Bulletins Live ? JD Power and LMC Automotive Report: January ...

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Jan. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ ?
New-vehicle retail sales performance in January is abating fears of any reversal from the strong close to 2011, according to a monthly sales forecast developed by J.D. Power and Associates Power Information Network? (PIN) and LMC Automotive.

Retail Light-Vehicle Sales

January new-vehicle retail sales are projected to come in at 681,000 units, an increase of 6 percent from January 2011. This represents a seasonally adjusted annualized rate (SAAR) of 10.9 million units, which is lower than the selling rate in December 2011 but well above January 2011. Retail transactions are the most accurate measurement of true underlying consumer demand for new vehicles.

?Retail light-vehicle sales in January are showing stability coming off the 2011 high note in December,? said John Humphrey, senior vice president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power and Associates. ?Vehicles are currently remaining on dealer lots for fewer than 50 days on average, which is the lowest level for January for the past several years. This is a good indication that pent-up demand is beginning to return to the market.?

Total Light-Vehicle Sales

Total light-vehicle sales in January are expected to come in at 869,600 units, which is 6 percent higher than in January 2011. Fleet sales are expected to increase by 9 percent compared with January 2011, accounting for 22 percent of total sales.

J.D. Power and LMC Automotive U.S. Sales and SAAR Comparisons
January 2012(1) December 2011 January 2011
New-vehicle retail 681,000 units 1,040,035 units 644,695 units
sales (6% higher than January 2011)
Total vehicle sales 869,600 units 1,240,263 units 817,621 units
(6% higher than January 2011)
Retail SAAR 10.9 million units 11.3 million units 10.3 million units
Total SAAR 13.5 million units 13.5 million units 12.7 million units
(1)Figures cited for January 2012 are forecasted based on the first 16 selling days of the month.

Sales Outlook

January sales are sustaining the momentum gained in December 2011. The traction gained in 2011, which ended on a high note for both retail and total light-vehicle sales, is carrying over into 2012 and building a foundation for strong sales this year.

LMC Automotive is maintaining its forecast for 2012 at 13.8 million units for total light-vehicle sales and 11.3 million units for retail light-vehicle sales.

"The upward movement of auto sales during the second half of 2011 and the stabilization of that trend in January casts a favorable light on 2012, despite the macro-level risks the industry continues to face," said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting at LMC Automotive. "Coming off the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, a renewed sense of optimism is returning to the industry, as the focus continues to shift from survival to planning for the future."

North American Production

North American light-vehicle production ended nearly 10 percent higher in 2011, compared with 2010, according to LMC Automotive. Volume came in at 13.0 million units, an increase of 1.2 million units from 2010. The Detroit 3 OEMs outperformed the total industry in 2011, with a 15 percent increase in production from 2010. European OEMs also saw significant production increases (up more than 34 percent), supported by increased localization. Production by Japanese OEMs was down more than 5 percent from 2010 due to supply chain challenges resulting from the Japanese earthquake/tsunami and Thailand flooding disasters. Hyundai's North American production increased by 44 percent, as they also increased their manufacturing operations in North America.

Vehicle inventory declined slightly to a 52-day supply at the beginning of January (compared with a 61-day supply at the beginning of December), due to strong December 2011 sales and the holiday production shutdown last month. Car inventory was at a 55-day supply in January, down from 59 days in December, while truck inventory levels fell to a 50-day supply (previously at 63 days).

"As industry-level inventory has returned to a healthy level, the need for a disciplined balance and management of supply and demand will continue to return as well," said Schuster.

LMC Automotive's 2012 North American production forecast is at 13.8 million units, an increase of six percent from 2011.

J.D. Power and LMC Automotive have a strategic alliance to share data and produce a monthly new-vehicle retail sales forecasts based on J.D. Power's real-time transaction data gathered from more than 8,900 retail franchisees throughout the United States, and LMC Automotive's analysis and intelligence.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company providing performance improvement, social media and customer satisfaction insights and solutions. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

McGraw-Hill announced on September 12, 2011, its intention to separate into two public companies: McGraw-Hill Financial, a leading provider of content and analytics to global financial markets, and McGraw-Hill Education, a leading education company focused on digital learning and education services worldwide. McGraw-Hill Financial's leading brands include Standard & Poor's Ratings Services, S&P Capital IQ, S&P Indices, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates. With sales of $6.2 billion in 2010, the Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees across more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Additional information is available at
http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/ .

About LMC Automotive

LMC Automotive, formerly J.D. Power Automotive Forecasting, is the premier supplier of automotive forecasts and intelligence to an extensive client base of automotive manufacturer, component suppliers, logistics and distribution companies, as well as financial and government institutions around the world. Its global forecasting services encompass automotive sales, production and powertrain expertise, as well as advisory capability. LMC Automotive has offices in the U.S., the UK, Germany, China and Thailand. It is part of the Oxford, UK-based LMC group, the global leader in economic and business consultancy for the agribusiness sector.

Media Relations Contacts John Tews; J.D. Power and Associates; Troy, Mich.; (248) 680-6218; media.relations@jdpa.com Jeff Schuster; LMC Automotive; Troy, Mich.; (248) 680-6711;jschuster@lmc-auto.com

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates or LMC Automotive.
www.jdpower.com/corporate
www.lmc-auto.com

SOURCE J.D. Power and Associates

Copyright (C) 2012 PR Newswire. All rights reserved

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How to tame the super PACs (CNN)

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Gingrich discounts polls suggesting Romney's up by double digits in Florida (Washington Bureau)

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Merkel deflects pressure to boost euro bailout funds (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) ? Chancellor Angela Merkel tried to deflect growing international pressure on Germany to agree an increase in the euro zone's bailout funds Sunday by saying talks were still continuing.

Amid calls to raise the size of the permanent European Stability Mechanism (ESM) ahead of an EU summit Monday, Merkel was asked by Bild am Sonntag newspaper about "rising pressure" on Germany to "massively increase" the bailout fund.

But the chancellor did not address the issue of whether Germany would back raising the ESM and instead answered a question about what impact increasing the ESM might have on the German budget this year.

"The negotiations are continuing on whether we'll pay in our contribution in one tranche or two tranches," said Merkel, who has resisted calls for Germany to back increasing the bailout funds in part due to opposition in her center-right coalition.

"But independent of all that, our deficit level as far as the European Stability Pact is concerned will not be increased as a result because the money won't be gone. It's only to be transferred from the federal budget to the ESM."

Merkel is keen to avoid the EU summit being sidetracked by debate about whether extra funding should be funneled into the euro zone bailout funds, as the International Monetary Fund and some euro states -- including Italy and Spain -- have suggested.

A close Merkel ally in parliament, Peter Altmaier, said it made sense to first see how effective the ESM is.

"It would be good if we make good use of the amounts that are now available," Altmaier, a senior MP, told German radio.

Austrian chancellor Werner Faymann said in an interview in Der Spiegel news magazine he believed the 500-billion euro ESM firewall may need to be raised, echoing appeals made in Berlin by IMF head Christine Lagarde and Italian premier Mario Monti.

"I wouldn't promise my parliament that 500 billion euros will be enough," Faymann said, adding his government was preparing to contribute to a higher firewall by taking funds from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF).

"This is the direction it should go -- that way we'd come up with a total of about 750 billion euros," he said. "Financial markets are observing us closely and measuring how strong we are by looking at the size of the firewall. If it's too low, we'll be giving the markets a reason to speculate against us."

German government sources have told Reuters Merkel does not rule out boosting funds if the euro zone crisis deteriorates over the coming months. But only the threat of a disaster may persuade her coalition to back more funds for the currency bloc.

The German government believes that there should not be any discussions about increasing the firewall until March.

The leader of Germany's center-left opposition in parliament, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, said Merkel was making a mistake by resisting calls to raise the ESM.

"You can argue whether continually coming up with new bailout funds is the right way to go," Steinmeier told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. "But for those who decide in a situation like this to set up a permanent bailout fund, they should realize that this one is definitely not big enough."

Steinmeier, foreign minister under Merkel in the 2005-2009 grand coalition and a possible challenger in 2013, said that Merkel had failed to inspire public confidence during Europe's worst post-war crisis, by repeatedly changing course.

"She has annoyed a lot of people and put them off on Europe by continuously changing direction," said Steinmeier.

"As Europe's strongest export nation we have a fundamental interest in preventing this crisis from becoming a permanent recession for all of Europe," he added. "If Europe isn't doing well, then Germany won't be doing well either."

(Additional Reporting By Andreas Rinke; Editing by Sophie Walker)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120129/bs_nm/us_eurozone

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Woman gets life sentence in Md. yoga shop murder (AP)

ROCKVILLE, Md. ? A woman convicted of killing her co-worker at an upscale yoga clothing shop in the Washington suburbs, then spinning an elaborate lie about being attacked by two masked men, was ordered Friday to spend the rest of her life behind bars.

A judge sentenced Brittany Norwood, 29, to life in prison without parole, rejecting defense pleas that she deserved an eventual shot at rehabilitation and freedom.

A jury in November convicted Norwood of first-degree murder for bludgeoning and stabbing 30-year-old Jayna Murray, a co-worker at the Lululemon Athletica shop in Bethesda. Prosecutors said Norwood brutally attacked Murray with at least five weapons, including a knife and a hammer, during a fight March 11 after they closed the shop for the day. They said Norwood then doctored the scene to support her story that intruders had attacked and sexually assaulted them.

Murray was found the next morning in a pool of blood at the back of the store, with more than 330 distinct wounds. Norwood was found nearby, tied up, with superficial wounds on her hands and face. Her pants were slit at the crotch.

Norwood's allegations set off panic. Montgomery County police went on a manhunt and fielded hundreds of tips. The store is nestled along a corridor of high-end shops and trendy restaurants in Bethesda, an affluent suburb where violent crime is rare. Some residents and shoppers admitted to feeling anxious at night after Norwood's account of the attack became public.

But the tale unraveled within days as police identified her as their sole suspect. Workers at an adjacent Apple store told police they had heard two women arguing. Investigators found only two sets of footprints in the store. Norwood alleged she was sexually assaulted, but an examination did not back up the claim. And Norwood's DNA was found inside Murray's car. Police arrested Norwood six days after Murray's body was found.

Norwood's lawyers conceded at the outset of the trial that Norwood had killed Murray, but said she had simply "lost it" in a moment of irrationality and didn't have the required forethought to be convicted of first-degree murder. A jury rejected that argument after about an hour of deliberation, finding her guilty of first-degree murder.

The jury did not hear a motive for the killing, but investigators previously said the women fought after Murray found what she thought was stolen merchandise in Norwood's bag.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_yoga_shop_killing

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Demi Moore Replaced By Mary-Louise Parker In 'Lovelace'

In other Demi news, Madonna reportedly reaches out to actress after her hospitalization.
By Jocelyn Vena

Demi Moore
Photo: Jeffrey Mayer/ WireImage

Amid her personal woes, Demi Moore, who had been set to play Gloria Steinem in the Linda Lovelace biopic, has been replaced by "Weeds" star Mary-Louise Parker.

Sources confirm to UsMagazine.com that the TV star will fill in for Moore, who had to drop out of the film earlier this week after she was hospitalized for "exhaustion." On Thursday, there was speculation that Chloë Sevigny would play the feminist icon when she was cast as a feminist journalist, but now it seems that those are two different roles.

"Lovelace" is currently shooting in Los Angeles with Amanda Seyfried playing the film's central character, '70s porn actress Linda Lovelace.

As the Demi drama rolls on, there are reports that Madonna reached out to the actress shortly after she was hospitalized. Moore has since been released from the L.A.-area hospital.

Sources tells E! News that the singer called her actress pal. "Madonna told Demi she was there if she needs anything," the E! source says, adding, "They're pretty tight."

The ladies last hung out during Golden Globes weekend, and they reportedly were going to see one another again over Super Bowl weekend; Madge is slated to perform during the halftime show. The status of their annual post-Oscars bash is currently up in the air.

While speculation runs rampant about why Moore was hospitalized, sources say that her ex, Ashton Kutcher, is "deeply concerned" for her. Moore is rumored to have been doing nitrous oxide before landing in the hospital. "He still cares about her and wants the best for her," the source added. "But their marriage is ending and they are both moving on with their lives."

Related Photos

• Demi Moore Through The Years

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1678022/demi-moore-mary-louise-parker-linda-lovelace.jhtml

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Greece tries to revive debt relief deal (AP)

ATHENS, Greece ? Greece will try to revive a debt relief deal needed to avoid a potentially disastrous default when it resumes talks on Thursday with its private creditors in Athens.

Greek Premier Lucas Papademos will meet with Charles Dallara, managing director of the Institute of International Finance, a banking lobby, and Jean Lemierre, senior adviser to the chairman of French bank BNP Paribas.

The euro100 billion ($129 billion) private debt writedown is a vital condition of a new bailout for Greece, which has been relying on international rescue loans since May 2010.

The recession-plagued country is at the heart of Europe's debt crisis, and fears that it could become the first of the 17 euro states to default have roiled global markets over the past two years.

If the writedown fails, Greece will be unable to repay a euro14.5 billion ($18.77 billion) bond on March 20. If that happened, it could then be forced to leave the euro, which would be disastrous for the country and destabilize the rest of the region.

Under the deal, banks and other private sector investors would swap their Greek government bonds for new ones with half the face value, longer repayment deadlines and potentially lower interest rates.

Following intensive talks in Athens last week, Dallara said private bondholders had made the "maximum" offer that would ensure the bond swap is voluntary, as initially intended, warning that the alternative was a Greek default. But eurozone finance ministers later increased the stakes, urging bondholders to accept a lower interest rate ? well below 4 percent on average ? on the new bonds.

The IIF said in a statement that the goal of the talks is to agree on all outstanding legal and technical issues as soon as possible.

Papademos' interim coalition government is hoping to conclude the negotiations by the end of this week, despite disagreements over the terms of the deal, which is intended to make Greece's borrowings sustainable in the long term by lowering the debt burden to 120 percent of GDP by 2020 from 160 percent in 2011.

"We hope the process ends quickly and we are able to implement the agreement, because the (writedown) must take place and the (new international bailout) must be signed if we want to keep financing the economy," government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said.

"Developments could potentially be very rapid, and a series of issues could start to be concluded in a matter of days," he told private Flash radio.

Key members of the IIF had met in Paris on Wednesday to decide how to proceed after the eurozone countries demanded lower interest rates on the new bonds.

The eurozone ministers have taken a tough stance because whatever debt relief Greece doesn't get from the investors will have to come from them and the International Monetary Fund, the country's bailout rescuers.

"To ensure debt sustainability for Greece, it is essential that a new program be supported by a combination of private sector involvement and official sector support," William Murray, an IMF spokesman, said late Wednesday.

Murray said the IMF has not asked the European Central Bank, which holds more than euro40 billion ($52 billion) in Greek government bonds, to play any specific role in relieving Greece's debt pile. The ECB, as a public sector holder of Greek debt, is protected from any writedown.

"The Fund has no view on the relative contribution of private sector involvement and official sector support in achieving" the target of cutting Greece's debt-to-GDP ratio to 120 percent, Murray said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120126/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_greece_financial_crisis

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Obama courts Latino vote on economic tour

President Barack Obama speaks at UPS, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama speaks at UPS, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama walks to the podium before speaking at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama greets service members before speaking at Buckley Air Force Base, Colo., Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama speaks at UPS, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)

President Barack Obama speaks at a UPS facility, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) ? President Barack Obama is courting Hispanics in politically important states, setting himself up as a champion of the crucial Latino voting bloc and as a foil to Republican candidates fighting for a share of support from the same groups.

With Latino voters voting overwhelmingly Democratic, Obama is not in danger of losing the support of a majority of Hispanics. But he does need their intensity, and a Gallup tracking poll shows that while a majority of Hispanics approve of Obama, that approval is not as high as it is among black voters.

Pitching his economic agenda during a three-day, five-state trip this week, Obama has not ignored the fact that three of the states ? Nevada, Arizona and Colorado ? all have Hispanic populations of 20 percent or more. A majority of them are Democratic, but they also could be a factor in upcoming nominating contests in those states. Nevada and Colorado hold caucuses within two weeks and Arizona has a primary Feb. 28.

In Arizona Wednesday, where he was drawing attention to his efforts to increase manufacturing, Obama playfully interacted with a supporter who shouted out: "Barack es mi hermano! (Barack is my brother!)"

"Mi hermano ? mucho gusto (My brother, a real pleasure)," Obama shouted back.

And it was no accident that he scheduled an interview with Univision, the Spanish language network that reaches a broad swath of the U.S. Latino population, while he was in Arizona and with local Telemundo affiliates Thursday in Las Vegas and in Denver. All that while former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and the rest of the Republican presidential field were battling in Florida, another state with a key Latino voting bloc.

"It's an important community in this country and he will continue to have those interactions," White House spokesman Jay Carney said of Obama's efforts to reach out to Spanish language media.

No issue reverberates more in the appeal to Latinos than immigration.

For Obama, it reared up suddenly for him Wednesday when Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican who signed one of the toughest laws to curtail illegal immigration, greeted him at the airport tarmac in Mesa, Ariz., with a handwritten invitation for the president to join her in a visit to the Mexican border.

Obama replied coolly, noting that he did not appreciate the way she had depicted him in a book she published last year, "Scorpions for Breakfast." In the book, Brewer writes that Obama was condescending and lectured her during a meeting at the White House to discuss immigration. "He was a little disturbed about my book," Brewer told two reporters shortly after the encounter.

Obama continued to promote his economic plan Thursday in Nevada and Colorado, focusing on energy policy and his attempts to expand oil and gas exploration while also emphasizing clean energy.

"Doubling down on a clean energy industry will create lots of jobs in the process," the president said at Buckley Air Force Base in Colorado, where the Air Force has installed solar panels and tested jets that run on biofuels.

As such, he was indirectly pitching to Hispanics as well. A new Pew Research Center poll found that 54 percent of Latinos believe that the economic downturn has been harder on them than on other groups in the U.S.

"There is no question that Latinos were hard hit, especially by the bursting of the housing bubble and the resulting steep decline in construction work," Carney said Thursday. "Latinos are overrepresented in the construction industry. It's one of the reasons why, certainly, Latinos would greatly benefit from infrastructure investments that put construction workers back to work."

In 2008, Obama beat Republican John McCain by a 2-1 margin among Hispanics.

To win again, he will need that level of enthusiasm to make up for weaknesses elsewhere in his voter support. In a bright spot for Obama, the Pew poll found that even though Hispanics believe their economic condition is poor, two-thirds of those polled said they expect their financial situation to improve over the next year, whereas 58 percent of the overall population expect the same.

In his interview with Univision, Obama made a point of noting that both Romney and Gingrich have said they would veto legislation, known as the DREAM Act, that would give a pathway to citizenship to children who came to the United States illegally but who attend college or enlist in the military.

"They believe that we should not provide a pathway to citizenship for young people who were brought here when they were very young children and are basically American kids but right now are still in a shadow," Obama said. "They've said that they would veto the DREAM Act. Both of them."

At a debate Monday on NBC, however, both Gingrich and Romney said they would support modified legislation that only applied to young people who joined the military. "I would not support the part that simply says everybody who goes to college is automatically waived for having broken the law," Gingrich said.

Obama, in the interview, explicitly connected the Republican presidential field to congressional Republicans, who suffer from bottom-dwelling approval ratings right now. Asked why he had been unable to deliver on his promise for overhauling the immigration system, Obama replied:

"Well, it's very simple. We couldn't get any Republican votes. Zero. None," he said. "So this is the kind of barrier that we're meeting in Congress. We're just going to keep on pushing and pushing until hopefully we finally get a break."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2012-01-26-US-Obama/id-61aa05f4ba7a49aab8288fe8fcd3d846

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Somali captors move US hostage after SEAL raid

This combination photo made from undated images provided by the Danish Refugee Council shows Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, left, and American Jessica Buchanan. U.S. military forces flew into Somalia in a nighttime raid Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 and freed the two hostages while killing nine pirates, officials and a pirate source said. (AP Photo/Danish Refugee Council)

This combination photo made from undated images provided by the Danish Refugee Council shows Dane Poul Hagen Thisted, left, and American Jessica Buchanan. U.S. military forces flew into Somalia in a nighttime raid Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012 and freed the two hostages while killing nine pirates, officials and a pirate source said. (AP Photo/Danish Refugee Council)

Map locates area around the town of Adado, Somalia, where two hostages were rescued during a helicopter raid.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) ? Pirates moved an American hostage at least three times in 24 hours and threatened Thursday to kill him after U.S. Navy SEALs rescued an American and a Dane in a bold, dark-of-night raid that raises questions about whether other Western captives are now in greater danger.

"If they try again, we will all die together," warned Hassan Abdi, a Somali pirate connected to the gang holding the American, who was kidnapped Saturday in northern Somalia.

"It's difficult to hold U.S. hostages, because it's a game of chance: die or get huge money. But we shall stick with our plans and will never release him until we get a ransom," Abdi said.

U.S. Navy SEALs parachuted into Somalia early Wednesday and hiked to where captors were holding 32-year-old American Jessica Buchanan and Poul Hagen Thisted, a 60-year-old Dane. A shootout ensued and nine captors were killed. Buchanan, Thisted and the U.S. troops were all unharmed. The two aid workers had been kidnapped by gunmen in October while working on demining projects for the Danish Refugee Council.

Buchanan and Thisted were flown to the U.S. Naval Air Base at Sigonella on the Italian island of Sicily to undergo medical screenings and other evaluations before heading home, a U.S. defense official said. Buchanan's family was meeting her at the base, which is the hub of U.S. Navy air operations in the Mediterranean.

The U.S. government said the raid was prompted by Buchanan's deteriorating health. An ailing Frenchwoman kidnapped by Somali gunmen died in captivity last year after not having access to her medication.

In the aftermath of Wednesday's rescue, the gang holding the American kidnapped in the northern town of Galkayo have moved him three times, Abdi said.

"Holding hostages in one place is unlikely now because we are the next target," he told The Associated Press by telephone.

He also expressed concern that the U.S. has pirate informants.

"It wasn't just a hit-and-run operation, but long planned with the help of insiders among us," Abdi said, noting that the Americans struck at a time when the pirates were least on their guard.

U.S. State Department spokesman Victoria Nuland said U.S. officials have been in contact with the family of the latest American kidnapping victim.

"We are also working with our contacts in Kenya and in Somalia to try to get more information," Nuland told reporters in Washington.

"Obviously we condemn kidnapping of any kind and call for the immediate release of the victims ? any victims. We also would note that our travel warning for Somalia does caution U.S. citizens about the risk of travel."

Other hostages held in Somalia include a British tourist and two Spanish aid workers seized in neighboring Kenya, a French military adviser and 155 sailors of various nationalities hijacked by pirates at sea.

The aid group Doctors Without Borders, known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, employed the two Spanish women. The group said it was pleased that Buchanan and Thisted were freed and was seeking the release of its workers, Montserrat Serra and Blanca Theibaut. It hinted, though, that it views military raids as risky.

"MSF strongly favors the nonviolent resolution of such cases, as the use of force endangers the lives of the hostages and may result in the tragic loss of human lives," the group said. "We call upon the Somali population, especially the local authorities in control of the areas where the two are held, to do everything in their power to assist in their safe release."

It's not always clear what group is holding a captive in Somalia, and hostages have sometimes been sold from one gang to another. Captives can be held for long stretches: Two journalists from Canada and Australia were held for 15 months before being released in 2009, and the French military adviser has been missing for more than two years.

The security community is divided over whether the U.S. raid would make life more difficult for the other captives or whether the killings of the nine captors might make pirates think twice about launching future operations, a Western official in Kenya said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

On Wednesday evening, hours after the U.S. military raid, the gang holding the American hostage started circulating false rumors that they had executed him.

Another security official who has years of experience in the region said it was likely the men holding the American would move him onto a ship with other foreign hostages, because ships were easier to defend and planning rescue operations is more complicated when hostages from other countries are involved.

At least one pirate agreed with his analysis.

"I think land captivity is going to end now. Sea is much safer," pirate Mohamed Nur said by phone from the coastal town of Hobyo. "Even ships are not very safe, but you can at least hit back and resist."

Americans have been captured by Somali pirate gangs before. In 2009, the cargo vessel Maersk Alabama was briefly hijacked before pirates took to the lifeboat with the ship's captain, who was rescued after Navy sharpshooters killed the pirates.

But in a sign that pirates are getting increasingly violent ? and perhaps jittery ? four Americans onboard a hijacked yacht were killed last February. It's still unclear why the hostages were shot.

Several senior pirates condemned Wednesday's U.S. raid, which was authorized by President Barack Obama, and at least one warned that other U.S. hostages might suffer as a result.

"They send hit squads and kill all they want, so there is no way we will care for their (hostages) while they are killing us. They will see the aftereffects and reap the results of their actions," said Bile Hussein, a Somali pirate commander.

A spokesman for Somalia's U.N.-backed government said the pirates got what they deserved.

"Pirates have no place in our society," Abdirahman Omar Osman told the AP. "This is a huge and unforgettable lesson for them."

___

Associated Press writers Jason Straziuso and Katharine Houreld in Nairobi, Kenya, and Matthew Lee in Washington contributed to this report.

___

Follow Katharine Houreld at http://twitter.com/khoureld

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-01-26-AF-Somalia-Raid/id-e9c7a6b4f0784d92a939ffd0d765a529

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Gold prices rise as Fed keeps interest rates low (AP)

Gold prices rose Wednesday after the Federal Reserve said it will keep interest rates near zero until 2014 at the earliest to help jump-start economic growth.

The central bank said the economy is growing at a moderate pace but there has been slowing in global growth. It described inflation as "subdued" and held off on any further bond-buying programs.

The Fed's new plan pushed back the date for any likely increase in its benchmark interest rate by at least a year and a half. Previously, the members of the monetary policy committee had said they would keep rates low until at least mid-2013.

The Fed wants to keep interest rates low to make loans more affordable for businesses and consumers in hopes that they will spend more to aid the economic recovery. That could lead to stronger demand for commodities such as oil and industrial metals.

The announcement prompted investors to buy gold as a hedge against inflation, which investors fear could be a result of the Fed's extended low-interest rate policy.

Gold for February delivery rose $35.60, or 2.1 percent, to finish at $1,700.10 an ounce. It was the first time that the settlement price topped $1,700 an ounce since early December.

Most commodities followed gold's lead and posted gains as the dollar weakened against other currencies. Since commodities are priced in dollars, a weaker dollar makes them cheaper for investors who trade with other currencies.

In March metals contracts, silver jumped $1.146, or 3.6 percent, to finish at $33.121 per ounce, copper rose 2.2 cents to $3.8295 per pound and palladium increased $12.80 to $693.35 per ounce. April platinum finished up $27.20 at $1,579.60 an ounce.

Most energy products were higher. Benchmark oil rose 45 cents to end at $99.40 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Heating oil fell 0.47 cent to finish at $3.0104 per gallon, gasoline futures increased 2.69 cents to $2.8374 per gallon and natural gas rose 16.8 cents to $2.769 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In March agriculture contracts, wheat rose 7.75 cents to end at $6.4125 per bushel, corn increased 4.25 cents to $6.345 per bushel and soybeans fell 6.5 cents to $12.135 per bushel.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_bi_ge/us_commodities_review

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Buffett secretary to attend State of the Union (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The secretary for one of the world's wealthiest men and the wife of late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs are among those invited by the White House to attend the State of the Union address.

The State of the Union guest list has become an annual rite, with the first lady's box taking on the sort of gravitas shown at the Academy Awards' Red Carpet ceremony. The guests often have ties to a proposal or initiative the president will outline in the address.

Among this year's guests are Debbie Bosanek, the longtime secretary for billionaire Warren Buffett. Obama frequently cites Buffett's complaint that the nation's tax code is unfair because he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, and was expected to do so again Tuesday.

The White House said Laurene Powell Jobs, the wife of late Apple cofounder Steve Jobs, would also attend Obama's prime-time address. So will Richard Cordray, the new consumer watchdog whom Obama installed using a controversial recess appointment, and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who has fought bank misconduct in the mortgage market.

Adam Rapp, a cancer survivor from Fall Creek Township, Ill. was also expected to join Michelle Obama in the first lady's box Tuesday night. The White House said Rapp has benefitted from Obama's health care overhaul.

Mark Kelly, former astronaut and husband of outgoing Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, will attend as well. Giffords is resigning from Congress to focus on her recovery after being shot, but will be on the House floor during the State of the Union.

The Navy SEAL who commanded the risky, top-secret raid that killed al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden last year is another guest. Adm. William McRaven now heads the military's Special Operations Command.

Other guests include:

? Sgt. Ashleigh Berg; Malibu, Calif.; served two tours of duty in Iraq.

? Alicia Boler-Davis; Detroit; plant manager at General Motors Orion Assembly.

? Jackie Bray; King's Mountain, N.C.; process operator at Siemens Charlotte Energy Hub.

? Mayor Julian Castro; San Antonio, Tex.

? Bruce Cochrane; Lincolnton, N.C.; president and CEO of Lincolnton Furniture.

? Sara Ferguson; Parkside, Pa.; literacy and math teacher at Columbus Elementary.

? Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita; Cleveland; founder, president and CEO of Quality Electrodynamics.

? Mahala Greer; Denver; student at University of Colorado Denver.

? Adrienne Howard; San Diego; military spouse.

? Mike Krieger; San Francisco; co-founder of Instagram.

? Lorelei Kilker; Brighton, Colo.; analytical chemist.

? Joan Milligan; Orlando, Fla.; refinanced home through Obama's Home Affordable Refinance Program.

? Amber Morris; Virginia Beach, Va.; responded to White House Twitter question during last year's payroll tax debate.

? Juan Jose Redin; North Hollywood, Calif.; attorney.

? Bryan Ritterby; Holland, Mich.; lab technician.

? Col. Ginger Wallace, McLean, Va.; Air Force intelligence officer

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120125/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_state_of_the_union_guests

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Costa Concordia: As Hope Fades for More Survivors, Finger-Pointing Begins (Time.com)

As hope fades for the successful rescue of the 20 people still missing a week after the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, the focus of operations on the Italian island of Giglio is shifting towards the prevention of future catastrophe and the allocation of blame for that which has already occurred. With some 500,000 gallons of fuel oil still sloshing around in the hull of the ship, "We need to prevent an environmental disaster," says Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy's civil protection agency, who is coordinating the emergency response. He added that while the agency wasn't giving up rescue attempts, the risk of rupture of the ship's fuel tanks was becoming an increasingly important worry.

Rescuers have been investigating whether the ship can be chained to the rocks on which it capsized last week, to halt its slow slippage towards deep waters, which would dramatically complicate further salvage efforts. The consequences of an oil spill would be disastrous. The mayor of Giglio has called the ship an "ecological time bomb." The potential for pollution puts at risk not only the area around the tiny Mediterranean island, but also the entirety of the nearby coast of Tuscany, one of the engines of Italian tourism. On Saturday, light oil was discovered floating near the Concordia, but rescue workers speculated it may have been diesel from rescue boats or lubricant from some of the on board machinery, not the heavy engine oil that could spell environmental devastation. (Photos: The Sinking of the Costa Concordia)

The plan is to extract the fuel oil and replace it with water, to avoid destabilizing the ship. Experts estimate that draining even those tanks closest to the outside of the hull could take as much as month -- providing storms don't cause delays -- and that the inner tanks could prove harder to reach. Still, "there is a very good chance that the fuel oil can be removed," says Paul Wright, associate director of the Marine Institute at Britain's Plymouth University. Contamination from the kitchen oils, chemicals, sewage, and personal belongings of the crew and passengers are likely to be contained using booms. What could prove more challenging is the salvage operation of the $450 million ship itself. "I would be very surprised if she is righted and floated off," says Wright. "The most likely solution is that she will be cut up and dismantled in position." It's an operation that could take months.

Meanwhile, the legal process is gearing up as Italian authorities work to establish the criminal liability for what some experts predict will produce the most expensive insurance claims in maritime history. As of Saturday, the death toll for the accident stands at 12 and is likely to rise; the Costa Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, is under house arrest and facing charges of manslaughter. At the heart of the investigation will be determining what happened in the 70 minutes between the moment the ship tore itself open on the rocks and Schettino's first formal call for help. In the interval, the coast guard was misinformed by a member of the Concordia's crew about the condition of ship, even as it was taking on water. And passengers were told by an apparently confused or oblivious crew that the problem had been resolved and that they should return to their rooms. (History's Greatest Cruise Ship Disasters)

Lawyers for civil plaintiffs will be eager to show that responsibility for the tragedy extends beyond the incompetence of the captain. "You have an incentive to find the deep pockets," says Luca Melchionna, a professor at St. John's University School of Law. Was the Costa Concordia's dangerous approach to the island part of a pattern that the cruise company had previously sanctioned or tolerated? To what extent did company policy contribute to the disarray in the early minutes when lives could have been saved? How well prepared were the crew for the event of an emergency?

For now, the cruise company has joined the criminal case against the captain as a civil party, formally putting itself among the injured and (not coincidentally) forestalling civil action in Italy while the criminal trial plays out, something that could take months of years. "It's a strategic legal move that protects them, at least for a while," says Melchionna. But such maneuvers won't protect the company in other jurisdictions. While lawyers for potential plaintiffs have complained that the waivers their clients were asked to sign have ruthlessly limited the cruise line's liability, at least two law firms have announced they plan to file a class action lawsuit in the U.S. next week. Meanwhile, several passengers have already sought representation with the British law firm Irwin Mitchell. "With thousands of passengers and crew on board this huge vessel, their safety should have been the first and only priority," Clive Garner, the head of the firm's international law team, said in a statement. "Tragically, it seems that this was not the case and passengers and their families have paid a very heavy price."

Transcript: 'Go On Board!' Coast Guard Tells Cruise Ship Captain

WATCH: Crew Tells Passengers, 'Return to Your Cabin'

View this article on Time.com

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Int'l court: 4 of 6 Kenyan suspects to face trial (AP)

THE HAGUE, Netherlands ? International Criminal Court judges on Monday ordered four prominent Kenyans, including two potential presidential candidates, to stand trial for allegedly orchestrating a deadly wave of violence after their country's disputed 2007 presidential election.

Among the four suspects sent for trial were Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta and former Education Minister William Ruto, who both are planning to run for the presidency this year.

Kenyatta, 50, is the son of Kenya's founding president, Jomo Kenyatta, and the country's richest citizen, with a personal fortune of half a billion dollars. Ruto is a former ally of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, but the two had a falling out ? partly over Ruto's insistence on making his own presidential bid this year.

More than 1,000 people were killed in postelection violence in Kenya after police ejected observers from the center where votes were being tallied and the electoral body declared President Mwai Kibaki the winner.

Ruto was ordered to stand trial with radio broadcaster Joshua Arap Sang for crimes against humanity allegedly targeting Kibaki supporters. Another suspect, former Minister of Industrialization Henry Kiprono Kosgey, was cleared of charges.

In a separate case, Kenyatta will stand trial alongside Cabinet Secretary Francis Muthaura for alleged crimes against humanity directed at Odinga supporters. A third suspect in the case, former police commissioner Maj. Gen. Mohammed Hussein Ali, was cleared of the charges.

No date has been set for the trials.

None of the suspects were in court for the half-hour hearing at which Presiding Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova read out a summary of the decision to commit four suspects for trial on charges including murder, persecution and deportation. The hearing was broadcast live in Kenya.

The suspects ordered to stand trial will remain free in Kenya until the case starts, but Trendafilova warned them they could face arrest if they attempt to whip up fresh violence.

"The Chamber recalls its previous warning to the suspects that their continued liberty is subject to their non-engagement in incitement of violence or hate speech," she said.

Prosecutors have said the decision to launch an ICC investigation in Kenya should help ease tensions, but there are fears a decision on prosecuting the suspects could have the opposite effect and spark renewed fighting.

"It is our utmost desire that the decisions issued by this chamber today bring peace to the people of the Republic of Kenya and prevent any sort of hostilities," Trendafilova said.

It's unclear whether the case could block Ruto and Kenyatta's presidential ambitions, since government officials have issued conflicting statements on whether they will remain eligible to run.

Trendafilova stressed that the decisions do not mean guilty verdicts against the suspects, only that there is sufficient evidence to send them to trial.

"We are not passing judgment on the guilt or innocence of the individuals," she said.

Rights groups welcomed the ruling.

"Today's decisions move forward the search for justice for those who lost their lives and their homes in Kenya's 2007-2008 election violence," Human Rights Watch said in a statement. "The ICC trials will break with decades of impunity in Kenya for political violence, but Kenya should act to widen accountability by carrying out prosecutions at home."

According to two recent opinion polls, a majority of Kenyans support the ICC process. Most citizens have little faith in their own judiciary, widely perceived as corrupt and choking on a backlog of cases.

The ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, launched his investigation in 2010 only after Kenya's parliament failed to agree to set up a national tribunal to prosecute perpetrators of postelection violence.

Both Kenyatta and Ruto come from powerful ethnic groups. Kenyatta is Kikuyu, the ethnic group with the highest numbers and the one that has produced two of the country's three presidents. Ruto is a Kalenjin, the ethnic group that produced Kenya's longest-serving president, Daniel arap Moi, who recruited many of his fellow Kalenjin into the security services.

The International Criminal Court was set up in 2002 to prosecute the most serious offenses committed around the world when local courts cannot or will not step in. It has so far launched investigations in seven countries, all of them in Africa.

Among high-profile suspects indicted are Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir for allegedly masterminding genocide in Darfur, ex-Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo, also indicted for his alleged role in postelection violence, and Libya's late dictator Moammar Gadhafi for his brutal crackdown on protesters last year.

The case against Gadhafi was dropped after he was killed in October, but his son and one-time heir apparent Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, is still wanted by the court.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_eu/international_court_kenya

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Marine faces 3 months in brig for Iraqi deaths

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2012 file photo, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for a court-martial session at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Wuterich, accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children in the Iraqi town of Haditha in 2005, pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, reaching a plea deal and ending the largest and longest-running criminal case against U.S. troops to emerge from the Iraq War. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

FILE - In this Jan. 20, 2012 file photo, Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich arrives for a court-martial session at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Wuterich, accused of killing unarmed Iraqi women and children in the Iraqi town of Haditha in 2005, pleaded guilty to dereliction of duty Monday, Jan. 23, 2012, reaching a plea deal and ending the largest and longest-running criminal case against U.S. troops to emerge from the Iraq War. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

Rosemarie Wuterich and her husband Dave Wuterich leave a courtroom where their son, Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty in his Haditha court martial trial, Jan. 23, 2012 in Camp Pendeton, Calif. It is the biggest criminal case against U. S. troops in the Iraqi War. Wuterich led the squad that killed 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Marine Major Nicholas Gannon, a prosecutor in the Haditha court martial trial of Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich, leaves a court room at Camp Pendleton where Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty in the biggest criminal against U. S. troops in the Iraqi War Monday January 23, 2012. Wuterich led the squad that killed 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Defense attorney Haytham Faraj, a member of the defense team for Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich leaves the court room at Camp Pendleton following a hearing where Wuterich pleaded guilty to negligent dereliction of duty in his Haditha court martial trial Monday Jan.23, 2012 in Camp Pendeton. Wuterich led the squad that killed 24 Iraqi civilians in Haditha in 2005. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

CAMP PENDLETON, California (AP) ? Military prosecutors worked for more than six years to bring Marine Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich to trial on manslaughter charges that could have sent him away to prison for life.

But only weeks after the long-awaited trial started, they offered Wuterich a deal that stopped the proceedings and could mean little to no jail time for the squad leader who ordered his men to "shoot first, ask questions later," resulting in one of the Iraq War's worst attacks on civilians by U.S. troops.

The 31-year-old Marine, who was originally accused of unpremeditated murder, pleaded guilty Monday to negligent dereliction of duty for leading the squad that killed 24 unarmed Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha in 2005 during raids after a roadside bomb exploded, killing a fellow Marine and wounding two others.

Wuterich, who was indicted in 19 of the 24 deaths, now faces no more than three months in confinement.

It was a stunning outcome for the last defendant in the case once compared with the My Lai massacre in Vietnam. The seven other Marines initially charged were exonerated or had their cases dropped.

"I was expecting that the American judiciary would sentence this person to life in prison and that he would appear and confess in front of the whole world that he committed this crime, so that America could show itself as democratic and fair," one of the survivors, Awis Fahmi Hussein, told The Associated Press in Haditha.

Military judge Lt. Col. David Jones began hearing arguments from both sides Tuesday at Camp Pendleton, Calif., before making a sentencing recommendation to be considered by the commander of Marine Corps Forces Central Command.

Legal experts said the case was fraught with errors made by investigators and the prosecution that let it drag on for years. The prosecution was also hampered by squad mates who acknowledged they had lied to investigators initially and later testified in exchange for having their cases dropped, bringing into question their credibility.

In addition, Wuterich was seen as taking the fall for senior leaders and more seasoned combat veterans, analysts said. It was his first time in combat when he led the squad on Nov. 19, 2005.

Brian Rooney, an attorney for another former defendant, said cases like Haditha are difficult to prosecute because a military jury is unlikely to question decisions made in combat unless wrongdoing is clear-cut and egregious, like rape.

"If it's a gray area, fog-of-war, you can't put yourself in a Marine's situation where he's legitimately trying to do the best he can," said Rooney, who represented Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani, the highest-ranking Marine charged in the case. "When you're in a town like Haditha or Fallujah, you've got bad guys trying to kill you and trying to do it in very surreptitious ways."

Marine Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Joseph Kloppel said the deal was not a reflection or in any way connected to how the prosecution felt its case was going in the trial.

The Haditha attack is considered among the war's defining moments, further tainting America's reputation when it was already at a low point after the release of photos of prisoner abuse by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison.

It still fuels anger in Iraq today.

"We wonder about such a sentence issued against the defendant. We called upon US to be fair in passing sentences. Regrettably, we are disappointed about the issuance of such sentences," said Khalid Salman Rasif, a member of the Provincial Council in Haditha, adding he would contact the lawyer for victims' families for an explanation.

Kamil al-Dulaimi, a Sunni lawmaker from the Anbar provincial capital of Ramadi, called the plea agreement proof that "Americans still deal with Iraqis without any respect."

"It's just another barbaric act of Americans against Iraqis," al-Dulaimi told The Associated Press. "They spill the blood of Iraqis and get this worthless sentence for the savage crime against innocent civilians."

Wuterich, the father of three children, had faced the possibility of life behind bars when he was charged with nine counts of manslaughter, which will be dropped. Along with facing a maximum of three months in confinement, he could also lose two-thirds of his pay and see his rank demoted to private when he's sentenced.

.Wuterich, his family and his attorneys declined to comment Monday after he entered the plea. Prosecutors also declined to comment on the plea deal.

During the trial before a jury of combat Marines who served in Iraq, prosecutors argued he lost control after seeing the body of his friend blown apart by the bomb and led his men on a rampage in which they stormed two nearby homes, blasting their way in with gunfire and grenades. Among the dead was a man in a wheelchair.

In the deal, Wuterich acknowledged that his orders misled his men to believe they could shoot without hesitation and not follow the rules of engagement that required troops to positively identify their targets before they raided the homes.

He told the judge that caused "tragic events."

"I think we all understood what we were doing so I probably just should have said nothing," Wuterich told the judge.

He said his orders were based on the guidance of his platoon commander at the time, and that the squad did not take any gunfire during the 45-minute raid.

Many of his squad mates testified that they do not believe to this day that they did anything wrong because they feared insurgents were inside hiding.

Haditha prompted commanders to demand troops be more careful in distinguishing between civilians and combatants.

Former Navy officer David Glazier said the case shows such rules are essential to helping the United States prevail in an armed conflict.

"The reality is that this incident has had significant consequences for the U.S. in Iraq," said Glazier, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. "It probably fueled the resistance and so it probably ended up costing additional soldiers and Marines their lives later on."

___

Associated Press writers Barbara Surk and Mazin Yahya in Baghdad, Elliot Spagat in San Diego and Raquel Dillon in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Romney to release his tax returns on Tuesday (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that he will release his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates on Tuesday, acknowledging it was a mistake for his campaign not to have done so earlier.

Stung by a loss to Newt Gingrich in Saturday's South Carolina primary, the former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist said it was "not a good week for me" and he cited all the time he had spent talking about his tax returns as his rivals pressed him to make them public.

After months of resistance, Romney had said last week that he would release tax information for 2011, but not until April, close to the tax filing deadline. That also was seen as a time, before the South Carolina race rattled his front-runner status, when the GOP nomination might have been decided.

"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It just was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign: leadership, character, a vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," Romney told "Fox News Sunday."

Romney disclosed on Tuesday that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past."

"Given all the attention that's been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple of weeks," Romney said in the broadcast interview that he would release his 2010 returns and estimates for his 2011 returns at the same time "so there's not a second release down the road."

"We'll be putting our returns on the Internet, people can look through them," Romney said. "It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements we put out a couple of months ago.

During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.

Further focusing attention on his wealth was Romney's offhand remark to reporters that his income from paid speeches amounted to "not very much" money. In the August disclosure statement, he reported being paid $373,327.62 for such appearances for the 12 months ending last February. That sum alone would him in the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers.

In addition, Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors. Such offshore accounts also can enable wealthy investors to defer paying U.S. taxes on some assets, according to tax experts.

An Associated Press examination of Romney's financial records identified at least six funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a small Caribbean island chain that has long been used as a base for international investments because of low tax rates and financial secrecy. Romney has acknowledged that some of his investments are based in the Caymans, but he has not identified all of the specific accounts and the amounts based there. There is no indication Romney uses the accounts to dodge any U.S. tax obligations.

"Cayman Islands account so-to-speak is apparently an investment that was made in an entity that invests in the United States, the taxes paid on that are full U.S. taxes," Romney said.

The Caymans have often been associated with individuals and corporations seeking to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It is legal for U.S. residents to own investment accounts that are set up there, if they file the proper forms with the Internal Revenue Service and pay the appropriate taxes.

"I know people will try and find something," Romney said, adding, "We pay full, fair taxes, and you'll see it's a pretty substantial amount."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney

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Euro zone finance ministers to rule on glacial Greek debt talks (Reuters)

BRUSSELS/ATHENS (Reuters) ? Euro zone finance ministers will decide on Monday what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second bailout package for Athens after negotiators for private creditors said they could not improve their offer.

Resolving the issue of a Greek debt swap is key to putting Athens' debt on a sustainable path and avoiding a chaotic default that could threaten the whole currency bloc.

After several rounds of talks, Greece and its private creditors are converging on a deal in which private bondholders would take a real loss of 65 to 70 percent on their Greek bonds, officials close to the negotiations said.

But some details of the debt restructuring, which will involve swapping existing Greek bonds for new, longer-term bonds to bring Greek debt down to a more sustainable 120 percent of GDP in 2020 from 160 percent now, are unresolved.

"What I am confident of is that our offer, that was delivered to the prime minister, is the maximum offer consistent with a voluntary PSI deal," Institute of International Finance chief Charles Dallara, who is negotiating on behalf of banks and insurers holding Greek debt, told Antenna TV on Sunday.

"We are at a crossroads and I remain quite hopeful," said Dallara, who left Athens on Saturday without a deal in place.

"We will listen to the report on the negotiations, see how far they have gotten and have the ministers say what is acceptable and what is not in terms of outcome of the negotiations," one Eurogroup official said.

Once the guidance from the finance ministers, known as the Eurogroup, is clear, talks on the restructuring could be finalized later in the week.

Talks on the extent of Private Sector Involvement (PSI) in the Greek debt restructuring are a vital part of a second financing package for Athens that would keep it funded until 2014.

"We are working for a deal in time for the January 30 summit of EU leaders. The restructuring offer needs to be made in the course of February," the official said.

"Obviously there is a clear link between the PSI and the next programme and what we will be focusing on in the Eurogroup is making the next programme operational."

Without the second bailout from the euro zone and the International Monetary Fund, Greece will not be able to pay back 14.5 billion euros in maturing bonds in March, triggering a messy default that would hurt the whole euro zone economy.

There are doubts that even with a new bailout Greece's mountainous debt can be reduced to a still-painful 120 percent of GDP by 2020.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said on Sunday the crucial factor was that Athens should have a level of debt that was sustainable by then. "This goal must be achieved," he told German public broadcaster ARD.

STICKING POINT

Euro zone leaders agreed in October that the second bailout would total 130 billion euros, if private bondholders forgave half of what Greece owes them in nominal terms.

But Greek economic prospects have deteriorated since then, which means either euro zone governments or investors will have to contribute more than thought.

The main sticking point is coupon, or interest rate, the new Greek bonds would carry. Officials said the new bonds are likely to be 30 years in maturity and carry a progressively higher coupon, which would average out at around 4 percent.

"The euro zone ministers will examine the proposal and say whether we have a deal. If they say we don't, we're back to the negotiating table," a banking source close to the talks said.

Progress will be presented to euro zone ministers by Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos.

"We then expect a discussion about the coupon," a senior Greek banker close to the negotiations told Reuters.

"I believe that the private sector can accept a lower coupon than the 4 percent average, but the question then is: will the PSI still be on a voluntary basis?" he said.

The voluntary character of the debt restructuring is important to avoid triggering the pay-out of insurance against a Greek default.

While the sums of such insurance appear relatively small, euro zone officials said, such a "credit event" could trigger a chain reaction of events that would entail rapid and large scale contagion in euro zone debt markets, and is thus best avoided.

NEW RESCUE FUND

After dealing with Greece, euro zone ministers will choose a replacement for European Central Bank Board member Jose Manuel Gonzales Paramo, whose term ends in May.

The 17 ministers of the euro zone will then be joined by 10 ministers from the other European Union countries to finalise a treaty setting up the euro zone's permanent bailout fund - the 500 billion euro European Stability Mechanism (ESM). Its predecessor, the EFSF, is widely viewed as insufficient.

The ESM is another crucial element in the bloc's efforts to end the sovereign debt crisis that threatens to engulf Spain and Italy after claiming Greece, Ireland and Portugal.

The fund should boost market confidence in euro zone defences should Spain or Italy need emergency financing. Separately, the IMF has launched a proposal to boost its war chest by $600 billion.

IMF head Christine Lagarde is to discuss this during a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday. She will make a speech on Monday in which she is expected to urge euro zone leaders to act quickly while acknowledging it is not merely Europe's problem because "innocent bystanders" will also be hit by a worsening debt crisis.

The 27 EU finance ministers will also prepare the final draft of another treaty to sharply tighten fiscal discipline in the euro zone, called the fiscal compact, that is designed to ensure another sovereign debt crisis cannot happen in future.

EU leaders are to sign off on both treaties on January 30, allowing the ESM to become operational in July.

To prepare for the January 30 summit, Merkel will meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy on Monday evening.

(Additional reporting by Lefteris Papadimas and Ingrid Melander in Athens; Reporting By Jan Strupczewski, editing by Mike Peacock)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/bs_nm/us_eurozone_ministers

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