Ferry sinks in collision in Philippines; 17 dead

MANILA, Philippines (AP) ? A ferry with nearly 700 people aboard sank near the central Philippine port of Cebu on Friday night after colliding with a cargo vessel, killing at least 17 people. Hundreds of others were rescued.

The captain of the ferry MV Thomas Aquinas ordered the ship abandoned after it began listing and then sank after hitting the cargo vessel, coast guard officer Joy Villegas said.

The coast guard said 17 people were confirmed dead, including children, and 525 had been rescued several hours after the collision. Authorities were still checking the number of others who had been taken to hospitals.

Two coast guard vessels and other nearby ships were involved in the rescue operation not far from the port of Cebu, Villegas said.

Hundreds of passengers jumped into the ocean as the ship started to sink, according to survivors. Many of the passengers were asleep and others struggled to find their way in the dark.

Jerwin Agudong said he and other passengers jumped overboard in front of the cargo vessel after the ferry began taking on water and the crew distributed life jackets.

He told radio station DZBB that some people were trapped and he saw bodies in the water.

"It seems some were not able to get out. I pity the children. We saw dead bodies on the side, and some being rescued," he said.

He said the ferry was entering the pier when the cargo vessel, which was on the way out, suddenly collided with it.

"One of the persons who jumped with us hit his head on metal. He is shaking and he is bloodied," Agudong said.

The 138-meter (455-foot) -long ferry sank in about 30 minutes, he said.

The youngest among those rescued was an 11-month baby, news reports said.

The ferry came from Nasipit in Agusan del Sur province in the southern Philippines on a daylong journey, Agudong said.

Accidents at sea are common in the Philippine archipelago because of frequent storms, badly maintained boats and weak enforcement of safety regulations.

In 1987, the ferry Dona Paz sank after colliding with a fuel tanker in the Philippines, killing more than 4,341 people in the world's worst peacetime maritime disaster.

In 2008, the ferry MV Princess of the Stars capsized during a typhoon in the central Philippines, killing nearly 800 people.

___

Associated Press writer Hrvoje Hranjski contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ferry-sinks-collision-philippines-17-dead-171604013.html

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Obama Cancels Joint Military Exercise With Egypt

US President Barack Obama makes a statement on Egypt August 15, 2013, in Chilmark, Massachusetts

Photo by Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

President Obama on Thursday personally condemned the current violence in Egypt, where at least 500 people were killed and thousands others injured yesterday after government raids of peaceful pro-Morsi protests sparked widespread violence.?"The cycle of violence and escalation needs to stop,"?Obama said from Martha's Vineyard, where he is on vacation. "The Egyptian people deserve better than what we've seen over the last several days."

The words of condemnation were partly backed up by Obama's announcement that he is canceling a joint biennial military?exercise (known as Operation Bright Star) with Egypt that had been set to take place next month in the Sinai region. That decision follows last month's move to halt a planned delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Egypt. Still, it's up for debate just how much of a signal the Bright Star decision sends to Egypt's current leaders?particularly given the still-climbing death toll on Cairo's streets, and the fact that the United States is giving $1.3?billion in annual military aid to Egypt?s interim government.

The joint exercise was also canceled two years ago in 2011, during the political turmoil that followed the ouster of Hosni Mubarak, and last occurred in 2009, according to Reuters. "While we want to sustain our relationship with Egypt, our traditional cooperation cannot continue as usual when civilians are being killed in the streets," Obama said, promising that he was prepared to take further steps if the bloodshed continues.

This pos has been updated.

Source: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/08/15/obama_egypt_president_condemns_violence_cancels_joint_military_operation.html

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Wal-Mart cuts profit outlook on shopper worries

This July 12, 2013, photo, shows a Wal-Mart, in Bristol, Pa. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reports quarterly financial results on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

This July 12, 2013, photo, shows a Wal-Mart, in Bristol, Pa. Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reports quarterly financial results on Thursday, Aug. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Wal-Mart Stores Inc. cut its annual profit and revenue outlook Thursday as the world's largest retailer expects a tough economy at home and abroad to continue to squeeze its low-income shoppers through the rest of the year.

Wal-Mart also reported second-quarter results that missed Wall Street estimates. The company's stock fell nearly 2 percent in premarket trading.

The spring and early summer showed some improvement from the first quarter, but overall, it's been a tough first half of the year for the discounter.

Wal-Mart's sober assessment of consumer spending adds to worries in earnings from Macy's Inc. and Kohl's Corp. Both lowered their expectations for the year after reporting disappointing results.

Wal-Mart is considered an economic bellwether because the retailer accounts for nearly 10 percent of nonautomotive retail spending in the U.S. The latest performance indicates that many American households continue to struggle in a yo-yo economic recovery.

While jobs are easier to get and the turnaround in the housing market is gaining momentum, the improvements have not been enough to sustain spending for most Americans, who are juggling tepid wage gains and higher costs of living.

On top of that, Wal-Mart said recent tax changes have further put pressure on its shoppers. Americans are dealing with a 2 percentage-point increase in payroll taxes that took effect Jan. 1. That means that take-home pay for a household earning $50,000 a year has been sliced by $1,000.

"The retail environment remains challenging in the U.S. and our international markets, as customers are cautious in their spending," Wal-Mart Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley said in a statement. He noted a "reluctance" among its customers to spend on discretionary items like flat-screen TVs.

During a call with the media, Holley said the top three concerns among its customers are jobs, food costs and gas and energy prices.

The Bentonville, Ark.-based retailer said its second-quarter profit rose 1.3 percent to $4.07 billion, or $1.24 per share, for the three months ended July 31. That compares with $4.02 billion, or $1.18 per share, a year earlier.

Net sales rose 2.4 percent to $116.2 billion. That figure excludes membership fees from its Sam's Club division.

Analysts expected earnings of $1.25 per share on revenue of $118.09 billion.

Revenue at stores open at least a year at Wal-Mart's U.S. namesake business fell 0.3 percent. That's considered an important measure of a retailer's performance. Analysts were expecting a 0.7 percent gain. The decline marks the second straight quarter of declines for the stores after six straight quarters of increases. U.S. Wal-Mart stores account for 59 percent of the company's total sales.

Adding in Sam's Club and international stores, revenue at stores open at least a year was flat compared with a year ago. It rose 1.7 percent at Sam's Club.

The U.S. decline was less steep than in the first quarter, when Wal-Mart's U.S. stores had a 1.4 percent decline in revenue at stores opened at least a year.

Overall, total sales increased only modestly for Wal-Mart's U.S. business, Sam's Club and its international division for the latest quarter. Wal-Mart's U.S. division posted a total sales increase of 2.1 percent to $68.73 billion, while Sam's Club saw a 2.6 percent increase to $14.53 billion.

At Wal-Mart's U.S. stores, clothing did well as the discounter has refocused its offering on basics like socks and no-frills jeans that its shoppers need. During a call with reporters, Holley said it was too early to discuss how the back-to-school business is faring. But he said he's encouraged by early sales of children's clothes.

Still, sporting goods and entertainment products like toys saw declines in the quarter. Cooler weather earlier in the spring hurt merchandise like water toys and pools. And the lack of innovation in the electronics area limited business. But Holley told reporters that shoppers are hesitant to spend on items they really don't need.

In the grocery aisles, Wal-Mart saw a slight decline in sales. A big factor was lower-than- expected inflation, or even deflation in certain cases such as snacks and frozen food. But as Wal-Mart saw in the first quarter, shoppers traded down to cheaper products to save money.

The company's international business had an increase of 2.9 percent to $32.96 billion.

In a prerecorded conference call, Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart's international division said that during the first half of the year, consumers in both developed and emerging markets curbed spending. "We believe these trends will persist through the remainder of the year," he said.

A bribery scandal also threatens to slow its business overseas. Allegations first surfaced in April 2012 that Wal-Mart failed to notify law enforcement that company officials authorized millions of dollars in bribes in Mexico to speed up getting building permits and gain other favors. Wal-Mart has been working with government officials in the U.S. and Mexico on that investigation.

Wal-Mart has been investing in fortifying controls overseas and has hired new executives to comply with laws against foreign bribes but also strengthen controls in other areas like food safety.

Wal-Mart said it now expects total sales to rise 2 to 3 percent for the full year. The company's previous forecast was for growth of 5 percent to 6 percent.

The company also took a dime per share off its full-year profit outlook, cutting it to between $5.10 and $5.30 per share, from between $5.20 and $5.40 per share.

Analysts were expecting $5.29 per share.

Wal-Mart's stock fell nearly 2 percent, or $1.47, to $74.93 in premarket trading.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2013-08-15-US-Earns-Wal-Mart/id-b771a5b08d544564a6f998f1a6a53625

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Mexico joins America?s oil boom

Mexico Joins America?s Oil Boom

WRITTEN BY?CHRISS W. STREET

Mexico, which in 1938 was the first country in the world to nationalize its oil and gas sector, formally began the process to amend its constitution on August 12^th?to end the state-owned-monopoly for energy exploration, development and distribution, known as Pemex.? Over the last 10 years Mexican oil and gas production fell by 30%, while U.S. and Canadian production leaped by 50%, due to new technology and capital investment.? Forming joint-ventures with U.S. and foreign oil companies will allow Mexico?s to stabilize its production and offers huge opportunities for growth through deep-water exploration and fracking.? Modernization of the oil industry heralds a coming economic boom for Mexico and North American energy security for the United States.

?Commercial production of crude oil in Mexico began in 1901 and Mexico began exporting oil after substantial investments by U.S. oil companies in 1911.? Following the bloody Mexican Revolution, the new government passed the?Constitution of 1917?that granted the Mexican government under Article 27 the permanent and complete rights to all subsoil resources in the country.? In 1925, the Mexican government?decreed that foreign oil companies must register their titles and limited their concessions to fifty years.? Thirteen years later, the government expropriated all oil rights and assets.

This nationalization led to a boycott of Mexican oil by the U.S. and the U.K.? Mexico responded by?exporting oil?to fascist regimes in Germany and Spain, until WWII began and exports ceased in 1940.? Mexico?s oil output expanded at an average annual rate of 6%, but in 1957 Mexico became a net petroleum importer after domestic demand exceeded domestic production.? In 2007, Mexico was the sixth largest producer of oil, but with falling production Mexico has dropped to the 14^th?largest producer.? This is despite quadrupling annual investment from $5 billion to $20 billion during the period.

Pemex has always been known for?high levels of corruption.? The state-owned-enterprise officially has approximately 150,000 employees.? But tens of thousands of these workers are ?aviadores? (aviators), this is the Mexican nickname corrupt ghost workers who are paid each week, but never show up to work.? To get a job at Pemex, Mexicans have been required to pay cash bribes in U.S. dollars.? The cost for a Pemex manual labor union job through the Sindicato de Trabajadores Petroleros de la Rep?blica Mexicana as a gas station attendant is $6,000.? The cost for an administrative management job through the Uni?n Nacional de T?cnicos y Profesionistas Petroleros is $33,000.? Pemex also provides the unions $20 million per year to pay for expenses for celebrations such as the anniversary of petroleum expropriation and May parades, economic support for the general executive committee, travel, promotion of cultural and sporting activities, and contract costs associated with the annual revisions to the national collective bargaining agreements.

According to Agencia EFE, a Spanish-language news agency, a Pemex Deputy Comptroller stated that between 2006 and 2010, within Pemex?s largest unit, Pemex Exploraci?n y Producci?n, there were 153 cases of fraud detected.? The corruption reportedly includes: inflating multimillion dollar contracts, giving contracts in exchange for favors, and giving contracts without a license to friends, giving contracts to unqualified firms and helping criminal groups to steal fuel.

President Pena Nieto and his Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) are acutely aware of that falling oil production and reserve replacement will accelerate to the downside if Article 27 is not amended, in order to encourage joint-venture foreign investment and introduction of proprietary American technologies.? Mexico intends to continue to own all subsoil minerals, but foreign firms will now be allowed to form profit-sharing contracts.? Pemex lacks the technology and expertise to expand production, such as in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico and the shale gas plays in the northeast of the country. ?To provide political cover for the reform, joint-ventures will require 30% Mexican content for equipment purchases to stimulate Mexican manufacturing.

President Pena Nieto and the PRI have partnered with the pro-business National Action Party (PAN) to gain the 2/3 majority in parliament that is necessary to amend the Mexican constitution.? The PAN tried unsuccessfully for 12 years to change Article 27 to eliminate monopolies in oil, gas and electricity.? With few major disagreements between the PAN and the PRI on the proposal, and with the major pillars of the ruling party apparently in favor of the reforms, Pena Nieto?s efforts now are more of a?public relations campaign than anything else.

The United States stands to be a huge economic winner in the modernization of Mexico?s oil and gas industry.? American companies uniquely have the capital and the technology to grow Mexican production and every barrel of oil produced in North America reduces the United States? reliance on Middle East oil.

CHRISS STREET & PAUL PRESTON
Present On the Republic Radio Network in the USA and Canada
?The Agenda 21 Radio Talk Show?
Streaming Live Monday through Friday at 7-10 PM
http://www.republicbroadcasting.org/shoutcast/shoutcast.html

Visit Our Blogs:??www.chrissstreetandcompany.com?&??www.agenda21radio.com

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Advancing resistive memory to improve portable electronics

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Scientists have developed a novel way to build what many see as the next generation memory storage devices for portable electronic devices including smart phones, tablets, laptops and digital cameras.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/FIRdZN_y9JI/130814101427.htm

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Played a nice little prank on our Twitter followers! haha

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