JPMorgan traders may have sought to conceal losses

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon enters the company headquarters, Friday, July 13, 2012, in New York. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, said Friday that its loss from a highly publicized trading blunder had grown to $4.4 billion in the most recent quarter, more than double the bank's original estimate of $2 billion. (AP Photo/Jin Lee)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon enters the company headquarters, Friday, July 13, 2012, in New York. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, said Friday that its loss from a highly publicized trading blunder had grown to $4.4 billion in the most recent quarter, more than double the bank's original estimate of $2 billion. (AP Photo/Jin Lee)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, left, enters the company headquarters, Friday, July 13, 2012, in New York. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, said Friday that its loss from a highly publicized trading blunder had grown to $4.4 billion in the most recent quarter, more than double the bank's original estimate of $2 billion. (AP Photo/Jin Lee)

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon enter the company's headquarters in New York Friday, July 13, 2012. JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the United States, said Friday that its loss from a highly publicized trading blunder had grown to $4.4 billion in the most recent quarter, more than double the bank's original estimate of $2 billion. (AP Photo/Jin Lee)

FILE- In this Wednesday, June 13, 2012, file photo, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, head of the largest bank in the United States, testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington. All eyes will be on JPMorgan Chase on Friday, when it becomes the first U.S. bank to report financial results for April through June. The $2 billion trading loss by the largest U.S. bank rattled the company's stock price, triggered a U.S. government investigation and hurt both its reputation and that of CEO Jamie Dimon. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

(AP) ? JPMorgan Chase said Friday that its traders may have tried to conceal the losses from a soured bet that has embarrassed the bank and cost it almost $6 billion ? far more than its CEO first suggested.

The bank said an internal investigation had uncovered evidence that led executives to "question the integrity" of the values, or marks, that traders assigned to their trades.

JPMorgan also said that it planned to revoke two years' worth of pay from some of the senior managers involved in the bad bet, and that it had closed the division of the bank responsible for the mistake.

"This has shaken our company to the core," CEO Jamie Dimon said.

The bank said the loss, which Dimon estimated at $2 billion when he disclosed it in May, had grown to $5.8 billion, and could grow larger than $7 billion if financial markets deteriorate severely.

Dimon said the worst appeared to be behind the bank, and investors seemed to agree: They sent JPMorgan stock up 6 percent, making it the best performer in the Dow Jones industrial average.

Daniel Alpert, a founding managing partner with the New York investment bank Westwood Capital Partners LLC, said the bank and Dimon appeared to have learned from the crisis.

He said Dimon now realizes how complex and difficult to manage the bank is, will be more diligent in the future and probably won't be the crusader he has been against some proposed financial regulation.

"Did it cost shareholders a few bucks? Yup," he said. "But it was a non-horrible way of learning the lesson, in the sense that the entire institution didn't burn down, the lesson's been taught and Dimon seems ready to take it."

For his part, Dimon concluded: "We are not proud of this moment, but we are proud of our company."

The investigation, which covered more than a million emails and tens of thousands of voice messages, suggested traders were trying to make losses look smaller, the bank said.

The revelation could expose JPMorgan to civil fraud charges. If regulators decide that employee deceptions caused JPMorgan to report inaccurate financial details, they could pursue charges against the employees, the bank or both.

The Justice Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulators, including one in Britain, are looking into the loss. The Justice Department and SEC declined comment.

JPMorgan could not necessarily hide behind the actions of its employees. Regulators could decide that its oversight or risk management contributed to the problematic statements.

As a result of what it found, JPMorgan lowered its reported net income for the first quarter of this year by $459 million. The bank was still widely profitable: Even after the adjustment, it made $4.9 billion for the quarter.

JPMorgan also reported net income for the second quarter, which ended June 30, of $5 billion, far higher than the $3.2 billion that Wall Street analysts were expecting. The bank credited stronger mortgage lending and credit card business.

JPMorgan has said the trade in question was designed to offset potential losses made by its chief investment office. Dimon told Congress last month that it was meant to protect the bank in case "things got really bad" in the global economy.

JPMorgan has more than $1 trillion in customer deposits and more than $700 billion in loans. The chief investment office invests the excess cash in a variety of securities, including government and corporate debt and mortgage-backed securities.

Banks typically build hedging strategies to limit their losses if a trade turns against them. Hedges often involve credit default swaps, essentially insurance contracts that pay out if a given corporate bond goes into default.

In JPMorgan's case, instead of offsetting losses, the trade backfired and added to them. While the bank hasn't provided too many specifics on the trade, it appears that the bank believed it had bought too much protection against possible bond defaults, so it hedged its hedge by increasing its risk.

In other words, instead of buying insurance, it was selling insurance. The bank found itself with a pool of investments that were difficult to sell quickly. The drawn-out process of unwinding that portfolio caused JPMorgan's losses to grow.

Dimon stressed the bank's overall health. Speaking broadly about the trading loss, Dimon he told analysts: "We're not making light of this error, but we do think it's an isolated event."

JPMorgan stock gained $2.03 to $36.07. That still left it 11 percent below its closing price of $40.74 on May 10, the day Dimon surprised reporters and stock analysts by holding a conference call to disclose the loss.

Investors were cheered to hear that the bank might resume its plan to buy back its own stock. Dimon said the bank was in discussions with the Federal Reserve and would submit a plan in hopes of buying back stock starting late this year.

The company suspended an earlier plan to buy back $15 billion of its stock after reporting the trading loss.

Dimon said Friday that Ina Drew, the bank's former chief investment officer, who left after the loss came to light, had volunteered to return as much of her pay as was allowed under the so-called clawback provision in her contract.

Drew made more than $30 million combined in 2010 and 2011, according to an Associated Press analysis of regulatory filings. It was not clear how much Drew was voluntarily paying back to the bank. When she resigned under pressure in May after more than 30 years at the bank, she left unvested stock and stock options worth close to $14 million from the last two years.

In addition, the bank said Friday that it would revoke two years' worth of pay from three other senior managers in the division of the bank where the trade occurred. The bank would not say how much money it expected to recover.

Those three senior managers have left the bank, and four others are expected to leave soon. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that the trader known as the "London whale," for the size of the bets he placed, was among those who had left.

The bank said managers tied to the bad trade had been dismissed without severance pay.

The Swiss bank UBS clawed back pay from executives after a rogue trader in London caused a $2 billion loss last year. The JPMorgan clawback was the most prominent in the United States since the financial crisis in the fall of 2008.

JPMorgan said it had revoked pay from other employees in other cases, but did not provide details.

The Obama administration's financial overhaul law, passed in 2010, required banks to draft policies for recapturing pay from executives whose actions lead to false financial statements.

John Liu, the comptroller of New York City, which has $340 million of its pension fund invested in JPMorgan stock, said he was pleased with the clawback announcement.

While the growing loss was disheartening, he said, revoking pay sends a message that "there are no rewards for wild and excessive gambling with investors' money."

The chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, said, "It shouldn't take a congressional hearing for JPMorgan to realize that bank employees should not be rewarded for excessively risky behavior."

Just three months ago, JPMorgan was viewed as the top American bank, guided by Dimon's steady hand. Since the disclosure of the trading loss, however, that reputation has been eroded.

Dimon, who originally dismissed concerns about the bank's trading as a "tempest in a teapot," appeared before Congress twice to apologize and explain himself, and several government agencies have launched investigations.

Under questioning from lawmakers in June about his own role in setting up the investment division responsible for the mess, Dimon declared: "We made a mistake. I'm absolutely responsible. The buck stops with me."

The trading loss has raised concerns that the biggest banks still pose risks to the U.S. financial system, less than four years after the financial crisis erupted in the fall of 2008.

While JPMorgan has proved more than able to absorb the shock from the bad trade, some lawmakers have questioned what would happen if a weaker bank, or one with poor management, were stricken.

___

Daniel Wagner reported from Washington.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-13-JPMorgan%20Chase-Trading%20Loss/id-5c4fe2d8e60f4588a46cdf9e47f80379

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NCAA president Mark Emmert

Guest interviews are usually available online within 24 hours of broadcast.

Tavis talks sports with the NCAA president, including a discussion on the potential fallout from the investigation into the Penn State scandal.

In 2010, Mark Emmert became the fifth president of the NCAA. He previously spent some 30 years in administrative and academic positions at various universities, including president at his alma mater, the University of Washington, and chancellor of Louisiana State. He's written extensively on higher education and public administration and is a member of the Higher Education Working Group on Global Issues as part of the Council on Foreign Relations. He also served on the National Security Higher Education Advisory Board. Emmert holds both a master?s degree and a Ph.D. in public administration.


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Doctors use hormones more often than prescribe them

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Doctors may be more willing to use hormone replacement therapy (HRT), or recommend it to their wives, than to prescribe it to their patients, a study of German gynecologists suggests.

Nearly all were willing to recommend HRT for hot flashes, a typical menopause problem, whether to a partner or a patient. But with other potential uses, there was some disconnect.

For example, 59 percent of the doctors said they would take hormones to ward off osteoporosis, or recommend it to their partners. But of that group, only three-quarters had suggested the same thing to at least some patients.

That's not surprising, given the issues swirling around HRT, according to Dr. Michele Curtis of the University of Texas Medical School at Houston, who was not involved in the study.

The survey, which includes responses from more than 2,500 doctors, was done in 2010, eight years after the Women's Health Initiative hit the news.

The WHI was a large U.S. clinical trial that found that women given estrogen-plus-progesterone HRT had higher risks of blood clots, heart attack, stroke and breast cancer than placebo users did.

Up to that point, HRT had commonly been prescribed to prevent heart disease, which is generally not advised anymore.

However, hormone therapy is the most effective way to ease menopausal hot flashes and vaginal dryness, and it is still an option for those symptoms. Similarly, since HRT protects bone mass, it's an option for treating the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis -- though it's considered a "second-line" option after other treatments.

Many women have been scared off of hormone therapy because of the risks reported in the WHI, Curtis said.

But she said she's not surprised that doctors would have a more favorable opinion of HRT, and be more willing to use it than prescribe it. "I think this would be applicable to doctors in the U.S., too," Curtis said.

That may be partly because gynecologists would be aware of more studies on HRT.

Studies since the WHI have, for example, found that HRT seems safer for women who use it at a younger age (soon after menopause begins), and that those women may even have a lower risk of heart disease. Women in the WHI were older - in their early 60s, on average.

And in the U.S., Curtis said, doctors' fear of lawsuits could keep them from recommending HRT to patients even if they'd use it themselves. "I don't know about Germany," she said, "but in the U.S. that absolutely is an issue."

DIFFERENT KNOWLEDGE?

Dr. Kai J. Buhling, the lead researcher on the study, said that when it comes to osteoporosis, gynecologists may have a friendlier attitude toward HRT for themselves because they are aware of the side effects of bisphosphonates - the "first-line" medications for the bone disease.

Bisphosphonates, which include drugs like Fosamax and Boniva, can cause heartburn, upset stomach and muscle or joint pain. They've also been linked to two rare but serious effects: breakdown in the bones of the jaw and thighbone fractures.

But since guidelines suggest HRT as only a second option for osteoporosis, doctors may be less willing to see it as an option for patients, according to Buhling, a gynecologist at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf.

However, the study, which appears in the journal Menopause, also found that doctors often had favorable views on HRT for uses beyond hot flashes and bone health.

Just over 40 percent said they would use it or recommend it to their partner to prevent "cognitive disorders." But only 58 percent of those doctors had suggested the same to a patient.

Similarly, 42 percent were in favor of using HRT for "overall well-being" for themselves or their partner. When it came to suggesting that to their patients, though, only 59 percent of those doctors were in favor.

HRT has not been proven to ward off memory decline or boost general health. But Buhling and Curtis both pointed out that there are studies suggesting that HRT users have less memory decline.

That's does not prove that HRT is the reason. But, Buhling said, doctors may be aware of the research and open to using HRT for any potential mental benefits, even if they wouldn't suggest it to patients.

Curtis did, however, point out that the average age of doctors in this survey was 51.

"If this survey were done again in 10 years, the results might be different," she said. That's because younger doctors being trained in the post-WHI years are unlikely to have the same favorable views on HRT as their predecessors. "Now it's just assumed that HRT is bad," Curtis said.

MALE VS FEMALE DOCTORS

The new study also shows that male doctors were generally keener on prescribing HRT for their female partners than women doctors were on taking the hormones themselves.

For instance, 43 percent of male doctors would put their partner on HRT if she had "reduced libido," while only 31 percent of the female doctors thought that was a good option for themselves.

The same pattern was found when it came to incontinence, osteoporosis, vaginal problems and other issues that face many women as they get older.

So what can women do with the conflicting messages about HRT?

Curtis suggested taking your time to talk with your doctor and gather information on HRT risks and benefits. "If you're a woman in your 40s, start now," she said.

That way, she noted, if you do develop severe hot flashes or vaginal symptoms, you're less likely to feel rushed into a decision on therapy.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/LijDOu Menopause, online June 11, 2012.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/doctors-hormones-more-often-prescribe-them-170446064.html

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Egypt's Morsi says will obey court ruling on parliament

Egypt's President Mohamed Morsi will respect a court ruling overturning his decree for the dissolved Islamist-dominated parliament to convene, his office said on Wednesday amid a power struggle with the military.

The statement appears aimed at mollifying an infuriated judiciary, which has been placed at the forefront of the complex struggle between powerful generals adjusting to their new Islamist president.

"If yesterday's constitutional court ruling prevents parliament from fulfilling its responsibilities, we will respect that because we are a state of the law," the statement said, a day after the court froze Morsi's decree.

"There will be consultations with (political) forces and institutions and the supreme council for legal authorities to pave a suitable way out of this," the statement added.

Last week, Morsi ordered parliament to convene in defiance of a military decision to disband the house in line with a court ruling last month, before the generals handed power to the president.

Morsi's decree was applauded by supporters who believed the court's decision to disband parliament was political, but it set off a fire storm of criticism from opponents who accused him of overstepping his authority.

According to the country's interim constitution, drafted by the military generals who took charge after president Hosni Mubarak's overthrow early last year, the military assumed the dissolved parliament's powers.

Morsi's decision was seen as an opening shot in a power struggle between Egypt's first civilian leader and the Mubarak-appointed generals who wanted to retain broad powers even after they transferred control on June 30.

"The battle for power centred on the judiciary," read the headline of independent daily Al-Watan on Wednesday.

On Sunday, Morsi had ordered parliament back and invited it to convene. Taking its cue from the president, the People's Assembly met on Tuesday.

"We are gathered today to review the court rulings, the ruling of the Supreme Constitutional Court," speaker Saad al-Katatni said.

"I want to stress, we are not contradicting the ruling, but looking at a mechanism for the implementation of the ruling of the respected court. There is no other agenda today," he added.

According to Morsi's decree, new parliamentary elections are to be held after a constituent assembly picked by the legislature finishes a constitution.

But the assembly's fate is in doubt, with the administrative court deciding on Wednesday to look into complaints on the panel's legality next Tuesday rather than in September as had been scheduled, the official MENA news agency reported.

Should the court declare the parliament appointed assembly illegal, the military will appoint a new one, as stipulated in its interim constitution.

The origins of the battle for parliament lay in the constitutional declaration issued by the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), which ruled Egypt during its transition after president Hosni Mubarak was ousted last year.

The declaration, which acts as a temporary constitution until a new one is drafted, granted the military sweeping powers, including legislative control, and rendering the presidential post little more than symbolic.

The SCAF consists of generals appointed by Mubarak, as was the head of the constitutional court which annuled parliament because it found that certain articles of the law governing its election invalid.

Critics said the decision was politically motivated.

"The constitutional court whose judges were appointed by Mubarak has cancelled the president's decree and restored the field marshal's decree," wrote prominent commentator Alaa al-Aswany, referring to SCAF head Hussein Tantawi.

"The message is clear, the elected president is not to exercise power without the military," he said.

But others saw in Morsi's decree a constitutional coup which showed little regard for the judiciary or democracy.

"The constitutional court returns the slap to the president," wrote the liberal Al-Wafd, mouthpiece for the Wafd party, whose MPs boycotted Tuesday's parliamentary session.

Thousands of protesters rallied Tuesday evening in Tahrir Square, hub of the 2011 revolution, in support of Morsi and chanting "Down with the military" and other slogans hostile to judges and allegedly anti-Islamist TV anchors.

Opponents of Morsi's decree earlier protested outside the presidential palace.

Speaker Katatni said parliament had referred the case invalidating the house to the Court of Cassation.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who is due to visit Cairo on Saturday, urged all parties to engage in dialogue.

"We urge that there be intensive dialogue among all of the stakeholders in order to ensure that there is a clear path for them to be following," the chief US diplomat said after talks in Vietnam.

The Egyptian people should "get what they protested for and what they voted for, which is a fully elected government making the decisions for the country going forward," she added.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/parliament-legal-limbo-egypt-power-struggle-093352384.html

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It's better than food. It's food porn. Like a 20 year old sucked of fat and stuffed with silicone, it's food idealized into something reality can never be. And it's this week's Shooting Challenge. More »


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Afghanistan declared a major US non-NATO ally

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, not pictured, at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July. 7, 2012. Clinton announced that President Barack Obama had designated Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally shortly after arriving in the country for talks with Karzai. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, not pictured, at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July. 7, 2012. Clinton announced that President Barack Obama had designated Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally shortly after arriving in the country for talks with Karzai. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, not pictured, at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July 7, 2012. Clinton announced that President Barack Obama had designated Afghanistan as a "major non-NATO ally" shortly after arriving in the country for talks with Karzai. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks during a joint press conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, not pictured, at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July 7, 2012. Clinton announced that President Barack Obama had designated Afghanistan as a "major non-NATO ally" shortly after arriving in the country for talks with Karzai. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

Afghan President Hamid Karzai, center right, walks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton center left, as they arrive for a joint press conference at the Presidential Palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July 7, 2012. Clinton announced that President Barack Obama had designated Afghanistan as a "major non-NATO ally" shortly after arriving in the country for talks with Karzai. (AP Photo/Ahmad Jamshid)

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, left, laughs during a press conference with President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai, at the Presidential Palace in Kabul Saturday July 7, 2012. The Obama administration on Saturday declared Afghanistan the United States' newest "major non-NATO ally," an action designed to facilitate close defense cooperation after U.S. combat troops withdraw from the country in 2014 and as a political statement of support for Afghanistan's long-term stability. (AP Photo//Brendan Smialowski, Pool)

(AP) ? The Obama administration on Saturday declared Afghanistan the United States' newest "major non-NATO ally," an action designed to facilitate close defense cooperation after U.S. combat troops withdraw from the country in 2014 and as a political statement of support for Afghanistan's long-term stability.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton made the announcement shortly after arriving in the country for talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

"We see this as a powerful commitment to Afghanistan's future," she said at a news conference in the grand courtyard of Kabul's Presidential Palace. "We are not even imagining abandoning Afghanistan."

Clinton insisted that progress was coming incrementally but consistently to the war-torn nation after decades of conflict. "The security situation is more stable," she said. Afghan forces "are improving their capacity."

At the news conference, Karzai welcomed Clinton to Kabul and thanked the U.S. for its continued support.

Clinton repeated the tenets of America's "fight, talk, build" strategy for Afghanistan. The goal aims first to defeat dangerous extremists, win over Taliban militants and others willing to give up violence and help in the long reconstruction of Afghanistan ahead.

Fighting still rages as Afghan and U.S.-led coalition forces battle insurgents in the mostly eastern part of the country. Although casualties have fallen among foreign forces as the United States and other nations begin a gradual withdrawal, 215 coalition soldiers were killed in the first six months of the year ? compared to 271 in the same period last year.

Reconciliation efforts haven't gained steam, but Clinton said she was pleased to be meeting the foreign ministers of Afghanistan and Pakistan together in Tokyo ? a three-way relationship seen as key to stabilizing Afghanistan.

From Kabul, Clinton and Karzai were heading separately to Japan for an international conference on Afghan civilian assistance. Donors were expected to pledge around $4 billion a year in long-term civilian support.

Clinton stressed the importance of the pledges for civilian aid. Afghanistan's cash-strapped government is heavily dependent on foreign largesse, and any significant drop-off in financial assistance after 2014 could set back the country's development.

Asked about the systemic corruption that has plagued the Afghan government, Clinton said the U.S. was working hard with Afghan authorities to eliminate fraud, mismanagement and abuse. She said the meeting in Tokyo would include accountability measures to ensure that money sent to Afghanistan benefits the Afghan people.

"This is an issue the government and the people of Afghanistan want action on, and we want to ensure they are successful," Clinton said.

Nations that once gave more generously to Afghanistan are now seeking guarantees that their taxpayer money will not be lost to corruption and mismanagement.

International donors say that many promises to crack down on corruption have not been carried out. Some highly placed Afghan officials have been investigated for corruption but seldom prosecuted, and some of the graft investigations have come close to the president himself.

In Tokyo, representatives from some 70 countries and organizations will establish accountability guidelines to ensure that Afghanistan does more to improve governance and finance management, and to safeguard the democratic process, rule of law and human rights ? especially those of women.

On the major non-NATO ally designation, Clinton said Afghanistan would have access to U.S. defense supplies and training and cooperation.

"This is the kind of relationship that we think will be especially beneficial as we plan for the transition," she said. "It will help the Afghan military expand its capacity and have a broader relationship with the United States."

Designating Afghanistan as a major non-NATO ally was part of a Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by Presidents Barack Obama and Karzai in Kabul at the beginning of May.

On July 4, the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Ryan Crocker, and the country's foreign minister announced that the two countries had completed their internal processes to ratify the agreement, which has now gone into force.

The declaration allows for streamlined defense cooperation, including expedited purchasing ability of American equipment and easier export control regulations. Afghanistan's military, which is heavily dependent on American and foreign assistance, already enjoys many of these benefits. The non-NATO ally status guarantees it will continue to do so.

Afghanistan becomes the 15th such country the U.S. has declared a major non-NATO ally. Others include Australia, Egypt, Israel and Japan. Afghanistan's neighbor Pakistan was the last nation to gain the status in 2004.

Clinton arrived in Afghanistan from Paris, where she attended a 100-nation conference on Syria.

___

Associated Press writer Patrick Quinn in Kabul contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-07-07-Clinton-Afghanistan/id-c2ec35ff6aab4fe99156aafc29239e4c

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Iran test-fires missile able to hit Israel: media

Iran on Tuesday test-fired in its central desert a ballistic missile capable of striking Israel as part of war games designed to show its ability to retaliate if attacked, media said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard fired the medium-range Shahab-3 missile at a mock target in the Kavir Desert on the second day of its Great Prophet 7 exercise, which is due to end on Wednesday, Iran's Al-Alam television network reported.

The Shahab-3 has a range of up to 2,000 kilometres (1,200 miles), which means it is theoretically able to hit Israel, which is some 1,000 kilometres from Iran.

Al-Alam said two short-range missiles, the Shahab-1 and Shahab-2, with ranges of 300 to 500 kilometres, were also launched.

The Fars news agency said "dozens" of different types of missiles were fired from different parts of Iran at a single target in the Kavir Desert.

The target was a replica military base set up in the desert and made to look like a foreign facility, similar to those the United States has in neighbouring countries such as Afghanistan.

"In these exercises, we used missiles with a range of 2,000 kilometres, but the plan called for them to be fired only 1,300 kilometres," Fars quoted the head of the Guards aerospace division in charge of missile systems, Brigadier General Amir Ali Hajizadeh, as saying.

Seven "attack drones" also destroyed targets representing "enemy forces from outside the region," the official IRNA news agency reported.

It added that two types of short-range anti-ship missiles were to be fired at targets off Iran's southern coast.

Although the Islamic republic has test-fired its Shahab missiles before, and frequently holds military manoeuvres, it says these war games are aimed at sending a message to Israel and the United States to think twice on their threats of possibly attacking Iran.

"The message of these Grand Prophet 7 manoeuvres is to show the determination, the will and the power of the Iranian people in defending their national interests and vital values," the number two of the Revolutionary Guards, General Hossein Salami, said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

"It's a reaction to those who are politically discourteous to the Iranian people by saying 'all options are on the table'," he said.

He added that the launches were "100 percent successful".

The launch of the Shahab-3 missile coincided with the day experts from Iran and world powers were to hold talks in Istanbul to discuss the West's push to have Tehran scale back its sensitive nuclear programme.

Israel, which is not part of the talks, and its ally the United States have both said they reserve the option of military action against Iran if diplomacy and sanctions fail to convince it to curb its atomic activities.

US President Barack Obama has said several times that "all options" remain on the table.

Iran's test-firing of its missiles also occurred on the anniversary of the July 3, 1988 shooting down of an Iranian commercial airliner by a US warship towards the end of the Iran-Iraq war.

All 290 passengers and crew on the plane died in the attack, which Washington said was the result of erroneously identifying the civilian aircraft as an Iranian fighter jet.

Source: http://www.spacewar.com/reports/Iran_test-fires_missile_able_to_hit_Israel_media_999.html

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When you commit to personal training, one of the biggest benefits you get is more energy in your life, Experienced personal trainers are well versed in cardio vascular exercises and routines that can help improve your energy levels. By partnering with an experienced personal trainer, you can benefit from his expertise to enhance your personal health and fitness.

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How Personal Training Can Enhance Your Health

You can increase your energy levels. Personal training programs play a key role. A seasoned trainer can custom design a fitness program for you that will enhance both your physical and mental capabilities. By observing a consistent exercise program, you can enjoy better health and fitness.

If you are overweight, your trainer can suggest exercises to help you lose excess fat and tone your body. If your degree of energy is low as a result of lack of exercise, a professional trainer (such as torontopersonaltrainer.net) is exactly what you need to get you back in line. He or she will design a fitness program from beginner level through advanced stages, enabling you to ease your way back into proper fitness. A key to keeping up with your job and family obligations is maintaining good health. It is also key to your being able to do those activities you enjoy most. With good health comes increased energy to partake of life to the full.
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Exercises That Help to Increase Your Stamina

Cardio vascular workouts are some of the most effective in helping to improve your stamina. A few examples of indoor exercises you can do include:

* jumping jacks
* squat jumps
* jogging in place
* dancing or aerobics workouts
* jumping rope

Cycling, swimming, jogging and other active sports are great outdoor cardio exercises. These exercises help to increase your heart rate to get more blood flowing through your system. They increase the amount of oxygen flowing through your body to enhance the function of body organs. All these factors help to augment your health and stamina.

With regards to better health and fitness, personal training programs get the results you want. A personal trainer will not only design your exercise program but will work with you to meet your objectives. His or her motivation and encouragement enables you to reach your goals for a healthier and happier future.

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Source: http://www.nationalacadamies.org/boost-your-energy-with-personal-training.html

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China cuts key interest rate for 2nd time in month

(AP) ? China cut its key lending rate Thursday for a second time in one month in a new effort to reverse its deepest economic slump since the 2008 global crisis.

The central bank cut the rate on a one-year loan by 0.31 percentage points to 6 percent. It said banks will be allowed to offer discounts to borrowers of up to 30 percent below that benchmark, an increase from the 20 percent discount previously allowed.

The slowdown in the world's second-largest economy raises the risk of job losses and unrest at a politically awkward time for the ruling Communist Party. It is trying to enforce calm ahead of a once-a-decade handover of power to younger leaders.

"This is a step beyond what was expected from policymakers," said Mark Williams of Capital Economics in a report. He said the next rate cut had not been expected until the end of July or later.

Beijing has been rolling out stimulus measures almost daily since March after growth slowed to a nearly three-year low of 8.1 percent in the first quarter. They cut interest rates June 7 for the first time in four years, reduced gasoline prices and promised to pump money into the economy with higher spending on low-cost housing and other public works.

Private sector analysts expect second-quarter growth to fall as low as 7.3 percent before rebounding in the second half.

The decision to cut rates so again so soon suggested monthly data due to be released next week might be unexpectedly weak.

Chinese leaders had spent two years tightening controls to cool overheating and inflation but reversed course in late 2011 after an unexpectedly sharp drop in export demand.

Still, the government is moving cautiously after its 4 trillion yuan ($586 billion) stimulus that helped China rebound quickly from the 2008 global crisis fueled price rises and a wasteful building boom.

In an unusual step, Thursday's announcement called on banks to control mortgage lending. That suggested authorities worry about a possible resurgence in real estate speculation as they try to stimulate industrial activity and job creation.

Trade has weakened steadily as high U.S. unemployment and Europe's debt crisis batter global consumer demand.

Regulators also have approved a wave of massive investment projects by state companies, including two multibillion-dollar steel mills.

Inflation that spiked to a three-year high last year has fallen, giving Beijing room to cut rates and pump money into the economy without triggering a possible renewed bout of politically dangerous price increases.

Also Thursday, the central bank cut rates paid on bank deposits but by a smaller margin of 0.25 percentage points. That effectively transfers money from cash-rich state banks to savers by shrinking the margin between lending and borrowing rates.

"This will further eat into bank profits but increases the effective amount of policy loosening," said Williams.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-07-05-China-Economy/id-ce00743a374b4c72ae5fb3697e79c55f

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Friend flees Assad as U.S. pressures Russia

BEIRUT/PARIS (Reuters) - One of President Bashar al-Assad's personal friends has defected and was headed for exile in France on Friday, as the Syrian crisis took on a Cold War tone when Washington threatened to make Russia and China "pay" for backing the government in Damascus.

Manaf Tlas, a cadet college classmate, Republican Guard general and son of Assad's father's defense chief, has yet to surface abroad, or clearly to throw his lot in with the rebels, who acknowledged the loss of one of their strongholds overnight.

But his desertion, leaked by family friends, was confirmed by the French government. That gave a boost to a conference it hosted in Paris at which Western powers and Sunni Arab rulers, bitterly opposed to Assad's Iranian-sponsored administration, agreed to "massively increase" aid to the Syrian opposition.

The departure of Tlas, a glamorous, 40-something fixture of both Damascus society and Assad's praetorian close protection force, may have limited practical impact. But it offers succour to an opposition that is divided and poorly armed, as well as to foreign backers whose assurances of flagging morale in Assad's inner circle had begun to wear thin after 16 months of conflict.

"If people like him, and like the generals and colonels and others who have recently defected to Turkey are any indication, regime insiders and the military establishment are starting to vote with their feet," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Paris after a speech lambasting Moscow and Beijing in unusually strong terms for blocking U.N. action against Assad.

"The only way that will change is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price because they are holding up progress, blockading it," she told the 50 or so delegations.

However, as the past year has shown, options for Assad's foes to pressure his defenders remain limited, given the economic and political strength of both Russia and China.

Moscow, an ally since the Cold War days of Assad's father, has supported a new proposal by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan for a transitional, national unity government in Damascus. But, like China, Moscow is wary of what it sees as a growing Western taste for "regime change", and opposes forcing Assad to step down.

In response to Clinton's remarks, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said she was contradicting the common strategy the divided world powers managed to agree at Geneva last week.

Such deadlock in global diplomacy has left the Western powers trying to give an impression of momentum growing against Assad, holding a series of meetings and, as seen on Friday, trumpeting defections and piling psychological pressure on other members of the ruling elite to think about jumping ship.

As Clinton declared in Paris: "Let me say to the soldiers and officials still supporting the Assad regime - the Syrian people will remember the choices you make in the coming days.

"It is time to abandon the dictator, embrace your countrymen and women, and get on the right side of history."

SECTARIAN STRAINS

As rare faces from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority within a ruling clique dominated by Assad's fellow Alawites, Tlas and his father Mustapha, who friends said left for Paris some months ago claiming medical problems, long furnished an answer to Syrians who complained of sectarian domination by Alawites. Their flight may show Assad is losing wider support among wealthier Sunnis.

It also suggests the Tlas clan, whatever moral scruples friends say were their prime motive for abandoning their friend and patron, has seen the writing on the wall for Assad's rule.

Opposition sources said Manaf Tlas had seen his movements watched as suspicion of him increased before he fled and that other potential defectors, being courted assiduously by the opposition, were also under surveillance. Security men ransacked Tlas's house on Thursday, an activist in Damascus said.

Abdel Baset Seda, the president of the opposition Syrian National Council, told a news conference in Paris that he was in contact with "several" high-ranking officials still inside the country and also hoped to speak with Tlas in the coming days.

"This shows that the very heart of the regime is starting to crumble. This is reminiscent of what happened in Libya toward the end, when there were defections every day," he said, recalling the fall of Muammar Gaddafi last August.

However, a Syrian news website quoted a Syrian official on Thursday as saying dismissively: "His desertion means nothing. If Syrian intelligence had wanted to arrest him it would have."

Bloodshed on the ground and the suffering of thousands of civilians forced to flee homes and worry about food shortages have kept up pressure on Western governments to be seen to be doing something and the "Friends of the Syrian People" meeting in Paris saw new calls for U.N. action and backing for rebels.

But the opposition remains fractious. A meeting in Cairo this week saw a fistfight; governments are wary of anti-Western Sunni Islamists in rebel ranks and are reluctant to see them too heavily armed; and the Western powers have little appetite for a Libyan-style military intervention of their own in a pivotal regional state that is home to a volatile mix of communities.

Yet the veto power which Moscow and Beijing wield in the United Nations Security Council has also blocked Western efforts to tighten the net of sanctions around Assad, leaving leaders watching impatiently for signs of cracks from within - something fearful Alawites and other minorities seem anxious to prevent.

REBEL TOWN FALLS

Catherine Ashton, the European Union's foreign affairs chief, spoke again with alarm at the situation on the ground: "The risk of full civil war has become even more real," she said. "The regime is clearly responsible for the brutality of the repression. Instead of freeing detainees and withdrawing its troops and heavy weapons from urban areas, Assad's regime continues with the shelling of innocent civilians."

Syria's army took control of the rebel stronghold of Khan Sheikhoun in northern Idlib province on Friday after an assault on the town backed by helicopters, rebels said.

"The Free Army withdrew from the town last night after it ran out of ammunition. Assad's army is in control," said Abu Hamam, a rebel spokesman who fled to a nearby village.

"They are burning the houses. They have burned my own house. I see the smoke covering the sky from where I am now."

Army shelling and assaults also killed three people in the southern province of Deraa, where the nationwide revolt began.

Opposition activists say more than 15,000 people have been killed in the uprising, while the government says several thousand members of the security forces have died.

Clinton repeated a U.S. and French call for a U.N. Security Council resolution under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which allows the Council to authorize actions ranging from diplomatic and economic sanctions to military intervention.

Russia and China and say they are committed rather to the peace plan drafted by Annan which proposes national dialogue. However, that plan's prospects seem dim; U.N. peace monitors effectively gave up on their mission last month after just weeks in Syria as it became clear there was no peace to monitor.

Annan said he was pushing for negotiation and urging the rebels to cooperate. Telling Britain's Guardian newspaper the alternative was more war, he said: "We are trying to implement some of the decisions taken in Geneva, most importantly exploring on the ground the most effective way to stop the violence and get them thinking of the political process."

Thousands of families have fled their homes in the past two weeks due to heavy fighting between government forces and rebels and many face food shortages, the United Nations said on Friday.

Late on Friday, about 300 refugees, including about 30 military personnel, crossed into Turkey at the border at Bukulmez in Hatay province, according to a Reuters cameraman. They were picked up by 20 minibuses.

(Writing by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Giles Elgood and Michael Roddy)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/defection-cheers-anti-assad-coalition-paris-meet-064103435.html

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