Madonna's Greatest Tunes: 'W.E.' Cast Weighs In!

From 'Like a Prayer' to 'La Isla Bonita,' stars pick their favorite songs by the 'W.E.' director.
By Jocelyn Vena


Madonna attends the New York City premiere of "W.E."
Photo: Theo Wargo/Getty Images

NEW YORK — At the latest premiere of Madonna's film, "W.E.," it seemed like everyone just wanted to know what it was like to work with the pop icon as she embarked on writing and directing the film, based on the historical romance between King Edward VIII and American divorcée Wallis Simpson.

But between doting words about their director, the cast also weighed in on their favorite Madonna songs of all time. "It's like you'd have to be living under a rock to not be aware and to really know her work. I always liked 'La Isla Bonita,' " Oscar Isaac told MTV News. "It's a good one."

That particular song got a co-sign from Isaac's co-star James D'Arcy. "I'm the generation that grew up with her in the '80s," he said. "It's not the first time I've been asked that question, unsurprisingly. I'm not sure it is my favorite, but it's the one that I can't stop thinking about when I get asked that question."

David Harbour showed some love to "Open Your Heart," adding, "Bravo! And I like 'Like a Prayer' too."

The film's leading lady, Andrea Riseborough, couldn't nail down one moment in Madge's career as her favorite. "I think she's wonderful, and now I have a completely different relationship with her," she told MTV News. "They're all incredible, they all mark different periods in culture, don't they?"

When the cast wasn't gushing about Madge's musical career, they were giving her props for her role as the film's director. "She is really funny, really detail-oriented, meticulous, well-versed in her craft, really impressive," Isaac said. "[She] demanded the best out of everyone."

"Truly I had so much to learn from her because she's been really in front of the camera and behind it her whole life," Riseborough added. "I always felt on this particular project there was nobody better to [tell] this story of a couple who were really hounded. She's also incredibly instinctive, and emotionally she knew what tone to pick."

D'Arcy noted that as a director, Madonna is "absolutely first-rate. She was exemplary. She knew exactly the story she wanted to tell, she had a clear vision. She was good fun. You can't really ask for much more."

Harbour had equally high praise for Ms. Ciccone. "She was very exact and really a perfectionist and she worked us all really hard," he said. "So she was a terrifically strong director."

The film did garner one Oscar nod on Tuesday (January 24) for Best Costume Design. At the premiere, Madonna said any Academy Award recognition would be a coup for the flick.

"W.E." opens on February 3, and the soundtrack — featuring Madge's Golden Globe-winning track, "Masterpiece" — drops on January 31.

What's your favorite Madonna song of all time? Sound off in the comments!

See the complete list of Academy Awards Nominations.

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677811/madonna-we-cast-favorite-songs.jhtml

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Syria rejects new Arab League plan to end crisis (AP)

BEIRUT ? Syria on Monday rejected the Arab League's wide-ranging new plan to end the country's 10-month crisis, saying the League's call for a national unity government in two months is a clear violation of Syrian sovereignty.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people poured into the streets in a suburb outside the capital, Damascus, to mourn 11 residents who were either shot dead by security forces or killed in clashes between army defectors and troops a day earlier, activists said.

The crowd in Douma ? which one activist said was 60,000-strong ? was under the protection of dozens of army defectors who are in control of the area after regime forces pulled out late Sunday, said Samer al-Omar, a Douma resident.

The reports could not be independently confirmed.

President Bashar Assad blames the uprising that erupted in March on terrorists and armed gangs acting out a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country. His regime has retaliated with a brutal crackdown that the U.N. says has killed more than 5,400 people.

There is growing urgency, however, to find a resolution to a crisis that is growing increasingly violent as regime opponents and army defectors who have switched sides have started to fight back against government forces.

The Arab League has tried to stem the bloodshed by condemning the crackdown, imposing sanctions and sending a team of observers to the country. On Sunday, the League called for a unity government within two months, which would then prepare for parliamentary and presidential elections to be held under Arab and international supervision.

The proposal also provides for Assad to give his vice president full powers to cooperate with the proposed government to enable it to carry out its duties during a transitional period.

The state-run news agency, SANA, said Damascus considers the plan "flagrant interference in its internal affairs" and the latest turn in an international plot against Syria.

It was not immediately clear what steps, if any, Syria could take to counter the Arab League's stance.

The European Union backed the Arab plan Monday, and it extended existing sanctions against Assad's government by adding 22 more officials and eight companies to the blacklist.

Omar Idlibi, a spokesman for the Syrian National Council opposition group, said the Arab efforts do not go far enough. He and many other opposition figures demand Assad leave power and say anything less will just give the regime time to bury the revolt.

But there are significant splits in the opposition about the way forward.

Hassan Abdul-Azim, who heads the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, or NCB, said the Arab plan is an "advanced step as the Arab League has started dealing with matters more seriously."

Abdul-Azim told The Associated Press that the plan would put more pressure on Assad's regime and "tells it that it's impossible to keep matters as they are."

Syria appeared to get a serious boost Monday from its powerful allies in Russia. Russia's business daily Kommersant reported that Moscow has signed a contract to sell 36 Yak-130 combat jets to Syria ? a deal that, if confirmed, would openly defy international efforts to pressure Assad's regime.

The Arab League's observer mission has come under heavy criticism for failing to stop the violence in Syria.

On Monday, the head of the mission defended the observers' work, saying their presence had cut down on the bloodshed. Speaking at League headquarters in Cairo, Sudanese Gen. Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi told reporters the observers have witnessed violence from both the Syrian security forces and armed opposition groups.

"When the delegation arrived, there was clear and obvious violence," he said. "But after the delegation arrived, the violence started to go lessen gradually."

On Sunday, Arab League foreign ministers extended the mission for another month. The mission's one-month mandate technically expired on Thursday.

Violence continued inside Syria on Monday.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops and army defectors clashed Monday near the western town of Qusair, close to the Lebanese border. It said five soldiers were killed and 13 were wounded.

The Observatory added that 11 civilians were killed by security forces in different parts of Syria, five of them in the northwestern province of Idlib, that borders Turkey.

The LCC put Monday's death toll at 10.

It was impossible to reconcile the discrepancy.

Syria has prevented most independent media coverage and until recently has refused to issue visas for most foreign journalists. In recent weeks, the regime has begun to permit entry for journalists on trips escorted by government minders.

___

Hubbard reported from Cairo.

___

Bassem Mroue can be reached on http://twitter.com/bmroue

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Rare kidney disease shows how salt, potassium levels are moderated

[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Will Sansom
sansom@uthscsa.edu
210-567-2579
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, High blood pressure (hypertension) is a principal risk factor for heart disease and affects 1 billion people. At least half of them are estimated to be salt-sensitive; their blood pressure rises with sodium intake. New research released today [Jan. 22] shows important aspects of how sodium and potassium are regulated in the kidney.

The work, posted online by Nature, also offers insight on how one form of familial high blood pressure disease is inherited. Nephrology researchers in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio are co-authors.

Disease includes high potassium levels, low pH

The study explores the mechanisms of a rare, inherited kidney disease called pseudohypoaldosteronism type II (PHAII). This disease is marked by hypertension, higher-than-normal levels of potassium, and low pH, acidic body fluids.

In the 1980s, researchers in the School of Medicine at the Health Science Center published a paper on the disease's features in a San Antonio patient affected by the childhood form of PHAII. This paper was one of the first papers describing this disease in childhood.

Genetic clues from family

In the new study, School of Medicine nephrology researchers recruited back the patient and her family members and provided DNA samples of the family. Lead authors on the paper are from the Yale University School of Medicine.

The team, including Hania Ziad Al-Shahrouri, M.D., and Farook Thameem, Ph.D., from the Health Science Center, identified novel mutations in two genes, KLHL3 and CUL3, that appear to be linked to increased activity of a sodium transporter, decreased activity of a potassium transporter, and initiation of disease.

The nephron is the basic structural and functional unit of the kidney. The nephron filters the blood, reabsorbing what is needed (including salts) and excreting the rest in the urine. Genes activate KLHL3, CUL3 and the sodium transporter molecule in a portion of the nephron called the renal distal convoluted tubule.

Key role in maintaining equilibrium

"These findings establish a fundamental role for the KLHL3/CUL3 axis in blood pressure, potassium and pH homeostasis, and help us understand how this form of familial high blood pressure disease is inherited," said Dr. Al-Shahrouri, principal investigator of the study at the Health Science Center.

Until recently Dr. Al-Shahrouri was an assistant professor of medicine and a physician with UT Medicine San Antonio, the clinical practice of the School of Medicine at the Health Science Center. Dr. Al-Shahrouri, mentored by Robert Kunau, M.D., professor of medicine, recruited the family affected by PHAII and initiated collaboration with Yale for further studies.

Genetic variation

Farook Thameem, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Health Science Center, screened these patients for mutations of genes called WNK1 and WNK4. Mutations in these genes have previously been associated with PHAII. Dr. Thameem found none of those deleterious mutations, demonstrating genetic variation beyond WNK1 and WNK4 in this family.

On the Web and Twitter

For current news from the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, please visit our news release website or follow us on Twitter @uthscsa.

About the UT Health Science Center San Antonio

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country's leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled $231 million in fiscal year 2011. The university's schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $744 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways "We make lives better," visit www.uthscsa.edu.

###



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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


[ Back to EurekAlert! ] Public release date: 22-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share Share ]

Contact: Will Sansom
sansom@uthscsa.edu
210-567-2579
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

SAN ANTONIO, Texas, High blood pressure (hypertension) is a principal risk factor for heart disease and affects 1 billion people. At least half of them are estimated to be salt-sensitive; their blood pressure rises with sodium intake. New research released today [Jan. 22] shows important aspects of how sodium and potassium are regulated in the kidney.

The work, posted online by Nature, also offers insight on how one form of familial high blood pressure disease is inherited. Nephrology researchers in the School of Medicine at The University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio are co-authors.

Disease includes high potassium levels, low pH

The study explores the mechanisms of a rare, inherited kidney disease called pseudohypoaldosteronism type II (PHAII). This disease is marked by hypertension, higher-than-normal levels of potassium, and low pH, acidic body fluids.

In the 1980s, researchers in the School of Medicine at the Health Science Center published a paper on the disease's features in a San Antonio patient affected by the childhood form of PHAII. This paper was one of the first papers describing this disease in childhood.

Genetic clues from family

In the new study, School of Medicine nephrology researchers recruited back the patient and her family members and provided DNA samples of the family. Lead authors on the paper are from the Yale University School of Medicine.

The team, including Hania Ziad Al-Shahrouri, M.D., and Farook Thameem, Ph.D., from the Health Science Center, identified novel mutations in two genes, KLHL3 and CUL3, that appear to be linked to increased activity of a sodium transporter, decreased activity of a potassium transporter, and initiation of disease.

The nephron is the basic structural and functional unit of the kidney. The nephron filters the blood, reabsorbing what is needed (including salts) and excreting the rest in the urine. Genes activate KLHL3, CUL3 and the sodium transporter molecule in a portion of the nephron called the renal distal convoluted tubule.

Key role in maintaining equilibrium

"These findings establish a fundamental role for the KLHL3/CUL3 axis in blood pressure, potassium and pH homeostasis, and help us understand how this form of familial high blood pressure disease is inherited," said Dr. Al-Shahrouri, principal investigator of the study at the Health Science Center.

Until recently Dr. Al-Shahrouri was an assistant professor of medicine and a physician with UT Medicine San Antonio, the clinical practice of the School of Medicine at the Health Science Center. Dr. Al-Shahrouri, mentored by Robert Kunau, M.D., professor of medicine, recruited the family affected by PHAII and initiated collaboration with Yale for further studies.

Genetic variation

Farook Thameem, Ph.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Health Science Center, screened these patients for mutations of genes called WNK1 and WNK4. Mutations in these genes have previously been associated with PHAII. Dr. Thameem found none of those deleterious mutations, demonstrating genetic variation beyond WNK1 and WNK4 in this family.

On the Web and Twitter

For current news from the UT Health Science Center San Antonio, please visit our news release website or follow us on Twitter @uthscsa.

About the UT Health Science Center San Antonio

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, one of the country's leading health sciences universities, ranks in the top 3 percent of all institutions worldwide receiving federal funding. Research and other sponsored program activity totaled $231 million in fiscal year 2011. The university's schools of medicine, nursing, dentistry, health professions and graduate biomedical sciences have produced approximately 26,000 graduates. The $744 million operating budget supports eight campuses in San Antonio, Laredo, Harlingen and Edinburg. For more information on the many ways "We make lives better," visit www.uthscsa.edu.

###



[ Back to EurekAlert! ] [ | E-mail | Share Share ]

?


AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.


Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/uoth-rkd012012.php

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Romney to release his tax returns on Tuesday (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney said Sunday that he will release his 2010 tax returns and 2011 estimates on Tuesday, acknowledging it was a mistake for his campaign not to have done so earlier.

Stung by a loss to Newt Gingrich in Saturday's South Carolina primary, the former Massachusetts governor and venture capitalist said it was "not a good week for me" and he cited all the time he had spent talking about his tax returns as his rivals pressed him to make them public.

After months of resistance, Romney had said last week that he would release tax information for 2011, but not until April, close to the tax filing deadline. That also was seen as a time, before the South Carolina race rattled his front-runner status, when the GOP nomination might have been decided.

"I think we just made a mistake in holding off as long as we did. It just was a distraction. We want to get back to the real issues of the campaign: leadership, character, a vision for America, how to get jobs again in America and how to rein in the excessive scale of the federal government," Romney told "Fox News Sunday."

Romney disclosed on Tuesday that, despite his wealth of hundreds of millions of dollars, he has been paying in the neighborhood of 15 percent, far below the top maximum income tax rate of 35 percent, because his income "comes overwhelmingly from investments made in the past."

"Given all the attention that's been focused on tax returns, given the distraction that I think they became in these last couple of weeks," Romney said in the broadcast interview that he would release his 2010 returns and estimates for his 2011 returns at the same time "so there's not a second release down the road."

"We'll be putting our returns on the Internet, people can look through them," Romney said. "It will provide, I think, plenty of information for people to understand that the sources of my income are exactly as described in the financial disclosure statements we put out a couple of months ago.

During 2010 and the first nine months of 2011, the Romney family had at least $9.6 million in income, according to a financial disclosure form submitted in August.

Further focusing attention on his wealth was Romney's offhand remark to reporters that his income from paid speeches amounted to "not very much" money. In the August disclosure statement, he reported being paid $373,327.62 for such appearances for the 12 months ending last February. That sum alone would him in the top 1 percent of U.S. taxpayers.

In addition, Romney owns investments worth between $7 million and $32 million in offshore-based holdings, which are often used legitimately by private equity firms to attract foreign investors. Such offshore accounts also can enable wealthy investors to defer paying U.S. taxes on some assets, according to tax experts.

An Associated Press examination of Romney's financial records identified at least six funds set up in the Cayman Islands, a small Caribbean island chain that has long been used as a base for international investments because of low tax rates and financial secrecy. Romney has acknowledged that some of his investments are based in the Caymans, but he has not identified all of the specific accounts and the amounts based there. There is no indication Romney uses the accounts to dodge any U.S. tax obligations.

"Cayman Islands account so-to-speak is apparently an investment that was made in an entity that invests in the United States, the taxes paid on that are full U.S. taxes," Romney said.

The Caymans have often been associated with individuals and corporations seeking to avoid paying U.S. taxes. It is legal for U.S. residents to own investment accounts that are set up there, if they file the proper forms with the Internal Revenue Service and pay the appropriate taxes.

"I know people will try and find something," Romney said, adding, "We pay full, fair taxes, and you'll see it's a pretty substantial amount."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120122/ap_on_el_pr/us_romney

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Olympus teases with leaked image of OM-D camera, saves the best for last?

Some would say that "one picture is worth a thousand words," but all we're visualizing here are a few camera-driven buttons and a small portion of Olympus branding. Though, 43 Rumors is claiming that this is indeed the soon-to-be new addition to the OM series, which is expected to get unveiled next month. Olympus is no rookie in the Micro Four Thirds game, so it shouldn't come as a surprise for the rumored specs to be a decent upgrade in comparison to its PEN shooters. Allegedly, the rig may sport a magnesium chassis, 16 megapixel sensor with HDR optimization, up to 25600 ISO and a 3-inch OLED swivel display (because Olympus knows you love gadgets with rotating screens), amongst other features. Tickle your fancy? Well, best start saving now, as word on the web is that it'll set you back a cool $1,100 when it's revealed.

Olympus teases with leaked image of OM-D camera, saves the best for last? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  source43 Rumors  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/20/olympus-om-d-digital-camera-leaked-image/

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KimPainter: Roundup: Colon cancer drug may help, Alzheimer's drug doesn't, porn films may leave LA over condom law: http://t.co/BREouupW

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US honors MLK with service ? and more Occupy protests

Americans honored Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday with a traditional day of service as well as a new wave of protests by Occupy Wall Street to promote causes of economic justice.

Across the nation, hundreds of formal events were planned for the federal holiday to celebrate the slain leader's birthday and legacy, from prayer services to parades to performances.

But it was the first time the annual King holiday has been held since the Occupy Wall Street movement reignited debate about social inequality and poverty. The protesters have targeted investment banks, noting the government bailed out Wall Street while many Americans still struggle with joblessness and housing foreclosures.

Not long before he was murdered in 1968, King was organizing a Poor People's Campaign as the next phase in the civil rights movement.

"Occupy Wall Street continues Martin Luther King's quest for economic justice through nonviolent action," the protest movement said in a statement.

"Communities of color ... have been hardest hit by predatory lending practices," it said. "Occupy Wall Street is here to pick up where King left off. We are here to reclaim the dream."

This year's King holiday also comes as officials in more than a dozen states implement new laws requiring voters to present photo identification at the polls. Critics say the restriction violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 ? one of the key accomplishments of the movement King led.

In New York, Occupy Wall Street protesters were starting their march at an African Burial Ground, where hundreds of slaves were buried in the 17th and 18th centuries. The site was uncovered in 1991 during excavation for construction of a federal building and is now part of the National Park Service.

The march was headed to the Federal Reserve Bank where participants planned to rally for economic justice. The march then was headed to Madison Square Garden, where Cablevision workers were set to vote on whether to unionize this month.

Later, a demonstration dubbed Occupation for Jobs was planned in New York City's Union Square.

Occupy the Dream, a coalition of African American church groups affiliated with Occupy Wall Street, called for a national day of action outside offices of the Federal Reserve in 16 cities, including Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago, Minneapolis and San Francisco.

  1. Only on msnbc.com

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Because of the federal holiday, post offices, government buildings and most public schools remained closed.

Civil rights leaders: Make MLK Day a day on, not off
Community and civil rights leaders urged Americans to make Monday a day on, not a day off, and to honor King's crusade for nonviolence and racial brotherhood by doing volunteer work.

One source for such work is a website, mlkday.gov, set up to help would-be volunteers find local projects.

Elsewhere, prayer breakfasts, concerts and even sporting events were set to mark the holiday, which the nation began officially celebrating in 1986.

In Atlanta, where King was born on January 15, 1929, cellist Yo-Yo Ma was to perform at Morehouse College, King's alma mater.

In Washington, where King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 to more than a quarter million listeners in front of the Lincoln Memorial, a focal point for celebrations was the new memorial dedicated to King last fall.

President Barack Obama and his family marked the holiday with a volunteer project. Obama evoked King's own words as he celebrated the civil rights leader's life at Brown Education Center in Washington, where he, first lady Michelle Obama, and daughter Malia joined other volnteers to help build bookshelves and a reading corner for students.

Story: Obama: 'There is nobody who can't serve, nobody who can't help'

During brief remarks, the president said there was no better way to honor King than to do something on behalf of others. He also acknowledged the controversy surrounding a quote on the new MLK memorial in Washington, which is being changed amid criticism that it did not accurately reflect King's words.

"What he really said was all of us can be a drum major for service, all of us can be a drum major for justice," Obama said. "There is nobody who can't serve, nobody who can't help somebody else."

The inscription on the King memorial, located on the National Mall, currently reads: "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness." The phrase is modified from a sermon known as the "Drum Major Instinct," which King delivered just two months before he was assassinated in 1968.

In the speech, King's words seem more modest than the paraphrased inscription: "Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter."

  1. Only on msnbc.com

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    4. Woman loses arm to flesh-eating bug from bath salts
    5. Evangelicals try to stop Romney

In Memphis, where King was killed on April 4, 1968, the city's professional basketball team, the Grizzlies, was playing its annual Civil Rights Game against the Chicago Bulls.

In Austin, an annual King Day march was set to start at the University of Texas campus. A "Peace Rally" was set for the Children's Museum in Houston, while a celebration at Dallas Fair Park was host to floats, drill teams and bands.

King, a Baptist pastor who advocated for nonviolence, racial brotherhood and equal rights and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, was assassinated in 1968 as he stood outside his motel room in Memphis, where he had gone to support striking sanitation workers.

The convicted assassin, a segregationist and drifter named James Earl Ray, confessed to the killing but later recanted. He died in prison in 1998.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46014402/ns/us_news-life/

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Video: Search on after cruise ship capsizes

>>> good evening. there have beeneveral major developments in the search and recovery operation aboard that capsized cruise ship off the coast of italy. since our broadcast last night, three people have been recovered alive from the partially sunken ship . but the death toll has also sen to five now with two americans now listed among 15 people still unaccounted for. the costa concordia ran aground near the tuscan island of gigli on friday night and the cruise ship company admitted the accident may have been the relt of significant human error on the part of the ship's captain. the rescued were taken to the main land town of porto santo stefano where michelle kosinski is tonight to bring us the very latest. michelle?

>> reporter: good evening, lester. what happened here? from the beginning, questions surrounded the captain. he was arrested, under investigation. well, tonight his employer says it appears he brought the enormous cruise liner too close to shore, then made mistakes handling it, plus investigators now say he himself was on shore while passengers were still scrambling to get off the ship. this was friday night. and the latest rescue from on board was this afternoon. 48 hours after the costa concordia began its panic inducing roll, rescuers keep looking. this man saved, a ship's officer trapped for more than a day and a half. but soon after, searchers reached two elderly men, who had not survived. new video emerged today from around 10:00 friday, just after passengers heard a loud rumble, felt a sharp tilting and then got a reassuring announcement.

>> due to an electrical function, which is currently under control, we're currently in a blackout. i will inform you of developments as they occur.

>> reporter: with the lights, the calm also went. people running, screaming, desperate for escape.

>> it took us five tries on different boats to get on. my husband and i finally got on and we feel so fortunate. we feel so fortunate that we made it on a boat because others didn't.

>> reporter: by the time the lifeboats were lowered, by some accounts more than an hour after the collision, the ship was already nearly on its side.

>> we were on the lifeboat and looked back and saw the first row of windows under water and people screaming that couldn't get on a lifeboat.

>> reporter: other concerns surround the captain, arrested and questioned under suspicion of manslaughter and abandoning ship. he says they were about a thousand feet from shore and shouldn't have hit anything. but late today, the ship's owner costa cruises said, quote, there may have been significant human error on the part of captain francesco schettino which resulted in the grave consequences. and added, the route of the vessel appears to have been too close to shore and in handling the emergency, the captain appears to have not followed standard costa procedures. but the 160 foot gash in its side, many decided simply to jump into the cold, dark water .

>> i was virtually a scene from the "titanic." it felt like we were doing the actual scene. it was surreal.

>> reporter: the press here calls it the italian "titanic," a nightmare,g a dream cruise on a placid sea. the u.s. embassy says there were 120 americans on board that ship and they're looking for information on the two that remain unaccounted for. lester?

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/46007233/

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Merkel: Financial crisis solution to 'take years'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during her speech at the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during her speech at the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel gestures during her speech at the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attends a meeting of the German Federal Parliament, Bundestag, in Berlin, Germany, Friday, Dec. 2, 2011. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

(AP) ? German Chancellor Angela Merkel flatly rejected any quick-fix ideas to try to resolve the European financial crisis, telling lawmakers Friday that treaty changes and a stricter fiscal union were the only path forward ? a process could take years.

Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are pushing for a reorganization of existing European Union regulations, in order to ensure the eurozone's long-term stability and win back the trust of markets that have grown jittery over what they view as European dithering.

In laying out to the lower house of Parliament plans she will take to a Dec. 9 EU summit in Brussels, Merkel insisted the 17 nations that use the euro currency need to strengthen European Union institutions and eurozone financial regulations. She called for closer supervision of national budgets, coupled with legal regulations that would allow for stronger enforcement of spending rules.

"The German government has made it clear that the European crisis will not be solved in one fell swoop..." she said. "It's a process, and this process will take years."

Merkel said that because the crisis is above all one of trust, in order to move forward, "we need to do away with the underlying deficiencies in the fiscal and currency union."

"In order to win back trust, we need to do more, where we today have agreements, we need in the future to have legally binding regulations," Merkel said.

The eurozone's current budget rules have been violated about 60 times over the past decade by a number of nations ? including Germany ? but no country has been seriously punished.

To ensure that nations are keeping their budgets in check with the limits of the stability pact ? deficits not more than 3 percent of gross domestic product and overall government debt of not more than 60 percent of GDP ? Germany is pushing for the right to take countries in violation before the European Court of Justice.

"We have to win back that trust that was damaged 60 times," Merkel said.

On Thursday, Sarkozy called for a "refounding and rethinking the organization of Europe." He said that without some new "convergence" among European countries, the continent's crushing debt could destroy the euro. Merkel and Sarkozy are to meet Monday to finalize their joint strategy ahead of next week's EU summit.

Stock markets across Europe welcomed the calls for more strict regulations through EU treaty changes, rising overnight on Sarkozy's comments. The bond yield for Italy also continued to drop, an indication of improving investor confidence in that country's financial future.

Merkel reiterated her objection to so-called eurobonds, held jointly by all EU nations, telling Parliament that jointly backed government debt across the eurozone is no solution.

"The current discussion (about joint bonds) does not contribute to solving the crisis," Merkel said.

She also pushed back against charges that Germany, along with France, is trying to dominate the EU, singling out those nations whose governments have been forced to push through tough austerity measures and praising their efforts.

"I don't think we can imagine how much these people contribute so that the euro will be a lasting and stable currency," Merkel said. "I would like to express my absolute respect before these efforts, for that is a contribution to Europe's future."

She also rejected an idea floated this week, of taking advantage of a clause in the EU's constitution to allow the eurozone nations to enact their own treaties for governing the currency, underlining that any treaty changes must include 27 member states.

"We are going to Brussels with the goal of pushing through treaty changes, in order to avoid a spirit of division between the eurozone and non-eurozone members," Merkel said.

___

Associated Press Writers David Rising and Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-02-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-bfadcefef6cf4c61bef17fd653a58156

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Mexico drug war refugees escape to more bloodshed (AP)

VERACRUZ, Mexico ? Rafael Echevarria had a steady factory job, a modest home of his own, and enough cash to occasionally take his family to McDonald's. It was a good life until the drug war hit Ciudad Juarez, followed by two robberies at his house, extortion at his daughter's school, and finally, the shootout on the bus.

When the firing began, 6-year-old Valeria dove to the floor, breaking a tooth. There was so much blood from her mouth wound, her parents thought she'd been shot.

The next day, the couple and their two children boarded a flight back home to Veracruz, along with 1,600 others who had once moved north for work in foreign assembly plants and now were fleeing south in search of safety. The Veracruz state government paid for the flights, and assured the drug war refugees that there would be jobs, education and housing.

At the time, it seemed to the Echevarrias like the only solution.

Then the drug war followed them home.

Military offensives against the drug cartels and turf battles among crime syndicates have pushed the war into areas once considered quiet. A year after their hopeful flight, the Echevarrias are not only caught anew in a crush of violence, but still without the promised help.

In Juarez, the Echevarrias had a house and a van. In Veracruz, they've had to pawn their appliances and move to a concrete hut to make ends meet. The trade of solvency for safety was a fake choice, because in Juarez, Echevarria said, "We would have been living well.

"Now we're in a hole. And it's very difficult to get out."

The Echevarrias are among thousands of Mexicans who make up the internal diaspora trying to escape drug violence that seems to migrate rather than cease, with more than 45,000 troops fighting cartels and more than 40,000 dead by many counts.

Recent survey results by Parametria found that 1.6 million Mexicans have moved because of drug violence since 2006. One study by the Geneva-based Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre put the number at 230,000 in 2010, estimating that half fled to the United States.

Another study, by demographer Rodolfo Rubio at Colegio de la Frontera Norte, says 200,000 people left Juarez alone for other Mexican cities between 2007 and 2010.

Many of the affected are working class or poor who can't leave the country.

"People who have status or small medium-sized businesses don't have a problem going to the U.S.," said Genoveva Roldan, a migration expert at the Autonomous University of Ciudad Juarez. "That's not the case for workers in the maquiladoras. They don't have that option."

Veracruz is a steamy, tropical mountain state that cultivates sugar cane and coffee. Curling along the lower dip of Mexico's Gulf coast, it is known for its scenic beauty, rich farmlands and busy port, one of Mexico's largest. But it was the lack of opportunity there that drove thousands of Veracruzanos northward beginning in the 1990s, when border factories started recruiting assembly workers with above-average wages and benefits.

Echevarria had grown up poor and left school in the ninth grade to help his father support the family. He joined the navy for a while, he says, and later became a taxi driver. But it wasn't enough to pay the bills.

In 2004, he and his wife, Alejandra Duran, decided they could build a better life in Ciudad Juarez for their two younger children.

There, Echevarria and his son, Cristian, found jobs working in the assembly plants that largely produce goods exported to the U.S. Cristian rose to quality control inspector in a factory that made printer cartridges. Together the two made about 14,000 pesos a month, nearly triple Mexico's average salary.

They bought a three-bedroom house on the southeastern outskirts of town, as well as a van.

"Juarez was a land that helped people," Duran said.

By 2008, the drug wars shattered the peace. Two rival cartels ? Juarez and Sinaloa ? began fighting for control of the lucrative smuggling corridor to the U.S. The annual murder rate nearly doubled from 1,600 in 2008 to 3,100 in 2010.

President Felipe Calderon deployed thousands of soldiers to curb drug violence, and later federal police to patrol the streets and lead counterattacks.

Nonetheless, the Echevarria house was robbed twice. An uncle was attacked by a group of men trying to steal his car.

Then came the extortion. Valeria's teacher told the Echevarrias that gang members were asking for a weekly fee from the school.

It was hard to sleep, Echevarria said.

In early 2010, word got around that the Veracruz government was offering to evacuate the refugees and help them resettle.

The day after the bus shooting, the Echevarrias abandoned their house and left with a washing machine, a set of saucepans, a dining table, Valeria's dresser and her Disney princess chairs.

Once back in Veracruz, Cristian Echevarria got a job as a cashier in a convenience store, while his father decided to get a taxi driver's permit.

Valeria had stopped talking after the trauma of the bus shooting, instead spending her time drawing pictures of corpses in the graves that were found around their Juarez neighborhood. But she seemed to improve after enrolling in school.

Then-Gov. Fidel Herrera's administration also promised to transfer the title of Echevarrias' home in Juarez to a government-subsidized house in Veracruz.

That never happened. The phones to the offices set up to help the returning residents stopped working. A new governor, Javier Duarte, took office last December. Gina Dominguez, Duarte's spokeswoman, said the "social agenda" was going in a different direction.

"It was a good program on paper," she said. "But obviously the execution wasn't simple because it had to provide for everyone."

Herrera did not respond to requests for an interview.

Echevarria couldn't get help paying the 6,000 pesos for his taxi license plates.

Veracruz had long been a route for drugs and migrants coming from the south. For years it was dominated by the Gulf cartel, which had contracted with a gang of former army special forces ? the Zetas. Because the state and the port were controlled by one drug gang, it was quiet.

In early 2010 the Zetas split from the Gulf cartel, triggering a vicious war in the border state of Tamaulipas, just north of Veracruz. This year a government offensive to stop that drug war spilled the violence into Veracruz.

The bloodshed worsened in the last few months, when a third cartel thought to be aligned with Mexico's most-wanted drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, moved into Veracruz to try to take over drug operations.

The results of the cartel wars became visible to commuters in September, when a group of masked men stopped rush-hour traffic to dump 35 strangled bodies onto a main thoroughfare. Banners left at the scene claimed the dead were Zetas, though official reports have questioned their link to the drug gang. The victims included bricklayers, former police officers and a taxi driver.

The Echevarrias found themselves in a situation worse than the one they'd fled.

They had moved to a slum of concrete-block housing outside Veracruz to save 500 pesos a month in rent.

During a recent visit, Rafael came home looking pale, walked straight to the bathroom, and threw up.

"He has high blood sugar," said his wife. "He's under a lot of pressure because these are the worst years we've ever had."

The Echevarrias explained that they pawned their refrigerator and stove to pay for the taxi license plates, only to discover that driving a cab was no longer safe.

"They've kidnapped 10 taxi drivers. They asked me to sell drugs," Rafael said. "Yes, I'm scared. I need to provide for my family."

The Echevarrias now make far less than the average wage of $250 pesos a day, about $19.

Alejandra uncovered a saucepan filled with red rice. A loaf of bread sat on a plate. There was no milk. In a big black bag, they'd save plastic bottles collected from the streets to sell for 5 pesos a kilo.

Valeria, now 8, scratched at a rash on her neck. "I don't like it here," she said.

The family is ducking bullets again, but this time in their home.

Cristian said more than 20 men dressed as marines arrived a few weeks ago to their neighborhood, rifles in hand. Valeria heard the shots. Cristian pulled her into an inside room where the family waited.

In a separate attack, Cristian said, four of his childhood friends were killed and three others kidnapped.

The move to Veracruz was a mistake, he said.

When Cristian finishes high school in June, he will move back to their Juarez house and look for work. If he is successful, the rest of the family will join him.

The homicides there have dropped from 2,657 in the first 10 months of 2010 to 1,730 in 2011. They continue to fall.

Valeria doesn't remember the time when she wouldn't talk and only communicated with drawings, when she was a chipped-tooth girl who barely smiled.

But she has returned to drawing, this time a man dressed in a military uniform pointing a gun at another man with a pink spot on his belly. Three passers-by scream, "He's going to shoot!"

She titled it, "The governor saves the people."

_____________

Adriana Gomez Licon is a Mexico correspondent for The Associated Press. Follow her on Twitter at http://twitter.com/agomezlicon

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/mexico/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111204/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/lt_drug_war_mexico_refugees

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