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Sunday, December 30, 2012
"The most devastating crime against Palestinians in Israel during military rule was the Kfar Qassem..."
??The most devastating crime against Palestinians in Israel during military rule was the Kfar Qassem massacre. On 1957, Israel imposed a military curfew on Arab villages that would start at five in the evening. The notice of the curfew did not reach the village head of Kfar Qassem until an hour and a half before five. He told the military commanders that it would be impossible for him to alert the farmers and shepherds to vacate their fields in time. When soldiers arrived in the village they collected all of those who remained outside and shot to death forty-seven men, women and children.
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Alleged militants detained in Djibouti charged by US court
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In a sign of evolving U.S. legal tactics in counter-terrorism operations, two Swedish citizens and a former British citizen detained in Africa in August have been charged in a U.S. court with supporting Somali-based Islamist militants.
The charges were filed in Federal Court in Brooklyn, New York, even though court papers and a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office make no specific allegation that the three - all of whom are of Somali extraction - posed threats to Americans or U.S.-related targets.
The three suspects - two Swedish citizens and a former London resident whose British citizenship recently was revoked - were charged with supporting the militant group al-Shabaab, illegal use of high-powered firearms, and participating in what prosecutors called "an elite al-Shabaab suicide-bomber program."
Ephraim Savitt, a former federal prosecutor who represents one of the Swedish defendants, said he was unaware of any secret evidence that the men threatened U.S. interests, and he saw "no prosecutorial hook whatever to the United States."
Savitt said he was unaware of any previous case in which U.S. authorities had taken custody of foreign militants who had no obvious connection, and posed no known threat, to U.S. interests.
However, a U.S. law enforcement source said there had been cases in the past where suspected foreign militants arrested overseas who had not directly threatened the United States had been brought before U.S. courts on terrorism-related charges.
The latest suspects - Swedes Ali Yasin Ahmed and Mohamed Yusuf, and former British resident Madhi Hashi - were detained by local authorities in Africa in early August while on their way to Yemen, the statement from prosecutors said.
The suspects were subsequently indicted in October by a Brooklyn-based federal grand jury, and in mid-November the FBI "took custody" of them and brought them to Brooklyn, where a revised indictment was filed against them, prosecutors said.
No information about the case was made public until just before Christmas, however.
U.S. officials said they were unable to provide further details about where the suspects were originally arrested, who arrested them, what was the legal basis for their initial arrest, and what happened to them between early August and their first known public court appearance in late December.
ARRESTED IN DJIBOUTI
However, Savitt, who represents Yusuf, said the men were arrested in Djibouti on their way to Yemen.
He said that at one point the men had been "fighters" with al-Shabaab, a group the United States has linked to al Qaeda. But at the time of their arrest, Savitt said, the men were trying to get away from the group after an apparent falling out.
Savitt said he did not know why they were heading to Yemen.
Saghir Hussain, a British lawyer who represents the family of Hashi, told the BBC this month the case had the "hallmarks of rendition," a reference to a secret procedure adopted by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency during the administration of former President George W. Bush.
Such renditions involved teams of agency operatives taking custody of suspected militants overseas and handing them over, without legal process, to third countries, where they were sometimes mistreated.
Neither Hussain nor Harry Batchelder, Hashi's American lawyer, responded to messages requesting comment. Susan Kellman, a U.S. lawyer for Ahmed, also could not be reached.
Savitt said Hashi and the other suspects were detained and held in Djibouti by local authorities, who sometimes treated them roughly, but U.S. officials who at one point were allowed to interrogate them were "civil."
U.S. government sources familiar with the case said it could not be considered a "rendition," as in such cases suspects were not brought into the U.S. criminal justice system.
President Barack Obama's administration has declared it has stopped counter-terrorism practices such as "enhanced interrogations" and the use of secret CIA prisons, but it has not completely renounced the use of "rendition."
Hashi's family told the BBC that earlier last summer they received a letter from Britain's internal security department, the Home Office, declaring that his British citizenship had been revoked as he was deemed a threat to the U.K. security.
Under British law, Hashi had a right to appeal the revocation of his citizenship to an immigration court. A spokesperson for the British Embassy in Washington said that, for legal reasons, the government could not comment on whether or not such an appeal had been filed.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/alleged-militants-detained-djibouti-charged-us-court-082452125.html
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Saturday, December 29, 2012
Official acquitted in Russian jail death case
Dmitry Kratov, sits in a court, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. The Tverskoy court on Friday will rule in the case of Dmitry Kratov, formerly deputy chief physician in the Butyrskaya prison, the only official charged with the lawyer?s death. The Moscow court is expected to hand down a verdict on Friday for the first and only official charged with the death of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a case his family dismissed as sham and humiliation. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
Dmitry Kratov, sits in a court, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. The Tverskoy court on Friday will rule in the case of Dmitry Kratov, formerly deputy chief physician in the Butyrskaya prison, the only official charged with the lawyer?s death. The Moscow court is expected to hand down a verdict on Friday for the first and only official charged with the death of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a case his family dismissed as sham and humiliation. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
Dmitry Kratov, sits in a courtroom, in Moscow, Russia, Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. The Tverskoy court on Friday will rule in the case of Dmitry Kratov, formerly deputy chief physician in the Butyrskaya prison, the only official charged with the lawyer?s death. The Moscow court is expected to hand down a verdict on Friday for the first and only official charged with the death of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a case his family dismissed as sham and humiliation. (AP Photo/Misha Japaridze)
FILE In this Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 file photo Nataliya Magnitskaya, mother of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky who died in jail, holds a photo of her son as she speaks during an interview with the AP in Moscow. The Moscow court is expected to hand down a verdict on Friday, Dec. 28, 2012, for the first and only official charged with the death of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in a case his family dismissed as sham and humiliation. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
MOSCOW (AP) ? The only official charged with the death of a Russian whistleblowing lawyer walked free on Friday after a Moscow court acquitted him of negligence, in a case that has become a rallying point for human rights advocates and sparked escalating legislation in the U.S. and Russia.
Sergei Magnitsky died in jail in 2009 after his pancreatitis went untreated, and an investigation by Russia's presidential council on human rights concluded he was severely beaten and denied medical treatment. Prison doctor Dmitry Kratov was the only person to face trial in the case.
Judge Tatyana Neverova said she found no evidence that Kratov's negligence could have caused the lawyer's death. The acquittal was widely expected after prosecutors earlier this week dropped their accusations, saying they had decided there was no connection between Kratov's actions and Magnitsky's death.
The case has angered both Russian activists and the West. The U.S. Congress passed legislation this month in Magnitsky's name, calling for sanctions against officials ? including Kratov ? deemed to be connected with human rights abuses. The bill provoked retaliation from Moscow, including a measure barring Americans from adopting Russian children that President Vladimir Putin signed on Friday.
Magnitsky, a lawyer for the Hermitage Capital fund, was arrested in 2008 on suspicion of tax evasion by the same Interior Ministry officials he accused of using false tax documents to steal $230 million from the state. He died while in custody awaiting trial.
Government officials have dismissed calls to investigate police officials and the only official charged in his death was Kratov, who was deputy chief physician at the Butyrskaya prison where Magnitsky was held.
Hermitage's owner, Bill Browder, said the outcome of the trial shows the government's unwillingness to find and try the culprits.
"Even though Kratov was only a minor player in the overall persecution of Sergei, the fact that the Russian authorities can't even scapegoat their one scapegoat says everything about this case," Browder said.
Kratov pleaded not guilty to charges of negligence leading to death, saying he was unable to ensure medical care for Magnitsky because of a shortage of staff.
The prison doctor thanked "everyone who believed in me and my innocence" after the verdict.
The lawyer's family has described the trial as a sham, maintaining that Kratov played a minor role in the man's death and that officials responsible must face justice.
The lawyer's mother and attorney did not attend the ruling in protest.
"Participation in this court hearing would have been humiliating for me," Nataliya Magnitskaya said in a statement. "I understand that everything has been decided in advance and everything has been pre-determined."
Browder said that he does not doubt that "people responsible for Magnitsky's death are being protected by the president of Russia.
"In this case, there was overwhelming evidence of Kratov's involvement and his acquittal goes against any logic or concept of justice," he said
Valery Borshchev, a human rights advocate who spearheaded the presidential commission's investigation into Magnitsky's death, was outraged with the court's decision. Borshchev insisted that authorities must investigate overwhelming evidence collected by his commission that points to the fact that Magnitsky was tortured.
"Kratov and others are guilty because there were inadequate conditions to treat Magnitsky," he told the Interfax news agency. "The conditions in jail were torturous, and doctors didn't do anything to change that."
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pacifirelas: Simple Abundance Exercises Can Change Your Mindset ...
Article title: Simple Abundance Exercises Can Change Your Mindset
Article Category: Self-Improvement
When you feel more prosperous, you will lead life of improved health, happiness and prosperity. However, when most of us think about our finances, most of the time we don?t have thoughts of prosperity.
Continue reading this article?
Source: http://www.medicalguide.pro/3210/simple-abundance-exercises-can-change-your-mindset-4.html
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Source: http://capitalization-frugality.blogspot.com/2012/12/simple-abundance-exercises-can-change.html
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Study ties drug shortage to poorer cancer survival - Salt Lake Tribune
Young cancer patients who couldn?t get a key medicine because of a national drug shortage were more likely to suffer a relapse than others who were able to get the preferred treatment, doctors report. It?s the first evidence that a long-standing drug-supply problem probably has affected cancer treatment results in specific patients.
The study involved more than 200 children and young adults with a blood cancer called Hodgkin lymphoma. Like childhood leukemia, it can be cured nearly 80 percent of the time. But a drug shortage that has worsened since 2009 is threatening that success rate, doctors report in Thursday?s New England Journal of Medicine.
Hundreds of drugs, including sedatives, antibiotics, painkillers and cancer treatments, have gone in and out of short supply in recent years. Reasons include manufacturing and contamination problems, plant shutdowns, and fewer makers and lower profits for certain drugs, especially generics infused during surgery or cancer treatment.
Doctors sometimes substitute different drugs for ones in short supply. But proving that the swaps led to poorer results has been tough, especially for cancer patients whose disease and response to treatment vary so much.
"We really couldn?t put our finger on, did anybody really suffer?" said Dr. Michael Link, a cancer specialist at Stanford University and past president of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
The new study, led by Dr. Monika Metzger of St. Jude Children?s Research Hospital in Memphis, gives the best evidence so far that patients are suffering.
It focused on mechlorethamine, or nitrogen mustard, a drug that has been in short supply until last month, when more became available. Doctors compared results among 181 Hodgkin lymphoma patients who received the drug to 40 others who were given a different chemotherapy, cyclophosphamide, when the first choice was unavailable.
Only 75 percent of those given the substitute drug stayed free of cancer for two years versus 88 percent who received the preferred treatment.
"We can think of no credible explanation for this dramatic difference" other than the drug substitution, the authors wrote.
No patients died, but those who relapsed were given more aggressive treatments, including stem-cell transplants that have more side effects and can harm fertility.
story continues below
One of them was Abby Alonzo, of Port St. Lucie, Fla. She was diagnosed with lymphoma three years ago, when she was 10. After eight weeks of treatment with the preferred drug, "she was doing wonderfully," said her mother, Katie Alonzo.
Then doctors said they were out of it.
"I said, what do you mean, we don?t have the medication my child needs?" Katie Alonzo said.
After four weeks on the substitute chemo, Abby?s cancer had returned and spread to more places, her mother said. The child received high doses of chemotherapy and radiation and now seems cancer-free, although the treatments damaged her lung capacity, leaving her short of breath.
"When your child has cancer you live day by day," and to find out a life-saving medicine isn?t available is "very, very frightening," Katie Alonzo said.
Copyright 2012 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/world/55530514-68/cancer-drug-treatment-patients.html.csp
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Insight: Under siege, Japan central bank wakes up to political reality
TOKYO (Reuters) - Within a day of Shinzo Abe's Liberal Democratic Party sweeping to power in elections this month, elite bureaucrats in Japan's central bank rushed to ready what amounted to a surrender offer.
Abe had run his campaign with a relentless focus on economic policy and had called on the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to take drastic steps to end the nation's long bout of deflation, or else face a radical makeover at the hands of parliament.
The vote had become an unexpected referendum on the BOJ itself, and the bank had lost.
Senior officials concluded that to preserve the BOJ's scope to act in a future crisis, it needed to move quickly to show it recognized reality, according to people familiar with the hurried deliberations. Abe had won a mandate for more forceful monetary easing, and Japanese taxpayers were frustrated with an economy slipping back into its third recession in five years.
In the early afternoon of December 18, two days after the vote, BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa was to pay a courtesy call on Abe. But even before then, a post-election plan had taken shape: the BOJ would consider the kind of ambitious 2 percent inflation target that Abe had insisted was needed to pull Japan out of nearly two decades of deflation and diminished expectations.
It was an about-face for Shirakawa who, since taking his post in 2008, had argued that by focusing too narrowly on consumer prices, the BOJ could miss signs of an asset price bubble like the one Japan experienced in the late 1980s.
But increasingly his own senior officials and members of the BOJ's policy-setting board were ready to take risks and test unorthodox and unproven measures that Shirakawa had long resisted, such as an unlimited debt-fuelled monetary expansion, officials familiar with their thinking say.
"The LDP's win was just too big, and it won an election calling for a 2 percent inflation target. If that's the will of the people, the BOJ must respect that," said a source familiar with the central bank's thinking. "Otherwise, the BOJ could lose everything, including its independence."
The central bank is now on track to pump 120 trillion yen ($1.4 trillion) into the economy - equivalent to the value of six Googles - even though skeptics argue that this tide of money cannot break Japan's real economic logjam: falling wages.
Instead, the skeptics say, the risk is that investors would end up concluding that Japan needed the central bank to cover its debts - a recipe for a selloff of government bonds, which already amount to twice the size of gross domestic product.
But after Abe's landslide election victory - and years of limited money-printing having failed to revive growth - senior BOJ officials wanted it understood they were ready to join the experiment in what media and investors called "Abenomics", a potentially high-octane mix of fiscal and monetary stimulus.
Abe's victory seemed to establish that millions of Japanese shared his views, people in the bank came to believe.
They felt he now held the trump card in any future standoff with the BOJ over monetary policy - a mandate to amend the BOJ Law in a way that would give the government power to impose a binding target on the central bank, or fire its governor.
BLIND EYE
In a symbol of the political significance of his monetary policy push, Abe scheduled a one-on-one meeting with Shirakawa just hours after setting up a first phone call as prime-minister-elect with the U.S. President Barack Obama.
Two days after the election, the central bank governor visited Abe at the fortress-like headquarters of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Abe reminded Shirakawa of his campaign promises. He wanted to see the BOJ sign a "policy accord" that would oblige it to support Abe's reflationary agenda and commit to a 2 percent inflation target, Abe told reporters later.
After the meeting, Shirakawa rushed through a scrum of reporters into his waiting car and declined to say what was discussed. However Abe, in another break with protocol, gave an unusually detailed recounting of the 15-minute meeting.
"The governor just listened," he said.
The next day, the BOJ began a scheduled two-day policy board meeting. The central bank announced its third shot of monetary stimulus in four months by adding another 10 trillion yen to its asset-buying program - essentially committing to create more money to buy government debt.
It marked the fifth time this year that the central bank had expanded asset purchases - its most active year in terms of monetary expansion in a decade.
More significantly, the BOJ also made a direct concession to Abe and pledged to review its existing inflation target of 1 percent at its next scheduled meeting in January.
The BOJ was retreating from the cautious stance of its classically trained boss, Shirakawa, and essentially turning a blind eye to the potential, long-term drawbacks of excessive money printing that he had long warned about.
Only a month earlier, many BOJ officials had preferred to hold off on taking action until the January meeting, according to sources familiar with the deliberations.
Shirakawa, in particular, had been in no mood to act again in 2012, let alone commit to studying a higher inflation target. He had been convinced that the BOJ's monetary easing steps in September and October were enough to stave off risks to the economy for now, the sources said.
LONG & WINDING ROAD
Shirakawa's five-year term ends in April and people close to him say he has no interest in staying on. But decisions taken under his watch over the next few months could influence the central bank's credibility well beyond his departure.
A fan of the Beatles, Shirakawa, 63, has often warned against the risk of an overly loose monetary policy.
He once described Japan's struggle to recover from its late 1980s asset bubble as "The Long And Winding Road", a reference to the plaintive Beatles song. He said rich economies risked repeating Japan's "lost decade" of slow growth if they kept ultra-easy monetary policy in place for too long.
But for the past year, a tight-knit group of officials in the BOJ's Monetary Affairs Department has been nudging the bank in the opposite direction. They favor more aggressive easing, such as a big increase in government bond buying, according to officials with knowledge of those discussions and former central bank officials who remain in close contact with policymakers.
Among the actions now under consideration at the BOJ is an open-ended commitment to buy government bonds or an expansion in the type of assets it purchases, the officials said.
Another idea, floated by board member Koji Ishida, is to nudge rates to zero by scrapping a 0.1 percent interest rate the BOJ pays on excess reserves parked with the central bank.
Proponents argue that such steps would hold down interest rates on bank and corporate borrowing, encourage money to flow to private investors and help weaken the yen.
Anticipation of BOJ action has already pushed the yen to a two-year low against the dollar. Tokyo stock prices have climbed to a 21-month high on the expectation for higher earnings for currency-sensitive exporters like automaker Toyota Motor Corp.
"Markets already expect the BOJ to set a 2 percent inflation target, so the question now is what the central bank would do to achieve it," said Masaaki Kanno, a former central banker and now chief economist at JPMorgan Securities in Tokyo.
"If it wants to influence currency rates, it needs to give markets the impression it is easing aggressively."
Abe has said he will choose a successor to Shirakawa whose views are closer to his own. He has not made up his mind yet on his favored candidate but aides say he may prefer someone with negotiation and management skills, rather than an academic, to oversee the BOJ as it pushes into unknown territory.
PRESSURE REMAINS ON
With the LDP's coalition partner, the New Komeito, Abe has enough votes in the lower house to overrule the upper house on key votes, including a potential revision of the 1998 BOJ Law that gave the 130-year-old bank its long-awaited independence.
Under this law, the central bank is guaranteed independence to guide monetary policy without political interference and is mandated to pursue price stability. Abe has discussed a law revision to impose a price target on the central bank and add a requirement to maximize job growth to its mandate.
Abe is already using threats of a BOJ Law revision to nudge the central bank into meeting his demands.
Koichi Hamada, a Yale University professor whom Abe admires, said the BOJ would have to accept more legal accountability to achieve its price target and beat deflation.
"Generally speaking, the BOJ is making an effort. But there is hardly any change to its pace of 'too little, too late'," said Hamada, 76, who was appointed a special adviser to Abe's cabinet and also taught Shirakawa at the University of Tokyo.
"It is necessary to amend the BOJ law," he said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
'A TOUGH SPOT'
One challenge now for the BOJ is setting a higher inflation target that is seen as credible. In February, the BOJ said that it would aim to achieve 1 percent price growth.
But Shirakawa, who joined the BOJ during Japan's high inflation years of the early 1970s, and many other officials in the bank have resisted calls for a higher target. For one, Japan has not seen 2 percent inflation in the past two decades. The last time it did was during the real estate and stock market bubble of the late 1980s to early 1990s, when the BOJ was criticized for missing signs of an overheating economy.
Some officials share Shirakawa's doubts over whether further monetary easing will work. Two key metrics - the BOJ's holdings of government debt and the balance of deposits parked with the central bank - are already at record highs, yet the BOJ's pump-priming measures have failed to put an end to deflation.
Nationwide core consumer prices slid 0.1 percent in November from a year earlier after flat growth in October, which followed five straight month of declines.
Another concern for the cautionary wing of the BOJ centers on the unusual structure of Japan's economy. Japan's jobless rate - at 4 percent - is half that of the United States. But wages remain on the decline, down 1.1 percent in November from a year earlier to mark the third straight month of falls.
Unable to fire workers in mass layoffs because of rigid labour rules, Japanese firms are unwilling to raise salaries. Without a rise in wages, the only practical way overall prices could go up would be through higher commodity and fuel costs which would curb consumption, not boost it, the BOJ has argued.
Setting a 2 percent inflation target next month would require the BOJ to awkwardly steer around the arguments that Shirakawa and other officials have long made.
"If the BOJ contradicts too much of what it's been saying all along, that would put its credibility on the line. People will no longer believe what the BOJ says anymore," said Izuru Kato, chief economist at Totan Research Institute in Tokyo.
The BOJ also worries about a potential bond-market backlash. Its ultra-easy policy has pushed down five-year bond yields below 0.2 percent. But some investors balk at buying too many 20-year and 30-year bonds, concerned that Abe's pledge of big fiscal spending would strain Japan's already worsening finances.
Much will depend on Shirakawa's successor and how well the central bank communicates its policy target to investors - an area where Shirakawa has struggled by his own admission.
After the December 20 easing, his aides convinced him to try the kind of visual aid often used on Japanese television - a large flip chart - and to aim his presentation at the TV cameras. An economist suspicious of sound bites, he looked uncomfortable.
"The BOJ is pumping huge amounts of money and easing very aggressively. But that fact isn't understood well perhaps because of our restrained character. There's a huge perception gap," Shirakawa said.
"I hope this chart is broadcast on television and helps more people understand our point," he added.
($1 = 85.9250 Japanese yen)
(Additional reporting by Sumio Ito and Yoshifumi Takemoto; Editing by Kevin Krolicki and Mark Bendeich)
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Friday, December 28, 2012
Amazon most satisfying website to shop: survey
(Reuters) - Amazon.com Inc remained the best website for shopping online while JC Penney Co Inc suffered the largest drop in customer satisfaction of any major online retailer this holiday season, according to a survey released on Thursday.
Flash sale sites Gilt.com and RueLaLa.com were among the worst performers in online shopping satisfaction this season, according to ForeSee's Holiday E-Retail Satisfaction Index.
"The importance of satisfying them and giving a great consumer experience is going to pay back huge dividends in terms of profitability for these retailers," said Larry Freed, president and chief executive officer of ForeSee, which measures customer satisfaction for companies, including retailers.
Amazon has held the highest score in each of the eight years of the index, due in part to the wide variety of merchandise it offers and a site that is easy to use.
"They've really done a great job in setting the standard for everybody else," Freed said of Amazon.
Amazon's score was again 88 out of 100, while Gilt.com and Fingerhut.com shared the lowest score of 72. LLBean.com had the second-highest ranking, 85, up 4 points from a year earlier.
A score of 80 or higher is considered strong, Freed said.
JC Penney's score fell to 78 from 83.
"They've struggled a lot in their stores as they've tried to reinvent themselves a bit and that's carried over a little bit to the website," Freed said.
Other retailers that saw their ForeSee satisfaction scores drop included Apple Inc - down to 80 from 83 - and Dell Inc, which fell to 77 from 80.
At Apple, as the popular tech company has brought out more products, navigating the site has become more of an issue, said Freed. Improving the functionality of the site would give it the biggest boost, he said.
No. 1 U.S. retailer Wal-Mart Stores Inc, which is trying to grow its online sales, scored a 78 for its Walmart.com website, down from 79 in 2011. Rival Target Corp's website scored 79, up from 76 last year, when it had some struggles after taking over control of the site from Amazon.
As for those flash sale sites coming in at the low end of the scores, Freed noted that some are trying to grow beyond the premise of flash sales, which offer a limited amount of marked down merchandise at specific times.
"It works for some kinds of consumers, it's not going to work for every kind of consumer," said Freed. "Their models today are going to work and they're going to have a chance to be successful, but at the end of the day it's not the right answer for everybody."
ForeSee's 2012 report was based on more than 24,000 surveys collected from visitors to websites of the 100 largest online retailers from Thanksgiving to Christmas, up from 40 retail sites in prior years.
(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amazon-most-satisfying-website-shop-survey-050250095--finance.html
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Job Announcement: Special Education Graduate Programs ...
Position Description?link.?Please help us get the word out about this opening in our Special Education graduate programs!?The Division of Special Education at Western Oregon University seeks qualified applicants for a full-time, 9-month, tenure-track Associate Professor and 12-month appointment as Division Chair. The Division Chair term is three years and rotates among the faculty. The WOU academic year is based on quarters.
PRIMARY TEACHING RESPONSIBILITIES
Primary teaching responsibilities are in the Special Education graduate programs. Summer teaching opportunities may be available. The Special Education Programs include a Master of Science in Education: Special Education, an Early Intervention/Special Education I and II endorsement program, and a Special Educator I Endorsement and Special Educator II License. The program is especially interested in recruiting a faculty member with expertise in?teaching methods for low incidence disabilities (e.g., medical aspects, managing communication systems, transition) as well as?on-line program development.
CHAIR RESPONSIBILITIES
The Special Education Division is a multidisciplinary division with ten tenured/tenure track faculty and approximately twenty NTT faculty offering four graduate programs, two undergraduate programs, two minors, and two certificates. These programs include:
- MS: Education in Special Education
- MA in Interpreting Studies
- MA in Rehabilitation Counselor Education
- BA in American Sign Language Studies
- BA/BS in American Sign Language/English Interpreting
- American Sign Language Minor
- Special Education/Rehabilitation Counseling Minor
- Rehabilitation Counseling with Deaf and Hard of Hearing Adults Certificate
- Autism Spectrum Disorders Certificate
Additionally, three full years of American Sign Language courses are offered in the Division, and all but one of the faculty teaching these courses is Deaf. Approximately 250 undergraduate students take ASL each year. The courses can be used to fulfill the foreign language requirement for BA degrees.
The Chair is expected to foster excellence in teaching, scholarship, and outreach for Division faculty, staff, and students; support faculty to expand their programs; and to work collaboratively in establishing future directions for the Division and program innovations. For example, the Division is currently seeking to reopen its Deaf and Hard of Hearing Educator program, which has been on hiatus since 2008. The Division Chair would play a key role in efforts to gain approval and to implement the revised program.
DSE faculty, staff and alumni were among 30,000 who took part in the annual Shamrock Run in Portland, which benefitted Doernbecher Children?s Hospital.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
You can find out more information about the Division of Special Education by going to?http://www.wou.edu/education/sped/index.php. You?ll find links to the programs there, as well as information on faculty activities and news of special events. ?WOU is home to other exciting?programs that support professional development in working with individuals with disabilities including the Regional Resource Center on Deafness?www.wou.edu/rrcd, Teaching Research Institute?www.wou.edu/tri?, and the Center on Sensory Disabilities?www.wou.edu/tri/sensory.
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10 Sad People Who Already Broke Their Shiny New iPhones
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Thursday, December 27, 2012
Big Society pays for final part of wind farm skills centre (From ...
Big Society pays for final part of wind farm skills centre
12:00pm Wednesday 26th December 2012 in News By Helen Barnett
EMERGENCY funds have saved a skills centre in Harwich opening late.
Tendring Council has given ?32,000 to Colchester Institute?s Energy Skills Centre in Parkeston so it can open in time in January.
Cash will pay for a new power supply to the headquarters, at Hamilton House, Foster Road, as well as improvements to create two IT suits, wireless networking, a fitted kitchen and common room facilities.
The improvements would have had to be scrapped if the college?s bid was unsuccessful, to keep the opening of the centre on track.
Money will be paid back if it can be found from other sources.
The Energy Skills Centre will provide further education, apprenticeship and employment programmes to more than 150 people by July 2013.
Students will learn about different sources of energy to give them a full breadth and understanding of the subject.
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How To Improve Your Home Based Business | e4trips.com
Millions of people have dreamed, at one time or another, of launching their own home-based business, and of the incredible opportunities it can provide. The ability to work your own hours and be your own boss is excellent. This article contains information that can help you to turn your dream into a reality.
Write a comprehensive business plan to guide the strategy of your home business. You may change the business plan over time, or you might even completely disregard it. No matter what, a business plan is essential for keeping your business, and you, on track and focused on the goals you want your business to reach. Update the plan periodically.
Taking calculated risks is a big part of achieving success. No matter how successful a business, it?s important to keep it fresh and up to date. This will entice new people as well as keep your current customers coming back. Doing the same routine can prevent you from not knowing if you can do something better.
TIP! Make sure that you utilize search engine optimization to enhance your home business, and use it so that you can move up the ranks with search engines. This is one of the best ways of generating additional traffic towards you.
You will find great support in a home business enterprise forum with others who are doing what you do. The Internet offers you a platform where these forums are easy to find and easy to use. The information and knowledge you gain through others who are on the same career path is invaluable. Here you will find people who understand your challenges and will share their solutions with you. They can help you conquer any difficulties you encounter.
Use a business address, rather than a P.O. Box address, if your business is not located at home. Understand that customers are more at ease when they know that there is a physical building in which your company operates from. It simply provides legitimacy to your business. By providing this information, customers feel like they will get a reply if they try to contact you.
As you can see, it will require a little bit of work and dedication to make the jump. If you can manage to pull through and stick to the plan, you will be able to accurately represent your dream in the company?s image and create something that is long-lasting and profitable over the years.
TIP! It can be easy to let your clients skate by when it comes to paying on time, especially when you are also trying to build relationships with them. However, you have to keep in mind that this can have a huge effect on your bottom line.
Source: http://e4trips.com/how-to-improve-your-home-based-business-3.html
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Diet and lifestyle Tips to get Younger Skin | Health and Fitness Tips ...
8 to 10 portions of water each day might seem like a great deal but our physiques actually need much water to remain healthy inside and outside. This helps within the removal of wastes and harmful toxins in the skin. Moisturize The Skin. The sun?s rays is the skin?s worst enemy. Whenever you sunburn the skin you damage cells.
The skin may be the primary organ within your body and mirrors your way of life. Skin safeguards us in the extremes in our atmosphere and from contaminants in mid-air around us. It reflects your food intake, drink or do. Keeps the skin searching fresh by finding the way your lifestyle and skin-care habits shape the skin every day? Stay well hydrated. Consuming lots of water does indeed help the skin become more healthy and fewer prone to facial lines.
When skin cells are broken, the skin must produce new cells to exchange them which process weakens the skin each time it?s repeated. The skin are affected from impulsive aging if you do not safeguard if from Ultra violet sun rays and repeated sunburns. Although Ultra violet sun rays cause the skin to glance older than however they may also cause cancer of the skin. The only method to fully defend the skin is by using a sun screen lotion cream each day. You?ll find daily skin lotions with Ultra violet protection in addition to foundation makeup with SPF?s as much as 15. Put on a hat or visor to safeguard the face in the sun. Clothing alone won?t safeguard the skin from Ultra violet sun rays. Smoking may also cause the skin to appear pale or gray colored. Giving up smoking will get a lean body and the look of the skin greatly.
Skin wants lots of oxygen to remain healthy and just what better technique to get added oxygen rather than exercise. Do regular cardio and plug your lung area track of just as much oxygen as possible inhale in. Working out keeps the skin well developed as well as your body who is fit. Whenever your is who is fit it is best outfitted to help keep its organs healthy. Exfoliated skin is good skin. You need to exfoliate the dead cells out of your skin on the normal basis to maintain your skin searching good. If you do not exfoliate the skin it will likely be less in a position to take advantage of the creams and skin lotions are applying into it. Rubbing ocean salt on the skin with a little water is a superb method to exfoliate. Utilizing a moisturizer in it every single day can help the skin stay elastic and healthy searching.
A moisturizer in it ought to be used all around the body every time you bathe or shower. Body oil put on faintly wet skin following a shower will aid seal in moisture and the skin from becoming dry. Use a moisturizer in it in your face each morning and during the night. Ascorbic Acid creams can offers brilliant wrinkle control plus they could also aid liver spots to fade. An item which consists of alpha hydroxy chemicals could be good at keeping the skin more youthful searching too. For good proper care of the skin internally it provides you with plenty of many years of protection without causing you to look over the age of your years.
Tags: diet tips to get younger skin, lifestyle Tips, Younger SkinThis entry was posted on Wednesday, December 26th, 2012 and is filed under Health Tips, Skin Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Source: http://www.hhtip.com/diet-and-lifestyle-tips-to-get-younger-skin/
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Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Nigeria: Warehouse said to hold fireworks explodes
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Essential News from The Associated Press |
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Tuesday, December 25, 2012
Neo Geo X hacked to run Unibios, unofficial game ROMS
After witnessing the fall of the DS, DSi, 3DS and PlayStation Vita, it's no surprise to hear that the Neo Geo X has succumbed to the talents of the homebrew community, but it is a little shocking how easy the handheld was to conquer. Upon cracking the device open, enthusiasts were surprised to find no copy protection to speak of -- just a lightly glued MicroSD card. The folks on the Neo Geo forum wasted no time experimenting, and soon found that the handheld's Bios and game ROMs can be successfully swapped for new games or custom loaders. Substitute files need to retain the name of the file they replace, and swapped games remain mislabeled in the Neo Geo X menu, but the trick has already allowed some users to install the popular AES Unibios. The community hopes that the discovery will eventually allow them to tweak the handheld's TV-out resolution and enable manual switching between AES / MVS game modes. It's hardly a "hack," considering the SD card is completely unprotected, but it's a good start. Check out the source link below to peer at the device's insides, or just to watch the community in action.
Filed under: Gaming
Via: Kotaku
Source: Neo Geo
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/24/neo-geo-x-hacked-to-run-unibios-unofficial-game-roms/
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Why Choose Joomla Web Hosting | The Floor Geek
Should you have a company then you definately definitely like to formulate a website to have further users and increase your gain. This demands the web internet hosting services which suggests a great number of selections for your requirements. If you ever resolve on making use of for shared webhosting then you definately should start thinking about some elements before buying the company.
You have to understand that you will definitely get what you are purchasing. There are lots of discounted hosts all-around but you ought to be very careful before you sign up for one of them. When the web hosting specialist you end up picking does some oversight you risk to experience from loads of shortcomings and also you can eliminate bucks. You are likely to publish your web site using the internet simply because you want to make dough to not shed them which is why you ought to obtain the best business enterprise.
There are some significant features that the shared hosting should preferably have in order for the chances to get an impressive services for ones desires. To illustrate, a crucial component is represented via the expertise from the server whereby your site will be operating. The server will need to possess the capability to permit the big quantity of the clientele make use of it, this is why the technological know-how should certainly suit with the server. Also the program directors needs to possess the needed knowledge to handle with looking after the shared web hosting they offer. Also you possess to be watchful considering the incontrovertible fact that the support are advised to include even more than a single link on the world-wide-web. In this way, you?re going to make sure that you?ll not have worries if 1 internet connection is not accessible in some unspecified time in the future.
In order for you an outstanding shared hosting, then look for for a fast connection to the internet with no disregarding the fact which you only have to purchase anything you will need. It is recommended so that you can pick out an account that features easily the expert services that the website requirements. If there are many supplies that come with solutions you?re going to not use than never prefer them since the charges will multiply without to be vital. One thing which is necessary to make sure of is that the shared webhosting business provides you with you a solution for ones internet site while in the circumstance it grows. Your online business will broaden and so your internet site will need some upgrading to generally be executed. Out of this point of view, the supplier have to enable you the lodging within the web-site.
Beside plenty of particulars such as types noted above, give some thought to also some typical details, which can be of a giant value too. If you would like your enterprise to boost, then you definately desire really fast method with the issues that might arise. This is exactly why the online hosting firm need to provide you with a quick tech help certain by skilled technicians. A means to know if the organisation you intend to employ is mostly a considerable a single will be to simply verify for references. Examine diligently the online websites they offer their expert services for. This is often a simple method to see whether or not they can provide you with the assistance for the level of quality that you simply want.
Web Hosting Firms can present you with greatest info for Why It Is Best To Have Web Hosting.Be sure to stop by the blog post for more information!
Related posts:
- Ecommerce Internet Hosting Tips
- Why Select Joomla Internet Hosting
- Vps Internet Hosting Overview
- Internet Hosting A Guide For Rookies
- Components To Consider Earlier Than Deciding On An Online Hosting Firm
Source: http://www.thefloorgeek.com/2012/12/why-choose-joomla-web-hosting/
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Bethenny Frankel and husband of 2 years separating
LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Bethenny Frankel and husband Jason Hoppy are separating.
The 42-year-old TV personality, chef, author and entrepreneur told The Associated Press Sunday that the split brings her "great sadness."
"This was an extremely difficult decision that as a woman and a mother, I have to accept as the best choice for our family," Frankel said. "We have love and respect for one another and will continue to amicably co-parent our daughter who is and will always remain our first priority. This is an immensely painful and heartbreaking time for us."
Frankel and Hoppy were married in 2010 and have a daughter, Bryn, who was born that same year. The couple's courtship and marriage were documented in two reality series, "Bethenny Getting Married?" and "Bethenny Ever After..." Frankel gained fame as a star of "The Real Housewives of New York City." Since her stint on the Bravo show, she has written four books, released a fitness video and founded her Skinnygirl line of cocktails, shapewear and nutritional supplements.
She launched a talk show, "Bethenny," over the summer that is set to air nationally on Fox stations in 2013.
___
AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen is on Twitter: www.twitter.com/APSandy .
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/bethenny-frankel-husband-2-years-separating-185651549.html
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Monday, December 24, 2012
The Most Prominent Daily Deal Website For Online Shopping
Online shopping is the fast growing concept in the recent time. People don?t like to buy from local retailers as it has too many hurdles. It is very hard to compare prices with competitors. You have to walk many shops and malls to purchase a single thing and also have to wait for your turn to ome for just one thing. It is very hectic to stand in long queue when you have only one thing and the man who has full trolley items. We are Dilter ? an online Deal Aggregator. We have opened a platform where anyone can participate. At the moment, we have launched our business in three countries Spain, Netherlands and England. If you are out of these countries then these deals are not applicable to you. First of all you have to register with us. For this, you can use your existing Facebook and Google credentials. Before this you have to select country and listed city. This will show only those products which are available near your city. After login, you can see dashboard where you can select your interested products from our list. So, at the same time you can see only those products in which you are interested. We will also send you offer emails on registered id
You can compare our price tags with your local retailers. There many ways of shopping with us. One of them is Daily dealing and another one is Group Buying. In Group Buying you get more benefit than regular deals. We decide one product for selling and also set the minimum number of buyers. Now, you have to bring customers to us and in return you will get the product at manufacturing cost. It is unbelievable; it is a new concept of online buy where buyer and seller both get benefits. You can bring buyers by promoting out offer in your social network by using various websites like Facebook, twitter, linked In and many more. Once you reach on specific no. of buyers then you can claim the product at decided rate. This concept is known as group buying.
We have a massive collection of diverse types of products. Every category has its own collection which is unique. Our products are reliable and only manufactured by genuine companies. Dilter Daily Deal offers you the best products. General interest category includes Men, Women, Children and family. If you like to buy online food then we are the destination for you. You can buy various types of fresh Food delivery and take away. You can also buy cost effective wine, champagne and alcohol. Don?t underestimate your health. You can deal with our personal care products like Skin & Face, Hands & Feet, Eyes, Hair Treatment, Teeth Treatments, Spa & Sauna, Body & Massages, Other Beauty & Health Stuff. General collection includes products like for College, Adults, PC & Mobiles, Electronics & Gadgets, Lessons & Education, Jewellery & Eyewear, Clothing, Extreme Sports, Internet, Flowers, Sports, Cooking, Holidays, Hotels & Flights, Gifts, Activities, Entertainment etc. If you home has large space for garden then we have dream collection for you. Categories under this are Improvements & Cleaning, Bedroom, Bicycle, Car & Motor, Kitchen, Office, Living room etc.
Deal with attractive Daily Deal of Dilter and get huge benefits. Dilter is an online shopping website which offers Group Buying. Come with your friends and buy the products lower than market price.
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Article Tags : Daily Deal, Group Buying, Deal Aggregator, Online shopping
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Gang rape protesters clash with Indian police
Indian police use water cannon to disperse protesters demonstrating against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
Indian police use water cannon to disperse protesters demonstrating against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
Indian police use water cannon to disperse protesters demonstrating against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus, in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
Indian protesters shout slogans as policemen use water cannon to disperse those demonstrating against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus, in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
Indian police try to stop women protesters demonstrating against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
An Indian policeman baton charges to disperse protesters demonstrating against a gang rape and brutal beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. The attack last Sunday has sparked days of protests across the country. (AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal)
NEW DELHI (AP) ? Police in India's capital used tear gas and water cannons for a second day Sunday in a high-security zone to break up protests by thousands of people demonstrating against the gang rape and beating of a 23-year-old student on a bus.
Police chased angry protesters with batons some of whom fought pitched battles with steel rods and rocks as they tried to get past steel barricades and a wall created by hundreds of policemen to reach the president's mansion to present their demands. "We want justice," they shouted.
Television footage showed that some protesters were injured in the clashes.
The protesters made bonfires and damaged cars and police vehicles.
Police blamed the violence on hooligans. "A peaceful protest by people has been taken over by hooligans," Dharmendra Kumar, a senior police officer, told reporters. He urged people to go home to help police deal with the trouble makers.
The demonstrations continued Sunday despite Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde promising to consider their main demand for death penalties for all six suspects who have been arrested by police following the Dec. 16 attack.
Shinde said Saturday night that the government was taking steps to better ensure the safety of women.
A group of protesters met Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, and her son and lawmaker Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday and demanded a speedy trial of the suspects.
Popular yoga guru Babar Ramdev stood on the roof of a bus and pledged support to the protesters. "The government must set up fast-track courts to punish the offenders in rape attacks," he said.
The attack one week ago has sparked days of protests across the country. The victim is recovering from injuries in a New Delhi government hospital but is still in critical condition.
After battling the protesters throughout the day on Saturday, authorities early on Sunday banned their entry into the high-security zone, which also houses the offices of the prime minister and defense, home and external affairs ministries. Police evicted dozens of protesters who had spent the night there.
However, as groups of protesters marched through the streets of New Delhi and began converging on the high-security area on Sunday, authorities withdrew the ban on the assembly of more than five people there. But it set up barricades to keep them away from the president's residence.
Protesters tried to break the police cordon repeatedly by hurling stones and water bottles and pressing against the steel barricades. Policemen responded by firing tear gas and using water cannons against them. The battle continued throughout the day.
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Syria jets kill tens as international envoy visits
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - This image taken from the Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrians removing the bodies of those killed after a government airstrike hit the Hama Suburb of Halfaya, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. A government airstrike on a rebel-held town in central Syria killed tens of people on Sunday, activists said, while the international envoy charged with negotiating an end to the country?s civil war was in Damascus to meet with top officials. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)
EDS NOTE: GRAPHIC CONTENT - This image taken from the Edlib News Network, ENN, which has been authenticated based on its contents and other AP reporting, shows Syrians removing the bodies of those killed after a government airstrike hit the Hama Suburb of Halfaya, Syria, Sunday, Dec. 23, 2012. A government airstrike on a rebel-held town in central Syria killed tens of people on Sunday, activists said, while the international envoy charged with negotiating an end to the country?s civil war was in Damascus to meet with top officials. (AP Photo/Edlib News Network ENN)
BEIRUT (AP) ? A government airstrike on a bakery in a rebel-held town in central Syria killed more than 60 people on Sunday, activists said, casting a pall over a visit by the international envoy charged with negotiating an end to the country's civil war.
The strike on the town of Halfaya left scattered bodies and debris up and down a street, and more than a dozen dead and wounded were trapped in tangled heap of dirt and rubble.
The attack appeared to be the government response to a newly announced rebel offensive seeking to drive the Syrian army from a constellation of towns and village north of the central city of Hama. Halfaya was the first of the area's towns to be "liberated" by rebel fighters, and activists saw Sunday's attack as payback.
"Halfaya was the first and biggest victory in the Hama countryside," said Hama activist Mousab Alhamadee via Skype. "That's why the regime is punishing them in this way."
The total death toll remained unclear, but the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said more than 60 people were killed. That number is expected to rise, it said, because some 50 of those wounded in the strike are in critical condition.
Amateur videos posted online Sunday showed residents and armed rebels rushing to the scene. One stopped to cover a mound of human flesh lying in the street with his coat.
More than a dozen dead or seriously wounded people lay in the street near a simple, concrete building, some in puddles of blood. Near its front wall, bodies jutted from a pile of dirt and rubble on the sidewalk.
Rebels screamed in distress while trying to extract the bodies, while others carried away the wounded.
It was unclear from the videos if the building was indeed a bakery. Nearly all the dead and wounded appeared to be men, some wore camouflage, raising the possibility that the jet had targeted a rebel gathering.
For the past week, rebels have been launching attacks in the area, most notably in the nearby village of Morek, where they hope to seize control of the country's main north-south highway, preventing the regime from getting supplies to its forces further north in the provinces of Idlib and Aleppo.
On Saturday, one rebel group threatened to storm two predominantly Christian towns nearby if their residents did not "evict" government troops they said were using them as a base to attack nearby areas.
The activist accounts could not be independently verified due to restrictions on reporting in Syria. The Syrian government does not respond to requests for comment on its military activities.
The attack coincided with the start of a two-day visit by Lakhdar Barhimi, who represents the U.N. And the Arab League, to meet with top Syrian officials.
Brahimi has made little apparent progress toward ending Syria's crisis since assuming his post in September, mostly because the sides appear more interested in fighting it out than in sitting down for talks.
Brahimi did not speak publicly upon arriving in Damascus for a two-day mission, and it was unclear whether he would present new ideas to end the war. His trip appeared troubled from the start.
Instead of flying directly to Syria as he had on previous visits, Brahimi landed in Beirut and traveled to the Syrian capital by land because of fighting near the Damascus airport, Lebanese officials said.
The Lebanese officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief reporters, said Brahimi was expected to meet Syria's foreign minister later Sunday and President Bashar Assad on Monday.
The trip is Brahimi's third since taking the job following the resignation of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan after both sides disregarded a cease-fire he brokered in April.
While not advancing a comprehensive peace plan, Brahimi has called on the sides to negotiate a solution.
The security situation has gotten notably worse for the regime since his last visit, with rebels storming a number of military bases and seizing valuable munitions. Russia, Assad's most powerful international backer, also appears to have changed his assessment of Assad's strength, as top officials say they do not seek to preserve his regime, while still calling for a negotiated solution.
Still, neither side appears willing to talk.
In a lengthy Sunday news conference, Syrian Information Minister Omran al-Zoubi repeated the Syrian government's line that it is fighting terrorist groups backed by foreign powers who seek to destroy Syria.
Al-Zoubi said the government was willing to engage in dialogue but said the other side wasn't.
"We speak of dialogue with those who believe in national dialogue," he said. "But those who rejected dialogue in their statements and called for arms and use of weapons, that's a different issue. They don't want dialogue."
Rebel groups refuse to talk to Assad, saying too many people have died for him to be considered part of the solution.
Violence raged elsewhere in the country on Sunday. Anti-regime activists reported government airstrikes on suburbs east of the capital and the northern province of Aleppo.
Airstrikes on the town of al-Safira, south of Aleppo, killed 13 people, including a mother and five daughters from one family, a local activist named Hussein said via Skype. He gave only his first name for fear of retribution.
The town lies next to a large military complex with factories and artillery and air defense bases. Hussein guessed the airstrike was payback for recent rebel attacks on the complex.
"The strikes don't hit the fighters at all," he said. "They want to take revenge on the civilians."
The Observatory said at least 10 rebels and an unknown number of government troops were killed in clashes in Afreen, near Aleppo, Syria's largest city, as rebels sought to storm an army base there.
Anti-regime activists say more than 40,000 people have been killed since Syria's crisis began in March 2011.
___
Associated Press writer Albert Aji contributed reporting from Damascus.
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