American art takes the stage at the Louvre (AP)

PARIS ? American tourists fill the galleries of the Louvre Museum, yet American art is surprisingly scarce.

Paris' premier museum and three U.S. art institutions are seeking to change that with an exhibit tracing the birth of American landscape painting and its influences.

"As soon as I arrived at the Louvre, I noticed that American art was not displayed at the level it merits," said Louvre director Henri Loyrette.

Even the exhibit's English-French melange of a name breaks tradition: It's called "New Frontier: l'art americain entre au Louvre," or "American Art Enters the Louvre."

It focuses on Thomas Cole, a pioneer of the Hudson River School of American landscape painters of the 19th century.

Cole's "The Cross in Solitude," from 1845 and in the Louvre collection, is joined by other loaned works including "The Last of the Mohicans" and work of his disciples.

The other partners in the exhibit are Atlanta's High Museum of Art, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas, and Chicago's Terra Foundation for American Art.

Curator Guillaume Faroult described how Cole and fellow painter Asher Durand drew inspiration from a 19th century visit to the Louvre, home of centuries of artwork by European and other masters. The exhibit includes paintings that influenced Cole's work.

The show includes conferences and projects aimed at improving the French public's knowledge of early American art. The exhibit, which opened Saturday, runs through April 16.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120115/ap_en_ot/eu_france_americans_at_the_louvre

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Afghan president welcomes US remarks on Taliban (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan ? Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday welcomed remarks from the Obama administration saying that Taliban insurgents were not America's enemies.

Earlier this month, Vice President Joe Biden said in an interview with Newsweek magazine that the Islamist militants did not represent a threat to U.S. interests unless they continued to shelter al-Qaida.

Biden's comments came amid reports that the Obama administration and other governments are trying to establish a peace process with the Taliban to help end the 10-year war.

"I am very happy that the American government has announced that the Taliban are not their enemies," Karzai said in a speech to the Afghan Academy of Sciences. "We hope that this message will help the Afghans reach peace and stability."

A senior U.S. official has told The Associated Press that Washington plans to continue a series of secret meetings with Taliban representatives in Europe and the Persian Gulf region next year.

The U.S. outreach this year had progressed to the point that there was active discussion of two steps the Taliban seeks as precursors to negotiations, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

Trust-building measures under discussion involve setting up a Taliban headquarters office and the release from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, of about five Afghan prisoners believed affiliated with the Taliban.

On Tuesday, Karzai said his government would accept the Taliban establishing a liaison office in Turkey, Qatar or Saudi Arabia for the purpose of holding peace talks.

Meanwhile, NATO troops on Saturday handed over responsibility for security in three districts of the embattled southern Helmand province to Afghan forces.

Helmand governor's office said these included Marjah district ? the site of a major offensive by coalition forces last year. Coalition operations to rout the Taliban in February 2010 yielded slower than expected returns, but a troop buildup later in the year pushed insurgents out of the main center of the district.

Nad Ali, which had been run by British troops, also transitioned from NATO to Afghan security control, a statement said.

The handovers in Helmand are part of the second phase in a transition NATO and Karzai hope will leave Afghan forces in control of the entire country by the end of 2014, when the U.S.-led coalition's combat mission is scheduled to end.

Meanwhile, in London the Ministry of Defense announced that one of the two NATO service members killed in Afghanistan on Friday was a British soldier. The death brought to 394 the number of British troops who have died since the start of operations in Afghanistan in 2001.

A total of 27 NATO troops have died so far in December, while the year's toll is 543. The yearly total is considerably lower than for 2010, when more than 700 troops died.

___

Associated Press writer Rahim Faiez contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111231/ap_on_re_as/as_afghanistan

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Court OKs immunity for telecoms in wiretap case

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) ? A federal appeals court has ruled as constitutional a law giving telecommunications companies legal immunity for helping the government with its email and telephone eavesdropping program.

Thursday's unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court decision regarding the 2008 law.

The appeal concerned a case that consolidated 33 different lawsuits filed against various telecom companies, including AT&T, Sprint Nextel, Verizon Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. on behalf of these companies' customers.

The court noted comments made by the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence regarding the legal immunity's role in helping the government gather intelligence.

"It emphasized that electronic intelligence gathering depends in great part on cooperation from private companies ... and that if litigation were allowed to proceed against persons allegedly assisting in such activities, 'the private sector might be unwilling to cooperate with lawful government requests in the future,'" Judge M. Margaret McKeown said.

The plaintiffs, represented by lawyers including the San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union, accuse the companies of violating the law and the privacy of its customers through collaboration with National Security Agency on intelligence gathering.

The case stemmed from new surveillance rules passed by Congress in 2008 that included protection from legal liability for telecommunications companies that allegedly helped the U.S. spy on Americans without warrants.

"I'm very disappointed. I think the court reaches to try to put lipstick on a pig here," said Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who argued the case before the panel. "I think what Congress did was an abdication of its duty to protect people from illegal surveillance."

Thursday did not bring all bad news for plaintiffs challenging the government's surveillance efforts.

In a separate opinion on Thursday, a three-judge panel of the court revived two other lawsuits that seek redress for telecom customers whose information may have been compromised by the warrantless surveillance program.

Two groups of telecom customers sued the NSA for violating their privacy by collecting Internet data from AT&T and other major telecom companies in the surveillance program authorized by President George W. Bush.

Government lawyers have moved to stop such cases, arguing that defending the program in court would jeopardize national security and expose state secrets.

The suits will be sent back to U.S. District Court in San Francisco.

Emails seeking comment from AT&T and the U.S. Department of Justice weren't immediately returned.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/f70471f764144b2fab526d39972d37b3/Article_2011-12-30-Warrantless%20Wiretapping/id-1c1ae0fd5fc24268bff199b0513f9b9d

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Putin says ready for talks with Russian opposition (Reuters)

MOSCOW (Reuters) ? Vladimir Putin softened his tone towards the protesters who have staged the biggest political rallies of his 12-year rule, saying on Wednesday he was ready for dialogue with Russia's opposition but was at a loss for a leader to hold talks with.

Tens of thousands gathered in central Moscow on Saturday to protest against election results that gave Putin's United Russia party a majority in the lower house of parliament, or Duma. International monitors said the vote was marred by violations.

The demonstrators demanded a re-run of the election and a resignation of the Central Election Commission chief Vladimir Churov, Putin's close ally.

The Kremlin flagged a series of political reforms aimed at pacifying the opposition but said there will not be a re-run of the election.

Putin, who initially dismissed the demonstrators as paid agents seeking to destabilize Russia in the interests of its external foes, has been gradually changing his tone, admitting that protesters "also deserved respect."

"The dialogue should take place. In what form? I will think about it," Putin said when he visited the government's media centre to toast champagne with reporters ahead of the New Year holiday.

"They should formulate some kind of shared platform ... Who do we talk to?" he said, adding that popular anti-corruption blogger Alexei Navalny was one of the leaders but there also were others.

Putin has held two meetings with his former finance minister, Alexei Kudrin, seen by some opposition activists as the most acceptable face for dialogue among Putin's inner circle, to discuss the protests.

Putin denied he sent Kudrin to the December 24 demonstration to mediate between the protesters and authorities.

"Again about Kudrin. I did not send him there, he went himself, he is a grown-up boy," Putin said.

SECONDARY QUESTIONS

Putin, accused of being out of touch with the growing protest movement, has walked a thin line between questioning the opposition's credibility as a real political force and addressing protesters' concerns in the country of 140 million.

Despite his falling popularity ratings and the opposition movement gaining momentum, Putin - who became prime minister in 2008 after eight years as president - still looks set to win the March 2012 presidential election.

Russia's opposition, marginalized under Putin's tightly controlled political system, have been galvanized by the protests but have failed to unite behind a single leader.

Putin said the demonstrators were made up of a mix of marginalized liberal movements, communists and nationalists, who had so far failed to reach a common set of demands.

"Is there a common platform there? No there isn't," he said. "We need to talk to everybody about their claims, about their problems, but it requires some thinking."

Putin, who provoked outrage among opposition by saying he mistook white ribbons they wore for condoms, rebuked reporters for asking him "secondary" questions about the protests, saying his energy deals were more important.

"Instead of making up some secondary questions, you should think about what has just happened - we got a permission from Turkey to build the South Stream pipeline. Do you know that this is a big event in the European energy sphere," Putin said.

Turkey gave Russia permission on Wednesday to build the pipeline through its territory, supplying the missing piece needed by Moscow to secure markets for its gas in Europe.

Putin said he saw the economic downturn in the European Union, Russia's largest trade partner, and not the protests as the biggest problem for Russia next year, which can potentially aggravate the capital flight from the country.

"The markets are tightening, they (in Europe) do not have enough liquidity, they start pulling the money out of emerging markets, and the money trickle out from us as well," Putin said.

(Editing by Alison Williams)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/russia/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111228/wl_nm/us_russia_putin_opposition

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India, Japan Agree to USD 15 Bn Currency Swap

India and Japan today agreed to a dollar swap agreement of USD 15 billion, a move which will help stabilise the rupee and boost trade between the two countries.

An earlier USD 3 billion arrangement, that came into force in 2008, had expired in June.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda "decided to enhance the earlier bilateral currency swap arrangement from USD 3 billion to USD 15 billion," a joint statement said.

The dollar swap arrangement would help India in supporting the rupee, which has depreciated by about 15-16 per cent against the US currency since April due to various global and domestic factors.

The arrangement would provide a supply of the US dollar in an unforeseen economic situation. New Delhi will have access to funds from Bank of Japan, which it can return at a later date.

The two leaders expressed hope that the enhancement will further strengthen financial cooperation, contribute to ensuring financial market stability and further develop growing economic and trade ties between the countries, the statement said.

The two Prime Ministers also decided to accelerate efforts by the relevant authorities for an early realisation of the some projects including seawater desalination at Dahej, a micro-grid system using large-scale photo-voltaic power generation at Neemrana and gas-fired independent power producer in Maharashtra, it said.

The leaders also decided to strengthen efforts to improve infrastructure such as ports, industrial parks and their surrounding facilities in Ennore, Chennai and the adjoining areas, it added.

? Copyright PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of any PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without their prior written consent.

Source: http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?745851

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Syria: Army Withdraws Tanks From Homs After Days Of Attacks

BEIRUT ? After days of punishing assaults, Syria's army began withdrawing tanks from the restive city of Homs on Tuesday just as a team of Arab League observers was on its way to the central city, according to activists and an Arab official.

Opposition activist Mohammed Saleh said the heavy bombardment of Homs stopped Tuesday morning and tanks were seen pulling out of the streets. Another Homs-based activist said he saw armored vehicles leaving early Tuesday on a highway leading to the city of Palmyra to the east. He asked that his name not be made public for fear of retribution.

For days, military forces had pounded Homs with artillery despite agreeing to an Arab League plan to stop the bloodshed. The Arab monitoring mission is meant to ensure the government complies with the deal to halt the nine-month crackdown on dissent.

Opponents of President Bashar Assad, however, doubt that the Arab League can budge the autocratic leader at the head of one of the Middle East's most repressive regimes.

Syria's top opposition leader Burhan Ghalioun called Sunday for the League to bring the U.N. Security Council into the effort. The U.N. says more than 5,000 people have been killed since March in the political violence.

In Cairo, an official at the Arab League's operations room said the Sudanese head of the mission to Syria, Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, was leading a team of at least 12 observers on their way to Homs Tuesday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to journalists, gave no further details.

Homs, Syria's third largest city, has a population of 800,000 and is at the epicenter of the revolt against Assad, located about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the capital, Damascus. Many Syrians refer to Homs as the "Capital of the Revolution."

On Monday, security forces killed at least 42 people, most of them in Homs.

"Today is calm, unlike pervious days," Saleh said on Tuesday. "The shelling went on for days, but yesterday was terrible."

The Arab League plan agreed to by Assad last week requires the government to remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country. Before Tuesday's redeployment of at least some tanks, there had been no sign that Assad was implementing any of the terms, much less letting up on his brutal crackdown.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/27/syria-army-withdraws-tanks_n_1170631.html

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Jason Alexander: ?Britney Spears? Engagement Is Fake?

Jason Alexander: “Britney Spears’ Engagement Is Fake”

Britney Spears‘ former husband of 55 hours, childhood pal Jason Alexander, has slammed the singer’s engagement to Jason Trawick. Britney’s fiance Jason Trawick is her [...]

Jason Alexander: “Britney Spears’ Engagement Is Fake” Stupid Celebrities Gossip Stupid Celebrities Gossip News

Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2011/12/21/jason-alexander-britney-spears-engagement-is-fake/

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