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"Game of Thrones" author posts excerpt from new book (Reuters)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) ? Fans of novelist George R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" fantasy series are melting. The "Game of Thrones" author just released a previously unpublished sample chapter from the upcoming sixth installment, "The Winds of Winter," on his Website.

At 6,100 words in length, the excerpt is substantial.

"The chronology, as usual, is tricky," Martin said on his LiveJournal page. "This chapter will be found eventually at the beginning of 'Winds,' but as you will be able to tell from context, it actually takes place before some of the chapters at the end of"

Martin also said another "Winds of Winter" sample chapter will be included in the paperback edition of "A Dance with Dragons," which is due in July. "A Dance With Dragons" was released in July 2011, 15 years after the first volume -- "A Game of Thrones" -- came out.

In an interview published in October, Martin said he had written 100 pages of "Winds," which will be published by Bantam Books. A release date has not been set for that book or its successor, "A Dream of Spring," which Martin plans to be the final installment in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

In the meantime, Martin fans will bide their time with the second season of HBO's series adaptation "A Game of Thrones," which starts in April.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111229/stage_nm/us_gameofthrones

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U.S. says China not currency manipulator; chides Japan (Reuters)

WASHINGTON (Reuters) ? The U.S. Treasury again shied away from labeling China a currency manipulator on Tuesday, but it rapped the country for not moving quickly enough on exchange rate reforms.

The United States also chided Japan for stepping into the currency market to stem the yen's rise, and urged South Korea to use such interventions sparingly.

Some U.S. politicians have argued that China has gained an unfair competitive edge in global markets by keeping the yuan artificially low to boost exports, and pressure has mounted in Congress for President Barack Obama to punish China.

But the administration prefers to tread softly and use diplomacy. The U.S. Treasury, in a semi-annual report, as usual said that statutes covering a designation of currency manipulator "have not been met with respect to China."

It repeated its standard line that appreciation in the yuan has been too slow, calling it "insufficient."

"Treasury will closely monitor the pace of appreciation and press for policy changes that yield greater exchange rate flexibility, a level playing field, and a sustained shift to domestic demand-led growth," it said in the report to Congress on international economic and exchange rate policies.

The value of the yuan, which Beijing manages closely, has risen 4 percent against the dollar this year and 7.7 percent since China dropped a firm peg against the greenback in June 2010. The Peterson Institute for International Economics recently estimated the yuan was undervalued by 24 percent against the dollar, down from 28 percent earlier in the year. It attributed the change to both Beijing's policy of gradual currency appreciation and higher Chinese inflation.

At the heart of the friction between the two countries is a U.S. trade deficit with China that swelled in 2010 to a record $273.1 billion from about $226.9 billion in 2009. The cumulative Jan-Oct deficit with China is on track to top that this year, running at around $245.5 billion.

The U.S. Senate this year for the first time passed a bill that would require the administration to slap penalties on Chinese imports if it fails to adopt market-based exchange rates. While the measure has made no progress in the lower chamber and is unlikely to become law, it shows the mounting U.S. frustration with its vital trade partner.

President Obama at the November APEC meetings, in his toughest words yet, told President Hu Jintao that China must play by global trade rules and act like "a grown-up."

The Treasury's decision not to label China a currency manipulator sent a "clear and positive signal" that would soothe the market and benefit trade, according to a commentary in Xinhua, the Chinese state news agency, on Wednesday.

Beijing has warned the United States not to "politicize" the currency issue, and some economists have pointed out that nations such as Japan and Switzerland have intervened in currency markets without drawing Washington's ire.

TARGETING TOKYO

The report did point the finger at Japan this time, criticizing Tokyo for its solo yen-selling interventions in August and October that followed a joint Group of 7 action in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake.

"The unilateral Japanese interventions were undertaken when exchange market conditions appeared to be operating in an orderly manner and volatility in the yen-dollar exchange rate was lower than, for example, the euro-dollar market," the report said.

"In contrast to the post-earthquake joint G7 intervention in March, the United States did not support these interventions," the Treasury said, adding that Tokyo should pursue reforms to revive its domestic economy rather than try to influence the exchange rate.

A senior Japanese government official said the report did not change Tokyo's position that its currency policy was in line with G7 agreements.

"This report does not make it more difficult for Japan to intervene," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic. "We are committed to doing whatever is necessary."

Japanese exporters have complained that the ultra-strong yen puts them at a competitive disadvantage. The yen was trading at just under 78 to the U.S. dollar on Wednesday morning, about 3 percent weaker than it was on October 31, when Tokyo aggressively intervened to cap the rise.

The report also noted that South Korean authorities "should limit their FX interventions to exceptional circumstances of disorderly market conditions and adopt a greater degree of exchange rate flexibility."

MORE OF THE SAME

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the law on the FX report, which requires the administration to determine whether U.S. trade partners are deliberately undervaluing their currencies, is a poor tool to push Beijing on the yuan.

Instead, the United States prefers to argue for change at regular closed-door meetings with Chinese officials. It also uses international economic forums, such as the Group of 20 leading nations and the International Monetary Fund, to ramp up public pressure on Beijing to move more quickly to a more-flexible currency.

China is the biggest foreign holder of U.S. Treasuries, with about $1.1 trillion, a position that gives it leverage in international economic negotiations. Foreign exchange traders had not expected a change of U.S. tactics.

"It's not very surprising. It's sort of sliding it in under the radar. They're (Treasury) really not in a position to make any major moves at this point," said Sean Incremona, an economist at 4Cast in New York.

The Treasury Department has not labeled a country a currency manipulator since July 1994, when it cited China. A designation would require the United States to step up negotiations with Beijing on the yuan's value.

The yuan slipped on Tuesday as strong dollar demand from corporations offset a record high mid-point fixed by the People's Bank of China. The central bank set an all-time high dollar/yuan mid-point in an apparent move to let the yuan rise a little more at the end of 2011 so as to make the yuan's full-year nominal appreciation look bigger, traders said.

Some U.S. manufacturers, which have been hit hardest by competition from China and other emerging economies, would still prefer the U.S. government to take a harder line.

"China's currency is still enormously undervalued," said Scott Paul, executive director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an industry lobby for hard-hit textile, steel and labor groups.

"I'm disappointed that President Obama has now formally refused six times to cite China for its currency manipulation, a practice which has contributed to the loss of hundreds of thousands of American manufacturing jobs."

(Additional reporting by Luciana Lopez and Doug Palmer, and Stanley White in Tokyo; Editing by Leslie Adler and Dan Grebler)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/business/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/bs_nm/us_usa_china_currency

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Friend: Texas man suspected of killing his family upset that estranged wife was doing well

LANCASTER, Texas - Family friends say a Texas man accused of killing six relatives in a Christmas Day murder-suicide was struggling financially and didn't like that his estranged wife was doing well.

Authorities say 56-year-old Aziz Yazdanpanah (ah-ZEEZ' YAWZ'-dahn-pahn-aw) was dressed as Santa when he fatally shot his estranged wife, their two teenage children and three other relatives Sunday inside an apartment in the Dallas-Fort Worth suburb of Grapevine.

After a private burial for the six victims Thursday, family friend Azar Shahbazi (AH'-zahr shah-BAH'-zee) said she believed Yazdanpanah was upset because his wife "was doing good on her own."

The wife's brother, Ali Rahmaty (AH'-lee rah-MAH'-tee), says he'd been financially supporting the family. He says Yazdanpanah had been unemployed for more than a decade, but says he never thought Yazdanpanah would become violent.

Source: http://www.startribune.com/nation/136414413.html

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SB Nation: Gruden set to coach, bound for Rams?

By Joel Thorman - NFL Editor

Jon Gruden currently works on ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcast but a report states that Gruden is preparing to get back into coaching in 2012.

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Dec 27, 2011 - Earlier this year ESPN announced a new contract agreement with Jon Gruden for the Monday Night Football broadcast but he may not be around to enjoy it. Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union Tribune took a look at the changes coming to the San Diego Chargers and notes that Gruden wants to get back into coaching in 2012.

Acee reports that, if GM A.J. Smith is fired by the Chargers, the Rams will want to bring him -- and Gruden -- into the fold.

People familiar with Rams owner Stan Kroenke's plans said Monday that Kroenke is waiting for Spanos to make a move on Smith. If Smith is available, league and agent sources strongly indicated that Smith will be hired as Rams' general manager and bring along Jon Gruden as head coach.

Sources said Gruden has decided to return to coaching in 2012 and that his current employer, ESPN, is already preparing for his departure.

Acee has been talking about the Rams' interest in Smith for some time so this isn't totally new. The bit about Gruden potentially being involved is the new information. It's well known that Smith and Gruden have a good relationship.

Peter King recently suggested that the Rams job, which is expected to be open after head coach Steve Spagnuolo is fired, could be the best one available considering the presence of Sam Bradford and a top pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Perhaps that's why Gruden is reportedly interested.

Gruden has long been one of the A-list coaches during hiring season but he hasn't shown an interest in getting back into coaching since the Bucs fired him following the 2008 season. He took the ESPN job in 2009.

Read More: St. Louis Rams

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Source: http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2011/12/27/2663395/jon-gruden-espn-coaching-2012-season?xid=si_nfl

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Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett on Giants

Q: Do you have an update on Tony Romo?

A: Tony was limited in practice. He still has swelling in his hand. He was able to grip the ball and throw it a little bit. He was limited and didn?t take all the reps that he would normally take.?

Q: Do you know if he will be able to play on Sunday?

A: I think he is making progress and we will see how he will respond to the work he got today. We hope that he will get more and more as the week progresses and be ready to play in the game. We will see.

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Q: How much similarity do you expect to see from the Giants compared to when you played them a few weeks ago?

A: I think teams are who they are from a personnel standpoint and from a scheme standpoint but every week, there are some differences in terms of game planning and those sorts of things. Certainly when you play a team twice a year like you do your divisional opponents there is a lot of familiarity you have with each other and then there are some wrinkles that each team tries to provide in each area of their team. It is not unlike playing a team a second time every year, it just seems like it is a little bit closer. I think they are the same issues.?

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Q: If Osi is back, what does that do in terms of you protecting Tony?

A: He is a great football player obviously and they have a number of defensive linemen who do a good job of pressuring the quarterback and defending the run. He is a part of that group and been a really good football player for a long time. Like the rest of those guys on their defensive front, we have to make sure that we run the ball well and that we protect well. He just adds to the challenge.

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Q: What challenges does the Giants passing offense create for your defense?

A: They are very good on offense and a very good passing offense. I think it starts with the guys up front and the quarterback has a lot to do with it and they have a number of playmakers outside. They do a really good job with their scheme doing a really good job of making plays down the field. Like it is every week, you are going to get challenges in a lot of different areas and that is one of their areas of strength. Every week you try to pressure the quarterback and every week you try to cover the guys on the back end and that will be one of our challenges this week going up against these guys.

Q: How would you describe Hakeem Nicks?

A: I think he has great hands and I think physically, he has very large hands. He is able to make a lot of catches and seems like a guy who makes a lot of plays for them both underneath and down the field. I would say he catches the ball really well and is one of the best receivers in the league and a big challenge for us this week.

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Q: What is the atmosphere around the team with this win-and-in game this week?

A: We are excited about the opportunity. There are a lot of teams that aren?t in the position that we are in. We played 15 weeks of football and got ourselves in the position to play for the NFC East title in the last game of the season against the Giants. That is an exciting thing for our football team. We have worked very hard to get here in this position, just like the Giants have. We are excited to go up there and see how we stack up. It will be a great challenge and they are a very good football team. We are excited about the chance to go do it.

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Q: What is Felix Jones? status?

A: Felix was limited in practice today but we are hopeful that he can continue to progress as the week goes on. He did some work but didn?t do his normal number of reps but we will monitor that as the week progress and hope that he will be ready for the game.

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Q: What is it like to work for Jerry Jones?

A: I think it is great and I think he is one of the great owners in the league. I think there is a tremendous amount of evidence that shows that. He wants to win and whenever you have an owner that wants to win, whether you?re a coach, player or anybody working for him, that is an exciting opportunity. He is very committed to winning and will do everything necessary to help us and that is a great feeling to have when we come to work. Our relationship has been outstanding for a lot of years and different capacities. I am excited about the opportunity to be his head coach.?

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Q: What does the game against the Giants say about Felix Jones?

A: He has been a good player for us. If you guys have followed our team, he has been a dynamic player not only in the running game but also the passing game for us over the last three or so years. He got banged up earlier in the year and that gave DeMarco Murray a chance to play and he played really well. Felix did a good job of coming back and understanding the complimentary role he was going to play when DeMarco was the more featured back. He did a nice job in that role, a role that he had in the past. It didn?t surprise any of us that have been around him that when DeMarco got injured in the game, Felix just stepped up and was able to handle the bigger burden because he showed up for that game just like he has in the past.?

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Q: Why has the Giants offense struggled in the past two weeks?

A: I just think those were two good defenses. We played both those teams and they play very good defense. They have a very good front and they do a good job in the back end on coverage. They challenge you in a lot of different ways. Having played Washington twice and having played the Jets early in the year, we know the challenges they present. The Giants are an outstanding offense and we understand what we are going up against going up there on Sunday night.

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Q: Do you look at Eli Manning as an elite quarterback?

A: Absolutely, he is. I think individually, he has proven that and as the leader of that team he has proven that. He is an outstanding player and they do an outstanding job on offense. We understand the challenges he presents and that whole offensive team presents.

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Q: How do you plan on defending Jason Pierre-Paul?

A: He is just a really good player. He is a big guy and he is very long. He is explosive and quick. He has a playmaker?s mentality and you see that when he plays the run and when he is rushing the passer. Again, it showed up in the kicking game when he made that big block at the end of the game. We definitely saw that on tape and we saw that out of him coming out of school a couple years ago. He is one of those types of players everybody was intrigued by and the Giants did a great job getting him. His role seems to have increased and he has done a really nice job taking advantage of the opportunity that he has gotten.

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Q: How do you feel coming into a big game like this off last week?s performance?

A: It is certainly different because you always want to have all hands on deck and play your best football every week with every opportunity that you get. The situation was different last week, once the Giants won the game, the few guys that we had that were on the border and injured type guys, we just felt like in the best interest of our football team to rest those guys to get them ready for this week. I think we played hard in that game but not well enough. That game is behind us and we are pointing towards the Giants and looking forward to the opportunity.

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Source: http://www.giants.com/news-and-blogs/article-1/Cowboys-Head-Coach-Jason-Garrett-on-Giants/6aeceadb-4f0f-4249-b5c3-ff39b11b7974

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Golf cart drivers face new rules if they hit public roads

Taking the golf cart out for a spin around the neighborhood may be fun, but make sure the vehicle is equipped much like the everyday car you're leaving in the garage.

A new law taking effect Sunday creates a separate classification of personal transportation vehicles for golf carts, requiring them to have braking systems, a reverse warning device, tail lamps, a horn and hip restraints.

The carts must weigh less than 1,375 pounds and not top speeds of 20 mph. The carts must also be registered with the Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles.

The new requirements take effect once golf cart drivers hit public roadways, including subdivision streets.

"We will be looking out for and enforcing the law as it is written," said Sgt. Kiley Sargent of the Hall County Sheriff's Office.

If deputies notice carts with missing equipment "on a county right of way or roadway, then (drivers) are subject to being stopped and fined," just like any other vehicle, Sargent said.

The bill was signed into law by Gov. Nathan Deal this year after his predecessor, Gov. Sonny Perdue, vetoed a similar measure last year. It had backing from one of Georgia's key industries ? golf cart manufacturing.

The Georgia-based International Light Transportation Vehicle Association, formerly known as the National Golf Cars Manufacturers Association ? which prefers the term "car" to "cart" ? estimates that 90 percent of the golf carts used in the U.S. are made in Georgia.

"Safety is what we're concerned about," said Fred L. Somers Jr., secretary of the association.

"Unless you put in some safety equipment accessories, you're just asking for trouble."

And, he added, golf carts are a cheaper form of transportation for people who live in cities where they don't need to travel far to go to the grocery store.

The new law also sets standards for towns and counties wanting to create ordinances allowing drivers to use the carts on residential streets and multi-purpose pathways.

Twenty-three Georgia cities have golf cart ordinances, with some places such as Peachtree City near Atlanta and Hahira in South Georgia creating golf cart lanes along local roadways, according to the Georgia Municipal Association.

Hall County has several golf course communities built around public streets.

Royal Lakes Golf & Country Club in South Hall straddles Sloan Mill Road, a popular cut-through for motorists traveling between Ga. 53/Winder Highway and Poplar Springs Road.

Golf carts cross Sloan Mill every day, said James Morra, Royal Lakes' first assistant golf professional.

But he has heard of some drivers tooling up Sloan Mill to the Kroger-anchored shopping center or even across the four-lane Winder Highway to reach businesses on the other side.

"I just don't think you should do that," Morra said. "It's dangerous. There's no protection in the golf cart."

He also doesn't agree with the requirement for a safety restraint.

"I don't think you should be strapped into the cart," Morra said. "To me, if somebody is going to hit you, I think a bail-out would be easier than to take the hit."

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.gainesvilletimes.com/section/6/article/61082/

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Tourist Finds Human Leg on Florida Beach

Police have few leads on who killed Ronni Chasen

(NEWSER) - The death of celebrity publicist Ronni Chasen is a real-life Hollywood murder mystery, and police are stumped. Nearly half of the Beverly Hills Police Department is working on the case, the Daily Beast reports, but they have little evidence, no motive, and no witnesses. Chasen was found fatally shot in her car?witnesses reported hearing five shots, the New York Times reports?which had crashed into a light post on a street full of million-dollar mansions. The passenger side window was shattered, but police aren't sure if that was the result of the accident, the gunshots, or some other force, the Los Angeles Times reports. Oddly, there was no other gunshot damage to the car, and no bullet casings were found. More?

Source: http://www.newser.com/story/136332/tourist-finds-human-leg-on-florida-beach.html

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Snow and tears mark funeral for North Korean leader (Reuters)

SEOUL (Reuters) ? The world watched anxiously on Wednesday as North Korea staged a huge funeral in the capital, Pyongyang, for former leader Kim Jong-il, searching for signs of what to expect from the isolated nation that may be close to attaining nuclear weapons capacity.

Bleak pictures from state television showed a funeral cortege led by a limousine carrying a huge picture of the 69-year old, who died on December 17, passing serried ranks of olive green-clad soldiers whose bare heads were bowed in homage in the main square of the snow-covered capital.

A hearse carrying the coffin was led by a weeping Kim Jong-un, the son and heir, accompanied by Jang Song-thaek, his uncle and a key power-broker in the transition, and Ri Yong-ho, the army chief of staff.

"Seeing this white snow fall has made me think of the general's efforts and this brings tears to my eyes," Seo Ju-rim, a red-cheeked, weeping female soldier, told North Korean television, referring to Kim.

One of the myths surrounding Kim Jong-il was that he could control the weather and state media has reported unusually cold and wild weather accompanying his death.

Video showed weeping civilians who swayed with grief and shouted "father, father" as black Lincoln and Mercedes limousines and army trucks streamed past the crowds. It was not clear whether the pictures were live or recorded.

"I wished it was a dream, how can this be true," sobbed one middle-aged woman named Kim. "How can anything like this ever happen in the world?"

Kim Jong-un will become the third member of the family to run the unpredictable North Asian country as it enters 2012, the year that was supposed to mark its self-proclaimed transformation into a "strong and prosperous" nation.

Larry Niksch, who has tracked North Korea for the nonpartisan U.S. Congressional Research Service for 43 years, believes it could take as little as one to two years to have a working nuclear missile once the North produced enough highly enriched uranium for the warhead's core fuel.

The prospect of an untested leader, believed to be in his late 20s, having nuclear capacity has alarmed many.

"Yes, we are watching and will be analyzing how any changes can be reflected in our policy," a South Korean government official said. He was not authorized to speak to the media, so could not be identified.

UNCLE JANG, POWER BEHIND THE THRONE

State television showed Jang Song-thaek walking directly behind Kim Jong-un alongside the limousine carrying the coffin. Jang ranks a lowly 19th in the list of names on the state funeral committee but his public elevation confirms that he will play a key role in shaping policies.

An ascetic-looking, bespectacled 65-year-old, Jang has overcome a purge, bitter palace intrigue and personal tragedy to become vice chairman of the National Defense Commission, the supreme leadership council which Kim Jong-il led as head of the military state.

"Kim Jong-un is clearly the head of the new leadership but, in terms of hierarchy and influence, Jang appears to have secured considerable position," said Yoo Ho-yeol, a North Korea expert at Korea University in the south.

Strong it may be -- North Korea is backed by neighboring China, has conducted two nuclear tests and has a 1.2 million-strong armed forces -- but prosperous it is not.

On average, the 25 million North Koreans have a life expectancy three-and-a-half years lower than they did when "Eternal President" Kim Il-sung, the new leader's grandfather, died in 1994, according to U.N. data.

The United Nations, in a country program for 2011-15, says North Korea's main challenge is to "restore the economy to the level attained before 1990" and to alleviate food shortages for a third of its 25 million population.

Indications from the transition since Kim Jong-il's death suggest his "military first" policy will continue, leading to further hardship in a country that endured mass starvation in the 1990s.

Leverage from outside, with the exception of China, is limited. All the United States, South Korea and Japan can do is hope that the regime does not collapse, nor flex its military muscle as it did in 2010, when it shelled a South Korean island.

North Korea was established in 1948 and under its founding father, Kim Il-sung, went to war to try to conquer the South. It failed and in 1953 a dividing line that would become the world's most militarized frontier was drawn across the peninsula.

PROSPECTS OF A PURGE

While Kim Il-sung was revered by his people for fighting Japanese colonial rule, the halo surrounding his successors has steadily dimmed to such an extent that his grandson, the new ruler, will have to rely on people such as his uncle, Jang, to hold on to power, at least in the short term.

Official media in the North have built Kim Jong-un, a jowly and rotund man in his late 20s, into a leader worthy of inheriting the crown, naming him "respected general," "great successor," "outstanding leader" and "supreme commander."

This year, dissident groups based in South Korea, citing North Korean refugees and businessmen working in China, linked the youngest Kim to a crackdown on business activities and a tougher policy on people seeking to flee from North Korea.

Those reports could not be verified independently, but would again suggest that further repression is more likely than an economic opening under the new man.

It also gives little hope for the 200,000 North Koreans who human rights group Amnesty international says are enslaved in labor camps, subjected to torture and hunger or execution.

"There is likely to be a politically motivated purge and imprisonment, and it could go on for a considerable period of time," said Pak Sang-hak, who heads a group in Seoul working to support defectors, and is himself a defector.

"That is especially because of the relative instability of Kim Jong-un's leadership. There might also be persecution as a way of intimidation and discipline."

(Additional reporting by Christine Kim and Iktae Park in SEOUL and Jim Wolf in WASHINGTON; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/nkorea/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/wl_nm/us_korea_north_funeral

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In swing Ohio, Gingrich gaining the "not-Romneys" (The Arizona Republic)

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Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/179204798?client_source=feed&format=rss

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citizentube: From the US payroll tax deadlock, to troops returning from Iraq, to Christmas, it's been a busy week for the Obamas: http://t.co/bgZMusB7

From the US payroll tax deadlock, to troops returning from Iraq, to Christmas, it's been a busy week for the Obamas: Il y a environ 6 heures via web

Source: http://twitter.com/citizentube/statuses/151421720866193408

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Where Rose Parade floats are born

Millions of Americans are familiar with the Rose Parade, the storied Pasadena pageant whose flower-covered floats have dazzled viewers for more than a century.

What's less known is that most of those rolling creations are produced by a trio of local firms that labor in obscurity most of the year to prepare for a single day in January.

Phoenix Decorating Co. in Pasadena, Fiesta Parade Floats in Irwindale and Artistic Entertainment Services in Azusa are the Rose Parade's Big Three.

With the Jan. 2 showtime fast approaching, the companies are putting the finishing touches on floats that took months to design and build. On average, each craft costs more than a typical U.S. home.

Their handiwork must deliver the "wow" factor for sponsors and spectators ? a bar that gets higher every year ? while navigating the 5.5-mile route without a mechanical failure that could cost them prestige and future contracts.

"For me as a small-business owner, it's a pressure cooker," said Chris Lofthouse, president of Phoenix Decorating.

Like other U.S. businesses, the float-building trade has been squeezed by a slow economy. Some sponsors have trimmed their float budgets or pulled out of the Rose Parade altogether.

The Big Three are keeping a lid on costs by reusing materials as much as possible and continuing to rely heavily on volunteers to decorate their floats.

The companies have also carved out niches to stand apart from one another.

For Phoenix Decorating, size is the sell. The firm is under contract to build 22 of the 44 floats in next week's parade, and it employs a full-time staff of about 300 workers in two Pasadena facilities.

Fiesta Parade Floats touts its track record with the judges. The company says 67% of the floats it has entered over the last 20 years have won awards, which it says is the highest rate among the existing builders in the parade. The company employs 30 workers and is building 11 of the floats for this parade.

Technology is the key for Artistic Entertainment Services, which employs about 60 workers and is building five floats for this parade. Artistic said it excels in the use of state-of-the-art technology, including robotics and lasers for sculpting and casting floats.

Artistic also uses its equipment to build floats for Disneyland as well as signage and props for Universal Studios Hollywood, among other clients.

Combined, the three companies are building 38 floats for next week's parade. The other six floats are being built independently for float sponsors including the cities of La Ca?ada-Flintridge, Downey and Burbank.

Their strategies may differ, but their goals are the same: Find and keep clients with big-budget float orders and create parade entries that make a statement.

"You always try to push the envelope," said Tim Estes, president of Fiesta Parade Floats, which is building what is being billed as the world's longest and heaviest float. The Natural Balance Pet Foods float will be 116 feet long, weigh 65 tons and feature real dogs surfing in a 6,600-gallon pool.

"You have to put out a superior product," he said.

Serious business

Launched in 1890, the Rose Parade has blossomed into a major economic force. The event generates about $181 million in direct spending, plus $58.6 million from the Rose Bowl game that follows, according to a 2008 USC study.

Source: http://feeds.latimes.com/~r/latimes/business/~3/09eqK5bsO6c/la-fi-1225-rosebowl-float-business-20111225,0,5892542.story

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HP issues LaserJet firmware update, hopefully ends exploding printer saga

Some of you might remember the story that HP LaserJet printers might be open to hack attacks that could result in some not-so-spontaneous combustion? Now the company has issued a statement saying that no-one reported their printer exploding, but to be on the safe side, it's produced a firmware update (available at the source link) that'll close the hole and ensure your Holiday doesn't end with a visit from the fire department.

Continue reading HP issues LaserJet firmware update, hopefully ends exploding printer saga

HP issues LaserJet firmware update, hopefully ends exploding printer saga originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 23 Dec 2011 15:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/23/hp-issues-laserjet-firmware-update-hopefully-ends-exploding-pri/

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Biden, Romney spar like it's fall 2012

Republican presidential candidate former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney pays Allan Lowe for diesel after pumping fuel into his campaign bus during a stop in Randolph, N.H., Thursday Dec. 22, 2011. Lowe is also the Randolph police chief. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Republican presidential candidate former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney pays Allan Lowe for diesel after pumping fuel into his campaign bus during a stop in Randolph, N.H., Thursday Dec. 22, 2011. Lowe is also the Randolph police chief. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Republican presidential candidate former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a campaign stop, Friday, Dec. 23, 2011, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt)

Republican presidential candidate, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney pauses during a visit to St. Paul's Lutheran Church while campaigning in a Berlin, N.H. neighborhood, Thursday Dec. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Republican presidential candidate, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife Ann pick out candy at The Granite State Candy Shoppe in Concord, N.H. Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

Republican presidential candidate, former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney and his wife Ann walk through a square while campaigning in Concord, N.H. Friday, Dec. 23, 2011. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)

TILTON, N.H. (AP) ? It's an opening salvo of the presidential campaign, minus actual presidential nominees.

Vice President Joe Biden unleashed a biting critique of Mitt Romney's policies Friday and the Republican came swiftly back at him ? a full-contact preview of what the general election might look like should Romney win the GOP nomination to challenge President Barack Obama.

All this, before a vote is cast in the Republican race, The Iowa caucuses, looming Jan. 3, are the first step in the voting to pick a Republican nominee.

In an opinion piece published in The Des Moines Register, Biden portrayed the Republican frontrunner as the purveyor of failed, retreaded economic ideas. Romney shot back that Biden and Obama live an economic "fantasyland" out of touch with the real world.

Biden's jabs mark a major escalation in Obama's re-election campaign and refocus his political team on Romney, the former Massachusetts governor whom Obama advisers have long considered his most likely opponent. And it switches Obama away from his just-concluded tax cut victory over House Republicans to the GOP presidential field just 12 days before the Iowa caucuses.

"Romney appears satisfied to settle for an economy in which fewer people succeed, while the majority of Americans are left to tread water or fall behind," Biden wrote.

The Obama team may be betting on Romney, but his Republican rivals were conceding no such ground.

Campaigning in South Carolina, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich derided Romney as a "Massachusetts moderate trying to come down and pretend to be a conservative. But I'm not going to say anything stronger than that. I'm going to focus on positive things."

Asked later how that wasn't being negative, Gingrich said: "I didn't criticize him. I described him accurately."

And he swiped at rival Ron Paul for wanting to shut overseas military bases, a stark departure from the Republican mainstream and one not bound to sit well in pro-military South Carolina. "The only person I know who is for a weaker military than Barack Obama is Ron Paul," Gingrich told 300 people outside a Columbia restaurant. "If we become isolationist, the world would become a more dangerous place overnight."

Rep. Michele Bachmann's campaign said Friday she would start radio and TV commercials in Iowa, her first since her straw poll victory in the state in August. In them, she stresses her Christian values and that she's "an Iowa girl from Waterloo."

Biden's words, meanwhile, summed up a running story line about Romney that Obama's campaign and the Democratic Party have been refining for months. The piece also was a direct rebuttal to Romney's recent claim he wants "an opportunity society" versus what he called Obama's "entitlement society."

Biden reiterated a major theme of Obama's re-election effort, one the president spelled out in a recent speech in Kansas where he declared that the middle class was at a make-or-break moment. In taking on Romney, Biden defined "opportunity" in his own terms.

"We believe deeply in opportunity ? that if you work hard and play by the rules, no opportunity should be out of reach," he wrote. "This is a fundamentally different vision than what the other side has proposed."

Romney, speaking at the Tilt'n Diner, quickly countered that it was Obama who is hurting the country and expressed astonishment that Biden would have the "chutzpah ... the delusion" to write such a piece.

"This president and his policies have made it harder on the American people and on the middle class," he said. "And I don't think they get it. I don't think they understand from fantasyland what's happening in real America. They need to get out to diners like this."

The timing, placement and direct response to Romney represented a remarkable early volley from the Obama camp, using the most potent voice next to the president himself to set a new signpost on the re-election season. And it signaled an aggressive strategy to challenge his GOP opposition and engage even though the Republican nomination could remain unsettled for months.

In the opinion piece, Biden said Romney's proposals for the economy "would actually double down on the policies that caused the greatest economic calamity since the Great Depression and accelerated a decades-long assault on the middle class."

"Romney also misleadingly suggests that the president and I are creating an 'Entitlement Society,' whereby government provides everything for its people without regard to merit, as opposed to what he calls an Opportunity Society,' where everything is merit-based and every man is left to fend for himself," Biden wrote.

In essentially placing its bets on Romney, the Obama camp elevated his stature in the race, particularly in Iowa where he is running neck-and-neck with Gingrich and Texas congressman Ron Paul.

Romney was clearly ready ? and eager ? to engage with the White House. While he generally has to be asked, or even pressed, to criticize Gingrich, he hit back at Biden at the first opportunity.

"I think they realize what's coming," he said. "I hope they're right. I hope I'm the nominee."

Romney aides said campaign days like this help him against his GOP rivals, positioning him as the candidate best able to take on Obama in the fall and addressing a top Republican goal: selecting a nominee who is electable against the president.

The Obama campaign also chose Iowa to deliver the Biden message because it is an epicenter of national politics and where it was sure to get intense attention.

Moreover, Iowa is a general election swing state that Democrat Al Gore won in 2000 but President George W. Bush won in 2004. Obama beat Republican John McCain in the state in 2008 by 8 percentage points. Biden's message clearly aimed for the state's general election voters as well.

Earlier this week, Romney accused Obama of deepening the economic crisis and backing policies that would redistribute wealth instead of creating equal opportunity for people to do well.

Romney said his policies would turn the U.S. into an "opportunity society" while Obama's vision for an "entitlement society" would make more people dependent on government welfare.

"The only entitlement we believe in is an America where if you work hard, you can get ahead," Biden wrote in the op-ed.

Biden's piece hinted at another line of attack on Romney ? that the former governor is a man of wealth and privilege. Biden, in his piece, stressed his own family's working class roots and how his father's pride was "put to the test when he found himself struggling to make ends meet."

Romney, by contrast, is the son of former American Motors Corp. chairman and Michigan Gov. George Romney. Romney also made his own fortune as a venture capitalist, a point Obama's Democratic surrogates have used to portray Romney as out of touch and elitist.

_____

Hunt reported from New Hampshire; Kuhnhenn reported from Washington. AP White House Correspondent Ben Feller and Associated Press writers Will Lester, Brian Bakst, Seanna Adcox and Shannon McCaffrey contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-23-Biden-Romney/id-c7d720cf4fb1427eb60b0b1f4884e7d9

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Sea Shepherd says drones find, photograph Japan's whaling fleet (Reuters)

SYDNEY (Reuters) ? Hardline whaling opponents attempting to stop Japan's annual whale hunt in the Antarctic said Sunday they had intercepted and photographed its whaling fleet using pilotless drone aircraft.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society said it located the Japanese factory ship Nisshin Maru off Australia's western coast Saturday using the drones, the first time this season it has made contact with the whalers.

However, other Japanese ships shielded the vessel "to allow it to escape," Sea Shepherd said in a statement.

"We caught them due west of Perth," founder Paul Watson told Reuters by satellite phone from the ship Steve Irwin. "For the next few days we will be chasing them. We are heading south."

The two drones are equipped with cameras and detection equipment and allow Sea Shepherd to monitor the whaling fleet from a distance, he said.

Watson said Sea Shepherd's three ships were well outside Antarctic waters when the Japanese vessel was seen. The Sea Shepherd waited for the Nisshin Maru after hearing from fishermen it had sailed through the Lombok Strait in Indonesia on its voyage to Antarctic waters.

The Sea Shepherd society's annual attempts to stop the Japanese whale hunt by "direct action" have been widely criticised by other environmentalists and governments, particularly Japan. However, it also has influential supporters.

Watson said sympathisers in New Jersey in the United States contributed to the cost of the two drones.

An international moratorium on whaling has been in place since 1986, but Japan exploits a loophole allowing whaling for scientific purposes to justify its annual hunt.

(Reporting by Chris McCall; Editing by Paul Tait)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/asia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111225/ts_nm/us_australia_japan_whaling

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Turbulence As EU Court OKs Fee On Plane Emissions

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Air travel contributes only 2 to 4 percent of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. A new ruling says airlines flying into and out of European airports will have to pay a price for the carbon dioxide they emit from burning jet fuel. Above, a plane takes off from the Geneva airport last year.

A European court ruled Wednesday that airlines flying into and out of European airports will have to pay a price for the carbon dioxide they emit when they burn jet fuel.

U.S. airlines, which had been fighting the idea in court, say the European Union is trying to force other countries to reduce carbon emissions. Europe currently limits carbon dioxide emissions from its major industries to curb global warming. The ruling cannot be appealed, and the decision is likely to end the dispute.

Air travel contributes only about 2 to 4 percent of the CO₂ emissions worldwide. But Pamela Campos, an attorney with the Environmental Defense Fund, says that will grow.

"This is an area where we are seeing very, very fast growth in emissions, and it's also an area that's technologically tough, so we need to start now," she says.

As air traffic has climbed, so have emissions. But Airlines for America, which represents the U.S. industry, says U.S. airlines have done their part by becoming more fuel-efficient.

"U.S. airlines have improved their fuel efficiency 115 percent since 1978," says Nancy Young, the group's environmental director, "and so to get more carbon emissions reductions, the Europeans are essentially imposing a tax."

Young says it's not fair to impose Europe's solutions on the rest of the world. She adds that paying the European Union for emissions could add up to about $3 billion by 2020. She says airlines will decide how much of the extra cost to pass on to passengers.

Bill Hemmings, a program manager with the British group Transport and Environment, says the extra cost probably won't amount to more than about $20 per flight.

"It's a few euros, maybe 10 or 15 euros at the most on long-haul flights, and a few euros on short-haul flights," Hemmings says. "I mean, those sorts of fare fluctuations will happen thousands of times a day."

But opponents, which include the Obama administration and at least 20 other governments, say it's not really the cost they're going to the mat for.

"We are not opposed to an appropriate climate regime," says Young. "What we think, though, is that the EU scheme is both illegal and bad policy."

The airline group would prefer to work out an emissions agreement through the International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO. It's a U.N.-based organization that governs air travel policy for most of the world.

And that's a goal that Environmental Defense Fund lawyer Campos actually agrees with, but she argues that ICAO has dallied for years. She sees the court ruling as a kick in the pants.

"The opportunity here is to seize the momentum from Europe and break through the logjam at ICAO, and put in place a broad-based system that captures a much bigger percentage of the world's warming pollution from airplanes," she says.

The Obama administration is with the airlines in this so far, and could make it a diplomatic issue at the U.N.'s aviation organization.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/12/21/144082145/turbulence-as-europe-passes-fee-on-plane-emissions?ft=1&f=1007

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10,000 American troops pulled out of Afghanistan

WASHINGTON (AP) ? U.S. military officials say that President Barack Obama's order to withdraw 10,000 American troops from Afghanistan this year has been accomplished, a little more than a week before the year-end deadline.

The drawdown is the first step in the U.S. military's plan to wind down the war, transition security to Afghan forces and end the combat role for international troops by the end of 2014.

It also gives the Obama administration a second war-related accomplishment to tout this month ? coming just a week after U.S. officials marked the end of the war in Iraq and the last convoy of American soldiers rumbled out of that country into Kuwait.

Officials say there are now 91,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan ? down from the peak of 101,000 in June.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-22-US-Afghanistan/id-d919540b29084e81890ea84f72e0cfba

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Healthbox: Chicago?s New Health-Focused Startup Accelerator Debuts Its Inaugural Batch

Is healthcare the industry that represents the next big opportunity for startups? Many are starting to believe it is, especially considering the fact that U.S. healthcare is currently a $2 trillion business. With technology beginning to play an increasingly vital role in healthcare and the health industry, disruption of legacy systems and an in-with-the-new approach has come to the fore for entrepreneurs looking for big opportunities in areas where they can add some serious real-world value. And what better way to help jumpstart these new health businesses than with business accelerators focused solely on healthcare? Bring them on, we say. Rock Health is off to a good start with its health-focused accelerator, announcing its second batch of killer startups last week. And now Chicago-based Sandbox Industries is launching its own health-y startup accelerator, called Healthbox.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/cy_lKMMu8nA/

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Brothers in alleged NC terror ring face sentencing (Providence Journal)

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Chinese rebel villagers hunker down with rocks and rice (Reuters)

WUKAN, China (Reuters) ? Residents of a village in southern China who staged an uprising over land and a suspicious death said Monday they would not buckle, despite rumors that riot police were poised to quell their protest that has upstaged the ruling Communist Party.

For a week, the semi-urban village of Wukan in Guangdong province has driven off officials and police, and held daily protests attracting thousands of residents outraged by the death in custody of Xue Jinbo, an organizer of a months-long campaign over former farmland that residents say was taken illegally.

Although they have denounced local officials, the residents said they held out hope that the central government would step in and redress their grievances over Xue's death and the swathe of former farmland they said was seized for development.

But many also said they were braced for a crackdown, and village men guard barricades to block police.

"If they have guns, we have rocks," said a villager surnamed Li. "If they want us to die, it's OK too. We don't have any land left anyway."

At night, 50 or so men stood watch at a road turnoff leading into the besieged village, and solemnly explained how they would defend against a crackdown, certain it would come.

"Because of this land, we are not afraid to die," said another villager surnamed Lin. "We'll fight them to the death. If our village wasn't so united, this would not be possible."

On deserted roads, men on motorcycles patrolled with sticks in their hands.

"We can't sleep well at night, we know they will snatch the village representatives," said a villager surnamed Zhu.

President Hu Jintao, due to retire late next year, has made building a more "harmonious society" a centerpiece of his government.

"TRUST IN CENTRAL GOVERNMENT"

Although protests such as Wukan's do not threaten Communist Party power, they lay bare discontent against corruption, land seizures and official highhandness that corroding party authority at the grassroots.

Residents say hundreds of hectares of land was acquired unfairly by corrupt officials in collusion with developers. Anger in the village boiled over in September this year after repeated appeals to higher officials. Residents ransacked a government office and skirmished with police.

The government of Shanwei, the area including Wukan, said last week that some Communist Party members and officials accused of misdeeds over the disputed land were detained and that the main land development project had been suspended.

But villagers' fury has turned to Xue's death -- which the government has said was caused by a heart attack, not physical abuse -- and demands that officials hand his body over to his family.

Yet villagers also spoke longingly of their desire for the central government to intervene, and took pains to emphasize that their calls for democracy and elections are directed at the local government and not Communist leaders in Beijing.

"We trust in the central government," said a villager. "Why should the central government persecute us villagers? The central government is the farmers' parents."

At one house, bags of rice were stockpiled -- donations from wealthy villagers to be distributed to the other villagers.

Despite the looming threat of a crackdown, there was little palpable fear on the streets. People went about their business in the narrow alleys and children played.

"We are disappointed," said Liu. "Even the overseas media knows about this, how can the central government not know?"

China's state-controlled media have reported sporadically on the protests, only citing official statements.

Checks for "Wukan" on microblogging sites have been blocked, reflecting official wariness about spreading news about the confrontation.

(Writing by Chris Buckley; Editing by Robert Birsel)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111219/wl_nm/us_china_unrest_village

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Grammy-winning singer Cesaria Evora dies at age 70 (AP)

LISBON, Portugal ? Cesaria Evora, who started singing as a teenager in the bayside bars of Cape Verde in the 1950s and won a Grammy in 2003 after she took her African islands music to stages across the world, died Saturday. She was 70.

Evora, known as the "Barefoot Diva" because she always performed without shoes, died in the Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo, on her native island of Sao Vicente in Cape Verde, her label Lusafrica said in a statement on its website. It gave no further details.

Evora retired in September because of health problems. In recent years she had had several operations, including open-heart surgery last year.

She sang the traditional music of the Cape Verde Islands off West Africa, a former Portuguese colony. She mostly sang in the version of creole spoken there, but even audiences who couldn't understand the lyrics were moved by her stirring renditions, her unpretentious manner and the music's infectious beat.

Her singing style brought comparisons to American jazz singer Billie Holiday. "She belongs to the aristocracy of bar singers," French newspaper Le Monde said in 1991, adding that Evora had "a voice to melt the soul."

Evora's international fame came late in life. Her 1988 album "La Diva Aux Pieds Nus" ("Barefoot Diva"), recorded in France where she first found popularity, launched her international career.

Her 1995 album "Cesaria" was released in more than a dozen countries and brought her first Grammy nomination, leading to a tour of major concert halls around the world and album sales in the millions.

She won a Grammy in the World Music category of the 2003 awards for her album "Voz D'Amor".

Evora, known to her close friends as Cize (pronounced see-ZEH), was the best-known performer of "morna," Cape Verde's national music. It is a complex, soulful sound, mixing an array of influences arising from the African and seafaring traditions of the 10 volcanic islands.

Evora was born Aug. 27, 1941, and grew up in Mindelo, a port city of 47,000 people on the island of Sao Vicente, where sailors from Europe, America, Africa and Asia mingled in what was a lively cosmopolitan town with a fabled nightlife.

The local musical style borrowed from those cultures, defying attempts to classify it.

"Our music is a lot of things," Evora told The Associated Press in a 2000 interview at her home. "Some say it's like the blues, or jazz. Others says it's like Brazilian or African music, but no one really knows. Not even the old ones."

Evora was 7 years old when her father died, leaving a widow and seven children. At 10, with her mother unable to make ends meet, she was placed in an orphanage.

"I didn't like it. I value my freedom," she told the AP.

At 16, when Evora was doing piecework as a seamstress, a friend persuaded her to sing in one of the many sailors' taverns in her town. As her popularity grew, she was also rowed out into the bay to sing on anchored ships.

She received no pay ? just free drinks. She used to smile when she recalled her fame as a heavy cognac drinker. And she sadly recalled the exact day ? Dec. 15, 1994 ? she had to give up drinking for her health's sake.

Evora didn't think much of her international stardom and she went back to Mindelo whenever she could. She rebuilt her childhood home, turning it into a 10-bedroom house where friends and family often stayed over, and she always made sure she was home for Christmas.

A heavy smoker for decades, Evora was diagnosed with heart problems in 2005. She suffered strokes in 2008 and in September 2011, when she announced she was retiring.

She had a son and a daughter by different men but never married. Family details were not immediately available.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obits/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_en_mu/eu_portugal_obit_evora

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