First Data names JPMorgan executive Bisignano as CEO

MADRID, April 28 (Reuters) - Malaga kept up their push for a possible return to the Champions League next season with a 2-1 win at home Getafe that lifted them to fifth in La Liga on Sunday. Striker Roque Santa Cruz headed them in front just before halftime and defender Weligton doubled the lead with another header, this time from a corner, two minutes after the re-start. Getafe pulled one back with a close-range volley from Juan Valera in the 70th minute and Manuel Pellegrini's side endured some nervy moments near the end as they missed a number of chances to settle the game. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/first-data-names-jpmorgan-executive-bisignano-ceo-202603090.html

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Iceland returns center-right parties to power

REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) ? In a dramatic about-face, Icelandic voters have returned to power the center-right parties that led the national economy to collapse five years ago.

With all votes counted Sunday, the conservative Independence Party and rural-based Progressive Party ? who governed Iceland for decades before the 2008 crash ? each had 19 seats in Iceland's 63-seat parliament, the Althingi.

The parties, who are promising to ease Icelanders' economic pain with tax cuts and debt relief, took 51 percent of the vote between them, and are likely to form a coalition government.

Voters shunned the Social Democrat-led coalition that has spent four years trying to turn the country around with painful austerity measures. The Social Democrats took nine seats and their former coalition partners the Left-Greens seven.

The pro-Europe Bright Future party took six seats and online freedom advocates the Pirate Party three.

"We are very happy, we are very grateful for the support that we see in the numbers," said Independence Party leader Bjarni Benediktsson.

Either 43-year-old Beneditksson or Progressive Party chief Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson, 38, is likely to be Iceland's next prime minister.

The shift to the right following Saturday's parliamentary election will almost certainly shelve Iceland's plans to join the European Union, with which it has begun accession talks. Both the Progressives and Independents oppose joining the 27-nation bloc.

The two parties governed Iceland for several decades, often in coalition, overseeing economic liberalization that spurred a banking and business boom ? until Iceland's economy crashed spectacularly during the 2008 credit crisis.

A volcano-dotted North Atlantic nation with a population of just 320,000, Iceland went from economic wunderkind to financial basket case almost overnight when its main commercial banks collapsed within a week of one another.

The value of the country's currency plummeted, while inflation and unemployment soared. Iceland was forced to seek bailouts from Europe and the International Monetary Fund.

Since then, Iceland has in many ways made a strong recovery. Unemployment has fallen and the economy is growing.

But inflation remains naggingly high, and many Icelanders still struggle to repay home and car loans they took out ? often in foreign currencies whose value soared after the crash ? in the years of easy credit.

Some blamed the outgoing government of Prime Minister Johanna Sigurdardottir for agreeing to internationally approved austerity measures and accused it of caving in to pressure to compensate Britain and the Netherlands for their citizens' lost deposits in the failed online bank Icesave. Icelanders have twice rejected Icesave repayment deals agreed to by Sigurdardottir's government.

Despite being widely blamed for the financial meltdown, the Independents and Progressives say they are now best placed to lead the economic recovery.

The Progressives have promised to write off some mortgage debt, taking money from foreign creditors. Benediktsson's Independence Party is offering lower taxes and the lifting of capital controls that he says are hindering foreign investment.

"I think people knew that hard times were ahead in 2009," Benediktsson said. "But they were hopeful, and they were introduced to a plan that would bring us quicker out of the crisis than has been the reality.

"So people are now looking forward and asking themselves ... what kind of a plan is the most likely one to bring more growth, more job creation, to close the budget deficit, and have Iceland grow into the future? These are the issues that I think these elections are all about."

______

Lawless reported from London. Associated Press writer David Mac Dougall in Reykjavik contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/iceland-returns-center-parties-power-091136830.html

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Justice hospitalized after bike accident

WASHINGTON (AP) ? Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is in a Washington hospital after shoulder replacement surgery following a bicycle accident.

Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says the 74-year-old Breyer is expected to make a full recovery following the operation Saturday.

Breyer injured his right shoulder in a fall Friday near the Korean War Veterans Memorial.

The justice previously broke his collarbone in an accident in 2011 and sustained broken ribs and a punctured lung in a bicycle mishap in 1993, before he joined the court.

Breyer was appointed to the court in 1994 by President William Clinton.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/breyer-shoulder-surgery-bike-accident-185836032.html

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Jerry Lewis makes appearance at 'King of Comedy'

NEW YORK (AP) ? The Tribeca Film Festival has ended on a royal note with Jerry Lewis showing up at the 30th anniversary screening of "The King of Comedy."

The 87-year-old comedian-actor walked out to thunderous applause after the screening Saturday, joining co-star Robert De Niro and director Martin Scorsese.

Lewis answered questions about the making of the film and brought the audience to laughter with a tale about a guy he met on a subway train.

In the movie, Lewis plays a talk-show host kidnapped by a deranged comedian played by De Niro.

De Niro founded the festival with producers Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff as a way to rebuild the neighborhood where the World Trade Center fell in the 9/11 attacks.

___

Follow John Carucci on Twitter at www.twitter.com/jacarucci

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/jerry-lewis-makes-appearance-king-comedy-061812928.html

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Was that the president in my Beijing taxi?

A rumor that Chinese President Xi Jinping traveled undetected among the commoners of Beijing sparked enormous interest, echoing popular lore of?Chinese emperors moving about in disguise.

By Peter Ford,?Staff Writer / April 18, 2013

China's President Xi Jinping speaks during a meeting with Bill Gates (not in picture), on April 8, 2013.

Tyrone Siu/Reuters

Enlarge

When was the last time the Chinese president hailed a Beijing taxi?

Skip to next paragraph Peter Ford

Beijing Bureau Chief

Peter Ford is The Christian Science Monitor?s Beijing Bureau Chief. He covers news and features throughout China and also makes reporting trips to Japan and the Korean peninsula.

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Just a few weeks ago, if taxi driver Guo Lixin is to be believed. Mr. Guo told a Hong Kong newspaper on Thursday that President Xi Jinping took an incognito ride in his cab last month, and chatted about ? what else? ? air pollution.

The news sparked enormous interest on the Chinese Internet, with most of those posting comments on Twitter-like social media platforms apparently believing the tale, but many skeptical about the value of the president?s alleged outing.

Stories about Chinese emperors passing disguised amongst their subjects, so as to learn first hand about their lives, are a staple of Chinese TV soap operas. The official media have recently made a point of presenting Mr. Xi as a ?man of the people.?

According to Ta Kung Pao, the Hong Kong daily to whom Mr. Guo gave his account, two men got into his taxi on the evening of March 1. One of them, he said, looked uncommonly like Xi, head of China?s ruling Communist Party and on the verge of being elected the country?s president.

When he commented on the fact, his mystery passenger replied ?you are the first taxi driver to recognize me,? Guo said, before writing a note wishing the driver ?safe and smooth journeys.?

There are those who saw the story as a PR exercise, pointing out that Ta Kung Pao is a strongly pro-Beijing paper. Official Chinese websites ran the story, too, giving it a degree of credibility, or at least of government approval.

Other observers were dubious about the real identity of Guo?s passenger because the handwriting of his note had nothing in common with handwriting that the verified President Xi has left in visitors? books around the country.

The story sat well, however, with the Communist Party?s propaganda efforts to build the president?s image as a forthright, honest fellow with the common touch. Xi has attracted attention by ordering the police not to block the traffic near places he is visiting just to let his motorcade past. Last week he mingled with fisherfolk on the southern island of Hainan, discussing their catch in the same way that a Western politician might on a flesh-pressing jaunt.

Not everyone is impressed, however. ?The most effective plainclothes visit is to look at Weibo every day,? commented Feng Xincheng, a well known newspaper editor, referring to Sina Weibo, a censored but nonetheless lively Twitter-like service where public criticism of the authorities is common.

It did not seem from taxi driver Guo?s account that Xi (if it was indeed he) learned much that he did not already know. As soon as he recognized his passenger Guo broke out in a cold sweat, he said, and told the distinguished man in the front passenger seat that he thought the Communist Party and government policies were correct, if not always well implemented.

?Xi,? meanwhile, fed his ordinary citizen interlocutor the same pap as government officials feed the public about how long it will take and how hard it will be to clean up Beijing?s pollution.

Neither the alleged president nor his driver ended up much the wiser, it seems. And then on Thursday evening, the official Xinhua news agency stamped on all the speculation with a terse one line announcement.

Ta Kung Pao?s report, said Xinhua, ?has proven to be a fake story.??

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/gKlDEKXBPOw/Was-that-the-president-in-my-Beijing-taxi

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Threat of diabetes soars by 22 per cent with EACH fizzy drink ...

Regularly drinking just one sugar-packed soft drink raises the danger of suffering from the condition by 22 per cent.

And the risk rises with each drink ? every extra can increases the danger by more than a fifth.

Experts last night called for greater warnings of the ?unhealthy effects? of soft drinks enjoyed by millions of Britons every day.

Yesterday lead researcher Dr Dora Romaguera, from Imperial College London, warned that one problem with fizzy drinks was that they did not fill you up, so people were tempted to consume more of them.

?They should be seen as a treat you have once every couple of weeks, not as a substitute for water every time you feel thirsty,? she said.

Previous research has shown how sugary drinks can dramatically increase the risk of stroke, heart attacks and long-term liver damage similar to chronic alcohol abuse.

A typical can of fizzy drink has 150 sugar-based calories which are far more dangerous to the body than those from other sources, it was discovered.

A team from Imperial College looked at the link between sweet beverages and Type 2 diabetes in Europe, as much previous research had been carried out in North America.

They tracked their consumption by 350,000 people across eight European countries, including Britain.

The researchers found that one 12oz (336ml) serving increased the risk of Type 2 diabetes, with every additional drink raising it by 22 per cent compared with having one can a month or less.

This risk fell to 18 per cent when body-mass index was accounted for, suggesting that those who were heavier tended to drink more soft drinks and were more at risk of developing diabetes anyway.

The team also found a significant increase related to drinking artificially sweetened soft drinks.

Dr Romaguera added: ?Given the increase in sweet beverage consumption in Europe, clear messages on the unhealthy effect of these drinks should be given to the population.?

Dr Matthew Hobbs, head of research at Diabetes UK, said: ?The finding that people who drank more sugar-sweetened soft drinks were at higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, even when body mass index was taken into account, suggests the increased risk was not solely due to the extra calories in those drinks. The large number of people involved in this study means this finding is extremely unlikely to have happened by chance.

?It is not definitive evidence that sugar-sweetened soft drinks increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes, other than through their effect on body weight.

?We do though already recommend limiting consumption of sugary foods and drinks as these are usually high in calories and so can lead to weight gain if you have too many of them.

?This is important for Type 2 diabetes because we know that maintaining a healthy weight is the single most important thing you can do to prevent it.?

Gavin Partington, of the British Soft Drinks Association, said: ?It is well-known that diabetes is the result of many different factors, including obesity and family history.

?This study does not look at causation and cannot tell us if consuming soft drinks, or any other food or drink, is a further cause of diabetes.

?The survey is based on information about people?s food choices up to 16 years old, which is not a very good guide to what people are eating and drinking today.

?Soft drinks are safe to consume but, like all other food and drink, should be consumed in moderation as part of a balanced diet.?

Source: http://www.express.co.uk/news/health/394570/Threat-of-diabetes-soars-by-22-per-cent-with-EACH-fizzy-drink

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GOP Lawmakers Hope to Combat Ammunition Stockpiling by Gov?t Agencies With AMMO Act

Cook County Board Proposes Tax On Guns And Ammo

Credit: Getty Images

Republicans in the Senate and House are expected to introduce a joint bill Friday that would limit the amount of ammunition that federal agencies are allowed to buy and stockpile over the next six months, the Washington Free Beacon reports.

The bill, titled the Ammunition Management for More Accountability or "AMMO" Act, is being proposed after several lawmakers have voiced concerns about some federal agencies, like the Department of Homeland Security, seemingly stockpiling large quantities of ammo.

"DHS, for instance, has placed two-years worth of ammunition, or nearly 247 million rounds, in its inventory," the Free Beacon notes.

In a statement provided to the Washington Free Beacon, one of the bill's co-sponsors, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), said federal agencies must provide more "transparency and accountability" in regards to its "stockpiles of ammunition."

"President Obama has been adamant about curbing law-abiding Americans' access and opportunities to exercise their Second Amendment rights...One way the Obama administration is able to do this is by limiting what's available in the market with federal agencies purchasing unnecessary stockpiles of ammunition," the statement adds.

More from the Free Beacon:

[T]he legislation would prevent all government agencies except for the Defense Department from purchasing and storing what lawmakers say is an excess amount of ammunition.

The bill's reach would include DHS and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), two agencies that have found themselves at the center of the ammo controversy.

"As the public learned in a House committee hearing this week, the Department of Homeland Security has two years worth of ammo on hand and allots nearly 1,000 more rounds of ammunition for DHS officers than is used on average by our Army officers," Inhofe said. "The AMMO Act of 2013 will enforce transparency and accountability of federal agencies' ammunition supply while also protecting law-abiding citizens access to these resources."

An agency covered by the legislation would not be permitted to purchase or store more ammunition than that agency retained on average between 2001 and 2009, according to an advance copy of the legislation provided to the Free Beacon.

Additionally, the AMMO Act would encourage the Government Accountability Office to audit federal agencies' ammo purchases.

"The Comptroller General of the United States shall submit to Congress a report regarding the purchasing of ammunition by agencies, which shall include an assessment of the effect of the purchasing of ammunition by agencies on the supply of ammunition available to the public," the bill reads, according to a copy reviewed by the Free Beacon.

There have been more concerns over reports of DHS's plan to purchase another 750 million rounds of ammunition over the next five years, despite having a two-year stockpile saved up. Meanwhile, gun shops across the country are reporting ammunition shortages.

?

Featured image via AP

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gop-lawmakers-hope-combat-ammunition-stockpiling-gov-t-005425316.html

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