While most celebrity mamas are hailed for returning to their pre-pregnancy size within weeks of their births, actress Jenna Fischer admits she's having trouble losing the baby weight.
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MANAMA, Bahrain ? The U.S. State Department says it is moving American Embassy employees to safer locations in Bahrain after ongoing political unrest elevated security worries in the strategic Gulf kingdom.
The statement issued late Monday says frequent clashes along a main highway in Manama have forced people to remain indoors and have disrupted travel. It says embassy staff and their families are being shifted to other neighborhoods to avoid the violence, which often includes tear gas and stun grenades from security forces.
Bahrain's majority Shiites began an uprising nearly a year ago to demand greater rights from the Western-allied Sunni monarchy.
Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet.
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MUNICH/PARIS (Reuters) ? The European Union will propose tough new rules in the coming days on how corporations handle Internet users' personal data, a long-awaited move that could have far-reaching implications for Web giants such as Google Inc and Facebook.
Viviane Reding, vice president of the European Commission, said in a speech on Sunday that the new data-protection legislation was needed to protect users and cut red tape for businesses in Europe.
"Only if consumers trust that their data is protected will they entrust companies with it ... We need individuals to be in control of their information," Reding said at the DLD conference of tech industry leaders in Munich.
But Reding also emphasized a need to simplify Europe's approach to online data protection, arguing that the current system was too cumbersome and costly for business.
"In Europe we have too many rules, conflicting rules," she said. "The extra cost to business of this fragmentation is 2.3 billion euros ($3 billion) a year."
Europe's new data-protection rules are expected to be issued on January 25.
The EU regulation will need to be approved by national governments, some of which, such as France and Germany, may resist seeing their oversight on privacy matters shift to Brussels.
The legislative process is likely to take at least two years, so the rules could still change considerably. Internet companies will not be required to comply before 2014 or 2015.
The new rules come amid widespread change in how people use the Internet. Social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn have attracted nearly a billion users, while so-called cloud computing services, which allow businesses and people to stock data on distant servers and access it anywhere, are going mainstream.
The questions of who owns such data, to what end companies can use it and for how long remain major issues of debate among Internet firms, governments and consumers.
Facebook, the world's largest social network, has been investigated by U.S. and European regulators for its treatment of user data and privacy policies. In November, it signed a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission that will subject it to 20 years of independent audits, and it recently signed an accord with Ireland's privacy regulator on how it treats international users' data.
There has also been a series of high-profile breaches such as one at Sony Corp's online videogame network last year in which hackers stole the data of some 77 million users.
NEW POWERS
According to a draft obtained by Reuters, the EU proposals would bolster significantly regulators' powers on fighting data-protection breaches, requiring companies to notify regulators when data has been stolen or mishandled.
The proposals also give member states new powers to fine companies up to 1 percent of their global revenues for violating EU data rules. The Financial Times reported in December that the rules would allow for fines up to 5 percent of global revenues, so the EU may have reconsidered its approach since then.
The proposals grant broad, new rights to individuals, including a so-called "right to be forgotten" that would allow people to request that their information be erased and not disseminated online.
The rules also create a "right to data portability" to ensure that people can easily transfer their personal information between different companies or services.
Such rules could force social networks to change the way they handle users' data.
In written comments submitted to the EU last year, Facebook expressed concerns that the EU's approach in some areas was too proscriptive for the fast-changing world of the Internet and urged caution on proposals for stiffer sanctions.
"There is a risk that an excessively litigious environment would impede the development of innovative services that can bring real benefit to European citizens," the company wrote.
Participants at the DLD conference were also divided about coming EU changes.
Stefan Gross-Selbeck, CEO of Germany's professional social network Xing, said his company was still subject to harsher rules than its U.S. counterparts.
"I appreciate the EU commitment to create a level playing field in Europe ... But the regulation that Facebook's founder Mark Zuckerberg is subject to is nothing compared to what I'm subject to."
Chris Poole, founder of the online community 4chan that is a haven for hackers, welcomed the prospect of even tougher enforcement on companies that mishandle users' data.
"I would love to see some regulation that would hold Sony responsible," he said, referring to the PlayStation data breach last year. "They deserve to be punished." ($1 = 0.7740 euros)
(Additional reporting by Claire Davenport and Justnya Pawlak in Brussels; Editing by Dale Hudson)
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WASHINGTON ? Emboldened by his victory in South Carolina's Republican primary, Newt Gingrich said Sunday his hardline conservative views and confrontational style will be needed by Republicans this fall to fight President Barack Obama's "billion-dollar war chest" and take back the White House.
In several televised interviews, the former House speaker said rival Mitt Romney was a moderate who left GOP voters cold and that only he, Gingrich, could go "toe to toe" with Obama.
"I think in South Carolina it began to become really clear that if you want to beat Barack Obama, then Newt Gingrich is the only person who has the background, the experience and the ability to get on the stage and drive home a conservative message with authenticity," he said.
Gingrich's win in South Carolina has helped invigorate his once struggling campaign and cast fresh doubt on Romney's ability to easily cinch the Republican nomination.
Returns from 95 percent of the state's precincts showed Gingrich with 41 percent of the vote to 27 percent for Romney. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was winning 17 percent, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul 13 percent.
Next stop is Florida, where Gingrich and Romney will compete with Santorum in the Jan. 31 primary. Paul has said he was bypassing the state in favor of smaller subsequent caucuses.
Romney and his supporters are dismissing Gingrich's win in South Carolina and say his nomination would be a disaster for the Republican Party, citing his rocky tenure leading House Republicans in the 1990s and allegations of ethics violations.
"I think Newt Gingrich has embarrassed the party, over time," said New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. "Whether he will do it again in the future, I don't know. But Gov. Romney never has."
Christie, who has endorsed Romney's nomination, said he would "listen" if Romney were to ask him to be his running mate this fall. But, he added, he expects to remain in his current position as governor.
Gingrich says his views on lower taxes, less government regulation and foreign policy put him in stark contrast to Obama and that the dynamics of a Gingrich-Obama fight are much more alluring to voters.
"I think Gov. Romney's core problem was that he governs (as) a Massachusetts moderate, which by the standards of Republican primary voters is a liberal. And he can't relax and be candid," he said.
Gingrich spoke on CNN's "State of the Union," NBC's "Meet the Press" and CBS "Face the Nation." Christie spoke on NBC's "Meet the Press."
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Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich pulled off a convincing win in the South Carolina primary on Saturday. Gingrich received 40.4 percent of the votes, and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney got 27.8 percent, as reported by the New York Times. The primary leaves some interesting takeaways to ponder, including factors that influenced Gingrich's victory.
* South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Romney early, but it apparently didn't have an impact, for she's losing popularity, too, according to Politico.
* Even though the southern state suffered through heavy precipitation Saturday, The State reported around 600,000 voters turned out, which bested the turnouts for 2008 and 2000. In total, South Carolina has about 3 million registered voters.
* CNSNews.com reported a Public Policy Polling survey and it showed Gingrich had a 54 percent favorable rating among likely GOP primary voters compared to a 37 percent unfavorable rating. Gingrich's attacks on the media seem to jell with the voters there, too, for only 14 percent of these people favor the media, compared to 77 percent who don't.
* The Detroit Free Press cited McClatchy-Tribune's reporting that super PAC and GOP presidential hopefuls' ad spending in "The Palmetto State" totaled some $12 million.
* According to CBS News exit polling, 64 percent of voters said the debates (with Gingrich getting standing ovations the previous two spectacles), influenced their vote, as opposed to 34 percent who didn't, according to CBS News' Political Hotsheet.
* According to the New York Times, Romney only won three counties, including the counties where the cities of Charleston and Columbia are. Gingrich won all the other counties.
* FoxNews.com reported one notable state endorsement Gingrich got came from the Rev. Bill Monroe, a highly esteemed religious leader, which helped the former House speaker win the evangelical vote easily per Fox News exit polls.
* The Associated Press reported early Sunday that Gingrich will take at least 23 of the state's 25 delegates, while Romney is the only candidate who has any chance of getting the other two delegates. Final results are expected to take at least a week to be completed.
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TOKYO (Reuters) ? Japanese manufacturers are bracing for a possible breakup of the euro zone, according to a Reuters poll released on Monday, with 65 percent saying they see a need to prepare for the currency block's partial or complete collapse.
Europe's two-year old sovereign debt crisis, which has left Greece teetering on the edge of default, has taken a heavy toll on Japanese corporate sentiment as exporters struggle with a strong yen and slower growth in China.
When manufacturers were asked if they are considering changing business plans in Europe, 31 percent of those responding said they are in the process of doing so or have already made changes. Of those firms, 90 percent said they could scale back operations or have already done so.
Many manufacturers were also looking to shrink operations in China and North America in favor of expanding in other Asian countries to tap demand for their goods, the survey showed.
Euro zone finance ministers will decide on Monday what terms of a Greek debt restructuring they are ready to accept as part of a second bailout package for Athens after negotiators for private creditors said they could not improve their offer.
Resolving the issue of a Greek debt swap is key to putting Athens' debt on a sustainable path and avoiding a chaotic default that could threaten the whole currency bloc.
The poll, taken January 5-17, surveyed 400 big firms, of which 247 responded. The questions were part of the Reuters tankan for January, which was published on Friday.
The tankan, which is closely correlated with the Bank of Japan's quarterly tankan survey of business sentiment, showed manufacturers remained pessimistic about business conditions for the second straight month in January.
Manufacturers showed concern about China's growth prospects, with 50 percent saying they could change their business strategy as China's red-hot growth cools. Of those firms, 65 percent say they could shrink operations.
China's economy is expanding at its weakest pace in 2-1/2 years, with sequentially softer annual growth in the last four quarters seen spilling over into the first three months of 2012, leading many analysts to expect the worst full-year growth in a decade.
The poll suggested half of Japanese manufacturers are taking another look at Asian markets excluding China, and 52 percent of those firm want to expand in an attempt to reduce dependence on the Chinese market.
Only 24 percent of manufacturers were considering changing their North American strategy, but 61 percent of those firms said they are likely to scale back.
Manufacturers were pessimistic on the Japanese market. One in three are reconsidering domestic business plans. Of those, 78 percent said they are likely to shrink operations.
Non-manufacturers, which include construction firms and retailers, were more positive on the domestic economy as they are likely to benefit from reconstruction following last year's record earthquake and the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
The survey showed that 75 percent of non-manufacturers are looking to change their domestic strategy, with 60 percent of those firms leaning toward expansion.
When manufacturers and non-manufacturers are combined, almost 70 percent say the global economy is the biggest risk to their outlook, followed by 57 percent who said they are worried about the rising yen.
(Reporting by Izumi Nakagawa; Writing by Stanley White; Editing by Michael Watson)
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MELBOURNE, Australia ? Serena Williams was so dominant in her 6-1, 6-1 third-round win over Greta Arn at the Australian Open that there's probably only one shot she'll remember more than most.
At 5-0 and a point from winning the first set, Williams lined up in the ideal position for an overhead but then completely shanked it, spraying the ball wide. She screamed and put a hand over her face.
"It was an awkward smash. Then she missed one and I felt a little better," Williams said. "I felt like, 'Am I losing my mind out here?' Everyone sometimes hits a shot that's a little bit insane ? you just got to allow yourself to get over it."
The 92nd-ranked Arn saved another set point before holding serve for the first time. Williams responded by winning the next five games before Arn held again. The match ended in 59 minutes Saturday, on consecutive double-faults by the Hungarian.
"I'm nowhere near where I want to be," said Williams, who has won her last 17 matches at Melbourne Park. "I'm just trying to play through it. A little rusty ? just trying to play through my rust."
Williams has won the Australian Open five times, including back-to-back titles in 2009 and 2010. She didn't get to defend her title last year due to injury.
She badly sprained her left ankle in a warmup tournament at Brisbane two weeks ago, casting doubt again on her participation at Melbourne, but the 13-time major winner has shown no signs of being restricted in her first three matches ? she has only conceded 11 games.
Next up she faces Ekaterina Makarova, who beat fellow Russian and seventh-seeded Vera Zvonareva earlier Saturday.
Williams is the only American left in the singles at the Australian Open after Vania King lost earlier to former French Open winner Ana Ivanovic ? the last U.S. man exited the tournament Friday when John Isner lost in five sets to Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
"I'm definitely going to keep representing the flag and doing the best I can," Williams said.
Novak Djokovic won the last Australian title at the beginning of a 41-match unbeaten run and finished 2011 with the No. 1-ranking after winning three of the four major titles. He next plays two-time Grand Slam winner Lleyton Hewitt, who reached the round of 16 in his 16th Australian Open after beating No. 23-seeded Milos Raonic of Canada 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3 on his third match point in the night match.
Against a Frenchman with a reputation for playing long matches, Djokovic wasn't exactly generous with his time.
Djokovic ensured Nicolas Mahut had a 30th birthday he won't quickly forget, routing him 6-0, 6-1, 6-1 in 1 hour, 14 minutes. Mahut lost the longest match in Grand Slam history over 11 hours, 5 minutes against Isner at Wimbledon in 2010.
Mahut was slowed by a left leg injury, but continued the match because the previous matches on Rod Laver Arena were over so quickly.
Djokovic commended him: "I wish him happy birthday and hopefully tonight he can enjoy it."
Djokovic has won 24 straight sets at the Australian Open, and has lost 10 games in his first three matches this time.
"I always played well in Australia. This is the only Grand Slam I won twice," he said. "The conditions are great. They're very suitable to my style of the game, day and night. I'm really looking forward to next week."
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost the 2008 final here to Djokovic, beat Frederico Gil of Portugal 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
Like Djokovic, No. 4-ranked Andy Murray was also up against a French opponent and had no trouble advancing in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, 6-0 over Michael Llodra.
In all six Frenchmen reached the third round, but only two of them advanced. Tsonga wasted hardly any time becoming the first of them to move into the round of 16 and will next play Kei Nishikori of Japan.
Nishikori became the first Japanese man to reach the fourth round in Melbourne in the Open era with a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-3 win over unseeded Frenchman Julien Benneteau.
Richard Gasquet, the fourth highest-ranked Frenchman at No. 18, knocked out ninth-seeded Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-3, 6-1. He will play fifth-seeded David Ferrer, who lost the first four games against Juan Ignacio Chela before recovering to win 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.
In the biggest upset of the day, No. 92-ranked Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan held off an ailing Gael Monfils, seeded 14th, 6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 1-6, 6-4.
On the women's side, two Wimbledon winners ? Petra Kvitova and Maria Sharapova ? advanced, but two top 10 players were among the five seeded players who who went out.
Zvonareva was beaten 7-6 (7), 6-1 by Makarova and No. 9 Marion Bartoli lost 6-3, 6-3 to Zheng Jie of China, a former Australian Open semifinalist.
Fourth-seeded Sharapova routed Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-2 to continue her fantastic start to the tournament. The 2008 Australian champion has only dropped five games in three rounds and next plays No. 14 Sabine Lisicki, who beat two-time major winner Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Sharapova and Petra Kvitova are among the four women who can claim the No. 1 ranking at the end of the tournament. They could play each other in the semifinals, although Kvitova insisted she hasn't looked that far ahead.
"I don't know who lost and who win," the Wimbledon champion said. "No, really, for me doesn't care."
Kvitova reached the round of 16 when Maria Kirilenko retired with a left thigh injury while trailing 6-0, 1-0 after 38 minutes.
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18 U.S. Senators withdraw support of the controversial bill, but the fight isn't over
Yesterday's?internet blackout may have had some success changing minds and winning hearts in the nation's capital. In the?last 24 hours, a total of 18 U.S. senators have publicly withdrawn support of the controversial?Protect IP Act, better known as PIPA.
Though on the internet the issue has largely been bi-partisan, the recent withdrawl of support has largely come from Republicans. Many of the defections have been high-profile, including former PIPA co-sponsors?Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-NH),?Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL),?Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO),?Sen. John Boozman (R-AR),Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT),?Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), and?Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).
According to an informal?head count at opencongress.org, 33 senators currently stand in support of the bill, while 36 remain opposed. A total of 51 votes are needed to defeat this bill for sure; though the bill could be killed with as few as 40 votes if Senate Republicans decide to mount a filibuster. The PIPA legislation is still slated for a vote on January 24.
House Majority Leader Eric?Cantor announced Monday that PIPA's sister bill,?SOPA, would not be coming to a vote in the House after the?White House announced its opposition.
[Image credit:?laslzo-photo]
(Source)
This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Tecca
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There are 10 months to go before election day, and the Obama re-election campaign has already begun running a self-congratulatory TV ad.
The 30-second ad, titled ?Unprecedented,? frames President Barack Obama as a leader who kept his 2008 campaign promises to subsidize the green-tech energy industry.
?President Obama has taken steps to make us energy independent and create an economy that?s built to last,? the Obama campaign said on the Web page where the ad is hosted. It is already running in several swing-states, including Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The campaign website began promoting the new ad on the same day Obama announced he would continue to freeze plans to build the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to the United States.
GOP leaders slammed Obama for that decision, saying he wiped out 20,000 construction jobs.
Watch the new Obama re-election ad:
Researchers at the Republican National Committee quickly countered Obama?s new ad, declaring in an email blast that ?Obama?s first campaign ad [is] a lot like his term so far ? a whole lot of talk to thwart attention from Obama?s failed record.?
The first Obama re-election ad came out in late November, and simply showed the president appealing for more campaign volunteers.
The new ad is partly intended to shield Obama from criticism about his energy policies, which have curbed opportunities for oil companies, nudged up gas prices and heavily subsidized risky green-tech companies, including the failed Solyndra solar-tech company.
That purpose is highlighted in the ad?s first few words, which claims ?secretive oil billionaires are attacking President Obama with ads fact-checkers say are not tethered to the facts.?
Those ?secretive oil billionaires,? according to the campaign?s website, are David and Charles Koch ? a pair of libertarian?brothers who run an huge oil-services company and openly declare their opposition to Obama?s energy policies.
On Jan. 18, as Obama?s ad was released, the brothers? main political arm, Americans For Prosperity, rolled out its own seven-day campaign.
The campaign is intended to highlight Obama?s ?worst offenses to the principles of limited government and free market enterprise? during the week prior to Obama?s 2012 State of the Union speech, according to a statement from the group.
?President Obama seems to have ?conveniently forgotten? that he has been president for the past three years, and refuses to take responsibility for the economic woes, regulatory burdens, and skyrocketing national debt we face as a nation,? said Americans For Prosperity president Tom Phillips.
Obama?s new TV ad suggests the president should get credit for 2.7 million ?green tech jobs? that the center-left Brookings Institute has?claimed exist in the United States.
Most of these jobs, however, existed prior to 2008, and many are only tangentially linked to low-pollution technology. Using the same study cited by Obama?s TV new ad, the Republicans??response showed that the total number of all green-tech jobs only grew 3.4 percent between 2007 and 2010.
The Obama ad also touts a reduction in the nation?s energy imports. ?For the first time in thirteen years,? it claims, ?our dependence on foreign oil is below fifty percent.?
But that decline was a natural outgrowth of the nation?s economic recession, which has curbed energy consumption.
The increased production was spurred by President George W. Bush, and by the private sector ? where natural gas companies have delivered increased volumes of gas from U.S. gas fields ? rather than by Obama?s policies, according to the GOP response.
Obama re-election ad targets Koch brothers, touts 'green tech' jobs TheDC top ten: Juicy bits in the Romney opposition-research file Likely Giffords challenger: 'We need someone up there to fight for us' Tea party activists coalescing behind Newt in South Carolina SC treasurer on Romney endorsement: 'There were some problems'
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OAKLAND, Calif. ? A person with knowledge of the negotiations says the Oakland Athletics and Jonny Gomes are working to finalize a deal that would provide the team with outfield depth.
The person confirmed the pending contract on condition of anonymity Thursday because the club had yet to formally announce the acquisition of Gomes, who grew up in nearby Petaluma. The San Francisco Chronicle was first to report the sides were close Thursday.
Gomes, 31, batted .209 with 14 home runs and 43 RBIs last season for Cincinnati and Washington in his ninth major league season.
Oakland's starting outfield is slated as newly acquired Seth Smith in left, re-signed Coco Crisp in center and Josh Reddick in right.
____
AP Sports Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this story.
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NEW YORK ? Wells Fargo & Co. says its fourth-quarter profit rose 20 percent, helped by better performance of its loans, growth in deposits and a steadying mortgage business.
The San Francisco-based bank says its net income for the last three months of 2011 rose to $4.11 billion, or 73 cents per share. Total revenue slipped 4 percent to $20.6 billion.
Analysts were expecting profit of 72 cents per share on total revenue of $20 billion.
Average deposits rose 9 percent to $864.9 billion. Loans edged up 2 percent to $768.6 billion. Wells released $600 million from its reserves to cover uncollected loans, which helped boost results.
The bank's card fees dropped 28 percent, largely because of a new law limiting debit card fees charged to merchants..
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A security guard opens the shutters of Syntagma metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
A security guard opens the shutters of Syntagma metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Pedestrians pass a closed metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
A woman stands outside a closed metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
A young boy stands at a closed metro station during a 24-hour strike in Athens, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. International debt inspectors visit Athens to review the course of Greece's austerity reforms. Unions call for strikes and work stoppages in some sectors in the Greek capital. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
ATHENS, Greece (AP) ? Greece resumed talks with its international debt inspectors Tuesday, facing a race against the clock to avoid becoming the first country that uses the euro to default on its debts and potentially trigger a chain reaction that could ultimately destroy the European single currency itself.
The debt inspectors ? whose mission chiefs are expected in Athens Friday after technical teams lay the groundwork ? face a massive task. They have to once again find more ways to cut spending and raise revenue in a country that is increasingly seen as immune to fundamental reforms.
Apart from identifying financial shortfalls produced since their last visit in December, they also have to set up a detailed policy and spending program for the next two years if Athens wants to have a chance at securing an extra euro130 billion ($166 billion) in rescue loans. Those loans were promised in October, after it became clear that a first euro110 billion bailout granted in May 2010 was not enough to buffer a Greek economy in freefall.
And the inspectors from the International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission ? known as the 'troika' ? are not the only foreign officials in town this week.
While they go through Greece's books, the government in Athens is also locked in a battle to convince banks and other private bondholders to forgive half of the Greek debt they hold ? an essential part of the second rescue package.
At the same time, the head of the European Union's task force for Greece is also in the capital, looking to streamline the country's sprawling bureaucracy, trying to improve lax tax collection and kickstart stalled infrastructure projects.
For the Greek government, the stakes could not be higher. The country has to repay a euro14.5 billion bond in March ? one that it can't afford to pay. Negotiations with the bondholders on the bond swap ? and ideally the troika ? have to be concluded by Jan. 30, when European leaders meet in Brussels to scrutinize the deal.
The crucial bond swap negotiations with the Institute of International Finance, which represents bondholders, stalled on Friday after a sudden disagreement arose with other eurozone countries and the IMF over the interest rate on the new bonds.
Talks will resume Wednesday, the IIF said, which went on to press the "sense of urgency" over the need for a deal. However, it was not clear whether positions had moved closer together since last week. After Greece's economy shrank almost 6 percent last year, the official lenders are trying to cap the amount of money they have to pump into the country.
Time is running short. Ideally, a final outline of the debt deal should be reached by the end of this week, with a formal public offer at the beginning of February, a senior Greek finance ministry official said last week. Only then will Greece know how many bondholders are actually willing to participate voluntarily.
If the agreement goes ahead, it would both reduce the amount the country has to pay on its debt and extend the maturity date, giving the country much-needed breathing space. If it doesn't, it puts into question the entire second bailout and makes the possibility of a messy default alarmingly likely.
Such is the scene in Athens these days, almost two years after a new government called for international help to plug a budget deficit that was much bigger than expected. Since then, the troika has flown over more or less every three months, checking on progress and often coming back disappointed.
Each time their visits have grown longer, the debate over yet more austerity measures more acrimonious, and invariably, a broad selection of workers go on strike. Yet resignation has set in among many Greeks, who see no particular result arising from labor walkouts and demonstrations that often turn violent.
All this takes place against a backdrop of growing frustrations among Greece's official creditors, the IMF and the other eurozone countries.
"The potential ramifications of a Greek disorderly default are so negative it is still likely that some kind of agreement will be reached," said Gary Jenkins, director of Swordfish Research. But "the fact that such a scenario is possible after all the bailouts and talks will probably continue to be a drag on confidence even if the problems are resolved."
Last Friday, U.S. rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit score of nine of the 17 countries in the eurozone. Nonetheless, Spain, one of the countries hit by the downgrade, successfully auctioned off euro4.9 billion ($6.21 billion) in short-term debt at sharply reduced interest rates Tuesday, an indication that investor sentiment had not been dented. Portugal, another S&P target, also on Tuesday secured an agreement with trades unions and employers on a package of labor reforms aimed at reversing the country's steep economic decline.
Greece also raised euro1.625 billion ($2.06 billion) in short-term debt, with its 13-week treasury bills selling at an interest rate of 4.64 percent, marginally lower than the 4.68 percent in the last such auction in December.
At the Brussels-based Commission, the missions to Greece are seen as one of the most taxing assignments. Officials joke that with the troika trips to Greece, one never knows when they will end, be interrupted, or restarted. Technical experts work in shifts, with a second group flying in once the first batch has reached its limits. Nonetheless, Europe remains determined to reach a solution.
"We have not given up on Greece at all," Marco Buti, the head of the Commission's economic affairs division, which supplies the troika experts, said in Brussels Tuesday. "Actually we are working very very hard to make sure the Greeks embrace the right policies."
____
Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens contributed to this story.
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One of my favorite cookbooks, "Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook," by Cindy Pawlcyn with Brigid Callinan, is a book that is nuts for me to call a favorite, because I've only so far followed a few of the recipes in the book. But I've read the thing more times than I could guess in the decade I've been grateful to own it. One of the aspects of the book that first drew me to it is the following passage, from Cindy Pawlcyn's introduction:
"...This is not a collection of our fancy recipes, but ones that people have asked for and others that I think people would like to try making in their own kitchens. It is not my intention to wow fellow chefs. I want to enhance the experience of the home cook and allow the wonderful people who have eaten at Mustards to take a bit of the place home with them. I hate to follow recipes ? it's a pain in the ass. But it's the only way I have found to keep things somewhat consistent, so we follow them as best as we can at the restaurant. Feel free to make substitutions as you see fit, though, for personal taste or to eliminate a trip to the store. Think of these recipes as a collection of kitchen maps to get you headed in the right direction...."
Mustards Grill is a refined but casual (kind of?) bistro in the Napa Valley of Northern California. If I'd not been fortunate enough to have dined there 6 times already, I'd still love this cookbook only for those introductory sentences I just mentioned. But I love the book all the more since I've visited the restaurant every single time (and on two trips, twice) I've traveled to that area.
I've eaten at Mustards early in the sun-gushed evening when I was brimming wide-eyed and ready to try new tastes; and I've eaten there a couple times with less exotic interests, one of those occasions the last time Mike and I visited Mustards. That night, we showed up last minute, no reservation, and as we sat down, our waitress greeted us and immediately remembered us from a couple evenings prior. I'd already relished some flashier style cuisine on the previous visit, so I dreamily, humbly, and pointedly asked her ? closing my menu in front of me so I could focus on her response ? "So, which is better: the pulled pork sandwich or the cheeseburger?"
My wholehearted appetite at that point was in her hands. She knew it. Her dry-humor, no-frills-when-there-should-be-no-frills manner eased into grateful recommendation, and from behind her black rectangular frames she completed our understood transaction ? briefly beaming that the cheeseburger is always one of her favorite things on the menu.
Mustards Grill is the kind of place that isn't too above itself to even take sandwiches seriously, something I appreciate. You can plan to go to there hoping to try something both local and a little askew. Or you can go more spur-of-the-moment and do what I did, realizing that the opportunity to enjoy the best of what the restaurant makes sometimes means annihilating a fistful of glistening, dripping cheeseburger. Then for dessert, catch the last bit of generous-intense Napa sunshine out in the Mustards Grill sunflower and herb garden.
To remember the vivid vibe of the Napa Valley area, I read the Mustards cookbook somewhat often. The tone of it just appeals to me. It's full of both photos (of the restaurant, and the people, and the surroundings, not just the dishes themselves) and anecdotes (many times, a cookbook will be of one or the other type of style, I've found), as well as suggestions for growing your own herbs for a particular recipe, and information about some of the vegetables in the dishes.
One of my favorite aspects of the book is the information it contains about the evolution of some of the recipes and finished dishes. Some of those notes are educational, as a note in the Lemon-Garlic Chicken recipe that says, "In case you're wondering, this recipe is an adaptation of an Italian dish called pollo al mattone, in which the chicken is smashed flat with a brick, then roasted or grilled with the brick on top to weight it down and force all the wonderful juices to permeate the meat. Many Americans don't like the idea of the small bits of bone left in the meat, so we developed this tamer version." And some of the notes are more for entertainment, like the note that accompanies the Mongolian Pork Chop recipe, that tells the story of two of the restaurant's original regulars who ate different versions of that pork chop dish for a week until deciding on their favorite day's version and writing "It is now perfect!" on a napkin, which at least on one of my last visits, was still framed and on the wall. The recipe note says the framed napkin reminded Pawlcyn in the restaurant's early days that "...if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
The Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook is a book I can look to for inspiration for different ways to fill and cook a green chile (the first dish I ever ate at the restaurant was something close to the recipe for Grilled Pasilla Chiles with Tamale Stuffing and Salsa Ranchera, p. 30 ? and most likely one of the reasons I like the place the way I do; I adore green chiles, every variety I've yet tasted) as it is also a cookbook I can explore for barbecue ideas, homey chicken dishes (or guidelines for them), and is a book I occasionally open to find a recipe that apparently was on the restaurant's first menu and that Pawlcyn says is still one of her favorites. Though I've not (yet?) enjoyed this dish at Mustards, I've made the dish at home many times now (or at least variations on the dish), because it just tastes like the aura of Mustards Grill ? a little familiar, a little out there, and just right in between both of those appealing ideas.
The recipe fits the cookbook's aura as well, because it's flexible in its guidelines up to the point that you can make the dish as an appetizer as is suggested, or, in my opinion (and experience), as a wonderful salad (use more greens and don't worry so much about the croutons) or even (with a little more creative liberty), as part of an entree (I've made it into a summer dinner salad plate including balsamic-marinated steak, as one example).
Goat Cheese from the Very Beginning
1/4 cup chopped Those Nuts made with almonds (recipe follows), or almonds toasted for 7 minutes at 375 degrees
1/4 cup toasted bread crumbs
2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 ounces goat cheese logs, cut into 6 rounds
VINAIGRETTE
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 shallot, minced
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1/3 cup walnut, almond or olive oil
2 cups frisee, radicchio, escarole, or other bitter greens
6 oil-packed sundried tomatoes, cut lengthwise into strips
12 to 18 croutons (recipe follows)
Combine the almonds and crumbs on a plate. Pour the olive oil onto a second plate. One at a time, dip the goat cheese rounds in the olive oil and then in the crumb mixture, coating them evenly, and place them on a baking sheet. If you do not plan to serve them immediately, cover and refrigerate.
To make the vinaigrette, whisk together the vinegar, shallot, salt, and pepper in a small bowl until the salt is dissolved. Gradually whisk in the walnut oil, and continue to whisk until fully emulsified. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
When you are ready to serve, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash and spin dry the greens, and tear them into bite-sized pieces. In a large bowl, toss the greens with just enough of the vinaigrette to coat them. To serve, put the cheese in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes, until warm and slightly soft to the touch (be sure not to melt the cheese). Put a mound of greens on each plate, and top each with a round of goat cheese. Arrange several strips of sundried tomato on the cheese. Accompany each serving with 3 or 4 croutons.
Laura's Note: I've made this dish many times simply with toasted nuts (almonds or walnuts or pecans, etc.) and the dish is just as succulent and even easier to prepare than when made with Those Nuts.
Those Nuts
2 cups raw shelled pistachios
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
Peanut oil or vegetable oil for deep-frying
Sea salt
Ground cayenne pepper
Blanch the nuts in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain and toss immediately with the confectioners' sugar, mixing well to coat the nuts evenly.
Pour the oil into a deep, heavy pan to a depth of 1 to 1 1/2 inches and heat to 375 degrees. Add the nuts in batches, and fry for 1 or 2 minutes, until crisp and golden brown.
Using a slotted spoon, transfer the nuts to a rack or fine-mesh screen to drain (don't use paper towels or the pistachios will stick!). Allow the oil to come back to temperature between batches.
Sprinkle the nuts with salt and cayenne to taste while still hot. Now, see if you can keep from eating them all up before company comes.
Makes 2 cups
Croutons
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut a baguette on the diagonal into 1/4 - inch-thick slices. For extra-large croutons, cut the bread at a severe angle. Brush the slices with the olive oil. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown.
About 1 dozen
All recipes from "Mustards Grill Napa Valley Cookbook"
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A veteran charged with killing four homeless men was troubled after returning from Iraq, reports say. That has highlighted the rising mental-health problems facing the US military.
The scheduled arraignment later this week of an Iraq veteran charged with killing four homeless men in southern California has shone a?spotlight on the mental-health troubles facing Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans back home ? and whether communities and government agencies are equipped to help.
Skip to next paragraphThe Orange County district attorney said in a press conference Tuesday that he has no evidence that Itzcoatl Ocampo is mentally ill. But numerous media reports have suggested that Mr. Ocampo, who once gave money to homeless, was changed after returning from Iraq and losing a friend in the Afghanistan war.
It is too early to judge what, if any, impact a tour in Iraq had on Ocampo, say?veterans and mental-health experts. But the incident has spawned greater discussion of?how effective friends, families, and the US Department of Veteran?s Affairs (VA) can be in reintegrating such returnees, as well as spotting signs of trouble.
?The fact that the accused is a prior-service Marine and a veteran of the Iraq War underscores the critical importance of pre- and post-deployment mental health screenings and the availability of sufficient and appropriate mental-health care for all returning veterans,? says Jay Agg, national communications director for the advocacy group AMVETS, in an e-mail.
?This is an opportunity for the Department of Defense, the veterans' administration, and the public to reexamine our best practices when it comes to serving the mental health-care needs of our returning heroes,? he adds.
Ocampo?s arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 21.
It is important to be very careful about speculating on mental illness and implying a correlation to violence, says Bob Carolla, national spokesman for the National Alliance of Mental Illness (NAMI).
?We shouldn?t presume to diagnose, even though there are indications of what might be called symptoms in his hearing voices and having lost a close friend,? says Mr. Carolla.
But?the violence of the alleged murders ? with one victim stabbed 50 times and another 60 ? alongside another incident last week in which an?Iraq?veteran killed a national park ranger, has prompted new discussion of the potential role of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Last year, more than 1.2 million veterans were treated by the VA health-care system ? about a third for PTSD ? according to Mike Fitzpatrick, executive director of NAMI. That?s an increase of about 25 percent from 2007, he says.
The increase of multiple deployments in the Afghanistan and?Iraq?wars has multiplied problems ? as have funding shortages, says Belle Landau, executive director of the Oregon Returning Veterans Project.
?I have met several veterans who have served no fewer than nine tours of duty,? she says. ?This is very different than it used to be. With two wars and no draft, we are relying on the National Guard and Reserves to serve combat missions in very dangerous war theaters.?
Noting that average age of a national guardsman or reservist is 30, and that 50 percent have children, she says, ?This is going to impact families and will be a big issue for a long time.??
A September VA survey shows that 70 percent of its doctors, nurses, and social workers say they feel the system lacks the space and staff to provide adequate mental-health care, Landau says.
Families, spouses and friends are going to have to fill the vacuum, she adds.
?These vets live in our communities, go to our churches and our stores. They?re our neighbors,? she says. ?If we don?t have the funds to give these vets the proper care and counseling they need, at least we can raise our collective consciousness about the problem and learn to spot the warning signs of someone in trouble.???
One of the?biggest challenges: helping veterans overcome the shame associated with asking for help.
?The military is doing what it can to rid veterans of the stigma of asking for help, but it is still deeply embedded in soldiers that it?s OK to ask for help for your buddies, but not for yourself,? says Landau. ?Reaching out is really a challenge for them.?
Several studies concur on telltale signs of potential mental-health troubles: drug abuse, relationship problems, aggression, and depression.?
Landau and others say friends and relatives can at the very least direct troubled veterans to seek help at websites or anonymous call-in counseling lines.
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updated 10:16 a.m. ET Jan. 17, 2012
ARLINGTON, Texas - Right-hander Mark Lowe and the Texas Rangers have agreed to a $1.7 million, one-year contract, a raise of $500,000.
Lowe, who avoided salary arbitration, was 2-3 with a 3.80 ERA and one save in 52 games for the AL champions last season.
He is 7-18 with a 4.03 ERA in parts of six major league seasons with the Rangers and Seattle. Texas acquired him from the Mariners in July 2010.
The agreement was announced Tuesday.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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More news??Craig Calcaterra likes the deal between the Yankees and Mariners that saw Michael Pineda land in the Bronx in exchange for Jesus Montero.
Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46025036/ns/sports-baseball/
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In this picture released by Iranian Fars News Agency, on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, a Ghader missile is launched at the shore of sea of Oman during Iran's navy drill. IFor leaders on the Iranian side of the Gulf, the past days have offered some hard lessons in the politics of oil. Iran has watched as the leader of its most influential ally, China, began a tour of Gulf Arab states and other Asian envoys held talks with oil-rich Gulf rulers, who have shown growing confidence to stand up against rival Iran and use tougher tactics to try to gain the upper hand in their standoffs with the Islamic Republic. (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Hamed Jafarnejad, File)
In this picture released by Iranian Fars News Agency, on Monday, Jan. 2, 2012, a Ghader missile is launched at the shore of sea of Oman during Iran's navy drill. IFor leaders on the Iranian side of the Gulf, the past days have offered some hard lessons in the politics of oil. Iran has watched as the leader of its most influential ally, China, began a tour of Gulf Arab states and other Asian envoys held talks with oil-rich Gulf rulers, who have shown growing confidence to stand up against rival Iran and use tougher tactics to try to gain the upper hand in their standoffs with the Islamic Republic. (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Hamed Jafarnejad, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 15, 2012 file photo provided by Saudi Press Agency, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, left, meets with Saudi King Abdullah, right, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during his six-day Mideast trip, which will also take him to the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. The Iranians have watched as frustrated bystanders while the leader of its most influential ally, China, has toured the Gulf Arab states with talks in Tehran's top regional rival Saudi Arabia. (AP Photo/Saudi Press Agency, File) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 file photo, Iranian navy speed boats attend a drill in the sea of Oman. For leaders on the Iranian side of the Gulf, the past days have offered some hard lessons in the politics of oil. Iran has watched as the leader of its most influential ally, China, began a tour of Gulf Arab states and other Asian envoys held talks with oil-rich Gulf rulers, who have shown growing confidence to stand up against rival Iran and use tougher tactics to try to gain the upper hand in their standoffs with the Islamic Republic. (AP Photo/IIPA, Ali Mohammadi)
FILE - In this Friday, Dec. 30, 2011 file photo, a member of the Iranian military takes position in a drill on the shore of the sea of Oman, on Friday, Dec. 30, 2011. For leaders on the Iranian side of the Gulf, the past days have offered some hard lessons in the politics of oil. Iran has watched as the leader of its most influential ally, China, began a tour of Gulf Arab states and other Asian envoys held talks with oil-rich Gulf rulers, who have shown growing confidence to stand up against rival Iran and use tougher tactics to try to gain the upper hand in their standoffs with the Islamic Republic. (AP Photo/YJC, Mohammad Ali Marizad, File)
South Korea protesters shout slogans during a rally opposing a visit of Robert Einhorn, U.S. State Department's special adviser for nonproliferation and arms control, in front of the foreign ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2012. Einhorn is urging South Korea to reduce its crude oil imports from Iran to put pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program. The letters on the banner read: "Stop sanctions on Iran." (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) ? For leaders on the Iranian side of the Gulf, the past days have offered some hard lessons in the politics of oil.
The Iranians have watched as frustrated bystanders while the leader of its most influential ally, China, began a tour of Gulf Arab states with talks in Tehran's top regional rival Saudi Arabia. Two other major Iranian oil customers ? South Korea and Japan ? also had high-level delegations in the Gulf to discuss supply guarantees if they fall in line with U.S.-led pressures to cut back on Iranian imports.
Iran sharply warned its neighbors about making any deals that could undercut its critical oil income. The Gulf rulers barely blinked.
That highlights the growing confidence among the Gulf Arabs ? all close U.S. allies ? to stand up against Iran and use tougher tactics in what they view as the region's hard-boiled realities: Any gain for Shiite power Iran is perceived as a loss for its Sunni rivals led by Saudi Arabia.
The stronger Gulf political posture is unlikely to stray too far from Washington's stances, but it reflects the wider changes for the Gulf's monarchs and sheiks after the Arab Spring revolts. In the past year, the wealthy Gulf states have gone into overdrive against any possible internal threats to their own autocratic systems.
They also sense an opportunity to rattle Iran, which is being squeezed by tighter sanctions over its nuclear program and by seeing its main Middle East partner, Syrian President Bashar Assad, struggle with growing street protests and mutinies among his security forces.
"The Gulf states had long looked to Washington to be their protector," said Sami Alfaraj, director of the Kuwait Center for Strategic Studies. "They still have the U.S., but the Gulf is increasingly looking around and saying: 'We need to take care of ourselves, too.'"
Gulf leaders are studying proposals for closer defense cooperation after Saudi-led forces came to the aid last year of Bahrain's monarchy, which claims that Iran has help stir an uprising by the island kingdom's Shiite majority against the minority Sunni rulers. Statements against Iran by the Gulf's six-nation political bloc ? which also includes Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates ? also have grown increasingly harsh, including recriminations about Iran seeking to destabilize the region.
In Abu Dhabi last week, the United Arab Emirates' foreign minister, Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, said Iran was imperiling the interests of the entire world by threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz, the water route for about one-sixth of the global oil flow. He was joined by Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba, who said his country was "watching the developments in the Strait of Hormuz very carefully and with concern."
Iran threatened to close the waterway over new U.S. sanctions, which have been approved by President Barack Obama with at least a six-month delay before they will be implemented. The sanctions target Iran's central bank and oil exports.
Saudi officials, meanwhile, have refused to publicly accept Iran's claims that it has no link to an alleged plot to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington. Two men, including a suspected member of Iran's Quds Force special foreign actions unit, have been charged in New York federal court.
"The Gulf states are definitely taking a stronger stance against Iran and are using their considerable influence to try to convince others of their Iranian fears," said Theodore Karasik, a security expert at the Dubai-based Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis.
Among the points in a joint statement Sunday between Saudi King Abduallah and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao was a call to make the Mideast free of "weapons of mass destruction including nuclear weapons."
It's certainly a reference to Israel, which is believed to have a nuclear arsenal although officials neither confirm nor deny the nation's weapons capabilities. But, in the current climate, the message is almost fully directed toward Iran.
A regional arms race is one of the West's spinoff worries about a possible Iranian nuclear weapon ? with Saudi Arabia looking to countries such as Pakistan to jump-start an atomic weapons program. Already, the Gulf states are awash in mostly American weaponry ? including a deal last month to sell $30 billion worth of F-15SA fighter jets to Saudi Arabia ? and the Pentagon has significant Gulf resources with warplanes at several bases and the Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
Iran denies it seeks nuclear weapons and says it only wants reactors for energy and research. Iran refuses, however, to abandon its program to enrich uranium, which the U.S. and many allies believe could lead to weapons-grade material.
The latest U.S.-led drive to aim sanctions at Iran's oil industry ? the source of 80 percent of its foreign currency revenue ? has brought sharp backlash from Tehran. On Sunday, Mohammad Ali Khatibi, Iran's OPEC governor, was quoted as saying that attempts by Gulf nations to replace Iran's output with their own would make them an "accomplice in further events."
"These acts will not be considered friendly," Khatibi told Iran's Shargh newspaper.
Khatibi fired another salvo Tuesday in Europe's direction. He called a proposed European Union embargo of Iran's oil "economic suicide" that would deepen the euro zones fiscal crisis, according to the semiofficial Mehr news agency.
But the Gulf tours of the Far East economic powers appeared to put Iran even more on edge.
China, Japan and South Korea are Iran's top Asian oil markets ? taking an even bigger combined share than the nearly 20 percent that currently goes to Europe. An all-out embargo is highly unlikely. China ? one of five veto-wielding permanent members of the U.N. Security Council ? has consistently opposed tighter sanctions on Iran and Japan and South Korea appear unwilling to risk possible upheaval in their economies.
Still, pressure is growing for some curbs.
A senior State Department envoy, Robert Einhorn, urged South Korea officials Tuesday to reduce crude oil imports from Iran. South Korea's Foreign Ministry said the government hasn't yet decided on a course of action, but reportedly is seeking assurances from other oil exporters that they would fill any gaps.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik joined the Chinese premier in Abu Dhabi for the opening of an alternative energy summit on Monday. They did not mention Iran in public comments, but talks by Kim included top UAE officials who set political and energy policies.
"Historically, Iran viewed itself as a kind of big brother, a superior power, to the Gulf Arab states. That view has become badly dated," said Patrick Clawson, director of research at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The Gulf states now see themselves as mutual powers in the region who can increasingly stand up for themselves. They survived the Arab Spring without too much trouble ? except for Bahrain ? and have come out of it more confident and more willing to go head to head with Iran."
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BEIJING (Reuters) ? China criticized U.S. sanctions on a Chinese company selling refined petroleum products to Iran, calling Washington's punishment an unreasonable step beyond international sanctions on Tehran's nuclear program.
Thursday, the Obama administration invoked U.S. law to sanction China's state-run Zhuhai Zhenrong Corp, which it said was Iran's largest supplier of refined petroleum products.
"Imposing sanctions on a Chinese company based on a domestic (U.S.) law is totally unreasonable, and does not conform to the spirit or content of U.N. Security Council resolutions about the Iran nuclear issue," the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in a statement issued on the ministry's website (www.mfa.gov.cn) late Saturday.
"China expresses its strong dissatisfaction and adamant opposition," said Liu.
The Obama administration said its sanctions against the Chinese company and two other firms are part of a broadening effort to target Iran's energy sector and press Tehran to curb its nuclear ambitions, which Western governments say appear aimed at developing the means to make atomic weapons.
Iran says its nuclear activities are legitimate and entirely for peaceful ends.
The U.S. sanctions threat is a worry for China, the biggest buyer of Iranian oil, followed by India and Japan. Only Saudi Arabia and Angola sell more crude than Iran to China.
As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, China can veto resolutions mandating sanctions. But Beijing has voted for them, while working to ensure its energy ties are not threatened.
China has, however, also long criticized the United States and EU for imposing separate, unilateral sanctions on Iran and said they should take no steps reaching beyond the U.N. resolutions.
"Like many other countries, China and Iran maintain normal energy and trade and economic cooperation," said the foreign ministry spokesman Liu.
Analysts have said the U.S. move was largely symbolic, given that China's Zhuhai Zhenrong was unlikely to have much U.S. business, but that it sent a warning to Beijing and its state-run oil giants such as China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec Corp) and China National Offshore Oil Corp..
These companies have invested billions of dollars in the U.S. energy sector, and are much more exposed to the impact of potential sanctions.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley, Editing by Jonathan Thatcher)
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Winners of the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards, announced Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif.:
MOTION PICTURES
? Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, "Beginners."
? Original Score: Ludovic Bource, "The Artist."
? Original Song: "Masterpiece" (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), "W.E."
TELEVISION
? Series, Drama: "Homeland," Showtime.
? Actor, Drama: Kelsey Grammer, "Boss."
? Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Dern, "Enlightened."
? Miniseries or Movie: "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)," PBS.
? Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, "Mildred Pierce."
___
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Morgan Freeman.
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