Irate Italian president begins talks on new coalition

Irate Italian president begins talks on new coalition

Irate Italian president begins talks on new coalition

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 01:06 AM PDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president launched urgent talks on Tuesday that could lead to a prime minister quickly being named after two months of post-electoral stalemate that has weighed on a stagnant economy and alarmed Rome's partners in the euro zone.
    

At least 26 killed after Iraqi forces clash with Sunni protesters - sources

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 01:03 AM PDT

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least 26 people were killed on Thursday when Iraqi forces and Sunni Muslim protesters clashed after troops raided their anti-government demonstration camp near Kirkuk, military sources said.
    

Canada thwarts "al Qaeda-backed" passenger train plot

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 12:59 AM PDT

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian police have arrested two men and charged them with plotting to derail a Toronto-area passenger train in an operation that they say was backed by al Qaeda elements in Iran.
    

Israeli general says Syria government forces used chemical weapons

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 12:45 AM PDT

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons in fighting in Syria, the Israeli military's top intelligence analyst was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
    

More than a fiery passion

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 01:02 AM PDT

As the nomination procedures closed, the election war for the 13th general elections was officially kicked off across the 222 parliamentary and 505 state constituencies across Malaysia.

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Texas town holds no grudge against exploded fertiliser plant owner

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 12:05 AM PDT

WEST, Texas (Reuters) - When Texas farmer Donald Adair bought the floundering West Fertilizer Co in 2004, his neighbours in the rolling countryside near West were grateful he had saved them from driving extra miles to Waco or Hillsboro to buy fertiliser, feed and tools.
    

Japan MPs visit war dead shrine amid tensions with China

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 12:00 AM PDT

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tensions flared between Japan and China and South Korea after a group of Japanese lawmakers visited a shrine seen by Asian neighbours as a symbol of Japan's past militarism and Chinese patrol vessels played cat-and-mouse with a flotilla of Japanese nationalists near disputed islands in the East China Sea.
    

Irate Italian president to begin talks on new coalition

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 11:53 PM PDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president launches urgent talks on Tuesday that could see a prime minister designated after two months of post-electoral stalemate that has weighed on a stagnant economy and alarmed Rome's partners in the euro.
    

Indonesian president urges Myanmar to address Muslim violence

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 11:19 PM PDT

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, said on Tuesday he would urge Myanmar's leaders to address Buddhist-led violence against Muslims that he said could cause problems for Muslims elsewhere in the region.
    

Unperturbed by rumours

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 11:58 PM PDT

"I sometimes feel really dejected, but somehow I must still think positively."

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This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

French embassy in Tripoli hit by car bomb - embassy source

Posted: 23 Apr 2013 12:06 AM PDT

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - France's embassy in Libya was hit by what appeared to be a car bomb on Tuesday, injuring two guards in the first such attack in the capital Tripoli since the end of the 2011 war that ousted Muammar Gaddafi.
    

Indonesia to urge Myanmar to address Muslim violence

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:54 PM PDT

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - The president of Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country, said on Tuesday he would urge Myanmar's leaders to address Buddhist-led violence against Muslims that he said could cause problems for Muslims elsewhere in the region.
    

In New Mexico desert, U.S. drone pilots learn the new art of war

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:22 PM PDT

HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico (Reuters) - The tide of war may be receding, as President Barack Obama is fond of saying, but U.S. military demand for unmanned drones and their remote pilots is growing.
    

Asean spurs regional economic partnership in its own way

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 11:16 PM PDT

As the 22nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Summit is set to open here Wednesday, leaders of the 10 member states are expected to focus on regional integration and connectivity.

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Malaysia opposition hopes state's success can spread

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:40 PM PDT

Malaysia's opposition, with hopes for an historic victory in May 5 polls, is promising to replicate nationwide its achievements in the showcase state of Penang, where it has curbed corruption and balanced the books.

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Boston bomb suspect charged, could face death

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:29 PM PDT

Boston bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev could face the death penalty after being charged Monday for his alleged role in the attacks that left three people dead and 200 wounded.

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Psy's 'Gentleman' hits 200 mn YouTube views

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 11:00 PM PDT

"Gangnam Style" star Psy's new music video has garnered 200 million views on YouTube in the nine days since its release and smashed the video-sharing site's record for single-day hits.

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North Korea demands recognition as nuclear arms state

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:14 PM PDT

SEOUL, April 23 — North Korea today demanded that it be recognised as a nuclear weapons state, rejecting a US condition that it agree to give up its nuclear arms programme before talks can begin. After weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula, including North Korean threats of nuclear war, the North has in recent days begun to at least talk about ...
    

Indonesia warns multinationals not to be greedy over resources

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:17 PM PDT

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indonesia's president told major investors in his country's natural resources not to be greedy, comments that suggest he is in no mood to row back on policies that foreign mining and energy firms have called a deterrent.
    

Security officials face questions over Boston Marathon bombings

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:05 PM PDT

BOSTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. security officials face a grilling from lawmakers on Tuesday over whether authorities who have charged one man with the Boston Marathon bombings may have overlooked warning signs two years ago flagging the other suspect.
    
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Japan summons China envoy over disputed isles

Japan summons China envoy over disputed isles

Japan summons China envoy over disputed isles

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:05 PM PDT

Japanese prime minister threatens force if China attempts to land on island chain in East China Sea.

Quantifying How Manchester United Won the EPL Title

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:00 PM PDT

With Manchester United securing their thirteenth title in twenty-one Premier League seasons and doing so with four games left in the season, it is fashionable to come up with explanations of "How Manchester United Won The Title."  Readers of this blog, which has been tracking each team's title likelihoods since the beginning of the season, may be tempted to point to the lgraph below and declare, "Ah-ha! It was around match days fourteen to sixteen when the gap between United and City really opened up. United must have won the title then."   It is true that United began to seriously distance themselves from the rest of the field at that point in the season, which correlates to matches played between November 30th and December 12th.  As November came to an end United and City were separated by only one point, and faced a pivotal clash at the City of Manchester Stadium on December 9th.  Before City could get to that match they would draw Everton at home (an underperformance of more than 1 point versus win/draw/loss likelihoods), while Manchester United would stage a thrilling comeback from a 2-3 deficit to beat Reading at home 4-3.  The stage was set for a match that could have a range of results that would send Manchester United clear by six points or possibly draw City even with their crosstown rivals.  In what seemed to be typical of United's season, the Red Devils appeared to have dropped two points via a draw only to be bailed out by a Robin van Persie 92nd minute goal.  Six points clear at match day 15 meant United had nearly 5-to-1 odds of reclaiming the title at City's expense.  Such odds indicated things were looking up for United, but nothing was assured with so much of the season left to play.  Just ask Tottenham Hotspur, who had similar odds of finishing in the Top Four after their win at home against Arsenal to start the month of March and now find themselves behind their North London rival in the race for Champions League qualification.  There was plenty of time for City to make up ground and United to falter, but neither did and this is one of the primary reasons United reclaimed the title. The two graphs below provide a comparison of United's and City's last two seasons as viewed through a 4-match running average of points per match.  The first graph is from the 2011/12 season and originally found in this post from last May, while the second graph is from the 2012/13 season and includes a new feature introduced by the blog this year – the Transfer Price Index's mSq£ model.  This model looks at which team is home and which one is playing away, the two valuations of the teams' players, and translates these factors into win, draw, and loss likelihoods.  These likelihoods can then be converted into expected points via the following formula: Expected Match Points = (3*Probability of Win) + (1* Probability of Draw) The residual points for each match can then be calculated via this equation: Residual Points = Actual Points Earned – Expected Match Points Adding the sum of the previous matches' residuals to the residuals from the current match generates a cumulative residual.  Positive residuals indicate over performance, while negative residuals indicate under performance. The above graphs make a clear case that Manchester United was far more consistent in their points accumulation this year than last.  This year they only went at or below the 1.5 point per match barrier once, while they did so five times in 2011/12.  On the opposite end of the spectrum, the Red Devils spent a massive twenty-seven weeks at or above a 2.0 4-match running average PPM and nine weeks and counting at a 3.0 PPM.  Across town, Manchester City's performance dropped off versus last year as much as United's improved.  Twice this season City fell at or below the 1.0 4-match running average PPM barrier, something they never did last year.  City also only hit the 3.0 PPM threshold twice this year, while last year they were able to put together and maintain four-match win streaks nearly four times as frequently.  City was also far less consistent than United at earning points when they should have, as evidenced by the R2 value for their mSq£ residual line in the second graph.  While losses at Southampton and Sunderland certainly hurt the Citizen's campaign to retain the title, ties at home to Everton, Arsenal, and Liverpool and away to West Ham, Stoke, and QPR took away nearly four points from City's residual.  Meanwhile, Manchester United had a nearly robotically perfect linear rise in their residual throughout the season. As ESPN's Paul Carr pointed out on Monday, United's consistent accumulation of points throughout the season is due in large part to the them owning the second highest point total earned from losing positions (28 vs. 2001/02 Newcastle United's 34).  Even with United's consistency they still are likely to finish with a very similar point total to last year with 96% chance of finishing with 94 or fewer points and a 65% likelihood of 92 or fewer points per the mSq£ model.  Convert two of those comeback wins or a few of the ties to losses via an unlucky break or two, and United is right back where they found themselves at the end of last season (albeit with a worse goal differential this year).  Not to take anything away from United's success this season, but the reality that they will finish with a very similar point total and worse goal differential than last year yet sixteen or so points clear of City suggests this season's result may have as much to do with City's regression from last season.  As Simon Gleave has been pointing out with his and Infostrada's ISG coefficient all season, what matters is earning the same points from the same matches as last year and improve on matches that resulted in dropped points the year before.  At the most basic level, City (ISG coefficient = -6) failed to do that while United (ISG coefficient = +7) succeeded at doing so. No matter how much one tries to explain Manchester United's point gap to City as over performance versus their goal differential (see graph above), City manager Roberto Mancini is feeling the heat from this season's results.  This means that the Premier League's two biggest spending clubs – Chelsea and Manchester City – may both be looking for a new manager this summer.  City would do wise to pay attention to their crosstown rival's model when it comes to managerial talent.  As this blog pointed out back in January, Ferguson's tenure has been one big, long demonstration in consistent results that afford him greater leeway at United than probably any other manager gets at any other club.  The economics at the top of the English game have moved into a phase of "diminishing returns" and "diseconomies of scale."  Thus, the key differentiator at the top of the league is no longer outsized spending but a talented manager and front office staff who know how to extract the final 10% of performance from the resources made available to them, financial or otherwise.  If Manchester City do not feel Mancini is the man to deliver this final 10% consistently, they must look for someone in the Wenger/Guardiola/Ferguson mold.  Sir Alex doesn't look to be leaving his perch anytime soon, so City will need to find someone they believe can out fox the "old man".

North Korea demands recognition as nuclear arms state

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:35 PM PDT

A North Korean nuclear plant is seen before demolishing a cooling tower in YongbyonSEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea demanded on Tuesday that it be recognized as a nuclear weapons state, rejecting a U.S. condition that it agree to give up its nuclear arms program before talks can begin. After weeks of tension on the Korean peninsula, including North Korean threats of nuclear war, the North has in recent days begun to at least talk about dialogue in response to calls for talks from both the United States and South Korea. The North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper rejected as groundless and unacceptable the U.S. ...

Dragon's Maze: Evaluating Azorius

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:47 PM PDT

Preparing for Magic: The Gathering Dragon's Maze Prerelease Events or some Limited play?  It's time to take a look at what Azorius offers Dragon's Maze players.  The traditional colors of blue/white flying and bureaucracy get some significant pickups in Dragon's Maze, and we'll also take a look at unguilded white cards in this article.  Dragon's Maze is a small set (Return to Ravnica and Gatecrash are both large sets) and it houses all ten guilds, so we'll be looking smaller pieces of the puzzle with each evaluation.

North Korea demands recognition as nuclear arms state

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:35 PM PDT

SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea demanded on Tuesday that it be recognized as a nuclear weapons state, rejecting a U.S. condition that it agree to give up its nuclear arms program before talks can begin.

Japan nationalists near disputed isles, MPs visit shrine

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:40 PM PDT

Chinese marine surveillance ship Haijian No. 66 trying to approach towards a Japanese fishing boat in the East China SeaBy Ruairidh Villar EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - Japanese nationalists sailed a flotilla of boats on Tuesday in waters near islands at the centre of a row between China and Japan, putting further strain on Tokyo's tense ties with Beijing as a group of more than 160 Japanese lawmakers visited a shrine seen by critics a symbol of Japan's past militarism. Last year members of the same right-wing group landed on one of the disputed islets and triggered anti-Japanese protests in China, where lingering bitterness over Japan's wartime aggression has been rekindled in recent days. ...

Irate Italian president to begin talks on new coalition

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:19 PM PDT

Italy's newly re-elected president Napolitano inspects a guard of honor during a welcoming ceremony at the Quirinale palace in RomeBy Philip Pullella ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president launches urgent talks on Tuesday that could see a prime minister designated after two months of post-electoral stalemate that has weighed on a stagnant economy and alarmed Rome's partners in the euro. After directing an emotional blast of impatience on Monday at the very parliament which handed him an unprecedented - and heartily unwanted - second term as head of state at the weekend, 87-year-old Giorgio Napolitano has announced a "rapid round of consultations" with political leaders, starting early Tuesday. ...

New Paraguay Leader to Rebuild Regional Ties

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 05:49 PM PDT

Newly elected Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes will try to mend fences with his South American neighbors, who have ostracized the country after last year's contested impeachment of Fernando Lugo.

In Israel, U.S. Defense Delivers Embrace

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 03:59 PM PDT

On his first official trip to Israel, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel swapped endearments with his Israeli counterpart, embraced an Israeli soprano after she performed a patriotic anthem and offered what some might take as a green light for an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear complex.

Survey Finds Majority Backs Keystone Pipeline

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 05:52 PM PDT

A majority of Canadians and Americans backed TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline in a poll and suggested securing a stable energy supply should be a bigger priority than reducing carbon emissions.

U.S. Probes Suspect's Alleged Militant Ties

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:20 PM PDT

U.S. investigators are looking into a Russian intelligence report that alleged Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev met with a suspected militant during his six-month visit to Russia in 2012.

Japan nationalists near disputed isles, MPs visit shrine

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:40 PM PDT

EAST CHINA SEA (Reuters) - Japanese nationalists sailed a flotilla of boats on Tuesday in waters near islands at the centre of a row between China and Japan, putting further strain on Tokyo's tense ties with Beijing as a group of more than 160 Japanese lawmakers visited a shrine seen by critics a symbol of Japan's past militarism.

VIDEO: Woodstock icon Richie Havens dies

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 08:46 PM PDT

Richie Havens, the folk singer and guitarist who was the opening act at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, has died from a heart attack at the age of 72.

Pakistani Judge Gains Clout

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 10:19 PM PDT

As Pakistan prepares for national elections on May 11, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and his judiciary remain an influential force in the country's development as a democracy.

U.K. Suggests Pound Oversight if Scotland Goes

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:16 PM PDT

An independent Scotland would need to accept a degree of oversight on economic policy from London if it wished to keep the pound and enter a monetary union with the rest of the U.K., the British government said.

VIDEO: Woodstock icon Richie Havens dies

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 08:46 PM PDT

Richie Havens, the folk singer and guitarist who was the opening act at the 1969 Woodstock Festival, has died from a heart attack at the age of 72.

Irate Italian president to begin talks on new coalition

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:19 PM PDT

ROME (Reuters) - Italy's president launches urgent talks on Tuesday that could see a prime minister designated after two months of post-electoral stalemate that has weighed on a stagnant economy and alarmed Rome's partners in the euro.

Half of Guantanamo detainees on hunger strike

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 08:26 PM PDT

US military to send more medical personnel to prison camp as 84 of 166 inmates are refusing meals.

Japan war shrine visits anger China, South Korea

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 09:28 PM PDT

A group of Japanese lawmakers are led by a Shinto priest at the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo during an annual spring festival on Tuesday, April 23, 2013. Marking the spring festival, 168 lawmakers paid homage to the controversial war shrine. (AP Photo/Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCETOKYO (AP) — Dozens of Japanese lawmakers paid homage at a national war shrine Tuesday morning, risking more anger from neighbors South Korea and China over visits they see as failures to acknowledge Japan's militaristic past.

New Avian-Flu Strain Puzzles Health Group

Posted: 22 Apr 2013 07:48 PM PDT

The World Health Organization still knows little about a deadly new form of avian flu that has killed 20 people and infected more than a hundred others in China, researchers said on Monday.
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