$435,000 could help NY protesters endure winter (AP)

NEW YORK ? After a month of bashing banks and other corporations, the Occupy Wall Street movement has had to become a money manager itself.

It has $435,000 ? most of it from online credit-card donations, but $85,000 of it has been donated in person at the Manhattan park that's become the epicenter of the global "anti-greed" protests, said Darrell Prince, an activist using his business background to keep track of the daily donations.

Handling the money, and figuring out what to do with it, could prove to be one of the biggest challenges for a movement united by anger more than by strategy, and devoted to building consensus among activists with wide-ranging goals.

The protesters have been spending about $1,500 a day on food, and also just covered a $2,000 laundry bill for sleeping bags and jackets and sweaters. They've spent about $20,000 on equipment such as laptops and cameras, and costs associated with streaming video of the protest on the Internet.

And they don't just have money donations. They have a mountain of donated goods, from blankets to cans of food to swim goggles to protect them from pepper spray ? some stored in a cavernous space on Broadway a block from Wall Street.

Though the money is a pittance compared to the profits of many corporations that the activists blame for the nation's financial woes, it's growing. Roughly $8,000 is now coming in every day just from the lock boxes set up to take donations at Zuccotti Park, Prince said. More is coming through the mail and online.

"It's way more support than we ever thought would come in," Prince said.

The cash flow has forced changes in the "finance working group" that arose spontaneously among the self-governed protesters to handle the movement's money. Buckets were once used to collect park donations, and until recently, a 21-year-old art student played a key role in the working group.

Prince, who has worked in sales, said the group is gaining financial expertise. He said the volunteers they recruit for the work generally "have experience running their own businesses or have worked in the industry."

They've also been getting help from a nonprofit group. Occupy Wall Street officially became a project of the Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Global Justice on Sept. 28, 11 days after protesters began camping out at the park. The status allows the alliance to process donations on the movement's behalf, and makes it responsible for tax reporting.

"They approached us after people started wanting to give them money," said Chuck Kaufman, a coordinator for the alliance. "We agreed, not realizing the volume that it was going to turn out to be. It's been a learning experience for both of us."

The alliance advertises itself as "a little bit of people's think tank, a whole lot of organizing."

The Manhattan activists have been sticking to a simple, organized routine that works in the ragtag protest community.

In the park, passers-by drop bills or coins into monitored lock boxes. Several times a day, volunteers collect the boxes and bring them to a central point. The boxes are then taken to a nearby office space that is itself a gift from a New York union.

Mail containing checks ? made out to the alliance or Occupy Wall Street ? arrives at a UPS branch in the financial district where hundreds of cardboard boxes of contributed supplies also have been shipped.

In the office space, volunteers tally the donations and register them on a computer spreadsheet that's internally accessible to those tracking the finances. Each day's total is deposited at the Broadway branch of the Amalgamated Bank. Amalgamated bills itself as the only American bank that is 100 percent union-owned.

Prince said about $350,000 has been donated by credit card through the movement's website, while the rest was given by mail or in person.

The alliance takes 7 percent of each credit card donation. That gets split between the credit card companies' fees and the salary of the alliance's accountant, Kaufman said.

Prince said volunteers were working to have Occupy Wall Street's financial records posted online as soon as the end of the week.

The amorphous group has no clear plans yet on how to spend much of the money. For now, the fund doles out $100 a day to each of the dozen "working groups" that keep the month-long protest going ? from sanitation and medical to finance and media.

Any other expenditures ? extra laptops, for instance ? are voted on by the "general assembly" of protesters that meets daily, voting "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on larger items after discussing the pros and cons.

The long-term picture for the movement includes surviving the imminent New York winter.

"A lot of people say we need to get an indoor space" ? in addition to the outdoor encampment, Prince said.

Activists also are working with legal experts to identify alternate sites where the risk of getting kicked out would be relatively low. Last week, the company that owns Zuccotti Park threatened to bar campers from the property, but quickly backed off.

Daniel Levine, 26, a musician from Brooklyn, agreed the movement "needs to winterize." He said the fund could be used to help buy frost-proof clothing and other equipment to keep protesters warm.

"I'm flabbergasted there's this much money, but in a way, I'm not surprised, considering the sentiments that we all share now ? of being disenfranchised," said Levine.

Prince also hopes the movement's money could be used for financial training in what he calls "the model for change" ? defined in myriad ways by protesters, but one "that doesn't look like the Wall Street model."

Protester Megan Blackburn, of Brooklyn, had more immediate ideas for the money as she cleaned the park pavement with a broom and dustpan Tuesday.

She hoped the fund will buy her "a new broom that really sweeps." When asked if she might buy one herself, she said, "Are you kidding? These things are expensive in Manhattan!"

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/stocks/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111018/ap_on_re_us/wall_street_protest

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Obama, first lady tout jobs plan for veterans

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stop to buy pumpkins at Wood's Orchard in Hampton, Va, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama stop to buy pumpkins at Wood's Orchard in Hampton, Va, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wave as they arrive at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, in Hampton, Va, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama, and first lady Michelle Obama, talk with two members of the Tuskegee Airmen during a stop at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, in Hampton, Va, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Barack Obama greets the crowd during a stop at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011, in Hampton, Va. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Jason Hirschfeld)

President Barack Obama embraces first lady Michelle Obama during a stop at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011, in Hampton, Va. Obama is on a three-day bus tour promoting the American Jobs Act. (AP Photo/Jason Hirschfeld)

HAMPTON, Va. (AP) ? Heralding a splash of good news on jobs, President Barack Obama on Wednesday praised a series of companies that have promised to hire 25,000 veterans or military spouses within two years, calling it a sign of patriotism and business savvy. He pushed his economic agenda anew to a military audience, this time with first lady Michelle Obama at his side.

"We ask you to fight, to sacrifice, to risk your lives for your country," Obama told an audience of thousands of people at Joint Base Langley-Eustis. "The last thing you should have to do is fight for a job when you come home. Not here. Not in the United States of America."

In this military setting, Obama's pitch for his jobs bill was far less partisan than it has been across his bus tour of North Carolina and Virginia. He didn't target at length the Republican lawmakers who have voted against his plan, promising more broadly to keep pushing Congress to pass a bill that's now been broken into pieces.

The president's day-long swing through Virginia does, however, have deep political undertones. Obama won the traditionally Republican-leaning state in 2008, but his poll numbers here are down, and some of the state's high-profile Democrats are staying away from the president's events.

The final day of Obama's bus tour had a different feel primarily because the Obamas were together as the president campaigned for his ideas and, in turn, for his re-election. The president and Mrs. Obama made a surprise stop at a roadside pumpkin patch, scooping up some orange and white pumpkins, apples and peanuts.

Then they stopped for lunch at Anna's Pizza and Italian Kitchen, having a meal with four veterans from different parts of the nation who had attended the earlier event at the base.

In their comments, Obama and the first lady both sought to assure veterans and their families that the country was behind them and that employers are, too. The American Logistics Association, which includes major companies like Tyson Foods Inc. and Coca-Cola Co., is pledging to hire 25,000 people by the end of 2013.

Michelle Obama called it the largest coordinated effort by the private sector to hire veterans that the nation has seen in years.

Mrs. Obama is leading a national campaign to rally the country around its veterans.

The president said that every company should want to hire veterans because of their leadership experience, mastery of cutting-edge technology and other skills. Obama is asking Congress to approve separate tax credits worth thousands of dollars for businesses that hire veterans who've been out of work for at least six months, including those with disabilities.

As Obama has been traveling, lawmakers back in Washington were taking the first steps to break his nearly $450 billion jobs bill into pieces for possible votes. It's the only way elements of the measure stand a chance of passing, given that Senate Republicans blocked action on the full package last week.

The bus trip has given the president the opportunity to promote elements of his jobs plan in places the White House says would benefit most should the measures pass.

Obama has spoken at high schools and community colleges where the administration says new spending would prevent teacher layoffs, as well as a small, regional area airport near Asheville, N.C., where Obama pressed for government funds to renovate an outdated runway.

Wednesday's stops were following a similar pattern.

Obama has proposed a Returning Heroes tax credit of up to $5,600 for businesses that hire unemployed veterans who have been out of work for six months or more, as well as a Wounded Warriors tax credit of nearly $10,000 for unemployed veterans with service-related disabilities who also have been looking for work for at least six months.

"When I first proposed this idea in a joint session of Congress, people stood up and applauded on both sides of the aisle," Obama said about tax credits to encourage hiring of veterans. "So when it comes for a vote in the Senate, I expect to get votes from both sides of the aisle. Don't just applaud about it. Vote for it."

Obama was on his way to North Chesterfield, Va., where he was to speak at a local fire station. He was returning to Washington later Wednesday.

Republicans have criticized Obama's bus trip as being more focused on selling the president's re-election than solving the country's economic woes. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said Wednesday: ""Let's park the campaign bus, put away the talking points, and do something to address this jobs crisis."

Top Virginia Democrats, including Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb, are not expected to appear with the president Wednesday, nor is Tim Kaine, the former governor and chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who is running to replace the retiring Webb.

However, Virginia's popular Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell did meet with the president Wednesday morning at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-10-19-Obama/id-3dc815bbd1cb4b748aa326f965779171

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Obama on NC, VA bus tour: 'I'm the president' (AP)

JAMESTOWN, N.C. ? President Barack Obama appealed anew Tuesday for Americans to put pressure on Republican members of Congress to support his jobs legislation, declaring that "we are in this together."

And Obama said he hit the road to take his case directly to the people for a simple reason: "I'm the president."On the second-day of a three-day tour to continue pushing his ideas for creating jobs, Obama acknowledged he's been asked why he is taking time to ride a bus through small-town North Carolina, a traditionally Republican state that he won in 2008 and hopes to win again.

"I'm not the Democratic president or the Republican president," Obama said at a community college in Jamestown, N.C. " ... I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat because we're all Americans."

Although Republicans blocked his $447 billion jobs plan in the Senate, Obama is continuing an aggressive effort to rally public support for his ideas and to portray Republicans as the ones standing in the way of creating jobs at a time of high unemployment.

"We don't need a Republican jobs act or a Democratic jobs act. We need a jobs act," the president said. "We need to put people back to work right now." He has said that lawmakers will break up the bill and vote on its individual components.

Obama said the ideas in his jobs bill previously have been supported by lawmakers in both parties. "What makes it different this time other than that I proposed it," he asked.

Obama's ride for this trip through winding mountain roads isn't his usual mode of transportation, the modified aircraft known as Air Force Once. Rather, it's a sleek, million-dollar Secret Service-approved bus that's giving the president a chance to sit back, admire the colorful fall foliage and bask in some small-town Southern hospitality.

"Saw the mountains, saw some lakes, saw all the wonderful people in this part of the country," Obama said Monday during a speech in rural Millers Creek.

"Even the folks who don't vote for me are nice," he added.

At the heart of Obama's three-day bus trip through North Carolina and Virginia is the sales pitch for elements of the jobs bill.

But the president is also selling himself, an incumbent running for re-election, trying to re-energize voters whose enthusiasm may have waned. That's particularly important in North Carolina, a state Obama wrested from Republicans in 2008, but which could slip out of his grasp next November.

To try to recapture some of his electoral appeal, Obama turned to campaign staples: barbecue, babies and barrels of candy.

Obama spent more than four hours Monday driving through the Blue Ridge Mountains, which were bright with red and orange fall leaves. He stopped off in Marion, population 8,075, for lunch at Countryside Barbeque. He ordered at the counter ? the barbecue platter and sweet tea ? then spent more than half an hour shaking hands and having his picture taken with the lunchtime crowd.

The tech-savvy president even helped one woman figure out how to take a photo on her smartphone.

Obama had a close encounter with one baby boy: "I think you got some biscuit on me," he said as he handed the child back to his mother.

And he made personal appeals for his economic policies, telling one table of local businessmen about his call for $50 billion more in new infrastructure spending. He said, "We're going to have to do it eventually, so why not do it now?"

Obama's unscheduled stops aren't wholly impromptu. White House staffers typically scope out areas in advance and Secret Service officers arrive well ahead of the president.

But they're about as spontaneous as it gets for the president, and afford him the freedom of personal, retail politics that's often missing in the highly scripted White House.

Obama's bus, as well as the staff and press vans that followed behind, passed crowds of people lined up on the sidewalks of small towns and residents sitting on lawn chairs in their front yards. A group of schoolchildren gathered outside their classrooms, waving small American flags. A man pulled his car over to the side of the road and saluted as the commander in chief sped by.

One woman held a sign reading "We believe. We voted. Now What?" That message underscored the challenge Obama faces as he seeks to rally his supporters ahead of the 2012 election.

Key to Obama's 2008 success in North Carolina was his campaign's ability to boost voter turnout among young people. And there were plenty of them in Boone, home to Appalachian State University, when Obama stopped Monday at Mast General Store.

The store was filled with barrels of candy, which Obama started grabbing by the handful ? to help the White House prepare for Halloween, he said.

"On Halloween, the first lady doesn't mind," Obama said of his health-conscious wife.

Day two of Obama's bus trip was ending in Hampton, Va., with hours of drive time in between to give Obama plenty more chances for unscheduled stops.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111018/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_on_the_road

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A Very Bieber Christmas: Justin Biebers Christmas Album and 4 More Celeb Christmas Albums Due Out in 2011 (omg!)

Okay, so Halloween isn't even over yet and already we're talking about Christmas!

But this news is even better than a Halloween treat-- at least for Beliebers! This holiday season, fans of Justin Bieber will gets something extra special in their stocking, because the tween heart throb has a Christmas coming out!

Bieber's "Under the Mistletoe" is due out on November 1 and part of the proceeds will go to charities like Pencils of Promise and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Bieber teams up with pals like Busta Rhymes, Mariah Carey and Usher on the album, which contains familiar holiday fare as well as a few Bieber-penned originals. (Will "Christmas Love" become the new "White Christmas?")

So what other celeb Christmas albums can we look forward to this holiday season?

Michael Buble- "Christmas"

Look out, Frank Sinatra! This modern day smooth crooner's new album, "Christmas," hits stores on October 24 and features traditional holiday faves like "I'll be Home for Christmas" and "Silent Night." Buble gets a little help from friend Shania Twain when she does a virtual duet with him for the song "White Christmas" (Twain connected with Buble via Skype to record the song). You can get an exclusive first listen to clips from Buble's Christmas album here.

She & Him- "A Very She and Him Christmas"

Talk about multi-talented! "New Girl" star Zooey Deschanel is also part of the folk/indie rock band She & Him. The band's Christmas album be released on October 25 and will feature several covers of classic holiday tunes like "Silver Bells" and "The Christmas Song." Highlight: "Baby It's Cold Outside," which Deschanel also dueted with Will Ferrell in the 2003 movie, "Elf."

Scott Weiland- "The Most Wonderful Time of the Year"

It's a long road from his Stone Temple Pilots days! Singer Scott Weiland doesn't try to give Christmas standards an alternative twist. Instead, he plays lounge singer and goes traditional with his renditions of the title track and "Winter Wonderland." Clips are here-- with nary a trace of the "Sex Type Thing" singer's trademark sound. Weiland's album is due out on October 24.

Carole King- "A Holiday Carole"

At age 69, the legendary Carole King is finally releasing her very first holiday album. King has already said the highlight of the album is the song "Chanukah Prayer," a song built around a Chanukah prayer that her family learned over the generations. "A Holiday Carole" will be released on November 1.

More From This Contributor:

Justin Bieber Sundae: 5 More Celebrity Inspired Foods

Five Movie Stars Who Make Beautiful Music

Country Music Couples

Note: This was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Join the Yahoo! Contributor Network here to start publishing your own articles.

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UK orders asset freeze over assassination plot (AP)

LONDON ? Britain's Treasury said Tuesday it had ordered the assets of five men frozen in connection with the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.

The finance ministry confirmed that it had acted under the Terrorist Asset Freezing Act, after ministers pledged action in response to the purported plan to kill Saudi envoy Adel Al-Jubeir in a bomb attack.

The decision does not necessarily mean that the five men hold assets in Britain.

Two men have been charged by U.S. authorities, who accused them of attempting to hire an alleged Mexican drug cartel member to carry out the killing.

U.S. officials have described the plot as a clumsy but serious operation by Iran's elite foreign action unit, the Quds Force.

A spokesman for Britain's Treasury, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with policy, said the ministry had imposed asset freezes against five men.

They include both men charged in the case ? Manssor Arbabsiar, a 56-year-old U.S. citizen who also holds an Iranian passport, and Gholam Shakuri, an alleged member of Iran's Quds Force, who is at large in Iran.

Britain also froze the assets of three other men ? Hamed Abdollahi, a senior Quds officer alleged to have helped coordinate the plot, Abdul Reza Shahlai and Qasem Soleimani, the commander of the Quds force who allegedly oversaw the plot. The U.S. last week acted against the same five men.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told the House of Commons last week that the alleged plan "would appear to constitute a major escalation in Iran's sponsorship of terrorism outside its borders."

He said talks were ongoing between the United States, Britain, Saudi Arabia and the European Union over whether to impose additional sanctions, which could include measures against Iran's regime, or specific entities.

"We are in close touch with the U.S. authorities and will work to agree an international response," Hague said.

U.S. President Barack Obama said last week that officials at the "highest levels" of the Iranian government must be held accountable.

Iran has strongly denied any involvement in the alleged plot.

U.S. National Security Council spokesman Tommy Vietor said he welcomed Britain's decision to impose the sanctions.

"This sends yet another message that the international community rejects this flagrant violation of international law," Vietor said in a statement.

___

Darlene Superville in Washington contributed to this report

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111018/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_ambassador_plot

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France warns on 2012 growth; Moody's starts probe (AP)

PARIS ? France's finance minister said Tuesday that 2012 growth may be lower than estimated, a day after a leading agency warned that it may put the country's cherished triple-A rating on notice for a possible downgrade.

Ahead of the 2012 budget debate in parliament, Finance Minister Francois Baroin warned on France-2 television that the growth estimate of 1.5 percent for next year was "probably too high."

He blamed the risk of a global slowdown, which he said could be "very vast" and "severe."

Baroin said the government would "put everything in place to avoid falling into a recession... and to protect our country from a downgrade" of its triple A rating, a day after Moody's said it was assessing the country.

However, Baroin said he wouldn't change the forecast just yet, especially in the run-up to the meeting of eurozone leaders in Brussels this Sunday and the early November meeting of the Group of 20 leaders from the industrial and developing world.

"If we are capable in the next two weeks of .... measures powerful enough to stop speculation so that we can make people understand that we will not let 60 years of European construction collapse ... then I will have no worries, there will be growth in 2012 and 1.5 percent will be achieved," he said.

Being the eurozone's second largest economy, France could well have a big bill to pay for sorting out Europe's debt crisis.

It's in that context that Moody's said it will be studying whether to put France's rating on notice for a possible downgrade over the next three months. It said it will focus in on the government's ability to implement its fiscal and economic reforms as well as any other potential adverse economic or financial market developments.

It said the French government has much less room for maneuver in terms if stretching its balance sheet than it had in 2008.

"France may face a number of challenges in the coming months ? for example, the possible need to provide additional support to other European sovereigns or to its own banking system, which could give rise to significant new liabilities for the government's balance sheet," Moody's said.

Moody's warning comes ahead of Sunday's meeting of eurozone leaders in Brussels. For days, markets have been hopeful that they would unveil a comprehensive solution to Europe's debt crisis that would include a big ramp up in the bailout fund, a recapitalization of a large segment of the banking sector and a strategy for Greece.

However, on Monday German officials sought to downplay market expectations and the market mood has turned sour once again. France's CAC-40 index of leading shares was underperforming its main peers in Europe on Tuesday, trading 1.7 percent lower as against the 0.6 percent fall on the German DAX.

Ahead of the meeting on Sunday in Brussels, the markets will be closely monitoring comments from all round Europe.

Jan Kees de Jager, the Netherlands finance minister, said the meeting needs to produce concrete results even though his counterpart in Germany, Wolfgang Schaeuble, said Monday that the weekend summit would not provide a "definitive solution."

De Jager is quoted in Germany's Die Welt newspaper Tuesday as saying that the markets "are awaiting a long-term solution. The overall package must involve a wide-reaching and irreversible agreement over enhanced controls in the eurozone in the future."

____

David Rising in Berlin contributed to this story.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111018/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_europe_financial_crisis

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Son of slain US-born al-Qaida cleric killed in airstrike

The United States has raised the tempo in its war against al-Qaida in Yemen, killing nine of the terror group's militants in the second, high-profile airstrike in as many weeks. The dead in the late Friday night strike included the son of Anwar al-Awlaki, the prominent American-Yemeni militant killed in a Sept. 30 strike.

Yemeni officials on Saturday attributed the recent U.S. successes against al-Qaida to better intelligence from an army of Yemeni informers and cooperation with the Saudis, Washington's longtime Arab allies.

The successes come even as Yemen falls deeper into turmoil, with President Ali Abdullah Saleh clinging to power in the face of months of massive protests. Saturday saw the worst bloodshed in weeks in the capital, Sanaa: At least 18 people were killed when Saleh's troops fired on protesters and clashed with rivals. Witnesses estimated up to 300,000 people joined Saturday's demonstrations, the largest in the capital in several months.

"Everyone with interests in Yemen, including al-Qaida and the Americans, is raising the stakes at this time of uncertainty" said analyst Abdul-Bari Taher. "The Americans are wasting no time to try and eliminate the al-Qaida threat before the militants dig in deeper and cannot be easily dislodged."

Also dead in the Friday airstrike in the southeastern province of Shabwa was Egyptian-born Ibrahim al-Banna, identified by the nation's Defense Ministry as the media chief of the Yemeni branch of the al-Qaida.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, as the branch is known, is considered by the U.S. the most dangerous of the terror network's affiliates after it plotted two recent failed attacks on American soil. Its fighters and other Islamic militants have taken advantage of Yemen's chaos to seize control of several cities and towns in a southern province. That has raised American fears they can establish a firmer foothold in the strategically located country close to the vast oil fields of the Gulf and overlooking key shipping routes.

The U.S. airstrikes in Shabwa pointed to Washington's growing use of drones to target al-Qaida militants in Yemen. The missile attacks appear to be part of a determined effort to stamp out the threat from the group.

Yemeni officials familiar with the U.S. military drive against al-Qaida in Yemen said a shift of strategy by the Americans was finally yielding results, with human assets on the ground directly providing actionable intelligence to U.S. commanders rather than relying entirely on Yemen's security agencies the Americans had long considered inefficient or even suspected of leaking word on planned operations.

They said there were as many as 3,000 informers on the U.S. payroll around the country ? some without even knowing it.

The Saudis, on the other hand, have traditionally kept an elaborate patronage system and an information network in Yemen, their neighbor to the south. They have for decades paid monthly stipends to key tribal leaders, military commanders and politicians to secure their loyalty. They also paid ordinary Yemenis to provide them with intelligence.

"The Saudis are making their information available to the Americans," said one of the defense officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to share the information. "Both them and the Americans are broadening their cooperation without direct Yemeni involvement."

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Drone strikes
Tribal elders in the area where Friday's strikes took place said the dead included Abdul-Rahman al-Awlaki, the 21-year-old son of Anwar al-Awlaki, a Muslim preacher and savvy Internet operator who became a powerful al-Qaida recruiting tool in the West and who was on a U.S. capture-or-kill list. The elder al-Awlaki and another propagandist, Pakistani-American Samir Khan, were killed in the Sept. 30 srike.

The tribal elders, who spoke Saturday on condition of anonymity because they feared reprisals, said four other members of the al-Awlaki clan and another local militant were also killed in the same drone attack. There was no immediate confirmation of the younger al-Awlaki's death from Yemeni authorities.

Security officials said the strike was one of five carried out overnight by American drones on suspected al-Qaida positions in Shabwa and neighboring Abyan province in Yemen's largely lawless south. They said two more militants were killed and 12 wounded in other strikes in the two provinces.

The first strike late Friday targeted a house in the Azan district of Shabwa, but hit just after al-Qaida militants had a meeting in the building, security officials and tribal elders said.

They said a second strike then targeted two sport utility vehicles in which the seven were traveling, destroying the vehicles and leaving the men's bodies charred. It was not clear whether other participants in the meeting were targeted in separate strikes.

Yemen's al-Qaida offshoot has taken advantage of the political turmoil roiling the country. Saleh, who has ruled the country for more than 30 years, has been struggling to stay in power in the face of eight months of massive street protests demanding his ouster and the defection to the opposition of key aides and military commanders.

Protest turns deadly
In Sanaa, forces loyal to Saleh opened up on protesters with assault rifles and anti-aircraft guns, medical officials and witnesses said. The casualty figures ? 12 dead and up to 300 wounded ? were confirmed by Mohammed al-Qubati, director of the field hospital set up at Change square, the name given to a central Sanaa intersection that saw the birth of the eight-month-old, anti-Saleh uprising.

The medical officials requested anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to journalists.

In Sanaa's northern district of Hassaba, fighting between Saleh's forces on one side and anti-regime tribesmen and renegade troops on the other killed two civilians and four supporters of tribal chief Sadeq al-Ahmar, a one-time regime ally who defected to the opposition in March. At least 13 people were wounded in the fighting.

A three-story building housing an independent TV station, Al-Saeedah, in the area took a direct hit, destroying the channel's equipment and studios, according to a statement by the management. The privately-owned station went off the air.

Khaled al-Ansi, a prominent leader of the protest movement, blamed the death of the proetsters on opposition parties, arguing that their acceptance of a U.S.-backed settlement plan proposed by Yemen's Gulf Arab neighbors gave Saleh license to kill protesters at will. The plan provides for the Yemeni leader to step down and hand over power to his deputy in exchange for immunity.

"The political parties are participants in the killings," said al-Ansi. "The immunity from prosecution is giving Saleh a temptation to kill more of us."

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44912445/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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TiPb celebrity iPhone and iPad sightings roundup for October 9, 2011 [NSFW]

Hello everyone and welcome to a little feature we like to call the TiPb celebrity iPhone and iPad sightings roundup! Time to take a little break from your daily routine and relax with a little gossip from the world of the rich and famous. What do all of these...

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/4bedUvq1TN4/

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Personal Injury Claims Legal professionals

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Personal Injury Claims Legal professionals. On October 9, 2011, in Uncategorized, by. If you have endured a personal injury, you can seek compensation for the injuries endured by generating a declare. You can also strategy personal injury ...

Source: http://blatoday.com/09/personal-injury-claims-legal-professionals/

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Tropical Storm Jova forms in the Pacific (AP)

MIAMI ? Forecasters say Tropical Storm Jova has formed in the Pacific off the coast of Mexico.

The National Hurricane Center said Thursday afternoon that Jova was centered about 495 miles (797 kilometers) south-southwest of Manzanillo, Mexico. Forecasters say Jova could become a hurricane by Saturday.

The storm's exact path remains uncertain, but models show Jova could make landfall over the mainland of Mexico sometime next week.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

A new hurricane has brewed up in the Atlantic while Tropical Storm Irwin formed in the Pacific, but both were far out to sea and not on track to threaten any coasts.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said Thursday that Hurricane Philippe had grown out of a tropical storm in the mid-Atlantic and was forecast to stay out in the ocean. It had top winds near 80 miles per hour (130 kph). Some weakening is expected in the next two days.

In the Pacific, Tropical Storm Irwin formed hundreds of miles west of the coast of Mexico's Baja Peninsula.

The storm had top sustained winds of 40 miles per hour (65 kph). It was expected to strengthen slowly in the next two days but far from land.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/weather/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111006/ap_on_re_us/us_tropical_weather

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