Joey Fatone Runs a Half Marathon - and a Full Marathon - in One Weekend















01/16/2013 at 10:25 AM EST



For two years, Joey Fatone cheered on his wife, Kelly, as she ran the Goofy Challenge at Walt Disney World: a half marathon followed by a full marathon the following day. But when Kelly fractured her foot two months ago, Fatone decided to run in her place.

"I just said, 'I'll do it for you,'" he tells PEOPLE. "And it became something I really wanted to do for her."

After competing on Dancing with the Stars, Fatone, 35, had decided to get into shape.

"I wasn't training to run a marathon," he says. "I just wanted to start working out. I wanted to build more muscle and upper body strength. I have no definition in my chest! So that's how I started. Then I decided, 'Let's see how far I can run.' And it went from there."

The night before the marathon, Fatone did something that could have derailed the entire thing: at the birthday party for his 3-year-old daughter, Kloey, he jumped on a trampoline for three hours. "I knew I could hurt myself," he says. "But it was her birthday. What was I going to do? I woke up the next day feeling really good and ready to run."

On Saturday, Kelly Fatone packed Joey a lunch – along with Advil and blister ointment. During the 13.1 mile trek, Fatone would run for a minute, followed by a minute of brisk walking. He finished the course in three hours, 10 minutes. "It really wasn't that bad," he says.

The next day, he tackled the 26.1-mile marathon. "I never thought, 'I'm not going to do this,' but I did think, 'What am I doing?'" he says.

Around mile 18, his left knee started to throb. "I knew if I stopped, I'd be screwed," he says. "So I just kept going."

Finishing the marathon in six hours, 19 minutes, Fatone was triumphant. "Your body can do so much if you mentally prepare," he says. "I really do feel like I can do anything now. It's a great feeling."

On another hot topic, pal Justin Timberlake's new song "Suit & Tie," Fatone has nothing but praise for his former boy bandmate. "I like it," he says. "It's a different sound for him, but Justin's music grows on you. After you hear it a few times, you love it!"

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ER visits tied to energy drinks double since 2007


SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide during the past four years, the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.


From 2007 to 2011, the government estimates the number of emergency room visits involving the neon-labeled beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of those cases involved teens or young adults, according to a survey of the nation's hospitals released late last week by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.


The report doesn't specify which symptoms brought people to the emergency room but calls energy drink consumption a "rising public health problem" that can cause insomnia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat and seizures that are severe enough to require emergency care.


Several emergency physicians said they had seen a clear uptick in the number of patients suffering from irregular heartbeats, anxiety and heart attacks who said they had recently downed an energy drink.


More than half of the patients considered in the survey who wound up in the emergency room told doctors they had downed only energy drinks. In 2011, about 42 percent of the cases involved energy drinks in combination with alcohol or drugs, such as the stimulants Adderall or Ritalin.


"A lot of people don't realize the strength of these things. I had someone come in recently who had drunk three energy drinks in an hour, which is the equivalent of 15 cups of coffee," said Howard Mell, an emergency physician in the suburbs of Cleveland, who serves as a spokesman for the American College of Emergency Physicians. "Essentially he gave himself a stress test and thankfully he passed. But if he had a weak heart or suffered from coronary disease and didn't know it, this could have precipitated very bad things."


The findings came as concerns over energy drinks have intensified following reports last fall of 18 deaths possibly tied to the drinks — including a 14-year-old Maryland girl who died after drinking two large cans of Monster Energy drinks. Monster does not believe its products were responsible for the death.


Two senators are calling for the Food and Drug Administration to investigate safety concerns about energy drinks and their ingredients.


The energy drink industry says its drinks are safe and there is no proof linking its products to the adverse reactions.


Late last year, the FDA asked the U.S. Health and Human Services to update the figures its substance abuse research arm compiles about emergency room visits tied to energy drinks.


The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's survey was based on responses it receives from about 230 hospitals each year, a representative sample of about 5 percent of emergency departments nationwide. The agency then uses those responses to estimate the number of energy drink-related emergency department visits nationwide.


The more than 20,000 cases estimated for 2011 represent a small portion of the annual 136 million emergency room visits tracked by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.


The FDA said it was considering the findings and pressing for more details as it undertakes a broad review of the safety of energy drinks and related ingredients this spring.


"We will examine this additional information ... as a part of our ongoing investigation into potential safety issues surrounding the use of energy-drink products," FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess said in a statement.


Beverage manufacturers fired back at the survey, saying the statistics were misleading and taken out of context.


"This report does not share information about the overall health of those who may have consumed energy drinks, or what symptoms brought them to the ER in the first place," the American Beverage Association said in a statement. "There is no basis by which to understand the overall caffeine intake of any of these individuals — from all sources."


Energy drinks remain a small part of the carbonated soft drinks market, representing only 3.3 percent of sales volume, according to the industry tracker Beverage Digest. Even as soda consumption has flagged in recent years, energy drinks sales are growing rapidly.


In 2011, sales volume for energy drinks rose by almost 17 percent, with the top three companies — Monster, Red Bull and Rockstar — each logging double-digit gains, Beverage Digest found. The drinks are often marketed at sporting events that are popular among younger people such as surfing and skateboarding.


From 2007 to 2011, the most recent year for which data was available, people from 18 to 25 were the most common age group seeking emergency treatment for energy drink-related reactions, the report found.


"We were really concerned to find that in four years the number of emergency department visits almost doubled, and these drinks are largely marketed to younger people," said Al Woodward, a senior statistical analyst with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration who worked on the report.


Emergency physician Steve Sun said he had seen an increase in such cases at the Catholic hospital where he works on the edge of San Francisco's Golden Gate Park.


"I saw one young man who had mixed energy drinks with alcohol and we had to admit him to the hospital because he was so dehydrated he had renal failure," Sun said. "Because he was young he did well in the hospital, but if another patient had had underlying coronary artery disease, it could have led to a heart attack."


___


Follow Garance Burke on Twitter at http://twitter.com/garanceburke


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Wall Street off five-year highs, Boeing weighs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell off five-year highs on Wednesday as concerns about global economic growth offset strong bank results and shares of Boeing weighed on the Dow after two Japanese airlines grounded their Dreamliner fleets.


Goldman Sachs shares hit an 18-month high as its earnings nearly tripled on increased revenue from dealmaking and lower compensation expenses, while JPMorgan Chase said fourth-quarter net income jumped 53 percent and earnings for 2012 set a record.


JPMorgan shares were last down 0.8 percent at $46 and Goldman added 2 percent to $138.26.


Concern about global economic growth was weighing on the markets, said Peter Jankovskis, co-chief investment officer at OakBrook Investments in Lisle, Illinois.


A slow economic recovery in developed nations is holding back the global economy, the World Bank said on Tuesday, as it sharply scaled back its forecast for world growth in 2013 to 2.4 percent from an earlier forecast of 3.0 percent.


Shares of Dow component Boeing fell 3.5 percent to $74.25 on concerns about the safety of its new Dreamliner passenger jets. Japan's two leading airlines grounded their fleets of 787s after an emergency landing, adding to safety concerns triggered by a ream of recent incidents.


"It's certainly going to pull averages down, given Boeing's large market cap, but I don't see it as having broader market implications," Jankovskis said.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> fell 61.79 points or 0.46 percent, to 13,473.1, the S&P 500 <.spx> lost 4.39 points or 0.3 percent, to 1,467.95 and the Nasdaq Composite <.ixic> dropped 2.72 points or 0.09 percent, to 3,108.06.


Losses on Nasdaq were limited by gains in Apple shares, which were up 2 percent at $495.75.


Talks to take Dell Inc private were at an advanced stage, with at least four major banks lined up to provide financing, two sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters. Shares fell 3.6 percent to $12.69 after jumping more than 21 percent over the past two sessions.


U.S. consumer prices were flat in December, pointing to muted inflation pressures that should give the Federal Reserve room to prop up the economy by staying on its ultra-easy monetary policy path.


(Editing by Bernadette Baum)



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Pakistan government digs in as cleric keeps up pressure


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan will not bow to the demands of a Muslim cleric who has brought thousands of protesters to the heart of the capital Islamabad calling for the resignation of the government and electoral reforms, the information minister said on Wednesday.


The government has also been rocked by a Supreme Court order on Tuesday to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf within 24 hours on a corruption investigation. However Ashraf remained a free man since officials said the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), which would carry out the arrest, had not yet received direct orders.


The officials said the NAB chief would go the Supreme Court on Thursday to discuss the issue.


The cleric, Muhammad Tahirul Qadri, who played a role in backing a military coup in 1999, is calling for the immediate resignation of the government and the installation of a caretaker administration to oversee electoral reforms.


His sudden appearance at the forefront of Pakistan's political scene has fueled speculation that the army, which has a long history of meddling in politics, has tacitly endorsed his campaign in an effort to pile more pressure on a government it sees as inept and corrupt.


Qadri and the military deny this.


The ruling Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) shows no sign of caving in to Qadri's demands and hopes the protests will disperse over the next few days, easing pressure on a government faced with an abundance of challenges, from a Taliban insurgency to a weak economy.


At a press conference near the federal parliament, where many of the protesters are gathered, Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said general elections will take place as scheduled sometime between May 5 and 15, and suggested action would be taken if the protests drag on.


"All political parties are happy with the Election Commission and elections will happen on time," he said.


"There is nothing wrong with raising your concerns and protesting. But if you try to hold the capital hostage and disrupt the lives of its people, the law will take its course."


The main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League led by former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, has also rejected Qadri's call for the military to play a role in the formation of a caretaker government to oversee the run-up to elections.


"Tahirul Qadri is working on somebody's agenda to derail democracy in Pakistan and we reject all of his demands." Sharif told a news conference, in an apparent reference to the military.


The ruling coalition led by the PPP has a majority in parliament and, to continue to hold office, lawmakers can simply elect another prime minister if Ashraf is ousted.


In June, Ashraf replaced Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court in a previous showdown between the government and the judiciary.


But Qadri's appeal to thousands of supporters has injected fresh uncertainty into the governments' s bid to cement Pakistan's transition to democracy by becoming the first civilian administration to complete a full term.


The military has ruled Pakistan for over half of its 65 years since independence. But current chief General Ashfaq Kayani has vowed to keep the military out of politics.


(Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)



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Leaked BlackBerry 10 sales manual reveals new images and details







The buzz continues to mount leading up to the January 30th unveiling of Research In Motions’s (RIMM) next-generation BlackBerry 10 platform, but we’re not sure how much is left to learn. Many BlackBerry 10 features have already been announced, we’ve seen RIM’s first two next-generation handsets — the BlackBerry Z10 and the BlackBerry X10 — a number times, and now Rogers’ internal sales manual for BlackBerry 10 devices has leaked thanks to CrackBerry. The manual is packed full of images and it also confirms some specs reported a few months ago, and the full document is embedded at the source link below. RIM’s next-generation operating system and handsets will be unveiled during a press conference on January 30th, and BGR will be on hand reporting live.


[More from BGR: Dell’s bold plan to reinvent itself: A USB-sized PC that gives access to Windows, Mac OS, Chrome OS]






This article was originally published on BGR.com


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Sofia Vergara Wants Her Wedding to 'Be a Big Event'















01/15/2013 at 10:50 AM EST



Sofia Vergara doesn't know much about her eventual wedding day, but she's sure of one thing in particular: it's going to be over-the-top.

"If I'm going to do something, it's going to have to be a big event," the Modern Family star, who is engaged to Nick Loeb, told PEOPLE last Friday. "I just had my 40th birthday in Mexico. I had more than 100 people."

Unfortunately for the starlet, along with an extravagant affair comes appropriate planning, which she's too busy for these days.

"Now I don't have the time – and it will have to be one weekend when I have the time to plan something fun," she says. "I don't even know what I'm going to do."

One item she can cross of her list of things to worry about on her big day is designating someone to give a toast at the reception.

"We don't do that type of tradition," she explains. "[Nick and I want] more like of a party [with] music, dancing, a lot of food; not really sitting there hours and giving speeches."

Ironically, Vergara is the one doing some cheers of her own when she gives an impromptu wedding speech in the latest Diet Pepsi commercial, as part of her "Love Every Sip" campaign.

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Hospitals crack down on workers refusing flu shots


CHICAGO (AP) — Patients can refuse a flu shot. Should doctors and nurses have that right, too? That is the thorny question surfacing as U.S. hospitals increasingly crack down on employees who won't get flu shots, with some workers losing their jobs over their refusal.


"Where does it say that I am no longer a patient if I'm a nurse," wondered Carrie Calhoun, a longtime critical care nurse in suburban Chicago who was fired last month after she refused a flu shot.


Hospitals' get-tougher measures coincide with an earlier-than-usual flu season hitting harder than in recent mild seasons. Flu is widespread in most states, and at least 20 children have died.


Most doctors and nurses do get flu shots. But in the past two months, at least 15 nurses and other hospital staffers in four states have been fired for refusing, and several others have resigned, according to affected workers, hospital authorities and published reports.


In Rhode Island, one of three states with tough penalties behind a mandatory vaccine policy for health care workers, more than 1,000 workers recently signed a petition opposing the policy, according to a labor union that has filed suit to end the regulation.


Why would people whose job is to protect sick patients refuse a flu shot? The reasons vary: allergies to flu vaccine, which are rare; religious objections; and skepticism about whether vaccinating health workers will prevent flu in patients.


Dr. Carolyn Bridges, associate director for adult immunization at the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, says the strongest evidence is from studies in nursing homes, linking flu vaccination among health care workers with fewer patient deaths from all causes.


"We would all like to see stronger data," she said. But other evidence shows flu vaccination "significantly decreases" flu cases, she said. "It should work the same in a health care worker versus somebody out in the community."


Cancer nurse Joyce Gingerich is among the skeptics and says her decision to avoid the shot is mostly "a personal thing." She's among seven employees at IU Health Goshen Hospital in northern Indiana who were recently fired for refusing flu shots. Gingerich said she gets other vaccinations but thinks it should be a choice. She opposes "the injustice of being forced to put something in my body."


Medical ethicist Art Caplan says health care workers' ethical obligation to protect patients trumps their individual rights.


"If you don't want to do it, you shouldn't work in that environment," said Caplan, medical ethics chief at New York University's Langone Medical Center. "Patients should demand that their health care provider gets flu shots — and they should ask them."


For some people, flu causes only mild symptoms. But it can also lead to pneumonia, and there are thousands of hospitalizations and deaths each year. The number of deaths has varied in recent decades from about 3,000 to 49,000.


A survey by CDC researchers found that in 2011, more than 400 U.S. hospitals required flu vaccinations for their employees and 29 hospitals fired unvaccinated employees.


At Calhoun's hospital, Alexian Brothers Medical Center in Elk Grove Village, Ill., unvaccinated workers granted exemptions must wear masks and tell patients, "I'm wearing the mask for your safety," Calhoun says. She says that's discriminatory and may make patients want to avoid "the dirty nurse" with the mask.


The hospital justified its vaccination policy in an email, citing the CDC's warning that this year's flu outbreak was "expected to be among the worst in a decade" and noted that Illinois has already been hit especially hard. The mandatory vaccine policy "is consistent with our health system's mission to provide the safest environment possible."


The government recommends flu shots for nearly everyone, starting at age 6 months. Vaccination rates among the general public are generally lower than among health care workers.


According to the most recent federal data, about 63 percent of U.S. health care workers had flu shots as of November. That's up from previous years, but the government wants 90 percent coverage of health care workers by 2020.


The highest rate, about 88 percent, was among pharmacists, followed by doctors at 84 percent, and nurses, 82 percent. Fewer than half of nursing assistants and aides are vaccinated, Bridges said.


Some hospitals have achieved 90 percent but many fall short. A government health advisory panel has urged those below 90 percent to consider a mandatory program.


Also, the accreditation body over hospitals requires them to offer flu vaccines to workers, and those failing to do that and improve vaccination rates could lose accreditation.


Starting this year, the government's Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is requiring hospitals to report employees' flu vaccination rates as a means to boost the rates, the CDC's Bridges said. Eventually the data will be posted on the agency's "Hospital Compare" website.


Several leading doctor groups support mandatory flu shots for workers. And the American Medical Association in November endorsed mandatory shots for those with direct patient contact in nursing homes; elderly patients are particularly vulnerable to flu-related complications. The American Nurses Association supports mandates if they're adopted at the state level and affect all hospitals, but also says exceptions should be allowed for medical or religious reasons.


Mandates for vaccinating health care workers against other diseases, including measles, mumps and hepatitis, are widely accepted. But some workers have less faith that flu shots work — partly because there are several types of flu virus that often differ each season and manufacturers must reformulate vaccines to try and match the circulating strains.


While not 100 percent effective, this year's vaccine is a good match, the CDC's Bridges said.


Several states have laws or regulations requiring flu vaccination for health care workers but only three — Arkansas, Maine and Rhode Island — spell out penalties for those who refuse, according to Alexandra Stewart, a George Washington University expert in immunization policy and co-author of a study appearing this month in the journal Vaccine.


Rhode Island's regulation, enacted in December, may be the toughest and is being challenged in court by a health workers union. The rule allows exemptions for religious or medical reasons, but requires unvaccinated workers in contact with patients to wear face masks during flu season. Employees who refuse the masks can be fined $100 and may face a complaint or reprimand for unprofessional conduct that could result in losing their professional license.


Some Rhode Island hospitals post signs announcing that workers wearing masks have not received flu shots. Opponents say the masks violate their health privacy.


"We really strongly support the goal of increasing vaccination rates among health care workers and among the population as a whole," but it should be voluntary, said SEIU Healthcare Employees Union spokesman Chas Walker.


Supporters of health care worker mandates note that to protect public health, courts have endorsed forced vaccination laws affecting the general population during disease outbreaks, and have upheld vaccination requirements for schoolchildren.


Cases involving flu vaccine mandates for health workers have had less success. A 2009 New York state regulation mandating health care worker vaccinations for swine flu and seasonal flu was challenged in court but was later rescinded because of a vaccine shortage. And labor unions have challenged individual hospital mandates enacted without collective bargaining; an appeals court upheld that argument in 2007 in a widely cited case involving Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle.


Calhoun, the Illinois nurse, says she is unsure of her options.


"Most of the hospitals in my area are all implementing these policies," she said. "This conflict could end the career I have dedicated myself to."


__


Online:


R.I. union lawsuit against mandatory vaccines: http://www.seiu1199ne.org/files/2013/01/FluLawsuitRI.pdf


CDC: http://www.cdc.gov


___


AP Medical Writer Lindsey Tanner can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/LindseyTanner


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Wall Street knocked lower by debt limit worries, Apple

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday on worries over the debate brewing in Washington over raising the U.S. borrowing limit, while Apple's stock extended its fall on concerns of weaker demand for its products.


Economic data offset some of the negative tone after retail sales rose more than expected in December. But manufacturing activity in New York state contracted for the sixth month in a row in January.


On Monday, President Barack Obama rejected any negotiations with Republicans over raising the U.S. debt ceiling. The United States could default on its debt if Congress does not increase the borrowing limit.


Resolving the debt ceiling debate is more a question of how than if. Investors don't expect a U.S. default, but they are also wary of another eleventh-hour agreement like the one in August 2011.


"The concern is just the uncertainty and the negotiating going down to the last minute," said John Fox, co-manager of the FAM Value Fund, in Cobleskill, New York.


Apple fell for the third day in a row, weighing on the Nasdaq after reports on Monday of cuts to orders for iPhone parts. Apple was down more than 2 percent at $491.96. The stock fell below $500 for the first time in almost a year on Monday.


The Dow Jones industrial average <.dji> slipped 29.55 points, or 0.22 percent, to 13,477.77. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index <.spx> fell 4.35 points, or 0.30 percent, to 1,466.33. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.ixic> gave up 18.82 points, or 0.60 percent, at 3,098.68.


Although Tuesday's economic data was mostly positive, reaction in the market was likely to be limited since investors' attention centered on the negotiations over the debt ceiling and spending cuts, said Hugh Johnson, chief investment officer of Hugh Johnson Advisors LLC in Albany, NY.


"'Fiscal Cliff Two' is now the principal focus of investors," he said.


An expected lackluster earnings season also kept investors from taking aggressive bets. Analyst estimates for the quarter have fallen sharply since October. S&P 500 earnings growth is now seen up just 1.9 percent from a year ago, Thomson Reuters data showed.


Homebuilder Lennar reported a sharp rise in quarterly profit, but the stock fell 2.2 percent to $40.11 on worries that growth in orders was slowing.


Shares of Dell rose 3.1 percent to $12.67 the day after sources said the company is in talks with private equity firms on a potential buyout.


Facebook added 0.6 percent to $31.11 ahead of a major news event at its headquarters. The secretive nature of the event has triggered a guessing game about what the company could unveil.


(Editing by Kenneth Barry)



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Pakistan turmoil deepens as court orders PM's arrest


ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister on Tuesday on corruption allegations, ratcheting up pressure on a government that is also facing street protests led by a cleric who has a history of ties to the army.


The combination of the arrest order and the mass protest in the capital Islamabad led by Muslim cleric Muhammad Tahirul Qadri raised fears among politicians that the military was working with the judiciary to force out a civilian leader.


"There is no doubt that Qadri's march and the Supreme Court's verdict were masterminded by the military establishment of Pakistan," Fawad Chaudhry, an aide to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf, told Reuters.


"The military can intervene at this moment as the Supreme Court has opened a way for it."


However, the ruling coalition led by the Pakistan Peoples' Party (PPP) has a majority in parliament and lawmakers can simply elect another prime minister if Ashraf is ousted. In June, Ashraf replaced Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani, who was disqualified by the Supreme Court in a previous showdown between the government and the judiciary.


Also, elections are due in a few months and President Asif Ali Zardari hopes to lead the first civilian government in Pakistan's 65 years as an independent nation that will complete its full term.


But power struggles will distract the unpopular government from tackling an array of problems - a Taliban insurgency, economic stagnation and growing sectarian tensions triggered by bomb attacks and tit-for-tat shootings.


The military, which sees itself as the guarantor of Pakistan's stability, has long regarded the PPP-led government as corrupt, incompetent and unable to prevent the nuclear-armed country from falling apart.


Pakistan's powerful army has a long history of coups and intervening in politics. But these days generals seem to have little appetite for a coup. Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani has vowed to keep the military out of politics.


But many believe top military leaders still try to exert behind-the-scenes influence, and any moves by the military in the latest crisis could not happen without a green light from Kayani, arguably the most powerful man in Pakistan.


"Extra-constitutional regime change, or "outside of the political calendar" if you will, is only possible in Pakistan with the tacit nod of the military, on account of it being a long-time stakeholder in Pakistani politics," said Shamila Chaudhry, an analyst at Eurasia Group.


"The Qadri march was like a trial balloon. The military indirectly sent it out to see if it would work."


Some politicians believe the military will try to dominate the caretaker administration that will oversee the run-up to the polls after parliament is dissolved, which is due to happen in March. An election date has yet to be announced.


The protest by Qadri and his followers has also been seen by commentators as being orchestrated by the military to add to the pressure on Zardari's government, although the military has denied any ties to the cleric.


PEOPLE'S MONEY


Thousands of followers of the populist cleric camped near the federal parliament cheered and waved Pakistani flags as television channels broadcast news of the Supreme Court's order to arrest Ashraf on charges of corruption.


"We don't want any of those old politicians. They just take all the people's money," said 19-year-old student Mohammed Wasim. "We congratulate the whole nation (on the Supreme Court's order). Now we have to take the rest of the thieves to court."


Government officials said they were baffled by the arrest order, which came hours after Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry said elections should go ahead as scheduled.


"This was totally unexpected," an official in Ashraf's office told Reuters. "The prime minister and two or three of his friends were watching Qadri speak on television and this suddenly happened."


Pakistan's stock exchange fell by more than 500 points, or nearly three percent, on news of the court order, due to fears over fresh political turmoil, which comes against a backdrop of militant bombings and tension on the border with India.


Qadri, who played a role in backing a military coup in 1999, threatened to remain camped out near the federal parliament with thousands of supporters until his demands for the resignation of the government were met.


The fiery orator returned home from Canada less than a month ago to lead a call for electoral reforms to bar corrupt politicians from office that has made him an instant hit among Pakistanis disillusioned with the state.


In a speech from behind a bullet-proof shield in front of parliament, Qadri praised the military and the judiciary, the country's two other power centers.


"(The government) has wasted and brought a bad end to our armed forces, those armed forces who are highly sincere, highly competent and highly capable and highly professional," he said, alternating between Urdu and English.


"Even they can't do anything because the political government isn't able to deliver anything from this land. Judgments are being passed by our great, independent judiciary but the government is not ready to implement them."


Qadri is demanding that the government dissolve the legislature and announce the formation of a caretaker government to oversee the run-up to elections.


One senior military officer, who said he was speaking in a purely personal capacity, said there was no appetite in the military to repeat the coups seen in Pakistan's past, but added the stand-off could be resolved if the army played a role in the formation of a caretaker government as a "moderator".


"We should try as far as possible to abide by the constitution and law in looking for change. The army chief has made this clear," the officer told Reuters.


"But things seem to be moving beyond control," the officer added. "It is totally incorrect to say the army is behind Qadri. But if he brings thousands of people to the streets and things get worse, there may be very few options."


(Additional reporting by Matthew Green and Mubasher Bukhari in ISLAMABAD and Jibran Ahmad in PESHAWAR; Writing by Michael Georgy; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)



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Tata Consultancy says demand in U.S. strong across segments






MUMBAI/BANGALORE (Reuters) – India’s top software services provider Tata Consultancy Services Ltd (TCS) said demand in the key U.S. market is strong across its business segments, with regional banks stepping up spending on technology.


The Mumbai-based company said on Monday that profit jumped 23 percent in the quarter ended December, beating analysts‘ expectations. TCS also gave an upbeat growth outlook, sending its shares up the most in more than eight months and prompting analyst upgrades on the stock.






Economic uncertainty in the United States had fuelled investor worry that clients may keep their IT budgets tight and postpone decision-making on technology spending.


“The U.S. is still a growth market,” Chief Financial Officer S Mahalingam told Reuters in an interview at his Mumbai office on Tuesday. “If it sneezes then we have got a big problem. (But) the demand is very good across all segments.”


The United States accounts for about half of TCS’ revenue, compared with more than 60 percent overall for India’s $ 100 billion outsourcing industry.


Banks, insurers and other financial services clients usually account for more than a third of the revenue at companies such as TCS’ rival Infosys Ltd , where better-than-expected results on Friday and an increased revenue outlook powered a 20 percent rise in its shares over two sessions.


“(The) U.S. economy has regional banks as well, and they are starting to spend. So there is growth,” Mahalingam said.


While Monday’s results prompted analysts from HSBC and CLSA to increase their ratings on TCS stock, some analysts said volume growth was not especially impressive.


Volumes, or billable hours, rose 1.25 percent on a sequential basis, while revenue in dollar terms increased 3.3 percent over the September quarter.


“The key disappointment was soft volume growth of 1.25 percent quarter-on-quarter. However, we remain assured by management’s optimistic outlook on FY14 growth,” Nomura analysts wrote in a note to clients.


(Editing by Tony Munroe and Ryan Woo)


Internet News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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