Stocks slip; JPMorgan disappoints

The Dow fell 48 points to close at 12422 Friday after a rare disappointing earnings report from JPMorgan Chase battered bank stocks

A rare disappointing earnings report from JPMorgan Chase battered bank stocks on Friday and helped push the rest of the market lower. Rumors of imminent downgrades for the credit ratings of European governments drove the euro down and sent investors streaming into U.S. debt.

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The Dow Jones industrial average fell 48.96 points to close at 12,422.06, a drop of 0.4 percent. Markets were little changed late in the day after France's finance minister confirmed that Standard & Poor's had stripped the country of its AAA credit rating.

Before the market opened, JPMorgan said quarterly profit declined 23 percent from a year earlier, slightly worse than what analysts expected. The bank's stock lost 2 percent, and other large banks followed. Morgan Stanley fell 3 percent and Goldman Sachs 2 percent.

It was the first time JPMorgan missed Wall Street expectations since the final quarter of 2007, a period that includes the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. JPMorgan is widely considered one of the best-managed big banks. Traders figured that if JPMorgan had trouble as 2011 came to a close, the rest of the industry probably did, too.

"JPMorgan is the gold standard," said Phil Orlando, chief equity strategist at Federated Investors. "So what happens to the banks that aren't quite as strong and aren't quite as well-managed?"

On trading desks, it's called the "cockroach theory," Orlando said. "You never see just one cockroach. If you see one, you know there's bound to be a lot more."

The euro slipped to its lowest level in 17 months after reports surfaced that S&P would downgrade European governments. After the markets closed in New York, S&P announced cuts for France, Austria, Italy and Spain.

The euro dropped 1.1 percent against the dollar to $1.27. Borrowing costs jumped for France, Italy and Spain, countries at the center of the region's debt crisis.

The dollar and U.S. Treasury prices rose as investors moved money into lower-risk assets. The yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell to 1.86 percent from 1.93 percent late Thursday.

S&P warned Dec. 5 that 15 countries that use the euro were at risk of downgrades, citing higher borrowing costs for top-rated governments and disagreements among European leaders.

A cut to France's credit rating may fail to push rates up for France because bond traders were prepared for it, said Guy LeBas, chief fixed income strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott.

The danger is to the European rescue fund. France is the second-largest contributor to the fund behind Germany. Bond traders could respond to the French downgrade by raising borrowing costs for the rescue fund, in the expectation that its rating will be cut next.

"The knock-on effects are far more significant than the impact on France itself," LeBas said.

JPMorgan's results opened the earnings season for banks on a sour note. Though an increasing pace of earnings reports may help steer the markets over the coming days, Europe's debt crisis is likely to remain the focus.

In other trading, the S&P 500 index fell 6.41, or 0.5 percent to 1,289.09. The Nasdaq composite index fell 14.03, or 0.5 percent, to 2,710.67. Even with Friday's fall, all three indexes posted gains for the second straight week. The S&P 500 index is up 2.5 percent to start the year.

Among stocks making larger moves than the overall market Friday:

? Diamond Foods Inc., which makes Emerald Nuts, plunged 10 percent after The Wall Street Journal reported that federal prosecutors had opened a criminal inquiry into its financial practices. The Journal also reported that two large shareholders had dumped most of their stakes in the company.

? Safeway Inc., the grocery store chain, rose 1.8 percent. An analyst at Jefferies placed a "buy" rating on the stock on the expectation that the company will benefit from an improving job market, especially in California.

? Alpha Natural Resources fell 10 percent, the largest loss in the S&P 500. The coal company bought Massey Energy last year, and the Justice Department is considering whether to prosecute the people who ran Massey when its Big Branch mine exploded in 2010.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/L_Yp4eA_pgA/Stocks-slip-JPMorgan-disappoints

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Robot surgeons may get upgraded

Mary Levin / UW Photography

The latest version of the Raven has mechanical wrists that hold tiny pincers. Coming soon is a piece that will allow research groups to attach the same tools used by commercial surgical robots.

By John Roach

Surgical robots named Ravens are flocking to university labs around the U.S. where researchers will be encouraged to hack their software.

This reprogramming could accelerate innovation in surgical robotics, which is stifled due in part to a lock on the market held by the only company with a FDA-approved robot, according to Blake Hannaford, the director of the Biorobotics Laboratory at the University of Washington in Seattle.

That robot, da Vinci from Intuitive Surgical, has successfully performed more than 200,000 procedures ? mostly hysterectomies and the removal of prostate glands ? in hospitals around the world.

In these types of procedures, surgeons use the robots to make small incisions and wield tiny instruments that are difficult to handle with their own hands. The result is shortened recovery times and less post-operative pain, which increases the demand for robot-assisted surgery.

Academic researchers would like to innovate in this space, but "da Vinci costs $1.8 million and it's a closed system, you're not allowed to program it," Hannaford told me Friday.

This makes sense given that the da Vinci has FDA approval and Intuitive Surgical owns the patents, he added, but until now researchers wanting to experiment had to build their own robots from scratch or come up with enough funds to buy a da Vinci for research purposes.

The Raven program overcomes these hurdles. The robots were purchased with a $1.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. They are being shipped to five universities with an open-source software license.?

"The [researchers] will modify that software, invent their cool things, and then share them within this community so that we can build off of each other's advances," Hannaford said.?

Similar to da Vinci, each two-armed Raven has mechanical wrists with tiny pincers that can wield surgical tools. A person sitting at a screen can look through Raven's cameras and guide the instruments to do tasks such as suturing.

Unlike da Vinici, the Raven platform lacks FDA approval, which means that it will not be removing a human prostate gland any time soon.?

But innovations created using the platform could be licensed by an existing medical robotics company or used to start a new one, Hannaford noted.

And since some?of Intuitive Surgical's key patents are soon to expire, many medical companies that have been sitting on the sidelines "waiting for the right time to jump in" may find the time is ripe to do so, he added.

To see Raven in action, check out the video below:

More stories on surgical robots:


John Roach is a contributing writer for msnbc.com. To learn more about him, check out his website. For more of our Future of Technology series, watch the featured video below.

Ten years of war have given robot developers a chance to refine and improve their bots. Now the robots are finding all sorts of new jobs on the homefront.

?

Source: http://futureoftech.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/13/10150612-robot-surgeons-may-get-upgraded

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Goodell: NFL to consider some full-time officials

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell listens to a reporter's question before an NFL divisional playoff football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell listens to a reporter's question before an NFL divisional playoff football game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans in Baltimore, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)

(AP) ? Aiming to ensure NFL rules are enforced the same way from game to game, the league will consider making about 10 officials full-time employees next season. As of now, all game officials are part-time employees.

Responding to a question about consistency in officiating while speaking to a group of about 75 fans before Sunday's playoff game between the Baltimore Ravens and Houston Texans, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the proposal would bring a group of officials to the league offices in New York to help review game films and evaluate the calls.

They then would be spread out among the crews at games.

"Consistency is exactly what every club wants, and I think every fan wants. You want consistency in the way rules are applied," Goodell said. "We are contemplating this offseason taking some of those officials from the field who are now part time ? they have other jobs ? and making a certain number of them, let's say 10, full time."

Goodell also told the fans the rules committee will examine whether teams should be allowed to hire assistant coaches who left other teams during the same season, as happened with New England and Josh McDaniels. He returned to the Patriots in time for the playoffs after spending the regular season with the St. Louis Rams.

"We've talked to several club executives. I'm not getting a lot of reaction from the other clubs that this is unfair. They don't seem to think it's a big issue," Goodell said. "But it's something we'll talk about."

Among other topics Goodell addressed with fans, and later while speaking to reporters:

?He hopes the league and the players' union will be able to settle their differences on testing for human growth hormone before next season, but he wouldn't say he's confident that'll happen.

"There's certainly enough time. We had a meeting just on Friday between the two parties to try to address those issues," Goodell said. "We understand the issues they've raised. We've answered those questions. ... All of the scientists agree that this test is valid. So we think we have a valid test. It's been proven on a global basis. We hope to get it implemented as quickly as possible."

The new labor contract that ended the NFL lockout in August included a provision for HGH testing as soon as this season ? but only once the NFLPA approved the process. That hasn't happened, in part because the NFLPA says it needs more information about the test itself.

Asked by a reporter whether he's confident of getting a test in place for 2012, Goodell paused, then replied: "I'll tell you: Sure going to work as hard as we can to get it done, because I think it's important, not just for the game, but also for the players."

?He called the latest tweaks to concussion protocols ? including putting certified athletic trainers in booths at games to keep an eye out for possible head injuries, and adding video feeds on sidelines ? "significant improvements" and "two very positive steps."

?The new kickoff rules "achieved our objective" by reducing injuries, Goodell said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-01-15-FBN-Goodell/id-f701f134545a494d823ec394e7939910

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Is Anthony Johnson too small for middleweight?

A 15-pound jump is huge in the fight world, unless you're a guy who walks around 40 pounds heavier than your weight class.

This weekend at UFC 142 in Rio de Janeiro, Anthony Johnson is moving from 170 pounds to middleweight against veteran Vitor Belfort.

Belfort is no small 185 pounder. He spent most of his career at light heavyweight before the drop down. Watching the UFC 142 prefight conference today and judging by some photos it was hard to tell if Johnson is making a mistake from a size standpoint.

George Garcia from MMAjunkie radio thought Johnson looked undersized.

Looking at the photo above, he might be right, but then in the photo below Johnson looks like the bigger fighter.

In the end, it probably won't matter unless the fight features plenty of clinch work. Johnson says Belfort won't be able to handle his onslaught on the feet.

"Versatility will be a key in this fight," Johnson told HeavyMMA. "I have punches, kicks, takedowns, and he still has a long way to go. But I'm not looking past his abilities or anything like that. I just don't see anything Vitor can do to me that I can't do to him and then some.

Watch UFC 142 right here on Yahoo! Sports

Other popular content on the Y! network:
? ThePostGame: Big-time sports agent details his downfall
? New Jacksonville Jaguars owner takes shot at poor NFL fans
? Tight NBA schedule causing injuries; just ask Dwyane Wade
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Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/anthony-johnson-too-small-middleweight-185326862.html

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Critics' Choice Awards: Getting To Know Hosts Rob Huebel, Paul Scheer

Comic actors' names might not be familiar to viewers, but their faces most likely are.
By Kara Warner


Rob Huebel and Paul Scheer host the 16th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images

For those who might not be familiar with the names Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel, this year's hosts of the Critics' Choice Movie Awards, you've very likely seen their faces and comedic stylings in a variety of roles in TV and film.

Scheer is one of our illustrious MTV alumni, having co-created and starred in the sketch comedy series "Human Giant," and can currently be seen in FX's fantasy football-themed bro comedy "The League." You also probably recognize him from a multitude of guest-starring roles in shows and movies like "Parks and Recreation," "30 Rock," "Reno 911," "Party Down," "Piranha," "Happy Endings" and "Children's Hospital."

Huebel's résumé is equally lengthy, and he and Scheer have many projects in common. Huebel also starred in "Human Giant," along with guest stints on "30 Rock," "Reno 911," "Happy Endings," "Party Down," "The League" and "Children's Hospital." The funnyman has also been collecting more and more film roles in recent years, including parts in "I Love You, Man," "Little Fockers," "The Descendants" and the upcoming ensemble comedy "What to Expect When You're Expecting."

Scheer and Huebel proved to be punchy and adept hosts for the Critics' Choice Awards, in that they kept their bits relatively short and allowed the celebrities to shine in the spotlight. Our favorite of their transitional pieces was the lighthearted poking fun at the elaborate motion capture process in "No Movement Motion Capture Artists," which featured great cameos from Michael Bay and Ray Liotta, and their excellent interview piece with Joey the horse from "War Horse," with a cameo by Michael Cera as the horse handler.

After thanking viewers for tuning in, Scheer ended the evening with a self-aware jab at their performance: "Now let's all get on Twitter and see who's ripping us apart!"

Stick with MTV News all night for the 2012 Critics' Choice Awards winners, and don't miss all the fashion from the red carpet!

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Photos

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1677246/critics-choice-movie-awards-hosts-paul-scheer-rob-huebel.jhtml

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Hunger Games Tickets Go On Sale February 22

Hopefully the odds will be in your favor on Feb. 22. That's the date tickets for 'The Hunger Games' go on sale -- and likely sell out -- in advance of the film's debut on March 23.

This announcement comes 74 days ahead of release, in honor of the 74th annual Hunger Games, which are detailed in the film and YA best-seller.

Fans can click here to sign up for text updates and further information on the advanced sales. You can also check out Moviefone's "Hunger Games" page for more information.

Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland and Stanley Tucci, "The Hunger Games" is in theaters on March 23. Tweet with the hashtag #hungergames74 to let everyone know whether you'll be attending the pre-sale ticket event.



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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1924284/news/1924284/

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Mars-bound NASA rover adjusts course to red planet (AP)

LOS ANGELES ? Firing on all engines, NASA's latest rover to Mars executed a course adjustment Wednesday that put it on track for a landing on the red planet in August.

Deep space antennas monitored the one-ton rover nicknamed Curiosity as it fired its thrusters in a choreographed three-hour maneuver.

"We're a big step closer to our entry point at the Martian atmosphere," said Arthur Amador of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

The course correction is the most important task Curiosity will perform during its 352-million-mile trip to Mars, but it's not unprecedented. Previous robotic explorers have had to adjust their paths several times en route to landing.

As NASA celebrated Curiosity's latest milestone, Russia's space agency grappled with its doomed Phobos-Ground probe.

Bound for a Martian moon, Phobos-Ground became stranded in Earth orbit soon after launching in November. After several failed attempts to put it back on course, pieces of the probe could plunge through Earth's atmosphere as early as this weekend.

Meanwhile, Curiosity had racked up 80 million miles and was traveling at 10,200 mph relative to the Earth.

The action began Tuesday when engineers uploaded commands to Curiosity's on-board computers. On cue, it refined its trajectory without human interference ? thrusting 200 times in short bursts Wednesday and increasing its speed by 12 mph.

"It was pretty darn flawless," Amador said.

The team will spend the next week testing the spacecraft's communication system and other components. A second smaller path adjustment was planned for March.

If Curiosity did not tweak its route, it would miss Mars altogether because it was initially not aimed at the planet. Engineers did this by design to prevent the upper stage of the rocket that launched the spacecraft from hitting Mars.

Now that Curiosity has separated and is on its way, the team has several chances to fine-tune its path before touchdown. During the interplanetary cruise, the rover is tucked in a shell that will protect it during its plunge through the upper Martian atmosphere.

Curiosity, whose formal name is the Mars Science Laboratory, is aiming for a 96-mile-wide crater near the Martian equator that boasts a towering mountain in the center. The six-wheel, nuclear-powered rover planned to drive to the lower flanks and examine the layered deposits to determine whether the area once had conditions capable of supporting microbial life.

Armed with a toolkit including a laser to zap into bedrock and a jackhammer, Curiosity is more sophisticated than previous Mars surface spacecraft. Despite its capabilities, it won't be able to detect life. Instead, it will hunt for the chemical building blocks of life during its two-year, $2.5 billion mission.

Since Curiosity is too heavy to use a cocoon of airbags or rely solely on its parachute to safely reach the planet's surface, NASA will attempt a new type of landing using a so-called sky crane system.

The parachute will detach and a rocket-powered platform will fire its engines, then lower the rover to the ground on a tether similar to the way hovering heavy-lift helicopters lower huge loads at the end of a cable.

Even before arrival, Curiosity has not been idle. Several weeks after launch, it turned on its radiation detector to monitor high-energy particles streaming from the sun and exploding stars. Once at Mars, it will measure radiation levels on the surface.

___

Follow Alicia Chang's coverage at http://www.twitter.com/SciWriAlicia

___

Online:

Mission: http://www.nasa.gov/msl

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120112/ap_on_sc/us_sci_mars_science_lab

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Romney takes winning streak to South Carolina (Reuters)

MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) ? One day after a solid victory in New Hampshire, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney faces a critical test in South Carolina as he seeks to convince conservative voters that he is their best bet to defeat Democratic President Barack Obama.

Romney took a crucial step toward the Republican nomination on Tuesday with his win in New Hampshire, the second contest in the state-by-state battle for the Republican nomination. He won 39 percent of the vote and was well ahead of his nearest rival.

The former private equity executive also won the Iowa caucuses last week. He may now find it easier to convince skeptics within his own party that he is the strongest Republican to take on Obama in November's election, despite qualms about the moderate policies he pursued as Massachusetts governor.

Victory in South Carolina's January 21 primary could derail rivals' hopes to consolidate a splintered conservative vote and set Romney on a steady march to nomination.

With economic concerns topping the agenda, Romney has argued that his experience as head of investment firm Bain Capital, where he made a personal fortune, would make him the best candidate to put the shaky U.S. economy on a stronger footing.

Romney gave perhaps the most dynamic speech of his campaign in Tuesday as he celebrated his victory in New Hampshire, outlining a stark contrast with Obama. Aides said it would set the tone for the rest of the campaign.

"We know that the future of this country is better than 8 or 9 percent unemployment. It is better than $15 trillion in debt. It is better than the misguided policies and broken promises of the last three years - and the failed leadership of one man," he said.

In recent days, rivals like former House of Representatives speaker Newt Gingrich have painted Romney as a heartless corporate raider who cut jobs in the companies he bought -- an unusual debate in the business-friendly Republican Party. Influential conservatives like radio host Rush Limbaugh have warned that the attacks could undermine the party's free-market ideals.

Rivals could redouble their efforts in South Carolina, which has been hit hard by the economic downturn. Unemployment in the southern state stands at 9.9 percent, above the national average of 8.5 percent.

Texas Governor Rick Perry, who hopes to revive his fading campaign in South Carolina, has pointed to businesses in the state that were shuttered by Bain, while Gingrich allies plan to spend $3.4 million on ads criticizing Romney's business record.

Romney's Mormon faith was a stumbling block for some evangelical Christians in Iowa, who also make up a large percentage of the South Carolina electorate.

Still, polls show Romney leading other candidates in the state.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Tuesday showed Romney was way ahead of rival Republicans nationally, with 30 percent support. He still trailed Obama by 5 percentage points in the White House race but was catching up.

(Writing by Andy Sullivan)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120111/ts_nm/us_usa_campaign

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France, Italy present united front before crisis

French prime minister Francois Fillon, right, greets his Italian counterpart Mario Monti prior to their meeting at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, Friday Jan. 6, 2012 (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

French prime minister Francois Fillon, right, greets his Italian counterpart Mario Monti prior to their meeting at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, Friday Jan. 6, 2012 (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

French prime minister Francois Fillon, right, shakes hand with his Italian counterpart Mario Monti prior to their meeting at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, Friday Jan. 6, 2012 (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, right, shakes the hand of Italian counterpart Mario Monti, left, prior to their talks at the Hotel Matignon in Paris, Friday Jan. 6, 2012. (AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere)

(AP) ? Italy and France sought to present a united front Friday as grim economic news threatened to push Europe back into recession and exacerbate a spiraling debt crisis.

European leaders are scrambling again to stem the march of the crisis, which pushed the euro to a 16-month low against the U.S. dollar on Friday, drove Italy's borrowing rates to unsustainable levels and is threatening France's prized AAA credit rating.

With the debt jitters regarding core economies, economic indicators show that even powerhouse Germany hasn't been spared. Economic sentiment and retail sales are falling across the region, according to new data released Friday, while unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone is stuck at 10.3 percent.

For already struggling countries like Hungary, which is not in the eurozone, a weaker regional economy is spelling disaster. The credit rating of the country, which has requested help from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, was downgraded to junk status on Friday.

European governments are trying to regain investors' confidence in their public finances, but doing so will be all the more difficult as their economies slow down or contract. There are also signs of splintering in their pledges to forge closer fiscal ties to calm markets.

So French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti stepped up Friday to reassure investors, vowing they saw eye-to-eye on how to resolve the crisis and promising coordinated action.

"Italy and France share a perfectly identical view on the future of Europe and the way to solve the crisis of confidence," Sarkozy told reporters after their meeting.

Monti, meanwhile, urged other countries to fulfill the promises they've made.

"In a situation so delicate for the EU and the eurozone, we agree ... that each member state has to do what's necessary in terms of budget cutting and reform," Monti said. "It is essential that all the member states work together on the same level."

Monti became prime minister late last year after worries that Italy couldn't pay off its debts pushed its yield past 7 percent ? a level that eventually forced other countries to seek bailouts.

His technocratic government was meant to carry out stringent austerity measures aimed at reassuring investors and hopefully bringing Italy back from the brink. Europe cannot afford to rescue Italy as it has smaller economies.

While Monti was initially greeted with relief, the pressure is rising again. The yield on Italy's 10-year bond rose above 7 percent again Friday, adding urgency to Monti's drive to pass the promised austerity measures.

In a sign of the increasing focus on Italy's problems, Sarkozy said he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel ? who as leaders of the biggest economies in the eurozone have led much of the crisis response ? would travel to Rome on Jan. 20 to prepare for eurozone meetings at the end of the month.

First comes a meeting in Berlin on Monday between Sarkozy and Merkel. On the agenda are talks about a tax on financial transactions sought by Sarkozy. Merkel also supports the idea, but wants it implemented at the European level.

On Friday Sarkozy said France would forge ahead with the tax even without support from its European partners. "We won't wait until everyone is in agreement to put it in place," Sarkozy said, "We'll put it into effect because we believe in it."

Stocks and bonds mostly fell on Friday, while the euro dropped as low as $1.2681, its weakest since early September 2010.

France, whose bond yields have also been rising steadily, though less dramatically than Italy's, faces the loss of its prized AAA credit rating. Any downgrade would have far-reaching consequences for Europe since Paris' credit rating is one of the bedrocks of the continent's bailout system.

At a recent summit aimed at ending the crisis, European leaders pledged to hand sweeping powers over to Brussels, giving bureaucrats the power to send back irresponsible national budgets for revision. The routine violation in the past of European rules on overspending is partially responsible for over-indebtedness.

Analysts have warned that the proposals don't go far enough, and divisions over them have already begun to crop up.

Poland's finance minister said Friday that such plans for closer ties among the countries that use the euro need democratic legitimacy before they can be put in place.

In the interest of calming financial markets ? which can't wait for the kind of messy parliamentary votes and national referendums that have dogged the EU in the past ? leaders pledged to sign up to tighter integration at the summit. But many question whether such sweeping powers can be handed over without some kind of consultation with European citizens.

Finance Minister Jacek Rostowski told a conference in Paris that tighter eurozone integration is necessary, but that before vast powers are handed over to the EU executive, European citizens must have a say.

"For something that far reaching as far as national sovereignty to be accepted then there would have to be some form of deep democratic legitimization," he said. "That would either require a co-decision with European Parliament or a majority of national parliaments or something like that."

Although the crisis has focused largely on the eurozone countries, financial turmoil was also growing on its fringes, in Hungary.

Market confidence in the country is fading quickly, as evident in a bond auction in which investors this week demanded 10 percent to lend it 12-month money. On Friday, Fitch Ratings downgraded Hungary's credit grade to junk status, as Moody's and S&P had already done.

The country has said it is open to negotiating a standby loan from the EU and IMF, but doubts remain about some of the government's policies. The uncertainty has sent the Hungarian currency, the forint, to all-time lows this week.

___

Associated Press writer Sylvie Corbet contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-01-06-EU-Europe-Financial-Crisis/id-aead5996e63e44aa8e0b7f73e31a9bd0

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Minnesota Timberwolves win 93-72 to keep Washington Wizards winless

Published: Sunday, Jan. 8, 2012 3:48 p.m. MST

By Joseph White, Associated Press

WASHINGTON ? Kevin Love had 20 points and 16 rebounds, Ricky Rubio had 13 points and a career-high 14 assists, and the Minnesota Timberwolves broke a two-game losing streak Sunday with a 93-72 victory over the winless Washington Wizards.

Spanish rookie Rubio also grabbed six rebounds and controlled the game during much of his 30 minutes off the bench. He entered with 1:30 remaining in the first quarter and quickly hit a 22-foot jump shot to start a 17-2 run that gave Minnesota the lead for good.

Six players scored in double figures for the Timberwolves, who shot 45 percent to open their first set of three games in three days during the lockout-shortened season. They are playing all three without forward Michael Beasley, who sprained his right foot during Friday night's loss to Cleveland.

Nick Young and Trevor Booker scored 14 points apiece to lead the Wizards, who dropped to 0-8 to extend their franchise-worst start to a season. Washington has already lost four games by 18 or more points, and the team was showered with boos from the home fans when the deficit reached 19 points in the fourth quarter.

John Wall again struggled with his shot, going 3 for 10 from the field to finish with 10 points. Andray Blatche was 5 for 16, and Jordan Crawford went 3 for 11 to contribute to Washington's 34 percent shooting ? as well as the team's lowest point total of the year. The Wizards made just 5 of 23 field goals in the fourth quarter.

The Wizards made a few runs after falling behind by double digits in the second quarter, but they never got closer than seven points in the second half. Rookie Derrick Williams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to quash one comeback attempt, pushing the lead to 15 points late in the third quarter.

The only Wizards spark came from Booker, who came off the bench to shoot 7 for 9 from the field. Washington first-round pick Jan Vesely, making his debut after missing the first seven games with a hip injury, shot an air ball on his first NBA free throw attempt and finished with two points in nine minutes.

NOTES: With Beasley out, Wesley Johnson started at forward and Wayne Ellington moved into the starting lineup at guard. ... The Timberwolves go to Toronto on Monday and finish up their three-in-three days with a home game against Chicago on Tuesday. ... Minnesota G J.J. Barea sat out for the first fifth time in six games with a strained left hamstring. ... This was the only meeting between the teams this season. ... Minnesota had lost seven straight at Washington, last winning on Dec. 12, 2003.

Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP

Source: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700213522/Minnesota-Timberwolves-win-93-72-to-keep-Washington-Wizards-winless.html?s_cid=rss-38

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