How drought-tolerant grasses came to be

Thursday, November 24, 2011

If you eat bread stuffing or grain-fed turkey this Thanksgiving, give thanks to the grasses ? a family of plants that includes wheat, oats, corn and rice. Some grasses, such as corn and sugar cane, have evolved a unique way of harvesting energy from the sun that's more efficient in hot, arid conditions. A new grass family tree reveals how this mode of photosynthesis came to be.

The results may one day help scientists develop more drought-tolerant grains, say scientists working at the U. S. National Evolutionary Synthesis Center.

From the grasslands of North America, to the pampas of South America, to the steppes of Eurasia and the savannas of the tropics, the grass family contains more than 10,000 species, including the world's three most important crops: wheat, rice and corn. We rely on grasses for sugar, liquor, bread, and livestock fodder.

Like all plants, grasses harvest energy from sunlight by means of photosynthesis. But grasses use two strategies that differ in how they take up carbon dioxide from the air and convert it into the starches and sugars vital to plant growth. The majority of grasses use a mode of photosynthesis called the C3 pathway, but many species ? especially those in hot, tropical climates ? use an alternate mode of photosynthesis known as C4. In hot, arid environments, C4 grasses such as maize, sugar cane, sorghum and millet have a leg up over C3 plants because they use water more efficiently.

An international team of researchers wanted to figure out how many times, and when, the C4 strategy came to be. To find out, they used DNA sequence data from three chloroplast genes to reconstruct the grass family tree. The resulting phylogeny represents 531 species, including 93 species for which DNA sequence data was previously unavailable.

"By working collaboratively across many labs, from the US to Argentina to Ireland to Switzerland ? with some people providing new plant material, and others doing the DNA sequencing ? we were able to get a lot done in a very short amount of time," said co-author Erika Edwards of Brown University.

The results suggest that the C4 pathway has evolved in the grasses more than 20 separate times within the last 30 or so million years, Edwards said.

What's most surprising, she added, is that C4 evolution seems to be a one-way street ? i.e., once the pathway evolves, there's no turning back. "We can't say whether it is evolutionarily 'impossible', or whether there simply hasn't been a good reason to do it, but it seems increasingly unlikely that any C4 grasses have ever reverted to the C3 condition," Edwards said.

"The new tree will be extremely useful for anyone who works on grasses," she added.

For example, scientists are currently trying to engineer the C4 photosynthetic pathway into C3 crops like rice to produce more stress-tolerant plants. By helping researchers identify pairs of closely related C3 and C4 species, the evolutionary relationships revealed in this study could help pinpoint the genetic changes necessary to do that.

"The next challenge is getting these species into cultivation and studying them closely, and ideally, sequencing their genomes," Edwards said.

The results will be published this week in the journal New Phytologist.

###

Grass Phylogeny Working Group II (2011). "New grass phylogeny resolves deep evolutionary relationships and discovers C4 origins."New Phytologist. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03972.x

National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent): http://www.nescent.org

Thanks to National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) for this article.

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Ariz. grandfather roughed up by police in Walmart

(AP) ? Police in suburban Buckeye were under fire Friday when a video was posted online showing a grandfather on the floor of a Walmart store with a bloody face after police said he was subdued trying to shoplift during a chaotic rush for discounted video games.

The video, posted on YouTube, shows 54-year-old Jerald Allen Newman unconscious and covered in blood after a police officer took him to the ground Thursday night.

Officers in the video are shown trying to sop up blood as outraged customers yell expletives and say "that's police brutality" and "he wasn't doing anything."

"Are you sure that was necessary for shoplifting?" said one shopper. "Why would you throw him down so hard?"

In a police report that redacted the names of officers and witnesses, Newman's wife and other witnesses said he was just trying to help his grandson after the boy was trampled by shoppers, and only put a video game in his waistband to free his hands to help the boy.

Larry Hall, assistant chief of Buckeye police, said Newman was resisting arrest and it appeared the officer acted within reason.

Hall did not immediately release the name of the officer, who was hired off-duty by Walmart with five other officers to deal with the large crowd the store anticipated.

Hall said a Walmart employee alerted the officer involved that Newman had put a video game in his waistband, and that the officer approached Newman and started to arrest him.

When he had handcuffs on one of Newman's wrists, Hall said Newman told the officer, "I'm not going to jail," and started pulling away and flailing.

Hall said Newman continued resisting and the officer decided to do a leg sweep and take him to the ground.

"Unfortunately, the suspect landed on his head," Hall said.

The officer involved wrote in the police report that he yelled at Newman to "stop resisting!" before deciding to take him to the ground.

"The store was incredibly crowded, and I was concerned about other customers' safety and possibly getting involved," he wrote. "I then utilized a leg sweep with my right leg as I pulled down with my arms to take Jerald to the ground to better affect the arrest and protect the other shoppers."

The report said that Newman's grandson was treated and released for his injuries by firefighters at the scene.

Hall said an administrative review will be conducted to assess the officer's use of force, but it appeared to be justified.

"The officer didn't lift the guy over his head and slam him to the ground," Hall said. "He used a minimum amount of force, the suspect resisted arrest, and the officer actually could have escalated his use of force. But he didn't. He used his hands to take the suspect into custody."

An ambulance took Newman to the hospital, where he got four stitches for a cut on the left side of his forehead. His nose was also bloodied but not broken, Hall said.

Newman was then booked into the Maricopa County jail on suspicion of shoplifting and resisting arrest.

The police report describes a chaotic scene around a discounted video game stand at the Walmart as customers were made to wait until a 10 p.m. release.

About 200 people surrounded the stand and inched closer and closer despite officers warning them to stay back.

"I observed the crowd rush in and attack the cardboard displays with video games flying through the air and the cardboard displays being thrown around and broken completely down flat on the ground," one officer wrote in the report.

Another officer described seeing a man get trampled and helping him to safety, while another officer saw a woman walking away from the stand with a young girl who was crying and holding her mouth in pain.

One customer reported that people yanked three video games from his hands, leaving him empty-handed.

One witness told police that he saw Newman put a game under his shirt and try to get his grandson out of the area, but Newman appeared to just be trying to get to safety without someone grabbing the video game out of his hands.

Police found Newman's 8- or 9-year-old grandson crying after the incident and turned him over to his grandmother, who police described as hysterical.

"The wife was so upset and told me Jerald was just trying to protect his grandson that got trampled in the crowd and just placed a video game under his shirt while grabbing his grandson to get out of the crowd," wrote one officer.

___

Follow Amanda Lee Myers on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/AmandaLeeAP

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-25-Black%20Friday-Grandpa%20Bloodied/id-d052de8bdc3a4fc7852cb4ffb1c52c1f

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Good Reads: Pakistan summons outspoken envoy Haqqani, Kenya's Somali operation

Pakistan's envoy to the US, Ambassador Husain Haqqani, explains why Pakistan cannot simply clear out militants from its mountainous regions, while Kenya marches into Somalia to try a similar task.

Pakistan?s ambassador to the United States dropped by for breakfast with The Christian Science Monitor yesterday, and explained why Pakistan simply can?t go into its mountainous regions and clear out terrorists the way that Macy?s, for instance, can clear out its fall collection to make way for the winter.

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The reason, Ambassador Husain Haqqani told reporters at the weekly Monitor breakfast, is that launching the kinds of assaults that it previously conducted in South Waziristan and the Swat Valley tends to stir up local resentment against the government and support for Islamist militant groups like the Tehrik-i Taliban Pakistan and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar?s Hizb-i Islami.

As Monitor correspondent Howard LaFranchi writes:

Haqqani said Wednesday that US officials now understand better Pakistan?s internal constraints in confronting some groups. He listed two red lines that Pakistan has laid down with the US concerning what it will and won?t do in the battle with terrorism: Pakistan won?t act in ways that involve ?taking risks with our own internal cohesion,? he said, or that would pose ?risks to our own national security.?

The downside of that approach for Pakistan is that it virtually guarantees that the strikes by unmanned US drones will continue and even increase.

And unfortunately, the downside of speaking too frankly to reporters is that sometimes you make your bosses upset. This may or may not have happened with Mr. Haqqani, who was summoned home to Islamabad just hours after speaking at the Monitor breakfast. Pakistani officials insist this is just a routine visit.

With the US seemingly unable to clear out antigovernment militants in Afghanistan ? and Pakistan apparently unwilling to do so in Pakistan ? one wonders why a government like Kenya would want to send its troops into Somalia to carry out a very similar mission. On Oct. 16, Kenya?s military moved into neighboring Somalia after a continuing string of pirate attacks and kidnappings began to take a toll on Kenya?s foreign trade and tourism business.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/csmonitor/globalnews/~3/4vwZ31EJvj0/Good-Reads-Pakistan-summons-outspoken-envoy-Haqqani-Kenya-s-Somali-operation

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Chiefs claim Orton off waivers; waive WR Colbert (AP)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. ? Kyle Orton has a new home in the AFC West.

Orton was claimed off waivers Wednesday by the Kansas City Chiefs, who were in the market for a veteran quarterback after losing Matt Cassel to a season-ending injury to his throwing hand.

Orton was released by the Broncos on Tuesday, six weeks after he was benched following a 1-4 start. The former Chicago Bears starter, who passed for 3,000 yards each of his first two seasons in Denver, became expendable when the Broncos opted to go with Tim Tebow as their starter.

The Chiefs will be responsible for approximately $2.5 million remaining on Orton's nearly $8.9 million salary this season, but they had plenty of space under the salary cap to make the move.

Orton can become a free agent after this season.

"We have consistently communicated that we are always looking to create competition and depth within our team," Chiefs coach Todd Haley said late Wednesday. "We feel adding Kyle to our roster reinforces that goal and we look forward to having him as a member of the Chiefs."

Several other teams were interested in Orton, including the Bears, but the Chiefs were highest in the order of waiver priority and landed him. He's expected to report to the Chiefs on Thursday, though it's unlikely that he'll be up to speed in time for Sunday's game against Pittsburgh.

If that's the case, Tyler Palko will make his second consecutive start. He was 24 of 37 for 230 yards and three interceptions in his first NFL start, a 34-3 loss to New England on Monday night.

"He never had a look that disturbed me before, after, during the game," Haley said. "I know playing that position, there's no greater test, and getting thrown in to the fire on Monday night and, oh, by the way, six days later playing Pittsburgh, it doesn't get any harder."

Now it appears that Palko will have to fend off Orton to keep the starting job.

"Todd told me after practice that they claimed Kyle, and that's really it," Palko said. "He didn't tell me either way (about starting). Just full speed ahead for Pittsburgh.

"I've been the practice squad quarterback, I've been the No. 3, the No. 2, and the starter last week," Palko added. "I prepare the same way, with the same intensity, and that hasn't changed. I've never wavered or changed my mentality."

The Chiefs waived wide receiver Keary Colbert, who surprisingly earned a job out of training camp after spending three years away from the NFL, to make room on the roster for Orton. Colbert appeared in seven games this season, making nine catches for 89 yards.

Orton, a former Purdue star, was a fourth-round draft pick and appeared on the way to stardom when he assumed the Bears' starting job for 15 games as a rookie, winning 10 of them.

Often saddled with a reputation for being moody, Orton was demoted his second season in favor of veteran Brian Griese. He earned the starting job back late in 2007 and started 15 games for the Bears in 2008, passing for 2,972 yards with 18 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

"He was a really good player," said Chiefs running back Thomas Jones, who played with Orton in Chicago. "He's a real good teammate."

His stock never higher, Orton was traded along with a package of draft picks to Denver for Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler. In a curious twist of fate, it was an injury to Cutler that sparked Chicago's interest in claiming its former starter off waivers.

Orton excelled his first two seasons in Denver in an offense run by Josh McDaniels, throwing for 7,455 yards and 41 touchdowns with 21 interceptions.

McDaniels was fired late last season, though, and while Orton remained the starter when John Fox took over, things got off to a bumpy start. Denver lost four of its first five games, and Fox turned to Tebow as the starter, effectively demoting Orton to the third string.

Orton's career numbers bear a striking resemblance to those of Cassel, who was hurt near the end of the Chiefs' 17-10 loss to Denver two weeks ago. Orton's completed about 58 percent of his passes while making 66 career starts, with 79 touchdowns and 55 interceptions.

Cassel has started 54 games, completing 59 percent of his throws with 76 TDs and 46 picks.

The Chiefs, who are in the midst of a three-game skid that has threatened to eliminate them from contention in the AFC West, will try to get Orton up to speed quickly.

After facing the Steelers on Sunday night, they visit Chicago and the New York Jets, before returning home to face the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay. A division game against Oakland follows before wrapping up the season at Denver, a game that suddenly has a few more story lines.

"Good for him. Congratulations to him. That will be fun to play him the last game of the year," Tebow said. "Obviously he knows (Denver's offense) pretty well, so he could probably give away a few things, but I think we'll be OK."

___

AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton in Englewood, Colo., contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111124/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_chiefs_orton

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Plane with 3 men, 3 children crashes in Arizona

A floodlight illuminates a fire from a small plane crash in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction east of Phoenix, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Authorities said there was no apparent sign of survivors in the small twin-engine plane crash. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Schennum) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO SALES

A floodlight illuminates a fire from a small plane crash in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction east of Phoenix, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. Authorities said there was no apparent sign of survivors in the small twin-engine plane crash. (AP Photo/The Arizona Republic, Michael Schennum) MARICOPA COUNTY OUT; MAGS OUT; TV OUT; NO SALES

A twin-engine plane crashes into the Superstition Mountains near Phoenix killing six.

A helicopter search light looks over the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

A brush fire burns at the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, Ariz., on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. (AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

A helicopter search light looks over the scene of an aircraft that crashed in the Superstition Mountains in Apache Junction, on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The small plane with three adults and three children on board crashed into the Superstition Mountains east of Phoenix on Wednesday, and there was no sign of survivors, authorities said. [AP Photo/Tim Hacker East Valley Tribune)

(AP) ? A small airplane slammed into a sheer cliff in the mile-high mountains east of Phoenix and exploded, killing the six people onboard, including the pilot and his three young children who were to spend the Thanksgiving weekend with him, authorities said.

The body of one child was recovered and dozens of sheriff's search and rescue personnel worked Thursday to recover the remains of the other victims, said Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu.

A search and rescue team was in the rugged Superstitions Mountains searching for three missing teenagers Wednesday evening and saw the explosion as the twin-engine plane hit the cliff, Babeu said. The searchers found the teens, then went up the mountain to try to reach the crash site.

Ten deputies who spent the night on the mountain were relieved by ten more early Thursday. They and dozens of volunteers began searching the crash site at first light. Video from news helicopters Thursday morning showed the wreckage strewn at the bottom of a blackened cliff.

The dead included the pilot and his three children, two boys and a girl ages 5 to 9, Babeu said. The father lives in Safford in southeastern Arizona and owned a small aviation business there.

He had flown to the Phoenix suburb of Mesa with another pilot who co-owned the company and a company mechanic to pick up his children for Thanksgiving. The plane was headed back to Safford when it crashed.

Babeu said he personally notified the mother late Wednesday. The woman, who is divorced from the children's father, lives in Pinal County and also is a pilot.

Some immediate family members are out of the country, so the names of those involved can't yet be released, Babeu said.

"This is their entire family ? it's terrible," Babeu said. "Our hearts go out to the mom and the (families) of all the crash victims. We have has so many people that are working this day, and we just want to support them and embrace them and try to bring closure to this tragedy."

There was no indication the plane was in distress or that the pilot had radioed controllers about any problem, he said.

It was very dark at the time and the plane missed clearing the peak by only several hundred feet. The aircraft slammed into an area of rugged peaks and outcroppings in the Superstition Mountains, 40 miles east of downtown Phoenix, at about 6:30 p.m. MST Wednesday, authorities said.

Callers reported hearing an explosion near a peak known as the Flat Iron, close to Lost Dutchman State Park, Sheriff's spokeswoman Angelique Graham said.

Witnesses reported a fireball and an explosion.

"I looked up and saw this fireball and it rose up," Dave Dibble told KPHO-TV. "All of a sudden, boom."

Rescue crews flown in by helicopter to reach the crash site reported finding two debris fields on fire, suggesting that the plane broke apart on impact.

"The fuselage is stuck down into some of the crevices of this rough terrain," Babeu said late Wednesday. "This is not a flat area, this is jagged peaks, almost like a cliff-type rugged terrain."

Video after the crash showed several fires burning on the mountainside, where heavy brush is common. Flames could still be seen from the suburban communities of Mesa and Apache Junction hours later.

The region is filled with steep canyons, soaring rocky outcroppings and cactus. Treasure hunters who frequent the area have been looking for the legendary Lost Dutchman mine for more than a century.

Some witnesses told Phoenix-area television stations they heard a plane trying to rev its engines to climb higher before apparently hitting the mountains. The elevation is about 5,000 feet at the Superstition Mountains' highest point.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer said the Rockwell AC-69 was registered to Ponderosa Aviation Inc. in Safford. A man who answered the phone Wednesday night at Ponderosa Aviation declined comment.

Kenitzer said the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board would be investigating the cause of the crash.

___

AP writer Michelle Price in Phoenix contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-11-24-Arizona%20Plane%20Crash/id-a928663004f14715a9ffa8d1f70c026e

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Egypt military, political parties in crisis talks (AP)

CAIRO ? Egyptian state television says the military rulers are in a crisis meeting with leaders of political parties across the spectrum and the head of the ruling military council will address the nation shortly.

The report Tuesday came as tens of thousands massed in Cairo's Tahrir Square to demand the military set a date for presidential elections soon to enable the quick transfer of power to a civilian government.

The military-appointed government of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf submitted its resignation on Monday in apparent response to some of the demands of protesters. The military has not yet said whether it accepted the resignation.

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

CAIRO (AP) ? Tens of thousands of Egyptians massed on Tahrir Square for a mass demonstration Tuesday while fresh clashes broke out elsewhere in Cairo as protests demanding the country's military rulers step down entered a fourth day.

Activists are hoping to increase the number of protesters in the square ? which was the epicenter of the revolt that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February ? with a demonstration to bolster popular support for a "second revolution" despite bloodshed that has left at least 29 people dead nationwide.

Security forces stayed away from the square since Monday to avoid confrontations after several failed efforts to clear the area in downtown Cairo turned violent. But clashes broke out in streets connecting Tahrir Square to police headquarters, with black-clad security forces backed by military troops firing volleys of tear gas and rubber bullets to block groups of angry young men, who responded by hurling stones and fire bombs.

The two sides have been engaged in intense clashes since the unrest began on Saturday with protesters trying to force out the generals who have failed to stabilize the country, salvage the economy or bring democracy more than nine months after taking the reins from Mubarak.

Three foreigners were arrested after they were seen throwing fire bombs at security forces from the roof of a building belonging to the American University near Tahrir Square, an Interior Ministry official said. The official did not give the nationalities of the three men.

An airport official also said a U.S. citizen who had been arrested while allegedly filming security forces at Tahrir Square was deported Tuesday to the United Arab Emirates from which he had arrived.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information

In many ways, the protests bear a striking resemblance to the 18-day uprising beginning Jan. 25 that toppled Mubarak. The chants are identical, except that military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi's name has replaced Mubarak's.

"The goal is to get rid of the government. They're still stealing and people can't eat," said protester Raed Said, 23, as he walked with an arm around his friend who was choking from the tear gas. "The field marshal has to leave because he's trying to protect Mubarak and doesn't want to try him, so he has to go."

Hundreds of protesters arrived early Tuesday to join several thousand who have been camping on Tahrir Square, sleeping in tents or on the grass rolled up in blankets despite efforts by police to clear the area. The crowds hoisted a giant Egyptian flag and chanted slogans demanding the generals immediately step down in favor of a presidential civilian council.

One man held a sign reading "ministry of thuggery" with photos of Mubarak, Tantawi, Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and others. A few hundred young men nearby chanted "say it, don't fear, the council must go" and "the people want to execute the field marshal."

The rally, dubbed "Egypt's Salvation," came a day after Sharaf's civilian Cabinet submitted its resignation to the military council, a move that had been widely expected given the government's perceived inefficiency and its almost complete subordination to the generals. The ruling military council gave no word if the offer had been accepted, but regardless, it failed to satisfy the protesters.

"That was a game, like playing the joker in a game of cards. We want the military council to resign," said 60-year-old protester Mustafa Mursi, who wore a pair of goggles on his forehead with a gas mask and a laminated picture of his slain son around his neck.

Mursi, who has been at the square since the latest protests began on Saturday, said that his son Mohammed was shot in head on Jan. 28 during clashes with security forces in the earlier uprising.

"I'll stay until military rule ends and there is civilian rule," he said.

The clashes came few days before the country's first parliamentary elections since Mubarak was forced to step down. Fears were high that the turmoil would disrupt elections due to begin on Nov. 28.

Amnesty International harshly criticized the military rulers in a new report, saying they have "completely failed to live up their promises to Egyptians to improve human rights."

The London-based group documented steps by the military that have fallen short of increasing human rights and in some cases have made matters worse than under Mubarak.

"The euphoria of the uprising has been replaced by fears that one repressive rule has simply been replaced with another," according to the report, issued early Tuesday.

The report called for repeal of the Mubarak-era "emergency laws," expanded to cover "thuggery" and criticizing the military. It said the army has placed arbitrary restrictions on media and other outlets.

Egyptian security forces have continued to use torture against demonstrators, the report said, and some 12,000 civilians have been tried in military trials, which it called "unfair."

A military spokesman, meanwhile, told The Associated Press that the military has set up barbed wire and barricades around the security headquarters to prevent protesters from storming the building. "We are only here to protect the interior ministry," he said.

The spokesman, who asked not to be identified because he wasn't authorized to release the information, also said army officers and soldiers had been forbidden to enter Tahrir Square.

In violence elsewhere, Egypt's state-TV reported that three people were killed overnight in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia, east of Cairo, raising the overall death toll from the protests to 29.

The unrest also had an immediate impact on Egypt's economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism and had not fully recovered from the effect of the January revolution. The stock exchange temporarily suspended trading after the broader EGX100 index slumped 5 percent.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_egypt

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UN condemns 'brutal' beatings in Egypt

International criticism of Egypt's military rulers mounted Wednesday as police clashed for a fifth day with protesters demanding the generals relinquish power immediately. A rights group raised the death toll for the wave of violence to at least 38.

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The United Nations strongly condemned authorities for what it deemed an excessive use of force. Germany, one of Egypt's top trading partners, called for a quick transfer of power to a civilian government. The United States and the U.N. secretary general have already expressed their concern over the use of violence against mostly peaceful protesters.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, deplored the role of Egypt's security forces in attempting to suppress protesters.

"Some of the images coming out of Tahrir, including the brutal beating of already subdued protesters, are deeply shocking, as are the reports of unarmed protesters being shot in the head," Pillay said. "There should be a prompt, impartial and independent investigation, and accountability for those found responsible for the abuses that have taken place should be ensured."

Clashes resumed for a fifth day despite a promise by the head of the ruling military council on Tuesday to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year, a concession swiftly rejected by tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square. The military previously floated late next year or early 2013 as the likely date for the vote, the last step in the process of transferring power to a civilian government.

Video: Protesters throw stones, conflict grows in Cairo (on this page)

The clashes are the longest spate of uninterrupted violence since the 18-day uprising that toppled the former regime in February.

The standoff at Tahrir and in other major cities such as Alexandria and Assiut has deepened the country's economic and security crisis less than a week before the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi tried to defuse tensions with his address late Tuesday, but he did not set a date for handing authority to a civilian government.

The Tahrir crowd, along with protesters in a string of other cities, want Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian administration to run the nation's affairs until a new parliament and president are elected.

The government offered more concessions on Wednesday, ordering the release of 312 protesters detained over the past days and instructing civilian prosecutors to take over a probe the military started into the death of 27 people, mostly Christians, in a protest on Oct. 9. The army is accused of involvement in the killings.

The military also denied that its troops around Tahrir Square used tear gas or fired at protesters, an assertion that runs against numerous witness accounts that say troops deployed outside the Interior Ministry were firing tear gas at protesters.

Street battles have been heaviest around the heavily fortified Interior Ministry, located on a side street that leads to the iconic square that was the epicenter of the uprising earlier this year. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to keep the protesters from storming the ministry, a sprawling complex that has for long been associated with the hated police and Mubarak's former regime.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said a truce negotiated by Muslim clerics briefly held in the late afternoon, after both the protesters and the police pulled back from the front line street, scene of most of the fighting. State television, meanwhile, broadcast footage from the scene of the clashes showing army soldiers forming a human chain between the protesters and the police in a bid to stop the violence.

The truce was soon breached in a barrage of tear gas and rubber bullets from police and a shower of rocks by protesters.

One of the clerics, Mohammed Fawaz, said he and others were trying to regroup and try again to stop the fighting.

"We're scattered. we are trying to from a new human chain between protesters and police. We want the army to protect us," he said as a white cloud of tear gas hung low over the crowd and shots rang out.

Protester Islam Mohammed, 22, said a friend, Shehab Abdullah, died earlier in the day from what he said was a live bullet fired by police. "I will avenge his death. We all will," he said. "We are defending Tahrir square. If we sleep, police will attack us."

Soon after the truce was shattered, Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehan Nojaim was arrested, according to her friend and co-producer Karim Amer.

He said Nojaim called from her mobile telephone to say that she was detained by military police.

"They arrested her because they don't want anyone documenting what's happening," Amer said.

Elnadeem Center, an Egyptian rights group known for its careful research of victims of police violence, said late Tuesday that the number of protesters killed in clashes nationwide since Saturday is 38, three more than the Health Ministry's death toll, which went up to 35 on Wednesday. All but four of the deaths were in Cairo.

The clashes also have left at least 2,000 protesters wounded, mostly from gas inhalation or injuries caused by rubber bullets fired by the army and the police. The police deny using live ammunition.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday cited morgue officials as saying at least 20 people have been killed by live ammunition.

Shady el-Nagar, a doctor in one of Tahrir's field hospitals, said three bodies arrived in the facility on Wednesday. All three had bullet wounds.

The turmoil broke out just days before the start of staggered parliamentary elections on Nov. 28. The votes will take place over months and conclude in March.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt's strongest and best organized group, is not taking part in the ongoing protests in a move that is widely interpreted to be a reflection of its desire not to do anything that could derail the election, which it hopes win along with its allies.

Hundreds of Brotherhood supporters, however, have defied the leadership and joined the crowds in the square. Their participation is not likely to influence the Brotherhood's leadership or narrow the rift between the Islamist group and the secular organizations behind the uprising that toppled Mubarak and which are behind the latest spate of protests.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, was said by a spokesman to be following events in Egypt "with great concern."

"In the new Egypt, which wants to be free and democratic, repression and the use of force against peaceful demonstrators can have no place," spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin. "The demonstrators' demands ... for a quick transition to a civilian government are understandable from the German government's point of view," he added.

___

Associated Press writers Maggie Michael in Cairo and Frank Jordans in Geneva contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45418680/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

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"Disastrous" bond sale shakes confidence in Germany (Reuters)

BERLIN (Reuters) ? A "disastrous" German bond sale on Wednesday sparked fears that Europe's debt crisis was starting to threaten even Berlin, with the leaders of the euro zone's two biggest economies still at odds over a longer-term structural solution.

With contagion spreading, a majority of 20 prominent economists polled by Reuters predicted that the euro zone was unlikely to survive the crisis in its current form, with some envisaging a "core" group that would exclude Greece.

Investors were also unnerved by reports that Belgium is leaning on France to pay more into emergency support for failed lender Dexia under a 90-billion-euro ($120-billion) rescue deal that had appeared done and dusted.

A special report by Fitch Ratings suggested France had limited room left to absorb shocks to its finances, such as a new downturn in growth or support for banks, without endangering its triple-A credit status.

"The debt crisis is burrowing ever deeper, like a worm, and is now reaching Germany," one of the more eurosceptic backbenchers in Angela Merkel's center-right government, Frank Schaeffler of the junior coalition partner Free Democrats (FDP), told Reuters.

Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and new Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti were to meet in the French city of Strasbourg on Thursday.

They were expected to discuss the reforms planned by former EU commissioner Monti at a meeting they hope will allow Italy to put behind it the era of scandal-plagued former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who resigned this month.

Underlining how deep the euro zone crisis has become, the German debt agency could not find buyers for almost half a bond sale of 6 billion euros. That pushed the cost of borrowing over 10 years for the bloc's paymaster above those for the United States for the first time since October.

"It is a complete and utter disaster," said Marc Ostwald, strategist at Monument Securities in London.

The new bond promised to pay out a 2.0 percent interest rate - the lowest ever on an issue of German 10-year Bunds. The auction's average yield was 1.98 percent, down from 2.09 percent for the previous benchmark in October.

The poor debt sale by Europe's powerhouse economy pushed the euro down to 1.336 against the dollar and European shares sank to 7-week lows.

Bunds slumped after the auction. Ten-year yields rose 14.5 basis points to 2.056 percent, yielding more than U.S. Treasury notes for the first time since early last month.

GERMAN EXPOSURE

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble's spokesman told a news conference that the auction did not mean the government had refinancing problems and few on financial markets disagreed.

But it was a sign that, as the bloc's paymaster, Germany may slowly be pressured if the crisis continues to deepen. One senior ratings agency official said it could give Berlin cause to re-examine its refusal to embrace a broader solution.

"It's quite telling that there has been upward pressure on yields in Germany - it might begin to change perceptions," David Beers of Standard & Poor's told a conference in Dublin.

The borrowing costs of almost all euro zone states, even those previously seen as safe such as France, Austria and the Netherlands, have spiked in the last two weeks as panicky investors dumped paper no longer seen as risk-free.

"Bunds are starting to lose their appeal because markets have to believe the euro bonds story and Germany is very close to starting, essentially, to guarantee the debt of other countries," said Achilleas Georgolopoulos, strategist at Lloyds Bank in London.

The crux of an acceleration of the crisis in the past month is Italian bond yields' jump to levels around 7 percent widely seen as unbearable in the long term, despite intervention by the European Central Bank to buy limited quantities.

Determined not to be pushed around by financial markets, Merkel is resisting calls, most notably from France, to allow the ECB to act more decisively.

In a forceful speech to the Bundestag, the lower house of the German parliament, Merkel warned against fiddling with the bank's strict inflation-fighting mandate. She also hit back at proposals from the European Commission on joint euro zone bond issuance, calling them "extraordinarily inappropriate."

Shortly before she began speaking, French Finance Minister Francois Baroin told a conference in Paris that it was the ECB's responsibility to sustain activity in the currency bloc.

"The best response to avoid contagion in countries like Spain and Italy is, from the French viewpoint, an intervention (or) the possibility of intervention or announcement of intervention by a lender of last resort, which would be the European Central Bank," Baroin said.

STABILITY BOND

Merkel has said the EU treaty bars the ECB from acting as a lender of last resort and printing money to buy government debt. She rejected joint "euro bonds," dismissed a proposal to mutualize the euro zone's debt stock, and rebuffed attempts to allow the bloc's rescue fund to borrow from the ECB or the IMF.

Yet at the same time, she has declared that the only answer to the crisis was "more Europe" and won endorsement from her party to press for a fully fledged European political union based around the euro zone.

There is a risk that one of the euro zone's 17 member states could leave the single currency bloc, Bank of England policymaker David Miles said in an interview broadcast on ITV late on Wednesday.

"I don't think any of us can feel confident one way or another about whether all the countries that are currently in the euro zone will still be in it," he said. In a Reuters poll conducted over the last 10 days, 14 out of 20 prominent academics, former policymakers and independent thinkers agreed the euro zone's make-up would change.

A new "core" euro zone with fewer members received qualified backing from 10 economists as a possible solution, with seven of them saying Greece should be excluded from it.

"The euro zone can and should survive, but it will not survive on the current trajectory," said Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York.

The very public jousting over what to do next underscores just how divided European leaders are on how to resolve the turmoil which has accelerated to engulf big countries such as Italy and Spain, and pushed out leaders in Rome and Athens.

"We don't know where this is going," said Richard Jeffrey, Chief Investment Officer at Cazenove Capital Management in London. "Do not think the political leaders know where they are taking it."

With time running out for politicians to forge a crisis plan that is seen as credible by the markets, the European Commission presented a study on Wednesday of joint euro zone bonds as a way to stabilize debt markets.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso unveiled proposals for much more intrusive oversight of euro zone countries' budgets and efforts to meet macroeconomic targets, and set out the options for introducing common euro zone bonds.

"I welcome Barroso's proposals, which are a real step forward on many points," Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees De Jager said in a statement. "It will, however, still be an uphill battle, for there are those who resist further discipline.

"Eurobonds are not a magic solution to the current crisis and could even worsen it," he said. "We have to do first things first, and that means establishing strict supervision and enforcement of budget discipline."

(Reporting by Stephen Brown, Noah Barkin, Natalia Drozdiak, Veronica Ek, Eva Kuehnen; Writing by Patrick Graham and Peter Millership; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111124/ts_nm/us_eurozone

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