Call me JackSUN, says singer Jermaine

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – Jackson 5 singer Jermaine Jackson has petitioned to change his name, according to court documents filed earlier this week in Los Angeles.

The older brother of pop stars Michael and Janet Jackson, Jermaine wants to change his famous last name to Jacksun for “artistic reasons.”

Asked why Jermaine wanted to change his name, his attorney Bret D. Lewis, who filed the petition on Jackson’s behalf, told Reuters “If Prince and P Diddy can do it, why can’t and shouldn’t Jermaine?”

If all goes to plan, Jackson’s name will officially change following a court hearing set for February 22.

Jermaine, 57, and brothers Jackie, Marlon and Tito are currently in Europe on a Unity Tour, under the name The Jacksons, performing hits made famous by the Jackson 5 along with a tribute to their late sibling Michael.

Jermaine Jackson unofficially adopted the name Mohammad Abdul Aziz after converting to Islam in 1989.

(Reporting By Eric Kelsey, editing by Jill Serjeant and Bernard Orr)

Music News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

11,000 fled Syria in past 24 hours, total now 408,000: UNHCR

GENEVA (Reuters) – About 11,000 Syrian refugees have fled to three neighboring countries in the past 24 hours, the largest exodus in “quite some time”, the United Nations refugee agency said on Friday.

The latest exodus into Turkey (9,000), Lebanon (1,000) and Jordan (1,000) brings to 408,000 the total number of Syrian refugees registered or being assisted in the region, Panos Moumtzis of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said.

“It just indicates a significant crisis, the continuation of the conflict,” Moumtzis told a news briefing in Geneva after aid agencies held a Syria Humanitarian Forum. “In Turkey, we know from most refugees that they come from Aleppo or Idlib or northern areas. That has been the trend so far.”

(Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

11,000 flee Syria in huge one day exodus

DEAR ABBY: My brother lost his wife, the love of his life, three years ago. He has three children. His oldest, a 25-year-old daughter, "Jenny," told him that "when you marry, it is for life." She has threatened that if he dates someone or sees anyone, she will be out of his life and he won't be able to see his future grandchildren. (Jenny is getting married next summer.)My brother is very upset. He wants to settle this argument before she is married. He hasn't dated anyone, but feels she shouldn't be trying to control his life. Please help, Abby. ...

Read More..

Ghana building collapse traps dozens, kills 1

ACCRA, Ghana (AP) — A five-story shopping center built earlier this year in a bustling suburb of Ghana‘s capital collapsed Wednesday, killing at least one person and leaving several dozen people trapped in the rubble, authorities and eyewitnesses said.

Rescue crews used cranes to try and remove debris from the top of the building amid fears that machinery sifting through the wreckage could injure trapped survivors. Crowds of bystanders gathered as rescuers sifted through cement and glass.

The fatality at the Melcom Shopping Center at Achimota, a suburb of Accra, was confirmed by Public Affairs Officer of the Ghana Fire Service Billy Anaglate. “We are still working to find out the fate of others who may be trapped under,” he said.

Other officials told The Associated Press that the death toll was likely to rise.

An AP reporter at the scene saw at least one man pulled from the debris, covered in dust and who was then whisked into an ambulance.

A Greater Accra Regional Public Affairs officer, deputy superintendent Freeman Tettey, confirmed that one person died and told the AP that 51 have been rescued and sent to hospitals around the capital.

“I was on my way to the shop when l saw it crumpling down,” Kojo Boadi, an eyewitness, said.

President John Mahama declared the scene a disaster zone and cut short his election campaign in the north of the country to be able to visit the site. The presidential election is scheduled for December.

The five-story store opened in February is part of the Melcom chain owned by Indian immigrant magnate, Bhagwan Khubchandani. His late father arrived in Ghana in 1929 as a 14-year-old to work as a store boy in the-then Gold Coast.

The store sells a variety of cheap, imported household goods and appliances that are popular with working-class Ghanaians.

Africa News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Exclusive: Google Ventures beefs up fund size to $300 million a year

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"7665149","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'c80ef62e-54e8-311e-8f7c-ee29502a59cc\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'News\' ctopid=\'2299500;1542500;1550000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}'),"em_orig":escape('{"site-attribute":"_id=\'c80ef62e-54e8-311e-8f7c-ee29502a59cc\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'News\' ctopid=\'2299500;1542500;1550000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}')}}};var _createNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);var nodeHTML;if(center && !node){nodeHTML=_conf.nodes[nId];center.insert(nodeHTML);};};};var _prepareNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-ad-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);if(center && node){center.set("innerHTML","");center.insert(node);node.setStyle("display","block");};};};var _darla;var _config=function(){if(YAHOO.ads.darla){_darla = YAHOO.ads.darla;_createNodes();};};var _fetch=function(spaceid,adssa,ps){
if (typeof(ps)!='undefined')
_conf.events.fetch.ps = ps;if(typeof spaceid != "undefined") _conf.events.fetch.sp=spaceid;adssa = (typeof adssa != "undefined" && adssa != null) ? escape(adssa.replace(/\"/g, "'")) : "";_conf.events.fetch.em=_conf.events.fetch.em_orig.replace("ADSSA", adssa);if(_darla){_prepareNodes();_darla.setConfig(_conf);_darla.event("fetch");};};Y.on("domready", function(){_config();});;var that={"fetch":_fetch,"getNodes":_conf.nodes,"getConf":_conf};return that;}();/* Backwards compatibility - Assigning the latest instance to the main fetch function */YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.fetch=YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.photoslightboxdarla.fetch;
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {YAHOO.namespace('Media.Social').Lightbox = {};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.Media.Article.init();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.AuthorBadge();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.Branding();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.on("load", function () {
YUI.namespace("Media.SocialButtons");

var instances = YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances || [],
globalConf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.conf || {},
vplContainers = [];

Y.all(".ymsb").each(function (node) {
var id = node.get("id"),
conf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.configs[id],
instance;

if (conf) {
instance = new Y.SocialButtons({
srcNode: node,
config: Y.merge(globalConf, conf.config || {}),
contentMetadata: conf.content || {},
tracking: conf.tracking || {}
});
vplContainers.push(
{
selector: "#" + id,
callback: function(node) { instance.render(); instance = conf = id = null; }
});

if (conf.config && conf.config.dynamic) {
instances.push(instance);
}
}
});

Y.Global.Media.ViewportLoader.addContainers(vplContainers);
YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances = instances;
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {if (!Y.Media) {

return;

}

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist || {};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets['lightbox9b22e01fb4580c710b5eb876b1679f8f'] = {"lightboxId":"86f08f294b237cdb9c57a81842f5bcbc","pivotId":"e63743d0-e37d-3f63-a51e-bffa4259dc5b"};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset['86f08f294b237cdb9c57a81842f5bcbc'] = {"spaceid":"7665149","total":1,"photoby":"Photo By","xhrtype":"slideshow","videoconf":{"autoplay":true,"continuousPlay":true,"mute":false,"volume":"1.00","lang":"en-US","site":"news","region":"US","jurisdiction":"US","YVAP":{"accountId":"145","playContext":"default"},"pageSpaceId":"7665149","comscoreC4":"US News","comscoreC6":"","showEmbedCode":true,"showShareUrl":true,"expName":"MediaArticleRelatedLightbox","expType":"inline","apiEnv":"prod"},"slideshow_id":null,"slideshow_title":null,"slideshow_title_baked_html":null,"slideshow_desc":null,"slideshow_rev":null,"slideshow_plink_vita":null,"photos":[{"type":"image","url":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/83_GPM604N.PE4whqmdMmw--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0zMDA7cT03OTt3PTQ1MA--\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-08T120341Z_1_CBRE8A70XIF00_RTROPTP_2_CTECH-US-VENTURE-GOOGLE-CASH.JPG","width":450,"height":300,"uuid":"e63743d0-e37d-3f63-a51e-bffa4259dc5b","caption":"Google homepage logos are seen on a wall at the Google campus near Venice Beach, in Los Angeles, California January 13, 2012. REUTERS\/Lucy Nicholson","captionBakedHtml":"

Google homepage logos are seen on a wall at the Google campus near Venice Beach, in Los Angeles, California January 13, 2012. REUTERS\/Lucy Nicholson","date":"Thu, Nov 8, 2012 7:11 AM EST","credit":"Reuters","byline":"\ufffd Lucy Nicholson \/ Reuters","provider":"Reuters","photo_title":"Google homepage logos are seen on a wall at the Google campus near Venice Beach, in Los Angeles","pivot_alias_id":"google-homepage-logos-seen-wall-google-campus-near-photo-120341555","plink":"\/photos\/google-homepage-logos-seen-wall-google-campus-near-photo-120341555.html","plink_vita":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/photos\/google-homepage-logos-seen-wall-google-campus-near-photo-120341555.html","srchtrm":"Google homepage logos are seen on a wall at the Google campus near Venice Beach, in Los Angeles","revsp":"","rev":"666cb220-299d-11e2-bff3-74172dec9f90","surl":"http:\/\/l2.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/oUbn7TMdG3G3tk6rTPSETg--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD01NjtxPTc5O3c9ODQ-\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-08T120341Z_1_CBRE8A70XIF00_RTROPTP_2_CTECH-US-VENTURE-GOOGLE-CASH.JPG","swidth":84,"sheight":56}]};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs['86f08f294b237cdb9c57a81842f5bcbc'] = {"spaceid":"7665149","ult_pt":"story-lightbox","darla_id":"","images_total":0,"xhr_url":"\/_xhr\/related-article\/lightbox\/?id=c80ef62e-54e8-311e-8f7c-ee29502a59cc","xhr_count":20,"autoplay_if_first_item_is_video":true};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.RelatedArticle({count:"2",start:"1",
mod_total:"10", total:"0",
content_id:"c80ef62e-54e8-311e-8f7c-ee29502a59cc",
spaceid:"7665149",
related_count:"-1"
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {(function(d){
d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d.createElement('script')).src='http://d.yimg.com/oq/js/csc_news-en-US-core.js';
})(document);
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {
if(!("Media" in YAHOO)){YAHOO.Media = {};}
if(!("ugcrate" in YAHOO.Media)){YAHOO.Media.ugcrate = {};}
if(!("Media" in Y)){Y.namespace("Media");}
YAHOO.Media.ugcrate.ratings_ef2b13721cbb467080c3e10a592b382f = new Y.Media.UgcRate({"context_id":"5c45fbb3-cdb2-467d-ac33-5d2ab49dd099","sCrumb":"","containerId":"yom-sentimentrate-ef2b13721cbb467080c3e10a592b382f","rateDimensions":"d1","appLang":"en-US","sUltSId":"7665149","sUltProperty":"news-en-US","sUltCampaign":"","sUltPlatform":"ugcwidgets","sUltIntl":"US","sUltLang":"en-US","selfPageUrl":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/exclusive-google-ventures-beefs-fund-size-300-million-120341566--sector.html?_esi=0","artContentId":"c80ef62e-54e8-311e-8f7c-ee29502a59cc","sUltQstnTxt":"Which size tablet would you prefer?","artContentTitle":"Exclusive: Google Ventures beefs up fund size to $300 million a year","artContentDesc":"SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google will increase the cash it allocates to its venture-capital arm to up to $300 million a year from $200 million, catapulting Google Ventures into the top echelon of corporate venture-capital funds. Access to that sizeable checkbook means Google Ventures will be able to invest in more later-stage financing rounds, which tend to be in the tens of millions of dollars or more per investor. It puts the firm on the same footing as more established corporate venture funds such as Intel\\'s Intel Capital, which typically invests $300-$500 million a year. ...","sUltBucketId":"test1","sUltSection":"sentirating","sUltBeaconUrl":"","sUltRecordPageviews":"1","sUltBeaconEnable":"1","serviceUrl":"\/_xhr","publisherContextId":"","propertyId":"2fcd79b5-b3a3-333e-b98e-722536a6698f","configurationId":"435db9ee-c55e-3766-b20d-c8ad3ff889d1","graphId":"","labelLeft":"Smaller works for me","labelRight":"Bigger is better","labelMiddle":"","itemimg":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/a\/i\/ww\/met\/yahoo_logo_us_061509.png","selfURI":"","aggregateRatingCount":"40177","aggregateReviewCount":"0","leftBlocksNum":"23260","rightBlocksNum":"16915","leftBlocksPerCent":"58","rightBlocksPerCent":"42","ugcrate_apihost":"api01-us.ugcl.yahoo.com:4080","publisher_id":"news-en-US","yca_cert":"yahoo.ugccloud.app.trusted_proxies","timeout_write":"5000","through_proxy":"false","optionStats":"{\"s1\":3709,\"s2\":1730,\"s3\":4264,\"s4\":10201,\"s5\":3356,\"s6\":16915,\"s7\":0,\"s8\":0,\"s9\":0,\"s10\":0}","l10N":"{\"FIRST_TO_READ\":\"You are first to read this. Share your feelings and start a conversation.\",\"SHARE_YOUR_FEELINGS\":\"You too can share your feelings and start a conversation!\",\"HOW_YOUR_FRIENDS_THINK\":\"Thank you for sharing your feeling on this article!\",\"PRE_SHARE_MSG\":\"Your Facebook friends on Yahoo! can see how you responded. To share your response on Facebook, click on the Facebook share option.\",\"START_THE_CONVERSATION\":\"Start the Conversation\",\"THANKS_FOR_SHARING\":\"Sure, that's how you feel... But what do your friends think?\",\"POLL_HEADER\":\"SOCIAL SENTIMENT\",\"SERVER_ERROR\":\"Oops there seems to be some error, please try again later\",\"LOADING\":\"Loading...\",\"SHARE_AFTER_COMMENT\":\"Your response has been shared on Facebook.\",\"UNDO\":\"Undo\",\"UNIT_PEOPLE\":\"People\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_DISAGREE\":\"disagree with your opinion.\",\"READ_MORE_TEXT\":\"Read what they have to say.\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"WHAT DO YOU THINK?\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_VERB_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"DRAG\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_THANKS_VOTING\":\"Thanks for voting\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 40,177 people have responded\",\"ONE_PERSON_ANSWERED\":\" 1 person has responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"TWO_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 2 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED_AND_SHARED\":\" 40,177 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s1\":3709,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s2\":1730,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s3\":4264,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s4\":10201,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s5\":3356,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s6\":16915,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s7\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s8\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s9\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s10\":0}","fbconfig":"{\"message\":\"undefined\",\"name\":\"undefined\",\"link\":\"\",\"source\":\"\",\"picture\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/a\\\/i\\\/ww\\\/news\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/27\\\/yahoo-tc.jpg\",\"description\":\"\",\"captionLeft\":\"undefined\",\"captionRight\":\"undefined\",\"app_id\":\"196660913708276\",\"redirect_uri\":\"\\\/_xhr\\\/ugcratefbredirect\\\/\"}","template_id":"LONG_SLIDER_SOUTH","obj_id":"ratings_ef2b13721cbb467080c3e10a592b382f","opt_count":"6","opt_color1":"","opt_color2":"","template_html":"

Read More..

Ex-oil man to be next Anglican leader: UK media

LONDON (Reuters) – A former oil executive who went to the same exclusive school as Prime Minister David Cameron will shortly be named Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual leader of the world’s 80 million Anglicans, British newspapers said on Thursday.

Justin Welby, 56, the Bishop of Durham, who has had a meteoric rise up the Church of England hierarchy since quitting the world of commerce in 1992, will be announced as the next archbishop as early as Friday, the reports said.

The nomination follows weeks of speculation that the Church body assigned to elect the future archbishop was split over choosing a reformer or a safe pair of hands to maintain the status quo.

Cameron’s spokesman said an announcement would come “soon”.

Welby, who went to the same exclusive school, Eton College, as Cameron, London mayor Boris Johnson and Princes William and Harry, has already accepted the position, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Bookmaker William Hill stopped taking bets on the future archbishop after a run of bets on Welby on Tuesday.

“In the space of less than an hour we had to cut the odds three times, so took the decision to close the book as we know a decision is already overdue and it seems word may have leaked out,” the bookmaker said in a statement

Welby will replace left-leaning incumbent Rowan Williams, who has said his successor as head of the global Anglican Communion will need “the constitution of an ox and the skin of a rhinoceros”.

Welby is widely reported to be against gay marriage but broadly in favor of the ordination of women bishops, two of the most divisive issues in the communion.

The new archbishop will earn about 74,000 pounds ($ 120,000) a year. He will have lodgings in the Old Palace in Canterbury, southeast England, and the historic riverside Lambeth Palace in London. His tenure will last until retirement at 70 or until he decides to move on.

(Reporting By Alessandra Prentice; editing by Steve Addison/Maria Golovnina)

Celebrity News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

UK police open inquiry into breast cancer surgeon

LONDON (AP) — British police say a surgeon is being investigated by both detectives and the country’s General Medical Council over allegations about his treatment of more than 1,000 breast cancer patients.

Ian Paterson is alleged in negligence suits filed by former patients to have performed up to 1,150 “unnecessary, inappropriate or unregulated” operations.

The General Medical Council, which licenses doctors, suspended Paterson’s registration in October pending its inquiry.

West Midlands Police, in central England, said Thursday it was opening a criminal inquiry.

Lawyers allege 700 cases involve procedures in which some breast tissue was left behind after a mastectomy. Other patients allege they received invasive breast surgery when a biopsy may have been sufficient.

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Obama, GOP leaders lay down markers on budget deal

WASHINGTON (AP) — Taking little time to celebrate, President Barack Obama is setting out to leverage his re-election into legislative success in an upcoming showdown with congressional Republicans over taxes, deficits and the impending "fiscal cliff." House Speaker John Boehner says Republicans are willing to consider some form of higher tax revenue as part of the solution — but only "under the right conditions."

All sides are setting out opening arguments for the negotiations to come.

Even before returning to Washington from his hometown of Chicago, Obama was on the phone Wednesday with the four top leaders of the House and Senate — Boehner included — to talk about the lame-duck Congress that convenes just one week after Election Day.

Without a budget deal to head off the fiscal showdown, the nation faces a combination of expiring Bush-era tax cuts and steep across-the-board spending cuts that could total $800 billion next year. Economists have warned that could tip the nation back into recession.

Vice President Joe Biden, flying to his home in Delaware from Chicago, told reporters aboard Air Force Two that the White House was "really anxious" to get moving on the problem. He said he'd been making a lot of calls and "people know we've got to get down to work and I think they're ready to move." He didn't identify whom he'd been speaking with but predicted the "fever will break" on past legislative gridlock after some soul-searching by Republicans.

The White House held out this week's election results as a mandate from voters for greater cooperation between the White House and Congress. At the same time, it reiterated Obama's top priorities: cutting taxes for middle-class families and small businesses, creating jobs and cutting the deficit "in a balanced way" — through a combination of tax increases on wealthier Americans and spending cuts.

Obama told the congressional leaders he believed "the American people sent a message in yesterday's election that leaders in both parties need to put aside their partisan interests and work with common purpose to put the interests of the American people and the American economy first," the White House said in a statement.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., channeled Obama in calling for a quick solution to the fiscal showdown and saying that asking "the richest of the rich" to pay more should be part of the equation. He added that he'd "do everything within my power to be as conciliatory as possible" but added, "I want everyone to also understand you can't push us around."

"Waiting for a month, six weeks, six months, that's not going to solve the problem," Reid said on Capitol Hill. "We know what needs to be done. And so I think that we should just roll up our sleeves and get it done."

Former Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle said the postelection congressional session offers a good chance to reset the dynamics between the White House and congressional Republicans in search of compromise.

"I think there's the urgency of the matter that probably goes beyond anything we've seen to date," he said. "The urgency of the repercussions of driving off the cliff are so grave that I can't imagine that failure is an option."

Both Biden and Reid pointed to election exit poll results showing that most Americans support higher taxes on the wealthy.

Biden said there was "a clear sort of mandate about people coming much closer to our view about how to deal with tax policy," adding that "there's all kinds of potential to be able to reach a rational, principled compromise."

Boehner, for his part, said that for Obama to get support for new revenues, "the president must be willing to reduce spending and shore up the entitlement programs that are the primary drivers of our debt."

"We aren't seeking to impose our will on the president; we're asking him to make good on his 'balanced' approach," the Ohio Republican said on Capitol Hill.

The reference to a balanced approach to deficit reduction reflected Obama's campaign-long call for higher taxes on incomes above $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. That was something Boehner made plain he opposes.

The House speaker said conditions on higher taxes would include a revamped tax code to make it cleaner and fairer, fewer loopholes and lower rates for all, adding that "we're closer than we think to the critical mass needed legislatively to get tax reform done."

Boehner did not specify what loopholes House Republicans might consider trimming.

Obama spent a rare morning off Wednesday at his home on Chicago's South Side, then stopped off at campaign headquarters to meet privately with staff and thank them for their work in the long, grueling campaign. Workers climbed on top of desks to get a good look at the president.

Then Obama and his family flew back to Washington together on Air Force One. The president appeared to be in a good mood, racing younger daughter Sasha up the steps, then calling out "Come on slowpokes" to wife Michelle and older daughter Malia.

___

Associated Press writers Julie Pace, Ken Thomas and Andrew Taylor contributed to this report.

___

Follow Nancy Benac on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/nbenac

Read More..

Canada firms to capitalize on nuclear trade with India

NEW DELHI (Reuters) – Canadian firms will be able to export uranium and nuclear reactors to India for the first time in almost four decades under an agreement between the two nations, their prime ministers said, but more work is needed to implement the deal.

Once implemented, the agreement will end a ban on nuclear cooperation Canada imposed in 1976 after India secretly exploded its first nuclear bomb in 1974, commonly called the “Smiling Buddha”, using material from a Canadian-built reactor in India.

“Being able to resolve these issues and move forward is, we believe, a really important economic opportunity for an important Canadian industry, part of the energy industry, that should pay dividends in terms of jobs and growth for Canadians down the road,” Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday on a visit to New Delhi.

A negotiator with the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), speaking on condition of anonymity because of the delicacy of the talks, said that what remained was a careful legal review of the language; translation into French and Hindi; and then a signing.

This is not expected to take very long, he said. The two sides have set up a joint committee to liaise on nuclear issues, but he said it would not be negotiating.

India aims to lift its nuclear capacity to 63,000 MW in the next 20 years by adding nearly 30 reactors. The country currently operates 20 mostly small reactors at six sites with a capacity of 4,780 MW, or 2 percent of its total power capacity, according to the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited.

Canada’s ambassador to India, Stewart Beck, said on Monday his country wanted to be able to track all nuclear material, but that India felt it only needed to report to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

It was not clear who made concessions in the talks and how effective the safeguards would be to ensure that Canadian material did not get used again for making nuclear weapons.

However, the CNSC official said India would now be required to notify Canada of any transfers to a third country and trade could only go to facilities that are safeguarded by the IAEA.

PROBABLY BEATING AUSTRALIA

Harper said the CNSC had worked to “achieve all of our objectives in terms of non-proliferation”.

Canada is in a race against Australia, its strategic ally but a commercial rival in the uranium business. Australia is also trying to nail down safeguards under which it too could sell uranium to India.

“We are effectively ahead of the Australians,” the CNSC official said, noting however that Russia and Kazakhstan were already supplying into India.

Opening up the Indian market would be a big help to Canada’s Cameco Corp, which is the world’s largest publicly traded uranium producer but which recently cut its long-term output targets due to the Fukushima disaster.

“Anytime we can reduce the roadblocks to selling our product around the world is always helpful,” Cameco chief executive Tim Gitzel told Reuters in Canada. “It opens a new market for us with the appropriate safeguards in place. So this is good news.”

Another potential beneficiary is Canadian engineering firm SNC Lavalin Group Inc, which bought the government’s commercial nuclear division, which designed the Candu reactor that is in use in numerous countries.

“As far as the sales of reactors goes, we would normally now request that Canada be accorded the same treatment as the Russians, the French and the Americans and that a site be designated in India for the implementation of at least a twin- unit Candu nuclear power station,” SNC Lavalin International President Ronald Denom, part of Harper’s delegation in India, told Reuters.

He also said it should open up the market to service the existing reactors in India.

Harper also said Canada welcomed foreign investment, after the country temporarily blocked Malaysian state oil firm Petronas’ C$ 5.17 billion ($ 5.19 billion) bid for gas producer Progress Energy Resources on October 20.

Late on Friday, Canada extended to December 10 its review of a $ 15.1 billion bid made in July by China’s CNOOC Ltd for Canadian energy producer Nexen Inc.

“Those decisions have to be taken looking at the global evolving economy in which we operate,” Harper said.

($ 1 = C$ 0.9965)

(Additional reporting by Julie Gordon in Toronto; Additional writing by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Michael Roddy)

Canada News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Move over, Obama; Twitter had a big night too

'},"otherParams":{"t_e":1,".intl":"US"},"events":{"fetch":{lv:2,"sp":"2145892301","ps":"LREC,MON","npv":true,"bg":"#FFFFFF","em":escape('{"site-attribute":"\'Candidates\'=\'Barack Obama\' \'Political Keywords\'=\'Barack Obama\' _id=\'f534465e-eec7-3485-8bf4-d5ea8d6311bb\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'2299500;1550500;2523000;1506989;1055500;1720500;1499989;1996000;12830500;1507989;1542500;1507489;1092500;2063500;2069000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}'),"em_orig":escape('{"site-attribute":"\'Candidates\'=\'Barack Obama\' \'Political Keywords\'=\'Barack Obama\' _id=\'f534465e-eec7-3485-8bf4-d5ea8d6311bb\' sensitivity=\'0\' rs=\'lmsid:a0770000002GZ5iAAG\' ctype=\'fn_news;News\' ctopid=\'2299500;1550500;2523000;1506989;1055500;1720500;1499989;1996000;12830500;1507989;1542500;1507489;1092500;2063500;2069000\' can_suppress_ugc=\'1\' content=\'no_expandable;ajax_cert_expandable;\' ADSSA"}')}}};var _createNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);var nodeHTML;if(center && !node){nodeHTML=_conf.nodes[nId];center.insert(nodeHTML);};};};var _prepareNodes=function(){var nIds=_conf.nodeIds;for(var i in nIds){var nId=nIds[i];var dId=_conf.destinationMap[nIds[i].replace("yom-ad-","")];n=Y.one("#"+nId);if(n)var center=n.one("center");var node=Y.one("#"+dId);if(center && node){center.set("innerHTML","");center.insert(node);node.setStyle("display","block");};};};var _darla;var _config=function(){if(YAHOO.ads.darla){_darla = YAHOO.ads.darla;_createNodes();};};var _fetch=function(spaceid,adssa,ps){
if (typeof(ps)!='undefined')
_conf.events.fetch.ps = ps;if(typeof spaceid != "undefined") _conf.events.fetch.sp=spaceid;adssa = (typeof adssa != "undefined" && adssa != null) ? escape(adssa.replace(/\"/g, "'")) : "";_conf.events.fetch.em=_conf.events.fetch.em_orig.replace("ADSSA", adssa);if(_darla){_prepareNodes();_darla.setConfig(_conf);_darla.event("fetch");};};Y.on("domready", function(){_config();});;var that={"fetch":_fetch,"getNodes":_conf.nodes,"getConf":_conf};return that;}();/* Backwards compatibility - Assigning the latest instance to the main fetch function */YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.fetch=YUI.PhotoAdsDarla.photoslightboxdarla.fetch;
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {YAHOO.namespace('Media.Social').Lightbox = {};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.Media.Article.init();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.AuthorBadge();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.Branding();
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {Y.on("load", function () {
YUI.namespace("Media.SocialButtons");

var instances = YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances || [],
globalConf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.conf || {},
vplContainers = [];

Y.all(".ymsb").each(function (node) {
var id = node.get("id"),
conf = YAHOO.Media.SocialButtons.configs[id],
instance;

if (conf) {
instance = new Y.SocialButtons({
srcNode: node,
config: Y.merge(globalConf, conf.config || {}),
contentMetadata: conf.content || {},
tracking: conf.tracking || {}
});
vplContainers.push(
{
selector: "#" + id,
callback: function(node) { instance.render(); instance = conf = id = null; }
});

if (conf.config && conf.config.dynamic) {
instances.push(instance);
}
}
});

Y.Global.Media.ViewportLoader.addContainers(vplContainers);
YUI.Media.SocialButtons.instances = instances;
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {if (!Y.Media) {

return;

}

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset || {};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist = Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_whitelist || {};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_targets['lightbox6bee78037c726860cce1d236675c533a'] = {"lightboxId":"4396c8a7df7a8bd5b835b6a2f522a4c9","pivotId":"b9cecf44-6ec7-30f7-b347-33fb59cbda4a"};


Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_dataset['4396c8a7df7a8bd5b835b6a2f522a4c9'] = {"spaceid":"2145892301","total":1,"photoby":"Photo By","xhrtype":"slideshow","videoconf":{"autoplay":true,"continuousPlay":true,"mute":false,"volume":"1.00","lang":"en-US","site":"news","region":"US","jurisdiction":"US","YVAP":{"accountId":"145","playContext":"default"},"pageSpaceId":"2145892301","comscoreC4":"US News","comscoreC6":"","showEmbedCode":true,"showShareUrl":true,"expName":"MediaArticleRelatedLightbox","expType":"inline","apiEnv":"prod"},"slideshow_id":null,"slideshow_title":null,"slideshow_title_baked_html":null,"slideshow_desc":null,"slideshow_rev":null,"slideshow_plink_vita":null,"photos":[{"type":"image","url":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/.ghDcS5Wj3K_yCxXlbY.3Q--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0yODk7cT03OTt3PTQ1MA--\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-07T081622Z_1_CBRE8A60MZD00_RTROPTP_2_USA-CAMPAIGN.JPG","width":450,"height":289,"uuid":"b9cecf44-6ec7-30f7-b347-33fb59cbda4a","caption":"People take pictures as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks after winning the U.S. presidential election, in Chicago, Illinois, REUTERS\/John Gress","captionBakedHtml":"

People take pictures as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks after winning the U.S. presidential election, in Chicago, Illinois, REUTERS\/John Gress","date":"Wed, Nov 7, 2012 3:40 AM EST","credit":"Reuters","byline":"PHILIP SCOTTR- ANDREWS","provider":"Reuters","photo_title":"People take pictures as U.S. President Obama speaks after winning the U.S. presidential election in Chicago","pivot_alias_id":"people-pictures-u-president-obama-speaks-winning-u-photo-081622046","plink":"\/photos\/people-pictures-u-president-obama-speaks-winning-u-photo-081622046.html","plink_vita":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/photos\/people-pictures-u-president-obama-speaks-winning-u-photo-081622046.html","srchtrm":"People take pictures as U.S. President Obama speaks after winning the U.S. presidential election in Chicago","revsp":"","rev":"c205b8d0-28b6-11e2-b5b7-1e200798cfe2","surl":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/bt\/api\/res\/1.2\/bNG57YkcZ7.yrnmPBp_9pA--\/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD01NjtxPTc5O3c9ODc-\/http:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en_us\/News\/Reuters\/2012-11-07T081622Z_1_CBRE8A60MZD00_RTROPTP_2_USA-CAMPAIGN.JPG","swidth":87,"sheight":56}]};

Y.Media.boba_lightbox_module_configs['4396c8a7df7a8bd5b835b6a2f522a4c9'] = {"spaceid":"2145892301","ult_pt":"story-lightbox","darla_id":"","images_total":0,"xhr_url":"\/_xhr\/related-article\/lightbox\/?id=f534465e-eec7-3485-8bf4-d5ea8d6311bb","xhr_count":20,"autoplay_if_first_item_is_video":true};
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {new Y.Media.RelatedArticle({count:"2",start:"1",
mod_total:"10", total:"0",
content_id:"f534465e-eec7-3485-8bf4-d5ea8d6311bb",
spaceid:"2145892301",
related_count:"-1"
});
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {(function(d){
d.getElementsByTagName('head')[0].appendChild(d.createElement('script')).src='http://d.yimg.com/oq/js/csc_news-en-US-core.js';
})(document);
});
Y.later(10, this, function() {
if(!("Media" in YAHOO)){YAHOO.Media = {};}
if(!("ugcrate" in YAHOO.Media)){YAHOO.Media.ugcrate = {};}
if(!("Media" in Y)){Y.namespace("Media");}
YAHOO.Media.ugcrate.ratings_24c019966fec10aef5fa643d17f54c5c = new Y.Media.UgcRate({"context_id":"9563d0d6-df7d-4726-8e78-0957e6a90a3c","sCrumb":"62panUNjNCK","containerId":"yom-sentimentrate-24c019966fec10aef5fa643d17f54c5c","rateDimensions":"d1","appLang":"en-US","sUltSId":"2145892301","sUltProperty":"news-en-US","sUltCampaign":"","sUltPlatform":"ugcwidgets","sUltIntl":"US","sUltLang":"en-US","selfPageUrl":"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/blogs\/ticket\/massachusetts-votes-favor-medical-marijuana-bill-041305835--election.html?_esi=0","artContentId":"550db923-917a-368b-91e8-604b47acfc8c","sUltQstnTxt":"Are you optimistic about President Obama\\'s second term?","artContentTitle":"Voters in Washington and Colorado legalize recreational marijuana","artContentDesc":"It\\'s been quite the night for marijuana in several ballot measures across the country. Voters in Washington state and Colorado appear to have voted \\\"yes\\\" on measures that would legalize the sale of pot to adults, without the need for a doctor\\'s prescription. (The final votes are still being counted.) And earlier Tuesday evening, voters [...]","sUltBucketId":"test1","sUltSection":"sentirating","sUltBeaconUrl":"","sUltRecordPageviews":"1","sUltBeaconEnable":"1","serviceUrl":"\/_xhr","publisherContextId":"","propertyId":"2fcd79b5-b3a3-333e-b98e-722536a6698f","configurationId":"435db9ee-c55e-3766-b20d-c8ad3ff889d1","graphId":"","labelLeft":"Yes","labelRight":"No","labelMiddle":"","itemimg":"http:\/\/l.yimg.com\/a\/i\/ww\/met\/yahoo_logo_us_061509.png","selfURI":"","aggregateRatingCount":"445563","aggregateReviewCount":"0","leftBlocksNum":"243858","rightBlocksNum":"201686","leftBlocksPerCent":"55","rightBlocksPerCent":"45","ugcrate_apihost":"api01-us.ugcl.yahoo.com:4080","publisher_id":"news-en-US","yca_cert":"yahoo.ugccloud.app.trusted_proxies","timeout_write":"5000","through_proxy":"false","optionStats":"{\"s1\":201520,\"s2\":12663,\"s3\":9725,\"s4\":9246,\"s5\":10704,\"s6\":201686,\"s7\":0,\"s8\":0,\"s9\":0,\"s10\":0}","l10N":"{\"FIRST_TO_READ\":\"You are first to read this. Share your feelings and start a conversation.\",\"SHARE_YOUR_FEELINGS\":\"You too can share your feelings and start a conversation!\",\"HOW_YOUR_FRIENDS_THINK\":\"Share your response with your friends on Facebook\",\"PRE_SHARE_MSG\":\"Your Facebook friends on Yahoo! can see how you responded. To share your response on Facebook, click on the Facebook share option.\",\"START_THE_CONVERSATION\":\"Share\",\"THANKS_FOR_SHARING\":\"Your response has been shared with your friends on Facebook\",\"POLL_HEADER\":\"SOCIAL SENTIMENT\",\"SERVER_ERROR\":\"Oops there seems to be some error, please try again later\",\"LOADING\":\"Loading...\",\"SHARE_AFTER_COMMENT\":\"Your response has been shared on Facebook.\",\"UNDO\":\"Undo\",\"UNIT_PEOPLE\":\"People\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_DISAGREE\":\"disagree with your opinion.\",\"READ_MORE_TEXT\":\"Read what they have to say.\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"WHAT DO YOU THINK?\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_VERB_BEFORE_VOTING\":\"DRAG\",\"SLIDER_THUMB_WORDING_THANKS_VOTING\":\"Thanks for voting\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 445,563 people have responded\",\"ONE_PERSON_ANSWERED\":\" 1 person has responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"TWO_PEOPLE_ANSWERED\":\" 2 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_ANSWERED_AND_SHARED\":\" 445,563 people have responded. Your response will be seen by your Facebook friends on Yahoo!\",\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s1\":201520,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s2\":12663,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s3\":9725,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s4\":9246,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s5\":10704,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s6\":201686,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s7\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s8\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s9\":0,\"NUM_PEOPLE_RATED__s10\":0}","fbconfig":"{\"message\":\"undefined\",\"name\":\"undefined\",\"link\":\"\",\"source\":\"\",\"picture\":\"http:\\\/\\\/l.yimg.com\\\/a\\\/i\\\/ww\\\/news\\\/2011\\\/09\\\/27\\\/yahoo-tc.jpg\",\"description\":\"\",\"captionLeft\":\"undefined\",\"captionRight\":\"undefined\",\"app_id\":\"196660913708276\",\"redirect_uri\":\"\\\/_xhr\\\/ugcratefbredirect\\\/\"}","template_id":"LONG_SLIDER_SOUTH","obj_id":"ratings_24c019966fec10aef5fa643d17f54c5c","opt_count":"6","opt_color1":"","opt_color2":"","template_html":"

Read More..