Strike shuts down Greece before austerity vote (Reuters)

ATHENS (Reuters) ? Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in front of the Greek parliament on Wednesday and there were isolated outbreaks of violence as a general strike shut down much of the country ahead of a vote on a painful new round of austerity measures.

With memories still fresh of the running battles that marked anti-austerity protests in June, more than 5,000 police were deployed on the streets and the mood among the demonstrators was angry.

"We have no future here. All young people want to go abroad and they are right to do so," said Anastasia Kolokotsa, 17, protesting outside parliament.

"There are no jobs, there is nothing here."

Many young protesters were carrying helmets and by early afternoon there were reports of clashes away from the main rally involving masked, black-clad youths hurling Molotov cocktails at police who answered with teargas.

The 48-hour strike shut down government departments, businesses and public services, as well as shops and bakeries. Some 150 domestic and international flights were canceled.

Prime Minister George Papandreou, trailing badly in opinion polls, has appealed for support from Greeks before parliament votes on the latest measures which include tax hikes, wage cuts and public sector layoffs.

But after repeated rounds of austerity measures, hostility to the government and the international lenders demanding ever tougher action has risen to new levels. Unions urged deputies not to pass the law.

"If they have any humanity, decency, sense of pride and Greek soul left, they must reject the bill," Nikos Kioutsoukis, a top official in private sector union GSEE which is leading the strike with its public sector counterpart ADEDY.

With Greece's stricken economy already on its knees, protesters said more austerity measures would only drive the country deeper into the ground.

"The dangerous slide in the economy and the society must stop," small business association GSEVEE said. "It only leads to further shutdowns, unemployment, pauperization, wider deficits and even bigger debt."

Unions said before the strike they expected one of the biggest demonstrations since the start of the crisis two years ago. By early afternoon, Syntagma Square outside parliament was packed with protesters.

Apart from the rally, the streets of central Athens were eerily quiet with posters reading "We are shutting down for the day so that we don't shut down forever," plastered over shuttered storefronts.

RECESSION

Wednesday's action comes as European Union leaders scramble to outline a new rescue package in time for a summit on Sunday that hopes to agree measures to protect the region's financial system from a potential Greek debt default.

"We are in an agonizing but necessary struggle to avoid the final and harshest point of the crisis," Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos told parliament. "From now and until Sunday were are fighting the battle of all battles."

Trapped in the third year of deep recession and strangled by a public debt amounting to 162 percent of gross domestic product which few now believe can be paid back, Greece has sunk ever deeper into crisis.

Papandreou's narrow four-seat majority is expected to be enough to ensure the austerity bill goes through, especially given possible support from a smaller opposition group.

But party discipline is increasingly strained with one PASOK deputy resigning his seat in protest and at least two others threatening to vote against part of the package dealing with collective wage bargaining agreements.

"DEBT MONSTER"

Speaking in parliament on Wednesday, Dimitris Reppas, minister for Administrative Reform, reflected the increasing sense of isolation among many in the ruling party, complaining he felt as though he had been thrown to the lions.

"In government, we often feel like ... we are in the Colosseum, fighting the debt monster while everybody else is just sitting in the stands, watching and commenting," he said.

A first vote takes place late on Wednesday on the overall bill, which mixes deep cuts to public sector pay and pensions, tax hikes, a suspension of sectoral pay accords and an end to the constitutional taboo against laying off civil servants.

A second vote on specific articles is expected some time on Thursday and only after that the bill becomes law.

International lenders, who are providing the funds Athens needs to stay afloat after it was shut out of bond markets last year, have expressed impatience at the slow pace of reform as Greece has slipped behind on its budget targets.

There has been growing talk that Athens should be placed under tighter supervision by EU authorities to ensure it meets its reform obligations.

Squeezed between escalating popular protests against the cuts already imposed and demands from the EU and International Monetary Fund for even tougher action, Papandreou's support has appeared increasingly uncertain.

Although the government has repeatedly ruled out early elections, many political analysts now believe that a snap ballot will probably be held some time in the coming months.

(Additional reporting by Harry Papachristou and John Kolesidis; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Sophie Hares)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/eurobiz/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111019/wl_nm/us_greece

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Clinton holds more talks with Pakistan officials (AP)

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan ? U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is holding a second day of talks with top Pakistani officials to press them to do more to combat insurgents.

Clinton was to meet Friday with Pakistan's president and foreign minister after a lengthy four-hour discussion on Thursday with top Pakistani military and intelligence officials. At Thursday's talks, Clinton led a high-level US delegation, including CIA director David Petraeus and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey.

The Obama administration is demanding that Pakistan step up efforts to fight militants intent on destabilizing neighboring Afghanistan. Clinton on Thursday delivered a blunt warning that the United States will do what it must to go after militants in Pakistan and Afghanistan, whether Pakistan helps or not.

She is heading an unusually large delegation for the talks with civilian and military leaders who have resisted previous U.S. demands to take a harder tack against militants who attack American soldiers and interests in Afghanistan.

The U.S. contingent was meant to display unity among the various U.S. agencies, including the CIA, Pentagon and State Department, with an interest in Pakistan. CIA chief David Petraeus and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey joined Clinton, who said the team would "push Pakistan very hard."

Clinton arrived in Islamabad from Afghanistan, where she told Pakistan it must be part of the solution to the Afghan conflict. She said the U.S. expects the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services to take the lead in fighting Pakistan-based militants and also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile.

The meetings have focused on the recurrent U.S. demand that Pakistan launch its own offensive against a lethal Taliban affiliate known as the Haqqani network which operates on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.

U.S. officials claim Pakistan either tolerates or supports the group's activities.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111021/ap_on_re_as/as_us_pakistan

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Record number of jaguars found in Bolivia

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

In a new camera trap survey in the world's most biologically diverse landscape, researchers for the Wildlife Conservation Society have identified more individual jaguars than ever before.

Using technology first adapted to identify tigers by stripe patterns, WCS conservationists have identified 19 individual jaguars by spot patterns in the rainforests of Bolivia, a record number for a single camera trap survey in the country. The animals were identified from a total of 975 photographs, a record number of images due to the use of digital cameras as opposed to camera traps that use film.

The images come from the Alto Madidi and Alto Heath, a region at the headwaters of the Madidi and Heath Rivers inside Bolivia's outstanding Madidi National Park. The survey also included Ixiamas Municipal Reserve, created following a previous WCS survey in 2004 along the Madidi River, which revealed a high abundance of jaguars and other species such as white-lipped peccaries, spider monkeys, and giant otters.

"We're excited about the prospect of using these images to find out more about this elusive cat and its ecological needs," said WCS Conservationist Dr. Robert Wallace. "The data gleaned from these images provide insights into the lives of individual jaguars and will help us generate a density estimate for the area."

The study is noteworthy in its use of digital camera traps replacing the traditional film units used in the past. The cameras are strategically placed along pathways in the forest and especially the beaches of rivers and streams for weeks at a time, snapping pictures of animals that cross an infrared beam. Now, researchers returning to the traps can download the images in seconds, rather than waiting days for film to develop. Before embarking on second field trip to the even more remote Heath River, Bolivian jaguar field biologist Guido Ayala noted that "series of digital images also capture more data than traditional film."

"The preliminary results of this new expedition underscore the importance of the Madidi landscape to jaguars and other charismatic rainforest species," said Dr. Julie Kunen, Director of WCS's Latin America and Caribbean Program. "Understanding the densities and ranging habits of jaguars is an important step in formulating effective management plans for what is arguably the most biodiverse landscape on the planet."

Madidi National Park is one of the top tourist attractions in Bolivia and is the centerpiece of a continuous chain of six national protected areas in northwestern Bolivia and southeastern Peru, one of the largest such complexes in the world.

WCS works to develop local capacity to conserve the landscape from a variety of threats, including the negative environmental impacts from poorly planned development such as road construction, hydroelectric projects, logging, and agricultural expansion. WCS also works to improve local livelihoods through community enterprises.

WCS has worked to protect jaguars for decades and launched the WCS Jaguar Conservation Program in 1999 to assess the needs of jaguars in the wild and to minimize potential conflicts with humans.

###

Wildlife Conservation Society: http://www.wcs.org

Thanks to Wildlife Conservation Society for this article.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114465/Record_number_of_jaguars_found_in_Bolivia

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Occupy Wall Street becomes NYC tourist stop (AP)

NEW YORK ? Shawn Lahey, a ruler factory worker from Poughkeepsie, was watching the show. A dancing man held a pole marked "corporation," attached to a noose marked "financial system" ? from which another dancing man was "hanging." Masked drummers provided a thumping soundtrack.

Times Square? Nope. He was all the way down in Manhattan's financial district, where the Occupy Wall Street protesters have camped out for more than a month.

Zuccotti Park has become a hub for more than demonstrators. Visitors, curious to see protest in action, are regular arrivals. Some take photographs of themselves, protesters and their signs in the background. On a typical day they clog the pedestrian traffic in the area, which is often bustling with financial district employees pushing their way through.

"I think it's great ? they're trying to make a point," Lahey said, though he added with a wry smile, "... I don't think it'll make any difference. ... The government won't make any changes, because it's all about money."

Jackie Qualizza of Bucyrus, Kansas, challenged protester Art Udeykin, asking him to explain the purpose of the demonstration, which has inspired similar activism in many cities across the nation and around the world.

"Right now, we don't have a goal ? except to back away from the system that's not working," replied Udeykin, a 23-year-old Russian-born Iowan. "This is a way to feel free, to feel normal."

Qualizza said she couldn't see herself demonstrating, but added, "I don't disagree with them. The government bailed out everyone, and things are still not working. Something has to change."

The protest against corporate influence in government and wealth inequality has many of the things tourists look for, including photo-worthy moments and even some trinkets. In this case, the T-shirts and buttons offered by protesters are generally free, though they accept donations.

The double-decker buses offering tours of Manhattan pass by on Broadway, with guides pointing out the park site and tourists ? in sunny weather ? often waving sympathetically at protesters from the top decks.

Wednesday was rainy, but visitors included a group of Chinese tourists accompanied by an interpreter and a guide.

Molly Schwad, a jeweler from Kansas traveling with Qualizza and other friends, said she was surprised by what she saw, compared to the TV coverage of the protest movement.

She saw a rather quiet encampment in the rain, of only about 200 people. At times several hundred people have camped at the park, and some of the demonstrations organized as part of the Occupy Wall Street movement have drawn thousands.

"I thought it was much bigger," Schwad said. "We were afraid there might be violence here."

Marsha Spencer, an unemployed seamstress knitting in the rain at the park Wednesday, gives visitors a view of the protests they may not have expected to see. She returns to her home in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood at night but spends most of each day at the protest.

"When people see a 56-year-old grandmother sitting here, knitting ? they pay attention," she said. "... I tell them I'm here because I want things to change for my five grandchildren."

Some visitors echoed her concerns, including Karen Conrad of Johnstown, Pa., who was in New York last week to visit family and stopped by to show her support.

"I'm a middle-class mother and I can't get ahead. If anything, I'm going downward," she said. She said her two children are burdened by debt from college loans and "won't be out of debt until their own children are ready for college probably."

Demonstrator Julian DeMayo, a law student from Montreal bundled up against the wind and rain, said the tourists' attitude toward the protest has changed over the weeks.

"At first, they seemed skeptical, looking at this like it was a circus show," he said. But more recently, he said, many visitors "looked genuinely interested, and inspired. And they seem impressed by the level of infrastructure."

He added, "I think they also see that there's a huge variety of people here ? young and old, of all races, from everywhere."

Some nearby businesses are far less enamored of the protesters, and say the hubbub outside their doors is costing them money.

Stacey Tzortzatos, manager of Panini & Co., a casual restaurant that's normally bustling as it serves financial district clients, said the eatery has been losing business because police barricades discourage customers from coming in, and media vans are blocking the view.

But the biggest problem, she said, was protesters coming in to use the bathroom ? "30 at a time." She said she put locks on the bathroom doors in response.

"They take showers using the sink, they brush their teeth, and they make a huge mess," she said.

Tzortzatos said she's been harassed and verbally abused by protesters, who have come in eating donated food.

"I was called `evil' for asking whether they were customers, when they came in eating their free pizza, smelling so bad," she said. "It's a constant battle, and it's getting worse as the weeks go by."

Other food venues didn't mind.

"Business is business!" said Alex Gervis, who works behind the counter at Manon, a cafe near Zuccotti Park that sells imported Italian coffee and Belgian chocolates.

He said protesters have come in "six, or even 10, at a time. And as long as they buy something and don't make a mess, we're happy to have them."

The only disruption came several days ago, "when they tried to play guitar," he said. "We can't have that."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111020/ap_on_re_us/us_wall_street_protest_tourism

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The Vampire Diaries Bite: Get the Back Story on the Tyler-Caroline Romance (omg!)

Correction: People-Sarandon-Pope story AP - 8 hours ago

In a story Oct. 18 about a controversy over Susan Sarandon referring to Pope Benedict XVI as a Nazi, The Associated Press erroneously reported that the actress gave Benedict?? More??Correction: People-Sarandon-Pope story

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Quinto feels 'grateful' after coming out

NEW YORK?? Actor Zachary Quinto says he feels a range of emotions after coming out in a recent New York magazine interview, but most of all he's grateful for the kindness he's received since.

"I feel so incredibly grateful to all of the people who've reached out to me directly or indirectly or just in spirit and I feel really, really like my entire future is laid out in a different way and it's thrilling and scary and overwhelming," said Quinto at the premiere of his film "Margin Call" Monday night in New York.

Story: Zachary Quinto comes out as gay

The 34-year-old looks forward to the day when saying you're gay "won't be hard" and won't matter.

"There've been people on this path who were much bigger trailblazers than me who did this at a time when it was even harder ... and if me standing up and making some kind of acknowledgement and declaration helps that, then I can't ask for anything more out of my life."

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Quinto is best known for playing Spock in the latest "Star Trek" movie and for the TV show "Heroes."

Story: Exclusive movie clip: 'Margin Call' turns financial crisis into thriller

He not only acts in "Margin Call" but also serves as an executive producer.

The film focuses on a group of bank employees during a 24 hour period as the 2008 financial crisis is about to hit. It stars a roster of celebrities including Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Simon Baker and Penn Badgley.

"Margin Call" opens October 21.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/44941734/ns/today-entertainment/

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9th Circuit won't rehear Calif. park cross case (AP)

SAN DIEGO ? A federal appeals court declined to rehear the case of a war memorial cross in a public park in San Diego that was deemed unconstitutional, but a group trying to preserve the monument vowed Monday to appeal to the Supreme Court.

The Mount Soledad Memorial Association said the 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday denied its request to let the full court rule on the decades-old case.

The U.S. Department of Justice also had requested the case be reheard to decide the fate of the 29-foot cross in the San Diego suburb of La Jolla that was dedicated in 1954 in honor of Korean War veterans and sits on public land atop a mountain overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The American Civil Liberties Union has been fighting to get the cross removed, saying it is a religious symbol.

Five of the appeals court judges dissented, stating the cross should stay.

"Although we are disappointed that the Ninth Circuit denied requests to have the full court rehear this case, we are encouraged that five of the judges agree with us and believe the cross should stay," said Kelly Shackelford, president of the nonprofit Liberty Institute and attorney for the Mount Soledad Memorial Association, which oversees the monument.

The Supreme Court's conservative majority has signaled a greater willingness to allow religious symbols on public land. The court last year refused to order the removal of a congressionally endorsed war memorial cross from its longtime home atop a remote rocky outcropping in California's Mojave Desert.

The legal fight over the Mount Soledad cross began in 1989 when atheist Philip Paulson sued the city of San Diego. Paulson, a Vietnam War veteran, contended that the cross excludes veterans who aren't Christian. A Jewish war veterans group has also been a plaintiff in the case along with the ACLU.

State and federal judges ordered the cross removed, saying it represents an unconstitutional endorsement of one religion. But in 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked an order that the city take it down that summer, giving lower courts time to hear appeals.

City officials have argued that the cross is part of a secular war memorial, and the cross has been embraced by San Diego residents who in 2005 overwhelmingly approved a measure to preserve it by donating it to the federal government, although the courts said that did not protect it from the constitutional dispute.

"People want this veteran's memorial to remain as it is, from the thousands who visit it each month to honor our nation's veterans, to the 76 percent of San Diegans who voted to give it to the federal government as a national veterans' memorial," said retired Air Force Col. Bruce S. Bailey, president of the Mount Soledad Memorial Association.

Daniel Mach of the ACLU said the latest ruling reaffirms a three-judge panel decision in January that the cross is unconstitutional. That panel indicated there could be ways to remedy the situation without removing the cross, although it did not specify the particular methods.

Mach said the case could be sent back to a San Diego district court, which will decide on those details.

"We're pleased that the court's ruling will stand," said Mach, director of the ACLU's Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief. "The decision not to rehear the case reaffirms the basic principle that the government cannot play favorites with religion."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111017/ap_on_re_us/us_cross_dispute

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