Pakistan questions its role in US war on terror

ISLAMABAD ?? Enraged by a NATO cross-border air attack that killed 24 soldiers, Pakistan is considering withdrawing its support for the U.S.-led war on terror if its sovereignty is violated again, the foreign minister suggested in comments published on Thursday.

The South Asian nation has already shown its anger over the weekend strike by pulling out of an international conference in Germany next week on Afghanistan. It stood by that decision on Wednesday, depriving the talks of a central player in efforts to bring peace to its neighbor.

"Enough is enough. The government will not tolerate any incident of spilling even a single drop of any civilian or soldier's blood," The News newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar as telling a Senate committee on foreign affairs.

U.S.-Pakistan relations, a new 'all-time low'?

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"Pakistan's role in the war on terror must not be overlooked," Khar said, suggesting Pakistan could end its support for the U.S. war on militancy. Despite opposition at home, Islamabad backed Washington after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

'Sacrifices'
Pakistan says it has paid the highest price of any country engaged in the war on militancy. Thousands of soldiers and police have been killed.

"The sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in the war on terror are more than any other country," Khar was quoted as saying. "But that does not mean we will compromise on our sovereignty."

Pakistan military sources also said it had cancelled a visit by a 15-member delegation, led by the Director General of the Joint Staff, Lieutenant-General Mohammad Asif, to the United States that was to have taken place this week.

NATO helicopters and fighter jets attacked two military border posts in northwest Pakistan on Saturday in the worst incident of its kind since 2001.

Pakistani and American officials have offered different accounts of the airstrike. But it seems clear that a breakdown in communication contributed to the tragedy.

According to U.S. military records described to The Associated Press, the incident occurred when a joint U.S. and Afghan patrol requested backup after being hit by mortar and small arms fire by Taliban militants. Before responding, the joint U.S.-Afghan patrol first checked with the Pakistani army, which reported it had no troops in the area, the military account said.

Pakistani officials have refuted this claim and said U.S. forces must have known they were attacking Pakistani soldiers because the posts were clearly marked on maps given to NATO and the two sides were in contact immediately before and during the airstrikes.

Pakistani military sources said the attack came in two waves.

"The attack began at around 12:05 a.m. and lasted for about 30 minutes, when the contacts were made and it was discontinued," one source told Reuters.

The source said NATO helicopter gunships and jet fighters came back after 35 minutes. The Pakistanis returned fire in a battle that lasted for another 45 minutes.

Pakistan releases 1st pics of attacked border posts

When it was over, 24 Pakistani soldiers were dead and 13 wounded.

The two posts in question ? Volcano and Boulder ? are perched about 8,000 feet high on a ridgeline near the Afghan border. They are among about 28 such posts in Mohmand Agency set up to prevent cross-border movements by Taliban militants, another military source said.

The source said that there were no militants in the area, however, because they had been flushed out by a Pakistani military operation conducted over the year.

'Not a deliberate attack'
The top U.S. military officer denied allegations by a senior Pakistani army official that the NATO attack was a deliberate act of aggression.

General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the U.S. military's Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Reuters in an interview: "The one thing I will say publicly and categorically is that this was not a deliberate attack.

The army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history and sets security and foreign policy, faced strong criticism from both the Pakistani public and the United States after Osama bin Laden was killed in a secret raid by U.S. special forces in May.

The al-Qaida leader had apparently been living in a Pakistani garrison town for years.

Slideshow: Pakistan: A nation in turmoil (on this page)

Pakistanis criticized the military for failing to protect their sovereignty and U.S. officials wondered whether some members of military intelligence had sheltered him. Pakistan's government and military said they had no idea bin Laden was in the country.

The army seems to have regained its confidence and won the support of the public and the government in a country where anti-American sentiment often runs high.

Protests have taken place in several cities every day since the NATO strike along the poorly-defined border, where militants often plan and stage attacks.

Story: US prepares to vacate Pakistan drone base

Meanwhile, Pakistan resumed some cooperation with U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan to prevent another cross-border incident from escalating, a spokesman said Wednesday.

NATO said Islamabad communicated with the alliance to prevent an exchange of fire over the border late Tuesday from turning into another international incident.

U.S. forces received mortar and recoilless rifle fire from an area just inside the Pakistan border, said U.S. spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Brian Badura. U.S. forces returned fire in self-defense while confirming with the Pakistani military that it wasn't involved. No damage or casualties were reported by the U.S. or Pakistan, he said.

German Brig. Gen. Carsten Jacobson, a NATO spokesman in Kabul, expressed hope that Pakistan's cooperation in resolving the incident in eastern Afghanistan's Paktia province signaled the two sides could recover from the recent tragedy.

The Pakistani military did not immediately respond to request for comment on the latest incident.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45505397/ns/world_news-south_and_central_asia/

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Egypt's Islamists poised to dominate parliament

An Egyptian protestor covers his face with a national flag near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. Partial results Wednesday showed the Muslim Brotherhood emerging as the biggest winner in Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections, and leaders of the once-banned Islamic group demanded to form the next government, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with the ruling military. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

An Egyptian protestor covers his face with a national flag near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. Partial results Wednesday showed the Muslim Brotherhood emerging as the biggest winner in Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections, and leaders of the once-banned Islamic group demanded to form the next government, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with the ruling military. (AP Photo/Bela Szandelszky)

Supporters of Egyptian candidate for the parliamentary elections Mustafa Bakri, center, surround his car as they celebrate after he was able to win a seat in the first round in South Cairo's Helwan district, Egypt Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. Partial results show the Muslim Brotherhood emerging as the biggest winner in Egypt's landmark parliamentary elections, and leaders of the once-banned Islamic group demanded to form the next government, setting the stage for a possible confrontation with the ruling military. (AP Photo)

A banner supporting Egyptian parliamentary candidate Ahmed Abd El Hameed Mohammed is pasted on a wall in the al-Azhar quarter in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. The fundamentalist Brotherhood is emerging as the biggest winner in partial results from the first voting this week in Egypt's landmark election, in which voters turned out in unexpected droves. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

T-shirts for sale are displayed in Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. Judges overseeing the vote count in Egypt's first parliamentary elections since Hosni Mubarak's ouster say near-final results show Islamist parities taking a majority of seats contested in the first round. The Arabic writing on T-shirts read, "Jan. 25, Revolution, freedom." (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

An Egyptian tobacco vendor waits for customers in the al-Azhar quarter in Cairo, Egypt, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011. The fundamentalist Brotherhood is emerging as the biggest winner in partial results from the first voting this week in Egypt's landmark election, in which voters turned out in unexpected droves. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

CAIRO (AP) ? Islamists appear to have taken a strong majority of seats in the first round of Egypt's first parliamentary vote since Hosni Mubarak's ouster, a trend that if confirmed would give religious parties a popular mandate in the struggle to win control from the ruling military and ultimately reshape a key U.S. ally.

Final results, expected Friday, will be the clearest indication in decades of Egyptians' true political views and give the long-banned Muslim Brotherhood a major role in the country's first freely elected parliament. An Islamist majority could also herald a greater role for conservative Islam in Egyptian social life and shifts in foreign policy, especially toward Israel and the Palestinians.

The showing in Egypt ? long considered a linchpin of regional stability ? would be the clearest signal yet that parties and candidates connected to political Islam will emerge as the main beneficiaries of this year's Arab Spring uprisings.

Tunisia and Morocco have both elected Islamist majorities to parliament, and while Libya has yet to announce dates for its first elections, Islamist groups have emerged as a strong force there since rebels overthrew Moammar Gadhafi in August. They also play a strong opposition role in Yemen.

Judges overseeing the Egyptian vote count said Thursday that near-complete results show the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's largest and best organized political group, could take as many as 45 percent of the contested seats.

In addition to the Muslim Brotherhood wins, parties backed by ultraconservative Salafist Muslims looked poised to take 20 percent, giving Islamist parties a striking majority in the first round of voting in key districts, including Cairo and Alexandria.

Similar results in the remaining rounds would give Islamist parties a majority in parliament, which many believe they will use to steer the long-secular U.S. ally in a more religiously conservative direction.

The Islamist victories came at the expense of a coalition of liberal parties called the Egyptian block, the group most closely linked to the youth activists who launched the anti-Mubarak uprising ? and which is expected to win only about 20 percent of seats.

In Egypt, the Brotherhood was officially banned and suppressed for decades, but built a nationwide network of activists who focused on providing services to the poor. After Mubarak's fall, the group campaigned as the Freedom and Justice Party, their organization and the Brotherhood's name-recognition giving them a big advantage over newly formed liberal parties.

The election also provided an opening for the Salafist Muslims whose strict Islamic practice is similar to that in Saudi Arabia. While the Muslim Brotherhood has said it will preserve individual rights, Salafi groups are not shy about their ambition to turn Egypt into a state where women must dress modestly and TV content deemed offensive will be banned.

The Brotherhood's leadership has so far avoided defining the ruling coalition it will seek to build. And during the campaign, it often avoided strict Islamist rhetoric in favor of more inclusive messages about social equality and clean government.

Critics, however, worry that once in power, the group will band together with its Islamist allies to impose stricter social codes. Many in Egypt's Coptic Christian minority fear they'll face new restrictions on building churches.

The Obama administration has lauded the elections, saying it will cooperate with the victors, no matter what their persuasion.

Israel, which has long considered its peace treaty with Egypt a buffer against regional war, worries Islamists will be less cooperative than Mubarak was. Israel is highly unpopular in most of Egyptian society, and Brotherhood leaders have suggested they'll review Egypt's relationship with the Jewish state. They may also deepen ties to Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip.

This week's vote, held in seven provinces, will determine about 30 percent of the 498 seats in the People's Assembly, parliament's lower house. Two more rounds, ending in January, will cover Egypt's other 20 provinces. Three more rounds lasting until March will elect the less powerful upper house.

Egypt's election commission said that unexpectedly large voter turnout in the first round had slowed the count and that results, initially expected Thursday, would be announced Friday.

Participation figures have not been released, but Maj. Gen. Ismail Etman of the ruling military council estimated that 70 percent of eligible people voted.

The power the new legislature will have remains unclear.

Several members of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took control of the country when Mubarak fell, have said the new parliament will not appoint the prime minister or have power to dismiss the Cabinet. The military has also said it will appoint 80 of the 100-member panel charged with drafting a new constitution.

The Brotherhood is expected to challenge the army on these issues, and a strong showing in the elections will boost its mandate to do so. The group's leaders have already said they will form a coalition government that will choose its own prime minister.

The military has other plans. Last week, military council head Hussein Tantawi appointed a Mubarak-era prime minister to head a new government. Kamal el-Ganzouri is expected to announce its members Saturday.

His government will not likely serve for more than a few months, and groups pushing for a faster transition to civilian rule consider it a mere front for continued military rule.

The trial of some 12,000 civilians before military courts this year has soured many on the military, and an attempt to clear the square of a sit-in by families of those killed by security forces two weeks ago sparked days of clashes in which some 40 more were killed.

This week's large voter turnout, however, could undermine the call for renewed protest more than any military statement, as many Egyptians seem to have placed their hopes in the political process.

Some youth leaders acknowledged this.

"The revolution has partially ended with the holding of the elections," said Ahmed Imam, a youth leader in the anti-Mubarak uprising. "The conflict now will not be between Tahrir and the military, but between the military and the next parliament. This will steal the spotlight from our revolutionary struggle."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2011-12-01-ML-Egypt/id-eae1dee76d3442f7a3fc460a95a1d678

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Apple's Siri irks abortion rights advocates (Reuters)

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) ? Apple Inc is facing its first major controversy over well-received voice software Siri, as the cutting-edge iPhone search service ran afoul of abortion rights advocates.

Siri - one of the most popular features of Apple's new iPhone 4S - drew the ire of bloggers and the National Abortion and Reproductive Rights Action League when it could not locate abortion clinics when asked.

NARAL's president, Nancy Keenan, dashed off an email to Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook in which she complained: "In some cases, Siri is not providing your customers with accurate or complete information about women's reproductive-health services."

But Apple said Siri's inability to pull up information was not intentional, blaming the flaw on the fact it was still in beta, or testing, phase.

"Our customers want to use Siri to find out all types of information and while it can find a lot, it doesn't always find what you want," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Harrison said. "These are not intentional omissions meant to offend anyone, it simply means that, as we bring Siri from beta to a final product, we find places where we can do better, and we will in the coming weeks."

Cook responded to Keenan with a similar statement, according to the group's website, which posted the email.

Apple uses a variety of online resources to search for information and relies mainly on review website Yelp for local businesses.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111202/tc_nm/us_apples_siri

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'America's Most Wanted' returns to TV on Lifetime (AP)

NEW YORK ? John Walsh is rallying America against the nation's bad guys again.

"America's Most Wanted," a Fox Broadcasting mainstay for 23 years before that network canceled it last spring, returns to weekly television at a new address: Lifetime, where it premieres Friday at 9 p.m. EST.

"It will be basically the same show," says Walsh, whose criminal roundup has led to the capture of more than 1,100 fugitives in the U.S. and 30 countries, plus the rescue of 61 children and missing persons ? and counting.

Walsh says there will be no softening of the show's gritty, tough-guy tone in its new home, despite Lifetime being chiefly a channel aimed at women.

"It will still be tough enough for people sitting in their living rooms to say, `My God, that happened to a real person, that's not a scripted drama,'" he says, "and then get off their couch and go to their phone if they recognize the fugitive, and do the right thing."

After "AMW" aired its last weekly episode on Fox last June, "people never stopped going to the website and calling the hotline, which amazed me," Walsh says. "We caught five guys." These included alleged child predator Kenneth Craig, who turned himself in to law enforcement in Brazil just days after watching himself being profiled on the show.

"I've told Lifetime, `Most of the people we profile are cowards that have hurt women or children.' I think that's why Lifetime got it so much, and picked up the show," he says.

"I don't believe there's ever been a show that combines entertainment with public service in the way this show does, and its mission is something we believe in very deeply," says Rob Sharenow, Lifetime executive vice president of programming. "Public safety, keeping our streets safe, keeping our children safe is probably the issue of most importance to our viewers."

It was in 1981 that Walsh, now 65, launched his crime-busting crusade in the aftermath of the abduction and murder of his 6-year-old son Adam (who Walsh notes would have turned 37 last month).

The grieving father became an outspoken advocate for tougher laws against sex offenders, more cooperation among law enforcement agencies, and citizen involvement in flushing out fugitives.

Then his TV show premiered in April 1988 on the fledgling Fox network and, little more than a year later, was the first-ever Fox program to rank first in viewership in its time slot. It remained a fixture on the network after that, and during the 2010-11 season, was seen by an audience averaging 5 million viewers.

Last May, Fox announced it was axing the series because of high production costs. "AMW" remains on Fox with a greatly reduced presence ? the first of four quarterly, two-hour specials aired recently. But the weekly push has relocated to Lifetime, which signed for 20 episodes, with an option for 44 more, according to Walsh.

Fox sibling company Twentieth Television, which owns "AMW," has licensed the show to Lifetime. Now Walsh's company produces it. Based in Washington, D.C., Walsh Productions has several other series pilots in the works that Walsh hopes will lead to the rehiring of many of the remaining 55 people (out of a total of 80) he couldn't restore to "AMW" on Lifetime.

"It was very, very difficult," he says, describing the process of laying off staffers last summer.

Now, after a tumultuous few months, Walsh resumes his tireless TV mission, and he hopes loyal viewers again will do their part.

"Will they come back after we were off for several months?" he muses. "Will they follow us to cable?"

___

Online:

http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/americas-most-wanted

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/tv/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_en_tv/us_ap_on_tv_john_walsh_amw

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Gingrich in Iowa urges more responsible citizenry

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a meeting with employees at Nationwide Insurance, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a meeting with employees at Nationwide Insurance, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich speaks during a meeting with employees at Nationwide Insurance, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

Republican presidential candidate, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich leaves after speaking with employees at Nationwide Insurance, Thursday, Dec. 1, 2011, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ? The scope of the nation's problems requires citizens to take more responsibility for the country's direction, Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich said Thursday, adding the alternative would be the nation's demise.

"Whether you are a parent or grandparent or an aunt or an uncle you have responsibilities to your community, your neighborhood," Gingrich told about 500 Nationwide Insurance employees at the company's headquarters. "And we're all going to have to roll up our sleeves and be a little bit more responsible in the next 30 years."

Gingrich is riding a late wave of support in his bid for the 2012 GOP nomination, having lost all his campaign staff in June. He's now a leader in some national polls as well as in early voting Iowa.

His long history as a Washington insider with nuanced positions on issues has prompted rivals to begin attacking him in the conservative state where voters demand clarity.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul released a blistering Internet video Wednesday, raking Gingrich in part for receiving more than $1.5 million from the embattled federally backed mortgage company Freddie Mac for consulting work after he left Congress.

Gingrich's scholarly style ? he's a former college history professor ? and blunt candor have produced standout debate performances that have boosted his fundraising in recent months.

Gingrich regularly refers to how citizens rallied during World War II as an example of the effort it will take to shrink the national debt and grow the economy.

He routinely asks audiences to be "with him" rather than "for him," telling them a vote alone will not redirect a country he argues is perilously off-course.

Although he stopped short of chiding the audience at the downtown office, he noted examples of what he says are excessive judicial and governmental power allowed to grow unchecked over the past 50 years.

Becoming better citizens at all levels would turn the nation's fortunes, he said.

"I think it's central to our survival as a country. If we give up where our rights come from, if we give up American history, we cease to be American in the historic tradition," Gingrich said.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-12-01-US-Gingrich/id-90fdf23c96b64f30ba7cbf2ddf55f303

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Catastrophic Climate Could Be Forestalled by Cutting Overlooked Gases [Slide Show]

Features | Energy & Sustainability

Carbon dioxide gets all the attention, but there are a host of compounds responsible for global warming

By David Biello ?| December 1, 2011?|

OVERLOOKED GASES: Methane, like that burning in the flame pictured, is one of several often overlooked greenhouse gases. Curbing their emissions could be both cheaper and easier than cutting carbon dioxide. Image: ? iStockphoto.com / Chris Pole

When the world talks climate change?as is currently under way in Durban, South Africa?the main issue is carbon dioxide emissions. CO2 is emanating from the negotiators' mouths and the power plants and cars of their home countries?and that simple molecule is responsible for the bulk of global warming to date.

But CO2 isn't the only molecule trapping heat in the atmosphere. The warm conditions of the earth get a big boost from water vapor as well as several other culprits, some of which never existed in the atmosphere prior to human influence. Together, the other greenhouse gases account for roughly a third of the molecules trapping heat in the atmosphere ? and more than a third of the overall warming of average temperatures globally.

What's more, cleaning up emissions of some of these other greenhouse gases may prove quite a lot simpler than cutting back on CO2?forestalling catastrophic climate change. In fact, some of the measures?such as capturing the methane released during oil production?actually save money in addition to the climate. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that cutting back on methane and soot emissions alone could prevent 0.7 degree Celsius of additional warming by 2040?and those cooling benefits could come faster than comparable cuts in CO2.

View a slideshow of the other greenhouse gases

?

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Economy improving but job growth still weak (AP)

WASHINGTON ? The economy is picking up. If only job growth would follow.

A spate of data Thursday showed U.S. factories grew last month at the fastest pace since June, construction spending increased for a third straight month, and both retail sales and auto sales rose in November.

But the number of people applying for unemployment benefits is still too high to signal strong hiring.

The reports offered a mixed picture for the economy one day before the government reports on job growth in November. Economists project that employers added a net 125,000 jobs. That's not enough to lower the unemployment rate, which is projected to stay at 9 percent for the second straight month.

And manufacturers could face strains overseas in key export markets, especially if Europe's debt crisis worsens and leads the continent into another recession.

For now, factories are growing. The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Thursday that its manufacturing index rose to 52.7 in November, up from 50.8 in October. Any reading above 50 indicates expansion. Factories have grown for 28 straight months.

Bradley Holcomb, chair of the ISM's survey committee, said manufacturers "are cautiously more optimistic about the next few months based on lower raw materials pricing and favorable levels of new orders."

Still, companies have tempered their outlook with concerns about future economic growth, government regulation and the debt crisis in Europe, he added.

New orders rose to a seven-month high and production increased, according to separate indexes in the report.

Ian Shepherdson, an economist at High Frequency Economics, said the gains suggest factory output will expand at an even faster pace next month.

"The economy seems finally to be developing real momentum; growth is accelerating," he said in a note to clients.

But a measure of factory employment fell. The drop indicates manufacturers are still hiring, but at a slower pace than the previous month.

"Manufacturers are trying to meet demand without significantly increasing their work force," said Ryan Wang, an economist at HSBC Securities.

Worker productivity rose in the July-September quarter by the most in 18 months, while labor costs fell, the government said Wednesday.

A more productive and less-costly work force can boost corporate profits. But unless companies see more demand, they're unlikely to step up hiring.

And manufacturers could soon see less demand overseas. Most economists expect Europe's financial crisis to tip that region into recession next year. About 20 percent of U.S. exports are shipped to Europe.

China, the world's second-largest economy, is also slowing. Manufacturing in China contracted in November for the first time in nearly three years, according to business surveys released Thursday.

Separately, the Labor Department said the number of people who applied for unemployment benefits last week rose above 400,000 for the first time in four weeks. The increase comes after applications had drifted lower over the past two months.

About 7 million people are still receiving benefits. House Republicans said they are drafting legislation to continue an extended benefits program set to expire at the end of this year. That program provides up to 99 weeks of aid in states with the highest unemployment rates.

Another report showed that U.S. builders spent more in October on new homes, offices and shopping centers. Construction spending rose for a third straight month, the Commerce Department said. Despite the gains, overall construction spending remained depressed.

The projected job growth in November would be an improvement from the previous month, when the economy added just 80,000 jobs.

Some economists are more optimistic after payroll provider ADP said Wednesday that companies added 206,000 workers last month, the most this year. That survey doesn't include government agencies, which have been cutting jobs.

Other economic indicators reinforce the outlook for an improving economy. Retailers reported a strong start to holiday sales over the Thanksgiving weekend, consumer confidence surged in November to the highest level since July, and Americans' pay rose in October by the most in seven months.

Those reports have caused many economists to forecast a pickup in growth in the final three months of the year, to about a 3 percent annual rate. That would be an improvement from growth of 2 percent in the July-September period.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111201/ap_on_bi_ge/us_economy

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