Five Dead as Troops Battle Islamists in Northern Nigeria

???? ??? ????? ???????? by Naharnet Newsdesk 30 December 2012, 15:27 W460

Nigerian soldiers killed four suspected extremists and lost one policeman in the latest crackdown on the Islamist Boko Haram group in the country's restive northeast, the military said on Sunday.

Lieutenant Lazarus Eli, spokesman for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Damaturu, the capital of Yobe State, said in a statement that the operation was carried out on Saturday in an area of the city of Potiskum that is a hotbed of the Boko Haram extremists.

"Four of the suspected terrorists were killed in the encounter. One policeman attached to the JTF lost his life and a soldier sustained injuries," he said.

"Fifty-nine persons were arrested during the operation for interrogation," he also said, and a cache of arms, ammunition and explosive devices were recovered.

Potiskum, the commercial hub of Yobe state, has been hard hit by near daily attacks by Boko Haram Islamists in recent months, prompting a heavy army deployment.

Boko Haram has repeatedly targeted the security services as part of its insurgency across northern and central?Nigeria?since 2010.

Violence by the Islamist group and those blamed on security forces are believed to have killed more than 3,000 in?Nigeria?since 2009.

Source: http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/66506-five-dead-as-troops-battle-islamists-in-northern-nigeria

critics choice awards super pac dre kirkpatrick mls superdraft school cancellations bald barbie peoples choice awards

South Africa: Mandela convalesces at home

FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, former South African President, Nelson Mandela leaves the chapel after attending the funeral of his great-granddaughter Zenani Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mandela was released Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012 from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection and having gallstones removed, a government spokesman said. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Pool, File)

FILE - In this June 17, 2010 file photo, former South African President, Nelson Mandela leaves the chapel after attending the funeral of his great-granddaughter Zenani Mandela in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mandela was released Wednesday, Dec. 26, 2012 from the hospital after being treated for a lung infection and having gallstones removed, a government spokesman said. (AP Photo/Siphiwe Sibeko, Pool, File)

An unidentified woman and chilldren leave the Johannesburg home of former president Nelson Mandela after a visit Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. Mandela who was admitted to hospital Dec 8, with a lung infection and underwent gall stone surgery, is now receiving medical care at home after being discharged Wednesday. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

A elderley neighbour strolls past the Johannesburg home, unseen left, of former president Nelson Mandela's Friday, Dec. 28, 2012. Mandela who was admitted to hospital Dec 8, with a lung infection and underwent gall stone surgery, is now receiving medical care at home after being discharged Wednesday. (AP Photo/Denis Farrell)

(AP) ? South Africa's presidency says it has no updates on the condition of former leader Nelson Mandela, who is convalescing at home after a hospital stay and is reported to be doing better.

The South African Press Association quotes presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj as saying Saturday that he has no new information on 94-year-old Mandela, who was released from a hospital on Wednesday. The former president, who spent 27 years in prison under apartheid, was admitted Dec. 8 and received treatment for a lung infection.

He also had a procedure to remove gallstones.

Maharaj previously said doctors have noted progress in Mandela's condition but will continue to treat him at his home in the Johannesburg neighborhood of Houghton.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-12-29-South%20Africa-Mandela/id-f000fd05bbd94bddb0d22d652e1ba4bf

marquette hilary duff michigan state michigan state city creek center andrew luck pro day josh johnson

Attackers Target Internet Explorer Zero-Day Flaw ? Krebs on Security

Attackers are breaking into Microsoft Windows computers using a newly discovered vulnerability in Internet Explorer, security experts warn. While the flaw appears to have been used mainly in targeted attacks so far, this vulnerability could become more widely exploited if incorporated into commercial crimeware kits sold in the underground.

IEwarningIn a blog posting Friday evening, Milpitas, Calif. based security vendor FireEye said it found that the Web site for the Council on Foreign Relations was compromised and rigged to exploit a previously undocumented flaw in IE8 to install malicious software on vulnerable PCs used to browse the site.

According to FireEye, the attack uses Adobe Flash to exploit a vulnerability in the latest (fully-patched) version of IE8. Dustin Childs, group manager for response communications at Microsoft, said the vulnerability appears to exist in previous versions of IE.

?We are actively investigating reports of a small, targeted issue affecting Internet Explorer 6-8,? Childs said in an emailed statement. ?We will take appropriate action to help keep customers protected once our analysis is complete. People using Internet Explorer 9-10 are not impacted.?

As FireEye notes, this is another example of a ?watering hole? attack, which involves the targeted compromise of legitimate websites thought to be of interest to or frequented by end users who belong to organizations that attackers wish to infiltrate. Earlier this year, I wrote about similar zero-day attacks against visitors to the Web sites of the National Democratic Institute, The Carter Center, and Radio Free Europe.

Update, Dec. 30, 9:25 a.m. ET:?Microsoft has officially acknowledged this vulnerability in an advisory, which contains some advice for IE users about how to mitigate the threat from the flaw.?As IE versions 9 and 10 are not impacted, users running Windows Vista or higher can upgrade to the latest browser version here.

Tags: Adobe Flash, Council on Foreign Relations, Dustin Childs, FireEye, IE 0day, IE8, Internet Explorer 0day, KB2794220, microsoft, Microsoft Windows, watering hole attacks

Source: http://krebsonsecurity.com/2012/12/attackers-target-internet-explorer-zero-day-flaw/

facebook ipo egypt soccer riot mike kelley puxatony phil josh harvey clemons college football recruiting rankings ground hog day 2012

'Warm Bodies': Watch The First Four Minutes

Despite utter zombie exhaustion, "Warm Bodies" has a premise we could potentially get behind. Sure, there's a lot of room for some cheeseball moments when you have a zombie falling in love and slowly becoming human again, but at least it's something different. If you remain unconvinced that anything original can be done with zombies [...]

Source: http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2012/12/28/warm-bodies-first-four-minutes/

the descendants the descendants packers giants game golden globe winners 2012 ricky gervais golden globes epidermolysis bullosa miss wisconsin

Suicide now claims more US troops than enemy fire - Rate of almost 1 per day

We must ask why this is happening and do more to address the root causes.

wwww.catholic.org

American troops have a secret enemy who is killing them more frequently than the insurgents and terrorists they fight. According to the Department of Defense, soldier suicides now claim more victims than enemy fire.

Source: http://www.facebook.com/catholiconline/posts/10152351255250268

sickle cell trait sugar bowl mild kidney failure presidential candidates celebrity wife swap gla republican candidates

Families in limbo as Russia bans U.S. adoptions | russian, limbo ...

A Russian parliamentary resolution has left hundreds of American families and thousands of children in limbo after it proposed an indefinite ban on American adoptions of Russian orphans.

Seven weeks into a ground-breaking diplomatic agreement designed to regulate the adoption of Russian orphans, the parliament?s ban is seen by politicians and adoption communities as a major set-back and a potentially treaty-violating move by the Russian government. It bans American adoptions of some of Russia?s 750,000 orphans, many of whom are considered ?special needs? and require support not available in Russia, adoption agencies say. President Vladimir Putin signed the bill into law Friday, and it goes into affect Tuesday. American adoption agencies are waiting to see if hundreds of pending adoptions, some mere days from being finalized, will go through.

Russian officials in the parliament, known as the Duma, named the bill for Dima Yakovlev, an adopted Russian boy who died in the United States of heatstroke, and whose death Russian officials allege the United States did not thoroughly investigate. But, the bill is widely perceived as punitive action against a recently passed American trade and human rights bill, known as the Magnitsky Act, that targets Russian human rights violations.

Colorado resident Jan Wondra, who lives in Centennial and has an adopted Russian daugther, said the ban has created anxiety for families and children caught in the political fray. She thinks of the bill as a political catspaw, and something that stems from nationalistic fervor and pride in the Duma.

?The Russian orphans have been turned into political pawns in the this situation,? Wondra said Friday. ?They wanted to get our attention and they did.?

Families caught

For Wondra, national vice chairman for the non-profit group Families for Russian and Ukrainian Adoption, American adoption of Russian children has long been a sensitive issue, tarnished by an increasingly complex process and the abuse of Russian children abroad.

In response to the deaths of at least 15 Russian children adopted by Americans, and further fueled by the return of a Russian boy by his adopted grandmother in 2010, the Russian government has become increasingly vigilant when it comes to foreign adoptions of its children. Today, the process requires at least three visits to Russia, Russian court appearances, and between $50,000 and $70,000 to complete. The passing of the Yakovlev Law caught many families in crucial phases of the process ? some have chosen their children, or spent money on travel and legal expenses.

?They have already met the children more than once. The children have begun to call them mama and papa,? Wondra said. ?These people consider them their children.?

There are at least 1,000 Russian orphans in the midst of an adoption, and somewhere between 50 and 100 American families who are in Russia this December on their final trip to pick up their children, Wondra said. But Putin and the Duma have not clarified some of the lingering issues for these families ? it is unknown if the Yakovlev Law will grandfather in some children whose adoptions are nearly completed. In his annual news conference last week, Putin did not elaborate on its implementation, and said he had not yet read the Duma proposal.

The political obstacles and uncertainty, coupled with lack of funding, moved the adoption agency Bethany Christian Services to cancel its Russian adoption program a couple of years ago, said Bill Blacquiere, the group?s CEO and president. But the agency, which has offices in 35 states including Colorado, has between 25 and 30 families with pending adoptions, he said.

?We don?t know what?s going to happen,? Blacquiere said Thursday. ?That?s what?s causing a lot of anxiety and some emotional trauma. We have several families, two scheduled to fly to Russia during the second week of January for their third visit to pick up their child.?

Like Blacquiere, Heidi Hendricks, vice president of Lutheran Family Services Rocky Mountains, is waiting to see how the Yakovlev Law will be enforced. The few Colorado families adopting children through the agency will not be as severely affected, Hendricks said on Thursday.

?We were one of the fortunate agencies,? she said. ?We had people just beginning (the process), or people who had just ended. That was just coincidental.?

But for Hendricks, the concern now is for the thousands of Russian orphans, and their futures.

?There?s over 700,000 children in orphanages. There?s no future and there?s not an access to a future with a family,? she said. ?All of those kids have minor special needs. They are fixed in a instant here, but there they are listed as special needs. Their futures are really taken away from them.?

Thousands institutionalized

Before Bethany?s Russian adoption program closed, Blacquiere spent time in the country teaching workers about foster care programs and promoting special education for orphans with physical or mental disabilities. Special surgeries, or special educational opportunities are some things that Russian children stand to gain by coming to America, Wondra said.

While Russian adoptions of their own children would be ideal, cultural and economic barriers often make that impossible, she added.

?Many of these children involved here are special needs children, and they will not be adopted in Russia. Russians will not adopt them.?

Although the country has suffered from a demographic crisis and children are highly valued ? the country has a national children?s day holiday ? the Russian attitude towards orphans is old-fashioned, Wondra says. Russians who adopt children typically seek babies, and Wondra has seen cases where women will fake pregnancies before they adopt a baby. Older children, on the other hand, ?don?t have a much of a chance there,? she said. Russia does not have an established foster care system, Wondra and Blacquiere said.

?Their children are in institutions, they have no foster care. They operate the way we did in the 1930s,? Wondra said.

Like orphans in the United States or other countries, Russian orphans are often the children of drug addicts or alcoholics, and many suffer from fetal alcohol syndrome. Others, who have been neglected, suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. Wondra maintains that, for these children in Russia, there is little hope of a good future. Although Putin stressed at his news conference the need to improve the lot of Russian orphans, this has been a concern for years, Wondra says.

?The number of children in orphanages, 750,000 ? it hasn?t come down very much in all these years,? she said. ?They age out. They have no training, no skills. How are they supposed to live??

The thought that they have given their three Russian children a better chance at life helps Greg and Donna Patchell through the trials of raising their adopted kids, some of whom suffer from PTSD and other behavioral disorders. Twelve years ago, the Patchells tried to adopt a Bosnian orphan, but when a demographic crisis shut down the country?s orphanages, they turned to Russia. They adopted three siblings, two brothers and sister, and brought them to Colorado. They struggled to communicate in mixed Russian-English and to raise children whose medical history and genetic inclinations were unknown to them. It has been no walk in the park, Donna Patchell said on Friday, and adopting Russian orphans is a serious decision.

?We just would love parents to understand that you are doing a fantastic thing,? she said. ?It?s not a fairy tale. It can be, but a lot of times it isn?t. Their lives are lot better than they would have been. But we do not view ourselves as saviors.?

The Patchells have struggled to help their oldest son overcome drug addiction, possible affects of fetal alcohol syndrome, as well as a personality disorder they call ?reactive attachment disorder.?

But still, the ban on American adoptions of Russian children calls to mind the December day when they went to village orphanage to claim their children, the Patchells said.

?We were coming back on the second trip, and you literally brought the clothes that they wear out of the orphanage,? Greg recalled. ?We were coming in with these big bags. The other kids were outside playing in the yard ? it was December. And they?d look at you and they?d freeze, and it was hard. They look as if they are thinking, ?Are you coming for me?? You have that image frozen in our brain forever.?

Adoption issue timeline:

Nov. 1: The bilateral agreement on adoptions between Russia and the United States goes into effect.

Nov. 16: The House passes the Magnitsky bill, which eliminates cold war-era trade restrictions in Russia but also holds the country accountable for human rights violations. The bill is named for Sergei Magnitsky, an anti-corruption lawyer who died in a Russian prison in 2009.

Dec. 14: President Barack Obama signs the Magnitsky Act into law.

Dec. 19: The State Duma votes to ban the adoption of Russian children into the United States. The ban is given the unofficial title of the Dima Yakovlev Law, named for a Russian child who died of heatstroke in the United States in 2008.

Dec. 21: The State Duma in Moscow officially adopts the Dima Yakovlev Law.

Dec. 28: President Vladimir Putin signs the Dima Yakovlev Law, to go into effect on Jan. 1.

Source: http://www.gazette.com/articles/russian-149100-limbo-families.html

Lena Dunham peyton manning sf giants gold rush gold rush windows 8 Emanuel Steward

Pony back with circus after Christmas kidnap

VIENNA (AP) ? A tiny pony is back at its Austrian circus home more than a week after apparently being kidnapped by a woman who wanted to give her sick daughter a Christmas surprise.

Fridolin the pony, who is only about 2 feet (60 centimeters) tall, went missing from the Vienna Christmas Circus early last week. He was found near a Vienna bus stop Wednesday.

Circus director Adolf Lauenburger told the Austria Press Agency Thursday that a woman called the circus and told officials where to find the pony. She said her daughter wanted a circus pony and she'd taken him to fulfill the girl's wishes for Christmas ? but decided she couldn't keep the animal.

Lauenburger wasn't able to identify the woman. Police were looking into the matter.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/aa9398e6757a46fa93ed5dea7bd3729e/Article_2012-12-27-Austria-Kidnapped%20Pony/id-90e96c8797da4e45a9009a871e7e0106

ncaa march madness mario williams vcu unlv sam young ncaa bracket ramon sessions

3 Tips To Improve Your Network Marketing Recruiting Game |

Thursday, December 27th, 2012 at 5:40 AM ?

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

?

?Increase the success of your network marketing recruiting by learning how to share your business opportunity with total strangers.

?

As online marketers we get comfortable hiding behind a computer, prospecting behind the cloak of Facebook, Twitter and our Blogs. But, to become a true recruiting machine online there will be times where you will have to get out from behind the curtain, step outside of your comfort zone, and actually talk to prospects on the phone that you do not know.

Shocking but true?

As you are building a network marketing business (online or offline) you want to have a team that is willing to engage and talk to people instead of pushing links to presentation overviews.

People join opportunities not because of the products or compensation plans, but because they truly feel the person they collaborate with in business can help them achieve their goals.

Here are 3 of the most important steps to?Network Marketing Recruiting: prospecting a total stranger

Step 1 ? Pique there interest. People in the industry are pitched all the time, sometimes to the point where they miss a great opportunity because they are so quick to dismiss it as ?just another person pitching me their business?.

Asking people questions, following up with light chitchat, and leading into piquing a prospects interest is an art ? something that most people don?t have the patience or tact to use. So here is an example of how to pique a prospects curiosity and open the door to see if they are even open to reviewing a new stream of income:

Script -

?Just throwing this out there, but would you be open to doing something on the side that doesn?t interfere with what you are currently doing?

I?m just curious to see if you keep your options open when it comes to making money.?

If the prospect says yes, and is open to the idea, you can reply with a clarifying question such as this one:

?So, just out of curiosity, why would you be open to making extra income from home??

This is a great question because number one you haven?t pitched anything to them, and you now know WHY they may be interested in building their own home based business.

Lastly, instead of sharing all the great things your opportunity can do for them, let your tools and resources do the work. Take a step back and open up the door for the tools to qualify your prospect. This will do 2 things ?

1) allow you to talk to more people, and

2) it will allow you to determine just how serious someone is about your type of business.

Remember, not everyone is going to be a good fit for your company ? so before you spend your precious time telling your prospect everything there is to know about how wonderful your company and products are ? let them tell you they are interested first. This step is crucial and will save you a lot of heartache.

So here is how you can direct someone to your tools:

?That sounds great, well hey, I am heading into a conference call right now, but let me get your number and email address, and I will send you some information.?

Once you grab their contact information ? this is the time to end the conversation and ask them, ?When would be a good time to get back with you??

If you follow these simple steps, you will be able to prospect total strangers with ease. Prospecting, while it may seem scary, is simply about knowing what to say. Use the resources you have available to reach the people you bring into your business and these same resources will weed out the unqualified candidates without wasting their time or yours.

Network Marketing Recruiting is about your ability to build rapport while prospecting total strangers

The game changer for most is to get a cold market prospect to their warm market with rapport. Now this is the art of network marketing recruiting. Your ability to be outgoing and genuine is the key behind these tips!

Video blogging or vlogging makes it quick and easy for you to build rapport and offer value to your cold to warm market prospects.

Simple action steps for to take! Nework Marketing recruiting 3 Tips To Improve Your Network Marketing Recruiting Game

  1. Create an online sales funnel
  2. During upsell offer as a bonus- a free coaching call
  3. coaching call- build rapport
  4. from the rapport you build guide them to the tools and resources of your network marketing program online.

Now these action steps are easy, yet require you to learn some skills for online marketing. Allow me to introduce you to the program that helped cut the learning curve in half and helped me generate over 300 leads on a part time bases for my Network Marketing recruiting?efforts.

Click here for instant access!

To our Massive Success,

Mike Penny

P.S. Be sure and leave your comments and feedback below!

Enjoy 3 Tips To Improve Your Network Marketing Recruiting Game

Tagged with: blogs ? business online ? business opportunity ? chitchat ? cloak ? comfort zone ? compensation plans ? curiosity ? curtain ? Network Marketing Business ? new stream ? online marketers ? overviews ? patience ? pique ? prospects ? step 1 ? stranger ? tact ? twitter

Filed under: Network Marketing Training

Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!

Source: http://michael-penny.com/3-tips-to-improve-your-network-marketing-recruiting-game/

snooty fox el debarge portland weather clintonville battlestar galactica blood and chrome my morning jacket roger goodell

Monti urges debate on Italy election as rivals open fire

ROME (Reuters) - Outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti posted his reform agenda online on Monday, urging Italians to join a debate on their country's future as potentially bitter election campaign gets underway two months before Italy goes to polls.

Following weeks of hesitation, Monti declared his availability on Sunday to lead a reform-minded centrist alliance to seek a second term to complete the economic reform program begun when he took office just over a year ago.

The former European Commissioner, appointed at the head of a technocrat government to save Italy from financial crisis, has now thrown off his mantle of neutrality and entered a race that will be dominated by his tough reform agenda.

Even if he confirms his entry into the campaign, Monti appears unlikely at this stage to return to office but his involvement could strengthen a centrist alliance and help shape the agenda of the next government.

The center-left Democratic Party (PD), which has pledged to maintain Monti's broad reform course while giving more help to workers and pensioners and emphasizing growth more, is favored to win but may have to strike a coalition deal with the center.

In an open letter to Italians posted online and accompanied by a 25-page policy program, Monti said he hoped that the agenda would lead to an "open reflection" that would help shape the debate ahead of the election on February 24-25.

He urged a mix of budget rigor and structural reform as well as measures to crack down on corruption and get more women and young people to work.

However the tone of the campaign has inevitably moved away from calm debate and into the murky and sometimes treacherous territory of Italian party politics, where Monti is a novice.

GLOVES COME OFF

At a news conference on Sunday, he attacked left-wing trade unions for resisting reform but reserved special criticism for his scandal-plagued predecessor Silvio Berlusconi, whom he picked on repeatedly for his "bewildering" changes of position.

Speaking to one of his own television channels, the 76 year-old media billionaire responded by saying it would be "immoral" for Monti to fight the election after governing as an unelected premier with the support of the main parties.

One of Berlusconi's chief lieutenants, Fabrizio Cicchitto, parliamentary floor leader of his People of Freedom (PDL) party, indicated that Monti's international standing and the respect he enjoys among Italy's European partners would count for little.

"He's taken aim at the PDL, which obviously has no choice but to respond in kind," he said.

Monti, a Life Senator who does not need to stand for election to parliament, has not said exactly what forces he could support but the centrist parties he has been linked with greeted his announcement with great enthusiasm.

"We're not forcing Monti but obviously if it happens, the value it adds to our project will be enormous," Pierferdinando Casini, head of the centrist UDC party, which is close to the Catholic church, told the daily La Repubblica.

A small number of centrists from both the two main parties, including former Foreign Minister Franco Frattini announced they were leaving their parties and would support Monti, whose reform agenda is strongly backed by Italy's business establishment.

However the centrist group lags both the center-left Democratic Party (PD) and the PDL as well as the anti-establishment 5-Star Movement in opinion polls and without Monti, it has little chance of making any significant gains.

Even with the respected economics professor at its head, a centrist alliance including the UDC and other smaller parties including a new group created by Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, appears likely to struggle to pass 15 percent.

(Reporting By James Mackenzie; Editing by Jon Boyle)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/monti-urges-debate-italy-election-rivals-open-fire-133020436--business.html

kate walsh cnn debate equatorial guinea marine helicopter crash chicago weather star jones wheres my refund