UN: 120,000 S.Sudanese affected by ethnic violence (AP)

JUBA, South Sudan ? More than 120,000 people need humanitarian aid because of a wave of ethnic clashes in a remote and volatile region of South Sudan, the United Nations said Friday, underscoring the challenges the world's newest nation faces six months after independence.

The government of Sudan also reported clashes in a state bordering the new nation.

The battles in Jonglei state are straining international relief efforts, said Lise Grande, the U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator in South Sudan. The U.N. mission originally projected that the same number of people displaced in South Sudan in 2011 ? 350,000 ? would be displaced in 2012.

"We are two weeks into the year and there have already been 120,000 impacted," said Grande.

The U.N. earlier this month estimated that 60,000 people had been affected by clashes between the Lou Nuer and Murle communities. The Lou Nuer sent a column of at least 6,000 warriors to attack the Murle in late December and early January, sending tens of thousands of people fleeing into the countryside. The Murle have since carried out revenge attacks.

No reliable death toll has yet been established in the series of attacks. Government officials have estimated that over 160 have been killed in Murle revenge attacks. A county commissioner initially estimated more than 3,000 had been killed in the Lou Nuer attacks on Pibor, but the central government has cast doubt on that figure.

The U.N. is also trying to establish the number of dead. But more than two weeks after the end of the Pibor attacks, Grande said they have not come to any conclusions.

"Like everyone else we are waiting to see what is confirmed," said Grande.

U.N. officials in South Sudan are calling humanitarian operations in Jonglei state the most expensive and complex since the signing of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended more than 20 years of civil war between Sudan and South Sudan. South Sudan broke away from Sudan in July.

While U.N. humanitarian operations have reached communities in Pibor County, the displaced in Uror, Akobo and Duk counties must wait until the U.N. completes its humanitarian assessments.

Jonglei state is roughly the size of England but there are few roads and the majority of food aid must be flown in by helicopter. The instability in the state has led Russia to threaten to withdraw four helicopters it has provided to the U.N. mission.

South Sudan has deployed 3,000 security forces to the state to try and quell the waves of violence. The Sudan Council of Churches, which has been heavily involved in peace efforts, called the deployment "too little, too late."

Sudan's military said on its website Friday that seven opposition fighters from the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North ? the military movement in Sudan that aligns itself with South Sudan ? were killed in clashes with Sudanese soldiers in the country's Blue Nile State, which borders South Sudan.

The clashes took place near the border with South Sudan earlier this week, military spokesman Sawarme Khalid Saad was quoted as saying.

Six soldiers were wounded in the clashes, which resulted in the military driving the rebels out of the area, Saad said. Late last year, the U.N. refugee agency said some 1,200 people were arriving daily from Sudan's Blue Nile State to South Sudan, and that around 350,000 people have moved from Sudan to South Sudan since independence in July.

The Sudanese government also denounced U.S. efforts to distribute humanitarian aid in South Kordofan and Blue Nile states because it excluded the participation of national humanitarian organizations. This could result in aid falling into the hands of opposition fighters, Humanitarian Aid Commissioner Suleiman Abdul Rahman Suleiman said.

He was quoted in the state-run SUNA news agency Friday calling on the U.S. to explain its motives for delivering humanitarian aid without the Sudanese government's participation in areas where the SPLM is active.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/un/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120120/ap_on_re_af/af_south_sudan_violence

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Google shares slide but analysts stay upbeat (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? Shares of Google Inc fell 8 percent after the Internet giant posted a rare quarterly earnings miss and said money paid by marketers for its search ads decreased for the first time in two years.

The search giant underperformed on both revenue and earnings, despite record U.S. online commerce during the holiday season, prompting several brokerages to cut their price targets on the stock.

Google shares were down $50.77 at $588.80 in late morning trade on Friday on the Nasdaq. They had touched a low of $584.81. It was the stock's biggest percentage fall in 9 months.

About 5.2 million shares changes hands by 1120 ET, more than their daily average volume.

The broader Nasdaq composite index was down 0.25 percent.

Google executives blamed the decline in search ad rates on forex fluctuations and ad format changes but analysts wondered whether mobile advertising -- which has lower rates -- played a more important role than the company admitted.

The fall in cost per click (CPC) had led to a barrage of questions from analysts during the post-earnings conference call on Thursday.

The market needs to shift expectations to paid click growth and lower its estimates for CPC, Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note.

Google's heavy investments in mobile and social network initiatives -- to stave off competition from rivals Apple Inc and Facebook -- and its planned $12.5 billion acquisition of smartphone maker Motorola Mobility Holdings have also raised investors' concerns.

Larry Page, who took over as CEO in April, said in July that the company was moving to put "more wood behind fewer arrows."

Analysts said the company has seen growth in display advertising, its Android mobile platform and Google+.

Google+ -- its recently-launched social network -- has 90 million users now, up from 40 million three months ago.

SOLID CORE

Wall Street analysts called the selloff an overreaction; Barclays said it presents a buying opportunity.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," Goldman Sachs titled its research note on Google.

The company's core results were solid as paid click growth accelerated by more than a third, margins improved, and display and mobile businesses performed well, analysts said.

The acceleration in paid clicks suggests that underlying demand for Google ads is quite healthy across devices, JP Morgan said, adding Google is best-positioned for the shift to new media.

Goldman Sachs analysts said, "We expect the growth in mobile to be 146 percent in 2012 and represent 15 percent of gross sales as we exit fourth-quarter of 2012."

The company still has strong earnings power that will reappear during 2012, Canaccord Genuity said, reiterating its "buy" rating.

Barclays, Baird, Jefferies and JP Morgan also maintained their top ratings on the stock.

(Reporting by Aditi Sharma and Soham Chatterjee in Bangalore; Editing by Tenzin Pema, Don Sebastian, Unnikrishnan Nair)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/search/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120120/wr_nm/us_google_research

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France eyes early withdrawal after Afghan attack

PARIS ?? France suspended military operations in Afghanistan Friday after the killing of four more French soldiers, President Nicolas Sarkozy said.

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Addressing French diplomats after an Afghan security source said four soldiers had been killed and 17 wounded by an Afghan soldier in the Taghab valley of eastern Kapisa province, Sarkozy confirmed that the dead were French.

Sarkozy said France may accelerate its planned troop withdrawal if the security situation does not improve.

"I have decided to send the defense minister and the head of the armed forces to Afghanistan and until then all training operations and combat help from French forces are suspended," said Sarkozy. "If the security conditions are not clearly established then the question of an early return of French forces from Afghanistan will arise."

The attack is among the most deadly for French forces in the 10 years they have been serving in the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan.

Afghan security forces or insurgents dressed in their uniforms have attacked and killed international troops or civilian trainers more than a dozen times in the past two years, according to an Associated Press count.

"It's unacceptable that our soldiers are killed by our allies. It's a difficult decision to make," Sarkozy said of the suspension of French operations.

It appeared to be the second time in a month that an Afghan soldier has attacked French forces. On Dec. 29, a soldier in the Afghan National Army opened fire and killed two members of the 2nd regiment of the Foreign Legion. French forces fired back and killed the assailant.

U.S. Army Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings Jr., a spokesman for the coalition, said Friday that cases where Afghan soldiers have wounded or killed coalition forces are isolated cases and do not occur on a routine basis. "We train and are partnered with Afghan personnel every day and we are not seeing any issues or concerns with our relationships," he said.

More than 2,500 foreign troops have died in Afghanistan since the NATO-led war began in 2001. The latest killings take the French toll to 82.

Meanwhile, six U.S. Marines died late Thursday when a helicopter crashed in Helmand province.

It was the deadliest crash in Afghanistan since August, when 30 American troops died after a Chinook helicopter was apparently shot down in Wardak province.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46069137/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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PHOTO: Lauren Scruggs Out for First Time Since Accident

Lauren Scruggs has made her first public appearance since losing her left hand and left eye in a horrific plane propeller accident six weeks ago. The 23-year-old model and fashion blogger was photographed laughing and joking around with her family on Tuesday outside the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation in Dallas, Texas.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/lauren-scruggs-out-first-time-plane-propeller-accident/1-a-420414?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Alauren-scruggs-out-first-time-plane-propeller-accident-420414

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Fatal shooting in hotel hosting US women

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) ? Police say a man was shot and killed at the hotel hosting the U.S. women's soccer team during the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Police were called to the Sheraton Wall Centre at about 8:45 p.m. Tuesday and found the body of a man dead from apparent gunshot wounds in a restaurant at the hotel.

U.S. Soccer Federation spokesman Neil Buethe said the American delegation was safe and that none of its members witnessed the shooting.

Goalie Hope Solo did tweet about it: "Saved by our instant yoga session. Was about to walk to starbucks when all hell broke loose in the lobby of our hotel! Life is precious..."

Police had not identified the victim and had no information on a suspect.

The U.S. team begins play against the Dominican Republic on Friday.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-18-OLY-SOC-Vancouver-Shooting/id-3280de30efed4c1ab71f09546e0edf47

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Chef Paula Deen hid diabetes, pushed high-fat food

FILE- This undated file photo courtesy of Food Network shows celebrity chef Paula Deen. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. While Deen has cut out glass after glass of sweet tea and taken up treadmill walking off camera, she plans few changes on the air. (AP Photo/Food Network, File)

FILE- This undated file photo courtesy of Food Network shows celebrity chef Paula Deen. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. While Deen has cut out glass after glass of sweet tea and taken up treadmill walking off camera, she plans few changes on the air. (AP Photo/Food Network, File)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, celebrity chef Paula Deen poses for a portrait in New York. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri)

FILE- This Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 file photo shows celebrity chef Paula Deen as she waits to make an appearance on the Today Show in Miami Beach, Fla. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter, file)

FILE- This Thursday, July 27, 2006 file photo shows Paula Deen, center, and her sons Jamie, right, and Bobby, rear, as they tape her show in Savannah, Ga. Paula Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. While Deen has cut out glass after glass of sweet tea and taken up treadmill walking off camera, she plans few changes on her three Food Network shows. (AP Photo/Stephen Morton, File)

In this Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012 photo, celebrity chef Paula Deen poses for a portrait in New York. Deen recently announced that she has Type 2 diabetes. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Paula Deen, the Southern belle of butter and heavy cream, makes no apologies for waiting three years to disclose she has diabetes while continuing to dish up deep-fried cheesecake and other high-calorie, high-fat recipes on TV.

She said she isn't changing the comfort cooking that made her a star, though it isn't clear how much of it she'll continue to eat while she promotes health-conscious recipes along with a diabetes drug she's endorsing for a Danish company.

"I've always said, 'Practice moderation, y'all.' I'll probably say that a little louder now," Deen said Tuesday after revealing her diagnosis on NBC's "Today" show. "You can have diabetes and have a piece of cake. You cannot have diabetes and eat a whole cake."

Health activists and one fellow chef called her a hypocrite for promoting an unhealthy diet along with a drug to treat its likely effects. Deen added her support of the Novo Nordisk company to a collection of lucrative endorsements that include Smithfield ham and Philadelphia Cream Cheese.

Deen, who will turn 65 on Thursday, said she kept her diagnosis private as she and her family figured out what to do, presumably about her health and a career built solidly on Southern cooking. Among her recipes: deep-fried cheesecake covered in chocolate and powdered sugar, and a quiche that calls for a pound of bacon.

"I really sat on this information for a few years because I said, 'Oh, my gosh, what am I going to do about this? Is my life fixing to change? Am I no longer going to like my life?" she asked. "I had to have time to adjust and soak it all in and get up all the information that I could."

While Deen, who lives in Savannah, Ga., has cut out the sweet tea she routinely drank straight through to bedtime and taken up treadmill walking, she plans few changes on the air.

Government doctors say that being overweight (as Deen is), over 45 (as Deen is) and inactive (as Deen was) increase the risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Growth of the disease in the U.S. has been closely tied to escalating obesity rates. Roughly 23 million Americans are believed to have the most common Type 2 diabetes; patients' bodies either do not produce enough insulin or do not use it efficiently, allowing excess sugar, or glucose, to accumulate in the blood.

Deen is the pitch person for Novo Nordisk's new online program, Diabetes in a New Light, which offers tips on food preparation, stress management and working with doctors on treatment. She has contributed diabetes-friendly recipes to the website and takes the company's drug Victoza, a once-daily noninsulin injection that had global sales of $734 million in the first nine months of 2011.

A recipe for Lady and Sons Lasagna, on her diabetes-conscious site, uses extra-lean ground beef and cans of unsalted tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, for a dish estimated at 260 calories a serving. Turn to Deen's collection of recipes on The Food Network's site and find Grandmother Paul's fried chicken, with Crisco shortening for frying, or baked French Toast casserole, with two cups of half-and-half and a half-pound of butter. No calorie counts are estimated.

The Novo Nordisk site links to promotional materials for the drug Victoza. Company spokeswoman Ambre Morley and Deen declined to disclose how much she is being paid.

Deen said she had no help or advice to offer the public when she was first diagnosed, but feels she's making a contribution now.

None of that matters much to outspoken chef Anthony Bourdain, who has never been a Deen fan. He told Eater.com of her diabetes announcement: "When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you've been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you've got Type 2 diabetes ... it's in bad taste if nothing else."

In Yuba, Wis., Judd Dvorak watches Deen cook on TV all the time with his wife. He thinks Bourdain has the right idea. Dvorak said it's wrong for Deen to accept money to become a paid spokeswoman for a diabetes drug after espousing a cooking style that helps lead to diabetes.

"It would be like someone who goes on TV and brags about how wonderful it is to smoke two packs of cigarettes a day and then when he or she gets lung cancer becomes a paid spokesperson for nicotine patches," Dvorak said. "I feel it is in very poor taste and if she chose to become an unpaid spokesperson for the American Diabetes Association, that would be a better way for her to make a difference and help fight this horrible disease."

Deen also smokes, but she considers her heavy-handed food only one piece of the diabetes puzzle, with genetics, lifestyle, stress, age and race. She said she would never advocate smoking and her diabetes is "well under control."

While making changes in her personal life, she doesn't think her TV shows ? there are three ? will look much different. She spends about 30 days a year taping, "so I'm not cooking and eating that way every day."

That's something the public doesn't necessarily know. The food, Deen said, isn't really to blame.

"I am who I am," she said. "I think the South gets a bad rap sometimes, saying our food is very unhealthy, but frankly I don't think that's the case. I think it's like any other food, whether it be Italian, French, Cajun. They all can be very high in calories and that's where we have to practice portion control and moderation."

Morley said the company didn't know Deen had diabetes when it approached her about promoting the new health initiative.

"We really just wanted to ask her, 'Hey, Paula, do you think we could challenge you to change up some of your recipes and make them diabetes-friendly," Morley said. "And her reply was, 'How did you guys know I had diabetes?'"

It was a surprise to the Food Network as well. Network officials found out only last week, said spokesman Jesse Derris.

"As part of the Food Network's family, our only concern is for Paula's health. We will continue to support her as she confronts this new challenge, taking her lead on what future episodes will offer her fans," he said.

Some health experts question the delay between the time Deen was diagnosed with diabetes and her move three years later to promote a healthier way of cooking and living.

"A more responsible approach would have been that once she was diagnosed with diabetes to really emphasize to her viewers the importance of eating a healthy diet," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

____

Contributing to this report were Nicole Evatt in New York and AP Business Writer Linda A. Johnson in Trenton, N.J.

___

Online:

Paula Deen's Food Network page: ?http://bit.ly/pGT9n

Paula Deen's diabetes-friendly recipes: ? http://www.diabetesinanewlight.com

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2012-01-17-Paula%20Deen-Diabetes/id-2a0a2948307249aca110e56ae427cf2d

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Bitly Rolls Out New Enterprise Dashboard, Providing Better Access To The Real-Time Social Web

Popular link-shortening service?Bit.ly?is today announcing the launch of Bitly Enterprise 2.0, a new version of its enterprise-friendly dashboard. The Bitly Enterprise platform, which helps businesses with multiple social media accounts monitor the impacts of their content's distribution, will now include the first production release of the company's brand-new search technology, allowing customers to track content around any subject or phrase across the entire social web - not just Twitter and Facebook. This technology is providing access to a new view of the web. The web is no longer just a list of linked pages, but a web of fresh, social and viral content that's weighted and ranked in real-time, and, in many cases, before Google applies its own PageRank to it.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/rPN9QGru7Ho/

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