Iran calls for calm in crisis with Britain (Reuters)

TEHRAN (Reuters) ? Iran called on the West to avoid a deepening diplomatic crisis following the storming of the British embassy in Tehran, saying it was an issue between Tehran and London alone, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Britain closed its embassy after Tuesday's incursion by hardline youths and expelled all Iranian diplomats from London. The fallout for Tehran spread when several other countries recalled their envoys, including France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

"The British government is trying to extend to other European countries the problem between the two of us," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was reported as saying by the semi-official Fars news agency.

"But of course we have told European countries not to subject their ties with us to the kind of problems that existed between Iran and Britain."

Western nations on Thursday significantly tightened sanctions against Iran, with the European Union expanding an Iranian blacklist and the U.S. Senate passing a measure that could severely disrupt Iran's oil income.

Iranian diplomats expelled from London arrived home on Saturday to supporters bearing flowers and chanting "Death to England."

"Spy embassy closed for good," read one of the many placards carried by the crowd of some 100 men and women, at Tehran's Mehrabad Airport, most of whom appeared to be members of the hardline Basij militia.

With swift condemnation from around the world, the embassy storming risks further isolating Iran, which is already under several rounds of sanctions.

The incident followed accusations from Washington of an Iranian plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador and a report from the U.N. nuclear watchdog suggesting Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons.

The United States and Israel have not ruled out military strikes if diplomacy fails to resolve the nuclear dispute. Some Israeli leaders have again started to contemplate the idea of military action to prevent Tehran from making bombs.

POLITICAL RIFT

Mixed signals from Tehran over the attack have drawn attention to the deepening political rift within the Iranian leadership, a split created after Iran's disputed 2009 presidential vote.

Iran's foreign ministry immediately apologized for the storming of the embassy, but some hardline rivals of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad praised it, attributing it to a spontaneous outburst by hardline students in reaction to Britain's "historically hostile Iran policy."

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the last say on state matters, and Ahmadinejad have remained silent, a sign of the unease within the clerical establishment over the crisis.

But in remarks reported on Saturday, Ahmadinejad said Iran would not yield to pressures.

"We will stick to our revolution's principles and values with all our power even if the entire world rise up against us," he told a group of clerics, his official website President.ir reported.

Hardline cleric Ahmad Khatami, one of four Tehran Friday prayer leaders appointed by Khamenei, condemned the embassy storming.

"I say this explicitly, that I am opposed to attacks on and occupations of foreign embassies in the Islamic Republic," the students news agency ISNA on Saturday quoted Khatami as saying.

"The attack by the students will lead to a feeling of insecurity among foreign diplomats in Iran," he said.

The protesters stormed two British diplomatic compounds, smashing windows, setting fire to a car and burning the British flag in protest against new sanctions imposed by London.

Analysts say the closure of the embassies, by cutting off the channel of communication, will complicate finding a diplomatic solution to the nuclear dispute.

"The end of talks with major powers means confrontation and military strikes against Iran. This scenario scares the Iranian regime," said one analyst, who asked not to be named.

Analysts say Iranian authorities are concerned about a military strike against their nuclear facilities as well as a revival of anti-government street protests that followed the 2009 vote, which the opposition says was rigged to secure Ahmadinejad's re-election.

"Sanctions are hurting the people and might force them to take to streets to vent their anger over the economy," said analyst Hamid Farahvashi.

"Some Iranian hawks favor a military strike that will reinforce their strength ... But wiser rulers want to preserve the system through an easing of the tension."

(Additional reporting by Sanam Shantyaei, Hashem Kalantari and Robin Pomeroy; Writing by Parisa Hafezi; Editing by Rosalind Russell)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111203/wl_nm/us_iran_britain

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Zach Johnson takes 1-shot lead over Woods (AP)

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. ? Zach Johnson needed something special to track down Tiger Woods in the Chevron World Challenge. Holing a 7-iron from the 18th fairway for eagle did the trick Saturday.

Johnson's shot from 163 yards landed near the cup and spun into the hole, giving him a 4-under 68 and a one-shot lead over Woods going into the final round at Sherwood Country Club.

It was the second eagle on the back nine for Johnson, who also chipped in on the par-5 11th.

Woods had the 36-hole lead for the second straight tournament, and for the second straight time failed to break par in the third round. He had three bogeys on the par 5s and had to settle for a 73, though he had few complaints.

The wind was strong and chilly from the start, and rarely stayed the same direction very long. With a wedge in his hand, Woods went some 40 feet long on the second hole that led to a three-putt bogey. Another wedge on the par-5 13th sailed over the green and left a pitch he had no chance to get close.

Both players ran into trouble on the par-5 16th.

Johnson was playing in the group ahead of Woods, felt the breeze in his face and tried to hammer a driver that went left of the grass and into the gallery. He tried to clear a creek and went into the trees to the right before pitching out and taking a bogey.

Woods was in the fairway, but says a gust took his fairway metal too far right and into a hazard. He thought about trying to hit out behind a pair of rocks before choosing to take a penalty drop, and he also made bogey.

The difference was how they finished.

Johnson three-putted the 17th for another bogey, then drilled his 7-iron at the flag on the 18th for the most unlikely finish to his round. The eagle put him at 8-under 208.

Woods had to settle for pars.

K.J. Choi, who took a double bogey on the second hole, recovered for a 72 and was three shots behind. Everyone else was at least five shots behind, including Matt Kuchar, who played with Woods and had a 74.

The wind was so confounding that the final group was still on the 16th green after four hours, nearly two holes behind the group ahead of them.

Johnson, a former Masters champion, saw his streak end this year of four straight seasons winning on the PGA Tour. The Chevron World Challenge counts toward the world ranking, but is not official for the tour. He still wouldn't mind using it as a springboard for the next season, much like Tom Lehman did in the early days of this event, and Jim Furyk did in 2009.

For Woods, going from a three-shot lead to a one-shot deficit was not the end of the world.

He felt as though he played as well as he had the first two days, without having much luck with the wind. And for a guy who has gone two years without winning, the hardest part of hoisting a trophy is getting a chance.

He at least has that.

"Even though I made three bogeys on the par 5s, I played well," Woods said. "I'm right there with a chance."

Woods still had his three-shot lead when he chipped in from behind the fourth green for birdie. The wind was at its worst on the sixth hole, gusting hard with leaves scattered about the fairway. Woods felt it at his back and to the right, yet as the ball was in the air, it came against him from the left. He came up well short, chipped 7 feet by the hole and lipped out.

Hunter Mahan was the first player to make a run at Woods, going out in 33 and tying for the lead briefly after Woods had a three-putt bogey on the par-3 eighth.

Woods seemed to steady himself with a beautiful flop shot on the 10th that ran up the bank and trickled back 4 feet from the cup, and a solid approach to 18 feet for a two-putt birdie on the 11th.

But he went long of the 13th, turning a birdie hole into a bogey. He made a mess of the 16th with his penalty shot. And he had nothing to match an eagle from the fairway by Johnson on the final hole.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_sp_go_su/glf_chevron_challenge

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Janine R. Wedel: It Was A Wonderful Life: My Odyssey with Bank of America (Huffington post)

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Wall St. rallies on central banks' help for Europe (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Stocks surged on Wednesday after major central banks agreed to make cheaper dollar loans for struggling European banks to prevent the euro-zone debt woes from turning into a full-blown credit crisis.

The Dow posted its best day since March 2009 after the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and other major central banks stepped in to head off escalating funding pressures that threaten the key arteries of the world's financial system.

The S&P 500 scored its best daily percentage gain since August.

The central banks' liquidity move touched off a buying frenzy in financial shares. The S&P financial sector index gained 6.6 percent, with Bank of America the most actively traded stock. The stock jumped 7.3 percent to $5.44 on more than 420 million shares traded.

The drama in Europe kept the U.S. stock market on a roller-coaster ride throughout the month. For November, the S&P ended down just 0.5 percent, but the month was marked by sharp daily swings.

"You don't have to fix everything, you have to be on a path towards fixing things," said Tobias Levkovich, chief U.S. equity strategist at Citigroup in New York.

"Markets will reward you for the efforts you are making as long as you are moving in the right direction. It's the carrot and the stick; you get rewarded when you do the right thing, and you get punished when you do the wrong thing."

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 490.05 points, or 4.24 percent, to end at 12,045.68. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index jumped 51.77 points, or 4.33 percent, to 1,246.96. The Nasdaq Composite Index soared 104.83 points, or 4.17 percent, to close at 2,620.34.

The Dow scored its largest daily gain -- in terms of points and percentage -- since March 23, 2009.

The S&P 500 posted its best daily percentage advance since August 11.

For the month, the Dow gained 0.8 percent, while the Nasdaq slid 2.4 percent.

Other economically sensitive sectors, including energy, materials and industrials, also were strong performers for the day.

Copper and oil futures rose sharply, while the S&P materials sector index jumped 5.9 percent.

The central banks' actions were intended to ensure that European banks, facing a credit crunch, have enough funding amid the euro zone's worsening sovereign debt crisis.

The moves followed an unexpected cut in bank reserve requirements in China, intended to boost an economy running at its weakest pace since 2009.

Among the banks, shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co gained 8.4 percent to $30.97, its biggest daily percentage gain since May 2009.

The gains in financial shares came despite Standard & Poor's move to cut the credit ratings of 15 big banks, mostly in Europe and the United States, late on Tuesday.

Further encouraging investors, the latest U.S. data suggested the U.S. economy was moving more solidly toward recovery. The U.S. private sector added the most jobs in nearly a year in November, while business activity in the U.S. Midwest grew faster than expected in November.

The day's volume was high, with nearly 10 billion shares changing hands during the day on U.S. exchanges compared with the daily average of 7.96 billion shares.

Advancers beat decliners on the NYSE by nearly 7 to 1 and on the Nasdaq, by about 5 to 1.

(Reporting by Caroline Valetkevitch; Additional reporting by Chuck Mikolajczak and Rodrigo Campos; Editing by Jan Paschal)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/europe/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111130/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

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Recusals may impact health case (Politico)

From the right and left, Washington is awash in demands that two Supreme Court justices recuse themselves from this spring?s review of the health law.

The requests, from politicians and advocates but not from the parties to the lawsuit itself, aren?t likely to have any effect on the justices, Elena Kagan and Clarence Thomas. But by injecting questions about fairness and propriety, the recusal fight could shape how the public views the ruling ? expected in June, right in the midst of the presidential campaign.

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Some legal experts worry that these skirmishes may set up the losing side to try to undermine and discredit the high court?s decision, particularly if it?s a 5-4 ruling. If one vote by a justice is perceived as ?ethically questionable? by a segment of the public, questions and controversies may fester, said Russell Wheeler, an expert on the courts at the Brookings Institution.

The Supreme Court was never going to have the last word on the 2010 health law. A ruling won?t stop the politicking, the repeal votes or the funding fights. But the court is supposed to be the last word on whether the law is constitutional. In this case, it could just be more fuel on a political fire.

?The recusal demands, by and large, are not about good government concerns or conflict of interest,? said Wheeler. ?It?s pretty obviously a tactic, a Hail Mary pass to see if Thomas or Kagan will disqualify themselves. And it?s not likely.?

The right wants Kagan to remove herself because she was solicitor general in the Obama administration as the health law was being enacted and legal strategies contemplated ? although not necessarily by her. The left wants Thomas to step down because of his wife?s anti-health law activities.

Neither justice has given any indication that they?ll step aside, and a bunch of angry bloggers (or letter-writing senators) can?t make them. If both recused, chances are they would cancel each other out in the final vote ? but not necessarily in the internal court deliberations.

But throwing the court into the political caldron of health care ? a move that has a good chance of raising doubts about the legitimacy of the ruling ? worries some scholars of the court. And that prospect arises as the court, like other government institutions, has lost some public trust.

An October Gallup Poll found that only 46 percent of those surveyed had ?confidence? in the court. That?s a 15-percentage-point slide in two years ? not the lowest rating Gallup has found, but close to it ? and even lower than when President George W. Bush took office after the highly controversial Bush v. Gore Supreme Court recount ruling.

?I believe that if the court had its druthers, it would prefer not to decide cases in the bright hot spotlight of the political stage,? said Stephen Wermiel, a court expert at American University?s Washington College of Law. ?But the timing is what it is.?

?It?s an unusual ? not unprecedented but unusual ? circumstance in which the court is going to find itself in one of the hottest political issues in the middle of a political campaign in which [its] decision may make a significant contribution in how the campaign plays out,? he added.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1111_69486_html/43767395/SIG=11m7tmkbb/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69486.html

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Apple bounces subscription gaming app from App Store - iPhone ...

Just a few days after approving an iPad app that would allow users to pay a subscription fee to get access to dozens of games, Apple has pulled that app from the iTunes App Store.

The move was a surprise to the developers at Big Fish Games, the company behind the app that used the same model that Apple affords to newspaper and magazine publishers for subscription-based content. According to Bloomberg?s story on the matter, Big Fish founder Paul Thelen said the company had worked closely with Apple to make sure the subscription gaming app met the iOS creator?s app requirements. Big Fish wasn?t sure why Apple had bounced the app from the App Store, and an Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Since Apple isn?t talking, nobody knows just why the Big Fish Games app got the boot, or whether it will be able to return to the App Store with some kind of tweaking ? which is often the case with apps that are pulled. But the possibilities with Big Fish?s app for changing up the way things get done in the App Store were definitely interesting. Traditionally, games have been sold in the App Store as single pieces of software: one purchase, one game. Occasionally, you can buy an app that includes several games as a bundle, but this doesn?t seem to happen very often.

Big Fish?s app would have been different. It would have allowed users to pay a $6.99 monthly subscription fee to have access to several games, which Big Fish would have streamed over an Internet connection when players wanted to use them. It?s similar to the subscription model employed by Netflix?s iOS apps, and would have afforded Apple its 30-percent cut of all subscriptions that go through its apps.

Subscription-based gaming models are still pretty new, but they?re starting to see some popularity in the larger sphere of video games. A company called OnLive allows users to stream PC games to their computers, allowing players with even modestly powerful computers to play some of the latest titles because the power of their machine isn?t what?s used to play the game, and it plans to bring that functionality to the iPad and Android tablets this year. Gaming retailer GameStop is also exploring creating a streaming service, although it?s not up and running yet.

Thelen said it was tough to convince Apple that games could be a subscription service, and one wonders if that was part of the reason the app was the removed. But while Apple might possibly have cooled on subscription-based gaming, that doesn?t mean the book is closed in the mobile sphere: Big Fish Games says it?ll be bringing its subscription app to Google?s Android operating system early next year.

Source: http://www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/10320-apple-bounces-subscription-gaming-app-from-app-store

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Cantor floats year-end trigger bargain (Politico)

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor is quietly working both sides of the Capitol to build support for a plan to scale back automatic spending cuts and combine the proposal with a wide range of critical year-end tax and spending measures.

What it amounts to is a major year-end pitch: Democrats and President Barack Obama would get their much sought-after payroll tax cut extension and jobless benefits, while Republicans would tweak the Pentagon cuts that defense hawks hate.

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The White House has already sent out a warning against messing with these so-called trigger spending cuts born out of the deficit supercommittee?s failure, so it?s far from clear that Cantor?s maneuvering could win enough support on Capitol Hill.

Cantor has spoken to senators from both parties ? including a Thanksgiving morning phone call to the Stamford, Conn., home of Sen. Joe Lieberman ? as he gauges support for a potential package that would include up to $133 billion in spending cuts in exchange for delaying the first year of slashes to defense and nondefense programs slated to begin in 2013. That package could also include a reform and a yearlong extension of jobless benefits, a payroll tax break and the Medicare reimbursement rate for physicians.

Cantor has also reached out to the likes of Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Brad Dayspring, Cantor?s spokesman, said Cantor ?continues to talk to House and Senate members from both sides of the aisle in an effort find common ground on these important issues.?

Adding provisions overhauling the automatic cuts would be one of the more controversial ideas in a year-end package. And it could cause friction with Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), who is not in favor of touching the automatic cuts until next year.

It?s far from clear whether Cantor?s approach will gain steam in the final month of the year, given Obama?s veto threat.

But Pentagon advocates on Capitol Hill are starting to pressure Republican leaders to take a tougher line when demanding changes to the automatic cuts ? and some believe changing the triggered cuts could be a key bargaining chip in the messy year-end rush of legislating.

Other Republican leaders are taking a wait-and-see approach.

?I would say we are certainly not going to reduce spending any less ? but there is a lot of interest in considering next year a way to reallocate the spending reductions,? Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told POLITICO on Wednesday. ?But we?re certainly opposed to reducing spending any less than $2.1 trillion that is included in the Budget Control Act.?

Asked if such changes could be done this year, McConnell smiled and shrugged, saying, ?I don?t know.?

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/politico_rss/rss_politico_mostpop/http___www_politico_com_news_stories1111_69489_html/43765363/SIG=11mb3k437/*http%3A//www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/69489.html

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