Italy's Monti faces pressure to run in election

ROME (Reuters) - Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti faced increasing pressure on Thursday to stand as a candidate in next year's election after Silvio Berlusconi's surprise offer to drop his bid for a fifth term as premier.

At a meeting of the European People's Party in Brussels, an umbrella group of centre-right parties, Berlusconi repeated the offer to stand aside if Monti agreed to run against the centre-left, who are tipped to win the election.

Monti's attendance at the meeting alongside Berlusconi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel came as a surprise to many as he was not on the guest list or agenda.

Monti was brought in a year ago to head a technocrat government to save Italy from financial crisis, but opinion polls suggest he would have little chance of winning an election if he were to run as a candidate.

He would also face many hurdles within the center-right, which is highly fragmented and includes his most entrenched critic, the Northern League.

"There were a lot of expressions of support for a Monti candidacy," a member of the European parliament told Reuters. "But Monti didn't resolve the dilemma."

Berlusconi center-right People of Freedom (PD) party withdrew support from Mont's government in parliament last week, prompting him to resign.

On Saturday, Berlusconi declared he would lead the PD into an election expected early next year.

With memories fresh of the financial crisis which prompted the end of Berlusconi government last year, his mooted return to frontline politics alarmed Italy's European partners and rattled financial markets.

The media magnate's call for Monti to stand has aroused skepticism in Italy because it came only two days after he had blamed Italy's deep recession on austerity policies he said had been dictated to Monti by Germany and the European Central Bank.

Opinion polls suggest Berlusconi has no real chance of winning the election, and markets have calmed. In an auction of three-year bonds on Thursday the Treasury paid the lowest borrowing costs since late 2010.

Monti is widely credited with restoring Italy's international credibility after the scandal-plagued Berlusconi era and he has given no clear indication of his intentions.

He has said only that he would like to continue playing a role in influencing ideas.

Asked about Berlusconi's offer ahead of a European Union summit in Brussels, Monti said it was neither the time nor place to respond. He said he was committed to leading the government in the brief time remaining before the 2013 budget is approved and he resigns - probably before Christmas.

BERATING SEEN WINNING

Berlusconi latest volte-face increases the likelihood that he will pull out of the election. He has been struggling to hold his People of Freedom party (PD) together.

Opinion polls, meanwhile, show a commanding lead for the center-left Democratic Party and its leader Pier Luigi Bersani, said Roberto D'Alimonte, a politics professor at Rome's Luis university and an expert on electoral systems.

"The only certainty about the upcoming election is that Bersani is going to win hands down," D'Alimonte said.

Bersani has supported the technocrat government in parliament but has been cool on the idea of Monti running at the election, saying to do so would put at risk his position as a universally respected independent.

It could also prevent Monti from becoming president of the Republic, a position which would give him considerable influence over the government and the political scene in general.

On Thursday, Bersani repeated that he expected the former European Commissioner to continue playing some role when his term in office ends.

"The day after the elections, the first person who I would like to have a conversation with is Monti," Bersani said.

Ferrari's chairman, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, whose recently formed centrist group has been regarded as a potential vehicle for a Monti candidacy, said on Thursday he hoped he would throw his hat into the ring.

"I'm optimistic. I think Monti is the first to realize how much there is left to do," he told RAI state television.

Berlusconi's hopes have faded of securing an alliance with the regionalist Northern League party that could have given him a strong position in the Senate.

(Additional reporting By Luke Baker in Brussels; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Myra MacDonald)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/italys-monti-faces-pressure-run-election-001537029--sector.html

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Video: Obama: Rice did 'an outstanding job'

>> for more on what went on behind the scenes of this decision we want to turn to our chief foreign affairs columnist andrea mitchell in the washington newsroom. andrea, what happened here?

>> this is so dramatic, and the personal relationship is part of it. the president is going to see susan rice at the white house tomorrow. susan rice 's many defenders, brian, are trying to figure out how republicans managed to deny the president his top choice for secretary of state without benefit of a nomination or hearing. tonight the president said she was qualified for the job. susan rice was a loyal team player for barack obama . late today he spoke to our sacramento affiliate kcra.

>> she's done an outstanding job. i could not be prouder with her. she will continue to be one of the top members of my national security team.

>> rice's trouble began with the sunday show appearances in september on benghazi. what looked like a job audition to become secretary of state.

>> what happened in benghazi was, in fact, initially a spontaneous reaction to what happened moments before in cairo.

>> her comments were based on cia talking points that proved wrong. it was a terror attack , not a protest. republicans accused rice of twisting the facts to play politics. the president dramatically defended her.

>> if senator mccain and senator graham and others want to go after somebody, they should go after me.

>> but rice was in limbo, not officially nominated but buried under an avalanche of leaks.

>> i relied solely and squarely on the information provided to me by the intelligence community . i made clear that the information was preliminary.

>> rice's request to meet with the republican critics backfired horribly.

>> bottom line, i'm more disturbed now than i was before.

>> we are significantly troubled by many of the answers that we got and some that we didn't get.

>> for john mccain many say it was personal. rooiz rice his iraq policy during the 2008 campaign. but the crushing blow came from a republican senator, a woman rice counted on as an ally.

>> the u.n. ambassador decided to play what was essentially a political role at the height of the contentious presidential election.

>> in public the president signaled rice should tough it out.

>> susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job that she's done.

>> hillary clinton also defended her.

>> susan rice has done a great job as our u.n. ambassador.

>> but republicans didn't back off. that makes john kerry , the foreign relations chairman, who has undertaken tough secret missions for the president the logical next choice to be secretary of state.

>> i'm just going to continue to do my work. tonight john kerry issued a statement saying as someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands how difficult politics can be, i felt for her throughout the last difficult weeks. but he added, i know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction. brian?

>> andrea mitchell in the d.c. newsroom. andrea, thanks. let's get

Source: http://video.msnbc.msn.com/nightly-news/50192475/

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Cops: Dad carves pentagram into son's back

By Frank Heinz, NBCDFW.com

A father has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault after telling a 911 operator he carved a pentagram into his 6-year-old son's back.

Just after midnight Wednesday, officers were dispatched to a home in Richland Hills, Texas, after the boy's father, identified by police as Brent Troy Bartel, called 911 and said: "I shed some innocent blood."

When the dispatcher asked what the man meant by that, the man replied: ?I inscribed a pentagram on my son.?

The dispatcher asked why, and the man said: "It's a holy day."

At the same time, the child's mother called 911 from a neighbor's home and said her husband was hurting their child.

More stories from NBCDFW.com

Officers arrived at the home and found the child cold, standing in only pajama pants with a large pentagram carved into his back. The carving covered most of the boy's back, police said.

Officers wrapped the boy in a jacket and turned him over to paramedics.? The child was transported to Cooks Children's Hospital for treatment.? Child Protective Services and a crime victim liaison were working with the boy and his mother.

Police said Wednesday afternoon that the carving wasn't deep enough to require stitches and that the child is expected to physically recover.

At the scene, officers also recovered a box cutter they believe Bartel used to make the carving.

Bartel was arrested and charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon-family member. He was being held early Thursday on $500,000 bond.

The father's call to 911 was placed at 12:10 a.m., just minutes after the day 12-12-12 began.

It is not clear what Bartel meant by calling Wednesday "a holy day."

However, Catholics celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. The Dec. 12, 2012, date, along with Dec. 21, 2012, have drawn attention from numerologists and those concerned with doomsday prophecy.

On Wednesday, it's reported more than 9,000 couples will tie the knot and hospitals have seen a surge in scheduled Cesarean sections. NBC's Andrea Canning reports.

NBC 5's Lindsay Wilcox contributed to this report.

Source: http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/12/13/15877886-cops-dad-carves-pentagram-into-sons-back-on-12-12-12?lite

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2013 dubbed ?the year of mobile malware? for Android users

Columbia Pictures has released the first trailer for Another Earth, the Will Smith/Jaden Smith sci-fi thriller directed by M. Night Shyamalan. So... doesn't that sound great? M. Night Shyamalan hasn't made a bad movie since his last movie, and everyone loves Jaden Smith, what with his great rap songs and all. Will Smith is in it, but he doesn't do the bulk of the adventuring, as his character is stuck injured in a spaceship most of the time. So it's mostly Jaden Smith running around a world of M. Night Shyamalan's making. ...

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/2013-dubbed-mobile-malware-android-users-205131167.html

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TechCrunch Makers Episode One: Inside Brooklyn?s Makerbot With Bre Pettis

It's been months in the making, but here it is: the first episode of TechCrunch Makers, featuring Bre Pettis of Makerbot. We visited Bre's downtown Brooklyn factory where he and the rest of team design, build, and ship hundreds of Makerbots a week.

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

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Pope convenes cardinals over leak scandal in bid to restore 'serenity and trust' in church

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI convened a special meeting of cardinals Saturday for advice on how to deal with the Vatican's leaked documents scandal ? another sign of the damage the leaks have done to trust in the Holy See's governance.

Benedict was already scheduled to attend a regular meeting of the heads of Vatican offices Saturday morning. The Vatican press office said he added a second meeting later in the day with other cardinals in a bid to try to "restore a climate of serenity and trust" in the church.

The Vatican said over the coming days he will meet with still more cardinals gathering in Rome for a church feast day on Friday to "continue the dialogue with the people who share the responsibility of the church's governance with him."

The Vatican has been scrambling to contain the damage after the leak of hundreds of Vatican documents exposed corruption, political infighting and power struggles at the highest level of the Catholic Church. The pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele, is under arrest at the Vatican, accused of aggravated theft after the pope's own documents were found in his Vatican City apartment.

One Holy See investigation into the links is a criminal one headed by Vatican gendarmes; there is also an internal probe led by a commission of three cardinals tasked with getting to the bottom of the scandal.

Last weekend Benedict met with the cardinal's commission to learn details of some of the two dozen people they have questioned.

The meetings Saturday were another indication of the seriousness with which he has taken the scandal and the damage it has done to the trust that is supposed to form the basis of the Vatican's governance.

In its statement, the Vatican said the regularly scheduled meeting with department heads aimed at coordinating the Vatican's work was "today particularly important and urgent to show efficient witness to the union of spirit that animates the Curia."

The second meeting Saturday includes Vatican cardinals, and the archbishops of Sydney and the retired vicar of Rome ? two longtime papal advisers.

Benedict also moved to beef up a panel of cardinals tasked with scrutinizing the `'organizational and economic problems of the Holy See," the Vatican said. He appointed to the panel three cardinals: Polycarp Pengo, an archbishop from Tanzania, in Africa; and two Asians, Telesphore Toppo, from India, and John Tong Hong, the Hong Kong prelate who was elevated to the rank of cardinal earlier this year by the pontiff.

All three are involved with the Holy See office that bankrolls missionary work abroad. Two years ago, Italian prosecutors began probing real estate transactions and other dealings of Naples' cardinal, an Italian prelate who formerly headed that office. The Italian authorities have been looking into an alleged web of kickbacks and favors, including purported sexual ones, involving businessmen, church hierarchy and public officials.

Toppo also serves on a cardinals' watchdog committee for the activities of the Vatican bank.

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iOS 6 announcement confirmed by conference center banner

20 hrs.

Rosa Golijan

Apple's?annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC)?kicks off Monday?with a keynote presentation?and ??based ?on some conference center decorations?? it looks like the event will include an announcement related to iOS 6.

The folks at Macstories have been keeping a close eye on the preparations being made at the venue in which WWDC will be taking place. As a result, they've spotted some new banners which refer to iOS 6 as "[t]he world's most advanced mobile operating system."

It's not particularly surprising that Apple will be discussing the next generation of?its mobile operating system during WWDC as the event is a global crossroads for Mac and iOS developers, and generally focuses on software.

On top of that,?OS X Mountain Lion, the latest version of Apple's desktop operating system, is due to hit virtual shelves this summer???and?an iOS update would complement it perfectly.

If you're curious about what iOS 6 might bring, check out our rundown of the most significant rumors about this latest version of Apple's mobile operating system.

Want more tech news, silly puns, or amusing links? You'll get plenty of all three if you keep up with Rosa Golijan, the writer of this post, by following her on?Twitter, subscribing to her?Facebook?posts,?or circling her?on?Google+.

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