French ENAC SEFA merge to become biggest Civil Aviation University in Europe

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French ENAC SEFA merge to become biggest Civil Aviation University in Europe

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French ENAC SEFA merge to become biggest Civil Aviation University in Europe

Minister for Ecology, Sustainable development, Transportation and Housing Nathalie KOSCIUSKO-MORIZET and Secretary of State for Transportation Thierry MARIANI announced the merger between ENAC (National School For Civil Aviation) and SEFA (Operations Service for Aeronautic Formations) that becomes the biggest European university for Civil Aviation under the single name ENAC.

For more than 60 years, the ENAC has been unique in the field of graduate education as well as in the field of aeronautic formation. It teaches all the technical and scientific courses necessary for running the air transportation industry : - Project and Operations Civil Engineers, Controllers, electronics engineer for safety systems - Commercial Airline Pilots - Qualified technicians ...

This merger will mean that : - studying materials and equipments -such as flight and control simulators- will be shared between the two institutions - strenghten the interactions between the various courses : engineers and controllers will know more about piloting airplanes and pilots will be more aware of the challenges facing Air Traffic Control (SESAR, NEXTGEN...) - ease the elaboration of contracts between the ENAC and its national and international clients - make the ENAC even more internation and highlight its status as 'the Civil Aviation University' that teachs all the trades of the industry

'This new institution will contribute to the visibility and the export activities of the French civil aviation industry by giving it the expertise and the means to cater to the needs of foreign countries for specialized education in this field.' said Nathalie KOSCIUSKO-MORIZET in a statement.

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State of emergency declared in Tunisia

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State of emergency declared in Tunisia

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State of emergency declared in Tunisia

After weeks of chaos, Prime Minister of Tunisia, Mohammed Ghannouchi, has stated that he is taking power of the country. Recent violence has caused the country to shut down its airspace, lead the United States State Department to advise against visiting the country, and forced a state of emergency to be declared.

"I can confirm that the army is at the airport. Armoured vehicles are surrounding the airport," an official source stated. Rumors of attempts to flee by the President’s staff have been reported as well. President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has authorized the transition according to television reports.

Hamma Hammami, the opposition leader from the Tunisian Workers' Communist Party, has been released after being held by authorities for three days. Yesterday, the Tunisian government declared a countrywide state of emergency after protests throughout the country. All public gatherings have been forbidden and "the police and the army are authorised to fire on any suspect person who has not obeyed orders or fled without the possibility of being stopped", according to a statement released by the government.

Additionally, a 12-hour curfew was imposed at 6:00 pm local time (1700 GMT) Friday in response to thousands marching in the capital city before authorities fired tear gas into the crowd.

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Tucson gunman appears in court for Giffords shooting

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Tucson gunman appears in court for Giffords shooting

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Tucson gunman appears in court for Giffords shooting

Jared Loughner, a 22-year-old former college student, has appeared in federal court following the shooting on Saturday at a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona. The shooting killed five people including John Roll, a federal judge, and injured 19 including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.

Loughner has been charged in federal court with attempted assassination of a member of Congress, first-degree murder and attempting to kill employees of the federal government. Prosecutors for the State of Arizona are trying to determine whether they can bring charges for the other killings and attempted killings in state court.

Loughner confirmed his identity to the court and was denied bail but did not enter a plea. He stated that he understood the potential punishment for the charges include the death penalty or life imprisonment. He is being represented by Judy Clarke, who has previously defended Theodore Kaczynski (the 'Unabomber') and Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.

Surgeons have had to perform emergency surgery on Giffords, including a hemicraniectomy, which involves removing a large section of her skull to reduce the pressure from the swelling in the brain caused by the gunshot wound. Dr. Michael Lemole, one neurosurgeon operating on Giffords said that she was "not out of the woods yet". He also noted that "swelling can sometimes take three days or five days to maximize. But every day that goes by and we don't see an increase, we're slightly more optimistic." Giffords has been able to respond to basic commands from doctors like holding up two fingers.

Meanwhile, debates rage following allegations that Loughner had a political basis for his attack. Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik blamed some extreme rhetoric in the media. "The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. This has not become the nice United States of America that most of us grew up in and I think it's time that we do the soul-searching."

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Release of Verizon iPhone set for early February

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Release of Verizon iPhone set for early February

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Release of Verizon iPhone set for early February

In a Tuesday media event, Verizon Wireless announced it had reached an agreement with Apple Inc. and would begin selling a CDMA version of the iPhone 4 beginning early February. The move means the end of rival company AT&T's status as the only official US carrier of the iPhone, a status it held since the first iPhone debuted in 2007.

The press conference, held in New York City, was hosted by Verizon's president, Lowell McAdam, Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook, and Verizon Wireless' chief executive officer, Dan Mead. Neither Verizon Communications CEO Ivan Seidenberg nor Apple CEO Steve Jobs attended the conference. During the event, McAdam said, "If the press writes something long enough and hard enough, it eventually comes true. We're bringing the fruit of our labor with a giant partner, and that's Apple." Such a partnership had been rumored for years, and the amount of speculation grew over the past few months.

iPhone 4 pre-orders for current Verizon users begin February 3, and a public release is scheduled for February 10. The "Verizon iPhone," as it has been dubbed for months, has been altered from the original iPhone 4 so it can utilize Verizon's 3G CDMA (code division multiple access) network. This means, however, that Verizon iPhone users will not be able to use the company's 4G LTE (long term evolution) network, and will thus be unable to make calls and access the Internet at the same time. Cook told the audience that the LTE hardware was not ready yet, saying, "The first generation LTE chip sets force some design compromises, some of which we would not make. Secondly—and most importantly—Verizon Wireless customers have told us they want the iPhone now." However, Verizon's iPhone 4 allows the user to create a personal Wi-Fi hotspot, which means up to five other wireless devices can connect to the Internet through the phone.

Pricing was announced as US$199 for a 16 GB version and US$299 for a 32 GB version, both requiring two-year contracts—the same cost for an AT&T iPhone 4. However, Verizon said it would not mention the cost of data plans at this time, with Mead saying, "We talked about the device pricing, but we're not going to talk about the pricing for the network for that connectivity."

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US President Barack Obama speaks at memorial for Arizona shooting victims

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US President Barack Obama speaks at memorial for Arizona shooting victims

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US President Barack Obama speaks at memorial for Arizona shooting victims

United States President Barack Obama spoke at a memorial in Tucson, Arizona Wednesday night, in the wake of last Saturday's mass shooting. Earlier in the day, Obama visited five people injured in the attack, including Gabrielle Giffords, a Democratic Congresswoman from Arizona.

Obama spoke to almost 14,000 people in the University of Arizona's McKale Center, as well as 13,000 others outside. During a 33-minute-long speech, he attempted to begin the "healing process," urging the nation "to pause for a moment and make sure that we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds." He recognized the victims of the incident as well as those who helped the wounded immediately after the shooting.

Jared Lee Loughner, aged 22, is accused of opening fire on a "Congress on Your Corner" event on January 8, killing six people and injuring thirteen others. The incident has sparked a fiery political debate on whether intense political campaigns could incite violence.

During his speech, Obama said of Giffords' condition, "Gabby opened her eyes so I can tell you know she knows we are here, she knows that we love her and she knows that we are rooting for her through what will undoubtedly be a difficult journey." Peter Rhee, a trauma surgeon at Tuscon's University Medical Center, said Giffords is making progress and is able to move more.

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In Development-Texas School District Deals With Series of Terroristic Threats

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In Development-Texas School District Deals With Series of Terroristic Threats

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In Development-Texas School District Deals With Series of Terroristic Threats

A school district in Texas continues to be on, "...high security alert this week." according to a posting on its web site published on Monday. Bay City Independent School District has been engrossed in a series of threats over the past several days. The school system, located in Bay City, Texas (USA) notified parents of the security status on Monday. Reportedly, the drama began when the district's Superintendent's office received a letter on December 28th (during the recent school holiday) making a series of disturbing threats. The letter included threats to kill and decapitate the Superintendent's daughter if the rules put forth by the writer were not adhered to. The letter states, "Now if my rules are not followed to the letter, I will cut you(sic) youngest girls(sic) xxxxxxx head off and mail it to her mother and that is all you have to put in the ground." The writer then went on to list various criteria regarding how the school was to structure/operate its after school detention program for students. The writer then wove a variety of additional threats into the letter alongwith various demands. Early in the letter, the writer indicated that some other students who were placed in after school detention had "hurt" his/her child.

Reportedly, school official are cooperating with locals officials and the FBI. The Texas Rangers have taken charge of the investigation. All extracurricular school activities are planned to continue as scheduled.

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The Additional Worthiness of Expensive Antique Furniture

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The Additional Worthiness of Expensive Antique Furniture

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The Additional Worthiness of Expensive Antique Furniture

Valuing Antique Furniture can be something that is very easily overlooked by simply various. Persons who aren’t serious antique furniture collector won't know that these customers have a few items of antique furniture inside their home that's acquired by and passed on to kids. Nonetheless , if you must gain expertise on addresses antique shop, definitely you're those varieties of considering the eye for antique furniture. Via heartbeat you’ll have the ability to distinguish genuine antique furniture from the replica. You could possibly know a couple of things concerning time line previously it was made. And my mom, she sure needed her antiques lessons for this purpose experts.

My mom is absolutely not an honest blue antique furniture collector, my wife categories of antique table and antique chair of their old house. She don't acquire these from antiques shops but from relatives. Sometimes she jokingly says she'd gladly transform her house into outdated shop if she already has enough pieces. Suddenly, images of antiques mall would flash it's my opinion. With regards to acquire version of how much of an antique mall would seem that. I haven’t visited one if i ever endured the ability, Definitely I'll not give the perfect time to be a waste. Okay, in my view, outdated mall doesn’t contract escalator, a lift or swiveling glass doors. There is certainly marvelous grand staircases. A staircase that's usually perfect for Cinderella to trip finished her glass shoes. I highly associate antiques with magical stories, not surprisingly , currently a good number of antique glass open. In addition to some entrance of the antique stores, they desire turned into unique and usually do not been seen before.

Fortunately, our neighbor who was simply inquisitive about collecting stamps tagged her along at antique auctions where she met a handful of antique dealers while she was quipped up about antique furniture she just couldn’t receive an adequate variety of them. She did be aware that she might actually cash in on her antiques. I remember what she was told: when valuing items, due to the fact these are generally old, doesn't signify that possibly they are valuable.

Well, your property we've back right in your house, they’re old but mom knows nowadays loads of taxis valuable than they really seem that. I would also have had my first-hand experience with typical mall on account of mom--that a natural part of antique silver platters, the antique glass chandelier hung on our receiving area along with antique table perched with fresh flowers… they are worth far above my tuition fees added together because she'd let anyone touch them now.

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Moon water possibly originated from comets, data shows

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Moon water possibly originated from comets, data shows

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Moon water possibly originated from comets, data shows

Data from recent detailed analyses of samples collected on NASA Apollo moon missions show that Lunar water may originate from comets that collided with the moon early in its geologic history.

A team of astrophysicists led by James Greenwood of Wesleyan University in Connecticut analyzed samples collected on the Apollo 11, 12, 14, and 17 missions and found that the chemical properties of traces of lunar water in these samples differ from water typical of Earth.

"The values of deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) that we measure in apatite in the Apollo rock samples", Greenwood told Space.com, "is clearly distinguishable from water from the Earth, mitigating against this being some sort of contamination on Earth." Greenwood and his team of researchers studied in particular the variations of hydrogen in the mineral apatite.

The newfound data show that the chemical properties of water in the apatite samples resemble data from the comets Hale-Bopp, Halley, and Hyakutake, suggesting that the water present on the moon could have originated from these comets or others.

According to Greenwood, the results of this study could also provide evidence as to the origin of water on Earth.

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US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot at Arizona supermarket

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US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot at Arizona supermarket

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US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords shot at Arizona supermarket

US Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot at a public event in Tucson, Arizona on Saturday. At least five were killed and several others were wounded in the shooting, including at least one of Giffords' staff. The shooting occurred at a SafewayDemocratic Party supermarket where Giffords, a member who represented Arizona's 8th congressional district, had scheduled a public "Congress on Your Corner" event.

Giffords was widely reported as having died after the attack, but her public relations personnel later said she was undergoing surgery. Giffords was shot in the head at close range, and according to the Pima County sheriff, Giffords, aged 40, died from the attack. National Public Radio, however, reported that there were conflicting reports about her death.

Giffords was airlifted to a nearby hospital and underwent emergency surgery. A spokesperson for University Medical Center said, "She is currently in surgery. She's alive," adding that nine other shooting victims had been taken to the hospital. After the surgery, the hospital announced Giffords was alive with a single gunshot wound to the head and that she was responsive.

The hospital also said that a nine-year-old was among those killed in the shooting. David Gonzales, a US Marshal, said that federal judge John Roll also died from his wounds. President Barack Obama said the shooter killed a total of five people.

Peter Michaels, of Arizona Public Media, said Giffords had been speaking to several people when someone began firing randomly from around 4 feet (1.2 metres) away. The gunman attempted to flee but was tackled by an onlooker and taken into police custody. Described as in his late teens to early twenties, he was later identified as 22-year-old Jared Loughner, who used a handgun in the attack.

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Suspicious package closes half of Washington Dulles Airport terminal

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Suspicious package closes half of Washington Dulles Airport terminal

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Suspicious package closes half of Washington Dulles Airport terminal

At approximately 1600 EST (2100 UTC) a Suspicious Package was found near the baggage claim at Washington Dulles International Airport in Virginia, United States, leading to the closure of around half of the terminal. Police later determined that the package was harmless and reopened the affected areas of the airport. Parts of the airport had been closed for two hours before being reopened.

Officials from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said a canine unit was attracted to an unattended piece of baggage near the baggage claim. They did not disclose what the package contained, but an official said the package did not look similar to other suspicious packages sent to Maryland state government buildings earlier today.

Due to the package, four baggage claims and a United Airlines ticket counter were temporarily vacated. Flights continued to operate at the airport during the investigation.

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Fifteen headless bodies found in Acapulco, Mexico

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Fifteen headless bodies found in Acapulco, Mexico

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Fifteen headless bodies found in Acapulco, Mexico

15 headless bodies were found in Acapulco, Mexico today according to the Guerrero State Public Security office. The office said they were led to the bodies by a group of burning vehicles which formed a sort of makeshift trail to the headless corpses. The corpses found by Mexican police were all between the ages of 25 and 30 years old and are believed to have been involved in the Mexico drug war.

The bodies were found shortly after midnight near Acapulco's Plaza Senderos, a local shopping area not frequented by tourists. The leader of the Sinaloa drug cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman reportedly left a note alongside the bodies. Guzman is Mexico's most wanted drug lord.

The incident is the latest act of violence in the Mexican drug war, during which more than 28,000 people have been killed. Local officials and reporters maintain that Acapulco is a safe place for tourists despite its recent outbreak of crime.

Police have stepped up security in light of the recent attacks.

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Former CIA agent indicted after leaking classified information

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Former CIA agent indicted after leaking classified information

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Former CIA agent indicted after leaking classified information

Jeffrey Alexander Sterling, an ex-officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), was taken into custody Thursday by federal agents in St. Louis, Missouri. He was indicted on six separate counts of unauthorized disclosure of national defense information, as well as four additional charges: mail fraud, unlawfully keeping national defense information, obstruction of justice, and unauthorized conveyance of government property. Sterling, aged 43, had been employed by the CIA from May 1993 until he was fired in January 2002. During his arraignment, a judge declared that he would be held until a Monday hearing because the government called him a danger to the community.

Sterling, an African American lawyer who lives in O'Fallon, allegedly provided classified information to New York Times reporter James Risen, some of which was incorporated into Risen's 2006 State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration. Risen, who wrote about the CIA's involvement in Iran's nuclear program, has not named any of his sources even after being subpeonaed twice; Risen was not explicitly named in Sterling's indictment, but his involvement in the alleged leak is strongly supported by its contents, and a US government official confirmed the connection to NBC News.

The indictment stated that, for two years during his career with the CIA, Sterling had been involved in "a classified clandestine operational program designed to conduct intelligence activities related to the weapons capabilities of certain countries." An anonymous source close to the investigation said one of those countries was Iran. While managing CIA operations, Sterling also handled a "human asset," whose name he is also accused of releasing.

From 2000, Sterling had been engaged in various disputes with the agency. According to a story authored by Risen for The New York Times in March 2002, Sterling's supervisor during the Iran program said, "You kind of stick out as a big black guy." The comment was made after Sterling made requests for new assignments concerning Iran, requests declined because his appearance could interfere with the cases. Sterling, sued the CIA for racial discrimination shortly after being fired, but was unable to come to a settlement in February 2003, and began leaking the classified information soon after that. The indictment claimed the motive behind the leak was retaliation for the unsuccessful lawsuit.

Edward B. MacMahon Jr., a Virginia attorney for Sterling, said, "He has always maintained his innocence throughout the course of this entire investigation. We'll seek to prove that in court." MacMahon also said trial will be held at a U.S. District Court in Alexandria, as the case began in that state. Every charge against Sterling comes with the possibility of 10–20 years of jail time.

US Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer made a statement, saying that "Sterling placed at risk our national security and the life of an individual working on a classified mission." A spokesperson for the CIA said, "Separate and apart from any specific instance, including this matter involving a former agency officer who left the CIA years ago, we take very seriously the unauthorized disclosure of classified information." The New York Times did not comment on the matter.

The Obama administration has already taken action in several similar leaks involving government officers. The administration has also initiated an investigation into Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, after the site's release of thousands of classified documents.

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Church Bombing in Alexandria, Egypt kills at least 21

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Church Bombing in Alexandria, Egypt kills at least 21

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Church Bombing in Alexandria, Egypt kills at least 21

Alexandria, Egypt - Christians clashed with Egyptian police in the northern city of Alexandria on Saturday, furious over an apparent suicide bombing targeting worshippers leaving a church after New Year's Mass. At least 21 people were killed in the worst violence against the country's Christian minority in a decade.

The Interior Ministry blamed "foreign elements," and Alexandria's governor accused al Qaeda, pointing to its branch in Iraq, which has carried out attacks on Christians there and has threatened Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Christian community as well.

Egypt's government has long insisted that al Qaeda does not have a significant presence in the country, and it has never been conclusively linked to any attacks in Egypt. Al Qaeda involvement would raise the prospect of a serious new security threat within Egypt.

The bombing, about 12:30 a.m., stoked tensions that have grown in recent years between Egypt's Christians and the Muslim majority.

It was dramatically different from past attacks on Christians, which included shootings but not serious bombings. Christians have increasingly blamed the government for not taking seriously violence against them or anti-Christian sentiment among Muslim hard-liners.

In the wake of the bombing, they unleashed their rage at authorities.

"Now it's between Christians and the government, not between Muslims and Christians," shrieked one Christian woman as several hundred young men clashed with riot police in the street outside the targeted church. As the rioters threw stones and bottles, police fired rubber bullets and tear gas. Some of the protesters beat Muslim passers-by.

Alexandria, the famed city of antiquity, was once Egypt's most cosmopolitan city, with a mix of Muslims, Christians and foreigners. In the last decade it has become a stronghold for Islamic hard-liners. Stabbings at three Alexandria churches in 2006 sparked three days of Muslim-Christian riots that left at least four dead.

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Myspace woes continue

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Myspace woes continue

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Myspace woes continue

Myspace, a once fruitful social networking site, is now at a crossroads in what to do next with the websites future. Founded in August 2003, Myspace quickly found itself as the dominant player in social networking surpassing other sites such as Bebo and Hi5. Seeing what many calling its best years from 2004-late 2008, Myspace still was a dominant player, but with the rise of Facebook, Myspace has slowly lost a lot of its traffic to the now current player in social networking. Facebook added new features to attract traffic to the site which has aided in the decline of Myspace.

Over the last few years, as Facebook became the dominate player in social networking which has prompted its ailing competitor to make changes to its music service, videos, layouts, and various other parts of the site. Last year Myspace even implemented the option to connect via Facebook login. The other 2010 updates to the stream, profiles, and colours of the site were that of what Facebook has done already. This was done in an attempt to attract users back to Myspace, but some see this as a sign that Myspace is falling to Facebook.

While there has been speculation that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp has been looking to sell off Myspace, they would have to sell the ailing social networking site at drastically less then what they paid for it like AOL did when they sold Bebo. News Corp bought Myspace for $580 million in 2005. It was even valued at $12 billion when News Corp attempted to merge Myspace with Yahoo. News Corp’s chief operating officer Chase Carey has described the site as a “problem” and said that a sale or partnership with Internet giants such as Yahoo or AOL were two of a number of options under consideration.

Carey, who has previously described Myspace’s losses as "neither acceptable or sustainable" has refused to set a deadline for the social networking site to return to profitability before it pushes ahead with a sale. "I'm not going to break down [the number of] quarters," he said. "It's not years... we need to deal with this with urgency." But Carey also said the company’s engineers had done a "very good job" at redesigning Myspace to help it better match market leaders Facebook and Twitter. He said it would have been "pretty tough" to sell Myspace before the revamp.

With the restructuring, Myspace is cutting jobs internationally with cuts in the UK and Europe. In 2009, the website closed offices in four countries. When Myspace announced the closing of those offices, it cames weeks after Myspace laid off 420 jobs from what Owen Van Natta, the then Myspace chief executive, described as its "bloated" United States operation. Myspace's international employees was expected to go from 450 to 150 during that time. The United Kingdom is the biggest base for Myspace outside of the United States. Van Natta said: "MySpace's staffing had become too big and cumbersome to be sustainable in current market conditions. Today's proposed changes are designed to transform and refine our international growth strategy."

"With roughly half of Myspace's total user base coming from outside the US maintaining productive and efficient operations in our international markets is important to users worldwide and our immediate financial strength," he added.

Now in 2011, Myspace will layoff most of the people from it's international offices. "Everybody is expecting some kind of announcement next week," said a digital executive close to Myspace. "And there is not much hope left for the international offices. A few staff will probably remain, but essentially, everybody at MySpace is expecting the international operation to be closed down. MySpace isn't making money and News Corporation needs to cut more costs dramatically."

After last years swingeing cuts, the only Myspace international offices which remain are in London, Berlin and Sydney.

London and Sydney’s respective offices employ around 55 people each, while Myspace’s Berlin office employs around 20 staff. The United States will see 50 percent of the Myspace employees laid off which has the majority of the Myspace employees.

As of June 2010, Myspace has an about 66 million users. It has also slipped to 25th in the Internet rankings.

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Ivory Coast expels British, Canadian ambassadors

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Ivory Coast expels British, Canadian ambassadors

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Ivory Coast expels British, Canadian ambassadors

The incumbent leader of the Ivory Coast, Laurent Gbagbo, is expelling the Canadian and British ambassadors, according to state television.

According to state television, the envoys are being expelled as a reciprocal measure, as the respective countries did not recognise Gbagbo's leadership. This is following his decision not to step down despite international recognition of rival Alassane Ouattara winning the November 2010 presidential election. Canada withdrew recognition of Louis L.B. Bony — Gbagbo's ambassador to Canada — on December 29, with the United Kingdom following suit on December 31. In addition, France, the former colonial power of the Ivory Coast, has stated that it will recognise Ouattara's appointee, as has the United Nations.

Although the ambassadors have been expelled, their diplomatic privileges will not be revoked until such time as they leave the Ivory Coast.

Outtara, who won 54% of the vote, which was backed by the United Nations and the country's Electoral Commission, remains under protection by UN peacekeepers, in a hotel in the main city and former capital of Abidjan.

The Foreign Office of the United Kingdom issued a travel warning in force for the Ivory Coast last month, advising British nationals to "leave by commercial means, if safe to do so", due to the threat of "widespread instability in Abidjan and other major cities. The Foreign Office [of the UK] continues to advise against all travel to Cote d'Ivoire".

In a separate incident, the United States announced that US citizens were to be barred from dealing financially with Gbagbo, and that the assets of Gbagbo, his wife and three aides, had been frozen.

Gbagbo retains control of the state army & media.

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Russia downs Canada 5-3 to win IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship

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Russia downs Canada 5-3 to win IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship

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Russia downs Canada 5-3 to win IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship

The 2011 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships ended in Buffalo, New York with one of the oldest and most heated rivalries in hockey history as Canada and Russia both looked to once again stand a top of the junior hockey world. With Team Canada coming off a silver medal, second place performance a year earlier, wanted to get back to their gold medal winning ways they have in the past. Russia is coming off a sixth place finish a year earlier had hopes of getting back to gold medal glory all while adding another chapter in this historic rivalry.

Russia scored five unanswered goals in the third period as they came back to win 5-3. The win is Russia's fifth gold medal while it's their first since winning back to back gold in 2002-2003. This lose is Canada's second straight silver medal. Canada came up short a year earlier in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan when they lost in over overtime 6-5 to the United States. Canada won three silver medals in a row from 2002-2004.

Canada started out strong as they opened the scoring on a power play when Ryan Ellis scores at 5:02 of the first period to make it 1-0. Late in the first period, Carter Ashton scored to make it 2-0 with 13.5 seconds left. Canada continued the scoring at 6:27 of the second with a goal from Brayden Schenn.

The third goal by Canada was the deciding factor in Russia pulling goalie Dmitri Shikin and replacing him with back up Igor Bobkov. This proved to be a valuable change as Canada started a downward spiral. This lead to Russia's Artemy Panarin scoring at 2:33 of the third period to make it a 3-1. Maxim Kitsyn scored at 2:46 of the third to pull Russia within one. Russian captain Vladimir Tarasenko scored at 7:29 of the third period to tie the game up at 3 and to continue the scoring. But Russia wasn't done yet as Artemy Panarin scored the game winner, which was his second of the game, at 4:38 which made the score 4-3. At 1:16 to go, Nikita Dvurechensky scored an insurance goal to help Russia win 5-3.

The 2012 World Junior Hockey Championships will be held in Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta.

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Controversial autism research found to be elaborate fraud

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Controversial autism research found to be elaborate fraud

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Controversial autism research found to be elaborate fraud

On January 6, 2011, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) released an investigative report claiming a now retracted autism research study in the UK was an elaborate fraud. The study, conducted by Andrew Wakefield and Arthur Krigsman, was originally published in 1998, and concluded that the MMR vaccine was directly causing Autism in young children. The paper started the MMR vaccine controversy, with many scientists claiming Wakefield was being intellectually dishonest. A number of the scientists who originally worked on the research with Wakefield have withdrawn their names from the report. However the scientists claimed they withdrew their names due to shoddy science on Wakefield's part, not because they believed the research was fraudulent.

BMJ's report is not a scientific study, but rather the result of in-depth research by journalists. The writer, investigative journalist Brian Deer, said Wakefield purposely presented false data to him in an attempt to create a vaccine scare and sue a number of pharmaceutical companies. According to BMJ, Wakefield received more than 435,000 pounds ($674,000) from the lawyers. In May 2010 Wakefield was stripped of his medical license.

Supporters of Wakefield and Krigsman claim the charges are nothing more than pharmaceutical companies attempting to reclaim money lost since the original publishing of the paper in 1998. In response paediatric neurologist Dr. Max Wiznitzer told CNN: "Unfortunately, his (Wakefield's) core group of supporters is not going to let the facts dissuade their beliefs that MMR causes autism."

Wakefield denies all charges of fraud.

CNN reports on the case

Kathleen and Eliot will talk with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN Chief Medical Correspondent, and JB Handley, the father of an autistic child and founder of Generation Rescue, about the following breaking story:

(CNN) – A now-retracted British study that linked autism to childhood vaccines was an "elaborate fraud" that has done long-lasting damage to public health, a leading medical publication reported Wednesday. An investigation published by the British medical journal BMJ concludes the study's author, Dr. Andrew Wakefield, misrepresented or altered the medical histories of all 12 of the patients whose cases formed the basis of the 1998 study - and that there was "no doubt" Wakefield was responsible. "It's one thing to have a bad study, a study full of error, and for the authors then to admit that they made errors," Fiona Godlee, BMJ's editor-in-chief, told CNN. "But in this case, we have a very different picture of what seems to be a deliberate attempt to create an impression that there was a link by falsifying the data."

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Homeless Columbus, Ohio man with 'god-given gift of voice' becomes YouTube sensation

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Homeless Columbus, Ohio man with 'god-given gift of voice' becomes YouTube sensation

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Homeless Columbus, Ohio man with 'god-given gift of voice' becomes YouTube sensation

Ted Williams, a former radio announcer from Columbus in Ohio, United States, has become a YouTube sensation after a video of the homeless man talking to a local reporter was uploaded onto the website.

In the YouTube video, he can be seen standing on the exit ramp of Interstate 71, holding a sign claiming that he has "a god-given gift of voice" and that he had "fallen on hard times", as well as speaking to Doral Chenoweth III from daily newspaper The Columbus Dispatch. Upon being asked to "[s]ay something with that great radio voice", he replied: "When you're listening to nothing but the best of old days, you're listening to Magic 98.9. Thank you so much. God bless you. Thank you. And we'll be back with more right after these words."

In the video, Williams also mentions how "alcohol and drugs and a few other things became a part of my life and I got two years clean and I'm trying hard to get it back." This video has now achieved in excess of seven and a half million YouTube views since the video was uploaded on January 3, 2011.

Subsequently, Williams received interest from companies wishing to offer occupations, including Ohio basketball team Cleveland Cavaliers and NFL Films, according to the Associated Press. Stating that "It's that voice," Kevin McLoughlin described: "When I heard him tell his story, I said, 'That's what we do. This guy can tell a story.' Somehow, some way, I need to get a demo with him." McLoughlin also believed that "[t]he man deserves a second chance". Williams is now attempting to make contact with his mother, aged 92, in New York.

When asked about the effect of this YouTube senastion in an interview with CBS News, he exclaimed: "It's just sensational for one, it's numbing for another, overwhelming ... It's just amazing. ... Well, I've already been characterized as Susan Boyle. ... I'm just so, so happy. ... I had no idea that something like this would have ever happened to me. It was like, almost, winning the Mega Ball lottery. ... It's phenomenal."

This instance has been likened to the occasion when Susan Boyle became a YouTube sensation in 2009 after a video of her audition on 'Britain's Got Talent' was uploaded there. The video was viewed over nine million times within the space of five days.

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UK actor Peter Postlethwaite dies aged 64

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UK actor Peter Postlethwaite dies aged 64

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UK actor Peter Postlethwaite dies aged 64

The man that Steven Spielberg once called "possibly the best actor in the world", has died. Peter Postlethwaite (OBE), a resident of England who worked as an actor for over 40 years, died of testicular cancer in Shropshire at the age of 64, according to his friend Andrew Richardson.

Postlethwaite, born in Warrington in 1946, was most famous for his starring role in such films as Brassed Off, The Usual Suspects and, more recently, Inception. He was also known to be a stage performer. In 1993, he was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor.

He is survived by wife Jacqui and children Will and Lily - aged 21 and 14, respectively.

Steven Spielberg

Steven Allan Spielberg (born December 18, 1946) is an American film director, screenwriter, film producer, video game designer and studio executive. In a career spanning four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an archetype of modern Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years, his films began addressing such issues as the Holocaust, slavery, war and terrorism. He is considered one of the most influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. He is also one of the founders of DreamWorks movie studio.

Spielberg won the Academy Award for Best Director for Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Three of Spielberg's films; Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993), achieved box office records, each becoming the highest-grossing film made at the time. To date, the unadjusted gross of all Spielberg-directed films exceeds $8.5 billion worldwide. Forbes puts Spielberg's wealth at $3.0 billion.

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