JOHANNESBURG (AP) ? Chimpanzees at a sanctuary founded by famed primatologist Jane Goodall pulled a Texas graduate student into their fenced-off enclosure, dragging him nearly a half-mile and biting his ear and hands.
Andrew F. Oberle was giving a lecture to a group of tourists at the Chimp Eden sanctuary on Thursday when two chimpanzees grabbed his feet and pulled him under a fence into their enclosure, said Jeffrey Wicks of the Netcare911 emergency services company.
The 26-year-old anthropology student at the University of Texas at San Antonio, suffered "multiple and severe bite wounds," Wicks said.
He was in critical condition Friday after undergoing surgery at the Mediclinic hospital in Nelspruit, 180 miles (300 kilometers) from Johannesburg, hospital officials said.
Oberle, who was doing research at the sanctuary, had crossed the first of two fences separating the chimpanzees from visitors and was standing close to the second fence, which is electrified, at the time of the attack, said Edwin Jay, chairman of the Jane Goodall Institute South Africa.
The sanctuary was temporarily closed after the attack, said David Oosthuizen, the institute's executive director.
"The safety of our visitors and staff is paramount," Oosthuizen said. "We have never had an incident like this, and we have closed the sanctuary to investigate how we can ensure it will not happen again."
Oberle lost part of an ear and parts of his fingers in the attack, according to the South African newspaper Beeld. It said the sanctuary's manager, Eugene Cussons, fired into the air to scare the chimps away from Oberle, then chased them back into their enclosure. Cussons is the host of Animal Planet's "Escape to Chimp Eden."
The two chimpanzees were placed in their night enclosure after the attack and will be held there pending the investigation, after which they would be returned to their enclosure, Jay said.
Steve Ross, an ape expert at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo, said chimpanzees are "naturally a fairly violent species, naturally aggressive, very interested in things like power and hierarchy."
Even researchers who understand their power, "sometimes just relax a little bit," Ross said. "And you can never relax with these chimps. They are so unbelievably fast, strong, and they're always looking for an opportunity."
Ross has worked to raise awareness, but says many chimpanzees are still bred and sold as pets in the United States. People who raise them from infancy often end up trying to place them in zoos when they become aggressive adolescents.
The Goodall institute opened the Chimpanzee Eden sanctuary in 2006 as a haven for chimpanzees, which are not native to South Africa, rescued from elsewhere in Africa. Some lost their parents to poachers in countries where they are hunted for their meat or to be sold as pets, and others were held in captivity in cruel conditions.
According to the sanctuary's website, one of the animals involved in the attack, a chimp named Amadeus, was orphaned in Angola and brought to South Africa in 1996, where he was kept at the Johannesburg Zoo until the sanctuary opened. The other, named Nikki, came from Liberia in 1996 and was among the first chimps at the sanctuary. Before arriving, he had been treated like a son by his owners, who dressed him in clothes, shaved his body and taught him to eat at a table using cutlery, the website said.
In the United States, a Connecticut woman, Charla Nash, was attacked in 2009 by a friend's chimpanzee that ripped off her nose, lips, eyelids and hands before being killed by police. The woman was blinded and has had a face transplant. Lawyers for Nash filed papers this week accusing state officials of failing to seize the animal before the mauling despite a warning that it was dangerous.
Claire Jones, spokeswoman for the Jane Goodall Institute, said in an email that Goodall would have no comment "out of respect for the young man and his family."
Goodall, a Cambridge University-trained ethnologist, began studying chimpanzees in Tanzania's Gombe National Park in 1960. Since 1994, her institute has been involved in conservation programs across Africa. The institute says its Tchimpounga Chimpanzee Rehabilitation Center in Congo is the largest chimpanzee sanctuary in Africa.
____
Associated Press writers Paul Weber in San Antonio, Texas, and Kim Chakanetsa in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
Streaming video broadcasting to mobile devices is easy with the appropriate technology. Mobile video streaming technology can facilitate business meetings and calls with family members. Collaboration is easier when geographical borders are removed. Businesses can accomplish more and develop better solutions with streaming video broadcasting equipment. EyePartner is a provider of streaming video broadcasting equipment and applications which help people deliver streaming video to mobile devices.
Benefits of Streaming Video Broadcasting to Mobile Devices
Always Remain Connected: Many mobile employees cannot always be at the office to make business meetings. Streaming video broadcasting allows employees to participate in business meeting regardless of their location. Via mobile phone, traveling employees can meet with managers, clients and team members. With a few simple modifications, streaming video can be available on mobile devices such as iPhone, Blackberry and other smart phones.
Easy Video Sharing: Employees can share video easily. Video may consist of podcasts, presentations or media put together for marketing campaigns. Videos can be shared and comments can be made directly from the streaming video broadcasting application. While on-the-go, people can view videos and interact with co-workers, friends or clients after viewing streaming video. The implications of video sharing are far-reaching.
Videos can be extracted from a pre-existing video library and shared with others. Video does not have to be uploaded and sent to each person individually. Sending video via email is not efficient and is data intensive. Sending video through our software suite allows everyone on the sharing panel to view the video without significant effort.
Collaboration: Through video sharing, collaboration is facilitated. Collaboration can take place in real time. A video web camera, a web application and some other simple equipment is required for operation. People can use applications to collaborate and share ideas. Collaboration is the key to innovation. Through collaboration, businesses can pool resources to come up with ideas that are better than an individual can develop alone. Video collaboration is made possible with Eypartner?s extensive research and the technology that has evolved from it.
Help Companies Gain Leads: Companies can use streaming video broadcasting to generate leads for products and services. Video broadcasts may be streamed on mobile phones to inform customers about new products as they are released. Companies may invite customers to their websites to view streaming video, or the video may be made available through social media applications such as Facebook. Other companies may simply use software programs to facilitate the video streaming process.
When visitors view the website about the products, they will be prompted to sign up on a website. This email list will help companies identify their supporters and encourage supporters to purchase products in the future. Business owners can send out emails to inform supporters of new products available. Streaming video broadcasting can increase sales and increase visibility for a company. With increased visibility and sales, companies develop a positive brand image and increase revenue.
Streaming Video for Surveillance: Small business owners may use streaming video broadcasting for monitoring activity at their businesses. Business owners no longer need to be on premises 24 hours per day and seven days per week to keep their business safe. Streaming video can be tied to an outdoor or indoor surveillance camera and be streamed to a mobile device. This protects business owners. The footage can be recorded and saved for future purposes.
Record and Save for Future Use: Video can be used to record and save for future use. These videos can be used for teaching and instruction or for capturing an intruder on the business premises. All recorded sessions are stored in a cloud-based system with our video conferencing software. The videos can be categorized and organized according to topic and the date recorded, giving you complete control in sharing your content.
Users can simply click on the link and the video can be viewed as if the person was actually at the event. These videos can be viewed on demand at any moment. This significantly expands the user?s ability to access information as needed for historical events. Streaming videos can be viewed while on a plane, in an airport or in other locations.
Text Chat Available: Users can comment via text chat about what is viewed. Text chat facilitates collaboration. Collaborators can modify items online. Presentations and designs can be modified remotely from any smart phone. Text chat significantly expands possibilities and can be used in noisy environments where phones may interrupt the overall meeting. Even in a crowded restaurant or airport, collaborators can participate without the interruption of background noise. Text chat is a feature that all streaming video broadcasting software applications should possess.
Whiteboard Annotations: Annotations can be made and documents can be shared with whiteboards. When the thoughts cannot be expressed with words, whiteboards are an excellent alternative. Pictures can be drawn and shared with all participants of an event. Explanations are more thorough with pictures. Sketches, diagrams and drawings can be made in real time.
Stylus pens can facilitate the drawing process. Some phones will also accommodate finger drawings. The software?s compatibility to each smartphone can be determined from the manufacturer. Streaming video broadcasting allows diagrams to be drawn in real time and shared. The whiteboard can even be saved and used for a future meeting or to send to another team member.
Determine How the Public Feels: Streaming video broadcasting also works in conjunction with polls and surveys. Polls and surveys can be written and distributed to email lists for public feedback or employee feedback. Stakeholders can also participate in polls and surveys. This method of polls and surveys is especially useful when developing a marketing campaign or a training program.
Eyeparner?s software allows customers to use the video conferencing software to distribute polls and surveys. With the feedback, companies can improve presentations, products and processes within the company. Accessing polls and surveys via phone will allow busy executives and stakeholders to participate wherever they are located. With access via mobile smart phones, this is possible.
Cost Effective: Streaming video broadcasting to mobile devices is not only convenient but it is cost-effective. Anyone with a smart phone device will have access to the hosted event via smart phone. Clients do not have to incur the expense of renting a conference room. This saves considerable amounts of money.
Time is saved from finding meeting spaces that are available or accessible. Face-to-face business meetings are a lot more expensive than videoconferencing. Mobile device video conferencing is cost-effective and flexible since it can be accessed from any location.
Case Study: How Streaming Video Broadcasting Makes a Difference
Students for a Free Tibet (SFT) used streaming video broadcasting to mobile devices to disseminate a message to potential supporters during the 2008 Olympics in China. This organization sent streaming video to people attending the event to create awareness of the Tibetan situation. There was 24 hour streaming video from activists located in six different cities around the world.
Stream Video Broadcasting to Mobile Devices to Improve Business
Use video broadcasting to mobile devices to improve business interactions. Video broadcasting can be used to instruct, inform, solicit and sell items on the Internet. Businesses should consider how streaming video broadcasting could help their business improve in numerous areas. Our programs were built to improve business interactions while on the go, making it easier than ever with our support and service to become your ultimate competitive advantage. Call 1-305-289-4557 or email sales@eyepartner.com today to let EyePartner help you accomplish all your video streaming needs.
You'd be forgiven for assuming that the ModBook dream died with release of the first iPad. After all, the first version of the hacked notebook predated Apple's announcement by a couple of years. When the iPad finally hit in 2010, it did a lot to address the desire for a slate device running Apple software. Since then, things have largely remained silent on the Axiotron front. In fact, the last time we heard a significant peep out of the company was back in 2009. Its former CEO Andreas Haas assured us, however, that the real reason for the company's silence is a bit more complicated than the story of yet another product falling victim to the Apple steamroller.
"Axiotron itself was a great company," says Haas. "Back in 2008, I took the company public, everything was really great. There was one little thing that turned out to be a huge problem, which is that the company was largely bank-financed and 10 days after it went public, Lehman Brothers went belly-up and put the whole financial market in a tailspin. After that was mostly spent on trying to somehow restructure the company, and ultimately there was just nothing that could be done about it."
As the newly reborn Modbook Inc. teased via its Facebook page yesterday, however, the name lives on. This week marks the return of the tablet in the form of the 13.3-inch Modbook Pro, a device slated to ship early this fall. Can such a device survive in a world that's been downright flooded by tablets in the years since its predecessor's release? The company clearly feels it can -- that its new product is unique enough to set itself apart in amongst the deluge of slates, calling the new Pro, "the world's most powerful and largest-screen tablet computer." And in a space where hardware and software are relatively neutered, it's understandable how the company might be inclined to make such bold claims about the converted notebook.
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The advertising and marketing industry is one of the most vibrant business sectors throughout the world, with firms and organizations of all sizes hoping on obtaining their name out there. As a result of the vital role it plays in modern business, an advertising franchise offers nice potential for those interested in setting up their own business.
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All too often, what at face value seems a good plan for a business fails as a result of the plan, and the model being followed, are found to be lacking. With a franchise, this can be not the case. By their terribly definition, the business model is successful and has been for many people. It takes toil as any business too, however with the added confidence of a proven model, business selections are aided.
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Typically, a printers works in just one or two spheres. However, setting up advertising franchise that delivers print and design services across the board will extremely become an important element of any city?s economy. With important profit also able to be generated by those wanting to put the work in, they truly allow people to take control of their lives.
Author of "The Little Prince," one of the bestselling books of all time, Antoine de Saint-Exup?ry was born on June 29, 1900, in Lyon, France. Trained as a pilot, Saint-Exup?ry flew as a pioneer pilot for the international postal company, A?ropostale. His route was between Toulouse, France, and Dakar, Senegal, although he occasionally served as the airline stopover manager in Cape Judy in the Sahara. When Saint-Exup?ry moved to Argentina, he began writing his first book,"Courrier Sud," which was published in 1921. In 1935, ?Saint-Exup?ry took part in an airplane race in which he crashed his plane in the middle of the Sahara desert. Although he was rescued four days later, he suffered dehydration and vivid hallucinations during those four days. He began writing "The Little Prince" after crashing another plane in Central America and spending three months in the hospital. Saint-Exup?ry joined the French army during World War II where he crashed for a third time and was never seen again. A body found near the crash was believed to be that of Saint-Exup?ry although it was never officially identified. "The Little Prince" has been translated into over 190 languages and has sold over 80 million copies.?
- Elizabeth Drake,?Monitor contributor
1. Art
"A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away."
With the Supreme Court sharply divided, the Obama health law was saved by Chief Justice John Roberts, who sided with the four more liberal justices on the Court to uphold both the individual mandate and the overall health reform plan.
It was a supremely ironic outcome, as the Roberts Court has been heavily criticized by Democrats in the Congress and the White House in recent years - in fact - go back to 2005 when the Chief Justice's nomination was up before the Senate, and you will find Senators named Obama and Biden were two of the 22 votes against.
Today though, the Chief Justice delivered the President a major political victory.
The Chief Justice came up with a very interesting ruling, as he rejected the idea that the individual mandate was constitutional under the Commerce Clause - instead, he found that it was okay under Congress' power to tax.
That course was blasted by the Supreme Court's minority, as Justices Scalia, Thomas, Alito and Kennedy labeled the final decision, "vast judicial overreaching."
If you want to read today's decision by the US Supreme Court, you can link to it here.
About Jamie Dupree
Jamie Dupree is the Radio News Director of the Washington Bureau of the Cox Media Group and writes the Washington Insider blog.
(Reuters) - Here are the main events in the uprising in Syria since it began:
March 15, 2011 - About 40 people join a protest in Old Damascus, chanting political slogans in a brief first challenge to the ruling Baath Party before dispersing into side streets.
March 18 - Security forces kill three protesters in southern Deraa, residents say. The demonstrators were demanding political freedoms and an end to corruption.
March 22 - Hundreds of people march in Deraa and Nawa demanding freedom in the fifth straight day of demonstrations.
March 24 - President Bashar al-Assad orders the formation of a committee to study scrapping the emergency law in place in Syria for the last 48 years. The emergency law is lifted on April 19.
March 25 - At least 200 people march in Damascus and there are reports of at least 23 dead around the country including, for the first time, in Damascus.
July 31 - Syrian tanks storm Hama, residents say, after a month-long siege. At least 80 people are killed.
September 15 - Syrian opposition activists announce a Syrian National Council to provide an alternative to government.
November 12 - The Arab League suspends Syria.
December 7 - Assad denies ordering troops to kill peaceful demonstrators, telling U.S. television channel ABC only a "crazy" leader kills his own people.
December 19 - Syria signs Arab League peace plan and agrees to let observers into the country to monitor the deal.
December 23 - Twin suicide bombs target two security buildings in Damascus, killing 44 people. Syria blames al Qaeda while the opposition blames the government.
February 4, 2012 - Russia and China veto a resolution in U.N. Security Council, backed by Arab League, calling for Assad to step down. The General Assembly approves a resolution on February 16 endorsing the Arab League plan calling for Assad to step aside.
February 22 - More than 80 people are killed in Homs including two foreign journalists. Hundreds of people have now been killed in daily bombardments of the city by Assad's besieging forces.
February 23 - Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is appointed U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria.
February 24 - Foreign ministers from more than 50 countries meet in Tunis for the inaugural "Friends of Syria" meeting. Russia and China, allies of Syria, do not attend.
February 28 - Assad decrees that a new constitution is in force after officials say nearly 90 percent of voters endorsed it in a February 26 referendum. Opponents and the West dismiss it as a sham.
March 1 - Syrian rebels pull out of the besieged Baba Amr district of Homs after more than three weeks of bombardment.
March 11 - Annan ends talks with Assad and leaves Syria with little sign of progress.
March 27 - Syria accepts the U.N.-sponsored peace plan.
April 12 - U.N.-backed ceasefire comes into effect. Four days later monitors start to monitor the ceasefire in Syria.
May 7 - Syria says voters turned out in large numbers for a parliamentary election. The Opposition denounces it as a sham.
May 10 - Annan condemns attacks in Damascus in which two bomb explosions kill 55 people and wound 372. A week later U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he believes al Qaeda was responsible. He also says 10,000 people have now been killed.
May 25 - At least 108 people are killed, including many children, in attacks in the region of Houla. Two days later the Security Council unanimously condemns the killings.
June 1 - Annan says he is "frustrated and impatient" over the continuing killings and wants faster progress.
June 3 - In a rare address to parliament, Assad condemns the "abominable" massacre in Houla, saying even monsters would not carry out such acts.
June 5 - Syria bans 17 Western diplomats in retaliation for the expulsion of Syrian envoys from their capitals. On the same day Syria agrees to allow the United Nations and international agencies to expand humanitarian operations in Syria.
June 5/6 - Troops and militiamen loyal to Assad are accused of killing at least 78 people at Mazraat al-Qubeir, near Hama.
June 6 - Assad names party stalwart Riyad Hijab to form a new government, signaling no political concessions to the 15-month-old uprising.
June 12 - The uprising has grown into a full-scale civil war U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous says.
June 16 - Escalating violence in Syria forces U.N. observers to suspend operations.
June 22 - Syrian troops shoot down a Turkish warplane in an incident Damascus says is self-defense but which Ankara brands an "act of aggression".
June 26 - Assad says his country is "at war".
June 27 - Gunmen storm Ikhbariya television's offices, headquarters, bombing buildings and shooting dead three journalists and four guards, state media says.
For an Interactive look at Syria click on http://link.reuters.com/pyt37s
(Reporting by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
When you are arranging a domestic or an overseas holiday trip, you may must rent a vehicle once you reach at your destination. Hiring a automobile during your vacation is usually quite advantageous. It is going to give you an unmatched freedom and flexibility to move about. You are going to have the ability to take a look at several attractions devoid of the must stop about and look for local indicates of transport. It is also safer and much more convenient to drive oneself around within a foreign destination.
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The number one way for someone to find a website in Hudson Falls, NY is by going through a search engine.?Google is the most popular, so it?s important to target their results far more than other search engines. Businesses that use internet marketing and SEO have a clear advantage over those that don?t. Here are some incredible stats about search engines that you may not know:
75% of Americans use search engines on a regular basis.
56% of all Americans are using one every single day.
40% of all search engine searches are for the nearest businesses and services.
54% of Americans?frequently search on the internet instead of the telephone book to locate the nearest services.
92% of all neighborhood Hudson Falls, NY searches will eventually convert into a sale.
?
The whole search engine industry used to be about very short ?keywords? that would lead people to finding the website that they were looking for. Everyone used to merely type things like ?Hudson Falls Real Estate? into a search engine, check out the first handful of results then make a decision.
Businesses who fail to use internet marketing and SEO will have a difficult time getting new customers.
Nonetheless,?these times buyers have become much better at searching with Google, so keywords have progressively become longer so as to return much more relevant results. For instance, instead of just ?Hudson Falls Real Estate? which may give us some good websites for that keyword, we might be looking for something a little more specific.
Therefore, we might type ?Hudson Falls Low Price Apartments?. The reason we would do this is because we?re fed up searching through websites that don?t offer us the chance to see any low price real estate, so we?re searching using Google rather than merely clicking on various websites.
This kind of mentality has revitalized the world of small businesses online. Instead of just searching for a product or service,people now look for a niche product or service in a particular area. It means that, instead of massive chains dominating the search results, small business websites that use internet marketing and SEO?(even in Hudson Falls) are flourishing.
Without it, you simply aren?t going to understand how to get your website found on the first page of Google when local customers search for your product or service. The competition won?end up being that fierce considering you will be competing for much more specific keywords, but you?ll still need to be able to be found by these Hudson Falls buyers in order to succeed.
With more people moving towards local searches, you?re going to need to target your internet marketing?to specific keywords and locations. If you fail to do it, you?ll be competing with the major players within your industry nationally, and it?s a battle you almost certainly won?t win.
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SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc named Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg a director on Monday, elevating the first woman to a board that includes seven men.
For years one of the most vocal critics of the gender imbalance in Silicon Valley's executive ranks, Sandberg, 42, joined Facebook in 2008 and played a central role in guiding the social networking company to its $16 billion IPO in May.
Her promotion comes as Facebook seeks to cultivate a more mature image as opposed to the college dorm-room startup reputation that has dogged the company since Harvard dropout Mark Zuckerberg founded it in 2004.
"Sheryl has been my partner in running Facebook and has been central to our growth and success over the years," Zuckerberg, 28, said in a statement. "Her understanding of our mission and long-term opportunity, and her experience both at Facebook and on public company boards makes her a natural fit for our board."
Still, even after Facebook elevated Sandberg on Monday, the composition of its board remains a continuing point of scrutiny for a young company that has touched countless industries and boasts close to a billion users from every corner of the world.
The California State Teachers' Retirement System, the second-largest largest pension fund in the United States, which owns 36,922 shares of Facebook, applauded Sandberg's promotion, but urged the company to "continue diversifying the board toward greater independence and representation of the Company's user base."
Apart from Sandberg, the company's board is made up of seven Caucasian men, largely Silicon Valley insiders aligned closely with Zuckerberg. They include Zuckerberg himself; venture capitalists James W. Breyer, Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel; Washington Post Co chairman, Donald E. Graham; Netflix CEO Reed Hastings; and Erskine Bowles, a former White House chief of staff and the University of North Carolina president emeritus.
"We are optimistic Facebook is on its way to further expanding the board while simultaneously creating the diversity and independence we think is important to the future sustainability of this vibrant company," said Jack Ehnes, CEO of the California State Teachers' Retirement System. But, he added, "We're not there yet."
Prior to joining Facebook to lead its business operations, Sandberg worked at Google, where she was credited with building the search advertising division into a massively lucrative cornerstone of the web giant's business.
She has been tasked with stoking similar growth at Facebook, which claimed $3.7 billion in revenue last year, but is under pressure to justify its $70 billion valuation in the public markets.
At the same time, Facebook hopes the promotion of one of corporate America's most high-profile women will go some way to allay over its own gender issues, especially given Sandberg's advocacy on the subject.
In February, before Facebook went public, the teachers' retirement system openly urged the company to diversify its board to include women and said then the makeup of the all-male panel was "disappointing."
In April, the women's rights group UltraViolet held a protest outside Facebook's New York offices over the same issue.
The Menlo Park-based company faced embarrassment as recently as last week when the Wall Street Journal published advance excerpts of a memoir by Katherine Losse, an early employee, who recounted being harassed and propositioned by male co-workers until Sandberg intervened when she came onboard.
In recent years, Sandberg's clout within Facebook has been unquestioned while she has also served as its public face, often in place of the sometimes socially-awkward Zuckerberg, who has focused on improving Facebook's product.
Meanwhile, Sandberg has represented the company at events like the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where she led a panel on women's advancement in January.
A former chief of staff to Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers during the Clinton administration, Sandberg holds seats on the board of Walt Disney Co and several non-profit organizations.
"Facebook is working every day to make the world more open and connected," she said in a statement. "It's a mission that I'm deeply passionate about and I feel fortunate to be part of a company that is having such a profound impact in the world."
Under Sandberg's stewardship, Facebook navigated its rocky IPO in May, but still faces a litany of growing pains, chief among them are its regular brushes with privacy controversies that threaten to erode the eight year-old service's popularity.
On Monday, the social network was again subject to fresh accusations that it had tampered with user privacy by changing the email contact listed for every user to a facebook.com address without notification.
Facebook defended the move, saying it was part of a broader, earlier effort to enhance "consistency" to the service.
"As we announced back in April, we've been updating addresses on Facebook to make them consistent across our site," a Facebook spokeswoman said. "In addition to everyone receiving an address, we're also rolling out a new setting that gives people the choice to decide which addresses they want to show on their timelines."
Facebook shares closed down 3 percent at $32.06 on Monday, still more than 15 percent off of its May offering price despite a rebound in recent weeks.
(Reporting by Gerry Shih, Poornima Gupta and Matthew Keys; Editing by Matt Driskill)
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????????????????We believe it is important to maximize the concentration of all the resources of the bank to cover the implementation of functions and reduction of non-core, uncharacteristic of the Development Bank
significant infrastructural, industrial and housing projects funded by development institutions around the world. Five years ago Russia made a bid for such institutions by creating, in particular, the Development Bank on the basis of Vnesheconombank of the USSR. Today, sold hundreds of major infrastructure projects, modernization projects and create new import-substituting industries throughout the country. Most of them ? with the support of VEB. However, the experience of development banks in Brazil, China and Germany suggests that the possibility of a development bank Vnesheconombank still not used to 100% due to a number of circumstances, described in an article specially for ?Kommersant? Vnesheconombank Chairman Vladimir Dmitriev.
logic of the assets and liabilities
In recent decades, development banks are increasingly dense and coordinate their activities with each other, promoting the paradigm sustainable national and supranational development, project finance, corporate and social responsibility. To do this, create the international association of institutions, in particular, the International Club of development finance (International Development Finance Club, IDFC), in the activities which Vnesheconombank is actively involved.
Regular contacts between banks of different countries to help scrutinize their accumulated experience. Much of that has been successfully used by our colleagues abroad, can be effectively applied in the Russian reality.
Consider the example of the Brazilian development bank BNDES. This country?s leading financial institution that provides long-term financing within the strategic priorities of the government. In 2010, among the BRICS countries, development banks BNDES ranked second (after a Bank of China) in terms of assets and capital. More than half of its liabilities generated by the resources of two Brazilian state funds ? the Fund to support workers (FAT) and the Consolidated Fund of the program of social inclusion and income generation programs of public servants (PIS-PASEP). The source of these funds are fixed payments of taxes on payroll paid by employers in the budget. Funds, in turn, place a large portion of the funds at a discounted below the market rate in the form of deposits in the BNDES. The urgency of such deposits is 30-40 years, exceeding the term of any market-based funding sources, and thus creating a basis for the stable operation of the development bank with the most complex projects with long payback periods. Therefore, there is no problem BNDES funding. So, in 2010, BNDES capital was increased by 2.5 times from the resources of the state budget. Resources have been allocated to support investment projects to accelerate the growth of the Programme (PAC) and the sustainable investment program (PSI).
BNDES example demonstrates a clear correspondence between the logic of its assets and liabilities. If the direction of the classic investment bank development, by definition, beyond the purely market-based projects, it is logical and what sources of funding the bank can not be purely market.
It should be noted that the Vnesheconombank this logic operation is currently somewhat broken, and he is in a different situation: the bank has a significant share of a purely market-based liabilities. After the State?s contribution to charter capital, or other quasi-fiscal cost of direct investments, not related to specific projects, EBV has not received. Deposits of the Central Bank placed with VEB in autumn 2008 for the renovation of Svyaz-Bank and the Bank ?Globex? are strictly targeted and are payable ? bank transfers them to the Central Bank interest payments of 13 billion rubles. a year.
But VEB assets primarily non-market ? is investing in projects that have payback periods, greatly exceeding the market average, but with high social effects. Throughout the world, externalities, socially significant effects of major infrastructure and economic projects, funded by taxpayers.
In this sense, Vnesheconombank has created a precedent of successful series of borrowings in foreign and domestic markets allows the bank to realize its development titular function, combining seemingly incompatible. At the same time warning signals that we received from the market in late 2011, indicate that to ensure the smooth development and financing of investment projects VEB is very important to be able to maneuver. One of these opportunities we see in the expansion of ways of investing pension funds managed by Vnesheconombank as an agent of the government and the National Welfare Fund, referred to the Board of Ministry of Finance in April 2012. In particular, it seems appropriate to include in the portfolio VEB infrastructure bonds. Of fundamental importance is carefully targeted use of resources mobilized through the emission of the latter, as well as the granting of such bonds by direct Treasury guarantees.
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One of the most logical areas of infrastructure bonds ? construction of railways. In this sense, can be considered a successful example of China and China Development Bank (KDB), whose task is a low-interest loans for key infrastructure and basic industries. Selection Committee determines the credit facilities for development and reform of the State Council. One of the BRC funding priorities in recent years, the program is to build a network of high-speed rail, according to the length of which (approximately 8 sq km), China is now ranked first in the world. The volume of funds invested in the creation of BRK network of national railways reached the end of 2010 include $ 25.7 billion highway construction ? Guangzhou-Wuhan highway length 1,068 km, the average commercial speed of trains on which is 350 kilometers per hour (maximum ? 394 km per hour), which substantially exceeds the specification SCM-speed lines in Japan and France. A key source of funding of these, for that matter, and other investments sector DBK ? special issue of the bonds, the so-called policy banks financial bonds.
In Russia today there are also projects to build high-speed lines, but their implementation is limited by practical difficulties in involving financing. Deficiency of the investment program of OAO RZD only for the next three years is estimated at 400 billion rubles., And the closure of the scheme deficit by issuing infrastructure bonds with government guarantees Railways finds no support. Currently, the estimated investment in the project VSZHM-1 ? a road that would connect Moscow and St. Petersburg, is 500-700 billion rubles., The funding of this project in the federal budget for 2012 and 2013 are not provided. In our opinion, one of the sources of deficit financing for this project could be the issue of infrastructure bonds.
Skeptics argue that in the absence of direct and full state guarantee on such securities to investment attraction will be small. However, the global experience in financing infrastructure projects is very rich. In particular, it appears as a security infrastructure bonds could be involved such a tool, as funding through tax increment (tax increment finance), resulting from the implementation of projects.
need for Russian companies in the financing of the initiators of the project is extremely high and clearly exceeds the current capabilities of Vnesheconombank. In this regard, consider it extremely important to maximize the concentration of all the resources of the bank to cover the implementation of functions and reduction of non-core, uncharacteristic of the Development Bank. Unfortunately, currently we are often faced with the important and responsible tasks, which should certainly be done, but that does not fully correspond to the logic of the development bank.
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Unlike Vnesheconombank, the Brazilian BNDES virtually no restrictions on the areas of industry investment. If the Memorandum of financial policy prohibits the VEB loans to invest in oil and gas, the BNDES lends active and Brazilian oil companies, in particular, Petrobras, and mining giant, the company VALE, and projects for the production of bioethanol, supports beef cattle, and, of course, the electricity and hi-tech.
If the presence of branch restrictions in the Russian context is justified, since one of the problems facing the country ? to overcome the dependence on natural resources of the economy, the other current limit, which is absent at the BNDES, Vnesheconombank seems somewhat superfluous. The fact that the recipient of BNDES support tools can be controlled even by foreigners. The only fundamental condition ? they must be registered in Brazil, have a headquarters and governing bodies in the country. It is an instructive example of creating a clear incentive for non-residence offshore companies operating national assets.
Stages and sequence of removal of industrial and size constraints on the supported VEB businesses and projects ? the subject of serious analysis and discussion. Vnesheconombank has already initiated the removal of the 25 percent limit on foreign ownership in those SMEs that receive support from a group of Vnesheconombank, including through our subsidiary SME Bank. Relevant work with legislators already underway.
Another aspect of our business, which requires careful study, ? a kind of ?failure? for medium-sized businesses. The fact that the lower limit of the amount of loans granted by Vnesheconombank directly to end borrowers, is today one billion rubles. Simultaneously, the upper limit of SME loans, refinanced under the program of our subsidiary SME Bank ? 150 million rubles. As a result, the entire ?middle? loans ranging in size from 150 million to 1 billion rubles., Excluded from the regulatory area of ??our expertise and support, while the values ??in this range is fixed by a huge shortage of loans not covered by commercial banks.
Solutions to this normative conflict may be different. This and additional capitalization from the budget, and expanding the functions of SME Bank (Vnesheconombank, moreover, that has already decided to send in the SME Bank to 10% of its profits each year). However, international experience suggests that it is necessary and the creation of a special mechanism ? a special ?window? ? to support the fast-growing medium-sized enterprises. For example, the BNDES has a program to provide automatic credit lines ? BNDES Automatico. Loans are available through authorized banks and organizations for the long term with a grace period. So that is another possibility, which we use in our practice ? the creation of specialized structures to support medium-sized businesses. EBV is currently subject to negotiations KfW German corporation to establish a fund which would satisfy the needs of medium-sized businesses in the financing. At the same time we are actively cooperating with the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, which supports medium-sized businesses. At the same time there is no doubt that this area can and should be strengthened.
roof over your head
would be a mistake to assume that the activities of development banks focused exclusively on megaprojects in infrastructure and heavy industry sectors. The most important aspect of their operations ? support for housing construction and development of the housing market. From this point of view of the extremely instructive experience of the German development bank, Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (assets at the end of 2010 ? $ 591 billion, second in the world). It is worth noting that the KfW ? the largest issuer of corporate bonds in Europe, with all loans it has a sovereign guarantee.
There are currently ten programs KfW to support and develop housing in Germany. Total funding for them in 2010 reached ? 18 billion program aimed primarily at energy-efficient modernization of housing stock, the adaptation of housing for the elderly, energy-efficient construction and maintenance, facilitate the acquisition of shares in housing co-operatives.
is important to note that funding for these programs KfW carries out directly to consumers, and through the refinancing of commercial banks and specialized financial institutions.
VEB support the housing market today is limited to relatively small amounts of ransom AHML and bonds of commercial banks, secured by pools of mortgage loans with the standard constraints on the profitability of the market (weighted average coupon yield of not more than 7% per annum). The severity of the housing problem in Russia today, when 60% of the population is unable to improve their living conditions or market or non-market way, and 15-20% of the households were forced to live under one roof, requires activation of Vnesheconombank in this area. It seems justified to expand the forms and easing VEB refinancing mortgage programs of commercial banks.
hard-won victory
In coming years, Russia has a massive re-industrialization. In this regard, it is obvious that the Development Bank will play a significant role in this process: we already have extensive experience arranging financing for large and very complex projects that have a reputation that allows you to organize the drawing on the unique circumstances and the Group of Vnesheconombank, in which possible implementation of various measures aimed at diversifying the economy.
At the same time to carry out large-scale and ambitious targets requires extreme concentration of resources and maximizing the efficiency of our work. I am sure, Vnesheconombank may show an even more impressive results, if not stop him from work: not to divert non-core activities, to soften the legislative restrictions on its activities and to enable the best use of financial resources, which at the moment available in the State. In this case, the last term success will be prioritizing: we need to select multiple industries in which Russia has not lost its competitive advantage, and make them the foundation of a new re-industrialization and modernization. In this regard, the experience is indicative of the Brazilian Embraer, which in 1969 tried to enter the world?s elite aircraft manufacturers. Success also came to her only in the mid-?90s, when Embraer concentrated its efforts on the creation of small regional jets, frozen for the time being everything other areas of development and production. After releasing its first regional jet in 1996, the company began to actively develop the national market is gradually going beyond its limits and opening up distribution centers in the U.S., Asia, Europe and even Australia.
Embraer is among the priority projects of the Brazilian Development Bank for many years, being one of the largest recipients of loans and the principal beneficiary of the support program. Moreover, the promotion of Embraer BNDES has helped not only with money. Hard skhlestnuvshis with Canadian Bombardier orders in the struggle for air carriers around the world, BNDES was able to fight off claims fraught with serious sanctions Canadians in the WTO, accusing Embraer in the presence of export subsidies by the state.
Canoe-goers navigate flooded streets as flooding continues to worsen and Tropical Storm Debby pounds the Tampa Bay, Fla., area Sunday, June 24, 2012. Tropical Storm Debby continued to churn in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Tampa Bay Tribune, Chris Zuppa)
Canoe-goers navigate flooded streets as flooding continues to worsen and Tropical Storm Debby pounds the Tampa Bay, Fla., area Sunday, June 24, 2012. Tropical Storm Debby continued to churn in the Gulf of Mexico. (AP Photo/Tampa Bay Tribune, Chris Zuppa)
High winds, high tide strike at the main street of Cedar Key, Fla., as Tropical Storm Debby makes it's way across the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday, June 24, 2012. Parts of Florida, including the Panhandle, remain under a tropical storm warning as Debby churns off the Gulf Coast. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
A young girl reacts to a breaking waves at Cedar Key, Fla., as Tropical Storm Debby makes it's way across the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday, June 24, 2012 drenching the Gulf coast of Florida in it's wake. Parts of Florida, including the Panhandle, remain under a tropical storm warning as Debby churns off the Gulf Coast. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
Water sneaks into a restaurant in Cedar Key, Fla. as Tropical Storm Debby churns on the Florida Gulf coast waiting to makes its way across the Gulf of Mexico early Sunday, June 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)
This NOAA satellite image taken Monday, June 25, 2012 at 1:45 a.m. EDT shows Tropical Storm Debby located about 90 miles southwest of Apalachicola, Florida with maximum sustained winds near 60 mph and higher gusts. A Tropical Storm Warning remains in effect for areas from the Mississippi-Alabama border eastward to the Suwannee River Florida. A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for areas south of the Suwannee River to Englewood, Florida. (AP PHOTO/WEATHER UNDERGROUND)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) ? Tropical Storm Debby drenched Florida with heavy rains, flooded low-lying neighborhoods and knocked out power to thousands of homes and businesses as it lingered off the state's coast Monday.
The governor declared a statewide emergency, and a tropical storm warning was in effect for most of Florida's Gulf coast. At least one person was killed by a twister in Florida, and crews in Alabama searched for a man who disappeared in rough surf Sunday.
In St. Pete Beach on Florida's Gulf coast, a tornado ripped the roof off a marina and an apartment complex, and felled fences, trees and signs.
Kourosh Bakhtiarian's yard was flooded. He said people were driving around to survey the area, and he was upset police hadn't closed off the neighborhood streets.
"We have a lot of visitors from outside of this area. They just want to see exactly where the disaster is. I mean, this is not the happiest time. Usually people come to the beach when it's sunny and nice and they can go to get a tan. But today, we saw a lot of visitors here."
State officials estimated at least 35,000 homes and businesses were without power, including Bakhtiarian's home.
The storm closed the sole bridge to St. George Island, a popular vacation island in Florida. Power was already out on the island and authorities said it could be for days.
"The tourists cleared out. It's not a good thing and hurts the economy during a week in peak season," said Patrick Sparks, 26, a manager at Eddy Teach's bar. "It's a tropical storm ? it's not even a category one (hurricane). It's a little rash to send everyone home."
Residents in several counties near the crook of Florida's elbow were urged to leave low-lying neighborhoods because of the threat of flooding. Shelters were opened in some areas.
High winds forced the closure of an interstate bridge that spans Tampa Bay and links St. Petersburg with areas to the southeast. In several locations, homes and businesses were damaged by high winds authorities believe were from tornadoes.
The constant barrage of wind and rain triggered fears of the widespread flooding that occurred across the Florida Panhandle during Hurricane Dennis in 2005.
Debby's center was essentially stationary about 50 miles (80 kilometers) south of Apalachicola. Debby's top sustained winds were around 45 mph (72 kph) with little change in strength expected over the next day or so. The forecast map indicated the storm would crawl northeast, eventually coming ashore in Florida later this week. However, a storm's path is difficult to discern days in advance.
Underscoring the unpredictable nature of tropical storms, forecasters at one point thought Debby would head west toward Texas.
"There are always going to be errors in making predictions. There is never going to be a perfect forecast," said Chris Landsea, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center.
The storm is moving slowly, allowing its clouds more time to unload rain. A public advisory said parts of northern Florida could get 10 to 15 inches of rain, with some areas getting as much as 25 inches.
The Highlands County Sheriff's Office said several tornadoes moved through the area southeast of Tampa, damaging homes.
Sheriff's office spokeswoman Nell Hays said a woman was found dead in a house in Venus that was destroyed in the storm. A child found in the same house was taken to the hospital.
No further information was available on the child's condition or either person's age.
In Orange Beach, Ala., fire and rescue workers searched for a South Carolina man who was vacationing with his family when he went under. His name and hometown were not immediately released.
As of Sunday, 23 percent of oil and gas production in the region had been suspended, according to a government hurricane response team. Employees have been evacuated from 13 drilling rigs and 61 production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico.
The storm was not expected to result in higher oil and gas prices.
"It's largely a non-event for oil," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service.
___
Farrington reported from St. George Island. Associated Press writers Freida Frisaro in Miami; Gary Fineout in Tallahassee; and AP Auto Writer Dee-Ann Durbin in Detroit, contributed to this report.
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