Top U.S. Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBMs By 2015

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/55DbpfI5zbE" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBM By 2015 -- Washington Free Beacon</b></span></div><br />Iran will have inter-continental ballistic missiles by 2015, a top intelligence official told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday.<br /><br />“I think when the Chairman [of the Joint Chiefs of Staff] talked about our assessment being in the 2015 timeframe, given the development that we’ve seen, that’s accurate,” Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn told Sen. Mike Lee (R., Utah) at the hearing.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://freebeacon.com/intel-chief-iran-will-have-icbm-by-2015/">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><b>My Comment</b>: And the next question is .... what payload will these missiles be carrying?

Top U.S. Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBMs By 2015

Intel Chief: Iran Will Have ICBM By 2015 -- Washington Free Beacon Iran will have inter-continental ballistic missiles by 2015, a top intell...

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Gladiator heads? Mystery of British skulls solved (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mUkPV75ItRc927NoNiPDTBt8MocgUhLVT0WcAPFqT_BuUk3eMTsP1wkg7JDpmY__NKrF5AG4OF9ugcN9qqEyNwCqhNGo5Pmgd0x-P0vVFf7gEvIc-oPJlTxO3ftmjP8gag4dFf5eZek/s1600/1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0mUkPV75ItRc927NoNiPDTBt8MocgUhLVT0WcAPFqT_BuUk3eMTsP1wkg7JDpmY__NKrF5AG4OF9ugcN9qqEyNwCqhNGo5Pmgd0x-P0vVFf7gEvIc-oPJlTxO3ftmjP8gag4dFf5eZek/s1600/1.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">A trove of skulls and other body parts unearthed in the heart of London may have once belonged to Roman gladiators, war captives or criminals, a new study suggests.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The remains, described in the January issue of the <i style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Journal of Archaeological Science,</i> belonged to about 40 men, mostly ages 25 to 35, and were marred by violence: cheek fractures, blunt-force trauma to the head, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/39219-can-severed-head-live.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">decapitation</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> and injuries from sharp weapons, said study co-author Rebecca Redfern, a curator and bioarchaeologist at the Museum of London. [<a href="http://www.livescience.com/43192-images-british-gladiator-skulls.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">In Images: Skulls of the Gladiators and War Captives</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />]</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Old find</strong>Great Britain's ancient cities are littered with archaeological treasures, many of which are often dug up accidentally prior to construction. For instance, in 2013, the burial site of <a href="http://www.livescience.com/topics/king-richard-iii/" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">King Richard III</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />was found under a parking lot in Leicester, England, and in April 2013, a medieval knight's tomb was uncovered under a Scottish parking lot.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The new site was excavated in 1988 prior to construction, and the skulls and remains of 40 people, along with scrap leather, were found at a marshy site in a pit.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">During the <a href="http://www.livescience.com/29498-plague-helped-destroy-roman-empire.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">Roman period</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" />, the area, near the London Wall, was filled with small timber workshops where shoemakers toiled. The site was also close to an amphitheater, and because of its proximity to a stream, it had religious and ritual purposes as well, Redfern said.</div><div class="aside-block" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-width: 2px 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 10px 0px 10px 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 180px;"><blockquote style="border: 0px none; color: black; font-family: lora, georgia; font-size: 20px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 11px 0px 14px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">'One of [the skulls] had a beetle-wing case up its nose.'</blockquote><div style="background-position: 0px 50%; border: 0px none; color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">- Rebecca Redfern, a curator and bioarchaeologist at the Museum of London</div></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Due to a lack of funding, the skulls were never thoroughly analyzed but were instead taken to the Museum of London, where they languished for decades.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Second look</strong>But after Redfern was tasked with clearing out the backlog of items in the museum's collection, she did a more thorough analysis.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Originally, Redfern and colleague Heather Bonney, an earth scientist at the Natural History Museum in London, assumed the skulls had washed up from a nearby cemetery after river flooding. But most cemeteries hold bodies of people who died at different ages, whereas these remains belonged to young men who bore marks of extreme violence.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">By measuring the isotopes of carbon (atoms of carbon with different numbers of neutrons), in nearby pottery shards, the team concluded that the men died between A.D. 120 and 160. Because radioactive carbon decays at a reliable rate, the proportion of radioactive carbon relative to other forms of carbon can reveal how old an object is.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Further analysis led them to conclude that the remains were put into a shallow pit that was deliberately dug outside a shoemaker's shop.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The ages and evidence of trauma suggest the Roman-era remains once belonged to gladiators, executed criminals or war captives.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Display and discard</strong>In Roman-era England, it was common for headhunters to collect "trophies" from war captives: For instance, <a href="http://www.livescience.com/24460-hadrians-wall.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">Hadrian's Wall</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> was spiked with the heads of enemy soldiers.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"If you were considered to be a barbarian, [the Roman warriors] didn't actually regard you as human," Redfern told Live Science. "You were subhuman."</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">So the Romans ironically saw the displaying of barbarian,<a href="http://www.livescience.com/39219-can-severed-head-live.html" style="color: #183a52; cursor: pointer; outline: none 0px;" target="_blank">decapitated heads</a><img src="http://global.fncstatic.com/static/v/all/img/external-link.png" style="border: 0px none; margin: 4px 0px 0px 4px; max-width: 480px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;" /> "as an expression of military power and the force of civilization," Redfern said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Political criminals and gladiators were also decapitated, likely in the nearby amphitheater.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The team hypothesized that battle-scarred men may have had their heads on display for a while, and the remains were subsequently deposited into the pit.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"One of [the skulls] had a beetle-wing case up its nose," Redfern said. As the beetle type only lives in shallow, stagnant water, the skulls must have been sitting in the pit for a while, she said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">"It must have just stunk," Redfern said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></div>

Gladiator heads? Mystery of British skulls solved (BLOG)

A trove of skulls and other body parts unearthed in the heart of London may have once belonged to Roman gladiators, war captives or criminal...

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Preview: The Rise and Fall of Penn Station

New York has been without Penn Station nearly as many years as it was with the McKim, Mead and White masterpiece. Built in 1910, demolition started 53 years later in 1963, 51 years ago this year. The power of that building remains, found in last year's <a href="http://archidose.blogspot.com/2013/05/four-futures-for-msg-and-penn-station.html">proposed futures for Penn Station</a> but also a new <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/penn/">American Experience documentary</a> premiering on February 18 on PBS. I'll write more on the documentary early next week, but for the time being here is a preview, courtesy of PBS: <br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" class="b-hbp-video b-uploaded" frameborder="0" height="266" id="BLOGGER-video-b6e6ee59dbc5aa27-5577" mozallowfullscreen="mozallowfullscreen" src="https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dwV49y8-TX3Y0_Xjtil_NaOgANvbHm0h1xXUEWUX0rZA_tFnVILMrevl7c4KEKtg5GrbKZFkIZb7mesmNdHpQx611s4AOgoy-xM0MUvDfRm3Dn54G-7gKvQvSCIgPrRaZnB8bI" webkitallowfullscreen="webkitallowfullscreen" width="320"></iframe></div><br />Description <a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/penn/">from American Experience</a>: <br /><blockquote><i>In 1910, the Pennsylvania Railroad successfully accomplished the enormous engineering feat of building tunnels under New York City's Hudson and East Rivers, connecting the railroad to New York and eventually to New England, knitting together the entire eastern half of the United States. The tunnels terminated in what was one of the greatest architectural achievements of its time, Pennsylvania Station. Inspired by Paris' Gare D'Orsay and the Roman baths of Caracalla, Pennsylvania Station covered nearly eight acres, extended two city blocks, and housed one of the largest public spaces in the world; many of the 100,000 attendees of Penn Station's grand opening proclaimed it to be one of the wonders of the world.</i><br /><i><br /></i> <i>But just 53 years after the station’s opening, what was supposed to last forever, to herald and represent the American Empire, was slated to be destroyed. The financially-strapped Pennsylvania Railroad announced it had sold the air rights above Penn Station, and would tear down what had once been the company's crowning jewel to build Madison Square Garden, a high rise office building and sports complex.</i><br /><i><br /></i> <i>On the rainy morning of October 28, 1963, the demolition began; it took three years to dismantle the monumental station. The monumental edifice was gone, but the tunnels and the trains remain, serving millions of people every year.</i></blockquote><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/penn/" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9LoESOPO6viuTE4MT-tY6ce7mElmcmrT8uDY0aqcEcYg93cClj70OFVqHmWO5WIstJlx5FVBMdKOXVWCe4bp902BxYn0J2F5VslV6I2t2tuAaUJobAy16ObBZlkfQb_Sw915mTg6sLXub/s1600/image002.jpg" /></a></div>

Preview: The Rise and Fall of Penn Station

New York has been without Penn Station nearly as many years as it was with the McKim, Mead and White masterpiece. Built in 1910, demolition ...

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No U.S. - Russian Unity On Iran And Syria

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPI-UlyOF-t3VGZ2SUCrGHUwGf3sFbwpZRgN4Qf35NmbOa9It1xo_oob6YI_-r7L2kxe0bO-a5h8DamqQLHfmLOEXPhRYKgVIec0Ti2YFTCJhRKxAb-FSAU24PnQ4gXd0aQuPabDL0fDO1/s1600/2013-09-12-BZSSR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPI-UlyOF-t3VGZ2SUCrGHUwGf3sFbwpZRgN4Qf35NmbOa9It1xo_oob6YI_-r7L2kxe0bO-a5h8DamqQLHfmLOEXPhRYKgVIec0Ti2YFTCJhRKxAb-FSAU24PnQ4gXd0aQuPabDL0fDO1/s1600/2013-09-12-BZSSR.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">US President Barack Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, June 17, 2013. © <a href="http://en.ria.ru/russia/20130617/181718207.html">REUTERS/ Kevin Lamarque</a></span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Russian And U.S. Leaders Exchange Criticisms On Syria, Iran -- Al Bawaba</b></span></div><br />Russian officials said that the U.S. is "hindering progress" on settling the Iran nuclear issue while Obama called on Russia to urge Damascus to dispose its chemical weapons on time, calling it Moscow's "responsibility,<a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Feb-11/247013-russia-says-us-measures-hinder-progress-on-iran-nuclear-issue.ashx#axzz2svQgn81A" target="_blank" title="iran russia"> according to Retuers </a>and <a href="http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Feb-11/247022-obama-russia-must-make-syria-comply-with-chemical-arms-deal.ashx#axzz2svQgn81A" target="_blank" title="obama russia">Agence France Presse. </a><br /><br />Iran and world powers are scheduled to meet on Feb. 18 to discuss how to implement the landmark deal from November that curbs <a href="http://www.google.jo/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCoQqQIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.albawaba.com%2Fnews%2Firan-nuclear-weapons-553563&ei=xGb6UoWGPKfQ7Aa24oGoCw&usg=AFQjCNEPuQARSJVUQzbtcEivIgX8L3C9sQ&bvm=bv.61190604,d.ZGU" target="_blank" title="iran iaea">Iran's uranium enrichment activities </a>and eases some Western sanctions. The deal, which took effect in late January, has been controversial among many policymakers in Washington who are calling for "the main superstructure of trade sanctions" to main intact against Iran. Last week, the <a href="http://www.google.jo/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&ved=0CEwQFjAH&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.usnews.com%2Fdebate-club%2Fthe-arguments-will-attach-to-this-unpublished-question%2Fan-all-out-assault-on-diplomacy&ei=8Wb6UpaXJaqO7QaP2ICIAg&usg=AFQjCNERGNNvt6ZdES6WF7ELpwKnIhbXHg&bvm=bv.61190604,d.ZGU" target="_blank" title="iran nuclear">U.S. Congress announced that companies and individuals would be barred from carrying out Iran-related financial transactions under U.S. jurisdiction. </a><br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.albawaba.com/news/obama-russia-553947">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><b>Update #1:</b> <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/02/11/350235/russia-opposes-new-us-bans-on-iran/">Russia opposes US unilateral sanctions against Iran </a>-- Press TV (Iran)<br /><b>Update #2:</b> <a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-02/11/c_126117148.htm">Russia dismisses U.S. sanctions against Iran as "illegitimate" </a>-- Xinhuanet<br /><br /><b>My Comment:</b> Both sides are talking .... but no one is listening .... and it shows.

No U.S. - Russian Unity On Iran And Syria

US President Barack Obama meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during the G8 Summit at Lough Erne in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, J...

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Cartel hitman testifies to 800 murders, daily quotas at kingpin's trial (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYqqJXp2iuScdIgpm4YKyuokaFodvQBYT0rnhzlJ2f4CW84Mx2yAHEmOEwKdsC9htFpHBU0t6JdgLTarA7QdT0ZOlPr93Hv38t6VHkFJL22J81MTydG6inKYEXwnVbI642d_0Bw3i56I/s1600/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDYqqJXp2iuScdIgpm4YKyuokaFodvQBYT0rnhzlJ2f4CW84Mx2yAHEmOEwKdsC9htFpHBU0t6JdgLTarA7QdT0ZOlPr93Hv38t6VHkFJL22J81MTydG6inKYEXwnVbI642d_0Bw3i56I/s1600/0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span class="dateline" style="border: 0px none; clear: none; color: #999999; font-size: 12px; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase; vertical-align: baseline;">EL PASO, TEXAS –  </span>The ongoing trial of a man accused of killing three U.S. Consulate workers and family members in Juarez is revealing the shocking depravity of one of Mexico’s most violent gangs, including the charge that it had a daily murder quota calibrated to instill fear in police and the public.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo, a star witness in the murder trial of Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, told jurors in an El Paso federal courtroom how the Barrio Azteca Gang Catrellon grew from a Texas jail gang into contract killers for the notorious Juarez cartel. Thousands of murders committed by the gang over a four-year period helped Juarez earn the dubious title of "Murder Capital of the World."</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Chavez testified he stopped counting the number of people he killed at 800, and said he often beheaded and dismembered victims to impress his boss. The idea was "that it would be big news," he said.</div><div class="aside-block" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-style: solid none; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-width: 2px 0px; clear: both; color: #333333; float: right; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; margin: 10px 0px 10px 12px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; width: 180px;"><blockquote style="border: 0px none; color: black; font-family: lora, georgia; font-size: 20px; font-style: italic; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 11px 0px 14px; quotes: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“I feel I did the right thing, since I did so much wrong.”</blockquote><div style="background-position: 0px 50%; border: 0px none; color: #666666; font-family: arial; font-style: italic; margin-bottom: 16px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px; vertical-align: baseline;">- Jesus Ernesto Chavez Castillo</div></div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“I feel I did the right thing, since I did so much wrong,” Chavez said in court, explaining why he was now testifying against his former boss.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Castrellon is accused of ordering the March 13, 2010, shootings of Lesley Enriquez, her husband, El Paso County Sheriff's Officer Arthur Redfels, and Jorge Alberto Salcido Ceniceros, husband of another consulate employee. Earlier this month, an FBI agent and another former gang member testified that the shootings may have been a case of mistaken identity.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The victims were driving in a white Honda Pilot and a Toyota SUV following the birthday party of a consulate co-worker’s child. The Pilot matched the description of a vehicle rival gang members had been spotted in, according to witnesses.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the revelations about the Juarez cartel’s brutality in its long-running war with the rival Sinaloa cartel have cast a chilling pall over the trial. The Sinaloa cartel ultimately won control of the drug trade route into the El Paso region.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">While it may not be possible to prove how many murders are attributable to the Barrio Azteca Gang or the cartel it worked for, what is certain is that after the arrests of 35 members for the 2010 killings, the murder rate in the violent city plummeted to 2,086 in 2011 from 3,622 a year earlier. In 2012, it declined to 751.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the real reason for the decline in murders was that the Sinaloa cartel won the war, according to Stratfor Mexico Security Analyst Tristan Reed.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“The murder rate in Juarez persisted because you had two powerful criminal organizations providing the weaponry, money and illicit drugs to push gangs to kill one another,” Reed said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">With the Sinaloa cartel and its elusive leader, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, unrivaled, the body count in Juarez has slowed, he said.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But the Barrio Aztecas, implicated in numerous high-profile El Paso murders in recent years, are still active on the Texas side.</div><div style="border: 0px none; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 27px; margin-bottom: 24px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">“It is important to remember that Los Aztecas are still a very dangerous street gang operating in both Mexico and the United States,” Reed said. “However, their ability to carry out violence as seen in 2010 is no longer around.”</div>

Cartel hitman testifies to 800 murders, daily quotas at kingpin's trial (BLOG)

EL PASO, TEXAS –   The ongoing trial of a man accused of killing three U.S. Consulate workers and family members in Juarez is revealing the ...

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Silver is a risky investment

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Are you missing out on Wall Street?</b></span></div><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/sZLDVUh5rKk?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe>

Silver is a risky investment

Are you missing out on Wall Street?

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Iran Stands Committed To It's Nuclear And Missile Program

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/P5TkCa_nRoQ" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Rouhani Says Nuclear Program 'Forever' As Iran Marks Anniversary Of Islamic Revolution -- Jerusalem Post</span></b></div><br />Senior military aide to Supreme Leader Khamenei says if Iran attacked, Hezbollah would destroy Israel.<br /><br />Iranian President Hassan Rouhani dismissed on Tuesday a Western assertion that military force could yet solve a decade-old nuclear dispute if negotiations proved fruitless, pledging that Iran would pursue peaceful atomic research "forever."<br /><br />In a speech marking the 35th anniversary of the 1979 Islamic revolution, Rouhani also attacked economic sanctions imposed by the West as "brutal, illegal and wrong" and said countries in the region had nothing to fear from Iran.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Rouhani-warns-US-against-making-threats-in-Revolution-anniversary-speech-341048">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On Reports That Iran Will Stay Committed To It's Nuclear And Missile Program</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://www.thetower.org/iranian-officials-underline-red-lines-dismantling-nuclear-infrastructure-halting-ballistic-missile-development/">Iranian Officials Underline “Red Lines” Against Dismantling Nuclear Infrastructure, Halting Ballistic Missile Development</a> -- The Tower<br /><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/rouhani-calls-for-national-unity-healing-says-iran-will-not-relinquish-defense-capability/2014/02/11/380413b8-9307-11e3-b3f7-f5107432ca45_story.html">Rouhani calls for national unity, healing; says Iran will not relinquish defense capability</a> -- Washington Post<br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jFZ_4LeGNjvcVB6786HWwiyxloNA?docId=426457e0-9435-4b63-8830-c470a56f7ff4">Rouhani calls for 'fair' nuclear talks as Iran marks revolution</a> -- AFP<br /><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/iran-nuclear-west-idUSL5N0LG1MU20140211">Iran "forever" comments on nuclear programme seen as sop to hardliners</a> -- Reuters<br /><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/rouhani-iran-nuclear-deal-critics">Rouhani critics step up opposition to Iranian nuclear deal </a>-- The Guardian<br /><a href="http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/11/iran-tests-new-ballistic-missiles-saying-they-are-not-part-of-a-deal-to-limit-/">Iran tests new ballistic missiles, saying they are not part of a deal to limit its nuclear work</a> -- Euronews<br /><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-missiles-test-launch/25259503.html">Iran Says It Successfully Tests New Missiles</a> -- Radio Free Europe<br /><a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2014/02/11/Missiles-are-a-message-to-United-States-Iran-says/UPI-64511392135298/">Missiles are a message to United States, Iran says</a> -- UPI<br /><a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/c3e61f16-9320-11e3-8ea7-00144feab7de.html#axzz2t2e6ZdXi">Hassan Rouhani fends off Iran’s hardliners . . . for now</a> -- Roula Khalaf, Financial Times

Iran Stands Committed To It's Nuclear And Missile Program

Rouhani Says Nuclear Program 'Forever' As Iran Marks Anniversary Of Islamic Revolution -- Jerusalem Post Senior military aide to Sup...

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L’Oréal Says It Will Buy Back 8% of Its Shares From Nestlé (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVH7uB8EUXxfQZ1fDn54seUkOBWUC0jbqW_8cHpxSNy2JkLpdRg4zjXQkv7s1-OAzM_I0tMSzsNhgIf6P2DhnzMp6lkF7wiYsU18mBSORt_NQwGY3GXec6xtpP4VksoZrEHshBEIfV5U/s1600/lo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtVH7uB8EUXxfQZ1fDn54seUkOBWUC0jbqW_8cHpxSNy2JkLpdRg4zjXQkv7s1-OAzM_I0tMSzsNhgIf6P2DhnzMp6lkF7wiYsU18mBSORt_NQwGY3GXec6xtpP4VksoZrEHshBEIfV5U/s1600/lo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="324" data-total-count="324" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">PARIS — L’Oréal, the world’s largest maker of cosmetics, will pay about $8.2 billion to buy back 8 percent of its shares from Nestlé, the companies said Tuesday, in a complex transaction that marks a major step toward unwinding a long alliance between the French cosmetics maker and the Swiss food giant.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="402" data-total-count="726" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">Nestlé, based in Vevey, Switzerland, has held almost 30 percent of L’Oréal since 1974, acting together with the Bettencourt-Meyers family, which founded L’Oréal, to control the company. Its brands include Lancôme, the Body Shop and Vichy. The family sold the stake to the Swiss company amid fears that L’Oréal might otherwise be nationalized by the French state.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="181" data-total-count="907" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">The deal was not unexpected, as the companies had been facing the expiration in April of an agreement requiring the parties to first offer the other any stake they intended to sell.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="450" data-total-count="1357" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">Though Nestlé has profited handsomely on its investment, the Swiss company has in recent years been focusing on expanding its health and nutrition businesses and dropping what it considers to be noncore activities. Selling the L’Oréal stake also frees up a significant amount of capital in case Nestlé identifies acquisition targets. Nestlé said on Tuesday it would use part of the proceeds to carry out a share buyback.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="323" data-total-count="1680" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">The companies said their respective boards agreed unanimously on Monday that L’Oréal would buy back 48.5 million of its own shares from Nestlé, an amount equivalent to 8 percent of L’Oréal’s share capital, reducing the Swiss company’s stake to less than a quarter of L’Oréal’s stock.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="305" data-total-count="1985" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Nestlé's chairman, told a news conference at L’Oréal’s Paris headquarters that Nestlé would “continue to support the development of L’Oréal as in the past 40 years” and that it would continue its cooperation with the Bettencourt-Meyers family.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="493" data-total-count="2478" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">The deal, on which Lazard and BNP Paribas are advising L’Oréal and Rothschilds is advising Nestlé, is being financed in two parts. First, Nestlé will pay 21.2 million in L’Oréal shares for the French company’s 50 percent stake in Galderma, their Swiss dermatology pharmaceuticals joint venture, for an equity value of €2.6 billion, or roughly $3.6 billion. The Swiss company will turn the wholly owned company into a new business, Nestlé Skin Health.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="279" data-total-count="2757" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">Second, L’Oréal will pay €3.4 billion in cash for another 27.3 million of its shares held by Nestlé. All of those shares will be canceled, and L’Oréal said that would result in a 5 percent positive impact on its recurring earnings on a full-year basis.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="186" data-total-count="2943" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">Jean-Paul Agon, L’Oréal’s chairman and chief executive, said the deal “represents a very positive strategic move for L’Oréal, its employees and its shareholders.”</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="291" data-total-count="3234" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">L’Oréal will finance the second part purely through cash on hand and by issuing short-term debt, answering a key question among investors, who had wondered whether the company would have to sell part of its stake in Sanofi, a French drug maker, in which it owns a 9 percent holding.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="299" data-total-count="3533" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">The companies said Nestlé's share of the cosmetics maker would drop to 23.29 percent from 29.4 percent, and that the Bettencourt-Meyers family’s ownership would rise to 33.31 percent from 30.6 percent. Nestlé's representation on the 14-member board will drop to two seats from three.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="255" data-total-count="3788" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">L’Oréal traces its start to 1909, when a chemist named Eugène Schueller founded a company to supply Paris hairdressers with hair dyes. The company has a market value of more than €78 billion and employs more than 77,000 people worldwide.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="212" data-total-count="4000" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">Liliane Bettencourt, Mr. Schueller’s daughter, inherited the company fortune on the death of her father, and is today the richest woman in Europe, with a<a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/liliane-bettencourt" style="color: #326891;" title="Family fortune">family fortune</a> estimated by Forbes at about $30 billion.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="485" data-total-count="4485" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">Her father’s support of pre-World War II French fascists, and her marriage to André Bettencourt, a French politician with links to far-right groups, led her to fear that her L’Oréal stake would be seized if the French left won election. In 1974, she agreed to trade a 30 percent stake to Nestlé for a small share in the Swiss company, on the assumption that it would be more difficult for the state to intervene if a significant foreign investor were involved.</div><div>NYTimes</div>

L’Oréal Says It Will Buy Back 8% of Its Shares From Nestlé (BLOG)

PARIS — L’Oréal, the world’s largest maker of cosmetics, will pay about $8.2 billion to buy back 8 percent of its shares from Nestlé, the co...

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Iran Marks 35 Years Of Revolution

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IJiwbTJdjBg" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Iranians Rally To Mark 35 Years Of Revolution -- Al Jazeera</b></span></div><br />Thousands gather in streets of Tehran to mark day that created Islamic Republic, ending the reign of US-allied shah.<br /><br />Hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the streets of the Iranian capital and cities around the country to mark the 35th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution.<br /><br />In Tehran, huge crowds thronged central Azadi square on Tuesday for a speech by President Hassan Rouhani, his first major address to the public since his election in August.<br /><br />Rouhani launched into the traditional anti-US rhetoric despite a significant political shift in Tehran, which resulted in his election last year as a leader pursuing a policy of outreach to the West.<br /><br />"The people's vote had no role in running this country. This was a huge humiliation," Rouhani said, referring to the period when Iran was a constitutional monarchy.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/02/iran-rallies-mark-35-years-revolution-201421171757311457.html">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On Iran Marking 35 Years Of Revolution</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-revolution-anniversary/25260193.html">Large Crowds In Iran Mark 35th Anniversary Of Islamic Revolution</a> -- Radio Free Europe<br /><a href="http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/1.573573">Iranians celebrate 35th anniversary of 1979 revolution</a> -- Haaretz/Reuters/AP<br /><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/feb/11/iran-erupts-thousands-rally-mark-islamic-revolutio/">Iran erupts as thousands rally to mark Islamic revolution </a>-- Washington Times<br /><a href="http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/11/anti-us-anger-strong-as-tehran-marks-islamic-revolution-/">Anti-US anger strong as Tehran marks Islamic Revolution </a>-- Euronews<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/world/middleeast/anniversary-of-islamic-revolution-in-iran.html">Iranians Assail U.S. on Revolution Anniversary</a> -- New York Times<br /><a href="http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/2/11/rouhani-marks-islamicrevolutionanniversarywithcritiqueofus.html">Rouhani marks Islamic revolution anniversary with critique of US</a> -- AL Jazeera<br /><a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/02/11/Iranians-observe-revolution-anniversary/UPI-72551392123689/?spt=rln&or=1">Iranians observe revolution anniversary</a> -- UPI<br /><a href="http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/politics/2014/02/11/iranian-president-calls-for-engagement-on-35th-anniversary-revolution/">Iranian president calls for engagement on 35th anniversary of revolution</a> -- FOX News/EFE<br /><a href="http://www.rferl.org/content/iran-revolution-by-numbers/25260205.html">Iran's Revolution By The Numbers </a>-- Radio Free Europe

Iran Marks 35 Years Of Revolution

Iranians Rally To Mark 35 Years Of Revolution -- Al Jazeera Thousands gather in streets of Tehran to mark day that created Islamic Republic,...

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Polio Returns To Afghanistan

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/HN3vzJuuJBE" width="560"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Afghanistan Launches Polio Vaccination Drive After Kabul's First Case Since 2001 -- The Guardian</b></span></div><br />Health ministry acts after girl diagnosed with disease in one of three countries where polio remains endemic<br /><br />Afghan officials have launched a polio vaccination campaign after a young girl from Kabul was diagnosed with the disease – the capital's first case since the fall of the Taliban in 2001.<br /><br />Afghanistan, Pakistan and Nigeria are the only countries in the world where polio remains endemic. But the number of cases has declined significantly in Afghanistan in recent years.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/11/afghanistan-polio-vaccination-girl-diagnosed-kabul">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><b>Update:</b> <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g8bBx60VsnB9ClbYgdUgydfec22Q?docId=c24bcdfb-62fd-43cc-9f50-5757f3469846">Polio returns to Afghan capital after 13 years</a> -- AFP<br /><br /><b>My Comment:</b> This is a setback and an ominous warning on what the future may hold.

Polio Returns To Afghanistan

Afghanistan Launches Polio Vaccination Drive After Kabul's First Case Since 2001 -- The Guardian Health ministry acts after girl diagnos...

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‘Major Mafia Round-Up’ in New York and Italy (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXsOz-8E53bo_gKvpyyu5fKyiGePuoN58027_cZSicT7MwmEtO8cd2rD1NnJhus00FVE9U3KrNjAO4YCQZG1hnVyHpy_IjP2PWo57-lPeP7SUnJp4TJ_LGnhfwoNiRIHgtcZ5ywt4LPHA/s1600/abc_ntl_bust_110120_wg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXsOz-8E53bo_gKvpyyu5fKyiGePuoN58027_cZSicT7MwmEtO8cd2rD1NnJhus00FVE9U3KrNjAO4YCQZG1hnVyHpy_IjP2PWo57-lPeP7SUnJp4TJ_LGnhfwoNiRIHgtcZ5ywt4LPHA/s1600/abc_ntl_bust_110120_wg.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="297" data-total-count="297" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Italian national police have arrested dozens of people with suspected ties to organized crime as part of a coordinated investigation into cocaine and heroin trafficking as well as money laundering, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday morning.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="427" data-total-count="724" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">At least seven of the arrests were made overnight in the New York City area, the person said. The investigation is centered on the ‘Ndrangheta, the Mafia group from the Calabria region of Italy, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss a continuing operation. The individuals arrested in the New York area are expected to be arraigned in Federal District Court in Brooklyn later on Tuesday.</div><div class="story-body-text story-content" data-para-count="145" data-total-count="869" itemprop="articleBody" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', times, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.4375rem; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 135px; max-width: 540px; width: 540px;">The F.B.I.'s New York office tweeted on Tuesday morning that it was carrying out a “<a href="https://twitter.com/NewYorkFBI/status/433213371698388992" style="color: #326891;" title="F.B.I. Tweet">major mafia round-up</a>” but provided no additional details.</div>

‘Major Mafia Round-Up’ in New York and Italy (BLOG)

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Italian national police have arrested dozens of people with suspected ties to organized crime as...

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JOLTS of Déjà Vu

The following chart shows the semiannual average of the number of job openings divided by the number of hires (as seen in the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5JhmJL8t4zS6VzIuk3OaVaU9r1J5m1iOP5OWNzJYvbdbMBM8bPKqjd2ZgSwNJrwOYTSW8Lo7zCfOymusYXlM59b76tRl6ZbFEzDXxJ8oe6WdyJzbxoHYc3PKkuKRpJubvswot27CjEHY/s1600/Openings+vs.+Hires.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5JhmJL8t4zS6VzIuk3OaVaU9r1J5m1iOP5OWNzJYvbdbMBM8bPKqjd2ZgSwNJrwOYTSW8Lo7zCfOymusYXlM59b76tRl6ZbFEzDXxJ8oe6WdyJzbxoHYc3PKkuKRpJubvswot27CjEHY/s320/Openings+vs.+Hires.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Note that this ratio appears to be a leading indicator for the last two recessions (too bad there isn't more data to backtest it further).<br /><br />When the view out the front window (job openings) looks worse than the view out the rear window (hires), then there may be reason for concern (again).<br /><br />The next chart shows the annual percentage change in the semiannual data.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHamnafNhMddX1-Sa25jWq8BBC4xcdfzzW-sNhq3OcjvUe3-DBOUgXU5On9IAj8-4jEVw9Buc5tBQufHQCh-BQzf4PSWSi0nLAPy3Cvsb19IO0JFWTThodLhWCHquyHhxDrcT-BLEvl8o/s1600/Openings+vs.+Hires+-+Growth.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHamnafNhMddX1-Sa25jWq8BBC4xcdfzzW-sNhq3OcjvUe3-DBOUgXU5On9IAj8-4jEVw9Buc5tBQufHQCh-BQzf4PSWSi0nLAPy3Cvsb19IO0JFWTThodLhWCHquyHhxDrcT-BLEvl8o/s320/Openings+vs.+Hires+-+Growth.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Let me guess. We can blame the "recent" decline on two years of bad weather?<br /><br />The financial experts are bracing for this economy to accelerate in 2014. I have but one question. Which direction? Sigh.<br /><br />This is not investment advice.<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rZ4">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart #1</a><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=rZ5">St. Louis Fed: Custom Chart #2</a>

JOLTS of Déjà Vu

The following chart shows the semiannual average of the number of job openings divided by the number of hires (as seen in the Job Openings a...

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Wall Street Rallies on Janet Yellen's Report

<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Wall Street resumes BULL RUN on Yellen's report:</b></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOw9buC8eex3R6Q6wa8xm-tMxe_oGaLVHN40cnV0zugGTPIBSPJKg2C6PCymuKkmAh4VqUsHmGxDHIG_4l_5jOFbGzp9c485N8j-Hq2oqoZM4ftWQ7YMebBACfBFYX1dnhv0QR2pjUu8/s1600/WallStreetmoneyPIC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwOw9buC8eex3R6Q6wa8xm-tMxe_oGaLVHN40cnV0zugGTPIBSPJKg2C6PCymuKkmAh4VqUsHmGxDHIG_4l_5jOFbGzp9c485N8j-Hq2oqoZM4ftWQ7YMebBACfBFYX1dnhv0QR2pjUu8/s1600/WallStreetmoneyPIC.jpg" width="320" /></a><b><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">DJIA makes 16,000 again</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="http://markets.money.cnn.com/markets/overview/modules/chart.asp" src="http://markets.money.cnn.com/markets/overview/modules/chart.asp" /> </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">The U.S. Economy looks healthy</span></b><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Janet Yellen handing out free cash :-)</span></b><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Go Janet!  You're boring but you're ok...</span></b><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">DJIA to 20,000! </span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Investors long equities look healthy for higher returns as stocks move higher in response to Janet Yellen reporting the FED's objective of maximum employment and price stability remain satisfactory.  Wall Street's reaction to Janet Yellen's policy is already driving all indexes sharply higher... </b><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/IiJllgX52f4?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe> <div style="text-align: center;"><br /><b><span style="font-size: large;">Peter Schiff examines jobs, gold, and Janet Yellen</span> </b></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/BMQLuY0q1JI?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>...developing...</b></div>

Wall Street Rallies on Janet Yellen's Report

Wall Street resumes BULL RUN on Yellen's report: DJIA makes 16,000 again The U.S. Economy looks healthy Janet Yellen handing out free ...

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North And South Korea Agree To Hold High Level Talks

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X7wjs_e4qUynXlCwNBsF-N1_T4K3iXGopBH15nrMwGiuQUHN6M62DYxeRM3RD36zDl2ueRXk9ICRGQmBn2Rbqs7kDaLq0Ao2WqqbqH-3ouNKun3uQYn6Kk3A7qtaNsVr8PbBJsmletah/s1600/2013-09-12-BZSSR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2X7wjs_e4qUynXlCwNBsF-N1_T4K3iXGopBH15nrMwGiuQUHN6M62DYxeRM3RD36zDl2ueRXk9ICRGQmBn2Rbqs7kDaLq0Ao2WqqbqH-3ouNKun3uQYn6Kk3A7qtaNsVr8PbBJsmletah/s1600/2013-09-12-BZSSR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Two Koreas Agree Tare High-Level Talks -- BBC</b></span></div><br /><i>Officials from North and South Korea are to hold rare high-level talks on Wednesday, Seoul has announced, ahead of family reunions planned for later this month.</i><br /><br />The meeting will take place at the border village of Panmunjom, a Unification Ministry spokesman said.<br /><br />No agenda had been set but the planned family reunions were expected to be discussed, he said.<br /><br />The agreement followed a proposal from North Korea to hold talks.<br /><br />One South Korean official said the invitation had arrived without warning, and had taken the government by surprise, the BBC's Lucy Williamson in Seoul reports.<br /><br />There is hope in Seoul that it might kick-start a regular dialogue, our correspondent adds.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-26131487">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On North And South Korea Agreeing To Hold High Level Talks</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/national/2014/02/11/40/0301000000AEN20140211008053315F.html">Koreas to hold 1st high-level talks in 7 years </a>-- Yonhap News Agency<br /><a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/rival-koreas-to-hold-high-level-meeting-at-border-village-on-wednesday-1.1680317">Rival Koreas to hold high-level meeting at border village on Wednesday</a> -- CTV/AP<br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gujYeXTp80JEHWWUetKWq1JZepng?docId=f1913356-cfda-452f-b92e-be9107ebea50">North, South Korea to hold rare high-level talks</a> -- AFP<br /><a href="http://world.time.com/2014/02/11/seoul-south-and-north-korea-to-hold-high-level-meeting-wednesday/">Seoul: South and North Korea to Hold ‘High-Level’ Meeting Wednesday</a> -- Time<br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/asia/north-korea-talks/">North and South Korea to hold 'high-level' meeting</a> -- CNN<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/world/asia/korea.html">North and South Korea to Hold High-Level Talks</a> -- New York Times<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-02-11/north-south-korea-to-hold-first-high-level-talks-in-six-years">North-South Korea to Hold First High-Level Talks Since 2007</a> -- Bloomberg Businesweek<br /><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/north-south-korea-to-hold-highlevel-meeting-seoul/1848797.html">North, South Korea to Hold High-Level Meeting: Seoul</a> -- Voice of America<br /><a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2014-02/11/c_133107041.htm">Two Koreas agree senior-level, inter-governmental talks </a>-- Xinhuanet<br /><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/terrorism-security/2014/0211/Rare-dialog-between-divided-Koreas-set-for-Wednesday">Rare dialog between divided Koreas set for Wednesday</a> -- Christian Science Monitor

North And South Korea Agree To Hold High Level Talks

Two Koreas Agree Tare High-Level Talks -- BBC Officials from North and South Korea are to hold rare high-level talks on Wednesday, Seoul has...

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Islamic Insurgents Ambush And Slaughter 16 Iraqi Soldiers Near Mosul

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPRF4XqREaug2AakKy9BvP0Lsdq7hlDdFy5ZWT18YtW4jJBfLDFon2wkC8qJDtL19sR4TxkNtuONekjIFa_MNKfqWLUuIdvwAskKCzs8VuUt7A-b4XPZ0-RQ34ACZmSdNJcxFXOgr9DyM/s1600/2013-09-12-BZSSR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNPRF4XqREaug2AakKy9BvP0Lsdq7hlDdFy5ZWT18YtW4jJBfLDFon2wkC8qJDtL19sR4TxkNtuONekjIFa_MNKfqWLUuIdvwAskKCzs8VuUt7A-b4XPZ0-RQ34ACZmSdNJcxFXOgr9DyM/s1600/2013-09-12-BZSSR.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Insurgents early Tuesday morning entered the army encampment in Nineveh province and killing all 15 soldiers. (File photo:<a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/02/11/Iraqi-soldiers-killed-in-pre-dawn-attack.html"> Reuters</a>) </span></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Militants Kill 16 Iraqi Soldiers In Overnight Ambush -- Reuters</b></span></div><br />Feb 11 (Reuters) - Militants in pick-up trucks ambushed Iraqi army outposts protecting a major oil export pipeline in the north of the country overnight, killing at least 16 soldiers by shooting them and slitting their throats, security and medical sources said.<br /><br />No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni Islamist and other insurgents have been regaining momentum in a campaign to destabilise Iraq's Shi'ite-led government.<br /><br />The attack took place near the Ain al-Jahash area, 30 km (20 miles) south of the city of Mosul in Nineveh province, through which a long section of pipeline stretches from Iraq's Kirkuk oilfield to neighbouring Turkey.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/iraq-violence-idINL5N0LG32U20140211">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On Today's Ambush In Northern Iraq</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-26134598">Iraq violence: Militants kill 15 soldiers near Mosul</a> -- BBC<br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/world/middleeast/islamic-extremists-slaughter-15-soldiers-in-northern-iraqi-city.html">Islamic Extremists Slaughter 15 Soldiers in Northern Iraqi City </a>-- New York Times<br /><a href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2014-02-11/officials-gunmen-kill-15-troops-in-northern-iraq">Officials: Gunmen kill 15 troops in northern Iraq</a> -- Bloomberg Businessweek/AP<br /><a href="http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/02/11/Insurgents-attack-army-base-in-Nineveh-province-kill-15-Iraqi-troops/UPI-54421392134785/">Insurgents attack army base in Nineveh province, kill 15 Iraqi troops</a> -- UPI<br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/meast/iraq-violence/">Police: Militants behead, shoot Iraqi soldiers, killing 14</a> -- CNN<br /><a href="http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2014/02/11/Iraqi-soldiers-killed-in-pre-dawn-attack.html">Iraqi soldiers killed in pre-dawn attack</a> -- Al Arabiya

Islamic Insurgents Ambush And Slaughter 16 Iraqi Soldiers Near Mosul

Insurgents early Tuesday morning entered the army encampment in Nineveh province and killing all 15 soldiers. (File photo: Reuters ) Milita...

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Why investors could start lovin' McDonald's (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhydVD7BzxhqE9doauxspbe04avuLjzE6I_DU_J2hg0N71iajf20aZARwcZreUNEUOarNWpGm9eiuuNOMGhjuh6Vny75qfpKMI5tBC6SZt7kGOpd8nbeZo4qx8jsXmylMnkd9mfqj0KBy0/s1600/kk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhydVD7BzxhqE9doauxspbe04avuLjzE6I_DU_J2hg0N71iajf20aZARwcZreUNEUOarNWpGm9eiuuNOMGhjuh6Vny75qfpKMI5tBC6SZt7kGOpd8nbeZo4qx8jsXmylMnkd9mfqj0KBy0/s1600/kk.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="first" style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;">Americans had a little more trouble getting to their local McDonald's last month but the rest of the world showed they love Big Macs almost as much as they love soccer.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">According to McDonald's, sales were up 1.2% in January worldwide compared to last year for its restaurants operating for at least 13 months.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Yet sales weren't uniform worldwide. European McDonald's restaurants were up 2% while Asian/Pacific, Middle Eastern, and African Mickey D's showed a 5.4% growth from January 2013. That growth wasn't matched in the US, where sales were down 3.3% compare to last year. The US accounts for about one-third of the company's revenues.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">The company said weather was to blame, as was its menu. In a statement, the company said:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 30px;">"In January, U.S. comparable sales decreased 3.3% amid broad-based challenges including severe winter weather.  During the month, the U.S. featured the breakfast line-up and Dollar Menu & More value options. Across the U.S., McDonald's is focused on regaining positive momentum with customer engagement, menu choice and operations excellence initiatives designed to enhance the customer experience."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">The company went on to note that China was one of the driving forces for its international growth. McDonald's said this year there aren't the same worries about contaminated chicken in China as there were in 2013.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">CNBC contributor Andrew Busch, editor and publisher of The Busch Update, says the company's emphasis on its McCafé brand will make things harder on the company given rising coffee prices.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">"They're banking on increased coffee sales," says Busch who notes that coffee bean prices are up significantly so far in 2014; though coffee dropped 19% in 2013, it's up 31% in the last three months. "As McDonald's is trying to shift to having more people go in to buy coffee, the price is going up…. This does not help their mojo going forward."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Talking Numbers contributor Richard Ross, Global Technical Strategist at Auerbach Grayson, says that while McDonald's underperformed the benchmark S&P 500 index in 2013 (the restaurant was up less than 10% while index was up 29%), long-term technicals make the stock a buy in his view.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">"Last week, we touched and held an area of support which has held for over 10 years – that's extremely significant," says Ross. "I'm referring to the 150-week moving average. Each time we tested it and held over the past decade, it's proved to be a compelling buying opportunity for the stock. Given the magnitude of the decline, I think history repeats itself. You want to be a big buyer down here."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">The 150-week moving average is currently at $92.91, a level tested last Wednesday. The stock has since rebounded and traded around the $95 on Monday.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">"I think that bounce continues," says Ross. "You want to remain a buyer on McDonald's."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">However, Busch believes investors should hold off on buying McDonald's stock until US same-store sales grow instead of contract.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">"I would just until you see same store sales go up," says Busch. "It's three months in a row that it's been down, so I would wait."</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #5f5f5f; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24px; margin-top: 11px; padding: 0px;">Yahoo Finance</div>

Why investors could start lovin' McDonald's (BLOG)

Americans had a little more trouble getting to their local McDonald's last month but the rest of the world showed they love Big Macs alm...

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Janet Yellen LIVE NOW

<div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Humphrey Hawkins Testimony in progress...</span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">*****WATCH LIVE VIDEO*****</span></span></b><br /><h2 class="testimony">Chair Janet L. Yellen</h2><h2 class="title">Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress</h2><h3 class="location">Before the Committee on Financial Services, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. </h3></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/080ywkt4CM8?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe><br /><br /><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Yes, Yellen is boring...</b></span><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/oxxG5hl1r9Y?feature=player_detailpage" width="640"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>...developing...</b></div>

Janet Yellen LIVE NOW

Humphrey Hawkins Testimony in progress... *****WATCH LIVE VIDEO***** Chair Janet L. Yellen Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress...

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Military Transport Crash In Algeria Claims 103 Lives

<div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/dsEF7cw8LDI" width="420"></iframe><br /></div><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Military Plane Crashes In Eastern Algeria, 103 Dead -- Reuters</b></span></div><br />Feb 11 (Reuters) - A military transport plane carrying relatives of members of the armed forces crashed in eastern Algeria on Tuesday, killing 103 people, the private Ennahar TV station reported, citing "informed sources". The plane crashed in a mountainous area in the Oum El Bouaghi province, about 500 km (300 miles) from the capital Algiers, the report said.<br /><br />A senior military official told the official APS news agency that 99 passengers and four crew members had been on board the plane, but that the death toll was "yet to be determined".<br /><br />Colonel Lahmadi Bouguern also said that bad weather and gusty winds were probably the cause of the crash.<br /><br /><b><a href="http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/algeria-crash-idINL5N0LG2QW20140211">Read more</a></b> ....<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>More News On Today's Military Transport Crash In Algeria</b></span></div><br /><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/algerian-hercules-plane-crashes-killing-103-1.2531909">Algerian Hercules plane crashes, killing 103 </a>-- CBC News/AP<br /><a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5h0z0Yq21n0tkIZrALeNvxdXdL5HQ?docId=a75cf144-b452-418d-a223-211e01a8775c">103 dead in army plane crash in northeast Algeria</a> -- AFP<br /><a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2556822/Military-transport-plane-crashes-killing-103-clipping-mountain-Algeria.html">Algerian military transport plane crashes killing 103 after clipping a mountain </a>-- Daily Mail<br /><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-26138101">Algerian military plane crashes - 100 feared dead</a> -- BBC<br /><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2014/02/killed-algeria-army-plane-crash-201421113959587831.html">'Scores killed' in Algeria army plane crash </a>-- Al Jazeera<br /><a href="http://www.voanews.com/content/military-transport-crashes-in-algeria-100-dead/1848874.html">Military Transport Plane Crashes in Algeria, Killing 103</a> -- Voice of America<br /><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/11/world/africa/algeria-military-plane-crash/">Report: Military plane crashes in Algeria, killing 103</a> -- CNN<br /><a href="http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/02/11/103-reportedly-dead-after-military-plane-crashes-in-algeria/">103 dead after military plane crashes in Algeria, official says</a> -- FOX News<br /><a href="http://rt.com/news/algeria-plane-crash-dead-542/">At least 103 killed in military plane crash in Algeria - local media</a> -- RT

Military Transport Crash In Algeria Claims 103 Lives

Military Plane Crashes In Eastern Algeria, 103 Dead -- Reuters Feb 11 (Reuters) - A military transport plane carrying relatives of members o...

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Gold, Wagner jostle for US cover girl title (BLOG)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmyu8W3R5bcMFOUxRVVK_rMYf60ZHkNFMp0Qzl9DaTKCOerufOItCUwNRCzX6Svs5POnwFdhKiU3KgrpBlNuJGQzMBXTGJmwquQOSByXYISU0Li63UtcvKlYpMiHgOZ9KLBpIchLTvFk/s1600/so.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMmyu8W3R5bcMFOUxRVVK_rMYf60ZHkNFMp0Qzl9DaTKCOerufOItCUwNRCzX6Svs5POnwFdhKiU3KgrpBlNuJGQzMBXTGJmwquQOSByXYISU0Li63UtcvKlYpMiHgOZ9KLBpIchLTvFk/s1600/so.jpg" width="294" /></a></div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392087783479_8341" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Sochi (Russia) (AFP) - Teenager Gracie Gold and teammate Ashley Wagner are battling not only for the Olympic title but also for the honour of cover girl of the US Sochi figure skating team.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392087783479_8330" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Wagner, 22, who had been touted as not only the face of US figure skating, but their Olympic team in the absence of Lindsey Vonn, fell twice in the nationals to finish fourth.The 18-year-old Gold burst into the limelight when she claimed her first national title last month at home in Boston to become the new blonde darling of the US media.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392087783479_8359" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">She got the Olympic nod because of her results over the past two seasons, a decision that sparked some anger amid claims it was because of her sponsors and Olympic commercials in which she was already featuring.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392087783479_8365" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">In Sochi, both stood side-by-side on the podium Sunday night as the United States took bronze behind Russia and Canada in the new team event.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Wagner skated the short, in which she placed fourth, while Gold performed in the free programme where she finished second behind inspired Russian Julia Lipnitskaia.</div><div class="body-related" style="background-color: white; clear: right; float: right; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 10px; position: relative;"><a class="body-related-link body-related-image go-to-slideshow-lightbox rapid-noclick-resp portrait onesize get-lbdata-from-dom" data-rapid_p="8" data-uuid="bbd8c977-0115-3b3e-ae23-c53539dd2e16" href="http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/ashley-wagner-us-performs-women-39-figure-skating-photo-025106894--oly.html" style="color: #3f6698; cursor: pointer; display: block; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 300px; position: relative; text-decoration: none;" title="Ashley Wagner of the US performs in the Women&#39;s&nbsp;&hellip;"><div class="img-wrap" style="position: relative;"><div class="cta-overlay" style="-webkit-transition: background-color 0.24s linear; font-size: 13px; height: 451px; left: 0px; position: absolute; top: 0px; transition: background-color 0.24s linear; width: 300px;"><span class="clearfix title cta-text medium" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; color: white; font-size: 16px; left: 5px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; top: 5px; transition: opacity 0.24s linear; white-space: pre-wrap; width: 270px; zoom: 1;"></span><span class="cta-text xsmall" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.24s linear; bottom: 5px; color: white; font-size: 16px; margin-left: 42px; opacity: 0; position: absolute; transition: opacity 0.24s linear;">View gallery</span><span class="icon-slideshow icon-white-slideshow-xsmall" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.16s linear; background-color: #324fe1; background-image: url(data:image/svg+xml; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; background-size: cover; border-bottom-left-radius: 4px; border-bottom-right-radius: 4px; border-top-left-radius: 4px; border-top-right-radius: 4px; bottom: 5px; cursor: pointer; height: 23px; left: 5px; line-height: 0; opacity: 0; padding: 0px; position: absolute; text-indent: -1000em; transition: opacity 0.16s linear; width: 32px; z-index: 1;"></span></div><img alt="Ashley Wagner of the US performs in the Women&#39;s&nbsp;&hellip;" class="body-related-thumb" data-src-2x="" height="451" src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Go0vVVrieddoTLMitY_Prg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTQ1MTtxPTc1O3c9MzAw/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/afp.com/82f99dc9ac2db2d61cea2c23f8e5053ce54f876a.jpg" style="-webkit-transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; border: 0px; display: block; opacity: 1 !important; transition: opacity 0.3333s ease 0ms; vertical-align: baseline; visibility: visible !important;" width="300" /></div></a><div class="body-related-title photo-caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: grey; font-size: 11px; line-height: 16.5px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 100%; padding: 5px 5px 0px 0px; position: relative; width: 300px;">Ashley Wagner of the US performs in the Women's Figure Skating Team Short Program at the Iceberg …</div></div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"Not everyone had the best performance. Ashley and I knew we had to bring our A game," said Gold of the team competition.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Since her national title she has been bombarded with offers from television and was seen on the Jay Leno 'The Tonight Show' bizarrely juggling lemons.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The cover of Sports Illustrated's Olympic Preview edition has Gold flying through the air under a headline: "Gracie Gold as good as ....?"</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"It has been the best year of my life, hands down," admitted Gold who finished second in the 2012 world junior championships behind Lipnitskaia, 15.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"It's been weird, actually," Gold said. "Every time I open my Twitter account, there is some sort of new, cool thing."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Her Twitter account has grown to nearly 49,000 followers.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">Last year, she switched coaches and is guided now by veteran Frank Carroll, who helped Evan Lysacek win Olympic gold in Vancouver.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"It was incredible to skate over the Olympic rings," Gold said, adding that her game plan for Sochi 2014 was simple: "It's about leaving it all out on the table and going for the gold."</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">For Wagner, winner of back-to-back US titles in 2012 and 2013, the changes came thick and fast in 2013, when she had to find a new coach and a new rink, broke up with her boyfriend and her parents finalized their divorce.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">And she is determined to justify her selection.</div><div style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">"It was tough going out there after a disappointing nationals so it was important for me to redeem myself," she said.</div><div id="yui_3_9_1_1_1392087783479_8386" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', HelveticaNeue, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 24.000001907348633px; margin-bottom: 1.1em;">The friendly rivalry between the two American skaters will be welcomed by US Olympic chiefs as the Sochi Games marks the 20th anniversary of the infamous Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding affair which overshadowed the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics.</div>

Gold, Wagner jostle for US cover girl title (BLOG)

Sochi (Russia) (AFP) - Teenager Gracie Gold and teammate Ashley Wagner are battling not only for the Olympic title but also for the honour o...

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Fiverr becomes another notch on Bitcoin's belt

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /><header class="article-header"> <div class="mod-box-content"><br /><hgroup class="-ce-capture"> <h1 class="article-title" itemprop="headline"></h1><h2 class="article-subtitle" itemprop="description">The online marketplace has started accepting the digital currency, joining the likes of Fancy.com, OKCupid and Overstock.</h2></hgroup></div><div class="mod-box-content"><div class="news-item-meta clearfix"><div class="article-authorship"><div class="byline">By <span class="author"><a class="ga-event" data-ga-event-action="Byline Links" data-ga-event-category="Articles" data-ga-event-label="Matthew Flamm" data-ga-event-type="click" href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/staff/11/matthew-flamm" itemprop="author" rel="author">Matthew Flamm</a></span> </div><time datetime="2014-02-11T06:00-05:00" itemprop="datePublished" pubdate="">February 11, 2014 6:00 a.m.</time> </div></div></div></header> <br /><div id="postshare" style="margin-left: -100px; position: fixed; top: 52px; visibility: visible; width: 71px;"><div class="addthis_toolbox -ce-capture"><div class="share-button fb-like fb_iframe_widget" data-action="like" data-href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140211/TECHNOLOGY/140219972" data-layout="box_count" data-send="false" data-share="true" data-show-faces="true" data-width="47"><span style="height: 86px; vertical-align: bottom; width: 49px;"></span></div><div class="share-button"><span class="IN-widget" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1; text-align: center; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="display: inline-block ! important; font-size: 1px ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important;"><span class="IN-top IN-empty" id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087223_1-container"><span class="IN-top" id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087223_1"><span class="IN-top" id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087223_1-inner"><span class="IN-top" id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087223_1-content">0</span></span></span></span></span><br /><span style="display: inline-block ! important; font-size: 1px ! important; margin: 0px ! important; padding: 0px ! important; text-indent: 0px ! important; vertical-align: baseline ! important;"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087213_0"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087213_0-link"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087213_0-logo">in</span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087213_0-title"><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087213_0-mark"></span><span id="li_ui_li_gen_1392129087213_0-title-text">Share</span></span></a></span></span></span></div><div class="share-button last-share-button"><a class="addthis_button" href="https://www.blogger.com/null">Share</a></div></div></div><br /><figure class="article-image hoverable big-photo -ce-capture" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Photograph"> <a class="block ga-event" data-ga-event-action="Main Photo Enlarge" data-ga-event-category="Articles" data-ga-event-label="Fiverr" data-ga-event-type="click" href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CN/20140211/TECHNOLOGY/140219972/AR/0/Fiverr.jpg?q=100" rel="prettyPhoto" title="Tel Aviv-based Fiverr has begun accepting Bitcoin.<br />Photo by Fiverr.com."> <img alt="Fiverr" class="news-item-image width100ct" height="225" itemprop="image" src="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/storyimage/CN/20140211/TECHNOLOGY/140219972/AR/0/Fiverr.jpg&q=80&MaxW=640&imageversion=widescreen&maxh=360" width="400" /> </a> <figcaption class="article-image-meta"> <small class="photocaption">Tel Aviv-based Fiverr has begun accepting Bitcoin.</small> <small class="photocredit">Photo: <span itemprop="author">Fiverr.com</span></small> </figcaption> </figure> <br /><div class="content-body clearfix"><div class="-ce-capture" id="article-body" itemprop="articleBody">Fiverr, a global online marketplace for people who offer low-cost services, has begun accepting payment in the digital currency known as Bitcoin.<br />The company, which is based in Tel Aviv but has its marketing and sales headquarters in New York, announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Bitcoin payments company Coinbase, which will handle the purely digital transactions.<br />Services for sale on Fiverr range from article-writing to voiceovers and logo designs, with each one starting at $5. The move by the company—which joins Fancy.com, OKCupid and Overstock among online businesses that accept Bitcoin—marks one more advance for the still obscure, stateless currency whose advocates claim it represents the future of money.<br />Practical advantages of using <a href="http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20140205/TECHNOLOGY/140209941/the-other-side-of-the-bitcoin">Bitcoin</a> include no transaction fees if the seller keeps the payment in Bitcoin. There is a 1% charge to convert to local currency, but the fee is waived on the first $1 million in merchant processing, a Fiverr spokeswoman said.<br />Though Fiverr might not see much Bitcoin traffic for a while, the company said that adding it as an option was easy and cheap, and that some users will find it more convenient than conventional payment methods such as credit cards and PayPal.<br />"We serve customers from 196 countries," said Fiverr co-founder and CEO Micha Kaufman in an interview. "Bitcoin is a global currency, and that's not the case with other kinds of payment."<br />Bitcoins consist of blocks of code that are held in a digital wallet on a computer or mobile device. The coins are "mined" by computer programs that can decipher complex mathematical puzzles, and traded on exchanges.<br />The currency may be global, but it is also highly controversial—and volatile. Technical troubles at a Japanese Bitcoin exchange last week drove down the price of a single coin to less than $600 from more than $800, before it recovered to a value north of $650 Monday evening. </div></div></div>

Fiverr becomes another notch on Bitcoin's belt

The online marketplace has started accepting the digital currency, joining the likes of Fancy.com, OKCupid and Overstock. By ...

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