Spain's Rajoy triumphs with big election majority (Reuters)

MADRID (Reuters) ? Mariano Rajoy's center-right People's Party stormed to a crushing election victory when voters punished the outgoing Socialist government for the worst economic crisis in generations.

Rajoy, who led his party to an absolute parliamentary majority in Sunday's election, is widely expected to push through drastic measures to try to prevent Spain being sucked deeper into a debt crisis threatening the whole euro zone.

"Difficult times are coming," Rajoy, 56, told supporters in his victory speech, with financial markets hungry for details on how he will attack a steep public deficit threatening to push the euro zone's fourth economy toward a perilous bail-out.

"Spain's voice must be respected again in Brussels and Frankfurt... We will stop being part of the problem and will be part of the solution," said Rajoy, who is not scheduled to take office for a month.

Voters vented their rage on the Socialists, who led Spain from boom to bust in seven years in charge. With 5 million people out of work, the European Union's highest jobless rate, the country is heading into its second recession in four years.

Spaniards were the fifth European nation to throw out their leaders because of the spreading euro zone crisis, following Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Italy.

The People's Party (PP), formed from other rightist parties in the 1980s after Spain returned to democracy at the end of the Franco dictatorship, won the biggest majority for any party in three decades.

The PP took 186 seats in the 350-seat lower house, according to official results with 99.95 percent of the vote counted.

The Socialists slumped to 111 seats from 169 in the outgoing parliament, their worst showing in 30 years.

MARKET FRIENDLY

Spain's stock and bond prices may initially react positively to the vote because Rajoy, a former interior minister, is seen as market friendly and pro-business.

Rajoy, who will not be sworn in until around December 20, will not get much breathing space.

The nation's borrowing costs are at their highest since the euro zone was formed and yields on 10-year bonds soared last week to close to 7 percent, a level that forced other countries like Portugal and Greece to seek international bail-outs.

The Spanish Treasury heads back to the markets with debt auctions on Tuesday and Thursday this week, which will test confidence in Rajoy's pending leadership

"The fact the PP has won by a large majority is a very good sign for the markets. It means stability," said Teresa Sabada, professor of political communication at IESE business school in Madrid.

"The best scenario now would be for Spain to announce some new emergency austerity measures but I am not sure whether this will happen or not."

Economic gloom dominated the election campaign, with more than 40 percent of young Spaniards unable to find work and a million people at risk of losing their homes to the banks.

"Being a civil servant I'm not optimistic," said Jose Vazquez, 45, after he voted in Madrid.

"We can choose the sauce they will cook us in, but we're still going to be cooked."

TREASURED INSTITUTIONS

Many leftist voters are concerned Rajoy will cut back Spain's treasured national health and education systems.

Too soured with the Socialists, they turned to smaller parties or stayed away from the polls. The abstention rate was higher than in the last election in 2008.

The United Left, which includes the former communist party, won 11 seats in the lower house, its best showing since the mid-1990s and way up from the previous legislature when it had only two seats.

Small parties doubled their presence in the lower house of parliament, taking 54 seats compared with 26 in the last legislature.

Rajoy has been cagey about exactly where he will cut public spending, but he has pledged to meet the country's target to trim its public deficit to 4.4 percent of economic output next year, which implies drastic measures.

But he risks pushing Spain back into its second recession in four years and provoking massive street protests.

When the Socialists took power in 2004 Spain was riding a construction boom fueled by cheap interest rates, infrastructure projects and foreign demand for vacation homes on the country's warm coastlines.

Droves of young men dropped out of high school to take building jobs and bought flashy BMWs with their inflated wages.

But the government, consumers and companies were engulfed in debt when the building sector collapsed in 2007, leaving the landscape dotted with vacant housing developments, empty airports and underused highways.

"Something's got to change here in Spain, with 5 million people on the dole, this can't go on," said Juan Antonio Fernandez, 60, a jobless Madrid construction worker who switched to the PP from the Socialists.

Pablo Cortes, 27, who can find only occasional restaurant work despite his degree in architecture, saw no reason for optimism from the result.

"Does anyone really believe the PP is going to solve this? How, with more austerity for the have-nots and favors for the rich?" he said.

(Additional reporting by Nigel Davies, Martin Roberts and; Carlos Ruano in Madrid; Writing by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Ralph Gowling)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111121/wl_nm/us_spain_election

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Same-Sex Couples Face Stark Immigration Options, Especially For Older, Disabled Partners

Benjamin Anderson, 55, was born in the United States, served in the Coast Guard, and considers himself a strong patriot. He's moving to Italy next month, though, because his soon-to-be husband will not be granted legal status in the United States under the Defense of Marriage Act.

Anderson and partner Mattia Lumaca, 41, are among 28,500 same-sex couples with one U.S. citizen partner and one noncitizen partner, according to an analysis released on Friday by the University of California, Los Angeles' Williams Institute, which studies sexual orientation law and public policy. Even if they are legally married, these couples cannot petition for legal status for the noncitizen partner because same-sex marriage is not recognized by the federal government.

Moreover, as federal immigration enforcers begin to review some 300,000 deportation cases to close those deemed "low-priority," same-sex couples will likely not be considered in the same way as heterosexual couples, according to guidance issued to Immigration and Customs Enforcement lawyers on Thursday.

That leaves few options for couples like Anderson and Lumaca, who want to live together but can't risk overstaying Lumaca's visa. Anderson became ill while in the Coast Guard and has suffered health problems ever since, including diabetes and a heart condition. Lumaca serves as his primary caretaker, helping him to keep track of his insulin and other medications. So Anderson faced a hard decision: live apart from the man he loves or move to Italy, far from his adult son, the veterans hospitals he needs and his native country.

"I'm angry and I'm so sad that I'm being forced to leave. I have been given a terrible choice," he said. "I'm afraid that I'm going to go there and die, and I won't be with my family."

Ending his relationship with Lumaca or maintaining a long-distance marriage would be equally difficult, said Anderson.

"I'm really frightened," he said. "I don't know what's going to happen. But I'm not going to give up Mattia -- he's my life. I've waited my whole life for someone like him, and I'm not going to give him up."

Same-sex couples, particularly binational ones, are trapped in the policy tangles of the current administration, which has made some progress for gay rights while continuing to enforce the Defense of Marriage Act. The Obama administration will no longer legally defend the law, but it is still in place, meaning the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages or provide those couples with the same benefits granted to heterosexual couples.

When the Obama administration announced in August that it would review pending deportation cases, senior officials said a same-sex partnership could be considered a strong tie to the United States, a factor that immigration agents may consider in deportation decisions. On Thursday, however, the Department of Homeland Security sent out guidelines on its deportation review process that omitted any explicit reference to same-sex partnerships as a potential reason to close deportation cases. Those that hold visas, like Lumaca, still face a government that does not formally recognize their marriage for the purposes of immigration.

Tim Smulian, a 65-year-old South African citizen, married Edwin Blesch, a 71-year-old U.S. citizen, four years ago. They live in Long Island, N.Y., in a home that they share. But because Smulian has only a tourist visa, which lasts no more than six months, he must leave the country at least once a year for a six-month period.

Blesch, who nearly always goes with Smulian, suffers from major health problems and visits a neurologist and a cardiologist three times per year. He said he cannot move out of the country permanently and lose his Medicare or access to specialists. The couple worry they will be separated during a health emergency. At one point, when Smulian was living in Canada awaiting eligibility for another visa, Blesch was injured in the United States.

"What I find difficult to convey to people ... is the anxiety involved of the threat of being taken away from one's life partner and spouse, especially as he is not in good health," Smulian said. "It's just something I cannot express to people who never faced this type of situation, how devastating this is."

Smulian has applied for an extension on his visa, allowing him to stay in the United States for extra months. But so far, they said they have heard nothing from immigration authorities. They are retired, have paid for their home and want some steadiness to their life, Blesch said.

"We're living on a tightwire wondering whether they are going to accept the extension or say, 'No, get out right away,' " Blesch said. "They keep you guessing, and it's very upsetting."

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/19/same-sex-couples-immigration-older-disabled_n_1102336.html

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New deficit deal proving elusive as deadline nears (AP)

WASHINGTON ? Republicans and Democrats on Congress' deficit-reduction supercommittee have resumed face-to-face meetings after more than a week of backbiting and stalemate.

But the 12-member panel is still limping toward a Thanksgiving deadline with no tangible evidence of a potential breakthrough on a debt plan, even after a handful of panel members met Thursday evening in hopes of salvaging the talks as time runs out.

Among those meeting was a core group of lawmakers, including Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., Max Baucus, D-Mont., Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.

The special deficit panel was established under this summer's budget and debt pact between President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio. It was given unusual powers in hopes of producing at least $1.2 trillion in deficit cuts over the coming decade for guaranteed votes in both House and Senate.

Familiar battles over tax increases and cuts to benefit programs continue to hang up the panel, with neither side optimistic about a deal.

"They've never really put paper on the table," Boehner said of Democrats. "It's very frustrating."

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a committee co-chair, countered.

"I believe that we have opened a door to negotiations in these last final hours that if they (Republicans) can come to an agreement on their side on revenue ... we'll be able to move forward," she told reporters.

Barring a compromise to reduce deficits by at least $1.2 trillion over a decade, automatic spending cuts of that amount are to begin taking effect in 2013. Lawmakers in both parties, especially defense hawks, say they want to avoid that.

Sen. Pat Toomey, a Pennsylvania Republican and panel member, said Friday that "we're interacting in a variety of ways to see if we can get something we can pull together. ... I think it's still possible. It's not going to be easy." Washington's lobbying community buzzed Thursday with rumors of a new Democratic offer that would appear to meet the panel's $1.2 trillion target after borrowing costs. But top officials denied that the offer, featuring $350 billion in tax increases over the coming decade and smaller cuts to benefits programs than earlier Democratic plans, had been proposed officially.

Meanwhile, Boehner warned that he won't permit savings from winding down the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to pay for President Barack Obama's jobs spending agenda.

Democrats on the deficit panel proposed last week using war savings to pay for a $300 billion jobs program along the lines Obama wants, plus take steps to protect the upper middle class from the alternative minimum tax and extend financing for doctors who treat Medicare patients.

"I've made it pretty clear that those savings that are coming to us as a result of the wind down of the war in Iraq and the war in Afghanistan should be banked, should not be used to offset other spending," Boehner said.

But the Ohio Republican did not address whether war savings could be used to extend expiring tax cuts such as popular business tax breaks or Obama's expensive proposal to renew payroll tax cuts that expire at the end of December.

Neither side appears to want to be the first to walk away from the bargaining table, particularly given the high hopes that committee members and top congressional leaders have expressed about the panel's prospects.

Toomey made his remarks in an interview Friday morning on CNN.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/politics/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111118/ap_on_go_co/us_debt_supercommittee

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Upscale Fla. town in fight over immigrant prison (AP)

SOUTHWEST RANCHES, Fla. ? In one of South Florida's upscale, rural enclaves, where peacocks roam and horse trails are as common as sidewalks, town leaders decided to bring in much of their money from an unusual business: a prison.

Only the leaders of Southwest Ranches kept their plans quiet from residents for almost a decade, and the project has now ballooned into what would be among the federal government's largest immigrant detention centers. The town would have to pay $150,000 each year to keep the prison, but officials say the town would turn a profit by getting 4 percent of what U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement pays the company operating the prison to hold inmates there.

Many residents finally caught wind of the idea this year, when the immigration agency announced a tentative deal, and they're angry. They've held protests at public meetings, contemplated whether to recall the mayor before his March election and whether to amend the town charter to make it easier to fire the city attorney pushing the deal.

The objection over the prison has created an odd set of allies among the town's affluent residents, many of whom are wary of illegal immigrants, and longtime activists who fight for immigrants, legal or not.

The proposed facility is part of the federal government's new plan to move immigrants from jails to detention centers it says are better for holding people with no criminal background. The centers are also supposed to be easier to reach for detainees' relatives and lawyers.

Plans are in the works for other facilities near San Antonio, Texas, and in Essex County, N.J. and Orange County, Calif. But none of those proposals has drawn the outrage seen in Southwest Ranches, the Fort Lauderdale suburb where telenovelas are filmed in the shaded ranches, and wealthy developers, Miami Dolphins football players and others seek privacy and a country lifestyle.

Diana Bramhall is one of 7,000 people living in the town. She trains horses and grows an array of exotic avocados at the Southwest Ranches home she has lived for 18 years. She hadn't heard of the prison plan until last year.

"I don't want my town built on the back of the detention of illegal immigrants," Bramhall said. "I think there are better ways to make money."

But according to Mayor Jeff Nelson and others involved at the time, the plan for some kind of prison run by Corrections Corporation of America, the nation's largest private prison operator, was always integral to Southwest Ranches' ability to survive.

Nelson believes the plan has been out in the open, and officials list more than two dozen public meetings over the last decade where it was discussed. But residents insist the town did little to notify them.

An announcement for a Nov. 5 meeting about the detention center with ICE, CCA and Southwest Ranches officials was listed on the town website only as an "information meeting."

When the town incorporated in 2000, leaders annexed a 24-acre parcel of nearby land, sandwiched between a small women's prison and a dump. CCA had purchased the land just three years before. It was a curious move. The land wasn't connected by a road to the rest of the town. Many residents never even drove by it.

The town first tried to build a 700-bed county jail. By 2005, Southwest Ranches and CCA settled on a detention facility. The proposal was part of a growing trend among private prison contractors to move away from state and local facilities to federal ones. ICE facilities alone now provide about 12 percent, or nearly $200 million of CCA's total annual revenue, according to company filings.

Southwest Ranches and CCA sent a draft plan to ICE for review in 2007, two years before the agency officially put out its latest call for new proposals, according to records obtained by The Associated Press through a public information request.

In the latest version of the deal, calling for some 1,500 beds, Southwest Ranches could earn more than $1.5 million annually if ICE keeps the center filled year round. CCA officials say the number is closer to $400,000, in part because many beds may not always be filled, with another $400,000 in real estate taxes.

The 13-square mile town, which prides itself on low taxes, needs the revenue, recently telling the federal government it was struggling to meet its $9 million budget.

"We'll get a commission on every bed, I get that," said Bramhall. "But it bothers me that for my city, (such a large section) is now going to be from a jail. It's not really a selling point."

Job creation has been a selling point for CCA, local and federal officials.

"Beyond the detention professionals, you're also looking at a number of other professions: medical professionals, training professionals, food services professionals, chaplains. It's like a small city unto itself," CCA spokesman Steve Owen said.

Yet nearly two-thirds of the estimated 300 permanent jobs would be for guards.

"No one is going to want a job there. These are half million homes. People here earn $100,000 plus," said Ryan Greenberg, whose home in the neighboring city of Pembroke Pines sits across the road from the proposed site ? closer than any home in Southwest Ranches itself.

At the Nov. 5 meeting with officials, residents echoed her sentiments. "We don't want your jobs!" they bellowed.

What they did want was to know why their own officials had been dodging them.

The CCA land wasn't included in maps published when the city was founded and the full city charter with the CCA lots isn't available on the city's website. It can only be found in the original resolution passed by state lawmakers in Tallahassee.

In January, days after the new year, town officials and CCA quietly sought to double the detention center space and expand to up to 2,200 beds with little public notice, eventually abandoning the plan following an outcry.

Southwest Ranches' City Attorney Keith Poliakoff urged officials in a June email to keep a "cone of silence" following ICE's announcement about the tentative deal.

"I have been fully advised by our DC contacts that we should remain fully quiet on this one and to let our DC Leaders help without sparking a fire that will make it more difficult for them to assist," wrote Poliakoff, also a partner in one of the state's most powerful lobbying firms.

Top Florida lawmakers in Washington like Democratic National Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Shultz and U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson have written letters to ICE in support of the detention center, though Wasserman-Shultz in recent weeks has also encouraged more communication with the residents. According to town and CCA emails, Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio asked to attend a D.C. meeting on the plan, but CCA demurred, saying it would bring too much attention. Rubio has not taken a position the proposal.

Meanwhile, neighboring officials from Pembroke Pines have publicly expressed outrage over the secretive process while quietly signing deals with the town not only promising not to interfere but also to provide water service and fire protection.

Residents say they are waiting to see the final deal. They have successfully fought off far smaller development efforts, including plans for streetlamps and a toddler playground. They once even tried to pay another town to construct affordable housing before the state relaxed its requirements.

The Florida Immigrant Coalition, which organized the initial opposition efforts, recently demanded ICE halt plans until an environmental review is done on the impact of the nearby Everglades.

The alliance between the residents and activists has not been without tension. At the meeting with ICE officials, an activist who broached the subject of detainee treatment in private prisons was roundly booed.

But Southwest Ranches resident Bill Di Scipio said those who advocate for immigrant rights and those in the community who want more people deported, are united on this one.

"In the opposition to the prison, both sides of the immigration debate are represented," he said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/us/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111119/ap_on_re_us/us_detention_town

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Unemployment claims drop again

Unemployment claims declined 5,000 to 388,000 "initial" from last week?s 393,000, while? ?continued? claims declined by 57,000 resulting in an ?insured? unemployment rate of 2.9 percent.

Today?s jobless claims report showed a decline to both initial and continued unemployment claims as a slight rising trend was firmly called into question for initial claims.

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'SoldAtTheTop' is not a pessimist by nature but a true skeptic and realist who prefers solid and sustained evidence of fundamental economic recovery to 'Goldilocks,' 'Green Shoots,' 'Mustard Seeds,' and wholesale speculation.

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Seasonally adjusted ?initial? unemployment declined 5,000 to 388,000 claims from last week?s revised 393,000 claims while seasonally adjusted ?continued? claims declined by 57,000 resulting in an ?insured? unemployment rate of 2.9%.

Since the middle of 2008 though, two federal government sponsored ?extended? unemployment benefit programs (the ?extended benefits? and ?EUC 2008? from recent legislation) have been picking up claimants that have fallen off of the traditional unemployment benefits rolls.

Currently there are some 3.45 million people receiving federal ?extended? unemployment benefits.

Taken together with the latest 3.21 million people that are currently counted as receiving traditional continued unemployment benefits, there are 6.67 million people on state and federal unemployment rolls.

The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse group of the best economy-related bloggers out there. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger, click here.To add or view a comment on a guest blog, please go to the blogger's own site by clicking on paper-money.blogspot.com.

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Is Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn 'genuinely brilliant'? (The Week)

New York ? Most critics are panning the latest Twilight flick. But some say the vampire melodrama is surprisingly good

Brace yourselves. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part One, the penultimate Twilight flick, is finally here. In the movie, which opens Friday, passive and pretty cipher Bella (Kristen Stewart) and hunky and heroic vampire Edward (Robert Pattinson) get hitched. Then, at long last, they consummate their relationship, leaving young Bella pregnant with a demon baby that rips her apart from the inside. As expected, the majority of critics are ripping the film just as impolitely. But one goes so far as to say that it's actually "genuinely brilliant." Really?

Yes... at least in parts: I assumed this movie would be unbearable, says Glenn Kenny at MSN.?But I "actually... rather enjoyed it."?The filmmaking is "witty and intelligent" ? particularly in a "ravishing dream sequence" early on. And it's nice to see Stewart standing up straight for once. Then there's the finale. It's "genuinely brilliant," closing with a "a final shot that's actually as awesome as it is predictable."
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1?Critics' Reviews"

Are you kidding? This "sexless, bloodless, padded, and plodding" film "is the worst Twilight movie to date," says Peter Travers at Rolling Stone. With "first-rate" director Bill Condon (Dreamgirls, Gods and Monsters) at the helm for the first time, I had higher hopes. But "Condon is helpless before the ravening banality" of the timid screenplay, and even the more talented actors (Taylor Lautner is not among them) "expire under the film's cheeseball cloud."
"The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn ? Part 1"

And the underlying message is disturbing: "Breaking Dawn is where the Twilight series goes straight-up cuckoopants," says Linda Holmes at NPR. Though the series has generally empowered young women, here it plummets to new, upsetting lows. The film depicts "the loss of virginity as a naturally violent, frightening, physically dangerous experience" and characterizes Bella as a "woman with no life at all outside of her literally all-consuming pregnancy." Given its pre-teen audience base, the film is "profoundly irresponsible": At one point, we see a heavily bruised Bella tell her lover that she understands he just can't control himself. This is "madness, of a particularly gruesome kind."
"Dawn breaks, and much baroque nonsense ensues"

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Shimano showcases the Ultegra Di2 electronic bike gears, we go for a ride

How much would you spend for an upgrade to smooth shifting on your next road bike? If $4,000 to $8,000 is in the ballpark, then a Shimano-powered electronic bike may be in your future. We took the cycling giant's latest gear for a spin in Central Park, drawing envious glances from various spandex-clad bikers during the ride. Outfitted with the company's newest Ultegra 6770 Di2 series of gears, the shifters gave us a taste of technology normally reserved for Tour de Francers -- at new, more affordable pricing. So what was it like to be the envy of cyclists everywhere? Jump past the break to find out.

Continue reading Shimano showcases the Ultegra Di2 electronic bike gears, we go for a ride

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Iran rejects Bahrain's claim of terror cell links (AP)

TEHRAN, Iran ? Iran rejects Bahrain's allegations that a terror cell uncovered in the tiny island nation has links to the Shiite powerhouse's Revolutionary Guard, an Iranian deputy foreign minister said.

Bahrain's public prosecutor on Sunday alleged the cell planned attacks against high profile sites, such as the Saudi Embassy in the Bahraini capital Manama and a Gulf causeway linking Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

The cell purportedly had contact with Iran's Guard, according to a Bahrain News Agency report, which gave no further details to back up the allegations.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Amir Abdollahian said the claims were "baseless and fabricated" and urged the Bahraini government to focus instead on repairing the "deep schism" between its ruling Sunni monarchy and Shiite majority.

Abdollahian spoke to the Arabic Language al-Alam channel late on Sunday.

"We reject such deceptive allegations," he said. "We believe it is necessity to deal peacefully and democratically with legitimate demands voiced over the past months by the Bahraini people."

Bahrain's Sunni leaders have repeatedly accused Iran of encouraging Shiite-led protests that erupted in February in the kingdom, a charge Iran denies.

The Bahraini claim followed recent U.S. accusations that an elite unit of the Revolutionary Guard ? which is closely tied to Iran's ruling clerics ? was involved in a foiled plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Iran has denied the American charges.

Bahrain's majority Shiites insist they have no political links to Iran. Bahrain's Sunni monarchy and its Gulf allies claim that Iran seeks to gain another foothold in the Arab world through unrest in the tiny strategic nation, which hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.

The unrest in Bahrain has killed more than 35 people since it began nearly nine months ago, inspired by Arab uprisings elsewhere. Protesters say they are seeking greater rights and an end to the Sunni dynasty's hold on top political decisions. Bahrain's rulers have offered some compromises, such as expanding the powers of parliament, but not enough to satisfy the opposition.

The Iran-Bahrain tensions are not limited to politics.

On Saturday, Iran summoned Bahrain's envoy to Tehran to protest what it called mistreatment of Iranian football players and supporters following a 2014 World Cup qualifier in Manama.

Iran's official IRNA agency said security forces failed to confront some Bahraini supporters who threw water bottles and other objects at the Iranian players and supporters.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/iran/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111114/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_terror_cell

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Conscientious Guys Wow Women on the Dance Floor (LiveScience.com)

Men who hit the dance floor may be revealing more than their ability to cut a rug, according to a new study that finds women judge men with conscientious and agreeable personalities as better dancers.

The study builds on previous research that found women judge the dance movements of stronger men as more attractive and more assertive, and that risk-taking men also get pegged as better dancers. The new research suggests that the information conveyed by dance is even broader, according to study researcher Bernard Fink, of the University of G?ttingen, in Germany.

"We argue that personality is ? to some extent ? signaled via body movement (dance in particular, as it is the most complex body movement)," Fink wrote in an email to LiveScience. "If that were true, it would explain why dance is such a prominent topic in almost all human societies."

Personality and dance

Fink and his colleagues had previously found that ladies love certain dudely dance moves, including fast right-knee movements and a variation of movements in the neck and the torso. Their studies use motion-capture technology much like that used in computer-animated movies to record men's dance moves and transfer them onto featureless avatars. That technique ensures that the women watching the dance moves won't be distracted by the guys' attractiveness or other features.

The findings that women seem able to pick up on factors like strength and risk-taking ?from watching just a few seconds of dance moves prompted the researchers to look at other personality traits. They focused on the "Big Five" traits, five basic attributes that describe the spectrum of human personality.

Those traits are openness (a willingness to explore new things), conscientiousness (a tendency toward self-discipline), extroversion (social exuberance), agreeableness (compassion and care for others) and neuroticism (a tendency to experience negative emotions).

The researchers asked 48 men between the ages of 18 and 42 to fill out personality questionnaires that would show where they fell on the spectrum of each trait. Then the men danced to the drumbeat of Robbie Williams' 1997 song "Let Me Entertain You." The music and lyrics were cut out, to prevent the men's love or hatred of the song from influencing their enthusiasm to dance.?

"Dancing in front of cameras is not easy for many people, and some 'support' from a drumbeat usually helps them in the laboratory setting," Fink said.

Agreeable dancers

Next, 53 women between the ages of 17 and 57 watched 15-second clips of the men's dance moves transposed onto a computer-generated avatar. Each woman judged each man's dancing ability on a scale of 1 to 7.

The results revealed that the more conscientious and socially agreeable a man's personality, the more likely women were to view him as a good dancer.

The researchers also found patterns suggesting that extroverts might be better dancers, while people who scored high in neuroticism or openness were seen as worse on the dance floor. But those patterns were not statistically significant, meaning they could have been the result of chance.

Fink says he believes a larger study sample would provide the statistical oomph needed to prove that those nonsignificant traits are linked to a guy's ability to break it down. But put together with old findings, he said, the new study suggests that women are sensitive to discerning personality traits that would be important for both short-term and long-term relationships.

"The significant correlations of conscientiousness and social agreeableness suggest that dance movements signal particularly aspects of 'long-term' partner qualities," Fink said.

Likewise, he said, the earlier study on risk-taking suggests that women are impressed by the dancing of men who are bold sensation-seekers ? maybe not the guy you can trust to stick around and help you raise a baby, but one who would likely contribute a healthy set of genes to his offspring.

No faking it

Of course, the research hasn't yet established how, if at all, women use judgments of dance quality to decide whether to pursue a potential mate. Future studies will need to ask women to watch men's dance moves and then decide whether the guy would make a good long- or short-term partner, Fink said. He and his colleagues are also interested in turning the tables to find out what sort of information female dance moves might communicate.

As for whether you can tune your dance moves to look more consciousness and agreeable, it turns out that Shakira was right: Hips don't lie.

"If one would like to 'fake' a certain (positive) personality in order to attract women, this is probably doomed to fail," Fink said. "An individual's body movement pattern is characteristic and any attempt to fake it would result in less positive judgments of that person."

The research is set to appear in an upcoming issue of the journal Personality and Individual Differences.

You can follow LiveScience?senior writer Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience?and on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/science/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20111114/sc_livescience/conscientiousguyswowwomenonthedancefloor

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