Khaled Meshal, Hamas Leader, Delivers Defiant Speech at Anniversary Celebration

Wissam Nassar for The New York Times

Tens of thousands of Hamas supporters gathered in Gaza City near a large replica of an M-75, a Hamas rocket, that bore the words “Made in Gaza.” More Photos »

GAZA CITY — Khaled Meshal, the political leader of Hamas, gave a defiant speech on Saturday, vowing to build an Islamic Palestinian state on all the land of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Speaking before tens of thousands of supporters to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of Hamas, Mr. Meshal said the Jewish state would be wiped away through “resistance,” or military action. “The state will come from resistance, not negotiation,” he said. “Liberation first, then statehood.”

His voice rising to a shout, Mr. Meshal said: “Palestine is ours from the river to the sea and from the south to the north. There will be no concession on any inch of the land.” He vowed that all Palestinian refugees and their descendants would one day return to their original homes in what is now Israel.

“We will never recognize the legitimacy of the Israeli occupation, and therefore there is no legitimacy for Israel, no matter how long it will take,” he said. “We will free Jerusalem inch by inch, stone by stone. Israel has no right to be in Jerusalem.” He also promised Palestinian prisoners held in Israel that they would be freed using the same methods that had worked in the past — the kidnapping of Israelis and Israeli soldiers, like Gilad Shalit, who was released last year in a prisoner exchange after five years as a hostage.

Mr. Meshal’s harsh words reflected longstanding Hamas principles rather than new, specific threats toward Israel. But they will only reinforce Israel’s belief that Hamas is its enemy and intends to continue to use military force to reach its goals.

The anniversary of Hamas’s founding is Dec. 14, but the organization moved the celebration forward to honor the first uprising against Israel.

Mr. Meshal, on his first visit to Gaza after 45 years of exile, having fled a West Bank village at 11 with his family during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, was in a joyous but not conciliatory mood. He promised Palestinian unity, but only on the basis of Hamas’s principles, which would mean a subordinate role for Fatah, the main Palestinian faction in the West Bank. He called the United Nations General Assembly’s vote granting Palestinians enhanced status as a nonmember observer state — engineered by President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority, which governs the West Bank — “a small step but a good one.”

He insisted that Hamas had won a great military victory by achieving a cease-fire with Israel last month after eight days of rocket launchings and airstrikes, and said it could form the basis, with the General Assembly vote, of a new Palestine Liberation Organization that would contain all Palestinian factions. An inclusive Palestinian Authority and a P.L.O. based on Hamas principles, however, would almost surely find itself shunned by Israel and much of the world. It would also be a humiliating defeat for Mr. Abbas, who supports a two-state solution and has negotiated with Israel.

The P.L.O., run by Mr. Abbas of Fatah, is the sole legal representative of the Palestinian people and does not now include Hamas.

The celebration took place under cloudy skies, with periods of rain. But few of the supporters, many waving green Hamas flags, left the crowded square.

Mr. Meshal and Ismail Haniya, the Hamas prime minister in Gaza, emerged together from a giant replica of a Hamas rocket called the M-75, which is supposed to be able to travel about 45 miles from Gaza City, putting it close to Tel Aviv. Many experts have said they think the M-75 is a repainted Iranian Fajr rocket, but the one on display bore the words “Made in Gaza,” in English. The crowd cheered and a band played a song praising Hamas leaders for being fearless in the face of death.

The stage featured the rocket, a banner showing the walls of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock, and large photographs of Mr. Meshal and of Ahmed al-Jabari, Hamas’s military commander who was killed by an Israeli strike on the first day of November’s fighting.

Fares Akram contributed reporting.

Read More..

Synacor partners with Zynga to bring social games to pay TV

(Reuters) – Synacor Inc, partly owned by Intel Corp, said it partnered with Zynga Inc to allow pay TV and broadband providers offer social games to their customers.

Zynga shares rose about 3 percent to $ 2.30 in premarket trading, while Synacor shares were up about 5 percent at $ 6.60.

Synacor said certain pay-TV subscribers will get in-game currency each month as part of their subscription that can be redeemed for popular Zynga games such as Zynga Poker and FarmVille2.

The partnership comes days after Zynga revised its pact with Facebook Inc to lower its dependence on the social network.

Synacor, which debuted on the Nasdaq in February, offers authentication and management services to companies offering on-demand content, primarily cable and telecom service providers and consumer electronics brands.

(Reporting by Chandni Doulatramani in Bangalore; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Susan Powell's Father-in-Law Secretly Took 4,500 Pictures of Her

12/07/2012 at 07:30 PM EST

Wrapping up a year that has brought unimaginable frustration and heartbreak, Susan Powell's family marked the three-year anniversary of her disappearance at a ceremony this week near where her two sons are buried.

"It's a hard time of year," Susan's father, Chuck Cox, tells PEOPLE. "Our daughter's still missing. Someday, we will find out what happened to her."

He added that he is not sure what to make of a West Valley City, Utah, police announcement Thursday that their investigation into Susan's Dec. 6, 2009 disappearance remains active but "has been scaled down," with a reduction in the number of full-time investigators working the case.

The announcement came at the same time that more evidence emerged of the alleged obsession Susan's father-in-law, Steven Powell, had toward her. Authorities released nearly 4,500 pictures that they say he secretly took of her at home and elsewhere.

Cox says he's hopeful that the police are still doing everything possible to solve Susan's case, but he hasn't ruled out suing the department for failing to arrest Susan's husband, Josh Powell, for her murder.

More than two years after Susan's disappearance, Josh on Feb. 5 murdered the couple's two sons and committed suicide by blowing up his house.

Cox's lawyer, Anne Bremner, says Cox "goes back and forth" over whether to sue West Valley City. "He wants them to find her. A lawsuit can have a chilling affect on things."

Cox and Bremner say they do plan to file a lawsuit against the state of Washington for continuing to give Josh visitation with his children despite what they claim were mounting concerns regarding his mental stability.

Although Cox and the police believe that Josh Powell knew more than anyone what happened to Susan, they also strongly suspect that his father, Steven Powell, should still be looked at more closely.

Steven Powell

Ted S. Warren / AP

The Coxes hoped Steve Powell's voyeurism trial in May would unearth some answers but it did not. Powell invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked in jail about Susan.

In numerous interviews with PEOPLE, Steve and Josh Powell denied any involvement in Susan's disappearance and have suggested that she ran off with another man.

Steve Powell was prosecuted for surreptitiously photographing his neighbor's young daughters (and is serving a 30-month sentence), but the investigation also unearthed journals in which Powell described his interest in his daughter-in-law, as well as the thousands of photos, which were released Thursday to the Associated Press.

In a journal entry, Steven Powell recalls a sexually charged dream in which Susan asks him, “Do you think I would make a good wife for you?” None of the pictures show Susan naked, although there are images of her crotch and backside.

"We think he knows exactly where our daughter is," Cox says.

Once Susan disappeared, Josh sold the family's home in Utah and moved with the boys into Steven Powell's house in Puyallup, Wash., only about two miles from the Cox family.

On Thursday, families streamed to Puyallup’s Woodbine Cemetery to remember the Powell boys and other children who died tragically and to dedicate a memorial: a bronze angel inspired by the novella The Christmas Box, in which strangers learn the value of love following a child’s death.

The novella's author, Richard Paul Evans, also attended the dedication. The memorial is on a hill overlooking the boys' gravesites 75 yards away.

"We get a lot of support from a lot of people and we're going to make it through," Cox says.

Read More..

Smokers celebrate as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — The crowds of happy people lighting joints under Seattle's Space Needle early Thursday morning with nary a police officer in sight bespoke the new reality: Marijuana is legal under Washington state law.

Hundreds gathered at Seattle Center for a New Year's Eve-style countdown to 12 a.m., when the legalization measure passed by voters last month took effect. When the clock struck, they cheered and sparked up in unison.

A few dozen people gathered on a sidewalk outside the north Seattle headquarters of the annual Hempfest celebration and did the same, offering joints to reporters and blowing smoke into television news cameras.

"I feel like a kid in a candy store!" shouted Hempfest volunteer Darby Hageman. "It's all becoming real now!"

Washington and Colorado became the first states to vote to decriminalize and regulate the possession of an ounce or less of marijuana by adults over 21. Both measures call for setting up state licensing schemes for pot growers, processors and retail stores. Colorado's law is set to take effect by Jan. 5.

Technically, Washington's new marijuana law still forbids smoking pot in public, which remains punishable by a fine, like drinking in public. But pot fans wanted a party, and Seattle police weren't about to write them any tickets.

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

The mood was festive in Seattle as dozens of gay and lesbian couples got in line to pick up marriage licenses at the King County auditor's office early Thursday.

King County and Thurston County announced they would open their auditors' offices shortly after midnight Wednesday to accommodate those who wanted to be among the first to get their licenses.

Kelly Middleton and her partner Amanda Dollente got in line at 4 p.m. Wednesday.

Hours later, as the line grew, volunteers distributed roses and a group of men and women serenaded the waiting line to the tune of "Chapel of Love."

Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

In dealing with marijuana, the Seattle Police Department told its 1,300 officers on Wednesday, just before legalization took hold, that until further notice they shall not issue citations for public marijuana use.

Officers will be advising people not to smoke in public, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

He offered a catchy new directive referring to the film "The Big Lebowski," popular with many marijuana fans: "The Dude abides, and says 'take it inside!'"

"This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition," said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. "The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow."

Washington's new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it's banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress."

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would "frustrate the purpose" of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Alison Holcomb is the drug policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington and served as the campaign manager for New Approach Washington, which led the legalization drive. She said the voters clearly showed they're done with marijuana prohibition.

"New Approach Washington sponsors and the ACLU look forward to working with state and federal officials and to ensure the law is fully and fairly implemented," she said.

___

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

Read More..

Wall Street Week Ahead: "Cliff" worries may drive tax selling

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Investors typically sell stocks to cut their losses at year end. But worries about the "fiscal cliff" - and the possibility of higher taxes in 2013 - may act as the greatest incentive to sell both winners and losers by December 31.

The $600 billion of automatic tax increases and spending cuts scheduled for the beginning of next year includes higher rates for capital gains, making tax-loss selling even more appealing than usual.

Tax-related selling may be behind the weaker trend in the shares of market leader Apple , analysts said. The stock is down 20 percent for the quarter, but it's still up nearly 32 percent for the year.

Apple dropped 8.9 percent in this past week alone. For a stock that gained more than 25 percent a year for four consecutive years, the embedded capital gains suddenly look like a selling opportunity if one's tax bill is going to jump sharply just because the calendar changes.

"Tax-loss selling is always a factor (but) tax-gains selling has been a factor this year," said Paul Mendelsohn, chief investment strategist at Windham Financial Services in Charlotte, Vermont.

"You have a lot of high-net-worth individuals in taxable accounts, and that could be what's affecting stocks like Apple. If you look at the stocks that people have their largest gains in, they seem to be under a little bit more pressure here than usual."

Of this year's top 20 performers in the S&P 1500 index, which includes large, small and mid-cap stocks, all but four have lost ground in the last five trading sessions.

The rush to avoid higher taxes on portfolio gains could cause additional weakness.

The S&P 500 ended the week up just 0.1 percent after another week of trading largely tied to fiscal cliff negotiation news, which has pushed the market in both directions.

A PAIN PILL FROM THE FED?

Next week's Federal Reserve meeting could offer some relief if policymakers announce further plans to help the lackluster U.S. economy. The Federal Open Market Committee will meet on Tuesday and Wednesday. The policy statement is expected at about 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday after the conclusion of the meeting - the Fed's last one for the year.

Friday's jobs report showing non-farm payrolls added 146,000 jobs in November eased worries that Superstorm Sandy had hit the labor market hard.

"After the FOMC meeting, I think it's going to be downhill from there as worries about the fiscal cliff really take center stage and prospects of a deal become less and less likely," said Mohannad Aama, managing director of Beam Capital Management LLC in New York.

"I think we are likely to see an escalation in profit-taking ahead of tax rates going up next year," he said.

MORE VOLUME AND VOLATILITY

Volume could increase as investors try to shift positions before year end, some analysts said.

While most of that would be in stocks, some of the extra trading volume could spill over into options, said J.J. Kinahan, TD Ameritrade's chief derivatives strategist.

Volatility could pick up as well, and some of that is already being seen in Apple's stock.

"The actual volatility in Apple has been very high while the market itself has been calm. I expect Apple's volatility to carry over into the market volatility," said Enis Taner, global macro editor at RiskReversal.com, an options trading firm in New York.

Shares of Apple, the largest U.S. company by market value, registered their worst week since May 2010. In another bearish sign, the stock's 50-day moving average fell to $599.52 - below its 200-day moving average at $601.38.

"There's a lot of tax-related selling happening now, and it will continue to happen. Apple is an example, even (though) there are other factors involved with Apple," Aama said.

While investors may be selling stocks to avoid higher taxes in 2013, companies may continue to announce special and accelerated dividend payments before year end. Among the latest, Expedia announced a special dividend of 52 cents a share to be paid on December 28.

To be sure, the big sell-off in stocks following the November 6 election was likely related to tax selling, making it hard to judge how much more is to come.

Bruce Zaro, chief technical strategist at Delta Global Asset Management in Boston, said there's a decent chance that the market could rally before year end.

"Even with little or spotty news that one would put in the positive bucket regarding the (cliff) negotiations, the market has basically hung in there, and I think it's hung in there in anticipation of something coming," he said.

(Wall St Week Ahead runs every Friday. Questions or comments on this column can be emailed to: caroline.valetkevitch(at)thomsonreuters.com)

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Editing by Jan Paschal; Multimedia versions of Reuters Top News are now available for:; 3000 Xtra: visit Reuters Top News; BridgeStation: view story .134; For London stock market outlook please click on .L/O; Pan-European stock market outlook .EU/O; Tokyo stock market outlook .T/O; Wall St Week Ahead runs every Friday.)

Read More..

Bombs Found in Northern Ireland on Eve of Clinton Visit

Paul Mcerlane/European Pressphoto Agency

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton with Peter Robinson, center, the first minister, and his deputy, Martin McGuinness.

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton flew here on Friday for a brief, valedictory visit that contrasted calls for peace with the discovery of two bombs unconnected with her diplomacy, underscoring the continued power of sectarian passions almost 15 years after a formal peace accord brokered partly by her husband.

The discovery of the devices elsewhere in the country came after days of chaos on Belfast’s streets when unionists, who seek continued ties with Britain, blocked traffic to protest a decision by the City Council to limit the number of days when Britain’s Union Jack flag is flown at City Hall.

“The violence is a reminder that, although much progress has been made, the hard work of reconciliation and fostering mutual understanding must continue,” Mrs. Clinton said after meeting some of Northern Ireland’s political leaders.

“The only path forward is a peaceful, democratic one that recognizes the right of others to express their opinions but not to resort to violence,” she said. “There can be no place in the new Northern Ireland for any violence. Any of the remnants of the past need to be quickly and unequivocally condemned.

“The United States will continue to strongly support all those who stand on the side of peace and reconciliation.”

Mrs. Clinton arrived from Dublin. Hours earlier, four men were arrested late on Thursday when a homemade explosive device was found in the city of Londonderry, police officials said. The bomb was discovered in a car rammed by officers investigating the activities of splinter groups that have broken away from the mainstream republican movement opposing British sovereignty in Northern Ireland.

The explosive device was described by the police as “viable.” Army experts defused the bomb after nearby homes were evacuated.

The police also reported on Friday that a letter bomb had been discovered in another part of Northern Ireland after a man was observed acting suspiciously near a mailbox.

Officers did not specify the name or address on the letter, but they described the bomb as “a viable device capable of causing death or serious injury.”

The tensions are not related to Mrs. Clinton’s visit, analysts and officials said, but they offer a sobering backdrop to what has been depicted as a celebratory visit recalling President Bill Clinton’s diplomatic triumphs in promoting the Northern Ireland peace process in the 1990s along with the leaders of Britain and Ireland.

On Friday, Mrs. Clinton noted that while “I will soon be a private citizen again” — a reference to her decision to step down as secretary of state — she looked forward to “continuing this work, so the people of this land can prosper in the peace and security that they have worked so hard for, and that they so richly deserve.”

The Clintons command broad popularity in Northern Ireland, a factor that weighs with Irish-American voters in American politics. It was her second visit as secretary of state since 2009.

In prepared remarks before her departure for Washington, she again invoked the peace effort and the challenges to it. Addressing the people of Northern Ireland, she said: “You are the ones who reminded the world that while a peace deal may be signed at a negotiating table, peace itself takes life at the kitchen table. It must be nurtured in the hearts of people, in the way they live their daily lives and treat their fellow citizens, in the lessons they teach their children.”

Peace, she said, “is always a work in progress. There are still — and perhaps always will be — those who seek to divide rather than unite.” 

The causes of the current spike in tensions in Northern Ireland are diverse, but spring from familiar roots.

One issue is the opposition among dissident republicans, who seek a unified Ireland, to the designation of Londonderry as a United Kingdom City of Culture in 2013.

The name of the city is itself contentious, with Roman Catholics referring to it as Derry, its name before the British authorities changed it to Londonderry centuries ago.

Last month, a prison officer, David Black, was shot dead in Northern Ireland, and a republican splinter group said it carried out the killing to protest conditions at a jail where guards perform strip searches on detained dissidents.

The discovery of the devices came after days of apparently unconnected protests by unionist groups. The passionate flag debate reflects a broader battle of symbols that delineate the feuding republicans and unionists and, in part, sustain their confrontation.

The unionist protests spread to other parts of Northern Ireland, illustrating the enduring and emotive pull of sectarian passions despite the 1998 Good Friday agreement that cemented peace after 30 years of conflict, known as the Troubles, in which more than 3,500 people were killed.

During her visit, Mrs. Clinton spoke with political leaders at Stormont, the seat of the power-sharing Northern Ireland administration, and visited a new center devoted to the Titanic, the doomed ocean liner built in Belfast and launched in 1911 before it sank on its maiden voyage after striking an iceberg in 1912.

Michael R. Gordon reported from Belfast, and Alan Cowell from London.

Read More..

T-Mobile to Offer Cheapest iPhone 5 in 2013

T-Mobile, the smallest of the “big four” wireless carries in the United States, already offers the country’s cheapest iPhone service — if you have an unlocked iPhone. And according to Engadget’s Brad Molen, more than a million unlocked iPhones are on T-Mobile‘s network already.

Now, T-Mobile has announced that it will “add Apple products to its portfolio in the coming year,” according to parent company Deutsche Telekom AG. And while that could mean anything from the new iPad Mini to an as-yet-unreleased Apple product of some kind, many expect T-Mobile to finally get the iPhone, making it the last major carrier in the United States to get it.

If T-Mobile does, and it continues to offer its $ 30 “Unlimited Web & Text with 100 Minutes” plan, that may make T-Mobile’s iPhone the cheapest one out there — even if it costs hundreds of dollars more up front than on AT&T.

Subsidies aren’t just for big corporations

Most of the big-name wireless carriers in the United States offer what are called “subsidized” smartphones, meaning you don’t pay their whole cost up front. Instead, you pay a discounted price (which can be as little as $ 0.01), but are locked into a wireless contract for up to 2 years. Wireless customers who switch before their contract is up have to pay an “early termination fee,” which can go over and above the actual cost of the smartphone.

Buy now, save later

With prepaid smartphone plans, on the other hand, you pay the whole cost of the phone up front and afterward it’s yours to keep (whether its SIM card is locked into one network or not). And with the announcement that T-Mobile is going prepaid-only starting next year, that means any iPhone the company carries will be of the unsubsidized variety.

Apple currently sells the 16 GB iPhone 5 for $ 649, contract-free, on its website. It also sells the 16 GB iPhone 4S for $ 549, however, while contract-free carrier Virgin Mobile sells the same phone unsubsidized for $ 449 with a $ 35 per month data plan — not too much more expensive than T-Mobile’s.

Lessons of the past​

It’s hard to say how much T-Mobile would offer an iPhone 5 for if the device landed on its network. Virgin Mobile started out charging more up front and offering a $ 30 plan, while Cricket currently sells the contract-free iPhone 5 for $ 499 but its service starts at $ 55.

Assuming T-Mobile continues to offer its current “web exclusive” $ 30 unlimited plan for a hypothetical iPhone 5 on its network, it’s not likely to be discounted much if at all from Apple’s asking price. Just paying for 5 GBs of data per month from AT&T would cost $ 1,200 over 2 years, however, plus the $ 199 cost of a subsidized iPhone (and you have to pay for voice minutes and texting on top of that). Meanwhile, it’s possible right now to buy an unlocked iPhone 5 from Apple and get 2 years of T-Mobile’s $ 30 service for $ 1,369. That includes 5 GBs of data before connection speed throttling, plus unlimited texting and 100 voice minutes per month.

​Looking to the future

T-Mobile offers the cheapest iPhone 5 service right now. And if the “Apple products” T-Mobile is getting next year include the iPhone 5, T-Mobile customers may see even better offerings coming their way in the near future.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

The X Factor Reveals Its Four Semi-Finalists

TV Watch

The X Factor

By Aaron Parsley

12/06/2012 at 09:20 PM EST

There were tears on The X Factor Thursday night.

With only four spots in next week's semi-finals, the six acts who performed two songs each Wednesday night were a tense bunch. Especially after last week's shocking elimination that sent home fan favorite Vino Alan.

A majority of PEOPLE.com readers picked Demi Lovato's only remaining contestant, CeCe Frey, as the singer who most deserved elimination. Was she able to make it through one more week? Keep reading for all the results ...

CeCe Frey was the first to go.

"I'm proud of everything that I've done on this show," she said. "I hope I've taught everyone at home that you need to love who you are, because the more you love who you are, the less you're going to need anybody else to."

Her coach tried to avoid tears but shed a few anyway. "I've grown so close to you," Demi said. "And I'm just so proud of you."

Three acts were then declare safe: Simon Cowell's boy band, Emblem3; Britney Spears's frontrunner, Carly Rose Sonenclar; and L.A. Reid's country singer, Tate Stevens, also a frontrunner.

That left Team Britney's Diamond White and Simon's other group, Fifth Harmony, to sing for survival.

Fifth Harmony sang Mariah Carey's "Anytime You Need a Friend," and Diamond sang Lee Ann Womack's "I Hope You Dance."

As expected, Simon and Britney voted to send home each other's acts. But it was the end of the road for Diamond, after L.A. and Demi both voted to send her home as well.

"I'm just thinking of Cher Lloyd right now," she said of the "Want U Back" singer. "She came in fifth and look where she is."

Here's how the top four ranked:
1. Tate Stevens
2. Carly Rose Sonenclar
3. Emblem3
4. Fifth Harmony

Read More..

Celebrations planned as Wash. legalizes marijuana

SEATTLE (AP) — Legal marijuana possession becomes a reality under Washington state law on Thursday, and some people planned to celebrate the new law by breaking it.

Voters in Washington and Colorado last month made those the first states to decriminalize and regulate the recreational use of marijuana. Washington's law takes effect Thursday and allows adults to have up to an ounce of pot — but it bans public use of marijuana, which is punishable by a fine, just like drinking in public.

Nevertheless, some people planned to gather at 12:01 a.m. PST Thursday to smoke in public beneath Seattle's Space Needle. Others planned a midnight party outside the Seattle headquarters of Hempfest, the 21-year-old festival that attracts tens of thousands of pot fans every summer.

"This is a big day because all our lives we've been living under the iron curtain of prohibition," said Hempfest director Vivian McPeak. "The whole world sees that prohibition just took a body blow."

In another sweeping change for Washington, Gov. Chris Gregoire on Wednesday signed into law a measure that legalizes same-sex marriage. The state joins several others that allow gay and lesbian couples to wed.

That law also takes effect Thursday, when gay and lesbian couples can start picking up their wedding certificates and licenses at county auditors' offices. Those offices in King County, the state's largest and home to Seattle, and Thurston County, home to the state capital of Olympia, planned to open the earliest, at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, to start issuing marriage licenses. Because the state has a three-day waiting period, the earliest that weddings can take place is Sunday.

The Seattle Police Department provided this public marijuana use enforcement guidance to its officers via email Wednesday night: "Until further notice, officers shall not take any enforcement action — other than to issue a verbal warning — for a violation of Initiative 502."

Thanks to a 2003 law, marijuana enforcement remains the department's lowest priority. Even before I-502 passed on Nov. 6, police rarely busted people at Hempfest, despite widespread pot use, and the city attorney here doesn't prosecute people for having small amounts of marijuana.

Officers will be advising people to take their weed inside, police spokesman Jonah Spangenthal-Lee wrote on the SPD Blotter. "The police department believes that, under state law, you may responsibly get baked, order some pizzas and enjoy a 'Lord of the Rings' marathon in the privacy of your own home, if you want to."

Washington's new law decriminalizes possession of up to an ounce for those over 21, but for now selling marijuana remains illegal. I-502 gives the state a year to come up with a system of state-licensed growers, processors and retail stores, with the marijuana taxed 25 percent at each stage. Analysts have estimated that a legal pot market could bring Washington hundreds of millions of dollars a year in new tax revenue for schools, health care and basic government functions.

But marijuana remains illegal under federal law. That means federal agents can still arrest people for it, and it's banned from federal properties, including military bases and national parks.

The Justice Department has not said whether it will sue to try to block the regulatory schemes in Washington and Colorado from taking effect.

"The department's responsibility to enforce the Controlled Substances Act remains unchanged," said a statement issued Wednesday by the Seattle U.S. attorney's office. "Neither states nor the executive branch can nullify a statute passed by Congress" — a non-issue, since the measures passed in Washington and Colorado don't "nullify" federal law, which federal agents remain free to enforce.

The legal question is whether the establishment of a regulated marijuana market would "frustrate the purpose" of the federal pot prohibition, and many constitutional law scholars say it very likely would.

That leaves the political question of whether the administration wants to try to block the regulatory system, even though it would remain legal to possess up to an ounce of marijuana.

Colorado's measure, as far as decriminalizing possession goes, is set to take effect by Jan. 5. That state's regulatory scheme is due to be up and running by October 2013.

___(equals)

Johnson can be reached at https://twitter.com/GeneAPseattle

Read More..

Asia shares at 2012 high, markets await U.S. jobs data

TOKYO (Reuters) - Asian shares touched fresh 16-month highs on Friday as investors awaited U.S. nonfarm payrolls data due later in the day, with sentiment underpinned by signs that China's economy is stabilizing.

European shares will likely gain modestly, with financial spreadbetters predicting London's FTSE 100 <.ftse>, Paris's CAC-40 <.fchi> and Frankfurt's DAX <.gdaxi> to open as much as 0.4 percent higher. A 0.1 percent rise in U.S. stock futures hinted at a steady Wall Street open. <.l><.eu><.n/>

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan <.miapj0000pus> rose 0.5 percent, and was set for its third-straight weekly gain with a 1.3 percent advance. The index has gained about 17 percent year-to-date, compared to a loss of nearly 18 percent last year.

Hong Kong shares <.hsi> reached a 16-month peak and have climbed some 21 percent so far this year despite facing bouts of pressure from sputtering mainland Chinese markets. Shanghai shares <.ssec> jumped 1.2 percent.

"People were gloomier at this time last year, but now, judging from the flows, they seem to be very optimistic and positioning for policy changes next year in China," said Larry Jiang, chief investment strategist at Guotai Junan International Securities.

Australian shares <.axjo> rose 0.9 percent to a six-week closing high, with top miners supported by rebounding iron ore prices.

Investors will focus on a slew of Chinese data due over the weekend including industrial output, after recent manufacturing surveys pointed to a recovery from lows earlier this year.

"One of the reasons for the gains is better news we've seen from China and expectations the economy there has stabilized and growth has improved modestly," said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets.

Despite some positive signs in the world's second-largest economy, the Asian Development Bank slightly cut its 2012 and 2013 growth estimates for developing Asia on Friday as frail global demand continues to drag on the region.

Buoyed by strong domestic consumption and government spending, developing Asian economies have shown relatively more resilience compared with developed and more export-reliant economies such as Japan and south Korea.

South and Southeast Asian bourses have outperformed, with a 32 percent year-to-date surge in the Philippines <.psi>, a 30 percent gain in Thailand <.seti>, Indian shares <.bsesn> rising 26 percent and Indonesia <.jkse> up 12 percent to date.

Japan's Nikkei stock average <.n225> was barely changed, hovering near seven-month highs hit on Thursday. <.t/>

The dollar traded at 82.47 yen, sticking close to a 7-1/2-month high of 82.84 hit on November 22.

U.S. HOPES

As superstorm Sandy disrupted U.S. economic activity, nonfarm payrolls in November are expected to have increased only 93,000, compared to October's 171,000 job gain, a Reuters survey of economists showed. The unemployment rate is seen holding steady at 7.9 percent.

"A soft number should reinforce the case for the Fed doves ahead of next week's FOMC meeting where QE is likely to be increased in order to at least offset the expiration of Operation Twist. Hence a soft report should hurt USD and vice versa," Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac bank in Sydney, said in a note.

At its December 11-12 meeting, the Federal Reserve is expected to announce a new round of Treasury bond purchases to reinforce quantitative easing, replacing the expiring programme called Operation Twist, under which it bought $45 billion of longer-dated bonds a month while selling its shorter-date holdings.

With little to show after a month of posturing, the White House and Republicans in Congress dropped hints on Thursday that they had resumed low-level private talks on breaking the stalemate over the "fiscal cliff.

Markets have been keeping up hope that Washington would eventually avert some $600 billion of tax hikes and spending cuts scheduled to start in January. Economists have warned that if Congress failed to reach an agreement, the U.S. economy could slip back into recession, further weighing on the fragile global economy.

EURO ON DEFENSIVE

The euro steadied at around $1.2968. The euro slid nearly 1 percent to a one-week low of $1.2950 on Thursday in its biggest one-day loss in a month on prospects for interest rate cuts next year.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said on Thursday policymakers had held a wide discussion on interest rates, including negative deposit rates, which means effectively charging depositors rather than paying them interest, with an aim of forcing banks to put their money to work elsewhere.

The ECB also projected gross domestic product next year could range from a contraction of 0.9 percent to growth of 0.3 percent, suggesting contraction is far more likely than not.

"It is unusual that a negative growth projection for the next year is offered before the end of the current year, but with such a view, markets are naturally pricing in a interest rate cut," said Daisuke Karakama, market economist for Mizuho Corporate Bank in Tokyo.

He expected the euro to remain vulnerable with the risk of falling back to $1.2 at some point, but the single currency appeared to be supported currently by year-end repatriation flows.

U.S. crude futures inched up 0.4 percent to $86.58 a barrel and Brent rose 0.2 percent to $107.29.

A firm tone in broad assets soothed sentiment for Asian credit markets, narrowing the spreads on the iTraxx Asia ex-Japan investment-grade index by 2 basis points.

(Additional reporting by Clement Tan and Vikram Subhedar in Hong Kong and Maggie Lu Yueyang; Editing by Kim Coghill)

Read More..