Brazil's president pledges to hold dialogue with protesters

By Brian Winter and Jeferson Ribeiro

SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff promised on Friday to hold a dialogue with members of a protest movement sweeping the country, but also said she would do whatever is necessary to maintain order in the wake of widespread vandalism and looting.

"We cannot live with this violence that shames Brazil," she said in a nationally televised address. "All institutions and public security forces should prevent, within the limits of the law, every form of violence and vandalism."

Rousseff spoke even as new demonstrations broke out on Friday, including one that for several hours blocked most passengers from entering or leaving the country's busiest international airport, outside Sao Paulo.

The protests have come out of seemingly nowhere over the past week. More than 1 million people took to the streets on Thursday in the biggest demonstrations in Brazil in 20 years.

The nameless, leaderless movement - composed largely of students and the middle class - has pulled together a wide range of grievances including bad public transport and healthcare, corruption, and the billions of dollars that the government is spending to host next year's World Cup.

Rousseff, a former guerrilla who herself protested a military rule during the 1960s, praised the peaceful majority of protesters and said she would listen to their demands.

Speaking calmly but firmly, she said Brazil has a "historic opportunity" to harness the energy from the protests and make improvements. But she warned the movement could be ruined by violence like that seen on Thursday, when protesters smashed buildings, looted stores and set fires in a dozen cities.

Rousseff said it was her "obligation to listen to the voice of the streets, as well as dialogue with all segments" of society peacefully protesting.

The president, who is not known for initiating talks, did not specify what such a process would look like.

After her speech, the hashtag #calabocadilma - "Shut up, Dilma" in Portuguese began trending on Twitter accompanied by withering comments attacking her government.

Friday's protests were much smaller than those on Thursday. There were signs of a backlash against the movement on Friday, and one prominent leftist group said it would stop organizing marches for now because of discord and violence.

Unlike other recent protest movements such as the Arab Spring, Brazil's demonstrators are not targeting individual politician and Rousseff remains relatively popular.

Many are part of the middle class, which benefited from a recent economic boom. But they are upset about paying European-level taxes for what some describe as African-level public services.

Rousseff made a specific appeal for calm during a warm-up event underway for the World Cup. Clashes between protesters and police have occurred outside stadiums, terrifying many fans and tourists.

OPTIONS LIMITED

A recent economic slowdown and rising inflation has crimped the government's budget, meaning it probably cannot offer a major public investment plan without making painful spending cuts elsewhere - unlikely with an election looming next year.

Rousseff in her speech cited plans such as setting aside future oil royalties for education and importing doctors from abroad. She has previously made these proposals and they have faced resistance in Congress and elsewhere.

Mayors of several cities tried to yield to one of the protesters' main demands this week by rolling back a recent hike in bus and subway fares, but the demonstrations only grew.

The festive atmosphere that had attracted many students and even their parents to demonstrations over the past week took a big and possibly lasting hit on Thursday night.

TV images showed masked youths looting stores, setting fires and defacing buildings including the foreign ministry in Brasilia, which had its windows smashed. The violence was widespread, occurring in at least a dozen cities, and appeared to be fueled by fringe movements and common criminals taking advantage of the disorder.

Two people died as a result of the protests, local media reported, including one death caused by a car plowing into a crowd. More than 60 were injured in Rio de Janeiro alone.

BACKLASH

Radio, TV, Twitter and other social media crackled on Friday with condemnations of the violence, while the unity that had prevailed among protesters at the heart of the movement also showed signs of breaking down.

The Free Fare Movement in Sao Paulo, an activist group that was instrumental in the rise of the protests, said it would stop organizing new demonstrations for now after street fights broke out among protesters with different objectives on Thursday.

Douglas Belome, a bank teller and member of the Free Fare group, said things turned ugly when some protesters sought to prevent left-wing political parties from waving their flags.

"At least for now, there are no new demonstrations scheduled," he told Reuters, expressing regret for the violence.

World soccer body FIFA on Friday condemned the recent violence but said it had not considered cancelling either the warmup tournament, known as the Confederations Cup, or the big event next year.

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli told reporters that his team was banned from leaving the hotel because of the unrest.

Polls have shown that a large majority of Brazilians support the protesters and their aims. But the demonstrators' primary tactic of blocking main roads has begun to wear on some people.

"I support these (protests), but I think it's out of control," said Nilson Chabat, a 31-year-old gas station attendant on his way to work on Friday in Sao Paulo. "Many of us are angry but you can't just go make a mess every day."

(Additional reporting by Silvio Cascione and Caroline Stauffer; Editing by Todd Benson and Xavier Briand)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/brazils-president-pledges-hold-dialogue-protesters-012739241.html

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Frequent Fires? New Tool Reveals Climate Impact by ZIP Code (Op-Ed)

Frances Beinecke is the president of NRDC, served on the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, and holds a leadership role in several environmental organizations. She contributed this article to LiveScience's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights.

The fires burning around Colorado Springs, Colo., in the past week have been called the worst in the state's history. Nearly 40,000 people were forced to evacuate their houses and two people lost their lives in the flames.

Resident Tim MacDonald told the Los Angeles Times that his wife had just 10 minutes to flee their home when she saw a curtain of black smoke swing toward them. She grabbed her son and her dogs and left as fast as she could. The MacDonalds later learned their house was one of 485 burned to the ground. In some areas, Sheriff Terry Maketa said it "looks like a nuclear bomb went off."

The West is no stranger to wildfires, but in recent years, climate change has packed many fires with greater intensity. Warmer temperatures and drier conditions are contributing to longer fire seasons and bigger blazes. Those trends mean more evacuations, more destroyed homes, and more deadly risks for residents and firefighters.

[The 7 Hottest Climate Change Stories of 2012 ]

What does climate change mean in your community?

You may have witnessed strange weather in recent years, but aren't sure how it is tied to larger patterns or record-breaking events. NRDC has released a new mapping tool that allows you to enter your ZIP code and learn what climate disruption is doing to your hometown.

Maybe you live in the Northeast like I do, and have see homes and businesses flooded by severe downpours in 2010, Hurricane Irene in 2011, and Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

Maybe you live in one of the more than 2,500 counties declared a disaster area in 2012 because of the worst drought since the Dust Bowl.

Maybe you live in one of the cities stretching between Brownsville and Baltimore that wilted in last summer's heat wave. July was the hottest month on record for the contiguous United States and more than 120 deaths were directly tied to high temperatures.

No matter where we live, climate change is making its presence known. For even if your community hasn't been hit by a severe storm or drought yet, you still pay a price: The government spent nearly $100 billion to respond to last year's extreme weather events. That's more than $1,100 per average U.S. taxpayer.

Our communities ? and our budgets ? cannot continue to bear the burden of unchecked climate change.

We must become more resilient in the face of climate disruption. Tracking new weather patterns can help residents, businesses, and government officials better prepare. I recently spoke at a conference hosted by Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), where we discussed how some Rhode Island towns are already buying out buildings in floodplains and assessing what sea-level rise will mean for public infrastructure such as ferry terminals. Local officials around the country are taking similar steps.

But, even as we plan for extreme events, we must also tackle the root causes of climate change. President Barack Obama got us moving down this road when he issued new fuel economy standards that will cut carbon emissions from new cars in half by 2025. Now it's time for a national push to curb global warming pollution.

Six months ago, Obama said at his second Inauguration, "We will respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that failure to do so would betray our children and future generations." He echoed those words in his State of the Union address in February. Public reports are now indicating that the president will make an announcement on climate change sometime in the next few weeks. The NRDC is looking forward to hearing his plan, which needs to include cutting carbon pollution from new and existing power plants.

Americans are looking to Obama for leadership. Last week, five senators from the states most affected by Superstorm Sandy called on the president to reduce carbon pollution from new and existing power plants. Those senators represent people who felt the destructive power of extreme weather firsthand. They want to ensure the United States is using the weapons they have to fight the threat of climate change.

Research has shown that cutting carbon pollution from power plants and reducing our society's dependence on dirty fuels can help shield our communities from the worst of this kind of destruction. Waiting to put these solutions in place is like waiting to flee a fire. The time to act is now.

NRDC has set up a site for the public to send a message to President Obama to issue a clear and effective climate action plan.

Read Beinecke's most recent Op-Ed: Why the Bering Strait Is Under Siege.

The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher. This article was originally published on LiveScience.com .

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/frequent-fires-tool-reveals-climate-impact-zip-code-213427565.html

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Wilfire smoke over Alaska

Public release date: 21-Jun-2013
[ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Michael Carlowicz
Michael.j.carlowicz@nasa.gov
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

On June 19, 2013, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite captured this image of smoke from wildfires burning in western Alaska. The smoke was moving west over Norton Sound. (The center of the image is roughly 163 West and 62 North.) Red outlines indicate hot spots where MODIS detected unusually warm surface temperatures associated with fire.

According to an advisory released by the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center, record heat and dry fuels have produced record-setting fire potential across boreal spruce forests and tundra landscapes. The heat wave is the product of an intense ridge of high pressure over the state.

###

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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.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-06/nsfc-wso062113.php

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Virgin Mobile USA adds iPhone 5 on June 28

You've been able to get an iPhone 4 through Virgin Mobile USA for a while, and the company announced Friday that starting next week, you'll be able to get the iPhone 5 too. It's priced starting at $549.99, and Virgin's offering a discount that nets you voice and data for as little as $30 per month.

Virgin Mobile USA is a subsidiary of Sprint. The company focuses on pre-paid voice, messaging and mobile broadband services in the United States. It was almost exactly one year ago that Virgin began selling the iPhone 4 and 4S. The 4 and 4S remain available as 8 and 16GB models, for $297.49 and $382.49 respectively.

The iPhone 5 provides access to Virgin Mobile USA's LTE data network. The company is offering its "Beyond Talk" plans, which include 2.5 GB/month of full speed data. The plan starts at $35 per month for 300 minutes. Like all of Virgin's services, there's no contract, so if you sign up for automatic monthly payments, they'll cut the price down to $30 per month.

The 16GB iPhone 5 will be available in black or white for $549.99. The 32GB and 64GB models will also be available - online only - for $649.99 and $749.99, respectively.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/olaM2WLEeug/story01.htm

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Will 'The Voice' winner stick with country music?

TV

Ree Hines TODAY contributor

17 minutes ago

She beat out rock and pop performers and even her fellow country crooners on "The Voice," and now it's time for Danielle Bradbery to decide which style of music she's going to go with for her first album.

Will she stick with what led to her win or branch out? Bradbery revealed her choice during a Friday morning visit to TODAY.

"I've been thinking about it," she said. "I love country, and I would want to be more pop-country. Yeah. I love all genres, but I think pop-country."

She's even landed a record deal with the same label as pop-country princess Taylor Swift. And she has a pal who's done well with the same genre -- Hunter Hayes, who performed alongside Bradbery on "The Voice" finale and happened to be on TODAY Friday for a performance of his own.

Before belting out his hits, Hayes gave Bradbery a new guitar. After that, he gave the 16-year-old some advice about what lies ahead for her.

"Enjoy every minute of it," he said. "It's a fast-paced thing, but it's a beautiful thing. The music is wonderful to be a part of. Do your thing. Make sure it's your own music; it's your fingerprint, your soul, your heart."

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/will-voice-winner-danielle-bradbery-stick-country-music-6C10409826

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Insight: Losses loom for investors enmeshed in mortgage chaos

By Michelle Conlin

(Reuters) - Since the financial crash, banks have been accused of wrongfully foreclosing on homeowners because they failed to create and maintain proper mortgage paperwork. Now, there are signs that chaotic document management is harming investors in mortgage bonds, too.

A review of loan documents, property records and the monthly reports made available to investors show that mortgage servicers are reporting individual houses are still in foreclosure long after they have been sold to new buyers or the underlying mortgages have been paid off.

These delays enable banks and other mortgage servicers to continue to charge monthly fees to investors in these mortgage-backed securities, the banks' investor reports show. It means that investors are buying mortgage bonds that may have billions of dollars of undisclosed losses that will become apparent only at a later stage. It could also lead to a new round of litigation for banks just when some appeared to have been putting their mortgage problems behind them.

The review, conducted by foreclosure investigator Lisa Epstein, found hundreds of instances across the United States where information about the status of individual home loans was incorrect. The information about the mortgages is sent from the mortgage servicer, which handles tasks such as collecting monthly mortgage payments and handling foreclosures, to the trustee of the mortgage bonds, which administers monthly reports and makes sure investors get paid.

In 2009, Epstein helped uncover the robo signing scandal, in which she discovered that banks had hired low-level workers to pose as executives, signing hundreds of legal affidavits a day without verifying a single word, as is required by law. The reporting lag issues she identified in mortgage bonds involved many of the same mortgage servicers who engaged in robo signing.

"This is all part and parcel of having servicers who are unable to keep the documentation straight," said Linda Allen, a banking professor at Baruch College, who specializes in mortgage servicing. She said Epstein's methodology was sound.

Mortgage experts estimate these reporting delays could mean that billions of dollars in losses may still be hidden in these bonds. Mortgage servicers may have also been charging late fees, property inspection fees, legal fees and other penalties against these loans long after they have been paid off, inflating the losses, they said.

"The losses are building up inside these deals, and this is going to happen all over the place," said William Frey, founder of Greenwich Financial Services, which specializes in securitization.

Frey said his team analyzed about 500 mortgage-backed securities originated by every major bank and that he has yet to find a single bond where the accounting adds up as it should.

In one case, Reuters found that Bank of America Corp had been collecting a monthly servicing fee of $50.73 from investors on a loan that had been paid off nearly two years ago, investor reports show.

Bank of America filed a document at a local county office on July 22, 2011 showing that the $162,400 loan on a cream-colored duplex in Greenacres, Florida, owned by a drywall hanger named Roman Pino, had been satisfied and "cancelled." But investors in Pino's loan and more than 6,700 other similar mortgages that are bundled together in a subprime mortgage bond still have not been informed that the loan no longer exists, according to the last investor report in May.

Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said reporting lags are not typical, and can occur because a sale or mortgage insurance proceeds may not be finalized. Loans can sometimes be subject to litigation, which could explain the ongoing charging of fees, he said.

The bank declined to comment on the specifics of Pino's loan. According to Fitch Ratings, the loan did not have mortgage insurance.

Bank of New York Mellon Corp, the trustee, said that in keeping with industry practice, it relies on the information provided by the mortgage servicer.

Some of these latent losses are beginning to surface. Earlier this month, for example, investors learned of $1 billion in losses on dozens of subprime bonds, containing more than 75,000 home loans that were created during the housing boom. Many of the losses were not reported for a year or more.

"For whatever reason, these losses were basically pending out there for a while, and the reporting mechanism finally caught up and hit the bonds in the trust," said Roger Ashworth, an analyst with mortgage advisory firm Amherst Securities.

The bonds' trustee, Wells Fargo & Co, said that it relied upon the servicer, Ocwen Financial Corp, for the reclassification.

Ocwen said it stands by its monthly reporting. It added that it has helped tens of thousands of struggling families save their homes from foreclosure and significantly lowered investor losses, benefiting investors in mortgage bonds.

SIDE DEALS

Latent losses could play a role in some of the settlements that investors have already reached with banks over other mortgage misrepresentations.

For example, many of the mortgage bonds with reporting lags that Epstein identified are the same securities that are at issue in ongoing litigation between Bank of America and investors in those securities.

Bank of America settled with 22 large investors, including two of the biggest - Pacific Investment Management Co and Blackrock Inc - agreeing to pay $8.5 billion to end legal liability for more than one million Countrywide Financial mortgages whose borrower histories and credit quality were allegedly misrepresented by the bank.

Some other investors in the bonds, including American International Group Inc and Grand Rapids Police and Fire Retirement System, have objected to the settlement. They project the losses to be more than $100 billion.

An AIG spokesman said no one had reviewed the individual loans to analyze the merits of the settlement, which was originally over what the bank had told investors about the quality of the loans.

If opponents to the settlement prevail, the reporting lag issues could crop up in the discovery phase of the case.

BlackRock and Bank of America declined to comment on the case. PIMCO did not respond to a request for comment.

Estimates of latent losses in mortgage bonds vary. In a report on Monday, Fitch Ratings said that it had talked to major servicers and more such losses were possible, though it was unable to quantify the amount.

In June last year, independent credit rating agency R&R Consulting analyzed $1.4 trillion worth of residential mortgage-backed securities that were not guaranteed by a government-sponsored entity like Fannie Mae.

It found an estimated $300 billion in total expected future losses, meaning borrowers who were either in foreclosure, bankruptcy or 90 days delinquent. But of those, the firm says there are $175 billion that investors haven't learned about.

"There is such a thing as gravity, and sooner or later you have to do something with these numbers," said R&R founder Ann Rutledge.

(Reporting by Michelle Conlin in New York; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Martin Howell and Leslie Gevirtz)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-losses-loom-investors-enmeshed-mortgage-chaos-052549994.html

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Mark Sanford Says He Trespassed to Watch Super Bowl With Son

Mark Sanford has responded to his ex-wife's allegations that he trespassed on her property, saying he went to her house to watch the Super Bowl with his son.

"It's an unfortunate reality that divorced couples sometimes have disagreements that spill over into family court. I did indeed watch the second half of the Super Bowl at the beach house with our 14-year-old son because as a father I didn't think he should watch it alone," the former governor said in a statement today.

"Given she was out of town I tried to reach her beforehand to tell her of the situation that had arisen, and met her at the back steps under the light of my cell phone when she returned and told her what had happened," Sanford said.

A judge has ordered a hearing for May 9, two days after Sanford's House election, at which Sanford will have to explain why he came to the house. Jenny Sanford's attorney, Deena Smith McRackan, filed a complaint on March 21, according to court documents obtained by ABC News.

According to the documents, Jenny Sanford's attorney alleged that after returning home from an out-of-state trip with one of her sons, Jenny Sanford found her ex-husband leaving her house through the back door, using his cell phone as a flashlight, violating a divorce agreement that neither Jenny nor Mark should enter the other's property without permission.

Jenny Sanford's attorney had alleged trespassing before. In February 2011, her attorney sent a letter to Sanford alleging he had "repeatedly entered onto her property after she advised you that you should not come."

In his statement today, Sanford raised the question of why court documents have surfaced so close to his election. Having won a primary and primary run-off, Sanford will face Democrat Elizabeth Colbert Busch on May 7 in the final round of his bid to reclaim South Carolina's First Congressional District House seat, which he represented in the 1990s. The hearing is set for May 9.

"There is always another side to every story, and while I am particularly curious how records that were sealed to avoid the boys dealing with embarrassment are now somehow exposed less than three weeks before this election. I agree with Jenny that the media is no place to debate what is ultimately a family court matter, and out of respect for Jenny and the boys, I'm not going to have any further comment at this time," Sanford said.

Jenny Sanford told the Associated Press that the timing of the complaint had nothing to do with her ex-husband's run for elected office.

Also Read

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/sanford-says-trespassed-watch-super-bowl-son-171604567--abc-news-politics.html

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Dates Announced For 2013 'Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival ...

While the official lineup isn?t set to be announced until April 22nd, the dates for this years ?Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival? have been officially revealed. You can find them below:

08/09 Scranton, PA ? Toyota Pavilion
08/10 Hartford, CT ? The Comcast Theatre
08/11 Darien Center, NY ? Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
08/13 Saratoga Springs, NY ? Saratoga Performing Arts Center
08/14 Mansfield, MA ? Comcast Center
08/16 Bristow, VA ? Jiffy Lube Live
08/17 Holmdel, NJ ? PNC Bank Arts Center
08/18 Wantagh, NY ? Nikon At Jones Beach Theater
08/20 Toronto, ON ? Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
08/22 Tinley Park, IL ? First Midwest Bank Pavilion
08/23 Noblesville, IN ? Klipsch Music Center
08/24 Clarkston, MI ? DTE Energy Music Centre
08/27 Oklahoma City, OK ? Zoo Amphitheater
08/28 Dallas, TX ? Gexa Energy Pavilion
08/29 Woodlands, TX ? Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
08/31 Albuquerque, NM ? Isleta Amphitheater
09/01 Englewood, CO ? Fiddler?s Green Amphitheater
09/02 Salt Lake City, UT ? USANA Amphitheatre
09/08 Ridgefield, WA ? Sleep County Amphitheatre
09/11 Mountain View, CA ? Shoreline Amphitheatre
09/13 Phoenix, AZ ? Desert Sky Pavilion
09/14 Chula Vista, CA ? Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
09/15 Irvine, CA ? Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre

Source: http://www.theprp.com/2013/04/16/news/dates-announced-for-2013-rockstar-energy-drink-uproar-festival/

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The Internet Marketing Tactics You Didn't Know About

Web marketing is essential when developing your business. It simply can?t be avoided. Internet marketing may be all that stands between a stagnant business and a flourishing one. The following tips will help you market your business successfully on the Internet.

Online advertising is a great way to get attention and draw people to your site. This may be a big investment, but it can make a great big difference. Make certain to chose the site your ad will be seen on wisely; it should be very popular and a great place to showcase your business.

Make sure you have a good way to keep site statistics. These statistics should include things like, referrals, refunds, sales and website traffic as well as any other stats that may prove helpful. Using good accounting skills to assemble statistics enables you to see your business in full, and identify both what is working and what may need tweaking in your marketing plan.

TIP! Create an eye-catching ?Link to Us? clickable button for your site to encourage your visitors to link back to your website. People that think alike will click it and your site will be linked to theirs, this will guarantee that your link will be visible to them.

Emails are vital to effective Internet promotion. Your ideas should be well guarded. Free webmail services should be avoided, because they delete outdated messages; it is essential that you always have access to your past emails. Pay for reputable companies to archive and maintain this sensitive information.

Placing wording in advertisements that assures people of instant gratification is helpful for just about any service or product Place the emphasis on the speed and alacrity with which customers will receive their order. This can help download times, have a good time with checkout, and confirm your orders.

Partnering with different-minded people can be mutually beneficial to both parties. This way, you can get discounts for your customers and offer discounts to your partner?s customers.

TIP! Before considering search engine rankings or things of that nature, you must build a website that people will want to visit. This will be the first, and one of the most important, steps for anyone building a web business.

You might want to offer a subscription service that customers can use when purchasing items on your site. You can give them the option of automatically receiving a set amount of product every week or month at a deeply discounted per item rate.

As you begin your online marketing, you must also consider advertising. Advertising is usually a wise investment as it can draw consumer interest your company would not receive otherwise. Doing so can bring in business that is difficult to find in other ways.

One way to ensure visitors click on ads is to create clickable images that will take visitors to a description page of your product. Try creating an advertisement that blends seamlessly with the text of an article, so that it appears to be a continuation of the content. It doesn?t look like an advertisement.

TIP! Believe it or not, everything you need for a successful internet marketing career is already at your disposal. Expensive tools of the trade that promise you can get rich quick are not what will prove important.

Blog several times a week to enhance your internet marketing attempt. A blog gives you another way to communicate with your customer base. Blogging adds more content to your website, which can give you a larger presence on the internet. This frequently translates into more traffic to your site.

You need to make your site stand out from the competition. There are a ton of sites online, and yours needs to be noticeable if you want a share of the traffic. One way to begin distinguishing your website from others is to emphasize a service you offer that no one else does.

Be sure to provide a customer feedback section, which you can manage carefully. With honest feedback, you can improve your product offerings. In addition, potential customers can buy with confidence after reading reviews written by others who have already purchased the items and have provided their opinions.

TIP! Use a lot of promos on your check out page. You could give a choice of three different half-price items.

Hard work beats luck any day of the week. Working hard creates its own luck, and it is common to all successful internet marketing ventures. Every large corporate company has had to put in huge amounts of time, money and effort in order to build a profitable global business; luck will have played only a very small part in their success. Does the Coca Cola Company owe it?s success to good luck? They did not. They had a well-oiled marketing machine.

If you are offering certain claims about your product, they must be true. Offer concrete evidence; create videos of yourself demonstrating your products or the skills necessary to providing the services you offer for instance. Always try and use the products you sell so that you know what you?re talking about.

For the most part, affiliate marketing is very similar to other forms of marketing except for the manner of delivering information. One example is search engines might stop using title tags in their algorithms. If this happens, it will benefit you to put a lot of effort into something else, like a video marketing campaign that will reach a large viral audience.

TIP! Connect with a reputable charity. Find a charity that interests your audience and give a portion of your profits to it.

The use of tools that can make your text stand out are very important when you are setting up the content of your site. Make the text more visible with bold or italics. In this way, you can influence your customers? reception of a message and clarify the central points.

Put your site in a format that is more user friendly. The format can make your site visible and helpful to visitors most interested in what it offers.

When shipping an order to a customer, be sure to include some type of free gift or sample, relative to the item sold. A coupon is a great way to get some repeat business.

TIP! If you website is static and rarely ever changes, perhaps you should consider including a blog on your site. To keep your rankings up with search engines continually add fresh content.

The internet is an effective free resource to help evaluate your market approach since you may not be able to afford a marketing consultant. Check out online communities for business owners, start following marketing blogs, download free e-books, and check out free seminars.

Affiliate marketing isn?t just a luxury now, it?s a necessity. If you are conducting business online, it?s something you can?t ignore. If you keep the tips you?ve just read in mind when you lay out your business?s Website marketing strategy, you?ll significantly improve its effectiveness.

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Source: http://www.maynaseric.com/the-internet-marketing-tactics-you-didnt-know-about

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Suicide bomber, landmines rock northern Mali

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? A suicide bomber attempted to force his way past the defenses of the city of Timbuktu on Saturday, detonating himself on its outskirts, while a landmine exploded in another part of northern Mali, killing a total of three, officials said.

The twin attacks come as French President Francois Hollande told French television that French forces had attained their objectives in Mali, a country which until January had lost its northern half to an al-Qaida cell and their allies. After the extremists began a southward push, Hollande unilaterally authorized a military intervention, quickly liberating the main cities in the north. Outside the heavily fortified cities like Timbuktu, however, the jihadists are still present, leading an increasingly brutal insurgency.

"The jihadist was driving a car loaded with explosives," said a military official based in Timbuktu, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. "He arrived on the road from Goundam at the Timbuktu checkpoint, and our elements opened fire. He blew himself up," killing himself and injuring at least one soldier, said the official.

Timbuktu resident Age Djitteye said he heard a loud explosion and heavy gunfire, starting at 10 p.m. on Saturday. By midnight on Sunday the shooting had receded, he said by telephone.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defense also confirmed that an army vehicle drove over a landmine during a patrol around 110 kilometers (70 miles) from the northern Malian town of Ansongo, killing two people on board.

For 10 months until this January, Timbuktu as well as much of the rest of northern Mali was ruled by al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, as well as two other jihadist groups allied with the terror network.

___

Callimachi contributed to this report from Dakar, Senegal.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/suicide-bomber-landmines-rock-northern-mali-022524548.html

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Sony Computer Entertainment to fuse Asian and Japanese units into one

As part of recent restructuring and cost-cutting efforts, Sony's Computer Entertainment (SCE) division will merge its Asian and Japanese operations into a single entity. The company said that it would result in a new management unit, with SCE Japan president Hiroshi Kawano taking the helm and the Asian unit's ex-chief, Hiroyuki Oda becoming his deputy. Departments like marketing and finance will also merge in an effort to save cash, as the company hopes to stanch all the recent bleeding and try to make its fiscal 2012 a throwback to the glory days.

Filed under: Gaming, Sony

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Source: Sony

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/01/sony-fusing-asian-and-japanese-gaming-units-into-one/

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Police: Eiffel Tower evacuated after bomb threat

Thomas Coex / AFP - Getty Images

French police stand guard near the Eiffel Tower in Paris on March 30, 2013. The Eiffel Tower was evacuated after an anonymous phone call announced an attack, said a police source. The perimeter of the monument was secured and about 1,400 people were evacuated shortly before 9 p.m.

By Nancy Ing and Becky Bratu, NBC News

French police say the Eiffel Tower has been completely evacuated after an anonymous individual called in a bomb threat Saturday.

The call received at 7 p.m. local time warned of a possible attack at 9:30 p.m. local time.

Investigators used sniffer dogs to search the Eiffel Tower for any suspicious devices.

About 1,400 tourists and staffers were evacuated from the tower. French police have received similar calls in the past and have always evacuated the famous tourist attraction as a precaution. The tower was evacuated at least once last year and twice in 2011, according to The Associated Press.

News website Le Parisien reported that police said the threat was called in from a telephone booth in a Paris suburb.

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Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/653387/s/2a2b3f97/l/0Lworldnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A30C30A0C175317210Epolice0Eeiffel0Etower0Eevacuated0Eafter0Ebomb0Ethreat0Dlite/story01.htm

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Skype for Windows 8 gains contact blocking and performance improvements

Those of you using Skype in Windows 8 will be happy to know that Microsoft's just bumped the app to version 1.6. It's been a few months since the last update, and this revision brings more features to the table, including contact blocking and a slew of performance tweaks. You're now able to block users, with an option to remove or report the offending party. Speed and reliability have been improved, especially when loading contacts, and a number of bugs have been fixed, including one where the outgoing video was not always displayed after switching cameras. The update's available in Windows Store, so what are you waiting for

Filed under: Microsoft

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Source: Skype Blogs

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/30/skype-for-windows-8-gains-contact-blocking-and-performances-impr/

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Pregnant Man: Judge Refuses To Grant Thomas Beatie's Divorce

PHOENIX -- An Arizona judge on Friday refused to grant a divorce for a transgender Arizona man who gave birth to three children after beginning to change his sex from female.

Maricopa County Family Court Judge Douglas Gerlach ruled that Arizona's ban on same-sex marriages prevents Thomas Beatie's nine-year union from being recognized as valid.

Thomas Beatie was born a woman and underwent a double-mastectomy but retained female reproductive organs and gave birth to three children.

Gerlach said he had no jurisdiction to approve a divorce because there's insufficient evidence that Beatie was a man when he married Nancy Beatie in Hawaii.

Beatie is eager to end his marriage, but the couple's divorce plans stalled last summer when Gerlach said he was unable to find legal authority defining a man as someone who can give birth.

"The decision here is not based on the conclusion that this case involves a same-sex marriage merely because one of the parties is a transsexual male, but instead, the decision is compelled by the fact that the parties failed to prove that (Thomas Beatie) was a transsexual male when they were issued their marriage license," he wrote in Friday's ruling.

Gerlach's ruling also said it didn't address whether Arizona law allows a person who was born female to marry another female after undergoing a sex change operation.

The National Center for Lesbian Rights, which isn't involved in the Beatie divorce case, has said courts have declared marriages involving a transgender person invalid in a handful of cases across the country, but that those cases had different factual and legal issues than those in the Beatie case.

Thomas Beatie, known as "The Pregnant Man," was born Tracy Lehuanani Lagondino in Oahu, Hawaii. He began testosterone treatments in 1997 and underwent double mastectomy and chest reconstruction surgery in 2002. He changed his Hawaii driver's license to say he was a man and had a Hawaiian court approve his name change to Thomas.

Gerlach's ruling noted that Thomas Beatie halted the testosterone treatments and that he didn't provide documentation for any additional non-surgical efforts.

Thomas Beatie married his partner Nancy in early 2003 in Honolulu and became pregnant because Nancy was unable to have children. Thomas Beatie conceived with donated sperm and gave birth to children who are now 4, 3 and 2 years old. The couple eventually moved to Arizona.

Beatie has garnered a range of media attention, making the rounds on talk shows such as Larry King and Oprah Winfrey and winning a spot on Barbara Walters' list of "10 Most Fascinating People" in 2008, alongside President Barack Obama, conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh and swimmer Michael Phelps. He also published a book, "Labor Of Love: The Story of One Man's Extraordinary Pregnancy," the cover displaying an image of a shirtless Thomas sporting facial hair and holding a hand over his bare pregnant belly.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/29/pregnant-man-judge-reject_n_2979968.html

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NWS expands severe weather warnings

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) ? Residents of Sumner County, Kansas, received a dire warning last year as a tornado barreled through toward Wichita: Get underground or into a shelter ? or else.

"Mass devastation is highly likely, making the area unrecognizable to survivors," the National Weather Service cautioned last April.

In an effort to get people to safety quickly, the National Weather Service said Friday that it will expand its retooled severe weather warning system in Kansas, Missouri and 12 more Midwestern states.

Starting Monday, it will provide media outlets and emergency services with more detail about the strength of a brewing tornado or thunderstorm, what it may hit and when. The system will also detail possible hazards and impacts of any potential tornado based on radar data, and more information on less severe but still "considerable" storms.

Mike Hudson, an NWS meteorologist in Kansas City, Mo., said alerts with words such as "catastrophic" and "destruction" will likely be rare ? once a year in Kansas and twice a decade in northern states like Minnesota. The words will be reserved for "those types of tornadoes that ultimately take lives, so we want to ring the bell a little bit louder," he said.

"When we use them, you ought to pay attention," he said.

The weather service started its expanded warning pilot in Kansas and Missouri last year after researchers found that Joplin, Mo., residents didn't get a strong enough warning about the May 2011 tornado. It killed 161 people, injured hundreds more and destroyed thousands of homes and buildings.

"Nothing in that warning really stood out that said 'this is a lot higher risk' than a typical warning might be," Hudson said.

Just a handful of alerts were issued in the two-state region last year, Hudson said, but follow-up surveys found the heightened warnings improved response time, so the weather service decided to expand the pilot to the rest of the Midwest.

With that expansion, they will start including more information about when a tornado is expected to arrive.

In Minnesota, tornadoes are less frequent and generally less severe, so the updated system may be used more often for one or more severe thunderstorms. But Tony Zaleski, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service's office in Chanhassen, Minn., cautioned that residents should take cover in a basement, bathroom or closet during any tornado.

"Even though we are coming up with this system for the larger tornadoes, the public should still be aware that they should take extra steps when any tornado warning is actually issued," Zaleski said.

Additional states to see the new system include Wyoming, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Kentucky.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nws-expands-severe-weather-warnings-194036092.html

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Guitar maker Gibson buys majority stake in TEAC, develops taste for electronica

That gruff American rocker, Gibson Guitar Corp., has gotten tired of its old life. Instead of just suing copycats and putting out the occasional robot axe, it's now looking to diversify, having spent $52 million on a 54 percent stake in Japanese firm TEAC. The last we heard from TEAC, it was making things like headphones and retro-styled radios, which maybe gives us a hint as to where this new partnership is headed. After all, it's not like the path between music brand and consumer electronics hasn't been trodden to a pulp already.

Filed under: Home Entertainment, Portable Audio/Video, HD

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Source: AV Watch (Japanese)

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/29/gibson-buys-stake-in-teac/

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Movie review: Interesting characters meet in 'Like Someone in Love ...

Akiko (Rin Takanashi), a call girl who takes on a special client, in Abbas Kiarostami's drama "Like Someone in Love." Courtesy Eurospace/Sundance Selects

Iranian director Abbas Kiarostami has made such great movies ? including the masterful "A Taste of Cherry" and the emotional "Certified Copy" ? that one shouldn?t get upset when he makes a merely good one, as "Like Someone in Love" is.

It begins in a Tokyo nightclub as a call girl, Akiko (Rin Takanashi), reluctantly gets her assignment for the night: a widowed literary scholar, Takashi (Tadashi Okuno), who?s looking for companionship. When Akiko arrives at Takashi?s apartment, a sexual arrangement does not ensue. Instead, Takashi takes a grandfatherly interest in the girl, driving her to her college class the next morning and encountering her abusive and unstable boyfriend (Ryo Kase, from "Letters From Iwo Jima").

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?Like Someone in Love?

Opens Friday, March 29, at the Tower Theatre; not rated, but probably R for sexual content, language and some violence; in Japanese with subtitles; 109 minutes.

Kiarostami lets the moments between Akiko and Takashi unfold naturally, as these characters from different worlds find common bonds. The relationship builds, but toward the end there?s the nagging sense that it won?t build to much.

movies@sltrib.com; www.sltrib.com/entertainment

Copyright 2013 The Salt Lake Tribune. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/entertainment2/56057843-223/takashi-akiko-love-someone.html.csp

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How Copywriting Creates Six-Figure Incomes | Ray Edwards

If you think ?copywriting? (writing words that persuade people to do or buy something) is only about creating ads, you?re missing the point. Copywriting is a skill has created more six-figure incomes than you might imagine. In some cases, seven-figure incomes.

For instance, one of my best friends generates a healthy $150,000 per month from his home-based business, and at its core, that business is fueled by my friend?s copywriting skill.

If you truly want to start your own business, or create a second income stream, one of the first things I would recommend you learn is the basic skill of powerful copywriting.

Now, this is not some ?get rich quick? scheme?

This is a serious business skill than can provide you with a comfortable six-figure annual income for the rest of your life.

You can run your business from anywhere. You can dream up promotions and campaigns, write the copy, and put the plan into profit? all in the same day.

And yes, you could ?retire? from your present job, and use your copywriting skills to build your own marketing empire?- working wherever and whenever you want.

I have run my business from all over the USA, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and the UK:

• Working form home in the Northwest US (sometimes at my house, sometimes from my office 5 minutes away, and sometimes from Starbucks!)?
• On the road in my motorhome (summer-before-last we put 8,000 miles on the coach, the last winter we spent in California)?
• Traveling to Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles, Seattle, Toronto and New York?
• On vacation with family in Michigan, the Carolinas, Utah, and Montana?
• And from England and Scotland?

My results are not typical?- you?ll have your own results. Want to join me in the ?not typical? club? Want to know how I managed to get these unusual results?

It comes down to one skill: copywriting. Now, ask yourself? if you learned how to master the art of ?persuasion in print?, how could that change your life?

• Will you finally get your online business started?
• Will you write copy freelance, and live a life free from offices, meetings, and memos?
• Will you take your existing online business and multiply your profits using the power of copy?

Or will you keep struggling along like most ?Internet Marketers?? That road leads nowhere. You don?t need to learn the new ?shiny object of the week? system. You don?t need the latest greatest website.? You just need a skill that is valued, and that has the power to give you leverage. The skill I recommend starting with is the ability to write persuasive copy.

If you have decided that I am right about this, give life to that decision and do something about it. Pick up a book, take a copywriting course, or just sit down and write a piece of copy. Today. Maybe even right now.

A good place to start would be with my book on copywriting. An even better place to start would be with the live webinar training about copywriting I?m doing next Tuesday.

Question: How can you profitably apply the power of persuasive copy in your business?

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Signing you up!

Claim Your FREE Copywriting Guides!

These amazing one-page guides are like the "World's Shortest Copywriting Course, and you'll discover...

• How to write "grabby" headlines.
• The "5 Guarantees" that make sales.
• A formula for powerful USP's.

And so much more! PLUS you'll get frequent email updates from Ray.

Connect to the Webinar through Facebook!

We hate spam just as much as you

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Source: http://rayedwards.com/how-copywriting-creates-six-figure-incomes/

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Expect many happy returns with these tax Android apps

The days of tax paperwork are nearly over, as more and more people are filing online or with their mobile devices. Even the Internal Revenue Service endorsed electronic systems, which is a major step forward. Below is a quick list of five applications that can help with filing reports, monitoring your expenses and investments, and hopefully in making it rain (dollar bills) during tax season.

While Pageonce isn?t specifically geared toward filing or filling out tax forms, you can be better prepared for tax season by auditing this free mobile app. Once logged in, the Overview page provides a snapshot of all your assets, bills, investments, loans, and credit cards. Such a resource is crucial for the times of year when we take stock of expenses for W-2 and 1040EZ forms, and a great application for staying on top of financial obligations throughout the year.

A perennial service favored by practically everyone who files online, the TurboTax mobile app from Intuit Inc. is also towers over the competition. Upon booting up the app, you can either log in (as a returning user) or get started without signing up. In many ways, the TurboTax is a trendsetter for document uploading through photographs, as you can take a picture of your tax form, their app scans your tax document in seconds then sends you to a review screen. From this point, double and triple-check for any errors, add personal information, preview your form, and file your taxes. You could also check out H&R Block?s apps for?Android, if you prefer the competition. The process has never been this stress free!

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Also on Android Apps

The Indianapolis 500 is one of the world?s oldest auto races. You can learn more about the cars and the people who race them thanks to this Guest Post from Zinio.

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Another solid mobile app from the Intuit gang can be found in MyTaxRefund. Sure, it is a very barebones application, but its great for those who want to constantly check the status of their 2013 tax refund. It provides statuses for both federal and state tax refunds, and estimates on when you can expect compensation. All that is required of you is to indicate whether you filed with TurboTax or not, enter your social security number and zip code (both required by the IRS),

Bloomberg BNA?s free financial guide fills you in on the minutiae of filing your taxes in 2013. For example, it provides Standard Deductions based on your household (Married, Heads of Household, Single, etc.), Personal Exemptions, Estate and Gift Tax Rates, which comes with a built-in sliding scale that automatically calculates percentages owed based on the dollar amount (up to $2 million). Quick Tax Reference is a wonderfully simple tool for people who are using services such as TurboTax, ezTaxReturn, or H&R Block, and especially for those who itemize their deductions.

The final app in this taxing article is SigFig, another secure mobile app that is hyperfocused on financial planning and stock market investing. The app connects your brokerages, investments, and portfolios then automatically analyzes to provide investors with sound advice. Its crisp charts track performance, risk, and other analytics. The key with this app is to use it year round, so that come tax season you can quickly reference any investments you?ve made that are applicable. Also, a person that invests smartly should have less trouble figuring out tax forms.

Source: http://www.androidapps.com/finance/articles/13345-expect-many-happy-returns-with-these-tax-android-apps

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Who needs Xbox? Mozilla wants to bring console-quality games to your browser

Bioshock Infinite Screenshot

At first glance, the idea of playing Bioshock Infinite on your web browser sounds like a pipe dream. But according to Ars Technica, it?s a pipe dream that Mozilla is working very hard to make real by porting Epic Games? Unreal Engine 3 onto its open-source Firefox web browser. To achieve this daunting task, Ars says Mozilla ?has been working on WebGL, in order to bring 3D graphics to the browser;?Emscripten, a tool for compiling C++ applications into JavaScript; and asm.js, a high performance subset of JavaScript.?

[More from BGR: The lethal timidity of T-Mobile]

It goes without saying that bringing the Unreal Engine 3 to the web would be a very impressive feat, since it?s used to power such A-list games as the aforementioned Bioshock Infinite, Mass Effect 3 and Batman: Arkham City. The biggest challenge facing Mozilla at the moment, writes Ars, is cutting down on waiting times for in-browser games because under the current system you?d likely wait up to half hour just to stream ?a gigabyte of map data and texture from a Web server.? The?Khronos Group, which is responsible for developing WebGL, is working this problem by developing ?a common set of data formats for 3D models, textures, and other resources that 3D applications need,? Ars reports.

[More from BGR: Spat between two Dutch companies sparks record-breaking 300Gbps DDoS attack]

While there?s no timetable for when Mozilla plans on unleashing its Unreal Engine browser port, it certainly sounds like a welcome development for gamers who are constantly dealing with performance issues on their PCs and have trouble keeping up with newer games.

This article was originally published on BGR.com

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/needs-xbox-mozilla-wants-bring-console-quality-games-020633937.html

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Insight: Hopes, suspicions over peace in Kurdish rebel hideout

By Patrick Markey and Isabel Coles

QANDIL MOUNTAINS, Iraq (Reuters) - Shattered stone houses recall Turkish air strikes on Kurdish rebels holed up in the Qandil mountains of northern Iraq. Life is harsh amid the snowcapped peaks, supplies are sparse and armed forays across into Turkey perilous in the extreme.

Yet rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan, who declared a ceasefire from his Turkish prison cell last week, may not find it easy to coax his fighters down as part of any deal to end a conflict that has taken over 40,000 lives.

"There are mixed feelings," said Ocalan's military commander, Murat Karayilan, in a hamlet below the Qandil range. "Hundreds of my comrades lost their lives at my side.

"I have to tell you, our comrades want to continue this struggle. The organization has decided on peace, but the middle level fighters are saying we can continue our war," he told Reuters. "I am working with them so they accept this as well."

The mustachioed image of Ocalan hewn into the mountainside across the valley serves as a reminder of who leads the PKK, even 14 years after his capture by Turkish special forces in Kenya. But Ocalan himself told Kurdish politicians recently he was frustrated by skepticism in Qandil about the peace process.

"I'm angry with them," he said.

The force is small but dogged, some 3-4,000 in Iraq and 1,500-2,000 in Turkey, where they have targeted Turkish troops as well as bombing cities including Istanbul and beach resorts.

Ocalan's authority as founder of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), could evaporate if mail communication with Qandil breaks down over the 1,400 Km (900 miles) separating Qandil and Imrali island. He narrowly escaped the gallows after a 1999 trial, but may yet be dispatched to political oblivion.

HAZARDOUS JOURNEY

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan risks the wrath of nationalists who fear any deal granting Kurdish demands for autonomy and broader cultural freedom would quickly relaunch a drive for full Kurdish independence. Moreover, in talking with the PKK, he treats with a grouping designated terrorists by the European Union and the United States besides Ankara.

Erdogan says forces will continue operations against the PKK as long as they do not lay down arms, but he has given assurances rebels would not be targeted as they left Turkey. Karayilan, however, wants guarantees on this from parliament.

Guerrillas said Turkish jets flew over the mountains on Monday, and PKK fighters retaliated against helicopters approaching the border on Wednesday.

"We are ready for war, but we are ready for peace, too," Karayilan said in a small room decorated with Ocalan posters. "If there are any attacks against our forces they have the right to defend themselves."

Karayilan, sporting a bushy grey moustache like Ocalan and dressed in olive green Kurdish baggy trousers and tunic, said fighters could withdraw to Qandil by autumn, with safe passage. It is however a long journey, and in the past a hazardous one.

The mountain road snaking into PKK-held territory is dotted with wreckage. A shrine holds portraits and scraps from what is described as a family car caught in a Turkish air strike. In one village, a collapsed concrete building marks where more Turkish bombs fell in retaliation for PKK attacks inside Turkey.

Below the peaks, PKK fighters brandishing Kalashnikovs wave trucks and cars through remote checkpoints that demarcate Iraqi Kurdistan from rebel-controlled land. The co-existence between the PKK enclave and the Kurdistan government, which is cultivating good relations with Ankara, is an uneasy one.

LEAVING THE MOUNTAIN

A woman who gave the nom de guerre Hevin Ciye, said she left Qandil after being imprisoned by the PKK for a month over a dispute with a superior who had refused to allow the women to wear shorts in a volleyball match. The scars of three bullet wounds on her left arm are a permanent reminder of more profound ordeals during her nine-year stay in the mountains.

"It was harder than words can describe," she told Reuters in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil, where she now runs fast-food concession stands in several shopping malls. "When we left the camp (during bombing), we moved almost every night and used the rucksacks in which we carried our ammunition as pillows."

In sorties across the border into Turkey, they ate wheat mixed with water or boiled leaves and grass, bedding down in caves or under trees to evade Turkish forces.

Karayilan said talk of PKK rebels handing over their arms was still premature, before constitutional reforms to address their demands for Kurdish rights and recognition. But behind the scenes talks advance tentatively and, according to media leaks, have produced the outline of a plan.

"More than a concrete agreement, there is a mutual understanding now," said Karayilan, who was born in the same southeastern Turkish province as Ocalan, said. "There are a lot of risks in the process, but it is the right step to take."

After opening its military campaign in 1984 to demand an independent Kurdish state in the south, the PKK has moderated its demands to political autonomy and broader cultural rights in a country where the Kurdish language was long formally banned.

Many fighters are from southeastern Turkey, the Kurdish heartland where many say they faced discrimination and oppression. Erdogan took a political risk in easing restrictions on the Kurdish language and culture, winning the opprobrium of nationalists who fear a disintegration of Turkey.

CAVES AND HUTS

Life is far from idyllic, fighters moving regularly to evade air raids, sleeping in caves, in stone huts, in the woods or under canvas. Meals are largely beans, rice and meat.

The PKK promotes women's equality to recruit in traditionally male-dominated Kurdish society and female fighters in combat fatigues are much in evidence in the stronghold.

One woman guerrilla, who said she'd joined PKK ranks at 13 and spent 15 years in Qandil, knows freedoms and status she enjoys here may sit ill with a traditional Kurdish home where women are often more confined to kitchen and children.

"In our society, women are not valued. I feel my place and my value more here."

Another female fighter also had reservations about leaving the mountain after so long, and returning home.

"We cannot really leave this life," she said, sitting with a rifle in her lap. "I say to myself sometimes, if I return to live with my family, and peace and freedom is achieved, how will I leave behind the life I have gotten used to?"

There perhaps lies one of the problems - not unfamiliar to those seeking to end an insurgency. The guerrilla existence, the mountain, becomes a way of life.

"Neither female nor male fighters want to leave the free life they have in the mountains," Karayilan said. "But we have to make them believe."

The questions of disarmament and reintegration of combatants have tested peace efforts from Northern Ireland to South Africa.

Foreign mediators could be brought in to oversee disarmament and reintegration, as happened in Northern Ireland. Certainly, there is a strong element of distrust on both sides.

For PKK fighters like Botan, eight years fighting in Qandil and Turkey have shaken any belief Ankara would play its part.

"History shows me there is no room to trust the Turkish state," the former construction worker said.

The drive for peace on both sides followed from a summer when PKK attacks reached new heights and the Turkish authorities responded by arresting hundreds of Kurdish activists and renewing bombing raids on Qandil.

Truces have been declared and secret talks held with the PKK in the past, but there is a weariness on both sides with generations of young men, mostly Kurds, dying in the conflict. It is a conflict that has battered the Turkish economy and pitched the southeast into poverty.

"We are at a stage where the Kurdish and Turkish public want peace," Karayilan said. "Erdogan has to take steps to solve the Kurdish issue and put his name down in history."

(Editing by Ralph Boulton)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/insight-hopes-suspicions-over-peace-kurdish-rebel-hideout-133413138.html

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