Jamaica's opposition wins elections in a landslide (AP)

KINGSTON, Jamaica ? On Jamaica's rutted streets, the complaints have been chronic ? home ownership is out of reach for most wage earners, the cost of electricity has skyrocketed, water service regularly fizzles out and decent jobs are scarce.

Fed up with chronic hard times, voters in this debt-wracked Caribbean nation on Thursday threw out the ruling party and delivered a landslide triumph to the opposition People's National Party, or PNP, whose campaign energetically tapped voter disillusionment especially among the numerous struggling poor.

The win marks a remarkable political comeback for former Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller, who was Jamaica's first female leader during her year-and-a-half-long first stint in office that ended in 2007. The 66-year-old known affectionately as "Sista P" reached out to Jamaicans as a champion of the poor with a popular touch.

"She cares about the ghetto people," said Trishette Bond, a twenty-something resident of gritty Trench Town who wore an orange shirt and a bright orange wig, the color of Simpson Miller's slightly center-left party, which led the island for 18 years before narrowly losing 2007 elections.

As word of her election win emerged Thursday night, PNP supporters shimmied and shouted in the capital, Kingston, and motorists honked horns in celebration as they tore down the streets.

"I am humbled as I stand before you and I wish to thank the Jamaican people for their love, for their support and for giving the People's National Party and the leader of the party her own mandate," she said, after receiving hugs from numerous candidates, some crying.

Simpson Miller defeated Prime Minister Andrew Holness, who at 39 is Jamaica's youngest leader and leads the center-right Jamaica Labor Party.

Holness said the defeat will prompt a time of introspection and reflection for party leaders to examine what went wrong.

"I wish the new government well. We hope for the benefit of the country that they will do a good job," said Holness, who warned during the campaign that an opposition win would scare away foreign investment and dash hopes of economic progress.

While official results have not been released, elections director Orrette Fisher told The Associated Press that preliminary results showed Simpson Miller heading to victory.

"Based on the margins, it appears safe to say" that Simpson Miller's party won, Fisher said shortly after Jamaican newspapers and broadcasters called the election for the PNP. He expected his office to release the official count and breakdown of parliamentary seats on Saturday.

News station TVJ said Simpson Miller's People's National Party won 41 seats in parliament and Holness's Jamaica Labor Party 22.

Simpson Miller is beloved by her supporters for her folksy, plainspoken style. She became Jamaica's first female prime minister in March 2006 after she was picked by party delegates when P.J. Patterson retired as leader. But she was tossed out of office a year later in a narrow election defeat.

This time around, she has pledged to lift debt-wracked Jamaica out of poverty, secure foreign investment, and create jobs. Specifics are few, however.

Her party will face deep economic problems in this island of 2.8 million people, with a punishing debt of roughly $18.6 billion, or 130 per cent of gross domestic product. That's a rate about 10 percentage points higher than debt-troubled Italy's.

Veteran opposition lawmaker Omar Davies said one of the first things the People's National Party will do is get "a true assessment of the state of the economy," a dig at Holness' party which was accused of rarely providing citizens with a clear picture of the island's dire fiscal straits.

Holness, who became prime minister two months ago after Bruce Golding, Jamaica's leader since 2007, abruptly stepped down in October amid anemic public backing, won his parliamentary seat with 54 percent of the vote.

Simpson Miller has been a stalwart of the People's National Party since the 1970s. She was first elected to Parliament in 1976 and became a Cabinet member in 1989. Partisans have long admired Simpson Miller as a Jamaican who was born in rural poverty and grew up in a Kingston ghetto, not far from the crumbling concrete jungle made famous by Bob Marley.

During her brief tenure as prime minister, her support waned amid complaints she responded poorly to Hurricane Dean and was evasive about a scandal regarding a Dutch oil trading firm's $460,000 payment to her political party leading up to 2007 elections.

The two top candidates' different styles were clear while they cast their votes.

Holness is largely seen as unexciting, but bright and pragmatic. He whisked into the voting center in the middle class area of Mona, barely interacting with voters. After being heckled by an opposition partisan, he said he was "very confident" of a Labor victory and departed after taking three questions from reporters.

By contrast, Simpson Miller hugged and chatted with supporters at a school in Whitfield Town and told election workers to help struggling elderly voters.

Her party, which experimented with democratic socialism in the 1970s, is still perceived as more focused on social programs than the slightly more conservative Labor. There are no longer stark ideological differences between the two clan-like factions that have dominated Jamaican politics since the onetime British colony began self-rule in 1944. Jamaica became independent within the British Commonwealth in 1962.

___

Associated Press Writer Howard Campbell in Kingston contributed to this report.

___

David McFadden on Twitter: http://twitter.com/dmcfadd

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111230/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_jamaica_elections

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A New Era For Social Interest Sites: Twitter, Tumblr And Pinterest Go Big In 2011

One of the most interesting trends in comScore's 2011 social networking report is the new growth of social sites that cater to users' interests, rather than their real-life social graphs. In particular, according to comScore data, microblogging platforms Twitter and Tumblr have had break-out years, and they've been joined by new online pinboard site Pinterest. But all this growth doesn't seem to be coming at the expense of Facebook. That site's traffic growth has only appeared to slow (but not fall) in places where it is running out of new users to add. The site that has been taking a beating is MySpace. It may be that users who previously used that site to express themselves and follow the celebrities they care about are now doing the same thing across these other sites.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/NZyJyIcDU0o/

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Running up the score (Unqualified Offerings)

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Michigan a step closer to Detroit takeover

DETROIT?? Heading down a path that could lead to the state of Michigan taking over the running of Detroit, Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday appointed a team to review the city's finances.

The team was named after a preliminary review of city finances showed "probable financial stress" after Detroit was unable to tackle its mounting deficits.

The team, which includes State Treasurer Andy Dillon and other local officials, has 60 days to complete its work. The formal review was announced last week.

The appointments are the next step in the review process, which is driven by expectations that Detroit will run out of cash by April.

"Given urgent and time-sensitive financial issues facing Detroit and the need to ensure critical services continue to be provided to city residents, the next step simply necessitates the appointment of a financial review team," Snyder said in a statement.

The formal review could have various results. If a financial emergency is declared to exist, the governor would have to decide on an emergency manager. But if the stress levels are considered mild, the current city management could carry on.

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing has said he will cooperate with the review process but says his budgets are the remedy to the city's financial crisis.

Last Thursday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson and U.S. Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., joined religious and civil rights leaders to promise protests and possible civil disobedience against Michigan's new emergency manager law that could lead to a takeover of Detroit government.

"We are prepared to go from education, mobilization, litigation, legislation, demonstration and civil disobedience," Jackson said as he and others held a news conference at Detroit's Bethany Baptist Church.

"We want a positive commitment to restoring democracy and economic justice for all citizens." Jackson said.

Snyder has called for Bing and Detroit's City Council to come up with their own financial rescue plan so Michigan can stay out of the city's business.

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But Snyder has also highlighted what he said was the seriousness of the city's money problems, citing Bing's statement that Detroit could run use up its available cash in April.

"We can't let the city run out of money," Snyder said. Besides Detroit's cash-flow problem is a long-term structural deficit that needs a fundamental solution, he said. "Detroit's been in a financial crisis of some kind for decades."

The Detroit Public Schools and the cities of Flint, Pontiac and Benton Harbor already have state-appointed emergency financial managers.

Michigan recently enacted a law expanding the state's power to push aside elected local government and school officials whose agencies get in financial trouble.

Conyers said the expanded law is "seriously flawed" and said it unfairly targets communities with large numbers of minority group members.

Jackson, a Chicago-based activist, said emergency managers are like dictators with the power to override local democracy, discard union contracts and cut vital public services. He said he is seeking U.S. Justice Department intervention.

Detroit, with a population of 714,000, has faced hard times with auto industry contraction and falling revenue. More than 36 percent of its residents are below the poverty line, according to the Census Bureau.

The city was once one of the most populated in the United States. But it lost 25 percent of its residents between 2000 and 2010, the fastest decline for any municipality with more than 100,000 residents besides New Orleans.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45798809/ns/us_news-life/

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LG Prada 3.0 Makes Official Debut In Korea, Europe To Follow

Tech-savvy fashionistas finally have a reason to rejoice with the official release of LG's Prada 3.0 handset. Namely, it's the first time a in a long while that the company's fashion phones aren't completely outclassed by the competition. When I say outclassed, I'm referring strictly to performance. With it's 4.3-inch WVGA NOVA display, 1 GHz dual-core processor, and 8-megapixel camera, the Prada 3.0 is a solid little package, but one that's a bit lacking considering its premium price tag.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/PlOMohCJAY4/

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Windows Phone Marketplace Beats Android Market to 50,000 Apps

Though it?s still dwarfed by Apple?s App Store and Google?s Android Market, Microsoft?s Windows Phone Marketplace has been posting some decent growth lately. In mid-November, it hit the 40,000 app milestone and now, a little over a month later, it?s hit another.

According to All About Windows Phone, which tracks Windows Phone app submissions, the Marketplace has seen more than 50,000 apps published to it ? 50,126, to be exact.

Notably, Windows Phone reached that 50,000 app milestone in 14 months, faster than Android, Symbian, or BlackBerry (but slower than iOS which hit it in about a year).

Clearly, the platform?s picking up steam. While it took a little over a year to reach 40,000 apps, it took just 40 days to accumulate the next 10,000.

That bodes well for Windows Phone in 2012. Of course, it needs to drive that growth higher still if it ever hopes to match its rivals in the space. Though a noteworthy milestone, 50,000 apps is still a paucity compared to the App Store?s 600,000 and Android Market?s 500,000.

Source: http://allthingsd.com/20111228/windows-phone-marketplace-beats-android-market-to-50000-apps/

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Washington’s debt impasse leaves bipartisan frustration

Reid Ribble, a Wisconsin roofing contractor-turned-Republican lawmaker, has helped change the way Washington talks about the national debt. That?s not to say he has done much about the debt itself.

Nearly a year ago, Ribble and other newly elected House Republicans came to Capitol Hill on a single-minded mission to shove the federal debt to the top of the congressional agenda. They succeeded. At every opportunity, they demanded cuts in spending, forcing a series of white-knuckle showdowns that have kept the government in a state of perpetual crisis. Washington nudged close to a public conversation about the kind of government taxpayers want and what they are willing to pay for it.

Graphic

Impact of the debt deals, past and future

Graphic

Reality check: An interactive look at the question of who bears the tax burden.

Last week, however, Ribble went home for the holidays with little to show for all the political drama. The debt stood at $15.1?trillion, $1?trillion more than when he got to town. By the end of next year, projections show, it will grow by an additional $1?trillion. Ribble said he and his allies had cut spending for 2012 by only about $7?billion, a sliver so tiny Ribble could measure its impact in minutes.

?We?ve saved the American taxpayer about 17 hours of spending. That?s it,? he said. ?When you just really stop and think about it, we?ve made very little progress.?

Look past 2012, and the budget deals of the past year make a more significant dent. They reduce spending by more than $1?trillion over the next 10 years, the largest debt reduction in two decades. Yet no one, of any ideological stripe, is bragging about the accomplishment. Instead, the Capitol is pervaded by an atmosphere of failure, of opportunity blown.

Despite round after round of negotiations ? first over the operating budget, then over the federal debt ceiling and finally in the deficit ?supercommittee? that disbanded last month ?Republicans and Democrats never resolved the most fundamental budget questions: whether to raise taxes and how to control spending on an aging population.

There was some movement. Some Democrats, including President Obama, conceded that Social Security and Medicare pose a long-term threat if there are no constraints on benefits. Some Republicans, including House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), declared themselves willing to talk about raising taxes, a break from the GOP?s long-standing and vigilantly enforced party line.

But Boehner was not able to lead his top lieutenants and unbending freshman class to embrace a compromise on taxes as a first step toward their debt-
reduction goals. In more than a dozen interviews, lawmakers and independent analysts blamed leaders in both parties for failing to seize the moment and then retreating to their respective corners to prepare an election-year assault on the ideas offered by the other side. Many expressed their frustration with an unusual candor that reflected exhaustion as well as disappointment.

?Both major political parties have not been honest about what it?s going to take to fix this,? said Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.), who has led Senate efforts to forge consensus. ?Expectations of us are so low, if we could actually show we can put policy ahead of party, I think the reaction would be so positive.?

Source: http://c.moreover.com/click/here.pl?r5670192485&f=378

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(AP)

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111223/ap_on_sc/eu_apnewsalert

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Texas family rescued from snowdrift in NM (Providence Journal)

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Barry Bonds gets 30-day home sentence ? at worst (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO ? Eight years of being investigated for steroid allegations ended for home run king Barry Bonds on Friday with a 30-day sentence to be served at home. No more ? and maybe less.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston immediately delayed imposing the sentence while Bonds appeals his obstruction of justice conviction. The former baseball star was found guilty in April not of using steroids, but of misleading grand jurors.

Even without prison time, the case has left its mark on the seven-time National League MVP. His 762 career home runs, and 73 homers in 2001, may forever be seen as tainted records, and his ticket to baseball's Hall of Fame is in doubt.

Bonds declined to speak in court. Well-wishers hugged the 47-year-old in the hallway courtroom after the hearing was over, and a smattering of fans cheered him as he left the courthouse. It was a marked departure from his initial court appearance four years ago, when guards had to clear a path for Bonds to get through dozens of onlookers to his SUV.

"Whatever he did or didn't do, we all lie," said Esther Picazo, a fan outside the courthouse. "We all make mistakes. But I don't think he should've gotten any kind of punishment at all."

Bonds was sentenced to two years of probation, 250 hours of community service, a $4,000 fine and 30 days of home confinement. It will take time to determine whether he serves any of it; his appellate specialist, Dennis Riordan, estimated it would take nearly a year and a half for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rule.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Parrella called the sentence a "slap on the wrist" and the fine "almost laughable" for a superstar athlete who made more than $192 million for playing baseball.

Parrella had sought 15 months in prison and argued that home confinement wasn't punishment enough "for a man with a 15,000-square-foot house with all the advantages." Bonds lives in a six-bedroom, 10-bath house with a gym and swimming pool.

"The defendant basically lived a double life for decades before this," Parrella said. He ripped Bonds not only over performance-enhancing drugs but over his personal life: "He had mistresses throughout his marriages."

Parrella said Bonds made lots of money due in part to his use of performance enhancers and that he has been "unrepentant" and "unapologetic" about it.

Illston said none of that had any bearing on Bonds' sentencing.

She said she agreed with a probation department report that called Bonds' conviction an "aberration" in his life. She said she received dozens of letters in support of Bonds, some discussing how he has given money and time "for decades" to charitable causes.

Bonds is the last ? and highest-profile ? defendant in the government's investigation of the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, or BALCO, a steroids distribution ring. The ex-slugger has long denied knowingly using performance-enhancing drugs.

Illston said she was compelled to give Bonds a sentence similar to the two she meted out to other figures convicted after trial of lying to the grand jury and federal investigators about their connection to steroids.

The case against Bonds after he testified before the grand jury Dec. 3, 2003. Prosecutors revised his original 2007 indictment several times and spent a year unsuccessfully appealing a key evidentiary ruling before jurors deadlocked in April on three of the four remaining charges related to his grand jury testimony.

On the final charge, the trial jury convicted Bonds of purposely answering questions about steroids with rambling non sequiturs in an attempt to mislead the grand jury.

"I think he probably got off a little easy," said Jessica Wolfram, one of the jurors who convicted Bonds of obstruction. "He was just so clearly guilty, so I actually am happy he got sentenced to something."

Wolfram said she researched the case after the trial and viewed evidence not presented then. After that, she felt even more comfortable that Bonds was guilty.

Besides Bonds, 10 people were convicted of various charges in BALCO cases. Six of them, including track star Marion Jones, were ensnared for lying to grand jurors, federal investigators or the court. Others, including Bonds' personal trainer Greg Anderson, pleaded guilty to steroid distribution charges.

The government's top BALCO investigator, Jeff Novitzky, declined to comment outside the courtroom after attending the hearing.

Bonds was one of two former baseball superstars to stand trial in doping-related cases this year. The trial of pitcher Roger Clemens was halted after just two days in July because prosecutors used inadmissible evidence. U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton has set a new trial for April 17.

Both men will face a different judgment day in 2013, when they'll be eligible for the Hall of Fame.

__

Associated Press writers Jason Dearen in San Francisco and Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_sp_ba_ne/bbo_bonds_steroids

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Prosecution to present its case against Manning (AP)

FORT MEADE, Md. ? The prosecution is laying out its charges against the young soldier blamed for the largest leak of classified material in American history in a case that may hinge on whether the U.S. government overzealously stamped "secret" on material posing no national security risk.

The long-awaited military court case against Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, the accused source for the WikiLeaks website's trove of U.S. military and diplomatic secrets, is moving ahead. The defense requested that the presiding officer, Lt. Col. Paul Almanza, step aside because of alleged bias. Almanza, an Army Reserve lieutenant colonel and Justice Department prosecutor, rejected the request and refused to suspend the hearing pending an appeal.

Manning, a one-time intelligence analyst stationed in Baghdad, is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of sensitive items including Iraq and Afghanistan war logs, State Department cables and a classified military video of a 2007 American helicopter attack in Iraq that killed 11 men, including a Reuters news photographer and his driver.

The Obama administration says the released information has threatened valuable military and diplomatic sources and strained America's relations with other governments.

Friday was Manning's first appearance in public after 19 months in detention. He appeared slight but serious in his Army camouflage fatigues and dark-rimmed glasses, taking notes during the proceedings and answering straightforwardly when called upon by Almanza.

Manning, a native of Crescent, Okla., who turns 24 on Saturday, is relying on a defense that will argue much of the classified information posed no risk.

In addition to claims of partiality, his lawyer, David Coombs, argued that Almanza wrongly denied the defense's request to call as witnesses the officials who marked as secret the material WikiLeaks later published. Instead, the officer accepted unsworn statements from those people, Coombs said.

Friday's tangling, however, centered primarily on Almanza's Justice Department job. "I don't believe I'm biased," Almanza said, explaining that his government work concerns child exploitation and obscenity. He said he hasn't talked about WikiLeaks or Manning with anyone in the department or FBI.

The Justice Department has a separate criminal investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. A U.S. grand jury is weighing whether to indict Assange on espionage charges, even as he is in Britain fighting a Swedish request that he be extradited because of rape allegations.

Manning's hearing at this Army post outside Washington is open to the public, with limited seating. No civilian recording equipment is allowed. Instead of a judge, a presiding officer delivers a recommendation as to whether prosecutors have enough evidence to bring a suspect to trial. A military commander then makes the final decision.

Coombs said Friday he'd ask the Army Court of Criminal Appeals to recuse Almanza from the case. It was unclear when the court would decide on hearing the appeal.

The case has spawned an international support network of people who believe the U.S. government has gone too far in seeking to punish Manning, and a few dozen showed up outside Fort Meade on Friday to rally on his behalf.

"I plan to march all night tonight and bring as much attention as I can to put the entire country on notice that we have a hero who's standing trial for nothing more than telling the truth," said Dan Choi, a gay West Point graduate discharged from the military for revealing his sexual orientation. He wore a bright orange "Bradley Manning Support Network" sticker on the lapel of his uniform jacket.

Others were less supportive.

"That man did something very wrong," said Mandie Stanley, a 19-year-old who lives on the Army post with her husband, a member of the Air Force. She spotted the protesters and decided to come out with a sign that said: "Don't leak classified information, stupid!"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111217/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_manning_wikileaks

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The New Facebook Is Finally Here (For Everyone) [Facebook]

Facebook has decided Timeline is ready for the non-New Zealand population, and flipped the global switch: starting today, those still sans-Timeline "will receive a notification on their Profile if they want to 'Get Timeline' or they can visit www.facebook.com/about/timeline." Giddyup. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/JCs8ZyMVC6k/the-new-facebook-is-finally-here-for-everyone

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Pregnant women advised to stay cool for baby's sake

ScienceDaily (Dec. 15, 2011) ? Queensland University of Technology (QUT) world-first research has found a link between increases in temperature and the incidence of stillbirth and shorter pregnancies.

Associate Professor Adrian Barnett of QUT's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) led a study that looked at the incidence of still and premature births in Brisbane over a four-year period from 2005.

Professor Barnett said a total of 101,870 births were recorded throughout the period and of these 653 or 0.6% were stillbirths.

"We found that increases in temperature increased the risk of stillbirth, and this was particularly true in the earlier stages of pregnancy before 28 weeks," he said.

"Our estimated numbers were at 15?C there would be 353 stillbirths per 100,000 pregnancies, as compared with 610 stillbirths per 100,000 pregnancies at 23?C.

"Increased temperatures also shortened gestation times, which means more preterm babies who often have serious long-term health problems such as cerebral palsy and impaired vision and hearing."

Professor Barnett's study recorded weekly temperature, humidity and air pollution levels for each pregnancy.

He said that the lowest risks were in the coolest weeks, and that warm temperatures with weekly means of 23?C were just as dangerous as the hottest weeks.

"This could be because most pregnant women would be more conscious of trying to remain cool on the hottest days and would generally seek air conditioning," he said.

While other studies have looked at the relationship between temperature and pre-term births the QUT study is the first to investigate the relationship between temperature and stillbirth.

Professor Barnett said as global temperatures rise, the study could have serious public health implications.

"Pregnant women should protect themselves from overheating to reduce the likelihood of pre-term or stillbirths," he said.

"Stillbirths are obviously devastating for families, and many stillbirths have an unknown cause so more research is needed to help prevent them.

"It is known that women should avoid hot tubs or Jacuzzis during pregnancy as this can cause a pregnancy termination, and that dehydration caused by heat stress and sweating could be harmful to a fetus and induce birth."

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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. L. B. Strand, A. G. Barnett, S. Tong. Maternal Exposure to Ambient Temperature and the Risks of Preterm Birth and Stillbirth in Brisbane, Australia. American Journal of Epidemiology, 2011; DOI: 10.1093/aje/kwr404

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/12/111215095615.htm

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Google employee creates the ultimate LAN party house, lives la vita local

You don't see many software engineers over on Cribs, but if you did, then Google employee Kenton Varda would probably be first in line. Some people buy fancy cars and hot tubs, Kenton created the ultimate LAN party room. Getting your crew round for a marathon Counter-Strike session might be a barrel, but tangled cables and weeding out connection problems are not, or at least Kenton clearly doesn't think so. No more cable spaghetti for him though, thanks to a permanent installation that includes machines, monitors, many feet of HDMI and USB leads, rack mounts and networking equipment for up to 12 gaming chums. Spread over two rooms, with six stations in each -- ideal for team games -- bespoke cabinets were made to keep it easy on the eye. Anyone wanting to take on a similar project can expect to put a $40,000 dent in their wallet, or a little more, depending on the size of your LAN.

Google employee creates the ultimate LAN party house, lives la vita local originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Dec 2011 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/15/google-employee-creates-the-ultimate-lan-party-house-lives-la-v/

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UK Conservatives take poll lead after EU veto: poll (Reuters)

LONDON (Reuters) ? Britain's Conservatives have overtaken the Labour opposition in an opinion poll for the first time this year, enjoying a bounce on the back of Prime Minister David Cameron's veto of a new European Union treaty, the latest Reuters/Ipsos MORI poll showed on Wednesday.

The rise in support for Cameron's Conservatives is all the more remarkable given Britons' increasing pessimism on the economy, with only 12 percent expecting it to improve in the next year, the lowest figure since the credit crunch began to bite in September 2008.

Support for the Conservatives rose by seven percentage points to 41 percent, while backing for centre-left Labour slipped two points to 39 percent.

The trend was confirmed by a survey by ComRes for the Independent newspaper published on Wednesday that put the two largest parties neck-and-neck on 38 percent.

The polls could worry Labour leader Ed Miliband, whose party is defending a parliamentary seat in a by-election in a West London suburban constituency on Thursday.

A national election is not due until 2015 and the Conservative-led coalition has vowed to serve until then to try to break the back of a big budget deficit.

However, continued buoyancy in the polls may tempt some Conservative lawmakers to press for an early election to try to secure an outright majority.

The Liberal Democrats, the junior partner in the coalition that took power in May 2010, were on 11 percent in the Ipsos MORI poll, down one point at less than half what they polled in the election 18 months ago.

Ipsos MORI spoke to around 1,000 Britons on December 10-12, after Cameron's historic use of his veto last week prevented the bloc from creating a new EU treaty to tackle the euro zone crisis. Cameron says he used his veto after failing to achieve safeguards he wanted for Britain's financial services industry.

The Liberal Democrats, who disagree with his decision, failed to support the Conservatives in a motion in parliament on Tuesday night commending Cameron's action.

The motion passed by 278 to 200, but all 57 Lib Dem MPs abstained, breaking coalition unity. The motion was put forward by Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party.

The Ipsos MORI poll showed that support for Cameron's and finance minister George Osborne's response to the euro zone crisis had risen by four percentage points since November.

Fifty-six percent of those asked said the two had responded very or fairly well to the crisis, while only 40 percent said politicians such as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel had responded well.

BOUNCE TO FADE?

The EU summit fallout has reversed the effect of Osborne's autumn statement last month, when he cut economic growth forecasts and announced that austerity measures would continue until 2017, two years after the next election.

Commentators said they expected the Conservative bounce to be fairly short-lived.

"The surprise for me would be if it lasted longer than two months," said Justin Fisher, politics professor at Britain's Brunel University. "Cameron has been very good at selling his veto as something that is good for Britain," he added.

Fisher said the poll showed the vulnerability of Labour, struggling to regroup under Miliband's leadership, and the Lib Dems, for whom governing in a coalition has been a sobering experience after decades in the political wilderness.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg criticized the outcome of the EU summit as "bad for Britain," but many Britons are skeptical about the benefits of closer European integration and much of the press is openly hostile to the EU.

The slump in support for the Lib Dems means they have to remain in the coalition or risk an election drubbing.

Seventy percent of those polled identified the weak state of other countries' economies as the greatest threat to Britain's national interests.

Osborne has said that a recession in the euro zone would be likely to push the British economy into recession too. Britain does around half of its trade with the EU.

Sixty percent of Britons said the economy would get worse next year, against 12 percent who saw an improvement. Unemployment is expected to rise over the next year and the economy to grow slowly, at best.

Britons were divided on whether the government had made the right decisions on cutting the budget deficit. Forty-six percent said it had made the wrong decisions, while 44 percent backed tough cuts in public spending.

* Ipsos MORI interviewed 1,001 adults across Britain between December 10 and 12 by telephone; data are weighted to the profile of the population.

(Reporting by Keith Weir; Editing by Tim Pearce)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111214/wl_nm/us_britain_politics_poll

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Newt's frown and Santorum's clenched jaw: Communications advice ...

Debates have had an outsized impact on the Republican primary process, so far, this year.?This, of course, can be both good and bad. On the positive side, one hopes the increased significance of debates means ideas and substance might finally trump glad-handing voters in places like Iowa and New Hampshire. The negative, of course, is that debating well doesn?t necessarily translate to governing well. And then, there?s also the fact that debates don?t necessarily benefit the candidates with the best ideas; looks and style ? superficial things ? often trump substance.

When viewers watch debates, they make a series of quick decisions based on unconscious signals they observe. Often, we viscerally like or dislike a candidate, without ever consciously knowing why. Some might argue that these ?blink? decisions are healthy ? that we are accurately, if subconsciously, judging them. Others would argue this is illogical and harmful ? that this is all a big made-for-TV reality show.

Good or bad, it is clear that the way modern candidates present themselves on television makes a huge difference. With that in mind,?I asked Stephen Clouse, a communications expert who works to ?prep? candidates and train them on improving their communications skills, for his take on what the candidates are doing right and wrong.

(Listen to a podcast of my full conversation with Stephen Clouse here.)

Regarding former Speaker?Newt Gingrich, Clouse says, ?I think we can all agree that his policy knowledge is exceptional.??So where should Gingrich improve? Clouse would like to see him ?be more conscious about the facial expressions, because when he relaxes his face, he looks angry.??Clouse, who has worked with Gingrich on videos in the past, adds: ?I would encourage Newt to over-animate.?

Clouse would also like to see Gingrich lean forward more when speaking ? and to talk more about his grandchildren.

Other candidates have even more serious visual problems to address.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum??always has a great posture,? Clouse says admiringly. But he also points out that the commonly-held impression that Santorum is pompous has something to do with ?the way the jaw is slightly clenched.?

?When he talks, he enunciates, but barely,? says Clouse. ?So there?s almost a clenched look to the jaw, when you see it, it?s almost closed. And so, as a result, it seems negative.?

Rep. Ron Paul ?does have a sense of earnestness about that which he believes,? Clouse concedes. But ?the visuals are more important than the words?and when I look at him visually, I think that it starts to undermine? his message.

Clouse compares the way voters judge candidates to the way an employer might judge the appearance of a potential employee. ?People want to hire someone for a job that looks like someone they would like to take advice from. I don?t think Ron Paul crosses that threshold,? he says.

Though not as important as visuals, the sound of a candidate?s voice is also very important.

?There?s two candidates that really have problems with nasally voices ? and it?s Ron Paul and Rep.?Michele Bachmann,? Clouse notes.?A nasally voice is a bigger problem for candidates than for average folks, he says, because ?electronics amplifies the high pitches of the human voice ? and it makes it worse.?

Listen to my full conversation with Stephen Clouse here. Or download the podcast on iTunes.

Source: http://dailycaller.com/2011/12/04/newts-frown-and-santorums-clenched-jaw-visual-advice-for-the-gop-candidates/

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Blast damages bus near British Embassy in Bahrain (AP)

MANAMA, Bahrain ? A canister containing powerful explosive material blew apart the front of a minibus near the British Embassy in Bahrain's capital on Sunday, the Interior Ministry said. There were no injuries or other serious damage.

Interior Ministry spokesman Salah Salem described the material as "highly explosive" and said it was undergoing further analysis. Authorities gave no details on possible suspects, but security has been boosted sharply across Bahrain during annual Shiite Muslim religious ceremonies.

Bahrain's majority Shiites began an uprising in February seeking greater rights from the Gulf kingdom's Sunni rulers. Some apparent Sunni protesters have jeered or tossed stones at the Shiite religious processions in recent days.

Salem said the blast ripped away one of wheels from the minibus and shattered its windows in a public parking lot about 50 yards (meters) from the British Embassy in the capital, Manama.

It was not immediately clear whether the blast's proximity to the embassy was intentional. It comes less than a week after mobs in Iran's capital stormed the British Embassy and a residential compound for diplomatic staff, leading Britain to pull its diplomats from Iran and expel Iranian envoys from London.

Bahrain's rulers claim Iran has links to Shiite protesters in the strategic Gulf island nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet. Shiite leaders in Bahrain deny any connections to Tehran and an independent commission report into the unrest also found no evidence of ties.

At least 35 people have died in clashes and protest-related violence since February. Hundreds of people have been arrested, including prominent Shiite activists sentenced to life in prison.

On Sunday, a military court sentenced three sportsmen ? all Shiite employees of the Bahrain armed forces ? to one year each in prison on charges that included disobeying orders to stay away from demonstrations.

The defendants included medal-winning bodybuilder Tareq al-Fursani; Ali Said, a goalkeeper for the national football team, and Mohammed Hassan al-Dirazi, a member of Bahrain's basketball squad, said lawyer Mohsen al-Alawi, who was in court when the court martial sentences were given.

The trial of 61 other athletes and sports officials is scheduled for Jan. 4. They include handball, basketball and volleyball players along with referees and administrators for several sports.

The charges include illegal assembly and inciting hatred against Bahrain's Sunni monarchy.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/britain/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_bahrain

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