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Toyota to resume Japan car output at half capacity   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n<div></div>','<div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>TOKYO – Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it will resume car production at all its plants in Japan at half capacity from April 18 to 27 after the March earthquake and tsunami forced it to halt manufacturing due to shortages of parts and power.</p>\n                <p>Toyota, the world\'s No. 1 automaker, said production at its 18 plants will then halt from April 28 to May 9, a period that includes Golden Week holidays when factories would normally close.</p>\n                <p>Toyota said the parts shortage situation has been gradually improving since the March 11 tsunami but it is still struggling to procure around 150 types of parts. Toyota previously said there were shortages of about 500 types of components.</p>\n                <p>\"There are problems on parts supply. But each day, we are doing our utmost to improve the conditions so that we can deliver cars to many customers,\" Toyota president Akio Toyoda said at the automaker\'s Nagoya office in central Japan.</p>\n                <p>The March 11 disasters destroyed parts factories in northeast Japan, causing severe shortages for Toyota and other automakers. A nuclear power plant was crippled by the tsunami, and others were forced offline, causing an electricity supply crunch in the Tokyo and neighboring areas that is expected to continue for months.</p>\n                <p>Toyota said it remained unclear when it would return to full production in Japan.</p>\n                <p>Spokeswoman Shiori Hashimoto said Toyota hasn\'t decided production plans for after May 9.</p>\n                <p>Nissan Motor Co. said Friday it would resume domestic production at half capacity from April 11. Nissan\'s parts factory that was hit by the tsunami will begin limited production from April 18.</p>\n                <p>But Nissan said it is unclear how long it can keep running its entire Japanese operations — five auto plants and two parts factories — amid the parts shortage.</p>\n                <p>Ryoichi Saito, auto analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co., said Toyota could report a loss for the April-June quarter if its production continues at half normal levels in the coming months.</p>\n                <p>\"On and off production at limited capacity underscores the severity of parts shortage problems for Toyota,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>Toyota gets more than 90 percent of its auto components in Japan, according to Saito.</p>\n                <p>Toyota suspended all car production in Japan from March 14 to 26. Since late March it resumed limited production at a handful of plants. The tsunami disaster has resulted in a production loss for Toyota of 260,000 cars from March 14 to April 8.</p>\n                <p>The parts supply crunch has been felt around the world, from Malaysia to the U.K. to the United States. Some Toyota dealers in the U.S. said the popular hybrid Prius is in now in short supply due to high demand and factory outages in Japan after the quake.</p>\n                <p>Toyota said Monday it\'s inevitable that it will be forced to temporarily shut down all of its North American factories because of parts shortages. Apart from Toyota, Nissan and Ford Motor Co. have said several North American plants would be closed for some of April, and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has said his company will see disruptions.</p>\n                <p>Toyota\'s share price has fallen around seven percent since March 11 to close Friday at 3,340 yen ($39).</p>\n                <p>Moody\'s Investors Service warned this week it may downgrade Toyota\'s credit rating due to the financial fallout from suspended car production.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-08 05:38:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:38:00','2011-04-09 06:11:19','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,3,''),(803,'The Audacity of Paul Ryan   (BusinessWeek)','the-audacity-of-paul-ryan-businessweek','','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                </div></div>','<p>Paul Ryan, the House Budget Committee chairman, on Apr. 5 did something politicians seldom do: He stuck to principle. The fiscal conservative and Republican rising star stunned Washington with a 10-year budget blueprint that would shrink government, privatize the Medicare health program for seniors, turn Medicaid into a block grant to the states, and lower to 25 percent the top rate on corporate and individual taxes.</p>\n                <p>The plan would cut federal spending by $6 trillion over the next decade and slash the deficit to 2 percent of the economy by 2022, down from this year\'s 9 percent, without raising taxes. Among its weaknesses: overly optimistic assumptions, including that unemployment will be a mere 2.8 percent by 2021. By slashing money for food stamps, education, transportation, and scores of other programs, it\'s also politically untenable to Democrats. And despite the deep cuts, the House Republican plan would not balance the budget until 2040, largely because of offsetting tax cuts. Still, the scope of Ryan\'s proposal made Washington\'s nonstop bickering -- and the threat of a government shutdown on Apr. 9 unless a deal is reached over funding levels for the next six months -- seem small-bore by comparison.</p>\n                <p>Perhaps the biggest surprise is Ryan\'s call to convert Medicare, the $500 billion-a-year entitlement program and the biggest reason for mushrooming federal deficits, to a voucher-like system beginning in 2022. A week before Ryan presented his ideas, outside experts involved in the discussions said it was unclear whether the proposal would even cover Medicare. Along with Social Security, Medicare is a crucial part of the social safety net, one that politicians historically have been loath to tamper with, including President Barack Obama in his 2012 budget.</p>\n                <p>Democrats could hardly contain their glee, believing they\'d been handed their talking points for next year\'s Presidential election. Politically, at least, party leaders see Ryan\'s proposal as a replay of former President George W. Bush\'s abortive 2005 plan to create Social Security private accounts, which they used to rally seniors and regain control of Congress in 2006. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) calls Ryan\'s budget a \"thinly veiled attempt to dismantle Medicare\" that pulls \"the rug out from under seniors.\"</p>\n                <p>Republican ambivalence was evident. The party\'s House leaders, while endorsing Ryan\'s spending plan generally, largely omitted any references to the Medicare overhaul. The plan is a calculated risk for the GOP. While the proposal could alienate senior citizens in swing states such as Pennsylvania, Florida, and Iowa, reining in spending may help win over independent voters who gave Obama the edge in 2008. Opinion polls show that independents, who represent 29 percent of the electorate compared with 16 percent for senior citizens, now consider the deficit the most pressing issue facing the nation after jobs. Ryan\'s budget \"is not going to have the repercussions everybody thinks it will,\" says former Representative Tom Davis (R-Va.), who led the House Republicans\' election efforts from 1998 to 2002. \"A lot of it is going to be messaging,\" he says, and \"the election is ultimately going to be about swing voters.\"</p>\n                <p>Republican leaders may be betting that by embracing the broader anti-spending message of Ryan\'s plan without dwelling on the details, they can show voters a road map to growth that depends in part on paring the debt and controlling runaway entitlements. \"This is not simply a deficit-hawk dynamic,\" says Republican pollster David Winston, who advises House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio). \"This is going back to Reagan and how you create jobs.\"</p>\n                <p>Ryan, 41, would essentially privatize Medicare by giving those over 65, beginning in the year 2022, about $8,000 to spend on private insurance that would replace the government program. Seniors would shop for subsidized coverage in an \"exchange\" where the government would approve insurance companies\' offerings, says Conor Sweeney, a spokesman for Ryan. The plans would compete for seniors\' business, and the subsidies would be based in part on income levels. The plan would also gradually raise the eligibility age to 67 by 2033.</p>\n                <p>Economists Jonathan Gruber at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Uwe E. Reinhardt of Princeton say seniors would get less money to buy their coverage than under the current system. Ryan\'s plan would peg to the consumer price index the amount the elderly would receive to buy coverage. The CPI historically has grown more slowly than the cost of medical care. Gruber and others say any health-care plan that caps spending will end up rationing care and could leave people of modest means without adequate coverage. \"Under the proposal, most elderly people would pay more for their health care than they would pay under the current Medicare system,\" the Congressional Budget Office said in an analysis. Joseph Antos, a health policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute who supports Ryan\'s proposal, says \"the whole idea is to tell the health sector that the Medicare gravy train has come to a halt.\"</p>\n                <p>That\'s politically risky. In the midterm elections, Republicans used the threat of Medicare cuts under Obama\'s 2010 Affordable Care Act to oust Democratic incumbents. Republicans rode that message to a 21 percentage-point advantage among senior citizens. Ryan on Apr. 5 acknowledged the risk, but said reform couldn\'t wait. \"We decided it is time to stand up and do what is necessary,\" he said. Republicans may hope to avert a baby boomer backlash by applying the plan only to those now under 55. \"For people who are near retirement, security of what they have is very important to them,\" says Robert Blendon, a professor of public opinion and health care at Harvard University.</p>\n                <p>Ryan\'s prescription bears some resemblance to Obama\'s own health-care overhaul, says Gruber, who advised congressional Democrats when the law was being written. Pointing to several features of the Republican plan, including the call for a regulated market in which seniors could shop for subsidized coverage, Gruber says: \"That\'s the Affordable Care Act.\" Considering that no Republican supported Obama\'s health plan and that Ryan\'s budget now calls for its repeal, that\'s the definition of audacious.</p>\n                <p>The bottom line: Ryan\'s budget shifts the debate from domestic spending minutiae to entitlements. It also provides Democrats with short-term political ammo.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p>',-2,5,0,36,'2011-04-07 08:08:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 08:08:00','2011-04-09 06:11:20','','','',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(804,'NYC school chief quits, a defeat to mayor\'s vision   (AP)','nyc-school-chief-quits-a-defeat-to-mayors-vision-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_schools_chancellor\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.0d5f40a64dea40f6b282127e37907b1f-50994b05beb94c4eb2d6e5eac7220adc-0.jpg?x=98&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=V0tzEdL1l5Nc34HHsb9MGA--\" height=\"130\" width=\"98\" alt=\"NYC school chief quits, a defeat to mayor\'s vision   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Cathie Black was the perfect choice to head the city\'s 1.1 million-student school system because she was \"a superstar manager.\"</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK – Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Cathie Black was the perfect choice to head the city\'s 1.1 million-student school system because she was \"a superstar manager.\"</p>\n                <p>But her resignation Thursday after three contentious months on the job was the latest in a series of third-term setbacks for Bloomberg and a defeat of his bid to hire a business-minded outsider like himself for a top job.</p>\n                <p>\"I will take full responsibility for the fact that this has not worked out as either of us had hoped or expected,\" Bloomberg said at a hastily called City Hall news conference to announce Black\'s resignation. She did not attend.</p>\n                <p>Bloomberg surprised even some officials within his administration when he plucked the former publishing executive from the business world and installed her as head of the nation\'s largest public school system. Critics, including many parents of public-school students, assailed her lack of experience as an educator. She had no background as an educator, had never attended public schools and had not sent her own children to them.</p>\n                <p>On the job, Black failed to convince the critics they were wrong. Her few unscripted public appearances were marked by gaffes. Meeting with parents concerned about crowded schools, she joked that birth control was the solution. Faced with hecklers at a meeting about closing schools, she heckled back. Two polls put her approval rating at 17 percent.</p>\n                <p>Teachers at some schools erupted in cheers when the news of Black\'s resignation broke.</p>\n                <p>And now, Bloomberg has chosen a schools chancellor who is Black\'s opposite in many ways.</p>\n                <p>Deputy Mayor Dennis Walcott, 59, is a graduate of New York City public schools and hold\'s master\'s degrees in education and social work. A former kindergarten teacher, Walcott founded the Frederick Douglass Brother-to-Brother program, a mentoring program for boys.</p>\n                <p>As deputy mayor for education and community development, Walcott has been the highest-ranking black person in Bloomberg\'s administration. In that job, he oversaw the Department of Education, with its 1.1 million students in almost 1,700 schools, as well as the New York City Housing Authority, the Department of Youth and Community Development and the Mayor\'s Office of Adult Education.</p>\n                <p>Soon after Walcott was named as the new chancellor, more than a dozen public officials dashed off statements praising him for his education experience. Speaking to Department of Education staff members Thursday afternoon, Walcott alluded to his status as a role model for students.</p>\n                <p>He said that he visited a high school recently and the principal noted that when Walcott greeted a student, \"he pulled up his pants and straightened up and stood a little taller.\"</p>\n                <p>Walcott said he would continue with the reforms introduced under Bloomberg.</p>\n                <p>\"To me the great equalizer in society is ensuring that every child receives a quality education, especially a quality public education,\" said Walcott, himself a graduate of the city\'s public schools.</p>\n                <p>Bloomberg has a reputation as a fierce defender of his administration\'s top appointments, with the exception of Patricia Lancaster, whose abrupt departure as Buildings Department commissioner three years ago followed a string of 13 construction-accident deaths in only a few months\' time.</p>\n                <p>On Thursday, the mayor stood behind Black\'s performance, saying, \"I have nothing but respect and admiration for her and for the work she has done.\"</p>\n                <p>Speaking outside her home, Black told the TV station NY1 that she felt \"fine\" about the transition.</p>\n                <p>\"It\'s been a great privilege to serve the city of New York and the mayor for three months,\" she said. \"I have loved the principals and the teachers and the kids. Dennis Walcott is a great guy. We have a wonderful relationship and I wish everybody the best.\"</p>\n                <p>After she became chancellor in January, several department officials left. One of them, former deputy chancellor Eric Nadelstern, said that a lack of media access to Black led to relentless coverage of her slip-ups. Over time, it became clear that she had become a liability, he said.\n</p><p>\n\"It is a very formidable ... learning curve, and I think she was still in that learning curve when City Hall determined that her time was up,\" he said.\n</p><p>\nBloomberg\'s own approval numbers have been declining in recent months, as he has dealt with the aftermath of a flawed city response to a major blizzard and with public dissatisfaction with his handling of a city budget hampered by state and federal cutbacks. Dissatisfaction with the city\'s schools has figured in as well, although the majority of parents with children in the public schools say the schools are good or excellent.\n</p><p>\nBloomberg said Thursday that he remained proud of what the Department of Education had accomplished in his more than nine years in office, and dismissed critics who might call the announcement of Black\'s departure an indication that his third term had derailed.\n</p><p>\n\"The city continues to improve,\" he said.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nAssociated Press writers Karen Matthews in New York and Michael Gormley in Albany contributed to this report.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"NYC school chief quits, a defeat to mayor\'s vision   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_schools_chancellor\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_re_us/us_nyc_schools_chancellor</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-08 03:17:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 03:17:00','2011-04-09 06:11:21','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(805,'NJ Gov. Christie calls for peer teacher evaluation   (AP)','nj-gov-christie-calls-for-peer-teacher-evaluation-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_christie_education\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.a4bbe480a8034521ba48a481c883b4cf-a4bbe480a8034521ba48a481c883b4cf-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=0WJ0DaxIaq8Wq0ZjqhRqHg--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"NJ Gov. Christie calls for peer teacher evaluation   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday called for public school teachers to be evaluated based equally on their classroom performance and student achievement and accused the state\'s largest teachers union of being a group of \"bullies and thugs.\"</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK – New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Thursday called for public school teachers to be evaluated based equally on their classroom performance and student achievement and accused the state\'s largest teachers union of being a group of \"bullies and thugs.\"</p>\n                <p>Christie laid out his proposal in a speech in New York sponsored by the Brookings Institute, a Washington think tank. A teachers union spokesman called the governor\'s plan an \"educational disaster.\"</p>\n                <p>Since taking office last year, the Republican Christie has emerged as a popular figure among conservatives nationally for his willingness to confront public employee unions, including teachers, over their salaries and pensions. Several other governors have since followed suit, saying such benefits for public employees are unsustainable over time.</p>\n                <p>Christie kept up the anti-union drumbeat Thursday, referring to the New Jersey Education Association as a bunch of \"bullies and thugs\" who pressured the Democrat-controlled Legislature to resist reform. \"I don\'t know how they sleep at night,\" he said of the union.</p>\n                <p>Christie spoke broadly about the need to reform public education, saying seniority-based tenure should be abolished and that good teachers should be paid more than bad teachers.</p>\n                <p>He laid out new details of his plan for teacher evaluations, basing them equally on student achievement and teacher performance in the classroom. Every school district should design and implement its evaluation plan based on that framework, Christie said, with teachers and principals taking charge of drafting the plan and measuring one another\'s performance.</p>\n                <p>Christie said he had bypassed the union to meet privately with groups of teachers to seek input for his plan.</p>\n                <p>\"I want to hear directly from teachers and want them to hear directly from me. There\'s not one teacher who doesn\'t understand we need to reform this system,\" Christie said.</p>\n                <p>He acknowledged the limitations of test scores on evaluations and said teachers had to be measured somewhat differently based on their subject areas.</p>\n                <p>\"How do you test a music teacher? How do you test the art teacher? And don\'t you test the special ed teacher a little differently?\" he said.</p>\n                <p>A teacher rated effective or highly effective for three consecutive years would receive tenure, Christie said. Teachers would lose tenure after two consecutive years of ineffective ratings. Christie\'s proposal also makes it quicker to get rid of underperforming teachers — cases would be resolved in 30 days.</p>\n                <p>NJEA spokesman Steve Baker called Christie\'s proposal \"an educational disaster\" for students.</p>\n                <p>\"It would require a massive expansion of standardized testing in every grade level and every subject,\" Baker said.</p>\n                <p>Christie bolstered his case using oft-recited numbers, saying 104,000 children in New Jersey are trapped in 200 chronically failing schools. He says education spending has increased 343 percent since 1985 with aid to the state\'s 31 neediest districts nearly doubling as a percentage of the state budget. Yet, the gap in eighth-grade math between at-risk and not at-risk students hasn\'t changed significantly in 19 years.</p>\n                <p>Christie\'s appearance in New York was the latest in a string of national appearances, including interviews with network news anchors and a speech at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington in February.</p>\n                <p>He has been pressing for education reform throughout his tenure but has seen pushback from the union and many lawmakers. Many of the reforms he\'s proposing he would require legislative approval.</p>\n                <p>Christie has managed to rein in school superintendent salaries by changing the pay scale so only the heads of the biggest districts are paid more than the governor, who makes $175,000 a year. But, a bill establishing a pilot school voucher program paid for by businesses is stalled for now in the Assembly and Senate.</p>\n                <p>The administration is embroiled in a lawsuit over education cuts that Christie made in last year\'s budget. The Newark-based Education Law Center sued after Christie slashed state aid to education by about $1 billion last year. The current budget proposal restores $250 million in public education aid. The case is pending before the state Supreme Court.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nDelli Santi reported from Trenton, NJ.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"NJ Gov. Christie calls for peer teacher evaluation   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_christie_education\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_christie_education</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 18:14:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 18:14:00','2011-04-09 06:11:22','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(806,'New Jersey governor says urban schools lack  hope    (Reuters)','new-jersey-governor-says-urban-schools-lack-hope-reuters','','Reuters - New Jersey Governor Chris Christie outlined a plan to improve inner-city schools on Thursday, saying it required a Republican leader to fix a system dogged by failure.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK (Reuters) – New Jersey Governor Chris Christie outlined a plan to improve inner-city schools on Thursday, saying it required a Republican leader to fix a system dogged by failure.</p>\n                <p>\nChristie, a fiscal conservative often mentioned as a potential contender for the White House, said he aimed to restore \"hope\" to New Jersey students, borrowing the tagline of President Barack Obama\'s successful 2008 campaign.</p>\n                <p>\nCiting issues of urban violence, drug use, promiscuity and teen pregnancy, Christie said: \"All of those things can occur when you live in a society that is devoid of hope.\"</p>\n                <p>\n\"These children growing up in these failing school districts, they know that they\'re getting a lousy education, and that strips away their hope for a better future,\" he told a gathering in New York.</p>\n                <p>\nTeachers should be judged half on student performance, as measured by standardized tests and grades, and half on peer evaluation based on classroom observation, he said.</p>\n                <p>\nGood teachers, especially those in the toughest schools, should be paid more, said Christie, who has been strongly criticized for cutting school aid. Last month, a court-appointed Special Master said his cuts impeded \"thorough and efficient education\" in high-risk schools.</p>\n                <p>\nBut Christie said changes such as expanding access to semi-independent charter schools and making it easier to remove failing teachers -- not more spending -- is needed.</p>\n                <p>\nHe excoriated teachers\' unions as \"clueless\" enemies of reform and said the union in New Jersey \"bullies and thugs its way\" around the statehouse.</p>\n                <p>\nA Republican is needed to improve urban schools because Democrats, who represent many of the state\'s big cities, are captive to unions, he said.</p>\n                <p>\n\"In a state like mine, only a Republican can do this,\" said Christie, comparing himself to President Richard Nixon, whose 1972 visit to Communist China was seen as angering the Republican Party.</p>\n                <p>\nNew Jersey Education Association spokesman Steve Baker said Christie was engaging in \"name calling\" to distract attention away from the substance of his proposal, which Baker said would lead to a \"massive expansion\" of standardized testing.</p>\n                <p>\n(Reporting by Edith Honan; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Jerry Norton)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"New Jersey governor says urban schools lack  hope    (Reuters)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110407/us_nm/us_newjersey_schools\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110407/us_nm/us_newjersey_schools</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 17:44:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 17:44:00','2011-04-09 06:11:23','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(807,'Bloomberg\'s embattled New York schools chief quits   (Reuters)','bloombergs-embattled-new-york-schools-chief-quits-reuters','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110407/us_nm/us_newyork_schools\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110407/i/r1228919341.jpg?x=130&amp;y=84&amp;q=85&amp;sig=0aCHB9EbQcUDbQNA3uGEsg--\" height=\"84\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Bloomberg\'s embattled New York schools chief quits   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>Reuters - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg\'s embattled education chief has resigned just three months after taking the job, dealing him another political setback as his approval ratings fall in his third term.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg\'s embattled education chief has resigned just three months after taking the job, dealing him another political setback as his approval ratings fall in his third term.</p>\n                <p>\nBloomberg had named former Hearst Magazines Chairman Cathie Black as schools chancellor in November 2010, a decision roundly criticized by teachers and parents because she lacked any experience whatsoever in either education or government.</p>\n                <p>\n\"We both agreed it is in the city\'s best interest if she steps down as Chancellor,\" Bloomberg told a news conference. \"I take full responsibility for the fact that this has not worked out as either of us expected.\"</p>\n                <p>\nAfter taking the job in January, she clashed repeatedly with teachers and parents who saw her as a person who was a friend of the billionaire mayor with no experience that would suggest she had the credentials to succeed in one the most challenging jobs in American education.</p>\n                <p>\nBlack never seemed to recover after her comment in January that birth control \"would really help us\" solve the problem of overcrowded schools drew the ire of many parents of the city\'s 1.1 million public school students.</p>\n                <p>\nAn NY1-Marist poll released on Monday put Black\'s approval rating at 17 percent.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The story had become her and it should be about the students,\" Bloomberg said in a news conference, during which he was brusque and testy. \"We have to focus this on going forward. What\'s important here is our children.\"</p>\n                <p>\nAN EMBARRASSMENT?</p>\n                <p>\nDue to her lack of credentials, Black required a waiver to take the job from New York State Education Commissioner David Steiner, who imposed a condition that a deputy be hired with the requisite educational background to assist her.</p>\n                <p>\n\"It\'s an embarrassment for Bloomberg. They made a poor choice and had to backtrack,\" said Hunter College public policy Professor Joseph Viteritti. \"He had the choice of admitting the mistake and making a change or continue hemorrhaging politically. It\'s good they moved quickly.\"</p>\n                <p>\nBlack\'s resignation comes just days after a NY1-Marist poll found that Bloomberg\'s approval rating has dropped to 40 percent, with 21 percent saying they believe his performance in office is poor.</p>\n                <p>\nBloomberg appeared annoyed as he made the announcement. While being asked a question, he at first corrected the reporter and then interrupted with a dismissive \"whatever.\"</p>\n                <p>\nHe named Deputy Mayor for Education and Community Development Dennis Walcott as Black\'s successor.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Walcott is not a bad choice,\" Viteritti said. \"He knows the agenda. He is not a professional educator, but has the capacity to defuse a volatile political situation.\"</p>\n                <p>\n(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr., editing by Philip Barbara and Mark Egan)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Bloomberg\'s embattled New York schools chief quits   (Reuters)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110407/us_nm/us_newyork_schools\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110407/us_nm/us_newyork_schools</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 17:37:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 17:37:00','2011-04-09 06:11:25','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(808,'Consumers borrow more for student loans, new cars   (AP)','consumers-borrow-more-for-student-loans-new-cars-ap','','AP - U.S. consumers borrowed more money in February to buy new cars and attend school, but they cut back on using their credit cards to make purchases.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>WASHINGTON – U.S. consumers borrowed more money in February to buy new cars and attend school, but they cut back on using their credit cards to make purchases.</p>\n                <p>Borrowing increased by $7.6 billion, or 3.8 percent, in February, the Federal Reserve said Thursday. It was the fifth consecutive monthly gain.</p>\n                <p>All of the strength in February came in the category that includes car loans and student loans. That increased 7.7 percent. Borrowing in the category that covers credit cards fell 4.1 percent. That has risen only once in the more than two years since the 2008 financial crisis peaked, a cautionary sign for an economy in which consumer spending drives 70 percent of growth.</p>\n                <p>Still, Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody\'s Analytics, said it may actually be a good thing that fewer Americans are charging goods on their plastic.</p>\n                <p>\"I think households have done a good job of getting their financial books in order and that will lay the foundation for more prudent borrowing going forward,\" Zandi said.</p>\n                <p>The gains pushed total borrowing up to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $2.42 trillion in February. That\'s 1 percent from the three-year low hit in September.</p>\n                <p>Households began borrowing less and saving more as they struggled to cope with the severe 2007-2009 recession. But economists expect that the period of belt-tightening is ending. They see consumer spending being supported this year by increased borrowing, rising employment and the Social Security tax cut that is giving households more after-tax income to spend.</p>\n                <p>The Fed\'s monthly consumer credit report covers auto loans, student loans and credit card financing but excludes loans secured by real estate such as mortgages and home equity loans.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Consumers borrow more for student loans, new cars   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_bi_ge/us_consumer_credit\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_bi_ge/us_consumer_credit</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 16:48:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 16:48:00','2011-04-09 06:11:26','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(809,'Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook   (U.S. News   World Report)','colleges-bring-campuses-to-facebook-us-news-world-report','','U.S. News &amp; World Report - Times have changed in college admissions. Gone are the days when a prospective student could be targeted, contacted, and recruited all with a single pamphlet in the mail. High schoolers can now learn a wealth of information about a university just by logging onto Facebook and peering into conversations taking place.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>Times have changed in college admissions. Gone are the days when a prospective student could be targeted, contacted, and recruited all with a single pamphlet in the mail. High schoolers can now learn a wealth of information about a university just by logging onto Facebook and peering into conversations taking place.</p>\n                <p>Not to be outdone, college admissions offices have embraced the social media site, with more than 80 percent of colleges using Facebook to connect with, recruit, and research potential students, according to Kaplan Test Prep\'s <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=13cjov188/*http://press.kaptest.com/research-and-surveys/kaplan-test-preps-2010-survey-of-college-admissions-officers\">2010 survey of college admissions officers</a>.</p>\n                <p>With the change in communication between the typical college and student, many universities have bought into the importance of building a Facebook community for past, present, and future students. The traditional ways colleges recruited prospects will not work in the future, says Gary Vaynerchuk, social media entrepreneur and <i>New York Times </i>bestselling author of <i><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=127kf6n20/*http://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Economy-Gary-Vaynerchuk/dp/0061914185\">The Thank You Economy</a></i>. \"The way colleges have always worked is they\'ve pushed their message down the consumer\'s throat,\" says Vaynerchuk. \"It\'s very obvious that if they don\'t start understanding they need to create a community to spread their message, then they\'re not going to be relevant.\"</p>\n                <p>Recent statistics from Web analytics company comScore\'s <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=134sk2f9s/*http://www.comscore.com/Press_Events/Presentations_Whitepapers/2011/2010_US_Digital_Year_in_Review\">\"2010 U.S. Digital Year in Review\"</a> found that more than 150 million unique visitors within the United States visited Facebook in December 2010. Most notable for schools, the under-35 Facebook crowd continues to grow, increasing 2.3 percent from 2009 to 2010, and now makes up about 53 percent of Facebook\'s U.S. monthly traffic. These numbers don\'t even account for the roughly 70 percent of Facebook users that are outside of the United States, according to statistics from the social media site.</p>\n                <p>[See photos of unique college Facebook pages.]</p>\n                <p>The likelihood that students are accessing a university\'s website on a consistent basis may be slim, but statistics do show where students spend their time online. According to comScore, each unique U.S. visitor averaged 35.5 visits to Facebook during December 2010. \"Facebook is the home base,\" says Michael Jaindl, chief client officer at social media marketing firm Buddy Media. \"If someone wants to find out something about your brand, or they want to complain about your brand, or they want to say something positive about your brand, they look to Facebook first.\"</p>\n                <p>Some colleges and universities have been cautious about opening their network to social media, as it may make them vulnerable to negative attacks. But, according to <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12lt9bjke/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/harvard-university-2155\">Harvard University</a> Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications Christine Heenan, schools cannot afford to be mute. \"To be absent on those channels sends a strong signal about a university\'s commitment to innovation,\" says Heenan. \"It\'s not a just a ticket to play. It\'s a ticket to win.\"</p>\n                <p>Harvard\'s efforts on Facebook--including engaged interaction with fans and a commitment to providing timely content--have been quite successful when comparing fan bases among the top 100 national universities in <i>U.S. News</i>\'s <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=11tfc8aco/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges\">2011 Best Colleges rankings</a>. The nation\'s top-ranked university also tops the list with the most Facebook fans, with more than 315,000 members as of April 5.</p>\n                <p>While much can be credited to aggressive social media strategy and implementation, universities with strong brand awareness have an advantage in the Facebook market, says social networking expert Vaynerchuk. \"Social media is a word-of-mouth ecosystem where top brands like Harvard are going to win because of what they\'ve done,\" he says. But, he adds, there \"is a big opportunity for [a school that] doesn\'t have that legacy.\"</p>\n                <p>There are two national universities within the top 10 Best Colleges rankings--Harvard and <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12bbc9k5f/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/stanford-1305\">Stanford University</a>--that have more than 100,000 Facebook fans on their official pages. The other schools among the top 10 have an average of roughly 27,000 fans.</p>\n                <p>\n\n\n\n\n\n    </p><table border=\"1\"><tr><td><strong>School Name</strong></td>\n\n        <td><strong>Facebook Fans (as of 4/5/11)</strong></td>\n\n        <td><strong><em>U.S. News</em> Ranking</strong></td>\n\n        <td><strong>Facebook Page</strong></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12lt9bjke/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/harvard-university-2155\">Harvard University</a></td>\n\n        <td>316,644</td>\n\n        <td>1</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=1118so8pg/*http://www.facebook.com/Harvard\">www.facebook.com/Harvard</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12nlvfsd3/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/princeton-university-2627\">Princeton University</a></td>\n\n        <td>36,057</td>\n\n        <td>2</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=114rddu7d/*http://www.facebook.com/PrincetonU\">www.facebook.com/PrincetonU</a></td>\n\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12isn0b5e/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/yale-university-1426\">Yale University</a></td>\n\n        <td>19,191</td>\n\n        <td>3</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=10vqa0m2v/*http://www.facebook.com/YaleU\">www.facebook.com/YaleU</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12mcgcum8/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/columbia-university-2707\">Columbia University</a></td>\n\n        <td>18,490</td>\n\n        <td>4</td>\n\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=112kcdi4t/*http://www.facebook.com/columbia\">www.facebook.com/columbia</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12bbc9k5f/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/stanford-1305\">Stanford University</a></td>\n\n        <td>133,915</td>\n\n        <td>5</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=112vrnv17/*http://www.facebook.com/stanford\">www.facebook.com/stanford</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12tsoltu3/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-pennsylvania-3378\">University of Pennsylvania</a></td>\n\n        <td>18,523</td>\n\n\n        <td>5</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=11a1gldt4/*http://www.facebook.com/UnivPennsylvania\">www.facebook.com/UnivPennsylvania</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12b6rqmk5/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/cal-tech-1131\">California Institute of Technology</a></td>\n\n        <td>5,388</td>\n\n        <td>7</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=11pfbl7it/*http://www.facebook.com/californiainstituteoftechnology\">www.facebook.com/californiainstituteof  technology</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=126m86nc9/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/mit-2178\">Massachusetts Institute of Technology</a></td>\n\n\n        <td>27,883</td>\n\n        <td>7</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=1111q2p7o/*http://www.facebook.com/MITnews\">www.facebook.com/MITnews</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12khvvb12/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/dartmouth-college-2573\">Darmouth College</a></td>\n\n        <td>7,996</td>\n\n        <td>9</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=113aphfmq/*http://www.facebook.com/Dartmouth\">www.facebook.com/Dartmouth</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12irlpaid/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/duke-university-2920\">Duke University</a></td>\n\n        <td>72,765</td>\n\n        <td>9</td>\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=112htbegd/*http://www.facebook.com/DukeUniv\">www.facebook.com/DukeUniv</a></td>\n</tr><tr><td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12od9br55/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-chicago-1774\">University of Chicago</a></td>\n\n        <td>40,266</td>\n\n        <td>9</td>\n\n\n        <td><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=112lshlcc/*http://www.facebook.com/uchicago\">www.facebook.com/uchicago</a></td>\n</tr></table><p>Only one school among the <em>U.S. News</em> top 10 ranked universities, Harvard, was also among the 10 universities with the most overall fans on Facebook. \"That speaks to the power of the brand,\" says Harvard\'s Heenan. \"But we have to marry that with interesting, timely, high-quality content.\" None of the other nine universities with the most Facebook fans cracked the top 25 list of Best Colleges, but these schools have a prominent place within social media.\n\n</p><p>Institutions such as the <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=13194eosv/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/ohio-state-university-columbus-6883\">Ohio State University</a> and the <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=12ta42u4t/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-texas-austin-3658\">University of Texas</a>--schools with large enrollments and prominent athletic programs--were among the top 10 most notable universities on Facebook. Schools that can use \"sports and events that people are excited about\" can nurture growth in a Facebook community, says Jaindl of Buddy Media.</p>\n                <p>\"People on Facebook want to share content that makes their friends perceive them in a certain way.\" Hence, many Facebook users share content about their favorite college sports teams. It gives users a reason to connect with other fans and also provides them with a sense of community--the ultimate goal of not just universities, but all brands, on Facebook.</p>\n                <p>[Learn whether your <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=13rmj11l8/*http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-admissions-experts/2011/04/06/can-facebook-posts-lead-to-college-rejections\">Facebook posts</a> could lead to college rejections.]</p>\n                <p>While having large fan bases and engaged communities on Facebook can increase a university\'s exposure, does this influence prospective students during their college search? The jury may still be out, according to Katherine Cohen, CEO and founder of admissions consulting company IvyWise. \"The [Facebook] pages provide a way for schools to reach a student where they are,\" says Cohen. \"And they also allow students to feel connected to the schools, which can increase applications and the number of enrolled students.\"</p>\n                <p>Although no concrete statistics have been unearthed about a student\'s decision being influenced by a college\'s social media strategy, some believe it to be true. \"I guarantee a university that rocked it out [on social media] today would get kids to go to that school,\" says Vaynerchuk. \"The colleges that understand how to create an environment where they\'re engaging with high school juniors and seniors are going to win. I firmly believe that.\"</p>\n                <p><i>Keep the conversation going. Visit our <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/collegesbringcampusestofacebook/40994294/SIG=11c2r6gst/*http://www.facebook.com/usnewsbestcolleges\">Best Colleges Facebook page</a> and share your thoughts with us.</i></p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Colleges Bring Campuses to Facebook   (U.S. News   World Report)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20110407/ts_usnews/collegesbringcampusestofacebook\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20110407/ts_usnews/collegesbringcampusestofacebook</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 12:36:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 12:36:00','2011-04-09 06:11:26','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(810,'South Africa worries over rising teen pregnancy   (AFP)','south-africa-worries-over-rising-teen-pregnancy-afp','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/lf_afp/safricahealtheducationyouthsex\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110407/capt.photo_1302185155929-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=RzkNq0P.9FDgc7FXxpAdIw--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"South Africa worries over rising teen pregnancy   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AFP - A puffy-faced teenage girl strikes a lonely figure as she walks home from school, her short uniform skirt loosened on the side to make room for her growing baby bump.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>JOHANNESBURG (AFP) – A puffy-faced teenage girl strikes a lonely figure as she walks home from school, her short uniform skirt loosened on the side to make room for her growing baby bump.</p>\n                <p>\nSixteen-year-old Thandi is four months pregnant and among a jump in teenage pregnancies that are up 21 percent across South Africa in recent years, also raising fears of increased HIV infections among sexually active youth.</p>\n                <p>\nMost schools allow pregnant pupils to continue attending classes as long as they can, making young girls with baby bulges under their uniforms a common sight.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I found out that I was pregnant two months ago. I haven\'t told anyone yet, only my boyfriend. He thinks I am joking,\" ninth grader Thandi said shyly.</p>\n                <p>\nShe said she had unprotected sex with her boyfriend of eight months many times before her pregnancy because she trusted him. She had never tried oral contraceptives and only used condoms when she could find one.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I am going to try my best to hide my pregnancy so that I can continue learning. If I tell my parents, they are going to force me to withdraw from school,\" she said.</p>\n                <p>\nShe wants to avoid embarrassing her family, which like many in South Africa believes that becoming a mother marks an end to childhood, and therefore to education.</p>\n                <p>\nIn rural areas, the stigma is even more acute.</p>\n                <p>\nMavalani high school in rural Giyani, in the northern province of Limpopo, has 24 pregnant girls with an average of two in every class.</p>\n                <p>\nOf those, 11 are in Grade 11, the second to last year of high school, according to the provincial education officials.</p>\n                <p>\nIt is a source of shame to the community, where few people were willing to speak about the problem. Students last month stoned the school principal\'s car after he raised concerns about teen pregnancy in the national media.</p>\n                <p>\nThe incidence of teen pregnancy is growing, according to the Human Science Research Council (HSRC), a government think tank.</p>\n                <p>\nOut of every 1,000 girls in school in 2004, 51 were pregnant. The number jumped to 62 in 2008, the most recent data available.</p>\n                <p>\nThat is still low compared to the rest of the continent, where UNICEF says the comparative figure is over 100 in countries like Nigeria, Uganda, Somalia and Swaziland. In Italy it is seven.</p>\n                <p>\n\nBut South Africa has the world\'s largest HIV-positive population, with 5.7 million of its 48 million people infected with the virus.</p>\n                <p>\nThat creates an added threat that has prompted health officials to rethink AIDS and pregnancy prevention programmes targeted at the youth.</p>\n                <p>\nIn March the government launched a controversial schools-based voluntary HIV testing programme aimed at early detection of the virus among the youth.</p>\n                <p>\nYoung South Africans need more than just testing, said Esther Etkin, a spokeswoman for Lovelife, a government-funded HIV prevention initiative.\n</p><p>\n\nAccording to the HSRC findings, black teenagers from poor urban areas are most likely to fall pregnant and contract HIV.\n</p><p>\n\nPoverty is rife in Africa\'s largest economy, with unemployment officially at 24 percent but widely estimated to be over 40 percent.\n</p><p>\n\nThe concentration of poverty, unemployment and poor education can push girls to get into relationships with older men for financial reasons, adding to the pregnancy problem.\n</p><p>\n\nAlthough abortion is legal, obtaining one carries a harsh stigma.\n</p><p>\n\nMany teenaged girls give birth to prove womanhood and give meaning to life, especially after the end to the struggle against white-minority rule, Etkin said.\n</p><p>\n\n\"Add to this a new generation whose identity is no longer centred around the struggle for freedom, but a struggle to forge identity in a world where old problems persist and new ones have sprung up,\" like AIDS, said Etkin.\n</p><p>\n\n\"We also need to ensure that our programmes are culturally relevant and emphasise continuing education, particularly after child birth,\" she said.\n</p><p>\n\nLovelife tackles the problem by staging plays in schools and soap operas on television to show teenagers how to handle their budding sexuality.\n</p><p>\n\nFor Thandi, she\'s hopeful her baby will strengthen her relationship with her 20-year-old boyfriend, eventually leading to marriage.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"South Africa worries over rising teen pregnancy   (AFP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/lf_afp/safricahealtheducationyouthsex\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/lf_afp/safricahealtheducationyouthsex</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 12:04:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 12:04:00','2011-04-09 06:11:27','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(811,'Yale forms committee to address sexual misconduct   (AP)','yale-forms-committee-to-address-sexual-misconduct-ap','','AP - Yale University has created a committee to address allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct. The announcement comes as federal officials investigate a complaint by students that the Ivy League university failed to adequately respond to such concerns.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Yale University has created a committee to address allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct. The announcement comes as federal officials investigate a complaint by students that the Ivy League university failed to adequately respond to such concerns.</p>\n                <p>Yale officials say the committee will begin July 1 and will make it simpler for students and faculty to pursue complaints.</p>\n                <p>The U.S. Department of Education\'s Office of Civil Rights confirmed last week that it is investigating a complaint by students alleging Yale has a sexually hostile environment and failed to respond promptly or effectively to harassment.</p>\n                <p>Yale said it will cooperate with the investigation and does not tolerate sexual harassment or other misconduct.</p>\n                <p>Yale officials said the process that led to the committee began a couple of years ago.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Yale forms committee to address sexual misconduct   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_yale_sexual_misconduct_probe\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_yale_sexual_misconduct_probe</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 10:38:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 10:38:00','2011-04-09 06:11:28','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(812,'2 NJ chaperones charged with student sex on trip   (AP)','2-nj-chaperones-charged-with-student-sex-on-trip-ap','','AP - Two Roman Catholic school workers from New Jersey have pleaded not guilty to charges of having sex with female students during a high school\'s class trip to Germany.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>HACKENSACK, N.J. – Two Roman Catholic school workers from New Jersey have pleaded not guilty to charges of having sex with female students during a high school\'s class trip to Germany.</p>\n                <p>Thirty-one-year-old Artur Sopel was vice president of operations at Paramus Catholic High School and 27-year-old Michael Sumulikoski was a substitute teacher and assistant football coach until they were suspended last month.</p>\n                <p>Sumulikoski is accused of have sex with one female student on the February trip.</p>\n                <p>Sopel is accused of engaging in sexual activities with two female students in Germany and having sex with another female student in 2010.</p>\n                <p>Both are charged with sexual assault, child endangerment and hindering apprehension.</p>\n                <p>Sumuliksoki\'s lawyer told The Record newspaper he\'s investigating whether New Jersey has jurisdiction over acts that allegedly occurred in Germany.</p>\n                <p>Authorities have not released the girls\' ages.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"2 NJ chaperones charged with student sex on trip   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_school_trip_sex\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_us/us_school_trip_sex</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 09:47:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 09:47:00','2011-04-09 06:11:29','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(813,'Did Amy Chua\'s Daughter Really Need a Tiger Mom to Get Into Harvard?   (Time.com)','did-amy-chuas-daughter-really-need-a-tiger-mom-to-get-into-harvard-timecom','','Time.com - Now that her eldest cub is bound for the Ivy League, the Tiger Mom has been tamed','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>Now that her eldest cub is bound for the Ivy League, the Tiger Mom has been tamed.</p>\n                <p> On April 2, Chua revealed on her Facebook page that her daughter Sophia Chua-Rubenfeld had earned a spot at Harvard. And while she was quick to praise her strict parenting regime of no sleepovers and no television when defending her controversial book <i>Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother</i> in January, Chua seems to have retracted her claws since then. \"I\'m afraid I can\'t take any credit,\" Chua wrote in an e-mail to the <i><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=12gqkgv3q/*http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1327779&amp;srvc=rss\" target=\"_blank\">Boston Herald</a></i>. \"I don\'t think my parenting had anything to do with it - I think Sophia did it 100% herself.\" <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=120f7sd59/*http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2043313,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">(See \"Tiger Moms: Is Tough Parenting Really the Answer?\")</a></span></p>\n                <p> And that was no easy feat. Harvard accepted a record low of 6.2% of applicants this year - selected from a pool of 35,000 students.</p>\n                <p> But, as it turns out, Sophia probably would have done well in the college admissions game even without her pushy mother. She\'s demonstrated that she has more than a few talents of her own. A piano prodigy, she debuted at Carnegie Hall at 14. And in a letter defending her mother published in the <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=12t168obo/*http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/why_love_my_strict_chinese_mom_uUvfmLcA5eteY0u2KXt7hM\" target=\"_blank\"><i>New York Post</i></a>, she proved she has writing chops, too. \"Having you as a mother was no tea party,\" she wrote. \"There were some play dates I wish I\'d gone to and some piano camps I wish I\'d skipped. But now that I\'m 18 and about to leave the tiger den, I\'m glad you and Daddy raised me the way you did.\" <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=120f7sd59/*http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2043313,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">(See TIME\'s cover story on tiger moms.)</a></span></p>\n                <p> Sophia\'s natural talent aside, Chua did bequeath her with one gift most pushy mothers can only dream of: alumni status. Chua holds two degrees from Harvard - a B.A. and, like her husband, a J.D.</p>\n                <p> <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=12mrjs7vq/*http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/01/19/tiger-mothers-roar-sparks-superior-web-parodies/\" target=\"_blank\">Read about the \'superior\' Amy Chua web parodies.</a></span></p>\n                <p> <span class=\"see\"><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=12s3l5q47/*http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2058044_2060338_2060004,00.html\" target=\"_blank\">See Amy Chua in the 2011 TIME 100 poll.</a></span></p>\n                <p>View this article on <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=1420pqig9/*http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/06/did-amy-chuas-daughter-really-need-a-tiger-mom-to-get-into-harvard/?xid=rss-fullnation-yahoo\">Time.com</a></p>\n                <p></p><p>Most Popular on Time.com:</p><ul><li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=13033n6vn/*http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1914857,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Why Exercise Won\'t Make You Thin</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=132e5lnhj/*http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2062419,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Finland\'s Educational Success? The Anti-Tiger Mother Approach</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=132f46qkl/*http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2055169,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">A Soldier\'s Tragedy</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=132hfgoav/*http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1704660,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">Are Gay Relationships Different?</a></li> <li><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/time/us_time/storytext/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo/40978021/SIG=12v4vqt74/*http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2063632,00.html?xid=feed-yahoo-full-mostpopular\">The Brief, Bizarre Start of Berlusconi\'s Sex Trial</a></li> </ul><p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Did Amy Chua\'s Daughter Really Need a Tiger Mom to Get Into Harvard?   (Time.com)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110407/us_time/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/time/20110407/us_time/httpnewsfeedtimecom20110406didamychuasdaughterreallyneedatigermomtogetintoharvardxidrssfullnationyahoo</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-07 05:40:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 05:40:00','2011-04-09 06:11:30','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(814,'Victim: Not enough prison time for Conn. ex-dean   (AP)','victim-not-enough-prison-time-for-conn-ex-dean-ap','','AP - A teenager who says he was sexually abused at an exclusive Connecticut boarding school by a former dean of students was stunned and upset when the educator took a plea deal this week calling for a 9 1/2-year prison sentence, the teen\'s lawyer said Wednesday.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>HARTFORD, Conn. – A teenager who says he was sexually abused at an exclusive Connecticut boarding school by a former dean of students was stunned and upset when the educator took a plea deal this week calling for a 9 1/2-year prison sentence, the teen\'s lawyer said Wednesday.</p>\n                <p>The ex-student\'s lawyer, Robert Reardon, said his client had expected Robert Reinhardt to serve decades behind bars for abusing him and three other students at The Gunnery school in Washington, Conn.</p>\n                <p>\"We were shocked that the agreed sentence was so substantially less,\" Reardon said.</p>\n                <p>Reardon said his client was sexually assaulted by Reinhardt more than 70 times when he was 13 years old, during the 2007-2008 school year. He said his client has dropped out of high school and is now living at home and getting counseling.</p>\n                <p>\"He was devastated by what happened to him and continues to suffer on a daily basis,\" Reardon said.</p>\n                <p>Reinhardt pleaded guilty Tuesday in Litchfield Superior Court to three counts of second-degree sexual assault and one count of risk of injury to a minor. He pleaded under the Alford doctrine, meaning he doesn\'t agree with all the allegations but acknowledges there is enough evidence for a conviction.</p>\n                <p>Sentencing is set for June 17. After the prison time, Reinhardt would be placed on probation for 30 years and have to register as a sex offender, under the plea deal that was offered by Judge Charles Gill.</p>\n                <p>Gill didn\'t immediately return a phone message Wednesday.</p>\n                <p>Senior Assistant State\'s Attorney Terri Sonnemann said the other three victims in the case were not thrilled with the plea bargain, but they have accepted it because it spares them from having to testify in public at a trial about the awful things that happened to them. She said she had proposed a longer prison sentence, but wouldn\'t elaborate.</p>\n                <p>\"I think it serves the interests of justice when you consider all the facts and circumstances of this case,\" Sonnemann said. \"By Reinhardt entering a plea, it is a certain conviction. There is no possibility of a jury coming back with a not guilty verdict.\"</p>\n                <p>Reinhardt\'s attorney, William Dow III, said the plea deal \"minimizes the pain for all involved because the complaintants don\'t have to testify.\"</p>\n                <p>Dow said Reinhardt still insists on his innocence, but he took the plea deal because he didn\'t want to risk the possibility of a jury convicting him and a judge sentencing him to a much longer prison term.</p>\n                <p>Reinhardt, 46, who remains free on bail, had faced up to 60 years in prison under the original charges. He resigned from the school in June 2009 after the allegations surfaced and was arrested two months later. He now lives in Telford, Pa., about 30 miles north of Philadelphia. He had been on the faculty at the school since 1996 and was named dean in 2006.</p>\n                <p>The Gunnery, a residential school in the rolling hills of western Connecticut, was founded in 1850 by outdoorsman and abolitionist Frederick William Gunn. There are 270 students this year at the school, which costs more than $40,000 per year for boarding students.</p>\n                <p>Civil lawsuits accuse Reinhardt of abusing the students at his on-campus residence.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Victim: Not enough prison time for Conn. ex-dean   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_prep_school_sex_assaults\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_prep_school_sex_assaults</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-06 14:49:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-06 14:49:00','2011-04-09 06:11:30','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(815,'Can Facebook Posts Lead to College Rejections?   (U.S. News   World Report)','can-facebook-posts-lead-to-college-rejections-us-news-world-report','','U.S. News &amp; World Report - \'Tis the season. Colleges have sent out their admissions decisions, with  prospective students eagerly sorting through acceptances and  rejections. This week\'s question from Derrick L. in New York, N.Y.  tackles the question of whether an applicant\'s social media activity has  an effect on college admissions.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>\'Tis the season. Colleges have sent out their admissions decisions, with  prospective students eagerly sorting through acceptances and  rejections. This week\'s question from Derrick L. in New York, N.Y.  tackles the question of whether an applicant\'s social media activity has  an effect on college admissions.</p>\n                <p><strong>Q:</strong> <strong>Can what I post on Facebook get me  rejected from college?</strong></p>\n                <p><strong>A:  Are admissions officers too busy to care about Facebook profiles?<br /></strong><i>Steve Loflin, founder and CEO, National Society of Collegiate  Scholars</i><i><br /></i></p>\n                <p>Colleges are receiving more applications than ever  and it is competitive to get a spot. Knowing that, you should put your  energy and effort into making sure you are academically prepared and  submitting the strongest application possible. When it comes to  Facebook, be smart about your privacy settings and you can control  exactly who has access.</p>\n                <p>Nevertheless, be aware  of how your Facebook posts may be interpreted by someone who doesn\'t  know you. You should also know my friends/colleagues who are admissions  officers tell me they are too swamped to be checking college applicant  Facebook profiles.</p>\n                <p>[Follow 10 steps to  <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/canfacebookpostsleadtocollegerejections/40977202/SIG=1393ferck/*http://www.usnews.com/education/best-colleges/articles/2011/04/04/10-steps-to-picking-the-right-college\">picking  the right college</a>.]</p>\n                <p><strong>A: A  racy Facebook profile could ruin your college odds--why risk it?<br /></strong><i>Michele Hernandez, president and founder,  Hernandez College  Consulting</i><strong><br /></strong></p>\n                <p>Do admissions officers look up every student\'s page?  No, of course not--how could they with 30,000 applicants? However, you  can\'t control the behavior of others. What if a jealous friend was to  send a Facebook link to an admissions office in an attempt to sabotage  your application? This was a major scandal this year at Choate and  several students were expelled/suspended.</p>\n                <p>Though  it\'s not the norm for admissions officers to actively search out  information on a student, they could, especially if there were any  warning signs from recommendation letters or any other school  information. Admissions officers want students who are upstanding  citizens in every way--a salacious Facebook page would be counter to what  they are looking for.</p>\n                <p><strong>A:  Don\'t take the chance--use good common sense.</strong><br /><i>James  Montoya, vice president of higher education, The College   Board</i><i><br /></i></p>\n                <p>One  of the important things to keep in mind about selective college  admission is that those evaluating applications are real people--often  under 30 years old and often Facebook users themselves. Though the  evaluation process typically focuses on what is required of  applicants--your completed application, transcript, SAT scores, essays,  and letters of recommendation--there are no standard professional  guidelines that discourage admission officers from viewing an  applicant\'s Facebook page.</p>\n                <p>So why risk having  something posted on your Facebook page that reflects poorly on you? A  personal quality that colleges like to see in all applicants is good  common sense. Use it in all your interactions with public websites.</p>\n                <p>[Read 5 do\'s and don\'ts for <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/canfacebookpostsleadtocollegerejections/40977202/SIG=13d80dbqn/*http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2010/05/12/5-dos-and-donts-for-college-students-using-social-media\">college  students using social media</a>.]</p>\n                <p><strong>A:  While social networking, portray yourself in a responsible manner.	</strong><br /><i>Stacey Kostell, director of admissions, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/canfacebookpostsleadtocollegerejections/40977202/SIG=13amv77fq/*http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-illinois-urbana-champaign-1775\">University    of Illinois--Urbana-Champaign</a></i></p>\n                <p>It is possible that comments posted on social media  sites, including Facebook, could affect your admission decision.  Admissions counselors at Illinois are tech savvy and monitor our  official presence on social networks daily. More than likely, your  engagement on such sites would only be reviewed if the admissions  counselors had a reason.</p>\n                <p>For example, we may  search your page if another student/parent reported a disturbing post or  you wrote something questionable on our admissions/university page. We  understand these are social sites, but if any content is posted that  could be perceived as threatening or hurtful, we have an obligation to  look into it.</p>\n                <p><strong>A:  Facebook can hurt, but also help, when applying to college.<br /></strong><i>Katherine  Cohen, founder and CEO, IvyWise and ApplyWise.com</i><strong><br /></strong><i><br /></i>While admissions officers aren\'t creating fake Facebook  profiles or searching for individual students, they do receive anonymous  \"tips\" regarding inappropriate student conduct online. Often, schools  are obligated to investigate and offers of admission may be revoked.</p>\n                <p>Use the \"grandparent test\"--if you wouldn\'t want  your grandparents to see it, don\'t put it online! This applies to your  blog, Facebook profile and photos, Twitter tweets, and LiveJournal  posts. You can use the Internet to express yourself and show admissions  committees your passion. If you\'re a photographer or artist, post  pictures. Musicians, start a MySpace page devoted to your music.\n</p><p>\n<i>Visit the <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/usnews/ts_usnews/storytext/canfacebookpostsleadtocollegerejections/40977202/SIG=11fvcu0mn/*http://www.unigo.com/expertnetwork/question/2\">Unigo  Expert Network</a> to see how 35 other experts feel about Facebook and  to have your own questions answered.</i></p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Can Facebook Posts Lead to College Rejections?   (U.S. News   World Report)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20110406/ts_usnews/canfacebookpostsleadtocollegerejections\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20110406/ts_usnews/canfacebookpostsleadtocollegerejections</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-06 10:38:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-06 10:38:00','2011-04-09 06:11:31','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(816,'F-Bombs and \'Jorts\': 9 Craziest College Rejection Reasons   (The Daily Beast)','f-bombs-and-jorts-9-craziest-college-rejection-reasons-the-daily-beast','','The Daily Beast - In the toughest college admission season on record, acceptance rates plummeted at many schools, including the Ivy League. Kristina Dell explores some of the arbitrary and whimsical reasons that applicants were rejected.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK – <img src=\"http://www.tdbimg.com/files/2011/04/05/img-bs-bottom---dell-rejection_212253493562.jpg\" alt=\"F-Bombs and \'Jorts\': 9 Craziest College Rejection Reasons\" /><b>In the toughest college admission season on record, acceptance rates plummeted at many schools, including the Ivy League. Kristina Dell explores some of the arbitrary and whimsical reasons that applicants were rejected. </b></p>\n                <p>\nFor high-school seniors, the stress level of the past two weeks hit an all time high last Wednesday when <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=12p16ol1f/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-14/in-defense-of-the-ivy-league/\">Ivy League</a> decisions came out. You\'ve probably heard by now that for many schools, this year was the toughest college admission season on record. Take a look at the grisly acceptance rates: <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=12guvbvud/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/harvard-tuition-breaks-50k-mark/\">Harvard</a>, 6.2 percent; Columbia, 6.9; <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=148844pjt/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-04-02/title-ix-complaint-against-yale-women-allege-a-culture-of-silence-on-campus/\">Yale</a>, 7.4; Princeton, 8.4; Brown, 8.7; Dartmouth 9.7; University of Pennsylvania, 12.3; and Cornell, 18. Even a school like <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=131ird8mg/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-09-14/college-crime-rankings-vehicle-theft/\">San Diego State</a>—best known for its beer and basketball-loving student body–saw its acceptance rate plummet to a jaw-dropping 10 percent.</p>\n                <p>\n\nWith so many students applying, it\'s no wonder that some of the rejections feel arbitrary and whimsical. Many had to be. \"You are denying perfection,\" says Eric J. Furda, admissions dean at the University of Pennsylvania. Adds Jim Miller, an admissions officer from Brown University: \"The truth is that the differences are ludicrously slender and it\'s very hard to say to a kid why their candidacy played well or didn\'t play well.\"</p>\n                <p>\nThe Daily Beast caught up with a number of exhausted deans and admissions officers from top colleges around the country to get a glimpse of what happened behind closed doors. What follows is the good, the bad and the ugly of this year\'s red-hot admission season, as told in the admissions officers\' own words. Getting accepted at any of the schools we talked to required stellar SAT scores, solid grades, a tough curriculum and a whole lot of luck. Some deans and admissions officials preferred not to identify themselves, or their universities.</p>\n                <p>\n<b>1. Essays Resulting in Instant Knockout</b></p>\n                <p>\n• Jim Miller, admissions officer at <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=12ha04itp/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-21/college-of-the-stars/\">Brown University</a>:</p>\n                <p>\n</p><p>\"There was a really strong candidate we didn\'t admit because he used an enormous amount of profanity in his personal essay. He had a string of F-bombs that was pretty remarkable. I am not opposed to profanity and sometimes it can work. But, every third word doesn\'t work. Otherwise, he would have gotten in.\"</p>\n                <p>\n</p><p class=\"non-feed\">\"We received pies this year, two from the same person. We didn\'t take her, but we ate the pies.\"</p>\n                <p>\n• Admissions dean at a top liberal arts school:</p>\n                <p>\n</p><p>\"The tone of the essay matters a lot. One kid wrote about why men shouldn\'t wear \"jorts,\" which I guess are jean shorts. How it\'s a bad fashion statement. I was waiting for the punch line.\"</p>\n                <p>\n<b>2. Things Raising a Red Flag</b></p>\n                <p>\n• Ivy League admissions officer:</p>\n                <p>\n</p><p>\"We had one great line. A young woman wrote that she took a summer course and she meant to say in \'organismic biology\' but she wrote \'orgasmic biology\' and went on to say it was the best course she\'d ever taken. We didn\'t reject her for that outright, but it makes you look twice.\"</p>\n                <p>\n• Top state school admissions officer:</p>\n                <p>\n</p><p>\"We had a few people camp out in our lobby and they refused to leave. The person said I am going to stay here until I talk to the people I need to talk to. He talked to everyone who was there and still didn\'t leave. We finally had to ask them to leave. The person was very respectful and didn\'t do anything that threatened anyone. But after the third person talked to the student, it\'s fair to say the person\'s persistence wasn\'t working in his favor.\"</p>\n                <p>\n<b>3. Unconventional Gestures by Applicants</b></p>\n                <p>\n• Top state school admissions officer:</p>\n                <p>\n</p><p>\"We had a student this year who sent a life-sized poster of herself in a box with a catchy jingle. It was attached to helium-filled balloons. When it was opened, the life-sized poster was supposed to go up in the air and unfurl before us like we were in a <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=12v8qllbm/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-07-15/the-harry-potter-world-has-no-plot/\">Harry Potter</a> movie. But the balloons didn\'t quite work. I don\'t know that this hurt the student, but investing a few more minutes on the essay would have been a better use of her time. I just thought, \'Wow, I hope it works out for her.\' I didn\'t go look her up to make a statement one way or the other.\"\n</p><p>\n\n• Admissions dean at a top liberal arts school:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"We received pies this year, two from the same person. She was trying to say she\'s not an athlete, but a really great baker. That was really sweet. We didn\'t take her, but we ate the pies.\"\n</p><p>\n\n\n<b>4. Unhelpful Teacher Evaluations</b>\n</p><p>\n\n• Ivy League admissions officer:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"Pick teachers who know you. Sometimes teachers will damn you with faint praise. One teacher wrote about a student: \'He is not just an athlete. There is so much less here than meets the eye.\' Another teacher wrote about a different student: \'Over time, he has developed a set of friends who have learned to tolerate and even accept him.\' Both of these students didn\'t get in.\"\n</p><p>\n\n<b>5. Choosing the Wrong Sport</b>\n</p><p>\n\n• Admissions officer from a liberal arts college in the Northeast:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"We had one kid who was an accomplished race-car driver who competed in some professional-level races. He would have been an extraordinary student, but we took others first and put him on the waitlist. It [racing cars] is really interesting, but it doesn\'t necessarily translate into something he could do while he was here.\"\n</p><p>\n\n<b>6. Serendipity Playing a Part</b>\n</p><p>\n\n• Richard Nesbitt, director of admission at <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=11gb7b319/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2427/1/\">Williams College</a>:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"One applicant talked about how she loves to bake bread. The person who was reading her essay happened to have focaccia bread baking in the oven at the time of reading the application. The reader was on the same wavelength and even emailed the student to say, \'I really liked your essay and here\'s my recipe for focaccia bread.\' It\'s a funny coincidence, but even the second reader who wasn\'t a bread baker was similarly impressed by the application.\"\n</p><p>\n\n<b>7. Expressing Interest in the School</b>\n</p><p>\n\n• Dan Parish, director of admissions and recruitment at Dartmouth:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"As we make admissions decisions we try not to focus too much on people expressing an interest in Dartmouth. We should respect their application and try to convince them to attend on the other end. We don\'t keep track of the number of times a student communicates with us. A student\'s expressed interest in Dartmouth doesn\'t play a role in our admissions decision.\"\n</p><p>\n\n• Eric J. Furda, admissions dean at the University of Pennsylvania:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"We wanted to know, why Penn? Did you submit a generic essay that was part of a school\'s supplement—another school\'s supplement? You may need to do a little bit more research before you hit the submit button. Take notes during the campus visit, and even if it isn\'t your top choice, still understand that you need to speak to that school and show what you are going to contribute to that campus. Articulate why this school is for you. Students who do well will start citing faculty and programs they want to explore.\"\n</p><p>\n\n• Admissions dean at a top liberal arts school in the Northeast:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"One school\'s horrible essay is another school\'s favorite. It\'s all subjective.\"\n</p><p>\n\n• Top state school admissions officer:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"We end up with a lot of essays that sound like they were written by people who were prematurely middle-aged.\"\n</p><p>\n\n<b>8. Lack of Guarantees</b>\n</p><p>\n\n• Eric J. Furda, admissions dean at the University of Pennsylvania:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"When you are admitting [12 out of 100 students] there is no one who is a shoo-in anymore. There is no foregone conclusion about a student being admitted. You go through the selection process and before you mail them out that week you look at the decisions you\'ve made. We change the decisions up until they are posted.\"\n</p><p>\n\n• Paul Seegert, admissions officer at the University of Washington:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>\"We did reject someone this year who had a 4.0 who was an in-state resident.\"\n</p><p>\n\n<b>9. Committee Comments Pushing a Decision One Way Or the Other</b>\n</p><p>\n\n• From a top liberal arts school in the Northeast:\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>I just don\'t feel any spark from this application.What would he/she bring to campus that we don\'t already have?Would he/she be someone I would want to room with?English grades/scores are great, but this isn\'t seen in their Common Application essay.How does the applicant compare to a sibling that we took/didn\'t take?Will the decisions make sense to the high school?Alum interview notes that he/she has that \'fire in the belly\' that we are looking for.\n</p><p>\n\n<i>Kristina Dell is an editor at Newsweek.com and runs the education website. Previously, she wrote for TIME magazine. Her stories have also appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and Reader\'s Digest.</i>\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>Like <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=117dcqoq1/*http://www.facebook.com/thedailybeast\">The Daily Beast on Facebook</a> and <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege/40975225/SIG=112m5eo3t/*http://twitter.com/thedailybeast\">follow us on Twitter</a> for updates all day long.\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at <a href=\"mailto:editorial@thedailybeast.com\">editorial@thedailybeast.com</a>. </p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"F-Bombs and \'Jorts\': 9 Craziest College Rejection Reasons   (The Daily Beast)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110406/ts_dailybeast/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110406/ts_dailybeast/13351_fbombsandjortscraziestreasonskidswerenotacceptedintocollege</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-06 07:37:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-06 07:37:00','2011-04-09 06:11:32','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(817,'Schools face cliff as education money dries up   (AP)','schools-face-cliff-as-education-money-dries-up-ap','','AP - As lawmakers around the country debate their states\' budgets, they\'re staring over the edge of a massive fiscal cliff &mdash; the point where about $100 billion in federal stimulus money for education will run out.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>As lawmakers around the country debate their states\' budgets, they\'re staring over the edge of a massive fiscal cliff — the point where about $100 billion in federal stimulus money for education will run out.</p>\n                <p>The end of that money will compound states\' severe budget woes and likely lead to thousands of layoffs and the elimination of popular school programs around the country.</p>\n                <p>The bulk of the money, part of $814 billion provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act passed in 2009, went to save the jobs of teachers and other school employees, as state and local revenue dried up during the prolonged economic downturn. Lawmakers in many states drew criticism for making deep cuts in state education spending and replacing the money with stimulus dollars, thus avoiding cuts elsewhere in their budgets.</p>\n                <p>States are required to have spent most of their education stimulus money by September, and most will burn through it by the end of the current academic year, budget officials say.</p>\n                <p>And while state economies are showing signs of life, tax revenue is not increasing fast enough to make up the loss.</p>\n                <p>\"It\'s not like that money was the icing on the cake,\" said Michael Griffith, a senior policy analyst at the Education Commission of the States, in Denver. \"It was the cake.\"</p>\n                <p>Officials in some states saw the cliff coming from the start and encouraged districts to use stimulus money in ways that would not produce ongoing costs they could not cover when the emergency aid ran out, such as temporary tutors or improvements to buildings to make them more accessible for students with disabilities.</p>\n                <p>\"There was a lot of caution about people employing folks, because when that money is gone, it\'s gone,\" said Ray Lankford, Missouri\'s Deputy Commissioner of Education. \"A lot of them did program improvements and short-term employment to address specific issues.\"</p>\n                <p>While Congress tried to cushion the blow for states through its approval last year of a $10 billion Education Jobs Fund, state officials say that money is not enough to replace the lost stimulus dollars.</p>\n                <p>The situation is compounded by a reluctance to raise taxes in many states.</p>\n                <p>In Florida, freshman Republican Gov. Rick Scott\'s budget for fiscal 2011-12 would cut state K-12 spending from $17.3 billion to $16.5 billion, a decrease of about 5 percent. The end of $872 million in stimulus money would boost that cut to roughly 10 percent compared with the current year.</p>\n                <p>The combined weight of those state and federal cuts would force Florida\'s Volusia County school district to cut an estimated 900 employees, said Margaret A. Smith, the system\'s superintendent. The 62,000-student district has cut 1,500 positions and $75 million from its budget in the past two years.</p>\n                <p>Further cuts will hit programs in art, music, and physical education, as well as extracurricular and sports programs, she said.</p>\n                <p>In Ohio, Gov. John Kasich has proposed increasing state aid for schools by 1 percent to 2 percent for each of the next two years. The evaporation of federal stimulus money will mean a net decrease of 5 percent to 6 percent below current levels, said David Varda, the executive director of the Ohio Association of School Business Officials.</p>\n                <p>Of about $100 billion in total education-focused stimulus aid, about $79 billion was devoted to K-12 programs. The biggest chunk went to help states restore school programs cut because of the recession. Smaller portions went to special education programs and federal Title I programs for poor children.</p>\n                <p>The stimulus money also paid for competitive programs aimed at fueling innovative reforms, most notably the $4.35 billion Race to the Top program.</p>\n                <p>But the vast majority of the money was designed to save jobs. The U.S. Department of Education has estimated that the stimulus funds saved some 368,000 school-related jobs during the 2009-10 school year.</p>\n                <p>Education is \"a worker-intensive business,\" Griffith said. \"If you\'re cutting positions, you\'re cutting programs.\"\n</p><p>\nIn Tennessee, districts used the federal money in part to add employees, particularly instructional and curricular coaches, said Amanda Anderson, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Education.\n</p><p>\nMassachusetts strongly encouraged districts to use at least 50 percent of their Title I money on \"strategic investments\" that would leave long-term benefits for students, said J.C. Considine, a spokesman for the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.\n</p><p>\nWyoming, a state insulated from much of the recent economic pain by its strong energy industry, is actually planning to return $10 million of the $82 million in stabilization money, said Jeanne Norman of the state\'s Office of State Lands and Investments.\n</p><p>\nA few Wyoming districts have used stimulus money to pay for teaching jobs, but more of them have spent it on computer software, student programs, and building maintenance.\n</p><p>\nIdaho\'s stimulus funding saved jobs and restored work days that school employees were going to take off through furloughs, said Melissa McGrath, a spokeswoman for the state Education Department. But districts also bought classroom materials, computer software and remediation services for students, which will help in the post-stimulus era, she said.\n</p><p>\nNearly every state will use the $10 billion Education Jobs Fund approved last year to make up for the loss of stimulus money. One exception is South Carolina, which did not receive its $140 million share because of large cuts the state made to higher education, which violated the law\'s requirement to maintain spending in that area.\n</p><p>\nTexas has seen a much larger chunk of jobs aid, $830 million, blocked because state officials have not been able to promise they would meet congressional rules for maintaining future K-12 spending. The 2010 stimulus requires assurances that the state won\'t cut its own education spending in response to the federal money, and Texas has taken that requirement to federal court.\n</p><p>\nThe state faces an estimated $27 billion, two-year budget shortfall that could cost as many as 65,000 school employees their jobs, the Texas Association of School Administrators estimates.\n</p><p>\nStates that have received education jobs money appear to be on very different schedules for spending it — which by law they can do this academic year or next.\n</p><p>\nMissouri has not yet spent any of its $190 million share but is counting on it to make up for shrunken state revenues and the stimulus gap, as is New Jersey, which saved its share to cover the coming academic year.\n</p><p>\nIn Idaho, 50 of the 115 school districts have drawn down a combined $5 million of the state\'s $51.6 million allotment. State officials have proposed K-12 budget cuts for next year, so the remaining money is expected to help make up some of the loss. Massachusetts\' school districts so far have spent about half the state\'s $204 million jobs money.\n</p><p>\nIowa will receive $97 million through the federal Education Jobs Fund. But that\'s small compared to the stimulus money that saved an estimated 3,500 jobs, said Jeff Berger, the chief financial officer and government-relations coordinator for the state Education Department.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nCavanagh reported from Washington, and Hollingsworth reported from Kansas City, Mo. Also contributing to this report were Associated Press writers Geoff Mulvihill in Trenton, N.J.; Jessie L. Bonner in Boise, Idaho; Bob Moen in Cheyenne, Wyo.; Steve LeBlanc in Boston; and Seanna Adcox in Columbia, S.C.; and Education Week Assistant Editor Michele McNeil.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Schools face cliff as education money dries up   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_broken_budgets_education_stimulus\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_broken_budgets_education_stimulus</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-06 05:51:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-06 05:51:00','2011-04-09 06:11:33','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(818,'8 illegal immigrants detained at Georgia protest   (AP)','8-illegal-immigrants-detained-at-georgia-protest-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_protest_georgia\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110406/capt.e79680bc22434662b71f405f4279b2cb-a13b4d07e7cd40c5b3497c1c5921fa0a-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=87&amp;q=85&amp;sig=MqZnZLkOxv5AT5.15LPFFg--\" height=\"87\" width=\"130\" alt=\"8 illegal immigrants detained at Georgia protest   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Eight young illegal immigrants were arrested Tuesday for sitting in the middle of a busy street in front of the Georgia Capitol, protesting their lack of access to higher education in a scene reminiscent of civil rights demonstrations decades ago.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>ATLANTA – Eight young illegal immigrants were arrested Tuesday for sitting in the middle of a busy street in front of the Georgia Capitol, protesting their lack of access to higher education in a scene reminiscent of civil rights demonstrations decades ago.</p>\n                <p>The group, made up of mostly students, believe their plight is similar to movement the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. led, and they met with former activists from the 1960s to hash out their civil disobedience plan. As the foreign-born youngsters sat in the road, at times holding hands, hundreds of supporters lined the street and cheered in support as the illegal immigrants were led away in handcuffs.</p>\n                <p>Before the sit-in the youngsters, their voices trembling, each stood before the crowd, took a microphone and announced: \"I am undocumented, and I am unafraid.\"</p>\n                <p>In telling their stories, they took a risk like many of their parents made when they came to the U.S. to find a better life. Many said that, despite their grades, they have found their immigration status might prevent them from going to college, in part because they can\'t afford costly out-of-state tuition fees. Most also don\'t qualify for federal aid and at times, state help.</p>\n                <p>The Rev. Timothy McDonald was one of the activists who met with the students at Ebenezer Baptist Church in the room where King and other preachers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the organization that led the movement for equality and justice for blacks.</p>\n                <p>\"We felt the connection,\" McDonald said. \"We pointed out that there has never been a successful movement of any kind without young people, and that was especially true of the civil rights movement. It was the students who filled up the jails, not the preachers.\"</p>\n                <p>The group protested in an effort to bring national attention to the issue of equal access to education. They are also upset with what they see as anti-immigrant legislation in Georgia and elsewhere across the country.</p>\n                <p>South Carolina passed a law banning illegal immigrants from attending state colleges and universities, but a similar measure in Georgia failed. However, Georgia\'s university system late last year approved a rule that essentially bans illegal immigrants from the five most competitive public schools in the state, if those colleges had rejected academically eligible students because of a high number of applicants.</p>\n                <p>The protest was not unlike the lunch counter sit-ins led by students in Greensboro, N.C., more than 50 years ago, and was similar to efforts staged recently across the country, including a sit-in at the Tucson, Ariz., offices of U.S. Sen. John McCain.</p>\n                <p>The protests are part of The Dream is Coming project, which was created to advocate for the DREAM Act, legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for certain young people who were brought here at a young age. It has failed to pass Congress several times, most recently in December.</p>\n                <p>One of the protesters in Georgia, Dulce Guerrero, said she was done being afraid.</p>\n                <p>\"I\'ve been living in fear for years, not knowing what\'s going to happen to my family,\" said the 18-year-old. \"I\'m tired of it. Today, I\'m here to tell the world that I\'m undocumented. I\'m here for a lot of my friends who are still in the shadows. They need to step up and step out. There is no more being neutral.\"</p>\n                <p>The protesters were charged with obstructing traffic. Atlanta police do not participate in a local-federal partnership that empowers local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law, so the likelihood of the students being turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement was low.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"8 illegal immigrants detained at Georgia protest   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_protest_georgia\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_re_us/us_immigration_protest_georgia</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-06 02:43:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-06 02:43:00','2011-04-09 06:11:34','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(819,'Jury finds man guilty in NJ triple murder trial   (AP)','jury-finds-man-guilty-in-nj-triple-murder-trial-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap_on_re_us/us_schoolyard_killings_trial\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110405/capt.0ed77c7036c2494db307b6a3510e14c0-0ed77c7036c2494db307b6a3510e14c0-0.jpg?x=97&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=13fRmERehdGmWtTI2IdcjA--\" height=\"130\" width=\"97\" alt=\"Jury finds man guilty in NJ triple murder trial   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - A 20-year-old man was convicted Tuesday of murder in the execution-style slayings of three college-bound friends in a Newark schoolyard in 2007, an incident that jolted New Jersey\'s largest city into implementing a wave of anti-crime measures.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEWARK, N.J. – A 20-year-old man was convicted Tuesday of murder in the execution-style slayings of three college-bound friends in a Newark schoolyard in 2007, an incident that jolted New Jersey\'s largest city into implementing a wave of anti-crime measures.</p>\n                <p>Alexander Alfaro was one of six men and boys charged in the gruesome attacks in August 2007. All three victims were shot in the back of the head as they knelt in front of a wall, and one was slashed with a machete. A fourth victim was slashed and shot but survived and testified against Alfaro.</p>\n                <p>Alfaro was found guilty on 16 of 17 counts that included murder, felony murder, robbery and conspiracy. He was found not guilty of attempted murder on the survivor of the attacks.</p>\n                <p>As the verdicts were read, about a dozen of the victims\' family members hugged and wept softly in the gallery. They had spent five weeks in court for Alfaro\'s trial, a year after attending the trial of Alfaro\'s half-brother, Rodolfo Godinez, who was convicted and is serving three consecutive life sentences. Three more cases are pending.</p>\n                <p>\"This was absolutely draining for all of us,\" said James Harvey, whose son Dashon was killed in the attack. \"It\'s hard. It\'s going to be hard going through the next three, but (being here) is not even a decision we have to make.\"</p>\n                <p>Harvey, Iofemi Hightower and Terrance \"T.J.\" Aeriel were friends from Newark who were already attending or planning to attend Delaware State University in the fall.</p>\n                <p>The jury reached its verdict after about 20 hours of deliberations over four days. As jurors filed out of court, several nodded toward family members in the gallery.</p>\n                <p>\"I was in seventh heaven when the verdict came,\" said Shalga Hightower, Iofemi\'s mother. \"I wanted it so badly for her, knowing that this one was the one that did that to her.\"</p>\n                <p>Alfaro admitted to police after his capture that he slashed Hightower with the machete before she and the others were shot. But on the witness stand, he denied doing it and said he was pressured by a detective to change his statement to conform to what other defendants had already told police.</p>\n                <p>The jury rejected the defense\'s argument that Alfaro acted under duress from Godinez, a high-ranking member of the MS-13 street gang. Alfaro testified that he was coerced into bringing the machete to the Mount Vernon School playground on the night of Aug. 4, 2007 by Godinez. Alfaro admitted joining the gang several months before the crimes, but testified he was shocked that night when he realized what was happening.</p>\n                <p>\"There were plenty of chances for Mr. Alfaro not to get involved that night,\" Assistant Essex County Prosecutor Thomas McTigue said after the verdict. \"It didn\'t require heroism, just a little bit of morality.\"</p>\n                <p>Jurors also heard testimony from the survivor and from Alfaro\'s cousin, Nancy Ramirez, who testified that Alfaro described the incident to her the following day.</p>\n                <p>A controversy earlier Tuesday nearly caused a mistrial. Prosecutors revealed that a female juror didn\'t acknowledge in a questionnaire before the trial started that she had a criminal case pending.</p>\n                <p>Alfaro\'s attorney moved for a mistrial but was denied by the judge. Less than an hour later, jurors reached the verdict.</p>\n                <p>The slayings made national headlines and spurred action on numerous anti-crime measures in Newark, such as surveillance cameras in high-crime neighborhoods. The city\'s violent crime and shooting rate fell markedly between 2007 and 2009, but has crept back upward in the last 18 months.</p>\n                <p>Alfaro\'s murder and felony murder counts each carry a sentence of 30 years to life in prison. The robbery counts have a 20-year maximum sentence, and the weapons counts range from 18 months to 10 years. Several of the counts will be merged for sentencing purposes, but Alfaro is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.</p>\n                <p>In the two previous cases, state Superior Court Judge Michael L. Ravin sentenced the defendants to three consecutive life sentences for the murders.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Jury finds man guilty in NJ triple murder trial   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap_on_re_us/us_schoolyard_killings_trial\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110405/ap_on_re_us/us_schoolyard_killings_trial</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-05 18:44:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-05 18:44:00','2011-04-09 06:11:35','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(820,'Let Preschoolers Play!   (The Daily Beast)','let-preschoolers-play-the-daily-beast','','The Daily Beast - Worksheets, computers&mdash;America\'s hypercompetitive education system is trickling down to preschool. But growing research shows that pushing academics at an early age can backfire, writes Joyce C. Tang.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK – <img src=\"http://www.tdbimg.com/files/2011/03/30/img-bs-bottom---tang-play_145651609777.jpg\" alt=\"Let Preschoolers Play!\" /><b>Worksheets, computers—America\'s hypercompetitive education system is trickling down to preschool. But growing research shows that pushing academics at an early age can backfire, writes Joyce C. Tang. </b></p>\n                <p>\nWhen Zachary Hammond graduated from <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=13ot0l01u/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-02-07/holding-kids-back-from-kindergarten-how-redshirting-hurts/2/\">preschool</a>, like many other toddlers he hadn\'t really developed an interest in academics quite yet. He was more into sports, playing street hockey and soccer. He could count to 50 and write his name, but he wasn\'t eager to learn to read. His class time was spent with worksheets, circling words that rhymed and identifying letters of the alphabet with memory games.</p>\n                <p>\nZachary\'s younger brother, Maverick, on the other hand, finished preschool a few steps ahead. His drawing abilities flourished throughout his two years of pre-K, and he was even on the cusp of writing complete sentences. By that time, Zachary was beginning to read, and Maverick couldn\'t wait to learn, too. In Maverick\'s classroom, kids spent less time sitting at desks, and more often than not they could be found playing make-believe. Maverick\'s \"education\" is part of a growing wisdom that good old-fashioned play may be better than hitting the books.</p>\n                <p>\n\nWhere once the model preschool or <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=12keqadpm/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-03-09/the-war-on-kindergarten/\">kindergarten</a> lesson centered around a circle carpet and gaggle of curious toddlers, in recent decades desks, worksheets, a lecturing teacher, and even computers have been crowding into class time that traditionally focused on play. At its most extreme, some children are greeted by worksheets waiting for them at their desks. Though rare, there\'s the occasional classroom devoid of toys. Indeed, Maverick\'s preschool curriculum and others like it are \"the exception rather than the rule,\" said Sheila Smith, director of the early childhood program at the National Center for Children in Poverty.</p>\n                <p>\nBut a growing body of research supports the very real benefits of exploratory and playful learning experiences. A <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11m646ber/*http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2174918/\">2007 study published in Science</a> evaluated a play-based program, Tools of the Mind, against a non-play-based one. After two years in the play-oriented classrooms, children scored better on self-regulation, cognitive flexibility, and working memory. The self-control kids learn through interacting and playing with others has an academic payoff, too; it\'s more strongly correlated with future academic success than either <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=12olkt32t/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-02-17/the-new-child-testing-craze/\">IQ</a> or early reading and math skills. In Maverick\'s school, which was not part of the study, nearly 60 percent of the kids in the Tools program were able to write full sentences by the end of preschool, whereas with the previous curriculum only 5 percent of his fellow preschoolers could do so.</p>\n                <p>\n<a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=112p8cu7o/*http://www.slate.com/id/2288402/\">Two forthcoming studies</a> in the journal Cognition show the extent to which direct, teacher-initiated learning can limit and dampen children\'s creativity and curiosity. In one study, when explicitly taught a singular way of playing with a new toy that had multiple facets, kids played with it for less time and fewer discovered its other features. However, another group of kids who were shown, as if by accident, the same feature of the toy were more likely to uncover new and different ways to play with it. A second study also showed that when children are instructed on how to do something, they tend to over-imitate or include superfluous actions.</p>\n                <p>\n</p><p class=\"non-feed\">Maybe the most important thing for parents to learn is that they can finally relax a little and let kids go back to doing what they do best.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Learning from adults is fast tracking, rather than learning by trial and error,\" said Daphna Buchsbaum, an author on one of the studies. And here\'s where hyper-academics should take note: that fast-tracking can translate into limited problem-solving skills and <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11v32qat9/*http://www.newsweek.com/2010/07/10/the-creativity-crisis.html\">diminished creativity</a>, a dimension that some educators say we ought to be testing. In creativity tests, there\'s no single correct answer, but many.</p>\n                <p>\nTo that end, Tools and similar play-oriented classrooms provide a variety of activity centers with simple props that can be manipulated in a variety of ways. Instead of battery-operated toys, there are boxes, sheets, logs, and building blocks. \"If you give them simple building props, they will make what they need. The simpler the materials, the more they can be adjusted,\" said Deborah Leong, Tools\' co-developer.</p>\n                <p>\nWorried that America\'s myopic focus on achievement has become destructive to their children\'s self-confidence, engagement, and well being, some parents are opting out of traditional education. <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11s5f5830/*http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2010/03/15/home_school_3\">Andrew O\'Hehir</a> has been writing at Salon about home-schooling his 6-year-old twins. Reluctant to put them in a school system that he and his wife perceive as dominated by \"drill-based and scripted instruction and repetitious busywork,\" O\'Hehir describes his family as part of a <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11r6ghn1s/*http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2006/homeschool/parentsreasons.asp\">growing trend</a> of secular <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=13od52mu6/*http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2011-03-30/10-college-admissions-trends-southern-schools-waitlist-more/\">home schoolers</a>, motivated not by religious concern but by educational ones. Alternative education curricula are also gaining traction. Tools of the Mind has been adopted by 95 school districts, up from 25 four years ago. Enrollment in Waldorf schools, which emphasize fantasy play and where students spend their time baking, sewing, and gardening, has also increased in recent years.</p>\n                <p>\nDidactic teaching has come at the expense of play, which some say is no longer tolerated even for the youngest of students. A 2005 study found that the <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11q9ik4j8/*http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/17/education/17expel.html\">likelihood of expulsion</a> was three times greater in preschool than in kindergarten through high school. Test prep, established as de rigueur for high school students aiming for the Ivy League, has found its way to the toddler set. Parents now pay top dollar to give their kids a head start in reading, writing, and math, whether the goal be a private kindergarten or ultimately a Harvard education. In these circles, it\'s not uncommon to <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=12nmi6opl/*http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/21/nyregion/21testprep.html?scp=1=admission%20test=cse\">enroll tots in private tutoring classes</a> at the ripe young age of 3. Recently, a New York City mother <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=13jemo99p/*http://articles.nydailynews.com/2011-03-14/local/29149269_1_ivy-league-public-school-music-and-physical-education\">sued her daughter\'s preschool</a> for $19,000 in tuition, claiming that it failed to adequately prepare her 4-year-old for entry into the world of elite New York City private schools. In the suit, the preschool classroom was described disdainfully as \"just one big playroom.\"</p>\n                <p>\n\n\"\'Play\' has been kind of a dirty word in education for a while,\" said Edward Miller, a senior researcher at the Alliance for Childhood. \"That\'s turning around.\" After decades of pushing kids to buckle down and learn more at ever-younger ages, we haven\'t gotten very far. The most recent <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11vdvupaa/*http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pdf/main2009/2010458.pdf\">Nation\'s Report Card</a> showed no improvement in reading between 2007 and 2009 for fourth graders. And since 1998, eighth graders have hovered around the same levels.</p>\n                <p>\nAmerica\'s obsession with \"getting ahead\" can be traced back to Sputnik, when the Russians beat the U.S. in the race to space. A 1983 report on the state of education, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11eo7qpp4/*http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/title.html\">A Nation at Risk</a>, was damning. It blamed \"extensive student choice\" for our \"<a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11eo7qpp4/*http://www2.ed.gov/pubs/NatAtRisk/title.html\">rising tide of mediocrity</a>,\" and advocated for more homework, longer school days, and standardized tests, and called for \"disciplined efforts.\"</p>\n                <p>\nSoon after, another problem had to be addressed—the literacy gap between the wealthy and the poor. The results of the National Reading Panel, a group tasked with reviewing the existing literature and research about literacy, recommended more explicit, systematic, and teacher-centered learning. But numerous studies have questioned the approach of early testing and literacy. One <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=11kogo9cp/*http://www.highscope.org/Content.asp?ContentId=241\">longitudinal study</a> that compared low-income child-initiated preschool classes with teacher-initiated ones found that, by age 15, the latter group reported significantly more felony arrests and emotional problems.</p>\n                <p>\n\"It\'s quite appalling that one or two years of the wrong type of preschool education can create such disastrous outcomes for children,\" said Joan Almon, executive director of the U.S. Alliance for Childhood.</p>\n                <p>\nPrior to the National Reading Panel \"it was thought that young children, including those who had not been read to, would learn to read through free play,\" said James Griffin, who works at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, which established the National Reading Panel. But play in schools doesn\'t mean a totally laissez-faire approach. Play advocates stress that the types of activities they\'re promoting aren\'t unstructured, and \"mature, make-believe play\" is key to kids developing self-regulation, Leong said. For instance, when kids participate in role-playing as part of a Tools classroom, there are rules. After they\'re assigned a role, there\'s a planning component. Kids draw their parts while the teacher writes them out. And for the duration of play, kids have to stick with the characters they were given.</p>\n                <p>\nEven with the best of intentions, it can be difficult to know what\'s right for our children. But with new research backing up the advantages of play, maybe the most important thing for parents to learn is that they can finally relax a little and let kids go back to doing what they do best.</p>\n                <p>\n<i>Joyce Tang is outreach editor for The Daily Beast. Her work has appeared in Mother Jones and The Miami Herald.</i>\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>Like <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=117dcqoq1/*http://www.facebook.com/thedailybeast\">The Daily Beast on Facebook</a> and <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/dailybeast/ts_dailybeast/storytext/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation/40963162/SIG=112m5eo3t/*http://twitter.com/thedailybeast\">follow us on Twitter</a> for updates all day long.\n</p><p>\n\n</p><p>For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at <a href=\"mailto:editorial@thedailybeast.com\">editorial@thedailybeast.com</a>. </p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Let Preschoolers Play!   (The Daily Beast)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110405/ts_dailybeast/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailybeast/20110405/ts_dailybeast/13246_academicbenefitstoplayduringearlychildhoodeducation</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-05 12:27:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-05 12:27:00','2011-04-09 06:11:36','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(821,'White House targets sexual assault on campus   (The Christian Science Monitor)','white-house-targets-sexual-assault-on-campus-the-christian-science-monitor','','The Christian Science Monitor - Vice President Joe Biden and the Department of Education are urging Americaâ€™s colleges, universities, and secondary schools to do more to prevent and address sexual assault.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>Vice President Joe Biden and the Department of Education are urging America’s colleges, universities, and secondary schools to do more to prevent and address sexual assault. </p>\n                <p>For the first time, the federal government has issued guidance to schools under the umbrella of Title IX – the law normally associated with gender equity in sports – on how to address issues of sexual assault. According to a 2007 survey financed by the Justice Department, 1 in 5 undergraduate women are victims of attempted or actual sexual assault, as 1 in 16 undergraduate men.</p>\n                <p>“Students across the country deserve the safest possible environment in which to learn,” said Vice President Biden in a speech Monday at the University of New Hampshire, where he spoke passionately about the broader problems of violence against women and on-campus violence. “That\'s why we’re taking new steps to help our nation’s schools, universities and colleges end the cycle of sexual violence on campus.”</p>\n                <p>The Monitor\'s weekly photo news quiz for April 2, 2011</p>\n                <p>The Department sent schools a letter including reminders that:</p>\n                <p>Title IX protects students from all sexual harassment.</p>\n                <p>Schools need to have clear systems in place for grievances â€“ and make sure students are aware of them.</p>\n                <p>A criminal investigation does not relieve the school of its own need to investigate any complaint, and schools must investigate complaints promptly, rather than waiting for the conclusion of a criminal investigation, as some have done in the past.</p>\n                <p>In evaluating cases, schools must use the “preponderance of the evidence” standard of proof in meting out punishment – the standard used in civil lawsuits – as in, was it \"more likely than not\" that sexual violence occurred? Currently, some schools use the stronger “clear and convincing” standard generally used by the criminal courts.</p>\n                <p>All students who bring forward complaints must be informed that they have the right to an investigation. Schools must furthermore tell the complaining student the outcome of the investigation. In the past, some schools worried that this would violate the alleged perpetratorâ€™s privacy rights.</p>\n                <p>At any hearing during the school’s Title IX investigation, all parties must have equal opportunity to present evidence and witnesses.</p>\n                <p>The letter also recommends numerous educational steps that schools can take to prevent sexual violence and harassment, and gives specific suggestions for ways the school can help a victim feel safe and get counseling during an investigation.</p>\n                <p>“This will help schools immeasurably in understanding what their responsibilities are. There’s no more shooting in the dark,” says Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for the American Association of University Women. She notes that even though Title IX became law in 1972, this is the first time the Office of Civil Rights has come out with comprehensive policy on sexual violence. “It is a critical reminder, or wake-up call, for colleges and universities that this isn’t something that can be swept under the rug, and that is happening on their campuses.”</p>\n                <p>And not only on college campuses.</p>\n                <p>American high schools see nearly 4,000 reports of sexual battery and over 800 rapes and attempted rapes each year, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said at Monday\'s event. More than 1 in 10 high school girls are physically forced to have sex against their will by the time they graduate, he said.</p>\n                <p>“Every school would like to think it’s immune from sexual violence,” Secretary Duncan said, “but the facts suggest otherwise.” </p>\n                <p>In his speech, Duncan said the guidance was needed not just because of the instances of assaults, but from the many examples of how schools dealt with reports improperly, including placing gag orders on the victim, not taking a complaint seriously if alcohol is involved, or dragging out an investigation until the victim withdraws from the school. </p>\n                <p>“The misplaced sense of values and priorities in some of these cases is staggering,” he said. “We have to do better, and we have to do better now.”\n</p><p>\nThough the timing is coincidental, Monday\'s announcement comes on the heels of a complaint from students at Yale University that the school has failed to respond adequately to sexual assault and harassment claims, and the news on Friday that Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is launching an investigation.\n</p><p>\nStudents claimed that Yale has failed to properly respond to both sexual harassment – including fraternity members holding up a sign saying “we love sluts” last fall, and chanting “no means yes” on campus – and to charges of sexual assault and attempted assault. \n</p><p>\n“When you have a university the caliber of Yale being called on the carpet for this … it’s a great illustration that this can happen to any campus that doesn’t address these issues,” says Ms. Maatz. \n</p><p>\nIN PICTURES: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., remembered</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"White House targets sexual assault on campus   (The Christian Science Monitor)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110404/ts_csm/374585\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110404/ts_csm/374585</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-04 19:42:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-04 19:42:00','2011-04-09 06:11:37','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(822,'ACLU sues over RI high school prayer banner   (AP)','aclu-sues-over-ri-high-school-prayer-banner-ap','','AP - The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the city of Cranston over a Christian prayer banner displayed in a high school auditorium.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Rhode Island chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is suing the city of Cranston over a Christian prayer banner displayed in a high school auditorium.</p>\n                <p>The ACLU announced the lawsuit Monday. It seeks monetary damages and demands that the banner be removed from Cranston High School West on the grounds that it promotes a particular religion.</p>\n                <p>The plaintiff is sophomore Jessica Ahlquist. The 15-year-old atheist says the banner is offensive to students of other faiths.</p>\n                <p>The banner encourages students to strive academically and show kindness. It begins with \"Our Heavenly Father\" and ends with \"Amen.\" It has been displayed since the 1960s.</p>\n                <p>Last year, the ACLU asked the school to remove the banner after a parent complained. The Cranston School Committee voted last month to keep the banner.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>Information from: WJAR-TV, <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_on_re_us/storytext/us_school_prayer_banner/40954754/SIG=10pmbg4sb/*http://www.turnto10.com\">http://www.turnto10.com</a></p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"ACLU sues over RI high school prayer banner   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/ap_on_re_us/us_school_prayer_banner\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/ap_on_re_us/us_school_prayer_banner</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-04 18:22:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-04 18:22:00','2011-04-09 06:11:38','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(823,'Biden launches sexual violence awareness campaign   (AP)','biden-launches-sexual-violence-awareness-campaign-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/ap_on_re_us/us_schools_sexual_violence\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110404/capt.2ca0eeeb0dac4d6facc1fd457220e9f7-2ca0eeeb0dac4d6facc1fd457220e9f7-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=84&amp;q=85&amp;sig=lSQ3UY8XHscGyMvsc_1.Bw--\" height=\"84\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Biden launches sexual violence awareness campaign   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - A nation that prides itself on fighting the abuse of power has an obligation to prevent sexual violence in schools and on college campuses, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday as he kicked off a nationwide awareness campaign on schools\' responsibilities and victims\' rights.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>DURHAM, N.H. – A nation that prides itself on fighting the abuse of power has an obligation to prevent sexual violence in schools and on college campuses, Vice President Joe Biden said Monday as he kicked off a nationwide awareness campaign on schools\' responsibilities and victims\' rights.</p>\n                <p>Biden and Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke at the University of New Hampshire on Monday to announce the initiative. Colleges and public and private K-12 schools will receive letters outlining their duties under Title IX, the federal civil rights law banning sexual discrimination, harassment and violence.</p>\n                <p>The regulations are not new, but the effort to promote them is. Officials say schools need comprehensive guidelines for filing complaints, helping victims, disciplining perpetrators and monitoring campus climates in the wake of an attack.</p>\n                <p>Biden described the initiative as a renewed emphasis on what he called a national collective value: fighting the abuse of power by individuals or institutions.</p>\n                <p>\"We as Americans have said from the outset that\'s wrong. It\'s simply wrong,\" he told a crowd of about 600. \"We\'ve said to the rest of the world: Measure us by how well we abide by that value. I believe that is the measure of the decency of a nation.\"</p>\n                <p>UNH was chosen for the announcement because of its highly regarded violence prevention efforts and victim support services, including 24-hour victim assistance. But Duncan described other colleges where victims are ostracized, not allowed to call witnesses during disciplinary proceedings and are prevented from speaking out.</p>\n                <p>\"As caring adults, as parents, and as leaders, we must deal the brutal truth. The facts surrounding these incidents are shocking,\" he said. \"The misplaced sense of values and priorities in some of these cases is staggering. ... We have to do better, and we have to do better now.\"</p>\n                <p>Nearly 20 percent of college women will be victims of attempted or actual sexual assault, as will about 6 percent of undergraduate men, according to data provided by the Education Department.</p>\n                <p>Younger students are vulnerable, too. The department\'s Office of Civil Rights received 35 complaints last year alleging sexual violence, about two dozen of them at the K-12 level.</p>\n                <p>There have been 17 complaints filed in just the first quarter of this year — a 183 percent increase — and about 10 were at the K-12 level. The agency began using sexual violence as a complaint category at the start of the Obama administration.</p>\n                <p>\"Every school would like to believe it is immune from sexual violence, but the facts suggest otherwise,\" Duncan said.</p>\n                <p>Lisa Maatz, director of public policy and government relations for the American Association of University Women, said the awareness campaign could be very valuable for school administrators.</p>\n                <p>\"There\'s a lot of schools out there that are very well meaning and want to do the right thing, but these situations are so complex that having more concrete guidelines ... will be incredibly useful,\" Maatz said.</p>\n                <p>Biden praised UNH for its Bringing in the Bystander program, which teaches passers-by to intervene safely in potentially dangerous situations. The program has been adopted on other campuses, and last fall three UNH faculty members briefed the White House on their research on violence against women.</p>\n                <p>\"You guys have an absolute obligation as men to speak up,\" Biden said, directly addressing the men in the audience. \"You want to measure your manhood? Measure it based on the gumption you have to speak up.\"</p>\n                <p>Monday\'s announcement in Durham comes on the heels of allegations of a sexually hostile environment at Yale University, but officials say the timing is coincidental.</p>\n                <p>The Office of Civil Rights announced Friday that would investigate the Ivy League school after receiving a 26-page complaint from students accusing the university of failing to adequately respond to sexual harassment concerns.</p>\n                <p>___\n</p><p>\nMatheson reported from Philadelphia.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Biden launches sexual violence awareness campaign   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/ap_on_re_us/us_schools_sexual_violence\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/education/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110404/ap_on_re_us/us_schools_sexual_violence</a></p>',-2,5,0,37,'2011-04-04 16:21:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-04 16:21:00','2011-04-09 06:11:39','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(824,'Japan says economy in  severe  condition','japan-says-economy-in-severe-condition','','Japan said on Friday its economy was in a severe condition following last month\'s triple disaster triggered by one of the biggest earthquakes on record, with sentiment in its service sector registering the sharpest fall ever.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan said on Friday its economy was in a severe condition following last month\'s triple disaster triggered by one of the biggest earthquakes on record, with sentiment in its service sector registering the sharpest fall ever.</p>\n                <p>\nUnderlining the ferocity of the damage to the economy from the disaster, in which a nuclear power plant was crippled by the giant tsunami following the March 11 quake, the government also asked major companies to cut electricity use in the peak summer months by up to a quarter.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Tokyo Stock Exchange said the power cuts meant it would have to delay plans to extend trading hours.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Japan\'s economy is suddenly in a severe condition due to the effects of the earthquake,\" the Cabinet Office said after the release of its March survey of workers such as taxi drivers and restaurant staff.</p>\n                <p>\nA strong aftershock on Thursday night -- one of the strongest of more than 400 of magnitude greater than 5.0 since the massive March 11 tremor -- shook the already ravaged northeast, forcing two companies, including Sony Corp, to stop production because of power cuts.</p>\n                <p>\nAt least two people were killed after the 7.4 magnitude tremor.</p>\n                <p>\nThere was a brief scare when water leaks were found on Friday at the Onagawa nuclear plant in the northeast but Japan\'s nuclear safety agency said it had not detected any change in radiation levels.</p>\n                <p>\nAnd a relieved Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the latest quake had not caused any more damage to its wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, though it did have to briefly evacuate workers because of a tsunami alert that was later withdrawn.</p>\n                <p>\nAn encouraging note was sounded by the U.N.\'s nuclear watchdog, with one of its officials saying there were signs of progress in stabilizing the Fukushima plant, though the situation remained very serious.</p>\n                <p>\nThe International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it had not detected any change in radiation levels following Thursday night\'s quake.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains very serious ... (but) there are early signs of recovery in some functions such as electrical power and instrumentation,\"</p>\n                <p>\nthe IAEA\'s head of nuclear safety, Denis Flory, said.</p>\n                <p>\nThe agency said radiation in the region around the plant, as measured by gamma dose rates, had peaked in the early days of the crisis, and aside from a rise on March 22, had since fallen to \"a level very close to background.\"</p>\n                <p>\nJapan\'s neighbors have grown increasingly anxious at the risk of contamination from radiation, with some schools in South Korea closing because of fears of toxic rain. Officials there said the radiation levels in the atmosphere were harmless.</p>\n                <p>\nAbout 28,000 people are dead or missing after last month\'s triple disaster of quake, tsunami or nuclear crisis in Japan\'s northeast.</p>\n                <p>\nDISRUPTS BUSINESS</p>\n                <p>\nIt has disrupted business, affected supply chains around the world, and reduced industrial output from Japan, a major exporter.</p>\n                <p>\nThe central bank said it expected both output and exports to remain weak because of the impact of the quake.\n</p><p>\n\n\"Output will hover at a low level for the time being but then start to increase as supply constraints are mitigated,\" the Bank of Japan said in its monthly report for April.\n</p><p>\n\nCompanies and households will need to cut back significantly on power usage this summer when demand is at its peak, Trade Minister Banri Kaieda said after a cabinet meeting.\n</p><p>\n\nHe urged major companies to cut electricity consumption by 25 percent.\n</p><p>\n\nBut some ministers at Friday\'s cabinet meeting did call for an end to a campaign for \"self restraint\" by ordinary people adopted immediately after the March 11 disaster to cut fuel or electricity use and discourage stockpiling of necessities.\n</p><p>\n\n\"Some cabinet ministers said excessive self-restraint could worsen the economy, weakening economic power for reconstruction,\" Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters.\n</p><p>\n\nPREVENTING MORE EXPLOSIONS\n</p><p>\n\nUtility TEPCO said it was continuing to inject nitrogen into one of its Fukushima reactors to prevent a repeat of last month\'s hydrogen explosions.\n</p><p>\n\nThe plant is still far from under control and engineers have been forced to pump in tons of water to cool down reactors, in the process creating radioactive water which has to be stored, though some has already been released into the sea.\n</p><p>\n\nOfficials say it could take months to bring the reactors under control and years to clear up the toxic mess left behind.\n</p><p>\n\nThe government has already set up a 20-km (12-mile) exclusion zone around the plant, banned fishing along much of the northeast coast and set up evacuation centers for the tens of thousands forced to leave their homes following the crisis.\n</p><p>\n\n($1=85.475 Japanese yen)\n</p><p>\n\n(Additional reporting by Mayumi Negishi, Chisa Fujioka, Yoko Nishikawa and Kiyoshi Takenaka in Tokyo, Sui-lee Wee in Beijing, Jack Kim in Seoul; Writing by Daniel Magnowski and Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Japan says economy in  severe  condition\" href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/ts_nm/us_japan_55\" target=\"_blank\">http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/ts_nm/us_japan_55</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-08 05:06:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:06:00','2011-04-09 06:11:40','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(825,'North Korea parliament praises progress on economy','north-korea-parliament-praises-progress-on-economy','','North Korea\'s parliament praised progress in building the economy and approved a handful of government appointments Thursday but state media made no mention of a major promotion for the son of leader Kim Jong Il.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>SEOUL, South Korea – North Korea\'s parliament praised progress in building the economy and approved a handful of government appointments Thursday but state media made no mention of a major promotion for the son of leader Kim Jong Il.</p>\n                <p>Delegates to the Supreme People\'s Assembly convened a spring session in Pyongyang amid speculation that heir apparent Kim Jong Un would be elected to the powerful National Defense Commission — a move that would further solidify the young man\'s standing as North Korea\'s next leader.</p>\n                <p>However, there was no mention of the son in dispatches from the official Korean Central News Agency or footage of the parliamentary session in an evening newscast on state TV.</p>\n                <p>North Korea\'s parliament typically meets once or twice a year to rubber stamp bills vetted by the ruling Workers\' Party, and outsiders scrutinize the sessions for clues to changes to the tightly controlled country\'s economic policies and power structure.</p>\n                <p>Thursday\'s session was North Korea\'s first major national meeting since Kim Jong Un made his political debut in September by taking on a key leadership post in the Workers\' Party. Since then, he has appeared regularly at Kim Jong Il\'s side, his father\'s clear choice among three sons as heir apparent.</p>\n                <p>Analysts say election to the National Defense Commission, which formulates key state and military policies, would be the next step in the path to formally naming him as successor. The commission\'s No. 2 post, first vice chairman, has been vacant since November.</p>\n                <p>Kim Jong Il himself was elected by parliament 18 years ago to be chairman of the commission — a position that makes him the nation\'s leader under North Korea\'s constitution.</p>\n                <p>However, some analysts said it was unlikely the young, inexperienced Kim Jong Un, believed to have turned 28 in January, would be appointed to such a high-profile post while his father remains in control.</p>\n                <p>\"Like Libya\'s Gadhafi and Cuba\'s Castro, he won\'t hand over all key power (to his son) until his death,\" said Jeung Young-tae, an analyst with the government-funded Korea Institute for National Unification in Seoul.</p>\n                <p>He said Kim may be gaining confidence that his health will hold up. Kim, 69, appears to have recovered from a stroke he reportedly suffered in 2008. Jeung said he may also worry about the backlash if the son gains power too quickly.</p>\n                <p>Since his debut in September, the son has steadily risen in prominence in state media, with his name appearing second only to his father\'s in a report Thursday about a visit to factories in the city of Kanggye.</p>\n                <p>Appointments approved Thursday at Mansudae Assembly Hall included the naming of a new security chief, Ri Myong Su, a four-star general who is a department director at the National Defense Commission. Ri replaced Ju Sang Song, who was dismissed last month.</p>\n                <p>Delegates also heard reports about the development of North Korea\'s light industry sector. The country has made it a key goal to build up the economy by 2012, the 100th anniversary of the birth of national founder Kim Il Sung.</p>\n                <p>Premier Choe Yong Rim said the North has built a new steel factory, increased coal industrial capacity and built hydropower stations, according to KCNA. Choe said the North will push for more progress in light industry, grain production, coal production and other fields, the report said.</p>\n                <p>In Pyongyang, Professor Han Sok Bong of the Institute of Legislation of Academy of Social Sciences, said the budget adopted Thursday reflects the nation\'s drive to improve economic conditions.</p>\n                <p>\"It actively encourages the struggle for the improvement of the people\'s living standards, marking the 100th anniversary of the birth of our fatherly leader Kim Il Sung in 2012, next year,\" he told AP Television News. \"I think it has been adopted in a realistic way to guarantee financially the people\'s economic plan for this year to be over-fulfilled ahead of schedule, vigorously accelerating the struggle for the building of a great, powerful and prosperous socialist nation.\"</p>\n                <p>North Korea, which has relied on outside food aid since the 1990s, has been seeking in recent years to revamp and revitalize its economy. The World Food Program said last month that more than 6 million North Koreans were going hungry in the wake of heavy flooding and a harsh winter.</p>\n                <p>Tensions over its nuclear and missile programs, and military saber-rattling, have prompted some nations and agencies to cut aid and impose sanctions. Since 2009, North Korea has launched a long-range rocket, tested a nuclear bomb and revealed a secret uranium enrichment program that would give it a second way to make atomic weapons.\n</p><p>\nPyongyang has also been accused of two attacks last year that killed 50 South Koreans.\n</p><p>\nGen. Walter Sharp, chief of 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War, said he worries that the leadership succession could prompt North Korea to launch more attacks on the South over the next few years.\n</p><p>\nHe told legislators Wednesday in Washington that U.S. and South Korean forces are prepared to respond militarily.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nAssociated Press writer Matthew Pennington contributed to this report from Washington.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"North Korea parliament praises progress on economy\" href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_parliament_8\" target=\"_blank\">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_parliament_8</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-07 11:44:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 11:44:00','2011-04-09 06:11:40','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(826,'Japanese economy in  severe  condition','japanese-economy-in-severe-condition','','<div><div>Sorry, readability was unable to parse this page for content.</div></div>','<div><div>Sorry, readability was unable to parse this page for content.</div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Japanese economy in  severe  condition\" href=\"http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/WRAPUP-7-Japan-says-economy-in-severe-condition-af-FQ99Z?opendocument&amp;src=rss\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/WRAPUP-7-Japan-says-economy-in-severe-condition-af-FQ99Z?opendocument&amp;src=rss</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-08 04:28:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:28:00','2011-04-09 06:11:42','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(827,'German economy \'powering ahead\'','german-economy-powering-ahead','','Germany will steam ahead in 2011, leaving most of its rivals trailing in its wake, the country\'s leading economic institutes predicted on Thursday, publishing bullish forecasts for Europe\'s top economy.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>BERLIN (AFP) – Germany will steam ahead in 2011, leaving most of its rivals trailing in its wake, the country\'s leading economic institutes predicted on Thursday, publishing bullish forecasts for Europe\'s top economy.</p>\n                <p>\nThe economy is expected to grow by 2.8 percent this year, with the pace dropping slightly next year to 2.0 percent according to the five top institutes in their closely watched twice-yearly report.</p>\n                <p>\nThis was a large upwards revision to their October forecasts for growth of 2.0 percent this year.</p>\n                <p>\n\"In the spring of 2011, the world economy is enjoying an upswing, mainly due to positive results from emerging economies. Germany too is experiencing a strong upturn,\" the five organisations said in their report.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The recovery is being driven both by external demand and by domestic consumption ... much indicates that the expansion will remain strong in the coming months,\" the economists added.</p>\n                <p>\nUnemployment in Germany is already at its lowest level since the country reunified in 1990 but the buoyant economy is poised to drive down jobless lines further, with the rate seen at 6.9 this year and 6.5 percent in 2012.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Average unemployment will be under the three-million mark in 2011. This is all good news,\" said Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The clear message of the spring forecasts is that the dynamic economic upswing is continuing. The hole that the crisis ripped in our economy will be repaired this year already, according to the institutes\' projections.\"</p>\n                <p>\nBerlin is set to publish its own growth forecasts next week and is likely to raise its current estimate of 2.3 percent for this year.</p>\n                <p>\nThe strong economy will also bring down Germany\'s public deficit at a time when its European rivals are battling to meet EU deficit rules.</p>\n                <p>\nPortugal\'s public finances are in a such a bad state that it decided Wednesday to become the third member of the eurozone after Greece and Ireland to seek a multi-billion-euro bailout.</p>\n                <p>\nGermany\'s deficit should be 1.7 percent this year and shrink further to 0.9 percent in 2012.</p>\n                <p>\nNevertheless, the institutes warned of clouds on the generally sunny horizon coming from the Middle East and Japan, although the economic impact of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima should be \"short-lived.\"</p>\n                <p>\nAndreas Rees, an analyst from Unicredit, disagreed, warning that German companies could be hit hard by shortages from Japanese suppliers afflicted by the recent earthquake and tsunami.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Some input goods from Japan might be highly complementary and cannot therefore be replaced easily,\" Rees cautioned.</p>\n                <p>\nIn a further piece of positive news for Germany, official data published earlier Thursday showed that industrial production rose by 1.6 percent in February, more than three times faster than analysts expected.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"German economy \'powering ahead\'\" href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/bs_afp/germanyeconomygrowthforecasts_20110407142855\" target=\"_blank\">http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/bs_afp/germanyeconomygrowthforecasts_20110407142855</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-07 10:28:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 10:28:00','2011-04-09 06:11:43','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(828,'Rising oil prices beginning to hurt US economy','rising-oil-prices-beginning-to-hurt-us-economy','','Just when companies have finally stepped up hiring, rising oil prices are threatening to halt the U.S. economy\'s gains.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>WASHINGTON – Just when companies have finally stepped up hiring, rising oil prices are threatening to halt the U.S. economy\'s gains.</p>\n                <p>Some economists are scaling back their estimates for growth this year, in part because flat wages have left households struggling to pay higher gasoline prices.</p>\n                <p>Oil has topped $108 a barrel, the highest price since 2008. Regular unleaded gasoline now goes for an average $3.69 a gallon, according to AAA\'s daily fuel gauge survey, up 86 cents from a year ago.</p>\n                <p>The higher costs have been driven by unrest in Libya and other oil-producing Middle East countries, along with rising energy demand from a strengthening U.S. economy.</p>\n                <p>Airlines, shipping companies and other U.S. businesses have been squeezed. The rising prices are further straining an economy struggling with high unemployment and a depressed housing market.</p>\n                <p>\"The surge in oil prices since the end of last year is already doing significant damage to the economy,\" says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody\'s Analytics.</p>\n                <p>Unlike other kinds of consumer spending, gasoline purchases provide less benefit for the U.S. economy. About half the revenue flows to oil exporting countries like Saudi Arabia and Canada, though U.S. oil companies and gasoline retailers also benefit.</p>\n                <p>For consumers, more expensive energy siphons away money that would otherwise be used for household purchases, from cars and furniture to clothing and vacations.</p>\n                <p>High energy prices are \"putting a drain on consumer budgets,\" says James Hamilton at the University of California, San Diego. \"To the extent they\'re having to spend more on gasoline, they have to make cutbacks elsewhere.\"</p>\n                <p>Two-thirds of Americans say they expect rising gasoline prices to cause hardship for them or their families in the next six months, according to a new Associated Press-GfK Poll. The telephone poll conducted March 24-28 had a sampling error margin of plus or minus 4.2 percentage points.</p>\n                <p>Seventy-one percent say they\'re cutting back on other expenses to make up for higher pump prices. Sixty-four percent say they\'re driving less. And 53 percent say they\'re changing vacation plans to stay closer to home.</p>\n                <p>\"I try to leave the car parked at home all day Saturday,\" says Curt Lindsay, who commutes an hour each way to his job as a computer systems administrator outside Washington, D.C. \"I\'d rather not spend the money on gasoline.\"</p>\n                <p>Since gasoline prices topped $3 a gallon, Lindsay has also been trying to drive more slowly to conserve fuel.</p>\n                <p>His co-worker Albert Zaza canceled family trips to New York and Boston after the cost of filling up his Honda CRV surged from $35 to $47. Zaza spends four to five hours in traffic each day and has to fill up every other day.</p>\n                <p>Rising fuel prices are pinching businesses too.</p>\n                <p>In Tipton, Iowa, Grasshopper Lawn Care is tacking 5 percent onto customers\' bills to compensate for higher fuel costs. The company has to buy more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline a year. It plans to keep the surcharge until gasoline prices dip back below $3 a gallon, owner Dan Kessler says.</p>\n                <p>The oil shock and global instability are diluting the benefits of an improving job market. The unemployment rate, though still high, is at a two-year low. And the economy has just produced the strongest two months of hiring since before the recession began.</p>\n                <p>Bernard Baumohl, chief economist at the Economic Outlook Group, has slashed his estimate for growth this year to 2.8 percent from 3.5 percent. In 20010, the economy grew 2.9 percent.\n</p><p>\nConsumer spending accounts for about 70 percent of the economy. After adjusting for inflation and for seasonal factors, consumers spent 0.3 percent more in February than in January.\n</p><p>\nBut that\'s unlikely to last. Gasoline prices are surging just as inflation-adjusted incomes are falling. More expensive gas is draining much of the cash Americans are receiving from a cut in Social Security taxes this year.\n</p><p>\nZandi estimates that higher oil prices shaved 0.5 percentage point from growth in the January-March quarter. He predicts the economy grew 2.6 percent during the quarter.\n</p><p>\nIf oil prices average $100 a barrel for the year, Zandi says, growth will be 0.3 percentage point lower than if prices had stayed at last year\'s level — an average of less than $80 a barrel. A few months of $125-a-barrel oil would slash economic growth by a full percentage point, Zandi says. And a few months at $150 a barrel could push the economy back into recession.\n</p><p>\nSurging oil prices don\'t hurt everybody in the United States. Oil companies, for example, stand to gain. In 2008, Exxon Mobil Corp. earned $45 billion — a record for a U.S. company — after oil prices hit a record $150 a barrel.\n</p><p>\nOil services companies such as Halliburton Co., Schlumberger Ltd. and Baker Hughes Inc. also benefit as the oil industry rushes to find and produce more oil. And the products of biodiesel and other alternative energy companies become more competitive the higher oil prices go.\n</p><p>\nIn a speech last week, Sandra Pianalto, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, offered hope that higher oil prices won\'t persist long enough to do much damage.\n</p><p>\n\"Large increases in food or energy prices tend to be temporary,\" Pianalto said. \"History shows that they are often followed by sharp declines.\"\n</p><p>\nBut Mark Pawlak, a market strategist at Keefe, Bruyette &amp; Woods, says he worries about a repeat of what happened to the economy last year: It built momentum at the start of 2010, only to stall in the face of a European debt crisis and a run-up in oil prices from February to April.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Rising oil prices beginning to hurt US economy\" href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_bi_ge/apfn_us_oil_prices_economy_1\" target=\"_blank\">http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110406/ap_on_bi_ge/apfn_us_oil_prices_economy_1</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-06 17:44:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-06 17:44:00','2011-04-09 06:11:44','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(829,'Long US shutdown would hit economy: analysts','long-us-shutdown-would-hit-economy-analysts','','A US government shutdown of a few days would not hurt the economy, but a lockup of three weeks or more would hit growth, especially in the nation\'s capital, economists said Thursday.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US government shutdown of a few days would not hurt the economy, but a lockup of three weeks or more would hit growth, especially in the nation\'s capital, economists said Thursday.</p>\n                <p>\nWith Congress still arm wrestling over budget cuts as a midnight Friday deadline loomed, the country faced the imminent prospect of some 800,000 \"non-essential\" government workers being sent home without pay.</p>\n                <p>\nThe shutdown would spell a loss for government workers of around $2 billion each week, cash that filters through the economy via mortgage payments, grocery shopping and trips to the cinema.</p>\n                <p>\nCuts in government services could cripple small entrepreneurs waiting for government aid, while Wall Street would be left without an all-important rudder supplied by regular economic data releases.</p>\n                <p>\nNational parks from the Grand Canyon to Yellowstone would close, hitting the restaurants, hotels and shops that depend on their visitors.</p>\n                <p>\nBut Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody\'s Analytics, said a short lockout would not have a lasting effect.</p>\n                <p>\n\"If this lasts a few days, a week or less, I don\'t think it will have much economic impact,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>\nThe previous shutdown in 1995 \"didn\'t appear to have affected the economy at all,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>\nNomura Securities economists however calculated the three-week 1995 shutdown reduced quarterly US economic growth by 0.09-0.17 percentage points per week.</p>\n                <p>\nA three-week lockout of workers, according to Faucher, would begin taking a toll.</p>\n                <p>\nMore and more businesses would be left waiting for permits and rulings and contractors would struggle to keep staff as they go for longer without payment.</p>\n                <p>\nAnd consumer confidence would likely shrink, placing a drag on the still-feeble economic recovery, Faucher said.</p>\n                <p>\nBut the biggest hit could be in the very place where the budgets are decided: Washington.</p>\n                <p>\nSome 13.7 percent of the area\'s workers are directly employed by the federal government, compared with two percent nationally, according to Moody\'s Analytics.</p>\n                <p>\n\nOfficials in Fairfax County, Virginia, just outside of Washington, were already anticipating some impact on their 1.1 million population.</p>\n                <p>\nThirteen percent of Fairfax residents are employed directly by the federal government; 22,000 federal workers go to offices in the county.</p>\n                <p>\nThe county\'s thousands of small and large contractors make it the largest recipient of federal procurement funds in the country.</p>\n                <p>\n\"In general, we largely escaped the great recession, largely because of our dependence on government contracting,\" county supervisor Pat Herrity said.\n</p><p>\n\n\"That could turn around and bite us.\"\n</p><p>\n\nA short shutdown would not have much overall impact, except on the smallest companies, like restaurants who serve the lunchtime crowds from government-heavy offices, he said.\n</p><p>\n\n\"In business, uncertainty is not your friend. If you are a small vendor, do you order food for the next week?\"\n</p><p>\n\nRoy Meyers, a budget expert at the University of Maryland-Baltimore County, points to another hidden cost.\n</p><p>\n\nHe said that government contractors may have begun figuring a shutdown into their own work as early as January, when the newly Republican-dominated House of Representatives started work on the budget.\n</p><p>\n\nSome would build a risk premium into their bids; others might place a hold on hiring new people.\n</p><p>\n\n\"The anticipatory impacts of the shutdown are just as important.\"\n</p><p>\n\nIt can be small per contractor, \"but it adds up,\" he said.\n</p><p>\n\nUS markets fell slightly Thursday, as investors were cautious about the impact of a shutdown, said analysts. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.14 percent lower, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 0.15 percent.\n</p><p>\n\n\"Budget-related stagnation on Capitol Hill also weighed on the Street, keeping the bulls\' late-session rebound attempts to a minimum,\" said Andrea Kramer at Schaeffer\'s Investment Research.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Long US shutdown would hit economy: analysts\" href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticsbudgeteconomyimpact_20110407222531\" target=\"_blank\">http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/ts_alt_afp/uspoliticsbudgeteconomyimpact_20110407222531</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-07 18:25:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 18:25:00','2011-04-09 06:11:45','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(830,'N. Korea MPs endorse plan to revive economy','n-korea-mps-endorse-plan-to-revive-economy','','North Korea\'s parliament vowed on Thursday to modernise the economy and boost living standards, but failed to promote the son and heir apparent to leader Kim Jong-Il to a top post.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>SEOUL (AFP) – North Korea\'s parliament vowed on Thursday to modernise the economy and boost living standards, but failed to promote the son and heir apparent to leader Kim Jong-Il to a top post.</p>\n                <p>\nThere had been widespread predictions legislators would endorse the appointment of Kim\'s youngest son Jong-Un to the all-powerful National Defence Commission (NDC) to bolster his credentials as leader-in-waiting.</p>\n                <p>\nThe official KCNA news agency announced one demotion from the NDC, which is chaired by the senior Kim, and the appointment of a replacement.</p>\n                <p>\nBut state media made no reference at all to Jong-Un in its reports of the meeting of the Supreme People\'s Assembly.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Swiss-educated Jong-Un -- believed in his late 20s -- was little known internationally until last September, when his father made him a four-star general and appointed him to powerful posts in the ruling communist party.</p>\n                <p>\nThose appointments effectively confirmed Jong-Un\'s status as eventual successor to his ailing father.</p>\n                <p>\nSince then he has been at the leader\'s side on a variety of \"field guidance\" tours around the impoverished but nuclear-armed nation.</p>\n                <p>\n\nThe elder Kim, now 69, suffered a stroke in August 2008 and has since apparently been speeding up plans for a second dynastic succession.</p>\n                <p>\nBut he appeared to judge it premature to appoint his son to the top ruling body, although the North has sometimes announced appointments a day or two after political meetings end.</p>\n                <p>\n\"If Kim Jong-Un was not promoted today, this means that North Korea appears to be waiting for the proper time,\" said Kim Yong-Hyun, a North Korea expert at Seoul\'s Dongguk University.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Due to unfavourable economic, political and diplomatic conditions, it appears to be delaying the process,\" professor Kim told AFP.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Kim Jong-Un may have felt an enormous burden if he were now endowed with full power, given a difficult situation economically and diplomatically. The timing is not so good.\"</p>\n                <p>\nThe regime is trying to ease persistent food shortages and revive the crumbling state-directed economy. United Nations food agencies say more than six million people -- a quarter of the population -- urgently need food aid.</p>\n                <p>\nBut cross-border and international tensions have hampered assistance.</p>\n                <p>\nRelations with South Korea have been icy since Seoul accused its neighbour of sinking a warship in March 2010 with the loss of 46 lives.</p>\n                <p>\n\nThe North denies involvement in the sinking but last November shelled a border island, killing four people and briefly raising fears of war.</p>\n                <p>\nSix-party talks on scrapping the North\'s nuclear programme have been stalled for more than two years.</p>\n                <p>\nKCNA said Jon Pyong-Ho was recalled from the NDC due to his transfer to another post and Pak To-Chun was elected to fill the vacancy.\n</p><p>\n\nIn other appointments, Ri Myong-Su, a close confidant of the leader, was appointed minister of people\'s security. \"This indicates North Korea may strengthen control over its people,\" professor Kim said.\n</p><p>\n\nRi Thae-Nam was sacked as a vice-premier for what were termed health reasons, although Kim said this could be related to economic woes.\n</p><p>\n\nThe legislators -- who meet once or twice a year to rubber-stamp the decisions of Kim\'s regime -- focused on its goal of becoming \"a great, powerful and prosperous nation\" by 2012.\n</p><p>\n\nThe year marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of late founding president Kim Il-Sung.\n</p><p>\n\nPremier Choe Yong-Rim stressed the need to \"remarkably increase\" production of consumer goods and meet grain harvest targets \"to bring about decisive turn in improving the standard of people\'s living\", KCNA said.\n</p><p>\n\n\nVice-premier and finance minister Pak Su-Gil promised \"huge funds\" this year to develop light industry, agriculture and other sectors, with 15.8 percent of the budget spent on defence -- a similar sum to 2010.\n</p><p>\n\nLegislators unanimously approved the budget and work plan, and pledged to increase the nation\'s political and military power \"in every way\" and boost living standards.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"N. Korea MPs endorse plan to revive economy\" href=\"http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/wl_asia_afp/nkoreapoliticssuccession_20110407153544\" target=\"_blank\">http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/wl_asia_afp/nkoreapoliticssuccession_20110407153544</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-07 11:35:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 11:35:00','2011-04-09 06:11:46','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(831,'Surging oil prices squeezing a still-recovering economy','surging-oil-prices-squeezing-a-still-recovering-economy','','<div><div class=\"articlePluckHidden\"><p>Unlike other kinds of consumer spending, gasoline purchases provide less benefit for the US economy. About half the revenue flows to oil-exporting countries like Saudi Arabia and Canada, though US oil companies and gasoline retailers also benefit.</p></div></div>','<div><div class=\"articlePluckHidden\" read=\"5.47\"><p>Unlike other kinds of consumer spending, gasoline purchases provide less benefit for the US economy. About half the revenue flows to oil-exporting countries like Saudi Arabia and Canada, though US oil companies and gasoline retailers also benefit.</p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Surging oil prices squeezing a still-recovering economy\" href=\"http://www.boston.com/business/markets/articles/2011/04/07/surging_oil_prices_squeezing_a_still_recovering_economy\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.boston.com/business/markets/articles/2011/04/07/surging_oil_prices_squeezing_a_still_recovering_economy</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-07 07:46:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 07:46:00','2011-04-09 06:11:47','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(832,'Economy to grow by 4pc in 2011-12','economy-to-grow-by-4pc-in-2011-12','','ISLAMABAD: Pakistan\'s economy is expected to grow 4 percent in the coming financial year starting July 1, picking up steam again after devastating floods pushed back growth to around 3 percent this year, officials said on Thursday.','<div><p>DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN\"&#13;\n  \"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd\"&gt;&#13;\n&#13;\n</p>&#13;\n	You are currently browsing this site with Internet Explorer 6 (IE6)&#13;\n&#13;\n&#13;\n      </div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Economy to grow by 4pc in 2011-12\" href=\"http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/10282-economy-to-grow-by-4pc-in-2011-12.html\" target=\"_blank\">http://www.brecorder.com/top-news/1-front-top-news/10282-economy-to-grow-by-4pc-in-2011-12.html</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-07 05:45:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 05:45:00','2011-04-09 06:11:50','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(833,'German economy \'powering ahead\'','german-economy-powering-ahead','','Steel workers use a blow torch on a steel tube on the floor of the HKM steel plant in Duisburg, western Germany. Germany will steam ahead in 2011, leaving most of its rivals trailing in its wake, the country\'s ...','<div><div id=\"y-article-bd\">&#13;\n                        \n\n\n\n&#13;\n                        &#13;\n                        &#13;\n											<div>&#13;\n													&#13;\n													                               \n<div id=\"y-article-related\" class=\"mod-group\">\n    <div class=\"mod related-media\"><span class=\"img\"><img src=\"http://globalfinance.zenfs.com/images/UK_AFTP_AFP_LIVE/photo_1302186507687-1-0_small.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"240\" height=\"156\" /></span><p></p></div>\n    <span id=\"yfs_module_params_0\" class=\"yfs_module_params\">{\"s\" : \"IIK.BE,MCO,UCG.MDD,^REURTRUSD\",\"k\" : \"a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00\",\"o\" : \"\",\"j\" : \"\"}</span>\n\n    \n    \n</div>\n&#13;\n													                               \n\n&#13;\n											</div>&#13;\n                        <div class=\"mod provider-attribution\">\n    <span class=\"byline\">Richard Carter</span>, 	<span class=\"datetime\">15:28, Thursday 7 April 2011</span>\n	</div>&#13;\n                        <p></p><p>Germany will steam ahead in 2011, leaving most of its rivals trailing in its wake, the country\'s leading economic institutes predicted on Thursday, publishing bullish forecasts for Europe  (Chicago Options: <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBkhdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTEzczVkMzc2BHBvcwMxBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDcmV1cnRydXNk?s=^REURTRUSD\">^REURTRUSD</a> - <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/h;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBkxdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTB1Y2RwaWtlBHBvcwMyBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDbmV3cw--?s=^REURTRUSD\">news</a>) \'s top economy.</p><p>The economy is expected to grow by 2.8 percent this year, with the pace dropping slightly next year to 2.0 percent according to the five top institutes in their closely watched twice-yearly report.</p><p>This was a large upwards revision to their October forecasts for growth of 2.0 percent this year.</p><p>\"In the spring of 2011, the world economy is enjoying an upswing, mainly due to positive results from emerging economies. Germany too is experiencing a strong upturn,\" the five organisations said in their report.</p><p>\"The recovery is being driven both by external demand and by domestic consumption ... much indicates that the expansion will remain strong in the coming months,\" the economists added.</p><p>Unemployment in Germany is already at its lowest level since the country reunified in 1990 but the buoyant economy is poised to drive down jobless lines further, with the rate seen at 6.9 this year and 6.5 percent in 2012.</p><p>\"Average unemployment will be under the three-million mark in 2011. This is all good news,\" said Economy Minister Rainer Bruederle.</p><p>\"The clear message of the spring forecasts is that the dynamic economic upswing is continuing. The hole that the crisis ripped in our economy will be repaired this year already, according to the institutes\' projections.\"</p><p>Berlin is set to publish its own growth forecasts next week and is likely to raise its current estimate of 2.3 percent for this year.</p><p>The strong economy will also bring down Germany\'s public deficit at a time when its European rivals are battling to meet EU deficit rules.</p><p>Portugal\'s public finances are in a such a bad state that it decided Wednesday to become the third member of the eurozone after Greece and Ireland   (Berlin: <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBlBdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTB2bWtiZnA3BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDaWlrYmU-?s=IIK.BE\">IIK.BE</a> - <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/h;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBlRdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTB1am10YmlwBHBvcwM0BHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDbmV3cw--?s=IIK.BE\">news</a>) to seek a multi-billion-euro bailout.</p><p>Germany\'s deficit should be 1.7 percent this year and shrink further to 0.9 percent in 2012.</p><p>Nevertheless, the institutes warned of clouds on the generally sunny horizon coming from the Middle East and Japan  (NYSE: <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBlhdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTB0cHJldnBjBHBvcwM1BHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDbWNv?s=MCO\">MCO</a> - <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/h;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBlxdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTB1Zm9iMGw3BHBvcwM2BHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDbmV3cw--?s=MCO\">news</a>) , although the economic impact of the nuclear disaster in Fukushima should be \"short-lived.\"</p><p>Andreas Rees, an analyst from Unicredit  (MDD: <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBmBdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTEwb2ZyNHBsBHBvcwM3BHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDdWNnbWRk?s=UCG.MDD\">UCG.MDD</a> - <a href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/q/h;_ylt=A03uoWdn355N5zYBmRdHsLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTB1dmNlbHVjBHBvcwM4BHNlYwNuZXdzYXJzdGFydARzbGsDbmV3cw--?s=UCG.MDD\">news</a>) , disagreed, warning that German companies could be hit hard by shortages from Japanese suppliers afflicted by the recent earthquake and tsunami.</p><p>\"Some input goods from Japan might be highly complementary and cannot therefore be replaced easily,\" Rees cautioned.</p><p>In a further piece of positive news for Germany, official data published earlier Thursday showed that industrial production rose by 1.6 percent in February, more than three times faster than analysts expected.</p>\n\n\n \n&#13;\n                        		\n&#13;\n                        &#13;\n                        &#13;\n                        &#13;\n                    </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"German economy \'powering ahead\'\" href=\"http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/German-economy-powering-ahead-afp-3164159083.html?x=0\" target=\"_blank\">http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/German-economy-powering-ahead-afp-3164159083.html?x=0</a></p>',-2,5,0,38,'2011-04-07 10:28:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 10:28:00','2011-04-09 06:11:53','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(834,'Underwood makes acting debut in \'Soul Surfer\'   (AP)','underwood-makes-acting-debut-in-soul-surfer-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_people_carrie_underwood\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.d7833d64203946108a6fd03cd83bfce9-d7833d64203946108a6fd03cd83bfce9-0.jpg?x=90&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=VY.KyKkm80JKXUwF.8B0nw--\" height=\"130\" width=\"90\" alt=\"Underwood makes acting debut in \'Soul Surfer\'   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Carrie Underwood says she\'s happy with her first acting performance on the big screen.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Carrie Underwood says she\'s happy with her first acting performance on the big screen.</p>\n                <p>The country music star plays a small but pivotal role in the film \"Soul Surfer,\" the inspirational tale of shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton.</p>\n                <p>\"I\'m happy with myself for the role and for the movie,\" Underwood said Monday night in Las Vegas where she had just wrapped up taping \"ACM Presents Girls\' Night Out: Superstar Women of Country.\" \"Am I going to win an Oscar? No. It was so much fun and the important thing is getting the story out there.\"</p>\n                <p>Underwood plays youth pastor Sarah Hill, a key figure in Hamilton\'s life and recovery after the attack. Hamilton, then 13, lost her left arm when a 14-foot tiger shark ripped it off while she was surfing with friends in Hawaii.</p>\n                <p>\"Soul Surfer\" is the tale of her recovery and triumphant return to the sport she loves.</p>\n                <p>Underwood says she was transfixed by the story and the message, which made it rise above other scripts and projects she\'s been pitched — and so far turned down.</p>\n                <p>The former \"American Idol\" champion was noncommittal when asked if the movie is the beginning of an acting career, though.</p>\n                <p>\"You never know. I\'m not saying anything either way,\" Underwood said. \"I\'m very busy with music and that\'s what I love, that\'s what I know. But you know this was special. It didn\'t fit into my schedule at all, but we made time for it. It was so special. So if something else really special came along, I\'m not going to say never.\"</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>Online:</p>\n                <p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_ot/storytext/us_people_carrie_underwood/41004568/SIG=111o48vr5/*http://www.carrieunderwood.com/\">http://www.carrieunderwood.com</a></p>\n                <p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_ot/storytext/us_people_carrie_underwood/41004568/SIG=111tuopn8/*http://www.bethanyhamilton.com/\">http://www.bethanyhamilton.com</a></p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Underwood makes acting debut in \'Soul Surfer\'   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_people_carrie_underwood\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_people_carrie_underwood</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-08 05:29:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:29:00','2011-04-09 06:11:55','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(835,'\'American Idol\' finalist eliminated, leaving 8   (AP)','american-idol-finalist-eliminated-leaving-8-ap','','AP - Songbird Pia Toscano was eliminated from \"American Idol\" on Thursday, leaving the judges who had lavished praise on her in despair over the audience\'s decision.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES – Songbird Pia Toscano was eliminated from \"American Idol\" on Thursday, leaving the judges who had lavished praise on her in despair over the audience\'s decision.</p>\n                <p>Randy Jackson covered his head and mouthed a repeated \"No\" after host Ryan Seacrest announced that Toscano received the lowest number of viewer votes after her performance Wednesday of \"River Deep — Mountain High.\"</p>\n                <p>Toscano, 22, a dark-haired beauty from the Queens borough of New York City managed to remain composed on stage as the judges decried the results.</p>\n                <p>\"I have no idea what happened her. I\'m shocked. I\'m angry,\" said judge Jennifer Lopez.</p>\n                <p>Steven Tyler said viewers were wrong, adding, \"She\'s beautiful. When she sings, she\'s a bird.\"</p>\n                <p>Jackson called her one of the best singers in the show\'s 10th-season field and warned that \"no one is safe\" if votes aren\'t cast for them.</p>\n                <p>\"I\'m never upset on this show, and I\'m never really mad, but this, like, this makes me mad,\" Jackson said. \"What is going on?\"</p>\n                <p>After choosing \"I\'ll Stand by You\" for her swan song, Toscano was embraced by Jacob Lusk, 23, of Compton, Calif., who had landed in the bottom three vote-getters with her and Stefano Langone, 21, of Kent, Wash.</p>\n                <p>Lusk had held to his gospel roots, replacing his planned version of Marvin Gaye\'s sexually charged \"Let\'s Get It On\" with Michael Jackson\'s inspirational \"Man in the Mirror.\" Langone sang Percy Sledge\'s \"When a Man Loves a Woman.\"</p>\n                <p>Also left to sing another day were Paul McDonald, 26, of Nashville, Tenn.; Casey Abrams, 20, of Idyllwild, Calif.; Haley Reinhart, 20, of Wheeling, Ill.; Lauren Alaina, 16, of Rossville, Ga.; Scotty McCreery, 17, of Garner, N.C., and James Durbin, 22, of Santa Cruz, Calif.</p>\n                <p>The show Thursday also included a performance of \"Real Wild Child\" by a shirtless Iggy Pop, with either technical or language glitches causing a loss of sound on occasion.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"\'American Idol\' finalist eliminated, leaving 8   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_tv_american_idol_results\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_tv_american_idol_results</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 22:39:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 22:39:00','2011-04-09 06:11:56','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(836,'Cowell widens audition process for \'The X Factor\'   (AP)','cowell-widens-audition-process-for-the-x-factor-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_mu/us_tv_the_x_factor\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.16d3503cfb81463693a1a81139ce63b1-16d3503cfb81463693a1a81139ce63b1-0.jpg?x=97&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=9kzlFcPAhZRQP7uhaXc5Xg--\" height=\"130\" width=\"97\" alt=\"Cowell widens audition process for \'The X Factor\'   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Simon Cowell wants to make sure he finds the most talented singer for the U.S. debut of \"The X Factor.\" That\'s why he\'s set up audition studios in Nashville, Tenn.; Anchorage, Alaska; Kansas City, Kan.; and Denver throughout April.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK – Simon Cowell wants to make sure he finds the most talented singer for the U.S. debut of \"The X Factor.\" That\'s why he\'s set up audition studios in Nashville, Tenn.; Anchorage, Alaska; Kansas City, Kan.; and Denver throughout April.</p>\n                <p>\"It probably isn\'t as fun as attending an open audition, but it is your chance to be seen and heard and I\'m going to try to put these in as many cities as possible,\" the former \"American Idol\" judge said Thursday in a teleconference with reporters.</p>\n                <p>Cowell will be joined on the judges\' panel by Antonio \"L.A.\" Reid, former chairman of Island Def Jam Music, when the show premieres in September.</p>\n                <p>\"The X Factor\" is based on Cowell\'s British-born hit series and debuting on Fox this fall. At stake is a $5 million recording contract.</p>\n                <p>Those invited to the booths to sing must be at least 12 years old and can be solo artists or vocal groups. Each audition will be sent to the show\'s producers, and those selected will take part in callbacks.</p>\n                <p>The decision has not been made about who the third judge will be, but Cowell said that Black Eyed Peas singer Fergie has come up in discussions.</p>\n                <p>\"Her name was put forward, but like with a lot of other people we\'ve spoken to, we have to check out everyone\'s availability,\" he said. \"There\'s a lot of time you have to put into this show. This is not a two-day-a-week process. When you\'re mentoring the contestants, you\'re working 5, 6 days a week.\"</p>\n                <p>Cowell hopes his show will produce audition moments that go viral.</p>\n                <p>\"You want a moment where something magical happens in the audition room, and then outside of people watching the show, they\'re interested in the clip, and I\'m always very, very aware of that,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>\"You look at what happened to Rebecca (Black),\" he continued, referring to the 13-year-old Internet sensation of the song \"Friday.\" \"She\'s gonna be laughing all the way to the bank. This would never have happened 10 years ago. Now she\'s known all over the world.\"</p>\n                <p>So far, Cowell said he and producers are pleased with the audition process for the show. Thousands turned out in Miami on Thursday, and Gloria Estefan made an appearance to get the crowd even more excited.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>Online:</p>\n                <p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_mu/storytext/us_tv_the_x_factor/40999673/SIG=10v8cqrha/*http://www.fox.com/theXfactor\">http://www.fox.com/theXfactor</a></p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Cowell widens audition process for \'The X Factor\'   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_mu/us_tv_the_x_factor\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_mu/us_tv_the_x_factor</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 18:25:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 18:25:00','2011-04-09 06:11:57','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(837,'Underwood makes acting debut in \'Soul Surfer\'   (omg!)','underwood-makes-acting-debut-in-soul-surfer-omg','','omg! - AP - Carrie Underwood says she\'s happy with her first acting performance on the big screen.','<div><div class=\"body\">\n					<div class=\"photo&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;\"><img src=\"http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/omg/assets/images/omg-spacer-1.0.0.gif\" alt=\"Story photo: Underwood makes acting debut in \'Soul Surfer\'\" class=\"hidden-bg\" /><cite><em>In this film publicity image released by TriStar Pictures, Carrie Underwood is shown in a scene from \'Soul Surfer.\' (AP Photo/TriStar Pictures, Mario Perez)</em>Associated Press\n								</cite>\n						</div><p>\nNASHVILLE, Tenn. - <a href=\"http://omg.yahoo.com/celebs/carrie-underwood/65;_ylt=A0wNdGZu355NkzgAySl7pxx.;_ylv=3\">Carrie Underwood</a> says she\'s happy with her first acting performance on the big screen.</p>\n<p>The country music star plays a small but pivotal role in the film \"Soul Surfer,\" the inspirational tale of shark attack survivor Bethany Hamilton.</p>\n<p>\"I\'m happy with myself for the role and for the movie,\" Underwood said Monday night in Las Vegas where she had just wrapped up taping \"ACM Presents Girls\' Night Out: Superstar Women of Country.\" \"Am I going to win an Oscar? No. It was so much fun and the important thing is getting the story out there.\"</p>\n<p>Underwood plays youth pastor Sarah Hill, a key figure in Hamilton\'s life and recovery after the attack. Hamilton, then 13, lost her left arm when a 14-foot tiger shark ripped it off while she was surfing with friends in Hawaii.</p>\n<p>\"Soul Surfer\" is the tale of her recovery and triumphant return to the sport she loves.</p>\n<p>Underwood says she was transfixed by the story and the message, which made it rise above other scripts and projects she\'s been pitched — and so far turned down.</p>\n<p>The former \"American Idol\" champion was noncommittal when asked if the movie is the beginning of an acting career, though.</p>\n<p>\"You never know. I\'m not saying anything either way,\" Underwood said. \"I\'m very busy with music and that\'s what I love, that\'s what I know. But you know this was special. It didn\'t fit into my schedule at all, but we made time for it. It was so special. So if something else really special came along, I\'m not going to say never.\"</p>\n<p>___</p>\n<p>Online:</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_ce/storytext/us_people_carrie_underwood/41004565/SIG=111o48vr5;_ylt=A0wNdGZu355NkzgAyil7pxx./*http://www.carrieunderwood.com/\">http://www.carrieunderwood.com</a></p>\n<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_ce/storytext/us_people_carrie_underwood/41004565/SIG=111tuopn8;_ylt=A0wNdGZu355NkzgAyyl7pxx./*http://www.bethanyhamilton.com/\">http://www.bethanyhamilton.com</a></p>\n<p></p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Underwood makes acting debut in \'Soul Surfer\'   (omg!)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/http___omg_yahoo_com_news60170/41004627/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/underwood-makes-acting-debut-in-soul-surfer/60170\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/http___omg_yahoo_com_news60170/41004627/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/underwood-makes-acting-debut-in-soul-surfer/60170</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-08 05:29:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:29:00','2011-04-09 06:11:57','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(838,'Daytime star pens book as her character   (omg!)','daytime-star-pens-book-as-her-character-omg','','omg! - Carolyn Hennesy from \'General Hospital\' writes book as her character Diane Miller about fantastical world of \'The Secret Life of Damian Spinelli.\' (April 7)','<div><div id=\"ft\">\n						\n				\n				\n\n				\n			\n			\n			\n			\n						\n			\n\n			\n		\n\n\n				\n				&lt;![CDATA[.ptnr-logo{float:right;padding-right:1em;}]]&gt;<a href=\"http://global.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15r32c660/M=289534.12879106.13137408.10347579/D=o_m_g/S=2115800003:FOOT/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1302264718/L=.M8HhmKIRkH2059lUcpj6hbmRaeTlk2e324ACOAp/B=sV2QYUwNPOY-/J=1302257518661856/K=zoWdQTTJ0HsW7GysK0EiSw/A=5442539/R=0/SIG=10np9vmbm/*http://www.yahoo.com/\"><img class=\"ptnr-logo\" src=\"http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/omg/assets/images/omg-ft-logo-yahoo.gif\" alt=\"image\" /></a>&#13;<p id=\"omg-footer-copyright\">&#13;    Copyright © 2011 Yahoo! 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(April 7)','<div><div>\n						\n				\n				\n\n				\n			\n			\n			\n			\n						\n			\n\n			\n		\n\n\n				\n				&lt;![CDATA[.ptnr-logo{float:right;padding-right:1em;}]]&gt;<a href=\"http://global.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15rsd5vh1/M=289534.12879106.13137408.10347579/D=o_m_g/S=2115800003:FOOT/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1302264719/L=cYZY0WKIRkFISE2CHQ8a4BGvRaeTlk2e328AAImU/B=8F_fAkwNPOw-/J=1302257519128547/K=i40Yqgylj6TBHfcCwqs75w/A=5442539/R=0/SIG=10np9vmbm/*http://www.yahoo.com/\"><img class=\"ptnr-logo\" src=\"http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/omg/assets/images/omg-ft-logo-yahoo.gif\" alt=\"image\" /></a>&#13;<p>&#13;    Copyright © 2011 Yahoo! Inc. 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Best Discovery: When Mrs. McCluskey finds an unconscious Andrew on her couch on Desperate Housewives, instead of acting concerned, she acts like, well, Mrs. McCluskey. She calls Bree and gives her a hint of the problem &mdash; \"It reeks of Mai Tais, and you gave birth to it.\"\"IfI wanted a drunk homo on my couch,\" she continues, \"I would have married my college boyfriend.\" Apparently, warmth and sensitivity are so 2009 on Wisteria Lane.</p><p> 13. ...</p>','<div><div class=\"body\">\n					<div class=\"photo&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;\"><img src=\"http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/omg/assets/images/omg-spacer-1.0.0.gif\" alt=\"Story photo: Top Moments: Idol\'s Shocking Results and Dancing\'s Falling Star\" class=\"hidden-bg\" /><cite><em>Pia Toscano | Photo Credits: Michael Becker / FOX</em>TV Guide\n								</cite>\n						</div><p></p><p>Our top moments of the week:</p>\n<p><b>14. Best Discovery:</b> When Mrs. McCluskey finds an unconscious Andrew on her couch on <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB2gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13vjr0lc3/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/desperate-housewives/100118%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Desperate Housewives</a></em>, instead of acting concerned, she acts like, well, Mrs. McCluskey. She calls Bree and gives her a hint of the problem — \"It reeks of Mai Tais, and you gave birth to it.\"\"IfI wanted a drunk homo on my couch,\" she continues, \"I would have married my college boyfriend.\" Apparently, warmth and sensitivity are <em>so</em> 2009 on Wisteria Lane.</p><p> <b>13. Butt Out Award</b>: Rejected from her and her mother\'s dream school — Berkeley — Amber completely unravels after a classmate asks her about her college plans at the prom on <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB2wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13lra9ar1/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/parenthood/297832%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Parenthood</a></em>. She tearfully tells her mother that she\'s done letting her mom fix her life because \"it\'s not working\" and that she\'s going to start doing what feels right for her. Judging by the cigarette hanging from her lips later, that includes smoking. It\'s a very drawn-out and complicated way of telling mom to \"butt out,\" but when you have one of TV\'s best criers on deck, you just gotta go for it.</p>\n<p><b>12. Cutest Proposal:</b> Did you hear the one about Howard proposing to Bernadette? On <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB3AF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13qhku8r6/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/big-bang-theory/288041%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">The Big Bang Theory</a></em>, Howard provides a moment of truth — not to mention complete adorable-ness — during his friends\' rumor-spreading when he proposes to Bernadette — or at least he tries to. \"Let me just stop you right there,\" she says, cutting him off. \"I will.\" \"You will what?\" he asks. \"I will marry you!\" she replies. Aww. Doesn\'t it feel like yesterday that he was hitting on anything with a pulse? Mazel tov!</p>\n<p><b>11. Best Evil Twin:</b> After observing that 75 percent of the 200,000 newly added private-sector jobs went to multi-hyphenate <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB3QF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13rvi5art/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/james-franco/155402%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">James Franco</a> on <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB3gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13po24ki8/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/colbert-report/195593%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">The Colbert Report</a></em>, <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB3wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13uhqmlq2/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/stephen-colbert/195978%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Stephen Colbert</a> takes issue with the actor\'s perceived title of Renaissance man and plans to expose his \"<a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB4AF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=142o5rv4q/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/380444/april-05-2011/renaissance-nemesis---frank-jameso\" target=\"_blank\">Rena-nemesis</a>\" as a fraud. And who better to help than Franco\'s evil twin, Frank Jameso? \"You really wanna make him mad?\" Frank asks. \"Ask him about the Oscars.\" One question: When will Frank Jameso pop up on <em>General Hospital</em>?</p>\n<p><b>10. Saddest Knockout:</b> Hours after winning his gruesomely bloody comeback fight on <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB4QF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13hhri9fr/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/lights/308664%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Lights Out</a></em>, Patrick \"Lights\" Leary is told by his wife, Theresa, that \"everyone\'s waiting.\" \"Everyone?\" a confused Lights asks. \"For your press conference,\" she says. He replies: \"Who won?\" — a punch-to-the-gut reveal that his pugilistic dementia has set in, and a reminder that he really did leave it all in the ring. Too bad <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB4gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=14397jaln/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/news/fx-cancels-lights-out-1031065.aspx%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">we won\'t see what happens next</a>.</p><p> <b>9. Panic Attack of the Week:</b> On <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB4wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13peodroj/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/americas-model/100032%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">America\'s Next Top Model</a></em> , the panel confronts Brittani on her rivalry with the perpetually difficult and brow-furrowed Alexandria. The result finds Brittani invalidating her point by sobbing, flailing and, in a <em>Top Model</em> first, leaving judging for the girls\' dingy holding room. There, she collapses into a child\'s pose, drinks from a giant jar and sobs unlike any other contestant in <em>ANTM</em>\'s history. A gasping Britani eventually rejoins the panel to face more wagging fingers and sheds more tears, <em>of course</em>.</p><p> <b>8. Most Heated Confrontation: </b>It\'s all bromance and Black Hammer curses on the <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB5AF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13ftr2t4e/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/chef/278417%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Top Chef: All-Stars</a></em> reunion until <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB5QF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13phsf7fs/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/andy-cohen/298036%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Andy Cohen</a> presses <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB5gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13s3tl86g/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/elia-aboumrad/300644%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Elia</a> to explain her post-elimination comments to the <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB5wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=14192nkbg/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//leisureblogs.chicagotribune.com/thestew/2010/12/top-chef-exit-interview-elia-blasts-tom-colicchio.html\" target=\"_blank\">Chicago Tribune</a></em>, in which she accused <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB6AF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13srpvfab/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/tom-colicchio/274765%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Tom Colicchio</a> of being a sell-out for shilling Diet Coke and denounced his use of corn-fed beef in his restaurants. Quietly simmering with rage, Colicchio fires back that he only endorses products he uses and also serves grass-fed beef (\"I buy more from small farmers than you will in your lifetime,\" he spits. Oh, snap!) before telling the Season 2 alum that this is a good lesson in media training. Andy gives her a chance to retract her comments. \"No, I stand by it,\" she says. Here\'s another lesson for you, Elia: Don\'t bite the hand that feeds you.</p><p> <b>7. Early Emmy Front-Runner Award: </b>Margo Martindale is a revelation as <em>Justified</em>\'s Mags Bennett, who collects a huge payday after she proves to the coal company that they are at her mercy. (You can\'t remove the ore without the roads that run across Bennett land!) But Mags\' glee is cut short when Marshal Raylan Givens shoots and kills her son, Coover, to keep him from hurting Mags\' virtually adopted daughter Loretta. Her sadness eventually turns to stone-cold anger, leaving no doubt that the Givens-Bennett feud is back with a foreshadowing of vengeance.</p>\n<p><b>6. Most Eye-Popping Moment: </b>After a long day chasing a clue-leaving serial murderer known as the Port-to-Port Killer, <em>NCIS</em>\' Tony and Ziva drown their sorrows (and their relationship woes) at the local watering hole. But before they can say goodnight, the bartender delivers a drink from a patron who has since mysteriously disappeared. Before Tony can take a sip, he notices that one of the ice cubes in his drink contains an eye ball — a souvenir from the Port-to-Port Killer\'s next victim.</p>\n<p><b>5. Best Stand-In:</b> <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB6QF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13k1n61vm/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/good-wife/297522%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">The Good Wife</a></em> manages to turn standard drama on its head once again, this time with —surprisingly — a little help from Toys R\' Us. With Titus Welliver MIA, the series makes the best (and funniest) of the situation by replacing him with a voice-activated phone in the shape of a lion. Just as Glenn Childs is at his most threatening — demanding to know where two missing pages are in a report and why Cary may or may not know about them — the lion moves around to the sound of his voice and transforms the scene from biting drama to absolute hilarity. Maybe Peter should use one of those to tell Alicia about Kalinda? No? Just a thought.<b></b></p><p> 4. Art Attack of the Week: In the first fully fledged, forehead vein-popping meltdown of this already tense season of <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB6gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13lcphsjd/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/apprentice/100444%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Celebrity Apprentice</a></em>, <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB6wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13oj01gaj/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/meat-loaf/165647%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Meat Loaf</a> explodes at <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB7AF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13pn9bka1/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/gary-busey/151232%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Gary Busey</a> over... art supplies. While seething and shaking over missing paints and brushes he thought Gary yanked, Meat Loaf unleashes the destined-to-be-immortal line, \"I bought those motherf---ing sponges!\" The whole thing turned out to be a misunderstanding on Meat Loaf\'s part, but it was worth the ride.</p><p> <b>3. Most Beautiful Tragedy: </b>We knew it was coming. The show <em>is</em> called <em>The Killing</em>. And yet, when the blank-faced Detective Sarah Linden (Mireille Enos) directs her to crew to raise a submerged car from the river, water pours from the chassis in a gorgeous waterfall of sadness. Inside the trunk, the waterlogged, fragile, lifeless form of young Rosie Larsen floats in the fetal position, glowing under the floodlights that reveal the gold butterfly necklace that ID\'s her.</p>\n<p><b>2. Falling Slowly Award:</b> <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB7QF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13o4ef715/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/dancing-stars/191470%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Dancing with the Stars</a></em> delivers a falling star when <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB7gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13sl6n7pv/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/kirstie-alley/160821%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Kirstie Alley</a> tumbles onto <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB7wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=142ac3i9l/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/maksim-chmerkovskiy/215053%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Maksim Chmerkovskiy</a> after he suffers a charley horse during their rumba. It\'s unfortunate, awkward and <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB8AF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=148jr719p/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/news/kirstie-alley-fall-dancing-1031487.aspx%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">totally not a big deal</a> (lest we forget about <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB8QF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=1201678rq/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=hivhBD7sTe0\" target=\"_blank\">this</a> or <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB8gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=1205ni6qo/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=CJBiCt4sFms\" target=\"_blank\">this</a> or <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB8wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=1201658rt/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv=i2h-1k3N8eg\" target=\"_blank\">this</a>), but props to them for finishing the lovely routine. After all, it perfectly encapsulates Kirstie\'s personal story (for storytelling week) of pushing forward when life knocks you down: She lost her mother and nearly lost her father in a car accident just as she nabbed her big break, a role in <em>Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan</em>.</p>\n<p><b>1. Worst Fake-Out:</b> After an overly confident <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB9AF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13pcsln38/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jacob-lusk/309930%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Jacob Lusk</a> said he would only be in the bottom three if \"everybody in America wasn\'t ready to look at themselves in the mirror,\" you would think he would be saying his goodbyes on <em><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB9QF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13o050sck/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/tvshows/american-idol/100036%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">American Idol</a></em>. But after a particularly brutal — and confusing — fake-out, it was <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB9gF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13qjoui41/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/pia-toscano/309936%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">Pia Toscano</a> who was sent home in a vote that dropped jaws and made <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdGlv355NdDUB9wF7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13tqa3t6h/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jennifer-lopez/156627%3Frss=keywords%26partnerid=yahoo%26profileid=omg\">J Lo</a> tear up. \"I\'m shocked. I\'m angry. I don\'t even know what to say,\" Lopez told Seacrest after the vote. Following an emotional performance of the song that started her rise to the top — The Pretenders\'\"I\'ll Stand By You\" — Pia ended her<em> Idol</em> run with her back to the camera, buried in Jacob\'s crying, her sobs picked up by the live mics.</p>\n<p>What were your top moments?</p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Top Moments: Idol\'s Shocking Results and Dancing\'s Falling Star   (omg!)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/http___omg_yahoo_com_news60169/41002929/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/top-moments-idols-shocking-results-and-dancings-falling-star/60169\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/http___omg_yahoo_com_news60169/41002929/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/top-moments-idols-shocking-results-and-dancings-falling-star/60169</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-08 00:00:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 00:00:00','2011-04-09 06:11:59','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(841,'Fergie Puts Her Solo Career On Hold To \'Spend Time With The Hubby\'   Conduct Closet \'Cleansing\'   (omg!)','fergie-puts-her-solo-career-on-hold-to-spend-time-with-the-hubby-conduct-closet-cleansing-omg','','omg! - <p><strong>LOS ANGELES, Calif.</strong> -- The wait for the follow up to Fergie\'s debut solo album, 2006\'s \"The Dutchess,\" has just gotten a little bit longer.</p> <p>The Black Eyed Peas singer -- who also boasts a successful women\'s footwear line and a new signature fragrance with Avon - says she\'s temporarily putting her solo music career on hold in order to spend time with her hunky husband, Josh Duhamel, and conquer closet cleaning... which spells free designer duds for her gal pals!</p>','<div><div class=\"body\">\n					<div class=\"photo&#10;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;&#9;\"><img src=\"http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/omg/assets/images/omg-spacer-1.0.0.gif\" alt=\"Story photo: Fergie Puts Her Solo Career On Hold To \'Spend Time With The Hubby\' &amp; Conduct Closet \'Cleansing\'\" class=\"hidden-bg\" /><cite><em>Will Fergie Release Another Solo Album?Access Hollywood</em>Access Hollywood\n								</cite>\n						</div><p><strong>LOS ANGELES, Calif.</strong> -- The wait for the follow up to <a href=\"http://omg.yahoo.com/celebs/fergie/13;_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AbAR7pxx.;_ylv=3\">Fergie</a>\'s debut solo album, 2006\'s \"The Dutchess,\" has just gotten a little bit longer.</p> <p>The Black Eyed Peas singer -- who also boasts a successful women\'s footwear line and a new signature fragrance with Avon - says she\'s temporarily putting her solo music career on hold in order to spend time with her hunky husband, <a href=\"http://omg.yahoo.com/celebs/josh-duhamel/139;_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AbQR7pxx.;_ylv=3\">Josh Duhamel</a>, and conquer closet cleaning... which spells free designer duds for her gal pals!</p><p><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AbgR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13m6ad9pn/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/will-fergie-release-another-solo-album_video_1318615%3F__source=omg\"> PLAY IT NOW: Will Fergie Release Another Solo Album? </a></p> <p>\"I\'ve got a lot on my plate and this year is more about simplifying and really paying attention to the projects that I have on my plate and spending some time with the hubby, you know?\" the \"Glamorous\" pop star told <em>Access Hollywood </em>when asked about her future solo album plans, at Avon\'s Global Believe Tour at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Wednesday.</p> <p>\"And cleaning out my closet,\" she added. \"That\'s been a big thing this year -- huge for me -- purging and splurging... I finally am at the place where I\'m letting it go, I\'m cleaning things out and I\'m starting to make more purchases for myself.\"</p><p><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AbwR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13hsja8ne/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/grammy-awards-2011-hottest-couples_gallery_2845%3F__source=omg\"> VIEW THE PHOTOS: Grammy Awards 2011: Hottest Couples </a></p> <p>While parting with her couture collections has been a bit painful, <a href=\"http://omg.yahoo.com/celebs/fergie/13;_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AcAR7pxx.;_ylv=3\">Fergie</a> says she\'s finally gotten \"in\" with the age-old idea of relinquishing items she hasn\'t worn in over a year.</p> <p>\"It took me a long time because I saved everything, and you know how long I\'ve been on tour, so this space and this time off has given me a little time to do that and it\'s cleansing,\" she told <em>Access</em>. \"It feels so good. We have this room in my house called the purge room -- it\'s actually a guest bedroom that my mom always stays in -- but we have all the boxes in there and I put music on, get some wine out. I have a full-length mirror and all the girls come over and just have like, a little trying on clothes party.</p> <p>\"It\'s a shopping spree for free,\" <a href=\"http://omg.yahoo.com/celebs/fergie/13;_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AcQR7pxx.;_ylv=3\">Fergie</a> continued. \"I get to see it all go and I just get to hang out with them and it\'s lovely.\"</p><p>Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:<br /><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AcgR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=14f3kgatr/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/scenes-from-glamour-magazines-2010-women-of-the-year-celebration_gallery_2712%3F__source=omg\">VIEW THE PHOTOS: Scenes From Glamour Magazine\'s 2010 Women Of The Year Celebration\n</a><br /><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AcwR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13cuf34lm/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/fergie-the-glamorous-dutchess_gallery_1468%3F__source=omg\">VIEW THE PHOTOS: Fergie: The \'Glamorous\' Dutchess\n</a><br /><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AdAR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13k00aba3/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/boom-boom-pow-its-the-black-eyed-peas_gallery_2020%3F__source=omg\">VIEW THE PHOTOS: Boom Boom Pow! It\'s The Black Eyed Peas</a><br /><a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AdQR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=13cc6icvm/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/fergie-is-outspoken-for-avon_video_1318596%3F__source=omg\">PLAY IT NOW: Fergie Is \'Outspoken\' For Avon</a><br /></p><p>MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AdgR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=128ahhnap/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/fergie%3F__source=omg\">Fergie</a> - <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AdwR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=12e4oam7q/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/josh-duhamel%3F__source=omg\">Josh Duhamel</a> - <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AeAR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=12h1a9jvf/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/black-eyed-peas%3F__source=omg\">Black Eyed Peas</a> - <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AeQR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=129i5hajp/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/couples%3F__source=omg\">Couples</a> - <a href=\"http://us.lrd.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0wNdG5v355NXf4AegR7pxx.;_ylv=0/SIG=1270j51sg/EXP=1303467119/**http%3A//www.accesshollywood.com/music%3F__source=omg\">Music</a><br /></p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Fergie Puts Her Solo Career On Hold To \'Spend Time With The Hubby\'   Conduct Closet \'Cleansing\'   (omg!)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/http___omg_yahoo_com_news60168/41002708/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/fergie-puts-her-solo-career-on-hold-to-spend-time-with-the-hubby-conduct-closet-cleansing/60168\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/http___omg_yahoo_com_news60168/41002708/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/fergie-puts-her-solo-career-on-hold-to-spend-time-with-the-hubby-conduct-closet-cleansing/60168</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 23:36:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 23:36:00','2011-04-09 06:11:59','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(842,'Star Power Bolsters Broadway   (omg!)','star-power-bolsters-broadway-omg','','omg! - Entertainment Weekly on the hottest new shows of the Broadway season.','<div><div>\n						\n				\n				\n\n				\n			\n			\n			\n			\n						\n			\n\n			\n		\n\n\n				\n				&lt;![CDATA[.ptnr-logo{float:right;padding-right:1em;}]]&gt;<a href=\"http://global.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15rnor86d/M=289534.12879106.13137408.10347579/D=o_m_g/S=2115800003:FOOT/Y=YAHOO/EXP=1302264720/L=LeaCSWKIRkGsn2gyz1EN8BVTRaeTlk2e33AAB.J_/B=hpfLcGKImlo-/J=1302257520607127/K=Jf5XPmuWxHSRyf3VpHbpww/A=5442539/R=0/SIG=10np9vmbm/*http://www.yahoo.com/\"><img class=\"ptnr-logo\" src=\"http://l.yimg.com/a/i/us/omg/assets/images/omg-ft-logo-yahoo.gif\" alt=\"image\" /></a>&#13;<p>&#13;    Copyright © 2011 Yahoo! 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The next season of \"Jersey Shore,\" its fourth, will also have all three stars on board.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>Online:</p>\n                <p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_ot/storytext/us_tv_jersey_shore_spinoffs/40999090/SIG=10kbpnmp3/*http://www.mtv.com\">http://www.mtv.com</a></p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"3 \'Jersey Shore\' stars set for MTV spinoff shows   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_ot/us_tv_jersey_shore_spinoffs\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_ot/us_tv_jersey_shore_spinoffs</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 17:38:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 17:38:00','2011-04-09 06:12:01','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(845,'Larry King, TV pitchman; want a breath freshener?   (AP)','larry-king-tv-pitchman-want-a-breath-freshener-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_ot/us_people_larry_king\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.6e6893b0e3fc454c9f5f74031786707b-6e6893b0e3fc454c9f5f74031786707b-0.jpg?x=86&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=tDFEA6ao_KNjlEyx0ABZxA--\" height=\"130\" width=\"86\" alt=\"Larry King, TV pitchman; want a breath freshener?   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Larry King\'s business portfolio is expanding from bagels to breath mints.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES – Larry King\'s business portfolio is expanding from bagels to breath mints.</p>\n                <p>The former CNN host, who announced last month he was joining with a New York bagel maker to open a Beverly Hills store, now is hawking a breath freshener.</p>\n                <p>In a release Thursday, King said he and his wife, Shawn, \"love\" the product so much that they have become partners in it. The goal, King said, is to \"make sure people share our enthusiasm\" for the mint-coated capsule, BreathGemz.</p>\n                <p>King and his wife will promote the product in TV and radio spots and, as the company put it, demonstrate that people in all \"strata of life\" face breath issues.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Larry King, TV pitchman; want a breath freshener?   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_ot/us_people_larry_king\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_ot/us_people_larry_king</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 19:12:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 19:12:00','2011-04-09 06:12:02','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(846,'\'Anything Goes\' revival makes a de-lovely evening   (AP)','anything-goes-revival-makes-a-de-lovely-evening-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_theater_review_anything_goes\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.1dc057d2688049d6be7842d3516790fd-1dc057d2688049d6be7842d3516790fd-0.jpg?x=100&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=tu60k3uiFs2Lv9TE4p5v.g--\" height=\"130\" width=\"100\" alt=\"\'Anything Goes\' revival makes a de-lovely evening   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - So delightful, so delicious, so de-lovely are Cole Porter\'s classic songs in \"Anything Goes\" that reviewing this show becomes an exercise in avoiding the temptations of wordplay.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>NEW YORK – So delightful, so delicious, so de-lovely are Cole Porter\'s classic songs in \"Anything Goes\" that reviewing this show becomes an exercise in avoiding the temptations of wordplay.</p>\n                <p>But we\'re above such a thing. No, not from us will you hear that this 1934 musical is the top! (Oops.) The Colosseum! The Louvre Museum! (Sorry.) A Bendel bonnet! A Shakespeare\'s sonnet! (Did we say that?) It\'s Mickey Mouse!</p>\n                <p>Suffice it to say, though, that if you\'re a musical comedy fan, you\'ll not go home from this affectionate and satisfying Roundabout Theater revival with \"the smile on the Mona Lisa\" on your face — for that smile is equivocal, uncertain, gloomy even. Chances are rather that you\'ll be leaving the Stephen Sondheim Theater, where \"Anything Goes\" opened Thursday night, grinning broadly and humming.</p>\n                <p>Unlike some recent revivals, this one, directed and choreographed by Kathleen Marshall, does not aspire to pare down the original. That\'s a good call, because \"Anything Goes\" needs to be big — lotsa sailors, lotsa gals dressed in lotsa silk and satin, lotsa tap shoes in those ensemble numbers. And this production, the first on Broadway since Patti LuPone headlined a revival in 1987, has all that — plus an excellent cast led by the indefatigable Sutton Foster.</p>\n                <p>As Reno Sweeney, the sassy but kindhearted nightclub singer looking for a good man aboard the ocean liner S.S. American, Foster\'s job is pretty much to carry the show. She\'s in almost all the best numbers — \"You\'re the Top,\" \"Friendship,\" \"I Get a Kick Out of You,\" and the second-act crowd-pleaser, \"Blow, Gabriel, Blow.\" Plus, of course, the exuberant tap number \"Anything Goes.\"</p>\n                <p>The multitalented Foster has often played the wide-eyed girl, and she isn\'t the sultriest, brassiest or hardest-edged of Reno Sweeneys. Strong, athletic and blonde here, with a huge, cheery grin, Foster\'s Reno might have arrived at her nightclub gig via a stint on the college cheerleading squad.</p>\n                <p>But the Tony-winning actress, who by the way looks smashing in all those silky and sparkly costumes by Martin Pakledinaz, is the very definition of a Broadway triple threat. And she shows it all off in the title song, which closes the first act with a cascade of tapping feet reminiscent of \"42nd Street.\" After what feels like 10 minutes of tap dancing, you imagine there\'s just no way that Foster, leading the pack, can still belt out the rest of the song. But she manages it.</p>\n                <p>She\'s backed up by a mostly terrific supporting cast, including Colin Donnell as the young stockbroker, Billy Crocker, who stows away on the ship in a bid to woo the girl of his dreams (not Reno, to her chagrin.) Donnell sings beautifully and projects a quiet sexiness not unlike that of Jon Hamm in TV\'s \"Mad Men,\" to whom he bears more than a passing resemblance.</p>\n                <p>As Hope Harcourt, the winsome heiress he loves, Laura Osnes (\"Grease,\" \"South Pacific\") has a lovely soprano voice that serves her well in her duet with Billy, \"It\'s De-lovely\" (originally from the Porter show \"Red, Hot and Blue\") and in the mournful \"Goodbye, Little Dream, Goodbye.\" Hope is hardly a complex, fleshed out character, but Osnes makes the most of her.</p>\n                <p>Then, of course, there is Joel Grey, appearing here almost a half-century after he won a Tony (and later, an Oscar) for \"Cabaret.\"</p>\n                <p>As the pixieish gangster (if a gangster can be pixieish) Moonface Martin, Grey is far from the strongest singer in the show, and many of his corny jokes fall flat. But most people won\'t care — at 78 he throws himself into his comic role with humor and a sense of mischief, and he and Foster have fun as they come up with ever-stranger ways to express their devotion in \"Friendship\" (\"If you ever lose your teeth and you\'re out to dine; borrow mine.\")</p>\n                <p>Jessica Stone lends sass to the role of the sailor-crazy Erma, and the delightful John McMartin (\"Into the Woods,\" \"Sweet Charity\") has a ball as Elisha Whitney, the millionaire who is never sober. So does fellow Broadway veteran Jessica Walter as Hope\'s aristocratic mother, who is determined, naturally, that her daughter marry upward.</p>\n                <p>The intended groom is the simpering, whimpering (sorry, that\'s from another show) Lord Evelyn Oakleigh — awkward, sexually repressed, and played to the hilt by Adam Godley. This British actor, who\'d be at home in a Monty Python movie or perhaps an episode of \"The Office\" — the original one — brings a welcome zaniness to his number with Reno, \"The Gypsy In Me.\" (And check out his very funny bio in the Playbill, too.)</p>\n                <p>Marshall\'s choreography in the big numbers is exuberant, as it was in \"The Pajama Game,\" the hugely successful 2006 revival, also by the Roundabout, that won her a Tony for best director. Outside the ensemble numbers, though, when her actors are singing alone, one feels they sometimes could be moving in more interesting ways.</p>\n                <p>As for the book (originally by Guy Bolton, P.G. Wodehouse, Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse), well, it is mainly a vehicle to push along the classic songs. And there\'s a positively cringeworthy Chinese stereotype that pops up briefly toward the end of the show.</p>\n                <p>But happily, the real star here is Cole Porter and his wonderful music and lyrics.</p>\n                <p>And so, one night soon, you could head to the Palace Theatre and hear the famous drag queens of \"Priscilla Queen of the Desert\" effort the rhyming of \"hormone\" and \"whore moan.\"</p>\n                <p>Or, you could spend a few hours with the man who found the nimblest of ways to get from \"Fred Astaire\" to \"Camembert.\" Your choice.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nOnline: <a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/ap/ap_en_ot/storytext/us_theater_review_anything_goes/41002067/SIG=1173jqua4/*http://www.anythinggoesonbroadway.com\">http://www.anythinggoesonbroadway.com</a></p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"\'Anything Goes\' revival makes a de-lovely evening   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_theater_review_anything_goes\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_ot/us_theater_review_anything_goes</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 22:26:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 22:26:00','2011-04-09 06:12:02','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(847,'Claire Danes, Don Cheadle newest Showtime stars   (AP)','claire-danes-don-cheadle-newest-showtime-stars-ap','','AP - Two new series are coming to the Showtime channel, one starring Claire Danes and the other Don Cheadle.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES – Two new series are coming to the Showtime channel, one starring Claire Danes and the other Don Cheadle.</p>\n                <p>Danes\' series, \"Homeland,\" is described as a psychological thriller about a CIA officer trying to unravel a suspected terrorist plot. The cast includes Damian Lewis (\"Band of Brothers\") and Mandy Patinkin.</p>\n                <p>\"House of Lies,\" a half-hour comedy set in the world of management consultants, stars Cheadle as a schemer who does anything to win. Kristin Bell (\"Veronica Mars\") co-stars as a sharp Ivy League grad who works with him.</p>\n                <p>Showtime said Thursday that it has ordered 12 episodes of each series, with production starting this summer. Air dates were not announced.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Claire Danes, Don Cheadle newest Showtime stars   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_ot/us_tv_showtime_series\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110407/ap_en_ot/us_tv_showtime_series</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 17:19:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 17:19:00','2011-04-09 06:12:03','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(848,'\'American Idol\' finalist eliminated, leaving 8   (AP)','american-idol-finalist-eliminated-leaving-8-ap','','AP - Songbird Pia Toscano was eliminated from \"American Idol\" on Thursday, leaving the judges who had lavished praise on her in despair over the audience\'s decision.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES – Songbird Pia Toscano was eliminated from \"American Idol\" on Thursday, leaving the judges who had lavished praise on her in despair over the audience\'s decision.</p>\n                <p>Randy Jackson covered his head and mouthed a repeated \"No\" after host Ryan Seacrest announced that Toscano received the lowest number of viewer votes after her performance Wednesday of \"River Deep — Mountain High.\"</p>\n                <p>Toscano, 22, a dark-haired beauty from the Queens borough of New York City managed to remain composed on stage as the judges decried the results.</p>\n                <p>\"I have no idea what happened her. I\'m shocked. I\'m angry,\" said judge Jennifer Lopez.</p>\n                <p>Steven Tyler said viewers were wrong, adding, \"She\'s beautiful. When she sings, she\'s a bird.\"</p>\n                <p>Jackson called her one of the best singers in the show\'s 10th-season field and warned that \"no one is safe\" if votes aren\'t cast for them.</p>\n                <p>\"I\'m never upset on this show, and I\'m never really mad, but this, like, this makes me mad,\" Jackson said. \"What is going on?\"</p>\n                <p>After choosing \"I\'ll Stand by You\" for her swan song, Toscano was embraced by Jacob Lusk, 23, of Compton, Calif., who had landed in the bottom three vote-getters with her and Stefano Langone, 21, of Kent, Wash.</p>\n                <p>Lusk had held to his gospel roots, replacing his planned version of Marvin Gaye\'s sexually charged \"Let\'s Get It On\" with Michael Jackson\'s inspirational \"Man in the Mirror.\" Langone sang Percy Sledge\'s \"When a Man Loves a Woman.\"</p>\n                <p>Also left to sing another day were Paul McDonald, 26, of Nashville, Tenn.; Casey Abrams, 20, of Idyllwild, Calif.; Haley Reinhart, 20, of Wheeling, Ill.; Lauren Alaina, 16, of Rossville, Ga.; Scotty McCreery, 17, of Garner, N.C., and James Durbin, 22, of Santa Cruz, Calif.</p>\n                <p>The show Thursday also included a performance of \"Real Wild Child\" by a shirtless Iggy Pop, with either technical or language glitches causing a loss of sound on occasion.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"\'American Idol\' finalist eliminated, leaving 8   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_tv/us_tv_american_idol_results\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_tv/us_tv_american_idol_results</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 22:39:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 22:39:00','2011-04-09 06:12:04','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(849,'Russell Brand comes of age in \'Arthur\' remake   (AFP)','russell-brand-comes-of-age-in-arthur-remake-afp','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/ennew_afp/entertainmentusfilmbrand\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110408/capt.photo_1302253852623-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=95&amp;q=85&amp;sig=05mB4dwlO2gKs6PB2mGCuA--\" height=\"95\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Russell Brand comes of age in \'Arthur\' remake   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AFP - Thirty years after Dudley Moore brought the world \"Arthur,\" Russell Brand breathes new life into the drunken playboy, in what could be called a coming of age for the recently-married British actor.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Thirty years after Dudley Moore brought the world \"Arthur,\" Russell Brand breathes new life into the drunken playboy, in what could be called a coming of age for the recently-married British actor.</p>\n                <p>\nThe original \"Arthur\" took nearly $100 million at the US box office and won two Oscars in 1981: best supporting role for John Gielgud and best song for the Burt Bacharach theme tune \"Best That You Can Do.\"</p>\n                <p>\nWith the remake, out Friday in the United States before its release in Europe and Asia, Brand says he was aware of what he had to live up to in his performance.</p>\n                <p>\n\"\'Arthur\' is a lovely film and Dudley Moore\'s performance is iconic. So not pressure, but duty. And it\'s a duty that we took very seriously,\" the flamboyant former stand up comic told AFP in Beverly Hills.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I know the movie very well, it was one of my favorites when I was a kid... It was more a privilege that a pressure.\"</p>\n                <p>\nArthur is a young millionaire playboy too busy partying in New York, accumulating romantic conquests or simply getting drunk to pay much attention to his family\'s honor.</p>\n                <p>\n\nBut he is forced to take his duties seriously when his mother pushes him to marry the wealthy and suitable Susan, played by Jennifer Garner, just as he discovers true love in the arms of big-hearted but poor Naomi (Greta Gerwig).</p>\n                <p>\nIt is a role that fits Brand like a glove -- he married US pop singer Katy Perry last November, seemingly turning his back on a hitherto colorful life of debauchery, booze and sex and drug addiction.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I\'m also producer on the movie so I was involved in some way. It\'s a remake of a classic tale. If I did it it\'s probably because what happens here also happened in my own life,\" said Brand, 35.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I\'ve fallen in love, got married and necessarily grown up. So yes, I can see why at the moment I maybe resonate with those things. I think these are important things in movies in general, the idea of becoming a man.\"</p>\n                <p>\n\"I Kissed a Girl\" star Perry played a crucial role in ending his extended adolescence. \"I think falling in love and getting married contributed hugely. I changed a great deal as a result of that,\" said Brand.</p>\n                <p>\nIn the film, Arthur also has a guardian angel. In the original film, it was his butler Hobson (Gielgud). In the remake, Hobson changes sex, and is his governess, played by Oscar-winning fellow Brit Helen Mirren.</p>\n                <p>\n\nThe pair -- who did a skit together at this year\'s Oscars show in February -- clearly get on like a house on fire.</p>\n                <p>\n\"There\'s no one else that could have played it more expertly, committedly than Helen. It\'s more fun when someone confounds your expectations,\" said Brand.</p>\n                <p>\n\"No one would have imagined that (she) is as mischievous as she actually is. So that was a real thrill... I took great delight in tormenting (Mirren). It was really good to change things and say peculiar things.\"</p>\n                <p>\nThe film also proved to be a learning experience.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I learned a lot on this movie, from the director... I learned so much from working with such brilliant actors (as Mirren) and I learned never to do a scene in which Nick Nolte gets the hands on your testicles,\" said Brand, recalling a painful horse riding scene.</p>\n                <p>\nMirren, speaking at a press conference to present the film before its release, called the experience an \"education.\n</p><p>\n\n\"I was someone who was learning stuff. I\'ve never done a film that is called a comedy before,\" she said.\n</p><p>\n\n\"It was one of the reasons I really wanted to do the film and I was very lucky that I was working with such brilliant and experienced people in the world of comedy.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Russell Brand comes of age in \'Arthur\' remake   (AFP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/ennew_afp/entertainmentusfilmbrand\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/ennew_afp/entertainmentusfilmbrand</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-08 05:35:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:35:00','2011-04-09 06:12:05','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(850,'Jury prospects asked if they are Jackson fans   (AP)','jury-prospects-asked-if-they-are-jackson-fans-ap','','AP - Prospective members of a jury that will eventually weigh the case against Michael Jackson\'s doctor are facing an array of questions that include if they had ever seen the King of Pop, attended his concerts, or knew members of his family.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES – Prospective members of a jury that will eventually weigh the case against Michael Jackson\'s doctor are facing an array of questions that include if they had ever seen the King of Pop, attended his concerts, or knew members of his family.</p>\n                <p>A juror questionnaire containing 117 questions was released Thursday after prospects who said they could serve on the two-month trial of Dr. Conrad Murray finished answering.</p>\n                <p>Murray has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. He is accused of gross negligence for administering the anesthetic propofol and other sedatives to Jackson before he died.</p>\n                <p>The trial is likely to focus on his competence based partially on his reactions after Jackson stopped breathing on June 25, 2009.</p>\n                <p>The prospective jury candidates were asked if they had ever seen Jackson or his family members in person, whether they own his records or DVDs, attended his posthumous concert movie, \"This is It,\" and if so why they watched it.</p>\n                <p>In one section, prospects were asked if they knew any of the more than 100 potential witnesses. Included on the list were Jackson\'s three children — Prince, Paris and Blanket — as well as his parents, brothers and sisters.</p>\n                <p>The answers of prospective jurors will be released when they are questioned in person beginning May 4.</p>\n                <p>Large chunks of the questions involved familiarity with drugs and exposure to media coverage of the case, including Internet and social media postings. Jury prospects also were asked if they had ever posted blog entries about the case.</p>\n                <p>In a section headlined, \"Attitudes about celebrities and people in the news,\" they were asked, \"Do you think that people of wealth or fame are treated differently in the court system?\"</p>\n                <p>Notably, there was no mention in the questionnaire of Jackson\'s highly publicized acquittal after his child molestation trial in 2005</p>\n                <p>Jury prospects were asked, \"Do you have any positive or negative feelings or opinions about Conrad Murray or Michael Jackson?\"</p>\n                <p>Lawyers also wanted to know if they had ever taken prescription drugs, including propofol, and a long list of sedatives and mood altering drugs.</p>\n                <p>The lawyers also wanted to know if they had friends or family members who were ever addicted to prescription drugs, and if they themselves had been in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation program.</p>\n                <p>In addition, prospects had to disclose if they were ever involved in an emergency medical situation and whether that would prejudice them in deciding the case.</p>\n                <p>In another development, Murray\'s lawyers filed six motions to exclude from testimony \"sexually scandalous information\" regarding Murray\'s patronage of a strip club in Los Angeles, the women he met there, and the amounts of money he spent,</p>\n                <p>\"This evidence has no rational  bearing on any issue in this matter and is presented merely to harass and discredit Dr. Murray,\" one motion states.</p>\n                <p>Three of Murray\'s mistresses testified at a preliminary hearing earlier this year.</p>\n                <p>The motions also sought to exclude from evidence autopsy photos of Jackson.\n</p><p>\n\"Dr. Murray is on trial accused of having caused the death of international superstar king of pop Michael Jackson,\" another motion states.  \"As if that fact alone is not inflammatory enough, the prosecution seeks to further inflame the passions of the jury by introducing autopsy photographs of Mr. Jackson.\"\n</p><p>\nThe motions submitted by attorney Nareg Gourjian also asked to exclude evidence involving Murray\'s child support payments, lawsuits over his financial affairs, and his relationships with women.\n</p><p>\nProsecutors filed a motion late in the day asking to admit as evidence audio recordings of Murray\'s statements to police detectives during a lengthy interview two days after Jackson\'s death.\n</p><p>\nProsecutors David Walgren and Deborah Brazil said Murray\'s statements \"clearly are admissions.\"\n</p><p>\nJudge Michael Pastor set a hearing for April 21 to deal with the motions.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nAssociated Press Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this report.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Jury prospects asked if they are Jackson fans   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_mu/us_michael_jackson_doctor\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_en_mu/us_michael_jackson_doctor</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-08 05:32:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:32:00','2011-04-09 06:12:06','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(851,'Disney\'s Magic Kingdom comes to the Middle Kingdom   (Reuters)','disneys-magic-kingdom-comes-to-the-middle-kingdom-reuters','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/media_nm/us_disney_china\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110408/i/r1477703718.jpg?x=130&amp;y=90&amp;q=85&amp;sig=F0rB8enQB3otBGR5YtYaEA--\" height=\"90\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Disney\'s Magic Kingdom comes to the Middle Kingdom   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>Reuters - Walt Disney Co broke ground on its long-awaited Shanghai Disneyland theme park on Friday, banking on its global brand and fairytale attractions to draw millions of visitors and boost its profits in the region.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Walt Disney Co broke ground on its long-awaited Shanghai Disneyland theme park on Friday, banking on its global brand and fairytale attractions to draw millions of visitors and boost its profits in the region.</p>\n                <p>\nMickey and Minnie Mouse, dressed in traditional Chinese garb, took to the stage with Cinderella and Snow White to launch a Magic Kingdom-styled park tailored specifically to China.</p>\n                <p>\nDisney\'s first theme park in mainland China and its third in Asia will cost 24.5 billion yuan ($3.7 billion). Hotels, additional entertainment and retail facilities will be built at a cost of 4.5 billion yuan ($687,825).</p>\n                <p>\nDisney had long sought to build in Shanghai, China\'s financial hub, and a wealthy city of 22 million that is ringed by the prosperous Yangtze River Delta, home to tens of millions more potential visitors.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Today is a very, very special day in the history of Walt Disney,\" Robert Iger, chief executive of Walt Disney Co, told a news conference.</p>\n                <p>\n\"For many years, Disney has had a great affinity for China and has been interested in sharing its great products and services with the people of China,\" Iger said.</p>\n                <p>\nShanghai Disneyland will cover 3.9 square kilometers and will feature the largest Disney storybook castle in the world and have a huge 405,000 square meter lake. The entire resort will house two Disney-themed hotels, outdoor recreation areas and a large entertainment, retail and dining facility.</p>\n                <p>\n\"When they come to the park, we want them to say: \'Wow look at that big castle\',\" Iger said of the key feature of the park.</p>\n                <p>\nSituated in an eastern suburb of Shanghai, the park aims to attract 7.3 million visitors annually when it opens in about five years. Disney said the target market population for the park is 330 million people, the number of whom live within a three-hour drive or train ride of Shanghai.</p>\n                <p>\nThe investment amounts will be split between Disney and the Shanghai Shendi Group, with Disney holding 43 percent of the shares of the owner companies and government-backed Shendi holding the remaining 57 percent.</p>\n                <p>\nA joint venture management company will also be formed, with Disney having a 70 percent stake and Shanghai Shendi Group holding a 30 percent stake.</p>\n                <p>\nYEARS OF NEGOTIATION</p>\n                <p>\nDisney\'s foray into mainland China is the culmination of years of negotiation with the government. During the news conference, Chinese government officials and Disney\'s Iger took pains to stress the level of cooperation and negotiation that had taken place between the two sides.</p>\n                <p>\nDisney does not have a television channel in China, where the media industry is tightly regulated. However, it runs several English training schools for children across Shanghai and Beijing.</p>\n                <p>\nThe building of the massive park had also led to accusations by some villagers that they were evicted from their homes and not properly compensated by the government.</p>\n                <p>\nDisney has said the matter of relocation is one that is handled by the Shanghai government.</p>\n                <p>\nDisney opened Hong Kong Disneyland in 2005 and suffered years of slow attendance growth and net losses. In the park\'s 2010 fiscal year, it suffered a net loss of HK$718 million ($92.4 million).</p>\n                <p>\nShaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research said the problem with the Hong Kong park is that it is too small and lacks rides. Given that the average Chinese person did not grow up watching Disney characters such as Cinderella, the characters also lacked emotional resonance with visitors.\n</p><p>\n\n\"The Hong Kong Disneyland didn\'t seem like it had size and the Chinese like the biggest of everything,\" he said, adding that his primary worry is that the Shanghai Disneyland would not be big enough. Disney\'s third park in Asia is located in Tokyo.\n</p><p>\n\nHong Kong Disneyland is undergoing expansion that will increase its size by 25 percent. It drew 5.2 million visitors in 2010 and more than 40 percent were from the mainland.\n</p><p>\n\n\"Everybody in China is waiting for Disney to come here... It\'s an event that everybody is just so excited for it to happen and so if it doesn\'t match expectations, it will make people upset,\" Rein said.\n</p><p>\n\n(Editing by Jacqueline Wong)</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Disney\'s Magic Kingdom comes to the Middle Kingdom   (Reuters)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/media_nm/us_disney_china\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/media_nm/us_disney_china</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-08 04:53:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:53:00','2011-04-09 06:12:07','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(852,'Tony Winners Rondi Reed and John Mahoney Will Be Caught in \'The Outgoing Tide\', an IL World Premiere   (Playbill)','tony-winners-rondi-reed-and-john-mahoney-will-be-caught-in-the-outgoing-tide-an-il-world-premiere-playbill','','Playbill - <p>\n	Northlight Theatre\'s world-premiere staging of Bruce Graham\'s <i>The Outgoing Tide</i> will star Tony Award winners John Mahoney and Rondi Reed, plus Thomas J. Cox, May 12-June 19 in suburban Chicago. Artistic director BJ Jones directs.</p>','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>\n	Northlight Theatre\'s world-premiere staging of Bruce Graham\'s <i>The Outgoing Tide</i> will star Tony Award winners John Mahoney and Rondi Reed, plus Thomas J. Cox, May 12-June 19 in suburban Chicago. Artistic director BJ Jones directs.</p>\n                <p>\n	Mahoney (Broadway\'s <i>The House of Blue Leaves</i>, TV\'s \"Frasier\") returns to Northlight in Skokie, IL, after appearing in <i>A Life</i> and <i>Better Late</i>. Reed (<i>Wicked</i>) returns to Northlight in her first Chicago appearance since her Tony Award-winning turn in <i>August: Osage County</i> and her acclaimed role in TV\'s \"Mike and Molly.\" Cox, a founding member of Chicago\'s Lookingglass, returns to Northlight where he has appeared in <i>Pride &amp; Prejudice</i> and <i>Dr. Jekyll &amp; Mr. Hyde</i>.</p>\n                <p>\n	According to Nothlight notes, \"In a summer cottage on Chesapeake Bay, Gunner [played by Mahoney] has hatched an unorthodox plan to secure his family\'s future but meets with resistance from his wife and son, who have plans of their own. As winter approaches, the three must quickly find common ground and come to an understanding — before the tide goes out. The new drama…hums with dark humor and powerful emotion.\"</p>\n                <p>\n	The role of Gunner was written for Mahoney by playwright Graham, whose plays include <i>According to Goldman, Belmont Avenue Social Club</i> and <i>Something Intangible.</i></p>\n                <p>\n	<i>The Outgoing Tide</i> will open May 21. For more information, visit northlight.org.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Tony Winners Rondi Reed and John Mahoney Will Be Caught in \'The Outgoing Tide\', an IL World Premiere   (Playbill)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/playbill/20110407/en_playbill/149559\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/playbill/20110407/en_playbill/149559</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-07 18:27:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 18:27:00','2011-04-09 06:12:07','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(853,'Russell Brand comes of age in \'Arthur\' remake   (AFP)','russell-brand-comes-of-age-in-arthur-remake-afp','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/ennew_afp/entertainmentusfilmbrand\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110408/capt.photo_1302253852623-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=95&amp;q=85&amp;sig=05mB4dwlO2gKs6PB2mGCuA--\" height=\"95\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Russell Brand comes of age in \'Arthur\' remake   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AFP - Thirty years after Dudley Moore brought the world \"Arthur,\" Russell Brand breathes new life into the drunken playboy, in what could be called a coming of age for the recently-married British actor.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Thirty years after Dudley Moore brought the world \"Arthur,\" Russell Brand breathes new life into the drunken playboy, in what could be called a coming of age for the recently-married British actor.</p>\n                <p>\nThe original \"Arthur\" took nearly $100 million at the US box office and won two Oscars in 1981: best supporting role for John Gielgud and best song for the Burt Bacharach theme tune \"Best That You Can Do.\"</p>\n                <p>\nWith the remake, out Friday in the United States before its release in Europe and Asia, Brand says he was aware of what he had to live up to in his performance.</p>\n                <p>\n\"\'Arthur\' is a lovely film and Dudley Moore\'s performance is iconic. So not pressure, but duty. And it\'s a duty that we took very seriously,\" the flamboyant former stand up comic told AFP in Beverly Hills.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I know the movie very well, it was one of my favorites when I was a kid... It was more a privilege that a pressure.\"</p>\n                <p>\nArthur is a young millionaire playboy too busy partying in New York, accumulating romantic conquests or simply getting drunk to pay much attention to his family\'s honor.</p>\n                <p>\n\nBut he is forced to take his duties seriously when his mother pushes him to marry the wealthy and suitable Susan, played by Jennifer Garner, just as he discovers true love in the arms of big-hearted but poor Naomi (Greta Gerwig).</p>\n                <p>\nIt is a role that fits Brand like a glove -- he married US pop singer Katy Perry last November, seemingly turning his back on a hitherto colorful life of debauchery, booze and sex and drug addiction.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I\'m also producer on the movie so I was involved in some way. It\'s a remake of a classic tale. If I did it it\'s probably because what happens here also happened in my own life,\" said Brand, 35.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I\'ve fallen in love, got married and necessarily grown up. So yes, I can see why at the moment I maybe resonate with those things. I think these are important things in movies in general, the idea of becoming a man.\"</p>\n                <p>\n\"I Kissed a Girl\" star Perry played a crucial role in ending his extended adolescence. \"I think falling in love and getting married contributed hugely. I changed a great deal as a result of that,\" said Brand.</p>\n                <p>\nIn the film, Arthur also has a guardian angel. In the original film, it was his butler Hobson (Gielgud). In the remake, Hobson changes sex, and is his governess, played by Oscar-winning fellow Brit Helen Mirren.</p>\n                <p>\n\nThe pair -- who did a skit together at this year\'s Oscars show in February -- clearly get on like a house on fire.</p>\n                <p>\n\"There\'s no one else that could have played it more expertly, committedly than Helen. It\'s more fun when someone confounds your expectations,\" said Brand.</p>\n                <p>\n\"No one would have imagined that (she) is as mischievous as she actually is. So that was a real thrill... I took great delight in tormenting (Mirren). It was really good to change things and say peculiar things.\"</p>\n                <p>\nThe film also proved to be a learning experience.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I learned a lot on this movie, from the director... I learned so much from working with such brilliant actors (as Mirren) and I learned never to do a scene in which Nick Nolte gets the hands on your testicles,\" said Brand, recalling a painful horse riding scene.</p>\n                <p>\nMirren, speaking at a press conference to present the film before its release, called the experience an \"education.\n</p><p>\n\n\"I was someone who was learning stuff. I\'ve never done a film that is called a comedy before,\" she said.\n</p><p>\n\n\"It was one of the reasons I really wanted to do the film and I was very lucky that I was working with such brilliant and experienced people in the world of comedy.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Russell Brand comes of age in \'Arthur\' remake   (AFP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/ennew_afp/entertainmentusfilmbrand\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/ennew_afp/entertainmentusfilmbrand</a></p>',-2,5,0,40,'2011-04-08 05:35:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:35:00','2011-04-09 06:12:09','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(854,'Lefty scrambles his way into contention at Augusta   (AP)','lefty-scrambles-his-way-into-contention-at-augusta-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_masters\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110407/capt.photo_1302194228179-8-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=qiqePrdNKoxBuowsyrvlWA--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Lefty scrambles his way into contention at Augusta   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Phil Mickelson drove it behind towering Georgia pines. He knocked it under azalea bushes blazing with color. No one hit fewer fairways than the defending Masters champion.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>AUGUSTA, Ga. – Phil Mickelson drove it behind towering Georgia pines. He knocked it under azalea bushes blazing with color. No one hit fewer fairways than the defending Masters champion.</p>\n                <p>Yet when he got to the 18th hole, there were nothing but pars and birdies on his card.</p>\n                <p>This was Scrambling 101, and it was good enough to keep Lefty in contention for another green jacket.</p>\n                <p>\"I missed it in spots where I could get up and down, in spots where I knew ... I had a good angle,\" Mickelson said. \"I scrambled well to stay in, but I also let four or five good birdie opportunities slide. I\'m going to have to capitalize on those opportunities if I\'m going to go low.\"</p>\n                <p>Mickelson took his lone bogey at the final hole after knocking his second shot over the green, but he still goes into Friday\'s second round just five strokes behind rising star Rory McIlroy and long-hitting Spaniard Alvaro Quiros, who shared the lead at 7-under 65.</p>\n                <p>It was a deficit that didn\'t look all that daunting, especially after Mickelson hit only four out of 14 fairways Thursday — the worst percentage in the 99-player field.</p>\n                <p>Not surprisingly, he headed straight from the 18th hole to the practice range, looking to work out the kinks in his swing before sundown.</p>\n                <p>Imagine the possibilities if he can actually keep it in the short grass.</p>\n                <p>\"It\'s OK, just OK,\" Mickelson said of his 70. \"I didn\'t shoot myself out of it, but I didn\'t make up ground on the field the way I wanted to, so I\'ve got to go do it.\"</p>\n                <p>There were plenty of red numbers on the scoreboard after Round 1. The world\'s best golfers were able to attack the venerable course on a warm, sunny day with only a hint of a breeze, the pins positioned more favorably than they\'ll likely be the rest of the week.</p>\n                <p>A pair of South Koreans, Y.E. Yang and K.J. Choi, were at 67. Matt Kuchar and Ricky Barnes were the top Americans at 68. Seven others were in the 60s, including 2008 Masters champ Trevor Immelman and a rejuvenated Sergio Garcia, resuming his chase for that first major title.</p>\n                <p>Tiger Woods wasn\'t too far back, either, posting a 71 that\'s right around his norm for a first day at Augusta National, where he\'s won four times and almost always puts himself in contention.</p>\n                <p>\"Hey, it\'s a long way to go,\" said Woods, mired in the longest winless streak of his career. \"We have a long grind ahead of us. The temperature is supposed to warm up and I\'m sure they will start making the pins a little more difficult as the week goes on. I\'m right there in the ballgame. I\'m only six back.\"</p>\n                <p>Those guys at the top of the board are more proof that a new generation of golfers is on the way, even at a place that embraces its past.</p>\n                <p>The 21-year-old McIlroy, who opened with a 63 at St. Andrews last summer in the British Open, again delivered exquisite shots on one of the biggest stages. It was such a clean round that he didn\'t make a bogey and was left wondering how much lower he could have gone if not for missing five birdie chances inside 10 feet.</p>\n                <p>\"It wasn\'t maybe as exclusive or spectacular as the 63 at St. Andrews,\" he said. \"But it was very solid from start to finish.\"</p>\n                <p>McIlroy spent the afternoon watching the late starters on television, wondering if anyone could match his score. No one did until the 28-year-old Quiros, playing in the final group.</p>\n                <p>Considered the longest hitter in the game, the lanky Spaniard blasted away on a course where he had never shot better than 75. Finally, he spun an approach back to 3 feet on the 18th hole to catch McIlroy atop the leaderboard.\n</p><p>\n\"Time to do it, isn\'t it?\" said Quiros, who lit up the course with his smile as much as his shotmaking. \"Finally, I played well. I was lucky, too. I holed putts.\"\n</p><p>\nIndeed he did, including a 20-footer at the 14th after he drove behind a tree, then got himself into more trouble when his next shot ricocheted off a limb. He had to punch out into the fairway, put his fourth shot on the green and knocked in a 20-footer for his only bogey of the day.\n</p><p>\nHe broke into another big smile. He knew it could\'ve been much worse.\n</p><p>\n\"Obviously,\" he said, \"the best club in my bag was the putter.\"\n</p><p>\nQuiros was joined in the last group by two other big hitters: Gary Woodland and Jhonattan Vegas. Both are Augusta newcomers who qualified in recent months with their first PGA Tour win — more examples of a shift toward youth, two players built more for football and basketball than for golf.\n</p><p>\nThey all bash it, and did they ever put on a show.\n</p><p>\nThe trio combined to make 10 birdies and two eagles over the last six holes, enough reason for the gallery to stick around even after Woods was long gone and Mickelson was on the practice range in the fading sunlight.\n</p><p>\nAugusta still showed some teeth if players got too careless.\n</p><p>\nPGA champion Martin Kaymer, ranked No. 1 in the world, struggled again at the Masters and shot a 78. He has never made the cut, and it looks as though this might be another short week. Lee Westwood, runner-up to Mickelson last year, opened with a 72.\n</p><p>\n\"It\'s not my game at the moment,\" Westwood said. \"If you can\'t hole it out from 4 feet, you\'re going to struggle.\"\n</p><p>\nMcIlroy fired off three straight birdies starting the par-5 second, the best of those a pitch from just outside 60 yards that skipped and stopped a few feet from the hole at No. 3. He hit a 7-iron just left of the pin on No. 9, then picked up another birdie on the 11th with a 5-iron that flirted with the pond left of the green and settled 8 feet away.\n</p><p>\nTwo more birdies followed, and McIlroy had another stellar round in the majors.\n</p><p>\nLast summer in Scotland, the freckle-faced kid followed his record-tying 63 with an 80 when he got caught up in the blustery conditions of St. Andrews. He rallied to tie for third at the Open, finished third again at the PGA and hopes he\'ll be better prepared to play from out front at this year\'s first major.\n</p><p>\n\"Obviously at the time, I was very disappointed to come off the course and shoot 80 after shooting 63,\" McIlroy said. \"But looking back on it, it was a very valuable lesson in my development as a golfer.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Lefty scrambles his way into contention at Augusta   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_masters\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_masters</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 04:05:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:05:00','2011-04-09 06:12:09','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(855,'APNewsBreak: Orange Bowl CEO got hefty pay bump   (AP)','apnewsbreak-orange-bowl-ceo-got-hefty-pay-bump-ap','','AP - The committee that runs the Orange Bowl bumped up its CEO\'s pay by nearly $150,000 in 2009, boosting his compensation to more than $500,000, according to a recently filed tax return.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>WASHINGTON – The committee that runs the Orange Bowl bumped up its CEO\'s pay by nearly $150,000 in 2009, boosting his compensation to more than $500,000, according to a recently filed tax return.</p>\n                <p>Orange Bowl spokesman Larry Wahl said in an email that the increase was mostly supplemental compensation given to CEO Eric Poms for \"the added work and effort involved\" in hosting two Bowl Championship Series games in 2009, including the national championship, in south Florida.</p>\n                <p>The Orange Bowl is one of four premier college football games that also hosts the BCS title game once every four seasons, along with the Sugar, Rose and Fiesta Bowls. The Fiesta Bowl fired CEO John Junker last week over extravagant and improper spending uncovered by an internal report.</p>\n                <p>As a public charity, the Orange Bowl must list its highest compensated employees on its 990 tax returns, which are publicly available. Those returns show that Poms raked in $507,000 in 2009, a 42 percent increase over the previous year\'s take of $358,000.</p>\n                <p>Bowl officials wouldn\'t provide Poms\' salary for last year, when the Orange Bowl did not host the BCS title game. Wahl said Poms\' \"total compensation for 2010 has dropped below the double-hosting level in 2009 and the exact amount will be reported when our next 990 is filed as required by the IRS.\"</p>\n                <p>The bowl also gave big boosts to three other top executives, ranging from 24 percent to 38 percent, according to an Associated Press analysis of tax returns.</p>\n                <p>Poms\' pay still lagged behind Junker\'s $674,000, and Sugar Bowl CEO Paul Hoolahan\'s $645,000. But it far exceeded the $282,000 paid to then-Rose Bowl executive director Mitch Dorger. The annual compensation for Dorger\'s replacement, Scott McKibben, has not yet been reported on a tax return, but McKibben told the AP that his base salary is $425,000, and could be higher based on a bonus program. He added that the Rose Bowl also provides additional compensation to employees in the years it hosts national championship games.</p>\n                <p>The Sugar Bowl says that its CEO can receive a bonus based on meeting specific criteria and the bonus can be higher in a year when it hosts the championship game, but it\'s not a given. The Fiesta Bowl did not respond to a request for comment.</p>\n                <p>John Colombo, a law professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an expert on tax-exempt organizations, said that $500,000 for the CEO of an organization the size of the Orange Bowl didn\'t strike him as out of line.</p>\n                <p>\"The real question for tax purposes is whether the salary is reasonable in the context of the market for this kind of work,\" he said. \"And that would include not just the tax-exempt market, but also the taxable market. So we\'re really looking at the market of CEOs that run businesses about the size of the Orange Bowl.\"</p>\n                <p>Wahl said that the supplemental compensation was based on a written plan that included meeting goals and milestones.</p>\n                <p>\"It involves both internal (employee performance assessment) and external (marketplace surveys and comparatives) reviews,\" he said. \"Efforts are led by a compensation committee appointed by the Orange Bowl\'s board of directors.\"</p>\n                <p>Wahl also said that the Orange Bowl made a $3.15 million contribution in 2009 to rebuild an inner-city youth/high school stadium and facilities at Moore Park in Miami.</p>\n                <p>Besides Poms\' pay hike, several other Orange Bowl officials also got bumps because of hosting two games in 2009, including:</p>\n                <p>• Chief financial officer Brian Park, whose pay increased 28 percent from $200,000 to $257,000;</p>\n                <p>• Then-chief marketing officer Christina Francis, up 24 percent from $203,000 to $251,000;</p>\n                <p>• Chief operating officer Michael Saks, who jumped 38 percent from $185,000 to $255,000;</p>\n                <p>In recent years, the top bowls have faced sluggish ticket sales and lukewarm ratings for games when they don\'t host the championship. The attendance at this year\'s Orange Bowl between Stanford and Virginia Tech, for example, was about 9,000 below capacity at Sun Life Stadium, as neither team came close to selling its allotment of 17,500 tickets. The most recent tax return shows the Orange Bowl lost $22,000 in the fiscal year ending last April 30, compared to a surplus of $6.4 million the previous fiscal year, when it hosted the championship game.\n</p><p>\nWahl chalked up the loss to a \"difficult economy for all events across the country.\"\n</p><p>\nAlso, FedEx Corp. dropped its sponsorship of the Orange Bowl last year after two decades, and was replaced by Discover Financial Services.\n</p><p>\nPlayoff PAC, which has challenged the Orange Bowl\'s tax-exempt status to the IRS, argued that Poms\' pay wasn\'t justified.\n</p><p>\n\"There\'s a disconnect between payment and performance there,\" said Matthew Sanderson, co-founder of the PAC, which aims to replace the BCS with a playoff system to determine the national champion.\n</p><p>\nIn a complaint filed with the IRS last year, Playoff PAC accused the Orange, Sugar and Fiesta Bowls of violating their tax-exempt status, while finding no irregularities with the Rose Bowl. In a supplemental letter to the IRS last December, the group took particular aim at a \"Summer Splash\" cruise to the Bahamas that the Orange Bowl hosted for athletic directors, conference commissioners and their spouses. The PAC called the trip a junket that was problematic under federal tax laws; the bowl said it was \"100 percent in compliance with IRS guidelines.\"\n</p><p>\nWahl, the Orange Bowl spokesman, said there will not be another Summer Splash or similar event this year. He said it\'s a periodic event and was not done in 2009, and was never planned for this year.\n</p><p>\nThe Orange Bowl\'s latest tax return also shows it spent $1,000 lobbying the city of Miami Beach for an annual grant, and that the bowl received $627,000 in government grants.\n</p><p>\n\"Of this total, only $168,750 is truly government grants from Miami-Dade County and the City of Miami Beach,\" Wahl said. \"The balance was attributable to tourism agencies whose focus is to support events bringing visitors to the region.\"\n</p><p>\nSanderson argued that the pay increases were \"built on the back of public subsidies,\" citing those grants as well as obligations that the Orange Bowl (and other bowls) make for participating schools to buy thousands of tickets from game organizers. Theoretically, the school will then turn around and sell those tickets to its fans. But if the fans aren\'t buying, it\'s not uncommon that a school can get stuck with hundreds of thousands — even millions — of dollars\' worth of unsold tickets.\n</p><p>\n\"This wouldn\'t happen in an open, competitive system,\" Sanderson said.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nAP College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo contributed to this story.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"APNewsBreak: Orange Bowl CEO got hefty pay bump   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_orange_bowl_salaries\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_co_ne/fbc_orange_bowl_salaries</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 05:08:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:08:00','2011-04-09 06:12:10','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(856,'Bonds jury slated to begin deliberations   (AP)','bonds-jury-slated-to-begin-deliberations-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_bonds_trial\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.c5f71c857b254e71bff5d406bd6ca73a-c5f71c857b254e71bff5d406bd6ca73a-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=_zru1O4CjHTrj7LAKroGgw--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Bonds jury slated to begin deliberations   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Barry Bonds\' legal fate now rests with the eight women and four men comprising the jury that presided over his perjury trial.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>SAN FRANCISCO – Barry Bonds\' legal fate now rests with the eight women and four men comprising the jury that presided over his perjury trial.</p>\n                <p>The jury is scheduled to begin deliberations Friday at 8:30 a.m. local time in San Francisco.</p>\n                <p>Baseball\'s all-time home run leader is charged with three counts of lying to a grand jury in 2003 and a count of obstruction for denying that he knowingly took performance-enhancing drugs and for saying no one other than his doctors gave him an injection.</p>\n                <p>If convicted on any of the charges, federal guidelines recommend a prison sentence of between 15 and 21 months, though Bonds\' punishment could be far less severe.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Bonds jury slated to begin deliberations   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_bonds_trial\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_bonds_trial</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 05:45:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:45:00','2011-04-09 06:12:11','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(857,'Liverpool FC to play in Malaysia in July   (AFP)','liverpool-fc-to-play-in-malaysia-in-july-afp','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/wl_asia_afp/fblengliverpoolmas\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110408/capt.photo_1302236636173-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=84&amp;q=85&amp;sig=dh6CR_PX9lIpLermCTpZyA--\" height=\"84\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Liverpool FC to play in Malaysia in July   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AFP - Liverpool Football Club\'s legion of Malaysian fans will in July be able to catch their team in action for the first time ahead of the premier league campaign, according to organisers.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) – Liverpool Football Club\'s legion of Malaysian fans will in July be able to catch their team in action for the first time ahead of the premier league campaign, according to organisers.</p>\n                <p>\nLiverpool have a massive fan base in the country.</p>\n                <p>\n\"The match will be a piece of football history as this is the first time Liverpool FC will be stepping on Malaysian soil and it has created a lot of excitement,\" ProEvents said in a statement.</p>\n                <p>\nLiverpool\'s Far East tour will also take the team to China and South Korea. In 2009 the English side enjoyed a successful 10-day pre-season tour of Thailand and Singapore.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I am sure you would want to see this team live in action in Malaysia,\" said Football Association of Malaysia deputy president Tengku Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Reds managing director Ian Ayre said the team was delighted to play in Malaysia.</p>\n                <p>\n\"It will be a historic visit to this beautiful country and we are very pleased to be able to give the huge number of Liverpool supporters in Malaysia the opportunity of seeing their heroes in action,\" he said.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Liverpool FC to play in Malaysia in July   (AFP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/wl_asia_afp/fblengliverpoolmas\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/wl_asia_afp/fblengliverpoolmas</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 00:25:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 00:25:00','2011-04-09 06:12:12','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(858,'Rose leads Bulls past Celtics 97-81   (AP)','rose-leads-bulls-past-celtics-97-81-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_bk_ga_su/bkn_celtics_bulls\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110408/capt.dccf0ecd2bfa499083b1911761367ef3-dccf0ecd2bfa499083b1911761367ef3-0.jpg?x=91&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=gMy.WgxbaFnspYgAer9j0Q--\" height=\"130\" width=\"91\" alt=\"Rose leads Bulls past Celtics 97-81   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Derrick Rose scored 30 points and the Chicago Bulls closed in on the top seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Boston Celtics 97-81 on Thursday.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>CHICAGO – Derrick Rose scored 30 points and the Chicago Bulls closed in on the top seed in the Eastern Conference by beating the Boston Celtics 97-81 on Thursday.</p>\n                <p>The Bulls\' 17th win in 19 games put them four games up on Boston and Miami with four to play and eliminated the Heat from getting the No. 1 seed.</p>\n                <p>The Celtics, who play the Heat on Sunday, still have a mathematical shot albeit a remote one.</p>\n                <p>But barring a collapse, Chicago will be the top seed in the East.</p>\n                <p>It\'s another step for a team that expected big things after a major overhaul, and all the Bulls have done is deliver their best season since Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen made championship celebrations a regular event.</p>\n                <p>Rose was a one-man highlight reel against Rajon Rondo, beating him with his crossover and getting to the rim, particularly in the early going. Rose scored 16 points in the first half as the Bulls jumped out to a 48-43 lead, and Chicago regrouped after momentarily falling behind in the third.</p>\n                <p>Luol Deng scored 23 points, and Carlos Boozer added 14 points and 12 rebounds.</p>\n                <p>Chicago outscored the Celtics 44-22 in the paint, outrebounded them 44-35 and held Boston to 38.4 percent shooting.</p>\n                <p>Paul Pierce led Boston with 15 points. Kevin Garnett scored all 10 of his points in the second half and Rondo finished with seven. Jeff Green scored 10 and Ray Allen had seven points.</p>\n                <p>The Bulls led 48-43 at the half when Pierce made a jumper and Rondo hit his first two baskets to give Boston a one-point lead, but the Bulls responded by running off 10 straight, a dunk by Deng and floater by Rose making it 58-49 midway through the third.</p>\n                <p>It was 61-58 after Glen Davis hit two free throws with just over three minutes left in the quarter when the Bulls started a 13-2 run that stretched into the fourth quarter.</p>\n                <p>Deng started the spurt with a 3, and he followed a layup by Boozer off a turnover with a steal and layup to make it 68-58 with 1:31 left. Davis hit two free throws for Boston. But Rose made a 3 with 23 seconds left in the quarter, and Boozer added a three-point play 45 seconds into the fourth to boost Chicago\'s lead to 74-60.</p>\n                <p>Not only were the Bulls facing one of the top teams in the East, they also honored Pippen by unveiling a sculpture of him during a halftime ceremony.</p>\n                <p>NOTES: A Bulls spokesman said chairman Jerry Reinsdorf left a message for Grant Hill and spoke to his mother for about 15 minutes, telling her he regretted an incident that happened after Tuesday\'s game against the Suns. Hill had told the Arizona Republic that a fan spat on and cursed him. ... Doc Rivers endorsed Rose for MVP, saying \"he\'s the most valuable player\" and endorsed his former assistant Tom Thibodeau for Coach of the Year while acknowledging cases could be made for Philadelphia\'s Doug Collins and Portland\'s Nate McMillan. ... Rivers said he thinks Shaquille O\'Neal will be healthy for the playoffs but isn\'t sure what to expect from him. The 15-time All-Star returned Sunday against Detroit after missing 27 games because of a sore right leg, but lasted just 5 minutes, 29 seconds before leaving again. He did not play against Philadelphia on Tuesday.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Rose leads Bulls past Celtics 97-81   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_bk_ga_su/bkn_celtics_bulls\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_bk_ga_su/bkn_celtics_bulls</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 01:40:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 01:40:00','2011-04-09 06:12:13','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(859,'Golf no longer Tiger and everybody else   (AP)','golf-no-longer-tiger-and-everybody-else-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_jim_litke040711\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.4ea9e3bf897f430695411012f385eaf9-4ea9e3bf897f430695411012f385eaf9-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=103&amp;q=85&amp;sig=4iIrkI.Fow5ArWXrBJhAfQ--\" height=\"103\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Golf no longer Tiger and everybody else   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Golf used to be Tiger Woods and everybody else.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>AUGUSTA, Ga. – Golf used to be Tiger Woods and everybody else.</p>\n                <p>About the only thing they had in common was how they described fair-to-middling rounds afterward, how a handful of near-misses could have changed everything. The difference, of course, was that Woods would go out the next day, and the next, and make almost everything in sight.</p>\n                <p>Now he not only sounds like everybody else, he plays like everybody else, too.</p>\n                <p>\"I hit a lot of beautiful putts today and they were just skirting the edge. So hopefully,\" Woods said after an opening round 71 at the Masters, \"those will start going in.\"</p>\n                <p>No one knows exactly what went wrong with his game since a stunning fall from grace some 16 months ago, perhaps least of all, Woods. Think back to a year ago here, when he was first slinking back into the game after months in hiding and a series of botched apologies. Woods finished tied for fourth, watched rival Phil Mickelson slip into a green jacket, then moved onto the next major and came even closer to winning another U.S. Open himself. Everything went downhill after that.</p>\n                <p>On Thursday, just as Woods was finishing up a three-putt bogey at No. 10, Mickelson was getting ready for the short walk from the practice putting green to the first tee.</p>\n                <p>Leading the way, his caddie, Bones Mackay, was wearing white coveralls with the coveted No. 1 on the left side of his chest, and the roar built slowly as fans on both sides of the roped-off walkway howled and leaned in for a look at the defending champion. Lefty strode into the maelstrom, waving awkwardly with his gloved right hand and wearing that goofy smile, soaking in the unqualified adulation that Woods once enjoyed and would probably kill to have again.</p>\n                <p>By any measurement, Mickelson probably had the tougher year of the two, even with the Masters win. Just as his wife and mother were recovering from bouts of breast cancer, Mickelson was afflicted with psoriatic arthritis, a setback that required him to balance his medication, diet and conditioning routine and cost him the entire second half of the season. Despite a dozen chances to supplant Woods as No. 1 in the world, he came away empty-handed.</p>\n                <p>Somewhere in the middle of that slide, Mickelson talked candidly about how hard it was to concentrate fully on golf, an admission of vulnerability that only won him more fans and the kind of thing you would never hear from Woods. Long a fan favorite, after a victory in Houston last week, Mickelson came here as the betting favorite as well, a spot Woods owned the previous 12 years. Both Mickelson, currently ranked third, and Woods, seventh, could get the top spot in world rankings with a win here.</p>\n                <p>\"It would really mean a lot if he was No. 1 when I passed him,\" Mickelson said Tuesday in a pre-tournament interview. \"That would really be cool.</p>\n                <p>\"But he and I both,\" Mickelson added, \"have some work to do on our games.\"</p>\n                <p>The biggest change in Woods, outwardly at least, was hiring new swing coach Sean Foley. Signs of progress have been few and far between, which might explain why, when Woods rifled his tee shot into the rough right of the third fairway and arrived a few minutes behind it, half the spectators encircling his golf ball were emboldened enough to suggest how he should hit the next shot.</p>\n                <p>\"Punch out sideways,\" one called out.</p>\n                <p>\"Hit the stinger,\" another said.</p>\n                <p>Woods\' caddie, Steve Williams, fixed the crowd with a stare, asked for quiet and then patiently told a camera crew and spectators near the end of the clearing to move to one side or the other. Woods, meanwhile, tested how much hacksawing the bush behind him would allow, then hunkered down over the ball. He sent a low iron shot skidding back into the fairway and over the green, following it with a nifty wedge shot to set up a tap-in par. The rest of his day went much the same way — up and down.</p>\n                <p>Afterward, when someone asked Woods, \"Do you walk away thinking what could have been?\" he blinked.</p>\n                <p>\"No,\" Woods replied. \"I\'m very pleased. I\'m right there in the ballgame. I\'m only six back and as I said, we\'ve got a lot of golf left.\"</p>\n                <p>Pushing the same theme, another reporter asked, \"What do you do when putts don\'t go in? Do you go to the practice green and work on it?\"\n</p><p>\n\"Today is one of those days where I hit beautiful putts,\" Woods said. \"I was hitting my lines and they just weren\'t going in. That\'s fine. It\'s not like I was pulling or blocking it. I felt real comfortable today.\"\n</p><p>\nDozens of other guys came off Augusta National on Thursday and said almost the same thing. None was as good, or likely will be as good, as Tiger Woods was once. It seems fair to start asking whether Woods will ever be that good again, too.\n</p><p>\n___\n</p><p>\nJim Litke is a national sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at jlitke(at)ap.org</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Golf no longer Tiger and everybody else   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_jim_litke040711\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_jim_litke040711</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 03:41:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 03:41:00','2011-04-09 06:12:14','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(860,'NFL, players disagree on who should oversee talks   (AP)','nfl-players-disagree-on-who-should-oversee-talks-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_nfl_labor\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110406/capt.893a51035be84b79b35bf7c8f001bdb2-893a51035be84b79b35bf7c8f001bdb2-0.jpg?x=95&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=F7NfUVhLEUldDGyI2D_VsQ--\" height=\"130\" width=\"95\" alt=\"NFL, players disagree on who should oversee talks   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - A day after the judge handling the NFL lockout lawsuit urged the sides to go \"back to the table,\" the players and owners both expressed a willingness to do so. The hitch: Each offered to meet for talks in a setting the other finds unpalatable.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>WASHINGTON – A day after the judge handling the NFL lockout lawsuit urged the sides to go \"back to the table,\" the players and owners both expressed a willingness to do so. The hitch: Each offered to meet for talks in a setting the other finds unpalatable.</p>\n                <p>A lawyer representing MVP quarterbacks Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and other players suing the NFL wrote U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson on Thursday to say they\'re willing to engage in mediation overseen by her federal court in St. Paul, Minn.</p>\n                <p>And NFL executive vice president Jeffrey Pash sent a letter Thursday to another lawyer representing players, James Quinn, with a copy going to Nelson, proposing to resume talks about 1,000 miles from her courthouse — instead returning to the Washington office of federal mediator George Cohen.</p>\n                <p>Since filing suit in Minnesota on March 11, the players repeatedly have said they only are interested in meeting with the league to discuss settling the litigation. And since the lockout began at midnight later that night, the NFL repeatedly has said it only is interested in returning to mediated bargaining.</p>\n                <p>So Thursday\'s flurry of letters doesn\'t really represent meaningful progress. There were more, too, including a message to Nelson from NFL outside counsel David Boies that referred to a conference call with the court Friday \"to discuss mediation.\"</p>\n                <p>Boies also wrote: \"The purpose of the mediation would be to negotiate a settlement not only of the issues raised in the complaints, but also the many other issues that must be resolved to permit the upcoming season to be played and for the league to operate effectively.\"</p>\n                <p>In his letter to Quinn, the NFL\'s Pash said: \"We are prepared to resume discussions as promptly as possible and to have significant ownership involvement in those discussions. Our thought would be to resume discussions under the auspices of George Cohen and his colleagues at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. After spending the better part of three weeks with us, they know the issues, they know the parties, and I think we all agree that they were effective at getting both sides to look openly at each other\'s positions and try to find solutions.\"</p>\n                <p>Pash also told Quinn: \"We understand that you will want appropriate assurances that the players will not compromise any legal position as a result of entering into those discussions. We are prepared to give reasonable and appropriate assurances to that effect.\"</p>\n                <p>Cohen mediated 16 days of negotiations in February and March that failed to result in a new collective bargaining agreement, and the old one expired. The union dissolved itself, saying it no longer represented players in bargaining under labor law, which allowed them to sue the league under antitrust law. Owners locked out the players, creating the NFL\'s first work stoppage since 1987.</p>\n                <p>Boies referred to the \"head start over any other potential mediator\" that Cohen would have, and added, \"We cannot see any reason to start back at square one with a different mediator.\"</p>\n                <p>Quinn, meanwhile, replied to Pash by saying: \"Your invitation to \'resume\' discussions in front of Mr. Cohen makes no sense as collective bargaining between the NFLPA and the NFL is over.\"</p>\n                <p>During Wednesday\'s hearing in St. Paul on the players\' request for a preliminary injunction that would lift the lockout, Nelson recommended court-supervised talks, saying such negotiations should take place at \"not the players\' table, not the league\'s table, but a neutral table, if you will.\"</p>\n                <p>\"This is really a matter that should be resolved as soon as possible,\" added Nelson, who said she would take \"a couple of weeks\" to rule on the players\' bid for an injunction.</p>\n                <p>Nelson said she \"would be glad to facilitate\" negotiations, if the sides were interested.</p>\n                <p>\"As class counsel on behalf of the Brady class, we think this is an excellent suggestion and are prepared to engage in such mediation without delay,\" an attorney for the players, Barbara Berens, wrote to Nelson on Thursday. \"Our agreement is, of course, contingent on the NFL defendants\' agreement that they will not attempt to use this, our willingness to mediate, against the Brady class in some way, for example by arguing that such mediation efforts constitute \'collective bargaining\' or otherwise arise out of a \'labor relationship.\'\"</p>\n                <p>Also Thursday, Nelson received yet another letter accepting her offer of facilitating mediation — this one from a lawyer representing Hall of Famer Carl Eller and other retired players whose case was combined with the Brady case.</p>\n                <p>___</p>\n                <p>AP Sports Writer Dave Campbell in Minnesota contributed to this report.</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"NFL, players disagree on who should oversee talks   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_nfl_labor\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_nfl_labor</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-07 22:04:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 22:04:00','2011-04-09 06:12:15','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(861,'Jets\' Ainge tackling life as recovering addict   (AP)','jets-ainge-tackling-life-as-recovering-addict-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_jets_ainge_s_recovery\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.61e26549ef83475189595a25c0679e56-61e26549ef83475189595a25c0679e56-0.jpg?x=89&amp;y=130&amp;q=85&amp;sig=pNPQvxdGU6uCAMI.PhcN9g--\" height=\"130\" width=\"89\" alt=\"Jets\' Ainge tackling life as recovering addict   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Erik Ainge glances at his wrists whenever he needs a quick pick-me-up during recovery from his painful past.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>WELLESLEY, Mass. – Erik Ainge glances at his wrists whenever he needs a quick pick-me-up during recovery from his painful past.</p>\n                <p>Tattooed in black ink on the inside of the New York Jets backup quarterback\'s left wrist are a series of comforting letters: O.D.A.T., T.T.S.P. and J.F.T.</p>\n                <p>\"The first is \'One Day At A Time,\'\" Ainge explained while sticking out his left hand. \"The others are \'This Too Shall Pass\' and \'Just For Today.\'\"</p>\n                <p>Ainge then showed his right wrist, which has \"Romans 3:23\" on it — \"For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God\" — along with the date 4-1-2009, the first time Ainge tried to beat the addictions that nearly killed him.</p>\n                <p>\"They\'re all true,\" he said of the tattoos, \"and they help me.\"</p>\n                <p>Ainge has been on a tumultuous journey — marked by years of drug and alcohol abuse — that has taken him from high school star in Oregon to big man on campus at the University of Tennessee and all the way to the NFL as a fifth-round draft pick.</p>\n                <p>But now, he\'s here: A recovering drug addict with bipolar disorder and a surgically repaired foot, trying to rebuild his once-shattered life under the roof of his famous uncle, Danny Ainge.</p>\n                <p>\"I\'m learning how to be a new person,\" said Ainge, who recently met with The Associated Press for a day-long interview in the Boston area. \"People who only knew me as the old Erik would be like, \'Who is this person?\'\"</p>\n                <p>The 24-year-old Ainge told the world exactly who he is in a candid first-person account last week for ESPNNewYork.com, opening the nearly 2,000-word piece with the sentence:</p>\n                <p>\"I\'m a drug addict.\"</p>\n                <p>Ainge spent last season on the Jets\' reserve/did not report list while rehabbing his foot. That came two years after being suspended four games by the NFL for violating the league\'s policy on steroids and related substances. In his piece, Ainge detailed his struggle with drugs and alcohol since he was 12. He said he overdosed \"several\" times and abused prescription medications, cocaine, heroin, marijuana and alcohol. He also revealed he\'s dealing with rapid cycling bipolar disorder.</p>\n                <p>\"The first reason I did it was for me,\" said Ainge, who has been sober for nearly nine months. \"It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders to get everything out there. I also wanted to help people.\"</p>\n                <p>Ainge gets up at 6:15 each morning, jumps into his burgundy 1999 Yukon Denali — the one he\'s had since college with nearly 139,000 miles on it — and picks up his sponsor for their 7 a.m. Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.</p>\n                <p>Every day, without fail.</p>\n                <p>\"He\'s just displayed a willingness to do what it takes to change the person he was, which is huge,\" said Ainge\'s sponsor, Jay Punch, a 33-year-old resident of Natick. \"It doesn\'t matter who you are. This disease wants you dead.</p>\n                <p>\"The first part I thought I\'d have to work with him on was sort of letting go of his prior life and coming to grips with what happened, but that hasn\'t been a problem at all.\"</p>\n                <p>There are no visible traces of Ainge\'s playing days at Tennessee or with the Jets in the guest bedroom at Danny Ainge\'s home, which is nestled in the quiet town of Wellesley. The room looks like that of most 24-year-old single guys — with some clothes scattered among DVDs and CDs — except for the soothing pictures of pink roses hung on the wall.</p>\n                <p>He ended up there after starting his recovery last summer at McLean Hospital in Belmont, and then going to a halfway house in the same part of town. Eager to stay in the area because of the progress he was making with his therapists, he spent two weeks mustering up the courage to ask his uncle if he could stay with them.\n</p><p>\nDanny Ainge, the general manager of the Boston Celtics, his wife, Michelle, and their teenage sons Cooper and Crew welcomed him six months ago with open arms.\n</p><p>\n\"I\'m a literally crazy, tatted-up drug addict,\" said Erik Ainge, who hasn\'t trimmed his hair since rehab; his once close-shaved head covered by neck-length locks. \"I\'m a nice guy, charismatic, polite, but if you just wrote down on paper what\'s wrong with me, I could see someone not wanting me to live in their house. They had no hesitation.\"\n</p><p>\nAinge feels happy these days, something he can\'t remember experiencing during the last several years. The drug abuse was a big reason for his despondency, but so was the bipolar disorder, which was recently diagnosed and is treated with mood stabilizers.\n</p><p>\n\"I just felt like a crazy person,\" he said. \"I wasn\'t educated enough to know that I was bipolar, but I just felt different. When I\'d look in the mirror, I felt ashamed. I felt like there was something wrong with me.\"\n</p><p>\nThe hour-long therapy sessions with his psychiatrist three days a week have helped. So have the Narcotics Anonymous meetings, three nights a week.\n</p><p>\n\"The way I was living, I\'d have been dead at 26,\" he said. \"Do you know how freeing that is to be sitting here saying that? It\'s like I\'m living a new life, literally. I can say that. I\'ve overdosed. I\'ve looked at death.\"\n</p><p>\nThat\'s why he gets a kick out of simply jumping in his truck and cranking some of his favorite bands — Soundgarden, Audioslave, Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against The Machine, to name a few — and cruising around town.\n</p><p>\n\"I love that, man,\" he said. \"It just makes me feel good everytime.\"\n</p><p>\nKind of the way his one-hour physical therapy sessions do. Ainge had a stress fracture in his right foot since high school that never properly healed. He had surgery to put two screws in his navicular bone in January and hobbles around in a bulky, black walking boot — something he\'ll have to wear for at least a few more weeks.\n</p><p>\nAinge goes to therapy three times a week in Waltham, Mass., where his therapist, Sean Rollo, vigorously rubs the foot, ankle and calf and uses ice and heat treatments.\n</p><p>\n\"I literally dream about this massage,\" Ainge said while sprawled on a table a few feet away from a poster that features the 1980s Celtics with Ainge\'s uncle, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish and Dennis Johnson.\n</p><p>\nWhile Danny Ainge might not be able to walk anywhere in the Boston area without being recognized, Erik zips around town in relative anonymity. His 6-foot-5 frame stands out, but he gets more second glances because of his appearance last year in the movie \"Jackass 3D\" than for his football accomplishments.\n</p><p>\n\"I\'ve gotten about 10 of those in the last month,\" he said, laughing. \"I love it.\"\n</p><p>\nThen, there are those who simply know him as one of the neighborhood regulars, like the guys at Deluxe Pizza in Wellesley.\n</p><p>\n\"Hello, my friend,\" one shouted to Ainge as he walked in. \"Good to see you.\"\n</p><p>\nStarbucks coffee. Pastrami sandwiches. Hard rock. Celtics games. These are the little things Ainge enjoys now.\n</p><p>\nHe\'s still under contract with the Jets for another year, but has no idea whether he\'ll play again — and that\'s of no concern to him right now. The Jets wouldn\'t speculate on Ainge\'s future with the team, and couldn\'t comment on his drug and alcohol abuse, citing the confidentiality of the league\'s steroid and substance-abuse policy.\n</p><p>\n\"If football started tomorrow, I really don\'t know if I\'d be able to show up,\" said Ainge, who will consider himself a Jet until the team tells him otherwise. \"If it started in six months or a year, maybe I would. I don\'t know.\"\n</p><p>\nTruth is, Ainge isn\'t focused on who he used to be, but rather on who he hopes to become.\n</p><p>\n\"With all the things I accomplished, think of how amazing I could\'ve been if I would\'ve kept on the straight and narrow path and done things right,\" he said. \"I don\'t lose sleep over that and I don\'t have regrets. Life\'s about what you do with what happens and I\'m making those decisions now.\n</p><p>\n\"I am a drug addict, went to rehab and am living in Boston. Now, what am I going to do about it? I\'m living that right now, and so far, so good.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Jets\' Ainge tackling life as recovering addict   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_jets_ainge_s_recovery\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_jets_ainge_s_recovery</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 04:15:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:15:00','2011-04-09 06:12:16','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(862,'LAPD blue along with Dodger blue at Dodger Stadium   (AP)','lapd-blue-along-with-dodger-blue-at-dodger-stadium-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ot/us_giants_fan_attacked\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110406/capt.8a8d730d2b084551815ef3c52dacaf9e-8a8d730d2b084551815ef3c52dacaf9e-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=97&amp;q=85&amp;sig=PeVweLgTDuoFYPTYJhavTw--\" height=\"97\" width=\"130\" alt=\"LAPD blue along with Dodger blue at Dodger Stadium   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Los Angeles officials say they\'ll do whatever it takes to make sure baseball fans are safe at Dodger Stadium after a savage beating at the season opener that left a San Francisco Giants fan with brain damage.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles officials say they\'ll do whatever it takes to make sure baseball fans are safe at Dodger Stadium after a savage beating at the season opener that left a San Francisco Giants fan with brain damage.</p>\n                <p>Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck and Dodgers owner Frank McCourt are scheduled to hold a news conference Friday to announce new security measures that will be implemented at the stadium, the mayor\'s office said in a statement.</p>\n                <p>Police Chief Charlie Beck says there\'s going \"going to see a sea of blue, but it\'s not going to be Dodgers blue. It\'s going to be LAPD blue.\"</p>\n                <p>A 42-year-old man remains in critical condition after he was attacked last week by two men wearing Dodgers attire in the stadium parking lot because he was wearing a Giants jersey.</p>\n                <p>Officials scrambled to keep the incident from damaging the city\'s image and to prevent further outbreaks of violence between fans.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"LAPD blue along with Dodger blue at Dodger Stadium   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ot/us_giants_fan_attacked\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ot/us_giants_fan_attacked</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 04:40:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:40:00','2011-04-09 06:12:17','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(863,'Bulls trample Celtics in home race   (Reuters)','bulls-trample-celtics-in-home-race-reuters','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/sp_nm/us_nba_bulls\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/rids/20110408/i/r218626437.jpg?x=130&amp;y=94&amp;q=85&amp;sig=49zNsPW7qFWvnUGbebEK4w--\" height=\"94\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Bulls trample Celtics in home race   (Reuters)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>Reuters - The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 97-81 on Thursday to open a four-game lead at the top of the Eastern Conference and move to within one victory of clinching home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>CHICAGO (Reuters) – The Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 97-81 on Thursday to open a four-game lead at the top of the Eastern Conference and move to within one victory of clinching home-court advantage throughout the NBA playoffs.</p>\n                <p>\nChicago (58-20), winners of 17 of their last 19 games, closed out the third quarter with an 11-4 run to pull away from the Celtics (54-24).</p>\n                <p>\n\"This meant a lot because you\'re going against a team you could see in the playoffs,\" Bulls guard Derrick Rose told reporters after scoring a game-high 30 points.</p>\n                <p>\n\"You don\'t want those teams to have confidence. We were aggressive. That\'s the way it\'s going to be. We\'re a tough team. We grind wins out.\"</p>\n                <p>\nThe Bulls allowed the Celtics just four field goals in the fourth quarter and, with just four games remaining, Chicago look like genuine title contenders.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I just thought they were far more physical, tougher, more prepared, which is on me,\" said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. \"I thought Thibs (Chicago coach Tom Thibodeau) did a better job.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I thought (Carlos) Boozer did a better job, I thought Derrick Rose did a better job. I just thought overall they just competed far better than us tonight.\"</p>\n                <p>\nMVP candidate Rose added eight assists for the Bulls and Luol Deng scored 18 of his 23 points in the second half.</p>\n                <p>\nThe Celtics were led by Paul Pierce with 15 points while Kevin Garnett scored 10 and Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen were limited to seven each.</p>\n                <p>\n(Reporting by Mike Mouat in Windsor, Ontario; Editing by Alastair Himmer)</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Bulls trample Celtics in home race   (Reuters)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/sp_nm/us_nba_bulls\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110408/sp_nm/us_nba_bulls</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 02:21:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 02:21:00','2011-04-09 06:12:18','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(864,'Winnett, Hunwick send Michigan past North Dakota   (AP)','winnett-hunwick-send-michigan-past-north-dakota-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/hkc_ncaa_north_dakota_michigan\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110408/capt.609704824f0e4aed81e34cdb2bbefc75-609704824f0e4aed81e34cdb2bbefc75-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=111&amp;q=85&amp;sig=Ptl78u0yzY8.y2X7hkvoqA--\" height=\"111\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Winnett, Hunwick send Michigan past North Dakota   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Michigan didn\'t back down from North Dakota\'s normally dominant attack, and goalie Kevin Hunwick did everything but stand on his head.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>ST. PAUL, Minn. – Michigan didn\'t back down from North Dakota\'s normally dominant attack, and goalie Kevin Hunwick did everything but stand on his head.</p>\n                <p>Now the Wolverines will play for the national title the Fighting Sioux wanted so badly.</p>\n                <p>Ben Winnett\'s first-period goal gave defensive-minded Michigan an early edge and Hunwick made 40 saves for his fourth shutout this season in a 2-0 victory over North Dakota on Thursday night in the NCAA semifinals.</p>\n                <p>\"I was pretty confident. I think I\'d rather be in a game like that than seeing 15 shots against,\" Hunwick said.</p>\n                <p>Scooter Vaughan added an empty-netter with 35.8 seconds left, and the Wolverines (29-10-4) will meet Minnesota Duluth on Saturday. The Bulldogs beat Notre Dame 4-3 in the other semifinal at Xcel Energy Center, the home of the NHL\'s Minnesota Wild.</p>\n                <p>\"I think we outplayed their top players,\" said Winnett, who with linemates Matt Rust and Luke Glendening harassed Sioux star Matt Frattin and his friends Evan Trupp and Brad Malone all night.</p>\n                <p>The Fighting Sioux (32-9-3) saw their 15-game unbeaten streak end in crushing fashion.</p>\n                <p>\"To not win a national championship is heartbreaking,\" said defenseman Derrick LaPoint, one of six seniors who stuck together for four years instead of turning pro. They saw their college careers come to a sudden end after becoming the popular pick to win it all by beating Rensselaer and Denver with a combined 12-1 score last weekend at the regionals.</p>\n                <p>The game was extra-physical, particularly in the first period while the Wolverines used their rugged, disciplined defense to set a sharp tone that persisted throughout the night. Sioux forward Brock Nelson slammed into the boards so hard after a hard check by Glendening that he left on a stretcher and went to a hospital as a precaution with what the team called a lower-body injury.</p>\n                <p>\"We all have that mindset that we want to block every shot,\" said Michigan captain Carl Hagelin.</p>\n                <p>With two-dozen NHL draft picks between the teams, this was a classic matchup of college hockey powers. Michigan\'s 34 NCAA tournament appearances, 24 Frozen Four trips and nine national championships are the most of any school. North Dakota has seven titles, tied with Denver for second place.</p>\n                <p>Though both teams made it to the Frozen Four in 2008 and coach Dave Hakstol has led the Fighting Sioux to the national semifinals five times in seven seasons, the success in the last decade hasn\'t been as frequent — at least by their standards — for either side.</p>\n                <p>Michigan\'s last title was 1998. North Dakota\'s was 2000.</p>\n                <p>The crowd — announced as a standing-room sellout of 19,139 customers — was awash in bright green and white shirts and jerseys to give North Dakota a noisy advantage with a steady serenade of pro-Sioux chants. The campus in Grand Forks is a five-hour drive from St. Paul, where North Dakota won the Western Collegiate Hockey Association playoff championship last month.</p>\n                <p>The only remaining No. 1 seed in the tournament and the second-highest scoring team in the nation at 4.14 goals per game, the star-studded Sioux generated plenty of quality chances to score but were out of control at times, particularly on the power play. Hunwick made huge save after huge save, seeming to frustrate the North Dakota skaters.</p>\n                <p>There were plenty of loud groans from the green-clad fans, sharing that angst.</p>\n                <p>Winnett gave the Wolverines the lead when he grabbed his own rebound in the slot and zipped it past North Dakota goalie Aaron Dell from the right circle just 6:34 into the game, Winnett\'s first goal since late December.</p>\n                <p>Hunwick, who took over as the starter on Dec. 11, has anchored a stout back-end unit. The Wolverines led the Central Collegiate Hockey Association in scoring defense, and Hunwick\'s goals-against average was 1.95 in league play. He had a run of 43 straight saves in the regional last weekend and is 20-5 this season.\n</p><p>\nFrattin made a nifty wrist pass to captain Chad Genoway in the second period, but his slot shot was swatted away by Hunwick, one of seven Wolverines seniors who actually started their college careers on this same ice in October 2007 when they played in a mini-tournament hosted by Minnesota.\n</p><p>\nNorth Dakota had a fourth power play midway through the third period, managing only one shot, and that was from the blue line. Michigan has killed 16 of 17 penalties in the NCAA tournament so far.\n</p><p>\nDell was pulled with 1:12 left, giving the Sioux an extra skater, but they couldn\'t punch one in and Vaughan sealed it a few seconds later.\n</p><p>\n\"I don\'t know if I had to make a save once they pulled their goalie,\" Hunwick said. \"Guys were diving around like crazy.\"\n</p><p>\nHakstol spoke sternly, insisting the Sioux weren\'t worried about wearing the favorite label and only focused on their own lofty expectations.\n</p><p>\n\"Just going to be brutally honest: I don\'t think anyone in our locker room considered the option of losing. Period,\" Hakstol said.\n</p><p>\nFrom the coach to the players, the Sioux were adamant that they weren\'t frustrated at any point, even if their performance suggested otherwise. Hakstol said he didn\'t see \"one second\" when doubt crept in for his team.\n</p><p>\n\"Everybody was loose. Everybody felt comfortable all night,\" LaPoint said. \"There was nobody gripping their sticks too tight.\"\n</p><p>\nRed Berenson, the stone-faced, raspy-voiced veteran of 27 seasons in charge of the Wolverines, was sympathetic toward the Sioux. He said they reminded him of his 1997 squad, a heavy favorite that lost in the semifinals to Boston College.\n</p><p>\n\"They\'ve got to be stunned. I know we were,\" Berenson said, adding: \"They\'re a better team. There\'s no way we can match up with them, but in one game can you win that game? Absolutely.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Winnett, Hunwick send Michigan past North Dakota   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/hkc_ncaa_north_dakota_michigan\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_co_ga_su/hkc_ncaa_north_dakota_michigan</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 00:28:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 00:28:00','2011-04-09 06:12:19','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(865,'Sinkewitz \'B\' sample tests positive for doping   (AFP)','sinkewitz-b-sample-tests-positive-for-doping-afp','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/sp_wl_afp/cyclinggersinkewitzdoping\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110407/capt.photo_1302204782770-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=96&amp;q=85&amp;sig=t26Fdz8RdSsYzZ7EuaKOYg--\" height=\"96\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Sinkewitz \'B\' sample tests positive for doping   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AFP - The \'B\' sample of blood collected during a race in February from banned German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz has tested positive for the growth hormone.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>BERLIN (AFP) – The \'B\' sample of blood collected during a race in February from banned German cyclist Patrik Sinkewitz has tested positive for the growth hormone.</p>\n                <p>\nSinkewitz said on his own website that he was innocent and \"ready to prove it\".</p>\n                <p>\nGrowth hormone showed up in tests of a blood sample taken from Sinkewitz at the GP di Lugano on February 27, leading to a provisional ban by the International Cycling Union.</p>\n                <p>\nSinkewitz had already been banned for a year after he tested positive for testosterone on June 8, 2007.</p>\n                <p>\nA former Tour of Germany winner, Sinkewitz was sacked by his team T-Mobile during the 2007 Tour after the failed test and he later admitted using blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO) and having undergone blood transfusions.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Sinkewitz \'B\' sample tests positive for doping   (AFP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/sp_wl_afp/cyclinggersinkewitzdoping\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110407/sp_wl_afp/cyclinggersinkewitzdoping</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-07 15:34:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 15:34:00','2011-04-09 06:12:20','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(866,'Flyers reeling as they head into playoffs   (AP)','flyers-reeling-as-they-head-into-playoffs-ap','','AP - The Flyers lost their grip on the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>PHILADELPHIA – The Flyers lost their grip on the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference.</p>\n                <p>The coach wants passion.</p>\n                <p>The general manager wants a wake-up call.</p>\n                <p>The team wants good health and strong play in the final two games of the season that will prove it is still the team to beat in the East.</p>\n                <p>Time is running out for the Flyers to show all of that.</p>\n                <p>Philadelphia hopes it hasn\'t completely abandoned its winning formula before the first postseason faceoff next week. The Flyers could get a sneak preview Friday in Buffalo against a Sabres team that stands as their likely first-round opponent. The Flyers are second in the East, and have all but lost their shot at winning the conference.</p>\n                <p>Meanwhile, the late-season swoon allowed Washington to grab the top spot in the East. The Capitals have won four straight games and can drop out of first only if they lose in regulation to Florida on Saturday and if the Flyers win their final two games.</p>\n                <p>Win two? Well, for starters, the Flyers want just one.</p>\n                <p>Philadelphia fell hard down the stretch and is on a four-game losing streak. Even worse, the Flyers have lost six straight on their usually intimidating home ice.</p>\n                <p>\"We\'ve been waiting for eight months to get to the playoffs,\" forward Scott Hartnell said. \"Seven months out of those eight, we\'ve been great. This last month, we\'ve not been great. Maybe it\'s a lull before we get jacked up again.\"</p>\n                <p>The Flyers ended last season losers of eight of 12, but turned the corner in the playoffs and reached Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals before losing to Chicago.</p>\n                <p>The Flyers can still win the Atlantic Division and finish in second. Philadelphia trails Washington by four points in the standings (107-103), but leads Pittsburgh in the Atlantic by a point. If the Flyers win the division, they\'ll automatically earn a top-three seed.</p>\n                <p>Both teams have two games left and Philadelphia has already clinched the first tiebreaker (non-shootout wins). But a No. 1 seed that seemed like an empty-net situation at the start of the month has twisted into a 3-on-5 disadvantage.</p>\n                <p>\"It\'s hard to sit here,\" coach Peter Laviolette said, \"and make excuses for it.\"</p>\n                <p>Laviolette has help on the way, though. All-Star forward Danny Briere (63 points) could play Friday despite his lower-body injury. And defenseman Chris Pronger is day to day with a broken right hand. Pronger, perhaps Philadelphia\'s most valuable defenseman, expects to return for the postseason.</p>\n                <p>Pronger was hurt on Feb. 24 against the New York Islanders when his hand was struck with a puck. The Flyers started a four-game losing streak the next game and haven\'t been the same since he went down.</p>\n                <p>But GM Paul Holmgren, a former Flyer, doesn\'t want excuses. Holmgren, who didn\'t get into details about a team meeting he called, wants the Flyers out of their funk — now.</p>\n                <p>Pronger does, too.\n</p><p>\n\"It\'s always good to talk about what needs to be done, but talk is cheap,\" Pronger said. \"We\'ve got to go out and prove it on the ice.\"\n</p><p>\nMaybe a trip to Buffalo can start the turnaround. The Flyers have already set a team record this season with 25 road wins. They won only 21 times at the Wells Fargo Center and finish the season there Saturday.\n</p><p>\nLaviolette, who led the Carolina Hurricanes to a Stanley Cup championship, has implored the Flyers to ratchet up their speed, their passion, more of the intangibles that he says are \"what makes us great.\"\n</p><p>\n\"We need to do it,\" he said. \"We need to be better at that.\"\n</p><p>\nLaviolette is sure of one thing for the postseason. Well, at least for Game 1: His goalie. He named rookie Sergei Bobrovsky the postseason starter this week ahead of Brian Boucher. The Flyers also bolstered their depth in net on Wednesday, when they recalled Michael Leighton, last year\'s postseason star, from the minor leagues.\n</p><p>\nBobrovsky has 28 wins, a .917 save percentage and a 2.51 goals-against average. He\'s done it all except earn a shutout. Oddly enough, the Flyers have yet to shut out a single team this season.\n</p><p>\nThe Flyers scored only six goals on this skid, but still have plenty of firepower. Jeff Carter leads with 36 goals and Briere has 32. Six other players have at least 20.\n</p><p>\nThe biggest spark for a deep postseason run might end up being Holmgren\'s speech. The reality is, though, it will take more than words for the Flyers to win a championship.\n</p><p>\n\"I think it needed to be done. But, at the same time, it is time to stop talking and start acting it out on the ice,\" Briere said. \"There were lots of little things that needed to be said. That\'s step one. Step two is to finish it strong. And step three will be to start the playoffs.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Flyers reeling as they head into playoffs   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ho_ne/hkn_flyers_slide\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_ho_ne/hkn_flyers_slide</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 04:14:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 04:14:00','2011-04-09 06:12:21','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(867,'Mardy Fish advances at Houston ATP event   (AFP)','mardy-fish-advances-at-houston-atp-event-afp','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/sp_afp/tennisatpusa\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20110408/capt.photo_1302233997533-1-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=86&amp;q=85&amp;sig=MHJ436oxgoH7aHTuXVqCsQ--\" height=\"86\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Mardy Fish advances at Houston ATP event   (AFP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AFP - Mardy Fish made a victorious debut as America\'s top-ranked men\'s tennis player, defeating Albert Ramos in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the US Clay Court Championships.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>HOUSTON, Texas (AFP) – Mardy Fish made a victorious debut as America\'s top-ranked men\'s tennis player, defeating Albert Ramos in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the US Clay Court Championships.</p>\n                <p>\nFish, the top seed in this $442,500 ATP event, on Thursday defeated Ramos 6-3, 6-4, turning back a late charge that saw the Spaniard pull back from 5-1 down in the second set to 5-4.</p>\n                <p>\n\"Naturally, you think, 6-3, 5-1 and you figure the finish line is pretty close. You\'ve got to keep your foot on the gas a little more,\" said Fish, who had a first-round bye. \"But he played better at the end. He has nothing to lose at that point. We\'ve all been there.\"</p>\n                <p>\nFish, who won this title in 2006, arrived in Houston ranked 11th in the world after reaching the semi-finals of the Miami Masters last week.</p>\n                <p>\nWith Andy Roddick\'s fall from eighth to 14th, Fish is the top-ranked US man for the first time in his career.</p>\n                <p>\nBut Fish admitted he found it difficult to make the transition from the Miami hard courts to clay.</p>\n                <p>\n\"You forget how physical it is and how patient you have to be and how points don\'t just end as quickly as they do on hard courts,\" he said. \"You walk off any time with a win on clay court and you are pretty satisfied.\"</p>\n                <p>\nFish will face sixth-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan on Friday.</p>\n                <p>\nNishikori beat Igor Andreev of Russia 6-3, 6-3.</p>\n                <p>\nThird-seeded Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain also reached the quarter-finals, overcoming five double-faults in a 6-4, 6-1 victory over India\'s Somdev Devvarman.</p>\n                <p>\n\"I played pretty consistent and it was a solid match for my first time on clay this year,\" Garcia-Lopez said. \"Overall, I am happy with the start. I look forward to the quarter-finals.\"</p>\n                <p>\nSeventh-seeded Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay cruised to a 7-5, 6-1 victory over American James Blake. Cuevas, who defeated Roddick in Miami, had six aces as he dominated the second set.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Mardy Fish advances at Houston ATP event   (AFP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/sp_afp/tennisatpusa\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110408/sp_afp/tennisatpusa</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-07 23:40:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-07 23:40:00','2011-04-09 06:12:22','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(868,'Shopping one day, leading the Masters the next   (AP)','shopping-one-day-leading-the-masters-the-next-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_masters_roaring_rory\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110407/capt.025bed8013f74124ba532cb35e289843-025bed8013f74124ba532cb35e289843-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=80&amp;q=85&amp;sig=OFNLhBWFI0Jhi_XzjmFJFg--\" height=\"80\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Shopping one day, leading the Masters the next   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - Rory McIlroy and his buddies bought a football Wednesday night, and decided to test it out in the mall parking lot.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>AUGUSTA, Ga. – Rory McIlroy and his buddies bought a football Wednesday night, and decided to test it out in the mall parking lot.</p>\n                <p>Guess who was watching?</p>\n                <p>\"By accident,\" Alvaro Quiros said. \"I was watching Rory play with a rugby ball with his friends. Did he tell you that? He was doing terrible.\"</p>\n                <p>McIlroy is much better with his golf clubs, as he showed Thursday by shooting a 7-under 65 in the first round of the Masters. A few hours later, Quiros had joined him again — this time atop the leaderboard at Augusta National.</p>\n                <p>\"My target tomorrow is to make the cut,\" Quiros said. \"It would be stupid to think I can shoot 65 again because it\'s not my way. As I said before, 75 was my best round here. It could be just one good round of golf.\"</p>\n                <p>For McIlroy, it could be something bigger.</p>\n                <p>The 21-year-old from Northern Ireland is the leader of golf\'s version of the Brat Pack, a group of kids with big games and even more moxie. He turned pro in 2007, earned his European card without going to Q-school and broke into the top 10 in the world all before he turned 21.</p>\n                <p>He tied a major championship record by opening with a 63 at St. Andrews in last year\'s British Open, and has tied for third at three of the last five majors, including the last two.</p>\n                <p>\"I seem to play well in the big occasion,\" McIlroy said. \"I always feel that I have the game to win. It\'s just the extra 2 percent here and there that makes the difference. Those are the sort of things I\'ve been working on this year. ... But I feel as if I\'ve shot good enough rounds in the majors and I\'ve played well enough to believe in myself and believe that I can win a major.\"</p>\n                <p>To do so, he\'ll have to avoid a meltdown — similar to the one he had at St. Andrews. He followed his record round with an 80 that dropped him out of contention, and pouted his way around the course like a petulant teenager. He rolled his eyes after bad shots, scuffed his shoes and slumped his shoulders.</p>\n                <p>If there had been a door to slam somewhere on the Old Course, he probably would have done that, too.</p>\n                <p>\"Obviously, at the time I was very disappointed. But looking back on it, it was a very valuable lesson in my development as a golfer,\" McIlroy said. \"It\'s possible that I can go out and shoot another 65, but I know that it\'s also very likely that I\'m not going to do that. So if I do find myself in a bit of trouble, I\'m going to have to stick in there, grind it out.\"</p>\n                <p>Quiros\' plan is much simpler: Hit a good drive on No. 1, and go from there.</p>\n                <p>The 28-year-old Spaniard has five career victories on the European tour, but he came to Augusta National without any expectations. He played so poorly in his first two appearances here that he once thought maybe he couldn\'t play this course. When someone asked how he compared with two-time Masters champion Seve Ballesteros, Quiros said Ballesteros had the hands of an artist while he had the hands of a bricklayer.</p>\n                <p>\"The two previous years, I came to the Masters thinking that I can play well, shoot low. And this was my main mistake,\" Quiros said. \"It\'s a golf course. It\'s too tough. Every single situation has to be measured. I mean, the risk, the reward. And today, I was very happy making pars. This is why probably I shoot 65.</p>\n                <p>\"If I push myself to shoot 65 from the first tee, I tell you, probably it will be the same, 75, 76, like the previous years.\"</p>\n                <p>Quiros\' round was even more surprising considering it was his very first round with his new caddie.</p>\n                <p>Since winning the Dubai Desert Classic, Quiros has failed to finish better than 33rd.\n</p><p>\n\"It\'s like in soccer, or in football. When a team is playing bad, you cannot change the 22 players. The only thing that you can change is the coach, isn\'t it?\" Quiros said. \"In my case, it\'s the same. I cannot change myself. Well, I\'m trying to change myself, but it doesn\'t work.\"\n</p><p>\nWhatever he was doing Thursday worked. He had birdies on three of the last four holes to tie McIlroy.\n</p><p>\n\"I was talking with my caddie about it, walking the 18th hole. It looks like I was playing Sunday afternoon in the leading group,\" Quiros said. \"It was a very nice feeling because normally, I\'m watching this situation through the TV, sitting on my sofa.\"</p>\n            </div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Shopping one day, leading the Masters the next   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_masters_roaring_rory\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_go_ne/glf_masters_roaring_rory</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 03:43:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 03:43:00','2011-04-09 06:12:23','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(869,'Female boxer shot by stepdad before bout in Berlin   (AP)','female-boxer-shot-by-stepdad-before-bout-in-berlin-ap','','<p><a href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110403/ap_on_sp_bo_ne/box_female_boxer_shot\"><img src=\"http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20110403/capt.5ca09289befe42d7940b61591c3730dc-4afe9f9d827a4eba9a6ca10ac3eb3be8-0.jpg?x=130&amp;y=87&amp;q=85&amp;sig=nZoxQMKtYCDVqLfStf9fwQ--\" height=\"87\" width=\"130\" alt=\"Female boxer shot by stepdad before bout in Berlin   (AP)\" style=\"float: left; border: 0px;\" />\n</a>AP - An undefeated female boxer from Germany was shot in her dressing room by her stepfather before a title fight, leaving her with injuries to her hand, knee and feet.</p><br style=\"clear: both;\" />','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>BERLIN – An undefeated female boxer from Germany was shot in her dressing room by her stepfather before a title fight, leaving her with injuries to her hand, knee and feet.</p>\n                <p>Rola El-Halabi was struck at close range by a man who was once her manager. The injuries to the 25-year-old boxer are not life-threatening but could imperil her career.</p>\n                <p>El-Halabi was awaiting a bout with Irma Balijagic Adler of Bosnia for the vacant IBF lightweight title Friday night when her 44-year-old stepfather entered her dressing room and shot her.</p>\n                <p>He also shot two security guards before he was arrested, Berlin police said. The three victims were taken to a hospital for surgery.</p>\n                <p>Sunday\'s edition of the Bild newspaper identified the gunman as Roy El-Halabi and reported that 800 spectators were evacuated from the arena.</p>\n                <p>\"Papa rushed into the room,\" Rola El-Halabi told the newspaper. \"He threatened us with a gun in his hand and shouted \'Everyone out!\' And then he shot me in the hand from three meters. I cried and screamed.\"</p>\n                <p>Bild reported that El-Halabi split from her stepfather as a manager in January.</p>\n                <p>\"When I had problems I could talk with him about anything, except when it was about boys,\" El-Halabi said. \"That was taboo.\"</p>\n                <p>El-Halabi won the WIBF and WIBA world titles in 2009. She has an 11-0 record with six knockouts.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Female boxer shot by stepdad before bout in Berlin   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110403/ap_on_sp_bo_ne/box_female_boxer_shot\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110403/ap_on_sp_bo_ne/box_female_boxer_shot</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-03 16:06:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-03 16:06:00','2011-04-09 06:12:24','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),(870,'Red Bull\'s Webber fastest in Malaysia   (AP)','red-bulls-webber-fastest-in-malaysia-ap','','AP - Red Bull driver Mark Webber set the fastest time in practice sessions for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix, edging out McLaren\'s Jenson Button.','<div><div class=\"yn-story-content\">\n                <p>SEPANG, Malaysia – Red Bull driver Mark Webber set the fastest time in practice sessions for the Formula One Malaysian Grand Prix, edging out McLaren\'s Jenson Button.</p>\n                <p>Webber was just five-hundredths of a second quicker than Button, with McLaren\'s Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull\'s Sebastian Vettel both within a quarter of a second.</p>\n                <p>There was a gap between those drivers and the rest in the practice session Friday. Mercedes\' Michael Schumacher and Ferrari\'s Felipe Massa were fifth and sixth, respectively, on a humid but dry day at the Sepang circuit.</p>\n                <p>Renault had a troublesome day, losing plenty of running time after both of its cars suffered wheel and suspension failures in the morning practice run.</p>\n                <p>\n            </p></div></div><p><strong>Read more:</strong> <a class=\"rssreadon\" rel=\"external\" title=\"Red Bull\'s Webber fastest in Malaysia   (AP)\" href=\"http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ra_su/car_f1_malaysian_gp\" target=\"_blank\">http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110408/ap_on_sp_au_ra_ra_su/car_f1_malaysian_gp</a></p>',-2,5,0,39,'2011-04-08 05:22:00',62,'','0000-00-00 00:00:00',0,0,'0000-00-00 00:00:00','2011-04-08 05:22:00','2011-04-09 06:12:25','','','show_intro=0',1,0,0,'','',0,0,''),