Broad risk flight; gold eyes worst two days since 1983

By Veronica Brown and Barani Krishnan

LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gold headed for its biggest two-day drop in 30 years on Monday and oil, copper and grains prices also tumbled as investors fled most financial markets after disappointing Chinese economic data underscored global growth worries.

With U.S. stocks on track for their first two-day losing streak in a month and Treasuries prices near flat, few assets appeared to be taking in new money amid growing caution the world economy was headed for another recession.

"I think everyone's going cash. People are either not deploying capital or just taking profit," said Sean McGillivray, vice president of asset allocation at Oregon's Great Wealth Pacific Management, a commodities-focused asset manager.

Commodities-linked currencies such as the Australian and New Zealand dollars declined more than 1 percent against the U.S. currency, weighing further on energy, metals and crop prices.

"Nearly every commodity has taken a hit today. The only markets in the world that have been kind of detached from this are the German and French stock markets and U.S. large cap stocks," said James Dailey at Pennsylvania-based TEAM Financial Asset Management.

The 19-commodity Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a globally watched indicator, fell 2 percent and headed for its sharpest one-day loss since mid-September. The index hit its lowest level since the end of June.

GOLD TUMBLES

Gold, which dropped 5 percent on Friday, sunk nearly 8 percent more on Monday, sliding deeper into bear territory. The precious metal's spot price fell over $30 in a matter of minutes at one point, breaching support at $1,400 per ounce.

The sharp selloff in gold came as an "unexpected event" to many hedge funds, said long-time gold investor John Burbank, who runs San Francisco-based hedge fund Passport Capital.

Oil fared scarcely better than gold, sliding nearly 3 percent. Other precious metals were caught in the downdraft, with silver briefly dropping 10 percent. Industrial metals plummeted, with copper at its lowest price in over a year.

Wheat led the decline in grains, falling nearly 3 percent. In other crops, arabica coffee plumbed a near 3-year low.

Both oil and gold have been under substantial selling pressure since last week. Bullion has come off the most, shedding around 9.5 percent since last Monday's close, while crude has lost about 3.5 percent.

Gold was under pressure from a variety of factors, including a proposed sale of Cypriot gold holdings, and more fund-based investors headed for the exits after China's data on Monday.

China's economy grew 7.7 percent in the first quarter, undershooting market expectations for an 8.0 percent expansion and frustrating investor hopes that the world's No. 2 economy would rebound after posting its weakest growth in 13 years in 2012.

CHINA DEEPENS SELLOFF

The weaker-than-forecast GDP growth was backed by slower increases in China's industrial production and fixed-asset investment, despite strong lending growth in March. Besides being the world's No. 2 economy, China is the biggest buyer of industrial metals and many other commodities.

"If you want to be worried about China, there's plenty to keep you awake at night," said Sean Corrigan, chief investment strategist at Diapason Commodities Management in Switzerland.

By 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT), spot gold hovered around $1,365 an ounce, after hitting a two-year low at $1,384.69. The liquidation in gold was widespread, with selling pressure coming from exchange-traded funds to even physical buyers in China and India, who have long supported the shiny metal.

"This is a market that has only got one thing on its mind ... get me out," said David Govett, head of precious metals at Marex Spectron in London.

Brent crude oil sank below $101 a barrel to a nine-month low and was threatening to break below $100 for the first time since early July. It was down about 15 percent from this year's peak of $119.17 reached in early February.

Prior to the latest Chinese and U.S. data, the International Energy Agency, the U.S. Energy Information Administration and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries had already lowered their global oil demand growth for 2013.

FED EXTENDS WORRY

Aside from worries over the economy, investors were also spooked by thoughts that the U.S. Federal Reserve may end sooner rather than later its bond-buying binge that has supported commodity and stock prices for over two years now. The Fed started the stimulus action to help the economic recovery after the financial crisis.

"What we now see is panic selling, perhaps triggered by the Fed's stimulus view," said Dominic Schnider, an analyst at UBS Wealth Management.

Minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's March policy meeting released last week showed some officials keen on ending the stimulus this year, though the minutes predated last month's poor non-farm payrolls data and Friday's weak retail sales.

In copper, the benchmark three-month contract in London fell to its lowest level in 1-1/2 years to $7,085 a tonne, while aluminum hit a 3-1/2 year low.

(Additional reporting by Manolo Serapio Jr in Singapore and Eric onstad in London; Editing by Jane Baird and Jim Marshall)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gold-set-worst-two-day-loss-since-1983-134909062--finance.html

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Prisoners, guards clash over Guantanamo Bay raid

MIAMI (AP) ? Months of increased tension at the Guantanamo Bay prison boiled over into a clash between guards and detainees Saturday as the military closed a communal section of the facility and moved its inmates into single cells.

The violence erupted during an early morning raid that military officials said was necessary because prisoners had covered up security cameras and windows as part of a weekslong protest and hunger strike over their indefinite confinement and conditions at the U.S. base in Cuba.

Prisoners fought guards with makeshift weapons that included broomsticks and mop handles when troops arrived to move them out of a communal wing of the section of the prison known as Camp 6, said Navy Capt. Robert Durand, a military spokesman. Guards responded by firing four "less-than-lethal rounds," he said.

There were no serious injuries from the rounds, which included a modified shotgun shell that fires small rubber pellets as well as a type of bean-bag projectile, said Army Col. Greg Julian, a spokesman for Miami-based U.S. Southern Command, which oversees the prison at the U.S. base in Cuba.

"I know for sure that one detainee was hit but the injuries were minor, just some bruises," Julian said.

The confrontation came a day after a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross finished a three-week visit to Guantanamo to meet with prisoners and assess conditions.

"The ICRC continues to follow the current tensions and the hunger strike at Guantanamo very closely and with concern," spokesman Simon Schorno said. "If necessary, an ICRC team will in coming days return to Guantanamo to assess the situation of the detainees on hunger strike in view of this latest development."

Camp 6 had previously been a section of the camp reserved for detainees who followed prison rules. In exchange they were allowed to share meals and pray together, have nearly round-the-clock recreation time as well as access to satellite TV, computer games and classes. It held a majority of the 166 prisoners at the base before the hunger strike began, but the military said the number was down to fewer than 70 on Saturday.

Prisoners in the communal section had access to materials with which to make some of the improvised weapons used in the clash with guards. Durand said troops were confronted with batons made with tape and plastic water bottles, about three to four feet long and "as big around as a broomstick," he said.

The guards moved the hunger strikers and all other detainees at the communal section to single cells in a separate wing of Camp 6 around 5 a.m. Prisoners will eventually be allowed back into communal living conditions in the future if they follow rules. Hunger strikers will be allowed back into the communal section eventually as well if they follow the rules, Durand said.

"For now, housing detainees in individual cells will enable us to observe them more closely," he said. He said one of the concerns of military officials was that some prisoners might have been coerced into participating in the hunger strike.

Tensions had been high at the prison for months. Lawyers for prisoners said a hunger strike began Feb. 6 in protest over their indefinite confinement and what the men believed were tighter restrictions and intrusive searches of their Qurans for contraband. Prisoners offered to give up the Muslim holy book that each one is issued by the government but officials refused, considering it a tacit admission of wrongdoing.

"This is exactly the opposite of what they should be doing," Carlos Warner, a federal public defender in Ohio, said of the decision to move prisoners into single cells instead of negotiating an end to the strike. "The military is escalating the conflict."

The military said 43 prisoners were classified as hunger strikers under a definition that includes missing nine consecutive meals. Lawyers for prisoners have insisted the strike is much more widespread and say almost all of the men are refusing to eat.

Officials were also concerned that some men were surreptitiously starving themselves to avoid being classified as hunger strikers and force fed. The military said it was conducting individual assessments of all the prisoners.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/prisoners-guards-clash-over-guantanamo-bay-raid-214116253.html

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Anti-euro party a wildcard in German elections

BERLIN (AP) ? It's a spectacle that Germans are getting tired of: southern European protesters burning their flags and waving placards comparing Chancellor Angela Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler, all in reaction to Berlin's insistence on reforms and austerity in return for bailout funds.

And it's enough to make people such as Berlin businessman Horst Freiberg, who never felt much love for the euro currency, pine more than ever for the return of the German mark.

"I'd immediately vote for a party that wants to abolish the euro," said Freiberg, who has run a small business selling ink stamps in central Berlin for more than 40 years. "How can you have one currency with banana republics like Cyprus and Greece? And they always accuse us of being Nazis. It's sick."

Such sentiments are still the exception in Germany, where a sense of obligation to help fellow Europeans in distress is rooted in shame for the crimes of the Third Reich. But a new political party hopes to capitalize on simmering fears that the euro crisis could deepen and drag down Europe's biggest economy. It aims to garner enough votes from people like Freiberg in September elections to reach the 5 percent minimum needed for seats in Parliament.

Called Alternative for Germany, the main goal of the party founded by academics and economists is the "orderly dissolution" of the euro, said Frauke Petry, a business owner and party spokeswoman.

The stance puts the party in sharp opposition to Merkel's position that there can be no Europe without the preservation of the single currency, with her repeated insistence that "if the euro fails, Europe will fail." While still a fledgling movement, the new party could hurt Merkel by sapping support from her main coalition partner ? which she has relied on for a stable government.

"For us, the euro is at the heart of many problems," Petry told The Associated Press. "The way decisions are being made in Europe right now shows that many democratic mechanisms don't work anymore," she said. Alternative for Germany wants to introduce Swiss-style national referendums so voters can have a say on important matters ? including economic rescue packages.

On Sunday, Alternative for Germany held its founding congress to adopt a program and vote for a party board. More than 1,500 members filled two spacious halls at the city's upscale Intercontinental Hotel in Berlin, most of them elderly men.

Many expressed anger about what they said have been unfair money transfers from German taxpayers to help bail out countries such as Cyprus and Greece.

"This party has good ideas," said Andreas Fluegge, 49, a software specialist from Limburgerhof in the country's southwest. "The euro is a big problem for us. Since we have had the euro I'm making less money and paying more taxes for things I don't understand. I hope these politicians will change this."

For all the talk about what it doesn't like, however, the party has been short on what it does like, and its leaders were slammed in an editorial this week in the top-selling Bild newspaper as "political amateurs."

The conservative tabloid has never shied away from accusing southern Europeans of being lazy, nor has it stopped deploring the cost Germany shoulders to bail out other nations, but turning against the euro itself remains unthinkable.

"They can craftily explain what is wrong with rescuing the euro, but they have no concept on how the future of Europe should look," Bild wrote.

Experts believe the party has little chance of garnering enough of the protest vote to reach the 5 percent threshold. But it could draw enough voters away from Merkel's center-right coalition to force her into an alliance with the opposition or give the opposition an outright majority.

"There is space for an anti-euro party in Germany," said Oskar Niedermayer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. "So far this position hasn't really been represented in the German party system."

Underlining the potential appeal, a recent poll showed that even though 69 percent of Germans now back the euro ? up from about 50 percent last year ? a significant minority of 27 percent said they'd like to see a return to the mark. The survey of 1,003 people was conducted April 2-3 for the business daily Handelsblatt. The poll had an estimated margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

Abandoning the euro currency would have significant costs, especially for Germany as a heavily export-oriented economy. According to analysts' estimates, it could easily knock down the country's annual output by a double digit percentage figure.

"I think the Germans know, and to some extent accept, that they have to pay the bill for saving the euro," said Ursula Weidenfeld, an economist and author. "They just want to make sure that they aren't paying more than necessary."

Other nations such as the Netherlands, Austria and Finland have also insisted on the same austerity measures that Germany has demanded in exchange for European bailouts, but as the bloc's largest economy and the largest single contributor to the funds, most of the anger has been directed at Germany and Merkel.

Some of Merkel's voters are now beginning to wonder whether their country ? and their savings ? should be tied to the struggling euro project, and Weidenfeld said support for the euro "could quickly change if a new rescue package has to be negotiated."

Should the eurozone's woes spread to fully engulf Italy or Spain ? the bloc's third- and fourth-largest economies ? and require them to ask for a bailout, German voters could panic, said Niedermayer.

In Germany's election in September, the issue poses the greatest threat to the Free Democratic Party, Merkel's junior coalition partner which has a pro-business platform. Because the party has polled only slightly above five percent, even the loss of a few thousand voters could mean disaster.

"It's not impossible that this new party could sap half a percent from the FDP and thereby kick them out of parliament," said Niedermayer. That could create a huge headache for Merkel, who may find it hard to form a workable majority in parliament without the FDP.

Merkel's own party, too, could suffer if conservative voters see Alternative for Germany as a credible way to express their frustration about her leadership.

Economist Rudolf Hickel told Germany's Deutsche Welle, however, that even though there is anti-euro sentiment out there, Alternative for Germany doesn't have broad enough appeal to effectively tap it.

"They are professors and frustrated economists," he said. "If the party were headed by a populist, I'd consider them dangerous."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/anti-euro-party-wildcard-german-elections-060420112.html

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Steve Sailer: iSteve: L.A. Times: "Immigration bill would spark surge ...

From the L.A. Times:

Immigration bill would spark surge of legal arrivals?

The immigration debate often focuses on people in the U.S. illegally, but a reform bill's biggest initial effect could be a sharp rise in legal immigration.

By Brian Bennett and Lisa Mascaro, Washington Bureau ?

April 13, 2013, 8:13 p.m.?

WASHINGTON ? While much of the debate over immigration has focused on the fate of the estimated 11 million people in the U.S. without legal authorization, one of the biggest immediate impacts of the reform bill being prepared in the Senate would be a sudden, large surge in legal migration.?

The U.S. admits about 1 million legal immigrants per year, more than any other country. That number could jump by more than 50% over the next decade under the terms of the immigration reform bill that a bipartisan group of senators expects to unveil as early as Tuesday. The impact would be felt nationwide, but areas that already have large immigrant communities would probably see much of the increase.?

The immigration package includes at least four major provisions that would increase the number of legal immigrants, according to people familiar with it. Some of the parts could generate as much controversy as the provisions dealing with those who enter the country illegally or overstay their visas, according to those with long experience of the politics of immigration.?

Supporters say that higher levels of legal immigration would meet the U.S. need for certain kinds of workers. Increased legal migration also would reduce most of the incentive for illegal border crossings, backers of the plan say, and would allow border agents to focus on smugglers and people with violent criminal records.?

Opponents such as Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who has long opposed measures to increase immigration levels, say new workers would depress wages and crowd out Americans looking for work during a time of persistently high unemployment.?

"The masters of the universe in glass towers and suites, they may not be impacted by this, but millions of struggling American families will," Sessions said in an interview Friday. "We do need to be sure we aren't exacerbating unemployment and wage erosion in America."

Good first sentence, Jeff. Work on the second one.

The surge would come in several ways: The bill aims to eliminate the current backlog of roughly 4 million people waiting to be reunited with family members in the U.S. The 11 million now in the country without legal authorization would be eligible for citizenship only after that backlog was resolved. Reunification efforts would require boosting the number of visas issued each year.

You know, if they really want to reunite, they can always go home.

To keep the additional inflow under control, the bill would stop allowing adult siblings of immigrants to qualify, but children and parents would continue to be eligible.?

In addition to family unification, which allows people into the country permanently, the bill also aims to increase temporary visas for both high-wage and low-wage workers. The number of visas for high-tech workers could nearly double to more than 120,000 per year.

Because Mark Zuckerberg isn't rich enough.

At the other end of the wage scale, a new visa system would allow businesses to bring in workers for jobs including janitors, housekeepers and meatpackers.

Because nothing says well-paid like janitor, housekeeper, or meatpacker. Because nothing says high test scores like the children of janitors, housekeepers, and meatpackers.

The numbers would start small, but as the unemployment rate declined, it could reach 200,000 a year by the end of the decade. And growers could bring a total of about 330,000 new farmworkers into the country during the decade. At least some of those low-wage temporary workers eventually would be allowed to seek permanent residency.

The bill's authors expect that legal immigration eventually would decline again, but only 10 years after the bill passed, once the backlog of residency applications shrank.

Just keep repeating to yourself: "But it's good for The Economy. Who am I to stand in the way of The Economy? The Economy doesn't exist for me, I exist for The Economy."

Source: http://isteve.blogspot.com/2013/04/la-times-immigration-bill-would-spark.html

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Secrets of bacterial slime revealed

Apr. 12, 2013 ? Newcastle University scientists have revealed the mechanism that causes a slime to form, making bacteria hard to shift and resistant to antibiotics.

When under threat, some bacteria can shield themselves in a slimy protective layer, known as a biofilm. It is made up of communities of bacteria held together to protect themselves from attack.

Biofilms cause dental plaque and sinusitis; in healthcare, biofilms can lead to life threatening and difficult to treat infections, particularly on medical implants such as catheters, heart valves, artificial hips and even breast implants. They also they coat the outside of ships and boats polluting the water.

Publishing in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, the team reveal how a molecular switch regulates biofilm formation. This new understanding could help identify a new target for antibiotics and prevent other biofilms from forming.

In order to thwart them from causing disease and biopollution, a Newcastle University team have been studying at the molecular level how bacteria form biofilms in the first instance.

They reveal how the master regulator of biofilm formation, a protein called SinR, acts in the model bacterium, Bacillus subtilis.

Richard Lewis, Professor of Structural Biology in the Institute for Cell and Molecular Biosciences who led the research said: "SinR is a bit like a rocker switch, a domestic light switch for instance. In the "down" position, when SinR is bound to DNA, the proteins required to make a biofilm are turned off and the bacteria are free to move. In the "up" position, SinR is no longer bound to DNA and instead interacts with other proteins, and the biofilms genes are turned on."

SinR is a DNA-binding protein that acts to inhibit the expression of proteins required for the synthesis of the molecular glue that holds the biofilm together. The ability of SinR to bind to DNA is carefully controlled by a network of interactions with three other proteins. By the application of X-ray crystallography, the team have determined precisely how SinR interacts with very specific feature of its DNA target.

By understanding how the proteins interact with each other, and with DNA, scientists can look to develop molecules that interfere with these essential processes as a means to stop biofilms from forming.

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Newcastle University.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. J. A. Newman, C. Rodrigues, R. J. Lewis. Molecular Basis of the Activity of SinR Protein, the Master Regulator of Biofilm Formation in Bacillus subtilis. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2013; 288 (15): 10766 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M113.455592

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/x0aTqNmybYM/130412132413.htm

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PebbleOS 1.10 supports third-party watch faces, sorts out iOS issues

Pebble has been on a rapid cadence with smartwatch updates to justify those crowdfunded dollars, and it's not letting up just because watch shipments are well underway. PebbleOS 1.10 has arrived with support for custom watch faces built using the matching SDK. The revamp will be especially helpful for iOS users -- we see several fixes for crashes, permissions and power in store. Everyone gets options to disable backlighting and vibrations in certain conditions, too. As such, there's every reason to fire up the Pebble app for an upgrade, even if it's just for some visual variety.

[Thanks, Uday]

Filed under: Peripherals, Wearables

Comments

Source: Pebble (1), (2)

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/gO4Y27Lhu_8/

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Code In Twitter Music's Placeholder Page Shows Web Interface, Track Purchasing, Charts And Service Integrations

Since we have nothing much to go on other than a static landing page for Twitter #music, some folks didfurther inspection within the CSS on the login page, and certain features and integrations became apparent. We’ve reached out to Twitter to confirm what we’ve seen, and we’ll update our story once we hear back. Until then, here’s what can be taken from the styling code itself, picked up on by desginer Youssef Sarhan: - Both web interface and separate downloadable app - Pull in Tracks from iTunes, Spotify, Soundcloud and Rdio - YouTube and Vevo integration - We Are Hunted’s charts feature - Turn playing tracks on/off - Track purchasing - Tweet a track .iconmusic-spotify-connect-btn{background-position:-4431px -0px;height:32px;width:179px} .iconmusic-player-source-rdio{background-position:-2801px -0px;height:19px;width:30px} .iconmusic-player-source-itunes{background-position:-2751px -0px;height:19px;width:30px} .iconmusic-player-source-soundcloud{background-position:- 2851px -0px;height:14px;width:92px} .iconmusic-player-source-vevo{background-position:-2963px -0px;height:9px;width:53px} .youtube-vid player{position:absolute;padding:10px;height:200px} While this is in no way a finalized “feature set” for the Twitter #Music app, it is more information than we had before and confirmation of what we’ve seen others testing out on Twitter, which are basically embedded music players in Twitter Cards. And of course, since this is a Twitter-owned page, so the code speaks for itself. Here’s a look at what the player will look like, again referenced in the CSS for the page: Here’s that on/off switch for playing tracks: These are some random graphical elements that point to what services will be included as well: In addition to all of this, it looks like Twitter will be bringing in bios of musicians, perhaps from their Twitter profiles. All of this integration makes complete sense and perhaps the selling of music will be controlled by the artist themselves. If you’re listening to a track that someone shared from Spotify and want to purchase it immediately, it doesn’t matter which service Twitter hooks into, there’s a good chance that you’re going to follow through with your purchase. This could mean big bucks for Twitter as it marches towards going public, perhaps as early as next year. This all gives us more of a sense of what the #Music service itself might look like, even though we have no screenshots to prove it. Much in the way that Twitter set up “hashtag pages” for brands such as NASCAR, Twitter is taking all of the data that it’s currently collecting and just showing it off in a different, more consumable way. If #Music becomes a full-featured service that artists can use to sell

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/GHUWN63rVqk/

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